October 2, 2025 • 58 mins
The first thing Greg Jackson will tell you is simple: no peace, no decision. That quiet rule has guided him from a teen revival moment in Dayton to decades of faithful pastoring in Camden, Ohio—through false starts at the post office, a bi-vocational grind, and the messy, beautiful work of building a church that truly serves its town.
In this episode of BeTempered, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Greg to explore what a small, faithful life looks like when it’s lived at full strength. He shares how working as a mail clerk taught him the people skills he’d need in ministry, why listening often beats advice, and how a simple three-by-five card can anchor a leader in the middle of chaos. Greg opens up about funeral ministry—nearly 500 services—and why end-of-life moments are some of the most honest pulpits for hope. You’ll also hear the story of the church’s leap to buy homes, build a new facility, and pay it off through grit and unity, all while resisting the pressure to perform like a “celebrity church.”
Family threads through every story. From Greg and Renee’s marriage, to consistent parenting, to the power of a dinner table ritual—this episode offers a grounded playbook for moms and dads. A hard season—when their 8-year-old broke both legs—became a lifelong lesson in empathy for families with special needs. And yes, we even talk Pistol Pete: the artistry, the late-life conversion, and his piercing line about money buying everything but happiness—and paying your fare to everywhere but heaven.
If you’re searching for authentic faith, small-town leadership, grief care that tells the truth, and practical ways to avoid burnout, this conversation will meet you where you are. Tune in for a clear gospel, steady wisdom, and stories that remind you to bloom where you’re planted.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:04):
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SPEAKER_02 (01:06):
This is Bee Tempered.
SPEAKER_03 (01:07):
What's up, everybody?
Welcome to the Bee TemperedPodcast, episode number 73.
Glad we got that right.
That's right.
Today I'm honored to welcome Dr.
Greg Jackson.
Brother Greg has faithfullyserved as senior pastor of the
first Southern Baptist Church inCamden, Ohio since 1993.
His journey began in Dayton,Ohio, where he came to faith in
(01:31):
1976.
And not long after he marriedhis high school sweetheart
Renee.
Together they've raised twowonderful children, both now
school teachers, who arebuilding strong families of
their own.
Brother Greg's calling toministry came in 1991, and since
then he has poured himself intopreaching, pastoring, and
(01:51):
mentoring.
He holds both a master anddoctor of ministry, along with
an honorary doctor of divinity.
And he's even authored apractical guide for pastors on
conducting funerals.
Beyond the pulpit, he alsoserves as chaplain for the
Camden Police Department,offering spiritual guidance and
support to his community in someof life's toughest moments.
(02:15):
Family is at the heart of hislife, but he also enjoys golf,
crappie fishing, Ohio Statefootball, and of course,
basketball, especially inspiredby the late Pistol Pete
Merovich's powerful testimony.
One of his favorite scripturesis Galatians 6, verse 14,
reminding us to boast only inthe cross of our Lord Jesus
(02:35):
Christ.
It's a privilege to have himwith us today to share his
story, his faith, and hiswisdom.
Brother Greg, welcome to the BeTempered Podcast.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Glad to be here.
Yeah, we're glad to have you.
Uh you you've been uh you'vebeen on the list for a while.
And uh, like we talked abouthere earlier this morning, I
(02:57):
don't know your story.
I've um been blessed to come toyour your church a couple times.
You know, my brother and hiswife and family go there, and uh
I've heard some some powerfultestimonies and some powerful
sermons.
And so I'm excited to to learnmore about you and and what
motivates you and your passionto help others.
(03:17):
So, how we always start is welike to go back to childhood.
So tell us about what life waslike for you growing up as a
kid.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (03:26):
Um, Dayton, Ohio, Northridge.
Uh back when you could walk upNorth Dixie Drive without a
thought of anything wronghappening.
Um, I mean the leave it tobeaver.
That was my childhood.
Um my dad worked in a factory.
Um uh most of my most of mychildhood on in second shift.
(03:53):
Um so mom did the did thediscipline at home.
And um had one sister, Sheila,three years older.
I graduated in 1980, shegraduated in 77.
As a matter of fact, she justretired a few years ago, 42
years as a nurse.
Um, but um great support.
(04:13):
Um, but uh I mean I had Dan, Ihad a a childhood that I pray
every kid could have.
Um I knew what love wasunconditionally, but I didn't my
parents never uh acted like Iwas any better.
I mean, if I had a good ballgame or a bad ball game, there
was no change in acceptance orunconditional love.
(04:37):
Um my parents are both fromTennessee.
I have a little big bit of bigorange in me.
Uh I'm the the Georgia lossright now is hurt it hurting
pretty bad.
We were at a wedding uh Saturdaynight watching it on a on a
phone, and then somebody got apicture of us after the guy
missed a field goal.
We're like, oh no.
(04:59):
But uh man, I had a great grunt.
Was raised in church.
That's all I ever really knew.
Um and my my mom got saved whenthey moved to Dayton from
Tennessee in a church calledWestwood, which ultimately
became Far Hills Baptist, whichwas a real strong Southern
Baptist church in Dayton.
(05:21):
Uh Northridge had a churchcalled Northridge Baptist
Church.
We went there for a while, andthen when I was a junior high
boy, we went to North DaytonBaptist Church.
And that's where God reallybegan to speak to my heart.
I'd walked down a Nisle as alittle boy and then was even
baptized.
But as a uh teenage,14-year-old, I just wrestled
(05:41):
with doubt constantly, thinking,did I really make a decision
when I was nine or did I do itbecause somebody else did it?
So in a revival on a Tuesdaynight, 1976, you mentioned, uh,
a guy named T.
D.
Hall was preaching, and I waswrestling.
I I I couldn't stand invitationsbecause I was under conviction,
(06:02):
but I made a decision thatnight, I'm going for it.
And I sure hope I don'tdisappoint my pastor, and I
don't want to disappoint mom anddad.
They already think I'm aChristian.
Invitation was given, I made thedecision.
Uh, that night I gave my life toChrist, and uh it really changed
me.
That was the point in my lifethat that I knew that I knew
that Christ was my Lord andSavior.
(06:23):
And um, that was a long timeago.
But I'm telling you, as far aschildhood, I had the one that
everyone would dream of.
Um my dad just turned 88.
I still have both of my parents.
I do not take that for granted.
Um and and sometimes uh uhSheila and I, my sister, we
(06:47):
recognize this is our season.
And I can assure you that we'lldo everything we can to take
care of our parents because theyhave taken care of us our whole
lives.
Um so Renee and I got uh datedin high school.
Um she is cheerleader, but she'salso a ball player, which that
was one thing that attracted meto her.
She was uh she was a great ballplayer, and then she became a
(07:11):
beautiful ball player.
And uh so um we kid about this.
I I tell her that she stalked mein high school.
SPEAKER_03 (07:21):
And uh I doubt that.
SPEAKER_01 (07:24):
So we started dating, dating our junior year,
and uh, you know, she played allthe sports and was cheerleader,
and and uh basketball was mything.
SPEAKER_03 (07:33):
Was that the only sport that you played in high
school?
SPEAKER_01 (07:35):
I played tennis.
Okay.
I I ran cross-country one yearand I thought you gotta be
crazy.
But uh basketball was a sport,um, played tennis and uh uh just
uh uh had some good success inhigh school.
Um I was point guard, our ourstar was named Jimmy Pollard.
He averaged 36 a game with nothree-point lines, state uh led
(07:59):
to state in scoring.
Our final game in high school,we got beat by Dunbar in triple
overtime at UD.
He had 48.
And Don DeVaux, the Tennesseecoach, comes walking in the
locker room.
Uh he's he went full ride toArizona State.
But uh we that was the kind ofsuccess we had, and uh it was it
(08:19):
was fun, it was a great ride.
SPEAKER_03 (08:21):
How was your your coach?
Did you have any coaches alongalong the way, you know, middle
school into high school thatwere a big influence on you?
SPEAKER_01 (08:28):
In junior high had been two of them, Sonny Zekley,
uh, who was real active inNorthridge track and cross
country, but he was alsoinvolved in everything
sports-wise.
And then another coach was namedKen Hamill.
And Ken Hamill, uh, I had theprivilege several years ago to
do his funeral.
He'd given his life to Christ,he got married, he was single as
(08:50):
a teacher, but he got married,and his wife, Jonna, was a
born-again believer, and hislife changed, man.
So they they asked me to speakthis funeral, and I talked about
the life change.
Everybody wanted to be him.
Then our high school coach wasDick Allen.
And uh he was a fine man, hasbeen going through health issues
himself, but uh those are allgreat memories.
(09:12):
Those are all great memories.
Um you mentioned Dixie.
Uh Randy Edder and I are stillfriends.
SPEAKER_02 (09:17):
Okay, yeah, that was my high school coach, my
sophomore.
Let's see everybody, mysophomore and junior year was
Coach Edder.
The compliment I tell you about,yeah.
E McGee gave a speech.
He talked at the end of the oneof the games and was like, uh,
if I can just have kids thatwould just run your head through
the wall, that was me.
I wasn't I wasn't an athlete, Ijust worked hard.
SPEAKER_01 (09:34):
That's the kind of guy you want.
Yeah.
That's the kind of guy you want.
Yeah.
So um in school, um, didn't knowreally what I wanted to do, so I
went to Sinclair and walked on,played ball the first year.
Uh I remember that firstpractice, there were about 50
guys there, and most of theminner city great athletes.
And I thought, holy cow, I'm introuble.
(09:57):
But they started dropping likeflies.
And then I realized that heartand determination and how bad
you want it.
And I remember the day I sawthat final cut and I made it and
uh and had a had a fun year.
Um got a little disenfranchisedwith school after the season,
uh, got a full-time job, and uhRenee and I got married at age
(10:20):
21, which which, if I were tocounsel that right now, you
know, holy cow, that's young.
But uh and we just celebrated42.
SPEAKER_03 (10:30):
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Your your faith through throughthe the college years, did it
ever waver?
SPEAKER_01 (10:37):
No, we were we were faithful in church, and uh I
remember our uh our first um uhour first maybe responsibility
in church is it was junior highboys.
And that was like the firstclass I ever taught.
And uh gave gave me one onething about um and I and I know
(10:58):
you that's a good question.
College years, did your faithwaver?
Because right there is it rightthere is a litmus test.
And how many say goodbye to thechurch and and then all of a
sudden maybe get married andhave some kids and thinking I
need to get them in a goodenvironment or something.
But uh we didn't we didn't walkaway from it.
(11:20):
Uh I mean we got married at 21,so we weren't out too long.
SPEAKER_04 (11:23):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (11:24):
And um Renee came from a real small church, and
really size is in the eye of thebeholder, but North Dayton was a
little more f uh formal.
Renee came from like a free willBaptist, which is a little more
Pentecostal.
Okay, and I like that aspect ofseeing the emotion.
And um, so as a pastor, youknow, I I think you can wed
(11:46):
both.
You don't have to be crazy, butI mean, do I want a stoic, uh
unemotional?
I don't want a pastor that way.
So um so worked a few differentjobs and then got on to post
office.
And as a matter of fact, Ithought I was gonna be a letter
carrier.
(12:06):
Everything was setting up forit.
We were young married.
I thought the Lord's blessing,this is where we're gonna fit.
And I get a call from the postoffice checking up that I'm not
gonna be considered for acarrier job because I had had a
moving violation within a coupleyears.
(12:27):
And I remember that day, Dan,crying like a baby and calling
Renee at work and saying itain't gonna happen.
I mean, I felt like I wasputting all the eggs into the
basket.
This is God's plan for our life,and then it's not there.
Well, little did I know.
God didn't want me to be acarrier, he wanted me to be a
(12:47):
clerk.
And I got hired as a clerk at uh11 years.
Uh we'd been there 11 years, thelast five in Northridge on days.
Looking back, all he was doingwas setting me up to deal with
people.
I'm gonna teach you how to dealwith people because you're gonna
pastor a church one day.
SPEAKER_03 (13:07):
And uh so because as a letter carrier, you'd have
pretty much been on your own.
You'd have been a good thing.
SPEAKER_01 (13:12):
And that's and that's the draw for a lot of
people.
Yeah, you know, just go do yourjob and go home.
But man, uh uh, you know,handling that disgruntled
customer is gonna teach you someskill you need.
I'm not saying that churchmembers are dis disgruntled
customers, but I am saying thatchurch members are people.
Yeah, and so am I.
(13:33):
Yep.
But uh anyway, God was shapingus.
So 11 years there, um uh 91, Ifelt a call to preach.
We loved our church, uh, Ben.
I I we didn't want to leaveVandalia.
But I was called to preach and Iwas getting a lot of
invitations, and I enjoyed thatpreaching on Sunday and then
just going back to work onMonday.
(13:55):
Um then all of a sudden, in1993, out of the blue, I get a
call from Camden, Ohio.
And all I knew about Camden was45311.
And it was a guy named ClydeSpradling, and he said, We're
trying to fill the pulpit, andwe understand that you were
recently called.
The connection was uh a memberof the Camden Church at that
(14:19):
time was Charlie Hoover.
Charlie Hoover had a son namedBill who attended First Baptist
Vandalia.
Bill was also my accountingteacher at Sinclair.
And they said, Yeah, GregJackson surrendered to preach.
That gave us uh uh somebody hereknew us and and called called me
Phil Pulpit.
(14:39):
Well, Phil in the pulpit is justthat.
You're filling in.
Not looking to pastor anything.
I remember driving to Camden ona cold February morning, Sunday
morning by myself.
I came by myself, I came throughEaton, stopped at Speedway, and
thought, where in the world am Igoing?
Got to Camden, they're shovelingsnow, boom, boom, boom.
(15:01):
I preached that morning, and thepulpit committee was in
Lexington or Louisville to heara candidate.
I thought, well, amen, they'reduring the process is going.
Little did I know that the wivesof the pulpit committee called
their husbands and said, Youneed to get back here.
We think the guy is here.
Well, I wasn't looking at thepastor.
(15:22):
A couple weeks later they call,we come back.
Sunday morning, Sunday night.
I brought the best package ofthe part of the package.
I brought Renee and the kids.
Preached Sunday morning, Sundaynight.
That became an interim with withthe um with the clause.
Nothing changes.
I'll work and I'll continue towork, we'll continue to live in
(15:44):
Dayton, but I'll preach and dothe best I can until you get
somebody.
God began to move and and Ibegan the process of
transferring, possibly to theCamden Post Office.
The closer we got, the moreclear it became.
We're either all in or we'renot.
(16:04):
So two years bivocational, wemoved to Camden.
I drove back to work daily.
People thought we were crazy forthat.
What do you wait?
You're moving 40 minutes away todrive back?
Did it for two years and thenwent full time.
Uh thought it would be hard togive up.
I remember the day I walked awayfrom it with peace, the Lord
will provide.
So here we are 32 years later.
SPEAKER_03 (16:26):
That's amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (16:27):
And Dan, 33 years ago, Camden, Ohio wasn't on the
radar of my life.
So that's that's really thestory of the call here.
SPEAKER_03 (16:37):
We're do you do you hear God's voice?
SPEAKER_01 (16:43):
Audibly?
I don't think I hear it audibly.
I hear it internally.
And I think I think one way Godspeaks to Greg Jackson is
through peace uh in a decisionof a yes or a no.
Um sometimes I tell uh thechurch, no peace, no decision.
(17:04):
You know, I if I'm wrestlingwith it, maybe God's continuing
to try to teach me something.
Now, does God speak to peace uhpeople audibly?
I'm not gonna discount that.
You know, Pete Meravich said heheard God audibly.
And then Pete in his testimonysaid, I really don't care what
you think, I can tell you thatGod spoke to me.
And uh man, I praise the Lord hestill does speak.
(17:27):
And um we live in a busy world,don't we?
So in the busyness of the world,sometimes we're doing all the
talking.
And uh just need to slow down, Iguess.
SPEAKER_03 (17:38):
So Yeah, that's a good way to put it, is is when
you feel that peace, that's howyou know this is the right
decision.
So you make that decision, youmove to Camden.
How easy was it?
SPEAKER_01 (17:53):
Um A fellow was um at the church yesterday for the
service, was one of the lastguys that I saw when they drove
back the U-Haul to Dayton.
He helped move me out here.
And uh and dad looked at thedeacon, the Clyde Spradling,
that was the first call to me,and said to him, Clyde, you're
gonna have to take care of him.
(18:14):
I remember my dad saying that.
Dad and I painted the wholehouse.
It was the parsonage at thattime.
We bought it eight years later.
And my dad, we painted it andstayed all night in the house,
and dad said he laid in bed andcried.
Um and and now I say, Dad, Ihope those were happy tears.
But but he said they were justlike tears of change.
(18:37):
You know, everything's changing.
Uh my mom was a church secretaryat North Dayton for 31 years,
and she saw the church eat uppastors.
She was the last one I wanted totell I felt called to ministry,
or we felt like God was callingus to Camden.
You're gonna take our twograndkids and you're moving out
there to a small church thatwe're not even sure can support
(18:58):
you.
Well, let me tell you, 32 yearslater, God has supplied every
every step of the way.
Uh regardless of what I made, HeHe's He provided, He has
provided every step of the way.
So Renee was my secretary for 11years.
And I love that.
I mean, that's kind of her skillset anyway.
(19:20):
But I loved it because if I wentsomewhere, I'd take her with me.
Well, when both kids got incollege at the same time, we
realized reality, how are wegonna pay for this?
So she went to work full-time inmedical office.
And the and the deal was onceStacy got through, she she would
quit.
Well, she continues to work.
(19:41):
And she goes, I thought part ofthe deal was me quitting.
And and the joke is, I said,hun, you gotta keep bringing it
in.
You gotta keep bringing it in.
So uh that that's kind of uhwhere we are.
Along the way, the churchallowed me to get my theological
training.
Um I started at Liberty, andthen uh a couple of online
(20:02):
things.
Um one was called Bethany BibleCollege and Seminary in Dothan,
Alabama, uh, independent, KingJames only.
Um and at first I thought, youknow, I that's not necessarily
me, but it was very disciplined,and it's what I needed.
So that's how we started, andthen we did the doctorate thing
(20:24):
on our own, and I've always hadan affinity uh to minister in a
time of grief, and that kind ofhas become a real ministry in in
Preble County for me and inCamden, and um so why is that?
I really don't maybe becauseI've done so many.
I lie I log every funeral, and Ijust completed my 460th funeral.
(20:47):
Wow, and and I know I've missedsome, yeah, but uh it's just uh
it's just such an opportunity tominister to people, churched or
unchurched.
Yeah, you know, everybody isworth uh the the blood of Jesus
on the cross, doesn't matter whoyou are, and the church has
gotten behind it, and and wehave ministered to so many
(21:10):
families that didn't haveanybody or anything.
And uh, you know, Jeff andLindsay, I uh your your brother
and sister-in-law, I love them.
Uh it's just been I did theirwedding, it's just been neat to
see how God has blessed themwith a family that they prayed
for.
SPEAKER_04 (21:25):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (21:25):
And Alan and Muri.
I mean, you know, your family,Dan, has always been special to
me.
I love your mom and dad.
And uh, I mean, I don't likewhen your teams beat my teams.
And now, you know, Drews go toBrookville.
SPEAKER_03 (21:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (21:38):
And uh Aiden and Nathan.
SPEAKER_03 (21:40):
Nate, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (21:41):
Yeah, Nate, you know, that they'll see each
other here down the next coupleyears.
Oh, yeah.
But but uh I think the funeralthing has been out of necessity.
Uh and here's the reminderpeople die every day.
And and life's greatestquestion, here's what we tell
folks.
We believe everybody's goingsomewhere when they die.
(22:04):
Life's greatest question iswhere are you going?
And um if a person doesn't knowChrist, I'm gonna introduce you
to him.
And I can't make you become aChristian, but God loves you so
much that he sent a provisionfor you to pay for something you
could never pay for yourself.
(22:24):
And um it's a gift.
And if I found out you hadcancer and it was the same kind
of cancer that I have and I washealed of my cancer, I would run
to you to give you theprescription.
And folks, here's the here's thething.
People with cancer that arehealed were still gonna die if
(22:44):
the Lord tarries.
But when you give your life toChrist, I like what Charles
Stanley said.
Your last breath on earth isyour first breath in heaven.
What did Charlie Kirk say?
Death is just like a doorway toto meet Jesus.
Man, alive.
Praise the Lord for that.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (23:02):
So all right, let me ask you a question because we
we've interviewed quite a fewpastors, priests, um, you know,
people who have a lot of thingsthrown at them.
You know, and and we we've getit by just doing the podcast,
you know.
It seems like by sharing ourstories and other people's
(23:24):
stories, you know, it opens thedoor for people to call and
reach out and and want to sharetheir story.
And a lot of times it's verychallenging to hear.
And to be able to, in a lot ofcases, it's just to listen, you
know, to not really give youropinion or offer advice.
It's just, you know, thatperson, for whatever reason,
(23:45):
trusts you to tell for them totell you their story.
So as a as a pastor, you hearthat daily.
How do you process that as anindividual and not carry that
load that all those people dumpon you?
SPEAKER_01 (24:06):
That's good.
That's good.
Um pastoring, preaching is theicing on the cake.
That's the reward for beingcalled.
You get to preach and study andprepare.
What you're talking about arethe things that wear you out.
And and some pastors, and I'msure you've had them on here
(24:28):
with you, really have the giftof counsel.
They they they eat it up.
When someone comes and lays thatheavy uh burden and and just the
need and there's no quick answerfor it, uh that's that's the
thing when they let they walkout my office door that I lean
back in my chair and just like,Lord.
(24:50):
You know, wow.
I'm gonna go home and mow theyard.
Gotta do something else.
Uh, because otherwise the griefof everyone would weigh you down
so to the point where you can'tbe effective to anybody.
Um I do have the privilegethough to look at every
situation and know that there'sa God bigger than the problem.
(25:13):
And man, I've seen God putmarriages back together that no
one said would ever happen andmesses back together.
And uh you know, he's bigenough, so you gotta just
recognize that he's the one thatcan carry you to help you
somehow help somebody else.
You mentioned uh listening.
That's the key.
(25:34):
Sometimes people just want youto listen.
The problem with pastoring is uhis when it's your own people, a
lot of times what you say fromthe pulpit, they think it's
directed at them.
So sometimes maybe a couplethat's struggling in marriage,
they don't want me to even knowabout it.
Because they feel like ifsomething's said from the
(25:54):
pulpit, I might be pointing atthem when in essence the Holy
Spirit's doing it.
But uh yeah, it's it's achallenge.
It is a challenge.
Yeah.
Um I I never go home at night,Dan, and lay my head down on bed
thinking that everything's done.
There's always somebody thatthinks maybe you should have
(26:15):
been somewhere, or there'ssomething pressing you didn't
get to.
And um and that you that's whatyou have to learn to live with.
And I'm trying to do that afterall these years, you know.
When I when you see me at a ballgame, I hope I'm at the ball
game.
SPEAKER_04 (26:28):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (26:28):
And um so uh someone gave me good counsel one year
that said, when you think aboutbeing overwhelmed with what you
need to do, and this is good forany any form of leadership, get
a three by five card and writedown the five top things that
need done today.
And it gives you a goal, itgives you some sense of
(26:51):
completing it, and then you justmove on.
Tomorrow's another day.
SPEAKER_03 (26:57):
That's that's valuable advice.
That's very good.
You you you know, I've I'velearned that over the past
really three years for me isjust you know, breaking it down
day by day.
I've always been a list guy.
And uh I learned that early on,right out of college, my first
job.
We were building houses, and uhthe project manager that I was
(27:18):
was underneath, that's what hesaid.
Hey, he said, you know, you gota tablet here, make your list
for each house, and let's go offand you check them off as you
go.
You got your you got your hotitems that you know you got to
get done.
Those are the priorities you getdone today.
SPEAKER_04 (27:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (27:31):
So you make sure you get done.
The other thing, the other itemson the list, it's that's icing
on the cake.
And maybe some of those itemsbecome tomorrow's hot items that
you got to get done.
And when you really step backand you and you break things
down day by day or hour by hour,whatever it is for that day, and
you just focus on that day, andyou're present at the ball game,
(27:53):
and you're present at church,and you're present sitting here
with us right now.
You're not thinking about allthose other things.
That's where you I think you yougain so much more in life
because if not, you will getoverwhelmed.
You will get burnt out.
You know, you talk about um gohome and mow the grass.
You know, for me, I go for awalk.
(28:14):
You know, I go for a walk and II call it a gratitude walk.
And I just I just try to be inthe moment while I'm walking,
and I'm grateful for all thethings that happened that day,
maybe what's to come.
Uh, maybe somebody sharedsomething with me that was was
heavy.
I'm grateful for that.
I'm grateful that person had thetrust in me to share that with
(28:37):
me.
Uh to look to kind of flip it.
It's not a burden, it's ablessing.
Yeah, amen.
So let's talk about celebritypastors.
You see a lot of these guysonline.
Uh, I'm not gonna use names.
There's there's they're all outthere.
I've got a friend in Dallas,Texas, and I I asked Pastor
(29:00):
Justin this last week as well.
He and his family have beenlooking for a church down in
Dallas.
And he said they can't seem tofind one because everywhere they
go, they feel like that churchis trying to sell them their
church.
How do you avoid that in yoursituation as a pastor to where
(29:22):
you don't fall into that trapthat some of these churches do?
And or at least like my friendand his family, that's how they
feel.
So how do you avoid that as apastor?
SPEAKER_01 (29:33):
Let me see here, Dan.
Dallas, Camden, they're aboutthe same size, I think.
Number one, just because achurch is huge doesn't make it
(29:53):
um um a less gospel preachingchurch.
God God gives different guys toDifferent platforms, right?
For me, I I didn't know that Iwas supposed to ever look for
something bigger or better.
I've got a blog, I do I I'm notfaithful at it, but there's a
(30:17):
blog that I have and I changedthe name recently to Bloom Where
You're Planted.
And that came from uh a guynamed H.B.
London, who was James Dobson'scousin, and at Focus on the
Family, he was he was a Nazarenepastor, and he was kind of a
pastor to pastors.
He wrote a book called Heart ofGreat Pastor, one one chapter,
(30:38):
Bloom Where You're Planted.
And I thought, you know, that'sour story in Camden.
I didn't know you're supposed toaspire for bigger and better.
One way that you guard againstfeeling like you're somebody,
the people of the first SouthernBaptist Church in Camden keep me
humble.
(30:58):
They keep me humble.
SPEAKER_03 (31:00):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (31:00):
Meaning, what do you mean?
Well, for instance, I stillpreach in a suit and tie.
I don't apologize for that.
That's just who I am.
For the guy that doesn't, amen,he's gonna be who he is.
But if I were to change now, thechurch would say, What's going
on with Brother Greg?
(31:22):
He's having a midlife crisis.
He's trying to be young.
I realize I'm never gonna beyoung again.
So I've got to surround myselfwith younger guys.
And uh people keep you humble.
People keep you humble.
Um in 2004, we we prayed aboutrelocating because we knew uh we
were in two services, the cr thechurch was packed, uh facilities
(31:45):
just were outdated for thatsize.
So we prayed about relocating.
God shut doors and opened themright in Camden.
What do you mean?
We're gonna build in Camden.
Well, we don't have thefootprint, we're gonna buy
houses.
We bought seven houses, tookthem down.
I can assure you, in a smalltown that does not make you
(32:08):
popular.
So we've got to show the townthe value of a gospel-centered
ministry church.
Uh build a million and a halfdollar building.
Uh, it was a miracle in itself.
We thought we were gonna have toborrow about 850,000, borrowed
six, six hundred, paid it off in11 or 12 years.
Um, I mean, God just continuallyjust did it.
(32:30):
I had never built a birdhouse.
But but we had guys in ourchurch that knew about financing
and the whole nine yards, andhad a guy named Gary Super that
kind of oversaw the whole thingfor us and uh took all that
pressure off me.
Uh they gave me a hard hat withpastor on it, and I said, Why'd
you do that?
And they said, Because that waywhen you're on site, the guys
(32:53):
working on it know you knowabsolutely nothing about the
building.
Uh but that investment there,Dan, was we're gonna give it to
Camden.
If if God it continues to wantus to get bigger, we're gonna be
involved in church planning.
And we always are a partner withseveral churches outside of
Camden or whatever he wants todo.
(33:14):
So believe me, the people keepme humble.
The the the past, you know, Itold some folks I'm gonna be on
a podcast, and of course they'relike, woo, woo.
And uh watching watching ourlive stream keeps me humble.
I'm thinking, how can you listento that every week?
But we do, we got people that doit.
I think the Holy Spirit putsblinders on people's eyes and
(33:36):
ears, and they don't see the badstuff, and they hear what the
word says.
SPEAKER_03 (33:42):
So and and you are your biggest critic, right?
SPEAKER_01 (33:46):
Um I I probably am.
I probably am.
Yeah, you know that it in inpastoring, if you're gonna take
all the good jobs, you better beable to take some criticism.
And uh at first, like somebodywould leave the church, I took
it personally.
I mean, personally.
And then the older I've gotten,I mean, sometimes God calls
(34:06):
people different places.
And you don't always get to keepthe best people.
So you can outgrow that.
SPEAKER_03 (34:14):
Yeah, well, that's awesome.
So talk a little bit about yourfamily.
You kind of you mentioned uh youmentioned them briefly, but talk
about your your kids and whatlife was like for you when when
your kids were born and allthose good things.
SPEAKER_01 (34:26):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
We have two, of course, Drew,Andrew Jackson.
Uh it's not funny until you'rein the doctor's office.
Uh so Drew has just turned 40.
Uh he's been at Northridgeteaching uh 15, 17 years or
something like that.
Uh he married Ashley.
Uh Ashley uh came from FirstBaptist Vandalia.
(34:48):
Her family, her papa was thepastor there, and uh her dad was
in evangelism, so ministryfamily.
Her brother Stephen is thepastor of First Baptist New
Lebanon, and that's where theyattend.
Drew's a deacon there, and theyhave two kids.
Aidan just is a sophomore, anduh Eli is an eighth grader.
So all of a sudden, I'm aBrookville Blue Devil fan.
(35:12):
Uh I it's hard for me to fathomthat, but I am.
And I'm grateful that that theRegister Herald in Prewa County
covers Brookville.
unknown (35:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (35:21):
So that's a good thing, too.
Um so Ashley's a stay-at-homemom and and Drew's teacher, and
he's also the assistant varsitybasketball coach.
Benji Hughes, the varsity coach,is his longtime high school
friend.
unknown (35:33):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (35:33):
So that's how that connected.
Stacy is a second grade teacherin Camden, and her husband,
Kyle, is a bivocational pastorat Harrison Street Baptist
Church in New Madison, and he'sa banker, and he he works from
home like an auditor.
They have two boys, and Kobe'sin fifth grade, and Jordy's in
(35:54):
three, grade three.
So we've got boys everywhere.
We try to juggle where we'resupposed to be.
We we try to split the time, andum so Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (36:06):
It's awesome, yeah.
And I see you a lot at the atthe Brookville Eden games.
SPEAKER_01 (36:10):
We're not doing that, we're not doing flag this
year, though.
SPEAKER_03 (36:12):
I saw that, yeah.
Yeah.
So that's good.
All right, Pete Meravich.
Talk about Pete.
As I told you here earlier thismorning, as I was I was looking
up your bio and and reading somethings, I noticed on the
website, on Church's website,that you had uh a YouTube video
of of Pistol Pete and uh and histalk with uh with the Billy
(36:36):
Graham group.
Talk about what Pistol Petemeant to you.
I mean, obviously very powerfulbecause it's part on part of
your bio.
SPEAKER_01 (36:47):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (36:47):
So talk about that.
SPEAKER_01 (36:48):
Yeah, I put that on there to captivate sports-minded
folks.
Um and um so when I was a when Iwas in school, uh Pistol Pete
this uh his LSU years, I wasalmost too young to remember.
But I was uh But in 70, uhplayer of the year and all that,
that I was nine at that time,and and I'm really getting into
(37:09):
basketball at that point.
Okay.
And um the Hawks drafting, andand all of a sudden I'm just I'm
I'm fascinated with pistol Pete.
You know, this HarlemGlobetrotter who's white, uh
ahead of his time.
Uh so for your listeners, justin case they're a little bit
confused, Pete Merevitz is theall-time leading scorer of men's
(37:31):
NCAA basketball.
Okay, you ready?
No three-point line, andfreshmen weren't eligible to
play.
So when you compare him andCaitlin Clark, there has to be
an asterisk by her name.
Four years, three-point line.
And I applaud her foreverything.
I saw a picture, I I have it onthe phone, I think, uh, of an
(37:53):
old pick picture of pistol peatat LSU, and it's cut in half.
Caitlin Clark on the right side.
Have you ever seen it?
He's passing her the crown.
Oh, wow.
It's pretty neat.
It's pretty cool.
It is, it is cool.
So I had a friend named ScottGobar who got the Dayton Journal
Herald.
That was a morning deliverypaper.
Dayton Daily was afternoon.
(38:14):
He would come to school with thecutout clippings from the night
before Pistol Pete has 35 orwhatever.
I mean, every day.
And I just collected andcollected and collected.
Uh when Drew got a little biggerenough to appreciate basketball,
I started digging back for somecards that I knew I had.
(38:36):
And uh that became little alittle hobby.
So I have 80 Pete Merovichcards.
And um, yeah, it's it's funny.
Yeah.
Uh yeah, one of the boys willget those one day, uh, the one
that appreciates it the most.
Uh but uh I love pistol.
Well, five he died at the age of40.
(38:59):
Had made the statement in hislife, I don't want to live to be
40 and die.
Like there's gotta be more oflife.
Five years before he passed iswhen God changed his life.
And um, and it was probably inthe testimony he heard.
He said he had tried everything.
(39:20):
He didn't go anywhere withoutthousands of dollars cash in his
pockets in case he wanted tojump on a plane and go to the
Far East or somewhere.
And uh said he got to the pointwhere he realized that money
would buy him everything buthappiness and pay his fare to
everywhere but heaven.
I mean, if I were to have atattoo, that might be it, you
(39:42):
know?
And uh five years before hedied, he gave his life to
Christ, and then God began touse him radically.
And in some of the books writtenabout him, they said you
couldn't be with him for fiveminutes, and he would ask you
about your faith or share astory.
And then tragically, uh uh onemorning he plays pickup
(40:06):
basketball, getting ready to dosomething similar to what you're
doing right here.
James Dobson, focus on thefamily, and made the statement,
man, I feel good, and hit thefloor.
They rolled him over, his eyesrolled back in his head, he died
right there.
And I believe that maybe PeteMerovich's death, maybe, maybe
(40:26):
in many ways like CharlieKirk's, is gonna reach thousands
and thousands of people that hecouldn't personally or in his
lifetime, but yet God continuesto carry the story.
So I am a big Pete Merovich fan.
If you see me at a game and Ihave a Pete Merovich shirt on of
(40:48):
some sort, I want you toacknowledge it, Dan.
Okay, yeah, I will.
I want you to go.
And uh, but uh yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (40:55):
You know, you mentioned that about Charlie
Kirk, and we talked to talkedabout him on the podcast last
week.
And Ben, you made a comment uhbefore we got rolling here
about, you know, I'd said thesaddest part for me in that
whole thing was just the thevial and the negative comments
and the hatred that you know Iwould see on social media.
(41:15):
And um, but what what what'd yousay this morning?
SPEAKER_02 (41:18):
Yeah, I was saying that um a lot of people were
sending me stuff and and Lisa'sstuff and she showed me that uh
a lot of the comments now afteryesterday, Sunday, you know, the
first Sunday after it happened,and everybody's like, you know,
I was an atheist, but I went tochurch and heard them, you know,
for the first time ever.
And some people, you know, andthey're like, I enjoyed it.
And I can't, you know, you hearall the stuff about Christianity
about how it's like hatred andstuff like that.
And then these people are like,no, like it was all about hope.
(41:41):
It was about you know acceptanceand stuff like that.
And it's just I feel like itrenewed.
And uh Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (41:48):
Yeah, it's pretty powerful.
And and it's gonna beinteresting to see what good
comes from it, you know, throughall the tragedy and the and the
heartache.
So all right.
Last two questions.
Okay.
When times are tough, and I knowyou've had some tough times.
You're down in the dumps.
Maybe the mower's broke, youcan't get on the mower because
(42:11):
you know that's your that's yourum your serenity uh or whatever
it might be from the day.
Is there a Bible verse?
Is there a quote?
Is there something that you leanon that gets you through those
tough times?
SPEAKER_01 (42:22):
Yeah, I'll give you I'll give you a quote first and
then a verse.
Um, the quote came from a mentorof mine, Joe Baker, and today's
Monday, right?
You ready for this?
Don't evaluate ministry onMonday morning or in the month
of August.
What he was saying was you canhave a great day on Sunday and
(42:42):
you're on the top of the worldon Monday, or the last thing
said to you on the way outSunday just took the air out of
everything that God did.
Don't evaluate your call onemotion.
In August, nobody comes tochurch.
They're trying to get that lastweek of vacation before school,
boom, boom, boom.
Makes sense.
Good word.
Verse wise, Joshua 1.9.
(43:04):
Be strong, good courage, don'tbe afraid nor dismayed.
The Lord thy God is with youwherever you go.
That's the same promise he madeto Moses.
God's faithful.
He'll be with you, he'll takecare of you, trust him.
So that's that's a verse.
SPEAKER_03 (43:21):
That's awesome.
Last question.
If you could sit on a park benchand have a conversation with
someone living or deceased, whowould it be and why?
SPEAKER_01 (43:30):
Okay, it's good.
If if you're looking Bible,other other than the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Right.
It would in scripture it'd bePaul.
Because man, I I look at Pauland and have preached the the
letter so much.
You talk about a celebritypastor, he wasn't one.
(43:53):
He was beat up and stoned andleft for dead and imprisoned and
um shipwrecked.
As a matter of fact, when theywere shipwrecked on Malta, they
get there and they build a fire,the natives do, and Paul gets
bit by a snake and they thinkhe's a god, and Paul's like,
(44:17):
wait a minute.
And he shakes that snake off.
I'm thinking, Paul knows whatit's like to get bit and keep on
going.
And just because you get bitdon't mean you have to die.
Right?
Any kind of leadership, you'regonna you're gonna get
criticized or something,something's gonna go wrong, or
uh, you know, or even maybe inour actions we do the wrong
(44:38):
things.
Dan, I look back over my lifeand somebody would say, Would
you do some things?
Yeah, I would do some thingsdifferently, especially with
staff.
You know, we went from pastordoing everything to a staff.
And I I did I had handled everysituation.
I mean, if I could go back andchange some things, you know,
(44:59):
miscommunication, uh stuff likethat, I would.
Um, but uh so scripturally Ithink it'll be Paul.
There's a there's a a gospelsong that that says, I'd like to
meet the preacher who prayed forthe preacher who prayed for me
(45:21):
down on my knees.
Well, in many ways, I thank theLord for the preacher or the or
the man who led my papa Jacksonto Christ.
Because of that, my dad was putin a position to hear about
(45:42):
Jesus and give his life to him.
Because of that, my mom gave herlife to Christ, married in
Dayton, and because of that,they raised us in church.
Now, don't get me wrong, churchdoesn't save anybody, but it put
me in a position to hear thegospel.
So maybe it's that guy, thatpastor, that preacher, who
(46:06):
introduced my papa to Christ.
Maybe I'll meet him.
SPEAKER_03 (46:11):
That's pretty awesome.
Pretty awesome, Ben.
You got anything?
SPEAKER_02 (46:14):
That's powerful.
The uh so knowing Drew, I wenton mission trip with Drew.
Uh I have really good memorieswith Drew.
Knowing the type man he is andthe type father he is, I'm just
wondering like, do you have anyadvice for moms, dads out there
just in a world full of chaosand so much evil?
What's what's one advice yougive parents nowadays?
SPEAKER_01 (46:37):
Number one, you gotta be consistent.
You know, uh as long as yourkids live in your house, you're
in charge.
Don't quit blaming everybodyelse.
Um so you gotta be consistent.
I uh we certainly aren't perfectparents.
Um and and none of us wereraised by perfect parents.
(46:58):
But uh Renee lost her dad in1984.
We'd been married one year, uh58 years old.
Um her mom lived to be 94 and uhnever remarried, never did, but
you know, Renee saw some realshe she came from a big family.
So Renee, you talk about ablessing.
Renee knows what appreciationis.
(47:20):
She was the youngest of six.
You know, I just had one sister.
So we came from differentbackgrounds, and I think maybe
that complimenting each other,uh, humility, any good thing in
our kids, Ben, is Renee.
Um it's Renee.
Can I tell you just a littlebrief thing that happened?
(47:41):
You mentioned Drew.
Yeah, and this was a lifechanger for us.
Um in uh 1984, we'd been inCamden for a year.
Uh it was Martin Luther KingDay, kids are out of school.
We had gotten into snow skiing,had taken a few trips with other
couples.
I mean, we really were gettingto the point where do we buy
(48:03):
skis?
That kind of thing.
Martin Luther King Day, 1984, itsnowed like crazy.
We said, let's take Drew toperfect north and teach him how
to ski.
Just him.
So we fought our way down therein the weather, got down there,
had a couple hours of fun, andthen in front of us, he went
down and let out a scream thatyou knew something was wrong.
(48:26):
We got down to him, saw one ofhis legs going the wrong way,
recognized he had broken hisleg.
The ski guys get up to help us,the medics, and one guy looks at
me and says, I think the otherleg's broken too.
Long story short, both legs.
Took him to a small hospital inLawrenceburg.
(48:47):
I called my sister, who was anurse.
She thought I was joking until Istarted crying.
They told us you need to get himto an orthopedic in Dayton
tomorrow.
So we they wrapped him up.
Uh, we finally got home.
I remember pulling into ourlane, Dan.
The snow was drifting.
I got stuck, grabbed a shovel,the headlights are hitting that
(49:10):
snow.
I'm crying, I'm slinging snow.
Um, we finally get home.
Next day we go to Dayton, andthe doctor says, I have three
boys of my own.
We snow ski.
If it were my son, and I go,that's what I want to hear, what
would you do?
He goes, I wouldn't do surgery.
I said, Okay.
They were called boot topfractures.
Uh when he fell, neither skibroke loose.
(49:31):
Uh beginner, beginning ski, oryou should almost walk out of
your skis, but they didn't breakloose.
Boot top fractures.
Nine weeks and cast up to histhighs, eight years old.
It was not that hard to managebecause you can you can lift up
an eight-year-old boy and puthim where you need to put him
and boom, boom, boom.
And Shawnee's school was so goodthat the teacher came daily and
(49:54):
he he hardly missed any schoolat all.
I had to take a class atliberty.
Uh after nine weeks, he got outof cast and rehabilitated, you
know, and moved on.
I mean, we praised the Lord.
I had to take a class atLiberty, and this is where the
lesson really came.
And uh we're sitting there, andI thought it was going to be a
(50:16):
bunch of older guys like us in aclassroom.
It's called a J term.
It was like two guys my age, andthe rest were students trying to
get a quick class.
So I met this guy, and uh we wesaid, well, let's go out to
dinner tonight.
So we went out to eat, and Istart telling him that story
about Drew.
And then he takes a picture fromhis billful and shows me his son
(50:42):
who has cerebral palsy.
Man, I just broke in front ofhim in apology.
Here I am talking about nineweeks in cast of such an
inconvenience, and and you havea lifetime of meeting the needs
(51:03):
of your special little boy.
And it was at that point Godbroke Renee and I's heart for
people who have parents who havehandicapped kids.
And here's what we found out innine quick weeks.
All people want to be treated asnormal.
Treat people normal.
And so I'm I'm I try to makeefforts in public when I see
(51:25):
families because you're thinkingof the sacrifice they've made to
go out to eat, knowing thatmaybe the child's not going to
behave or if it's mental, youknow, something.
I I I like to brag on people'sfamilies.
Encourage a parent that, hey,you're doing a good job.
You know, you're you're you'respecial because everybody can't
(51:46):
do what you do.
So it's just a simple thing inDrew's eight-year.
Um, and Drew's been a hoot inministry.
He's got a sense of humor, he'san outdoorsman.
Um we we like to fish.
Some of those um mowingexcursions, you know, I I could
(52:06):
say, or go home and fish.
SPEAKER_04 (52:08):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (52:08):
And um and we we have access to some places that
uh other preachers don't, andthey come out there and say,
Man, alive, don't give this up,that kind of thing.
Um But uh Drew has said thingslike this out loud as a little
boy.
I hate to even say this.
Uh Dad says weddings are okay,but uh big books are in
(52:31):
funerals.
He said that out loud.
Where do you go from thatstatement?
Um so he's always been kind offunny.
Yeah, you know, like once I gota new suit and and somebody
commented on it and he goes,That suit cost us 200 bucks.
Um so he would say whatever youdo.
(52:52):
Where Stacy was uh easy toraise.
Yeah, you know.
But uh so parenting, I ain't gotthe answers been.
Oh yeah.
Uh our our house has been ahouse of laughter.
I do feel like home is the placeyou want you you should want to
go.
Don't you guys at the end of theday?
I can't wait to get home.
(53:13):
And uh I realize it's not likethat everywhere.
No.
SPEAKER_03 (53:17):
No, it's not.
You know, you hearing you saythat, it we try to have dinner
together as a family everynight.
It it doesn't always work withall with everything that's going
on, but but really it's it's mywife, Kim.
You know, she she even yesterdayafter church, we've got a flag
football game to get to, and anduh, you know, everything's busy,
(53:38):
everybody's running everywhere.
And but those are the mostincredible times as a parent.
You know, I'm I'm blessed tohave five healthy children, an
amazing wife.
You know, we sit around our ourkitchen table and and we eat,
and it's some of the thefunniest, most uh, you know,
(54:00):
just off-the-wall conversations.
And I didn't realize that being,you know, when I was younger,
but as I get older, and then asmy oldest daughter's, you know,
in her second year of college,and and you know, the family
dynamics start to change, youdon't realize how important that
is as a family to have that timewhere we're all together and
(54:22):
we're just having fun.
And that may mean somebody'sgetting picked on a little more
than somebody else, buteverybody's giving it right
back.
And it's just, you know, as a asa parent, I'll often catch
myself just kind of sitting backand smiling.
Amen.
And uh unfortunately, I don'tthink a lot of people take the
time to do that.
You know, everybody's so busyand they get caught up in sports
(54:45):
and school and whatever else isgoing on that they think are
more important than that familyunit.
And I'm sure that you see it.
I I know that you see it.
You see families that run here,there, and everywhere.
And then by the time it's alldone, they don't have that
relationship as a husband andwife anymore.
Because that's that's that wastheir life.
SPEAKER_01 (55:06):
Right.
The empty nest is a tester uhfor exactly what you're saying.
Uh life has revolved aroundschedules and kids, and boom,
boom, boom.
And then then a couple looks atthemselves and says, We don't
even know each other.
So a group of first graders wereasked if they could have
anything, what what would theywant?
(55:29):
And it was for their dad to lovetheir mom.
Think about that.
Security.
Security.
SPEAKER_03 (55:37):
That would be heartbreaking to hear that as a
father.
Heartbreaking.
I can't imagine that.
Yeah.
But that's where we're at in ain a lot of these households.
So any of you, any of youfamilies out there, you parents,
uh, and and you know who youare.
You know, I mean, we're allrunning everywhere, but just
take the time, you know, foreach other, you know, as husband
and wife, but also as a familyunit to come together.
(55:58):
Eating out at dinner at arestaurant, yeah, it's okay.
But it's not like sitting athome.
Yeah, you know, so that'simportant.
Um, how can people find you, uh,give you website information?
How can they get a hold of you?
How can I hear you preach?
All those good things.
SPEAKER_01 (56:15):
Okay.
Well, First Southern BaptistCamden, FSB Camden, the corner
of hope.
We're right at the corner of 127and 725.
I like to tell people we're justwest of the Dayton Mall, about
25 miles.
Uh right on the corner.
You can't miss us.
We have two worship servicesSunday morning, 8:30 and 1045,
Sunday school in the middle.
(56:36):
Wednesday night, 633.
Why 633?
CE first a kingdom of God andhis righteousness, Matthews.
And um, we have vibrant youthministry, children's ministry,
so we can plug in that way.
Church website is Camden Cornerof Hope.com.
Easy.
And uh we stream the 1045service during uh time change,
(57:00):
first of November.
I also do uh uh a recording ofthe Wednesday service.
I do it early on Wednesday forthose that won't get out at
night.
But um that's it.
We'd love to hear from you.
Uh every now and then, folks, uhyou can contact us on the
websites.
Every now and then we get stuff.
And um two people recently saidthey'd like to talk about being
(57:22):
baptized, and they came in, gavetheir life to Christ.
And you never know.
You never know who's listening,right?
That's right.
A lot of times on uh when I saygood morning to the church on
the on the stream service, I'llsay, maybe you're watching today
from Japan.
I don't know.
I don't know.
SPEAKER_03 (57:39):
Yeah, we don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (57:41):
Thank you.
Hey, I'm honored you even ask.
SPEAKER_03 (57:44):
No, I I I appreciate you taking the time to come here
on Monday.
I know you're a busy man.
You got a you got a lot of ironsin the fire, and and um so I
appreciate you sharing yourstory, your faith.
Uh, it's powerful.
SPEAKER_01 (57:56):
Well, you guys are pros.
I told you, I've watched youenough to know you know what
you're doing.
So keep keep doing it.
SPEAKER_03 (58:01):
Uh we appreciate it.
Everybody, please uh continue tolike and share and do all those
things and and uh we appreciatethe love and support as always.
And go out and be tempered.
SPEAKER_00 (58:11):
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Hey, do you want to catch everyepisode live as it's being
recorded?
Welcome on to Patreon.com slashBee Tempered for exclusive
footage behind the scenes photosand the live recording as it
takes place.
Go to patreon.com slash BTEMP.
Welcome to the Bee TemperedPodcast, where we explore the
(00:49):
art of finding balance in achaotic world.
SPEAKER_02 (00:51):
Join us as we delve into insightful conversations,
practical tips, and inspiringstories to help you navigate
life's ups and downs with graceand resilience.
SPEAKER_03 (00:59):
We're your host, Dan Schmidt, and Ben Spar.
Let's embark on a journey tolive our best lives.
SPEAKER_02 (01:06):
This is Bee Tempered.
SPEAKER_03 (01:07):
What's up, everybody?
Welcome to the Bee TemperedPodcast, episode number 73.
Glad we got that right.
That's right.
Today I'm honored to welcome Dr.
Greg Jackson.
Brother Greg has faithfullyserved as senior pastor of the
first Southern Baptist Church inCamden, Ohio since 1993.
His journey began in Dayton,Ohio, where he came to faith in
(01:31):
1976.
And not long after he marriedhis high school sweetheart
Renee.
Together they've raised twowonderful children, both now
school teachers, who arebuilding strong families of
their own.
Brother Greg's calling toministry came in 1991, and since
then he has poured himself intopreaching, pastoring, and
(01:51):
mentoring.
He holds both a master anddoctor of ministry, along with
an honorary doctor of divinity.
And he's even authored apractical guide for pastors on
conducting funerals.
Beyond the pulpit, he alsoserves as chaplain for the
Camden Police Department,offering spiritual guidance and
support to his community in someof life's toughest moments.
(02:15):
Family is at the heart of hislife, but he also enjoys golf,
crappie fishing, Ohio Statefootball, and of course,
basketball, especially inspiredby the late Pistol Pete
Merovich's powerful testimony.
One of his favorite scripturesis Galatians 6, verse 14,
reminding us to boast only inthe cross of our Lord Jesus
(02:35):
Christ.
It's a privilege to have himwith us today to share his
story, his faith, and hiswisdom.
Brother Greg, welcome to the BeTempered Podcast.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Glad to be here.
Yeah, we're glad to have you.
Uh you you've been uh you'vebeen on the list for a while.
And uh, like we talked abouthere earlier this morning, I
(02:57):
don't know your story.
I've um been blessed to come toyour your church a couple times.
You know, my brother and hiswife and family go there, and uh
I've heard some some powerfultestimonies and some powerful
sermons.
And so I'm excited to to learnmore about you and and what
motivates you and your passionto help others.
(03:17):
So, how we always start is welike to go back to childhood.
So tell us about what life waslike for you growing up as a
kid.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (03:26):
Um, Dayton, Ohio, Northridge.
Uh back when you could walk upNorth Dixie Drive without a
thought of anything wronghappening.
Um, I mean the leave it tobeaver.
That was my childhood.
Um my dad worked in a factory.
Um uh most of my most of mychildhood on in second shift.
(03:53):
Um so mom did the did thediscipline at home.
And um had one sister, Sheila,three years older.
I graduated in 1980, shegraduated in 77.
As a matter of fact, she justretired a few years ago, 42
years as a nurse.
Um, but um great support.
(04:13):
Um, but uh I mean I had Dan, Ihad a a childhood that I pray
every kid could have.
Um I knew what love wasunconditionally, but I didn't my
parents never uh acted like Iwas any better.
I mean, if I had a good ballgame or a bad ball game, there
was no change in acceptance orunconditional love.
(04:37):
Um my parents are both fromTennessee.
I have a little big bit of bigorange in me.
Uh I'm the the Georgia lossright now is hurt it hurting
pretty bad.
We were at a wedding uh Saturdaynight watching it on a on a
phone, and then somebody got apicture of us after the guy
missed a field goal.
We're like, oh no.
(04:59):
But uh man, I had a great grunt.
Was raised in church.
That's all I ever really knew.
Um and my my mom got saved whenthey moved to Dayton from
Tennessee in a church calledWestwood, which ultimately
became Far Hills Baptist, whichwas a real strong Southern
Baptist church in Dayton.
(05:21):
Uh Northridge had a churchcalled Northridge Baptist
Church.
We went there for a while, andthen when I was a junior high
boy, we went to North DaytonBaptist Church.
And that's where God reallybegan to speak to my heart.
I'd walked down a Nisle as alittle boy and then was even
baptized.
But as a uh teenage,14-year-old, I just wrestled
(05:41):
with doubt constantly, thinking,did I really make a decision
when I was nine or did I do itbecause somebody else did it?
So in a revival on a Tuesdaynight, 1976, you mentioned, uh,
a guy named T.
D.
Hall was preaching, and I waswrestling.
I I I couldn't stand invitationsbecause I was under conviction,
(06:02):
but I made a decision thatnight, I'm going for it.
And I sure hope I don'tdisappoint my pastor, and I
don't want to disappoint mom anddad.
They already think I'm aChristian.
Invitation was given, I made thedecision.
Uh, that night I gave my life toChrist, and uh it really changed
me.
That was the point in my lifethat that I knew that I knew
that Christ was my Lord andSavior.
(06:23):
And um, that was a long timeago.
But I'm telling you, as far aschildhood, I had the one that
everyone would dream of.
Um my dad just turned 88.
I still have both of my parents.
I do not take that for granted.
Um and and sometimes uh uhSheila and I, my sister, we
(06:47):
recognize this is our season.
And I can assure you that we'lldo everything we can to take
care of our parents because theyhave taken care of us our whole
lives.
Um so Renee and I got uh datedin high school.
Um she is cheerleader, but she'salso a ball player, which that
was one thing that attracted meto her.
She was uh she was a great ballplayer, and then she became a
(07:11):
beautiful ball player.
And uh so um we kid about this.
I I tell her that she stalked mein high school.
SPEAKER_03 (07:21):
And uh I doubt that.
SPEAKER_01 (07:24):
So we started dating, dating our junior year,
and uh, you know, she played allthe sports and was cheerleader,
and and uh basketball was mything.
SPEAKER_03 (07:33):
Was that the only sport that you played in high
school?
SPEAKER_01 (07:35):
I played tennis.
Okay.
I I ran cross-country one yearand I thought you gotta be
crazy.
But uh basketball was a sport,um, played tennis and uh uh just
uh uh had some good success inhigh school.
Um I was point guard, our ourstar was named Jimmy Pollard.
He averaged 36 a game with nothree-point lines, state uh led
(07:59):
to state in scoring.
Our final game in high school,we got beat by Dunbar in triple
overtime at UD.
He had 48.
And Don DeVaux, the Tennesseecoach, comes walking in the
locker room.
Uh he's he went full ride toArizona State.
But uh we that was the kind ofsuccess we had, and uh it was it
(08:19):
was fun, it was a great ride.
SPEAKER_03 (08:21):
How was your your coach?
Did you have any coaches alongalong the way, you know, middle
school into high school thatwere a big influence on you?
SPEAKER_01 (08:28):
In junior high had been two of them, Sonny Zekley,
uh, who was real active inNorthridge track and cross
country, but he was alsoinvolved in everything
sports-wise.
And then another coach was namedKen Hamill.
And Ken Hamill, uh, I had theprivilege several years ago to
do his funeral.
He'd given his life to Christ,he got married, he was single as
(08:50):
a teacher, but he got married,and his wife, Jonna, was a
born-again believer, and hislife changed, man.
So they they asked me to speakthis funeral, and I talked about
the life change.
Everybody wanted to be him.
Then our high school coach wasDick Allen.
And uh he was a fine man, hasbeen going through health issues
himself, but uh those are allgreat memories.
(09:12):
Those are all great memories.
Um you mentioned Dixie.
Uh Randy Edder and I are stillfriends.
SPEAKER_02 (09:17):
Okay, yeah, that was my high school coach, my
sophomore.
Let's see everybody, mysophomore and junior year was
Coach Edder.
The compliment I tell you about,yeah.
E McGee gave a speech.
He talked at the end of the oneof the games and was like, uh,
if I can just have kids thatwould just run your head through
the wall, that was me.
I wasn't I wasn't an athlete, Ijust worked hard.
SPEAKER_01 (09:34):
That's the kind of guy you want.
Yeah.
That's the kind of guy you want.
Yeah.
So um in school, um, didn't knowreally what I wanted to do, so I
went to Sinclair and walked on,played ball the first year.
Uh I remember that firstpractice, there were about 50
guys there, and most of theminner city great athletes.
And I thought, holy cow, I'm introuble.
(09:57):
But they started dropping likeflies.
And then I realized that heartand determination and how bad
you want it.
And I remember the day I sawthat final cut and I made it and
uh and had a had a fun year.
Um got a little disenfranchisedwith school after the season,
uh, got a full-time job, and uhRenee and I got married at age
(10:20):
21, which which, if I were tocounsel that right now, you
know, holy cow, that's young.
But uh and we just celebrated42.
SPEAKER_03 (10:30):
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Your your faith through throughthe the college years, did it
ever waver?
SPEAKER_01 (10:37):
No, we were we were faithful in church, and uh I
remember our uh our first um uhour first maybe responsibility
in church is it was junior highboys.
And that was like the firstclass I ever taught.
And uh gave gave me one onething about um and I and I know
(10:58):
you that's a good question.
College years, did your faithwaver?
Because right there is it rightthere is a litmus test.
And how many say goodbye to thechurch and and then all of a
sudden maybe get married andhave some kids and thinking I
need to get them in a goodenvironment or something.
But uh we didn't we didn't walkaway from it.
(11:20):
Uh I mean we got married at 21,so we weren't out too long.
SPEAKER_04 (11:23):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (11:24):
And um Renee came from a real small church, and
really size is in the eye of thebeholder, but North Dayton was a
little more f uh formal.
Renee came from like a free willBaptist, which is a little more
Pentecostal.
Okay, and I like that aspect ofseeing the emotion.
And um, so as a pastor, youknow, I I think you can wed
(11:46):
both.
You don't have to be crazy, butI mean, do I want a stoic, uh
unemotional?
I don't want a pastor that way.
So um so worked a few differentjobs and then got on to post
office.
And as a matter of fact, Ithought I was gonna be a letter
carrier.
(12:06):
Everything was setting up forit.
We were young married.
I thought the Lord's blessing,this is where we're gonna fit.
And I get a call from the postoffice checking up that I'm not
gonna be considered for acarrier job because I had had a
moving violation within a coupleyears.
(12:27):
And I remember that day, Dan,crying like a baby and calling
Renee at work and saying itain't gonna happen.
I mean, I felt like I wasputting all the eggs into the
basket.
This is God's plan for our life,and then it's not there.
Well, little did I know.
God didn't want me to be acarrier, he wanted me to be a
(12:47):
clerk.
And I got hired as a clerk at uh11 years.
Uh we'd been there 11 years, thelast five in Northridge on days.
Looking back, all he was doingwas setting me up to deal with
people.
I'm gonna teach you how to dealwith people because you're gonna
pastor a church one day.
SPEAKER_03 (13:07):
And uh so because as a letter carrier, you'd have
pretty much been on your own.
You'd have been a good thing.
SPEAKER_01 (13:12):
And that's and that's the draw for a lot of
people.
Yeah, you know, just go do yourjob and go home.
But man, uh uh, you know,handling that disgruntled
customer is gonna teach you someskill you need.
I'm not saying that churchmembers are dis disgruntled
customers, but I am saying thatchurch members are people.
Yeah, and so am I.
(13:33):
Yep.
But uh anyway, God was shapingus.
So 11 years there, um uh 91, Ifelt a call to preach.
We loved our church, uh, Ben.
I I we didn't want to leaveVandalia.
But I was called to preach and Iwas getting a lot of
invitations, and I enjoyed thatpreaching on Sunday and then
just going back to work onMonday.
(13:55):
Um then all of a sudden, in1993, out of the blue, I get a
call from Camden, Ohio.
And all I knew about Camden was45311.
And it was a guy named ClydeSpradling, and he said, We're
trying to fill the pulpit, andwe understand that you were
recently called.
The connection was uh a memberof the Camden Church at that
(14:19):
time was Charlie Hoover.
Charlie Hoover had a son namedBill who attended First Baptist
Vandalia.
Bill was also my accountingteacher at Sinclair.
And they said, Yeah, GregJackson surrendered to preach.
That gave us uh uh somebody hereknew us and and called called me
Phil Pulpit.
(14:39):
Well, Phil in the pulpit is justthat.
You're filling in.
Not looking to pastor anything.
I remember driving to Camden ona cold February morning, Sunday
morning by myself.
I came by myself, I came throughEaton, stopped at Speedway, and
thought, where in the world am Igoing?
Got to Camden, they're shovelingsnow, boom, boom, boom.
(15:01):
I preached that morning, and thepulpit committee was in
Lexington or Louisville to heara candidate.
I thought, well, amen, they'reduring the process is going.
Little did I know that the wivesof the pulpit committee called
their husbands and said, Youneed to get back here.
We think the guy is here.
Well, I wasn't looking at thepastor.
(15:22):
A couple weeks later they call,we come back.
Sunday morning, Sunday night.
I brought the best package ofthe part of the package.
I brought Renee and the kids.
Preached Sunday morning, Sundaynight.
That became an interim with withthe um with the clause.
Nothing changes.
I'll work and I'll continue towork, we'll continue to live in
(15:44):
Dayton, but I'll preach and dothe best I can until you get
somebody.
God began to move and and Ibegan the process of
transferring, possibly to theCamden Post Office.
The closer we got, the moreclear it became.
We're either all in or we'renot.
(16:04):
So two years bivocational, wemoved to Camden.
I drove back to work daily.
People thought we were crazy forthat.
What do you wait?
You're moving 40 minutes away todrive back?
Did it for two years and thenwent full time.
Uh thought it would be hard togive up.
I remember the day I walked awayfrom it with peace, the Lord
will provide.
So here we are 32 years later.
SPEAKER_03 (16:26):
That's amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (16:27):
And Dan, 33 years ago, Camden, Ohio wasn't on the
radar of my life.
So that's that's really thestory of the call here.
SPEAKER_03 (16:37):
We're do you do you hear God's voice?
SPEAKER_01 (16:43):
Audibly?
I don't think I hear it audibly.
I hear it internally.
And I think I think one way Godspeaks to Greg Jackson is
through peace uh in a decisionof a yes or a no.
Um sometimes I tell uh thechurch, no peace, no decision.
(17:04):
You know, I if I'm wrestlingwith it, maybe God's continuing
to try to teach me something.
Now, does God speak to peace uhpeople audibly?
I'm not gonna discount that.
You know, Pete Meravich said heheard God audibly.
And then Pete in his testimonysaid, I really don't care what
you think, I can tell you thatGod spoke to me.
And uh man, I praise the Lord hestill does speak.
(17:27):
And um we live in a busy world,don't we?
So in the busyness of the world,sometimes we're doing all the
talking.
And uh just need to slow down, Iguess.
SPEAKER_03 (17:38):
So Yeah, that's a good way to put it, is is when
you feel that peace, that's howyou know this is the right
decision.
So you make that decision, youmove to Camden.
How easy was it?
SPEAKER_01 (17:53):
Um A fellow was um at the church yesterday for the
service, was one of the lastguys that I saw when they drove
back the U-Haul to Dayton.
He helped move me out here.
And uh and dad looked at thedeacon, the Clyde Spradling,
that was the first call to me,and said to him, Clyde, you're
gonna have to take care of him.
(18:14):
I remember my dad saying that.
Dad and I painted the wholehouse.
It was the parsonage at thattime.
We bought it eight years later.
And my dad, we painted it andstayed all night in the house,
and dad said he laid in bed andcried.
Um and and now I say, Dad, Ihope those were happy tears.
But but he said they were justlike tears of change.
(18:37):
You know, everything's changing.
Uh my mom was a church secretaryat North Dayton for 31 years,
and she saw the church eat uppastors.
She was the last one I wanted totell I felt called to ministry,
or we felt like God was callingus to Camden.
You're gonna take our twograndkids and you're moving out
there to a small church thatwe're not even sure can support
(18:58):
you.
Well, let me tell you, 32 yearslater, God has supplied every
every step of the way.
Uh regardless of what I made, HeHe's He provided, He has
provided every step of the way.
So Renee was my secretary for 11years.
And I love that.
I mean, that's kind of her skillset anyway.
(19:20):
But I loved it because if I wentsomewhere, I'd take her with me.
Well, when both kids got incollege at the same time, we
realized reality, how are wegonna pay for this?
So she went to work full-time inmedical office.
And the and the deal was onceStacy got through, she she would
quit.
Well, she continues to work.
(19:41):
And she goes, I thought part ofthe deal was me quitting.
And and the joke is, I said,hun, you gotta keep bringing it
in.
You gotta keep bringing it in.
So uh that that's kind of uhwhere we are.
Along the way, the churchallowed me to get my theological
training.
Um I started at Liberty, andthen uh a couple of online
(20:02):
things.
Um one was called Bethany BibleCollege and Seminary in Dothan,
Alabama, uh, independent, KingJames only.
Um and at first I thought, youknow, I that's not necessarily
me, but it was very disciplined,and it's what I needed.
So that's how we started, andthen we did the doctorate thing
(20:24):
on our own, and I've always hadan affinity uh to minister in a
time of grief, and that kind ofhas become a real ministry in in
Preble County for me and inCamden, and um so why is that?
I really don't maybe becauseI've done so many.
I lie I log every funeral, and Ijust completed my 460th funeral.
(20:47):
Wow, and and I know I've missedsome, yeah, but uh it's just uh
it's just such an opportunity tominister to people, churched or
unchurched.
Yeah, you know, everybody isworth uh the the blood of Jesus
on the cross, doesn't matter whoyou are, and the church has
gotten behind it, and and wehave ministered to so many
(21:10):
families that didn't haveanybody or anything.
And uh, you know, Jeff andLindsay, I uh your your brother
and sister-in-law, I love them.
Uh it's just been I did theirwedding, it's just been neat to
see how God has blessed themwith a family that they prayed
for.
SPEAKER_04 (21:25):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (21:25):
And Alan and Muri.
I mean, you know, your family,Dan, has always been special to
me.
I love your mom and dad.
And uh, I mean, I don't likewhen your teams beat my teams.
And now, you know, Drews go toBrookville.
SPEAKER_03 (21:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (21:38):
And uh Aiden and Nathan.
SPEAKER_03 (21:40):
Nate, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (21:41):
Yeah, Nate, you know, that they'll see each
other here down the next coupleyears.
Oh, yeah.
But but uh I think the funeralthing has been out of necessity.
Uh and here's the reminderpeople die every day.
And and life's greatestquestion, here's what we tell
folks.
We believe everybody's goingsomewhere when they die.
(22:04):
Life's greatest question iswhere are you going?
And um if a person doesn't knowChrist, I'm gonna introduce you
to him.
And I can't make you become aChristian, but God loves you so
much that he sent a provisionfor you to pay for something you
could never pay for yourself.
(22:24):
And um it's a gift.
And if I found out you hadcancer and it was the same kind
of cancer that I have and I washealed of my cancer, I would run
to you to give you theprescription.
And folks, here's the here's thething.
People with cancer that arehealed were still gonna die if
(22:44):
the Lord tarries.
But when you give your life toChrist, I like what Charles
Stanley said.
Your last breath on earth isyour first breath in heaven.
What did Charlie Kirk say?
Death is just like a doorway toto meet Jesus.
Man, alive.
Praise the Lord for that.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (23:02):
So all right, let me ask you a question because we
we've interviewed quite a fewpastors, priests, um, you know,
people who have a lot of thingsthrown at them.
You know, and and we we've getit by just doing the podcast,
you know.
It seems like by sharing ourstories and other people's
(23:24):
stories, you know, it opens thedoor for people to call and
reach out and and want to sharetheir story.
And a lot of times it's verychallenging to hear.
And to be able to, in a lot ofcases, it's just to listen, you
know, to not really give youropinion or offer advice.
It's just, you know, thatperson, for whatever reason,
(23:45):
trusts you to tell for them totell you their story.
So as a as a pastor, you hearthat daily.
How do you process that as anindividual and not carry that
load that all those people dumpon you?
SPEAKER_01 (24:06):
That's good.
That's good.
Um pastoring, preaching is theicing on the cake.
That's the reward for beingcalled.
You get to preach and study andprepare.
What you're talking about arethe things that wear you out.
And and some pastors, and I'msure you've had them on here
(24:28):
with you, really have the giftof counsel.
They they they eat it up.
When someone comes and lays thatheavy uh burden and and just the
need and there's no quick answerfor it, uh that's that's the
thing when they let they walkout my office door that I lean
back in my chair and just like,Lord.
(24:50):
You know, wow.
I'm gonna go home and mow theyard.
Gotta do something else.
Uh, because otherwise the griefof everyone would weigh you down
so to the point where you can'tbe effective to anybody.
Um I do have the privilegethough to look at every
situation and know that there'sa God bigger than the problem.
(25:13):
And man, I've seen God putmarriages back together that no
one said would ever happen andmesses back together.
And uh you know, he's bigenough, so you gotta just
recognize that he's the one thatcan carry you to help you
somehow help somebody else.
You mentioned uh listening.
That's the key.
(25:34):
Sometimes people just want youto listen.
The problem with pastoring is uhis when it's your own people, a
lot of times what you say fromthe pulpit, they think it's
directed at them.
So sometimes maybe a couplethat's struggling in marriage,
they don't want me to even knowabout it.
Because they feel like ifsomething's said from the
(25:54):
pulpit, I might be pointing atthem when in essence the Holy
Spirit's doing it.
But uh yeah, it's it's achallenge.
It is a challenge.
Yeah.
Um I I never go home at night,Dan, and lay my head down on bed
thinking that everything's done.
There's always somebody thatthinks maybe you should have
(26:15):
been somewhere, or there'ssomething pressing you didn't
get to.
And um and that you that's whatyou have to learn to live with.
And I'm trying to do that afterall these years, you know.
When I when you see me at a ballgame, I hope I'm at the ball
game.
SPEAKER_04 (26:28):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (26:28):
And um so uh someone gave me good counsel one year
that said, when you think aboutbeing overwhelmed with what you
need to do, and this is good forany any form of leadership, get
a three by five card and writedown the five top things that
need done today.
And it gives you a goal, itgives you some sense of
(26:51):
completing it, and then you justmove on.
Tomorrow's another day.
SPEAKER_03 (26:57):
That's that's valuable advice.
That's very good.
You you you know, I've I'velearned that over the past
really three years for me isjust you know, breaking it down
day by day.
I've always been a list guy.
And uh I learned that early on,right out of college, my first
job.
We were building houses, and uhthe project manager that I was
(27:18):
was underneath, that's what hesaid.
Hey, he said, you know, you gota tablet here, make your list
for each house, and let's go offand you check them off as you
go.
You got your you got your hotitems that you know you got to
get done.
Those are the priorities you getdone today.
SPEAKER_04 (27:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (27:31):
So you make sure you get done.
The other thing, the other itemson the list, it's that's icing
on the cake.
And maybe some of those itemsbecome tomorrow's hot items that
you got to get done.
And when you really step backand you and you break things
down day by day or hour by hour,whatever it is for that day, and
you just focus on that day, andyou're present at the ball game,
(27:53):
and you're present at church,and you're present sitting here
with us right now.
You're not thinking about allthose other things.
That's where you I think you yougain so much more in life
because if not, you will getoverwhelmed.
You will get burnt out.
You know, you talk about um gohome and mow the grass.
You know, for me, I go for awalk.
(28:14):
You know, I go for a walk and II call it a gratitude walk.
And I just I just try to be inthe moment while I'm walking,
and I'm grateful for all thethings that happened that day,
maybe what's to come.
Uh, maybe somebody sharedsomething with me that was was
heavy.
I'm grateful for that.
I'm grateful that person had thetrust in me to share that with
(28:37):
me.
Uh to look to kind of flip it.
It's not a burden, it's ablessing.
Yeah, amen.
So let's talk about celebritypastors.
You see a lot of these guysonline.
Uh, I'm not gonna use names.
There's there's they're all outthere.
I've got a friend in Dallas,Texas, and I I asked Pastor
(29:00):
Justin this last week as well.
He and his family have beenlooking for a church down in
Dallas.
And he said they can't seem tofind one because everywhere they
go, they feel like that churchis trying to sell them their
church.
How do you avoid that in yoursituation as a pastor to where
(29:22):
you don't fall into that trapthat some of these churches do?
And or at least like my friendand his family, that's how they
feel.
So how do you avoid that as apastor?
SPEAKER_01 (29:33):
Let me see here, Dan.
Dallas, Camden, they're aboutthe same size, I think.
Number one, just because achurch is huge doesn't make it
(29:53):
um um a less gospel preachingchurch.
God God gives different guys toDifferent platforms, right?
For me, I I didn't know that Iwas supposed to ever look for
something bigger or better.
I've got a blog, I do I I'm notfaithful at it, but there's a
(30:17):
blog that I have and I changedthe name recently to Bloom Where
You're Planted.
And that came from uh a guynamed H.B.
London, who was James Dobson'scousin, and at Focus on the
Family, he was he was a Nazarenepastor, and he was kind of a
pastor to pastors.
He wrote a book called Heart ofGreat Pastor, one one chapter,
(30:38):
Bloom Where You're Planted.
And I thought, you know, that'sour story in Camden.
I didn't know you're supposed toaspire for bigger and better.
One way that you guard againstfeeling like you're somebody,
the people of the first SouthernBaptist Church in Camden keep me
humble.
(30:58):
They keep me humble.
SPEAKER_03 (31:00):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (31:00):
Meaning, what do you mean?
Well, for instance, I stillpreach in a suit and tie.
I don't apologize for that.
That's just who I am.
For the guy that doesn't, amen,he's gonna be who he is.
But if I were to change now, thechurch would say, What's going
on with Brother Greg?
(31:22):
He's having a midlife crisis.
He's trying to be young.
I realize I'm never gonna beyoung again.
So I've got to surround myselfwith younger guys.
And uh people keep you humble.
People keep you humble.
Um in 2004, we we prayed aboutrelocating because we knew uh we
were in two services, the cr thechurch was packed, uh facilities
(31:45):
just were outdated for thatsize.
So we prayed about relocating.
God shut doors and opened themright in Camden.
What do you mean?
We're gonna build in Camden.
Well, we don't have thefootprint, we're gonna buy
houses.
We bought seven houses, tookthem down.
I can assure you, in a smalltown that does not make you
(32:08):
popular.
So we've got to show the townthe value of a gospel-centered
ministry church.
Uh build a million and a halfdollar building.
Uh, it was a miracle in itself.
We thought we were gonna have toborrow about 850,000, borrowed
six, six hundred, paid it off in11 or 12 years.
Um, I mean, God just continuallyjust did it.
(32:30):
I had never built a birdhouse.
But but we had guys in ourchurch that knew about financing
and the whole nine yards, andhad a guy named Gary Super that
kind of oversaw the whole thingfor us and uh took all that
pressure off me.
Uh they gave me a hard hat withpastor on it, and I said, Why'd
you do that?
And they said, Because that waywhen you're on site, the guys
(32:53):
working on it know you knowabsolutely nothing about the
building.
Uh but that investment there,Dan, was we're gonna give it to
Camden.
If if God it continues to wantus to get bigger, we're gonna be
involved in church planning.
And we always are a partner withseveral churches outside of
Camden or whatever he wants todo.
(33:14):
So believe me, the people keepme humble.
The the the past, you know, Itold some folks I'm gonna be on
a podcast, and of course they'relike, woo, woo.
And uh watching watching ourlive stream keeps me humble.
I'm thinking, how can you listento that every week?
But we do, we got people that doit.
I think the Holy Spirit putsblinders on people's eyes and
(33:36):
ears, and they don't see the badstuff, and they hear what the
word says.
SPEAKER_03 (33:42):
So and and you are your biggest critic, right?
SPEAKER_01 (33:46):
Um I I probably am.
I probably am.
Yeah, you know that it in inpastoring, if you're gonna take
all the good jobs, you better beable to take some criticism.
And uh at first, like somebodywould leave the church, I took
it personally.
I mean, personally.
And then the older I've gotten,I mean, sometimes God calls
(34:06):
people different places.
And you don't always get to keepthe best people.
So you can outgrow that.
SPEAKER_03 (34:14):
Yeah, well, that's awesome.
So talk a little bit about yourfamily.
You kind of you mentioned uh youmentioned them briefly, but talk
about your your kids and whatlife was like for you when when
your kids were born and allthose good things.
SPEAKER_01 (34:26):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
We have two, of course, Drew,Andrew Jackson.
Uh it's not funny until you'rein the doctor's office.
Uh so Drew has just turned 40.
Uh he's been at Northridgeteaching uh 15, 17 years or
something like that.
Uh he married Ashley.
Uh Ashley uh came from FirstBaptist Vandalia.
(34:48):
Her family, her papa was thepastor there, and uh her dad was
in evangelism, so ministryfamily.
Her brother Stephen is thepastor of First Baptist New
Lebanon, and that's where theyattend.
Drew's a deacon there, and theyhave two kids.
Aidan just is a sophomore, anduh Eli is an eighth grader.
So all of a sudden, I'm aBrookville Blue Devil fan.
(35:12):
Uh I it's hard for me to fathomthat, but I am.
And I'm grateful that that theRegister Herald in Prewa County
covers Brookville.
unknown (35:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (35:21):
So that's a good thing, too.
Um so Ashley's a stay-at-homemom and and Drew's teacher, and
he's also the assistant varsitybasketball coach.
Benji Hughes, the varsity coach,is his longtime high school
friend.
unknown (35:33):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (35:33):
So that's how that connected.
Stacy is a second grade teacherin Camden, and her husband,
Kyle, is a bivocational pastorat Harrison Street Baptist
Church in New Madison, and he'sa banker, and he he works from
home like an auditor.
They have two boys, and Kobe'sin fifth grade, and Jordy's in
(35:54):
three, grade three.
So we've got boys everywhere.
We try to juggle where we'resupposed to be.
We we try to split the time, andum so Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (36:06):
It's awesome, yeah.
And I see you a lot at the atthe Brookville Eden games.
SPEAKER_01 (36:10):
We're not doing that, we're not doing flag this
year, though.
SPEAKER_03 (36:12):
I saw that, yeah.
Yeah.
So that's good.
All right, Pete Meravich.
Talk about Pete.
As I told you here earlier thismorning, as I was I was looking
up your bio and and reading somethings, I noticed on the
website, on Church's website,that you had uh a YouTube video
of of Pistol Pete and uh and histalk with uh with the Billy
(36:36):
Graham group.
Talk about what Pistol Petemeant to you.
I mean, obviously very powerfulbecause it's part on part of
your bio.
SPEAKER_01 (36:47):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (36:47):
So talk about that.
SPEAKER_01 (36:48):
Yeah, I put that on there to captivate sports-minded
folks.
Um and um so when I was a when Iwas in school, uh Pistol Pete
this uh his LSU years, I wasalmost too young to remember.
But I was uh But in 70, uhplayer of the year and all that,
that I was nine at that time,and and I'm really getting into
(37:09):
basketball at that point.
Okay.
And um the Hawks drafting, andand all of a sudden I'm just I'm
I'm fascinated with pistol Pete.
You know, this HarlemGlobetrotter who's white, uh
ahead of his time.
Uh so for your listeners, justin case they're a little bit
confused, Pete Merevitz is theall-time leading scorer of men's
(37:31):
NCAA basketball.
Okay, you ready?
No three-point line, andfreshmen weren't eligible to
play.
So when you compare him andCaitlin Clark, there has to be
an asterisk by her name.
Four years, three-point line.
And I applaud her foreverything.
I saw a picture, I I have it onthe phone, I think, uh, of an
(37:53):
old pick picture of pistol peatat LSU, and it's cut in half.
Caitlin Clark on the right side.
Have you ever seen it?
He's passing her the crown.
Oh, wow.
It's pretty neat.
It's pretty cool.
It is, it is cool.
So I had a friend named ScottGobar who got the Dayton Journal
Herald.
That was a morning deliverypaper.
Dayton Daily was afternoon.
(38:14):
He would come to school with thecutout clippings from the night
before Pistol Pete has 35 orwhatever.
I mean, every day.
And I just collected andcollected and collected.
Uh when Drew got a little biggerenough to appreciate basketball,
I started digging back for somecards that I knew I had.
(38:36):
And uh that became little alittle hobby.
So I have 80 Pete Merovichcards.
And um, yeah, it's it's funny.
Yeah.
Uh yeah, one of the boys willget those one day, uh, the one
that appreciates it the most.
Uh but uh I love pistol.
Well, five he died at the age of40.
(38:59):
Had made the statement in hislife, I don't want to live to be
40 and die.
Like there's gotta be more oflife.
Five years before he passed iswhen God changed his life.
And um, and it was probably inthe testimony he heard.
He said he had tried everything.
(39:20):
He didn't go anywhere withoutthousands of dollars cash in his
pockets in case he wanted tojump on a plane and go to the
Far East or somewhere.
And uh said he got to the pointwhere he realized that money
would buy him everything buthappiness and pay his fare to
everywhere but heaven.
I mean, if I were to have atattoo, that might be it, you
(39:42):
know?
And uh five years before hedied, he gave his life to
Christ, and then God began touse him radically.
And in some of the books writtenabout him, they said you
couldn't be with him for fiveminutes, and he would ask you
about your faith or share astory.
And then tragically, uh uh onemorning he plays pickup
(40:06):
basketball, getting ready to dosomething similar to what you're
doing right here.
James Dobson, focus on thefamily, and made the statement,
man, I feel good, and hit thefloor.
They rolled him over, his eyesrolled back in his head, he died
right there.
And I believe that maybe PeteMerovich's death, maybe, maybe
(40:26):
in many ways like CharlieKirk's, is gonna reach thousands
and thousands of people that hecouldn't personally or in his
lifetime, but yet God continuesto carry the story.
So I am a big Pete Merovich fan.
If you see me at a game and Ihave a Pete Merovich shirt on of
(40:48):
some sort, I want you toacknowledge it, Dan.
Okay, yeah, I will.
I want you to go.
And uh, but uh yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (40:55):
You know, you mentioned that about Charlie
Kirk, and we talked to talkedabout him on the podcast last
week.
And Ben, you made a comment uhbefore we got rolling here
about, you know, I'd said thesaddest part for me in that
whole thing was just the thevial and the negative comments
and the hatred that you know Iwould see on social media.
(41:15):
And um, but what what what'd yousay this morning?
SPEAKER_02 (41:18):
Yeah, I was saying that um a lot of people were
sending me stuff and and Lisa'sstuff and she showed me that uh
a lot of the comments now afteryesterday, Sunday, you know, the
first Sunday after it happened,and everybody's like, you know,
I was an atheist, but I went tochurch and heard them, you know,
for the first time ever.
And some people, you know, andthey're like, I enjoyed it.
And I can't, you know, you hearall the stuff about Christianity
about how it's like hatred andstuff like that.
And then these people are like,no, like it was all about hope.
(41:41):
It was about you know acceptanceand stuff like that.
And it's just I feel like itrenewed.
And uh Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (41:48):
Yeah, it's pretty powerful.
And and it's gonna beinteresting to see what good
comes from it, you know, throughall the tragedy and the and the
heartache.
So all right.
Last two questions.
Okay.
When times are tough, and I knowyou've had some tough times.
You're down in the dumps.
Maybe the mower's broke, youcan't get on the mower because
(42:11):
you know that's your that's yourum your serenity uh or whatever
it might be from the day.
Is there a Bible verse?
Is there a quote?
Is there something that you leanon that gets you through those
tough times?
SPEAKER_01 (42:22):
Yeah, I'll give you I'll give you a quote first and
then a verse.
Um, the quote came from a mentorof mine, Joe Baker, and today's
Monday, right?
You ready for this?
Don't evaluate ministry onMonday morning or in the month
of August.
What he was saying was you canhave a great day on Sunday and
(42:42):
you're on the top of the worldon Monday, or the last thing
said to you on the way outSunday just took the air out of
everything that God did.
Don't evaluate your call onemotion.
In August, nobody comes tochurch.
They're trying to get that lastweek of vacation before school,
boom, boom, boom.
Makes sense.
Good word.
Verse wise, Joshua 1.9.
(43:04):
Be strong, good courage, don'tbe afraid nor dismayed.
The Lord thy God is with youwherever you go.
That's the same promise he madeto Moses.
God's faithful.
He'll be with you, he'll takecare of you, trust him.
So that's that's a verse.
SPEAKER_03 (43:21):
That's awesome.
Last question.
If you could sit on a park benchand have a conversation with
someone living or deceased, whowould it be and why?
SPEAKER_01 (43:30):
Okay, it's good.
If if you're looking Bible,other other than the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Right.
It would in scripture it'd bePaul.
Because man, I I look at Pauland and have preached the the
letter so much.
You talk about a celebritypastor, he wasn't one.
(43:53):
He was beat up and stoned andleft for dead and imprisoned and
um shipwrecked.
As a matter of fact, when theywere shipwrecked on Malta, they
get there and they build a fire,the natives do, and Paul gets
bit by a snake and they thinkhe's a god, and Paul's like,
(44:17):
wait a minute.
And he shakes that snake off.
I'm thinking, Paul knows whatit's like to get bit and keep on
going.
And just because you get bitdon't mean you have to die.
Right?
Any kind of leadership, you'regonna you're gonna get
criticized or something,something's gonna go wrong, or
uh, you know, or even maybe inour actions we do the wrong
(44:38):
things.
Dan, I look back over my lifeand somebody would say, Would
you do some things?
Yeah, I would do some thingsdifferently, especially with
staff.
You know, we went from pastordoing everything to a staff.
And I I did I had handled everysituation.
I mean, if I could go back andchange some things, you know,
(44:59):
miscommunication, uh stuff likethat, I would.
Um, but uh so scripturally Ithink it'll be Paul.
There's a there's a a gospelsong that that says, I'd like to
meet the preacher who prayed forthe preacher who prayed for me
(45:21):
down on my knees.
Well, in many ways, I thank theLord for the preacher or the or
the man who led my papa Jacksonto Christ.
Because of that, my dad was putin a position to hear about
(45:42):
Jesus and give his life to him.
Because of that, my mom gave herlife to Christ, married in
Dayton, and because of that,they raised us in church.
Now, don't get me wrong, churchdoesn't save anybody, but it put
me in a position to hear thegospel.
So maybe it's that guy, thatpastor, that preacher, who
(46:06):
introduced my papa to Christ.
Maybe I'll meet him.
SPEAKER_03 (46:11):
That's pretty awesome.
Pretty awesome, Ben.
You got anything?
SPEAKER_02 (46:14):
That's powerful.
The uh so knowing Drew, I wenton mission trip with Drew.
Uh I have really good memorieswith Drew.
Knowing the type man he is andthe type father he is, I'm just
wondering like, do you have anyadvice for moms, dads out there
just in a world full of chaosand so much evil?
What's what's one advice yougive parents nowadays?
SPEAKER_01 (46:37):
Number one, you gotta be consistent.
You know, uh as long as yourkids live in your house, you're
in charge.
Don't quit blaming everybodyelse.
Um so you gotta be consistent.
I uh we certainly aren't perfectparents.
Um and and none of us wereraised by perfect parents.
(46:58):
But uh Renee lost her dad in1984.
We'd been married one year, uh58 years old.
Um her mom lived to be 94 and uhnever remarried, never did, but
you know, Renee saw some realshe she came from a big family.
So Renee, you talk about ablessing.
Renee knows what appreciationis.
(47:20):
She was the youngest of six.
You know, I just had one sister.
So we came from differentbackgrounds, and I think maybe
that complimenting each other,uh, humility, any good thing in
our kids, Ben, is Renee.
Um it's Renee.
Can I tell you just a littlebrief thing that happened?
(47:41):
You mentioned Drew.
Yeah, and this was a lifechanger for us.
Um in uh 1984, we'd been inCamden for a year.
Uh it was Martin Luther KingDay, kids are out of school.
We had gotten into snow skiing,had taken a few trips with other
couples.
I mean, we really were gettingto the point where do we buy
(48:03):
skis?
That kind of thing.
Martin Luther King Day, 1984, itsnowed like crazy.
We said, let's take Drew toperfect north and teach him how
to ski.
Just him.
So we fought our way down therein the weather, got down there,
had a couple hours of fun, andthen in front of us, he went
down and let out a scream thatyou knew something was wrong.
(48:26):
We got down to him, saw one ofhis legs going the wrong way,
recognized he had broken hisleg.
The ski guys get up to help us,the medics, and one guy looks at
me and says, I think the otherleg's broken too.
Long story short, both legs.
Took him to a small hospital inLawrenceburg.
(48:47):
I called my sister, who was anurse.
She thought I was joking until Istarted crying.
They told us you need to get himto an orthopedic in Dayton
tomorrow.
So we they wrapped him up.
Uh, we finally got home.
I remember pulling into ourlane, Dan.
The snow was drifting.
I got stuck, grabbed a shovel,the headlights are hitting that
(49:10):
snow.
I'm crying, I'm slinging snow.
Um, we finally get home.
Next day we go to Dayton, andthe doctor says, I have three
boys of my own.
We snow ski.
If it were my son, and I go,that's what I want to hear, what
would you do?
He goes, I wouldn't do surgery.
I said, Okay.
They were called boot topfractures.
Uh when he fell, neither skibroke loose.
(49:31):
Uh beginner, beginning ski, oryou should almost walk out of
your skis, but they didn't breakloose.
Boot top fractures.
Nine weeks and cast up to histhighs, eight years old.
It was not that hard to managebecause you can you can lift up
an eight-year-old boy and puthim where you need to put him
and boom, boom, boom.
And Shawnee's school was so goodthat the teacher came daily and
(49:54):
he he hardly missed any schoolat all.
I had to take a class atliberty.
Uh after nine weeks, he got outof cast and rehabilitated, you
know, and moved on.
I mean, we praised the Lord.
I had to take a class atLiberty, and this is where the
lesson really came.
And uh we're sitting there, andI thought it was going to be a
(50:16):
bunch of older guys like us in aclassroom.
It's called a J term.
It was like two guys my age, andthe rest were students trying to
get a quick class.
So I met this guy, and uh we wesaid, well, let's go out to
dinner tonight.
So we went out to eat, and Istart telling him that story
about Drew.
And then he takes a picture fromhis billful and shows me his son
(50:42):
who has cerebral palsy.
Man, I just broke in front ofhim in apology.
Here I am talking about nineweeks in cast of such an
inconvenience, and and you havea lifetime of meeting the needs
(51:03):
of your special little boy.
And it was at that point Godbroke Renee and I's heart for
people who have parents who havehandicapped kids.
And here's what we found out innine quick weeks.
All people want to be treated asnormal.
Treat people normal.
And so I'm I'm I try to makeefforts in public when I see
(51:25):
families because you're thinkingof the sacrifice they've made to
go out to eat, knowing thatmaybe the child's not going to
behave or if it's mental, youknow, something.
I I I like to brag on people'sfamilies.
Encourage a parent that, hey,you're doing a good job.
You know, you're you're you'respecial because everybody can't
(51:46):
do what you do.
So it's just a simple thing inDrew's eight-year.
Um, and Drew's been a hoot inministry.
He's got a sense of humor, he'san outdoorsman.
Um we we like to fish.
Some of those um mowingexcursions, you know, I I could
(52:06):
say, or go home and fish.
SPEAKER_04 (52:08):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (52:08):
And um and we we have access to some places that
uh other preachers don't, andthey come out there and say,
Man, alive, don't give this up,that kind of thing.
Um But uh Drew has said thingslike this out loud as a little
boy.
I hate to even say this.
Uh Dad says weddings are okay,but uh big books are in
(52:31):
funerals.
He said that out loud.
Where do you go from thatstatement?
Um so he's always been kind offunny.
Yeah, you know, like once I gota new suit and and somebody
commented on it and he goes,That suit cost us 200 bucks.
Um so he would say whatever youdo.
(52:52):
Where Stacy was uh easy toraise.
Yeah, you know.
But uh so parenting, I ain't gotthe answers been.
Oh yeah.
Uh our our house has been ahouse of laughter.
I do feel like home is the placeyou want you you should want to
go.
Don't you guys at the end of theday?
I can't wait to get home.
(53:13):
And uh I realize it's not likethat everywhere.
No.
SPEAKER_03 (53:17):
No, it's not.
You know, you hearing you saythat, it we try to have dinner
together as a family everynight.
It it doesn't always work withall with everything that's going
on, but but really it's it's mywife, Kim.
You know, she she even yesterdayafter church, we've got a flag
football game to get to, and anduh, you know, everything's busy,
(53:38):
everybody's running everywhere.
And but those are the mostincredible times as a parent.
You know, I'm I'm blessed tohave five healthy children, an
amazing wife.
You know, we sit around our ourkitchen table and and we eat,
and it's some of the thefunniest, most uh, you know,
(54:00):
just off-the-wall conversations.
And I didn't realize that being,you know, when I was younger,
but as I get older, and then asmy oldest daughter's, you know,
in her second year of college,and and you know, the family
dynamics start to change, youdon't realize how important that
is as a family to have that timewhere we're all together and
(54:22):
we're just having fun.
And that may mean somebody'sgetting picked on a little more
than somebody else, buteverybody's giving it right
back.
And it's just, you know, as a asa parent, I'll often catch
myself just kind of sitting backand smiling.
Amen.
And uh unfortunately, I don'tthink a lot of people take the
time to do that.
You know, everybody's so busyand they get caught up in sports
(54:45):
and school and whatever else isgoing on that they think are
more important than that familyunit.
And I'm sure that you see it.
I I know that you see it.
You see families that run here,there, and everywhere.
And then by the time it's alldone, they don't have that
relationship as a husband andwife anymore.
Because that's that's that wastheir life.
SPEAKER_01 (55:06):
Right.
The empty nest is a tester uhfor exactly what you're saying.
Uh life has revolved aroundschedules and kids, and boom,
boom, boom.
And then then a couple looks atthemselves and says, We don't
even know each other.
So a group of first graders wereasked if they could have
anything, what what would theywant?
(55:29):
And it was for their dad to lovetheir mom.
Think about that.
Security.
Security.
SPEAKER_03 (55:37):
That would be heartbreaking to hear that as a
father.
Heartbreaking.
I can't imagine that.
Yeah.
But that's where we're at in ain a lot of these households.
So any of you, any of youfamilies out there, you parents,
uh, and and you know who youare.
You know, I mean, we're allrunning everywhere, but just
take the time, you know, foreach other, you know, as husband
and wife, but also as a familyunit to come together.
(55:58):
Eating out at dinner at arestaurant, yeah, it's okay.
But it's not like sitting athome.
Yeah, you know, so that'simportant.
Um, how can people find you, uh,give you website information?
How can they get a hold of you?
How can I hear you preach?
All those good things.
SPEAKER_01 (56:15):
Okay.
Well, First Southern BaptistCamden, FSB Camden, the corner
of hope.
We're right at the corner of 127and 725.
I like to tell people we're justwest of the Dayton Mall, about
25 miles.
Uh right on the corner.
You can't miss us.
We have two worship servicesSunday morning, 8:30 and 1045,
Sunday school in the middle.
(56:36):
Wednesday night, 633.
Why 633?
CE first a kingdom of God andhis righteousness, Matthews.
And um, we have vibrant youthministry, children's ministry,
so we can plug in that way.
Church website is Camden Cornerof Hope.com.
Easy.
And uh we stream the 1045service during uh time change,
(57:00):
first of November.
I also do uh uh a recording ofthe Wednesday service.
I do it early on Wednesday forthose that won't get out at
night.
But um that's it.
We'd love to hear from you.
Uh every now and then, folks, uhyou can contact us on the
websites.
Every now and then we get stuff.
And um two people recently saidthey'd like to talk about being
(57:22):
baptized, and they came in, gavetheir life to Christ.
And you never know.
You never know who's listening,right?
That's right.
A lot of times on uh when I saygood morning to the church on
the on the stream service, I'llsay, maybe you're watching today
from Japan.
I don't know.
I don't know.
SPEAKER_03 (57:39):
Yeah, we don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (57:41):
Thank you.
Hey, I'm honored you even ask.
SPEAKER_03 (57:44):
No, I I I appreciate you taking the time to come here
on Monday.
I know you're a busy man.
You got a you got a lot of ironsin the fire, and and um so I
appreciate you sharing yourstory, your faith.
Uh, it's powerful.
SPEAKER_01 (57:56):
Well, you guys are pros.
I told you, I've watched youenough to know you know what
you're doing.
So keep keep doing it.
SPEAKER_03 (58:01):
Uh we appreciate it.
Everybody, please uh continue tolike and share and do all those
things and and uh we appreciatethe love and support as always.
And go out and be tempered.
SPEAKER_00 (58:11):
Hi, my name is Ali Schmidt.
This is my goddamn Catron'sglass.
SPEAKER_03 (58:16):
Thanks, Allie.
Things like doors and windows gointo making a house.
But when it's your home, youexpect more, like the great
service and selection you'll getfrom Catran's Glass.
Final replacement windows fromCatrins come with a lifetime
warranty, including accidentalglass breakage replacement.
Also ask for custom shower doorsand many other products and
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The 962-1636, locally owned withlocal employees for nearly 30
(58:37):
years.
Hey, do you want to catch everyepisode live?
As it's being recorded, welcomeon to Patreon.comslash bee
temper for exclusive footage,behind the scenes, photos, and a
live recording as it takesplace.
Go to patreon.comslash beetemper.
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