Welcome and good morning.

Welcome to the first episode of real Life.

I'm Pastor Jason and I'm super excited to be joined here with my good friend and my pastor, Pastor Mike Ostheimer.

Good to see you.

Good to be here.

And as always, it's.

We're just grateful to be here for you.

This is our first episode, so it's going to look a little bit different than kind of what we, you know, what we plan to do for the remaining podcast this season and the next seasons.

And we'll kind of get into that format.

But we really wanted to take an opportunity to just do an introduction, talk about why we're here, why a podcast?

I know there's probably, if you're listening to this, chances are obviously, you know what a podcast is, number one.

And number two, you probably have more than one in your playlist that you listen to.

So what are we going to do and why do we choose this template?

So I'll give Pastor Mike the opportunity to talk a little bit about that.

Thanks, Jason.

Yeah.

You know, for a long time, you know, I've wrestled with why even do a podcast?

Because there's, like I said, 4 billion out there.

But, you know, really it meets a need within our own church.

And the reason, you know, we came up with the title wasn't just trying to be catchy, you know, real life, real answers.

Because, you know, I've been in full time ministry since about 1982, whether I was a volunteer or, you know, paid back in about 1993.

You know, you learn real quick that athlete.

Everybody's got questions, and unfortunately, almost everybody has answers.

And unfortunately, not all those answers are good and they're not helpful.

They're definitely not biblical.

And what I've discovered, probably the most important thing through all these years is that we have this tendency to think that we're all alone, that nobody can relate to what we go through.

And the questions that I might have, just so unlike everybody else's, and I've learned from being on the other side of it of, you know, being in the ministry and having the opportunity to help people answer questions that, you know, a lot of the questions are the same.

And so I thought, you know, if there was a way that we could address real life and real answers on a podcast format where people could communicate with us and let us know what their questions are, because there's so many questions that aren't answered in the Bible, but they're real good questions.

Like I said, there'll be a lot of dumb answers, but there's no such thing, really, as a dumb question.

And so I'm just looking forward to working with you to meet the need of, first and foremost, our local church and local community, and then those that are outside that would find it interesting or find it helpful to get just that, real answers to real questions.

I'm excited that we can be here to provide that.

You know, it's amazing because we're obviously at a Calvary chapel and kind of the template, if you will, if there is one, is just book upon, you know, line upon line, book upon book.

We just study through the entirety of God's word.

But it's amazing to me how that is not sometimes the norm.

It seems like just from talking to people and not necessarily looking for information, but just things people would say, like, man, I've never heard the word rapture.

I've never heard this or that.

How many topics seem to be, like, taboo or off or.

I guess what I'm trying to say is people aren't willing to approach those topics, especially if they're charged politically or they're kind of a hot button topic today.

It's almost like there's a fear of addressing it and speaking it from the pulpit.

And these are questions that, I mean, I know this as a youth pastor that these kids have, and they're hearing it at school.

They're hearing it all over the place.

And so this, I think, will be a good format, at least in my.

My hopes and desires to be able to talk about those things that sometimes people want to shy away from, but you can't because it's a reality, right, of where we live in the world, the time we live in.

Yeah.

And, you know, because of the format, you know, on a Sunday morning or Wednesday night, you know, service, it's more monologue than it is dialogue.

And so, you know, podcast gives us the opportunity to dialogue with people, you know, take their questions and then, you know, look for answers with them, you know, not just apart from them.

And I think that, like I said, that so many people share the same questions.

To be able to do it in this format, I think, is really productive.

So tell us a little bit about you.

I know you, you mentioned that you've been in ministry from either a volunteer or on staff full time since 83.

But what, what more could you tell our audience, our listeners, about what makes Pastor Mike?

Pastor Mike?

Well, I was born and raised into an athletic family and grew up playing sports my whole life.

And my family, we went to the Catholic Church for the most part.

It was in Latin.

So I have no idea what was even being said.

But I went, what do you remember?

Yeah, I remember butter rum lifesavers.

Cause my mom used to give those to me so that I'd be quiet during the service.

And that's pretty much all I remember.

But I went to San Diego State to play football, and things didn't pan out there.

The coach that I was recruited by ended up getting fired and got lost in the shuffle of all that.

And I was just lost.

Cause I thought I would literally.

I mean, I thought I was born to play football.

That's what I wanted to do.

It's what I love to do.

And you use the term lost soul.

I mean, I was a lost soul.

And I remember sitting in the locker room one day there at San Diego State, and.

And there was a guy, and he was talking to our starting quarterback at the other end of the locker room, and I could hear the name of Jesus.

So it got my attention.

I was sitting there, and then I could hear that, you know, our quarterback kind of mocking the guy and making fun of him.

And finally the guy turned around and he was dejected and started walking out of the locker room, and I was sitting right by the door.

Just, you know, we think about chance and providence, you know, and I'm.

I'm looking right at this guy.

And finally he looks at me and he just says to me, he says, hey, would you like to go?

And I have no idea where, where he's wanting to go.

And I said, sure, I'd like to go.

And next thing I know, I'm being invited to go to a movie that was going to be shown that night on campus about the life of Jesus.

And so I talked to all my, my buddies that, you know, were kickers.

There was about five of us on the team to go, and not one of them ended up going.

But for some reason, I got in my truck and I drove over there, and there was about 300 plus college age students in there.

And I watched the movie, and, man, I had lots of questions.

And next thing I know, I'm the guy who's leading fellowship of christian athletes.

And that's who it was.

He was the director for fellowship of christian athletes there at San Diego State, and kind of took me under his wing and started teaching me the Bible.

And so I left San Diego State and came home and found a good local church, the old Calvary Bible church there on manor.

Jack Peacock was the pastor who was.

His life would have it.

He was a really good personal friend of Pastor Chuck Smith, which I didn't know at the time, but actually they're building Calvary Bible's churches.

Calvary, Costa Mesa, one third scale.

That's kind of an interesting tidbit.

And I ended up.

I had a bunch of friends that I worked with that went to Calvary Chapel, and they invited me to go to a Friday night revelation study.

Went there and scared the crap out of me.

That's all I can say to that.

And so next thing I know, you know, I'm talking to Pastor Jack and telling him, I just.

I really like Calvary Chapel.

Like you said, I love the.

Just, you know, not knowing anything about the Bible.

Just, you know, they started in Genesis, and they teach all the way through revelation and start back over again.

And.

And I needed that.

Cause I had no biblical foundation whatsoever.

And so I made the move to Calvary chapel, and.

And a couple months after I got there, I signed up to work with the youth as a volunteer.

And it's where eventually I'd meet.

I'd meet my wife.

Cause she signed up, too, to work with the kids.

And then we ended up getting engaged, and.

And the youth pastor was gonna marry us, and he ended up.

About three days before our wedding, he resigned his position and left the country to go to work in the oil fields.

So we're just kind of, you know, okay.

So the senior pastor said, well, it looks like, you know, the Lord's putting you guys, you know, in this position.

And so we volunteered for about the next eight years and then came back.

We had left the church for a period of time, went to another church and served in ministry, came back in 93 full time as the youth pastor and served there for a number of years.

And I was an assistant pastor, just, you know, dealing with adult ministry and counseling and such.

And then in 2001, became the senior pastor here at Calvary Chapel, Bakersfield.

And so it's been a wild ride, but, you know, love, it wouldn't change a thing.

It's been.

Been an exciting journey.

That's awesome.

And so you went.

I think you went to San Diego State.

What year?

I was there.

Let me see.

I was 78, 79.

So it been 79, 80.

Oh, so you left two years before I was born.

I just wanted to.

I just wanted to add that.

Yeah, thanks.

Is that why my hair's gray?

So my story obviously doesn't stretch as long as yours, but I've been in church pretty much my whole life.

My mom and my dad divorced pretty young.

I think I was about six.

And so my mom was a single mom, great woman, actually.

She worked.

It was pretty uncommon in the eighties.

She went to work at California water service out in the field, which there was not a whole lot of women.

Matter of fact, she was the only one there at the time.

So she worked hard for us, but one thing she never neglected to do was keep us in church.

Now, that didn't stop me from obviously rebelling and not appreciating it, but I certainly do now, so.

But I grew up in church more pentecostal than assemblies of God before.

As a matter of fact, I had never been to a Calvary chapel until I was stationed up in Petaluma.

And ironically enough, I think that's a church that.

Well, I think, you know, somebody that goes up there every once in a while.

But.

But that's where my first kind of experience in Calvary Chapel was.

And so I didn't get the privilege of knowing, you know, Chuck or any of them, but I certainly get to hear some of the stories.

And one thing I loved about Chuck that I get from you, I get from other men or people, really, that have known him is just how much he.

It was all about Christ.

It was all about the Bible, that he was a large figure because people made him that way, but that's not of his own doing.

He just tried to direct people to Jesus, and he had a really good way of keeping the Bible simple.

So I think that's really what it drew me to Calvary Chapel, and I didn't know all that.

When I found Calvary Chapel up north, it was just, man, they're just teaching the Bible.

So it was just attractive to me just being able to hear God's word.

And it wasn't a bunch of opinions.

It wasn't, you know, 40 minutes of commentary and story and, you know, four verses.

So that's kind of what drew me to Calvary Chapel here, though, a little bit, going back a little bit about myself.

Me and my wife been together since we were high school sweethearts since our sophomore year, joined the military right after high school.

We actually got married three weeks later, graduated high school, and then three days later went to boot camp.

So we've been together a long time that did ten years in the.

In the coast guard.

Really, really loved that time, enjoyed that time, as did my wife.

Had four of our seven kids in the military, and now we get to enjoy seven kids in three, three grandchildren.

Even though the majority of my kids are gone, they're not here in town anymore.

But thank the Lord for technology like FaceTime.

So we can still see them.

So I came to Calvary Chapel here.

I was in oil and gas.

After I got out of the military, I took a couple years and went to, just sold some cell phones, retail sales, and then got on with oil and gas out here in California.

And it was a great opportunity for me.

It provided really well for my family.

And so we did that from about 2012 till about 2020 and 2019 after going through, did a school of ministry, if you remember, we had a school of ministry here.

So that was kind of the first, the first time I really got to hop into really being involved here at the church.

I had worked in this, you know, the audio video booth since like, 2013, but kind of, you know, came along and started doing more stuff with the technology infrastructure here at the church and ended up leading to, you know, being a pastor on, on staff.

Actually, I wasn't on staff.

It was volunteer.

And then I think a lot like your former youth pastor, maybe it's just an oil and gas thing, but I took off as well.

And yeah, I got transferred out to Texas was one of those things that you could either leave or we're going to transfer you.

So we decided to make the transfer.

And I, we were gone for a couple years and ended up coming back now when I came back, because we also do a coffee shop, but there's other things that we have going on.

But I came back just to be a staff pastor and to help just with staff and just wherever was kind of needed.

If you could have asked me when I started ministry, if there was one, probably one ministry, I would say probably not going to do that.

Probably be youth ministry.

And I love, and not because I was against it.

It's just, I just never saw myself doing that.

Obviously, the Lord has a sense of humor.

And so he said, jason, that's what you're going to do.

Never say never.

Yeah.

So we had our youth pastor step down.

He resigned.

And so I took over that position.

And I've been in that position for almost three years now, and it has been a wild ride, but it's been awesome.

We have a bunch of good kids.

And, man, I love the challenging questions.

And really, it opened my eyes.

And I've had, I mean, obviously I have seven kids.

I've had teenagers, boys and girls.

So I understand the kind of things that they're exposed to at school.

I remember it myself.

But, man, there are some hard questions that are very relevant to today that these kids are asking, and they're not able to find those answers or if they do.

They're the world's answers.

They're not answers from the Bible.

So it's been a privilege these last two to three years being able to just have those conversations and go through the Bible and see those light bulbs go off.

So amen.

Yeah, it's been a lot of fun.

So talked a little bit about why we're doing this.

So I guess let's talk about the format of why a podcast?

Because to your point, you said there's millions, right?

There's a lot of podcasts out there.

I listen to podcasts.

I mean, how many podcasts do you have in your playlist just off the top of your head?

I mean, I've got about six or seven different pastors and things like that.

But really, the truth is just like, you know, and I know life is busy, and so we really, I think, wanted to create something that's not only easy to digest but convenient for people.

And I think in part that's why we took the format that we're taking.

And what do I mean by that?

I mean, what we're wanting to do is seasons.

So we'll talk about kind of what this first season is going to look like because it does have a theme to it.

And so, you know, each season I'll have a theme, and towards the end of that season, we'll have a last episode.

And that's where we kind of want to pull together all the questions that people have been asking to tie it back into the topic that, that we're addressing that season.

And it also gives us something easy to go back to.

So, for instance, in just a little bit of a spoiler here, the first season here is going to be obviously a little more political.

It's going to be about we're coming up on an election in the United States.

So obviously, there's lots of questions that you've been hearing, I've been hearing, so we're going to address that.

But it gives you the opportunity in a year or two years, obviously, to go back and look at that, listen to that and think through that, you know, that topic.

So we're going to be releasing, the goal is every Thursday afternoon.

And so because it's a season based, obviously there'll be, let's say this season might be episode one through six or seven, then there'll be a little bit of a break as we kind of prepare for the next season.

So that might be a month or two or we're still kind of working through that, but then we'll come out with season two, and that'll just kind of be the ongoing format.

This is primarily going to be an audio driven format.

But I know that I would certainly like to see us go into video as well, just because I know for myself, I like looking at the faces, talking, but sometimes you drive and you don't really have obviously that ability.

Yeah, I think in my mind's eye when I was thinking of it was more just audio driven that people, when they're working, I know with my kids and stuff that they listen to podcasts all the time.

And usually they're, you know, our youngest works for PG and E.

And so if he's driving, you know, he can, he can listen, you know, to a few podcasts through the course of the day and then having them, you know, more concise, you know, you know, talking 2030 minutes, you know, at the max, you know, you can, in traffic, you know, you can almost listen to a whole podcast, you know.

And so it's hard to do that with a sermon and probably not that it would be a bad thing ever, but really it's better if you're going to do that with the Bible and sit down is have your Bible open and read it and meditate upon it.

So it's a total different audience in one sense that we're trying to reach through real life, real answers.

And so that takes me into what this podcast is not, which goes right off what Pastor Mike was saying.

And really this is very important.

I think really important for us to say upfront is that this is not, the podcast is not meant to be a replacement for your attendance in church or your attendance in fellowship.

Like he was saying, the idea is that when you're out driving around or you're working, it hopefully will encourage you to help answer questions, very relevant questions to today.

But it's definitely not a replacement for church and fellowship.

Just a couple of verses that I think of speak to being in fellowship, obviously, hebrews 1024 and 25, acts 242, but the Bible is very clear on the importance of being around other believers.

This is not meant to replace that in any way.

And I only say that because I know in a time in my life it was a replacement devotionals.

Well, I didn't need to read the Bible because I'm reading devotionals, but I never opened God's word for a period of time and actually read and was fed and meditated on the things that God was saying.

Yeah, I think for me it was one of the reasons why I didn't want to do a podcast, because, you know, if you look at the statistics, especially, you know, our younger generation, you know, they've replaced church with podcasts and, you know, online.

So, you know, you don't want to fuel that fire.

But then again, if you can address, you know, very specific and even felt needs and do it in a way that people all of a sudden start going, hey, this is, you know, this is truth, you know, and maybe they want more truth and experience.

Jesus said that the truth they'll know and the truth will set them free.

Part two to what this podcast is not is this podcast is not a replacement for your own study.

Many, many places in the Bible.

I mean, it talks about reading God's word.

I mean, Jesus is the word, right?

We sing Joshua one eight, keep the book of the law ways in your lips, meditate it on it day and night.

Psalms 119 105, your word is a lamp for my feet, a light to my path.

Psalms 119 eleven, many, many places.

And again, I only say this from a place of conviction for where I've been is it's not a replacement for opening God's word and studying it yourself and meditating on it and being in God's word daily.

So I think those are just two important things I wanted to clear out in the very first episode.

It's not a replacement for church, and it's not a replacement for study, personal study time.

Do you want to take a minute and talk about, as we were getting close to wrapping up here?

But I do want to let people know what they can expect in the first season.

So is that, do you want to take that?

Yeah, let me kind of incorporate two things in that.

You know, you were talking about, you know, family and everything.

You know, part of dealing with real life and having real answers is, you know, you have a lot of life experience, and that's can be positive, it can be negative.

It's just experience.

You know, the Bible says, you know, in first corinthians tend, we learned, you know, the Bible was written for our admonition.

And one of that, what that means is a lot of those Old Testament stories, they weren't real, really positive things that happened, but God put them in the word of God so that we could learn from other people's mistakes.

So this isn't always about, you know, like, hey, we've got it down or we know, you know, what the answers are.

We can tell you in a lot of ways, you know, what not to do.

And, and this particular, you know, season probably deals more with that because when you're thinking about politics and elections and the response of the church and, you know, and how we're to, you know, approach elections.

There's biblical ways to do it, and there's non biblical ways, and the church seems to be divided, you know, over those things.

And, you know, I know as a husband, you know, I've been married for over 40 years to my wife, Lee.

We met here at Calvary Chapel and in church and got married in the church.

And, you know, like I said, it's been an amazing journey with her.

Started there on July 9, 1983, and we have three kids, Bree, Brett, and Brandon, all grown.

We've got eight grandchildren.

So, you know, from just from a relational standpoint, you know, we'll deal with issues of marriage and family and, you know, like I said, success, failures.

I mean, there's.

There's no, as you said, there's really no topic that is, you know, taboo that we won't address if people have questions or if they've got needs, we want to speak to those things.

But this first season, you know, we've looked at about maybe six or seven weeks, like you said, you know, how should christians vote, or should they vote, you know, is it biblical?

We want to look at that.

What does the scripture say, you know, about voting?

And, you know, to us in the.

In the body of Christ, you know, if we had to pick a topic that's maybe the most important to the church, it's.

It's the right to life versus, you know, a woman's right to choose.

And we want to look at that, you know, biblically.

And.

And what does the scripture say about that?

Because, again, it doesn't matter what I think or what you think Jason does.

You know, I say this all the time.

You know, we all have opinions, and we're all going to die with them.

What matters is there's only three things that last forever, and it's God, the word of God, and the souls of men.

And so we want to dedicate our time to those three things.

Then we have the issues like LGBTQ issues that tend to just keep growing and growing in society, and the church is confused.

How do we deal with this if we don't believe that certain things are true and yet we're being told that if we don't agree with this, that, you know, we're in violation of some law.

And so it's a, you know, very, very important topic and one, we want to deal with it, you know, candidly, you know, in elections.

It's funny.

I've seen this so many times over the last few weeks.

You know, you don't have to like the person, you know, just like, you know, their, their policies, you know, Orlando.

And so, you know, what do you do if you don't like a particular candidate?

How do christians vote?

And, you know, I heard one pastor that, you know, a couple weeks ago on a podcast, he basically said, you know, and I love it.

He goes, you know, we're, we're basically, you know, choosing between one of a lesser evil.

You know, there's, so we're not voting for Jesus.

No.

And so there's just a struggle that we're going to have, and we understand that.

And then hopefully through the course of those weeks, our listening audience will be able to contact us and communicate with us.

And then we'll kind of use that last week just to kind of go through a recap of maybe the highlights of what we discussed and then try to tackle some questions that people have and maybe that we didn't answer along the way.

And then that'll kind of make this first season here and like you said, and then we'll, you know, take some time to pray and to think through what's the, what's the next season that we want to head into and hopefully hit the ground running.

Yep.

Absolutely.

And so I think when we come down to closing out, at least this episode, I want to say really at the core of everything that we're going to discuss is God's word.

And we take an approach in a position that God's word is not only without error but just as relevant today as it was a couple thousand years ago.

Not only that, but it's how we learn to live our life and honor God and to please God.

So I think a second Timothy, 316 through 17, I mean, it's very clear all scripture, right, is God breathed is good for correction.

So I think we live in an age, unfortunately, we're even seeing this in the church where, yeah, the scripture was a good guide or it was good back then, but no, the answers are coming that at least you and I are going to give are from God's word.

And I believe, and I know you believe that all of God's word is good for us.

All of its worth exploring, all of it will provide us with answers through God's spirit.

So I just want to say that up front.

So if you're in a place that if you're listening to this and you don't believe that, that's going to challenge you a little bit because God's word is very clear that it is good.

It is good for correction and teaching.

And so that's where our answers are going to be generated from.

Again, yes, you have life experience, like Pastor Mike was saying, but we're always going to go back to what does God's word say?

Amen.

How can a young man cleanse his way?

By taking heed according to your word?

So, yeah, it's less, it's like Jesus said, you know, if you pursue the truth, the truth of God's word, he said that truth will set you free.

And that's what we want to see is just people experience the freedom that Jesus came to provide.

Amen.

So that's us that starts our first episode, our introduction.

We're excited to start this journey with you.

And we hope, really we do.

We hope you'll join us each week and you'll engage.

You can send us questions@reallifecbakersfield.com.

dot ask any questions that you want.

We're going to try and filter through and answer questions that relate to the kind of the topic of the season.

But it's not to say we won't answer other stuff.

There's no question that is silly.

There's no question that we won't look through.

So please don't feel, don't feel bad.

Send us your questions.

We'd love to look at those and answer them for you.

So we're excited to be here.

If you have questions again, you can email us at reallife@ccbakersville.com.

thanks for listening and we'll see you in the next episode.

God bless.

God blessed.