The voice you follow.

In this episode we will be talking about "The Shepherd". Speaking on if you are following a true Shepherd or a wolf or if you yourself are being a true Shepherd.

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Alrighty, guys. Welcome to the first episode of New Life Ministries Men's Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Right here, I have Pastor Furman giving our beginning prayer. Hey man, praise God. We just like to thank you for joining us today. Uh we know, like uh, you know, God has uh told men that they are the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church. It tells us that in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 23. You know, we need to pray right now in Jesus 29 that uh we would be spiritual heads just like Christ leads the church. Uh with total sacrifice for that. We pray that we can lead our families, we pray that we can lead our businesses and everything else that we need to put our hands to that. We we want to take responsibility for the type of atmosphere that God has given us, and we pray in Jesus' name that we can model obedience, Father, in Jesus' name and protect our house with everything. This is our prayer, Lord God. We thank you for everything that you're about to do in the midst of this ministry, Father, in the midst, Lord Father, of this profession, Father. We thank you for it because you are our head in Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_05 1:15

Amen. Amen and amen.

SPEAKER_04 1:17

Amen to that. So I want to start off this podcast. Um, it's gonna be our one of one. Um, of course, this was kind of something brought up by Brother Vic, right? And uh it's for uh targeting men, right? Men of the household, um trying to, of course, teach and reach men and how we um how can I say it? How we we are the shepherds of the household, right? Heads of the household, correct? And also we're trying to use all platforms to how how can we say it to reach other men, right? So you know there's some some men that honestly they don't want to come to church or they're kind of nervous about coming to church. So, you know, I was like that at one time too, you know, I was kind of nervous about it, you know. Everybody hears the you know, the critiquing about it, you know, they're gonna judge me or whatever. But we want to make people men aware especially that no, it's not like that, you know. So that's kind of what we for the podcast, right? But um earlier today, earlier this morning, of course, uh this is what we're gonna speak on today, is uh we had our men's Bible study and we spoke on shepherds, right? You know, shepherds uh that are they're out there right now. We know, of course, like what we're doing now, there's a lot of social media, self-titled shepherds, right? That you know people need to be be aware of, right? Because they can lead a lot of people astray, right? And so we kind of went over different different things, you know, uh of what to look out for, always keep it biblical. What does the Bible tell us about shepherds, what Jesus tells us about shepherds and stuff like that, right? And because, you know, we could be led astray pretty quick. And uh a couple of brothers brought up that as we live in the last days, it's ever more important to be grounded in the word so we don't be led astray, right? So we don't, when these false doctrines roll in, uh these false shepherds run in, you know, we're not we're not so easily swayed to the left or to the right, you know. Um that we're on point, you know, with where's the where we should be with the word. Yep, that's true. That's true. So um I know we got a few questions. Uh I want to introduce myself. I'm Peter. Uh I guess you can say I'm like the leader of the men's group. Uh I got Brother Nelson, Brother Victor, and of course our now senior pastor, Chris Lopez.

SPEAKER_05 3:30

Bless you guys. Yes, sir. Well, I'm gonna go ahead and introduce myself. Um I say I'm coming back to church. I've been here I almost say a year and a half already, but here at Minnesota. Really enjoy this church. Feels like a very good family to be in. Awesome. Uh I have a family of five, you know, kind of struggled out there a little bit, but I was ready to come back, bring my kids, bring, you know, start from a stern family, build this family up. And it's been a really good church to come in and you know be with. And it actually helps out when you got those hands to reach out to. That's right. Yeah, it does.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

That was right. It does. Uh and I'm Nelson, um, a guest that you guys invited. So it's a pleasure to be here, uh, part of this group. And um I've been in this church, I think, for like three years now, since I moved to Lubbock from Dallas, and I'm married to one of the pastor's daughters. So it does go by fast. Yeah, and uh, I was born and raised in Christianity, but as a youth, I was never really fully devoted into Christian life. Um I think things that happened within my life kind of made me split apart away from it. But moving here was a huge change, and I knew what I was coming to, and uh I'm really appreciative because it's what got me close to God, and I enjoy being part of this ministry now, and I've learned so much more, and this is probably like the closest I've been to God, so it means a lot.

SPEAKER_04 5:08

And what kind of roles do you hold right now?

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Uh yes, I'm in the youth ministry, so yes, I'm the youth leader. I I have a I teach the youth class in the Spanish service on Sundays. Awesome. That's great.

SPEAKER_03 5:23

And I'm Pastor Chris. Uh as you guys said, I am now the lead pastor of New Life, Ministadies Navida. I've been here for 32 years, uh serving under pastor. Went from doing a little bit of everything from the maintenance of the building to um the yard maintenance to singles director, young couples, a pastor, camera operator, all kinds of stuff, the ins and outs of the ministry, but uh an assistant to pastor uh everywhere he went and things like that as well for the last 32 years and December 14th, 2025, he installed me as the the lead pastor over the ministry. And so it's been it's been go, go, go ever since then.

SPEAKER_04 6:06

Um quick Chris, uh, I know it's a side, like at the side, and it actually popped into my mind really quick. Um I feel like it's something important. So for like a lot of uh, let's just say upcoming shepherds and pastors, right? Um, I know you were blessed to be able to have like somebody like Pastor Jessby to mentor you, like you said. Um he's had a lot of years in in ministry.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 6:32

So let's just say, do you feel like that that was a big advantage for you?

SPEAKER_03 6:36

Or absolutely, man, because you know, um one of the the the blessings was the last 10 years, he kind of pretty much asked, hey, pastor the church with me. He was still the lead. But in other words, take on some of the responsibility, take on some of the duties, get some of the experience. So basically, this is not new to me. The spiritual part of it is the heaviness of it, the the attacks of it are, you know, because it's it's just at a different level when you're in the euro. When you talk, but uh, but the rest of it, I know the ins and outs of the ministry and where we're going and what the vision is. It's helped me to humble, keep keep keep humble. It's helped me to know how to treat people the right way. Uh it's taught me how to um not chase the money, opportunities, things like that, like we talked about earlier before the podcast. So it's taught me a lot to be able to jump into the role without uh making a lot of mistakes. So basically learning from some of his mistakes helped me to be further along in ministry. So uh I recommend, in fact, I'm writing a book right now called 32 Lessons I Learned from My Pastor. Uh in fact, uh that's what I do every time I'm by myself. I I I type a little bit into it and uh I'm just in the introduction, but it's really, really good. I'm excited about it. But I really stepping back, I recommend people that are young, wanting to be young shepherds, uh people in their 20s, maybe even early 30s. It's very important that they that they just um learn to learn to discover who they are in the wilderness. Yeah because um it's hard as a young 20-year-old, I mean the word's the word, right? Yeah, but it's hard for a young 20-year-old to really give somebody or be like a tour guide for somebody spiritually who's never been in in certain places, you know. You can give them the word, but you really haven't been there yourself.

SPEAKER_05 8:38

Yeah, you haven't experienced so much of that.

SPEAKER_03 8:40

Exactly, you know. So it's like it's like me telling you how to have a successful marriage when I'm only a year or two married, you know. I mean, I haven't experienced Jackie. I'm still in a honeymoon right now. So, you know, when kids come and finances and heartache and all kinds of stuff come, that's when you find out about marriage, you know. So same thing with pastoral. But what you know, uh it's very, very important, man, that you find someone. And and you know, here's the thing about young preachers is because I was a young preacher and I didn't like correction. Yeah, I didn't like discipline, I didn't like waiting. But it's those things that really teach you who you really are. Because if not, you'll find out if you're just in it for the glory or you're just in it for the position or the authority. And when you're in it for that, it's not gonna last very long, man. You're gonna be digged up from head up, man. Oh, yes. Yeah, so I I'm I'm really blessed to be able to step in when I stepped in.

SPEAKER_05 9:36

Hi, quick question. Um, so I got to start off leading by following. So for you to become a leader, would you start as a follower to, you know, because you gotta follow somebody or you know, follow the word of God to see where you're gonna start. And you can't leave nobody without knowing. As you said, a young 20-year-old is not gonna know how to spiritually give advice. But leading, uh yeah, leading by following. Yeah, what would what would y'all say about that?

SPEAKER_03 10:02

Yeah, you can't lead until you learn to be a follower, you know. Um, even even Jesus came to the disciples, and the first thing he told them was, follow me. Yeah, and I will make you fishers of men. You know, that's what he said. But they couldn't become fishers of men, they would have just become fishers of fish all their life, yeah, had they not followed him.

SPEAKER_05 10:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:27

So you gotta learn to follow. And they followed him for three years, you know, three, three and a half years, you know, before um, of course, they experienced the Holy Spirit, this and that, whatever. But um, it is important that you learn how to be able to follow before you can leave.

SPEAKER_04 10:43

Yeah. And it's timing, right? Because like you said, three years. Three years. Who's who wants to wait three years?

SPEAKER_03 10:48

Exactly. And you know, I mean, in my case, who wants to wait 32 years? You know, uh, I know a lot of people that that didn't, and and they're not in ministry today. Yeah, and they don't have a marriage today. Wow, and they've gone back to drugs, and they've I mean, so you gotta learn to make sure if God calls you, of course, you're gonna make it. Yeah, if God calls you. Uh, but you better have a calling on your life. And if you don't, or if you you if you have a calling but God's calling you to wait, you better wait. We don't like to wait. Yeah, but it's that waiting period that's so good because I've learned that in that waiting period, you find out who you really are.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:28

You find out what your attitudes are really like. Yeah. It's like it's like if you tell a young singer who sings like the angels and wants to be the next lead worship leader, and they're up to do the worship song, and you tell them, hey, wait till next week instead of this week. Yeah. What are they gonna be like? You know, some of them will go crazy and ballistic.

SPEAKER_05 11:50

Yeah, get upset.

SPEAKER_03 11:51

You know, I don't suppose coming to my guess what? The waiting helped to find out what's really in their heart. Did they get the rage of the stage? Or are they really doing it in their heart? Because if they're it's really in their heart, they're gonna be like, no problem, Pastor. I understand. Hey, things happen, whatever. No problem. Whenever whenever you're ready, I'm ready. On the timing's right. Exactly. On timing's right. So sometimes waiting is good. It really finds makes you find out what's in your heart. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:17

Yeah. So that was interesting you said that, right? Yeah. It's got to be Christ who calls you. Because that's what we spoke on today. Uh, we used John uh 10, 1 through 3, you know, the the good shepherd, right? Yeah. And that's what we kind of spoke on. That was one of the deals, is you know, God, you know, Jesus, you know, describes it as like, you know, the shepherd's gotta come, got to be open. The gatekeeper has to open for the shepherd, right? Because he he recognizes the shepherd, right? And the reason he recognizes them is because the gatekeeper, which is Christ, he's the one that's set on his place. He called you, right? So if he called you, he knows, hey, that's that's my servant. He's gonna be a shepherd. Yeah, he's gonna have access to the flock, right? That's right. But that was one of the high points, is with all this going on on social media, who was really called to shepherd?

SPEAKER_05 13:09

Right, yeah, because anybody's really anybody's able to get behind the phone and post a video, but are they really in their Bible? Are they really being the followers?

SPEAKER_01 13:18

That's right. I think that's where it's also really important to look at the fruits of their life. Absolutely. That's one thing I learned that, like, um, like, how do we know if we can trust this person or not? Like, you know, we have what's that word I'm looking for when somebody like gives you a word, um, like a blessing or something, and some people believe it, and but anybody could like go up to you and you gotta test the spirits. Yeah, but then you gotta like look also on their life, like, hey, is there like marriage again? Like, do they act different at home? Like, do they treat people outside of churches? Okay, what is the fruit of the person that's prophesying? Right, yeah. Prophets, there you go. That's the word I was looking for. Like, because there's some prophets, but then there's some that say they're prophets, yeah. Yeah, so yeah, we can't really like rely on them that the prophets just because they've said the prophets. No, we gotta actually like make sure we're looking into their lives as well. Exactly. So the fruits of their lives also it's really important to look at that.

SPEAKER_03 14:29

Yeah, it's like Pastor Kerry said Wednesday, he said, man, there's a lot of uh what do you call them? There's a lot of basement uh preachers, preachers that are living in the basement of their of their grandparents, yeah. And and they're you know trying to pastor a flock on social media when they don't even know what they're talking about, you know. But you know, in the preaching, I've I've been preaching the gospel for 36, 37 years, 32 here. Um and man, I've I've I've just seen a lot of come and go, you know, come and go, come and go. And um it's sad. It's sad that some people will get like uh starstruck, you know, or you get the model preacher, they talk right, they look right, they look like they got the model this, model that. But if you don't look at the fruit, you know, you can follow these people and it's gonna lead you down the wrong path. Yeah. Or you may say, well, you know, this guy's the next greatest and latest, you know, and so you leave a pastor who's 60 years old, and it may not be flashy, may not be this, maybe not be that, but maybe solid. Yeah. Man, you don't want to lose that, bro. Yeah, you don't want to lose that. So don't go after what's sexy or what's flashy. Yeah, go after what's true, what's been there and has gone through stuff, because those are the ones gonna help you get past, you know, uh things in your life and build.

SPEAKER_05 15:55

Crazy that you say that, because so where I was baptized is Unity Praised, and it was an older gentleman. Congregation is probably like 30 older people, and me and my brother and sisters were the only younger kids under the age of like 30. So we were, you know, the only kids. And that church, it really did, you know, it put the fire in me. And then I kind of swayed away because I was a teenager, you know. But it put the fire in me. But now that you, you know, you say that the older, they he the words when I think about what he spoke now, he spoke truth. He spoke with words, and like hearing his preachers now, preachings now, because I still watch him, he you could just feel it through the phone that he what he's saying is it's powerful. And I mean little church, but he's saying it right. And I went to go chase the flash for you, and but now it's seeing it, it is you focus on the you know, the ones that have that spiritual, you know, strength.

SPEAKER_03 16:49

And I'm not saying that all the older preachers got it all together. Some, you know, maybe just don't grow or just aren't at a certain level just because they're religious or or they won't let go of of things in the past and progress and things. I'm not saying that, but there is something about being solid with with somebody. Don't don't look at the size of your congregation or anything. Like you said, you know, uh like you guys said, look at their fruit, man. You know, what are they like? What is their marriage like? Uh if they tell everybody to be here at six, are they here at six?

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:20

If they tell everybody to love their wife, are they loving their wife? If they tell everybody to be faithful, are they faithful? They tell everybody to tithe, are they tithing? You know, things like that. Because a lot of the latest and greatest, they'll tell you what you should be doing, but they don't do it themselves. You know, so be very careful with that.

SPEAKER_05 17:35

That reminds me of the story you told us this morning where uh that man was watching, one of your friends was watching the man preach, and he was like, This guy's a preacher, he didn't even know. Yeah, he's like, because when he he's at home, he's oh yeah, he's at work, it's a whole different person. He's uh he's not the same person, but when he was preaching up there, he was preaching a beautiful word, but obviously it was a pretty picture.

SPEAKER_03 17:55

Yeah, it was a good thing. Another thing I'll say about that is you know, always honor the men and women of God around you first. Yeah. Because, you know, a lot of times we're like, oh man, you know, that's what powerful anointing that brother has, this brother has, whatever. I want to I want to partner with them, I want to show one to them. Well, that's good enough. That's what God leads you to do. But always remember when you go through a crisis, those people are not gonna be around. Yeah. The ones that are gonna stay up late with you and be there when you're at loss or when you're going through a storm are gonna be your local pastors. Yeah. Local people. You know, they're the ones that are gonna be losing sleep over what you're going through. That's true. And the other ones, you know, they're not gonna know who you are or what. I mean, you know, which I'm not saying is you shouldn't. There are people you can partner with, but what I'm saying is don't forget your local men and women and gone around you because they're the ones that are gonna be there for you all the time.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

That's true. And they go even the extra mile, because, you know, even like, for example, let's say I come to you for help, but I know you have your hands full, you're not just gonna say no. You might just be like, hey, you know what, like I can, but let me put you in contact with this other person. Even that means a lot for somebody that's like looking for the help. Absolutely. And what I was gonna say about you earlier, like what you said is like whenever you listen to this preacher and he put the fire on you, like that's also another way to like for me, uh I would say to know that's a good shepherd, is because the words that they say, is it like bringing me conviction? Is it bringing me like leadership, like leading me the right way? And is he applying it like through the through the word of God, not just his own words? You know, so all of those things together that look at that, and uh that's how I know that like you know, aside from looking at the fruit and other things, like are they preaching that, you know, like to the people and bringing conviction, not just like softness and like yeah, you know, sure.

SPEAKER_04 19:52

Prosperity and blessing. We talked about that today too. We were like, is your is your shepherd convicting you? Right, and you should, right? And he should if it's the truth, it's gonna hurt, right? Nobody likes the truth. So um, and that's what I shared. You know, there there's times when I leave the sanctuary, you know, on a Sunday or Wednesday, I'm like, oh yeah, I yeah, or encouragement. Yeah, I I've been doing what he says not to do, you know, or I've I've you know, um because it's not that y'all are trying to offend me, but it's the truth, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:25

Yeah, they're just trying to know that everybody's like, you know, not going back and stuff. And that's the thing about a shepherd is a shepherd, a shepherd is willing to feed you the right diet, whether you like it or not. Yeah, because he cares about your long-term health. That's right. You know, he's not gonna feed you candy all day. If he does, yeah, it's not a good shepherd. You know, he's just a shepherd that wants to keep you happy. Yeah, you know, or there are shepherds, sad to say, that won't tell the biggest tither at the church the truth. You know, they're messing around with their wife, whatever. Hey, Pastor, you know, don't say, yeah, no, no, no, we're good, we're good. You know, just trying to be cool about it, bro. Or just, you know, hey, clean up. Because he's the biggest tither. Exactly. But a good shepherd will say, hey, bro, you know, you you you need to come clean, bro. You need to stop, you need to repent, whatever. And hey, you know, I'm gonna give you some time, but listen, it's not cool for your wife. Yeah, this that we're gonna we're gonna have to say something, we're gonna have to do something about this, man, because it's not cool.

SPEAKER_05 21:20

Yeah, yeah. I like this little thing. I got it's convictions, and I want to say he said combinations. Uh brother Sean, when he gave that word, it's con condemnations, right? Convictions, they give you to they lead you to change. They want, like, you know, oh man, I feel bad. Like, I want to change that. I want to do something better, I want to, you know, become better. When condemnations, they lead you to shame. Like, oh man, I don't, I'm not worthy enough. Like, I'm not good enough. I can't do this no more. I I'm gonna I'm gonna sway it away because oh man, this guy said this, and yeah, I feel bad now. Like you could you have to tell the difference from the world to the shepherd, the real, the real version. And yeah, I feel like that's really a big you gotta tell that difference from when you start. Feeling, oh man, I can't like you know, I'm not good at this, you know. Yeah, he's telling me I I'm nothing and I can't do this no more. Rather than I'm gonna change, I'm gonna do better, I'm gonna, you know, fix what my mistakes and come back at another angle. That's right.

SPEAKER_04 22:14

So, like Vic saying that, right? Like that was a pretty good deal because at any time when you were, of course, you have like you said 37 years, right? 32 years here. It's like let's just say somebody right now is listening and they're potentially called to be a shepherd, right? Is there anything like on that that you can like give them advice, right? Like, like let's say, have you ever felt like this ain't this isn't for me? Or how do I really know that I was called? Because how do you really know if you're called to be a shepherd?

SPEAKER_03 22:48

Man, you can't get it out of your head. Yeah. Uh you can't get it out of your head, you don't have peace. You see yourself preaching or teaching, yeah. And whether you're daydreaming or sleeping. I got even other people come around and be like, man, for some reason, you know, uh you ought to think about being a pastor, or stuff like that happens. Um and you're just not happy in life with some of the things you're doing. You you you feel like there's something else there. Something's missing. Yeah, something's missing. Something else is there, you know. Uh for me, I mean I was young, I was I just got saved at 14 and 14 and a half, and I started having visions. I started having a hunger for the word. I started to see myself preaching, and I had I knew nothing about the word, bro. You know? Uh I think I I I thought Job was job and songs and palms. Yeah, I was just totally ignorant of the word, but I saw myself preaching it. Wow. I'm like, what in the world, you know? And I still cussed a little bit, I still had anger issues, this, that I was working it out. But uh I I I said that to a pastor in my life at that time, and he's like, man, it could be God's calling you to preach to be a pastor. Wow. And so uh he started leading me down that road, started teaching me and started guiding me that way. Uh, and there were evidences. As I was going, there was evidences, and there was fruits. And so, yeah, there's there's different ways that you'll feel a call, and and you, and and you'll you'll always you'll you'll always have you can't get away from it. Yeah, you can't get away from it.

SPEAKER_04 24:19

So, like you said, like at the very beginning, right? You would you still had some issues you were dealing with, right? And with like how Vic was saying, to you, did it ever come to you as condemnation? Like, yeah, I shouldn't even have to be, I shouldn't even do this, you know what, I failed. Oh, feeling imperfect, yeah, yeah, yeah. Feeling like you're not worthy of that.

SPEAKER_03 24:35

You gotta learn that anytime you feel condemnation, that's the enemy speaking to you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because God does not condemn, because God looks at your sin and he acts as if it never even happened. That's what the word says. The word says that when you're righteous and when he uh saves you, that your past does not even exist anymore. It's as if it never existed. While the enemy will always bring it up. Oh man, you know, uh you know, you're thinking you're called to preach, you know, you're just a pothead, you know, you're just this, you know, your parents that, you know, blah blah blah. You're just remember what you did, you know. So that's anytime there's condemnation, that's the that's the enemy trying to keep you down.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:14

Uh because God won't do that. And anybody that's trying to condemn you is is is not being used by the Lord. You know, they're being used by another source, which is the enemy to keep you down, you know, for some reason or another.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:28

Uh conviction, God does that on his own. I mean, there's stuff I'm reading right now in the one year Bible. My wife and I have been reading it since November. And um there's stuff that I'm reading in the Old Testament with Moses that's convicted me right now.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 25:44

And I'm like, what the normal girl? You know? Um, but it it it brings a conviction to make me do better. Yeah. It doesn't make me feel bad. It challenges me to say, God, I'm I'm I'm missing that. That that's the key. That's the key, you know? Yeah, yeah. Things like like uh making sure that this ministry is tithing from the tithe. Because that's what the word says. Okay. And I just saw it in plain daylight when Moses was talking, you know, when God was talking to Moses about the the Levites and this and that, whatever. He told them what to do with the offerings and how to take care of the tithe, whatever. And he said, make sure that when the tithes come in, you tithe from the tithe. And I'm like, whoa. So that's another tithe. I gotta make sure that this ministry, you know, we're we're asking our congregation all the time, hey, you know, believe God, trust God, give your tithe. But is our ministry doing it? So that's something that I went back, I looked at the numbers, and I'm going down to every penny to make sure. Because me personally, I make sure all the time me and Anzaga are to the penny, making sure we're going above our tithe just in case I miss something.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:44

So I said, I gotta be like that with this ministry if I want this ministry to grow. So I didn't get condemned about it, but I got convicted about it. I wanted to go, I wanted to go check out the numbers that night. And I said, Oh, I better wait till Thursday until other things like all of a sudden later on, Moses is talking, and and there's a scripture that says, after all God did for you, and you still don't want to appreciate it. Wow. I'm like, whoa. Conviction, yeah. Conviction. Well, stuff like that, you know, will bring conviction to help you do better. Yeah. So it's always good to hang out with other pastors that will challenge you to be better, not condemn you. If they're telling you, hey, you better, then that that's condemnation. Yeah. But if you just hang out with them and you see their prayer life or you see how they operate or how they love all people, and you and you tell yourself, man, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta work on my love language, bro, because man, I'm too hard for people. Look at this brother, man. So it it helps you to encourage and and convict you all to do that.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Okay, and that's the words of personality. And I was gonna uh ask you, so whenever you got called, did you ever you know it got it got encouraging in that moment, you know, and then you got hungry for the word and doing doing right. And whatever time that you like slipped off and you noticed that you surround you noticed that your surroundings were like bad stuff happening, yeah, and then you got right with God again and everything started getting better. Yeah, that that happens to you.

SPEAKER_03 28:13

I'll tell you, I can honestly say I never actually backslid, but I did trip a few times. You know, yeah, I did trip a few times as far as like responding in a bad attitude or or just blowing my top that I shouldn't have, you know, especially with family.

SPEAKER_05 28:32

Acting out of anger?

SPEAKER_03 28:34

Yeah. Yeah. You know, there's several times where even my daughter, when she she could my daughter always hung out with me all the time up until she met on the death. But anyway, she hung out with me for like 18, 19, 20 years, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. And there was times where I would talk to her, and I expected so much from her, and I knew she could handle it. So sometimes I would raise my voice or say, hey, you know, like for instance, when we were out riding horses and hers was acting up and she was like having a hard time, and she would say, Daddy, he's not acting, you know, and I would kind of respond. I would talk to her like a cowboy instead of talking to her like a dog.

unknown 29:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:12

And then God later on would bring conviction to me. Yeah. And I would tell her on the way home, hey baby, I'm sorry. I blew it. I should I shouldn't have been talking to you that way. I shouldn't have I didn't cuss. I didn't do anything like that. I didn't put her down, but just in the manner that I talked to her, I shouldn't have talked to her like that. Yeah. Like the tone of the tone of voice and everything, and and and then just not taking the time to teach rather than just rebuke, you know what I'm saying? Of course, my my daughter's always been a tough, tough character, and she would be like, nah, dad, uh that you're fine. That that horse was acting up. I said, No, I know he was acting up, but I sh I I don't have a right to talk to you that way. And I don't want anybody else to talk to you that way. You see what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 29:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

So things like that, you know, I would trip from time to time. But those were moments where I had an opportunity to listen to the Holy Spirit and correct it, or not. And I would correct things, you know, I would correct things. Oh. Different things in family, things like that. Yeah. But I will tell you this. I had opportunities when I first started with pastor to get involved with people that were up to no good. And they would invite me, and I would be like, Angela and I'd be all excited because we were like, oh, great, you know, we got invited to hang out with these couples. These are the cool couples at the church, whatever. But then they were up to no good. They were trying to divide the church, they were trying to start their own thing, whatever, and I'd be like, wow, I had a decision to make. Was I gonna be a part of them? Yeah. Or was I gonna be like, mm-hmm. You know, and I chose not to. I chose to go with character versus you know what was in at the time. And I'm glad I did because those churches never made it, you know. And God's blessed my life. But as far as like going all the way back, I I I never I never have. I was always when I got saved, I got saved in their ministry that would preach a lot about hell, and they brought plays about going to hell and stuff and all these. I was scared, bro. I was scared, but that fear helped me to stay on the right path. You know what I'm saying? So I was scared at first. I wouldn't do it. Today we have a lot of churches and we have a lot of social media that'll make it seem like it's okay, you know, it's not too bad, and it's not bad. Yeah, well, you're not gonna go to hell, but there are consequences. Yeah, there are consequences, and some are are worse than others. I won't get it to us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:26

So I know we're getting pretty close to the hour, and I know we kind of want to keep it to uh to a minimum, you know. Um I'm sure y'all all probably got one last question. My last question, you know, me personally, is there any encouraging words you can give to a new shepherd? If it's if they're listening he or she, like, you know, if maybe, of course, maybe at first they're kind of skeptic, like I don't know if it really is a calling. And uh especially in this time of age, right, where the truth isn't really popular, which I don't think it never really was, right? But it's just we're seeing it at an all-time high, especially in Western civilization. Um is there anything you can give them?

SPEAKER_03 32:07

You know, I like what Anthony, uh Philip Anthony Mitchell said, you know, don't stress over the things that you can't control. Yeah, you know. So just because maybe a friend of yours that you went to Bible school with, his church is hitting two or three thousand members and you're still at 75. Yeah, hey, you know, God has called you for 75.

SPEAKER_05 32:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:28

Take care of those 75.

SPEAKER_05 32:29

One of those 75 is what is needing.

SPEAKER_03 32:32

And so, and so don't don't don't use comparison because comparison will kill your joy. That's what the Bible says. Uh always just know uh believe God for great things, but know that God is in control of of your situation, you know. Enjoy God, enjoy your family, enjoy what he's doing. It could be that if you get into the three thousands, you you may be entrapped in your own misery of your vision, you know? Because there's some people that are like, man, now I'm at 3,000, but now I'm all stressed out, you know. So so why would you want that, you know? There's people that can handle so many. Moses was an example. He was talking to his father-in-law, and his father-in-law said, Man, you're gonna kill yourself, bro. Yeah, you need to get people that'll help you manage these people. So some were in charge of uh a thousand, some were in charge of a hundred, some are in charge of fifty, some were in charge of ten, you know. So God knows what you can handle and still be in your right mind. Because there's pastors that, yeah, they're in the thousands, but they've lost their wife, they're lost, they've lost their kids, you know, things like that. So is it really worth it? Yeah, yeah. So don't chase numbers, prosperity, fame, or anything. Chase after God, and God will bring the right things to you in the moment and the time that He wants to bring them to you, man. Don't be in a hurry. Chase God. It's fun, it's uh living by faith is exciting. Yeah, it's scary sometimes, but if God is with you and your heart is right and you're doing the right things, man, God will take care of you. You know, God has never, ever let us down, answer and I. And we've been living for faith, by faith. Uh, 32 years ago, when Pastor hired me, he said, Hey, I'll pay you as long as you can believe God. And as long as you believe God and I believe God, God will provide. That's the scary stuff. In other words, there were there was no guarantee. There's not guarantee 40 hours at least. It's just like, hey, if you believe God, I'll believe God, and we'll see what it leads to. And I did.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:29

I left a good career um making X amount of dollars, working hardly ever a week, selling big accounts, you know, working for Channel 51 onivision as an account executive, uh, to work, you know, 14 hours a day living by faith, you know. But 32 years ago, man, I don't regret it at all. It's been the funnest 32 years of my life.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

Amen. You know what else I don't I like the um the pastor said, Philip, uh, was like don't lower the quality of whenever you're preaching, because yeah, you have goals, right? Of having maybe a hundred and plus members, but even if you have two or three, like in your vision, see, like if you're preaching to a multi two. Absolutely, you know. And that was one of the downfalls I had on uh in the beginning of the youth ministry because I started with like six. Now sometimes we have 27. Wow, totally. I mean, yeah, that's that's growth. And that's in two years. Yeah, two years. But I'm like, man, it's awesome, it feels awesome. But like that C3 really helped, and I was like, yeah, I'm not lowering the quality just because I only have sometimes 15 people show up, but I'm like, that's okay.

SPEAKER_03 35:39

No, and they go back, they go back, not necessarily for how you preach, but because of who you are as a preacher. Because I've heard that, I've heard that from the kids and from the parents. Man, our kids just love Nelson, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:52

But because you care for him too, yeah you know, and that that's what makes a difference. Yeah, and I yeah, and it's you enjoy it. Like I enjoy it. So I feel like if I didn't enjoy it, then it would show. Absolutely, you know.

SPEAKER_05 36:03

That's that's a good trait of being a shepherd. You have to actually care for who your teachings to, who you're looking, you know, who you have looking at you. You got to actually care for them rather than just, oh, you know, I'm gonna show you tell you this, but don't ask me nothing later on because that's not my problem. It's actually really good.

SPEAKER_04 36:19

Well, the scripture says that, right? John 10, the hired hand, doesn't care because he doesn't know his sheep. He's just there doing a job. And when the wolves come, he just runs. But the real shepherd cares for the people.

SPEAKER_03 36:33

And that's what helps you also in in getting people that come along to help you. Yeah. What are they, you know, look look at their heart. Are they just coming in for the spotlight, yeah, for for the authority, uh, for for the stage? Or are they coming in because they really care for people? And that's what I look at. A lot of times, uh, like for instance, one of the reasons that we really hooked up with Sean, because I quickly saw he wasn't after the pulpit, he wasn't after the stage, he wasn't after the light. Man, he was on the street.

SPEAKER_05 37:01

I mean, that contract they're gonna have. They didn't want nothing from it, they just wanted to come and exactly so people like that, you know.

SPEAKER_03 37:07

Whereas I've seen other people that come in and they're like, you know, they want the spotlight, they want to be served. I'm not even gonna show up unless they're gonna be able to do that. Because they want that, and they don't want to pay a price. Yeah, yeah. And and those are the people that I'm just like, I really don't want to hurry up and promote. Yeah, and I really don't, I'm not in a hurry for them to help out. But me personally, I'll help develop them and hopefully they'll get it along the way.

SPEAKER_02 37:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:34

But if not, I'm not gonna put them in a position that's gonna end up hurting me. Because the hired hand just comes in to steal, yeah, kill, and destroy. You see what I'm saying? They're the sheep in wolf's clothing, right? And they don't care for the sheep. Yeah. I've I've had goats, cows, uh, sheep, things like that. And when I drive up in my truck, even my horses, when I drive up in my truck, man, they go crazy because they know I'm gonna feed them. Yeah, feeding time. But then I've had people that I'm like, I'll go with them in their truck, and they're like, yes, uh, drive me by my horses right by my sheep right quick. I'm gonna feed them. And we're pulling up in their truck, and they're all kind of looking for this. Like, who is that? Yeah, and they're just kind of like, yeah, and even some of the sheep that I had, man, they were just kind of like, but you know, they were kind of like being a distance because they're like, Whoa, who is this, you know? And then some of them, of course, like some sheep that we are, some of them they don't care, they're just like, hey, who are you? Yeah, those are the ones that you bring me from the butt when I would get out of the truck, then they would all go crazy because they're like, Oh, it's him. So your sheep have to know you, they have to smell you, they have to know who you are to to have confidence in you and trust in you. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_05 38:50

So we can end this out with two questions. First question is Is there any events, any news, anything that's coming from New Life right now? You know, any upcoming events. I mean, tonight there's the concert, but anything, you know, certainly. What is this going out? This is going out right now Monday.

SPEAKER_03 39:08

Oh, this is going out Monday. Okay, Monday. So uh Sunday the 22nd, we're having Cultural Day. And it's gonna be fun, but really the whole idea is to get together and uh besides our tithes and offerings that we pick up, we're gonna pick up a special offering for our church in Monterrey, Mexico. They're building a church, they've already got the slab, they're working on some stuff. So we want to be able to sow seed into that ministry to help them build their church. We're believing as a church, as new life, that if we sow into their church, God's gonna take care of ours. We're believing for a building, we're believing for maybe another location. I don't know. I would like to stay in this area though, but we're believing for because our building's old. We we're believing God for a brand new one. So maybe God will give us the resources to knock this one down and build one up here. So in doing that, we've got to take a step of faith. And so that's what that cultural day is for. And then the last Sunday, we have uh our family day, where after service we're gonna all go out to the park and we'll have a good little barbecue or whatever. And then of course it's Easter Sunday. But we have prayer. The last, the last, we had, we had on the last um Monday of March, we had an of no of February, we had an awesome prayer service. We had pastors from the community come out. God did something awesome. God opened up the window, and from there, I mean, we're seeing some change as well in our life. We had an awesome conference, whatever. So we're gonna do it again this month on the last Monday of March, which is I think the 30th. So, man, it's at six o'clock on that last Monday. Everybody's invited to come out, and we just pray. We pray for the community, pray for our nation, pray for our churches, our pastors, everything, and God's doing some great things. So there's lots and lots of things going on.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

That prayer is awesome.

SPEAKER_05 40:49

Absolutely. Um, okay, so then any question to ask yourself, viewers watching are you following the right shepherds? Are you being a shepherd yourself in the right way? Are you following the word? Are you using the word as your compass? Everything good? Yes, sir. Thank y'all for enjoying. Y'all have a great day.