SPEAKER_05 0:01

Welcome to the SauceCast. I'm so glad to have you guys in the podcast. If people don't know who you are, we got Pasha Lindsay and Mariah Greiner, who is my wife. And we got Pastor Marco, of course. And if you don't know who I am, my name is EMoney, Elijah Griner. Oh, eMoney. I used to have a rap name. It was Big E. Very, very original, right? Is it really? Big E. That was my E Money. Yeah, Big E at Gmail.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Big E at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_05 0:31

It was a different time. It's funny. Yeah. I'm still trying to bring my rap days back. Since the last conversation, I've been trying to rap. Have you really? Yeah, I've been recording myself rap. Terrible. Terrible, terrible.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Wait.

SPEAKER_05 0:41

How do you feel about that, Mariah?

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Stick to the you know, the worship.

SPEAKER_05 0:46

I want to hear this. I'm trying to be chingo bling, you know?

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Well, you're trying to be diverse. You're musical, so you're just trying to. I'm trying to expand my horizon. I love that.

SPEAKER_05 0:54

And I'm not good.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

You want to hear it.

SPEAKER_05 0:56

Mariah's shaking. No, you don't want to hear it.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

I do want to hear it. You hate on like the Phantom of the Opera. If we're going to be diverse, you have to get musicals in there.

SPEAKER_05 1:02

The Phantom of the Opera is terrible.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Well, it's a little it is a weird plot, but I think the music's fantastic. Wait, wait a minute, but you watched The Sound of Music.

SPEAKER_05 1:08

I did, and I cried.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

He liked it. And you liked it. What part made you cry?

SPEAKER_05 1:12

I I think it was towards the end. I don't remember, but it hit me in the fills. I think when they were trying to run away. Yes. As they finished and they were running away. That tells me there's no rapping in you. Yeah. Sound of music is hit me in the fields. Money is not in your field. Thugs cry too. Dugs cry too.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

You haven't watched it. You have nothing to say.

SPEAKER_05 1:28

I have nothing to say. You have nothing to say. That's the end of my podcast. And that's it. You watch it. Yeah. Talking about somewhere being intentional, you have to be intentional watching sound of music.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

That's right. Listen for the movie. Sound of music is my favorite movie. We've been together for 22 years, married 20, and he has still not watched it. And I've watched all of his own.

SPEAKER_05 1:50

There's a little give and take here.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Well, there's a lot of give here. Because I haven't watched it.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

The movies that I like are better. Yeah. So it's easy. Sound of music is a classic. It's a great movie. Great movie. And it has all historical value.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Historical value. You know what then? I see that. That's the last time I watch a movie with him. It's over. But I feel the podcast is going really well.

SPEAKER_03 2:12

It's going great. I'm a great doing what I'm doing. I'm doing great.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Yeah, because you introduced you started, you introduced yourself as Big E. Big E. Or eat money. E-money, eat money.

SPEAKER_05 2:22

Yeah. Eat money. Eat money. But just keep running with it. You know what I'm saying? So today we're going to talk about intentional summer. And so glad because you guys years ago started saying summer is a life uh is a season, not a lifestyle. And we kind of wanted to hit that. But before we get into the meat of this, um, we got some cultural spotlights that I think would be great to kind of hit and kind of touch point. So the first one is we're celebrating 250 years as a nation being set free. Yes, sir. U USA. Don't let this confuse you though. I'm just getting back into soccer. So I don't I don't know. I don't I don't got reps. You know what I'm saying? So he's a soccer, true soccer fan. You got the jersey. Yeah, I'm the bandwagon. It's good. I'm the bandwagon. I searched every store for this. Did you? Yeah, but I wanted that one. And I kept back and forth Mariah. I was like, I want to return it because I want that one. Like, stop being a kid.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

She said be original.

SPEAKER_05 3:13

So we're celebrating 250 years. Um, that's a pretty big milestone as a nation. And the one way we celebrated under President Trump is we had a UFC night at the White House.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

I did hear about that.

SPEAKER_05 3:23

Um, what do you guys think about that? Celebrating 250 years with the UFC. With the UFC fight night. I mean Sounds American.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Well, that's the thing. Yes, it does, it does sound American. Yeah. But as someone that can't stomach UFC, just a little less palatable. Got it. Got it. Got it. But you know, it's different. It's fun, I guess. I guess. I guess. Just would never watch it.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought it was, I thought it was fun. What about you? Very American. Yeah. You know, fight in the White House. Yeah. You know, bloody. Yeah. Grimy. Yeah. In your face. Let's go. Loud. Proud. Sounds like America.

SPEAKER_05 4:02

I had to be an American. At least I know. I heard that Theodore Roosevelt was pretty um, he was into fighting and stuff like that. So it seems like it's in our bloodline.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 4:13

That the fighting aspect of UFC.

SPEAKER_03 4:15

Yeah. And Trump's always been a huge UFC fan. Ever since, I mean, ever since Trump has been Trump. Before he was a president, Trump was always in that circle. So it was fist-fitting that he would celebrate that way. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 4:29

Add more fighting to the White House. Yeah. More fighting. Why not? Physical this time. Wouldn't it be great?

SPEAKER_03 4:35

Like now that you say that, it would be great if it was actually politicians fighting. Oh my god. Now that I'd watch it. That would be more exciting, you know, McConnell and Ted Cruz. I could see that. That would be hilarious. Joe Biden, President Joe Biden. It's like, y'all talk all this stuff. Let's see you on the ring. Brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Well, I love the cool. I love the spirit of a fight. It's just like watching a fight. Like UFC just feels so I don't know. There's it's just a lot. But I like like when you're just describing it, like the spirit of a fight, that I love. That I can get behind. I just don't want to I want to feel it rise up in me. Yeah. But I don't want to, you know, punch somebody physically. Sometimes. Sometimes. Sometimes. Although I've been asking him to teach me how to throw a punch.

SPEAKER_03 5:14

Let's go. I always I'm not gonna say this on the podcast, but it's like I always tell her if you get in trouble, go for the certain spot. Yeah. That's what he says. Hit them there and run away. As fast as you can.

SPEAKER_05 5:26

As fast as you can.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

I'm a runner, so I can do that.

SPEAKER_05 5:30

Do y'all have a favorite memory on a July 4th? Or what's your favorite thing to do on July 4th?

SPEAKER_01 5:38

Well, I love the beach. So anytime we've ever gone to the beach on the 4th of July, that's probably some of my favorite, some of my favorite memories. And just whatever we do with the family, like whether it's just the two of us with our kids or if it's my family. You guys have come over for the 4th of July before, and it's like, you know, it's wild at our house with the pool, and you know. So those are probably my favorite, like when we can all get together. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 6:04

I don't know. I feel like we do everything different on the 4th of July. It kind of depends on where VBS falls, I guess. So it depends on what we do for the fourth. No, I mean we we love a good um we love going to the parade in Westport. I mean, that's always a classic. So we meet friends from church there. We get there like eight o'clock in Lee's market because we don't want to take that spot as our spot.

SPEAKER_05 6:26

Yeah, by the tree.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

Yeah, under the tree, so there's a shade. Yeah. And then I guess it yeah, I guess it kind of depends. Sometimes we'll do picnics or sometimes I guess that's really it, right?

SPEAKER_05 6:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

Nothing really.

SPEAKER_05 6:38

I love fireworks. Fireworks are a big thing. Yeah. Yeah. How about you guys?

SPEAKER_03 6:42

I like fireworks too, but I like low-key in my backyard and just hanging out. Um from what I gather, there's gonna be a soccer game on this 4th of July. Part of the World Cup fever. Good question. Uh because it could be, right? Because we're recording where they're still in the group stages, but by the time this comes out next week, uh they will be in the playoff stages. Nice. The bracket stage, which is really exciting because it's winner go home. Yeah, right. But there's gonna be a game on 4th of July, I'm not sure who's playing.

SPEAKER_05 7:14

Got it, got it.

SPEAKER_03 7:15

Uh, I heard rumors that if the brackets all fall correctly, if we might get a USA England game, which would be crazy on 4th of July. That would be that would be wild. If that happens on 4th of July, that would be amazing.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

But what time would that be? Would that be an evening game?

SPEAKER_03 7:29

Uh uh probably in the afternoon sometime, I would think. You know, just because you want to see the fireworks. Let me just be clear. If the brackets fall correctly, there might be a possibility of the game. That would be so cool. Yeah. U.S. game. Yeah, you know, that would be wild. That would be a good game one. Imagine on 4th of July.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Yes, but have to win. You know, like there's history involved. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_05 7:45

There's a lot of blood involved. Don't fail us now, USA. Right. Speaking of the World Cup, the World Cup's happening as we speak. Um, one thing I've been surprised by is Kate Verde. And we tell us a little bit about Kate Verde.

SPEAKER_03 8:00

Oh man, this is a dream come true. Yeah. You know, as a kid, you always dream that one day K Verde would be in the World Cup. And I can't believe that they are in the World Cup, and it happened to be in the States. Yeah. Yeah. You know? So it's unbelievable uh to go to a game with my dad, you know, and and watch our K-Word team play and do well, yeah, which is not a surprise. It's like it's nice to be here, but you they're competing right now. Right. So this has been a dream come true. Like that's awesome. I never thought in my wildest dream that K Verde would be in the World Cup. Yeah, we're playing some pretty heavy teams too. I know. You know, you play Spain, the one of the best teams in the world, first game right off the gat, and be able to tie them. Yeah. We felt like we won the World Cup. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a that was enough. That was the best tie history of soccer. I think.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

I mean, it's cool because Cape Verde is now on the map. Sure. We were talking um upstairs how the goalie, they everyone was so impressed with him from that game. Right. He went from like 56,000 followers within like what 40 hours went to like um like 15 million followers.

SPEAKER_04 9:07

Yeah, which is wild.

SPEAKER_02 9:08

Isn't that so cool? And his mom went and got somehow got her visa, like expedited, and was able to come to this next game to watch him play.

SPEAKER_03 9:16

Yeah, she was there. They kept showing on the screen. Yeah, that's so cool. Yeah, that was a really, really awesome moment. And and this goalie's 40 years old. That's crazy. You know what I mean? So to him, he's living a dream, right? Absolutely. Because he's coming to the end of his career basically. Right. And to be able to be at the stage of the World Cup, which it's the biggest sporting event in the world, right? Billions are tuning in to this. That's pretty wild. Yeah, you know. Absolutely. What about you, Pastor Lindsay?

SPEAKER_05 9:42

What are you thinking?

SPEAKER_01 9:44

What do I think? Like who will win?

SPEAKER_05 9:46

Yeah, yeah. What's your prediction?

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Ooh, my prediction. Okay, so obviously we love the USA, but it's not likely that they'll win. We love Cape Verde and we love we love a David story. Yeah, right. So I won't say that I don't think they'll they'll win, but I won't say otherwise either. But I did a little bit of research. Yeah, yeah. And so I follow this economist who has been I told you I would do this. I have to say, Marco kind of gave me a heads up. He was like, hey, there's this economist that predicts it for the last three years. And I was just asking questions, you know, just you know, what do you know? He's been right. So I did a little research. So he's saying the Netherlands. Yeah. Really? Yes. Yeah. So he's saying the Netherlands. And it's interesting how he comes up with these predictions, but then he's also saying that the dark horse would be Japan.

SPEAKER_03 10:37

Yeah, very interesting. You heard this? Very interesting. My my dark horse is Norway. Okay. You know, I think Norway has got a really great team. Young, got one of the best strikers in the world, Helen. Um, that guy is like he's like he's a Viking. He's scared. Right? He's a Viking. He looks like a Viking. He is right. He does. So that that to me, he's the dark horse. But yeah, interesting because his economy, the the last three World Cups, he predicted that.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

That's what I that's what I heard. Yes. And then he had said, if I'm wrong, he said, when you ask me the next World Cup, he was like, I'll have hundreds of reasons why I'm wrong because I'm an economist and that's what I do. Yeah. And I thought, oh my gosh, that's so much time and effort to put into the World Cup, but it's the biggest sporting event of the year. And like he's gained so much popularity and probably income from just a lot of people.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

So are you gonna go with his prediction?

SPEAKER_01 11:23

I think I am gonna go with the Netherlands, but it's not necessarily because he said it, it's also because I really love their uniform. Something about the bright orange. I'm just about it.

SPEAKER_04 11:32

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Wait, so does him being an economist have anything to do to weigh in on his predictions?

SPEAKER_03 11:39

I guess it's it's all the guess quote unquote equations that they do to get to that place. But the last three World Cups, he was right predicting the winner. That's crazy, which is very interesting. But the the Netherlands, and it's not in so many people's radar. I mean, they're a good team, but they're not like a top team. So it's interesting that he's going with Netherlands this year.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

I liked what he was saying though, because it made when I was listening to him, it made sense because he was saying that there's no one person that's like the standout, like messy, like where everybody's kind of following the you know, this one built around standout athlete, but that everybody on the team, they're excellent athletes. So then there was something about the team aspect of it, the way that he was describing it. And I thought that's kind of cool because you don't have you almost have a bunch of great athletes that are underdogs that nobody knows about. And then when you don't have all that pressure on you, like Messi does or some of these other teams where you have these big stars, I think that you might be able to work together better. Like you talk about that about the Spurs, like every they're always like they're the Spurs are never the team that people are talking about, but they have one of the best systems. So it kind of reminded me of that.

SPEAKER_05 12:46

Wow, let's go. Team management. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:51

Well, I Googled my predictions. Okay. The Netherlands and Japan were not on that list. But it's interesting. But it's AI. AI can be very, very wrong. Okay. And they gave me four teams, but I can't remember the fourth. Spain, France, Argentina. I can't remember the fourth one.

SPEAKER_04 13:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

So I talked to a young man today who is big on sports. He said France, so I'm gonna go with France. All right, out of loyalty.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

It's a good pick. I think France is a very good pick.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

France won it last time, correct?

SPEAKER_03 13:19

No, they lost to Argentina in the finals. They lost to Argentina. But they won the previous uh four years ago. I mean eight years ago. Yep. France won. I could see France winning it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Okay. Well, get that. Okay, here we go. Let's go get out there then.

SPEAKER_05 13:31

I could definitely see France winning it. That's crazy. AI. Gotcha. For me, I'm gonna be patriotic. Good old USA. Yeah, hang on. I was born and bred. I know we're not, but I was born and bred, and then Mexico, just because my mom. Yeah. He's really double down. Just those two.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

He's actually really double down on this. Yeah. I'm American. Right. Born in America. Well, here's the thing.

SPEAKER_05 13:51

Everyone comes up to me and be like, are you going to Mexico? I'm like, wait, no. Where are we? We're standing on U.S. soil right now. Yes, yes. And they're listening, so I want to make sure they know I'm American. You can't take me to Mexico. I've never been there.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Oh, that's so good. Pregnant with our first. I was getting an ultrasound. And the remember the ultrasound tech was like, so like, what are you? And you were like Texan. And just said nothing. And she said nothing. And I'm like, can I just have a picture of this baby? Like, Elijah, why do you gotta do that? You know what she's asking.

SPEAKER_05 14:24

I know what she's asking. Tell her my own. I don't want to give her that. I don't want to give her that. I love that. Because then I have to go down a whole line. Yeah, my mom's from Mexico. I was born in Texas. I'm a married. Right, right. He's really doubling down.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Team USA.

SPEAKER_05 14:35

Always, always. Love it. So we'll see who wins. Mexico played well last night. USA's tonight. Yep. So we'll see. Patriotic. I'm holding true. And it's 250 years. They have so much behind them.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

Hey, if USA wins, this will be wild.

SPEAKER_05 14:48

Yeah, that would be wild. Yeah. You know? We don't have great fans though. Like I'm watching Norway's and Oh my gosh. They're an army. It's wild.

SPEAKER_03 14:56

They're an army, complete army.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Wait, who do you have?

SPEAKER_03 14:59

So I gotta I gotta give a backstory here, right? Oh boy, here we go. My first World Cup experience was Mexico 1986. I was eight years old.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Wait, World Cup was in Mexico.

SPEAKER_03 15:11

Yeah, it was in Mexico. Okay. And you know, obviously K Verde was never gonna be on the radar. So in my neighborhood, we all kind of like picked the nations that we loved. I fell in love with Spain in 1986. So that's always been the team that I rooted for. And then it was weird that K Verde's first game would be against Spain. So my childhood friends were texting me, who are you rooting for? Oh my god. Who are you rooting for? Like I'm gonna root for K Verde. No, no question about it. But Spain's always been the team that I that I root for. Um so I can see Spain winning it. They have the team to do it, you know. So I'm gonna stick with Spain. That's all right. I heard they didn't have a good striker. They but they have to me, we're talking about systems, they have one of the best all-around teams. Okay, right, and they have one of the best young talent in the world right now, in in Yamin Lamal. Yeah, yeah. Um, I think he's gonna be the next big thing in soccer. They're gonna be talking about this kid for the next 10 20 years.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Wasn't he the youngest to ever play in the World Cup last year?

SPEAKER_03 16:11

I'm pretty sure he was winning, yeah. I think he was like 16 years old when he started. Yeah, 15 or 16, something like that. And uh he's coming out of an injury. He's coming out of an injury, so he's limited time right now. Yeah, yeah. But if he's in top condition going forward, I can see Spain taking it. Come on, man. You know, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_05 16:30

And they have so a lot of people are doing like um these uh kind of side to side against, like uh Super Bowl and World Cup, and they're trying to say, yeah, no, football has another a lot of fans, just like the World Cup. Oh, I don't think it's not even close. Yeah, what it was the difference a hundred million versus a billion. Yeah, it's not even close.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

And you're talking about a universal thing, yeah, right. Versus a you know, again, we Americans, we love America, right? And we're so prideful about our things, but this is a local fair. Yeah, local. World Cup is a world fair, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

I have to say, it wasn't until we got married that I knew anything about soccer or the World Cup. Yeah, so even my brain is still like, okay, this is a big deal, this is a big deal. Because I mean, when the World Cup is on, like the whole house stops. It's like we're watching soccer. So it's been interesting to almost like it, it's actually helped me to expand my thinking and thinking, wow, American, like you're really you're really on one for thinking that like no one cares about soccer, the whole world cares about soccer.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

Yeah, well, think about this, right? The whole world calls it football. This is the only nation that calls it soccer. Of course, we have to be different. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

And we love America, but also like football makes sense because it does make sense. Using your foot for the whole game. It doesn't make sense, yes, right. Yes, yeah. It's logical.

SPEAKER_05 17:42

Football should be called handball because nothing but handball. Right. Or call it soccer.

SPEAKER_04 17:47

Yeah, call it soccer, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 17:50

That's mad funny. Another thing that's happened um in the culture is Elon Musk has become a modern modern day trillionaire. Hello. So I have a video real quick that um I want to play and get your guys' opinion on this.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

How much is one trillion dollars? Chances are you have no idea. So let's prove it. Take a look at this line. At one end, a million dollars. At the other end, a trillion dollars. Where would you put a billion dollars? Most people think it's in this area, but it turns out it's way over to the left. Like way over. Right here. This is all to show how mind-bogglingly large one trillion dollars is, which, by the way, is how much Elon Musk is worth after the SpaceX IPO. Let's try another thought exercise. This is what one million pennies looks like stacked on top of each other. And this is one billion pennies. It goes all the way from New York City to Cape Canaveral, Florida. And one trillion pennies, you could go all the way from Cape Canaveral to the moon and back twice. And these are just some ways to understand how truly rich Elon Musk is now that SpaceX is a public company. And yes, it breaks my brain too.

SPEAKER_04 19:02

It's a lot of pennies. That's wild.

SPEAKER_05 19:04

Yeah, yeah, facts. What do you all think of that? What's your opinion on that?

SPEAKER_02 19:07

Listen, I'm just saying I read an article today. He lost some of his stock. He's not a trillionaire anymore. Jeez. He's a billionaire.

SPEAKER_05 19:15

Ooh.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

So I don't know if that changes the segment. It does change the segment a little bit. But I have to bring it up, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_05 19:19

But let's run with it if he's being a trillionaire.

SPEAKER_02 19:23

From Tuesday, got it.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Before he lost his penny. Before he lost it. I don't know. I just think there's only so many pennies you can have. Like, what's the point of going back and forth to the moon with pennies a few times? Right, right. I mean, I I don't know. I don't know why I'm not impressed by this. Like I read it and I thought, okay. I don't know. It just doesn't mean any it just doesn't mean anything to me. But I think that I've always kind of felt like that. Like when we even when we were in college, we would say, you know, if we were ever millionaires, we actually, so when we were in college, we read The Purpose Driven Life Together. And at that point, Rick Warren was reverse typing.

SPEAKER_04 19:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

And so he gave 90% and lived off of 10%.

SPEAKER_04 20:04

Oh, that's gone.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

And so we had said, we had just were talking about it. And I thought, that's the cool, like, that's a flex to me. Yeah. Like that you can live off of 10% of your income and you're gonna give 90 away. And then I had said, like, man, if we ever were millionaires, I'd still want to drive the same car. Like, you'll never catch me in a luxury car, you'll never catch me with like even a million dollar house. Like, I don't know. I don't know. It's like at what point is that too much? Right. Because then you just have to clean it. Do you know what I'm saying? The same thing. Like, I have to watch this trillion dollars. Like, you hire servants. Yeah. I know. Yeah. But then you lose something because it's like it's yours, but it's not. Right. And what's the point of having all this stuff if you don't even know what's in your house? Yeah. I don't know. So I guess I'm just not impressed. I agree.

SPEAKER_03 20:49

I'm with it. What about you, Pastor? It may honestly made me think about Solomon. Yeah. Because he was the first trillionaire in the history of the world who had everything. And the book of Ecclesiastes is one of my absolutely favorite books. Right. Because that's him reflecting over his his journey, his life. He's an older man now. He got to be all of that at a young age. Kind of like Elon Musk, really. Yeah. And I think I think there's something to be said about like what why are you being trusted with so much resource? You know what I mean? What's the point of it? Right. And that's what that's what I love about Ecclesiastes. Because he's like, I indulged in so many things and it became like chase and wind. I think it's one of my favorite lines in the Bible, like chase and wind. So prayfully, you know, a guy like Elon, you hope that he sees that as man, I'm being trusted with all those resources. And I hope to do good with it. You know what I mean? Because again, I think there's something to be said about the fact that a lot of people in the scriptures were wealthy, right? And the goal was that you are blessed to be a blessing. Right. And so hopefully that's the mindset of an Elon Musk. Hopefully. But as believers, I hope that people don't look down on wealth. I think we have to look at it as a resource, right? What am I gonna do with what God is trusting me with? And how cool would it be to be able to? Do that to say I can live on 10 because think about the 10% of a trillion, a trillion. It's ridiculous. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. So I again you just hope that people see it that way. It's like, hey man, what a what a incredible opportunity to go be a blessing with the resources that you entrusted with, you know. Right, absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 22:20

So I did a little research because I wanted to know how much he had liquid. Because it's one thing to be a trillionaire because you have stock options. That's true, that's a good point. So he had 0.1% liquid, which is $850 million.

unknown 22:31

Oh my God.

SPEAKER_04 22:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

That's 0.1%. That's 0.1%. Oh my God.

SPEAKER_05 22:35

Not 1%. So you you can live on 0.1%.

SPEAKER_04 22:39

Imagine for sure. Wild. Wow.

SPEAKER_05 22:41

Tithing 99.9% of your income. Yeah. Living on 0.1%. That's insane. It's insane. It's insane. Yeah, that's crazy. It's crazy. Steve, and it's what I find fascinating too is how we give so much value to somebody with that currency connected to their name. And it says something more about us than it does about him. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Because he's bought, he's made, what is it? I think four different companies that have crossed that threshold. Yeah. Then you got the boring company, SpaceX. He took over Twitter, made it X, what's in Tesla. Yep. So like the fact that he was able to do that, I think he's chasing wind by trying to get us to Mars. That's he's trying to get us to Mars really hard and building SpaceX to do all that. Um and that shows the the the the what is it the corruption of the human heart. Yeah. You know, of someone chasing that. And that we don't see like at the end of the day, he's broken just like us. Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Oh my gosh. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 23:35

Yeah. So let's jump into why we have this podcast. It's being an intentional summer. We talked about it, and Pastor Marco, you're about to preach on it on Sunday, but this this is going to release next Wednesday. Um, so what are some intentional points for the summer that you're cultivating?

SPEAKER_03 23:53

Well, first of all, uh the the premise of this message is the fact that we come into the summer excited about what the summer entails, right? Like vacation, hanging out, which is all good things, right? But the the thing that I want us to wrestle with is okay, that's summer in the physical sense of a season, but what is the spiritual season that God has you in? It could be summer, but God can have you in a winter season. Right. It could be summer, it could be a pruning season. You know what I mean? And I think we can miss that if we just approach it with the physical understanding, oh, it's summer, right? I'm supposed to just hang out. And so the word intentional has been a big part of our year, right? And it's like, okay, if it's summer, but what is how to have an intentional summer that you can look back and say that summer was meaningful, yeah, right? And it wasn't just, you know, because we just got to hang out and do nothing. But it's like, what is God trying to accomplish in your life, even in the summer season? Yeah, yeah. You know?

unknown 24:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 24:54

So y'all came up with the tagline somewhere's the season on lifestyle years ago. So where did that come from?

SPEAKER_03 24:59

That goes back to when we were doing young adults ministry, actually. Uh before we moved to Planthus Church, we were overseeing the young adults, and we were doing literally three services in any given week. We were doing services at the University of Rhode Island, Bryan University, and then we had one at the church where it was kind of like the headquarters for all the college age in the area. Because you know, Rhode Island has a lot of colleges, Providence College, Rhode Island College, Brown University. So we had students from all these places that would come, and that's where it came from. It was like seeing them approaching summer again, just from the okay, it's summer, I'm just gonna hang out, right? And to kind of like forsake purpose and forsake meaning. It's almost like the thought that came to mind for me was wait, wait, does God take summers off? Imagine if God took summer off, how crazy things would be. Right. And so, why do we almost like disconnect from growing spiritually because we are in a season of summer? You know what I mean? So that's where that tagline came from. It was doing we did a whole series on that for a few years. Every summer we would kind of bring back bring it back. You know what I mean? Because it's like, hey, don't lose the focus of what God's trying to do in your life just because you're in a summer season, you know? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:10

Yeah. So I wrote this down because summer is those seasons where a lot of people are like, all right, now I get to back off. Yeah, there's like this mentality, this thing that comes to our brain. I deserve this. Yeah. Or like, you know, this is the moment where you can let go of the things that you were working really hard for. This is the moment to let go. And so what I find fascinating is on literally on Instagram, I've been getting it a lot or viral videos of summer advertisement where they switch over and they talk about vacation, travel, parties, romance, which we it's that summer love and had me a blast. Everyone's looking for that summer love and then relaxation or the you deserve it. What are some dangers that you see in that summer mentality?

SPEAKER_01 26:48

I mean, I think that I think that truthful, truthfully, like women really are the target for some of these things. Like, I don't know if you guys, if guys feel like, oh, I don't know, you saw an Instagram video and it's like about romance, and you're suddenly like, oh, I want to fall in love. Yeah. I think it's really targeted for women. Um, and it's so there's so much consumerism behind it. Um so that part is always interesting. That's always interesting for me to kind of think through because I do think that obviously summer is great. Like I love summer, and um there's so many you can use your summer so well, but I think I get really irritated by some of that, like the vacation and you know, buying this and making sure you have a summer wardrobe. Like I was when I was kind of prepping for this, I had just did a quick little search on um podcasts like summer, like what people are talking about on their podcast for the summer. And a lot of it was women saying, like, my summer wardrobe and this and that. And I have to say, I think a lot of women probably kind of get into that a little bit, like, oh, I have to do this, I have to perform. And the reality is, like, we're in New England, summer literally lasts like eight weeks, and then it's done, and you're back in your turtleneck. So, what are we actually talking about? Do you know what I'm doing what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah. So I think that that that piece is very interesting for me to kind of like when I'm just looking at it from that perspective. Yeah, yeah. Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_05 28:14

Absolutely. Absolutely. How about you?

unknown 28:16

Agreed.

SPEAKER_02 28:19

No, seriously, I do agree. Because I just I mean, thinking about all these things, especially like if we're going and chasing off all these things, like what are like where are you getting all this money from just because it turned June 21st, like all of a sudden now, or June 20th, whenever summer starts. Yeah, like now, all of a sudden I have all of this extra money to go find all of these things to impress people you don't even really know. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

What are we really doing? And to post something because your friends, like your real friends, know you don't have it like that. Like, let's just go to the beach, let's go to the West End Beach and like or West Side Beach and just call it a day. Like it's not a it's not a big deal and it's fun. So it really is. I think that the question for me is the pullback. Like, actually, who am I trying to impress? Is this like, am I trying to impress something, or am I trying to satisfy something in me that's not satisfied? And I think that's the deeper question, which is how we got into the summer's a season, not a lifestyle, because it can be summertime, but you really need to, you you need to be alone a little bit. You need to be not not isolated, but spend have that solitude with the Lord because God's trying to do something in you, like you just came out of a relationship or something's happened with your kids, or whatever it is, and you really need to pull back. So I think the biggest thing I love that is like what is the season that I'm actually in in life and what's God trying to do? Because no matter what the season is, as a Christian, the point is to honor God no matter what season you're in. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 29:38

Yeah, one of the things that I want to challenge uh church with with this Sunday sermon is um what if you delete your social media for the summer and actually be fully present with each moment? Because a lot of times that's what we're doing. We're just living the post, right? Right. Almost to try to impress somebody, right? You know, that hey, look, look what the amazing summer I'm having. Yeah. So could you have a great summer without posting? Could you live in the moment? Could you be fully present with what's happening right in front of you? Yeah. Because I think one of the struggles is like we're not fully present. Right. You know, I mean, we're we want someone to come and then we're not present in the moment with summer, you know, and what God's doing in the moment. So, and if that's a if that's a challenge for you, if that's a tension for you, then you got deeper issues going on. Like if I say deal with your social media and that makes you tight, yeah, it tells you everything you need to know about where you are, right? And if anything, what summer does, it exposes who you really are. Absolutely deep down. Absolutely you know, because again, when it comes to wardrobes and things of that nature, it's like, again, it's it's like what are you trying to re reveal is more than you think it is. Right? You may try to reveal something physical, but that just reveals what's really going on in your heart. Absolutely. You know what I mean? So that's why the challenge I want to I want to live with people. It's like, hey, delete your social media and have a really present summer. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:56

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SPEAKER_03 32:43

No, go ahead. I was gonna say it's what you were talking about. I think there's a difference between rest and vegetation or laziness. I also want to talk about that, right? That's like there's there's an uh uh a scripture and it's not about summer, but again, I mean it's about seasons, right? And it says in a time in a season where kings go to war, David decided to hang back. End up being the worst day of the worst day of his life, right? Right, because that's the day that he went on to commit an affair. And I think the danger is the difference between resting and vegetation and laziness, right? Right, and not being on mission, right, even during the season that you're supposed to be in. Right. Because if you would ask David, I'm pretty sure he would say things along the lines of like, Man, I'm good, man. I'm I just want to relax today, you know, I want to rest today. And that led to the worst day of his life, which ends up being 15 to 20 years repercussion for that affair that jacked up him and his family. So again, it may sound extreme, but like one moment of vegetation or laziness could lead to so many deeper things. Right. You know what I mean? So to me, that's the other tension. It's like, yeah, you should rest, right? Like the Bible tells us to rest. But resting and laziness is not the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 34:06

But I mean, doesn't it kind of go if we all I know it's much easier said than done, but if we all just actually followed the commandment and filled in a Sabbath every week, 365 days out of the year, like we wouldn't, I don't think we'd have this whole like summer mentality. Yeah, you're already resting while you're working. So true, right? Right. You know what I mean? Right. We're all like, no, we don't we don't have time for that. Right. You know God.

SPEAKER_03 34:32

It's a good point.

SPEAKER_05 34:33

Yeah. One of the things that you always said is anticipate. And you said it more with like social media, anticipate all these things, but even for the summer, anticipate. One of the moments that um I've been thinking about a lot is when Jesus comes out of being tested in the wilderness, there's this little sentence that says, and uh the devil was waiting for an opportune time to tempt him again. And the summer, unfortunately, becomes one of those moments where everything looks good because how it's being sold. Like so I deal with a lot of young guys, right? And they're in the gym, uh, fall, winter, and spring, so that in the summer they can show off their six pack and their abs. And all these ladies are seeing um what was hidden for seasons so that they could see it in the summer, and they fall in love with this idea of like, no, that's not just who he is, there's something deeper inside of him. Like, and this is the moment that Satan is tempting you, and opportunity, and vice versa, can be true with the ladies as well. Yeah, but like this is a moment where you shouldn't be making decisions like that. The summer season, you don't make a decision like that. Right, you just enjoy life in this moment in the rest. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 35:34

Yeah, it does. And what's funny to me is that like women aren't really visual, yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_05 35:40

So also like dudes are doing it for dudes. Which is weird. We got other issues.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

That's what I'm saying. We have other issues because if you're asking a woman, she's way more likely to be attracted to somebody that is a man's man and that's like just gonna show up and like be there for her and like help her make decisions and show up to put gas in her car. It's like I I don't know, I've talked to a lot of women. I have not met one that was like, I met him and he had a six-pack, and he was he was so muscular and he wore those tiny shorts to the beach. I love him. Like, there's no way, there's no way you can like most women be like, listen, he has a pot belly, but he shows up for me, and that man loves me, and I'm for it. And that's actually consistent. That's the thing. You want to lift, that's fine, but whatever. But but that's the other thing, right?

SPEAKER_03 36:30

It's almost like it's almost like you want to hear some depth to your summer, right? You want to hear something that's more than just the superficial, shallow, right? Same old, same old. You know what I mean? You want to hear that there's like depth to your plans, like there's depth to why you're looking forward to summer, you know. Right. Because all the all you hear is the shallow stuff, you know what I mean? But it's like, man, after a while, that gets boring, right? It becomes irrelevant. And no wonder we are a society that's so shallow and sad. Because it's like all we do is talk about the shallow end of things. Right. Right. You know what I mean? But who's talking about the deep end of things? Like, I'm looking how about I'm looking forward to summer because I have more time to read. Yeah, you know what I mean? I have more time to like get into a really good book. It's like, man, we do not know what you're doing. Why why why don't we hear more of that? You know what I mean? Because to me, it's like, man, like after a while, it just gets boring. Right. Yeah, that's true. You know, like I I know I'm getting old, I'm sounding like the old man, you know, get off my phone, but like, man, I don't, I don't, there's nothing enticing out there, right? When you look at this world and you look at the social media world, it's like, that's it. Right. Show me something, right? Like meaningful. Right. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_05 37:39

Right. And why is there an inclination to let our guard down during the summer? What's so special about summer that we want to let our guard down?

SPEAKER_01 37:47

I just think you're out of routine. Because I feel it too. Like once the kids get out of school, I feel myself like okay, I don't have to, I don't have to wake up at 5 30. Like I can sleep until six a little bit. And I don't think that those things are wrong, but I just think it's you almost have to keep recalibrating. Like, okay, it's it's break, but I still have things that need to be done. So I think that there's something about just being out of routine. We're in New England. So those these few months where it's light at 5 30 all the way till 8 30, it just there's something that it just it naturally just kind of t puts you in a different mindset because you feel like you can do more. And I think that because it's lighter, you think you can do more, but you're actually you end up not doing more because you think you have all the time in the world to do it, but you actually don't because you don't have a routine. You let you kind of let go of your routine. If I had to like kind of break it down, I would say that that might be part of the reason, part of the reason why you just want to be outside more and you know.

SPEAKER_02 38:48

Yeah, it makes sense. And I guess now that you're saying that, I'm realizing we've been conditioned to do this as a society because the way our school system is. Absolutely. Right. It's so funny because it's like, again, not bad things, but do we believe the gospel is over culture, right? Right. It's like, well, Jesus didn't say, okay, you're done for three months because school's out. Right. I know it's like woolish. Yeah, it's it's it's a good perspective.

unknown 39:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:12

I have to say, one of my favorite summers that I had was when I was um single, I was in college, and the college that I went to or we went to during the summer, they would put these teams together and you would travel. We our region that we traveled was from Maine to Virginia, like the Eastern Seaboard. We would travel with this team and we would go to all of the different camps that we were assigned to. So we go to youth camps, um, I'm sorry, um junior high camps, senior high camps, family camps, VBSs. We would be at churches on Sundays, we'd help with their kids' classrooms, we'd help to lead worship, somebody would maybe somebody on the team would preach. And those were that was actually those two summers were probably two of my absolute favorite summers as a single person because I was doing something. Like I could still be outside, I was still with friends, but it was useful work. It wasn't lazy work.

SPEAKER_04 40:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:09

And so I don't know, when I think about that, I know obviously like our young adults don't have that, we don't have that system set up, but you can actually make a system like that. Like take out some of the junior high girls, take them to the beach, like you and some of your friends, or whatever it is. It's such a it feels so right. You're doing something outside, but you're ministering. Yeah, yeah. But it's not weird, like I'm going to go preach. It's like, oh, let's go get ice cream, let's go hang out at the beach. I want to meet your mom, or we can go hang out at a pool. I don't know. There's something about that that I think is just so special. Yeah. Probably one of the things that you're doing.

SPEAKER_03 40:41

Yeah, it doesn't even have to be, you know, organized things like that, right? But to me, it's about, you know, I want to rest, but I want to have meaning in my rest. Right. I want to have purpose in my rest. Because after a while, I don't know about you guys, you just feel you feel awful. You know what I mean? Or you're just like, I'm not doing anything, I'm not accomplishing anything. So to me, it's like rest with purpose. You know what I mean? It's good. Like uh one of the things I try to do is like I love movies, right? I love shows, but I want to watch something that I can be entertained, but also I'm learning something. You know what I mean? So even that, like being intentional about my entertainment, you know what I mean? Being intentional about how I spend my time. So if I'm gonna watch something, it's like let me watch a documentary. Yeah, yeah. I can learn something. Or if it's a series that's like I love stuff based on true stories, it's like I can learn something. So I feel like, okay, I did my entertainment, but there was a meaning behind that entertainment as well. You know what I mean? So just again, that's what the word intentional means. It's like I can have fun and have the least amount of regrets as possible. You know what I mean? And I think that's what it comes down to, right? It's the person's heart and the disposition of your heart and your soul, what you want the season to be about.

SPEAKER_05 41:50

So it's like creating a rule of life, because we're going through practice in the way and it's talking about creating a rule of life and anticipating. How do you know that you're setting a good rhythm for the summer coming out of like these busy seasons?

SPEAKER_03 42:02

I think it's being aware of your soul, right? Like, I think your soul is like um, you know how your car has those lights that go on and it shows you like something is wrong. I think if you're aware of who you are, your soul gives you those you know, warnings. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like, hey, your oil is low. Yeah, you know what I mean? And I think it has to do with that. I think can you be intentional about who you are? Because again, the sad reality is do people really know themselves? Yeah, you know what I mean? Do you really know what's what's off? Yeah, why are you feeling off? Do you ever stop to ask those questions? Like, why am I restless? What's going on with me? Where am I off? Is it physical? Is it emotional? Is it spiritual? You know what I mean? Yeah, I think if you don't stop to do that, then you're always gonna be looking for something else, always restless because you haven't stopped to consider like what's going on with me. Yeah, right? Search me, God, in all my heart. Yeah, right. Like to me, that's where it comes down to. It's do you have that discipline of being in solitude with God so that He can search you, so they can show you where you're missing it. Yeah, you know what I mean? Because if not, you're just gonna keep trying to find something outside of yourself to fulfill something that only Him can do for you. Right, right. So I think that it to me it starts there, like that intentional, like I need to sit with God so that He can actually pinpoint what is going on. It's almost like that self-inventory or in a car is a tune-up, right? It's just like what is going on with me first? Yeah, yeah. Because if not, I'm gonna keep projecting, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:34

You know, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:35

I don't know if you guys agree with me, but so please, you know, tell me your thoughts on this. But even listening to you talk is making me think when we're feeling like, oh, I need a break, I need to take a step back, right? What is the number one thing, at least in the church? Everyone's like, I need to stop serving because it's too much, right? And I feel like from I can personally attest to it's been in those moments where I'm like, I I need to recalibrate or reevaluate what I'm doing, but that's something That never comes off the table. And I feel like it's in those moments where the heat and pressure are on, where I'm like, oh, okay, this has got to go, but this is gonna stay, is when God has been like, that's where I've seen breakthrough most in my own personal life, where it's like, oh, okay, I was stressed because of a conversation I had on a Sunday that had nothing to do with serving. Right. That had everything to do with your, I don't know, pride. Do you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 44:25

Because your habits of holiness are the habits that have to stay. Yeah, but you cannot compromise your habits of holiness. Yeah. And so I think that that's exactly where it comes from. I think that people that say, like, all right, I'm not gonna serve, or like, I'm I'm going to not go to church. Not go to church, or I'm not gonna read, or I'm not gonna listen to worship, whatever it is. It's because you haven't established established those habits of holiness and they're still optional. Yeah, poof. And that's not and that's not good. And that's why I think you kind of flounder all over the place. And I'm not, and that's for all of us. Like, I mean, I've been con I was just talking to you about this not long ago. Our kids, two of our kids just had surgery. So we've had three surgeries in five months, and that was a lot. And on top of everything, but you know, the expansion for the church, all the so many different things that are just happening in life. We're doing so much at church, and so much is happening at home. And I'm the you know, the mom is the one that's like you're kind of managing all of it, which is great. And I there's no notes, I have no complaints about it at all. But at a certain point, you do start to feel a little bit tired. And I found myself like, I don't want to wake up at 5 30. I'm tired because I was physically tired. Yeah, and I did that for a couple of weeks, and then I start to find myself like, oh man, you can it immediately. It's like I'm grinding and I know I'm grinding, and this is not, it's not working. So I'm not saying that this is all of us. I think all of us, no matter how long you've been in the faith, like you have to make sure you have to be always like hyper-aware. Am I compromising my habits of holiness? Because once I start compromising there, the whole thing is going down right easily. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:03

Well, that's why it's so critical that you have those moments of self-reflection and introspection with the Holy Spirit. Because when you mentioned like serving, I just talked about someone about this. I'm like, it's interesting that no one says, How am I spending the rest of my time? We go right to I need to stop serving. But it's like, so you're thinking, if you think the two hours of serving is what your problem is, yeah, then you got deeper issues that you don't understand. Right. Right? Because you need to start with your Monday. Right. Right. Uh how's your Monday? Right, right. How's your Tuesdays? How's your Wednesday? Like we can go all the way down to Sunday, and you're telling me those two hours on a Sunday is the problem. That just shows you how how much we're lacking self-awareness and spiritual awareness to know the enemy wants to what? Pull you away from the very thing you're supposed to be plugged into.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

And I think it's a spiritual awareness because I think we're so self-aware and it's so selfish. Yeah. We do what we want to do. And we live in a culture where it's like, well, how do you feel? And I think that again, I think that there those are indicators, but we are on, I feel like we have built our lives on the altar of how I feel. And it's absolutely creeping its way into the church.

SPEAKER_04 47:13

Right.

SPEAKER_01 47:14

And some of it, again, like I I want to be clear, like some of it is appropriate because it is an indicator, and like there are things that we need to obviously navigate through, like, man, I feel this way, so I need to, I need to kind of figure out why I feel this way. That's appropriate. But everybody knows that you get to a certain point of your feelings and it's like this is off. And you know that it's off, but we keep we'll we'll find ways to feed that part of us because we just don't want to do the work. Right. Oh, yeah, and that's frightening.

SPEAKER_03 47:42

I think it's important repeating that. Feelings are indicators, are indicators, yes. They're not the truth. No, no, you know what I mean? They try to point you to something, right? Right, yeah, right. But we live in a society where truth has become feelings. Right, right. We equate truth with feelings, feelings with truth. Yeah. And the reality is God created us as people who have emotions and feelings to gauge us to get somewhere. Right. Not necessarily to be the thing, right? I think that's an important thing to re-emphasize. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:07

You know what's so unfortunate about that mindset if we bought into like the feelings, right? Is like say you wake up on a Sunday and you feel a certain way, right? Which I feel like we've all I know I've been there. There are Sundays where I told him, never in front of the kids, or I'm like, getting out of bed is hard today. Like, oh, you know, especially as a young mom, and it's like you have to get like, how many kids, how many people have to be dressed, you know, in 30 minutes? Okay, got it. Right. But it's like if we bought into that, you that feeling's not going anywhere. And in my experience, it's actually has been redeemed as soon as I get here. Oh, I feel like that's been my like, we've talked about this, like, oh, pray first is gonna be hard, but I know I just need to get there. Yeah, because how I'm feeling at home as a young mom is like, you know, sometimes you can feel a little depressed or a little overwhelmed or a little anxious because all of these things are off. So it's like I can either choose to not go to church because it's too much, or I can choose to go to church and be like, I'd rather be there. Yeah. You know, in the presence of no matter what. Too much no matter what. So let's just get in the car and just be too much with other people. Right. And just be honest. But but you know what it is? If I go to church and I have to be honest with people, and people are gonna be like, You good? And sometimes it's like, don't ask me that question. Yeah, but like, no, we need to be asked that question. Like, oh no, I'm actually not good, but I'm here. Yay, you know what I'm saying? We made it.

SPEAKER_03 49:30

But we we we've talked about this with the pastors that look, even that question, right? It's like, it's okay not to be okay. I don't have to disclose it to everybody. Right. Yes, right, yeah, yeah, yeah. So true, right? Some people it's like, I'm gonna keep it moving. Right. Because you have it's none of your business. Thank you for asking. You know what I mean? You later, right? But then the right people, it's like, all right, I can be honest and vulnerable with, but even that, it's again, it's the feelings thing, right? Yes, right. Like, just because I feel it doesn't mean I'm gonna like tell you everything about my life. Right. It's like you have you have no right, right? You have no business. Absolutely. And you can't handle it. Yeah, right. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 50:01

How can I pray for you? Just pray for me. Don't ask that question. I know. Just pray. I know. Just pray. I feel like I should start saying that. Just pray. Yeah, you don't want to know. You don't want to know.

SPEAKER_03 50:11

Yeah, that now is a secret sauce for pastors, right there. You know what I mean? Just pray.

SPEAKER_01 50:16

That's gonna be the new thing so much for thinking. Everyone that listens to this, they're just gonna be like, okay, we understand. We can't know this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 50:23

That's awesome. That tagline you said holiness is not optional. I think that's something we needed to hear. And I've also I'm very curious for y'all's perspective, because summer is a season that attendance goes down in all churches across the nation. What's your mindset and thought process with that? Nothing changes for me.

unknown 50:42

No.

SPEAKER_03 50:43

You know what I mean? Nothing changes for me. I don't approach it like, oh, it's summer, so I'm gonna preach differently. It's like nothing changes for me. You know, the only thing that changes is the fact that we do take a couple of weekends off. Um, but other than that, I mean, my mindset has never changed. That, like I said, it's a season. But what season does God have us in? It could be some of the best seasons of the church if we're all lean in and locked into what God is doing. We have so much going on, obviously. Um we have you know VBS coming up, which is a major highlight, you know. We have two camps this year. Yeah, let's go. You know, I mean, with the young adults are going monthly. So there's a lot going on. And to me, it's like, look, nothing changes for me. Right. You know what I mean? Like you can be la la land. It doesn't mean I have to be. And I I'm certainly not going to feed that thing, right? Right. I'm gonna do my best to keep us focused, keep us grounded, and keep us aware of what is God trying to do with you, even in the summer. So for me, it has never changed. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:42

I would agree. I just think people are on vacation. Yeah. So what church still happens, it's still gonna be just as anointed and just as awesome as it is any other time. I don't even I this is the first time I've ever even thought about it because you asked it. It's not, yeah, it's not even on my radar. That's gone. Because it's a holy habit. Like, why would we take why would we just not show up to church for summer? It's so weird. Right, right. Like if you're not coming to church, if you're taking the summer off from church, well, that sounds like a you problem, yeah, me problem. But what does that say about you? That's what I'm saying. So that's why it's like it's not my own.

SPEAKER_03 52:12

And what is your con what is your concept of God in church? That's what I think about. It's like, man, what do you actually think about God in church? What if God took three months out of your life?

SPEAKER_01 52:21

Oh my god, so scary.

SPEAKER_03 52:23

You know what I mean? So that's how that's how I look at it.

SPEAKER_02 52:27

So true. And if like we're not buying into our feelings, that's one of the things I always think about is like, man, if I missed this, what am I missing? Like what what deposit could I have missed out on? Maybe in God, if you don't want to do anything this Sunday, Wednesday, whatever, that's fine. Right. But I don't want to be that person that's like I missed it. You get what I'm saying? I don't want to. It's like the good kind of FOMO. Yeah. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 52:49

Yeah. Absolutely. But he's gonna ask that question, what'd you do with what I gave you? Yes. Were you there?

SPEAKER_01 52:54

Right. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 52:55

Right. So let me ask you this you guys have the greatest vision when it comes to winning the summer for the generations. Where did that come from?

SPEAKER_01 53:04

At least for me, it came from growing up in the church. My summers as a church kid were absolutely like just the best summers. I loved VBS. I absolutely loved camp. Like I would, I could cry thinking about camp. Even now, like just that experience, that's where I felt called to ministry was at a camp. And we went to, I mean, the camp that I grew up going to is a super old school camp. And there was just something about that retreat that was specific. It was for God. It was specific to my age. I could be with my friends. And I think that's that's always been in my heart. And then I just I think that it just kind of it just kind of happened. It just one thing rolled into another. Growing up, VBS at the church I grew up in, it was a huge outreach. So they would have they would rent buses and they would go to every housing project, and the kids would just load in.

SPEAKER_05 53:59

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 54:00

And it was amazing. And whenever we started talking about VBS, that was our first thought. We were like, can we get buses? And now it's different. It's it's not like what it was in the 80s in the 90s. Kids come on the bus on the case. Yeah, right. Right. Yeah, I got candy. Yeah, no, not to do that. So we had just said, listen, we want this to be the best and the greatest outreach. And then, you know, and camp was just a big, a big deal. And so I think that over the years, you know, when you when you kind of take that step of faith, you just see what's God gonna do with this. And we felt very strongly that first VBS that God's hand was on was on it. It was electric. I felt like these kids are worshiping, and I felt like it was a Sunday. Right, yeah, right. It wasn't, it was like the most beautiful, powerful thing. And I remember talking to Mariah and saying, like, we can't let up on this thing for sure. And then I think that maybe that next year or that year, I think it was actually that year that we started camp. Yeah, right. And I think we had like we just did two nights and it was great. And then we were like, all right, let's keep that's not enough. And we kept building. So I think that that's how it goes. I think when you take that step of faith, God meets you there, absolutely, and he lets you know if his hand of blessing is on it, and it has been. And so we have just decided, man, we're gonna make this these summers the best possible summer for every child that comes here from three to eighteen. We we're on the clock. I just feel like it's it's us we're gonna do this.

SPEAKER_03 55:31

Yeah, and I I think it's important to create moments where you can have a mountaintop experience. I think mountaintop experiences are so critical, especially at a young age. Right. Right, where again you're so fearless driven and all of that. And and and for God to meet you in that. There's something about again, if you do a study on mountains in the Bible, right? God meets you in the mountains, right? So there's something cool about being able to get away. I I'm I'm a testimony of that. Like I saved in a family retreat, you know, went there off for all the wrong reasons and came back with you know with Jesus. With Jesus. So to me, it's like, man, Jesus, do that for another 15-year-old or 14-year-old, or 16-year-old, 17-year-old. And we hear that every year. Every year we hear about how much Jesus does in the summer when you make room for that. And and the other thing I think about, I was a youth pastor, so my thing was always like, How do we keep our kids busy? How do we keep them focused on what really matters because they get bombarded with so much, right? So to me, that's what it comes down to, is just really creating those mountain type experiences that that stays with you. You know, I was just talking to a parent upstairs that you know, your kid may be three, but they're impressionable. Oh yeah. So to me, these VBS moments are so powerful because man sees a being dropped in their hearts that that will last for a long time. That sometimes as a an adult you remember those moments. Oh, for sure. So to me, it's creating those mountaintop experiences and praying for the Holy Spirit to move.

SPEAKER_01 57:02

Yeah, I still remember some of the songs from camp and from VBS and you know, Salty the Singing Songbook, like all the old school. I know I'm super dating myself, but I really don't care. I'm 42. Um, but even singing those songs and recalling them as an adult when I'm in a tough, a tough spot, like the cares chorus, I cast all my cares upon you, and just like I'll sing them and I'll just be in tears. Like my God, you were there when I was four and I was singing the song, and you're still here when I'm 42 singing the song. And it's just the most beautiful thing. And I just really feel strongly that I want that for our kids. And I know that like with our church, it's such a church for the unchurched. But I also really believe that I have to believe that God put us together for a reason. Like Marco got saved at 20, I got saved at six. And I think that there's two audiences and there's two anointings. And I think that God is trying to reach both of them. And I think, and I really, really do not want our kids to ever feel like, man, I have to have a horror story to meet the grace of God. And I think that the grace and the mercy of God is so great that it can keep you from six to sixteen to twenty-six. Like that is such a the staying power and how God transforms you and how he kind of doesn't become someone different, but he's the great I am. Like he is where you need him to be. Like he's a superhero when you're five, he's the best friend when you're sixteen, he's the healer when you're sick, like he has transformed and has met me in all the different facets of my life, and it has been the most beautiful thing. The hardest part obviously is when you're a teenager because you want to date and you want you want to date the wrong guy, you want to go out there, you want to try all these things. But man, if you can stay in the pocket and those years, my goodness, the things that he does on the other side of it, and we believe that the things that he does even inside of the pocket are just the most beautiful, like life-lasting things, you know.

SPEAKER_03 59:14

That was one of the highlights of camp last year. She did a message stay in the pocket. Yeah, yeah. She broke down what it means to stay in the pocket from a football standpoint to a spiritual standpoint. Yeah, yeah, that's good. Um, that was one of the highlights. Kids still talk about that.

SPEAKER_01 59:26

They still talk. That was like actually two years ago. Oh, that was two years ago. It was two years ago, and I kids will still tell me that. Yeah, like this is my arrival point. Like, I have to, I have to stay, I have to stay here. Because we had talked about, you know, what happens when when your mom asks you to do the dishes, and it's like, yeah, but I want to be a basketball star. Yeah, but tomorrow's not promised. Like, honor God right now because you might not have tomorrow. You may not get that chance to play basketball, but you get that chance to honor your mom. And there's something really good. So it was like every point is an arrival point, you never fully arrive. But each point that you find yourself at, you have a chance to honor God and to rise to the occasion. Can you do that? And I mean, still to this day, like oh, arrival point. This is what we're doing right here.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:11

That's the only thing we're missing right now.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:13

Old school church of telling you there's something about it. I'm telling you to stay in the pocket. Can you imagine? Somebody tell me a mistake. I could never, I would tell it. I would lose all of it. No one would listen to me if I started talking like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:28

You try it one day. It's like preaching fantasy right there.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:33

And what I love about it too, it's it's create it creates rhythms for families. Like every summer comes around our kids. Is BBS? Yes, they know. Yeah, they know.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:42

Yeah, I'm down to the three-year-olds. I got a video of a little one yesterday. What are we gonna do at BBS? BBS. And she's like, I don't know, well, what are we doing though? You know, tell me what we're doing. I love the anticipation. And um, it's funny that you're mentioning that because I'm sitting here, I'm like, you guys had this vision. And I feel like we have to shout out our people who are like, who caught the vision, you know, who are really like, oh yeah, I want that for my kid, I want that for my family. Like, yeah, what do we gotta do? How far how high are we gonna jump? You know, right. Because I really do feel like we are we're building a community of people who aren't afraid to jump high. Yeah and like it's gonna get messy, and you know, it's gonna be a lot, but like God, we don't want to miss your hand in these things. And I really like how what an honor it is that we do get to build something like this, that our kids don't have to go out and experience the world. Right. It's just like I love church, right? There's no other why would what would I what would I love? Right. I love it. Like we're building that, right? Such that's an honor. It's honor, you know.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:39

Absolutely. To the point where our oldest is like, will I go to a camp? Yes, one day you will go to camp. We won't go, so then you can have your old sparts. Yes, you'll go.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:48

No, it will not be old farts.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:50

No, we'll be young, okay?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:52

Young, I understand.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:53

You should put that on me when you bother take that off yourself. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. I I got a quote from Mark Batterson. It says, change of pace, change of place, ego's change of perspective. How would someone take that that quote and apply it to their summer? Talking about being intentional.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:13

I don't know, you want to go?

unknown 1:02:15

No.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:16

I think you should go.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:19

Again, I I I have to sound like a broken record. I think it's the rhythm you create for yourself, right? Again, um, not much changes for me when summer comes with my rhythm. You know what I mean? It's like I've created a rhythm that my soul thrives in, you know, and I don't want to get away from that, right? There might be some tweaks here and there. Uh kid, the kids are home more often and all that stuff, but I think it comes down to like again, what is what is the rhythm? And when it comes to perspective, for me, again, I go back to like I believe in a God that is with us every day, 365 days a week. And within the summer, there are different things he's doing in our lives for paying attention. So, again, I want to talk about this on Sunday. Ecclesiastes says there's a time and a season for everything on the earth, right? So God isn't just operating four seasons, yeah, right? I grew up in a country where there were two seasons. So what do you do then? You know it's like, no, like God's so true. Yeah, you know, we had a rainy season and dry season, unfortunately, it was mostly dry season. Yeah, right. I was telling the story yesterday that you know we grew up praying for rain. And then I moved to America, we pray against rain right away. And no wonder God can't win. Yeah, you know what I mean? Because we're over here like we need rain. And over here's like, rain is a nuisance. So that just shows you we don't know what we're talking about. You know, and that to me is a major tension with perspective, is if we're not truly in tune, we might even lose perspective because you might want something that you shouldn't even be wanting if you were really in tune with what's going on. So perspective comes from within anyway, and it comes from the rhythm that you already created and what you truly believe about God.

unknown 1:04:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:07

You know what I mean? Yeah. Because again, if a if a season changes you uh for whatever reason, uh then it's like who are you really? You know what I mean? So that that's how I look at it, you know?

unknown 1:04:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:20

I just think like from a just from a more positive perspective of change of pace, change of place, change of perspective. I think that can be such a good thing. Like I it just kind of reminded me of during the summer, like we'll go for drives, and sometimes it's it's just the two of us, even if it's with the kids. And there's something about driving, I don't know what it is for us, but I think that we drive and we start to dream. And I'm it's it's amazing. I think we go away and we'll just drive like the back roads, and something happens and you just start to dream again. You get out of your get out of the house, you get out of like whatever the routine is. And so there's a good piece of that about getting out of routine, but it's you know, your physical routine, as long as you're not getting out of our holy habits routine. I think then it's a very it's a good thing to it's like a missions trip. Yeah, you you have to change a pace, it's a change of place, you have a full, a fully different perspective, but your habits have remained, your holy habits have remained.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:17

So sorry, I was choking on water.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:19

I know I can feel it. Don't you hate when that happens? You're like, don't cough.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:23

Like got caught right in the middle.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:24

It's like, oh my god. Makes the podcast feel real. Sorry. This is not an idea.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:29

This is not an I think killing the cough alone.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:32

And we'll wait for you to choke.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:36

Like, I'm gonna die right here.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:41

That happened to us once we went out with the we went out for a dinner, and I had like blackened salmon and like the char of it the right way. And I was like, oh my gosh. And I'm trying, it's like people you're trying to like kind of impress like you gotta put heaps in your best book for it. And I was like, I can't sit at this table, I had to leave, and then I came back, and I mean I I was crying like my ass like I I don't know what to say. I'm sorry. I choked on a piece of black insane.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:07

Choking on water.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:08

Yeah, yeah. I was choking on water. H2O. Call it H2O. Uh to land the plane here, I want to ask you guys this, uh, especially as as pastors. How should we approach summer in different demographics? Single, dating, married, and married with kids.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:26

Um, I think especially I think when I think about the singles, is really you have to be extremely intentional about your time and who you're spending it with. Because again, uh David, one moment was was what jacked up everything, right? And again, when I was a youth pastor, the thing I used to hate hearing is one thing led to another.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:54

You know what I mean? And to me it's like, you know how many things have to lead to another for you to be naked with somebody? Right. Right, right. Right. You know what I mean? So to me it's like, man, give yourself more credit than that. Yeah, by really waking up with intentionality. I think it's about winning your mornings, no matter what season you're in. I think something I love my mornings because she knows, like, if I'm out of my morning routine, I just don't feel right. So to that single person, I say, man, conquer your morning. Like have a routine where you work out physically and spiritually, and and then have a focus for your day. You know what I mean? Where it's not just again, hang out with purpose, right? Have fun with purpose, do things with purpose. Give yourself a schedule because you care about yourself, you care about your soul. You know what I mean? Don't just be out, nothing good happens after midnight. We always say that, right? The older I get, the more I'm like, what's out there? You know what I mean? So I would say to that person, like, really, oh, lock in, you know, talk about stay in the pocket, man, lock in, you know, because it might be uh one summer of regrets and some things that are hard to recover from.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:00

So I fully agree with that. And I think that for people that are married and have families, I just think enjoy it. Like it doesn't have to be expensive, it doesn't have you don't have to be doing the most like a sprinkler, sidewalk chalk. It goes such a long way. Absolutely. Then I was thinking, I there was one summer we um our fourth was just born, and uh, she was born in May, so she was a newborn for that summer. And that was probably one of my favorite summers, and I was trying to figure out why a favorite summer as a family, and it was because we would go to the beach all the time, but it was a group of us that would go. I would go with my sisters, and there were there was enough of a variation in age that they could kind of keep each other entertained and kind of watch each other, and then the moms got to sit and relax. So I actually think that that's a really great tip for parents. Uh it's it's hard when it's just the family that's going out sometimes because you feel like you have to, you kind of have to do all the work of entertaining them, but you don't go with a friend who has kids that are the same age, and then it's life-giving for your kids and for you because your kids need a break from you too, and you need a break from them, and that's a very normal, healthy thing. But it's the sweet little things, like you can make an adventure out of anything. Like if it's a if they're not scared of thunderstorms, it's like, hey, let's put on our PJs and go for a fun drive and watch the watch the lightning with popcorn and a popsicle, whatever. Like it doesn't have you don't have to be doing the most, but just to enjoy them and it goes by so fast.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:31

Yeah, that's a good tip. Yeah, what about you about the dating?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:36

Mariah has a lot to say about dating.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:39

Ask me the question again.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:40

Um, how would you approach summer as a person dating?

unknown 1:09:44

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:46

Do we happen to have to say it? You know, I mean, obviously, I feel like you have to use discernment in all areas of your life. Like, don't put yourself in stupid situations, you know? Like, don't drive with your it, you know, love interest unattended with. You know, put some friends in the car. Like, why don't we just be weird, you know? Right. Go out, have fun though. Like, I'm not trying to say like we're like, you know, I'm not trying to say we're weird. Right. I'm also trying to say is like things happen. Yeah. Be aware. Be aware. Be aware. And also, like, you're not married.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:15

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:15

So don't do married things. Right. Like, still come to church, not with the person you're dating, you know, because you're not married. Right. You know what I mean? Just show up, right? Serve. Don't like, well, what are you doing? Just yeah. We're not married.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:28

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:29

You know what I'm trying to say. I do know what you're trying to say. I love it. Yeah. You're not married. And I think that when you kind of rope yourself into you just you're stuck. And I think you don't have your you, I don't want to say keep your options open, but also like in a holy way, keep your options open. Don't you have to hold your cards close when you're dating. You don't have you don't have to don't put it all out there because you don't know if your mind is going to change. You don't know if this is the right one. You're still young, you're 18, you're not sure what you're doing yet. So you don't have to don't give everything away. Just keep it close. You don't have to say I love you right away. You don't have to say I like you. Just hang out, go get some coffee, call it a day.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:04

Yeah, exactly. You're not married until you say I do.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:07

A lot can change. A lot can change. For the girls, dress modestly. It's summer. Just be modest. You can be very, very trendy and cool and modest. And that is actually such a beautiful thing. And I think that men, the right man will agree with that and say, like, man, I hope this girl's beautiful. Yeah. And she dresses nice and she's not insecure. She's not throwing herself out there like that. So be modest, ladies.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:32

And a real man doesn't want to share you with the world.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:35

Yeah, true. Hello. All right.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:37

So there it is. Real man. Well not pay attention to that. Absolutely. Like you're too out there. Yeah. Yeah. I want you to for me. I don't want you for the world. So if you're still dressing for the world, you ain't the right one, baby girl. No, yeah. Run it back.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:54

I love it. I love it. Thank you so much. Oh, yeah. Almost eight months pregnant. Hello. Come on. Almost seven months. But we love you guys. We honestly really do love you guys. We talk about you very highly. And we we want to be like you when we grow up. So thank you for your investment into us.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:12

I love you too. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:14

Go USA. USA K-bird. US.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:20

We weren't hearing for Mexico.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:29

This is the order of America. Mexico K word.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:34

I love that.