You’re Missing Gospel Moments Every Day - Here’s Why

You're listening to the Provoke and Inspire podcast. Thank you. Ben. Yeah. Chard. Chard. Are you said that like me? You were like chard. Um. We're all together. Uh, as I said on the previous episode, because, yes, we did record back to back because we're efficient. We are. But don't tell him that, though. Oh, right. It's a brand new day. It's great that we've spending this whole week here so we could do two podcasts. I know, but it's not great on one level because Chad, you know, because he I look better on a on zoom than I do in real life. Yeah. And he's like, we just did. You already know. He said, do you want me to get some cock cocking stuff for your cracks in your face? And I'm like, what? I thought, that is so inappropriate. If there's gonna be anything to pause on, it's like, what? It's like, what is that? You definitely need to say that. Yes you did. You definitely need to leave that. You said, do we need to? Do we need to go to Home Depot? All right. Here we are. Welcome to the Provoke and Inspire podcast, learning how to follow Jesus in a post-Christian world. My our do not disturb has run out. Yeah, it's ran out. It's been post an hour. It's taken us that long to get going here, David, with all the chicanery, has just, uh, led to one false start after another. Just trying to bring a little bit of interest to something like just listening to, like, you know, the kind of stuff they make you watch in school, they make you go to the cheese factory, like, we're gonna go cake factory, no cheese. So, all right, we're gonna go. This is clearly gonna go on a field trip to the cheese factory. Laurie, this is how we make cheese. This is how we put it in a bucket. In England, they do a field trip to Cadbury's chocolate factory. All right, let's move on. All right. Are we doing this thing? Do you have a thing? Are we going to do a thing or do we not have one a thing? All right, you ready? Here we go. David's random story. reason. So anyway, I've always wondered about, you know, what our behavior should be, how we should think about things like, you know, churches and, you know, places that we say you can come and experience God. And so, you know, I don't know if you guys have thought about that, but I've thought about that. And so then we had a situation at our international center in Germany where we have our mission community there. And what we have there is a prayer room. I feel like this is potentially the most spiritual and serious David's random story ever. And I know I don't even really know what to do. I'm worried. I'm we're about to get derailed. We usually mock it, and right now we just cannot. It's just it's like, this is too good. So wait, so there's a I don't know what a prayer room is. Yeah. And what I, what I like about our prayer room is it looks kind of like it's got bars on the windows. So then one of our team came up to me and said, there's some random person from the village in our prayer room, you know, And the village. What was my village? Yeah. So my first response was, get him out of there. We can't have random people from the village. Yeah. They're not allowed to pray in our prayer room, you know, because no outsiders in the prayer room. That's what this is, a prayer room. Get out! Do you. What do you think this is, a prayer room? Oh, it is a prayer room. Oh, you. Get out. Oh, you could have locked the door. Quick, lock the door! Lock the door. Lock the door. Call the prayer room. Lock the door. Lock the door. Lock the door. So they said. What should we do? I said lock it. So then they locked it. Oh, I was right. Yeah. And so then. Then later, I'm thinking maybe that was the wrong reaction. Yeah. Because, you know, they're okay. They're village people and you know how they dress. Oh, yeah. Uh, sailor. Biker. Cowboy. Indian. Indian. American. Native German village people. These are German village people. These are German. The green shorts. The knickers. Suspenders. Lots of. The German villager gets ten euros. They get sent to Norma to buy whatever the heck they can find to wear, because that's what they're all dressed like wearing normal. No one is gonna understand that. Nobody understands any of this, but I. So I guess the moral to the. Wow. There's a moral already. Yeah. I was gonna say finish the story. I want to know what happened to the villager locked in the prayer room. We locked the prayer room. So these bad villagers was gonna speak like Chad. You know? He. You were gonna use some. You were gonna use bad words. You're gonna use some colorful words. I didn't want to use colorful language, Chad. Language. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Um, so. So we locked the prayer room, and then later, I felt convicted about it. I thought maybe we shouldn't lock the prayer room, but if someone goes in the prayer room, say, oh, it's nice that you came to be in our prayer room. Why did you say that? In a British accent and then locked them in there and then lock them in there? So. So I guess if you're listening to this and you're a German villager, no, know this. We need to make it so you don't have to be in Germany. If you're listening to this and someone comes into your kitchen and goes, hello, can I come into your kitchen? I would like to sit here and pray. You have to let him in. Lock them in. David's random story. All right, let's move on. Let's move on. Moving on. Yeah, that was good. It is true. When you're in your sort of own little space during David's random story, you can kind of choose your own adventure. I tend to get snacks. Chad gets some emails. I don't know what Luke does during that time. I listen to David. Yeah, as much as you want to make fun of the random stories, everywhere I go, people come up to me and they, oh, the random stories are the best. I love the random stories. Oh, the random stories are the best. I love them, I love them. Are they dying their last breath? I just had that happen an hour before I came here so you can just whack off. It was me. Wow. Rack off. I've never heard that phrase before. What is going on? I'm gonna steal it. You got full Australian on me there and I appreciate it. All right, let's move on. So for today's episode, I was inspired by a clip that someone from the team shared with me. Uh, and it was of this. Yeah. Really powerful moment. I'm not. It looks like I'm tearing up, but it's because I was yawning and laughter. Uh, I have very wet eyes. Okay. Which is useful for a contact where, like myself, so many emotions. Yawning, crying, laughing. I know it's the best of all worlds. Uh, somebody shared this with me. Uh, and it was this really amazing moment. Caught on a ring camera, which is kind of a funny feature of our modern society. So let me play this, because I think it'll set up our conversation really well about every day profound opportunities for ministry. And as people that, you know, had the blessing of being able to do missions as a life, as a vocation, I think it can be tempting to relegate it to that. And so for those who are not in ministry, I think it can be tempting also to say that ministry is for certain people in certain places at certain times. And I think when you hear stories like this and really, Chad, you know, I would hope this would become an even more regular part of your current and future self. But you often were the one bringing these kinds of moments and stories to the forefront, and they were so inspiring for us, I know, and for those listening. So let me just play this, uh, it'll be on the video for those watching on YouTube, but otherwise we'll just listen to it real quick, okay? Neil. Okay, Neil. Uh, I'm sorry, I'm getting old. I saw sixty seven. It's not sixty seven or fifty seven. You were number fifty. Sixty seven. So fifty seven, sixty seven, I screwed up. I'm sorry. I'm on my way back to get it right now. I will bring it back. I think we can make it work. And. Hey, and don't for one second feel bad. Well, I'm. We love you. And Jesus loves you. And we hope you have a great night. Don't feel bad for one second. We're having a great night. Thank you. Okay. You're welcome. You're very much loved. You know that? Do you know Jesus? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Are you living for Jesus? I'm just struggling because things have been pretty difficult. Hey, girls. Come here. We're going to pray for this really nice lady. What's your name? My name is Susanna. Oh, Susanna. Yeah, I'm Neil. Come on. Hey, girls, do you love this lady right here? Yes. Let's pray for her here. Put. Put it. Can I put my hand on your shoulder? And if you want to come over. Yeah. And your name? One more time. Susanna. Susanna. Jesus. We thank you for Susanna. And Lord, I thank you that we cross paths tonight. In fact, Lord, she's more important than any of these orders tonight. Because you matter to her. She matters to us. Lord, I just pray you would bless her. I pray that you would open the windows of heaven over her and, uh, bring any healing she needs to her body in the name of Jesus. Any financial need to her Lord and God that she would encounter you and live for you and follow you with everything she has. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Hey, have a great night. Bless you. Thank you. Bye. Thank you. Take care. Anyway, so, man, I watched that several times. It's like, so powerful, right? And, uh. Yeah, just as I was reflecting on that, it reminded me of. Well, first of all, I think the profound needs of people around us. Right. You know, here's a woman who was clearly too old to be doing this job, you know, in this really rough spot, obviously, and stressed. And, you know, she encounters this guy and she's trying to explain why she messed up this order. And, you know, this turns out he's a pastor, and he takes this moment to really turn it from not just an act of kindness in the sense of being gracious for her mistakes, but really sees this as an open opportunity to share the gospel. And it turns out they ended up raising fifty thousand dollars for this woman. Um, through that post. That's cool. Yeah. But anyway, the point is, where was that? Do you know? That's really cool. I'm sure I could find out. Unfortunately, I don't have it right in front of me. But the point is, I wanted to have a discussion that gets really practical in the sense that, first of all, what is our reaction to that? Because, I mean, I think you would not have a heart as a follower of Jesus or even just anyone if you don't feel the power in that moment. But also just practically, what do I got to do in my heart? And then just practically, what do I got to do in the way I interact with people, the expectations that I have, the kinds of things that I say that would produce more opportunities like that. Because, man, that's so profound, right? And there's so many different ways he could have gone with that. And it's so cool that he took it to that place and prayed for that woman and the way he did. But it wasn't just vague and spiritual. It was very specific and very much about Jesus and and her need for him. Um, so yeah, I don't know, what do you guys how does that little clip hit you? And then I think we could just have a practical discussion for ourselves and those listening, how we could see that be a more common part of our daily experience. Yeah, I was thinking about two things. One, you mentioned it. It's amazing how the moment he says, you know you're loved, right? You know, Jesus loves you. You just see the moment, the impact on her. Like she she just doesn't know how to respond. Like she just pauses for a moment. And that reminds us exactly what you said, Ben, which is like so many people, um, need an opportunity like that to hear that. And we think, oh, it's it's just so simple. It's so cliche to say it that way. And yet it. God, God will use that simple truth to hit somebody in a way where they're like, yeah, God is speaking truth over them right then and there. That's amazing. And that's there's a need out there and it's so easy to just do that. But the other thing it made me think is like, how often am I able to be that ready and spontaneous to react and to to talk to somebody like that who I don't know. And being honest. That happens every now and again does not happen as often as I would want it to. And I and it made me reflect and think about what are the things that stop me from being available for any random stranger that God might bring before me to respond in that way, to care about, oh, this is an opportunity to share about God's love with this person. And I think it's either. I mean, I thought of two things for now. I'm sure there's many more, but like a lot of time, I'm too busy. I'm just thinking about so many things and people come by and I've just, like, focused on something else. I don't stop to to do that. Or we get so internally thinking like about our own problems and issues. And you know, it's interesting, like being in the US, there's something in the culture, I don't know if it's like that across the whole country, but the impression I have, I live in, in Poland, in Europe, and there are some cultural differences. You walk into a coffee shop in the US. People are naturally quite positive that and it's a beautiful thing about this country. You know, people are like, hey, how are you doing? You know, what's what's going on in your life today? And there's just this there's people have created a habit and a norm around being positive to each other and being open, and that creates opportunity. And in some other cultures, including a lot, a lot of Europe, it's not as easy to do that. People are more just inward and not not ready to speak out like that. And, you know, I'm not saying one culture is better than another of good things and bad things on all sides, but but that difference to me is distinct. And there's something about just having the habit of not being inward, worried and focused so that I can be open to people and see what opportunities God opens up. And I'd like to live more like that. And so I'm just trying to look in my own life like, how can I be more available? That reminds me of, uh, we were in Amsterdam with our different leaders there, and we had this very famous evangelist with us. And so we're at a we're at a cool coffee shop, and we're talking about all our plans to do this and do that. And, and uh, so someone asked or he asked one of the, one of us, it wasn't me. It was someone else from that was there. So do you come to this cafe very often? And he goes, yeah, it's all the time. It's really a great place. And so then he said, so you've talked to the waitress about Jesus, right? And everyone was just like, quiet. And it's like, okay, put on the spot. Yeah, yeah. So you've now, I know this applies to people who are in ministry or, you know, in that way, but it's like you have this great plan to reach the world, but you haven't even talked to the waitress about Jesus in the restaurant you go to all the time what is going on? I mean, for me, when I had an encounter with Jesus when I was going to university, God completely changed my life. I was immediately preaching to everyone I could see I was compelled to do it. I even was forced to do it by some of my friends. Um, and it was in my context. I was a I was a student. And then that's when everything is alive. That's when you're seeing God move, and that's when you see the people getting healed. And that's when it's not just a religious thing that I'm doing, but it's so alive. And and I think that there's a spiritual battle to keep us quiet. It's not just, you know, getting into a habit for like this pastor to do that. And I think the more we do it, the easier it becomes. But there's this thing to keep us quiet. All the lies in my head. Or like you said, Luke, we're too busy. It should be the exception to the rule that we don't pray with people and talk to them about Jesus. Actually, and I'm not saying I do that all the time, but I have to say it's very common for me to do that now. My wife, Jody, she always say, go pray for that person. I'm like, you go pray for them. Don't you know? And then you kind of you pray for them and they cry and God moves in their life, and then you just kind of move on. You don't even think about it anymore because it's not a big deal. It's normal. And I think that normalcy needs to be in my life. But yeah, there there's a fight, though, as you said. And I think I think it's interesting you mentioned that you came to Jesus and then your your reflex almost was to immediately start telling people about Jesus. And I think that's a pretty common story. You know, you hear people who they get radically saved and then they reach their families and then they're reaching around and and yet there seems to be this regression to just becoming kind of a more contained Christian. And maybe that's partially because your world becomes more Christian around you and you stop interacting. Maybe it's a gifting thing. You're not necessarily that kind of person that has that many interactions with those outside of the church. But to me, it's I really think there are there are some mindsets and habits around this that I do think are important. Like, in other words, what I'm trying to say is I don't know if I can wait till I feel to be the kind of person that's going to do this naturally. You know, I think it has to be a real a real emphasis, right? I mean, Chad, what when you were in that in more of a season where this was more of a regular part of your journey, were there rhythms and disciplines that kind of produced this more naturally or or I guess maybe a better question is if it's not been as much of a feature of your life recently, why? And what was the difference in your mind? Yeah. I mean, as I listen to this, um, video, the first thought that comes to me related to what you asked is that clearly this individual understood and recognized that this was an opportunity and then spoke to the opportunity, uh, accordingly. And so I think that is a huge, uh, as I think back of the season of near constant risks in my life that that I was always like on attention for where's the okay God, when are you going to bring me the next opportunity? Because it seemed like they happened that frequently. I had a friend reach out to me on LinkedIn recently as well, and she said something to the tune of like, if I could ever work with you, I would love that. And I was like, what? That's so weird. And she said, I was following you at Furnace Fest. I think it was last year. But, um, and she said, I saw you stop for one of the security guards, and they had a they had a boot or something on, you know, like some, some kind of I think it was a brace or something. And, uh, and you offered to pray for them and you just took time and like, talked to them and thanked them and stuff like that. And she's like, I would work for anyone who treated other people in that way. And, uh, and so tomorrow night represents a really interesting night in that it will be the first time that I do any kind of public outreach ministry in years. So I've already been thinking through this like, okay, what does that look like? Because all this stuff that I can share from like years ago doesn't really matter a whole lot to me if it isn't also affecting me now. And so the point I was about to make was like instead of it just being it used to be for me that I would look for the pain point, you know, the obvious pain point. But as we've talked about before, not everyone has an obvious pain point. So I think that one of the questions for us to consider as it relates to a gospel story is, is asking people what kind of pain point they're experiencing in life right now, and is there is there something, some hurdle or some challenge that then because that was what that that lady was dealing with a very real challenge in her life that then he addressed. So I think that that is uh, yeah. But but Luke, you mentioned that you busyness and selfishness can be barriers to seeing this opportunity, right? And it sounds really weird to say this, but first, you have to be the kind of person who's actually not going to be mad that the order gets messed up. That's true. Too true. Right? Like, because we can be followers of Jesus and still be jerks, right? And like, not even recognize that this is an opportunity for the gospel because we're still too hung up on the fact that our chicken wings weren't delivered on time. Thinking about, you know, what is this person's life? What are they going through? I always think about, yeah. You do. It's true. I have always. You've always said that I remember growing up. I always when, if ever I'd complain about a waitress seemed kind of crabby or some situation, you would always reflexively say, dude, you probably have no idea what's going on in their lives. And so I've had a similar reflex because you've shown me that. But that's part of this, right? We first have to be the kind of people who a have space in our lives for that conversation. Because if I'm on a zoom call and that lady comes to my door and she's already messed up my order, and now I'm late to my zoom call. I just want the wings. I might be somewhat polite, but I'm just like, boom, give me the wings. Let me get out of here. Yeah. So a he had the space that whatever else he was doing before he came to the door wasn't as important as taking the time with this lady. Right. And then he actually cared enough. Where? Because she. You know, what precipitated it was she messed something up and he could have been hung up on that, which, of course, in light of all this would have been embarrassing. Ridiculous. But have we not maybe missed opportunities because we haven't even really cared about the person behind the problem? Yeah, there's a big picture like general discipleship. Where's my heart at? There's also the day to day am I feeding myself with things that lead me to be open and interested in other people? So I think there's both those aspects like, I know for myself, if I if I, you know, start my day and I'm looking to God and I'm praising him, thanking him for the things he's done and I'm like having some time to read the word. And I'm, you know, I'm getting focused on on why I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm in a totally different place. When I meet people, I'm ready. I'm looking for those opportunities. I'm ready to serve and to do things. And if I start my day fighting with my family and not, you know, and just losing my cool, and just then I'm just distracted and I'm not available for people. So there is something of the day to day. And of course, we all have those ups and downs in the day to day. But it matters how I look after my heart and my time and my soul so that I'm ready and available for others. And then I think in the bigger picture, the transformation of our hearts matters. And as you were sharing, it just reminded me of this passage in Colossians three where Colossians four. So you do have to have a Colossians battle. Great. Um, it's it's just about the change. Paul talks to the Colossian church about the change of heart that needs to happen when you when you follow Jesus and He goes, you used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but now you must rid yourselves of all such things as anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language. Do not lie to each other, since you've taken off your old self and its practices. And then. Then later on, he says, therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another. And it's just I mean, it's simple, obvious stuff. It's it's the basic of what it means to follow Jesus. But I have to be reminded this all the time. There's a drastic change that has to happen in my heart when I meet Jesus, and there are things that need to be less or gone in my life. And then there are other things that need to come in, and I need to live them out in situations like that day to day. So yeah, I would agree. I think we have to actually be the kind of transformed person that's going to react like Jesus in a moment like that, because it began with kindness and compassion, which led to a recognition of a place that this woman was in, right? That then he offered the truth that he knows right to her in that moment, which was so beautiful and profound. But I do to your point, Chad. I do feel like this probably wasn't unusual for this guy would be my guess. My guess is that he had conditioned himself, as you said, David, to be the kind of person to expect opportunities like that. Um, I think of Colossians four, where it's two and six is the entire passage, but specifically five. It says, be wise in the way you act towards outsiders. Make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how to answer everyone. And there's this this sense of expectation that I should be prepared and recognize that these interactions and moments that I have with people are so profound. Um, and I think practically, that might look like the kinds of language that you just use in everyday life, like Courtney, my wife. Um, she had this amazing interaction last week where there was a guy who, um, she went to high school with and he was working at a grocery store pushing carts, you know, and she's my, our age. So obviously some things had happened, transpired in his life that led him to this place. And I think there's some substance stuff. And, um, so she really had a heart for this guy, and she was asking him about his life. And, you know, one thing that my wife has always been very good about is just not making weird distinctions between the day to day Christian aspects of our life and her everyday conversations. So it'll come up that we're what she just heard at church, or our kids being dropped off at their Christian school or what she was, you know, it's just a very integrated part of her life. And I think sometimes I can be so concerned with relevance. This value that we talk about in our mission of wanting to be cool and connect with people outside of the church, that I can go too far and strip all religiosity out of my speech, when sometimes it's exactly those little moments in the conversation. Like, do you know that you're loved? Do you know, do you know Jesus like some people might? If you just read that in text form, it might you might cringe at that. Yeah. Like, why is he saying that? But in context it was beautiful. And so Courtney mentions this. And then the guy says to her, man, you know, I've been really wondering about God. Like, do I do I need to consider if God is is real or give my life to him? And so she prays for this guy in the parking lot of this grocery store. And he's he's crying. And, you know, it's this profound moment. But I think that was an example to me of her being ready, like her, like being integrating her life in such a way where that opportunity became available. Whereas if I was in that situation, I might have just been like, hey, how's it going? Like, how's your life? You know, I might not have good to see you had that opportunity. So I don't know. I think there is some there is a practical preparedness and a way of conducting ourselves both kindly and compassionately, but also intentionally, where we provide those opportunities for people to to understand that we're the kind of person that they can, that they recognize in us a spiritual opportunity like that. Totally. I think that for me, the one of the desires in this season and as I grow in the Lord again, is is just the beauty of hearing from His spirit in real time. Yeah. That piece alone has been maybe one of the most profound parts of my faith journey. The relational tie in between listening and responding in obedience, and then watching what the end result is for those two. Um, it's like all it takes is one of those. And then that's kind of like the spark, you know, and it's like, once you get that spark, then it's okay. It just feels like it's, um, it becomes very natural. And so I think that that is a it'd be interesting with this guy to know like how like what you said or I think one of you said, like, this probably isn't the first time this has happened for him or he was he's aware and living from a place of recognizing what the Lord's doing and stepping into it and not making it, about the order being screwed up and whatever else in the season where you were having these kind of interactions a lot, if I remember correctly, the way you would describe these stories, you often just had a few simple you can call them gimmicks, but just like questions or lead ins that you just armed yourself with, that would then find yourself very naturally having those conversations. Like I think about pastors who often will laugh saying, well, if anyone ever asks me what I do, which is what everyone asks you in our culture, the a pastor almost always finds themselves in a spiritual conversation all the time because you sit next to a guy on the plane, right? And they say, what do you do? I'm a pastor. Well, here's a fork in the road. Either they want to know more about that or they don't, but you're not going to have an unambiguous, you know, an ambiguous conversation at that point. So wouldn't you say part of this is just becoming the kind of person who creates that version of that natural segue into a spiritual conversation with ordinary, everyday interactions? Yeah. I mean, I think that that's, uh, like, like one of the more impactful prophetic kind of segues was I see you as the kind of person who and then trust the Holy Spirit to fill the gap. And I remember sometimes feeling, I'm going to try it on Friday night because I haven't tried that in like, years. But there was a time where that just that phrase alone, and then trusting the Holy Spirit to complete the sentence in in a manner that speaks truth and life and identity to someone was mind blowing. Because the result? I can remember being in Wellington, New Zealand, and attempting that for the first time. And I went. I walked up to like three kids sitting on, like hanging out with their skateboards and just sitting off to the side and tried to talk with them about Jesus. And it was just super awkward. They were like, who is this guy? And then all of a sudden I had like, yeah, I was like, I was like, hey, I see you as the kind of person who and I. And just out of my mouth came wonders that I had no preconceived knowledge of. For every one of them. And then they then they were just like, whoa, who's this guy? This is crazy. And like, like knocking each other, like, dude, how did he know that about you? You know, and so then it opened the door wide. So to me, it's like you can probably come up with really cool, like, okay, well, uh, I'm, you know, super evangelistic Christian guy, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna, like, come up with the three questions that I ask everybody that. But I still don't think that that any of those are likely to impact someone the way that the Holy Spirit can by specific, uh, identity call outs or just markers. But it seems as though it's a chicken and egg thing to me. Right. Because did you move because the Holy Spirit prompted you to or did you take that step? And the Holy Spirit used that moment like, do you know what I'm saying? In a sense, I have to put both to the test on Friday night and then come back. And what's happening Friday night? I'm very curious. So Friday night I got invited because I'm up here in Minneapolis to be part of a Staiger Halloween outreach night, and I've not been part of any kind of outreach in like six years, probably so that a zombie march, because you would easily be able to do that. That's true. I'm like, hey, I see a pair of knuckles. I think it's a am I willing to trust God enough to either come through for me or I'm going to look like an absolute idiot? Because if I start this and I say, I see you as the kind of person who and then nothing comes to me, Or I'm like, who works at Walmart? And they're like, dude, I, you know, I'm a CEO of a, you know, whatever fortune one hundred company, then, you know, that's not going to work. But I guess the reason why I ask is because for me, it's almost like God moves when I'm willing to take that risk. For sure, like we had the other week, we did this wild experiment that we called the Pop Up podcast, where we literally set up a mobile podcast station or set up studio on the University of Minnesota campus. Like no permission. We just set it up, this little table, two microphones. It was really cool. These dudes are a part of it. We had coffee there that we were giving away and no idea if it was going to work. And over the course of two weeks we had like thirty, forty super deep spiritual conversations. We should actually show that or put it in the. Yeah, there was one guy in particular where young dude, a DJ and, you know, I kind of start the conversation and we kind of go in this one direction is isn't really working. But then I really felt like the Holy Spirit guided me to this specific thing that I talked about the week before, where Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins was on an interview with Bill Maher, and he was talking about how he was twenty six and he'd had everything million dollars. Cover of rolling Stone wasn't satisfied, and I really felt like God gave me that story to share with him as this young, aspiring artist. And I said, here's a guy who has everything, and he's saying, it's not enough. You know, as someone who's pursuing these things, do you feel like even if you achieve your goals, you'll ever feel satisfied? And he's like, no, I don't. He said, I just and I can play the interview. I can show it on a different in a different context. But basically, I felt like the Holy Spirit, despite my beginning, gave me the right approach to kind of connect with the spiritual longings that this young guy had. And so right there on the side of the street, I end up praying for him to receive Jesus. But I think I had to be willing to just put myself in that position and open my mouth. I was gonna say. And that's a good example of it, that while on one hand, we need to be ready and have our heart in the right places like we were talking about before, and sometimes it can help to have certain questions or certain things that help us get into a conversation. I don't disagree with that, but at the same time, I think it is important to be able to just be ourselves and to let God lead conversations and bring things to mind, like the example you just gave. And to me, then that does tie into the value of relevance we talk about in the mission quite a bit, um, in that don't just come up with a formula that you apply to every conversation and every person listen to the person. And what is God saying for that person, which I think is what you're describing as well, you know, God, what do you have for this person? And then and then in the conversation, listening. And that's something we talk a lot about in the mission, I think is an important value. I've seen the guys that are getting involved in the mission now really grasping that. And there's a cool example, a training that we did, I don't know, about a year or more ago, we were in Serbia doing training with some of the churches there, and we had our Europe team with us, and this one guy who was like a professional or experienced evangelist guy who was in the course, you know, and he was coming up after we'd given the talk and he I think he wanted to just challenge us. And he was like, well, we do evangelism back where I am, and we do this and that. And I was like, oh, that's great. And he goes, what? Um, what method do you guys use? You know, and he meant like, which of the do you use the five fingers or the, the app or the whatever, you know, the five fingers. I don't know that one. The five finger death finger. Yeah. That's what I was thinking too. And so which is the best band name ever, but the best band. But then one of our, one of our young leaders, Michael from Norway, he goes, we don't use any models like methods like that. He said, we just want to go out and talk to people, and we ask God to use it and lead, and we want to listen to the person and we want to share the gospel. And I just love the way he explained it. And I realized, wow, that's really cool that he's got that, that he's is understood. It's not about a methodology. So there's something about. Yes. Be ready. Yes. Have some think you know when we learn it with experience, what are some of the things that can help to lead to a good conversation? But at the same time, I want to be available to to hear that person and to just connect with that, be authentic in that conversation. But there is something you can say that is not weird to people today. I don't know if I've said this on the podcast yet, but if you say to anybody, how is your spiritual life going? They're not going to think that's weird. You can go, you can go to the University of Minnesota to any student, no matter where they're at. And you say, how's your spiritual life going? And they'll go, that's not a weird question today. And everyone thinks that they should have a spiritual life. It opens the door for a very easy conversation. Great question. And it's a great question to ask people today. Just how is your spiritual life going? And I have never had anyone say to me, what kind of question is that? Yeah, because everyone assumes the way the culture is today that you should have a spiritual life. Yeah. Now they might say, you know, they might have all kinds of ideas about what that means. And then you find out more about them. Right. And then and then you get to know what they're like. And then you can Holy Spirit can, can give you and you know, and that's very different to a methodology. I like, like having good questions to ask is so important. And maybe that was a little bit more my point. I didn't mean like the Avenger cube or whatever. But again, I think you feel right. I think you feel in Colossians not a prescription, but more of a a sense of how you carry yourself. Right. Be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. And I think that there is this sense of dependence on the Lord, a reformed, refined character. And then you're going to see a reformed theology. You have to have a reformed theology. Oh, man, that too. Sorry, I just had lunch. Oh, um, I just spewed on my computer. Well, it was meant to be. I say spew if you spew and she bolts, it was never anyway. I don't I wish I knew the whole quote. Oh, we always do this. What do I do? Every time I talk to her I feel like I'm going to spew. I say spew if you if you spew and she say she's your. But if you blow chunks and she leaves. It was never meant to be. What is that? I have no idea. It's from Wayne's World. Wayne's world was back in nineteen eighty two. Chad wasn't even alive. No way was. I was not even here. Do you know Wayne's World? Well, nard is. He's encyclopedia. Do you know Wayne's World? I know what it is. I've never seen it. I've watched it many times. No, I've never seen Wayne's World. How have you never seen Wayne's? There's just certain things that I've tried to avoid. My most of my life. Not effectively. Yeah. Chad, you need to watch Waynesboro. The first one. Yeah. Next time. All right, well, obviously this has fallen apart. The wheels have come off, but good. This is a good conversation. And it's a it's a challenge to me, and I. I want to be the kind of person who recognizes the power of these opportunities. This is going to be a double negative, but I desperately don't want to become professional in this. And I think that's one of the risks when you're in vocational ministry is that you can punch in, punch out, and you kind of box in the way you do it, like, oh, I do it in this way, and I do it in that way. Like my evangelist friend who has said, we always go correct and and what what I will honor you and David, is that I grew up with you living on and off stage the exact same way, like I really did. Like it was always really cool. And might I throw as a bonus in here? I love the way he brings his family into that context in that clip. Right. And I will honor you in saying that. People often ask, you know, how did you want to follow Jesus and not just go off the rails like so many missionary kids and pastors kids? And I often cite the integration between the on and off stage life, that it really was authentic, that it wasn't performative, it wasn't like a version of you and mom in the clubs in Amsterdam, and then a totally compartmentalized, different life at home. We were reaching our neighbors. You were giving your book to the guy in the grocery line. You were praying for people, I saw that. And so to me, there wasn't this sense of like, well, you do this on Sundays and Wednesdays, but that has no bearing on the rest of my life. And so that was incredibly powerful. And I think that was a cool little feature of this video that that pastor said, I want my kids to know that following Jesus means you pray for the DoorDash lady. Yeah, that was cool how he said got the kids. That's really cool. And it was. And the kids were kids, right? They weren't all pious and perfect. They were kids, like making noise and running around. But I love that. And I think part of how we become the kind of culture that makes daily gospel interactions normal is with our own families, too, right? And I want that for my kids. I want them to see that I'm praying for my neighbor. And to be honest, one of the things I was going to say in light of all this is we need to recognize the urgency of this, right? You know, I just said, I want to be the kind of guy that prays for my neighbor. Well, man, we had this crazy situation where, you know, I love my neighbor. We see him all the time. You know, his wife died during Covid, which was really sad. And I prayed for him and we were close. He would, like, plow our driveway. We don't see him for like a month. Six weeks. We're gone. He's gone over the summer just died. It's just like two weeks. Got pancreatic cancer, died. Healthy. Sixties. Dead. Gone. All of a sudden, people are hauling stuff out of his garage. And my kids loved him. Like he'd always be at the fence. We'd always be talking while my kids were throwing a ball. And I'm just like, man, we need to be urgent, right? Maybe to put a cap on this for all of our apprehension and worries and self-concern and techniques and man, this is serious. This is really, really serious. And I think we'd all be better off being a little more reckless and a little less careful, because the stakes are simply too high to do anything else. So that's powerful. Yeah. Anyway, it's weird. Like, truly, it's like you just see is, you know, one day his stuff is just being hauled out of his garage, and it just was like this weird, like, that's life. That is, that is. And it's all of a sudden is it's it's it's truly a matter of life and death. Really? Yeah. And I can't help but wonder and wish if I could have been more bold, you know, because I talked to him about Jesus and I prayed for him, and. But it just, you know, you always feel this sense of, like, what else could have, could have could I have done so? And they just use that to fuel you for the future. And you did pray with them and talk to them about Jesus. So that's good, right? Yeah. Because I've had situations where I haven't done that, where I felt so right and then they die or something, I'm going, you know, and the Lord forgives me. And he's not just dependent on me. No. You know, so there's someone else that he could have sent to him. Not to make excuses. No, I know, but, uh. Yeah. Anyway. All right, boys. Well, that was fun. I think the only way to end is with the ceremonial clinking of the microphones. I don't believe in that. All right, that's it. Love y'all. Nard. Thank you. And thank you, Chad. Welcome back bro. Yeah. Thanks, guys. Great. You knew you couldn't get away for long. Great to be readopted. Thank you. Back in like a viper sucks in its prey. Great adventures in front of us. Yeah. We're excited. Yeah. All right, that's it. Love y'all. Mic drop. Peace.

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