August 27, 2025 • 38 mins
Dina, Tyler, and Peter continue the discussion on the Game On series with a message inspired by Super Smash Bros., looking at how to stay strong when life tries to knock you off the platform. They share practical strategies—expecting chaos, learning from failure, leaning on community, and trusting God’s timing—that remind us Jesus isn’t just a step toward success, but the cornerstone who holds us steady through every battle.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the King of Kings
podcast, where we dive a littlebit deeper into our message
series and see what we're takingBeyond Sunday.
My name is Dena Newsome and Ihave some very special guests
today.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Very special.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Very special.
Go ahead and introduce yourself, guys.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
My name is Tyler Rolfson.
I'm the campus director at Kingof Kings, Fremont.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Fremont.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
And I'm Charles McSkirton.
I'm the campus director atBentonville, arkansas.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
King of Kings, we already have a fourth campus.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Brand new campus.
Update your hear-to-hear first.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
That's right.
Can you repeat your name onemore time?
I?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
think it was Charles McSpergeon, 98% accurate.
Peter Bay, king of KingsNorthwest.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Thanks for being here today, guys.
So we are in week three of ourGame On message and this week we
talked about Super SmashBrothers.
Are you guys familiar with thisgame?
I know Peter's not.
We discussed it.
Are you guys familiar with thisgame?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I know peter's not, we discussed it.
Of all the games that have beenmentioned, I've probably played
a combined hour, includingsuper mario.
Oh, just not like I've notplayed hardly any games in my
life, minus gold and I and mybuddy, james robarge's basement
what about you, tyler?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
um, so we the.
The game console that we hadgrowing up was a sega genesis,
and it started and ended there.
So that's where my main gaminghappened, miss pac-man and um,
there was not any mario withthat um, but I would go to
friends' houses who had theNintendo 64, which was the game
(01:45):
console of my generation, andthat's where I played both Mario
Kart and Super Smash Brothers.
Did I play them?
Well, no, but I played them.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
So Super Smash Bros started on 64?
.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I do not want to be the person that is committing to
that information.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I don't know whether GameCube came out before or
after the 64.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
After For sure, then it, or after the 64.
After for sure.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Then it started on the 64.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Because I learned to play Super Smash Brothers on the
GameCube with my children, myolder children and I kick butt
at Super Smash Brothers.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Oh, you mash those buttons?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I have no idea what I'm doing.
I just hit all the buttons.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
What character would you pick?
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I play Princess Peach , of course, because girl power
and she has a golf club thatknocks people off the platform,
and that's the goal you want tobe the last one on the platform.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
That's how you win.
As a proud coach of the women'smuskings golf team, I'm in
support of that.
I too am Women golfing.
So yeah, I know I did someresearch.
Super Smash Bros came out in1999.
Okay, that's when the originalgame came out.
(02:55):
I don't know what platform thatwould be.
That sounds like N64.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
But yeah, I've seen it played.
I've never played it, but I getthe idea.
You're just like on differentlandscapes and you're smashing
each other off of them.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
And things are moving .
There's bombs being thrown,platforms are dividing and
falling apart Are there flames.
There are flames there areflames there are bombs, there
are banana peels, there'sexplosions.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
There's lava, you can fall into the lava.
When I was a child, we played avery similar game.
We would climb on the backyardtable and on each side of the
table was a different thing thatyou could fall into.
There was water, fire, knivesand sewage, and we would push
each other off of the picnictable and you would just try to
(03:46):
not fall into the knives or thefire.
But if you're fired you'd jumpquickly into the water.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Then you were okay.
Knives were your goner Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
All right.
So I see a Wikipedia entry herethat has Super Smash Bros two
pictures, one with a Nintendo 64console and one with a GameCube
console.
So I would say we're both on it, oh gee Nice.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
It was available on the GameCube and then the Wii.
I've also played it on the Wii.
Yeah, it got a reboot.
So, in light of Super SmashBrothers, my question for you is
Smash Rooms, yay or nay?
Are you familiar with smashrooms?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Define your terms, Dina.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
So much like an escape room where you go to
solve a series of puzzles with agroup of people for
entertainment, to escape theroom in 60 minutes or less.
Now available even here inOmaha, are smash rooms where you
go put on goggles, get asledgehammer and just smash all
(04:49):
the stuff in the room.
Yay or nay?
Speaker 2 (04:53):
So here's my one connection to that.
I have not participated in oneof these, um, but when I, when I
was living in Connecticut uh,not to take this in too serious
of a direction but there was agal who lost her husband far too
soon.
He was in his 50s and woke upone morning and he had passed
(05:13):
away.
And so it's just the naturalgrief process and you know we
loved on her and supported heras best as we could.
But one of her activities inthe grief process that a
counselor pointed her to wasgoing to a smash room and they
handed her a sledgehammer andshe destroyed whatever was in
front of her she said it wascathartic I have not done it.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
I I am.
I'm a little bit too gen x, genX in that, destroying things of
value for no financial benefits.
I feel like I just can't do it.
But my kids have done it.
Great stress relief.
They loved it.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
I would like to see if there's actually any clinical
studies that connect this togood stress relief or just like
exacerbate, because then you gohome and you can't smash things
and you're like, oh my life'seven harder now.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
That's how you schedule a second appointment at
the smash room.
That's how they get rid of you.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
That's how they reel you in like a monthly membership
.
You can come every two weeks.
Subscription model.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Now I want to challenge this whole Gen Xers.
Don't smash things.
I feel like you are thesmashing generation.
Wreck-it Ralph is a Gen Xer.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
True, true, I'm a throw-it-away generation.
I'm not like asmash-it-and-destroy-it
generation Like the things thatthey put in this room from what
I hear is like old TVs andfurniture and stuff that like
cracks and smashes and you knowstuff I don't like.
There's a part of me that thisjust seems senseless, like this
(06:49):
is a nay for me.
I would not go to one.
I'll go to an escape room everyday of the week and twice on
Sunday.
But, I could not do, and you'rebusy on.
Sundays too.
I don't think I could do a smashroom.
I really have no interest.
I think I would just like eventhough I know it's somebody's
junk I just don't know that Icould do that yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Bottom line for me is smash room is definitely more
my speed than uh, than the otherroom.
You said the puzzle.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
What's it called escape room?
Speaker 3 (07:20):
oh, I went, I did that once oh, it was impossible.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
We'd bring in that noel guy, you were with my son.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I think yes you like ring the bell because you get
stuck.
And then no, it all.
Guy climbs out of hismaintenance closet office and
he's like, hmm, have you foundthe flags?
Like yeah, we found the flags.
And then he's like, yep, andthat you'll find your clue.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
And I'm like no, we didn't find her.
(08:02):
We wouldn't have called you outhere if we knew.
Hello Katie.
She is a former third gradeteacher and she is the perfect
person you want in an escaperoom.
Whether it's just two peopleand Katie is one of them, or
eight people and Katie is one ofthem, she is the one that's
going to find your way allthrough the puzzles.
If you find information, youdon't think about it yourself,
(08:24):
you bring it first to Katie andthen she gets you through the
room.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
She's the antithesis of Peter Bay, the last person
you want in your escape room.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
My son told me how useless you were, absolutely.
He was so stoked when he cameto.
This was a youth event.
Let's specify that Last yearthere was a youth event and my
son attended and brought afriend and he was stoked because
he didn't know a lot of theother people there and he got
matched in your room and he waslike I knew Peter, though, so I
thought it was going to be good.
(08:52):
And then we got into the roomand Peter can do nothing.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Is this our transition to do expect chaos?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
I'm not even offended , it's just true.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
It is, he adores you.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Christian.
Yeah, you're my dude, I get it,I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
But my son has high standards because we do escape
rooms often as a family.
That's our jam and we arereally good at them.
Like I would love to do onewith your sister, Katie, Now
when she's in town.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Oh, you guys will have a blast.
You would like really do wellto try and beat the record.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Like if you go into it with that sort of mindset,
you guys would do great.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I love it.
We set rules on ourselves thatwe can't ask for clues until
there's, like a certain amountof time left.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
That's the proper way to do it.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
For you listeners.
If you find me and even ask mea puzzle question, Just get out
of the way.
I'm going to go all Gen X andsmash something.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
But, peter, can you name three video games?
You have five seconds and go.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Fortnite, Super Smash Bros, Super Mario Brothers.
Yay, Game on baby.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
All right, so that's our transition into game on.
This was week three of ourseries.
Pastor Zach Zender is leadingthis message series and this
week's message was about stayingin the fight, which is a key
piece of Super Smash Bros.
If you do play it, it really isabout lasting the longest,
staying on the platforms,getting the most points by your
(10:20):
time in the game.
So what are you guys takingbeyond Sunday from this message?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yeah, I mean there's a lot of good points.
I think we're going to walkthrough the four strategies
sustained in the fight of faith.
I think for me, this issomething that, as a person who
walks in the faith, with peoplewho walk in the faith and people
who don't, and seeing just painaround me, this was a really
(10:53):
encouraging message for me tohear.
I had a lunch last week with agood friend of mine who was
reading a book and he wastalking about how people who are
dying to have time with them isto stand at the edge of a cliff
with like nothing hidden Likeand I think that was a really
cool picture.
(11:15):
And um, and at the same time,we're all dying to some degree,
and so, um, staying in the fightwith people, whether they're
ready to be open and authenticor not.
These were great strategies forme to help those I'm getting to
walk with and help myself asI'm in the fight.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Yeah, At each of our campuses after the message we
had.
We're calling a power up moment.
Um, and the language I've beenusing in Fremont is that we
don't want to just be hearers ofthe word, we want to be doers
of the word as we receive theword of God.
How are we going to respond toit?
And the scripture that I thinkZach only I think he referenced
(11:57):
it at one point, it wasn't likeon the screen or anything, and
maybe we've heard it before, butit just really crystallized for
me was when Jesus to hisdisciples in John 16, you know,
this is hours before crucifixion, betrayal and crucifixion where
he says to his disciples inthis world you will have trouble
(12:18):
, Not, you might not, you knowwe'll see, but you will have
trouble and expect chaos.
But then he doesn't end there,he says but take heart, I have
overcome the world.
And to be in that sort ofmindset that the promise on this
side of heaven, on this side ofeternity, is that sometimes
(12:40):
things are going to go reallygreat, where your life is just
you're seeing blessings left andright, and then sometimes it.
Then sometimes you're going tosee and experience chaos, but in
the midst of it all, Jesus hasovercome, he is overcoming and
he will overcome one day,ultimately, the trouble that we
face.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah, my biggest takeaway was just one line that
he said where it was the enemydoesn't attack what is in the
threat.
That hit me hard and I was like, oh, I need to remember that
when I feel like I'm getting hitreally hard, okay, what in my
life am I doing right for thekingdom that I'm a threat to
satan?
yeah like that's just a way toflip that.
Okay, so zach did walk usthrough four key game strategies
(13:25):
if you're playing superBrothers, but also spiritual
faith strategies, and the firstone was expect chaos, and he
started that out with a questionof should life be this chaotic,
what?
What do you guys like?
What struck you about talkingabout the chaos or expecting
chaos?
Speaker 2 (14:04):
I feel like that's a question that people on the
other side of this podcast mightbe listening or might be asking
right now, where so much oflife thought Zach actually laid
it out really beautifully wheresometimes that chaos is a
spiritual attack, like you justreferenced, dina, it's from the
enemy, but then sometimes it'sGod who is throwing you in the
middle of chaos.
That's not.
We're not just blamingeverything on Satan left and
(14:24):
right, but it's actually Jesushimself.
Right, god, god threw him intothat on the cross.
And to be in that spot, humblyaware that, regardless of the
source of the chaos around, ifwe go into it with an
expectation like man, maybethings aren't going to be as
(14:48):
pretty as I wish or hope theywould be I think our soul is
better situated to handle it,and even more so when we
remember the promises of Jesus,who will never leave us or
forsake us, regardless of thesituation.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Yeah, there's nowhere where we're promised a simple,
non-chaotic life.
So should life be this chaotic?
Sure For now, if that's whatyou're feeling, maybe, I do
think that there are certaindecisions I can make that can
lead to chaos and ones that leadaway from it.
Also, the people I put aroundme can lead to chaos, and so I
(15:31):
do think that when I'm in chaos,it's important for me to ask
the question of like okay, whathas gotten me to this point?
And no matter what that is, Imean, god is still with me, he's
still sustaining me, like thedisciples on the ship as the
boat's being tossed by the rainand the waves.
(15:52):
They were in chaos, but Christwas with them and he is with us
amidst the chaos.
So one like what got me here?
And oftentimes it's my owndoing and sometimes it's not
(16:12):
doing, and sometimes it's not,um, but then to be anxious about
nothing and everything likegive thanks so that I am able to
give my attention to god andand uh, when I do that, I I do
see that most of most often, myattention gets off myself too,
and then I put out on the peoplearound me and then I get more
out of my feels and out of thecast, of my own mind, and that
tends to help.
But yeah, if you feel likeyou're in cast, you probably are
(16:34):
, and should you be, nah, I meanit's going to happen.
So I wouldn't say the answer isnot no, because if you're in it
, you're in it.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Right.
I think there's a misconceptionthat if you follow God's Word
and go to church and do all youknow, read your Bible and do all
the right things, you're goingto live a very peaceful life and
it's going to be smooth sailingand everything's going to go
right and you're going to behappy.
And it doesn't say thatanywhere in God's Word.
He never promised that, andZach pointed it out.
He said he talked about themisconception that the safest
(17:06):
place to be is the center ofGod's will, and then he followed
it up with God's will doesn'tguarantee safety.
It guarantees his presence andthat's what God told us.
He said he'd be with us.
He didn't promise that it wasgoing to be great.
He promised he'd be with us andthat's better than safety.
That's what I really likedabout the expect chaos part of
it.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I think what it does is it protects our minds from
being disillusioned by thethings that can come our way.
And so if there can be likethis fortification that happens
where it's like okay, whatevercomes this way, whether it's
like Peter said, it's due to youmentioned your specific
mistakes, right?
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Oh yeah, um, or a spiritual attack from the enemy,
or, in the mystery of God'ssovereignty, something that he's
thrown to us in a chaoticsituation.
Like, okay, I'm not going totry to assign blame, to try and
control the situation, butinstead I'm just going to say,
(18:07):
okay, how can I respondfaithfully here?
And that's actually like thebest place for our souls to be.
Then we're not trying to figureout these games of like oh, why
is it so chaotic right now?
It's like, well, actually, thisis what Jesus said would happen
.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Right and we don't, and I love that point of like.
We don't have to cast thatblame.
It doesn't have to be someone'sfault, because that that's a
tendency as well, as I'm in thecast because so and so it's
because of my kids, it's becauseof my job, my boss, my whatever
point our finger at something,yep can I share a story?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
yeah, so zach and I were at the concordia seminary
campus last week for orientationfor the seminary program I'm
entering into, and we wrote alot of Ubers.
I asked Zach after that did wesave money by riding all these
Ubers versus renting a car?
He's like, oh, maybe, but man,Uber you just the drivers are
(19:07):
fascinating, and so I don'tshare this as like a judgmental
thing, but this was veryeyeopening.
When you're in church circles alot, you hear a lot of churchy
talk, and one of our drivers oneday he was clearly hurt by the
church and his thinking has beenshaped by other philosophies
and worldviews, and so his bigthing was like you are in
(19:31):
control of your world, so ifyou're talking to someone who is
like a victim mindset, like yes, we need to speak words of
empowerment, Like yes, you cando it, like that sort of thing.
But he took that so far that,like everything that happens in
your life is a result of yourown decisions, To the point
where again, I'm not saying thisout of judgment, but he was
(19:51):
telling Zach and I that the galhe had just picked up and
dropped off was ridden withanxiety and he asked her like
what's going on, man?
And she said oh, I'm, I'm, I'min the process of cancer
treatments, Um and again.
This is what the guy said,because he was thinking probably
not the best of ways.
He said well, that's because,do you see, all the stress that
(20:15):
you're bringing upon your body,that stress has caused your
cancer.
So you need to find a way torelieve yourself of the stress,
and that will defeat the cancer.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Oh goodness.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Our answer as Christians is not that.
Yeah, but you can get this ideaof when, when you're, when, the
way that you're thinking.
We're all thinkingtheologically all the time, even
those that say they don'tbelieve in god.
Like that is a theologicalstatement that that suffering is
caused by her decisions.
And just to be crystal clear,right, like sin, disease is in
(20:52):
this world and it's not due toanything that she's done, right?
What was Jesus saying in John 9when these people like well,
this man that was born blind,was it his sin or his parents'
sin?
Who can we blame it on?
And Jesus is like, he's like.
That's not the question.
It's actually for the glory ofGod here.
All that to say, thinkingrightly and Jesus-centered about
(21:14):
the chaos and the sufferingaround us has direct
implications on our witness intothe world.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Amen.
So Zach moved on to point two,which is to chase failure.
To chase failure, and hestarted this with saying you
can't win Super Smash Brothersif you don't hit start.
You got to get in the game atsome point, but then he talked
kind of a story of Ryan Leak, Idon't know if either of you want
(21:45):
to touch base on that, or whatspoke to you about chasing
failure.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Yeah, ryan Leak is a guy who had a conversation with
Kobe Bryant and what did Kobesay If you couldn't fail, if you
knew you couldn't fail, whatwould you do?
Got a tryout with one of theteams, the phoenix suns, and he
(22:09):
tried out and he clearly didn'tmake the team.
Because he's like a regular,he's a really good basketball
player, but he's a he's not annba level guy, um, but it did
lead him to become amotivational speaker for several
of the teams, um, and for me itwas just, once again, that
encouragement of like, what isfailure?
And because I think, like we,we classify failure as like
(22:33):
losing the game or not gettingthe job or um, and I I know for
me I learned a lot more from thegames I lost than the ones I
won.
When I just like happy-go-luckyand let's get some pizza, when I
lost the game, I was like, whydid I lose that game?
What do I need to get better at?
And so it was probably a moreprocess of failure to not think
(22:56):
about the game and get the pizza, although delicious and fun,
and it was more successful tostop and think about why what
happened just happened.
And the reality was I probablyplayed similarly in both games,
but one game my team justhappened to win.
And so that that question oflike, what is failure?
Yeah, and, and then one thingthat came out, um, from the
(23:19):
message was it's wise to stepinto chaos and chase something
that I may fail at, becausethat's where I'll grow.
So that's that to me, becausethat's where I'll grow.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
So that's that to me.
I've talked with Pastor Gregbefore about I think it's Craig
Rochelle out of Oklahoma City.
When he's leading his teamshe'll say I want you to have a
bias towards action, meaning, ifyou're going to err to one side
or another, I want you to befound trying something, going
(23:50):
for something and potentiallyfailing, versus failing to take
a step in the first place.
And I just love that mindsetwhere I mean to even to be told
by the leader of yourorganization, the spiritual
shepherd that God's placed overus for such a time as this.
To be told failure is actuallynot the worst thing.
To be told failure is actuallynot the worst thing.
(24:12):
It's a worse thing.
If you choose to not do anythingat all and there's so much
freedom that can come from that.
It's like, okay, well, even, asPeter said, well, what is
failure?
Even?
Anyway, you get back to thatclassic Thomas Edison thing of
when I learned X amount of timeshow not to make a light bulb
and to be able to.
(24:33):
Actually, I think we're goingto be at our best, whether
that's in our vocations andwhere the Lord has called us,
and then especially in our walkwith Jesus, if we have a bias
towards, let's go for it.
Let's show up.
I don't want to be held back byfear or the what ifs of this
doesn't go wrong.
I think it gives God awesomeopportunities to show up.
I don't want to be held back byfear or the what ifs of this
doesn't go wrong.
I think it gives God awesomeopportunities to show up and
(24:53):
show off when we just take stepsof consistent obedience and
just show what he does.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
I think it was Michael Jordan who said you
don't make any of the shots youdon't take.
I think that's a Jordan quote.
But that's what I thought ofwith this that you got to step
out there and put yourself outthere.
That's what I thought of withthis that you know you got to
step out there and put yourselfout there and maybe you do fail,
in whatever context that is,but you're definitely not going
to succeed or grow if you're nottrying new things.
Okay, so Zach moved into thethird point of his stay in the
(25:31):
game plan and that is get aplayer two.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
So oh is it correcting?
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Are you correcting my , my quote?
No, no, no, no.
I just felt bad because I waslaughing.
You're making this reallyserious point and I could not
help but think of this beautifulscene from the office where
michael scott posts posts thathe.
He says it's a way Gretzkyquote.
So he says in quotes you miss100% of the shots you don't take
(25:53):
Wayne Gretzky end quote.
And then he says Michael Scott,Sorry, Dean, that's all right.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
That's all right.
The office never derails.
What are you talking about?
So Zach's point three was get aplayer two, that we are
stronger on a team.
What jumped out at you guysabout this point or this
philosophy?
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Yeah, in the city of Omaha, the Gallup poll showed
that a high percentage ofOmahaans are not satisfied with
their relationships, and then ahigher percentage of those folks
were like but I'm not lookingto improve it and that's a
(26:43):
really interesting thing.
Activities and screens and jobsand whatever it may be that
give us just enough dopamine hitto lull us to sleep.
But we desire for somethingmore, and that something more
first, I think, is often foundby just seeing the people around
(27:06):
us and actually having humaninteraction.
Ultimately, that something moreis going to lead us.
Seeing the people around us andactually having human
interaction Ultimately, that'ssomething more is going to lead
us.
I think the more time we spendwith people, the more time we
start to see God at work and sobeing in community.
The kingdom of God is all aboutrelationships.
The further we pull away fromthat, the less fulfilling a life
(27:30):
we tend to have, and I've seenthat as well.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Yeah, I don't know if I have much to add, just a yes
and amen.
And just what an opportunity wehave as the there is when they
see genuine friendships in, likewhen we're animated by the
(28:01):
spirit of god and we'refollowing the model of jesus,
and like that, that that willelicit a hunger for them to
experience the same thing.
And so it's you, you.
You recognize where thingsmight be off in our world, and
then that actually presents anopportunity for us to present
(28:25):
something really winsome andbeautiful to the world that
desperately needs it.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
I really liked the frame of reference of talking
about David and Jonathan here,how David kind of went through a
crazy ride, you know, with Saulchasing him and not wanting you
know him to thrive, andeverything.
But he became friends withSaul's son, jonathan, and that
friendship just endured thehardships of the dynamics there,
(28:52):
with his father and them havingthem having to be friends
almost in secret, you know, um,but just having each other to
rely on, and that's such a justlike you've talked about the
community, the friendships issuch an important piece of our
life and our faith.
Yeah, so Zach's final point wasdon't look for shortcuts.
(29:13):
I don't know about you.
I'm, I'm was.
Don't look for shortcuts.
I don't know about you.
I'm looking for a cheat codewhen I'm playing video games,
but not necessarily in myspiritual walk.
I don't know that there's a lotof cheat codes or shortcuts
there, but what jumped out atyou when he talked about not
looking for shortcuts?
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Yeah, this is the part where he kind of talked
about the prosperity gospel andthe platform gospel, um, which
really did kind of tie tie thewhole message together, because
both of those are built on thiskind of faulty notion of grace
where we we do good things andthen God blesses us, and so it's
(29:51):
the exact inverse of what thegospel is, where we do bad
things and God forgives us outof his abundant grace.
I had never heard the termplatform gospel before.
Was that new to you guys aswell?
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
But once he explained it I was like, oh, I totally
see that, and I don't know whatthe statistics are, but the
number of those in Gen Z whoaspire to be influencers, it's
really high Because that's whatthey're seeing.
And because that's what they'reseeing, they see the
possibilities and look at allthe likes and the follows and I
(30:29):
don't even know what the otherthis is not a world I know very
well here.
Repost, all those type ofthings, yep.
And so what I liked about Zachjust identifying it is saying
like what was his language?
Get planted before you get aplatform Right.
(30:49):
And it's not that seekinginfluence is bad, but the Lord
made us to be influential uponthe world.
That's what beingmission-minded in Christ is.
But you can see how topsy-turvythat can get for our souls when
the desire to be famous it'sreally just the 21st century
version of being famous is soout of line with where your
(31:12):
inner character is that it cancrumble in a second.
And suddenly you're justworried about what other people
think of you rather than what,who you know you are in the Lord
.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Yeah, I thought back to a time in college.
I got to speak at a chapel andI had this great message
prepared.
I was like so pumped.
I was like, oh, I'm going to dogreat, People are going to love
this.
And I delivered it and thenlike, and I don't really know
(31:44):
how people received it, but Ifelt hollow and I was like so
mad at myself and I was tryingto figure out why.
And as I sat and stood on italone in my dorm room, I
realized, oh, it's because I wasdoing this message for me to do
it well and to look good, oh,it's because I was doing this
message for me to do it well andto look good, and the things I
said might have still been true,but my motive was out of whack.
(32:04):
And so I've seen that time andtime again.
If I'm doing something toglorify myself, I know it and it
doesn't feel right.
And then the other side of it,there's a question Zach asked.
He said what is my posture whenI feel a calling from God but
don't know what to do?
And I had to think about thatfor a little bit too.
And is it a posture of like go,go, go?
(32:28):
I think that's honestly myposture is like then just work
harder until something works myway, and that's not entirely bad
.
I mean, that's like I mightfail, but it's okay.
But at the same time, it's likeit's okay to be active if my
heart is like God, I trust youand I'm going to go and show me
(32:51):
Like if we're inviting God intothe activity, into the mess or
into seasons of waiting.
I think that's where thefreedom comes, is when it's no
longer ours to carry but it'sgiven back to.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
God.
I think there's something to besaid there with like active
waiting.
And what were the years thatZach pointed out out?
David, he waited, so he wasanointed by samuel.
We did that two weeks ago withthe, with the first message in
this series, and then it was 15years before what was spoken
(33:28):
over him and prophesied over himbecame reality.
And then there was anotherseven and a half years before it
was the entire kingdom.
And you can talk about Jesustoo, with everything that was
spoken of him early on in life,as a baby and as a toddler, and
(33:50):
then it wasn't until he was age30 that he was baptized in the
Jordan.
It's so much the Lord's timingand what the Lord knows best
versus us forcing an outcomebefore we're ready.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
David really let things kind of play out on God's
schedule and didn't try tohurry it along.
And Zach pointed out like hehad the opportunity to even kill
Saul and just end the hunt and,you know, step into who he's
supposed to be and all of thatand he did not take that
opportunity.
And what I really liked thatZach pointed out about that was
(34:21):
he said how you rise matters asmuch as if you rise, that it
really is about how you do itand not just the end result.
The way that you play the gamemakes a difference.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Hear, hear.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
No more cheat codes for me, darn it.
No, all right.
So, as we wrap up today, whatare your final takeaways from
this message?
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Well, we got one more left.
This Sunday we're going to diveinto Fortnite, another game
that I've only seen and notplayed, so I'm going to learn a
littlenight.
Another game that I've onlyseen and not played, so I'm
going to learn a little bit moreabout that game.
And, uh, more more excitedly,I'm going to learn more of of
king david and another one ofhis trials and how god didn't
leave him, because that feelslike me, like I've got more
(35:10):
failures and successes, but Iget to live out of the identity
of being a child of God, safethrough Christ.
So bring it on.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
I think my biggest thing is just the don't give up.
Show up.
So, whether it's too chaoticaround, if failure is the story,
if you feel like you're alone,or if you're tempted with cheat
codes Was that what you said,cheat?
Speaker 1 (35:33):
codes yeah, keybinds.
I learned that you said.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Cheat codes yeah, key binds.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
I learned that term the other day.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
Zach, key, bind, key, bind.
Were you listening at thatpoint in the sermon, peter?
Yeah, probably not.
Is that a super-smash-broke?
That's more of like a computergame-ish thing.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Oh, that's where you press two buttons at the same
time.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Dina would.
So you do a lot of keybindswhen you game on a computer
keyboard because then when I hitmy shift key I can keybind that
three different actions takeplace.
So instead of me having to hitall four of those buttons
together, I'm hitting one buttonand boom, boom, boom.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
It's a triple move.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Yeah, you can do that .
I don't know.
I'm not as much a like Xbox orPlayStation player.
I play much more on thecomputer.
So key vines are like, yeah,they're, they're, they're a
great thing there.
I guess those are cheat codes.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
They're open opportunities.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
No, you're not, it's not really cheating.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
It's kind of a shortcut, but it kind of sounds
like you're justifying D Dina Iknow I can't do that.
Anyway, yeah, what I'm takingbeyond Sunday, don't give up,
keep showing up.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Yeah, the key line that really stuck with me was
towards the end of when Zach wastalking about not looking for
shortcuts.
He said Jesus is not a steppingstone, he is the cornerstone.
And I was like there, it is Allof it.
Boom, right there, he's not astepping stone, he is the
cornerstone and we can puteverything on him.
Well, thank you guys for beinghere.
(37:04):
We'll be back next week todiscuss Fortnite, which is
another game that I have playedvery slightly.
I just think it's ironic thatI've tried all these games and
you've played none, peter.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Yeah, I'm just not much of a gamer.
Next year I'll have to.
You just grew up so differently.
I'm going to have to find outwhat the games are so I can be
into them.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Maybe next year it'll be like board games.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
That'd be great.
You can jump right in there.
Oh, I'm real good with boardgames.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
What's your go?
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Oh, currently it's called the Game.
It's a card game called theGame.
It's a cooperative game.
Yes, and you have to like, talk, talk, talk through all of it,
which is fascinating.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
I love that one.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
That sounds really presumptuous to just be called
the Game.
Yeah, like they've establishedthemselves, the Game.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Yeah, yeah, the maker of it is like he's an egomaniac
, I think, but it's a great gamehe did well what?
Speaker 1 (37:56):
about you, Tyler.
What's your go-to board game?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Board game.
So I love doing likeBananagrams.
I don't know if that counts asa board game.
It's like a Scrabble thing.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
But the kids and I have gotten into that recently,
which has been fun.
And then I don't know if youguys have played the card
version of Monopoly.
Yes, monopoly deal.
So it cuts down the game ofMonopoly from five hours to 20
minutes, which is much betterfor my attention span, but
that's a great way to teach mychildren about capitalism.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
My family's on a run right now of Spicy Uno.
We're getting together all thetime to play Spicy Uno Nice.
That's our go-to.
Well, until then, until nextweek, let's keep living our
faith beyond Sunday.
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the King of Kings
podcast, where we dive a littlebit deeper into our message
series and see what we're takingBeyond Sunday.
My name is Dena Newsome and Ihave some very special guests
today.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Very special.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Very special.
Go ahead and introduce yourself, guys.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
My name is Tyler Rolfson.
I'm the campus director at Kingof Kings, Fremont.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Fremont.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
And I'm Charles McSkirton.
I'm the campus director atBentonville, arkansas.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
King of Kings, we already have a fourth campus.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Brand new campus.
Update your hear-to-hear first.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
That's right.
Can you repeat your name onemore time?
I?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
think it was Charles McSpergeon, 98% accurate.
Peter Bay, king of KingsNorthwest.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Thanks for being here today, guys.
So we are in week three of ourGame On message and this week we
talked about Super SmashBrothers.
Are you guys familiar with thisgame?
I know Peter's not.
We discussed it.
Are you guys familiar with thisgame?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I know peter's not, we discussed it.
Of all the games that have beenmentioned, I've probably played
a combined hour, includingsuper mario.
Oh, just not like I've notplayed hardly any games in my
life, minus gold and I and mybuddy, james robarge's basement
what about you, tyler?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
um, so we the.
The game console that we hadgrowing up was a sega genesis,
and it started and ended there.
So that's where my main gaminghappened, miss pac-man and um,
there was not any mario withthat um, but I would go to
friends' houses who had theNintendo 64, which was the game
(01:45):
console of my generation, andthat's where I played both Mario
Kart and Super Smash Brothers.
Did I play them?
Well, no, but I played them.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
So Super Smash Bros started on 64?
.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I do not want to be the person that is committing to
that information.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I don't know whether GameCube came out before or
after the 64.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
After For sure, then it, or after the 64.
After for sure.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Then it started on the 64.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Because I learned to play Super Smash Brothers on the
GameCube with my children, myolder children and I kick butt
at Super Smash Brothers.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Oh, you mash those buttons?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I have no idea what I'm doing.
I just hit all the buttons.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
What character would you pick?
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I play Princess Peach , of course, because girl power
and she has a golf club thatknocks people off the platform,
and that's the goal you want tobe the last one on the platform.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
That's how you win.
As a proud coach of the women'smuskings golf team, I'm in
support of that.
I too am Women golfing.
So yeah, I know I did someresearch.
Super Smash Bros came out in1999.
Okay, that's when the originalgame came out.
(02:55):
I don't know what platform thatwould be.
That sounds like N64.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
But yeah, I've seen it played.
I've never played it, but I getthe idea.
You're just like on differentlandscapes and you're smashing
each other off of them.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
And things are moving .
There's bombs being thrown,platforms are dividing and
falling apart Are there flames.
There are flames there areflames there are bombs, there
are banana peels, there'sexplosions.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
There's lava, you can fall into the lava.
When I was a child, we played avery similar game.
We would climb on the backyardtable and on each side of the
table was a different thing thatyou could fall into.
There was water, fire, knivesand sewage, and we would push
each other off of the picnictable and you would just try to
(03:46):
not fall into the knives or thefire.
But if you're fired you'd jumpquickly into the water.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Then you were okay.
Knives were your goner Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
All right.
So I see a Wikipedia entry herethat has Super Smash Bros two
pictures, one with a Nintendo 64console and one with a GameCube
console.
So I would say we're both on it, oh gee Nice.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
It was available on the GameCube and then the Wii.
I've also played it on the Wii.
Yeah, it got a reboot.
So, in light of Super SmashBrothers, my question for you is
Smash Rooms, yay or nay?
Are you familiar with smashrooms?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Define your terms, Dina.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
So much like an escape room where you go to
solve a series of puzzles with agroup of people for
entertainment, to escape theroom in 60 minutes or less.
Now available even here inOmaha, are smash rooms where you
go put on goggles, get asledgehammer and just smash all
(04:49):
the stuff in the room.
Yay or nay?
Speaker 2 (04:53):
So here's my one connection to that.
I have not participated in oneof these, um, but when I, when I
was living in Connecticut uh,not to take this in too serious
of a direction but there was agal who lost her husband far too
soon.
He was in his 50s and woke upone morning and he had passed
(05:13):
away.
And so it's just the naturalgrief process and you know we
loved on her and supported heras best as we could.
But one of her activities inthe grief process that a
counselor pointed her to wasgoing to a smash room and they
handed her a sledgehammer andshe destroyed whatever was in
front of her she said it wascathartic I have not done it.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
I I am.
I'm a little bit too gen x, genX in that, destroying things of
value for no financial benefits.
I feel like I just can't do it.
But my kids have done it.
Great stress relief.
They loved it.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
I would like to see if there's actually any clinical
studies that connect this togood stress relief or just like
exacerbate, because then you gohome and you can't smash things
and you're like, oh my life'seven harder now.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
That's how you schedule a second appointment at
the smash room.
That's how they get rid of you.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
That's how they reel you in like a monthly membership
.
You can come every two weeks.
Subscription model.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Now I want to challenge this whole Gen Xers.
Don't smash things.
I feel like you are thesmashing generation.
Wreck-it Ralph is a Gen Xer.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
True, true, I'm a throw-it-away generation.
I'm not like asmash-it-and-destroy-it
generation Like the things thatthey put in this room from what
I hear is like old TVs andfurniture and stuff that like
cracks and smashes and you knowstuff I don't like.
There's a part of me that thisjust seems senseless, like this
(06:49):
is a nay for me.
I would not go to one.
I'll go to an escape room everyday of the week and twice on
Sunday.
But, I could not do, and you'rebusy on.
Sundays too.
I don't think I could do a smashroom.
I really have no interest.
I think I would just like eventhough I know it's somebody's
junk I just don't know that Icould do that yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Bottom line for me is smash room is definitely more
my speed than uh, than the otherroom.
You said the puzzle.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
What's it called escape room?
Speaker 3 (07:20):
oh, I went, I did that once oh, it was impossible.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
We'd bring in that noel guy, you were with my son.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I think yes you like ring the bell because you get
stuck.
And then no, it all.
Guy climbs out of hismaintenance closet office and
he's like, hmm, have you foundthe flags?
Like yeah, we found the flags.
And then he's like, yep, andthat you'll find your clue.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
And I'm like no, we didn't find her.
(08:02):
We wouldn't have called you outhere if we knew.
Hello Katie.
She is a former third gradeteacher and she is the perfect
person you want in an escaperoom.
Whether it's just two peopleand Katie is one of them, or
eight people and Katie is one ofthem, she is the one that's
going to find your way allthrough the puzzles.
If you find information, youdon't think about it yourself,
(08:24):
you bring it first to Katie andthen she gets you through the
room.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
She's the antithesis of Peter Bay, the last person
you want in your escape room.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
My son told me how useless you were, absolutely.
He was so stoked when he cameto.
This was a youth event.
Let's specify that Last yearthere was a youth event and my
son attended and brought afriend and he was stoked because
he didn't know a lot of theother people there and he got
matched in your room and he waslike I knew Peter, though, so I
thought it was going to be good.
(08:52):
And then we got into the roomand Peter can do nothing.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Is this our transition to do expect chaos?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
I'm not even offended , it's just true.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
It is, he adores you.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Christian.
Yeah, you're my dude, I get it,I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
But my son has high standards because we do escape
rooms often as a family.
That's our jam and we arereally good at them.
Like I would love to do onewith your sister, Katie, Now
when she's in town.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Oh, you guys will have a blast.
You would like really do wellto try and beat the record.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Like if you go into it with that sort of mindset,
you guys would do great.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I love it.
We set rules on ourselves thatwe can't ask for clues until
there's, like a certain amountof time left.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
That's the proper way to do it.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
For you listeners.
If you find me and even ask mea puzzle question, Just get out
of the way.
I'm going to go all Gen X andsmash something.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
But, peter, can you name three video games?
You have five seconds and go.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Fortnite, Super Smash Bros, Super Mario Brothers.
Yay, Game on baby.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
All right, so that's our transition into game on.
This was week three of ourseries.
Pastor Zach Zender is leadingthis message series and this
week's message was about stayingin the fight, which is a key
piece of Super Smash Bros.
If you do play it, it really isabout lasting the longest,
staying on the platforms,getting the most points by your
(10:20):
time in the game.
So what are you guys takingbeyond Sunday from this message?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yeah, I mean there's a lot of good points.
I think we're going to walkthrough the four strategies
sustained in the fight of faith.
I think for me, this issomething that, as a person who
walks in the faith, with peoplewho walk in the faith and people
who don't, and seeing just painaround me, this was a really
(10:53):
encouraging message for me tohear.
I had a lunch last week with agood friend of mine who was
reading a book and he wastalking about how people who are
dying to have time with them isto stand at the edge of a cliff
with like nothing hidden Likeand I think that was a really
cool picture.
(11:15):
And um, and at the same time,we're all dying to some degree,
and so, um, staying in the fightwith people, whether they're
ready to be open and authenticor not.
These were great strategies forme to help those I'm getting to
walk with and help myself asI'm in the fight.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Yeah, At each of our campuses after the message we
had.
We're calling a power up moment.
Um, and the language I've beenusing in Fremont is that we
don't want to just be hearers ofthe word, we want to be doers
of the word as we receive theword of God.
How are we going to respond toit?
And the scripture that I thinkZach only I think he referenced
(11:57):
it at one point, it wasn't likeon the screen or anything, and
maybe we've heard it before, butit just really crystallized for
me was when Jesus to hisdisciples in John 16, you know,
this is hours before crucifixion, betrayal and crucifixion where
he says to his disciples inthis world you will have trouble
(12:18):
, Not, you might not, you knowwe'll see, but you will have
trouble and expect chaos.
But then he doesn't end there,he says but take heart, I have
overcome the world.
And to be in that sort ofmindset that the promise on this
side of heaven, on this side ofeternity, is that sometimes
(12:40):
things are going to go reallygreat, where your life is just
you're seeing blessings left andright, and then sometimes it.
Then sometimes you're going tosee and experience chaos, but in
the midst of it all, Jesus hasovercome, he is overcoming and
he will overcome one day,ultimately, the trouble that we
face.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah, my biggest takeaway was just one line that
he said where it was the enemydoesn't attack what is in the
threat.
That hit me hard and I was like, oh, I need to remember that
when I feel like I'm getting hitreally hard, okay, what in my
life am I doing right for thekingdom that I'm a threat to
satan?
yeah like that's just a way toflip that.
Okay, so zach did walk usthrough four key game strategies
(13:25):
if you're playing superBrothers, but also spiritual
faith strategies, and the firstone was expect chaos, and he
started that out with a questionof should life be this chaotic,
what?
What do you guys like?
What struck you about talkingabout the chaos or expecting
chaos?
Speaker 2 (14:04):
I feel like that's a question that people on the
other side of this podcast mightbe listening or might be asking
right now, where so much oflife thought Zach actually laid
it out really beautifully wheresometimes that chaos is a
spiritual attack, like you justreferenced, dina, it's from the
enemy, but then sometimes it'sGod who is throwing you in the
middle of chaos.
That's not.
We're not just blamingeverything on Satan left and
(14:24):
right, but it's actually Jesushimself.
Right, god, god threw him intothat on the cross.
And to be in that spot, humblyaware that, regardless of the
source of the chaos around, ifwe go into it with an
expectation like man, maybethings aren't going to be as
(14:48):
pretty as I wish or hope theywould be I think our soul is
better situated to handle it,and even more so when we
remember the promises of Jesus,who will never leave us or
forsake us, regardless of thesituation.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Yeah, there's nowhere where we're promised a simple,
non-chaotic life.
So should life be this chaotic?
Sure For now, if that's whatyou're feeling, maybe, I do
think that there are certaindecisions I can make that can
lead to chaos and ones that leadaway from it.
Also, the people I put aroundme can lead to chaos, and so I
(15:31):
do think that when I'm in chaos,it's important for me to ask
the question of like okay, whathas gotten me to this point?
And no matter what that is, Imean, god is still with me, he's
still sustaining me, like thedisciples on the ship as the
boat's being tossed by the rainand the waves.
(15:52):
They were in chaos, but Christwas with them and he is with us
amidst the chaos.
So one like what got me here?
And oftentimes it's my owndoing and sometimes it's not
(16:12):
doing, and sometimes it's not,um, but then to be anxious about
nothing and everything likegive thanks so that I am able to
give my attention to god andand uh, when I do that, I I do
see that most of most often, myattention gets off myself too,
and then I put out on the peoplearound me and then I get more
out of my feels and out of thecast, of my own mind, and that
tends to help.
But yeah, if you feel likeyou're in cast, you probably are
(16:34):
, and should you be, nah, I meanit's going to happen.
So I wouldn't say the answer isnot no, because if you're in it
, you're in it.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Right.
I think there's a misconceptionthat if you follow God's Word
and go to church and do all youknow, read your Bible and do all
the right things, you're goingto live a very peaceful life and
it's going to be smooth sailingand everything's going to go
right and you're going to behappy.
And it doesn't say thatanywhere in God's Word.
He never promised that, andZach pointed it out.
He said he talked about themisconception that the safest
(17:06):
place to be is the center ofGod's will, and then he followed
it up with God's will doesn'tguarantee safety.
It guarantees his presence andthat's what God told us.
He said he'd be with us.
He didn't promise that it wasgoing to be great.
He promised he'd be with us andthat's better than safety.
That's what I really likedabout the expect chaos part of
it.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I think what it does is it protects our minds from
being disillusioned by thethings that can come our way.
And so if there can be likethis fortification that happens
where it's like okay, whatevercomes this way, whether it's
like Peter said, it's due to youmentioned your specific
mistakes, right?
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Oh yeah, um, or a spiritual attack from the enemy,
or, in the mystery of God'ssovereignty, something that he's
thrown to us in a chaoticsituation.
Like, okay, I'm not going totry to assign blame, to try and
control the situation, butinstead I'm just going to say,
(18:07):
okay, how can I respondfaithfully here?
And that's actually like thebest place for our souls to be.
Then we're not trying to figureout these games of like oh, why
is it so chaotic right now?
It's like, well, actually, thisis what Jesus said would happen
.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Right and we don't, and I love that point of like.
We don't have to cast thatblame.
It doesn't have to be someone'sfault, because that that's a
tendency as well, as I'm in thecast because so and so it's
because of my kids, it's becauseof my job, my boss, my whatever
point our finger at something,yep can I share a story?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
yeah, so zach and I were at the concordia seminary
campus last week for orientationfor the seminary program I'm
entering into, and we wrote alot of Ubers.
I asked Zach after that did wesave money by riding all these
Ubers versus renting a car?
He's like, oh, maybe, but man,Uber you just the drivers are
(19:07):
fascinating, and so I don'tshare this as like a judgmental
thing, but this was veryeyeopening.
When you're in church circles alot, you hear a lot of churchy
talk, and one of our drivers oneday he was clearly hurt by the
church and his thinking has beenshaped by other philosophies
and worldviews, and so his bigthing was like you are in
(19:31):
control of your world, so ifyou're talking to someone who is
like a victim mindset, like yes, we need to speak words of
empowerment, Like yes, you cando it, like that sort of thing.
But he took that so far that,like everything that happens in
your life is a result of yourown decisions, To the point
where again, I'm not saying thisout of judgment, but he was
(19:51):
telling Zach and I that the galhe had just picked up and
dropped off was ridden withanxiety and he asked her like
what's going on, man?
And she said oh, I'm, I'm, I'min the process of cancer
treatments, Um and again.
This is what the guy said,because he was thinking probably
not the best of ways.
He said well, that's because,do you see, all the stress that
(20:15):
you're bringing upon your body,that stress has caused your
cancer.
So you need to find a way torelieve yourself of the stress,
and that will defeat the cancer.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Oh goodness.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Our answer as Christians is not that.
Yeah, but you can get this ideaof when, when you're, when, the
way that you're thinking.
We're all thinkingtheologically all the time, even
those that say they don'tbelieve in god.
Like that is a theologicalstatement that that suffering is
caused by her decisions.
And just to be crystal clear,right, like sin, disease is in
(20:52):
this world and it's not due toanything that she's done, right?
What was Jesus saying in John 9when these people like well,
this man that was born blind,was it his sin or his parents'
sin?
Who can we blame it on?
And Jesus is like, he's like.
That's not the question.
It's actually for the glory ofGod here.
All that to say, thinkingrightly and Jesus-centered about
(21:14):
the chaos and the sufferingaround us has direct
implications on our witness intothe world.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Amen.
So Zach moved on to point two,which is to chase failure.
To chase failure, and hestarted this with saying you
can't win Super Smash Brothersif you don't hit start.
You got to get in the game atsome point, but then he talked
kind of a story of Ryan Leak, Idon't know if either of you want
(21:45):
to touch base on that, or whatspoke to you about chasing
failure.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Yeah, ryan Leak is a guy who had a conversation with
Kobe Bryant and what did Kobesay If you couldn't fail, if you
knew you couldn't fail, whatwould you do?
Got a tryout with one of theteams, the phoenix suns, and he
(22:09):
tried out and he clearly didn'tmake the team.
Because he's like a regular,he's a really good basketball
player, but he's a he's not annba level guy, um, but it did
lead him to become amotivational speaker for several
of the teams, um, and for me itwas just, once again, that
encouragement of like, what isfailure?
And because I think, like we,we classify failure as like
(22:33):
losing the game or not gettingthe job or um, and I I know for
me I learned a lot more from thegames I lost than the ones I
won.
When I just like happy-go-luckyand let's get some pizza, when I
lost the game, I was like, whydid I lose that game?
What do I need to get better at?
And so it was probably a moreprocess of failure to not think
(22:56):
about the game and get the pizza, although delicious and fun,
and it was more successful tostop and think about why what
happened just happened.
And the reality was I probablyplayed similarly in both games,
but one game my team justhappened to win.
And so that that question oflike, what is failure?
Yeah, and, and then one thingthat came out, um, from the
(23:19):
message was it's wise to stepinto chaos and chase something
that I may fail at, becausethat's where I'll grow.
So that's that to me, becausethat's where I'll grow.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
So that's that to me.
I've talked with Pastor Gregbefore about I think it's Craig
Rochelle out of Oklahoma City.
When he's leading his teamshe'll say I want you to have a
bias towards action, meaning, ifyou're going to err to one side
or another, I want you to befound trying something, going
(23:50):
for something and potentiallyfailing, versus failing to take
a step in the first place.
And I just love that mindsetwhere I mean to even to be told
by the leader of yourorganization, the spiritual
shepherd that God's placed overus for such a time as this.
To be told failure is actuallynot the worst thing.
To be told failure is actuallynot the worst thing.
(24:12):
It's a worse thing.
If you choose to not do anythingat all and there's so much
freedom that can come from that.
It's like, okay, well, even, asPeter said, well, what is
failure?
Even?
Anyway, you get back to thatclassic Thomas Edison thing of
when I learned X amount of timeshow not to make a light bulb
and to be able to.
(24:33):
Actually, I think we're goingto be at our best, whether
that's in our vocations andwhere the Lord has called us,
and then especially in our walkwith Jesus, if we have a bias
towards, let's go for it.
Let's show up.
I don't want to be held back byfear or the what ifs of this
doesn't go wrong.
I think it gives God awesomeopportunities to show up.
I don't want to be held back byfear or the what ifs of this
doesn't go wrong.
I think it gives God awesomeopportunities to show up and
(24:53):
show off when we just take stepsof consistent obedience and
just show what he does.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
I think it was Michael Jordan who said you
don't make any of the shots youdon't take.
I think that's a Jordan quote.
But that's what I thought ofwith this that you got to step
out there and put yourself outthere.
That's what I thought of withthis that you know you got to
step out there and put yourselfout there and maybe you do fail,
in whatever context that is,but you're definitely not going
to succeed or grow if you're nottrying new things.
Okay, so Zach moved into thethird point of his stay in the
(25:31):
game plan and that is get aplayer two.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
So oh is it correcting?
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Are you correcting my , my quote?
No, no, no, no.
I just felt bad because I waslaughing.
You're making this reallyserious point and I could not
help but think of this beautifulscene from the office where
michael scott posts posts thathe.
He says it's a way Gretzkyquote.
So he says in quotes you miss100% of the shots you don't take
(25:53):
Wayne Gretzky end quote.
And then he says Michael Scott,Sorry, Dean, that's all right.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
That's all right.
The office never derails.
What are you talking about?
So Zach's point three was get aplayer two, that we are
stronger on a team.
What jumped out at you guysabout this point or this
philosophy?
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Yeah, in the city of Omaha, the Gallup poll showed
that a high percentage ofOmahaans are not satisfied with
their relationships, and then ahigher percentage of those folks
were like but I'm not lookingto improve it and that's a
(26:43):
really interesting thing.
Activities and screens and jobsand whatever it may be that
give us just enough dopamine hitto lull us to sleep.
But we desire for somethingmore, and that something more
first, I think, is often foundby just seeing the people around
(27:06):
us and actually having humaninteraction.
Ultimately, that something moreis going to lead us.
Seeing the people around us andactually having human
interaction Ultimately, that'ssomething more is going to lead
us.
I think the more time we spendwith people, the more time we
start to see God at work and sobeing in community.
The kingdom of God is all aboutrelationships.
The further we pull away fromthat, the less fulfilling a life
(27:30):
we tend to have, and I've seenthat as well.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Yeah, I don't know if I have much to add, just a yes
and amen.
And just what an opportunity wehave as the there is when they
see genuine friendships in, likewhen we're animated by the
(28:01):
spirit of god and we'refollowing the model of jesus,
and like that, that that willelicit a hunger for them to
experience the same thing.
And so it's you, you.
You recognize where thingsmight be off in our world, and
then that actually presents anopportunity for us to present
(28:25):
something really winsome andbeautiful to the world that
desperately needs it.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
I really liked the frame of reference of talking
about David and Jonathan here,how David kind of went through a
crazy ride, you know, with Saulchasing him and not wanting you
know him to thrive, andeverything.
But he became friends withSaul's son, jonathan, and that
friendship just endured thehardships of the dynamics there,
(28:52):
with his father and them havingthem having to be friends
almost in secret, you know, um,but just having each other to
rely on, and that's such a justlike you've talked about the
community, the friendships issuch an important piece of our
life and our faith.
Yeah, so Zach's final point wasdon't look for shortcuts.
(29:13):
I don't know about you.
I'm, I'm was.
Don't look for shortcuts.
I don't know about you.
I'm looking for a cheat codewhen I'm playing video games,
but not necessarily in myspiritual walk.
I don't know that there's a lotof cheat codes or shortcuts
there, but what jumped out atyou when he talked about not
looking for shortcuts?
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Yeah, this is the part where he kind of talked
about the prosperity gospel andthe platform gospel, um, which
really did kind of tie tie thewhole message together, because
both of those are built on thiskind of faulty notion of grace
where we we do good things andthen God blesses us, and so it's
(29:51):
the exact inverse of what thegospel is, where we do bad
things and God forgives us outof his abundant grace.
I had never heard the termplatform gospel before.
Was that new to you guys aswell?
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
But once he explained it I was like, oh, I totally
see that, and I don't know whatthe statistics are, but the
number of those in Gen Z whoaspire to be influencers, it's
really high Because that's whatthey're seeing.
And because that's what they'reseeing, they see the
possibilities and look at allthe likes and the follows and I
(30:29):
don't even know what the otherthis is not a world I know very
well here.
Repost, all those type ofthings, yep.
And so what I liked about Zachjust identifying it is saying
like what was his language?
Get planted before you get aplatform Right.
(30:49):
And it's not that seekinginfluence is bad, but the Lord
made us to be influential uponthe world.
That's what beingmission-minded in Christ is.
But you can see how topsy-turvythat can get for our souls when
the desire to be famous it'sreally just the 21st century
version of being famous is soout of line with where your
(31:12):
inner character is that it cancrumble in a second.
And suddenly you're justworried about what other people
think of you rather than what,who you know you are in the Lord
.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Yeah, I thought back to a time in college.
I got to speak at a chapel andI had this great message
prepared.
I was like so pumped.
I was like, oh, I'm going to dogreat, People are going to love
this.
And I delivered it and thenlike, and I don't really know
(31:44):
how people received it, but Ifelt hollow and I was like so
mad at myself and I was tryingto figure out why.
And as I sat and stood on italone in my dorm room, I
realized, oh, it's because I wasdoing this message for me to do
it well and to look good, oh,it's because I was doing this
message for me to do it well andto look good, and the things I
said might have still been true,but my motive was out of whack.
(32:04):
And so I've seen that time andtime again.
If I'm doing something toglorify myself, I know it and it
doesn't feel right.
And then the other side of it,there's a question Zach asked.
He said what is my posture whenI feel a calling from God but
don't know what to do?
And I had to think about thatfor a little bit too.
And is it a posture of like go,go, go?
(32:28):
I think that's honestly myposture is like then just work
harder until something works myway, and that's not entirely bad
.
I mean, that's like I mightfail, but it's okay.
But at the same time, it's likeit's okay to be active if my
heart is like God, I trust youand I'm going to go and show me
(32:51):
Like if we're inviting God intothe activity, into the mess or
into seasons of waiting.
I think that's where thefreedom comes, is when it's no
longer ours to carry but it'sgiven back to.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
God.
I think there's something to besaid there with like active
waiting.
And what were the years thatZach pointed out out?
David, he waited, so he wasanointed by samuel.
We did that two weeks ago withthe, with the first message in
this series, and then it was 15years before what was spoken
(33:28):
over him and prophesied over himbecame reality.
And then there was anotherseven and a half years before it
was the entire kingdom.
And you can talk about Jesustoo, with everything that was
spoken of him early on in life,as a baby and as a toddler, and
(33:50):
then it wasn't until he was age30 that he was baptized in the
Jordan.
It's so much the Lord's timingand what the Lord knows best
versus us forcing an outcomebefore we're ready.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
David really let things kind of play out on God's
schedule and didn't try tohurry it along.
And Zach pointed out like hehad the opportunity to even kill
Saul and just end the hunt and,you know, step into who he's
supposed to be and all of thatand he did not take that
opportunity.
And what I really liked thatZach pointed out about that was
(34:21):
he said how you rise matters asmuch as if you rise, that it
really is about how you do itand not just the end result.
The way that you play the gamemakes a difference.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Hear, hear.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
No more cheat codes for me, darn it.
No, all right.
So, as we wrap up today, whatare your final takeaways from
this message?
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Well, we got one more left.
This Sunday we're going to diveinto Fortnite, another game
that I've only seen and notplayed, so I'm going to learn a
littlenight.
Another game that I've onlyseen and not played, so I'm
going to learn a little bit moreabout that game.
And, uh, more more excitedly,I'm going to learn more of of
king david and another one ofhis trials and how god didn't
leave him, because that feelslike me, like I've got more
(35:10):
failures and successes, but Iget to live out of the identity
of being a child of God, safethrough Christ.
So bring it on.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
I think my biggest thing is just the don't give up.
Show up.
So, whether it's too chaoticaround, if failure is the story,
if you feel like you're alone,or if you're tempted with cheat
codes Was that what you said,cheat?
Speaker 1 (35:33):
codes yeah, keybinds.
I learned that you said.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Cheat codes yeah, key binds.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
I learned that term the other day.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
Zach, key, bind, key, bind.
Were you listening at thatpoint in the sermon, peter?
Yeah, probably not.
Is that a super-smash-broke?
That's more of like a computergame-ish thing.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Oh, that's where you press two buttons at the same
time.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Dina would.
So you do a lot of keybindswhen you game on a computer
keyboard because then when I hitmy shift key I can keybind that
three different actions takeplace.
So instead of me having to hitall four of those buttons
together, I'm hitting one buttonand boom, boom, boom.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
It's a triple move.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Yeah, you can do that .
I don't know.
I'm not as much a like Xbox orPlayStation player.
I play much more on thecomputer.
So key vines are like, yeah,they're, they're, they're a
great thing there.
I guess those are cheat codes.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
They're open opportunities.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
No, you're not, it's not really cheating.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
It's kind of a shortcut, but it kind of sounds
like you're justifying D Dina Iknow I can't do that.
Anyway, yeah, what I'm takingbeyond Sunday, don't give up,
keep showing up.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Yeah, the key line that really stuck with me was
towards the end of when Zach wastalking about not looking for
shortcuts.
He said Jesus is not a steppingstone, he is the cornerstone.
And I was like there, it is Allof it.
Boom, right there, he's not astepping stone, he is the
cornerstone and we can puteverything on him.
Well, thank you guys for beinghere.
(37:04):
We'll be back next week todiscuss Fortnite, which is
another game that I have playedvery slightly.
I just think it's ironic thatI've tried all these games and
you've played none, peter.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Yeah, I'm just not much of a gamer.
Next year I'll have to.
You just grew up so differently.
I'm going to have to find outwhat the games are so I can be
into them.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Maybe next year it'll be like board games.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
That'd be great.
You can jump right in there.
Oh, I'm real good with boardgames.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
What's your go?
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Oh, currently it's called the Game.
It's a card game called theGame.
It's a cooperative game.
Yes, and you have to like, talk, talk, talk through all of it,
which is fascinating.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
I love that one.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
That sounds really presumptuous to just be called
the Game.
Yeah, like they've establishedthemselves, the Game.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Yeah, yeah, the maker of it is like he's an egomaniac
, I think, but it's a great gamehe did well what?
Speaker 1 (37:56):
about you, Tyler.
What's your go-to board game?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Board game.
So I love doing likeBananagrams.
I don't know if that counts asa board game.
It's like a Scrabble thing.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
But the kids and I have gotten into that recently,
which has been fun.
And then I don't know if youguys have played the card
version of Monopoly.
Yes, monopoly deal.
So it cuts down the game ofMonopoly from five hours to 20
minutes, which is much betterfor my attention span, but
that's a great way to teach mychildren about capitalism.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
My family's on a run right now of Spicy Uno.
We're getting together all thetime to play Spicy Uno Nice.
That's our go-to.
Well, until then, until nextweek, let's keep living our
faith beyond Sunday.
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