"A Specialist, truly..." with Paul Allen and Matthew Slater

Episode Transcript

(00:15):
Here's the host of Faith and Goal, the voice of the Minnesota Vikings,
Paul Allen. Happy March everybody,and boom, Faith and Goal is in
the air. Welcome back. Today'sdocket starts something that will have a theme
involving the word special. That polarizingwords special will be a common thread with

(00:36):
Faith and Goal for a little bit. And all of it starts right here
special, the word special. Considerthis from the Bible. It's the prophet
Jeremiah and the Book of Jeremiah.And God talked to and gave signs and
sent messenger and all kinds of angelsto the prophets of the Old Testament.
And yes, I believe supernatural thingsof God occur three thousand years ago.

(01:02):
And from Jeremiah Chapter one, versesfour and five. The word of the
Lord came to me, saying,before I formed you in the womb,
I knew you before you were born. I set you apart. I appointed
you as a prophet to the nations. Bam with all that the Lord Yahweh,
God is telling this man, he'sspecial, Jeremiah, I set you

(01:27):
apart. That's special, Jeremiah.I appointed you as a prophet to the
nations. Which is just a massivejob. And old Jeremiah, Old Jeremiah
came through with flying colors. MayGod rest his soul. Nothing supernatural with
Super Bowl wins, but I'm takingthe leap. They're pretty darn special when

(01:49):
the final whistle sounds and the exultationjust warms the covenant. Recently retired New
England Patriot Matthew Slater the entire decadeand a half of his career with Bill
Belichick's New England Patriots and left thegame with three Super Bowl rings. That's
special. What a special accomplishment bythe greatest special teams player in the history

(02:15):
of the NFL. Unashamed Christian MatthewSlater will be in town April twentieth for
the annual Arise with the Guys eventat Grace Church in Eden Prairie. Arise
with the Guys dot com for moreinformation and or tickets, and Matthew Matthew
Slater, well, he's also thisepisode's guest for Faith and Goal and heay

(02:40):
come. It's Faith and Goal andit starts now Faith and Goal. All
right, man, good to meetyou, and congratulations on just a wonderful
career out of UCLA. By wayof Servite, which has been a football
since I attended Glendora High School inthe mid eighties. What's going on,

(03:04):
man, I'm doing well. Ireally appreciate you having me. It's great
to be on with you. Itis surviyed still a football powerhouse in southern
California because back in the day,like the games against Modern Day or or
are some of these other some ofthese other powerhouse football teams, man,
they were unbelievable. Oh man,I tell you that there's some of the
best football played in our country rightthere in southern California and Orange County and

(03:30):
Service right in the mix. Butright now we're all chasing Modern Day and
Saint John Bosco. They've been tremendousthe last couple of years. So that's
the standard that we're trying to chase. So Saint John Bosco, is that
up off too? Ten in Lacagnata, Yes, yes, you know it?
Well wow, holy cow. Yeah. I don't know if you've ever

(03:52):
been to that little stadium, kindof a sunken stadium they have there,
but it's absolutely beautiful, man,and it is. It's a ton of
fun. Right and and uh,before before you joined us, Matthew,
I I just called you the greatestspecial teams player in the history of the
game. And there's a lot thatgoes into that longevity being very very important

(04:13):
to me. But when it whenit comes to a statement like that,
how do we qualify the likes ofsay, Devin Hester or your former teammate
cor Darryl Patterson. Yeah, Imean, look, those guys, in
my mind are in a different stratosphere. You know. You think about the
impact that Devin't had on the game, and it's so great to see him

(04:35):
be honored this Hall of Fame selection. It's so well deserved. He changed
the way a lot of people thoughtabout special teams. He impacted the game
as a returner like we've never seenbefore. And then obviously CP having the
all time record for kickoff returns fortouchdowns. Just such a dynamic athlete with

(04:57):
the ball in his hand. Sothose guys are just just special players.
And I have such an appreciation forguys like that. You know, every
guy brings his unique skill set andexperience to the league, and that's what
makes our league special. But tohave guys like that, to have been
able to compete against guys like thatwas truly an honor, but and we
absolutely qualified them as returners right kickreturner, punt returner, Dante Hall human

(05:24):
joystick punt returner. And you know, then you get like vine Teri,
your former teammate, or Goskowski anotherformer teammate, and like Sean land data
back in the day. I mean, those would be kickers, punters and
returners for you. I mean todefine for those who know your name and
they know you played all your careerwith the New England Patriots, most of

(05:46):
it on special teams. Like whatdid you do to impact games from a
special team standpoint? And last inthe league a decade and a half.
Well, you know, the goodLord it was very kind to me.
That's the number one thing. Hereally presented me with a great opportunity and
I tried to make the most ofit, but he took care of my

(06:09):
body and saw me through it.So I'm so thankful for that. But
you know, to me, itwas first understanding that everybody has a role
on a football team, and thegood players in the league, they understand
what their role is, what they'rebeing asked to do, and they try
to excel in it. And youknow, very early on Coach Belichick to
find my role and I tried toembrace it and excel in it. I

(06:30):
tried to master my craft for sixteenyears through consistency and hard work. And
you know that I always say specialteams, it's about hitting yardage, so
you know, pinning a team deepor creating a big play in the return
game. Those yards matter in thegame. And stood that and I really

(06:51):
into it. You know, itwas a thrill to go down there and
try to tackle a returner for abig play, or it was a thrill
to go out there and blocks fora teammate returning the football. And I
think oftentimes we forget about that thirdphase of the game until something bad happens
and then you're like, oh,that's an important part of what we're doing.

(07:11):
So what an honor to be apart of Coach Belichick's teams for all
those years. Uh, and withthe coach really bought into the third phase
of the game. Do you happenIt might have been before you got in
the league, but I don't thinkit was. Did do you happen?
To remember when the Baltimore Ravens useda daily as Thomas as a gunner and
that monster running down the field onehundred miles per hour. Oh my god,

(07:35):
Well I played with it. Iplayed with the dailies here in New
England. Wow. And I cantell you this right now, there's no
way I would have won in anyparts of blocking that guy. I mean,
the guy's six four to two seventyfive running the four six four five.
Good luck getting in the in theway of him. But you know,
again, that just speaks to someof the specially athletes. Many things

(08:00):
he's got able to do. Ijust really marvel it, you know,
and and and you know, you'reyou're you're you're bigger, You're on the
bigger side, and you were superfast. You know, Adelius is an
outside linebacker defensive monster with his thicknessand his height and everything. You know.
But then here in Minnesota, man, you know, we had Marcus
Sheryl's here in Minnesota for many years, and you know, market Marcus ain't

(08:24):
that big, and you know,Marcus is is slight a frame. And
I think he's the best gunner potentiallyin the history of Minnesota Vikings football.
Definitely the best punt returner. Solike when you're when you're gunning or playing
coverage, teams. Yeah, sizeand speed matter unless you're like Marcus,
and then it really a lot ofit comes down to just the the the

(08:46):
fortitude and tenacity that that special teamsplayers have. Right. Oh, absolutely,
I'm glad you mentioned Marcus. Iwas really a huge fan of his
work and watched him over the years, and the one thing I'll say about
him is he was fearless as aplayer. Whatever you asked him to do
on the field, he did itfull speed, he did it with a

(09:09):
lot of confidence, and he wassuper competitive. But I think when you
look at him, you know,as you as you said, not the
biggest guy, but he understood theins and outs, the techniques, the
things that we don't always talk aboutthat really enabled him to put himself in
position to make plays consistently. Soyou couple that that football IQ and that

(09:31):
skill set with that fearlessness and youhave, you know, one of the
great players there in my opinion andViking's history, and I think you said
the best, maybe the best gunnerin the history of the organization. So
there are more than one way.Is it's skin a cat. I think
for all of us as there aswe have to find out what our strengths
are and play to them and hopefullythat leads to some success. And you

(09:56):
are you know, you were oneof the, if not the best,
at what you did on coverage teamsand special teams all of your career at
sixteen years and all with the NewEngland Patriots. Now I'm going to venture
a guess here, Matthew Slater,that there probably were opportunities during your career
or maybe you could have gotten alittle more money from somebody else other than

(10:16):
the Patriots. You know, maybesomebody was going to, you know,
give you more of a chance atwide receiver, but you stayed with New
England and the Red, white andBlue of football immortality for all sixteen Was
it important for you, like yourfather Jackie with the Rams basically two decades.
Was it important to you to startwith one team and finish with that

(10:39):
same team? You know, itreally was, And I'm glad you asked
that. It's not something that Italked about often, but for me,
I always had in the back ofmy mind the continuity that my dad had
with the Rams and how fortunate hewas spend his twenty year career of one
team. And that was one ofmy goals. Now, I didn't know

(11:00):
how realistic it was going to befor a guy in my position to stay
with one franchise his entire career.But when I did have opportunities to leave
or decisions to make, I alwayskept that in mind, and it was
important to me to be loyal tothe franchise. And I'm glad that the
franchise felt the same way about meand that it worked out to be together

(11:20):
for sixteen years. It was trulya blessing and something I take a lot
of pride in to say that Iplayed with one team for the entirety of
my career. Now, when Matthewsaid goodbye to the National Football League,
he wrote a beautiful letter to theteam, fans and everybody else. And
here's part of it that caught myeye. For Matthew Slater and the Patriots,

(11:46):
many of you know me to bea man of faith. I truly
believe without the grace and mercy ofthe Lord Jesus, I would not be
writing this. Lord, Thank youfor making a way when there seemed to
be none. Thank You for preservingmy body and my mind throughout the years.
Thank You for all the wonderful peopleyou send into my life. Thank
you for your grace and mercy inmy life. This is your story and

(12:09):
I'm thankful you chose me to bea part of it. I love you.
And then Psalm one fifteen, verseone, not to us, oh
Lord, not to us, butto your name, give glory for the
sake of your steadfast love and yourfaithfulness, first and foremost, very well
done, very beautiful, and beinga man of the Bible, Matthew,

(12:33):
I know context is important to you. So when you're right, Lord,
thank you for making a way whenthey're seemed none. What does that mean?
Yeah? Absolutely. You know,when I think of my journey in
football, it's very unprobable. AndI grew up as a young man with
corrective linden as my dad would sayin asthma, and then my college career

(12:58):
was very uneventful, and then myprofessional career, you know, to be
a career special teamer. Those aresome very improbable odds for a kid like
that, with experiences that I thatI've had to have a successful playing career
as a pro football player. Andin my mind, there's no question that

(13:20):
without the divine intervention plan of ourLord and Savior, that that would that
would never happen. It's just notpossible, it's not feasible. So for
my family and I, we seeit as God really intervened and interjected himself
into our lives in a real way, the game of football and the way

(13:43):
when when there was none. AndI don't think he did that just so
I could say, Hey, Ihad a great career, I was able
to provide for my family. Ithink he did that so that in turn,
I could turn around and say,hey, look what God did here.
It's not about Matthew Slater. It'snot about who I am or what
I've done. It's about the creatorof the universe stepping in and doing something

(14:07):
special. And you know, Ichose one to fifteen to one because I
don't want people to seeing my praises. I want people to see his praises
because he's the one that made itall possible. And God bless you for
that. And may God bless you, and thank you for helping us with
the arise with the Guys event,it's once again. It's April twentieth,

(14:28):
Grace Church, Eden, Prairie.People can get information and to tickets at
Arisewithguys dot com and Matthew is goingto be one of the speakers so now
so and I can't wait to meetyou man. Seriously, just been a
fan of look, been a fanfrom afar of your career. You know
it's I call games for the Vikingsand we never beat New England during your

(14:48):
career. But nevertheless, I wouldalways leave with an appreciation for just your
team first approach to things. Butyou know it when it comes to they
arise with the guy's event. Whyis it important to you to organically share
why you choose to believe the Bibleand that belief in the story of Jesus

(15:11):
of Nazareth is the only route toheaven. Yeah. Absolutely, I'm really
glad to jast that. I think. You know, we live in a
time now where you know, peopleare searching for truth, and I think
the truth has become something in ourculture, our society that is very fluid.

(15:31):
Right. What I believe today maynot necessarily be what I believe tomorrow.
But what I think and I knowthat I have found in Jesus and
in the Bible and in who Godsays he is, is solid truth that
lasts through the ages. It doesn'tchange, it doesn't waver. It's not

(15:52):
circumstantial or conditional. It's truth.And you know what God says about who
he is, what God's is aboutwho we are, what he says about
our sin problem, and then youknow what He did about that through the
person of Jesus Christ. And Ithink that's a message that we all need
to hear because it gives us hope, it gives us identity, and it

(16:15):
gives us purpose. And you know, when I think about men in particular,
you know, we're living in aculture and society today where we just
don't have men who are leading well, who are there for their families,
who are making the impact, andwho have a kingdom vision. And I
think a lot of that is becausethere's an absence of truth and that we

(16:37):
just have men that are following theirown north star. But for me,
Jesus is the north star that Ican always fix my life to and will
always have an answer for the thingsthat I'm going through. So, you
know, not to get a longwinded, but it's the most important question
that we'll ever have to ask ourselvesis what have we done with the knowledge

(16:59):
of Christ? And you know,I hope to encourage challenge and you know,
point those guys to Jesus for ourevent coming up, and you take
as long as you want. Abut be you know, like the Lord's
prayer in the Book of Matthew,our father Art and Evan Hollow would be
thy name, Thy Kingdom, Come, Thy will be done. In reading

(17:22):
your letter, That's why I wasthinking, Matthew, I mean, because
you know here, you're like,Okay, you thanked everybody, Belichick,
Brady fans, the whole thing.So there were many ways to go with
this, but you were thanking youfor your grace and mercy. This is
your story. You chose me tobe part of it, and I think

(17:42):
it's metaphorical to your career. Ma'mI mean, because you know, like
when you're coming out of Survey goingto UCLA and then U s LA to
New England, I mean you mighthave known that a you know, like
I might not be the best receiverin the history of college football or high
school football, but I a playreceiver. And then you get in and

(18:03):
and it becomes thy not I wherefor the betterment of the team and for
the cohesiveness of some of the greatteams in the history of the NFL,
the best thing for the team wasto go thy and not I as in
Matthew Slater. Is that fair?Oh, that's that's great. You're absolutely

(18:26):
right about one hundred percent. Andyou know, my faith really set the
table for that. You know,Paul talks and his writings about you know,
the Body of Christ, right,and we all play a role in
the Body of Christ, you know, and there's no member of the body
that's necessarily more important than the other, but but just we all have different

(18:47):
functions within the body, and inorder for the body to be at its
best, everybody needs to be performingthose roles. You know. That's what
Paul talks about in terms of thechurch and our faith, and I translated
that to my role on the team. Look, everybody couldn't be Randy Moss,
everybody couldn't be Tom Brady. ButGod called me to specifically have this

(19:11):
role. Coach Belichick asked me todo this role and I and I try
to be obedient and embrace it.And you know, I think for me,
just having that background and being rootedin Christ u it helped me to
really not just embrace the role,but to enjoy it and flourish in it.
And you know, again he madea way and three rings for you.

(19:36):
I mean your privileged enough to getthree rings. And you know when
when you leave U c l A. The you correct me if I'm wrong
here, Matthew, But you cometo New England, you come to Foxborough
and play a Gillette the season afterthat undefeated thing with Moss on the team
and David Tyree, who's also goingto be at a rise with the guys
making that catch on his helmet,right right, That's what I want here

(20:00):
after the year after they won eighteenand one, and I'm thinking to myself,
what am I doing here? Ithink they got this covered. But
you know, what an honor andwhat a special time to come into an
organization like this that really had greatculture in place, was highly successful.

(20:21):
But really what underpinned all of whathappened here Neon was the strength of the
locker room. Some mighty men ofGod. I think about Benjamin Watson,
Heath Evans, Chris Hansen. Therewere some mighty men of God who were
leading that team. There was asense of togetherness and selflessness. And I
you know, I always say this, and my friends often say this.

(20:44):
Our biggest strength was that our bestplayers were our best people and that really
made us go and and you know, people want to talk about the Patriot
wagh In my mind, that's whatit was. Benjamin Watson spoke with the
guys last year. Awesome, awesomework. Matthew Slater, who you hear
now, along with David Tyree andmany others. They will be the focal

(21:10):
points April twentieth, Grace Church andEden Prairie with a Rise with the guys.
Awesome opportunity for those listening to bringa group of men and you don't
have to be you know, sofar biblically sound that you can read every
word from Genesis through Revelation, becausethere are a lot of things that are

(21:30):
going to be shared. This willbe my third year with the Rise with
the guys. It's a spectacular eventand such an honor to have a thy
not i human being like Matthew Slaterjoining us this year. Now. In
closing your father, Jackie Slater twothousand and one Hall of Famer, I
mean, I just, I meanseriously, it's two decades with the same

(21:53):
team. Cool, two decades asone of the best offensive linemen and tackles
in the history of the end Lwhat a heck of a career your dad
had. Oh man, I meansometimes my dad and I just sit back
and laugh because we realize that Godhas been so good to us. You
know, if you hear about mydad's story and where he came from,

(22:17):
you know, born and raised inJackson, Mississippi in the sixties. It
was a very challenging time. Buthis story is very similar to mine,
and that God made away when therewas no way, you know, went
to an HBCU, happened to playwith Walter Payton and got a look and
got an opportunity, and just theLord kept opening doors. And you talk

(22:41):
about having his mind and body preservedto play twenty years and to accomplish all
the things that he did. He'lltell you the same thing that I will
tell you, and that we understandthat our careers were not really about us.
They're about the good, the goodLord, the God that we serve
his provision, and man, wejust feel so blessed and excited that got

(23:03):
to use football buss our family.Matthew lastly here, thanks for the time.
Can't wait to see you. Itarise with the guys April twentieth.
But you know, we kind oftouched on it earlier, sacrificing what maybe
you wanted for the betterment of theteam. And there are many messages to
have out of that, and youknow you jumped right on it. And
the way I'm going to frame itup to close things is like, when

(23:27):
did you know the Gospel of JesusChrist or the Bible or organically getting the
opportunity to share the Gospel with thosewho are non believers or they God puts
you in a position to share theBible, and that's an honor when that
happens, And personally speaking, Iwish it happened more with me. But

(23:51):
when did you know? I can'tstop thinking about this and when I sin,
the shame I feel is not necessarilythe shame that I felt five ten
years ago. When did it allchange for you? Yeah, that's a
great question. You know, forme, I was very fortunate, you
know, my faith journey and howthe Holy Spirit called me. You know,

(24:12):
I've known the Lord since I wasseven years old, and my dad
discipled with my brother and I whenwe were younger and led us to the
Lord. So you know, Iunderstood the truths of the Bible from an
intellectual point of view. But fromthat time until now, and I'm thirty
eight now, it's been a journey, right, and God has continued to

(24:37):
reveal himself to me, has continuedto show me more about who I am,
who He is, the truth ofhis word, and that journey has
been phenomenal. But you know,it's hard now as I wake up every
day to envision my life without him, right, I think of the decisions
I have to make, the weightof raising children, the weight of leading

(25:00):
my wife and my home. It'stough, right, and I can't imagine
having to do this on my own. And the freedom that I feel,
and knowing that I don't have todo it on my own, that I
don't have to be perfect, thatI don't have to have all the answers,
that all I have to do ishumble myself and submit to the will
of God. It's very free.It's very exciting because you know, God

(25:26):
is always up to something right,and you want to be aligned with that.
That's what I want to be alignedwith, and that's what I want
to place my hope in. Sountil he calls me home, I'm going
to I'm gonna keep trying to servehim. Here on earth, and I
can't wait to see what the goodworld has in store. And you know,
I'm sure you understand this, butI'm curious to close how you deal

(25:48):
with it. God's will is supreme, and it's the Bible teaches he gives
us free will with the opportunity forsin, and you know, for bad
things to happen. I mean,we can go all the way back to
Adam and Eve for that. Sotherefore we have God's will. And sometimes
things are terrible in our lives andcertainly in the world. But sometimes things

(26:10):
are terrible in our lives, andsome people will be like, you know,
God, why and that would behis purpose. I can't speak for
you, man, but I'm quicktwitch when I can't figure out something quickly
with God's the purpose meshing with thewill, and times are tough, so

(26:30):
I go quick twitch and just movepast it and exponentially love Him more every
day, no matter if it's goodor bad. Are you like that?
You know what I am? Iam an extent And that's one of those
things right that I think any ofus wrestle with, like why are there
bad things in the world? Whydo certain things happen? And I've gotten

(26:52):
to a place where Number One,I have to understand I'm not God,
so I'm not entitled to all theanswers. You know, I don't have
to always have the why of thingsbecause I'm not God. I don't have
the vision and the omnipotence that hehas. But I do understand that.
You know, the Bible says thewages of sin is death, right,

(27:14):
so there are consequences for sin,and the reason that our world is broken
and fallen is because of the sinof man. And you know, unfortunately
there are consequences for sin. Wedon't always know what they will be.
We don't always know what they'll entail. But you know, you think about
human trafficking or kids dying and oryou know, bad things happening, tragedy.

(27:40):
You know, that's what happens ina fallen world with sin. So
we have to understand that we servewith just God and there are gonna be
things that happen there for every reaction. There's a reaction. But but we
can't let that shackle us because andI mentioned this in my letter, the
grace and mercy of God and thegoodness of God is bigger than all of

(28:00):
that, and He can help usnavigate our brokenness if we just surrender it
to him. So, you know, the grace of God really encourages me
and it gives me hope in thosetimes of despair, the times where I
sin, which is you know dailyI am a fallen man, but it

(28:23):
helps me to kind of move pastthat, look into His grace and then
just say, hey, look,I don't have all the answers and all
am I entitled to him because Iam not God. You, my friend,
were a stranger to me and toa certain extent until today. And
now I find myself closing faith andgoal by saying, Matthew Slater, I

(28:45):
love you. I love you mybrother, and I can love you too.
I can't wait until April twentieth tomeet you at Grace Church and Eden
Prairie for a rise with the guysand to hear what you have to say
and share. You're very impressive ofyour career. Was that of thy not
the entire thing, and not everybodycan say they would have that, they
would have accepted that and recognized thisis what God made me good at,

(29:07):
this is what God wants me todo, and this is what's best for
the team here on Earth. Man, you're a very impressive man, and
it's an honor meeting. You havea wonderful day, Okay, the honors.
Ah, My God bless you andwe'll see you soon. That is
Matthew Slater as part of Faith andGoal. And again the event Arise with
the guys is April twentieth at theGrace Church and it's an event that begins

(29:36):
in the morning and it's not thatlong, and this will be the third
year I've had the honor to takepart in it. But just in recalling
a few things that Matthew Slater saidthere, you know, for those whether
you're watching this at Grace Church orsomewhere online or listening via your your favorite
spot to get to podcasts is withMatthew. He recognizes, like he said

(30:02):
in the beginning, you know,I had asthma and I had vision problems,
and those were legitimate obstacles that neededto be overcome to have a sixteen
year career in the National Football League. But I cannot stress enough because I've
called Vikings games twenty two years andyou know, being around the National Football

(30:23):
League and everything that goes into itfor multiple decades. You know, like
Trey Wayne's all right, a firstround corner for the Minnesota Vikings back in
the Zimmer days. Well, Treywas drafted in the first round as a
corner back super fast. I mean, he didn't play much corner at all
his first year, but he didn'twant to play special teams his entire career.

(30:45):
But I think Trey would tell youif you could find him, that
experience of working with special teams andthe solidify, the solidification of what's best
for the team is a thy noti approach. And Trey grew from clearly
Matthew did because he wanted to playreceiver when he came into the NFL.
And you know, the receivers makemore money than special teamers and gunners,

(31:07):
and you know they get on highlightclips on wherever you watch highlight clips.
And I guess as the secular shinewould go more of an identity here on
earth as Oh Matthew Slater ninety fivecatches, thirteen hundred yards and fifteen touchdowns.

(31:27):
Holy cow, do I want tobe Matthew Slater. But during sixteen
years, when people see Matthew Slaterbusting down the field from the outside on
a punk coverage as a gunner.I mean it's it's to accept your role
and recognize that Billy, Johnny Christy, Susie Antwine and Tamika might not be
growing up wanting to be Matthew Slater, but recognizing this is what God gave

(31:51):
me, and I do it inthe name of the Lord. These are
the gifts He gave me. AndI'm going to do it to glorify him
him, and I'm going to doit for the betterment of the team,
and I'm going to do it fora long time like that. That's that's
a selfless approach to life that quitehonestly is fleeting in this day and age.

(32:13):
And that's why I was super excitedto meet Matthew when we put this
together for Faith and Goal and alsoApril twentieth at Grace Church with Arise with
the Guys, Arisewitheguys dot Com.Arise with the Guys dot com, and
I meant what I said earlier,bring a bunch of people, you know,
because it's not all straight, youknow. All right, here's the

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apostle Peter saying to Rabbi, teacherJesus, teach us how to pray.
I thought you'd never asked our fatherArt and Evan Hollow would be thy name.
I mean, yeah, it's afair amount of that, because guess
what, that's what matters more thananything in the world. Learning why the
Gospel of Jesus Christ and what Godgave us via the Cross and the sacrifice

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of Him as man so that wecan go to heaven, and then the
resurrection bringing the Holy Spirit into theworld. That's the most important thing in
the world. And you know that, so that that definitely will be prevalent.
But we have fun, and wemix in some sports and some lifestyle
stuff and Grace Church in that auditoriumis just absolutely beautiful. Arise with the

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guys dot com. Bring a bunchof people. I can't wait to see
you there. This will be thethird year that I've taken part in it.
In closing, I mentioned the wordstranger, which during the course of
the interview with Matthew It caused meto hearken to the Book of Hebrews,
Chapter thirteen, verse two, avery underrated verse that I just don't hear

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a lot about in certain context.But Hebrew's thirteen two to close faith and
call goes like this, do notforget to show hospitality to strangers. For
by so doing, some people haveshown hospitality to change joels without even knowing

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it. Consider that when you runinto somebody who's of need, and maybe
you don't even know them, considernot shutting them out because they're strangers,
or maybe they're not of your ilk. You never know, you may have
shut out an angel. That's whatthe Bible teaches. Thank you, Matthew

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Slater, Thank you producer Eric Nortquist. I'm Paul Allen, and that's faith and gol