508. Pay Attention to How You Want to be Remembered

[00:00:00] Here's Ed Taylor with today's episode of Lead2Serve, a leadership podcast.

[00:00:11] You know our goal for the podcast is to help you grow in your servant leadership so that

[00:00:15] you will glorify God in all that you do.

[00:00:18] Isn't that your heart?

[00:00:19] That's my heart.

[00:00:20] I want to glorify God in all that I do.

[00:00:22] And the tag that we think of is the better servant you are, the better leader you'll

[00:00:26] become and the better leader you'll become will broaden the scope of opportunity for you

[00:00:32] to serve.

[00:00:33] And that's what we want, serving and leading.

[00:00:35] Jesus said that he didn't come to be served but to serve and give his life a ransom for

[00:00:40] many.

[00:00:41] Jesus said that the way up is actually down.

[00:00:45] If you want to be the greatest in the kingdom of God, we need to be the servant of all.

[00:00:50] That's the podcast.

[00:00:51] And we're just talking out loud.

[00:00:52] For many years I did it by myself, which occasionally I'll do an episode by myself now but we got

[00:00:57] some feedback after I started adding some guests that you really liked the discussion

[00:01:03] part of talking through things.

[00:01:05] So we have for this season again Pastor Bob Claycamp joining me.

[00:01:11] Welcome again, Bob.

[00:01:12] Good.

[00:01:13] I'm glad to be here.

[00:01:14] Absolutely.

[00:01:15] We are talking about ministry and life together.

[00:01:17] And last week we talked about my pastor going home to be with the Lord and just

[00:01:21] a simple truth I wanted to lay out for you.

[00:01:24] I mean probably a couple truths but one is God picks the pastor for you.

[00:01:28] Don't be so dissatisfied and upset with your pastor thinking you need another one unless

[00:01:33] the Lord tells you.

[00:01:35] Don't run away and don't lop on your pastor unrealistic expectations.

[00:01:41] It will frustrate you and it'll burden your pastor and make him ineffective.

[00:01:46] It's just the truth, the way it is.

[00:01:48] So we are in episode number eight.

[00:01:52] Number eight and the topic today is really good.

[00:01:55] And it came to me, the idea at least the general idea, studying through the kings,

[00:02:02] studying through the scriptures and watching how people are remembered.

[00:02:09] Watching how people are remembered.

[00:02:10] I think of the most famous one apart from Jesus of course, the famous type of Jesus,

[00:02:16] probably the most famous one that most people, even if they're not familiar with

[00:02:20] the Bible would probably be able to give some sort of answer to this.

[00:02:25] And it would be like the question, do you know who King David is or David in the Bible?

[00:02:30] Yes.

[00:02:30] How is he remembered?

[00:02:32] Well Bob, how is he remembered?

[00:02:34] Well, he's remembered unfortunately by that one incident that get people say,

[00:02:44] well, yeah, but didn't he do this and didn't he do that?

[00:02:47] And how can he be an example?

[00:02:49] Well, he finished well.

[00:02:52] He's in the hall of faith because God looks at the successes.

[00:02:58] God looks at the faithfulness.

[00:03:00] And he knew the error even when he called.

[00:03:03] He repented, but he kept his faith through it all.

[00:03:07] I would say there's even a higher level of remembrance of David before the adultery

[00:03:13] and that is that he was a man after God's own heart.

[00:03:17] That's how he's remembered.

[00:03:19] And then come the excuses or the reasons because he was a failed or a flawed man.

[00:03:25] And as we study verse by verse, he was flawed in multiple ways,

[00:03:30] just like Bob Claycamp, just like Ed Taylor.

[00:03:34] Like we may not have these disqualifying flaws or I never want them.

[00:03:41] But to say that we are flawless would be silly.

[00:03:45] Of course, we are filled with flaws and sin.

[00:03:49] And how are we going to be remembered?

[00:03:51] That's an important.

[00:03:53] I we should start thinking about that now.

[00:03:56] We should start thinking about that much earlier than we ever do.

[00:04:00] How do I want to be remembered?

[00:04:02] How do I want to live my life so that after I am gone,

[00:04:08] this is what I'll be known for?

[00:04:12] What have you ever thought about that?

[00:04:13] Oh, absolutely.

[00:04:14] What's something high on your list that you want to be known for and remembered for?

[00:04:18] I want to be known for someone who repents quickly when I get off track.

[00:04:25] I want to be known by somebody who seeks the Lord and takes serious

[00:04:31] the calling.

[00:04:33] I want to be known as someone who loves unconditionally.

[00:04:40] That the whole testimony is.

[00:04:46] I want my dash between the year of my birth and the year of my death

[00:04:50] to make a difference.

[00:04:52] And and as much as I think I want to focus on certain things,

[00:04:58] really it's the Lord to determine what parts of my life end up being

[00:05:03] highlighted in the lives of others.

[00:05:06] Yeah, I thought about this.

[00:05:08] I still think about it regularly because one of the ways that this was thrust

[00:05:12] upon me was the sudden death of my son and seeing such a young man

[00:05:18] taken away so quickly and suddenly it began.

[00:05:21] You start thinking about your own mortality, the end of your dash

[00:05:25] when it's going to come, if it will ever come and there's a new urgency.

[00:05:29] So I started thinking, I'm like, well, I want to be I want to be remembered

[00:05:33] as a man who took his relationship with God seriously.

[00:05:38] That that he was he was he had a real relationship with the Lord.

[00:05:43] He they can remember all my faults and failures.

[00:05:46] There's many and I wouldn't I wouldn't want people to forget that part of me

[00:05:50] because that's who I am.

[00:05:51] But at the same time, what would be at the height of it?

[00:05:57] Because I haven't really put a phrase, but like, what would I want to be remembered

[00:06:00] for is like, man, that guy love God.

[00:06:02] He loved his family.

[00:06:03] He loved his church.

[00:06:05] He was pretty serious about things and then they could fill in the blanks

[00:06:08] or whatever, you know, like, you know, I remember the time he came in

[00:06:11] and he just told me the way it is or I remember the time he's at my hospital

[00:06:14] bed and he prayed with me or how he got down to the level of my kids'

[00:06:17] eyes and told him I was special.

[00:06:19] Like whatever the details are, they are a detail that speak to.

[00:06:26] The man love God and he loved the people around him as flawed as he was.

[00:06:31] Amen. Absolutely.

[00:06:34] And you know, the the Old Testament is filled with

[00:06:38] records of kings who started off well and they didn't end well.

[00:06:42] Right. And even King Saul started off well,

[00:06:47] but he didn't end well at all.

[00:06:49] And he should have stepped down to ruin Jonathan's future.

[00:06:52] Absolutely. Jonathan would have been a great king, you know, the next.

[00:06:55] But the Lord saw that up front.

[00:06:58] Yeah. I don't want to be used as an example of what not to do.

[00:07:03] It's true because legacy is built one way or another.

[00:07:09] You're going to be remembered by how you lived your life.

[00:07:13] Yeah. And those who know you closest.

[00:07:17] They're the ones that you impact greatly.

[00:07:21] Even if those of you that are listening, even if your kids are wayward right now,

[00:07:25] they're upset with you, they're angry with you, they don't want to speak to you.

[00:07:30] Don't stop. Don't give up.

[00:07:33] Because it could be at your funeral when your life testimony

[00:07:40] ends up breaking through that shell that they put up.

[00:07:44] Yeah. Because I've watched that happen in all the funerals I've done.

[00:07:47] I've watched the Lord work in unique, special ways.

[00:07:51] Yes. I like what you said.

[00:07:53] A legacy is built one way or another.

[00:07:55] The legacy of our life is going to be the sum total of our life,

[00:07:59] the good, the bad and the ugly.

[00:08:01] However, you do see choices we've been pastoring in among the flock long

[00:08:05] enough where we see compromises and bad choices and sinful rebellion

[00:08:11] ruin lives and ruin families.

[00:08:13] And this is I even as I'm sharing this, I'm thinking of the time I've been

[00:08:17] all here all these years and just thinking of some real prominent families,

[00:08:21] real prominent upfront serving their hearts out.

[00:08:24] Probably we're used to save marriages, used to bring people from the edge,

[00:08:29] break, save people from suicide, all sorts of things.

[00:08:32] You know, some of them aren't walking with the Lord anymore.

[00:08:34] They're divorced themselves.

[00:08:36] Some have ended their own lives.

[00:08:37] Some are atheists.

[00:08:39] And I mean, every example I just give you right now is a face attached to it,

[00:08:43] children attached to it.

[00:08:44] Like that's the legacy they're currently living right now.

[00:08:48] They could recover from it, but now it's stained.

[00:08:51] It's indelibly stained.

[00:08:53] I think of, you know, even those of you listening right now

[00:08:56] that could be planning sin or compromise

[00:08:59] or thinking you can get away with something.

[00:09:01] I remember having to step into a situation where the pastor stole

[00:09:06] hundreds of thousands of dollars from the church, hundreds of thousands.

[00:09:12] It's it was shocking to me first and only ever time I've ever.

[00:09:17] I've heard about it.

[00:09:18] I've heard about in other churches, but I was I was involved to to clean up the

[00:09:22] mess and and dig in and do a forensic analysis of their books.

[00:09:27] And and I'm hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[00:09:30] And and what happened?

[00:09:33] What happened?

[00:09:34] And we all have testimonies or recollections of even in our own little

[00:09:39] family of churches that pastors that were prominent, pastors on the radio,

[00:09:43] pastors that filled thousands and thousands of people.

[00:09:47] They're not they're not even what have a walk with the Lord anymore.

[00:09:50] They committed adultery.

[00:09:52] Their kids don't like them.

[00:09:53] Their parents, their former wife don't like them.

[00:09:55] And and it was just it didn't it didn't happen overnight, man.

[00:10:00] Yeah.

[00:10:01] Finishing well at the end of your life starts with today.

[00:10:05] And you just finish well today doesn't mean you're perfect today.

[00:10:09] It means that you repent and you and you clear it up.

[00:10:15] Finishing well today, finishing well this week, finishing well this month,

[00:10:19] finishing well this year, year after year.

[00:10:23] That's how you end up finishing well.

[00:10:26] But if you say, well, I've got time to kind of like clear things up later.

[00:10:29] No, no, it starts today.

[00:10:31] Today is the only day you wake up at 2 a.m.

[00:10:34] tomorrow, it's still today in your life existence.

[00:10:38] So finish well today with your family, with your relationships, with your ministry.

[00:10:44] You have to

[00:10:47] because it just doesn't come automatically.

[00:10:48] It has to be intentional.

[00:10:50] And this is a warning.

[00:10:51] What you're just showing right now,

[00:10:52] it's a warning as I'm listening to you because we're talking to people that

[00:10:56] are full, they have full lives, they have busy lives talking to pastors who have

[00:11:00] limited resources and a growing church and they got to do this and they have to do

[00:11:04] that and they can't take a break in there.

[00:11:06] Maybe even to the neglect of their own rest or their own vocation or

[00:11:10] and they're just that when they're listening to us,

[00:11:13] they're like, oh, just more things to do, more things to do.

[00:11:16] No, no, it's actually a call to do less things where you find yourself

[00:11:21] in a position of abiding in Christ.

[00:11:24] This principle might sound familiar to people that have read books in the business

[00:11:28] world, how to be a better manager and such.

[00:11:30] A real popular book for many years, multi million best seller is I think it's

[00:11:36] the seven habits of highly successful people by Stephen Covey.

[00:11:40] He wrote this book very popular.

[00:11:42] One of his chapters is a powerful chapter and he teaches the the leader.

[00:11:49] He says, I think the title of it was think with the end in mind,

[00:11:54] which sounds very similar to what we're talking about here,

[00:11:57] that when you're leading, think about where you're going so you could take people

[00:12:00] there like you got to think ahead.

[00:12:02] You got to think of what it's going to be when you're done and,

[00:12:04] you know, get a good 360 view of everything.

[00:12:07] So you're thinking with the end in mind and you're not aimlessly wandering around.

[00:12:11] This is a similar principle, except it's not as complicated as a business

[00:12:15] world where you've got to make it all happen.

[00:12:17] You don't need to make anything happen.

[00:12:20] As you know where you're headed, Christ likeness,

[00:12:22] God's already showed you where you're headed.

[00:12:24] You're being conformed into the image of Christ.

[00:12:27] Our response now is to abide where all of his resources are.

[00:12:32] All of his wisdom is where everything that we need is found in Christ.

[00:12:37] And as we're abiding in Christ, we're being led by the Spirit,

[00:12:40] taking those steps of faith and living, making decisions when it comes to

[00:12:45] making decisions. Hey, I'm headed toward Christ likeness.

[00:12:48] So this decision is not going to get me there.

[00:12:50] I'm headed toward a favorable like I'm the first man in my family that's saved.

[00:12:56] So I want that to patriarchal position, that that leadership position that I have

[00:13:01] to be one known as my grandpa, my great grandpa, my great great grandpa.

[00:13:06] That's where it all started.

[00:13:08] It was his walk with the Lord.

[00:13:09] It was his faithfulness.

[00:13:11] It was his discipleship that handed down through generations.

[00:13:14] You don't want to be remembered as the

[00:13:16] compromiser or the liar or the one that's always working a deal.

[00:13:21] You know, there's a lot of these characters in the Bible or even like Rahab.

[00:13:25] You know, we if Rahab wasn't in the Bible,

[00:13:28] if Rahab wasn't redeemed, then she would be remembered as the harlot.

[00:13:32] But now she's remembered as the harlot that was redeemed.

[00:13:35] She was changed and we remember her for what she did in helping

[00:13:41] the spies, not for her sex work because that's the legacy that she lived.

[00:13:46] To define that, what does it look like to finish well at the end of the day?

[00:13:52] And what's involved in that is not trying to accomplish some

[00:14:00] personal agenda that you want to see done, but it's

[00:14:06] my love for the Lord Jesus,

[00:14:09] his expectation of me and resting in the portion of grace that he distributes

[00:14:15] because I can't be like anybody else.

[00:14:18] I can't accomplish what other people accomplish.

[00:14:21] I am just to walk within the measure of the grace that God gives me.

[00:14:26] And in ministry, there are so many.

[00:14:30] There's so much push to

[00:14:34] bring the business five percent greater, five percent greater this year.

[00:14:39] And you bring that all about and God has to bless it because you have good

[00:14:44] intentions and that's just so upside down.

[00:14:47] Walking in the measure of the grace you have is faithfulness.

[00:14:51] And that's how you finish well.

[00:14:54] Finish well isn't a bunch of accomplishments.

[00:14:56] Finishing well is being faithful, keeping a simple you and Jesus at the end of the day.

[00:15:04] I'm talking with pastors all over the world that are telling me,

[00:15:10] I've been doing this 15 years, should not look different than this.

[00:15:12] And I'm back to square one and I can't believe it.

[00:15:15] How can people do this?

[00:15:16] I'm going, well, how did it start with you?

[00:15:19] Well, what do you mean?

[00:15:20] I said, well, you came here with nobody, just your family.

[00:15:24] So what's I mean, one person showed up and you're so excited.

[00:15:28] Now, what happened?

[00:15:29] Well, yeah, but it's been 15 years now and it should look different really in whose eyes.

[00:15:34] Is that what you think Jesus is looking for?

[00:15:38] He sent you out there to take care of the few sheep because he loved those sheep.

[00:15:42] And he said, is anybody willing to go when you raised your hand?

[00:15:46] And so you sacrifice and you're there and you are super happy and super

[00:15:51] excited, what happened?

[00:15:53] Yeah.

[00:15:54] Well, yeah, but and it's all that.

[00:15:56] Yeah, but I'm going to look, get back to basics.

[00:16:00] It's you and Jesus figure out the portion of grace he's given to you.

[00:16:04] Operate within it.

[00:16:06] Be thankful, be grateful.

[00:16:07] Put your head on the pillow.

[00:16:09] We're very fragile people, you know?

[00:16:11] Because when you ask that question, what happened, we can answer it a thousand

[00:16:14] different ways, but we're so fragile.

[00:16:17] We start out well and we have all the right measurements.

[00:16:21] I've always made that joke too, you know, that

[00:16:24] and I've tried to set up these guards in my life so that if my flesh does fire up,

[00:16:29] the guards will push me back.

[00:16:31] Kind of like when you're bowling, you know, and the kids, they cover the you

[00:16:34] cover the gutters.

[00:16:35] So because the whole goal is to get the ball down there.

[00:16:37] That's the whole goal.

[00:16:39] Somehow the goal became strikes

[00:16:41] and somehow the goal became a 300 game.

[00:16:44] But the real goal when you're five years old is just hit something.

[00:16:47] That's it.

[00:16:49] Just hit something.

[00:16:50] And that's how pastoring can be like we start out when I moved here.

[00:16:54] We move with five people and I'd always make the, you know, anything above five.

[00:16:59] And I mean it, although I'm sure I've had my days,

[00:17:02] but like any anything over five is great because that's how I moved here with

[00:17:06] anything less than five means man, I think my wife's going to another church.

[00:17:11] It's like I know my kids are with me, but like it's you go through that

[00:17:15] and you're learning these things.

[00:17:17] But we're so fragile because the size of the church, the size of the budget,

[00:17:20] some book that we wrote, read some YouTube video, some podcast, you know,

[00:17:26] said something and now all of a sudden now it's Instagram and look at how big

[00:17:30] that churned look at we start at the same time.

[00:17:32] We, you know, I just saw today and I didn't have any negative response,

[00:17:35] but I did see it today like it didn't bum me out.

[00:17:38] But I saw a church post.

[00:17:42] I mean this church is multi thousands of people, multi thousands of people.

[00:17:46] They we are a church 25 years.

[00:17:48] They're a church 15 years.

[00:17:50] That's how fast I mean it happened way faster than 15 years and they were

[00:17:53] celebrating it and if we're not careful, we'll be all upset instead of

[00:17:57] celebrating with them. That's a milestone.

[00:17:59] This church made of 15 years, whether they had it small or large,

[00:18:03] they're just telling you, they weren't saying look at us.

[00:18:06] We're so big and you're so small that wouldn't do it at all.

[00:18:09] They were just like, we are so happy.

[00:18:10] We made it 15 years and it happens to be a big church.

[00:18:13] But if I'm in a bad space and I can be or if I'm bummed out about something

[00:18:18] or another family's left or they're mad or an email or whatever,

[00:18:22] I could let something so exciting about celebrating 15 years.

[00:18:27] They all went, oh Lord, you're I can't believe it.

[00:18:30] Why do they why?

[00:18:31] You know, no, no.

[00:18:33] And so I've really tried to set up guardrails in my own life,

[00:18:36] in my own leadership so I can celebrate the victories ours and others.

[00:18:41] Yeah.

[00:18:42] And one thing I want to build on and what you said is how do we finish?

[00:18:48] Well, at the end of the day,

[00:18:50] one of the things that's necessary is to stay on the track.

[00:18:54] You're never going to get through the finish line if you don't stay on the track.

[00:18:57] You got to run your race on your track to your finish line.

[00:19:02] And I think and tell me what you think about this.

[00:19:05] But I think a big part of staying on the track is repentance.

[00:19:10] Well, absolutely.

[00:19:11] And what does that look like?

[00:19:12] Like repentance, like is it am I so far off the track?

[00:19:15] Repentance get me backwards.

[00:19:17] Do I start running away from the finish?

[00:19:18] Like what does repentance look like on this finishing the race?

[00:19:22] Well, it starts on the inside because all behavior starts on the inside.

[00:19:28] And so there's an attitude issue.

[00:19:31] You're angry or you're frustrated or you're not handling it right and you're

[00:19:36] in the flesh and you're not willing to stop.

[00:19:39] You want to you want to press the ticket and you forget that every time you

[00:19:45] sewed of the flesh, you'll reap corruption.

[00:19:47] That's guaranteed 100 percent.

[00:19:49] And and you you you get it back in quantity and quality.

[00:19:55] You sew one corn kernel of corn.

[00:19:58] It comes up not pair.

[00:20:00] It comes up a corn, a corn stock.

[00:20:03] And it's a multitude of kernels that you get.

[00:20:07] And so it's quality and quantity when you sewed of the flesh.

[00:20:11] But that portion there in Galatians 6 is

[00:20:14] the emphasis really is so to the spirit, just just one seed.

[00:20:19] Because you'll get back in quality, life everlasting and quantity.

[00:20:25] And so it's it's finishing well is that

[00:20:30] when you find yourself like you've had an argument with your wife or you were

[00:20:34] real harsh with your kids, you own it and you come back before the end of the day

[00:20:39] and you ask forgiveness, you own it, you humble yourself.

[00:20:42] You don't wait for them to say, oh, you know, I shouldn't have done that.

[00:20:45] No, take your responsibility before the Lord.

[00:20:49] Finish well.

[00:20:50] Even if your flywheel is still sending out sparks because you're so wound up,

[00:20:55] just repent, just do it in faith.

[00:20:59] And don't wait for the feeling.

[00:21:02] What's a flywheel?

[00:21:04] Something that comes from my childhood with one of those cars.

[00:21:08] Oh, yes, yes, those cars, you know, that you spin and created sparks.

[00:21:12] Got it.

[00:21:13] OK, OK, you can take it off.

[00:21:16] But the flywheel because of the inertia is still spinning.

[00:21:19] And I can unplug myself from being wound up.

[00:21:22] But I don't like settle down right away.

[00:21:25] It takes me a while for the flywheel to kind of eventually slow down.

[00:21:29] Yeah.

[00:21:30] I was thinking another illustration.

[00:21:32] I want to end our episode almost done today, but I want to hear if you have an

[00:21:36] example, I have an example, but I was thinking of if I'm running a race,

[00:21:40] I'm going to finish well where my eyes are pretty is pretty important.

[00:21:45] I need to have my eyes on the prize, the finish line.

[00:21:49] Even the Bible would teach us in Hebrews to have my eyes firmly fixed on Jesus,

[00:21:54] the author and finish of our faith.

[00:21:55] So where my eyes are very important.

[00:21:58] So thinking about for a spiritual leader, Sunday School teacher, elder pastor,

[00:22:03] especially a pastor, have you ever had your eyes?

[00:22:07] Have you ever been have you ever been distracted or taken off course in your

[00:22:12] race of life because you were jealous about another church or upset about?

[00:22:17] Yeah. OK, do you have an example?

[00:22:19] Oh, yeah, yeah. That you can share with us right now.

[00:22:22] When I was pastoring in Phoenix, there was another up and coming Calvary

[00:22:26] Chapel Church that was a few miles away and they were running out of space and they

[00:22:31] needed they couldn't find a place to move.

[00:22:35] And we were currently working with with a shopping center to eventually move in.

[00:22:40] And while I'm talking to him, the Holy Spirit said, give him your contact

[00:22:44] because you know, you're not getting out of your lease for a year and a half.

[00:22:48] So I gave him I gave him the contact as

[00:22:51] Mark Martin from Calvary Community Church.

[00:22:54] And he not only worked out a deal with the guy, he ended up buying the whole

[00:22:59] shopping center and it's a it's a mile and a half away from us.

[00:23:02] And so I have to drive by the place every day and drive home by it every night.

[00:23:08] And there was jealousy.

[00:23:10] There was like that's not fair.

[00:23:12] I mean, and the Lord said, no, no, you are driving by it every day and every

[00:23:17] night and you're going to pray for him every time you drive by.

[00:23:20] And you're going to stop in once a week and check on them and see how they're

[00:23:24] doing with their build out.

[00:23:25] And it killed me.

[00:23:28] I mean, it was it was terrible at first.

[00:23:31] But after a while.

[00:23:34] It's like, you know, Lord, you do different things, different places.

[00:23:38] Yeah.

[00:23:38] And I was and then people from our church started going over there because

[00:23:42] it was so exciting.

[00:23:43] And so we went down from 700 down to 180.

[00:23:47] Well, and I had left all my staff.

[00:23:49] And that's hard.

[00:23:51] You know, yeah.

[00:23:52] How did that get resolved?

[00:23:53] Oh, how'd you get back on the course?

[00:23:55] We moved.

[00:23:58] We were in another community.

[00:24:00] Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[00:24:01] Yeah, we had and there's still great church and he's got the gift of evangelists.

[00:24:05] I mean, it's an amazing ministry there.

[00:24:07] But we had to move and and there was

[00:24:11] a lot of challenges in the midst of it all.

[00:24:14] But finishing well is you eventually just

[00:24:19] let the Lord take care of everything and and walk within your lane.

[00:24:23] This is because if you're looking around at other people that are running,

[00:24:26] yeah, you're going to get out of your lane number one.

[00:24:29] Plus you're going to slow down.

[00:24:30] Yes, this discontentment to get stirred up so often,

[00:24:34] you know, the Bible says not to compare ourselves with one another.

[00:24:37] It's foolish. It's not wise.

[00:24:39] The proverb say or maybe Paul said that

[00:24:42] comparing themselves with one with one another is not wise.

[00:24:46] And that it's a pitfall for us.

[00:24:49] I shared this one recently with our team

[00:24:52] that God's doing an inward work and you don't think it's that big a deal.

[00:24:55] Like that's the key.

[00:24:56] These are if you I'm sure if you talk to an Olympic runner or somebody

[00:25:00] that's running the race that needs to finish well,

[00:25:03] they would tell you about a thousand little things,

[00:25:06] not all the big things.

[00:25:07] It's a thousand little things that they've just paid attention to

[00:25:10] that in their mind, it's all one big thing.

[00:25:12] I think it's true for us too.

[00:25:13] It's a thousand little things.

[00:25:15] So I'm going through my Instagram feed

[00:25:18] recently and I'm noticing a pastor that has a very large church.

[00:25:22] He's just always posting something great.

[00:25:24] He's always doing something.

[00:25:26] I've mired him all my life.

[00:25:27] I still admire him.

[00:25:29] He's a great brother. I met him.

[00:25:30] I've become friends with him.

[00:25:32] It's amazing.

[00:25:33] It has nothing really to do with him at all.

[00:25:35] It's all me.

[00:25:36] And this is what God wants to see.

[00:25:37] So I'm seeing him post this and post that and going off to this place

[00:25:41] and getting invited over here.

[00:25:43] And I'm just like, Lord, this is so cool.

[00:25:45] I would love to do this one day.

[00:25:47] It would be great.

[00:25:48] I'd love to.

[00:25:48] And it's just not part of my not what I've been called to do.

[00:25:51] Although he has let me be a part of a lot of great stuff.

[00:25:54] And it's amazing.

[00:25:55] It's just if you compare, if I compare it to the brother,

[00:25:58] then I'm always going to fall short.

[00:26:00] But if I compared to my lostness,

[00:26:02] I mean, this is all icing, man, icing on the cake.

[00:26:06] So I'm seeing recently he's posting these pictures.

[00:26:09] He's in the airport.

[00:26:10] Hey, this is so and so and he listens to by he listen.

[00:26:13] Has a little Bible study listening to me on in Ethiopia.

[00:26:16] Oh, Lord, that's awesome.

[00:26:18] And, you know, here's somebody that just came.

[00:26:20] They came all the way from, you know,

[00:26:23] Istanbul to our church to to meet me.

[00:26:27] And they say they listen and have a little Bible study watching me on YouTube.

[00:26:30] And he takes a picture of them and there's a few of them.

[00:26:33] And I just remember thinking, Lord, nobody.

[00:26:35] I've never met anybody like that in our church.

[00:26:38] I've never had anybody that I can think of.

[00:26:40] I mean, I've had someone come from Bennett or I've had someone come

[00:26:43] like from Highlands Ranch and it's beautiful and wonderful.

[00:26:47] But I've never had these kind of stories.

[00:26:49] And I'm not bummed out about it like like depressed or anything.

[00:26:53] But I got this little thing that's growing.

[00:26:55] And if it grows anymore, I'm going to get off course.

[00:26:58] Like I don't even know where it's headed.

[00:27:00] So God's very gracious.

[00:27:02] I'm not praying.

[00:27:03] I didn't pray as a God.

[00:27:04] Please let me. I didn't pray for it.

[00:27:06] I didn't ask for it.

[00:27:07] And then a couple of weeks ago,

[00:27:10] a couple of weeks after a normal Wednesday night service,

[00:27:13] which is a portion of the church, right?

[00:27:15] So we even we even block off a couple corners of our sanctuary because we

[00:27:19] it's a very small portion of our church.

[00:27:21] It's a wonderful portion of our church.

[00:27:23] But the gathering on Wednesdays is smaller than the weekends, like most churches.

[00:27:28] And after the service, I'm greeting everyone, praying with people.

[00:27:31] And this young woman comes up probably in her 20s and Asian.

[00:27:36] And she comes up and she says, oh, Pastor Ed, she's nervous.

[00:27:39] I came to meet you.

[00:27:40] I'm like, OK, maybe she heard on the radio or something.

[00:27:42] And and she literally says, yeah,

[00:27:44] I came here from Vietnam to meet you.

[00:27:47] I listened to you on the radio and we get together with little Bible studies

[00:27:50] watching you online and and here are my friends there.

[00:27:55] And so can we take a picture?

[00:27:57] And I said, sure, we could take a picture.

[00:27:59] And and I ended up taking the picture with them.

[00:28:01] And she sent it to me.

[00:28:02] I posted it because now I have a testimony like that, Pastor.

[00:28:07] But that's not the end.

[00:28:08] That's that's just that you would think that's the end.

[00:28:11] You go, Ed, but it's not the end because God's like, OK, Ed, what do you want?

[00:28:16] Like I have in these conversations with God.

[00:28:18] Like, what do you want?

[00:28:19] Because it wasn't it wasn't satisfying.

[00:28:22] Like, I mean, it wasn't satisfying like that jealousy or whatever I'm feeling.

[00:28:26] It was beautiful.

[00:28:26] I got to serve and I couldn't believe it.

[00:28:28] Like I'm still shocked.

[00:28:29] But God just using that person in my life to go, OK, Ed, what do you want?

[00:28:34] Well, you know, and I have things on my mind.

[00:28:36] I mean, I'm talking about what do you mean?

[00:28:37] What I want? Well, I mean, you want somebody to come from you want me to

[00:28:39] send something from Vietnam so you could take a picture and post on it.

[00:28:42] That's easy for me.

[00:28:43] I just it's easy. It's done.

[00:28:45] And then so I'm thinking about, well, you know what?

[00:28:48] I'd like to see my grandson. That's easy.

[00:28:50] I get you know, one day you're going to see your grandson.

[00:28:52] That's easy. I haven't seen him for 10 years, but it's easy.

[00:28:55] What else do you want?

[00:28:55] And I've got some things in my mind and it was like the Lord was saying,

[00:28:59] and this is like my race.

[00:29:01] It's like, Ed, all that you want is easy for me.

[00:29:04] But when are you going to ask for me?

[00:29:07] Like you want all these things.

[00:29:09] You got my whole question wrong.

[00:29:11] You want me you want to have a picture like that pastor that that's not hard

[00:29:16] for me, that's not.

[00:29:17] And it's like and even some things that I think are literally impossible.

[00:29:21] God says that is not.

[00:29:23] And I was reminded because I shared it with staff yesterday at our staff meeting.

[00:29:27] Debbie, one of the sisters comes up and she reminded me of the text

[00:29:31] in Second Kings where they were digging ditches.

[00:29:35] And and he says this whole the whole

[00:29:37] valley is going to be filled with water.

[00:29:38] This is a simple matter for me.

[00:29:41] And I'm going to give you victory over the armies.

[00:29:44] Like in here's this this group of people in Second Kings that is

[00:29:50] marching to battle, they're men of war.

[00:29:53] They've been marching for days.

[00:29:54] They come to the arid desert.

[00:29:55] There's no water and that's where everything stops.

[00:29:58] We need water. We're going to die.

[00:30:00] We can't make it water, water, water, water, water, water.

[00:30:04] And God says, you know what guys, I think you forgot you came out here

[00:30:08] to to battle on war.

[00:30:10] Water is no problem for me.

[00:30:13] And neither I'm not only going to give you the water you want,

[00:30:16] but I'm also going to give you the victory.

[00:30:18] Yeah. And sometimes the these little things get in the way

[00:30:22] that are serious things or like big things like you're, you know, basically

[00:30:27] Ed, just be happy for these people.

[00:30:30] You have your own lane.

[00:30:32] You're going to do what I called you to do where I called you to do it.

[00:30:36] The way I called you to do it and it's glorious.

[00:30:39] And I say, yes, Lord, amen, it's great.

[00:30:42] But then these little foxes that eat up the vines and I see this over here

[00:30:46] and I see this over here and and I'm so I don't have any water.

[00:30:49] Lord, I don't have any like dig some ditches.

[00:30:52] I'll send you the water.

[00:30:53] But you forgot you didn't come.

[00:30:55] I didn't bring you seven days in the desert for water.

[00:30:58] Yeah.

[00:30:59] Like I brought you seven days into the desert for victory because Messiah is coming.

[00:31:04] Yeah.

[00:31:05] It's all a part of the story of getting into the story of Jesus.

[00:31:09] And and so at any rate, I think this is a great topic.

[00:31:12] I mean, can't we can't we have a whole season talking about how

[00:31:16] chacked up we can be as we get our eyes off the Lord?

[00:31:20] Yeah, it's on ending.

[00:31:21] But how God takes our missteps and turns them around to his steps.

[00:31:28] Look at you sounding like Micah.

[00:31:33] Micah's his son is he always likes to rhyme things and put things into acronyms.

[00:31:38] That was great.

[00:31:39] So anyway, you're listening to another episode of lead to serve podcast.

[00:31:43] My name is Ed Taylor.

[00:31:44] I'm in studio with Pastor Bob Claycamp.

[00:31:47] We serve together here at Calvary Church.

[00:31:49] Pastor Bob's also a traveling pastor and servant of the Lord as a part of the

[00:31:55] poignant ministries he can come to your church and give an assessment.

[00:32:00] Fill the pulpit for you.

[00:32:02] Help with your leadership.

[00:32:04] There's a lot that he can do.

[00:32:06] A lot that we can do as a church.

[00:32:08] We're a resourcing church and we'd love to serve you if you need any help.

[00:32:12] All you need to do is ask.

[00:32:13] So any feedback you have, any suggestions you have for topics, email me at

[00:32:18] edtaylor.org, Ed at edtaylor.org has to be dot org.

[00:32:24] And you can text me directly 720-608-0012 or go to our website Calvary

[00:32:33] Co. That stands for Colorado dot church.

[00:32:36] Until next time on the lead to serve podcast, God bless you.

[00:32:40] Be encouraged.

[00:32:41] And I hope you're enjoying the season.

[00:32:43] We certainly are lots to talk about, lots for the Holy Spirit to work in our

[00:32:48] lives, stay close to the Lord because he loves you.

[00:32:52] Thank you for joining us for this episode of lead to serve with Pastor Ed Taylor,

[00:32:56] a leadership podcast from Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado.

[00:33:00] If you have a leadership question you want to hear answered on a future lead to serve

[00:33:04] podcast, please email it to pastor ed at Calvary Co. Church.

[00:33:08] And if you like our podcast, please subscribe, rate or review us on iTunes

[00:33:13] and share us with your friends on social media.

[00:33:15] Thanks again for joining us and we'll see you next time right here on the

[00:33:19] lead to serve podcast.