S6.E6 - Staying Humble

[00:00:00] Well, hey everyone, welcome back to the Leadership Lessons Podcast. My name is Daniel Williams, your host, and we are on episode number six. That's right, season six, episode six. We took a little bit of a pause because a lot of things in my life personally have been happening.

[00:00:19] Very exciting. Very exciting to share with you even today what's going on. But before I get into that, I want to just reassure you, we are on season six. to continue these episodes every other week to give you leadership lessons, to

[00:00:34] give you encouragement, wisdom from other godly church leaders and it's just been a little bit chaotic in my life because I took on the role of the lead pastor of Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches. Let me explain. Last time we were talking

[00:00:48] it was around Easter time. We were going my wife and I to Europe to do some ministry speaking, some training, some things about my cohort. We have a great desire to plant churches and to pour into leaders. And so it was Easter. I

[00:01:02] tried to front load, do a couple of episodes and about that time is when the board of Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches asked me to be the lead pastor of their fellowship. A good friend of mine in this area, another co-labor in

[00:01:18] the gospel fellow pastor Darryl Nelson recently passed away in February and so I've been walking with that church to be able to help out anytime I could for my good and dear friend pastor Darryl. He asked me to teach for the fellowship

[00:01:32] and be a part of a teaching team as he was going through chemo but unfortunately the Lord took him home to be with him. Great for him, sad for us as we still are in a process of grieving of losing a great and godly example but he finished

[00:01:46] well and he's with the Lord and just walking through that fellowship the pain, the suffering and just grieving the loss of their pastor. It was a privilege to be able to serve and to step in to teach the Bible and point them

[00:01:58] to Jesus in that season. And so unbeknownst to me what had happened was is when we first moved down here my wife and I in Florida we connected with Pastor Darryl his wife Amy their family and the work that they were

[00:02:12] doing at Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches. We actually led worship and at that point about 12 years ago Pastor Darryl saved a picture of me and his phone leading worship on the stage with him teaching me leading worship and the

[00:02:26] Holy Spirit revealed to him that I would be the next lead pastor there. I say unbeknownst to me because I did not know this even when I was teaching at Calvary and trying to help out and just supporting him. I did not know this.

[00:02:39] Pastor Darryl was a good friend to co-labor in the Gospel at Calvary Chapel and we're about 20 minutes away. He spoke at our 10-year anniversary. I've had a refresh conference. He spoke here. I've had him interview in this

[00:02:51] leadership lessons podcast and for years he would tell his wife, hey Daniel Daniel's going to be the next person dancing the next person. Well when he got chemo the first time he told his board this so they all knew who

[00:03:05] I was and I actually knew a board member of Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beach is Dan Plurd because when I moved to Delray Beach I actually connected with him as well. There's all these intertwined relationships but I was not

[00:03:21] aware of the heart that Darryl had for me to be helping him and moving on and taking that next step in that next new role that he wanted. I guess the story goes. I'm just trying to explain it because I know there's so much

[00:03:40] stuff going on and a lot of people have been asking me seeing stuff on social media. I've taken a little bit of a break from E-leaders because literally right before Easter, I think it was a week before Easter their board called

[00:03:53] me. They called me on a Tuesday and they asked and said Daniel we know that you're shepherding and caring for a church, a local church here, Redemption Church in Delray Beach would you consider uniting and not only

[00:04:05] shepherding them but taking the new role of the lead pastor at the Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches and uniting both fellowships. That was a shock to me. I said well why me? They said well Pastor Darryl asked for

[00:04:17] you. He's been asking for you, he told the board, he told his wife, he told him as leadership team. I understand why now he didn't ask me but through the Spirit but I do understand that other people have visions and dreams

[00:04:32] and hopes for my life and I need to take it to the Lord. I said listen I'm gonna put on this in prayer. I love Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches, I love the fellowship I shepherd. We're dealing with people. This can't just be

[00:04:44] a Moses model vision where God directs me and gives me information. I need this to be a communal call and so I trust that God will have, God's going to have to speak to that church leadership, my church leadership and

[00:04:59] a lot of people involved. He'll speak to me because he's faithful but I need to know that this is of God not just of the flesh or not just Darryl's dream but Jesus is who's the head of the church. I picked up the phone, I

[00:05:12] took the call, we talked for about an hour and I went, hung up the phone. One key detail of this is I said listen because they're a herding fellowship they lost their pastor. We don't need to have three months or

[00:05:26] even three weeks. Easter's coming up, three days. I said by Thursday afternoon. Today is Tuesday, there'll be Wednesdays, the second day by the third day by five o'clock on Thursday. I will give you an answer because I

[00:05:39] believe God will speak. You see when he speaks he can speak quickly. We often talk about closed doors but God actually, man, he can close the door real quick but he could open the door real quick. So I said let's

[00:05:52] ask God specifically that he would speak in three days. He would confirm it in your guys' hearts, in my heart, in my board's heart, in the leader's hearts and pastor's hearts and people in the congregation and

[00:06:04] let's just see what God wants to do. And so I hung up the phone. I hung up the phone, I go and take care of my wife. At the same time she broke her ankle. So not only was I busy with Easter, with this traveling trip to

[00:06:17] overseas but also I'm trying to take care of my wife. She's in the bedroom, I go back to her and she says Daniel, I have something to tell you. Okay great, I have something to tell you. I just got

[00:06:29] out the phone with the board of Calvary Palm Beach is what I'm thinking but she goes listen, yesterday I had a vision last night and you were already asleep and so I wanted to tell you

[00:06:41] this. I said okay what is it? She said I saw a long big pipe and it had holes in it and it was sort of sad looking and then I saw another smaller pipe and it was bulging all over the

[00:06:55] place and it looked funny and weird like stuff couldn't contain it so it was just bulging over the place but this small pipe went into this big pipe and it clicked in a line and it made everything stronger and better. I said hmm remember she didn't

[00:07:09] know the conversation I just had, I got out the phone with this board and so she said at first I thought the big pipe was redemption church as a pastor or leader you probably understand this we always filter things through

[00:07:27] ministry and so she's filtering through redemption church we've been sad we've been broken we've had many gaps missing in our church plant and our body at times and she said the Holy Spirit told me that that bigger church that holes that

[00:07:43] sadness that's Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches and she said the smaller pipe the Holy Spirit said is redemption church that we're supposed to go in there and make things stronger and better and we're better together I said wow

[00:07:59] that's incredible because I literally just told the board of Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches that God has to speak communal not just to me personally through my Bible reading through all these different things but through other people and then I hang up the phone and five

[00:08:14] minutes later you're telling me about this vision and this vision that you had which you had no idea and that's when the flood gate started to open that's when we were getting prophetic words text messages interpretations of dreams speaking in tongues interpretations things that were sovereign in sovereign

[00:08:33] initially by the providence of God happening that no one could explain and in night people were getting words about 52 days about visions that this was a broken body and it was going to be reformed as people were same verses from different fellowships all this stuff

[00:08:51] was happening and within three days even getting both of the boards together the pastoral team all the stuff we knew God was in this and we accepted the role of me being the lead pastor at Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches because

[00:09:06] we wanted to unite these fellowships to listen to what God was doing and just obey him and it clearly felt like it wasn't just me taking on a pastoral role it was our churches coming together and so the next

[00:09:19] follow-up meeting was me asking the board when would you like to do this and they said well uh pastor Darrell set the teaching schedule until May 5th can you do it May 12th and I just was blown away and said what wow

[00:09:34] um okay that's quick however it could be done because of God's in this he could do this and I knew that God was in this because God had spoke to me in these three days as I was fasting and praying and he said this isn't a decrease

[00:09:47] or a release of Delray Beach it's an increase at this new church in this new position is going to be a role for the region that God is was placing these things on our hearts we had been having worship services at redemption church

[00:10:00] where we were getting words about uh look outside of Delray Beach your influence is going to increase um we had had I had a prophetic word from a pastor back when I went to the footsteps of Paul tour in the beginning of the year

[00:10:13] said I was going to be going full time uh by August uh there were all these prophetic words visions verses uh all these supernatural things that I could not control that were outside of my sphere of manipulation and this is why I

[00:10:29] love when I read through the Bible uh and God just speaks to me there uh not so I'm trying to look for a verse but through my readings through my conversations through wisdom of others it was like God had been prepping and planning this forever and that's one

[00:10:46] encouragement he told me Daniel I built you for this this is who you are and I just want you to be yourself and this is the whole reason even why you came to Florida is to do these things that I've planned for you and we know this

[00:10:57] theologically right uh the Bible says we're saved by grace not by works of ourselves we're predestined right that poignant that craftsmanship that that thing that God has prepared for us to do works before the foundation of the earth really okay so we're going to

[00:11:11] devote ourselves to good works God is predestined us to do these things but it I'm just telling you man it is so incredibly humbling and amazing to have the hand of God in your life and you see the providence of God him

[00:11:22] specifically saying yep I set this up this verse getting a call from a pastor that doesn't know what's going on getting the same verse from him hey you're just I'm just praying for you this is the verse that God gave me

[00:11:33] to you or someone not even knowing the the vision that my wife had giving me the interpretation as I'm meeting with leaders hey what do you think God's speaking in this time they're giving me the same verses they're giving me an interpretation of a vision they

[00:11:46] never even had before like this is nutty crazy stuff and then you realize this is just normal Bible stuff this is God he's able to do these type of things and so it was a very supernatural situation that led to

[00:12:02] May 12 2024 Mother's Day we had both of these churches unite and become one and let me just tell you it is the kindness and goodness of God I get so overwhelmed even shed a couple of tears explain it to the body God could have called

[00:12:17] us to move to New York to Wyoming to Texas to Ford Seas when you follow the Lord and you trust him that he's the Lord of your life he calls you and puts you in places to serve just like I pray that you have a calling and you

[00:12:32] know where you're supposed to be serving right now and it humbles you because God in his goodness set this thing up grew our leadership to plan a church to do all the system structures to whatever and instead of leaving the

[00:12:48] beautiful people that we love and have been discipling a redemption church he called all of them and said come and the church fellowship on Sunday mornings we've been praying about a building in fact three weeks before the

[00:13:03] call from the board and from the Lord to take on this position we had actually a redemption church looked into a building to lease for three to five seven years in Delray Beach got to open the door the prayer ministry has been

[00:13:16] talking about an open door he opened the door for us to lease a building and I took it to prayer and the Lord I felt he said there's something better coming so don't don't do it so I didn't do it I actually paused I stopped

[00:13:31] my dad who's on the board at redemption church he said listen something's going to come your way where you have no explanation God is going to do it yet nothing in control this is why I think Pastor Darrell didn't tell me anything

[00:13:42] about the situation because he needed God to confirm it in me not for me to do it because I honor and respect him so much and the legacy that he lives and to build upon it that's one of the reasons why we're calling the

[00:13:54] church Calvary Chapel of the Palm beaches because it's a it's a foundation we're building upon and so uniting these churches has been so special and so humbling because God in his kindness rather than moving me out to two thousand miles away which he's done before I'm not even

[00:14:12] moving into my home my kids are still going to the same school all my community my network my support everything that God has been establishing building for the last 10 to 12 years here in Delray Beach is just building upon that and so we have two fellowships redemption Calvary now

[00:14:30] we're becoming one and a new culture to make disciples a new local group of people coming together because we're better together God has confirmed it and it has been awesome as I record this is the first week of June and we've already had

[00:14:43] three services together three or four services together we've already seen salvation's almost every service we're seeing people's faith grow we're seeing healing as the body needs to heal from just grieving their founding pastor and being able to walk with people to pray

[00:15:01] with people to shepherd people starting the book of Colossians that point them to Jesus I mean it's just overwhelming when you recognize that God is in work in your life I share all this because that's what I want this

[00:15:13] episode to be about we're going to get back into a leadership lesson one piece of advice a little snippet from a patreon thing but I just wanted to call this episode humility or being humbled by God listen as church

[00:15:27] leaders we are tempted to think that we are the super heroes right we're the man of God or the woman of God serving giving out and changing people's lives but God behind the scenes is always moving we need to recognize

[00:15:40] that and I've been so overwhelmed and humbled by how God in his kindness and goodness has given me another call now to be able to be full time I've been bivocational for years to be full time and spend my time now shepherding a group of people influencing

[00:15:55] this region the world and to be able to give myself fully to the ministry of what he's calling me to do it's an incredible humbling privilege it's honor it's amazing and I just cannot wait to share more stories

[00:16:07] with you but because I've had a little bit of a delay I missed two or three episodes about a month and a half I'd like to let you know what I've been up to and let you know how the Holy Spirit's been

[00:16:20] moving us and as we've been doing this I've just more recognizing how much Jesus truly is the head of his church how much more we need to be men and women of prayer to listen to him to recognize his voice to

[00:16:35] see how he's moving now this is a super supernatural thing a big move so there's a lot of supernatural things happening we I understand that ministry is mundane it's systematic you have to be intentional there's not going to be miracles every day this

[00:16:50] was a different thing and usually when God works in these big ways and a calling he's going to supernaturally give you a supernatural calling but oftentimes he works supernaturally in the natural as you're daily waking up early to pray as you're daily

[00:17:02] waking up early to read the Bible I get that but I also wanted to pause and just thank God and sort of share my story a little bit so that way you can remember your story do you remember how you were called

[00:17:16] how did God call you to ministry what miracles has he done I think it's so important for us to remember this because as things grow as God works we need to make sure that pride doesn't creep in one of the prayers that I pray

[00:17:31] for years now it's just sort of my routine two things whether I'm in the shower getting ready brushing my teeth I just think and ask God man God keep me humble keep me humble God you oppose a probably give grace to the humble keep me

[00:17:45] humble Lord and then I say God fill me with your spirit I need your spirit I need to be empowered by your spirit it's not by might and by my power but by your spirit Lord

[00:17:54] so I need to be humble recognize that I am not God that you are God and I need God you to fill me to do God things because only you save only you're able to give revelation only you're able to even use me to

[00:18:07] make an eternal impact God I am not God but I know that you through the gospel have given me your spirit and I've forgiven him my sins and I need you to fill me so less of me and more of you God in my

[00:18:16] life those two things ground me those are the sinner prayers of my life the habits that I've asked God to give me hump a humility and then I've set pattern systems places in that I meet with people that are more wise than me I put

[00:18:33] people in place that I could submit to I have a leadership lessons podcast because I figure no matter what I'm doing I could always learn from others so I'm going to put a place a system in place to keep myself humbled and then I'm

[00:18:44] going to rely on the Holy Spirit and I'm going to seek God and his word and his ways and his guidance and his empowering and when God does things like this I want to be the first one

[00:18:54] the first one to give God praise and glory and honor and I just want to do that publicly here now you hearing this story maybe seen on the gram or in social media what's happening I want you to know I had nothing to do with it

[00:19:08] I've just been worshiping God and that's all I want to do and bring him glory and all of a sudden this door open and God is receiving glory and my ministry is being a little bit more public or there's more people involved in our church

[00:19:23] but to me I'm just doing the same things I just want to be humble I just want to stay humble before the Lord I just want to give him glory I want to just walk be a lover of him my family disciple people and do these things

[00:19:35] for his glory and so man I hope that inspires you I hope that's a good excuse of why I didn't do three episodes I mean come on it was only three episodes right I mean I transitioned to the whole church in three episodes that's

[00:19:48] just my modeling to think about I look back and I'm like what what is going on but man when you follow God it's such a such an adventure because we take adventures of faith and growing from faith to faith to give God

[00:19:59] glory to glory and so in this episode I have a good friend of mine one of my best friends Jason Sanchez he's the director of the House of Blessing and man I've seen his ministry grow when I moved to Florida he moved

[00:20:13] down to Mexico and I visited him when he was living in the church in Bishinabek, Albright Chapel Bishinabek before he had an orphanage in a Christian school and remember visiting him and his wife praying for him doing Bible studies and saying the Lord in this and God gave

[00:20:27] him 40 acres to start an orphanage which now after the pandemic has converged converted into a school where we have over a hundred kids in the community of a small town in this Christian school hearing the gospel every day hearing his word every day making an impact the

[00:20:45] church is growing people's lives are being changed a youth group in the local church is growing because kids are hungry to be discipled and so it's just awesome to be able to see as your faithful and humble God gives you grace we need to remain

[00:20:59] humble not be pride proud and so I think about that as though our world right now in June with um Pride month we're celebrating pride uh you know about who we are and it's all about us and our identity guys as

[00:21:14] Christian leaders girls as Christian leaders we celebrate God and our identity is we're children of God God's our father and so we want to follow him and love him and worship him and it's not based out that love's

[00:21:26] not based off of what we do it's who we are and Jesus man our big brother our godly example our the son he is a part of the family he's a servant and so we want to be able to serve people in that way and

[00:21:38] through the gospel we not only have the father son but we have the spirit our sins have been forgiven God's spirit now dwells with us we're able to draw from his strength and his mind his wisdom his power his word and just

[00:21:51] you know be sent as Jesus was sent now we're sent as missionaries and the spirit of God fills us to to minister to other people and so remember your identity as you grow up in the faith as you do more and

[00:22:04] more ministry as things sort of blow up I want to remember that I want to stay humble and so I've asked a few people to share in this episode Jason he's going to share the first leadership lesson and then I have Brian Brookins a fellow leader down in

[00:22:23] in Fort Lauderdale area doing soul care work with pastors that does a one piece of advice on a patreon video because I think I think that we need to recognize when God does bless our ministry numerically or more exposure not to let pride creep in and so don't

[00:22:40] be confused by the social media they're still heartache it's a lot of work we're doing a lot of different stuff I'm not perfect okay and so you need to hear those things and be reminded of those things and so now as I step in

[00:22:54] this new role I just want to make sure y'all know I don't know what I'm doing I'm still seeking God I know the things that he's called me to do as a pastor to love people to feed people the word to shepherd to care to pray to do

[00:23:07] those things I'm just going to keep on doing it and let the results be with God you see we can control our inputs and we need to let God control our outputs and so just be faithful to the things God's called you to do

[00:23:17] I think that's the tag that I always sort of in the episode I just want I want you guys to just do what God's called you to do and so do those things that's what I'm doing and I'm on this venture of faith with you

[00:23:29] I consider this an important lesson uh some important important meeting to have with you to sit down in my office just to share this wisdom and and to be real I know a podcast especially the podcast they're all different people banter they do all this different

[00:23:43] stuff and when I try to host this I try to match up the leadership lessons of the preachings to match and to be able to be real with you as I host this and I just wanted to give you a life update of what's

[00:23:54] happening give God glory and continue to inspire you to do the things that God's called you to do and so let's jump into it Jason Sanchez a leadership lesson let's talk about being humble and recognizing who we are in Christ that we're really nothing that God is

[00:24:10] everything and we can smile about that because we could be human and let God be God and so here's Jason Sanchez leadership lesson and then I'll get back with you after that God bless you guys and uh men looking forward to continuing growing and humility with you.

[00:24:29] Hey everybody my name is Jason Sanchez and I serve as the president and director of House of Blessing uh it's a nonprofit ministry that's been working down in Mexico for the past 11 years and uh I'm out here in beautiful Florida with my good buddy Daniel Williams

[00:24:46] who we have been friends for a very very long time we've been in ministry for a very very long time and uh he and his family and their church redemption church uh have just kind of walked this journey with us as we moved

[00:25:01] from Seattle down to Mexico to start House of Blessing and our ministry and so out here hanging out this past week sharing at some churches um some Christian schools and for our golf tournament which has been uh incredible

[00:25:16] seeing how God uh is using um golf tournaments um speaking engagements churches and uh just a network of people and supporters uh that have just come alongside us and supporting our ministry down in Mexico just a real quick background to it when we moved down there 11 years we

[00:25:35] bought 40 acres and we started building um a very large facility uh that turned into a children's home and orphanage for about six years and then after the pandemic that shifted to a private Christian school and so last

[00:25:51] year was our first year uh we just took another step of faith we weren't sure what that was going to look like but God just made it clear um through our donors and our supporters and an amazing team down in Mexico uh our

[00:26:04] local church people in the community um that this was a good direction to go and so we did we started our first year um last year uh in August and we were amazed to have fifty three kids kindergarten through junior high

[00:26:20] and God just did incredible things through that um he really opened our eyes to just new opportunities the new things that he's doing and so we were just so blessed and encouraged and uh as that school year came to a

[00:26:34] close we were all kind of curious of what it would look like uh in this year the coming school year would these kids come back um would the school continue on you know kind of that uh I guess maybe doubt lack of faith whatever

[00:26:51] that might be and uh once again God just blew us away because we went from having fifty three kids kindergarten to eighth grade to uh ninety three kids kindergarten to we even opened the high school so uh almost doubling in size

[00:27:08] and that bringing all sorts of challenges and issues in regards to how are we going to fund this thing where the teachers the extra staff gonna come from um vans for transportation enough classrooms all of these things that you know if you think a lot about you

[00:27:26] can um you can stress you can worry um and so part of in just my job and traveling and sharing the story and coming out here in Florida and talking with people um I've just been sharing a number of verses that have been

[00:27:42] speaking to me and just absolute um golden reminders of sort of the order of things in other words who is doing these new things who is providing and so um I just wanted to share a few verses um that have

[00:28:00] really been speaking to my heart um and hopefully for you who are watching this if you're a pastor if you're leader uh if you're a lay pastor if you're worship youth if you're just serving or if you just stumble across this hopefully this will encourage you because

[00:28:16] um I feel like oftentimes when God does amazing things in our midst um it's super exciting it's exhilarating we we get stoked we get pumped um and yet we can forget that we are still um carnal we're still sinful

[00:28:37] we're still man um we're still broken and uh if we're not careful and we're not mindful of things I think that we can begin to think that these things are happening by something special that we're doing and so this video

[00:28:52] kind of just serves as a reminder that you're really nothing I don't want this to be like a Debbie Downer message but it's actually a good thing that you and I are nothing because it is in that state that God really really wants to use us

[00:29:08] so a couple verses um that the Lord gave us an arm ministry the first one is in Isaiah 43 19 and it says this behold I am doing a new thing now it springs forth do you not perceive it I will make away in the wilderness and rivers in the

[00:29:25] desert just a simple reminder very very clear in the first part of that verse behold I am doing a new thing God is saying I am doing a new thing I am doing this work I am going to plan a church I am going to uh start this

[00:29:43] nonprofit I am going to do these things it is not us our names are not included in that and so this came as a perfect timing and a timely reminder to me as we were shifting from a very successful um orphanage and children's home and all of

[00:30:04] that as we shifted to the school the Lord made it very clear Jason this is something that I want to do it's not like he said hey that was a good run that was a great six years um I want you to come up with

[00:30:20] something new no it's it's just it's God saying I'm working I'm doing things I'm God behold I'm doing a new thing um and the incredible thing to that and sort of the mystery to that is that he wants us to be a part of that new thing

[00:30:40] he wants to include us he wants to use this he wants to use you he's given you talents he's given you abilities he's given you giftings he's enabled you first of all by saving you uh forgiving you redeeming you and now after all of that he wants

[00:30:58] to use you he wants to invite you to be a part of what he is doing so that's the first thing the second verse that comes to mind and has been really speaking to me is uh Psalm 72 18 blessed be the Lord the God of Israel who alone does

[00:31:17] wondrous things again very clear very simple talking about who is the one that is doing incredible things it's the Lord blessed be the Lord the God of Israel who alone does wondrous things it is not you and it is not me now

[00:31:33] again as God wants to use us down in Mexico people will say oh my gosh that's so incredible look at what you guys have done look at everything that's taking place God bless you guys god is using you guys and all these

[00:31:46] things and yes he is doing that in a way but it is him doing the new thing it is him alone that does these wondrous things and then he just desires and allows us to come alongside him to be a part of that work he

[00:32:04] does not need me and he does not need you and the reason why this is not a downer message is because that is very freeing for us let me give you an example I'm out here for the um in Florida we do a golf tournament house

[00:32:20] of blessing uh we do two golf tournaments a year one in Washington state which we just had in September and then one out here in Florida in October and we raise as much funds as we possibly can to send all of that and

[00:32:34] donate it to the school when you go from fifty three kids to ninety three kids and then more staff and more vehicles uh and more food and more school supplies and all of these things your costs uh and financials go way

[00:32:51] high and that can be a nerve wracking thing it can be very daunting especially when um all of our support and our donations the majority of that comes from um supporters in the states and so it can be really um

[00:33:08] challenging it can be a worrisome it can um uh make you anxious make you nervous all of these things but again going back to these verses if we really believe in this right Isaiah forty three nineteen God saying I'm doing a new thing

[00:33:24] and then Psalm seventy to eighteen when it says he alone does the wondrous things what's freeing about this is we don't have to worry about how he's going to do it we don't have to worry about how he's going to provide now we're to

[00:33:39] be wise we're to plan we're to um I believe work hard we're supposed to pray we're supposed to believe uh we're supposed to put forth our effort and do these things but at the end of the day the result is going to come

[00:33:55] from him so all this stuff that we're doing for the golf tournament and we're believing for for big things and great things if god wants us to raise fifty thousand dollars we're going to do that if he wants us to raise five

[00:34:08] thousand dollars and we're going to do that but here again is the piece that we can have is that if it and when it is his thing that he's doing for instance um the school the Christian school that we started then he is the one

[00:34:27] that's doing it and he's the one that's going to provide he's the one that's going to um answer or needs all of these things and um that is very very freeing but let me tell you I'll be honest with you uh it's easier said than done

[00:34:45] and those of you watching this you might be in agreement with that it's like yeah I believe that but when it comes down to it when we got to pay a bill and there's not the money

[00:34:55] in the bank account or we we've grown to a point and we don't have enough space in our facility or whatever that might look like um that's when temptation can come in and there's opportunity for us to lose focus and lose sight

[00:35:10] of how things even started we went down there eleven years ago why because god called us we went down there eleven years ago because god said I want you to be a part of something in the small town five hours south of El Paso Texas and so one

[00:35:29] final verse I want to share with you all that serves as um kind of a good barometer or a good way to check our heart check our mindset to make sure things are aligned things are right things are in order and it's a simple prayer and this

[00:35:47] portion of Psalm 139 um that the Psalm this in verse 23 says search me oh god know my heart try me know my anxieties and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting there's an order in what he writes here in

[00:36:09] verse 23 first of all search my heart oh god before anything else earlier on the Psalm it's all about how god knows everything about us he formed us he knitted us he created us it is all about him and so the god that knows everything about us

[00:36:26] david is declaring here search me oh god know my heart try me know my anxieties and then he says and see if there's any wicked way in me in other words he is saying god uh would you

[00:36:41] check my heart and my soul and my life and would you make sure that it's all kosher or not would you look at things and you already know me you know everything about me and so in doing so uh if there is any wicked way in me he's

[00:37:00] basically saying deal with this i'm coming to you god uh i want you to search me i want you to examine me i want you to let me know what is going on and then he closes with and lead me

[00:37:15] in the way of everlasting and so just a good thing for us to do as leaders as servants as pastors or nonprofits or whatever it is that you do um just a desire for god to search our hearts

[00:37:33] for god to check our spirits for us to come to him and say hey lord you're doing incredible wonderful things am i getting in the way at all am i do i have lack of faith um am i not

[00:37:45] believing um am i not trusting am i trying to take the glory am i trying to do something that would hinder or take away from you who wants to do and are doing a new thing and you being the god alone that does wondrous things

[00:38:02] and i believe that if psalm 139 uh verse 23 if that becomes a daily part of our lives in our routine um we are going to see god do even greater things and there'll be even greater things because we can sort of step back

[00:38:22] and we can just look to god the author and finish of our faith we can look to the one who does these things and be in awe and then be excited because he's allowing us to venture on this journey with him

[00:38:36] and be a part of these things so search your heart um because god wants to do incredible things uh he i believe greater things are to come i know that for our ministry i pray that for your guys's ministry

[00:38:50] and your families and anything else as we seek the lord the one who is the god of israel the blessed one the one alone who does wondrous things god bless you guys man i just love jason sanchez

[00:39:09] one of my very dear friends best buds i love being able to go down and visit the ministry in basheen of a mexico if you don't know the house of blessing it's a christian school now

[00:39:20] basheen of us five and a half hours south of el paso we fly in el paso we drive down we go there do ministry all the time looking forward to my next mission trip there as well

[00:39:30] we take teams and we've even seen local congregations even in south florida support the work would not get done down in basheen of a mexico if it wasn't for all the local people the leaders the churches that support believe in the vision what i love about jason is

[00:39:46] although he's the director the president the person that gets to share all the vision of the stories he still remains humble he still continues to grow in his leadership and i am blessed to be able to serve on the

[00:39:57] board of the house of blessing with him and uh help run help spread the word help raise funds in fact we're actually going to have a golf tournament in september the last saturday of september

[00:40:08] here in south florida that you know maybe you want to take a little uh a little trip you know but many local leaders that are listening to this man i want to encourage you to get your churches involved he comes and

[00:40:19] speaks all over the nation if you want to reach out to me or him i could put his email address in the uh show notes you could reach out to him and he'd love to share the vision talk with you about the ministry

[00:40:31] or myself and even be able to share videos pictures and let you know how to get involved it has been such a privilege and honor to be able to not only be a part of the board but as a local

[00:40:42] pastor to have a place where you know where your funds are going and making impact of reaching kids the community and even widows orphans and widows i mean this is a biblical thing and a lot of people are

[00:40:54] like how do i get involved in this well that ministry the house of blessing we've expanded not only to do care for orphans and widows but now the community and children uh caring for children all in the community

[00:41:05] it's been awesome to be a part of i'd love to have you be a part of it so i'll put the website in the show notes his email address in the show notes and if you're in south florida if you play golf have teams

[00:41:14] he'll be speaking at calvary chapel of the palm beaches that last sunday of the month when he does his golf tournament but he can do some private meetings interest meetings and also anything that you probably would like on video to send to your fellowship

[00:41:30] and congregation so you can get plugged in and so i'd love to have you be a part of that ministry well you know thinking about being humbled the thing that i've loved about this new

[00:41:41] season in my life is seeing god work and really place me into a new role i've planted a church i've had a church planning residency i've planted a plan our church has planted a church we've helped another church merge and do

[00:41:54] these things but now i'm going into this new season where i'm really revitalizing or taking on a new role where there's been an established pastor and now i'm the new pastor this is unfamiliar territory to me pray for me i need patience i need wisdom i

[00:42:10] need discernment and i know that god is faithful and he'll give me everything that i need because he's called me to that role but i think that we need to hear that from seasoned veteran leaders that have been

[00:42:21] a part of the process right now i'm trying to surround myself with people with larger church sizes people that have gone through a revitalization people that have gone through succession and getting wisdom from them encouragement from them perspective from them

[00:42:37] and brian brookens is going to give you this one piece of advice which i think is so helpful and encouraging to me if god has called you he's established you and i think that that's so wise and awesome to hear

[00:42:49] because as you see other people in their work you could sometimes compare yourself i know that we shouldn't but we do and we don't see the behind the scenes thing well behind the scenes we need to know god is

[00:43:00] always working he is for us and if he is for us who could be against us if he's called you to do something he is going to establish that work and so he's going to establish you equip you oftentimes we say we don't need

[00:43:12] um capability we need availability from leaders if you're available and you're humble and you're willing to grow god will pour out his grace put you in positions where you rely on him and he'll get the glory and it's so awesome to see that and i love brian's

[00:43:26] one piece of advice he actually just ends in the back end of things because he speaks this wisdom through experience he actually is handing over his church to a guy named winston which i'm sure you'll have in the leadership lessons podcast at some point

[00:43:42] where he's passing the baton and passing it on to another guy and so he says this with authority with experience and with wisdom brian brookens have served at church down in fort lauderdale again i'll put the show notes so you can connect with him or

[00:44:00] find out what he's doing in this church and if you ever want to reach out to him but he's done this so well he's a faithful man of god i love this guy been able to help him and uh i just want you to hear

[00:44:14] his perspective on staying humble and having that work being established and so here is brian brookens uh pastor of iriside down in fort lauderdale his one piece of advice hi i'm brian brookens and this is my one piece of advice for

[00:44:37] for leaders in the church uh it's it's really simple but it's life changing for me it's god establishes you if god calls you if you've been called by god trust god to establish you in ministry

[00:44:54] because there are so many things that that just come against us in ministry so many challenges a lot of spiritual warfare a lot of challenges just even when you think about leadership for most of us in the church especially if you're

[00:45:10] in charge of of a department or other people or maybe an entire church or planning a church you're called on to do a lot of different things and some of those things are going to be out of your gift set

[00:45:24] and it's very tempting to get discouraged very tempting to feel like um i just not i'm just not good at some of this and then for me it's really tough when criticism comes because i'm already kind of criticizing myself and then little criticism comes or

[00:45:48] you know something doesn't go well or the numbers aren't there you know the attendance or whatever it is and it can be it can just be overwhelming if we're not careful we start to react to all of that and it becomes very very unhealthy

[00:46:13] we become defensive our emotions go to dark places and it can just be it can be it can be very very negative if god's called you he'll establish you trust him to do that obey god and leave the results to him that's easier said than done

[00:46:37] but here's the biblical biblical word picture for that moses was 80 years old when god called him he stepped out obeyed god and probably truth be known he would have been happy just to stay

[00:46:51] right where he was but he went and he dealt with a lot of things that people grumbled against him his leadership was constantly challenged and yet you see him not defend himself i mean is

[00:47:06] people come and they accuse him and he says okay we'll let god decide until he steps back and god opens up a hole and swallows up people it's kind of dramatic but you get the picture now i don't think god's going

[00:47:18] to open up a hole and swallow up people that criticize or come against you but he will establish you he will if you trust him and you will know a lot more joy in ministry if you just trust him to do that well that was brian and

[00:47:36] is he's going into a new season of ministry coming from a senior pastor transitioning have a successor passing the baton he's doing a lot more work with other local pastors and actually nationally making himself available in fact i've been able to help him edit some

[00:47:53] videos of him for soul care we have this heart down in south florida not only care for our region and our city in our community but the local pastors in the area that are shepherding and caring for the church if you have a healthy local leader

[00:48:09] it's going to produce healthy local disciples and local congregations and so we spend a lot of time here in south florida and church united uh organization that i'm a part of here in south florida

[00:48:20] to be able to pour into leaders and church leaders to care for their soul oftentimes leaders and pastors are pairing the word of god and other people and shepherding them but no one's shepherding us and so uh this is a

[00:48:31] part of my calling to be able to shepherd pastors to care for people and so uh brian has put together uh soul care videos and a book in curriculum that's going to be coming out lord willing in 2025 of january

[00:48:44] with the whole way to care for leaders in little clusters of groups cohorts and so i actually sat down with brian brookens as i was in fort lauderdale chopping it up learning wisdom growing with him and just did a 40 minute

[00:48:59] interview about soul care about uh man i went i went in perspective i wanted to like hey how do you pastored and parent at the same time i wanted perspective but i just i want to give you a little snippet of that patreon interview

[00:49:10] uh because i want you to hear not only his whiz one piece of advice but his wisdom on shepherding and taking care of your soul and if you're interested in the full video you can go to my patreon page sign up there

[00:49:21] there's many resources behind the scenes i like taking a deep dive into some of these subjects and leaders doing interviews asking questions to learn it that way and so here's a quick snippet of that of just brian and my conversation i'll see you after this video

[00:49:38] how has community played a role in your spiritual development in your own soul and just growing in that relationship as a pastor the city movement here in south florida which goes under the banner of church united last 10 years has been such a gift

[00:49:59] because it's brought me into relationship with other pastors yeah that i'm not laboring with at riverside you know so it just i can't explain it completely but it positions me to say okay daniel i'm for you and i'm not going to benefit from that

[00:50:21] directly at least at first it doesn't seem that way i'm going to help you be what god has for you and for you to flourish in the lord and there's no like direct return that i can trace now the reality is if i do that

[00:50:35] i do benefit i become so much healthier as i build out that framework of relationships yeah and actually for me here in the county and in south florida as i've built those relationships the those friends actually do things for me and for riverside that i never

[00:50:56] thought would happen but in the beginning it was this basic like just safe place relationships where there's a purity about it okay here are the spiritual connections number one the heart of discipleship is serving other people and jesus said when you

[00:51:14] invite someone to dinner invite people who can't repay you don't do everything you do out of this sense of what's in it for me how will this build the church how will this you know help me accomplish my goals and

[00:51:26] you know yeah what's what it always has this hook in it well when you straighten out that hook and you begin to relate for the good of the kingdom in your region with other leaders and there's no hook for you spiritually something happens

[00:51:47] you begin to experience health in a way that you just don't get otherwise and it accelerates growth yeah it's beautiful well again growing in our leadership is such an important aspect but it takes humility so i thank you so much for even practicing that listening to the

[00:52:10] entire episode and walking alongside of what i am learning and growing from the people that around me people like brian brookens jason sanchez and so many others i'm so grateful to be able to ask questions to learn and what god is teaching them

[00:52:26] and grow and pass that on to you and so man we're going to continue this season every other week with an episode pouring that out getting back into our rhythm i know that emergencies happen and thank you so much for your

[00:52:41] continual support in listening and sharing i want to make sure that you know if you're new to this community that we want this to be a community that's one of the reasons why i started a patreon page so you can reach out

[00:52:51] you can email me we i've done a lot of phone calls recently even coaching and just praying with people and i'd love to do that if you're a church leader a church planner missionary whatever the role may be

[00:53:03] reach out let me know how specifically i could be praying for you if you have any questions contact me because we want this community to be impactful for you and the kingdom of god and we are better

[00:53:14] together and so as we stay humble as we stay learning as we listen even to this podcast if this blesses you pass that on send a person a text let him know if you're new to the community go back in the archives listen to some episodes

[00:53:30] learn together and we're even praying and planning to have many small cohorts soul care groups clusters of eight ten people pastors church planners missionaries whatever to get together yearly not only in person once a year but also throughout the month monthly cohorts where we can shepherd one another

[00:53:50] souls talk and get perspective from one another and so the plan is coming it's prepping it's happening so be praying for us in the back end we're always doing different things as you guys probably know this isn't just a ministry to create content

[00:54:04] but to help you in your calling and so hopefully this equips you tell other people leave a star a review five-star review it helps boost the the podcast to spread the word and then reach out to me let me know if you're listening if you're encouraged by this

[00:54:19] ministry or if there's any other segments or things that you think have have ideas to implement for this ministry it's a ministry of e-e leaders to encourage and equip leaders like yourself so i'd love to get feedback i'd love to hear um

[00:54:32] what's happening in your life and i hope and i pray that these lessons these episodes are a blessing to you and so this was all about humility being humble staying humble in the midst of god blowing you up and expanding your mission and expanding the vision

[00:54:47] all this different stuff remember focus on worship there's nothing better doing what god's called you to do and when you do that he is please because it's impossible to please god without faith but as you trust him

[00:55:00] as you hear his voice and he's the head of the church submitting to his will and just pointing people to him man what a life that we get to live that we get to serve the living king jesus who is sovereign who is in

[00:55:11] control and who will return and we do have this hope of heaven that should drive us thinking our minds on things above not on things of this earth so keep going at it man keep pressing on

[00:55:23] we're here to support you to love you to pray for you to encourage you and give you this content i hope it was a blessing that was episode number six and season six and we will see you in the next episode