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Tell Me More is a weekly podcast hosted by Katy Reed Hodges and Luke Stehr, where they unpack the Sunday sermon with Dr. Dennis Wiles. This podcast is designed on the premise that Dr. Wiles always has more to say than can fit in a 35 minute sermon - so we have fun discussing it here each week. We hope that in listening you are educated, encouraged and more connected to the pastor and his teaching!
Welcome to this episode of Tell Me More. We're in the studio. We've kinda closed one preaching series, and we've opened opened another. And so we're talking about prayer and the fall and everything that we have to look forward to, and we're really glad you're listening.
Speaker 2:Well, welcome to another episode of Tell Me More. We have all of us, which feels like a very rare event this summer.
Speaker 1:This summer, I think we got one, and then this one. Yeah. This is how we get second weeks ago,
Speaker 2:we all got here. Been together since.
Speaker 3:Glad We you're back, Katie. Started.
Speaker 1:I'm glad to be back.
Speaker 3:We've missed you.
Speaker 2:Yep. We have missed you.
Speaker 1:Thank you. I'm I'm glad to be back. Appreciate all the support. Yep. For those that don't know, my mom died.
Speaker 1:It was a hard week. Yeah. But I feel very supported. Yeah. And I'm glad to be back.
Speaker 2:Yeah. We're glad to have you back.
Speaker 1:Yes. We
Speaker 2:are. We care very deeply for you.
Speaker 1:Thank you. I do believe that. I feel it. So
Speaker 3:We've been praying for you. You know that. Your family and I'll take it. Got to go to the funeral
Speaker 1:and Yeah. Great first of showing. Yes. A great first of showing, and I would have loved to show everyone around more in my beloved hometown. Yep.
Speaker 1:Sweet little church. Did a great job. Absolutely. It's also very sweet. Very sweet.
Speaker 1:So Yeah. Yeah. So I'm back in the saddle just today. So we're getting get my feet underneath me.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Because August is here.
Speaker 1:About to say, missed a little bit. It kinda came up for air and it's summer is over. Yeah. We are talking about is here.
Speaker 2:The last summer event is happening this week and it's summer clusters are it it's
Speaker 1:the last week of summer clusters for the women's ministry. And really, probably just a few left, you know. Yeah. A few of them.
Speaker 3:Because this podcast is brought to you by First Betts on.
Speaker 2:It is.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And there's let's just jump right in. There's a lot
Speaker 2:going on. There's lot that's
Speaker 1:wrapped up. I think one thing that we don't wanna miss is this Sunday night. So today's Monday. This Sunday night. This Sunday night is the engagement night of celebration for the summer teams.
Speaker 1:It is by no way a night of celebration just for those that went on the teams.
Speaker 2:We'd actually love everyone to come.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It's that the church can celebrate all that went on during all these engagement trips this summer.
Speaker 2:Well, if you weren't aware, as a church member, when you give to the WMO engagement offering, you give to support our short term teams. Yes. And so just by contributing to the church, you've actually already contributed to these teams and helped make them happen. So come, learn.
Speaker 1:And that's Sunday night at seven, dessert
Speaker 2:It is.
Speaker 1:In the fellowship Hall. Walking at it. So anyone is not just welcome, but encouraged to be there.
Speaker 2:We'd love to have you.
Speaker 1:That. Wednesday night starting this week sorry. Wednesday lunch starting this week, there's no pastor's bible study for August, but the Grief Share leaders and Brian had been working on a series called Grieving Your Friends, and it's born out of kind of some conversations Brian had with people who have lost a lot of friends. And so it's a unique kind of grief share adjacent ministry where you can come and just talk about what it's like to lose your friends three weeks in a row. This Wednesday, next Wednesday, the after that.
Speaker 1:You do have to register.
Speaker 2:Noon to two includes lunch.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's right. Lunch, it'll have kinda the same format as pastor's bible study. Eat together, fellowship, then there's some program and some discussion around the table after that. So I think it's a great ministry.
Speaker 1:It's for everybody that can get away on a lunch hour on Wednesday. So that's going on this Sunday.
Speaker 2:Is a big Sunday
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:At our church.
Speaker 1:There's plenty of, like, promotions that are about to happen.
Speaker 2:So One of the big things is it's big enough for big church.
Speaker 1:It is, man.
Speaker 3:Which It's one of my all time favorites.
Speaker 1:I don't wanna about it.
Speaker 2:Are you big enough for big church this year?
Speaker 1:No. It'll be next year. Okay. My kids better mature rapidly in the next year because it's it'll be a disaster if we try to sit them in church.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So for those who don't know, big enough for big Church is when those kids who are getting promoted into the pre k kind of grade, so roughly four years old
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:It will be their first Sunday in a worship. If I know our preschool ministry, I'm sure they've actually already been in practicing.
Speaker 3:They have. They were well, they've in and out. They were Sunday, I saw them. They're in there listening to all the music, and it was really sweet. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 1:There's a women's wives and moms Facebook group. Very active kind of, First Baptist women and also adjacent, you know, my my sister lives in town or whatever, that kind of thing. But Catherine Larue posted, hey. Tyler's gonna be big enough for big church. Moms, drop all your kind of, tips and tricks and links if links are great.
Speaker 1:And it was I mean, a lot of a lot of tips and tricks and links, Holly Stephens would just put Advil PM as a link. You know, a couple of comments and, like, I think Cindy Goodyear I'm airing dirty laundry, but it it's I think Cindy Goodyear was like, that was not my favorite season, but we got through it. I'm praying for you. I mean, it was kind of a very honest, like, mom moment just looking at all these there were probably 20 comments on it.
Speaker 3:It'll be lively a lively worship service. It will be
Speaker 2:a very lively worship service.
Speaker 1:We all know that's a sign of health.
Speaker 2:It is a great sign of health.
Speaker 1:Is a great sign of health. But I loved everybody loved Holly's Little.
Speaker 3:Well, we get the they they'll get they're big enough for big church bags,
Speaker 1:which
Speaker 3:gives them something to bring things in. We already put some stuff in there for them. Yeah.
Speaker 2:As a as a parent of someone who has survived that season, highly recommend snacks.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Sticker books seem to
Speaker 3:be popular
Speaker 1:as well.
Speaker 2:Sticker books? Paint by Sticker Books. And, obviously Real winner.
Speaker 1:Global Kids. Yeah. Global Kids will be coming back out this fall.
Speaker 2:It's a little bit older than that age, but they can still color.
Speaker 1:Nothing to scribble on. Yep. Nothing else. Yeah. So
Speaker 3:We when we were I mentioned this to Casey. When we were in Atlanta this year on our study leave, we went to a a Methodist church in Atlanta, and they had these little stations set up outside the sanctuary. And I just while we were walking in the sanctuary, we just saw these kids just running up to these little stations. And I thought, that's interesting. And but they had stacks of little doodle pads, I think is what they're called.
Speaker 1:Kind of
Speaker 2:like you can draw on them, hit a button, and it erases. Yeah. Yeah. Those are great. Also, highly Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Recommend
Speaker 3:Coloring books, crayons, all kinds of I mean, kids were just kind of not in line but gathered around them, obviously, knowing this is what they do. And parents were kinda straggling in with them, and we just watched as kids were just getting all their little items, and then they headed on into church. So which I thought was kinda cool. So when the service was over, I told Cindy, thought, I wanna I wanna go back out there and just see what happens. I mean, I'm assuming, like, an usher has to come in the sanctuary and clean up.
Speaker 1:Yeah. There's doodle pads everywhere.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So everything just laying on the pews. No. These children were all lined up. All of them putting their little doodle pads back in.
Speaker 3:So this obviously is what they that was kinda cool. It's what they do every week. So I took a picture. I'm kinda on the Slack because I thought, I don't wanna be taking a picture of kids, but I do wanna this is just a cool little moment. So I showed it to Casey, but, anyway, I thought that was kinda cool.
Speaker 1:So theologically, why do we have kids in church?
Speaker 3:I don't know because it just wears everybody out. It does.
Speaker 1:I'm lopping one. I'm I'm lopping one, boss. Who made that decision and why? Other churches have, like, kids church. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Kids don't go into the sanctuary till they're like
Speaker 2:The parents demand to know.
Speaker 1:We're pretty committed. Yeah. It's not a theological We're pretty
Speaker 3:committed here to learning how to worship God together as families and to be in God's presence and learn the discipline of listening and just being a part of a church culture and learning how to to sing and be a a someone who participates and leads in worship. And
Speaker 1:It's also one of the reasons we brought the offering back. Yeah. The the passing of plates
Speaker 2:offering back.
Speaker 1:You have to have a chance to do it. Thank you.
Speaker 3:Our little Adler, who's with us every Sunday morning, always makes sure that she has money, you know, for the offering. But, buddy, she is she is ready for the offering. Yeah. It's her that's her little
Speaker 1:It's modeling something.
Speaker 3:Sit right on the very front row, as y'all know. And so you don't always pass the offering plate on that row. But if Adler's there
Speaker 1:You better.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And because she will chase you down. And yeah. It's a beautiful time for families to be together and to and it gives them opportunities for conversation about what God is saying to them. And these children learn.
Speaker 3:They start learning how to hear from God and learn how to read the scripture with their families and worship together. And Mhmm. Yeah. It's it's a beautiful thing to me. And we're we're fine as a church with any disruption.
Speaker 3:I know that sometimes moms and dads can get a little freaked, but you don't need to. We're Mhmm. We we love it. And I don't like to separate the kids out and then have their own thing. It's almost like they're not big enough to encounter God Mhmm.
Speaker 3:With the rest of us, which I just don't like that. Mhmm. Yeah. I think they are big enough for us to plus we need them. We need to see them and we need to hear them.
Speaker 3:So so, yeah, it's it's important to us. And the little ones also need to learn to how to hear the voice of God speaking to us in worship. And I don't know. I think it's good. Plus, it gets them connected to the body, gets them connected to the pastor and to all of our worship leaders, and we just become a part of
Speaker 2:the fabric of their lives. And, I love that. Well, then we do communion, Lord's Supper, 12 times a year, which I as a parent, I guarantee that is 12 opportunities for conversations about the gospel with your child because your child will ask. Yes.
Speaker 3:And baptism, they're watching people get baptized, and they wanna know about it.
Speaker 1:These are all good models.
Speaker 2:Very good things for kids to see and experience.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:So yeah. We're all in this time.
Speaker 1:Alright. I guess I'm in. We're all
Speaker 2:in this
Speaker 1:time. Guess so. We'll do it.
Speaker 2:No Advil PM.
Speaker 1:But I'll start recruiting over the next twelve months for
Speaker 2:Yeah. If you wanna sit with a
Speaker 1:Type in and say I'm helpers. Call Ryan. Because, you know, I'm always available to sit during a service. Yes. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Snacks. Sticker books. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I love it. So this Sunday is first at
Speaker 1:first. Right.
Speaker 2:That'll be also first at first, which is when our exiting kindergartners go upstairs into the children's ministry.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. And they're welcomed yeah. They're welcomed in that way. So And it's merge weekend Mhmm. For the youth ministry.
Speaker 2:Which is when our sixth graders go into seventh grade.
Speaker 1:So and then the next weekend is when they actually all promote. Right? This one's like getting people ready
Speaker 3:for this.
Speaker 1:Next weekend is actual Yeah. What we call Fresh Start Sunday.
Speaker 3:Everybody gets promoted. Grandfather, it's a puppy. Mhmm. All that's happening all around us because our granddaughter is moving into high school or, I mean, youth rather. And it's a big deal.
Speaker 3:I mean, you you literally change buildings. You do.
Speaker 1:And do you
Speaker 3:so You change buildings for bible study.
Speaker 1:Big deal. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Yeah. You're you're you're walking out of what's been so familiar to our granddaughter her whole life, and now she's going
Speaker 1:to the Adler is in between. She already did big enough for big church. She's not yet
Speaker 3:for She's not yet. She's a gonna she will be a kindergartner this year.
Speaker 1:And Gideon is also
Speaker 3:Gideon is
Speaker 1:Not yet.
Speaker 3:We're going to wait one more year for him for a big church. He's kind of on the bubble.
Speaker 1:He's with my boys. Yeah. He's choosing to be. He's where the parents are.
Speaker 3:Parents are. Yep. So we're gonna let him do that. But he
Speaker 1:Gideon and my boys are, like, three months apart. Right. He's a bit older. Mhmm. Yeah.
Speaker 3:So yeah. So they're little transitions ahead of of of all the common family.
Speaker 1:My boys started a new class today at the CDC.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Teachers, knew, so that was an easy transition. But, you know, it's all happening.
Speaker 3:Well, it does. So our granddaughter, who's going in seventh grade, her birthday's in July, so we had a birthday party at our house the other night. We had 17 grade girls in our pool, in our home. It was it was a complete disaster. But but Ada had invited school friends and church her church friends and it wanted to introduce them all because her school friends are all unchurched.
Speaker 3:So it was her plus she loves them, so it was just kinda her way of bridging some gaps. But, anyway, I was sitting there watching our church kid girls Mhmm. Seventh grade. And I thought, this this is quite a is quite a force. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:This group of girls
Speaker 1:I can picture.
Speaker 3:Junior high girls.
Speaker 1:There is Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Quite a group of girls.
Speaker 2:They're they're a dynamo.
Speaker 3:They are. One of them decided she talked to me about it after camp and said, I'm I'm gonna start a bible study for the summer. And I was like, okay. And, well, Ada, my granddaughter, has gone to it every week, and she's been teaching that bible study at Veterans Park every week this summer at the park. Alright.
Speaker 2:That's dedication. When it first got going, I
Speaker 3:asked Ada one day. I said, so I asked about the little girl's mother. I said, her her mom kinda teaching the bible study. And she was like, Papi, no. This is a girl's bible study.
Speaker 3:No. The adults are there, but they don't talk. This is our bible study. And I said, so you seventh grade girls are just studying the bible together? Yes.
Speaker 3:And I said, what are y'all studying? She said, we're studying the great women of the bible, and it's awesome. So this group of girls that was in my pool the other night had been meeting every week on their own. Studying the great women of the bible. Yes.
Speaker 3:I love it. And so I just warned Chelsea
Speaker 1:I said to Chelsea. Youth ministry. Right.
Speaker 3:Get ready. I love it.
Speaker 1:So but I was very proud of them. You know
Speaker 3:what I mean?
Speaker 2:So That is incredible.
Speaker 1:Well, okay. Tell me before we get too far out of this, let's look back just a just a tick at this Fruit of the Spirit sermon series. Mhmm. Any emerging thoughts? Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Ready to close that chapter? Yeah. Was How do we grade it?
Speaker 2:It was a fun series.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I had numerous comments about it just how there was people that told me they appreciated hearing all of y'all Mhmm. That you had these different voices speaking into it, but also the choosing the the biblical characters was a big plus for many of our church members.
Speaker 1:I heard that as well.
Speaker 3:You you they could identify
Speaker 1:Highlighting the characters Yeah.
Speaker 3:And the application. And some of them were were not the most well known.
Speaker 1:We did it on purpose, didn't we?
Speaker 3:We did. So Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean,
Speaker 3:you had Abigail, Philemon, and and and Titus. I mean, you kinda wove Titus in.
Speaker 2:It was more about Onesimus than Titus.
Speaker 1:But but, I mean,
Speaker 3:you had the you you at least used that scripture.
Speaker 1:Barnabas only has a few verses about him, really.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It was I thought it was
Speaker 1:really Alongside the big heavy hitters,
Speaker 3:if you will.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Abraham, Joseph.
Speaker 3:It's good. Yeah. And we we enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. And and plus, I think it helps you see the kind of person God is designed for us to become, and then it's not as easy as you think it is.
Speaker 3:No. You know? Yeah. I mean, it requires something out of us.
Speaker 1:I got a lot of good feedback. And I think it was fun for the staff to have a hand in it too. It was fun.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And so it's funny. I'm teaching this preaching seminar again at Baylor. What are y'all? What's the We're doing preaching, proclaiming the kingdom through Isaiah.
Speaker 1:I still mean, it's Isaiah again.
Speaker 3:That last year. Wow. Different group of students this time.
Speaker 1:Same.
Speaker 3:Okay. Men. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Makes sense.
Speaker 3:But I was reviewing some of that even last night just looking over the plans and the different people that are in the seminar and the cohort. I think it's actually called a cohort. Probably.
Speaker 2:I mean, mine is called the cohort, but I'm in a
Speaker 3:different time. I'm pretty sure that's what they call the true as well. And just the different ways to preach through Isaiah, and it's just it is stimulating to think about if you're a preacher, you know, how how do you address some of these huge topics. And so that's a part of our part of what happens in the cohort is we develop preaching series from the book of Isaiah, suggestions, ideas, way you can do it, ways that you can do it. And so they're invited into that conversation as well along with me.
Speaker 3:And obviously, the real professor is Rebecca Pohayes. I mean, she's the Hebrew professor at Truett. But but it's I just love all the conversations about preaching. And in fact, I'm I'm the field supervisor for a d men student right now, and that's what he's working on is developing materials resources for preaching in local congregations. So he and I had lunch together last week and walked through some of all of Awesome.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So and y'all did a great job. So yeah. But we've turned the page.
Speaker 1:I know. Summer, in many ways, is over.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. We've turned the page for August.
Speaker 1:Have the heat block.
Speaker 2:Right. If you're if you're newer to our church, we kind of treat August as just its own thing.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It's a standalone transition
Speaker 1:of sorts.
Speaker 2:It it it's not summer. It's not fall. You can't really program like it's either one. Mhmm. And so Yeah.
Speaker 1:Families are getting settled in a school year.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Getting ready, getting settled.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:All the things.
Speaker 1:You know, being on the road this past weekend, it's like every family is taking their last little trip for the summer. I mean, it's kind of that.
Speaker 3:That's how it feels.
Speaker 1:And now they're back and putting their head down
Speaker 3:toward They're starting to think about routines and rhythms and bedtime and Right. Yes. That is starting to happen again. It's interesting. I even heard that at the seventh grade party the other night at our house, some of the parents were one parent said something to me like, well, this is the last big hurrah for our daughter.
Speaker 3:We're Yeah. Next week, we're gonna start actually going to bed on time. And Right. I was like, it's only August.
Speaker 1:But school starts
Speaker 2:School starts August 12.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. Two weeks away.
Speaker 2:It's ten days away. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So, doctor Wells, this August, your theme, our theme is prayer.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Praying for believers. Yeah. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Just kind of a play on words
Speaker 3:of sorts. It is a play on words for me, but it really comes out of the fall. We're going to be focused on evangelism and just living the gospel. And and I just felt led to before we get to that, to just call the church to pray for God to soften our hearts and prepare us for what he has for us. And so we're going to talk a little bit more about that in the weeks ahead.
Speaker 3:Mhmm. But as I was praying myself through it all and thinking through prayer, I looked through the kind of what you might call the great prayers of the bible. I just read through them. The obviously, the, the Lord's prayer, but the prayer in John 17 and the prayers that Paul has written and and then, you know, the prayer of Jabez and, you know, the kind of the things that you normally look at. And and I just read a few books, about prayer, and it's it's just been interesting.
Speaker 3:And where I felt led to start was Psalm 46, which to me helps answer, why do we pray to this God? You know, what what is it about him? And and so the love, the testimony of Psalm 46. But then we're going to shift to John 17 for the rest of the series as we're what is praying like for a believer and how do we pray for believers and what about praying for more believers. So Yeah.
Speaker 3:All that to lead up, you know, to where we launch in the fall that I've I'm calling it gone fishing. And I kinda have in my mind that every morning when we leave our home, we should put a sign up that says gone fishing. You know, that I'm I'm
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:I'm actually living this now out in the real world, out in the wild, so to speak. Mhmm. That's the image I want to to give our people. And you've actually influenced that a little bit, Luke, because of the you gave a devotional one time to our staff about how fishing in the New Testament was done collectively, you know, in community with nets. It wasn't where because I think we had in our mind, you just stand there with a rod and reel in your hand and, you know, you're kind of the one person.
Speaker 3:When actually in the New Testament, fishing was done by groups of people together. And and that whole idea that we all would have a role to play in this was what I hope to capture when we get to the fall.
Speaker 2:I'm excited about that.
Speaker 3:Anyway, but yeah, I was I'm I'm I am excited about it. And and the the discipleship lead team, which is a new entity. Mhmm. You're on the engagement team.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:You're on the engagement team as well. But the engagement team is older than the discipleship team. We've had it in place for a little while. But the the engagement team has been influential in planning and programming in the life of our church. And now we have this discipleship team.
Speaker 3:And really Ashley and, Michael give leadership to it. But they just, and the desire, and Katie's part of it and Brad I'm on
Speaker 1:here now.
Speaker 3:Yeah. She's on there for right now.
Speaker 1:Holding space for the new
Speaker 3:to the next person.
Speaker 1:Ministers when they get here.
Speaker 3:Yep. But just cultivating a deeper call to intentional discipleship in the lives of our people. One of the practical expressions of that was they asked me, well, could you give us a prayer every week all the way up to Advent that would connect to the sermon, what our focus is for that week, and let us build some ministry, if you will, around prayer.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:And so consequently, we have these prayer points or prayer prompts that we put together that will take us And
Speaker 2:those cards were available at church on Sunday. They'll will be available at church this coming Sunday.
Speaker 1:And and they will be available online as well. Somebody asked about that. So you can pick them up. And it's a prayer for the week that we can all pray together
Speaker 3:Right. As a church. Families, households, individuals, just a focal point. I think that sometimes we we run so fast and so hard. You know, the, you know, the slowing down a little bit and taking things a little more deep, if you will, is hard to do, I think, in our culture.
Speaker 3:I just think it's difficult. We just I feel like we wake up every morning and there's a new issue, there's a new problem on the horizon, there's a new earthquake, there's a new development in the war. There's a new thing about the economy. There's a new report that just came out today. I mean, it's like every morning It's a barrage.
Speaker 3:Yep. It's it's to me. And, I mean, I I'm grateful to be in the know if you wanna call it that. But, man, where do you it's like the like, I I think I mentioned this before. Like, these guys that have these radio shows, and they talk every day for four or five hours.
Speaker 3:And I I just wonder, when do you guys think about anything? If if if every day It's just you're
Speaker 2:running consciousness. While they're talking.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It's it's a stream
Speaker 3:of consciousness. You know what mean? When when do you actually think about Yeah. Things and actually really reflect on things? And so I'm
Speaker 2:not sure they do.
Speaker 3:That's that's kinda under to. You know? This desire to okay. Let's focus on something to pray about all week long. Yep.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna pray
Speaker 1:And what if you could keep your eyes on the same thing?
Speaker 3:Pray about this right here.
Speaker 2:I love that. So you mentioned
Speaker 3:sorry.
Speaker 1:With Kurtz daily bible readings.
Speaker 2:It's great
Speaker 1:Go ahead.
Speaker 3:That's right. That's Good combo. Yeah. Yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah. 10 out of 10 recommend. Yeah. As you were preparing for this series, you mentioned you read some books on prayer. I know we have people who listen, who love to read.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. There's a million books out there on prayer. We're not necessarily saying go out there and buy the prayer of Javez that you sold the half price books two years ago.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:So what would you, you know, what would you recommend and why those books, why do they stand out to you when you think about prayer?
Speaker 3:Well, I I read Pray First by Chris Hodges and which which I found to
Speaker 1:be No relation?
Speaker 3:Not not that I know of. No. And then, what is it called? Pray like a monk, act like a fool.
Speaker 2:Praying like monks living like pools, I think.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Book. I read that book. And then there's an old old book on prayer, Ian Bounds, many many years ago. And, you know, Max Lucado, a long time ago Max Lucado, Philip Jenkins rather, wrote a book on prayer a good while ago.
Speaker 3:And, you know, I read through that book. And then there's there's just a couple of older books. I can't remember who all wrote them that I just kinda glanced through. And it just it just really stimulated my thinking. I think the the Praying Like Monks and Living Like Fools and Pray First were the two that were the most impactful for me.
Speaker 3:Just just just new refresher. I hadn't
Speaker 1:read the
Speaker 2:What would you say it impactful about them? I haven't read the pray first.
Speaker 3:Yeah. What I liked about the pray first book was there were actually some models of different types of prayer in it, but also just the encouragement about the whole the whole issue of firsts in the Bible that there's just something to doing something first and the admonition to truly pray first and not always think that you just need to take things under, you know, into your own hands all the time, which I have a tendency to do to actually ask God, what is your will in this? What is your wisdom in this? Was helpful. And then the rhythms of prayer, they both talk about that in those books.
Speaker 3:But the the in Chris Hodges' book, like, he even you know, it's it's it's one of those things you look at and you think, okay, just biblically, is this really what it meant? But, like, he he walks you through the tabernacle physically and outlines different ways to pray your way through the different physical manifestations of the tabernacle. And the reason it does that is because the tabernacle supposedly mimics represents something eternal in heaven. And he just asked, could it be that maybe God is just showing us a pattern? They both talked about the pattern of prayer in the Lord's prayer, you know.
Speaker 3:And and so while I was off on study leave, I went to three Methodist churches, and they all prayed the Lord's prayer in the actual worship service, you know, the physically say the Lord's prayer out loud. And, you know, the the way I was raised as a Baptist in my church, we were taught the Lord's prayer, but we didn't pray it all the time like that out loud because we were taught it's more of a a pattern for praying than it is something to just pray, you know, by memory, you know. But we still did it some, But every Methodist church I went to did it Every Sunday. In their worship service. So it kinda stimulated my thinking.
Speaker 3:I think, okay. What did Jesus really want us to do? So I don't think there's anything wrong with praying the Lord's prayer. Let me just say that. But I do think there was something in there from Jesus about the core things that should be addressed in our prayer life.
Speaker 3:So I've given that some thought. And and and plus just just the acknowledgment that it's that prayer and I also read Foster's celebration of discipline where he has a whole section on prayer on all the disciplines. I just Fantastic. Just liked him, you know. So I find myself reading him again and again.
Speaker 3:And but just the the discipline of a little more focused prayer. And I go I think I told you this a while back. Look, I go through seasons of prayer. Sometimes it's very regimented. Other times, it's more organic, I guess, that's way to put it.
Speaker 3:And and right now, I'm feeling the call for a little more regimented prayer because there are just some specific things that I'm very concerned about. So I find myself focused on those things Mhmm. And asking God to give me wisdom to know what to pray. So, yeah, I think for me, it was just highlighting the value of prayer and recognizing that that that we're just connected to God in a very deep and profound way. He wants us to be.
Speaker 3:Or or you can just live your life almost as a practical atheist really, even as a Christian. You can kinda just live your life and not even not even see what God is doing or give him credit or ask him for help. I mean, I think you can actually do that and and do okay. Yeah. You know, just kinda do the right things.
Speaker 3:Works well in our culture. Yeah. But, god, you miss out on I mean, like, right now, I just feel god's I just sense his presence. And so Yeah. I'm just yeah.
Speaker 3:And I don't know if it's this focus on prayer per se or if it's just where I am in life. It just feels more important to me now than maybe ever. So that's just where
Speaker 1:I am.
Speaker 2:I think it's a good thing for us to focus on. I'm as you're talking, I was reminded of months and months and months, maybe a year or two ago, you were preaching and you talked about, you know, you can live your whole life as like this first story Christian where you live basically just trapped kind of in your secular framework. I think the official scholarly language for that is the imminent frame and I think you said that. Yeah. But you can live your whole life just on this first story completely oblivious to the fact that there's something there's something else going on.
Speaker 2:There's something supernatural going on all around you. And so I, you know, I would say, if I if I could peek into your heart, would wager what you're wanting to do is invite our church to to move into the second story and to kind of live beyond just being okay with life within that frame of Mhmm. Yeah. Because Christian atheism.
Speaker 1:Yeah. You
Speaker 3:because I think it's possible to truly miss out on what God is really doing. Yeah. And how he's actually moving and shaping things including our own lives. And, yeah, it's it's, you know, it's kinda like, you know, when Elisha's servant comes to him and, you know, he's panicked because of this hoard of people that are coming. And Elisha's like, we're fine.
Speaker 3:Don't worry about it. Look at all this behind us. He's like, what what are you talking about? And Look at what? Lord, give the man a glimpse.
Speaker 3:And when he sees this host of angelic warriors, you know, he's like, oh my goodness. So that's what's really going on. That that's how it feels to me that people just go through the motions. And and I think too for us, you know, as I've said before, I am the different ways to engage God, I'll tend more toward the intellectual side, not because I think I'm smart. I've said that numerous times.
Speaker 3:It's just how I connect with God. And I know the temptation for somebody like me is to live my life on that intellectual level, you know, with this very theologically driven and kind of doctrinally concerned. Know? Getting things right. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Just, okay. I don't think that's quite right. You know? And and and and being a little bit leery, suspicious, I hope not judgmental, of my more charismatic type friends who tend to be a little more on the subjective side. But the older I've gotten, the the more value I've placed in bringing those really together to where I actually am acknowledging that I'm a spiritual person.
Speaker 3:And what's really going on is this is a spiritual warfare like Paul says. And God is at work. Satan is at work. And we have the weapons, if you will, for spiritual warfare and to engage more in that. And that's where prayer fits in, you know.
Speaker 3:And so so I I just find myself much more engaged in prayer. And it's and it's it's kind of an all day long, you know, I just I just sense God's presence and things. And and I also sense when I'm running beyond him a little bit, I'll kinda catch myself sometimes thinking I'm trying to unwrap something, undo something, figure something out. And and then I I just can't tell how many times during the day I'll stop and go, I wonder what God would really want me to do about that right there. Well, I guess I could ask.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Know, Lord, how do you want me to address that? How do you want this conversation to go? How am I gonna make this decision? And it's not like it's it's not the kind of thing where everything gets easier and God just fixes everything.
Speaker 3:That's I mean, that's just not it. It's not a he just puts it all in front of him and makes it all clear. I just feel more connected to him.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, I think that's what Paul meant when he and this is my favorite bible memory verse. It can be yours too. In first Thessalonians five seventeen, he writes, pray constantly. You can memorize that one.
Speaker 2:Go. We believe in you.
Speaker 1:You can do it. Yeah.
Speaker 2:But that I think it's not that you are constantly carrying the church prayer list in front of you. Exactly. Please pray over the church prayer list. Of Right. But it's that you are living
Speaker 1:Yeah. And if you pray enough, it unlocks every secret of the future or something.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And it's also made me more sensitive though to people around me. I've had more spiritual conversations over the last season than maybe anytime ever. I just feel more sensitive about it. So I think y'all know I I asked Andy and them and Kyle to redo my business cards.
Speaker 3:I put the salvation poem on my business cards. I cannot tell you how many of those I've handed out. I'll just and and everybody to everybody is appreciative, you know, because I'll just say something like, you know, I don't I don't know you very well. I've just listened and we've had this brief conversation. Have you ever heard of the salvation poem?
Speaker 3:So far, not one single person ever has. And no. What are you doing? So I'll get my business card. I'll say, well, here's my card.
Speaker 3:Here's my here's our church. You can contact us. And there's just this poem here on the back and it's about being related to God through Jesus. And, you know, if you haven't done that, I'd encourage you to think about it. But I just like to leave this with you.
Speaker 3:So far, I I mean, I don't know, a 100. I'm not sure how many. Every single person has thanked me for it. And it's just interesting. I had had them in Franklin.
Speaker 3:There was we went to that little I don't know where I took y'all to eat. I don't remember now. We we ate somewhere in Franklin. I think all I got was a Coke. But for when I came down
Speaker 1:We were in Temple.
Speaker 3:Oh, I'm sorry. Temple. Yeah. And there was just a young guy back there working wearing a cross, and I don't know why. I just looked at him and I said, hey, man.
Speaker 3:I like that cross. And he went, really? I said, yeah. Well, he took his gloves off. He was working back there to shake my hand.
Speaker 3:And then I just had this brief conversation. Just said, you know, salvation before? No. You know, so I have no idea but whatever happened. But I just feel more connected to people right now and just watching them and listening to them.
Speaker 3:And I feel like God just has opened doors for conversation. And I think it's a part of being connected to Him. And then last night, we did this training and one of the things that the speaker at our church pointed out was, it's like 70% of Americans, just random Americans are asked the question, are you interested in hearing someone else's life story even if it includes their faith? Just random And so far, every one of those is like 70 to 75% of Americans have said, well, yeah. No matter yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm interested in hearing somebody's story. So If it's your story. Yeah. Mhmm. So all that did was affirm in me, well, if you stay connected and God gives you that opportunity Mhmm.
Speaker 3:You know, it's it's one of the ways to share Christ without being weird. Mhmm. You know? And so, so it's it's all connected to me right now. So that's that's where I am.
Speaker 3:So I'm gonna try to communicate that to our church, you know, in an affirming way. And but also just to to challenge us to be thoughtful because our world is lost and and they need Jesus and they need to learn how to pray, but we need to learn how to pray. So I'm I'm excited about this series. I'm excited about this season. As I said, Sunday morning, we're in a season of transition.
Speaker 3:We're looking for new staff members. Mhmm. But y'all heard me talk about that in our devotional time on Mondays. I felt drawn to the book of Acts and watching them, what did they do? Mhmm.
Speaker 3:They prayed a lot in the book of Acts. They really do. They do. Essentially how many times Luke says that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, it's fascinating too that the main character in the book of acts is not Paul or Peter. It's the holy spirit.
Speaker 3:It really is. That's that's the truth. And so I love that. And so so yeah. I'm I don't know.
Speaker 3:It's all it's all just woven together. It all makes sense in my mind. I'm not sure if it does
Speaker 1:in everybody else's, but I'm gonna do my best to
Speaker 3:It will in
Speaker 2:time. I'm sure.
Speaker 1:That's what I'm hoping. So Well, I'm looking forward to it. I think it's gonna be a good fall for us at First Baptist.
Speaker 3:So Yeah. It's gonna
Speaker 2:be a great one.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I'm excited about it. So there. Welcome back, Katie.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Happy be back.
Speaker 2:It's good to have you back. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And I'll do it again next week. We look forward
Speaker 2:to it. Thank you. Thanks, everybody.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the Tell Me More podcast today. You can subscribe to this podcast on your app of choice, or you can visit us at fbca.org to find out more information about the podcast and our church. Thanks for listening. Have a good day.