Very Audacious
An audacious podcast that dares to interpret faith through culture. Embrace your audacity.
Very Audacious
Swifties???
Sean Tripline and Jalen Baker discuss Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, football and celebrity appearances, "Swifties," pop music, and whether we God into the space often populated by our favorite music artists.
Welcome to Very Audacious, the podcast where we audaciously delve into faith, culture and everything in between. I'm your host, sean Tripline, and we're not holding back, so buckle up for this audacious ride. If you're as daring as we are, don't forget to like, share and subscribe VAFAM. It is so good to be in this space with you. I am so glad that you are here. I'm here, of course, with my brother, pastor Jalen Baker. Jalen, what's up, man?
Speaker 2:Man, I got the false sniffles Tripline. I've been dealing with it a little cold all week, but you know we still out here, man, we're still going strong. Why are you laughing, bro? I can't believe you laughing. You ought to be praying, not laughing Pray for it. You ought to be praying for my healing doc.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying. There was a bomb in Gilead to heal. Let me tell you something. I've been listening to Karen V. She sang on that song.
Speaker 2:Don't she sing on that song, karen Clark, she is a bomb. Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, there is a bomb. Oh yeah, that's a bomb.
Speaker 1:Now, to be fair, I pray for you, y'all, I pray for you, I pray for you, I pray for you, I pray for you, I pray for you, I pray for you, I pray for you. That's a bomb, that's a bomb, that's a bomb, that's a bomb, that's a bomb, that's a bomb, that's a bomb. Now, to be fair, I pray, I pray for you. Yesterday, man, today I'm laughing because you use the term sniffles. All right, so that might be, that might be a cultural term. I don't really hear that a lot where I'm from in Philadelphia, the sniffles.
Speaker 2:You know why? I tell you. I tell you, you know what's funny. This is very much random, but I heard that I was on Instagram in the club.
Speaker 1:In the club In the club.
Speaker 2:Wow, they put a beat behind that joint and I got to say they was in the club dancing to Jesus, twerking and all grinding and all up and saying it was. It was funny, it was kind of wow.
Speaker 1:All right, so so that actually that's interesting to me, because you know, we're headed with this conversation today, folks. We're talking today about Taylor Swift, right? And I think that what you just said about Karen Clarkshire there's none of this is scripted. Karen Clarkshire being played in the club that is an example of cultural hybridity. All right, let's, let's call it that cultural hybridity when you take two elements from do two different cultures and put them together.
Speaker 1:Now let me say from the door that I am absolutely an advocate for cultural hybridity. I love it, obviously very audacious, as a space where we are intentional about putting God's word and the Christian life into conversation with pieces from culture. That's what we are intentionally doing, because we believe that this is an outgrowth of Christian ministry as we see it in the, in the life of the apostle Paul when he's on Mars Hill, and so I love that. But, of course, we need to have some limitations, we need to put some boundaries in place, because when we talk about Karen Clarkshire, that's, that's sacred music. Yeah, I mean she, she tore that album up. I don't know if I want to be in the club dancing the Karen Clarkshire album.
Speaker 2:Like we talked about last week, church girls being a club that they do be in the club, they do.
Speaker 1:Don't ask me how I know they do. I ain't always been saved. All right, no, no, bro, bro, bro. So when we think about all of this coming together, today we're talking about Taylor Swift. The reason why this connects to Taylor Swift is people like us Now, we both love watching football, right? Yes? People like us who have come to learn that Taylor Swift is now dating an NFL star, travis Kelsey, who is a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs the chiefs dating.
Speaker 2:Dating is a strong, dating is a strong word.
Speaker 1:Is that a strong word? Okay, what would you say? Rather than dating.
Speaker 2:I don't know if they've officially come out as a couple. I think, like Travis Kelsey literally shot his shot on his podcast, I'm like, yeah, I'll go out on date with Taylor Swift and Taylor Swift was like you know what bet. So she just pulled up to a game. Mama Kelsey, his mom, literally was cheering for him in the booth and you know, the rest is history, as they say. But I don't know if we can call them like a couple officially. I think they just kicking it right now.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying Now, when I say dating, I don't mean a couple Like to me to me, one to.
Speaker 1:I guess the language here will will definitely mean something for different people. So when I say dating, you know, anytime you in a space and you met somebody, mama, I'm assuming that you've been with that person in private at one point or another, or 10. And we just don't know. But anytime you somewhere with somebody, mama, you know, and I know that, that his mother is a celebrity in her own right. People that don't know a lot about the Kelsey's, both the two Kelsey brothers one place for the cheese, one place for the Philadelphia Eagles and they both met this past February in a Super Bowl. And because mom is in a very unique space, being the mother of two NFL players that played in the Super Bowl at the same time, she had her moment, her 15 minutes, maybe probably 15 hours of fame, and so, yeah. So here Taylor Swift, because of this kind of happening, is in the box with mom.
Speaker 1:And of course, there are people who are huge fans of Taylor Swift, those who don't know her at all. She's a pop star. Those who are huge fans of Taylor Swift. Now let me say this I'll listen to her music, all right. So, beyonce, I listen to you, wait man you're not a Swifty bro.
Speaker 1:You ain't no Swifty, I don't. I ain't no Swifty. I didn't know until today that being a Swifty was a thing. All right, wow, how you been at that when you been. Now, I know about the Bayhive. We talked about Beyonce last week. I know about the Bayhive, I know that's a thing right, because I know Beyonce from from being a kid. That's these trout, but Taylor Swift. I don't know about Taylor Swift Mean. Now, I know you love Adele, do you? Do you know Taylor Swift music?
Speaker 2:You know, bro, I gotta be honest with you, man.
Speaker 1:You are Right, you know. I appreciate that I appreciate that.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that. Um, you know, brian, go lots of you man in high school, jalen was singing you belong with me, was singing love story. I ain't gonna lie to you, bro, t Swift and I think that's one of the things, and we'll talk about this in a little bit I think T Swift has a fascinating skill to write music in a way that sort of connects to Kind of like the human experience, right. So like when I was a teenager, she was a teenager. She was sort of writing and narrating Sort of the love like the ups and downs when it means to be a teenager, falling in love with your crush at school, all that kind of stuff, right. So I was, I was in that thing, I was. I was in the locker room with my homies singing Taylor Swift and they was making fun of me at first. Then, but hey, let me take somebody. T Swift, bro, it catch on die.
Speaker 2:It catch on you listen to a couple of times you start singing it right back to it, if you can. I don't get into it. I almost broke in the song right there, but, oh man, her songs are kept like she is a pop icon. When I say that she can write a song that you will be singing for the, that that'll be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. She has mastered it, mastered it, mastered it, mastered it. Now I will say, like I probably was a T, I probably was a slipty, if you will, probably her first three albums, but as I got older and a little bit more mature, I was a yeti slip, I think. I think. I think. I think I'm a grown man now you know when I was a child.
Speaker 2:Now I'm a grown man, you know I think I got. But you know, you know I'm saying like, how, like, like like high school, musical high school to me too. You know I'm saying yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So let me say this, though, even though with Taylor, I cannot relate, it's not that I don't appreciate good pop music. Now we got about about a five-year gap. So for you, taylor Swift, you know, that was a thing, probably there, but for me, five years before, I like Kelly Clarkson, all right, and Kelly Clarkson was on the first, first season of American Idol, you know, and Likewise you know she has some really good songs and you know it only lasted for an album or two, you know maybe three, but but I could definitely understand, you know, digging some of those pop songs and and.
Speaker 1:But this, this issue, though, of a pop star being at a football game is what has annoyed a lot of people, because the people that are even further removed from me, you know, further from moving, as I am, from the Swifty era, right, and Many are upset that the NFL, or just you know, kind of Annoyed that the NFL is giving her so much Viewing time during the games. They've even shown some of her ads and things during pregame shows and stuff like that, anticipating her coming to the game, and it's kind of interesting me personally. I like cultural hybridity, I like putting those things together. I think that there's something for all sides the benefit from when you see that. How do you feel about that, jack? I?
Speaker 2:Mean bro, I'm being completely honest with you. I don't know about here that much. I think that the NFL is a business.
Speaker 2:It's a bottom line, it's all about the bottom line, when, when they and when they see Taylor Swift coming to the games, all they see is more viewers. They can tap into a fan base that they probably could not have tapped tapped into before and they're like, of course, we're gonna like pan to Taylor Swift when she's at the football game right, because we want her fans to tune into the game. Right, and the only way her fans are gonna tune into the game if her fans can see her, basically right. So it's like, of course, it's like yo, swifties, please watch Sunday Night Football. And I promise you you watch Sunday Night Football. We gonna show your girl to you throughout the whole game. And, boy, I tell you, they be showing, they be showing Taylor Swift to them.
Speaker 1:To the whole game right.
Speaker 2:I don't get that. I know I with it, bro, it is what it is. It is it take away from the actual football game itself. So, and I, love football and I guess and I is a part of me is like I do like Taylor Swift. I'm not as annoyed with it, but you got, it's a business, it's a business and if there's any for the money, so I ain't tripping. It is what it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I don't think that I'm annoyed by it as a football fan, but I will say that it is. It's awkward for football, right, and I think the reason why it's awkward is because, no, think about it from a basketball perspective. Celebrities come to basketball games all the time, right Back. But basketball games are more intimate, like if you've ever been in row one, row two at an NBA, at NBA game, I mean, you're right there, right by the action, you might get toppled by a seven foot, you know center, you know, I mean like that that could happen, right.
Speaker 1:When we think about football, they're always like in a press box or somewhere far away in a very obscure part of the stadium and you can just kind of feel that the stations are trying to make it happen. You know they're trying to force the issue, whereas in basketball you can see, you know spike Lee, you know On the side line, right, right by the right by the bench, right by, you know the next, you know you can see them just standing there and it doesn't take away from the aesthetic, whereas in football it's just kind of it feels like a forced issue. You know it feels, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, and they're trying to force it to right. They're trying to force it and I think basketball is In a different way than football. I think basketball is a celebrity sort of cultural, more of a celebrity cultural game when it's just it's more of a norm for celebrities to be into basketball. So if I'm an Adele fan or Rihanna fan or Beyonce fan, I'm not gonna watch basketball because they're there, because I just feel like that's just been a part of the culture of basketball for so long. Right, that celebrities show up. They just show up to those games.
Speaker 2:Football is just not the same way, right, like we don't expect celebrities to go to football games. That's not really a thing. Um, so I think that when NFL finally gets like a celebrity interested in this product, it's like we got to get vengeance at all costs, right, cuz, cuz, we're not basking. My fan base is just a different sort of fan base, right. So I don't know, man, I it's one of those things where it's just kind of is what it is. I think basketball and football are really catering to two different fan bases in that way, and I think the games themselves are culturally different too. Like football is viewed more as like a conservative Sort of bootstraps sort of sort of sport, and basketball is viewed as way more of it's more of a progressive game. It's more sort of liberal, like we're kind of catering to liberals in some ways, right. So I think I think culturally both games are also different to it in that way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So when we think about Taylor Swift as an individual and as an artist right, you know, of course, tina knows. She was asked Maybe a couple months ago. You know who's bigger, beyonce or Taylor Swift?
Speaker 1:Now, I feel like you can speak to that better than I can, because you actually have paid attention to her music at any point in your life. You actually know a song by name? I can't. I know one song by name. That's what I listen to on the way home today now, cool summer, but um. So when we think about what Taylor means and pop, thinking about what Beyonce means and pop, you know there are some differences there, but I also Think that you would agree to the point that there's also opportunities in terms of us, in terms of reflecting upon her music, the ways in which people Navigate towards her music, the reason why she is so incredibly Popular, why she is a superstar in a class perhaps by herself or with Beyonce or others like them. Talk to me about what you see as it pertains to the value that that Taylor Swift brings to music and to arts and to culture, and how can we glean from that.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna question. I think so. Yeah, we talked about this last week. I think Beyonce is definitely more of a political artist, like she. Definitely she is wholly unafraid of engaging politics, engaging culture, engaging sort of issues that really impacts her fan base, like racism, sexism and all that kind of stuff. Right, taylor Swift is a different artist in many, many ways. Right, like she's not engaging those things and topics. Right, like Taylor Swift, in my opinion. Right, she's writing just your, your average love songs. Right, she's writing about her life, her relationships. Right, she's writing about love. Like she's writing about romantic relationships, friendships, empowerment, independence, authenticity, and I think when people turn to her music, they see this vulnerability in her that they can relate to. I think about one of her most popular songs shake it off. The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Take it off, shake it off, shake it off, right.
Speaker 1:I know Dorothy Norwood says the shake, shake, shake. No, that's a different genre.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's all I got.
Speaker 1:Sorry bro.
Speaker 2:In the name of Jesus. That's a fascinating comparison, right? Um, that's a fascinating comparison. So, yeah, I think I think when, when, when, when people turn to Taylor, they're turning to someone who, they're turning to someone who they can sort of imagine and really reflect on. Okay, I'm going through hard system, our relationship. I'm going through hard system, our friendship, and Taylor is literally speaking my language.
Speaker 2:When I listen to her music, she's like, right, she's like, she's like, she's like writing a soundtrack to my life, and I find that fascinating for someone who's who's in the church, because it's like, obviously, I think it's perfectly fine for anyone who listens to Beyonce to listen Taylor Swift in a thoughtful way, um, but, like we did with Beyonce last week, it does sort of bring up the question for me, for me, you know, ask Christians, what does it look like for us to engage these themes and these topics in the church, so that people won't have to turn to Taylor Swift as the sole authority on these issues, right? So, if you're going through a bad breakup, right? Um, you ought to be able to feel comfortable to bring that to the church. If you're going through bad, if you're going through a situation where you're feeling down because of, because of low self-esteem, because of what somebody puts you through in a relationship, right, t-slips should not be the only person you turn to. T-slips should not be the only person you turn to to to sort of gain that empowerment that you need, right? I think the gossips can speak to it, I think the I think the bible can speak to that, and what we find in our culture right Is that people will turn to Taylor Swift, they will turn to Beyonce and they won't turn to the church, they won't turn to the bible, they won't turn to the gospel, they won't change their faith, uh, in these ways.
Speaker 2:So, like I said last week, rather than saying don't listen to Taylor Swift, don't listen to Beyonce, I think for us as pastors and as as christians, we have to ask the question one, what are these folks tapping into? That we need to sort of be aware of that, we need that, that we need that that we can learn from. And then, two, how can we engage with these themes and with these questions, with these experiences, so that people can have a faith lens on how to deal with these sort of issues, how I deal with these issues that they are bringing to a Taylor Swift when they're listening to her music. So I think that's sort of the fascinating Uh question and dynamic that I find as a christian and as a pastor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really interesting. Now, as you're talking, I'm thinking about what are some examples of that, and really I think your analysis is spot on. When I think about a text in Hebrews where we have a high priest who's not untouched, that really opens up for us the fact that Jesus, in everything that Jesus accomplished and did, went through a human experience, and I think that part of our work as Christians and individuals who bridge faith and culture have to illustrate how all of that is relevant in the issues of life. Jesus went through everything we went through and yet did not sin, and that's what it says, right? So when we think, what did Jesus go through? He went through betrayal. You know what I mean. Just like Taylor Swift talks about breakups and betrayals, I think, and really any artist, any pop artist, any R&B artist, any person singing about love, any person singing the blues, for sure, like random genres of music, they all have their versions of this.
Speaker 1:It's our job as Christians to help our faith become more relevant, and I think that the fact that Jesus dealt with betrayal we hear the term and the person Judas all the time we sometimes don't emphasize the way in which they walk together, spent time together, ate meals together, the way he taught Judas as a part of the 12. And yet Judas betrayed him. Yet Jesus went through a really troublesome experience, having to just process and know, through his spiritual acumen because he is God in the flesh that, yeah, I know this brother that's walked with me he's gonna betray me. Yeah, I know there's one in this room right now that, despite of everything we've been through together, is going to turn coat and going to pop off and do some stuff that really should never be done. Now, of course, we know that God, and within God's larger narrative and purposes, used Judas for a very particular reason so that the way to the cross would be clearer, right, however, to begin to enter into the reality.
Speaker 1:The harshness of that emotional reality is something that you know. It's an opportunity, you know, and when we teach in that way, when we talk about scripture in that way, when we talk about various, you know stories within scripture where we see, you know, relational stuff. Think about Jacob, you know, and all the drama, you know, with him desiring Rachel, you know, and his father-in-law, laban, said no, you gotta get with Leah first. Right, you gotta be with Leah first and then eventually you get Rachel, and then he's got two handmaids, bill High and Zilphi. I mean, there's drama in that book we call the Bible. There are stories, there are traumas, there are drama. There's tea in the scripture. All right, my God my God, my God.
Speaker 1:Somebody slap your neighbor and say sip the tea. All right, sip the tea. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think for us we have to like enter into all of God's word, all of the Christian life, all of these components. Put them in the forefront so people have access to this, so that when they go through life they don't think I need to go to God's word just for worship, only you know, Like I don't need to go to church when things are well, you know.
Speaker 1:But I need to reflect upon that and gravitate towards that, because I understand just how much my humanity is connected to the truth of God's word and just how much my humanity is very easily expressed through the same things that we see preached and taught week to week to week.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I think, to your point.
Speaker 2:Right, the Bible is in many ways a human story. Right, it's very much so a story about human beings trying to relate to God, trying to figure out what God is calling them to do, and then, the midst of that, messy things happen, because, you know, when it comes to human beings, things are messy. And to your point, I think that sometimes we can look at the scriptures as a very antiquated sort of story that cannot relate to our current sort of problems. Right, like, the Bible ain't got nothing to say about what I'm going through with my girlfriend, with my boyfriend, with my husband, with my wife. The Bible ain't got nothing to say about sort of the, just the contemporary problems that we're facing today. But Taylor Swift does. Right Like, taylor Swift can speak directly to those problems, because T Swift is going through what I'm going through. She's able to write songs in a way that I can really relate to that, right. But I'll tell you something, tripp, as I was thinking about, as I was reflecting on what you were saying the one thing that's not antiquated and that would never be antiquated is wisdom.
Speaker 2:Wisdom is a divine gift that can only come from God, right, and that's something that I think that we underestimate. When it comes to love, relationships, friendships, all the things, right. Like we go into all these things. Like Taylor Swift, she gets this hype I love being in love, I love being in a relationship, I love it so much, right. But then when it doesn't go well, she's gonna write a good breakup song. And now we love hating our boyfriend, hating our girlfriend, we love throwing shade and being petty, that kind of stuff, right. And I think what God sort of steps into this is saying God is saying I want you just to include me in all these decisions, right. Like if you were to pray your way through every romantic decision that you make and ask God for wisdom and discernment in how to pursue a person, how to data person, how to be friends with a person. You just pray your way through it, right. And God is giving you that wisdom that only can come from on high that will allow you to forego all of the obstacles, all of the trials and tribulations that can accompany our relationship.
Speaker 2:Now, this is not saying that everything is going to be easy, that everything is going to be perfect all that kind of stuff Not at all, right. But God would give you the divine wisdom you need to navigate the trials of a relationship, to navigate the difficulties of a relationship, to navigate a bad breakup right In a way that would give you peace, that would give you joy, and it would be in a way that won't leave you angry, that won't leave you like trying to be petty or shady, but it would leave you really at peace. It would leave you saying, okay, god, this didn't work out, so now it's time for me to move forward. What can I learn from this last relationship? What can I learn from this breakup so that I can become all that I'm supposed to be, and so that I can become all that I'm supposed to be for the next couple of years and that's not supposed to be for the actual right person that I'm supposed to be with right. So I think that's where the inclusion of God will really behoove us when we're doing these kinds of things. Right.
Speaker 2:And, like I said, no shame or no shame on T-Swip. I like T-Swip personally, right, I know you ain't really rocking with her or fooling with her, but I do like T-Swip, right? I think that there is something to sort of go on, sort of listen to her songs just as a way to sort of let out what we're feeling right, I think there is value in that right. But to let that be the end, all be all, or to let her be someone that really is sort of like the soul refuge, if you will, of how we're dealing with some of our problems. That's not the Christian way, that's not the Jesus way. So that's something that I was thinking about as you were talking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, and that's so good, jay, so good. I think that for me, you know, I'm trying to put everything you're saying into action, you know, in real time, which is a little difficult, but I think that there are stories in Scripture where I've heard them preach in a way where it actually does connect like this. You know, I'm going to give you an example. There was one preacher when I was growing up who preached the story about the conception of Christ and how Mary conceived, and this was, this was a conception of the Holy Spirit and not of Joseph, right, and this particular case I felt like it was a masterful way of bringing people into the narrative, because he went on like a 10 minute rant, talking from the perspective of Joseph. So you mean to tell me that you pregnant and that baby ain't mine, and I'm supposed to believe that that is a child that has come from God, god's self right. And, of course, like there's many opportunities for humor, but there's also opportunities to think about relational issues, as it, you know, pertains to all of us at large. And how can we utilize those stories so that, when people go through various issues, that they're able to have that frame of reference? I think the part about Taylor Swift and Beyonce and others is that those things are most easily accessible. They're accessible, they're very readily available for us to be able to glean from.
Speaker 1:The problem when it comes to spiritual truth and biblical wisdom is that you either you either have it or you don't. You know when life happens. You know none of us is going to go and chat to you, find me a scripture on this particular thing. You know when, when, when life happens, either it's been instilled in you or it has not. And I think that for me, when I think about the different, the ebb and flow of life and the various struggles that we go through on a day to day, you know when I have been empowered past tense when I have a word on the inside past tense that has been implanted in the me past tense I know how to navigate that in light of that wisdom, in light of that deposit that the Lord has made into me.
Speaker 1:Now, thankfully, when we don't have that frame of reference, the Holy Spirit, if we, if we yield to the Holy Spirit, can give us what we need to sustain us in those moments, in those situations. But it is so keen that, as believers, that we always are looking to God's word for that level of application, not just looking to hear about a story that happened in ancient times. And this is what happened. And this is how it relates to salvation. Salvation is not the only theological tenant of scripture. There is so much built around that that idea of salvation that God is redeeming not just your soul but he is redeeming your day to day walk with God. So there's so many opportunities for redemption that go beyond the big ticket items that we often reflect upon in spiritual spaces.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think we have to just learn to trip us a phenomenal point, not to we can't box God in. And then what I mean by that is I think sometimes we really think that God to your, to your, to the point you just made only cares about sort of our salvation, our souls and just our righteousness. But what we feel to realize is that God sees all of it as one and the same right Like your salvation, your soul, your righteousness. That has everything also to do with who you're dating, who you're in relationship with, who you're friends with. Right, like God sees all of that as a part of his plan for your life. Right, and God genuinely cares about those things. Like genuinely Like God is not in this to make this sort of like an unfun, or he's not in this to like make your life in such a way to where you shouldn't date because it's unholy or you shouldn't pursue a relationship on.
Speaker 2:Like God is truly for you and on your side when it comes to these things. Like he's for you, he's truly and he's genuinely for you. And if you believe that he's for you, then that means you ought to turn to God and truly be. Okay, god, if you're for me and you want me to actually be in a relationship with someone that I can fall in love with, that I can go through life, that I can just do life with for the rest of my life? Right, then I need you to guide me. God, me, lord, like, truly, help me navigate what I'm feeling on the inside, help me navigate my emotions, help me discern how I should be communicating and interacting with this person, right, like. God truly will help you with that.
Speaker 2:Like, and we have to truly believe that. Like, I genuinely do think that we have to like, sort of like, have a mind shit to say because God thinks that I wouldn't be. Like God, do you even really care about what I was doing? Let me call my home girl, let me call my home boy and I'll talk to them about it. Right, but God, like, no, no, no, no, no, no. You can talk to me about this because I care, I truly do care, and I care about it because I care for you, because I love you.
Speaker 2:Right, and I think we miss such a grand and beautiful opportunity to allow God to enrich our relationships, to enrich our lives, to enrich our friendships, when we don't turn to Him. Right, allow God to speak into your life and, like I said, god's not gonna automatically be like don't do that, don't do that, don't do that, don't do that. God's gonna be like no, this could be a way for you to talk to this person. This could be a good way to communicate with this person. This might open them up to talking to you in a more communicative way. Right? So there's so much wisdom that the God of the universe has for you in your life that you're missing out on if you don't include them in it. Right? So don't box God in, don't box Him in. God desperately wants to be included in every aspect of your life because he has a plan for you.
Speaker 1:That's good. That's good. So your point right there don't box God in To me. It shows me that when I look to God's word, I should be looking for answers for my day-to-day life, not just my soul salvation from a macro level, but my day-to-day life. When I think about my prayer life, as you just eluded to and just explained that I need to pray to God through the hard times, through the good times, through the questionable times, through the unsure times I need to bring all of those things. Don't think that God does not care.
Speaker 1:There's a hymn that we say in growing up that really speaks to this. Have a little talk with Jesus, Tell Him all about your troubles. He'll hear our painless cry and He'll answer by and by, no matter what your trouble is, no matter what your cries are relating, to call on Jesus, allow Him to speak to those things Now. He ain't mad if you listen to Taylor Swift that she got a song that speaks to your issue. Beyonce got a song that speaks to your issue. That that's fine too.
Speaker 1:But don't let that be the only person. Don't let that be the only outlet that you have for life issues. But understand that our faith and also our community as believers, when I'm going through life, I know I can call Jay and say, jay, this is what's going on. This is what's going on from when we were in school to now ministering, to now vocation. I mean, there's so many things that I know that I can go to Him as well. God has both given us God's word. God has given us community. God has given us the opportunity for relationship and fellowship, and I pray that you will allow God in the same spaces that you allow Taylor Swift.
Speaker 2:AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, my God, my God, have a little talk with Jesus and make sure you're right. I know that's right, but make sure you're right, make sure you're right, make sure you're right.
Speaker 1:Yo, jay, thank you for being here today. Brother, thank you for always making time to drop all of these gems so that we can glean from them. Va Fam, thank you for being here each and every week. We are really excited about this journey and I asked that you, if you have any feedback for us, and that you can't offer a lot of feedback on your podcasting apps, but you can offer feedback on YouTube. Even if you listen on Apple Music or Apple Podcasts or Spotify or various place, stop by YouTube.
Speaker 1:Make sure you subscribe us on YouTube, let other people know that you're down and part of VA Fam and leave a comment. Let us know what's on your heart and mind as you tune into these episodes. Also, let us know what you wanna discuss, what you wanna think about, what you wanna see us engage. If you're listening to the end of this episode, I know that you are taking from this what you need, and I know that God is feeding you in various ways, but you also have a word for us, so let us know what it is. We can engage in this space so that it can be a blessing to you and your people. Jay, can you close this out, man?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Thank you so much, tripp Lyon, for dropping the gems. Bro, it was always great. We'll see y'all next week. Thank y'all for tuning in. Hey, remember to be very audacious and to include your faith in everything that you do. We love y'all, man. Keep listening. Amen, peace. Talk to you later, fam.