Speaker 1: What's up, guys, Welcome back to the podcast. A couple
Speaker 1: things I want to discuss today. First, a conversation I
Speaker 1: want to have ant Man's with me, producer of this podcast,
Speaker 1: and I want to talk about fame and what that means.
Speaker 1: If anyone is listening that's maybe aspiring to be famous
Speaker 1: or wondering is it healthy to be famous or is
Speaker 1: it okay to be famous? I kind of want to
Speaker 1: run down that road and speak to that, and I
Speaker 1: might have some things that are not what you think
Speaker 1: I'm going to say, maybe, And then we're going to
Speaker 1: finish the podcast after that with answering your questions. You
Speaker 1: could email me podcast at grangersmith dot com. Podcast at
Speaker 1: grangersmith dot com. We're gonna have this conversation like we're
Speaker 1: just sitting in the cabin a truck, this you and I.
Speaker 1: In fact, that's what kind of what we're doing right
Speaker 1: now yet except for we're sitting in a podcast. But
Speaker 1: you you are great at these kind of conversations because
Speaker 1: you get them going for me. Okay, you you have
Speaker 1: a good way of cultivating like you do on After
Speaker 1: Midnight or this podcast.
Speaker 2: It's usually a random text or voice message. Is how
Speaker 2: the conversations most of the time, and then you can
Speaker 2: respond when you have time, and then I respond back
Speaker 2: when I have time. So now we're just consolidated. Put
Speaker 2: it all on this podcast.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 2: See if it works the same.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So once again, that email is podcast at grangersmith
Speaker 1: dot com. Fame. I've had three separate conversations about fame
Speaker 1: in the last two weeks. The first one, I should
Speaker 1: go backwards because the first one's going to reveal everything.
Speaker 1: Let me go backwards, Okay. The most recent one is
Speaker 1: a some dear brothers friends of mine that are just
Speaker 1: now signing a deal.
Speaker 2: Oh really, So they're at the beginning of where you've
Speaker 2: you've been there it was what twenty years ago, fifteen
Speaker 2: years or twenty years was?
Speaker 1: Well, there's been several times at several beginnings for me.
Speaker 1: The pub first publishing deal I was twenty years old, okay,
Speaker 1: first record deal was I was thirty four.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: So these guys are just now signing, and they're asking me, Hey,
Speaker 1: I need some counsel on this. How can I maintain
Speaker 1: my life as a father with young children, as a husband,
Speaker 1: as a Christian, as a member of our church. How
Speaker 1: could I do all this if things go as well
Speaker 1: as this record label wants them to go, basically what
Speaker 1: they're asking. Okay, the second conversation I had, and I'll
Speaker 1: go back to that, But the second conversation I had
Speaker 1: is the middle conversation was in I'm not going to
Speaker 1: name this. It was in a state where I was speaking,
Speaker 1: and I spoke to a young girl who is in
Speaker 1: the Christian music industry and she is in a place
Speaker 1: where things are starting to really pop for her. It's
Speaker 1: not like she just signed a deal, but she is
Speaker 1: now she's been with this label for a little bit
Speaker 1: and things are like really looking good. They're wanting to
Speaker 1: make her collab with all these different people. And she
Speaker 1: is with her husband backstage at an event I spoke at,
Speaker 1: and she's saying, I need some council because things are
Speaker 1: accelerating quickly.
Speaker 2: She's got one that's starting, one that's in middle ish, yeah,
Speaker 2: of her career.
Speaker 1: And then the first conversation, the catalyst to all of this,
Speaker 1: it really made me think about it was I was
Speaker 1: speaking to a group of pastors in another state, and
Speaker 1: after I spoke, in fact, in fact, what I spoke
Speaker 1: about was John three point thirty, which is John the
Speaker 1: Baptist saying he must increase and I must decrease talking
Speaker 1: about Jesus, John the Baptist talking about Jesus, and there
Speaker 1: is this there's this idea that in twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: how do we actually live that out? How do we
Speaker 1: possibly live out? He must increase and I must decrease
Speaker 1: in a world where we need to have a successful
Speaker 1: podcast and it's a successful radio show and a successful platform,
Speaker 1: and the widgets that we sell need to be we
Speaker 1: need to be selling more of those widgets, and we
Speaker 1: need to be always see growth in order to see
Speaker 1: growth that's tied directly with our success, and success is
Speaker 1: usually tied directly to how well people like us, and
Speaker 1: how well and how big a deal we make of ourselves.
Speaker 2: I think, though, to the track of fas can also
Speaker 2: coincide with a conversation with someone who is middle management
Speaker 2: trying to get to upper management, or someone who's entry
Speaker 2: level trying to go to the next level. Sure, because
Speaker 2: it all ties back to a lot of the same thoughts, Sure,
Speaker 2: the same intentions. I mean, more times than not, when
Speaker 2: you start off, you're getting paid minimum wage or less,
Speaker 2: and the ambition is that I'm going to make more money,
Speaker 2: and that I'm going to do better for me and
Speaker 2: do better for my family. And so the conversation is
Speaker 2: really the same whether you're making literal widgets or you're
Speaker 2: walking on a stage somewhere.
Speaker 1: Same conversation. So here's here's kind of the reference that
Speaker 1: I use at that pastor's conference to speak to what
Speaker 1: you just said. This is in the Book of Psechariah,
Speaker 1: chapter four, starting in verse six. It says this. Then
Speaker 1: he said to me, this is the word of the
Speaker 1: Lord Toud's Zerebeble, not by might nor by power, but
Speaker 1: by my spirit, says the Lord of Host. Who are you,
Speaker 1: o great mountain? Before zerebebyle you shall become a plain,
Speaker 1: and he shall bring forward the topstone amidst shouts of
Speaker 1: grace grace to it. Then the word of the Lord
Speaker 1: came to me. This is Zechariah speaking, saying, the hands
Speaker 1: of Zerebebel have laid the foundation of this house. His
Speaker 1: hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that
Speaker 1: the Lord of Host has sent me to you. For
Speaker 1: whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice
Speaker 1: and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerebebel.
Speaker 1: So what's happening here is Zerebebel is the king of Israel,
Speaker 1: and he's a much lesser king because the exiles have
Speaker 1: returned from Babylon and they're rebuilding the temple.
Speaker 2: Got it.
Speaker 1: So as they're rebuilding the temple, all the old men
Speaker 1: of Israel, they saw the old temple in all of
Speaker 1: its glory, at Solomon's Temple, just incredible structure. They watch Zerubebile,
Speaker 1: the new king, start to bring people together and start
Speaker 1: to rebuild it. They literally see it and cry. They
Speaker 1: literally weep, and we see in Ezra they're weeping so
Speaker 1: loud that it's it just as loud as the people
Speaker 1: shouting for joy is the weeping. And they're weeping because
Speaker 1: it looks so pathetic, and they're going, I remember the
Speaker 1: temple was incredible, and now it's this. How pathetic is this?
Speaker 1: And God is saying, Zeubebil, my king will do it.
Speaker 1: And all the people who have despised the day of
Speaker 1: small things shall rejoice when they see what this is
Speaker 1: going to be.
Speaker 2: Oh wow.
Speaker 1: And I read that one day and I thought, oh man, Lord,
Speaker 1: I'm the guy that has despised the day of small
Speaker 1: things for so long. I want big things. I want.
Speaker 1: I want instant results. I want things. I want things
Speaker 1: to look good and to look complete and build and grow,
Speaker 1: and I want platforms to grow, and I want everyone
Speaker 1: to go look at all the big things. And sometimes,
Speaker 1: in fact, a lot of times, God just works with
Speaker 1: the small things and he goes, this is the way
Speaker 1: I do it. Like earlier, he says, not by might
Speaker 1: nor by power, but by my spirit. That's how I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do it. Sometimes I build things small, and the
Speaker 1: small things end up taking over everything.
Speaker 2: So that's so good.
Speaker 1: I spoke to the pastors, and I was talking. I
Speaker 1: was hopefully trying to encourage some of the pastors that
Speaker 1: might be thinking, I don't have this podcast, I don't
Speaker 1: have a thousand followers on Instagram. I don't have a
Speaker 1: big church. I don't I don't have the kind of
Speaker 1: personality that could hold a radio show in my local town.
Speaker 1: I don't have a lot of things. I guess I'm
Speaker 1: a failed pastor. I guess I'm insufficient for pastoring flock.
Speaker 1: And I wanted to say I wanted to speak to
Speaker 1: those men, and I wanted to say God says, not
Speaker 1: necessarily because the reason I say it that way is
Speaker 1: because of course God can grow those kind of things,
Speaker 1: and it's incredible. With Moses, he gave him a voice
Speaker 1: like Moses like, I can't speak God, how could I
Speaker 1: do it? I don't speak God goes who made your mouth?
Speaker 1: So he can do it. But he also could build
Speaker 1: a small temple that looks puny compared to the old one,
Speaker 1: and that's actually a big thing. So I kind of
Speaker 1: just want to I wanted to comfort people and say, look,
Speaker 1: wherever you are, where the wherever God has called you.
Speaker 1: It doesn't because you might not be big, doesn't That
Speaker 1: does not mean necessarily that it's insufficient at all. After
Speaker 1: I finished, and this is where I'm going with this,
Speaker 1: a pastor stands up, raises his hand. He says, I
Speaker 1: got a question because I opened it up for questions
Speaker 1: after whole Q and A yeah, And guy says, I
Speaker 1: got a question. I have some people in my congregation
Speaker 1: that want to be famous in the Christian contemporary Christian industry.
Speaker 1: How do I counsel them as a pastor? And I said,
Speaker 1: tell them it's not possible. And the whole room goes,
Speaker 1: oh you just like it felt like I punched everyone
Speaker 1: in the gut at the same time, and there were
Speaker 1: and it was almost like everyone knew that was the
Speaker 1: right answer, but no one ever wants to say it
Speaker 1: out loud because that's like hurting the American dream, and
Speaker 1: that's that's you know, that might be offensive to someone
Speaker 1: that actually wants to build up a big music career
Speaker 1: for the for the glory of God, because God gave
Speaker 1: them a musical talent that should be shared with the masses.
Speaker 1: And to that, I say, not necessarily. He can, and
Speaker 1: he does and he will, but not always. It doesn't
Speaker 1: mean that we we if we're if our motivation is
Speaker 1: I want to be famous so that I give God glory,
Speaker 1: then that's the wrong motivation because he does it.
Speaker 2: It's also in the wrong.
Speaker 1: Order and in the wrong order.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because it starts with you. If it has to
Speaker 2: be you being famous, and listen, I'll be honest, I'm
Speaker 2: talking myself through this right now.
Speaker 1: I know you are. We've had this discussion. That's kind
Speaker 1: of why we're doing this on this podcast.
Speaker 2: So if you start with you, it's already in the
Speaker 2: wrong order. I become famous then I can bring more
Speaker 2: glory to him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well that's backwards, and God says, oh, did you
Speaker 1: think I needed.
Speaker 2: Glory, you know, in case you had had noticed, if
Speaker 2: you if he's already way bigger than you could ever imagine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he doesn't need No, he doesn't any glory. He
Speaker 1: doesn't need.
Speaker 2: So trying to find a way to stick yourself into
Speaker 2: the plan that's out of order with how he has
Speaker 2: you in his plan.
Speaker 1: Yes, God, and here in Zachariah, God doesn't need glory
Speaker 1: from a temple. He doesn't need any glory period from man.
Speaker 1: But in his providence, he invites us to join in
Speaker 1: on his plans for some strange reason that we can't
Speaker 1: even begin to understand why. The creator of the universe
Speaker 1: invites measley man to join in to share in his plan.
Speaker 1: And that's what he's doing here in Zachariah. And this
Speaker 1: is this is what he does with people that have talent.
Speaker 1: This is what he does with pastors, This is what
Speaker 1: he does with the flock, This is what he does
Speaker 1: with with a lot of people, a lot of faithful people.
Speaker 1: He invites them in to join in on it. But
Speaker 1: by no means would we ever think that we are
Speaker 1: doing it so that we can bring him more glory
Speaker 1: or more money for a bigger charity. Oh, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: I'm gonna raise so much money for you God, And
Speaker 1: this is all this money is gonna be able to
Speaker 1: help your people so.
Speaker 2: Much because you wouldn't be able to do it without.
Speaker 1: Because God, you certainly can't do it without me. And
Speaker 1: God goes, I don't need your money, Yep, I got
Speaker 1: cattle on a thousand hills. I don't need your glory.
Speaker 1: I've got enough glory and some reason. We do this
Speaker 1: as ambitious humans. And so that's why I say to
Speaker 1: that pastor, you could counsel them by saying, I don't
Speaker 1: think it's possible to seek to be famous and be
Speaker 1: a faithful Christian. I could, and I could divide that
Speaker 1: in two different ways. And this is the same conversation
Speaker 1: I had in that hallway with the girl. And this
Speaker 1: is the same conversation I had with the guys that
Speaker 1: were texting me that just signed the record deal, because
Speaker 1: I don't want to waste their time and sugarcoat it
Speaker 1: when this is what I have come up with in
Speaker 1: my own quiet time, and by no means in my
Speaker 1: saying this is right, but I'm saying I've divided this
Speaker 1: in my mind. Throw a lot of thought into two
Speaker 1: different categories. One is the practical and one is the spiritual.
Speaker 1: The practical way that I believe you can't seek to
Speaker 1: be famous and be a faithful Christian. Practically, you need
Speaker 1: to be in church on Sunday morning with your family.
Speaker 1: You need to be connected to the body. And by
Speaker 1: being practically just gone on tour, you have broken away
Speaker 1: from the most practical side of being a Christian connected
Speaker 1: to the body, and you can't get that back by
Speaker 1: just watching online. You can't get it back by starting
Speaker 1: a little worship group wherever in whatever city you're in,
Speaker 1: or you can't get it back by joining the local
Speaker 1: church service in the city you're in. You could do
Speaker 1: that occasionally, and that's say you take a vacation and
Speaker 1: you go to Florida with your family and you go
Speaker 1: check out the local church on a Sunday. Great. But
Speaker 1: if at least that's not the norm, that's a vacation.
Speaker 1: But if it becomes the norm, which it would if
Speaker 1: you're a touring artist and most Sundays, most Saturday nights,
Speaker 1: you're out, and so most Sundays you're gone. Can't make
Speaker 1: up for this because church is not how we consume it.
Speaker 1: Otherwise it would all be online. Church is us consuming
Speaker 1: and participating. It's we're members of the body, so we
Speaker 1: function as a body. Like a hand can't say to
Speaker 1: the eye, why am I not an eye? Why can't
Speaker 1: I not see? And the eye says, I need a hand.
Speaker 1: The body needs each other and all the members of
Speaker 1: the body. That's who we are in the Body of Christ.
Speaker 2: Do me a favor real quick. Can you take me
Speaker 2: back to when you were playing your guitar on the
Speaker 2: edge of your bed, when you're a kid and you're
Speaker 2: thinking about could this turn into a career? Were you
Speaker 2: thinking about being famous? Then?
Speaker 1: No, no, I never really thought about, man, it'd be
Speaker 1: cool to be famous. I did think, man, it'd be
Speaker 1: cool to play a song in front of a lot
Speaker 1: of people.
Speaker 2: But I think it was more of a famous part didn't
Speaker 2: come in there.
Speaker 1: It wasn't necessarily famous. Every I think everyone really knows
Speaker 1: deep down famous is bad because the more famous you are,
Speaker 1: the less freedom you have in this world. I think
Speaker 1: we recognize that at all levels like them. At the
Speaker 1: very end of Elvis's life, he couldn't even be around
Speaker 1: in the daylight, right, He had to travel it in
Speaker 1: the middle of.
Speaker 2: The night because he'd be swamped.
Speaker 1: And Michael Jackson, you know, you think of like the
Speaker 1: uber famous people. I don't think anyone actually wants that.
Speaker 1: But what we do want is, but I would like
Speaker 1: to play a song I just wrote in front of
Speaker 1: a whole lot of people and they sing it back. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because that's there's an energy to that that I want
Speaker 1: to be part of that energy. That's really neat to
Speaker 1: be able to to be able to do this not
Speaker 1: just once a month, but to do it every night.
Speaker 1: That's cool that it takes a certain level of fame
Speaker 1: to be able to play the music every night, not
Speaker 1: just once a year. What's also interesting is that there's
Speaker 1: a great documentary and it's it's on the PBS channel
Speaker 1: on country music. It's kin Burns, which I love. I
Speaker 1: love kin Burns documentaries, but there's one on country music.
Speaker 1: And you know, like being a famous musician, it's it's
Speaker 1: still maybe not even one hundred years old in the
Speaker 1: in the span of the life of humanity, that's true,
Speaker 1: being a famous musician is less than one hundred years old.
Speaker 2: And think about who have you just mentioned? Elvis, yeah, Garth.
Speaker 2: Now today you've got you know, Luke Holmes and Morgan Wallen. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: there's not.
Speaker 1: We don't have a big housan. We don't have data
Speaker 1: points something exactly, but we do know that here's what
Speaker 1: we do, and we don't have data points on what's
Speaker 1: it like to be famous and how well does that?
Speaker 1: How well can you do? But we do know that
Speaker 1: for thousands of years before that, people were perfectly happy
Speaker 1: performing music on a front porch or in a small
Speaker 1: setting under an oak tree. And everyone brought an instrument,
Speaker 1: a banjo, a mandolin, a guitar, and everyone's saying, and
Speaker 1: someone led it because someone was the better fiddle player,
Speaker 1: so that better fiddle player led the group. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: people gathered around and brought their instruments. And we do
Speaker 1: know that there was no greater joy in a stadium
Speaker 1: than there was right under that oak tree playing the
Speaker 1: fiddle with the group of people, and they just thought,
Speaker 1: I love music, and this is everyone's in on this,
Speaker 1: and we're playing and we're singing. This feels great. That
Speaker 1: that is not better or worse than the stadium was it?
Speaker 2: But so if it's not, If fame, if people are
Speaker 2: starting to recognize that fame is not necessarily a great thing,
Speaker 2: you can't you know, if you're really up there, you
Speaker 2: have to play in your trips and where you go
Speaker 2: and how you go, and if you want to go
Speaker 2: to Disney, you've got to have a personal less court
Speaker 2: or you have to rent out the whole place. Things
Speaker 2: like that. Is it money?
Speaker 1: I didn't think about money either. Money No, as a kid,
Speaker 1: like getting into music, I didn't think about fame or money.
Speaker 1: I just thought playing music every night to a lot
Speaker 1: of people would be really cool, and a tour bus
Speaker 1: would be great. It takes money to get a tour bus, sure,
Speaker 1: but but there's a lot better ways to make money.
Speaker 1: There's a there's a lot more practical ways to make money.
Speaker 1: Like uh, I would say, go get a loan and
Speaker 1: get a dump truck. There you go it start a
Speaker 1: concrete there's those concrete guys are crushing it, you know.
Speaker 1: So like if you if it's money, let me, let
Speaker 1: me talk different ways to do there's better, more reliable
Speaker 1: ways to make money. There is no other way to
Speaker 1: play music in front of a lot of people than
Speaker 1: if you are famous. There's there's no other way to
Speaker 1: do that. So so that's the practical side, right, You
Speaker 1: got to miss church, you're you're away from your family.
Speaker 1: Even if you say no, my family travels with me,
Speaker 1: they can't go all the time. And if they do
Speaker 1: travel with you, you're taking them away from the local body
Speaker 1: church as well. So these are just the practical things.
Speaker 1: And then then there's the spiritual side. There's a whole
Speaker 1: different side to this, and that's the side that you
Speaker 1: have to suppress. The fleshly desire that starts creeping up
Speaker 1: in you that says, I think they love me. I
Speaker 1: think I'm pretty good at this, and I think these
Speaker 1: people need me in their life because I'm providing a
Speaker 1: sense of joy. I am the source of joy for
Speaker 1: these people. And you might hear this on the podcast
Speaker 1: and go, well, that's stupid, But that's a real thing
Speaker 1: that you have to suppress, because if you don't watch
Speaker 1: that weed that's growing in the garden, if you don't
Speaker 1: watch that weed as soon as it starts sprouting out
Speaker 1: of the dirt and you don't pluck it, it will
Speaker 1: grow and it will overpower every other little vegetable plant
Speaker 1: in your garden. I promise you that thought that says
Speaker 1: I am a big deal and people need me, and
Speaker 1: I am their source of happiness, and joy look at me.
Speaker 2: You can have that same thought and not be in
Speaker 2: front of people too.
Speaker 1: Though, Absolutely you can, and that's not what this podcast
Speaker 1: is about. We could do tomorrow's podcast about the athlete
Speaker 1: that does the same thing true, or the CEO of
Speaker 1: the business that thinks the same thing.
Speaker 2: Well, and I'm thinking not even the ceo. I'm thinking
Speaker 2: of like you could be and there's nothing wrong with this,
Speaker 2: but you could be a janitor thinking well, these toolts
Speaker 2: to be overflowing if it wasn't for me, and you
Speaker 2: know a lot of sense, you would be right. But
Speaker 2: because I don't think anybody else wants to do that.
Speaker 2: But the thought, that thought is the seed that is wrong,
Speaker 2: is that you need me. I am that important that
Speaker 2: I And it really goes back to the conversation you
Speaker 2: have with God. You need me to do this to
Speaker 2: bring you the glory. Yeah, and it's the opposite in
Speaker 2: what you do, bring me the glory, and I'll raise
Speaker 2: you up and I'll tear you down.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I am going to the k Love
Speaker 1: Award Show. Did you know this?
Speaker 2: I did. I didn't know what you were doing, but
Speaker 2: I knew that you were going.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to the k Leve Award Show from
Speaker 1: when we record this podcast. I don't know. I might
Speaker 1: it might have already passed man from when we put
Speaker 1: that when we release the We pre record these podcasts
Speaker 1: like a river. The book is up for an award
Speaker 1: that day. But I will be around. I think I'm
Speaker 1: actually presenting a male vocalist or something like that, so
Speaker 1: I think or maybe female vocal Anyway, I'm I'm going
Speaker 1: to be brushing shoulders with all the Christian music industry.
Speaker 1: I'll be with them, and and I don't I know
Speaker 1: for a fact that they, those guys and girls are
Speaker 1: not immune from the same problems that I saw in
Speaker 1: country music or rock music or pop music as far
Speaker 1: as making us becoming idols to other people and us
Speaker 1: liking it. So it might be shocking. And I'm going
Speaker 1: to stand by this, and I hope that this is
Speaker 1: shocking to people listening. And I hope that you can't
Speaker 1: and I hope that you I hope that you wrestle
Speaker 1: with what I'm saying as if it's wrong, because I
Speaker 1: want people to I want constantly people to go I
Speaker 1: think Granger's wrong, but I don't want you to stop there.
Speaker 1: I want you to then dive in and wrestle with
Speaker 1: why you think I'm wrong, and wrestle with the topic.
Speaker 1: But I'm gonna say I don't think it's possible for
Speaker 1: men and women to be famous or to seek to
Speaker 1: be famous in music and be a faithful Christian. I mean,
Speaker 1: I just called out a bunch of people that are
Speaker 1: my dear friends.
Speaker 2: And either that you are going to be hanging out
Speaker 2: with or have already been hanging out with.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a pastor friend of mine, and I have a
Speaker 1: lot of people around me that call me out and
Speaker 1: either tell me to shut up or tell me I'm wrong.
Speaker 1: And one of those pastors stood up during that Q
Speaker 1: and A and goes Granger, how does this radio show
Speaker 1: you do not do the same thing to you?
Speaker 2: Interesting?
Speaker 1: And that was a great question. Well, I feel like
Speaker 1: being on a radio show. I'm protected more so from
Speaker 1: it because I don't see the reaction from people I
Speaker 1: do the radio show, and I don't like it. We're
Speaker 1: in this room right now. I don't see people with
Speaker 1: their hands up crying. I don't see them at a
Speaker 1: meet and greet going my favorite, you're my favorite human,
Speaker 1: You're my idol. I heard that word all the time
Speaker 1: in meet and greets. You're my idol. I don't see
Speaker 1: that hit you differently literal, Yeah, yeah, it did hit
Speaker 1: me differently later on, So I don't see that instant reaction.
Speaker 1: But I still don't get me wrong. I have to
Speaker 1: protect myself as an author, as a podcaster, as a
Speaker 1: radio host, I have to protect myself in so many
Speaker 1: as a speaker, as a preacher, Oh man, that might
Speaker 1: be the most dangerous space for me to go up
Speaker 1: on a stage and preach and start to think that
Speaker 1: it's about me. So that's what I hate about preaching,
Speaker 1: and that's what I love about it, because the part
Speaker 1: I love is I'm going in with a word from
Speaker 1: the Bible. So it's this is the word. I'm going
Speaker 1: to use this word, and I'm the point of this
Speaker 1: word is the point of my message today, not my point,
Speaker 1: that's not my ideas. And so I love that. And
Speaker 1: what I hate about it is there's such a grave
Speaker 1: responsibility that I don't want to slip up and need
Speaker 1: attention for myself. I usually pray almost every time in
Speaker 1: front of people, not just behind the stage, but in
Speaker 1: front of people. When I start my message, I usually
Speaker 1: pray something like Lord humble me. Don't let me seek
Speaker 1: the approval of these men and women that I so
Speaker 1: desperately want because I want them to like me. I
Speaker 1: feel it creeping up in my gut right now. I want.
Speaker 1: I want to say something or do something that they
Speaker 1: go I like him because I crave people to like me. Lord,
Speaker 1: will you suppress that, You push that down where you
Speaker 1: let me resist that, so that your word comes through,
Speaker 1: Truth comes through, even if it contradicts the feeling that
Speaker 1: if I say this people won't like me anymore. Let
Speaker 1: me just tell him the truth, regardless of who likes
Speaker 1: me or not the approval of man. Will you suppress
Speaker 1: that so I make sure that that's my prayer and
Speaker 1: it needs to always be there because because I'm like
Speaker 1: the guy this is a horrible example. Let me just
Speaker 1: use it right, This is a graphic example. But I'm
Speaker 1: like the guy that used to be in porn and
Speaker 1: now I struggle with intimacy with my wife. Okay, so
Speaker 1: that I used to be the entertainer that needed the fame,
Speaker 1: and so now I struggle with the intimacy of actually
Speaker 1: being on a stage in front of a lot of
Speaker 1: people and giving the word of God. So I need
Speaker 1: to constantly be thinking and protecting myself. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2: Yeah, very much so.
Speaker 1: So if I might have said some things, I realized
Speaker 1: that I might have said some like sound bites or
Speaker 1: little small clips that could be taken out of context.
Speaker 1: Please don't take Please don't take one sentence I said
Speaker 1: out of the last third forty minutes and say Granger
Speaker 1: says that he hates all Christian country artists and that
Speaker 1: they're all, you know, sinning or something like that. That's
Speaker 1: not what I'm saying. Let me finalize this by saying
Speaker 1: I couldn't do it. I don't see a way necessarily.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna use that word for the third time. I
Speaker 1: don't see away necessarily because I couldn't do it, that
Speaker 1: anyone else can be successful with it. But there might
Speaker 1: be maybe someone is stronger, has a stronger will and
Speaker 1: a deeper devotion that they can resist all of that
Speaker 1: fame and say no, I'm only doing this because the
Speaker 1: Lord gave me a talent.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and I think that that. I know we
Speaker 2: need to need to jump here pretty quick, but the
Speaker 2: at least on this topic. But I think that that's
Speaker 2: the key is the order, the order of how you
Speaker 2: present this. It's me being famous so I can do
Speaker 2: more for you, and that is and I think we
Speaker 2: probably just talked through that game realization the longer we talked.
Speaker 2: But if your order and he appoints you to that,
Speaker 2: that's different. If you're doing it, you're already working in
Speaker 2: your church and you're already doing that, and you're getting
Speaker 2: these opportunities pray about those. Hey, if it takes me
Speaker 2: away from this, I'm not sure that that's right for me.
Speaker 2: If I can do that but still be everything that
Speaker 2: he's asked me to be locally, that's a different story.
Speaker 2: I'm in a different conversation.
Speaker 1: Yeah, podcast is brought to you guys by Songfinch. Do
Speaker 1: you have somebody in your life that is just very
Speaker 1: difficult to buy a present for It seems like they
Speaker 1: have everything, or you've gotten them things that they don't
Speaker 1: like in the past. Have you ever thought about a
Speaker 1: song now? For me, I write songs, and I've been
Speaker 1: able to gift people with songs, personal songs for most
Speaker 1: of my life. But I realize that that's probably rare.
Speaker 1: And Songfinch comes in and says, hey, we'll do it
Speaker 1: for you. We'll write a song exactly like you want
Speaker 1: it to gift it to whoever you want to gift
Speaker 1: it to. Song Finch lets you create an original, radio
Speaker 1: quality song inspired by your own life and the people
Speaker 1: that you love. It's completely unique, personal, and last forever.
Speaker 1: They walk you through the simple process to create the
Speaker 1: song and just tell them what the song is for,
Speaker 1: what style you wanted in, you share some details about
Speaker 1: your relationship with them, and then an actual Songfinch musician
Speaker 1: of your choice is going to write this song, record
Speaker 1: it and produce it in just four to seven days.
Speaker 1: You could also have a unique add on like a
Speaker 1: vinyl record if you want that, or you could add
Speaker 1: your song to Spotify. They have more than three hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty thousand happy customers and they're proud to be
Speaker 1: called the number one custom music company in the world. So,
Speaker 1: whether your song is for mother's day, Father's Day, upcoming
Speaker 1: graduation or wedding, or just to show a loved one
Speaker 1: how much you care, start your song now to lock
Speaker 1: in a top Songfinch artist for a limited time. Songfinch
Speaker 1: is letting our listeners upload their song to Spotify for free,
Speaker 1: so you and the lucky person you gifted to can
Speaker 1: listen to it anywhere anytime. Got to songfinch dot com
Speaker 1: slash granger to start your song. After your purchase, you're
Speaker 1: going to be prompted to add Spotify streaming for your
Speaker 1: original song for free. That's a fifty dollars value. Again,
Speaker 1: my url is songfinch dot com slash granger. Don't forget
Speaker 1: to share your song with us too, songfinch dot com
Speaker 1: slash granger. We're gonna answer your questions here. If you
Speaker 1: have one for me, email podcast at grangersmith dot com.
Speaker 1: Have you read these amend I did read these, I
Speaker 1: haven't touched them real quick, there's got to be a
Speaker 1: part two to the fame first half.
Speaker 2: Yeah, things we talked about before. I think we touched
Speaker 2: on half of one of them. Yeah, this is a
Speaker 2: whole old slimbit these They had great emails that continue
Speaker 2: to come in, So.
Speaker 1: Let's see what they said for reading those. Subject line
Speaker 1: here says I declared my intentions and asked her out
Speaker 1: on a date. She gave me a vague response. Hey Granger,
Speaker 1: I'm twenty nine years old. She is thirty two years old.
Speaker 1: We're both in the same local church and the same
Speaker 1: ministry team. I declared my intentions to her and asked
Speaker 1: her out for a coffee date. She gave me a
Speaker 1: vague response, no clear no on that response or rejection,
Speaker 1: but at the same time, no clear yes from her either.
Speaker 1: After I declared my intentions, I love how he keeps
Speaker 1: saying that to her and asked her out. After two weeks,
Speaker 1: we had a conversation, a casual conversation. It's just me
Speaker 1: initiating a conversation with her and how she's been basically
Speaker 1: small talk. She was friendly in a response and not
Speaker 1: really the best conversation I've had with her, but overall
Speaker 1: it went well. She did not like scene zone with me.
Speaker 2: What does that mean I do? I even explained there
Speaker 2: that I have no I left it in there. Sometimes
Speaker 2: I edit them just to make them flow and still
Speaker 2: get the gist of it. I had to leave this
Speaker 2: in here just to see if you could understand what.
Speaker 1: I don't know. She did not like scene zone me,
Speaker 1: scene zone me.
Speaker 2: I want to say, maybe friend zone me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe, And so we had and so then he
Speaker 1: continues on, I'm still continuing on praying to God about
Speaker 1: this about what my next action is. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't know what to do next. If I should wait
Speaker 1: on her to make a decision about how she really
Speaker 1: feels about me, or if I should pursue her still
Speaker 1: or just move on. We will need biblical and godly
Speaker 1: advice on this. I appreciate your thoughts and advice on
Speaker 1: this situation. Thanks, Hans. All Right, Hans, let me recap
Speaker 1: for my own brain here twenty nine. She's thirty two. Interesting,
Speaker 1: she's three years older. Ministry team. That's kind of sounds
Speaker 1: a little Fleetwood macish to me. What do you mean
Speaker 1: the same band?
Speaker 2: Okay, got it?
Speaker 1: Yeah, everybody in Fleetwood Mac like had a relationship with
Speaker 1: each other. It's not what I mean, buddy, it's sorry, Hans,
Speaker 1: bad bad music joke. So buddy that this is a
Speaker 1: long email, which is great, detailed email, which is great.
Speaker 1: But it's just a simple thing. If you're not getting it,
Speaker 1: it's one of only one of two things. It's one
Speaker 1: she's just not into you, man, or two she's very
Speaker 1: shy and doesn't really know how to react. And I
Speaker 1: could solve both of those for you. You just got
Speaker 1: to be direct and just go. Look. Let me be
Speaker 1: straight up. I like you when I ask you for coffee.
Speaker 1: It is not just because I think I want to
Speaker 1: be your friend, and so sometimes it's guys, we have
Speaker 1: to be very clear, we have to we have to
Speaker 1: you said, declare intentions, but I wonder if you have
Speaker 1: clarity in your declaration of your intentions when you say,
Speaker 1: can we go out for coffee? I hope you're saying
Speaker 1: not as a friend. I want this actually to be
Speaker 1: a date. I want to take you out. I want
Speaker 1: to have some coffee. But it's because I like you.
Speaker 1: I'm actually attracted to you. And then give her a
Speaker 1: chance to respond to that. Because you're not eighteen, you're
Speaker 1: in your late twenties. She's in her early thirties. This
Speaker 1: is time, you know, things are happening in your lives
Speaker 1: right now, there's really not You're not going to waste
Speaker 1: your time with vagueness. And so it's like, hey, I'm
Speaker 1: interested in you. Are you interested in me? Just ask
Speaker 1: her that. And if she says, you know, Hans, I
Speaker 1: think you're great, and okay, right there, you're like, okay,
Speaker 1: I get it, I get it. We'll continue on in
Speaker 1: the same ministry team, which is going to be awkward,
Speaker 1: but we got to keep doing that. But the only
Speaker 1: other scenario is she goes yes, but I don't I've
Speaker 1: never been in a relationship before. I don't know what
Speaker 1: to go about, but I do like you. Okay, now
Speaker 1: we could work with that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1: But either way, Hans, this is just very simple.
Speaker 2: I want to know what stating your intentions are.
Speaker 1: I don't know. That's kind of I don't think it
Speaker 1: was enough because I think if it was enough, he
Speaker 1: wouldn't have asked us the question.
Speaker 2: Well, and there's some confidence that should come, not because
Speaker 2: of experience, just because of age. At some point, at
Speaker 2: twenty nine thirty two, you can have a direct conversation
Speaker 2: of hey, I mean twenty nine thirty t to find
Speaker 2: you attractive and not be offended if they say no, Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's a total thing for someone to go, Hey, can
Speaker 1: you have coffee? It's a thing for the girl to go.
Speaker 1: I had no idea you meant that way, right, And
Speaker 1: le's what tell them? We got to tell them A
Speaker 1: next question, says Hey Granger. My name is Haven, twenty
Speaker 1: nine year old. Another twenty nine year old grew up
Speaker 1: in Georgetown, Texas and still live in the area. I
Speaker 1: had the pleasure of speaking to you a couple of
Speaker 1: occasions during my few years working in the country radio scene.
Speaker 1: I haven't had a chance to speak to ant Man yet.
Speaker 1: I left the radio world, but still very much a
Speaker 1: part of the country music industry since I started my
Speaker 1: own event production company that focuses on country music festivals.
Speaker 1: What advice do you have for me as I work
Speaker 1: in the entertainment industry and live a life that is
Speaker 1: Christ focused. I already will will not work with any
Speaker 1: other acts that are not family friendly. I'm curious if
Speaker 1: you felt that you had to leave the entertainment scene
Speaker 1: because you view it as too much of a distraction
Speaker 1: from the life you want to live as a Christian. Also,
Speaker 1: if you have ever thought that you could spread God's
Speaker 1: word to a larger audience audience if you had stayed
Speaker 1: in the music scene. Personally, I think what you're doing
Speaker 1: now is amazing and inspiring. Love the podcast, appreciate you
Speaker 1: taking the time to read this. Thank you, Haven. Yeah,
Speaker 1: great question, Haven, And look, this is critical in so
Speaker 1: many areas. We have to remember when when you're a
Speaker 1: Christian and you want to you want to live a
Speaker 1: christ focused life, that doesn't mean you need to surround
Speaker 1: yourself by only Christians. That would be a huge mistake
Speaker 1: and Nowhere in the New Testament do we see this
Speaker 1: is the disciples go out and the apostles go out
Speaker 1: and they start discipling people. By nowhere do we see
Speaker 1: them say and by the way, only hang out with Christians,
Speaker 1: and only do Christian things, and only do if you're
Speaker 1: gonna make pottery, make sure it's pottery with with the
Speaker 1: cross on it.
Speaker 2: Or who would get saved if the only people you
Speaker 2: hung out with we're Christians.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so look, Heven, the answer really is is go
Speaker 1: out and you work in the entertainment industry, great, do
Speaker 1: it with honesty, do all your workings with integrity, with respect,
Speaker 1: in honoring other image bearers of God. It doesn't necessarily
Speaker 1: mean you have to cut out work from anyone that's
Speaker 1: not family friendly. Not necessarily that. It depends on the environment.
Speaker 1: If you're inviting some comedian and all he does is
Speaker 1: drop f bombs and you've got kids in the audience,
Speaker 1: have good discernment about that. But that you don't have
Speaker 1: to be a Christian to do that. You could just
Speaker 1: be a level headed human being that goes is their kid.
Speaker 1: There's kids out here. Let's not drop the F bomb.
Speaker 1: But you don't have to preach the gospel. Hey, I
Speaker 1: only want to bring comedians that preach the gospel would
Speaker 1: be a mistake. And so if it's a guy and
Speaker 1: you're bringing in acts that aren't necessarily family friendly, let's
Speaker 1: just have good discernment on that and not think so
Speaker 1: spiritual about it. You don't have to over spiritualize everything
Speaker 1: you do. Instead, you just work as someone with integrity,
Speaker 1: with honor, loving serving, sharing the gospel for anyone that
Speaker 1: asks for a reason for the hope that is in you,
Speaker 1: and and make that money and then distribute that money
Speaker 1: back out in the areas that you should be serving
Speaker 1: in well.
Speaker 2: And that could also tie back to the first half
Speaker 2: of this podcast too, is that you ask how you
Speaker 2: can be a Christian and do this work?
Speaker 1: Well?
Speaker 2: First, is it taking you away? Yeah? You know, look
Speaker 2: at that too, if you more so than working with
Speaker 2: this artist, that is this or that? Look at hey,
Speaker 2: am I doing all this stuff? So?
Speaker 1: Sorry?
Speaker 2: Am I doing all this stuff? In it? Is it
Speaker 2: taking me away from my church? Taking me away?
Speaker 1: Exactly? By the way, Haven, will you join us at
Speaker 1: a Mais church east of East View High School? Join
Speaker 1: us at a mass that is where we are members
Speaker 1: and in Georgetown, Texas. I would love to have you
Speaker 1: and we could have this conversation actually in person. There
Speaker 1: you go on a Sunday morning, uh with with Marshall
Speaker 1: or anybody else that's been on this podcast. Let's do that.
Speaker 2: That's awesome.
Speaker 1: Moving on here, do we got?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: We got we got all kinds of time. I love that. Hey, Grangeer,
Speaker 1: this is Donita. I'm watching from Rudy, Arkansas. I have
Speaker 1: really been enjoying your videos from you and Amber's trip
Speaker 1: to Israel. If you choose to do a trip like
Speaker 1: that again, where would y'all choose to go? God bless
Speaker 1: you and your family. Don't need it, Hey, Rudy, Hey
Speaker 1: don't need it. From Rudy, thank you so much. I
Speaker 1: appreciate that I sometimes put out videos like that and
Speaker 1: wonder if anyone watches. So I'm glad you watched. Ant
Speaker 1: Man went with me. That was an incredible trip to Israel.
Speaker 1: We will do you say a trip like that, I
Speaker 1: think you mean like a mission leaning London and I
Speaker 1: will be going. Maybe even by the time this podcast
Speaker 1: comes out, we might already be gone to Latin America
Speaker 1: for another trip London and I. But yeah, I'm happy
Speaker 1: to be able to post stuff so that you could
Speaker 1: see it. Donat us, So thank you for those kind words.
Speaker 2: Anyone that has watched those two and remembers Romy, I've
Speaker 2: been talking to Romy a little bit and pretty much
Speaker 2: tourism has stopped. Yeah, and ask him any practically obviously
Speaker 2: you're going to get our prayers. Romi, any practical way
Speaker 2: I can help you, and he goes, just pray, just pray.
Speaker 1: That's good.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Next question comes from Corey says, Hey Grange, I recently
Speaker 1: found your podcast. I've been writing music since I was
Speaker 1: about thirteen. From the time I wake up to the
Speaker 1: time I go to sleep, I can't get music off
Speaker 1: my mind. I've released eight singles and a music video,
Speaker 1: completely independent, and I'm moving to Nashville to chase this dream. Oh,
Speaker 1: you asked the question on the wrong podcast, didn't you?
Speaker 2: Sorry?
Speaker 1: Corey, Sorry about the everything I've said so far. Do
Speaker 1: you have any advice for juggling family, getting a new job,
Speaker 1: tipporarily in Nashville, I'll be attending dark Horse Institute for
Speaker 1: Songwriting and Composition. I'm twenty nine and I've done blue
Speaker 1: collar work since I was a freshman in high school.
Speaker 1: How do I know if this is the path God
Speaker 1: wants me on. I know if I put Him first
Speaker 1: in every aspect of my life, he will light the
Speaker 1: way for me on my journey. I'm just so nervous
Speaker 1: that I was I'm going to crash and burn. Thank
Speaker 1: you for being an inspiration for me for so long.
Speaker 1: Thank you God, bless brother Corey. Hey, Corey Man, interesting
Speaker 1: podcast for this mon Yeah, man, I got it. Now
Speaker 1: I got to say something different than I've said this
Speaker 1: whole time. So Romans twelve twelve is a good go
Speaker 1: to for you, Corey, And it's often just kind of
Speaker 1: missed in life when people are starting to wonder. I'd
Speaker 1: hope I don't crash and burn. How do I know
Speaker 1: if I'm putting God first? Because you're right, I put
Speaker 1: Him first in every aspect. But what does that mean practically?
Speaker 1: And so Romans twelve to twelve do not conform to this world,
Speaker 1: but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. How
Speaker 1: that by testing you can discern the will of God,
Speaker 1: what is good and acceptable and perfect? That's interesting, right?
Speaker 1: So go read that Romans twelve two? Did I say
Speaker 1: twelve twelve? Romans twelve to two? Go read that and
Speaker 1: think about this. Do not be conformed with this world.
Speaker 1: That's one thing. But be transformed by the renewal of
Speaker 1: your mind. That's another thing. That means you don't go
Speaker 1: with your gut, you know your art, go in my heart,
Speaker 1: my heart, but use your mind, use your brain. Okay, Grangeer,
Speaker 1: how do I use my brain? Or Paul Apostle, Paul,
Speaker 1: how do I use my brain? He says, by testing,
Speaker 1: you could test so that you can discern the will
Speaker 1: of God for you, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Speaker 1: That's crazy. And I lived this out and and I've
Speaker 1: lived this out in very specific ways. One was when
Speaker 1: I was in the music business and I started feeling
Speaker 1: outside of the will of God because I how you
Speaker 1: and I talked about this earlier. An unsettled spirit is
Speaker 1: one way, and Corey, I think you have that, that's
Speaker 1: why you're emailing. But when you feel this unsettling in
Speaker 1: the spirit and you're like, uh, oh, I don't know
Speaker 1: if this is, like Corey said, the path God wants
Speaker 1: me on. So you go, let me test it. Let
Speaker 1: me test my life right now? How do you test it? Well,
Speaker 1: put it up against the word of God. So you're
Speaker 1: consistently reading the word of God, and you start testing.
Speaker 1: And so this is what I did specifically in music.
Speaker 1: I go, I think this is weird for me. Let
Speaker 1: me test it. So I went up on stage and
Speaker 1: tested my heart with my mind, with my brain. So
Speaker 1: my brain is monitoring. It's like I've put my monitor
Speaker 1: on my heart, and I go, Okay, I'm gonna watch you,
Speaker 1: mister heart, and see how you act during this concert.
Speaker 1: And so my brain's going okay, monitoring started. Dude, dude.
Speaker 1: My heart goes out there, and my heart goes, why
Speaker 1: are those people in the front row not cheering with
Speaker 1: their hands up? What's wrong with those people? My brain goes, gotcha, yep,
Speaker 1: just you just failed to test. Five minutes later, my
Speaker 1: heart goes, oh, there's a bunch of seats in the back.
Speaker 1: Last time we came to this city, we sold this
Speaker 1: place out. What's wrong with these people? And my brain goes, dude,
Speaker 1: gotcha yep. And this continued to happen, and I got
Speaker 1: off and I analyzed the data that by testing, I
Speaker 1: can discern the will of God, and I go, oh,
Speaker 1: I failed. I'm in sin this whole concert. My heart
Speaker 1: was in sin because I tested it against the Word
Speaker 1: of God because I had pride, because I had these
Speaker 1: fleshly desires. So you see what I'm trying to say, Corey,
Speaker 1: is that I'm not It's not magic written in the sky,
Speaker 1: doesn't have to be like the will of God for
Speaker 1: our lives doesn't have to be a mystery. We could
Speaker 1: just look at the Word of God and then test
Speaker 1: it with our heart, with our brains, with our mind
Speaker 1: and go, oh, that's not lining up. I'm not in
Speaker 1: the will of God.
Speaker 2: Well, I think I think you're Also you're putting something
Speaker 2: there that people will talk about but not do. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and that is again pointing at myself, is that it's
Speaker 2: just been more recent. Well, I didn't hear it at church.
Speaker 2: I didn't read it in somebody's book. Well, I didn't
Speaker 2: see it. Did you read it in the Word of God.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I haven't read it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's usually the answer, I.
Speaker 2: Don't know, I haven't read it.
Speaker 1: And then then the flip side of this is when
Speaker 1: people are struggling to make a decision, like say they
Speaker 1: want to change jobs, like I'm in this job and
Speaker 1: I don't really like this job, and there's another job
Speaker 1: and it's more uncertain, and I just don't know if
Speaker 1: God wants me on that path or not. So the
Speaker 1: same thing I would say to that is their sin involved?
Speaker 1: Is there morality involved in the job change? No? Does
Speaker 1: it require more of my time? Would I be leaving
Speaker 1: like having less time in church?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: Well, I still get a good amount of time as
Speaker 1: a father and a husband. Yeah. Is the is the
Speaker 1: industry that I'm moving into sinful in any way? Is it?
Speaker 1: Is it like hurting people? Right? No? Okay, then just
Speaker 1: do what you want. If there's no morality involved, there's
Speaker 1: no sin involved, then at that point we get so
Speaker 1: paralyzed by these spiritual things and go.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: There is the will of God. At that point you
Speaker 1: can go, well, the will of God's working through my desires,
Speaker 1: and I want to do it. I don't want to
Speaker 1: do the old job. I want to do the new job.
Speaker 2: We want the burning bush. So yeah, yeah, speak to
Speaker 2: me in the burning bush.
Speaker 1: And you've also analyzed and said, I'm not the kind
Speaker 1: of person that jumps around. It's not a matter of contentment.
Speaker 1: I'm just not ever settled. So I it's like I've
Speaker 1: worked at this job for eight year. It's not a
Speaker 1: contentment issue. I'm pretty settled and I'm actually very excited
Speaker 1: about the opportunity of this other job. Do it yep, so, Corey,
Speaker 1: I hope that helps you. I didn't really. I didn't
Speaker 1: address your specific issue. But I think that's kind of
Speaker 1: the point because I don't need to address your specific issue.
Speaker 1: I need to get to your heart. And and the
Speaker 1: more more important question to all this is, you're sentenced
Speaker 1: right here in the middle. How do I know if
Speaker 1: this is the path God wants me on. I'm nervous
Speaker 1: that I'm going to crash and burn. Read his word.
Speaker 1: Be in church. Have good counsel around you. You gotta
Speaker 1: have other men around you, Corey that go you say, hey, guys,
Speaker 1: is this a good idea? And they go, bro, I
Speaker 1: don't think I know you, and I don't think that's
Speaker 1: a good idea. Or I know you man, and I
Speaker 1: think this is a great opportunity, good wise counsel around you.
Speaker 1: If you've got all that, then you're you're protecting yourself
Speaker 1: by testing Romans twelve two. Let's said another question, got
Speaker 1: another question? Got when we got time? Hey Grange, I
Speaker 1: live in Canada and I'm looking for a church I
Speaker 1: work at a hospital, so that includes every second weekend.
Speaker 1: I have a church walking distance from me, and I
Speaker 1: went there on Sunday. No one welcomed me or even
Speaker 1: said high. I didn't feel welcomed. The sermon was good,
Speaker 1: but I was wondering should I keep looking for another
Speaker 1: church or give it another chance. I love all your platforms.
Speaker 1: London needs to do more.
Speaker 2: Lol.
Speaker 1: Sandra or Sandra? Do you think it's Sandra or Sandra.
Speaker 1: I think it's Sandra, Sandra from Canada. I think so
Speaker 1: it would be the further south, it would be Sondra maybe,
Speaker 1: but regardless, she said, Sandy ye yee, Sandy, Okay, Sandy,
Speaker 1: this is a this is a very complicated question that
Speaker 1: I don't I just don't have enough data. I don't
Speaker 1: have enough data with you saying the sermon was good
Speaker 1: and I didn't feel welcomed. I need more or the
Speaker 1: walking distance thing is cool, but I need more information.
Speaker 1: Was the pastor preaching expositionally? Was he preaching from the No,
Speaker 1: A lot of people say from preaching from the word.
Speaker 1: That's not what I mean. What I mean was was
Speaker 1: he using scripture and the point of the scripture was
Speaker 1: the point of the text That's what I mean. Was
Speaker 1: he doing that? If it's a solid church, it's close
Speaker 1: to you. The preacher is preaching good doctrine, and that
Speaker 1: the point of the text is the point of the message,
Speaker 1: then what they're lacking you should be able to serve
Speaker 1: and go, Hey, this church is lacking good greeters. So
Speaker 1: I want to join this church and be a good
Speaker 1: greeterer because I immediately noticed they don't have good people welcoming.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna be that. Like we talked earlier about
Speaker 1: members of the body, be that member of the body.
Speaker 2: It's not a restaurant. You know, a church is not
Speaker 2: a restaurant. You're going well, man, my waiter was terrible.
Speaker 2: It might be justifiable not to go back. Was the
Speaker 2: food good? The food's food, you know, it's what you
Speaker 2: need the moment. That's not necessarily what church is. Church
Speaker 2: is like, that's one point of all. But it's not
Speaker 2: the meat potatoes on your plate. Yes, So the word
Speaker 2: is is the word there?
Speaker 1: It's all about that. It's all about the word.
Speaker 2: Man. I was blessed with the church that we're members
Speaker 2: at now that the very first time I'll use this
Speaker 2: analogy is that it was the right kind of welcome.
Speaker 2: And what I mean by that is it wasn't overbearing,
Speaker 2: and it wasn't twelve people, it wasn't three hundred questions.
Speaker 2: It was I don't I know everybody here and I
Speaker 2: don't know you.
Speaker 1: Oh that's good because.
Speaker 2: You could tell. And there were a few people that
Speaker 2: you know, would walk by and see us and wave
Speaker 2: or say hi. But there was one person you could
Speaker 2: tell that that was their passion and that she just
Speaker 2: came and said, you guys are new here, like, yes,
Speaker 2: this is our first time here. Okay, well welcome. This
Speaker 2: is how we do our service here, the whole families together,
Speaker 2: and so your kids, your daughter's welcome. She'll be in
Speaker 2: the main service with you. If you just want to
Speaker 2: check it out today and just do the service, you can,
Speaker 2: But we do have Sunday school afterwards if you would
Speaker 2: like to do that too. There was no pressure. Again,
Speaker 2: there wasn't like, okay, fill this out and scan this
Speaker 2: and do that. They were like, if you'd like to
Speaker 2: fill it out, we'd like to connect with you. If
Speaker 2: you don't, you just want to check out, that's completely
Speaker 2: fine too.
Speaker 1: You didn't have the guy in the front like spinning
Speaker 1: the sign you know, like juggling the big sign that
Speaker 1: says welcome your home.
Speaker 2: Yes, but he was the nail salon across the street,
Speaker 2: that's what it was. Yeah, No, we didn't do that.
Speaker 1: That's a good point that, Yeah, sometimes the welcome team
Speaker 1: could be a little yes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And that is kind of kind of me like,
Speaker 2: if I'm checking it out, I just kind of want
Speaker 2: to slip in and then just people just smile and
Speaker 2: be nice. And that's really hard to find too. That's
Speaker 2: absolutely the other It's either experience that Sandra had or
Speaker 2: the experience that we had.
Speaker 1: I get it. And you have one more question on
Speaker 1: this this little sheet here, let me try to get it.
Speaker 1: It's from Riley says, Hey Grange, I'm twenty three years
Speaker 1: old from Chilliwack, be another Canada. I don't have any
Speaker 1: male role models to talk to as as my church
Speaker 1: is distant and very reformed, no small groups. My dad
Speaker 1: left me when I was a kid and it's not
Speaker 1: safe to reconnect with him. Parentheses alcoholic and abusive. I've
Speaker 1: struggled with doubt and belief, but know that Jesus has
Speaker 1: saved me. But I never experienced a radical moment of
Speaker 1: bleeding of believing I can recall. I just know that
Speaker 1: the change has happened and is happening. Can you explain
Speaker 1: more in conversion and also how yours happened? Thanks, Riley?
Speaker 1: And why did you put this question at the end.
Speaker 1: It was only if you had time you realized, he
Speaker 1: realizes I started it. Oh no, he's got ye.
Speaker 2: Forgot it was well, I didn't know it till about
Speaker 2: three lines. Oh yeah, that's right, it's he doesn't.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, Ma, Riley, this this could actual episode, this
Speaker 1: could be its own episode. Really, the doctrine of conversion,
Speaker 1: my story, my testimony, your your experience at church with
Speaker 1: no small groups, which let's just go there real quick, Riley,
Speaker 1: that's not necessarily a bad thing. We live in a
Speaker 1: world in twenty twenty four that it's like small group driven.
Speaker 1: It's like you said, this bird just hit the window.
Speaker 1: When that was you said it just now you said
Speaker 1: the meat and potatoes is the preaching is the word.
Speaker 1: Let's say that again and say it's not small groups.
Speaker 1: And so many churches say, well, that's what small groups
Speaker 1: are for, right. I didn't feel like I got any
Speaker 1: meat and potatoes. That's what small groups are for. No,
Speaker 1: they're not that's dangerous.
Speaker 2: But so many.
Speaker 1: Churches pawn off small groups. They say, our Sunday mornings
Speaker 1: are for attracting.
Speaker 2: People, so invite everyone you can connecting, and small groups.
Speaker 1: Are for connecting and learning the word. That's not ever,
Speaker 1: how it's been and and it's there's a thousand reasons
Speaker 1: we can get into why that is not a good system,
Speaker 1: because one and one of a thousand reasons is the
Speaker 1: pastors can't monitor every small group going on, and that's
Speaker 1: a that's a lot of work to keep track, especially
Speaker 1: in a big church with you know what's going on
Speaker 1: and what group and what group is growing, and what
Speaker 1: group is not and and are are the leaders of
Speaker 1: these groups properly discipling? So that that's why the meat
Speaker 1: and potatoes, like you said, is always the preaching on
Speaker 1: Sunday morning. So that doesn't make your church, this specific
Speaker 1: church good, uh. In fact, it might be a horrible church.
Speaker 1: It sounds like it might be. Or this could be
Speaker 1: a matter of you you've been a recluse and you
Speaker 1: haven't connected. I think it's a little both. I think
Speaker 1: it would be a problem, especially if it's a smaller
Speaker 1: church that they don't come to you and say, brother,
Speaker 1: how could we how can we serve you, how could
Speaker 1: we walk with you? Are you struggling with doubt? And
Speaker 1: how could we talk through these things so that you
Speaker 1: don't have to email your friend on a podcast and
Speaker 1: ask him a question that really should go to an elder.
Speaker 1: And so if you're not in a church, and I
Speaker 1: hesitate with this because I don't have enough data points,
Speaker 1: but if you're not in a church where you can't
Speaker 1: willingly approach an elder or if he doesn't approach you,
Speaker 1: and you could have a conversation about the same question
Speaker 1: you're asking me. My dad's an alcoholic. I'm concerned while
Speaker 1: there's no small groups, I struggle with doubt and belief.
Speaker 1: I like Granger Smith and his podcast. I like ye yee.
Speaker 1: If you can't have that kind of conversation with an elder,
Speaker 1: then I would say, let's think about another church where
Speaker 1: that is something that's cultivated, where the soil is cultivating
Speaker 1: in a way, where you walk in like ant Man
Speaker 1: just said, and they go, here's what we do. Are
Speaker 1: you in a connect Let's do this, and here's the
Speaker 1: people to talk to. If you're kind of like a
Speaker 1: ghost in this place and it's distant, like you said,
Speaker 1: then that could be a problem, and very reformed also
Speaker 1: could be a problem. I just don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: have enough data points besides the fact that say to say, Riley,
Speaker 1: ask some questions. Ask these questions to church leadership, and
Speaker 1: you'll know quickly if they're just blowing you off, are
Speaker 1: they genuinely want to disciple you. And if they don't,
Speaker 1: then let's go to another place in chili wack BC.
Speaker 2: Yep. Yeah, I think that's great advice. And he's addressing
Speaker 2: something there as well that's very, very prominent in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four is no male role models, no male pouring
Speaker 2: into and if that's not happening, find a place that is,
Speaker 2: and then make sure that you're becoming one of those
Speaker 2: people that are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll give you the one minute talk here, Riley
Speaker 1: on conversion. Do you understand and believe that Jesus came
Speaker 1: from God to reconcile you to himself and become the
Speaker 1: substitute for the sin, your sin that put him on
Speaker 1: the cross, and that he paid the price for your
Speaker 1: sin so that you could be in a right relationship
Speaker 1: with God. And you have evidence of that moving forward
Speaker 1: in your life. That manifest in a way that says
Speaker 1: I want to be part of a good church. I
Speaker 1: want to know more of him, I want to know
Speaker 1: his word. I want to be around other people that
Speaker 1: understand these kind of things that if that's you, then
Speaker 1: you are converted. And it doesn't mean you have to
Speaker 1: have a big radical moment of believing. It doesn't mean
Speaker 1: you have to all of a sudden act like your
Speaker 1: Billy Graham or something that you see on the TV.
Speaker 1: It could be a very very slow moving process, but
Speaker 1: it all revolves around you knowing the facts that I
Speaker 1: just said. And if that's you, then you are a saint,
Speaker 1: you are a brother, and we need to get you
Speaker 1: into a good church. Yeah yeah, would you claught up
Speaker 1: with that at the end. Now, I'm glad. We'll see
Speaker 1: you guys next Monday. Thanks for joining me on the
Speaker 1: Grangersmith podcast. I appreciate all of you guys. You could
Speaker 1: help me out by rating this podcast on iTunes. If
Speaker 1: you're on YouTube, subscribe to this channel, hit that little
Speaker 1: like button and notification spell so that you never miss
Speaker 1: anytime I upload a video. Yi