Misconceptions Part 2 - And other interesting points on ministry

Join Scott and Dan as they discuss stories from ministry and misconceptions about ministers, church and other things Christian.

Remember, if you have questions, please click the Fan Mail button and we'll address them in a future podcast!

Thanks for listening, have a great week!

Produced, edited and hosted by Scott Askew and Dan Daugherty

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Hey everybody, it's the Creek Cast with Scott and Dan. We are glad to be with you today. Thanks for listening in. We have uh hopefully some fun today to talk about, and um not at the expense of people, but over things that we've experienced and misconceptions. This is kind of misconceptions volume two. And um, we uh talked about misconceptions last week if you joined us. So, Dan, how are you doing today, bud? Super awesome. I'm glad Dan Dan is uh Dan is in good shape. Me, I have I that I cannot shake this allergy type junk. And so if I sound all nasally, I'll be two weeks ago. So man, it is a beast. It's just something. Um thankful for the rain. Uh they're calling for more rain tomorrow. So uh we we will hope that we will get that rain. Um it is again good to be with you. This is Tuesday, April 28th. Is that right? It is, yeah. It is, yeah. Tuesday, April 28th. So we are um gonna be in May before uh you know it, and uh we will continue moving on. May's the best month. Oh, you were born in May, wasn't it? Yeah, um, I think June's the best month, but you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

May 30th specifically is the best day. Yeah, that's right. Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Yeah, I'm sure that has nothing to do with your birthday. No, so not at all. I like coffee. Oh my I didn't see that one coming. Did not see that one coming at all. That one snuck up and got me right in the that was an uppercut. I am not predictable whatsoever. Uh you are, you're pretty unpredictable. Um we somebody's gonna get you coffee at some point, and I I look forward to that happening.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

I I usually I usually get uh a couple times a year, a lady in the church gives me a bag of coffee. So nice, nice. That's why she's my favorite. Almost like that. Besides my wife, of course. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Now everybody's gonna be giving you coffee and you're gonna be caffeinating out the wazi.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

I'm not gonna say her name because I don't wanna I don't wanna you don't want to ruin it for the other four women who give you coffee as well.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Right, right. That's right. He's got uh I know what I'm doing. Yeah, you you got it planned, dude. You're doing all right. People right now are shaking their heads. We know, we know. It's okay. Don't shut us off, please. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep listening. Uh hopefully you got some some stuff worth listening to today. So last week we talked about common misconceptions. Um, the main topic that we talked about was that we should be going to church, that as Christians we should be attending a service, a family, a body of Christ so that we can be built up and we can build others up. Yeah, and that was really the main concept that we talked about. Summarize it, get your butt to church. Yep, yeah, that's that's a good summary. Um get your butt to church and make sure that you're um participating. Uh, I think it's really easy. We talked this past week about the conception of going to somebody was just telling me yesterday that they like going um to a um large church because they don't have to um blend in. Oh, they can blend in. They can blend in downtown, yeah. Yeah. So um yeah, and I and I I understand that. Um I I get it because we don't want to be bothered or we want to, but man, we we need to be a part of the body. Yeah, we need to be the finger or the pinky or whatever it is that's the thing.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

It's not enough just to park your park your keister in the seat. I mean you you've gotta and fact when uh when we uh in Idaho when we when I first became a senior pastor, we started doing redoing our bylaws. And uh we used to baptize uh people and then when you're baptized you were a member. And I yeah, I never have really yeah, I I've never really believed that. Yeah, we've always done that too. Yeah, and so and so um I I challenged the elders. I said, listen, I said, uh, because in in in Idaho, I did two baptisms, I called them drive-by baptisms, um, where we had one guy that was coming just through town and he stopped, he's he was listening to the radio or something like that on the interstate. Yeah, he got off the interstate, found himself in our and this is a true story, found himself in our town, and just happened to drive by the city park where our church was. Really? He knocked on the door, I happened to be there. I this is obviously not all happenstance, by the way. I think God ordained it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he said, Um, I need Jesus. I'm like, hi, I'm Dan. Nice to meet you, you know. Not Jesus, but I can I can tell you about it. Yeah, but anyway, um, so I was asking him, you know, what was going on. And in long story short, he confessed Christ as as Lord, and I baptized him and he went on his way. Wow. To Oregon. Wow. And another another instance happened to where it was of somebody I knew um that was coming through moving to Washington State. Yeah. And uh really just felt convicted and wanted me to be a part of that. And so I baptized him before he moved. And so I just brought up to the elders and said, Why do we baptize for membership? Are those two members of our of our local church? Right. Uh no. Yeah. So what we did is we separated baptism from membership. And we, if you were baptized in our church and you wanted to be a member, that was a di a different decision. Yeah. So that being said, we uh um I don't even know where I was going with this. We were talking about stories, service service in church. And so what I started doing in the invitation uh was uh if you, you know, if you have a decision to make for the Lord, uh if you need to accept Christ as your savior, um, if you need to be prayer, if you need prayed prayed over, um, and if you would like to be a member, um uh you could come forward. And so, but I always ended with and a membership at Kimberly Christian Church, because that was the church at the time, uh, does not mean that you get this card and you know you get all these benefits and stuff, but it means that um if you know if you're gonna be a part of our church, you're gonna be active in our church. Right. And so I'd always say if you plan on just parking your keister in the seat and just warming a spot, this church isn't for you. Yeah. Um, and largely a lot of people they go to church, they want to slink in, kind of sit there, be entertained, yeah. Um and then go on their merry way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

And if you manage expectations up front, it it works out pretty good. Right. So I would say generally here, what we've always done is if they're baptized, then if you know, yeah, their membership is placed here, but um we can you know, if they go to a Baptist church down the road, I mean we can you can go there and tell them, hey, you know, uh call the or whatever. Uh membership is one of those things that um we do take seriously, but it's not um we salvation is is the issue. We we want you to accept Christ. And um uh we can talk membership later. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

And uh and that's it actually would be good because we we we get a lot of questions about it here.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Yeah, we do.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Because you'll notice we don't push it.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

No, no, we don't push membership. And and one of the reasons for the misconceptions idea, and we mentioned it last week, but we didn't harp on it, is um a lot of churches practice um membership, and they say when you become a member you get a vote. Yeah. And at Broad Creek, we do not vote. No voting. And and people cannot believe it when we tell them that. Um and there's more and more churches, I think, today than ever.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

It's more common than it used to be for sure. Yeah, it's a lot more common.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Yeah, yeah. And I'm thankful because uh, you know, I I I and I told the story last week about the about going to Union Grove and getting the hundred percent vote. When you allow people who are members on the roll who don't come to church but once every six or seven years, right and they get the same say as an elder in the church on whether you're gonna make a decision or not. I that's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

No, that's that's asinight.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

That is, and uh, and I 100% agree. You cannot allow that to take place. And so um voting is um it's a it's a worldly construct. We don't find it in the Bible. As a matter of fact, the only times we find it in the Bible, people get hurt.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Um, and and honestly, I would say that people get hurt in voting here on earth too.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

I I think the closest we come to would probably just off the top of my head, uh, is the choosing of the twelfth disciple after Judas. Yeah. And that's not really a vote, it's it's it's casting lots of things.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

They're casting lots, yeah. Um Jonah Jonah, they cast lots about Jonah, and they land on Jonah and they throw him overboard. Then Matthews, you could say he lived well as an apostle, but he died an apostle's death. He died a martyr. And um, so you get that voting led to not always great things for the people being voted on.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

The the for the first deacons, the the diakonos uh in in Acts, uh Stephen and and those who follow, the the seven guys there. Was it six guys? Seven. Six there were seven total. Seven total. Yeah, yeah. And uh, you know, they are not voted on. Um they just they're handpicked by the people. Yeah, the people go and say, you know, because that was the instruction they had, go find seven men among you filled with the Holy Spirit. That's right. And they can take care of those things.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Yeah, and they chose seven Greek men to handle and make sure that the Greek uh widows were taken care of. And um and and that's that's a good thing. Um Yeah, so when we as we talk uh misconceptions today, I d we don't I don't have a former list, uh formal list. I I've uh you know I've experienced things in ministry that I thought I'd tell a couple stories, but it also comes down to um how mankind has taken um really taken the word of God and changed it into different things. And and uh deacons is one of them. We we don't have any deacons here at the church uh in in office. Um we actually do have three men who I think were made deacons years ago. Yeah, and that was before me. Yeah and um and so but but they they don't deacons in the church that I came from, in all the churches I came from, wielded power. Yes. And uh they wielded as much power as the elders did. Um and um so sometimes the elders were well respected, but in a couple of those churches, the deacons outnumbered the elders. So if it came down to a vote, the deacons would politic and beat the elders in a vote in a board meeting. Right. So um that's dangerous. That that's I mean, that's man, I always felt like that was borderline uh, you know, maybe not blasphemous, but just it's just wrong. It's just the wrong way to do it. Right. And if if you can't trust your elders to lead, then let the elders step down and let the deacon step down and then ask another church to help you train and appoint men because obviously your church isn't doing a good job of it. And um but we're we're not willing to swallow our own.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

No, I it's and and you know, reality is that biblically deacons were um they were given uh as model servants, is what it was. It was it was a um it was a position, uh Diokonos uh I think literally means one who waits on tapestry. That's exactly right. Um and so it was it was a is a set apart servant. Um I don't know. I mean, you see deacons in the list and uh Titus and First Timothy. First Timothy, um, but it's not in the same vein as elders. No. It's talking about just people who you're gonna set apart for for the the servant leaders. That's right. Um need to have some stand there's some standards. There has to be some standards, yeah. Um I don't know that that was a a prescription for the church to make that an office that runs the church. Right. That's right. I I agree.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

I think deacons were necessary at times when there weren't people stepping up to handle the business that needed to be handled. Right. And so therefore elders elders or the people, in the case of the apostles in Acts 6, they they allowed um the people to choose, but elders could appoint deacons to do certain procedures, make sure springs happen.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Because it because it's it sets it sets uh it sets up the elders to be able to do uh what they're meant to do, which is the the spiritual direction, it's the the preaching and prayer, it's the discipleship, you know, the spiritual direction of the church. That's right. Um if that if everything falls to the elder, then there's something's gonna lack. Right. That's right. Well, yesterday was a good example.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

We had a four-hour we had a bunch of meetings yesterday. And um from 9 30 a.m. till 7 30 p.m. That's right. We had a bunch of meetings, and um I called, I talked to my mom after, and my mom's like, Why are y'all meeting so much? And I said, Well, we got a lot to do, and there's a lot to decide. But the elders did not sit around and talk about physical you know, we didn't we didn't sit around and talk about procedure because uh well, we're working on some um procedural stuff to be able to hand to people and give to people if they need it. But um it wasn't more, it was more along the lines of um um spiritual direction and future what does God have planned for us in the future. What kind of church are we? And things like that that matter to us as leaders and we need to look at so we can better take care of people and we can be uh consistently good stewards.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

Well, it's it's all things that are trying to handle a growing congregation. And so, you know, we're not we're not debating about what kind of tiles to put down and you know, I you know that's not for us to decide to decide.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

We have other people we'll appoint a team. I mean, the two times that we've remodeled, and maybe if you're from Broad Creek, you don't know this, when we remodeled the foyer and we remodeled the uh worship center uh over the past couple years, we did not I know a lot of churches would ask like three or four women, a couple men from the church to decide. Form a committee, they'd form a committee. And um, and committees, you know, sometimes well, I hate to say sometimes, committees. I I've man, I I'm not gonna say anything bad. Uh so we didn't form a committee. We we we went and we did ask a couple of people um that we knew were talented with interior design to help us design some things, but we ultimately hired an interior decorator, a church interior designer from Richmond, Virginia, to come in and consult us on what she saw us doing with our ask and vision that we had. And she made that come to life and did a really good job. And so nobody was really mad. If anybody was gonna be mad about what we did, they could be mad at the elders. Um, it was we didn't want to put someone out there who people could get mad at because they decided on gray rather than you know purple. Right. And uh and we did the same thing. We hired the same woman to come back and help us um with the um worship center, and I think she did a great job both times, and we didn't follow every single thing that she did because some of them weren't feasible.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Well, I mean, and and we had somebody in our church that has that background too, and so you know they helped a lot with that.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

They helped build the waterfall table and and the middle the circle desk and um rugs, and yeah, I mean it was great.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

You don't like the carpet, that was the elder's decision.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Yeah, the elders was yeah, we did decide on the carpet. So um and people have told me it looks like a roller skating rink. And that's okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

I like roller skating rings.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Yeah, we get some black lights in there, we'll have a party.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

So that's right, yeah. We've had a couple parties. We have had a few parties in there. So, but yeah, yeah, yeah, that's uh that's the carpet I liked. And so when it was when it was time to pick, we're like, hey, why don't we do this? We're like, okay, let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

So and you may not know it, but we that thing's laid in squares. And and for those of you at Broad Creek, it's laid down with a glue that never hardens. So we can actually, if one of those tiles gets supremely messed up and we can't make it right, we can take that one little carpet tile up and we have extras and we'll lay a brand new entry. And so um, it'll look like a patchwork quilt before too long.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

It's gonna be awesome.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

It's just a sign of an active church. That's exactly right. I don't mind stains in the carpet because I don't mind finger kids' fingerprints on the door. Right. Um, I think there are churches out there that would die to have kids' fingerprints on the door. And um so we're really blessed.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Well, there's a lot of churches dying without fingerprints on the door. I need it so much. I really do. It is, it's sad.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

I um yeah. So some of the things that I've experienced, and I know you know Dan telling the story about the guy just stopping by and being baptized. I I know in in our experience we've seen things that um we've spoken about to each other, and and maybe I've told the stories in different places, but um there have just been and I and I'm not gonna there there's some stories that happen in ministry that I don't know that we can tell for many years. Um stories of pain and hurt that involved other people. And I think we have to get far removed from those subjects before we're able to properly share them in a context not of berating someone or even making fun of someone, but as either just laughing about it and saying, wow, that was crazy, or being able to learn a lesson out of it. And um, I've certainly learned a lot of lessons um from people and from things. Um and um yeah, I one that comes to mind is um we had a fellow who who was um whose name was Wayne, and Wayne um moved to North Carolina. His wife, uh he his he and his wife had married each other late in life. She had children of her own. They came to North Carolina, lived in a small house out near the church where I was at at the time, and she contracted cancer and died in six months. Like six months after they got here, she was dead. And um, and I was there with her when she passed, and I was with him. And from that point forward, he he was a little listless. He just didn't know what he was doing. Um, all the money in the relationship was hers, and she had never written like the house, he couldn't live in the house anymore. He moved into a trailer in a trailer park. And um, Wayne was just he he had his days, and Wayne was that type of person that would tell you a story, and you'd think it was at the end, and then there would be more. And so you're like, oh man, that's crazy. Oh, but that's not it. Then the house fell down, and you're like, what? And then wait, there's more. Yeah, it was always, but wait, there's more. And then the comet fell, and then you know, Jesus showed up, and you're like, Well, what the world?

SPEAKER_00 18:21

And um and a Jim Jones scrappes that.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Yeah, I'm like going, Why how did you do that? And uh so, but one day he called me and um he said this was a Saturday morning, and uh, it was about 9.30 in the morning. He called me and he said, Um, Scott, I've got a shotgun in my lap. He said, I'm gonna commit suicide and I need you to talk me out of it. And I said, Um, I said, Wayne, I said, how about we call someone else? He said, Nope. He said, I just want to talk to you for right now. And I said, I really think we should call the the suicide hotline. I I and he said, Nope. He said, I just want to talk to you. He said, Don't hang up. I said, Okay. So for four hours I sat there on the phone and talked to him, and um I I didn't know what else to do. And finally he agreed he was gonna put the shotgun down, and uh, he'd see me at church, and he did. He came to church next morning. Well, he went to the doctor on Monday, they asked him had he been feeling depressed, and he said yes. And they said, Have you considered committing suicide? And he told him the truth, he said yes, and then he realized he shouldn't have said that. So he got up and tried to run out of the doctor's office, and they actually had police arrest him, and that was his downward spiral. Right. And um, but he was always interesting to me because there were times when he wouldn't accept five dollars for a sandwich, but then he would call you in like the depths of despair and just say, Hey, I'm I'm done with this. We actually went and removed the weapons from his house. And ministry sometimes is is strange because you know, I think young men get into ministry and they're just thinking, I know there's gonna be some things that I don't like about it, but they're not gonna be that bad. And sometimes we do experience really bad things. And um both Dan and I have been on that side, and and um, you know, suicide has been a part of both of our experiences. And um and and let me go ahead and say this now that we've talked about suicide, there is help. If you're out there suffering right now, there is help. You help, you can call the suicide hotline, um, you can get help, and people will care about you. They won't try to take your freedoms away, they won't make fun of you. There's no one here who's gonna judge you, but um, you can get help, and uh there's there's always help.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

So because that is that is not the that is not the answer. That is not what God wants in any of us. No. Um, you know, and and that and that's you know, that's that's a theological can of worms too. It is it is I mean how many times have you, you know, people told you that when you commit suicide, you go to hell. And I'm like Yeah, the grace of Lord Jesus is more than that. It's more it's greater than that. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

And I wouldn't use that as an excuse at all. Um but um, you know, to just condemn someone to hell because they committed suicide, I don't believe is accurate.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

But I but I think that that plays, you know, that plays a role in in how we view mental health. I mean um uh we we've gotta be as as believers in Christ, we've got to be in a place where um we are looking out for one another. Yeah. Um that we are aware of each other. Um and I know it's hard because we get we get so bombarded by our our different things, um, you know, and so we we we stop paying attention to others, or we get some barbar some so bombarded we don't talk to somebody about our own things. That's right. Um, and so um, you know, we we you know we have the stigma of like, you know, if you're a Christian, there shouldn't be issues. Right. And the reality is there's there's there's gonna be issues. That's right. I went through a period of uh and I know we were gonna try to keep this lighthearted, but I turned it in this direction. So when when my when my mom passed away in twenty eighteen, um I I went into not not a spiral. I mean, I guess you could probably call it that, but um I didn't know I couldn't grieve because I had to be a rock for the my whole family.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

You were the preacher, you were the Christian, you were the yes, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

And so while my family was going crazy, I had to be a constant in that. And so um, yeah, I cried at the funeral, stuff like that. Um, but I never really uh internalized what had happened. Um, I knew where she was. She had repented of her sins um and came back to the Lord um just a few months prior. Um and so uh so I I had that assurance, but uh I I I started treating my my my immediate family, my wife and kids. I tried to I started treating them poorly. Yeah. Um because it leaks out. Yeah. If you can't breathe properly, it leaks out. Yeah. And you know, Nina uh approached me and she said, she said, Dan, we've gotta, we've got to get you some counseling. And I and I decided, I told her, I don't know. I counsel people. Right. And she kind of looked at me and like I didn't realize the damage I was doing to my family. Right. Um, I thought it was being blown out of proportion. And then, you know, I had friends approaching me saying, like, like my best friend Jeff approached me and said, You're not, you're not okay. And, you know, like that type of stuff. And so like finally I agreed. And we went to counseling and and we we went together, um, even though I don't think it turned into like it was probably good for us both as a as a couple. Yeah. Um, but there's a lady um in in our uh next town over who who saw pastors for free, and she's a licensed uh Christian, biblical counselor, and she was amazing. It was just amazing. And that helped me get out of that uh that mind, you know, that I was in, uh, and and helped me understand that that you know it's okay to grieve, it's okay to let it out. Um but in that process of counseling, uh, not only did was I getting stronger, but my marriage was getting stronger, which I I my marriage in in my in my looking back, my marriage was never in, because that's not who Nina is. Right. My marriage was never in jeopardy. Right. Um But like I I was I was looking at it as well, maybe it is, you know, even though I know that's not the truth now. Um, but that helped my marriage a ton. Well, in the process, as our as we're like, I'm healing, um, our marriage is is is growing stronger, um, which we've always had a strong marriage. It was just that little hiccup there, and it was wasn't her, it was me, you know, the whole time. Um, and then in the process of seeing that counselor, my brother-in-law took his life. And I think God used where we were to help because we had grown stronger together, yeah. That when that tragedy happened, we handled that so much differently than we handled my mother. Um, but God had us in that right place. And I don't know that if I would have agreed to go to counseling, I don't know that um that would have been a very uh I that would I I don't know what that event would have done. Right.

unknown 25:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

And so uh long you know to to to come back around, we've got to be looking out for one another. Yeah. That happens if you if you are in communion with one another and in community. And it happens when we genuinely care about each other and you have to say something. Yeah. You have to. You have to say something.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Yep. And so and if we wrap this into those misconceptions, which we are doing. Um I think the misconception of leaders, strong, quote unquote Christians don't need counseling. Right. Yeah. Right. Uh uh talking to a therapist is great.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

And um, and we should have people who can who we can talk to that aren't mentally, emotionally invested in our life, who can take a look at our life in the lens of scripture and say, this is what's needed. Right. And then we follow that. But the other misconception is is that excuse me, people who commit suicide aren't we aren't wimps, they're not weaklings. Right. Um, they're people who have normally been battered so much that they've lost hope. Yes. And um in community, we give people hope. Um we we we don't pick we don't kick out riff-raff. No. We don't we don't d eliminate people from the church because we don't feel like they're worthy of a certain level of things. We we love them and we care for them. And does that mean that sometimes it's gonna get dirty and and hurt a little bit? Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, again, we've been church is messy. Oh my gosh, church is so messy, and it's supposed to be messy because we're messy people. But for years and years I remember when we were young and going to church and and I love my home church at Longacre Chapel. I I I love my home church. And um, but I told my dad one time, um, I was young, I was probably nine or ten, and uh, we went to church, and I told dad on the way home, I said, I think we just go to church so we can dress up in nice clothes and tell each other we look nice. And dad got so mad at me, but he didn't stay mad at me because I think he he figured, well, you know what, there might be some truth in what I said. And um, he told me years later before we died, he said, I remember you saying that, and he says, Scott, he said, Um maybe maybe you had some truth in there. He said, I know people went there for different reasons, but yeah, we were you know dressing up and going. Um the misconception is that we have it all together. We do not. I know um, we do not have it all together. We do not always know everything that we're doing, we do not know what God is doing, we don't know what he's up to. We don't know all the answers. No, no. If you ask me something, I you have a good chance I might look at you and say, I don't know. Go ask Dan.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

Yeah, and and then you know what I did last week at trivia? What? I got a Bible question wrong. Yeah. How embarrassing is that when everybody knows that there's the pastor PhD there.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

What was it?

SPEAKER_00 28:05

It was how and I read I heard I'm gonna get it wrong too, but I heard and read the question wrong. Oh, okay. The way it would it was weird, weirded, weirdly worded. But in essence, the question was uh this is what they were trying to ask, but it wasn't worded this way. Right. But how many unclean animals were on the ark?

SPEAKER_01 28:22

Oh, okay. Well, it was uh oh crap. You had multiple choice, didn't you?

SPEAKER_00 28:27

No. Oh, you didn't? No, this was a bonus question, so it was a multiple choice.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

Was it it was was it seven of the clean?

SPEAKER_00 28:35

That's what I said. Yeah, it's two.

SPEAKER_01 28:37

Yeah, I I that's why I was getting I I thought it was seven. I couldn't remember whether it was two or three of the unclean. I just couldn't.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

It was it was two. Okay, and I know that, yeah, but in the way I was hearing it was was just totally just through me for a loop. And Crystal, Crystal's like, I think it's two. Oh man. And I'm like, I don't know. I said seven is ticking. Always listen to Crystal. I know, I've I've learned that. Uh so Crystal, I you know, and I I apologize to her, like, yeah, I'm gonna listen to Crystal from now on. But um, so if you have any biblical questions, go ask Crystal Heath. Yeah, yeah, but but Kenny came back from the bathroom and he goes, he's looking at it, he's like, I think it's seven. And I go, that's what I'm thinking too. And Crystal's like, I've been teaching Sunday school for years. She goes, and I've been teaching it wrong if it's not two. Yeah, you don't mess with a Sunday school for you. And I and I should have gone with her answer. Uh, but but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:25

So I I knew I knew the unclean was less. Yes. I just could not remember whether it was two or three because the seven, I knew there was seven clean.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

Well, and then there's seven that like the birds and stuff like that that that were unclean. And so that's what I was thinking is like all those things. And long story short, we don't know everything. No. Um, I know that answer, but at that point in time, I was like, And see, I'm sitting here a perfect example.

SPEAKER_01 29:48

I didn't know the answer. I I didn't know whether it was two or three.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

And I'm going, uh, you know, and so you know, the re that's one of the misconceptions is that you know, we uh Christians have it all together and they have all the answers, and that's just not true. No, we're we're we're rolling through this as well. That's right. And you know, I'd I'd be you'd be hard pressed, I think, like, to find uh any Christian just off the top of their head knowing just everything that needs to be known. Um, you know, there's times where I have to in internalize what was just said to me or was was asked of me and say, okay, look, give me some time, yeah, I'll go find you the answer. Now there are times where, you know, I'm gonna be doing an ask me anything in and for my juniors here on Thursday and and Tuesday. Um, you know, and and I'm generally pretty good with with that. We do that at church, you know, and I together. So um, but there, you know, we it's admitting, it's just admitting that you don't, you know, like I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

I mean, I'm very confident that I can answer most questions because we often get the same questions. Um, but every now and then there'll be a there'll be something new and we can and I'll always kind of laugh and I'll go, okay, you know, and uh and what we try to do is we talk through it in the beginning, but then I I'll I'll talk through it and see if my brain can remember. And then uh if not, I'll look at them and say, Man, I don't know. Yeah, you know, let me go study that, let me go look it up.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

But I'm at the point too where if you if you if you preface your question of before you get to the question, say, Well, I was reading in the book of Enoch. Yeah, or if I was reading, and I'm gonna be like, in my mind, I'm just I've dismissed you completely because again you can listen to that podcast too, but um, but no, I'm I try not to dismiss completely, but uh it's just a it's a great teaching opportunity. But yeah, I you know that this idea that Christians never have depression, they never, you know, because I you know, but I do stand by my you know, I say all the time that of the most joyful people in the world, it should be Christians.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

It should be, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

And that doesn't mean happy.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

No, no, no, no. Happiness is dependent upon the situation, joy is underlying. I I really think as Christians, the reason that we can say with confidence that it's okay that we don't have it all together is because we are generally surrounded by people who a don't have it all together either, but maybe they're a little better off than we are at that point. And they have the time to sit and with us and and talk. And I thought when I was younger that I had to have all the right words to say with it to everything. And I've learned that the best type of help is sometimes just standing there and letting people vent. Yep. And uh just letting people talk and and letting them, you know, get all the word salad out, and you know, and then if you can say something, say something. But if not, just say, Man, I think we need to pray, you know, or I mean, you know, and sometimes that's the best counseling that you can do.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

But as a man, that's hard. It is because we want to solve it. Yeah, because when somebody comes to me and says I have to talk to you, and they'll start talking to me, and immediately in my mind, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go handle this.

SPEAKER_01 32:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

Um, so you know And what we've learned is that some people don't want to handle that's right. They just want to just want to be they just want to talk and want to be heard. Yep. Um, and so I you know, I I tell people all the time, and uh uh at Lee, Lee is one of those where she'll she'll come up to me and say, Dan, I just need you to listen. Yeah, I don't need you to fix it.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

And I'll say, Gotcha. And my wife, my wife has to do the same thing because uh I made a lady cry one time. Oh my gosh. Uh who made my wife cry. Um and and that's just my yeah, that's my my first ministry is to my wife and family. Yeah. And so you make my wife cry. And I don't have any context. I just see my wife crying, and she says, So-and-so made me cry. I I'm gonna I'm gonna go handle it. You know, and so she came up to my office one time crying. I said, What's going on? She goes, I just was talking, uh, I was talking with so-and-so, and uh just something she said, and I'm just I immediately went right downstairs, found her by the coffee pot, and I ripped her up one side down the other. And she started crying because she didn't mean it that way. Right. And again, I went with no context, and I went with no permission from my wife to go fix it. Yeah, and so here I now have two women crying.

SPEAKER_02 33:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:53

And she follows me up behind behind me and uh into my office, and I didn't know she was there. Uh, I was just so fuming mad, I didn't hear anything around me. I mean, you could have been like, hey, Pastor Dan, and I I would have not even seen you. Right. And then I looked at my wife, and my wife looked up, and there in the doorway was this woman, and they're both crying and hugging each other because it didn't and you're going, Oh my gosh, they're drawing forces. I'm an idiot. I mean, immediately I said, I'm an idiot. And I and I apologize. I'm like, I am so sorry. I said, I did not mean to make you cry. I said I was just, you know, protecting my wife. And my wife said, I didn't tell you to go protect me. I was just wanting you to listen. And so I said, Well, the deal is you have to tell me if you don't want me going off and fixing things, you gotta tell me, Dan, just listen to me. I don't need you to fix it. So please preface that.

SPEAKER_01 34:44

If you Yeah, I I think that's important to do. I know I've I've clearly out overstepped bounds sometimes. And Stephanie's told me before, you just just listen. Just don't say anything, just listen to me. And I'm oh yeah, okay. And um, I because I do want to fix it for her because I don't want to see her hurt. That's right. That's right. But her way of healing is just getting it out. And um, that's what I did to her for years and years, and and I I just got it out, and then I'm feeling better and she's mad, and um, and you know and that's not the way you do it either. Right. So all the mistakes we've made. That's right. Um, I've uh that makes me I was sitting here thinking of stories. We were this wow, this really shifts gears. We were fishing one time off of a uh bank, and Stephanie was fishing, and anyway, she was fishing with me, and I I can't remember what had happened. I didn't set her rod up uh to begin with, and I had a bass rod, uh look, just a little, you know, just a little cute little rod, nice little rod. And um, so I flung it out there in the canal, and about that time some guys from the church were driving by, and we always talked about fishing. They'd never seen me fish, and so I put it in her hand. I put the fishing rod in her hand, and as she's taking it, a bass hits it just like that. And I try to take it back, and she wrenches it out of my hand, and those guys pull up and they're like, Oh, look, Stephanie's out fishing, Scott. And I'm like, No, no, no, no. I threw it in there, and Stephanie's going, Oh no, this is my fish. And I'm like, dang it. That's and uh they made fun of me for uh at least three years over that. I just gotta remember that fish Stephanie caught. I'm like, man, she she wrestled it out of my hand, and um, and uh, and she did. And uh to her credit, that was pretty good. But um, yeah, I'm just yeah, we yeah, you gotta give our wives a lot of credit because they they put up with a bunch of junk, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

Uh from us mostly. Yeah, and so uh it's not easy being married to me. I can tell you that.

SPEAKER_01 36:37

No, I and I echo the sentiment for me. Uh it's not easy being married to me. Um so what uh any funny, we're about 40 minutes in. Any funny stories you can remember from funny. I I there's one that I always remember um where we had a and I and I guess this we had a girl call us one Friday night. Now that I guess I need to preface it with another story. I got before Stephanie and I were married, I got a phone call at about 5 30 in the morning, and it was a woman screaming on the phone, but the phone connected to the church and the house at the same time. So she had called the church, and when I answered, I guess she thought I was at the church and awake, which 5 30 in the morning, no. And so I I wake up to this woman screaming in my ear, and I'm going, please, please tell me what's going on. This isn't a funny story, the one after it is. Um, but I and I and I said, I'm sorry. I said, please tell me what's going on. Anyway, her father had been in a horrible accident and had passed away, but I didn't know her and I didn't know him. And so it ended up, and I won't tell the whole story, it ended up that was a that was one of the strangest funerals I've ever done because you you've got to understand if if you're a minister and don't know the person who passes away, then there has to be an interview process. I mean, we have to go because if you want us to do eulogy of someone we don't know, we have to know them at least a little bit, or else we're just I mean, we make up a character. Right. And um, and I don't mean that facetiously, it's just the truth. And so I went and interviewed them, but they wouldn't tell me anything about him. It ended up he was a tyrant and he just he wasn't a good man and and all this. And they they didn't even bother to to say he was good at this. He was bad. I mean, he sat separately from them at the dinner table. He had his own condiments, he had his own silverware, his own bowls. Um he was he'd yell and scream all the time, had his own cabinet space. Wow. Um and uh anyway, long story short, um his family they were they were a little different. They were they were I I think they were well-intentioned good folks, but but um his daughter, uh, after all that happened, his daughter called us one night. It was on a Friday night and called me and Stephanie. And Stephanie are just sitting at home before we had kids, and uh, we'd only been married a little while. And um, we were watching TV and uh she calls me and she says, she says, uh Mr. Scott, I I need milk for my baby. My baby's uh doesn't have any milk. And I looked at Stephanie and I said, Oh, well, we'll take you to go get milk. We'll you know, we'll we'll take you. Uh we'll can we pick you up or can we go get it for you? She said, No, I just need a ride to the store. Well, the store was a a store about it was like maybe 20 by 20. It was the smallest store in the world. Yeah. And uh, but it was called the store at Ponzer. And so I thought, I don't know if they carry milk there. And if they carry milk, it's like vitamin D whole milk, you know, in the and Stephanie said, Well, I guess that's possible. And so anyway, we went, she said, I need a ride there. So we said, okay. So we we went and picked her up and got her in the car, drove her down to the store. It was only like three miles, drove her down to the store, food line was 15 miles the other way, and um, she went inside the store. So we were just sitting there. She asked if we could give her a little money, I think, and I gave her a couple bucks. She said, I just need a couple bucks. I said, Okay. So she came out of the store after about 10 minutes and she had no milk. She had a Pepsi in her hand and she had a pack of cigarettes that was sticking out from her from her pants pocket. And I told Steph, I said, Did she call the preacher to take her to the store on a Friday night to buy cigarettes? And Stephanie was like, I think she did. So she got in the car and I asked we asked her outright. And she said, Oh, they're out of milk. And I said, So what are you gonna do about your baby? I think I think the baby will be fine. Give her some pet shape. Some Pepsi and a smoke. And North Carolina. So I and that I just thought to myself, how do you call the preacher and get him to take you to the store for cigarettes? But that was kind of my first ministry. My first ministry, I got asked to do all the I I was asked by one woman in the middle of the week to go get a snake out of her house. And she literally told me, she said, Well, you're the only one I could think of because I know you're a preacher and you don't do anything the rest of the week. And I said, Dang, okay. And so I went down, I got a snake out of her house and um gave people rides places, and they wanted to use my car as a, oh my mom's car, I was using my mom's car as uh uh to get their license back. And this was an 85-year-old man who wanted to get his license back. He was like, Can I drive her car? I said, No, you can't drive her car. And uh, I mean, but just I've always and there's tragic stories in that too. And I guess ministry, you know, I've always felt like ministry was this um we we're trying to keep our head above water a lot of times, trying to do the Lord's will and trying to care about people. But then, you know, there's often times when there's no one there to care for us. Oh yeah, oh yeah. And and that was hard. That was really hard in my early ministries. That was hard. Here, I here it's much different. I have a group of guys I can call, and I have I have friends now that I can call.

SPEAKER_00 41:32

But back then, man, it was yeah, it was it was especially when you're young. Yeah. Um, and everybody looks at you like you're young. Um, you know, I was 20 years old in my first ministry, and um in fact, Nean and I started right before we um we got married. We started September 18th, 2001, and we got married February 23rd, 2002. And so um it was difficult because we were um we were so young and inexperienced, but yet like you always see about, you know, if you're a pastor, it comes with the with the um uh respect. Yeah, with you know, but uh I mean when you're young, it's that's not the case. And so I mean, uh in my first ministry, it was it was a a lot of learning curve. Um, a lot of learning curve. Um we I mean, I I said things that um I shouldn't have said uh in an elders' meeting one time, but the man was attacking my wife.

SPEAKER_02 42:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 42:27

You know, um, but looking back, it's like I would handle that differently now. Yeah. Um still been pretty upset, but but regardless, I would have said different th different words. But um, you know, just things like that. And and you know, I can remember um uh my secretary who had who had MS. Um, she she could walk most of the time, but sometimes she would have to be uh put in a wheelchair, and you know, she had a scooter that she would she would ride. And so you just kind of knew what kind of days she was having based off that. But she kept her scooter, one of her scooters in uh in the office. And uh one time her son came back from college and he was just uh I think a year younger than me. And uh, and you know, but I'm I'm married, Nina's at at her job, I'm at the church, and um we decided to uh take uh my his mom's um scooter and her wheelchair and just go mess around. And so we we he it's hard. He he took the he took the wheelchair, I took the motorized scooter. We we drove it all the way down to his house and back, and his house, his mom's house was probably, I don't know, probably equivalent of like a a like a a mile right there and back. And uh jumping tracks and stuff like that, and uh, you know, just the silly stuff, you know. Um and then, you know, we she asked if uh if I knew anybody who could paint. And I said, Well, I said my my dad painted my stepdad and and I helped him. Um and so Nina's like, yeah, my dad was a painter. For several years, and so we we painted her house and slept out on the roof one time with her son. Yeah, you know, uh after we're done painting and uh showed up to my house uh uh back to the house one day and uh I turned on our little little our first TV was a 13-inch VCR TV combo and I turned it on and ESPN was on there. I didn't have cable. I'm like, who do I know that's works in cable? Well, my secretary's husband was a cable installer. So I I called him and I said, maybe he'll know what's going on. And I I called him and I said, Alan, um I turned on my TV and I have cable. I don't know if that's a mistake. He goes, I don't know anything about it. Uh and I go, but you work in cable. Like, I'm not getting a hint. I'm like, you work in cable, you should know how this works. He's like, I don't know a thing about it. And I'm like, he's like, Dan, I don't know a thing about it. And I'm like, oh you know, and it's like, so like, but then on the flip side, like despite those fun moments and stuff, I mean, um, having all the success and in the youth ministry, and I mean, the youth are growing, you know, we're uh kids are coming to Christ, we're baptizing 20, 30, 40 kids, um, and then uh, you know, uh getting close to people, and then on the flip side, there's the attack, you know, and and the and I don't know if it was a a jealousy of success or or what, or how does this kid who doesn't have a clue how is he doing? You know, how how is he having success in this? Um obviously it's God because I wasn't a complete idiot. Um, but uh, but you know, and so those attacks come. And so like you learn, you you learn, and it's a like when when I when I would used to put that ministry on my uh resume, I I would just, you know, it's a reason I for a reason for leaving, I and I would just say, you know, I it was a learning experience. Yeah. Um, I mean, I ended up resigning, but I think they were they were gonna let me go. Um, but it was nothing that I did that was wrong. It's just I don't know that they just I don't know, it was just and so I look back, but I've forgiven, uh you know, when my mom died, uh four four couples from that church came to my mom's funeral. Um my uncle actually ended up taking on that church as a pastor. And when when they hired him, he he they said, Do you have any questions for us? And and he said, said something along the lines of like, Are you gonna treat me like you treated my nephew? And they're like, Your nephew? And he's like, Yeah, Dan's my nephew. And they're like, Oh. And like, so like they and you know, that type of stuff. And so like, like I I think that that helps soften the blow. And the senior pastor that was there who I didn't feel like had my back, um, like we're great friends now, and I and I I love him and his wife dearly. Um, and they're older and retired now. But um, yeah, it's it's you know, you get into those situations and like they're all learning experiences. And and so like when you get a healthy church, you you you see, you know, what it used to be and then what it is now, and a lot of it, uh honest, if I'm honest, a lot of it is my own maturity. Yeah, I think for me as well. Yeah. That that I I I didn't know what I was doing a lot of the times, but as I've grown in my faith, the way I react to situations, the way the way I address people, the you know, those types of things changes because I've changed. That's right. And so it makes for a more peaceable uh ministry opportunity, even though there's still challenges. Yeah. Um, but uh so yeah, so like a lot of I was just thinking about this the other night, actually la actually after the meeting last night, our elders' meeting, you know, we have a great church. I mean, and you know this if you're here, you you know Bar Broad Creek, it's a special place. Um and I mean that's honestly that's the reason why Scott and I are here. Yeah. It's because we we see this place as such a beautiful place that there's no reason, I mean, to to ever look or accept anything else because like what we have is so rare. Um, but I got to thinking about that last night after our elders' training, that uh you know, we we brag, you know, Scott and I brag about our elders a lot, and there's a lot to brag about. Uh but they're just men, um men that uh uh want to be used by God and God uses them. But I got to thinking about like maybe this and this church is so much more enjoyable because of all the things that I've learned from the past, yeah. Mistakes or things that I've said or the growth that I've had. Um and so that I'm able to I'm able to look at things differently than I used to.

SPEAKER_01 48:43

Yeah, that makes any sense. Absolutely. I I don't and I don't think Broad Creek is the only great church. No. But I do believe that I appreciate what I have here because of what I've experienced in other places. Absolutely. And um the the shortcomings of other churches um taught me I look, I'll I'll tell this story, and I've I haven't I don't know that I've ever told this story absolutely publicly, but when um and I've told parts of it, but not all um, and I'll try to be quick. When I was when Bob Molden called me about coming here, and of course I'd said no, and um, of course he prayed, and then I I called Rob Anderson and told Rob Anderson I'd I'd like to put my um my resume in. So I sent in a resume and I sent in a video sermon, and um they had received a lot that year in 2018, and uh I don't know how many. I've been told numbers, but it was a lot. It was a lot of I don't know that we'd have that many in ministry anymore after COVID to apply for a position. And I don't know that all of them were were legit. But anyway, um it they whittled it down and whittled it down, and then they called me um and said, Hey, we'd love to do an interview with you. Are you available for a Zoom call or a whatever it was, a FaceTime call, whatever it was back then? And um, and I said, Well, yeah, yeah. I said, but I only live an hour and 15 minutes away or so. I said, How about I just come? I said, I'd be able to ride the ferry, I'll ride the ferry over and uh come see you guys and I'll drive home. And they said, Oh, that'd be great. Come Monday at such time. I said, Okay. So I can't I that day I decided I wasn't coming. And um, I told Stephanie, I said, I think it's a fool's errand. I said, I'm I'm never gonna get this job and um I'm just gonna stay. And she began to cry, and she said, No, you're gonna go. And she said, You're gonna do your best, and we're gonna see what the Lord does. And um, because the church that we were at, while I loved the people there, it was a hard, it was a hard church, and we were there for a long, we were there for almost 14 years, and and that was that it was hard. It was really hard sometimes. It was hard because not because I there were great people, but there the situation it was just hard. And so I I'm not gonna badmouth anything or anybody. Um, but um, so I came and I remember walking into this building and walking into that room, which is your office now, and that's where the elders were, and I was sat and I walked in and sat down. And after about 10 minutes, they had started asking me some questions. And about 15 minutes in, I was I was crying. And I I was sitting there crying and I was going, you know, these are things that I have gone through the past few years. I love the Lord and I love his church, but I feel like, you know, I'm I'm wore out because I can't, I can't do this or I can't do that. And so, and I felt like an idiot because I was sitting there crying, but they were so kind in it. I mean, they were just incredibly kind about it. And Larry Prescott, rest his soul, he's he missed that man a lot. Yeah, and uh Larry was there, and Larry put his arm around me at one point and he said it's gonna be okay, but he said, he said, no matter what happens, the Lord's gonna take care of you. And I left and I called Stephanie and I said, you know, I said, if the Lord doesn't allow us to come to Broad Creek, I don't want to be in ministry anymore because I've seen what eldership can be. Just in an hour spending time with those guys. Um and every one of them are still with us except for Larry, and we've added Jack. Yeah, and uh, but it was Rob and and Willie and Jeff and and Larry in there. And I um and I was just I was just so taken by it. But I agree with you. You can't that's why you know my son Aaron wants to be a youth minister, and I I really want him to go and experience youth ministry in other churches, and hopefully he'll find another good church like Broad Creek. But I think I'm afraid chances are he's not. And and he'll find he'll find politics and he'll find elders fighting and he'll find um people with the most money running the church, and he'll find all those things that normally happen in smaller churches. And I hope that one day he would call and say, Dad, you know, uh, have you got a position? And I'll be like, Well, let me talk to the elders and see what we can do. But um I I I don't know. And and um, but I think you've got to experience the things we experienced. Right. I mean, I I think of the ownership because at one point I felt like a slave to to uh not to God, yeah, but to a church body, and um who kind of kept me on a leash and said, you know, you're our you're our boy, do this, do that.

SPEAKER_00 53:08

Right, which goes back to what we kind of talked about last week when we talked about the the idea that the church is mine.

SPEAKER_01 53:14

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. And that I I own the church. This is my place because I I put that brick there, or I built that, or I did that. And and um, guys, none of this, we didn't die for any of this. Nope. Um our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died for this. And and we're blessed to have means and we're blessed to have the things that we have, but that should all be placed back in the ministry as much as we can possibly do it. Right. And to teach people about Christ and to show them the love of the Lord and preach the gospel. And um I'm I'm really thankful that that we have a church that that allows us to do that and a church that has uh mindset for the future.

SPEAKER_00 53:51

And allows us to be us.

SPEAKER_01 53:52

Yeah, yeah. It doesn't cradle us and ask us to do something different.

SPEAKER_00 53:56

I don't get I don't get any uh uh any of the leadership ever coming to me and telling me you know to to change something about myself. You know, I and I love that. Yeah, um I feel like I for the first time, I'm probably for the first time in my minute because I try I started off that way. I'm just gonna be me. Yeah. That didn't get me very much. And and I went I went and worked for my after that. I I I after my first ministry experience, I said, I'm done. Yeah, I'm not gonna do ministry. And so I was talking to Nina about quitting quitting school, yeah, you know, not finishing my degree, and just uh, you know, I'm I'm done. And and uh we end up going back to school anyway, and but just had my mind that I'm not accepting anything else. And then I did accept a position a few a few months after um with my home church's um sister church. We shared the same senior pastor, yeah, uh six miles apart. Um and uh anyway, that was a great experience. That was a great three years that I was there um and while going to school and and you know, implementing things, but uh they couldn't afford to pay me, you know, but they allowed me to be me for the most part. I mean, there was things I mean that's that's a home. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like that was go like going back to my Nazareth, you know, like like a lot of those people, I you know, the m my elder, uh one of my elders, um, I went to high school with his son. We graduated together, we played on the same sports teams since second grade, you know, that type of thing. We all that stuff. And so like they knew me, but they didn't look at me as um the same kid. Right. They looked at me as the redeemed man that was standing in awesome, you know. And so that was a great experience. That doesn't always happen. Yeah, and so, but like you, you know, you get into these things and like bad ministry, great ministry, not very good ministry, then a really good ministry, and then a not good ministry, and then now I'm here. It's like it's like I don't know why that that was the yeah, you know, um my Idaho ministry. I mean, that's uh to this day, that's that's they're still my family.

SPEAKER_01 55:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:00

And um, but man, I I got I got here and I'm just going, this is this is an entirely different place. It is an entirely different place, and you know, a a place where I for the first time in in in, you know, when I got here it was 20 years of ministry. Um I'll be 25 in September. Um for the first time in my in my life, I could actually be me. Yeah. I don't have to hide any like I don't have to I don't have to hide tattoos, I don't have to, I don't have to keep my earrings out. I don't you know I I can, you know, it's just it's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 56:33

Yeah, I agree. I I know that you know there's when I got here the the main change was the um from from Beaufort County generally the church you you are born in you die in yeah generally I mean you know so if you're born Baptist, you stay Baptist your whole life. You never really question anything. Yeah, you know, you learn and grow and grow in the Bible, but you never have to fight for your doctrine. Right. If you're Calvinist, you stay Calvin. If you're Christian church, you stay Christian church. Well, um, when I got here, I learned that churches, uh, this Christian church was a same vein, same vein of, but we had people from all different kinds of backgrounds. And uh the first week I got hit in the face with Catholicism. And so that was something that had never happened. And so it challenged me from the very beginning to go to to really question, not not question my faith or not question that, but question, was I doing ministry right before this? Because, you know, it was I challenging the the thoughts and process of people to help them to process what you know to do what they should be doing. And then here it became more of a okay, I've I've got to really dig into scripture because the thought process is, oh, I have to broaden my scope to hit all these different ideas, but no, it's you have to get a needle point on it and make sure that you know what you're talking about, and then the application, the homily, you can you can figure it out. But um it was a great teaching moment for me, and I think I became a much better preacher in just the first year or two. Um, and then of course COVID, and COVID wrecked so much, and um, but then out of COVID and we hired you and and um and the pieces all kind of came together after that, and some of it by subtraction, some of it by addition. And um, and it's just been a it's just been a fun ride. And and uh and I hope it doesn't end anytime soon. I don't want it to. If the Lord called me tonight to go to another church, I would, I would, I man, I cannot imagine the fear that I would have to go um to another church because I'm certainly I can't say that I'm comfortable here. Um and and and I don't want to be comfortable. I I I want to be challenged, and I am challenged here. I'm challenged by the by the great leadership. I'm constantly challenged by the elders who are who are working. They're not just sitting back. They don't they don't want to sit back and just make decisions. Yeah, they just don't show up to meetings and make decisions. These shows are everything. And um, and and so I have to kind of keep up with them and and and then to to be what what everybody else in the staff needs me to be, and just to be here for folks and them to be here for me. And it's a wonderful situation.

SPEAKER_00 59:15

Yeah, it is, it is. I I I yeah, I I don't feel any any comfortable uh nature at all. Um, but I am I am content. Yes, I would say content. Yeah. Um not satisfied, I'm not comfortable, but I'm content.

SPEAKER_01 59:29

Yeah, I think content's a good word for it.

SPEAKER_00 59:31

Yeah. And and I and I think that's a great place to be because I think when you're content, you're content with uh with whatever comes your way. That's right. Um, I mean, because we we have a lot of challenges. Um, you know, we have we've experienced a lot of growth the last couple of years. Yeah, that's a huge challenge for church leadership um to meet needs of everybody, to to be expected to know. Um, you know, if you end up in the hospital, uh chances are if you haven't called us or sent a message to somebody, we don't know you're there. Yeah, it's hard for us to know. Yeah, and so and like there's just so much, like it's hard to keep up with people who because we're growing so much, like to look out in a crowd and notice that so-and-so hasn't been here for a couple weeks. Um, but thankfully, what does God do? He brings people in. And and we have we have a couple ladies, you know who I'm thinking of, that do an amazing job. They do an amazing job keeping up with all these people and they keep us informed.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:25

They do. Uh that one of the best things about my Wednesday morning is that they they are both in there and they every week I'm hearing, hey, I talked to them and I talked to them, and then that I'm I'm kind of jogged and go, okay, I gotta get up with this person. Yes. But um, but they don't let people fall through the cracks. As we grow, that's gonna become harder and harder. And so if you're a Broad Creeker and you're listening to this, let us know. I mean, because I COVID changed things to the point where we don't really do home visits anymore. Now, some churches might, but we don't. We don't and uh the reason being again is because I'll come to your house if you want to get to the case. Yeah, if you if you want me to come, all you have to do is message or call or send an email and say, hey, I really need a visit. And just know that I'm gonna bring probably somebody with me. I'm gonna probably bring an elder or Dan or somebody with me. But um we'll come and and and we'll sit and talk to you. That's no problem, or we'll meet you here. Um, we'll do that. Um, but um it's not like the the little church authority that we could just kind of visit once a month everybody. Um that it's not there's just anymore. And um with with you know a regular attendance now between 350 and 400, it's it's um it's becoming more difficult to keep up. But we're also making the church smaller through small groups. And if you're here and you you ever think this doesn't feel like a small church anymore, join a small group. Join a small group. If if you join a small group, you're gonna get that that concept of small that everybody needs, and we all need to know that we matter, and and we all need to know that we're a part of it, and and get in a small group, and you can come and talk to us about it, and we'll we'll plug you in, we'll find you a small group.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:59

And in the reality of the small groups are are uh so much uh connection that takes place within that. So like like our goal is that like if if if people are if you're part of a small group and you and you end up in the hospital, right? Um man, that small group is taking care of you. That's right. Um, you know, or or there's something going on the small group that you're part of takes care of that. That's right. Um, and it's beautiful to see it happening. But I mean, I think I think all of our small groups, almost all of them right now, I think we have an eight or nine um are at the point where it might be time to start thinking about splitting those small groups. But the problem is is I need hosts.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:40

Yeah, we need hosts, and and really we we could we could stand some some leader. It's look, guys, it's not you don't have to have a degree to lead this. It's we give you the questions. It really literally is just reading questions and discussion.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:54

In discussion, yeah, and that's and and making sure making sure it stays on topic, which that's a loose term. Yeah, yeah. That's some there's lots of rabbit hunting. Um, but as long as you're keeping it in the same vein of what we're doing, yeah. I mean, you don't have to be a Bible scholar to do this. No, you just have to be willing.

unknown 1:03:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:10

And as a host, you have to be willing to allow people in your house. Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:14

For the most part, it's listening to the sermon, yep, and and then going over the small group questions which we send.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:20

So if you would like to do that, please reach out to me. Please do. Because I um uh I I feel like sometimes I'm failing at my at my job because like uh there should be more small groups. Yeah. And I get asked about small groups all the time, and I'm like, well, we got this one, this one, this one. You know, my small group that that we have is is I mean, if everybody comes, we've got 37 people. Yeah, that's not a small group. No. Thankfully, and I'm not saying thankfully, like I wish everybody would come uh all the time, but um got you know, it tends to work out to where it's only about 20, 22 every time. But um, but you know, it's time for us to to to make that leap and say, okay, we need to start a new group. Yeah. But we just have nowhere to host it.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:00

Well, and it's the it's the fear also of the people that they found that small nature in a large church and they're afraid that if they let it go, they won't find it again. And that's why we have to fight for those things, guys. Because I mean you you may again comfort is the enemy of a small group. That's right. And so we don't want you to be comfortable in small groups to the point where you're not willing to break out and and invite others to come.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:24

Yes. Because there's others waiting.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:26

There are other literally, we have others. Others waiting, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:28

And and it's hard because like, you know, uh certain nights don't work for them or whatever. So it'd be it'd be a lot great a lot a lot greater opportunity for people to be able to get plugged in if there was more options. But more options happen when people are willing. Yeah. And so um, and I'm not gonna expect somebody who's brand new to do that. No, no, that needs to be our people stepping up and saying, hey, I I can do this.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:51

Yeah, our new people need to be in small groups long before they leave your hosting. Um and uh and that's just a that's just a process thing. Um and uh and and and a getting to know you thing. Yeah, I'm gonna do it. We we want to make sure that you're you know that you're on board with that. And so um the why of small groups is important is to feel a part of something that that people care about you and love you. And we love you as a church, but I understand, look, I I think a person would have trouble sneaking in um to service. Um I know at some point, I don't know that my mom listens to these, but mom told me recently, she said, I think I'm gonna come to your church and try to sneak in. I said, by all means. I said, try to sneak in and see if you can get in here without somebody saying, Miss Donna, I know what you look like. I was gonna say, I Mike knows her. I don't think there's any chance in in all goodness that she's gonna make it. You're not getting past Mike.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:38

If you do get past Mike, there's other people.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:40

Yeah, we have too many people watching out now. And um, but it's a genuine thing. It's not like it's hey, you have to do this, but there we have people who genuinely want to meet new people. And um, so if you're listening to this and you're outside of Broad Creek, come come and see. Come check it out. Yeah, uh come and see. And um I mean in

SPEAKER_00 1:06:00

And it may not be a place for you. It's fine. We're going to love you while you're here.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:03

Try it. We understand that we may not be in a church for you, but I would give it a shot. I would give it a shot. I tell all people, and I think I said this last week, give it a shot. And don't just make it one Sunday. Give it a few Sundays. A few Sundays, yeah. See how it settles in, maybe attend something extra, um, a Bible study group or something. Right. And then make your decision. Yeah. And um, but um, I think they some churches say try five. If you try five and we're not for you, we'll help you find a church. Right. Kind of like um the pro um whatever the insurance commercials are, we'll help you find insurance for you. Um and and I'm fine with that. I'll I'll help you out with that. I really will. But I think if you if you come and you give it five tries, I I think you're gonna find something that you love here. And um, most of all Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:45

So again, if you're not a part of a small group, um uh please please come and talk to us. We would like to get you plugged into one, even if it's even if it's a little bit bigger of a small group, um, because the plan is we're gonna be starting more. I've we've we've we've had three start this year. Yep, and so and they're going well to the point where they're almost ready to split.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:08

Um, and so um, but if you are, if you've if you've been like, you know, I I I want to be more involved with what's going on, um, maybe maybe hosting is for you, or maybe, you know, stepping up and and saying, you know what, I I could facilitate a small group.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:23

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:23

Um, and come talk to me about it. We'll we'll get you we'll get you sorted. I we're not putting anybody in any position without any type of training. Oh, that's right. Uh or any type of uh we're not just like, oh good, you're a pulse, great, let's do this and just let you go. Yeah. Um, you know, we we want to make sure that you're equipped.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:40

Yeah, and I would love to come if I'm available and if it's the time I can come and I'm it's not competing with something. I I would love to come to your first one and I'll sit in. I think Dan would do that. And uh, we would sit in on your first one and just kind of you know, because sometimes us showing up just legitimizes things. Right. Um I don't know why, but um because anyway, we're legit to quit. Yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh. From the great philosopher MC Hammer. MC Hammer. Um my lord. Oh, anyway, that's no, that was a good place to end. All right. Uh we're about an hour ten in, so uh let's do the dad joke through the case.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:19

But that misconception, right, that we just got in talking about is that larger churches are impersonal. Yes. They're not. They're not. Our goal is as we continue to grow, we want to remain small in the f in the way we meet people's needs. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:33

And that's a good way to put it. I'm glad you tied it back into that because that's exactly right. Large churches don't have to be impersonal. Right. If if you if you become a part of a small group, you will never feel um that it's impersonal, I promise. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:46

All right, the dad joke 3000. Here we go. Let's pray it doesn't repeat itself because then we we have to do the due diligence of finding jokes. Oh my gosh. Why are computers so intelligent? Because they listen to their motherboards.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:05

That's a pretty good one. Yeah, honor your father and mother. That's right. That's that's a good thing. The only commandment with a promise. That's exactly right. And kids who didn't obey their parents in the Old Testament could possibly be stoned. So let's honor it.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:20

It's a good thing we don't we don't fall into the stony rule anymore.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:23

Yeah, we'll throw pebbles at you, not stones. All right, Dan. Been a pleasure already. Love you guys. Love y'all. Y'all have a great week. We'll see you next time. If I can bring the music up,