The Worship and Leadership Podcast
Real conversations on worship, leadership, and living a faith-filled life beyond the platform. Hosted by leaders from LifePoint Church, this podcast is here to inspire, equip, and challenge you—whether you’re leading in ministry, in the marketplace, or just learning to lead yourself well.
The Worship and Leadership Podcast
Conversations: When Affirmation Replaces Conviction
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Conversations can carry life or death, and this one leans hard into life. We get practical and personal. A small parenting scene in a school car line becomes a masterclass in presence: put the phone down, listen to the child, honor the moment. That same lens reframes marriage, teams, and church life—words can wound or build, and listening can be a form of worship. We also name a modern trap: outsourcing growth to AI and convenience. Tools can refine your notes, but they cannot renew your mind. Idols are the voices we shape to never challenge us; community and Scripture are the voices that love us enough to do so.
We connect these threads to seasonal wisdom: blessings come with burdens, and the prayer for the next year begins with subtraction. Ask God what to leave behind so you can step lighter into what’s next. Whether you lead a ministry, a team, or a home, the path forward looks the same—center your life on the Word, depend on the Spirit, and welcome people who will tell you the truth and stay by your side. If this conversation sparks something in you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review so others can find it. What’s one thing you’re leaving behind to make room for growth?
Hey, what's going on, and welcome to the Worship and Leadership Podcast. My name is Elmer Gañas Jr. and it's always a privilege to be able to spend this time together. And like always, my main man, my brother. How you doing, brother Wheelie?
SPEAKER_01:I am doing fantastic. And I'm excited to be in the Hizzy Ferizian. In the Hizzy Ferizzi.
SPEAKER_00:Is Hizzy short for house?
SPEAKER_01:It is. Okay. I get it. And then so Ferizzy is short for Ferreals? Was that a question? Is it for real? Reals?
SPEAKER_00:Man, hey, this is we're we're coming to the end of season four of the podcast. And right before we hit record, we're just talking about just, you know, we we want to reminisce, but we still have one more episode with the rest of our team. Right. And it's it's been a great, great time together. Yeah. And I just hope those of you watching and listening have been blessed by the conversations and all the things that we've been able to share. We don't do this for our own sake, or we we're not trying to get anything out of this. If anything, it's an hour that we're able to spend together just discussing things that we discussed as a staff already. That's right. And hoping that it blesses people, that it empowers, you know, people's just way of thinking, yeah. And lead lead you ultimately closer to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. To your point, that's why it's called the Worship and Leadership Podcast. And like you said, you know, Elmer, it really does feel like an overflow of the strong leadership culture that we have here at Life Point Church. And and again, our prayer is that it has been a blessing. That's why we have really this season, I think, done a great job of expanding the margins around the topics that we've talked about, right? It's really like this great, wide, broad spectrum that we have talked about over this this last season to really again equip you and develop you, you know, digitally to to to be an influencer for the kingdom in in the areas that guys called you.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And we're filming this a lot earlier than usual.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Just because of schedules, and Christmas is right around the corner. So our teams are working really hard. And so we might be a little bit calmer than most times.
SPEAKER_01:So we'll be a little more we'll be a little more chill.
SPEAKER_00:Or that's what we think. That's what we think. It might amp up as we go.
SPEAKER_01:You never know.
SPEAKER_00:But I I I agree, it's an overflow of the culture, and it's it's incredible the things we get to hear from our pastors, from Pastor Mike and Pastor Stephanie, and even Dr. Tim Hager. Yes, you know, one of our executive pastors, and and a lot of the training that happens on our team. And again, we want to be a resource for you as you're watching and listening to this podcast. Going back to the beginnings, like it's crazy because this podcast, the origins of it was a class.
SPEAKER_01:That's right.
SPEAKER_00:We were trying to put together a curriculum for our worship teams, for creative teams, uh called Worship Foundations. Right. It's a class from the Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas, has been leading their teams through for years. I remember being in my probably late 20s, and that's a long time ago, and going through that class over there with them, and and it's something that has stuck, and and the purpose of that that that class is to just bring people back to biblical principles of or foundations of why we worship and why we do certain things in worship when we gather corporately. And so we we attempted to gather people, you know, over the summer in rooms, but it was a six, six-week series. That's right. And over the summer it's really hard because people are traveling. That's right. And so, and even when school started, there was never a right time. And so we we decided, hey, let's get some podcast equipment, let's make a podcast series, and it was incredible. It's still a resource that's available. It's season one of this podcast if you're interested. Yeah, and then from there, after that season, we're like, hey, we have all this gear, yeah. And there's a lot to say, and then so then people were just like, hey, we'll just kind of expand on it. And and here we are, season four, at the end of season four. Come on.
SPEAKER_01:So and honestly, to your point, I mean, I'm I'm again reminiscing and thinking about you know how this started. It was great, it was foundational, heavily theological, but I I love I have loved seeing it grow to be more organic and more relational. We've had tons of guest speakers, and that to me has been my favorite part is number one, you know, seeing them in this element here. Because you know, a lot of the guests that we've had are our co-workers. We've had a few people from out of house that have come and spoken as well. But it's been really cool to have members of our team, you know, speak and and see them in a different element, in a different environment. Because, you know, we're all co-workers and like you said, are you know nose to the grindstone for the kingdom? But here it's also, and then we're learning. Like that's the thing I always come away from each episode filled and and poured into. Like, man, that was good for me. If nobody else got anything out of it, I got some some great things out of it too.
SPEAKER_00:I agree. Yeah, we've had the president on the podcast.
SPEAKER_01:That was very fun. Yeah, it was so good. That was really cool, you know. Yeah, Sherry from Yay Pac. Yeah, that's right. Sherry from Yay Pac. Oh, who did y'all think we were talking about?
SPEAKER_00:No, right. The president. No, it's been awesome. And and and uh, we know again, we're we're being really prayerful of what season five is gonna look like. Yeah, and so we're not just gonna dive into just another season just for the sake, but we're we're praying for the Lord to lead us as our church is expanding. That's right, come on. And we're we're in different locations now, and so we're we're really praying and pray with us again that as we continue on this journey that the Lord take this podcast and and just share it with your friends if this has been a blessing with you specific episodes. Well, a few weeks ago we had a bunch of ladies on our on our staff uh just be like, hey, we're taking over. Yeah, the ladies take over. Yeah, I'm like, okay, I'll just go to the switcher and I was just switching cameras. That was hard. Was it it was hard, you know. I understand Jacob, Jacob, he Jacob Green, he's in the back right here, yeah, switching the cameras and the audio, but that was hard. And and with with all respect, there was like multiple conversations happening at one time, and I'm like, I don't have enough cameras, like what do we do? And so I ended up just doing like one massive shot with everyone on the screen, and it was fun. And then I told them after, they're like, That's how women have conversations. I'm like, Lord, but it was awesome, it was awesome, and uh, and it was really well received. And so thank you, those of you that follow and listen weekly. It was awesome to hear the encouraging, encouraging comments and posts and stuff like that. Yeah, but just just going back to you know why conversations matter. So, this is the heart of today's episode, why conversations matter. We go back to scripture again. Everything we do, we we lead through theology. You know, in the beginning was the word and the word was God. Like there, there is something about the word. We we go back to scripture uh in in our daily lives on our own to to find out what is it that God is saying. So there's something that's to be said, right? Yeah, and so so there's there's power in the conversation, even when it comes to just reading scripture and what the Lord is saying to us, right? And then and then as you're reading scripture, you're you're able to see what's modeled to us through through the different people in scripture, the different we call them Bible characters, yeah. You know, the conversations between Moses and God, the burning bush, even even Moses going to Pharaoh, like there's all these conversations that we're seeing you know from the outside, but they're telling a story. And so we're here having these conversations with you, you know, telling our personal story, telling how how scripture and how the word of God actually has come alive in our personal lives. Right. And sometimes that comes through stories, sometimes that comes through just a variety of different means, but that's that's why we're here to have conversations that are going to empower people.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, to your point, you know, as Christians, when we talk about fellowship, it's not just getting together and talking, it's getting together and really talking about Christ. And again, we're looking at the word, and the word forms the basis, not just for this podcast, but for the the the Christian life. I mean, 2 Timothy 3.16, the word of God is perfect for teaching, training, instruction, correcting, right? And so to your point, we don't want this just to be informative. We want to be transformative. We want to we want to dive into the word and then encourage you in your own personal life to center your life around God's word. And again, there, like you said, there are so many biblical figures that we have examined, you know, King David and, you know, Moses, Abraham, Esther, Ruth. But the central figure of scripture is Jesus. And so when we talk about, again, worship and leadership, like I don't think it's accidental that the Lord led you to call it that. Because when we talk about worship, that's a life of devotion to Christ. And then leadership is it's really patterning our life after Jesus so we lead the way that he led. That's the discipleship piece. It's hey, I I want to be with Jesus, I want to be like Jesus, and I want to do what Jesus did. And so that's why this podcast for our prayer is that it wouldn't just feel like a TED talk. It wouldn't just feel like, oh man, this was really good information. No, we want you to be transformed because we want to encourage you to go to scripture and say, wow, I want to pattern my life after Jesus, and I want to learn from the examples of the lives of other biblical figures in scripture.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And there's a lot of books, like if you if you're a reader, which leaders are readers. That's right. So even if nowadays you're listening to listening to audible or audiobooks, that's still you're still taking in information and learning and growing. But you you listen to a book, you read a book, you listen to a podcast, and a lot of times it's just in taking information. Again, like Pastor Willie said, we're not just wanting to give you information. A lot of that you can find on different podcasts, different videos, different resources. But we our hope is that just through the the the what the simplicity of our conversations, you know, and just just us being honest and transparent with other people, that you can realize like you have a story, you're on a journey as well. Yeah, and we're in this together. And so we want to move you, everything we do at Life Point is intentional, and we want to lead you to your next steps. So the podcast, again, is not just is not just ear candy. Like what can we do for you, you know, as you're on your journey with the Lord? And so as we're speaking, as you're listening, like our our desire is to encourage you into your next steps with the Lord. If that's salvation, if that's hey, I need to get baptized, I need to get water baptized, you know, we want to lead you to that. If that's hey, I need to join community, right? Like as you're seeing the conversations happening at the table in our living room here, you know, man, I I need that. I'm I'm missing out on some healthy conversations, some even some healthy confrontation that time, right? And uh, and so we want to point you in that direction and ultimately, man, I need that Jesus that they're talking talking about. And so the reality of it, of this is that if you're if you've been a listener, you've been listening for a while, you know, don't just be a listener. Yeah, you know, take take the words that we're sharing, take the message from Sunday, just like we say, don't just be a consumer, but but do take action and and lead people to Jesus to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. And so that's our heart's desire. Let's go back to just the power of conversation. And let's, you know, Proverbs 18, 21.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah. It says here, death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
SPEAKER_00:And so I'm I'm I'm just thinking, so you know, my wife's out of town right now. My father-in-law just had heart surgery, so she's out of town, and thankfully the surgery went well. Thank you for all of you. Praise God have been praying, and so, but she's she's still not here, she's taking care of her dad in Texas, and so I'm at home with the kids, running around, doing all the things, still doing things here at church with our tiny town campus, all the fun stuff. Yeah, and and I find myself like just getting home and just wanting to kind of zone out, like, all right, I need a moment, right? And a lot of parents feel that way. Yeah, you know, uh kudos to my wife. You know, there's a lot that she does that I don't realize because I get out the I'm out the door at seven o'clock in the morning, and then I don't realize what happens between seven and eight thirty. There's a lot that happens, right? And and and so then I just want to zone out, but then my kids are there, and and today I dropped off my our my youngest to school and I was in car rider line. We're there 30 minutes early. And again, I wanted to go into work mode and and be like, all right, what am I doing today? What what are my conversations? What are my more not conversations, meetings about and my little ones like jumping all over, we're parked, you know, the car's off, and he's he's he's in the front and he's he's talking and using his imagination and wanting to play with me and have a conversation with me. Yeah, and in my mind, I'm like, meeting number one, meeting number two, I have to go to Tiny Town, I have to do this. And then I caught myself, I'm like, my son is trying to have a conversation. It doesn't sound like the conversations that I usually have with adults, right? But he's trying to get my attention, and so then it just hit me because we're having this podcast today about the conversations, and I'm like, everyone communicates differently, everyone's at a different stage of life, and not all of us are listening. And I was just really convicted, and I'm still real convicted that you know that I would even with the with the excuse of I'm busy or I have a lot to do, right? That I use that excuse to not to not listen right to even if it's the silliest thing, like dad, look, the sticker's stuck to the top of the car, you know, which I probably don't want to hear. Sure. But like like it matters, yeah. And that conversation matters to my five-year-old. And I I had to stop, I had to just turn my phone off, and people were already texting me, you know, getting the day started, and I I just had to turn the phone off, and I was like, all right, where's the sticker? And just have the silly conversation with my son.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And and that was more fulfilling than figuring out what is happening, you know, and all these other meetings and conversations that are gonna happen throughout the rest of the day.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And so I I just think I was just reminded in that moment like we we there's a lot being said around us, but we're not always listening.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, to your point, yeah, I I think that is the the perfect picture, you know, of the heart of the Father, the heart of our heavenly father. Like you said, you know, there there's just this desire. God has always had the desire to communicate and and relate to us. I mean, like you said, even going all the way back to the Garden of Eden, even when Adam and Eve sinned and rebelled against God, you know, they are banished from the garden, but they're not banished from God. Like he still desires to communicate with them, and then he still desires to communicate with mankind at large. You know, he's got priests and prophets and kings, he's got the pillar of cloud by day, by night, the tabernacle, the the temple, and then pushing forward into sending Christ into the world, and then Christ sending us his Holy Spirit. And so all along the way, you just see this long, unbroken thread of redemption, this thing that God still speaks, he desires to speak. Do we position ourselves to where we can receive? And I love again how you were able to shift and then give that margin for your you know, your youngest to say, okay, I I'm, you know, I get to relate and get to connect with you. And I think about this scripture, death and life. And people have twisted this to mean to take it to mean something that it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean I have the power to declare death over somebody. I'm not God. I can't do that. But it does mean that I can make judgments, that I can pronounce negative statements, I can, I can speak things that either help or harm people for sure. And depending on what I'm speaking, depending on how I'm communicating, I'm gonna, I'm gonna eat the fruit of that, right? Like in my marriage. I mean, if I'm constantly negative, if I'm constantly demeaning, if I'm constantly discouraging toward my wife Carolyn, I should never be surprised when there is a loss of intimacy and trust and and she doesn't want to spend time with me. If I am harsh and brutal and unkind constantly towards my children, I shouldn't be surprised when they don't want to spend time with dad.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But the converse is true too. If I am nurturing, if I'm encouraging, if I'm edifying, man, there's going to be trust, closeness, intimacy. That they will reveal more of their heart to me. I get to reveal more of my heart to them. And I love how you were talking about conversations. I think we live in such a day and age where we are reactionary, number one. Number two, we live by headlines, not bylines. You know, you you look at somebody and you see some surface level things, and then you've already made a snap judgment and you've already decided I know everything about you that I need to know. I have a full picture of who you are. And so now the chance to have a deep, meaningful conversation is lost. I've spoken death. I've just decided, yep, you are marginalized. You're not the kind of person that I want to do life with. You don't deserve to be in these spaces. I'm actually going to cancel and cut you out. Well, there's the death. It's the death of the opportunity to glorify God and getting to know this person's story.
SPEAKER_00:Man, as you're saying that, you know what's scary? That it's almost like as humans, we want to be heard instead of listening. Yeah. To the point that, like, think about AI. And because I use AI, you know, for for certain things just to proofread and really do a lot of edits. But I've seen people use AI for counseling. Um, I've seen it taking the place of relationships. Absolutely. Uh I I heard on the news some person married an avatar that created, like, you know, and it's insane because now you know we're not just creating our own like relationships out of out of nothing. Like, and it's not just like an animal, like people have people have an affection towards their pets. Right. Right. And and they treat them like humans. And people are like, why does that dog have a sweater? You know, but now we've gone from from that to to superficial, you know, artificial intelligence, sorry. And and now we're creating a person that we're wanting to have a conversation with that will speak to us the way we want to be spoken to. Right. You know, and I think that's dangerous. Yes, because the power isn't in in just having the conversation, it's in listening.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And because not everything that we say, not everything that is said to us is gonna be what we want to hear. Right. And so part of what grows us, iron sharpens iron because it's not always gonna be the way that we want it to be. Yeah, you know, and so what we're doing is we're we're stepping into a society where everything is tailored to our liking, everything is tailored to how I want to feel. Yeah. And and that that actually cripples us as a society because now, you know, you know, think about our men just just just doing the hard things. Right. I I saw a post yesterday on video games and how video games from the from the 90s, you know, or even before like Super Mario Brothers.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Like I remember on Nintendo, was it Super Nintendo, like playing Super Mario Bros. Yeah, like two and three, and like you were stuck, yeah. Like you couldn't figure out the next level for like like a month or two, right? And then you would go, and then when they would drop that Super Nintendo magazine, come on, you would go and you'd purchase it so you can see kind of like the secret levels or all the secret, you know, all that stuff. And then it took you a probably good six months to pass the finish the game that's right and complete it. Yep, and then the it was over, yeah, and there was no more. Like you you failed, you failed, and you finally won, and the game was. Done right. And so the article that I read was that how game uh games today that our kids are playing, they have no ending. That they they're just constantly, constantly going Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft. You're just constantly being fed, you know, that dopamine fix that where it's it's just you could do whatever you want, you can change it, you can customize it. Yeah, I never noticed that.
SPEAKER_01:That's that's a really good point. And and yeah, they call them these open world games. Yeah, and you can just endlessly explore. You have all these achievements, these accomplishments, and but like you said, it never ends, just like, oh man, like they they build a whole, they install a new patch. You download, it's like a whole new world, and it's like wow. So you can spend the next year exploring this new world, endlessly getting these accomplishments, endlessly picking up these different items and these side quests.
SPEAKER_00:It's not and and it's not challenging, it's not, it's not doing like what the old video games used to do. Yeah, video games are video games, right? I would prefer to be outside, right? But like when we would play, we'd play and you'd you'd compete, right? Fight with your friends for the for the controller. Yeah, yeah. We're gonna do this now. Like everyone has a controller, everyone can play on their device, right? Everyone's included, yeah, everyone's a winner, like everyone gets a ribbon, right? And so it's it's just reshaping the way we think. Our kids are thinking, even adults that are playing video games. And so going back to the conversation piece, everything is customized to what is feeding me, yes, my ego, yeah, my want, my desire, which you know, you know, we've seen in the years past people can declare who they want to be and what they want to be. And so there's all these you know, identity things. I think if there's anything the enemy has attacked over this last century with technology is our identity.
SPEAKER_01:I agree. Yeah, to your point, uh the word that I kept thinking of, especially when you're talking about these AI companions, was idolatry. You know, that I think you know, you think about an idol. I mean, you look again, looking in and thinking through scripture, you know, the reason you know why the people of God, you know, ultimately decided to reject and abandon him is because they said, Hey, this idol is voiceless, this idol has no personality, this idol has no authority in my life. I can shape this idol into the way that what I want it to be, and the idol will not call me to account. This idol won't convict me. This idol won't even hold me account, it won't walk in judgment of me and my life. I I serve this idol, but that's all I do. And to your point, when we look at our lives today, it's really hard to sit and have a conversation with someone when they want to challenge you. I mean, yeah, nobody, the Bible talks about no correction, no discipline feels good for the moment. But Hebrews says it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. And to your point, you think about people that you and I have passionate. We've been doing this a long time. And it I'm always awestruck by how people tend to feel and act sort of emotionally frozen. It's like, man, you developed emotionally and intellectually to a certain age, and then you just stopped. And I think it's because you no longer put yourself intentionally into spaces, into communities, into relationships that would challenge you, that would call out the blind spots, that would say, hey, man, you got toilet paper on your shoe. You got you got some spinach in your teeth. Yeah. And and so, like to your point, AI is not gonna do that. I mean, I to your point, I use AI. I love using it for refinement, like, you know, for messages or teachings, you know, lessons. But that AI is not sitting there saying, hey, Willie, uh, let me check in. Hey, how do things go? Hey, man, I wouldn't have taught it that way. Hey, man, how are you loving your wife? How you loving your kids?
SPEAKER_00:It doesn't or what the Holy Spirit tells you.
SPEAKER_01:Hey, man, hey, what's what's the Lord leading you to? Hey, man, I don't know if that's the right thing. No, it it does what I tell it to do. And and not only that, but it answers the way that I tell it to answer. And so to your point, human beings don't do that. My wife doesn't answer, like, hey, she's gonna let me know.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, that's that's a whole nother skill that is being developed through through systems like ChatGPT, is we're getting better at creating prompts. Yeah. And and getting the results that we want. That's it right there. Because like ChatGPT has been most effective for me when I know exactly how to use it. You know, we say we're using it correctly and all that stuff in our context, but but it only works efficiently when you tell it exactly what you want it to do. Correct. And so, which is again introducing new language into our society of this is exactly what I want and this is the results that I want.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yes, yeah. This is the oh, come on now. That's a word. Get that B3 ready to tune up. I'm just saying, to your point, this is what I want and exactly how I want it. And then the problem is when we get into the real world and we're talking with people, and we're we we try that same mechanism of thinking with a prompt. Hey, this is what I believe, this is how I want you to act, this is how I want you to communicate to me. And that person says, No, I'm not gonna communicate, or hey, I want this is the the direction that my life is heading, and I want you to align with me on that. Again, going with AI, I can say, hey, I want to do this, this, and this. You have the right prompts. Like, okay, well, if you want to achieve that goal, well, here's what you have to do. In the real world, let's have a conversation in my small group.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And I tell the guys, hey, guys, I'm thinking about going down this career path. I'm thinking about this decision path. And the guys in my group may say, Man, what are you talking about? Man, that makes no sense. Hey, man, I wouldn't do that. I don't think that's wise. I don't think that's good for you or your family. I don't think that that honors the Lord.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And and and so now I have cognitive dissonance. It's like, well, wait a minute. Chat GPT would affirm this and give me a plan to make it happen. Yeah. Well, real world conversations aren't like that. Why? Because that that sharpening, that there's that clanging, like my mentor would say, of iron.
SPEAKER_00:And and you think you're having these deep conversations. Right. And like these really intricate, man, I just did some great work. Yeah. But it's it's not. Right, yeah. It's not even it's not even you thinking. Correct. Right? It's it's man, it's crazy.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I I read an article to your point that talked about how we have in this specific age, which they which which are they're calling it the information slash technology age. You're gonna go the bronze age, we have effectively outsourced the computational aspect of our brains to technology. You know, like I live by my calendar, you know, and and again, that's a blessing because I you know, I don't have to keep it all stored up here because you know, stuff comes in and stuff gets pushed out. So it's a blessing. But at the same time, if I'm not careful with Chat GPT, instead of like you, I love that video game analogy because you had to work and work and just stop and and and keep working until you figured it out. Then it was like, oh, it was like a light bulb moment because those neurons are firing off. And I just think when you outsource the that computational part of your brain, the analytic, the part where you just, okay, let me sit and scrutinize. I mean, even it's like with Bible study, it's really easy for me to just go to chat GPT and just say, hey, give me the historical, theological, exegetical context for this scripture, and how can I apply it? And it'll spit out a sermon. I've, you know, I've just testing it out to say, hey, how would it do it? And it'll do it. And I'm like, wait a minute, I've out now, okay. What about time in the word? What about study? What about the Holy Spirit? Jesus says in John 14, 15, and 16, three different times, the spirit of truth will guide you, will lead you in the truth. And I've outsourced that opportunity now to Chat GPT. And so that is where I've been challenged and convicted. Like, hey man, do not go the way of the world. This is Romans 12. Don't go the way of the world. Go, no, no, no. Allow God, allow him to reveal to you his good and perfect, allow him to renew your mind. I don't want Chat GPT to renew my mind. I want the spirit to do that work in my life. And I want him to, I want the Lord to do that through his people as well. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And the power of people. Right. Like, let's talk about that. Like, like think about think about Moses. Right? He has a conversation with God, like a fire, a fiery bush, burning bush. And then God tells him, go to Pharaoh, tell him to let my people go. Moses didn't send him an email, he didn't send him a text. Like he confronted him in person to deliver the word that God had given him. And so that was a face-to-face occasion. Like, and and but but God initiated it with a face-to-face you know encounter. And so there's just power in actual conversation and sharing not what Moses thought, because Moses was educated. Absolutely. He was educated, and then he had all this time out in the wilderness. I can imagine him being a deep thinker, you know, in in the context of what he was doing as a shepherd. But he went and he delivered the word that God gave him. Yes. And for us, again, going back to technology and everything, it's easy for us to okay, I need to, I need to achieve this goal. Let me figure it out. Versus what is what is God saying? Yeah. And so going back to the element, like you were saying, like what is the Holy Spirit saying? Yeah. What is he leading? How is he leading? Man, as believers, like we don't do what we do on our own strength or ability. Like we believe that when we're saved, that the Holy Spirit dwells in us, right?
SPEAKER_01:That's right.
SPEAKER_00:If anything's gonna lead and empower what we do as believers throughout the day, it's not, it's not Chat GPT. Come on, that could be a tool, sure, but it's not Chat GPT, it's not even your own knowledge or wisdom, how many books you've read or how much, how many degrees you have. All of those things are great assets and information and tools that are in your belt. Or even if you're a creative, like musician or a singer or artist, all of those, I've always said creativity is a vehicle that God grants us and gives us to allow us to reach people that we might not reach, you know, just through normal means. And so through music and arts and all that stuff, it's a tool, but the Holy Spirit is the one that provides the the the words. Yeah, the Holy Spirit is the one that provides everything that needs to be communicated, and and so a lot of times we replace it with other things. I'm thinking of Joseph, and and Joseph, it's incredible. He went, you know, from a slave, you know, from the pit, the the story is from the pit to the palace. To the palace, yeah. But it it's it was initiated because he opened his mouth and he said things that people didn't like.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, absolutely. He rustled some feathers, he also refused to give in to carnality, which is insane that he was punished for that. He was punished for honoring his boss's marriage. That's what's crazy about it. And so, to your point, he he's he's he's in the pit, he's in the prison, and I love how, but to your point though, it says over and over again, but the Lord was with him. And and that that like that's why, you know, you know, I I teach our Life Point Leadership Academy, we go in through theology, and we we just wrapped up our series on hermeneutics, and it's just been phenomenal. We just spent seven weeks or six weeks of slow walking through, hey, I'm gonna teach you how to interpret scripture. And my class will tell you, I tell them every Sunday, hey, listen, hey, you're not the hero of the story. You're not David, you're not Moses, you're not Ruth, you're not Esther, you're not the hero. God is the hero of the story. And that's why Joseph's story is so amazing because God was with him when his brother sold him into slavery, when God elevated him, when when he with when mankind, when Potter's wife lies on him and he's in the prison, God's with him. That's why that story is amazing because God is faithful. And so when we when we look at our lives, like you said, we just have to remember, okay, God, you have been with me for you know for the entire time. I I had a care appointment, and the gentleman was talking about how you know he had been self-helped and and all these things. And I just and I asked him, I said, is that really true that like you like you made it? You didn't have any any other help. You know what I mean? And we just talked, we just talked through some things that God had delivered him from. He was like, Man, I guess I never thought of it that way. I was like man, God brought you your family and these promotions and all these things. And he realized, man, I I hadn't done any of that. It was the Lord. I said, that's the point. The Lord is the hero of your story. And when we talk about God's people utilizing us, I just finished, I literally yesterday morning, just finished the book of Ezra. Because you know, the Nehemiah series was just amazing. And so the events in Nehemiah take place after the events of Ezra. Ezra, God commissions Ezra through the through the king to rebuild the temple. God commissions Nehemiah to rebuild the surrounding gates, walls. And so there was something that was very interesting. If you'll indulge me real quick, in in the book of Ezra, he he it's almost you can copy and paste what happened in Nehemiah in Ezra. God commissions the king, hey, fund this rebuilding project. There's resistance, there's haters, there are people set up in leadership who are supposed to help people and they're hurting them. Like they're sin in the camp. And so this specific sin was that the nobles, again, and some of the men in the camp, they had married pagan wives. And they were commanded not to do this, not because of ethnicity, but because of religion. And he says, Because they will draw you away from Yahweh, which is exactly what they did. And it says here, Ezra, he hears about this, he prays all of chapter 9, it's just confessional repentance from Ezra, like Nehemiah. Chapter 10. Now the people confessed their sin. Verse 1, chapter 10. While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. Verse 2. And Shechaniah, if you need a baby name, that's a good middle name. Shechaniah. Shech or Shek? Shek, S Shek S-H-E. Shek Shekaniah. Like Shrek. Like Shrek. Shech. So that's a good one. You can call him Shech, you can call him Naya, you can call him Kannah.
SPEAKER_00:Nene.
SPEAKER_01:Nene. He can whip. The son of Jahel of the sons of Elam. He addressed Ezra. Listen to what he says. He says, We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign wives from the people or more married foreign women from the peoples of the land. This is what he says, though. He's like, so he's like, it's bad. Like we've sinned against God. We've broken his law. So he says, but even now, there is hope for Israel in spite of this. And again, like this is the power of community, of having voices in your life. Like you have to have fresh air friends. Everybody needs a shekaniah. Listen when he says, Therefore, verse 3, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my Lord, is addressing Ezra. He's like, You're the leader. And those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the law. Verse 4. So he says to him, he says, Arise. He's like, hey man, get up. Get up. You've wept, you've mourned, you've repented. Listen when he says, Arise, for it is your task, Ezra, and we are with you. Be strong and do it. And it says verse five, then Ezra rose. So I I I love that verse. It it ministers to me so greatly because it is the power of relationship and connection. Shechaniah was bold. He was affirming, he was redemptive. He was he was he was realistic and redemptive. That's a word. He says, Yep, we have sinned against God. We've broken the law, but there's hope. And then he says, You have a part to play in it. And I just think, man, the times in my life where I have had these pity parties. Anybody ever just had a pity party where you're just like, woe is me? You know, you you feel like droopy. Oh brother. Oh bother, oh boy. And my life is just crazy. I have a flat tire. Do you practice these voices? Oh my goodness. Traffic is just crazy. I 24. It was bad yesterday, I'm Ross. I get it. Everybody was like, you know, you're like, uh, what's his ER? Oh bother poo. I'm so sad and blue. My favorite drink is not on sale anymore. I mean, we just, man, down in the you're looking at me.
SPEAKER_00:I'm like, why are you having to pull your cheeks?
SPEAKER_01:Because you know that's how droopy sounds. Oh boy. Oh boy. What a crazy day. Oh yeah. What is that book called? The name of the boy and the the terrible, the horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day. And some of us just live that way. And sometimes you have to have a Shekaniah. Who's your Shekaniah? I mean, who can look at you and say, hey, yes, things are bad. And maybe it's something you've done. Hey, yep, that's that wasn't a good decision. But there's hope. He says there's hope. And he says, we're gonna make it right. And he goes back to the word. We saw what the word said. We're just gonna do what God's word says. And he put it back on him. He put it back on Ezra. He says, hey man, get up. He didn't say, hey, let me call a DoorDash and we'll do it for you. Yeah, they'll do it for you. Hey man, we'll handle it. Hey, you just sit. No, he's hey man, get up. He says it's your task. You have to lead through this, man. You get up. And I just think we all need some. This is why, like you said, man, you can't outsource that. You cannot outsource community and relationship. Chat gypped ain't gonna do that for you. Grok and Sora, they won't do that for you. That's that is God's people. Why? Because God's spirit lives in his people, and there's just something about having somebody in your life when they speak something in you, and then the spirit within them connects to the spirit within you, and then you just rise up and be like, Yeah, you're right. This is gonna be okay. It's gonna be some hard work, but I can get through it.
SPEAKER_00:Let me talk about this. I think even before technology was a thing, like right, you know, when people did not want to have conversations that were Shekanaya conversations, yeah. They people have always turned to alcohol. Yep. People have always turned to drugs because you just want to forget. Right. You just want to like clear my clear my mind. That's what you hear people say. Yeah. And so there's always been substitutes for confr having these confrontational conversations, like I'm gonna go home right now, and my wife is probably upset at me because I made some bad choices. Yep, and I'm gonna just throw it down before I get home because I don't I don't want to hear it. Yeah, and so so because we're again in our humanity, idolatry, like you know, the the golden calf has no authority over me. That's right. I think again, back to identity and that we don't want nothing ruling over us, we don't want to submit to anything. That's right. So again, it's not technology's fault. We've always found different ways to to kind of you know dodge authority, right? And and I think that's that's the foundation of it. And and God brings people into our lives to have these conversations like a shekanaya to hold us accountable. And it's it's for our good. Amen. It's only gonna make you stronger, it's only gonna make you better, it's only gonna make you a better person, not just for yourself, but for your spouse, for your children, for your parents, for you know, all of those that are around you. Yeah. And I would prefer that.
SPEAKER_01:But listen, man, I'm telling you right now, I am better. I am the man that I am today, 100%, because of the Lord's hand of my life and because of the people that He's He has placed. I have grown way more through correction than I have through commendation. Yeah. I have grown way more through correction than I have through commendation. A pat on the back has never transformed me. It's encouraged me and it's motivated me, but it's never transformed me. A pat on the back, congratulations, doesn't reveal the shadows in my life. It doesn't reveal the blind spots. It's only when somebody just sits me down and says, Hey man, you need to understand that there are some things in your life that you you need to deal with. And like, I'm not the only one who sees this. Like, those are the conversations that have grown and shaped me as a man, as a leader, as a husband, and as a Father. In our small group, we have a marriage group, and then we have a separate husband and wives text thread. And every week we do what's called an engine check. And one of the guys in our group, he's a new father, and he, you know, was very open and honest about the struggle that he's had with obviously adjusting to like the sleep schedule, but also, man, there's there was just some tension how he was connecting with his wife. He was like, I want to love her well and serve her well. He's like, you know, man, this is hard. I mean, they have a newborn. And he's like, man, what do we do? And the guys, they, they, they check an eye at him and they just say, hey, man, suck it up. Suck it up. It's gonna it's going to suck for the next couple months. Like you, your sleep schedule is gonna be off. Like you have to, you have to what sort of flex to that. Like, you can't make your newborn sleep when when you want, they when they want to sleep, they're gonna sleep. When they're awake, they're awake. So if they're awake at two in the morning, guess what? You awake. Yes. But one thing they did tell them was like, hey, you have to figure out a healthy outlet. Go for a run, whatever. Because they said you cannot afford to allow that stress and that tension to spill over on your wife. And it was just no Bible. It was just like, no, man, suck it up, figure out an outlet. But you need a love and servant. Why? Because for nine months she carried this baby and pushed and pushed around. Now it's on you. It took two. Took two. It took two. And I and it was exactly and he was like, thank y'all so much. I mean, it wasn't one word of scripture spoken. But it was all, it was they shek and I itin. And it was exactly what he needed. And if he'd have gone to Chat Gypped or AI, I don't, to your point, we're we're talking technology because that's where we, that's the, that's what, and some people it is substances, but for a lot of us, it is outsourcing of these other digital counselors. You need flesh and blood people in your life to shake your tree and grab you by the collar and say, get up. Be a good husband, be a good father, figure out a way that you can release this nervous energy so you can keep loving them well.
SPEAKER_00:And the most important part is to do that without the child being the excuse. Yes. Because this is a gift from God. So how can the very the gift that you've prayed for be the excuse that tears your marriage away?
SPEAKER_01:Right, absolutely. Well, I think about I think about Proverbs. Proverbs, uh, it's brilliant because it it it's it's one of my favorite uh scriptures to use for lazy men. I'm just gonna say it for men who are lazy. It says the the stall the stalls remain clean when there are no oxen. Okay, you got you bought some oxen. Praise God, that's a blessing. Now you're surprised when you gotta scoop out and clean out the poop. It's like, hey man, which one do you want? Do you the oxen represented prosperity? It's like, hey, now I can work, I can till, I can provide for my family. Oh man, I gotta clean up manure, I ain't all that. Well, what are you gonna do? Just say, well, forget it. I'm gonna sell the oxen. Okay, you got a child. You beg. Pray, God, pray to God. It's a blessing. Oh my God. It's man, they up at two in the morning. Hey, pooping. That diaper, it's a grenade. My God in heaven. You want to talk about weapons of mass destruction. Weapons of mass doo-doo. But it's like, okay, but what do you do? Do you just give the baby away? No. Okay, okay, we got the prosperity, we got the blessing. There's a challenge that comes with it. Hey, man, we we prayed the Lord, may He blessed us with this home. It's awesome, it's amazing. But now you're surprised you got a mortgage.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Oh man, I gotta the HVAC's going out. Oh man, the roof is we gotta replace the shingles on the roof. Okay, but do you just say, ah, we're gonna leave, we're gonna vacate the house. No. Blessings do come with challenges. That's the whole point. And it's all part of growth. And it's all part of the growth. And you need some shekanais to remind you of that.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, that's awesome, man. That's awesome. And I want us to end with this. Pastor, our our lead pastor, Pastor Mike, he challenged our staff at our staff chapel this week. What are some things as we're coming to the end of the year that we need to leave behind? Because God, you know, we're talking about growth. We again, everything we're doing is we want to grow intentionally. It's one of our values here at Life Point. And so, what are some things this year that all right, they might have been good for you this year? But as God is expanding your territory, as He's taking you into new ground to do new things, again, as you're praying, we're about to go into our 21 days of fasting and prayer in January. And we want to encourage those of you that are listening to begin to pray and ask God, what do I need to surrender? What do I need to fast? And what do you want to do in my life over these next 21 days? And and so Pastor Mike challenged us as a team. You know, what are some things that we need to leave behind? Amen. Come on. And that was strong. Like, yeah, because you know, we've it's almost like you build your arsenal to get through the year, and you feel like our adding more to my toolkit, right? Adding more in my backpack, you know, as I'm on this journey. But the higher you go, the further you go, there's some things you actually have to take out and drive. Right. You know, because you're just adding more weight, and some of that is unnecessary.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but to your point, yeah, we we always think about the new year. I'm glad you said that we always think about addition. We always think about the more and the abundance. And, you know, you think about the farmers. I mean, when the farmer wants to harvest, he wants to reap, I mean, he has to first, he has to till the ground. You may have to pull some things out that that would prohibit and inhibit that growth, right? Hey, I hey, you know, there's some weeds or things I gotta dig up that I just have to pull out and remove and say, for this new harvest season that I'm about to enter into, matter of fact, not even harvest, a sowing season. Maybe some of you guys are like, man, there's some things that God wants you to sow into for 2026, but he's like, this can't come with you. There's some thorns, some this or some brambles. Maybe this the soil is needs to be turned over, maybe uh the it's too acidic, it's too basic, whatever. But we rarely think about the attrition. What do I need to reduce? What do I what you know what you know, you think about going into the Israelites going into the promised land, I mean getting out of Egypt. God had to get Egypt out of them. I have to prepare you for this thing because he even tells, I'm gonna give it to you little by little, least it consume you. And and so for those of us who are looking at 2026, man, new year, new me, well, did the old you die? Did the old you die? And anyone that's in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, anyone that's in Christ is a new creation. But he says the very first thing he says is, Behold, the old has passed away. Then he says, the new has come. And so, yeah, I think it would be good for you to do three things. Number one, seek the Lord about it. I, you know, we wear these bracelets. I wear my mind every day. It says, pray, listen, move, pray, and ask the Lord, what do you was telling Elmer and Pastor Elmer and Jacob, you know, the Lord told me one thing, like for sure, like, hey, this has to stay in 2025. But there's more I know that the Lord has. But pray and ask God, hey, what needs to stay in 2025? Is it is it unforgiveness? Is it fractured relationships? Is it a sinful pattern of behavior? Is it ways of thinking? Is it associations? Whatever it is, just ask the Lord what needs to stay in 2025. Ask him about that, write it down and then talk about it with a Shechaniah. Ask them, hey, you know me. You know me pretty ask your spouse, ask your kids, ask your small group members, ask your pastor. I mean, that's why I thank God for our pastors. Ask those who the Bible calls are the shepherds, the guardians. They they shepherd you and lead you. Ask them, hey, what are some things you think I should leave behind in 2025?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, we'll tell you.
SPEAKER_01:And we will tell you because we love you. Because we love you, though. Because we want you to get everything that God has for you.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
unknown:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:Come on, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00:And that's the thing, you know, going back to even those conversations with your pastors. I've always asked people that have come onto our teams, hey, do I have permission to pastor you? Yeah. Especially in a church like ours where we have a lead pastor who's our main communicator, and people see him on Sundays and he's he's preaching, you know. But we we get the privilege of leading them in our teams and in those spaces more intimately with their families and all these things. And so I always say, Hey, do I have permission to pastor you? You know, because sometimes they they almost expect like Pastor Mike and Pastor Steph to be the ones that are and and they'll be part of your life. That's why they're here, right? But you know, he's also empowered us and and to to lead and to pastor. And so if you guys give us permission, like we want to be able to lead and love you as best as we can through through truth and through the scripture. Yes, and so I love that. And just and same with us, yeah. Only because we serve on on the on staff as pastors doesn't mean that we don't have those same conversations. Absolutely. Like we'll hold each other accountable, we'll share with with people in our lives, and we hold ourselves accountable to the other people that are speaking into us, our decisions, our own life cycles and patterns. And so that is important. Who's your shekanaya? Come on, and then what do you need to leave behind in 2025? Amen. I think those are powerful takeaways. And don't there's no substitute for human interaction just in community. Like, like use chat GBT, put a sweater on your dog, put some eat, put some mittens on his feet, whatever. You know, but you know, your pet's only gonna show you emotional support and is he's he's gonna lick your face and encourage you, or you know, if he's a fish, he's gonna do like I can't do impressions like Willie. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And they'll encourage you and make you feel better, but you know, but they're not gonna call you out when you need to be called out. Yeah, and no matter what how how many things your pets have seen, they're not gonna call you out on them. So and so, you know, that's where you need people that you've given permission to speak into your life. Yep, and and when they do, don't get offended. Just be like, okay. Yep, thank them.
SPEAKER_01:Matter of fact, thank them. Yeah, thank them. Thank them.
SPEAKER_00:Man, when's the last time you thanked someone that called you out for your mess? Yep. You know, that that is powerful, and and I I'm grateful for the people that do that in my life. Yeah, um, I wouldn't be where I'm at without them. Uh in fact, my my wife, being someone, obviously, my spouse, just we do life together, but you know, a lot of times we'll we'll listen to other people's voices before we listen to our own spouse. Yep. And so I've learned as as I'm getting older, you know, don't wait until I hear multiple voices. Like, right, what is God saying through my wife? Come on now, you know, and that's that tends to be real powerful. Yes, sir. Unless you're saying, hey, you gotta go clean this and that and that. No, that's it. Hold on, Lord.
SPEAKER_01:Is that you? Hold on, hold on, Jesus. Hold on, let me let me let me go to the boom and the thumb on that one. I need a second opinion.
SPEAKER_00:I need a second opinion. I need to run that through Chat GPT. Let me run that.
SPEAKER_01:Let me run that through Grok real quick.
SPEAKER_00:Oh man. No, this is awesome. Well, um, this is a great conversation. Thank you for those of you that are listening every week. We want to encourage you, just share this podcast with with others that you think will be encouraged and that will find these conversations encouraging and life-giving. And we're excited. We got one more episode next week, and then after that, we'll be on a on a break, and then we're praying as we're going into our 21 days of fasting and prayer here at Life Point to see the direction that the Lord is taking this podcast in 2026. So, any last words?
SPEAKER_01:No, I it I want to say to you, Elmer, I love you, man. And I I it it's been fun doing this for four seasons. And thank you for inviting me uh to do this with you. I never in a million years would have thought that this would have grown and morphed and evolved and transformed into this.
SPEAKER_00:So it's it's been life changing for us as well.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And so thank you guys for the opportunity to spend this time together. Jacob for being behind the scenes. Yes, sir. And so until next week, peace out. Peace out.
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