Foxhole Symphony
Foxhole Symphony
Preparing for Transformative Service
What if your heart and mind were truly prepared to serve others and align with God's work? In this episode, we promise to unlock the transformative power of intentional preparation, as we explore how it can enrich your service experiences both in your local community and in broader outreach initiatives. By sharing our journey, we aim to inspire a deeper understanding of how preparation fuels our engagement with others and leads to profound growth.
Throughout the discussion, we connect the dots between biblical teachings and real-life scenarios, revealing the importance of being ready for service as an act of worship. Using examples like Moses' preparation of the tabernacle, we highlight how readiness shields us from distractions and spiritual warfare, empowering us to fulfill our calling. Facing challenges such as illness and unexpected disasters, we underscore the critical need for preparation to navigate life's obstacles, ultimately leading to transformative experiences as we serve.
Through prayer, gratitude, and active listening for God's guidance, we emphasize how spiritual readiness enhances our relationship with God and the communities we serve. Let’s prepare our hearts and minds together for a life-altering impact.
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Welcome to Foxhole Symphony, a podcast about the transformational value of men in authentic community In our foxhole.
Speaker 2:Men are equipped to build relationships that foster belonging, accountability and growth.
Speaker 1:Stop believing the lie that you can thrive in isolation and instead join us on the journey from broken to whole.
Speaker 3:Hello everyone, they call me the Maestro and we are back in the foxhole where we actively pursue belonging, accountability and growth through authentic relationships. No masks, no agendas, just iron sharpening iron. Mark and Steve are back at it in the foxhole and today they're discussing the prep work necessary before we serve God and his kingdom. Well, it's go time, so everybody, open up your favorite notes app and find a comfy chair. We start in three two.
Speaker 2:Hey, welcome back to Foxhole Symphony Podcast. I'm Sarge here with my good friend Mark.
Speaker 1:Hey, good bro, good crispy morning.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Checking in here from New Jersey, where it was a crisp 33 on the way out today. Yeah, my Corgi loves it and me. I got the flannel line jeans out today, baby.
Speaker 2:Oh man, I tell you, well, yeah, I mean for me. So it's. You know it's in the 80s in Florida and you know, the other morning it was below 80. It was, like you know, mid 70s, frosty and I'm and you know I'm going to be heading up next week up to your neck of the woods and we have the opportunity to, to serve together. I'll be coming up for work and then, you know, spending a weekend. We'll be staffing a Markman weekend so that, although I am I'm a little anxious about the weather and the cold and you know the, the, the 30 degree evenings and, uh, I think I've got, I'm going to be one of those, those people that has, like you know, three check bags, you know, for a weekend, cause I'm going to need a lot all your layers a lot of layers, but you know I've got to.
Speaker 2:Uh, I've got some, I've got some preparing to do.
Speaker 2:You know there's, there's some in a lot of ways in a lot of ways and um, and so I know that's what we wanted to talk about this morning and you know what it looks like to prepare our hearts to serve Right and um, you know we've we've done a lot of serving over the years and I and you know I've been reflecting on that and we've had even a couple of episodes about it, and you know the the number of ways we've talked about mission trips and feed the need and you know all these different things the Markman weekends, men's weekends.
Speaker 1:Band of Brothers yeah.
Speaker 2:I can honestly say as I look back, you know, there's been times where I feel like I've really intentionally prepared, and sometimes we've prepared together, and other times, especially in the early years, there wasn't a whole lot of preparing, it was just just run, just go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was more show up and throw up for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and you know, like you know, I could easily sit here and say like not every serving opportunity requires preparation, and I think that that's true. It doesn't necessarily require preparation.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:No, but if and when we take the opportunity to prepare, it's a total game changer. It's a total game changer If we actually intentionally take the time to prepare our hearts and minds for what it is we're stepping out to do. Would you agree?
Speaker 1:Oh, good Lord, yes, absolutely. It's analogous to my life in the Word, where, early on in my walk and my journey, I'd read the Bible. I told this story before on the podcast, where you know I did. Oh, you do the Bible in a year. Okay, I'll do the Bible in a year. It was like Woodstock. What, what, what, what, what. What is it, ezekiel? What are you so angry about? Right and on and on and on, but year after year, day after day, moment after moment, as I invested in understanding the word. You know, I love the history, I love to know about the people and the places and and the demography and the food they ate and what was happening around them. So, all of a sudden, you get immersed and you realize how rich and beautiful. Now, all of a sudden, the word for me has an entirely different meaning, because I prepare, I'm preparing, I'm investing, yeah, so that's, that's my heart about preparing for weekends like this.
Speaker 2:And even before we get to the preparations, can we just take a minute to just talk about serving, just in general?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And then I have two questions to help us get started. Okay, go ahead Talk about the serving.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, you know, I think there's there's some things to mention and you know some of this we've talked about in the past. But you know, you and I many, many years ago, you know, we we embarked on experiencing God. You know, with you know, blackabee's interactive course, right, we should do that again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the idea of joining.
Speaker 2:God. I've been connecting with his son, richard Blackabee, and I'm going to, I'm going to invite him on, and so we're going to. Oh, that'd be great. Yeah, I think he'll come on, and so we'll save that. We'll save that, but it reminds me, you know, we talk about it all the time because we both.
Speaker 2:It's resonated with us both the idea of joining God at work, right, and even when we were doing Feed the Need years ago, or, you know, I was leading mission trips, I remember constantly encountering this idea and hearing from people as I asked them why are you going, you know. Or why are you coming? Why did you come and bring your family to feed the need? You know, why are you, why do you want to go on that mission trip? And so often I would hear, oh, it makes me feel good. I'm not judging that, but I do want to challenge those of you that maybe have that mindset that it's a whole lot more than that. That. That that's.
Speaker 2:That is not why we're called, or even, dare I say, commanded, because we are to to serve, right, to love our neighbor. We're we're, you know. We're commanded to worship and and serving as a form. We're you know we're commanded to worship and serving as a form of worship, and you know all these things. So it's, we're commanded to do it and it's not to feel good. Now the fruit and the result. There's nothing wrong with-.
Speaker 1:No, I was just going to say that's a product.
Speaker 2:Right, that's not, that's not the why, right. And so if you're, if you're sitting there and you're listening, you're like man. I feel far from God. I would say go, go, serve, right, Like serving, stepping out and serving is an act of faith, it's an act of worship, and God responds to that. And so I just want to encourage people like you know, even if it's the smallest step, if you're caving up, you're on your couch, you're, you're in a rut, find some place to serve. Go love on somebody, get you know. And why? Because it takes the focus off of us, and so if we do it to feel good about ourselves, all we're doing is putting the focus back on us Right, exactly which, which is the exact opposite of you know the why.
Speaker 2:So I wanted to mention that. And the act of joining God at work, right, like again, if you feel far from God, like God's at work, he's moving. First of all, he's at work in your life, whether you see it or not, Amen, he's at work all around. And so you know the act of serving, of stepping out of ourselves, of doing something, you know, making a sacrifice. It requires a sacrifice, right, it requires giving up of a resource, maybe it's money, maybe it's time, maybe it's your talent, whatever it may be, and that act of worship, that act of giving, that sacrifice is, you know, god honors, act of giving that. That that sacrifices is, you know, god, god honors. And so, anyway, I wanted to just state that right up front that you know that that that's just, it's a good practice because we're commanded to do it. Why we're commanded to do it? And and and, and, the result, and the and the fruit.
Speaker 2:And there's many that we're not going to really spend the time to get into, because what we want to talk about is how to make the most of it, how to maximize that act of faith when you're going to go do it, because you could just say, you know what, I'm just going to go do it, and not every act of faith like I'm going to go. You know, my neighbor left his garbage can out and was traveling and we've got an HOA and I look at his garbage can sitting there for an extra day. I'm like, oh, he's going to get a letter, let me just go bring the garbage can up his driveway and put it by the garage door. Save him the aggravation of a letter. Like that didn't require a lot of preparation, right, and it's just a a little act of service and kindness, and you know that that's it, right, just loving my neighbor Um, but that's.
Speaker 2:Those aren't necessarily the types of things we're talking about, right? No, uh, it's, it's the it's. It's the slightly bigger things, the slightly larger investments of time and resources and what God might be calling us to Um and and so, yeah, you, you mentioned you had a couple of questions. Well, yeah, you mentioned you had a couple of questions.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, but first, you did a great job. That's setting the tone. Your foundation is perfect. I think I could summarize it for me in saying that God wants your heart, but he also wants your hands and your feet and your mouth and your eyes. Right, he wants all of you. So if you have to put your hands to work for God, it's okay. You know that. The, the, why serve.
Speaker 2:Not only is it okay, not only is it okay, I, you know, again, it's, it's an act, it's, it's an act of worship, and you know, there's, you know, I was asked the other day what's the difference between belief and faith, and and I had to really think about that, right, and so maybe we'll do an episode on it, but in thinking about it, the answer is action. Like I can believe something without taking action, but faith requires action.
Speaker 1:Okay, James, there you go.
Speaker 2:Right, right, yeah. So you know that's the difference between belief and faith. And so you know, in taking that step to act, it enhances and increases our faith. So, going back, if you are in a crisis of faith, one of the best things you could do is act. Amen.
Speaker 1:Right. One of the best things you could do is act. Amen, right. And coming from brothers who have a bias for action, this is so easy for us to talk. I'm just thinking about people listening, going. What the heck are they talking about? It is easy.
Speaker 2:I'm in my living room, it's easy for us to move, but for guys like us not so easy to pause and get way ahead of it and prepare for that.
Speaker 1:And that's the great segue. So, by the way, I shouted James at you, which I apologize, but I was talking about James saying faith without works is dead.
Speaker 1:So a little biblical reference there that we both abide by. We love that. Why serve wasn't one of my questions, but it's a great one. One of my questions was why prepare? Doesn't the Holy Spirit just take care of it? And I can tell you I'm going to answer that question. For me, for P1 experiences, it marked men In the beginning prepare. I was like I got this. What could they possibly ask me to do that I'm not prepared to do? Stand up, talk, you know. Witness, I'm ready. Worship I'm ready. Give my heart, I'm ready. Holy Spirit's there, I'm there. We have everything we need in the kitchen, the formula's made, the recipe's good, stir up the pot. And I learn now. So it's 13 years later from my P1 and first serving opportunity, to realize that the prep. Why prep, holy cow? What a blessing. It is a week before staffing, a weekend to slow down and listen for God and prepare. So why do you prep? Why even bother? Why do you do it?
Speaker 2:Well, there's a few things. Let me start by just going back to the idea that serving is a form of worship. And in Exodus 40, god takes 34 verses to tell Moses how to prepare the tabernacle for worship. And Moses follows his instructions exactly Qubits, yeah, right, right.
Speaker 2:And so here we are, thousands of years after Moses and the tabernacle, and you know, it remains a command Number one, yes, um, so. So that's the first reason, um, but it, it, it remains a command for, for, you know, various reasons. And so, um, you know why do I need to do it? Well, a couple of things. One, when we join God at work, there's going to be some warfare, and the bigger the calling likely, the bigger the obstacles that are going to come our way. And so that's one of the reasons why I need to, I need to prepare is to protect my heart and mind, um, from the, the onslaught, from the attack of the enemy, which is all circumstantial, but has has, has, you know, has certainly rocked my world in the past and even kept me from, you know, from joining God at work, and and, and and serving.
Speaker 1:So that's the, that's the first thing talking on a Wednesday night, so excited going to serve together on Friday and we're ready to rock and roll.
Speaker 2:And you called me early Friday morning and said I can't, I can't, I can't get up.
Speaker 1:I'm done. Right, you got in 24 hours.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You got deathly ill Yep Flu or just something. You sounded like you know you. You were cooked and that was it. You're out, Yep. You had prepared, You'd done everything. So, yes, Dude, my house flooded. How about that?
Speaker 2:My house flooded. I'm in Africa. You're in my house bailing water with my wife, like I mean you know, forget the flu. I mean you know forget the flu. Like I mean you know devastation right. So I mean it runs the gamut. Everything from you know relational stress to you know natural disaster.
Speaker 1:I mean all kinds of things. Real life, Real life. You know what? I have now categorized all this real life stuff into the noise. That's my catchphrase for everything else that's going on around me that isn't centered on Christ. Is the noise. There's political noise, there's social noise, Lots of noise, right, that's out there. There's my life noise. There's all my checklist of things to do. But let me come back to some of the great things that you were bringing up. Some of the great things that you were bringing up this investment that we're talking about, this, the value of serving, we're just, let's simply agree, high value, high and a command to do that to us. So we can cite chapter and verse and then why prepare? There's good reasons and we'll talk about it, but the real thing that jumped out at me is you tend to want to prepare for something when there's something at stake.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:The question I think we could ask each other, and I'll ask you right now, is Sarge, what's at stake with a P1?
Speaker 2:Oh, man, I mean so much. And it's life-altering, right? Yes, the potential impact is life-altering, both for me I'll speak for myself Both for me, for me. And when I say life altering, I mean heart change and transformation, healing that leads to life altering impact, relationally, missionally, anything and everything that God desires to do in me and through me, not just on the weekend, but coming out of the weekend. You know, in, in my home, in my family, in, in, you know, in the workplace, wherever it may be. And so that that's what's at stake.
Speaker 2:And, to your point, that is, for me, probably the biggest reason why I need to prepare because, uh, if you know, I need to come before the Lord, offering my heart and mind, saying Lord, what is it that you want to do, right, um, and what is it that could get in the way of that? What are the distractions, what are the obstacles, what is the sin in the way, what is the, what is the? You know what in my house needs to get cleaned up? You know what is the work I need to do in my life, in my heart, in my mind, before I can even think about serving somebody else. It's the old, it's the old airplane analogy Put your own mask on first and then help the person right. Good, good one. I've got to put my mask on first. Get some God oxygen right in my lungs and, you know, get right what needs to get right.
Speaker 2:My relationship with God is my. Am I in right relationship with God? Am I in right relationship with others? You know and and and. When I do that, the effectiveness factor is exponential. It just skyrockets. Exactly. You can't even see the top. Yeah, if, if I'm, if I'm not right, if I right now I'm blocked, how much can God use me? It's like any tool, any instrument. If you have a fork with one prong left on it, it's now enough and you're trying to eat spaghetti. It's going to be a challenge.
Speaker 1:There you go. You just got very Italian on us.
Speaker 2:I mean, you know, come on, forget about it. If you got something you could like stab, okay, right, but you know you got something you need to like twirl and right. I mean, listen, it's just, it's, it's going to be a challenge, so yeah.
Speaker 1:Wow, that was a great question for you. I love that and I would say simply, what's at stake are men's hearts. I still do that. Ron Hutchcraft, that RHM Ministries devotional every morning and his website is anewstorycom a new story. I say it like Ron now, and God bless him. I love that. I'm right, I love that old codger, but every day he says this calling for us is to bring other people to know Christ.
Speaker 1:What's at stake is potential transformation. That's what this weekend could do. It has the potential to be transformational in a man's life and I don't want to stand in the way of that, so much so that I want to do everything in my power to be prepared for God to use me. You know, my prayer about these weekends is transparency. I got to get off the front line, get back up, be transparent, be a light.
Speaker 1:That's what my goal is on every one of these, and that's not easy for me all the time because of pride and various other sins. So, ultimately, I want to be as prepared as I can be to watch God at work because, as I have said before on the podcast, I have seen miracles happen at a P1 experience, and who am I to stand in the way of that. Maybe God has a plan for me just to be a wallflower, to be present, to be praying, do nothing, say nothing, lead nothing. Just be, be a representative there of God, show strength, show solidarity with men in community. I'm ready for that, but I've got to prepare to do that. That's not how I walk.
Speaker 2:Right, and let me just say this too, because I think this is important. Going back to where we started about sort of the selfish nature, Like I want to feel, I want to feel good. It's a very different thing to say I want to change through this. God, I want you to work in me as much as whatever it is that you're calling me to. That's not selfish. That's a beautiful act of surrender and worship that God honors. I mean, that's hopping up on the operating table saying God, work in my heart too.
Speaker 2:Because the flip side of that is this paternalistic mindset, like I'm going to rescue these people and and that's, and that's not like. So, going back to your point cause I agree with you, I'm, I'm, I'm right there with you what's at stake is the hearts of these men. Now, what, how? That the hearts of these men are not going to get rescued by me. Now, God might use me, right, but he, he is, he's, he's the rescuer, right, he's, he's going to do it. And so, again, it's this, this, uh, slight shift in perspective that I just want to call out, because sometimes we can get caught up in thinking I've got, I'm going to go. Do this. Same with missions. Right, I'm going to go to this far off land and save these people, or you know, whatever it may be, it's like no, no, you're not. You know, and God, God's sitting back on. Really, okay, you know when. When you know, let me know. When you're going to, let me be.
Speaker 1:God, I think your flight might be delayed yeah.
Speaker 2:So right. So it's, it's, it's. Neither, uh, I'm going to feel good or I'm going to save. Right, it's, it's, it's. It's this space in the middle where we're we're offering up our hearts and minds and our hands and our feet to be used so that God can do what he wants to do. And you're right, the stakes are high.
Speaker 1:Oh, dude, just the word. Thank you, first of all. I couldn't agree with you more. But you just said we're offering, and that's a question I think we have to address here. What do I have to offer? If you're sitting there thinking about why could I serve, what do I have to offer? Like, really, god's going to use me, really God's going to use me An emphasis is mine, but think about this, please. If that voice comes in your head, in my opinion it's the enemy, and he's trying to just make you unsure and insecure about what you might bring this weekend we're going to serve on would be really quiet if we all sat around waiting for God to you know, do something there he uses us. What you have to offer is locking arms with your brothers and showing men who don't know the value of authentic community what it's like to walk with a brother like Sarge, like I have in my life.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So please, if you're asking that question, what do I have to offer? The answer is much.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely. And if you're asking that question, I would say, um, definitely, get out and serve and God will show you exactly what you have to offer. Yeah, just just step out. Just step out and and he'll, he'll show you. And, um, uh, and, because there's there is a uh, there's something to explore about your identity and and again, who God is and who you are in in in him. Um, if that's what you're wondering, right, you have anything to offer.
Speaker 1:And I think the the. The second sentence in that same thought for me, bro, is well, can't someone else do this? Isn't you know? Like really me, like can't someone else go serve? And the answer is absolutely Sure, they can. God can use anybody, but he wants to use you and me. So you just said it Get up, get off your tuchus and go out and serve, and if it's a garbage can next door, it's valuable.
Speaker 2:God cheers and dances, equipped to do what God was calling them to do. And uh, and he did it anyway. And he called them anyway, he reminded them over and over, and over and over. Right, I mean you know, from Moses, through the, through the disciples, you know the fishermen. I mean I just you know, and, and all over the place, all over the place, uh, you know, david, my goodness, um, yes, there's these, these 12 guys who didn't know what to do with each other too. Plenty of examples.
Speaker 1:So let's shift gears as we get closer to the end of this conversation about the battleground. That's another word that popped into my head about this preparation and what we're heading for. Going into battle and I obviously don't mean, like you know, a new war, but if you're going into spiritual battle, you need to be prepared. There's work to be done here and that's a beautiful part of this. I can tell you that, as with any workout that I do or anytime I'm trying to improve my physical self, right, there's a goal at the end of it. I do X reps. Right, you're doing soul con, and there's reasons that we invest in these things to better ourselves. We're willing to do the work and there's so much work to be done here. The kingdom needs our hearts and minds and hands and feet right Sarge, I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah and yes. And you know, for action oriented guys like us, the preparation itself can become an idol.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right.
Speaker 2:I mean it's, you know, it's, it's, it's, uh, it is less about honing our skills right and getting the getting the skillset. I mean coming off of what you just said, like I don't have that. You know, I'm not a. You know, I've got to work on that, I've got to hone that skill, I've got to learn, I've got to develop that. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but as far as serving is concerned, it's about our heart condition.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:It's about our heart. So you know, the preparation is more about soul prep, right Right Than it is practical preparation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there are a few practical things you have to do, right, there's a few forms to fill out and things like this. But, as with anything else, but for me, I'm just going to be beautifully honest I'm like a kid on Christmas morning this week leading up to this. That's how I feel each day Because of what I've witnessed. I can't wait to see what God might do here, and it's one of the few weekends in my year every year now, that I can actually say that I can go and step back and watch my Lord at work and I am willing to do anything to be prepared.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Anything, amen, amen, absolutely. So what do you do? How do you prepare?
Speaker 1:Yeah, practical. This is the practical part for me. So I get very introspective in this time. It forces me to take a look at myself on a 360 view. I tend to look in the mirror a lot, and I mean literally. Which can be uncomfortable other than shaving, and I think you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:There's time here for me, not only because of the, the biblical work that we do leading up to this, but I find myself invested in the Word. I find myself invested in talking about it to everybody. I talk about this at work, I talk about it at home. The preparation for me becomes somewhat all-consuming in that I feel closer to God through the Holy Spirit in this week leading up to next Friday than most other times in my life. So, steps that I take, slowing down, listening more, more in prayer in the moment prayer, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Where often, as how many times have we told this story about the chair over here in the corner where I stick God over there and just say I'll be right with you Once I take care of this, I'll come get you Lord. If right with you Once I take care of this, I'll come get you Lord. If I need you. That turns for me. Now I can slow down and be practical and you know persistent about seeking him, seeking him, seeking him and his voice in my life. So those are some of the things I do as part of this. How about you? How do you?
Speaker 2:prep. So I think you know, a big part of it is just being still, starts for me with being still, you know, and getting in the word. You know, asking God, you know what is it I mean. What is it? First of all, praying that he'll open my, my heart and ears to hear him. That's, that's the first thing I mean as far as my, my prayers are concerned. I'm, I'm praying that he will, you know, uh, help me get out of the way enough, remove the distractions to to hear him. And um, you know, and then I turn into just gratitude. You know just gratitude that I, you know, thanks that I get to join him. You know, at work, and you know thanking him for what he's done in the past and what I believe he's going to, he's preparing to do again, and praising him for that. You know, you know.
Speaker 2:And then you know, as far as the prep it's, you know it's application, it's getting into the word, it's praying. You know, god, what are the distractions in my life that you want to clear up? You know, what are the things that I can't see, what are the things that you know, the relationships that need to be addressed? You know again, is there that I can't see. What are the things that you know, the relationships that need to be addressed? You know again, is there sin that needs to be confessed? You know, what is it that I can do? You know, and then it's listening I mean it's being still enough to listen and hear, you know, and then the courage to you know to to respond.
Speaker 2:It's it's you know, it's asking the questions that are hard to answer about you know, my current state of being, you know, and and what is happening in my world and my life right now and what God might want to either clear out of the way or begin to bring up that he will work on in my heart, or even begin to heal on the, you know, the upcoming weekend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and isn't this beautiful? We had a call last night which you on the uh, you know, the upcoming weekend. Yeah, and isn't, isn't this beautiful? We had a call last night which you helped lead, obviously, but wasn't it great to see the faces of these men that you've come to know and love? I see them twice a year, oh my God, sometimes once a year, from all over the air, come for hundreds of miles.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:To do this. I want to as part of this preparation, I want to implore anyone listening to get out and serve. Please, just stop making excuses and just go do something. If God is in it, it'll be good for you. You don't have to have all the answers in the beginning, like I would. As soon as Lord, as soon as you answer these 10 questions, I'll get right out there. No, you don't need to do that, but there is a power and a joy and an energy when you get with a group of men, single-minded, each bent in their own ways right, each with sins and brokenness and working on their own stuff, and all of a sudden you turn off your life and you show up at this camp and you start to serve. But somehow it comes together, right that God does it. God stirs, stirs us, stirs our hearts, and beautiful things happen In the simplest of service opportunities. So I just I want to say move, you can do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Hey, I've got a closing paragraph from an old friend of ours, Justin Kemp. I happened to read one of his flag messages this morning the one I missed from the other day and I thought, wow, this is so perfect for what you and I are going to talk about today. Is it okay with you if I do that? Sure, Shoot, Okay. Remember you live on a battleground, a world fraught with danger. So let me focus you in your inner being so you can withstand the evil of comparison, the disease of insecurity and the poison of envy. You have everything you need. There is nothing you lack, and what you have to offer, always, completely, is love. So when doubt paralyzes, you filter everything through this one question Am I bringing love? Amen.
Speaker 2:Amen. Way to simplify, baby. I mean every one of us. If you're in Christ, you've got a lot to bring, and you know we've got a lot to bring. It's going to be great to serve with you and I can't wait. Can't wait to see what God's going to do and I'm excited to spend the next week preparing my heart and mind for whatever it is that that may be.
Speaker 1:Me too, bro. Can't wait to see you. It'll go fast.
Speaker 2:I know it, it sure will. Hey, thanks for joining us today for another episode of Foxhole Symphony Podcast. Don't just be you. Be you in Christ, peace, peace.
Speaker 3:Faith without works is dead. God teaches us that as we walk in faith and trust in him, our hearts are transformed and we are compelled to do good works. As we are sanctified and seek to glorify God, we are both commanded and empowered to do great things, and BT Dubs, our helper, is the same Holy Spirit that parted the Red Sea, that brought dry bones back to life and rolled away the stone on the third day. As we prepare to step into service and truly trust in him, he helps us to move from our heads to our hearts, and that's where it all begins. Thank you, lord, for allowing us to be the hands and feet serving you and your kingdom. Lord, please continue to use this podcast to impact the lives of all who listen. I ask that you would bring hope and healing to each and every one of them, lord. Meet them right where they are and reveal yourself to them like only you can do. In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 2:If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it and invite others to the Foxhole. You can find us wherever you download your favorite podcast. Be sure to subscribe so you know when new episodes drop, and please rate us and comment there too, as it'll help us get found by others who could benefit. Find, follow and like us on your go-to social media networks by searching Foxhole Symphony or visit foxholesymphonycom to make it super easy to find us. Drop us a line with feedback, questions, topic requests. Who knows, maybe you'll be a guest on a future episode. In the meantime, prepare to move, embrace discomfort and just be you.
