0:00

Hi, everybody. Lisa Turquoise here.

0:02

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0:37

During today's conversation on back Port's

0:39

Theology, Alina, beginning

0:42

two thousand twenty three with fresh resolve

0:45

to lean more fully

0:47

into the love of Jesus Christ

0:50

and to be less distracted

0:53

by people and circumstances who

0:56

compete with our devotion.

0:58

You know, according to recent polls, losing

1:01

weight is a perennial top ten

1:03

New Year's resolution, which

1:05

isn't a bad one. I hope to drop a few pounds

1:07

myself in twenty three, but me and how

1:10

much more fulfilling would

1:12

it be to drop ten or fifteen pounds

1:14

of emotional baggage? So

1:16

please have a cup of coffee in your bible unless

1:19

you're driving or still peeling off

1:21

the spanx from that New Year's

1:23

Eve party, of course, and come hang

1:25

out of the porch with Allie, doctor Howard

1:27

Bell and me. Well,

1:35

hey hey, Bec Fortress. I'm Alison and Ellen.

1:37

I'm the five foot twelve spiritual wing woman

1:40

to Lisa Harper. For back

1:42

porch theology and we just wanna say

1:44

in unison 321

1:46

Happy New Year. We

1:50

are so thankful that you've hung out with

1:52

us for the last year. And

1:54

just wanna say that you've made this year a banner

1:56

year --

1:57

Right. -- and the banner over us. Is his love.

1:59

We are so grateful that

2:01

you've traveled in an impressive segue.

2:04

Was it? Yes. You've made it banner

2:06

year in his banner over. I was

2:08

like, I need to I do have, like, a dance

2:10

behind you. I need to be your interpretive dancer.

2:12

That's impressive. Can I see you? It was amazing.

2:14

A little banner waving, a little ribbon

2:16

dance. You're celebrating

2:19

New Year's Eve, dancing kind of moves.

2:21

Yes. I think we need we need fireworks. I

2:23

mean, this just feels like a a big

2:25

moment. Cats at least. Are you supported

2:27

yet? First year. First year, first year, first year, first year, I

2:29

wanna ask you something, Lisa. When you come

2:31

to the New Year -- Uh-huh. -- how

2:33

do you think of it? Do you think of it

2:36

in making resolutions? Do you go

2:38

straight to that place? Do you do a bit

2:40

of reflection? How do you come to

2:42

the New Year? How do you feel I was studying

2:44

this knowing you and I got do. This is our

2:46

first New Year's podcast. Most

2:48

of you have already experienced New Year. This is --

2:50

Oh. -- if you're joining us this is the Monday

2:52

after New Year's, but

2:54

we studied this before --

2:56

Mhmm. -- New Year. So when I was studying

2:58

New Year, first of all, I didn't really know

3:00

that it was kind of a a Roman

3:03

for sure. It wasn't at forty five We see.

3:05

We lit it at forty five. Yeah. Something like that.

3:07

We see there. Yeah. We started celebrating

3:09

the New Year on January Right. With

3:11

that that particular calendar. And

3:13

prior to that, you know, in Hebrew scriptures, there's

3:16

no such thing as, like, a new year in

3:18

January, the way we celebrate it there's

3:20

actually no theological consensus over

3:22

when the New Year, per se, was -- Mhmm. --

3:24

the history of Sculptures, yes, some say it

3:26

was celebrated in the fall. Since I'm in

3:28

the spring, but it revolved around agriculture. Okay.

3:30

They're a very agrarian society and so

3:32

their festivals had to do with planting

3:34

and harvesting. And then

3:37

now, most would say regarding

3:39

the high holidays, the Jewish festivals that Rasha

3:41

Shana, which is in in

3:43

September as far as the calendar would

3:46

be technically the Jewish New Year because

3:48

that's when you repent -- Yes. --

3:50

day of the time where you repent -- Yes. -- repent for

3:52

the sins of the past year and then you You can

3:54

step into the beginning. Yes. Exactly. Back

3:56

a bit. So there's there's just some really

3:59

interesting history when it comes to

4:01

even the tradition of

4:03

a new beginning and new year, stepping into a new

4:05

season. And so, yeah, it's

4:07

always had a little bit of, I don't

4:09

know, sobriety and bad for sure. It's fun.

4:11

And it it is fun depending on where you are.

4:13

I tend to spend my new years.

4:15

I go to passion a lot with -- Yeah. -- Louis and

4:18

Shelly giggling. My

4:20

hair. To Betsy. To

4:22

be in a room with thousands

4:24

of other Christ followers. Thousands of the

4:26

next generation. Absolutely right. I see because

4:28

it's most sleep. Kids eighteen to twenty two.

4:30

I'll just go because Shelley's a dear friend.

4:32

Yeah. So I get to kinda sneak in the back door,

4:34

if you will. But to worship

4:37

into a new year, Yeah.

4:39

It's it's just unbelievable. So I

4:41

usually associate the New Year with

4:44

With passion and emotion with

4:45

worshipation. Yeah. But,

4:47

yeah, the New Year there's a very

4:49

reflective element -- Right. -- to

4:51

me of okay. If I wanna

4:53

live a more christy formatting, Jesus

4:56

shaped life. What

4:58

do I need to jettison? Yeah. What do I need

5:00

to -- Yeah. -- get rid of? Yeah.

5:02

What do I need to add

5:04

to my life? It's it's kind of a realigning.

5:06

If you will, I was trying to think of with the New Year. I can

5:08

imagine even what do I need to attend, what do I need

5:10

to put some miracle grow on? What's Yeah.

5:12

What's happening? New life needs to -- Exactly. -- where

5:14

it needs to Scott's pruning. Yeah. Like the

5:16

card metaphor. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's definitely

5:19

reflective, Tim. I'm not huge on

5:21

resolution. I'm not

5:23

either mine. Well, the

5:25

statistics aren't great. Like, we were talking about

5:27

this episode, and I think the average

5:29

length of days keeping a resolution. It's

5:31

something like thirty two to fifty running on the

5:33

study. You consult doctor Howard

5:35

told us it takes at least forty

5:37

days -- Yeah. -- to actually begin Create

5:39

a new habit to become ingrained. And so

5:41

I'm like, isn't that interesting that most of us

5:44

Quit. I quit. Before it actually

5:46

becomes a habit or disciplined. Yeah. Yeah.

5:48

And so today, I think we're gonna talk a little

5:50

bit less about resolutions as we

5:52

think of them generally and more about Solutions.

5:55

Solution solution. Yeah. Specialist solution

5:57

is just something to do. I did oh,

5:59

I guess, it was about five years ago

6:01

-- Mhmm. -- in that same vein.

6:03

I thought I'm not gonna do a

6:05

resolution. Right. I I think

6:07

the one of the perennial top

6:09

ten I read is always people

6:11

wanna lose weight for sure. And, of course, I could

6:13

stay and lose, drop a few pounds. But I thought,

6:15

you know, how can I lose more emotional

6:18

weight

6:18

if you will? Good. And immediately, the

6:21

three things came to mind. I felt like holy spirit

6:23

just very gently said you

6:25

need to forgive faster. Mhmm.

6:28

And I was like, oh, Okay.

6:30

I I wanna lay down offenses

6:32

-- Mhmm. -- more quickly. And so

6:35

I just wrote down three things. It was

6:37

I wanna I wanna forgive more quick Mhmm.

6:39

I wanna take offense more slowly

6:41

-- Mhmm. -- and I wanna lean

6:43

more fully into the arms of Jesus. Mhmm.

6:46

Because I'm a good worker bee for

6:48

sure. On god's behalf as if

6:50

all my, you know, good deeds are

6:52

adding up like some kind of spiritual frequent flyer

6:54

mile. That's my natural

6:56

broken bent of my personality.

6:59

Sometimes I have a hard time being held.

7:02

By Jesus. And so

7:04

to lean more fully and really be

7:06

intentional on a really

7:08

early podcast. I think I talked about how

7:10

I encourage some of the women I work with in

7:13

recovery ministry to take

7:15

warm laundry out of the dryer -- Mhmm. --

7:17

and put it in their beds. They they fuss a lot

7:19

about. They don't have as privacy in this

7:21

rehab center, residential rehab center.

7:23

And I said, when you have two or three minutes to

7:25

yourself, just get

7:27

in that dorm room Close

7:29

the door for a second so your roommate can't come

7:31

in, put warm laundry on the bed, lean

7:34

back into that warm laundry because

7:36

that feels like an embrace, feels like you're

7:38

being held -- Mhmm. -- and just pray.

7:40

Jesus give me the grace to

7:43

lean more fully in your embrace. It's so

7:45

beautiful

7:45

to be done. And I love to talk

7:47

about that because, you know, we tend to teach

7:49

about what we're learning -- Yeah. --

7:51

and

7:52

what we're doing. Or what we're doing. Yeah.

7:54

And and those three

7:56

solutions -- Mhmm. -- I I love the way

7:58

you put that more solution, the resolution.

8:01

Those three solutions for intimacy

8:03

with Jesus and a more abundant

8:05

life here. I haven't changed them. Those

8:07

have served me well. Not

8:09

that I do them all the time. You know, I'm still in

8:11

that practice -- Yeah. -- of learning

8:13

to forgive faster and take offense slower

8:15

and lean more fully. And

8:17

it happens to Jesus. I'm

8:20

curious, you know, I don't know when I

8:22

began to see it. Maybe five could

8:24

be ten years ago. I'm I'm

8:26

putting age on myself so my memory.

8:28

So that's it as sharp as I would love it

8:30

to be. But, you know, a little while

8:32

ago I started to see a lot of what's

8:34

your word for the year or What's your

8:36

verse for the year? Right? Have you ever done that

8:38

before for a new year, chosen a word, or a verse,

8:40

and if so, what were you?

8:42

I have one of them. I've

8:44

done it twice. Okay. But I can remember

8:46

-- Okay. -- over the last, probably,

8:48

twenty years because I want to. You know what I mean? Does

8:50

it sound so good? It's very kind of

8:52

very long. Too. You have peace, spiritual.

8:54

Yeah. I've done it twice. And then I

8:56

guess because I'm a slow learner, I

8:58

haven't been able to change versus the

9:00

next year because you would not

9:02

have flown longer. More time.

9:04

Yeah. Of course. I chose -- Yeah.

9:06

-- over the last twenty years.

9:09

Yeah. The verses that

9:11

I chose as my verse for the year became the

9:13

verse of the decade. There's two.

9:15

One, both are in the old testament. I love the old

9:17

testament. I love the I don't think you can get the

9:19

promise of the new testament without that

9:21

shadow of the old testament, the the

9:23

prophetic element. But anyway, one is in

9:25

Jeremiah and Jeremiah chapter too. And remember

9:27

he was the weeping prophet --

9:29

Mhmm. -- because Israel got people

9:31

were just so stinking

9:33

rebellious. Yeah. And he grieved

9:35

over the hardness of of the hearts of

9:37

God's people. And God was speaking

9:39

through Jeremiah's pin when

9:41

he said Jeremiah two verse

9:43

thirteen, for my people have committed to evils.

9:45

They have forsaken me -- Mhmm. --

9:47

the fountain of living water -- Mhmm. --

9:49

and have huge

9:51

out cisterns for themselves,

9:54

broken cisterns -- Mhmm. -- that

9:56

can hold no water. And, of course, the

9:58

context of that is, you know,

10:00

very arid place, the Middle East. We

10:02

hear broken sister in, you know, here in the twenty

10:04

first century in Taiwan. Are you telling me, you know what that

10:06

means? Sister in is just an

10:08

old English word for well. Mhmm.

10:10

And they didn't have the kind of water

10:12

we have today that you can turn on the tap and get the

10:14

water even now. I have a faucet where I just touch

10:16

it and the water comes out, fancy

10:18

faucet. They didn't have that. They had to

10:20

dig wells. And during this period

10:23

of Israel's history, it was very transient

10:25

people. And so wherever they

10:27

set up a new camp, they'd have to dig and

10:29

dig a well. And then they were

10:31

totally dependent upon the water in that

10:33

well for life. Mhmm. And

10:35

you can imagine because the ground is

10:37

pretty porous, you know, going out in the

10:39

morning as a Jewish mama or Jewish daddy

10:41

thinking you're gonna get water for your family

10:43

to live on -- Right. -- and to

10:45

find the newly out over the night. And

10:47

so God is saying using a

10:49

metaphor his people would have understood you

10:51

go out to these holes in the ground

10:54

hoping for life and you

10:56

forsaken me. Goodness. I'm the

10:58

well of living water. You have to to come to

11:00

me. And so probably twenty

11:02

years ago, I began to I did that Jeremiah, and

11:04

I thought, oh, my goodness. Lord

11:06

Jesus, that looks like

11:08

my my life. Mhmm. I've

11:10

gone to so many empty wells.

11:12

Thank If only there is water in that

11:14

well, I'd be happy or I'd be content

11:16

or I'd be fulfilled for for

11:18

years for me, the broken sister not

11:20

go to, was a husband

11:22

and children. Mhmm. I

11:24

thought if only I had a husband to hold

11:26

me and to help carry heavy things and to

11:28

take out the trash and to I understand

11:30

if only my husband, I'd be

11:33

happy. If only somebody called me

11:35

mama, I'd be content. And I would

11:37

basically go and grieve at the edge

11:39

of that empty well. And it's like the

11:41

Lord was saying to me, Lisa,

11:43

you have to come to me first.

11:46

I have to be your

11:47

source. No one else

11:49

can be your source. Okay, miss

11:52

hearing you speak about the broken

11:54

sis churns and the lack of water makes me

11:56

immediately think of John

11:56

four. I know you know exactly where I'm going. Right?

11:59

Yes. Jesus and the Samaritan woman are the woman

12:01

that talks about that passage a lot. Yeah.

12:03

And I and I love some of the the

12:05

variants of color that you've brought to this

12:07

story that I thought I always knew.

12:09

But this is is what left to the front

12:11

of my mind. It's John

12:13

four verse thirteen, and Jesus

12:15

answers her and says everyone who

12:17

drinks this water, the water at the well.

12:19

Right? Right. Will be thirsty again, but whoever

12:21

drinks the water. I give them. Right. Well,

12:23

never thirst. Indeed, the water I give

12:25

them will become in them a

12:27

spring of water welling up to

12:29

eternal life and the woman says, Tim, sir, give me

12:31

this water so that I won't

12:33

try getting thirsty. Right? Yeah.

12:35

So not only does it satisfy us,

12:37

the scripture seems to say as we ingest it. It transforms

12:40

us. Yeah. And it becomes water that others then

12:42

I'm so sorry. To encounter The living water

12:44

got it. Transformed from being a

12:46

consumer -- Yeah. -- of the love of God to

12:48

being a carrier. Yes. Of the love of

12:50

God, I I so identified with a

12:52

woman at the well. For a number of reasons,

12:54

but I'll I'll just narrow it down to one for

12:56

this New Year's podcast, you know, the

12:58

word, and we've talked about this before, but this would

13:00

be my word. Mhmm. Okay. Go

13:02

ahead. Again Actually, I saw one of

13:04

those words. Well, this is in a

13:06

version. It was my word for a year, and

13:08

then III just couldn't I

13:10

couldn't step off to another word for the next

13:12

year. It's Prasquanilo. It's a

13:14

Greek word used in the

13:16

original writing of John

13:18

four. And it's when Jesus talks

13:20

to that woman at the wellbout worship.

13:22

And remember her story. She's she's probably

13:25

not a sleazy woman the way most people

13:27

think because the fact that

13:29

five men had actually given her a

13:31

marriage certificate. Right. So

13:33

scholars now will tell you if you understand

13:35

the context. There's more to unpack about

13:37

the science. Much more to unpack much more about

13:39

civil law during the first century.

13:41

For her to have been formally married

13:43

five times, kind of just -- Yeah.

13:46

-- that that kicks that a

13:48

lot of poor character likely would not have

13:50

been married. No. She might have been married

13:52

once. Yeah. But then after that first husband

13:54

and divorced her reputation. She's too much of

13:56

a cultural liability. To

13:58

marry a woman who'd been divorced. So the fact

14:00

that that happens five times

14:02

modern conservative scholars will tell

14:04

you implies it's much

14:06

more likely that it's a woman that was a woman with a

14:08

great reputation, likely

14:11

infertile. That was one of the most common reasons for

14:13

divorce in that era. So Anyway,

14:15

we we won't go there, but that story

14:17

is not nearly as simplistic, sometimes

14:19

it's taught. But when Jesus tells

14:21

this woman with well, who's obviously

14:23

desperate. Yeah. For a source because

14:25

she is still marginalized by society.

14:27

He talks to about worship. And

14:29

the Greek word that's translated

14:31

worship in our English bibles that Jesus

14:33

uses their in John four, Prasuke

14:35

Nilo, Pras means to move forward or bow

14:37

down, Prasuke Nilo means to kiss.

14:40

And you think about that context with

14:42

this woman who's so thirsty

14:45

for affection. Mhmm. And

14:47

he says, if you'll come to

14:49

me, I'll satiate

14:51

your thirst. If you'll move

14:53

toward me with your kisses, with your

14:55

desire to be, completely known and

14:57

unconditionally loved. You

14:59

won't be Thursday morning, you won't be

15:01

desperate. And so,

15:03

yeah, my word for the year

15:06

for for the last twenty years.

15:09

Has been Prasquhanilo. I love that.

15:11

I would know what it is to move

15:13

toward Jesus faster, more

15:16

fully, and for him to get the

15:18

lion's share of my kisses. Yeah. And you know

15:20

what, at least it strikes me as we're talking

15:22

about new things. And new chapters

15:24

and new years that no matter

15:26

what we're all facing -- Mhmm. -- that

15:28

one of the greatest solutions we could ever

15:30

pursue would be to move forward

15:32

toward Jesus Right? With

15:34

kisses in our heart and in our mind

15:36

and on our lips toward him. And

15:38

if they're not right now in

15:40

your mind -- Yeah. Sometimes that you're

15:42

just doing the next right

15:44

thing. I mean, I just wanna be sensitive because I think

15:46

there's some people listening who go, I don't have

15:48

any kisses in my heart in mind right

15:50

now. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if I can put one foot in

15:52

front of the other. You know, some people may be

15:54

coming off a really sad Christmas

15:56

season. Mhmm. Maybe Christmas

15:58

this past Christmas, Christmas two thousand

16:00

twenty two, maybe there

16:02

was an empty chair -- Yeah. --

16:04

at your family table -- Yeah. --

16:06

for sure. Someone who sat in it

16:08

Christmas two thousand twenty one. Maybe they weren't

16:10

there in Christmas twenty two and said this new

16:12

year's wasn't a celebration for

16:14

you. There were sorrow in in this New

16:16

Year's. And so you may be thinking,

16:18

I'm not sure if I can step

16:20

into this New Year

16:22

at all, much less with kisses or

16:24

affectionate in my heart. And I would

16:26

say there, God is so

16:28

gracious with small things. Mhmm.

16:30

Do not despise small beginnings, he

16:32

says in the old testament. So

16:34

we would encourage you to just take the next

16:37

step. Even if it's a baby step,

16:39

do the next right thing and the next

16:41

right thing because

16:43

always to move

16:45

toward Jesus. I love that.

16:46

Whether you are in and running

16:49

toward him with your kisses or whether

16:51

you're stumbling toward him with grief, or

16:53

whether you just are not sure you

16:55

can even crawl

16:58

-- Yeah. -- tell him that -- Yeah. --

17:00

or you may just be standing still or at

17:02

least it goes all the way back to what you shared

17:04

with us at the beginning of this episode,

17:06

just lean back. Yeah. If you

17:08

can't move forward, leaned

17:10

back into his embrace. That's right. Leaned back

17:12

into his embrace. Well, we are

17:15

thrilled that you've been with us. He's

17:17

got two guests two more guests. So we

17:19

gotta we gotta move to those. This is a New

17:21

Year's extra podcast

17:23

because we've got ring my bell.

17:26

Right. With bell coming back to my popular band,

17:28

and then we've got doctor Howard. So we

17:30

gotta move to Yeah. We've gotta we've

17:32

gotta get our groove on this New Year's

17:34

Y'all, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We, you

17:36

know what, send us some of your

17:38

prayers, because -- Yeah. -- one of the things we wanna do

17:40

at back worship theology for

17:43

twenty twenty three is be much more engaged

17:46

in praying for where

17:48

you need help and where you wanna see

17:50

God move in your life and how you wanna move

17:52

toward him we want to come

17:54

alongside you kind of land with you and pray. So

17:56

let us now send us your prayer

17:58

request. And as

18:00

always, we are just so

18:02

tickled that he pulled up a chair to sit on the proverbial

18:04

porch with us and talk about

18:06

Jesus before we go into Bell.

18:09

Will you give them one last word of

18:12

advice for this new year that comes from

18:14

your deep well of wisdom. Gosh,

18:16

Lisa, I was already turning toward hearing

18:18

miss Bell. Okay. What has

18:20

been the most helpful verse

18:23

or word for the year? Holy

18:26

Spirit has has deposited in you

18:28

that you would just say, you know what? If you

18:30

don't have one to hang on this year, you can

18:32

borrow mine. What would it be? Yeah. I think I

18:34

spoke about this on a a previous

18:36

but it's hold on doing a new thing? Do you not

18:38

perceive it? Isaiah -- Yes. --

18:40

right? That's your that's your life. First.

18:42

Okay. I think or say it, I'll say it

18:45

again. The hold, I am doing a new

18:47

thing. Do you not perceive it? And then he goes

18:49

on to talk about, I'm I'm

18:51

bringing Well bring through the desert, and I'm making a highway where there's

18:53

no highway. Basically, it's

18:55

about the fact that the lord

18:57

god does incredible things right

18:59

in the place where you would at least

19:01

expected. And the other thing that

19:03

that has been resonant again and it's it's

19:05

kinda like the three things you shared at least. These these

19:07

are ongoing. They're it's like the layers of

19:09

an onion. You keep coming back around to them

19:11

-- Right. -- is this idea that when God

19:14

is doing a new thing, he's

19:16

likely going to do it in a

19:18

new way. And my prayer has become Lord, help me

19:20

perceive the new thing that you're already

19:22

doing. Give me eyes to

19:24

see. So I think Maybe

19:26

if that resonates for you, maybe the prayer

19:28

for twenty three is father. Just give

19:30

me fresh eyes. Yeah. In

19:33

lighten, as Paul talks about, in lighten

19:35

the eyes, of my understanding that I can

19:37

see the eyes of my heart. Yeah. The eyes of my

19:39

heart that I might see the things that

19:41

you're already at work in

19:43

so that I can come alongside you -- Mhmm. -- and join you that

19:45

I'm not initiating something and asking you

19:47

to arrogantly catch up with me, know

19:49

that father, I wanna see what you're doing

19:52

you in that work, and then we

19:54

can go in this great adventure with one another. And

19:56

that's kinda how I'm running into twenty

19:58

twenty three this year. I love that. I

20:00

love it. Just a

20:02

closer walk with with the

20:04

Jesus. Yeah. Yeah. I I

20:06

love that, Ali. We are

20:08

so four y'all. In light of what you just said, I

20:10

thought of what how it says all

20:12

the time. And that is got

20:14

us always in the process of

20:16

redeeming our inherent dignity and my good

20:18

day. Yeah. Always in the

20:21

process of mitigating

20:23

the evil that has wounded

20:25

us as beloved. Yeah. Always

20:27

in the process -- Always. -- of doing

20:29

what you just said, pointing us

20:32

toward

20:32

Jesus, toward aligning with what he's doing,

20:34

what he's

20:34

already doing. So kind of exciting to about

20:37

the new things God has in

20:39

store for all of us in two thousand twenty three.

20:41

So let's bring on Bell. Alright.

20:52

Y'all I'm a balloon, because I'm about to

20:54

pop. It's been too long. Really? Done

20:56

this. It's been too long. I have to tell you this,

20:59

Bellsey. I was at a a church

21:01

down in Atlanta. Yeah. And one of

21:03

the first things I heard was about

21:05

how much they love miss Bell --

21:07

Yeah. -- miss Bell. You love that

21:09

by pop demand The the

21:11

BP documentary has

21:13

demanded More time have been more

21:15

time with Oh,

21:17

yeah. That are joining us that are

21:19

that are new. How do you always describe Bella?

21:21

It's like So and so how do babies? So and so

21:23

how do you are familiar if you're if

21:25

you're relatively new to the back porch theology

21:28

community with the me and my professors segment.

21:30

We call it me and my prof. We usually have doctor

21:32

Jim Howard, sometimes, Scottie Smith. These

21:34

brainiacs who who drop

21:36

theological wisdom bombs, we

21:38

wanted kind of the

21:40

life wisdom -- Mhmm. --

21:42

bomb drop And so one of my very

21:44

very close friends, she's a little bit

21:46

older and a lot wiser

21:49

than I am. Her name

21:51

is Belle Johnson. Belle and I do a

21:53

bible study at her house. Have for a

21:55

neighborhood bible say for fifteen years.

21:57

Yes. And I have learned so

21:59

much about walking with Jesus through really

22:01

watching Bell, you know, it

22:03

said more as caught than

22:05

caught. Mhmm. And what you

22:07

model to me is Chris to

22:09

formic. Your life is shaped like

22:11

Jesus. Mhmm. And so I asked, when we

22:13

started this podcast, I asked, will you

22:15

come on every now and then? And we're call segment

22:17

ring my bell. Yeah. And because of copyright

22:19

reasons, we can't sing that to him, but it's

22:21

one of my favorite songs because of Bell.

22:23

But I said, we're gonna call the segment ring my bell. And

22:26

would you just come and just kinda

22:28

drop some emails? We'll ask you questions. And

22:30

I said, I said, Bell, the first one,

22:32

I said, you know, you kinda remind

22:34

me of a hybrid. It's

22:36

like if you had aunt b, remember aunt b

22:38

from Mayberry, she was just like everybody's

22:40

favorite aunt. If y'all have it watch

22:42

Andy Griffith and Maybury, you need to

22:44

you need to Google that because it's like the greatest

22:46

show ever. Right. So aunt b

22:48

from Maybury RFD and Ferrell,

22:50

you know, he's the recent artist that

22:52

wrote the song Happy. Well, if Ant

22:54

b and Ferrell got hooked up on

22:57

eharmony, and got married and had a baby, it would be

22:59

Bell. Yeah. Because she's the boy's

23:01

eyes and so approachable I can't

23:03

be. You know, you can get wisdom from her during the day.

23:05

And then if you need to be billed

23:07

out. She would also come in with

23:09

you. We don't know. No

23:11

shade. And then she's almost

23:13

always sincerely happy.

23:15

You're one of joyful people that I've ever known. And

23:18

so, Alan and I wanted

23:20

specifically to have you on this New

23:22

Year's episode Because

23:25

you again, you just e

23:27

wreak joy. And so

23:29

somewhere along the way, there had to be maybe

23:31

not a New Year's resolution. We've about

23:33

this being more about solutions than resolutions,

23:36

but there had to be a point where you

23:38

went, this is what I'm gonna choose

23:40

to be. Can you can

23:42

you tell us maybe a new year's where you

23:44

went? This is the wisdom that

23:46

got us give me on a walk in this

23:47

way. Is there a new year's when you look back over

23:49

your life that was especially pivotal? I

23:51

don't know if it was the new

23:54

year, but it was just new lenses

23:56

for me. Yes. And so

23:58

I will tell you, and and you know, in my home,

24:00

there's a acrylic box that's got a

24:03

pair of red, converse tissues

24:05

in. Yeah. Okay. Just sitting on the shelf

24:07

and everybody asks about it. Right.

24:09

And that was pivotal. This man who

24:11

was a passion for the women's prison

24:13

here in Nashville -- Yeah. -- was a good friend of

24:15

mine. He was probably in his eighties, and I'd

24:17

see him at church, and I'd

24:19

say, Will Randalls, tell me something

24:21

I need to know. And we

24:23

walked down the hall of church. He put his big

24:26

old arm around me and he goes

24:27

well. He

24:28

said, Bill, I would say,

24:31

you need to spend your life looking for red

24:34

shoes. And I said, okay. I'll do

24:36

that. I said, what do you mean? And she said

24:38

that my mother brought me

24:40

up to always always.

24:42

Any person you saw,

24:44

if you could be

24:46

kind, first of

24:46

all, and notice them,

24:49

see

24:50

Yeah. And he said, so when I was working at the prison,

24:53

this one woman was there and she was on

24:55

death row -- Mhmm. -- with no

24:57

no option to get released.

25:00

And and he's so kind and he goes,

25:02

bail. That woman was me.

25:04

You know what I mean? And

25:06

I see her coming way down the hall, and

25:08

the only reason why she came to my chapel

25:11

services was because she

25:13

got out of She was so sick. So she

25:15

she would've come and and she

25:17

was always in the worst of

25:19

moods. And he said, I remember what

25:21

mama told me. And so I saw a way

25:23

down there and he was like, Lord, you don't

25:26

have to give me a word here because I

25:28

don't know what to say. She's always

25:30

so not nice. And so she said

25:32

from way away, somebody had given her a

25:34

brand new pair of red tennis shoes.

25:36

Mhmm. If she gets out, she

25:38

walks, she was all just tattered

25:41

and not -- Right. -- you know, just didn't have

25:43

self care. Right. And so I

25:45

said, oh, I see it.

25:47

So she came towards me that say your name was Martha.

25:49

I don't know. And he goes Martha.

25:52

Those are the best looking red

25:54

shoes I've ever scene.

25:57

And he said, Bell, the

25:59

confidence of this woman -- Mhmm. --

26:01

it went from

26:03

mad and just grumpy and

26:05

sorta hateful. She stood

26:07

up straight. She looked down

26:09

at her shoes and said, yes,

26:11

they're brand new. And he goes, well, I love them. And

26:13

so for the rest of her his

26:16

ministry there, that when he would

26:17

come, she'd have on these red shoes,

26:20

and he red shoes. Mhmm. And so

26:22

I gotta paint a pair of little baby

26:25

little children's red converses

26:27

and keep them And

26:29

but I've seen the shoes for

26:31

actual shoes this morning. Did

26:33

you know the story? You never know I've

26:35

never known the

26:35

story. I thought they were one of the kids. Actually,

26:37

there's so many kids you mentor. I thought it

26:39

was one of pair one of the kids. She is that

26:41

you just thought we're especially cute.

26:44

That That is, like, in that years That's

26:46

a good solution today to qualify.

26:49

For

26:49

red. Red. She's whatever

26:52

it is that you need is. When I

26:54

look at you, like, you've got on brown

26:56

today. I'm like, I love that. And I love that

26:58

necklace you had on here today. Just because

27:00

we all wanna be seen. Yeah. And we

27:02

all just look at someone that's

27:05

gruffy or whatever. Yeah. And if

27:07

you see one thing, If

27:09

you can, you should use your words. We all have way

27:11

too many of them. Yeah. So use your words

27:13

and

27:13

say, oh, I love that

27:16

speech. This morning at

27:18

bowel study. At bells,

27:20

we talked about looking for the

27:22

thumbprint of God because we're all on

27:24

Mongo Day Genesis one twenty six

27:26

and twenty seven. Were made in God's image. It's

27:29

just some people either don't know

27:31

God yet or

27:33

like this precious

27:35

one on death row. They really don't have

27:37

a lot circumstantially to give them

27:39

joy or happiness, but they still

27:41

bear some print somewhere

27:44

in there god's thumbprint red

27:46

shoes. I

27:55

will never look at a pair

27:57

of red shoes. The same. Yeah.

27:59

Never again. I won't see

28:01

the the red of of

28:02

Oz, I will see a saint --

28:04

Yeah. -- in need of

28:05

a word of encouragement and being seen. Yeah.

28:08

That's beautiful. And that's why we

28:09

love you. Can I just say, well, that's what

28:12

he goes under in an acrylic

28:14

box to remind me every time I go

28:16

in that room, I'm like, You

28:18

need to She's the one who's right. She's she's the

28:20

same.

28:20

Debt and affirmed and encouraged and

28:23

isn't that the gospel. That's

28:25

right. We are always

28:27

seen by the savior. Thank you. Beautiful.

28:29

So good, Bill. They're so good. I love you.

28:31

I love you. I love you. I love you when you started

28:34

here. Oh my goodness. Will you

28:36

come

28:36

back any more time? Come back any

28:38

time. No. No. No. Is coming on the road with

28:40

us. And back horse, the Audi comes on the

28:42

road. She's already committed to wear a

28:45

sandwich

28:45

board. And go around and be a

28:45

roving reporter, and I

28:48

can promise you this. Whatever

28:50

you're going through, whatever you're wearing,

28:52

she will see. The red shoes on you.

28:54

That's who she is, and she will give you a

28:56

hug that'll make you a stall for

28:58

mama. It's such a good hug. Thank you,

29:00

Bellsy. I love you. Happy new year.

29:02

Thank you so much.

29:10

Okay.

29:10

Doctor Howard, we need your help.

29:13

Because, Alan, I've been talking

29:15

about New Year's, kinda whether to

29:17

make resolutions or not resolutions. We

29:19

talked more about parameters and promises. And

29:21

I love how's flinging

29:22

today. Right. We can't we can't

29:25

privacy promises. We've

29:27

talked to them. I walked into

29:28

the rec center last

29:29

January. Yes. Because I go work out Right. Right.

29:32

-- faithfully. Right. And I went to the rec

29:34

center and every locker was taken in

29:36

the standing room only with guys in the

29:38

I said in a loud

29:39

voice, I can't wait till February when you guys

29:42

all give up on your resolution.

29:43

Oh, the

29:44

guys started laughing. Sure. February, I

29:47

had plenty of space. What surprised

29:49

me is I did a little study of New Year's

29:51

resolutions, and I thought

29:53

getting in shape would be number one.

29:55

It's number ten. Yeah. And

29:58

a couple of the big, you know,

30:00

legitimate -- Yeah. -- polls that I read, it was

30:02

number ten. Number one

30:05

basically was being a better person.

30:07

Mhmm. So it had more to do with

30:09

character than it did, you know, her

30:11

-- Wasteline. -- dents in her

30:13

fender. Yeah. Which I I love

30:15

that. And then last

30:17

year, big poll number six

30:20

was basically to get right

30:22

with God. To have a real relationship with God, which that gave

30:24

me hope because I've read so many things

30:26

about the declining even

30:28

desire for

30:29

relationship. With Yeah. I wrote a month ago

30:31

that this is the first year and years

30:33

that the Christianity has taken an uptick in

30:35

the

30:35

polls. Yeah. Yeah.

30:38

Which I was hopeful because I've read so many

30:40

so many things about declining.

30:42

Yeah. But just in light

30:44

of New Year, you know,

30:46

we know that the genesis of

30:49

celebrating New Year's Pagan goes back to the

30:51

Babylonians. And then even

30:53

that idea, of course, it didn't happen

30:55

in winter, the way we celebrated, happened in

30:57

the spring for the new crops. And then we

30:59

talked about Janice being a

31:02

little g. Got that the

31:04

Romans worship had two faces. That's where

31:06

we get the our month January from.

31:08

He was looking forward, looking past. He was the God

31:10

of Gates, the God of New Beginnings.

31:12

And so, of course, most of the things

31:14

we practice as Christians do

31:16

have pagan roots. And I

31:18

thought, I mean, it'd be really cool for

31:20

you to put that --

31:21

Coop and redeemed --

31:24

Coop and redempt -- -- pay your rent. -- would

31:26

you help us have a

31:28

redeemed hermeneutic of

31:30

new year, of new beginnings, not necessary

31:33

resolutions. I mean, sometimes I think that you're

31:35

almost setting yourself up for failure.

31:37

But that practice of

31:39

going, okay, Lord, I wanna take

31:42

inventory of my life. And

31:45

there's some things I want to

31:47

either realign or discard

31:49

as I'm moving toward you.

31:51

So would you help us have maybe a more

31:54

biblical view? I don't mean it sounds so stodgy,

31:56

but a a more redemptive view

31:59

of the new beginning of a new

32:01

year. Mhmm.

32:01

Yeah. CS Lewis argued that

32:04

all of us have a moral compass. It's just

32:06

broken. Yeah. Unless Mhmm. And

32:08

the the fact that people

32:10

make resolution --

32:11

Mhmm. -- to me is an indication

32:14

of that -- Mhmm.

32:15

-- god designed moral compass

32:18

but they're usually starting from

32:20

scratch. Mhmm. And so when you

32:22

look at the history of the scriptures, you see

32:25

several things pop up. Number one is God

32:27

never gives up on anybody. He's

32:29

patient all the way through and faithful. Right. Even

32:31

Paul said though we are faithless, he remains

32:33

faithful. And so all the way

32:35

through, he's always reminding them

32:37

of what he has done as

32:39

a precursor to what they should

32:41

do or be. Mhmm. So

32:43

even at Mount Sinai, when he brings them out,

32:45

he shows all his power, but when he finally

32:47

meets

32:47

them, what's the first thing he says? You saw how I carried

32:49

you on Eagle's wings. Right? I had delivered

32:51

you. Right. I

32:52

brought you out. Now I'm going to ask you

32:54

to make a covenant So then

32:56

at the toward the end of Laviticus, when he

32:58

puts in place all the festivals, they're

33:01

at the beginning of the planting season, in

33:03

the middle of the planting season

33:06

end of the planting

33:06

season. So there's three festivals at the

33:09

beginning, one in the middle and three at the

33:11

end. Right. The one in the

33:11

middle is particularly curious because

33:14

it's a festival of first fruits

33:16

where they could look and see all their crops.

33:18

They couldn't harvest them yet because they're not

33:20

very big. But they can already

33:22

see that God is going

33:24

to bless them. And that's carrying them to

33:26

the next, the end of the planting

33:29

season. And one of the festivals at the

33:31

end of the planting seasons is a festival

33:33

of tabernacles. Right.

33:35

Where they would face to face. Yes.

33:37

Right. They would they would come out of their house and

33:39

live in these little tents -- Yeah. -- to remember how

33:41

God took care of them. Now they could look

33:43

back and see a full crop of

33:46

God's blessing. Now they

33:48

know the animals. They've got the young animals. They've

33:50

got the crops. God has blessed

33:52

them. Like he said he would,

33:54

now they can turn to the future

33:57

and say, we don't have to worry

33:59

about next year. So to me, that's

34:01

kind of the beginning of it.

34:03

So a good way to do a

34:05

resolution is to pause. And

34:07

this is what we do in our church. The last Sunday

34:09

of the year after Christmas -- Mhmm. -- or the beginning of

34:11

the footwear of Sunday occurs -- Right. -- we

34:14

have a price service -- Mhmm. --

34:16

where we're looking

34:18

for God. And we just passed the mic around and where did

34:20

you see God this year, maybe in a hard

34:22

time, maybe in a blessing way -- Yeah. -- and

34:24

the people in

34:26

our church the first time we did it, we were a little nervous would anybody We

34:28

had to stop them. Wow. That's awesome.

34:30

And that's like that every year. And so

34:32

they talk about it, and that becomes the

34:36

basis for saying, what are we going to

34:38

do this year? We -- Right. -- God is

34:40

faithful. It's really clear.

34:42

It's hard for us to naturally see the blessings. We forget

34:44

them quickly -- Right. -- is what

34:46

happens. Because we still live in a fallen

34:48

world -- Mhmm. -- and we still have

34:50

a sin

34:52

nature and the blessings come and they go but they go quickly. Mhmm. So when

34:54

we stop as God has done all

34:56

throughout scripture and remember together especially

34:58

as a community or a family,

35:02

or friends. Let's just take some time and look at

35:04

all that God has done. Mhmm. It does

35:06

take long before our hearts start to fill

35:09

up with gratitude. Thankfulness.

35:12

And then that becomes the springboard

35:14

for saying now I want to

35:16

I'm gonna trust you this year

35:17

too. Right. And I

35:20

want to accomplish something. I maybe

35:22

I do wanna be a better

35:23

person. Mhmm. You know, for years and years, I

35:25

I have them in my old bible side, if

35:27

my children ever want them. I would

35:30

sit down and read the bible every

35:31

year. And I write in my bible,

35:34

nineteen blah blah blah. This is my,

35:36

you know, eighth time reading the bible. And

35:38

here's what I'm working on this year -- Oh, that's good. -- how to grow.

35:40

And so I have a record of

35:42

over the decades, the things that I have

35:44

worked on to become

35:46

more Christlike

35:48

more trusting. I love that you work through them through the

35:50

year. And I just pick on one.

35:52

Well, I mean, yeah, choosing one for

35:56

the year. But I'm curious -- Yeah. -- doctor H, do you at the

35:58

beginning of the year, do you actually sit down

36:00

and resolve? Do you

36:02

do you kinda take part in that. You

36:04

do. Okay. I do. Yeah. That's why I've over the

36:07

years, I haven't lived the last few years, but

36:09

for years, I would write it

36:11

in my bible. Okay. And I

36:13

would and then once I figured out what I want to work on. Like, one year, I want to

36:15

work on administration. I'm not particularly good at it.

36:17

Okay. So I'm so thankful

36:19

for my administrator. But

36:22

I picked a book or two to read

36:24

on it, and I studied some passages on it.

36:26

And then I went and met with people that were

36:28

really good at it. That's And said help me I

36:30

mean, it was intentional. It wasn't -- Yeah. -- it

36:33

wasn't just, you know, flying in the winter. I

36:35

I wanna

36:35

be a better

36:35

person. And then -- Right. -- too excited. I'm done

36:38

with it. I spent the whole year

36:40

focusing on it. I love that. I love learning new things. I think

36:42

I just I tend to

36:44

to back off of resolutions because

36:48

it I don't know. They seem sometimes if -- What place

36:50

do I feel a bit can be a little hucky? Yeah.

36:52

-- you just look give me a little

36:56

flippant. Yeah. And I'm like, no. I want it to

36:58

be intentional to be

37:00

very intentional.

37:02

And five years ago, I

37:06

rode out, and I I just kind of in my own heart. It

37:08

was New Year's Eve. And I thought, I don't wanna do

37:10

I don't even wanna call a resolution. I

37:13

wanna call it realignment. I

37:15

want what more of what God has

37:17

for me. And I felt like

37:20

holy spirit gave me

37:22

three

37:22

things. And they haven't changed. It's the same every year. I just look back

37:24

in my bible, I read in my bible,

37:26

and it was

37:27

the first

37:27

one was be faster

37:30

to forgive. And the

37:32

second was be slower to take a

37:34

fence and

37:34

the third one was lean more fully

37:36

into the arms of Jesus because I

37:38

have a hard time being held. I

37:41

tend to be a better worker bee than I am a Mary.

37:43

I don't recline well.

37:45

And it helps take

37:48

inventory and be like, okay, have

37:50

you are you more forgiving

37:52

than you are a woman who

37:54

takes offense? And how

37:56

often have you been held this year?

37:58

Mhmm. Because those are so good.

38:00

Yeah. So it's more maybe more

38:03

life goal, I guess. Yeah, my morning discipline

38:05

has grown over the years. I began

38:07

by praying a long time ago and I became

38:09

a Christian, and Lord

38:12

helped me to develop a heart like David, a man after your own

38:14

heart. And then I read the story David and

38:16

studied it, and I added to it. Lord helped me

38:18

to be like David, a man

38:20

after your own heart without doing the big stupid things

38:22

that didn't do. I think so. Yeah. Is that

38:24

true? Right? Someone take a

38:25

bath. We're not supposed to be

38:27

a pro ri. Right. Right. So then I so

38:29

then I added to it. Lord helped me to be give me

38:31

wisdom today to know what to do, and then I read the

38:33

story of Solomon. Who

38:35

all the wisdom in the world wasn't enough.

38:38

So now I added to my prayer. Lord,

38:40

give me the wisdom today

38:42

to know what to do

38:44

and they couraged to live it out in faith. Mhmm. Because I pray

38:46

that almost every day. So it's slowly

38:48

growing over the years as I work

38:50

on things. Do

38:52

you have do you do resolutions? You know what's interesting

38:54

I used to really faithfully, and I

38:56

I read AAA study somewhere that

38:59

the average person holds to a resolution

39:01

about thirty two days. And then it

39:03

just drops off precipitously.

39:06

And how long does it take to change

39:08

it happen? Yeah.

39:08

I think it's thirty days. Yes. Twenty days. So we're

39:10

right on the cusp. Right before right because

39:13

we make our way through. The last five minutes

39:15

of thanks for giving us. Right. But

39:18

funny for me, Lisa and doctor Howard,

39:20

is I have felt for the last

39:22

several years the liberty to

39:24

not make

39:26

a one. Yes. And that's been a gift to me. I think that's freedom.

39:28

That's it was a freedom because I I

39:30

religiously would make them, and then I would feel a bit of

39:32

the failure and a bit of the thirty two days. You

39:34

know, kind

39:36

of goodness. I've I've messed it all up. And for the last several years,

39:38

I just felt like there was so much liberty

39:40

to not make a one

39:42

and to pursue something that

39:45

I never pursue to, which is rest. And for

39:47

the last several years, I have felt the

39:50

Lord just saying, Allison, would you trust

39:52

me enough? To

39:54

rest because I realized that the the profound

39:56

lack of rest in my life was

39:58

actually connected to a profound lack

40:02

of trust. Oh. And the Lord said because I live I would have told

40:04

you, Lisa, you can you can trust the

40:06

Lord to rest. Right. But the my

40:08

life was telling a truth

40:10

on me that my mouth was not yet ready

40:12

to speak, which was. I

40:14

lived my Christian life

40:17

as if I wasn't the one getting it done. It wasn't

40:20

going to get done. And the Lord

40:22

began to knock on the door of my heart and say that

40:24

right there

40:26

darling. Is a profound lack of trust. And so I've kind of

40:28

that's a very verbose way of answering

40:30

your question. But for the last

40:33

several years, I've just had

40:35

to sit down with the

40:37

fact that my trust

40:40

tank has not been as full as it

40:42

needs to be And so I, again,

40:44

will come to this year, Lisa, and I

40:46

bet it'll be the same thing. Again,

40:48

daughter, do you trust me

40:51

enough to

40:52

rest? You just kinda let the bag, too

40:54

or ask you to do too. My

40:56

my new year's resolution is since quit

40:59

being so bossy. If

41:02

holy spirit -- Yeah.

41:04

--

41:04

were to give you a

41:08

written resolution. And

41:10

we know it's gonna be for our good because that's our

41:12

father. Yeah. What

41:14

do you feel like this year in twenty

41:17

twenty three? would

41:20

write for you. Just one one

41:23

place that would be

41:25

a good -- Mhmm. Resolution

41:28

he would have for you. Really, to me, it's

41:30

a good realignment. Mhmm.

41:32

Or a good what what would it be? So

41:34

you have to go for a doctor Howard because she just

41:36

said rest. You might be thinking here. Well,

41:38

one

41:39

of the reasons I no longer write it

41:41

down in my bible --

41:44

Mhmm. When I was young, a young Christian, I was nineteen came

41:46

to Christ, I started picking

41:48

one thing to be intentional about.

41:51

But as I began to grow in the Lord, I

41:54

realized that things

41:56

were happening all year long --

41:58

Right. -- springing up in my heart.

42:01

Right. That I wanted to work on. So

42:03

now it's a multiplicity of

42:05

things. It's not one thing. Yeah. Mhmm. And

42:07

so if I had to pick one verse

42:09

to help me with that. It'd be Philippians

42:12

one. For I'm convinced

42:14

of this very thing that he who began a good

42:16

work and you will perfected

42:18

or completed until the day of

42:20

Christ Jesus. Mhmm. And

42:22

so the resolutions now, they

42:24

don't happen in January first for me.

42:26

Mhmm. I find myself all

42:28

throughout the year thinking, yeah, I

42:30

wanna I wanna be kinder to my

42:32

wife. I wanna you know, I

42:34

wanna be more humble

42:36

with my church.

42:37

Mhmm. Mhmm. It's -- Right. -- a

42:39

bunch of people. Which is

42:41

In some ways, we let ourselves off the

42:43

hook when we make it just in New

42:45

Year's resolution. Mhmm. It's like I wanna be

42:47

so malleable that he can say, now

42:50

let me shift that or that was

42:52

just first

42:52

gear. Your second, third, and fourth gear.

42:55

But as far

42:55

as I don't know. It's not very easy

42:57

to be that way. Yeah. Because

43:00

the faith is also new and the

43:02

spiritual battle is so powerful and the same

43:04

nature is so strong -- Mhmm. --

43:06

that I mean, I encourage young people to take something and just work on it. Right. But

43:08

then as you soften, as your heart gets

43:10

softer as the years go by,

43:13

and you've done enough stupid things that we call sin that you don't want to do

43:16

anymore. Right. Then you begin to look

43:18

for all those other golden

43:19

nuggets. Love joy piece patients. I mean, the fruit

43:21

of the spirit. Mhmm. Right.

43:23

It's good. Mine's a

43:25

little odd, but I'm a little odd.

43:27

So I'm gonna say future camera.

43:29

You're the dude seriously. I told you I love Where

43:31

at, baby? I love you. Okay. As

43:34

you asked the question, what

43:36

left to front of mind

43:38

was, be unafraid to

43:41

say no

43:41

more? Mhmm. And be

43:44

unafraid to say yes

43:47

more. That's because So

43:49

I find that I

43:51

am often, unfortunately, even after thirty

43:53

five years of walking with Jesus, I'm

43:56

often paralyzed

43:58

with fear. And I'm afraid

44:00

if I say no in the wrong places, I'll

44:02

miss something that God has for me -- Mhmm. -- but what I have seen

44:05

in myself of late just because of a

44:07

season that I've walked through personally.

44:10

Is that I've actually become afraid to say, yes.

44:13

Mhmm. Even when I know

44:15

and my knower that a thing

44:17

is from the Lord, because

44:19

I am often afraid of

44:22

the ripples from that decision. So

44:24

I suppose that what I

44:26

would love to work on is it

44:29

comes down to walking with the spirit,

44:31

hearing the voice of God. I know we often say

44:33

it. We've both said it, Lisa. I've never heard the

44:35

voice of God audibly, but after walking with

44:37

him for thirty five years, I know

44:39

when he's I recognize you. It's

44:41

not perfectly, but should I know I think

44:43

I know the voice of the one, my heart, people.

44:45

So loves yeah. And you can find that com confirmed

44:48

in the scripture, find it confirmed in

44:50

the in the council of the wise as

44:52

the word of God talks about. But

44:54

I would like to invite the

44:57

Lord to get to the

44:59

root of that fear that

45:02

then will pluck out the root

45:04

where I

45:06

often am saying no, where I ought not to,

45:08

and I say yes, where I ought not

45:10

to. So I'm sorry that's a very

45:13

no. It's it's perfectly, Alison. I love

45:15

that. Sorry. I it's about the size of the

45:18

coin for me, I guess, I would say does

45:20

watcher say let

45:22

your yes SPS near

45:24

nobody knows. It's kind of done that line. Right.

45:26

I think so. Yeah. And being

45:28

unafraid of being unafraid of

45:30

whichever it is depending on

45:32

what is

45:32

saying, yeah. I love that. What about

45:34

you,

45:35

Elise? I

45:35

wanna be

45:36

softer. Mhmm. Love that. Mhmm. Wanna

45:39

be

45:39

softer with God and and

45:42

softer with Missy.

45:44

Mhmm. I think sometimes my

45:47

yeah. I still as much as I believe

45:49

the Lord, I still sometimes will find myself

45:52

starting from I don't deserve.

45:54

Mhmm. So their performer will

45:56

come out. And me,

45:58

and I'll be a doer --

45:59

Mhmm. -- more than a a lever of God

46:01

and a lever of people. I

46:03

wanna

46:03

be softer. I thought it would

46:06

be good for us to to speak over those of you.

46:08

First of all, we can't say enough

46:12

what a joy. Undeserved joy. It has

46:14

been frosting. It has been the year with you.

46:16

Next week is our fifty

46:19

second. Cannot believe it. Episode. I remember y'all in

46:21

the first three or four, and I thought

46:23

-- Yeah.

46:24

-- I mean, the wheels are fallen

46:26

off this thing. It is a wonder

46:28

What are we doing? As good as what's so much

46:30

fun. I'm so excited to see what

46:33

God is gonna do in our next

46:35

year, this new

46:35

beginning, this

46:38

two thousand twenty three of Backports theology benefit

46:40

You ought

46:41

to be more honest. More honest.

46:42

I mean, you asked me to

46:45

do this, member I had to ask my son what a podcast was. First of all --

46:47

Yeah. -- and second of all, I thought it was gonna be

46:49

for, like, one or two times, not for return, you

46:51

know. Yeah. And I We

46:54

didn't know we didn't know what we were doing. I mean, there was

46:56

no no but there was no framework. We were

46:58

like, I think it was just a

47:00

good yes. Yeah. It was okay. Yeah. Lord, we're gonna do this. We

47:02

don't. We don't know what it means. I

47:04

couldn't see around the

47:06

corner, but goodness gracious. It's

47:08

been such a joy

47:08

that's

47:09

right with you. Enjoy coming along especially

47:11

around the corner. Because because you don't

47:13

bring any emotional expectations to it. It's like, okay

47:15

lord. Whatever you do is gonna be

47:16

Amazing. Even if you if you shut the door -- Mhmm. -- it's gonna be awesome ride until you

47:19

shut it up. Another reason for god's

47:21

silence, by the way. Is

47:24

not to know what's around the corner. Right.

47:26

Mhmm.

47:26

So good. I love that. Yeah. So So

47:29

we you know, my sister

47:32

always cheated and opened all the Christmas

47:33

presents. The unit, like Yeah. It would always

47:35

always she was, like, perfect. She would do the

47:37

tape, peel up, know what

47:40

it was. And I never wanted to know. I I

47:42

don't care what the part of the joy for

47:44

me was in the surprise. Yeah. Was in good.

47:46

I

47:47

wonder I just wonder even if

47:49

it's a small thing, I I like -- Yeah. -- I like surprises.

47:51

I think cameras took away that

47:53

-- Yeah. -- decision. Yeah.

47:58

Somewhat. But here's what we're gonna be

48:00

praying for you all next week, coming out with us

48:02

because we are doing something

48:04

really fun. To celebrate our first year as a podcast

48:06

and to celebrate our

48:08

new beginning, stepping into year

48:10

number two of back

48:12

porch theology But here's what

48:14

we're praying for y'all. And it's the promise

48:16

from Isaiah. We talk about Isaiah a

48:18

lot. Very familiar promise, but I

48:20

think especially pertinent right here at the

48:22

cusp of the New Year, Isaiah forty three

48:24

nineteen sea. I am doing

48:26

a new thing. Now it springs

48:28

up, do you not

48:30

perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and

48:32

streams in the wasteland or as

48:34

my mom would say streams in the desert, her

48:36

favorite devotional.

48:38

So that's what we're praying for y'all. I'm praying that you

48:40

would be alert, that your heart

48:42

would kind of be standing

48:45

on the edge of of sitting on the edge of

48:47

its seat, using metaphors for a heart that aren't

48:50

working, your heart would

48:52

be alert

48:54

that God is doing a new thing. And

48:56

remember, they were in Babylon when he wrote

48:58

that, when he

48:59

profited that. Oh, I love that. I'm

49:01

just a second section.

49:04

So if you find yourself in some form of

49:06

isolation or aloneness or

49:08

some wherever your cabin has

49:11

activity. Yeah. God is still doing

49:13

a new thing. And what I love about it, we

49:15

won't go down the rabbit hole, but the do

49:17

you not perceive it? Contained within

49:20

that is the sense that sometimes

49:22

we might not perceive absolutely.

49:24

And so asking the holy spirit

49:26

Holy Spirit help us to be able to perceive to be

49:28

a new good God base that he's

49:30

doing in our midst. Oh, man.

49:34

Now That's a perfect place to land. A new good

49:37

god thing. That's what the three

49:39

of us are praying for y'all

49:42

that you're heart would be kinda on the edge of its

49:44

seat, expecting -- Mhmm. --

49:46

that God is gonna do a

49:48

new good

49:50

thing. In your life this year in

49:52

two thousand twenty three. We love y'all. Love hanging

49:54

out with y'all in the porch. We will

49:56

be with you next week for the celebration

49:59

of one year. Gonna be kinda crazy

50:01

fun, hopefully very redemptive fun. So

50:03

have a wonderful week. We'll hopefully

50:05

be hanging with you next Monday here

50:07

on Backports Theology. See you soon.

50:14

Ellie and I are so glad, so grateful.

50:16

You chose to hang out on the

50:19

porch with us today, and we

50:21

hope you learned something. But

50:24

knowledge about god pales

50:26

next to intimacy with Jesus. Yo.

50:28

So we hope you spend a lot

50:30

more time lingering in his presence leaning

50:32

into his embrace and listening to the lyrics of

50:35

delight. He promises to sing

50:37

over us in Zaffaniah. Then you

50:39

do listening to podcasts. That

50:41

being said, we'll be both honored and

50:44

tickled if you choose to join us again next

50:46

week for

50:47

Backporch, Theology.