Finding Faith, Losing Sleep Podcast
Finding Faith, Losing Sleep Podcast
Episode 33: Discovering True Riches: Faith, Leadership, and Gratitude in a Polarized World
What truly defines a rich life? Join us as we navigate this profound question through the lens of faith, family, and friendship, sharing personal stories and insights from our own spiritual journeys. Wes opens up about his enriching experience with a chronological Bible reading program, while Michelle explains how reading scripture aloud has brought new depth to her understanding. As we gather for this special Thanksgiving edition of the Finding Faith and Losing Sleep podcast, we uncover the challenges and joys of maintaining motivation and gratitude during the holiday season.
In our exploration of leadership, we consider the transformative power of faith-guided decision-making in both personal and political realms. From the inspiring leadership of biblical figures like King Josiah to the modern-day challenges of navigating polarized political landscapes, we draw intriguing parallels between leadership styles past and present. Our discussion also brings to light the wrestling-like drama of contemporary politics, urging us to question media narratives and seek clarity through faith-driven choices.
As we reflect on the notion of true wealth, inspired by Forrest Frank’s song "Rich Man," we ponder the balance between spiritual devotion and worldly attachments. The conversation extends into the realm of sports, where we find inspiration in faith-driven athletes like Tim Tebow, who stand firm in their beliefs. With hearts full of gratitude, we express our thanks to our listeners, inviting you to continue this journey with us as we seek to foster a community grounded in faith, love, and an appreciation for life's blessings.
Email: findingfaith.losingsleep@gmail.com
Twitter: @FindingFaithPod
it's time to wake up and pray up here. On the finding faith and losing sleep podcast, the thanksgiving day edition. I think this will be released probably thanksgiving day, pierre and michelle, don't you?
Speaker 3:it might be earlier, might be the day before. We'll see how the editing goes.
Speaker 2:But see how motivated here is.
Speaker 1:It's hard to get motivation when you get closer to holiday well, it's tuesday, so I'm just, you know, I think you can get it done within two days and then people have it, be able to travel down the road. I'm bouncing right now because that's how all my cars kind of seem to go. There's bounce. I don't know how, what the roads are like in indiana, but these are these roads down here in alabama. Sometimes they can get a little bit bouncy.
Speaker 3:I mean we got shocks in our cars up here, but it gets worse after the winter when all the potholes develop from all the plows and the ice that's kind of melted into the roads and been dug up. Yeah, that's the truth.
Speaker 1:We're going to use this podcast time just to kind of catch up with one another. It's been a minute since we've been able to get together. Life just kind of gets in the way of the podcasting family here, the podcasting trio that you know and love on the Finding Faith and Losing Sleep podcast. I'm Wes Easley, one of your hosts at Loafing it on Twitter. That is Michelle as well over on Twitter. What's your Go Pack? Go 411, right 411.
Speaker 2:Go Pack, go 411.
Speaker 1:There it is, and that is Pierre, her husband, on the other end, there as well, at PeeWee31, over on Twitter, and Pierre, I have no idea what the podcast feed is.
Speaker 3:Well, twitter is at FindingFaithPod On Twitter. There we have an email you can reach out to us on at FindingFaith LosingSleep at gmailcom. We're on all the standard platforms when it comes to podcasting Apple Podcasts, spotify, iheartradio. You can send us a text. You know do the actual summary of each podcast as well. If you want to send us a text message, we're out there, we're available. Feel free to reach out if any questions, prayer requests, thoughts concerns. Don't praise me. Free to reach out if any questions, prayer requests, thoughts concerns if there's any concerns, don't praise me, you can praise me.
Speaker 1:I don't mean for us, I mean for like their life Praises yeah, send praises. Yeah, that's good. You can send praise my way, that's fine with me. Listen, we are on this podcast just to kind of give our thoughts. We've been described as just sitting back with like a cup of coffee, talking about life, biblical things all around, a biblical worldview kind of a thought, and so that's what we do. We just bring a nice friendly little atmosphere in talking about these things and hopefully deconstruct walls that have been built up over our time in people's lives that, hey, we can't talk about politics, hey, we can't talk about religion, hey, we can't talk about whatever it is. Yes, we can, we can talk about it. Still be friends. We don't agree all the time on this podcast at all, so it's good to have those kind of talks.
Speaker 1:And one of the things I was thinking about, Pierre and Michelle, that I did since the last time we got together and I think I probably alluded to it over this year I started in March doing a Bible reading program, a chronological Bible reading program, and instead of reading I have a lot of downtime in a bread truck or while I'm doing work and everything by myself. So I listened to it and I listened to the New Living Translation. Some people go oh, that's not the right kind of translation, you need the King James Version. I don't know why they talk like that, but that's what— I don't either.
Speaker 2:I don't either.
Speaker 1:You need the King James Version, but New Living Translation it just read well, okay. And there was a young man on there who was very passionate about what he was reading and that was cool to hear the young man speak passionately about what he was reading. And that was cool to hear the young man speak passionately about what the Bible said and it was really neat to listen to those things and I think that I listen. Would it be auditory? Do I learn? Well, auditorially, is that a made-up word.
Speaker 3:I'm not your word expert.
Speaker 2:I haven't heard it before Another Wes-ism.
Speaker 1:So I think I learned well listening and maybe I don't learn as well like reading it and picking it up and stuff like that. And I don't think I learned as well watching it, because I want to flip the channel, but while I was doing this I could just listen to it and, man, it edified me. I was fired up and I was hearing things that I'd never heard before and having it make sense, if that makes any sense to you. I mean, I've read through the Bible before, I've read all these passages, but I'd never listened to it quite like this, and so that was exciting for me. I don't know if you guys have ever been on that journey or not, but it was very exciting to me.
Speaker 2:Well, I've been doing like read the Bible in a year and there have been times I've missed, and so I just try to jump back in and I find that I do best if I read myself. But I, if I read it out loud, like if I speak it and hear, so I see it and I hear it at the same time. For me, that helps me tremendously, because if I just read it I find myself like glossing over stuff and then I have to go back and be like what, what the world did? I just read? Um, if I just hear it, sometimes it's difficult because my brain likes to do about 50,000 things a minute, so in in many different. So I'll inevitably go off on some tangent and realize I'm not paying attention to what's being said. So I think it helps my brain to focus and really reinforce it if I'm doing two of those at once and for me that works. What about you?
Speaker 3:So I read it. I read the NIV version last year in a year. I did it chronologically. I found a calendar, I printed it out and it was supposed to be chronological I guess. I don't know for sure if it was, but I took it at its word. I have the one year Bible as well, but it's also the NIV, so I probably would look at another version if I could. I didn't read it. It was a little mixed Like. Sometimes I read it out loud to myself and sometimes I just, you know, read in my mind mentally and it's tough because certain parts of it, honestly, will put me to sleep. Eyes will get a little heavy, you know, reading it.
Speaker 3:When it comes to the audiobooks I haven't really attempted to. A few that you get is like that real, proper English guy reading it off to you and it just doesn't seem genuine for some reason. Oh, how did I do? It just doesn't follow. Maybe, if I found the right version, I could do an audio. I do prefer to listen. I'm easily distracted. I get tired of reading pretty quickly, unless it's like a children's book or something that's quick, uh, short and to the point. So I think I would probably do well with an audiobook if I gave it a shot was it the bible project that you?
Speaker 3:yeah, I like the bible project. I've done that. Um, they have like little videos and little little comic strips that they kind of draw out and kind of tell the story to. Those are so cool Then you can dive into like different recaps and stuff of each of those sections. So I've done that as well. And there's some other like books that I've done, from what was the latest one we did a miracles book from, I think it's Jeff Little, a couple of manly books from man's conferences so I can read.
Speaker 2:I just I prefer not to read. If I'm being honest, he's been reading the lost books of the Bible too. So let me tell you when he goes down that rabbit hole, those are some really interesting conferences.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, the book of wisdom. I don't know if you've heard of that. It's a. It's an interesting thing, but it's it's dangerous to read certain things, so I don't bring them up because I don't want people down the same rabbit holes I go down.
Speaker 1:No, and I started trying to listen to my app, so I finished it. I finished it like a month earlier.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing I started it in March when, I should have started it in January, but my goal was to still finish it by the end of the year. So I was like, yeah, I was like three months behind, but I didn't realize that until I was going through my my, my. It kind of gives you a little Rolodex of how far along you are on the plan and everything and it would say like I was 28 days ahead of schedule or something, or 10 days ahead of schedule. And I was like, hey, all right, I'm doing well, I'm catching up to this thing. And then I realized it was meaning if I finished in March, not if I finished in December.
Speaker 2:Oh, that makes sense.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, oh yeah, it did. So I was like, oh man, I am like I started out 90 days behind and I'm only 20. I'm 60 days behind is what I was thinking, right. And so what I would do is I'd have like my little routines I would listen to a fantasy football podcast, I would listen to a fantasy football podcast, pierre. I'd listen to a fantasy football podcast on the way to work, right, 20-minute drive, something like that, and then during the day I would still mix in the different podcasts that I would listen to, or whatever. But on my way home, a 20-minute drive back to the warehouse after I finished up my job, I would listen to the Bible thing, and then I would listen to that until I got home. So I'd get like two or three in a day, something like that.
Speaker 1:But I was still very far behind from finishing up in March, and so I went okay, all right, I'm going to change up my routine a little bit, so, getting towards the end of football season anyway. So I started listening to it after I got done, coming back to the area that I work in in my Big Bowl bread truck, and I started listening to it there and all of a sudden, I started listening to 10, 12 a day and I couldn't get enough. It wasn't like, and it wasn't, I got to get this done. I got to get this done before December. It was I want to do this, I need more of this. It just became electrifying. It was filling me up spiritually and so it was really cool to have that feeling in me.
Speaker 1:And then I finished, and I finished like last week, and so now I'm done a month and a half early and I'm going well, now what? And so I just said, oh, I'll just, I'll just go back to my routine, I guess, and start listening to podcasts. You start back over. Well, yeah, the podcasts sound so empty. There's nothing to them. It's empty words. It's not fruitful. It's not fruitful for me. Yeah, it makes sense sense.
Speaker 3:And we'll circle back for a second. Because you say you started in march and one of my rabbit hoes, if you find an old bible, it actually starts in march. So you may have started right on time. Um, because if you start in march, all of a sudden, like you're you're we talked about this your, your months, make more sense what your, your decos, your octos and all that actually being like you're and your ten, so you may have started right on time with with that. But I understand what the podcast I've. I've done that too and even now, like it's hard for me to to even listen to, like when certain choice words like come up in a podcast. You know some foul language here there. I mean it kind of turns me off. If it's just all that or people just going on a rant, I'm like, all right, I'm not going to listen to this anymore. You do change over time. If you really have a change of heart on things, it can change what you bring in, what you take in, what you listen to, what you watch, etc.
Speaker 1:Go ahead, Wes I was going to say, when I was a young Christian and I was setting the rules for the household kind of a thing and TV shows or movies or anything like that, in an episode or in a movie I didn't know how to kind of handle the swear words and all that. But I knew I probably shouldn't be watching too many shows with swear words because if they swear then it goes down some other place and everything it leads into. Debauchery is what it leads into, and so I don't know a whole lot outside of the sports world, pierre. So I just said a three strikes and it's out or it's off. So if it hit three times, it was off, it was out, it was done, and that's just kind of how I did it. That's smart.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know if it's smart, it's what we did. I'll give you credit, wes, it's smart. Yeah, I was just. It's funny you say that because I was literally just thinking, as I was driving the girls to school and like heading back this week, how very different our lives are, even just like my life, for sure, but like our life even as a couple, um, as a family, since since we've been baptized, like since we made the decision to go to church regularly and and, to you know, listen to christian music, and like that kind of thing. If I really look at it, it's vastly different. What do you think?
Speaker 3:She still went to see Pitbull and T-Pain in concert. So don't let her fool you. It is different, because I didn't have much interest in going to that at all. It's just not my cup of tea anymore. I don't know. You just get around people you used to hang out with and the things that they do you're just not interested in.
Speaker 3:So it is like it's a, it's a life change and it's what it says, right. It says you're supposed to be born again and I think that kind of plays a part of it. Like you, you're changed, or you're at least working on changing, and and you're not supposed to cause another person to stumble, another believer to stumble. So you work on making better decisions yourselves, and if you surround yourself with those type of people as well, they're going to work on helping you not stumble too. And it does. It becomes a life change and it's pretty interesting when you look back on it. That's why I say there's a song that says if you knew me, me, then you believe me now. And I've always looked back on that, because I can look back on my old self and be like if you knew what I used to do and who I was like, you believe me that that something changed my life.
Speaker 1:Definitely, and it should have a dramatic change in a lot of cases. And it's one of those things that evolves and you evolve with it as you learn other things, and you evolve with it as you learn other things. And for me it's always seeing other people and seeing how families handle stuff and seeing what families do and knowing that I'm not the only one who abstains from the evil on television or abstains from the things that people are listening to. I'm not the only one and it kind of gives you a little power whenever you know that you're not the only one.
Speaker 3:And I can't tell you like new artists today. I honestly couldn't. I know some, but I, I sung, I'm like I have no idea what's the hip. What's hip? Right now? I have no idea what's it, unless it's christian music.
Speaker 1:It's probably not us I used to listen to the top 40 or the top 20 countdown just to just to kind of stay a little bit relevant and sound like a goofy guy that come in there singing a song. The only reason why I did it was to start a conversation with somebody. You know, that's the only reason why I would do it. Now I can just remember doing a couple of times just singing a certain song that would.
Speaker 1:I just heard my bread truck going into a store because the way I look at it is, I'm a minister in whatever store it is that I go into, right, they may never, ever, ever have anybody who is relatively close to trying to be like Jesus in their life. So I try to do that. And then I might introduce what I'm going to say with some kind of top 40 song that's in there appropriately, like I don't, I just do it. And they'll look at me like how do you know that song, wes? And because they know my reputation or whatever, and I say, ah, I just did it just to get you to smile. And then I'd start a conversation like from there. So that's what I would do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm not doing that. I don't know, I wouldn't be able to. I'd probably make a fool of myself trying to trying to come up with even some songs that, like my daughter does a pretty good job she's she's kind of into Christian music too, but she has something that she'll start playing. I'm just like what is this like? What's the the twang you like before? I'm like what are you listening?
Speaker 2:to. But the girl doesn't even like country music and that's like the most country song.
Speaker 3:The Easter on, I guess, yeah, that's not me. I'm not just going to walk up. There's not a song, I don't know. I'm not going to act like I'm something else to please anybody, not saying that's what you're doing, but it's just my style.
Speaker 1:I just do it to get their attention. They'll just snap their neck and they're like what, what are you doing? 1 Peter 2, verse 11 says Beloved, I urge you, as aliens and strangers, to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may, on account of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. So I think that's irrelevant to what we're talking about as far as not being like the world, but at the same time, you know we're in the world. So it's always a little bit complicated in that. And speaking about being in the world, the last time we got together it was pre-election. Now it's post-election here in the United States. I say that because the podcast has been popular all over the world. Pierre is what you tell me. So I make sure that people know.
Speaker 1:that's in the United States, and it made me start thinking of you know what's the best way for a country to have leadership? I know the United States. You know we got the president, the vice president, then you got Congress and you got Senate. You got all these different things in order for a law to pass or whatever, and it sounds good. It sounds good. It also sounds like things that need to be done can get mucked up in all the red tape too. Maybe some things just don't ever get done because there's just too many hands inside of trying to get things done, and some people don't want it done, some people do want it done and maybe what the people actually want don't ever get done.
Speaker 1:And so I've just been thinking about what's the best kind of leadership for a country. Is it I don't want to say democracy, because I'm blessed to live in the United States. It's a great country, we have a lot of great things. But then I start wondering what about people who have like a king? Because that's what the Bible has a bunch of kings in it, and a king is really looking out for not only his best interest but also the best interest of his son who would inherit the kingdom, and then it's a perpetual thing where they're maybe trying to do the things right so that their son will inherit a good kingdom and a profitable kingdom, and you want to have the people behind you and behind your son instead of trying to kick you out or trying to sabotage the kingdom or anything like that. I've just been trying to think about that. I don't know what are y'all's thoughts.
Speaker 2:Well, I actually it's funny because you know we've talked that we have a foreign exchange student with us and I asked her one day when we were, when I was taking her to school I was like so what does your government look like? And she said it's very similar to here. Like right now they have elected officials, um, but she also I don't. I guess I don't really want to misspeak, but I think it's been a while since we had this conversation. I'm pretty sure she said that that's probably going away. Um, so I don't, I don't want him to speak, but, um, it was.
Speaker 2:I thought it was interesting that she said said that currently they're kind of like us, because I just wasn't sure. I mean some you know countries over in Europe, you don't know what that looks like, and so I just wondered like I know she had some issues getting the okay to come here because they thought she might not come back. I think is what she said. So she had some issues at the embassy getting cleared for the whole year. She had to give them a return date, something like that. I don't think we necessarily run into those issues here. So it's interesting it's.
Speaker 3:It's tough because I mean, you've seen the kings, as you say, the queens, in certain countries. We see history of like dictatorships and kind of how that's played out and you know, I think that's one of the questions that so we had talked about a little bit pre-show. It's like limitations and if you feel like God has any limitations, I think when you talk about things of the world, like how much do you feel like God would get involved? And election is kind of part of that. So there's praying people that you know pray for the Democrats. There's praying people that pray for Republicans and there's a half of that group that felt like their prayers may not have been answered but we talked about. We always try to back whoever's in office. But I think the democracy is a a good balance, because I don't think you ever want you ever want something to be one way only. Well, all or nothing. Yeah, I don't think it can be all or nothing, I think I think that's that's kind of the whole free will process to me. So I think free will in my mind, like we could have easily I've been made like robots right where we had no choice, but god didn't, didn't feel that way he felt to have free will, where we have a choice to to choose him or not to choose him, and I think that's just. I know that's where some of the questions go in.
Speaker 3:At um you talked about America being a great country. I would agree, but I honestly, I personally I'd be lying if I said I didn't struggle with the Make America Great Again campaign itself. Because what does that mean? Because to certain people it means different things. What period are you talking about? Some folks say the 60s. Well, we were fighting for rights in the 60s, being Blacks. We were fighting for rights in the 60s being Blacks. You know Martin Luther King had a speech and movements.
Speaker 3:Some say the 70s. You know that's a period of love and peace, but you know also drugs and stuff along those lines. So it's just tough. Because making America great again, I feel like it's going to be different to different people. Because to some people America was great when slavery was happening and a certain thing was taking place over the country. Certain people was like the 80s and 90s, just because it felt a little more relaxed. But that could have just been because we didn't have social media and platforms to show us how crazy the world actually was, then it really makes you think what does what does god, you know? What does he control, what does he try to control and what does he kind of just give us free reign on um when it comes to worldly things like like politicians and elections?
Speaker 2:well, I get what you're saying about, great again, because it's like in in whose opinion? Right, but it says but I, I guess I take that a little bit different in that I feel like we've had such a in my opinion. So, in my opinion, I feel like we've had such a downslide of just I don't know we talked about before, like in the 80s when we had elections. It was, it wasn't such a like backstabbing, like calling names at each other's throats and slander type thing, legit debate on topics and seemed like most of the time with in an ethical kind way, right, and I feel like we've had such a downside of just all of that.
Speaker 2:It's been not great yeah so I don't think it's meaning go back to a perfect time, because there never has been one and there never will be one. Yeah, but back to hopefully we can get to a place where we're actually united again and not so divided.
Speaker 3:I mean, yeah, but I think that, but that's not one person. That campaign kind of started the. It started the disconnect, in my opinion, and that's like the Hillary Trump ordeal. I felt like that's when it really kind of picked up some, at least in my opinion, with the disconnect. And I think the problem that a lot have with Trump in particular is a lot of his followers.
Speaker 3:They play the race card some I can speak to this a little bit just because I'm African-American, I have family and I hear conversations. So there's a race card played. So to some again not all to some make America great again is like get rid of women, get rid of blacks. That's not necessarily the case, but that's what some think and there's no dispelling of that think and there's no dispelling of that. As a leader, you could easily come out and say no, that's not this, that's not what our campaign is, that's not what's taking place, and I personally don't know if that's happened and I think that's where a lot of concern comes from with the campaign in general. But on the flip side, I think the Democrats try to play that Like. I don't think it was a coincidence that Biden got pushed out and all of a sudden there's a black woman running against Trump. I don't think she's Indian Indian. Well, she's part black, so but I'm just saying they try to play the card and things start to happen.
Speaker 3:Man, like crazy stuff starts to happen around election time where a lot of racial tension gets involved, and I don't know. You just wonder With me. It's like could God step in and do anything Same with the gun violence with school? We all got kids in school and gun violence doesn't seem to be going anywhere. It just pops up here and there. But you know we sit and we pray. Is there something that he can do, he being God, to kind of put a halt to all this? Or is he kind of just outside the world with limitations, is kind of my question there. What?
Speaker 1:are your thoughts, wes? I don't think he has limitations. I don't Maybe that might be a wall built up in my brain, but I just don't think he has limitations. I think he could do a lot.
Speaker 1:Now I'm not going to take things out of his hands or out of his control, to kind of fit the narrative. You know what I mean. I'm not going to do that because if I give him credit when I just see God working in my life one way or another, whether it's good or whether it's bad or whatever, I'm not going to say he doesn't control all things, because the Bible reiterates that several different times. So I think that that's the case. I understand what everybody says and all their thoughts and I love to hear them. I love to hear the thoughts because I need to expand my mind to hear what other people think about, and I definitely appreciate a perspective like yours, pierre, or yours, michelle, or or even an Indian woman like Kamala Harris's. It's and I've said this before and I'll say it again, I'll say it many times Politics just makes so much more sense whenever I put on my wrestling goggles and I just my glasses, and I will look at it like I'm watching the WWE and it.
Speaker 1:Just it makes more sense it is.
Speaker 1:It feels like a drama, it feels like it's just not, it's just on the verge of being real. But then there's so many things that happen that I go that can't be real, that's got to be fake, you know, and I just. But you just don't know where the line's drawn, because you see the people, you see them back flipping off the top rope and hitting somebody, but then they get up and they just go right back to work the next night or the next day and you're like, okay, that couldn't have been real, because I would be in a hospital bed if I did that. You know, and I think maybe the same thing for politics when these people get knocked down, talk about each other, they I don't want to say call each other names, but then you see them at an event the next day and they're shaking hands and I just I don't know how you could do that unless it wasn't all the way real. I don't, I don't know. That's. It makes more sense to me whenever I put on my wrestling goggles and watched politics.
Speaker 2:Well, I think Pierre and I we've talked about this before previously that you know, pierre, and I really it's probably I mean, it's probably harder for me to speak up on politics just because we don't we kind of make a point to stay clear of all that drama, to be honest, um, so I guess I'm not overly well versed in everything to know what everybody said, what they haven't said, what they stand for, what they don't stand for, and maybe we should be, um, you know, when we go to vote and that sort of thing, and I'm not saying that we're right.
Speaker 2:But what makes it difficult for me is, like we've talked about before, with the way that social media and what's the word I'm looking for, where they skew, yeah, like the algorithms, how they can skew what you see, and like all the things that can just be fabricated and absolutely not true.
Speaker 2:It makes it hard for me personally to know what the truth actually is. I mean, they can make things look like somebody actually said something and make it. You can watch a video of it and actually be completely false, be completely false, and so it's really difficult, if I'm really being honest, for me to go, oh, yeah, like this is why I don't believe this or this is why I don't believe that. So I mean, I usually just go with my gut. If I'm really being honest, I don't always vote one way or the other. It's usually what I feel like God is leading me to in that moment. I pray before I vote and that's usually what happens for me, but I don't know. I'm not saying that's right or wrong, it's just my own personal thing I wrote in King Josiah is what.
Speaker 1:I wrote in who ruled in Judah. Josiah was eight years old when he became king and he reigned in Jerusalem 31 years. His mother was Jedidiah, the daughter of Adiah from Baskoth. He did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what is right. Now listen to this, this is cool.
Speaker 1:In the 18th year of his reign, king Josiah sent Shaphan, son of Azilah and grandson of Mahushalam, the court secretary you know they do that the temple. So that's really cool, you know they do that. And then Hilki. During this time, when they were restoring the temple, hilki, the high priest said to Shaphan, the court secretary I have found the book of the law of the Lord's temple. And Hilki gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it. Shaphan then went to the king and reported your officials have turned the money collected at the temple of the Lord to the workers and the supervisors of the temple. And then Shaphan also told the king Hilkiah, the high priest, or the priest, has given me a scroll. So Shaphan read it to the king. When the king heard what was written in the book of the law, he tore his clothes in despair. Then he gave these orders to Hilkiah, the priest, achan, the son of Shaphan, achbor, the son of Micah A lot of people there—go to the temple and speak to the Lord.
Speaker 1:For me and for the people and for all of Judah, inquire about the words written in this scroll that has been found, for the Lord's great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been doing everything that it says we must do. Now, that's a cool king man. I'm sorry. That's just a cool king because he's going contrary to what is obviously being done in their society and he says we got to get back to what the Lord says. And he's going. So he's just making it a mandate, making it a mandate. He's just making it a mandate Making it a mandate.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, that's what you hope for in a leader. It's just like it's good when you can turn to someone that doesn't have their own interest and selfishness in mind, which we're all kind of selfish first, honestly. There's times where I look at the King James version, which is kind of the first version that people point out, and I'm like, well, what if? What if King James was like what you said, wes? What if he? What if he altered some of these translations to make himself look well and perhaps his son's the like?
Speaker 3:So I went to Geneva and I'm looking at the Geneva and looking at the difference between the Geneva Bible and Old English and King James and again, sometimes those are just rabbit holes that go down, but it's good to really look at people that are not putting themselves first. I think that's really one of the first traits that you can look at and I feel like good people there's, those that are selfless and, you know, as God, like I said and as Jesus said, you know, are willing to serve others. You know, the first, you know must become last. Those type of people, I think, are the ones that draw me in the most.
Speaker 1:Listen to what he did in. Oh, is it 2 Kings 23? I got to read this. It trips me out, man. This was one of those times when I was listening to the Bible. That because I don't know about you, but whenever you start reading the Kings and everything, you just kind of get lost you know what I mean, Especially the names.
Speaker 3:like you're reading all the names, Bravo to you, because I'd be like it's scrolling through real fast.
Speaker 1:Well you know I like to mumble and I like to make up words, so it all kind of fits together. You know it just. It just does you make up words. Then the King summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem and the king went up—and it's still Josiah—and the king went up to the temple of the Lord with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the priests and all the prophets, all the people from the least to the greatest. There the king read them—isn't that a cool crowd, by the way. What seems like the most important people, what seems like the least important people? He's there with them. There the king read to them the entire book of the covenant that had been found in the Lord's temple. The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the Lord's presence. He pledged to obey the Lord by keeping all his commands, laws and decrees with all his heart and his soul. In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant. I wrote in King Josiah buddy, that's what I did, yeah, and that was so cool. Then he just orders people to go and do these things.
Speaker 1:Then the king instructed Hilkiah, the high priest and the priest of the second rank, and the temple gatekeepers to remove from the Lord's temple all the articles that were used to worship Baal, asherah and all the powers of the heavens. The king had all these things burned outside of Jerusalem on the terraces of the Kidron Valley, and he carried the ashes away to Bethel. He did away with all the idolatrous priests who had been appointed by the previous kings of Judah, for they had offered sacrifices at the pagan shrines throughout Judah and even in the vicinity of Jerusalem. They had also offered sacrifices to Baal and to the sun, the moon, the constellations and to all the powers of heavens.
Speaker 1:The king removed the Asherah poles from the Lord's temple and took it outside of Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley where he burned it. Then he ground the ashes of the pole to dust and threw the dust over the graves of the people. He also tore down the living quarters of the male and female shrine prostitutes that were inside the temple of the Lord, where the women wove coverings for the Asherah poles. Josiah brought to Jerusalem all the priests who were living in other towns of Judah he defiled. He also defiled the pagan shrines where they had offered sacrifices all the way from Geba to Beersheba. He destroyed the shrines of the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of Jerusalem. This gate was located just. I mean just. He was on a rampage to solidify the country again in the Lord's presence, you know, and to get rid of the evil things that we talk about on this podcast all the time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was a lot of reading. I'm not sure I can do an audiobook now after that, but you're right. You're right. That's kind of the leadership that you want.
Speaker 2:That was literally my. That is the scripture that was part of my Bible reading today. Was it really? Yeah, that's so crazy. Like what are the odds?
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're reading that and I'm like this is nuts.
Speaker 1:Who read it better?
Speaker 2:You did, because I didn't read it out loud this morning. I just read it, so you did, wes. I was giving you a pass to lie read it out loud to this morning.
Speaker 1:I just read it, so you did, wes I was giving you a pass to lie, even if you had to, michelle I wasn't.
Speaker 2:That was not a lie. You definitely read it better what?
Speaker 1:and the cool thing? And I won't read it. Uh, because, pierre, you said I read too much, but uh, when josiah died, the the way the country reacted. Well, I guess I got to read it. I like to read it instead. His servants took him out of the chariot, carried him to the second chariot it was Josiah after he died, got hit by an arrow and brought him to Jerusalem where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Then Jeremiah chanted the prophet Jeremiah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Then Jeremiah chanted the prophet, jeremiah chanted a lament for Josiah, and all the male and female singers speak about Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and they made them an ordinance in Israel. Behold, they are also written in the lamentations. Just, they remembered him. You know him in song.
Speaker 1:They remembered him in poem. They remembered him and they elevated him because of how much he elevated God. And you can say what you want and I don't want to say is Trump a changed man? Because I know his past, I know what he's done in the past. Is he a changed man? And now time will tell about anybody who claims to be a follower of Christ and whether or not they really are. And we all have our, I guess, our rules for how somebody is our standards for how somebody has to act whenever they do say that they're a follower of Christ or a follower of God. Whether that's Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, whoever it is, we have our standard that hopefully we don't get on our own, but we get from what God says a godly person should be like. So time will tell in those things, but Josiah definitely seems to be one of those characters.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it reads as such. So that's what I think. So we hope to be right, Like when our time's gone. We hope to probably have that big of an impact. Who knows, we don't know what the Lord has in store, but you kind of hope that folks feel that way about you when you take your last breath.
Speaker 1:I don't know what kind of song will be written about me. I'm working on that now. I guess I need to think about those things so what else been going on in y'all's life since that time that was my life, since last time we got together and talked and those kind of big things that happened. What's been going on up there in the northern part of the world?
Speaker 3:hello. We got a little bit of snow, which I didn't I didn't like, but I mean we had some good things. I don't know. We got a little bit of snow which I didn't like. I loved it. I mean we had some good things. We talked about the exchange shooting and Michelle's still doing well from the cancer battle that we had. She's still been in the clear now, so we're doing well. I actually thought there was a song that I've been playing a lot called Rich man and it's by Forrest Frank. He's a younger guy. I like to feel young, he gets me kind of pumped up in the world, but he has a song about rich man and it's just talking about things that actually make you rich and it's your family, the good God above you, people that love you, the air in your lungs. It actually got me and Michelle thinking. You think of the Bible. It talks about the rich getting into heaven. Wes, do you know what it says about the rich getting into heaven?
Speaker 1:It's hard for them to do so.
Speaker 3:It's hard. The thought process that we had is is that rich like the money rich, or is that rich in blessings? What do you think on that, or is it?
Speaker 1:both, I think. Jesus. Well, some people would consider blessings, richness, you know, but I think when Jesus is talking about that, and when we see him talking about it, it's rich people. It's rich people. It's like the rich young ruler, I think is exactly when that one's being talked about and the rich young ruler says, hey, I do the tithes, I obey all the Sabbaths, I keep the Passover, I do everything. Can I follow you? And he says, okay, Jesus says, all right, you haven't done one thing, you haven't given up, give up all your treasures, and then you can follow me. And the guy turns and walks away. And that's, I think, when Jesus says you can? You know it's harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. I think that's did. I say that right, I may have said that backwards. No, you know that that was like an actual kind of rock there. That was like an entranceway into a city, the eye of the camel.
Speaker 2:You mean the eye of the needle. Yeah, he explained like it's not like a needle that you sew with, like yes, he explained that and he's like it's physically impossible, but nothing's impossible for God. And but then he was. He explained like rich meaning, it's a heart issue, like if you're not willing to give away everything that you have, then it's a heart issue. And God's what he's trying to say is he's, he's looking for your heart and I.
Speaker 2:So I came home, cause Pierre had to work this weekend and, um, I was talking to him about it and I don't know I it just I get what it's saying. But then I'm like, so what does that mean? Does that mean like we're supposed to give away everything that we have? And like, if you look at the way the monks and the nuns live, they don't have families, they don't have really any worldly possessions, they live in monasteries or you know whatever. And I'm like, but and I understand that and it seems like that's the biblical thing, but then when I look at it on the other side of it, I'm like I get really confused because I feel like, okay, jesus didn't have a wife and family, but God gave Adam Eve as a partner. And if everybody lived like the monks and the nuns, we wouldn't have any more people. So I'm like I don't. I guess my, I, just my brain sometimes can't absorb all of that and figure out exactly what the right answer is, and maybe that's just something between God and I, but sometimes I struggle.
Speaker 1:Oh, you're waiting for me. I was letting you go, Pierre. I was going to let you say something.
Speaker 3:Well, I don't know. It's interesting because you do. You look at Jesus and if you believe what it says, he was not wed, he didn't have any kids and I think part of the richness I was talking about, I think that can be a that can be a hindrance in in the world, like even when you look at like Paul and his letter to like the Corinthians he talks about. You know if you can do it, if you can, you know, stay single, it's best to to stay single. But if you know you basically can't control your flesh, then it's best to go ahead and marry versus. You know sexual immorality and you think about like what it's tough, like what's tough to leave behind in the world.
Speaker 3:It's not usually money. At the end of the day, for some people it might be, they might be all about their money and their possessions, but oftentimes it's the people, it's your family, it's your children, your wife, parents, everyone looking at it, that's the difficult part to leave. But that's also part of the reason people feel like they're rich is because of the loved ones around. So perhaps that's a hindrance. You can't fully be devoted to Jesus because you're too focused on the people in your life and again, that's another obstacle. That's why I think it's possible that we could be talking about both, both a financial rich standpoint and perhaps you know I don't know what the other word is but just a rich in blessings, rich in love standpoint also.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's where I was struggling, because I'm like are we just supposed to all be like homeless and not have families, like I don't know? But I get it because, like, we've had those sermons that say you know where your heart is. Like, if your heart is with, like your children are the most important thing, then those are your idols, like. So we're not supposed to have those idols, so I don't know. It's really tough. This is one of those things that will keep me awake at night. Wes.
Speaker 1:That dude that wanted to join forces with Jesus, who had all that money that would have made Jesus' ministry. You know what I mean. Jesus could have got the jets that he wanted. You know, jesus could have got the cars, he could have got the big building, and just had everybody come there and listen to him. And I say that just saying that sometimes that's what it feels like the preachers on today that we see, want or at least pursue. I'm sure they're pursuing other things too. But Jesus turned that guy away when, financially, his ministry could have been set, which was unique in my head. I did, I did. That clicked in my brain. I was like wow, wow, he didn't have what.
Speaker 1:What does Jesus worry about? If he doesn't worry about money, what does he worry about, you know? And I came home one day and I told my wife I cannot believe how much these people in the Bible like the main characters kind of thing, how much they depended on God for everything. And then you got Jesus telling his disciples early on hey, when you go out, when I'm sending you out here, don't take nothing with you. Just get the shoes on your feet, bring just one coat, and don't even bring a walking stick, just go, just go. God will provide everything for you. And that's just weird, you know. I mean, how much do we pack? How much— Don't ask that question in my house will you.
Speaker 1:So their dependence on God was just a strong one. And then even Paul, peter, whenever you see them going through Acts and everything, and when they write their books, it's just such a dependence upon God and it blew my mind. But, michelle, to go to your point, when you talk about well, are we all supposed to do that? I don't know. Point, when you talk about well, are we all supposed to do that? I don't know. When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, they had a lot. They were provided for them from the Egyptians, but at the same time they didn't have a home. They were wandering around the wilderness and due to the lack of faith or obedience, they kept wandering around the wilderness. But God provided for them to wear. Their clothes didn't wear out, their shoes didn't wore out, they always had food, that kind of stuff. So you know, god provides for them and I think each one of us have got different callings. And Paul says that in Ephesians, chapter four, verse 11, he gave some as apostles and some as prophets, some as evangelists and some as pastors and some as teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the service, to the building up the body of Christ until we all attain the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature had to flip my, had to open my bag of chips there, pierre which belongs to the fullness of Christ. And we all have our different talents, we all have our different gifts, and sometimes these verses and these messages that Jesus say because the Bible's living and active, sharpened word of God, sharper than any two-edged sword are going to hit us all in a different way to where we're led to do one thing or another.
Speaker 1:And there are some people who are very successful businessmen, who take care of the ministries of some of the evangelists that are going around now, who don't have a lot and don't want a lot. They just look to get fed, and it seems like in the New Testament, that was happening a lot. Like Paul wouldn't take money, paul reiterates over and over again hey, I didn't even take money from y'all, because I didn't want y'all to think that you had to pay me. So I was making tents, you know, I was working every day because I didn't want to be accused of taking money. And so these people, though, have a—back in.
Speaker 1:I think it's 1 Timothy or 2 Timothy. They're talking about how the great blessings of these people for taking care of the evangelists that were coming into their area and how the evangelists brag about how much they took care of them. So there's definitely money being moved around, but I think the money seems to be being moved around to provide for those who didn't have a lot, for those who didn't have a lot. So I think the word of God hits us differently, but I think we all can trust that God's going to take care of us, no matter how that word hits us, and we just go for it. Whatever that is, we go for it.
Speaker 2:Ultimately, it comes down to a heart issue.
Speaker 1:Possibly. Yeah, I would agree yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I get it. I mean it's ultimately like all you have, like always go back to things ecclesiastic. It just opens up like everything's pointless, which really is encouraging to know that everything's pointless. But when you look at the, when you look at life like it, it's one of the books of the Bible that makes the most sense to me. We try to tie in why things happen, why things are the way they are, and if you just look at it like everything's pointless, you're just here to kind of love God and love, love others, then it makes a lot more sense, um, in that standpoint, um, to light things up. So the other limitation that has bothered me lately is in the sports world, because I prayed about a bunch of sports teams to win games, be it Hoosiers beating the Buckeyes, be it my coats, my pacers, cubs, for 100 years, and I don't. I don't think God moves on sports.
Speaker 2:If I'm just being honest, he does because, let me tell you, I prayed about that little um that field goal yeah, and that man listens, and that man listened.
Speaker 3:I didn't set her up for that I was more of my own sorrow with the Indiana Hoosiers here recently and how certain teams win all the time the Chiefs, you know the Dodgers, and I'm like all right guys. What are these people praying that I'm not praying? Do I need to switch it up? Or are you just like no, I'm not touching sports, I don't care about sports.
Speaker 1:And we could say well, what is sports? Is it more worldly or is it more godly?
Speaker 3:It's definitely worldly. It's pointless right, Everything's pointless.
Speaker 2:It's fun, but it's pointless.
Speaker 1:It's kind of like listening to the podcast again trying and it's kind of like listening to the podcast again trying to get in the routine of trying to find a podcast I want to like and going back to my old podcast and I was this is useless, it's not anything to learn about this or to learn about that, and it really felt empty. But then, Pierre, that also provides a platform. Provides a platform for like uh, you know some Chinese kid that was sleeping on people's sofas to come into Madison square garden and have Linsanity for a little while.
Speaker 1:And you know it, it provides opportunities for a homeschool kid that doesn't even have a place to play and the parents have to fight for his rights to be able to play football, and uh um, uh, some type of schedule where other kids are playing football, and then all of a sudden we hear about Tim Tebow, you know, winning the Heisman Trophies and stuff, and it just provides opportunities, platforms for that.
Speaker 2:Like Jameis Winston the other night. That was amazing.
Speaker 3:I just feel like someone like Tebow should have won. He should have been Brady, in my opinion. I know that wasn't the case, you know he got another calling, but some of my thought process is like Tim's a guy Like Tim Tebow's a guy Like you want him leading, he speaks to Christ, he shares the word, like that's someone I feel is deserving of winning the most Super Bowls. And he could barely make it in the NFL Again. God's plan could have been different for him.
Speaker 3:He may have lost his way, lost his track, I don't know, but those are just kind of the things that run through my mind. Wouldn't it be great to have that person still in the NFL ministering to others? And he still is, you know, probably ministering to more than he would in sports. But I feel like the sports world in general needs those type of people because they're kind of getting frowned upon. If we're being honest, tebow got made fun of, carson Wentz got made fun of. They even used to call like Tony Dungy soft because he wasn't going in locker rooms cussing at players and stuff along those lines. But I don't know, it's interesting.
Speaker 2:But I do feel like it's becoming more prevalent.
Speaker 1:Yeah that's true, no, and it makes those people stand out from the crowd and gives their testimony, I think, a stronger foothold, because they do have to stand up to that stuff and stand up for Christ and we all have to, though, in some degree and it gives us all encouragement whenever we see other people doing so in what we would consider a much more important environment than the bread world or the phone world or wherever we work.
Speaker 2:Don't shortchange yourself, Wes. I think it's all important.
Speaker 1:Well, I do too, and that's kind of the point is that when we see these people in these prominent positions, excelling With all the what we would say evil around them and everything, we could say, oh well, if they could do it, we could do it too, you know so that that's important to see, I think.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:That's. That's an hour. That's all we need. That's important to see, I think. All right, that's an hour. That's all we got time for. We can barely get in here.
Speaker 1:But I want to encourage everybody if you like what you're hearing, just take a moment. Take a moment, please Stop what you're doing right now. Pull over to the side of the road. If you got to, don't do it while you're driving. Pull in a parking lot or something and just like the show a little review, give us a little comment along the way. That really helps the show get out to other people. We have some plans for next year on how you guys can participate in an event with us. Possibly we're working on some things and hopefully we can get around to this and have you do that. But in the meantime you can always leave some kind of review. You can leave some kind of question on whatever listening platform you listen to the show on. Pierre said you could send a text as well and I'll let you, pierre, tell them how they can do that and get in touch with us other ways.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so on Twitter, whatever you want to call it these days is at FindingFaithPod Email. Gmail is at FindingFaith, LosingSleep at Gmailcom. Yeah, do the summary. Whenever you see a summary of any of our podcast episodes, there should be an option to send a text message if you want to do that. Definitely, if you feel it in your heart to leave reviews, leave stars. That gets the podcast out there to more people. It's been amazing. We've hit, I think, 28 countries or so, which pretty shocks me. I didn't think we hit another state that wasn't like a family member state. So to have 28 countries is just amazing.
Speaker 3:So thank you for those that have taken the time to listen in the past or if you're just coming across us now. Appreciate you taking some time to listen to us now. And just season of thankfulness right. We got Thanksgiving coming up, thankful for all the listeners, thankful for my family, my wife and her health right now. Thank you for you, wes, and just your partnership and all this, and it's just a season of gratitude. So shouldn't be just a season. It should be at all times right Content in every circumstance. But I do want to say thanks to those that tune in and give us a chance and listen to us. Just talk the word, talk faith.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Ready chance and listen to us. Just talk the word talk faith yes, ready, ready, ready.
Speaker 1:Maybe not, maybe not getting that was pretty good.
Speaker 2:Wes, honestly, that's pretty good you weren't ready, hold on I think, the first one was better that one sounds good.
Speaker 3:I'm not gonna do it, just so you're aware. But it's gonna be funny, funny if someone skips ahead and that's all they hear. I'm not listening to this again.
Speaker 1:We appreciate all you listeners, we're thankful for you and we ask that you will come back again and listen to us as we ramble on about other things as well. And we ask you one more thing Keep praying for us and we'll keep praying for you.