Unashamed with Markus & Nehemiah
Join Markus and Nehemiah as they discuss life, ministry and living unashamed for Jesus.
Unashamed with Markus & Nehemiah
Episode 6: Faith Over Fame: Choosing God's Path in a World of Opportunities
Markus and Nehemiah share intimate prayers that shape their spiritual journeys and discuss discerning God's voice amid life's opportunities and distractions.
• Worship songs that move them spiritually, including "Come and Behold" and "The Blood"
• Nehemiah's recurring prayers for purity of heart and humility
• Markus's prayer to remember his "why" and maintain dependence on God
• Finding ministry beyond platforms and in everyday conversations and actions
• Learning to say no to good opportunities that aren't God opportunities
• The challenge of "putting the world on mute" to hear God's voice clearly
• Building consistency in following through on commitments
• The principle: "If it's God now, it's God later"
• Practical wisdom for making decisions based on God's peace, not worldly pressure
We pray more than anything, what God accomplishes in our lives, we never make it about ourselves but always lift up the name of Jesus. May we live unashamed, pure before Him, and pursue Him with everything in us.
Welcome back to the Unashamed Podcast with our hosts Marcus and Nehemiah. One thing we love to do around here is we live wildly unashamed. Romans 1.16 says for we are unashamed of the gospel, and that's what we're about around here. Man Excited to get into today's episode, Nemo, I got a funny question I would love to open with.
Speaker 2:Okay, let's go.
Speaker 1:What worship song makes you feel like you're about to levitate? Come and behold, come on, give us a little bit of it. Come on, you know I can't say, just talk, just talk.
Speaker 3:I would talk about if I sung.
Speaker 1:It make you feel you want to sing, come on, let's go. Let me see go. No, I'm not doing that, just tell us some of the lyrics.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, come and behold, isn't, isn't he fascinating, that one?
Speaker 3:Oh, I can feel myself he's freezing that one and Show Me your Face. Oh, my goodness bro, Don't get me started, bro. That thing puts me in tears, bro.
Speaker 1:Dang. Right now, the song that's just wrecking me is the Blood oh.
Speaker 2:It's never been about performance. Perfection. What Striving? Striving for perfection? Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody want to be holy, oh righteous, purified and spotless?
Speaker 1:hallelujah, oh man boy, that song that gets me fired up, bro.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, it's got upper room, upper room carries my, my worship playlist.
Speaker 1:Come on bro, upper room is crazy man. May god bless them. Uh, next one if satan had a podcast, who's his first guest and what would the episode be about?
Speaker 3:His first guess would be Judas Make it right?
Speaker 1:No, judas is going to be our answer to a lot of these questions, for sure.
Speaker 3:Bro, I'd like to see if there was a podcast between the devil and I want to see Michael. That'd be. That would be, Wouldn't that be crazy.
Speaker 2:What would they?
Speaker 3:talk about? What would the conversation be?
Speaker 1:He'd just be rebuking Satan In Jesus' name the whole time In. Jesus' name, jesus, jesus. He, just Jesus, starts shaking. Amen, that's right, little lucy, yeah you heard it here uh, last one. Yeah, some of these are really funny. Let's see, amen, we'll just save some of these for no wait, you have to hit one more some okay. Um, who in the bible was the king or queen of main character? Energy like aura? Yeah, just had it. Who had aura? They just had. Like let's do one Old Testament and one New Testament Okay.
Speaker 3:I'm not going to say Jesus, because it's overpowered.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like we're about to just fall apart.
Speaker 3:We already know, Okay, Old Testament aura.
Speaker 1:I feel like once Moses, like once Moses knew that he was the guy guy. Like once he get over your insecurities, bro. Like okay you probably got a stutter Like it's all good bro.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's crazy. Alright, bro, we get it. Bro, like I called you Once.
Speaker 1:He probably got over that, like he probably just knew he was that guy. Like yo, I'm about to go up to the mountain and speak to God face to face and I'm going to come down shining. Like he knew we had it. He had to have known.
Speaker 3:He had to Right, Like my dude split you split the sea.
Speaker 2:He split the river, he split the sea, so I could walk right through it. My fears are drowned in perfect love, rescue me so I could stand and sing. I am a child of God.
Speaker 1:Yes, I am Come on.
Speaker 3:I am a child of God. I'm going to probably go with David. Okay, why, bro, could you imagine Goliath's?
Speaker 1:head, and you a youngster too.
Speaker 2:He has no gear.
Speaker 1:Young buck, he had no gear on. My dude had some smooth rocks.
Speaker 3:He had Birkenstocks on. He said Birkenstocks on and he had. He said Birkenstocks, took them out.
Speaker 1:Just looking like. Imagine walking back like all the honeys, probably like, oh my goodness.
Speaker 3:David, they sung David, david slung ten thousands. It was crazy.
Speaker 1:Like he had it Crazy. Yeah, that's some crazy. New Testament. Who? Who you going with New Testament? I'm probably going with New Testament, aura you can't say Jesus, john, the. Baptist bruh, really Bruh. He was Jesus' cousin. Nah bro. He leapt in his mama's womb. I probably was like. I knew he was coming.
Speaker 2:I met him when I was still in the womb. I knew he was on his way.
Speaker 1:And then he sees Jesus and he just knew everything was about to happen. My dude did not go, he didn't do what he was supposed to, he wasn't in the church like he was supposed to be, he was in the wilderness, just imagine. Or you got everybody coming to visit him.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:His church was popping so he had it and he looked wild. You know you got it when you can just look crazy.
Speaker 3:I'm saying Paul, bro, I came down between Paul and Peter. Okay, because I mean, picture Peter walking on the water. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. But Paul, like people were scared to have Paul at your church.
Speaker 1:For sure because someone's getting rebuked yeah facts someone's getting rebuked easy, like if he shows up, like uh oh yeah, it was like borderline anger issues, like paul you good hey, bro, you paul, you straight hey, smile like come on, paul, I don't know what to say to it.
Speaker 2:Let's get to the episode all right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, probably more serious episode, man, but really, you know, want to get personal and reflective. Um, you know there's so much value in being honest with kind of what we're walking through and inviting even some of our listeners and viewers into our journey. I think it's just super helpful for people to know. So I'll start off with this question man Nehemiah, what's one prayer you keep returning to again and again?
Speaker 3:I think for me because of my experience in baseball. I remember trying out for teams and I remember I got on this team and I was young, but it hit me hard. I played for this team, I got injured and after I couldn't give them what they wanted from me, they no longer were interested in me. And so when I was practicing and I was healthy, it seemed super relational, but it was really just transactional. And so one prayer and you know this, bro, but one prayer I keep going back to is like Lord, give me a pure heart. But I want to have a pure heart because I know what impurity does to other people.
Speaker 3:I've been hurt by impurity, not even just in the sense, sense of sports. But you think people want to just be around you, just to hang out with you, but they really just want something from you. And another one I'd say I'd have to say is like, lord, I humble myself before you. I humble myself before you because I I'm always reminded of who I was without him. And for me to boast as if it was me, like I have to be in all of god's glory. Like it, it's like it's a desire of mine, and so I want that's the prayer. It's like I want a pure heart and I want to walk in humility. How about you? Why?
Speaker 1:is well, even before we go on to me like why is purity like so important to you?
Speaker 3:bro, like I want to see god. And the bible says those who are pure in heart shall see God. That's why I love that song by Upper Room is Show Me your Face. Like what? I would rather be homeless, but to have that relationship that Moses had. It's that he had a unique relationship with God. He says to my prophets I give them dreams and visions, but to Moses I give words plainly and I want to have, I want to have, I want to see his face. Man, there's no, there's no greater thing that I could ask for than to just hear clearly from my father. I couldn't imagine not having a dad. I love my dad. I have my physical dad. I love him, I love being around him and I couldn't imagine like if, if, I didn't have him. And so the, the way I see my real dad and the way I hear him, the way we talk and we laugh. I want that with jesus man. That's what I want that's so good, man.
Speaker 1:What about you, bro? You know, I think for me, um, it's like lord, the prayer that I keep going back to. It's like, lord, keep reminding me of my why, like, why do I do what I do? Yeah, keep reminding me of the one never met. You know, lord, never let me make it about the stages or the opportunities or or the resources that come. Like, lord, let me always remember why I got started. Let me remember what it was like to be broken and dependent on you.
Speaker 1:I don't want to lose that, because if I lose that, then I've lost everything. Because success and ministry success has a way of tricking us into believing that we can do it without God. And my prayer is like God, I never want to think or ever believe that I can do it without you. I can't do it without him. I don't want to do it without him, I can't do it without him.
Speaker 1:And that's just one thing I just keep coming back to over and, over and over. I really, really want to make sure that I just live that way and I feel like if I do that, no matter what, success takes care of itself. Jesus will accomplish what he wants to accomplish, but I want to live dependent on him, not just for the sake of ministry, but just for the sake of relationship, because you know, I can do Christian things. I can do Christian things and those Christian things can pull me away from Jesus, and I just never want that to be the case. Um, so our next question is you know, what has God been teaching you in this current season?
Speaker 3:He's been teaching me, cause I'm not, you know, like I'm not preaching or anything right now and, um, I'm not playing baseball. In the past season he showed me my identity and this season he's shown me my call. He's shown me that ministry is everywhere. It's not just on the platform, it's not just in the church, but ministry is your conversations every day. Ministry is what you live and how you live behind closed doors. Ministry is your thought process and ministry is your heart. And so I'm really just learning how I can walk in my call in all areas of my life, because I've I've learned my identity in all areas of my life. So now, what is my, what is my call in my and in this areas of my life? So now, what is my call in this area of my life?
Speaker 3:I feel like it's always hard being in seasons of transition and it's like once you feel like you figure it out and you're like man, I got it. Thank you, lord, for showing me this. And now he's like okay, now I'm teaching you something else, and it's not like something to be discouraged about and it's. It's a sign that, man, yeah, you got it. Like the lord showed you, you can cling to that now. But the hard thing is remember that there is going to be something to cling to, because sometimes it feels like seasons don't end, man.
Speaker 1:it feels like the winter is just a little bit too long well, I'm being being who you are and just being able to perform, you know, at a high level, especially athletically, and then getting into ministry and honestly having ministry success early on. But what I've watched is I've watched you say no so that you can say yes to god in ways that maybe some people wouldn't do. So how have you had, like, how have you know, in this season? I'm watching you learn this lesson in real time. It's like man, like the lesson of man less is more. You know no is better than yes, like I want my no to be as anointed as my yes, yeah. So how has how has god been shaping you in the midst of that, when most people, if they the opportunities that are coming your way, most people will probably run into them, like, without even praying about it. Yeah. So how has god been teaching you in this season how to say no more than you say yes?
Speaker 3:yeah, man, I, um, I think it all comes back to like how it all started, of my first big no, and I said no to the offers. Um, a question I keep, I kept going to was like why god? Like why, like, you gave me all this stuff? Why am I? Um, why am I doing like? Why am I, why are you doing it this way? And it comes back to like I gotta trust god, like I just gotta trust him. Like it's hard because me, saying no to something like if it's god now, it's gotta be god later, it's gotta be god later, and that's something I just cling to. I'm like man, lord, if I say no to this worldly thing, lord, I'm gonna look like an idiot if nothing happens after this. But I know that you're gonna provide for me and I'm not even doing this for the, for the provision. I'm just doing this because I know that you're calling me to do it and so I just for me.
Speaker 1:It's just like I gotta just trust god well, and it's okay for us to have expectations that god yeah can and do something with our lives we don't make that an idol and make it our end goal.
Speaker 1:Intimacy with jesus, relationship, connectedness with the father, should be the goal, but to want god to use our lives to bless people like. You're not wrong for that, even being 18 years old, and I'm watching you, like, go through this process and I'm watching you die to certain things, and I know it's hard. I know it's hard because some of the stuff is really cool, yeah, but if it's god now, it's god later, bro, and I think god is he's refining character in this season. Um, you know, our gifts will make room for us and put us before great men, but they never put us before god. So, as long as we remember that, he will always accomplish in our lives what he wants to accomplish, and I just I, I. You know they say wise man learns from his own mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Like, if anything, bro, learn from all the mistakes I've made. Yeah, your boy has made a lot of them and at 18 years old, I probably wouldn't have said no to the things you're saying no to. So you've got God deep inside of your heart, man, I honor you for that, bro. Praise God, I really do. That's awesome. Yeah, man, I think for me, what God is teaching me in this season, he's just teaching me consistency.
Speaker 1:Man, one thing I've always struggled with is I would over-prom, under deliver. I would want to say yes to stuff because my heart was in it, and then I would say yes to stuff because I was a people pleaser, but then I could never fulfill those commitments and that was really challenging for me. But what I've come to learn is that if I'm saying yes to something God isn't telling me to say yes to, then I'm walking in disobedience, even if it's a good thing, even if it's a cool stage. If God is telling me to say no, if I'm feeling in my spirit, then nah, it's pulling me away from my priorities. Then I have to be obedient to that. And one of the things I really am focusing on if I say something now like I want to do it, that's why I'm going to be really slow to say yes to stuff but if I say I'm gonna do something.
Speaker 1:I'm going to do it because you know david had an issue where king david, you know, slept with besheba and killed, you know, her husband, and the prophet went to him and you know god said had what I given you not been enough? All you had to do was ask me for more. Because now you've given my enemies a right to accuse me, and I never want to give god's enemies a right to accuse him because of my inability to learn the lessons that I'm supposed to learn, yeah, and so I'm learning that god wants me to say no or yes, slowly, like you know, be quick to say no, slow to say yes. And because I want my yes to mean something and I don't want to just be a person that talks a good game but doesn't follow through. And I know I've heard a lot of people in my life, man, because I've I I meant well, but you know good intentions don't make good people. So god has like, just say slow, just be, slow to say yes.
Speaker 1:And when you say yes, oh, you better follow through, because too much is given, much is required. God has given us both influence and he's given us a voice to speak to people. What we say has to matter and what we say has to stick. And so, yeah, man, I just honor you for your process and trusting God in this season, because it's hard. And even anybody that's listening to this they might be in a similar season with you right now they might have many opportunities that are coming their way, but they don't feel the peace of God. And the final question I would love to ask you is how do you follow the peace of God when the world is trying to tell you to do the complete opposite, bro, bro.
Speaker 3:It's like you've got to put the world on mute. It's like you just don't give them space to say anything about your life. I mean, I think I've formed bad habits from this, but I remember when it was time for me to like it was very clear between me and the lord is like this is the time you're either going to obey me or I'm not going to be able to do what I want to do through you. And I remember I did it and I isolated because I didn't want to hear from. I knew what people were going to say, but I knew what god had said already and for me, even though it was hard, and even though it is hard daily people still come up to me about it. And people still come up to me about man.
Speaker 3:You've got to do something other than what you're doing. You're not even doing anything right now, and saying yes to God means saying no to the world. You can't say yes to both without saying no to one or the other For sure and I, bro, I acknowledge whoever is man, whoever has been through it. On saying it, I mean you being a Christ follower is you actively denying the world For sure, denying yourself.
Speaker 1:And denying the things that the world takes part in. Yeah, which is hard? It is, because how do we identify what's what's a good thing, what's a god thing, what's sin? Because not every good thing is a god thing no and not every like.
Speaker 1:We don't want to actively partake in sin yeah but we just have to make sure we know what we're saying yes to and what we're giving our time to and giving our attention to, because we're feeding our spirit something. And I think for us, as we're learning in this season of how to hear the voice of god and how to say no to the world, yeah, it's so important to know what god even says about the world. Why do we have to renew our minds daily? I can't just renew my mind weekly. If I renew my mind weekly, then oftentimes I'm probably walking in deception. That's just the reality of life, and so, learning how to live dependent, like Lord, even now, just make us dependent on you.
Speaker 1:Anybody that's listening says God, make us dependent on you and your word More than our ability to do things for ourselves. God, teach us to be dependent on your word, teach us to hear your voice, teach us to be obedient when you tell us to do something. And, holy Spirit, give us the boldness to walk in a world that wants nothing to do, if you give us the boldness to walk our faith out every single day. So, father, I thank you, even for our time on this podcast. God, I thank you for just the lives that it may touch for those that may hear it.
Speaker 1:God, I pray more than anything, what you accomplish in our lives, what you're destined to accomplish, god I pray we never make it about ourselves. We always lift up the name of Jesus and make it about him, and that we just live unashamed, that we live pure before you and that we pursue you with everything that's in us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray, amen, amen. Thank you guys for listening to this episode of the Unashamed Podcast. Make sure you guys like subscribe, check us out and be on the lookout for the next drop. Thanks for watching.
