Episode 17: Tim Nellis and Repentance
What are the four types of people who go to church? Is repentance a turning away or not? What’s the relationship between love and obedience in our relationship with God? How can we lead not with duty in our relationship with God?
In this week's episode of the Calvary Life Podcast, Pastors Eric and Matt will go over all those questions and more. Don't forget to email your questions to
TIMESTAMPS:
Four types of people who go to church (3:43), Repentance isn’t just turning away from sin? (17:08), Love vs obedience (26:15), How to lead not out of duty? (34:33), Rapid Fire Questions with Tim Nellis (50:32)
If you'd like to keep up to date with this season of the Calvary Life Podcast, be sure to subscribe to us on your podcast player of choice. To listen to our archive of episodes, check out our website at calvarylife.org/podcast.
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Podcast Transcription:
Introduction
From Calvary Church of Santa Ana, this is the Calvary Life podcast. The show where we share stories, laugh together, and have discussions about faith, life, and God with people from Calvary Church. Here are your hosts, Eric and Matt.
Eric
Welcome to the Calvary Life podcast. This is Eric Wakeling here with Matt Doan and Tim Nellis. How you doing, Tim?
Tim
Doing good, doing good.
Eric
Oh, yeah. [plays recorded applause]
Matt
The live audience!
Tim
Whoa. Haven't heard that in a while.
Eric
Did you get any of that yesterday?
Tim
There was very little applause.
Eric
[laughs] So this is for everyone to understand. So you guys pretty much probably know we record these on Mondays most of the time. And we talk about like yesterday, Sunday. Now Matt Doan and I were both not at church. So
Matt
we were playing hooky.
Eric
Yeah. Matt was just like bathing on the beaches of Florida. And I was like serving the poor in-
Tim
In Paso Robles. [laughs]
Eric
[laughing] Yeah. Hey, Tim, you got to make sure you're really close on the microphone. Gosh, come on.
Tim
It goes too high. It's short. It's small.
Eric
But yeah, so we're here to talk about it. So we listened to the sermon from yesterday, most of us. And then-
Matt
You'll be able to tell which one, Ben. [laughing]
Tim
I haven't listened to it. I'm trying not to.
Matt
Let me ask you that question. Do you typically, when you preach, if it's recorded somewhere, do you like to listen to it? Is it a painful exercise or both?
Tim
I give it a few days. I don't want to listen to it within the next 24 hours.
Matt
Yeah.
Tim
Yeah, it can be both. Sometimes I'll listen to it. I'm like, that was a really good point.
Matt
Right.
Tim
Other times and you're like, oh, I don't know. It's out there forever.
Matt
Right.
Tim
Can't get it back.
Eric
Do you ever seriously think, like you'll listen to it and you'll think like, oh wow, that was like, that was a smart point. I don't remember making that point or like being, I didn't think I could say that.
Tim
Totally.
Eric
Or something like that.
Tim
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Eric
That's so funny. I totally do that. Anyway. Yeah. So let's get into it a little bit. Should we do a little pre-talk?
Matt
Sure.
Eric
Yeah. Okay. Let's, before we get into the content, you know.
Matt
Okay. Before we talk through, dissect Sunday's message.
Eric
Just break it down. I've got 17 heresies to discuss. [multiple laughing] Although Tim did in the talk, he definitely made it so no one would come and talk to him about his talk afterwards.
Tim
I did. Did you like that?
Eric
Yeah, yeah. He said this whole thing. [laughing] Of like, you know, if you're not thinking about yourself changing, you just want people just, you just want to come and talk to me about my sermon and how I should change or whatever. You know? So it was like a preemptive strike.
Tim
It was.
Matt
Did you get anybody to talk about your sermon?
Tim
No. It was the first time I've ever spoken in the main service.
Eric
Wow.
Tim
Where no one came up and was like, well, you know, this one point you could have.
Eric
Yeah.
Tim
It was really nice.
Eric
Do you think just...
Tim
I think I did a service to us all.
Eric
Yeah, yeah. There you go.
Tim
It'll last about one month.
Eric
Do you think just this was the first time you didn't have heresy in your talk? [all laughing]
Tim
Could be. I'm still learning.
Eric
I still have yet to have someone not talk to me. [all laughing]
Matt
I mean, there's a couple ways you can look at just feedback, quote, quote, feedback from sermons. One is like, oh, people are engaged or they're connected to it. That's cool. Sometimes I get nervous when no one says anything because it's like, oh, it's just...
Tim
Oh, that's even worse.
Eric
Yeah, exactly.
Matt
It either flew over everyone's heads or usually my type of speaking is just people fell asleep or what. So when people do like, ah, what about this point? Or I don't know about that. At least they're engaged, right? It's kind of like a shock jock.
Tim
Well, we kind of ran through the four types of people that come to a service.
Eric
Oh, yeah, yeah. Talk about that.
Tim
Type one is ready and willing. We want to change. Give us it. Then there's the curious. They're like, hey, we're here. We're interested. Show me something new. I'm excited about this. Then there's the doubters who are like, hey, you've got to prove it to me. Then there's just the opponents. They're just looking for things to pick out. And that's who I was picking on yesterday were the opponents.
Matt
Jesus had all of that, right? Then as people followed his ministry, people like, hey, I hear the word and I'm wanting to respond to it and change. And then people who were like, I'm just here to trap you.
Eric
That's true. That's interesting. Yeah, because people are people, right? Like regardless of who the communicator is.
Matt
Sure.
Tim
Yes.
Eric
And Jesus wasn't like, I guess some people thought of Jesus as like someone cool to come see, but it wasn't like the popular preacher. You know, he was like, he was the one that was causing, he was the preacher causing problems. A little bit of an agitator.
Matt
Right.
Eric
Which I think Tim likes to play that role.
Tim
I like to poke the bear. You know, every once in a while.
Eric
Exactly.
Tim
But I didn't choose this passage. I would not have chosen this passage. So that's the question I have for you, Eric. So when you like piece out all the passages and then you piece out the weeks you will and won't speak.
Eric
Yeah.
Tim
Is there strategic?
Eric
This was legitimately just because I was out of town and Matt was out of town that we asked you specifically to do this.
Tim
That makes me feel special.
Eric
Because we just.
Matt
I was going to say.
Eric
No.
Matt
No one else could do it.
Tim
No one else.
Eric
No.
Tim
It's literally because we were both out of town.
Matt
I asked 15 people to come over for dinner and no one could come so I invited you.
Eric
That was a trap I fell into.
Tim
That was fantastic.
Eric
I did fall into a trap, but that's not what I'm trying to say. I'm trying to say I wanted to have Tim speak a couple of times this year.
Matt
Yes.
Eric
And one of those need.
Tim
Happen to be this week.
Eric
That needs to be the week that we're not here. So if there's a week we're both not here it's for sure going to be that. And I just chart out the passages with no thought of who's speaking it necessarily.
Tim
Of course.
Eric
Or like, you know what I mean? So yeah, yeah, yeah. This was all.
Tim
You don't have to be defensive about it. It's okay. [laughing]
Eric
Well, so it's like the genealogy is coming up in like three weeks.
Tim
Oh, that one is spicy, right? [sarcasm?]
Eric
And you're just like. I can't even remember if I have that one or not. I should look that up right now. I think I probably do, but
Matt
you do.
Eric
Yeah, I do. You remember. Okay. Matt knows. [laughs]
Matt
Speaking of feedback, did anyone since Eric and I were both gone where ... where are those guys?
Eric
Oh man.
Tim
Oh no. No. It's kind of silence. Just radio silence.
Matt
Out of sight. Out of mind.
Eric
So this might just be the good place to talk about it. Okay. This thing that happened on Sunday that I'm not happy about.
Tim
Oh, oh, oh, no.
Matt
Okay.
Tim
I didn't, I didn't plan. Well, I kind of planned on it, but it went better than I thought.
Eric
So he's like listing all these like people you could learn from that were like legends and stuff, you know, like the school of Samsvick or Billy Graham or Mitchell. And then he's like, or Wakeling. And then the crowd audibly laughs. [laughing] I can hear laughter.
Matt
Was it a laugh like we totally agree with you or a laugh like how preposterous?
Eric
Yeah, I think it was very much, I mean, you can.
Tim
Well, I set it up for a laugh.
Eric
You did kind of give it that little.
Tim
I kind of gave it a little gap ...
Eric
Wakeling.
Tim
And then. Or Wakeling.
Matt
A little wink. Yeah.
Tim
It was, it was all love.
Eric
It was funny. Yeah, it was funny actually. I liked it.
Matt
Eric's love language is, is to laugh at him and laugh at others. So it works.
Tim
How do you feel about that?
Matt
What's that?
Tim
Handling people laughing at you or laughing at people?
Matt
I actually love it. I love it. Yeah. I love when I can make fun of myself or be self-deprecating, that kind of thing.
Tim
The banter.
Matt
Yeah.
Tim
I'm a fan of banter.
Matt
Yeah.
Eric
Yeah, but you're, you're a sensitive little guy. [all laughing]
Tim
Got hot in here.
Eric
But this is also the thing that I keep saying here in this podcast of like the, that I always say like the 'mean Doan' or whatever, which I don't mean actually 'mean Doan'. It's just the like, the like sports banter guy jokes, you know, like the kind of like
Matt
I can give and take. I can give and take.
Eric
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You totally can. And that's where I always try to have people like be able to know that side of you instead of just thinking that you're like the perfect shepherd. Yeah. I have to try to cut you down because everyone likes you so much.
Matt
Anyways, back to Tim's message.
Tim
No, no.
Eric
What why? Just kidding.
Tim
You can move on.
Eric
What was your favorite part?
Tim
My favorite part?
Eric
No, Matt.
Tim
Oh yeah Matt what was your favorite part?
Matt
I love the Revelation nine, 20 and 21 passage of even when all this has been revealed, people still not repent.
Tim
How did that connect?
Matt
It was powerful. It was really powerful. I was on an airplane. I was on an airplane in multiple airports yesterday.
Tim
Do you ever feel like a, so you're wearing a surf team hat.
Matt
Yes.
Tim
Can you tell me about that?
Eric
This is actually easy. He can do this easily. Go for it.
Matt
So yeah, I'm wearing a surf team hat currently as we're doing this podcast from Orange Lutheran High School. I think it says, does it say 'OLu surf' on it?
Eric
Orange Lutheran surf team, yeah.
Matt
So both my kids, this is actually their hat. I've stolen their hat.
Eric
Your kids too.
Matt
My daughter's the captain of the OLu surf team.
Tim
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Matt
Which I don't know what that means.
Eric
My daughter is on the non-competitive group of the surf team.
Matt
Gotcha.
Eric
So she doesn't do the competitions except for the spring girls competition, which will be coming up soon.
Tim
Oh, that's fun.
Eric
So yes, but yeah, she is not doing that stuff. But yeah, Doan's kids are like, I'm like amazed at this. Not like, I know this is, this is going to be-
Tim
I know where you're going.
Eric
Yeah, I just feel like, I do feel a little bit like, how are Doan's kids like good at surfing? [laughing]
Matt
Well, I'm, of us three, I'm the non-surfer, right?
Eric
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Tim
Well, did you-
Matt
They've gotten the bug. They've just, in fact-
Tim
Is that from your dad?
Matt
Samuel wants to surf with you, he's been talking about that, so.
Tim
Yeah, we talked about it too.
Matt
Yeah, yeah, so yeah, I think my dad, my dad's still short boards at 73.
Eric
Wow. That's cool, dude.
Matt
In the chilled water of Santa Cruz and get out there on his short board.
Tim
Wow.
Matt
So, so yeah, I think that's probably where they picked up a little bit of that. So I'm posing a little bit with my OLu surf hat.
Eric
No, no, no, no, no.
Matt
But proud of my own kids.
Eric
No, I don't think you're posing with the hat actually at all because I think like you would wear, like I would wear a-
Tim
Whatever sport, your kid did.
Eric
You know, football team hat. And I would never, I've never played tackle football, that kind of a thing. So all right, so okay, this other thing, okay, let's get, let's do some of the like more non-serious we'll work our way, kind of like what you did in your talk. Like you worked your way from, you know, these introductory things. Because you had these little setups at the beginning, these little like-
Tim
These common knowledge quips that people all kind of just buy into.
Eric
Right, right. I think the one that actually that's like the works the best is like the carrot, you know, if you eat carrots, it's good for your-
Matt
Creatine?
Tim
Let's try these. Let's try some of them with-
Eric
Your eyes. Oh, should we try them on Doan? Yeah, your eyes, exactly. Yeah. Keep going.
Tim
So if you eat a big lunch and you want to go swimming, you need to wait-
Matt
Don't do it. 30 minutes, 30 minutes, please.
Tim
There you go.
Matt
I'm falling right into the crowd, aren't I?
Eric
Oh, shoot. I remember the Star Wars one, but I don't remember the-
Matt
Actually, I heard these though. In last week, we talked it through a little bit.
Tim
Oh, that's true. That's true.
Eric
But you biffed it, dude.
Tim
No
Eric
you did.
Tim
Where?
Eric
You did on the Star Wars one.
Tim
No, I didn't.
Eric
You said the word Luke.
Tim
I know, it was leading.
Eric
But that's the whole point is Luke's not in it, I thought.
Tim
I know. That's my whole point.
Eric
You said Luke.
Tim
I did say Luke.
Eric
Oh, you were afraid they weren't going to get it right.
Tim
I was a little afraid that they'd be the only people who'd read it. So I just said Luke, and then they all said "I am your father".
Eric
But they're right.
Tim
No, they're not, because he said, "no, I am your father".
Matt
He didn't say Luke.
Tim
He didn't say Luke.
Eric
But they didn't say, they didn't say Luke. You said Luke.
Matt
Oh
Tim
Yeah, but
Eric
So I'm saying they were,
Tim
they were agreeing with the, with the Luke premise. [laughing]
I did hear some feedback immediately about that. That was the first comment of the whole morning.
Eric
Was that the, yeah, okay. If that's the greatest mistake you made in like a sermon or whatever.
Tim
I'll take that.
Eric
Factual mistake. Yeah, I'll take that too. And then I heard you do it, because I was actually listening to it. I turned on the live stream a little bit while I was with my in-laws and on the little vacation this weekend. And but I only stayed through that part and then I turned it back. I listened to the rest today.
Tim
It's about to get serious. I'm on vacation. [laughing]
Eric
I watched the rest of it today.
Matt
Is that what our church family does? Like, okay, I'm out.
Eric
Yeah, exactly.
Tim
I'll give you two minutes.
Eric
Yeah. I'm going to go out to eat breakfast.
Matt
And then Brussels sprouts.
Eric
Oh, yeah.
Tim
Brussels sprouts. I repented.
Eric
Oh yeah that goes into the repentance.
Tim
That's a repentance bit.
Eric
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You're going too fast. Yeah, yeah. Back up. Back up. Because like, so the whole point was you're saying there's things that we get that we think we know, like, sort of through collective knowledge
Tim
knowledge, through how we grow up, what we know
Eric
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tim
That are correct.
Eric
Yeah. So the whole carrot thing is not real?
Tim
Only to find out they're wrong.
Matt
No
Tim
Your body like, it has like the beta carotene. And then as soon as your body gets what it needs, nothing else. It just flushes the rest of it. So you can eat carrots all day long.
Eric
And it won't help your eyes.
Tim
And it won't help your eyes.
Eric
So you actually accidentally said creatine, but you were kind of right when you-
Matt
I was.
Eric
About beta carotene.
Matt
Well, because when I was in college, there was a guy on our floor and he started juicing like crazy.
Tim
His skin turned orange?
Matt
He was in track and field and he was just juicing and juicing and juicing. And yeah, he started turning like Oompa Loompa.
Tim
Oh, no.
Matt
Oompa Loompa? Is that what the ...? Is that the Willy Wonka ... Oompa Loompa?
Eric
Yeah.
Matt
He was like, seriously turning his skin orange?
Eric
And by juicing, you mean, you don't mean ... You don't mean steroids?
Matt
Yeah. That was the era. That was the era of that.
Tim
That was creatine as well.
Matt
I actually had a former major league baseball player that I will not name that I went to high school with. And he's like, dude, you got to try this. Steroids. I said, no. I said, no.
Tim
Wow.
Matt
He played for the Giants and the Phillies.
Tim
You should have said yes.
Matt
You can look them up.
Eric
I've been thinking about, I was thinking about using steroids for triathlons. I was like ...
Tim
Whoa
Eric
and then you do actually have to sign something that says you didn't. I was like,
Matt
Oh, really? Oh, I bet ...
Tim
Interesting.
Eric
Yeah. It's like a bummer because I'm like, who cares what place I get? It's like, so I got 780th instead of 812th.
Matt
You would think about using steroids for triathlons. [all laughing]
Eric
I'm just kind of like whatever it takes, man, at this point. Plus, I'm like old enough. I'll die soon. [laughing]
Matt
It just took a darker turn. Pretty quick.
Eric
This is where, it's so funny because Jordan does these timestamps on this. Jordan Kranda, amazing producer. I just imagine it like Eric. Talks about steroids. Yeah. Eric admits to doing steroids or something like that on there.
Matt
Every podcast, he mentions triathlons. We just got triathlons and we're still waiting for soccer and for Formula 1.
Tim
Soccer. I'll go to soccer.
Eric
Yeah, let's talk soccer. Sorry, you just walked into that one.
Tim
So, does it make you love your favorite English football team, Chelsea, more or less that they spent over $300 million in free agent signings in the last month?
Matt
Like they just bought their championship?
Tim
Yes.
Eric
They bought their 10th place that we're in right now. Well, because we're in 10th place right now.
Matt
Did he say we?
Eric
Out of 20.
Matt
Is he on the team? [chuckles]
Eric
It's my team.
Tim
Yeah, it's his team. We!
Matt
I was like, "Is he on the team? Does he play?"
Eric
Do you say we about the Oakland A's?
Matt
No.
Eric
I guess if you're a team blogger, you're allowed to say we.
Matt
I never would say we.
Eric
You should say we.
Matt
There's no we. I'm not playing.
Eric
I think it's a community. It's we. We are Chelsea.
Tim
Do you say we? We are Calvary?
Eric
Chelsea until I die. Yeah!
Matt
Put that on the poll. Put that on the poll.
Eric
I understand the hate on the we, but I don't mind the we. I like the we.
Matt
Do you say we?
Tim
I say we.
Eric
Yeah. Yeah, why not?
Tim
I am one of them.
Eric
I wouldn't say we about, let's see, probably Formula 1, I wouldn't say we about.
Tim
Even though you have the hat.
Eric
Max Verstappen and I are not we together. But let's see. Okay, so yeah, I feel a little bit embarrassed about my team right now.
Tim
I would.
Eric
So.
Tim
But I feel a little bit embarrassed about my team right now.
Eric
Well, you should, because your team's going to get relegated.
Tim
No, they won't.
Matt
What's your team?
Tim
Everton.
Matt
Okay.
Tim
And we spent zero dollars on the open transfer window.
Eric
You sold a good player.
Tim
We did, we got rid of our best player.
Eric
You got rid of your best player. Yeah, and they fired their coach. Frank Lampard, who is a Chelsea legend, and went to coach, and he's not a good coach.
Tim
But we did get a new coach, and we just beat the number one team in the whole division.
Eric
That's true. Okay, well, I think this is as far as we can go.
Tim
Okay, that's a better ...
Eric
People are going to turn it off. You are done.
Matt
Speaking of like after two minutes.
Eric
Very aware of it.
Matt
Speaking of after two minutes.
Eric
Hopefully you guys hit the plus 15 seconds or whatever. All right, all right, all right, all right, all right. So okay, so then you talked about this whole aspect of repentance, which repentance, you said not just turning away, which is kind of the classic like definition to turn around 180 degree. I did say the week before, it's to reorient your perspective. [sighs] Acts like he was like refuting me on stage, but he was, I mean, I feel like we were agreeing with each other.
Tim
No, we are one and the same.
Matt
We, we.
Tim
We have different angles, different flavors of the same ice cream joint.
Eric
No, but it was really good. But I liked those examples because you gave this example of Brussels sprouts. You've repented of how you used to think about Brussels sprouts.
Tim
Yes. Something to avoid at all costs.
Eric
Yeah, yeah. Do you have, Doan, do you have a vegetable that you used to hate, but now like?
Matt
All of them.
Tim
Oh, you were anti-veg.
Oh, like you used to ...
Matt
I was anti-veg.
Eric
And now you're super pro-veg.
Matt
No, I'm still. I still haven't repented.
Matt and Tim
Oh! [laughing]
Tim
If it's green, let it be.
Eric
How are you not pro-veg? Because you are like, you are just a vision right now. You are a just example of like just physical beauty. And I don't understand how you could do that without eating vegetables. [laughing] But for real, you're like super fit. What's going on?
Matt
I appreciate that. That's not true. But no, Marie gets the vegetables into our family diet.
Eric
Oh, does she like have to cut them up real small and put them in the mashed potatoes?
Matt
She has to do the airplane like. [airplane noises]
Eric
No, no, no, but for real, you don't have a thing that you've like used to hate, but you like now?
Matt
For sure. Lettuce. I think every kid doesn't like lettuce or salads. And now, yeah, I love salads, chew salads.
Eric
Yeah.
Matt
I think pretty much tomatoes, tomatoes is one, too. You used to throw them out of every burger.
Eric
I still hate tomatoes.
Matt
On hamburgers?
Eric
Raw, raw, yeah, raw on things.
Tim
You don't like a lot of things for being a foodie.
Eric
I don't like raw onions or tomatoes. I feel like most other things I'll eat.
Matt
Is it the texture or taste or both?
Eric
Raw onions for me, it is about the strong pepper acidic thing that shoots out of a raw onion that I don't.
Tim
Overtakes everything.
Eric
Yeah, I think it over. I do think it overtakes. I genuinely don't understand how the entire culture of like Latin America wants to put raw onions on tacos because I do think it like takes away from the meat flavor. But I know I'm wrong. I understand that like cognitively that I'm the one that's wrong.
Tim
That you need to repent.
Eric
Yeah, yeah. But I will not repent of that. I just want to enjoy the meat of my tacos. So yeah, I don't know.
Matt
So was there a moment? I didn't quite hear everything about the message. Was there a moment that you just like, whoa, these are good.
Tim
What are good?
Matt
Brussels sprouts.
Tim
Yeah, I remember like there. Well, I don't know if there's a moment, but there's a season where I went to a couple of restaurants.
Eric
Yeah.
Tim
Where my mom wasn't the one that was making them.
Eric
We don't do editing, bro.
Tim
I know I paused and I couldn't back out because she's an amazing cook.
Matt
She is, yeah.
Tim
But she used to not make Brussels sprouts real good. In my opinion.
Eric
I will tell you, like I have the exact same experience as you. So like, don't feel like guilty because this is how like people just used to do Brussels sprouts.
Tim
Yes, they're boiled, whatever.
Eric
Yeah, yeah. Whole without cutting them up.
Tim
Exactly.
Eric
Yeah, it's disgusting.
Tim
Yeah. And then when you go somewhere that's cut them in half and they're dark brown, fried, crispy with good aioli and they're awesome.
Eric
Yeah, exactly. So OK, so I like to. OK, so it's like you started us off with like you repented of that. Then you took like one little step further.
Matt
Wait wait I just had a memory! You and I and our wives in Los Gatos, California, at a restaurant, I think we had Brussels sprout appetizer and you were trying to sell me on it.
Tim
We did! The crispy ones.
Matt
Yes, you were selling it.
Tim
They were amazing. Yeah.
Matt
This just flashed back in my head. Wow.
Eric
Oh, like when they put them in the deep fryer.
Tim
Yeah, that's what they did. That was actually.
Matt
Yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, sorry. All right.
Eric
No, that's good. Tell us more about that. What was this? I am forgetting right now what the second thing was that you said you're ...
Tim
The trash. Trash. Recycling.
Eric
Oh yeah, recycling. Yeah, yeah.
Tim
Cause, I used to not care at all. Yeah, it wasn't. I moved to the Bay Area. Everything kind of switched and changed. Hmm. Yeah. No one. Everyone did it. And then I started to think and then I started to read more about like Genesis and original purpose of humans and all these things.
Eric
Yeah.
Matt
Now I can speak with experience on this too. Bay Area trash cans are tiny. Are small.
Tim
Yes.
Matt
Here they're bigger.
Tim
Yes. You have to care. They're like maybe a quarter of the size.
Eric
Ok, so they want you to like really like you can only have so much waste.
Matt
Right.
Tim
Yeah. You have one giant recycle and then giant green waste and a tiny, tiny, tiny trash can.
Matt
Tiny, tiny.
Eric
Did you know that here you can request a smaller one and your bill will be less?
Matt
No.
Tim
Really?
Eric
Yeah. It's a thing. Like I've seen a couple like I've seen a couple of them like real like like older people in my neighborhood because it's also easier to take it out.
Matt
Sure.
Eric
You know, so. But yeah.
Matt
This is actually the second week in a row in the pod we've talked about trash cans.
Eric
Oh yeah my neighbor
Matt
Last week we talked about.
Tim
Oh, I heard. Yeah, I listened to it.
Matt
Trash cans get thrown in.
Eric
Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, anyway, but I love that that you repented of this like view of it's all going to burn. Who cares what happens to a view of like we are part of making this like we we join in with God to like celebrate the creation he has made and to make it.
Tim
Until he comes back. We have that role across the board with everything.
Eric
Yeah.
Tim
We are bringers of life, not takers of life.
Eric
Yes. Yes. And I think that's the right perspective as well personally. So and if you don't agree with us, email us at podcast at Calvary life dot org. Maybe we could
Tim
Get one?
Eric
Maybe that's what we need to do is like generate some controversy.
Matt
To get an email.
Eric
If you love if you either love boiled whole Brussels sprouts or you hate the earth and want it to just be polluted.
Tim
Can't wait for it to be gone.
Eric
Because there is that view. There's a lot of people actually do have the view that it is going to all be burned up. So who cares?
Tim
So why use energy and time finances to try to keep it?
Eric
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think like our perspective should be towards like if God is if God is on a mission of making everything that was broken like whole again, we should be on that same mission of all things, you know, of all things. Like I think obviously we care I mean, I think I like prioritize like
Tim
People.
Eric
The human soul. Yeah. Yeah.
Matt
But I think there is something though to global warming has become a little bit of a worship thing. Right. So it's become oh, I I fight for my cause of global warming because the earth is my God and I bow down to it. So it's like there's an extreme case or kind of point of view where it's like this all there is versus what you were talking about doesn't matter what this is. Right. But there's got to be some nuance there.
Eric
Umm, we're going to fight you now. OK, so what is what does global warming have to do with that? I think people worship the earth.
Matt
Right.
Eric
Versus like whether global warming is a thing or not. Right. Like so I don't know if I'm going to come at you a little bit on this one.
Matt
Well, yes. I would say there's a worldview out there that says the earth is getting hotter.
Eric
Yes.
Matt
Therefore we should cut back on our resources.
Eric
Yes.
Matt
But to the point where it's it's it's almost like a religion. Like if you don't agree with me.
Eric
Yeah.
Matt
Like you're evil.
Eric
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matt
And there's still a lot of science out there about some of these things. [making a face]
Eric
Wow. Still a lot of science out there. He's making a face you guys like he's scared like he
Tim
He just said something he doesn't believe himself. [all laughing]
Matt
Well I just traveled this fine country this weekend and it was cold.
Eric
Oh boy. Matthew.
Matt
What does that have to do with global warming? [all laughing]
Tim
Wow, just lost all my college for years.
Eric
I know exactly. Um, yeah. So I think we should care for the earth.
Matt
Amen. Amen.
Eric
And I think that we should.
Tim
Anyone can take anything too far.
Matt
Yeah. That's what that's that's my point.
Eric
Yeah. That's what I mean. Like it's like they're gonna take it too far whether whatever is true or not about global warming. There's these people that were like these like earth worshipers like hundreds of years ago probably in thousands, you know.
Matt
Yeah. Yeah. Biblical times, right? Like putting poles up on hills and walking up there.
Eric
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tim
There always will be.
Eric
Yeah. But then we turned it to like the point getting more into the point. No, no, I'm not saying that in a bad way.
Tim
No, no, yeah. Yeah.
Eric
Leading them towards something. I mean, yes. Yeah. I mean, who knows if we need to take 15 minutes for it, but it's fine.
Tim
I took two minutes in my sermon, but we we did. We take 15 minutes to get there in our podcast.
Eric
I think we might be generous on both ends of those. [laughing] But yeah, like yeah, so then you got it into like your your thoughts on duty and love and obedience and that kind of a thing.
Tim
That was interesting to me. I got more like I had multiple people come up and say that that little piece of the of the pie was something that they that stuck with them that they were trying to wrestle with and figure out for themselves. And they kept thinking about. So yeah, obedience versus love.
Eric
That's good. Yeah. Yeah. I think it was really cool. Sorry I feel like I've been dominating too much.
Tim
No, you're doing good
Eric
It's probably because Matt didn't listen to sermon.
Matt
Again people, I was on a plane for 12 hours yesterday. [all laughing]
Eric
No, but I like it. I was actually listening to it. I was kind of like starting to get like, am I going to disagree with him? And then but then you had a good little thing. But anyway, let me try and explain your point and see if I explain it well. OK.
Tim
Oh, yeah.
Eric
You can you can come back on it. But like it was living a life of and I might get some of these aspects like not exactly the way you said it, but it's like you lived a life of duty and obedience that you had to do for God almost maybe in like an earn God's love kind of way or like you have to like your whole perspective was on duty and obedience. And God shifted it for you to think about it, that it's His love. You have to receive His love. And that is what matters most. And then obedience will flow out of that love because you want to and you desire to in the way that if you love, you can say this, I don't think but like the way that you love your wife and because you love her, you want to serve her. And not because it's like she's nagged you. Right. Like that you you you want to do that for her. I don't know if you've ever done that or not, Matt.
Matt
Well I was just thinking like if if your wife said, will you open the door for me?
Eric
Right.
Matt
It's kind of a dumb analogy, but like versus just wanting to do it because you wanted to do something cool
Tim
Because I was thinking what's most important to God? I think a lot of people have different ideas of what God cares about the most. And I think a lot of people think that obeying Him is what He cares about the most. And I just really started to believe that that I mean, He didn't send His Son to die for us so that we would obey Him. He sent His Son to die for us so that we would know how much He loves us. And so I think love brings about obedience where obedience might only bring about behavior modification where the love of God in your life will transform you first.
Eric
If you do obedience first or if you do ... versus love first.
Tim
Yeah, yeah, yeah. First.
Eric
Yeah, I agree because it's like it's not it's hard because it's one of those things like a lot of things like people that think that aren't stupid. Like there's verses that say like
Matt
John 15
Eric
If you love me, you'll obey my commandments. And so then you're just like, ah, you know, it kind of like you think and it has all these things of like, yes, you got to like you have to obey. Right. There's all these verses about that.
Tim
What you do.
Eric
Yeah. Well, no, I know what you do. And so it's just like I understand why people think that it's kind of like even like in our baptism class where I say like, look, people that think that you have to like baptize your babies. They're not like just dumb. They're not getting that from nowhere. There's these verses that say like he and his whole household were baptized and were saved like they're hard passages to deal with. It's not just like it came from nowhere. Like someone just decided to think that one day. Now, we think we have good reasons for thinking otherwise. And it's kind of like, you know, sometimes I just try to give like a bit of grace sometimes even to people that have that view. We want to like help them get to a different view and help them because I think it's especially with this one of the obedience and love. It's like it's also going to be a better life. Like it's also going to be like this is a much healthier way to live in relationship to God.
Matt
It's almost like the idea of what's faith and works to write like faith and works are not opposed to each other. Obedience and love are not opposed to each other. But what's the priority? What's what comes first? And that's kind of what you were getting at. Right?
Tim
Yeah. What will feed the other one instead of what's the other one just requiring that doesn't feed anything?
Eric
Yeah. Yeah. That's really good.
Matt
Because I know times in my spiritual life when I have been fueled by obedience, when something doesn't go my way, then I either get angry like I didn't get what I deserve because I'm making the genie, you know, do what I want. Or I just get apathetic like, well, it doesn't matter how I live because nothing's going my way. Right. But operating from a place of love first, really, the outcome isn't as important.
Tim
Yeah. It matters much less. Yeah. And so freeing like that totally changed my relationship with the Lord and changed the way that I engage with him and changed what I what I think. Like you said, I'm owed by him. And I've already I'm already getting everything I'm owed. Like I've got more. I got more than I ever was owed just by his love. And so and everything feels like gravy or icing on the cake rather than if I only had this then. And it's just like I already have everything. I have everything in his love.
Matt
In the wonderful words of the theologian Dave Ramsey, "I'm better than I deserve". [laughing]
Eric
Doan's just problematic all over the place today. I feel like.
Tim
Not listening, bringing up global warming, Dave Ramsey.
Eric
Dave Ramsey probably agree with you on global warming. [laughing]
Matt
No, but that's I think that's a good challenge for our church, right? Of just what's the priority? What flows from what?
Eric
It's interesting that I mean, we're I guess we're talking about receiving God's love. But even the first and greatest commandment is to love God, not to like do stuff for God. The first commandment is to love him. So like we receive God's love. This has been my whole shtick since like my sabbatical. I feel like what I like realized in my life as well. I was like my repentance on my sabbatical was OK, receive God's love first and just like then everything else can come out of that. Because I was praying on my sabbatical like "Lord, help me to love people well". That was like my goal going in was I want to love people and the people of Calvary and like even people that I've like that have disagreed with me on a lot of the stuff that we've done even like because, you know, this whole last few years with COVID and stuff, it's like, well, you're pretty much guaranteed to have half the people disagree with you on everything you do. And so it's just like, yeah, there's been a lot of that. And it's like that can be wearing and that can be frustrating even. I was like, Lord, I want like I want that to be healed. And like what God said was, OK, well, that's going to be healed by you receiving my love. And then out of that did then flow that love for people, which is cool. Right. Like and that was God doing that outside of like me sort of like trying to do that or something.
Tim
Yes, yes, yes.
Matt
Yeah, there's a supernatural component to that. Whereas you receive the love of Christ, all of a sudden you're like, whoa, what flowing out of me? Not even something I muster. It's just how I've yeah, how it just naturally respond.
Tim
And that's where I really I love this idea of moving away from just choose differently. Yeah, just choose differently. Choose to love, choose it. Because then you either get the credit or the blame, depending if you successfully do it or not, versus receive God's love fully and see what happens. See what happens to you when you let God in. When you let God change you, when you let God, you know, do these things, make yourself available. Then you see what changes instead of being like, I'm going to change my life. And and it's just something about that, that while simultaneously you you obey, even when you don't maybe want to or agree with it doesn't he if he's really the one who created everything and he created you, then you owe it to him to obey him fully and completely no matter what.
Eric
Yeah. How is for you then like sort of like what how does the how work? Because that's kind of like the the theorizing, you know what I mean? And so then, right. So because it's we're not
Matt
I'd even phrase it with as a recovering obedience holic in a sense. How do you like check yourself that you're not just leading out of just duty versus just the relational love of God?
Tim
I mean, I think it's been a process for me. It's been long. I mean, a lot of counseling, a lot of identifying why I do the things I do. I would venture to say that most people don't know why they do what they do. All they know is they do it. Why? Why do you always get upset? I don't know. I just am. I'm mad about this.
Eric
I'm trying not to. But what does that mean? Right.
Tim
Yes. Yeah. And so I think that like really leaning into that piece of my life, it took a couple of years. A lot of time, money, counseling and all these different things of really pushing myself to those. And then it was also me really asking myself, like, well, if this is what God is saying, am I ... What am I doing with what he's saying? Because I've created my own narrative of what I think he should be saying or what like others have told me he said or done. And so I've been living out of either my own opinion or the opinions of others. And I've never asked God to clarify for himself, God, what are you saying in this? And I think that's a lot of what Eryn Holm has been leading us into. It's like you're actually engaging with God to be the one that shares with you rather than relying upon all those people that I mentioned. That people rely upon.
Eric
And I think that's actually exactly what you do if you go receive prayer ministry counseling through Desiree's ministry here and our prayer counseling ministry. Like genuinely exactly what you process through is like, where is God in relation to you right now? What is God ... And then like, what is God saying to you? And she's just guiding you to hear like, so what is God saying to you about this? Or where do you see God in this? And so it's just like, you're kind of like processing through it. And usually it kind of like results in some sort of moment of like, oh, you know, like
Matt
Like breaking false narratives. Like you use that term and then replacing that with true narratives, which would be biblical narratives at the same time too. Right? So just, I mean, to fill in the obvious gap, but I don't think we'd ever hear from God something that he also hadn't communicated to us through his revealed word too. So
Eric
Well, wait, what? Or something that would be in opposition to his,
Matt
That's what I mean.
Eric
Okay. Okay. I think that's like a little bit of an important distinction, but yes, absolutely. You're right. You're right.
Tim
So I think, I think this is hard for people a lot of times because they just want, if I do A, B and C, I'll get D, E and F. Right. They want a recipe and I don't believe for relationships are recipes. Um, you can't manipulate them in order to make them become more intimate faster. Like without things just organically eventually happening, you can spend more time together, which will definitely fast forward things. You can go through hard things together, which fast forwards things. And so when you start to spend more time with the Lord, you bring him into the hard things you're going through. You are asking him for advice. You are just enjoying his presence. Then I think that is the, that's the work. That's the work of the process to, to being transformed.
Eric
Yeah. I feel like for me, it's been kind of like to your point of like spending time with like a relationship it's like been like opening myself to these times of just like being quiet, not filling the space, like not filling the space with noise. Cause I actually, it's like probably my worst weakness is to fill, like I fill space with noise all the time, a podcast, music, TV, whatever, even just conversation with people, whatever, like to the point where it's like too much. And so it's like, I have to like actively say, okay, like turn off the noise, get away from the busyness, go walk, ask like, God, I'm here. I want to be with you. You know what I mean? I want to, I would, I would like to hear from you Lord, you know, like even just, just kind of starting the conversation. And then I feel like those are, those times are always when God has met with me, but it's not every time. Like that epic time I had on my sabbatical was like seven weeks into my sabbatical. It was like, like the first couple of weeks were just like a struggle, you know? And so like, and it doesn't have to be like a sabbatical that just happened to be my sabbatical, but just like, it doesn't mean like the first minute you're quiet, all sudden it's like, I just am receiving God's love and I'm knowing it and I'm in this place of bliss or something, you know? Cause it's like, I do think there's people that say like, I want to, I want to sense God's love. I want to receive his love, but they're really confused and don't know what to do when they don't, don't sense it or don't feel it. Right? So it's hard.
Tim
And I think, I think also a lot of times when you lean into this process and you actually start to understand it was a way that a parent treated me, that's really a hurdle that's keeping me from being able to do this. And I need to deal with that before I'm going to be able to fully, I think people think you can just bypass like all these traumas in our life that have affected us significantly. And I think that that is part of the process.
Matt
Maybe even to translate what you're saying is that typically if we lead with the priority of obedience in our relationship to God, it could be because of past things in our lives. And also it could be because, or we can't transfer into just loving as the priority unless we clear up some of those things.
Tim
I think obedience is a control thing.
E
Yeah. But I think my family of origin stuff would have been like high expectations, you have to perform, you have to do, even if I don't think, my parents were awesome, you know, but like that was still this culture of like, you better do the right stuff. And so then I, that's where I'll lead with obedience though with God, like to kind of to what he's saying because of that. Right? And so I got to work on that stuff.
Tim
Yeah, exactly.
Eric
Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you got to work on Matt? Just kidding.
Matt
Man, lots of stuff. I think what's interesting is that, you know, typically pastors would be more extroverts if you could kind of like paint a broad brush. Like we like being with people. Even if it's like form of the extrovert introvert where you can be with people, get depleted whatever, but we like being with people. But then also typically we all struggle with this obedience loving relationship thing with God. That's one of the reasons we've even been elevated into leadership because we tend to get a lot of stuff done. And we tend to be that guy that can memorize the Bible verses in third grade. And so that just kind of carries our whole lives. So I think even as leaders, boy, as we disciple people, we got to really be careful of how we've kind of been impressed or even just elevated in that way.
Eric
Yeah. And to not just only elevate then those, those like mindsets, you know, so, which I know can be hard because like, yeah, those, those mindsets like perform really well in a work environment, you know, and that kind of a thing. So yeah.
Matt
So that was a good point. Good challenge for your message. What else you talk about?
Tim
I think ultimately I think we landed on this whole idea that I, and I still believe this, that the number one quality that God is looking for in human beings is availability. That if you are available, if you make yourself available to him, he's like, I will choose you and I will, I will work through you and I'll, I'll move in your life and I'll do things in your life. And I think that is, especially after living in San Diego for a while, living in the Bay area for a while and coming back to Orange County, it's not, there's not a lot of availability in Orange County for much.
Matt
Versus those other two places?
Tim
Like if, if we, we, we try to make dinner, you know, if it's more than like one or two families and you try to make a dinner plan, it's like months out. Right. Or if you're trying to like just do simple things, it's zero availability. And so I think that, that we often struggle to experience all that God has for us because we simply don't have time for him.
Eric
Hmm. Yeah. I think that's really true. And even like we filled the time so much that we're so exhausted that we just like want to do the, the lowest forms of rest. Like, but they're more like, I think we've compared it like relaxing versus rest. So like watching TV, cause we'll just like, Oh, I just got to sit in the, yeah. Veg. Vegging is relaxing versus like rest is like silence or, you know, for me, like, and we all like, for me, it's that listening to, listening to like, listening to good worship music is actually really helpful to me to just like lay down and, and listen to that. And it's like, but I can be so tired that I don't even like have the energy for that, even though that would, if I did it, even when I'm tired, if I did it, it would be good for me. Yeah. You know? Yeah. But I don't want to, I don't know. Yeah. Go ahead. Sorry.
Matt
Like eating vegetables.
Eric
Like eating vegetables.
Matt
Like picking up your trash.
Eric
Mix it into your mashed potatoes. Lots of gravy. [laughing]
That's the thing. I've had this funny like later contention that nobody actually likes Brussels sprouts still. They just like bacon and garlic.
Tim
The butter and oil.
Eric
Yeah, exactly. You know what I mean? But that's kind of a lot of things.
Matt
Yeah. So, so availability is saying, God, um, I give you my time or you own my time.
Tim
Or just saying I'm available. Cause here's the thing is I don't think God thinks most of what we're doing is bad. I think a lot of what we're doing is good, but when that good becomes the ultimate and without us intentionally making it, like when, when our, when our kids' sports schedules or our, you know, our, our plans to, to elevate in our careers or whatever it might be becomes the ultimate thing that we are putting ourselves towards, they become, it's become an idol. And then all of a sudden we get the results.
Eric
Yep. Yep. Yeah. And that's kind of like what, so, cause all this came, that stuff we're talking about, I was like John the Baptist telling people to repent, so that's how we got in the repentance thing. But he was trying to, it was like this, I even tried to say something about like this. It was like a repentance towards availability. It was like a repentance towards hearing, hearing and seeing the Messiah for who he really is. It's like, okay, turn, you've got all this junk that's like the Messiah's coming. You've got all this junk in your way. We need God to like remove all these obstacles, but we also need to like pull the obstacles that we've placed a little bit away. And that's, and maybe even for the person struggling with the how, it's like a bit of that, right? Like, hey, what can you pull away? That's just like clogging, clogging your filter. You know?
Matt
So even just throwing something else to the mix. So it says John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit even to use this message, right? Or to say this message. So how much of the Spirit's even involved in this whole recipe, right? Availability of loving first and then obedience out of that.
Tim
Yeah, and that's how we parked it at the end is just saying that the greatest thing about God is the number one thing he's asking us to do, repent, be willing to change, is the very thing that he empowers us to do. Like the power comes from him to repent. Which is just like all the pressure's off. So it's really nice.
Eric
It's good. I like it. Yeah. How was, I realized I listened to the sermon, but I didn't listen to the benediction.
Matt
Oh, did you do the numbers?
Tim
Oh, I got nervous!
Matt
Welcome to my world. Welcome to my world.
Tim
In my head, whenever I say the Lord, like "May the Lord", I always go Psalm 103, "be gracious and compassionate to you, slow to anger, abounding in love". That's my natural flow. And so I was going to just go straight into the benediction, say, let me close with this, and then
Eric
No little pre-prayer?
Tim
Nope. And yeah, but then the intro just went away. And so I started with the pre-prayer so I could find, so send my secretary to find the opening line.
Matt
Send your brain, send your secretary.
Tim
And she came running back with it.
Eric
Oh, then you found it?
Tim
She handed it to me. I'm like, oh, thank you.
Matt
Let's end the pod on his Benny. Jordan, can you put that in the?
Tim
Oh, it's not perfect, but it's pretty good.
Matt
Well done.
Eric
That's great.
Tim
And I purposefully switched it up just a little bit. The cadence.
Eric
Oh, yeah. You didn't do the "Give. You. Peace". I keep trying to change that because I know I've gotten into this rhythm of that. It's like how I do it. And then for some reason, that's just what I feel like I want to do. You know? That's like, that's what I'm trying to give people peace in the midst of that moment.
Matt
It's been to get kind of serious, but it's been a blessing to our church. It really has. I mean, obviously it is a blessing. But I feel like our church, it's been a sweet rhythm that's come upon our church in the last couple of years.
Eric
So I actually get like emails from people about it. Like, Hey, I just want to say thank you. It's like, you know, or I was like, I was at a life group. I've been going to like different life groups each Sunday and I was at a life group and they were like, "I had to go, I wanted to go early, but I had to get, I had to get the blessing and then I ran right out". And it was like, cool. Like people, I don't know, that kind of made me happy that like people were like,
Tim
I personally, every time look forward to it, I opened my hands and I hold it. Me too. I fully ask God. I try to receive it.
Eric
That's good. It's his words, not mine. Yeah.
Matt
Did you do Eric's post words on it as well?
Tim
Have a great week?
Matt
Yeah.
Eric
God bless you as you go. God bless you as you go. [laughing]
Matt
God bless you as you go. God bless you as you go.
We actually had one of our tech guys, I won't mention his name, but he like put together a whole compilation comp.
Eric
Compilation?
Matt
Lots of, lots of different recordings. Of the whole, God bless you go, God bless you go. Yeah, it was really funny.
Eric
That was awesome. That was awesome. It was the whole thing actually too. And then just had, but then he had like 10 different God bless you as you goes at the end and it was just like, oh dang.
Tim
That's the thing. You gotta, like I think about like this, the Billy Madison movie. Have you seen, where there's the one guy who like, like Steve Buscemi plays him and he has like this list of people that hurt him when he was a kid. And then like, he's really nice. Billy Madison's like really nice to him and he gets crossed off his list.
Eric
Oh yeah. Oh yeah, to get murdered.
Tim
Yeah, to get murdered.
Eric
Oh yeah, he was like a serial killer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right.
Tim
I always think about, you gotta be nice to people who have, are tech savvy, who have access to recordings. Cause they can be really mean and cruel and like pick you apart.
Matt
Where I think about that is on the weeks that I'm speaking and I'm singing worship, but I already have my microphone like attached.
Tim
Oh yeah, oh I know. It's recorded somewhere.
Matt
Oh, what if like they could just put like open mic and all of a sudden it's like the Lord bless.
Tim
Or they'd leave it on.
Eric
I mean that's been, that's been famous on this podcast of my singing into the cry rooms mostly. It was like, and it was like blaring. Cause I think the rest of the room couldn't hear it because it was just like there's so much other noise. But there was just like in the cry rooms and the lobby it was just like my voice.
Tim
In the bathrooms, restrooms.
Eric
Yeah, yeah, the bathrooms it's so intense. That's so embarrassing.
Matt
Hey, can we do rapid fire questions on Tim?
Eric
Oh yeah, yeah, go, go, go. I don't, I got it. Okay.
Matt
Are there anything else on the message or sermon?
Eric
No, no, no. That's good enough.
Tim
That's plenty.
Matt
Well done brother.
Tim
Overdone.
Eric
Well done. So you have some different roles here at Calvary. You are also the college pastor. Men's pastor.
Tim
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Matt
Over, what's their student ministry thing? Caring for people.
Eric
Yeah, he helps be an advisor to our.
Tim
I like what Christian said. He says you're like Gandalf in the corner.
Eric
Exactly, that's good, that's good.
Matt
Providing like encouragement to our student ministries. But tell us about like even college students, where are they at these days?
What's happening?
Eric
Young adults.
Matt
Young adults. Sorry, I'm a little bit behind the times.
Tim
Yeah, CYA, CYA, C-Y-A.
Eric
Calvary, which stands for Calvary Young Adults.
Tim
Young Adults. Not college and young adults.
Matt
Good point. Calvary. Hiya. Young Adults. Caillou? Caillou?
Tim
Oh, don't get me started on Caillou issues.
Eric
I don't even know what that is. I'm like so, I'm old. Is that a kids show or something?
Tim
Yeah. This is the worst kid show ever. It teaches kids how to whine.
Matt
And it's just a little boy.
Eric
That was Dora. That's why I didn't want my kids doing Dora.
Matt
It's the next generation of Dora.
T
And it's pretty terrible. And he has no hair. He's like bald. He's like nine.
Matt
At four.
Tim
I don't get it. What's going on?
Eric
Is this, should we? Okay. Why is that bothering you Tim?
Tim
Right? That's why I made the mention. I saw my dad in the crowd. Well, dad, my dad gave me his hair.
Eric
Cause you're, okay, let's, let's talk about this. This is my rapid fire question. You're a,
Tim
I'm a hat wearer.
Eric
You're a 99% of the time hat wearer. But then on Sunday you feel like, cause when you preach, you feel like you gotta be a little more like.
Tim
No, I just figure I, I, it's literal, literally people will judge me.
Eric
If you wear a hat.
Tim
If I wear a hat. And that will be, that will not be good for them. Cause I'm not sinning, but if they're judging me
Matt
Distracted by it or something.
Eric
What about your little Scottish guy your little Peaky Blinders?
Tim
Could I wear that?
Eric
It feels less bad. It feels better than wearing like a Vans hat.
Tim
I have just gotten so much guff at different periods of my life with a hat on. Even when I'm praying for someone in the prayer station I have had people avoid me because I was wearing the hat. So I'm just like it's not worth it. I'll just show off my bald head.
Eric
Yeah, I agree. You're right. It's not worth it and I think your bald head is a beautiful bald head.
Matt
Yeah it's a very nice head.
Eric
Yeah, it's a very worse. I can't get it tan because my dermatologist is all "always wear a hat"!
M
But you don't have any like weird warts or anything like that like it's very nice
Tim
I have a little dent
Eric
We could get you some tanner. We could get you some stuff. [laughing] A skin care routine. I don't use any tanners.
Tim
That you know of ...
Eric
What do you mean you think my girls gave me stuff that like has tanners in it?
Tim
They might have.
Eric
I think I read about it, but I don't know ...
Tim
You do have really nice skin though. Because it's soft
Eric
It's so yeah moisturized. [all laughing] Doan hates me taking about this stuff. Look at him he's so uncomfortable.
Oh Okay, okay, sorry ... young adults ...
Tim
Yeah, so like for example, we played volleyball this Sunday and there were probably like 20 about 20 young adults there and It was just great because it's turned into like this outreach and a lot of people bring friends that aren't comfortable coming to church yet. And so we're engaging there. Thursday nights we have people like it's ... When people think about college students, they think about you're just trying to keep them off the rails, right? They're about they're about to go off the rails at any moment and be crazy and it's really it's really cool. I'd say about 75% Currently volunteer in ministries and Calvary. They are starting their own Bible studies for new college guys Bible study. They meet Sunday nights. They have like 12 or 13 guys that show up every Sunday night going through the book of Hebrews started by a couple of students. Just like good good like things are happening and it's also interesting though because at this stage of life, they're also facing for the first time legitimately a lot of their childhood issues. And like some of their like parents go to this church still Oh, yeah And so it's probably an interesting thing to be working through all your stuff and then seeing your family at the place you're trying to go to church and worship. And so I think there's like, you know trying to encourage like to be faithful and stay and see it. I don't know It's just it's a really cool cool group to work with.
Matt
I think one of the blessings too is that I think average youth pastor lasts you know about two and a half years three years and what I've read I don't that's always true, but it feels like it's a shorter stint position, but that you've gotten to walk with students now for many many years and I think there's just such a blessing to that, right?
Tim
Yeah for sure. That's like like I know a couple that got engaged this weekend and I walked with them when they were dating people I didn't think they should have dated in the first place, right? And they finished that relationship. Started a new relationship pursued this one to the point of the I mean, ... so it is it's a special. I think about four years for us Nothing's changed. Right? Like nothing but four years between like 19 and 23, so much changes right? And so you're
Matt
So that's again How cool that you've been a constant and all those changes. Yeah someone they can count on and be consistent. It's awesome Well done any more rapid-fire questions.
Eric
What's your favorite meal to cook?
Matt
Yeah, you are a foodie as well. Both you guys are foodies
Eric
Tim's really good though. He's really good.
Tim
I like long. I like long-term like like a cook-a-long or
Doing that this weekend.
Tim
Yeah. See, so I love stuff that has a lot of layers of cooking. I love sauces. I like if I get approved for my sabbatical For my sabbatical. I want to do like I'd love to even volunteer in a kitchen for like a month
Matt
Say the cool word "Sue"?
Eric
Stage
Tim
To be a stage.
Matt
What's that? In a kitchen?
Eric
It's a fancy word for volunteer in a kitchen. Like he just said
Matt
Like a professional kitchen.
Tim
You kind of do grunt work, but you pick up stuff.
Matt
Are we talking like Panda Express? We're talking like
Tim
I'm all chick-fil-a ... can I just volunteer?
Eric
It'd be cool if you could do it like some I don't know. Well, it's hard ... I don't know if you what your travel situation with your with your child's age and stuff, you know
Tim
Dude I know. I could do it somewhere else.
Eric
But yeah, that'd be insane like Italy or something or whatever France. Yeah, but that's got lots of money challenges ... That's cool!
Tim
You could make a pastor's dreams come true.
Eric
Yeah So if any of you wants to fund Tim's ability to stage at a Parisian three-star Michelin restaurant.
Tim
You know where to find me.
Eric
Yeah, exactly exactly podcast at calvarylife.org
Matt
Be our first email in six weeks
Eric
It's awesome great cool, this is good you guys yeah. Yeah love this and I think this whole notion of like seeing how you can think of repenting as being like willing to change your mind and being available to God like kind of turning yourself like from mentally even you know from and heart wise from like the drive of every every definition of success in like Orange County and busy-ness and all that and turn yourself towards like a mindset of openness and availability to God like we think you'll be blessed. So, and then live out of it like what God does in you right? So
Tim
And find yourself wanting to obey instead of having to obey.
Matt
Long obedience, same direction, right?
Tim
It is.
Eric
Yeah, love it. All right. Thanks boys, and thank you for listening to the Calvary Life podcast.
End credits
Thanks again for listening to the Calvary Life podcast. If you'd like to share any of your thoughts, please reach out to us at podcast at calvarylife.org. You can find out more about the show on instagram @calvarylife, or on our website at calvarylife.org/podcast.