Judah Smith | Girls Gone Bible

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Speaker 1 I'm so happy to be here. I hope you know that.

Speaker 3 I can't wait to introduce you.

Speaker 4 I'm Angela and I'm Ari, and this is Girls Gone Bible.

Speaker 3 And as if you are a watcher of us and a listener of us, you guys know that when I'm sitting on this this side, it's for a very good reason. It means that we have a very special person on the podcast.

Speaker 3 And today we have someone.

Speaker 3 Okay, I'm just going to say his name. It's Judah Smith.
Thank you, Jesus, for Judah Smith and Chelsea Smith, your wife. We are

Speaker 3 so grateful for you, for your lives, for your ministry.

Speaker 3 Ari has like the best little story. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 4 When I first, I first started my faith, we went to church home and I was in my most broken season I had ever been in. And so I was just carrying the burdens of my heartbreak.

Speaker 4 I was just like barely hanging on. And I'm sitting in the third row and me and Angie are looking at you and you are just speaking to my soul.

Speaker 4 And you know how sometimes someone will say the most simplest thing to you and it will just pierce your heart and you'll carry it with you?

Speaker 4 At the end of your sermon, you look. at us and you go and it's not your burden to carry give it to god and you just kept repeating it and repeating it, and it hit my soul.

Speaker 4 And I still to this day will repeat that every time I'll feel the weight of my heartbreak. I'll be like, it's not my burden to carry, give it to God.

Speaker 1 And yeah, you, you marked me that night.

Speaker 4 You're just, you're so, so special. You come from the heart and you are just, we're so grateful to have you on today.
Seriously, what an honor.

Speaker 1 More than you know. And God knows when we need encouragement.
And

Speaker 1 I need it right now. And it means a lot.
So I appreciate both of you a lot. And we are, the Smith family is for the both of you.
And what you're doing is such

Speaker 1 important work.

Speaker 1 And I didn't even know. I mean, we're just talking right now, learning so much of your backstory, both of you.
And

Speaker 1 I hear the Massachusetts, which is probably how do you say

Speaker 1 that? How do you say it? I can't never say that. I can't say it.
And yet that's where you're from. But I hear the accent and I love it.
It's still there. Massachusetts.
I know.

Speaker 1 You have to get rid of that. Massachusetts.
It's very selfie, isn't it? Massachusetts. Yeah.

Speaker 1 I get it. I got it.
Thank you.

Speaker 1 I'm 46 and I can't say where you're from. Grow up.
That's okay.

Speaker 4 I still sound like Tad.

Speaker 1 Oh, wow.

Speaker 1 Oh, man.

Speaker 3 Yeah, we're so, so honored to have you. You do so much for so many people, Judah.
You really like, you speak to all ages, all generations, but you mark our generation, Gen Z,

Speaker 3 whatever they are, Gen Y, like what's under there. I don't know, whatever they are.

Speaker 3 You just like, you are one of the most relatable pastors probably in the world. That's very nice.
Such an anointed speaker, incredible communicator.

Speaker 3 And like Ari said, like you said something so simple, but it was so profound.

Speaker 3 And that's what I love about your speaking and your preaching is that you don't like jump through hoops to try and get a message across. Like it's very simple.
It's just Jesus. Wow.
The love of Jesus.

Speaker 3 And every service that I've ever been to of yours, like it's just Jesus. Like you just preach Jesus.

Speaker 4 And you're really funny too. And you're really funny.

Speaker 1 One of the best days of my life so far. So this is going very funny.

Speaker 1 Thank you.

Speaker 3 If you could just, we have so many questions for you. And I personally want your insight on so many different things, ministry-wise, like how to cultivate intimacy with Jesus.
So many questions.

Speaker 3 But if you could just start with your origin, how you found Jesus, your upbringing, how you found Chelsea, your beautiful, beautiful, his wife is probably one of those most beautiful women I've ever met.

Speaker 1 It's crazy. Yeah, I love her.

Speaker 1 Well, we, my wife and I were born three months apart to two best friends, Marilyn Smith and Jenny Smith, which is kind of wild, right?

Speaker 1 So, and they said, let's have a boy and a girl and get them married because they were tennis partners.

Speaker 1 My dad was a preacher. His dad was a preacher.
His dad was a preacher.

Speaker 1 His dad was a preacher. His dad was a preacher.
His mom was a preacher. All the way back to a circuit riding preaching woman, woman preacher.
preacher.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 which is also, I don't know if I'm allowed to even stop and say this, that the fact that you both are stunning,

Speaker 1 powerful, strong women means the world to me.

Speaker 1 I believe passionately in the ministry of Jesus towards women and what he did

Speaker 1 to elevate women and who they are and their voice in the world. And so I am a feminist.
If you look up the definition,

Speaker 1 it's a definition that I believe in wholeheartedly. And so I've raised a strong young lady.
She's 15, but I hope in a lot of ways she emulates you too.

Speaker 1 Was raised by a strong woman who taught me how to shop the malls of America while also reading my Bible and loving Jesus. So we never wear clothes in the Smith family.
We only put on outfits.

Speaker 1 It's just the way it is.

Speaker 1 My dad was a preacher. We traveled to every state in the Union except North and South Dakota.

Speaker 1 And my dad preached a seminar that was a two and a half day seminar to young people on destiny, purpose, vision, why you exist, why you're living.

Speaker 1 And my job from eight to 11 years old was to come on stage at the end of the seminar and share how I almost died three times before I turned two and how I had a destiny and God had a plan for my life and I would be a preacher someday better than my dad, cue the crowd cheering.

Speaker 1 And so I started on stage at eight years old thinking that this is what we do. Seventh generation preacher.

Speaker 1 I believe that the greatest thing in the whole world was to tell people about Jesus I was in Boston I might add and that was my first official speaking engagement I was 13 and I spoke and they gave me a hundred dollars and I thought this is the greatest thing in the whole wide world

Speaker 1 but started started doing revival services my I traveled to Alaska when I was 16 and started doing, that was a week revival. My sister did the morning sessions.
I did the night.

Speaker 1 And I preached the same sermon for five straight days. And I've been preaching regularly ever since since I'm 46.

Speaker 1 And I just, Jesus to me is the greatest person in the whole wide world. And

Speaker 1 I honestly mean this. Like, it's not.

Speaker 1 I just wouldn't, I don't think I'd still be alive without Jesus. I know I wouldn't be able to stay married without Jesus.

Speaker 1 I know I would have ruined my 20, 18, and 15 year old's life if it wasn't for Jesus.

Speaker 1 But my dad passed. I was tricked into leading the church in his passing.
My mom is still amazing and beautiful and sexy and single and available. And she looks 73 and she looks 53.

Speaker 1 And we are looking for a wealthy man. Oh, you heard it first.
I don't know if you're out there. Yeah, of all ages.
Like, you can't.

Speaker 4 Wait, I love that so much.

Speaker 1 Serious, actually, right?

Speaker 1 Is she looking? Yeah, she is. That's I'm so happy for her.

Speaker 1 She's a beautiful poodle, and she's she's set financially. She has a great retirement, and she is like, she's like good looking.
Let's go. Okay, we're going to go

Speaker 1 right here. Yeah, right.
We need to insert photo. Insert photo.
I'm literally going to drive from the studio to her house in Palm Springs and see her.

Speaker 1 And I'm going to tell her that we did an ad for her.

Speaker 3 Oh my gosh, amazing. I love her.

Speaker 1 I want to meet her. She's a force.

Speaker 3 You guys, before we get into this incredible episode with Judah Smith, I just want to remind you guys that we are on the Girls Gone Bible live tour.

Speaker 3 If you want to go to girlsgonebible.com slash tour, you can get your tickets. Ari and I, gosh, we love you guys so much.
It is...

Speaker 3 a dream come true to be in the room with you to worship jesus with you to talk about what jesus is literally currently doing in our lives and just to lift the name of jesus it means everything to us we really really hope to see you there we want to love you hug you laugh with you cry with you so get your tickets And one more thing, you guys know that we're on GGB Plus and you guys.

Speaker 3 I know we always say it, but as if we couldn't get any more real and raw as we do on Girls Gone Bible, GGB Plus is the greatest blessing for us because we're having such real conversations, Ari and I, like where we're just giving our hearts and it's so relaxed and it's so freeing, honestly.

Speaker 3 It feels like therapy every time because we're kind of getting out all of the thoughts that we don't say anywhere else and all of the real conversations about what God is like actively doing in our lives probably that day.

Speaker 3 If you guys want to go to girlsconbible.com slash plus and join us on GGB Plus.

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Speaker 3 I have so many questions just hearing you talk about your upbringing. Ari and I come from probably the exact opposite sort of upbringing.
Yes.

Speaker 3 We don't come from any generations of Christians. Like my mom is Catholic and both of our families are Catholic.
My mom is definitely a strong believer, but I think it's just, it's just different.

Speaker 3 You know, it's not the same as, you know, like a really generations of having preachers and and really strong christian believers behind you and so i think ari and i sometimes we hear stories like yours and it just like

Speaker 3 is so beautiful like it's the most beautiful and it's the most like we're so grateful that jesus can have that sort of effect on generations of families and if i'm being honest i think sometimes it grieves our hearts a little bit um and that's just full transparency because every time we hear stories and we love it and it's so inspiring and we know like well this is what we're going to do for our children and their children and their children.

Speaker 3 But it's just funny, sometimes we always feel like a little bit of a ping, like, wow, we can't even imagine having that before us. You know, I think, yeah, sometimes it could just be all pretty words.

Speaker 1 Oh, my word.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's all wrong of you.

Speaker 1 But, man,

Speaker 3 if I could just ask you one question about that. So

Speaker 3 when you, I know, I know a lot of preachers and a lot of preachers' kids, and oftentimes, when people grow up in the church, sometimes people can experience just believing in like a moral religion.

Speaker 3 And sometimes, oftentimes, they have to find their own way.

Speaker 3 Like, they encounter Jesus at a certain age, at a certain time, and they really choose themselves to give themselves over and you know, dedicate their life.

Speaker 3 Did you ever have a moment like that, or was it truly like never a head thing, always a heart thing?

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 1 I think to an extent, to probably encourage anyone listening and thanks for listening. That's amazing.

Speaker 1 And we should listen to these two incredible souls and the platform that God's given you is so incredible. But for anybody listening,

Speaker 1 I think there's a little bit of that in all of us where you're like, okay, is this going to be something that I kind of just mentally agree with and is saying, like, ah, it makes sense.

Speaker 1 I'm just going to go ahead and do this. Because ultimately,

Speaker 1 Jesus came to

Speaker 1 sway and

Speaker 1 swoon the soul and to change us from the inside out in our heart but but yeah right like I think I wrestled with this idea of like I'm a I wanted to be like my dad my dad was my hero and he he carried a Bible and it was like cool and I was like all right I just want to be that but then all of a sudden is it is it is it real for me I went through a lot of deep questions crises whatever But I have to admit, I had one of those ecstatic, phenomenal moments where at like 9 or 11, sometimes I forget if it was 9, 10 or 11, but I was in Idaho and I heard one of the clearest things, almost the audible voice of God.

Speaker 1 You'll be a voice to this generation. And I, and it like shocked me.

Speaker 1 It gave me like chills in my spine kind of, and I was like, and I ended up telling my dad, he was speaking at the time, and I ended up telling him, and that, and that kind of marked me.

Speaker 1 I knew I had heard a voice. I knew I had heard some, someone talk to me.
And I can't take any credit for that. You know, like I hear preachers say, like, I spent time seeking God.

Speaker 1 And my story is just a little different. I felt like God took time seeking me and he just found me and he spoke to me and

Speaker 1 he romanced me. Like, I feel, I always tell,

Speaker 1 not always, but pretty regularly I tell Jesus, if you keep showing up, I'll do anything you want.

Speaker 1 But if you stop showing up,

Speaker 1 you know, I can't do this. I just can't do it.
So, you know, and sometimes that's like, you can go a day. Sometimes I can't go a few more hours unless I feel like he's in the room and he's there.

Speaker 1 So it's going to be pretty hard for me to get through this. But anyways, I get emotional pretty fast because,

Speaker 1 yeah, I just can't imagine taking

Speaker 1 the most beautiful person in the world

Speaker 1 and turning it into like principles and morals and things to live by when he's a person to live with. Right.
So,

Speaker 1 and I mean, the truth is, like, I feel, you know, I walked into the studio and I'm like, whoa,

Speaker 1 I think these girls know Jesus and I appreciate that a lot.

Speaker 1 So, we're going to be a mess here. This is

Speaker 1 going to be,

Speaker 4 can I ask you what you do to keep your relationship strong with Jesus?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean,

Speaker 1 what do you do? I can barely take credit because, you know, Jesus said in Matthew 29, right? I think it's Matthew 29. I got to get my verses right.
I'm on

Speaker 1 Girls Gone Bible, so I really got to like, you know, I want to be, I want to be Boys Gone Bible, too.

Speaker 1 So, but but um it's it's matthew 29 i'm not great with addresses and all that but um he says uh are you weary are you burned out you know on religion get away with me yeah and and i'll show you how to take a real rest

Speaker 1 and that's the story of my life like I was just before this, I like, don't do that many interviews, but before this was doing like a print interview, and they asked about my daily disciplines.

Speaker 1 And I said, I got to tell you, like, I don't feel like a very disciplined person. I'm a very random, like, spontaneity is how I keep living.
If you schedule me too much, I just feel like I'm dying.

Speaker 1 So, that's not for everybody, but for that, that's how I work. And so, I get up every morning, and my little routine is so embarrassing.
But it's like, um,

Speaker 1 I take a bubble bath and I just get away with him.

Speaker 1 And man, it's the wildest thing. Like,

Speaker 1 I don't know.

Speaker 1 It gets crazier and crazier because, um, and I blame you both for this emotion.

Speaker 1 And I'm trying not to look at you because I'll cry more, but the amount of times, like, dude, I feel so average and so broken.

Speaker 1 And I just, sometimes I just want, you just, I just need more money or I just need like,

Speaker 1 you know, more stuff or more things or more sex. Or I just feel so ridiculously average.
But I'm telling you, man, like, I get in this bathtub

Speaker 1 and it's like I feel him again. And he just like talks to me and I'm like, I don't know why I get to have this life, but, you know, and I love what he loves.

Speaker 1 And so I end up loving my wife and loving my kids and wanting to like tell people about Jesus. And people are like, bro, you're so dedicated and you're so disciplined.

Speaker 1 And like, thank you for not like quitting on your marriage or like being a good dad. And I'm like, dude, I'm not.
that guy. I just, he just keeps showing up in the bathtub as weird as that sounds.

Speaker 1 And it's not even that I read the Bible more than anybody else or that i pray hours sometimes people ask me how long have you been how long do you pray and sometimes it's really long and i don't even realize it's long and sometimes it's really short yeah but he just shows up and

Speaker 1 i can't take any credit for that i promise you ladies if i could i would he just keeps meeting me and he'll tell me things and he'll assure me and he'll help me forgive people and like

Speaker 1 i end up loving people that really hurt me that i want to fight and i want to be angry at. So I don't know, man.
He just keeps taking things from my life that are bad, like anger and rage.

Speaker 1 And I get mad at people and angry. And it's just like another day comes.
And he's like, I'm going to take this. And it's enough.
And I got you and I love you. So

Speaker 1 that really is my story. And if it was something else, I would tell you.
But

Speaker 1 that is my story.

Speaker 3 But this is, this is why you are.

Speaker 3 Exactly. Thank you so much.
But this is why you are who you are and why you have the impact that you do because it's just so simple. We don't need, like, who is it, Paul that writes?

Speaker 3 I'm going to ask you because you would know. Paul writes, like, it's not by impressive words.

Speaker 3 It's not like you're not supposed to sit here and be all wordy and impressive and intellectual and all the things. Like, simple message from Jesus.
That's what you do.

Speaker 3 And even in this, like, we're all emotional because you have such a genuine revelation of the love of God.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 3 yeah, I think, you know, Ari and I,

Speaker 3 maybe you could speak to this a little bit for us, but Ari and I are in such a interesting position where, like, we're on this platform and we just want to do a good job for Jesus.

Speaker 3 Like, we just want to,

Speaker 3 every word that comes from our mouth, we want it to glorify Jesus. We want to never say anything that contradicts scripture.
And so we have an immense amount of pressure that we put on ourselves.

Speaker 3 And I'll speak for me personally. There's, I've probably spent the last year of my life

Speaker 3 just letting Jesus break performance off of me because

Speaker 3 I found myself probably the first year of doing this, of having so much pressure. And I am literally begging him to just to make me be the person that he's called me to be.

Speaker 3 And I just like need to perform and I need to be smart and I need to know everything and I need to be able to pull scripture out what I can.

Speaker 3 And then he literally meets me in the middle of it and he's like, would you stop? That's not what I'm calling you to do.

Speaker 3 I'm like going into my quiet time and I'm seeing how I just feel this like sportsmanship in me. I'm climbing a ladder in the spiritual like Olympics trying to get somewhere.

Speaker 3 And then I realized like I didn't fall in love with Jesus so that I could be somebody for him one day. I fell in love with Jesus because I needed a savior.
That's right.

Speaker 3 I was really, really, really, really in a bad spot. And he saved my life.

Speaker 3 And like, I don't need, and so I've spent the last year of my life like really settling into the fact that he loves me when I don't do anything. I don't need to do anything.

Speaker 3 And so, could you just talk about, because you have a true revelation of the love of God, of the love of Jesus. Could you just talk about that?

Speaker 3 Because so many people don't know how to accept the love of Jesus.

Speaker 1 I mean, that's such an incredible question and comments. And thank you for that.

Speaker 1 I've never said this before, but as you're saying this, I'm thinking of

Speaker 1 when some of the disciples are going to the temple to pray, and there is a lame man or blind man asking for silver and gold.

Speaker 1 Because in that condition in antiquity, you wouldn't be able to work, right? So you'd have no income. And I'm sure he's just looking for money for food and whatever.

Speaker 1 And remember what I think it's what Peter says. Might have been Peter or John, but it was Peter and John together.
Peter did most of the talking, John did most of the feeling, right? And Peter says,

Speaker 1 Hey, I don't have silver and gold, but I tell you what, I do have.

Speaker 1 Rise up, take take up your bed and walk.

Speaker 1 I think there's something in that.

Speaker 1 The ability to say what you don't have. And you know what happened to me? I started try to give people what they asked for.
Would you do, we need you to do this.

Speaker 1 Hey, girl's gone Bible. We need you guys to address this and answer this and fix this.

Speaker 1 Well, I don't have that.

Speaker 1 I don't know. I've never studied that or I've never, well,

Speaker 1 this podcast has changed my life. So we need you.
And I think the power of

Speaker 1 boundaries and limitations and saying, I don't have that.

Speaker 1 I think that's underestimated. Like to be able to look at

Speaker 1 the masses and the platform and say, hey, I don't have that, but I tell you what, I do have

Speaker 1 what I do have. And I got to be honest with you.
I preached whole sermons. I might have wrote books on stuff I didn't even have, but I was trying to have it because people need it.

Speaker 1 So you're just like, dude, I'm going to like, I don't have that, but I'm going to try to pretend like I have it. Or I'm going to like remember a couple things from people who do have that.

Speaker 1 But what do I have? And I think a lot of the reason you two resonate so deeply with so many different generations and so many different people around the world.

Speaker 1 I mean, for those watching who don't realize what's happened to the two of you and what God has done using your voices is nothing short of miraculous and transcendent.

Speaker 1 But I think it's happened because you're giving what you do have.

Speaker 1 So what it comes out of you like life and it comes out like a river as opposed to kind of faking it till you make it, which is, I did so much of that, it's embarrassing.

Speaker 1 But I've decided like, what do I do have?

Speaker 1 My story's my story. I am who I am.
I'm random, abstract, kind of an artist. And I'm not like, I don't know if

Speaker 1 sometimes like I got here like five minutes late, which is my new thing. I'm going to try to be on time, but being on time is such a challenge for me, which is humiliating and embarrassing.

Speaker 1 And my wife was here. She'd say, don't share that.

Speaker 1 But like, here's what i have and i'll tell you what i do have i i i don't even know it all but i mean i i know jesus and he meets me and if if i can share from that and that ministers to people so be it for some people if it doesn't resonate let me show you other preachers that might work for you i got great friends who also right and so like i just applaud the two of you because i think i think you've really maybe not even knowingly have like just given what you have yeah as opposed to like making up stuff you don't have and i applaud applaud that because it comes out genuine and authentic and i don't want to spend any more of my life man i'm i'm facing 50 in the like right around the corner i'm just going to be who i am but also be the the one that's the quickest to go hey if you need something else can i recommend a bunch of different amazing podcasts or people or therapists who could help you but but i can give you what i got and what jesus gave me is special to me and and i'm going to use it till till till the day i die i don't know if that totally answers what was a beautiful question, but

Speaker 1 it's definitely helped me.

Speaker 3 Oh, that's beautiful. And I think that's so helpful for us too.
I think Ari and I both encourage each other every time. We usually take turns.
We always say this.

Speaker 3 We always take turns having breakdowns.

Speaker 3 If she's having one, I'll be good. But then all of a sudden I'll start having one.
She's like, oh, got to toughen up, got to help her. And so we just take turns.

Speaker 3 And so we always remind each other, like, it's in you. You live this.
That's right.

Speaker 3 We don't have to be anything except literally what we live.

Speaker 3 Now, if it wasn't authentic to us, if we didn't spend every day with, if we didn't live with God and learn from him every day and hear from him every day, we'd be in trouble because we have nothing to say.

Speaker 3 But we don't have to be anything except what we are in this very moment. And in 10 years, I imagine we'll be a lot more

Speaker 3 something, educate, all the things. But like for right now, what we have is more than enough, you know, because there's so many people.
So that is so

Speaker 3 sustainable, too.

Speaker 1 You know, me being me, okay, I can do that. But being somebody else I'm not, I think that's the stress and strain and the burnout oftentimes that happens.
Oh, absolutely.

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Speaker 4 Can you, so many of us go through shame. We're going to these shows and people turn from God.
They're just like, I've messed up too many times, made too many mistakes. He won't accept me.

Speaker 4 They're just living in chains and shame. Can you talk a little bit? And that coincides with the love of God and shame.
And can you just talk to people about that?

Speaker 1 I mean, I'm overwhelmed, Ari, the moment you ask that question because few things matter more to me in the whole wide world.

Speaker 1 So there's this thing that happened with the Bible that a lot of people don't know about. There is this scripture, and I can't remember the address right now.

Speaker 1 I probably should have looked it up before the show started since we've gone Bible. But

Speaker 1 it is, there is now, therefore, you probably know the address, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Later,

Speaker 1 in the canon of scripture, we can get into all the minutiae, but we won't, there was an addendum, if you will, added. And the research shows it's true that later,

Speaker 1 over centuries, as this book, this magical mystical book has been passed down. It's extraordinary.
And by the way, the whole point of the book is to point you to a person.

Speaker 1 Not just don't know the book and not know the person because you can know the person, right? Don't miss the forest for the trees. But there was an addendum that was added.

Speaker 1 There is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus for those who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

Speaker 1 By all accounts, that latter part was added because the weight of

Speaker 1 there is just no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus was too hard for earlier Christians to actually accept that they added this idea, well, that must be true, though, for those who like

Speaker 1 live according to the spirit. Now, I urge everyone to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh.
Of course, that's in other parts of scripture, and that's a true statement.

Speaker 1 But as far as it goes to shame, shame has been canceled. I'm going to try to make this clear.
The work of Jesus, six hours he hangs on the cross, he says seven statements.

Speaker 1 His lungs are filling with blood, so the excruciating agony of even uttering anything is beyond that which we can comprehend and compare.

Speaker 1 One of the last, I believe it's his sixth statement, which is the number of man, he says it is finished. We got to ask the question, what's finished? What is complete?

Speaker 1 And if you look up that word, it literally means period and done. Nothing to be added, nothing to be taken away.
It is complete and finished. Well, what is finished?

Speaker 1 What was finished was shame and guilt that comes with the error of our ways, sin. A lot of people don't like the word sin.
Sin simply means missing the mark. Sin is very simple to describe.

Speaker 1 It's the selfish things we do that hurt ourselves and others. People say, I don't believe sin exists.
Let me slap your mom and then we know sin exists, right? I mean, we know right and wrong.

Speaker 1 We know there's bad and good. Like, I mean, it's a, you know what I mean? Like, it's just a no-brainer.
Yeah. We can all, you know, contest sin, but we can't contest good and bad.

Speaker 1 So all the bad bad things we've done, if you look at our society and the constructs of the whole wide world,

Speaker 1 we have this inherent system called the justice system. Though it is flawed, where do we get that concept?

Speaker 1 This idea that if you harm me or I harm you, something must be rectified, something must be justified, something there must be, you must serve time for what you've done.

Speaker 1 Where did we come up with that? Well, that's it was put in our makeup. God in His justice system has

Speaker 1 exonerated us how, extinguished all of His wrath, how?

Speaker 1 he is a just god and a perfect god he did it in the body and person of jesus he put on skin and bone moved into the neighborhood and took upon his body all of the judgment the just right judgment of god in the body of jesus those hours he hung on the cross some 2000 years ago he said it is finished now translate to that scripture there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in christ jesus there's a period there that literally means condemnation means shame, guilt, and the pain that comes with all that.

Speaker 1 It is complete and finished.

Speaker 1 I believe the greatest challenge of the age and all of the ages is whether or not each successive generation will absorb and accept the outlandish, unrelenting, illogical, finished work of Jesus, which says, no matter what Ari and Angela ever do,

Speaker 1 If you have accepted the free gift of Jesus, you are forgiven forever.

Speaker 1 Forever. It's done.
Now,

Speaker 1 that's hard for us to accept because we are do good, get good kind of people. Our whole system down here is do good, get good.

Speaker 1 You do bad, you get bad. That's how it works.
That's called justice. Jesus has exhausted his wrath.
Sorry, God has exhausted his wrath in Jesus and now shame is complete.

Speaker 1 That's the part of like the message we have to share with the world. I'm like, how is that not our headline, guys?

Speaker 1 How are we not telling the world that they're forgiven by simply, you don't earn it or deserve it or warrant it. No resume needed.
Just simply say,

Speaker 1 okay, I accept that he took my place. It's done.
Yeah. What not Judah? Your life needs a change.
It doesn't need to change. I think it will, but it doesn't need to change to be justified and forgiven.

Speaker 1 It's simply the free gift of Jesus and you can accept that. That to me, how is that not the goodest news in the world?

Speaker 1 How can we not tell the world that the message of Jesus is not tradition and morals and to-do lists. It really is the acceptance of free forgiveness.
Now from that place, now let's go explore

Speaker 1 all the things that God offers us to live this full, wonderful, abundant life.

Speaker 1 That's so good.

Speaker 3 Don't even start with giving us the gospel.

Speaker 1 All right, don't even start. Don't even start, Judah.
The girl's gone, gospel.

Speaker 1 God knows everything. Thank you, Jesus.

Speaker 3 I could sit here and listen to the gospel just on replay all day long. Me too.
It's all we need.

Speaker 3 The gospel is enough.

Speaker 1 Don't you think? I promise.

Speaker 3 It's enough.

Speaker 1 I always

Speaker 3 like, okay, anyways.

Speaker 3 On the topic of shame,

Speaker 3 what do you say to people who

Speaker 3 lived a certain life, lived in the world, and then they give their life to Jesus? And they're aware that their shame is paid for, their past is paid for. However,

Speaker 3 it's still hard to reconcile, even in your own heart, who you are now in Jesus versus who you were before him.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 3 to add on to that, when other people have trouble accepting, like they know redemption, like they understand grace, but they still are not Jesus.

Speaker 3 So it's hard for them to look at you as the righteousness of Christ, like Jesus does, like God does.

Speaker 3 So what do you say to people who are dealing with shame from their past because other people are using it against them or other people see them a certain way because of their past.

Speaker 1 Ironically, I think it starts with going, they're not wrong. Like

Speaker 1 I've had critics, you two have critics. The moment you have any platform now in today's technological boom, immediately you're going to have people that just critique you.
Right.

Speaker 1 Critique isn't always bad. Feedback isn't always bad.
Today, it's a lot of bad. It's really painful.

Speaker 1 I mean, we watched the Super Bowl and it's like, man, all of a sudden, like, you know, you lose the Super Bowl and you are getting critiqued by the whole wide world.

Speaker 1 I'm like, these guys made it to the Super Bowl. You know, I mean, there's something to be said.
So, that's the world we live in, right? So, what I have kind of tried to

Speaker 1 channel, so to speak, is like when people are like, you know, I don't think Judah's a good guy. I'm like, yeah, good point.

Speaker 1 I don't think I am. I think, literally, I think guilty is charged.
Like, you're, he did this and he did that. And now, some of those things I didn't do, but am I capable of doing them? Yeah.

Speaker 1 I mean, man, guilty is charged, but

Speaker 1 Jesus made up the difference in my life. If not for the grace of God, there go I, said the old psalmist, right? There go I.

Speaker 1 Like, in other words, in all of the critiquing and the feedback frenzy we're in in today's world, what I love about the way of Jesus is that Jesus teaches this idea of like, you see yourself and others.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I met with a therapist one time, really creepy, like in the side room of like, it was like 8 p.m.
in this church in the middle of LA because someone recommended meeting with him.

Speaker 1 He was a nice guy, but it was very weird. And I got there, and one of the first things he said to me, true story, this is wild.
He says, Do you know the only difference between me and a murderer?

Speaker 1 And I was like, I love him. I was like, ah.

Speaker 1 And I'm like, how do it dimly lit office? You cannot make this up. I'm going to put this in a show someday.
And I go, no. He goes, I haven't murdered anyone yet.

Speaker 4 He's probably from Massachusetts.

Speaker 1 He was from Boston. I'm kidding.
I didn't know that. But his point was, like, we're all capable of really embarrassing, gross things, but the grace of God.
And so when it comes to like,

Speaker 1 I've defended myself so many times and I think oftentimes it's wasted energy because ultimately, like people are going to say what they're going to say. Here's a crazy thought.

Speaker 1 My friend texted me the other day. He said, you ever notice Jesus never fixed the whispers? He never fixed them.
He never went over and said, hey, I'm perfect. Don't say that.

Speaker 1 He just kept it moving. And I think there's something to like when people can't accept that you're new and that you've changed.

Speaker 1 It's kind of you got to, well, Lord, I trust them to you because I know who I am. And there's a couple of people that I need them to know that I am who I am.

Speaker 1 And that's my wife, my kids, maybe my friend Joe over here, I've known since he was 16. But you can't please everybody all the time.

Speaker 1 And there's going to be people that are going to want to remind you. I mean, I got high school buddies who are like, big preacher guy, remember when? And I'll be like, yeah, bro.
And guess what?

Speaker 1 I'd still be that guy if it wasn't, you know, whatever. So I just, I just urge everybody, your energy, your stamina, your strength, your virtue, as the scripture says, is so valuable.

Speaker 1 And if you spend it defending your redemption or defending your transformation,

Speaker 1 sometimes it just, it gets really, really taxing and exhausting. Totally.
I don't know if that's even the question you raise. Yeah, it is.

Speaker 3 Yeah, absolutely. It is.
You're literally one of the funniest people you've ever met.

Speaker 1 One of the most manic people you've ever met. I can tell you that much.
I love it. I can tell you that much.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 I have questions to ask too, but this isn't my podcast, but I might ask questions.

Speaker 3 Oh, my gosh.

Speaker 5 He said, oh, no.

Speaker 1 Who Who does that? Let's just touch your cars. I'm just saying, if you want me to, I could ask questions.

Speaker 3 Well, yeah, I mean,

Speaker 3 if you have any questions, we are here to answer. I do have one thing I wanted to, I was thinking about asking you.
So.

Speaker 3 Again, Ari and I are in this world of, you know what's so funny is we have people on and like, yes, it's for them.

Speaker 3 It's for us. Like, you're here for us.

Speaker 1 You know how I feel. I'm with you on that.

Speaker 3 Yeah. And so we, Ari and I are in this world of podcasting and Christian entertainment in a sense.
Like, we know that this is an entertainment, but it could be classified as that.

Speaker 3 And then we also have this phenomenon of like Christian celebrities.

Speaker 3 And so, I am also, so I'm in this world of like podcasting and all this stuff.

Speaker 3 And I'm around so many beautiful Christians who their faith is real and they have purity in their hearts for what they do.

Speaker 3 And then I'm sure there's a lot of people in this space who don't have purity in their hearts, who aren't really about Jesus, who do want to be faithful, all the things, you you know what i mean all the things and then i i noticed that you know sometimes in the local church for example there could be people who are really skeptical of the celebritization is that a word yeah i think

Speaker 3 well it is now if it's not it should be okay it's like christians on social media and all the things and i'm just wondering like how you relate to that what you think of that because i know oftentimes if i'm in a space where people aren't familiar with the world that we're coming from there's always skepticism well first of all, a couple things.

Speaker 1 I think everyone's motives are mixed at best. Totally.
And I think once we put that on the table, it's like, okay. Secondly, celebrityism.
Wait a second. People think this is a modern construct.

Speaker 1 People think this is a new idea.

Speaker 1 Let's not get it twisted. Jesus was a celebrity.

Speaker 1 I don't think people realize, like, I really mean this. Now, they didn't have maybe the C word celebrity back then, but like, he was popular.
He was moving souls and hearts.

Speaker 1 Do you know that the scripture says that God

Speaker 1 sets one up and puts another down?

Speaker 1 So God wants us to know, I control who has the influence in this way.

Speaker 1 So now you wait a minute. I've heard people say, I don't think Christian celebrityism is bad and it's what

Speaker 1 let's deconstruct that for a moment. What you mean is people that are bold about their faith who have influence you don't like.

Speaker 1 That's always been the case, though. Historically, Historically, that's always been true.
They've always been, there's always been men and women that have had sway and influence in culture.

Speaker 1 What's exciting to see is two incredible women who are like, hey, we'll step up to the plate if that's what God has for us and we'll use our voice, even at the risk of being misunderstood and even at the risk of portraying ourselves as really cool, awesome, fun young ladies who love Jesus and love life.

Speaker 1 I'm going to tell you something. If you have too much fun, people are not going to like it.
That's a big part of this too. It's like,

Speaker 1 don't be having too much fun doing what God called you to do because this is serious work. And honestly, we are taking ourselves way too seriously in this world.
I need you to hear that.

Speaker 1 There's only one Savior and we are not him.

Speaker 1 So if we can't smile and take ourselves like, honestly, this is hilarious. That I'm a preacher is hilarious.
That we get to do this is hilarious. I know.
Come on. It is so.

Speaker 1 Jerry left it off of me.

Speaker 4 Come on, somebody.

Speaker 1 You're amazing. There's always been people of influence.

Speaker 1 Somebody told me the celebrity culture is dead. Well, I hope the attitude of we're better than you because we're famous.
We hope that's dead.

Speaker 1 But people of influence and sway and renown, it's always been and always be.

Speaker 1 And God gives those platforms and they're sacred. And I just want to say to you too, nobody gave you this platform.
God gave you this platform. You didn't even give it to yourselves.
You couldn't.

Speaker 1 God gave you sway with human souls. Yeah.

Speaker 1 It's like the wind. Who can harness the wind? God can.
And He gave it to you. And that's why I mean it.
I applaud you both. It is no small, easy thing.

Speaker 1 And I just think it's awesome hope to a lot of young men and young women who look at you and go, Wait, you can be fun and cool and happy and serve Jesus and make a difference.

Speaker 1 Oh, I'm down for that. Right.
So, so thank you. Wow.
Thank you. Thank you for saying that.
Wow.

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Speaker 3 Once again, that's naturesage omega3.com slash GGB for 40% off and make sure you use our promo code GGB so they know we sent you. How do you love you and Chelsea?

Speaker 3 Chelsea's, she literally is actually like an angel. You're so lucky.
I

Speaker 3 you have no idea. I mean, I'm sure you look at her and you're like, oh, he's real.
Like God's real.

Speaker 1 She's proof.

Speaker 3 Yeah. And so

Speaker 3 you guys have been married for 25 years and both of you, you know, fortunately grew up with parents that were together. And like,

Speaker 3 what do you, just tell us a little bit about it? And I know people ask that, What's the secret?

Speaker 3 Whatever, but just you know, and you, Chelsea posts on Instagram a lot on Mondays, and she says, Marriage Mondays, right?

Speaker 3 And so, you guys have a lot to offer people who are married, and we're not married. So, I always feel bad that we don't have things to offer married people.

Speaker 3 We do, we just don't know if it's right.

Speaker 1 Oh, God,

Speaker 1 your singleness speaks volumes, though, and gives so much purpose and direction and hope. So, I hope you

Speaker 1 know know that. And

Speaker 1 when the time is right,

Speaker 1 I did bring a list of eight guys I want us to consider on air. I'm kidding.
Can you imagine? Like, wait, you both looked at me like, are you serious, bro?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, I just think people are heroic. And I think people who come from broken families, can I just say, like, I just think they're extraordinary and

Speaker 1 the challenge that that comes with.

Speaker 1 And like you said, Chelsea and I had really like strong present dads for instance and and all the research is there even what that does and and moms that we're nurturing and so i mean is that a head start and then some i mean you can't even begin to describe but um

Speaker 1 marriage uh

Speaker 1 is wild man and it's uh i once had a preacher tell me marriage is a dance but he said listen to me You're on the dance floor and you're dancing and the music change, the music will change and they won't give you any heads up.

Speaker 1 And when the music changes, just promise me, you'll keep dancing. Even if you step on each other's toes,

Speaker 1 even if you feel awkward and wonky, if you've ever been on a dance floor, Chelsea and I actually love to go dancing, we really do.

Speaker 1 It's so much fun, which also is weird because I'm always worried that Christians are going to be somewhere where we're dancing and they're going to be offended. But I'm like, ah, whatever.

Speaker 1 Anyways, and that has been such

Speaker 1 a metaphor for us. Like, you know, we had kids, keep dancing.
Kids are growing up, keep dancing. Church, things happening in the leadership, keep dancing.
Friends come and go, keep dancing.

Speaker 1 Pain, keep dancing. Loss, keep dancing.
Health crisis, keep dancing.

Speaker 1 And we've just committed that she's my partner, man. Like, I really like her.
And I'm also like too tired to start again. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's just like, I'm really into this.

Speaker 4 You don't want to get out there, believe me.

Speaker 1 Sorry,

Speaker 1 the way you said that. You're like, you do.
I have never.

Speaker 1 I have never.

Speaker 1 I have never. You do not want to go out there.

Speaker 3 That is what I sound like.

Speaker 1 It's much better. You sound much better than that.
You have my utmost respect. I really mean that.
I just think the world of people who

Speaker 1 date these days. I mean, it's a lot.
And I really mean that. My heart goes out to all of you.
I feel really inadequate and not really equipped to be the best counsel to that.

Speaker 1 Chelsea has done a lot of research. Chelsea's getting her master's degree.
She's getting her PhD. Chelsea's writing a book, by the way.
It's called Like I Do Daily.

Speaker 1 It's a marriage Monday thing and it's on our marriage because she's the one who actually like

Speaker 1 has a lot of brilliance and understands why a lot of even some of the elements of our marriage works and how people can stay together and find romance again and love and all that.

Speaker 1 So it's going to be really good. I've not even read it, guys.
I really have not read the book. I'm excited about it.
She made me read two chapters that she was worried about and I said, I like them.

Speaker 1 Put them in. So she's pretty honest and everything.
But

Speaker 1 yeah, I just, I don't know. More than anything, I think on the topic, like I just,

Speaker 1 you know, it's hard. It's like anything else.
Anything that's like worthwhile can just be like really painful. Yeah.
And you think like something's wrong with you.

Speaker 1 And I've had so many times in our marriage, like, something's really badly wrong. Like, we're doing this so wrong.

Speaker 1 And then I found out from like behind the scenes when preachers really are honest, they're like, oh no, we're the same things happening to us. And I'm like,

Speaker 1 are we going to tell everybody? Like, because we're like, we're preaching to them on Sundays and we're not telling them.

Speaker 1 Like, you,

Speaker 1 I will never forget we were in Hawaii of all places. And for the first time in our marriage, it's like seven years into our marriage, Chelsea looked at me and she literally said, because the D word,

Speaker 1 we outlawed some words. So the divorce was an outlawed word because someone said, like, if you don't say it, it's far less likely to happen.

Speaker 1 But she looked at me and she goes, I don't know if this is going to work. Wow.
And I was like,

Speaker 1 and she's like, and I'm serious.

Speaker 1 which is one of our codes because like if I tickle her we wrestle if she says I'm serious I have to stop it's like our one rule because you're stronger than me whatever

Speaker 1 and and so she goes and I'm serious and I was like

Speaker 1 I stayed out in the I was sitting on the couch she went to bed and I was like oh God like and it wasn't it's not I hadn't like done anything terrible I just was so preoccupied with everything going on in our life and she's like you just don't have time like I don't know if this is gonna work um but I thought if anyone ever found out that my like childhood best friend and the only girlfriend I've ever had seven years in told me this isn't gonna work, I was like, no one can ever know that.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Because no one else that happens to.
And then I started talking, ladies, to all my friends. So freeing.
Oh, bro, that happens like every weekend. I'm like, when are we going to tell everyone?

Speaker 1 Yeah. It's so hard.
That like we're all really going through this.

Speaker 4 I know, I know that.

Speaker 1 And we feel like something's wrong with us.

Speaker 4 I know. When you know you're not alone.
So, okay, so in that case, when you're going through a moment where you're like, I don't think I can do this, what do you do?

Speaker 4 What are some tools that you guys did to come together? Is it therapy? Is it praying together?

Speaker 1 What would you say immediately called trusted people right and asked them are we crazy what's going on and sat down there's a there's an advantage to that too and i realize that some people are like well i don't have anyone to sit with um i do think therapy i do think it's an objective view you know and I know we have different sponsors and things so I won't start naming different companies and things but different resources we have and we've used but I really believe

Speaker 1 there is a point where you got to do whatever it takes. And what I mean by that is like, I just got to get some eyes on this.

Speaker 1 I got to get somebody from kind of outside of the emotion to say, how are we doing? And

Speaker 1 we

Speaker 1 got more open and honest than we'd ever been. I think that was the goal.
I looked back, what was the purpose of it all? It was just to get more open and honest.

Speaker 1 And that has served us because that wasn't going to be the last time that happened. So good.

Speaker 3 So good. It's just so good.
And like, marriage is probably the most refining thing.

Speaker 3 I i mean it's like it's like not like yes marriage is supposed to be fun like i'm not married obviously but i can i know enough like it's not even like it's not about being fun like when they say it's not about making you happy it's about making you holy it's because it's the one relationship where like you're just so close to someone they become a mirror and they put like it's just it's just so refining man

Speaker 1 If you want to do your own thing, don't get married.

Speaker 1 But you get married. By the way, I have single adult friends and I'm like, brilliant.

Speaker 1 There is an option here, guys, and it's to not get married. That is an awesome option.
You know, like I had friends who are like, we didn't have kids. I'm like, how did you know to do that?

Speaker 1 That's brilliant. That's amazing.
I didn't know that was an option.

Speaker 1 I really mean that. I think there are some people who are called to, you know, not get married, but

Speaker 1 maybe there's something there too. Like, if you feel like you're supposed to, then you probably should.
Yeah, totally. But like, I needed, I knew I was supposed to get married.

Speaker 1 And then suddenly, I don't know, know, I was like, yo, I'm supposed to marry this girl. Like, this is, she's the one.
And that has served me well in difficult times. But refining?

Speaker 1 Oh, man. You let a human live with you and lay in the same bed with you.
And they get to see you're good, bad, and ugly. There's no hiding, man.

Speaker 1 See, that's exactly.

Speaker 3 It's hard. It's so, okay.
And like, this is going to sound so weird, but the closest thing that we have to marriage is each other because we are in a ministry partnership. And like.

Speaker 1 With each other all the time.

Speaker 3 We're with each other all the time.

Speaker 3 We travel together we have our own hotels but we choose to stay in the same one like we're just like together always always always and then we're in doing ministry together we're like in meetings together all the things and this relationship is so unbelievably refining.

Speaker 4 We've been training partners for our marriage.

Speaker 3 Like, I'm not even kidding. It's so, we have, it's so exposing when you get so close to somebody

Speaker 3 and then it's like you have an option. Do you press in and you lean in?

Speaker 3 And I think this is just good for people in relationships and friendships is that when you get so close to somebody, it can be so exposing and so vulnerable that oftentimes the best case scenario is to leave because it's hard being seen.

Speaker 3 Like when somebody sees you and they see you at your best and your worst, like nobody wants to be seen at their worst. And so, yeah, I mean, we're just like in such a beautiful season of leaning in.

Speaker 3 We're the closest people to each other. And it's like hard sometimes, you know, and it's can be really uncomfortable.
But the reward of leaning in and pressing in and committing.

Speaker 1 And not giving up.

Speaker 3 Yeah, and not giving up and committing and being like, I'm going to do everything I need to do to make sure that this relationship is healthy. It's so beautiful and it's lost on us.
Wow. You know?

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 1 I mean, iron sharpens iron. It doesn't say like pillow and pillow.
Yeah. It's iron.
The metaphor from scripture is iron, like sharpening each other. Totally.
Which infers friction,

Speaker 1 which can produce fire and an incredible flame that can change the world. But like, man, friction is just going to happen no matter who you are.
Exactly. Jesus was perfect.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 And Judas cheated on him and stole from him. You know what I mean? Like, so you can be the perfect partner and you're still.
somebody can do something nasty to you. Totally.

Speaker 1 So it's funny how we think we're going to be exempt. You know what I mean? Like, you ever met with people like, we're going to be business partners, but we don't ever have issues.

Speaker 1 And you're like, oh, sweeties, I don't want to tell you this, but you're going to. And people are like, oh, you're just old.
And I'm like, well, I am getting older, but like, I'm telling you.

Speaker 1 But friction is also like, it can be powerful.

Speaker 3 It's so beautiful.

Speaker 1 It can be awesome. So thank you for embracing your friction with each other and challenging each other.
I think we all benefit, to be honest, from it.

Speaker 3 That's why so many people don't want to get married. They don't want to be, they don't want that confrontation.

Speaker 3 So I think it's, it's just really encouraging to know that that's actually a really good thing. And it's not just supposed to be in love, happy-go-lucky all the time.
It's not.

Speaker 3 Like, that's not how what Jesus lived for at all. You know, he lived to be like the Father, to be fully devoted to the Father.
And, like, that's what our relationships do, you know.

Speaker 1 Anyways,

Speaker 1 that's beautiful. You make me like the Father.
I'm glad to be here for this moment. The Father.
The Father. Who arts in heaven? Our Father.
Our Father who art in heaven.

Speaker 4 Why church home?

Speaker 1 Well, okay, so I'll say this.

Speaker 1 I'll say this. I'm just cataloging it and I'll keep it concise.
But

Speaker 1 so

Speaker 1 I was doing like at one point, like 11 to 14 sermons a week.

Speaker 1 We had six locations in Seattle, maybe five. I would speak sun up to sundown.
I would speak. My first sermon would be like 8 a.m.
The last one would be like 10.30 p.m. in Seattle.

Speaker 1 And then I would fly to LA and we would have church not far from here at the montage.

Speaker 1 And then I woke up one day and I like didn't know where I was. I didn't really know what year it was.
But everyone just kept telling me, like, well, you got to keep going because it's growing.

Speaker 1 And you know, that I was reminded of that scripture of prosper and being healthy even as your soul prospers. My soul was not prospering.
Everything else was, but my soul was weary.

Speaker 1 In that state, God just started to speak to me about this change of posture. And there's the story where Jesus goes to

Speaker 1 a Pharisee's house, Simon the Pharisee. And that's where the

Speaker 1 woman who brings

Speaker 1 the perfume and starts to wash his feet. And she's a woman of the night.
She's a prostitute. And there's a moment where I think it's Luke.
Dr. Luke is more descriptive in his gospel.

Speaker 1 He gives us more details like a true doctor.

Speaker 1 And it says, Luke says that Jesus turns and is now facing the woman, but says to Simon, Simon, I have something to say to you.

Speaker 1 And I'm not saying this is how everyone should make decisions in their life, but this is how it happens to me.

Speaker 1 God said to me one day, took me to that store, and he says, I'm going to ask you to change your posture.

Speaker 1 This is what I'm going to ask you to do. And Simon, who he loved, Simon representing Simon was a Pharisee, but Simon representing the church.
I'm not saying the church is all Pharisees at all.

Speaker 1 We're not. I mean, we all have Pharisees and Pharisaical ways in us, you know, but I love the church.
The church is my family, my home. I love, I love all of the churches.

Speaker 1 All my friends are, you know, preachers. It's all awesome.
But he said, I'm going to ask you to face the woman. I'm going to ask you to face the world.
Will you do that for me?

Speaker 1 I was like, man, I'll do anything. Yeah.
Like, of course, I'm dumb and happy. And I'm like, yeah, well, it's not a problem.
He's like, okay, I'm going to ask you to change kind of your approach.

Speaker 1 And I'm going to ask you to change.

Speaker 1 And I felt like God shared with me, like, you only have so much virtue. Remember when people would, that one guy, that one guy, one gal touched Jesus and he said, I felt virtue go out from me.

Speaker 1 Virtue is what we like to call energy, whatever. And you only have so much.
And people talk about time management, schedule management, but really virtue management is where the magic's at.

Speaker 1 How much can you, you only have so much virtue to give, right? Like after this podcast, all three of us will probably at some point be like, whew, that was a lot. I was emotional.
We focused.

Speaker 1 Like, we gave a lot of energy to that. Well, you can't do that all day, every day.
Yeah. And you can't do it for everybody.
Even Jesus couldn't in his physical, visible, limited form.

Speaker 1 He said, I felt virtue go out. So I was doing so many services.
I was doing 14 live events a week. week.

Speaker 1 So I only had so much virtue for my neighbors. I didn't know my neighbors, guys.
I didn't know. I didn't meet them.
I didn't love them. I didn't know.
Well, I was writing sermons. I was preaching.

Speaker 1 I was live events, right? This was my life. So I felt like God said, I want you to give you virtue.

Speaker 1 And so we changed our staff. So we went from city church to church home, church om, but church in your home.
And we thought we will harness technology.

Speaker 1 We also realized that there was a phenomenon called transfer growth. Transfer growth is a phenomenon that happens in the church.
It's not a bad thing. It's a very normal thing.

Speaker 1 And that that is essentially we just trade people. And that there was basically about six to seven million Christian buyers in America.
And they kind of, they move churches a lot.

Speaker 1 There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not against that.
I just realized we had, we had, this church had reached about 15,000 in Seattle. It got really big and everyone's like, this is amazing.

Speaker 1 And then I was like, wait, what?

Speaker 1 And we did the numbers and we noticed it was a lot of transfer growth.

Speaker 1 And I just was like, man, I want to reach like, like, I had a lot of friends that don't know Jesus, still a lot of friends that don't know Jesus.

Speaker 1 And And it's like, man, I want them to know the forgiveness of Jesus. So we decided we are going to go after people that have no context for church, no context of Jesus.

Speaker 1 I still preach to the church, just like Jesus was still talking to Simon.

Speaker 1 But he changed his focus and his posture.

Speaker 1 And what church home exists for is not everybody, which is a funny little thing because everyone, like the moment you make a shift, like, you know, meet in your homes, use technology, people are like, you've abandoned.

Speaker 1 It's like, no, no, no, no. First of all, church home wasn't ever going to to reach everybody.

Speaker 1 That happens through all of us doing our part.

Speaker 1 But I realized that we had an opportunity to reach people that otherwise wouldn't come to a building. By the way, I love buildings.
I'm in a building now. I still preach in buildings.

Speaker 1 I think buildings are great. But we just figured we could reach more people.
And I got to tell you, these last month and a half, we are growing.

Speaker 1 reaching more people than we've ever reached before.

Speaker 1 And one of the reasons I'm at this desk is because I believe

Speaker 1 that what you're doing is so sacred and so holy and so important

Speaker 1 because what's happening using this platform is we are reaching, you know, remember, I'm a seventh-generation preacher, so if it doesn't happen in the pulpit, it doesn't really happen.

Speaker 1 You know, it's this idea that, like, man, you got to be in church, but you too are a part of the church, you're an extension of the church, you're doing the work of the mission of spreading the message about Jesus.

Speaker 1 And so

Speaker 1 you're reaching far more people than most preachers will ever reach. And so

Speaker 1 to me, the whole goal is just to let everybody in the whole wide world know that Jesus loves them already and they're forgiven already if they simply accept him.

Speaker 1 And like where everyone goes to church, I want them to all go to church. Yeah.
To come to my church? No, who cares? It's not even about church home or church brands or whatever.

Speaker 1 I don't even care about any of that stuff. I just want everyone to know the Jesus that I know.
And then I want everyone to be in a community.

Speaker 1 And all the research shows, by the way, they were coming to a lot of our big buildings, but they were leaving and not connecting.

Speaker 1 and they were going to their minivans and going and i was like what if we get them in their homes and so now we we believe that by the way we spent millions on our technology i'd like to give it away i'm going to give it away to churches all over the world like it doesn't matter like all that matters is that the message of jesus gets out there and people meet him and they're in community and and that's our passion so i'm going to spend the rest of my time i think i got like 15 years left of doing this non-stop held in like i'm going to do church home church in your home church anywhere church on the road church in, you know, or church in a building.

Speaker 1 Like, I'm just for, I'm for, I'm for all of it. So

Speaker 1 I think the world of you two, and I think you're amazing. And Ari, we are going to find you the man of your dreams.

Speaker 1 That's the bottom line. You're going to help me? Yeah, I promise.
I'm going home and telling Chelsea. Can I be honest?

Speaker 3 I know you're going to.

Speaker 1 I feel it. 100%.

Speaker 3 Wow. Well, because we need a good, good, good, good man.

Speaker 1 I'll bring options.

Speaker 1 By the way, say no to all of them, by the way. That's our

Speaker 1 own. Our only agreement is like, you could just be like, never in a million years.
I'm like, yeah, we are.

Speaker 3 She's incredibly honest with incredibly high standards.

Speaker 1 So she has no problem saying no. That's good to know.

Speaker 1 That's the only reason she's single, by the way.

Speaker 3 Gosh, Judah, you are.

Speaker 5 Thank you for blessing us today.

Speaker 3 Thank you. We're so grateful for you.
You guys, follow Judah, follow Chelsea. We'll keep on dancing.
Keep on dancing.

Speaker 3 We'll put all of our information, watch church home, watch everything that he does because you will encounter the love of Jesus in doing so.

Speaker 3 May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May He turn His face towards you and give you peace.

Speaker 1 Shalom, Shalom. We love you.

Speaker 3 We have religious OCD. I don't know.
We can't stop saying Shalom, Shalom.

Speaker 1 We said it once and now we can't stop saying it. It's completeness, peace, peace, right?

Speaker 3 Powerful.

Speaker 1 Shalom is powerful.

Speaker 3 We love you so much, guys. Thanks for being here.

Speaker 1 Shalom.