All right, welcome to men's live session
Heart check-in for what is this?
January 19th
2026 if you can believe it
so
Good to see you guys here gentlemen. Got it several of us on
What is going on?
Well, I guess I had brother yeah, I could go yeah, so, um, I guess I'm mostly good
One good thing is I I signed up for a review a PE review class
That's a class to help me study to get licensed as an engineer. Oh
So so I took the first step by purchasing the class. Of course, it's kind of expensive, but I think it'll really help me
So that's a positive thing. That's good
And I'm stand for what professional engineer Oh perfect. Okay. Yeah. Mm-hmm
Um
Now the other thing the other thing is, um, is that you know, I'm still very much in love with gel
but the thing is is that right now it's a difficult time because um
Occasionally she'll get in like a spell where it's like she's just
really busy and then she's too tired to like say much to me and
You know both of us, you know are in love but we're like tired of the long distance
Yeah, it's just tough but at least I have this bracelet right here that she gave me
That I can I can it's a tangible sign of her love and you know, I'm
It helps me stay rooted
Yeah, huh?
What other indications
Do you have from her with regard to was she coming over to the States at all or how was he can't?
She can't come. Yeah, but I mean, um
What you had some sort of plan I thought some sort of like long-range plan of some sort
yeah, well, I I was doing a lot of research into like
you know how she could come over and really
what it's come down to is is that um, even though technically you can
You can apply for a visa the chances of her getting a visa are extremely low, right?
Because um
Because they're um, the government will be suspicious that she'll wanna overstay. Yeah, so
She has to have like very very solid proof that she'll return home and yeah
And it's it's it's not super strong in her case. So, um
So I don't want to waste either of our money to spend a lot of money just to apply for visa
so I think the my new plan is
Is to just visit her over there until we get married or or she she maybe she'll
Work abroad somewhere else and I'll go visit her in that country instead like
like possibly United Arab Emirates, um, because they that might be the
the only opportunity to get a job at her level of qualification as a
Accountant because they and in most places they want someone who's like, you know, ten years of experience with a master's degree
She just has a bachelor's degree in four years of experience. So those qualifications
Unfortunately are not high enough
To be hired in a lot of places. Yeah
Another thing is that she's um, she's now unemployed
Um completely before she did have a job
That was making her, you know, some money not that much but at least some but now she's completely unemployed and
I partly feel bad. I mean, it's not really my fault and she says it's not my fault, you know, so we're good
but it's just that um
She made the decision to spend time with me instead of working and so she got fired. Oh
I'm sorry to hear that
Hmm well, um, so you're just gonna keep this long distance for a while really
yeah, I mean I really have a choice but um, I am thinking of
Maybe visiting her in June, which is like the month of my birthday and I was thinking of maybe
Trying like staying over there for a month this time, which is the longest amount of time
You can stay with just having a passport
Of course, you can apply for an extension too
but I think that's a good first step to actually, you know date her in person for like a longer period of time and
it'll be six months from now and
and
I was thinking I'll probably propose to her what?
You know, I think by that time you had have you had any more contact with her family? I met her family
When I was when I was there. Yeah, but I'm just saying but since you've been home, have you had any more contact with them like
Um video or you know telephone or anything like that email? No
Um, well, I mean I did contact your mom. I did say, you know, thank you again, you know and everything. Um, so I
It's not ongoing you not really because um, they don't speak english. So it's
they um
They were they were nice people, but they were also very shy and they didn't speak like hardly any english
So I I just you know, I just got you know, my impressions of them. Um,
But unfortunately, we couldn't really interact that much. Um,
Because of the first of all the shyness on both of our sides and also the um language barrier
so, um, i'm either gonna have to really
Find a way to learn the language or get one of those earbud things
Um where you can like it'll translate in real time
And you're and you're sure this is this is um a relationship that you're
interested in pursuing
Considering all these all these obstacles at this point
Oh, okay. Yep. We're very serious
Okay
Mm-hmm. I mean
Yeah, I mean it sounds like a lot, you know, um
But you know, I if you're gonna go down that road, I mean
Definitely just make sure you do it safely and make sure you do it with you know, eyes wide open. Um,
the world is a very strange and
um
Difficult place sometimes but I definitely wish you the best. Uh, um
not the best of luck because we don't really um believe in luck, but yeah believe in certainly blessings of the lord and
May may you have god's speed in everything you do and all the decisions and all the different interactions that you have
and that you know, you're just
um
I would definitely encourage this
This is definitely
An encouragement that you just have a moment of prayer
Before you have any you know, every time you have a reach out with her every time you have a connection with her
So that you're being guided in a way that I think is in your best interest, you know
And really just rely on holy spirit to
Give you that peace and that inward peace and witness to you
Everything that you encounter, you know
Because navigating, um, you know a global situation like this
I mean, there's just so many it's it's not like I live in cleveland and you know, you know, she lives in chicago
You know, it's it's a little bit different. So yeah, and there's so many legalities to it and everything. So
but um
Well blessings man. Yeah
I guess one last thing I would like to say is that um
Uh
So because of her situation where she's trying to like save up for you know, her parents house. Um
It it I think probably will end up having like a just a long engagement
That's kind of my plan and you know, that'll give us time to you know, get you know, pre-marriage counseling and
Get really get things in order
And who's going to be able to do the counseling pre-marriage counseling for you
well, um
Probably someone in the philippines. It's probably like best that way because um, their culture is different and there's some
You know cultural things that you know need to be considered. Um, yeah
so
And she does she have a pastor? Is that what she said?
Well, I mean she she goes to to mass. She's catholic just like me. Oh, right. Yeah. Okay
and she has a priest that she's
That knows her and is connected with her and so forth. Um
Not really I I get the impression that you know, she goes to mass
But she doesn't have like a personal like spiritual guide or anything like that
I'm, just talking about someone that knows her like, you know, that's the that's the greatest thing about christian community
is to be known in community, um, one of the things that
you know
jackie
Learned about me early on when we met, you know, we met as neighbors
and so
Yeah, yes, we got to know each other as we got to know each other
um
You know, we found out that we knew some of the same people and it was interesting. We did not go to the same church
Um, but we were in the same town the same, you know big city
and even on the same side of town, but it was it was really awkward and not awkward was just kind of
Interesting that we had never met we never really crossed paths at all
And but at the same time we knew
other individuals the same individuals
Looks like multiple people that was like, oh, I know that person like how you know, I crossed paths with them
But I didn't ever cross. Yeah
And but one of the things that was helpful in that because we were both known
In our christian communities each of us despite what happened to those
communities, because there were some, I mean, her pastor actually went to prison and there
was a bunch of turmoil in her small community.
But because she was known by other believers, it was helpful in us to get to know each other
that those communities could affirm, you know, who we were, you know, like, so even though
we were just meeting for the first time, and then developing a friendship, and which then
into a romantic relationship, you know, it was of utmost importance, especially for her,
to know me through other people's eyes, and to know me through other people's affirmation
and history, and even obviously meet my family, I met her family.
So there was a lot of affirmations there that helped us establish what we established in
our marriage and relationship.
So I guess, anything that you could do to encourage that, that's why I asked about if
there was a priest that she knew that was like, you know, is she known in her church.
So she's on her big community is like mostly her family, because she has a really big family.
She's really close with her cousins.
And also, and like, the way that they live is that her neighbors are like her relatives.
And so it's like a whole block of people that she's related to.
Yeah, that's very common in that culture, for sure.
Yeah.
Okay.
But I'm not sure if there's much, like spiritual guidance, like, among them, to be honest.
I kind of like family, family, close family is very important.
So yeah, great way to know somebody else's, you know, through their family, especially
if they are close.
And, you know, they would know, yeah, you know, who these people are.
Mm hmm.
Well, thanks for the update, man.
I appreciate you chiming in there.
Yeah.
And, and so I love the career advancement.
It's awesome.
And sounds like you're getting getting ready to make a move.
Yeah.
Mm hmm.
Encourage you in that.
Thanks for the update.
Um, who else has got something to update us with this week?
What do we got here?
Abram, you're still muted.
Somehow.
I don't know why.
I heard something from you.
And I'm not really sure what's going on.
But who else do we have?
Bob and Sean and Matthew, Christopher, David, get on here, guys, and share with us a little
bit this week.
Hey, how's it going, David?
Good.
Hi.
Um, well, I guess it's more like a question that I have.
Right.
I was listening to what you call it, the Saturday, the supernatural Saturday.
Yeah, right.
And, um, you know, Jackie made a good point when she was talking about the founder of
the Mormon Church.
Yeah.
And how, you know, he was hearing voices and all that other stuff.
And, um, I've known, you know, quite a few people that, you know, they've said stuff
like that.
I hear voices and stuff, but it wasn't the Holy Spirit's voice.
It was it was some other voice.
But, um, one of the points, though, that she made is the scriptures that says in the multitude
of counselors, there's safety, which is true.
I definitely believe in that scripture.
So I'm saying all of that to say this is just a, I guess, a question that I just wanted
to, you know, to ask and stuff just to, like, see what other people think, so on and so
forth.
So, um, like last year, you know, I did talk to a few different females.
And funny enough, two of them were actually here in this community.
And, um, it didn't work out.
Oh, in the last year single community?
Yeah.
Well, yeah.
One of them, um, she was here.
She said she came out of it because she couldn't, um, like find the time or whatever to, you
know, connect.
And then the other one, um, she said that I think she had sent an email to cancel her
membership because of the same reasons, but it wasn't canceled or whatever.
So she's still listening and stuff like that.
Okay.
But anyway, so, um, that didn't work out.
And, um, I had spoken to Jackie briefly, um, I think it was April of last year, you know,
just talking to her briefly about some stuff.
So just meeting people and stuff like that.
So anyway, so I went on some, I went on Hinge, um, the dating app and, um, like never really
got anywhere with that, um, couple of dates here and there.
but it just didn't work out.
So, you know, after doing that for so long,
I just, you know, you just get frustrated.
I mean, like, like most people.
So anyway, I, I prayed to the Lord and I asked him,
you know, I was like, it just seems like
just there's a roadblock or whatever.
It's like every, every turn that I make, you know,
I was like, how is this, how is this going to happen?
Cause I just, I just got to a point of frustration.
So I'm not one who, when people say, you know,
they speak to the Holy Spirit
or hear the voice or whatever.
I've have, I have heard voices in the past,
but I guess he doesn't really speak to me that way
as usually more through his word.
You know, I, I'll pick up the Bible and, you know,
certain scriptures or whatever will come out
pertaining to my scripture.
So anyway, so when I said that prayer,
you know, a voice said to me
that you will meet your wife through someone you know.
And yeah, and that's what the voice said.
And the voice said, oh, you can, you know,
get off the date and apps or whatever,
cause you meet your wife through someone, you know.
So I was like, okay.
But so I said.
Let me ask you this.
Let me ask you this, Sean.
When you're hearing this voice, this impression,
in what state are you,
in what state are you when you're here,
when you heard this voice?
Like I said, frustrated, you know.
No, but I mean, like, were you in a moment of like,
were you in a, were you in a moment of prayer?
Were you like at work, driving down the road in the car?
No, no, no, no.
Praying.
So I was praying to the Lord.
So you're in prayer, okay.
Yeah, I'm in prayer and I'm asking him to,
you know, to talk to me and to let me know,
you know, about my situation because I'm just frustrated.
Yeah, sure.
So that's what the voice said.
Now, I'm not gonna go into it,
but there has been,
in the past, it wasn't in prayer,
but it was another situation where
it was like an impression or whatever in a voice
that I thought was the Holy Spirit or Christ or whatever,
but it wasn't.
It was a demonic entity
and that got me in a whole bunch of trouble,
but that's a long story.
And you're saying that because,
you're saying that because the voice whatever said something
and then you're like, none of that worked out
or something bad happened or whatever.
So you're like, oh, that was basically a demonic situation.
So I don't wanna-
I mean, is that your conclusion?
No, no, no, that's not my conclusion.
No, no, no, what I'm saying is,
is that how you knew
that that wasn't really the voice of the Lord?
Is that correct?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay, got it.
All right, go ahead.
So then, yeah, so back to this other voice
on when I was praying,
I was just like, okay, you know,
but I was, it was,
I had a question in my head because of,
you know, basically of what happened before
and I just didn't wanna run with that.
I did come off the apps, you know,
because I'm like, I just got frustrated
because like I said, I just kept running into a roadblock.
So I did come off the apps
and I haven't really talked to anybody since then.
But I just wanted to run it by someone.
Yeah, like what's the main question you're like?
The question is the voice.
I mean, obviously you didn't hear it,
but do you think that, you know,
that was the Holy Spirit's voice
or was that, you know, the enemy's voice or my own voice?
I mean, just.
I mean, well, let me ask you this.
When you heard that you're in a moment of prayer,
but you're also frustrated.
So you're emotionally frustrated,
which is completely appropriate for prayer time.
Just tell you that right now.
I mean, the Lord isn't afraid of our emotions
when we're happy, sad, disgusted, mad, you know,
violently angry.
The Lord isn't afraid of what we're responding to.
We're emotionally responding to real things, okay?
So that's not really like whether that's like,
oh, was I in a good place and a bad place or whatever?
You're in a moment of like sincere seeking the Lord.
You're like, look, I need some information on this,
you know?
And let me ask you this.
When you heard that and it said, you know,
you're gonna meet somebody from somebody that you know,
did that make you?
Was was there any peace in that or was it like?
Did you feel clarity in that moment? Like oh, okay. There's here's a moment of like
You know kind of like when the Sun shines through and up in a cloud
Yeah, did it feel very clear did it feel with with a measure of peace it did. Yeah, it did it did
I think that's probably let me just comment on this because you know, there's there's a lot of there's just a ton of
You know
Controversy speculation whatever and this isn't anything new to humanity. This is you know
Humans have been hearing
God speak to them and others speak to them for millennia. So it's nothing new to the human experience
so
but it can be new to
you as an individual and
Especially immersed in the cultural time that you live in
Right now you live in America you live in an information age you live in so much
Deception and speculation. There's you know, nobody knows anymore. What truth is nobody knows anymore where their bearing is
Nobody knows anymore where you know, their North Star is their true North Star
So it is challenging and I mean in this day and age, I will say that and I don't think that's any
That that's even new in and of itself in the world experience because relative to
What people have lived through in the past in history?
I think there's been you know a lot of that in different cultures, but you know
It is challenging. So I'll say it that way. However
The the greatest thing that you can the thing that cuts through the noise is
What we know from the Word of God
You know the God sent his son. He sent the person Jesus to be an example for us
He sent his word
Which has been recorded in history and which has been tested and proved
through the test of time to the test of scrutiny through the test of a
generation after generation after generation
Cultures after cultures the Word of God is endured to it's the state that we know it is today the 66 books of the Bible
right and
God Scott speaks to us through his word. He speaks to us through
Our understanding of our relationship with him and he speaks through others that we know and that we trust
Right. Well that you know, it could be a family member could be a friend
But these are people who know us and love us. This is kind of like what I was talking about with Andy
It's like it's so important to be known in
Community and when I say community, that's a very very broad word. That doesn't just mean your church
That doesn't mean just your work. That doesn't mean just your family. It means every everywhere that you're known if you're known
You know for crying out. This is kind of odd, but if you're known in a bar
You know and everybody knows that you walk in there and everybody knows who knows your name just like Norm from Cheers
It's like that's community now, yeah, I'm not saying that that's the best community
I'm just saying that's an example of like being known in community your family and the people that know you the best and
here's the other factor a
community that is you know that knows you not only snows you but loves you and
Your church community your family. Hopefully your family some people come from really rough screwed-up families. I get it
I understand that so maybe that's not a safe place for you or someone, you know in that community
So that's why being known in community though is very very important
Because when you have somebody that loves you and that has wisdom and that has some insight
Lots of times somebody else is sitting right beside you in the same situation
Because they're not you
Can speak into your situation?
Because they're not you they're not in your head
They see things about you that you don't see about yourself
And so that could be very helpful a good friend can do that a good family member a good pastor a good leader
Sometimes in in the workplace can see that in you, right? So
There's there should be a level of affirmation when you hear, you know impressions. And so
based on what you're saying
I've been in lots of times in prayer. We're like I've just been like I'm so confused. I'm so just distraught
I'm going through a hard situation, you know, and then I just know the difference
Because I've done it enough in prayer to know when there's that moment of clarity
And trust me, there's been times where I felt like really
You know unction in prayer and I felt like man. I just need to go to prayer
there's other times where i'm like
I don't feel like praying at all
Matter of fact, I just feel like throwing everything in the trash and just walking away from everything
But I know I
probably press in a little bit.
So sometimes it takes a little effort spiritually
to do that.
But I have done the rudiments of prayer enough
and have been trained in that so long
that I can kind of lean into that.
And so there's that part of it.
But that moment of clarity where you get that peace
and you're like, okay,
like hearing through all the noise,
there's sometimes we're just like, yeah, okay, I hear that.
And then I've even tested out and said,
okay, Lord, I'm just gonna put this before you.
I feel like this is kind of what you're telling me.
I feel like this is a good word
and I'm gonna trust you in this.
And so there's definitely a measure of faith.
There's definitely a measure of trust
that goes into hearing the voice of the Lord.
Cause you're like, first of all,
you test everything through the word of God.
If it doesn't line up with the word of God,
if it's not uplifting, encouraging to you,
it's probably most likely not a voice
that you want to be listening to.
And of course the enemy is always after all of us.
So he's always saying stupid things, saying things.
Trust me, I hear that voice as well.
So I get it.
But to me, I mean, it kind of, I kind of resonated with me,
even when you just said the phrase,
I'm going to, you're gonna meet the person
or there's somebody that you know.
And I'm like, I feel like,
I feel like I kind of feel a little witness on that.
I kind of feel like, oh, we're like, like,
I'm like, yeah, I think that, I think that feels right.
You know?
So let me say that affirmation.
And then the other thing is,
is that what better place to meet somebody
than, you know, through somebody that you know.
Again, it comes back to the community thing.
This comes back to like, and here's what's difficult
because you're like, well, like, okay,
I don't have any evidence of this.
You know, like some of the people I know,
and like, I don't know, I don't really know the person.
You know, like, I don't trust a lot of people.
Like, so I get it.
I get it.
But at the same time, you're like, okay, Lord,
this might be a little bit stretch of faith
considering who I know and considering, you know,
where this is going to come from.
But God works in mysterious ways.
And I don't mean that like as an,
to placate the situation.
I don't really mean that to be cliche.
I mean, literally, it is just odd
how sometimes the Lord really works.
And you're like, wow, it's amazing.
And so when you look back on this and you're like,
man, I really did meet that person
through that person that introduced me.
Like, Lord, you really spoke to me.
Wow, that's amazing.
That will be a tremendous affirmation for you,
not only meeting the person,
but then hearing the voice of the Lord.
So again, it's through practice.
It's through multiple times.
I know, I don't know if you have ever been,
had that affirmation before through a voice that's like,
you know, I just know this to be true.
You know, I really feel like the Lord is telling me this.
I know this is, I get a sense of confidence
and peace in this.
I know this is true, even though I can't see it right now
and I don't understand it,
but I feel like this is the Lord speaking.
And that happens a lot, you know?
So, I mean, I wanna affirm it.
I'm not gonna tell you, yes, that is the Lord,
thus sayeth the Lord, blah, blah, blah, and all that.
But that sounds very affirming.
And if it's enough to,
is enough to get your attention directed
off the apps per se in this time
and get out of frustration,
then I'm like, hey, Lord, let's go with that.
You know, again, it's nothing against the apps.
There's lots of people that still,
you know, their testimony today in last year's single is,
we're like, how did you meet?
They're like, oh, we met online.
So it's not invalid,
but it just is like, sometimes it can be frustrating.
So if you're like, I'm gonna experience all this,
whatever, nothing working out and you have this word,
I'm like, okay, let's go with that.
Like, Lord, let's do it.
Yeah.
And I really believe,
I really believe in the affirmation of,
you know, even our words.
I'm not making a theology out of this,
but I do think it's very important
when we make confessions
and we make statements in faith
and in sincerity, in agreement with the Lord,
in agreement with his word,
but they're not true statements.
In other words, there's in Hebrews,
like faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
Like you cannot see it right now,
but you are speaking it out and you're declaring it.
And so what I would do, if I were you,
if you feel peace and if you feel.
You feel good about this. I would say okay, Lord, I
Kind of feel this in my spirit that you said that I'm gonna meet somebody through somebody that I know
Let's go
Let us work with that word
Let's be right to affirm that and make that a part of your daily prayer. We like okay Lord today
Let this be today make me one step closer to that person. I'm gonna meet who is it?
I'm gonna be looking for it. I'm gonna be adding my faith to that. I'm adding my works to that
Right that to me I believe is a strong partnership with God
To move into something that he is like trying to show you
Okay, I feel
That's good
Yeah, no, no, that's very helpful. Um, thank you because like I said, um, I just didn't want to run with it because
You know
What was said on Saturday and I knew that before too that these voices can be
Tricky and you got to be careful and you got to be you know, you know the biggest thing with people
Yeah, and the biggest thing is this is that even even with that?
Like we all know and this sounds so cliche and kind of dumb, but it's just it's truth because that analogy works
You cannot steer a parked car
You know have to be moving and so if you if you feel a grace and an unction on something and you want to move
Toward it it may still be you know, technically incorrect
But you're like I'm moving forward with with God I'm moving forward in faith
I'm putting my faith on this and so what that's when God can do strange and miraculous things
Yes, he can line up. He has the ability to line up your future with stuff. That isn't even real yet
I mean check that out for a second like like your bank account reads this and that
But yeah partnering with the Lord
God has an amazing way of changing the facts really quick
Right and moving on the impression. I mean how many times in the Word of God?
Did God move on the heart of someone in a certain way to produce a certain outcome?
Yeah, no, that's true. And the thing about it is is in the Bible in the biblical record
It doesn't say
How many other people
That God had to move on in order to get that person to move
I mean like it doesn't spell out all the different things
That the Lord do in order to bring about the result
It just says on the heart of this guy
And so we sometimes interpret that to be like well God just made this person do it like no, you don't understand
God has the ability to be very convincing
Yeah, God has the ability to be very
Influential
Yeah, and so he can in his sovereignty in his
Providence he can really make things happen, but it requires this is what's interesting
It requires and this this message is for you all I don't know
I mean, I know I'm talking to Sean but this truth that you're that I'm talking about in turn in terms of just partnershing partner
partnering with God to accomplish his word
Specific to your life
I mean, it's one thing if you're like, oh, you know
there's there's the word of God and we're supposed to go out and do these things and
We're supposed to be like this and whatever and like yeah, sure you can adhere to that
Okay
You can go do things because they're supposed to be good things that you do like help people or
Witness to people or whatever, but isn't it much better for you to put that in alignment with your own life?
Like specifically
Connected to the desire of your heart
Like I would want to go do things for the Lord
Because I desire to do them not because I just feel compelled that if I don't then I'm just gonna be screwed
Or if I don't do that that you know, I'm gonna displease God
No, the motivation of why we do the things that we do, especially the righteous things
Should come from a position of you know, Lord, I'm trying to work with you here
For the for the betterment of my life
And all of these things line up for my finances my family
My marriage my house like where I live
All of that lines up
To to create your life
And is in partnership with what God wants to do with you
I mean, there's a reason have you ever thought about like there's a reason you live where you live
There's a reason you were born the year that you were born
There's a reason that you know the people that you know
Like that's not accidental
Like that's in the plan of God. So if you don't believe any of that
And you just believe you're just randomly, you know
Going around like a marble in a glass jar. I mean, that's just ridiculous. That's not a way to live and
So to start lining and this is an admonition for us all guys
To start lining your life up with a sense of purpose
Some of you are like, yeah, what's my purpose? Like, you know, I used to do this
I was at but I didn't work out whatever
So I'm just trying to find myself trying to find my purpose trying to find some some traction here. I'm like guys
Like look inward
This is coming back to the question. What do you want?
Look inward. Like what do you want out of this life? What do you want to do? What do you want to be?
There's many things that I felt like I was encouraged to be
And I wanted to be that but I had to come into being that instead of
Before I could say that I am that you know, I'm saying
Yeah, and
So in order for me like there's actions and things I'm taking now to go
Okay in order for me to say that I am such-and-such. I
Have to start being that
If I want to be the best husband to my wife, can I be a good husband's can I be a husband?
Yes, can I be a okay husband? Yes
But I thought if I want to be the best husband to my wife
Then I'm gonna do I have to do XYZ. I have to do ABC all the way through XYZ
I have to do all the things and
not just out of duty, but out of a sense of like
Okay
I'm rising up to this to be this man to be this contender to be this
Leader to be this advocate to be this
and
When I do that
Then I can say man. I am I'm the absolute best husband to my wife
Instead of just I'm a guy who's married
You know I'm saying that's yeah, that's worlds of difference between those two statements
So, I guess you know
I'm glad you asked this question Sean about the the voicing because it's led to all this and that is a person it to say
That you know
Guys if you're if you're having trouble finding purpose finding some traction finding some like what do I do?
Like where do I go?
look inside the desires of your heart and
Again, we're not talking about
You know, I want to be some dude running the streets out selling drugs. We're not talking about bad behavior
Yeah, we're not talking about illicit. Whatever like whatever you want to do
I'm talking about like, what do you want? What do you want your life to mean?
And it doesn't have to be some huge grandiose thing, but it has to be something that's that's like real
That's from within you. I want to be this I
Want to be known as
This whatever this is and then you begin to really lay the groundwork
To to be that guy. I want to be somebody who's like like sometimes it's like
I want to be somebody who's dependable
Like maybe that's been an issue maybe that's not maybe that was somebody
Criticized you in the past like man
It can't count on you for nothing man and your whole family that you're known in your family for like I'm not that I'm not
The guy you go to you know that you can like who's a you know, do you a solid?
You're like, you know what? I I'm not that guy and I've struggled with that
But I really want to be known as a guy who's dependable
Well, there's some steps you can take to start doing that you can show up
You can show up on time
You can show up and you can be a man of your word. It's simple things
Just do it one time and you'll see man
Today, I don't know about last week. I don't know about yesterday
I don't even know about tomorrow, but I'm just saying today I showed up
And when you do that, you literally prove to yourself that you can become
The type of person that you want to be so in this example is kind of like dependability
There's simple little things you can do the next, you know, they always say this in leadership like, you know self-help leadership like the next
You know next decision or next best decision is the right decision
It's the first step in changing I don't know I can't I'm not a I'm not a positive speaker
So, I don't know what the phrase is
But the you get the concept and that is that the next best decision is is is the next right decision you make
You could have made all left turns today and all the bad decisions
But the next best thing you can do is make a right decision
You can be like I was dishonest all day today. The next best thing I can do is literally tell the truth
In spite of what I did
The next meeting like if you're talking about dependability the next meeting that I'm supposed to be at the next time
I'm supposed to be at lunch with somebody whatever I could be on time
If that's you know, if that's an issue
That shows you and prove to yourself that you can be the stand-up guy that you want to be
If you want to be
It's funny there's this
There's this girl on the internet my wife's on
Social media all the time and she goes look at this. Look at this girl
And it's a lady it's I mean she's young but I mean she's not like a child
I mean, she's like she's young young woman and she's like a fitness thing and she has this stick
That she does everybody has their own little thing that they do on social media
That's kind of like gets their populated or whatever and she's just this like
Brutally honest in-your-face kind of thing
she's talking to you about like like
Weight loss goals and fitness. She's like basically encouraging you like to like, you know, do your best
But she does it all through like and it's negative
But it's so funny and it's so direct. It's kind of like she goes look you don't need
Food to make you happy. What are you five years old?
Like, you know, she just goes on and on and on like one line after another after another and it's brutal
Right, and it's kind of funny and you're like man. I can't believe she's saying all this stuff
But the thing about it is she ain't wrong
She's like, what do you need like
Why do you go to the gas station get food that you're gonna enjoy for 10 seconds in your mouth?
Like you think that's gonna look good on your body. Like what are you doing?
Like let's go like, you know, she's just like on and on and on but it's her but it's her stick
It's her sort of like claim to fame on the internet and she gets a lot of clicks and stuff
Anyway, I'm like it was funny
I was entertained and I was like man that hurts
But you know what the next time I went to go like eat a donut
I was like her voice was in my head and I was like dang it. That is so motivating
I'm like, I don't want to be motivated by negative thought but I'm just telling you the honest truth
came through and
In that way, it just made sense
It's just like you know that you know, whatever she would say she bet that that cake
Isn't gonna like get you to that point where you walk in the room
Like don't walk in the room like overweight and everything next time you see your ex, you know
Walk in the room and make them like basically like understand that they lost something big
You know when they dropped you or whatever it is, you know, and she just goes on and on and on
But I'm just telling you what like that level of truth
To yourself man can be very powerful when you start lining up
with like
Really just going like this is what I've got to do in order to change my circumstance
Like there's Kenton right there literally on a workout machine
bro is like
Well up in his later stage of life, I don't know I think Kenson's
60-something but bro is in the gym
like
65 to see for
65 oh, I I can't see the hand signals
He's
Anybody know what that number is? I don't know what it is, but regardless
What is it what is it Ken
66
66. All right, 66 bro is in the gym
Like I ain't giving up on this
Like I there's a certain level of Kenton has to do what he has to do because I think his job kind of
Requires him to be fit enough to actually go do it, which is pretty
But at the same time here he is like getting after it like I admire that like he's got a lot of like discipline. I
Am NOT a very well disciplined person. I'll just be honest with you in that way
But at the same time I can be if I want to be
If I really want to make some changes in my life, I can be that person I could be that stand-up guy
So you guys have to ask yourself?
Like what is it? Yeah fat-shaming. I just saw your comment Abram. It is super super true
Fatshaming needs to come back because it's like bro. There's no other way like you can't not be coaxed and nice
into like getting your
Together so
Anyway, guys, like, yeah, let it come from within that you, the greatest change you can bring in your life is the change that you own.
Let me say that again, the greatest change that you can bring to your life is the change that you own.
It will never come from without. You can be inspired, you can be influenced, you can be like, get a better idea.
Sometimes you don't like somebody says something you're like, oh, I never thought about that before. That's, that's good. That's a good idea.
You can be inspired. But in terms of the desire to truly make the change, you will never be able to change greater than the change that you own.
The greatest change is the one that you can own. And so if you own and guys, it doesn't have to be a lot. It just has to be a one step.
You know, I don't know what what you guys are struggling with in terms of like, you know, I want to be better at this.
I want to I don't want to I want to I want to not be known for that.
You know, what is it? You know, what is it something in your life? And you guys, if you want to put it in the chat, that's cool, too.
Maybe you can put like, I want to be like, I want to do this. I want to do that.
And again, we're not talking about hobbies. We're not talking about like.
Things that are just like, oh, that would be nice to know. No, I'm not talking about like a new.
Like volume of information that you'd like to know, like I'm talking about, like improvement stuff, stuff that would make your life better, stuff that would make you step into more of a person that you would like to put on Front Street.
You know, and it doesn't always have to be image either.
So nobody's nobody's put nothing in the chat. We're all just looking at me just like.
So it's up to you guys.
I can sit here and talk all day long if you want me to, but it's up to you to bring about the change.
It's up to you to bring about the change that then makes you marketable, makes you attractive, that makes you, you know, desired.
And the thing about it is, is guys look, you may think and I and I tell you the things about my life all the time, because I want you to understand that it doesn't change once you get married.
Like I'm married.
Matter of fact, this is my second time around the mountain, getting married. I'm married twice.
And the reality is, I still have to show up.
If I want to continue to be married. And again, it's not under threat.
But I'm just saying, if I want to, if I want to have the best I can have out of my marriage.
I still have to continue to show up as if I weren't married.
So, like my wife wants me to be the best version of myself.
She's like, where's that guy that I met when you know when we met.
You know, where's that guy that you know there were certain qualities maybe that I had at that time that season of my life.
That was attractive to her.
And she's like, were you lying, were you fronting, were you like not this person.
Like, where's that guy. And so, um, she challenged me because she loves me.
And because we're, we're good for each other.
But anyway, um, but the basic thing is, is that I didn't stop having to be better just because I got married.
Oh, now I'm married.
It's so many people like you've seen it all over.
You probably have family members, you probably have maybe parents.
You maybe have people that you know in your community that are married.
And like, they're miserable. Why?
They're married.
I mean, if that's the goal, like, I know this is last year.
I'm just using this example because it's last year single, right?
Everybody's like, we're all here kind of for the same thing.
But, but so like, just because you get married, that don't mean nothing.
It doesn't.
Just because people are married and have been married for a long time doesn't mean nothing.
Doesn't mean they're happy. Doesn't mean they're successful.
Doesn't mean they're like progressing.
Doesn't mean they're like in a better place.
It just means they're married.
Like what you do with that is what matters.
This is why the parable of the talents was so profound.
It wasn't that.
Um
One had one talent another had two and another had five
It wasn't the difference between the amounts of the parables
Or of the of the excuse me
It wasn't amount matter of the amount of the talents that were given out
Because one got one talent one got two and one got five
It was what they did with what they were given
And if you remember the two made two and the five made five
I think that's what the numbers were and the one didn't make another one. He just buried it and
Then gave it back
He didn't multiply it. He didn't do anything with it. He just buried it and gave it back and
some people will be like
Okay, you know
Glad I got my money back
Some people are good with just a zero net zero
But that master when he came back
Rewarded the two and reward the five and then when he came to the one
the one said I was afraid you were a
Hard task master your hard master. I was afraid so I went and hid the talent and then here it is back to you
And he expected to be rewarded that he didn't
Squander it or he didn't lose it or he didn't get rid of it or he didn't you know, it didn't get stolen
He expected to get rewarded. Maybe not as much as the others but rewarded a little bit, but that's not what happened
He got called a wicked servant
He said you are a wicked servant
He got rebuked and more than just rebuked and he got the one talent taken away from him
It was given to the five. I
Mean the sense of that is like what are what are we doing with what we've been given?
What are we doing
With I mean if we're spending time with the Lord and praying and you know
Like going through portals and like talking to angels and stuff like that. I mean, okay cool
Whatever but like that's not changing the world
That's not changing your life
That's not changing your world in the world around you like you don't have to change the world
You just have to change the world around you
You have to create an effect on the people around you
That's why dependability was like a good example earlier when I was talking about that like
If nothing else, it's like be that guy that people can depend upon
if nothing else, I know a single friend of mine who is a little bit older than me and
He's not a perfect guy
but he knows God and
He is still single. He was married at one time and his wife was abusive
And they got divorced many many many many many years ago like close to 30 years ago
he's a little bit older than me and
He's not found love and
He would want love but the right person that's been a struggle
Because there's some things I think he's not willing to like
Heal in his heart about relationships
But there is
I feel bad for him
I feel wrong
But you know what he does do
he is a teacher to fifth graders and
He is the best teacher in
the world
He is amazing with fifth graders
He is a guy that is in shape and that is disciplined
He is a guy who is on his game like he's a guy who has
Respect and respects other people. He is a guy that is a stand-up guy
He's a dependable individual you ask him to do something to be there for you. You ask him to help you move
If he says yes, I will help you move you can count on it
He will be there and he will help you move. He will be there to the end of the day
He will be there until the last thing is speak. I'm just saying like he's not successful in his love life
But in many other areas of his life
He is a reliable
He is an influencer
He is impacting young people like in a way like his classroom management and the way that he champions individuals
Like, he's literally changed, he's the type of teacher
that you'll forget every other teacher's name that you had,
but you'll remember his name.
He's that teacher that you will remember.
Like Mr. Wilson, he taught me this.
He's changing the world, right?
And I'm like, he's a good friend of mine.
Like, man, I wish he could get married.
He'd be such a great dad.
He'd be such a great husband, but he's not.
And there's some reasons for that,
but he has changed the world.
I'm like, wow, I have high respect.
I have high regard for Mr. Wilson and he's my friend.
You know?
So what I'm saying is just like, what are we doing guys?
What are we doing?
So there's a challenge out there.
What time is it right now?
We're at the top of the hour.
I'm blaming this whole rant on Sean tonight.
I'll take it, it's all right.
It's good, it's good, it's good.
Yeah, it's all right.
But the challenge is guys, is what are we doing?
What are we doing?
What are we doing with what we've been given?
The thing that we talked about tonight, yeah.
I find Dave and myself that we're a man of integrity.
You're absolutely right.
Even when it hurts, I've had to keep my promises
and I lost money keeping the promises,
but people around me know that I'm a man of integrity
and it's hard to find a woman, believe it or not,
that's of the same caliber nowadays.
That's true.
As I said, it's the things that we put in,
we love the Lord, give all our heart right to him.
And he expects the best from us
and we want to give our best because it's a choice.
And I said in my portion,
it's all about a choice that we make every day.
So if you're gonna choose to live the best life,
think the best life, live the best life,
it's gotta start now.
And some of you might be doing that already
and you're gonna graduate and say, go for it guys.
But you know, I'm 66 and I've lived that life all my life
and I lost my wife after 36 years,
I just got up and took off.
So you know what, you can live that life
and yet still life goes on and it can be terrible at times.
So yeah, you still can stay the course, stay integrity.
When the other person,
because my wife was vicious when she left me,
but I stayed with integrity.
Yeah.
I stayed with it all through the courts
and I kept on telling even the judges
that I still love this woman
and I always will.
And that was the absolute truth and I was telling them that.
So I just wanna encourage you that even the hardest time,
keep your integrity.
And even the courts will look at your way
and give you a favor.
In this case, they gave me a favor
because they saw how I was integrity and she was not.
Makes a real difference.
Yeah.
Thank you, Ken.
Thank you for being willing to share.
That's good.
Yeah.
I mean, it's a hard thing.
Guys, because like,
I'm not here to promise a rosy path
or here promise that everything's gonna work out perfectly
because we know it doesn't.
But everybody wants from here on out,
like, okay, from here on out,
it's gotta be like, everything's gotta be uphill
and beautiful and a path of roses.
And of course we know that's just not the way life works,
but at the same time,
I think the greatest level of transition,
the greatest level of transformation
that you're going to experience
is the change that you own
and the change that you wanna make that you own.
So the question is, is what is that change for you tonight?
What is it that you are gonna be like, that's it.
I'm not gonna be that anymore.
I'm gonna be this.
I'm gonna take the steps.
Sometimes it requires signing up for something.
Sometimes it requires going to talk to somebody.
Sometimes it requires, you know, upleveling the education.
Sometimes it requires taking a risk.
Sometimes it requires, you know,
doing something you just don't feel like doing.
And I get it.
But when you own it and you want to change it for the better, and you want to step into
the better self, your better self, that's the thing that becomes marketable, that's
the thing that becomes attractive, that's the thing that becomes where you are beginning
to thrive and not just like existing, not just being, that you begin to really thrive,
like man, I really feel good about my life because I'm doing something.
I've made a decision.
I've got clarity on it.
Talk about hearing the voice of the Lord, Sean, like, yeah, okay, I would go with that,
bro.
I'd be like, I am holding on to that.
I'm grabbing on to that.
I'm going to take that across the finish line.
And that's like, hey, maybe the person that I'm supposed to know that's like this is going
to come through, maybe I don't know them yet.
So maybe part of what you're doing is I got to get to know more people.
It's as simple as that.
Was that?
No, I said, yeah, that's a good point.
Yeah, that's true.
Yeah.
Maybe like, hey, maybe I don't know many people.
Maybe I need to meet some people, you know, and then I could know them.
And then that person will come.
You never know.
God works in amazing, amazing, amazing ways.
So so good.
All right, guys, I bless you.
I speak life over you.
I agree with you for the desires of your heart.
And I, I just agree with everything that you want to bring about change in your life.
And I just agree right now with you that God's going to bring clarity as you begin
to seek him, as you begin to pray and as you begin to be sincere before him and not try
to do it because you're trying to please God or trying to do something special, but you're
just being sincere before the Lord.
And you're like, Lord, this is who I am.
This is where I'm at.
This is where I want to go.
Give me clarity.
Give me strength to get there.
And I can do it.
And God will help you.
He will send help your way.
He will send someone.
He will send encouragement.
He will send the resources to be able to get you there.
And I'm just agreeing with you and partnering with you that that that will be true in your
life.
In Jesus name.
Amen.
I love you.
Have a great, great week.
And time.
All right.
Thank you.
Have a good night.
Yeah.
Good night, guys.
Thanks again, David.
Yeah.
Hey, gentlemen.