Episode 0: Pilot | Why I Started RESHAPED. The Story Behind the Podcast

Aaron: welcome to the very first episode of the Reshaped Podcast. You're here with your host, Aaron, because that's what they call it, I think, podcast host. So it's amazing to be here with you guys. Thanks so much for listening. I don't know who's gonna listen to this, but whoever does, shout out to you guys, appreciate it, and I'm excited to see where this goes. so this podcast is well, this episode of this podcast, I'm gonna call it episode zero. So this is kind of the pilot podcast where I'm just gonna use this episode to introduce myself. for those who know me or don't know me and maybe for even those who do know me, but also I want to use it to explain why I'm starting this podcast, 'cause it's like everyone and their sheep is starting a podcast. but I'm gonna start this podcast. I wanna explain why, and how this kind of all came about. and then also I want to explain the goal and the vision for this pod and kind of what to expect just so that I'm on the same page, you're on the same page, and you know what to expect from the pod. So this episode will basically kind of serve as a reference point, if you will, kind of foundational things. So if anyone who is new to the pod or wants to know what I'm about or what this pod's about, they can come back here and they can take a listen. So with all that in mind, let's get into it. Okay, so as mentioned at the start, basically there's three main points of agenda for this episode will basically be to introduce myself, again, who I am, just to provide a little bit of context for those who don't know me, and just share a little bit about yeah, what I'm about and kind of make what makes me who I am. And then also secondly to explain how this podcast came about, the reason for it, and kind of how how it all came together. And then lastly to explain where we're going, what the goals and the vision for this pod is. So let's get into number one. Let me introduce myself real quick. Now I'm going to not go into immense detail and just because for the sake of time, but also I think naturally as the podcast kind of progresses, we'll kind of unpack all those different things in the lifetime of the pod. So I'm not gonna go fully into depth, but just gonna touch on some basic key areas that have shaped me into who I am today, and the person doing the pod right now. my name is Aaron Arcilla and I'm thirty two years old and I live in Melbourne, Australia. so if you don't know where Melbourne, Australia is, it's it's in Victoria, the state of Victoria, which is like the south part of Australia. And I'm a very proud husband to my wife, Esther Arcilla. She's amazing. we would have been we're gonna be married ten years come December and it's been an incredible journey being married. Yeah, so coming up to ten years of the double digits baby, which is sick. And looking forward to preferably many, many more years together. and we'll we'll we'll definitely go into more of our story. we I plan on having her on the podcast. so we'll probably go into more details about about, you know, kinda how we met and all those kinds of things, and she has an amazing story. and so I'm looking forward to talking to her. And then also I'm a proud father of two daughters. I have The eldest, my eldest daughter's name is Elizabeth. Elizabeth, and she is five years old, about to turn six. And so she's in primary school right now. She's absolutely loving life, learning, doing amazing things. We actually just had a parent teacher interview just recently with her teacher and they said she said her teachers said that she's doing great and she's learning a lot and she is, she's learning a lot, she's writing, she's reading, she's very creative, so she's amazing, very, very sweet. she's learning to control some her emotions and trying to regulate and do all those kinds of things as a toddler does. But she's she's she's awesome. and and I love her a lot. And my youngest, her name is Alethea. Or we call her Thea for short. And she is three years old. She turned three just last June, and she is like your typical second child. if you've ever if you're on like toddler. TikTok or togler Instagram or or parent Instagram reels. All the stereotypes of a second child, the doesn't care attitude, throw themselves at anything, all that kind of stuff, that is Thea. And for those who know Thea, you know that's that's that's who she is. She's she's definitely keeps us on our toes. My wife and I and my and Elizabeth too. we just anyway, she's amazing. She's she's full of energy. she definitely keeps us on our toes and we love her a lot. But so that they're they're they're my kids and so grateful to be a dad. It's such an amazing experience and again, I'm sure we'll get into more of that as as the pod goes on. into the future. now a very im I guess really important part makes me who I am and shapes my worldview, shapes my perspective on life is that I am a Christian. So I'm a Christian. I became a Christian when I was fourteen years old. and s now I'm thirty two obviously, so I've been walking with Jesus for eighteen years. Come November and man, it's it's crazy to think about yeah, I've been a Christian over half my life and praise God for that. It yeah, be it's a journey, it's ups and downs. I yeah, becoming a Christian as a teenager. I'm very, very grateful for my for for my youth ministry, my teens ministry, the people around me, those that study the Bible with me, those that walked with me through that journey to help me to become a Christian. now my parents were Christian, so I was my mum and dad were both Christians and I was I was born into a Christian family, but that does not mean that you're automatically a Christian. You have to make that decision for yourself. And so I was able to do that. Again, grew up in the church, learnt all the Bible stories and all those kinds of things and the basics of Christianity. And then when I was about twelve, thirteen my youth leader asked me if I wanted to study the Bible and I did 'cause that's what everyone else was doing at the time. and I believed it. but it yeah, had to work through some things, some doubt, some kind of classic things, you know, a problem of evil. Does God really exist? Is he trustworthy? Is the Bible reliable? Science and all those kinds of things. But again, so grateful for the the the teen leaders, my pi my family and just the church community that I have, around me or had around me at the time. I'm still part of the same church, but that walked with me through that and yeah, made the decision to become a Christian when I was fourteen and it's been amazing. Definitely the best decision I've ever made. Again, ups and downs, all arounds, wrestling through things and we've got talking about that and but yeah, amazing. So so grateful to just kind of keep walking with Jesus and keep learning every single day. Now, another key experience that I guess is really important to mention is I my wife and I actually also served in the full-time ministry from July 2017 to July 2025. So just last year. So July 2017 to July 2025. So that's about eight years. my wife and I, just to go back a little bit, my wife and I, we started dating. We met it actually in India in Chennai on a church volunteering trip. And that was in December of twenty thirteen. I'm fast tracking this story fast tracking the story. And then we started dating in June of twenty fourteen. but she was living in Seattle, America at the time in the US and I was living in Melbourne, Australia, that's where I'm from, and living. And so we did the long distance thing from June twenty fourteen to July twenty fifteen. So she moved to Melbourne in twenty fifteen. And then we got engaged of May tw in May twenty sixteen, then we got married in December of twenty sixteen. Now, in October of twenty sixteen was when our church leaders had a conversation with us and asked us if we'd be interested to come on staff and work in the youth ministry, the teens ministry full time. and so again, I'm sure we'll get into all the details of how that all kind of played out and and you know, God worked that out, which was amazing. But By the grace of God, we were so grateful to have been asked. And then we we we so we said yes. and we started leading the teens ministry in July of 2017. So we sorry, in January of twenty seventeen. So we got married in December 2016, then we started leading the youth ministry, the teens ministry in January of twenty seventeen, and then we went on staff in July of twenty seventeen. and then we served in the full-time ministry on staff from yeah, July twenty seventeen. to July twenty twenty five. And our main ministry was the youth ministry, the teens ministry. So the high school group, which was year sevens all the way up to year twelve. so that's basically twelve, thirteen year olds to eighteen year olds. That was our kind of primary ministry. But throughout our years we've been, you know, we've worked with all different types of people in different ministries, campus ministry, professionals ministries and in twenty twenty four we started leading the northeast region of of our of our church. So basically all the Christians, members in our church that live in the northeast part of Melbourne, we we kinda oversee and lead and lead that group. It's about a group of about fifty or something like that. And and we're still doing that till today. so we did step off staff, as I mentioned, in July twenty twenty five, which is last year. aga so nothing bad happened. So I think it's good to just kind of disclaimer that 'cause that can kind of be a assumption that can be made, which is totally fair. I'd I'd make the same thing. Nothing bad happened. and again I'm sure I'll get into kind of the what happened there exactly and and but basically my wife and I got to the same conclusion separately. We didn't really explicitly talk about it like a lot, but we came together I think it was in about I think it was like May or June of twenty twenty four. So we had like a one year tr one year transition off plan. basically after we talked to our church leaders. but we we kind of got to that conclusion about just certain things we were feeling, about where we're at in our lives as our fam with our young family and having feeling a pull, I think God pulled pulling us back into the into the secular workplace. kind of felt similar sentiments and it kind of all happened and landed at the same time and yeah, it was incredible. and when we talked with our church leaders in twenty twenty four, May, June twenty twenty four, They were very, very understanding and very supportive and they are incredible and so and we're so grateful to them. We have a great relationship with them. and maybe we'll have them on the pot at some point. But yeah, they're they were great and that's how the transition happened. So we transitioned off from from kind of twenty twenty four into twenty twenty five just because we had, you know, some responsibil a lot of responsibilities. We didn't want to just drop the ball and go, Okay, great. but we actually made the point that we ac we want to stay w like in serving it any way that we can. And and we were leading the w you know, twenty twenty four we started leading the the the North East region. might have been twenty twenty three, I forget exactly. But we said we still want to lead. So w we we can't do teens that youth ministry end the North East region when we have our jobs, but we want to definitely do the North East region if that's something that they would be open to. and they were. And they they d they were very supportive of that and and really wanted us to So grateful that we could do that. And that's what we're still doing to today. so we still work our jobs. and and we lead the full time sorry, and we lead the northeast region still. And we're very, very grateful for that. the jobs that we're doing now, so my wife is actually a primary school teacher. She does grade one, so she she loves it. She's an amazing teacher. She works really, really, really hard. Teachers, man, shout out the teachers. They need to get paid more. They need they got need more appreciation. They're like shaping the future, bro, of like the societies and the countries that they're in and they work so hard. so I already knew teachers worked hard, but like seeing my wife as a full time teacher, man, they work so hard. So shout out all the teachers. You guys are amazing. and so she's doing a great job at that. I work full time as an insurance underwriter. If you don't know what that is, basically where the people who when people say, Can we get insurance, we say, Let me see what you got. We look at it and we go, Hmm, yes, no. And if we say yes, we'll ensure it, we determine how much it is based on certain risk factors. Anyway, that's what I do. I work for a great company. they're amazing. I get to work from home two days a week. and it's it's it's jobs we prayed for. And again, I'm sure we'll get into talking about that in more detail. But God has definitely definitely came through with the jobs, man. they're definitely I want to talk about that 'cause that it's just it's just I you can't make it up. I just can't make stuff up the way that God works. So it's it's incredible. so as I said, my wife and I still heavily involved with with ministry and full time ministry. not full time ministry, but we're involved with ministry. and I guess w like a a sentiment that my wife and I kind of hold, which is something that I'm very grateful for. People taught us and I I I try to live by it is that every single Christian's in the ministry, some people are just on staff. And that's kind of the sentiment that my wife and I try and have is doesn't matter if we're paid, doesn't matter if we're not paid, part time, full time, not paid at all, volunteers. we all wanna use we just both want to use our gifts and and do whatever we can for the kingdom and there are so many people in our church and many, many churches that that do that, that are just incredibly serving people who use everything they can for the kingdom and that's what we're trying to do in our little way. and yeah, I I'm I'm very grateful that we still get to do that. and again, heavily involved, still leading the North East region here. I still preach and teach quite regularly. do discipling, spiritual mentoring, all those kinds of things. And yeah, it's it's it's something that I'm you know, I spent a eight we spent eight years of our life like honing the skills and learning those skills, being in scripture, studying things out, trying to teach it and learning a lot too and that's the skills that we have and and we wanna keep using that. Not just gonna like, all right, we're done. That's it. No, we wanna keep using that in every way that we can. and and and serve God and his kingdom in every way. And I guess that kinda leaves me now. That's a little bit about about me. So I want to go to the next section now, just talking about this podcast and what this is all about, man. why this podcast exists. Because I know there's like a running joke everywhere. It's like everyone just starting a podcast. And I guess it's kind of true because the tools that we have now to start the pod start doing stuff is is Endless. There's so many options. So many things that you can you can do. and I think we're going I wanna we wanna use it. Wanna wanna make the most of it. anyway, so why are we starting pod? Well as as you can tell, I'm I'm a Christian, I love Jesus, I love the scriptures, I love the Bible, and particularly I've I've I really loved and do love like wrestling through things and and my beliefs and and my my convictions and the things that are in front of me. looking at culture, looking at different I guess, Christian topics and and trying to figure out what what I believe about those things, and being open to being reshaped and have my mind changed. Even if I do think a certain thing, I just want to pursue the truth and and and do my best to see what scripture says and talk with people that I trust and know who love Jesus as well and and figure out what does the Bible say about these things and what do I believe. And so I love having my thoughts and convictions challenged. and refined so that can solidify them and make them even stronger. And throughout my time in in full time ministry, particularly just I mean as a Christian for sure, but particularly my time in full time ministry, you know, I was basically forced, not not anyone forcing me, but because it was my duty, forced to to study the scriptures, to teach through things that I didn't even know what they were, what they meant, or what I believed about those certain things or certain passages. and had to dive in and really just go, okay, what what what does the Bible say? What do really smart people say who've studied the scriptures for much longer than I am, people who are way smarter than I am throughout church history and theologians and scholars, all of that kind of stuff. Okay, w w what do I believe about this? And I had to wrestle and see all the different beliefs and so I love doing that stuff as as crazy as that sounds. that's something that I think is really, really important. And I've also really enjo enjoyed as well and and found great yeah, I guess satisfaction in some senses of of helping other people wrestle through things too. even things that I wasn't even thinking about, but hearing them share about their questions and them share about their struggles, and having to walk with them and help them too as much as and and watch them do that and then they also help me, you know, it it it's an amazing thing. and s and I've been very privileged to have people come and ask for advice about things in life, about my thoughts on things. again, I'm just a guy just trying to do my best to follow Christ. but I appreciate the fact that people feel trusted that they trust me enough to share things and yeah and so because of that I've just had so many deep, robust conversations. And those conversations were tough. Studying different scriptures and topics have been tough, but all of those things at the end of it, I feel like have always helped me grow in my faith because what it it caused me to do was to re examine my own convictions and my own beliefs and really think, man, what do I believe about this and why do I believe that? and help me to solidify that. And if I wasn't sure then then I have to wrestle more. I have to wrestle more and yeah, fruitful. It ended up being fruitful in in a lot of ways because my convictions I felt were always yeah, it got stronger. and I think we're always should be reexamining those those beliefs and convictions that we have. and yeah, I guess hence that's why this podcast this is what the podcast is. It's an extension of those things that I've loved to do and and have helped me to grow. and I want to continue and I'm still doing that to today and I want to continue to do that. I wanna continue to be reshaped all the time. Because that is what I think being a Christian is about. And I I guess this podcast is Kind of loosely, not loosely, but I'd say, you know, pretty strongly, I guess, actually, based on on Romans chapter twelve, verse two. and Paul writes at the church in in in Rome, and he says very famous passage, he says, Therefore I our son verse one, therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of the world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will. I love you could talk about a lot with this passage, but I love this because but Paul's trying to encourage the Roman Christian tail, don't don't be shaped and molded by the world, but you've got to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So that idea of of continual transformation. And in the in the Greek, the word transformed there is the word metamorpho, which is, you know, some translations say transfigured, when it's actually the same word that gets used about Jesus in the transfiguration. But it's this idea of being of of being remoulded, reshaped into the likeness of Christ. And that's ultimately what we want to do. And as we do that, Paul says it's cool. He says, then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is. And so there's an implication that if if we're not being transformed, if we're not being renewed, and transformed and and reshaped into the likeness of Jesus, then we're gonna lose the ability in some senses to approve and test God's will. So it's something that we always must be doing as Christians, being renewed, being transformed, being reshaped into the likeness of Christ. and that's ultimately what this podcast is gonna hopefully help me to do more and also help whoever's listening to be able to do as well. I always try and s s finalize a like a mission statement or a purpose whenever I'm trying to do something. And so for the podcast, this is the goal ultimately. The goal of this podcast is this to bring Christian formation through thoughtful examination and conversation. Okay. It's to bring for I say yeah bring Christian formation through thoughtful examination and conversation. So what this means is basically thought thoughtful examination is yeah we want to be shaped and and reshaped. into the likeness of Jesus through thoughtful examination of s of the Bible ultimately, which teaches us about Jesus, about God, the Holy Spirit, thoughtful examination of of culture, the the culture we live in, here in in in Australia, but also what's going on in the world, and thinking through the things that are happening all around us and and and thinking how how can that examining those things to help us to re examine our convictions and our beliefs. and then also the idea of conversation is learning from others because being a Christian is meant to be done in community and around other people. So I think hearing other people's stories, hearing other people's perspectives on things is really, really important because when you can genuinely understand what someone believes and why they believe it, you then can test your own and go, okay, why do I believe it? I can see why they believe what they believe. Where does mine align with that or where do I disagree with that? And that will be the the plan, I guess, is is, you know, hearing and and talking to people who may agree with the things that I believe, and also may not agree with the things that I believe. And either way, I think when you have conversation, genuine conversation, when you're not trying to win or dominate the other person with your own beliefs and perspectives or views, but when you're genuinely just trying to engage in a good conversation. you can understand where they're coming from and then it yeah, again, it forces you to really genuinely examine your beliefs and your convictions as well. And again, that's how I've grown a lot by having conversations with a lot of people that may not agree with on certain things. But that's really helped me fireproof test my my beliefs and my convictions. So that's why. That's that's that's what this podcast is about. That's what I hope to do. to bring Christian formation through thoughtful examination and conversation. Now why podcast? well I've I I'm a big fan of podcasts. I've learnt a lot from podcasts over the years. the Bible Project was one of the first podcasts I really like listened to on a consistent basis and their podcast I would say really changed my life in the sense of my love for the word, understanding the scriptures. It was amazing. and I'm I'm a podcaster in general. I listen to a majority it's Christian podcasts, Mike Winger, you know, Bible thinker, Remnant Radio, who else am I l listen to? Gavin Ortland, but then also fun podcasts too, like the George Janko show, Hamish and Andy, I love NBA, I love basketball. So basketball podcasts, Mind the Game, Old Man in the Three, all those yeah. So podcasts, I love podcasts. Absolutely love them. And one of why I think I love them, I think why a lot of people love them, is because you can listen to whenever, obviously. But also it it it's a format that y allows you to go in depth and to go for however long you want to go to and people expect that. Like you don't you don't just listen to podcasts for five minutes. That that's a that's a I don't know. The maybe you do. But you know, you expect it to go longer and to explore different ideas deeper. and for some people might some people might know I've I I post short form content on Instagram. I started on TikTok, Aaron dot arcilla AU I started on TikTok but then I moved over to Instagram and I've been posting short form content, Christian content on there. And I love that. I love doing short form content. I think it's It's it's a great way to reach the world and to reach other people. but the thing is, short form content is that. It's short. And you can't really there are some topics I wanna talk about and and and, you know, deep dive a little bit, but I can't really do that on short form because it's just not the place to do it. and if you do, you just leave a lot up to like you just leave a lot out. and I just don't think that's I don't really wanna do that on certain things. So it's good for certain things, but they're not good for certain things. But I think podcasting allows that I guess itched to be scratched, I guess, or something, where I can actually go longer, talk about things deeper, have longer conversations with people, and and hopefully that that benefits people. And yeah, again, I've been helped by so many podcasts. So hopefully in some way, perfectly if we can help one person with this podcast. I mean only five people might listen to this. But that's okay. if if it helps anyone then I mean it's helping me 'cause it helps me to just talk about things and examine things anyway. and either way I'm gonna just be having conversations with people, which I can't wait. I'm so excited to just talk with people and learn. So even if no one listens to it, it's gonna be beneficial for me. which I think is is that's that's what I love. That'll be great. but hopefully yeah we can help people with it as well. Now, thirdly, I guess this is kind of part of it, but it part of the second one, so with the h what the whole podcast is about. who is it for? I guess. That's who's a primary target audience, if you will? And ultimately it's f when I think about it, it's for all Christians. Absolutely. All for all Christians. but I guess specifically, if I were to niche it down, I would say that r the reshape pod The Reshape Pod is for Christians who are willing to examine their lives, their lives, their beliefs and convictions so that they can solidify their biblical convictions to ultimately be reshaped into the likeness of Jesus. Okay. I'll I'll just say that again. I did read it. It's like I do have it here. So the Reshape Podcast is for Christians who are willing to examine their lives beliefs and convictions so that they can solidify their biblical convictions to ultimately be reshaped into the likeness of Jesus. So that's that's what it's for. So if you're happy and you're you're re willing to kind of have your thoughts maybe tested and tried and convictions, you know, thinking about them and rethinking them, and willing to hear other people's perspectives, people's life stories and and think about how their lives can impact your life and and all of that. Then this podcast is for you. And again, if it helps you, Amen. If not, that's okay. we're just here trying to do our best. Now, lastly, what to expect? All right. So the goal and the vision of this pod. So we know what it's about now. It's for cre it's for formation, Christian formation through thoughtful examination and conversation, and being transformed into the likeness of Jesus and reshaped into the likeness of Jesus. But what are the episodes gonna look like and what are the podcasts gonna look like? Well basically there's gonna be, I guess again, this could all change. I don't know. But the idea is there could there's gonna be two basic types of formats, I guess. So the first one would just be solo pods, solo podcasts, solo episodes where I will just be yeah, it would just be me, I guess, our solo, and just looking at different things. So perhaps looking at you know, when I preach a sermon or do something and A lot of the time with my sermons I actually have to cut a lot out 'cause 'cause I just don't have enough time to talk about everything in this sermon. Thirty minute window is is is is is actually a lot of time, but there's so many things that I I I leave out and so I might I might use this podcast to kind of review the sermon, talk about things I didn't talk about, 'cause I know and again, this is a lot of people after I I I teach sometimes, have questions. do you have the notes? Can I talk can I what did you what did you mean to say here and things like that. So hopefully this podcast can serve that purpose. things I'm studying too, things that I'm I'm working through. like at the moment I'm still working through the atonement and different atonement theories. shout out to my PSA people, the Christus Victor people, and working through that. So anyway, that's something I'm working through at the moment. I'm still figuring all that out. I feel like I have figured it out, but just you know, just you know anyway. so yeah, things that I'm studying through. but also maybe just other like other things too, like like reactions to maybe different social media clips or things that are happening on on the internets, on the interwebs. I actually like doing that on my on my reels. I have yeah, some reels that went 'cause I have a lot of Christian reels just on my algorithms and and it makes me when I watch them it makes me think and like, okay, that'd be interesting to talk about and what do I think about that? So maybe I'll do some we'll do some reactions and and reflections on on on those kinds of that type of content. also could just be things happening in culture, news stuff, whatever it might be. And just again, trying to how do we approach this and and think through it in a biblical way, and and re examining that. So that'll be the solo episodes, it could be other different type of stuff too. And then which I'm really excited about too is the others episodes. So there's gonna be the solo episodes with me, then the other format will be others. And this will be the conversation element where basically I'll just be having conversations with people and learning about who they are, what shaped them, what areas they're being reshaped in, learning about their stories, how they've arrived at their current beliefs and worldviews and convictions. and yeah, I think that'll be really exciting because when we hear other people's stories, and that's the amazing thing, is that we can hear people's stories and be so impacted by them and and transformed by them. So that's a plan. we'll be talking with people who are like would again that I probably am the same boat with a lot of things, people that are, you know, Christians, so, you know, people in my kind of circle of of of community. and then also n eventually hope talk talking to non Christians, talking to people of other religions, and we'll see. I'll start off with people again, like in my in my life, people that are kind of with arm's length where it's easy to organise conversation. I've you know, I'm so lucky to have so many people in my life. I take that for granted, you know, I've just got so many people from all different generations, cultures, backgrounds, jobs, all these types of things. People have gone through so many things and we can learn so much from them. Like absolutely we can learn so much from them. We can learn so much from the you know, the big famous people and you know, people who have i incredible stories and all those kinds of things, but I mean the regular Christian, the regular person has so much to offer. Not that I could even get those pink people to t interview or like to talk with them anyway. But so many pink things we can learn from people just in in like our next door neighbors and people in our communities and hopefully can highlight that and have conversations with them in a great way. but yeah again, I'm looking forward to talking to people with peop with people outside of my kind of circle I guess people from maybe other Christian traditions, people who are maybe even agnostic or atheists, they just understand what they're getting at and what they believe, other religions. And I think from the Christian perspective, you might be like you you could think, why would you talk to these people that don't believe what you believe? And again, I think it comes back to trying to understand people genuinely, because when you understand people genuinely, then you can meet them where they're at. So for instance, for the Christian, if we're thinking about people that aren't Christians or people of other faiths or other religions, if we know what they believe and why they believe it, then I g we can we can meet them where they're at and and and share the gospel as a certain aspect of the gospel, a certain aspect of Christianity to that person that will meet them where they're at. because there's so many beautiful facets of Christianity in the gospel that are maybe more relevant to someone who is a Hindu. than someone else who's a agnostic or an atheist or something like that. And and so we can meet people where they're at. But if we don't understand where they're coming from, it's gonna be really hard to do that. so that's that's that that's what I think is helpful to be able to do. To have conversations with people who don't believe don't believe the same thing as you because again, it helps you to understand them better. So you can share with them Christ or you can talk to them about things. Just have a genuine conversation. but then also Reexamine your own beliefs. Man, that's why they believe that. Okay. W what does the Bible say about that? What is what does a Christian worldview say about that? Or what are the views on that? and landing, hopefully, in in a place that feel comfortable with. Or maybe not. And that's the good part about it. We gotta always live in tension. Some d we sometimes we have to be cool with living intention. And that's a conversation for another day. So that's the idea with the episodes. and I'm looking ex I'm I'm really I'm looking forward to it. Again, this is a cool little project. and we'll and we're gonna see how we go. Now, finally I just wanna make some disclaimers here. I like doing disclaimers just so that people don't have false expectations of of of me and and like I guess what I'm trying to do. So firstly I guess the first thing I want to explain is I'm not a theologian or like a scholar or anything like that. I I I'm there are Much better podcasts. If you want theol deep theology and like church history and scholarship, there are so many better podcasts to listen to than this. Like I'm not gonna I might talk to someone who's really good at it. but then again, there's so many people that you read books, you can there are many, many people. Go listen to Gavin Ortland, go listen to Mike Winger, go listen to Wes Huff. Like they're those are the guys. and and they're great women as well. but I'm not that. Now I am someone who listens to those guys and someone who reads the, you know, reads the scholarship and reads the th you know, the books and things like that. but I'm not them. so I'm just a layman who loves God, loves his word, and has just had the privilege of serving in full time ministry. I'm just continually trying to do my best to understand God better, understand his word better, and become more like Jesus. That's all I'm trying to do. And yeah, I can it's just good to have healthy expectations in that sense. and secondly, second disclaimer I guess is if anything I say you don't agree with or you don't you don't yeah, I guess you don't agree with or I don't know, whatever, it's yeah, upsets you or something like that. And I'm in your circle, then just let me know, man. Like it's it's all good. I again I'm wanna have con conversations, I wanna I wanna talk and 'cause I believe all those things help me help me. to come b to become more like Christ and I wanna be compassionate, I wanna be gracious and all those kinds of things. So yeah, I'm sorry in advance. So hopefully what one sorry can cover all of the times I'm gonna say stuff that's gonna I don't know. I don't think I'll I don't know. Who knows? Okay, this is me post edit, realizing that I did miss some pretty important context and disclaimer, I guess if you will. So I wanna give you guys a brief overview of my current church context and situation because that is the lens that I'm seeing a lot of this through and seeing a lot of life through and and and Christianity through. and so I am part of a global fellowship of churches that is rooted in the Stone Campbell movement. So that That was around the early nineteenth century. but basically what what sprung from the Stone Campbell movement are churches like the they're called like the d the disciples of Christ churches, the Christian churches and also the churches of Christ. and so what happened was my parents, in nineteen ninety four, they became Christians in the global the Brisbane I guess the Brisbane sister church that's part of the global family of churches. so up in Brisbane they became Christians and so I was born into that. and then in when I was I think about three or four years old I get it all mixed up a little bit. but we moved to Melbourne. Dad got a job in Melbourne and so we moved to Melbourne and then we became part of the the Melbourne church. That's part of our family of churches, here. So I've been here ever since then. So since I was basically four years old, I've been in the same church, basically that whole entire time. So I did Sunday school, kids' kingdom, we call it that the kids' kingdom, when you're you know, little kids learning the Bible and stuff like that. teens ministry, which is obviously where I became a Christian, as I shared earlier. campus ministry, I dated, got married, served on staff here in Melbourne. and so this is this is my church context. And so I've been a part of this, yeah, for a very, very long time. now being part, just to be real, the the our global family of churches and global fellowship of churches, I guess as a for lack of a better term, but but but just as like a brand, like the global fellowship that we're we're a part of, has some history, right? some good, and some bad and some very, very bad, to be honest. and some of those bad things that that happened in our in our church kind of resulted and led to some pretty unhealthy ideologies, practices, and methodology. and that is really it is part of the the DNA of our fellowship of churches and in my opinion, like a couple of decades ago, early on in our churches history, it was really, really bad. Like it was it was it was pretty bad. And God he he definitely shook our fellowship. church fellowship and made it very clear that we needed to change and that some things needed to happen and he brought that to the forefront. He brought that to the forefront and I believe that the church did as a overall overall thing did want to move forward and do did want to change and address those issues. and and I think they did take the steps in the right direction. that's broad stroke. But I think overall, because of it's in the DNA, I think there is very much still remnants of a lot of the unhealthy practices and ideologies still to this day. even in churches that are trying to do their best to to be better. and again, I don't know all the churches in our global network. I don't know all of them. I I feel very good about the church that I'm in, and that we're trying to do our best. But yeah, there are remnants still and and I think that's we just gotta be honest about that and I think that's It's a healthy thing to be be honest about where you think things are at. and so I do want to do the best that I can. and Esther and I want to do the best that we can to make sure that we get rid or do our best to get rid of all those unhealthy things and and focus on the right things, the godly things. Now, why am I saying all this? Well, I say that all this to say that Esther and I are very, very much committed. and part of our local church congregation, which of course is tied to the global network and family and fellowship of churches that we're a part of. you know, as I mentioned earlier in the pod that that Esther and I are very privileged to serve and lead a region here in in our in our church here in Melbourne. we get the great op I get the great opportunity to preach and teach very regularly on church on Sundays, our midweek devotionals and different things in between. I'm I'm close with the elders, have a great relationship with all the elders. We have four elders in our church, and their wives. you know, we we're very good friends with them. good friends with a lot of the board of directors as well, and and many people here in the church. And so I'm very yeah, I I feel very connected and and I very much love the the church community that I'm a part of. And we care deeply about it. We care deeply about it. and we do care deeply about the global fellowship of churches, even though I don't I don't like the history. I don't like what happened and I don't I don't agree with what happened. but it is it is what it is. And I I want it to be I want my local church that I'm a part of, that I get to be part of, and I want our global fellowship. I want it to be the best that it can be. I want it to be faithful, I want it to be holy, I want it to be righteous, I want it to be something that God is really proud of and can be proud of. and so the reason I mentioned All of this, of course, is I think it's just helpful for you to understand. This is the context that I'm speaking out of. so you can take it how you want to take it or leave it how you want to leave it. But that's where that's that's where I'm coming from. And look, some of the guests that I'm gonna have on the podcast are people who are currently part of our fellowship of churches, and that's that's that's obviously that's great. but there's also some people who are were part of our family of churches. And have decided for a myriad of reasons to not be a part of our fellowship of churches anymore. which obviously would hopefully get talked about in the in the episode that I'm in with them and the conversation we have. But the reality is is when you have someone that's been a part of something and have removed themselves for a reason, there's gonna be some honest critique of it, right? So the people who were part of our fellowship of churches or my f the church the church I'm a part of and are now not part of that. There's gonna be some honest critique there, about the church and about what they've seen, and what they have heard and what they've experienced. And it can be hard to hear. Like it honestly can be hard to hear, but honestly that's the point of this podcast. It it's trying to genuinely understand and listen and understand why people believe what they believe, what they've seen and what they've understood and why they make the the decisions that they've made and I think that's helpful because what it does is again helps us to re-examine, okay, that's what they did. Why did they do that? Do I understand that? Do I agree with that? But then what do I think about what what what's being talked about here? and look, it doesn't mean that I will agree with every critique that they give, but I'll probably agree with a lot of the critique that they give. and it's it I I can hear it already and I understand it. Like there'll be some pushback, right? I understand there'll be some pushback. Like if you're part of you know, our fellowship of churches, you might be thinking, like, Aaron, why are you letting people say these quote unquote negative things? Even though I think critique is all it's all it's all good. But why is people why are you letting people say these things about about the church, the fellowship of churches that you're a part of? Like that's not that's not a good thing. It could be unhelpful for people, it could be unhealthy. And I d I would just disagree with that. Like I I think the reason I am having these conversations is because Not because I don't care, but is because I do care and I do care deeply about the church that I'm a part of and ultimately the the Global Fellowship for sure. I care about the church and I also deeply respect the guests and the people that I have on the pod and and the opinions that they have. again, whether or not I agree with it, I get to re examine and I get to think. And I think my posture here is I want to hear all the critiques, the good and the bad. mainly though it won't be great. but I want to hear them all so that I can understand it and then be able to identify it so that I can make the adjustments where I can to make sure that the fellowship that I'm a part of gets rid of those unhealthy things and pursues healthy spiritual practices and again becomes the best that it can be for God. and so I don't want my fellow the fellowship of churches that I'm a part of to be destroyed. I don't want my local church to to to dissolve or anything like that. that's not that's not the goal. That but but look if God wills that and he can do whatever he wants, then amen. Then that that's then he's gonna do that no matter what I do or don't do. And no matter what you do or don't do. and there are people that that are gonna come on this podcast and who I love and respect deeply, right? who think that maybe the fellowship of churches we're a part of or that I'm a part of is too far gone. Right, that it's it's best not to be part of it, because it's too far gone, there's no hope for it. And look, that's good if that's what they believe. They have that's their decision and they have their own experiences and context in which has enabled them to make that decision. and look, I I respect it. I respect it 'cause I I love them and I respect them and I know that they're making the d best decision they think they need to make, right now. but for Esther and myself right now We are committed to our local church community. We want it to thrive. We want it to be awesome. you know, I've got I've got family here, I've got my close friends here, we're raising our kids here and so I want it to be the best that it can be. I want it to be awesome, I want it to be something God's proud of. And we have no intention of of leaving right now. We have no intention of leaving the church despite all the bad stuff, despite all the unhealthy things that are definitely present. but I don't have any intention. of leaving and unless God makes it clear for some other reason, then maybe whatever. But at right now that's not that's not what we're thinking about. we wanna help contribute. I wanna help contribute in any kind of way to help reshaping to help reshape, sorry, the the the church, you know, that I'm a part of, and then also the family of churches and maybe this podcast is just a small way that I can contribute to that. so I understand there'll be different opinions and different pushback on on on this and That's okay. You're entitled to have your own opinion and and I appreciate that and happy to talk if you want about it. but yeah, I want it to be great, I want it to be awesome. Maybe some people might think I'm naive, but again, in the f in the context that I'm in, I I just think that yeah, I think that that we can we can do something and I'm faithful about that. Not to say that the people who've left are unfaithful. I'm not saying that at all. I believe that they've made the best decision for themselves. and I wanna support that and and Amen to that. but right now we wanna see I wanna do the best that I can and Esther as well to do the best that we can to help our church to to be the best it can be. Anyway, back to the original recording and then anyway, yeah. Alright, I'll see you in a bit. but look, that's the plan with all of this and I would just ask if you if you got a sp if you gotta spare spare little moment to say a prayer for the pod and pray for maybe just what this what this could do. they could help people. Like numbers are like you think about what about the dot like w is it gonna be big? Do you wanna be big? I mean, sure, those things happen those things come across my mind and they're like, Okay, yeah, well what the could this could be something? Yeah, sure, but I don't wanna get consumed with that 'cause it's not about that. so pray for that. Pray for my heart, pray for what we're doing, that it's it's something that glorifies God. And if it's not, then pray that this podcast absolutely flops because I don't wanna do something that's gonna take me away from God or or send people the wrong way or anything like that. Lastly, if you are listening to this and you wanna get on the pod and have a conversation, dude, let me know, please. Send me a message, whatever it is, because I'd be so keen to have a chat. doesn't matter. You might be like, I don't know what I can talk about or who I can No, if you if you've got stuff that you know you wanna just you wanna share about and we can have a conversation, hey man, let's have a chat because again I believe we can learn from we can learn from everyone. And and that's big part of his pod is that you You can only be reshaped when you talk to other people because other people are not you and you can't they're not thinking what you're thinking. So you're gonna have to have a a different opinion, a different thought, and that's always very, very healthy. So let me know if you want to hop on the pod, send me I've got an Instagram, got the Instagram Reshaped Pod, got the Facebook Reshape Podcast, and we've got the email as well, reshape podcast at gmail.com. Bro, we're so legit. We're so legit. So so let me know on any of those. But thanks so much guys for listening. Looking forward to this journey. Let's get it. We out. Peace.