Armor of God (Ep. 23)

In this episode, Pastors Luke Evans and Devon Patton talk about the Armor of God, and how we can put it on daily and stand firm in our everyday life.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good morning. Or afternoon.

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Oh, yeah, I was thinking it was the announcements, but it's not. Or evening. It's the podcast, and we're back for another episode. Is there an intro music? I've never listened to the podcast. New life podcast. Yeah. Is there intro music? You should scat and then we'll.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Beep ba boo.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Scat the podcast. Yeah, that's sick. Just do that. Just add that. Add that in. Add it in post. Done. Thanks, Spence. Consider it done. Welcome back, Mateo. Thank you. Guy was sick last week. Very sick. Sick unto death. And now I'm sick, so thanks. That was not a sick. You just have a cough. I'm sick, Luke. No. You're just a little bit more. He's just milking it because he doesn't want to sing this weekend. I do want to sing. I just want it to be an offering unto the Lord that's acceptable. And if it's not going to be the best, then I don't know if it will be. You don't want to bring a cane offering. I want to able it, you know?

SPEAKER_00 0:57

You are right out of my mouth.

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Yo, add that to the Easter list. That's a good one. That's a good one. That's a great one. Boom. Boom. Then I don't have to sing that out of it. I'm watching this after Easter, but if you heard, if you came to Easter and you heard more than Able, it was because we're because we just said it just now. Man, that's like a cool Easter egg. Oh that's good. Are you kidding me? Are you right? Are you kidding me? Alright. Moving on. Big weekend for Pastor Luke. It's a big weekend this past weekend, guys. Tell us about it. Well, by the time people watch this, hopefully they've won their final four game. But guys, we had a generational. Wait, who do they have to play? Illinois. Oh, they got Illinois. Illinois Saturday, and then either the game. I think they're going to win it all. You think they're going to win this?

SPEAKER_03 1:53

If they made it this far, they gotta win.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

Here's my thing. So is Monday Monday's a championship? So when this comes out, it'll be the day of the championship game. I think it's gonna be Yukon, Michigan, and I think Michigan's gonna win. Michigan and Arizona are really, really talented, and they're both Michigan so good, dude. They have a ton of size and a and and good benches, and which I think could give Yukon issues, because I don't think Terrace Reid has played against someone as big as Michigan and Arizona yet. However, there is something to be said for a veteran, a veteran team with a coach that's been there. So none of these other coaches in the Final Four have been there before. So Hurley's got them. Not with that they have now. No. They were there with John B line with uh uh Trey Burke's team, Jordan Poole and all that. Oh yeah, yeah. But that was a few years ago. So I'm uh and well let's just talk about let's just talk about Saturday or uh Sunday night really quick. Okay, if we if if we may. So I'm in my living room. Me and Mateo were at a party. Um I invited a bunch of my friends over and they all denied me. And then not friends, it's just guys on staff, Pastor Andy and Pastor Devin. So but sweet. I said no. I told you you could come. Um, and then but I knew you were gonna be at what he was at. So I was just in my lonesome. My son wandered in, and so I had watched the entire game, and then Brody wandered in with like five-ish minutes left, and they were like kind of clawing, you know, hanging around, which is what you want to do. Hang around, hang around. And then obviously they get the steal, solo ball gets the and one, so now they cut it to whatever it was, three, and I was like, all right, then we get the ball back, and then when Demory got fouled and he missed the first free throw, I'm not gonna lie, I was like, we're cooked. That's like scheme about the same. Like, you need to make both of those so that we can foul, and now it's a three-point game, and we still get a shot at it. But when he missed it, I was like, oh, like we're gonna foul, they're gonna make two. So he makes the second one.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Obviously, you know the rest, they inbound the ball, and I'm screaming at my TV, you gotta foul, you gotta foul. And then they steal it, and then I'm screaming at my TV, call timeout, call timeout. And then he throws it to Caravan, Caravan throws it back to. I got goosebumps right now talking about it. When that shot went in. I I'm not, I'm kidding. I have not shouted that my wife, Summer, ran from the other side of the house into the living room and was like, what's happening? Are you okay? What's that? She thought we were like getting robbed or something.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

I almost ran through my my front door in my living room. Like I was just banging, like I was crazy. A little elation. Like the word joy is not even, you gotta throw out a SAT word. It was unbelievable. And here's why. Can I tell you why? Can I tell you why tell us it was the trifecta, right? It was the it was probably one of the greatest sports moments I've ever watched. Okay, it was definitely one of the best March Madness moments of all time. Thousand percent, yeah. It was to Duke, yes, and it was my favorite team, yeah. So it was like like I would have been shouting if anyone hit that shot. Had you eaten a like what is it, a sunny days ice cream cake? I didn't have any sunny days. That should have been. I was actually really tired. Yeah, I was actually really tired, and it was like the triple dipper of sports for I did have chilies for lunch on Sunday. Thanks for the invite. Yeah. It was my parents. Fun day for me. It was a great day. Got to got to preach. Is that true? Chili's watch the Yukon women win and then watch the Yukon men win.

SPEAKER_03 5:35

I don't even watch them because I know they're gonna win.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

Notre Dame hung around for a while, but you gotta watch the final four because they play South Carolina. Yeah, that'll be liking them South Carolina. Okay. We gotta beat them. I don't like Don Staley. I like Dawn. Big fan. She's the GOAT, in my opinion. You're crazy. This guy's just beating me. So the other thing that I was gonna ask you about the game. Well, again, me and Mateo, we were at a youth leader meeting, like dinner. We had a dinner for our youth leaders, like to just say thank you. And we were like playing like board games. Who schedules one of those on the night of the Elite Eight? Come on, dude. Anyway, go ahead. That would be my fault, but also I don't really watch college basketball. Um, so like I'm playing Scategories with some of our leaders, and Mateo's playing, what was that game called? Uh Bananagrams. Bananagrams. And so like we're just playing, like, and everybody's having a conversation. And it was like this, like Mateo's watching the game on his phone and like it's connected to the Bluetooth speaker, but I'm not paying attention, I'm just listening. Like he you like stood up and you were like, like, so loud, and I was like, dude, take it easy.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

I'm like, you're playing this game. I thought he like hit like a sick word in bananograms, like, and I was like, dude, he's like, oh yeah, super calibract. Like, I'm like, what is happening right now? That's legit like what I thought during the game.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Like it was it cracked me up because the the videos on Instagram and stuff of like people's reactions are just like all the restaurants in Connecticut, or like the guys holding their babies or whatever, and the one guy is like, oh my god, and then baby starts crying, he's like, I'm sorry, buddy, I'm sorry. Like it was just so awesome.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

Well, that's like on the way home from the thing. I called my dad because I was like, I just want to get the and he like like redid the whole play-by-play of everything, but it was awesome, like because he loves it, he's excited, like he's giving us notes on everything any all the time anyway when it comes to sports, but it was it was the best. Dude, the best one I saw this morning is they put uh they were like, This is the best one yet, and it's Whitney Houston.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

And you know how that people always have to guess that, like to do, you know, so it's that, and right when the shot goes in, she goes, End that it's just mullins like this, dude. It's so epic. Uh so yeah, great, great weekend. Hopefully, by the time this comes out, they won't have lost to Illinois.

SPEAKER_02 7:53

Yeah, they lost one. All this would mean nothing, but I guess you never know.

SPEAKER_03 7:58

Because they went on that 30-0 run on them two years ago. They whooped in the Elite Eight. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:03

Tied a half and then Castle and Klingon were there. Campshire. And they already played Illinois this year. One of the greatest college basketball teams of all time. That that Yukon team. Maybe the second the second championship Yukon team was like top top three college basketball teams of all time. Yep. Put it in the comments as far as like completeness of like their bench, their veterans, their young guys, their coach, everything.

SPEAKER_03 8:26

Like Yeah, I mean, no one was stopping Klingon.

SPEAKER_02 8:29

No, they they ran shots. Are we just a sports podcast now? Chad. That'd be sick. We shouldn't be. Middle-aged mobs are like what are we going on out here? Give us your fun fact.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

Give us in the comments your favorite college basketball teams of a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 8:44

Sorry, we got carried away. We probably should start a just a separate sports podcast sports podcast.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Are you ready for my fun fact?

SPEAKER_02 8:49

Yeah, let's go. We're gonna start. I saw this. I thought it was interesting. Ducks have regional accents. So, like, based on where they're from. Come on. There's they they talk a little bit different. Yeah, so like, what?

SPEAKER_00 9:02

No, that's just really funny. I thought it was like a British duck.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

So the quack. Like quack.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Quack, quack, quack, you got some bread for me over here. Mr. Quack Quack Quack. Please, sir. Can I have some more of that bread in the park? Quack, quack. Yeah. So that's some British. And a duck. Mrs. Tippy is like. And they're like, quack, quack, quack. Spring out there. Chewing tobacky. Um, so yeah, dude.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

So I'm just thinking of different duck.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Yeah, different duck. So that's why like those the duck calls and stuff are so different. Oh man. And so one of the things that you guys are ridiculous. Ducks have regional accents.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

The one that brought it up. Yeah, true. Birds, whales, and bats also can do this. Um, and it's based on the sounds that they learn. So, like, when they're born, the ducks, even if the duck was born here and you transported it to Mississippi or to England or whatever. What you're dying, dude.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

I just picture I guess my imagination, I'm just picturing ducks now.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

Like ducks. And so if you brought them there, they would adapt to whatever it is because they hear the sounds that like other birds or other ducks are making, and they'll adapt to it. And so, like, on the thing with the fact it was like, so if these animals can truly learn sounds, like we have adapted and learned sound, like it's like can they be can they learn other dialect? Like, and they learn to speak like that. Could they learn something? I'm like, no, it's a duck. But quack, quack. Hello, governor. Hello, governor. Oh dude. Hello, quack. Oh man, that was that was awesome. I don't know if mine's gonna be that good. Uh mine was interesting because this is I mean, how you can't even make this up, ready? The oldest dog to ever live. Can we guess his age? Yeah, go ahead. 100 and wait, you said dog.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Immediately forgot that you said dog. Adam and Eve's dog lived till he was 153. Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

Let me guess. 23. Okay. We got to do that. Dude, I wonder if you guys have guesses.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

Wait, wait, before I say that, do you think the animals' age range changed when God changed our age range?

SPEAKER_02 11:26

That's how that's why we have lizards today and not dinosaurs. They stopped growing so big. If they lived to be that that old, they would have been that big. Okay, moving on. That's common knowledge. Okay. What a stupid question.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

What a stupid question. You think dinosaurs are real? Grow up.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

They're lizards. You're saying that's lizards that lived a million years ago. Yeah, exactly. And they just kept growing. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 11:48

What'd you say?

SPEAKER_02 11:49

I wasn't. So 23. No, you said 23.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

This is off to a really rough story. What was your back? Uh I wasn't the one.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

I was going to say 25. I'll say 25. 25? Spence, you got to guess? No mic today for Spence. We'll translate for him.

unknown 12:04

Uh 30.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

All right, he said 30. All right. Spencer is right. 29 and a half years old. That would be a 29 and a half years old. What is that in uh human years? Yeah, in human years. Look at that. Yeah, in dog years. Yeah, no, grab your phone. There's literally Google right in front of you. What is 29?

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Uh the math. It's just time seven. 206.

SPEAKER_02 12:27

206 years old in human years. But here's the best best thing. He's an Australian cattle dog. 29 and a half years old. Want to guess his name? Cattley. Ready? I'm not making this up. Bluey. Bluey! Oh my god. Come on. 29 and a half year old Australian cattle dog. That is so sweet. Named Bluey. That's crazy. Insane. Is he dead now? Yeah. Oh man. That's how they know that he only lived to 29 hours. Oh yeah. Man.

SPEAKER_03 13:06

Rip. Rip Bluey. Oh my gosh. Alright, my fact is not that fun, but I think it was it was interesting. Mine's an interesting fact. Oh, here we go.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

So the second thing is he's so artsy, isn't he?

SPEAKER_03 13:17

I try. So the second, like the unit of time, like seconds. Oh boy. It's called seconds because it's the second subdivision of time from the hour. So from the hour, there's minutes, that's the first one, and then second is seconds.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

What? Why are you looking at me? I thought that was cool.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

I thought it was cool too. It's just the way you looked at me. Like you had no idea what he was talking about. No, I still don't, but it sounded cool.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Because I was like, the second one would be minutes. No, that's the first subdivision.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

I get it, but but it's the second thing you mentioned.

SPEAKER_02 13:55

So the seconds. So the seconds. And then we have milliseconds. Right? Because there's a million of them.

SPEAKER_03 14:02

No. Oh.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 14:05

No, Millie in Latin is a thousand. This guy is so smart, dude. That's why millennium is a thousand years.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Oh, dude. This guy. What's another school system did him right? Yeah. Especially there's a lot of numbers that it didn't. I mean, the private school did nothing for me. No, not at all. I'm an idiot. But hey, here we are. So look at us. True. You got recognized. I got recognized. Yeah, dude, tell the story. And then we'll get into it. Yeah. So we were on. So, okay. So we're on a plane. I was in Florida first and foremost, and we were coming back. We went to Florida to see my. Which is why you're a little under the weather now, because Devin can't go to Florida without getting sick. No, I have to get COVID. He really can't. I like step off the plane, and somebody with COVID's waiting there, and they just cough into my mouth. It's disgusting. I'm just like, I gotta check in with the COVID person first, and then I can get on with my vacation. So got COVID. No, I don't have COVID, but got sick, hung out with my aunt. We went to go see her, my dad and my brother and me. And then we came back and we're like getting walking on the plane, and this woman's like sitting on the window, and she like reaches over and she's like, Hey, like, and so if you're watching this, I don't know if she said her name, so I apologize, but like we're all trying to get on the plane, and so I'm just like, Hey, how are you? Like, good to see you. And she was like, Uh, I watched the podcast, like the New Life podcast. And I was like, Oh, hey, how are you? Like, I just so I like gave her a handshake, like, said hi. Like, and and then my dad is like two people behind me. Like, obviously, my dad is at church every single week. Like, when you walk in, if you he's the first person you see, he's gonna get you your seat, he's gonna say hi, he's gonna give you a coffee, like all that different stuff.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

And I'm and my dad's like, Oh, good to see you, like new life, and she's just like hey, yeah, and I'm like, Oh, this is my dad and my brother, and she's like, Oh, very nice, weekly podcast watching.

SPEAKER_02 15:57

No, I'm sure she comes and attends, but it was it was so funny, dude. Dude, that's awesome. That is sick. It was cool. The people in front of me were like, Is this guy famous? And then I went back to my seat in 37E and just a worldwide reach, you know? Yeah, we're all over the place, dude. Florida, all different languages. I could speak Spanish, British, British. Yeah, everybody loves it. All right, what are we talking about today? Now that we're 16 minutes into this. Yeah, no, that was a great little opener there. It starts. We we uh obviously finished Fruit of the Spirit last week. Now we do. Now we're completely done with that. Um we think. We think. You never know. Can I double check on be another one lingering there? Um, but today we wanted to talk about something, kind of to shift gears a little bit and talk a little bit about the armor of God. Which there were some people that when we initially said that we were gonna talk about this, they were pretty excited. So I'm excited. Love that. I'm gonna read it. If that's all right with you. Go for it, please. Uh, Ephesians chapter six, verse ten. It says, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything to stand firm. Stand firm, therefore, having belted your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace. In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith, which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the sword of God. That's a lot of armor. That is. There's a lot going on there. A lot to break down. There is. So we have the belt of truth, building on truth, not mood or feeling. We have the breastplate of righteousness, guilt versus conviction. We have shoes of the gospel of peace or stability. We have the shield of faith. Faith isn't passive, it's active defense. Helmet of salvation, protect your mind, sword of the spirit, the word of God, and then we have prayer. Armor without prayer equals dead weight. So the interesting thing to me in going through this and looking at it, and obviously we could probably talk about this for more than one week, but I feel like you're gonna steal my point, but go ahead, please tell us. No, is I well I had said it, I had mentioned it last week in in staff in uh prayer meeting is you know, there's a few things that jump out to me, and I won't say them all because I don't want to steal any of your thunder, but the one one of the few things that stood out to me is that you know, it says put on the full armor of God, right? So whatever whatever piece of armor we don't put on, that's where we're exposed and that's where the enemy will attack us. And so we need to be careful that we understand that words are in the Bible on purpose and there's nothing there by accident. And so when it it doesn't say put on the armor, it says put on the full armor. And so there are all of these things listed out that are, I believe, of all equal importance. Whereas some people would look and go, Well, a breastplate's way more important than a belt, and shoes are way more important than a helmet, and this no, no, no, no. It's the full armor, they're all important, and the minute that we start to think that one isn't, is where we'll where we will show vulnerability and where the devil will attack us. Yeah, the thing that I thought was interesting, and I mentioned this last week in prayer as well, was so you didn't steal my point, so thank you. Was and I'm pretty sure I don't have it in front of me, but he mentions it twice. Like Paul's he's like, put on the full armor of God, and then there's like two verses later, and he's like, Again, I tell you, put on the full armor of God. And it's like, again, there is this reminder, like in God's word. Like there's so many circumstances, again, I don't know off the top of my head, but God tells us something and then he repeats it, and it's like, this is really important. He's emphasizing. Like what you're saying, it's like, it's not just picking and choosing, it's like put on the full armor of God. And then again, I'm gonna tell you put on the full armor of God. This is something that you need to do, like it's absolutely necessary. Yeah, it's absolutely something that needs to be a part of what you're doing. So I just thought that that was interesting to note as well. So take note when you're reading your Bible. All right, they mention this, and then a couple verses later they've mentioned it again. That's important. You need to take note of that. And obviously, you know, all these things as Paul is writing, it's he obviously is using them as analogies, but but like Paul, like Jesus, like other people and other writers of the time, right? Using analogies that the people that the people of the time would understand, but also that we would understand and and and understanding like how we talked, I just said understand a lot, and how we just talked about that you have to put the full armor on whatever part you don't, you're gonna have vulnerability, and so we can't think h more highly of one or the other. I think we need to be careful sometimes, especially as Christians, right? So if there's non-Christians listening to this, obviously go give your life to Jesus and put on the full armor. But as Christians and as people most likely that are listening to this that have some sort of relationship with God, we we you have to be careful again to not overvalue, undervalue one area or the other. You know, a lot of people, I think the culture that we live in, it's like, well, you know, I talk to God every day, but I don't really read my Bible every day. Or I pray and I read my Bible, but I don't really think church is necessary. Or I, you know, I I I go to church and I read my Bible and I pray, but like I like to do what I want to do, and I'm not very I don't try to be very righteous. Like we whatever, again, whatever it is that we leave off the list is is is where we'll get attacked and is where we'll be vulnerable. To it. And so we have to have to have to be careful to put all of these pieces on and not hold one higher than the other or lower than the other. We have to understand they are all equal parts to the faith and to protecting our faith and what God has entrusted. The thing that I noted was like the seriousness of what Paul is trying to teach us is in the analogy of an of the armor of God is the seriousness of the enemy that we are up against, right? And so the note that I had written down was like, you don't show up to a game in your practice clothes. Like I know that sounds like silly, but it's like it's the same thing. It's like you're going into something serious. You need to understand your the enemy that you are facing is serious. And so in 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8 is one that we quote all the time, but I'm going to read 8 through 10 really quickly is be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you into his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. And so this again, understanding that, like you just quoted from Ephesians, right? It's principalities, it's it's these different things that are, it's not just flesh and blood all the time. It's not just these small little things that are in it. No, no, no. This is a serious, serious enemy that we are facing. And so the the note that I wrote down is like understanding your enemy, yes, but when it comes to the armor of God, it's something that you have to do daily. I think we wrote up there, right? Daily lifestyle, it's not a one-time thing, but it's also not something that you just drift into. It's not just, oh yeah, I guess I'm gonna wake up today and I'll just wander out. And I guess, oh, I picked up my armor today. It's a daily decision. It's not just something, oh, I guess this is just it's given to me. God's gracious and he's good. No, no, no. He's telling us we have to put it on ourselves. It's intentional. Exactly. It's intentional. And, you know, a couple of the other things that that I that I wrote down, you know, one one of which being the only the only offensive weapon that he the only weapon we have within this armor is the sword, which is the word of God, right? Everything else is a defensive thing. My shoes, my helmet, my my belt, my breastplate, the my shield. Everything else is a defensive thing. Um, and then the other thing, which I can hear my papa saying it in my brain over and over and over again, is you know, the only the only area that we don't have protection for is our back. Yeah right, because no retreat. No retreat. I can hear my papa preaching it. You know, you got you got protection all over, but you got nothing to protect your back. Why? No retreat, no retreat, no retreat. I can I you know I can hear him preaching it like I'm eight years old sitting in church, you know, and it's it's it's that idea of man, God has given you all these things, and what he's telling you is like David running at Goliath, like whatever you want, whatever it is you're facing, whatever it is you're going through. When I put on that full armor of God and I trust and I know, like you just said, man, I'm not battling against flesh and blood. I'm battling against all the things that the devil would like to throw at me, all the things of the world, all the sin, all the chaos, all the all the distractions. I'm fighting against all of that. And up above us, there's this spiritual battle going on for our hearts, for our minds, for our bodies. Um, and we need to put that armor on and we need to full-on attack. I think a lot of times Christians have this attitude of like, you know, oh, I'm just gonna, you know, I'm gonna be over here on the defensive. And it's like, no, man, I I David didn't wait for Goliath to come at him. He he ran at him. Like, we we gotta you gotta attack head-on the things in your life that you go, man, that's holding me back. All right, well, then let me put on the armor and let me go kill that thing because I'm I'm I'm sick of it. Well, that's another thing that I thought of just now is it it's like you can't win the battles that you fail to acknowledge or that you just try to ignore as well. So it's like not just like, oh yeah, no, I'll let God fight my battle for me, or I'll do this, or I'll do that. It's like you also can't just ignore it. Like I'm gonna sit with my armor on and I'm just gonna wait over here and I'm just gonna pretend like it's not there. Like I think of me when I was in college and I struggled with just like feeling lonely and like depressed, and like just my senior year in college, and I just sat in my room by myself, and I was like, well, I'll just deal with this myself, or I just won't it's I wasn't actually actually doing anything active to try and get out of that head space. You know what I mean? I wasn't trying to fight it, I was just like, I'll just ignore it and eventually it'll go away. And it's like that's not doesn't work like that. Like you said, God gave us his word to go and fight, to go to be active, to be prepared, and it's not something we could just sit back and ignore. You can't win a battle you don't fight. You can't win a game you don't play. Yeah, you know, you you can't be successful in a job you don't go to. You can apply it to whatever you want in life. At some point, you have to go face head on what it is that's standing in your way. And I think that Paul so descriptively shows us, and God then in turn obviously encourages us with the fact that listen, I've given you all of these tools, like I've given you righteousness, like we've talked about with the fruits, right? Like I've given you righteousness, you know, I've given you truth, I I've I've I've made your feet ready, I've protected you. I you know, you got a shield, you got my word to defeat the enemy, which is what we see Jesus, you know, combating the devil with when he's you know being tempted by the devil when he's 40 days in the wilderness of like every single thing Satan tries to to to get Jesus with, he says, the word says the word says, you know, he keeps going back to that thing, um, and not running from him, but fighting him head on and understanding these are the tools that we've been given. It's up to us to decide what it is that we're gonna go do with them. And and I think because of the armor that's described in this passage, I think what we're told to do is is to go and and to fight and to attack and and be ready to uh to defeat whatever it is that stands in front of us. And know the weight and the importance of what you're trying to protect as well, right? Of again, the helmet of salvation, protecting your mind. Again, we get saved, we become Christians, and then we don't protect our mind. We don't protect the things or again, we don't use these things to get, yeah, yeah, we're going out to attack, but also you need to keep yourself safe, right? Guard your heart, as we always say, and we joke around. It's okay, but it's true. It's like you need to keep yourself safe and know the seriousness of that. Of again, these enemies and these things are the real deal. They're trying to take you out, they're trying to keep you away from God, they're trying to keep you from a relationship with Him. Put some seriousness into how you protect yourself, do the things that you need to do to make sure that you're safe.

SPEAKER_03 28:59

I thought it was interesting that you brought up Jesus being tempted for 40 days because one of those is like one of the temptations he goes through is I think it's um the devil telling him to jump off, and he quotes scripture to him, saying, like, God's not gonna let you fall, like all those things. And I think it's important to also like that goes into the belt of truth, right? You gotta be rooted in the word to know, like you gotta fight sc scripture like real scripture, right? So people will weaponize scripture and take it out of context or try to make it fit their agenda or whatever, and you gotta be ready to know what the word really says. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

There's a lot of false prophets out there, and there's a lot of people that you know are listening to um a million different voices, and then they wonder why they're so conflicted in their faith, or why, you know, why they think they can do this or do that. It's like, well, your theology's twisted eight million different ways, you know, you're like a like a theological pretzel with with everything that's you know you're listening to. And so, yeah, that's a that's a good point. Is the devil knows scripture too. Yeah, there's a lot of evil people out there that know scripture too, like, and they can manipulate that in a way to try to trip you up. And so again, if if the belt is probably the one thing that we think is probably the least essential of all these things, like if you were reading it, you're like, Well, a helmet's pretty important, a shield is pretty like a belt. Like, yeah, I don't want my pants to fall down, but still, like, you know, it's not really like one of these things like you always make fun of me for wearing a belt. I don't know. Alright, moving on. Sorry. Beltless, dude. Yeah, no belts. I got good hips. Um, you know, so I I I think again, it goes back to our first point is you know, it's every single every single one is important and essential to to doing what it is that God has called us to do.

SPEAKER_03 30:46

What do you got in your orange notes there? Um we kind of talked about it in the beginning. I think the big one I wanna hammer is you're either equipped or exposed. I think it's not a grayscale, like you said, it's you know, black and white. You either got everything on or you got something exposed that you know, in battle, that's that's all I need. You know, it's just one little foothold in to um to get into your weaknesses. And so I think that's the most important one. Um, you know, you don't put your armor on in the middle of a fight, you put it on before the day starts. So, you know, getting up extra early, like we talk about at the secret place and all these different things, like it's not just little nuances in the Bible that or it's not like uh all right, God, I'm gonna do this checklist that you left me in this book. No, it's it's practical steps to discipline yourself, to be rooted in the word, to do all these things. Why? So that we can be equipped for all the things that the world might throw at you, job stuff might get in the way, family stuff might get hectic, whatever it is. This equips you in a certain way too, you can handle it properly, your emotions are in check, you're constantly God-centered in your decisions throughout the day, you're prayerful, you're mindful of these things. All that kind of goes into you gotta do it in the morning, you gotta do it before the day gets going. You know? Yeah, that's good. Um I like that. What do you guys so obviously, you know, youth pastor, and you know, you see over young adults and you know, you speaking youth, what do you guys think that uh is one of the ones that you know younger people struggle with the most?

SPEAKER_02 32:19

Uh I mean the shoes are the gospel of peace for young people right now. Like again, shoes for whatever reason they pick shoes, but it's like you we walk in peace, right? And walking into our situations and the way that we get around and and the things that we do, right, that God has called us to do. But you've put there like stability stability. Like again, the world that we live in today, we talk to teenagers weekly, daily, who it's they walk into their schools and they're anxious about something, they're nervous about something, they go throughout life, they're trying to navigate relationships, friendships, um, problems at home, different things, and it's what's the thing that they're seeking the most besides truth is peace. Like it's not even a question. It's like no, I just want to make sure that that my friends like me. I want to make sure that I'm gonna get a into a good college. I want to make sure that I make the team and that I do a good job and I do all this different stuff. I just and that what are they searching for? Without a doubt, it's peace, 100%. Yeah, so and that's been again that's the same. Yeah, the the the devil plays the long game, right? And so that's been a slow fade of like when I was in high school, I don't think kids worried nearly as much about things that kids worry about now. When you were in high school, you know, I I think it's a it's it's just this slow fade of like more and more stuff that the world says you gotta worry about this, right? And you throw it out, and so if you're not protecting yourself with these things, that's where you're vulnerable. And so now all of a sudden now we're doing you know, we start a whole series on Easter the whole month of April about you know the anxious generation of this whole generation of people that we have now that are just they're just worried about everything, everything. Like, I mean I talk to young people sometimes and I'm like, what are you worried about? Why are you worried about that? Like, well, you know what? I'm like, you have no control, like no control over that. Like, what like but but culture and the world that we live in, and obviously the devils behind it has convinced us that man, if you're not worrying about something, you're lazy or you're unfit or you're like if you're not ready for it. Which is why Christians who put on this full armor stand out. Yeah. Like which is where people who like walk in peace and are righteous and nice to people and know the word and know how to talk to people about the word. When you those people stand out and they they make a difference in their in their schools and in their jobs and families and communities, they they make a difference because of this armor, you know. And it's because we see it in young I mean we you guys are young adults, so you're around it too, but like I see it a lot in young adults too, of of that idea of just like there's this always this constant stage of like uncomfortability. It's like too just be like just be happy in like who you are in Christ, just be like comfortable in what Christ is doing, and don't try to rush it or don't try to think of all the things that you don't have, just focus on the things that you have been given and the things you have been blessed with.

SPEAKER_03 35:21

It was just like the um you know, some people have oh, I'm going back to school and they're getting married, and you know, there's so many different stages of life. I think there's so much discord in being where you are. And I think that's where a lot of that and and social media plays into that.

SPEAKER_02 35:39

Social oh a hundred percent social media plays into that. But yeah, be but being a young adult nowadays, again, this is the slow fade, right? Of of you know, of the devil just m messing with our minds and our hearts is you know, if if when I when I was graduating college, it was weird if you weren't getting ready to get married. Yeah. Now, you know, if you're 25 and you're getting engaged, you got people looking at you like, like you got 10 more years to worry about that. Like what you know what I mean? Like plenty of time. So, but I think young adults in specifically, you know, from ages like 18 to late 20s, like you're saying, there's such a huge gap of like of it's like a huge spectrum of emotions, and you know, like you're saying, you could have a 26-year-old that's married, a 28-year-old that's got two kids, a 22-year-old that has no idea what they're doing with their life, uh, you know, uh, this kid's getting this guy's getting their masters, and this girl just, you know, it's it's like a million different directions that it could all go. And a lot of times I think when we play the, you know, the game of the comparison game of like, well, where am I at compared to them? You gotta just learn to be content where you are and be content with what life is, and certainly not content in your spirituality, you gotta mature and you gotta grow and you gotta seek after God, and you gotta go, like you're saying, put the armor on and go do the things that God has called you to do. But I think a lot of times when we just allow God to be God and we quit trying to mess with everything on our own, we find ourselves in a much more comfortable, peaceful, happy place, which is where a lot of young people need to get to. Yeah, the thing that I was gonna say before was, and I don't know if this ties into what For Mateo interrupted. No, he wasn't, he was talking, it's fine. But it's like the it's kind of what I'm I mentioned it last week too. It's like the selective nature of like culture now, of like where we pick and choose what we want to do, and like like you said, because we have the freedom, all right. I'm gonna take a gap year instead of what culture, like when I was in, it's like, no, everybody goes to college. If you're not going to college, you're going to the military. That's like what you're doing. So it's like the selective nature of that is it has creeped into our uh uh like relationships with Jesus, unfortunately. Like people see that as that's why we see people who they take some things that you say on a Sunday morning and they're like, Oh yeah, I really apply that to my life, but then don't do something else. It's the same why we see people who they deal with that the helmet of salvation, it's it's their their mind is just corrupted because of whatever. But is there the rest of their life protected? Sure. It's how we started out, but it made me think of conviction is the same thing, it's not we pick and choose on what we want to be convicted by as people and as Christians and as believers, and it's this little thing again that the devil is using, it's this little thing because he knows it's like, okay, yeah, I don't smoke anymore, but I still cuss like a sailor. So it's like, oh, it's not that big of a deal. I'm I'm okay. Like it's this conviction of, oh, well, I'm I'm doing this or I'm doing that, and it's it's not as bad as I used to be. And it's like, it's not, you don't just get to pick and choose on what like the Holy Spirit can convict you on, or you know what I mean? It's the same with the armor of God. It's like, I guess I could put on the uh the or use the sword of the spirit today against my problems, but it's like it's just it made me think of like the culture today, it's and unfortunately how it's creeped into our relationship. The goal is not, well, I'm not as bad as I used to be. The goal is I'm I'm trying to get as good as I can be, right? And that's that's the thing. And I I again with young adults in particular, like you're talking about, or when we were at that thing at in Greenwich a few weeks ago, like I'm I looked out and I saw some faces, not from our church, but other faces that I know that because I've talked to them that like they don't have a church, yeah. Like they don't like, oh I don't, yeah, I don't go to church. Yeah, like I I heard a guy talking this week, and you'll hear me say it a ton because I loved it and so I'm stealing it. I can't remember the guy's name. But he said the young this young adult generation that we have is full of Christian tourists that like I'll go, I I chase this, I chase this worship night, or I chase this Bible study, I chase this speaker, or I chase this band, or whatever. And instead of like grounding yourself being rooted in a place, in a church, like we pick and choose what it is we want because of our feelings. But if you're watching this and you don't belong to a church and you consider yourself saved and on your way to heaven, get involved in the church, get plugged in because it's it's essential to this of where do I find truth? Where do I build in my faith? Where do I become and learn how to become more righteous? Where do I get more of the word? Like all of these pieces of armor, yeah, you build those things in in like the like the churches, like the wherever I don't know where they keep call the shed where they keep all the weapons and the armor.

SPEAKER_01 40:34

I can't think of the name. Armory.

SPEAKER_02 40:36

Armory. There we go.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

Where do they keep all that armor? Where do they keep all that armor?

SPEAKER_02 40:42

Like the church is the church is literally the armory, like it's where you go to sharpen your sword, polish your armor, like you know, encourage one another together. Encourage one another for the battle, get each other pumped up, you know, like get put it put on the armor of God, yeah, and be who God has called you to be. Love that. Good stuff, guys.

SPEAKER_03 41:02

Which I think is interesting. Oh, that like the the contrast between the fruit of the spirit and armor of God. Like, gotta pray for the whole fruit of the spirit and all the little parts of it, and then you gotta put this on.

SPEAKER_02 41:14

Yeah. It's active. You gotta get up daily, decide to be able to do it. It's all the same principle, right? It's just it's just explained in different ways. And it's that's the cool part about the Bible.

SPEAKER_03 41:25

That Paul, man.

SPEAKER_02 41:26

That Paul, man. That guy knew what he was doing. The chiefest of sinners. What a great uh yeah, what a guy, dude. Great guy. But just a cool conversion.

SPEAKER_03 41:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:39

Damascus Road. Don't whisper. Yeah, that was right in my ear. That was intimate. Alright, do we have a game to end today? Or no? Pastor Luke had a great game. No, we're not gonna be able to do that. Well, I can't do it. I was giving you the suggestion of it. So, because we've got to prepare. That's not a game. That's not a good game. Willy-nilly like that. Yeah, but now we have nothing. No, we can do that game. What do you need to prepare for that? I'm not mentally in the right state to do that. Are you? No. You want to try it? No. I I don't care. I'll do whatever you want to do. No, you just said no. You're the leader. Don't you are the boss. Don't do that. If not, do we just end it or you want to like tell a story, or what do you want to do? I don't have a story. Do you have a story? No. I could always come up with something, but no. You have a good hypothetical. I got a story. Or a good would you rather? I said it's got a story. This might lead to more stories.

SPEAKER_03 42:31

So Devin alluded that he was in Florida this week and I'm sitting. He told us. I did tell you. He implied it.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

What is the definition of elute?

SPEAKER_03 42:46

I'm shot too. And um never mind about that public school. So I'm sitting on my couch eating lunch. I was watching TV or something, and I get a FaceTime from him.

SPEAKER_00 42:55

Oh, great.

SPEAKER_03 42:56

And I'm like, all right, like what a he's like, yo, uh, just a quick question. Like, I thought it was something serious. And he turns the camera around. He's like, what do you usually get from here? It's the McAllisters menu. You baby. I was fuming. Also a FaceTime, huh?

SPEAKER_02 43:09

Not just didn't want to just shoot a picture over and say, No, because I wanted to get his reaction. Yeah. Again, big troll.

SPEAKER_03 43:15

But it was a genuine question. Dude, they took away the sweet and smoky chicken sandwich. I don't get that anyway. What do you get? Grilled chicken club, no mayo. You go all the way to McAllisters. You can get a grilled chicken club. Oh, I asked this question for the guy.

SPEAKER_02 43:30

I was like, why do they put the extra piece of bread in there? And the guy was like, they always do that. That was the explanation. They do that on every butt. They always do that. All the deli all the sandwiches like that are like clubs. The clubs. For what? I don't know. Why did they do it? So it's a Big Mac a club sandwich?

unknown 43:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 43:47

Is the hamburger a sandwich? No, is a hot dog a sandwich.

SPEAKER_02 43:51

Oh, is a hot dog a sandwich? A hot dog is a hot dog and between it's technically one piece of bread.

SPEAKER_03 43:59

No. That are not two pieces of bread. Is it a burrito? Does a hot dog being a sandwich set the precedent? It really should be a hot dog. A taco is a sandwich.

SPEAKER_02 44:10

It would be a hot dog should be a taco at that point. Yeah, is it a taco? The bread is connected. Is a hot dog closer to a taco than it is a sandwich? The real question is what came first, the hot dog or the taco? Because then a taco, a hot dog. Definitely taco. Those civilizations were way before uh tacos in that. The taco came first. Let's go! Let's go. We love taco. That was pretty amped up. When was the taco invented?

SPEAKER_03 44:39

Uh at least the 18th century. So 1700s.

unknown 44:43

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 44:46

By Dr.

SPEAKER_02 44:46

Philip Taco.

SPEAKER_03 44:48

The hot dog was popularized by German immigrants in the U.S. in the late 19th century. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 44:55

Nothing. Nothing. We're just laughing about he's just an idiot. I'm just an idiot. Okay. Alright, so what were we even talking about? McAllister's. Yeah, so we went to McAllister's. It was great. We also went to Cheddar's. What did you get at McAllister's? I didn't get anything. You're the worst. He's the worst. I wasn't really feeling it. You walked in there. Just to instigate me. Devin's Drew wanted it. We drove like 15 minutes out of our way to go get McAllisters. And then Drew and my me and my dad were both like, we don't really want that. And then Drew was like, I need it. And so we went and got McAllisters. He went and got it. And don't whisper, I need it like that, bro. That's he said that to us. That was verbatim what he did. How many times did Drew get steak and shake while you were there? Uh once. We did go to steak and shake. And then we went to Oh, dude, it was hilarious. We took my aunt to the like we just sort of like popping around. And so uh there was like a Funko Pop store. My brother collects Funko Pops. So we went and it was in the mall. So we were like, oh we'll pop in here. So we like went in there and while we were leaving, there was like a tropical smoothie cafe. Love their buffalo chicken wrap. Yeah, their food is actually really good. Really? You ever been there? There's one in Milford now. Yeah. So but so we were like, oh Auntie, you want a smoothie? And she was like, Oh yeah, I guess I'll have one. And like we like got in the car, we're like driving back to her house, and she's like drinking the smoothie, and she was like, Man, thank you guys for showing me that. Like now that I know that's there, I'm popping in there all the time for a smoothie. I was like, I guess it was our thing.

SPEAKER_00 46:26

But like blown away by this like smoothie from the mall. It was hilarious.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

You know, I just said it's in Milford. I take I it is in Milford, it's where Smash Burger used to be, but there's one in Holly Lane. Tropical smoothie king by the golf place. There's a smoothie king next to my house. I rip that up all the time. When you were off solids. Yeah. Still kind of off solids. Really? What what do you order?

SPEAKER_03 46:47

Like what's the shake?

SPEAKER_02 46:49

Uh peanut butter and chocolate and chocolate. Protein one, you know? Gotta bulk up. Those gains, bro. Bulking season. Gotta recover from the hard workout sessions. Yeah, it's bulking decade. Ten years just gonna be bulking. So you had McAllister's, you had cheddars. Did you have Andes? No, there's no Andes. It was like an hour and a half away. Oh, she's not close to Orlando. No. I mean she is. It's like an hour, yeah, an hour and a half. But it's on the like Lakeland side of right? Remember? Because when we went left the other side of Orlando. Because like when we went even from Orlando, it was 33. She's closer to Tampa than she's on the other side. The Andes is closer to Tampa. I'm saying she is closer to Tampa. No. She's closer to the she's on the they call it the space coast. Because of uh like higher from Tampa? Tampa's on the other coast. Tampa's on the that's why when he said less coast. West of Tampa. West of Tampa. Tampa says Mexico. The Gulf of America, baby.

SPEAKER_00 47:55

Play a bald eagle screeching.

unknown 47:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:59

What'd you get? A Cheddar's a Brantford bald eagle.

SPEAKER_02 48:01

I got the uh shrimp Alfredo pasta.

SPEAKER_01 48:06

This guy's It was delightful. Devin is that guy, man. Tell me. What is that guy? I love something, but you're that guy.

SPEAKER_02 48:14

Like you'll walk into McAllister's with a group full of people and be like, nah, I'm good, I'm not gonna get anything. Or like everyone's watching the Yukon game and you're like, I'm going to bed. Or you go to Cheddar's and you're like, I'll have the shrimp Alfredo. Like, you're just that guy. I'm just my own person. Yeah, that's it. What's the problem with that?

SPEAKER_01 48:30

Nothing, nothing. There's nothing wrong with that.

SPEAKER_00 48:31

You're not gonna convince me to stay to watch a movie with you guys. We did that one time.

SPEAKER_02 48:37

We convinced Devin to go see Dune with us at like 11:30 at night. And what did I do? I sat in a different chair and went to sleep because I was tired.

SPEAKER_03 48:47

It was a 4D movie.

SPEAKER_00 48:48

Yeah, you couldn't go to sleep because the chairs were giving us a story.

SPEAKER_02 48:52

He's like, guys, this is gonna be the coolest experience. They have a 4D theater. For those of you who don't know, you're sitting in a roller coaster seat, yeah, and it's moving around, and you're just like, it was horrible. It's a full like experience. It was the it was the worst experience. I'm gonna highly not recommend like honestly, top five like worst experiences of that. Yeah, of a picture. I had a pretty good look. They're like wrestling around on the ground, and my head's just going, wham, wham, wham, so then I said, Yeah, you can throw the picture up and post. So I went and got a whole stack of booster seats from the out in the lobby, and I brought them in and put them next to the seats where we were, and just sat on those like this, so that I wouldn't have to sit. And I just like went to sleep in the theater.

SPEAKER_03 49:35

That in the theater was like almost empty, and I was the only one that had my water thing on. So, like in the 4D one, there's like like there's like if there's like a water scene, like it would mist or like do like a little shower or whatever. And I thought, oh, it's Dune, like there's not gonna be any water, but like I'll have it on and it'll be like a fun little thing. There's one scene where it's just pouring rain and all the water pressure just collected over my I'm sitting next to Lu Tan just so waterboarded. I'm like, oh my gosh, this is the worst.

SPEAKER_00 50:02

That's bad experience.

SPEAKER_02 50:03

And then we went to Florida that one time where we talked about Spencer Schwartz, and they all wanted to stay up to watch a movie together, and I was like, guys, I really I I really need to go to sleep. I'm really such a baby, dude. And I had COVID, so I'm just like, come on, bro, it's 11 o'clock. It's 11 o'clock, and I just legit put my arm over the body. Yeah, Devin had COVID, and how about my immune system? We shared a bed the whole weekend. Yeah, healthy as a but well the budget, the budget, you know. The budget had to keep it on. All four of us were in one room. Yeah, yeah, that's true. Good times, man. And look at us now. Look at us now, dude.

SPEAKER_00 50:39

We took these guys on a college, dude. All those years ago, we could right here.

SPEAKER_03 50:43

Neither of us went to SCU. Look at us.

SPEAKER_00 50:46

Good trip. We really just so we could go hang out.

SPEAKER_02 50:49

Between sharing a room, getting COVID and Spencer's short shorts are like we're never coming back here ever again. Great trip, dude. No more. No more. Can't do it. Never again. Alright. Can't do it. Can't do it. This was a long one today. Very spiritual today, too. It's great. I mean, we did start with about 20 minutes of just riffing. Dude, we couldn't not talk about Yukon. Or those fun facts. Or the fun facts. People love the fun facts. See, there we go. I knew it was a good idea. Honestly, I don't know. Nobody's ever said they love them, but it's fine. Yeah. Might have to cut that out for next time. Alright. If you made it this far, congratulations. If you made it this far. Join us. You get an award. Go UConn. Hopefully they're playing in the national championship game tonight. And hopefully the next time we talk, could or not? We'll be all about it. I'll bring in my championship too. You wear your uh sweater again. I'll wear my sweater again. I got other clothes like that. It might be too warm now. I got other UConn. I'm I'm just waiting for the UConn. The minute the Yukon Nil store comes out with a shirt with Mullins like this on it, I'm buying it. Oh dude. How does Nike not have one of those out already? Aren't they sponsored by Nike? I think they would have to pay Braylon Mullins to do it because of NIL. Yeah, true. I don't know if he's a Nike athlete or Willie. Brayden, Brandon, whatever your name is, let us know. Braylon Mullins. Mullins. Whatever.

SPEAKER_03 52:04

Could imagine being him like 19 years old making that shit.

SPEAKER_02 52:09

He's a child, dude. Like he made the shot, and I said that he was a freshman, and like Brody kind of looked at me and I was like, he's Joey Ferkey's age. And Brody was like, oh my gosh. Yeah, that's right. Shout out Joey Furkey. But uh and also from in Mr. Mr. Basketball State Indiana last year in Final Fours in Indianapolis. Going home. I saw a thing that said that at the end of the day. I was like, this is him saying, I'm headed home. Dude. And after he hit it, I was like, yo, that's sick. Nah. Mom coming home. Cash. Cash. Oh my god. Come on. Especially if they win. Bye, everybody. Bye, guys. Have a great day. Bye.