602. Cultivating a Healthy Inner Life

[00:00:04] Welcome to today's broadcast of Lead2Serve, a leadership podcast with Ed Taylor.

[00:00:11] Hey, welcome again to another episode of the Lead2Serve podcast. My name is Ed Taylor. I'm the pastor here at Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado.

[00:00:21] I want to give you our contact information right at the get-go so you can have it. I know you're probably listening to this jogging or running or driving or busy,

[00:00:32] which is a lot of times how I feel and take in podcasts while I'm doing something, growing in.

[00:00:39] But for the sake of the contact info, I'll do it beginning and end. You can reach us at 720-608-0012.

[00:00:49] You can use that for texting or leaving a message, 720-608-0012.

[00:00:55] Or you can email me. You can email me through my website, edtaylor.org. It has to be .org. I know I've told you this before, but if you go to edtaylor.com, there is a professional Santa Claus that has my name.

[00:01:10] That was the career that he chose. So it's edtaylor.org and there's a contact page there. You can use that.

[00:01:18] But we want to hear your feedback. We want to hear show ideas, topic ideas.

[00:01:23] The podcast, our goal is to help you grow in your servant leadership so that you'll glorify God in everything that you do.

[00:01:32] And of course, we're speaking to you from the perspective of being pastors, but leaders.

[00:01:37] I also spent some time in the corporate world leading at a high level over many, many people.

[00:01:43] I have that perspective as well, but here's the bottom line.

[00:01:46] The better servant you are, the better leader you will become.

[00:01:51] And as we discuss these important topics related to your life and serving the Lord, no matter where you are, home, work, church, in life, God will use them.

[00:02:02] You will grow.

[00:02:03] And as of late, the last few seasons, we have in studio, it's a dialogue between me and Pastor Bob Claykamp.

[00:02:13] So let's welcome again, Pastor Bob.

[00:02:15] It's wonderful to be here.

[00:02:17] We talked a little bit about your communal living situation when you got saved.

[00:02:22] What was the draw, real quick, the draw for you as a new believer to live communally?

[00:02:30] Well, at the time, I was so against hypocrisy in the church, and I wanted to live like they lived in the first century.

[00:02:41] I wanted to read the book of Acts and live the book of Acts and be like one of the disciples that just met Jesus and have them go through it.

[00:02:51] And at the time, we ended up having a little Christian house because the rock band I was in broke up after I got saved.

[00:03:00] And so it was just Christians living in the house.

[00:03:02] And so we wanted to just do it exactly like we saw it when we were 18 years old.

[00:03:08] And so we didn't have a whole lot of, you know, zeal without knowledge is kind of the picture of it.

[00:03:14] But God, in his love and in his mercy and in his understanding of what he would do in the future, put up with our nonsense.

[00:03:24] And he just helped us through it.

[00:03:27] And there was encouraging one another.

[00:03:30] There was Bible studies that we gave.

[00:03:33] There was, I mean, I was 19 years old, and I'm teaching the book of Proverbs.

[00:03:36] Come on.

[00:03:37] What do I know?

[00:03:38] And so we'd go out on the street and we'd go share Jesus with people as much as we knew.

[00:03:45] I mean, it wasn't much.

[00:03:46] I mean, there's only like, you know, weeks old in Christ.

[00:03:48] Yes.

[00:03:49] But what Jesus has done in our life was the main message.

[00:03:52] And there was so much hunger at the time.

[00:03:55] People were coming to the Lord and people were being healed.

[00:03:59] One lady was healed of heroin addiction.

[00:04:02] Wow.

[00:04:02] I mean, we're watching all this stuff take place and we're going, yeah, this is the book of Acts.

[00:04:06] And so that's kind of how the beginning was.

[00:04:09] Did you enter in with, because that perspective of disillusion with the church and hypocrisy and such,

[00:04:16] as a new believer, did you enter into communal living with a idealism?

[00:04:21] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:04:23] How long did it take for the idealism to be broken or challenged?

[00:04:27] When my friend tried to drive with his eyes closed down downtown Portland.

[00:04:31] And how soon was that?

[00:04:33] That was a few weeks later.

[00:04:34] A few weeks later.

[00:04:36] And the reality of, okay, what I'm reading in the Bible, and I read it with rose-colored glasses, if you will.

[00:04:42] I'm reading the book of Acts and I want to live the book of Acts.

[00:04:45] We always, we have a tendency to read in only the best, only the best, only the best.

[00:04:50] And then boom, Ananias and Sapphira come.

[00:04:52] And we realize, well, the book of Acts is our, is a collection of highlights.

[00:04:59] It is not day-to-day, 24-hour, seven-day-a-week living.

[00:05:04] And for you, it was just within a couple weeks, you got one of these brothers driving with his eyes closed.

[00:05:10] Yeah.

[00:05:11] Downtown Portland.

[00:05:11] He was driving a big bread truck, which was like a hippie truck, you know, painted green.

[00:05:16] Yeah.

[00:05:17] So, he left a mark on a car, and the police showed up.

[00:05:23] And so, it was at that point, though, that the Lord used it to bring Calvary Chapel into our setting.

[00:05:30] And they sent someone up to Portland from Eugene, Oregon, to give us nightly Bible studies and to live among us and get us straightened out.

[00:05:38] That's good.

[00:05:39] Well, that's not the topic of episode two, but every time I, every time we build on the previous episode, I'm like, I got this thought.

[00:05:47] I got this thought.

[00:05:48] I love hearing the stories and their true stories that Bob shares with us.

[00:05:53] And you get to, this is a little, this is how it is if we're walking down the hallway and I've got some thought and I'm like, hey, I think I'll ask Bob.

[00:06:00] What's Bob's perspective on it?

[00:06:02] And you get a little bit of insight of what God is doing and has done through his life.

[00:06:07] So, we're episode number two of season number six.

[00:06:10] The topic today is the leader's inner life or your inner life, my inner life.

[00:06:17] We have different angles to talk about this, but obviously we're talking about your spiritual inner life.

[00:06:26] We want to talk about your inner life directed to the word, to prayer, your life example, your daily devotional life, your devotional life in general, what you do in private.

[00:06:39] You can see there'll be a theme developed, I think, in this season as we continue going forward with it.

[00:06:44] But a scripture that came to mind on the inner life, just like last time, authenticity and vulnerability are non-negotiables.

[00:06:53] This is who you are in the spirit.

[00:06:54] As you walk in the spirit, you will be authentic.

[00:06:57] You will be vulnerable.

[00:06:58] I would say the spirit's, the leader's inner life is developed as you walk in the spirit.

[00:07:04] And Paul would tell young Timothy in 1 Timothy 4 verse 8, bodily exercise profits a little.

[00:07:10] And there's such a great emphasis today on taking care of your body, working out, the proliferation of gymnasiums all over, different brands, different levels, all of that.

[00:07:20] And I agree.

[00:07:22] You must take care of your physical body.

[00:07:25] Eat well, rest well, take care of it.

[00:07:28] 100%.

[00:07:29] However, Timothy, or Paul adds to that.

[00:07:33] He says, but godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and that is to come.

[00:07:42] Godliness and the inner life go hand in hand.

[00:07:45] Sometimes we would, maybe even whole church denominations, whole groups would define godliness by all your behaviors.

[00:07:52] You know, as Pastor Chuck Smith used to tell us, I don't smoke, I don't chew, I don't hang with the girls that do.

[00:07:58] And it's just this legalistic approach of trying to appear godly, trying to act godly, trying to give some air of godliness when I don't believe it at all.

[00:08:10] That's what is being spoken of.

[00:08:12] I think what Paul's talking about is the inner life.

[00:08:15] What are your thoughts, Bob?

[00:08:16] Well, that scripture in Timothy, it's interesting.

[00:08:19] It says, having promise of not just life, but the life.

[00:08:24] And that's not merely existing.

[00:08:27] It has to do with that zoe, that life that comes from God, that's unique for the believer that the world doesn't have.

[00:08:36] And so the promise, the godliness as profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come, that source of life is satisfying.

[00:08:51] It fills you.

[00:08:53] It gives you that sense of purpose, that sense of settledness, that sense of vision for the future.

[00:09:02] And that's the inner life that needs to be filled because it takes the pressure off of other people that you're trying to draw life from that they're unable to give you.

[00:09:14] It's real unfortunate that godliness has been defined by something that's outward only or that something that's seen when godliness is a reflection of your inner life.

[00:09:25] Everything's really a reflection of our inner life.

[00:09:27] The banner and the drumbeat of this church constantly, continually, I will mention it, mention it, mention it so that more and more people keep catching it and doing it.

[00:09:39] Read your Bible and pray every day.

[00:09:42] Read your Bible and pray every day.

[00:09:45] But so much more is that necessary for those that have taken on spiritual leadership, spiritual servanthood, that actually see themselves as God sees them, as his servant.

[00:09:57] And a servant will be most in tune with their master through knowing their master, communicating with their master,

[00:10:06] developing and cultivating a life that is drawing us closer to the Lord, not farther away.

[00:10:13] I will be best useful to God if I'm in the word every day.

[00:10:20] And the thing about this is not just the outward.

[00:10:23] The thing about this is a leader's inner life or a servant's inner life, Bob, can be faked.

[00:10:28] That's the big danger here.

[00:10:30] Sometimes we'll use the phrase hypocrisy to describe.

[00:10:34] But men and women are constantly trying to fake this, which kind of ties into our discussion previously in the last episode where they're not vulnerable, they're not authentic,

[00:10:45] because it could be directly related to their inner life where they're not in the word daily.

[00:10:52] And not just in the word so you can, you know, pastor listening.

[00:10:56] I'm in the word all the time.

[00:10:57] Yeah, to develop a Bible study.

[00:10:59] You're thinking of your church.

[00:11:00] You're thinking of crafting the right words.

[00:11:02] You're thinking of getting to the root and the reality of the best interpretation and navigating through all the disagreements.

[00:11:11] But you're not in the word like listening like today.

[00:11:14] Today, I'm reading through the Proverbs.

[00:11:16] And the Proverb today was the one where the brother says, I am more stupid.

[00:11:23] And that's how the New King James.

[00:11:24] So I just looked that word up and to see, like, sometimes I feel stupid.

[00:11:29] I don't really like that word.

[00:11:31] But sometimes I feel it and was looking at it.

[00:11:34] And the word is an interesting word.

[00:11:37] It can be translated stupid, but it's more just like feeling inadequate or unable.

[00:11:44] You're just assessing your life in the moment.

[00:11:45] And you're like, I'm just not measuring up.

[00:11:48] Now, that's nothing for a Bible study.

[00:11:50] It was just my own personal devos.

[00:11:52] I would typically just read through the chapter and see if something.

[00:11:56] But this was like verse one or verse two that jumped out right away.

[00:12:00] And I paused.

[00:12:01] I spent some time on it and really allowed the Lord.

[00:12:06] It says in Proverbs 30, verse two, surely I'm more stupid than any man.

[00:12:11] I'm like, okay, why would they choose that word?

[00:12:14] We actually taught our kids not to use that word.

[00:12:17] And so sometimes I'll go over to the New Living to see what they said.

[00:12:21] And here's what the New Living said.

[00:12:23] I am too stupid to be human.

[00:12:26] But this was part of my Devo life today.

[00:12:28] Just reading through the Bible, getting up extra early.

[00:12:31] I knew what my schedule was today where the word, I've been walking with the Lord for 30 plus years.

[00:12:39] You've been walking with the Lord for longer than that, right?

[00:12:42] You've been saved how long?

[00:12:43] 55 years.

[00:12:44] Where if I'm not in the word for myself, then what am I?

[00:12:49] Yeah.

[00:12:49] And you're like, you know, stupid to me means in a stupor.

[00:12:53] Where you're just, you don't get it.

[00:12:56] You've, it just passes by you.

[00:12:59] You lack common sense.

[00:13:00] Yeah.

[00:13:00] And I can look back and I could see choices I've made that lacked common sense.

[00:13:06] Yes.

[00:13:06] And I'm old enough now where I can't recover from my mistakes too much.

[00:13:10] I mean, I don't have much time.

[00:13:12] Yes.

[00:13:12] And so I don't, I want to have more common sense than I had when I was younger.

[00:13:16] Yeah, that's good.

[00:13:17] I think the essence of being in the word and in prairie day for the servant is, as my pastor used to say, communicating with headquarters.

[00:13:29] We want to communicate with headquarters and not neglect who we are internally.

[00:13:34] We're not just servants for others.

[00:13:37] Paul would actually say in Acts 20 that he's serving the Lord.

[00:13:41] And that there's a, there's a healthy way to understand serving the Lord.

[00:13:45] There's some unhealthy ways where sometimes people don't want to do things and then you'll call them to account and hold them accountable to it.

[00:13:52] And they go, oh, I serve the Lord and not you, Ed.

[00:13:54] Well, I mean, I wouldn't disagree with that, but like God's put me in your life to give you some direction.

[00:13:59] So I would say you serve both.

[00:14:02] And if you're hearing from the Lord, then you would want to be faithful to your pastor.

[00:14:05] But that's a negative way.

[00:14:07] The positive way though, is it's more important for me to be connected with God than anything else that I do.

[00:14:17] Absolutely right.

[00:14:18] There is no other, whatever role I'm in, whatever God has for me, whatever he, whoever I'm on, whoever I'm scheduled to meet with, whoever I'm going to sit down and do a podcast with is secondary to my personal inner life.

[00:14:35] My inner life.

[00:14:36] And, and Bob's sitting in the room with me.

[00:14:38] He can see the outer part of me, but he can't see the inner part of me.

[00:14:42] I can't see inner Bob, but I'm, I'm spending enough time with Bob.

[00:14:46] I'm listening to Bob.

[00:14:47] I'm watching Bob.

[00:14:49] I can make conclusions on what I hear, see, and watch in his life.

[00:14:54] I can make a, a clear estimation of what his inner life is.

[00:14:58] And also if it was, he was having a hard time, if his shoulders are hanging down or there's tears in his eyes or he looks weary again, that's going to reflect the inner life.

[00:15:09] That's going to reflect something he might be wrestling with, but what are some things over the years, Bob, that have helped you develop?

[00:15:17] I mean, you're, you're, as you estimate, you don't have too many years left.

[00:15:21] We hope you have many.

[00:15:22] Let's say you have 20 years left, put you into your nineties, right?

[00:15:25] So let's let you get 20 years left.

[00:15:28] And so you're at the last leg of your race.

[00:15:31] I'm right behind you a few years, last leg of the race.

[00:15:34] Um, what has helped you stay the course?

[00:15:37] Why are you still running the race?

[00:15:39] How did you cultivate an inner man?

[00:15:41] Well, I want to, I want to finish well.

[00:15:45] And in my mind, finishing well means I live my life by the same steps of faith that I've always done.

[00:15:54] And there are times when the Lord has directed my wife and I to take steps of faith that to others may seem to be, uh, flippant or irrational.

[00:16:06] Like when we sold everything to move to England back in 2013.

[00:16:11] But we knew that the Lord had set this up and there were so many confirmations and we, we just didn't want to relax and say, we deserve a break today.

[00:16:25] And, and, and dive into that because your flesh grabs onto that and it's a living thing.

[00:16:32] And it starts taking over lots of areas in your thought processes.

[00:16:36] And so I want to, and we've had the, the Lord and I have had this discussion yesterday morning, uh, during one of my walks, um, that I, I don't want to just settle back because other people think I'm weird, uh, in doing this.

[00:16:53] I need to go forward and I need to be willing to take whatever step of faith the Lord is putting before me to do and not worry about, uh, my age, not worry about, uh, well, what if, and all of that.

[00:17:10] And well, how, how other people see me, I I've got to keep my focus on him because he's the one that, that I'm set to please.

[00:17:19] And take the reproach if it comes.

[00:17:22] What I'm hearing you say is one of the tools you've used to cultivate your prayer, your inner life is a prayer walk.

[00:17:30] And how many mornings a week are you able to get a prayer walk in?

[00:17:34] Probably at least five.

[00:17:36] Because you're in a different stage of life.

[00:17:38] So it affords you that.

[00:17:39] It would be hard to get up super early and do a walk, but some people would.

[00:17:43] It could be in the evening.

[00:17:44] It could be your lunch break.

[00:17:46] I know a lot of times I use my lunch break either to take a nap or take a walk.

[00:17:51] One of those two, depending on how tired I am.

[00:17:53] But what I'm hearing you say in this particular example is in your prayer walk, you have an open dialogue with God.

[00:18:02] So are you then saying you're waking up in the morning, prayer walk is pretty routine.

[00:18:08] Five times a week, it's 250 times a year.

[00:18:10] That could get pretty normal and routine and just say, I'm going to go do it and get it done.

[00:18:14] And so you have to fight somehow or to keep it pure and holy that this is a time.

[00:18:21] Are you taking the dog with you too with the little nubby legs you have?

[00:18:24] No way.

[00:18:26] No way.

[00:18:26] There's dogs along the route.

[00:18:28] Yeah, yeah.

[00:18:28] I've named them Pride and Lust of the Flesh.

[00:18:31] And so I can keep myself focused.

[00:18:33] But it's not like I'm constantly praying.

[00:18:37] I'm just living life because I know that I need to be authentic with the Lord.

[00:18:45] Because he knows if I'm schmoozing him and trying to set him up for a favor or something.

[00:18:51] And so there are times that maybe my mind will wander off and I've got to take care of this, take care of that.

[00:18:57] And then it's like, okay, let's get back to basics here.

[00:19:00] And then usually I always start with the reality that he chose me when I didn't deserve to be chosen.

[00:19:09] And he had a plan for my future that I had no idea because of what he wanted to do.

[00:19:17] And the whole picture of adoption from a terrible orphanage is always on my mind that he adopted me.

[00:19:25] He didn't just bring me in as a slave from the market.

[00:19:28] He brought me in as a son.

[00:19:31] Not only a son, but he gave me inheritance rights.

[00:19:35] And then he's changing me on the inside out.

[00:19:40] And he's set to do that even when I was in my weirdness when I first became a Christian with all my weird thoughts.

[00:19:48] And so all of that is something that I always—it's my first go-to, really.

[00:19:54] All through the Old Testament, God is reminding Israel of how they were delivered.

[00:20:01] It always goes back to Egypt.

[00:20:03] It always goes back to deliverance from Egypt.

[00:20:06] With the Passover, with the festivals, always goes back there because he didn't want them to forget it.

[00:20:12] Because that was the foundation.

[00:20:14] So yesterday morning's walk, you had the thought of people thinking what you're doing is weird.

[00:20:20] And because of your walk and cultivating the inner man, you were able to dismiss very quickly the fear of man and come back to the fear of God.

[00:20:30] And that is the expectations of people, the expectations we put on ourselves, the expectations of what a successful church is or what a successful mom is or what a successful dad is.

[00:20:46] All of these expectations, they have a tendency to drown out that simplicity of just being a daughter, just being a son, and following the Lord in simplicity, trusting him.

[00:21:00] And we have to fan the flame of our personal walk with the Lord.

[00:21:05] Otherwise, it will be lost.

[00:21:07] This is exactly what happened to the church in Ephesus.

[00:21:10] This seems to be a theme over and over again that I'm sensing that God's calling his church to.

[00:21:16] On the one hand, I hear a lot of call, revival, revival, revival.

[00:21:20] Yes, I support it.

[00:21:23] But I'm not hearing a lot of, repent, repent, repent.

[00:21:28] Where's revival going to come from if we don't open our eyes to us walking away from our first love?

[00:21:36] At least that's the deep work that God's doing in my life.

[00:21:39] And I want to define, I don't think I'm in rebellion.

[00:21:42] I don't think I'm in like massive sin or anything.

[00:21:46] But the life that I lived as a new believer, as a newer believer, or different seasons in my life, I want to recultivate that for now a new season of my life.

[00:21:55] And if I'm going to call for revival, the revival starts with me.

[00:21:59] It's not a church-wide revival.

[00:22:01] It's not a few thousand people out at the beach getting baptized.

[00:22:04] Or for us, a few hundred people, a few thousand people being at the reservoir being baptized.

[00:22:09] That's glorious.

[00:22:10] That's wonderful.

[00:22:11] But it's one at a time.

[00:22:14] One at a time.

[00:22:16] God drawing us back to the simplicity of, hey, read your Bible every day.

[00:22:23] Pray every day.

[00:22:24] And do what God tells you to do.

[00:22:27] Every day.

[00:22:28] Every moment of the day.

[00:22:30] Not to put a burden on yourself where you're just so nervous.

[00:22:33] Oh, I might have missed one thing.

[00:22:35] But in relationship, enjoying the Lord, cultivating, having a regular daily devotional life, knowing that you're talking to the Lord about these things.

[00:22:46] He's talking to you about these things.

[00:22:49] But before we end, we're coming up on the end of the episode.

[00:22:52] I wanted you to talk about the inner life.

[00:22:56] Sometimes it gets isolated to just being an event.

[00:23:00] What do you think, Bob?

[00:23:02] Have you seen this in the body of Christ where the inner life almost gets separated to be its own little thing and being isolated out by itself?

[00:23:12] Yeah, we end up being monks.

[00:23:15] But here's the thing.

[00:23:17] God allows trial.

[00:23:20] He allows crisis.

[00:23:23] He allows difficulty because that is part of the recipe for developing the inner life.

[00:23:32] When you think of David being on the run from King Saul, it was so unjust.

[00:23:38] He had every right to take matters into his own hands.

[00:23:41] But he was tested 10, 12 years, all during his 20s.

[00:23:45] King Saul ruined his 20s.

[00:23:46] And yet, God allowed that.

[00:23:49] God used that to be character development and drive ambition out of his life and to prepare him.

[00:23:57] And so, when we talk about the inner life, we're also talking about everyday life as God uses every situation to drive us to his throne.

[00:24:09] And there are things that are unjust.

[00:24:11] There are things that aren't right.

[00:24:13] We weren't dealt with right.

[00:24:14] And we're complaining to the Lord.

[00:24:17] But we've got to turn it around and say, wait a minute.

[00:24:20] Because you allowed this, there is something I'm supposed to learn through this about you and about me.

[00:24:27] And I need to learn that and heal my heart, settle the storm in my heart so I can hear, at least to get the picture of what I'm supposed to learn through this training.

[00:24:40] That inner life is where you experience comfort, peace, encouragement.

[00:24:47] It's the outward things, the expectations.

[00:24:51] I think of a pastor looking at, you know, nobody came to church last week and look at the offering.

[00:24:56] Or I taught my heart out and I got this six-page email of how bad the message was and how I blew it.

[00:25:02] Or I'm on an email or a text thread with a couple friends of mine walking a brother through some difficulties.

[00:25:10] And the other pastor on the thread answered this difficult.

[00:25:14] And it's a pretty serious difficulty.

[00:25:15] It is great consternation that my friend is going through.

[00:25:20] But a mutual pastor friend wrote this.

[00:25:23] It reminds me of exactly what you just said.

[00:25:25] He said, I'm sorry, brother.

[00:25:27] Things like this are difficult.

[00:25:29] Thankfully, they lead us to our knees where we get the best comfort and counsel.

[00:25:35] That's the inner life.

[00:25:36] The inner life is not some elusive, we move to the mountains, be by ourselves, get in touch with ourselves.

[00:25:43] All the things that the world or different people of books and seminars have made it.

[00:25:49] It's cultivating the depth of who you are before the Lord.

[00:25:53] Not neglecting Him.

[00:25:55] It's not a burden or I have to do it.

[00:25:58] It's something that I get to do.

[00:26:00] And we certainly have episodes and seasons where we neglect it and we always pay the price.

[00:26:06] And the first steps of effectiveness.

[00:26:10] And I ask you to challenge me on this.

[00:26:13] If you will just set your heart toward reading your Bible every day, praying while you're reading, as you're reading, before and after you're reading, and add a devotional book.

[00:26:25] Add Morning and Evening by Spurgeon is a great addition.

[00:26:29] And something simple.

[00:26:31] Pastor Chuck Smith put out a devotional before he passed away.

[00:26:36] The Word for Something.

[00:26:38] I forget the name of it.

[00:26:41] And you can look it up.

[00:26:43] As a matter of fact, for a while it was free if you wanted to get an electronic version of it.

[00:26:47] But just a devotional that's by a trusted source.

[00:26:51] I know that God will use that in your life.

[00:26:54] But please, listening to this, we want to partner and co-labor with you.

[00:26:59] Do not neglect the inner man, the inner woman.

[00:27:02] This is where it happens.

[00:27:04] This is where the Holy Spirit meets you, encourages you, where you let the Word of God be a mirror.

[00:27:12] Or I would even say, you let the Word of God be the mirror that it already is.

[00:27:20] I mean, every morning before we leave, we look in the mirror.

[00:27:22] If you think about the habits of looking in mirrors, I mean, sometimes you're sitting in places where people can't see you, but you're on the other side.

[00:27:29] And you're watching them check out.

[00:27:32] You know, they're looking at a window or something.

[00:27:33] And they're just looking at everything.

[00:27:35] Like, we are enamored with mirrors.

[00:27:37] And we want to put our best foot forward.

[00:27:39] But listen, we want to have that spiritual woman, that spiritual man cultivated.

[00:27:43] And pay attention.

[00:27:44] That's the topic of the episode today.

[00:27:47] Please pay attention and invest.

[00:27:50] As much as you invest for others, make sure you're investing in yourself and the inner woman and the inner man.

[00:27:57] It will enhance your spiritual leadership.

[00:27:59] And that brings us to a close of our episode number two of Lead to Serve.

[00:28:03] Thank you guys so much for listening in.

[00:28:05] Leave a review.

[00:28:06] Send us a note.

[00:28:07] Let us know how God is using it.

[00:28:10] How you're growing.

[00:28:11] How you're sharing it with others.

[00:28:13] But please do post these things on your social media.

[00:28:15] Let people know.

[00:28:17] Invite people in.

[00:28:18] I know at least one person is doing this with their team.

[00:28:22] And listening to the podcast together with their team.

[00:28:26] We'd love to hear it.

[00:28:27] We'd love to hear how God is doing.

[00:28:29] And using what God is doing with the podcast.

[00:28:32] How God is using it.

[00:28:33] But this is the Lead to Serve podcast.

[00:28:35] Pastor Ed Taylor.

[00:28:37] Pastor Bob Claykamp.

[00:28:38] Coming to you from the studios here of Grace FM.

[00:28:42] Our radio network.

[00:28:43] Here throughout Colorado.

[00:28:45] You're coming to you from the studios here in Aurora.

[00:28:48] Talking about ministry.

[00:28:50] Talking about life.

[00:28:51] Talking about drawing near to God.

[00:28:53] Grateful for the listenership.

[00:28:55] Grateful for you.

[00:28:56] We pray for you.

[00:28:57] We prayed for you before the beginning of our recordings.

[00:29:01] And we just want to invite you in.

[00:29:03] So welcome in.

[00:29:04] If you have any feedback, you can text it.

[00:29:06] 720-608-0012.

[00:29:11] Or you can email ed at edtaylor.org.

[00:29:15] Anything you send in for me or Bob.

[00:29:16] I make sure Bob gets it.

[00:29:18] So if you want to address Bob, you can do that as well.

[00:29:20] Or you can go right to his website.

[00:29:24] Bobclaycamp.com.

[00:29:25] Bobclaycamp.com.

[00:29:26] And you can connect with him there.

[00:29:29] Well, until the next episode.

[00:29:30] Stay strong in the grace of God.

[00:29:32] And we'll post it next week.

[00:29:34] Thank you for joining us for this episode of Lead to Serve with Pastor Ed Taylor.

[00:29:39] A leadership podcast from Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado.

[00:29:42] If you have a leadership question you want to hear answered on a future Lead to Serve podcast,

[00:29:47] please email it to pastored at calvaryco.church.

[00:29:51] And if you like our podcast, please subscribe, rate, or review us on iTunes.

[00:29:55] And share us with your friends on social media.

[00:29:57] Thanks again for joining us.

[00:29:59] And we'll see you next time right here on the Lead to Serve podcast.