Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode of the Midweek Podcast brought to you by A Fresh Wind Church. Each week, our team brings you new content to help you take steps towards Jesus and discover more in Christ. Today's episode is hosted by Pastor Ryan.

Speaker 2: 0:27

Well, hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast. Pastor Ryan joined with Pastor Tim and Tim. We had a couple week break there because you and I are both a little busy. Particularly, you were out in San Diego marrying your daughter off, and so we had a chance to go out there and be a part of the celebration. Didn't have anything to do but show up, but it was a privilege to do that. Man, it was great to see Maddie get married and spend some time At least it wasn't all that warm while I was in San Diego, but the sun was shining and that was good to see.

Speaker 3: 1:03

Yeah, but it's perfect weather for the big guy, you know, right around 65, 70 degrees, that's perfect all day long. I think my daughter loves it out there so much because in in the morning and in in the afternoon or around noon she can go to the beach and you know a t-shirt and shorts and then in the evening she can put on her patagonia stuff.

Speaker 1: 1:29

So it's like fashionista she can do the whole.

Speaker 3: 1:32

You get all the accessories, yeah, all the accessories, and they all apply, um, but yeah, it was beautiful out there. The wedding went really well and, um and and it was beautiful too we had to pay our dowry, but those goats Teresa will miss those goats we had to give up. Now it all turned into just a great celebration and, if you're listening out there, I want to thank everybody who was involved, especially my sister-in-law, shimmy, who worked so hard to make it like Maddie wanted it, and it turned out to be just like she wanted it.

Speaker 2: 2:21

It was beautiful. That was Joy and I's first time in san diego, um, but yeah, city's, city's pretty, it's lovely having the ocean right there and, um, but yeah, maddie's wedding, just venue, everything was great, um, and was fantastic, phenomenal. But most of the time people have a wedding band like we're gonna do a live band and you're like we're going to do a live band and you're like, oh, uncle Joe and his drinking buddies.

Speaker 2: 2:49

Yeah, this band was good, had me up and singing a couple of those punk rock songs once they started playing those. So that was fun and I was surprised I didn't dance. I didn't dance but I would sing. I'd sing along, joey and I we tried to because we didn't have any expectations on us. You know, we're just here to hang out. So we tried to make the most of San Diego. We ran around with Pat and Kathy and got to see all kinds of seals and ended up seeing dolphins, went to Slab City, salvation Mountain, we fed a bunch of stuff in, had a some great gelato and little italy. It was man, we we did it all. Um, I don't think we could fit anything else in, but we had a great time. But we're both back and, uh, time to get busy. Time to get busy. Um, I think when I picked you guys up from the airport it was 30 and sleeting, um, so that's yeah, rained all the way to the house um so so welcome home back to the grind.

Speaker 2: 3:49

And uh, this past sunday, uh was palm sunday and uh, we're starting, you know, kicks off, holy week. We got some exciting stuff coming up this week looking ahead to easter, but, man, I thought the message on Sunday was so important. Don't overlook what we're talking about on Palm Sunday with the anticipation of Easter, because you'll miss some pretty big stuff.

Speaker 3: 4:14

Yeah, I enjoyed preparing for this. We usually spin off, you know, palm Sunday into whatever we're looking to build for the end of the week, but this year I just thought let's just talk about what's going on right here. And there was a lot of things. It was in the present, it was prophetic. The present, it was prophetic uh, had to do with, uh, the way people saw jesus, who, who they thought he was, and they were correct. They just didn't know the direction he was going and uh, I I thought it went really well. I think, um, learning a little bit about what the donkey meant and learning a little bit about what the cloak meant and the palm leaves and all that kind of stuff kind of gives you a broader perspective of what those people were thinking. And that's what the story is there.

Speaker 3: 5:18

If those people are not thinking he's the king, then there is no triumphal entry.

Speaker 3: 5:22

He just shows up in Jerusalem and gets arrested. There's not. You don't see the contrast between hey, I've got this really high expectation for you and you're not giving me what I want, so crucify you. And that's basically what happens in this scenario. And it's so human, yeah, it's so human to especially being raised in a republic where we vote for a representative to go to Washington and represent me to the government, and then he tells you this is what I'm going to do. And you're like rah re, let's go get up there. And then he completely turns back on you and does something else and uh, so, but we live that over and over and over again and it's just a human concept. Uh, you were telling me about ellie. You know, dad, you gotta come practice soccer with me. You gotta teach me soccer. I want to be a soccer with me. You got to teach me soccer, I want to be a soccer player. And you get out there and then she's yelling you don't know nothing about soccer.

Speaker 2: 6:32

I tried to tell her. I said, girl, you're already better than I am. I don't know how to add to this. She's like well, all the other dads. So I got up off the couch, went out to practice soccer and she's like no no, no, not like this. No, that's not what I want to do. No, you're doing it wrong. I'm like, I think I'm going back inside. You are a mean coach.

Speaker 3: 6:54

Misaligned expectations, and it's just a human thing. I want to look at myself and say what am I expecting from God that I might not get? And if I might not get it, is it going to turn me against him or give me anger issues with God?

Speaker 3: 7:19

And a lot of Christians do have anger issues with God and he's not. If you do have anger issues with God and you think not, If you do have anger issues with God and you think that's a big deal, it's not. And well, you don't know my issue. Yeah, but he's God and you can be mad at him. He's okay with that because he loves your passion, even if it's passion against him right now. What did he say in Isaiah? He said come on, let's argue this out.

Speaker 3: 7:50

You know your sins may be as scarlet, but I can make them white as snow. I want to wrestle with you. You know, I picked a people that I named. Wrestle with God, that's what Israel means yeah. So I think, um, I think this expectation thing is the story there, um people's expectation of him coming in and taking over and making their lives, uh, better and uh, he did uh he.

Speaker 3: 8:21

they just didn't understand Uh didn't get what they thought they were going to get and that's a difficult pill to swallow in a lot of situations in life.

Speaker 2: 8:33

I mean, I think you nailed it on the head earlier. You said it's so human. I mean, the contrast between Palm Sunday and Good Friday is striking. The same people saying Hosanna, lord, save us, and laying their cloaks down, waving palm branches, are shouting crucify them less than a week later. And it's like how did we get here? What is that? But when you understand the Jew, the Israelite, for hundreds and thousands of years have been looking towards a Savior, a Messiah, to come and save them. And then all the expectations that get wrapped up in that when they finally start to sense man, he might be the guy, it might be him. And so they're ready to go. All in, let's go, grab your swords, come on, we're taking this back. And then he walks in and he's not doing any of the things that you thought he was getting ready to do.

Speaker 3: 9:33

Shows up on a donkey instead of a war horse.

Speaker 2: 9:36

Yeah it now you're, you're crushed, you're, you're frustrated. I mean you're talking about how people might be angry at God. You expected something. Maybe you got sick and you prayed that God would heal you, and he didn't heal you, or at least hasn't healed you yet and you're angry.

Speaker 2: 10:00

We're talking hundreds, thousands of years of expectations. Your anger is one particular person, one situation. Maybe we're talking an entire nation's expectations, everything you know. When was it Saul King, saul, they said all of our. Oh. How did they word that? When they were putting Saul in? Like all of our hope is in this guy right that's not how it was worded. Added a second ago first.

Speaker 2: 10:29

Samuel yeah, it's in Samuel, um, but everything was riding on Jesus. I mean, as he comes in, it's all riding on this guy to be who we thought he was going to be for the entire nation, not one person's, not. You didn't heal my mom or dad, or business fell apart and we went bankrupt. The whole nation is saying we're all in on you. You've got to come save us. And then he comes in, like you said, on a humble donkey instead of a war horse. You said on a humble donkey instead of a war horse, and it's different. It's not what they expected and they're so angry. By the end of the week they say crucify him yeah, it's a difficult.

Speaker 3: 11:18

They were being led to that, um, and one of the things that that we're going to talk about a little bit when we talk about sacred spaces is that there's always voices trying to take our angst and turn it into something that someone else can manipulate. As Christians, we've got to be careful of that all the time. The best way to manipulate a person is to get them fired up, you know, and then you can twist them and turn them, and it's part of the art of the deal you know, Get them to where their emotions are too high for them to think strategically, and then you can win against them.

Speaker 3: 12:08

And that happens to us when the Lord doesn't meet our expectations, or our wife doesn't meet our expectations, or our girlfriend, or you know, whatever our church, whatever it is.

Speaker 3: 12:23

I need you to fix me, I need you to help me. I need you to help me. I need and it's just fertile ground for Satan to steer you into a wall, and we have to be very careful with that, and I think these people were. There was a lot of revolts that had gone on. There was even a guy named Yeshua that led a revolt right before Jesus, about 100 years before, and he was crushed by the Romans and he was crushed by the Romans. But Jesus' ministry for three years had convinced these people.

Speaker 3: 13:11

This guy's different, this guy has the power. This guy, he can do it by himself. He's not leading us into battle, he's. He's something different. He's got the power of God behind him. And whether they thought he was God or not, I think the disciples knew it at that time or were struggling with the realization, but they thought that God was going to be the God of Egypt. You know who stood out in front of them. Let them get a good night's sleep before they crossed the Red Sea. You remember that scene where the glory of God and this big angel thing on the side, which I think was Christ, was blocking the Pharaoh's army from getting to him until the morning, and then Moses opened the Red Sea for them to escape. I think that that's where they were looking. We don't have to fight, he's going to fight, and it didn't go the way they wanted to.

Speaker 3: 14:23

And there's a little bit of humanity in that. We have expectations and when they're not met we're embarrassed right that we fell into that trap or or whatever it is, you know why did I?

Speaker 3: 14:41

go there. Why did I get all excited? All that has made this just worse. You and I, we counsel people in marriage and premarital counseling and we hear it all the time. You know how you guys get along right now. Well, it's a little rough. There's a lot of screaming and yelling, but when we get married that'll fix it and I'm like no, whatever's going on right now.

Speaker 3: 15:12

you can multiply that by 10 when you get married, at least yeah and uh. So, um, well, we're you know, our marriage is falling apart, so we're going to have kids and and uh, that will weld us together. No, that's not how that works.

Speaker 2: 15:30

Yeah, I'm actually in the middle of premarital counseling with three different couples right now, which I've never had to do three couples at a time like this so that's been a little challenging getting all their stories straight when I meet with them and I feel like I just keep talking. If I've already told you this, just tell me to shut up. But what I've told all of them is you know, if you're coming to marriage thinking that marriage is going to fix you or fix a situation that kind of Jerry Maguire mentality you complete me. Marriage is two broken people coming together. Now we just live under the same roof, right Like. You never leave, you're always here. So all those little things that you could overlook and were cute, petty little things when you're dating now just become these monster things and boom, all of a sudden you explode. Right, the expectation is totally different than the reality.

Speaker 3: 16:23

Right. So Jesus comes in on this donkey and they have these high expectations, but I love the way they receive him. I mean they receive them the way they should. Their expectations are high and might might be wrong. They're really not wrong, they're. They're bringing him as King and he's he's going to take the authority of the world that the lord is going to after his resurrection. Father puts all authority on him and gives him the world. He takes the keys. Uh, it's his. So their expectations weren't wrong. It just didn't reveal itself the way they wanted it to reveal itself.

Speaker 3: 17:07

So, uh, but they receive him. They're waving palm branches like he's the victor. They're throwing down their cloaks, basically giving their allegiance to him. It's a special scene, and when we don't acknowledge it, like you said, we're going into Easter and we're focused on the end of the week and we kind of skip over Palm Sunday or use it as a prop to get us to the end of the week we miss some pretty relevant things, and those relevant things are the fact that one day he's going to come again. We're going to greet him the same way.

Speaker 2: 17:49

Yeah, who is he really? He is the king of Kings, he is the Lord of Lords and, honestly, the way that the people respond this day is the only way.

Speaker 3: 17:59

Right, exactly, that's a good way to put that.

Speaker 2: 18:03

They're not in error. And you can hear us say today you know they have these expectations and it was different than reality. Don't hear us say in that to lower your expectation of Jesus right, that's the right. The right result is to to lay your coats down to to wave your palm wrench. He is the King of Kings, he is the Lord of Lords. It didn't turn out the way that they had thought. They misaligned expectations. It was different, but he is who they actually thought.

Speaker 2: 18:45

It didn't happen in the timing that they wanted, it didn't happen in the way that they wanted, but this King of Kings, this Messiah who would come to save, he is that thing. So don't lower your expectations of Jesus. If anything, you need to raise your expectations of Jesus.

Speaker 3: 19:02

And they gave us an example of the way that we are to receive Him.

Speaker 2: 19:06

Correct Yep.

Speaker 3: 19:07

And so, even though that they get mad in the future and I don't know how many of them got mad, but they, they were led in that direction by spiritual forces and the religious leaders and so we have this entire, uh, this moment in time where we see a prequel to what the whole world will do when he comes back, and every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that he is.

Speaker 3: 19:41

Lord, just like that they were doing today. So they are a good example for us, even though they didn't have it all straight in their mind how it was going to turn out, but, and their reception of Jesus was just awesome, yeah.

Speaker 2: 19:57

And you know, to lay their coats on. And I think you talked about this in the message, or maybe in the message, or at least a little bit ago, you used that word allegiance. Right, I'm surrendering my allegiance to Jesus. Before our Come to the Mountain series that we're in, we did a sermon series called the Fight and it was, you know, this idea of the boxing ring and as you were talking about that, I had that vision of the boxer and you know he comes out and he's in that silk robe or whatever, but on that has got patches of different companies who you know advertise and sponsor him.

Speaker 2: 20:35

We have that same stuff going on too. We're all wearing different robes, right, and we got all kinds of things that we have given our allegiance to, and so your cloak might have your company on it, it might have a sports team on it, it might have some, you know, vision board pipe dream this is. We all have given our allegiance to these things and it's all over our cloak. You know, this robe that we wear shows who we've pledged our allegiance to.

Speaker 2: 21:05

I tell people all the time if you want to know what's really important in your life, look at your calendar and your checkbook, which nobody carries a checkbook anymore. So your online banking statement but what you give your time and money to will tell you what's important. Is God a priority in your life? Is it on your calendar? Is being in the church a priority in your life? Is it on your calendar, or do other things take place? And so look at your robe and say, man, what have I given my allegiance to? And then to see these people lay theirs down and let Jesus ride over them. Man, this is how we're to approach God.

Speaker 3: 21:44

Right, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 21:46

God, I take all these things that I've pledged, my allegiance to, all the things that I've pledged my allegiance to all the things that I've allowed to define my life, all the things that I try to project to the world so that people get a certain image of who I am. God, I lay it all down.

Speaker 3: 22:03

And don't get Ryan wrong here what he's saying is really important. None of those things have to be wrong. They could be good allegiances. You could have an allegiance to a group that does great things your church, your small group, your school, it doesn't matter. All those things are not all bad because you have an allegiance to them. What we see here is they're laying those allegiances underneath their allegiance to Christ, and that is how we are supposed to live. That should be what we're trying to accomplish in sanctification. Lord, this is what I want, but what you want is more important, Lord. This is what I believe in politically, but what you believe in is more important, and I give my allegiance to your thoughts on this and not mine. And that's how we break down strongholds in our lives is by taking every thought captive and giving it to Christ and letting him tell us this is okay, this is not okay. Yeah, I mean.

Speaker 2: 23:26

Paul says make it obedient, that I am forcing that thought to be obedient to Christ. It doesn't just happen. He says you make that thing obedient. You got to put in the work, man, I can't tell you how many times. And probably because of my job, right, I'm a pastor, I teach the Bible and people will come up and say what do you think about? And put any hot topic in. What do you think about? And put any hot topic in, what do you think about this? And I tell people all the time who cares what I think about that? You don't need to hear what I think. God already said this. He has already given us his thought on that. My job and my responsibility and your job and your responsibility, if you're a follower of Jesus, is to make your thought about that obedient to what he says. Right, who cares what you think? And that man it's so tough for people to hear. Well, yeah, but what do you think? You don't need to hear what I think.

Speaker 3: 24:22

There's two. Teresa and I were talking about this not too long ago. Teresa and I were talking about this not too long ago. But spiritual warfare and spiritual responsibility goes hand in hand, Right? You just say, okay, I want deliverance, and God says you don't need deliverance here, you need discipline, you know? No, I don't want this to be my fault, it's your fault. This is a discipline problem, not a deliverance problem. Oh, you need here deliverance, here I'll give you a deliverance here, but over here, this is your responsibility, man. It's a struggle between spiritual warfare, spiritual responsibility. What's what? And and and. When Jesus says hey, bring your thoughts to me, we'll straighten this all out and you'll know what's you, You'll know what's your enemy and you'll know. But we don't want to do that because unfortunately, that discipline raises its head a lot.

Speaker 2: 25:34

Yeah, it's almost easier to just say there's got to be some deliverance thing going on here.

Speaker 3: 25:40

Right, because I can't be this wrong all by myself All the time. Right.

Speaker 2: 25:46

Like no, no, yeah, it's usually just you Be more disciplined, um, and so I mean I love this, this symbolism of them laying their cloaks down, pledging their allegiance not that their allegiances are bad, no, but that their allegiance to jesus is over all that.

Speaker 2: 26:06

Well, and and that's what he said right he says you deny yourself. Pick up your cross and follow me. So whatever that looks like in your life again, it might be great things, that ministry might be great, your church might be great, your allegiance to even your quiet time and prayer is good things. We're just saying everything gets surrendered to christ. There's nothing, no part of me that I I hold back. I give it all to him.

Speaker 3: 26:34

He is lord, he's, he's seated at the top of the pile, everything goes through him and if you call yourself politically a libertarian or a Republican or a Democrat, as a Christian you're saying, yeah, I'm aligned that way until Jesus says no, and then I'm not aligned that way in that specific thing. Generally I'm this until my main allegiance, jesus, says no, that's not going to happen in my kingdom. You need to put your foot down for that, and that used to be okay, but it's not okay in our political system. Now, hey, what are you thinking on your own? For you knocked that off.

Speaker 2: 27:27

Yeah, yeah, everyone, you go, be you as long as you is, just like me.

Speaker 3: 27:32

And you're like well, no, that's not me, that's Jesus. That's even worse, you know so we have to.

Speaker 2: 27:41

Let me stop you real quick, because I talked about Jesus being on the top of the pile. I'm talking about in that allegiance thing. I'm not talking about in worship, where we would worship all these other things.

Speaker 3: 27:50

No, no, no, no. We're talking about priorities in life, correct, and so I just want to make that clear for people.

Speaker 2: 27:56

I'm not saying you get to go and worship all these things as long as Jesus is at the top. There's only one God. You shall worship only him, right? We're not talking about that.

Speaker 3: 28:05

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 28:10

But these other good things that, yeah, just take priority. Allegiance. There's a lot of things in our life that are good and we're just saying all of it comes. It's full stop at Jesus, right, what do you say on this? And then we have to go his way.

Speaker 3: 28:23

Right. We have a, and I don't think a lot of Christians have a Bad expectations. They're just. They don't understand what God's doing right. What expectations am I placing on God that might miss the deeper victory he's working in?

Speaker 1: 28:49

my life. Right.

Speaker 3: 28:52

That is what we're trying to accomplish here, in what we're talking about and how we're relating to these people here. And and sometimes we get mad at God because it doesn't turn out the way we want it as pastors when people leave the church and move on and it hurts and what. What is God doing? You know, I I expected that person to grow and be a partner and be with us in this coming struggle that we have, but now they're gone, and that's a pastoral struggle. But you think, hey, my daughter's going to live around me and take care of me and have me some grandkids and I'm going to watch them and love on them and get them all sugared up and give them back. And she says, no, I'm going to go live in San Diego.

Speaker 3: 29:47

Oh what? And you miss that expectation. But you don't know what the Lord is doing with that. So we need to. But you don't know what the Lord is doing with that, so we need to not step back, be all in, but let the Lord lead you in those things. And I think that's one of the problems that we have in our society today is that the Lord's voice is not clear to us because there's so many voices.

Speaker 2: 30:22

When you're saying the expectations we place on God, that might cause us to miss that deeper victory. I immediately thought of Paul, who says God is working all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. We want that to say or mean God's working everything for my good, in the sense that life is easier for me. I'm getting all you know, I got a job and my relationships are all great and I make good money and I'm not in debt and I get to go on two or three vacations every year and we think for our good means our happiness.

Speaker 2: 31:00

What is the good God is working in your life is he's conforming you into the image of his son. Sanctification is that good. God is working every situation in your life towards that end that you look like Jesus. One day you're going to see him face to face and scripture says we will be like him. God is conforming us into the image of his son. That's the good that God is working in your life and he's working every situation towards that end and we can expect God's victory in our life to look like I reached the next level. I get the promotion For almost every single one of the disciples. It was execution.

Speaker 3: 31:48

Right.

Speaker 2: 31:49

For their good.

Speaker 3: 31:51

Right.

Speaker 2: 31:52

Well, that didn't happen the way that we expected, right.

Speaker 3: 31:58

Well, I think what God is doing and our expectation of what he's doing is one of the problems that we have is because we're reading the Bible through a self-help lens, and it's not all our fault.

Speaker 3: 32:14

Okay, satan was the first one to read the bible through a self-help lens to jesus, you know? Uh, he was the first one to say, hey, you hungry, make some bread. And so it's not all our fault, but we are. We are being bent towards hearing the word of God that way. Paul said in 1 Timothy 4, 8, physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. So, as God sanctifies us to make us more like Jesus, that training he gives you is the good right. From his perspective. We don't see it.

Speaker 3: 33:06

That's why do I have to struggle with this every day? I hate my job. Why do I have to go in there? Everybody says I supposed to love my job and I'll never work a day in my life. But every hour is like a thousand to me when I'm in there. What is going on here? Physical training is good, but I'm training you to be godly and that's going to affect you now and in the life to come. Now, we discussed that yesterday. How big that statement is, we're not going to go into it here.

Speaker 2: 33:40

It's a wild thought, though.

Speaker 3: 33:42

Yeah, it is, and we don't realize that these struggles that we have now are the struggles that we need to have now to prepare us for our future. I think the problem is most Christians think, okay, jesus comes back, or I die, or whatever, I go to heaven and it's over. No, that's the beginning and we've lost our minds on that because we don't have any information about what's going to happen on the other side. Paul says I'm not allowed to tell you, but it's going to be crazy, you know. But saying all that to put us back in that mindset that these things that are happening, the expectations that we think God is not meeting, that we think God is not meeting in our lives, are the struggles that he's using to make you like him.

Speaker 3: 34:43

Now, what does that mean? To make us like him? Oh, to be good little boys and behave. No, that's not what he's doing. He's making you like our God, king Jesus, the guy who was tempted in all points and never sinned, the one who took everything on the chin, everything Satan can throw at him, and was victorious Victorious over death. He wants to make us like him, and there's a purpose in that. Not so there can be a lot of little Jesuses around. That's actually what Christian means. Is little Christ right? That's not the point. The point is, I need a group of people who live like Jesus did, and I'm going to do something with you. That's so wild.

Speaker 2: 35:39

And I'm going to need it for the rest of eternity. Right, I'm going to need you to be like my son. Yeah, what is God going to do with us in heaven? No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can even conceive what God has in store. And he says listen, I need you to go through all this so that when you get there, you're ready and you're going to be like my son and we're going to go do something crazy.

Speaker 3: 36:06

You're not going to be my son, you're not going to be me, you're not going to be God, but you're going to be like him, the way that Adam was, not even when Adam was perfect. So I'm leaning towards writing a book on all that, but before we get moved into that let's go back to this verse Godly training is good for all things has a value in all things now, in the time to come.

Speaker 3: 36:42

We are being trained, we're being trained. We're being trained every day. The algorithms are out there. We used to, you know, plow a field. We'd be out there with the, the horses and slapping them, and it would be me, the holy spirit and temptations of satan, and we'd be three of us and if I was trying to align myself with god, it'd be two against one and then, if it was, I was leaning the other way and it'd be, you know, satan against the Holy Spirit trying to lead me as a Christian. Now the world has completely changed for the Christian.

Speaker 3: 37:27

We don't even when we go out to mow the grass which is my correlation to plowing the field we go out to mow the grass, we put on a headset and listen to someone influence us. We don't even mow and just think anymore. We don't drive in a quiet car, we've got to have something playing A podcast or music, music that's influencing you with communication and words, and music adds emotion to that, you know, with music makes you emotional. And then we have uh, websites with algorithms trying to figure you out what you want, what you can't say no to. Don't these companies. You know, we talked about a lawnmower just a few minutes ago because we think we need to buy a lawnmower for the church and I've already got ads popping up on my phone about lawnmowers. People are trying people. We have the Holy Spirit who's constantly trying to influence you and help you make the right decisions.

Speaker 2: 38:39

Teach you the deep things of God Right.

Speaker 3: 38:41

And we've got Satan who's trying to constantly get, trying to trip you up, catch you in a scheme that'll eventually ruin your life or give you a habit that makes your life with Christ.

Speaker 2: 38:54

destroy Right Life with.

Speaker 3: 38:55

Christ Right. And then you have your doctor trying to sell you a drug, because a drug company came and said we'll give you a little bit of money every time you sell this drug to. And is that the drug that's best for me? No, this will work for you. Is it the best one for me? This will work for you, Is it the best one?

Speaker 3: 39:22

Well, it's the best one for me, this will work for you. Is it the best one? Well, it's the best one for me that I'm giving you because it makes me a little extra money. And the doctor is like well, this is the business model you know. So we watch tv. They're trying to influence us, right, matthew mcconaughey? He's telling us all look, football is about eating food, it's not about the game, it's not about the sports, it's about wings and jerry rice. And if you remember all those commercials and he's like 50 right I mean, if you watch the suit might be more than 50, right? If you're watching a football game, there is just one commercial about it. It's like, hey, we need to go out and get something to eat.

Speaker 2: 40:03

How many pizzas, buckets of chicken wings and cases of beer are sold on Saturdays and Sundays, right, and we have this.

Speaker 3: 40:16

We're online and whatever we search for, we get on YouTube. Whatever we listen to, the algorithm is like okay, how can I influence this guy and then manipulate him in the way I want him to go? This is happening every day.

Speaker 2: 40:30

Yeah, the social engineering is happening at every level.

Speaker 2: 40:35

I mean, I remember working in a bank and I was just customer service rep teller is essentially it and for a while I was top salesman in the entire Cleveland region, getting people to sign up for new loans refinance their car, refinance their house, get this credit card you know all these different programs open a checking account and a savings account. And then, all of a sudden, I fell down and I was more middle of the pack, so much so that the regional manager took notice, took me out to lunch, said hey.

Speaker 2: 41:06

Ryan, what's going on here? You know you are a top salesman almost every month. Now you're more middle of the pack. What happened? How can we get you back up there? And I looked at this guy and I said, john, the problem isn't my ability to sell. The problem is I care more about the person in front of me than this bank's bottom line. You guys are just wanting me to push products so that you can make money. I'm not going to put this person because I have to look at him every time he comes in here and I see what his finances look like. I'm not going to push a product on him. That's going to destroy him. I won't do it. And he was product on them. That's going to destroy him.

Speaker 3: 41:41

I won't do it and he's like well, hey, thanks for coming and having lunch with me. I guess you're a middle of the pack guy, so, and, and that is unfortunately we are getting that from all angles everywhere.

Speaker 3: 41:50

Yeah, can't escape it sesame street before we even go to school. We get it in school, we get it in college. We go to work and we have our hr trainings and and this is how you're supposed to think about this and we don't want you to deviate from that used to be we don't want you to say this, we don't care what you think, don't do it. And we were like okay, and now it's like no, no, no, no, no. We need to change how you think about this, you know. And then you know that's a little intrusive to have someone always listening to you and trying to influence your ability and you think, man, we need to get all this out of our life. And then Google and Amazon come and live right with you. Right, they're the.

Speaker 3: 42:39

You know, I got Amazon listening to me every day. Every conversation I have with my wife, every time I'm playing with my grandkids, Amazon is over there. Hmm, they probably need this little book. You know, let's sell them this book and this book has got a message. And Amazon's like sell them this book, and this book has got a message. And Amazon's like I want to sell this thing. The book is. I want to influence you. So it's happening every day, and this is why I think a Sabbath is really important. There's got to be a day where you sign a non-compete for the Holy Spirit in your life and just say, hey, Jesus, today's your day, you be my top influencer and let me just enjoy the family and enjoy you and you speak to me and, um, that's, that's a tough thing in a world that you know. We want to be entertained 24 seven. We want to find out what this guy said about that.

Speaker 3: 43:40

Or, uh, we watched this. Uh, two YouTube channels One's called um raising voyagers. Teresa found that some guy building a rock house in Italy and all's we do is watch him shape stone all day long. It's an hour podcast and he's just chipping away at a stone and we're staring at him. Not sure where that's getting us, but she likes it, so we watch it. And the other one is called Desert Drifter and this guy is out in Utah, all the deserts out there, Colorado, and he's looking at these trying to find ancient works, where people lived and what they did back then. And we watch him go through all those deserts and we like that one. But you know, if we miss it and we get backed up, it puts a little pressure on us. You know, hey, we, we got to watch these shows Where's that coming from.

Speaker 3: 44:43

You know these are meaningless shows. I mean, there is no meaning in them at all. He's chipping rocks, the other guy's walking in a desert. There's nothing there. There's nothing. I got to see it, I got to catch up up. I'm behind and I have anxiety because I'm behind. What if he runs into something that I don't see?

Speaker 3: 45:04

You know, and it's a, it's a weird thing, but that attitude, that feeling, has been trained in us since we started watching a show that only comes on once a week and where we plan our whole life around being around that show, and now it has moved into this. We're influenced all the time, we're being told what to think, what to do all the time, and even when we take a break, we have, we have anxiety that nobody's telling us what to do and what to think. It's a weird, crazy situation, this social engineering going on, and I think we need to start taking a better look at our Sabbath, which is not a great Sabbath for me, is to sit in the backyard with a fire, just rolling through different sermons of different people preaching and listening. I'm not sure I should be doing that, you know, uh, shouldn't I? Hey, you guys are. You guys are great. I love the word of God, I love to hear it being preached and being preached well, but I I need to turn you off and listen to the Holy spirit.

Speaker 2: 46:25

Yeah. And here's football's getting ready to start, so let me just throw something.

Speaker 3: 46:30

Oh, I didn't even think about that. Take everything we just said in the last 15 minutes.

Speaker 2: 46:36

Cause I'm going. I'm about to blow it up. You're talking about how this thing comes on. Once a week, we rearrange our whole schedule. Yeah, what if, on Sundays, you said God, where do you want me to be today? Instead, we're like Browns, come on at 1 o'clock. I have to be there to watch them lose this game in spectacular fashion. I have to be there to watch them lose this game in spectacular fashion. God doesn't speak during those three hours, apparently because we're like no, those are blocked out. God understands. When's the last time you just said hey, God, what would you want me to do? And listen, we're in the same boat. But I'm just saying like we don's that, it's got that strong of a grip and we, when's the last time you asked god about your schedule? God, what should this look like for me today? We're not doing that.

Speaker 3: 47:28

We're not asking those questions the questions I ask is you're not going to preach long today, are you?

Speaker 2: 47:37

correct or hey, this council meeting is. We got wrapped this sucker up. The browns are starting. The browns are starting yeah, isn't that something?

Speaker 3: 47:45

yeah, we have a a lot of people vying for our attention and and one of them is the one we're saying we're laying our cloak down to, and our allegiance should be to him and he wants our attention. So give him your attention in your daily devotion and give him your attention on your sabbath. Let him speak to you, so he can speak over all these other voices that we hear every day and that, so that we know that it's that voice, his voice, that we are to obey.

Speaker 2: 48:23

What did he say? My sheep know my voice Right, and my fear is there's so many Christians that even if God spoke, we wouldn't even know it was him, right? His sheep knows you've got to give him that space. We're in this Come to the Mountain series and it came from that idea when Moses said that he brought the people outside the camp to meet God at the mountain. And mountains just throughout Scripture tend to be this place where divine things happen. God meets people, and that's not the only place God meets people. That's not the point of the series. But look at Jesus. Some of the most significant moments in his life happened on a mountain.

Speaker 2: 49:11

When he needed to pray and be alone with God, he often withdrew to the Mount of Olives.

Speaker 2: 49:18

He was tempted out in these mountain places. All these moments happen on these mountains and I think we need those sacred places in our life. And I'm not saying you got to go to a mountain. It could be a corner of your bedroom, but this is the place I go to meet with God and I remove the distractions. That's what this whole mountain thing is, god. I go to meet with God and I remove the distractions. That's what this whole mountain thing is, god. I want to meet you. I want you to reveal who you are. You're even saying I'm listening to these sermons. Maybe I need to turn those off so that I'm not just being influenced by what other people say about God. I want to know who God says he is, what he reveals to me about himself.

Speaker 3: 50:01

And that's what the mountain is all about.

Speaker 3: 50:02

It's what it's all about when he looked at Elijah, what are you doing here? I came back to you. I came back, yeah, but you got a job. You know can't be running back here. It's time to get to work. You know, can't be running back here. Yeah, it's time to get to work, you know. And god fed him and cared for him and loved on him and uh, and then said, okay, I got some things for you to do, let's go do them. And I think, uh, we, we get this idea that, uh, going to the mountain of god is some kind of great sacrifice for us, you know oh, I gotta'm going to go upstairs and kneel by the bed and pray for my five minutes.

Speaker 3: 50:43

And aren't I worthy? And it's like no man. That's that's where you go to recharge and get your life set. Um, and it's. It's not about you giving a sacrifice to God of your time. It's not about that. It sacrifice to God of your time. It's not about that. It's about becoming his friend. I think the big transition that we see in this sermon set from you know Mount Sinai and all that kind of stuff is that the disciples go to the mountain and they meet God on the Mount of Olives as a friend, as a teacher, as a prayer partner as a you know which is which is different, and we need to go to God and and make that friend, you know, and the friend that tells us, no, don't do that.

Speaker 3: 51:36

Oh yeah, you're probably right. No, I'm not probably right. I'm right, you know, and uh, and we have friends like that. You know, I look at, uh, my relationship with my dad was like that, you know, he's my friend, we joke. And then when he says that's not funny.

Speaker 3: 51:58

I say, whoa, you're right, that shouldn't be funny to me. And so all of this podcast, interesting things your expectation of God should be for him to speak to you and train you to be like his son. That's right, and it's tough at times and it's glorious at others and just let him do it as you take all your allegiances and place it under his, so you can take every thought that comes from those allegiances, from the world, from the TV, from the internet and make them obedient to Christ.

Speaker 3: 52:50

And that's what our world is. And when you do that, you begin to understand what Micah meant when he said act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God, and that's what we need to do. That's who we need to be. Anyways, man, there's a lot in that there's a sermon series right there.

Speaker 2: 53:21

That's what I love about the midweek podcast Um cause, fleshing all this stuff out in a 35, 40 minute sermon I'm preaching could be 45. Man you just there's a lot there. We're studying for these sermons that God's bringing up and these different ideas and thoughts, perspectives, and I love that this format gives us a chance to kind of peel back the curtain and reveal some of these other things that God's teaching us as we prepare for each Sunday and so really hoping that God will speak to you in this. Find that place Like I said, it doesn't have to be a mountaintop, the mountaintops are great. Find that place where God can speak to you. Give him that Sabbath, give him that time. I love what you said the non-compete clause. You know God, you get to speak and no one else is here to influence me.

Speaker 1: 54:15

I love that idea.

Speaker 2: 54:22

And, as he does, lay those allegiances down to him as he speaks. Just say yes before you even get started. All right, god. Whatever you say here, I'm saying yes to that. As you say yes, man, our spirit becomes more in step with his. We desire the things that he desires. We'll start to love the things that he loves. We're going to look more and more like Jesus. That's the good God's working in your life, um and we get to know him. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 54:49

Right, we get to know his character.

Speaker 2: 54:51

Oh, you can't know.

Speaker 3: 54:52

God. Then why is he trying to get us to know him? Right, he wants us to know him and, yeah, we're going to us to know him right, he wants us to know him and, yeah, we're going to get to know him.

Speaker 3: 55:02

We we've got millions of years ahead of us to get to know him, and we're going to get to know him as well as any other being that he ever created, and it's going to be a, it's going to be a wonderful eternity as we head in that direction. So get used to it, we're heading in that direction. Oh man, let's pray.

Speaker 3: 55:31

Father, I want to thank you that those people, the Israelites, yelled Hosanna for you, screamed blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, and waved palm branches like you were a victor because you are, and laid down their cloaks, pledging their allegiance to you because you're worthy. Thank you for that visual that, even though they had the wrong expectation of what was going to happen, their reaction to you was perfect. Lord, let us be that to you, even when our expectations are out of alignment with what you're doing, and let us be humble enough, when they don't line up, that we shift to your alignment. Instead of being bitter and hurt because of ours, we lift you up and praise you and we throw our cloaks at your feet and cry out Hosanna, because you are the only Savior and you are worthy. We love you, jesus, amen, amen.

Speaker 1: 57:09

Thanks again for joining us for this episode of the Midweek Podcast. We'd love to hear from you, let us know how God is using this resource in your life, or send any podcast questions or topic ideas to podcast at afreshwindorg. If you would like to support this ministry financially and help us continue offering new resources that equip you to discover more in Christ, simply text ANYAMOUNT to the number 84321. We're so grateful for your support. Make sure to tune in next week for a brand new episode of the Midweek Podcast. Be blessed and have a great week.