July 1, 2025 • 46 mins
The young adult years have become a time when people "figure things out." Have some fun, follow your heart, you be you. But pastor and author Jeremy Writebol will give a challenge to young adults to consider kingdom pursuits. What might happen if you looked at life with a holy ambition and with eternity in mind? Hear the encouragement on Chris Fabry Live.
Featured resource:
Make It Your Ambition: Seven Godly Pursuits for the Next Generation
July thank you gift:
Drive Through the Bible by Colin S. Smith
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:06):
Two questions. Miss little asked Jeremy two questions when he
was in the eighth grade, and those questions helped frame
his life and change the trajectory of how he viewed
his life. Do you have somebody who's graduating high school, maybe.
Or they're finished or almost finished with college? And I
come to mind, our featured resource today is highly recommended
(00:30):
for them because it can help them launch into life
in a kingdom kind of way. We're going to talk
more about what that means. But wait, I think today's
conversation is going to be for 20 somethings who are
trying to figure out their life, no doubt. But I
also think it applies to 30 somethings and 40 somethings
and 50 somethings. Dare I say it could be for
(00:50):
60 or 70 or 80 somethings. Let's find out straight
ahead as we talk with the Moody Bible Institute graduate
who works at the same church as our friend Chris Brooks.
You'll meet Jeremy. Straight ahead. First, thank you to Ryan
McConaughey doing all things technical. Trish is our producer. Ryan
will be answering your calls today. And a quick thank
you to friends and partners. Yesterday was the fiscal year
(01:12):
end last day. And you helped us. We were right
at the cusp and you helped us go not only over,
but way over in June. So we appreciate how you
responded last month. I want to say thank you, thank you,
thank you. And not just move on and and ask
you to give again without saying thank you. But since
(01:33):
it's the 1st of July, we have a new resource
that I'm really excited about. So if you are a partner,
check your email today. You'll get a notification about that.
I get to choose these resources. And when I heard
Pastor Colin Smith, we talked with him back in February March.
He talked about drive through the Bible. And as soon
(01:54):
as I heard about it, I said, we've got to
it comes out in July. I knew I wanted to
make it a part of our conversation here because I
hear it so often. I try to read the Bible,
but I kind of feel lost. I get bogged down
in Leviticus. I don't understand how it all fits together. Well,
this is a road map. This will help you see
in 30 days how the Old Testament, how the New Testament,
(02:16):
how Proverbs, Psalms, how all that connects together and connects
us to God's heart and his plan. If you give
a gift of any amount, you become a a friend
with us or you become a partner. Give a gift
each month. I want to send you drive Through the
Bible by Colin Smith, straight from Edinburgh. Call 8669538669532279. Or
(02:40):
you can give at Chris fabry.org. I think this is
really going to be helpful. And it's our thank you.
During all of July here in the hot summer months
of July Chris Fabry lives where today you're going to
find out about Jeremy Me right Bowl. Jeremy serves as
the lead campus pastor of Woodside Bible Church's Plymouth, Michigan location,
(03:03):
and he's the executive director of Gospel Centered Discipleship. Um,
Woodside is the church where Chris Brooks is pastor of
equipped with Chris Brooks. If you didn't know, Jeremy is
the author of several books, including the award winning Pastor
Jesus Is Enough and her featured resource today, which is
Make It Your Ambition seven Godly Pursuits for the Next Generation.
(03:29):
A graduate, a proud graduate of Moody Bible Institute. Lives
in Plymouth, Michigan. He and his wife, Stephanie have two
children who are teenagers. You pray for us. Jeremy, how
are you doing today?
S2 (03:42):
Hey, Chris, I'm doing so, so well today. Thank you.
And hey, I just want to say about my kids.
And I think most parents should say this. I hope
this is the case. But like, my kids are great
and and the teenage years for us have been so fantastic. I, um,
I was a youth pastor starting out in ministry right
after I graduated, and something about being a parent of
teenagers and being a youth pastor kind of clicked together.
(04:04):
And so we're having a ton of fun, and it's
just so great to see these kids grow up and
love Jesus and walk with him. And so I'm I'm
really enjoying this season of life right now.
S3 (04:14):
But there are.
S1 (04:14):
Changes. There are big changes, you know, like teaching them
to drive, because that's one I had Jackson Terkeurst on yesterday,
and it was like he came from Liberia and didn't
even speak English, you know, very little. And I was
going to ask him about so how did you learn
to drive? And, you know, what was that all like, that's,
you know, these these passages that we go through as
parents with our teenagers, they can they can press us,
(04:36):
can't they?
S2 (04:37):
Right, right. Uh, yeah. We won't talk about driving too much, but, uh,
my kids are getting it and we're enjoying it. It's
it's it's good. But yeah, it does create a challenge
for us as parents as well as we mainly think
about them going into that adulthood stage of life. And
there's there's things we hope and pray for and are
eager about with them. And we kind of wonder, will
(04:58):
that come to fruition in their life? And we know
that they're thinking about those things too.
S3 (05:03):
Yes.
S1 (05:03):
Now, I have to say, after doing this program for
the number of years that we have, there are guests
who interconnect with other guests like Jackson did yesterday. And
I mentioned Liberia, and I told him on the air,
the first thing I thought about when I heard Liberia
was Ebola. And there was a guest that we had,
Nancy Writebol. And it's like, well, I know that last name.
(05:24):
And we actually had your brother on talking about Nancy because, well,
tell that story. It was it was 11 years ago, right?
S2 (05:32):
Right. Yeah. 11 years ago, my mom was serving with CIM,
which is where she's still serving, but she was serving
in Liberia at Elwa, and she contracted the Ebola virus there.
She was one of the two American missionaries in July
that contracted the Ebola virus and were medevaced from Liberia,
from Monrovia to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, and
(05:56):
received incredible treatment and care there. And the Lord's hand
of grace was just on her. And Doctor Kent Brantly and, uh,
their lives were spared. Um, and, uh, they were able
to tell the story of God's grace and what he
did through the medical community and the sciences there to
be able to heal them and, um, just help them
be able to thrive now in life and ministry and
(06:17):
all the things that God has intended and planned for
them and purposed for them. And so it's really kind
of a miracle story of God's grace in our lives
as a family. And I remember my brother was sitting
in the waiting room of the hospital talking to you,
one room over from where I was sitting, just waiting
for mom to heal up and, um, get better. And
we were kind of at a point we weren't sure
(06:37):
whether she was going to make it or not, and
God just graciously spared her.
S1 (06:42):
Yeah, because there was this barrier up. You could just
look at her and talk on the phone type of thing, right?
S2 (06:48):
Right, right. Yeah. We could go in the little anteroom there. um,
and see her in her isolated room. You had to
wear kind of a big hazmat suit, if you will,
to go in. And we weren't allowed to go in
even to to talk with her on the phone through
the glass. We had to have the proper, uh, gloves
and mask and gear and all that on, um, and
(07:08):
then had to disinfect and clean off once we finished
talking with her to leave the room. And it was
just surreal. Uh, yeah. Just a really surreal situation. And we're,
we're very, very grateful for, uh, that team at Emory
University Hospital that served mom and Doctor Brantley and, um,
continued to help us and to the Lord for his
grace and all of it. And we really saw, uh,
(07:30):
unique Christian community even come out of that. And through that,
and many of the physicians and medical staff there were
believers and able to join us, not just in the
physical aspects of healing, but in the the spiritual dependence
on the Lord for his grace and all of that.
And so, yeah, it's something we look back on, uh,
with a little bit of a shock and a little
(07:51):
bit of awe in terms of gratitude to God for
his grace.
S1 (07:55):
I wanted our listeners to hear that because that's the
the stock that you come from. That's your family lineage.
And Moody Bible Institute is, is part of that. Because
your brother was on the aviation in the Aviation Ministry
and Moody Aviation and now works there full time in Spokane,
I believe. Right.
S2 (08:13):
Yes he does. He's, uh, he's on the aviation faculty.
He is, uh, the, um, uh, trainer director. Uh, I
struggle for the title for the airframe and maintenance program. Um,
so he helps his students be able to fix, repair, uh,
learn how to fix and repair airplanes and keep them
well maintained as they're out in the mission field in
the bush somewhere, um, where it's remote and hard to
(08:34):
get access to equipment and, uh, pieces and all of
that sort of stuff. Brian is helping train those missionary
pilots to go and be able to do that. Well.
And he's been he's been there for, um, well over
ten years now, uh, in Spokane and just really enjoys
his calling to the Lord there.
S1 (08:51):
Well, I would have you on just just to talk
about these types of things, but when I got Ahold
of this, this new book, this little book that you've written,
make it your ambition. Seven Godly Pursuits for the Next Generation,
I thought. And it went through it. I thought, here
is a book like I encountered when I was younger,
because I, I kind of grew up with InterVarsity Christian
(09:14):
Fellowship and on the college campus. And looking at some
of the questions, you know, what am I going to,
what am I, where am I going with my what
is my career going to be like? And there were
several books that were pivotal on that journey, and I
think this one make it your ambition is going to
be it's going to turn the light on for somebody
who's listening today, or maybe a parent who's listening, who
(09:37):
has a son or a daughter who's graduating high school
or in college. And I want you to listen to
what Jeremy has for that next generation comes from the heart.
I think it'll be good. We're going to hear what
Miss Little said to him straight ahead on Moody Radio. Okay,
(10:05):
we're going to middle school with little Jeremy, who loved baseball. Uh,
and a woman named Miss Little at that middle school
asked him a couple of questions that we're going to
talk about today. Jeremy is a pastor and an author.
Our featured resource is his book, Make It Your Ambition.
His last name is W-r-i-t-e. Right, Jeremy. So here you are.
(10:32):
Eighth grade. I think it was Miss Little's daughter that
you were more interested in than her. Is that true?
S2 (10:39):
Yeah, yeah, I was I was trying to, uh, start
a relationship with, uh, with her daughter, who was a
classmate in school, and get to know her a little
bit better, and her mom being very guarded and cautious
about who her daughter was hanging out with. And and
particularly because we were a new family that had moved
up from a different area. And so we're kind of
(11:02):
out of towners and who's this strange kid running around
with my, my daughter. And so she, uh, she began
to ask me a few questions, and she wanted to
know what I was going to do with my life.
And I was very confident and right out of the
I mean, with no thought to it at all. I said, well,
I'm going to be an announcer in baseball, uh, major
league broadcaster, um, up in the booth and talk about
the games. And I loved that I loved baseball. I
(11:24):
figured I had a good enough voice to be able
to talk about baseball. Well, and so I was pretty
confident in that answer. And, um, and then within a millisecond,
she follows up with the next question. Well, what are
you going to do for the kingdom of God? Uh,
she knew I was a believer. Our families were in
the church. And, um, that question stumped me, right? I,
(11:46):
I never thought about that necessarily. I just, you know,
I knew that there were people that served in ministry,
but what what did that have to do with me?
No clue. And so I just muttered out, well, I'll
be a Christian broadcaster, uh, baseball broadcaster. And, uh, that
that was as far as I could get at that moment.
But that question stuck. Stuck in my brain. Um, and
(12:08):
really just kind of noodled around in there for so
long of, of a sense of, okay, I don't think
I can just be a Christian baseball broadcaster. I wonder
if God has something else for me or something bigger
for me than just that. And, uh, that question really
began to be one that, um, turned in my heart
about how I should live my life and what vocation
(12:29):
and career and all of that, that I should pursue.
And so that was really what kind of started the
whole thing.
S1 (12:36):
I resonated with that because that's the same with me.
I wasn't good enough to play because, you know, everybody
wants to play, you know. And I was I was
scared of getting hit by the ball, to be honest,
because it had happened too many times. But as I
listened to Al Michaels and Joe Nuxhall and then Marty
Brennaman to call the Cincinnati Reds games, it's like, oh,
(12:56):
that'd be exciting. That'd be really great to be able
to travel with the team and to call the game.
You know, you get to go to every game and
you get to eat hot dogs. You know, you get
to call the game and you get a little older.
And I think maybe it wasn't the spiritual thing that
got to me as much as it was. And half
of the year, half of the season, you're you're in a,
you know, living in a hotel, you're flying to other
(13:18):
or riding the bus or however you get there, you know,
and then you have to probably start in the minor
leagues is like, I don't know if I really the tarnish,
you know, it's starting to get on that. Lily and
I started thinking about, you know, other, other pursuits. And
that eternal question comes in there and and you say
(13:40):
that The question comes, what am I going to do?
You know, everybody asks that question, what do you want
to be when you grow up? And it's very AI centered.
What do I want my career. How do I want
my career? And what she asked you was, what do
you think? Put God in the equation here. What do
you think he desires? And that kind of got you
(14:00):
down a different track, didn't it?
S2 (14:03):
Correct. Yeah. That helped me think about life and work
and that growing up, if you will, in much broader
terms than just the here and the now and what
I might enjoy, I didn't even have in my eighth
grade mind any of the hard stuff of being a
baseball broadcaster. I just had my mind, you know, the
games and and the fun of being in the majors
(14:24):
and that sort of thing. And so this, this question
about what I'm going to do for the kingdom of
God began to create a category or space in my
head and my heart for, uh, for serving the Lord
and for doing things that might, uh, he might call
me to beyond what I was already thinking. And so
I was plugged into a great church there and some
great youth ministry. And then our family relocated again, um,
(14:48):
not too long after that. And so that began to
be another process of reorienting myself and resetting myself in
a new community and a new church, um, and, and
really leaning into asking the Lord, okay, God, what do
you want me to do with my life? And what
does this all look like? And what should the trajectory
of of my everyday, you know, kind of 24 over
(15:10):
seven being and working look like.
S3 (15:14):
Yes.
S1 (15:15):
So so that's what that's why you wrote this for
those who are in that age category, looking ahead with
all of the choices, with all of the possibilities. Uh,
I think it was Soren Kierkegaard who said that we
understand our lives looking back, but we have to live
it forwards or something along those lines. And you and
I can look back and see, oh, this happened and
(15:37):
this happened and this happened. But if you're in the
middle of that, if you're 17, 18 years old, if
you're 22, 25, now, 30. It's hard because of everything. Everything.
That's all the choices that are out there, right?
S2 (15:52):
Yeah. And I'm thinking about it too, kind of as
one who is able to look back and also able
to look forward a little bit from my own life
now and recognize that if we look down the road
at the church in the next ten, 15 years, one
of the things that sociologists are telling us right now
is that there is going to be a significant shortage
(16:14):
of men and women in ministry in a in a
career vocational sense, in the church, in mission agencies and seminaries,
Bible colleges, radio, all the ministries there that we would
consider Christian ministries. There's going to be a workplace shortage
of that. And so being able to sit kind of
in this seat between two eras, if you will, and say,
(16:35):
I can see the future, but I also see the past,
That's where I started and said, you know, I want
to address young adults and help them think about ministry
as a calling and a vocation, potentially for their lives.
But I've got to start from the end and work
it back to the front so that as they start
at the front, they can work it towards the end.
And perhaps God will call some of them to ministry
(16:55):
through this book. But I also want to set up
the whole generation, if I could, all these young adults for, uh,
for a life of walking with God and loving him
and just experiencing his grace in their lives, even if
they go into normal, um, or non-Christian oriented workplaces and
careers and service. I want to be able to walk
(17:16):
faithfully with Jesus in everyday life.
S1 (17:19):
When did you know? When did you hear the voice?
When did you have the direction that this you're what
you're doing today is what you need to go toward.
S2 (17:29):
Right? Yeah. It happened. I would say beginning in there
in middle school, you know, the seeds were planted. And
as I went to high school, I was still kind
of hanging on to the athletic world. Although not an
athlete myself, but I was able to, in some supportive
ways be a part of of varsity sports. And I
was thinking along those lines, but I was I was
(17:51):
plugged into a great church and, uh, the school I
was at was a Christian private school. And so I
was getting the Bible, uh, every day in classes. And
I was just beginning to think about, okay, what does
this look like for my life in other contexts? And
I had one teacher hand me a book about Jim
Elliot and his four missionary friends, um, serving the Lord
(18:12):
in Ecuador and laying down their life for the gospel's
sake there. And that that book and that story began
to have a really profound impact on me. My youth
pastors and our youth ministry was so great, and I
and I really could see myself serving and and being
in youth ministry as well. And so that began to
be part of the equation of my heart. And, uh,
(18:33):
it was really my senior year of high school when
I just I remember a distinct moment where I just
said to the Lord, okay, Lord, I'm going to lay
down the the stuff that I, I think I could
do well with, but I don't think is what you've
called me to so that I can pursue what you've
called me to. And, um, one of Moody Bible Institute's
former presidents, George Sweeting, uh, actually came to my church
(18:56):
and preached on a Sunday morning. And we were aware
of Moody, uh, very interested in it, but I don't
think that anything had clicked in my mind about attending
Moody as a college option. And it was at that
moment when he preached, and my mom and dad and
I got to talking about it, that we all said, well,
let's look at Moody Bible Institute. And I very quickly
(19:17):
applied and had to wait a little while to figure
out if we were accepted, but that's where the course
was set up. Okay, I'm going to pursue Christian vocational ministry,
whether that's missions or pastoral ministry or youth ministry. I
don't know exactly what that is yet, but here's a
place that can begin to equip me and train me
for that life. And the Lord started using that to
kind of set me on that direction in that way.
(19:40):
But I knew in high school that this was this
was where we were supposed to go.
S1 (19:43):
But it is a step by step. You don't get
the full vision of it all at once. It would
probably overwhelm you if you did. But it's a step
by step. And it begins with what? Who are you
going to love? Who are you going to put first?
It's to know God and to love him. Which one
(20:04):
of the books that really affected me and I think
did you too, was Knowing God by J.I. Packer.
S2 (20:09):
Right, right. Yeah. So there I am as a freshman
at Moody and one of my Bible theology professors has
this reading Knowing God. And I'd never read anything that
like that before. Um, just to hear him talk about, uh,
the the excellence of God and the the nature of
who God is and his attributes and the invitation that
(20:31):
God gives us into knowing him and walking with him
and experiencing a relationship that is transformational to our lives.
I was riveted. I still have a copy of that,
that volume. I have that copy that I had back
25 plus years ago, uh, on my bookshelf, uh, just
across the room here. Um, and, and that's this is
where I saw the beauty of God and his greatness
(20:53):
and was like, okay, the Lord is so good, and
he is so great. And it is, um, what a
privilege to know him. And that's really becomes, I think,
the highest goal and ambition for every believer, uh, of
their life that they would know and love God. That's, uh,
one of the things the Westminster Shorter Catechism, uh, trains
us to, to talk about when it asks the question,
what is the chief end of, of man or a woman?
(21:16):
And that is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
And if we like, okay, if that's what we're going
to pursue with our lives, to know God, to glorify him,
to enjoy him forever, then we're going to be right
there in the center of his will and, uh, and
just be right in the the lane on the ambitions
for life that we should have.
S1 (21:35):
And what Jeremy has just said then is, for those
who are younger, trying to figure out what does life
look like and where is the trajectory of my life.
But I'm also talking to those who are in middle
age or are feeling like they're going toward the end,
because everything that you talk about in these seven ambitions
(21:57):
is for all of us. The first one, make it
your ambition to know and love God. The second pursuit
is make it your ambition to model Christ's character. We'll
talk some about that. Make it your ambition to discern, develop,
and deploy your gifts. And in order to do that,
you got to know what they are and find out
what they are. Serve others with your career. Share the gospel,
(22:20):
endure hardship and the seventh pursuit. Well, we're going to
talk about that coming up. And it's in the book
Make It Your Ambition seven Godly pursuits for the Next generation.
And my addition to the subtitle is and for this one,
to the one that we're in right now. It's our
featured resource. Chris Fabry Livorno. Chris, help me over the
(22:45):
hurdle of that book, though of that word ambition. Because
when I see ambition, I think, I think sometimes in
negative terms that ambition is of, you know, I'll push
anybody out of the way to get what I'm looking
for or go for the goal of the, you know,
be I want to be the winner and others are
(23:06):
going to lose. But what is ambition really mean?
S2 (23:09):
Yeah, I think ambition is that that big drive in
our hearts that can be God centered to do, uh,
and to be, um, for his glory. Um. Great things. Uh,
I'll just say it that way. Uh, the word ambition
is used in the Bible in positive ways. Uh, the
(23:30):
Apostle Paul says, make it your ambition to live a
quiet life working with your hands. Uh, so that the
peace of the gospel might spread. He says, I make
it my ambition to spread the gospel where it hasn't
been spread. And so there's this these drives, if you will,
these passions and these, uh, trajectories that that should be
there in our hearts to live a life that isn't
(23:52):
just about. Well, I'm just going to sit here and
try and be comfortable and just lay back on whatever
it is I'm doing in life. But but some real
drive in our heart and lives to say there are
things out there that will honor and please God. Ways
that he's gifted me that perhaps are unique, uh, that
that he alone has called me to serve him in.
And I should go chase those down and find them
(24:14):
not to, uh, bowl over people or or to just
aggressively get whatever you want or to be the winner, necessarily.
But but this is that internal motivation of I'm going
to set my hand to this task, I'm going to
set my eye to this objective. Jesus set his face
to the cross. He set his face to Jerusalem. Um,
there are some things we should just set our hearts
(24:35):
to and then go pursue it with our lives, with
our energy, with our time, with our treasure, all of
who we are in the ambition of glorifying God and everything.
S1 (24:45):
The problem that comes up that came up for me
and it still comes up for me, is that I
don't believe God's good. I don't believe that he and
I do believe that, but I help my unbelief. I
think if I submit to him, if I give him my,
put my desires second place, and put my ambition toward him,
and knowing him that he is going to do something bad,
(25:07):
he's going to make me go someplace and eat grub worms,
you know, and the things that I don't want to do.
And he's going to make my life harder, and I
want my life to be easier, and I want to
be in control of my life. And he's going to
make it out of control. And I feel very uncomfortable.
And I want you to talk about that when we
come back. Jeremy Writebol is with us. Make it Your
(25:28):
Ambition is our featured resource. It's an excellent resource written
for those who are younger and asking these really hard questions.
What should I do with my life? Where where do
I employ my gifts for the kingdom? Subtitle is seven
Godly Pursuits for the Next Generation. You can find it
at the website Chris fabry.org.
S4 (26:03):
I'll put up a.
S1 (26:04):
Question on Facebook today. When did you realize the clear
direction God had for your work life? What are you
going to do? Is was there a moment where you said,
this is it, this is the place, this is the
direction I'm going right here, and you just knew it. Uh,
you can answer that on Facebook. I'd love to hear
from you, too. Our number is (877) 548-3675. Did you have
(26:27):
a miss little in middle school or high school? Who
asked you those questions? Like Jeremy Writebol. Did Jeremy has
written Make it Your Ambition seven Godly Pursuits for the
Next Generation. It's our featured resource at Chris Fabry Livorno.
I the question that I had right at the end
of the break there is, I think a lot of
(26:49):
people feel like if I submit to God, if I
surrender to him, he's going to make me do something
I don't want to do, and he's going to make
my life hard. And I don't want I don't want
it to be hard. And therein lies the struggle of
get to know who God really is. And you'll see
that he has a better plan than you do. But
(27:10):
I have always heard the question, what is it that
makes you come alive? What is it that you do
in any era of your life that you just felt like, oh,
I time flies when I'm doing that. Um, is that
a clue as to how you are made and what
(27:31):
God wants to use in your life?
S2 (27:35):
I believe so. I, I had some friends in college
that were thinking about ministry, and one of them was
convinced that God was going to send him to India,
and he had no desire to go to India. It
wasn't anything that he ever wanted to do, and he
was just convinced that's where I'm going to end up.
And that's going to be my lot in life, and
it's going to be hard and not enjoyable. And he
(27:56):
was a great musician and I and I said, well,
what do you think God's going to do with you?
Like musically, it seems like you love that a lot,
and you're really gifted and you have talent and ability
beyond anything most of us do. Don't you enjoy that?
And he was kind of thinking about it, and I
was like, well, maybe. And maybe that's where God will
send me, I don't know. And he was just he
was just very convinced. And I think it came back
to a question with him of, well, do you believe
(28:19):
that God is good, that he loves you and that
he has his best intentions and heart for you. And
do you believe that God knows you well enough to
wire you up, and to make you in such a
way that he wants to use you in ways that
are to use the phrase life giving and enjoyable and
kind of light that fire for you. And so those
begin to be some questions that that friend had to answer.
(28:41):
And I think all of us have to do at
some point or another, um, to think about what is
it that we're, we're called to do? And is that
in alignment with what we like, what we what we
want to be? One of the questions that I get
asked from members of my church often is they're going
through a membership process is where, where do you want
to serve in the church? And they they'll often talk about, well,
I'll serve anywhere, I'll be happy to do this or that.
(29:02):
And the follow up question I ask them is, well,
what do you want to do? What do you enjoy?
What is it that that lights the lights your eyes
up and, and you want to serve in. And and
usually we find that a person's spiritual giftings somewhere line
up somewhere in those areas of interest. Desire, passion, eagerness.
All of that. And we kind of say, well, we believe,
(29:23):
we affirm that. Go do those things because you'll really
enjoy it, and you'll serve the body so well, and
it'll be a delight to everybody to see you flourish
in those in those giftings. So I kind of call
that Hermes conundrum. Um, if you think about the elf
in the 1964 film, um, uh, Rudolph the Red-Nosed. Yeah.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer. He's an elf.
S3 (29:44):
Dentist.
S2 (29:46):
Right? He's an elf. And what do elves do? They
make toys, but he wants to be a dentist. And
many times we think, well, I have to do the
thing that I should do rather than the thing I
want to do. And I believe that God gives us
those desires and those interests and passions, because that's what
he wants us to do, to serve him in unique
ways that he's equipped us, rather than doing the thing
(30:06):
that we feel like has to be the duty all
the time.
S3 (30:09):
Bingo.
S1 (30:10):
See, and I think there's somebody in their 60s or
70s who's listening right now, and it's like the lightbulb
is coming on. It's like, and you, you had a
good career and you or you raised your family or
whatever it was that you did, you did well. And
now you get here and it's like, oh, but I
really wanted to fill in the blank, you know, back there. Um,
(30:30):
there's nothing that says you can't now launch into something
else life giving, because seeing an older person, you know,
a person who is quote unquote older, seeing them come alive,
energizes the younger generation, doesn't it?
S2 (30:47):
Yeah, that happened in my family. My mom and dad, uh,
my dad in particular was working in, uh, marketplace, uh, businesses.
He was, uh, computer engineer and computer programmer for a
company that works throughout the country with, uh, banking software. And, uh,
that's what he did to pay the bills and to
(31:08):
get my brother and I through, uh, through school and college.
And he didn't love it. And, uh, and then yet
in midlife, in his mid 40s, he and my mom
just sensed that call of God to go overseas and
to use their lives in missions, in ministry. And he
quit his job and pursued God in that. And he
(31:30):
and mom went and you know, their story. We've kind
of talked about that a little bit already, but but
God's been using them in ministry to this very day.
And I think it's a beautiful and wonderful thing. So
just because you're in the middle of life doesn't mean
that you just have to stop there and just trudge
on with whatever it is you're doing. But maybe God
does have something for you that you're really interested in,
that you can serve him well.
S3 (31:48):
Bingo.
S1 (31:49):
Any age. And that's why I keep going back to Psalm.
The end of Psalm 138 says, the Lord will fulfill
his purpose for me. And even if I've made some
missteps or taken wrong direction one thing or another, a
circuitous route, the Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.
Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake
(32:12):
the work of your hands. Do what you've prepared in advance.
You know, the Ephesians passage and in the the devotional
that I read each morning from the Psalms, it says,
if you want to glorify God, one major way to
do it is let him love you. Receive his grace.
Drink it down, not adding anything of your own goodness
to it. Your very purpose in life, in eternity is
(32:35):
to be to the praise of his glorious grace. And
I think that fits in well here as well, to
allow God to be to show himself good to you
in all of these ways with making these decisions, don't
you think?
S2 (32:49):
Right, right. Yeah. Again, you could go to the very
next psalm where the psalmist in 139 says, the Lord
has created us. He has formed us in our mother's womb.
He knows our frame. I think that means he knows
our very DNA, and he knows our very passions and interests,
because he's placed them there. And so he delights in
us in that way because of what he has done
(33:11):
for us and in us by his grace, not of
our own. Uh, and so there's he's he's created you
beautifully and wonderfully fearfully made. Uh, and so he has
those designs and intents for us that are just to
fulfill his purposes and glory in, in our lives.
S3 (33:27):
I asked that.
S1 (33:28):
Question of our listeners about the when you realize the
clear direction of God for you. It was at a
church service, uh, where you'd been following this, going down
this road of of loving God and the different ambitions. Um,
what will I do for the kingdom of God? I'm
going to know and love him. I'm going to model
(33:48):
Christ's character. I'm going to discern, develop, deploy my gifts,
I'm going to serve others, etc., with the ambitions. And
you clearly saw what was ahead. Tell me about that.
S2 (34:01):
That was actually a Founders Week at Moody Bible Institute,
February 1998. The reason I bring up those days like
this memory is so etched in my mind, it's like
I'm there right now, sitting in Moody Church, and James
Montgomery Boice has been called on to come and speak
to to us at that conference that February day. It
(34:21):
was cold. And, um, so I get into the church
there and I'm sitting and listening and I'm like, I've
never heard of this Boy Scout. I hope he's good. And,
you know, kind of all the things that a freshman
is thinking about when they've got to go to another
chapel service. And, uh, Doctor Boyce opened the scriptures, went
right to Romans 11 and began to teach on the
(34:42):
glory of God, the incomparable wisdom of God. For from
him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory. And I was riveted. And it was.
I didn't hear an audible voice, but there was just
an impression on my heart and mind as I'm sitting
(35:02):
there listening to the Word of God. Preach that way
from the Lord, saying, Jeremy, this is what I want
you to do. This is, this is it. I want you.
I'm calling you to be a man who develops and grows,
to preach my word to my people and to pastor
churches and to declare the gospel. And I was just
(35:23):
it was like a lightning strike, if you will. I
remember leaving, uh, Moody Church and walking back down to campus,
and I was walking with a friend, and I turned
to that friend and said, I think the Lord wants
me to be a pastor. I think I think that
I heard from God tonight about what he wants me
to do with my life. And my friend was like, yeah,
I've been wondering when you're going to figure that out.
(35:46):
And so I begin to talk to some professors at
Moody and some pastors and leaders in my life and
wise mentors, and everybody was saying, yeah, we've thought and
wondered when you were going to get that clue as well.
We've we're fully behind you in pursuing pastoral ministry. We
think that's what God's called you to as well. Let's go.
Go for it.
S1 (36:06):
Isn't God kind to lead you that way and not
force it on you and have it. You know, you
got to do this. You got to do this and
you come to it yourself. And the spirit touches that nerve.
And then, you know.
S2 (36:22):
It's a you know, I think I speak about calling
in terms of there's a desire that we have to
begin with, um, and then through processes of discerning our
gifting and developing competency, becoming, um, able to do the
work of ministry that he's called us to, um, and
hearing from community about their affirmations of that, you know,
(36:43):
the leaders of your church and pastors and, and friends
in your life that can speak into that. Then it
comes down to an area that I'll call compulsion or
unction of, like, this is the thing I have to do.
It's it's the Holy Spirit. I think the old word
was unction, uh, that God gives us. And Charles Spurgeon
used to tell students at his pastor's college, if you
(37:04):
can do anything else, go do it. If you're happy
with that, then please, by all means, go do those things.
They're good, noble jobs. Go do and work in those areas.
But if you come to the end of yourself and
there is nothing that you can do other than serve
the Lord and pastoral ministry, that's a real clear sign
that you're called to that.
S1 (37:22):
Yes, and I like that. I really like especially coming
from the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon. Jeremy Writebol is
with us. Make it your ambition. This is for the
next generation. But I think it's every bit as much
for this generation right now. The people who are struggling
with this, and there's probably somebody listening today who has
(37:43):
said this has been on my heart my whole life,
but I've missed it. I have, you know, I've jettisoned
that idea a long time ago, and it's too late
for me. Don't listen to the whisper of the enemy.
I want you to hear more from Jeremy. Straight ahead
on Moody Radio. Every parent who has a teenager or
(38:11):
a 20 something. This is the book that you need.
I was going to say you need to give it
to that next generation, but you need to read it first.
You need to read it and and go through it.
Make it your ambition. Seven godly pursuits for the Next Generation.
You know, if I if I was doing it in
a linear way, we would just go through all of
(38:33):
the seven ambitions and you'd be, you know, you could
go on your merry way. But we've been kind of
jumping around here. I want here in the last segment, Jeremy,
to focus on the parent who's listening, who has, and
you've got a couple of kids who are right in
the age range. You know, they're making these decisions about
what they're going to do with the rest of their life.
A lot of kids, it's college. Some kids, it's it's
(38:55):
not college. They've decided, no, I'm going to go a
different path. And that's great too. But you, you I
want you to talk to the parent or maybe the
grandparent who's speaking into the life of that next generation.
What did they need to do in order to move
into the the life under the radar screen of the
life of their child or grandchild?
S2 (39:18):
Well, I'll tell you the first thing that I would
say not to do, and that is not to push them, uh,
to this, uh, you know, these ambitions and particularly don't,
don't push them to the ambition of calling to ministry, uh,
necessarily let the Lord be the one to call them
and direct them and, um, develop that in them, um,
if that's his calling on their life. But the thing
(39:38):
you can do is encourage them with good questions. Uh,
be present with them, uh, you know, openly talk with them,
even at times. Say, I don't know, um, if there's
space for that and and be a humble place of
encouragement and, uh, I would say wise counsel for, uh,
for your, your teenager, for your 20 something. They're they
(40:01):
already have the pressures of the world kind of bearing
down on them, and everybody is a voice influencing them
on social media or whatever, saying this is what you
should do, this is what you must do. Um, but
I think there's a there's a place for sage patient wisdom, uh,
particularly among parents, just to to pray for, to love,
to be present with their children and to ask those
(40:22):
open questions that say, hey, what are you thinking about
with your life? What do you feel, uh, you want
the legacy of your life to be? Um, I mentioned
David Brooks has a Ted talk where he distinguishes legacy or,
I'm sorry, resume virtues and eulogy virtues. And I think
that's a great way to kind of think about how
we live our life. Should we live our life, uh, for, uh,
(40:44):
a statement about us that reflects a resume? Or should
we live our life in a way that reflects true
legacy and true, true heritage? That would be an honor
to the Lord and a and a place of flourishing
and cultivating, of, uh, of goodness, uh, in the world
around us, if we can, if we can help our
young people see those kind of things ahead of them
(41:04):
and encourage them in them. That, I think opens them
up to talk about that sort of deal.
S1 (41:10):
Well, and that Brooks thing that you just mentioned, it's
it's resume versus eulogy is am I career oriented? What
is this going to do for my career? Is this
class that I'm going to take or this book I'm
going to read? Is there a purpose for, you know, this,
or does it lead me into some deeper place, deeper
part of my soul that will be giving to others
(41:32):
rather than just stepping up to the next thing?
S2 (41:36):
Mhm. Yeah. I mean think about how I just look
at this next generation Gen Z in front of us
right now. And I'm so encouraged by what God is
doing there. There's been some some narrative around a quiet revival.
I think it's been called among Gen Z, which is
exciting and encouraging to see. And I'm seeing elements of
it in my own ministry and life. Um, and I
(41:58):
want to say and see them go, you know what?
Whatever it is I do in my life, I want
the big things to be, uh. God first. Knowing and
loving him. Being people of high integrity like Christ. Um,
modeling that, uh, in that way and being people that
live to serve others. I just want my life to
be a blessing and a cause of flourishing and encouragement
(42:22):
to other human beings, to their well-being for the glory
of God. I mean, could you, Chris, could you just
imagine with me what if this next generation set their
hearts to those three things in and of themselves? I mean,
it's just transformed the world. I just I just see
God doing that kind of thing among us. And so
that's the things that we want to begin to encourage
and let God to begin to define more of the granular. Okay.
(42:44):
What's the specific calling that you have as far as
is it ministry or is it, you know, engineering or
whatever else it might be? Let God kind of define
out those more granular things. But let us encourage in
this generation, not just by our words, but also by
the way we pursue those things, uh, lives that please
and honor God in everything.
S3 (43:03):
You.
S1 (43:03):
Mentioned questions. I think that's a really good idea. What
are some of the questions you suggest for those in
a younger person's life? What should we ask?
S2 (43:13):
Yeah, one of the things I mean, one of the
things I think that Miss Little asked me, which I
think is a great question, is what are you what
are you interested in doing? What are you going to
do with your life? Maybe it's to back up even
one step and say, uh, what do you enjoy? What
kind of, uh, delights your heart? Or is encouraging or
exciting to you? Tell me more about that. And and
to become a curious person, I think, helps cultivate conversation
(43:36):
in that way. So you may not, uh, initially enjoy
or even find what they're talking about interesting, but that
can lead you to another question. So if I were
to ask my son, he would probably say something like, oh,
I really enjoy video games right now. Well, okay. Great.
Are you going to waste your life in your basement
playing video games? I can go that direction. Or I
can say, what is it you like about video games?
(43:57):
What what what's happening there. When you play that you
really enjoy and find delight in? Well, I get to
talk with my friends and we get to create together
on Minecraft or whatever it is, and we're having a
great time. Oh, so there's this community thing. What do
you think about that in terms of your life going forward?
How can you develop spaces of engagement and curiosity and
(44:17):
and community there? And, you know, he he might go,
I don't know, I'm just going to design video games. Okay, well,
that's fine, but at least the conversation started and now
maybe another conversation can come back to that and say, hey,
tell me more about this video game thing. What do
you think about that? What's happening there and how do
you feel when this happens? And so just those open
ended questions of curiosity.
S3 (44:37):
That is I.
S2 (44:38):
Think.
S3 (44:38):
There's.
S2 (44:39):
Open up so much.
S3 (44:40):
Fear.
S1 (44:40):
Though. Parents have so much fear, like you just said,
you know, the video games, oh what are you going
to how are you going to get money with that, etc., etc.. Um,
another question is, you know, for graduates, is it good
to take a year off? Is it okay to take
a year? What do you say to those who are saying,
I feel like I need a break before I launch
into the next thing? What do you.
S3 (45:01):
Say?
S2 (45:03):
I think that's part of the growth of our lives, right?
We've constrained everything to you go to high school four
years and then you go to college four years, and
then maybe you work on a graduate degree for 3
or 4 years. And we've just chunked it down to that.
And we've made cookie cutters out of places and spaces
where people just have different paces, they have different aptitudes
(45:23):
and levels. And so let's give the next generation space
to grow and discover, and let's walk alongside them as
mentors that love Jesus and can encourage them. And we'll
just see a lot of flourishing, I believe.
S1 (45:35):
I love it that we got James Montgomery Boice in
here today, because there's a voice from the past, you know,
who speaks into our. And one of the things that
happened when you were in that service at Founders Week
was you came alive and you said, oh, I want
to do this same thing for other people that he
has just that God has just done for me through
(45:56):
James Montgomery Boice. And whatever that is, you know, you
could be a medical doctor and do that. You know,
there's so many different things. But to be attentive to that,
to listen to it. Uh, Jeremy Writebol, great to get
to meet you. I'm sorry I haven't talked with you.
I won't talk with your mom and your brother.
S2 (46:14):
Thank you. Chris. No, it's been great.
S1 (46:15):
Thank you for doing this today. And it's highly recommended
if you go to the website. Chris. Org click through
today's information. You'll see it right there. Make it your ambition.
Seven Godly Pursuits for the Next Generation. If you have
a person who is younger who's asking those kinds of questions,
those deeper questions, what do I do? This is the
(46:36):
book that will help them and read it first. I
think it'll help you make it your ambition. Go to
Chris Fabry live.org. Our program is a production of Moody Radio,
a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Two questions. Miss little asked Jeremy two questions when he
was in the eighth grade, and those questions helped frame
his life and change the trajectory of how he viewed
his life. Do you have somebody who's graduating high school, maybe.
Or they're finished or almost finished with college? And I
come to mind, our featured resource today is highly recommended
(00:30):
for them because it can help them launch into life
in a kingdom kind of way. We're going to talk
more about what that means. But wait, I think today's
conversation is going to be for 20 somethings who are
trying to figure out their life, no doubt. But I
also think it applies to 30 somethings and 40 somethings
and 50 somethings. Dare I say it could be for
(00:50):
60 or 70 or 80 somethings. Let's find out straight
ahead as we talk with the Moody Bible Institute graduate
who works at the same church as our friend Chris Brooks.
You'll meet Jeremy. Straight ahead. First, thank you to Ryan
McConaughey doing all things technical. Trish is our producer. Ryan
will be answering your calls today. And a quick thank
you to friends and partners. Yesterday was the fiscal year
(01:12):
end last day. And you helped us. We were right
at the cusp and you helped us go not only over,
but way over in June. So we appreciate how you
responded last month. I want to say thank you, thank you,
thank you. And not just move on and and ask
you to give again without saying thank you. But since
(01:33):
it's the 1st of July, we have a new resource
that I'm really excited about. So if you are a partner,
check your email today. You'll get a notification about that.
I get to choose these resources. And when I heard
Pastor Colin Smith, we talked with him back in February March.
He talked about drive through the Bible. And as soon
(01:54):
as I heard about it, I said, we've got to
it comes out in July. I knew I wanted to
make it a part of our conversation here because I
hear it so often. I try to read the Bible,
but I kind of feel lost. I get bogged down
in Leviticus. I don't understand how it all fits together. Well,
this is a road map. This will help you see
in 30 days how the Old Testament, how the New Testament,
(02:16):
how Proverbs, Psalms, how all that connects together and connects
us to God's heart and his plan. If you give
a gift of any amount, you become a a friend
with us or you become a partner. Give a gift
each month. I want to send you drive Through the
Bible by Colin Smith, straight from Edinburgh. Call 8669538669532279. Or
(02:40):
you can give at Chris fabry.org. I think this is
really going to be helpful. And it's our thank you.
During all of July here in the hot summer months
of July Chris Fabry lives where today you're going to
find out about Jeremy Me right Bowl. Jeremy serves as
the lead campus pastor of Woodside Bible Church's Plymouth, Michigan location,
(03:03):
and he's the executive director of Gospel Centered Discipleship. Um,
Woodside is the church where Chris Brooks is pastor of
equipped with Chris Brooks. If you didn't know, Jeremy is
the author of several books, including the award winning Pastor
Jesus Is Enough and her featured resource today, which is
Make It Your Ambition seven Godly Pursuits for the Next Generation.
(03:29):
A graduate, a proud graduate of Moody Bible Institute. Lives
in Plymouth, Michigan. He and his wife, Stephanie have two
children who are teenagers. You pray for us. Jeremy, how
are you doing today?
S2 (03:42):
Hey, Chris, I'm doing so, so well today. Thank you.
And hey, I just want to say about my kids.
And I think most parents should say this. I hope
this is the case. But like, my kids are great
and and the teenage years for us have been so fantastic. I, um,
I was a youth pastor starting out in ministry right
after I graduated, and something about being a parent of
teenagers and being a youth pastor kind of clicked together.
(04:04):
And so we're having a ton of fun, and it's
just so great to see these kids grow up and
love Jesus and walk with him. And so I'm I'm
really enjoying this season of life right now.
S3 (04:14):
But there are.
S1 (04:14):
Changes. There are big changes, you know, like teaching them
to drive, because that's one I had Jackson Terkeurst on yesterday,
and it was like he came from Liberia and didn't
even speak English, you know, very little. And I was
going to ask him about so how did you learn
to drive? And, you know, what was that all like, that's,
you know, these these passages that we go through as
parents with our teenagers, they can they can press us,
(04:36):
can't they?
S2 (04:37):
Right, right. Uh, yeah. We won't talk about driving too much, but, uh,
my kids are getting it and we're enjoying it. It's
it's it's good. But yeah, it does create a challenge
for us as parents as well as we mainly think
about them going into that adulthood stage of life. And
there's there's things we hope and pray for and are
eager about with them. And we kind of wonder, will
(04:58):
that come to fruition in their life? And we know
that they're thinking about those things too.
S3 (05:03):
Yes.
S1 (05:03):
Now, I have to say, after doing this program for
the number of years that we have, there are guests
who interconnect with other guests like Jackson did yesterday. And
I mentioned Liberia, and I told him on the air,
the first thing I thought about when I heard Liberia
was Ebola. And there was a guest that we had,
Nancy Writebol. And it's like, well, I know that last name.
(05:24):
And we actually had your brother on talking about Nancy because, well,
tell that story. It was it was 11 years ago, right?
S2 (05:32):
Right. Yeah. 11 years ago, my mom was serving with CIM,
which is where she's still serving, but she was serving
in Liberia at Elwa, and she contracted the Ebola virus there.
She was one of the two American missionaries in July
that contracted the Ebola virus and were medevaced from Liberia,
from Monrovia to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, and
(05:56):
received incredible treatment and care there. And the Lord's hand
of grace was just on her. And Doctor Kent Brantly and, uh,
their lives were spared. Um, and, uh, they were able
to tell the story of God's grace and what he
did through the medical community and the sciences there to
be able to heal them and, um, just help them
be able to thrive now in life and ministry and
(06:17):
all the things that God has intended and planned for
them and purposed for them. And so it's really kind
of a miracle story of God's grace in our lives
as a family. And I remember my brother was sitting
in the waiting room of the hospital talking to you,
one room over from where I was sitting, just waiting
for mom to heal up and, um, get better. And
we were kind of at a point we weren't sure
(06:37):
whether she was going to make it or not, and
God just graciously spared her.
S1 (06:42):
Yeah, because there was this barrier up. You could just
look at her and talk on the phone type of thing, right?
S2 (06:48):
Right, right. Yeah. We could go in the little anteroom there. um,
and see her in her isolated room. You had to
wear kind of a big hazmat suit, if you will,
to go in. And we weren't allowed to go in
even to to talk with her on the phone through
the glass. We had to have the proper, uh, gloves
and mask and gear and all that on, um, and
(07:08):
then had to disinfect and clean off once we finished
talking with her to leave the room. And it was
just surreal. Uh, yeah. Just a really surreal situation. And we're,
we're very, very grateful for, uh, that team at Emory
University Hospital that served mom and Doctor Brantley and, um,
continued to help us and to the Lord for his
grace and all of it. And we really saw, uh,
(07:30):
unique Christian community even come out of that. And through that,
and many of the physicians and medical staff there were
believers and able to join us, not just in the
physical aspects of healing, but in the the spiritual dependence
on the Lord for his grace and all of that.
And so, yeah, it's something we look back on, uh,
with a little bit of a shock and a little
(07:51):
bit of awe in terms of gratitude to God for
his grace.
S1 (07:55):
I wanted our listeners to hear that because that's the
the stock that you come from. That's your family lineage.
And Moody Bible Institute is, is part of that. Because
your brother was on the aviation in the Aviation Ministry
and Moody Aviation and now works there full time in Spokane,
I believe. Right.
S2 (08:13):
Yes he does. He's, uh, he's on the aviation faculty.
He is, uh, the, um, uh, trainer director. Uh, I
struggle for the title for the airframe and maintenance program. Um,
so he helps his students be able to fix, repair, uh,
learn how to fix and repair airplanes and keep them
well maintained as they're out in the mission field in
the bush somewhere, um, where it's remote and hard to
(08:34):
get access to equipment and, uh, pieces and all of
that sort of stuff. Brian is helping train those missionary
pilots to go and be able to do that. Well.
And he's been he's been there for, um, well over
ten years now, uh, in Spokane and just really enjoys
his calling to the Lord there.
S1 (08:51):
Well, I would have you on just just to talk
about these types of things, but when I got Ahold
of this, this new book, this little book that you've written,
make it your ambition. Seven Godly Pursuits for the Next Generation,
I thought. And it went through it. I thought, here
is a book like I encountered when I was younger,
because I, I kind of grew up with InterVarsity Christian
(09:14):
Fellowship and on the college campus. And looking at some
of the questions, you know, what am I going to,
what am I, where am I going with my what
is my career going to be like? And there were
several books that were pivotal on that journey, and I
think this one make it your ambition is going to
be it's going to turn the light on for somebody
who's listening today, or maybe a parent who's listening, who
(09:37):
has a son or a daughter who's graduating high school
or in college. And I want you to listen to
what Jeremy has for that next generation comes from the heart.
I think it'll be good. We're going to hear what
Miss Little said to him straight ahead on Moody Radio. Okay,
(10:05):
we're going to middle school with little Jeremy, who loved baseball. Uh,
and a woman named Miss Little at that middle school
asked him a couple of questions that we're going to
talk about today. Jeremy is a pastor and an author.
Our featured resource is his book, Make It Your Ambition.
His last name is W-r-i-t-e. Right, Jeremy. So here you are.
(10:32):
Eighth grade. I think it was Miss Little's daughter that
you were more interested in than her. Is that true?
S2 (10:39):
Yeah, yeah, I was I was trying to, uh, start
a relationship with, uh, with her daughter, who was a
classmate in school, and get to know her a little
bit better, and her mom being very guarded and cautious
about who her daughter was hanging out with. And and
particularly because we were a new family that had moved
up from a different area. And so we're kind of
(11:02):
out of towners and who's this strange kid running around
with my, my daughter. And so she, uh, she began
to ask me a few questions, and she wanted to
know what I was going to do with my life.
And I was very confident and right out of the
I mean, with no thought to it at all. I said, well,
I'm going to be an announcer in baseball, uh, major
league broadcaster, um, up in the booth and talk about
the games. And I loved that I loved baseball. I
(11:24):
figured I had a good enough voice to be able
to talk about baseball. Well, and so I was pretty
confident in that answer. And, um, and then within a millisecond,
she follows up with the next question. Well, what are
you going to do for the kingdom of God? Uh,
she knew I was a believer. Our families were in
the church. And, um, that question stumped me, right? I,
(11:46):
I never thought about that necessarily. I just, you know,
I knew that there were people that served in ministry,
but what what did that have to do with me?
No clue. And so I just muttered out, well, I'll
be a Christian broadcaster, uh, baseball broadcaster. And, uh, that
that was as far as I could get at that moment.
But that question stuck. Stuck in my brain. Um, and
(12:08):
really just kind of noodled around in there for so
long of, of a sense of, okay, I don't think
I can just be a Christian baseball broadcaster. I wonder
if God has something else for me or something bigger
for me than just that. And, uh, that question really
began to be one that, um, turned in my heart
about how I should live my life and what vocation
(12:29):
and career and all of that, that I should pursue.
And so that was really what kind of started the
whole thing.
S1 (12:36):
I resonated with that because that's the same with me.
I wasn't good enough to play because, you know, everybody
wants to play, you know. And I was I was
scared of getting hit by the ball, to be honest,
because it had happened too many times. But as I
listened to Al Michaels and Joe Nuxhall and then Marty
Brennaman to call the Cincinnati Reds games, it's like, oh,
(12:56):
that'd be exciting. That'd be really great to be able
to travel with the team and to call the game.
You know, you get to go to every game and
you get to eat hot dogs. You know, you get
to call the game and you get a little older.
And I think maybe it wasn't the spiritual thing that
got to me as much as it was. And half
of the year, half of the season, you're you're in a,
you know, living in a hotel, you're flying to other
(13:18):
or riding the bus or however you get there, you know,
and then you have to probably start in the minor
leagues is like, I don't know if I really the tarnish,
you know, it's starting to get on that. Lily and
I started thinking about, you know, other, other pursuits. And
that eternal question comes in there and and you say
(13:40):
that The question comes, what am I going to do?
You know, everybody asks that question, what do you want
to be when you grow up? And it's very AI centered.
What do I want my career. How do I want
my career? And what she asked you was, what do
you think? Put God in the equation here. What do
you think he desires? And that kind of got you
(14:00):
down a different track, didn't it?
S2 (14:03):
Correct. Yeah. That helped me think about life and work
and that growing up, if you will, in much broader
terms than just the here and the now and what
I might enjoy, I didn't even have in my eighth
grade mind any of the hard stuff of being a
baseball broadcaster. I just had my mind, you know, the
games and and the fun of being in the majors
(14:24):
and that sort of thing. And so this, this question
about what I'm going to do for the kingdom of
God began to create a category or space in my
head and my heart for, uh, for serving the Lord
and for doing things that might, uh, he might call
me to beyond what I was already thinking. And so
I was plugged into a great church there and some
great youth ministry. And then our family relocated again, um,
(14:48):
not too long after that. And so that began to
be another process of reorienting myself and resetting myself in
a new community and a new church, um, and, and
really leaning into asking the Lord, okay, God, what do
you want me to do with my life? And what
does this all look like? And what should the trajectory
of of my everyday, you know, kind of 24 over
(15:10):
seven being and working look like.
S3 (15:14):
Yes.
S1 (15:15):
So so that's what that's why you wrote this for
those who are in that age category, looking ahead with
all of the choices, with all of the possibilities. Uh,
I think it was Soren Kierkegaard who said that we
understand our lives looking back, but we have to live
it forwards or something along those lines. And you and
I can look back and see, oh, this happened and
(15:37):
this happened and this happened. But if you're in the
middle of that, if you're 17, 18 years old, if
you're 22, 25, now, 30. It's hard because of everything. Everything.
That's all the choices that are out there, right?
S2 (15:52):
Yeah. And I'm thinking about it too, kind of as
one who is able to look back and also able
to look forward a little bit from my own life
now and recognize that if we look down the road
at the church in the next ten, 15 years, one
of the things that sociologists are telling us right now
is that there is going to be a significant shortage
(16:14):
of men and women in ministry in a in a
career vocational sense, in the church, in mission agencies and seminaries,
Bible colleges, radio, all the ministries there that we would
consider Christian ministries. There's going to be a workplace shortage
of that. And so being able to sit kind of
in this seat between two eras, if you will, and say,
(16:35):
I can see the future, but I also see the past,
That's where I started and said, you know, I want
to address young adults and help them think about ministry
as a calling and a vocation, potentially for their lives.
But I've got to start from the end and work
it back to the front so that as they start
at the front, they can work it towards the end.
And perhaps God will call some of them to ministry
(16:55):
through this book. But I also want to set up
the whole generation, if I could, all these young adults for, uh,
for a life of walking with God and loving him
and just experiencing his grace in their lives, even if
they go into normal, um, or non-Christian oriented workplaces and
careers and service. I want to be able to walk
(17:16):
faithfully with Jesus in everyday life.
S1 (17:19):
When did you know? When did you hear the voice?
When did you have the direction that this you're what
you're doing today is what you need to go toward.
S2 (17:29):
Right? Yeah. It happened. I would say beginning in there
in middle school, you know, the seeds were planted. And
as I went to high school, I was still kind
of hanging on to the athletic world. Although not an
athlete myself, but I was able to, in some supportive
ways be a part of of varsity sports. And I
was thinking along those lines, but I was I was
(17:51):
plugged into a great church and, uh, the school I
was at was a Christian private school. And so I
was getting the Bible, uh, every day in classes. And
I was just beginning to think about, okay, what does
this look like for my life in other contexts? And
I had one teacher hand me a book about Jim
Elliot and his four missionary friends, um, serving the Lord
(18:12):
in Ecuador and laying down their life for the gospel's
sake there. And that that book and that story began
to have a really profound impact on me. My youth
pastors and our youth ministry was so great, and I
and I really could see myself serving and and being
in youth ministry as well. And so that began to
be part of the equation of my heart. And, uh,
(18:33):
it was really my senior year of high school when
I just I remember a distinct moment where I just
said to the Lord, okay, Lord, I'm going to lay
down the the stuff that I, I think I could
do well with, but I don't think is what you've
called me to so that I can pursue what you've
called me to. And, um, one of Moody Bible Institute's
former presidents, George Sweeting, uh, actually came to my church
(18:56):
and preached on a Sunday morning. And we were aware
of Moody, uh, very interested in it, but I don't
think that anything had clicked in my mind about attending
Moody as a college option. And it was at that
moment when he preached, and my mom and dad and
I got to talking about it, that we all said, well,
let's look at Moody Bible Institute. And I very quickly
(19:17):
applied and had to wait a little while to figure
out if we were accepted, but that's where the course
was set up. Okay, I'm going to pursue Christian vocational ministry,
whether that's missions or pastoral ministry or youth ministry. I
don't know exactly what that is yet, but here's a
place that can begin to equip me and train me
for that life. And the Lord started using that to
kind of set me on that direction in that way.
(19:40):
But I knew in high school that this was this
was where we were supposed to go.
S1 (19:43):
But it is a step by step. You don't get
the full vision of it all at once. It would
probably overwhelm you if you did. But it's a step
by step. And it begins with what? Who are you
going to love? Who are you going to put first?
It's to know God and to love him. Which one
(20:04):
of the books that really affected me and I think
did you too, was Knowing God by J.I. Packer.
S2 (20:09):
Right, right. Yeah. So there I am as a freshman
at Moody and one of my Bible theology professors has
this reading Knowing God. And I'd never read anything that
like that before. Um, just to hear him talk about, uh,
the the excellence of God and the the nature of
who God is and his attributes and the invitation that
(20:31):
God gives us into knowing him and walking with him
and experiencing a relationship that is transformational to our lives.
I was riveted. I still have a copy of that,
that volume. I have that copy that I had back
25 plus years ago, uh, on my bookshelf, uh, just
across the room here. Um, and, and that's this is
where I saw the beauty of God and his greatness
(20:53):
and was like, okay, the Lord is so good, and
he is so great. And it is, um, what a
privilege to know him. And that's really becomes, I think,
the highest goal and ambition for every believer, uh, of
their life that they would know and love God. That's, uh,
one of the things the Westminster Shorter Catechism, uh, trains
us to, to talk about when it asks the question,
what is the chief end of, of man or a woman?
(21:16):
And that is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
And if we like, okay, if that's what we're going
to pursue with our lives, to know God, to glorify him,
to enjoy him forever, then we're going to be right
there in the center of his will and, uh, and
just be right in the the lane on the ambitions
for life that we should have.
S1 (21:35):
And what Jeremy has just said then is, for those
who are younger, trying to figure out what does life
look like and where is the trajectory of my life.
But I'm also talking to those who are in middle
age or are feeling like they're going toward the end,
because everything that you talk about in these seven ambitions
(21:57):
is for all of us. The first one, make it
your ambition to know and love God. The second pursuit
is make it your ambition to model Christ's character. We'll
talk some about that. Make it your ambition to discern, develop,
and deploy your gifts. And in order to do that,
you got to know what they are and find out
what they are. Serve others with your career. Share the gospel,
(22:20):
endure hardship and the seventh pursuit. Well, we're going to
talk about that coming up. And it's in the book
Make It Your Ambition seven Godly pursuits for the Next generation.
And my addition to the subtitle is and for this one,
to the one that we're in right now. It's our
featured resource. Chris Fabry Livorno. Chris, help me over the
(22:45):
hurdle of that book, though of that word ambition. Because
when I see ambition, I think, I think sometimes in
negative terms that ambition is of, you know, I'll push
anybody out of the way to get what I'm looking
for or go for the goal of the, you know,
be I want to be the winner and others are
(23:06):
going to lose. But what is ambition really mean?
S2 (23:09):
Yeah, I think ambition is that that big drive in
our hearts that can be God centered to do, uh,
and to be, um, for his glory. Um. Great things. Uh,
I'll just say it that way. Uh, the word ambition
is used in the Bible in positive ways. Uh, the
(23:30):
Apostle Paul says, make it your ambition to live a
quiet life working with your hands. Uh, so that the
peace of the gospel might spread. He says, I make
it my ambition to spread the gospel where it hasn't
been spread. And so there's this these drives, if you will,
these passions and these, uh, trajectories that that should be
there in our hearts to live a life that isn't
(23:52):
just about. Well, I'm just going to sit here and
try and be comfortable and just lay back on whatever
it is I'm doing in life. But but some real
drive in our heart and lives to say there are
things out there that will honor and please God. Ways
that he's gifted me that perhaps are unique, uh, that
that he alone has called me to serve him in.
And I should go chase those down and find them
(24:14):
not to, uh, bowl over people or or to just
aggressively get whatever you want or to be the winner, necessarily.
But but this is that internal motivation of I'm going
to set my hand to this task, I'm going to
set my eye to this objective. Jesus set his face
to the cross. He set his face to Jerusalem. Um,
there are some things we should just set our hearts
(24:35):
to and then go pursue it with our lives, with
our energy, with our time, with our treasure, all of
who we are in the ambition of glorifying God and everything.
S1 (24:45):
The problem that comes up that came up for me
and it still comes up for me, is that I
don't believe God's good. I don't believe that he and
I do believe that, but I help my unbelief. I
think if I submit to him, if I give him my,
put my desires second place, and put my ambition toward him,
and knowing him that he is going to do something bad,
(25:07):
he's going to make me go someplace and eat grub worms,
you know, and the things that I don't want to do.
And he's going to make my life harder, and I
want my life to be easier, and I want to
be in control of my life. And he's going to
make it out of control. And I feel very uncomfortable.
And I want you to talk about that when we
come back. Jeremy Writebol is with us. Make it Your
(25:28):
Ambition is our featured resource. It's an excellent resource written
for those who are younger and asking these really hard questions.
What should I do with my life? Where where do
I employ my gifts for the kingdom? Subtitle is seven
Godly Pursuits for the Next Generation. You can find it
at the website Chris fabry.org.
S4 (26:03):
I'll put up a.
S1 (26:04):
Question on Facebook today. When did you realize the clear
direction God had for your work life? What are you
going to do? Is was there a moment where you said,
this is it, this is the place, this is the
direction I'm going right here, and you just knew it. Uh,
you can answer that on Facebook. I'd love to hear
from you, too. Our number is (877) 548-3675. Did you have
(26:27):
a miss little in middle school or high school? Who
asked you those questions? Like Jeremy Writebol. Did Jeremy has
written Make it Your Ambition seven Godly Pursuits for the
Next Generation. It's our featured resource at Chris Fabry Livorno.
I the question that I had right at the end
of the break there is, I think a lot of
(26:49):
people feel like if I submit to God, if I
surrender to him, he's going to make me do something
I don't want to do, and he's going to make
my life hard. And I don't want I don't want
it to be hard. And therein lies the struggle of
get to know who God really is. And you'll see
that he has a better plan than you do. But
(27:10):
I have always heard the question, what is it that
makes you come alive? What is it that you do
in any era of your life that you just felt like, oh,
I time flies when I'm doing that. Um, is that
a clue as to how you are made and what
(27:31):
God wants to use in your life?
S2 (27:35):
I believe so. I, I had some friends in college
that were thinking about ministry, and one of them was
convinced that God was going to send him to India,
and he had no desire to go to India. It
wasn't anything that he ever wanted to do, and he
was just convinced that's where I'm going to end up.
And that's going to be my lot in life, and
it's going to be hard and not enjoyable. And he
(27:56):
was a great musician and I and I said, well,
what do you think God's going to do with you?
Like musically, it seems like you love that a lot,
and you're really gifted and you have talent and ability
beyond anything most of us do. Don't you enjoy that?
And he was kind of thinking about it, and I
was like, well, maybe. And maybe that's where God will
send me, I don't know. And he was just he
was just very convinced. And I think it came back
to a question with him of, well, do you believe
(28:19):
that God is good, that he loves you and that
he has his best intentions and heart for you. And
do you believe that God knows you well enough to
wire you up, and to make you in such a
way that he wants to use you in ways that
are to use the phrase life giving and enjoyable and
kind of light that fire for you. And so those
begin to be some questions that that friend had to answer.
(28:41):
And I think all of us have to do at
some point or another, um, to think about what is
it that we're, we're called to do? And is that
in alignment with what we like, what we what we
want to be? One of the questions that I get
asked from members of my church often is they're going
through a membership process is where, where do you want
to serve in the church? And they they'll often talk about, well,
I'll serve anywhere, I'll be happy to do this or that.
(29:02):
And the follow up question I ask them is, well,
what do you want to do? What do you enjoy?
What is it that that lights the lights your eyes
up and, and you want to serve in. And and
usually we find that a person's spiritual giftings somewhere line
up somewhere in those areas of interest. Desire, passion, eagerness.
All of that. And we kind of say, well, we believe,
(29:23):
we affirm that. Go do those things because you'll really
enjoy it, and you'll serve the body so well, and
it'll be a delight to everybody to see you flourish
in those in those giftings. So I kind of call
that Hermes conundrum. Um, if you think about the elf
in the 1964 film, um, uh, Rudolph the Red-Nosed. Yeah.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer. He's an elf.
S3 (29:44):
Dentist.
S2 (29:46):
Right? He's an elf. And what do elves do? They
make toys, but he wants to be a dentist. And
many times we think, well, I have to do the
thing that I should do rather than the thing I
want to do. And I believe that God gives us
those desires and those interests and passions, because that's what
he wants us to do, to serve him in unique
ways that he's equipped us, rather than doing the thing
(30:06):
that we feel like has to be the duty all
the time.
S3 (30:09):
Bingo.
S1 (30:10):
See, and I think there's somebody in their 60s or
70s who's listening right now, and it's like the lightbulb
is coming on. It's like, and you, you had a
good career and you or you raised your family or
whatever it was that you did, you did well. And
now you get here and it's like, oh, but I
really wanted to fill in the blank, you know, back there. Um,
(30:30):
there's nothing that says you can't now launch into something
else life giving, because seeing an older person, you know,
a person who is quote unquote older, seeing them come alive,
energizes the younger generation, doesn't it?
S2 (30:47):
Yeah, that happened in my family. My mom and dad, uh,
my dad in particular was working in, uh, marketplace, uh, businesses.
He was, uh, computer engineer and computer programmer for a
company that works throughout the country with, uh, banking software. And, uh,
that's what he did to pay the bills and to
(31:08):
get my brother and I through, uh, through school and college.
And he didn't love it. And, uh, and then yet
in midlife, in his mid 40s, he and my mom
just sensed that call of God to go overseas and
to use their lives in missions, in ministry. And he
quit his job and pursued God in that. And he
(31:30):
and mom went and you know, their story. We've kind
of talked about that a little bit already, but but
God's been using them in ministry to this very day.
And I think it's a beautiful and wonderful thing. So
just because you're in the middle of life doesn't mean
that you just have to stop there and just trudge
on with whatever it is you're doing. But maybe God
does have something for you that you're really interested in,
that you can serve him well.
S3 (31:48):
Bingo.
S1 (31:49):
Any age. And that's why I keep going back to Psalm.
The end of Psalm 138 says, the Lord will fulfill
his purpose for me. And even if I've made some
missteps or taken wrong direction one thing or another, a
circuitous route, the Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.
Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake
(32:12):
the work of your hands. Do what you've prepared in advance.
You know, the Ephesians passage and in the the devotional
that I read each morning from the Psalms, it says,
if you want to glorify God, one major way to
do it is let him love you. Receive his grace.
Drink it down, not adding anything of your own goodness
to it. Your very purpose in life, in eternity is
(32:35):
to be to the praise of his glorious grace. And
I think that fits in well here as well, to
allow God to be to show himself good to you
in all of these ways with making these decisions, don't
you think?
S2 (32:49):
Right, right. Yeah. Again, you could go to the very
next psalm where the psalmist in 139 says, the Lord
has created us. He has formed us in our mother's womb.
He knows our frame. I think that means he knows
our very DNA, and he knows our very passions and interests,
because he's placed them there. And so he delights in
us in that way because of what he has done
(33:11):
for us and in us by his grace, not of
our own. Uh, and so there's he's he's created you
beautifully and wonderfully fearfully made. Uh, and so he has
those designs and intents for us that are just to
fulfill his purposes and glory in, in our lives.
S3 (33:27):
I asked that.
S1 (33:28):
Question of our listeners about the when you realize the
clear direction of God for you. It was at a
church service, uh, where you'd been following this, going down
this road of of loving God and the different ambitions. Um,
what will I do for the kingdom of God? I'm
going to know and love him. I'm going to model
(33:48):
Christ's character. I'm going to discern, develop, deploy my gifts,
I'm going to serve others, etc., with the ambitions. And
you clearly saw what was ahead. Tell me about that.
S2 (34:01):
That was actually a Founders Week at Moody Bible Institute,
February 1998. The reason I bring up those days like
this memory is so etched in my mind, it's like
I'm there right now, sitting in Moody Church, and James
Montgomery Boice has been called on to come and speak
to to us at that conference that February day. It
(34:21):
was cold. And, um, so I get into the church
there and I'm sitting and listening and I'm like, I've
never heard of this Boy Scout. I hope he's good. And,
you know, kind of all the things that a freshman
is thinking about when they've got to go to another
chapel service. And, uh, Doctor Boyce opened the scriptures, went
right to Romans 11 and began to teach on the
(34:42):
glory of God, the incomparable wisdom of God. For from
him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory. And I was riveted. And it was.
I didn't hear an audible voice, but there was just
an impression on my heart and mind as I'm sitting
(35:02):
there listening to the Word of God. Preach that way
from the Lord, saying, Jeremy, this is what I want
you to do. This is, this is it. I want you.
I'm calling you to be a man who develops and grows,
to preach my word to my people and to pastor
churches and to declare the gospel. And I was just
(35:23):
it was like a lightning strike, if you will. I
remember leaving, uh, Moody Church and walking back down to campus,
and I was walking with a friend, and I turned
to that friend and said, I think the Lord wants
me to be a pastor. I think I think that
I heard from God tonight about what he wants me
to do with my life. And my friend was like, yeah,
I've been wondering when you're going to figure that out.
(35:46):
And so I begin to talk to some professors at
Moody and some pastors and leaders in my life and
wise mentors, and everybody was saying, yeah, we've thought and
wondered when you were going to get that clue as well.
We've we're fully behind you in pursuing pastoral ministry. We
think that's what God's called you to as well. Let's go.
Go for it.
S1 (36:06):
Isn't God kind to lead you that way and not
force it on you and have it. You know, you
got to do this. You got to do this and
you come to it yourself. And the spirit touches that nerve.
And then, you know.
S2 (36:22):
It's a you know, I think I speak about calling
in terms of there's a desire that we have to
begin with, um, and then through processes of discerning our
gifting and developing competency, becoming, um, able to do the
work of ministry that he's called us to, um, and
hearing from community about their affirmations of that, you know,
(36:43):
the leaders of your church and pastors and, and friends
in your life that can speak into that. Then it
comes down to an area that I'll call compulsion or
unction of, like, this is the thing I have to do.
It's it's the Holy Spirit. I think the old word
was unction, uh, that God gives us. And Charles Spurgeon
used to tell students at his pastor's college, if you
(37:04):
can do anything else, go do it. If you're happy
with that, then please, by all means, go do those things.
They're good, noble jobs. Go do and work in those areas.
But if you come to the end of yourself and
there is nothing that you can do other than serve
the Lord and pastoral ministry, that's a real clear sign
that you're called to that.
S1 (37:22):
Yes, and I like that. I really like especially coming
from the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon. Jeremy Writebol is
with us. Make it your ambition. This is for the
next generation. But I think it's every bit as much
for this generation right now. The people who are struggling
with this, and there's probably somebody listening today who has
(37:43):
said this has been on my heart my whole life,
but I've missed it. I have, you know, I've jettisoned
that idea a long time ago, and it's too late
for me. Don't listen to the whisper of the enemy.
I want you to hear more from Jeremy. Straight ahead
on Moody Radio. Every parent who has a teenager or
(38:11):
a 20 something. This is the book that you need.
I was going to say you need to give it
to that next generation, but you need to read it first.
You need to read it and and go through it.
Make it your ambition. Seven godly pursuits for the Next Generation.
You know, if I if I was doing it in
a linear way, we would just go through all of
(38:33):
the seven ambitions and you'd be, you know, you could
go on your merry way. But we've been kind of
jumping around here. I want here in the last segment, Jeremy,
to focus on the parent who's listening, who has, and
you've got a couple of kids who are right in
the age range. You know, they're making these decisions about
what they're going to do with the rest of their life.
A lot of kids, it's college. Some kids, it's it's
(38:55):
not college. They've decided, no, I'm going to go a
different path. And that's great too. But you, you I
want you to talk to the parent or maybe the
grandparent who's speaking into the life of that next generation.
What did they need to do in order to move
into the the life under the radar screen of the
life of their child or grandchild?
S2 (39:18):
Well, I'll tell you the first thing that I would
say not to do, and that is not to push them, uh,
to this, uh, you know, these ambitions and particularly don't,
don't push them to the ambition of calling to ministry, uh,
necessarily let the Lord be the one to call them
and direct them and, um, develop that in them, um,
if that's his calling on their life. But the thing
(39:38):
you can do is encourage them with good questions. Uh,
be present with them, uh, you know, openly talk with them,
even at times. Say, I don't know, um, if there's
space for that and and be a humble place of
encouragement and, uh, I would say wise counsel for, uh,
for your, your teenager, for your 20 something. They're they
(40:01):
already have the pressures of the world kind of bearing
down on them, and everybody is a voice influencing them
on social media or whatever, saying this is what you
should do, this is what you must do. Um, but
I think there's a there's a place for sage patient wisdom, uh,
particularly among parents, just to to pray for, to love,
to be present with their children and to ask those
(40:22):
open questions that say, hey, what are you thinking about
with your life? What do you feel, uh, you want
the legacy of your life to be? Um, I mentioned
David Brooks has a Ted talk where he distinguishes legacy or,
I'm sorry, resume virtues and eulogy virtues. And I think
that's a great way to kind of think about how
we live our life. Should we live our life, uh, for, uh,
(40:44):
a statement about us that reflects a resume? Or should
we live our life in a way that reflects true
legacy and true, true heritage? That would be an honor
to the Lord and a and a place of flourishing
and cultivating, of, uh, of goodness, uh, in the world
around us, if we can, if we can help our
young people see those kind of things ahead of them
(41:04):
and encourage them in them. That, I think opens them
up to talk about that sort of deal.
S1 (41:10):
Well, and that Brooks thing that you just mentioned, it's
it's resume versus eulogy is am I career oriented? What
is this going to do for my career? Is this
class that I'm going to take or this book I'm
going to read? Is there a purpose for, you know, this,
or does it lead me into some deeper place, deeper
part of my soul that will be giving to others
(41:32):
rather than just stepping up to the next thing?
S2 (41:36):
Mhm. Yeah. I mean think about how I just look
at this next generation Gen Z in front of us
right now. And I'm so encouraged by what God is
doing there. There's been some some narrative around a quiet revival.
I think it's been called among Gen Z, which is
exciting and encouraging to see. And I'm seeing elements of
it in my own ministry and life. Um, and I
(41:58):
want to say and see them go, you know what?
Whatever it is I do in my life, I want
the big things to be, uh. God first. Knowing and
loving him. Being people of high integrity like Christ. Um,
modeling that, uh, in that way and being people that
live to serve others. I just want my life to
be a blessing and a cause of flourishing and encouragement
(42:22):
to other human beings, to their well-being for the glory
of God. I mean, could you, Chris, could you just
imagine with me what if this next generation set their
hearts to those three things in and of themselves? I mean,
it's just transformed the world. I just I just see
God doing that kind of thing among us. And so
that's the things that we want to begin to encourage
and let God to begin to define more of the granular. Okay.
(42:44):
What's the specific calling that you have as far as
is it ministry or is it, you know, engineering or
whatever else it might be? Let God kind of define
out those more granular things. But let us encourage in
this generation, not just by our words, but also by
the way we pursue those things, uh, lives that please
and honor God in everything.
S3 (43:03):
You.
S1 (43:03):
Mentioned questions. I think that's a really good idea. What
are some of the questions you suggest for those in
a younger person's life? What should we ask?
S2 (43:13):
Yeah, one of the things I mean, one of the
things I think that Miss Little asked me, which I
think is a great question, is what are you what
are you interested in doing? What are you going to
do with your life? Maybe it's to back up even
one step and say, uh, what do you enjoy? What
kind of, uh, delights your heart? Or is encouraging or
exciting to you? Tell me more about that. And and
to become a curious person, I think, helps cultivate conversation
(43:36):
in that way. So you may not, uh, initially enjoy
or even find what they're talking about interesting, but that
can lead you to another question. So if I were
to ask my son, he would probably say something like, oh,
I really enjoy video games right now. Well, okay. Great.
Are you going to waste your life in your basement
playing video games? I can go that direction. Or I
can say, what is it you like about video games?
(43:57):
What what what's happening there. When you play that you
really enjoy and find delight in? Well, I get to
talk with my friends and we get to create together
on Minecraft or whatever it is, and we're having a
great time. Oh, so there's this community thing. What do
you think about that in terms of your life going forward?
How can you develop spaces of engagement and curiosity and
(44:17):
and community there? And, you know, he he might go,
I don't know, I'm just going to design video games. Okay, well,
that's fine, but at least the conversation started and now
maybe another conversation can come back to that and say, hey,
tell me more about this video game thing. What do
you think about that? What's happening there and how do
you feel when this happens? And so just those open
ended questions of curiosity.
S3 (44:37):
That is I.
S2 (44:38):
Think.
S3 (44:38):
There's.
S2 (44:39):
Open up so much.
S3 (44:40):
Fear.
S1 (44:40):
Though. Parents have so much fear, like you just said,
you know, the video games, oh what are you going
to how are you going to get money with that, etc., etc.. Um,
another question is, you know, for graduates, is it good
to take a year off? Is it okay to take
a year? What do you say to those who are saying,
I feel like I need a break before I launch
into the next thing? What do you.
S3 (45:01):
Say?
S2 (45:03):
I think that's part of the growth of our lives, right?
We've constrained everything to you go to high school four
years and then you go to college four years, and
then maybe you work on a graduate degree for 3
or 4 years. And we've just chunked it down to that.
And we've made cookie cutters out of places and spaces
where people just have different paces, they have different aptitudes
(45:23):
and levels. And so let's give the next generation space
to grow and discover, and let's walk alongside them as
mentors that love Jesus and can encourage them. And we'll
just see a lot of flourishing, I believe.
S1 (45:35):
I love it that we got James Montgomery Boice in
here today, because there's a voice from the past, you know,
who speaks into our. And one of the things that
happened when you were in that service at Founders Week
was you came alive and you said, oh, I want
to do this same thing for other people that he
has just that God has just done for me through
(45:56):
James Montgomery Boice. And whatever that is, you know, you
could be a medical doctor and do that. You know,
there's so many different things. But to be attentive to that,
to listen to it. Uh, Jeremy Writebol, great to get
to meet you. I'm sorry I haven't talked with you.
I won't talk with your mom and your brother.
S2 (46:14):
Thank you. Chris. No, it's been great.
S1 (46:15):
Thank you for doing this today. And it's highly recommended
if you go to the website. Chris. Org click through
today's information. You'll see it right there. Make it your ambition.
Seven Godly Pursuits for the Next Generation. If you have
a person who is younger who's asking those kinds of questions,
those deeper questions, what do I do? This is the
(46:36):
book that will help them and read it first. I
think it'll help you make it your ambition. Go to
Chris Fabry live.org. Our program is a production of Moody Radio,
a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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