The Greater Call Podcast – Peter | Impulsive Rock with Pastor JC Worley

In this episode of The Greater Call, host Mark Immelman welcomes Pastor JC Worley, Lead Pastor of Go Church (Atlanta), for a candid conversation on Peter—the disciple Mark calls “The Impulsive Rock.” Together they unpack Peter’s highs and lows: bold faith, quick emotion, real failure, and powerful restoration—showing how God uses imperfect people who simply say “yes.”

From stepping out of the boat to denying Jesus by the fire, this episode highlights why the greater call is rarely comfortable—and why faith, availability, and grace are the building blocks of lasting leadership and legacy.

Key Themes

🎙️ Peter’s story: impulsive, emotional, inconsistent—and chosen
🎙️ God speaks to our future, not just our present (identity before readiness)
🎙️ The greater call is often uncomfortable—and that’s the point
🎙️ Faith to step out of the boat, even when critics are loud
🎙️ Failure is inevitable—what you do after failure matters most
🎙️ Grace mirrors failure: restoration is real and repeated

Memorable Quotes

“My answer is yes, Lord. Now what is your question?” – JC Worley
“I’d rather have to calm someone’s passion down than try to ignite a flame.” – JC Worley
“If it’s uncomfortable, it’s most likely God.” – JC Worley

Scripture References

• Matthew 4:18–20 — Jesus calls Peter: “Follow Me”
• Matthew 16:13–23 — Peter’s confession / “Get behind me, Satan”
• Matthew 14:22–33 — Peter walks on water
• Matthew 26:69–75 — Peter denies Jesus three times
• John 21:15–19 — Jesus restores Peter: “Do you love Me?”
• Matthew 6:33 — “Seek first the Kingdom…”
• Mark 9:14–29 — “This kind comes only by prayer and fasting”
• Acts 2 — Peter preaches at Pentecost

About Our Guest
Pastor JC Worley is the Lead Pastor of Go Church in Atlanta. He recently released his book Deeper 21, a practical devotional on experiencing the power of prayer and fasting over 21 days.

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✨ Be full of joy in all things, no matter where you are. Be thankful. Go and be a legend! ✨

Transcript

00:00:00] Welcome to This Greater Call podcast. I'm your host, mark Immelman, and, uh, we're gonna get to talk about Peter. Peter. Peter. Peter. I sort of, I think that's how, what Jesus used to say to him half the time, and to join me here for episode 20 called the Impulsive Rock. I love that, um, as my good buddy, pastor JC Worley, who is the lead, lead pastor of Go Church in Atlanta.

Jc What's up, man? How are you? Let me tell you, mark, I am thrilled to be on this podcast. I didn't realize we were episode 20. Yeah, I mean, we're, we're rocking and rolling. Uh, you've been so kind to invite me on and it seems like it's taken forever to sync up calendars, but we are in it. And I can't wait to have this conversation.

I just love, appreciate and respect you, man. Okay, well thank you. And, and, and the, you know, you, for any sort of Bible reader, you kind of know the story about Peter and for folks who have not read the [00:01:00] Bible, if ever you want somebody who you can sympathize with and go. I get this dude, man, because I'm a bit of a disaster, but I've been given this big role and I fall over, but I get back up.

Peter makes me feel okay about myself, jc I, I dunno where you sit on this guy, but the more I dove into the story, the more I, I sort of smile and then I shake my head and then I smile and, and it's, it's just like this blue collar guy that became a legend, basically. Absolutely. I mean, I, whenever I read the scripture, I try to.

Uh, think about myself in those stories, or the biblical personalities and how I connect or, you know, the similarities. And man, I think that a guy like Peter is that, that's, that's my guy. Because you, you talk about he's impulsive, he's emotional. Mm-hmm. At times. Inconsistent. And I, [00:02:00] that's, and those, those characteristics, uh, that's me.

So. Yeah, again, let's, let's start the whole thing here, folks. Uh, you can read the story of Peter in the New Testament, in the gospels and in Acts you have to, yeah. And then he wrote a book, two books at the end, uh, letters from Peter, which are riddled with really practical lessons. And I, I'll love to go. I spend some time in there.

Um, and, you know, as it as pertains to leadership and living a, a life that's gonna leave a legacy and such, Peter. Correct me if I'm wrong, was the first disciple that Jesus welcomed to his 12. I had never, I've never found anywhere where it said so, but Jesus goes up to this fishermen and says, Hey, pack up your nets.

Come with me. I'll make you a fisher of men. And he goes, sure, let's do this. And, and already that sort of shows the. Exactly. The impulsiveness. Exactly. It's like whatever. He's, it's, he's providing for his family, his wife at the time, [00:03:00] and he's a fisherman. And he goes, okay, cool. Let, let's, let's go with this unproven, untested guy, just because I sensed something in him.

And that speaks to what sort of inside of Peter. Maybe that's something special already. Mm-hmm. Uh, so I'm curious at, at, at your thoughts over there. Yeah. You know, um. My, I'm jumping way ahead, so we've got some time on the podcast to unpack all this, but it's real. When you were talking about that, it's really interesting because after, you know, Peter denies the Lord, uh, he ends up going back to the very job that God called him out of Uhhuh.

And it's just really interesting how, and of course we're gonna have some time on the, the podcast to unpack Peter's story, but it's interesting how when we mess up and when we fail. Which we will. Now, I'm not endorsing sin or justifying sin, but we're human. And so when we mess up, the enemy would love for us to be so filled with the guilt [00:04:00] and the shame and the condemnation that we go back to, the very lifestyle that God called us out of.

Mm-hmm. And here in the opening scene, you see God calling Peter out of that life of fishing and then. God's gotta do it again. 'cause Peter goes back to fishing. But again, that's, that's way for later in this in the show. I'm glad you bring that up because it kind of makes me feel okay about me and, and something I didn't know.

And thankfully to this podcast, I'm spending more time reading my Bible, but just reading it, not just kind of glossing over the stories, you know? Um. Jesus' first words to Peter as you point out, were, come follow me. And the last thing he said to Peter as well was like, come follow me. You know, it's, follow me.

It's the same sort of thing as you've gone through this almost. He's, he's Jesus tied the bow basically to a guy who was all in then got all mixed up and then back all in. And then Jesus of course ascends to heaven and Peter becomes as Jesus prophesied PHAs. That's right. The rock on which I will build [00:05:00] my church.

Yeah, which is, uh, CS I believe is. Aramaic. 'cause his name was Simon. Simon, yeah. Right. And so in Aramaic, it's CFUs in Greek. It's Peter and I, I think that's actually a great, uh, leadership principle in itself. And I had kind of wrote a few thoughts down as well, just 'cause I, I, I wanted to have some organization to my thinking here, but, uh, Jesus renames Peter, before Peter was.

Actually ready for the mission. Sure. And I thought about that because, you know, again, you go from Simon to CFUs to Peter, um, at that moment, he wasn't a rock. He wasn't a rock. Mm-hmm. But God was preparing him for something that's greater. And I think Jesus often names us according to our future, not our present.

And I know that's, that's true in my life. I mean, God is always seeing the best in me and what is to come, but I don't wanna speak for you. But for me, I can always get in my head about the struggles of [00:06:00] my now. But God always sees the beloved of God created Genesis 1 27, created in the image of God, the Imago Day.

And I think it's a, a great encouragement mark to what you're saying that Jesus often speaks. I, I, I don't maybe even always speaks, not just often, but always speaks to our potential, not our performance. Yeah. And we see it here in the life of Peter. I love that. Um, you know, we've, as you point out in episode 20 here, and we've done a few really interesting ones.

Abraham was renamed, he was Abraham, so God's in the, in the business of renaming. But the one story that's resonated with me almost more than this one of Peter. Because I see myself in Peter, you know, sort of tempestuous at times, and I, I'm, I'm, I'm brash and sometimes I'm brave and sometimes I'm not. And I, I have all these things that Peter sort of lives out in, in, in his story and he's authentic about it.[00:07:00] 

Yeah. The, the, the story of Gide. We, we got this guy who's hiding basically away from the people that, uh, overrun the country and he's just basically providing for his family. And the angel of the Lord shows up and he goes, get up brave and mighty warrior. Yeah. And I'm like, geez. And then, then, then Gideon's like, uh hmm.

Who me? And then he is like a, the angel's like, I've got this, um, got this job for you to do. That's why. Like, well, prove to me that you actually for real about this and then prove it to me again. And, and, and that story resonated with me in the same sort of a way where God is, he's in the business of renaming.

Now, I might not become, not Mark one day and something else. Sure. But my entire time as a leader and as a father and, and as a mentor sometimes to people, you're right, God has put this inside of all of us. Yeah. Just a question of. [00:08:00] Allowing it to come out because then we become the leaders and the fathers and the bosses or whatever it meant to be the coaches that we were supposed to be all along.

I got this image as you were sharing, you know, uh, just about clay on the potter's will. Yes. You know, and, and scripture talks about that. He's the potter. We're the clay and Mark our whole life, you know, as a follower of Christ, um, as a friend. For those that are married, as a spouse, as a parent. Uh, God is constantly forming us.

Yeah. He's constantly forming us. And to connect it back to even what we're talking about with Peter's constantly just renaming us because the enemy's goal is to rob us of our identity and our hope and our future, and God's best in God's plan. But the potter is so gracious, you know, and I look, I don't know nothing about pottery, so I don't even wanna pretend like I do.

But I'm confident [00:09:00] that is a patient process where the potter is molding and shaping and massaging and working until that masterpiece is created. And I'm thankful that we have a heavenly Father that continues to do those things with, with me. I, I, I'm just led to do this people, for folks watching and listening.

I have often prayed, you know, before I go on the air, I'm like, okay, Lord, you are the putter. I'm the clay. Fill me, mold me, use me. That sort of thing. And it was, I don't wanna say just trite, just words. Yeah. But the fact that you now talk about puty and I'm actually picturing the clay on the wheel. Yeah.

That you just, if you put your finger in one place, it starts to take that. That's right. And I'm like, wow, that's incredible. Because the entire time that that wheel is turning, we'll call that life. Life and, and if you allow, or if you're really allowing the potter to mold the [00:10:00] clay, there's constant little adjustments that are happening and terms.

It might just be like, bang the clay and let's restart. Kind of deal. Maybe like Peter. That's right. But throughout this, it's like it's a continual pro process of being molded until we reach that ultimate image that you described. Well, I think, you know, uh, we live in a culture, honestly, almost no matter where your viewership and listeners are tuning in from culture, culture is hurried and everything is.

Quick, let's go. Let's go. Let's move, let's move. But when it comes to spiritual formation, when it becoming everything that God desires for us to become as men of God or for ladies, women of God, it's not a hurry process. Yeah. It's not a hurry process. It requires patience from the father, but also this understanding that we, we, we are just a lump of clay.

And if we'll allow the Holy [00:11:00] Spirit to do his transformational work, he can take guys like Mark JC Peter and use us to do great things in spite of us. Because we've been shaped by the master, and we see this all throughout scripture. I, I'm confident that this has probably been, uh, uh, shared on the podcast.

And you've heard this before, so this is not an original thought, but you look at all the different biblical personalities of who God used to accomplish great things. And one thing is abundantly clear. God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called. You know, and that is on repeat. And the same is true.

And I don't, I, you we're friends, so you know, I don't mean any disrespect when I say this. That's true for you. It's true for me. We're not qualified to do what God's called us to do. He qualifies us by calling us, and he shapes us and molds us, and he's patient with us, and he gives us grace and mercy. And maybe that's why we connect to, [00:12:00] you know, a biblical personality like a Gideon or a David, or a guy like Peter here in the New Testament.

They work in progress. All of them. Yes. Every single one of these heroes at the end of their story. I mean, yes, Peter, who is the rock on which the church was built, and if you go to Rome, you know, there's, there's statues and stuff of, uh, Peter all over the show. At the time though, he was just a lowly fisherman.

But, but there was this constant work in progress with every single one of them. It, it reminds me of, you know. I've always been a Christian, but when I started being a practicing Christian, I guess, um, I was in Greensboro, North Carolina and I got into a rental car and my wife is always praying for me. Let me preface this, Tracy.

Okay. And it's astounding now that I pay attention to these little things, how I notice this. So I get into the rental car. It's one of my first events with CBS, so I'm brand new and I feel so out of place amongst [00:13:00] these announcing titans. And I get in the rental car and I turn on the radio and I'm about to flip it to one or other rock station, and Caleb Radio is on.

Okay. And there's that song by casting Crowns playing nobody. And the song goes, I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody all about somebody who saved my soul. Right? Come on. But there's, but there's a line in the song now this, as the radio goes on, this song is playing. And so I keep listening. Then there was this line that really resonated with me and well, well, the song goes, Moses had stage fright.

'cause Moses had a stutter and God called him to go and lead the Israelites out of uh, uh, E Egypt into the Promised Land. Then he says, then they say, David brought a rock to a sword fight, which I thought was brilliant, but he did. Yeah. And then there's the line, and this is where Peter, and you and me and all of us fit in, and it goes, you pick 12 outsiders, [00:14:00] nobody would've chosen, but they changed this world about the disciples.

Thank you Jesus. And it's amazing. It's amazing to me. Like if you look at these 12 disciples, the folks that Jesus entrusted of which Peter was the leader. To, to basically preach this ministry to Jews and Gentiles alike. It was like these were a bunch of nobodies and, and they all were flawed. None of them all buttoned up.

They, they didn't know, well, they, they knew the law 'cause they kind of had to learn it, but they didn't really practice. Right. They, they, they, they were getting life lessons from Jesus himself. It's an incredible story where if you just take a minute to think about it. How every single one of you, if you feel like me, you feel like a nobody inside, but you're somebody who has a purpose.

If you just go out, bat fulfilling it. It's so encouraging. You know, I, I'm not sure all the reasons why the Lord would choose those 12. Yeah, that's true. You [00:15:00] know, it's like a, you know, a group of like, it's like the JV team, and they weren't, they weren't the varsity players, you know what I'm saying? They were, they were, they were the bench guys.

Like, get off the bench, you're in the game, you know, uh, kind of misfits, if you will. Outcasts. Yeah. I'm not sure why the Lord would choose. Those 12, I, I could probably highlight a few reasons, but one that I think connects, especially with Peter's story is 'cause, 'cause the Lord knew about all of their, you know, imperfections and inconsistencies and propensities towards doing wrong.

It didn't take none of that. Took the Lord by surprise. So the Lord knew that someone like Peter was gonna be impulsive, you know, and erratic, you know? Uh, and that's what I mean. Peter, all throughout Peter's story, like you see that, I mean, he told the Lord, he said, you know, Lord, it's good to be here. Let's build three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah, meaning I don't ever want to come down from this place.

Let's just sit here for a [00:16:00] while. Uh, later on he cuts off the ear of Malus, the servant of the high priest. So he draws out the sword, cuts off his ear. Oh, wait, wait, wait. How about, how about, how about this one though? 'cause this is what I wanted to talk about. So I'm leading you there. Forgive me for interrupting.

No, that's all right. I'm thinking about. Yes, Peter, he is growing and he is all bristled up and he is like the Bantam hen and he is leading the disciples and this guy Jesus. And, and man, I believe him and you should see what he does. He's performing miracles and like, I'm just so excited. We gotta get the word out because he was that guy, right?

Yeah. And then Jesus starts prophesying about how he's gonna have to lay his life down and Peter jumps up and basically says, no, this is not how it's gonna happen. Yeah. And then Jesus looks at him and goes. Get behind me, Satan. Exactly. My time. My time has come. Yeah. And I can imagine Peter going, oh my gosh, this guy just called me Satan.

It was, it's, it's, I mean, my, my mind, absolutely. I'm flummoxed at the whole thing and what he must have felt like if I'm trying to put myself in that [00:17:00] position. Which, uh, correct me if I'm wrong, uh, unfortunately I don't have my Bible right beside me. But isn't, isn't that right? Not long after that, Peter declares Jesus to be the son of God.

Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so it's like up here. Who, who do you say that I am? And then it's get behind these Satan. It's just, but again, that just shows. Okay, so, so why then would the Lord choose someone like Peter with knowing those types of moments would happen? And I think one of the reasons is, is the disciples were available.

To say yes to the greater call yes. Of availability. So I think one thing that moves the heart of God is a person's willingness to say yes to the greater call. 'cause God can use that. God can use that. A prayer that I try to pray almost every day. Mark, and I may not bat a thousand on this prayer, but [00:18:00] I'm like in the nine hundreds, if you will, for a batting average on this prayer is, the answer is yes, Lord.

Now, what is your question? I try to pray that prayer every day. My answer is yes. Now what is your question? And I think a lot of times we wanna know the question and then we'll determine this is not a negotiation with God. We're not, it's not a barter, we're not, we're not trying to develop a contractual agreement.

And okay, you, Lord, you want this, but let me work this in the contract. No, no, no. This is not my will. Your will be done, Lord. And so my answer is yes. Now what are you asking me to do? And I think you see in the disciples this same posture. So of course Peter is impulsive and emotional and inconsistent, but I, I would rather.

Uh, this is, I'm, I'm speaking as a leader now. I would rather, as a leader, have to calm someone's passion down. Yes. Calm them down than to try to ignite a flame [00:19:00] to get them going. Does that make sense? Yeah. Uh, and so I, I think, sure, there's a lot of things there with Peter, but the, I, I can't speak for the Lord, but I think as a leader, one thing that I appreciate is I'd rather have to calm him down than to try to get him motivated.

And Peter was always quick to do something for the Lord. Always quick to do something for the Lord. So it's the ultimate, uh, that, that there is the ultimate life lesson, what you just said. And you know, it's one thing just to say those words. It's another thing to honestly pray it and commit, you know, be all in on the Okay, my answer's yes.

Now what is the question? Right? Right. It's easy for us to make our own, um, sort of proviso when it gets this thing to keep it comfortable. I don't think I've all, I don't think I've all, I don't wanna mislead the, you or the listeners. I don't think I've always had that posture. Oh no. Yeah, fair enough. But, but that goes back to spiritual formation, which should over time produce spiritual maturity.

You know, I mean, I can think, and, and we don't [00:20:00] have time to get into the specifics of these moments in my life, but I can think of two very specific moments where I told not only the Lord. But my wife, who I often say, uh, the Holy Spirit has a first name and her name is Kimberly, which is my wife, you know?

Uh, but I've told the Lord and my wife Kimberly. No, nope. Not doing that. Mm-hmm. Not happening, not praying about it. Only then to fast forward to, I'm doing the very things that I told God I would not do. So I think I learned in those moments. I'm not in a position to tell the Lord no. And really ultimately, and this, this podcast is not about.

Me or Go church or our ministry or leadership. But for what it's worth, I think whatever success we have or will have in the future, the only thing Mark that I can take credit for, the only thing that I can say I did that is my Yes. Yeah. That's it, that's all I can take credit for is I, I was just willing to be [00:21:00] used by the Lord.

And when you are willing and available, God can, God can use you in spite of the, the different inconsistencies, impulsiveness, et cetera, that we see in my life. And in someone like Peter's life, just say yes. Well, yeah. Um. And, and, and building on that thought there, there were many times that Peter said yes, and then one time where he said, mm-hmm.

Oh, three times. And I want to get into two of these big events. Well, all big events in his life. But these were sort of the stories that everybody knows. And I wanna unpack these a little bit, Jesse. Um, the first one is the 12 disciples are in the boat. Yeah. And there's the story. This story, yeah. Jesus shows up there in the distance and they look at this apparition that's walking on water, and they're like, who's that?

Who's that? Who's that? And they're like, oh my gosh, it's Jesus walking on water. And now Peter's like. I wanna do that. You know, it's, it's just, I dunno if it's brave or brash. Or [00:22:00] idiotic or whatever it might be, but he's just so all in. Right, exactly. And like you say, available and, yes. Yes. And so he says, Jesus and I walk on water.

Jesus goes, come on bro. Step out. Yep. And he did. And there he is going along and all of a sudden, and then he looks down and he realizes what's actually happening. Yeah. And he begins to sink. And now he's panicking. And he's like, Lord, save me and re Jesus Comely reaches down and saves him and puts him back in the boat and wells.

Well, dens well, but, but I have to, now I'm thinking about like Peter, I'm like, my gosh, I walked on water then. My gosh, I failed so desperately. And then can you imagine him nights thereafter when he is trying to sleep some, thinking about that entire experience. Uh, it's, it's mind numbing to me. You know, my, my brain actually goes to.

A different perspective in that story and as we tie it into, you know, just leadership. Um, of course he couldn't [00:23:00] forget it because there were 11 other guys that reminded him of it. True. Yeah, true. And this is this not leadership like, you know, 'cause again, Peter was always quick to do something for the Lord.

And I, I now, the Bible doesn't give us the details of, of all of the conversations that happened in that moment. I, I would imagine, 'cause these are human beings, and I'm sure these other disciples are like, there he goes again. There he goes again. Like he's up. He, you know, and so, and I'm, I'm, you know, I'm, I'm hearing like, I started the show with Peter.

Peter. Oh my gosh. Peter, are are you for real about this? Yeah. Yeah. They're like, man, just can't you just sit on the boat, you know? But he says, Lord, if it's really you, let me come to you. And I'm sure, and I'm not saying the other disciples. We're critics or haters. But I wanna say to those, listening to this podcast, if their heart is to step out and do something significant for God, it is going to require faith, which is the only way [00:24:00] that Peter walked on the water was faith and God's hand on them.

But you have to be able to overcome the, the, the criticism of those around you that will say, you can't do this. You, you tried this before and you can't do this. And again, I don't wanna take the story out of context, but I'm quite confident those other disciples. We're critical of, here we go again. And somebody may be listening to the podcast, really feeling God prompting them to do something, to step outside of the boat, to walk on water, whatever it is, write a book, start a business, pursue a goal, pursue a dream, whatever it is.

And the, the voices of criticism are loud and you have to be willing to say, 'cause there were, there were two voices. One was the voice of truth. Yeah, Lord, if it's you, let me come. And Jesus said, come on, bro. Come. Or the voice of the enemy that says, no, stay complacent. It's safer on the boat. Keep both feet on the boat.

You'll, you'll, you'll [00:25:00] fall, you'll fail. And Peter was like, I, I'm, I'd rather swing the bat and strike out than to not swing the bat and strike out looking. So he took a shot and he walked in water. That's why I brought you on the show, so yeah, I know that we, we've, we've had our moment there. It's, that, that is, that has kinda hit me right here in the fields and right here in the mine too, because your point is so valid where it's sometimes just so easy to stay in the boat.

Even, even though, 'cause it, it was during a storm that he stepped out of the boat. It wasn't like it was plain sailing, so it wasn't comfortable in the boat. Yet he stepped from uncomfortable to even more uncomfortable. Yeah. And he was sort of there and he had this brush with heaven, if you will, could, could I say one more thing to that Please?

Yes. I don't, I don't see anywhere in scripture and I don't see anywhere in my life. And again, I can't speak for you, but I would be pretty confident to say, I [00:26:00] don't know if you've ever seen anywhere in your life that God ever calls us to something that is comfortable. Every time the greater call is about uncomfortability.

I'm so glad you're just saying the name of the show. That's like the third time, bro. Thank you. I'm doing my, I'm doing the best I can, but, but it, but that's why, that's why you're doing the, the, the, the podcast and the greater call is to uncomfortability, and I'll unpack that very, very quickly as to why I believe that's true is because if God ever called you to something that is comfortable, then you don't need confidence in him.

You don't need trust in him. You know you can do it on your own wisdom, your own ability, your own intellect. But when God calls you the greater call to uncomfortable things, now you know I can't do this on my own. I'm not smart enough. I'm not gifted enough, I'm not talented enough, so all of my dependence can't be on.

See in what I can or can't do, it has to be on the one that's called me to it. 'cause if God's called me to it, then he will see me through it. [00:27:00] And so the greater call is about confidence and trust in the Lord and not in ourselves. And I don't, I don't, no, no time in my life. As a matter of fact, if there's ever been a time in my life where God has called me to something that has comfortable, that's probably not the voice of God, that's probably the voice of jc.

Saying do that so that you can take credit for it. And everything that God has done in my life is 'cause He's called me to something that is impossible. And man says that's impossible. But God says, yeah, but I am possible. And now when God uses guys like Mark JC Peter, who gets the glory. Who gets the honor.

Mm-hmm. It's not Mark JC and Peter. It's King Jesus. And so, again, I don't think God will ever call then. So to someone that's listening, that's wrestling with what's next, if it's uncomfortable, it's most likely God. Hey, uh, I'm sure you've done this already, but I'm hoping that this is gonna be a future sermon at Go Church because you nailed it there.

That, that, that, that, that is, it's so true and so [00:28:00] appropriate because that resonated with me. And again, not to make this about me, we've got more Peter to get to, but again, I said I've, I've seen so much of myself in him. Mm-hmm. And I'm sure everyone who goes and reads it, if you haven't go and really read it and go and see, because Peter is like you and me.

Um, where. You're right, I could, on my golf podcast, that one on the mark, I see that I can get on there and hit record and speak for an hour with no preparation. Hmm. But for this show, gosh, it's uncomfortable. I've stepped into very uncomfortable and I'm nervous as a cat before I hit record. But the cool, I'm the same way before I preach.

I feel the same way before I preach, man. But the cool thing is once you get into it and then the spirit arrives, and then I, when I, when I stopped recording jc after this period of un severe uncomfortability. The exhilaration after it, after finishing a show like this is so different to anything I've ever done [00:29:00] in golf, and it is so cool.

It's so amazing. So amazing, man. I'm, I hope this is okay. I'm having a blast right now. Me too. Of course, of course. I'm having a blast. Alright, well, okay, well, did you wanna talk about the staggering contrast of Peter walking on water and then his denial? We're getting that. Well, that's the next on my list of notes of you.

You see, you can't see for the glare of the lights, but I, I rarely have notes. I have key thoughts when, when I do golf. Yeah. I've got. Notes. Well, you probably made notes because you were like, jcs coming on. I really gotta help this guy out. So let's, let's have some notes to make sure we stay on track. Okay.

So for those who don't know, so, um, Jesus gives himself up, gets arrested. Starts, it is taken off to, um, I believe it was the Sanhedrin or the Pharisees, and they're questioning him. Peter is waiting outside, basically hiding in the shadows after saying to Jesus, he goes, I will go everywhere with you and I'm gonna never leave your side.

You know? So now he's hiding away and there's these people [00:30:00] gathered around a fire and, and Jesus has said to him, you will deny me three times. Peter's like never, Lord. Never, never, never. Um, and so someone looks at him and goes, Hey, you one of the followers of the way, 'cause they were called The way. Yeah.

He goes, no, no, no, no, that's not me. And then someone else looks at him and goes, aren't you without Jesus guy? And he goes, no, no, no, not me. And then the third time someone asks him and he denies, and the rooster crows. Now there's various things that resonate with me. How my mom always used to say to me, white lies have short legs.

Okay? Hmm. Come on. Because if you tell a little lie, you're gonna have to tell another little lie. And eventually it's gonna catch up with you. And here's, it's easy to just deny if you, Peter. Now, after all these other big statements he's made. So he is gone from hero to zero in the blink of an eye. Mm. I'm only [00:31:00] imagining what he must have felt like.

When he hears something as insignificant as a chicken or a rooster crowing. 'cause he's like, that guy said that to me. Oh my gosh. He, because he, Peter had all these brushes where he is like, you are the messiah, you are guy. You know, and, and I was like, this guy, he walked on water. He even got a rooster to crow at the very right time, at the very correct time to point out to me my shortcomings.

It's an incredible story if you just. Sort of sit in it for a minute or two. Yeah. It really is. Uh, my mind even goes, 'cause this is the, the podcast specifically is about Peter. This is all of the disciples. Yeah. You know, and the gospel of Mark. Um, a, a father brings his demon possessed boy to the disciples to be delivered.

The disciples are unable to deliver the demon possessed boy. Jesus shows up and [00:32:00] the father says, I brought my demon possessed son to your disciples. They weren't able to cast out the devil. And Jesus says to the disciples, you unbelieving and perverted generation. How long am I gonna have to put up with you?

The, the whole, the whole resume of these guys or this very thing here, you know? And so now Peter finds himself. In such a unique predicament because the Lord said he would do it. He said, I will never do it. And in one of the three moments of denial, it was to a teenage girl, a little middle. He didn't have enough faith in confidence in his relationship with Christ to tell a middle school girl, yes, I'm a follower of Jesus the way.

He hears the rooster crows, which I've never thought about this before. And this is not theologically accurate by any means, but the play on here, 'cause you said a chicken. Yeah. You know, in America, when we call somebody a chicken Yeah. We mean they're [00:33:00] afraid. And so of course that's not any theological depth, but, uh, it's a pretty unique analogy of what was really taking place for, for Peter.

Well, okay, I gotta say this, that, well, it's the living word, right? People refer to the Bible. And it is different things to different people. And if you know, not reading it, if you go and read it, it'll, it'll cut and it'll motivate and, and it's, and I can read certain passages at different times and different stories come out.

And the one thing I do wanna say is I feel like in translation things get lost. Yes. And, and in English we've got so many words for different things where a lot of the arama, as you know and stuff, there's like one word that means various things. That's very true. Yeah. It's rooster in, uh, English, but it could have been a chicken.

And yes, I, I feel you with a player on words to say, you are that chicken. And you know what? And, and this is where I feel because my ministry is in [00:34:00] television, and it's so easy, so easy. To be like Peter and just go, this was the moment where you should say something and you go, I'd rather not. Wow. Wow. So easy man.

And so there there is this element of bravery that's required, but the brave, it's not just bravery to me, jc and I want your comment. It's a little bit of faith, but it's also a real knowing of like what the real priority is. Like where's, where does Jesus actually fit in your life? Are you just seeing big stuff or are you actually acting out the big stuff?

Exactly. You know, we, we, we won't most likely find ourselves around a campfire being questioned if we're a follower of Jesus, but you will find yourself around the water cooler in the break room of your job. Or in the stands of your son or daughter's high school sporting event or in other circles of influence?

'cause [00:35:00] God's given everybody a, a platform of some kind and we got a choice to make. You know, are we gonna be loud and proud to say that yes, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. Or in those moments, do we coward in fear because, well, if I say something, I won't get the promotion. Or if I say something, they'll look at me differently.

And, you know, uh, I hope that, uh, we can always walk with boldness. To say I'm a follower of Jesus, you know, and the old hymn would say, though, none, go with me. Still, I will follow no turning back. You know? And, um, and there, there are gonna be moments, and you've experienced this, I've experienced this where our, our faith will be questioned, our followership will be questioned or will be given an opportunity to be loud about our faith.

And how do we navigate those moments, you know? Um, is Jesus, which Matthew 6 33. Uh, it's another prayer that I [00:36:00] pray every day. As a matter of fact, my alarm clock now, I get up earlier than this, uh, but my alarm clock is set every day for 6:33 AM That's cool. I'm gonna do that. Yeah. And it goes off and I put in the alarm, you know, you can put a little note.

So when my 6:33 AM alarm goes off. It's Matthew 6 33. And so every day at 6:33 AM I pray, Matthew 6 33, which is seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then everything else. I'm, I'm paraphrasing, but everything else will be taken care of. You have nothing to worry about. And we live in a culture where we reverse that.

We spend most of our time, energy, and effort worried or focused on the and everything else piece. Instead of just seek God first peace. And so for those that are listening, that are worried about and all of these other things, and so maybe that's the reason that I'm not very bold or loud about my faith.

God says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Seek me first. You put me first. [00:37:00] Make me numero uno. Let me be the priority. And then all those other things I got you. I got you. And so it's a daily prayer that I try to pray is in everything I do, in every conversation I have, I wanna seek you first, and the Lord is taking care of all the other stuff.

Yeah. You know, in the interest of time we'll have to do episode, another episode on Peter. 'cause there's so much, 'cause I wanted to dive into books, but time is catching up with us. That sounds like it's an invitation back. I, yeah. Okay. But I've gotta get into your crazy schedule. Hey, I do wanna say this because it's amazing that you would say that to me and to everyone listening and watching and then it, I'm looking down at my notes and it was the one of the first things I said to you where Jesus said to Peter at the start, come follow me.

And at the end he says, come follow me before Jesus is about to ascend to heaven. And, and, and so to the whole thing where you're talking about seeking first, where the invitation from Jesus is there all the time. That's right. [00:38:00] Uh, I think that's where the seek first is. Like it's, it, it, to me it says like I'm looking for and, and there's active seeking.

And if you get to the Bible and you seek you, you will find, I, I, I'm, I can, I'm back and vouch for that. We get to live that now and it's so cool. Amen. But Jesus is knocking and if you just submit Amen. It's amazing how you can go from Gideon, I call him timid hero, a timid man to the brave and mighty warrior.

Come on here. You can go from fishermen to the rock on which the church was built. Yeah. It's, it's like, again, these nobodies that turn into the, that we're just talking about somebody. Exactly right. Sweetest. It's, it's, it's the sweetest story and it's just loaded with life lessons and, and it's not like we're blowing people's hair back with some incredible, like, business knowledge.

It's just simplicity at its at its finest I think. Do I have time to share [00:39:00] two quick thoughts if I do them quickly? Yeah. Um, because I know that we wanna be mindful of the time and, um, when you were talking about this, this, uh, denial of Jesus. So Peter denies the Lord three times and then. The rooster crows when you go though.

I think it's John 21, if I'm not mistaken, to the restoring of Peter. Yeah. You know, so Jesus comes walking up and uh, he asks, you know, Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. So how many, and this is set, set up. So, but how many times has Jesus ask him that question? Do you love me? Feed my sheep three times? And I don't think that's accidental.

I think that. I want somebody who's watching or listening to hear this, grace mirrors failure. God's grace is always available, and I think in that moment, the kindness of God, the [00:40:00] grace of God showed Peter, you denied me three times, but for every moment of failure. My grace is sufficient and my mercies are new every morning, and so I don't think that's just accidental.

Or if somebody's reading the story for the first time, maybe. Hearing the, the podcast, you know, it's prompted them to go read and they're like, oh, why does the Lord keep asking 'em that? You know? He said, yes. Well, I think the Lord is just saying my grace is always available every time that you fail. And so I don't know if you have anything to add to that, but that I got two things.

That was the one thing I wanted to say based off of the comment that you made. Keep rolling, but yep. The second one is this. Okay, and I have to do this quickly. I've always been intrigued, mark, by, um, the failure of, of Peter, the denial, uh, from Peter of knowing the Lord and then the betrayal of Judas. Okay.

Okay. So both of these are disciples? Mm-hmm. They, because we give Judas [00:41:00] like the what for, you know what I'm saying? Like, Judas sold Jesus out, but didn't Peter. Peter did the same thing. The difference is only one of them got paid for it. Yeah. So Judas got paid for denying the Lord. Peter denied the Lord and didn't get compensation for it.

But what's the, what's the difference of the outcome? So what happens to Judas? Judas? That's right. Judas denies the Lord. And this is, oh man, this is so important, and thank you for giving me a moment just to say this, because there are people that are watching or listening and they have failed or when they fail and forgive my emotion, but the enemy will try to do the same tactic.

Judas fails and he leaves the band of brothers. Yes. He tries to handle the failure on his own. He tries to handle it as on his on his own, and he ends up committing suicide because we're [00:42:00] never meant to do life alone. We're never meant to carry the pain and the grief and the struggle in isolation. And so Judas leaves the man of brothers.

And ends up taking his own life. Peter goes back to the Band of Brothers. Eventually he's back with the group, and there he finds accountability, fellowship, communion, acceptance, strength, and then what happens one day on the day of Pentecost? It's Peter who's standing on the balcony of a two story apartment building that begins to declare, you know, uh, who Jesus is.

And it's just the contrast of these two outcomes. And so for those listening or watching, you know, uh, failure is inevitable. You know what I mean? We we're gonna mess up because we're human beings. But you have a decision to make in the failure. Do I try to handle the failure on my own? And isolate from the people that really care about me or love me, or will I surround myself with people that believe in me, in [00:43:00] spite of my failure can support me, pray for me, encourage me, champion me, so that I can eventually become everything that God has planned for my life.

I just wanted to highlight that real quick. That is pastor JC Whi. Go church jc uh, you gotta do it. Um, 'cause he's got a massive church that's growing like a weed there in the Atlanta surrounds folks if you are in, uh, the area. Um, he's a Georgia fan, so we'll forgive him for that. Roll Tide Dogs. Go. Dogs. Um.

Book, show us the book real fast. Tell, tell us where people can get it, uh, where, where they can, yeah. So I, I had the privilege of writing and releasing my very first book. Um, it's called Deeper 21, and it's a, a devotional style read 21 chapters, uh, meant to be read over 21 days, although it's not necessarily you, you have to read it over 21 days.

But, uh, we, we talk about experiencing the power prayer fasting in 21 days. And, hey, if you look right here, your pastor. Did the [00:44:00] endorsement on the cover. And, uh, so PC is a, a, a gift to my life. And if anybody knows about the disciplines of prayer fasting, it would be that guy. And so I wrote the book primarily for Go Church.

The church that I pastor. Uh, we start every calendar year with 21 days of prayer fasting. We started on January one. January one because I believe in seeking God first. It's resolution, huh? Yes. There we go. And you know, you know what's interesting of the 21 days, January one, it being a holiday, people would think, oh, nobody probably participates.

And they show up for prayer. It's our largest attended morning of prayer that we have in all the 21 days. 'cause I think if you put God first. So anyway, I wrote it primarily for our church family. Um, but then released it, you know, to the public. It's on Amazon and you can, you can search it that way, but, you know, I'd love for people to pick up a copy.

Uh, lemme tell you, I'm not making a ton of money off the book, and that's not why I wrote it. I wrote it because I believe that it, it, it really [00:45:00] is a field guide. The disciplines are prayer and fasting are powerful and transformational. And to go back to the story that I shared earlier in Mark with the demon possessed son and Jesus.

Rebukes the disciples, and then he said, and some miracles only come by prayer and fasting. And so for those that are listening or watching, there are some miracles that you need that they will only come by prayer and fasting. And I talk a lot about that in the book. Seven chapters on fasting with seven different types of fast, seven chapters on prayer with seven different prayers.

You can pray. And then seven chapters to make up the 21 chapters on what happens when you combine prayer and fasting. And then I tell seven stories that are miracle stories of people that were at the end of their rope and they prayed in fast and God turned that thing around So deeper, 20 one.com or Amazon.

I think it's a great book. Jc, I love you, man. You're a legend. I love you more. I love you more. That's stuff [00:46:00] don't tell. Don't ever tell 'em about my golf game though. Alright? Don't ever tell 'em about my golf game. Well, you do make it look stylish. And so thank you. And for the rest of you who watched this and downloaded this, thank you.

I, I, I know you were led to the show and I know you probably have someone else that you, uh, don't be like me and say, okay to my wife, you've gotta go watch or listen to this, but do shit. Exactly. Because you never know how and where someone might find that something. And we are all trying to be better people and better leaders and better fathers and mothers and bosses and coaches.

So I appreciate you downloading this one. Do follow us on socials. All the handles are at the greater call and you can see jcs handsome mug if you go to YouTube and search and subscribe. You know the gray beards, him and me as always. Thanks so much.