episode 2 season 3-religion vs relationship

In this podcast episode, the hosts discuss the difference between religion and relationship. They share their personal experiences with religion and how it can sometimes lead to judgment and division. They question the need for strict rules and regulations in religious practices and challenge the idea that certain qualifications or approvals are necessary to preach the gospel. They reference biblical stories to highlight the power of faith and personal connection with God, rather than relying on external factors. Ultimately, they emphasize the importance of building relationships and spreading the message of love and freedom. Yo! What it do, Shelb? Hey, y'all. Welcome to Word of Mouth Podcast. Nadine Shelby, man. We, uh, we are back in the building. And we gonna get it crackin', uh, because it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. What's up, Shelb? How are you? I'm, I'm good. Man. Hey, don't be judging us, cause we ain't went to video yet, but if y'all saw Shelby today, y'all be like, Oh, you better go, Kel! You'd be like, uh, she got dirt on her shirt. Like she was mud rustling before she got here. I tried. I tried to be nice and pretty, but it didn't happen. She's doing it, y'all. Hey, man. Welcome back. Uh, we are excited to be back and to chit chat a little bit. So we gonna dig into it and we gonna, um, kind of dig deeper today on something that we both have been talking about for quite a bit some time. And I think it's just time to, you know, dialogue about it. And we gonna do it. So buckle your seatbelts, cause it might get a little warm. It might get a little heated. A little heated. Letting the horse out of that barn. Yes. And please remember anything that we say, you all, it's opinion. Um, it's just stuff that we're dialogue on this platform. It's never to hurt, condemn or beat up anyone. Absolutely not. That's the opposite of what we want to do. Exactly. At the end of the day, we want to glorify and magnify our Lord in every capacity. And give people freedom. Yes. In what they already have. Amen. Amen. So with that said, we're gonna talk about a touchy subject. And it's called the difference between religion and relationship. Breathe. Buckle up. Here we go. All right. So, uh, Shel, I'm gonna start off with a question. Of course. Uh, two questions actually. Okay. To you. Yes. What does the word religion mean? Um, well, if we're talking in it, in the, in the worldly sense, religion means, I think it's a way of people to define their belief system. But if you're asking me personally, religion means, uh, rules and regulations to me. Thank you. Thank you. And the second question is, what does relationship mean to you? It means that there is a, uh, relating between two individuals or more where they can communicate and dialogue and be themselves. Cultivate, you know, uh, I was gonna say cultivate a relationship, but that doesn't really answer the question. Cultivate a relationship. And that's a definition of relationship. Yeah. Um, but it's, it's an entity between, you know, two or more people that is, you know, nurtured by communication and. Ooh, really good. Oh, that was a good statement right there. And dialogue and vulnerability. Kind of the vision of when me and you first talked about just the podcast alone. That's what we want to build with people using this platform. Right. To build relationships. Yep. Thank you. Thank you. With that said, the difference now, we're gonna, we're gonna kind of put them on scale. So we're gonna first talk about religion. Understand that me and Shelby have different backgrounds. I grew up in a very religious household, and Shelby was not in a religious household. I think her household was free. Faith-based. Definitely faith-based. Now, I can definitely say from my, and I was sharing this with her off mic, a lot of the foundation that I learned due to organized church, religious-based things, those things are very important to me today. As an adult, as a father, a man, period. They're very important to me because I understand why I had to learn it. I had to, like, just... Participate in it. Yes. Yeah. Yes. I didn't understand it as a kid. Like, you would take us to Sunday school, that's what they called it. I remember Sunday school. And when we went to Sunday school, we had these pictures about people in the Bible. And so with my vivid imagination, I saw Samson as this huge guy. Giant of a man. Yeah. Very muscular. Lots of beautiful hair and this and that. Like, I just saw him as this heap. He-man. Exactly. He-man. A lot of people can't relate to that if they're in our generation. Right. That is so true. Fabio. There you go. In cartoon form. Fabio. But I saw him as that, and so my imagination just kept him right there until I began to understand what that analogy or that parable, if I can use that word, meant for us to understand the importance of why Samson and Delilah was put in the Bible. Like, it has a meaning. In your word, it has a purpose. And their purpose was bigger than me seeing him as he-man. Fabio. But that was a way as a child for you to have a, not a concrete, but an idea of what it was about, right? It had to draw you in. Yes. Wow. Now that you say it in that way, we're in 2023. Do we need to continue to draw the people in with those type of ideas and then tell them the truth? I think that there might be a place for that still. Okay. Different strokes for different folks, and you're not, like, it's going to appeal to some people. But it was a fictional character in my head. Yeah, but still there's some people's minds that work that way. And it drew you in, right? It did. Right. And as children, that's what we are, that's what our world is about at a young age. You watch cartoons and that stuff, so that's your reality, right? Gotcha, gotcha. You outgrew it, and we all do, hopefully. Hopefully. So a religious way of thinking caused me to be very judgmental as I got older. Yeah, it usually does. And what happened is, if it wasn't the way that I was taught that it's supposed to be, especially in the church, everything else was wrong. It's like, here's a segment from the movie Waterboy. Waterboy had went to school, and the teacher had asked him, what's a medulla oblongata? And Waterboy was like, well, Mama said. To him, that was the truth, right? And the teacher was like, nah, Mama was wrong. And he got pissed. Really upset, yes, he did. I think that's what we're in right now, based upon religion. Nothing crosses what you believe in your head to be? Are we that critical to people? Thank you. Great word. Are we that programmed to say women cannot wear pants in a building? Well, that's religion right there, as far as I'm concerned. 100%. Because where in the Bible does it say that? I'm still searching. Yeah, and you will be for the rest of your days, because they don't say it. Yeah, I'm still searching for it. Yeah. But that's what we created. The word says don't add or take away. Come on. Now, haven't we added a whole bunch of crap? Yes, we did. And we've probably taken stuff away, too, but. We say it, the Bible says. No, we don't. I mean, no, it doesn't. The Bible says that women cannot preach, and women can't wear this, and no makeup. It goes on and on and on, and yep, some of y'all are judging me right now, I know, but I'd rather expose it, because it doesn't say that. It doesn't say that they're just these terrible people. And that divides the body, which is absolutely against what the word says. And when there's division, there's devil. Come on. And also, if you're going to go that way, then you're just magnifying your own self and diminishing the one who really should get the credit for everything, in my opinion. Yes, ma'am. And anyway. No, no, you're good. We own it now, and we've got to be transparent. It's getting touchy. I'm sweating. It's getting touchy. But I'd rather talk about it due to the fact that if we can't have a wholesome conversation about it, there are people that will continue to believe that it's okay. It's okay to be critical, to say to someone, hey, until you are qualified and you have a stamp of approval by me, you can't preach and preach the gospel. Let's talk about Isaiah 61. It says, God has anointed me to preach the gospel, the good news to the poor, to the brokenhearted, to set the captives free. It did not say I need your approval. And I have to go to school and I have to do this, that, and the other and go to seminary and all that. Hey, hey, I haven't read it. I haven't read it. Jesus repeated it. He repeated it. All of the prophets in the Bible, they all were big studiers, and they all were really into their books and their rules and stuff. I don't know. They went to the university of what? Okay. Gotcha. Of Bible. Yeah, yeah. And it's funny because we've read scripture before. We know when Jesus showed up and the religious people were there, and he was like… What are you doing? What are you even talking about? What are you about? They said, how can you heal a person on the Sabbath? He was like, well, what, I got to wait till Monday? Yeah, but you did not want me to heal them at all. Only come on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. I'm only open between hours. Exactly. And that's to me. And you have to have a shirt and shoes or no service. That's how religion has presented it to me. Yeah. It's like you can only speak a word into somebody or believe for their healing on a certain day. Where do we see that? Or if you're educated. Or if you've gone to seminary. Or if you've gone to this, that, and the other. Some of you may be thinking, my pastor or the person that I go to church with, he says that they can lay hands on you. I get it. Okay. So let's talk about scripture. There was a woman. She had an issue for about 12 years. Yeah, that poor thing. My, my, my. I can't imagine. Especially for women. God bless you all. 12 days may be a day. Yes, that's one thing that happens all the time, but you know. 12 years? That's crazy. And help me if I'm seeing this different, but I promise you, she got upset, angry, and she got frustrated, and also she got desperate. And she got her way, pressed her way through that crowd, and she just touched him. He never touched her. No, and just the hem of his garment. The hem. Yes. He never touched. You're telling me he didn't lay hands on her? No. He didn't put no oil? No. What? He didn't. He knew this power went out from him. He felt the power. He felt the virtue leave his body and go into that woman. And not only was she healed, but the Bible says she was made whole. That means she'll never deal with that issue again. So are you telling me that we have to wait to call a certain person from Texas to bring him in for a conference, to get healed, and then we got to pay $6.99 for per clone? That is anti-Christ. Wow. If you got to pay for anything prophetic or any healing other than medical healing, because yes, we have to pay for that, that's wrong. Yes, ma'am. It was freely given. It was. That was one of the last things Jesus did before he was arrested. He went to church, and he saw that people were selling miracles, signs, selling them. Come on up here. Let me tell you what God said, but it's going to cost you $49.95 plus tax. Every month. Every month. Yeah, I know somebody's like, man, screw you. I ain't listening to this podcast no more. Listen, I just want to talk to you about it. Can you honestly say that that has helped you? Has that helped in any capacity? Well, but you know, okay, so in the medical field, there's placebos, right? And placebos are like basically sugar pills. They do nothing to you, but they work on your mental capacity to make you think that you're being healed by this pill. It's the same type of thing, right? It's a placebo. It's a fake. And I'm not saying that prophets are fake, because they're not. The word says all of us prophesy in part. Yes. All. It doesn't say just Nathan or just Shelby or, you know, whatever. You have to be 36 years old or whatever. It says all. That means all. Yes. So whoever you are out there listening, you have the power to be prophetic in part. And we all add together to get the whole thing. Somebody's like, what are you talking about? You got to be, you know, this and that, and you got to go through school, and you got to do this. Let's talk about Jeremiah, and I'm going to bring the scripture every single time. Jeremiah, in the book of Jeremiah, God said to him, I ordained you from the womb. Who? From the womb. He came out as, okay. Yeah. We can read it. He didn't have to get educated. He wasn't 37. Nope. Oh, okay. Nope. He wasn't 43. Like he came out from the womb in that way. But that's the Holy Spirit working within that person. Like you just can't be out there thinking you're prophesying, and you're just making up your own whatever. We call it prophelying. There you go. But you have to, yeah, you have to have the Holy Spirit. Gotcha. In order to be a true prophetic. What this is, outside of dialogue, and I hope nobody is offended, what we're trying to do is kind of put a better understanding of the Holy Spirit, and take away from the man-made created things to suit a certain area or to suit a certain thing. Yeah, the rules and regulations. Of that, of that one entity. Of that sect. Yes. Yeah, or body or whatever you want to call it. Why can't we accept the Holy Spirit giving us guidance and to lead us, as the Bible says, into all truth, but we would rather settle for someone else to tell us, hey, if you do this, then this is going to happen. But if you don't do this, then you're going to be, like I don't, I can't quite understand that. Most of the time it's not just do one thing, it's A, B, C, D. You have to do step one, two, three, four. Yeah. And then, and then. Yeah. And then you got to go to so-and-so. And then so-and-so is going to go to God. Hmm. No, you just get in your quiet place, go talk to him yourself. He could be on the toilet. He don't care. Thank you. I promise I got a lot of words. Because mamas, mamas when they have little babies, they don't get any quiet time. And sometimes that's the only place. And believe me, there's a lot of mamas crying in that room. Yes, indeed. And crying out to God, asking for help. So he don't care. He just wants you to ask. Toilet worship. I have it all the time. I just do. That's my favorite place. I think that we've taken out of content how loving, how gracious, and how wonderful God is. And we've put the limits on God. Because we're human and we can't understand anything outside of our own humanity. But if we were told that we was never going to understand it, why are we still trying to put understanding on it? And sending people left and they're supposed to go right. God said, my ways and your ways will never line up. My thoughts and your thoughts will never line up. So why are we still trying? Because I think that to a certain degree it's just natural humanity that we want to understand. And we fear things we don't understand. That's fact. Now you are supposed to have a reverent fear for God. Absolutely. But you're not supposed to fear him. You're supposed to be afraid. It's a respect. Yeah. And reverence. Absolutely. There would be a lot of theologians that would challenge you on that. Due to the fact of what happened when the flood hit. And only Noah was there. And God was talking to Noah. And he said, hey, go get your family. A couple of animals. There would be some people that would say, hey, you're telling me that God don't get angry? He says vengeance is mine. Did you not see Jesus flip tables? In fact, I did. The word says he flipped tables. He scolded his own apostles. He would talk to his disciples like, hey, why is your faith so small? Why? What's going on? But his loving demeanor, they didn't take it critical. Like today, in today's society, we can't say nothing without someone being offended. Everyone walks around with ruffles and Doritos on their shoulders. Everybody got a chip. So if I say, hey, yeah, I struggle with marrying two men. Are you going to crucify me for saying I, this is me? If I struggle with doing it in the position that I hold, why I got to be put on the cross? You're talking about officiating. Yes. Yes. Not marrying. You're not going to marry. Got to clear that up, y'all. David's not marrying any man. Let me clear that up real quick. Yes, to hold that type of ceremony, I officiate it. If I choose to say no, why are you going to put me on the cross? Why are you going to kill me for that? Because the enemy has allowed us to be so divided that that's all we see. And we are ready for a fight at any given minute. And we're looking for fights, I think, too, instead of handing out grace, instead of living in that place. I think we're living in a spot of ego and judgment. Yes, and worried about what someone else would say if they saw you doing a certain thing or a certain entity. I struggle with that. I struggle with that. I question that a lot. But I live that. Here's my honesty. I lived that for a long period of time. I hid behind religion because I grew up. I don't think you're the only one. Amen. Thank you. Thank you for saying that. A whole bunch. Thank you. And I hid behind it so well to where you couldn't tell me different. I compare myself from a knowledge standpoint. I compare myself to Saul. And I was drilled so much as a kid and growing up and seeing a lot that no one could go back and forth or debate me about Bible. I got you. You knew it. Yeah, I'm owning it. You do know it. I mean, you know it better than just anybody I know. I'm ready. I'm ready to debate people. And I was so religious to the point where I literally was like, man, can't nobody mess with me? I'm the reverend. I cried. It was. It was so bad, Cheryl. And I don't care about your judgment now because that was many years ago. The kicker was I felt like it was a road of Damascus type of situation. My eyes were blinded, and I became innocent like a baby again, and I just absorbed. Even today, I can be talking to people, whether they're pastors, leaders, apostles, all them other positions, and they'll be saying some crap. And I'll just sit there like, I'm not going to go back and forth. Like Harry. Like Harry yesterday. Harry. Jesus. Harry was on a roll yesterday. I'd rather not go back and forth because if you're trying to prove a point that you have more knowledge or more of this or more of that, yeah, I'm not going to do it no more. I'd rather for my actions. But that's, I mean, really, that comes from ego. It does. Yeah. And so the anti-Christ, that's not what you're supposed to be. Because everybody wants to be right. Right. And we all do. Yeah. We struggle. That's across the board. That's not even just religion. That's across the board. No. Everybody wants to be right. Right. But we forget about grace. Yes. Yes. Yes. For ourselves, too. An analogy that was given to me a couple of weeks ago. I was driving somewhere and saw Psalms 23. Everybody know that particular Psalm. Either I walk through the valley and I'm watching this. And then it got to the fifth verse and it says, grace and mercy shall follow me all the day. I said, so I can't dodge it? No, it doesn't say on every fifth Tuesday or seven days out of the month. Oh, my God. No. All your days. All. In between or you only get grace on. A couple hours. Tuesday is the best day for you to get grace. Right. If you don't make it before seven o'clock. Because we can't do it on the Sabbath. Oh, man. It's a joking type of laughter thing. But, my God, you all. The truth is, it says all the days of my life. So why are we not receiving the grace? Why are we still being critical? Because we are programmed by our media and by other outside influences that that's not the right way. How are we building relationships? We are not. Do you see us building relationships? We're building relationships with our technology. Whoa. I need that one. My very best one is my favorite. Oh, my God. You're telling me that we have every kind of relationship with technology and not people? Yeah. Jesus Christ. That is true. Yeah. The most intimate relationship is with our phones. Yeah. And if you think about it, since the AI stuff is coming out, it's all going to be perverted. I don't mean sexually perverted. I just mean. No, perversion is. It's going to be everywhere. Yeah. The AI thing is going to be everywhere. And, you know, something that occurred to me the other day, because when I upload our videos, I have to go through audio.com. Well, I went to look at our files the other day, and there's a description of what we're talking about. I didn't write it. It's AI. It already has it? Yes, as soon as I download the podcast. What? And it is right. It is correct. Talk about scary. I didn't write anything. I didn't put anything down. I just put in the title, and that's it. And it listens to it, I guess. I don't know. Somehow. You know, I actually experienced that just on my phone one time. Like, I was talking to someone about Nikes, and it was a certain shoe that I was speaking about. I go on Facebook, and they got 25 ads of the shoe that I was speaking about. Anyways, let's get back to religion and relationship, because technology is the devil. Well, thank you for bringing it out. It's not. It's not. It can create damage between us. It has eroded relationships. Yes. And the ability to communicate and the ability to relate to each other. Okay, she said it. Those were the words I was looking for. We don't communicate anymore. No. We have a great relationship. It's sad to say that your phone give more time than the person. The person you're sitting with? Your phone give more time than God. Oh, damn. That's fact. I'm saying. Wow. We spend more time with our phones. We take our phones to the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, every which way. The last time you just kind of just got away and went to that secret place where God dwells and just have that moment with him without distraction. Which can be anywhere. It doesn't have to be an actual secret place. It can just be a quiet moment anywhere. Yeah, we didn't get. We're not talking about in your corner. Go build something. You have to go have a quiet place with God. Anywhere. Driving a car. No matter. Absolutely. But the religious spirit would tell you it has to be a formal prayer closet with all kinds of stuff, which is nice if you have that. I wish I had one, but I'm just saying that's not required. It took me a long time to really understand that because I thought for a long time, even into my adulthood, that I had to go only to a prayer closet. Really? To get my prayers answered. Really? So you didn't think you could just pray anywhere? No. So what if a plane's going down and you're on the plane? You have to go, where's my closet? I can't pray. Wait. Don't kill me yet. Get into the closet. No. Like for a long time because it was, I guess, embedded in my brain to think that that's where God answers your prayers. Wow. No, he's infinite. He can be anywhere and everywhere all at once. And hearing multi-million people talking to him at one time. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. But I believe that's where, and we're speaking about religion, that's where the concept of law and legalism and religion came in because it was embedded and it made people believe just that and nothing else. There was no freedom behind it. It was just only the closet. But religion exalts man. Relationship exalts God. Say it again, please. Because religion is all about what man thinks is right and wrong. And relationship is all about God. And you don't even have to worry about what he thinks is right or wrong. You just have a relationship with him and the Holy Spirit will work in you to straighten you out and forgive you and have you forgive yourself and give grace to yourself and give grace to others and live in those spaces. Yes, I agree. But it's never perfected until we go home. So it's a journey every day and it's a struggle every day because we have, we live in a fallen world where the enemy gets to be in charge. But he's lost. The battle's already won and he's been conquered so he can mess with us and poke at us but that's all he can do. That's it. He has no other authority of taking us out in any kind of way. Any kind of way. My God. Listen, we want to finish this. We're probably going to have a part two to this so tune back in. Word of Mouth podcast with Nate and Shelby. Love y'all. We'll be right back.