A New Season - Stepping Into What’s Next

If you’ve ever felt like you’re in between seasons… this one may be right on time.

This week on The Weekend Joyride, it’s all about stepping into a new season.

Spring is showing up around Central Texas—hummingbirds returning, flowers waking up, and everything quietly coming back to life. That leads into a deeper conversation about how seasons in life—and in faith—don’t have to be forced. Sometimes, you just notice… it’s time.

Mac and Rhoni reflect on Hebrews 10 and what it means to grow into who you were created to be—understanding identity, purpose, and the process of becoming.

Then, the story of rising Christian artist Seph Schlueter—a “new” artist who’s actually spent years in a hidden season—reminds us that what shows up publicly is often the result of quiet growth no one sees.

Reach us: hello@weekendjoyride.com

Links for this week's show:

• Texas Highways article on Hummingbirds in Texas https://texashighways.com/outdoors/whirring-dervishes-hummingbirds/
• Our friend & guest Pastor, Rich Hooper
  https://www.facebook.com/rich.hooper.35?
• Seph Schlueter
  https://www.sephschlueter.com/

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Transcript

Welcome to a New Season

Mac 0:10

Hey, welcome to the Weekend Joyride - I'm Mac.

Rhoni 0:12

And I'm Rhoni.

Mac 0:13

There is something about this time of year. Spring shows up real quietly at first. A little more light, a little more movement, and then suddenly everything is alive again.

Rhoni 0:24

Yeah, we've been noticing it. You know, I've noticed the hummingbirds. They're back, and the air feels a little different, and even the smallest little things in the flower bed seem to be popping up.

Hummingbirds & Right TIming

Mac 0:34

So let's go. Let's do the weekend joyride. I just ordered some new hummingbird feeders. Oh, you mean we're gonna start new this year? Well, we've already started this year, haven't we?

Rhoni 0:49

We've already seen some showing up.

Mac 0:50

Yeah.

Rhoni 0:51

That's what's interesting about them is that they just they've been traveling, they've been waiting, they've been moving, and just suddenly, right on time, they appear.

Mac 1:00

It's hard to believe that those little bitty birds migrate from Mexico, I think, don't they? Or don't farther south.

Rhoni 1:08

They're actually solo migrators. They don't really fly in flocks. They migrate all alone. But you're right, some do travel 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico just by themselves.

Mac 1:22

All by themselves? I had no idea it was like that.

Rhoni 1:25

And I've heard they're territorial, which I've never really confirmed that, but I am reading something that says they remember every flower they visit and how long it takes for the nectar to refill. So they have incredible long-term memories.

Mac 1:40

That's amazing. Well, I I see the territorial bit because you can watch them fight and dance and dip and dart around your own feeders. And if one's at a feeder and one wants to feed, it'll come in there and, you know, kind of bully his way in there sometimes.

Rhoni 1:55

Yes, but they also are territorial in the way if they come to your backyard this year, they will remember where you live and they'll come next year.

Mac 2:03

That's interesting. Very cool.

Rhoni 2:06

Have you ever seen hummingbird eggs?

Mac 2:09

No, but they've got to be the size of your your little pinky nail.

Rhoni 2:12

Oh, I think they're tiny. Yeah, they actually the smallest egg of any bird, which is actually the size, they say, of a coffee bean, which is about the size of your nail.

Mac 2:22

That's amazing. Well, I it says here that the only birds capable of flying upside down and backward. That's good. And it's so fun to watch them. Yeah, you feel like they're part of the family when they're coming in and out of your yard. You sit outside and just wait for them to come every spring. We've only seen seen a few, but you went online and you ordered some new stuff and some fresh feeders.

Rhoni 2:46

Can't wait.

Mac 2:46

Yeah, they'll be here tomorrow. It'll be fun.

Rhoni 2:48

I I always say that my daughter, when she was growing up, had the metabolism of a hummingbird. Yeah. Because they can actually eat every 10 minutes and consume twice their body weight in nectar. That's amazing. That's amazing. That's amazing. So anyway, I love them. They're be on the lookout for hummingbirds. It's time.

Mac 3:05

Yeah, and I guess they they stay here for a little while where we are kind of in central Texas, and then they'll s they'll move for the hottest part of the summer. I think they move farther north. They can move, I guess, wherever farther north is that doesn't have as hot a summer from here. Very cool that they travel so far and and and do so well and are so beautiful and sweet and seem to be anyway.

Rhoni 3:27

It's just interesting that you don't really have to chase them, you just notice them. You just they're just there and you notice them.

Mac 3:35

Almost almost like a gift from God, huh?

Rhoni 3:38

It is. It's really how seasons with God work. Like you don't really have to force a season with God, and you don't have to manufacture it or make it happen. You really just step into a new season when it arrives.

Mac 3:52

Interesting. Yeah.

You Don't Force a Season/Becoming Who You Are

Rhoni 3:54

Which is what we're doing right now. Yeah, it is. A new season has arrived and we're stepping into it. You know, it is true, God doesn't do anything randomly. The change begins to happen in us. When we step into a new season, yes, it's newness in maybe your circumstances, but that change also begins on the inside of you. It reminded me of church on Sunday when Pastor Rich was teaching in Hebrews 10.

Mac 4:39

Yeah, Rich Rich Hooper, who was our guest pastor for the weekend. He taught out of Hebrews 10, specifically 10 10, actually a whole bunch of it, but I'll read from 1010. It says, by that we will have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Made holy is an ongoing process. It's not something that just all of a sudden happens. And we're justified when we accept Jesus. Justify. The way Rich said it over the weekend was interesting. Justified. He said, okay, justified. Just as if I'd never sinned. That's that really caught to me, and I I snapped onto that. I I latched onto that. And then sanctification, you you hear that word all the time. Get real so you can heal. And then glorification is we become glorified.

Rhoni 5:34

Sanctification is the ongoing daily change that you make on the inside. And then glorified is what's coming. Yeah. I'm that one.

Mac 5:43

As a person. Yeah, that's me.

Rhoni 5:44

He was a child. He was twelve years old when he stood up and said, This day has this scripture been fulfilled in me. So he understood his purpose by the time he was age twelve. Because he understood he was the Messiah. And then I found myself contemplating what did that look like then as he became a young teenager. And then he began to step into his ministry.

Mac 6:12

You think he's watching these yearly sacrifices?

Rhoni 6:17

Yeah.

Mac 6:18

Knowing that he's going to take that place when the time is right.

Rhoni 6:24

I feel like he probably did. Now that's not written, but it just made my mind go there this weekend. You know, that 12-year-old who understood I am that sacrifice. His role. His role would be that. You know, his mother and father surely told him about the day the angel came to visit her. I mean, at some point, there was probably enough buzz in town that he was had to ask her at some point. And again, this is the Bible according to me. Yeah. But I think it bears thinking about, you know, and mostly because of this, he found himself in scripture, but we are called to do the same thing. When you understand that he came to earth, son of God, becoming son of man, as our model in the earth, to show us how to operate in the earth as a human being with the Holy Spirit, God's DNA on the inside of us operating in this world, in this world, but not of it. So I find that to be very encouraging, and I find it to be very interesting that we too must find ourselves in Scripture. And some would say, What does she mean by that? Well, Psalm 139 says, You formed me in my mother's womb, and before I had even lived one day, you knew all the days that would be in my my book. You knew every hair on my head. So we are called and known before we ever take one step into earth either. And when we look at the bigger picture, Jesus stepped into humanity with a purpose. And we are to do the same thing. We are to understand that we have a calling on our lives, and we are to find out who we are in the scripture. We are children of the creator of the universe. We are children of God. If we are children of God, if you're a born-again believer, there are promises in the word that that are ours. This word becomes flesh in me.

Mac 8:43

And it's amazing to me that that we should realize that Jesus came and took all that sin on him and replaced that yearly atonement, the slaughtering of the lambs and what I and the blood of the lamb and all that stuff.

Rhoni 9:03

But here's what he did on the cross, now that we are finishing the entire holy week. He exchanged everything that was keeping us separated from God for himself. It's the exchange. The requirement for a yearly sacrifice was exchanged for the perfect Lamb of God.

Mac 9:28

And realized the yearly sacrifice was just a cover. Right. We had to do it every year. It was a year later. But this man, and this is Hebrews 10, 12, but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.

Rhoni 9:47

What resonated with me is the fact that he knew what his purpose was. He came into earth, he decided he was going to step in and do the thing, and then he found himself in scripture, stepping into humanity with a purpose. So when he gave himself on the cross, his purpose was to take everything that limits us sickness, poverty, broken hearts, broken families, regret, regret, every single thing that would limit us from becoming all that He wants us to become. We are fully plugged into the Holy Spirit and God the Father operating in this earth with divinity guiding us on the inside, like he walked through.

Mac 11:02

And not just to read scripture today, as us we're called to do the same thing. Not just to read scripture, but to find ourselves in it.

Rhoni 11:11

Yes, just like he did. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, let's just say, right now as I share the word of God.

Mac 11:20

Yeah. Right? Yeah, because this word is not just history, it's not just what happened. It is that. It is that, but it's also our identity.

Rhoni 11:29

Yes, it's who we are. The word says he was the first of many. So that just caught me, you know, that he how we don't understand time as time really is. Time is linear in our realm, but eternity is circular and forever, and that's bigger than our brain can wrap its mind around.

Mac 11:55

I think it's interesting that you've said that you got that years ago. I got that. And you've talked about how time is not linear, or God's time is not linear. Our time is linear, you know. Right. Birth, whatever, death, blah, blah. God's time is not. It's circular. He sees the end from the beginning.

Rhoni 12:12

Yes. And he does see the end from the beginning. And we actually talked about he knew what we were going to go through two weeks ago before it ever happened.

Mac 12:22

Yeah.

Rhoni 12:23

He saw that.

Mac 12:24

Yeah.

Rhoni 12:24

But again, we view time from this side of eternity, which is a a breath compared to eternity. Our entire lifespan, if my great great-grandmother lived to be 102, which is still just a breath. It's a whisper compared to eternity. Yeah. So, you know, in teaching really smart kids over time, I've become comfortable understanding that I know so very little. Like it's it's it's comfortable for me to not be the smartest person in the room because I'm an open-minded big thinker.

Mac 13:03

Even if the smartest person in the room is 14 years old.

From Hidden to Heard-Seph Schlueter

Rhoni 13:07

Yeah, but I'm but I'm just I'm okay not understanding everything. I'm I'm actually intrigued by it. Yeah. But I feel like even as Christians, we should get there. We should understand that we don't know everything. And we should be open-minded about how much we don't know. And instead of trying to split hairs over, well, was it this way or was it that way? Is baptism this way or is it that way? Embrace the eternal and find yourself in Scripture and begin to open your mind about how big God's plan for you is. Spelled Schluter, but Schleuter.

Mac 14:19

She's gonna have trouble with it until we get it down.

Rhoni 14:23

He actually looks like a new artist, but he's really not a new artist. He's been becoming for years. He was in the ministry, he was um a worship leader, he's just been kind of growing quietly, yeah, without a spotlight or a big platform, but he's been obedient to the call of God on his life.

Mac 14:45

Yeah. It looks like in 2023 he was he was doing like so many new artists do, and he was releasing his music independently without the help of a record label. But even at that, he was opening for Brandon Lake and Phil Wickham, and he started his own group, Damascus Worship, and and uh he saw the need for revival and worship in churches that he was you know part of.

Rhoni 15:11

Yeah, it's like these songs are kind of what it sounds like when he's finally blooming, right? Uh Turn It Into Praise is a song that's out.

Mac 15:23

And you may even think, well, I've never heard of this person. Well, I bet you have because more than 12 billion video views, 112 million global streams, oh right, five million TikTok creations, and 26 and a half million views on YouTube. We've probably seen him before and just don't know it.

Rhoni 15:44

You didn't know it because you know this song.

Mac 16:06

I I've heard that song is the entire number radio, but I've never looked to see exactly who that is. So a new artist, kind of a new artist. It's one of those new artists that has worked at it for years and and is just now becoming, we're just now becoming aware of him.

Rhoni 16:22

So when you hear this next song, probably gonna climb a little bit, turn it into praise, you'll know that it's not just a new artist. Yeah. I think it's safe to say that he was living his message long before we ever heard it, but then suddenly the songs show up on the charts at exactly the right time. That's like spring. That's like coming birds, that's like Jesus stepping into his becoming. He's only like 26, but he's already lived a hidden life, you might say. He spent seven years as a missionary before he went into mainstream music. So what that means is that while most people his age were like, you know, doing TikTok, chasing labels, he was actually leading worship, mentoring a youth group, and living in ministry communities. And that's unusual for someone who's, you know, at that time wouldn't even have been 22 years old.

Mac 17:55

Well, I think it's interesting, and just looking at things he's done, that his music has has blown up the charts, the Christian charts in Brazil.

Rhoni 18:05

Yeah.

Mac 18:05

So that's part of the I'm curious.

Rhoni 18:08

I'm curious if he ministered over there. He could have been a missionary. Yeah. But here's the here's what he said. His turning point wasn't music, it was spiritual awakening. So when he was in high school is when he fully gave his life to God.

Mac 18:21

Yeah, he says that multiplication is not his job, but being faithful is.

Rhoni 18:26

That's so good. Yeah. And says that he also didn't just break in to the music industry, he basically cold called the industry. Ah. He did not know a single person in Nashville. He literally saw names on Instagram. He just wrote them down. He sent out songs randomly. And guess what? Somehow, Phil Wickham responded, a major AR executive responded, and that led him to his Nashville connections.

Mac 18:54

It's interesting because we've talked to record people who are like, no, I'm not that person. I don't listen to those. But then there are those who do listen to the new artists and that are coming and every now and then discover somebody that that needs the needs the platform.

Rhoni 19:10

I I we can just honestly say that almost never happens. We have a grandson that that happened to. Same kind of situation.

Mac 19:18

That's right. His his demo ended up on a desk.

Rhoni 19:20

Right.

Mac 19:21

And it it became amazing for him. That became his Nashville connection. Yeah.

Rhoni 19:25

His song, Counting My Blessings, was a number one on radio charts. It actually won Breakout Song of the Year on K-Love Awards.

Mac 19:33

Okay.

Rhoni 19:34

And that's what made him one of the top new Christian artists of 2024.

Mac 19:38

Okay.

Rhoni 19:39

Viral in Brazil.

Mac 19:40

It's amazing.

Rhoni 20:23

To connect it to what we've actually talked about here today, he really went from being hidden to everywhere fast. Wow. Just kind of bloomed, right? Very fast. And even after his success, he's still very rooted in ministry. He's still very connected to Damascus worship, which is a mission movement. And he still carries that worship leader missionary identity. So he didn't switch identities. He just stepped into a wider platform. And that takes me back to Hebrews 10. Jesus didn't switch identities. He was Son of God from the beginning. He stepped into a wider platform when he came for us.

Mac 21:13

I guess we can say about Seph that he he is a a true what's the word I'm looking for? Instance of having your calling before a platform.

Rhoni 21:26

And formation or growing before he actually became visible.

Mac 21:34

And he had that hidden season before launching into this public moment that continues now.

Rhoni 21:41

Yeah.

Mac 21:42

Interesting. Seph Schleuter.

Close

Rhoni 21:44

Looks like a brand new artist to us, but the truth is he spent years in hidden places. Seven years in ministry, no spotlight, no stage like this. And then suddenly one song and the whole world hears him. But it wasn't sudden to God. It was written long before we ever noticed. So let that music carry you out, turn it into praise.

Mac 22:12

And we'll see you next time on the Joyride .