TheeSoulFuel Podcast
Welcome to your essential pitstop, where your soul gets the fuel it needs for life’s journey. In Christ, faith is the vehicle steering us through every twist and turn. Join us as we dive into real conversations about real-life challenges, all viewed through the lens of scripture. Don’t leave empty—come and be filled with the wisdom, strength, and grace to keep going.
TheeSoulFuel Podcast
Put up or shut up
Have you ever found yourself talking endlessly about your dreams but never actually taking steps to achieve them? This episode of the Soul Fuel podcast is all about breaking that cycle. I take a deep dive into my own past, from childhood acting dreams to facing the harsh reality of my filmmaking ventures. Join me as I share candid reflections and lessons on moving beyond just words to making things happen, emphasizing that talk is cheap unless backed by action.
We'll explore the consequences of getting lost in our own narratives and the critical role faith plays in turning dreams into reality. Drawing on personal anecdotes, I discuss how faith in Jesus has been a vital foundation for progress. Listen as I dissect people's varied reactions to our plans and goals—supportive, skeptical, and self-serving. Understand the importance of keeping promises and the dangers of over-promising, while learning how to navigate the fine balance between faith and action for true success.
Finally, let's talk practicality: aligning actions with words in both spiritual and professional realms, and tackling personal finance and fashion with a dose of humor and wisdom. From the pitfalls of over-sharing on social media to the benefits of moving in silence, I cover it all. Plus, a light-hearted yet earnest critique on fashion choices that might just make you rethink pairing long sleeve shirts with shorts. Tune in for a session that promises to fuel your soul and propel you towards your goals.
Instagram is so loud, facebook is so loud what other people are doing is so loud that it's easier to mimic what you can see rather than walk it out and walk and take the steps of what it takes to get what you see. What's up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of the SoulFuel podcast, the pit stop for you to get your soul fueled up for your journey in this life, and also doing it with Christ. I'm your host, willie Robbins III, aka Pastor Will. I am. I don't know what to say about this episode. I don't know what to say about this episode. I don't know what to say about it. Let's just jump right into it. All right.
Speaker 1:I used to be somebody who dreamt a lot, dreamed a lot about doing certain things, achieving certain goals, and it took me a while to actually do it. And one of the things that I realized about me is that I loved attention. Growing up, I loved attention in terms of being a class clown. I loved being talked about in a good way. This followed me from middle school to uh, from elementary school to middle school uh.
Speaker 1:When I was in elementary school in chattanooga, tennessee, I remember being at my uncle's church and my dad made me my costume, for he was an associate pastor at my uncle's church in Chattanooga and I remember I think I was four or five, but I remember playing the soldier who stabbed Jesus in his side. Say what you want. Somebody could have probably said I was going to hell because I was. I played my role like you couldn't tell me nothing, you could not tell me anything. I played my role like you couldn't tell me nothing, you could not tell me anything. I played my role. I went out there, I stabbed Jesus in the side and I pulled it out. It was like and I remember the way my dad made it it was like cardboard with um aluminum foil wrapped around it and I even also had aluminum foil, aluminum foil helmet that, as a Roman soldier, my dad put that together. So if I was going to hell for playing that role, then my dad is too for supplying me with the armor. But anyway, I being being congratulated for, uh, doing such a great job, remembering my role, remembering my lines, and it just moved on. Middle school class clown, you know, I really funny man, you funny, you funny, you funny. Uh, high school, you funny, you funny.
Speaker 1:You know, when I actually found myself, I had my little thug face, but when I actually found myself, I was an actor, like I really acted, I really put my all into it, and so some of you that are listening to this, and some of you who know me, know that this is true, and so I I say this because, um, out of all those things that I did, it made me want to achieve certain dreams, such as being an actor. I was getting all of the accolades, I was getting applauded, and usually what you get applauded for you continue to do, especially when the applause feels good. And so one thing that I kept on doing from the moment of receiving all of these accolades is talking, talking, talking, talking, talking, talking, saying what it is that I wanted to do, but I wasn't moving on it. I kept talking about it, but I wasn't doing it.
Speaker 1:In the beginning of, you know, a short acting career, I was doing a lot of theater. I was doing a lot of theater in in my city and, um, I just got kind of got tired of it and it was like, okay, I'm not really booking anything serious, I had an agent and all of this. I'm not really getting anything. So I get fed up with waiting for an opportunity, and so I start creating opportunities. So it took me a couple of years. It took me a couple of years even after getting into ministry, as I talked about in one of the previous episodes. I get into ministry and I'm still chasing acting, but then acting gets boring for me. I always loved it, and I still do to this day, but I got bored of it, and so I ended up going into another world of storytelling, which is filmmaking.
Speaker 1:And so, as I chased the dream of filmmaking, I noticed that I was doing a lot of talking. I was doing a lot of talking, but I wasn't doing no doing. Can I say that? And so this is our conversation today in this episode is that you're either going to put up or shut up. You're either going to put up or shut up. It's time out for all of the talking. I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that, oh, and then I'm gonna do this and then I'm gonna do this. You gotta stop you. You have to stop just talking about it and there comes a point where you just have to stop talking about it completely, because talking about it doesn't do anything but get you excited for something that isn't real yet. And, of course, my uncle had a saying. My uncle, derek, had a saying you got to see it before you see it or you'll never see it. And what was he talking about? I believe that he was talking about anybody else you can correct me if I'm wrong my uncle, my other uncles and my dad. They know him better than I did in terms of what, how and why he used to say this and what context he said it.
Speaker 1:In business or any aspiration in content creation and even acting, just the creative space, whatever it is that you do. When you say you're going to do it at some point you have to stop talking. One of the biggest things that really gets under my skin with people and I had to learn to be patient with people, and I am. I am, and sometimes when I catch myself in, in in my feelings and I when I say that, I mean when I catch myself getting irritated because somebody is just talking, I you know I don't want to say the wrong thing, I'm very careful about what I say, and so I. This is why we got again walking in the spirit. So we're careful about what we say. It don't mean that the thought that comes to your head is like a real thing that you need, that you probably should say, but you probably shouldn't say it because that person is not ready to receive the hard love that you want to give them in that moment. And so I just I hear a lot of people do a lot of talking about what they're going to do, what this, like I'm going to do this and then I'm going to do this and then I got this lined up and then I'm going to make this happen. Okay, what's the first step?
Speaker 1:And the reason why I can talk about this is because that was me. That's the reason why I took you all the way back to elementary school, middle school, high school, high school I started doing it even more. I was working at it a little bit. I was making little films. In high school we did some things in acting class, in my drama class, and I had a camera. Then I did not know that filmmaking was going to be the thing that was really going to push me to make waves in my life and really cause me to be effective. Or I didn't know that I was that good at it.
Speaker 1:Had I known that, I would have, you know, had acting be my secondary and directing and cinematography be my first, my primary, and so the reason why I can again, why I can say this, is because I've been there, where I did a lot of talking, where I did a lot of talking, and I'm talking about dreams, I'm talking about work, I'm talking about dreams, I'm talking about work, I'm talking about your business plans and really, at the root of all of that, I'm talking about faith, really, right. So because we can't do anything work based, work related, talent related, creative related, whatever field that we're in, we can't. We can't talk that without talking Jesus, right, we can't talk that without talking faith, because some of those things that we do when it comes to our, our dreams and aspirations, it can only be done by our faith that we have in God, not ourselves. There is a certain kind of belief that we have in ourselves and our ability to do things, but it is first in Christ Jesus, because that's where our identity is right. I just want to get that. I want to get that straight out the gate.
Speaker 1:So, going back to you know, talking a lot, not doing, it's very, it's cool, because what it did for me was make me excited to see other people excited about what I said I was going to do. Right, I used to get excited about other people's excitement about what I said I was going to do, and then I talked myself up so much and I talked about it so much to where people are expecting it, and I'm not realizing that this is essentially causing me to do what we talked about in the last episode of the Soul Fuel podcast, right, which is keep your word. See, it's hard to keep your word when you talk too much. See, it's hard to keep your word when you talk too much because you say so many things and you make so many promises that you know that you know you can't keep, but you keep doing it because it it gets the applause. It gets the applause, it gets people, um, excited about what you want, what you're, what you're trying to accomplish, and more so because some people are genuinely happy for you.
Speaker 1:Some people are genuinely, uh, excited about the things that you're getting ready to do because they believe they actually believe in your talent, they believe in your skills, they believe in what you have to offer to the world, in your, in the creative spaces, in in the work force place, in in the business place, you in the, in the, in the workplace. There there's some people. And then there's some people that are like, okay, I'll wait. So when you do this, this gonna be my opportunity with the birdman hands. Ah yeah, so when you do that, make sure you come hit me up. Don't forget the little people. You know these things, these types of people.
Speaker 1:So there are different people that are that are rying or rallying in your corner because they have different motives. Again, some that have really great intentions and they really want the best for you and they really want to see you win Right. And then, on the other hand, you have people who are just just want to see what they can get out of it. And then you have another group who just doubt you and then and you can't be upset because in some cases, those people who doubt you are probably spot on, because you're doing too much talking and sometimes not everybody that doubts you don't uh, not everybody that doubts you are people who don't believe in you. Oh, let me say that again. Let me say that again Not everybody who doubts you does not believe in you. Let me say that one more time, because that sounded confusing to me, even me. Let me say that one more time Not everybody who doubts what you say does not believe in you, does not? It's not true that they do not believe in you. Let me say that. Can I say it that way? Y'all got me, y'all got me. Okay, get it, got it, good.
Speaker 1:So it's not that, it's that they're peeping game, they're peeping that you're doing a lot of talking and not no walking. And so we can and we'll tie this, tie this, we'll tie this to faith. But I but you have to really understand this, because if you don't understand this, you won't understand faith. If you don't understand faith, you won't understand how to be successful in business. See, the reason why the world is so successful in business is because they have faith in their talent and their abilities and faith in people to at some point open the door for them. And it always happens eventually. I don't care if it takes 10 years. You got to put in 10,000 hours for everything. In any industry almost you have to put in 10,000 hours to be considered an expert or to master it. You have to put in 10,000 hours to be considered an expert or to master it. So there are some people who are literally waiting for an opportunity. They're waiting for that opportunity. They're waiting for the opportunity to get their shot, to get their chance.
Speaker 1:But there are other people again who, going back to that, I kind kind of lost my train of thought, but let me get back to it, and I'm not, I'm not editing this out, it's the dog barking in the background. He just threw me all the way off but, as I was saying, so he's still barking. But, as I was saying, the people who doubt you do not always not believe in your ability. They just see that you're talking too much and you have to be able to walk. So if you don't have faith in God and this is what I was saying if you don't have faith in God, if you don't believe in the way that you're supposed to believe in him, it pushes you to believe in self, and a lot of people don't have the confidence that some people in the world have, and that comes in different shapes and sizes. There's some people that are in the world that don't believe in God or whatever, they still don't have no confidence in what they know how to do, right.
Speaker 1:But then there are people that literally are sure and certain, they are whole of themselves in their ability to, to, to accomplish whatever they set out to do. So, when you're in Christ, whatever, whatever you, whatever you, however, you believe in Christ, that is the same type of belief you can take to your dreams and your aspirations, right? And so, when you are able to walk the walk of a Christian, when you're able to walk the walk of a believer and for real be a believer without being a hypocrite, without being any of these things, without being the fake Christian, without being the 2024 Christian, right Even the legalists, the hyper-graced people and the legalists, because those are unjust balances and an unjust balance is an abomination to the Lord. So, walking the straight and narrow is the balance, it is the way, it is the way Jesus said, he is the way, the truth and the life right. And so, with that being said, I have to be sure of myself, because I'm sure of who I belong to in Christ.
Speaker 1:So I can't just do a lot of talking like, oh, I love the Lord, I love the Lord. I love the Lord. I love the Lord. Yeah, I love the Lord. He always working out for you, always working things out for me. He always doing stuff for me. He always fixing it. He always, he always this. But my walk is different than what I'm talking Like. My walk cannot be a walk that is living willy, nilly, right. My walk cannot be contrary to my talk. It has to match and so the same goes, as that is the base, because I probably started this conversation off backwards, but it still works. It still works because y'all still rocking with me and y'all SoulFuel podcast family.
Speaker 1:So you know it's the root of it all is your integrity and your ability to keep the word of God right, because you have to acknowledge him in all of your ways that you can't do anything without him anyway. And when you acknowledge him in all of your ways, it makes it easier for you to navigate and have the confidence to do the things that you set out to do, the things that you said that you were going to do. And so, again, I hear a lot of people who say they're going to do this, they're going to do that, they're going to do this, they're going to do that and they don't have a plan and it's not that. And some people say, well, I don't need a plan, I work better off the cuff, but can you at least write something down? Do you have like some kind of note somewhere? Can you do? Is there some type of thing that will hold you accountable?
Speaker 1:Because I know for me some things that I didn't write down. I found myself putting it on social media. Sometimes I would get excited about things that I wanted to do and I didn't even have a plan on how I wanted to get it done. But I would talk about it and throw it on social media but still didn't do it, because I really wasn't. I didn't, I wasn't planning on doing it. I had the idea to do it and let me take that back. I planned it in my mind. See, what happened was I thought it was a good idea, but I really didn't, because I didn't write it down and I didn't act on it. But I talked about it a lot because I saw that it was going to get me thumbs up, it was going to get me hearts, it was going to get me likes. It was going to get me. You know these different types of emojis that speak to my ego.
Speaker 1:So what I believe the Lord is leading me to tell each and every last one of you that are listening is that you got to put up or shut up for one with your faith. You got to live that life or take your sign down. If you're not going to live for Jesus, go ahead, be the biggest sinner you can be. Yes, I said it. If you're not going to live for Jesus and obey his commandments, be the biggest sinner you can be. Yes, I said it. If you're not going to live for Jesus and obey his commandments, it don't make no sense for you to straddle the fence, because if you straddle the fence, it means that you picked your master. And Jesus said you cannot serve two masters. Right, you cannot serve two masters. You got to love one or hate the other. So you got to pick, choose you this day whom you're going to serve, right, and so, when you serve the Lord again, this makes it easier for you to be able to go out and do the things that you desire to do.
Speaker 1:But one thing I just I can't stand is people who talk a lot but don't do nothing. Right, and I won't say I can't stand the people, I can't stand that action. Let me, let me clean it all the way up, because I am a pastor out here. So I love all people and I and I and I love, I love all people. I may not like what people do, but I really do love all people and I just, and I love all people. I may not like what people do, but I really do love all people and I just. That is one thing that I cannot stand. But I have grace with these people because, again, like I said at the beginning of all of this, it started, the root of it started with attention seeking right, and so, again, seeing how much, how many reactions you can get on social media should not be your motivation, because if that's all there is, you won't make it.
Speaker 1:If reactions on social media is what you feel that success is, then you will never make it is, then you will never make it, because all talk means nothing. It means absolutely nothing. So we can't just talk about it. You got to be about it. Talking about it is one thing, walking about it is one thing, walking about it is another thing, and so one of the things that really pushed me over the edge was my desire to do things the Hollywood way, my desire to pitch my first feature film that I did like. It was yesterday streaming on Amazon Prime and Tubi.
Speaker 1:I again was looking for a big budget, I was looking for how everybody else does it, not realizing that I literally I have a phone, I had cameras, I had all the gear, but I was looking to do it like everybody else would do it and I kept posting about making a movie. I was posting pictures of the script, I was posting little, I was posting table reads, I was posting these things. But you know what? Something shifted in me After. I got tired of pitching to different film companies at film festivals, or really at one film festival. I got tired of pitching and I said you know what it's time for me to make it? I'm going to make it, I don't know how I'm going to do it, and watch this. I stepped out by faith. I used the same pitching and I said you know what it's time for me to make it? I'm going to make it, I don't know how I'm going to do it, and watch this. I stepped out by faith. I used the same faith that I had in the Lord and I applied it to the process of filmmaking.
Speaker 1:I didn't have money to make anything.
Speaker 1:I cast my actors. I had actors. I promised them certain budgets. I had a sound guy, certain, you know, certain budgets. I had a sound guy. He signed a deal memo for an amount of money. I did not have y'all, I didn't have it, but he signed it and so I was like forget it. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? One thing I did not have is a plan like on releasing it. Like I didn't know. I just knew I needed to make a movie because I had been talking about it for the the past five years and I think this probably was the when the movie I've actually finished it from the first draft all the way to, uh, the premiere shout out to ibff nashville the premiere in 2018, at that film festival, at IBFF 2018.
Speaker 1:That was. It took me three years to actually do what I was talking. It took me three years to walk it. It took me, going through the ups and downs and the applause and all of these things, to actually go ahead and make the movie, and so that was the turning point for me and why I am able to say everything that I'm saying, even all the way to moving to Los Angeles in the middle of a pandemic, at the start of a pandemic, getting a place to live, flying my family over 1500 miles from Nashville to Los Angeles that that took faith. That took faith in believing in the ability of what I had the power to do, not knowing if we would make it for real, for real, just off faith alone, still knowing that the Lord was my help. You know, I kind of strayed away in 2020, but I came back before the end of the year, right, and so I'm able to speak to all of these things because, you know, doing a lot of talking it doesn't do anything. And this is why and I believe that this is why, thank you, holy Spirit, this is why some people fall into depression, why people fall into anxiety, because they have talked themselves up so much that their confidence level, while they have talked up their confidence, went down, producing nothing. It produced absolutely zero.
Speaker 1:And so, with that being said, I want to read this scripture found in Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 23, in the message version, and I like the message version here because and I rarely quote the message version, but it says hard work always pays off. Hard work always pays off. Let me say that again. Let me say that one more time Hard work always pays off. This is why I said you know, it's unnecessary to pray for money. It's unnecessary to pray for material things, because anybody, at any time, can go and buy the material things. Anybody could even go and steal the material things, but stealing doesn't profit you anything because you won't get to enjoy it. But hard work pays off. This is a proverb. This is true inside church and outside of church. It's true. This is why it don't make sense for people to be praying for money.
Speaker 1:Pray for my finances. Well, there are a lot of things you can do to better your finances. You can budget better. You can spend better, right. You can spend less by that. Spend better by spending less, being smart with your money, right. Downsizing. Stop trying to live above your means. There are many ways, right. But because the talk is so loud Instagram is so loud, facebook is so loud, what other people are doing is so loud that it's easier to mimic what you can see rather than walk it out and walk and take the steps of what it takes to get what you see. So I'm not saying chase material things by any means, because some of y'all y'all know how I preach, you know what I believe, you know how you know I believe the word of God. And so things are easy to obtain. Money is easy to obtain.
Speaker 1:All you got to do is work hard. This is why Proverbs 14, 23 says again hard work always pays off. It didn't say it sometimes pays off. It always pays off when you work for the Lord. When you work for the Lord, it pays off. When you believe in the Lord, it pays off. It always pays off. You don't have to, you don't even have to, you don't have to trip. It always pays off when you work hard on your job. Listen, it always pays off. It does Don't. Don't worry about it, it will pay off. But this ain't even all of the verse. It says hard work always pays off.
Speaker 1:Mere talk puts no bread on the table. Come on, no, listen. All talk. It doesn't get anything done. This is why hard work always pays off, because it's the actual walking instead of the talking.
Speaker 1:It's cool in the very beginning to talk about it, but you got to make sure that you be about it. This is why you have to make sure that you're passionate about the thing. You got to make sure that you're passionate about the thing Before you start running off at the mouth, you start posting. See, now I move like a ninja. Now I don't say anything. I may talk to talent, I may talk to a couple of people about an idea of what I'm doing, but I learn to move.
Speaker 1:They say gangsters move in silence. I'm not claiming to be no gangster, god knows. I'm not claiming to be a gangster, but I'm moving in silence with all of the things that I have going on. And sometimes I even do this with church, some things that that that I want to work on, that I'm working on, I prematurely announcing, and I've been working on that, I've stopped doing that. So I literally, when it seems like I don't have anything else to say, it's not that I don't have anything going on, it's just that I want to just be quiet and just move in silence. But I also I think it's a little bit different when you're dealing with church, because you want people to know the plans for the ministry and things of that nature.
Speaker 1:But listen, you got to put up or shut up. You got to put up or shut up. So I hope this blessed you. Remember that verse, remember that verse. Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 23. Hard work always pays off. Mere talk puts no bread on the table.
Speaker 1:I want you to join me in this next segment. Y'all already know what it is by now. I know I, I know, you know, I know, you know what it is, but I need you to say it with me they must be stopped. Listen, people who wear long sleeve shirts with shorts, you gotta stop. You gotta stop because nine times out of ten, no, listen to me, listen to me. Nine times out of ten, even though you got on a long sleeve shirt and you put on some shorts, you probably you might be wearing white socks with black shoes. You might be, you might be.
Speaker 1:I listen, I'm not trying to judge you, I'm not Listen, I just, I just, I just want you to make it make sense. I just want you to make it make sense. Can anybody tell me if that makes sense? You to make it make sense. I just want you to make it make sense. Can anybody tell me if that makes sense? Like and this might be debatable in a lot of circles, but I'm not a big fashion guy. I don't claim to be a fashion guru, but I I will say that this has to be stopped.
Speaker 1:You know the the, the long sleeve shirts with shorts. You know we, we gotta that. We really do. We really need to. We really really, really need to. All right, so listen. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the soul fuel. I hope your soul has been fueled up. I hope you got a lot out of this pit stop. Listen, I want you to tell somebody, I want you to share it with your mama, your daddy, your sister, your cousin, your brother, your auntie, your uncle, your best friends. Listen, tell them, check out the SoulFuel podcast, available on every single platform. All right, until next time. I'll see y'all at the next Pitstop Peace.
