Lord of All or Not at All

Episode Transcript
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Harry Valentine (00:01):
Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three.

Pastor Brent McQuay (00:12):
Hey, and welcome to Between Sermons. We
are live and I'd love to be
able to connect with you. If you
got comments as we're going, I'd love
for you to jump in the chat.
I am Brent McQuay. I'm one of
the lead pastors here at Christian Life
center. And this is Between Sermons, where
we are continuing the conversation from Sunday.
Because Sunday, Sunday sermon, it's really. It's

(00:32):
a monologue. There's a guy on a
stage talking at a group of people.
And so what we'd love to do
is be able to take that conversation
and really turn it into dialogue. And
so to help me do that, I
am joined, as always, by the wonderful
co host Tyesha Beasley.

Ti'heasha Beasley (00:47):
Welcome. And man, I'm so proud of
you. Your intros are getting doper and
doper.

I don't know about that.

Ask them to engage with you.

Yeah, I forgot the whole like and
subscribe stuff.

Yeah, but you one win at a
time.

We're getting there.

I'll take the win of engaging.

So we're getting better and better.

Yes. I love that. But we're gonna
have some fun today because we have
special guest. Pastor Harry Valentine's joining us.

Man, this is amazing.

You haven't been on since the.

Beautiful. Great job.

Thank you.

This is amazing. I'm glad to be
here.

Yeah.

I'm looking forward to.

You're an old timer for the conversation.
Yes, indeed.

He is an og. So go check
out some of those old podcasts. He's
been on several episodes. So we're happy
to have you jo us today.

Glad to be here.

Yeah. And so we. This is a
fun one because we actually just started
a brand new series. Right. We are
in our Christmas series, which is name
dropping. And I know that's kind of
a weird thing to be doing for
Christmas. Like when we. When we put
it on the schedule, we're like, this
is weird for the holidays, but we'll
talk about Emmanuel on Christmas. It'll be

(01:54):
great. It'll fit, it'll make sense. Totally.
But really, this, the kind of the
premise for this, if I can just
kind of give an overview, is that
the Bible gives us tons of names
for God. Like, there's a bunch of
them. There's these covenant names and then
there's other names. There's just a lot.

(02:14):
And it's not because God is having
this identity crisis, like he can't figure
out who he is. So call me
something different every day. No, no, no.
It's because each of these names, it's.
I guess the best way to put
it is it's a revelation of who
he really is. Right. Like, as you
know him by a name, you're getting
to know an aspect of God, but
God is so monumental, so massive, so

(02:36):
huge, that there's. There's a lot of
qualities to his character. And so each
name kind of reveals to us a
little bit more about him. Like, my
name, Brent, doesn't really reveal anything about
me. It's just.

I think it does.

It just what you say to get
my attention. But with God, these names
are actually meant to reveal to us
who he is, but also, to a
degree, kind of show us our relationship
to him. That often his name gives
us a name. And so by calling
him one thing, it's inviting us to

(03:10):
live a certain way and to look
at him in a certain way. And
so just. We're gonna spend five weeks
kind of talking through five names. We
just picked five, and we had. I
think we had a list of, like,
20.

I was gonna say, was it random?

I mean, not really. So the randomness,
I guess, of it is. So we
had a list of. I think I
put together a list of, like, 20
names that I thought were significant.

You thought. And then it was just.

Yeah, it was just me. I came
up with a list of 20 and
then. Which. How things often work around
here. And so I took my list
of 20 to our. We do a
sermon planning team every week. So, like,
when I'm up on stage, it's not
just my voice that you're hearing. It's
actually. It's a group of people. And
so at that sermon planning a couple

(03:54):
months ago or a couple weeks ago,
I don't remember when we took that
list of 20 and we said, okay,
what do you guys think? And we
had already tagged which communicators we're gonna
be communicating. So, like, my wife and
I are preaching the next message. My.
I think it's. Is it my mom?

The week after that?

I can't remember now, but, yeah, I
think it's my mom is the week
after that. And then I think it's
me again. And then it's my dad.
And so we sat there, and each
person kind of got to pick the
thing that was, like, speaking the most
to them. And the only thing I
said, though, is I was like, I've
got Adonai. Y'all can do whatever you
want to do. I've got oh, and

(04:30):
I have Emmanuel because I'm preaching for
Christmas. So I'm like, I'm doing Emmanuel
and I'm doing Adonai. The rest fight
over it.

Okay, let's pause there. Why did you
want Adonai?

So, yeah, so I have this strong
conviction that Adonai is. And I was
kind of, you know, I teased people
on Sunday that, you know, if they
don't agree with me on this, it's
their right to be wrong. But the
reality is, like, the truth is, all
of God's names are important for me.

(05:01):
I think in this season, I feel
strongly that the name Adonai is the
most important name that we can have
for God. Because in my mind, it's
the thing that sets up every other
name. And so I was like, I.
We're starting the series. I'm preaching week
one. And week one has to be
on Adonai.

Yeah, I think you were in the
spirit. I feel like we all are
feeling that, man. We gotta make God
Lord, and it's almost like we have
no choice.

Yeah.

So before I just give my two
cents, what did you think of the
message? How is that Lordship Adonai? How
is that settled?

Yeah. Yeah. I guess we should say.
It's hard to jump in. Adonai means
Lord in Hebrew.

Yeah.

Kind of buried the lead in case
you didn't actually see the message, right?

No, I think the message was right
on. It was a great word. I
think, you know, just thinking about identifying
with Jesus as Savior, to most people,
it's easier to do because he's saving
me from sin, he's saving me from
myself. It's this part where you reach
that lordship moment that you tend to

(06:08):
struggle because it's easy to give Jesus
your sin and your brokenness. But if
it's an area that you don't really
feel is broken, that he's calling broken
and saying, I need to be Lord
over that, that's where the tussle comes
in. And so most times when you're
discipling or you're connecting with somebody in

(06:29):
the faith community and you're talking about
giving God your all, they have a
list of all. And it's very short.
It's like, I could give you this.
But when he says, I'm Lord over
all things, this is the difference. This
is when you're going into. Okay, this
is the discipleship. This is becoming a

(06:51):
disciple when Jesus is now Lord. Remember,
the Bible says that he's Lord and
Savior. And so we have to make
sure that when we set our list
that it. It says, number one, all,
number two, all. Number three, all. So.

Yeah. And that's when. When you start
having to list what quantifies as all
you messed up.

Right.

Like, all just means all.

Because I was making a list.

But no, and I think you're spot
on. I think the Messiah, you know,
being savior is easier for us to
roll with because it doesn't in our
minds. And this is a wrong thought,
but in our minds, it doesn't require
anything.

True.

It's just saying, oh, he saved me.
So awesome. I'm good now.

Yes.

But when you say Adonai, when you
say Kyrios the Greek for Lord, you're
saying you are in charge. And if
you're going to say it, then you
have to live it.

That's right.

And that's. That's the part that is
not as fun.

Yeah.

It's not fun at all. Because again,
I think that this is. Maybe it's
just me. I'm not going to speak
for everybody. This is the season I
feel like I'm in where I felt
like, okay, I've given God the broken
areas. I've given him. You know, I've.
I've submitted to him when it comes
to, like, sin and not doing this,
But I feel like in this season,
he's showing me areas that needs to

(08:20):
be submitted to him in a way
that I didn't think like, needed to
be submitted. I just thought it was
a part of me and my character
and who I was like. And God
is like, no, this needs to fall
under submission to me. And so, man,
break that down. How that looks for
a person who feel like, you know,

(08:40):
I'm good. I'm not out here sinning.
I've submitted my brokenness. Like, so how
do I walk this out daily? I
don't know who wants to chime in
first, but, yeah, I would just.

Say it is daily and it's in
every area. Like, you kind of make
the decision for everything, but then you
have to follow it up with specific
decisions. Right. So it's like I'm surrounding
everything. Well, then you're on your drive
to work and somebody cuts you off
and you want to say some things.

(09:11):
Okay. In that moment, regarding the person
that just cut you off, are you
submitted to Jesus? Right. And then, you
know, your boss gives you an assignment
and you forgot to do it. And
you know that your boss is gonna
be coming at you. And so in
your mind, you've already come up with
a great lie for why you didn't
do it, a great excuse. And you're
like, you Know, I'm just gonna, I'm

(09:32):
just gonna, you know, I'm gonna say
this and it's just, it's a little
white lie. It's just gonna, it's gonna
keep me from getting fired and then
I'll go and do the thing that
I was supposed to do. Okay, but
are you submitted in that moment to
the lordship of Jesus? And so it's
like every day, in every way, are
we submitted?

Yeah. Surrender is a decision. It's being
in that moment or that cross road
to decide am I going to hold
on to this and hold it tight,
or am I going to open my
hand and give it to God? That's
what we battle with every day as

(10:13):
believers. And I think some things you
could prepare for, to say, hey, in
this area, yes, I'm going to do
X, Y and Z. But some things
in life are just going to happen
where you're going to actually be revealed,
where you're going to realize, like, hey,
I haven't submitted that perhaps this season
is what's bringing that up to the

(10:34):
surface. And now I have to deal
with and come face to face with
this very thing. And now I have
a decision to make. Am I going
to resist, shout, kick, scream, bite to
just hold on to it? Or will
I surrender and say, lord, be the
Lord that I will. I would love

(10:57):
for you to be in my life.
And I think it's when you make
those decisions that God can then open
you up to be more like Jesus.
Because time and time again we see
Jesus surrendering himself, saying that, it's not
my will, it's my father's will every
single time. And so in that example,
we have to make sure and do
this inventory of ourselves to say, what

(11:20):
are some areas that I have to
say? Not my will, but your will,
Father, and give it to him, whatever
it looks like. And I think in
a more practical way, it's just looking
at yourself in the mirror and saying,
I struggle here. Yeah, Lord, take it
and he'll do the rest.

Yeah. And sometimes that, that can be
hard for us to even identify for
sure. I think that's why we need
relationship with people where they can be
pointing out our blind spots. It's like,
my wife becomes the greatest metric in
my life, my submission right to the
Lord, because she's like, hey, the way
you talk to the kids just now,
hey, you know, we really needed some

(11:59):
help in this area and you didn't
help out like, yeah, it's like, ooh,
ooh, ooh. So, okay, I'm going to
ask a very personal question.

Sure.

Of everyone. Feel free. Because this is
a public setting. It's a public setting.
I don't know how vulnerable you want
to do. I was thinking about it
when Harry's talking, and I'll answer as
well. But I'm curious if you would
be so honest in this moment to
share. What's the area that you have
the hardest time submitting in right now?

(12:32):
Like, not you 10 years ago, but,
like, Monday morning, the day after hearing
a message about the lordship of Jesus?
What's the area that's like.

I feel like it's a test. So
we gotta pass it. Because he's actually
our lead pastor and our.

This has nothing to do with your
employment. It's not an employment. Questions.

We will be.

Because I think. I think that this
is beneficial for people because if we
can talk through where we're struggling, maybe
it'll help somebody else figure out how
they can navigate it. So if I
need to go first, I can go
first. Leaders lead the way, right?

That's right.

Okay. So I think two areas that
I'm personally struggling with more than I
realized, maybe even before I started preparing
the message. And one is my time,
and the other is my personality. And
so what I mean by that is
so my time. There's a lot of

(13:31):
things that I'll do that I know
are just not good time management and
that my time is not fully submitted
to Jesus, where it's like, I woke
up and I knew I was supposed
to do something, but I got lazy
on it, or I dragged my feet
or I moved a little slow, that
thing. And it's usually I'll get there
eventually. But maximizing the. He's given all

(13:56):
of us 24 hours in a day.
How am I utilizing those 24 hours
in service to him? And so I
think that there's. There's been too many
times when I realized that what he
wanted me to be doing with my
time was not what I was actually
doing with my time. And so I
want to get better in this area
of giving him my time. And then

(14:16):
the personality thing, man, I don't know
how much people really know Brent. Like,
Brent is rough around the edges. Like,
he's really coarse. And so, like, there's
a lot of times when I'll just
excuse things off of. Well, it's just
my personality. I'm an introvert. You know,
I'm very blunt. I'm very direct. And
so there's a lot of times when

(14:37):
I'll just say, hey, this is just
who I am, right? Take it or
leave it. But I think that in
this season of my life, there's some
areas of my personality that need to
be submitted to God. That, yeah, I'm
an introvert, but that doesn't have any
bearing on my ability to submit. Yeah,
right. Like if Jesus says to go
talk to a stranger, it doesn't matter
if I'm an introvert or an extrovert.

(14:57):
Like, it just matters that I do
the thing that he told me to
do. And if he tells me to
speak in love and kindness and gentleness
with people, then when I cut them
off, when I'm sarcastic, when I'm just
letting you know that little, little snappy
talk come out, which is prone to
happen with me, I have to keep
those things in greater check. And so

(15:18):
it's one of those areas where, like,
I thought I was doing really good
in both of those areas, but as
I started, like, really looking at, okay,
how submitted am I? Those are the
two areas that I felt like the
Holy Spirit was like, yeah, you can
do better in this.

So good.

That's good.

And you know what? I think with
the one of personality, I sit on
the opposite end in.

Some ways, where Harry is extroverted and
an encourager. So, like, all of the
things I talked about, how my personality
sucks, Harry's like, I'm great.

And being one who loves to connect,
I love to fill in the gap,
right? And oftentimes it's great, it's awesome.
I love it. Right. It's something that
speaks to my spirit, right? To bring
the unified presence into a space, to
be a peacemaker. Right? But there are

(16:12):
times where, because of that personality and
because of I feel as it's a
gift, there's times where I need to
just be the opposite, right? To get
a different result. And because of that,
I'll kick the can in hopes that
perhaps this personality of mine will be

(16:33):
the very thing that bridge.

Okay?

And I identified that, okay, Lord, this
is a space that I've tried and
gotten better at, but this is a
space where I can say, lord, be.
Lord, help me to bring into certain
spaces and certain seasons just the other
side of it. You've been the encourager,

(16:56):
you invested in and put in the
equity to be able to make those
withdrawals. And so just being kind, confident
in those spaces at times. And I've
noticed that when I've switched it to
the other side, not that it's rough
around the edges or anything, I actually
got the outcomes that I didn't think

(17:17):
that I would have. Right. And so
I think for me, that is an
area that I'm trying to surrender more
of. And you would think like, oh,
that's nothing, you're fine. No, it is.
Because as a pastor, you know, you
just know that not everything is going
to be peaches and green all the
time. And learning how to do relationship
with people is not just all about,
you know, it's good, it's hungry, it's

(17:38):
always, it's not always good. So I
think for me that's a space where
to your point, my wife is that
one just to encourage, but to push.
And oftentimes that push don't feel good,
you know, because you know about yourself,
you know, what about you. And so
you're. I'm aware. And then when they
dare point out.

The thing I knew, I know it's.

Something that I'm thinking about already. Right.

I know I'm just not there yet.

I'm not ready to move. Right. And
so because that consistent whisper in your
ear, in love and grace, wanting to
see you just take the next step
to be better, it's not to push
you off a cliff to your ends,
but it's just to push you to
be better. I think that consistent push
has definitely helped me to surrender more
to the Lord, you know, in that

(18:24):
space. But I know that at times
it does brings a level of dissension.
At times, as much I want to
bring unity, it could also bring dissension
within a space if you don't address
those things that you need to address.
So.

So for, for clarity for people listening.
So you've got this encourager, outgoing personality,
but you're also a leader. And as
a leader, there's times when you have
to bring correction.

Correct.

But because of the leaning of your
personality, you've been maybe hesitant to bring
correction into people's lives or into situations
that really required it.

Yes.

Okay.

Yes.

Man, this is so good. So before
I get into my. I just want
to say working for the church is
the fastest way to know all the
areas you need to grow in. Like,
is you on a fast track? Like,
there's no.

I don't know what you're talking about.

It's like a roller coaster working on.
Right. So like for everybody who's seeking
these higher up positions, the crown is
heavy and God will hold you to
a higher standard.

That's true.

Just to be very transparent, maybe five
minutes before I came into the show,
I was like wiping tears away like
you would have never known because I
feel like I'm in a season where
I know that God is stretching me,
and there's some areas I need to
surrender. And I'm waiting for him to
tell me what specifically it is, because
I'm hitting a lot of Walt, I

(19:52):
feel like. So I always felt like
I was a good communicator. That's been
challenged in this season. I've always felt
like I was a good leader. I
feel like that's been challenged. I've always
felt like I was such a nice
person and everybody loves me, and I
feel like that's been challenged. And so
I'm like, God, am I missing something?
Like, I don't want to get emotional,

(20:14):
but, like, am I missing something? So
I feel like, for me, I'm just.
I'm. I've been asking the question since
the sermon yesterday, like, God, am I
fully, you know, submitted, surrendered to you?
What am I missing? Show me. So
I'll let you guys know the full
story, hopefully later. But I'm. I'm in

(20:35):
a space where I don't know fully.
I just know that there are some
areas I need to submit and surrender.

I think that's a. That's a great
posture to have, and I think that
that's probably encouraging for people listening that
maybe be like, I don't know. Like,
I don't know what the area is.
I can probably confidently say there's something
in my life that isn't properly surrendered,
but I don't know what it is.
And I always go back to David's
prayer. He says, search me, oh, God,

(21:02):
know my heart. Point out anything in
me that offends you. And so this
prayer that David's praying, I mean, it
really should become the model prayer for
all of us. That, man, every once
in a while, maybe daily, we should
just say, holy Spirit, man. Just point
out whatever it's in me that's not
submitted. And it's amazing. I think that

(21:23):
you'll start all of a sudden, you'll
do something that you've been doing with
no problem. And then all of a
sudden, Holy Spirit is like, that. I
don't like that. And you're like, but
you were fine with it yesterday. He's
like, no, I wasn't. But you didn't
ask me my opinion yesterday, but you
asked me today. So I'm going to
tell you today. That's what I don't
like.

Yes. And it's even tough because he's
going to probably use someone to help
you realize what that is. And so
you almost have to look past the
person and look at, like, what is
God speaking in this moment? So, man,
the message, listen, y'all, it hit home.
It was such a good convicting message
to just allow us to realign our

(22:04):
heart, not ourselves, but our heart to
the will of God. So let's jump
into the practical ways we can walk
that out. You said, you know, if
you're driving in a car and someone
cuts you off in that moment, you
need to submit to God. Like, how
does that really look in 2024? Like,
you're driving in a car, someone cuts
you off, how does that really look?

(22:25):
Either. Either one of you can answer.

Yeah, so the. The response by Brent
is, you idiot. Right, right. But that's
a non submitted response.

What's a better response?

A better response is, wow, Jesus, help
them stay safe on the road. What
they're doing may not be good. It
may be reckless. Maybe they're heading somewhere,
there's an emergency. God, I just pray
for whatever they're going on that you
would just be with them, that you
would keep them safe and that you
would help whatever. Like, turn frustrations into

(22:57):
prayers.

Yes.

And I think that it's interesting because
we actually see that modeled again by
David all throughout the psalms, where he
would take his frustrations and he would
bring them to God, but he would
turn them into prayers. And at the
end of all of them, even the
ones where he's like, knock out their
teeth. Oh, God. And in the end,
he's saying, but it's on you, not
on me, to bring justice in this.

(23:19):
And so somebody treats you poorly. And,
yeah, you could try and take matters
into your own hands, or you can
say, you know what? I'm going to
let my Lord handle that because he's
the master. He's in charge. And so
I'm going to turn this frustrating moment
into a prayer moment.

That's good.

And I think I would just add
to that. I would just say if
you're driving with worship music on, you're
more likely to not cuss that person
out. But if you're driving while listening
to sports talk radio and you've just
been listening to bears falling apart, and
you're already like, emotion, intention.

I heard the bears have some hope
on the. I don't know if that's
appropriate.

I mean, I don't know, man. I
will say this has nothing to do
with podcasts, but, man, I usually do
not cheer for people losing their job.
No, yeah, I did this last weekend.
I was very, very, very happy that
a Man lost his job. And that
might be an area that I need
to submit. Submit to the Lord. And

(24:17):
I need turn my frustrations into prayers,
Father, give him a great job outside
of the game of football.

I agree. I touch and agree with
that.

Yeah. I think for driving, in terms
of that practical application, for me, I'm
probably the guy that they're honking only
because I don't go anywhere fast. Like,
I'm not.

So you're the issue.

I am. And so if you get
behind me and you have somewhere to
be, trust me, I'm not the guy
to be behind.

So we should just be careful because
the person we're getting frustrated at might.

Be you, might be me, Right? And.
And that's because I've all. I live
by this. I have nowhere to be
fast. I have somewhere to be and
get there safe. I just want to
get there safe. And so because of
that, I am in this very, you
know, cruise control type of mentality, thought
process, even driving. But I can say
I have family members who are not

(25:08):
that at all. Right. They get everywhere.
They go in at least 70 miles
plus. But I think just in to
your.

Point, does their name rhyme with Ristle
Stop?

Yes, and she knows it. She has
a heavy foot. You hear me? Seat
belts all the time.

Look, my car has a sport mode
button for a reason. It should be
used.

Listen, no sports mode, it's just regular
drive. But no, I think that that
practical application, of course we're talking about
driving, but I think it's just in
life, we think about the pace and
the speed of life. And if you
could just slow down a minute and
just really gather yourself and see what
is it worth. Am I, you know,

(25:52):
this frustration, what seed is this actually
sown in my heart? And because it's
all about a heart condition, right? If
you are intentional of making sure the
soil of your heart is good and
healthy, then the seeds that go inside
of your heart will produce the fruits
in the moments that you need it.
And so I think it's just this
constant inventory of just saying, where's my

(26:14):
heart today? Like, it's hurting. I'm feeling
frustrated, I'm irritated and being vulnerable like
David would be before the Lord and
just confessing those things before him to
say, hey, my heart is hurting right
now. I'm struggling in this moment. And
just know that if someone comes and
say something to me, it may not
be the best time for that. Right?

(26:36):
And so I think just taking inventory
of the heart, but then start thinking
I'm just Not in a good place.
So condition yourself to respond the way
Jesus would and not the way that
Harry would or the way that Brent
would. Depending on where I'm at in
life, it's easier to respond in a
God fearing way as Lord, when all
things are going well, it's like things

(26:57):
are, oh, he's so good, God is
faithful.

He'S so good, you know?

Right. But when things are difficult, you
have to condition yourself. And that's what
we have the word for. This is
why we need to eat the word
of God and so that it marinates
within our souls. So when life happens,
it's just this second nature. It comes
out actually it's the first respond, the
first nature of who we are as
our spirit being. And so that's what
comes out as we're putting in what

(27:23):
we put in, it's gonna be what
we put out. So just being mindful
of the words that we use even
in the seasons that we're going through,
I could say that this is terrible,
but I'm not. This is great. You
know, I've learned to just condition myself
to see the hope and see the
beauty in all situations. That way when
things happen as they will, not a
matter of if, it's a matter of

(27:44):
when. When they happen, I'm already conditioned
to respond in a way, even if
I feel differently. And so I think
that's a practical way of just practicing
with your tongue, practicing with your heart
and practicing with your mind to just
say the things that you want to
see, not what you feel.

Yeah.

So good.

Yeah. There's a, there's a principle to
all of this called pre decide. And
if we can learn how to pre
decide some things that in the moment
when the decision is right there in
front of you, if you've already pre
decided how you're going to react or
respond to that, it becomes easier to
navigate. And so like simple example, I
was downstairs, we finish a meeting, go

(28:24):
to my office, pulled out my phone
real quick to check something, open up
Instagram, and the first thing up there
was like a very scantily clad female.
And I was like, where did this
scroll past? It was just like, say
it. Like, I don't need that. But
I've pre decided not to allow social
media to become a place for lust.
And so because that pre decision is

(28:44):
made, I can easily, more easily, I
should say, submit that area of my
life to him. So like I've pre
decided to have a fast scroll. Like
I'm going right past that ain't gonna
not gonna be one of those. Oh,
wait a minute. No, no, no. We're
pre decided we're going past that.

That is so good. Because it. We're
talking about God being Lord. Lord. And
so when you. When you take a
look at your life, whatever area that
sent tends to have you leaning towards
a direction that's not leaning in the
direction of God. You have to have
those preset buttons to hit. You just

(29:20):
have to. Because if you think, oh,
when it happens, I'll just be ready
for it. It's not. You're not going
to be ready for it. Right. And
so practical for me, if I see
young lady walking by, I'm already turning
it. I'm doing one of them. I
see it coming. I give my son
that. He's a teenager, 17, and he's

(29:41):
looking now because of course, he's at
that age. So I say, hey, you
want to help with not looking already
start turning the shoulder, just leaning. This
is like 10, 12, 15 years that
I've practiced this, where it's almost to
the point where it's like now I
don't even. It's not that I even.

It's a muscle.

It's just like, boom. And so you
just have to have the presets in
motion. If I have a difficult conversation
or a heated moment. Right. You preset
button.

What's the preset?

Preset is I'm not getting past this
octane. I'm not going past this level
of back and forth. I'm a hit
here, and that's the end.

As far as we're going.

As far as we're going. And so
I think if you could just have
those presets in you already. You work
them, and as you work them, they
become who you are. And then you
have to make another preset, because once
you get those, something else is going
to happen.

Here's one that's become somewhat controversial these
days, at least in the social media
stuff that I'm watching. So in that
pre decide, one of the areas of
surrender that's really hard for people is
finances. And so I just live. I've
pre decided to tithe. Right? And so
that's first fruit before the money even

(30:58):
hits my account, it's already going out
to the church. Now, the controversy there
is a bunch of people like, man,
we're not supposed to tithe anymore. And,
man, I think that there's both truth
and foolishness in that statement. And I
know this isn't a podcast about tithing,
but here's the point. The Principle in
the Old Testament was to tithe to

(31:18):
set up a. A percentage based giving.
The New Testament principle is generosity. So
are we required to tithe anymore? No,
not at all. However, if your version
of generosity is less than 10%, that's
not generosity. Like, you can't lower the
requirement and call that being generous. Like,

(31:39):
oh, I gotta pay $10 for this.
Okay, I'm gonna pay $10 for this.
I'm being generous. No, you've met the
bare minimum. Like, you're not being generous
when you tip 10% to the waitress.
Like, you're actually being the opposite of
generous. So I just always get in
these heated conversations with people where I'm
like, no, you're right. We're not required
to tithe. We're under grace. And New
Testament tithing is not a required principle.

(32:01):
So you're giving more than 11%, right?
No, no, I'm giving 2%. That's not
generosity. And clearly we see Jesus talk
about generosity, the disciples talk about generosity,
and so. But because. So back to
submission. Because finances is an area where
a lot of people struggle to submit
to God. That's an area of my

(32:21):
life. I've pre decided. So I've got
an automated giving towards my tithe. I've
got an automated giving towards missions. I
had an automated giving that I had
totally forgotten about for our Senegal project.
And the project was over and I
was still giving towards it, but it
was just like, I was just like,
cool. You know, it's more money going
to missions. Like, we're good and so.
But it's one of those things where

(32:42):
it's like, because I pre decided, I
don't have to fight God over it.

Yeah.

Because it's already. It's already done.

That's okay.

And then I can live from that
in a place of. I can be
extra generous with everything else because I've
set up the margins in my life.
So.

Yeah, we need a shirt that says
like presets or something. Like what? They
should be underneath.

Exactly.

Practice patience. You know, that would be
cool because we can work on that.
Maybe for first love or something.

Yeah, Getting all the merch items.

I mean, I'm like just coming to
me right now as we speak. No,
but I really love this conversation. I
love giving the practical. But you nerded
out yesterday, Pastor Brent, when you did
this.

Was it too much? Because I. I'm
usually not a Greek and Hebrew kind
of teacher.

Yeah, but I mean, necessary for me
it wasn't. But let's have the people
vote. No, I'm just playing.

Brent needs to calm it down.

Teaching polls.

You let us know what you think.
We'll take a poll. We're gonna have
a poll.

It was only.

What, like, production team. We got a
poll we can put up. I'm just.

So we did. So we did Yahweh,
Adonai. I guess technically Adon and Adonai.
We did Curios. Oh, we did aed
and we did Doulos. So is that
seven, five, six, seven?

Yes. And I would ask you to
explain those, but we would literally be
here all day. So you have to
go back.

You can't.

Do you want to? Okay, go ahead,
nerd out. This is the fun fact
that is.

This is the moment where you're like,
you know, Brent had a great time
nerding out. Don't do it ever again.

No, go ahead, nerd out. I think
it would be beneficial. Give us the
Greek. And.

Okay, so one of the. I guess.
So my nerd out moment, the thing
that was so cool to me as
I was. I was researching this because,
you know, I'm trying to figure out
an approach to take with Adonai. So
I started actually by looking at the
first mention. There's a principle of first
mentions in the Bible. And so where
does it show up first? It's really

(34:44):
interesting. It shows up first with Abram.
He actually. God promises him all of
this stuff, and Abram responds in one
moment, and he says, oh, Adonai, how's
this gonna happen when I have no
kids and my servant is gonna become
my. Like, the. He's gonna get the
inheritance. And so it's actually the first

(35:06):
time that God is called Lord is
almost sarcastic in a way. It's like.
It's like Moses or Abrams not being
sarcastic. Abrams kind of being like, look,
you're right. You're the master, right? Make
it happen, right? Like, how's this gonna
work? And so, like, I started thinking
about going in that direction, but as

(35:28):
I just kept pulling out Scripture, that's
when I started to notice these passages
by David where he said, the Lord.
I said to the Lord, said to
my Lord. And I'm like, that's weird
grammar. Like, Lord, Lord. Like, why is
that in both places? And that's when

(35:49):
I'm paying attention to the fact that
the first Lord was all capitalized. The
second Lord was only the L was
capitalized. I'm like, that's interesting. I wonder.
I wonder what that signifies. And this
is. Honestly, I'd never really approached it
before. I kind of, in My mind
always just assumed the full Lord was
in all caps was just God, and
the uppercase l was just anybody else.

(36:11):
But that's not the case. Right. So
Lord in all caps is God. It's
the word Yahweh, but because Yahweh is
so holy, they would actually change it
to Lord. And so sometimes our English
Bible translates it as Jehovah, sometimes as
Yahweh, sometimes as God, kind of depending
on your translation. But that's the all

(36:32):
caps, though, when it's only the L
is capitalized wherever it falls in the
sentence, it's actually the word Adonai. And
it is this idea of Lord of
Lords, that there is no Lord that
could possibly be greater than this one,
that this is the supreme ruler. And
so when David says. I mean, it's
like it's a clear call to Jesus's

(36:53):
divinity. In David Psalms, when he says
God, Yahweh says to my Lord. And
David says that when he's the King
of Israel. Like, the King of Israel
doesn't have a Lord, but David did.

Yeah, that's right.

And so he says, the Lord says
to my Lord. And when I. When
I started to see that, and I
was like, okay, but David's a Lord
too. But if David was written in
the Bible as a Lord, it would
be all lowercase. And so then it
was just this. Oh, this is really
interesting how it's. Sometimes it's Yahweh, and
then when it's the capital L, it's
Adonai. And when it's all lowercase, it's

(37:29):
Adon. And so like, that just fascinated
me as a nerd. And so I
was like, all right, this is the
direction we're gonna go. I'm just gonna.
I'm gonna nerd out with people. I'm
gonna teach people the difference. But I
think ultimately the goal of the message
was to recognize that his identity gives
me an identity.

Yes.

That if his name is L O,
R D, Lord, then my name is
Servant. And so if his name is
Adonai, then my name is A Ved.
If his name is Greek, Kurios, then
my name is the Greek Doulos. It's
just whatever language it's in, he's Lord
and I'm Servant.

That's heavy.

Name drop.

I mean, and that's how you drop
a name. Like, that's how you name
drop.

You drop a name.

Have you ever name dropped? I know
that was a question.

Oh, yeah, that was a good question.
Yeah.

Who you name drop?

No, no, now, and the reason. And
it's not. It's. It's because it's uncomfortable
for me to name drop because I've
seen name dropping go wrong.

Give us an example how it went
wrong.

I thought that this name was going
to give you access, and in return,
it got you to the back of
the line. Right? Just a moment. And
I think when we talk about name
dropping as it relates to our Lord
and our Savior, it's a difference. Like
in this human experience, when we name
drop, we're thinking that it's getting us
something, getting us something better, right? Putting

(38:58):
us in a position that we want
to be in. If I drop this
name here. But essentially, that's the wrong
heart posture to have when it comes
to obtaining things. It's just you've placed
your trust in an individual. If I
use this name, perhaps that'll get me
somewhere, right? But now we flip that
in terms of who we are as
believers of Jesus Christ. There was a

(39:20):
moment in Mark where the disciples, John,
came to Jesus and said, hey, we
saw this man using your name, casting
out demons. And we told him to
stop.

Yeah, like, he's not a part of
our group, right?

He's not with us. What is he
doing? And Jesus said, no, yeah, no,
it's okay. Let him use my name.
Because it's going to be evidence of
the weight that my name holds, right?
And so you see, in that moment,
he's not a part of the group,
but he believe in the name for
the name to work, right? And so
when it comes to name dropping as

(39:56):
a believer, when you drop that name
Jesus, and you believe in that name
Jesus, you have accessed all that he
has and the power that he carries.
Now you have the access to do
it. And so that was a great
moment for me. When I read that,
I'm like, that is so good, right?
Because he said in Acts that.

You.

Will have access to those who have
access to if you believe. And it's
in that name that you would cast
out devils, right? You would heal the
sick. And it was that name in
my name. And so when we look
at that, for those who believe, it's
in that name that we have access

(40:38):
to do the things that he called
us to do in terms of the
Great Commission. And it's to carry the
gospel of the good news of Jesus
Christ throughout this world. And so name
dropping for me has never been a
thing. But I could say that name
is the name that changed my life.
And we're talking 17 years of a
life change because of that name. And
that's the name that I'm dropping everywhere
I go.

Yep.

Mike drop. I mean, you can't drop
this mic, but we spiritually dropped a
mic. No, that was awesome. So I
do have a question that I've been
sitting here pondering. Okay, so we are
to live submitted, and we should have
the presets. But. Okay, so going to

(41:16):
your point, are we always supposed. Is
the preset always happiness? Like, is being
submitted to God? Is it always, like
the fluffy thing to do? Or is
there a moment where he might call
you to be silent or to be
still or to speak or, you know,
I don't know, is there other presets

(41:37):
outside of happiness?

Absolutely.

Because I've been feeling like lately, like
I'm not happy enough, I'm doing something
wrong.

So the biggest preset is Jesus says,
if you're going to be my disciple,
if you're going to follow after me,
then you have to take up your
cross. Does that sound happy to you?
Is that joyful? Is that exuberant? No,
it's not. It's sacrifice. And so submission,
when you're submitted to God, when life

(42:05):
is easy, but not when life is
hard, then you're not really submitted, right?
Like, you're just going along with what's.
What's good for you. That's what. That's
why, like, we talk sometime about prosperity
Gospel and how much I like nails
on a chalkboard. For me, like, I
can't stand it because it's so anti
Bible. And it's like, how do you
take something from scripture that scripture is

(42:25):
directly opposed to? And so, but it's
this. This idea that submission is in
the good and in the bad. Like,
you've got to be submitted to him
when you're wandering in the desert for
40 years and you're submitted to him
when you're in the promised land. But
like, you're submitted to him in both
places or you're not really submitted.

Yeah, that's good. Yeah.

I think the fruits of the Spirit
helps you to submit because it's not
that we. The emotional side of things,
of feeling a certain way that fluctuates.
Because I could get up, hit my
toe and it hurts. And I'm going
to express the way that I feel.
Right. But in the fruit of the
Spirit, and when life gets difficult, I

(43:09):
have the opportunity to choose joy. And
of course, James tells us that when
trials and tribulations come, it's not if,
is when. When they come. And so
they're here. He said choose joy before
he gets into anything else. He said
it for you. This is what you're
going to choose in that. And guess
what? Joy is the fruit of the
Spirit. And so becoming more like the
Spirit is being more like Christ. Absolutely

(43:30):
right. And so as I choose joy
in the midst of this storm, a
midst of chaos, it's actually me choosing
God as my Lord because I want
to be the very thing and the
very nature and the character of who
he is, because he doesn't change. We
look at the story in the Bible
with Jesus on boat, and the winds

(43:52):
are everywhere and the waves are hitting
the boat, and he's resting peacefully, taking
it out. And us, if we were
all there.

We would be one of the best
things in the Bible. If you got
chaos in your life, just take a
nap.

Exactly.

Is that really what that means?

Totally.

What was he exactly taking up? Take
a nap.

Take a nap. Because at this point
in my life, I'm in learning stage.
So you say take a nap.

Like, you know what I think? But
I think the disciples did what we
would do in the midst of all
of this water, we're going to panic,
we're going to freak out. Instead, he's
saying, hey, come down here, Lay next
to me, right? Rest. And so I
had to come up and show you

(44:37):
what it looks like to be with
not only Savior, but Lord who controls
all things, who has the power over
all things. I think that's a great
lesson for us. In the midst of
all things that's happening, whether we like
them or not, we have access to
the name that will bring peace to
the winds and settle the seas.

I want to jump in with just.
I can feel somebody thinking right now,
you guys have been talking about, this
isn't easy. This is hard. Like, why
would I even want to submit to
him as Lord? And so I think
that there is. There's the. I'm going
to categorize this as the Brent answer
and the Soul answer. I actually had
a conversation with my wife just yesterday

(45:18):
where she was like, you know, I
appreciate your bluntness and your directness, but
we need to find, you know, ways
of motivation and gentleness and softness. And
so we'll call this the Brent answer
and the Soul answer. And the Brent
answer for why should you submit is
simply because he told you to. Like,
he's God and you're not, and he's
Lord and you're not. And he said,

(45:39):
submit, like, in all of your ways,
submit to me. And so we do
it simply because we are commanded to
we're instructed to. And so I meant
it in the message. Multiple times I
said, you have a choice. You either.
If he's Lord, you either submit or
you rebel. And anytime we see in
Scripture God's people in rebellion, it doesn't
end very well for them. Right. So

(46:00):
if for selfish reasons, just submit because
he's a better Lord than you are.
But then the soul answer to this
is that there is so much joy
and peace and life given to you
when you are submitted that it's in
the submission that you find all these
other names of God. It's in recognizing

(46:21):
him as Lord and saying, I'm surrendering
my ways to you. And where you
lead me, that's where I'm going to
follow. And then all of a sudden,
you recognize him as, oh, he is
my shepherd. Like, he's been leading me
and guiding me and feeding me and
protecting me. And he is Jehovah Rapha.
He is my healer, and he's Jehovah
Jireh. He is my provider, and he's
taking care of my needs. But it's
because I've. I've surrendered these things to

(46:42):
him. When I'm trying to fix it
myself, I mess it up. When I
let him fix it, it's so much
better.

Yeah.

So I think the why we submit
is, first of all, it's commanded. And
second of all, it's for your benefit.

That's good. Good job. If you could
just keep that balance.

That's why I married Soul. Soul is
my balance. And I actually, next Sunday,
we're going to team teach. So you're
going to get beautiful, the balance. We'll
figure out how that works.

I mean, you're good. You to the
point. We get the message.

No doubting, but everybody likes Soul more.

No, it's.

It's. We've been married for a while
now.

You've accepted it. Okay.

People tolerate me so they can spend
more time with her. I get it.

I'm trying to think, is that what
I do? No, I'm just like. No.
I genuinely like both of you.

Sure.

Praise God. Praise God for that. Now
we're getting to my favorite part. Before
we end the segment, we always come
up with the best takeaway from this
sermon. So are you guys ready?

Yeah.

You're ready. So I have to. Mine
is the actual scripture, so I'm going
to go to my scripture. So one
of you guys can go first while
I find my scripture.

Yeah. So the biggest takeaway for me
outside of that whole Lord, Lord, Lord,
like, figuring out the different thing, like,
that was just a cool moment for
me. My, like, wow moment was actually
when I realized that the problem with
name dropping is when you know their
name and they don't know yours. And
it was just one of those where
I was like, ouch. And then it

(48:15):
immediately brought me to Matthew. And I'm
just like, okay, I want to make
sure that if I'm going to use
God's name, if I'm going to identify
him in a certain way, that he
can identify me the right way too.
And so I got to live my
part for him to do his part.

I feel like you saw my notes.

I did see your notes, so I
tried to avoid it.

Go through this episode. I'll just read
my scripture. As a matter of fact,
I'm officially guys taking myself out of
this game. It's gonna be.

No, no, no. Here's the thing. Maybe
you should just go first.

I am sorry.

You always go last.

And then it's like, I can find
my verse. It was on my phone.
I'll just read the verse.

Maybe if you knew Matthew 7.

So is this something else I need
to do?

I need to log on.

Not everyone who calls me Lord. The
Lord will enter. That's your verse, right?

That's your verse.

Please.

That was my takeaway.

You just.

He literally just said it again.

So that's why you need to bury
his word in your heart.

It is in my heart. I just
wanted to make sure.

Not buried in your phone.

I think you're telling me you want
a new co host because at this
point. Hilarious.

Okay, now this. Actually, this is a
great illustration of the area of my
life that I'm still submitting.

I don't feel like that's. But it's
not my decision to submit because you
just came for me.

I'm trying, I'm trying.

I'm just playing. No, that's fine. That
was the verse I was going to
use. I love that verse. And it's
a good thing to meditate on. Like,
when we get before God, we want
to make sure that he knows our
name. And those little areas we haven't
learned to submit, man. I don't want
those areas for me to be the
reason to keep me from getting in
front of him, thinking I've been nice,

(50:11):
I've smiled, I've said all the right
things. And he's like, man, you didn't.
Yeah, I don't know who you are.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's. There's two things
that I'm probably more terrified of, and
I mean this. And like, I'm not
losing sleep over it because I. My
eternity is secure. But the two things
that I would be most worried about
is getting to heaven and him either
saying, I never knew you or you're

(50:39):
done. Yeah, like, as opposed to, well
done, my good and faithful servant. Like
that. Well done, my good and faithful
servant is what I am wanting to
hear.

Yes.

And if I get there and it's
either I don't know who you are
or it's, I mean, you made it.
Congratulations. Like, oh, man, that would just
be daggers.

Can I triple down on go for
it on that? I think so.

We just have one takeaway. I should
have shortened the sermon. I talked too
long. All I needed to say is
this one thing, apparently.

Yeah, you're absolutely right. I think about
the sons of Sceva, when they came
up against that spirit and he said,
you know, they're trying to use Paul,
the Jesus that Paul talked about. Right.
And it is this reality of when
you're dropping a name and then you
come up against life situations and then
you're like, okay, well, we know Jesus

(51:31):
and we know Paul. Who are you?
Yeah, Right. And I think in the
terms of.

Yeah, that's a huge moment.

That's huge.

Expose them. And I think I want
to, you know, come face to face
with life situations and hard things with
a name that I know the thing
that is I'm opposed to or I'm
having this moment with, knows the name
and know that I believe in the
name that I'm saying. Right. And so
for me, yes, it is the Father.

(51:57):
And I want to hear, you know,
that I have been a faithful servant
here on over as a disciple of
Jesus Christ, but also too, in a
practical way here on this earth, when
I'm faced with life. Yeah, I could
still use that name, but it first
starts with what I believe. Do I
believe that name? Am I using my
dad's faith for this situation? But what
about, what is it for you? Does

(52:18):
the name hold the weight for you
the same way that it has for
Paul? Does this hold the weight for
you? And I triple down on that
thought. Lord, Lord, know me, please. Yeah,
please.

Yeah. So random. But while you guys
were talking, the thing that I'm supposed
to be submitted to me came to
me, but I will never tell.

Oh, you going to teaser?

And she's like, oh, you'll just hope
see the difference. But it just came
to me. I'm like, okay, that's how
it happened. Thank you, Holy Spirit.

Nothing you're not going to give us.

I'm not giving you a. Because this
is embarrassing to say. No. Y'all are
looking at me like, tell us. No,
not today.

We're not honest and open and transparent.

No, we are. I have to not
keeping things. It was just revealed to
me.

She's shocked right now, like, so I'm.

Like, okay, is this some. Is this
a. Is this a heart issue?

Okay.

Pray about it.

Oh, yeah.

Praise God.

Yeah. Just know we should.

And for anybody else watching right now,
like, ask God, I think that would
be the big takeaway from today is
ask God. You know what part of
my life is not fully submitted because
I want to be fully submitted to
you.

Yes.

And if I'm struggling to submit in
an area, get me around the right
people to help me submit in that
area.

Yeah. Amen. Such a good episode. Well,
praise God.

Praise God.

Well, thank you, guys. I think we
are. We are ready to conclude and
this was a good conversation. I'm sorry.
I'm still in shock because I got
so much from the conversation and the
sermon. You guys should go watch the
message from yesterday. It's on our YouTube
page at we are clctinley. Re watch

(53:59):
it. It was a heart check message
for sure and you learned a lot.
Thank you, Pastor Brent, for teaching us.
But go watch the message. It just
bring. It will bring this conversation to
life. So I encourage you to not
just watch it, but share it. If
it impacted you, share that mess message
and then share this podcast to go
along with it. But until then, we

(54:22):
will see you next week.

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