The Sunday Slump

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's not that you did anything wrong.
Everything it's all my fault.
No, I listened and it was funto listen to, but you got some
details wrong.
That's all On what?
And you guys no, all of you gotdetails wrong, and you know how
I like things to be, just so no.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Well, and you weren't here, so guess who's not.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
I know, I know.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
It's your turn to pray.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
I know, oh yeah, I did hear that too it rotates
back.
We didn't want you to think wecould do this without you,
because you could do it withoutme.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, you didn't want to.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Yeah, a couple of notes we are already recording,
but just some pointers foreverybody, just a heads up.
Yeah just some pointers foreverybody.
One of the things I don'ttypically go back and re-listen
yeah, so listening last night ortoday for last week's episode.
One of the things I would pointout is, when you're talking,
make sure you get close enoughto your mic that you can hear,
Like Beth, I can, or Dawn.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I can tell when you turn around and talk to Beth,
because I lose you about righthere, so you can tell it's our
fault.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
I know, I get it, I get it.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
So you're telling all this, so we are continuing the
podcast Like we're going to bearound forever.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Well, no, I don't know about forever.
You're giving us pointers rightnow.
I don't know about forever.

Speaker 3 (01:05):
Yeah, we're here forever.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
So I mean, do you want me to just share it while
we're online?
I will, I don't have a problem.
Actually, it's going to tieinto today's topic.
So I'm struggling really,really badly with the disconnect
on Sundays.
So something's happening that,like we just don't have I need
two tech people right now Can'tget anybody to do it.
I need, I mean, I need greeters,I need so much stuff, and I

(01:30):
feel like there's this giantdisconnect on Sunday mornings
that I feel like I need toreshift my focus back to Sunday
mornings, because it's gotten tothe point to where, like, you
open the door and there arepeople standing there and
they're congregated and they'rechit chatting, but it's not
necessarily greeting anymore.
And then when you get into thesanctuary, a lot of times it's
semi-empty because everybody'seither in the prayer room or in
the cafe, and so the buildingbecomes cliquish, and so if

(01:52):
you're new and you make it tothe sanctuary, you're there by
yourself.
It's my tech team and I can'tsay tech team because sis is
always here super early but,like, sound engineers aren't
here early enough to sound checkanything that needs to be
checked.
So if something goes sideways,it happens during service, and
last week I don't remember whatI told them to do, but I was

(02:13):
like, hey, you're going to wantto keep this going, and so when
they went to transition to thenext song, it was a hard
transition the song ended andthe next one started, and
anybody who was looking at mestanding in front of the pulpit
knew that I was not happy,because the look on my face was
and I wasn't mad at them butthis is the stuff that we should
be so good at that.
It just shouldn't happen.
We have all of the equipment.

(02:33):
Everything is there that weshould need.
There are some minoradjustments that we could make,
but we've talked about doinglive worship.
Again, I'm not going to do it.
Until we have figured out howwe do that and do it right, I'm
not going to do it until we havefigured out how we do that and
do it right.
Yeah, like we Lenten service was, I was furious, furious.
During Lenten service wepracticed I shouldn't say we

(02:54):
practiced so hard, but we did.
I mean, it wasn't a hardpractice as much as it was
finding the time to make ithappen.
Yeah, once, yeah, we reallypracticed twice, twice,

(03:25):
no-transcript and fading thefloor monitor back up.
They just did it and it wasbrutal, brutal.
And that's the stuff that forme.
I just like.
I feel like I need to have arenewed focus on what's
happening on Sunday mornings sothat we can get this wagon train
to move in, because we moveinto that side of the building,
which is gonna happen, but wagontrain to move in because we

(03:45):
move into that side of thebuilding, which is going to
happen.
But when that happens, itbecomes significantly harder to
fix those things becauseeverything is going to be remote
.
We'll be controlling thingsfrom iPads versus being in front
of it the entire time, soyou'll have less opportunity to
save those major malfunctions.
So I want to really good at it.
So yeah yeah so now that I wassuper serious about that, I got

(04:11):
my grass mode today you got yourgrass mode today.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
That's good did you put?

Speaker 1 (04:16):
do you put pontoons on the mower?

Speaker 2 (04:18):
yeah, no kidding well , I thought I got I only have
today, because it's supposed torain again what the next couple
days.
So I got the front and thefenced-in yard done, but I
didn't get out back behind thegarage.

Speaker 4 (04:28):
So, because we've gotten so much rain, the lake is
up and they're putting my boatin on Saturday.
Guess where I'm going to beSaturday night.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah, and guess who won't be at church on Sunday
morning because of it.
So let's go back to churchattendance.
That's not true.

Speaker 4 (04:45):
Listen.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
I very rarely miss church and I think there's been
times where you stay out there.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
And she comes in, I come in, she comes in.

Speaker 4 (04:53):
Yeah, I do.
I mean, we're out there everySunday and I come in.
Yeah, it's just very hecticwhen you have Rosalyn and Noah
and me all trying to get readyin that little space.
Oh yeah, I can imagine you gottwo of them with ADHD.
That can't keep focused on whatthey're supposed to be doing.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
You're like don't jump in the water, don't do it,
they're out feeding the fish.

Speaker 4 (05:15):
You don't have any ducks.
No, we got not ducks.
What are they?
Geese with their babies are outthere, but we got those carp
that are huge.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
Oh yeah, Because everybody's feeding them.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah, Whatever they've got on the boat too.
That's why they're huge.

Speaker 4 (05:31):
Yep, well, it's in the morning.
If you don't get out there inthe morning when they think they
need fed, they smack up againstyour pontoon.
That's how Is that right, yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Oh, you can put your, they'll take it right out of
your hand.
You know they say dumb animals,they're all smart.

Speaker 4 (05:52):
Poor little Rosalyn.
I thought she was going to havea heart attack when she I don't
know what she thought it wasgoing to do she put her hand
down there and that thing suckedon her finger.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
She probably thought it was as little as she is.
She probably thought it wasgoing to pour is.
She probably thought it wasgonna pour in right.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
I'm sure if she saw the full length of it she'd be
like okay sorry I'm answeringnow.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
I'm trying to answer work emails while I'm sitting
here.
I have not had enough timetoday to do anything well close
that that sounds like me.

Speaker 3 (06:25):
I, my friend um.
She was coming over today tohelp with some of my crafts for
cooper's birthday and really itwas just like to put together a
picture collage and I was goingto have her grab the pictures
from walmart.
Well, I'm like, okay, just letme know when you're on your way
to walmart, like all.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
And you hadn hadn't even sent them in.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
Well, I was like where's my order?
Where's my order?
Oh my gosh, where's my order.
Yeah, Didn't even send it, likeI even was going to the payment
method and I must just not havehit place order whenever I.
I did it earlier this morning,so I don't know, maybe you were

(07:07):
was asleep.
That way I'd have undividedattention, and still it failed,
so in other words, you can'tbelieve Cooper?

Speaker 4 (07:12):
Yeah, no, not at all Kind of like when you don't send
an email that you thought forsure.
You said yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
Oh no, I know, when I don't do it, I always end up
eating crow after I'm like ohyeah, that was a week ago and I
never responded to that.

Speaker 4 (07:24):
And then Jarvee doesn't get paid on Friday
because you never mail the billin.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Talim.
I thought he was just workingout the kindness of his heart.
He helped me put up my fenceposts, Ten of my panels went
down with our last windstorm.

Speaker 1 (07:46):
Hey, I thought you guys were crazy when you said
when you moved to get used tothe wind.
I thought you guys were crazy.
That's real life down there.
I've never experienced windlike we have in, it's crazy.

Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's because everybody's talking at the same
time.

Speaker 4 (08:04):
Jarby said he owed you that for taking care of my
broken window that you know.
Maybe the dog would have beenbetter off had he run out that
window.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Last stunt.

Speaker 4 (08:13):
Oh, goodness, goodness, goodness, you know he
ripped a hole in my couch thesize of a basketball and pulled
all the stuffing out my brandnew couch.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, I did.
I already know that.

Speaker 4 (08:25):
Cause I made a joke about it, but he had that small
Okay.
Oh no, this is huge.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Yeah, so there, nevermind, there are two options
.

Speaker 4 (08:33):
Bring him to your house.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
Nope, oh, you can bring him to my house and then
I'll choose one of the twooptions, and I'm betting it'll
be option two.
Don't?
It'll be option two.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
Just don't put him in my backyard.

Speaker 4 (08:43):
Listen, this is the thing he has no remorse.
I mean, like my other dogs, ifthey did something bad and you
kind of got after them, you knowthey'd put their head down or
whatever.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
No, he wants to play, he's like bring it on.

Speaker 4 (08:56):
He's jumping at you and barking at you.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Is he?

Speaker 1 (08:58):
really a cat.

Speaker 4 (09:00):
I don't know, maybe he thinks he's a cat.
I don't know what he thinks heis.
That's what they do.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
Speaking of cats, let's just talk about the cat
situation, because I missed thatlast week.
So, nick, you have three morekittens, yeah, plus mommy, plus
mommy, and you're keeping mommyfor sure, plus you're keeping
the three kittens.

Speaker 4 (09:14):
Beth has kittens.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
My wife says yes, I'm not even questioning it, I'm
saying that you're keeping thethree kittens, beth, how many do
you have?

Speaker 4 (09:24):
Mama's never brought them.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
She keeps coming back and eating, but at some point
Nick is going to end up withmore kittens.

Speaker 4 (09:30):
Yeah, I'm going to do drive-bys throw over the fence
One at a time.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
I'm going to have to build a wall, like Trump.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
Yeah you're going to have to have a dome, Otherwise
people are just going to keepdropping them on.
I'm just going to keep droppingthem on?
Are there going to?

Speaker 4 (09:42):
be small enough, I can push them under.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
Pretty soon the city's going to come after you,
thinking you guys are theproblem, but really you're just
trying to fix the problem.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
Oh goodness.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
Okay.
So some corrections from lastweek's episode.
18,000 eggs was the targetnumber.
We are currently at like 23.
That happened by accident.
People kept asking for eggs, Ikept giving out eggs.
So doing the quick math, we'reclose to 23,000.
So we got a lot, a lot of eggs.
So we're hoping for a decentturnout.
This is year five.

(10:12):
I would like to speak to thefact that somehow I always end
up doing the Easter Egg Hunt,even though I say every year I'm
not going to.
I would like to state that thefirst year I was not opposed,
the first year I was not opposedOkay, the first year we had a
committee, were you part of thatChantel was here, brooke was
here Okay.
So we had a huge quote unquotecommittee.

(10:34):
Everybody sat in that room whenit was my office and we all
came up with 353,000 ideas whywe should and how we should.
And then, quickly, the 353,000ideas Get down to one.
Nope, they had to happen.
And if they didn't happen, thatperson was mad because they
didn't get what they wanted.
Okay, so I learned that year Ihave to head this thing up, or

(10:56):
one person does.
It doesn't have to be me, butit can only be one person.
That person is the final say inwhat gets executed.
It's just easier that way.
Here's the next fun fact.
People don't like that, and soif they say, hey, we should X,
and I'm like well, you guys usebikes as an example.
We got that one.
You guys should give away bikes.
Well, we did that.

(11:16):
And we had a little boy win anElsa bike.
Well, that doesn't seem fair,right, who can afford to have a
bike for every age group, inevery gender?

Speaker 4 (11:24):
Right, it's almost impossible Right.

Speaker 1 (11:27):
Exactly so.
The person who suggested thebikes when I said we're not
going to do bikes again wasupset because we weren't going
to do bikes.
Now they didn't donate any ofthe bikes, they didn't volunteer
.
Yes, it was just the idea.
So long and short.
Yes, I am a little bitcontrolling of the egg hunt.
However, I would love forsomebody else to take it and run
with it.
I would like for it to end upout at the school, because then

(11:50):
you have all of that parking.
You don't need people to helppark.
You can put the eggs out earlyenough in the morning that
everything is just set up.
I don't know if they would letyou use the concession stand,
but you could offer all of yourfree concessions right out of
the concession stand, or evensetting up a tent.
You could still do all of thethings.
The only problem is is it's alloutside, so in the event of

(12:15):
rain, you're wet, although I canget us a really large tent that
we could borrow, but itwouldn't change the fact that
it's still outside.
So, any volunteers, any takers.

Speaker 3 (12:22):
Yes, no, no, no no, didn't think so I volunteer as
tribute.
You do it so well Okay.

Speaker 4 (12:28):
All right yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:29):
Well, I want somebody to take it.

Speaker 4 (12:30):
I'm begging somebody to take it.
We wouldn't want to have to.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
you know, my problem is is I don't you hand it to
somebody and I want them, but Ialso need them to understand
that there are limits to thevision that we can have, because
it gets really out of controlvery quickly and you have to be
able to rein that in and have tohave some cap on the idea for a

(12:55):
certain year.
We want, we wanted to go to theschool this year.
It wasn't possible we didn'teven know if we were going to
get to do it to call the schooland book the date and do all of
the things.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
So yeah, yeah because you need to start now.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
Yes, yes, right, we should be starting now for next
year.
Wait, let's start after Easterfor next year, because this was
the other thing I was telling mywife after having listened to
it.
People don't fully understandeither, and I don't never say
these things so that people gooh yeah, he does have a lot
going on, but I move from onething to the next Lenten service
to the Easter egg hunt.

(13:24):
Like Easter egg hunt can't evenreally have my attention until
Lenten service is over, becausethat's a big undertaking, right
From a tech standpoint, fromhaving just having the building
open, it's hard on the buildingto have that many people in a
short amount of time.
So go from Lenten service, goto Easter egg hunt.
Go from Easter egg hunt intoPalm Sunday, into Good Friday,

(13:46):
into Easter Sunday.
Right, catch your breath.
And now we have dodgeball, whichdoesn't take a lot but it does
take work, and it doesn't happenif I'm not here and making and
pushing it.
So you have.
Then we have dodgeball.
Then we've been asked to dowater baptisms, so we'll have
that.
There's always something,there's always a next.
There's never a like.

(14:07):
Catch your breath, get yourhead above water.
I'll tell you.
I have done.
I told my wife this.
I used to like it when nobodyliked me.
I like that way better, becausenow I've got people calling me
wanting to do counselingappointments, I'm like what?
How did this happen?
We've had somebody at our houseevery week at least one night

(14:27):
of week for probably the pastsix weeks, and usually it's
Friday night, because it's theonly night that we have
available.
Let's see Adeline has dance onMonday.
Emmett has soccer on Tuesday.
Adeline has gymnastics onWednesday.
Emmett has soccer on Thursday.
Friday night we're openSaturday.
What do we have on saturdaybasketball game?

(14:48):
no basketball basketball's over,but you did yes, well, right,
and so we just trade dates.
So like now we've got saturday,is semi-open, but that's like,
yeah, it's like a buffer theonly day.
But that's writing a sermon,that's doing any building work
here that needs to be done, likethere's always something that
has to happen.
So tonight probably not,because Adeline probably won't

(15:08):
go to dance tonight becauseAlyssa's not feeling well.
But if Adeline would have goneto or gymnastics tonight, easton
would have come here and thenEaston and I would have cleaned
up whatever we needed to cleanup gone to the Lenten service,
gone home by the time we gethome it's 8.30.
Get everybody bathed and in bed.
There's just no rest, no rest,and people don't think about
that.
And so when they say, oh, weshould do dodgeball, we should

(15:29):
do young adult night, we shoulddo this, hey, listen, I'm all
for all of those you say great,take it over then.
I'm all for all of those thingsand we love having the young
adults.
We don't mind having people atour house, but we also like.
Alyssa and I, we spent likethree hours together today alone
no kids, nobody else.
It's probably the longest we'vebeen alone awake in a long time

(15:52):
In a long time.
So there's a lot going on Justtrying to get people to
understand that a small churchstill requires a large number of
volunteers.
Really, honestly, in the sizeof our congregation, let's do
some just quick napkin mathEvery registered member, every
card-carrying organic churchmember, there's probably 120 of

(16:13):
us I never got a card.
Well, you got neglected.
It's a fictitious card.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
Do you guys get a card.
No, no cards.

Speaker 1 (16:21):
I only give those to people I like.
Okay, I'm the only one that hasone, just so we're clear he's
the only one.

Speaker 4 (16:27):
That's got one.
I was going to say do you hearthat, dawn?
That means we don't have to behere until noon.

Speaker 1 (16:36):
So we have what was I saying.
Oh, there's probably about 120actual members of the church.
Of that we on a Sunday morningmorning get between 50 and 60
that show up.
That's usually including kids.
Now we get some really goodSundays where we have 80 people,
but a lot of times that's ahandful of visitors.
That's like 10 or 12 visitors.

(16:57):
That's a husband and wifecoming with three kids and we
might have three of those littlepockets.
That's crazy to think aboutthat.
We have 120 people on theroster and we really can't get
above 60 of actual churchmembers on a Sunday morning.

Speaker 4 (17:11):
Do we reach out to them?

Speaker 1 (17:13):
Certainly, but here's the problem.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
I mean because I don't even know that.
I know that many and I've beencoming here.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
Here's the problem.
Well, but this is the trick.
You do know that many.
You just don't realize thatthey almost missed in alternates
.
So, like, if Doug and Mel missone Sunday, you might not notice
that Sunday, but like VickyHickey may be here that Sunday,
right, and so you balance outthose numbers.
If everybody who were a memberwere to come one Sunday morning

(17:39):
and Easter is likely one ofthose mornings this place will
be full Because you have so manypeople who, like, that day
becomes a priority.
So, the topic the way that Ititled it was.
What did I call it?

Speaker 2 (17:53):
Slump.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
Sunday slump, Sunday slump, what is it Like?
Tina Newman comes in here allthe time, Almost every Sunday
morning.
I'm just in a bad mood.
I'm like Tina, you're always ina bad mood.
Like this isn't new.

Speaker 3 (18:05):
She reminds me of my grandma, the one who passed away
.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
It's not new news.
Tina, You're always in a badmood.
Why are you in a bad mood?
Well, I didn't want to get upthis morning Because the sun's
shining.

Speaker 3 (18:14):
I should still be in my PJs.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
Yeah, people get that and don't get up and go to
church.
How many people start toexperience that?
And then they just become like,oh well, it's just easier to
stay in bed.
I get it, but if that were anoption for me, I would take it
too, but it's not, it's not anoption.
So then I go back to okay, do Iexpect everybody to be the way

(18:41):
that I am, to operate the waythat I do?
So I've been here.
Let's do the quick math again.
This week, roger, you and Iwere here Monday night.
We did the setup.
Nick, you were here Mondaynight.
I did come last night, but Iwas just in and out.
I didn't stay.
What did I come for?
I don't know.
I wasn't here.
I don't remember what I washere for, but I was in and out.
I didn't stay for probably 15minutes, 20 minutes tops.

(19:05):
Was I here yesterday?
I think I was.

Speaker 3 (19:10):
Well, that's Monday.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah.
Yesterday was Tuesday yeah butI'm trying to think why I
stopped here for somethingyesterday.
Yeah, I'm glad you know thedays of the week.

Speaker 3 (19:19):
Well, I know Alyssa was at the gym yesterday.

Speaker 1 (19:23):
No, mine would have been in the morning before I
went to work, because I'd leftmy bag here Monday night.
So I stopped in, got my bag andtook care of a couple of things
before I went to work onTuesday morning.
Ok, then tonight I've been heresince I don't know, three
thirty four o'clock, somewherearound there Probably.
So we've got this.
Then we've got Lenten servicethis evening Tomorrow.
We've got this, then we've gotLenten service this evening

(19:45):
Tomorrow.
I think I'm free tomorrow, Idon't think I have to be here.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yeah, well, we need to rest up for Saturday, yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:52):
But then I'll be here Friday for sure.
There's some stuff that I'llwant to take care of before
Friday and then Saturday all day, and then you know, back on
Sunday.
So there's what I need peopleto understand is, if you
volunteer to do something, do it.
No, not just that Like thankyou for volunteering and I'll
tell you.
I'm going to give a shout outto Marcus McVeigh right now.
That dude comes down anytime.

(20:13):
I ask him to mow the grass,whatever I need Roger's the same
way.
Like there, there are a handfulof us that do that.
The problem is is if somebodywould just say, hey, what do you
need done, and I said I needthis painted or I need these
moved or I need that done, and Icould trust that they were
going to follow through and theywere going to do those things,

(20:34):
they don't understand the valuethat that brings to my life.
20 minutes, that's 20 minutes.
I get to go home and see mykids.
Now, remember, I don't alwayswant to see my kids, but I could
if I wanted to Do.
Remember.

Speaker 3 (20:43):
I don't always want to see my kids, but I could if I
wanted to Do.
We think we should set up somesort of action plan to where
people don't have to ask youwhat needs done.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
So here's the thing At one point we had committees,
so we had a lawn committee.
These are the people who aregoing to do the lawn, they're
going to take care of mowing,they're going to take care of
landscaping, they're going totake care of weed eating,
pressure washing the building,basically outside of the
building.
They're going to take care ofit.
That list had six people on it.
Of those six, two people haveactually followed through on
that work.
Do you know who those twopeople are?

(21:14):
You and Dawn, me and Roger.
Well, dawn now with the flowerbeds.
But like we had some peoplecame, they pressure washed part
of the building, but it's stillnot done.
There's this constant like andit never ends.
So my problem is is could Istart a maintenance thread in
the church text and be like hey,this week, here are the five
things that need to be done, youknow what that does to me

(21:36):
Increases your anxiety.
Creates frustration because Isay here are the five things
that needs to be done.
Nobody responds and I look atroger and go well, we've got
five things to do this week andI can't wait till friday to find
out that nobody did it right,because if I don't come on
tuesday when I have time, itsimply won't get done can it be
looked at as if nurse, what like?

Speaker 3 (21:55):
how nursery is looked at like?

Speaker 1 (21:56):
we set up a schedule, you know, and I still won't
work I appreciate the idea, butI think some of it is skilled
work.
Yeah, I agree.
So if you were mowing, fine OnMonday or this week.
This person is responsible formowing, roger, and I have
actually split it in threesections.
Roger and I do it in threephases.

(22:19):
So what we call zone one is allof and I'm just mowing is just
the one that's in my head rightnow.
We mow from the street all theway up to the front end of the
building.
That's zone one.
Zone two is push mowing thefront of the building.
Zone three is the big back halfright Now.
There's a reason that we do itthat way.

(22:39):
Roger almost always mows zonethree because if you let
somebody who doesn't know whatthey're doing, they blow the
grass all over the building andthey make a bigger mess than
they help.
We used to have people whowould come and help like, oh,
I'll just stop out and help mowand you would have clumps of
grass because they would set theblade all the way to the bottom
, like.
So it's that level of perfection, that that spirit of excellence

(23:00):
that I have.
That's hard to just let anybodydo anything.
And you, when you ask like, hey, mow around the building.
It's simple Mow around thebuilding three times, with the
mower pointing away from thebuilding, and after that you're
fine.
Whole thing.
He told the story.
Last week somebody ran the bigmower through the front yard you

(23:24):
want to talk about.
Send me into an absolute rage.
You can still see the spot outthere where they tore up the
grass like.
It's why when, when you say I'mgonna mow the front, I say
please push mow, please use thepush mower, always use the
bagger.
We never mulch the grass on thefront because otherwise it ends
up in the flower bed it it endsup all over the sidewalk.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
You still get someone to slide.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
Yeah, because it comes out first.
But the point is is that it's asimple ask for a simple task,
but you can't get people tofollow the direction and so,
like with plumbing, Roger and Ihave said we just don't do that
anymore.
This building is so complicatedwhen it comes to plumbing.
It's just easier for us to callChase and see if Chase can
squeeze us in.
Fine, Then you have electricalwork.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
We can use extension cords.

Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yes, exactly that's why we do extension cords,
because nobody would do theelectrical work.

Speaker 3 (24:15):
Sounds like my house.

Speaker 1 (24:17):
We run them through the wall, though.
We just run them through thewall, we don't mind.
Roger and I do the majority ofthe electrical work, and then
Dan lumps.
It can help.
The problem is is, when you geta job, you can't just leave
that half finished.
It has to be done.
You guys remember the sign.
The lights didn't work on thesign out there for months.
Finally I got sick of it and Iwent out and figured it out.
Didn't even get electrocutedonce.

(24:37):
Didn't even get electrocutedonce, and all it was.
What did I tell you it was that, was it Just a photo cell?
Pulled it out, put a new one inWorks.
Fine, we even had a photo cell,didn't have to buy one.
Yeah, we had a photo cell,Didn't spend any money on it.
That's stuff that, when peoplesee it, I wish somebody would
just say, hey, I noticed thelights aren't working, Do you
mind if I come out and take alook at it Like, hey, I noticed

(25:03):
that that toilet keeps running,Do you mind if I take care of
that?
Or don't even ask just swap thelight bulbs, right, it's not
difficult and so much of it isreally honestly easy to do, but
nobody wants to do it.
Here's my theory.
People want to come on Sundaymorning and they want to
spectate, right, they want toget something out of it.
So they treat church as aninvestment right.

(25:27):
As an investment right Becauseyou pay in in hopes of getting
something out right.
So it's very transactional.
Tithes are no longer justtithes.
Tithes buy you opinion.
Right Now this doesn't happen alot here, but it does happen.

(25:48):
People are like oh well, Idonated, didn't tithe, I donated
, so we should be doing X.
Well, it's not quite as bad asit used to be.
Yes, it used to be way worse,but people, like, they think
like that, and so when they comeinto the sanctuary on Sunday
morning and this has gotten alot better too, but this is
still a bone of contention forme when a lot better too, but

(26:15):
this is still a bone ofcontention for me when I'm
preaching, I don't need you toraise your hand and try to like
preach for me.
It happens, like there are somepeople who, like I feel I know
that you feel like you can addvalue right now, but it's they
have a right to do those things.
Listen, go to any other churchand try to do that stuff.
The problem is is because I amapproachable, because I and
that's how I build myself Like Iwant everybody to feel like

(26:35):
they can have a relationshipwith me.
They feel like they can do that.
I I've threatened nerf guns,dodge balls, like what do I do
to get people to just berespectful during service?
Right, it's hard.
Moreover, how do you get peopleto just show up?
Because, to me that's thebiggest part.
Do you know how hard it is?
And I'll give Beth a hard time.

(26:57):
I texted her last Sunday.
She wasn't here.
I sent her a text.
I said you need to be here.
She said I know.
I said then get here.
That was the text exchange.
She didn't respond to thatbecause she's like I ain't doing
it.

Speaker 4 (27:06):
I was soaking in bed, I was planning my day in bed
all day.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
The hard part for me is to get up on Sunday morning,
come in here at 6.30 in themorning, 7 at the absolute
latest, be in the building, giveeverything I've got between
6.30 and noon, 1 o'clock,depending on the day, to have
council members not show up, tohave volunteers not show up and
people don't like.
Oh, I'm not going to be able tobe there this Sunday.

(27:31):
I'll tell you who is.
Oh, tina Newman usually textsme the day before if she's not
going to be able to be here forsome reason.
Now she comes on Sunday morning, sometimes later than she
should because she's supposed tomake the coffee.
Normally, roger and I are done,and a bad attitude some Sundays
.
But you know what she shows upshe shows up.
Listen, god, family, church, Iget it, I get it.

Speaker 3 (27:56):
But when do I get to see my?

Speaker 1 (27:57):
family.
I get to see my family onSunday morning after church
before they leave and go withtheir grandparents.
That's not fair.
I need people who are going tostep up and actually be in
positions and in roles thatsupport the ministry.
This is what I tell Sis and Danin the sound booth all the time
, in the tech booth my ministrydoes not operate if your

(28:18):
ministry does not operate Ifevery time I ask for a scripture
or a slide, it's not there.
If every time I say, hey, playthis song, and it's not there.
That affects what I'm doing, itaffects that move, because it's
that you're running against thegrain all the time and we've
got to fix that.
But we can't fix that withoutpeople wanting to show up and

(28:40):
actually be part of what thechurch is about.
Listen, I am fully aware ofwhat's going to happen in this
place.
It's going to blow up.
We're going to get to the pointand I don't mean physically, I
don't mean like kaboom, unlessthat hot water tank keeps
shooting through the roof.

Speaker 3 (28:55):
Not very timely right now.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
I think that there's going to come a day and we see
it some Sundays and everybodygets so excited when that
happens.
Right, you walk in there andthere's 80 people in the
sanctuary and everybody's like,oh my gosh, this feels so good.
And then they're not here thenext Sunday and we're like what
would we do to get them back?
Be kind, show up and talk tothem right.
We've got one congregate rightnow has always been incredibly

(29:22):
quiet and incredibly reservedand all of a sudden she's not.
And I'm like I don't know howthis happened, but I'm here for
it because and there's aconstant text messages about
like why do you guys do this andwhy do we do this?
And I don't understand this andI don't understand that.
I will answer those textmessages all day long because if
you are growing, it meanssomething right.
So we've done the right thingfor them.

(29:45):
How do we duplicate that?
Can I tell you that we did theright thing for that person?
Because of who my wife is andhow she pours into people, we
all have to be that way.
It can't be transactional.
We can't come in here, sit inour seats, expect to get
something and walk out havinggiven nothing.
Everything has to be part ofthe DNA of what we do.

(30:07):
Somebody asked me once what ourmission statement is, and we
technically share a missionstatement with Foursquare, so we
don't really get to have ourown mission statement.
But here's what I try to tellpeople I want this church to be
about what we love and not worryabout the things that we hate,

(30:28):
right?
So what I mean by that is whenwe see somebody walk through the
door that we don't necessarilyagree with.
Listen, there are people inthis world that I do not like,
right, I just don't like them.
If they walk through that door,I love them, just the same as
every other person that walksthrough the door.
There are going to be people inour lives that we disagree with
.
There's one person that, like,cannot imagine all of the things

(30:52):
that, like, I'm seeing onsocial media from them right now
, and it's like I'm like, that'snot the person that I know,
right, like, how do you fix that?
What do we?
I can't say anything, becauseif I say something, then it's
like, am I picking a fight?
But I'm worried about them.

Speaker 3 (31:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:05):
Like it's my responsibility to make sure that
those people don't go to hell.
Like it's my responsibility tomake sure that those people
don't go to hell, right, like Ishould be telling them listen,
I'm tired I've been half.
do you know how hard it is tohave to be somebody's pastor and
you, when you and you're notallowed to be their friend?
There are times in life for methat each and every one of you I
consider friends, but if youcome to me with something that

(31:28):
is heavy or weighted, I can't beyour friend.
I have to be your pastor.
It's my responsibility to makesure that you're not doing
something contrary to the wordof God.
That's heavy, that's hard.
I've been dealing with it for amonth, month and a half at this
point, just trying to navigatelife as a pastor and not as a
friend.
But then the problem is is whenthat switch is flipped.

(31:55):
Now I'm everybody's pastor andnobody's friend, not even my
wife's friend.
Seriously, it's hard to do.
So then I have to come here,give everything, leave, and I
still have to close myself off.
Because if I open myself up, ifI open my home, if I allow
people to come in, then I startto want to become friend.
And then you become friend andnow you're in dangerous
territory because you can saysome things and you can't say
other things.

(32:15):
Now that's what Pastor Michaelsaid.
Actually, let me rephrase thatMichael said, and I'm going to
tell you that's probably one ofthe hardest things that I'm
experiencing right now.
And this I've never been thisway, and Roger will tell you
this.
When I first started, whenpeople called me Pastor Michael,
it made me uncomfortable.
Now I'm like wait a second.
When somebody says Michaelinstead of Pastor Michael, I

(32:37):
think there's a level of respectmissing.
Here.
We're on friend level, we'renot on spiritual level, and
that's hard to think about,because there is always a
connection.
It's a small church.
I spend a lot of time with alot of people, but you want me
to give you the truth, you wantme to be honest with you, and

(33:02):
then, when I am, I'm not beingyour friend.
I don't want to be your friend.

Speaker 2 (33:08):
I can't be your friend all the time.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
It's not fun.
It's not fun.
But there's something wrongwith Sunday mornings and the
problem with Sunday morning isit's transactional.
At this point, people thinkthey can come, sit and leave and
they don't have to giveanything back.
So Holly and I were having thisconversation.
We have to learn to sow insteadof invest conversation.

(33:31):
We have to learn to sow insteadof invest.
You reap what you sow.
Right, when you invest, there'spotentially no return.
When you're just paying in,paying in, paying in, paying in
you're just coming in doing yourtime.
Think of it like a prisonsentence, right?
The only difference is is youget to leave at the end of your
two hours on Sunday morning.
But that's what some peoplelike.
To them, they just have to comeand put in their time.
A prison sentence.

(33:54):
Well, it really is, I know.
I know it really is, and somepeople feel that they would
probably feel the same way ifthey had to go to prison every
Sunday morning for two hours.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
Yeah, I mean the church is dead, Like yeah, it
probably actually does feel likeprison for most of them because
they're acting as if it is.

Speaker 1 (34:04):
I feel like I'm obligated to go on Sunday
morning.

Speaker 3 (34:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
Listen, my kids don't miss church on Sundays.
Now, I'm not saying thateverybody.
I saw somebody post like well,my kid plays softball and I
encourage them because then theygo out and show Jesus in the
world.
No, they don't.
They go out and they playsoftball.
No, you're not.
Yes, you may pray before or youmay pray after, but let me tell
you something.
Let me tell you somethingNobody gives a hoot.
And if you're showing them thattheir priorities the priority is

(34:29):
baseball, the priority issoftball, the priority is dance,
the priority is soccer.
Whatever it is, emmett startssoccer this coming Sunday.
They've had one practice.
He starts this coming Sunday.
That game is at one o'clock, sothat means on Sunday after
church I'm going to leave hereand go straight to soccer.
But I'll be darned.
If there's a soccer game atnoon somewhere far away, emmett

(34:50):
doesn't go.

Speaker 4 (34:51):
Yeah, don't you think that was part of the fall of
the church is?

Speaker 1 (34:56):
when Do you want the truth?

Speaker 4 (34:57):
Like my parents' generation, you better have got
gas.

Speaker 1 (35:01):
Yeah, because everything was closed.
Everything was closed.
No, you want me to tell youthis is not going to feel good,
this is going to be a little bitouchy.
Okay, the fall of the churchwas being acceptance of being
accepting Is that the word.
I don't know Accepting beingaccepting of divorce.
Oh yeah, it's the truth,because the minute that we
allowed the word to be pervertedby the world, you might as well

(35:23):
give it up Right Now.
I'm not saying that if somebodygets divorced, they shouldn't
be allowed to be in the church,right, but what I'm saying is is
now it's easy to do, and so, asso long as it's easy, great,
okay.
Well, if the church is okaywith divorce now, the church is
okay with the store being open,the church is now okay with
their secular thing.

Speaker 2 (35:41):
Correct, correct.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
Now.
I have goes back to what you'resaying.
Even divorce is transactional.
Yes, yeah, everything.
That's the problem.
The church, when you walkthrough the door, there should
be a shift in atmosphere for youthat you go.
You know what?
I'm not here for flesh anymore,I'm not here for my body.
We had a young girl come inlast Sunday.
She's been here plenty of times,her, and her husband had a

(36:04):
tumultuous separation and Kathycomes up and says to me she
needs prayer, she's sick.
I already knew that she wassick, but we hadn't seen her
since then.
We've talked a couple of times.
We ended up praying for thisgirl, stiff as a board, stuck to
the floor, like this wholeexperience.
She didn't come for flesh, shedidn't come for transaction, she
came for transformation.
Right, listen?

(36:26):
Some of us have been in thechurch our entire lives.
Some of us has been in thechurch since we were teenagers.
Some of us have been saved fora long time and we treat church
like a transaction.
This girl comes, having notbeen here for probably better
part of a year at this point,and she comes looking for
something because she knows shecan find it, not just here, but

(36:48):
in the church.
For something because she knowsshe can find it not just here,
but in the church.
We have come to the churchbecause we're obligated to be in
the church.
This is another thing, andPastor Roger, pastor Holly, they
both can attest to this.
I don't hold on one second.

(37:09):
Alyssa is very I shouldn't sayshe's very sick.
I don't want to panic anybody,but she's not feeling well and
so I'm worried about her.
But she just texted me and saidshe's starting to feel a little
bit better that's good what wasI saying before?
that I was on a rampage.
I know that oh.
Pastor Roger, pastor Holly willboth tell you this Listen, you

(37:31):
want to be on council, you wantto be a pastor, you want to get
a license?
You better be tied into thisbuilding, because I can't trust
that you're going to make goodfinancial decisions from a
council member.
If you can't make goodfinancial decisions in your own
personal life, right, okay, sothen we go to.

(37:52):
If you want to be a pastor, ifyou're being paid from this
house, you should be paying intothis house right.
It's crazy to me that again thechurch has become so
transactional that that moneyonly counts when I need
something or I want to haveopinion Right Two weeks ago.
Was it two weeks ago?

Speaker 2 (38:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (38:14):
Two weeks ago we had a $7,000 offering.
Two weeks ago we had a $7,000.
You know what our normaloffering is in this building
$2,000, $2,200.
That's a good week to be in the$2,000s.
It was one family.
They gave $5,500.
500 was designated for Cupboardof Hope, 500 was, they told me,

(38:37):
do whatever I wanted with it.
So I designated it to thebuilding fund, $5,500.
And when I sent them a thankyou text they said hey, you know
, it's our pleasure.
God wanted us to do that.
They weren't looking for favor,they weren't looking to buy
opinion, they weren't looking tohave permission to get away
with whatever they want.
They were doing it because itwas what they were led to do,

(38:57):
right.
And so it's hard for me toprocess how I don't have $5,500
laying around to just give away.
I don't know about anybody else, but I don't typically keep
that in cash in the mattress,right?
So my point is is that theyfelt led, they did with no
strings attached, they didn'twant anything for that.
So many of us come and we thinkthat by paying that 10% or by

(39:21):
giving a little bit here, givinga little bit there, we have a
voice, not even a voice in thechurch, but that God owes us
something because, well, I'mdoing this and it's like it's
the world and the flesh thatmakes you think that way yes

Speaker 3 (39:35):
anything that has anything to do with your
spiritual life.
You can't look at it in thelens of, of the rest of the, or
even of how the rest of theworld looks at everything like
you can't.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
Right, it can't be viewed as reciprocal.
Right so one of the things thatI've experienced with tithing.
So I have a tithing message allup here in my head but I need
counsel to give me basically$1,000 to let me do that message
, which sounds crazy, but I'mgoing to give it away.
My point is, during thatmessage, I'm going to give away

(40:07):
the whole thousand dollarsthat's like, because it's going
to be eyeopening when you seecash exchange hands.
Whoa, wait a second, that's abig deal.
The problem is is we havebecome focused on if I give, god
is going to multiply.
God is going to multiply thatgift in cash.
Not always.

(40:29):
Sometimes that's good health,sometimes that's healthy
relationships, sometimes that'sa spiritual awakening.
There's all of these thingsthat can come from that.
But we get so hyper-focused onit being monetary because that's
the exchange right, almost likethere's an exchange rate with
God.
Do you know what I mean?
If I pay in a hundred dollarsin US currency, he pays me back

(40:59):
$110 in spiritual currency.
It's not how.
That's not how it works.
That blessing is going to comein a typically unexpected way.
All right, I've talked a lot.
Anybody else have any strongopinions?
You want me to keep going?
I keep going, I keep going, Ikeep going.

(41:20):
Here's the other thing that Ireally struggle with.
As a pastoral family, we do alot of things for you guys, just
for whomever.
And you know, beth, we boughtyou a pot roast one time, not
because she needed it, notbecause she was like, oh I can't
afford a pot roast.
She wanted one.
She said she was never gonnapay that price for one Easton.
And I stopped, bought her oneand dropped it off on her front

(41:42):
porch.
We do that stuff for people allthe time.
My family typically provides aThanksgiving box for family and
we let them tell us what theywant.
Like do you want a turkey or aham?
Do you want mashed potatoes?
Like, do you prefer a certaintype?
Like you tell us what you want.
Do you want real potatoes?
We've always done that, and wedo that because we believe that
that's what we're supposed to doas not just a pastoral family

(42:03):
representing the church, but asdisciples of Christ who should
honestly always be active in thecommunity in doing those things
.
What I struggle with is thatwhen we come together as a
church, we always feel likethere has to be a specific
mission, a specific goal at theend of the mission.
Right, so the big one right nowfor me is what I'm doing in the

(42:28):
gym.
We're spending a lot of moneyto make that happen and people
can't wrap their head around it.
As a matter of fact, we had oneperson in the church praying
against it.

Speaker 4 (42:36):
It wasn't me Beth's like.
Why did you look at me?

Speaker 1 (42:39):
No, we had one person in the church who, knowingly,
was not in support of it and waspraying against it.
Now, if you have a problem withthe vision, come chat with me,
right?
If you're praying against thevision of the building, the
vision of the ministry of yourpastor, you're sowing discord,

(43:01):
you're sowing chaos, honestlyill will.
Because once I found out, youbetter believe I was after him,
right, and so they heard thevision.
Not long ago, we were standingin the gym and they were able to
hear the vision and they wentoh wow, that's really exciting.
Where were you at?

(43:22):
Like this is, I have told.
I have spoken this vision sinceI've gotten it Like this is and
it hasn't really altered otherthan maybe some minor details.
The vision has always been thesame.
So the question is is why wereyou ever confused by what it was
?
You were confused because youdidn't actually listen and you
weren't engaged when it wasbeing talked about Announcements

(43:44):
on Sunday morning.
People talk to theannouncements every Sunday and I
tell Holly every week, why dowe even do this?
Because after church, peopletext us.
What day did you say that was?
Why don't you write it down?
Take a picture of the slidethat's up on the screen right
like I don't.
We've got a calendar.

(44:05):
Take one of the what?
Why are you texting me rightnow?
And I still I always like, okay, I just have to answer them.
I just have to give them whatthey want, because I want them
to be available, I want them tobe here.
The problem is is I'll use men'snight.
How many guys do we have?
Five, six, one, two, one, two,three, four, five.

(44:27):
There were six of us, six of usthere.
Okay, we probably had fourother guys who were like, oh,
we're on the fence, we might beable to be there, we might not
be able to be there.
I knew it was only going to bethe six of us.
I set for seven, set for eight,eight, set for eight, just
because that was the size of thetable, but I knew we weren't

(44:49):
going to have eight people there.
I knew it was the same six guyswho volunteer for all of the
other stuff.
I'm not trying to beat anybody,cause you know I get it.
I want to be with my family onFriday stuff.
I'm not trying to beat anybodybecause you know I get it.
I want to be with my family onFriday night.
I want to go see a movie.
Whatever I get it, the problemis is men are not engaged with
one another in this buildinglike we should be.

(45:10):
It's true.

Speaker 3 (45:11):
And I think once we do have that connection, I
really think that's when it.

Speaker 1 (45:16):
I agree with you and which is is.
It's why it's my driving forceto get people, get the men and I
say people because tanya can'tjust, she just can't just be a
woman.
She got to do both.
I sent a text to all of theguys.
I said, hey, I'll take any helpI can get on monday night to
come in and help.
We need to set up chairs.
We've got some stuff we need todo.
Tanya showed up with mike.
I'm like I sent that to justthe men.

(45:40):
She's like well, I know, but Ijust and I'm like I'm, I was
just giving her a hard time.
I'm like obviously we'll usewhatever help we can get.
But again, the point was try toengage as many men as we can to
come together, just spend timein the building together.
So here's what I said.
I people keep asking me whattime are you going to be here on
Friday morning?
And here's what I keep saying.

Speaker 3 (45:56):
Saturday morning.

Speaker 1 (45:57):
Or Saturday morning.
I keep saying I'm going to behere at 9 am.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
Huh, that's what time I told my wife.
I says what time are you goingto church?
I said probably around nine.

Speaker 1 (46:06):
So he gets it.
He also sees how I work, so Isaid I'm going to be here.
Do that before I start gettingmy hands dirty.
I've said that to at leastthree or four other men.
I would love to see how many ofthose other guys show up at
nine o'clock just to be part ofthat.
The answer Well, one.

(46:27):
There will be one, not Roger.
Me and Roger will be here.
We are kind of counted as oneanymore at this point, that's
true, because you can usuallycount that if Roger is there,
I'm there, or if I'm there,roger is there, there will be
one other guy.
There will be one other guy Iknow who it is.

Speaker 3 (46:41):
I know and I was going to say I bet you could
guess who it is yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:51):
But there's a level of engagement now that with that
person that you can't like, youalmost have to like get a
cattle prod to get him to notcome because he's so badly wants
to be engaged.
I'm excited about that becausethat equals growth in my mind,
not not physical growth, butspiritual growth.
And when somebody can say, hey,I need this time together, and
some people are like well, Ineed to spend time with pastor
Michael, I want to be able tohave understand how his brain

(47:12):
works, I want to be able to havehim pour into me.

Speaker 3 (47:18):
That's great, not me.

Speaker 1 (47:19):
Roger says well, there's another project, that's
the best time to do that.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (47:26):
Because if you think you're going to get me
one-on-one, it's never going tohappen.
I mean it can, it will happen,but it's rare.
It's few and far between, andusually it's when there's a
crisis and I have to give upsomething else in order to make
that time available a crisis andI have to give up something
else in order to make that timeavailable.
I understand some of us work.
I understand some of us have,you know, odd schedules.
We don't keep normal workschedules, but the majority of

(47:47):
the men in this church keepnormal work schedules.
I can look around the room andpretty much I can't tell you
what exactly everybody works,but what they do.
Most of us aren't workingSaturday morning.
Most of us aren't working lateFriday evening.
There's opportunity to betogether.
There's not desire, and you'reright when that changes, when

(48:13):
the men say and for far too long, for far too long, the church
has been led spiritually bywomen, they're the ones that
pray.
Listen, there's probably not aman on your prayer chain.
Think through the list.

Speaker 2 (48:29):
Is there a man on that list?

Speaker 1 (48:31):
There used to be.
Who was it?
Roger T.

Speaker 4 (48:36):
I don't know if he was on the prayer chain.

Speaker 1 (48:37):
He was Typically you had to call him, though don't
know if he was on the prayerchain or not.
He was.
He was Typically you had tocall him, though, but yes, he
was Five years.
That's how it's been.

Speaker 2 (48:46):
Five years.

Speaker 1 (48:49):
Because there's something about being emotional
that we don't like to do.
Listen, I admit it, I don'tlike it at all.
I hate it as a matter of fact.
But the problem is is therecomes a point when somebody said
to me once they, they they'restruggling with their faith
because they feel silly whenthey're doing certain things,

(49:10):
like if you go to the altar foran altar call or you know cause,
you feel like people arelooking at you.
You feel silly.
And I think to myself, and Ithink specifically about Ed.
You know, when Ed delivers amessage in tongues, there is
nothing like.
Every one of us that aresitting here that have
experienced that it's like-.

Speaker 3 (49:28):
I feel like the whole town just stops yeah everything
gets quiet, nothing moves.

Speaker 1 (49:33):
That's being incredibly vulnerable to a move
of the spirit.
But the rest of us stand therewith our arms crossed.
We don't want to, we don't wantto engage, we don't want to, we
don't want to partake.
You know, it's the best day forme on Sunday mornings when I
see at least two men go to thealtar.
Now I can count on two menalmost every Sunday.

Speaker 2 (49:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
Marcus and Mike.
Those two, they aren't afraidof it.
Right, they're willing toengage in that.
But everybody else?
Well, I'll just sit in my seat.
We have to learn to lead ourfamilies.
We have to learn to lead ourchurch, our congregation, our
friends, all of those people.
We have to be willing to leadthem to Jesus.

(50:17):
Many of them won't find it ontheir own.
We had a guest last Sunday, ayoung lady.
She came, she sat by herselfover on the far side of the
building and somebody sent me ascreenshot of a Facebook post
that she made, just glowingabout how wonderful we were and
how kind everybody treated herand how wonderful the message
was and all of those things.
And I think, if she doesn'tcome back this Sunday, we really

(50:41):
need to reevaluate what it isthat we're doing and why we're
doing it Right.
Because there's a problem, right, if that person was so engaged
when they walked out of here.
My question is this who hasreached out to her since Sunday?
Anybody want to?
I?

Speaker 4 (50:56):
mean, is it somebody that people know?

Speaker 1 (51:01):
You're not talking into your microphone so nobody
heard that.

Speaker 4 (51:02):
Okay, I said, is she somebody that?

Speaker 1 (51:04):
people yes no, okay, but here's the thing, even if
you don't know her, did anybodygo up and say hey, here's a
welcome card.
Fill this out for us so we canreach out to you?

Speaker 2 (51:15):
well, no, I'm sorry, where I don't even know where
the welcome welcome cards are,right out on the marker board.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
Right out on the marker board.
It's a little square card andit's just basically personal
information name, address,telephone number, backsides,
prayer requests it's the ones weuse in the box.

Speaker 4 (51:29):
It's the ones we use in the food pantry.
Oh okay.

Speaker 1 (51:40):
So, no, not it out.
Not everybody's going to fillit out, but if we don't at least
try, what have we done to beable to pour into that person?
Through the week, because it'snow Wednesday and I know that at
least one person has reachedout to her.
But there's a guy that sneaksinto church probably two Sundays
a month, maybe three.
It's a husband and wife and asmall group of children.
They always sneak in duringannouncements or right after

(52:03):
announcements.
They sit towards the back.
I don't even know their names.

Speaker 4 (52:06):
On this far side Yep.

Speaker 1 (52:08):
I don't even know their names.

Speaker 3 (52:09):
Which far side?

Speaker 1 (52:10):
Like over.

Speaker 3 (52:13):
I know the lady.

Speaker 1 (52:15):
I know the faces.
When she was smaller she usedto come to this church.
But my point is who's reachingout to them through the week to
just say, hey, you're loved.

Speaker 3 (52:26):
If you need anything.
If it's someone, is she kind ofwhere I typically I don't know.
Yeah, okay, she actually wouldtext me on facebook and yeah, so
but that's she started coming Idon't think it's the same
person.

Speaker 1 (52:46):
No, I don't think it's the same person.
How many?

Speaker 3 (52:47):
kids three.

Speaker 2 (52:49):
I don't, oh, never mind, okay, I don't think it's
the same person because theydon't sit on the same side as
you do.

Speaker 1 (52:54):
Usually they sit in the back, where harry and alona
sit oh okay, I don't know, thenlike clear back like against the
sound booth, against the veryback wall right next to the
sound booth.
Harry and alona usually sitthere and tracy usually sits
there.
That's their go-to seat.
If it's not available, if harryand alona are already here,
they'll they go to move.

(53:14):
Go to to the far side.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (53:17):
Gotcha.

Speaker 2 (53:20):
Yeah, so it's not the same people that I was family
that I was thinking of.

Speaker 1 (53:23):
So I usually catch them in the hallway, because I'm
usually coming out to go to thebathroom before announcements
or something like that, and Iusually but I always say good
morning.
But they're just getting in,they're wrangling their kids you
know, they've got two of themby the leg and they're trying to
get everybody in the sanctuary.
And so I try.
This is a true fact and I don'tcare who wants to argue.

(53:45):
Once the headset goes on theears and the microphone is on,
it is really hard to talk topeople without intimidating them
, because that once the pastorbecomes like, it's that, oh geez
, I don't want to, I don't wantto embarrass myself or I don't
want to.
So it's like hey, good morning,and then they run.
I don't want to embarrassmyself or I don't want to.
So it's like hey, good morning,and then they run.
Like I need, on Sunday morning,solid people who can greet and

(54:06):
be in agreement with peoplewhenever they're like hey, you
know, we're here because life isreally hard on us.
Right now.
Those people could be coming inbecause they don't have any
groceries and we haven't toldthem about the cupboard of hope.
Right, they could be coming in,going man, we don't know where
we're going to get our next mealand we've got food to feed them
, but we don't feed them.
Did you just hear a loud noise?

Speaker 4 (54:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (54:22):
Chances are.
One of my sound panels justfell off the wall in the gym.
It echoes all the way down,sounds like a gunfire, and
they're a little cardboard.
They're just like a littleflimsy, but it's really loud.
Do you see my point?
Sunday morning has become.
I feel like we're wranglingcats.

Speaker 3 (54:40):
Well, I am in the morning, cooper, he's basically
a cat.

Speaker 1 (54:46):
Everything is going its own separate way, and so,
you know, we instituted thecoffee station.
Don has so graciously offeredto help me with that.
But Don and I are now makingcoffee every Sunday morning, and
we're doing that from 9 to 9.45.
We would desperately love to goto prayer on Sunday mornings,
but guess what?
We don't get to do.
We don't get to go to prayerbecause we're still cleaning up
coffee.
That doesn't seem fair.

(55:08):
We're two of the few people whoactually want to show up in the
prayer room, so we shouldn'thave to fight for that.
We need people to volunteerinside of that ministry.
We need people who are willingto learn and willing to try.
You just can't get it.
It's, and I whoa that was a,that was a noise.
We try desperately to getpeople to engage and sometimes

(55:29):
you're good for a week, twoweeks, maybe a month, maybe
three months, but eventually andI get this from a volunteer
standpoint sometimes I justdon't feel appreciated Right,
but understand that if justbecause just don't feel
appreciated, right, butunderstand that if just because
somebody doesn't say it.
That's right, Like goodnessgracious.

Speaker 4 (55:44):
You're not doing it for that.
Well, some people are For theLord, some people are.

Speaker 1 (55:49):
Some people need that .
And again Not that's whythey're doing it.
They need that in order to feelfulfilled, so that they have
the energy to keep doing it.
Yeah, so I.
I do get that.
You know it work.
I bust my butt all the time.
I have never had any.
I shouldn't say I've never hadanybody like typically, when I
my owners tell me once a quarter, hey, we appreciate you, and
that's whenever they give me mybonus.
In the email that tells me howmuch my bonus is, it's like this

(56:13):
is the.
Easiest check to write everyquarter because of all of your
hard work.
Thank you so much foreverything that you do.
It's usually an email like thatGreat, but sometimes we need
that.
Some people require it moreoften than others.
I also can't be the guy that'salways doing that.
You know how, dawn, when wemake coffee on Sunday mornings,
there are some people like, oh,thank you so much, we appreciate

(56:35):
this.
Right, right, it makes it worthit.
Like, just because you gave us10 bucks for three dollar coffee
, I mean that helps.
But it does help when peopleare kind and genuine and like,
yes, really understand and yeah,it's just, it's unfortunate we
don't have more of it.
All right, I'm off my highhorse now you fall off, yeah

(57:02):
yeah, I really do just hope Iwill say this.

Speaker 3 (57:11):
My one store manager used to always say you know,
take initiative, do it now andask for forgiveness later, you
know yeah, don't come in hereand try to burn the building
down, right?

Speaker 1 (57:24):
do you know what I mean?
But if you see something likethis is one and I blame roger
for this, by the way, this isroger's fault and it really is,
but he doesn't know.
It's his fault.
Yes, he does so.
If you ever go in and out of ourbuilding, you notice how the
lights on the wall are never onuntil nighttime.
We put dusk to dawn bulbs inthere with a permanent light
switch that's always flipped on.
Okay, so at dusk those bulbscome on, at dawn they go off,

(57:48):
all right.
We also did that with thelights that are in the ceiling
of the the of the walkway.
So a couple of them burn outand I said, roger, hey, can you
put new desk to dawn bulbs inthere?
Well, roger, just put regularbulbs in there, so they're on
all the time, but they're LEDs.
Doesn't matter, and it's notabout the electric usage, it's
more about the fact that onlytwo of the bulbs are on all day

(58:09):
long.
That needs to be fixed, andevery time I walk in I'm like
man, I really need to get tothat.
There's bigger fish to fry,right?
There's other projects that arehappening, so that just it has
to wait.

Speaker 2 (58:19):
It's only got one.
Screw in it too.

Speaker 1 (58:21):
Yeah, because Roger dropped that one on the ground.
We can't find the other nut tohold that bad boy on.
I came in one day and he's downthere on the ground with a
flashlight looking for this nut.
He said, roger, he actuallylost both of them.
We found one, fortunately.
Well, that's going to be fixedhere in a few weeks, he'll be
able to find things.

(58:42):
Well, I couldn't find it.
It probably rolled off theconcrete into the grass, it was
game over.

Speaker 4 (58:43):
At that point I mean his visions, I hope.

Speaker 1 (58:49):
One time we were putting in his door stops he
didn't even have the the screwtip in the screw.
I was like Roger, so now I'mhaving to Guide the drill into
the screw tip in the screw.
I was like Roger, so now I'mhaving to guide the drill into
the screw so he can put thescrew in, because he couldn't
see anything.

Speaker 4 (59:05):
We have a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (59:06):
We do have a lot of fun that one door it's ripped
right out of the door.
It won't yeah, and we've put.
Because there's nothing behindit.
We put drywall anchors in, itjust won't hold, so we have to
find a new solution.
But that's the stuff that I'mtalking about.
When somebody sees that andgoes, you know what I could fix
that?

Speaker 4 (59:20):
Fix it.
I ain't going to fix it, fix it.

Speaker 1 (59:25):
Instead they walk by and they're like, oh, somebody
broke that, oh, somebody peed onthe floor, leave it.
Seriously, it's insane, thestuff that you will see.
It's crazy, and I know thatnobody has noticed that hot
water tank leaking other than me, but if anybody noticed it past
Roger, it would probably justcontinue to leak.
Nobody would.
I should probably say something.

Speaker 3 (59:45):
And I mean, if their concern is like, well, I have to
be there a time, michael orRoger will be there, no, you
don't.
You can literally get in withthe code.
Michael can change the code,yep.

Speaker 1 (59:55):
Right, I can leave.
Not even that.
I can give you a code that willlast you forever If you need to
get into the building forwhatever reason.
And then the reason that we didthat is we were issuing keys to
people.
When I first took over thechurch, everybody in Tuscarawas
County had a key to thisbuilding.
Everybody did.
Now there are four keys incirculation.
You have one.

Speaker 4 (01:00:15):
Mine's number four.

Speaker 1 (01:00:17):
You have one, holly has one.
I keep one in my bag and thenthere's one inside of the
lockbox.
Okay, the one inside of thelockbox is all, it's always
there.
I can put in codes into thatlockbox to allow people to get
in and then if, for whateverreason, you stop attending or
whatever I just changed, I justremove your code from the
lockbox.
Now I don't have you having akey and me having to chase you

(01:00:39):
down to get said key back,because chances are you've left,
because you're mad at me andyou aren't giving the key back
anyway.
So I mean, yeah, but there'salways a way into the building.
And if I won't give door codesto all of the doors, but if I
know you need in, I'll make surethat there's a code programmed

(01:01:00):
for you.
There's so much that we coulddo if we would, if truly we
would, band together and saywhat can I take on what, what
can I help do?
And there's things that can bedone weekly, like every week.
I'm pretty sure there's a poopydiaper in the nursery trash,
can?
I'm about 40% certain of that.
And the reason I say that is Icame in Monday night and I was
like something stinks in here.
I went in there today to swapout the light switch in the

(01:01:23):
bathroom and I was likesomething stinks in here.
Chances are, and if we don't doanything until the church gets
cleaned on Saturday, that smellis going to be hard to get out
of here.

Speaker 4 (01:01:34):
Yeah, I keep smelling something in that room that you
moved the cupboard of hope toWell there's probably a dead
animal in the ceiling.

Speaker 2 (01:01:41):
There's something in there.
I don't smell anything in there, I've never smelled anything in
there either.

Speaker 4 (01:01:46):
I'm like tearing that refrigerator apart.
I was even smelling boxes theother day.

Speaker 1 (01:01:49):
I will tell you that refrigerator smelled like
cigarette smoke Initially.

Speaker 4 (01:01:54):
I thought when I first went in you know how the
older refrigerators have thatdrip.

Speaker 1 (01:01:57):
Yeah, the drip tray.
I don't think that one does itdoesn't.

Speaker 4 (01:01:59):
Yeah, that one's I looked, I was tracing it down to
that.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
Yeah, I don't think so, but it did smell and when
the compressor would kick on youcould smell it.
Like I definitely smelled thatwhen we first plugged it in.
But there are things that canbe done every week.
You don't have to ask, youdon't have to, you don't even
need in the building, yeah, youjust stop by and take care of it

(01:02:22):
.
If you're really bored and wantsomething to do and have
nothing to do, you can rake allof the gravel back into the
parking lot.
Now, I know that seems extreme,but seriously.

Speaker 3 (01:02:30):
By Saturday, please by.

Speaker 1 (01:02:31):
Saturday, please, is that we use the excuse well, I
don't know what to do.
There's always something to do.
You can walk up to the front ofthe building and see that there
is something to do.
This isn't new.
There's nothing that's like ohwell, I don't know how.
Trust me, there's somethinghere you can do.
You can clean toilets, vacuumcarpets.

(01:02:53):
This is a big building With agood vacuum.
Good vacuum Tyler.
This is a big building with agood vacuum.
Good vacuum Tyler likes to usethe junky vacuum.
I say that it's not really ajunky vacuum.
He bought a stick vac and it'sit's okay, but it doesn't get
deep enough.
And so I had bought acommercial that we'd bought a

(01:03:13):
commercial vacuum a few yearsago and it's actually
self-propelled.
When you turn it on, thatbeater brush moves so fast.
It'll pull the sweeper in frontof you, but it's heavy and it's
bulky, so people don't like touse it.
But it's the only one that I'lluse.
Only one I'll use.
That's the same sweeper that wehad at the hotel.
It's the same sweeper we used inthe hotel.
That's why I bought it.
You can replace every part onit.

(01:03:34):
It can't clog Every spot.
You it can't clog every spot.
You can like open it up andpull out any clogs that get in
there, so you never have toworry about it.

Speaker 4 (01:03:39):
But sweepers is something that's worth spending.

Speaker 1 (01:03:42):
Yeah, buddy it was um it was, it was donated.
I asked I wanted to buy one andum during council, somebody
donated the money to buy it, butit was $800, $800 sweeper, so I
think there's just.
We have to think about all ofthe things, not just the things

(01:04:04):
that we like to do.
I've had that conversation withlots of people.
I don't like to make coffeeevery sunday morning, don, I'm
sure there are better things foryou to do on sunday morning
than make coffee.
But we do it because we like toserve and we want to find a way
to serve when people are inneed, not just when we feel like
, oh, I only want to serve whenI are in need, not just when we
feel like, oh, I only want toserve when, I want to serve.

Speaker 3 (01:04:22):
Or I only want to serve in my ministry, or the
ministry I think I'm called to.
And that could change.

Speaker 1 (01:04:28):
That's a big one too.
There are some people who say,oh well, I know that I'm
supposed to.
I don't know.
They don't know either.
Most of the time they thinkthey do.
Oh, I'm supposed to do worship.
I know that I am called toworship and because we don't
have live worship, I just won'tserve at all until we have live

(01:04:48):
worship.
Wrong-o, if I can't trust youwith little, I can't trust you
with much, and I'm going to tellyou, being on that platform

(01:05:10):
with a microphone in your face,that's much.
And if I can't trust you withlittle, the inheritance with all
of his servants, you know.
The first one served and servedwell.
The second one served andserved well.
The third one served, but hisheart wasn't in the right place.
He buries the gold, comes backwith the exact same gold.
He wasn't really in it foranything more than just survival

(01:05:31):
.
So when you serve, you have toserve with your heart in the
right place and I get.
being here on Sunday morningearly is hard.
There are harder things in life, way harder things in life than
being here a little early on aSunday morning.
But you can't change people'sminds.

Speaker 4 (01:05:48):
I have every intention of being here early
Then, oh, I'm going to throw aload of laundry in.
I'm going to do up these dishesreal quick.

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
You know what's funny to me?

Speaker 3 (01:05:57):
I haven't done my hair.
Yet Are you sure you don't haveADHD?

Speaker 1 (01:05:59):
She probably does, because here's what I was going
to say.
Here's what I was going to say,if you are anything like me and
with your ADHD.
So, if I have today, I wasgoing to Boardman to pick up a
minivan for work.
Okay, so I'm doing thebackwards math.
Right, I have to be inEuricsville no later than 530.
It's a two hour drive fromBoardman to Berlin and then 40

(01:06:24):
minutes plus to get my car andcome back here.
So I need three hours backwardsfrom 530.
Right, ok, so that puts me at X.
And then I have to have time tocharge my car because I was
driving the Tesla, so I wasgoing to have time to charge my
car because I was driving theTesla, so I was going to have to
have time to charge the Teslaon that drive.
So now I need to leave a halfhour earlier than that and I do
this all the way back until myday starts, okay, so in order to

(01:06:46):
make this happen in time, Ihave to be at work by 630 in the
morning, right, like, doesanybody else do that?
And your whole day is gonebecause you have one appointment
at the end of the day.

Speaker 3 (01:06:56):
Oh, that's me.
Yeah, I'm like well, I have anappointment at three, so I can't
do anything before.

Speaker 1 (01:07:00):
Right, because if I do something before, start a
load of laundry.
Next thing I know I've done 12loads of laundry and I have not
gotten ready to get to thatappointment.

Speaker 3 (01:07:09):
No, no, no.
I don't do 12 loads of laundry.

Speaker 1 (01:07:10):
I see that the dog food needs picked up or
something, and then I getsidetracked you start one load,
you don't even fully start thewasher, you forget to close the
lid and now you're doing dishes.
But then you stop doing dishesto clean the window, and then
you stop cleaning that windowbecause, oh you realize,
cooper's left a toy on the flooror throw a toy in the toilet
and the toilet overflows.

(01:07:32):
I get it.
It's real life, I get it, I getit.

Speaker 4 (01:07:40):
I clean like that.
I tear up multiple rooms.
I do too, Harvey.
I'll come home and he'll say Ithought you were cleaning.

Speaker 1 (01:07:43):
I said I am I am he's like.

Speaker 4 (01:07:44):
and what do you?
Got finished, he said because Ican't even see the bed for all
the clothes you got thrown onthere.
I said I'll get it.

Speaker 1 (01:07:49):
It's so funny.
At home I really have to focusthat energy.
I went up and down the basementsteps this is not a joke Six
times for one project the otherday because I couldn't focus.
I couldn't get my brain to justhone in on the project.
So finally I just said you knowwhat?
I'm just not going to do itright now.
I'm going to find somethingbetter to do with my time,
because it's not productive.

(01:08:09):
I do the same thing here.
It is not productive for me toshow up here if I don't have a
mission, because I just come inand I just start doing whatever
I can get my hands on and guesswhat?
And then everything's tore up,Everything's tore up.

Speaker 4 (01:08:24):
And then we find the gym in complete disarray a week
before the Easter egg hunt.
Well, when the water line in mybathroom to the bathtub broke
and we had to read, jarvi had toredo that not once but twice,
because he broke it after he didit the first time and all my
makeup and all my hair stuff wasout in the dining room.
I needed an extra 45 minutes toget ready for work because
everything was where it wassupposed to be and, if anybody

(01:08:46):
knows me, I'm always a half hourlate for work before I even did
Davis Before.

Speaker 1 (01:08:50):
I roll out of bed.
Okay, are we good?
Everybody feel good.
I mean, that was a prettyintense.
Well, you needed it.

Speaker 4 (01:09:02):
You needed to do that well, I will say, on the gym
thing, I was one that was likewhat in the world does he?

Speaker 1 (01:09:11):
until you saw the black paint go up on the stage
you get it.

Speaker 4 (01:09:16):
I'm one.

Speaker 1 (01:09:17):
I can't see a finished project I have to see
it finished.

Speaker 4 (01:09:19):
Project I get it I have to see it as it progresses.

Speaker 1 (01:09:23):
You probably shouldn't admit this out loud.
So think about your answerbefore you say it.
But would you have activelyprayed against the project?

Speaker 4 (01:09:30):
No.

Speaker 1 (01:09:31):
Because that's the problem, like I get, not
everybody sees things the waythat I do, and even when I'm
looking at it, I'm like, okay, Ilike this, but I feel like I
need to pivot and change it, andthat happens regularly.
But when I'm seeing the vision,I'm seeing completed project
and I'm not seeing the smalldetails.
So like those final touchescome in time, eventually, right

(01:09:53):
In time.
But you also have to understandthat it's not, it doesn't
happen overnight.
Like a kitchen remodel Exactly,and you know what.
You pick the color of thecabinets and then you hope that
everything comes together afteryou pick the color of the
cabinets.
Sometimes you pick the color ofthe cabinets and then the
countertop doesn't match, or youpick the color of the
countertop and then thebacksplash doesn't match.
There has to be room for change, and so I keep a very open mind

(01:10:17):
when I walk into those projects.
Change and so, like I keep avery open mind when I walk into
those projects, but to activelyspeak against or pray against
the project is just to me it'sbaffling because it tells me
that you're not in the rightplace, and whether that's
physically in the right place,this isn't the place for you to
be, but this isn't the place foryou to worship, or you're not
in the right headspace.
You're not in the rightemotional or spiritual place.

(01:10:38):
Those are big and hardconversations to have with
people.

Speaker 3 (01:10:43):
You need a heart check.

Speaker 1 (01:10:44):
Yep, and there's some people that are just bulldogs.
They just are always like itdoesn't matter, it's not good
enough.
He said you want to seesomething really cool?
Watch, I get it right on thefirst one.

Speaker 3 (01:10:56):
You got to label it for me.
Why?
Because I have a mom brain nowit's the first one.
It's the first one why do Ialways think it's B.

Speaker 1 (01:11:04):
She always asks me and I say, oh, it's the first
one.
Now, we all know it's the firstone.
Now, we'll see who remembers itnext time.
Let's pray together.
Father, I thank you and I praiseyou for our time together this
evening.
Lord, I pray that you justcontinue to lead us, guide us
and direct us.
Lord, every week that we cometogether, I'm thankful for the

(01:11:27):
podcast and the people who sitaround this table, but, lord,
I'm always thankful for yourwisdom and your word.
Lord, I pray that, as we movefrom this place today, that you
give us guidance and direction.
Lord, that you just continue tospeak into our lives and allow
us to understand the importanceof being in service for you,
lord, but being in fellowshipwith one another.
Lord, there's nothing like beingtogether on a Sunday morning or

(01:11:48):
just being together on aWednesday night.
I pray, lord, that you justkeep giving people the burning
desire to be in your presenceand in your house.
Lord, I thank you for all ofthe people who give so
wonderfully to this ministry.
Lord, I pray that you continueto bless them, bless their
hearts, bless their minds, blesstheir finances.
Father, god, just allow them tocontinue to just receive all
that it is that you have forthem.

(01:12:08):
Lord, I thank you, I praise you.
I give you honor and glory inthe mighty name of your son,
jesus Christ, amen, amen.

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