1 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:08,560 Welcome to today's broadcast of Lead to Serve, a leadership 2 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:12,360 podcast with Ed Taylor. Hey, welcome again to another 3 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,840 episode of the Lead to Serve podcast at Calvary Church in 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:21,280 Aurora, Co In studio for season #6 is Pastor Bob Klaykamp. 5 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,040 Welcome, Bob. Yeah, it's good to be here. 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:25,760 Glad you're back. I know it's a big investment of 7 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,040 time, but we're grateful that you're with us and the response 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,159 to our podcast has been great. Thank you guys for your reviews, 9 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:35,600 your emails, your voicemails, your text messages. 10 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:41,200 It is a dialogue, of course, in studio here, but the dialogue 11 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:44,640 extends to you as well. We want to hear from you. 12 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:47,640 We want to hear your feedback. We want to hear your questions. 13 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:51,240 We want to be a support to you, a resource to you. 14 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:55,960 The way that you can do that is either by e-mail or you can text 15 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,440 us. The number to text is 720. 16 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:06,120 That's the area code 7 two O 6/08 0012 or you can e-mail Bob 17 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:15,640 at bob@bobclaycamp.com. That's bob@bobclaycamp.com. 18 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:17,760 Sounds like it. It spells like it sounds. 19 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:22,600 And you can e-mail me at ed@edtaylor.org. 20 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:27,720 Has to be a.org for me because as you well know, Santa Claus, 21 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:32,240 Ed Taylor owns my domain and he doesn't want to sell it for a 22 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:37,160 reasonable price. So he gets to keep it and he 23 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,440 doesn't forward me my e-mail anymore. 24 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,320 He used to do that, but he doesn't anymore. 25 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:44,800 So you got to hit it right, ed@edtaylor.org. 26 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,160 You know our goal, our goal for the podcast is to help you grow 27 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,640 in your servant leadership so that you'll glorify God and all 28 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,520 that you do. The better serving you are, the 29 00:01:55,520 --> 00:02:00,800 better leader you will become. New topic today, kind of 30 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:06,200 building on the previous weeks, Bob, but the topic today as we 31 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:13,160 come to episode number 10 is pressing through challenges, 32 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,440 pressing through challenges as we're recording it. 33 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,800 I don't know what the title of it will be, but this is the 34 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,440 essence because challenge is a part of servanthood. 35 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,200 Challenge is a part of leadership. 36 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:34,680 If we don't learn how to press through, we won't find 37 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,880 faithfulness in our lives or as we defined it, we won't find 38 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,280 success. You've been around a long time. 39 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,640 I'm going to assume because you're here today with me, you 40 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:49,840 have pressed through challenges. What's 1 of the first things 41 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,320 that pops into mind as you think about pressing through 42 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:55,840 challenges? Well, sometimes because things 43 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:00,480 become difficult, you think, well, is this the Lord or is 44 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,840 this Satan trying to just put a stop stick in front of me? 45 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:11,320 And you have to be careful how you process a challenge, a 46 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,160 situation in life that all of a sudden has turned extremely 47 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:17,800 difficult or has tons of drama in it. 48 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:22,720 Sometimes it's the Lord trying to slow us down. 49 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,840 Sometimes it's the Lord trying to protect us. 50 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,520 And sometimes it has to do with His timing. 51 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:35,280 Maybe what you endeavored to do wasn't wrong in and of itself, 52 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,960 but it wasn't His timing. And yet so quickly we go, well, 53 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,360 because it's hard, it must be the devil, Stop it. 54 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,000 Yet you can't. Just don't go there at first, 55 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:49,000 because the Lord is the one who is sovereign over your life, not 56 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,680 Satan. And so just because something is 57 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,640 challenging and difficult does not automatically equate to it 58 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,560 being of the devil. It's so easy to do that. 59 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,600 Sometimes you just made a bad choice and and now you're 60 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:04,600 suffering some consequences because of it. 61 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:06,080 But it's not the end of the world. 62 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,000 It's not the end of the day. The Lord is still in charge. 63 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,640 And because the difficulty is being used by the Lord to 64 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:18,480 develop within you and within me, strength of character, the 65 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,160 things that I have worked through, so many different 66 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:26,840 things that have come up as I've served the Lord with my family, 67 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:31,360 with my ministry and all. You look back and then you get 68 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,400 the perspective, but sometimes you don't have the perspective 69 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,720 in the middle of it. You just have to say God, I'm 70 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:46,800 trusting you but I am afraid or I don't understand or I am in 71 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:53,120 pain or I am so angry I can't even spit and so I don't know 72 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,680 what to do. What is angry? 73 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:57,520 You don't know how to spit? Like how? 74 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,480 What is that describe? I wouldn't I don't think I 75 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:03,320 forget how to spit. So what it what it? 76 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:05,360 What is that describe? What's that illustration? 77 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,960 It is you can't even express anything. 78 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:16,080 It has grabbed a hold of you and consumed your thought life as 79 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,160 well as brought all the emotion to the surface. 80 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:21,320 Yeah, You guys know, you guys listening in. 81 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,960 Just as a side note from our episode today, having Bob around 82 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,120 here, as he has been for the few, we learn a lot of phrases 83 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:31,200 from Bob. He always gives us new phrases 84 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,760 to think about new things that he says. 85 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,840 It's quite fun. I mean, it's a great angle as he 86 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:39,640 offers his perspective. But there are those times we go, 87 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,320 wait a minute, Bob. Sometimes we say, Bob, did you 88 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:48,320 just really just say that? But most of the time it's a new 89 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:50,400 angle. Yeah, that's a that's a 90 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,960 different podcast, another episode, the sayings of Bob and 91 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:58,080 when we tell him to stop. But I think that the challenge 92 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,680 is first of all, you, you, you got to if you're if you're 93 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,640 thinking about serving God, you're thinking about making 94 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,760 progress in anything in life. It's going to come with a car, a 95 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:09,920 price. It's it's going to cost you 96 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:11,480 something. It's going to be challenging. 97 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:15,600 Nothing in life, I believe that's worth it comes without 98 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:19,960 challenges, without resistance, without, you know, the challenge 99 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,200 of spiritual warfare because it could be the resistance of the 100 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,160 devil, the challenge of discipleship because it most 101 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,680 likely is God stretching you and leading you by faith. 102 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:34,080 You know, it's the situation itself, it's the people that are 103 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,640 involved, it's where you live, it's the financial aspect. 104 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:41,680 It's the it's the need for response and faith. 105 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,640 You know, sometimes these things are directly from God that we 106 00:06:45,840 --> 00:06:49,600 that, that he's actually, when you kind of use God and the 107 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:53,400 devil, sometimes it's both. God is using the devil like he 108 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,440 did with Job or like he did with the disciples. 109 00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:59,240 Remember he, he was bringing him, Hey, we're going to go to 110 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,800 the other side of the Sea of Galilee, all for the whole 111 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,680 purpose of showing him their lack of faith and being in the 112 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:10,480 storm and watching the power of Messiah steal the storm and use 113 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,360 that in their lives. But the the reality is, if 114 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,280 you're stepping into doing anything for the Lord, you're 115 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,560 stepping into doing anything at your church, you're stepping in 116 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,040 and wanting to be the husband that God made you to be. 117 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,120 You're stepping up and to be the parent that God wants you to be. 118 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:27,360 You're stepping up to start reading your Bible. 119 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:32,480 Every, everything about life is going to come with challenges. 120 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:38,160 Don't be surprised, don't be shocked, don't shy away. 121 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:43,120 God is working in your life. My favorite, favorite, favorite 122 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:48,200 verse when it comes to this topic is in Hebrews chapter 10. 123 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,040 In verse 36, he said Paul, right? 124 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:53,760 I believe Paul's the author of the Hebrews. 125 00:07:53,960 --> 00:08:00,120 He says you have need of endurance so that after, so the 126 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,440 endurance is going to take you all the way to the end. 127 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,160 You have need of endurance so that after you've done the will 128 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:08,480 of God, you may receive the promise. 129 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:10,320 And that Greek word is Hoopa Monet. 130 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:14,920 It's one of the few Greek words that I have repetitively taught 131 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:17,000 our church. I want them to remember it 132 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:18,480 because it's kind of fun to remember it. 133 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,720 But that's what we need. You want to quit today and 134 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:22,920 that's the word of the Lord to you. 135 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:25,720 You need endurance. You want, well, you know, I 136 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:27,560 think I, I need to go somewhere else. 137 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,200 Well, I mean, there's a difference between God leading 138 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:32,760 you somewhere else and you're just so frustrated and so 139 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:35,640 challenging and it's so hard. I think of the church planter. 140 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:40,760 Every single church planter has felt this way to some degree or 141 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:42,360 another. You know, it's just not working 142 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,440 here. I think I need to go somewhere 143 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:46,240 else. God didn't really call me here. 144 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:48,880 I don't know if God called you there or not. 145 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:50,640 I don't know. It's just something you 146 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,160 discover. But running away and quitting is 147 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:54,280 not a way you're going to find out. 148 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:57,560 Like that's not the right way to find out you went to Exeter. 149 00:08:57,560 --> 00:09:01,800 Do you ever feel that in Exeter? After about 3 or 4 years, 3. 150 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:04,840 Or four years. Yeah, at first it was all 151 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:07,000 adventurous. At first it was all new. 152 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:11,360 At first it was all challenging in a sense, like we, we can do 153 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:15,080 this and and look at all these opportunities and look what can 154 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,640 happen. And then after a while, when no 155 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:24,000 one's listening and what's following you just make you go, 156 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,040 well, I I can't even cast vision. 157 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:28,040 I can't even. Why why isn't that? 158 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:30,480 And the university students are all over it. 159 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:32,400 But then you know what the well, how come? 160 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,480 And so you just start, it's like pulling on a bad string from a 161 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:38,200 sweater. All of a sudden the sleeves are 162 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,680 falling off because you're pulling things and you're not 163 00:09:40,680 --> 00:09:43,800 waiting on the Lord and saying, wait a minute, are you doing 164 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:47,040 what God directed you to do? Good. 165 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,880 That's that's success like we talked about earlier. 166 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,720 Faithfulness, like I, I was thinking here in Colorado, I 167 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:57,480 certainly have my moments that I'm just like, I don't, I don't 168 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,720 know if I got this right. I don't know it was I had enough 169 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,720 faith to leave California. I'd enough faith to come here 170 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,240 like God gave me the enough faith in each area that that 171 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,640 where it was needed. He led me, gave me the grace to 172 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:13,320 steady on. But then you feel you, you face 173 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:17,080 hardships, you face people hardships, money, hardships, 174 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,520 marriage hardships, kid hard. You face all these challenges 175 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,960 and you begin to doubt that you what you did was the right 176 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:26,600 thing. Because I, the part of the 177 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:30,800 doubting is if I step out in faith, it's all going to be 178 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:32,680 fine. Like that's what God wants. 179 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:35,320 He's, but he could take you out. He could take you from a place 180 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:37,640 where it was difficult because we had our own challenges in 181 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,480 California, then we came here and we have our own challenges 182 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:42,760 here because you cannot run your challenges. 183 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,760 You don't need to be removed from your challenges as much as 184 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,440 we wanted. We need to learn how to endure 185 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:50,760 them. And that Greek word, Hoopa Mone 186 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:55,040 has the idea of bearing up under the weight of something. 187 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:58,280 It's not even the people part of it, just something, just the 188 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:02,120 circumstance that people create. I'm in a situation right now, 11 189 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:05,440 years, 11 plus years, people have created it. 190 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:10,160 People are behind it, but it's the situation because the Lord's 191 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:12,920 going to deal with the people, but I have to deal with the 192 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,640 situation. And I'm like, OK, Lord, I want 193 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:19,720 and I'd love to end it. Sometimes I feel like I could 194 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,240 end it, but I really have no power over it. 195 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:25,840 But I need to learn to endure. And I've learned that over and 196 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:30,360 over and over again to endure waiting for God, waiting for the 197 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,880 sun to rise, waiting for the situation to pass. 198 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:34,960 But until then, I'm waiting on the Lord. 199 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:37,200 What is He doing? Renewing my strength. 200 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,440 He is giving me fresh vision to fly. 201 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,560 I can start running again. And my eyes are off the 202 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:48,160 circumstances, off the people, off the situation, and my eyes 203 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:51,000 are back on the Lord. And it's amazing the strength 204 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,280 that He gives when we looked at Him by faith. 205 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:59,800 One of the biggest challenges I had was almost six years ago 206 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:04,240 when I had my heart attack. It wasn't something I thought 207 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:06,360 would ever happen, never came into my mind. 208 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,240 I thought it was just acid reflux, but it changed 209 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:13,160 everything. It was a catalyst that pulled me 210 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:19,320 away from my lane and there wasn't anything I can do about 211 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:22,320 it. And you're trying to process it 212 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,880 and it's happening to you and you can't deny it. 213 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,800 And it it dissolves all of your plans. 214 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:36,760 But the Lord through it all, the Lord showed His plan little by 215 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:38,400 little. It's back up a little bit, Bob. 216 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,080 It's a great illustration. So you got a health situation. 217 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,200 So we know people listening. We're all going to have health 218 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:48,040 situations 1° or another, one extreme or another. 219 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:51,040 We aren't. We know now, looking backwards, 220 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:56,200 that this health episode altered the course of your life, quite 221 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:57,520 literally. It's what brought you back to 222 00:12:57,520 --> 00:12:59,160 the States, right? Let go. 223 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,040 Let's go back, if you can, in your mind and memory a little 224 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:06,440 bit to the laying in the hospital bed, not knowing at the 225 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:08,000 few. You don't know how it's going to 226 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,640 turn out. You had this episode. 227 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:12,840 It's not acid reflux. It's pretty serious. 228 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:16,560 You got all these tests. What kind of challenges did you 229 00:13:16,560 --> 00:13:19,240 face and what kind of endurance was given to you? 230 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,760 Like, you don't know of this, you don't know that you're 231 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:23,520 changing the whole course of your life. 232 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:26,040 You don't know that yet. So what do you know and how do 233 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,560 you respond to it? Well, the only thing I mean, 234 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:33,120 such a vivid memory as if it was yesterday, laying in the 235 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:39,600 hospital bed in the ICU unit after the stent was put in, just 236 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:41,840 talking to the Lord. And the thing that came to my 237 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:44,200 mind was Hezekiah begging for his life. 238 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:48,920 And I and the Lord gave him 15 years, but he had manasseh 239 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:51,320 during those 15 years, which ruined everything. 240 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:56,840 And so I told the Lord, I don't want to have a Manasseh in my 241 00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:59,040 life. And so I'm not going to be 242 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:02,800 begging for my life. If it's my time to go, that's 243 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,480 your call. If it's not, that's your call. 244 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,880 I'm going to leave that to you and not try to figure it out. 245 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:12,080 So whatever happens. And then over the next two 246 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:16,320 months, I was so weak, I couldn't even talk with people. 247 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:18,600 I couldn't, I couldn't last five minutes. 248 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,360 I couldn't go to church. I couldn't even go to my church. 249 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,320 And so we had to find fill in people to do it because we 250 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:26,520 didn't have a lot of. Resources to find fill in people 251 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:28,520 like you. You're not able to talk, you 252 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,120 don't have any energy. Genie was help so. 253 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:33,760 You had a partner? Yeah, one of my elders. 254 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:38,720 He he called, he could fill in when he could, but he was flying 255 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:40,400 long distance for British Airways. 256 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,480 And so, you know, he wasn't always there and available. 257 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,360 So it was a challenge. And then during that time of 258 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:53,040 rest, a lot of rest, I just knew that I needed to let go of the 259 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:56,720 church. And the pilot who was our elder 260 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:00,480 Andy Lay, he was the one. He was in a long term 261 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:02,800 transitional process, he and his wife. 262 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:07,080 But it was time to shorten that and see what could be done. 263 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,640 And then, I mean, as a pastor, you can't think of, I can't even 264 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:13,560 go to church. I mean, it was just a shock. 265 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:18,560 But through it all, I did end up reading all the novels from 266 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:20,840 Charles Dickens that I was supposed to read in high school. 267 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:22,640 OK. Plus we were living in England. 268 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:24,160 I mean, I knew where all those places were. 269 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:30,920 So the side note, looking back, God was so in charge of every 270 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:36,280 single part of it because of what he wanted to do that I 271 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,960 could only go step by step. Yes, and and he gives you the 272 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:44,520 faith to take the step, the next step and you know, just do the 273 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:50,440 next most important thing became the mantra of of my mindset. 274 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:56,200 God, give me the faith to take that step and help me not 275 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,520 overthink it. I think of Jesus back to that 276 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:03,040 illustration of telling the disciples to get into the boat, 277 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:06,280 go to the other side, that he knew full well there would be a 278 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:10,320 storm that arise and that that storm would teach them a lot 279 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,960 about themselves. I got this originally from 280 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:16,680 Pastor Greg Glory. I've adapted it in my own 281 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:21,360 teaching, but he gave me the idea of how God uses storms and 282 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:27,280 he uses them in at least three ways, correcting, protecting and 283 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,160 perfecting. There's probably a lot of other 284 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:34,360 ways that you could list, but you know, God will allow these 285 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:39,120 challenges to come in to correct us, to discipline us, to change 286 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,360 us, to reveal things to us that we don't know. 287 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,280 Here we are desperate to get out of it. 288 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:47,280 And I'm I'm listening to your story. 289 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:49,720 I can learn a little bit more every time you share. 290 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:54,120 And I'm like, yeah, I think I think I would probably want to 291 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:55,920 Get Me Out of this. Get Me Out of this. 292 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:56,920 I can't. What do you mean? 293 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:58,800 I can't even talk like Get Me Out of this. 294 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:00,320 I'm so weak. I give me. 295 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:04,800 But God was correcting. He was bringing about dependence 296 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,960 and change in you and what he would want to do the protecting 297 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,040 storms. We don't always, we don't always 298 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,760 think about this challenge today that's got me stuck here. 299 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:17,839 If even want to use that, that, this, that, that word. 300 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,640 I'm not really stuck. We're following the Lord, but 301 00:17:20,839 --> 00:17:24,000 it's got me here. I'm in point A so that I'm not 302 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,920 at point B and who knows what God is keeping me from. 303 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:30,920 Who knows how He used the situation to stop me or a 304 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,240 situation to move me so that I'm in. 305 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:37,240 I can only be in one place at one time and he may want me 306 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:40,800 somewhere and he may create environments so that I will be 307 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:45,040 in point A to avoid point B. And all I see is I don't get 308 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:46,280 that. I want that. 309 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:49,680 I say I want to be in point B so much and and the Lord goes 310 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,240 through you. I you want it so much that it's 311 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:55,320 only going to be a challenge that keeps you from it. 312 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,400 And then the final one is perfecting, which I think are 313 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,720 most storms, those discipleship, most those discipleship, 314 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:06,960 spiritual growth that the challenge that you and I are in 315 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:09,520 there it, it's not designed to get us to quit. 316 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,160 And I would just say today, don't quit. 317 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,880 It's always too soon to quit. And there is a difference 318 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,800 between quitting and the Lord leading you on and moving you 319 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:21,440 on. Those are two different 320 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:24,320 categories. Quitting is more and, and I'm, 321 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,120 I'm defining them this way. Quitting would be, I don't want 322 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:29,640 to do this anymore. I don't want to be here anymore. 323 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:31,880 I don't think. And it's all about you, your 324 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:36,800 feelings, assessing a situation. Whereas the Lord leading you on 325 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:41,360 is very clearly like wisdom from above, right? 326 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:44,640 Pure, peaceable, willing to you like it's. 327 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,280 Yeah, there might be some challenges and things that God 328 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,120 got your attention, but because he got your attention, he's 329 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:53,240 beginning to speak with you. I think that there's a sense 330 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:56,600 where in Exeter is you. It illustrates it really well. 331 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:01,200 You didn't quit, but you didn't move on and the Lord used your 332 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,720 health scare to get your eyes on something to accelerate a 333 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:08,000 process a little bit more to say, I don't know that I could 334 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:09,320 do this. Or I think God might be 335 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,760 movement. And you begin to pray and wow, I 336 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:17,440 I have endured this challenge to the point where God has brought 337 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:20,440 it to an end and now he's going to take me to another challenge. 338 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:27,000 Sometimes we forget that our life has seasons, just like in a 339 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,640 place where, like in Phoenix, you didn't have a season, you 340 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:34,400 just had hot and hotter and, and, but in a place where you 341 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:38,840 have The Four Seasons, we're, we're used to those seasons and 342 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:44,240 there is a season where the leaves turn colors because 343 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,040 things are changing and it's so glorious to see. 344 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,120 And then they all fall off. And so we don't like those 345 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:53,440 seasons where everything falls off and we forget that it is 346 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,440 just a season. And it's during those seasons 347 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:59,200 when all the leaves fall off that the roots go down deeper. 348 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:03,720 And so, I mean, as I'm listening here, I'm there are some of you 349 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:08,640 who are listening right now and you're watching your leaves fall 350 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:13,480 off and you're freaking out and, and you're trying to pin them 351 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:15,760 back on and tape them back on and all. 352 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:20,000 And and you're just supposed to let it go because the Lord is 353 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,800 bringing you through this to have your roots go deeper. 354 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:25,920 It's not that you're doing something wrong. 355 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,880 It's not even that you know, it's the devil and all that. 356 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:34,160 It's a season. And so take a look at just like 357 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:38,560 Jesus drew upon the things of life and the things of of nature 358 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:41,760 around to show that God is still in charge. 359 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:46,680 And so some of you that you know, you've watched your leaves 360 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:51,000 fall off, maybe your leadership has moved away, you've plant, 361 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,000 you've worked with them. You you knew they were the ones 362 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,160 you needed their help. And all of a sudden they got a 363 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:00,600 job, transfer to another place and you're back to square one. 364 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:02,520 It's like the leaves are falling off. 365 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:05,960 That's how you see it. But but that's not how it is. 366 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:10,880 It's it's a season and it's a challenge that you will get 367 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:13,160 through, although it's going to be harder. 368 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:16,120 Yeah, but it was it was hard when you started. 369 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:21,720 So let's just look to the Lord, pray for strength, what's the 370 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:23,920 next most important thing to do and do it. 371 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:27,120 We, we do have the world's mentality in US, whether we 372 00:21:27,120 --> 00:21:31,120 realize it or not, Bob Like we, we think the longer we're doing 373 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:32,480 something, the better it's going to be. 374 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:34,720 The easier it's going to be, the bigger it's going to be the most 375 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,320 successful. Like we have that ingrained in 376 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:38,800 us. We have that ingrained in US. 377 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:41,880 In the general workplace, the longer I work, the more 378 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:45,200 seniority I have, the less work I have to do, the more 379 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:48,080 leadership I might be conveyed, the better I'll be at my job. 380 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,600 I mean, I think of us as pastors, especially those of us 381 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:52,880 that have been doing it for a while. 382 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:55,640 It's sparked you. You just described a situation 383 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,640 where a friend of mine who pastors a church in Texas was 384 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,080 letting me know about some challenges where he has all 385 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:04,280 these openings again and he's been there forever. 386 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:05,920 And now he's got all these openings again. 387 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:07,840 And I don't know why he has those openings. 388 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,960 Most likely it's people moving on, moving on or moving out. 389 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,280 But he's, it could feel like, like I've been doing this all 390 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:16,760 these years and I feel like it's, yes, it's like the first 391 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:18,280 day. And I don't think it's supposed 392 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,560 to feel that way. And the reality is it's 393 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,360 perfectly normal. It's not good. 394 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:26,040 I mean, I, I mean, it doesn't feel good. 395 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:28,520 It could be good. Like that's another, it could be 396 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:30,880 a storm that you're just being protected from something too. 397 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,640 You don't, you don't know what God wants to do and bring in 398 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,840 this change or but what I do know this whatever we're facing, 399 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:41,680 endurance is going to be how you'll get through it. 400 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:45,800 That's how will the Lord will graciously give us strength for 401 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,720 today and hope for tomorrow. And that's how we're going to 402 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:50,920 make it. Hoopa Monet. 403 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:53,880 Don't forget that bearing up under the weight. 404 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:59,640 It speaks of a constancy under suffering or challenge. 405 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:04,080 It speaks of a constancy in your faith with duty. 406 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:08,320 It has the idea of waiting on the Lord cleaving to the Lord 407 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:10,520 and isn't that the case? Challenges come. 408 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:14,400 We we're going to run somewhere we're not going to like, like I 409 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,480 always tell, don't quit, don't run away because that's that 410 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:23,160 there is you have that fight or flight mentality with difficulty 411 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:27,520 and the answer is not to run away, but to run to the Lord. 412 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:32,560 It also has the idea, this definition of a brave resistance 413 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:38,480 that honors God and endurance. Pupa Monet is at the center of 414 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,720 our lives as spiritual leaders, spiritual servants. 415 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:44,120 With endurance, you won't cave in. 416 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,920 With endurance, you won't quit with endurance, you won't fall 417 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,440 to the schemes of the wickedness of the enemy, one of the enemy. 418 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,720 You won't run away in fear. And as I teach Bible study with 419 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,560 this included because part of all the challenges of my life, 420 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:04,200 part of all the difficulties, God has added a layer to my 421 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,640 personal ministry where I talk about suffering and grief and 422 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,200 difficulty and studying on and and it's giving me a heart to 423 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,640 that right. Second Corinthians 1, whatever 424 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:15,800 you've been comforted in, you want to comfort others. 425 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,840 And whenever I teach this or share this or minister this, 426 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:23,880 even to our own congregation, it's like this is how we've made 427 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,240 it. It's the endurance of the Lord. 428 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,600 It's not been me buckling up, and that's OK. 429 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:31,920 Put your boots on, Ed, Put your big boy pants on. 430 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:35,400 You can get through this. No, I mean, it's because of the 431 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,240 Lord. It's because of His strength, 432 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:43,160 it's because of his help. It's because of his hope that 433 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:48,360 gets us through another day. You know, the storm that Jesus 434 00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:54,360 was asleep in the back of the boat was right before the 435 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:59,000 exorcism of the demons. And so it was like Satan trying 436 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:04,040 to discourage and God allowed it because Satan doesn't have power 437 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,240 on his own to do things without God's permission. 438 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:11,840 And so God allowed this Satan trying to discourage, Satan 439 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,400 trying to sink it, Satan doing, you know, all these efforts. 440 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,480 But that's because there was a miracle about ready to happen. 441 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:24,360 And every miracle in the Gospels that Jesus did was at a point of 442 00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:26,680 desperation in the lives of those people. 443 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:29,640 There was no miracle without a point of desperation. 444 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:32,760 We want a miracle life. We want to see miracles in our 445 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,400 life, but we don't want to be desperate. 446 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:35,960 We don't want to get to that point. 447 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,400 I mean, but, but you look at the common denominator and that was 448 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,840 the absolute common denominator of every situation. 449 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:45,280 We want the end, we don't want the process. 450 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:46,920 I think that's true in discipleship. 451 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:51,320 It's true in leadership. It's but the we, we for we have 452 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:55,000 a tendency to forget, especially when more responsibilities 453 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,920 conveyed to us, more opportunities given to us. 454 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:02,800 We forget that the process, all of this is a part of our own 455 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,640 discipleship. So you could serve 5 people, you 456 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,200 could serve 500, you could serve 5000. 457 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,680 And that's wonderful and great. And it's the multiplying work of 458 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,280 the Lord. But when you serve 5 and when 459 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:19,280 you serve 500 and when you serve 5000, God is serving you like 460 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:23,400 he's discipling you. We can never forget the internal 461 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:28,440 work of the Lord always happens before the external work through 462 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:30,000 US. Well, it's the end of another 463 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,400 episode. They go by very, very quickly. 464 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:36,640 We try to keep them bite sized, you know, in a smaller chunk of 465 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,840 time so that you'll finish. You go all the way with us and 466 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:43,840 they'll be encouraging, really concise. 467 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,720 Remember, we don't script these. We do have topics and we have a 468 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:49,800 couple of scriptures written down and such, but we don't 469 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,920 script them. They're like conversations that 470 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,560 you get to be a part of. We want to hear your feedback. 471 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:01,600 Text us at 720-608-0012. That's you can leave voicemail 472 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:02,560 there. You can text us. 473 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,160 You can always e-mail us.ed@edtaylor.org 474 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:10,280 ed@edtaylor.org. Bob also has an e-mail 475 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:15,520 bob@bobclaycamp.com. Yes, it's two different endings, 476 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:20,320 so get them straight edit at taylor.org bob@bobclaycamp.com. 477 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,840 We'd love to hear from you. If Bob gets anything, he 478 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,520 forwards it to me. If I get anything, I forward to 479 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:27,800 Bob. But we're so grateful really as 480 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:30,720 we come toward the end of a season here. 481 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,280 We we counted a great privilege to be a very small part of what 482 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,760 God's doing in your life, being able to just to talk things out 483 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:39,800 and if you learn anything from us, great. 484 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:43,720 If it stirs conversation, great. If you have a different point of 485 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,600 view, great. We're in the body of Christ 486 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:48,680 together. We all get to be used. 487 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,400 So until next time, this is the lead to serve podcast. 488 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,080 The Lord bless, encourage and strengthen you. 489 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:57,800 Thank you for joining us for this episode of Lead to Serve 490 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:01,160 with Pastor Ed Taylor, a leadership podcast from Calvary 491 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:03,960 Church in Aurora, Co. If you have a leadership 492 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:06,440 question you want to hear answered on a future Lead to 493 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:10,600 Serve podcast, please e-mail it to Pastor Ed at Calvary Co dot 494 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:12,640 church. And if you like our podcast, 495 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:16,320 please subscribe, rate or review us on iTunes and share us with 496 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,720 your friends on social media. Thanks again for joining us, and 497 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,440 we'll see you next time right here on the Lead to Serve 498 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:23,200 podcast.