So You Want to Know Jesus

From empathy and trust to Jesus.  That's what we're talking about this week.  Truth be told, Jim is flying solo and he say's "never again"!  While Larry is tending to some business in Oregon and then moving the family to Ohio, Jim steps in to keep the cadence going.  That being said, the guys are excited to get back together and move towards talking about Jesus.  This week we'll set up what it means to have a "relationship with Jesus" (is that weird??), and how exactly does one do that?  It's getting sooooo good!

https://faithcurious.buzzsprout.com/2569002

Reach Jim & Larry at faithcuriouspodcast@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hey everyone, welcome to Faith Curious. So, what makes this conversation about faith different? Hey, we're just two guys with no hidden agenda. What you see is what you get. Hey everybody, as my buddy Larry says, it's a brand new day. And I, you know, I don't know why he says that, because like, duh, every day is a brand new day. I need to ask him about that. Hey, it's Jim McCauley uh hosting today the Faith Curious podcast. That's right. I am flying solo. My boy Larry um is, I think we've we've mentioned before, he's moving from Arizona to Ohio, Columbus, Ohio. So I see a uh a future Ohio State Buckeye football game in my future. And you know what? I'm pulling out the uh the big card. I'm going Ohio State, Michigan, where we can see them dot the eye. Like if you're gonna do it, do it. I do see that in my future. Anyway, Larry is uh in the midst of uh moving from Arizona to Ohio. So he is just wrapped up in all kinds of stuff and is actually currently in Portland, Oregon, uh taking care of some business. Uh, we're gonna do a an abbreviated episode, if you will. Um we a hundred percent um feel it's important to keep the cadence going. And what we're gonna do today is I'm gonna uh kind of summarize where we've been and tee up the next topic because it's it's big. And I wanted to wait until Larry uh was not distracted with all the other stuff, and uh, and then we'd we we'd tackle that uh um the Bible. The Bible going forward um is gonna be huge. Anyway, uh let me just do a little recap here. Uh we are coming off of what we're calling our, I guess our opening series. So that's the first four episodes uh where really what we wanted to accomplish was you know establish some just baseline understanding. By that I mean we understand and have empathy for anyone that is going through this uh this faith journey. Uh empathy on a on a couple different levels. We we understand, um you know, well, that the the some might say the story of Jesus is kind of hard to swallow right, uh, you know, with with the miracles and and the rising from the dead and and raising other people from the dead and the walking on water and you know all the things. Um so you know, just big picture. We get that. That was episode one. We we moved then into just a conversation about how uh difficult really the Christian community has made it um for a lot of people that are interested in learning more about Jesus. Um and you know, so the people can show up in a lot of different ways. Uh, they can show up very judgmental. Um uh that's probably the biggest one, right? Um, but they can push people away uh and have over the years, and you know, we get that. Uh that's not who we want to be, right? Um, but we certainly get that uh it's been very hard for some people to move forward with the process of delving into Christianity because of, you know, kind of a maybe an ugly reception that that is out there. Uh and then let's say you get past those two things and you still decide, you know what, I'm still in, I still want to know more. Uh, then there's the all right, so you get invited to church or um start having a conversation with someone about about Jesus and you know, why do they believe in Jesus and why should you, et cetera, et cetera. And then, you know, you might start to feel some pressure, like, uh-oh, you know, I opened this can of worms. Now, what's expected of me in uh, you know, maybe a fair fairly short amount of time. And so, you know, you can feel pressure of what's next. Uh, I don't want to say no to these people, but I still need more information. And if I come across like I need more information, then what does that say about me? And blah, blah, blah. And but if you've gone gone down those three roads, so you're still in right. The last thing we talked about in our episode four is the idea of doubt, and how, in our opinion, like the more doubt you have and the more you wrestle with faith, the stronger your faith will be. If you never have any doubt, or you adopt the faith of, I don't know, your family or friends or someone else, boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever, just because uh, you know, that faith um might not have very deep roots, and it uh it just might let you down when you need it the most. So had a conversation around how important it is to doubt and to challenge and to ask questions. That doesn't mean you're weak. It doesn't mean um your faith isn't very strong, right? It doesn't mean you're not serious, it means you're really, really serious about understanding uh, you know, the belief, uh, what you believe, uh, and how, you know, because if you don't understand it, then you don't really understand how it affects your life and how it can be beneficial in your life. So that's kind of the the opening series, and we wanted to accomplish two things. Again, empathy, right? We just wanted the listeners to know we get it, right? We know this is not easy, and depending upon your your walk or your road to get here, um, you know, might might it might have been bumpy, might have been rocky, right? The second thing we wanted to accomplish in this opening series was just really, if we're being frank, we wanted to establish some trust that you would trust us, that we don't have a hidden agenda. You know, our goal is be a couple guys that can communicate information and experience and help you on your journey, whatever that means. Um, really truly. So, you know, we there will not be an episode where we're like, okay, you know, you've done these eight things. The only decision left, really, the only logical one, is to say yes to Jesus. That's not where we're going, right? Not where we're going. Um, so we wanted to establish those two things. Hopefully we did. We did, and we will continue uh on both those, right? That that we get you, we see you, we understand the walk, we've been there, and uh, you know, we're just gonna try to keep showing up and be vulnerable and authentic, and hopefully, uh, hopefully that comes through. So now let's talk about Jesus. Um, the rest of I don't know, maybe everything that we'll talk about really is about Jesus and how you build a relationship with Jesus, and even like what does that even mean? I'll tell I'll say this a relationship with Jesus, what we're pursuing is not about rules, it's not about following rules, it's not about performance. There's nothing you can do that kind of gets you, you know, in Jesus' good favor, right? There's just not. Um it's about the relationship with Jesus and like why that has been beneficial in our lives and you know, um, why what we hope it will it can be and would be beneficial in your life. And and you know, Larry and I were talking about this. Uh I think sometimes we take relationship for granted, the idea of it, but if we step back, I also get like it could be a little weird. Like, what do you mean relationship with Jesus? Like, so it's like, you know, we talked about Jesus as a historical figure. So I don't have a relationship with George Washington. Like, I don't get that. Um, but Jesus is different, right? We also don't know like do other religions talk about a relationship with Jesus? I and we honestly do not know the answer. Um, you know, I think maybe Christianity might be the only one. But again, I don't know that, so I'm not gonna say it um even though I just did, but I'm not I'm not gonna put a a stake in the ground on that. Um but think about anyone in your life that you have a relationship with, okay, a significant relationship. It could be a family member, friend, a coworker, significant other, a mentor, you have a relationship with this show if you listen regularly, right? And how do you grow that relationship? You know, if it's a relationship that that you care about and you know, you want to engage in and you want to uh grow, you make it a priority, right? So you spend time together, you communicate, uh, you get to know each other, um, you know, and and some sometimes that's sharing stuff that's going on with you or has gone on with you or things that you struggle with, right? And it's listening, it's asking questions. Uh maybe you ask for help. Yeah, you have something going on, and um, and you you need to to bounce something off of somebody. Those relationships, I don't think, just happen over time by luck. Maybe they do. Um, I don't know. Um, but like the ones that matter, like we really, you know, we should be intentional and they should be a priority for us. Okay. So think about that. Think about that person or people, whoever that is for you. And you know, what I'll say is that's no different with Jesus. How I build a relationship with Jesus, how I have over the years, and I continue to, you know, as a matter of fact, when I talk about Jesus, um, if I go to a Bible study or a church or whatever, I talk about continually just wanting to grow closer with Jesus. And that's the same thing, right? Um, but I make it a priority to spend time with Jesus. And, you know, for me, that looks like, you know, some quiet time in the morning, uh, reading the Bible, maybe some meditations, praying. Uh it uh, you know, the the time I spend with Jesus um includes going to church on a regular basis. There's a Bible study that I attend uh on a regular basis. I have coffee with guys and meet with guys. Okay, so like those are those are the things I do, some of the things I do to um get to know Jesus and to grow closer to Jesus and to enrich my relationship with Jesus. Uh so again, it's no different than any other relationship that you might have, right? And so that's what we're gonna talk about going forward. What does it mean to have a relationship with Jesus and how do we make it a priority? And what things can we do to get to know Jesus? And the number one, in our opinion, is read the Bible. And so that's the topic that we're gonna talk about next week. If you want to get to know Jesus, you gotta read the Bible, in particular the New Testament, right? Where there are stories about Jesus. You know, when I read the Bible, I see his words, like actual words that he said. Um, and and and we know this because historians have have captured them. So that's where I go mostly to learn more about Jesus. Um, I learn about not only the the man he was, because he you know lived as a human, but also the the the God that he is. And I've had experiences, I I think I've probably told the story on the show. I've had experiences years ago where I wanted to read the Bible and I pulled the Bible off my shelf and it didn't go well because you know it it was uh in this one example, it was the King James version. And if you don't know what that is, like Google it. Google King James and uh new international version, put them side by side, and you'll see exactly what I mean. But it's English that I didn't understand. So literally, I had a yearning to read the Bible, pulled it off the shelf, opened it up, sat down. About a minute later, was like, I don't understand any of this. Closed it, put it on the shelf. That probably cost me two years until I did it again. I think I actually did that a couple different times. Um, so we're gonna talk about just things like that. There are different versions. Here's how to find a version that is a good fit for you that you can understand. It's not different stories, it's just told in language that appeals to a different audience. Okay. Um, but there's confusion in the Bible. You know, boy, you open up the Old Testament and you read some of those stories, you can come across some pretty crazy stuff. Uh so the Bible can be hard. Um, but we're gonna we're gonna talk through that. We're gonna talk about, and we're not getting into the weeds, but just kind of how the Bible came about, why we do believe it's it is actually the word of God, um, why it's the book that we use, not only to get to know Jesus, but to understand kind of how to live a life that is pleasing to Jesus. Um, because that's you know, that's our goal. That's what we we want to accomplish. Um anyway, so so all that to tee up, the next, the next thing, most important thing we're gonna talk about is how to build a relationship with Jesus. And it's gonna start with the Bible, and uh we will be back in a couple weeks. Uh I will not be solo. This will be the only time I'm gonna say that I will ever be solo. Um, but uh look forward to my my boy being back with me, uh, even if he's in Ohio, uh, and uh um and catching up together and just uh sharing what we have to share with you folks. So thanks for listening and uh have a great day. Hey, thanks for hanging out with us. Wherever you are with faith, whether it's curious, skeptical, or just tired, we're glad you're here. And if this stirred up thoughts or questions, don't rush past them. Just sit with them. We'll keep the conversation going.