Worship and Leadership by LifePoint Creative
This podcast was intended to resource our Dream Teamers at LifePoint Church, with biblical fundamentals on worship, life and a variety of leadership principles.
Worship and Leadership by LifePoint Creative
SUNDAY REWIND: Bearing Good Fruit
Pastor Elmer Cañas Jr. joins us to unravel the art of delivering powerful messages with kindness and authenticity. Ever wondered about the fine line between being a disciple and merely a follower? We explore this through the insightful lens of social media's impact on our relationships and perceptions. With a playful spin on Matthew 7:16-20, we emphasize the significance of producing good fruit in our lives and dive into the Garden of Eden narrative to reflect on human desires and the divisive potential of social media. Join us for this enriching conversation and continue the journey of spiritual growth and community service.
Hey guys, welcome back this week to Sunday Rewind. I am so glad that I got that one down. Just so everybody knows that it took me three tries last week to get it done. But yes, but we are here with Pastor Elmer Canyas Jr Did I do it?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, I practiced saying his name because I'm Southern and I didn't want to butcher it.
Speaker 2:So thank you for teaching me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you for teaching me.
Speaker 2:I told you the story of Pastor Bo and how he said my name, elmer Canakas. Wow, I appreciate you not butchering my last name.
Speaker 1:Yes, I'm not gonna lie, I had to remember it to where?
Speaker 2:I didn't.
Speaker 1:I had to like really sink it into where I didn't say Canakas, but I may or may not change your name in my phone right now but. I may or may not change your name in my phone right now.
Speaker 2:I should change it in Slack.
Speaker 1:Just change it in Slack. There you go. I'm just going to hijack everything, but yes, thank you, thank you. Thank you for giving such a wonderful message today. How do you feel after it? Like, how is it?
Speaker 2:Well, it's fulfilling. I am a little tired, I think any Sunday that we get to serve all for services it is exhausting, uh, because you're giving so much of yourself. But there is something different about preaching because you're speaking for about 40, 35, 40 minutes, um, and you're having, you're feeding off of, at times, the response of the room and so there's a lot happening. So it is draining, but grateful that I was given the opportunity to do it, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Well, speaking of fruits, I know one of the— you have such a kind and gentle spirit about you and I was laughing with my husband and I was like it was such a powerful message but it was brought in such a sweet and kind way that I didn't realize that. I kind of got whooped by the Holy Spirit for a minute and it was like straighten it up, just because your delivery is just so amazing. So thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you but as for the icebreaker, mr Worship Leader, mr Creative, over here I'm going to ask if you could either rap or speak, or go as fast as you can. The Matthew 7, 16 through 20, where in. Scripture. It says good fruit or fruit, I think 15,000 times in one Scripture.
Speaker 2:Oh man, I gotta see Yep. Can I start at verse 17?
Speaker 1:Verse 17. Yes, do it, I'll do 17 through 19,.
Speaker 2:I guess.
Speaker 1:Okay, I like it. Well, hang on, hang on, look, look.
Speaker 2:We got some music Can you hear it good, all right, okay, okay, all right, oh Jesus. Okay, a good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit and A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce fruit fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. So every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Is that right, I love it.
Speaker 1:Oh Jesus, oh, that is hilarious.
Speaker 2:That was really bad, it's okay, it's all right. Like that is hilarious. That was really bad, it's okay, it's all right.
Speaker 1:Like we're just going to Dr Seuss it up.
Speaker 2:It's raw Every service that I read that scripture, I just wanted to reference Dr Seuss and I had to kind of hold back from saying it because it felt like such a special moment, that that word is such a powerful word from Jesus, and I did my best and I actually was able to not say it so Proud of you. Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1:I'm proud of you. Oh well, we're going to dive right in. The first thing that absolutely whooped me, to be honest with you, is the quote a disciple is a follower who intends to become more like their teacher, while a follower may only be interested in the benefits of following. And you brought this awesome just image of how you think of. Every time we say follower, we think of social media and influencers and stuff like that. And you know, on the outside, for me, I don't think that it for a split second, you don't think it can do much harm. But really just being a follower can it can harm. Can you go a little bit?
Speaker 2:into that. I felt social media, having that bringing that up, really connects with us in this, you know, just in our time. But what I was really trying to insinuate was the whole garden of Eden illustration and I didn't unpack that cause. I almost felt like a whole separate thing and it probably would have been too heavy up front. But it's that complex that we see Adam and Eve in the garden and they're told not to eat of that, that, the fruit from that tree, the true of good and evil, but the desire, that desire that they had as they heard the serpent, to have the ability to decide what is good and bad, as God does himself. I think that is the thing and it exposes our society through social media. We see the division that we see through social media.
Speaker 2:It was never social media. Facebook was never intended to be used as a platform to bring division or to share your political stands or views or, you know, or to even start debating with one another. It was just like, hey, I want to connect with my parents because I'm in college, right, and so that's when it's how it started, and to keep people connected as they were doing life. But now it's become a weaponized platform where, where our own convictions, our own opinions, our own emotions drive us and we feel safe because we're really not confronting anyone in all actuality it's, it's just words that hurt just as much, but we think that it's not going to hurt us in return but in the long run it actually is, because we're following into that where we think we we have control of what good and bad is and, um, you know, and we fall into that trap where, if we're led by the Holy Spirit and and and we're producing that fruit, it's almost like I don't want to choose what's good and bad. Like God, what should I do? What? What is good? Um, I don't want to define it myself and, but I think social media, um being just a follower, not a disciple, that commits yourself to the word of God and what God wants for me, just a follower gives me that kind of cop out, like where it's like, you know, I can just exit whenever I want to, and we think about fathers leaving their children and, you know, wives and girlfriends, girlfriends, whatever, but it's a complex in our generation. They just leave. Um, commitment is just a thing like now I believe in.
Speaker 2:It was 2015 when I sat with a mentor of mine from south africa who's a music producer and he told me in 2015 the next generation is going to struggle with commitment. He goes, so our whole music industry at that time. This is before spotify. He goes we're, we're, we're moving into platforms that are all stream based, because people don't want to download and own music anymore because they don't know what to do with it. And he's like there's going to be more people renting than owning homes. There's gonna so.
Speaker 2:So, if you think about it, this is almost 10 years ago. This is someone that's really in the industry and they're gauging what's going to happen based on our behaviors, and they're saying the next generation is scared of commitment. And what has been the name and the label put on all of us through social media? We're all followers, and so now, with AI and all these things, we we're all becoming followers, and what's scary is what are we going to end up following? Yeah, and so that's why, for me, social media is important, but also bringing it back to the garden, because we have to be mindful of like, who am I going to follow? My desire, or? Or god, and so I didn't say all of that, but that's really what led that whole thing.
Speaker 1:Why do you think we're so? Why do you think this generation is becoming so afraid of commitment?
Speaker 2:Man. Okay, so I'm 42. I think, just from my experiences, we've lost the art of debating. If Pastor Mike was here, he would love that because he loves to debate. We've lost the art of debating. If Pastor Mike was here, he would love that because he loves to debate. We've lost the art of debating. We've lost the ability to disagree and still exist together. We're scared of conflict, we're scared of commitment.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of people that just they'd rather just live together than getting married, because then they have the ability to just leave together than getting married, because then they have the ability to just leave.
Speaker 2:I think it's just a fear of not being able to pivot when you feel like you need to. But then you have people that live real unstable lives and like they're not happy, they're not planted, not just in a church but with a family, and so there's just people being tossed to and fro, like james says, and and it's easy to manipulate people that are just being tossed back and forth and there's an enemy. That that's his game plan, like he wants to be, to be able to manipulate and to move us in directions where we don't even see him at and at the at the Like, like no one's even noticing that. You know, there's an enemy behind a lot of these things, and it's just our behaviors, our lack of commitment, our lack of discipline. It it exposes us to these opportunities for the enemy to really deceive us, and so, um yeah, man you said exposes us, like with, I don't know, with commitment and and all of that.
Speaker 1:I mean you know you're married, I'm married. With commitment comes exposure, yes, and it forces people to know people, yeah, and you know, speaking on the fruits, on, you know what kind of fruit are you producing, you know, when you're committed it allows people to see these fruits and it's uncomfortable and it is not, honestly, it is just really uncomfortable. But you did say that and I'm paraphrasing please is, you know, not all fruit's bad fruit, but not all good fruit is God fruit. Yes, how do we know the difference between, hey, this is good, but this isn't God?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you could be a loving person, but not love, as God loves us, and you can naturally just be it because we've been. We were created in his likeness, so there's a lot of things naturally, I think. God gives us gifts and you see, people fill arenas and stadiums because they're anointed, their gift is anointed, but they're using it in the wrong, the wrong way. Right, because it's not for God's glory, it's for man's glory, and so I think it's not for God's glory, it's for man's glory. And so I think it's how the fruit is produced. We're all giving gifts so we can produce things. That's what God wanted, that's how he intended us to be created.
Speaker 2:But is the fruit that we're producing a result of our relationship with Christ or is it just because I can? And so you have a lot of Christians that are just faking it and a lot of pastors and ministers and I'm just speaking to myself. There's been a lot of seasons in my life where I just faked it and I'm good and I've done what I do for such a long time, and so I mean I'm good in that area because I'm experienced, so I have it down, and so I know how things should work, how things should sound. And so it's easy for me to like produce fruit, and people are being saved, and, by the grace of God, not because I'm doing anything different.
Speaker 2:God's still going to save people, regardless of you know. He'll take everything the enemy intends for evil and turn it for good, and even within the church, if we do things and we're not living the way we should, god's still going to reach people, cause that's his mission. But he's going to deal with us as individuals at some point if we don't repent. And so I think where the fruit is being produced, if it's out of our relationship with God, with Jesus, or if it's just because we think we can and we're going to fake it till we make it. But you know, that's where we have to surrender to the Holy Spirit and surrender to the Word of God. And what fruit would you want me to produce and what should it look like in my life?
Speaker 1:I'm about to get all up in your business.
Speaker 2:Pastor Elmer.
Speaker 1:So I just started recently having like an accountability partner, just you know, just going through life together with her, and one of the questions that we ask each other is is the real you lining up with the visible you? Yeah, so I'm going to ask that question to you Right now, in this moment, in this season is who God made you? Is it lining up with what's visible in the church right now?
Speaker 2:Who God made me. Is it lining up? That's a good question. I told you I was like I'm going to get all of it, I'm going to get in your business, I'm going to get in your business. Yay, I think so. I think it is.
Speaker 2:I think I was really challenged with this message, personally challenged with this. With this message personally, um, um, I've stepped into a new season. You know, a lot of people know I've. I came to LifePoint to lead worship and to be the worship pastor and just over time, I've stepped into different roles and with the responsibilities that I'm stepping into in this season, it's, it's stretching me, it's growing me, um, but it's also exposing me. And I think diving into this, this message itself on bearing fruit, was challenging for me, because god really dealt with me on, like, what am I producing on in my on my own?
Speaker 2:You know, um, and if you look at my calendar, my calendar is like I have block after block and I have meetings after meetings and, and some are satisfying, some are exhausting and draining. You know, we deal with so much, so many different things and, um, you know, and it's easy to just be like all right, I'm doing my job, I'm doing what I have to. But God doesn't want me to just do my job. He wants me first to live surrender to him, to grow closer to him, and then he'll give me the ability to do what I do, to do my job, and I think so. There's anywhere where it's most visible, it's in my work, and so the people closest to me around the office have noticed and I've been real vulnerable and I tell them I go, I'm struggling. I need people on our teams like I need you, to carry weight in this area, because I really I can do it. I've done a lot of what we're doing, but it's not healthy and I've always been a person that I'm going to try to figure it out on my own.
Speaker 2:But in this season I find myself like broken and um, and again, just Peter, the story of Peter, just how he, god, transformed his life. You know from this self-sufficient man, fisherman, you know business, successful, all this stuff. But then he follows Jesus and but he was still follow Jesus, but he still had his pride, he still had his anger, he still had this like roughness about him, right, and and then God just transforms this man and and what he says in Acts three still is messing with me till this moment, because he tells this beggar at the gate called beautiful. He tells him gold or silver. I don't have any gold or silver. I don't have any to give you, but what I do have I'm gonna give you.
Speaker 2:And that's wrecked me, because it's easy for me to try to figure things out and give what I don't have. But God didn't call me to give what I don't have. And so, like, I'm starting to surrender to that, um, as an executive pastor, it's expected for me sometimes, like, oh, he has to have it all figured out, have it all together, um, but I don't. As a father, you know, kids expect you to have it all figured out, but I don't. As a husband, my wife would expect me to have it figured out, but I don't. And and to act like I have it together is only hurting me.
Speaker 2:And so I think God's taking me through the season of vulnerability where it's breaking me but it's also exposing me. But that exposure is good because I could, either I could either hide and still not do anything about it and just live with the pain and continue to, you know, feel like I'm drowning, or I can say god, take this like that right there, like I I don't want to deal with it like this is all yours, please take it. And it's only when you get into that place and just a life of surrender, that god comes and he and that scripture comes to life. Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Now take my yoke. My yoke is easy and and then, yeah, we got to give our yoke to Jesus and take his, and so I'm going through that in my life right now and, um, I don't know if this is answering your question, but that's the way that I see it kind of happening right now in my season.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, that was yeah, that that totally answered the question and I think you just probably gave some of our listeners some freedom through that. I mean honestly cause a lot of time, especially in ministry and, just like you know, it's very hard doing work for the Lord in thinking that we are being with God. You know, working for Him versus being with Him and a lot of times, you know, I find myself wrapped up in that. I mean, I don't know anybody who works in ministry doesn't get wrapped up in that, but it is.
Speaker 1:you know, sometimes people can look at us and think that we have it all figured out.
Speaker 2:We don't at all.
Speaker 1:So thank you for being vulnerable and opening up about that. Yes, like I said, that definitely can. That's going to free some people. It did me. Right now I'm like, okay, great, I'm not the only one, yay, but man.
Speaker 1:I keep hanging on to the fact of like, the first words that God spoke to humans was be fruitful, and there are so many scriptures about fruit. Why do you think that is? Why do you think it was so important to God that he said I mean, god is such of an intentional God and he knows exactly what he's doing and he says exactly what he wants to say when he wants to say it with intention, and why do you think he chose be fruitful?
Speaker 2:and why do you think he chose be fruitful? Okay, I might get a little in my creative head here. Um, I think god spoke and it was right. I think, from that very first sound of god's voice, that things are still being created even to this day, and we don't know how wide and massive the universe is and right Like in my imagination, there's still galaxies being formed, because he said it once that there'd be light and he created things and I just imagine, like light still expanding throughout the universe beyond anything we can imagine.
Speaker 2:I think fruit is important because fruit is a sign that something was planted and something grew, something died, but there was, but it doesn't mean it doesn't exist anymore. It keeps on coming back to life. And so when he says, bear fruit, it's the beginning of something. Um, it's be fruitful and multiply and not just anything. You know, at that state there was, it was a redeemed humanity, like there was, there was union between man, woman and God. Like you know, it wasn't broken yet, and I think being fruitful is like, keep this going, like this, this life, this is what I want from you. I want from you, and so so in my creative mind, like I just think of, like you, you imagine, like God creates, like everyone says, what came first, the chicken or the egg, and I don't think it matters, but the fact is that God created it. It was and it was never intended not to exist.
Speaker 2:God created it and here it goes, it comes back to it. He created man to tend the land and goes, it comes back to it. He created man to tend the land, and so being fruitful is part of our responsibility on taking care of what got created, and I'm not talking about climate change and things like that. I'm talking about tending to relationships, tending to our lives, tending to our legacy, tending to, yeah, the future of, of our society, like there's a lot of things that we're to tend to, uh, and be fruitful in a lot of people. You can give them a responsibility.
Speaker 2:Going back to our first conversation, a conversation on commitment, you can get people involved in things, but if you don't tell them hey, I need you to be fruitful, I need to see a byproduct of your work, there has to be a positive outcome. If I don't tell the person that we employ that those are the expectations, they can just exist and be and there'll be nothing that happens. And God didn't, he didn't, he didn't want. That wasn't the case, like he didn't create us just to be, or else he would have said just lay there. And he said tend to the land, take care of the animals and everything, and so it is a job description.
Speaker 2:That's what it is be fruitful and multiply and again, everything was perfect at the time and just multiply it. Take it, we just hear about a garden like but what if god's purpose was for that, what was happening in that garden? To expound beyond just that garden that we can't find today, you know, know, but be in the entire world. Like what if that was God's plan? I don't know Again, I'm just in my creative imagination. Imagine if that never happened, the fall never happened. Like would the whole planet be the Garden of Eden? I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud and processing at the same time. But being fruitful is it is, like you said, a job description and so God needed to give us instructions, or else I don't think we would have known what to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. I just I'm thinking of all of the different connections between just I mean just from creation and the job description of being fruitful and why Satan chose to be the deceiver with fruit. And once again going back to the, you know there can be good fruit, but not God fruit, but there still is bad fruit that could possibly be disguised as okay. How can we start being aware, just as spirit-led people, because I know sometimes with social media and the influencing and all of that, we can get really blinded by, I mean, honestly, good and evil, what's good? What's culture, what's that? So how can we be more aware of?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think there's any other answer than what Galatians 5 says be led by the Holy Spirit, Because, like you said, a lot of things seem good. The enemies, the angel of light, what, what do you? What do you? I don't know. There's this reference. I I'm not thinking right now, but the devil himself can appear to us and we think that he's a good person, you know, Um he disguises the angel.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah and and so I think, on our with, so I think, with our own knowledge and our own ability and our own wisdom and discernment, our human abilities, there's things that we'll never know, and so there is a lot of good that's happening right now in our world that probably there's probably bad intentions behind it and I will never know that. We will never know that unless the Holy Spirit is leading us, unless we allow him to give us discernment, unless we allow him to speak into those things. And we've allowed a lot, of, a lot of things into our homes. But are we actually asking the Holy Spirit, you know, or are we just kind of going with trends and what's cool and and you know all that stuff? I think there's no other answer than to be led by the Holy Spirit man, led by the Holy Spirit man.
Speaker 1:Well, you said benefiting and allowing others. You know we were talking about fruits for ourselves and what we produce and all this kind of stuff. But you know you posed the question who am I benefiting in the name of Jesus Christ? And can you just unpack that a little bit more? Because I kind of felt while we were sitting there I mean you did go into it a little bit, but I felt like that was another one of those things for you that it's like, hey, we could totally talk about this for forever. But for us, especially in the American culture, we think about ourselves a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're consumed with what we want in our plans and our future and I think, like who else is benefiting by the fruit that we're producing? The heart behind that is that we tend to live for ourselves and and there's this, these two words that have been in my mind for the last three weeks is there's people that are trying to survive and we've gone from tending the garden and being fruitful to now surviving mode. You know the economy, food prices, gas prices, all these things just build up anxiety in people and everyone gets worried and concerned and we naturally have become survivors instead of thriving. And I know it sounds cheesy, but like we're trying to survive. So then it becomes about us because we first. It's like being in an airplane and the masks come down. I know it sounds cheesy, but we're trying to survive. So then it becomes about us, because first it's like being in an airplane and the masks come down. They tell you first put them on yourself and then put it on the person next to you If you have a child. I think that's been our life. We want to survive first, make it first before the person next to us.
Speaker 2:But Jesus says that the greatest in the kingdom is the person that serves is a servant. I think that's where we're challenged, that we struggle as a society. We see it in our church. We see it in churches across the country. There's a lack of people serving in the church Ever since COVID. There's so many people that attend church.
Speaker 2:Churches are growing like crazy, but people aren't committing to serve in the church because there's just this thing and I've spoken to people even today in the lobby after the sermon. It's like hey, like yeah, I really want to go through growth track, but it doesn't fit my schedule and and and you know there's nothing wrong with it they're trying to make it fit for their life, but there is this sense of I need to take care of me first before I give anything up, because once I start serving, I have to give time up, I have to give energy up, I have to give resources up, and so we tend to want to survive before we can thrive, and so I think that it's hard for us to to produce fruit that will benefit others, because we're thinking about us before we're thinking of them. So we need to learn to live selfless lives.
Speaker 1:There's that connection between commitment and being able to leave and just serving in the church. That's a commitment.
Speaker 2:It is.
Speaker 1:We do let you leave, though, guys.
Speaker 2:You can go home, I promise. That's a commitment. We do let you leave, though, guys. You can go home, I promise.
Speaker 1:I promise you can go home.
Speaker 2:Just not Jacob, because he has to finish this video. No, he's still here.
Speaker 1:He's always here, thank you Jacob. Yeah, but no, I think that's know comes sacrifice and it's that and serving. But where do you okay, can I say?
Speaker 2:something to that. Yeah, Like when Jesus is like laying down your life for another. It's not just dying, it's actually serving, and so laying down your life because it's going to cost you something. I tell my kids this and our team, that everything's going to cost you something and so committing to serve it's going to cost you something and that's laying your life down for others because it's going to cost you something, but it's going to benefit somebody else. So there's a price for somebody else. Jesus paid a price for us and in the same way, we have to pay a price so we can see others find Jesus. We, we, if it's time, if it's resources, commitment, whatever, but it's it's, it's a commitment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's crazy, all of it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You would, you would think that you you have spent, you would think I know I'm sorry, I'm like I'm back, I'm back, I'm back, but with serving and all of that. You know we also live in a um take care of me culture in a self-care and hashtag treat yourself. You know, culture we really do. And um, and I guess even for me, finding that balance is hard, because in order for me to produce good fruits, I also have to be rested. I have to be close to my Father, I have to—so in order for me to bear the fruits that God wants, I also have to take care of myself too. So where's that balance Like? Where does that happen?
Speaker 2:Where does it happen? I think, being a disciple of Jesus, like you think of his actual disciples they went everywhere with him. You think of when they saw him, his patterns of prayer. They saw how he loved people, how he allowed people to approach him. He was approachable. And I think in the same way that, as we're getting closer to him, rest and Jesus says, come unto me.
Speaker 2:It's not just a scripture for those that are broken and hurting or I'm going through a lot right now. I need Jesus. No, it's daily thing. And when we actually have devotion with God and it's actually a real thing, a daily thing, a consistent thing, like I mentioned in the sermon, I think we naturally experience that rest. A lot of that tends to be like come to me and I'll give you rest. If you haven't spent time with him, you've not rested. And sometimes we'll spend time with him and we're like crying out for other things and stuff like that. You know. But again, jesus doesn't want what we can do or even our petitions at times. He just wants us to be with him, because there's things that he wants to show us and probably 99 of the times that I've spent time with the lord in my life. He's just wanting me to slow down and just listen.
Speaker 2:A lot of times I speak, I say I worship, I praise him, I do this, I, I do it, I do it. But there's 99 of the times he just says hey, stop. And so when I'm driving in the car, my kids think I'm crazy. People think I'm crazy Cause they're like you're a worship pastor, you've done music your whole life, you produce music. I'm like, yeah, I don't want to listen to it because it becomes white noise and I want to hear God. So when I'm praying there's it's rarely that I have music in the background because it's not going to do anything for me. I just need to listen to God. And a lot of people struggle, and we've talked about this during the series how do we hear the Holy Spirit and all these things? But you only learn when you shut everything else off, and so yeah, how much time do you hang out with God?
Speaker 1:How much time is your normal rhythm?
Speaker 2:My normal rhythms. It changes in every season. I think right now for me is I have my mornings when I wake up and I'm getting ready, and the kiddos are getting ready for school, and I take them to school. That's like the beginning of just like, what's my day going to look like? And God like, what can I do? What can I do? Can't I do? What do you want me to do? What don't you want me to do? Um, and then I come into the office pretty early as soon as I drop off my kids.
Speaker 2:I come in every day and I'm here about like seven, 27, 30, and people walk by my office, not even know I'm there, cause I have the lights off and I'm just like, just there, and sometimes I'm reading, sometimes I'm praying, sometimes I'm like just like worshiping. Sometimes I'll sit. I have a piano in my office, I'll sit there and play, and I've had to intentionally create that space, because I am a father, I am a husband, you know, and there are other things that will ask of my attention and my time, but I've had to create that space there. Throughout the day, I do spend time talking to him. There'll be times I'm walking around the office and I'm like speaking in tongues and stuff, and like people are like what'd you say? I'm like nothing and just, it's just been something. And there's times that I don't find that I have time to spend with the Lord, like like on my calendar, and so then I just have to. Every moment I get in my truck I'm like God, like you know. I'm sorry and I'm not trying to sound like I'm spiritual, cause I'm. I'm not I'm. I know people that are more devoted to the Lord.
Speaker 2:God, why, why do you choose me? You know like I'm not perfect, but, um, I've just learned over time that he's with me. Singing a song is not going to make him come any faster. He's already there, and so, um, I've, I've made it a part of my life's journey in in leading people in worship and training others, and those would have those that we're called to make people aware of God's presence.
Speaker 2:He's with us everywhere, and so, as I'm teaching people, I don't just want to say it happens on Sundays. No, he's with me, he's with us right now. He's with whoever is listening or watching this podcast right now, right where they're at, and so His presence is there. But we live with a lack of awareness at times, and so I I've learned to become really aware that he's fully present and it's my responsibility to become aware that he's there. And so it's as simple, honestly, as like like hey, god, you know, I think that's I don't have to bring out a bible, I don't have to put candles out. It's hey God, he'll be like what's up, you know?
Speaker 1:is that what he says to you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like what's up. Yeah, go Dodgers. Wait what Go Dodgers yeah?
Speaker 1:Oh gosh. So I'm going to go one, possibly two more questions, because I want to see where this goes. But you know you were just talking about just that time with God, and you know the scripture remain in me as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in the vine. You know, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I'm the vine, you're the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. Nothing. Knowing that you can do nothing, do you believe? Well, I know you do. Can you produce natural fruit? And if so, what do you think your natural, just God-given fruit is? Yeah, and what is something that you have seen God produce in you that you know it is only of Him?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, at an early age I learned, had I had my issues as a kid, right, and there was a teacher that helped reel in my anger issues. Um, I'd blow up on kids at the playground, like I, I was this whole other, I was like cobra kai, like instead of mr miyagi, and uh, and this teacher in fifth grade, he, he taught me to use sports as a way to kind of reel in my anger and stuff. And it was funny when I tell the whole story. But, um, like he, he put me on a basketball team and there would be kids on our team, on my team, that like they were just bad, and I just go off. I'm like you are horrible, bro. Like, why are you even on? Like, just go sit down. I make him cry and he's like Elmer, like that's not being a leader. I'm like what's being a leader? I just team better. I'm like, but they suck. And he's like, no, like you need to make the people around you better. That's what leaders do. And I had them for fifth grade and sixth grade and I think that was the god thing, because in those two years it took all that anger that I had for different reasons and I learned to lead the kids in the playground and we played all these different sports in la and um. You know, you have weather beautiful weather all year round, so we're outside all the time and by sixth grade it was a little different. And then, as I kept growing, like those values just kept driving me and I learned how to move people and lead them and and kind of gather I became a gatherer of people and, um, so I, looking back, I know God was doing something.
Speaker 2:And then there's times that you're just doing things and you have no idea and that that God's actually doing it in you already. Um and so, as far as it like just being something, that like I was doing it out of my own strength, without the revelation of what God was doing, he was doing it through me because he was forming and shaping something in me, and I think that a lot of that happens in our lives. We get a job, you know, and in certain trade, and we hate it, but God is actually shaping and informing us for what's in the future. But God is actually shaping and informing us for what's in the future, you know, and there was a season I had to build websites and design videos and graphics and work at a radio station, work with a television station, all this stuff. I hated it. I'm like I just I came to Texas to sing and to lead worship and I'm now I'm doing painting, playgrounds, doing all these things. I'm like, why am I doing all this? But playgrounds, doing all these things? I'm like, why am I doing all this?
Speaker 2:But then, just a few years after that, then I was. I became a creative pastor, and learning the language and the arts and all the techniques and all the skills allowed me to work at a in a bigger scale with other creatives, and I learned how to collaborate and how to do things together. So it only made me better. And then came the revelation that, hey, this is the plans that I have for you, right? And so sometimes we don't know all of the details, but God is actually forming things in us and we're operating in our gifts and we're producing fruit that is godly fruit, and we don't know why and we get frustrated because, like, what is this apple? Why am I producing this? It makes no sense. And, um, I don't know if I answered your question, I might've gone the other direction.
Speaker 1:No, but I think that's what's needed right now. I mean, honestly, faith and trusting God is just something that we hear. It is something that I mean. Faith in itself is exactly what it is it's faith, it's faith. And so, figuring out this whole, all of the fruits, we can talk about a fruit of something that God could change in an instant. We are speaking of a God who we know, we feel, we know is with us. We have scripture.
Speaker 1:We have these things to prove that he's here, but yet we physically cannot put our hands on him like we can this microphone and so all of the things. It's one of those things that it's like, yes, you can't see it, but then you can whenever you look back. So yeah, absolutely, and that's the natural things, that, as we're going through it, we really don't see what we're producing or why.
Speaker 2:And like even brokenness.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of people that are probably listening and I know I've spoken to people in my family and life that have gone through brokenness my wife, she was molested when she was younger and there's a lot of people that I know that that's been their story and it's one thing for them just to sit and kind of soak in it and like let it narrate the rest of their life, and it's another to redeem that experience and for God to bring healing.
Speaker 2:And if you ever speak to my wife like she, she'll share how God actually has given her a voice to speak to people that have experienced those same things, that she can see it, she can identify it when people have gone through it, just because of her own experiences. But God redeemed what people would say oh, she's broken because of her past and it happened to her right. But God takes the broken pieces of our lives and he makes beautiful things and it becomes a story, it becomes a vessel for us to go and impact others and lead them to Jesus and you know, yeah, he'll take everything.
Speaker 1:Everything.
Speaker 2:Everything the enemy intends for, evil, god will turn it around, yeah. Yeah, somebody should write a scripture about that or something.
Speaker 1:You know something like that Maybe.
Speaker 2:I don't know, maybe a song, it might be, maybe Maybe a rap song.
Speaker 1:Maybe you should rap about it, I can assure you. Okay, so funny enough. You said collaborate earlier and the only thing I could think of was like stop collaborating. I'm sorry, oh, I'm sorry well, one thing I can assure you is that my fruit will never be seen singing or playing any instruments, so this is as fruitful as I get on the creative stage side.
Speaker 2:It's all right, you're still loved. Oh well, thank you, and we love what you do. Thank you for being such a great host. No, this is fun.
Speaker 1:This is fun. Yes, so everybody understand that the very first time. Okay, so how this started. If I could real quick.
Speaker 2:Talking about fruit.
Speaker 1:Pastor Willie and Pastor Elmer were standing behind the stage and I walked by. What's really funny about that is I was actually in the absolute worst mood on the face of the planet. I just got finished grounding my 17-year-old daughter for I don't know, until she's 30. The night before we were up till about two o'clock in the morning. Oh yes, so oh yes, talk about good fruit oh yes, Talk about good fruit and being vulnerable. Here I was having just a poop day honestly.
Speaker 1:And I walked past and both you and Pastor Willie turned to me and said you can do it. And I immediately was like no, I can't, like I don't even know what you're talking about, and you were like yeah, hosting the podcast. And I was like no, and you're like yeah, great thanks.
Speaker 2:So here you go, just be up there at this time here, thanks. So here you go, just be up there at this time.
Speaker 1:Here's the notes. Look, here we are. So there you go. So talk about producing fruit. Well, this has been a blessing to me. It really has, because I've had a lot of women come up to me and just say hey, like this has actually helped me through this I've had a handful, so thank you for allowing me to do this.
Speaker 2:Thank you for saying yes. Yay, I'm like I said yes to God, not you, I just want to be very clear.
Speaker 1:Like I told Pastor Mike, I'll tell you no all day long, but well, thank you so much for this and, guys, we love you and we cannot wait to see and talk to you next week. We've got how many more weeks of this?
Speaker 2:Two more, two more weeks, two more weeks of this more.
Speaker 1:two more weeks, two more weeks of this. This has been fun, but until next week, guys. We love you guys see ya.
