WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.080 Music. 00:00:12.264 --> 00:00:16.724 Well, hey, everybody, and welcome back to another week, episode 11 of the Life on 11 podcast. 00:00:17.224 --> 00:00:21.264 Today, Jeremy and I continue our conversation from last week about peace and 00:00:21.264 --> 00:00:25.764 talk about how peace extends past just violence and weapons and things like 00:00:25.764 --> 00:00:28.164 that. So without further ado, let's take it to a look. 00:00:35.424 --> 00:00:38.804 What's going on, Jeremy? How are you this fine evening? 00:00:39.264 --> 00:00:42.604 I'm doing fabulous. A little soggy outside. A little soggy outside. 00:00:42.844 --> 00:00:47.164 It's been very soggy the past two days, but, you know. We'll take it, though. We'll take it. 00:00:47.964 --> 00:00:54.364 It does make for some enjoyable evenings of just chilling on the couch and watching 00:00:54.364 --> 00:00:56.844 a little basketball. A little tube. 00:00:57.644 --> 00:01:00.784 NBA playoffs, full swing. Full swing. Full swing. 00:01:01.024 --> 00:01:06.144 You know, I love NBA playoff times. I've enjoyed it, too. I haven't watched 00:01:06.144 --> 00:01:08.764 a lot of NBA playoffs in the past, but I've enjoyed this year. 00:01:08.944 --> 00:01:13.604 Yeah, it's good. Somebody, somebody, Tyrese Halliburton took some people's comments 00:01:13.604 --> 00:01:15.484 personally, dog. Oh, no doubt. 00:01:15.964 --> 00:01:19.764 They called him the most overrated player in the NBA just a few months ago. 00:01:19.764 --> 00:01:22.264 And he's like, you know what? He's been balling out. Take this. 00:01:22.564 --> 00:01:25.504 35, 12, and 15 last night. No turnovers. That's pretty good. 00:01:25.624 --> 00:01:28.704 First player ever in the NBA playoffs to have that stat line. 00:01:28.704 --> 00:01:30.004 All right. All right. Hold on. Time out. 00:01:30.884 --> 00:01:36.384 Are they taking every person's stat line and looking at it and seeing if it's 00:01:36.384 --> 00:01:40.924 ever been done before? I think what it was is, I think, don't quote me on this, 00:01:41.024 --> 00:01:43.524 I think it was first triple-double with no turnovers. 00:01:44.144 --> 00:01:47.204 Oh. That's what I interpret that to mean. Okay. 00:01:47.544 --> 00:01:49.764 You know, I mean, because you could be like, hey, this is the first guy ever 00:01:49.764 --> 00:01:52.404 to score one point and have one block. 00:01:52.544 --> 00:01:57.784 Yes. You know what I'm saying? From what I, I did not dive deep from what I saw reading through. 00:01:57.904 --> 00:02:00.804 Okay. Well, that is your mission before the next podcast. Okay. 00:02:01.104 --> 00:02:05.524 To get me all of that information. Okay. You got it. Okay. You got it. 00:02:05.524 --> 00:02:06.944 And, of course, you got Oklahoma City. 00:02:07.104 --> 00:02:11.924 My kids are all about the SGA, so they're happy as larks. So, yeah. 00:02:12.204 --> 00:02:14.884 But other than NBA playoffs, how in the world has your week been? 00:02:15.484 --> 00:02:19.684 Oh, man, it's been good. It was a very busy Memorial Day weekend. 00:02:20.144 --> 00:02:21.844 Had a lot of stuff going on. Yeah. 00:02:22.905 --> 00:02:28.365 Yep. Friday night, I had a little cookout, and then went and saw some soccer, 00:02:28.425 --> 00:02:34.165 and then Saturday morning, barbecued the best chicken in the Shenandoah Valley. Without a question. 00:02:34.485 --> 00:02:37.585 No doubt about it. If you didn't get any, that's your loss, because it's amazing. 00:02:37.805 --> 00:02:39.885 Mountain barbecue chicken. You need to get up on that. Absolutely the best. 00:02:40.405 --> 00:02:41.525 Then I took a three-hour nap. 00:02:42.085 --> 00:02:47.025 A three-hour nap. Yeah, exactly. Okay. And I don't remember what I did Saturday evening. 00:02:47.205 --> 00:02:50.145 Well, because you were still recovering from your three-hour nap. I did something. 00:02:50.325 --> 00:02:53.445 I don't remember what it was. sunday church and then good lunch with 00:02:53.445 --> 00:02:56.345 friends and then had a little date night 00:02:56.345 --> 00:02:59.005 on sunday night which was pretty fun and then 00:02:59.005 --> 00:03:02.065 a cookout again on monday so yeah i was good busy you 00:03:02.065 --> 00:03:05.625 ate busy you ate like a king i definitely ate 00:03:05.625 --> 00:03:10.305 like a king yes but i mean that's no different than any other time let's talk 00:03:10.305 --> 00:03:14.425 about this date night yeah it was a double date night it was you and your missus 00:03:14.425 --> 00:03:19.845 yep me and mine yep we experienced for jess and i the first time of an of an 00:03:19.845 --> 00:03:22.825 escape room Oh, yeah. You and Tara done it before. 00:03:23.305 --> 00:03:26.825 Well, the funny thing is we hadn't done it together before. 00:03:27.185 --> 00:03:29.965 Okay. That was the first time we had done one together. Okay. 00:03:30.085 --> 00:03:33.965 We'd each done them separately with other people. And we went to the one in Harrisonburg. 00:03:34.645 --> 00:03:37.685 Escapism. Escapism. We did Shot Caller. 00:03:37.925 --> 00:03:43.225 Shot Caller. Which is supposed to be a 60-minute escape room. 00:03:43.345 --> 00:03:44.285 Got to break out of prison. 00:03:44.625 --> 00:03:48.605 Yeah. I mean, only the third time. So, you know, pretty much a pro at this point. 00:03:48.925 --> 00:03:54.145 We didn't look like pros. Well, we got out. We did get out. Made the record show. We escaped. 00:03:54.385 --> 00:03:59.865 We did escape. We did escape. And as I recall, the gentleman said that not only 00:03:59.865 --> 00:04:01.765 were we one of the first, so it was two rooms. 00:04:01.885 --> 00:04:04.525 You had to get out of the cell and then you had to get out of the guard. 00:04:05.165 --> 00:04:10.285 Guards office or whatever. He said that we were not just one of the fastest 00:04:10.285 --> 00:04:15.845 that day, but one of the fastest teams through the cell that he had ever seen. 00:04:16.105 --> 00:04:20.845 We were blazing. We were blazing. We definitely got held up when we got into 00:04:20.845 --> 00:04:23.405 the guard's office. Yeah. 00:04:24.145 --> 00:04:27.725 Definitely. Clues got harder. Clues got harder. And one of the clues got pretty 00:04:27.725 --> 00:04:31.085 dumb. Yeah, that was a dumb clue. The last clue was pretty stupid. 00:04:31.525 --> 00:04:36.045 In Jesus' name. I mean, that was all the love in the world. It was a great experience. 00:04:36.185 --> 00:04:37.545 Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I want to do it again. 00:04:37.945 --> 00:04:41.785 I absolutely want to do it again. So shout out to Escapism and Harrisonburg. 00:04:41.925 --> 00:04:45.005 Go check them out. If you're local to the area, go check them out. 00:04:45.005 --> 00:04:48.345 If you have never done an escape room before, I'm going to say that's a great 00:04:48.345 --> 00:04:49.525 date night opportunity. 00:04:49.745 --> 00:04:52.605 Oh, yeah, absolutely. Probably a double date. I don't know. It'd be better, 00:04:52.745 --> 00:04:56.545 yeah. If you do it just with your spouse, marital counseling might need to happen afterwards. 00:04:56.885 --> 00:05:01.545 Yeah, that could be. Yeah, but it's good. It's good, yeah. And, 00:05:01.545 --> 00:05:03.825 yeah, like you said, great service on Sunday. 00:05:04.265 --> 00:05:07.165 You know, it was just a great day. Yep. It was a great day. Yep. 00:05:08.006 --> 00:05:12.266 We want to continue our conversation from last week. 00:05:12.706 --> 00:05:18.286 So if you have not listened to last week's episode. Go ahead and press pause. 00:05:18.866 --> 00:05:21.646 Go listen to that first. And then come back. Right? Come back. 00:05:22.166 --> 00:05:27.066 And you're back. Okay. Okay. We sat down and talked with Scott Harris from Greenmount CBC. 00:05:27.446 --> 00:05:32.406 And Scott told us his story about peacemaking. 00:05:32.806 --> 00:05:36.386 And we specifically, I mean, we should say, Like we specifically asked Scott 00:05:36.386 --> 00:05:41.526 to come on the podcast, talk about peace because of his story of his journey 00:05:41.526 --> 00:05:46.866 to peace, which I really, I really appreciated everything Scott had to say. 00:05:46.986 --> 00:05:50.286 There were quite a few things that he said that, quite honestly, 00:05:50.426 --> 00:05:52.986 I had never really thought that hard about. 00:05:53.146 --> 00:05:56.726 So it was really, really good. Good to hear him what he had to say. 00:05:56.846 --> 00:06:02.186 I enjoyed it a lot. And I've known Scott for a few years now, and I heard pieces. 00:06:02.866 --> 00:06:06.226 I hadn't heard the story about the EMU thing with the roommate. 00:06:06.566 --> 00:06:10.406 I'd heard pieces of his story, but I'd never heard it all in one sitting. 00:06:10.566 --> 00:06:14.806 And so that was really good for me to hear that and really have an appreciation 00:06:14.806 --> 00:06:17.586 for his journey and where he's come out at. 00:06:17.846 --> 00:06:22.666 But we want to continue that conversation tonight because I feel like we only 00:06:22.666 --> 00:06:25.966 scratched the surface, really, of what peace can mean. 00:06:26.166 --> 00:06:30.366 He would probably agree with that. Absolutely. And we've already said to Scott, 00:06:30.446 --> 00:06:33.726 we would love to have him back on again to talk. 00:06:34.066 --> 00:06:38.946 But all that to be said, we want to talk about some aspects of peace that are 00:06:38.946 --> 00:06:45.806 beyond violence and weapons and firearms and all of their like. 00:06:45.906 --> 00:06:49.906 That to me is the hot button ways that we talk about peace. 00:06:50.406 --> 00:06:53.446 Yeah, I mean, that's the way most everybody, you know, like he said, 00:06:53.706 --> 00:06:57.146 all the Miss Americas talk about world peace. 00:06:57.306 --> 00:07:01.626 We want world peace. Well, they mean just no violence is what they mean. Right. 00:07:02.380 --> 00:07:05.840 And God's peace is about more than the absence of violence. 00:07:06.220 --> 00:07:11.040 So what, what for you, Jeremy, do you think like as somebody who, 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:15.100 who thinks about peace with Christ, like, have you thought about other aspects 00:07:15.100 --> 00:07:16.340 of peace and what they mean to you? 00:07:17.580 --> 00:07:21.640 Yeah. So for me, when I think about peace, 00:07:21.900 --> 00:07:28.600 the first thing that comes to my mind is just like a, a piece within your soul 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:33.380 with what is happening in your life. Okay. So to speak. 00:07:33.700 --> 00:07:37.360 And the best way I can describe this is for those who don't know, 00:07:37.440 --> 00:07:39.880 our son Riley was born with a heart defect. 00:07:40.840 --> 00:07:45.260 You know, our first child really don't know what to expect becoming parents 00:07:45.260 --> 00:07:48.160 for the first time and then get this curve ball thrown at us. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:54.140 You know, everybody, everybody is like, Oh, this has to be like terrifying the 00:07:54.140 --> 00:07:56.000 worst experience of your life, this and that. 00:07:56.540 --> 00:08:02.500 But Tara and I really had just a sense of peace. 00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:08.680 And it's only through God that we had that peace, just knowing that he had everything under control. 00:08:08.880 --> 00:08:16.800 So just the peace within our souls, within our hearts, that whatever happened, it was going to be okay. 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:22.360 Unfortunately, he's 14 years old. He's doing great. He is one of the coolest human beings. 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:26.060 Riley is one of my favorite human beings on the planet. I love Riley. 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:31.740 If you haven't met Riley you won't forget him I've got a ton of good Riley stories 00:08:31.740 --> 00:08:35.960 oh yeah there's a great one from just the other day where he crashed his tricycle 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:38.280 well not really tricycle like trike thing. 00:08:39.595 --> 00:08:42.515 Didn't even cry. Got himself all tore up. I would have been. 00:08:42.555 --> 00:08:46.495 I mean, tore up. Yeah. I'd have been laying in the driveway like a shriveled mess. 00:08:46.895 --> 00:08:49.075 You'd probably still be laying there crying. Probably so. Yeah. 00:08:49.155 --> 00:08:50.375 Yeah. But no, seriously. 00:08:50.615 --> 00:08:56.055 So for me, when I think about peace, that's completely different than the violence type of peace. 00:08:56.695 --> 00:09:04.755 But just being at peace with what's happening in life, knowing that whichever 00:09:04.755 --> 00:09:08.495 direction it goes, God is in control and it's going to be okay. 00:09:08.795 --> 00:09:10.095 Absolutely. Absolutely. 00:09:11.055 --> 00:09:16.795 You know, when I think about peace, the term, and I have to say, 00:09:16.995 --> 00:09:22.175 part of this is the influence of the last 20 years of being brethren, 00:09:22.435 --> 00:09:25.235 brethren my whole life, but especially like we talked about, 00:09:25.315 --> 00:09:26.675 like that wasn't a big part of my upbringing. 00:09:27.195 --> 00:09:31.895 And then, especially when I went to seminary, so I went to Bethany Seminary, 00:09:32.135 --> 00:09:34.655 where peace is a big part of their program. 00:09:35.755 --> 00:09:42.275 That's a big part. And I would say my understanding of peace was probably different 00:09:42.275 --> 00:09:44.495 than a lot of my fellow seminarians. 00:09:45.035 --> 00:09:48.195 So there was a lot of challenging conversations for me there. 00:09:48.195 --> 00:09:52.055 But the two words that I took away from my seminary experience, 00:09:52.135 --> 00:09:54.875 having to talk about peace a lot, was human flourishing. 00:09:55.495 --> 00:10:00.215 And that for me is the, for me, the foundational thought about peace, 00:10:00.215 --> 00:10:06.175 that peace is God's best for all of God's creation all the time. 00:10:06.175 --> 00:10:10.555 And so when somebody asked me, like, what does peace mean to you? 00:10:11.455 --> 00:10:17.695 Realistically, violence is just a very small piece of what that is, 00:10:17.715 --> 00:10:19.255 because if you were to ask me, 00:10:19.375 --> 00:10:25.195 I think most of us can live the rest of our lives and not really have to worry 00:10:25.195 --> 00:10:27.155 about violence in our personal lives that much. 00:10:27.155 --> 00:10:30.835 I would agree here in the United States, especially. I mean, and where we live. 00:10:31.215 --> 00:10:34.395 I mean, right. I mean, most of the scenarios that we're like, 00:10:34.835 --> 00:10:38.075 you know, someone is going to, you know, that you have to take physical. 00:10:38.295 --> 00:10:40.635 Yeah. We're not talking about somebody yelling at you at the stoplight. 00:10:40.755 --> 00:10:42.315 We're talking about like legit. Right. 00:10:42.615 --> 00:10:47.035 Like violence. Right. Physical altercation. I could probably go the rest of 00:10:47.035 --> 00:10:49.575 my life and never have to discharge a firearm at someone. 00:10:49.855 --> 00:10:52.875 I hopefully can go the rest of my life and never get in a fist fight. 00:10:52.875 --> 00:10:56.875 So that to me is a very small part of what it actually means to live peace, 00:10:56.875 --> 00:11:01.635 because I think most of us, especially in our context, can live that kind of 00:11:01.635 --> 00:11:05.335 peace pretty realistically, in my opinion. 00:11:05.635 --> 00:11:13.415 So for me, peace becomes more about how do we advocate and bring God's best 00:11:13.415 --> 00:11:16.175 to all of creation all the time? 00:11:16.375 --> 00:11:22.375 And that begins to expand the conversation way, way past. Oh, 00:11:22.495 --> 00:11:26.575 yeah, way beyond violence, for sure. And I will say, like... 00:11:27.056 --> 00:11:32.156 So human flourishing sounds like a super progressive term. 00:11:32.696 --> 00:11:38.096 It does, but it's not. Like I would say, because I've said that before and other 00:11:38.096 --> 00:11:42.816 people are like, you know, but when you think about it, it's not, 00:11:42.996 --> 00:11:45.376 it's a super gospel, right? 00:11:45.456 --> 00:11:49.916 Because Jesus brought peace with God through his sacrifice on the cross and 00:11:49.916 --> 00:11:53.476 his resurrection from the dead. He brought peace with God through his preaching 00:11:53.476 --> 00:11:58.276 and trying to get folks to live lives that were holy and more in line with God's will. 00:11:58.396 --> 00:12:03.396 He brought God's peace by doing healings and miracles and raising people from 00:12:03.396 --> 00:12:04.716 the dead and healing the blind. 00:12:05.076 --> 00:12:09.596 His whole message was human flourishing at some level. 00:12:09.736 --> 00:12:15.836 Everything Jesus ever commanded comes out for everyone involved to be better. 00:12:15.836 --> 00:12:19.056 There's not a situation where jesus taught 00:12:19.056 --> 00:12:22.256 anything that made a human being less it always 00:12:22.256 --> 00:12:25.216 made a human being more does that make sense no yeah that absolutely makes 00:12:25.216 --> 00:12:31.276 sense yeah it's so go ahead no i was just going to say so how i'm going to go 00:12:31.276 --> 00:12:36.996 ahead and bring this up as like as a pastor how do you you know because a lot 00:12:36.996 --> 00:12:41.936 of times you're you're you're getting involved in someone's life in a difficult 00:12:41.936 --> 00:12:44.236 time more often than not. 00:12:44.596 --> 00:12:51.036 So how do you, as a pastor, help them find what's the best for them, God's best for them? 00:12:51.076 --> 00:12:53.876 How do you help them find that, especially in difficult times? 00:12:54.900 --> 00:13:00.380 A lot of it is the scriptural discernment of pressing into what scripture says about us. 00:13:00.560 --> 00:13:05.600 But then also, a lot of times, my ministry, I don't know how other pastors are 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:06.700 because I've never been another pastor. 00:13:07.160 --> 00:13:12.820 Wait a second. There's a lot of times that I find myself getting involved with 00:13:12.820 --> 00:13:16.940 just some practical decisions, like just trying to help folks make practical 00:13:16.940 --> 00:13:20.000 decisions for God's best for them and their family. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:27.980 And really trying to recast how that decision either brings blessing to them 00:13:27.980 --> 00:13:29.300 and the people around them or not. 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:34.580 So a conversation I was having with someone last week as they were trying to 00:13:34.580 --> 00:13:39.920 decide God's will for them and possibly relocating their home and possibly moving. 00:13:40.220 --> 00:13:44.600 And so, I mean, it was like, how do you see God's best for you in this situation? 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:48.980 All the way down to like, you know, the money, like, are you putting yourself 00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:52.400 in a financial stronghold to where you're not going to be able to, 00:13:52.520 --> 00:13:55.080 you're going to be stressed about money with the home you're looking to buy? 00:13:55.160 --> 00:13:56.080 Like, have you thought about that? 00:13:56.180 --> 00:13:59.720 Have you thought about, you know, the, the, the place you're going to purchase? 00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:03.880 Like, have you thought about how it would impact your time with your family and all those things? 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:07.920 And so it was more just about like, is this house better than the house they 00:14:07.920 --> 00:14:10.380 lived? Absolutely. It was better than the house they lived in. 00:14:10.940 --> 00:14:15.140 But at the end of the conversation, like, man, like, I feel like I would take 00:14:15.140 --> 00:14:18.820 on a lot of extra stress in my life purchasing this particular property. 00:14:18.820 --> 00:14:21.140 And I don't know that I want to take that on for me and my family. 00:14:21.220 --> 00:14:22.820 And I'm like, hey, I'm not telling you not to buy the house. 00:14:23.300 --> 00:14:26.760 I'm just asking those questions to really think about, like, 00:14:26.820 --> 00:14:27.980 is this God's best for you? 00:14:28.060 --> 00:14:31.140 Because just because it has two more bedrooms and five more acres doesn't necessarily 00:14:31.140 --> 00:14:33.560 mean it's God's best for you. True. Okay. 00:14:34.180 --> 00:14:36.560 If that makes sense. Yeah, yeah, no, that does make sense. You know, 00:14:36.680 --> 00:14:40.120 and I think practically one of the things I shared with you earlier was for 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:44.340 Jess and I becoming foster parents is peacemaking for us. 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:52.200 Okay. Because we are given the opportunity for these children who are living 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:53.460 really in the depths of hell. 00:14:53.700 --> 00:14:56.780 I mean, they are living the worst situations that a human being can live with. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:03.600 And we are able to bring them to our home and provide for them a safe home, 00:15:03.760 --> 00:15:08.200 a loving home. We are able to bring, you know, them a sense of security. 00:15:08.980 --> 00:15:12.440 And then like we do rehabilitative foster care. 00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:19.720 So we are trying to give those kids the tools to flourish here so that if and 00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:24.120 when they go back home or they go to another family, they have tools to live 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:25.160 the best lives that they can. 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:28.640 So for us, we don't just approach foster care to say, you're just going to live 00:15:28.640 --> 00:15:33.360 with us forever. We approach foster care to say, how do we help you live a better 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:35.780 life and give you tools and training? 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:38.780 So for us, human flourishing looks like that. 00:15:38.900 --> 00:15:42.640 It's taking a kid who's in a really busted up situation, bringing them to our 00:15:42.640 --> 00:15:46.420 home and helping them live out God's best in our home so they can take it somewhere else. 00:15:47.122 --> 00:15:50.762 That's peacemaking to me. Yeah. So that brings me to another question. 00:15:51.262 --> 00:15:56.622 In all these situations where we're trying to help others discern God's best 00:15:56.622 --> 00:15:58.342 for them, help them find peace, 00:15:58.582 --> 00:16:07.542 how do you work with someone who is clearly not making the decisions that are 00:16:07.542 --> 00:16:15.762 best for them and clearly seeing them fight against everything that could be bringing them peace? 00:16:15.762 --> 00:16:18.602 How do you, because I mean, that's got to be hard to watch. 00:16:18.762 --> 00:16:22.422 Oh, it is. It's extremely hard to watch, I think, for any of us. 00:16:22.522 --> 00:16:25.262 And I think we're all faced with that, right? Like, if you're a parent, 00:16:25.422 --> 00:16:28.282 you see your child make decisions that are definitely not the best for them. 00:16:28.562 --> 00:16:33.042 You know, if you are, you know, just any place in our lives, I think we do. 00:16:33.242 --> 00:16:40.882 And like I've always said, my job is to preach and teach and to bring God's 00:16:40.882 --> 00:16:42.322 best to whatever situation I can. 00:16:42.322 --> 00:16:48.322 And if that person doesn't decide to follow that, that doesn't release me from 00:16:48.322 --> 00:16:51.962 my responsibility to bring God's peace into the situation. 00:16:52.482 --> 00:16:56.422 So just if they don't decide, like, let's say that this, I had this conversation 00:16:56.422 --> 00:16:59.482 with this person, like, nope, I'm absolutely going to buy this home and this is what I want. 00:16:59.562 --> 00:17:01.942 And even if my opinion is like, dude, that's a bad decision. 00:17:02.262 --> 00:17:05.662 Like, I don't get left off the hook because they didn't choose it. 00:17:05.662 --> 00:17:08.602 Right it's still for me to continue 00:17:08.602 --> 00:17:11.422 to bring god's best into the situation and continue to 00:17:11.422 --> 00:17:14.522 to push them towards whatever god wants for them in the 00:17:14.522 --> 00:17:17.362 meantime right and we sure we've seen that in foster care like 00:17:17.362 --> 00:17:21.082 we're living that right now with one of one of our very close one of our one 00:17:21.082 --> 00:17:25.022 of our kids you know that he's making decisions that are outside of god's will 00:17:25.022 --> 00:17:28.082 and you know firsthand you and i've had some off-the-book conversations it is 00:17:28.082 --> 00:17:31.722 so frustrating like i feel like i'm beating my head against the wall but then 00:17:31.722 --> 00:17:36.522 i see him and i'm like i still have to ask I still have to bring God's best in this situation, 00:17:36.522 --> 00:17:40.122 even though I know you're not going to listen to it. 00:17:40.162 --> 00:17:42.982 And I know that you're getting frustrated at me and I'm getting frustrated telling 00:17:42.982 --> 00:17:46.442 you, but I still have this burden to say like, this is God's best for you. 00:17:46.842 --> 00:17:50.422 You can still change this, right? You can still find something better. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:54.620 And I think, you know, for us as Christians, like it's all of it, 00:17:54.720 --> 00:18:00.380 like digging wells in Haiti, it's peacemaking, right? They don't have clean drinking water. 00:18:00.600 --> 00:18:06.640 And if we have the necessity or we have the means to make that happen. Absolutely. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:12.120 Peacemaking is saying, hey, like, let's go drill a well in Haiti because we're 00:18:12.120 --> 00:18:18.260 bringing some of God's character and God's best to a community because we have the means to do it. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:20.940 Can you think of like areas in your life you're thinking about? 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:30.220 Um, I'm just trying to think of how different our lives could be if really, 00:18:30.560 --> 00:18:37.460 to go back to a little bit of your sermon from Sunday, if just one person is 00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:43.080 helping others to find peace and they go help five more people. 00:18:43.080 --> 00:18:50.240 And just how much everybody's life gets better because they're seeking God's 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:51.920 peace, what's best for them. 00:18:52.940 --> 00:18:57.140 And that just completely changes our world. 00:18:57.580 --> 00:19:01.780 We all think that, oh, I'm just one person. I can't make a difference. 00:19:02.060 --> 00:19:11.040 Really, we can just by sharing God's love and helping guide others to God's 00:19:11.040 --> 00:19:12.860 peace through what's best for them. Absolutely. 00:19:13.080 --> 00:19:16.900 Absolutely well and so i know this might be the most controversial thing i've 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:19.860 said on hey if we're 11 episodes in this is the most controversial thing i've 00:19:19.860 --> 00:19:22.300 said we're doing okay we're doing okay go ahead and let it out, 00:19:23.293 --> 00:19:27.793 If Christians did what Christians were called to do in the area of peacemaking, 00:19:28.213 --> 00:19:31.933 then we would have no need for the social service sector of the government. 00:19:32.433 --> 00:19:35.593 Yeah, I can agree 100% with that. Right. 00:19:35.913 --> 00:19:40.933 And so. I mean, it's literally been that way. I mean, since the beginning. Right. 00:19:41.093 --> 00:19:45.633 Yeah. Right. What was, you know, when all the USA, USA and all that stuff was 00:19:45.633 --> 00:19:48.553 getting shut down earlier this year? 00:19:48.933 --> 00:19:53.093 I'm not sure. When Elon was doing his thing. Yeah. Oh, when they were shutting 00:19:53.093 --> 00:19:54.753 down all the things. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. 00:19:56.073 --> 00:19:59.073 Doge. Doge, yeah. Yeah, whatever it was. When all that was going down and they 00:19:59.073 --> 00:20:03.753 were cutting off humanitarian aid and stuff like that, I remember saying to 00:20:03.753 --> 00:20:05.233 people, hey, here's an idea. 00:20:05.713 --> 00:20:08.073 If the church steps up and does what the church is supposed to do, 00:20:08.533 --> 00:20:10.653 then we wouldn't need that stuff. 00:20:11.153 --> 00:20:15.313 Exactly. Right? If we were agents of God's shalom. Yep. 00:20:15.953 --> 00:20:19.653 Agents of peace, like we talked about last week. Yep. If we were doing what 00:20:19.653 --> 00:20:24.413 we wanted to do, what we're called to do, then there would be no need. 00:20:24.553 --> 00:20:28.453 And like, I remember specifically having a conversation with some friends that 00:20:28.453 --> 00:20:32.533 they were, they had some friends that were doing a humanitarian effort and they 00:20:32.533 --> 00:20:35.753 were afraid that they weren't going to be able to get home because the funding 00:20:35.753 --> 00:20:37.773 was cut. And I was like, well, here's an idea. 00:20:38.433 --> 00:20:42.313 Why doesn't the church pay to get them home? Exactly. And they just kind of 00:20:42.313 --> 00:20:46.353 looked at me and I was like, if you are that concerned, pay for the plane tickets. 00:20:46.573 --> 00:20:53.613 Exactly. And get them home. Like, we are contracting out the government to bring human flourishing. 00:20:53.793 --> 00:20:58.193 Yes, I have argued this point with so many people over the years. 00:20:58.193 --> 00:21:02.653 It is not the government's job to... 00:21:04.128 --> 00:21:07.948 To do, like you said, these things. The church is called to do these things. 00:21:08.128 --> 00:21:12.168 Right. And like you said, we're subcontracting the government at a ridiculous 00:21:12.168 --> 00:21:14.348 rate, too, not to mention. 00:21:14.708 --> 00:21:19.808 Yeah, I mean, it's the church's job to facilitate human flourishing. 00:21:19.908 --> 00:21:22.568 That is the church's job. Right. Not the government's job. Right. 00:21:22.928 --> 00:21:27.348 If someone from our church comes to me and says, I have a need, 00:21:27.548 --> 00:21:31.028 I don't say to them, like, well, let's call our state senator. 00:21:31.148 --> 00:21:33.008 Like, I'm like, let's the church rise up. 00:21:33.188 --> 00:21:38.048 Yep. you know let's do this and let's help this person and that that's a that's 00:21:38.048 --> 00:21:42.668 an agent of the gospel yep right i agree and boy this could just we get on a 00:21:42.668 --> 00:21:46.768 whole wrap oh my god we're already there i know one of the things that infuriates 00:21:46.768 --> 00:21:50.328 me is when the church looks at those humanitarian efforts, 00:21:50.788 --> 00:21:56.128 only in means of evangelism so we'll help as long as we get as long as there's 00:21:56.128 --> 00:21:57.848 like results evangelism results 00:21:57.848 --> 00:22:01.528 from it now i do like one of the things we support samaritan's purse, 00:22:02.068 --> 00:22:05.208 And I love the fact that they overtly talk about Jesus, right? 00:22:06.008 --> 00:22:10.308 Overtly helping Jesus think they overtly will give a Bible. They will pray. 00:22:10.448 --> 00:22:11.788 They will do all the things, right? 00:22:12.288 --> 00:22:15.688 But if we do a humanitarian effort, let's say that we decide, 00:22:15.908 --> 00:22:19.368 I read this really cool story a few years ago about this, this church had a 00:22:19.368 --> 00:22:21.628 bunch of money and they were really concerned about, you know, 00:22:21.788 --> 00:22:25.028 free lunches and student balances at their kids' schools. 00:22:25.348 --> 00:22:29.948 They went in and paid off every overdue lunch account at the school. Okay. 00:22:30.208 --> 00:22:34.828 Interesting. It just paid off the balance, and that way every kid had a zero balance on their lunch. 00:22:35.568 --> 00:22:40.608 If no one ever came to church over that, no one ever came to their church because 00:22:40.608 --> 00:22:44.888 of that, that still was bringing the gospel. Agreed. 00:22:46.367 --> 00:22:51.947 We don't have to, like, we can't look at every opportunity to provide human 00:22:51.947 --> 00:22:54.987 flourishing that has to translate to a butt in a pew. 00:22:55.387 --> 00:23:00.707 And I hate it when churches do that. Like, their means for doing the right thing 00:23:00.707 --> 00:23:03.047 is, well, if we do this, maybe somebody will come to church. 00:23:03.487 --> 00:23:06.407 Well, why don't we just do it? Because that's what Jesus told us to do. 00:23:06.827 --> 00:23:11.147 I don't know. There's a novel idea. Everything is about numbers now. 00:23:11.387 --> 00:23:14.527 I mean. Absolutely. Really, everything is about numbers. Absolutely. 00:23:15.127 --> 00:23:18.807 And I mean, don't get me wrong. Like it would be awesome. Nothing would make 00:23:18.807 --> 00:23:24.327 me feel better than we did this thing for a group of 100 people and 20 of them 00:23:24.327 --> 00:23:27.247 came to church and they accepted Jesus. That's amazing. That's awesome. 00:23:27.747 --> 00:23:31.567 But if they didn't, we are not responsible. 00:23:31.727 --> 00:23:37.307 Like we don't get off the hook for bringing God's peace if nobody shows up to 00:23:37.307 --> 00:23:41.887 church because like we are called to be God, like put on the shoes of peace. Right. 00:23:41.987 --> 00:23:45.947 We are called to go be the messengers and deliver the truth. 00:23:46.387 --> 00:23:51.767 That's our job. It's not to be judged on the results of doing said job because 00:23:51.767 --> 00:23:55.207 well done, thou good and faithful servant is because we did it. 00:23:55.547 --> 00:24:03.387 Listen, what better job to have, really, than to not be judged by the results? Right. 00:24:03.827 --> 00:24:09.067 I mean, what other job can you have where you're not going to be judged by your 00:24:09.067 --> 00:24:11.327 results? Exactly. None. Politics. 00:24:12.735 --> 00:24:17.875 Okay. All right. Let's let none of that. We almost started that train a second 00:24:17.875 --> 00:24:19.335 ago and you're trying to start it up again. 00:24:19.655 --> 00:24:22.015 My bad. I was going to say meteorologist. 00:24:25.255 --> 00:24:31.355 So, and I know like you and I talked about this, like dream retirement scenario, right? 00:24:32.015 --> 00:24:38.155 Is to be wealthy enough in retirement to be able to just basically contract 00:24:38.155 --> 00:24:39.815 out your life for free. Yes. 00:24:40.175 --> 00:24:43.155 Like I would love Jess and I've talked about that. Like we would love to be 00:24:43.155 --> 00:24:48.915 financially stable enough to where we would be able to either, 00:24:49.115 --> 00:24:52.775 whether that's pastorally go to a church and say, I don't need a salary. 00:24:53.315 --> 00:24:58.075 Let's use it for something else. Or to, you know, you've talked about just be 00:24:58.075 --> 00:25:02.595 able to say, I am available to do whatever to help somebody you need. 00:25:02.595 --> 00:25:04.215 I'm going to come install your dishwasher. 00:25:04.575 --> 00:25:07.835 Right. We can help fix your leaky roof. Yep. 00:25:08.135 --> 00:25:10.975 We can, whatever it is. Absolutely. I would love it. Yeah. And like, 00:25:11.035 --> 00:25:13.395 to me, that's, that's one of those dream scenarios. 00:25:13.955 --> 00:25:18.755 Right. And I think, you know, even that, like for Jess and I, 00:25:18.915 --> 00:25:22.695 a lot of the decisions we make as a household aren't just about us. 00:25:22.775 --> 00:25:29.415 It's also like, how can this help the people around us to better their lives? 00:25:30.075 --> 00:25:33.715 You know, one of my favorite things, you know, I bought a two-post lift for 00:25:33.715 --> 00:25:35.755 my garage three years ago. 00:25:36.475 --> 00:25:39.555 Good grief. Has it been that long? It's been a while. Man, time flies way too 00:25:39.555 --> 00:25:43.895 fast. And like one of my number one reasons for buying a lift wasn't just for John. 00:25:44.135 --> 00:25:48.935 It was so that people I know that couldn't necessarily afford mechanic bills 00:25:48.935 --> 00:25:52.295 could either come over here and do the work or I could help them do the work. 00:25:52.455 --> 00:25:55.915 So, I mean, tomorrow night I have somebody coming by and we're just going to 00:25:55.915 --> 00:25:58.995 throw his car up on the lift and see what's going on and see what's happening. 00:25:58.995 --> 00:26:03.515 And before we can see it and address it and before he has to put out a couple 00:26:03.515 --> 00:26:05.015 thousand dollars to go to a mechanic. 00:26:05.175 --> 00:26:08.455 And if it's a job that we can't do, then at least he knows that. 00:26:08.595 --> 00:26:11.075 But if it's something we can take care of, we'll take care of it. Absolutely. 00:26:11.415 --> 00:26:14.255 That's part of doing your best for your neighbor. Mm-hmm. 00:26:15.687 --> 00:26:19.307 Sharing God's peace. Yeah. And by the way, we can talk about Jesus while we're 00:26:19.307 --> 00:26:23.567 doing it. Absolutely. You know? Is there food involved? There's always. 00:26:24.187 --> 00:26:31.147 Absolutely. There's got to be food involved. Now, that is a way to spread God's 00:26:31.147 --> 00:26:32.347 peace is through some food. 00:26:32.867 --> 00:26:34.627 Mount Zion barbecue chicken. Exactly. 00:26:35.527 --> 00:26:39.507 Dude, Mount Zion barbecue chicken. You nailed it right there. We're done. That's it. 00:26:39.927 --> 00:26:43.907 That's it. Yeah. Well, and just like, I think we forget when you talk about 00:26:43.907 --> 00:26:49.787 the agents of peace with Scott, Like if we are living what God has for us, 00:26:50.007 --> 00:26:53.887 like the spiritual atmosphere of any place should change when we are present. 00:26:54.367 --> 00:27:01.747 Yes. Agreed. And let's be honest. Like sometimes Christians don't always have that effect on people. 00:27:02.147 --> 00:27:05.467 That is true. Now we are still human. We are still human. 00:27:05.847 --> 00:27:09.667 But you're right. That does need to be our, that should be our goal. 00:27:10.007 --> 00:27:14.687 Right. I mean, me and the kids, Aiden and Elijah and I talk about this like all the time. 00:27:14.687 --> 00:27:20.187 I wouldn't say it's 100% of the time, but a majority of the time when I am out 00:27:20.187 --> 00:27:23.287 at a restaurant or I'm in the Walmart checkout line or whatever, 00:27:23.447 --> 00:27:26.767 like I actually try to have a conversation with cashiers. 00:27:26.947 --> 00:27:30.947 And like, because to me, that's bringing God's peace, like just trying to be 00:27:30.947 --> 00:27:35.947 a smiling face, just trying to be somebody else than the last person who lectured 00:27:35.947 --> 00:27:40.147 them because their eggs cost too much money or their bag broke when they were 00:27:40.147 --> 00:27:41.487 going out or whatever it is. 00:27:41.487 --> 00:27:45.247 Like just trying to be somebody who is like, we laugh, we'll go out places. 00:27:45.427 --> 00:27:47.767 And we'll often say like to the waitress, like we promise you will not have 00:27:47.767 --> 00:27:49.367 a better table than us all night. 00:27:50.887 --> 00:27:53.007 And while we come out, we don't go out to eat. Yeah, that's true. 00:27:53.327 --> 00:27:55.967 We say that tongue in cheek, but I actually mean it. 00:27:56.107 --> 00:28:02.247 Like, I want you to enjoy being like, I want you to enjoy me as a customer. 00:28:02.647 --> 00:28:06.087 And then you're, there's all kinds of times we get to have conversations about faith, about that. 00:28:06.207 --> 00:28:08.387 You know, some, I don't know how many times people are like, 00:28:08.447 --> 00:28:11.047 well, you guys work together. Now we go to church together and we're able to 00:28:11.047 --> 00:28:13.107 talk to them, you know, about all that. 00:28:13.207 --> 00:28:17.127 Like, that's how it should, like, that to me is God's peace that I know I've 00:28:17.127 --> 00:28:20.527 asked a question in a sermon before. Like, if you moved out of your home, 00:28:20.887 --> 00:28:22.787 would your neighborhood notice that you're gone? 00:28:23.647 --> 00:28:27.267 I don't, I mean, I only have one neighbor. That is true. 00:28:27.487 --> 00:28:31.467 Or would your street, like people, would people notice if the sign of prayer? 00:28:31.587 --> 00:28:34.527 I would like to think yes. Yeah. I would like to think so. Yeah. 00:28:34.707 --> 00:28:39.547 So if God called you, your family to move to Missouri, I think there would be 00:28:39.547 --> 00:28:42.347 people in our community in Broadway that would notice you were gone. 00:28:42.867 --> 00:28:45.547 Fat boys, because they would lose your business. And that's a, 00:28:45.547 --> 00:28:47.627 that's a, that's a lot of business. No doubt about it. 00:28:48.267 --> 00:28:51.047 But like, you know, that, that's always that question. And then we can ask the 00:28:51.047 --> 00:28:54.167 same question about churches, whatever church you go to, if your church were 00:28:54.167 --> 00:28:58.187 to shut its doors tomorrow, would your community feel a difference? 00:28:58.347 --> 00:29:00.207 Like would anyone even notice that you're not there anymore? 00:29:00.787 --> 00:29:03.067 And that tells a lot about how you're living out God's peace. 00:29:03.067 --> 00:29:07.747 That's good that's a really good way to look at it never never thought about it quite like that yeah, 00:29:08.531 --> 00:29:12.191 It's interesting. So how are you about God's peace in your life? 00:29:12.251 --> 00:29:14.251 We'd love to hear that from you. Comment. 00:29:14.731 --> 00:29:18.711 Yeah, comment. Send us a message. Yeah. Maybe we'll have you on the podcast 00:29:18.711 --> 00:29:22.571 to tell you a story about how you're- Join us for a late night meal at Waffle House sometime. 00:29:23.391 --> 00:29:29.691 A late night meal at the Waffle House, an early evening meal at Fat Boy's, medium meal at B-Dubs. 00:29:30.011 --> 00:29:37.371 Hey, won't be too long and we can have a meal at Sheets right down the road. Y'all know, man. 00:29:37.731 --> 00:29:40.711 There's a Sheetz that's about to open up like five miles from my house. 00:29:40.871 --> 00:29:42.051 Oh, dude, it's not even five miles. 00:29:42.831 --> 00:29:46.191 It's like two miles. It's going to be on. I'm going to have a charge account. 00:29:46.971 --> 00:29:49.911 It's going to be like Cheers. Hey, do you have the Sheetz app? Yes, I do. 00:29:50.231 --> 00:29:53.351 Okay. Yeah. Dude, you can order your stuff. We can order it sitting right here 00:29:53.351 --> 00:29:56.151 and it'll be ready and we'll just grab it and go. Have you ever watched Cheers? 00:29:56.791 --> 00:29:58.611 I haven't watched Cheers in a long time. Do you remember Cheers? 00:29:59.411 --> 00:30:02.751 When Norm walked in and the whole bar was like, Norm! That's going to be me 00:30:02.751 --> 00:30:04.991 when I walk into Sheetz. That's going to be you when you walk into Sheetz. I'm like, John! 00:30:05.531 --> 00:30:09.771 I'm like, hey guys, what's going on? it'll have the use nice yeah 00:30:09.771 --> 00:30:12.631 in fact i probably won't even have to order off the app like they'll probably just 00:30:12.631 --> 00:30:15.831 like see my car pull into the parking lot they're like oh hot dog 00:30:15.831 --> 00:30:21.091 time i do love me some sheets hot dogs aaron says chicky nugs are pretty good 00:30:21.091 --> 00:30:26.051 up there too the tacos the tacos are now i haven't had those surprisingly good 00:30:26.051 --> 00:30:29.551 surprisingly good you think we can talk them into getting maple spam on the 00:30:29.551 --> 00:30:34.451 menu oh man that would be life-changing wouldn't a shmagle with some shmamm. 00:30:35.131 --> 00:30:36.691 A shmagle with some shmamm. 00:30:37.471 --> 00:30:42.291 Dude. Dude, that would be amazing. We're going to have to spit the idea to them. 00:30:42.371 --> 00:30:45.171 All right. We got it. Like you said, we're going to be on first name basis. 00:30:45.631 --> 00:30:49.031 Absolutely we are. I just saw the grand opening was posted today. Yes. 00:30:49.791 --> 00:30:52.271 Wow. All right. We're way too excited about this. We are way too. 00:30:52.271 --> 00:30:56.971 But we are going to be spreading God's shalom in sheets. That's right. 00:30:58.011 --> 00:31:03.011 Is spam part of God's shalom? I don't know that spam is God's best for all of God's people. 00:31:03.551 --> 00:31:06.051 All right, now we're getting a little bit into the weeds here. 00:31:06.171 --> 00:31:10.971 I mean, you know, when we get to heaven, we get a new heavenly body. Is there spam in heaven? 00:31:11.871 --> 00:31:16.271 If it brings you joy, there's Smaim in heaven. Okay. Okay. I'm good with that. 00:31:16.531 --> 00:31:20.311 I'm good with that. We can discuss that topic further. That will be another time. 00:31:20.591 --> 00:31:22.651 Another podcast episode. There's Smaim in heaven. 00:31:23.451 --> 00:31:26.751 Dude, it's been fun as always. Oh, yeah. Great time. Yeah. Let us know how you're 00:31:26.751 --> 00:31:32.971 living out God's peace, and we will see you next time on the Live. Later. 00:31:29.840 --> 00:31:41.840 Music. 00:31:43.131 --> 00:31:46.791 And that's a wrap for this week's Life on 11 podcast. As always, 00:31:46.971 --> 00:31:50.991 we hope that you will subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your feeds from. 00:31:51.191 --> 00:31:55.511 You can follow us on our social media channels by searching at Life on 11 podcast. 00:31:55.891 --> 00:32:00.491 And one of the best ways you can support what we do is to share this episode with your friends. 00:32:00.631 --> 00:32:04.191 We hope you will join us next time on the Life on 11 podcast where faith is 00:32:04.191 --> 00:32:05.811 loud and God's truth is louder. 00:32:06.011 --> 00:32:08.791 If this episode stirred your spirit, share it with someone who needs a little 00:32:08.791 --> 00:32:13.431 hope today. Stay bold, stay rooted, and remember, we're called to not do the kingdom halfway. 00:32:13.751 --> 00:32:16.331 Keep living loud for Jesus. We'll see you next time.