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Tomorrow can be different from today.
Our lives often leave us feeling hopeless—like nothing will ever change. But perspective is everything. When you know where to look, hope can be found in the spaces and places you least expect.
Join Jason Gore (Lead Pastor of Hope Community Church) for a fresh perspective, practical steps, and weekly encouragement that hope really is possible… even in real life.
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Welcome to the Hope and Real Life Podcast with Jason Gore.
Our team is passionate
and committed to bringing you more hope in the everyday real
areas of your life.
If this conversation and content is valuable for you,
please do us a favor, like, subscribe, and even share.
You never know how valuable it could be
to share a little bit of hope with someone else.
Let's get the conversation started.
Welcome to season two, episode 14.
Our final episode of season two
on the Hope in Real Life Podcast.
Could not be more excited about this episode.
We're calling this You Ask, we Answer.
We did one of these at the end of season One.
Had had a lot of great responses, and so here we are.
We're gonna be talking about questions that you
as the listeners, you, as the audience have thrown to us.
And I'm here today back with my good friend Wade Harris,
AKA dj, Wade O Radio.
Wade, welcome back to the studio.
Hey, man, it's good to be back.
Uh, we got some really interesting questions that came in.
I just, I just, I just need to state this for the record.
These are some interesting questions, so,
yeah. I'm excited for it.
Yeah. Well, listen, uh, if I,
I think we're live right now.
We are. And so if you are on Instagram Yep.
And you can jump in onto the live
and you can still throw in some questions.
Mm-Hmm. There as well. And our team here is, uh, ready
to receive those and, and let us know what they are.
And, uh, we'll do our best to get 'em answered.
So here we are.
Alright. So, you ready? I'm ready to do
It. Alright, here we go. Uh,
so we're gonna do some quick little rapid
fire questions first.
Um, this first one came from a young man named Aiden G
He is in Garner, North Carolina.
Okay. Aiden G from Garden, North Carolina. That's
Interesting because I have a son named Aiden, so that's
Interesting. Wow. So this
question is interesting
because he says, who is your favorite kid?
Oh, man, I, I, I know this is gonna sound safe.
Uh, the truth, I don't have a favorite kid.
I don't, I, you know, I will say that each one
of our kids, we have three kids.
Yep. Um, Aiden, his sister Addison,
and we got a younger guy, Connor's 12.
But, uh, there are certain things that I love about each
of them that are, are different.
And then, uh, there are things about each of them
that are challenging at times.
Uh, but there's more things
that are great than there are challenging.
Sure. Uh, I'll say this though, if somebody wants
to be like the favorite for a day, there's things like,
my truck needs to be washed.
Mm-Hmm. Uh, there's some stuff that needs to be done
around us, so, uh, but man, no, we are, we're very blessed.
We had three great kids and, uh, love him to death.
I think aid and g might still be in this live stream,
so he probably, hopefully heard that. Yeah.
He's also at school right now.
This is happening, but, oh, man.
Alright. Here's a, here's another one. Okay.
Is a hot dog a sandwich? Why or why not?
What in the world does that have to do
with somebody's level with pop?
Maybe someone hopes that they
have a hot dog for lunch today. I don't know how
Good at tasting hot dog. Yeah.
Can bring a little bit of a dopamine rush.
I'm gonna be honest. Can taste good?
Is a hot dog a sandwich? No, I think a hot dog's a hot dog.
I don't think a hot dog's a sandwich. Okay.
I mean, I understand, I know the argument.
You got a, you got a meat and you got a bun bread. Yep. Yep.
And so, no, I think it's different.
I think it's its own category.
And, uh, I think the real question is
ketchup or no ketchup. Yeah.
That's the question. I
Think that's the real question.
The answer is absolutely not.
Okay. Well, so what do you put on your hot dogs?
Uh, mustard. Okay. Okay. And then it just depends.
Then after that, it's like, Hey,
what kind of mood are you in?
But hot dog requires mustard,
and then some days it's onions.
Some days maybe it's chili, maybe it's relish.
But man, it's hard to beat, like good hot dog mustard.
I don't, I know they're not healthy.
I'm sorry, but dang. They're
Good. They are good. Yeah,
they are good. Okay.
Uh, here's another one is diehard a Christmas movie.
It's diehard a Christmas movie.
So, man, all the, we got like, controversial questions.
I mean, that's, you know, you know, people ask you
to pick a side with these questions, Jason.
That's right. I, I'm gonna,
I'm gonna say diehard ISS a Christmas movie.
Okay. And I'm gonna tell you why.
And I, wait a minute, what's the real meaning of Christmas?
I, when I think of a Christmas movie?
I think at the end of the day, what we're really thinking
about is the nostalgia around it.
Sure. Like, what does it make you think about?
When do you want to watch that movie?
And if I'm gonna make up a stat here, but if, but if,
but if 90% of the times I think about Die Hard is in
that window of Christmas Mm.
Then I think it's a Christmas movie.
And I think our listeners, uh, would have to agree with
that, or they're not being honest with themself.
I, I, that's a, that's a, I like that answer. Okay.
Now here's an interesting one.
Uh, we're, we're coming towards the end of football season.
Uh, this question is from a Chase G Oh,
in Holly Springs, North Carolina. Okay.
I have an idea. And this Chase g has asked a question.
He said, why do you think certain Florida based teams
NFL teams not named Tampa Bay,
so certain Florida based NFL teams?
Jacksonville not, not Jacksonville either.
Not Jacksonville. Okay. Alright.
He says, why do they tend
to shut down in cold Kansas City weather?
And again, this is from Chase G in
Holly Springs, North Carolina.
Yeah. So, um, here's what's cool about this.
I'm a diehard Miami Dolphin fan. Right.
And if our listeners don't know
that I'm a diehard Miami Dolphin.
I grew up playing quarterback in the Dan Marino era.
And, uh, it's been a hard run. Mm-Hmm.
Man, it's been a hard couple decades.
We finally got a team of 20 games. Mm-Hmm.
Love our head coach, and, uh, man,
why do they shut down the Kansas City cold weather?
You, that's hurtful.
I just wanna say that's a hurtful question.
I do think, if I'm really trying to answer it, man,
that's a tough place to go in and play.
It is. Especially when you're down in Florida. It is.
It's a little bit more warm down there.
And, uh, man, you gotta it. That's tough.
You're just not used to it.
And you can, you can, the reality is, when it comes
to competition, yeah.
Um, you can be mentally tough. Yeah.
And, and that's in and of itself that matters.
But man, it's hard
to put on the field what you don't practice.
Mm. And you cannot replicate that down there. Mm-Hmm.
And so, I, I think it's, it's told on 'em for years
and, uh, I don't think it's, you know, it's not,
it's not so big that they can never get over that.
Sure. But it's definitely gonna be a challenge for for sure.
Very funny, chase. Very funny.
Alright. Um, here's a good one, by the
Way. Um, yes.
How's Taylor Swift doing
at those Kansas City games?
Shots Fired. No, I'm kidding. I'm great.
I'm so, I look, Taylor Swift should be able to go
to football games and have fun just like anybody else.
She's not putting herself on
camera. Somebody else is doing that too.
That is true. Um, okay. Fastest wrestling pin
My Fastest wrestling pin. Your fastest.
The fastest I've ever was ever pinned,
or the fastest I pinned someone
Else. You know what? I
think since you
asked that, let's hear both.
I don't know that I remem I don't
know the, the second one.
Okay. The fastest time I've been pin I mean, I, I,
over the years, I mean, it happened, you know?
Yeah. There's times where get pinned in the first period.
I think, uh, I think my fastest pin ever
was, uh, was nine seconds. Sheesh.
Yeah. Yeah. Nine seconds. Sheesh. It was under 10.
I remember being, yeah, it was, I I was a little frustrated
because I think it was closer to seven.
I don't think they stopped the clock fast enough. Oh,
Wow. That's,
uh, that was in high
school. That was in high school.
Okay. Yeah. Uh,
what is your least favorite household chore,
Least favorite household chore?
Without a doubt. The dishes. Okay.
It, uh, in, it's not that I don't, I like efficiency.
Alright. And there's usually, we got three kids.
We got Mm-Hmm. We got a lot going on all the time.
So you outsource the dishes? Well, it's
Not, no.
My wife would say, I don't outsource it.
She would say it's insourced.
Um, and I'm all for staying busy, man.
It, the reality, it takes me exponentially longer
to do dishes than anyone else on the planet.
Mm. And so, I, I, my wife can c can clean a,
a a a sink full
of dishes in, in like two and a half minutes.
And she's like, no, I don't. It takes longer than that.
So it probably does. But if, if it takes her 10 minutes,
I promise you it takes me 45.
I don't, I don't know why. And, um,
but yeah, it would be the dishes.
And it's mostly because I feel like I'm just wasting my time
and I'm probably being a little bit more, um,
overly concerned with the cleanliness
of the dishes than I really need to be.
We had a discussion about this on
Instagram live the other day.
I don't think anyone likes doing dishes, Jason.
So don't feel bad.
I, no, I feel bad for my wife.
Okay. That's fair. That's fair. I feel bad. That's fair.
That's fair. That's fair. Okay. Uh, here's another good one.
Speaking of your wife, how do you incorporate quality time
with your wife into your busy schedule?
Oh, man. You know what we,
we said tell the truth.
I might say tell the truth. I'm gonna tell the truth.
I, uh, can I can, I can't pass on some of these.
You don't get like a pass or
a phone a friend or anything You
Can do phone a friend. No. I
don't know who to offend you on a phone.
The reality is, I do not spend enough
quality time with my wife.
That's the truth. Uh, it's, uh, you know, I,
we get on this podcast and there's, I want to,
I wanna help people find hope.
Sure. Um, and, uh,
but man, I, I think that, uh, our,
we, we have a great marriage.
Mm-Hmm. Okay. Um, we have, we have a very good marriage.
I'd even say great marriage. I know that it would surpass
that great if we just spent more
time together, just her and I.
But man, it's, it is tough.
And this just sounds like, excuse me,
when you got three kids and you got sporting stuff all over
the place, and then you got your, your church,
and then you've got professional life, and then, you know,
and we know when we were just talking, but
before the show starts, I mean, sometimes,
and then life happens, right?
And then someone gets sick in the family. Mm-Hmm.
Or you have a crisis, it's like, man, it is so difficult.
So I, I don't even remember what the question was other than
around quality time with my wife.
Mm-Hmm. And I know that we don't do enough of that together.
Um, man, like,
sometimes quality time is like wrestling
tournaments in between rounds.
Mm-Hmm. Saying, okay, we're gonna step out of the gym
for a minute and have a 15 minute conversation.
Yeah. Now look, we go
to dinner sometimes and things like that.
Um, I've, I've had a, a couple
of mentors strongly recommend, man,
you need the weekly date night thing.
Mm-Hmm. And we, I've,
I've failed miserably at making that happen regularly.
That's fair. Yeah. But that's also real.
And, um, I appreciate that honesty, man. Yeah.
That's a, that's a real thing. Um,
Also, if my kids are still listening
and still on an Instagram live, I,
I also wanna blame them a little bit, uh, as well.
And because, you know, I need
to feel comfortable leaving them at home
and that type of thing, you guys can just let me know it's
okay to take mom out every now
and then. Things will be good.
You say you don't wanna come home in the,
in the Gore residences.
That's right. In shambles.
I don't think they would tear the house down.
I would worry about them hurting
one another. Okay. But, yeah.
Okay. That's, that's okay.
Um, so while we're on marriage though, uh,
another question we got in.
What are the keys to,
because you've been married a long time,
you said you have a great marriage.
Like, what would you say are some of the, some of the keys
to, to, to maintaining a healthy marriage, particularly over
a, a prolonged period of time?
Yeah. When you say a long time, you know,
we, we've been married 21 years. That's
A long time, Man.
Man, I, but yeah, it's 21 years, a long time. I mean,
It's not 50, but I, I mean, That's what I'm saying.
I feel like somebody says a long time, like,
we got Jay Jennings in here.
Jay, how long have you, you guys been? 48 years.
I feel like Jay should should answer
that question more than I should.
Um, uh,
But you gotta get to 21 before you can get to
48. That's true. You
gotta get to 21 4 before 48. I think.
Um, I think one is recognizing that, um,
marriage is not about a, a feeling in a moment.
Um, even love is not about a feeling. Yeah.
Um, love is about a commitment. Love is about a decision.
And I'm telling you, my wife and I,
and the ride that we've had,
even just in the last five years,
if you just take the last five years, it would be difficult
if you were to say, if we, if our, if our thoughts
around marriage were just around,
are we happy in this moment?
Because the reality is, there's been a lot of moments
where we were not happy Sure.
With our circumstances.
Um, when circumstances get difficult,
we don't always operate in the most healthy ways.
So then that means there's things
that we don't like about each other
and our behaviors and our tendencies Mm-Hmm.
And the things that we're prone to
do when we get stressed out.
But man, what one thing my wife
and I do have is a commitment
to sticking together through it.
Wow. And to know that this is a commitment that we've made.
And so I think the first thing I would say is just realizing
that, that, that love
and marriage is not about a feeling, but it's about a commitment.
Mm-Hmm. Right. That you make Mm-Hmm. And you stick to it.
Uh, the secondly, I, I would say is,
is is just communication.
And it can sound like, oh,
of course somebody would say communication.
It's communication I, in, in my own marriage.
And then I do, you know, some pastoral counseling
with other folks at, at times.
But the ability to actually have a safe place
where you can be open and honest about how you're feeling
and what you're experiencing Yes.
And where your expectations are.
And if your expectations are being met and being able,
and not just being able to say it.
'cause so many people think communication is just, oh, yeah,
I'm communicating great.
I'm telling you. But are you hearing Mm-Hmm.
As well when someone else Mm-Hmm.
Have you created a safe environment
for someone else to share with you?
Mm-Hmm. How they feel.
And, um, I think
that's one thing that's been helpful for us.
It's definitely not always been easy,
but over the years, we've been able to be honest
with one another about things that we're concerned about,
fears that we might have, challenges that we might be facing
or when we're, when we're me, might not be living up
to an expectation that I need to be living up to. Mm-Hmm.
So honoring the commitment, Honoring the commitment and
Communication. Communication, yeah.
Love it. Love it, love it.
And probably date nights,
but I can't say that I'm doing a good enough job.
Okay. Um, speaking of family,
another question we got into was just around parenting.
Uh, the Bible calls us to honor and respect our parents,
but what if our parents are a little bit difficult?
How do you navigate a strained relationship with a parent?
Man, I don't think my parents listen to this.
So, um, I, I've got great, I've got a, um,
a great mom, got a great dad.
Um, but life's not been perfect. Sure.
And, and, uh, at the end of the day,
we do have a responsibility to honor our parents.
Uh, I think if there's anything
that I've learned over the years, it's that,
um, life is hard.
Mm-Hmm. And, uh, to be a parent is hard. Mm-Hmm.
And so, to expect a parent to have had everything together,
every step of the way over the,
it's probably an unrealistic expectation.
That's good. And life, life just takes a tax on us.
It just takes a toll on us.
And so, man, there's gotta be a lot of grace.
There's gotta be a lot of mercy.
There's gotta be a lot of understanding when it
comes to the life that they lived.
And, and like by the sheer fact that you were,
were talking about our parent means that we're still here,
which most likely, and I know for some this is not the case,
but for most of us, like that has a lot to do with the fact
that they actually did keep us alive and,
and care for us, uh, a bit along the way.
And so, but man, how do you do it? Gosh.
I think, again, it comes back to a commitment to honor.
Mm-Hmm. Right. Mm-Hmm.
And then I think, um,
but at the same time, I,
I think putting proper boundaries in place is, is important
as well for yourself and for them,
and being able to communicate well
and say, Hey, um,
this is creating tension in our relationship,
and I would like to address it.
I'd like us to do something about that.
So I think you can honor,
but then also have real conversations.
Mm. And, uh, and so you're an adult.
They're an adult, and so you should be able to talk
to each other, like healthy adults.
Um, the hard part is, and what I've, what I've seen
and what I've found, and in families, it's just difficult.
Right. 'cause in families, there's
so much emotion that's involved.
There's so much history, it's hard
to have a conversation about one thing.
Mm-Hmm. Because really there's so much other stuff Mm-Hmm.
That's being filtered in. Mm-Hmm.
So, um, don't be afraid to have healthy boundaries,
have healthy conversations.
But at the end of the day, I mean,
we do have a responsibility to ask the question,
what does it mean to show honor in this situation?
Yeah. That's good. That's, I mean, let's go here.
Um, what has been
the lowest point in your life?
How did you recover come back from it?
People coming with these heavyweight questions? Yes.
Right now, I'm not, I'm
Not, oh my gosh, the lowest point in my life.
Is it, I mean, the whole thing is gonna, like,
we've had energy up here now, I feel like it's, uh,
lowest moment in my whole life.
Um,
Tell the truth, AHMA,
Man.
Um, you've had, I mean,
in all fairness, you've had some
moments. So this is, this is, yeah.
I'm trying to, to pro, I'm, I'm really, I want
to answer the question honestly.
Yeah. And so I'm really thinking through, um, I know what,
uh, there are other areas of my life
that my therapist would refer to as compound trauma.
Mm. And so I'm trying to figure out,
I'm just sitting here processing through the lowest, um,
I believe in,
in 2018 when my stepdad passed away unexpectedly.
Um, man, it, uh, that was challenging.
I don't even know if in the moment I would've considered,
I mean, of course it was a low,
but like, I mean, at that moment, he was, for all intents
and purposes a primary care, care, care for my mom.
Mm-Hmm. Her health wasn't great. Mm-Hmm.
She just had a back surgery. Mm-Hmm.
Um, and the all kinds of circumstances that sur all so
that kinda surround us is make it difficult that we,
that we're not gonna get into right now.
But, um, that kinda led to a, I mean, a six month window
of us caring for my mom of dealing with the, the hurt
of losing, you know, like, man, the,
the strength for our family.
Uh, and I, so I would say that would be,
that would definitely be one is the question.
How did you recover? Yeah. Is
That, yeah,
I'm still recovering.
It's, uh, it's, I, I don't know. And I'm okay with this.
I'm becoming okay with this,
but I don't know if you ever fully
recover from certain things.
Sure. I think we'd like to pretend. I I think we move on.
I think we get stronger. Yep.
But I don't know if we fully recover. Yeah.
And if we do, I haven't figured it out yet.
Um, and so I think I'll carry that one. Mm-Hmm.
And, uh, I really do. And, uh, that's okay.
I mean, you know, I've got areas,
I've got friends around me.
I've got, uh, avention therapists
that probably haven't gone, uh, been in as engaged with
that relationship recently, as much as I should have,
but as much as I should be.
But I've got friends and, and other family around me.
Um, I've got hope in Jesus, uh,
that he's gonna see us through.
Uh, and he has, he's sustained. So, um, yeah.
I don't know if you fully recover.
I think the, uh, I think at the end of the day,
there are times where the best thing you can do is just
get outta bed and move forward.
Yep. And, uh, and I think God honors that,
and I think we get stronger as we go.
So this is not a question from our listeners,
but you mentioned this, I think
we should stay here a minute.
What are a couple of things
that you learned from your stepdad?
Because clearly,
and I, I, I got to hope,
like I started working at our church
right after this happened.
Okay. And that was one of the first
things that people told me.
Okay. They just said, Hey, like, he just went through this.
Yeah. Like, certain things may, you know,
so just keep that in mind.
Yeah. But clearly he meant a ton to you.
Yeah. Um, one, just, just steadiness,
you know, my parents Mm-Hmm.
My mom and dad were divorced when I was one. Mm-Hmm.
And, uh, there, so there was, you know, I don't,
I don't know if my story is like everyone's story for me
that, that it was just, that was always hard.
It was always weird, you know, like, you know, mom
and dad, everybody else's mom
and dad seems like they're together.
He is not around. Um, you know,
you see him every other weekend and those types of things.
And as the years went on,
he started, started to become around.
But, um, if I, the stability
that he brought Yeah.
Into our family, he was not necessarily the most vocal man,
but worked hard.
Yeah. Was steady, made sure that our family was cared for.
If you needed something, if you needed to talk,
he would sit down, he would listen.
Uh, he would be there. So I think one, just the steadiness
and strength to, to make sure that I had a safe place.
Uh, um, I, I don't know that I could
put enough words to that.
Mm. And so that was, that.
I think his, his work ethic was through the roof.
Um, he started out working, um, in a warehouse,
worked his way up into, to management,
into a leadership role with a, a propane company, then went
and started his own company.
Um, very successful business owner.
Um, we kind of moved from living life on a farm
to moving out to Kerry.
And, uh, so I think
Moving all up. Yeah. Man,
I, so I think just the,
the steadiness and work ethic.
Yeah. Um, and then just learning, like,
there's been a number of areas in my life
where people have like, walked out or done.
Yeah. What I would just say, I think
what we'd always say would be the wrong thing.
Yeah. And, um, he was, uh, not that
he was the opposite of that.
It was, it was just, just that dependability,
that faithfulness and that steadiness, I think
that impacted me the most. Wow.
That's powerful. Because, I mean, here's the thing.
You model that in your life. Hmm.
Like, just like as a coworker, as a friend, uh,
as one of my bosses, I see that a lot in you.
And so, um, that's just significant to hear that, man. Yeah.
So, um, you don't talk about this much,
but you actually started at Hope as an intern,
and once upon a time you left to plant a church.
Then you came back and you served in a variety of roles.
And now you are our lead pastor, obviously.
Um, how do you balance your ambition with
what God is calling you into
and assuming additional responsibilities along the way?
I mean, so many people are always trying
to navigate their careers.
Um, how, how, how have you been able to do that?
That's really the question. Yeah.
Yeah. I did, I did start out as an intern.
My, my, uh, I don't know if I've shared this
before in the field, but my, uh, my job
and career path through college was
after my freshman year I started a painting company.
Mm. And, um, uh,
and so ran that, made some,
some pretty good money with that.
And then into my,
after my second year in college, uh, I really was able
to kinda let that run itself.
Uh, and so kinda spun that, you know, kind of handed
that over to some friends.
And then I went and, uh, did a marketing
and management internship, uh, with Sherwin Williams.
Okay. And that was great.
And then the year after that, the summer
after that, I ended up as the intern for the vice President
of Marketing for North Americas for Sony Erickson.
Okay. And so, um, you know, up until the right. Yeah.
And then the very next summer, um, I did an internship
with Hope Community Church as a youth ministry intern.
And, uh, so you were filling that call to ministry?
I, I was, man. Yeah.
I, I think I was at a place where I'd spent a lot
of time thinking, okay, this, it's about success.
It's about, um, I want to, just being honest, I wanted
to make a lot of money and,
and was heading at least in that direction.
Mm-Hmm. And, uh, but, uh,
but I started getting involved in this back then,
what was this tiny church in Cary called Hope Community
Church at like 200, 250 people.
And, uh, I, I saw that, I mean, God was up to something,
God I believe, rescued me outta some things
during that time period.
Um, I had gone through high school asking
a lot of questions Mm-Hmm.
Based on some other stuff that, you know,
I could have maybe given one
of those moments when you asked what was Mm-Hmm.
Uh, one of my lowest moments.
Uh, but I, I wanted to provide that steadiness
for high schoolers Mm-Hmm.
You know, for those in that, in that time that were,
you know, 'cause I had just kinda come outta that season.
I was in college at the time. And, uh,
so got involved in student ministry.
Man, I'll just tell you, I just got bit by the bug of
what it means to help others' lives change Mm-Hmm.
And, uh, and experience the life
that I believe God has for them.
And so, yeah. I ended up in, in student ministry
and, um, my career path, yeah,
definitely took a different turn.
I, uh, I think I interned that summer.
I think I interned again.
And then when I came outta school, I had an opportunity
to go be a pharmaceutical sales rep.
Uh, and different city.
Ended up taking a job, a management, uh, training role
with a company called Cintas Mm-Hmm.
Did that for a bit. And, um, then checked that
before that I wanted staff with ai,
with, uh, athletes in action.
Mm. Uh, for, for about a year. Yeah.
And then I went into the business world.
And then through that time though,
I was still serving at Hope, um,
in different volunteer roles.
So as a worship leader, as student ministry,
we had actually started a
college ministry through that time.
Then after being at Cintas for a little bit,
hope asked if I would come on staff, essentially
as our college pastor.
Mm-Hmm. I'd be the, uh, the easiest way to say it.
But my first stint, my first year, I think,
was working in youth
ministry in college and moved to college.
But then you're, then, then, yes.
Then we planted a church out of Hope in 2006.
That's right. Yep. So I was there from 2006 to 2012.
That, so this is where I'd like to get in that your,
your questions around ambition.
Mm-Hmm. How do, you said, how do you balance ambition?
Mm-Hmm. And I don't,
I think, uh, when I was younger, around that time period,
you know, call it circa 2003 into 2006,
and even into the church planting Mm-Hmm.
I don't think I did balance ambition. Wow.
I think, I think it,
I do believe there was a time it was like, Hey,
the goal is to grow the church.
Let's have a big church. Let's do, and, um, and,
and when those become your focus,
when those become your goal, how you do
what you do changes a little bit.
Sure. And I can, you know, we,
this is probably a whole nother podcast in and of itself,
but through the end of my time there, um,
I think some, it's possible that some ambition
or some desires, not necessarily personal ambition,
but even just ambition for
what it was we wanted to see happen.
Sure. Um, clouded some judgment. Mm-Hmm.
Definitely impacted some relationships, I would say.
I, I learned how to not handle yourselves in,
in seasons and in moments of conflict, uh,
that I really believe prepared me for
the journey when I got back to hope.
And so, I, so if you're really getting into
how do you balance the ambition, I would say, um, you know,
the Bible, so our listeners,
they believe a lot of different things.
I'm sure of it. We all do.
Um, I believe when the Bible says
that we should do all things as though unto the Lord, uh,
and so that should be our ambition.
Mm. That that should be our, our, our focus. It's a word.
And when we get that part, right, when we get it, like
seeking first the kingdom of God, it says,
and then all these things will be added.
Like, I, I, I kind of just went through the season
where I realized through that time period
that it's very possible
to do the right things the wrong way.
And, and you can hurt a lot of people.
And, and if you're not careful.
And so if somebody's asking this question, like,
how do you balance ambition, I would say, I would kind
of turn the table and say, it really depends on what you're,
be careful what you place your ambition in,
or what you're ambitious for.
Mm. And so, if I'm ambitious for being the most godly man,
that I can be the best husband that I can be the best dad,
that I can be the best coach, that I can be the best pastor,
that I can be the best brother that I can be, then
all these other things is best I can tell from the,
but are gonna be added unto me.
Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm. And so I would say, um, it's not a matter
of balancing your ambition.
What was the question? Balance your ambition with what,
As you take more responsibility? Yeah.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
So as I take more responsibility,
what I learn is my ambition.
Um, if the question is just about, as you grow from intern
to lead pastor, your ambition has to change too.
What does it mean to be a servant? Yeah.
It's good because at the end of the day,
leadership is really about serving other people.
That's good. And, uh, it cannot be about
how do you build your own kingdom?
Mm-Hmm. And I've seen a lot
of folks get caught up in that Mm-Hmm.
And man, it does terrible things to them as individuals,
and it does terrible things to people around them.
Mm-Hmm. I'm not saying I get it perfect,
but I am saying that I've done it the wrong way
and I've learned some lessons.
And by God's grace,
I think I've gotten at least a little bit more right.
Mm-Hmm. And I think myself
and those around me get to experience a
little bit of busing because of that.
That's good. That's good.
Um, while we're talking about
church work ministry ambition,
another question from one of our listeners.
How do you plan for the future on a low income?
How do you plan for the future on a low income?
Ma'am, that's a great question.
Uh, I think, uh, I'm not a financial coach, you know, uh,
but, but I am a believer in, in actually knowing
what your goals are Mm-Hmm.
And writing them down, and then being realistic. Yeah.
And so the truth is, um, it cost a lot more money
to live right now than it did five years
Ago. Yes, sir.
There's, there's just no getting around it.
Right? Yes, sir. And so, um, you know, I'd love to say,
Hey, listen, we can all live on less
than what we really think we need.
Yeah. Which is true, but I also wanna be realistic.
I mean, it costs more to live right now.
So I would say that, um,
if someone is really in a,
in a lower income situation than they want,
but they have hopes, you've gotta do the hard work
of writing down your goals.
Mm-Hmm. You've gotta do the hard work of writing down
what you're spending your money on.
Mm-Hmm. And then you'd better identify,
and then you need, probably need to write down in the middle
what are the things you need to be doing
to go towards your goal.
Yep. And man, if there's things that aren't on that list
that, and I was gonna say that are on the list on the left.
'cause in my mind, I'm writing this down. Yep.
Um, you gotta cross those things out.
You, I mean, you're gonna have to drop some things,
but you're not gonna know what to drop
until you actually evaluate what it is
that you're spending your money on.
Mm-Hmm. Evaluate what it is that I need to do
to accomplish my goals in light of what our goals are.
So you need to know what you're trying to accomplish,
and you need to know what you're doing,
and if it's pushing you in that direction or not.
Most people don't like doing that budget, Jason, that's
so you that, that, that probably stepped on a couple toes.
But that's the reality. You can't get there without
knowing what you're doing with it. I think
We've got an episode or so about
that then maybe they could check out at
Some point. I think we do.
You could check out
the episode with George Campbell.
That's a, that's a, that's a, that's a good place. Okay.
Um, okay.
Here's a, here's, oh man, I don't think we wrote down
who ans asked this
question, but this is such a good question.
If you could sit and talk with one leader from history
for an hour, who would it be
and what would you talk to them about?
Not Jesus, because I know. I know, I know.
That's what I wanted to say. I say I know, I know.
Not Jesus. We know you would talk,
you talk to Jesus all the time.
Let me, let me I know,
but not in the way, like sitting down and looking.
So I'm, I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna be honest. Yeah.
If I really could any leader Yeah.
And I'm not just saying this. Yeah.
My answer really would be Jesus. Sure.
I like, I just, what that guy did.
I mean, and it's, and it's changed the world. Mm-Hmm.
It's changed the world. Mm-Hmm.
And, and so, um,
and there's just certain things that you read about in,
in scripture that I, I wanna be like, man,
what was it like when that happened?
Mm. And I, I just, so there's,
uh, but I can't say that.
And so, so there's,
you know, so there's all kinds of people.
Um, I'll give you a couple
and then how about I give you a fun one.
Okay. I'll, I'll give you, I'll give you what I,
what it really would be if it was like today.
Okay. So, um, Abraham Lincoln. Okay. Right. Come on.
I mean, great leader led or through crisis
Country. Yeah.
Okay. Mm-Hmm. So plenty there.
And then, um, you know, what does it mean to lead
through difficult times, I think
will be a part of that question.
And, and then, man, I I think you got Martin Luther King Jr.
Sure. I mean, goodness gracious. Sure.
Um, the, the passion
and the zeal of what he held onto Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm.
And obviously it cost him. Yeah.
And, uh, and so I don't know what it is.
And, and you know, you know, Jesus living for
what he believed cost him something too.
So I don't know what it is about me and my journey. Yeah.
I mean that, uh, that, that kind
of draws me into conversations like that.
Um, but then,
but you know, the fun one I would give is, uh,
is he's actually still alive today.
And, and who knows, maybe one day we'll end up having
him, uh, on the show.
But the head wrestling coach
of Penn State University, kale Sanderson.
Okay. Um, I think that, that guy is, um, first of all,
he kicked my butt in college, but he kicked everybody.
He kicked everybody's butt.
He never, I didn't see that coming.
He, he never lost a high school wrestling match. Wow.
All right. Wow. He never
lost a college wrestling match.
Really? Four time national champ. Okay.
Four time most outstanding wrestler, uh, went
to the Olympics on the Olympics Mm.
Uh, Olympic gold medal.
And now he's the head coach at Penn State.
And I think his dual meet record, like,
which is one team versus another team.
Yeah. Over, I'm gonna, some
of these numbers are gonna be off just a little bit,
but I think it's like either over the last eight, nine,
or 10 years is something like you somebody
and somebody in here, maybe you can Google it,
Penn State's Wrestling Rec, but I think it's like 123
and one Wow.
Or something like that. Wow. I mean, it's just, uh,
Okay. And
so the, the guy knows how to handle his own business
and he knows how to lead.
Mm. And what I love about him and why him specifically,
'cause there's been plenty of people that are successful.
Um, the, uh, you know,
like Bill Belichick's been successful,
but I, I don't know that, I think him sitting down talking
for an hour have you've seen his press conferences? Mm-Hmm.
Yeah. But what, But what Kale does,
he preaches every single one of his kids,
you hear them talk about our culture.
Yeah. Jason. That's right. Good.
That's not gonna be funny for, but at Penn State, like,
their culture is work hard, play hard.
Yeah. Like, work hard, have fun, have fun, have fun,
have fun, have everything they do is have fun.
It's like they don't feel any stress,
they don't feel any pressure.
They just go out and they let it fly
and they let the cards fall where they may.
And, uh, and like, I think that more of us,
I know I could Sure.
And the type of culture I want to create in the environments
that I've been entrusted to lead, I want
to create an environment like that
where Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're doing big things. We're gonna accomplish big things,
but man, we're, we're having fun.
We're letting it fly. You
know, this is not, there's no stress.
There's no pressure. So I'd love to sit down for a while
and talk with him about how he's built that culture
and what's helped him be able to build the culture that,
that type of culture, the way that he has.
Look, you are making me, I'm about
to look this guy up as soon as we get done.
Record this podcast on,
It's, uh, as of January 21st,
50 straight, dual meat wins,
50 straight dual wins.
Wow. Previously they held 60 straight.
60 straight. I Don't see, I don't see an overall
One. Okay. All right. Well
that right there is one 10.
That's 110 and one, so that's impressive. Yeah.
Very impressive. Ca
Anderson, maybe we need to get 'em on.
Let's work on that. Okay.
Um, you ask everybody this, um, at the end of each episode,
and, uh, I wanna flip this on you a little bit.
Where do you see yourself in five
years? That's the first one.
Hmm. Where do I see myself in five years? Let think.
So I'll almost be 50.
Yes. I'll Almost be 50. Yes. Um, where do I see
Myself? Well, you'll probably be playing
your 50th birthday parties.
That's right. There's one, there's one.
I hate planning parties. Okay.
I absolutely hate playing parties.
Uh, I think, where do I see myself?
I see myself in the same house. Yep.
I see myself in the same neighborhood. Yep.
We're living on the south side of Raleigh Garner. Yeah.
Um, same home. I, um, I believe I'm still married.
I think at that 0.5 years. We're 26 years in.
That's, they say 26. Yeah, that's right.
We're, we're 26 years in.
Um, I think
I'm still in the same role as Lee Pastor. Uh, I
Hope so. Five
Year hope. I
mean, look, I mean, guy could do anything. Yeah.
You know, there's a lot of different things he could do.
Yeah. Um, if it, if it's not, it's just be, if I'm not,
it would be because I would, I would, I think because myself
and some others thought maybe there's somebody else who's
better for the, for the role.
I'm not saying that. I think that's, I certain
that's not the case today because someone would've told me.
But, um, but I hope we do have an elder meeting tonight.
It was, uh, I think it's review time coming up, but, uh,
but no, I, I think so.
'cause I think in five years, but what I would like to be,
I would say this, I'd like to be spending more time at
that point, um, equipping and empowering
and coaching more leaders, uh, around our country.
Mm-Hmm. Uh, in, in whatever that means. Mm.
So, um, I think my impact long term, uh, I would like
to help leaders find more hope,
help leaders create environments
where their teams can actually experience more hope in
what it is that they're trying to
accomplish and do together.
Love that. Okay. Last question.
And I'm probably, let me say this too. Yep.
I hope in five years, yeah.
In five years, my twins will be in college
and Connor will either be in college or almost college.
Um, and this is not for me because I want it. Yeah.
Though I do enjoy it. This is
because of what their goals are.
I hope that I'm traveling
around watching them compete at the next level, uh, whether
that's football, wrestling,
and, uh, been able to watch a little bit of NCAA action
Based on what I've heard.
I think there's a very good shot of
that happening in one of those avenues.
That's just, just my, uh, non-expert opinion.
Um, we got a few questions.
Do we we do, we got some question
before we ask our last final No, let's do, no, let's,
let's get to our questions.
So Hailey is letting us know
that we have some questions. We have
Some questions from the, from the live feed. Alright.
One question. Do you have a favorite vacation
Spot? Favorite
vacation spot? Oh
My gosh. So this,
look, I want you to,
when I said I don't do the quality time thing, well,
it's not because I don't want to.
And, um, I actually love nothing better.
Very few things better than just turning everything off. Mm.
And relaxing. Mm. Um, so my favorite
vacation spot that I've ever been to is a place,
I went there on my honeymoon, and then we went back again.
I don't know, I'm going to get this number only up like five
years ago with some very close friends.
Um, but it's called Swept Away Resorts in Negri, Jamaica.
Okay. And, uh, I like it is that, I think in,
in Negri it's boasted as like the largest beachfront
with the lowest occupancy ratio.
Mm-Hmm. So there's not a lot of people there. Yeah.
But they've got like four different pools,
I think like six different restaurants.
Wow. Um, it's all inclusive, which for my wife is,
is a big deal because Sure.
Well, for me it's a big deal
because my wife doesn't like to spend money.
Yeah. But like, once it's spent, it's like
It is done. Yeah. It's
Done. Yeah. And then, and
Get you some jerk chicken in the grill.
Oh my gosh. That jerk chicken, that jerk chicken
Jamaica right now.
Man. Jerk chicken. That jerk grouper, right. Um, plantains.
Yeah. So I, I could be argued.
I think like looking at pictures,
I could be argued into like French Polynesian islands.
Okay. Okay. All right. Okay. That's kind of the same thing.
Okay. Uh, but it, but for the price point. Yeah.
And wanna talk about the budget that you live on.
There you go. For earlier.
That's probably gonna have to be a little
Further out. We got these ministry
budgets. That's right.
All right. Two more. Um, so swept away resort,
if you're listening, I would love to come
and, uh, hang out there for a week or so
and talk about you on the podcast. Sponsor
The podcast.
So the follow up question to that was, if you had
to live on the island with one meal
to eat forever, what would it be?
Uh, grouper. Grouper.
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Fish or whatever their, you know,
their freshest catch would be there.
But yeah, without a doubt it would be fish every
day right out of the water.
Mm.
All right. And how do you combine being both a
pastor and a coach?
How do, the question is how do I
Combine your face right now? How
Do I combine being, uh, both a pastor and a coach?
Um, I think I'm the,
I think I'm almost the same guy in both places.
Yeah. The answer is I'm probably more,
I approach my pastoral role
and my leadership role probably more
as a coach than most do Mm-Hmm.
And I'm probably honestly a little more pastoral in my
coaching approach than most coaches are.
And so I think who I am doesn't change.
Now do I yell more when I coach than when I
preach or when I'm in staff meeting?
Yes, I do.
Um, do my, do the joggers that I wear both to work
and to go get a little bit more worked up when I'm coaching.
Yeah. They, they find their way up. And so you
Probably use some different language too.
I'm, I'm just,
Yeah. I would. I would.
But, but I,
but it is a, uh, you know, in the coaching scene,
whether it's football specifically in the wrestling
community, very tight knit community.
A lot of people know what I do. Yeah.
Um, and it's, it's kind of an ongoing joke, like there,
I mean, I'm telling you, there are times
where I do get a little bit more worked up in
an official than I'm proud of.
Yeah. Or, um,
but there's also times where I show restraint and hold back.
'cause I'm like, man, I know that, uh,
this would probably not be a good look on somebody
else's live video feed. That's,
I was gonna say, it's videos everywhere now.
Everywhere. Everywhere.
And so, but I,
but I would say, yeah, I mean, it's, it's tough,
but I think I, again, I approach the pastoral role from
a little bit more coach side.
And then, and I'm probably a little bit more pastoral,
uh, on the coaching side.
Like I really want, whether it's an athlete,
a young athlete, or an adult in the business world,
if I'm off, I want them to know, like, first
and foremost, you're cared for.
Mm-Hmm. This is out of an appreciation.
This is out of a love for who you are
and what it is that you wanna accomplish.
So, um, and yeah, I probably need
to work on my language sometimes when I'm coaching.
Sometimes we all do. We all do. That's it. Okay. Alright.
Uh, here's our, our last question.
What are you Jason Gore on?
I won't tell the date because this will air the different
date, but, um, what are you most hopeful for right now?
What am I most hopeful for?
Um, can, lemme word, can I say, what am I hoping for?
You can do that. How that,
I mean, this is your podcast.
Like, I mean,
What am I most hope for one, I,
I say the most important thing to me is that, um, first
and foremost that I love and lead and serve my family well.
Mm. Um, and so I'm hopeful for a life
that follows closely enough to Jesus,
that it points my wife
and my children in the direction that is going to allow them
to experience the abundant life
and the purpose-filled life Mm-Hmm.
That God's created them for. Mm-Hmm.
And so, um, there are days where I'm more
hope filled that I'm doing that than others.
Sure. Um, but, uh, but if you just said the most hopeful,
and then beyond that, uh, wade, you know, like this, um,
what I get to do in, in serving,
and I say this in, in so much humility in, in the,
and in lead pastor role at Hope Mm-Hmm.
Um, in coaching the environments where I've been entrusted
to coach, whether it's football, whether it's wrestling, um,
I believe that there's so much brokenness
and hurt in the world around us right now.
And I also know beyond a shadow of it out that that is not
what we were exper created
to experience is our everyday norm.
Yeah. And so I am hopeful, uh, of,
of creating environments
and giving the best of myself to that end
that in whatever environment it is that, uh, that I'm in,
I'm bringing the most possible hope to.
So whether it's leading the church, whether it's, um,
you know, in my family, whether it's in my community Yeah.
Whether it's on a sports team that I'm leading,
but I mean, that's really the heartbeat of
what this podcast was birthed out of.
Right. I mean, I'm in the room right now.
We got red in here, ma Hailey, Elena's not in here today,
but we got Jay like yourself, you know,
so when I talk about like, the hope in real life team, just
so everyone knows, that's largely
who it is to our listeners.
But we talk about how do we bring the most amount
of hope possible to the everyday real moments
of the lives of our listeners.
And this, we didn't say, let's start a podcast.
We said, we wanna bring people hope.
And we thought this podcast would
be the best way to do that.
If a better way comes up to do that, then man,
let's go and try to do it.
But man, I'm hopeful for what we're doing, the work
that we're putting in into this podcast,
that it actually would impact our listeners.
This is not about going back to that ambition thing. Mm-Hmm.
This is not about how do we build subscribers?
How, which you should, you should subscribe,
you should, like, you should share.
But thi this is about
how do we actually bring hope into people's
lives who desperately need it.
And so I'm hopeful for a movement of a tribe that just wants
to not only receive this hope,
but also share this hope, uh, with other people.
And so that's what I'm hopeful for.
And then if I could add one more to it. Mm-Hmm.
I do believe that the culmination of that hope,
I believe is only possible
through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Mm-Hmm. And so, like, you know me,
like I'm a pretty open guy.
Yeah. Pretty transparent guy.
Like, I want this podcast to be a podcast
that anybody can listen to regardless
of their religious beliefs, regardless of any
where they are in life,
and they can find a bit more hope than when they started.
That's good. Right. Um, so having said that,
I personally believe short of a relationship with Jesus
and understanding, like there's a guy that loves you so much
and he created you to experience one life,
but like, man, we've all gone off
and done some jacked up stuff.
And because of that brokenness in our lives
and other people's collective brokenness together,
like it just makes sense
that the world's not gonna be what it's supposed to be.
But God didn't wanna leave us there. Mm-Hmm.
And he doesn't ask us to earn our way back to him. Mm-Hmm.
Which is like, that's why we're all stressed.
That's why we're all anxious. Mm-Hmm.
'cause we're trying to earn something. We're trying
to put things back in a place
that we really don't have control over anyways.
Mm-Hmm. And so realizing that God sent his son to teach us
how to live, what the Bible says is to pay a price
that we deserve for our sins, that jacked up step, we did
that brokenness that he would pay the price for that
through a death on a cross,
and then go into a grave to a tomb for three days
and then three days later raising from the dead,
overcoming sin
and death so that we could have
that restored relationship with God.
So all that brokenness could be put back together.
I just don't know. And look, I'm a David Goggins fan.
I'm, uh, like I, these guys that are like,
nobody cares, work harder.
And I get it. And like, that's some
of my best advice for people sometimes.
But at the end of the day, you just can't work anymore.
Right. Some, at some point it runs out.
And if you don't have Jesus, I just don't know
where the hope comes from.
And so we can put plans in place,
we can balance our checkbooks,
we can know what our budget is.
We can go on enough date nights.
Um, we can, but,
but man, at the end of the day, we just run outta gas.
And if we don't have Jesus,
I don't know where it comes from.
And so my hope would be not only that this podcast would be
for everybody, but it would also move them along
in their journey towards a relationship with Jesus
and the hope that that can provide.
Man, I, um, I just wanna say this man, like, I'm thankful
for your vision for this ministry, right?
Like, I have a lot of conversations
with friends in ministry, outside of ministry.
There are very few churches that are attempting to do
what it is we're attempting to do
through bringing people hope through a medium like this.
And not just with the podcast, with the app,
with all the other things that we're doing.
And I think to have that vision of like, man,
we wanna do whatever it takes to bring people hope, even if
we gotta do some things that are a little uncomfortable
or a little unorthodox
or a little un whatever else, other,
what word you wanna put under
after un um, is significant man.
And, um, I just wanna thank you for that. Yeah.
Well I would say that, um, uh,
you said thank you, so I'll say you're welcome.
But I will say like, all glory to God.
Like, I don't, uh, I don't think I've done enough
to earn the right, the privilege to be able to do
what it is that I get to do.
And then to get to do it with a team like this sure makes it
like just, uh, it's like, man, how can we not get it done?
Mm-Hmm. So yeah, man. Humble to be a part of it. Absolutely.
So, so who's wrapping us up? We got this last week.
Who's gonna wrap us up? Hey, this,
it sounds like this will conclude season two
of Hope in Real Life.
Um, I hope this episode's been valuable for you, one, to get
to know us, my myself, I guess a bit, a bit better.
And, uh, uh, you wrote in the questions, so I'm assuming
that, uh, that they're good.
Uh, and it's what you needed.
Um, looking forward to season three.
Please like, subscribe, share this content with other people
who you think, uh, actually need a bit more hope
in their everyday life.
And then if you have topics
or things that you want to cover, want
to hear us cover in season three, you can DM us.
You can leave a comment plenty of different ways.
You can let us know, and we would love to follow up
with you if we can and or make sure it's in Season three.
Wade, thank you so much for everything you've done.
Team, thank you for everything you've done
to make season two a hit.
We love you guys, hope and real life listeners,
and we will see you next season. That deserve
A round of applause. That's
Yeah.
Oh man, That was so funny.
They was like, who's wrapping this up here?
Thanks for tuning into this episode
of The Hope in Real Life podcast.
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