Effective Stewardship of Social Media

Emeal Zwayne 1:05

So , virgil , you're obviously very active on social media , as I alluded to earlier . And I love your posts . I love the way you just speak truth into the noise , if I could call it that , and so I'd love you to comment on how Christians can steward and I think that word is optimal there , it's key steward social media in a way that doesn't bring reproach on the gospel .

Virgil Walker 1:31

Man , that's good . Yeah , it goes back to kind of what we talked about guarding your life , guarding your heart , making sure you devoted to God . At the same time , you build a large following , you build a social media following . There is the natural tendency to say , oh , they're listening to me , but it's the reminder that , no , they're listening for truth . I love what you said , mark , because it really points to the fact that if I'm into the word of God , I know that there's truth there . Christ is truth personified . That I know and understanding that and that I'm going to be lied to the rest of the day . I love that . Yeah , I'm thinking about that . That then becomes your oasis right . The word of God becomes the way that you disengage from the craziness of culture or at least get energized to know that you can look outright and see , rightly , what's actually happening in culture .

Emeal Zwayne 2:22

Life transformations . Wait , what's going on , guys . I'm not kidding .

Mark Spence 2:29

Seriously , I'm going to take a drink of water and Ray hit my arm and made the water go everywhere .

Emeal Zwayne 2:33

Right as we started the program .

Oscar Navarro 2:35

You're using an illegal device to drink water .

Mark Spence 2:39

I'm not putting it in my mouth A plastic bottle . Have you noticed that I always hide it right behind Mark ?

Emeal Zwayne 2:43

why do you do wicked evil , rebellious things .

Oscar Navarro 2:47

I spit cleaned that thing this morning .

Ray Comfort 2:49

This is one of our mugs . Why won't you drink from one of our mugs ?

Mark Spence 2:53

Yeah , Mark . Do we actually trust EZ and Oscar to leave the mugs clean ?

Oscar Navarro 2:59

I think Yale cleans them for us . Yeah , yale , no Yale , someone does .

Ray Comfort 3:04

They use the sock .

Emeal Zwayne 3:07

All right , friends , as I was saying before , I was rudely interrupted . Life transformations you don't have to do that . The first time was better , but that was good enough . My life was recently transformed yet again , and , scotty , you didn't start the clock , so we have no idea how long we've been going , but that's okay .

Ray Comfort 3:25

That's just like 74 minutes .

Emeal Zwayne 3:27

Yeah , something like that . Yeah , a new life transformation . Have you guys ever been to Jersey ? Mikes , yes , the sandwich place . Yeah , is this like a new discovery for you . Okay , so I've been going to Subway . Why what ? For the great majority of you , I'm not sure that's a step up my life . Wait , are you joking , mark ?

Ray Comfort 3:46

Yeah , not a fan , I like Subway .

Emeal Zwayne 3:48

Oh Jersey Mikes . What Of Jersey Mikes ?

Oscar Navarro 3:50

Yeah , it's a step up , but it's not great .

Mark Spence 3:54

I have to make sure I don't breathe through my nose . The smell makes me sick . What Subway have you been to ? Borden Brew , I do like .

Emeal Zwayne 4:00

Borden Brew . That's where the sandwich is . I've been to Borden Brew and didn't do their sandwiches . I'm scared .

Oscar Navarro 4:04

Borden Brew is where you need to go for cold cut sandwich . No .

Emeal Zwayne 4:08

Togo says the creepest trommies . No , Okay , but why are you sending it ?

Ray Comfort 4:12

Just thinking about what faith you guys exercise when you go and get other people you don't know to prepare sandwiches .

Emeal Zwayne 4:18

Have you ever done that , Ray ?

Ray Comfort 4:19

Yeah , I do think about it lately . Whenever you eat a meal , you don't know who made the meal , how clean their hands were .

Oscar Navarro 4:26

Do you know what's funny ? I used to go to church with this guy who a really sweet man on the spectrum , he had a lot of needs and he would ask he had these really interesting conversations we would always want to go to . He would always want to go to a soup plantation . It's the only place he would ever eat . He would stack his vegetables all in one spot , he would stack all of his lettuce in another . One day we're sitting there eating and I was like hey , why , why don't you ever want to go to another restaurant ? He goes , well , you know . You just never know what they're doing back there with all that food . That's true .

Emeal Zwayne 5:03

No , it is pretty scary . Was it you , Ray , that told me you watched a special on what they do with lemons ?

Ray Comfort 5:09

Yes , lemons , where they would go to the bathroom and come back and cut up the lemons . They check the lemon peel to see the feces that are on it . No , I'm not kidding . And now they put them in your drink , and so we wonder why we get sick , sometimes in the middle of the night for no reason . It's got a little grievous From the lemon water .

Emeal Zwayne 5:26

Yeah Well , but this is the thing right , we pass up putting the lemon in our water to put our lips to the cup . That's had 10,000 lips , 20,000 lips . And we're trusting the dishwasher that they watched those .

Oscar Navarro 5:38

I told you guys that here's . The thing about germs is that they did a test in . Your average public toilet seat has less germs on it than the average person's cell phone . That's amazing , and you stick this to your face . So , ray , you're not going to enjoy that .

Emeal Zwayne 5:52

Ray's not going to use a cell phone ever again . Did you just lick your cell phone ?

Ray Comfort 5:56

Ray , no , I cleaned them .

Emeal Zwayne 5:56

Oh man , no . But back to my wonderful story , mark . There's another sandwich place I don't care for , though near my house , right where 24-hour fitness is on the corner . There , sandwiches are us . Do you know what that one is ? I thought that was Jersey Mike's . No , no , no , jersey Mike's , that's over there by Chili's Boy . This is really important for our global audience . It is very , very much so . Anyway , the reason why my life has been forever revolutionized and changed is because I think it's the first time I've gone to a sandwich place where they actually cut the meat right in front of you like fresh . Where are you ?

Mark Spence 6:29

Well , subway's going to start doing that , because you go to Subway .

Emeal Zwayne 6:31

What are they ? Yeah , Subway's going to start doing that they better , because that's giving them some competition . What do you mean , Oscar ? You've never done that .

Oscar Navarro 6:37

I'm saying that that's what your average good sandwich place does . Really , it's fresh cut meat . Why would you like ? Subway is an exception to that rule .

Emeal Zwayne 6:44

See , my life has changed .

Mark Spence 6:46

Togo's has the best pastrami sandwiches .

Oscar Navarro 6:48

Togo's , togo's , borden Bru has the best hot pastrami at Borden Bru . Are you serious ? It's so good . I'm there , I'm all over it . They put , like jalapeno , chilies on it .

Emeal Zwayne 6:57

You guys are making me hungry .

Oscar Navarro 6:59

Give me a nice .

Emeal Zwayne 6:59

Jewish deli Nice .

Mark Spence 7:00

Jewish deli like a Rupen sandwich , good corn , oh yeah , wait , we had a really nice sandwich with Todd Farrill . Wait , duh , you're right . Yes , what was it ?

Oscar Navarro 7:09

In Atlanta . Oh man , the name of that place .

Mark Spence 7:11

Remember good , Maybe you can look that up . We give that guy a plug . That was a really great sandwich place . That was good .

Emeal Zwayne 7:18

Yeah , we had some chicken schloponksie .

Mark Spence 7:19

Caprice .

Emeal Zwayne 7:20

Chicken caprice sandwich . I'm getting hungry . I'm getting hungry . I want some fish and chips . Ray , you guys , really , you crave very desperately fish and chips .

Ray Comfort 7:30

And eggs .

Emeal Zwayne 7:30

Oh , that's because we can't have them . Well , why is it not as good here as in New ? Zealand ?

Ray Comfort 7:35

It's just the way they do it . It's just the type of fish , the type of batter , the type of chips they don't even call them , not fries . When you go to New Zealand , you can eat fish and chips .

Oscar Navarro 7:45

They wrap it in newspapers . You know what I'm excited about .

Ray Comfort 7:47

They used to , but they stopped because the print would come off .

Emeal Zwayne 7:49

Yeah duh , you know what I'm excited about .

Ray Comfort 7:51

Ray , I don't know Meat pies . Oh yeah , no , it's not meat pies , it's meat pies .

Emeal Zwayne 7:55

No , it's meat pies , you know what else ?

Mark Spence 7:58

we have to try . Is the whitebait ? No , why we have ?

Emeal Zwayne 8:01

to give it a try . No , you're mocking . What are you guys talking about , our friends ?

Mark Spence 8:05

are listening . What do you ?

Emeal Zwayne 8:06

mean when are we going , what are we doing ?

Mark Spence 8:08

In New Zealand there was like a guy on a corner selling these little anchovy fish . Ray's mom made him an omelet filled with whitebait . Did you like it , Ray ? I like it , it's delicacy in New Zealand .

Ray Comfort 8:20

I'll eat it , but you think a lot of stuff we eat .

Mark Spence 8:22

I bet you would .

Ray Comfort 8:23

Oscar , oscar , why why ?

Mark Spence 8:24

do you eat anything that's like a he's ?

Ray Comfort 8:26

going to have some marmite in New Zealand . It's kind of a spoonful . We're going to film it .

Oscar Navarro 8:29

I like embedding myself into cultures that are flourishing .

Ray Comfort 8:34

I love that and a part of that is , eating the food . Yeah , I think that's great . You love that , ray . Yeah , I love the fact that we're going to film a meeting . Spoonful marmite . I was going to say , oh , that's right we have the marmite challenge going .

Emeal Zwayne 8:45

Yeah , no-transcript . Oscar , you haven't told our friends about the mug contest in a while .

Oscar Navarro 8:51

Yeah , that's right For those as a reminder if you have one of our mugs and if you don't , shame on you no , I'm kidding If you have one of our mugs , go online , post a picture of you doing something fun or funny with it , use the hashtag living waters mug and we'll pick one of those fun ones out and send you something fun Boy .

Emeal Zwayne 9:11

I am blown away by how different a person can look with one mic and two . What have you ?

Oscar Navarro 9:16

done to me , oscar . For those who don't know , I have a Living Waters customized mug here in my hands and EZ is missing a tooth and Mark Spence has handlebar mustache with some sideburns .

Emeal Zwayne 9:29

Wait , what have you done to Ray ? I don't see anything with Ray .

Oscar Navarro 9:31

What else is there to do to Ray ?

Emeal Zwayne 9:35

He's already mutilated Ray , what are you doing over there ?

Ray Comfort 9:38

I had to send an important text to whom To Trevor About . What One of your opinion ? Again on the title we're topping and tanning 11 podcasts . Just do it when you go , yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 9:50

I'm busy , trevor , I don't have time to text as you text Ray .

Mark Spence 9:53

all Ray thinks about , besides whitebait onlets , is his YouTube channel ?

Emeal Zwayne 9:57

Yes , of course . Oh , by the way , that's a channel to check out friends 10 million views and 100,000 subscribers 100,000 subscribers on the second channel .

Ray Comfort 10:11

And less than a year , which is wonderful . That is wonderful . That's thanks to Tenny and his brilliance .

Mark Spence 10:15

Well , listen , mrbeast said it is to get your first 100,000 subscribers . This is the hardest thing you'll ever do with your YouTube channel . That's DrBeast . Just hit it before a year . Who's DrBeast ? Mrbeast ? I see DrBeast , mrbeast , mrbeast .

Emeal Zwayne 10:28

Yeah , and now the Spanish channel . By the way , friends , we have a Spanish Living Waters channel 360 something thousand . That is amazing .

Mark Spence 10:36

See Subscribers . Now I'm going to return .

Emeal Zwayne 10:40

There's not much to say . All right , friends , here's a comment from Kelvin Nunez . I generally listen to the audio on Spotify , but praise the Lord for this ministry and what our friends at Living Waters are doing , so much that I had to rate it there and over here . Let's go . I like that . Thank you , kelvin . That's a good idea For those of you that rate on different platforms go to the other ones and give us a rating there , although Spotify doesn't allow you to leave comments .

Oscar Navarro 11:10

They just did it . You can leave per episode .

Emeal Zwayne 11:14

Did they just change ?

Oscar Navarro 11:15

it . I'll talk to you about that . Wait , what I don't remember .

Emeal Zwayne 11:17

Are you serious ?

Oscar Navarro 11:18

Yeah , Oscar gave me a call . When are others going to learn MrSpotify ?

Emeal Zwayne 11:21

listen . When are others going to learn ? Yeah , anyway , he went on to say five stars everywhere for these godly people that have no idea whispers what they're doing . Great , thank you , kelvin . We're blessed that you listen . Brother , this podcast is brought to you by

G3 Conference and Living Waters Partnership

Emeal Zwayne 11:38

. God has a wonderful plan for your life . All right , this book , it's good . It's got Stephen getting stoned on the front with stones , let's be clear , not with marijuana . This has the potential , I think , to revolutionize the church if people get ahold of that message .

Mark Spence 12:03

Of all the books that we sell and make available , that is by far the most important book . It's a simple reading book too . It's not long . You can get it down in one session , maybe two sessions . Most of you read it the rate of easy , but you have to read it . It's available for free . You can read it online . I highly recommend it . God's a wonderful plan for your life .

Oscar Navarro 12:25

I gotta tell you there's about a stack of seven or eight books that I like to give to new believers 78 books 78 books . I'll get it get back to me next week . That's one of them , though .

Emeal Zwayne 12:35

It's a really good book .

Oscar Navarro 12:36

I strongly recommend it for everybody .

Emeal Zwayne 12:37

Yeah , check it out , friends , along with the Living Waters Mug with the new slogan . Don't forget to have it in the study Bible . All livingwaterscom man , oscar , you get better and get better . One of them .

Mark Spence 12:51

One of you guys have to .

Emeal Zwayne 12:52

Yeah , all right , friends . The G3 journey continues with our brother , virgil Walker . Now , virgil , he's the director for G3 , and the guy does a phenomenal job . He's talking about his amazing bowtie he's got an infectious smile , doesn't he ?

Mark Spence 13:12

He really does . Just looking at him , he's saying welcome into my presence , come and talk , let's have him .

Emeal Zwayne 13:19

Yeah , warm brother , kindhearted , and I think you guys are going to be really blessed by this . We talk about how Christians can stand strong for truth without being harsh and prideful like Mark , oscar and Ray . Without any further ado , friends , here is our friend Virgil Walker . Well , friends , as you guessed by the beautiful ambient noise behind us , we are still at G3 . And I'm excited about the guests we have with us right now . His name is Virgil Walker , but he should be called Virgil Runner because he's running around like crazy , because he is the executive director of operations for G3 Ministries . And , virgil , it's been a joy to know you , brother . It's been an encouragement to see the platform . The Lord's given you , the doors he's been opening , the voice that you've gained among God's people . It's a delight and we love G3 . Mark and I were here in 2021 . It was our first one ever and seriously we were mesmerized by all that the Lord was doing and we just sensed a real connection . That's why we're here as sponsors this year and this year . Last year was , I think last time was 6500 . How many of you guys have this year ?

Virgil Walker 14:39

It will be 8300 when it's all said , and done 8300 . That is amazing . It is amazing , it's absolutely amazing . I remember when you guys came . I remember telling you guys man , it's about time . These are your people , this is your place , this is your space . You guys should have been here a long time ago . I'm glad that you're here . You've got fans , folks who love you , folks who've loved the work that you've done for years , for a decade or more that I've been aware of the work at Living Waters . I'm glad you're here . This is a natural fit . Yeah , it feels that way . We're happy that you guys are here .

Oscar Navarro 15:11

Let me say , not that you guys need promotion or advertisement at 8300 , but , if I can put words into the difference between listening to the talks online and being here , being here feels like a pilgrimage . We all feel like exiles in the current state of the nation . And so to gather together what feels like a remnant . It feels like we went on a pilgrimage and we're bonding together , meeting people , and it's beautiful man .

Virgil Walker 15:42

Oscar , that's exactly right . I think people come to G3 for that reason . It feels in a lot of ways kind of like a family reunion , kind of an oasis , and so you get quite a bit of that as well People out there struggling and dealing with all kinds of issues related to the culture , feeling like they're beat up , feeling like they're isolated , feeling like they're alone , finally coming into a place , a space where all of us are combined . We have a common love for the Lord , a common direction as far as our stance on Scripture , our desire to be a light in an ever-darkening world . All of those things are kind of what makes G3 extra special . The preaching is phenomenal , the fellowship this is kind of part B , and by part B I don't mean like it's not the good part , it's just another aspect of what we do in the exhibit hall connecting with people .

Emeal Zwayne 16:27

And is it true that the ultimate goal of G3 is to get everyone to wear bow ties ?

Virgil Walker 16:31

Yeah , that would be a good look bro .

Emeal Zwayne 16:35

Bro , the bow ties are just off the chain . When did you see what I ?

Virgil Walker 16:38

had tomorrow . Bro , we got it all planned out .

Emeal Zwayne 16:41

Huh Well , you know , Virgil , when Mark and I were here last time , honestly we were in shock , and we still kind of are . We figured there may be a few people that would recognize us in the ministry . We were overwhelmed . I mean , there was a point where I think we stood for two hours in the same spot and people kept coming up , and the reason why that excited us is because of the crossover that those that follow our ministry follow G3 . And we know they're getting good sound theology and . Mark , wasn't it just a blast ?

Mark Spence 17:11

Yeah , I mean this time obviously too . Yeah , I mean there obviously comes a point where you just go , all right , we got to limit the eye contact . You know , I got to kind of put that if you want to get somewhere , you just got to be really careful with that , but absolutely the synergy that's happening between G3 and Living Waters is not something I could have predicted that people coming up I'll see people inside the line to meet someone , to talk to someone and getting out of line to come up to us and say , listen , I absolutely love this teaching over here . I got saved through your ministry .

Ray Comfort 17:42

I got saved through ministry . Over and over and over again , I got saved through the ministry .

Mark Spence 17:46

And now good theology , yeah , yeah .

Virgil Walker 17:49

I'll tell you this , I'm not surprised . My first G3 experience in live was here in this particular building . It was in 2017 . And I kind of came kind of wide-eyed and just kind of figuring it all out , going , oh man , this is incredible , just kind of experiencing it for the first time , and so to be the guy now that's providing oversight for it , I'm just like I can't believe how God , like you mentioned , kind of exploded the platform and allowed me to do some unique things , but I would have told you in 2017 , given what I know about Living Waters , about your ministry , about what you've done for the body of Christ in the area of educating people about evangelism I could have predicted that in 2017 . I could have told you that in 2018 when I came back the next year , and in 2019 and in 2020 , that you should be here . So for me , this was a natural kind of connection that . I thought would be right because of the fact that you guys are educating so many people in the body of Christ about evangelism .

Emeal Zwayne 18:42

Well , bro , you blessed our socks off when you told us the impact the ministry's had on your life in terms of evangelism . I think you do some street ministry and stuff as well .

Virgil Walker 18:51

Yeah , it's in large part due to what I learned from you guys .

Oscar Navarro 18:53

Wow .

Virgil Walker 18:54

Yeah , more than a decade ago , just watching videos from YouTube and kind of connecting that as I continue to think about my walk with Christ , the need to be out doing evangelism , so I got the courage to go out into the street to go to the abortion mill because of stuff that you guys were doing and I was watching online . Yeah , I would learn from you with regard to apologetics . And I go okay , I got that tip , I got that tip . Okay , let me get out here and see how that flows in the course of a natural conversation . So for me it was more than just trying to get head knowledge and be really kind of puffed up theologically . I thought if this wasn't a practically of applicable something , practical application where I was going out doing and engaging , it really didn't matter , it didn't make sense . So I got a chance to use it and experience it and again I love you guys . Kind of like what people are coming up to you going . I feel like I know you feel like . I feel the same way when I first had a chance to kind of get to meet you online in the social media .

Emeal Zwayne 19:43

That's humbling , bro , very humbling . Well , that's a perfect segue into what we want to talk about today . You know you said you didn't just want a bunch of head knowledge . Sure , and I think that you know , as Christians we obviously need to speak to the culture both with strength and with authority . But sometimes I think we can cross the line and end up filling the demonstrate specific biblical characteristics that should really mark us like distinctly as believers . So how can we guard against that , against crossing that line and becoming harsh and violating really principles of Scripture ? Second of the two 24 to 26, . You know , server in the Lord must not be Coral's son , but be gentle , able to teach . You know , in humility , correcting those who are in opposition .

Virgil Walker 20:26

I think it begins by making mistakes , truth be told . I mean , you learn apologetics . You've seen this , I'm sure , often , mark , where someone learns apologetics . They've been beat up so much and now they can swing back and they're like , oh , this is , let's get it , yeah , let's get it all and let's do it Right . So I think you start out doing it wrongly and then , truly , someone who's truly converted man , the Holy Spirit , is going to convict your heart and you're going to feel that sense of you know what . This is probably not really productive . I'm winning an argument but losing the opportunity to really share and spread the gospel . So I think that's a natural part of kind of the growth process of I've been beat up , now I'm swinging back and now , wait a minute , is this about me or is this truly about Christ ? And I think , going through that process , learning that , and then stepping back and saying how can I do this differently ? And again going back to videos , watching you guys , watching you in hostile environments , take on people and recognize that the hostility is not really aimed at you , though you experience it . Really the hostility is aimed at the message of the gospel . And recognizing that , disconnecting that , I think , is really , really key .

Oscar Navarro 21:29

I think another huge aspect too is humility , like I don't know because I figured it out , I don't know because I studied . Well , I don't know because I'm smarter than you or more moral than you , I know because of the grace of God .

Virgil Walker 21:41

And when you keep that perspective , then it prevents you from getting prideful and arrogant in those moments , not only do I know because of the grace of God , but , man , I continue to understand because of God's grace . Every day I have to look at me in the mirror and know the sinful individual I am , and so I'm not going to get puffed up , because I need the gospel and its proclamation just as much as the person I'm proclaiming it to . That's good .

Emeal Zwayne 22:05

You know , virgil , unfortunately we've seen some of the most effective apologists , evangelists , pastors , leaders in the church stumble fall , destroy their ministries , their lives , their families and man . Pride is such a killer when it comes to our place and the culture and being witnesses . And when I was a younger believer , I taught a men's ministry study and I taught a message called Prusty , and it was a combination of pride and lust . Prusty , the two-headed dragon , the devourer of every Christian man . But when it comes to and Oscar mentioned it a moment ago humility . But when it comes to fighting pride in the arena , especially in the social media world , because this is the two-edged sword , right , I mean , what a blessing that we can . We can , at the click of a button , at the tapping of a keyboard , influence thousands , in some cases , depending on the platform , millions of people around the world . But yet how dangerous it can be because of our pride . And there's no filter , there's no buffer . You see something , you get frustrated . In two seconds it's out there in the world , you know . So , brother , how do we guard against pride , how do we walk in true ?

Virgil Walker 23:22

humility . There's a lot of pieces of that puzzle . One of the things you mentioned are ministries that kind of get out there and get ahead of themselves and are doing things and then they find themselves in a fallen condition . A lot of that is due to the fact that many of them are more plugged into ministry out there rather than actually being connected to a local church .

Oscar Navarro 23:39

Yeah , amen .

Virgil Walker 23:40

Being connected to a local church is absolutely critical . People who know you like here , folks see me . Oh , there's Virgil At my church . Nobody like okay .

Oscar Navarro 23:47

Virgil , I see you , that's so important .

Virgil Walker 23:50

It's huge , you know , and I've got a beautiful wife who at home says I mean , I see you put your pants on one of those , and you know all of those kinds of things . So I think there's some really practical things that are like that that are incredibly helpful . But again , the gospel man being reminded of the fact that I am a sinner , it's still in need of a savior , in need of the word of God , in order for my life to be in a process of growth and sanctification . That's absolutely huge absolutely critical .

Mark Spence 24:16

I remember I was just gonna say I remember a Paul Washer tell the story . He got home from a conference and he was telling his wife .

Virgil Walker 24:21

I felt people wanted autographs they wanted pictures and everything she says , oh , that's great , take out the trash . That was that Take out the trash .

Mark Spence 24:28

But don't you realize , take out the trash .

Virgil Walker 24:30

Yeah , that's good .

Oscar Navarro 24:31

Absolutely

Guarding Against Pride in Evangelism

Oscar Navarro 24:32

. Yeah , I mean , I think you know I've heard it said before surround yourself with people who are not impressed with you .

Virgil Walker 24:37

Absolutely .

Oscar Navarro 24:38

Because then they're willing to call you out , they're willing to challenge you , they're willing to hold you accountable . I think that's a big part of humility . I love you right there .

Virgil Walker 24:46

And stop being impressed with yourself . Amen . Like bro , I know me .

Oscar Navarro 24:50

Yeah , come on .

Ray Comfort 24:51

I know me , I know what I think . Oh my God .

Virgil Walker 24:53

Right , I know me well , and you know so I'm not gonna get caught up . It's not . There's so many great men and women of God that are doing phenomenal things for me to think because I've grown some kind of following on Twitter that I'm now arrived , bro , come on .

Mark Spence 25:04

Yeah , sit out somewhere . Yeah , but what was I saying that we've said for years ? Right , you cannot impress people with Jesus when you're still trying to impress them with yourself . Yeah , right , there's no such thing as a cool Christian . Right , you need to get over yourself . God already has . That's exactly right .

Emeal Zwayne 25:18

Yeah , I summed up my testimony years ago in this little verse I once was but a lump of coal upon a heap of mire , yet Jesus Christ redeemed my soul and saved me from the fire . That's awesome .

Ray Comfort 25:30

And that's it . You know , that's all . We were , man , yeah .

Emeal Zwayne 25:33

You know ? I think of what Paul says what do we have that you know ? What do you have that you didn't receive ? Yes , and if you did receive it , why do you boast as though you didn't ? Yes ? So it's like what do you possess that wasn't given to you by the Lord ? And if it was , why do you act like you somehow are the originator of whatever you possess , like you created yourself and then created these gifts and faculties and features ?

Virgil Walker 25:52

Yeah , it's stupid you know , yeah , I get it . I think about that as well for me . I look at guys like you and what you've been doing for many , many years . All of this can go in a vapor .

Ray Comfort 26:05

I mean , it really can yeah .

Virgil Walker 26:07

When we think about the opportunity that we have to serve God , it's the thought process that God doesn't need us , he doesn't require us . We get caught up thinking that being used of God . The reality is he does not need us . We get the opportunity to be used of him . And we kind of have to think about it .

Oscar Navarro 26:23

in that line , I feel like it can be such a slippery slope . Pride . It doesn't like hit you hard , right , it slides itself in . And so somebody might start by thinking like , oh man , I want to grow my social media feed because I want to reach the lost , I want to reach more people . But slowly but surely they start to find identity , they start to have pride in it , they start to take pride in like , look at how many people I'm influenced . I'm just going to help people know who I am . How do we guard ourselves with the social media sphere ? And I don't think this just applies to influencers , it applies to anybody who's social media . How do we guard ourselves ? How do we know we cross over from wanting to glorify Christ to wanting to glorify ourselves ?

Virgil Walker 27:03

I think when you're wanting to win that last argument , like when you find yourself I think you can identify it rather easily You're getting in an exchange with someone on a social media platform and you're pressed to . You got to get back to that tweet . You've got to , I got they can't have the last word you know , You're probably in a space where you're missing it . You've got to allow people to have their say and be quiet and let them do what they're going to do and keep it moving .

Emeal Zwayne 27:29

I'm so glad you said that . In fact , that was connected to my next question and that was what does meekness look like in evangelism and in our witness ? And I think you summed it up there right , so you'd see it as restraint , basically .

Virgil Walker 27:45

Absolutely absolute restraint . When you could do the opposite , you could do the you could lash out , you could say the wrong thing , you could or even saying the right thing .

Oscar Navarro 27:53

In the wrong way .

Virgil Walker 27:54

Yeah , in the wrong way and having a heart that just says I've got to win this argument . You've just got to watch . You've got to watch that . Yeah , I'm not immune . None of us are immune to that . I do guard against that . I think about that . Okay , did I have to win that ? Do I have to say that last thing ? At the end of the day , god's truth reigns , and so , if I truly believe that , I don't have to be the one that lays it out there , I don't have to be the one that makes the last case .

Oscar Navarro 28:19

You know , what's funny is when I was an atheist through high school and college and my buddies would love like if they saw a Christian handing out a track , they would go get a Mosker and they'd stand around me and be like , oh yeah , you got him real good . And when I became a Christian and started to get in evangelism , I did the same thing for Jesus .

Ray Comfort 28:37

I became a jerk for .

Oscar Navarro 28:38

Jesus .

Mark Spence 28:39

Jerk for Jesus .

Oscar Navarro 28:41

And it wasn't until I realized what I said earlier . Like man , I didn't come to a new place by my own strength or wisdom . This is a gift that I'm offering to others as well . Yeah , that's real .

Emeal Zwayne 28:51

Yeah , virgil , I shared before . There was this person I knew who was used extensively in ministry , especially in the Middle East , and people would often sing their praises and they said everywhere they went , they carried with them in their shirt pocket a little plastic bag of dirt Wow . And anytime anyone would come up and praise them they would just quietly without giving any attention , or they'd just put their hand on that bag and clench it and remember what they are . Yep .

Oscar Navarro 29:14

Well , that's similar to the reformers . Like , if you ever see the pictures , people don't realize this . If you ever see those old paintings of like Luther writing and there's like a skull on the table with a candle in it , people don't realize those were real schools , those were priests that they knew that had died . And this sounds morbid to us . I get it , but what they would do is they would hold onto their schools to remind them of their own mortality . It was a way to humble themselves as they wrote their sermons .

Virgil Walker 29:39

I didn't know that . That's incredible . That's incredible .

Emeal Zwayne 29:42

You know , Virgil , I love getting to the root of things and going to the foundation , and so I'd love you to speak to the indispensable role of a vibrant devotional and prayer life that's good For the believer , to help us in how we communicate and represent the Lord .

Virgil Walker 29:59

I mean , I think , first of all , going back to the very topic of pride , that's foundational Having a time in the word , having time in prayer , having a real devotional life , having time set aside early in the morning that's kind of my time early in the morning , about four to five in the AM , of just spending time with the Lord . And again , it's not a lab , but I don't want to make it sound like it's some big deal , it's just me , the Bible , prayer and on my day I think that helps to maintain dealing with issues of pride . You know , you're reading the life of David or you're reading the life of someone in the Old Testament who got caught up in something or someone who was supposedly strong and God saw that they did the wrong thing . Those kinds of things are incredibly , incredibly helpful as it pertains to the indispensable role that that plays in the life of the believer . If you love the Lord , if you love God , if sanctification is real to you , if you really want to grow in your faith , to me it goes without saying you have to be connected to the Word .

Devotion and the Power of Scripture

Virgil Walker 30:58

I used to do I mean I do podcasts now . I used to . Back in the day , I used to do a lot of radio and I would . I would represent the kind of conservatism you know . I was the black conservative . I just kind of loved that . I was the black conservative fighting for truth and justice .

Oscar Navarro 31:11

the black conservative Did you have that song I should have right I should have .

Virgil Walker 31:17

Well , I thought this was great , that the challenge with it was , when I was doing that , I was lifting up conservatism rather than the cross of Christ . And it wasn't until I got , a a biblical worldview and B a devotional life . That was real right . That wasn't just we're in a group and hey , I read mine and you read yours and you know it was . It was real to me that I began to say A I'm not gonna defend conservatism , I need to lift up the cross of Christ . And B this faith that I have is real . It's real . It's not some gimmick , it's not something that I can kind of show people so that I can look cool . This is real . I've got to walk it out and that's how I want to interact with God .

Oscar Navarro 32:00

So you know , a big part of it , too , is just not forgetting what it is that changes lives which is a renewed heart , new loves as . Augustine put it right . He said that we had to . Sin is ultimately a form of disordered love and what we need is our , our hearts to be rearranged for the glory of God . And I bring that up to say is because they think about Psalm 51 , where David starts out realizing he's a sinner . Then he moves into a place of repentance , then he moves into a place of joy , then his joy becomes an overflowing joy that he shares with others . Right , let your name be known in Zion as one of the translator puts it , and so I think about like it is in our nature to share about the things that we love . You go to a favorite new restaurant . The first thing you don't do is call somebody . You got to go here . Like their burgers , their tacos are amazing , right , you watch a new movie , you read a new book . You're gonna want to share it because it's how God designed you . And so if we're aiming from for the heart , from the heart , it moves away from intellectual pride into an act of devotion in which you're overflowing with joy .

Virgil Walker 33:04

Yeah , somebody turned up a Hammond beef Oscar right about now . That's good stuff . Yeah , and Mark two and a half years in .

Emeal Zwayne 33:17

And Mark , that kind of life . I'd love you to speak to this , virgil . Wouldn't have heard you say this before , but that kind of life of devotion in our pursuit of the Lord leads to a yearning to want to serve Him . And you talk about how every morning you get up , you go to your sliding glass door in your bedroom and you salute and say reporting for duty right Isn't that it's that connection , yeah you know , I hear people say when do you have devotions ?

Mark Spence 33:42

Do you have them in the morning , at 4 to 5 ? am Do you have them at night ? Do you have them in the afternoon ? Yeah , and the idea is this right , no , we're just devoted because he's devoted . Right , he's not part of my life , he is my life , as Colossian says , I'm not just putting on the Lord , jesus Christ , I'm engulfed by Jesus Christ . I want to eat , drink , sleep , jesus Christ . That's what I want . I want the outflow to be the overflow I want . If you were to cut off my hand , I would bleed , jesus . That's what I want , right ? So the idea of that is to know Him better today than I did yesterday . Right , it's not a race , there's no competition . I just want to know the one who set me free . He legitimately put my feet on solid ground . I have no idea why . I'll never understand why . He did it for his own name , his own fame , his own glory , but it'll be for my good . So it is a delight to draw near to him . Where am I going to go , right ? When I first became a Christian for three years , nobody sat next to me in church .

Oscar Navarro 34:40

That makes sense , it really does and it still does .

Mark Spence 34:42

It's called deodorant . Yeah , it still makes sense why they wouldn't do that . But I remember here , and I would blow it and I would have nobody to go to . I wasn't a disciple , I didn't know how to read , I'd never heard of the word commentary . I was an island out of myself , couldn't get enough of the word . Going from church to church just because I couldn't get enough . And then I remember the scripture when am I going to go ? He alone holds the words to eternal life . So when I would blow it I'd go . Well , where am I going to go ? I'm not going back to Egypt . I mean , going back to Egypt is not an option , right . So now it's like my desire is Lord , I will go anywhere , as long as it's forward , yeah , but wherever the highways , the byways , the gutterways , if you're in it , I'm there . No matter how much it hurts , no matter how much I kick and scream , I never want to be out of your will . Whatever you want to do , yeah .

Virgil Walker 35:31

All right .

Emeal Zwayne 35:31

Let's go .

Mark Spence 35:32

I love it , that's great .

Emeal Zwayne 35:33

Yeah , and Virgil , you know , our devotional life should really be the catalyst for a life of devotion . So in other words , I have my devotional time with the Lord in the morning so that I can be devoted all day long . Yeah , that sets the tone . Yeah , I mean really , if our true devotional life consisted of the hour or two or three or whatever , and the remaining 20 , whatever hours are just kind of whatever , then there's a disconnect there too as well . Absolutely , absolutely .

Virgil Walker 36:01

When you think about what you just shared , those two things are connected . I'm having a devotional because I'm truly devoted to God . I'm devoted to his work , I'm devoted to his will , I'm devoted to seeing sin minimized in my own life .

Oscar Navarro 36:12

Yeah , amen .

Virgil Walker 36:13

I'm devoted to walking in a way that honors him . I'm devoted to my church family . I'm devoted to pursuing godliness in every single aspect of my life , absolutely .

Mark Spence 36:21

Yeah , you know Art Can Hughes . He said the reason why I start off with the Word of God , the reason why I start off with that truth coming inside of me , is because I know I'm going to be lied to the rest of the day .

Ray Comfort 36:31

And this is what he attributed to why he's written 22 commentaries .

Mark Spence 36:34

He said the Bible for me , became my ultimate source of sanity and I knew that I could approach God's Word . I could put my guard down because God was going to tell me the truth Mark that's good . Yeah , art Can Hughes for you . That's good stuff

Navigating Social Media as a Christian

Mark Spence 36:47

.

Emeal Zwayne 36:47

Yeah , so , virgil , you're obviously very active on social media , as I alluded to earlier . And I love your posts . I love the way you just speak truth into the noise , if I could call it that , sure . And so I'd love you to comment on how Christians can steward and I think that word is optimal there , it's key Steward social media in a way that doesn't bring reproach . Good question .

Virgil Walker 37:14

Man , that's good . Yeah , it goes back to kind of what we talked about Guarding your life , guarding your heart , making sure you devoted to God . At the same time , you know , you build a large following , you build a social media following . There is the natural tendency to say , oh , they're listening to me , but it's the reminder that no , they're listening for truth . I love what you said , mark , because it really points to the fact that if I'm into the Word of God , I know that there's truth there , christ's truth personified . That I know and understanding that I'm going to be lied to the rest of the day . I love that . Yeah , I'm thinking about that , that . That that becomes your oasis , right , the word of god becomes the way that you you disengage from the craziness of culture or at least get energized to know that you can look outright and see , rightly , what's that actually ?

Mark Spence 38:00

happening in culture . Yeah , you know , people say , yeah , I went to the word of god last week , on to the whole bible in a year , I think it's . Thomas watson said , yeah , you went to the word , but did the word go through you ? Uh , right , so we need that's . That's the sale of broke right , that's the moment where you just need to stop and go . Is the word of god coming through me in such a way where I could say search me and try me , see if there be any wicked way in me . Leave me in the way of relasting almond open book . Do you need to expose ? Do you need to inform ? What do you need to do ? It is well with my soul . Yeah , god , whatever you want to do , career glory .

Emeal Zwayne 38:34

That's an open heart and is , and is good yeah and you know , coming face to face with god every day , uh , being what I call recalibrated is so essential . You know , I , I've got , I've got this atomic watch that links with the thomas cc .

Mark Spence 38:50

We go with the car we have a lot of they do the same thing .

Emeal Zwayne 38:53

Yeah , that's way better share and so you know that every day there's a recalibration . That happens around midnight , relinks , and even if it gets off a fraction of a second I during the day , day after day , if that's not recalibrated it's gonna be minutes behind or ahead or whatever , and so that recalibration is so important it is a space , is the lord is .

Oscar Navarro 39:15

I love that , love that man is incredible encouragement now I have to give me an atomic watch man I don't know , it's not a lot , just to use the , that's it well what I got from him last time .

Virgil Walker 39:28

I gotta show you this when we get , when we wrap up , you gave me a business card .

Mark Spence 39:32

That was so hit uh , I don't know , it was so cool to see the blue one . Yeah , have you seen this new one ? I got it , you can . You see it , you can ?

Emeal Zwayne 39:40

you be . I got to show it to me .

Virgil Walker 39:41

I got to upgrade now I got to follow in your footsteps . Yeah , I got to upgrade .

Emeal Zwayne 39:45

No , I know , when I gave you that card , you were mesmerized oh , yeah , yeah , yeah his next move is to get a qr code tattooed onto his neck .

Oscar Navarro 39:53

Is that what you're doing ? The forehead , the forehead .

Emeal Zwayne 39:56

There's no room next to the six-section so , virgil , you also have an amazing podcast with our brother Darrell Harrison .

Virgil Walker 40:04

Tell us about that , man yeah , it's a lot of fun , man . We've been doing it for six years . About six , seven million downloads of that thing . We're overwhelmed , blown away by how God's used it . It started out as something that I really wanted to take a backseat to and help this brother . He was a writer , I was more the guy , more vocal , more you know , and so I thought this would be a great combo . He writes , he thinks , he's a thinker . This would be good . It just exploded and we were overwhelmed by the response and have just kind of been walking it out , incredibly humbled by you know how God's used it and people's response to it . And again , for me it's just I'm like wow , like that's really my response , kind of like wow , and we love it . Just thinking , the just thinking podcast . We'll continue to do it . He's moving around . God's moving him has leveraged just thinking to expose me to folks who have me now in different and unique environments of ministry . So that's been a lot of fun .

Emeal Zwayne 40:56

It's been a lot of fun to do . Isn't it neat how the Lord takes something that you just thought , lord , we're going to give this a shot , you know , and he does something . I mean , when we started our podcast , in the first episode I said , look , we have no idea what we're doing . We're just people are telling us , do a podcast . That became our tagline , you know .

Oscar Navarro 41:13

We would end every episode where we have no idea what we're doing I'm pretty sure the first episode starts out with uh oh , we're recording , okay now .

Emeal Zwayne 41:19

Well , it's kind of like that uh , okay , so yeah , but it's a joy to see God breathe life and something like that you know , so . So , brothers , we wrap up . What's next for g3 ? I mean , you guys started out as well . Give us a history real quick and then tell us where it's headed .

Virgil Walker 41:35

Yeah , history real quick . This was a . This was a ministry that really started out of a local church praise meal , baptist church . That had to explain it's . It's a pry . Apostrophe s it was a man who gave the meal . His last name was pray , so it's praise meal . People think it's praise like praise the Lord .

Ray Comfort 41:52

Yeah , I thought yeah something charismatic .

Virgil Walker 41:54

It's not , it's just pry apostrophe s praise meal baptist church . It started there about six , seven hundred people . When , when , uh , when pastor josh kind of got it started , uh , josh bison , the founder and president of g3 ministries . They did that for about three years , from 2013 to 2016 . Uh , in 2017 they came . They came to the building that we're in , uh , mainly to highlight the reformation . It was , you know , it was the 500 anniversary of the reformation . So the thought was , hey , in 2017 we'll do it here . Their goal was to go back to the local church , because it's really the focus of everything we're doing is back to local church . Yeah , well , at the end of the year they usually open up a kind of an early bird ticket . Well , within three hours they had sold out of every seat at the local church and so they were trying to figure out . What do we do ? Do we tell you know 3000 people that it's not going to happen ? Uh , they decided not to and bit the bullet to come here again for the for the first time . So in 2017 I came . I was , like I said , kind of wide eyed and bushy tailed , like this is absolutely amazing . I would come back every single year , just kind of get filled and go back and till about 2020 . We came down and I the podcast . That exploded by then and we got asked to do our podcast live on the platform . And then shortly thereafter , kind of covid hit , josh bison reached out to me and said man , I love what you guys are saying , I love what you're writing on on in social media , would love for you to write for g3 . And I said absolute man , I'd be humbled , honored , to do that . So began kind of putting some things together and writing . As that took place , he asked me what are your plans ? I said at the time I was a pastor in Omaha , nebraska , an associate pastor , discipleship pastor at a traditional sbc , trying to figure things out , learning theology , still going through seminary and just kind of thinking through things . I have an mba , was working on my mdiv . And he said well , listen , if you don't have plans to be a pastor of a local church , give me a shout . And I said well , I'm giving you that shout . Long story short , I got an opportunity to come here , be the executive director of operations . The skill set that I have and you know in a lot of different areas , from recruiting to sales to you name it management , leading people all of that was just a perfect fit for what we do here at g3 wow , and , and what a blessing .

Emeal Zwayne 44:01

Again , eighty three hundred people this year made the Lord continue to build it for his glory and continue to impact his people . So so tell people how they can connect with g3 , with you , your ministry , your podcast . Give them all the info , yeah go to g3 men dot org .

Virgil Walker 44:14

Everything's there . You can download the g3 app . We just upgraded this g3 plus . You can , wherever you download your apps from , you can get the app there and kind of connect with us there . For me , at Virgil Walker oma , virgil m a , virgil Walker Omaha , that's my kind of tagline on twitter . I find me on facebook , twitter , I g that kind of thing and so , yeah , I'm always open to engage folks and , you know , and hopefully in a way that honors God .

Emeal Zwayne 44:38

So that's right . Well , brother , what a joy . Like you said , this is a long time coming down we love you , we appreciate you , brother we're so honored to be partnered with g3 thank you for your partnership .

Virgil Walker 44:48

It really means a lot to us . It really I mean again , this is full circle for me . For for more than a decade , guys , I've been enjoying the ministry of living waters and have grown from it , so to be at a table with you , man , and get a chance to kind of chop things up , man . It's a blessing yeah , it's a blessing to us , bro .

Emeal Zwayne 45:04

It means a lot to us and we're looking forward to continue partnership and friendship . Yeah , in Christ so thanks again , bro .

Oscar Navarro 45:11

Mark's actually got an interpretive dance he wants to show you that maybe we can incorporate in the g3 next year , just whatever , you know what I mean .

Virgil Walker 45:17

We'll talk about that we'll talk about that yeah , complete with streamers all right brother , god bless you . Thank you , man , thank you so much .

Emeal Zwayne 45:23

God bless you know mark , you said at the outset just how contagious , infectious , I think maybe it was a word . A virginal warm fizz .

Mark Spence 45:33

What a neat brother , huh oh , I , I , I love him dearly , I wish we lived closer is one of those few guys that you know and admire from a distance now , and when you hang out with them you think yourself why are we not next door neighbors ? Totally , I would absolutely love to be inside your life 24 , 7 , yeah . And he says , nah , I like the distance please keep that guy away .

Oscar Navarro 45:56

I was really moved by how it was very clear that the living waters had , you know , affected him like he was blessed by the ministry , which was really cool to hear . Does that ?

Mark Spence 46:06

surprise you guys . I mean getting the feedback that we get . I really encourage you , continually encouraged and surprised by the reach that we , that we have yeah , I think it does surprise me and and refreshes me at the same time .

Emeal Zwayne 46:19

It's because we know ourselves , you know and we know we're just a bunch of goofballs , right ray mm-hmm y'all are , y'all are .

Oscar Navarro 46:28

Side note while we're at g3 , we got approached by people who listen to the podcast and watch the show and see us on youtube and it was such a blessing . Number one lady was yeah , she gave me a hug and she's like I didn't . I didn't know if I should come say hi or not . I don't want to bother you . It is never a bother . No , we love hearing you guys , we love meeting you and getting to know you and so if you ever see us out there , come say hi . We would be on ray ray .

Emeal Zwayne 46:56

You've been at this a lot longer than us . It never grows old , does it ?

Ray Comfort 46:58

no , no , absolutely thrilled to hear from people . I thrilled , thrilled to call people up and have a chat with them .

Mark Spence 47:03

It's just wonderful yeah , there's a lady . They got saved by watching our movie exit , the movie on depression and suicide . Yeah , it was so encouraging to listen to her testimony . And people you notice they come up and they they feel like they have to speak really , really fast because our time is valuable or we have some more and I've got nothing to do . There's nowhere else I need to go .

Ray Comfort 47:23

Yeah , talk to the I've got nothing to do . I love it . I love it . We need t-shirts to say talk to me about nothing to do .

Emeal Zwayne 47:28

I'm lonely yeah , and and so many people share testimonies of getting saved through that's amazing it means a lot to us . All . Right , friends , there you have it . We hope you enjoyed that . Don't forget , god has a wonderful plan for your life book the living waters mug and the evidence study bible , all at living waters dot com . Thank you for joining us , friends . We'll see you here next time on the living waters podcast . The ultimate cure for insomnia .