What's a Calling? (feat. Joshua Stewart)

What on earth does it mean to be called by God?

Chapters

• 0:00 intro
• 5:54 joshua's journey of faith
• 7:18 joshua's journey of beard
• 8:07 comfortable -> uncomfortable
• 13:57 time of preparation
• 17:56 receiving and discerning a call
• 22:36 traffic light prayer
• 27:22 wisdom in waiting
• 29:31 resumé of a christian
• 37:09 tips for figuring out your calling

Transcript

Welcome back to the What On Earth Podcast. My name is Carys. I'm Moriah and we've got our first guest. Josh Jacob Spawn. Joshua Jacob Stewart. We're so glad to have you here. We have one question, so every week we do question of the week. And this week's question is... It's aimed at you. If you could replace your bedsheets with any food, what would you replace them with? This is an interesting question. I like this. We kind of talked about it earlier, but I didn't decide on one. You did, did you? Yes, I said marshmallows. Yeah. Marshmallows? Yep. Your bedsheets? Mmm. I was thinking like the skin of a kiwi, but then it's like a little bit too scratchy. But like I was thinking of like a soft fruit. A peach! Skin of a peach! Skin of a peach. Oh, that's so nice. It's funny, I've went more... I feel in my head to like a biodegradable lens. Like seaweed. I mean, yes. You know, as a... Like wet? As something you can eat. Do you want like wet seaweed? Or like dry? What? Dulse. I like that stuff. Like my mom loves that. The dry one? My mom loves that. The dry and scratchy one? No. Yes. I don't know if that's a good idea.  Also, it would be biodegradable. Why do you want it to be biodegradable? Why do you want it to decompose? Environment. Also, if you got hungry. I can also eat my peach. Take a wee. I need James and the Giant Peach. My sister said ham. Actually after James and the Giant Peach It did a carry. Although my sister Uh oh. Georgie shoutout Georgia. She hates that movie. You know the animated one? So she actually broke the DVD. And then we were like, oh let's watch James and the Giant Peach. Oh yeah, let's watch it. couldn't find it. She knew the whole time. That's hilarious. Fair enough. That's valid. That is valid. So Josh, tell us a little bit about yourself then. your age if you are willing and then maybe at that age he doesn't want to share I don't want to share my age and like what you're doing in life Josh I am Josh I am 26 Disgusting He's so old I don't feel 26 Our cameraman has just thrown up I feel What age do you place me? Like 22. I would say 23. Okay, yeah, 23. Thank you, Carys. Well, they're like the same age. Sorry! Yeah, everybody knows I was right. I'm 26 and I currently work for Exodus in Donegal. Cool. Last year I was a chaplain in Raffoo High School. That's cool. It's fun. With Exodus too. You worked as a chaplain with Exodus? Well no, I was a chaplain. Why does that work? I was a chaplain and an RE teacher and then I also, alongside that was an ex-this worker, kind of detached but also overlapped. Did you enjoy working in a school? Yeah, it was good. It stretched me a lot. I started the world on prior. shout out to, I don't know if I can say his name. No. Don't. Maybe not, just guess. I was just gonna shout out some characters, but I'll not. People will know who they are. You know who you are, guys. You know who you are. Detentions. I don't know if I actually... If he shouted at you, it's you. I know. You're the problem. I don't think I ever gave anyone a detention. I was quite a soft. Aw, he's good cop. Yeah. I tried to be, I think. Or encouraging rebukes. That's good. If that makes sense. Yeah, so been doing that and I'm still in Donegal now. So how did that all happen? Cause you're obviously not from Donegal. No. Where are you from? I was born in Wales. Wait, actually. Yeah, but where did you go? I did not know that. Well, born in, do you know that? I did a St. Patrick. I was born in Wales, in Camargan. Or Gwengwili. But don't laugh. Why is that funny? Why did you cover my mouth? What? And then moved to Lisburn. Lisburn City for life, but not for my life. Lisburn whenever I was like five or whatever. And then went to like college and then went to university in Nottingham. and then Brighton, I was gonna say it, but I'm not. You will understand in a second. And then, sorry, I'm telling you my life story. And then moved back here and then moved to Donegal after university at Nottingham. So I've been around. Nice. Yeah, that was awesome. So you were like, you did touch on like, well, you said, I'll not go into that, but we'll go into it. So we'll go into it. You said first. I'm gonna say it. All right. No, I'd never say it. Yeah. Go for it. Tell us about your journey of faith. My journey of faith? Yeah. Good input as a young person. Grew up with parents who loved Jesus and yeah, served. And then whenever I kind of had like sixth year, I was kind of living a bit of a double life and I wasn't being consistent. And then I... just like packed it in and was like, I don't want to do this anymore. And I went to Uni and kind of used that opportunity just to like run just headlong away from God and do my own thing. And then, yeah, so I was a prodigal. He said it. Ting! We might do a tally for that because I actually think I mention it every week. Every day? Every hour? Every week at the least. At least twice. Yeah. Two to three times. Well, that's like once every other day. It's true. But it's fine, because it's kind of like your story. Yeah, true, true. And then came back to Faith in my third year, whenever I went to Brighton. Pretty gnarly place. And then went back to the uni in Nottingham, and that's whenever COVID hit, and halfway through that, and then came back home. Yeah. Nice. Did you have a beard in uni? Yeah. Yes. From first year. From first year you had a beard. St. Patrick's Day. First year of like school. First year of primary school. You're right. First year. First year of like St. Patrick's Day. I remember like growing it. And I like growing it. Like that was the beginning, I was like, okay, it's time to beard. To be bearded. So this podcast is about callings and how you do discern a calling from God. A little bit about how... Like you actually moved from your home to Surf God full time away from what was necessarily comfortable for you into something quite unknown. I guess whenever you moved it was undetermined what you were going to be doing completely and where that would lead you. Yeah it's been a bit of a rollercoaster. I think I like- went into, yeah, I did like product design, kind of thinking that was like the thing you should do. Because it's, I feel like we get that kind of voiced a lot in high school and, you know, the teachers are like, and university is the way to go. Like it's kind of the assumed position. Yeah, so I think I probably went into it originally thinking I just had to do something. along those lines and I kind of felt like I was semi gifted in design. I did product design. Um, so yeah, that was kind of, that was the initial kind of, um, stint. And I think I was also ignoring God's voice a lot at that point. Like I wasn't, I didn't want to hear what he had to say. And so then kind of whenever it all crumbled in the third year, I was like, okay, I have to listen. Like. I had no other choice really. Um, I didn't feel like it. So then, yeah, I think whenever I, and then whenever I experienced this grace and I experienced just what life could be like with God, it started to shift a lot of stuff. Um, so had some pretty key, um, encounters with God in that time as well. Um, so like core stuff in myself, um, like really determining that one point, like I remember one time in Brighton I was like, I need to forgive some people who had kind of like hurt me and I also needed to be forgiven. And then I had this weird encounter with God where I felt like the awareness of his holiness. And then I asked him for peace and then he just gave me like complete peace. So it's like the first time I was like, oh, okay, God's there. And that could be elaborated on. That's a very brief summary. And then... In my final year, I was like, I do not want to do design anymore. I hate it. I hate like commit to this. I hate the materialism of it. I'm like, I just kind of hated what it like stood for at the time. I think there's value in it, but, um, and then I went to another conference. And at that conference, there was an evangelist there called Scott McNamara. Um, who does Jesus at the door. He's quite a cool guy, but he... I think he'll like that I say this. He's also quite like intense, like intimidating. But I liked it, it was cool. He's very bold and obedient. So he was speaking on the harvest fields being plentiful and the workers being few. And I like went up for prayer. And I just was like completely overcome by the Holy Spirit. Like... more than I'd ever experienced. It was like, it was literally like somebody hooked 10 volt batteries up to my fingertips and I experienced like electricity in my arms for like 15 minutes. It was the weirdest. And at that point I was like, I can't, I wanted to go in the ministry, I didn't want to go into design, but I was like, I can't go into ministry. I'm too broken, I'm too fearful, I'm too like disqualified. And then it was like, God was like. No, I equipped you. So at that point then I was like, right, I'm going in the ministry tomorrow. Yeah. Nice. So that was after uni? This was kind of, this was my final year. It was funny actually I did. So whenever I was then at that conference, I went then to like a prophetic slot and you sit in a room and then. And you there's people just standing around here praying and they'll just approach you when they feel like they've got something for you. And so a lady came up to me and saw me on like a pier and she was like She saw me jumping into the cold water swimming for a bit and then getting out and she was saying, you know, I Think this is saying you're gonna do something hard, you know that you don't enjoy but it's only temporary and then you'll get out after that. And finally at the time, my like, because I was like reading into everything, I was like, I've got to dive into ministry. And then I was like excited about that. I was like, yes, this is what it means. And then I, I like at the end, the conference, I was like, mom, I got this prophecy and feels relevant. And then I was like, this is what I think it means. And she was like, I don't think it is Josh, I think you need to finish your degree first and then that's the temporary. Yeah. I was like yeah that probably makes sense. Yeah. So that really helped me actually to shift, to know that like it was a temporary season, Christianese. Christian language. Yeah it was a period of time that was then going to lead into something else, you know. Yeah. But it was interesting. Yeah. Did you find that was a good time of preparation for you? Or did you kind of reprepare them for what was to come? Was that an exodus then? Well, Covid came right three months later after our conference. I ran St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick. Three times. Wow. This is like what? Oh my goodness. So I remember like I remember praying around that point Lord just get me back for Easter like please and then COVID hit. So I actually apologized to the world. It's all this guy. It was all him. Yes I'm sorry. But I got back. That was a joke. Because COVID sucked for a lot of people. I was not good. But yeah, so at that time, it was really funny actually. So I, this is maybe a sidetrack, but I like, so I had a lot of experience and then COVID hit and then it was like, doing my degree at home. And then I went super, super like Pharisee, like conservative, like still kind of like, was still very much up in the Holy Spirit, like ..., John Piper. Francis Chan, these guys are like reformed, but they're like still charismatic and open to the Holy Spirit. So what do you, yeah, and the expressive gifts in a sense. But I was just like super like intense and really got into study, like got my head just saturated and like all sorts. But it was kind of a preparation time as well. I felt refining. And then kind of alongside that, I needed a job and I was sick of like doing farm work. Not just farm work, like good farm work, but like me and Jamie were just, my cousin started Jamie. Jamie McKneight. McKneight Films, sorry. Is it McKneight Film on Instagram? Yeah. New advertisement. He's a super .... Sorry. I'll pay after. We were just like doing like. posts, although we did make a fence. Or I made a fence, he helped maybe, but... Or no, a gate, sorry, a big gate. I was quite like a part of that. But anyway. Is it still there? Yeah, it is, yeah. Let's go visit it. And we replaced the bottom of our trailer. Anyway, I was sick of it and I was like, right, I just need to do something else. Went into a primary school and worked with... Yeah, I just worked in a primary school as an assistant for a guy with really odd and special needs. And then met a guy who was subbing at the time called Luke Hendren. Shout out to Luke Hendren. And he was like, oh, he, he was like, I'm doing an extent team. You should do it. It's going to Ireland. And I thought he said it was a thousand pounds. And I was like, no, I'm okay. Thank you though. And then he was like, are you lettered a couple of days? He was like, are you sure? Like, it's only like a hundred quid. I was like, oh, yeah, class. Send it out and then that kind of spiraled the exodus journey. Cool. So taking then, we'll go back to like, obviously this podcast is about calling and that and you have a calling, you would say? Yeah. Yes. You do say because you've got a... We all would say. I just told you. No, no, it's... That's right, yeah. and to Donegal or to Ireland. Donegal. Do you want to talk us through that? Yeah, a bit about how you were able to... I don't know, received that call in and then actually moved forward with that and like knowing when the right time was and stuff. Yeah, it's been a long journey actually. I think, I actually remember at a conference just before COVID, it was a legacy conference in Nottingham. I remember speaking to a lady who is very prophetic as well and it was just like chatting. I was like, oh. I'd love to go to Donegal and do something, but like, nah, I don't think I will though. It's just like a wee pipe dream that I have, just love Donegal. And she was like, well, you never know. And then she just said like, yeah, revival's coming from the West. And I was like, where'd you get that from? I just always believed it, but like had no evidence that it was a thing. And then I had been working in Exodus for like, Well, interning for two years and then working in a high school in Laurel Hill. And my second year I was doing my team to every mountain. Um, we exchanged team, team 14. Love that team. They're so good. Shout out to team 14. Um, I'd do all the names but we might be here for a while. We should list all the show notes at the very end. Yeah, like a credit? Um... So... I could try them out. All of them? Go on. Jacob, Josh, Andre, Jack, Connie, Lucy, Monica, Eden, Legends. Carven, Sarah as well, kind of our add-ons, End on a Goal. Anyway, um... So was in the school, doing internships and then, um, did my team to Donegal. And I had just been praying into it. Um, and to Donegal and, um, whenever I initially came into Exodus, it was like a really quick, it was a bit of a green light kind of thing. I like prayed one night and was like, Lord, I've been offered this internship. I need a job. Like you need to provide here. And next morning woke up. my friend Anna, who's on my first team, had sent me a job advertisement. So I was like, green light, immediately go for it. And then for this one though, it was more of like a process. And computer. This one was more of a process. So sort of the prayer into it. And then like three different people, when they were praying for me, all said, I think there's something more for you in Donegal. quite ambiguous but also specific. It's not just going to be a team, there's something else. And I never really shared, I have it on my sites, I've been looking into this for a while. So that was interesting. And then there was just a lot of confirmations, there was a conference called NUA and first year we prayed over Ireland, second year, loads of us were just all moving to the west and nobody talked about it. So that kind of like idea of like something was brewing in the West or like revival was coming from the West. So I had to kind of pack my ears a bit more and I was like, feels like there's something more here. And then I had applied for a job or I was going to apply for a job. And that was recommended the school. And then the day of the commissioning, and I was going to talk to the principal and Andy Lamb told me he's pulled the job. I was like, should I talk to him anyway? And he was like, no, don't talk to him. So I was like, oh, okay, this is weird. So I felt like this amber light. And then whenever I then had done my team, the pastor or the minister of that team, Richard, he was like, oh, I'm gonna, I wanna get you into Donegal. So he was on the board of the school, spoke to the principal. And then, yeah, it came and like. It all kind of just happened in like two weeks, in a week. Went to an interview and it was like a maternity cover. So the principal was just like, yeah, let's get you in. And then you really moved? Yeah. That was it? Lived in the boarding house. It was fun. Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah. And so you mentioned there about kind of the traffic light system, like green, amber and red, like, the part goes with your prayer for a specific thing. So I suppose maybe because I had a thing called Analyst a couple weeks ago and there was a big focus on calling and going to the nations or going into Ireland but the age group is from 11 to 18 and a lot of them are in school so like maybe if there was a young person that was watching this and they weren't sure like how do you because I know that wait that waiting period can be really difficult how do you know what would you like advise in that kind of time or like even discernment we were talking about earlier like discerning what is red, green and amber. So hard for young people because like the desire and passion to go and like to want to do that is so good and like you never want to say like oh stop or like calm down like yeah you're too young like no way but like it's just so hard to channel that like how would you? Yeah yeah it is tricky it's I think I've Um, I think that green light experience was probably the first like in your face moment of like express delivery service prayer I had received in some ways in terms of my plans. And I think the majority of the time though, we probably are in amber lights. And I think that, I think in the church we're very quick. I like doing our like. what we think our best idea is. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that as well, you know, that you do what is wise, but I think waiting on the Lord is really underestimated. Like it's even like counter-cultural. Yeah. Like we're like even in school, like with uni, it's like, oh, you want to do it, go and do it now. Like gap years aren't like, yeah, nobody's like recommending that you do that, but there's so much to learn. in like waiting and like so much like refinement and like just development that can come from holding off and like taking time. Yeah. Like you've got to learn before you can teach. Yeah. And it's not taking time to like ignore and like do your own thing. It's really intentional. Often quite restful too. Like for those who weren't in the like... health service over COVID. A lot of people after COVID were like, I've never been closer to God because I've just had to wait. There's so much opportunity in waiting too. Like there's like even for prayer and like if something is really in your heart like and you want to go there like lay foundations in prayer like we were kind of talking about that like about something else like and like before you even get there like just pray the whole thing. Yeah. There's... help that you don't even see because it's like spiritual round but it just... Prayer is so cool. I think also trusting that he's gonna correct your steps. Somebody said that like this older wiser man recently told me you can't steer a ship that isn't moving. You know so having some sort of direction is important you know that is wise. not like something brash but like a slow obedience, like what is like just willing, slowly, patiently asking him to speak, being willing to receive but like when you know you know as well. Like I think there is such a thing as a peace that surpasses understanding which is important to have and it's not a worldly peace, you know like oh I think this will impress. my teacher I think still impressed my parents. It's like whenever I get alone with God, this feels like this lines up a scripture and this is right, you know. And even with Paul, like in Paul on Acts you can see he uses that language of, you know, the Holy Spirit, like God closed the door and then the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit withheld me from going into this place and the Holy Spirit led me into going into this place, you know. So like God can tell you what he needs. Definitely. If you think you're going to miss it, then that might be a lack of faith. But it's more, it's probably more about obedience than missing it. Yeah. And that's a good way to do it because you can't be 16 mid GCSEs and up your life and go somewhere. Yeah. And obviously, like it can be frustrating. Like that can be a difficult time. But then what you said, laying your foundations in prayer, and I just was thinking about if it really mattered, you would wait. There's nothing that you wouldn't, if you believe that God has something for you, you would wait for it. I have a friend in Donegal, he's like the closest brother to me in Donegal, but... Josh. Another shoutout! And he's recently come back to faith as well and he's a prodigal. And we're so similar but also different, like contrasting. But he's been in a real like, he's so clearly gifted and he's so like there's so clearly something on his life that's just like s- He's just like saturated. His parents were missionaries in Kenya. Like there's something that like God's down there. And yet they're like. Like I've got him involved in some stuff, but there feels like there's this kind of period for him where he's like, and he's aware of it and he's really conscious of it and he's saying like, like I want to be hidden for a while. Like I feel like God is hiding me and he's, he's not like, it's kind of like David's, David the shepherd, like, um, the shepherd boy preparing himself in the small things to get ready for the big things. It's something I feel like someone has always been a Sam that's been spoken over me and God's constantly reminding me you can't do this without abiding, you can't do this without him. Yeah and so does that maybe lead on to your framework that you were telling us about if you want to go into that? Yeah so I think if we were to hand in a resume to your like guide or whatever, like that's not the right word. And if you're gonna hand in a resume as a Christian, you know, as to like what qualifies you or what your calling is, or like a summary of that. I think page one and page two are gonna be pretty much identical for all of us. So page one is that we're followers, that we pick up our cross, that we are called to that life that lays ourselves down. And we're following our good shepherd. Psalm 23, you know, the Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need. He leads me in paths. He guides me. He provides, he makes me rest. He prepares tables for me. He anoints my head with oil. His provision overflows in our lives. I think that's really important for us, especially, I think the younger generation now that feel, I was speaking to Andy Lamberton today, and such a good... way of putting it, you know, there's a lot of shepherds, a lot of broken shepherds in our culture. You know, if it's comparison is my shepherd. I like everything. You know, if, if envy is my shepherd, I don't have enough, you know, if, there's like, you can kind of fit so many categories for that, you know. So I feel like that tends to be what shepherds us or our own feelings or whatever. Knowing that the Lord is like sovereign there and that he's the one who guides you. He's the one who protects. That's page one. Page two is the abiding. So John 15, you know, abiding me as I abide in you. You can't bear fruit without me. Can't do anything without me as a Christian. So you can't do anything good without being connected to him. And so that's page two. And then page three would be a little bit more. Personal, I guess there's probably a little bit of like, you could have Romans 12, which lists like spiritual giftings and like that call to sacrifice in Romans 12.1 of laying down our lives. That's our worship. And 1 Corinthians 12. I'm not reading the white board. I think it's 12. Yeah, it says 12. Or 7 to 10. 7 to 10. and verse 28. It also contains spiritual giftings. So I think there is in a sense spiritual giftings there that can be kind of standard, but I think there's space in that for your personal story that's now joining into his story, the big story. So it's not all about you. It's not all about me and my calling. but like what is your story and his story. Yeah, that's good. And yeah, I think look for, what do you have compassion for probably in that? Like where does your heart break? There's so many needs all around the world and like you have to focus on one really, or at the very least a handful, if even. So what breaks your heart? Like compassion, that word compassion is. to suffer alongside, passion is like to suffer in the original language, Greek, for Latin. So yeah, I think that's probably the kind of reminiscent of Jesus, you know, he saw the people and they were like sheep with a lot of shepherd and he had compassion on them and that's when he talks about the harvest field so and that was kind of my, that felt like my call being an evangelist and a disciple. And for young people, if that is, you know where your heart's at and you know where you wanna go down, what path you wanna go down and you really feel it and you are passionate about it, there are still so many opportunities. You don't have to up and leave, but whenever you're doing your GCSEs or your... levels, you've got whole summers of opportunities that you don't have whenever you're older and there are so many things out there that are able to equip you and help you to get out. I remember hearing recently of this, it was actually, it was that really, it was wondrous I think, it was the year the pastor at my church, JT, Charlotte JT, I think it was JT, like no one will ever be in the unique position that you're in to spread the gospel. So like no one will be sitting beside that person in your GCSE maths class again after this year finishes. It's like no one is that person in your family that has those connections to you. It's a plentiful harvest. There's literally walking in fields of opportunities everywhere. Definitely. And so maybe as well, going into maybe somebody who feels like they don't have a calling or yeah, somebody who, yeah, I don't know where to go with that. Yeah. Someone who feels like they don't have a car. Or who just feels like they don't know where it's going to be. I did have a conversation with a guy recently and... just as we were talking, I felt God prompting me to ask him what is his... It sounds a bit corny, but what's his vision? What has God given him that is not separate from the Bible, but again, integrated in God's story? It's kind of like, for Donegal, it was Abraham for me. The call to leave his land and to go to somewhere else that he did not know. And to do that by faith, that vision was given to him by God. You know, it wasn't like Abraham. I probably get frustrated by that pioneering language sometimes whenever I went to church that was very almost like businessy and it wasn't very like family based in a sense. And it felt like it was always talking about strategy and you know, what's our strategy for vision? Like what's our vision for growth? There's nothing wrong with those words, but like I do like what John Piper says about his book. I just like the book title. I've never read the book. But it's brothers, we're not businessmen. I like that. So yeah, what is the... I've completely lost my train of thought. Abraham, stepping by fear. And the vision, God gave him that vision, you know, it wasn't like Abraham just, I'm going to do this. I'm going to have a son. I'm like, this is what I think I'm going to do. It's a. He was willing to receive it. He was open. He was probably waiting on the Lord. Like he still would have wanted a son. And yeah, so I feel like. If somebody doesn't know they're calling. Maybe you do, firstly, and are you ignoring it? Like, are you denying it? Are you saying you don't know it, but you actually do know very well. I think I knew, if I'm honest, like I knew that God wanted me to serve him in a capacity that was like pretty abandoned and like full in terms of my hours and not that you can't do that. There's full-time ministries for everybody. We're a royal priesthood. But yeah, I think I suppressed it. So are you suppressing it? Probably to ask the people around you, like your mentors, people who are older, wiser, people who have a different perspective than you, because you might get it wrong. Yeah. So like, discern through them. And we've kind of said prayer, like waiting on the Lord, because He wants to tell you and be content in that waiting period as well. Um... That's a big nose noise there. EQ that out. Have you got another? Go through yours again. Are you ignoring it? Ignoring it. Ask people around you. Wait on the Lord. Maybe learn. Learn more about... Just like you use that time as you're waiting on the Lord. Don't just pray, but like... Invest in the scripture, you know, like... Learn about like... Yeah, just Old Testament, New Testament. See how God's done it before. And like... Jesus Christ is the same... Yesterday... Yesterday? Yesterday, today, and forever. there's a consistency to how he works in a lot of ways, you know, but look at it through the lens of the New Testament too. Yeah, and like it's so important like that people don't get like, not for the people here, like waiting, I suppose. Like that's okay. I think I talked about earlier, like people getting frustrated. I was trying to remind people like I know God uses people like as young as eight years old in the Bible. But also he used people who were really, really old. And it's like, you know, it's God's timing, not ours. And yeah, there's a verse I probably should get out of the side. I don't misquote it. Deuteronomy 29. Sorry, this is so awkward. Edit, edit, edit. Do you edit easily? Yeah. He loves editing. Shout out to Luke. Shout out to Luke Taylor. He does well for us. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever. That we may do all the words of this law. And I remember hearing that a long time ago and it was like, like about how they're hidden, the things are secret, the things that are hidden, the things that I don't know. Like if they belong to the Lord, that's good enough for me because what would I be doing with them? Like, yeah, he's diligent. Yeah, I think Proverbs 3 actually, you know, I'm thinking about it. Like my mum had that as like, you know the way in the bathroom you have like, you have loads of verses and stuff. Like, so every morning I saw this verse, you know, Proverbs 3, like, trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding, acknowledge him in all your ways and he will make your path straight. Um, like I was singing it like in the mornings, just like, yes, this is what I need. because his thoughts are higher than ours, his ways are higher. Yeah. So, trusting in that is really important. It's kind of the thing he probably wants you to be established in before you start to... you need roots before you can go through, you know? Definitely. That's what you're rooted in. I was going to say, also like, there's a lot of value in what like, older people can like... advise us in or in, like... Encourage us in like they I think a lot of young people maybe would discredit people even their parents edge Just cuz like you know they're so uncool but like they have lived a whole life before you and have probably been exactly where you are and Yeah, they are more than happy to always talk. Yeah I'd be prayerful about that too because you could get a variety of I've had like even in ministry, you know, like it felt clear God was doing something and then some older folk were like, you've got to do this. And some were like, no, you've got to do this. And I was like, oh, yeah, no, everyone's going to say the same. Yeah. But that's where like discernment. Yeah. Fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, which is his ways are better. Yeah. Great. Also, I'd say ask the Holy Spirit directly. We have a wee bit of a funky culture, I think, sometimes in the church of like, we feel like the Holy Spirit is like, kind of the side quest, kind of, or the forgotten God, as Francis Chan put it. But he is a person of the Godhead. He's just as holy and valuable and should be worshipped as God just as much as the Father and the Son. and not they don't need to be pinned against each other that's a human concept but Holy Spirit he loves when we ask him things he loves when we seek his will when we ask him like Holy Spirit like not only give me the direction but like give me the ability and the gift and the power which is what charismatic means is charismatic just means a gift of grace So there's not, there is like, we have a category of a charismatic church, but there's not really that category to be a Christian is just to be, to have that gift of grace in your life. He is a gift of grace to us. Um, so he will equipped, you know, for what we, he doesn't stop our voice cracks, but he does, uh, give us gifts of courage and, um, yeah. and abilities and gift things. So ask him, what should I do? So good. So good. It's all very exciting as well. Yeah. It's all new. I was really encouraged from the experience I've had this summer with young people like feeling called to go to Ireland or go even like there's some young people in our youth that feel called to go to the nations and I feel like this podcast is even helpful for me as a youth leader that's trying to help them with their calling and because it's a big thing whenever somebody says I want to go to this country. There's one girl who's not one of my young people that wants to go to Nigeria. It's like, oh, how do I send you there? And whenever it might not be safe or things like that. Shout out to Ireland. Like, there's so much needs in Ireland. Oh, we're done. Are we done with the podcast? Oh, the front eyes. Oh, so there's no more camera. Well, we'll put a little photo of Luke's face at this point. Yeah. And he'll be smiling and... A collage. And happy. Yeah, a collage of Luke. Yeah. And I, a collage, some photos of Ireland. Yeah. We're putting that now. It's like an advertisement. It's like, come here. But generally, look at where there's need to, because like, the ratio of youth worker to... or just like minister to person in Northern Ireland. It's super, I can't remember the numbers exactly, but it's super, super dense compared to the South. It's mental. Ireland is the... I think it's the most unabantialised English speaking country. Yeah, it was a big focus over there. Come to her, please. Especially going to Goal. Yeah, definitely. And we just did a whole podcast about our chunder trip. Yeah. So many little opportunities like that. Such a good opportunity to be able to go, like, get a tent. It's not hard to... It's not hard. to get across the border, like you just drive. Like, literally. He's doing something in the West. Yeah, definitely. And it's incredible, and it's all extremely exciting. Yeah. Exciting for this generation that is upcoming, and any older people that are listening to this, you can still be called. Yeah. You can. Just got really drunk. You can. Are we at an hour and a half? Are we? No, that's not that. Whoa. Well, but it's a long time. So on that, we will wrap it up. Yeah, thank you so much Josh for coming. Thanks for having me. Being our first guest. Our first guest! Yay! It's a privilege. This is the most Carys Moriah podcast. It's brilliant. What on earth? It's a privilege. This cozy couch. Should we have bought it specifically for this? Yeah I did. I installed this couch for this vlog. Wow. Phenomenal. I did. But yeah, that's all for this week I guess. So do you want us waving? Yeah! Bye guys!