So what's going on, everybody?

This is take two.

So we started doing this and we realized we weren't recording.

Yeah, we were recording video.

Derek screwed up and forgot to hit the record button on the audio.

And so.

Spiritual workout.

It's been one of those weeks.

It's been one of those weeks.

Yes, it has, because we forgot to get the.

Well, no, I messed up when it comes to getting some stuff out this week.

You guys know that the episode.

Last week's episode did not go out until Thursday time.

And I take most responsibility on that.

No, no, no.

It's mostly mine because, well, you know, things got in the way and then I forgot to upload it, and then it didn't do it.

It just not.

Wasn't my week and I was on.

Vacation and then I forgot and it's.

It was a mess, but.

And now we are going to do an episode 1.5 times.

Yeah, we were almost halfway through, so.

You guys don't even know it.

You guys are awesome.

We appreciate you guys.

That's why you got a second episode released this last week.

It is our longest episode to date.

It's almost three hours.

Rabbit Hole.

But it's the second episode of the Rabbit Hole, which I know you're not supposed to have access to it unless you're a Patreon subscriber, but we felt bad.

And also we wanted to give you a little sneak peek of what those Patreon subscribers get.

So y' all get it?

All of you?

Yeah.

So it's like an apology.

But also, while we're on the subject, I.

I'm glad you brought it up.

Oh, man.

I created the entrance little video for it with the little song, and it's a silly song, and I love it dearly.

And I would love to know everybody's thoughts on.

Yes, please give all of your opinions.

I would love.

If they don't agree with me, then they're wrong.

It was a good time for me.

It was.

You can tell that I have a sense of humor when you listen to that.

And you're like, yeah, it's one of.

Those things that when you showed me, I just kind of hung my head and was like, well, that happened.

It did.

And it was awesome.

It did.

So last week we talked about the Breastplate of righteousness.

And we know, because we've already done this halfway through once, that it actually flows really well into this week's shoes.

Right?

We're talking about the shoes today and the shoes of the readiness of peace, and what that means.

We are going to talk about just that.

That foundational thing that links into everything else.

So.

Yeah.

So, I mean.

Yeah.

So this.

Once again, if you're just tuning in and you've never tuned in before and you're already noticing that we're crazy.

We are going through our spiritual warfare series and we're breaking down the parts of the armor of God that we're putting on.

It's found in Ephesians 6.

And we hope that you are not only going through the episodes with us, but you're reading along as well and seeing and maybe even taking notes on what we're doing.

And we love hearing comments and feedback on it all.

But we do want you to try to.

We'd love for you to take part of the whole series and let us know.

This is the first time we've really done a series like this.

Yeah.

To where we've put this much into it and it's spread out.

We're doing 12 episodes.

This is episode five.

And so we're almost to the halfway point.

And if you haven't, if you haven't caught up, if you're, if you haven't listened to the other ones, I mean.

Yeah, feel free, go back.

They are labeled as SW and they're right before these, but they're labeled SW and the number in which they're meant to be in.

And so yeah, we did a sub naming for it, but yeah, so it.

Actually I like the flow of it better than what we normally do.

But we'll see.

We still got a couple episodes to go.

Yeah.

And we are going to have a Q and A episode at the end, which means if you have any questions, please send them to us.

You can do it in the comments or you can message us where you can just if you, you see us in person, tell us.

We'd love to gather them all together so that we can answer them the best we can in our final episode.

It's kind of a wrap up.

It's gonna be a lot of fun.

Yeah, absolutely.

So today, like I said, we are talking about the feet.

Defeat.

Not defeat, but defeat.

We're talking about the shoes.

The shoes, the sandals.

We've talked about the belt buckle, We've talked about the Carhartt and now we're talking about the boots.

All right, that's where we're at.

So our intro question today is where is the most memorable place you've ever walked or traveled?

Well, for me I picked the Watkins Glen.

Racetrack is one of the most memorable places, especially from my youth.

So if people don't know what it is.

So we were big into racing as a family.

Watkins Glen Racetrack, which is in Watkins Glen, New York, which is by the Finger Lakes in New York, is a place that we traveled a lot.

My family did, and I don't know if they still do, but they.

They let us walk on the track, especially at night, once all the racing was all done.

And it was so awesome.

For me, it was one of my favorites, is a road course for those who know what that is.

But I really just enjoyed walking on it and being part of, like, something like these are where the race cars, you know, drove, and to feel the different turns and to visualize how cars set up for different things.

And it was actually really cool because along walking on side of it is sometimes they'd events on the sides of the racetrack.

There was a time where they had a concert.

A bunch of bands came, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Back in the day, before he was Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Before he was famous for doing that, he was in a band, and he.

I think it was the drummer.

And I got to watch his band as the opening band.

And then he came and, like, watched the following bands with us.

And so that was a really neat experience in itself, that.

But, yeah, just being part of that, being being on the track and being able to walk on it was so cool.

I got to do that recently at Daytona, walk on parts of Daytona's racetrack, which is a very similar feeling for me.

But, you know, it's funny because, like, it's as cool as it is.

It's not as cool as the first time.

Yeah.

Being able to walk on Watkins Gunn for the first time.

So that was definitely big and memorable for me.

Yeah, for me, I was in chapel choir in college, and we went on a tour to D.C.

and Philadelphia and New York City.

And when we were in New York City, we went to.

There's a cemetery, a historic cemetery by where the towers were.

And there's a little building that's attached to it with some historical stuff in it.

But we sang inside of there, and it was so surreal because it felt like the ground was shaking as we were singing because of the subway running below it.

And so, like, just knowing where we were and the impact that 911 had on so many people and just being.

Being there, singing worship while the ground is shaking below you.

It was just so surreal.

It was such a crazy, crazy feeling in that moment.

So for me, that's.

That's one of the most memorable places.

I've ever walked okay.

And so follow up question.

That's where we've been.

If you could walk anywhere, where would it be?

Well, it's a nerdy answer, but.

In the Shire.

In the Shire.

In the Shire.

I would love to visit New Zealand and go through their little tour of the Shire and do all of that, but then also go visit some of, like, the scenery from when they.

They filmed Lord of the Rings.

Like, I think that would be so awesome.

That would be really, really neat.

I would be looking for Hobbitzes, but, yeah, that would be cool.

So for me, I think a lot of people that know me and hear me talk about things a lot would probably normally guess like Ireland or Scotland, and they're on the top of my list, but.

But it's really France.

It's not France.

It's actually.

It's actually Israel.

I would love to walk where Jesus walked.

I know of a lot of people that have taken that pilma.

Why?

I can't say it.

It's just pilgrimage.

Pilgrimage.

Pilgrimage.

You were saying pill, and I was like, pilgrimage.

I couldn't say the word.

There you go, guys.

But no, I know people that have taken that, and it's really been impactful for them, and I'm super jealous about it.

I really would love to walk where Jesus walked.

And I'm a visual person, so be able to put images in, actually see places as I'm reading the Bible would just be so cool.

So, yeah, that would be where I would go if I can go anywhere.

So you'd take the red or the blue pill, McGridge.

Thank you.

Sorry.

A little Matrix humor.

So, yeah, that would be cool.

It would be a neat place to go and visit as well.

But it's still probably in my number two, which I know it's horrible.

Although I'm also weird.

And I think it would be cool to go see some of the.

Like, the caves in the Euphrates as it's.

Oh, as it's drying up.

As it's drying up, the caves, which, you know, if you've read your Revelation, it's not necessarily the best place to go hang out.

It doesn't sound like a good idea.

Yeah, my wife's like, you're going alone?

So I was like, all right.

Same thing with space.

Like.

Like, I would love to visit space.

But she also said I would not be going.

She would not be going with me.

So, anyways, today we're talking about the feet, the sandals, the shoes in which we walk on, which is the gospel of peace.

Gospel of peace.

The gospel of peace.

Yeah, Peace of the gospel.

No, the peace of the gospel.

Not a piece of the gospel.

The piece of the gospel.

The piece.

The gospel.

Not a piece.

The piece.

Not the gospel.

Truth, because that was the belt.

But the gospel, it all flows together.

Anyways, welcome to the truth Response, Sam.

I'll pray today.

Sounds good, Father.

God, thank you for just walking with us.

I can't say it enough, but I thank you so much for just allowing me the opportunities that you do.

And God, not only going before me, but also going beside me in all of the things that I endeavor in.

And I just.

I thank you for that personal relationship that you have with me.

And I just thank you for the guidance that you give God.

I pray that thankfulness never falters.

And I pray that I'm always coming to you with thankfulness, even in the midst of strife and suffering.

God, I pray that your love and your grace and your mercy, it just pours into us as it always does, but then overflows into others.

And I pray that it catches like a wildfire and that people can't help but be loving and gracious and merciful God to one another.

I pray for your guidance in the conversation today.

And I pray that your will is done and your light is shined through us.

And it's in your precious and holy name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Alright, so strapping on the sandals.

Sandals.

So the shoes of the Gospel of Peace, what are they?

Well, I mean, it comes from Ephesians 6:15.

Once again we're going through a sheet.

Ephesians 6.

So we went through 14 both parts which the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness.

We are now strapping on the shoes.

And it reads as this and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the Gospel of peace.

Another translation says, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.

Two things to put in there is that we're strapping on peace.

We want to stand in peace.

Yep.

Which isn't always easy.

And the readiness given that is given to us by the Gospel of Peace.

So it, it allows us to be ready for whatever ground we're walking on.

I mean, shoes are important.

The Roman sandals are called caligae, and they had studded soles for grip and stability.

They allowed for people to march for long distances without just completely wearing out the feet.

And it allowed for that firm footing which was.

It allowed them to not slip or get caught in traps as easily.

If your shoes are loose, it's easy to just either walk out of them or trip or get caught and snagged if they're untied.

I mean, thinking about, like, what we struggle with, you step on your own, your own shoelaces, sometimes even and trip yourself.

So it's important that we strap up so that we're ready for anything that.

That.

That ground.

We can't.

We can't determine what the ground is like, so we have to have that firm foundation.

You gotta have it.

And, you know, you hit on a good point.

You want to have the right shoes on?

Yeah.

Ask anybody that works on their feet for the majority of the day.

They're gonna tell you the right shoes make all the difference.

People that work, doing a lot of walking, a lot of stepping, those kinds of things.

And, you know, it's funny because, like, you'll also see in lifetimes where people have worn the wrong shoes, which is pretty much any wedding for any woman who wanted to look good going in, she's always wearing the great shoes going in.

And then by the time the dance floor hits, they've taken those shoes off.

So I know a lot of ladies who have actually worn, like, skate shoes to a wedding in their own wedding.

I mean, they're like, it's my wedding.

I get to do whatever I want to.

And it's like, all right, do it.

I'm all about that.

Yeah.

Sensible footwear.

And the most sensible footwear, the most sensible we can have is the sandals that give us peace.

Yeah.

Readies us for battle.

Readies us.

Readies us in peace.

Yep.

So, yeah, so like I said, it comes from Ephesians 6:15.

He told us it's for, you know, the Romans.

You know, it was studied.

It was for good grip stability, kept them out of traps, which is important.

And so it comes with an understanding of what the gospel of peace is.

And once again, you're going to see how this kind of moves from the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness.

But the gospel of peace is important because first off is that we get to have peace with God.

Romans 5:1 says, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And that's because of the righteousness of Jesus.

Exactly.

So once upon a time, when we were enemies of God, there was a void between us and him.

He's perfect.

We are not.

We cannot put those things together.

They don't go together.

But Jesus bridges that gap, and he takes away that sentence, that guilty verdict for us.

So we.

We can be clear.

We're no longer enemies of Christ.

We can have peace with him.

You know, it's like as if somebody can come in and wipe away some grief or some frustration you have with someone, and you guys are just cool again.

Can you imagine that?

That'd be amazing sometimes, right?

So.

But that's what Jesus ultimately did, is everything that kept us from God, that separated us from him is gone.

A good way to think about it is when you think about the veil being torn at the crucifixion.

When Christ died, the veil was torn from top to bottom.

And that veil was in place in the temple to keep the holiness of God from the unholiness of the people.

It was separated us.

But when Christ died and that payment was given to us, when his righteousness was given to us, we talked about this last week.

There was no longer a need for that veil there.

And it was done, like I said, top to bottom.

And it was about the thickness of a man's hand.

It could only have been done by God.

And so that's a pretty important thing.

So we can go right to God.

There's no separation anymore, and we can have peace because we're no longer enemies.

So that's really important to think about.

And then you have from Philippians 4.

7.

God's peace guards our hearts and minds.

So that's important because if you are trying to stand on anything in your life, knowing that the ultimate things are taken care of can give us such an amazing peace to get through even the trivial, mundane things of the.

Of every day.

You know, when you have stuff going crazy around you, I mean, there's still.

In our daily lives, there's still pain, there's still suffering, there's still mourning, there's still craziness.

And evil is still in our world.

But we know that ultimately God wins at the end.

Some of us have flipped to the back of the book and see, yep, God wins.

And because of knowing that and knowing that, we're set.

We're set in the.

As the Gospel tells us, we're set free from all that would have held us back before all those misdoings.

And we are good to go.

Our major thing, our eternity is in place.

You know, because of that, we can have that peace that guards our hearts and minds, because nothing like guilt and fear can attack us when we're at peace.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And another thing to think through is, like, the shoes allow you that ability to pivot, to be ready to dodge things, because without good shoes, you're gonna Slip and fall, it's inevitable.

But with good shoes, you're able to dodge attacks, you're able to stay out of the way, you're able to change direction easily and quickly.

And all with that sure footing that the righteousness that Jesus gave us is a peace that washes over us.

So the other thing is peace with others.

Right.

Like, so we've got peace with God.

We're no longer an enemy of God.

The peace of God rests on us.

God reconciles the Jew and the Gentile, like all to his righteousness.

It's all done by faith.

So there can be a unity of all peoples, everyone who comes to Christ.

And the gospel creates a vertical and a horizontal peace with God.

So the vertically is that like I said before, we have peace with God, horizontal.

Now we can be united with them under the most important and common reason, which is Christ.

Yeah, absolutely.

So how has the gospel brought peace into your life, personally or relationally?

I tell you, it's definitely helped me get through some of that.

Like I said, the day to day stuff, when stuff isn't going wrong or isn't going right, should I say where things are kind of crashing around us.

I've talked before on the podcast about there was a period of time where my wife and I felt like we had a dark cloud over our heads and everything was going wrong.

But somehow we just knew that it was going to be okay, that we were going to get through.

And the biggest thing is that ultimately we know that God's still in control.

And ultimately we know that in the long run everything will be fine for us.

Whether it's in this life or the next, it'll be fine.

Yeah.

I find that it gives me peace in the big things and that allows the little things to be dealt with easier.

I don't ever worry about the big stuff.

I just don't.

I don't know why the big stuff doesn't worry me and the little things get to me, but not having to worry about any of the big things.

I'm not afraid that I'll ever go hungry, you know, go without food.

I'm not afraid that we won't have some sort of shelter or anything like that.

Like, I know that God provides the right thing at the right time.

And if ever there was a time where we were to go without food or shelter, there would be some sort of reason and growth behind it.

So I'm at peace with that stuff.

And so it's allowed me to be at peace with the big things now the little things it makes it easier to deal with the little things so I don't have to worry about the big stuff.

Doesn't mean I don't get tripped up.

And usually it's little things that trip me up.

It's usually the small things.

When your eyes are on the big prize, you sometimes stumble at things.

You're not looking at it.

Right, Right.

So just being.

Just remind yourself daily that it's God's peace that washes over you and that'll help just even working with the little things too.

Right, good.

So why peace matters?

That's the question.

Why does peace matter when it comes to spiritual warfare?

Well, the biggest answer is because our enemy thrives on anxiety, fear, division, and chaos.

He doesn't want us to feel peace.

He wants us to feel anxiety.

He wants us to feel the fear.

He wants us to focus on the chaos and have that division.

For some of us, as you just listen to those words, anxiety, fear, division, and chaos, you can think, well, that seems to be our world lately.

There's been a lot of division.

There's been a lot of chaos.

There's always something going on that gives you anxiety and fear.

And see, that's the thing, is that those are all that's not of God.

That is from the enemy.

And he wants us to feel it.

He wants us to participate in that.

But the thing is that we get to opt out of that.

We don't have to feel that anxiety, that fear, that chaos, that division.

We can realize that once again our unity is with God and we can have unity with each other.

We focus on the most important things.

One of those is that once again eternity is secured and that God, your relationship with him is fixed.

It's right.

And that's huge to know that you're right with God.

For some people, they would go as far as to say that it even makes them not even afraid of death.

Because I'm nowhere.

You'll hear people saying, very faithful people will say, I know where I'm going.

I'm not worried about it.

I get to go be with the Lord.

And it would remind me of when Paul.

Paul, when he wrote Philippians, which is.

I say it about every book of the Bible, I feel like, but it's one of my favorite books of the Bible.

But I love it because of what you see, this contentment in Paul in all situations.

You know, he's in prison, he's like, that's great.

I'm okay with being in prison because people are talking about while I'm in prison, and the Lord's being talked about and that's amazing.

There's like, oh, well, Paul, you could die.

Yeah, I'm good with dying.

If I die, I get to go and be with God.

But if I'm here, I get to preach to you.

So either way I'm great.

Okay.

But Paul, you might not have anything or you might have.

I'm good.

Whether I have a lot or a little, you know, Paul in that letter just expresses a level of contentment with this life, but through his faith and the peace that he has.

See, if you want to, if you want to take a ride on what it is to have an ultimate peace that you're standing on your life, read the book of Philippians.

It's so, so powerful to see the situations that he's talking about.

Not only that, but I mean, peace with even your past.

Paul talks about his past in Philippians.

It's an amazing, just, I can, I can, I study, I've studied the book.

But he talks about, hey, you know what?

I have credentials.

He goes through a list of achievements.

Then he says, yeah, they're all.

To keep it cleaner.

They're all dung.

That's basically what he says.

He says they're trash, they're useless to me because that compared to what I have in Christ.

Nothing here compares to that.

And that's the guy that's just at peace with his maker.

That's a guy that's at peace with his eternity.

Look at all of the things in the world that lead to confusion.

Power hungry people climbing the ladder confuses everything below it.

Yeah.

The, the fact that the Internet allows you to be able to search anything and claim it as truth.

Oh yeah.

Causes confusion.

Confusion is one of the biggest things that I think Satan uses to trip us up.

Even in the little things, just, just the smallest of things.

And it's the confusion.

And, and in, in First Corinthians 14:33, it says that God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.

That peace that he gives us allows us to take the moment and not get confused by what the world is throwing at us.

But we have to take that.

Right?

We have to take that moment.

Gotta kinda take it captive.

Yeah.

And just be able to take a breath and then enter into it in that peace that God has for you.

Because you can survive a world of chaos and confusion if you just take a moment before you react to it and just take in God's peace and move forward in it.

Yeah.

And it's good when it comes to like that Kind of peace and without confusion.

This also helps when it comes to fear and panic and those things.

If you want to feel unstable.

Oh, yeah, fear and like panic will make you flee, that'll make you run.

Fear can make you do.

Makes people do all kinds of crazy stuff.

But peace battles fear, peace battles panic.

You know, if you're at peace, you're not panicking and you're not, you know, you are good, you're.

You're good to go.

And that's really important because so many times, you know, life throws stuff at us and some of us go to our fight or flight knee jerk reactions.

And we try in those moments we're trusting ourselves, which is not always the best idea.

Whereas when we are just sitting in the peace of God and knowing that he's ultimately in control, something will happen.

And you can capture that moment and take it hostage and kind of go, all right, well, in light of the fact that God's in control, in light of the fact that everything's going to be fine, how do I move forward?

Right, Exactly.

Firm footing.

Yep.

Stability.

Yeah, yeah.

So.

And it also gives us reason to take it as we're talking about shoes.

It's the gospel on the move.

You know, we're not meant to just stand still with it.

We are meant to take it on the move and spread it.

And when you are able to live at that peace and withstand the things that life throws at you.

I remember I was going through, when my wife and I were going through that period of time, I was telling somebody about it, someone inside my own church, mind you.

But like, I was telling them about all these things, just listing these things off, and they were like, how are you smiling?

Because it's cool.

I know God's in control, but think about, I mean, that's powerful for someone in the church.

Imagine how powerful that is for someone not in the church, someone who's also going through some stuff.

And yet they see you taking it gracefully.

When they see you taking it day by day with a peace and happiness, maybe that's powerful.

That is the gospel, just living in action on the movement.

But then when you can go and tell someone about it, how can you get through this?

That's one of the easiest ways to spread the gospel.

How am I okay right now?

Let me tell you how I'm okay right now.

I'm okay because I have Christ in my life.

Fun Greek word.

Prokope.

Prokope.

Prokope means to advance.

To advance, yes.

Prokopy.

So it's one of My favorite Greek words.

Prokopy.

Yeah, it's a fun word to say.

I named a band that once when I was in.

In college.

You named a band Procape?

Mm, awesome.

Well, that was half of the name, but we won't get into the other half of the name.

But yeah, it means to advance, so to move forward, to get that peace that allows us to move forward in that.

So yeah, standing firm and moving forward, both aspects of spiritual battle.

Good to know how to stand in it and walk with it.

Right?

For sure.

So where have you seen the enemy try to steal your peace?

And how did God restore it?

Oh, man.

There are different answers I could give to this.

Well, it wasn't all that long ago that I felt like I was under a tremendous spiritual attack in ways that I don't even want to get into.

But it was probably one of the hardest spiritual times.

Not faith times.

My faith didn't falter.

But spiritually I was so drained from the experience.

The devil was trying to attack with attacks of doubt.

He was trying to get me off my good foundation.

He wanted to knock me off my feet.

You know, there was all kinds of questioning and stuff, but as I was doing it, here's what God did.

He showed up right at the start of it, which is how I probably endured even at the beginning is the fact that he showed up right away in ways that I did not see coming.

Some of the most fascinating ways to me were he would send people.

So for instance, I'd get random people calling me up and encouraging me when I wasn't expecting it, including people I hadn't seen in a long time.

And my ex wife actually called me to encourage me to keep going forward.

One of my best friends, who's not even a believer, encouraged me to go forward.

And that really took me to.

I was like, wow, you know, if I'm making.

There's something happening here.

When these kinds of people are like, you need to keep doing what you're doing.

But then on the following weekend, I remember because it happened on one weekend, and the following weekend I was still feeling kind of lost in it all.

God showed up in a way that I was almost frozen in place because the spirit just took over me, grabbed my attention and showed me that God was there and showed me where I was at.

It's something else for me.

It was unmistakable.

I realize that many people don't experience anything like that.

And it's really hard to describe other to know that I really felt God take me over and catch my attention and really show me where I was and that he was with me.

And I was just.

It was an emotional experience, but it was also just so powerful.

And those are the things that.

Because he did that from the beginning, it made it that much easier to get through to the other side.

Yeah.

Yeah.

For me.

Like, I.

So I often joke that ministry would be so easy if people weren't involved, but that is what it is.

But at the same time, I've found that being an elder is not easy.

Being in ministry is not easy.

It's like a constant thing that the devil is constantly trying to take your footing off, trying to take away your peace.

So whether it's just knowing so much about what's going on in the church or the spiritual attacks that happen directly at leadership, which happens way more often than the average person knows, it's one of those things that all of that is.

Generally, the devil uses people to do those things, but God also uses people to restore that peace.

Like, we've got a listener out there.

And she's been such an inspiration to me in the midst of just all of my leadership stuff.

Just seeing her growth and seeing her step up into positions, and that gives me a restored sense of peace that God is sending, you know, through her.

Because it's like, not everybody is like that.

Not everybody is being used as an attack.

Some people are being used to minister to the leadership just by stepping up and taking the mantle on things.

And I've been really blessed.

And that's just one of many.

And that's what I see, is that as much as the devil tries to use people to administer confusion and chaos and fear and anxiety, he also uses people to restore that sense of peace and reconciliation and comfort and just that contentment.

He uses them to usher that stuff in.

So that for me, being an elder has been quite an eye opener.

I mean, I've done vocational ministry in the past, but being an elder, you're in the know on everything, it seems like.

And even though you're not like actually in the know on everything, it feels like it and the weight is there.

And.

And so it's one of those things that.

And it's not a burden, it's a calling.

So that's.

That's something that.

That people, as you're listening to me talk about this, like, know that it's something that God has called me to because he has made the way for me to be in this position.

And I believe that about all of our elders that are.

That are in there right now, and.

We Got a really great eldership.

We do.

And I think that we've just followed God in whatever moving he's done with that.

And so I trust that we will continue to have great elders because God's the one that's moving them into that position.

But just know, like, it's not a burden, but a calling.

And so with a calling, God prepares his people as they go.

And so if you've been a part of blessing somebody, we thank you for that.

And if you've been a part of, you know, being that stumbling block, that confusion, you're forgiven for that.

Like, we don't hold that against you either, because we know that it's not you ultimately.

And I pray that you can understand that about me as well, when I have caused the stumbling and I have done the things that have gotten in the way.

And I just.

I pray that all of us can have that sense of peace that comes with the fact that we aren't the enemy.

People aren't the enemy.

Sometimes they're used as instruments of the enemy, but the enemy is trying to confuse and manipulate.

And when we start realizing that, that's when our shoes are tied up and ready to go.

Yeah.

I want to add one more thing.

I was thinking about it, and that was good, really good.

So just thinking about my own testimony and what it was to be with God versus without God.

So before.

So there was a period in my life where, I mean, I was raised going to church, but there was a period in my life where I kind of pushed against.

I really was pushing against ministry.

But a byproduct of that is I started kind of pushing against more than I realized.

I didn't really want to be as involved in church.

And then that kind of led me to a point where I was really kind of living for myself.

And all that to say is that I got to my place to a point where I realized I didn't know as much as I thought I did anymore.

I had a cousin that passed away, and I was at her memorial service, and I had a very scary thought come to me because I'm reading about her and her relationship with God.

And I was taken back by the fact that she was so sure on who God was in her relationship.

But the reason that was is because I realized that I wasn't.

That was a scary place to be.

The unknown is a scary place to be.

And I was scared.

You know, we talk about God's peace being the counter to fear and anxiety.

There was anxiety, there was fear of that unknown.

And God let me sit with that for about a week at that point.

I remember.

And then I got invited by a friend to an event that it was a church group that really helped me restart, in a way, my relationship with God, but really accept Christ fully for the first time, like really accept him.

And, you know, you know, now, here, look what I do for a living now.

You know, God grabbed ahold of me and did some works, but I do know what it was like to live in that unknown.

And there are some that are perhaps listening, that are still there.

And I can tell you that, man, you don't want to have those questions, especially when it comes to what is it going to be at the end, what's going to happen to me.

You don't want to have those questions of whether you're right with God or not.

Not.

Ultimately, some of us get tricked by the idea of, oh, it's okay, you got time.

You don't know that.

And it is so much better to be at peace with that in your life.

If you want peace over everything, the one thing you're going to need is that peace over the ultimate thing.

And that was the one thing that I know that I needed back then, because I didn't.

Yeah, I definitely agree that the one thing that leads.

One of the biggest things that leads to peace is that assurance that we're given that Jesus is enough, that Jesus's righteousness is enough, and that we don't.

I mean, we are given assurance of that.

We are given that the Holy Spirit is a seal upon us once we accept him into our lives.

Like there is an assurance that just brings peace with it.

And so if you don't feel it, like that's the thing, that's the kicker.

People, people think they have to feel it in order for it to be true.

And that's not the case because you don't always feel it.

It's kind of like sometimes you really don't like your children.

Right?

You may always love them, right.

But sometimes you don't really like them.

Does that mean you really don't actually like them?

No, it doesn't.

But right now, sometimes you just feel it, right?

Like you could be feeling that you are frustrated, something, and that causes you a certain feeling.

Your feelings don't dictate whether it's true or not.

Right.

Just because sometimes I feel like my wife drives me nuts.

Right.

Doesn't mean that I don't love her.

Right.

Sometimes we conflate some things and we don't feel it.

Well, that doesn't make it not true or not there.

So just because you don't feel the peace, just because you don't feel that there's assurance doesn't mean that it's not there.

And we just have to seek it because we are to seek first the kingdom of heaven.

And the kingdom of heaven has peace, and it has assurance that is given to us.

So practical ways then, that we can put on the shoes of peace.

You know, go figure.

The first thing on our list is spending time meditating on the gospel.

On the gospel.

Right.

Like on the thing.

The very thing that gives us all of that salvation, assurance and peace, like, is meditating on what Jesus did for us.

Yeah.

And did for everybody.

It's offered to everybody.

Yeah.

That's the free part of it.

I spoke about it a little bit in our last episode about what it is to really take hold of the grace that we're given, which is an amazing faith builder in itself.

But, yeah, when you're sitting there thinking about the fact that you've been set free and what that means for you, the peace that you can ultimately have, to really let that just mull over and become a part of you more and more is so powerful.

So powerful.

The next thing we would have is practicing gratitude and worship to maintain those peace.

Now, what's interesting about that is I know I've already referenced Philippians and I do love referencing it, but Philippians 4, and you'll see in verses 6 and 7, we're to come to God about everything, but we're to do it with Thanksgiving.

With Thanksgiving.

You know, it's one of the easiest things to lose sight of for people is when things are going crazy around us when we go to God.

Sometimes we don't do so with worship and thankfulness.

That is an interesting thing.

Right.

If we examine ourselves and if we can be honest with ourselves, and it happens to all of us, elders, pastors, everyone alike, is that sometimes you go to God and you start talking to him without that worship and without that Thanksgiving.

And it's an amazing thing because.

And it seems normal to us.

Well, you know, this is happening.

Yes, it is.

But you know what?

You got air in your lungs.

You've got a God that loves you.

You've had stuff provided for you.

There's people that love you.

There's things that, if you started to really break it down, what are the good things?

There's things to still praise the Lord for.

Ultimately, the biggest thing is your salvation.

But, yeah, there's always something to praise The Lord.

What's interesting, too, is that it's really, really, really, really difficult to be thankful and selfish at the same time.

When you are grateful and you go to God in whatever moment of confusion and chaos and fear, whatever, like.

And you go to him with gratefulness and thankfulness, giving thanks first and foremost.

It centers you for one.

It allows you to realize that God has done things because he loves you and for you and that he is worthy of that thanks.

And then it also reminds you that he's taking care of you.

And whatever the situation is, he's gonna continue to do it.

So having that thankfulness, it almost comes with that feeling of peace in going to God with it.

When you are grateful and when you are thankful, you position yourself and your heart to be ready to receive the peace that comes along with God just being there to take care of you.

Yeah.

And there's something about bringing worship into your situation.

I've talked to so many people, and if you've never done this, I challenge you.

Do it.

I mean it.

Do it.

There are people that when they get.

When things are getting hectic in their life, when they're having a bad day, my wife does it.

I know she does it, and I've done it myself.

But you know, what they do is they put on some of their favorite worship songs and they just start praising the Lord and the difference it can make very quickly.

Man, worship through music is so good, so powerful.

I mean, music in and of itself is just so powerful.

I mean, there's stories of it helping with Alzheimer's and dementia and all these things.

Like, music is such a powerful tool that God has used even from before David.

David used it.

God had David use it to give Paul or Paul Saul some peace.

Yeah.

You know, so.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, and it's also.

I mean, look at how much David wrote musically in the Psalms that, like, he just was able to get things off of his chest and give them to God.

And so when we're in that turmoil and we kick on that worship music, we are able.

Our souls are able to just relinquish that.

Yeah.

And for some, it's.

I don't care if you come on a Sunday morning and you feel weird and you're not that person that puts their hands up and you're not that person that sings out loud.

I don't care if that's you or not.

When you are by yourself, go nuts.

You know, put the windows up in the car, turn the AC on and just sing your heart out.

I Don't care what you sound like.

The Lord loves, loves that kind of worship.

Go for it, you know, enjoy it.

I'm a big fan of hard, hard truths.

And along those lines of when you come here or any church, whatever church you're at, if you go into it with a sense of, I don't really like this praise team.

I don't really like this song.

I don't really want to hear this person singing.

That person doesn't play the guitar.

Well, your heart's in the wrong place, and it doesn't matter who you are, what you've gone through, what you've done.

Like, your heart is not in the right place if you come in with that attitude, the attitude that you should come in with.

And I'm not saying leave your baggage at the door.

I'm not saying that.

Right.

Like, I'm saying leave it at the foot of Jesus because he's the only one that can really pick it up and do anything with it.

But I'm telling you, you are to come in with a Thanksgiving that doesn't care who's on that stage, what song you're singing, how many times you've done it.

You are to come in with a Thanksgiving and a heart in which is ready to worship the God of all creation.

Because it's not about who's on stage, it's not about who's beside you, but it's between you and God and that connection that you are coming in to worship.

So if your heart is one that is saying that, I don't really want to go in that room because it's too loud.

Right.

Because that person is singing, I challenge you that your heart is in the wrong place and you need to get right with God.

And that will give you a peace that will allow you to worship the way that you need to.

Yeah.

I recently heard a pastor say something along the lines of, oh, so you don't like the worship we're doing here.

Good.

It's not for you.

Right.

And we're not worshiping you.

Right.

And you are being rebellious by standing against it.

Yeah.

It is strange.

Like, there are people that are used to.

And I get it that it can be different when you walk into a place you've never like.

There's churches that are very kind of stoic in their worship, and some people get used to that.

So walking into a new church for the first time and they're just very.

Just all of it, I can understand that's off putting and it can be a little jarring.

I mean, to that degree, okay, we're not picking on you for that.

But when you coming in and you're like, well, this isn't just like you're saying, it's just not the song I like, or you know, it's not, or even if it's not at the temple tempo.

And you're just finding reasons to go against the songs and you're finding reasons to not sing, you know, the Enemy is just smiling because you could be worshiping and you're choosing not to.

And that's a win for the Enemy.

I have been a musician in Church for 25 years now.

25 years.

25 years I've been doing worship in different churches.

Quarter century.

So do you not think that if anybody has felt the desire, the struggle, the chaos and confusion, the frustration and anxiety over the worship music being played from a stage, it's a musician.

And I'm telling you now, throw all of that out your head.

Because it doesn't matter if you don't like their vocals.

It doesn't matter if you don't like the way that the drums are hitting and that syncopated rhythm, you know, that you know there is from all of that, like none of that matters.

Yeah.

Your heart should be pouring out thanks to God.

And we're called to do it communally.

Right.

Because what it does is it puts God first.

And that allows, when you're putting God first, that allows for you to be walking in peace regardless of the situation.

It allows you to be walking in peace when you put God on the throne of your heart.

Yep.

And it'll bring you to a place where it makes it easier to be in relationship with other people, including getting over frustrations and angers.

And even in times, reconciliation can be achieved through it.

Forgiveness, all kinds of things can happen because you are walking in that peace that where it starts to invade the other parts of your life.

And then some of the other things that happen, like somebody could wrong you or somebody could do something that frustrates you and you suddenly find yourself easier to come to.

So you can become easier to forgive and even easier to ask for forgiveness.

It's an amazing thing that can happen to you through that.

And you don't know what the spirit is ready and willing to do with you in that space.

And if you go into it with a closed off heart or you don't go in at all, the spirit will honor that decision.

Yeah.

And that's not great.

Yep.

And the next thing though is that if you're meditating on what?

The gospel.

And you're trying to live it out in these ways.

It will also keep you into the next step, which is to try to be prepared to share the gospel clearly.

You know, first Peter 3:15 says to always be ready to give an answer for your faith.

Well, it' swhen you are living it and you're meditating on it that often and you are standing secure in it, you're walking it, then you're going to find yourself way more ready to give that answer.

Like I said before, when the world's crashing down around you and you're standing in it with a smile, and everybody's like, how are you getting through that?

You're ready.

Well, it's this, it's this, it's God.

And that's so powerful.

Another thing that can be really great is prayer walks as a literal and spiritual practice.

Prayer walks.

When's the last time you've been to a prayer walk?

It's been a while.

We used to do them all time.

The church I grew up in, that was a regular thing.

Like, we did a lot of prayer walks, whether it was with the community.

There were several other churches that we would work with in the community and do prayer walks in the community, or whether it was just a prayer walk at our church.

We used to do it a lot.

I haven't done it a whole lot since, to be honest with you.

And it takes all forms and fashions.

And actually, as you continue to develop your prayer life, you're going to feel yourself responding to different things.

Prayer walk can be walking through your house, into every room, praying over all the members of your family, your pets, anointing your windows and doors.

It can all be that.

It can be walking down your street, praying over your neighbors, praying over your neighborhood.

The key to it, though, is intentionality.

Like, you are going to intentionally pray over whatever, you know, wherever you're walking and where your footsteps.

I don't want to skip over what I feel like we kind of brushed over one, and that is pursue reconciliation in relationships.

We did talk about that.

Not very much, but I want to read the scripture there.

So it's Romans 12:18.

And that.

That is not where it is.

There it is, if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

And that is so good.

And I know that there were some people, including my mother, who were frustrated with our conversation a couple of about a month or so ago when it came to reconciliation and that conversation.

But I wanted to bring it up here because it's as much as it relies on you, as much as it lands on you.

Try to be in reconciliation with others.

And I understand that there's hard situations.

And I want to say if that hits you wrong because you've gone through a hard situation, I'm not saying that you're going to attain reconciliation in this lifetime.

And there's lots of.

There's lots of steps sometimes to get to that point.

All I was trying to say was that we should be working towards it.

And reconciliation also does not mean that you are back in the exact same spot as you were before with God or with others.

So it's more than that.

So I just be at peace with others as much as is possible on your end.

And that's what I was trying to get to in that episode a while back.

I like that verse, though.

It's so good.

And when you think about when it comes to what you can do in any situation.

I might have talked about this maybe a year ago or so on the show, but I teach my students and actually I should probably do it again soon because I like doing it regularly.

That when you walk into a situation, it's like you can walk in with one of two buckets.

If every situation was a fire, you can walk in with a red bucket full of gasoline or a blue bucket full of water.

And depending on what bucket you want to walk in on is how that situation is going to go.

When it comes to you, you want to walk in with the water, you want to be the one that can help make peace, that can help bring the situation down, especially not grow it.

But some of us on knee jerk reactions and through hurt and pain, we bring in the gasoline.

And that is not what we're called to do.

We're not called to help escalate situations, we want to de escalate them.

So when it comes to you, you definitely want to take those steps to try to bring it down.

Yeah, absolutely.

So peace anchors us firmly and propels us forward boldly.

Boldly.

Right.

Like it is the thing that allows for sure footing.

Yep.

Gospel equips us to stand unshaken and move into mission.

Move forward.

Which that's an interesting thing, is that, you know, sometimes we forget that life in Christ is life on mission.

Yeah.

But as you're in it, because that's what spiritual battle is, as you're on mission, that gives you the chance to not only stand in that mission, but to walk into it and walk through it.

Yep.

And if you're going through the wilderness, which I know several of you that are listening are in that wilderness space having your shoes on and tied upright.

That's going to give you that endurance to get through the wilderness where God is going to speak to you and just rest in his silence.

Because whenever he's silent, he's moving you where he wants you to be, to be able to receive what he has to say to you.

So just allow that to be a peace that washes over you, knowing that he is intentionally taking you somewhere.

Yeah.

So that he can speak something directly to you, someone that he cares about on a personal level.

Yeah.

So next week, we are talking about the shield.

The Shield of Faith.

Of faith.

Shields are cool, dude.

Shields are cool.

Actually, I really.

I'm a big fan of shields.

There's so many.

I mean, everything from, like, the geeky, nerdy Marvel Captain America shield to, like, old shields of, like, tribes and clans and.

Yeah.

And it's just.

It's neat when you watch different shields change depending on your tribe, and therefore, not only do they protect, but they bring unity in ways.

And it's such a.

Such an amazing thing.

So I'm looking forward to that conversation.

Yeah.

So it's.

It's.

I am.

I am, too.

And, you know, just back to the shoes.

Like, the shoes are going to be what keeps you upright.

So the shield matters.

Yeah.

Right.

Not going to do anything if you're not standing there.

Yeah, absolutely.

So we're talking about shield of faith and how faith extinguishes, attacks, and strengthens endurance.

That's next week.

That's right.

So those who are overachievers, like myself.

No, I'm just kidding.

Those who like to read ahead, go ahead and continue to read.

If you've read over every time we do an episode, if you read over Ephesians 6 and all the parts of the armor of God, it's not going to harm you at all.

It's going to just help strengthen you out as you're thinking about putting on all these pieces and how they all come together.

And I'm looking forward to getting into that and helping us enhance our armor as we go forward.

But, yeah, I'm excited.

Any last final remarks about the gospel of peace and the shoes that you're to wear?

Yeah, actually.

So, okay, so, you know, boxers, people that box, and wrestlers will talk about what it is to step inside the squared circle.

Right.

The ring that they talk about.

And oftentimes when you hear them talking about, you'll hear them say something like, that person was such and such the kind of person to lace up a set of boots and step inside that ring.

You know what?

We're all stepping inside the ring of life.

We're all stepping into the ring of spiritual warfare.

But you got to lace up your boots.

Yeah.

You got to be ready.

And so, as we said, thinking about and meditating on that freedom that we have, that we can stand firm in that, knowing that God's got us ultimately covered, our greatest thing is taken care of, and it trumps all the small things.

Yeah, that's how you lace up your boots.

Yep.

Psalms say that, you know, God prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemy.

And we know that our enemy is not flesh and blood.

So there's a piece about just sitting down and eating and consuming the meal that God has for you right in front of your enemy.

And so that's the kind of peace that we hope that I don't know.

That is able to wash over each and every one of you guys listening today.

So the reflection question for you guys is, where in your life do you most need to stand in peace right now?

There's a lot of chaos.

Right.

There's a lot of things going on in the world.

Where in your life do you most need to stand in peace right now?

And where might God be calling you to carry that peace to others?

So where in your life and where is God calling you to carry that to others?

That's so good.

Yeah.

I hope they get a lot of good responses on that.

And definitely, even if you don't write in to us, and we hope you do, But I definitely mulling that over.

I mean, all of us could be thinking about that every.

Every day, really.

But also the challenge this week when it comes to reading, read along with us.

Ephesians 6:15 is where we're at.

Also, Romans 5 is a great read to go alongside this.

So I know last week I said Romans 8, and I stand behind that.

I hope some of you did, and I hope that it was impactful.

I'd love to hear about your thoughts that.

Romans 5 is good, but I also want to go back and touch on something I said earlier, so I'm kind of doubling down again.

I was big on promoting Philippians this week, and I think for those who really want extra, this, that's the book.

And alongside, you got Romans 5 and read Philippians.

Philippians is such a great.

When it comes to having.

If you want to see what it is to live a life of peace, think about Paul.

He's in jail.

Think about how he wrote that letter of Philippians.

I think it's such an impactful book.

So those are the things to read this week as we go along.

Yo.

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Sa.