657. Steve August Shares his Personal Testimony (#2 - 5/16/23) - October 8, 2024

[00:00:06] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.

[00:00:21] Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you would open everyone's ears to hear and heart to receive everything you have in store for them through this podcast. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

[00:00:38] This is Proverb 8 beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:43] Does not Wisdom cry out and understanding lift up her voice?

[00:00:47] She takes her stand on the top of the high hill beside the way where the paths meet.

[00:00:54] She cries out by the gates at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors.

[00:01:00] To you, O men, I call. And my voice is to the sons of men.

[00:01:07] O you simple ones! Understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart.

[00:01:15] Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, and from the opening of my lips will come right things.

[00:01:22] For my mouth will speak truth.

[00:01:26] Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

[00:01:29] All the words of my mouth are with righteousness.

[00:01:33] Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.

[00:01:37] They are all plain to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.

[00:01:43] Receive my instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold.

[00:01:50] For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

[00:01:58] I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge and discretion.

[00:02:04] The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverse mouth I hate.

[00:02:15] Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom. I am understanding. I have strength.

[00:02:23] By me, kings reign, and rulers decree justice. By me, princes rule and nobles, all the judges of the earth.

[00:02:33] I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me.

[00:02:40] Riches and honor are with me. Enduring riches and righteousness.

[00:02:47] My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver.

[00:02:55] I traverse the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of justice.

[00:03:01] That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth. That I may fill their treasuries.

[00:03:08] The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

[00:03:15] I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth.

[00:03:23] When there were no depths, I was brought forth.

[00:03:26] When there were no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth.

[00:03:35] While, as yet, he had not made the earth or the fields, or the primal dust of the world.

[00:03:43] When he prepared the heavens, I was there.

[00:03:46] When he drew a circle on the face of the deep.

[00:03:50] When he established the clouds above.

[00:03:53] When he strengthened the fountains of the deep.

[00:03:56] When he assigned to the sea its limit.

[00:03:59] So that the waters would not transgress his command.

[00:04:03] When he marked out the foundations of the earth.

[00:04:07] Then I was beside him as a master craftsman.

[00:04:12] And I was daily his delight.

[00:04:15] Rejoicing always before him.

[00:04:18] Rejoicing in his inhabited world.

[00:04:21] And my delight was with the sons of men.

[00:04:24] Now therefore, listen to me, my children.

[00:04:29] For blessed are those who keep my ways.

[00:04:32] Hear instruction and be wise.

[00:04:35] And do not disdain it.

[00:04:37] Blessed is the man who listens to me.

[00:04:41] Watching daily at my gates.

[00:04:43] Waiting at the posts of my doors.

[00:04:46] For whoever finds me, finds life.

[00:04:49] And obtains favor from the Lord.

[00:04:52] But he who sins against me.

[00:04:55] Wrongs his own soul.

[00:04:58] All those who hate me.

[00:05:00] Love death.

[00:05:02] Well friends, I have a special.

[00:05:05] I have a special guest with me today.

[00:05:07] Steve August.

[00:05:08] And Steve, we just finished going over Proverb 8.

[00:05:12] And Proverb 8 is one of my.

[00:05:14] One of my favorite Proverbs.

[00:05:15] But if you would, please share with the audience.

[00:05:18] Which verse spoke to you today that you'd like to give a little bit of detail on.

[00:05:24] Well, I had a lot of great verses in all of Proverbs.

[00:05:28] And one of them, as I was looking through there.

[00:05:30] One of them sort of stood out.

[00:05:32] Because it's sort of.

[00:05:34] It's repeating one of my.

[00:05:37] You know, life verses that I have.

[00:05:40] So on Proverbs 8.

[00:05:42] The second part of 817.

[00:05:45] And says, and those who diligently seek me will find me.

[00:05:50] One of my.

[00:05:52] I guess.

[00:05:53] Life verses is Proverbs 29.

[00:05:55] 11 through 13.

[00:05:57] That, you know.

[00:05:59] Says for I know the plans I have for you.

[00:06:01] Declares the Lord plans for welfare and not for calamity.

[00:06:05] To give you a future and a hope.

[00:06:07] And then you will call on me.

[00:06:09] And come and pray to me.

[00:06:11] And I will listen to you.

[00:06:12] But it ends with in 13.

[00:06:14] And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

[00:06:20] So.

[00:06:21] Both of those.

[00:06:22] Refer to seeking God, but.

[00:06:25] It says you'll find them when you do it with all your heart.

[00:06:29] Or diligently.

[00:06:30] Is what it talks about.

[00:06:32] So it's.

[00:06:33] I mean, to me, you know, those verses are.

[00:06:36] Encouraging to you know that.

[00:06:38] God is, you know, wants good for our lives.

[00:06:41] And.

[00:06:42] And.

[00:06:43] Prosperous.

[00:06:43] And for.

[00:06:44] Health and welfare.

[00:06:47] Um.

[00:06:47] But.

[00:06:48] You know, we have a part to do.

[00:06:49] It just doesn't happen.

[00:06:50] Right?

[00:06:51] We got to seek him.

[00:06:52] And.

[00:06:52] We really do.

[00:06:53] Seek him.

[00:06:54] Seek him with all our heart.

[00:06:56] Yeah.

[00:06:56] And that was.

[00:06:57] That was the book of Jeremiah.

[00:06:58] Of course, Jeremiah is one of the old prophets.

[00:07:01] And you know, we have Isaiah.

[00:07:03] Jeremiah.

[00:07:03] And Ezekiel.

[00:07:04] And there's so much we can learn from each one of those.

[00:07:07] But before we start, I'd like to address the audience and just let people know that Steve

[00:07:14] is a returning guest.

[00:07:16] And it's been quite a while since you've been on Steve.

[00:07:19] Actually, you were on episode number 292, which is way back of May 16th of last year.

[00:07:28] But Steve, we actually have to go further back than that because I listened to your previous

[00:07:34] testimony yesterday, you know, preparing for today.

[00:07:37] And we actually met the week of Thanksgiving 2022.

[00:07:42] So it has actually been 22 months since we've been together.

[00:07:47] And it's been a long time.

[00:07:49] But one of the things I want to get across to the audience is Steve has agreed to join me and coming back.

[00:07:57] And so what I'm doing is getting about 18 or 20 people that will be coming on a recurring basis.

[00:08:05] And I've asked Steve to do that.

[00:08:07] And he has graciously accepted that offer.

[00:08:09] But Steve, one of the reasons I really wanted to get with you, and I know it's been a while,

[00:08:15] but I know as we continue to walk in the Lord that he continues to talk to us.

[00:08:21] And Steve, one of the questions I really want to get across is what has the Lord been dealing with you,

[00:08:28] maybe the last year, just a word, something at all, as you grow closer with him?

[00:08:34] What has he been speaking to you?

[00:08:37] Well, I would have to say that word is patience.

[00:08:41] You know, my nature is not to be patient, but to aggressively pursue things.

[00:08:53] And a lot of times that gets me in trouble.

[00:08:56] And when you're aggressively pursuing things, you're usually operating in a way that's not thoughtful or, you know,

[00:09:11] take your time and digest whatever happened to you, whether it's, you know, just being out in public

[00:09:19] and someone saying something to you or driving my car is the biggest thing, somebody not paying attention to what they're supposed to be doing.

[00:09:27] And, you know, you get mad at people.

[00:09:29] And so, yeah, that's always been a challenge for me.

[00:09:35] And so being patient and, you know, of course, being a teacher,

[00:09:41] sometimes students can get you, get you going because they're, they're not doing what they should be doing.

[00:09:48] And, but, you know, the thing is you need to have patience and not get, get upset about things,

[00:09:57] because you, once you start doing that, it affects me.

[00:10:02] And, and so, you know, I don't need to be reacting.

[00:10:05] I need to just think about that person or those people that, you know,

[00:10:12] who knows what they're going through or what their needs are.

[00:10:15] And, and of course, if we want to be serving God, we got to be thinking about other people, not ourselves.

[00:10:20] You know, that's really good.

[00:10:22] And Steve, you know, your, your point brings me to James chapter one, verse four.

[00:10:29] It says, but let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

[00:10:37] But then we go to verse five.

[00:10:39] It says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach,

[00:10:46] and it will be given to him.

[00:10:49] So Steve, I kind of want to make that connection with patience and wisdom.

[00:10:53] I think they are kind of intertwined.

[00:10:56] What are your thoughts on that?

[00:10:59] Yeah, for sure.

[00:11:01] You know, Proverbs is, is talks a lot about that.

[00:11:06] You know, cause I did, I have been studying Proverbs for quite a while, but you know, God's usually telling us to, you know,

[00:11:16] first of all, Proverbs is a lot about what we say and speaking, you know, in reaction to, you know, our feelings or the situation, but we're supposed to be slow to speak and quick to hear.

[00:11:31] And so, yeah, I, I sometimes don't do that.

[00:11:36] I just react.

[00:11:37] And that's not good.

[00:11:41] You know, it's so good.

[00:11:42] You know, it's so good.

[00:11:43] And you know, you just made reference to another verse in James, be slow to speak, quick, you know, be slow to speak and anger.

[00:11:52] And that's good.

[00:11:53] But I want to go to James chapter three, verse one, because one thing we did not talk about the first time you were on Steve is the fact that you are a teacher.

[00:12:02] A matter of fact, that's how we met.

[00:12:04] And we, we worked together at a, at a school in Oklahoma.

[00:12:08] I'm not going to mention the name, but you know, we were together for four years and in James chapter three, verse one, it says, my brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment.

[00:12:24] Steve, there is such a responsibility in teaching our youth of today.

[00:12:29] And so how do you use that verse to guide your teaching with your students?

[00:12:36] Well, maybe I should have read that verse before I took the job.

[00:12:43] Yeah, well, you know, you, I, I wanted to become a teacher and actually my major in college was in teaching.

[00:12:52] So I just, you know, I wanted to be able to help people because I know how much teachers slash coaches had an impact on me growing up.

[00:13:03] So I wanted to be able to be a positive impact role model for people and teaching was, you know, one way to do that.

[00:13:15] Okay.

[00:13:16] Okay.

[00:13:16] So what I'd like to do is go back to our previous podcast and many people don't know this, but one of the reasons that I had Steve on is Steve is the only person that I know that used to be a professional athlete.

[00:13:30] And I really kind of want to talk a little bit about that, Steve, you were a first round draft pick out of Tulsa University, I believe in 1977.

[00:13:41] And that's an awesome thing, but you actually played in the NFL for nine years.

[00:13:46] So if you would just share a little bit with the audience, how impactful that was in your life.

[00:13:54] Well, it was, you know, very impactful and it was a blessing to be able to, you know, that God blessed me with the talent and athletic ability to be able to go that far in sports.

[00:14:11] But it was also, there's a, it was a challenge and it actually made, you know, when I got drafted, it made me think about my relationship with God.

[00:14:23] Because in college, I was introduced to the Lord through one of my teammates, Hall of Famer Steve Largent.

[00:14:32] And he shared with me the four gospels or the, is that what it's called?

[00:14:39] You know, anyway, he shared with me and I prayed the prayer, the sinner's prayer to become a Christian.

[00:14:47] And, but I really didn't do anything with my life and change.

[00:14:51] I just knew that I was, wasn't going to hell, that I was going to heaven, which, you know, so I had, I had the fire insurance, as they say.

[00:14:59] And I never really studied the Bible or went to church.

[00:15:03] And after I got drafted in the first round, you know, I pretty much that I had accomplished a big goal.

[00:15:09] You know, my only goal pretty much in life to play professional sports.

[00:15:14] And so when I got to Seattle, I just had this empty feeling that, is this all, is this what it is?

[00:15:21] You know, because, I mean, even though it was great to be in the, in that, you know, arena and in the limelight, it still doesn't satisfy.

[00:15:33] You know, there's an emptiness in us all, and that's only going to be satisfied through a relationship with Jesus.

[00:15:43] And so at that point, I started being more diligent and started going to Bible studies and started reading the Bible.

[00:15:52] And then the other part of my life started to change.

[00:15:57] And I guess I wasn't as, as selfish, you know, as, as before and started thinking more other oriented, even though that's a very difficult task when we're always facing battles and things happening to us.

[00:16:15] And that's what we react to and want to take care of ourselves and want God to take care of us instead of looking at situations and seeing what, what is it, God, that you want me to do here or say to these people or say to this student?

[00:16:33] How can I encourage them?

[00:16:36] Um, so, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm started looking at things a lot differently.

[00:16:40] And, and of course my, my life was more, it was more fulfilling.

[00:16:45] Uh, and, and, you know, I discounted being in the NFL because it's not, you know, it's just a job that, that I was blessed to be able to do, but everybody has jobs and everybody makes an impact on other people.

[00:17:00] And being a, being a professional athlete or a superstar or a movie, you know, someone famous doesn't make them any better than, than you.

[00:17:11] Uh, so that's been a challenge, you know, because I'm a little bit prideful on what I've accomplished and what I did, but that's nothing to compare to some people that, you know, are diligently working for others and for the Lord.

[00:17:24] Um, you know, I want to, you know, I want to stop you right there, Steve.

[00:17:29] I want to go to the book of Colossians chapter three, uh, three, and I want to read two verses, verse 23 and 24.

[00:17:36] And it says, and whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ.

[00:17:52] Now that has a lot to do with what you just talked about.

[00:17:55] So what I'd like for you to do, Steve, is just explain to the audience how, whatever it is that you do in life, you should do it to the Lord and not for men.

[00:18:08] Yes.

[00:18:08] Well, that's, that's, that's a big challenge.

[00:18:12] Um, that, you know, because the reward is not, you're not going to see it soon.

[00:18:19] I mean, there are things God does work in your life and he will answer prayers and he'll put you in positions because, um, you know, that's what he's promised to, to take care of us.

[00:18:33] And, you know, if we seek him, uh, he will, you know, help us in times of need, but sometimes that doesn't happen.

[00:18:42] And you just got to be patient, you know, have that patience.

[00:18:46] Um, so yeah, I, um, I think the, the toughest thing about being a teacher is having patience with the children, uh, children.

[00:18:59] There are, some of them are adults.

[00:19:01] Most of my students are high school kids.

[00:19:04] So, um, and they just, you know, they look at things differently as, you know, I look at things differently than you do.

[00:19:10] Uh, we all do.

[00:19:12] So we've got to try to keep from imposing our thinking or our way of life on those that we're serving and just be, you know, give them grace.

[00:19:25] And encourage them, uh, because you get upset when you're supposed to be, you're, you're responsible for teaching them and them, they're learning and growing.

[00:19:35] And if you can't, if that, they're not doing that, then you're failing, but that's not really how God would measure us.

[00:19:41] Right.

[00:19:42] I mean, he wants us to be successful and wants us to be good workers and everything, but he really wants us serving others and not our own, you know, agenda or so that we can get a bonus because we've reached all the

[00:19:55] you know, the requirements or the, uh, the milestones that they put ahead of us.

[00:20:01] You know, Steve, I want to, I want to add something because what you're talking about is so vitally important.

[00:20:07] And my perspective when I'm dealing with kids is that they are looking to us.

[00:20:13] When you talk about high school students, you were talking about people who they are seeking answers in life.

[00:20:20] A lot of them are lost.

[00:20:22] They don't know exactly where they're headed and we need to be that barometer to them that they can look to for guidance.

[00:20:29] And we can't afford to go off the rails.

[00:20:34] You know, they can't see us getting upset, agitated by little things of life.

[00:20:38] And we need to set that guide for them.

[00:20:41] So I think that's kind of what you're talking about.

[00:20:44] Would you like to add anything to that?

[00:20:46] Yeah, no, it's, that's the challenge that, you know, that I think we, I face, you know, I'm sure most people do is that, you know, when you get up in the morning, you pray and you're thinking about yourself and what your plan is and what God wants you to do.

[00:21:00] But you're also thinking about what, what's good, good, good, good going to happen to you or what, you know, what you're going to receive.

[00:21:09] And, you know, you might not receive anything.

[00:21:12] You might receive a lot of bad news or a lot of difficulties.

[00:21:15] And that doesn't mean that God doesn't love you and that he doesn't care about you.

[00:21:20] It just means, you know, we're in a fallen world where sin prevails.

[00:21:27] And so we're out there just trying to fight the good fight, fight the battle.

[00:21:31] And so I guess we need to consider that more when we're, you know, doing what we're doing.

[00:21:37] Because, you know, sometimes you want to do what's easy and what you like, but that's not God's plan for us.

[00:21:46] He wants to use us and we're, and he uses us to, to influence and or to bless other people.

[00:21:54] You know, that's such a good point.

[00:21:56] And, you know, I'm going to go to the book of Acts chapter 20, verse 35, and it says,

[00:22:02] it's more blessed to give than to receive.

[00:22:06] And I think, Steve, that is such a foundational verse.

[00:22:09] And I think that's kind of what you're implying, is that we need to take the focus off of ourselves

[00:22:16] and put it strictly on other people.

[00:22:18] We are to be servants of God.

[00:22:21] And there's another verse in the Bible, and I'm not sure exactly which letter it is,

[00:22:25] but it says basically that we have been, our life is no longer ours,

[00:22:31] but we have been purchased through the blood of Jesus.

[00:22:35] And we are right basically to do Jesus's work.

[00:22:39] We are really not our own anymore.

[00:22:41] We belong to him, and we should be serving him in all we do.

[00:22:45] Your thoughts on that?

[00:22:47] Yeah, that's pretty much what we should be doing.

[00:22:51] But, you know, we, like I say, we end up reacting to things during the day instead of, you know,

[00:22:59] expecting, you know, things to happen.

[00:23:01] And then the way we should be reacting is thinking of others instead of ourselves.

[00:23:09] What, you know, or what does God really want me to be doing in this?

[00:23:13] As opposed to, how am I going to get through this without, you know, this causing too much pain?

[00:23:20] Or, you know, or this is not the way that I plan my day to happen.

[00:23:23] And, you know, I don't want to deal with this.

[00:23:25] I'm not in the mood to, you know, deal with unruly kids or, you know, people that won't,

[00:23:33] you know, students that don't want to do their work or they, you know, those things.

[00:23:38] But that's sort of what we're supposed to do as teachers is to teach.

[00:23:42] And sometimes that's not going to be possible.

[00:23:46] You know, establishing relationships is the most important thing that I try to do.

[00:23:52] But you get frustrated because they're not getting, you know, getting it or learning.

[00:24:01] And so, I mean, it's a challenge every day to make sure you're thinking of others and not yourselves.

[00:24:07] And you're not reacting to things that happen to you.

[00:24:11] But you're thinking about it.

[00:24:13] And then, okay, what do you want me to do here, God?

[00:24:17] You know, that is so good.

[00:24:19] And for anyone listening to the audience, I kind of want to throw this out there.

[00:24:24] Steve has actually said some very, very profound things.

[00:24:28] If you really think about what he's saying.

[00:24:31] But I always go to the question, Steve.

[00:24:33] I always go to the thing, what would Jesus do?

[00:24:37] So when circumstances in life come your way and you're sitting there, what on earth should I do here?

[00:24:44] Just ask, what would Jesus do in this situation?

[00:24:47] And I think the key, Steve, is not to overreact.

[00:24:51] And I think you brought that up eloquently a couple times.

[00:24:55] So what I'd like to do, Steve, is go totally off, change the path totally directly.

[00:25:01] But, you know, you were a member of the NFL for nine years.

[00:25:05] And what I'd kind of like to do is, if you would, just share with the audience some of the perks of being in the NFL.

[00:25:12] How has being in the NFL helped you?

[00:25:15] And what can you still benefit from being in that for nine years?

[00:25:19] What kind of, do you still see any of the people you played with?

[00:25:24] Oh, yeah.

[00:25:25] Yeah.

[00:25:28] I live in Tulsa and, you know, Steve Largent lives here.

[00:25:33] We just played golf last week, actually, with him and another one of my teammates from Tulsa.

[00:25:41] And so, you know, yeah, I still get around.

[00:25:43] We have an Oklahoma former players chapter that we raise money to give to high school.

[00:25:50] So we put on different events.

[00:25:53] And I'll be going to an event later this week over on the other side of the state to help raise some money.

[00:26:03] So that's, you know, one way that I stay involved.

[00:26:08] And so, yeah, I mean, there's the perks being, you know, that if you play, you know, when I played, we didn't make a whole lot of money.

[00:26:16] We worked in the off season back in the early days.

[00:26:21] So we still had to work once we got out of football.

[00:26:25] But I do get a pension.

[00:26:28] So I'm thankful for that, which is, you know, it's a nice, nice way to ease into retirement.

[00:26:38] So, yeah, there's, you know, just I tell you that the relationships are the nicest thing that you develop coming out of, you know, anything, you know, but sports, especially you've played sports.

[00:26:50] And you know how when you go through battles and you have to go through all of that heartache of preparing, practicing, blood, sweat, and tears, that sort of helps bond those people that you went through that together in a different way than just some people that have jobs.

[00:27:10] They don't interact or they don't suffer.

[00:27:13] So when you go through suffering with people, I think it has a way to bring people together.

[00:27:19] So that's what, that's one of the nice things I have.

[00:27:22] And, you know, being here in Tulsa, I go to the University of Tulsa games and I see a lot of my former teammates.

[00:27:28] And that's, those are always blessings to, you know, to reminisce and be around people that you really care for.

[00:27:39] You know, and the only thing I really can associate with what you're saying is my having gone to Karis Bible College.

[00:27:49] And of course, Judy and I graduated last year, May of 23.

[00:27:53] And I'm still in touch with some of those people.

[00:27:56] A matter of fact, a number of those people are going to be joining my team and coming on this podcast from time to time, just as you are.

[00:28:06] But I mean, you know, it's developing those friendships.

[00:28:09] And I often say this on my podcast is, Steve, it's important to have houses and cars, you know, and materialistic things.

[00:28:19] But nothing, nothing compares to relationships we have with people.

[00:28:23] Those are really the only important things in life.

[00:28:26] And I know you just said that, but, you know, I mean, for these people who, you know, have tragedy in their homes and, you know, a tornado might totally devastate everything that they have.

[00:28:38] The bottom line is, is their family safe?

[00:28:41] You know, have they lost anyone?

[00:28:43] And, you know, if you would just elaborate a little bit more about that and talking about loved ones and how we need to cherish the people that God has placed in our lives.

[00:28:54] Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, we just lost a neighbor a couple days ago, an older guy that, you know, that we've become real good friends with.

[00:29:06] And so, I mean, those are tough times.

[00:29:07] And his wife, you know, she, this, them, you know, they've got children, but she's gone through some really difficult times.

[00:29:14] And, and Kelly, my wife and I, more her, you know, she's made her some dinner and goes over and, you know, visit, visits with her.

[00:29:25] And I've been over there to deliver some food to her.

[00:29:28] So, you know, those are, when people are going through tough times, you know, you want to be, hopefully you have a good enough relationship that you can go help support them and encourage them.

[00:29:39] And sometimes it's not really saying anything.

[00:29:41] It's just being there for them.

[00:29:45] Well, you know, I'm going to go to 1 John chapter 4, and I'm going to go to verse 17.

[00:29:52] It says, love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.

[00:30:05] And of course, Steve, here we're talking about Jesus and how we are literally to be Jesus on earth today, not in heaven, but now on earth.

[00:30:16] We are to be like him.

[00:30:18] And I think you pretty much personify that in the way you go about living life.

[00:30:24] But is there anything you would like to add to that?

[00:30:28] Well, that's a, that's a tough challenge, you know, to get up every day and have that, be thinking about that when you have so much coming, coming against you.

[00:30:36] And, you know, no matter what job you have, you have bosses or, you know, people that are above you, and you have expectations of what you're supposed to do and, and, and them trying to make your, your company, your, you know, your work environment be the best that it can be.

[00:30:57] But it's, that's measured usually in dollars and cents.

[00:31:01] It's not measured in, you know, having an impact on people's lives.

[00:31:06] So, you know, we've got a challenge there every day to make sure we're operating, you know, in God's, you know, measurement and not the world's measurement.

[00:31:17] So that's, that's challenging, you know, because I'm, I'm a competitor and I love to win.

[00:31:24] And, you know, sometimes winning is not, not necessarily following what God wants you to do in thinking of others.

[00:31:37] So, yeah, you know, I, I want to do the best I can and help people, but I've found, just like I said, patience is, you know, the word that I'm focusing on and to, and on top of the patience thing is make sure I'm trying to develop relationships with those that I'm dealing with and not just always asking them to do something and to, you know, do something.

[00:32:03] Maybe they're not good at, or they don't understand.

[00:32:06] Okay, Steve, I've really enjoyed this, but one of the promises that I've made to myself is that I'm going to keep these short and simple.

[00:32:16] So we are going to be on again, and it's probably going to be around four months from now, but I'm going to give you two minutes.

[00:32:23] So what I'd really like to do is stress to people who are still on the fence.

[00:32:28] They've never received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

[00:32:31] Tell them the need to have Jesus and close us with a quick prayer.

[00:32:39] Yeah, well, I would say that if you have, if you don't have a feeling that you are accepted, that you're loved, that you're, you're valued.

[00:32:58] You might be chasing after things that you might think are going to help you be loved, be valued.

[00:33:06] You know, and those things like, like I did, I pursued sports to the, you know, the best that I could.

[00:33:14] And when I made it to the top, it wasn't all that it's cracked up to be, and it wasn't fulfilling.

[00:33:22] And we, as God-created human beings, need to have relationship with God who created us.

[00:33:33] And that only happens through Jesus Christ being in our lives.

[00:33:38] And even though I accepted the Lord years before I was in the NFL, I really didn't have that relationship.

[00:33:46] So, you know, the relationship is the thing that satisfies and fulfills our purpose in life.

[00:33:52] But once you have that relationship, if you develop it, you're going to be doing things that are going to be thinking of others more than yourself.

[00:34:00] And that's a challenge daily, but it's, you know, gives you the most satisfaction to know that you've helped somebody become better in whatever they're doing and or help somebody connect with God.

[00:34:15] That is the ultimate treasure that you can probably have on earth.

[00:34:23] Okay.

[00:34:24] Just go ahead and lead us in a prayer, Steve.

[00:34:26] All right, Lord, we just thank you for Bill and his ministry and his desire to serve you and with these podcasts.

[00:34:36] And I just pray that you would bless him and bring those that need to hear the word to his podcast, that you would give him strength and endurance and understanding as he prepares and does his work daily.

[00:34:53] And I'm just thankful for him.

[00:34:55] And I just pray that you'd speak to those, help them to see who you are and to be able to become part of your kingdom.

[00:35:04] In Jesus' name, I pray.

[00:35:06] Amen.

[00:35:06] Thank you, Steve.

[00:35:07] And I'll see you again soon.

[00:35:08] I'm going to close with a blessing.

[00:35:10] Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

[00:35:13] The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

[00:35:18] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[00:35:22] Friends, please join me again tomorrow as we further explore wisdom today.