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Yappin’ about real life and the OG.
I heard a voice as clear as I'm speaking to you that said, you're going to move to Texas and you're gonna live in that log home. We're gonna end up going back home to Seattle. The next year, I'm laying in the gutter. My mind's like, this is miserable. Laying in the gutter and I'm fixing the jack, and all of a sudden, I heard the same voice say, get out.
Robert:I heard that voice. I knew it, and I started pushing my way out. Just as I cleared my head, the bus fell. And if mom says no, we're not going. Mom said, god already told me.
Micaela:Robert, thank you so much for being on.
Robert:Absolutely.
Micaela:I appreciate it. I met you when I, dated your son for a period of time. Mhmm. And I start with every podcast, How I See Christ in the Guest. K.
Micaela:And for you, it has been this beautiful love that's come from a place of strength. Like, you would die for your family.
Robert:Mhmm.
Micaela:And Christ tells us that that's the greatest form of love that you can show is to lay your life down for somebody else.
Robert:Right.
Micaela:And never have I ever felt that your love was coming from a place of necessity or of weakness. It's always been a place of strength and that you care so deeply for your circle of people and even the people you don't know. Mhmm. You guys instantly welcome me into your your home. I remember the first time I came in there, I was not expecting to meet you guys.
Micaela:You guys came back from the store.
Robert:Yeah.
Micaela:And you're just like, okay. Like, you know, nice to meet you, and just did life. And I felt like I was instantly just welcomed. There was no expectation or earning or anything. Like so it made such an impact on me.
Micaela:And your family story was the biggest reason that I wanted to talk to you and you specifically as well because that was something that I heard early on of your experience with God. Mhmm. So I wanted to just start and ask, have you always believed in God?
Robert:No. No. I didn't come to know Jesus till I was a senior in high school, and a friend invited me to go on a Young Life retreat.
Micaela:Mhmm.
Robert:And it was a Canadian boat ride it was a boat ride through the Canada waters to this resort. And, I remember sitting on the dock and accepting Christ as my savior on that dock. So right out of high school. Just out of high school. So So
Micaela:What, I guess, led you to that point of accepting Christ?
Robert:Oh, you can't you can't deny the when you hear the gospel because I never heard the gospel like that. Mhmm. So when you're hearing the gospel and what Jesus did for us and and our role in life and and questions you, what's your life about? It opens you up to go, you know what? This is right.
Robert:I mean, your spirit feels it. We just deny it, but God's spirit calls you, and I just answered. So you put anybody in the right environment and give them the truth, God does the rest. And that's what happened.
Micaela:Yeah. Yeah. It reminds me of that verse that says our consciousness bears witness to our lives. Mhmm. Like, your consciousness is always pulling you back.
Micaela:The Holy Spirit is always calling you and saying, like, hey. Like, there's something bigger. There's something greater. So it sounds like that was kind of, like, what it was for you.
Robert:Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. It was it was awesome. I mean, I was surrounded by good people, godly people, and I didn't know, but there was, like, a mission to win me over for Christ because I was a strong voice.
Robert:I was all those things, in high school. And it's like, if we could win him over, then, man, we could really do it. And I don't know. God won me over. Mhmm.
Robert:They were just there to help. Mhmm. So it was awesome.
Micaela:Yeah. Yeah.
Robert:So I
Micaela:love that. So what was what would you say is the first time that you've heard the voice of God in your life?
Robert:Audibly?
Micaela:Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Robert:I mean, I the I knew the first time I really knew God, Christ in my life is when I met my wife, and I knew I was gonna marry her. Mhmm. And it there wasn't like this moment. It was just I I I dated girls, everything else, but she was different. Mhmm.
Robert:And and God put her his mark on her for me. Mhmm. For us to come together, and we've been together for forty two years. So, that's when I really first felt God, felt the direction from God. So that's what happened there.
Robert:So
Micaela:That's cool, though. I love that. If somebody is maybe in that situation because dating is probably one of the biggest topics that people around my age are constantly worried about. Like, is this the person God has for me? You know, what what how would you explain what that feeling was or that assurance?
Micaela:Was it peace? Like, what was that?
Robert:I'll tell you exactly what it's like. So if you go to a restaurant and somebody says, what do you want? Steak? Spaghetti? What and then they say that one word that, you know what?
Robert:I really want a good salad. Or they say salad, but that's it. I want salad. Mhmm. So so you you meet lots of people, but when you meet the one God wants you to meet, that's the one.
Robert:That. That's what I want right there. And that's exactly what it is. It wasn't a it wasn't I'm in the Bible and and God said go talk to Lori. Yeah.
Robert:It's just like it's just like you said. I know that simplification of it, but there's no doubt. And and it's and and as I get older, I realize that that's just the spirit in me that confirms to me to go, yep. Go that way. That person right there, go ask them what they do for a living.
Micaela:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Robert:So that you can line up 10 people, but there's one that God wants you to talk to, you will know it. Mhmm. You just I know that's probably an ambiguous answer, but it's it's the best one I can come up with because we want, like, movies where this light comes over us and and the person floats to you and you there's no doubt. But it's not that way. Yeah.
Robert:It's just not. Yeah. But in your heart, you know it's right or you know it's wrong.
Micaela:Mhmm.
Robert:And we just have to give God the glory and the the opening to be able to talk to us for that.
Micaela:I agree. I wonder if he does it that way too because he wants us in a close relationship. And so if we were doing things where if everything was just, like you said, obvious, like, glowing lights, person's floating towards you, I would have no need for God. Right. And it requires this sensitivity to the Holy Spirit as well where it's like, okay.
Micaela:What do you want in my life? Like, it requires a relationship.
Robert:Absolutely.
Micaela:So that might be a reason why. But, no, I hear you. Like, I wish it could just, you know, like, glowing lights and you're like,
Robert:oh, yeah. It'd make it easy, wouldn't it?
Micaela:It would.
Robert:But it's life isn't easy. Yeah. And and it wasn't easy for Jesus. True. I mean, every day, we have to fight to find God through the rubble of the world stuff to get to where we need to go.
Robert:Mhmm. Every person we meet, we learn from them and we can take from them and and helps if it helps make you better, those are good things.
Micaela:Yeah. So Oh, I love that. Okay. So the main story that I heard when I first started spending more time with your family was a story about how your family got a cabin. Mhmm.
Micaela:I would love for you to touch on that.
Robert:Sure. My my sister and brother-in-law lived on a 17 acre, parcel of land. And they had a huge main house, like a six car carport garage, and then connected to that was a guest house. And I came down to visit them, and I was in the guest house. And so, one day and this is in 1988, so it shows you how old I am, I guess.
Robert:But, I'm I'm from Seattle. K? I I like it cold. I'm I'm it's cool with cold. Mhmm.
Robert:So to come to Texas in September, and I I'm in the main house. I walk out of in the carport, and then I walk forward into the sun. And this is in September of eighty eight. It was so hot. I'm sweating.
Robert:I'm a Seattle guy, and I'm like, who would ever live in Texas? And I I wasn't in a prayerful mindset. I was nothing other than going, why would somebody wanna live here? And I could see about two acres away, there's a log home, and it had a stained glass window facing me. So I'm facing north.
Robert:In that moment, when I'm thinking that thought, why would anybody live there? I heard a voice as clear as I'm speaking to you that said, you're going to move to Texas, and you're gonna live in that log home. And I'm looking around. I thought my brother-in-law was playing a joke. I'm looking around the carport.
Robert:I I I didn't see him anywhere. I was by myself. So I said, well, that was weird. So went to the back the guest house and whatever and ended up going back home to Seattle. And then, the next year, I was a diesel mechanic.
Robert:I worked on buses, city buses. So the next year, the get to the quick of it, there was a flat tire on the bus. And so I brought a wrecker around to lift up the body. You can't do that because you're scratching it. So I'm climbing underneath it, and I set a bottle jack underneath the to lift up so I can get the tire up.
Robert:Set one side, and then the next thing I screwed over, I'm laying in the gutter. My mind's like, this is miserable. Laying in the gutter and I'm fixing the jack, and all of a sudden, I heard the same voice say, get out. That's all he said. Get out.
Robert:I I'm I'm a big man. I'm laying in a gutter. I there was not a lot of rooms. I heard that voice. I knew it, and I started pushing my way out.
Robert:Just as I cleared my head, the bus fell. Wow. It was falling off the jacks. I had no idea. So it falls, I roll over, and it it it hurt my shoulder and all that.
Robert:And and so, I'm just holding my arm saying, let's just get this done, you know, and that kind of thing and go home. And, I never went back to work. I was I was out of work for a year. It was a union and all that. It was I wasn't, like, in a hospital.
Robert:So where but I want that forced me to look at my life. Well, my brother-in-law that I came down to visit, it was a chiropractor and my sister. And they wanted me to come run their office, their chiropractic office. Being a laboring person, I've worked with my hands on my life a lot. This is a great opportunity.
Robert:Right? So it all these things of the voices didn't click to me. So I go to my wife, Lori, and I said, this is what happened and we need to move to Texas. And she said that she her spirit felt God telling her she was anguishing over the fact that you're you're something big is gonna happen for you to Lori. Something big is gonna happen.
Robert:So she she didn't wanna leave. She's born and raised in Seattle. She goes to her mom thinking if mom says no, we're not going. Mom said, god already told me, you're moving. So sorry.
Robert:Not at all. Yeah. So so that girded the way for us to sell everything and move to Texas. Wow. And so we moved down here in 1991.
Robert:So we, like, I just visit them. God tells me in '88, we're moving. '91, we moved down to Texas. We live in the guest house. Now we have Megan and Shelby, our two kids, our two daughters, and that's it.
Robert:So we drive down here, and, we live in a guest house for almost two years. So while we're in the guest house, Laurie gets pregnant with Ashley. Now on this property, now I've forgotten the voices. I've forgotten all that. We there's a little trail that goes towards the log home out for the few acres because Lori's pregnant, which she needed to walk.
Robert:So I come home, we walked all the time. One day, on a Wednesday, I said, I'm gonna put a note in that mailbox that log home just to say, hey. Do you ever wanna rent it or sell it or lease it? On that Sunday night, prior to the Wednesday, that Sunday night, God told those people that there's gonna be a family that's gonna approach you to buy the house, and you're gonna sell it to them, and you're gonna do what it takes to help them get in the house. Wow.
Robert:Yeah. So we go to visit. We put it in on a Wednesday. We sit down to meet with them a couple days later, and they shared their testimony about this. And how god called them out, and they're like, what?
Robert:Okay. So in the end, we assumed their loan on the home, and there was even a lien on the house from, ex wife's father and stuff like that. The man paid the lien off against the house. So we assume this loan on this home, and we lived there for twenty five years. So and and during all that time, my three daughters got married on the property.
Robert:We we did a lot of God outreach there. The church grew there. We grew there as a family. And most importantly, my two sons were born there in that house. So that log comb, because we go, alright, cod.
Robert:That's when it all clicked. You you told us we're gonna move down here. You saved my life underneath the bus. So for what? We're trying to figure that out, and I can say this because we talked about it.
Robert:The only reason we feel that we God brought us down here is because we were only gonna have two kids. We never woulda had Ashley, Kyle, and Chad. And God wants them here. So we are no different to anybody. We're no different than you.
Robert:We're just people living life, and God chose to use us to bring our kids into this world because he must have plans for them. Right? Mhmm. So that's the story of the log home. And once once my last daughter got married, we sold the property, and, we are now empty nesters
Micaela:Mhmm.
Robert:And seeing, okay, god. What's next? You know? So anyway I
Micaela:think your testimony is what's next. Like, sharing that story and, like, how you've heard God. I think a lot of people, even like you said, where you're like, that was weird, and you don't you're not I think we're so conditioned to not think it's God. Right. He's speaking to us constantly Right.
Micaela:In audible ways and inaudible ways through people, through even I had a friend that said she saw a tree and she knew God was talking to her through something in the tree. Like, I was like, that's crazy, but it it's so true. Like, he's constantly pursuing us.
Robert:Yeah.
Micaela:So I think you sharing your testimony is going to help a lot of people to be able to, one, trust that, but then, two, lean into it as well. So he's, like, constantly seeking and pursuing. But so that was one of my questions was what was the response of those around you? But it sounds like everybody else was in alignment. Like, they god was speaking to them as well.
Robert:Absolutely. That's crazy. Right? Yeah. You know, one thing I I should have prefaced all this about was in my young walk after I received Christ, I came back to the world, the real world, and I started to live in that old world as a Christian.
Micaela:Yeah.
Robert:And I remember vividly, I'm at a party, a drinking party with all my old friends. And we're everybody's having a great time, and I felt so alone because I didn't belong there anymore. It wasn't where I was supposed to be. Yep. So when I got this job working for the city in Seattle, I had a man approach me there because I'm sharing I'm saying praise God.
Robert:Hallelujah. I'm talking like that. But I think I was playing with a foot in both worlds.
Micaela:Yeah.
Robert:And he came up to me and said, listen, Robert. You need to get get right or get left, but stop playing the middle of the road. You're gonna make a commitment one way or the other. And that's it was that happened before I heard God's guidance. I was I spent much more time with God, much more time with his word to find out, wait.
Robert:What am I? What am I supposed to be doing here? Lord, I wanna be where you want me to be. Oh, you want that, Robert? Well, okay.
Robert:Well, you're gonna move to Texas. And since you're not moving so fast, I'm gonna have a bus fall on you. Now you can't do that job anymore. Now what are you gonna do? I kinda felt like Jonah.
Robert:Right? Can't get out of it. So so it's awesome. It was and and again, I wanna say there was nothing special about Robert. Nothing.
Robert:And, why? Because God loves all of us, and he wants to do that through all of us. Yeah. Amen. So what a privilege.
Robert:Right? Yeah. Hallelujah.
Micaela:I like that you mentioned the one foot in, one foot out. Mhmm. Because I've shared with you recently. I was like, I've that used to be me. Mhmm.
Micaela:Like, I wanted the things of the world, but I also wanted the benefits of God. Yep. And I heard this analogy, and this guy said that there's a devil on one side of the grass, God on the other side. And there was this guy and he had to make a choice. And he's like, well, like, I don't know.
Micaela:I don't really necessarily wanna go, like, fooling for God. Like, I like the things that of the world. They bring me, like, quick pleasures and stuff. And so he sat in the middle. And then he was like, I'm just not gonna make a decision.
Micaela:And then he said the in the analogy, he said, and then the the devil grabbed him by the arm. He said, the fence is mine. Mhmm. And I was like, that's so true. Like, it's it's it's black and white in that sense.
Micaela:Yep. But sometimes it takes us, and I've noticed that a lot of firm believers, you've had that season of one foot in, one foot out, and then you realize that that is impossible. Like, you can't have the life transformation and the change and the peace that surpasses understanding without fully committing.
Robert:Absolutely. You can't staying in the middle is a choice. Yeah. And the god didn't give you that choice. He said with me or basically or without me.
Robert:I mean, you gotta make that choice.
Micaela:Yeah.
Robert:And and and it's not until you until I made that choice to really dedicate my life to Christ and servants in the church and servants of people that outreach and ministry, downtown ministry, all of that sounds really not, sacrificial, but it's not because that's what you're calling, then god was able to use me. Because if I was still drinking and having all that fun in the world, would god I don't know. Maybe he'd raise up someone else to do that. I don't know.
Micaela:I think it's interesting too because, like, a lot of times where I felt like I've heard the voice of God, I was in a similar situation where it was like, why would I ever like, you almost have the complete opposite thought. Yeah. And that was almost the reassurance that it was from God because I was like, this is not a thought for me. Right. So I wonder if he used that too because you were like, this is miserable.
Micaela:This is hot. Why would I ever and then he's like, you're gonna move here. Yeah.
Robert:Exactly. And that's what was so when you look back on it, at the moment, you're like, okay. That was just my head or that was just my, but I know I heard an audible voice. Now see, that's because I'm thick thick headed. I just don't get it a lot of times.
Robert:A gentle poke doesn't work for me. I need somebody to hit me with a brick to go, hey. Go to the right. Yeah. And that was a go to the right moment from God.
Robert:Mhmm. So and and and in all my heart, those are the two times I've ever heard an audible voice in my life. And why would I hear an audible voice to get out from underneath the bus? Right. You know?
Robert:The devil isn't gonna save me. Right. So there was just a bizarre thing. It wasn't a thought. It wasn't somebody saying it, and there was nobody there to say that.
Robert:Mhmm. But it was the the coolest part again was it was the same voice.
Micaela:Yeah. So whenever if you were able to describe it, is it like a soft or strong or, like, what would it sound like?
Robert:A normal voice just like yours.
Micaela:Interesting.
Robert:Just like yours. It wasn't a man or a woman. It was just a voice.
Micaela:Interesting.
Robert:And, very clear because my hearing's terrible. Very normal. Very normal. It wasn't yelling. It wasn't soft because I don't hear soft.
Robert:It was like, you're gonna move to Texas, so you're gonna live in that log home. It was just as simple as that. Wow. Yeah. That was fun.
Micaela:That's so cool. So have you because I've had somebody ask me this before because I was explaining recently, I had a situation where I felt like God was telling me to pray for somebody for healing. And I was like, absolutely not. Like, I'm not gonna do that. Like, it was at a previous gym in Missouri whenever I was there, like, full time.
Robert:K.
Micaela:And I kept feeling I was like, no. I'm not gonna do it. And so she started walking out and just it overtook where it was like, you're you're disobeying me if you don't go. And I was like, I gotta go.
Robert:Wow.
Micaela:So I went and I prayed over her, and she was experiencing a lot of tooth pain at that time. So I said, can I hey? Can I just can I pray for you real quick? Like, I feel like God's telling me to pray for you. And I pray over her, and I'm like, in Jesus' name, every, you know, tooth, every every piece of it be healed in Jesus' name, every pain, you know, everything.
Micaela:And I did it out of an act of obedience. I didn't expect anything to happen, and I kid you not. She goes, it's gone.
Robert:I believe it.
Micaela:And I was like, woah.
Robert:Because you didn't do it.
Micaela:Right. Not at all. Right. Not in any way. Right.
Micaela:I didn't even want to. Like, I didn't at all. But the reason why I bring that story up is because I told it to somebody and they were like, well, has God ever been wrong? Or meaning, has the urge that I felt ever led to something that wasn't spectacular? You know?
Micaela:And so I was curious if you've had any experiences like that where you've felt like God was calling you to something and it wasn't it wasn't necessarily it. And because I have had those where I'd pray for somebody and it was like, that wasn't it. Like, this didn't seem received well. This didn't seem like it was ordained. So I didn't know if maybe you've had the opposite experience where you were trying to follow.
Micaela:You thought God told you to do something and it turned out maybe it wasn't.
Robert:Yeah. Especially in c when we're in Seattle in the ministry, and there was a group of us that would go downtown to a mission. I think it was a union gospel mission is what it was called. And we we would go down for a couple hours, and you'd do basically a church service, and you'd pray for people, and then you spend a lot of one on one time to help people. I think there's times as somebody with a heart that wants to help.
Robert:Mhmm. I I maybe I I I I pushed that. Right? I'm gonna I I'm gonna show you how spiritual I am maybe. I don't know what it is, but there's 10 times I I think there's times that I tend to, overstep myself.
Robert:I get out over my skis and say, no. I'm gonna pray for that person because I'm gonna make them even though I'm not really trying to be selfish, but maybe I am. I can wield some power here. Right? I've I I healed somebody's tooth.
Robert:No, Robert. You didn't heal the tooth. It's like you're, you were just the vessel in which to flow. Exactly. So there's a lot of times where, I thought I needed to pray for somebody, and I was I was really hoping for, something to happen.
Robert:Here's a great story. In the when I became a Christian and went to my wife's church and, they said, who wants to receive the Holy Spirit? I'm like, boy, I want some of that. Yeah. So they made me come down in the center aisle, and they they they laid hands on me, the elders.
Robert:And I'm on my knees, and they're praying for me, and they're pushing down really hard. And I'm like, look what I up. I'm looking at it. I'm not feeling it. You know?
Robert:It was so funny. So then they stopped and go, what do you feel? I look, well, I don't know. Feel the same. So they go, okay.
Robert:Then they did it again. They go, yeah. How about now? No. So then we went to a back room and it relaxed everything.
Robert:Don't force it. God will do what he does. And then it then I felt filled in the spirit speaking in tongues and things like that.
Micaela:Totally.
Robert:Pray in tongues. So but it was just funny because that was a perfect example of, okay. We want somebody to receive the holy spirit. We're gonna do it right here, right now. Well, maybe God that wasn't God's plan.
Micaela:Mhmm.
Robert:So I I learned like, you gotta laugh at it sometime. Right? We're so funny. Yeah. Yeah.
Robert:We're doing something cool and For sure. That's really not what God was asking for.
Micaela:Yeah. So I noticed a lot of times too whenever I was seeking an experience, God didn't allow me to feel his presence because I was seeking the experience, not him.
Robert:Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Because it it it it is a once you figure out we wanna figure out God and and to bottle it like an energy drink and boom, I'm on.
Robert:And I'm I've I've never had God work like that. To to the two times I wasn't thinking about God, he was thinking of me and spoke to me. Right? Yeah. And that's where I I I keep trying to come out of the flesh on that and go, just go with flow.
Robert:Mhmm. Just ask God to guide your day. Yeah. He'll bring the right person in front of you that needs help. A a great example.
Robert:Yesterday, I'm flying home from Denver Airport. I go into the Denver Airport. I'm lost. I mean, this there's construction everywhere. I have nowhere to go.
Robert:I'm like, lord, where am I supposed to go? A guy walks up to me and goes, hey. You look lost. I said, I am. He goes, I am too.
Robert:He goes, and I fly out of here all the time. I've never seen this before. Wow. So I explained, I how this and that and the other. So I we ended up together.
Robert:I followed him, and we went through all the security and through all the little hidden areas to where we had to go. But just standing there in the middle of the airport, hey. You're lost.
Micaela:Dude, that's so cool. It
Robert:is fun. God's good, man.
Micaela:He is. Yeah. I agree. And I love that you mentioned that you were talking to him about, things like even being lost. Because I think a lot of times, at least for me in the past, I've only seek God when it was like a life and death decision, like biggest thing.
Micaela:And so I started realizing I started hearing God's voice a lot more whenever I would even have a casual conversation, like, how is your day, God? And I I literally that was the first time I remember audibly not audibly. Sorry. First time I remember hearing God respond back though. Because I was like, how was your day?
Micaela:Like, does anybody ask you how your day is? And he told me it was, like, amazing. Like, it it it was just it was, like, one word. It was, like, amazing. But it had this, like, emphasis of, like, it was so good.
Micaela:And I was thinking, I was, like, why was it so good? Like, why was today better than any other day? And and he said it's because the relationship and the that a lot of people were talking to him. And I was like, why is everybody talking to God today? And I looked and I was like, oh my gosh.
Micaela:It's Sunday. And I was like, this is crazy. And then that's when I was like, woah. Like, you can have a two way conversation. Like, this isn't just one way.
Micaela:Because for the longest time, I was praying to somebody in the sky, and it seemed very far away and intangible. Mhmm. And then once I started inquiring about everyday things, simple things, then Then he started talking to me about really serious things and telling me to move, like, back to Texas. And, like, it it led to where I am today. And so that's why I'm so passionate about it too because I think God speaks to all of us.
Micaela:I think that Absolutely. Either with distractions like social media or, other people's influence that we put a block to it. And we try to say that the supernatural doesn't exist when quite possibly that's exactly what God's trying to use to bring us and others to him.
Robert:You know, I've seen, like, right now, they talk about fake news and all this stuff going on and and, people around me are like, hey. We're in the end times, and it's it's going to time's short. Okay. Well, they've been saying that for a long time. I don't necessarily feel that.
Robert:But the one thing I am noticing, because I'm a news junkie
Micaela:Mhmm.
Robert:Is I'm hearing more about God and Jesus in the public airwaves than I've ever heard before.
Micaela:Yeah.
Robert:I mean, pro athletes that say, you know what? First, I wanna say my lord and savior Jesus Christ. I mean, they they never used to do that. Maybe one off. Mhmm.
Robert:It's a lot. Yeah. And some of these it's just it's just cool. It really is. And I and I it says in the end times, kingdom will rise against kingdom.
Robert:So Satan will up the ante. Well, God's gonna beat you. Yeah. You know? And I wanna be on God's team.
Micaela:Yeah. Totally. Do. I agree though even in my own circle, and it seems and maybe it's just because I'm around young adults a lot, but they're on fire for God. Yeah.
Micaela:Like, they are going, and I've also seen, like, the the gifts of of of the Holy Spirit come through people in a new way that I've never seen either.
Robert:Yep.
Micaela:And it's been so encouraging because like you said, when it talks about how, you know, kingdom against kingdom, it also says that the power that raised Christ from the dead resides in us and we will do more things than what Christ did. Christ raised somebody from the dead. Yeah. Like, the limit is Yeah. You know what I mean?
Robert:Absolutely agree.
Micaela:It's crazy.
Robert:It's a, there what I'm seeing in in the news is there's a revival going through the colleges.
Micaela:Yep.
Robert:The the it is it is a a a back in the day, the Billy Graham with the tent revivals, it's up to that degree. It is becoming a big deal. You don't hear about it because the media controls things. And I'm not a media weirdo thing, but you watch TV, there's only so much time to cover so many things. Mhmm.
Robert:But if you go to find sources via the Internet, and, yeah, it can be verified.
Micaela:Yeah. Yeah.
Robert:But it's like, wow. It's exciting.
Micaela:It is. Yeah. Yeah. God's moving in a powerful way around, I mean, quite literally everybody. Okay.
Micaela:So a question I had because people have asked me this and I don't know how to answer is one, kinda like you said, they think that there's something special about you, that God's chosen you for some reason. It's like, that's not it. Right. But I also don't know how to explain how it came up to that point or because I've had people, they're like, well, I wish I could hear God like that. Like, it's almost like they're not encouraged by the story.
Micaela:So then anyways, what I'm trying to ask is how would you tell somebody if they're like, I am desperate to hear God? Like, what would you tell them to do?
Robert:You know, they they do bungee jumping where you stand on the top of a bridge and your ankles are tied off to a rope and you jump off that bridge Mhmm. And you have to trust that that bungee cord is gonna hold you. Right?
Micaela:Mhmm.
Robert:And after it grabs you and you bounce in, you're like, woo hoo. But the time when you jump as you're falling, who knows? There's not a lot of who who's going on until you know you're safe. I I God wants us to not literally hear, but wants us to, in our faith, jump.
Micaela:Mhmm.
Robert:Trust. In this case, the cord, but trust god. If the we goes back to what we're saying earlier. I believe, and I, if I find myself on it, quit trying to put another foot in the other world. Either you're with me or you're not.
Robert:And so it's a constant it's a daily thing.
Micaela:Mhmm.
Robert:Every day, I have to metaphorically jump Mhmm. And trust that god's gonna get me where I gotta go, like when I get on an airplane. That's scary. It's shuddering and you're thinking, oh my gosh. It's gonna go down.
Robert:It's not. Mhmm. You gotta trust. And so that's that's just how I see it. We don't have control that we think we have.
Robert:Mhmm. So, in return, I'm just gonna put my trust in God. And, again, on the plane flight, I said, God, I love you. If I die, that's okay.
Micaela:Mhmm.
Robert:So I'll see my wife in heaven and my kids and all that, and we'll be together again. Because I can't control the plane. I'm not flying it. Yeah. So that's how life is.
Robert:Trust. And isn't that that's what Jesus' whole thing was about, trust in him. So Yeah. But that's still you still gotta jump. Right?
Robert:I've never done it. I'm a coward about doing something like that because being a big guy and where to ruin the rope. But what a what a what a cool thing to do, I think. So, anyway
Micaela:What do you think, metaphorically, what are some of the things that people aren't jumping fully on?
Robert:Literally, what are they not jumping on? Or
Micaela:Yeah. I guess, like, in a tangible way. What would it look like if you're like, what do you think are some common things that people are not trust falling with God, I guess?
Robert:Number one, I'd say finances. Right? We buy lottery tickets because that's the ticket. We're gonna heck. I'm gonna hit the big one versus no.
Robert:If you want to live a a a certain lifestyle, then you have to make plans for that and financially be able to deal with it and and afford to pay for it and stuff like that. I've seen finances used a lot Mhmm. About if you're being blessed, that's because for sure you got money. Okay. Well, I kinda worked for that money.
Robert:You know? I don't know anybody that won the lottery.
Micaela:Mhmm.
Robert:So, I don't know. That's the best answer I can think of at this second.
Micaela:No. I I appreciate that too because I think finances is a big thing, and I think it's also a touchy topic. So I think it's important to mention it because there's a lot of verses about finance. There's a lot of verses about the love of money, and I don't think being wealthy is anything that's against God at all. No.
Robert:Not at all.
Micaela:I think it's if we erected into an idol that becomes bigger than our God.
Robert:Right.
Micaela:Yeah. And I think that can be easy to do because money can afford a lot of things that typically we have to rely on God for.
Robert:Absolutely agree.
Micaela:Yeah. So it's a it's a fine line for sure.
Robert:Some of the some of the wealthiest people I've known, I don't know, millionaires or anything, but the the the people that I feel that were blessed the most financially gave the most.
Micaela:Yeah. Yes. I just heard, I just was reading last night in second Corinthians, and it talked about the man who sows more will reap more. And it was talking about finances where God will continue to bless the hands that give the most because from that, they gave glory to God. Mhmm.
Robert:And I
Micaela:was like, woah. That's powerful. Because I think so many times we feel like we don't have a lot more holding on to it. Yeah. But he's quite literally telling us the more you give, the more I will bless you to continue to give.
Micaela:Yep. You know? So and it's the only thing that I believe in the Bible that I've seen that God says that we we can test him on. Mhmm. Like, test him on the the generosity side of things.
Micaela:So Yeah. Yeah. It's powerful.
Robert:It is. It is. Because the and I'm talking about people that give not expecting anything in return.
Micaela:Exactly.
Robert:I I need, my fridge is broken and I can't afford to get a new one, and all of a sudden one shows up. Right?
Micaela:Yeah.
Robert:I mean, and it's not that the person could afford the the the person buying the fridge could really afford it, but they trusted God to do it.
Micaela:Yeah.
Robert:And it's just it just it's a whole another way of thinking. You're like, wow. That's crazy. My last hundred dollars. Okay.
Robert:Well, here's a hundred bucks, man. I'll figure out my end on the other side. And and they're giving because they feel led to give.
Micaela:Totally. Yeah. Yeah. So because it says it's not supposed to be out of, reluctance or compassion.
Robert:Exactly.
Micaela:It's a it's a calling like
Robert:And that's hard to do. Yeah. I mean, you and we can talk about it, but when you're walking it and you're you are pulling those dollar bills out of you really straight, get them out of your wallet, that's tough. Yeah. Because you're thinking, how am I gonna do this?
Robert:Okay. Wait. I know there's a god, but, hey. I got a bill. And and so it's faith.
Micaela:Yeah. And I think that's constantly what he uses, whether it's money, relationships, where you're gonna live, college, what's your career. He's constantly calling us to the edge where you do have to trust. Like, it makes me think of when Peter was walking out into the water. He had to watch Jesus Yep.
Micaela:Intimately
Robert:Yep.
Micaela:And be like, I trust you that you are who you say you are, and I'm gonna walk on this water. And it was whenever he started realizing how crazy everything was around him, he looked away, and that's when he fell. And I think that's constantly in our life where he's trying to build that endurance of faith so then we can continue to do even bigger things for him.
Robert:Absolutely agree. Yeah. And that is a perfect analogy for that. Because when we start looking at things around us, like, oh my gosh. How am I gonna pay my rent?
Robert:Yep. You took your eyes off the Lord.
Micaela:Oof. Yeah. Talk about it. That's good.
Robert:And then you're sinking and then I can see him reaching down. I'm I'm you know, looking through the water and he pulls me up. You're like, oh, okay.
Micaela:Yeah. That is good though. And it's such a good reminder because even like the verse that says, like, take every thought captive and subject it to Christ. That's a good reminder where, like, a lot of times the enemy almost always will attack your mind where it's like, are you sure? Like, that's what he did with Eve.
Micaela:Yep. It was those questions that just, like, infiltrated to be like, no. Did he really say that? Right. Did he really like, he just doesn't want the best for you.
Robert:Right.
Micaela:And so you have to be like, no. Like, I rebuke that in Jesus' name. I know that he's he's calling me to do this. I know that this is what he wants me to do, but it's that constant battle.
Robert:Yeah. Yeah. No. It is. You see that in dating.
Robert:Right? I'm gonna hook up. Hey. She's cute. He's cute.
Robert:All this stuff. Hooking up hooking up. Is that really the way we should hook up? You know, you go that's just one of many. Go have a drink and stuff like that.
Robert:Yep. Is it right?
Micaela:Yeah. Or is it old fashioned? Like, am I just being overly religious?
Robert:Exactly. Yeah. So
Micaela:Yeah. I heard this quote and they said, cultural or lukewarm Christianity is so popular that actual Christianity seems radical. And I was like, wow. Like, that was 100% where I was. So
Robert:Well, when you look at what's going on in our political world, we've we've you can embrace a certain theology or way of thinking. And then when a whole one that's one eighty from what that that well, let me see. How do I say this? Be careful. If there's a certain thinking that marshmallows are okay and and this is okay to the whole world.
Robert:We're gonna go marshmallows. And then over here, a whole different way to say marshmallows are bad. There's a better way.
Micaela:Mhmm.
Robert:But yet there's a mentality for marshmallows, and and everybody driving to marshmallows. And so it's a way of thinking. And then, somebody new comes in and says, what are you guys doing? Marshmallows are bad. Mhmm.
Robert:And so it challenges the status quo. And I think that's good. I think that challenging us, period, is good. Mhmm. Challenge who we are, who we're seeing, what we're doing.
Micaela:Yeah. So I agree. And I think kinda like we said earlier, like, that's the constant pursuit of the Holy Spirit. Like, once you have that, it will continue to work into your life to make you more like Christ. And so the things that I was convicted about like, that I'm convicted about now, like, that I feel like, okay.
Micaela:I can't do this and sit in right standing with God. Mhmm. That didn't bother me a year ago. Like, I could care less.
Robert:Right.
Micaela:So I think it's just like this constant work that's in us.
Robert:Mhmm.
Micaela:And, thankfully, it's not something that it it's something that has come with more time with God, meaning, like, the more I even ran away from God, actually, to be honest, he'll be like, hey.
Robert:Yeah. Yeah.
Micaela:You know?
Robert:Yeah. He didn't struck you with lightning. Right.
Micaela:Even though I deserved it. Yeah. Yeah. For sure.
Robert:We all deserve that.
Micaela:It's true.
Robert:But that's why when we think we should be spanked and we're hugged instead, it goes so much further. And God knows that.
Micaela:Yeah.
Robert:So and it that's okay. That's what makes God God. Yeah. I can't understand his logic sometimes, but I'll take it.
Micaela:Yeah. I love that. Well, thank you so much for being on. I appreciate it.
Robert:Absolutely. I I opportunity to share I've not shared that testimony too much and, because people think you're nuts. What do you mean you heard a voice? I I can tell you exactly where I was standing and all the surrounding things to it. Mhmm.
Robert:It changed my life.
Micaela:Mhmm.
Robert:It really did. Yeah. Brought me to Texas and all with everything. And now I'm excited to see what what God's got in store next, and I'm listening. Yeah.
Robert:So thanks for having me.
Micaela:Absolutely. Thank you.