562. Justin Stehower shares his personal testimony May 28, 2024

[00:00:00] is open and prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you give

[00:00:06] all them to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley, Evan, I'll be here because you haven't

[00:00:11] stood up in this podcast with me since the whole thing. This is Robert 28 beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:20] The wicked flee when no one pursues but the righteous are bold as a lion because of the

[00:00:28] transgression of a land many are its princes but by a man of understanding and knowledge

[00:00:35] right will be prolonged. A poor man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves

[00:00:43] no food. Those who forsake the law praise the wicked but such as keep the law content with them.

[00:00:52] Evil men do not understand justice but those who seek the Lord understand all.

[00:01:01] Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one perverse in his ways though he be rich.

[00:01:10] Whoever keeps the law is a discerning son but a companion of Glutton's shames his father.

[00:01:19] One who increases his possessions by usery and extortion gathers it for him who will pity the poor.

[00:01:29] One who turns away his ear from hearing the law even his prayers is an abomination.

[00:01:37] Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way he himself will fall into his own pit

[00:01:47] but the blameless will inherit good. The rich man is wise in his own eyes but the poor who has

[00:01:55] understanding searches him out. When the righteous rejoice there is great glory but when the wicked

[00:02:04] arise men hide themselves. He who covers his sins will not prosper but whoever confesses and for

[00:02:14] sex them will have mercy. Happy is the man who is always reverent but he who hardens his heart

[00:02:23] will fall into calamity like a roaring lion and a charging bear is a wicked ruler over poor people.

[00:02:33] A ruler who lacks understanding is a great oppressor but he who hates covetousness will prolong

[00:02:42] his days. A man burdened with bloodshed will flee into a pit. Let no one help him.

[00:02:52] Whoever walks blamelessly will be saved but he who is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.

[00:03:01] He who kills his land will have plenty of bread but he who follows foravality will have poverty enough.

[00:03:11] A faithful man will abound with blessings that he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

[00:03:20] To show partiality is not good because for a peace of bread a man will transgress.

[00:03:28] A man with an evil eye hastens after riches and does not consider that poverty will come upon him.

[00:03:39] He who rebukes a man will find more favor afterward than he who flatters with the tongue.

[00:03:47] Whoever robs his father or his mother and says it is no transgression. The same is companion

[00:03:56] to a destroyer. He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife but he who trusts in the Lord will be

[00:04:06] prospered. He who trusts in his own heart is a fool but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.

[00:04:17] He who gives to the poor will not lack but he who hides his eyes will have many curses.

[00:04:25] When the wicked arise men hide themselves but when they perish the righteous increase.

[00:04:34] Friends my special guest for today is a first year careous Bible college student just in stay

[00:04:40] hour and just and I'd like to thank you for coming on. I really appreciate you taking the time.

[00:04:46] Yeah I'm super excited to you I'm just a super honored to be on this and I'm excited for what God

[00:04:51] has been playing for this for everyone to just a year God would. So all right just and we just finished

[00:05:00] a proverb 28 and there's a lot of good verses we could talk about but which one in particular

[00:05:06] spoke to you today that you'd like to share with the audience. Yeah really the first verse

[00:05:11] uh verse one the wicked plea when no one pursues but the righteous are full as a lion.

[00:05:18] And so yeah that really just makes me think about maybe when I was a child

[00:05:23] and I was doing something when I wasn't and maybe I was even home alone and I heard it noise

[00:05:30] I was doing something wrong and then I was like freaked out and I was like oh that's what's

[00:05:34] gonna do this and then how am I just allowed it how it says uh bold as a lion so you know maybe

[00:05:40] when I'm speaking truth to someone and God's really using me just the boldness that comes on is

[00:05:48] um just amazing when you know you're in the right stand that just think it's super super cool.

[00:05:54] So yeah well that's so good Justin just and if you would the audience may not know

[00:05:59] who you are and if you would just share a little bit about your upbringing and some of your

[00:06:04] fondness memories. Yeah so I grew up in a small town in uh Michigan grew up on a lake and um

[00:06:11] I just I just loved my upbringing um growing up up on a small lake always being fish and

[00:06:18] hunt and boat and wakeboarding and uh my parents were both passengers they passed through together for

[00:06:24] about 23 years and I was just growing up in the church was just such an awesome time with all

[00:06:30] that the good friends and the lessons that um I heard and didn't realize the foundation

[00:06:37] that I was getting built on is just pretty awesome so wow that's so good and you know tell us a

[00:06:43] little bit about that you know you're a young guy you're only 23 and you know we have a whole

[00:06:50] podcast we have to share together so imagine what it would be like for somebody who doesn't

[00:06:56] have got in their life and just tell people you know it's okay to live in the house with a pastor

[00:07:04] as your parent talk about that a little bit yeah just growing up as a um a pk I guess um

[00:07:12] and just there's plenty when I think back on it and just saw the influence has um my parents had

[00:07:19] on me as a pastor and um just little things they would say to me um and just like how they would always

[00:07:26] pray for me um and just thinking back on that how um growing up I never really thought of it

[00:07:32] and but now we're at the point where I'm at now in life thinking back on it and such a um impact

[00:07:40] that has had out of my life is just pretty spectacular and I'm just super super thankful for that

[00:07:46] and just the power of prayer is quite amazing okay now you are living in a house and your parents

[00:07:54] are both pastors you're running a church and you are going to high school there's a lot of

[00:07:59] peer pressure so how did you deal with that and you know just tell the audience what it must have

[00:08:06] been like because I'm sure your friends were saying well you know your you know your pastor's kid

[00:08:13] so how did you handle that yeah um I would say a really big lesson my mom taught me as a child

[00:08:20] is to set boundaries um so whenever I would come into new and say new friendship or something

[00:08:27] I would think about what kind of boundaries I want to set um so you know say I was coming into like

[00:08:32] a bad group of friends and I kind of heard stories about them and what they're into coming into

[00:08:39] that right away I set those boundaries to the point you know like I'm not going to do those

[00:08:43] certain things I'm not going to talk about girls like this or that or go out and stay up all night

[00:08:49] and you know maybe do drugs whatever it is um and so once once if you set that boundary at the beginning

[00:08:55] of the friendship it's amazing what that sets and those people's minds because if you cross that

[00:09:00] boundary then they're just like well it did a last time so he's gonna do it again and uh so one just

[00:09:07] that's a huge thing that if I could say to anyone is when they're coming into a new relationship with

[00:09:13] someone whether it's a maybe a girl or just a new new guy and then maybe we want to invest that

[00:09:20] person but you have to set firm boundaries for sure. Well that's good I'm going to go to

[00:09:25] Proverbs you know I this whole podcast is about Proverbs and and trying to gain wisdom but

[00:09:31] in Proverbs 29 verse 25 it says the fear of man brings a snare now in your case we're not talking

[00:09:40] about man we're talking about young teenage students so did you still have issues with that

[00:09:48] I know you talked about it you have to set boundaries but did some people still make it

[00:09:54] try to make it difficult for you absolutely I would say the people that I grew up with that

[00:09:59] I was super close with from a lot of us a young age that really I didn't

[00:10:04] I necessarily have maybe the chance to set those boundaries which I did at a point but I was

[00:10:10] younger so I never did and so I learned that that boundary setting thing as I grew up but so with

[00:10:16] some of my closer friends we started breaking boundaries together and then um I mean yeah just

[00:10:23] really pursuing things I shouldn't have been pursuing but then once I learned those lessons through

[00:10:29] life through high school that I shouldn't be doing I learned what those words my mom told me about

[00:10:35] setting boundaries when you come into a new relationship and just how important that is.

[00:10:41] Wow that's really good and just one of the most important things and I think it is the most

[00:10:47] important thing but talk to the audience about receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior how that

[00:10:54] came about in your life what led you to make that decision and and how that decision impact your life

[00:11:03] yeah I would say at a young age you know I grew up in the church my parents are pastors so

[00:11:08] I'm very young age I definitely accepted out into my heart but never pursued that I believe I accepted

[00:11:14] that hold hardly but I came to a point where I actually started pursuing that relationship and

[00:11:21] I would say when I started pursuing that relationship is one of the biggest decisions I've made in my

[00:11:27] life and it's who I am today and it has totally changed my life now and just like I said early about

[00:11:34] the foundation that my parents brought me up on is amazing and now that I'm pushing into the word

[00:11:40] of God on my own and seeing what they were teaching me come to life is just just awesome.

[00:11:46] Wow that's so good and in the gospel of John you know everybody's familiar with John 316

[00:11:53] about Jesus' love for us but earlier in that chapter John tells us that we must be born again

[00:12:02] Justin if you would explain to the audience what that means and how that knowledge

[00:12:09] impacted your life as a young person. Yeah coming into a new life it's pretty amazing I just think

[00:12:17] about it kind of just as um it kind of an old body in all these old things that I've done

[00:12:25] and then when I ask God into my life um how those can all fade away and he just picks up all

[00:12:30] those broken pieces and makes me think of a verse Jeremiah 18136 it's about the Potter

[00:12:39] and God Jesus kind of talks about can't I do what this potter did with this clay and born

[00:12:45] with back into what I had in purpose and what I had in the plans and just yeah I mean that's one

[00:12:51] of the verses I really think on a lot and it's honestly helping me so much just transforming my life

[00:12:57] just knowing that God is in my life and he's the one that's curating me and I'm saying

[00:13:03] not those bumps those things that aren't supposed to be there. Well that's so good and there may

[00:13:08] be some people listening today and you still have never made that decision and Justin's going

[00:13:14] to be talking about that later with you but what I'd like for you to think about is what the Bible says

[00:13:20] that when you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior all things have passed away so if you're

[00:13:29] living a life right now and you're a little bit ashamed a little bit embarrassed you know you don't

[00:13:35] want to talk to your parents about some of the things you're doing you're you're you're just you just

[00:13:41] know you're doing things that you shouldn't be doing Jesus invites you into a new life and all

[00:13:48] of those things that you're currently doing they can totally totally go away and what the Bible

[00:13:56] says is all things have become new. Now I will say this it's may not happen overnight the thing

[00:14:07] about it is we are three beings we have a spirit and your spirit will automatically change

[00:14:15] that is brand new however we still live in a body and that's not going to change at all

[00:14:24] and we have a soul and that is the part that God needs to work on. The soul is the mind, the will

[00:14:33] and the emotions many of you would consider it your personality. Now is that going to change over

[00:14:41] night? No that's the part that God has to work on just and explain how you changed when you gave

[00:14:49] your heart to Jesus. Yeah I mean I would say it was kind of a long process honestly for me you know

[00:14:56] God saved me at once but transformed my life over the years and it was as I let him come into my

[00:15:04] everyday life when I would start when I made it a decision to start reading the Bible and just

[00:15:11] pushing him to his word and just letting him really disciple me and just actually have a relationship

[00:15:19] with him without that relationship and knowing his word and not just depending on feelings when

[00:15:27] when I'm feeling down or just not having a good day I can turn to the word and read some

[00:15:33] scriptures and turn that around because his word is not changing it is always the same as yesterday

[00:15:39] it is today and so yeah just always pushing to that has helped me to pursue that relationship.

[00:15:46] Wow that's so good I'm going to go to the book of second Timothy chapter three and second

[00:15:51] Timothy chapter three tells us that every word of God is for reproof it's for instruction it's

[00:16:00] for our good and back in the 50 fifth chapter of Isaiah it says my word will never return void

[00:16:08] and it will accomplish what I set it out to do so just an as a young person 23 there may be

[00:16:16] some person people listening today that are relatively young if you would share with them

[00:16:22] your strategy for when you first began reading the Bible because that's one of the questions

[00:16:29] that people just don't understand just and a lot of reasons why people don't read the Bible

[00:16:34] is because it's so thick they have no idea where to go so what would you do to encourage the audience

[00:16:41] today yeah I'm not going to say that when I first started reading the Bible that it was what's

[00:16:47] easy I grew up dyslastic and so just kind of having relationship with God because of what my parents

[00:16:55] taught me definitely helped and so one day I just finally decided that I was going to read the Bible

[00:17:01] no matter what and it's just amazing when you make that decision even know that you're not

[00:17:06] understanding maybe the words that are in there because I mean say you started some one of the

[00:17:11] hard books in the Bible because you're like oh I'm gonna start here don't really know where I'll

[00:17:14] start but then God starts to teach you and you're starting to understand these certain words

[00:17:20] these different sayings that really just didn't make any sense at first maybe the first time

[00:17:24] you read it and then God just starts to speak to you it's just amazing how the words on the page

[00:17:30] can start to drum out at jump out at you and I just transformed your life well that's so good

[00:17:37] and if there's anyone listening today and and you're not familiar with the Bible I'm going to

[00:17:43] I'm going to point six books that I would encourage you to do first of all it's what my podcast is

[00:17:50] based on the book of Proverbs and you know just when this is how God works this is how God works

[00:17:57] Proverbs is conveniently separated into 31 chapters I just think that I've always thought that was

[00:18:05] amazing because that what that means is this if you have not read the Bible for three or four days

[00:18:12] and you wake up and today happens to be the 28th and you just open up the book the 28th

[00:18:21] Proverbs and you sit there and just read that Proverbs you're going to get something out of that

[00:18:29] days Proverbs I guarantee it you can also go to the book of Psalms or I suggest you go to the four

[00:18:37] gospels and if you want to pick out one in particular I would begin with the gospel of John

[00:18:45] So where did you start just and what is your plan for reading the Bible now as a 23 year old

[00:18:53] how do you go about reading scripture yeah I'm in Bible school right now and we have a Bible

[00:19:00] reading plan so we had to read through the Bible in a year and I just finished that probably about a month ago

[00:19:06] and really now I'm just starting in the book of Matthew and I'm reading the other way to

[00:19:12] the book of John and really just going back and forth between all those books and I just really

[00:19:17] want to push in and see how Jesus lived his life you know because I want I want to live as he did

[00:19:24] but I also want Jesus to live in me because me trying to live as Jesus did isn't going to do

[00:19:30] what I'm looking for but I have Jesus living in me he's the one that's going to influence my life

[00:19:36] but yes really just a meditating on those books and going through those multiple times before I

[00:19:42] move forward to different different books like Romans or something else like that wow that's so good

[00:19:48] now just let's switch to let's switch gears okay you have now graduated from high school

[00:19:55] what what what what what are you thinking when you graduated from high school I don't think you

[00:19:59] want to college so what exactly did you do you know when you're on your own nail

[00:20:06] yeah when I graduated high school I once said it was necessarily presumed my relationship with

[00:20:11] God yet I was always chasing something so I started chasing a gentleman rushes so whether that's

[00:20:19] mom biking, kiteboarding, snowboarding I really just lived a life of chasing adventure so when I first

[00:20:25] got high school I was teaching snowboarding I became a sea kite guide and I did a few other things

[00:20:33] in between all of that and then I built my bike and trails at a professional level and through

[00:20:39] all that I was constantly seeking something and but little did I know that was my relationship with God

[00:20:46] and so as I was you know building my bike and trails if I wasn't you know built a stack

[00:20:51] and a big jump or jumping off a big cliff with my mountain bike or going out kiteboarding

[00:20:58] and my gal horse winds meaning like 30 30 knots and jumping 40 feet in the air I was not

[00:21:04] content because if I went out and kiteboarded and there wasn't much wind there's just enough of wind

[00:21:08] to pump up my sail pulling me across the water I was like what am I doing out here and so that's

[00:21:15] when I started seeking my relationship after God and it was just amazing as I started to do that

[00:21:21] I was able to go out and do those things and be more content you know if I wasn't doing

[00:21:27] not jumping off like I said earlier off that big cliff I was able to just go ride my bike

[00:21:32] and just have a good day because beforehand if I was not mountain bike and kiteboarding

[00:21:37] afterwards we would have to go out and you know my body is maybe have a beer or something

[00:21:42] just to get my mind off of whatever I was thinking about the future because I didn't want to think about it

[00:21:47] and so and as I started pursuing my relationship with God I started to lose my desires for that

[00:21:55] and thoughts of like going into a do a y-way um which is kind of like a Bible school and admission work

[00:22:03] and then that door got closed for that and I ended up coming to care as Bible college

[00:22:09] and and for a season I think God kind of took me away from all those activities from mountain

[00:22:15] bike and kiteboarding kind of took that desire away and gave me a new desire which was pursuing

[00:22:21] my relationship with him and as I did that one of my friends actually siless is really helped me with

[00:22:28] I can add a religious mindset thinking when I'm you know coming into Bible school like I have to

[00:22:32] give all that away meaning kiteboarding mountain biking and all that but at the end of the day

[00:22:37] like God gives you the desires of your heart and so now when I'm doing all these things it's just awesome

[00:22:44] I can go out and just have the best day when the conditions aren't perfect when it's not super windy

[00:22:49] when the trails aren't super good and I can just go out of a good day and have a good relationship with God

[00:22:55] while I'm biking while I'm kiteboarding and so it's it's just been awesome

[00:23:00] well you know I really wanted you to stress that because I know a number of people feel that

[00:23:06] I don't want what you have to offer and a lot of times you know Christians can really be a

[00:23:14] little bit boring you know and a lot of times people think what you've got to do this and you've

[00:23:20] got to do this and I think a lot of times when people think about Christians that's what they think

[00:23:25] well I don't want to be put inside of a box and I think you kind of explain that well but if you

[00:23:33] would go in a little bit more detail about that yeah I would just say the life I live before

[00:23:42] chasing all those adventures and stuff was fun I had a good time but now that I have this relationship

[00:23:48] with God and I'm doing all that now I'm having so much more fun the relationships that I'm building

[00:23:55] are so much more meaningful I can tell that they're gonna life last a long lifetime

[00:24:00] and before with those with my friends that I was you know biking with there's just if we

[00:24:06] weren't biking it was just kind of awkward we just really have much to talk about is either

[00:24:11] talking about mountain biking or girls or drinking beer and that just wasn't where my heart was

[00:24:16] but I didn't know what else to do and so now now I can go out do those things and how about a

[00:24:23] better connection with other people now because I can share this new relationship that I have

[00:24:30] and and I can connect that with all my other hobbies and so yeah really just going out and

[00:24:36] enjoying what God has curated it has put into my life is just awesome and I want my favorite

[00:24:42] things is to be able to go out and mountain bike with someone and just share the love that God

[00:24:47] has given me and the new life that I have. Well that's so good and you know in the book of Ephesians

[00:24:54] this is a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus but what he said was that

[00:25:02] he has called some to be apostles some evangelists some prophets some pastors and some

[00:25:10] teachers but just not everyone in ministry has to be of those five people okay you can be a business man

[00:25:19] you can be an outdoorsman you can do anything you can you know there's all kinds of things what I

[00:25:26] really want to get across and just and I want you to kind of share with this with me is God has

[00:25:32] called everybody to a certain thing and I really think you know automatically what you have a

[00:25:41] passion for so for some of you if you were in a job and you feel it's a dead end job you don't

[00:25:48] enjoy it you go to work every day and hate going to work I believe God has something better in store

[00:25:57] for you and I think if you seek God in prayer and ask him God what am I passionate about look deep

[00:26:06] inside of when you were a young kid growing up what did you like to do what did you enjoy doing

[00:26:13] like Justin made reference to earlier God will give you the desires of your heart that's

[00:26:18] some 37 for you know but I think as you get closer to Jesus I think that your desires are going to

[00:26:28] line up with what he has in store for you what are your thoughts on that Justin yeah I would totally

[00:26:35] agree with that as you grow in that relationship with God and if you want to bring that

[00:26:42] relationship into your work schedule so maybe I think too is just like maybe at a time like

[00:26:48] I didn't sometimes I wouldn't like a job that I'm at but now that I have this relationship with

[00:26:54] God I could bring that back into that job and I know God God everything I touch prosperous

[00:27:01] and so going back into that job I could come back into that job with a new purpose and a new

[00:27:06] meaning and I think God would just you know and yeah with that new not new purpose that he brought

[00:27:13] into that job you would build to you share that how how that purpose came about to your co-workers

[00:27:20] and I just think that would be a really cool thing well it's good you know the thing about it is

[00:27:26] you know I'm gonna say this again a lot of people are unwilling to share God and a lot of people

[00:27:34] live life as Christians and when you're around your Christian friends you act one way

[00:27:39] and then when you get with people that are not Christians you act totally a different way

[00:27:44] and I don't think that is what God wants any of us to do you can be kind you can be gracious

[00:27:51] you can be loving towards anyone just and even if they're not unbelievers and that's how we are

[00:27:57] to be a difference the Bible tells us we're supposed to be the light of the world we're supposed

[00:28:03] to be the salt of the earth and frankly I think what that means just and is we're supposed to add

[00:28:09] flavor to our environment we can talk about God but if you don't want to talk about God just live

[00:28:19] life as though you are Jesus and just be kind be gracious be friendly to everyone what are your thoughts

[00:28:27] yeah I told you great it's just just living life as Jesus did going about your day just being

[00:28:34] nice to people when you go into the grocery store be kind to ask people how their day is going

[00:28:40] maybe growing a relationship with them right there in that grocery store and you know maybe get to

[00:28:45] get that chance to plant a seed and just just smiling and just being a light I think in really

[00:28:52] just impact people's life just by giving someone a good smile and that's exactly right so if you don't

[00:28:58] read the Bible all that much if you don't feel comfortable sharing the Bible don't and it's okay

[00:29:06] so anyway um okay you're a first year carous Bible college student and now you tell people you're on

[00:29:16] a Bible reading plan but how has carous impacted your life you're listening to the word of God

[00:29:24] on a regular basis we go to school every day four hours a day 20 hours a week tell the audience

[00:29:31] what that has been life and how impactal that change has taken in your life yeah um carous just

[00:29:41] honestly just been awesome how it's renewed my mind and I always say just like the teachings and

[00:29:46] everything has impacted my life dramatically but then also just the community that they have at

[00:29:52] the school is just amazing the friendships that I have just the people that are always encouraged me

[00:29:58] has just been amazing and I would say the biggest thing I've learned to since I've been at

[00:30:03] carous is just how to hear from God you know as we talked about earlier I grew up grew up in a

[00:30:08] Christian family my parents or pastor so I always heard people talking about how they hear here

[00:30:15] God's voice and I've always thought that as I wouldn't be in Belia or over here talking

[00:30:21] and so I kind of had to relageous minds at the only way I could hear God is this if it's this

[00:30:25] auto audible voice but really God has been speaking to me my whole life and I honestly I did know

[00:30:32] but because of what I had thought and how I should hear God's voice I wasn't able to hear God's voice

[00:30:39] and so coming in to carous as I was hearing Andrew Barry and Daniel Bennett teach it's just amazing

[00:30:47] how as I started to tune in to God's voice that that little small voice I hear almost every

[00:30:54] day 24 hours a day I would say it's just been amazing because it teaches me so much more because

[00:31:00] the word the word in the Bible is amazing but I'm not learning anything from that unless God

[00:31:05] is teaching me the Holy Spirit well so what you are getting ready to finish first year

[00:31:12] so what are your plans for the summer I'm really curious what are you planning on doing in about

[00:31:18] four weeks when school comes to an end yeah I'm glad you asked that so um you know we talked

[00:31:24] about high chased adventure a lot and coming into Bible school I thought I was going to let all

[00:31:30] of that go but now coming to the end of Bible school I'm going back to it I'll be teaching

[00:31:35] high boarding all summer four days a week just chasing that hobby to the fullest and bringing

[00:31:42] God with me and I'm super excited because every lesson is going to be eight hour lessons so I'm

[00:31:47] going to teach someone four hours each day and so just the relationships I'm going to build be able

[00:31:54] to build it's going to be amazing because number one I'm able to connect with these people because

[00:31:59] they have a desire to come out and kiteboard and I have a huge desire for that so it's just

[00:32:04] so much easier to connect with someone that has the same desires as you do and then I'll be able

[00:32:10] to share with them the new desire that I have the new relationship that I have and how much more

[00:32:15] fun I have now kiteboarding with this new friend that I have on my side all the time.

[00:32:20] That new friend is called Jesus you know once you invite him into your heart guys you know

[00:32:26] you're not going to really want to go anywhere without him so what you know Justin what does

[00:32:30] that mean to you because basically he actually lives inside of you now and what Jesus did right

[00:32:36] before he was getting ready to go he knew his time was coming to an end he knew that his life

[00:32:43] was going to be and he gave his life away and I want to make this point because they didn't take

[00:32:49] his life away from him he laid down his life they did not take it from him he purposely

[00:32:57] fulfilled the purpose and his purpose was he came here to die on a cross so that everyone

[00:33:06] listening is podcast today would have all of their sins forgiven he gave his life he took

[00:33:12] our place we deserve to die and yet he gave our place so so Justin what do you take with

[00:33:20] that knowledge going into the summer job that you're gonna have yeah I would say just with how

[00:33:29] he's coming to my life and transformed that really I mean when you were talking a verse I

[00:33:35] know no no first came into my but I think it's in progress or something but it just talks

[00:33:41] about how God was marred beyond recognizable and it's just when I think about that unrecognizable

[00:33:52] meaning so that that means he took my sickness your sickness and so when when when I say sickness

[00:33:57] I want you to think about like maybe like a tumor or just just for just for him hands or something

[00:34:03] is that he took that away and so I'm just excited to be able to share that with other people

[00:34:10] that what the problems that they're dealing with and maybe it's not just sickness maybe it's

[00:34:15] mental issues maybe it's finances God took all of that on the cross and so it's just amazing

[00:34:22] trying to get another good example but yeah just being maybe depression you know God took all

[00:34:28] of that on the cross and he's able to make that all disappear he already has well that's so good

[00:34:34] so Justin moving forward are you planning on coming back for a second year next year yeah so I'm

[00:34:40] planning on doing second year super excited about that but the one thing I am praying about

[00:34:45] and then actually get in pretty excited about is I'm planning on doing second year but I'm potentially

[00:34:51] thinking about doing it at the Grand Rapids campus and Michigan which is only 30 minutes away from

[00:34:57] where my family is and my mom became a chaplain about 10 years ago and I've heard her talk about

[00:35:04] that multiple times now and so what I'm thinking I'm going to do now is I'm going to go back to

[00:35:10] Michigan for the summer I'm going to pray about this this big decision coming up and if I decide

[00:35:17] to do the Grand Rapids campus I'm also going to do an internship as a chaplain and so that would

[00:35:24] be a 40 hours a week and I'm super excited because my mom's just a complete angel of awesome

[00:35:30] women of God and so just the influence that she will have in my life be able to work with her

[00:35:35] and all the other chaplains too and then also about to go to school and then put what I'm going

[00:35:42] to school into practice is this going to be a super awesome well that's so good okay Justin what I'd

[00:35:48] like for you to do is just share in a few moments you know you you live a different life that

[00:35:56] most people have because you were raised with the word of God you were raised knowing God

[00:36:03] you were raised in the church what would you say to someone who has never experienced that they do

[00:36:10] not know who Jesus is how important is it to have him in your life just share with the audience

[00:36:19] and try to draw out that they're understanding that it is worth having him in your life

[00:36:28] yeah you've heard me talk about my life for the last 20 minutes or however long it has been

[00:36:35] and you know growing up and see that relationship and just how how he came into my life and

[00:36:44] changed all of that and so yeah I would just like for you to look back on that maybe really listen

[00:36:49] to certain parts of that and you know knowing that you don't really know much about Jesus

[00:36:53] and that how he can impact your life thinking about what he did for me and thinking about it just

[00:37:00] as he can do that for you even though that you didn't grow up with the past with the pastors and

[00:37:06] your family because he is no respecter person so just because I have maybe a little more

[00:37:11] head knowledge that doesn't mean anything God could come into your life and just totally

[00:37:17] transform your life if you're dealing with anything you can turn that around for the better

[00:37:23] it makes me think about you know my parents split up and just how

[00:37:27] God when they split up I mean there is maybe a few bad things that came out of that

[00:37:32] but I tell you what there was more good things that came out of that because that's how God works

[00:37:37] he turns the bad things into good okay so what you would do now is ask if those people

[00:37:46] would like to entertain the idea of receiving Jesus today and go ahead and ask them to do that

[00:37:53] yeah so if you guys would like to ask Jesus in your heart I would love to just lead you in that and

[00:38:01] just as we go into that I just would say just come into a calm state of mind and just ask

[00:38:10] Jesus in your heart and say it's gonna go ahead and pray so God I ask you into my life ask you

[00:38:17] into my heart and just come into my life shape means you how you first want and need to be the first

[00:38:25] purpose that you want for my life and take all those other things away and thank you amen

[00:38:32] wow that's so good and thank you for doing that Justin thank you for coming on today I really

[00:38:37] appreciate it friends if there is anyone who repeated that prayer today I asked that you reach out

[00:38:42] to me on my Facebook page Bill Kelly KEL LE why and if you have any questions about anything

[00:38:50] you heard from Justin or myself today please reach out to me on messenger now may the Lord bless you

[00:38:57] and keep you the Lord make us say shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his

[00:39:04] cabinets upon you and give you peace friends please join me in the matter as we further explore