WEBVTT
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Welcome to OffScript, a conversation with no fakes, no filters, just real conversations about how faith and flesh meet in the everyday life, where we experience a God who made us on purpose for his purpose.
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This is Off Script.
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Let's talk.
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Hey guys, welcome back to OffScript.
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I'm here with Caleb and two of our students, Grayson Brown and Steven Moody.
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What's up, guys?
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What's up?
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Oh, at the same time, talented.
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Practice this.
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And if you guys hear any noise in the background, music or just people talking, we're actually recording this while everybody's getting ready to go into our midweek service.
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So there may be a little bit of background noise, but that's okay.
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Okay, we're gonna start off with a question for you guys.
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Will pickleball take over our world and be as big of a deal as football?
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I'll go for it.
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No chance.
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No chance.
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Why?
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But it's it's gotten big.
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It has gotten big.
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And just for you that don't know, Grayson is like a state champion, you know?
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I mean, he's good.
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I am a state champion.
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One time I did ask Grayson, hey, he was we was he was at my house.
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We were gonna play pickleball.
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And I said, and I did not know Grayson even knew how to play pickleball.
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And I said, Hey, you want to play me?
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He said, sure.
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And I thought, poor kid, he's about to get waxed.
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And I said, Hey, do you know how to play?
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He goes, Yeah.
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And he said, I tell you what, I'll spot you uh 10.
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And I was like, Well, don't you play to 11?
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He's like, Yeah, I'll spot you 10.
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And I was like, Okay.
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And then he beat me.
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He beat me 11 to 10.
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Okay.
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Holy cow.
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He beat me 11 to 10.
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I didn't score a single point.
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Yeah, so I that was the first time I played Grayson.
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No, Steven, I've never played you before, but I would assume I would smoke you.
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Oh, but you probably you've played me before.
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Yes, that's true.
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I've played three games of pickleball in my entire life.
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You know how many I've won?
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How many?
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Zero.
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That's uh that's rough.
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Like that's because you hadn't played Morgan.
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No, Morgan beat me.
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This is pretty sad.
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Yeah, it's pretty sad.
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I think my depth perception is off.
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And so it's like, I just missed the ball.
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That's like a dog.
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A dog's depth perception is always off.
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Okay.
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You don't think it's ever gonna be that big of a deal?
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Oh, never.
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I mean, Steve?
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No.
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I can already see it on the decline a little bit just within Gardendale.
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Bill Noble's kind of dead recently.
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Well, all things start here at Gardendale.
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So that is true.
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Bill Noble's if it's going downhill here, it's that's quickly gonna take over the rest of the state.
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Steve, who is your who's your college team right now?
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You usually jump around.
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I never jump around, by the way.
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Yes, you do.
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No?
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We're in an old miss shirt.
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Auburn.
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You said that we're in an old miss shirt.
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A year ago.
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Because you like Jackson Dart.
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Yeah, I do like Jackson Dart.
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He's really good.
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Oh my gosh.
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But yeah, Auburn, all the way.
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I have loyalty.
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Auburn on top.
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All right.
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So uh we, the two guys here, they actually picked the topic that we're gonna talk about.
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So we're gonna kind of just jump right into that.
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But I think that you guys live, I think we can all agree.
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We live in a generation of being influenced very heavily, whether that's social media, TV, music, I mean, influencers, Caleb did not have social media growing up.
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Or still doesn't.
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It true.
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Instagram came out when I was in seventh grade, and influencers didn't become a thing until I guess just really recently.
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So you guys are growing up in a much different time than we did.
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But what do you guys think makes a good influencer and who is worth like what do you think makes them worth following?
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I would say good or bad.
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You know, what makes an influencer good where people are like, oh, I'm gonna follow this person.
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You know, it could be good or bad, but what what makes them worth following?
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Like in the context of like anybody why they would follow you.
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Anybody, not just you.
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I'm talking about, man, this person's got a million followers and but yeah, they they put out complete trash.
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Well, why do people follow them?
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You know, I would probably say just because like I mean, obviously, like they like what they're about.
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They think that what they're about is they talk about what they know.
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Yeah, and they some people like them because their values align with theirs and they can see things in common with them.
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And then some people a shock value too, probably.
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I'm sure the more shocking you can be, the more controversial you can be, the more times you say something out loud, somebody's gonna be like, Oh man, did you hear this?
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And then they definitely you get your shares from that.
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Definitely the more traction you gain, the more crazy you are online.
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But yeah, I'd probably just say like what people have the most common in.
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Dave, you don't have Instagram, do you?
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I don't have any social media except YouTube.
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Okay, so for you who doesn't really see a lot of that on social media, what do you think?
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I mean, I think it's just the fire you have in you, and then like everybody because like the biggest influencer in my life that I usually watch is Philip Anthony Mitchell and Bryce Crawford.
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And what I like about them too, and just all in general, is their fire not only to do it on just one certain app, because a lot of influencers will have like just one app they do and not others.
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And it's that fire that's like going down within them to like I'm gonna do whatever it takes to reach a number amount of people to get me to get them to follow me.
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Yeah, I agree.
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I think like the people that he's talking about, like Phil Matthew Mitchell and Bryce Crawford, you can see the genuine like they don't care about the clicks or the follows, they genuinely care about more followers so that they can reach more people, like it's not for self-gain for them.
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Well, I think someone like Bryce Crawford, he's out on the streets like evangelizing to people, which is kind of rare, I feel like, to see.
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And then he's not only doing that, he's it's being like posted for people to criticize.
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Do you guys feel like that is unique or draws people in, or what do you think?
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Yeah, definitely.
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Like, I mean, let's be honest, if you could just sit beside sit behind a screen all day and preach the gospel like he does most of the time, or if you could choose to get out there on the street corners and talk to homeless people or people that disagree with you, I mean, I would choose probably just to stay in my little podcast room.
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But he uh Are you making fun of our podcast?
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No, no, no, no, no, no.
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Because it's not little, it's huge.
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It's massive.
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It's a big podcast room.
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Really expensive.
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Oh it really nice.
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Well then do you do you guys have the do you guys want to be influencers?
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Is it you know, is that a is that a draw to you of like, hey, I want to be an influencer on social media, I want to be an influencer.
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Is that a draw to you?
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And I'm I'm I'm really talking about social media, maybe YouTube.
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Do you do you have a a draw to be an influencer on there?
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Sometimes.
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Because I would say, all right, y'all don't make fun of me.
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I so for the longest time I've always wanted social media, couldn't get it, right?
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Because my parents, and I'm glad they cut me away from it.
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But when I had YouTube, I made an account and I made a video thinking like, oh, this is gonna be blown up.
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So this is like where I start my influence journey.
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Didn't it's where it happens, didn't it?
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Steve, you know we're gonna post this and everybody's gonna go look for you on YouTube.
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They can go look at it, but it's drop the channel.
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Drop the channel.
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He woke up the next day and be like, obviously, I didn't hit play.
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Where what did I do wrong?
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This has only has two views.
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Something has happened.
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No, but it's like that drive of like, you know, there's a little bit of like, okay, if I can just get a little bit of people to watch this and I can get this started, then I want to be that influencer.
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Yeah.
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So how I wouldn't, I would say, okay, I would multiple people on any given Wednesday that we're about to walk into, you know, on a Wednesday night, any given group of people are gonna say, Hey, I want to be an influencer on social media.
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That's that's just what I'm that's my drive.
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I talked to somebody this week.
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They said, you know, I mean, they're in their 20s and they're like, hey, my goal is to be an influencer.
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That's what I want to do.
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And so I a lot of people want to do that.
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And I would just say, how do you measure not just the influencers on a social media platform or on YouTube, or how do you know when the Lord has been the biggest influencer in your life, not just somebody you're watching online?
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Like Philip Anthony Mitchell is an awesome, great preacher of the gospel, but he will tell you, like, let the Lord be your influencer, not me.
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You know what I'm saying?
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So how how do you know when the Lord, well, how do you know when Jesus is your influencer?
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That's who's influencing your life, and not, you know, somebody that you like hearing, you know, some of their, their, their, their one-take wonders or something they connected with in scripture that you're you're listening to the Lord first above all things.
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How how do you know and how do you know where the line is there?
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I would just say, like, oftentimes if I'm ever gonna watch Philip Anthony Mitchell or Bryce Crawford or something, I'm gonna have my Bible in front of me following along.
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Yeah.
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And I mean, I don't really know what other people do when they watch them, or but like I would say, like, if you're not actively trying to learn while you're doing it and like digging into the word and praying, like if you're just watching it to get a feel-good thing about yourself, like, oh, I like that analogy, or like I'm gonna use that analogy, or I'm just gonna take what they say.
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Sure, I think that's where the line is drawn.
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I would say number one thing, Grayson hit it, but like doing it for like not only because at the end of the night, like you have to spend time with the Lord.
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And I would say when you watch these influencers, that's the only thing that's you're feeding off of, it's just gonna go away.
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Because at the end of the day, that video is gonna end, but at the end of the day, your relationship with the Lord won't end.
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So I'd say where you draw the line is if you only catch yourself like watching those videos and that and not really spending time, not going back and checking what they're saying.
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Also, like Grayson said, be an active listener and just like learn things and then just being able to apply it.
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Well, how do you okay, then how do you get to the point?
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Okay, take out social media, just take Tuesday, just take a random Tuesday and take that day.
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How many things compete for your attention on a Tuesday?
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You know, just a random, just think about yesterday.
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How many things competed for your attention?
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And you can take, well, what was on my phone, you could take what was in a classroom while I'm driving down the road, what's on a billboard, TV, how many things competed for your attention?
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And it's always so quick, but nothing really ever holds your attention.
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You know, everything competes for it, but it's hard to hold it.
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And so how do you know?
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Just not, I don't know, you can bring up social media if you want to, but how do you just know in my own life, like the Lord holds my attention?
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How do you know?
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How do you know when you're there?
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Of like, you know, I know things compete for me.
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Like I know everybody is trying to get, you know, see, everybody's trying to get your attention, you know, like Auburn and Ole Miss and Jackson Dart are all trying to get your attention.
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You know what I'm saying?
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Like that's happening, but how do I know those things might, you know, compete for my attention, but what holds my attention is what the Lord says.
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Like, how how do I know I'm there?
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Like, how do I know it's being held?
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You want me to go?
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Yeah, sure.
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I was about to say, like, when you can sit still and listen, still.
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Yeah, yeah.
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For how long?
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What is still?
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I mean, what is still now?
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It's still 30 seconds, it's still all night, it's still an hour?
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Like, what is still?
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When you have the ability to put your phone away, put everything away, go to your room, sit there, and be consumed by just the word and the Lord.
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Like no other thought.
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Like I know it sounds like kind of crazy to say, but like when you're really consumed by the Lord, that's all you think about.
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Like every action you take, every move you make, like every move I make.
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I knew that was gonna be.
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So some of that wouldn't be, it's not a time limit.
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It's more of, are you okay doing that?
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Number one.
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First of all, can I put my phone down?
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Can I close a door?
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Can I be still and be quiet and not ask?
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Can I just be quiet and listen to the Lord?
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Can I read his word?
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Can I meet with him and not think I'm missing out on something?
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Yeah.
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Can can I do that?
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And so I think maybe it's not a time.
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It's a one, can you even do that?
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And you you might start out and that might be five minutes.
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It might be 30.
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I don't know.
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But I think that's a good thing of how do you be still and how long does still take?
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You know, how long does it take you to get?
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I mean, Steven, how long does it take you to get to that moment of like I'm being still?
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Do you have to plan it out?
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Does it happen naturally now?
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How do you how do you get there?
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At first, it was planning out, and now it's like naturally, like at the end of each night before I go to bed.
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And it all came out with So you're a you're a person that does this before you go to bed, not a person to do it for you.
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So you're somebody that does this, you know, before you go to sleep for eight hours.
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I'm just kidding.
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No, okay.
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I'm just kidding.
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Not before you get up to you.
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So you're taking the easy way out.
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No, no.
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So you're like, hey Lord, I'm gonna get everything right and go to sleep, not do anything for the next six hours, and then tomorrow I'm gonna act like a fool.
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No, I'm just kidding.
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Yeah, I can be still for eight hours.
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No, I would say like number, like my thing is like I be still right before I go to bed because I let the peace of God's presence, you know, calm me down.
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Because sometimes when I'm praying, sometimes when you know, worshiping, I still have things flying through my head.
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And I'm like, I try to make my focus only on God at all times when I'm in my quiet time.
00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:15.840
But I would say, like, another big thing, like in the summer now, because well, school started, but in the summer, I would make my quiet time from like two to like five because that's when I would have like nothing to do.
00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:24.320
And so it was like I had all afternoon to shut myself in the room because Mart had football and Gaines was always downstairs.
00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:29.200
I would just shut myself in the room and just turn music up really loud and just sit there.
00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:32.000
So what about you?
00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:33.200
What you what'd you think?
00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:37.679
I would say like I'm a I'm a person that reads at night too.
00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:39.120
I've always been like that.
00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:48.399
And I would just say a lot of times I I everything I've done all day long, go and go and go and go and go and go and just on the next thing, next thing, next thing.
00:14:48.480 --> 00:15:03.600
Then when when I finally get down in my room, I'm ready to go to bed, and then I s I sit at my desk and I usually turn all my lights off and I have like a monitor in my room, and I usually just turn it on to like my home screen on my Xbox or something.
00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:04.000
Yeah.
00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:11.440
And then I just use that light, and I usually get my phone or I'll put my headset on and listen to worship music on my Spotify.
00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:16.720
And then I'll just sit there and either I'll do my devotion or just pray.
00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:20.799
And then I'll sit there for probably 30 minutes.
00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:26.480
What do you what do you think is the I mean you guys are okay, you're high school guys.
00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:44.000
I the things that compete for the Lord's influence in your life, you know, the the biggest, you know, competition that you say, man, Lord, I want you to be number one and I'm all for you, but you know, all of a sudden a girl steps into somebody's life and they're like, I don't even know who Jesus is anymore.
00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:48.320
You know, this girl winked at me and now I'm running to you, you know, instead of the the Lord.
00:15:48.399 --> 00:16:02.320
And so what are the things that influence you, or maybe just you think maybe this generation of a high school guy that are red flags of like, hey, this is a red flag that, hey, the Lord was number one in your life, and now he's not.
00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:07.279
You know, like you have given your time, energy, man, and whatever to something else.
00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:11.200
And at one point you were so close to him and now you're getting further and further away.
00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:12.399
What's a red flag?
00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:16.159
Because most people don't see those until all of a sudden somebody brings them up, you know.
00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:21.840
And I guess I started, you know, sometimes I would say it's the relationship that you have with a some girl.
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:22.159
Okay.
00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:33.600
Would probably I've seen so many guys be on fire for the Lord, and then they date somebody or they start talking to them, and next thing you know, it's like their spiritual life got thrown out the window, you know, and you guys know people just like that.
00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:36.639
So what what else do you think is a red flag?
00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:38.799
And I'm not saying girlfriends are red flags, okay?
00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:43.039
I'm just saying that might be a if you have a girlfriend, I would say, hey, well, tell me this.
00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:44.639
Are you closer to her or the Lord?
00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:45.360
Which one?
00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.480
You know, you care more about what she thinks or what the Lord thinks.
00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:52.559
Do you know want to know more about who she is or more about who the Lord is?
00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:56.799
You know, I think those are some good questions to ask, but what what else do you think competes for that?
00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:07.440
I would say I hate like to say this very feels like church, but like our our busyness and like sports.
00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:09.680
Okay, so sports, okay?
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.160
So how would you how would you would be a red flag of like this is a red flag for me?
00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:17.599
I mean, I would say like because you you're not gonna see it.
00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:19.119
Somebody else is gonna look at it.
00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:23.759
So if you're looking at me and your age and all this kind of how what would be your red flags for me?
00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:25.440
Like, what are you doing?
00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:30.240
Like, how are you acting around your teammates, your coaches?
00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:38.480
And the reason why, because I have one of my friends that does this, and we were talking about like he's like, Everybody else does it around me.
00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:40.960
I'm like, Well, I don't really like it.
00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:45.440
You're talking about like cussing or something, yeah, like cussing or saying it's like everybody else does it around me.
00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:47.119
I was like, that that's the problem.
00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:48.319
Everybody else is doing it.
00:17:48.480 --> 00:18:05.440
You're set you're supposed to be set apart, and like you might not see it, but think about that teammate that could have been led to Christ that day, but you were too busy cussing around, making crude jokes with other teammates, and they don't know like that you go to church or anything.
00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:08.880
It's like you you're you're throwing your you're you're throwing your testimony out the window.
00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:09.039
Yeah.
00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:14.880
I mean, think about how many, how many teammates, how many girls have you completely thrown your testimony out the window?
00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:20.319
You know, when you you start talking, like how many times if I looked at a girl and I was like, hey, let me tell you about the Lord, she's like, What?
00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:21.519
You know, like what?
00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:31.680
You know how many times if I look at a a guy that I'm on a team with that I'll man, I've thrown my testimony out the window and I say, Hey man, I want to tell you about the Lord, and they're like, Bro, you don't you're just like me.
00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:32.640
What are you talking about?
00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:34.880
You know, like what gives you the right to talk about that?
00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:35.839
You know, so what do you think?
00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:39.359
I would actually give like a real example of something that I did.
00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:44.880
And like I think it was last year, English class, sitting at a table, none of my friends really in the class.
00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:54.079
And like I I I found out that a kid in my table, like no relationship with Christ, doesn't even believe in God, none of that stuff.
00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:58.240
And I'm like, dang man, did I like did I throw my testimony out the window ever?
00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:02.720
Like making crude joke jokes or saying something and you didn't even say it.
00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:04.240
Maybe you're just standing there laughing at it and doing it.
00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:07.680
Yeah, maybe, yeah, like maybe like and it's like guilty by association.
00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:13.039
Yeah, like like this guy absolutely thinks I'm a hypocrite now if I ever tried to say anything to him.
00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:14.880
That's good.
00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:16.319
I was thinking of a couple things.
00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:23.519
I mean, you're talking about how do we be still just that that waiting on the Lord, I feel like is a good skill.
00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:28.000
Where Caleb talked about he'll literally just go and sit and just wait.
00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:29.680
You just wait on the Lord.
00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:42.400
Um, and then I was also thinking about when Steven was talking about just you know, being on a team of that living above reproach too, I feel like is something that maybe you could look at a Bryce Crawford or somebody like that.
00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:48.000
There's a there's just something about them that does not live worldly.
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:52.319
And I think that that is why they have such a big influence too.
00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:59.039
You know, you you run this maybe this parallel thought of I I believe in God.
00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:03.200
Okay, like I'm I'm gonna believe in God, but I really just kind of trust in myself.
00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:11.440
You know, I'm I believe in God, I believe what he's done, I believe him in the word, but when it comes to how I'm gonna take my next step, I'm gonna trust myself.
00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:17.920
I'm gonna that I'm gonna trust my own status, I'm gonna trust my own abilities, my talents, you know, my money, whatever it is.
00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:20.720
Like I trust myself, but I do believe in the Lord.
00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:23.599
And there's this line that says, like, that's wrong.
00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:27.200
Like what guides you and what drives you should be the same thing.
00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:28.559
It should be the same thing.
00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:34.480
You can't say, hey, man, what drives me is the Lord, but what's really gonna guide me is how much money I have.
00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:41.599
Well, that can't be that that you're it's gonna be harder for you to go through the eye of a needle, a camel go through the eye of a needle, than for you to get into heaven then.
00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:43.279
Like that is how that works.
00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:50.960
It says you you can't say, well, driven by the love of God, but like I'm I'm really kind of guarded by status.
00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:54.799
Well, that those two are not gonna intersect well.
00:20:54.960 --> 00:21:01.119
You know, so you either have to be driven by the love of God and guarded by like his laws of what God said.
00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:02.720
Like that, that's the only way it can work.
00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:06.720
You can't say, well, what guides me and what drives me is two different things.
00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:08.000
That's never gonna work.
00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:14.079
If you want to be an influencer, you can sometimes you got to look at maybe the influencer world and say, is that the two things that they stand for?
00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:18.480
What you know, like the people that you've mentioned, are they guided by the Lord?
00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:19.680
Are they called by the Lord?
00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:25.839
And I mean, because those kind of people, you gotta understand, they pursued calling, not potential.
00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:26.720
Yeah.
00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:31.680
You know, I mean, if you pursue your potential, sometimes that doesn't get you to your calling.
00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:39.599
You know, I mean, you you and I think that's where people mess up a lot of times is they say, well, what I'm gonna go is I'm gonna pursue where I'm very where my potential is.
00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:43.839
You know, and you know, I don't know that you might get some success from that.
00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:48.559
You might get a couple of clicks from that, or you might get some money for that, or some status for that.
00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:51.920
But pursuing a calling is different than just pursuing the potential.
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:59.599
Like just because I might have personal people skills and I might have the potential to go do something other than ministry, my my calling is ministry.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:09.920
But my potential might be, well, you could probably go make more money, do different things if you wanted to, because of maybe your, your, your style or your personality, you could probably go make more money if you wanted this field.
00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:11.599
Well, I don't pursue my potential.
00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:14.000
I pursue the calling that God has in my life.
00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:24.640
And I think that probably is a big line where people get confused at is like, well, I, you know, here's my calling in life, but man, I really feel like my potential, I really want it to be here.
00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:31.519
Well, I wouldn't pursue that because, you know, that that that's never gonna have a parking spot.
00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:33.599
You know, it's gonna constantly be moving.
00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:37.359
And so you're gonna try to arrive at something that never has a finish line.
00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.799
And I think that's a tough battle that we we usually face.
00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:41.839
Yeah.
00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:49.680
What I was actually about to say, the funny thing, is this whole potential or calling over potential is part of my testimony.
00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.240
Like, I had a really bad concussion playing football.
00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:54.880
Football was like my potential.
00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:58.160
Like growing up, I always played football, I love football, I still do.
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:07.599
And I could tell you, like, I had so much fun being with everybody there, just you know, having that atmosphere, getting ready to hit somebody.
00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:17.039
But it's like I find myself in cycles of when I played football, of living for the Lord highly, like at church or something.
00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:20.319
But bro, as soon as I got on that field, it was raps gang.
00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:22.000
Like, oh, it was so over, bro.
00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:25.680
Like, if I made a good play, bro, I'm cussing you out, I'm doing whatever I wanted, bro.
00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:29.359
I'm saying the most craziest things, doing the most craziest things in the locker room.
00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:31.599
Like, I really what would you say?
00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:38.799
Nah, bro, nah, nah, nah, but like, and then it was like, all right, I get my concussion, right?
00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:44.319
And then I joined back again, and I'm like, you know, something like I felt God calling me to something else.
00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:46.400
And then I'm like, you know what?
00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:48.400
I'm still gonna follow football.
00:23:48.480 --> 00:24:09.519
So then I end up playing my ninth grade year, and then that is when it low-key kind of hit me of like, dang, bro, like if I don't change something now, I'm just gonna keep on living this life of getting high, getting my getting high off of like beach week and stuff and like big church camps, but then dude, coming back to summer workouts, it's crazy, you know.
00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:17.279
And I like that's when I had to drew the line of like all football doing is letting me feed my flesh, and it's like I can get out of it.
00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:19.359
And so I just up and quit.
00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:23.039
And a lot of people ask me, like, well, why'd you quit and why'd you do all this stuff?
00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:24.880
And I'll be like, I just didn't like it.
00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:27.440
Like, it's just not like for me.
00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:29.279
You know?
00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:30.000
Yeah.
00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:35.200
I would say like your potential is like determined by like your own mind.
00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:41.839
So like your potential is determined by like your life experience and what you think about yourself.
00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:42.240
Yeah.
00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:48.319
So it's like like just using that as an example, like God humbled Steven in that moment, like, hey man, I don't want you to be doing this.
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:48.640
Yeah, yeah.
00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:50.079
Like it's leading you into sin.
00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:51.279
Yeah, I'm trying to save you.
00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:53.920
And it's like, as humans, we can get so caught up.
00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.240
I don't even remember what sermon this was, but I kind of remember it.
00:24:56.319 --> 00:25:02.400
It's like talking about like your future plans for yourself, like you don't know if you're gonna live 10 minutes from now.
00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:02.720
Yeah.
00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:04.880
And it's like God can humble you just like that.
00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:09.519
And and you'll be right back, you'll be right back down where you were, and you're like, I don't know what to do.
00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:09.920
Yeah.
00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:12.640
And it, I mean, it could be, I'm not saying it's easy.
00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:21.039
Like it's very hard to abandon what you love and like what you're used to to go do a completely different thing.
00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:42.640
I think what, and we could probably end with this, is I I think that you you're talking about Genesis 11, 4, and it says, Come let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its tops in the heavens, lest we be dispersed over the face of the entire earth, and that is where people put their identity, their security, and their connection into something that's not the Lord.
00:25:42.880 --> 00:26:03.359
And if you if you put whatever you find really secure and an identity and something, you know, that connects you to people, if you if you put yourself and you give yourself an identity and or security, it's something that can be taken away by a storm or a moment of tragedy or in 10 minutes from now, what you have is not very secure.
00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:09.440
And what you have is not a true identity, and what you have is not true connection, and the only thing that can give you that is the Lord.
00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:15.279
And so people will say, Well, I'm gonna make my identity in and then fill in the blank with whatever the world can give you.
00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:17.359
Or, hey, I'll tell you what makes me more secure.
00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:19.359
What makes me secure is when I have money.
00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:21.680
If I don't have money, I get really insecure.
00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:28.880
Okay, and so what money can be taken from you in a storm, in a moment of tragedy, in 10 minutes from now, like those things can be taken from you.
00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:43.279
And so status can be taken from you, you know, like, and so if what you have in those things, when he talks about, come let's build ourselves a city and give ourselves a name with a tower with its tops in the heavens, for our biggest fear is that we're going to be dispersed over the face of the entire earth.
00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:53.519
That is that sermon of like, hey, you you if you put your identity, trust, and your connection into something other than the Lord, that is not secure.
00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:55.519
And that's not a true identity.
00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:14.800
Welcome to OffScript, a conversation with no fakes, no filters, just real conversations about how faith and flesh meet in the everyday life, where we experience a God who made us on purpose for his purpose.
00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:16.239
This is Off Script.
00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:17.519
Let's talk.
00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:22.079
Hey guys, welcome back to OffScript.
00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:26.800
I'm here with Caleb and two of our students, Grayson Brown and Steven Moody.
00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:27.440
What's up, guys?
00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:28.239
What's up?
00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:30.879
Oh, at the same time, talented.
00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:31.920
Practice this.
00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:41.119
And if you guys hear any noise in the background, music or just people talking, we're actually recording this while everybody's getting ready to go into our midweek service.
00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.479
So there may be a little bit of background noise, but that's okay.
00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:47.840
Okay, we're gonna start off with a question for you guys.
00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:53.359
Will pickleball take over our world and be as big of a deal as football?
00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:55.200
I'll go for it.
00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:55.920
No chance.
00:00:56.079 --> 00:00:56.479
No chance.
00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:56.799
Why?
00:00:57.119 --> 00:00:58.320
But it's it's gotten big.
00:00:58.479 --> 00:00:59.200
It has gotten big.
00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:02.560
And just for you that don't know, Grayson is like a state champion, you know?
00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:03.439
I mean, he's good.
00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:04.799
I am a state champion.
00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:08.640
One time I did ask Grayson, hey, he was we was he was at my house.
00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:09.920
We were gonna play pickleball.
00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.439
And I said, and I did not know Grayson even knew how to play pickleball.
00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:15.680
And I said, Hey, you want to play me?
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:16.640
He said, sure.
00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:19.200
And I thought, poor kid, he's about to get waxed.
00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:21.120
And I said, Hey, do you know how to play?
00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:21.840
He goes, Yeah.
00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:24.159
And he said, I tell you what, I'll spot you uh 10.
00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:25.680
And I was like, Well, don't you play to 11?
00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:27.519
He's like, Yeah, I'll spot you 10.
00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:29.359
And I was like, Okay.
00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:32.159
And then he beat me.
00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:34.239
He beat me 11 to 10.
00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:34.640
Okay.
00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:35.359
Holy cow.
00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:37.439
He beat me 11 to 10.
00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:39.439
I didn't score a single point.
00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:42.400
Yeah, so I that was the first time I played Grayson.
00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:45.840
No, Steven, I've never played you before, but I would assume I would smoke you.
00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:48.400
Oh, but you probably you've played me before.
00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:49.760
Yes, that's true.
00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:52.159
I've played three games of pickleball in my entire life.
00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:53.120
You know how many I've won?
00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:53.840
How many?
00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:54.719
Zero.
00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:55.920
That's uh that's rough.
00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:57.920
Like that's because you hadn't played Morgan.
00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:00.239
No, Morgan beat me.
00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:01.200
This is pretty sad.
00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:02.560
Yeah, it's pretty sad.
00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:04.719
I think my depth perception is off.
00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:07.439
And so it's like, I just missed the ball.
00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:08.560
That's like a dog.
00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:10.400
A dog's depth perception is always off.
00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:10.960
Okay.
00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:14.080
You don't think it's ever gonna be that big of a deal?
00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:14.639
Oh, never.
00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:15.840
I mean, Steve?
00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:16.319
No.
00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:20.400
I can already see it on the decline a little bit just within Gardendale.
00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:22.080
Bill Noble's kind of dead recently.
00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:23.919
Well, all things start here at Gardendale.
00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:24.479
So that is true.
00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:29.439
Bill Noble's if it's going downhill here, it's that's quickly gonna take over the rest of the state.
00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:32.479
Steve, who is your who's your college team right now?
00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:33.919
You usually jump around.
00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:35.680
I never jump around, by the way.
00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:36.560
Yes, you do.
00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:37.120
No?
00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:38.639
We're in an old miss shirt.
00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:39.759
Auburn.
00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:41.840
You said that we're in an old miss shirt.
00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:42.960
A year ago.
00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:44.400
Because you like Jackson Dart.
00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:45.840
Yeah, I do like Jackson Dart.
00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:46.879
He's really good.
00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:47.919
Oh my gosh.
00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:49.680
But yeah, Auburn, all the way.
00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:54.560
I have loyalty.
00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:56.960
Auburn on top.
00:02:57.439 --> 00:02:57.840
All right.
00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:03.599
So uh we, the two guys here, they actually picked the topic that we're gonna talk about.
00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:05.439
So we're gonna kind of just jump right into that.
00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:08.319
But I think that you guys live, I think we can all agree.
00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:20.000
We live in a generation of being influenced very heavily, whether that's social media, TV, music, I mean, influencers, Caleb did not have social media growing up.
00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:21.360
Or still doesn't.
00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:22.159
It true.
00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:30.719
Instagram came out when I was in seventh grade, and influencers didn't become a thing until I guess just really recently.
00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:34.319
So you guys are growing up in a much different time than we did.
00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:41.520
But what do you guys think makes a good influencer and who is worth like what do you think makes them worth following?
00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:43.280
I would say good or bad.
00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:47.360
You know, what makes an influencer good where people are like, oh, I'm gonna follow this person.
00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:50.719
You know, it could be good or bad, but what what makes them worth following?
00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:54.000
Like in the context of like anybody why they would follow you.
00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:54.960
Anybody, not just you.
00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:59.520
I'm talking about, man, this person's got a million followers and but yeah, they they put out complete trash.
00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:00.719
Well, why do people follow them?
00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:09.599
You know, I would probably say just because like I mean, obviously, like they like what they're about.
00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:12.960
They think that what they're about is they talk about what they know.
00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:19.839
Yeah, and they some people like them because their values align with theirs and they can see things in common with them.
00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:22.720
And then some people a shock value too, probably.
00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:30.079
I'm sure the more shocking you can be, the more controversial you can be, the more times you say something out loud, somebody's gonna be like, Oh man, did you hear this?
00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:32.240
And then they definitely you get your shares from that.
00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:35.600
Definitely the more traction you gain, the more crazy you are online.
00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:41.680
But yeah, I'd probably just say like what people have the most common in.
00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:43.920
Dave, you don't have Instagram, do you?
00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:45.920
I don't have any social media except YouTube.
00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:50.879
Okay, so for you who doesn't really see a lot of that on social media, what do you think?
00:04:51.199 --> 00:05:02.480
I mean, I think it's just the fire you have in you, and then like everybody because like the biggest influencer in my life that I usually watch is Philip Anthony Mitchell and Bryce Crawford.
00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:16.639
And what I like about them too, and just all in general, is their fire not only to do it on just one certain app, because a lot of influencers will have like just one app they do and not others.
00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:29.279
And it's that fire that's like going down within them to like I'm gonna do whatever it takes to reach a number amount of people to get me to get them to follow me.
00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:30.480
Yeah, I agree.
00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:44.480
I think like the people that he's talking about, like Phil Matthew Mitchell and Bryce Crawford, you can see the genuine like they don't care about the clicks or the follows, they genuinely care about more followers so that they can reach more people, like it's not for self-gain for them.
00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:52.319
Well, I think someone like Bryce Crawford, he's out on the streets like evangelizing to people, which is kind of rare, I feel like, to see.
00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:58.480
And then he's not only doing that, he's it's being like posted for people to criticize.
00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:04.800
Do you guys feel like that is unique or draws people in, or what do you think?
00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:05.920
Yeah, definitely.
00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:25.439
Like, I mean, let's be honest, if you could just sit beside sit behind a screen all day and preach the gospel like he does most of the time, or if you could choose to get out there on the street corners and talk to homeless people or people that disagree with you, I mean, I would choose probably just to stay in my little podcast room.
00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:27.759
But he uh Are you making fun of our podcast?
00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:29.360
No, no, no, no, no, no.
00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:31.360
Because it's not little, it's huge.
00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:32.079
It's massive.
00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:33.519
It's a big podcast room.
00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:34.240
Really expensive.
00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:35.120
Oh it really nice.
00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:42.160
Well then do you do you guys have the do you guys want to be influencers?
00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:49.199
Is it you know, is that a is that a draw to you of like, hey, I want to be an influencer on social media, I want to be an influencer.
00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:50.560
Is that a draw to you?
00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:54.399
And I'm I'm I'm really talking about social media, maybe YouTube.
00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:58.399
Do you do you have a a draw to be an influencer on there?
00:06:58.639 --> 00:06:59.600
Sometimes.
00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:03.360
Because I would say, all right, y'all don't make fun of me.
00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:08.639
I so for the longest time I've always wanted social media, couldn't get it, right?
00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:11.680
Because my parents, and I'm glad they cut me away from it.
00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:19.360
But when I had YouTube, I made an account and I made a video thinking like, oh, this is gonna be blown up.
00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:21.839
So this is like where I start my influence journey.
00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:23.759
Didn't it's where it happens, didn't it?
00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:27.439
Steve, you know we're gonna post this and everybody's gonna go look for you on YouTube.
00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:29.680
They can go look at it, but it's drop the channel.
00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:30.160
Drop the channel.
00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:32.560
He woke up the next day and be like, obviously, I didn't hit play.
00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:33.680
Where what did I do wrong?
00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:34.879
This has only has two views.
00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:36.319
Something has happened.
00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:48.800
No, but it's like that drive of like, you know, there's a little bit of like, okay, if I can just get a little bit of people to watch this and I can get this started, then I want to be that influencer.
00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:49.759
Yeah.
00:07:50.319 --> 00:08:03.120
So how I wouldn't, I would say, okay, I would multiple people on any given Wednesday that we're about to walk into, you know, on a Wednesday night, any given group of people are gonna say, Hey, I want to be an influencer on social media.
00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:04.639
That's that's just what I'm that's my drive.
00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:05.920
I talked to somebody this week.
00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:10.560
They said, you know, I mean, they're in their 20s and they're like, hey, my goal is to be an influencer.
00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:11.519
That's what I want to do.
00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:13.439
And so I a lot of people want to do that.
00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:27.759
And I would just say, how do you measure not just the influencers on a social media platform or on YouTube, or how do you know when the Lord has been the biggest influencer in your life, not just somebody you're watching online?
00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:35.440
Like Philip Anthony Mitchell is an awesome, great preacher of the gospel, but he will tell you, like, let the Lord be your influencer, not me.
00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:36.159
You know what I'm saying?
00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:40.960
So how how do you know when the Lord, well, how do you know when Jesus is your influencer?
00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:55.360
That's who's influencing your life, and not, you know, somebody that you like hearing, you know, some of their, their, their, their one-take wonders or something they connected with in scripture that you're you're listening to the Lord first above all things.
00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:58.399
How how do you know and how do you know where the line is there?
00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:07.440
I would just say, like, oftentimes if I'm ever gonna watch Philip Anthony Mitchell or Bryce Crawford or something, I'm gonna have my Bible in front of me following along.
00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:07.840
Yeah.
00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:28.639
And I mean, I don't really know what other people do when they watch them, or but like I would say, like, if you're not actively trying to learn while you're doing it and like digging into the word and praying, like if you're just watching it to get a feel-good thing about yourself, like, oh, I like that analogy, or like I'm gonna use that analogy, or I'm just gonna take what they say.
00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:31.679
Sure, I think that's where the line is drawn.
00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:43.279
I would say number one thing, Grayson hit it, but like doing it for like not only because at the end of the night, like you have to spend time with the Lord.
00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:51.039
And I would say when you watch these influencers, that's the only thing that's you're feeding off of, it's just gonna go away.
00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:56.480
Because at the end of the day, that video is gonna end, but at the end of the day, your relationship with the Lord won't end.
00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:06.639
So I'd say where you draw the line is if you only catch yourself like watching those videos and that and not really spending time, not going back and checking what they're saying.
00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:13.600
Also, like Grayson said, be an active listener and just like learn things and then just being able to apply it.
00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:15.840
Well, how do you okay, then how do you get to the point?
00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:22.080
Okay, take out social media, just take Tuesday, just take a random Tuesday and take that day.
00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:25.519
How many things compete for your attention on a Tuesday?
00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:27.840
You know, just a random, just think about yesterday.
00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:29.279
How many things competed for your attention?
00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:37.600
And you can take, well, what was on my phone, you could take what was in a classroom while I'm driving down the road, what's on a billboard, TV, how many things competed for your attention?
00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:41.440
And it's always so quick, but nothing really ever holds your attention.
00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:43.759
You know, everything competes for it, but it's hard to hold it.
00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:44.960
And so how do you know?
00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:52.720
Just not, I don't know, you can bring up social media if you want to, but how do you just know in my own life, like the Lord holds my attention?
00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:53.759
How do you know?
00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:54.960
How do you know when you're there?
00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:57.679
Of like, you know, I know things compete for me.
00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:07.360
Like I know everybody is trying to get, you know, see, everybody's trying to get your attention, you know, like Auburn and Ole Miss and Jackson Dart are all trying to get your attention.
00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:08.159
You know what I'm saying?
00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:15.759
Like that's happening, but how do I know those things might, you know, compete for my attention, but what holds my attention is what the Lord says.
00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:17.200
Like, how how do I know I'm there?
00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:19.679
Like, how do I know it's being held?
00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:22.480
You want me to go?
00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:23.200
Yeah, sure.
00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:28.960
I was about to say, like, when you can sit still and listen, still.
00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:30.960
Yeah, yeah.
00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:32.240
For how long?
00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:34.320
What is still?
00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:35.440
I mean, what is still now?
00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:40.159
It's still 30 seconds, it's still all night, it's still an hour?
00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:41.360
Like, what is still?
00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:51.759
When you have the ability to put your phone away, put everything away, go to your room, sit there, and be consumed by just the word and the Lord.
00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:53.039
Like no other thought.
00:11:53.120 --> 00:12:00.399
Like I know it sounds like kind of crazy to say, but like when you're really consumed by the Lord, that's all you think about.
00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:05.519
Like every action you take, every move you make, like every move I make.
00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:06.960
I knew that was gonna be.
00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:24.399
So some of that wouldn't be, it's not a time limit.
00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:26.720
It's more of, are you okay doing that?
00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:27.360
Number one.
00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:29.279
First of all, can I put my phone down?
00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:30.960
Can I close a door?
00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:34.320
Can I be still and be quiet and not ask?
00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:37.279
Can I just be quiet and listen to the Lord?
00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:38.320
Can I read his word?
00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:41.519
Can I meet with him and not think I'm missing out on something?
00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:41.840
Yeah.
00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:43.039
Can can I do that?
00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:45.200
And so I think maybe it's not a time.
00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:47.679
It's a one, can you even do that?
00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:51.759
And you you might start out and that might be five minutes.
00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:52.639
It might be 30.
00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:53.360
I don't know.
00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:57.120
But I think that's a good thing of how do you be still and how long does still take?
00:12:57.200 --> 00:12:58.399
You know, how long does it take you to get?
00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:01.919
I mean, Steven, how long does it take you to get to that moment of like I'm being still?
00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:03.039
Do you have to plan it out?
00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:04.720
Does it happen naturally now?
00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:06.080
How do you how do you get there?
00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:13.279
At first, it was planning out, and now it's like naturally, like at the end of each night before I go to bed.
00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:19.600
And it all came out with So you're a you're a person that does this before you go to bed, not a person to do it for you.
00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:22.960
So you're somebody that does this, you know, before you go to sleep for eight hours.
00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:23.759
I'm just kidding.
00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:24.720
No, okay.
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:25.519
I'm just kidding.
00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:26.240
Not before you get up to you.
00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:27.360
So you're taking the easy way out.
00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:28.080
No, no.
00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:33.039
So you're like, hey Lord, I'm gonna get everything right and go to sleep, not do anything for the next six hours, and then tomorrow I'm gonna act like a fool.
00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:33.600
No, I'm just kidding.
00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:35.840
Yeah, I can be still for eight hours.
00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:49.440
No, I would say like number, like my thing is like I be still right before I go to bed because I let the peace of God's presence, you know, calm me down.
00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:55.279
Because sometimes when I'm praying, sometimes when you know, worshiping, I still have things flying through my head.
00:13:55.600 --> 00:14:01.600
And I'm like, I try to make my focus only on God at all times when I'm in my quiet time.
00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:15.840
But I would say, like, another big thing, like in the summer now, because well, school started, but in the summer, I would make my quiet time from like two to like five because that's when I would have like nothing to do.
00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:24.320
And so it was like I had all afternoon to shut myself in the room because Mart had football and Gaines was always downstairs.
00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:29.200
I would just shut myself in the room and just turn music up really loud and just sit there.
00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:32.000
So what about you?
00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:33.200
What you what'd you think?
00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:37.679
I would say like I'm a I'm a person that reads at night too.
00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:39.120
I've always been like that.
00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:48.399
And I would just say a lot of times I I everything I've done all day long, go and go and go and go and go and go and just on the next thing, next thing, next thing.
00:14:48.480 --> 00:15:03.600
Then when when I finally get down in my room, I'm ready to go to bed, and then I s I sit at my desk and I usually turn all my lights off and I have like a monitor in my room, and I usually just turn it on to like my home screen on my Xbox or something.
00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:04.000
Yeah.
00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:11.440
And then I just use that light, and I usually get my phone or I'll put my headset on and listen to worship music on my Spotify.
00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:16.720
And then I'll just sit there and either I'll do my devotion or just pray.
00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:20.799
And then I'll sit there for probably 30 minutes.
00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:26.480
What do you what do you think is the I mean you guys are okay, you're high school guys.
00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:44.000
I the things that compete for the Lord's influence in your life, you know, the the biggest, you know, competition that you say, man, Lord, I want you to be number one and I'm all for you, but you know, all of a sudden a girl steps into somebody's life and they're like, I don't even know who Jesus is anymore.
00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:48.320
You know, this girl winked at me and now I'm running to you, you know, instead of the the Lord.
00:15:48.399 --> 00:16:02.320
And so what are the things that influence you, or maybe just you think maybe this generation of a high school guy that are red flags of like, hey, this is a red flag that, hey, the Lord was number one in your life, and now he's not.
00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:07.279
You know, like you have given your time, energy, man, and whatever to something else.
00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:11.200
And at one point you were so close to him and now you're getting further and further away.
00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:12.399
What's a red flag?
00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:16.159
Because most people don't see those until all of a sudden somebody brings them up, you know.
00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:21.840
And I guess I started, you know, sometimes I would say it's the relationship that you have with a some girl.
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:22.159
Okay.
00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:33.600
Would probably I've seen so many guys be on fire for the Lord, and then they date somebody or they start talking to them, and next thing you know, it's like their spiritual life got thrown out the window, you know, and you guys know people just like that.
00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:36.639
So what what else do you think is a red flag?
00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:38.799
And I'm not saying girlfriends are red flags, okay?
00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:43.039
I'm just saying that might be a if you have a girlfriend, I would say, hey, well, tell me this.
00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:44.639
Are you closer to her or the Lord?
00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:45.360
Which one?
00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.480
You know, you care more about what she thinks or what the Lord thinks.
00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:52.559
Do you know want to know more about who she is or more about who the Lord is?
00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:56.799
You know, I think those are some good questions to ask, but what what else do you think competes for that?
00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:07.440
I would say I hate like to say this very feels like church, but like our our busyness and like sports.
00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:09.680
Okay, so sports, okay?
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.160
So how would you how would you would be a red flag of like this is a red flag for me?
00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:17.599
I mean, I would say like because you you're not gonna see it.
00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:19.119
Somebody else is gonna look at it.
00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:23.759
So if you're looking at me and your age and all this kind of how what would be your red flags for me?
00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:25.440
Like, what are you doing?
00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:30.240
Like, how are you acting around your teammates, your coaches?
00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:38.480
And the reason why, because I have one of my friends that does this, and we were talking about like he's like, Everybody else does it around me.
00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:40.960
I'm like, Well, I don't really like it.
00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:45.440
You're talking about like cussing or something, yeah, like cussing or saying it's like everybody else does it around me.
00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:47.119
I was like, that that's the problem.
00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:48.319
Everybody else is doing it.
00:17:48.480 --> 00:18:05.440
You're set you're supposed to be set apart, and like you might not see it, but think about that teammate that could have been led to Christ that day, but you were too busy cussing around, making crude jokes with other teammates, and they don't know like that you go to church or anything.
00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:08.880
It's like you you're you're throwing your you're you're throwing your testimony out the window.
00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:09.039
Yeah.
00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:14.880
I mean, think about how many, how many teammates, how many girls have you completely thrown your testimony out the window?
00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:20.319
You know, when you you start talking, like how many times if I looked at a girl and I was like, hey, let me tell you about the Lord, she's like, What?
00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:21.519
You know, like what?
00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:31.680
You know how many times if I look at a a guy that I'm on a team with that I'll man, I've thrown my testimony out the window and I say, Hey man, I want to tell you about the Lord, and they're like, Bro, you don't you're just like me.
00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:32.640
What are you talking about?
00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:34.880
You know, like what gives you the right to talk about that?
00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:35.839
You know, so what do you think?
00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:39.359
I would actually give like a real example of something that I did.
00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:44.880
And like I think it was last year, English class, sitting at a table, none of my friends really in the class.
00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:54.079
And like I I I found out that a kid in my table, like no relationship with Christ, doesn't even believe in God, none of that stuff.
00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:58.240
And I'm like, dang man, did I like did I throw my testimony out the window ever?
00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:02.720
Like making crude joke jokes or saying something and you didn't even say it.
00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:04.240
Maybe you're just standing there laughing at it and doing it.
00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:07.680
Yeah, maybe, yeah, like maybe like and it's like guilty by association.
00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:13.039
Yeah, like like this guy absolutely thinks I'm a hypocrite now if I ever tried to say anything to him.
00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:14.880
That's good.
00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:16.319
I was thinking of a couple things.
00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:23.519
I mean, you're talking about how do we be still just that that waiting on the Lord, I feel like is a good skill.
00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:28.000
Where Caleb talked about he'll literally just go and sit and just wait.
00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:29.680
You just wait on the Lord.
00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:42.400
Um, and then I was also thinking about when Steven was talking about just you know, being on a team of that living above reproach too, I feel like is something that maybe you could look at a Bryce Crawford or somebody like that.
00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:48.000
There's a there's just something about them that does not live worldly.
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:52.319
And I think that that is why they have such a big influence too.
00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:59.039
You know, you you run this maybe this parallel thought of I I believe in God.
00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:03.200
Okay, like I'm I'm gonna believe in God, but I really just kind of trust in myself.
00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:11.440
You know, I'm I believe in God, I believe what he's done, I believe him in the word, but when it comes to how I'm gonna take my next step, I'm gonna trust myself.
00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:17.920
I'm gonna that I'm gonna trust my own status, I'm gonna trust my own abilities, my talents, you know, my money, whatever it is.
00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:20.720
Like I trust myself, but I do believe in the Lord.
00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:23.599
And there's this line that says, like, that's wrong.
00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:27.200
Like what guides you and what drives you should be the same thing.
00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:28.559
It should be the same thing.
00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:34.480
You can't say, hey, man, what drives me is the Lord, but what's really gonna guide me is how much money I have.
00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:41.599
Well, that can't be that that you're it's gonna be harder for you to go through the eye of a needle, a camel go through the eye of a needle, than for you to get into heaven then.
00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:43.279
Like that is how that works.
00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:50.960
It says you you can't say, well, driven by the love of God, but like I'm I'm really kind of guarded by status.
00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:54.799
Well, that those two are not gonna intersect well.
00:20:54.960 --> 00:21:01.119
You know, so you either have to be driven by the love of God and guarded by like his laws of what God said.
00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:02.720
Like that, that's the only way it can work.
00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:06.720
You can't say, well, what guides me and what drives me is two different things.
00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:08.000
That's never gonna work.
00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:14.079
If you want to be an influencer, you can sometimes you got to look at maybe the influencer world and say, is that the two things that they stand for?
00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:18.480
What you know, like the people that you've mentioned, are they guided by the Lord?
00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:19.680
Are they called by the Lord?
00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:25.839
And I mean, because those kind of people, you gotta understand, they pursued calling, not potential.
00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:26.720
Yeah.
00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:31.680
You know, I mean, if you pursue your potential, sometimes that doesn't get you to your calling.
00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:39.599
You know, I mean, you you and I think that's where people mess up a lot of times is they say, well, what I'm gonna go is I'm gonna pursue where I'm very where my potential is.
00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:43.839
You know, and you know, I don't know that you might get some success from that.
00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:48.559
You might get a couple of clicks from that, or you might get some money for that, or some status for that.
00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:51.920
But pursuing a calling is different than just pursuing the potential.
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:59.599
Like just because I might have personal people skills and I might have the potential to go do something other than ministry, my my calling is ministry.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:09.920
But my potential might be, well, you could probably go make more money, do different things if you wanted to, because of maybe your, your, your style or your personality, you could probably go make more money if you wanted this field.
00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:11.599
Well, I don't pursue my potential.
00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:14.000
I pursue the calling that God has in my life.
00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:24.640
And I think that probably is a big line where people get confused at is like, well, I, you know, here's my calling in life, but man, I really feel like my potential, I really want it to be here.
00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:31.519
Well, I wouldn't pursue that because, you know, that that that's never gonna have a parking spot.
00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:33.599
You know, it's gonna constantly be moving.
00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:37.359
And so you're gonna try to arrive at something that never has a finish line.
00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.799
And I think that's a tough battle that we we usually face.
00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:41.839
Yeah.
00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:49.680
What I was actually about to say, the funny thing, is this whole potential or calling over potential is part of my testimony.
00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.240
Like, I had a really bad concussion playing football.
00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:54.880
Football was like my potential.
00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:58.160
Like growing up, I always played football, I love football, I still do.
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:07.599
And I could tell you, like, I had so much fun being with everybody there, just you know, having that atmosphere, getting ready to hit somebody.
00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:17.039
But it's like I find myself in cycles of when I played football, of living for the Lord highly, like at church or something.
00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:20.319
But bro, as soon as I got on that field, it was raps gang.
00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:22.000
Like, oh, it was so over, bro.
00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:25.680
Like, if I made a good play, bro, I'm cussing you out, I'm doing whatever I wanted, bro.
00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:29.359
I'm saying the most craziest things, doing the most craziest things in the locker room.
00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:31.599
Like, I really what would you say?
00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:38.799
Nah, bro, nah, nah, nah, but like, and then it was like, all right, I get my concussion, right?
00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:44.319
And then I joined back again, and I'm like, you know, something like I felt God calling me to something else.
00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:46.400
And then I'm like, you know what?
00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:48.400
I'm still gonna follow football.
00:23:48.480 --> 00:24:09.519
So then I end up playing my ninth grade year, and then that is when it low-key kind of hit me of like, dang, bro, like if I don't change something now, I'm just gonna keep on living this life of getting high, getting my getting high off of like beach week and stuff and like big church camps, but then dude, coming back to summer workouts, it's crazy, you know.
00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:17.279
And I like that's when I had to drew the line of like all football doing is letting me feed my flesh, and it's like I can get out of it.
00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:19.359
And so I just up and quit.
00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:23.039
And a lot of people ask me, like, well, why'd you quit and why'd you do all this stuff?
00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:24.880
And I'll be like, I just didn't like it.
00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:27.440
Like, it's just not like for me.
00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:29.279
You know?
00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:30.000
Yeah.
00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:35.200
I would say like your potential is like determined by like your own mind.
00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:41.839
So like your potential is determined by like your life experience and what you think about yourself.
00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:42.240
Yeah.
00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:48.319
So it's like like just using that as an example, like God humbled Steven in that moment, like, hey man, I don't want you to be doing this.
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:48.640
Yeah, yeah.
00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:50.079
Like it's leading you into sin.
00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:51.279
Yeah, I'm trying to save you.
00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:53.920
And it's like, as humans, we can get so caught up.
00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.240
I don't even remember what sermon this was, but I kind of remember it.
00:24:56.319 --> 00:25:02.400
It's like talking about like your future plans for yourself, like you don't know if you're gonna live 10 minutes from now.
00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:02.720
Yeah.
00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:04.880
And it's like God can humble you just like that.
00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:09.519
And and you'll be right back, you'll be right back down where you were, and you're like, I don't know what to do.
00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:09.920
Yeah.
00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:12.640
And it, I mean, it could be, I'm not saying it's easy.
00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:21.039
Like it's very hard to abandon what you love and like what you're used to to go do a completely different thing.
00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:42.640
I think what, and we could probably end with this, is I I think that you you're talking about Genesis 11, 4, and it says, Come let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its tops in the heavens, lest we be dispersed over the face of the entire earth, and that is where people put their identity, their security, and their connection into something that's not the Lord.
00:25:42.880 --> 00:26:03.359
And if you if you put whatever you find really secure and an identity and something, you know, that connects you to people, if you if you put yourself and you give yourself an identity and or security, it's something that can be taken away by a storm or a moment of tragedy or in 10 minutes from now, what you have is not very secure.
00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:09.440
And what you have is not a true identity, and what you have is not true connection, and the only thing that can give you that is the Lord.
00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:15.279
And so people will say, Well, I'm gonna make my identity in and then fill in the blank with whatever the world can give you.
00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:17.359
Or, hey, I'll tell you what makes me more secure.
00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:19.359
What makes me secure is when I have money.
00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:21.680
If I don't have money, I get really insecure.
00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:28.880
Okay, and so what money can be taken from you in a storm, in a moment of tragedy, in 10 minutes from now, like those things can be taken from you.
00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:43.279
And so status can be taken from you, you know, like, and so if what you have in those things, when he talks about, come let's build ourselves a city and give ourselves a name with a tower with its tops in the heavens, for our biggest fear is that we're going to be dispersed over the face of the entire earth.
00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:53.519
That is that sermon of like, hey, you you if you put your identity, trust, and your connection into something other than the Lord, that is not secure.
00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:55.519
And that's not a true identity.
