#4- L. Bryan-June 1- 2023

The speaker introduces the JIGGIN podcast and its focus on Jesus as the Good News. They mention a Bible verse about Jesus serving and giving his life as a ransom for many. The podcast is hosted by Nate Bryan, a preacher at Rochedale Christian Church, who had to make adjustments due to illness. His wife Leanne joins him as a guest. Leanne shares her faith journey and how she found comfort in Christ during a trial. They discuss the importance of leading a quiet life, working hard, and not conforming to the world. Leanne also talks about her role as a stay-at-home mom and the value of motherhood. They mention the book of 1 Peter and its teachings on maturity, suffering, and holiness. They encourage listeners to crave spiritual growth and the Word of God. Well, it's another beautiful day here in West Central Indiana, and maybe I should say beautiful night, although we could certainly use some rain. Welcome to the fourth episode of the JIGGIN podcast, and if you're a new listener to the JIGGIN podcast today, JIGGIN, J-I-G-G-N, stands for Jesus is the Good News, we want to remind you of that if you didn't know that, and as we consider what does it mean that Jesus is the Good News, I want to share with you from Mark chapter 10, verse 45 today, which tells us, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. And so as we talk about the Good News, the fact that Jesus Christ gave his life as a ransom for us, as a ransom for our sins, that is the Good News, and we know that he walked out of the grave three days later. And also, JIGGIN, as we often like to remind ourselves as we consider what it meant to be the JIGGIN podcast, JIGGIN, or a JIG, is something that you could also utilize when you go fishing. So you'd have a fishing jig, and Jesus, as he called the first disciples, he said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men, and again, that is a key part of what we hope to do with the JIGGIN podcast. This is Nate Bryan, and I'm the preacher at Rochedale Christian Church, and this week we've had to make some adjustments due to the fact that my family got some illness and we had a nasty stomach bug, and Elder Tom Humbenhauer was scheduled to be on the podcast Wednesday, but unfortunately I was sick. So Tom is going to be on next week, and we're actually shooting this from home at our kitchen table, and so I have my wonderful wife Leanne Bryan on here with us. So Leanne, it seems weird for me to address you as Leanne, I guess I typically address you in other ways, but welcome to the JIGGIN podcast. Thank you. So I guess as we get started here and sort of look at this, obviously Leanne, you're now a preacher's wife. You have been a youth minister's wife for a short time. You have been a deacon's wife, but even before and in amongst all of that, you have been leading in large part our children's ministry at Rochedale Christian Church, so you've served in many different capacities, and we're so thankful for that and for your service. But I just wanted to sort of let you, give you an opportunity to share with members of the congregation and people who may listen, just tell us similar questions we've asked the others who have been on the podcast. Tell us about your faith background and ultimately how you came to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Okay. Well, I was raised in church, my mom and dad took me, we went to a couple of different churches growing up, and it was in middle school when I decided to give my life to Christ, and I realized just how much I needed a Savior and that He died for my sins, but I will say with that, it was not until Nate and I had been married and we faced some trials, actually the one that I'm specifically talking about was the first miscarriage that we went through. Going through that trial pushed me to see my need for a Savior and my need to find my comfort in something more than anything I could find on earth. We started taking our faith more seriously at that point, and I'm so thankful for my husband who encouraged me and really pushed us to get into the Word, and now looking back on all of that and seeing how God used something terrible to transform our lives into where we are now is just unbelievable. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting that you share that and bring that up, because as really all that happened, and I know I've shared with many people in the congregation may recall that I've shared this before, but I had, Ron Price was one of our teachers that you would have also had, obviously at North Putnam, and he had passed away from cancer several years ago now, but at his funeral, his wife Susan had passed on a book to me, and that one was titled called Coach, long story short, Bobby Bowden in there talked about his wife and him reading their Bibles together, and ultimately kind of that book opened my eyes to my need for our need to be spending more time in the Word, and so that coupled with the trial with the miscarriage that we had after our son Jedediah was born, you know, ultimately kind of led us together to that, and ultimately I'd say to where we're at in serving in ministry in a full-time capacity now, and so it certainly, that's a part of all that, but anyhow, so I guess even moving on from that, let's expand upon that a little bit, and our stories obviously intersect with all this, but the next part of the question is just tell us what brought you to Rochedale Christian Church, and I guess what, your whole background, how did you end up? Well, it was you, honey! But really though, my parents and I, the church we were going to, some things happened and we were slowly leaving that church, so when Nathan and I started dating in 8th grade, I was able to start going with him and Tony and Lisa to Rochedale Christian Church, and I remember feeling so welcome there, and one thing I remember specifically was the worship. I felt a connection with that worship style and the music and the people there differently than I had in the past, so now, looking back as an 8th grader, going there with Nate and his family and seeing my family attend with me now is just very humbling, and I'm just so thankful that that's where everyone is now. Yeah, no, it's cool. It's been, like you said, so cool to see, and we would have certainly never dreamed as 8th graders when, I guess if you even call it dating in 8th grade, when we first started dating and started attending, nor would anyone else have looked around and thought there was any chance that I would end up preaching, that you would end up leading the youth ministry and doing so many different things, but we're so thankful for God's grace and how He has led us on that path. So let's go on now, I guess, dive into Scripture a little bit, because this is the fun part and the part I enjoy most, but tell us what is your favorite part or favorite verse in Scripture? Well, I'm going to share with you guys one of my favorites from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. I'm going to read verses 11 and 12, and this is Paul speaking. It says, Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders, and so that you will not be dependent on anyone. Gotcha. And so much, yeah, two verses there that there's so much to unpack, and Paul here in writing to, you know, the Thessalonians, I look at that first part and he says, make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. And so just tell me, what does that mean to you? Well, I think that it means, as Christians, we shouldn't be seeking attention, whether it be negative attention or even positive attention, that should not be our goal in life. So leading a quiet life would be very, very different than seeking attention in the things that we do. And it also makes me think a lot about how we shouldn't try to stir up trouble. And I know something that's very tempting is to gossip and things like that. So even when I think about our conversations with other people, doing that in a quiet way where we're not using harsh words, or we're not talking down to someone, but we're leading a quiet life with our mouth also, those are the two things that I think about is not seeking attention and to just controlling our life to be quiet. Well, I think too with that, I mean, Paul here in writing that, make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. That's the exact opposite of what our culture tells people today. I mean, really, I think culture tells you that you should want to be famous, that you should want to be rich and famous, that you should want to be a rock star and a professional athlete and this, that, and the other. I'll be the first to say that I, at times in my life, have fallen into that, played sports, whatever, wanted to be a professional athlete, and a lot of things push you into that direction of, I want to be famous, I want this, that, and the other. And really, when we can think about leading a quiet life, serving the Lord humbly wherever we're at, and it being about Him and serving Him and not about us, obviously that's a key part to that. I just thought another thing I'd throw in there, and I don't even know if you were going to go there with this, but with leading a quiet life, I think about really the fact that you stay at home with our children, and that's something that you've chosen to do. You know, it's not something you certainly have been forced to do or would have to do. I share that because I remember when I was teaching at Greencastle, and I remember some students that, when they asked me what my wife did, and I said she was a stay-at-home mom, that some of them were just, like, appalled, and it was because, quite honestly, they were, you know, I guess had heard too much of what I'd call today's feminist movement, which is, makes it a negative thing to be a stay-at-home mother and to raise your children. So I guess those thoughts come to mind. I mean, does that cross your mind as you think about what you do each day? Yeah, well, I say I always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but since making Christ the center of my life, being a stay-at-home mom has become so much more purposeful. So I'm so thankful that I get to stay in my home and focus my ministry on my children and have that quiet area to do it in. And also recognizing that my purpose, right now my purpose is to be a Christian, but to be a mother, and to glorify God through that. Yeah, no, I think that, I mean... So what I was getting at is me understanding my purpose as being a mother, to glorify God, that is us being quiet in home and taking our time to study the Word and prepare ourselves for things that are going to come. And I'm so thankful that God has given me that role, and I want to change it. And I do think about the culture, looking down upon that. Like, it is true, like you talk about high school students doing it, but that temptation to go there with myself comes every time I have to fill out a document when I take the kids to the doctor or something else, and people ask me what I do for a living. Society does look down on that, but I think it is because we forget and we devalue the purpose of the role God gave us, and understanding that, wow, we get, as a mother, I got to bring forth children who are made in the image of God, and now I get to stay home with them, and I get to teach them God's Word every day, and society is not going to mess with me on being able to value and be thankful for that. And I hope that as women living in today's culture, that we can come together as sisters in Christ, and encourage each other and build each other up, no matter whether we want to work outside the home or not, God made us with a purpose, and we should be thankful for that purpose. Yep. No, good. I mean, great. That's just something that I know. I mean, big topic in culture. Sorry. I probably put it on his hand. You're good. But it's not one that, you know, it's not something that we're not at all saying or believe that, you know, women can't or shouldn't work out of the home. That's not what we're saying, but that, like I said, I have students that quite literally run the opposite end of that, that like thought that like it was like an ancient idea that a woman would stay home and be a mother to her children, right? And so, but I think, again, that's something that we see, that's part of being quiet, because I think about how quiet that is, like, other than myself, and maybe our family asking you about that, like, God is the only one that sees you with our children at home each day, you know? And so that's it. That's a quiet life. So he goes on there, right? He talks about making your ambition to lead a quiet life, you should mind your own business, work with your hands. I think, I just think of the importance of hard work, I mean, here, you know, Paul is writing again to the Thessalonians, he says, mind your own business, work with your hands just as we told you so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders. And the reality is that, like, if we're not hard workers, we're not going to win the respect of outsiders. Like, if people see us as lazy, if they see us as idle, if they don't, like, they are not going to respect what we do. They're not going to respect the God that we serve. And so I think that's so important for us, like, to wrestle with. I mean, laziness is a temptation that we can all have, it's, and it's one that can really hurt, you know, devastate our witness of Christ, our witness of, you know, the God that we serve. I think back to the very beginning, when God created us, he created Adam and Eve to work with their hands. I've asked Jed recently, like, what he thinks I do all day when I came back to this verse over and over again, and he's pointed out things like, well, mommy, you do the dishes or you fold laundry all the time, which sometimes I feel like I do, but those tasks for me as a stay-at-home mom in a quiet environment, I'm still working with my hands in those ways, just as you are as a preacher out in the community, as a school teacher is dealing with children all day long. Mm-hmm. Well, and I think, too, I mean, specifically in this portion of the scripture, Paul's writing to the Thessalonians, too, where they were becoming idle because they were just, like, awaiting the return of the Lord. They thought it was imminent. So basically, they were going to sit and be idle and not do anything, but, like, the whole point was, no, you know, at one point there, too, Paul says, like, the one who will not work shall not eat. I mean, he's that direct with it, and just that importance of no matter what the profession is, no matter what you're doing, like, get out and work. Now, I think that can be taken too far. We can turn into a workaholic, and, you know, then all we do is work, and then we don't do ministry. We don't, you know, we let work take us away from serving God, take us away from serving our families, and those sorts of things, and so we don't want to be on the one end of the spectrum and be lazy, and we don't want to be on the other end of the spectrum and be over-the-top workaholic, but that we should be hard workers in all that we do, so much that we could continue to talk about there, but let's go on here to, or I'm just telling you this, what is your favorite book? If you're going to say, hey, there's a, I got a favorite book in Scripture, what would that be for you? I think 1 Peter would be a school of good stuff. I think the two main things that I love about it is that it's encouraging Christians to mature through the process of sanctifying themselves to become more Christ-like, and also it points out just how we should be encouraged through suffering, because we're all going to face sufferings and trials of many kinds. Right. Good. And yeah, the way that, I mean, the Spirit, yes, sanctified us, and so much to look at. Let's look at, I think we talked about, like, 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 14, and I'll read that because it's just one single good verse that we could spend probably the next 20 podcasts in 1 Peter. But let's just look at this. Verse 14 says, As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is written, be holy because I am holy. And so again, that first part, he says, as obedient children, and so that reminder of us to just, you know, to be obedient and to follow, you know, and remember that we are God's children, that he, you know, is our heavenly Father. And then that second part there, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. And we can all probably think back to our evil desires that we had when we were living in ignorance, but I just think they're two of what Paul writes in Romans chapter 12 when he talks about not conforming to the patterns of this world, but being transformed by the renewing of your mind. And that may be one that we could bring up a lot, but it's just so important in the world that we live in that is, you know, so contrary to biblical teaching that it's so easy to conform, it would be so easy to not be transformed by the Scriptures, by the work of the Spirit. I think, too, it points out here by saying, to the evil desires that you had, it just shows how when we choose to live for Christ, that our heart should be renewed. We should be a new person, and those old desires are in the past. We are transformed in Christ. I say there's not going to be temptations and struggles, but that there is heart change that occurs. Like, it literally, like we talked about Paul talking about in Romans 12, like, it transforms us. It transforms our heart, and I go back to thinking of the Sermon on the Mount and the way in which heart change, I would argue, is the central point of it all, and even the references back to the Ten Commandments, and the goal of the Ten Commandments to be heart change, not a list of do's and don'ts. So, let's look at one more verse before we leave, and that'll be out of 1 Peter chapter 2. Let's just look at the first couple verses, because, again, I think this ties in with everything we're talking about, and I'll read those, but 1 Peter chapter 2. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. So, just so much there, and I look at that part of ridding ourselves of malice and deceit and hypocrisy and all of that, and then he talks about like newborn babies, like as we're made new, as we're born again Christians, as we give our lives to Christ for us to crave spiritual milk, to crave the Scriptures, to crave that growth, to learn alongside our brothers and sisters, and so that in it and by it we may grow up into our salvation, that we may, like he said, that sanctifying work of the Spirit and through the Word. That is, you know, and with that in mind, too, it just takes me back, I'm going to read out 1 Corinthians here, just briefly, let's see, where was I at here, thought I had it here. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, and this wasn't the way to appear Paul, Paul's really like talking about spiritual milk, but in a different way, he says brothers and sisters, I could not address you as those who live by the Spirit, but as people who are still worldly, mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready, you are still worldly, for since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? And so what he is getting at here with them is that, you know, he's giving them spiritual milk, they're not ready for solid food, and so here Peter's telling us to crave spiritual milk, and so as you, as born-again Christians, we want to crave the Scriptures, crave that milk, but that in time we want to get to, as Paul would say, then the solid food, to continue to grow in the faith, to grow in the Word, and, you know, it's like that old saying, but it's so true, if we choose to just show up to church on Sundays for five or ten or fifteen or maybe twenty or thirty or forty years, and we never really get into the Word, but we just show up, that's it, and we're really not in it, and our heart's not in it, someone could do that, and, like, maybe never come to actual solid food, that it be stuck on spiritual milk that whole time, and that certainly would not be the growing up in our salvation that Peter's writing about, that would not be maturity in Christ that we ought to seek, so, anyhow, I better shut it off there, we're going a little long on this podcast, so I guess we talk more than we have on the last two, but last one here, Leigh Ann, before we go, what do you want the Congregation of Rosetail Christian Church to know about you as the leader of the children's ministry, as their preacher's wife, and I'll just say my better half, and the one that holds me up and keeps me going when things are tough, but what do you want them to know about you? Well, first, Bill, our previous pastor, his wife, Kim, offered this advice to me, and I just, the longer that Nate has been a preacher, the more I realize that my family is still human even though the role that we're in, and we're not perfect. With that being said, like, I have to remember that as much as we love our church family, my children are going to let people down, I'm going to let people down, and Nathan is at times, but what I want you guys to know and remember is that we love the Lord and that we're seeking to do His will, and we love you guys, we love all of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we're so thankful that God has us where He has us. Yeah, we're thankful to serve, but I think that's a good reminder that, yeah, I think sometimes, and we've been on both sides of that fence ourselves, where you look up to the preacher in some ways, or ideally, you know, sometimes I think we can put the preacher's family on a pedestal, that's just being realistic, I can remember doing that myself, but we'll admit that we are just absolutely human. We make mistakes and we'll make more, we ask for your grace in that, but like she said, we do love you all, and as far as the children's ministry goes, there are so many little ones there on Sundays that, as a church family, we are getting to invest in, and I just, I love helping, and I'm so thankful for all the volunteers that study the Bible lessons and prepare to teach the children on Sunday mornings, and I'm thankful to the parents who are getting them there and who are studying with them through the week, too, as we just teach them up to someday be future leaders in the church and future parents of their own children, and just teaching them to love Jesus. Well, it certainly, you know, we talk about, I mean, you'll hear people say it takes a village or it takes an army, and certainly that's our role as the church, to all work together in raising up these children. We're thankful for the many that are pouring into our children, we know that they are, and like we said, we are just happy to serve, we look forward to continuing to serve alongside you all, and once again, we just thank you all for listening to the Jigging Podcast. Go out and do some jigging for yourself, go share the good news, tell someone about Jesus Christ and His love for them and how He died on the cross for all of our sins. Everybody have a blessed day, we'll talk to you soon.