Faith Talk #2 (finished)

In this episode of the Faith Talk Podcast, Jeremy shares his powerful testimony of how he was once deeply rooted in sin but now passionately pursuing God. He talks about his lukewarm faith in high school, searching for validation in popularity, and his descent into a sinful lifestyle in college. However, a text from a friend leads him to a church where he has a transformative experience, realizing his worth in God's eyes. Jeremy's life changes as he leaves behind his old ways and finds fulfillment in a community of believers. He emphasizes that following Jesus is more fulfilling than the temporary pleasures of partying and highlights the importance of having friends who share the same love for God. The hosts also discuss the story of the prodigal son as a parallel to Jeremy's journey. What is up, guys? Welcome to the second episode of the Faith Talk Podcast. I'm Michael, joined by Hunter and Jeremy, and we're really excited to dive in to this next episode. Yeah, this episode, guys, we're going to have my brother Jeremy over here tell, I mean, basically just a wonderful life story, like his powerful testimony, how he was once a man deeply rooted in sin, and how now he is deeply chasing God. He's going to pray for us, and then just tell us the whole story. Yeah, all right. I'm just going to pray for us real quick. Dear Heavenly Father, I just want to thank you for this day. Thank you that you've just given us the opportunity just to be in your presence and live once again. I pray that in this episode, we'll just be glorifying to you, God, in just everything we say. We'll just honor you. I pray that this podcast will not be a means of glorifying ourselves, but it'll just be glorifying to you. Through it, we'll just be able to spread the word and spread your love to everybody that listens. I pray all this in your name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Yeah, guys, so we're just going to be talking about my testimony for a quick second. We'll just dive in to some other stuff. Kind of what Hunter said in last episode about his testimony. I was raised in a Christian household, just like Hunter. I had what I needed, but the relationship aspect of it was just not there. It felt very forced. All through high school, I was very lukewarm. I went to church with my family, and I would join these clubs like FCA or Young Life. I never found what I was looking for. I kind of just went as a means of checking off a list of my week. Like, okay, I went there, and now I can just go about the rest of my week. Instead of God being the main focus of my life, I idolized being popular and well-known. All the while, I was kind of just telling people that I was a Christian, but I never really was. I searched for validation in sports teams and just different clubs and organizations, different friend groups. I would try to be like the funny guy, but obviously that wasn't fulfilling because I wouldn't say that I had a great group of friends in high school or growing up at all. When I got to college, I still wanted to keep this facade going that I was like a Christian, but I still just wanted to be friendly with people and just try to get to know as many people as I can, still idolizing that being popular. So I started going to a couple of different social gatherings for campus ministries and whatnot. I met lots of people, and they were awesome, but I was still drawn to the social part of college. So I did what your average college guy would do when he's unsure of what kind of thing to do in college. I rushed to fraternity, and almost immediately I fell down this rabbit hole of sin. I was indulging in drinking and doing drugs, chasing women, just chasing popularity where I wasn't supposed to be. I found that it just led nowhere, and it was in my darkest moment where I was just in my room after a night of partying, and I was just feeling alone. Even though I had this whole organization of guys that were supposed to be like, quote-unquote, my friends or my brothers, I still didn't feel like I was a part of anything. I still felt very alone and isolated, and that's one of my biggest fears still is. But I was just sitting there, and I got a text from a guy that I had met at the beginning of the year at one of those ministry gatherings. I just felt inclined to open it up, because I hadn't talked to him in a while. I'd met up with him a couple of times and gone to group meetings with the ministry he's in. I would put on the appearance that I was doing fine and was okay, but deep down God knew, and also I think through God, Blake knew that I was just not okay. So he would reach out from time to time, and so when he texted me, he invited me to the church the next day or the next couple days. I was like, okay, I'll go, because obviously where I was at that moment, I was not okay, and I knew that there was a different answer to all of this. So the next day while I'm sitting in the church next to Blake, I'm listening to this worship song called Offering by Sonnet Worship, and the words of the song were, For a willing, broken, humble heart you will not despise. Here's my life. Let it be an offering. Just listening to that, it just made me think, I am nothing, and I deserve nothing, but in God's eyes, I am something, and I just broke down crying, because that whole year leading up to that moment, I felt like I was nothing. Maybe it took me realizing, maybe I am nothing, but in God's eyes, I'm worth so much more, and from then on, it was kind of just a switch. I wanted to live for God and not for the world, and when I made that decision in my heart, everything changed. I slowly started hanging out less with the fraternity and more with my friends in this ministry group, and when I started doing that, I felt a peace that you can only feel when you're in God's presence. A group of people loved me, and they loved on me, and I could see that it was, I could see and feel that it was real. It was the thing that I had been searching for all my life, searching for the validation in sports teams, different clubs, never found it in the fraternity, never found it, but I felt this love from this group of people, this community, and I found what I was searching for. The thing about it was, I probably couldn't tell you that I had a close friend growing up, especially in the fraternity, but now, I can talk comfortably with anybody, even if I'm not even their closest friend, but because we have the same thing in common, is this love and this yearning to know more about God. That's where we are now. My testimony is still going on, but daily I'm trying to seek God by myself and with my friends, which is one of the most important things. I mean, yeah, I would say the change in Jeremy is truly radical. I remember meeting Jeremy, and no offense, Jeremy, but he was just this wrathful man who just did not have anything to hold him down. He was just degrading to others, angry, yadda, yadda, yadda. You can say it, bro. I was a mean person. But now, truly, he's a man who loves God, and I see his zeal, and it pushes me to be better. It's like, everything he had done and who he was, that's a dead man. He is no longer that person. God has truly brought him from death into a life of living, which honestly, I think, leading me to my first question. I think, Jeremy, you have a unique testimony in regards to living in both extremes. As someone who's seen both lives, would you say, looking at your Christian life, do you think you're missing out? Quote-unquote, you have what's called Christian FOMO. Looking back at someone who was in that fraternity life and someone who's now deeply in, for some it is a group, but just deeply following God, do you feel like you're missing out, quote-unquote, which is what a lot of people think in the sinful life. Being a Christian means I'm going to miss out on this fun party, yadda yadda. Yeah, so, I mean, just looking at how I'm living right now, like with some of my best friends, versus then, like, I've lived one way, but then I've lived following Jesus, like completely opposites end of the spectrum. And I can tell you that following Jesus has been just so much more fulfilling for me, as it is, I'm sure, for a lot of people who, like, you know, make that decision. You know, the appeal of, like, partying and whatnot is, like, you know, forget about the school work, forget about college, and just, you know, go let loose, have a night off, and just party. But, like, what do you gain from that? Like, actually, like, what do you do after that, you know? You get a hangover? Maybe you don't get a hangover. Maybe you just, you know, feel pretty bad the next day. Maybe you're just like, ugh, I don't want to do that for the next couple of days. But, like, how I'm living now, it's, like, hang out with my friends, and we have, you know, righteous conversations. Maybe not always. You know, maybe we're still a couple of funny individuals, but, like, still, it's, we're not, like, doing anything incredibly illegal. Mostly illegal. Mildly illegal. Mildly illegal. Yeah, we're some goobers, but we're not, like, going crazy. Right, right. But, like, yeah, we're just, like, a band of misfits. That's how I put it. A good group of friends who just love each other, but, like, most importantly, we love the Lord. And, like, that being the center of our friendship is what, like, drives us forward, I think. And just, like, we don't need any other sort of substance to have fun, because we have each other. And, like, we just roll off of each other like that. Like, you know, somebody will say something, we'll just go in a completely different direction, like, in our conversations. And just the things we do are fun, but they're also crazy. But, you know, we don't involve any sort of substance to make it any better, because, you know, we don't need that. We have a fulfillment inside of us that just makes us feel way better. All right. That kind of brings me to kind of a story that's very applicable to Jeremy's testimony. You hear it a lot throughout, you know, through Sunday school, just wherever people talk about major stories in the Bible, this is, like, the go-to. It's the story of the prodigal son. Hunter's going to read it for you. Yeah. And honestly, if, like, you've never gotten the word before, I think, like, now's a really good excuse to just pause this and go get a Bible and read with us, because I'm reading Luke 15, 11. It says, Then Jesus said, There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me. So he divided his property between them. A few days later, the younger son gathered all that he had and traveled to a distant country. And there he squandered his property in dissolute living. Dissolute there means, like, just, like, on, like, crazy stuff, like, back then, like, prostitutes and stuff. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and it began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pots that the pigs were eating, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough to spare? But here I am dying of hunger. I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me like one of your hired hands. So he set off and went to his father. While he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his slaves, quickly, bring out a robe, the best one, and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet, and get the fatted calf and kill it. And let us eat and celebrate, for the son of mine was dead and is alive, for he was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate. And that's the first half of the story. Yeah. Yeah, that's a really powerful story. Like, growing up, I've heard that a lot. But like, now, just my testimony, I feel that it just applies to me so much more. You know, like, God found me where I was, and he was, he was searching for me the whole time. Like, he knew that what I was doing was wrong, and he didn't love it, I'm sure, but he loved me. And he didn't want to give up on me at all, because he has a plan for me. But like, just the part of like him coming back and like, you know, I'm not deserving to be your son, just let me be your servant or slave instead. And the father had the grace and compassion and mercy just to be like, no, you're my son, and you deserve to look like my son. And he fetched him a robe, sandals, a ring, like all of that, which in that time was like, like, just mean you had class, I guess. But like, like, I was not deserving to be where I am now. You know, what I'm doing, what I'm doing now is like, glorifying to God. And if you had told me last year, like at this time last year, that I'd be doing this, I wouldn't believe you, I'd probably laugh in your face. But God like, found me, saw me where I was. And he brought me out of that, just through other people that he used, just to show me that like the love that he has for me. And that's just been super powerful. Yeah, it's a, it's a great story, especially, you know, touching on the topic of grace is that realistically, we deserve nothing. We are sinners. But God recognizes that and he loves us either way. He sent his one and only son to die for us, to take that sin upon himself, so that we may have eternal life. And so we, we have a tendency to try to run from God. Because following him is definitely more difficult than not. But all we have to do is stop running from him. And, you know, turn, and he meets us where we are. He continues to pursue us. It's not that, it's not that we have to turn and, you know, run our way all the way back to him and undo everything that we had done. But all we have to do is stop and he is not far behind us. He catches up to us immediately. And all like, you know, you wonder, you know, wouldn't he, wouldn't he catch you if you're running from him? But you have to be willing to turn, pull your weight and seek his face on your own. And then once you recognize and declare him Lord of your life, realistically, there is nothing, no amount of sin that can take that away from you. Yeah, my favorite part of the story, I just love the metaphor it creates and helps you like personify the, like the essence of God's mercy and how much he loves us. Because it's really like, the father in the situation can do nothing to get the son to come back. He's sitting there, like maybe for years, and he's just hoping and hoping that his son will come home. In the same regards, God wants everyone to go to heaven. God loves all of us. But there are some people, he is currently still just every day hoping to come home. You know, like God wants us to come home. He wants us to be living a full life, not a life that's fake through fraternities or through partying, but a full life in the presence of God. And truly like the story, I just, I like to envision the man's in the field, and he's just sitting there waiting for his son. And the second that the son takes one step towards him, he takes off. Like God is just, the second we take a step towards God, he does way more than we do. Like he will begin to run towards us. But we have to choose to walk towards him. We have to choose to chase God. God will never force us. We have free will. God will never push us to do anything. But the second that we walk towards him out of love, man, he will double our love and walk towards us twice as fast. And it's, I mean, it's amazing to hear that story. It truly is, you know, when every time somebody is willing to surrender their life to God and is able to repent from their sin, it is a celebration in heaven. You know, they're up there, you know, popping bottles, doing whatever it is those angels be doing up there to celebrate. I don't know about that. Maybe they're not doing all that. There's definitely a party up in heaven. You know, God is rejoicing. God is rejoicing that we are choosing to be one with him when it is not the easiest choice to make. You know, it's not the easiest lifestyle to carry out. It is very difficult. Yeah, and like just speaking of like it being easier, you know, like making that decision in no means does it make, mean your life is going to be easier like immediately. Like it's obviously, it's a constant battle because like the temptations are still all around me. And like, you know, I have old friends and just like, you know, just the stuff that they do and just the stuff that I see on like social media is like, man, like, you know, that lifestyle is there. But how I'm living, I want to live this way more because it's more fulfilling to me. But like still, it's like for other people, it's very hard just to fight that temptation. And so it's a day by day battle, just like seeking God's presence before the presence of, you know, anything worldly. Because at the end of the day, like he's all that's going to remain. It's are you going to want to be with him or you're going to want to devote your life to, you know, living this certain lifestyle and then, you know, not getting to be with God at the end. So I'm going to, I'm going to circle back to kind of how we saw Jeremy last year. You know, when we first met him and just kind of the change that we've seen. So I don't know that I've ever actually said this in front of Jeremy, but genuinely, I didn't like the guy, like at all. Crazy. Never heard this before. We started, like we ended up in the same groups. Is that why you never talk to me? Yeah, actually. Truth comes out. Yeah, actually. He kind of joined our group, our discipleship group, kind of towards the end of the year. And so we didn't know him very well, but we knew, you know, that he had been in a frat and we knew, you know, that he was definitely a troubled person. But I tried not to hold out against him, but I still did. And yeah, I just genuinely didn't like the guy up through the end of last school year. And then at the start of this year, I was like, you know, I'll give him a chance. And now we're going to be roommates next year. Like, we see each other most days, like genuinely, it's a night and day difference in how he's changed. So that just goes to show, you know, the work that God can do in someone's life just over a short period of time. And all you have to do is seek him out to see that transformation. And so that kind of brings me to a piece of Scripture that I want to draw on. In a study that I've been leading weekly, we've been going through James. And James chapter 4, verses 11 and 12 really kind of show that, you know, even though I may not have liked Jeremy, it was not my right to judge him. So James chapter 4, verses 11 and 12 say, don't criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and destroy, but who are you to judge your neighbor? So basically it's saying one believer judging another does nothing. It's like if one criminal is sitting in court with another one and tries to lay out a sentence, you are no better than that person that you are judging. And, you know, the ways that I looked on Jeremy kind of caused me to draw deep within myself and realize that while it's so easy to see that his past actions, that I'm no better, that I've had my struggles. We're going to dive a little bit deeper into next episode. But, you know, everybody stumbles, everybody falls. So picking out one person just because you might not like them and kind of emphasizing their shortcomings, that's more of a disrespect to God than it is to that person. Yeah. Well, the truth comes out. That's crazy, Michael. I had no idea. But no, yeah. I mean, I will say like, yeah, last year, just coming out of that, I was, you know, I was excited because finally I had, you know, found what I was looking for. That validation that I was looking for and everything else, you know, the fraternity, girls, sports teams, just everything like that. Like I quickly found out like I don't need that. The validation means nothing compared to the validation that I get from God. Yeah. And just like the love that He has for me, just the plans that He has for me. In Jeremiah 29, 11, it's like my favorite verse. It's like, for I know the plans that I have for you, plans to give you hope in the future. And just like, just knowing that, knowing that I have that God on my side, He wants me to prosper and He has a plan for me. And I'm just going to trust in Him and just what He has for me. And I'm just going to, yeah, I'm going to live. Yeah. He definitely didn't have that validation for me. Um, dude, I was, I was praying on his downfall. Not, not like genuinely praying on his downfall, but you know, expression wise, definitely not the biggest Jay Fernie fan. Um, also great pick for favorite verse, kind of basic, but you know, it's a good verse. The basic ones are like, that's the, that's the go-to for a reason. So I'm not going to hate on it. Um, because every word of God is divine. Okay. So I've got a question for you about kind of, uh, kind of Greek life as a whole and the frat. So would you say that Greek life and other organizations like that, um, inherently opposed God or could they be used as avenues to make disciples? Yeah. Um, so I think that the way I approached joining the fraternity was definitely not the right way to approach it, especially growing up as a Christian, you know, cause I kind of knew right from wrong that I still like did wrong anyways. Um, but I know of people that are in Greek life organizations elsewhere that like do it the right way where they like, okay, my foundation is in God and not like what the fraternity says. I am not what the school says. I am like, I'm not a fraternity guy. I'm not a sorority girl. I'm just a person in this organization. You know, maybe I'm truly trying to find friends, but just depends really how you approach it. Cause the way I did is like, all right, I'm going to do this cause I want to party. I want to meet girls. Uh, you know, do no drinking drugs. Uh, that's just like not the right way to do it at all. Um, like when you approach it and you're just like, okay, I'm going to do this because fraternities and sororities have the stigma of like, you know, it's just a sinful place sometimes, you know, like the things that they do, uh, the things that you see them do is like probably not the best. But if you approach that situation, you're like, I'm going to go and I'm going to make disciples and I want to preach the gospel to the people in this organization. I think if you approach it with, you know, that idea or ideal, um, you know, it'll just be a lot more prosperous for you and for God. Um, and just for your faith in general. Um, but like for example, I have, you know, a friend that goes to Tennessee. Um, gross. Yeah. And he was like, he wanted to join a fraternity, but he was not found like firm in his faith yet. Uh, so he didn't rush the fall semester because he wanted to root himself in God first and he wanted to make sure that like he was comfortable with himself and with God before he made that step. And so the spring semester came around and he did rush. And so when he rushed, he was like, all right, he made sure to tell the guys like, Hey, this is what I believe. And I'd really appreciate it if you guys didn't like, um, what's the word I'm looking for? He didn't like didn't attack him for it. Yeah. Yeah. It didn't like attack him for what he believed. Um, and so like with that, like now he's a member of that fraternity, but like he's, he's like the Bible study leader. What's it called? The chaplain. Yeah. Like he, he's the one that like checks up on people, how they're doing spiritually or just physically. Um, and just like make sure they're all doing okay. Um, which I think is just a powerful thing that most fraternities do need. Um, but I wouldn't say that they oppose God in any way. I would say that they promote things that God does not like. Definitely. But like the idea of it is truly just to have a community and just to meet people. But it's just like the stigma that comes with it as well. And just the things that people do, uh, and what they use it for as an avenue just to party. Um, that's when it becomes, you know, just not good. And you know, you hate to, you hate to kind of look at it through that lens, um, of thinking that everything that, uh, the Greek life organizations do is bad. Um, and you see that stigma and you know, it's so easy to think that, you know, these stereotypes exist for a reason. And, you know, for the most part they do, you know, um, generally the stuff you see is a lot more bad than good, but that also kind of falls into knowing where to look. Um, and yeah, I think that I agree with Jeremy is that, you know, you could definitely use these organizations as avenues for spreading disciples or for making disciples. Um, just, uh, you know, kind of devoting your time and effort into, uh, into spreading that soil or spreading that seed. Um, that is something that is referenced in the Bible is, um, you know, spreading seed. Um, and sometimes it'll fall on good soil, um, and it'll become fruitful. And sometimes it'll fall on rocky soil and, uh, you know, it will not take root or it will fall in the thorns and be choked out. So, you know, you never know, um, kind of the, what would the outcome of what that seed is going to look like. Um, but it's not going to grow, um, if you don't spread it. Um, you know, you, you miss a hundred percent of the shots you don't take. So, um, you can apply that to, you can apply that to your faith for sure. It's just, um, you know, broadly spreading the gospel, um, and spreading that seed and hoping that it takes root. Yeah. And I don't want to bash on, you know, Greek life at all. You know, I, I know a lot of people that do it like the right way. Um, because like essentially it's supposed to just be a way to meet friends. And I've, I know people that I've met, like they're, they're best friends, um, in Greek life and like I salute them for that. I just did not find what I was looking for there and I found it, you know, in a different place. Um, but I want everybody to, you know, be with me in heaven. And so, so I, I'm going to try my best to like reach out to as many people as possible. Um, whether that's through Greek life or just through, uh, ministries on campus, um, just to like reach out to them and share the gospel with them. Um, and that's honestly a constant prayer that I do pray about is just like, help me find a way back into the fraternity, not like in it, but through like me to spread the gospel. And like I asked God to help use me to spread the gospel to those people because, you know, um, you just see that it's not a very fruitful place and you know, I want to be the vine that starts making that fruit. That is good. Um, you know, it's like in the great commission, you know, we're called to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And, you know, we were supposed to seek out people of different backgrounds, people of different circumstances. And, you know, you, it's so, so easy and it just makes so much sense to seek out the people that you think it's going to stick with the best. But, um, you know, we, we also need to seek out those who maybe are in need of it the most. Um, and a lot of the time when people are in organizations where, um, it is easy to fall into sin, um, people are in situations where, you know, maybe the, the godly way of life isn't, you know, put up on a pedestal. Um, you know, you, you need to spread the gospel to those people because maybe they have never heard it or maybe they need a reminder. Um, and, you know, I've definitely experienced that myself of just needing a reminder of, you know, what the right way to live is. So, that, that, that's very good, um, just in seeking everybody out, um, and not discriminating who you're going to share that word with. Yeah, I would definitely say it's important to remember that everyone, like everyone needs Jesus at the end of the day. And I remember my freshman year, I was like, oh, like, I would also just recommend being smart because in my freshman year, I was, a lie I told myself all the time was like, well, I'll go to this frat party to go tell them about Jesus, even though I knew for a fact that was not my intention of going. So, definitely be wary of your heart. Analyze why you're doing what you're doing. But, like, if, if you feel called to a certain area, go, go give them Jesus. You know, God wants to use you as the strong, mighty weapon you are. But be smart in, like, what you're doing and your method of ministry. Um, and going back to what we talked about for what it means to be a disciple, I think it's important to remember that, like, every area of our life should show it. Like, how we act, what we're doing, who we're around, yada, yada, yada. And I think, honestly, it's a good transition. I think it's cool, the cool method of being able to preach the gospel more and have every area of your life reflect Jesus is through little things. One of those examples is, like, wearing your ministry. I've seen a lot of cool, like, companies that, like, develop clothing, you know. One of our friends reached out. They're called Made the Way Clothing. They're a good company. Um, doing that or just publicly, like, little things, too. Publicly reading the Bible. Maybe you go to wherever student union you're at and just get in the Word right there and let your friends know what you're doing before every meal. This is a very small one, but I'm a huge fan of it. When you're with people who do not know God, I love praying secretly, but very verbally. Not praying for their building up of myself, not praying so that they'll like me more. Almost the contrary. I pray so that they see what I'm doing and they're like, that's kind of odd. I'm going to ask him about that. Like, why do you always pray before you eat a meal? Why do you, what's with this Jesus guy? And then, like, having them ask questions about what you believe is truly such, like, an amazing way to preach the gospel. Like, just look different. Live differently. Like, we're called to be set apart, so don't get idle in what you're doing. Don't be lazy, but remember that you're pretty much in a war. You're in a war field. For God, you are God's strong warrior, and remember that what you're doing will save lives. Like Jeremy, what we did for Jeremy, quote-unquote, I did nothing. God did it, but us... God did. Us just being nice to Jeremy honestly changed his life. Yeah, 100%. Us just being a community for Jeremy was just like a life-changing event, and it wasn't hard for us to do. Well, maybe not for Michael, but... We loved doing it, and it made a big difference, so just continue doing what God's doing, and you'll see it for you eventually. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, heavy on the Made the Way clothing shout-out. Use code FAITHTALK15 to get 15% off your order. Shameless plug. They reached out, and the owner of Made the Way actually sent me a DM personally on Instagram just talking about prayer intentions, and that really meant a lot. Just a community that we may not know each other personally, but we do have that common ground of loving the Lord, so that really meant a lot, so definitely go and support them. Just wrapping up this episode, I know how we said last time we want to talk with y'all about answering y'all's questions that you have for us. We did run a little bit over on time, so we're not going to do that this episode, but next episode, keep those questions coming. We're going to start tackling them one by one, but as always, it was a great episode. Love talking with y'all. Love talking to each other. Most of all, just love honoring God, and remember, we love you, and God loves you. Have a blessed week. Amen. Amen.