Battling "You-Based" Christianity

What happens when church stops being about God and starts being about “you”? In this episode, Brother Mike Weatherspoon (M.Ed.) pulls up to The Desk to confront the “You”-based form of Christianity creeping into our churches — a self-centered, feel-good gospel that too often starts right from the pulpit. We talk sound doctrine vs. itching ears, what a Christ-centered faith actually looks like, and how to battle back toward biblical truth.
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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 1:11

What's going on, everybody? My fellow disciples, this is another episode of The Disciples Death. Thank you for pulling up here with me. All praise and all glory goes, of course, to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is the reason why we do this, uh, to spread the gospel and of course to um make disciples educate, learn, grow, uh, and empower uh those who are uh believers. And so I just want to um I'm honored today. I'm excited. Um, I have one of my brothers coming up here, Michael Weathersfull M E D. If y'all don't know what that is, that's a master's of education. He's on his way to becoming doctor. I'm I'm I'm saying it prophetically, even though I'm no prophet, but I already know it. I already know it. So we already call him Dr. Mike. Dr. Mike is an educator, Bible teacher, author, recording art, artist, motivational speaker, all from the 216, the land. Um, you know, where we where a lot of people didn't expect us to be about nothing. But he's uh he and him along with myself and uh the producer extraordinaire, uh behind the scenes, Ronnie Holman, uh bringing you another Pure Productions uh production. Uh so we are proud here to have this brother here. His uh his life journey is just a powerful testimony of just pure transformation from the challenges of those of those street life uh incidents and incarceration to earning a master's of education and adult learning and development at uh Cleveland State University. Uh, he got his training in communication, adult education, psychology, sociology. Mike has spent nearly 20 years teaching and mentoring uh others uh through faith-based education. Uh, as recording artists, Dr. Mike, he blends the faith and the life experiences, the education, all the storytelling through his music catalog, um, his most recent projects, uh, Faith Without Doubt in Red Print and Red Print Tooth and Street Literature. Uh, Mike is also an author, the author of Matters of the Heart, Because the Heart Matters, uh, work exploring uh spiritual transformation, emotional healing, and the power of the human heart through the lenses of scripture, psychology, communication, and sociology. Devoted father to his beautiful daughter, Livia Miangel, uh, teacher, lifelong learner. Man, Mike is just passionate about helping others discover their God-given identity, amen. So, uh, his message uh centers all around faith, and that you know that's what we're all about here. So, without further ado, man, let me introduce my brother, my main man, Dr. Mike. Man, thank you for pulling up to the desk, brother.

SPEAKER_03 4:04

I'm honored, I'm honored to be here. I really am.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Hey, man, if they think you was qualified beforehand, I think they should know right now. I I might have to check myself a couple guys.

SPEAKER_03 4:19

I don't know if I should have just turned the mic over to you, son. You're good, uh, you're good, man. A great, uh, every great leader is first a great follower, man.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Absolutely, bro. And I appreciate you uh taking the time out to join us here at the desk, man. Uh pulling up, man. I um I know you, of course, we grew up together from the same uh that same street environment that you uh talk about. And man, so just tell me, just real quick, before we really dive into uh the conversation, man, like what really got you here to this point and to where where you are right now as far as you know just the the push and the drive to be one educated, but most importantly, centering that education around our faith.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

It was hearing the word. I I can honestly say it was when I uh met Bishop Koes and start attending the Lion Church in 2003. But that word, just like Hebrews said, had to be mixed with faith. And faith became the catalyst for me to go after education and create music and just having a propensity to enrich other people's lives for real. So that's really what it was. That's the only thing I can attribute to is the word of faith.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

That's it, man. Amen. And in this day, and we're gonna get into that now because it the word of faith is enough, amen. Like and but for some for whatever odd reason, it seems like nowadays in the in the uh Western church, which you know this over here in this this western hemisphere over here, um, it just seems like there's just a lot more about theatrics and um, you know, just what shock value I should say. Uh, there's things that are that are coming from the pulpit that should never, um at least back when we was coming up, I wouldn't never hear nobody even say, like say it from the pulpit. We might, you know, uh catch catch rev in the streets of, you know, you know, him and him and up on them young boys and something might slip, but not coming from the pulpit. Like there's a lot that's um I feel like we're we're uh we're trying to cater to itchant ears in this day and age. And um, I call it it's a it you know, it's starting to become a you-based Christianity. It's all it's all uh revolving around what you feel and what makes you feel better and the message that you want. Um, how do you feel as far as where we're shifting? Is um, you know, how far and how dangerously close are we really getting to just completely separating ourselves from the from the word, from the scriptures, from the gospels, and so we're like teetering on, preaching a new type of message that's not really of God.

SPEAKER_03 7:21

Yeah, uh, we so far, it's like when the word says the letter killeth, but the spirit makes a lie. We've got so far that even Jesus said, and I'm paraphrasing in Revelation in the second chapter when he was talking to the church of Ephesus. I see your faith, I see your works, I see all this stuff you're doing, but nevertheless, have this one thing against you. You left your first love. And see, we're so adamant about entertaining people as opposed to educating people or even being educated, because we're trying to keep people in seats. But Jesus only had 12 and one betrayed. I think it might have been Lord from what we know of after that. Because we we've come away from disciples' way, just like your podcast. We come away from making disciplined ones. Yeah, we want members, yeah, not disciples, people who are truly trained up in him, living for him, and with the heart towards him. Because remember, faith also works by love, and it's by our love that we're gonna draw him, but we're trying to all these the ass, we're conforming to this world, suddenly.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

That's it, Mark. Yeah, because yeah, Paul Paul has spoken about uh you know, preaching to the itching ears. Uh, then there's a lot of scratching going on. Yeah, a lot of scratching going on, and um I and that was one of the reasons why one I got in trouble, you know, dealing with the church um a little bit because you know when you start when you start messing with the church's money, talking that, you know, talking that stuff, you know, hey no, you know, this ain't Bible, this ain't Bible, this ain't correct, this is like what's going on in these in these pews, what's and it's even worse in the back. And like I I um I frequently tell uh people this uh this testimony because um you know I stepped away from the church for about two, a little over two years. Um and it was it wasn't that I stepped away from my faith, but it was the fact that it was just like, man, it um what I saw happening on the other side of that pulpit on in the in the in the pastor study and you know in in the the uh the treasury uh office and stuff like that. I was like, this is this is not of God. This is this can't be he can't be happy with this. And so I started catering my sermons around getting back to like you say, you just quoted Revelations, getting back to our first love. And um surprisingly, it wasn't well received by a lot of people, um, but you know, it just had to stand on the truth. And so it's just like, you know, I didn't get the boot, but I got phased. You know what I mean? I got phased out, and it was like it's it's cool, you know. So it just it just caused me to step away and I really wanted to um I have really given like I was like, well, I'm not um participating in this anymore. But the Lord, the Holy Spirit like drove me, it's like if you want change, you gotta be aware that the change is needed. Right. So Christ didn't, like you said, he didn't come for the righteous, he came for those who needed salvation. And so if I'm gonna preach the message, if I'm gonna change anything, I gotta be active, I gotta, you know, have a voice. And so, with that responsibility as a disciple, as an educator, as a leader, as a as a teacher, as a scholar, what level of uh responsibility do you feel like you have and others, especially the men? Especially the men, what do you feel? Uh um, or how much do you feel that we have to step up and be more active, especially in this day and age and at this time?

SPEAKER_03 11:27

Uh, I think we have an immense responsibility to stand up and be active. Because remember, even in the beginning, Eve was to see Adam what he knew what to do. Right? And I think as leaders, it's our responsibility to help people discover the leader in them. Uh, and to be swift to hear slow to speak. Uh, seek first to understand, then be understood. Because if we don't know what's going on with them, if we're just answering, like Proverbs says, he who answers a matter before he hears it is folly and shame to him. Listen first. Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, listen first to see what's going on first. And all I get, we have to get understanding because wisdom is the principal thing, and wisdom has to be married to understanding, you know, and I think we we have the responsibility to hear people out, to hear them out, and to understand if they have a willingness to learn or not to go to the other level. But we got to be true to us and true to him, uh, and and and and not try to or do God our way as opposed to the way he said for us to serve him. That's huge with me. Like, like he gave us commands, they're not suggestions, and Satan is slick with that. He offers God's commands like they are suggestions. Even in Genesis to the first couple, I believe chapters one to three, he was addressed as the Lord God, and the Lord God said, and the Lord God said, Then here comes Satan. Surely God didn't say Lord out, right? Notice that he took Lord out, surely you they was already like God, but here he comes to my surely you'll be like that, the knowledge of good and evil. They we have no here. Comes somebody, just like a serpent. Go ahead, bro, because I'm going on. Oh, I want to sound like that.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

No, no, no, no, no, no, because it's that's the message. But listen, listen, real, like honestly, that's the message that we really need to start to understand, and what we really need to start opening our eyes to is because we are allowing people to come in like Satan, and it's and they're uh and they're preaching and they're teaching something that is not of God, like you said. So now I just uh was just referencing the scripture here where uh they said in uh Galatians, uh, where Paul was uh writing um to Galatia, and he said that should it be us, you talk about the apostles or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than what we're preaching, then let that person be accursed. And we are we are allowing this stuff to happen to um you know where they're where they're speaking and talking, and the the the stuff that they're saying is just like yo, that's that's banana there's ain't nowhere in the world, there's nowhere in the gospel, and I'm about to really make some some uh people uh that that want their pockets full uh heard on this one. God ain't never tied a blessing or miracle to a dollar amount. And I I need y'all to hear me real close. Let me let me get a God has never tied a blessing or miracle to a dollar amount. Stop letting people manipulate you into thinking that the more you give, the bigger your blessing is going to be in that particular moment. Because that's not the that's not the case. God has never tied it to a dollar amount. He said, God judges the heart. Whatever's in your heart is what where your blessings truly flow from. Because you can give all you can give all the money in the world, and your heart ain't right, you're not getting nothing but that recognition. And so it was, and that's another reason why Jesus said in uh in Matthew, it's like don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. You're y'all these these uh what they got okay. If y'all giving a hundred dollars, get in this line. Y'all giving a thousand dollars, y'all get in this line. So you actually you're creating competition within the within the uh the body, right? So now, and you're causing some people to feel less then because they can't get in that particular line, or they might not be able to get in no line at all. And so then you're starting to get people's the to start bickering amongst one another because they're looking at looking at the other person. Now, I believe, now you can now, Doctor, correct me if I'm incorrect, but all this talk about you know homosexuality being an abomination, but God also said one of the abominations that he hates is one that sows discord. Yes, and these people are sowing discord by doing so right from the pulpit. What you got?

SPEAKER_03 16:45

What you absolutely they are, yeah. That's yes, six things, seven, the Lord's hate. Yeah, he's he hates discord because you're creating division now, and that's gossiping, and that's backbite, and you're sowing discord with making people be competitive toward one another, and you're talking about sow your seed. Well, originally that seed that scripture was meant for agriculture.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

Come on now, come on now, no, take your time.

SPEAKER_03 17:16

That's what that was about. But they are manipulating scripture and sow your seed, and no, like you said, like the word says, he looks at the intent of the heart. You know, it reminds me of Proverbs 23. Uh, when he said, When you sit down to eat with the ruler, consider what's before you and put a knife to your throat. If you're a man who desires appetite for us to accept the food, and if you go on reading, it says, Eat and drink, he says to you, but his heart is not with you. He's a miser. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. He's not with you in the first place. A king, a ruler, a person of affluence, everything is at the table, every meat, pastry, dainty. Oh man, for example, people do it in business meetings. Come on, come on, Pastor Randy. I got you. Let me talk to you. Oh, don't worry about it. I'm pay for it. But he don't even mean that. He's trying to get something out of you, and that's what's happening in the church world. It ain't really because they love you. It's better to eat herb where love is than a fatty calf with hatred. They're trying to get something out of us, you know. So they they dress it up as love, but it's deceit.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Pure deceit. Pure deceit. And they and they want nothing more, and they want nothing more than to get to get you to a point where you start looking around at the temporary things, right?

SPEAKER_04 18:41

Yes, sir. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

As um as opposed to, you know, things, all things eternal. And you know, when it says like Jesus says that where where your where your heart is, that's where your treasure is gonna ultimately lie. And that's why he said, you know, uh, that's why he said, just uh fix all things and uh towards the kingdom and look for towards the kingdom, uh, you know, for those things. And it's like, man, people are really banking on uh coming to church, right? They want to come to church, they want to um hear the blessings or the what they consider to be the blessings. They want, you know, the car, the how you know, the house, the yes, they do. You're gonna you're gonna get you're gonna get you a new man, girl, by this by the end of this month, as long as you sow this seed of about a good 1500. You know what I mean? And it's like the guy told me to tell you that if you do, and then I saw this one cat, man, he's on there talking about you only got 30 seconds to move. You only got 30 seconds to move, or it ain't no good. He said, You only got 30 seconds. He was talking about, and he said the guy told him this in the hotel room. Wow, go tell the people. I'm gonna put this clip up here, I'ma put this clip up here because I'm gonna find it. Homeboy said, Go tell the people. Well, he said the guy told him in the hotel room to go tell the people that they need to move with $1,500. Um, he said, 10 of you. He always, you know, always gives a number. 10 of you need to move with the $1,500. And then he said, and now he just told me you need to move within 30 seconds.

SPEAKER_03 20:34

Wow, wow, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

What kind of i I'm I'll be like, I know I am not the biggest biblical scholar. I don't I am, but I've been back and forth through Acts and first to Second Corinthians and Matthew and Mark. I have never seen Jesus say, I'ma hear you, but you better come with three coins within 30 seconds and two doves and a partridge. Or it's not gonna happen for you. I'm moving on, like it was never tied to anything monetary or temporary. So, we can what can we honestly give God? Everything that we can do and make is temporary, yeah. You know what I'm saying? So it's like it's so it's the manipulation of the of the church that that's getting me. And so in this day and age, we uh have developed what I call a you uh you based Christianity. It's a it's a it's the it's the religion based on me. This is what I I need you to preach towards my vision board, to my desires, to what I do, and to the sins that I hate, not the sins that I love. Come on, talk to me, not the sins that I like the Do you know don't talk about the sins that I like to do, just talk about the sins that I hate, right? And then uh we can, you know, you know, I'll go ahead and I'll give you my little bit of money. But um, what do you think about the preachers? And you because you mentioned it already, and that was one of my questions for you, because I I say that uh now you mentioned uh just the members that they just become members, not disciples, right? And um how do you feel, or what do you see, and what do you observe? And it's that and let's let's go ahead and put a disclaimer out here now for anybody that goes to church with with brother Mike. You know, he probably don't think that he's talking about y'all. You're like, you know, he let's go tell Bishop that he's talking about Bishop, but we're talking about every we're talking about the church in general over here in the West. You know what I mean? What is it that you know you you're seeing that they're just more so grooming instead of instead of tutoring, instead of mentoring, they're they're grooming this, they're grooming their own self-disciples because like I I see so many pastors want yes men, they don't want people to question them, they don't want people to truly dig in a word and have a relationship with God for themselves, they want them to these people to think that their word is good as gold and just go off of whatever, whatever pastor said. So, where did you where do you see the shift in that or when it when it started happening, where it is now, and also from your perspective, warning of the dangers that's ahead if we continue on in this in this pattern.

SPEAKER_03 23:54

I think the shift can start happen happening when they took the word honor out of context. Because there's also a particular scripture I can't think exactly where it is now, believe Second Peter says, fear God, honor all people, honor the king. And I think they put that word honor and they just and it's almost becoming idolatry. And furthermore, pastors love to fashion the concept of groupthink, they like to inculcate that in the minds of believers, the whole ideology of groupthink, where they tell them they don't have to think. Where did you see Jesus think? And and and now they are being criticized for thinking or exercising critical thinking and critical reflection. No, you do what I tell you because everything you do, you do it unto the Lord. Yet the Bible says a workers worthy of his high. When Jesus, when the people followed Jesus when he saw that they were hungry, he fed them, didn't he?

SPEAKER_02 25:02

Yes, he did.

SPEAKER_03 25:03

And the Proverbs 3, 27 says, Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when you have it in the power of your hand to do so. And we know the book of James says, if you see a man hungry, and I'm paraphrasing that you should feed him. I'm telling him, go be worn and filled. Faithful that works is dead. So they're grooming them to just serve them and them only, and if they decide to step out of that ideology that they're placing on them, they get talked about, denigrated, and decimated to other people. And now the discord is running rapping in the church. And now they come to church just because they might decide to go to a family reunion on a Sunday once a year. They press upon them, oh, you supposed to be here serving. But the Bible said, I'm a light. We should be a light to the let your light so shine that others may see your good works and go, if I gotta have. Jesus said I came for these the people indifferent. And I'm paraphrasing, he came for them. You know, the doctor ones who well don't need a physician, right? Yes, I know and they get denigrated for that oftentimes, yeah. And they it that shift is happening then because it's almost like the Milgram Effect. You remember that? Yeah, the Milgram Effect was a uh study that they did back in the 60s, 1960s, where they had participants uh and some of those, and they were all volunteers. For example, it could be you and I, right? We go into uh let's just say Ronnie Homan's office, right? Now we're both participating in a study where they take you to another room on the other side of the wall, and you have on headphones, I have on headphones. And I'm asking now, Ronnie Holman, let's just say he's a doctor, he has on this long white coat, right? It's called the trappings of authority. So Ronnie asked me, uh uh, ask you know, Randy, these questions. You're on the other side of the wall. I can't see you, but I can hear you, like how we now we got on headphones. And I could say, Randy, uh Bible, uh cat, dog, and garbage can, which one doesn't belong? And you can say Bible, and the doctor, meaning Ronnie Holmes, because he looks like a doctor, he's not in it, he's not a doctor, but because of how I perceive him, he said minister a shock, 200 voted shock. And I hit the button, you would be shocked on the other room, and I can hear you screaming, but the whole time you're participating with Ronnie. I'm unaware, I'm unaware of it. So it's what it what it illustrates, yeah, and it's it's up to a thousand votes the whole time. You're not even screaming over there. They done walked you to another room, it's a recording plan. The point is, people have a propensity to yield to people who seem that they are an authority figures, whether they're right or wrong. So it raises the question: are people truly persuaded, cohorse, or do they go along with something that they identify with inwardly?

SPEAKER_02 28:17

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:19

Yeah, I hope I ain't go over.

SPEAKER_02 28:21

No, that's perfect because it's just people do. Yeah, because see, and then the crazy thing about it is, yo, that's a dope study because the crazy thing about it is we we are conditioned to um to look at certain symbolic um you know things as authority or whatever. Like you said, the doctor's coat. You can come in and you're like, oh, well, he looked like a doctor, right? Or he sounded like a doctor, so we trust it because we've been conditioned to say that yo, that's what a doctor is supposed to look like. And so now we're looking at it now, it's just like, okay, so we in the church have been accustomed to like this is what a pastor's supposed to look like, this is what we've been accustomed to. We he gotta do a lot of heing and howing and growling, and you know what I'm saying, and it's just like, and and the things that he says, it has to be golden because they listen, you uh you know, touch not uh God's anointed, and you know, but don't question him and things like that. So we end up being subservient to the man of God. But the true thing about being a pastor, and I hope these other past, and I hope everybody that goes to church understands this and knows this. Is uh the true thing about being a pastor is that you're supposed to be the best servant in that house. You supposed to be able to lead and show the rest of the disciples how to serve, not to be served, not to be like it's just like yo, um what's the word that I'm looking for? Not to feel entitled just because of your salvation. So I'm seeing a I am seeing a a lot of that uh of that going on, and so when we come up now, I don't want to sound like I mean we know where we're from, and so when I kind of get when it's like yo, when it's just that time, it's like yo, it's just that time, yeah. And so I may be a little aggressive with how I how I speak, and so I'm asking the Holy Spirit to kind of help the not kind of, but to help me to be um more loving and more gentle, like Pete like Peter said. But it's like but sometimes it's like it's not about uh dealing with that's when we're dealing with those that that that are babes and that are innocent and that don't know. But when I'm dealing with the with the ones that is that are speaking from the pulpit and talking from the pulpit, now I'm dealing with a viper. Now I feel like I've got to deal more aggressively with you. So how do you feel like we need to start approaching and challenging this mindset and this this thought pattern that's happening now in love and in righteousness, and and how do you how do you feel we need to attack this? Because it has to be dealt with.

SPEAKER_03 31:21

We have to go to them, just like the Bible says. And if they don't receive us, go get another witness. They don't see them, go get two or three or more. But it is hard to it's not hard to challenge it, it's just the pride of the person who you we go to. You see what I'm saying? In order to receive it, because they're in pride. So it's hard to talk to someone who is not uh apologetic, who's not willing to hear you, because who's not willing to learn, not even realizing that the learners will always exceed the learn. But when somebody thinks they are learned and they got it, and they're caught up in the cores of their own sin and their own ideology, it's like the word says, they heaping uh they conscious to see it with a hot iron. You know, uh, and it's hard.

SPEAKER_02 32:18

And the sculptor should be thick.

SPEAKER_03 32:20

Man, yes, it do. Yeah, it does yeah, the pride of life.

SPEAKER_02 32:26

Well, so and I know and I know that you know, uh your time is is limited here, and I know I gotta let you go, man. But I wanna I wanna appease uh appeal to those uh the ones that truly are seeking God, the ones that are from a from a pure place, right? And from a um a place of where they truly want to have a better relationship uh with uh with God. And um, so how do you feel that we one of the best ways to call to to sound that clarion call to getting people back into the church, to getting people back to believing that you know not every uh not every uh steward is you know is uh underhanded or trying to just take from them. How do we get them back?

SPEAKER_03 33:25

Transparency, our own personal testimony, definitely being transparent. Uh and I can say that from experience with with myself. Um someone I usually give them my story. Like, bruh, I was out there. This this ain't fake with me, and they can design it. So I say transparency, and and that that is coupled with our testimony, and that will help them overcome, because that's how we overcome. That's all we can do is plant the seed and some water, some plant. We know that God gives the increase, not be overbearing and seek what it is for some mind again. Get understanding and everything that we get, you know, as as opposed to just going on a religious dogma tangent, you know. Right, yeah, but and just being authentic altogether.

SPEAKER_02 34:18

I think we tend to we we tend to like just because we know scripture don't mean that scripture is exactly needed to be shoved down the throat at that time, but scripture is needed to be seen at that time, exactly what I mean, yeah. You know, the love of Christ, yeah, yeah. That's what it needs to be seen, it needs to be present, it needs to be available to the eye. Because the the truth of the matter is that people are seeking God, but they can't see God. And so the only way that they're gonna see Christ is through us, the other, you know, the other believers. And so my thing is when we when you tell your story, right? When you share your story, you never know how you just sharing your testimony will be uh can affect somebody that's not, and you might not even be talking, you know, it might not even affect the person that you're talking to, but somebody that's listening in. And so that's why I never you know hesitate to tell where I'm from, what I've overcome, what I deal with, you know what I mean? And so, like in this month, I know that as men it's hard for us to do this. And this is, of course, we um if if nobody knows or if somebody doesn't know, it's uh men's um uh mental health awareness month this month. And so we uh as men, um especially as black men, uh we tend to not share, we tend to not uh have that testimony or testifying uh uh time. As a man, how one, how difficult is it for you to share and to share your story, to be open and to be transparent, as you said, or or is it has it become easier over time for you?

SPEAKER_03 36:05

As you I walked in this journey, it has become easier over time, and the reason I say that is because it's nothing that I try to do, it's just natural. Yeah, I don't I I just I just it comes up in general conversation with me because I am conversational. So with me, it has been uh easy, and and I just know that if some don't receive it's fine, I I don't take offense.

SPEAKER_02 36:31

So, do you think artists like yourself is easier? Because a lot of the times y'all put your story to pen and paper. Yeah, so do you think it's like a little bit easier for you to witness yummy like that?

SPEAKER_03 36:43

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because people hear the music first and then they get back with me later and they recognize my stories in the music. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:54

All right, so we're gonna we're gonna end on this, man. We're gonna end on this real quick and I'm gonna let you go. So with your music, because I um I definitely wanted to touch on that with your music and what you do as an artist, uh, when you put in pen to paper, when you when you when you spit in, what is the main thing or the main where where do you feel like that fire is coming from and where are you pointing it? Because sometimes we'll have the fire and we'll spray it, but we're just spraying it everywhere. And it's just like, you know what I mean? But it's like, where do you feel like like where you're trying, the direction that you're trying to go with your music?

SPEAKER_03 37:34

I'm trying to make people aware, raise awareness. Awareness of how our own souls, meaning our mind, emotion, intellect, are in jeopardy. And I'm trying to raise awareness to consciousness collectively, uh, not just motivate but educate. We can do better, you know. Because if trying to give them information, because with one's information, you can create your own inspiration, you know, because motivation is oftentimes garbage because people are only motivated to do what they like. That's what discipline is involved.

SPEAKER_02 38:09

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 38:10

Yeah, I can get that. Yeah, I feel that. Don't get me going.

SPEAKER_02 38:15

Man, no, see, that's the thing. I hate that we uh short on time, but listen, we're gonna have to have you back. We uh they gotta be they gotta be in part two, man, with my man Dr. Mike. Uh so closing out, man, Matthew 28, 19, the great commission. Jesus said, Go therefore into all the world, making disciples baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But this uh discipleship is not an easy road, and that's why we are called to walk this road together. So as long as we're called to walk this road together, let's talk while we travel. Thank you for pulling up to the disciples' desk. I'm your host, Pastor Randy Lavelle Brown. Until the next time, God bless you.