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Speaker 1: The world is becoming increasingly proficient at telling stories that

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Speaker 1: deny God. As such, we need Thinking Christian to become

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Speaker 1: as natural as breathing. Welcome to the Thinking Christian podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm doctor James Spencer. Through calm, thoughtful theological discussions, Thinking

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Speaker 1: Christian highlights the ways God is working in the world

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Speaker 1: and questions the underlying social, cultural, and political assumptions that

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Speaker 1: hinder Christians from becoming more like Christ. Now on to

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Speaker 1: today's episode of Thinking Christian. Hey, everybody, welcome to this

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Speaker 1: episode of Thinking Christian. I'm doctor James Spencer, your host,

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Speaker 1: and I am joined today by Nate and Dylan, and

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Speaker 1: I'm going to let Nate introduce Dylan. They work together

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Speaker 1: a little bit in a skateboard ministry in Kansas City,

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Speaker 1: if I'm getting that all right, and so they know

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Speaker 1: each other pretty well.

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Speaker 2: So I'm going to let Nate go ahead and introduce

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Speaker 2: our guest.

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Speaker 3: Nate feel free, super excited to have my buddy Dylan on.

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Speaker 3: We've known each other for years, skateboarded together for years,

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Speaker 3: and we've been doing ministry now together for quite a

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Speaker 3: while and it's been a big blessing in my life.

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Speaker 3: As you guys know, I had a skape ministry here

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Speaker 3: in town for many years, and right around the time

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Speaker 3: I kind of put that on the shelf to start traveling,

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Speaker 3: he was starting his But he's been doing ministry for

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Speaker 3: a long time and it's been a blessing to me,

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Speaker 3: to my son, to a lot of my old friends.

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Speaker 3: I'm just constantly inviting people on Tuesday. So welcome Dylan.

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Speaker 3: Thanks for joining us. Excited to talk about varsity and

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Speaker 3: skate church, KSE and everything that you got going on.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, thanks for having me.

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Speaker 5: I think one cool thing we could talk about is

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Speaker 5: when we started doing the skate ministry in Kansas City.

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Speaker 4: I think it's such a cool not coincidence.

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Speaker 5: Obviously God was in it, but I believe we started

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Speaker 5: doing it like the month after you guys had kind

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Speaker 5: of like taken a break from doing.

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Speaker 4: It, which we didn't know at the time.

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Speaker 5: I remember moving to Kansas City from Springfield and literally

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Speaker 5: it was like, man, we've been doing this Bible study

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Speaker 5: thing in Springfield for so long, how do we finally start.

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Speaker 4: It here in Kansas City?

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Speaker 5: And I remember it was myself, I want to say,

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Speaker 5: two or three other friends in a coffee shop at

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Speaker 5: an indoor skate park. I had no idea that you

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Speaker 5: guys had recently just like taken a break from it.

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Speaker 5: So it's super cool to see, you know, God knew

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Speaker 5: that needed to be skate ministry in case he's so

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Speaker 5: bad that he's like, I'm not even gonna allow like

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Speaker 5: a little break to happen in between.

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Speaker 4: You're just going to keep it going absolutely.

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Speaker 1: So Yeah, I'll just ask a couple of questions. I

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Speaker 1: just kind of helped me frame it. I'm not I

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Speaker 1: skateboarded when I was younger, and I use that really loosely.

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Speaker 2: I was horrible. My wife knows this, you know.

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Speaker 1: I lift just a look athletic, but anything that doesn't

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Speaker 1: involve moving in a straight line in a relatively stable fashion,

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Speaker 1: I have trouble with.

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Speaker 2: So so I don't know. I'm wondering what you guys see.

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Speaker 1: Is skateboarding sort of a a really is it a

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Speaker 1: growing niche area or is it you know, has it's

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Speaker 1: just sort of gone underground because I remember when I

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Speaker 1: was a kid it was all over the place, and

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Speaker 1: it doesn't really feel like it that way now. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you had movies about skateboarding, and like thrashing is one

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Speaker 1: of my favorite old you know skateboarding movies, right, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and so you had like thrashing out and you had

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Speaker 1: the you know, a bunch of different like skaters that

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Speaker 1: you'd see at video games all that kind of stuff.

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Speaker 1: Is it still that part of the culture where you know,

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Speaker 1: there's a broad base of people skateboarding or is this

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Speaker 1: more of a niche group of people who are who

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Speaker 1: are just still continuing it and it's a little bit

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Speaker 1: more underground than you used to be.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, that's a good question. I do have some statistics

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Speaker 5: that I'll kind of give in some analytics behind that.

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Speaker 4: Cool.

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Speaker 5: I think when you start and you look back, like

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Speaker 5: when I started skating, it was early two thousands, and

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Speaker 5: I grew up in a small town about an hour

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Speaker 5: south of Kansas City, and I remember when they built

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Speaker 5: the first skate park there. I played a bunch of

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Speaker 5: traditional sports, but I'd never seen like a skate park

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Speaker 5: in person except on like a Tony Hawk game or

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Speaker 5: like MTV. So I remember for me, I was just

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Speaker 5: like so fascinated. And when I share a little bit

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Speaker 5: about my story, I'll share why I was spending so

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Speaker 5: much time there. But when I think back then, I

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Speaker 5: could tell another skateboarder in school.

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Speaker 4: By looking at their shoes.

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Speaker 5: It was like me and like three other people right

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Speaker 5: that were like, oh, you've got on vans, you have

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Speaker 5: to skate, whereas everyone else is wearing something a little

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Speaker 5: bit different. Fast forward to today, we've definitely seen an uptick,

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Speaker 5: one with it becoming in the Olympics right in twenty twenty. Yeah,

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Speaker 5: there's an athlete that was on there that when she

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Speaker 5: entered into the Olympic Games from when she ended, I

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Speaker 5: want to say she gained three or four million followers

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Speaker 5: just over those few.

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Speaker 4: Days of the Olympics.

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Speaker 5: A really cool statistic too, is there's a lot of

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Speaker 5: younger girls that have started skateboarding, where before it's been

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Speaker 5: a pretty male dominated sport. And so the stat that

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Speaker 5: I love to share, there's roughly four hundred and forty

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Speaker 5: million action sports athletes in the US. And one of

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Speaker 5: the reasons that we start our organization and one of

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Speaker 5: the stats we share most of them Christianity, is counterculture

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Speaker 5: to the way that they live.

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Speaker 4: Their everyday life.

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Speaker 5: I can speak from myself like I am more relevant

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Speaker 5: to go to the skate park when I was younger

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Speaker 5: on a Sunday than I would ever want to go

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Speaker 5: to church, because when I go into a church, nobody

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Speaker 5: looks like me. Nobody's really interested in the things that

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Speaker 5: I'm in. It's hard to have a conversation with somebody

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Speaker 5: else when you're like just so ingrained in the culture

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Speaker 5: of action sports. So really one of the goals with

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Speaker 5: our ministry is how do we be that common ground,

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Speaker 5: that common person and connect with somebody right there at

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Speaker 5: what I would say is their home.

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Speaker 4: A lot of people would say their local skate park

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Speaker 4: truly is like their safe space. So how do we

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Speaker 4: get them there, build a relationship and get to know

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Speaker 4: them a little bit better?

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Speaker 5: And I think Nick could agree with this, but we're

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Speaker 5: seeing a lot more skaters that not only are at

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Speaker 5: skate parks, but we're seeing people that are more open

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Speaker 5: to sitting down to listen to who Jesus is, whether

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Speaker 5: that's a Bible study or just having a quick conversation.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the cool thing is James, and I don't know

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Speaker 3: if I've shared this with you, but we meet some

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Speaker 3: initial needs right off the bat, and even if it

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Speaker 3: takes a couple of weeks to kind of build the

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Speaker 3: bridge and kind of connect the dots with people and

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Speaker 3: let them get to know. We show up at a

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Speaker 3: park and we're there for the whole month. Every Tuesday

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Speaker 3: in that month at a different park in Kansas City.

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Speaker 3: We always bring pizza over food, and we have a

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Speaker 3: cooler full of water, and so usually if kids forget

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Speaker 3: their water bottles or if they're hungry, they're.

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Speaker 6: Like, oh, there's pizza over there. So even if they're

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Speaker 6: skeptical of like.

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Speaker 3: I don't know if I want to sit down and

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Speaker 3: do that Bible study thing, but once they skate with

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Speaker 3: us for a couple of weeks, we've seen it where

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Speaker 3: they kind they'll kind of get closer and kind of

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Speaker 3: earshot to listen, and then slowly they'll kind of eventually

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Speaker 3: come over to us, which is awesome. But it's just

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Speaker 3: it kind of breaks down those barriers and it's really cool.

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Speaker 3: Like you said, Dylan, when I first moved here in

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Speaker 3: ninety six, for my senior year, we had one skate park.

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Speaker 6: In Kansas City.

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Speaker 3: So to speak of how it's grown, James, like, now

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Speaker 3: all these years later, we have over thirty in Kansas City.

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Speaker 3: I used to drive to Lawrence every weekend and any

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Speaker 3: chance I could forty five miles from here just to

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Speaker 3: skate we would save up money, will get a ride, whatever.

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Speaker 3: So it definitely has grown, and I'm so excited. I

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Speaker 3: love how intentional Dylan's ministry is. He also has this

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Speaker 3: share how many people it is Dylan But on Instagram

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Speaker 3: he sent these inspiring little mini DeVos, and it's like

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Speaker 3: a way.

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Speaker 6: That I start my day.

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Speaker 3: It's always like, oh, I need to read what Dylan

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Speaker 3: said because it's always encouraging and uplifting to me. But

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Speaker 3: these kids are really engaging with it. They're giving prayer requests.

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Speaker 3: It's really cool because, like he said earlier, a lot

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Speaker 3: of these kids don't really have a whole lot of support,

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Speaker 3: and that's why I originally wanted to start skate ministry

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Speaker 3: back in two thousand.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just interesting, I think, you know, for somebody

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Speaker 1: like me who has never really involved in it in

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Speaker 1: any serious way, to understand how much it's grown is

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Speaker 1: just helpful.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 1: My only linkage back to skateboarding was like Tony Hawk,

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Speaker 1: and I know he's still around, but I'm guessing there

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Speaker 1: are other skateboarders that I'm not aware of.

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Speaker 2: I guess what I'm saying, But that's awesome.

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Speaker 1: I think that's fantastic so you go out to these

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Speaker 1: skateboard parks in Kansas City on you know, various days

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Speaker 1: of the week, you build relationships with the skaters who

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Speaker 1: are there, and then how how does skate Church sort

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Speaker 1: of evolve from that?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, that's good.

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Speaker 5: So when you look at the mission of our organization,

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Speaker 5: we keep it really clean, clear cut. It's to teach

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Speaker 5: equipment and power, and we do that in a twofold sense.

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Speaker 5: So one is I love skateboarding, I also love ministry obviously,

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Speaker 5: super passionate about following Jesus. So kind of on the

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Speaker 5: surface level of our mission statement when it comes to teaching,

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Speaker 5: one of the things we'll do our free skate camps,

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Speaker 5: so we'll teach kids how to skate.

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Speaker 4: The goal with that.

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Speaker 5: Is to bring in underserved kids with other organizations we

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Speaker 5: partner with, whether it's Big Brother and Sister, Hope Center,

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Speaker 5: Casey Operation Breakthrough, and let them experience something different, something challenging.

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Speaker 5: I believe that being a skateboarder has helped me learn

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Speaker 5: how to persevere through so much in life. And if

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Speaker 5: you've ever been on a skateboard, if you've ever tried

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Speaker 5: a kick flip, it does not happen in the first

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Speaker 5: ten tries, it takes weeks, it takes months.

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Speaker 4: You're going to fail, but.

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Speaker 5: What you're also going to learn is how to persevere,

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Speaker 5: how to change things, and you just have a better

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Speaker 5: feeling to win in the end. So we teach them

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Speaker 5: at skate camps. We equip them with free boards, helmets,

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Speaker 5: sometimes shoes, clothing if they need it, and then on

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Speaker 5: the back end of that, we empower them to also

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Speaker 5: be a good citizen, you know, overall, and help encourage

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Speaker 5: somebody else to do something that they love a little bit.

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Speaker 5: On that deeper level, what we do is then we

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Speaker 5: get to know people and we invite them back into

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Speaker 5: what we call skate church. And skate church when we

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Speaker 5: started hearing Kansas City, if I can be honest, was

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Speaker 5: filling a need for me. I knew a lot of

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Speaker 5: people in Kansas City that skated, But when it came

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Speaker 5: to finding like a legitimate Bible study life group with

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Speaker 5: people that I enjoyed being around that we kind of

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Speaker 5: share the same passions, there wasn't anything. So I met

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Speaker 5: two guys that I've kind of known that are faithful believers,

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Speaker 5: and we started meeting at a coffee shop and the

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Speaker 5: mission change and I went a little bit deeper. So

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Speaker 5: now we're just not only teaching people how to skate,

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Speaker 5: but we're teaching them who God is and also how

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Speaker 5: He calls them to live in their everyday life. We're

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Speaker 5: equipping them not only with a trusted mentor somebody that

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Speaker 5: can help guide them through their spiritual journey, but we're

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Speaker 5: also giving people by we partner with the U Version

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Speaker 5: Bible app and be given away over one hundred and

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Speaker 5: ninety thousand devotionals in the last five years, and we're

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Speaker 5: giving out Bibles to skateboarders at skate parks all the time.

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Speaker 5: One of my favorite stories we had a dude come back.

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Speaker 5: He's in his twenties, hadn't seen him for three or

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Speaker 5: four years, and he pulled out this Bible that I

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Speaker 5: got on Amazon and ended up giving him like three

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Speaker 5: or four years ago, and he's like, I still have it.

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Speaker 4: I've written all over it.

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Speaker 5: Because you always wonder, like am I just giving this?

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Speaker 5: And you know where's it going to end up? And

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Speaker 5: the last thing we do is we empower people not

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Speaker 5: just to know and understand who Jesus is, but to

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Speaker 5: follow out the great commission of Matthew twenty eight and

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Speaker 5: to make disciples specifically where God has called them to be.

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Speaker 5: Man we're a big advocate for the local church and

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Speaker 5: also for our community. I believe you don't have to

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Speaker 5: fly go overseas to make a difference or be a missionary.

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Speaker 5: I believe the second you wake up in the morning

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Speaker 5: and your feet hit the floor.

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Speaker 4: That's your mission field.

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Speaker 5: And so I always encourage and kind of challenge the

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Speaker 5: leaders of the volunteers or even the people that just attend

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Speaker 5: Skate Chard of like, hey, who's in your life that

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Speaker 5: you see every single day that you can be a

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Speaker 5: missionary to? Who can you be Jesus to? Because you

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Speaker 5: may be the only Jesus somebody else sees. So it

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Speaker 5: did start pretty loosely, but we've recognized we try to

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Speaker 5: be as intentional as we can, just to make sure

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Speaker 5: that we're not just hanging out because I think, you know,

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Speaker 5: ten fifteen years ago, we were very cultural Christians, and

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Speaker 5: I see it now like gen Z and jen A,

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Speaker 5: they want intentional. They don't want the big show we

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Speaker 5: feel good. They really want to know who Jesus is,

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Speaker 5: want practical steps of how to follow him.

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Speaker 1: So, like when you talk about skate Church, here's what

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Speaker 1: I picture in my head. So you're going to have

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Speaker 1: to change the perception, right. I'm an Old Testament guy,

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Speaker 1: So I've been over to Israel a couple of times,

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Speaker 1: and you know, when you go up on the amount

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Speaker 1: of olives, you see you kind of where Jesus sat

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Speaker 1: and there's this you know, sort of and what it

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Speaker 1: reminds me of is like somebody standing on the top

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Speaker 1: of a half pipe and everybody else sitting on the

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Speaker 1: inside of the half pipe and delivering a sermon.

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Speaker 2: Is that how skate church works? Yeah, like the ramp exactly.

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Speaker 4: I would say we've probably done a few like that.

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Speaker 5: I also recognize what it's like to be on the

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Speaker 5: other side of when something like that is going on.

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Speaker 5: I was pretty resistant to skateboard for a while, and

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Speaker 5: so one of the easiest ways we can show honor

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Speaker 5: and respect is actually by stepping off to the side

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Speaker 5: of a skate park, still allowing the locals to have

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Speaker 5: that whole space. The last thing I want to do

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Speaker 5: is like come in as conquerors. Right, Jesus came in

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Speaker 5: and is a loving way. He didn't come down and

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Speaker 5: necessarily strike us in that moment, So I don't want

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Speaker 5: to be eating on what they have going on.

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Speaker 4: Even from a mental health standpoint.

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Speaker 5: Man, I know skateboarding is such like an escape for people,

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Speaker 5: and so there's some people that I hope they get

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Speaker 5: to know Jesus. But the thing they probably need right

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Speaker 5: now is ten minutes of the skate park where they

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Speaker 5: can just blow off some steam. So if we can

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Speaker 5: allow them to be able to do that and then

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Speaker 5: still offer a space where we're there, we can build

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Speaker 5: that common ground, that relationship to share you know, longer, hope,

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Speaker 5: longer peace of just going and skating at the park.

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Speaker 5: We want to be a able to do that as well.

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Speaker 3: One thing I absolutely love that I wanted to share

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Speaker 3: is like when we come into a new skate park,

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Speaker 3: say the first Tuesday of next month, when we go

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Speaker 3: out to Least Summit, We're going to run into kids

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Speaker 3: that maybe have never seen us before.

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Speaker 6: So kids that I haven't met, that Dylan hasn't met,

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Speaker 6: or vice versa. But there's a whole team of leadership.

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Speaker 3: It's so cool to see sometimes and you can speak

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Speaker 3: to this to Dylan, but sometimes on the first Tuesday,

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Speaker 3: kids will kind of be like, what's going on? Why

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Speaker 3: are there is is this a birthday party, like why

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Speaker 3: are they bringing coolers and pizzas?

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Speaker 6: And then they'll see us like.

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Speaker 3: Step off to the side, and some kids are like sweet,

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Speaker 3: Like now we have the skate park to ourselves because

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Speaker 3: like all of a sudden, fifteen kids just got off

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Speaker 3: the park for ten minutes. Some kids will stay, but

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Speaker 3: then you can kind of see kids kind of edge

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Speaker 3: and get closer and try to get with an earshot

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Speaker 3: and figure it out. I love that we have the

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Speaker 3: opportunity to break down misconceptions because the reality is these

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Speaker 3: kids could have not gone to church ever, or they

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Speaker 3: might have gone to church, and they think it's something

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Speaker 3: that is totally not We have no idea, so we

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Speaker 3: literally get to break down those walls and those misconceptions

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Speaker 3: just through meeting a couple needs, but also just showing up.

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Speaker 6: And building relationships with kids. And that's what fires me up.

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Speaker 3: If I ever have to miss a Tuesday for work

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Speaker 3: or something, I'm super bummed because it's like my favorite

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Speaker 3: thing in the whole world. So I'm super grateful for

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Speaker 3: Dylan and all that he does with his organization, and

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Speaker 3: it's awesome.

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Speaker 6: We're seeing God move where, seeing relationships being built, so.

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Speaker 2: It's great well, I sort of get so I'm interested. Dylan.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned earlier you were talking about, you know, why

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Speaker 1: what skateboarding meant to you when you were younger, And

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Speaker 1: I mean just I was never great at sports, Like

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Speaker 1: I said, I'm not athletic at all. But I found

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Speaker 1: weight training when I was fourteen, and I would say

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Speaker 1: I would speak about it in the same way year

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Speaker 1: speaking about the skate park, like the gym was my home.

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Speaker 2: I'd go there after school.

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Speaker 1: I'd spend two three hours there in the weight room,

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Speaker 1: Like you know, you just lift, you get some of.

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Speaker 2: That stress out, you're enjoying yourself.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, there's other guys there and you're hanging out and

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Speaker 1: you're bantering or whatever. But it was really just a

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Speaker 1: solo activity for me to get away from everything and

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Speaker 1: do something that I was enjoying. And it sounds like

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Speaker 1: that's kind of what it was for what it is

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Speaker 1: for a lot of you know what skating is for

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Speaker 1: a lot of kids now.

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Speaker 2: But I'm wondering what your experience was with that. How

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Speaker 2: you why skating was so crucial for you.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, no, that's a great question. When I was twelve

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Speaker 4: thirteen years old, like I said, our town had built

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Speaker 4: a skate park. And I remember the reason we got

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Speaker 4: into skating.

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Speaker 5: I had an old skateboard, maybe from Toys r US

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Speaker 5: or something, you know, I got for like a random

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Speaker 5: Christmas thing.

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Speaker 4: It's probably on sale.

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Speaker 5: And I had this friend that someone did a trick

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Speaker 5: on Tony Hawk pro skater when we were playing, and

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Speaker 5: my friend was like, I could do that, and we

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Speaker 5: were like, no, you cannot, you can, And so literally

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Speaker 5: like we went and got this board, probably deep from

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Speaker 5: under my bed or out in the garage, and just

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Speaker 5: kind of started rolling around on it. And what I

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Speaker 5: found out later in life is through that time, my

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Speaker 5: father at home, he was struggling a lot with alcoholism

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Speaker 5: and addiction, and actually addiction runs in our families. So

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Speaker 5: having an addictive personality is just something that like I have,

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Speaker 5: and I think a lot of skateboarders have too, or athletes.

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Speaker 4: Or high performing anybody, right.

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Speaker 5: And so at that time, I actually played traveling baseball,

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Speaker 5: played some football and really enjoyed doing it. But what

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Speaker 5: I found is when I would go to the skate park,

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Speaker 5: there's something different about being alone and kind of challenging yourself. Right,

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Speaker 5: My win isn't necessarily it doesn't matter if it's on

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Speaker 5: somebody else, it's fully me. There's no other teammate that's

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Speaker 5: going to pick me up, there's no other teammate that's.

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Speaker 4: Going to fail. It truly is just me.

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Speaker 5: And so I fell in love with skateboarding the aspect

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Speaker 5: of that way. But the reason I kept going back

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Speaker 5: to the skate park it was actually easier to see

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Speaker 5: what was going on at the skate park than what

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Speaker 5: was going on at home, because not only was there

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Speaker 5: alcoholism and addiction, but there's a little bit of domestic

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Speaker 5: violence that were going on, and tensions were just high,

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Speaker 5: Like I could feel addition as I walked in and

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Speaker 5: I went home.

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Speaker 4: And so a lot of times it was me.

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Speaker 5: Going to high school, going to the skate park early

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Speaker 5: in the morning, staying at the skate park until the

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Speaker 5: sun went down, and even led me to a place

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Speaker 5: to where when I was seventeen eighteen years old, started

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Speaker 5: making a little bit of money skating, was kind of

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Speaker 5: working some odd jobs, moved out to my parents' house

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Speaker 5: actually early so my senior year of high school was

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Speaker 5: living with one of my friends who also raced motocross.

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Speaker 5: Was kind of living like the action sports dream. I

400
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Speaker 5: always tell people I got to live the pro skateboarder

401
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Speaker 5: lifestyle without.

402
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Speaker 4: The money or like the board or anything like that.

403
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Speaker 5: Like every weekend we were, you know, partying, thought we

404
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Speaker 5: were doing everything that was going to make us feel good.

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Speaker 5: And I remember there was a specific point in my life.

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Speaker 5: I'd kind of grown up going to church, but I

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Speaker 5: didn't really know who Jesus was. If I could be

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Speaker 5: honest to the church I went to. I saw people

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Speaker 5: act one way on a Sunday and they were completely

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Speaker 5: different Monday through Saturday. And so even as a schooler,

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Speaker 5: it's like this is fake. This seems fake. But I

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Speaker 5: remember there's a time my life.

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Speaker 4: Where we were at this party, had skated.

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Speaker 5: All day when to this party, and I blacked out

415
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Speaker 5: and I woke up and I remember everybody had left me,

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Speaker 5: like in the middle of this field, and I remember

417
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Speaker 5: waking up and everything was just pitch black. And my

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Speaker 5: thought on that moment was, Lord, if you're real, if

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Speaker 5: this is all that is for my life, I don't.

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Speaker 4: Want to do it anymore. And if you are real,

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Speaker 4: I need you to show up.

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Speaker 5: And the best way that I can explain it to

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Speaker 5: people is it's almost like he increased the brightness of

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Speaker 5: that time by like ten or fifteen percent, just like

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Speaker 5: this beacon of like, hey, just just hold on, and

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Speaker 5: so got up, started walking. Eventually got a way back

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Speaker 5: to the place that I was staying at. Didn't remember

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Speaker 5: a whole lot that had happened the night before, and

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Speaker 5: it actually ended up getting kicked out of the place

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Speaker 5: that I was staying at, so kind of was living

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Speaker 5: in my car for a few days. And literally the

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Speaker 5: next day I had a and call me and he said, Hey,

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Speaker 5: I do this thing called Action Sports Ministry.

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Speaker 4: We have an event coming up in Houston.

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Speaker 5: I would love to have you join us as talent,

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Speaker 5: but I don't want you to speak to anybody while

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Speaker 5: you're there. And I was like, in hindsight, I was like,

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Speaker 5: for sure, that is exactly what I would have done too.

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Speaker 5: And so this couple I got to go stay with them,

440
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,440
Speaker 5: got to live in their couch, and there were two

441
00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:28,440
Speaker 5: things that they wanted from me. They said, Hey, one,

442
00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:30,520
Speaker 5: you have to go to church with us on Sunday

443
00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:32,440
Speaker 5: until you have to go to Bible study with.

444
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:33,400
Speaker 4: Us on Wednesday.

445
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,480
Speaker 5: And I'd never seen anybody read a Bible outside of church.

446
00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:39,280
Speaker 5: I didn't even know that was like legal, that you

447
00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:40,560
Speaker 5: could open your Bible.

448
00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:44,320
Speaker 4: Outside of church. But for the first time in my life.

449
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:48,840
Speaker 5: I got to see a healthy, godly marriage between two people.

450
00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:51,280
Speaker 5: I got to see people that didn't just talk about

451
00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:52,640
Speaker 5: who Jesus was, but they.

452
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,720
Speaker 4: Lived out his life in every aspect.

453
00:19:56,640 --> 00:20:00,119
Speaker 5: I got to see legitimate skateboarders that love skateboarding but

454
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,800
Speaker 5: also recognize it's just a form of worship that we

455
00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,560
Speaker 5: get to have and enjoining of who God is. And

456
00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:07,000
Speaker 5: so that led me to a place where I ended

457
00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:09,680
Speaker 5: up giving my life to Christ. Started going to church consistently,

458
00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,679
Speaker 5: and this was about twenty ten twenty eleven. I started

459
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,480
Speaker 5: traveling and doing events full time, kind of in the

460
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:17,639
Speaker 5: action sports space.

461
00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:22,199
Speaker 2: Cool so cool do you find like, as you're working

462
00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:27,000
Speaker 2: with kids now, do you find that they have sort

463
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:32,520
Speaker 2: of similar experiences where do skateboarding draw a certain type

464
00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:38,159
Speaker 2: of personality that really is not necessarily like wants to

465
00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,920
Speaker 2: be socially ostracized or you know, just totally on their.

466
00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:45,120
Speaker 1: Own, but that they have sort of more of an

467
00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:49,480
Speaker 1: internal perspective. We might say like I'm I'm going to

468
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,000
Speaker 1: work toward this on my own and if other people

469
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,719
Speaker 1: around to help me, that's fantastic, But really it's just

470
00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,600
Speaker 1: it's me and I need to do this.

471
00:20:57,680 --> 00:20:59,119
Speaker 2: Does that make sense as a question.

472
00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:01,879
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's interesting to see.

473
00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:03,760
Speaker 5: A lot of the people that are in the professional

474
00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:06,440
Speaker 5: world or are just phenomenal skateboarders.

475
00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:09,000
Speaker 4: I also see them do a few different other sports,

476
00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:11,959
Speaker 4: and it's golf or endurance running.

477
00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:13,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's.

478
00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,000
Speaker 4: Similar of like you're kind of on your own.

479
00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,760
Speaker 5: You're kind of pushing yourself progressing forward, but not so

480
00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:21,760
Speaker 5: much as relying on a team to be able to

481
00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:22,080
Speaker 5: do it.

482
00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:23,119
Speaker 2: Yeah.

483
00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:27,160
Speaker 1: My daughter does gymnastics, and so it's a very similar

484
00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:29,600
Speaker 1: sort of feel like she gets along with her team,

485
00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:31,760
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, none of them

486
00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,919
Speaker 1: can really help her or hurt her on a given event,

487
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,360
Speaker 1: and it's an interesting personality to watch. She also plays lacrosse,

488
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,800
Speaker 1: and it's always harder for her on the lacrosse field

489
00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 1: because it's like she's not in control of what these

490
00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:49,479
Speaker 1: other people are doing and it kind of drives her

491
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,000
Speaker 1: a little nuts. I think she's getting more and more

492
00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:54,720
Speaker 1: used to it. But it's just an interesting mentality. It's

493
00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,359
Speaker 1: just kind of interested to see how do people respond

494
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,959
Speaker 1: to the gospel with that mental because the gospel draws

495
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,560
Speaker 1: you into a deeper community, and there's some sense in

496
00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:09,359
Speaker 1: which there's a deep interconnectedness between people, but it almost

497
00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,520
Speaker 1: feels like it'd be more natural because Christian life, you

498
00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:15,399
Speaker 1: are developing your own character and that's happening within a

499
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:16,320
Speaker 1: body of Christ.

500
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:20,439
Speaker 2: But it is still very much you developing your own character.

501
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:22,760
Speaker 1: So I don't know, I'm just interested to see, you know,

502
00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:25,480
Speaker 1: what dynamics you see there having interacted with the church

503
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:26,080
Speaker 1: more broadly.

504
00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,160
Speaker 5: Yeah, I definitely feel like there's still a community in skateboarding,

505
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,200
Speaker 5: and I think because it is small, there are people

506
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:37,000
Speaker 5: that still get together and you know, I would say

507
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:38,840
Speaker 5: more times, and Nate you could tell me if you've

508
00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:40,400
Speaker 5: seen this, but I feel like more times when you're

509
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,920
Speaker 5: together with other skaters, you're kind of just hanging out

510
00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:45,440
Speaker 5: and having fun. You're not really like leaning in of like, oh,

511
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:47,159
Speaker 5: I want to learn this thing today and I'm going

512
00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:49,680
Speaker 5: to do all these steps to be able to get there.

513
00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:52,720
Speaker 5: At least for me, especially as I've gotten older, I

514
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,080
Speaker 5: will learn a lot of like newer tricks or we

515
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:57,960
Speaker 5: learned older tricks that I've lost over time, gone on

516
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,320
Speaker 5: my own. But then when you're skating with everybody else,

517
00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:02,840
Speaker 5: then you're kind of learning like, oh, how do I

518
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,439
Speaker 5: pick up these things that have already done, or just

519
00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:08,920
Speaker 5: like even try new things that may not be.

520
00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,040
Speaker 4: Difficult but are just more fun to be able to do.

521
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,359
Speaker 5: As far as the Christian aspect of it, one of

522
00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:17,600
Speaker 5: the things I love about our organization that we do.

523
00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 5: We're not affiliated with like a single church. So it's

524
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,439
Speaker 5: not if you show up to skate Church so I'm

525
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,280
Speaker 5: in attendia Life Church. I'm not someone who's like, all right,

526
00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:30,440
Speaker 5: you have to go to Life Church. All of our

527
00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:33,639
Speaker 5: volunteers are leaders. They go to different churches, and my

528
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,480
Speaker 5: hope is that they start attending skate church on a Tuesday,

529
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:38,880
Speaker 5: but we'll go to a church on Sunday, one that's

530
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,560
Speaker 5: local to them, one that may be familiar to their

531
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,280
Speaker 5: demographic or how they were raised. And my hope is

532
00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,320
Speaker 5: that you know, one of our five, six, seven, eight,

533
00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:49,600
Speaker 5: ten leaders that are there that go to different churches

534
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:51,240
Speaker 5: will be there at the front, do already be able

535
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:53,800
Speaker 5: to greet them, and so it does kind of take

536
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:55,639
Speaker 5: them from that. Yes, you're going to grow in your

537
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,840
Speaker 5: own faith individually, right, it's your own relationship with Jesus,

538
00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:01,160
Speaker 5: but at the same time, you are using that community

539
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,399
Speaker 5: aspect of how do we pull someone back into church

540
00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,800
Speaker 5: and overcome that feeling that I felt that was man.

541
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,439
Speaker 5: Nobody here looks like me or isn't interested in the

542
00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,679
Speaker 5: same thing as me. I think it's harder too in

543
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,120
Speaker 5: young adults, and I think you guys may feel this too.

544
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,840
Speaker 5: But you know, you could be in youth group your

545
00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,840
Speaker 5: whole time. Ye're in youth, you graduate now you're nineteen.

546
00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:24,360
Speaker 5: If you don't have a college ministry or a young

547
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:27,199
Speaker 5: adult ministry, you know, are you going to Bob's you know,

548
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:31,560
Speaker 5: forty five year old men's group? Like how are you

549
00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:34,480
Speaker 5: able to connect there? Like that there's wisdom and that's

550
00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:35,640
Speaker 5: good and you should be there easy.

551
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,560
Speaker 6: That's my age, But you know what I.

552
00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:39,680
Speaker 4: Mean, it's like, what do you do?

553
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,639
Speaker 5: How do you connect in a way of like, you know,

554
00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 5: I'm thirty four and it's still hard for me to

555
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:49,080
Speaker 5: connect with sixteen seventeen year olds at skate now. So

556
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,480
Speaker 5: to find people that are like interested in the same thing,

557
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,480
Speaker 5: have common interest, I think it gives them a safe

558
00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,439
Speaker 5: space to be able to have a trusted mentor to

559
00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,280
Speaker 5: be able to ask the tough questions. I don't know

560
00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:02,639
Speaker 5: if you guys are felt this, But like when I

561
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:06,239
Speaker 5: was younger, early twenties and started going to church, I

562
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:10,520
Speaker 5: was like scared to ask questions because I felt like

563
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:12,439
Speaker 5: if I asked a question out of the Bible that

564
00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,399
Speaker 5: I didn't know or understand, I would be met with

565
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:17,720
Speaker 5: the response of, oh, I don't think you have enough faith.

566
00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:21,320
Speaker 5: And it's like, well for me to wrestle with that individually,

567
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,399
Speaker 5: if that's what I think I'm going to feel. But

568
00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:25,680
Speaker 5: if we can bring alongside some other people to build

569
00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:28,640
Speaker 5: this community, it gives them a safe space to ask

570
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,320
Speaker 5: those questions and struggle and try to find those answers

571
00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:34,640
Speaker 5: as well. And it may not be the perfect answer, right,

572
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:37,919
Speaker 5: but it's something that even if we don't know. One

573
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:39,640
Speaker 5: of the things I share with our leaders is if

574
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,840
Speaker 5: somebody brings something to you that you don't understand, my

575
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,679
Speaker 5: favorite response is, hey, man, that's a great question.

576
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 4: Why don't you take a week do some research on it.

577
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,040
Speaker 5: I'm going to take a week, do some research, connect

578
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:52,480
Speaker 5: to a few pastors, let's wrap around next week and

579
00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:54,760
Speaker 5: figure out what we kind of landed on or what

580
00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,480
Speaker 5: we think theology or the Bible says about it. And

581
00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:02,199
Speaker 5: I think that takes you from that solidarity standpoint of

582
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:06,040
Speaker 5: being a believer to oh, okay, I can grow my faith, yes,

583
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,320
Speaker 5: with me and Jesus, but also in community alongside other people.

584
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 3: Nice and one thing I love to add to that, Dylan,

585
00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:14,400
Speaker 3: And you can speak to this too, And I'm sure

586
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:19,239
Speaker 3: relate skateboarding for me from when I first started at

587
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:19,760
Speaker 3: a young.

588
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:20,280
Speaker 6: Age to now.

589
00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:23,800
Speaker 3: It's always not a catch all, but it's a place

590
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:25,680
Speaker 3: that if you show up and you've got a skateboard,

591
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:27,880
Speaker 3: even if you're not good at your first day, if

592
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:31,720
Speaker 3: you are trying, like you're in like there's no judgment.

593
00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,680
Speaker 3: Like I feel like sometimes in sports like it can

594
00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:38,200
Speaker 3: be clickie and stuff, but skateboarding it's like gonna accept everybody.

595
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:40,879
Speaker 3: And you've probably experienced this too, Dylan. But I've been

596
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,520
Speaker 3: in other countries where there's a language barrier, but you

597
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,000
Speaker 3: have that common ground with skateboarders, and it's like, Man,

598
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:47,359
Speaker 3: if I'm in a city, I don't know, if I

599
00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:49,640
Speaker 3: don't know anybody, I'm gonna find a skate park because

600
00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:52,640
Speaker 3: I can make instant friends because it's like that commonality,

601
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,760
Speaker 3: that common ground. Everyone's so accepting. So I think there's

602
00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,240
Speaker 3: a lot of kids that don't really feel like they

603
00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:00,520
Speaker 3: fit in anywhere else, and it's like a safety net.

604
00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,080
Speaker 3: Skateboarding's got them. So there's a gallo at my church

605
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,800
Speaker 3: and you know Tamika Dylan, Yeah.

606
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:06,040
Speaker 6: I've struggled.

607
00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:07,880
Speaker 3: I've watched her struggle the last couple of years trying

608
00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,000
Speaker 3: to find her way and get connected into the community

609
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:14,000
Speaker 3: to our church. Well, my pastor's mom was telling her

610
00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:16,439
Speaker 3: about skate ministry and so she connected with her with

611
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:18,600
Speaker 3: us and we have a text line and I think

612
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:20,640
Speaker 3: we have you know, social media that tells like where

613
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:21,280
Speaker 3: the kids are.

614
00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:23,440
Speaker 6: But she has loved it, even though.

615
00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:25,240
Speaker 3: She's like, I'm not a good skateboarder and I feel

616
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 3: like and so slowly she's kind of been like putting

617
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 3: that away, but she just loves being there and like

618
00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:32,280
Speaker 3: feeling like she's part of something and connecting.

619
00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:34,399
Speaker 6: And so we see that all the time.

620
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,000
Speaker 3: And that's what I love about taking skate ministry to

621
00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 3: people because a lot of kids might not go to

622
00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:42,720
Speaker 3: church at first, but through relationship they will after having

623
00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,240
Speaker 3: that common ground and like when we bring church to them,

624
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:47,199
Speaker 3: so it's like they show up thinking they're just going

625
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:48,720
Speaker 3: to skate at a skate park and they're like, dude,

626
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:51,679
Speaker 3: these guys got pizza and they're encouraging us, and then

627
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:54,000
Speaker 3: afterwards they're cleaning up the park. We always do that,

628
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,840
Speaker 3: James the Bible Study, and it's just really cool to

629
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,439
Speaker 3: build those relationships slowly and that's what fire me up

630
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:01,480
Speaker 3: and I want to do it for the rest of

631
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:01,800
Speaker 3: my life.

632
00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:02,400
Speaker 4: It's awesome.

633
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,400
Speaker 1: Let me ask this question, is it just a little

634
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:10,760
Speaker 1: broader You're working with a lot of younger aged kids

635
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,679
Speaker 1: like gen Z and whatever is after gen Z?

636
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:17,440
Speaker 2: What is that gen A or something like that. Do

637
00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:18,200
Speaker 2: we start over?

638
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:23,199
Speaker 1: Yep, So gen Z and Jena, do you find that

639
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:27,600
Speaker 1: they're asking I think there's this perception a lot of

640
00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,080
Speaker 1: times that gen Z and Jena are asking different questions

641
00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:34,000
Speaker 1: than previous generations asked when they were like sixteen, seventeen, eighteen.

642
00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:36,800
Speaker 2: What are you finding, like.

643
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,520
Speaker 1: Do you find that they have different sort of questions

644
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,360
Speaker 1: about Jesus, different sort of questions about God and the

645
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:46,080
Speaker 1: Church than you remember having when you were that age.

646
00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:48,360
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think.

647
00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:50,960
Speaker 5: It's more of they're seeing a lot more and so

648
00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,800
Speaker 5: they're taking in a lot more. One of the things

649
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:55,640
Speaker 5: that we've talked a lot about is like with gen

650
00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:59,800
Speaker 5: Z and Jena, I remember getting the Internet. I remember

651
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:02,840
Speaker 5: the family computer like at home. I remember logging on

652
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:03,840
Speaker 5: to MySpace.

653
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:08,280
Speaker 4: It so good.

654
00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:10,960
Speaker 5: Yeah, I remember it was like so for me, getting

655
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:14,160
Speaker 5: online is like something you do and you like prepare

656
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:18,600
Speaker 5: and you plan for it. Like I remember, I literally

657
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,239
Speaker 5: got Instagram because skateboarders started getting Instagram, and I was like,

658
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,120
Speaker 5: I've got to be on Instagram because I want people

659
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,760
Speaker 5: to see these moments that I'm curating. I've seen gen

660
00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,440
Speaker 5: Z and Jena have always been online. It's not just

661
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:34,640
Speaker 5: something they do, it's like a part of their personality.

662
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:38,320
Speaker 5: And so I think because they're receiving so much information,

663
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 5: they just don't know what to do with it. We're

664
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:42,840
Speaker 5: leading to this place to where I don't think they're

665
00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,120
Speaker 5: asking new questions, but I think they're being bold enough

666
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:47,040
Speaker 5: to ask the questions that we've thought about and we're

667
00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:47,920
Speaker 5: too afraid to ask.

668
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:51,200
Speaker 4: There's this really.

669
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,120
Speaker 5: Interesting book called The Anxious Generation, and it talks a

670
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:56,560
Speaker 5: lot about gen Z and Jena and how they are

671
00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:01,720
Speaker 5: literally just being flooded with information but dopamine, and it's

672
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:03,680
Speaker 5: leading to a place to where it's like they literally

673
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 5: feel paralyzed and can't move. And so we have an

674
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,520
Speaker 5: opportunity to kind of answer those questions. But also I

675
00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:12,239
Speaker 5: think it has led them to a place where they're like,

676
00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:15,120
Speaker 5: just tell me, tell me the truth. Like because I

677
00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,120
Speaker 5: open TikTok and it has four different things about who

678
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:20,840
Speaker 5: Jesus is, and I open Instagram and it's four separate

679
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:23,320
Speaker 5: different things, and I'm hearing all these things. I need

680
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,800
Speaker 5: a trusted mentor who can share with me the truth

681
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:27,800
Speaker 5: of who Jesus actually is and how he wants me

682
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:31,320
Speaker 5: to live my life, especially like everything that's happened in

683
00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:31,880
Speaker 5: the past week.

684
00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:35,440
Speaker 4: Right, it's like news and communication and move so fast

685
00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:37,040
Speaker 4: and it's not always after it.

686
00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:40,200
Speaker 5: And so what I think I see from them is

687
00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:44,960
Speaker 5: they're just so overwhelmed that they don't care where or

688
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,200
Speaker 5: how to get the information, or how dumb they feel

689
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,800
Speaker 5: asking the question, which they shouldn't feel dumb, but they

690
00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:50,440
Speaker 5: just want to know.

691
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, because it's just being flooded with everything that's interesting,

692
00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,240
Speaker 1: it really conforms. So I had a sociologist on the

693
00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:00,480
Speaker 1: show I Don't Know a few months ago, and she

694
00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:04,280
Speaker 1: studies technology and adolescents and the generations and all that

695
00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:06,440
Speaker 1: kind of good stuff. And one of the things she

696
00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,960
Speaker 1: mentioned was that gen z Jena seem to be more

697
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:13,920
Speaker 1: sensitive to what they are missing out on because they're

698
00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,840
Speaker 1: so immersed in that digital environment. They said, it's people

699
00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:22,959
Speaker 1: like us, like gen X, you know, and older maybe

700
00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:27,920
Speaker 1: millennials that don't tend to notice it because even though

701
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,360
Speaker 1: we've seen both worlds, we're kind of just trying to

702
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:34,479
Speaker 1: cope with what we're doing in a digital space, and

703
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:37,160
Speaker 1: so we don't really notice all that we're missing. But

704
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,080
Speaker 1: the gen Z and Jena, because they'd never had it,

705
00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,240
Speaker 1: they're seeing it from a completely different, like a little

706
00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:46,320
Speaker 1: bit different angle than we are, and they're they're kind

707
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:48,480
Speaker 1: of doing exactly what you're talking about. They're trying to

708
00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:51,760
Speaker 1: seek out and be like, what's authentic, what's real, what's true?

709
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:55,240
Speaker 1: Where do I find some stability within all of this mess?

710
00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:59,600
Speaker 1: And they're starting to gravitate back toward more concrete practices

711
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:00,400
Speaker 1: as oppos to.

712
00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:03,800
Speaker 2: Just all digital all the time. So that's fascinating.

713
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:07,080
Speaker 1: That's that's really uh interesting that that's what you're seeing

714
00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:07,480
Speaker 1: as well.

715
00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:09,959
Speaker 5: Yeah, one of the things that I'm seeing too on

716
00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:16,000
Speaker 5: that is the like rebirth of analog analog everything. The

717
00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:18,880
Speaker 5: past two years, the church that I was working at,

718
00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:21,040
Speaker 5: we would see anywhere from twenty five hundred to thirty

719
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:23,880
Speaker 5: five hundred people on a weekend, and young adults were

720
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:28,880
Speaker 5: bringing in Bibles like paper bibles, which are church the

721
00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:32,000
Speaker 5: one that we attend to help created the Bible app

722
00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:33,560
Speaker 5: on your phone. So that's kind of what we push

723
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:37,960
Speaker 5: people to do is practical, right, But I remember just

724
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,680
Speaker 5: seeing all these young adults bringing in paper Bibles and

725
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:45,720
Speaker 5: I was like, this is insane, Like you practically, it

726
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:47,280
Speaker 5: doesn't make any sense. You can just have it on

727
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:48,920
Speaker 5: your phone, your care on this big thing in a

728
00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,320
Speaker 5: journal and three pins and markers.

729
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:53,480
Speaker 2: Right like a back church.

730
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:57,320
Speaker 5: Basically, yeah, yeah, we always made this joke that was

731
00:32:57,320 --> 00:32:58,600
Speaker 5: like we can kind of tell who's new in the

732
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,040
Speaker 5: church on if they bring in like their actual big

733
00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:04,760
Speaker 5: Bible or not. But what we're seeing more and more

734
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:08,120
Speaker 5: with that too is it's not just analog in their Bible,

735
00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:09,560
Speaker 5: but it's a lot of the way that they're living

736
00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:13,520
Speaker 5: and practicing what they're doing. Whereas like I'm taking on

737
00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:18,040
Speaker 5: a lot of like podcasts, different leadership teachings where they

738
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:21,200
Speaker 5: rather get the actual physical book that they can feel

739
00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:24,560
Speaker 5: that they can write in and take notes, which I

740
00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,400
Speaker 5: think is so interesting as well to see the shift

741
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:31,960
Speaker 5: of almost pushing away this digital lifestyle that we've created

742
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:34,400
Speaker 5: to try to get back and to slow down and

743
00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:36,640
Speaker 5: spend time and get to know who God is through

744
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,960
Speaker 5: you know, more traditional practices.

745
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,240
Speaker 1: I can't tell you how encouraging that is. I mean

746
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:45,400
Speaker 1: it's just a really.

747
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:47,280
Speaker 2: Yeah.

748
00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:50,520
Speaker 1: I mean I've done I started out an online education

749
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:52,640
Speaker 1: and higher ed and you know now we do a

750
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:55,360
Speaker 1: lot with digital and obviously podcasts and stuff like that.

751
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:58,680
Speaker 1: So I don't think it's not valuable. Yeah, but I

752
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:01,760
Speaker 1: also just know. I mean I can still remember that

753
00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:04,000
Speaker 1: musty smell you get when you go to the library

754
00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:07,160
Speaker 1: and at a book, right, And it's like kids should

755
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:11,160
Speaker 1: have that memory, right. It's just there's something really tangible

756
00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:13,959
Speaker 1: and cool about it. And even though you couldn't say

757
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:17,600
Speaker 1: this is exactly what benefit it gives you, there's some

758
00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:20,160
Speaker 1: benefit it gives you, Like I refused to believe there's not,

759
00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:22,960
Speaker 1: So it's just really encouraging to hear that they're they're

760
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,400
Speaker 1: headed back to those more analog spaces.

761
00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:29,640
Speaker 3: I love that, yeah, because it's it's got tons of

762
00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:31,400
Speaker 3: stuff written in it, like when I was a Bible

763
00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:33,839
Speaker 3: school and like my whole journey, and then it's got

764
00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:37,480
Speaker 3: skate stickers all over it's over there on my side table.

765
00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:40,120
Speaker 6: But otherwise, yeah, I love it.

766
00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:42,680
Speaker 3: And the cool thing is too Dylan has really adapted.

767
00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:45,040
Speaker 3: Like when I was doing skate Ministry, Instagram really wasn't

768
00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:46,840
Speaker 3: launched yet, and nobody I mean I didn't even have

769
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:49,520
Speaker 3: a cell phone twas twenty three, so the first few years,

770
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,600
Speaker 3: like it was literally just flyers at places or just

771
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:54,839
Speaker 3: running into kids at skate parks and then inviting them

772
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:58,239
Speaker 3: to Tuesday. But like Dylan has has fully embraced and

773
00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:00,920
Speaker 3: done an amazing job, even me at my age, Like

774
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:03,960
Speaker 3: I'm encouraged every single day by his little thing that

775
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:05,759
Speaker 3: he sends us. And then you know, I'm seeing the

776
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:09,960
Speaker 3: community starting to build, people asking for prayer and just

777
00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:12,560
Speaker 3: connecting on a deeper level, which kids need, like we said,

778
00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:14,359
Speaker 3: because otherwise they're just going to be out there and

779
00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:17,680
Speaker 3: digital land, like you know, consuming all the other things.

780
00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:20,200
Speaker 3: So it's nice to kind of disrupt and break that up.

781
00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:23,759
Speaker 3: And how many people do we have, Dylan, Like you've

782
00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:25,359
Speaker 3: said the number before, we have a lot.

783
00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:27,960
Speaker 5: Of Yeah, I looked this morning, So in our skaters

784
00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,239
Speaker 5: and scripture, there's like four hundred and thirty people that

785
00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:32,759
Speaker 5: are in there right now that are reading it every day,

786
00:35:33,239 --> 00:35:36,440
Speaker 5: which is super encouraging coming from someone who worked for

787
00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:37,480
Speaker 5: the company.

788
00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:40,080
Speaker 4: That created the Bible app. I just kind of started

789
00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:42,120
Speaker 4: asking people, you know, like, hey, are you doing the.

790
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:44,160
Speaker 5: You know, first of the day, it's on the Bible app,

791
00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:46,239
Speaker 5: and a lot of people just they either don't want

792
00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:48,239
Speaker 5: it on their phone or they just don't digitally want

793
00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:51,400
Speaker 5: to really be digging through their phone super often. So

794
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,880
Speaker 5: I was like, how can I create something that's less

795
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:57,400
Speaker 5: than four hundred words, it's tangible that I'm already, you know,

796
00:35:57,480 --> 00:35:58,800
Speaker 5: filling up my cup in the morning.

797
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:00,399
Speaker 4: How can I just pour out real quick to other

798
00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:02,120
Speaker 4: people that I hope.

799
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:04,319
Speaker 5: That encourages them, but I also hope it inspires them

800
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:08,439
Speaker 5: to rediverse and be like, oh, I've never heard that before,

801
00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:10,759
Speaker 5: I've never looked at it like that before, and take

802
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:12,120
Speaker 5: time to dig in a little bit deeper.

803
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:13,120
Speaker 4: Totally.

804
00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:15,480
Speaker 2: That's fantastic.

805
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:20,800
Speaker 1: I think there's still definitely still a place for the digital,

806
00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:23,840
Speaker 1: but yeah, it just amazes me that gen Z and

807
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:26,799
Speaker 1: Jena are sort of headed back to the analog and

808
00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:29,600
Speaker 1: that what they're looking for is something that's more authentic,

809
00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:37,120
Speaker 1: probably even less intense in a lot of ways than

810
00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:41,320
Speaker 1: what you're describing, you know, with the all the information

811
00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:44,680
Speaker 1: that sort of comes at them. And I think ultimately

812
00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:48,279
Speaker 1: that's just a really good helpful movement for gen Z

813
00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:51,480
Speaker 1: and Jena to be stepping back from those things.

814
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:56,080
Speaker 5: So I'm sure you've probably seen through the barn and studies,

815
00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:58,080
Speaker 5: but like physical Bibles are.

816
00:36:57,960 --> 00:36:59,920
Speaker 4: At an all time high when it comes to purchase.

817
00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:03,560
Speaker 5: And then another one that I love and we're really

818
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,520
Speaker 5: trying to looking at a skateboarding. We're seeing more females

819
00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:08,400
Speaker 5: in it, but it's still a male dominated sport.

820
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:10,520
Speaker 6: Is gen Z.

821
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:13,719
Speaker 5: Males are leading the way and going back to church,

822
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,160
Speaker 5: which is one of the first generations and I don't

823
00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:20,279
Speaker 5: know how long where men are leading away. And so

824
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:23,000
Speaker 5: it's shifting the way that we should communicate with people. One,

825
00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:25,120
Speaker 5: if you're a pastor and you're talking to your church,

826
00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,680
Speaker 5: it used to be okay, I'm speaking to a woman

827
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:31,680
Speaker 5: to bring her husband, you know, into church, And I

828
00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:33,920
Speaker 5: think of so many people that I know whose wife

829
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:35,680
Speaker 5: is the one that kind of brought them back into church.

830
00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,320
Speaker 5: But it's helping me kind of shift my perspective to

831
00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:42,239
Speaker 5: these young adults and even some of these you know,

832
00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:45,400
Speaker 5: mid twenties, early thirties all right, now I should be

833
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:47,759
Speaker 5: communicating kind of to the men of what it looks

834
00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:50,359
Speaker 5: like to bring your family with you into skate church

835
00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:54,680
Speaker 5: or just into church in general. But yeah, I'm super

836
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,799
Speaker 5: and just encouraged by that, and then just always trying

837
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:00,720
Speaker 5: to navigate with those studies to of like how should

838
00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:02,880
Speaker 5: we be communicating you know, who's the one person we

839
00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:06,000
Speaker 5: should be communicating to. I heard I think it was

840
00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:08,640
Speaker 5: Chad Veach say one time. He was like, every time

841
00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:10,560
Speaker 5: I go and speak, I'm speaking to the sixteen year

842
00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:13,120
Speaker 5: old high school student because if I can reach him,

843
00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:15,520
Speaker 5: I can reach everybody else in the room. Because that's

844
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:18,400
Speaker 5: who got him to be able to communicate too, because

845
00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:22,200
Speaker 5: that's what he said he needed when he was that age. Yeah,

846
00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:23,960
Speaker 5: so it is this like we get to know and

847
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,160
Speaker 5: understand the knowledge and me encouraged, but then also use

848
00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:28,080
Speaker 5: it to be able to reach the right demographic at

849
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:28,680
Speaker 5: the right time.

850
00:38:29,239 --> 00:38:29,640
Speaker 6: Totally.

851
00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:30,800
Speaker 2: So it's interesting.

852
00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:34,239
Speaker 1: I'll just ask this question, see if you one of

853
00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:36,600
Speaker 1: the things I've been a little concerned about. I've seen

854
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:39,120
Speaker 1: the stats about men, you know, sort of leading the

855
00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:40,920
Speaker 1: way back to church, and I don't think there's anything

856
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:42,239
Speaker 1: bad that you could say about that.

857
00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:44,959
Speaker 2: But I also think that there's a lot of.

858
00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:53,000
Speaker 1: I'll call it machismo floating about right, And I'm wondering

859
00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:56,160
Speaker 1: how you think about that from you know, working with

860
00:38:56,200 --> 00:39:00,239
Speaker 1: these young people, how do you help them cultivate a strong,

861
00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:04,120
Speaker 1: confident understanding what it means to be a male disciple

862
00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:08,440
Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ without them sort of falling into that

863
00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:13,800
Speaker 1: machismost sort of bravado lifestyle. Is that a struggle for

864
00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:16,040
Speaker 1: the kid you work with, you know, are they looking

865
00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:19,400
Speaker 1: up to people who are just like, not necessarily even

866
00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:21,839
Speaker 1: we might not call them bold, we might just call

867
00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:26,200
Speaker 1: them brazen. Yeah, you know, yeah, I don't know you

868
00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:27,160
Speaker 1: seen anything like that?

869
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:28,759
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think both.

870
00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:32,440
Speaker 5: And so the role that I played when I worked

871
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:35,839
Speaker 5: in pastoral ministry was I was our missions and our

872
00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:40,239
Speaker 5: life group's pastor. So I oversaw through my career life

873
00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:43,040
Speaker 5: church anywhere from two hundred and seventy five to one

874
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:46,080
Speaker 5: hundred and twenty life groups at one time. And one

875
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:48,319
Speaker 5: of the things that I would definitely see, like time

876
00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:50,239
Speaker 5: and time again, is you kind of need something that

877
00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:51,600
Speaker 5: fits both groups.

878
00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:53,640
Speaker 4: So one you need the.

879
00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:57,239
Speaker 5: You know, the guy who went out and drank last

880
00:39:57,320 --> 00:39:59,680
Speaker 5: night on Saturday that shows up to church is like,

881
00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:02,360
Speaker 5: I'm not going to go to like a Leviticus Bible study,

882
00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:03,760
Speaker 5: but I'll go hang out with some dudes.

883
00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:04,720
Speaker 4: That skate at the skate park.

884
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:08,440
Speaker 5: So it's always recognizing, you know, what journey are they

885
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:10,839
Speaker 5: on and where can we start them and do we

886
00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:13,439
Speaker 5: have practical things or people set up to be able

887
00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:16,000
Speaker 5: to take them to the next level. And so with

888
00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:21,440
Speaker 5: our specific organization, we definitely have these people that come in.

889
00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:23,640
Speaker 5: Even some of our students are pretty bold in their faith,

890
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:25,640
Speaker 5: but I would say they're kind of like that Tier.

891
00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:27,759
Speaker 4: One, Tier two getting to know who Jesus is. They're

892
00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:28,640
Speaker 4: on fire for the Lord.

893
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,120
Speaker 5: Yeah, And you can see that group when they go

894
00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:34,960
Speaker 5: out and they skate together. They're hanging together, and you

895
00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:37,080
Speaker 5: can see the same of the people that are like, Okay,

896
00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:38,600
Speaker 5: I've been a believer for a few years.

897
00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:41,000
Speaker 4: They're kind of hanging together talking about what they're learning.

898
00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 4: And then me and Nate.

899
00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:44,880
Speaker 5: And a few other people that are kind of in

900
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:48,160
Speaker 5: our crew that aren't skating as big of stuff because

901
00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:50,960
Speaker 5: we're not trying to get hurt, are spending more time

902
00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:53,320
Speaker 5: of like and we've been following the Lord for a while,

903
00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:56,400
Speaker 5: and so we're just thinking about how do we impact

904
00:40:56,400 --> 00:40:59,920
Speaker 5: these other people to take them to the next levels.

905
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:02,319
Speaker 5: That has been so cool of being in ministry for

906
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:04,960
Speaker 5: so long as you get to see those kids that

907
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:07,560
Speaker 5: used to go to skate camp just for the free

908
00:41:07,560 --> 00:41:10,120
Speaker 5: food and water and that was it. And now ten

909
00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:13,720
Speaker 5: years later I'm looking at them and I'm like, shoot, man,

910
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,799
Speaker 5: this this guy has a family, he's got kids, he's

911
00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:21,080
Speaker 5: taken them to church, he's left who Jesus is And

912
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:24,280
Speaker 5: it's fun to see that from the perspective of people.

913
00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:27,799
Speaker 5: Nate has pointed into as well, these people that have

914
00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:29,480
Speaker 5: been going for a long time, you know, all the

915
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:31,120
Speaker 5: way back to two thousand and five, that are still

916
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:34,080
Speaker 5: showing up now with their families and so what is that.

917
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:37,799
Speaker 5: It's long it's the long term games kind of like, yes,

918
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:39,960
Speaker 5: we only catch them in the moment, but how do

919
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:42,919
Speaker 5: we continue to every single day, every single week, every

920
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:46,680
Speaker 5: single month. What's the next step? And so Nate talked

921
00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:48,879
Speaker 5: a bit about our Men's Bible study, But the reason

922
00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:51,640
Speaker 5: I started it was because a lot of the statistics

923
00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:53,879
Speaker 5: that I'm seeing is, you know, how do we take

924
00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:59,520
Speaker 5: these men that could live the common West cultural Christian

925
00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:03,160
Speaker 5: lifestyle wile and move to be someone who's actually uncommon

926
00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:06,520
Speaker 5: when it comes to male Christianity, someone who is bold,

927
00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:08,800
Speaker 5: someone who is going to fight for their family, someone

928
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:10,719
Speaker 5: who's not going to look at those things that pop

929
00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:12,719
Speaker 5: up on Instagram, someone that's not going to put just

930
00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:15,280
Speaker 5: the verse in their Instagram bio, but someone.

931
00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:16,320
Speaker 4: Who's going to live it out.

932
00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:18,839
Speaker 5: So we're pretty strategic with the way that we're able

933
00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:21,520
Speaker 5: to put some of those things in, and we have

934
00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:23,680
Speaker 5: like practical tools that we're able to do all that

935
00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:25,960
Speaker 5: stuff as well. But for me, it's how do I

936
00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:28,320
Speaker 5: find the right people that have that bold faith that

937
00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:32,040
Speaker 5: can be able to mesh well with the students, the kids,

938
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:34,120
Speaker 5: or the adults that are coming and kind of push

939
00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:36,640
Speaker 5: them to that next level of getting to know Jesus deeper.

940
00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:41,480
Speaker 1: That's awesome what we're about. Out of time and so

941
00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:43,640
Speaker 1: we're kind of getting the end of the episode. I

942
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:46,320
Speaker 1: want to ask you a question that I ask almost

943
00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:48,360
Speaker 1: everybody who comes on, so I'm just kind of interested

944
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:51,520
Speaker 1: to hear what you say. The question is this, what

945
00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:54,560
Speaker 1: does the church need to be doing today to be

946
00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:59,439
Speaker 1: and make disciples more faithfully? Yeah, what do you see

947
00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:02,040
Speaker 1: that we're what are we missing? What do we need

948
00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:02,520
Speaker 1: to be doing.

949
00:43:03,640 --> 00:43:05,239
Speaker 5: I think one of the things that we will see

950
00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:08,520
Speaker 5: over the next few years in the church we're kind

951
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:11,720
Speaker 5: of seeing on the West Coast. I have nothing against

952
00:43:11,719 --> 00:43:13,719
Speaker 5: big churches. I worked at a master church for a

953
00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:16,400
Speaker 5: very long time. If we cannot find a way to

954
00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:22,600
Speaker 5: build legitimate, sustainable, consistent community within those people, I think

955
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:26,120
Speaker 5: that we in pastoral ministry will look back later and

956
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:28,320
Speaker 5: say we put on a really good show on Sundays

957
00:43:29,560 --> 00:43:31,719
Speaker 5: or people shut up and they raised their hand and

958
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:33,799
Speaker 5: they gave their life to Christ, and then we kind

959
00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:34,520
Speaker 5: of left them hanging.

960
00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:37,279
Speaker 4: And so one of the things that I think we.

961
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:40,040
Speaker 5: Can be able to do is communicate every single week.

962
00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:43,160
Speaker 5: The church isn't just a building, it's the people. How

963
00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:45,080
Speaker 5: can we empower the people that are walking into the

964
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:47,799
Speaker 5: church to be out and to go into make disciples

965
00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:50,160
Speaker 5: in their everyday life. For some people, it's going to

966
00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:52,000
Speaker 5: be the first person you see in the morning, which

967
00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:55,080
Speaker 5: could be your significant other. For others, it could be

968
00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:58,160
Speaker 5: the guy you see at the gas station, the Starbucks barista. Like,

969
00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:00,480
Speaker 5: how do we just take those small things? Because I

970
00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:04,399
Speaker 5: think with social media we've made it into this well.

971
00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:07,920
Speaker 5: For me to be a impactful Christian, I need to

972
00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:11,440
Speaker 5: have four podcasts and one hundred thousand people on following

973
00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:14,120
Speaker 5: a book every year, when in actuality, it's like, dude,

974
00:44:14,160 --> 00:44:17,480
Speaker 5: look at Jesus like he had his twelve And if

975
00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:22,160
Speaker 5: we're trying to build sustainable, deep relationship with people, I

976
00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:23,280
Speaker 5: think we start with a twelve.

977
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:24,200
Speaker 4: First.

978
00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:28,760
Speaker 5: It's not fun, it's not pretty, it's not glamorous, it's dirty.

979
00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:32,640
Speaker 5: But that's literally the life that Jesus has called us too,

980
00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:36,239
Speaker 5: not a life of perfection or glamorous or anything like that.

981
00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:40,799
Speaker 5: It truly is taking authority, taking the extreme ownership of

982
00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:43,680
Speaker 5: I'm going to occupy the space that God has given

983
00:44:43,719 --> 00:44:46,279
Speaker 5: me as the church, not as the building, but as

984
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:49,120
Speaker 5: an individual that walks in through the doors on Sundays,

985
00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:52,160
Speaker 5: I think the more that we can shift away from

986
00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:56,160
Speaker 5: the consumer mindset of man, this church isn't for me,

987
00:44:56,320 --> 00:44:58,680
Speaker 5: this message wasn't for me. My favorite one I'd always

988
00:44:58,719 --> 00:45:01,080
Speaker 5: hear is like, yeah, ill didn't play my worship song.

989
00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:02,960
Speaker 4: You know this is Sunday.

990
00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:05,279
Speaker 5: And my response was, I don't know if you know

991
00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:08,800
Speaker 5: that those songs aren't for you, brother, like those songs

992
00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:11,680
Speaker 5: are to worship God. And so I think with just

993
00:45:11,800 --> 00:45:14,719
Speaker 5: the consumeristic culture we have is reminding people we're not

994
00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:18,480
Speaker 5: called to be spiritual consumers, but to be spiritual contributors.

995
00:45:18,239 --> 00:45:20,360
Speaker 4: In everyday life. And it doesn't always need to be

996
00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:23,080
Speaker 4: like the most incredible, glamorous thing.

997
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:26,400
Speaker 5: It's take the time to give a word of encouragement

998
00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:28,719
Speaker 5: to somebody who needs it. I was on a call

999
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:32,240
Speaker 5: with some professional eskateboarders on Monday and my biggest encouragement

1000
00:45:32,239 --> 00:45:34,200
Speaker 5: and they all laugh because it's all happened to them.

1001
00:45:34,640 --> 00:45:36,520
Speaker 5: The easiest way that we can love someone else at

1002
00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:38,600
Speaker 5: the skate park is if you're like me. I go

1003
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:41,120
Speaker 5: to the skate park. I've got thirty minutes to an

1004
00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:46,080
Speaker 5: hour because you know life right, put my headphones in,

1005
00:45:46,280 --> 00:45:48,959
Speaker 5: I want to skate. And every time I do that,

1006
00:45:49,120 --> 00:45:53,880
Speaker 5: there's some child or student who's just like wants my attention.

1007
00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:57,160
Speaker 5: And in those moments we recognize we as the church,

1008
00:45:57,200 --> 00:45:59,839
Speaker 5: we are called to be disruptible, and so just taking

1009
00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:03,399
Speaker 5: the moment and saying, hey, you know what's God calling

1010
00:46:03,440 --> 00:46:05,040
Speaker 5: me to do in this moment? How can I actually

1011
00:46:05,080 --> 00:46:07,080
Speaker 5: be the church? Not just on a Sunday, not just

1012
00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:08,960
Speaker 5: someone that goes to the church, but is a church

1013
00:46:09,080 --> 00:46:14,040
Speaker 5: Monday through Sunday. And that's something I want to share

1014
00:46:14,040 --> 00:46:16,440
Speaker 5: this real quick before we get into But another part

1015
00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:18,279
Speaker 5: of our ministry that we just started and we're going

1016
00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:20,480
Speaker 5: to do in a lot more communication with it is

1017
00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:25,359
Speaker 5: recognizing we're called not just to addition, but to multiplication.

1018
00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:28,480
Speaker 5: And so earlier this year we started something called Skate

1019
00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:30,560
Speaker 5: Church Network and it's a way for us to help

1020
00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:33,520
Speaker 5: empower other people that want to start a similar organization

1021
00:46:33,560 --> 00:46:36,120
Speaker 5: that we have. But years we've been doing this, I'll

1022
00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:38,160
Speaker 5: have people that will ask like, hey, we love what

1023
00:46:38,200 --> 00:46:38,560
Speaker 5: you're doing.

1024
00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:40,880
Speaker 4: How do we do this where we're located?

1025
00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:44,279
Speaker 5: And so we've created this network of people that share resources,

1026
00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:45,319
Speaker 5: have strategy, and.

1027
00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:46,480
Speaker 4: Then a digital community.

1028
00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:49,920
Speaker 5: Right now we have twenty three organizations in sixteen states

1029
00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:53,200
Speaker 5: and two countries, and it's just this reminder of like,

1030
00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:55,759
Speaker 5: not all of them are in full time ministry, not

1031
00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:57,400
Speaker 5: them all of them are getting paid to do it,

1032
00:46:57,440 --> 00:47:00,160
Speaker 5: But it's them saying I want to be a contributor to.

1033
00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:02,160
Speaker 4: What God has called me to do. I've got two

1034
00:47:02,239 --> 00:47:03,399
Speaker 4: hours on Tuesday night.

1035
00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:05,879
Speaker 5: I can sit in front of the TV and watch

1036
00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:08,480
Speaker 5: whatever brain rot they're gonna play, or I can actually

1037
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:10,680
Speaker 5: go out in my community and make a difference. And

1038
00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:13,160
Speaker 5: one is so much more rewarding than the other one.

1039
00:47:13,239 --> 00:47:14,680
Speaker 5: It may feel like more work.

1040
00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:16,399
Speaker 4: In Nate.

1041
00:47:16,600 --> 00:47:18,680
Speaker 5: I'll say this and don't repeat it, but there are

1042
00:47:18,680 --> 00:47:20,920
Speaker 5: Tuesday nights where I'm like, I don't know if I

1043
00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:22,799
Speaker 5: have it in me to go like I've worked all day.

1044
00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:25,719
Speaker 5: I've been doing this for close to a decade. Every

1045
00:47:25,760 --> 00:47:28,040
Speaker 5: single time I leave, I'm like, oh, yeah, this is

1046
00:47:28,200 --> 00:47:29,960
Speaker 5: this is why we do it. This is so rewarding

1047
00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:32,880
Speaker 5: every single time. What else would I have done? You know,

1048
00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:35,439
Speaker 5: I'm going to get to the end of my life

1049
00:47:35,520 --> 00:47:37,279
Speaker 5: and be able to look at Jesus and say, man,

1050
00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:40,239
Speaker 5: I recognize as many opportunities as I could that you

1051
00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:42,040
Speaker 5: put in front of me, and I hope that I

1052
00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:44,120
Speaker 5: was able to do something that mattered and made a difference,

1053
00:47:44,120 --> 00:47:46,680
Speaker 5: even in just one person's life. If one person's life

1054
00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:49,640
Speaker 5: is eternally different because of me, that's a win.

1055
00:47:50,440 --> 00:47:51,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's cool.

1056
00:47:51,719 --> 00:47:53,360
Speaker 3: I could jump in and say something too that I

1057
00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:55,360
Speaker 3: know Dylan won't say about him. Say it myself, but

1058
00:47:55,440 --> 00:47:59,160
Speaker 3: he is very gifted with digital stuff. Him and his

1059
00:47:59,200 --> 00:48:02,480
Speaker 3: wife are amazing, Like they've really built something that's super creative.

1060
00:48:02,520 --> 00:48:03,520
Speaker 6: I think it's dynamic.

1061
00:48:04,280 --> 00:48:07,000
Speaker 3: So we'll put in the show notes, but follow Varsity skateboarding,

1062
00:48:07,360 --> 00:48:09,160
Speaker 3: follow skate church case.

1063
00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:10,760
Speaker 6: But get involved.

1064
00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:12,680
Speaker 3: Anyone that's listening to this, even if you don't live

1065
00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:14,520
Speaker 3: in Kansas City, you can be part of that network.

1066
00:48:14,520 --> 00:48:17,080
Speaker 6: You can be inspired to reach out in your community.

1067
00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:19,200
Speaker 3: But Dylan does a lot of videos for a lot

1068
00:48:19,239 --> 00:48:22,080
Speaker 3: of like extreme sports companies, and he's just really gifted

1069
00:48:22,120 --> 00:48:25,560
Speaker 3: in the digital space. So I sometimes you tell people, oh, yeah,

1070
00:48:25,600 --> 00:48:27,160
Speaker 3: follow this person, but in the back of your mind,

1071
00:48:27,160 --> 00:48:30,799
Speaker 3: you're like, it's not really, it's not really that greatly,

1072
00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:33,320
Speaker 3: Like I will co sign all day long on everything

1073
00:48:33,360 --> 00:48:36,879
Speaker 3: that they do because it's amazing and it really points

1074
00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:39,759
Speaker 3: people to Jesus. And so I'm super thankful for him

1075
00:48:39,760 --> 00:48:41,880
Speaker 3: in my life and just getting to get plugged in.

1076
00:48:41,920 --> 00:48:44,239
Speaker 6: I'm thankful for my son being able to be there.

1077
00:48:44,400 --> 00:48:45,000
Speaker 6: Like you don't know.

1078
00:48:45,040 --> 00:48:47,200
Speaker 3: I've told you before, Dylan, but you don't know how

1079
00:48:47,280 --> 00:48:49,759
Speaker 3: much that means to me, Like my son will be like, Dad,

1080
00:48:49,800 --> 00:48:51,440
Speaker 3: I know you're tired, but you've got to come tonight,

1081
00:48:51,520 --> 00:48:53,520
Speaker 3: Like he's dragging me to tuesdays when I feel like

1082
00:48:53,520 --> 00:48:56,319
Speaker 3: you were saying, sometimes it gets like that, especially when

1083
00:48:56,320 --> 00:48:56,920
Speaker 3: we get older.

1084
00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,480
Speaker 6: So but anyone that's listening will put it in the show.

1085
00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:00,719
Speaker 4: Notes.

1086
00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:04,520
Speaker 3: Check their organization out is making a huge difference if

1087
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:07,799
Speaker 3: you're interested in supporting, coming alongside them, praying for them.

1088
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:10,680
Speaker 3: We have a skate camp coming up for Halloween called

1089
00:49:10,719 --> 00:49:13,440
Speaker 3: Spooky Skate Camp. I'm super pumped and I think, Dylan,

1090
00:49:13,440 --> 00:49:15,560
Speaker 3: you said, we have a few ministry partners that are

1091
00:49:15,560 --> 00:49:17,759
Speaker 3: doing from that group you're just talking about that's going

1092
00:49:17,800 --> 00:49:18,839
Speaker 3: to come in out of town.

1093
00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:20,320
Speaker 6: So it's just exciting.

1094
00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:22,440
Speaker 3: I love seeing what God's doing and I can't wait

1095
00:49:22,480 --> 00:49:23,520
Speaker 3: for what the future holds.

1096
00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:27,839
Speaker 1: Very cool. Well, Dylan, this has been great, Thanks for

1097
00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:30,440
Speaker 1: being here. Thanks for all the work you're doing. It

1098
00:49:30,440 --> 00:49:33,200
Speaker 1: sounds like a fantastic ministry. Obviously, Nate is endorsing it,

1099
00:49:33,280 --> 00:49:37,640
Speaker 1: he's been involved. We'll put the weblinks in the show

1100
00:49:37,680 --> 00:49:40,120
Speaker 1: notes so everybody can get in touch. Just encourage you

1101
00:49:40,120 --> 00:49:43,239
Speaker 1: to check it out because reaching the next generation is

1102
00:49:43,280 --> 00:49:46,640
Speaker 1: something I'm really passionate about obviously, and I think you're

1103
00:49:46,680 --> 00:49:47,560
Speaker 1: doing a great job with it.

1104
00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:49,080
Speaker 2: Brother, So thanks for being here.

1105
00:49:49,560 --> 00:49:51,480
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you guys for having me. This has been awesome.

1106
00:49:51,920 --> 00:49:54,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, y'all, we'll call it a day there

1107
00:49:54,239 --> 00:49:56,480
Speaker 1: and we'll catch you on the next episode of Thinking Christian.

1108
00:49:56,520 --> 00:49:57,800
Speaker 2: Take care, everybody, just want.

1109
00:49:57,680 --> 00:49:59,319
Speaker 1: To take a second to thank the team at Life

1110
00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:02,719
Speaker 1: Audio for the partnership with us on the Thinking Christian podcast.

1111
00:50:03,080 --> 00:50:05,400
Speaker 1: If you go to lifeaudio dot com, you'll find dozens

1112
00:50:05,400 --> 00:50:08,359
Speaker 1: of other faith centered podcasts in their network. They've got

1113
00:50:08,400 --> 00:50:11,319
Speaker 1: shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.