Living Ready | #011 | Not A perfect Christian

For the first time, Not A Perfect Christian has a face. After ten episodes of only hearing my voice, I decided it was finally time to sit in front of the camera and let you see the person behind the microphone.

And I couldn't have picked a more meaningful episode to start.

After everything that happened in San Francisco, I was still healing, still carrying disappointment, and still trying to understand what God was teaching me. Then I walked into church and unexpectedly saw John Bevere as the guest speaker—the same person whose Guard Your Heart message I had talked about just a few episodes ago.

I opened my notebook and started taking notes.

But somewhere during the message, I realized God wasn't just giving me something to write down.

He was challenging the way I live.

Do I simply believe Jesus is coming back—or am I actually living like I believe it?

This episode is about waiting, faithfulness, priorities, and preparing our hearts for eternity while still enjoying the life God has given us.

I'm still healing.
I'm still learning.
I'm still figuring it out.

But maybe that's the point.

I don't want Jesus to find a perfect Christian. I just want Him to find a faithful one.

Welcome to a new chapter of Not A Perfect Christian. 🎥🎙️

Episode 11 — Living Ready
Still learning. Still growing. Still taking one step closer to God.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Not because I was hiding. I just always believe this podcast should point people to Jesus. Not me. But after praying about it, I felt like it was finally time to say hi. It's nice to finally meet you. Welcome back to Not a Perfect Christian. If this is your first time watching, I'm really glad you're here. I'm not a pastor, I'm not a Bible scholar. I'm just uh ordinary guy trying to know Jesus a little more every week and inviting you to walk that journey with me. If you've been here since episode one, thank you. Seriously, thank you. I never imagined we'd make it this far. 10 episodes. Sometimes I still can't believe people actually listen to this podcast. Every Monday I sit down, turn on a microphone, and simply shared what God has been teaching me. No pretending, no perfect answer. Just an imperfect Christian, follow a perfect savior, and I hope that's enough. Last week I shared one of the hardest stories I've ever told. Broken plants still faithful. I wasn't sure if I still should release it. Part of me wanted to keep that story to myself because crying into a microphone isn't exactly on my bucket list. But after episode came out, so many of you reach out. Some of you told me I've never heard someone talk about disappointment like that. Others said I cried with you. And many of you simply said, I'm praying for you. Thank you. Those messages remind me that God can use our weakest moment to encourage someone else. And if that if that's what He did with episode 10, then every tear was worth it. I'm doing better this week. Not because everything has been fixed, it hasn't. My knee still hurt, still recovering. Some questions still don't have answers. Life didn't suddenly become easy, but something inside me is changing. God has been teaching me that healing isn't always about changing your circumstances. Sometimes it's about changing your perspective. I thought everything would go back to normal after San Francisco. It didn't. The following weekend, our tennis team played sectionals. If you've listened to this podcast for a while, you know I love tennis. I walk onto the court thinking, okay, fresh weekend, fresh start. But but after the first few games, I realized something. My body was playing, my heart wasn't. I keep replaying San Francisco, the marathon, my knee, the conversation, everything. Instead of focusing on the next point, I was still living in last weekend, and we lost. Driving home, God quietly showed me something. Pain doesn't always stay where it started. If we don't bring it to Him, it follows us. It follows us into work, into school, into friendship, into relationship, into a tennis match. Until one day we realize we're no longer carrying the pain. The pain is carrying us. That thought stayed with me all week. Then Sunday came. I wasn't expecting a life-changing moment. I simply wanted to worship. Then the pastor walked onto the stage and said, Today we have a special guest. The screen lit up and I couldn't help but smile. It was John Bevere. I actually laughed to myself because just a few episodes ago I talked about one of his teachings. Guard your heart. Out of all churches, out of all the Sundays, God allowed me to hear him preach in person. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe it wasn't, but one thing became clear: God wasn't finished teaching me. The title of the message was The King is coming. At first I thought, okay, this is probably going to be about the end times. Revelation, prophecy, signs. Trying to figure out when Jesus is coming back. But within my first few minutes, I realized this wasn't about a message about predicting the future, it was a message about how I'm living today. And one question hit me harder than anything else. If someone watched my life, would they know that I'm waiting for Jesus? Not because of what I say, but because of how I live. That question followed me all the way home. And honestly, I think it might change the way I live from now on. Okay, let's talk about it. So John Bevere walked onto the stage. And honestly, within the first five minutes, I realized this wasn't going to be the message I expected. When I heard the title, The King is coming. The end of times, maybe the signs that Jesus is coming back. But instead, he asked one simple question, a question that honestly stayed with me all day. Not do you believe Jesus is coming back? Because if you're a Christian, most of us would answer, Yeah, of course, I believe that. Instead, he asked something much deeper. Are you living like he's coming back? I don't know about you, but that question hit me. Because believing something and living like you believe it are two completely different things. For example, for example, I believe eating healthy is good for me. That does that mean I always say no to cheeseburger? Absolutely not. I believe I should sleep eight hours. Do I? Not always. I believe saving money is important. But that doesn't mean every purchase I make is wise. See the difference. Belief is easy. Leaving it is harder. Then he opened the Bible to Philippians chapter three. Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. One word keeps standing out to me eagerly. I started asking myself, do I eagerly wait for Jesus? Or do I eagerly wait for payday? For my next vacation, for my next tennis tournaments, for my next investment to grow, for the next thing I want to buy. None of those things are bad. God has blessed us with many good things, but somewhere along the way I realize those things can quietly become the center of my attention. And that's when my heart begins to drift. Not all at once, little by little. Just like a boat, it doesn't need a storm to drift away. Sometimes it only needs to stop paying attention. That image stayed with me. Then John Bevere read Colossian chapter three. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. When I was younger, I misunderstood verses like that. I thought being a Christian meant don't enjoy life, don't laugh, don't dream, don't travel, don't have goals, just stay serious all the time. Honestly, that sounds exhausting. But that's not what Paul is saying. He's saying don't let temporary things become eternal priorities. That sentence really challenged me. Because after everything that happened in San Francisco, I realized how much of my heart I had placed into one weekend. The marathon, the road trip, the relationship, everything. When those things started falling apart, it felt like my whole world was falling apart. And then God quietly asked me something. What if you chase me with the same passion you chase your plants? That question was hard because I had spent months training for marathon, planning every stop, every hotel, every cynic viewpoint. I was prepared for mile twenty six, but I wasn't prepared for disappointment. Maybe that's why Proverbs says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. I wanted to, I wanted understanding. God wanted trust. There's a difference. Sometimes we ask, Lord, explain this to me. And instead, he says, Trust me. I don't know about you, but I usually prefer explanations. God often gives me his presence instead, and maybe that's enough. Then something happened during the sermon that completely changed the way I saw the whole week. I realized God wasn't correcting my calendar. He wasn't correcting my itinerary. He wasn't correcting my marathon. He was correcting my heart. Last week I kept asking, Lord, why did this happen? This week I found myself asking, Lord, what are you trying to teach me? Those are two completely different prayers, and I think that was the beginning of my healing. Then John Devere introduced two people from the Bible, Simeon and Anna. Those two people who spent years simply waiting, and I realized they had something that I desperately wanted. Talking talking about two people in the Bible, Simeon and Anna. I'll be honest, before this message, I knew their names, but I never really stopped to think about their lives. Then we open Luke chapter two. The Bible describes Simeon with three words righteous, devout, waiting. That's it. Not rich, not famous, not powerful, not successful. God described his heart. I started asking myself, if someone described my life, what would they say? Would they say he works hard, he loves tennis, he enjoys road trips, he likes investing, he always has a plan. Those things are true, but would anyone ever say he loves Jesus? That question humbled me because sometimes people know more about my hobbies than they do about my faith, and honestly, I don't want that. I want people to remember Jesus more than they remember me. Then we talk about Anna. The Bible says she spent years worshiping, praying, and waiting. Think about that. Years. She didn't know when Jesus would come. She just stayed faithful. If I'm being honest, I struggle waiting ten minutes for my own food. If I order something online, I check the trucking every few hours. Even though I know it won't get here any faster. Maybe it's just me. But Anna waited for years and she never stopped trusting God. That challenged me. Because I realized faith isn't proven when everything happened on time. Faith is proven while you're waiting. Maybe that's where you are today. Waiting, waiting for healing, waiting for a job, waiting for your marriage to improve, waiting for your family to come back together, waiting for God to answer a prayer. You've been praying for years. Can I encourage you? Waiting doesn't mean God has forgotten you. Sometimes waiting is where God does his deepest work. Isaiah said, Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. Notice it doesn't say those who rush ahead, it says those who wait. Maybe God isn't wasting your waiting. Maybe He's preparing you for something you can't see it yet. Then John Bevere shared the parable of the ten virgins. I've heard that story before. Honestly, I've read it several times, but this Sunday it felt different. Jesus said there were ten virgins, five were wise, five were foolish. At first, they all looked the same. They all had lamps. They were all waiting. They all expected the bridegroom. From the outside you couldn't tell who was ready and who wasn't. The difference was the oil. When the bridegroom finally arrived, the foolish virgin said, Can we borrow some of yours? And the answer was no. Years ago I used to think, Wow, that's kind of rude. I mean, isn't sharing a good thing? But then John Bevere explained it. The oil was never really about the oil, it was about relationship. Because there are some things you simply cannot borrow. You can't borrow parents' faith, you can't borrow your pastor's relationship with Jesus, you can't borrow your friends' prayers. One day, your relationship with Christ has to become your own. That really hit me because I grew up in church, I serve in youth ministry, I was surrounded by people who loved God, and I'm thankful for that. But eventually, God wasn't asking me, Do your parents know me? He was asking, Do you know me? Those are two completely different questions. Then one sentence came into my mind. I actually wrote it down after the church. Don't spend your life preparing for retirement and forget to prepare your heart for eternity. That sentence has stayed with me always. Because if I'm honest, I've spent a lot of Times preparing for future school, career, investment, running goals, dreams. None of those things are wrong. In fact, I think God wants us to work hard. But if I spend all my energy preparing for life on earth and almost no energy preparing to meet Jesus, I've completely missed the point. And that's when I finally understood the title of the sermon. The king is coming. Not so I would become afraid, not so I would spend all day trying to predict dates. But so I would ask myself if Jesus came back today, would He find me faithful? Not perfect, faithful. That one question changed the way I look at my entire week. And I think it might change the way I live from now on. Yeah. Let's finish with the one lesson. I don't ever want to forget. As the service ended, I didn't get up right away. I just sat there. My journal was still open. People were walking out. The worship team had already left the stage. But I stayed in my seat for a few minutes. Because I realized God wasn't giving me information, He was changing my heart. And honestly, that's one of the reasons I love going to church. Every weekend I think I'm just showing up to hear another message. But somehow God always knows exactly what I need. Last week he met me in disappointment. This week he lifted my eyes toward eternity. And I don't think that's a coincidence. Why did that trip have to end the way it did? Why did everything fall apart? Maybe those aren't bad questions. But this Sunday God quietly replaced those questions with a different one. What kind of man are you becoming through all of this? I never thought about it that way because I was so focused on what I lost that I forgot to look at what God was building. Sometimes we pray, Lord, change my situation, and God says, I'm using this situation to change you. I think that's what he was doing in me. One thing John Bevere said has stayed with me ever since he reminded us that the first Christian weren't obsessed with predicting the day Jesus would return. They simply live every day ready. Faithful at work, faithful in their families, faithful when nobody was watching, faithful in suffering, faithful in success. And I thought maybe that's what Jesus is asking from me too. Not to know everything, not to have every answer, not to have a perfect life, just to be faithful today. Because tomorrow isn't promise, but today I can forgive someone. Today I can encourage someone. Today I can choose integrity. Today I can pray. Today I can spend time with Jesus. Today I can become a little more like him. Maybe that's what living really looks like. You know, I've been thinking about this first 11 episode. Every episode has been a little different. Sometimes we've been laughed together. Sometimes we'll talk about fasting. Sometimes we talk about discipline. Sometimes we talk about broken dreams. Sometimes we've cried together. And if you've been if you've been here since episode one, thank you. Thank you for letting me to be honest. Thank you for giving me the freedom to say I don't know. Because that's exactly why this podcast exists. Not because I've figured out Christianity, but because I'm still figuring it out. Just like many of you. We're learning together, we're growing together, and I hope we keep pointing each other back to Jesus. So before we end, let me ask you the same question that challenged me. If Jesus came back today, what would he find you doing? Would he find you loving your family? Would he find you serving others? Would he find you forgiving someone you've been holding on to bitterness against? Would he find you chasing him or just chasing the next thing? I don't ask that to make you anyone feel guilty. I ask it because I needed to ask myself the same questions. And honestly, I still don't have every answer. I don't know one thing, but I know one thing. I don't want to spend my whole life preparing for future on earth and forget to prepare my heart for eternity. Alright, let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for reminding us that our hope isn't found in the in this world. Thank you for being patient with us even when we get distracted by temporary things. Lord, teach us to live with eternity in mind, not because we're of the future, but because we loved you. Help us become people who are faithful in the small things, faithful when our prayers are answered, and faithful when we're still waiting. Lord, thank you for meeting me in my disappointment. Thank you for reminding me that even when my plans fall apart, your plans never do. And for everyone watching today, whatever they're carrying, whatever they're about, would you remind them that you haven't forgotten them? Give them peace, give them hope, and help all of us to live ready. We love you in Jesus' name, amen. Before we go, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for spending part of your day with me. Whatever you've been here since episode one, or today is the first time we've met. I'm grateful you're here. I don't know what tomorrow looks like, I don't know what next year looks like. I don't know where this podcast will be in year from now, but I do know this. I want every episode to point people to a little point people a little closer with Jesus because at the end of the day, that's all that really matters. I'm still not a crit. I'm still not a perfect Christian. I'm still learning, I'm still growing, I'm still figuring it out, and every single day I'm just trying to take one step closer to God. Thank you for watching. I'll see you next Monday. God bless.