Confess The Mess with Johnny and Jess
An authentic and humorous take on Faith, Family, and life.
Confess The Mess with Johnny and Jess
🎙️S3: Ep.7 -Surviving Costco and Strengthening Spiritual Bonds
We dive deep into the complexities of maintaining Christ-centered relationships in a world filled with diverse beliefs. Reflecting on personal experiences, we explore the concept of being "unequally yoked" and navigate the difficult terrain of friendships and family dynamics when faith paths diverge. From discussing the transformative journey of coming to Christ to emphasizing the necessity of surrounding ourselves with spiritually supportive individuals, this conversation offers valuable insights into fostering a faith-filled life amidst worldly pressures and influences.
Lastly, we tackle the issue of “closet Christians” and the importance of openly living out one's faith, inspired by Luke 9:26. We shed light on the detrimental effects of constant negativity and the power of maintaining a positive, Christ-like attitude. Exciting updates include a new feature for submitting prayer requests and sneak peeks into potential future content with guest appearances by our children. This is an episode brimming with faith, family, and a whole lot of laughter. Don’t miss it!
Good evening friends. Welcome back to Confess the Mess with.
Speaker 2:Johnny and Jess. What's up everybody.
Speaker 1:That be us. That is us. How's it going, Hello friends? How are we?
Speaker 2:doing this week. Hopefully. You've had a fine week. We've had a great week. I think it's been good.
Speaker 1:Well, we did have a good week. We also had two less children, which a lot of people would say, wow, that's awesome, good for you guys. But I'll be honest with you. Yep, we're a team unit, dude, and having our two oldest away at church camp was really emotional for this mom.
Speaker 2:It was tough. We're a team, like Jess said, like it's when half your team is missing or a third of your team is missing, like it just felt empty. It's weird.
Speaker 1:And also, like you know, we're used to, you know being like in family ministry, where Johnny is kind of overseeing that whole portion of our church. So whenever there would be like a camp, go away like we would be going with our kiddos, so, but it was really cool because I was able to watch all their night sessions on YouTube and I just was a blubbering, crying mess because, if you don't know this or not, I did not like I was not raised going to church, I was not raised having a relationship with Jesus. So watching my like watching this, and knowing our daughters are at camp, being poured into and learning about how amazing God is and how much Jesus loves them, like it was just so good.
Speaker 2:I was so grateful. Shout out to Clayton King Ministries and Crossroads uh, this camp they run it just such an incredible job. And the the I've never seen a camp live stream their, their, their night sessions, yeah, so it was cool getting to like hang out and watch the same worship that our girls were watching get to watch the same teaching that our girls were, and I loved it because their worship pastor was actually bilingual.
Speaker 1:He fluently spoke. What is that? That's Spanish, right Guatemalan? Sure, it's like Spanish, I don't know If you're Guatemalan. Don't shoot the messenger, you know? Don't shoot the shiver.
Speaker 2:Is it Portuguese or is it Spanish?
Speaker 1:I'm not really sure, like it was Spanish, but either way, how singing? Cool was that that they like and they were singing um worship song by Brandon Lake and they and he taught them, like some Spanish or Guatemalan or whatever.
Speaker 2:It was cool, it was so cool it was. It was really awesome. Uh, our girls had an awesome experience. Um, you know, it was not an awesome experience. What Going to Costco today?
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. Can we talk about that?
Speaker 2:please. We want to share because it is so comical going to Costco.
Speaker 1:Okay, Well, first you have to give me the cred on this one, because I was like when we open our podcast up tonight and we start it. We are going to talk about Costco man.
Speaker 2:And I don't care if it's Costco or if it's Sam's Club, but it's mostly costco because people at sam's don't do that well. First of all, there's only about a tenth of the people at sam's club than there are, so so, okay, so we'll rewind and we'll fill you in. So if you have a costco membership and you go to costco, it's always crazy. But if you've ever been on a saturday, but it's like people.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm talking about. Costco is like Black Friday, but every day Like Black Friday, you know that Walmart's going to have them 15 surround sound speakers. So you got to like pretty much take out your like last child, Like you know, like you can have her, but I need the surround sound. Like that's how they are about rotisserie chicken, that's how they are about I don't even know. Maybe the samples be rolling up on the end caps.
Speaker 2:I don. That's how they are about. I don't even know. Maybe the samples be rolling up on the end caps, I don't know, but it's crazy. It's usually they got the big carts that it takes up the space. It usually has less to do with they're running out of product and more that they're out of smiles like people get into costco and like you're talking about the people that are, that are actually like.
Speaker 2:They're not the employees I'm talking about. If you show up on a set like people are not there to make friends, like it is so are they not there to share the gospel? They're not. They're like, I feel like I need to put some more paint on, can I? Can I tell you it's scary going. Let me tell you something, y'all okay, here it is.
Speaker 1:So johnny's got this new obsession with mediterranean salads, so shout out to our best buds, the stroners. They come over and she makes a killer. Awesome, uh, mediterranean salad but johnny's like, oh babe, there's a mediterranean salad over there. I was like, yeah, well, we're not paying 15 for like one cup of salad, bye. And I was like I'm gonna go get 4.99 romaine lettuce over there. And he's like I'm gonna go check. I'm gonna look.
Speaker 1:So I was like whatever. I walked like two, like two aisles over in the refrigerated foods, realized he was still trying to fight to get to the Mediterranean salad, so I pulled off shop right.
Speaker 2:I was like a salmon. I pulled off shop to the end.
Speaker 1:Cap right that has, like you know, the overpriced like sliced cheese and all the other things. And I pulled over and I got like the like dirtiest looks from people. I was pulled off right. I couldn't put my hazards on because they don't have that on the car.
Speaker 2:Jessica was in the way of the charcuterie board cheese. People were mad about it. You're always in the way.
Speaker 1:So when you're at Costco, if you don't get your butt moving, you are literally at fault for everything.
Speaker 2:And I saw her in the distance and I couldn't cross over because of the stream of traffic. I'm like I got my hand out like just trying to and we're so ridiculous Just trying to touch her.
Speaker 1:If you know Johnny and I, you know that we're ridiculous. But when we are in public we're even worse. There was a couple that was showing PDA. Johnny says and he's like, oh no, they're not going to show us up Public displays of affection. So if you don we talked about love languages because if you don't realize that you actually have a specific way that you need to be recharged in the way you like to be loved on. So johnny obviously is a physical touch and I am a words of affirmation. So there's this couple in front of us and she old man, right or whatever you can say old lady in this, no offense, but her husband was pushing the cart and she was like rubbing his traps and like kind of just rubbing his back and like kind of like leaning in is like kind of grasping his bicep and kind of leaning in.
Speaker 1:And johnny was like, oh really, he's like we got, he's like we're not gonna get pd no, we're in competition now we're.
Speaker 2:It's a pda showdown, showdown so.
Speaker 1:So the husband was like not reacting because he's obviously a fellow words of affirmation guy. Get off me. And and here's johnny, like kissing my cheek and like, as I'm pushing the card, I'm like brother, brother, I feel you bro, words of affirmation, love language, but no costco's crazy sauce and and then trying to park.
Speaker 2:That's a whole other level of anxiety, like costco is exciting, it's exciting, it's exciting it has to be exciting but if you suffer from anxiety it, I would imagine. So our favorite part is to get into the middle section. Yes, Get out of the main highways To take a breather, get into that middle snack section.
Speaker 1:So we'll share that with you guys, but you cannot share it with anybody else. You have to go center field. If you get in the center, that's where you can do a quick little turn. You, that's where you can, you know, do a quick little turn. You come down the like everybody wants to go right. Like everybody's like all focused.
Speaker 2:Or you can go counterclockwise and that might cause some issues. Oh, now you're causing a whole other Swimming. Upstream Dirty looks, but center People flipping us off.
Speaker 1:You know the area where we don't want to take our kids because that's where they keep. Like all of a sudden they're bringing out Christmas presents and it's July and then they have.
Speaker 2:I'm not opposed to that, but it's also like you know, camping gear, all the things you can ever not need is in the middle.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's like the area where they keep the stuff that is not important but very overpriced, and we get very coveting in that center area, but that's why nobody goes there.
Speaker 2:So Jess and I will pull off just to catch our breath Like whewo. All right, where do we need to go next before we get run down by some other angry, angry, angry lady?
Speaker 1:so if you're a fellow costco goer, check your heart before you go in, because we all need to check our hearts and smile at someone, please seriously come on, it's okay, it's not that serious, not that serious. Okay, that's how we are opening tonight's podcast, talking about crazy costco customers crazy right, don't be that person.
Speaker 2:Okay, so now we're going to dive. We're going to dive in tonight. This is something that Jess and I have battled with, really the entirety of our walk with Jesus. Yeah, and maybe if you are a Christian, you can relate to this.
Speaker 1:If you're not a Christian my hope is that you're not offended by this and if you're new to this podcast and you're like what is exactly a Christian? Like we're just going to give it to you straight up A Christian is somebody that follows Jesus. Jesus is the leader of your life and you are going to look at the person of Jesus and that is who you're going to seek to be.
Speaker 2:Surrendered it all to Jesus.
Speaker 1:That's who you're going to seek to be so when you say you're Christian, you're following Christ. That's what we got In simplest terms.
Speaker 2:But this thing we battle with is it's not Christian friendships Although sometimes that's a battle, obviously- and not just friendships, just relationships in general, because it's not just about your friends.
Speaker 1:It could be about your boyfriend or girlfriend.
Speaker 2:Your family. What do you do when you are completely devoted to following Jesus? You've surrendered your life to Jesus. Jesus is the Lord and leader of your life and you're all in.
Speaker 1:And when we say completely devoted, we know you're not perfect, because nobody's perfect and we're going to fall short every day. We're going to fall, but I just I want to, I want to reiterate that, like, like being devoted, you're still a sinner and I'm still a sinner and Johnny's still a sinner. We're going to fall short every day. But he's talking about, like you have said yes to Christ, you are following him, you are doing everything you can every day to try to be more like Jesus.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So what do we do with these relationships, Whether it's a friendship, whether it's a family member, whether it's you're, you're dating whatever, even marriage? For for goodness sakes, and that's and this is. This is touchy, but what do you do with these relationships when one person is following Jesus and the other person in the relationship is not?
Speaker 1:I have a question for you.
Speaker 2:What if the other person says that they do so. This happens too, but there are signs in a person's life that will signal or indicate that they don't actually do that, and we'll talk about that too.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's pull up some scripture that I know you put aside for this specific talk.
Speaker 2:So, second Corinthians, chapter six, verse 14, says this there's a Paul that, or a letter that Paul wrote to the church of Corinth. He says do not be yoked together with unbelievers, for what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between christ and bela, which is a, a god they were worshiping at the time in the, in the region? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of god and idols?
Speaker 2:So, and it goes on and on, but starting with the top of the verse, do not be yoked together with unbelievers. So that does not mean, christians, that we're not to be friends with unbelievers. There is a difference between being around unbelievers, even having friendships and relationships with unbelievers, or even our family Friendships and relationships with unbelievers, or even our family. But this word yoked together with unbelievers and we're not going to get into the crazy depth here but that the idea of being yoked together, equally yoked, like when you're on a plow and there is an oxen if you had one oxen pulling and the other oxen was dead. Now we're unequally yoked. The job is not getting done. You need both oxen on the yoke, and it's not an egg yoke, it is the yoke that goes over the animal's neck and it helps to pull the plow. You need both of those animals pulling in synchronization towards the same thing.
Speaker 2:So when Paul is writing this, he says do not be yoked together with unbelievers, why? Well, what happens if I'm chasing Jesus and my best friend is chasing the world? What's going to happen?
Speaker 1:Well, can we get an example? Because I always want to be able to offer the new believer or the unbeliever that's listening to this podcast, because we never want to be internal right. So let's try to explain an example or what that could mean. This more common like maybe misunderstanding.
Speaker 2:So when Jessica and I first came to Jesus man, it was completely transformative for us, Like we were one way one day and we were a different way the next.
Speaker 1:It felt like that right, I'm sure it was a small, I'm sure it over time, but it felt like it was immediate.
Speaker 2:But we were a new creation and now we are chasing after Jesus. We are wanting to follow in Jesus's footsteps, if Jesus said to do it. That's the life we wanted to lead, like that's what we wanted to be. That's the decision we had made. But Jessica and I also led a life of partying and sin and. I mean crazy house parties where there's fistfights at two in the morning and even before.
Speaker 1:I met you, we both lived our own sinful life outside of each other. So then we brought both of our sinful lives together and it just collided. And that was just crazy madness.
Speaker 2:So we had, on one end, we come together, we get married, we come to Jesus eventually together. I had my group of party friends still, jessica had her group of party friends still and we would all party together. We all did those things. So what happened then? When we decided to go one way and the others were going?
Speaker 1:the other way.
Speaker 2:We had to make the very difficult decision to say you know what? We can't be yoked to these people. It didn't mean that we were unkind to them or love them. It just meant that, man, we can't do the things that we are doing together anymore and, in fact, if you're not going to change your ways, we can't be that close.
Speaker 1:Well, and when you experience the Lord and he calls you and you actually are prepared to answer that, like you have to turn away and repent away from an old lifestyle that you once lived and I will speak in this like area for females, like listen, we're going to walk through hard seasons of life and we're going to need, like, wisdom, just like men are going to need that too. So be very careful on who you seek that wisdom from. You know whether it's, you know, not just for friends. We're talking family. We're talking everybody, like if you're about to maybe embark on something and you really, or even your everyday, just struggles, like you need to. You know we, a lot of the times, ladies, we like to call it venting, but let's be honest, it's gossip. Let's just be honest. Let's just call it what it is. You know we want to gossip about our life, we want to gossip about our husband or we want to complain about our kids.
Speaker 2:And how can I pray for you specifically?
Speaker 1:Just different things like that, but like you know like, I have an amazing, amazing woman in my life that has walked with me through hell and back and same for her and she knows who she is. She's my friend and she's back in Arizona still. But whenever there's hardships happening in my life, you know I'm reaching out to her. Do you know what she's doing? She's praying out loud for me on the, on the messages with me. She's seeking a wise counsel in scripture and directing me to what does the Bible say about this? So that's equally yoked friends. Do you know what I'm saying? That's equally yoked, friends. You know what I'm saying? That's equally yoked.
Speaker 1:When you got somebody that's pointing you to Jesus and hardships and isn't giving you their opinion, but God's opinion, that's equally yoked. When you're trying to follow Jesus, it's when people are going to give you their opinion. Listen, when we're, when we're trying to follow Jesus, we don't need human opinion, we need biblical opinion. Show me what. What does the Bible say about what I'm doing right now? What does the Bible say about what season of life is occurring in my life right now?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's a hundred percent true. You know your friendships, even your family, and this is hard y'all. Like even your family. Like are they holding you back from growing closer to Jesus, yeah, or are they propelling you forward, like you have to make that decision. Like there are people in our lives that we know that we can't get super close with.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because they're going to keep us from kingdom work, they're going to keep us from being the hands and feet of Jesus. They're going to stop the mission, not on purpose, but simply because they're chasing something different and they're going to derail what God has for us.
Speaker 1:And I'm going to reiterate this because I know there's going to be some people listening to this. Now hear my heart and hear Johnny's heart. We are not saying that we are living a perfect example of what Jesus is. We are not Christ himself A perfect example of what Jesus is. We are not Christ himself. We would never, ever say that is what we are, but we are striving every day to be better than the day prior. So he is 100% right. Is there people in your life that are paralyzing you in the space you're in and, before you know it, you're just going in circles and you're not getting anywhere and you can feel the weight, the heaviness of conversations that have to be had or, oh my gosh, is this happening again? Like, kingdom work is a legit, like thing. If you've been called, listen everybody that's listening right now. If you have felt the Holy spirit and you are a follower of Christ, you, my friend, have kingdom work to do Every one of us.
Speaker 1:You don't have to be called to be a pastor or to start a church or to lead a ministry. You, my friend, are called to kingdom work because we are called, in Matthew 28, to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are called to do that and if you're seeking your information from the wrong people, let me tell you what. That's where the little snake comes in and that's called the enemy, and he's going to trip you up because that is his motive and that is what he will do If we allow it. That's why you got to have equally yoked relationships, whether it's your friends, your boyfriend, your spouse, your family. This is a touchy subject, y'all it is, it is and it's hard for a lot of people.
Speaker 2:It just is and, unfortunately, jess and I, we decided to talk about this because we speak from experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:We have dealt with this numerous times because of the lifestyle that we have lived, and so people change, and people aren't always on board with their change. I mean, if you're gonna follow Christ, you're gonna be persecuted. Right, it's gonna be hard for you. This world has troubles and it's even tougher when you-.
Speaker 1:We're promised that we'll have those troubles. You're promised these troubles, right yeah?
Speaker 2:and that means hard conversations with friends. That means hard conversations. Uh what? What could even be viewed as confrontation?
Speaker 2:with family and like this is difficult, but sometimes we have to recognize that not everybody in our life is good for us Not everyone. And listen, this is elementary what we'll say in a moment. I'm going to read Proverbs 13, 20, and maybe you're familiar with this verse, but the fact of the matter is this is very true and something we've always talked about in our youth groups and stuff, but it happens to grownups too. And the verse says this it's Walk with the wise and become the wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm. Or the New Living Translation says walk with the wise and become wise. Associate with fools and get in trouble. And the reality is that harm or trouble that's being spoke of is maybe. It doesn't mean you're going to commit a crime. It simply means you're going to be pulled away from what God has from you. You're going to be led off the path that was illuminated for you. Because somebody is gossiping, because somebody wants to talk about someone else, because somebody wants to do this instead of go to church.
Speaker 1:Well, you know what, and it may even be something that you don't even notice, like maybe it's constant negativity.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like maybe it's constant, like just negative, everything's negative all the time. A victim mentality, right, like I think about Jesus and I think about his fruit patience, goodness, gentleness, love, joy, patience, all the things right. Self-control that is what scripture tells us. You will know my followers by the fruit they bear in their lives. Maybe the person you're seeking out whether it be friend, family or whatever and you're trying to tell them what's going on and they fall into the negativity, write it down, look at the fruit. If you're not sure, if that person because I know you're already like somebody's name popped up in your mind. People have popped up in your mind like, oh my gosh, maybe that's what's happening in my life. Maybe I'm that person Like, maybe I have thought that I was living for Jesus, but I have not been living for Jesus.
Speaker 1:I guess I need to check myself. And you know what? We're going to walk through our time with the Lord throughout our entire life and we're going to need to be checked. We're going to walk through our time with the Lord throughout our entire life and we're going to need to be checked. We're going to need to be checked, you know, because Johnny and I in our past sins. We can't be around, that. I don't care who you are. You can walk away from the sin you once lived. But if it's knocking at the front door in your face all the time, you're going to be tempted to sin again Because you're flesh, because we're human and we do not live like Jesus lived, because your flesh is in constant battle with the spirit.
Speaker 2:It never stops.
Speaker 1:It never stops, so be cautious on who you let speak in your life. If you have people in your life that are literally actively living the same sin that you just walked away from, do you think that you need to be spending your time with those people? I'm sorry, that's just the truth, do you? No, not right now Is there growth. Maybe not right now, like, and it's hard, and maybe those people are family and that makes it even harder. Yeah, listen, we're not told that, and I heard this on a on a on a realist last weekend. It's so stinking good. We were never promised that this life would be easy. We're told it's going to be hard.
Speaker 2:And, by the way, when we talk about fruit, we're not talking about financial fruit. I know lots of people who have lots of toys and lots of money who are empty shelves.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And they can't find the thing that will fulfill them. So it's not fruit, isn't? Oh, I've got jet skis or I have a yacht fruit. Fruit is not that you know?
Speaker 1:Well, that's what I'm saying. Go to the scripture and find out what the spiritual fruit is, cause that's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about Like, like, if, if, if you, if you are listening right now and you're like this is me, this is me, you know, like, babe, what would your advice be on a marriage that?
Speaker 2:isn't Christ-centered for both husband and wife, and I don't know we know people like this and I don't know how marriages really work like that, because that's got to be so, so challenging.
Speaker 1:We haven't walked through that. So I don't even know like we. Just all we can do is we can just point back to Jesus and what the scriptures say.
Speaker 2:You point to scripture. You point to Paul says don't be yoked, and that's not. Hey, go get divorced. That's man you are. You're in an uphill battle right now, as you are chasing Jesus and the other person isn't. I'm not sure how that even works.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Not to its full. I don't think a marriage can be fully effective if one person is chasing Jesus and the other is chasing the world. I don't know how that even works. So I know that it's probably pretty challenging, and I don't think your marriage is living up to its full potential, for sure if that's you.
Speaker 1:Um, I don't know how that, even I don't even how that operates so how do you, how would you speak to the person listening that has family that doesn't really have a relationship with the Lord?
Speaker 2:I think, I think you love that word, you love your family. You know it's. It's funny and and Jess and I joke about this too it's like, you know, jesus wasn't even recognized in his own town, right, you know, he and the prophets weren't even acknowledged for what they were in their own hometown, because people knew them before. Right, people knew Jesus before People knew the prophets, before People know us before. Yeah, before People knew the prophets before.
Speaker 2:People know us before. So it's really hard when you're you know, say you know you have family that you want to talk to about the gospel. They're not going to be as receptive as people who don't know your past life, because in the back of everyone's mind is you know what. You say that. But I know, I know the real you, I know the person that was before.
Speaker 1:I know the things you said, and it's hard for them to see that because they, they, they don't, they don't see that you're made new when you're in Christ.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think you know my. My advice is you know this is tough again, but you, you can't be like, for instance, if you're, if you're a follower, if you're a Christian and you have a cousin who is not right, cousin's an atheist Well, you probably shouldn't let your atheist cousin speak life into you, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because they're not speaking the right type of life into you. I'm not coming to my atheist cousin for advice. I'm seeking my brothers and sisters in Christ for advice because we're chasing the same thing and we're a body of Christ. It's different and just changes things and so we have family and I love. You know we love our family. You know we oftentimes are closer to people at church because you know we are chasing eternity together.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it just it changes the dynamic of your relationships for better or for worse, whether we like it or not. And so you know, if you are pursuing Jesus, you're going to be viewed as different and that's okay.
Speaker 1:So what are your thoughts on? You know, because I personally have had this struggle with friendships in the past what, what are, what do you have to say and how can you speak on your closet Christian friends? So I've had friends over the years that will send me private, you know, like gospel inspired, christ inspired reels and posts, but they will not share them on their own stories or social media page. And it really to be honest with you, you know, and I'm sure you're probably thinking I'm going to say that, it upsets me, like I get mad. I actually get really sad. It actually makes me really sad because one day, one day, we'll have to stand before Jesus and we'll have to say the things like God, please take me in. And you know what does he say? Like I get away from me, I don't know who you are Like, and it. And it makes me sad because I'm not God. I don't need my friends to share with me in a personal messenger space that they love Jesus. I'm not Jesus.
Speaker 2:But Jesus does have things to say about this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what does he have to say?
Speaker 2:Luke 9, 26, for example, says whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him, will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the father and of the holy angels. So listen, if you're ashamed to share your faith, you're not actually living in faith. I mean, that's just the truth. Like you are just pretending.
Speaker 1:So. So then in that situation, like I'm obviously not going to listen to those words from those people that are sending me those messages, like if I'm having a hard season in my life or I'm needing to have wise counsel, like I'm not going to seek them for that because they're not even living their own faith out loud, they're afraid to speak their faith even to a social media which is come on, guys, who are half the people on your social media page? You don't even know them. You know, and I know that because I social sell, so I know that I don't even know, probably 75% of people or you don't know them, or you don't know them anymore.
Speaker 2:Let's just be honest.
Speaker 1:Like oh.
Speaker 2:I went to high school with so-and-so 30 years ago. It's like, well, you don't know that person. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So so here's an example. Do you let that person?
Speaker 2:do you let that person have a say in your life? Do you believe that they're a wise counsel to speak to? So I mean, listen, and I'm not the judge of anybody, I'm just all I can do is go off of scripture. You know, you read this verse in regards to. You know what Jesus has to say on the topic, and this is just one verse. But whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him will the son of man be ashamed when he comes. So that's on Jesus. Jesus is making that decision. Jesus is making the judgment, not me. For me.
Speaker 2:You know, if you, I have to be very careful about who I let in yeah, who, and this is statistically speaking you will become the top. The five closest people to you, the five people that you spend the most time with, you start to begin to take on their traits and personality. This is science. You can look it up Now. So if I'm hanging out with people who are pretending to be Christian, or my closest, my inner circle, are I hate to use the term fake Christian, but we'll throw it out there or I'm letting my inner circle be full of nonbelievers, and what's going to happen to me in my walk? I need to make sure that I am focused on relationships with people that are going to bring me closer to Jesus. That's what I care about. The closest people in my life have to be moving me forward down the path, and vice versa, the closest people in my life have to be moving me forward down the path.
Speaker 1:And that even goes for like, when you're like around a lot of people that like say they love Jesus and that they're following Jesus, but they are so negative all the time, like, do you believe that Jesus was like that he would want you that negative all the time, like victim mentality, or just negative about everything, or just talking badly, or or or like friends. I'm talking the truth right now because I don't even care. You can you know what feel, however you feel about me. But you're rolling on through your reels and you're like looking at a video and you're like oh my gosh, that's like what. And they're like oh my goodness, they like that. You know what I'm talking about. And you're like why would somebody like that? Because they're not true. Cause, because they're hiding behind the like button, behind the comment section. What are your, what are your people liking and commenting on that that you're seeing up in your algorithm.
Speaker 1:I say this cause my husband doesn't get on social media, but I know I have been like listen, like I have a. I'm a long work. I'm a. I have a lot of work to do. I'm not. I'm not arrived yet, I'm not there yet, but I can promise you that I am living more for Jesus today than I was five years ago.
Speaker 1:Okay, I've not arrived, I'm not perfect, I'm a sinner. I yell at my kids, I say things I don't mean. Okay, okay, I'm not the best friend out there. I love my family more than I love my friendships. I don't answer text messages all the time because I don't want to, I don't, I don't like, I am an introvert at heart and I don't want to do that. But God calls me out of my comfort zone because he's called me in Johnny to ministry and he equips me. But what I'm saying is that, like if you got people in your inner circle that are constantly negative, all the time, are they? How can you follow Jesus and always be negative? That's not possible. It's not possible, it's not, it's not, it's not.
Speaker 2:Well, and I mean the gospel is, I mean literally translates to good news. How can that be negative, like if you're living that out and that so?
Speaker 1:And prayer, prayer, prayer, prayer. Seriously, when you're seeking out counsel in your friendships or your marriage or your family and you're telling them what's going on if their first, like one of the first three things they suggest, isn't prayer, I'm just saying that's how we make decisions. We can't make decisions on our own because we, as humans, suck, we go off of emotion.
Speaker 2:We're gonna get it wrong all the time. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us Right, and I know for some of you, you're listening to this and you're wrestling with some things.
Speaker 1:Some of you are offended, Some of you are like oh right on and I want to say that offended is probably more of a conviction.
Speaker 2:I would say your offense is probably the Holy Spirit trying to convict you and the Holy, and that's.
Speaker 1:Been there, done that and the.
Speaker 2:Holy Spirit never brings shame. It's only conviction. Because we want to change Like because we are a mess. Y'all Like I'm a mess. So when I feel a certain way about something, it's like I'm not ashamed of it. I need to change it.
Speaker 1:I need to be better, I need to grow.
Speaker 2:Like grow, repent. I need to grow and, and you know that's just part of the process and, and in this relationship piece that we're talking about, it's part of the process of your sanctification. It is cutting, cutting ties with people who are not bringing you closer to jesus sometimes that's necessary or or at least keeping them at arm's distance, and I know, or don't let them speak into your life in certain areas.
Speaker 1:Don't let them. And it's hard, Friend. It's hard and I know there's people listening where you have walked through some hard seasons and you've kept relationships because you feel like you have to. Jesus is your number one. You seek him in prayer and maybe even fasting, and he will give you your answer.
Speaker 2:And you may be surprised what God will do in your friendships too, and pray for that person that needs to get closer to Jesus. You don't know what God's going to do.
Speaker 1:And, like I said, maybe you're that person, maybe we're that person, maybe that is you and you're like oh my gosh, I've been negative, I haven't been seeking Jesus the way that I say that I do. I've been ashamed to share my faith on social media. I'm sending those private messages. I'm this, I'm that. That's okay, that is totally okay. Now this is God using this podcast to share to you that it's time for you to change. It's time for you to trust Jesus more. It's time for you to relinquish that control of your life which, by the way, it's so much better when you can relinquish it to him because he is the leader and he always gets it right Yep, every time.
Speaker 2:Speaking of trust.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:We did promise big news. We did so I wasn't going to say it, but we'll go ahead and we're just going to do it. Let's do it, let's do it, so hey, so everybody, whoever has followed our journey over the last couple years, who's been listening, we so appreciate you. The podcast is going to keep going, but we did want to announce that we are going to be planting a church.
Speaker 1:We are planting it, we are going to step out.
Speaker 2:God's church. Step out in faith and we're going to start our own church and that's something that's really exciting, something we've been called to for the last like three years, something we're very excited about Celebration Life Church. Let's go, come into Moorsboro.
Speaker 1:Where transformation meets celebration. Of course, Jessica has to sing everything.
Speaker 2:Let's go so many more details to come over the coming weeks, but I just wanted to get that out there and give you a heads up that just be on the lookout for what we're doing next. Be praying for our family.
Speaker 1:Be praying for our family, because this is a step of obedience. And remember, friends, half obedience is still disobedience. If God is calling you, to something.
Speaker 2:You have to do it because he is the way, because he is our leader.
Speaker 1:Man is not, we are not. When you live for Christ, you die to self, and just yes let's go.
Speaker 2:So we'll be, let's go, that's right. So over the next upcoming weeks, we'll give you some more details about what we got going on and what this whole thing is about, but we just want to share that with our faithful listeners, who, you guys, have been with us for the last year and a half, that we decided let's go Ireland, let's go Shout out to Ireland.
Speaker 1:Just kidding, we're a little far from you.
Speaker 2:But let's go.
Speaker 1:Number 14 in Ireland. No, we're so excited though, like this is something that's very exciting for our family, and we don't make decisions without our family, all of our kids. They've been a part of every step of this process because they're our little disciples.
Speaker 2:We're a unit.
Speaker 1:We are a unit. We do all things through Christ, who strengthens us. Let's do it. So let's just pray. We'll let you guys have your evening and it's raining here, so yummy, yummy. Yeah, I'll pray us out. Pray for us baby.
Speaker 2:All right, confess the mess nation. I'm still trying to work on that. Just thank you, god, for all that you're doing in our lives, all that you're doing in our listeners' lives. Father, we pray for a blessing over everyone who hears this message. I pray over relationships.
Speaker 2:Relationships are so tricky. They're messy because people are messy and we all bring our separate baggage into our relationships, our separate expectations into our relationships, whether that's friendships and marriages and coworkers, dating, whatever it might be, family. It's just so complicated, father. But we ask for your intervention in those of us that are having trouble taking steps forward towards you because someone else is holding us back. God, we pray that you find us with people who are equally yoked, father, that we're striving for the same mission. We're trying to get closer to you. Father, help us to be yoked to those who are chasing after you with everything they have, so we can grow and get better.
Speaker 2:Lord, I just pray for the person listening that is in a relationship right now that just they don't know how to get out of it or they don't know how to take next steps towards you because they are unequally yoked. So, father, I pray that you would intervene in that. We lift that up to you, lord. We don't know all the circumstances of those that are listening. So, father, you do so. We hand it off to you, the only one that can fix it, change it, make it better, grow it. We pass that along to you, father. We lay all of this at the foot of the cross this evening. God, we just thank you for all the blessings in our lives. Help us see the good in all that you're doing. Jesus, we love you.
Speaker 1:It's in your holy and precious name that we pray. Amen and as always, friends, if you need any prayer requests, please message us. It'll be in the description and, as always as well. Yes.
Speaker 2:Oh, sorry, there's a new feature. There is that you can like what shoot us a text or something crazy yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we use Buzzsprout. That's how we kind of shoot out all of our podcasts and now you can like text us so like we can be like homies.
Speaker 2:It's attached to the episode.
Speaker 1:So just like, text us hi or whatever, man. So I would love for you guys to rate us. I don't even care if you think we're one, give us a one, but give us something. You know, do something, do something, do something and then also share with a friend, um, because there's gonna be some exciting stuff happening in our life. This, you know, coming months and all this stuff. And I'm also thinking about maybe doing like a next gen podcast where we like bring some of our kiddos on as like guest speakers and stuff like that. I was not consulted about this.
Speaker 2:Kind of talking about you know just no, we're bringing our six-year-old next week Talking about like you know, stuff that goes on in our kids' lives and kind of how they respond to it. Yeah, let's do it.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying. Like Jesus said, let the children come to me. So we're going to let them come to him in our podcast. All right, friends, we're at.