September 30, 2025 • 26 mins
What if your home life felt lighter, your marriage steadier, and your faith more alive—not by doing more, but by aligning your time with God’s? Stephen Crews joins us to trace a humble, hopeful path from the family dinner table to covenant alignment, sharing how Sabbath and the biblical feasts became the backbone of his spiritual growth, marriage, and parenting. His story moves from a loving childhood and long hours on the basketball court to an unexpected conversion and a marriage defined by extreme ownership, patient leadership, and simple, steady practices that invite the presence of God.
We dig into why attention shapes identity—beholding and becoming—and how small decisions compound into a life of peace. Stephen explains how honoring the Lord’s calendar isn’t about legalism; it’s about relationship and rhythm. He describes eight years of observing the feasts and the surprising ways God has met him, including a last-hour answer at Passover that still anchors his confidence. We talk about leading at home by example, learning prayer from a spouse, and why a weekly Sabbath can quiet the noise, strengthen unity, and make room for genuine rest. If the times feel darker, this conversation offers a bright, practical map: realignment over hustle, presence over performance, and a household faith that actually works.
If this resonates, share it with a friend who’s craving a saner pace, subscribe for more conversations like this, and leave a review to help others find the show. What’s one rhythm you’ll try this week—Sabbath rest, a shared meal, or your first feast?
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life.
Shalom to you and your home.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:38):
Howdy folks, and welcoming back to another
episode of Life Around the Fire.
And once again, we have StephenCruz in the studio with us
today, and it's been a realtreat hearing him kind of share
his heart on this whole aspectof beholding and becoming that
we we really do become like thatwhich we give our attention to
(01:01):
most.
And without any uh disclaimerswe here focus our attention in
on Jesus because of who he isand uh how he has transformed
our lives.
And so, Stephen, I'm gonna takea little time and just kind of
(01:25):
do a little bit of uh interviewand testimony concerning your
life and letting people know alittle bit more about you.
So why don't you tell us how oldyou are and what your status in
life is as far as married, dad,all that stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (01:39):
So okay, sure.
Thank you for having me on theshow once again, laugh around
the fire.
My name is Steven Cruz.
I'm I'll be 39 years old inOctober.
I was born in 1986.
I am married, married eightyears.
We have one son, he's 15 monthsold right now.
(02:01):
Such an honor to take care ofhim, steward him, and yeah.
I've been walking with the Lordnow for 12 years.
I got saved around two, 2013now.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (02:19):
So what's what's your relationship like with your
wife?
SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
My relationship with my wife is probably the best
it's ever been.
Being married eight years, youknow, I think the first takes
like five years to iron out thewrinkles.
But we are in the eighth year,and I really felt like it was uh
the eighth being a newbeginning.
We actually did a littleceremony to commemorate that,
(02:45):
and we really felt like youknow, the Lord is prospering us
in in all areas right now of ourlives, uh, prospering us in our
soul, in our marriage, in ourministry, and in our home.
And so my my wife is a full-timemom, which is such a blessing to
be able to uh raise our son andnot have to use daycare or
(03:09):
someone else to uh to look afterhim and have someone else.
You know, it's funny, you know,we everybody wants kids, but
then they want someone else toraise them.
And then 15 years later theywonder what will happen and why
their kids are acting funny, andso such a blessing.
You know, God honors those whohonor him, and so that's really
our heart posture is to, youknow, me being the man, the
(03:33):
priest of my home, is to to bethe provider to go to work.
I have a grace, and all men havea grace to go to work, and so
I've tapped into that, and it'sbeen a joy, it hasn't been a
burden to go to work and to bethe provider.
And you know, she's reallyreined in the you know, just to
see her grow in motherhood hasbeen a blessing to the wisdom
(03:54):
that God has given her how to,you know, just teach even just a
15-month-old that he's he's verysmart.
What's his name?
His name is Benjamin.
And your wife?
My wife's name is Pierlene.
SPEAKER_00 (04:05):
Purleen.
Hey Pierline.
SPEAKER_01 (04:07):
Hey, baby.
SPEAKER_00 (04:08):
Yeah, we go.
Hey, man.
Uh and so uh uh you live inJacksonville, right?
Jacksonville, Florida.
Yep, born and raised.
Born and raised in Jacksonville,Florida.
And your lifestyle or your lifebefore you came to really a
relationship with Jesus?
Well, what just to kind of alittle outline of that.
SPEAKER_01 (04:30):
Okay, sure.
Yeah, I grew up, I have oneolder brother.
I have two loving parents.
They've been married for, Idon't know, 30 or 40 years,
something like that, a longtime.
They are college, collegesweethearts.
But uh yeah, I grew up in aloving home.
My dad went to work, and sothat's probably where I got the
(04:52):
uh the uh the mantle or theanointing to go be the provider.
My mom was a stay-at-home momwith us.
We went to public school, but wealways had I tell everybody
this.
We were I can I can never missor remember a time that we
missed a family dinner.
We were always at the table, thefour of us having dinner.
My mom made dinner every day.
(05:13):
That's rich.
It was ready pretty much when mydad came home.
He changed clothes, came to thetable, we sat and ate as a
family.
And so really like foundationalthings that were scriptural and
biblical that my parents weredoing that I didn't even realize
that it was, you know, of theLord, because you know, we never
(05:34):
went to church, but lookingback, I can pinpoint certain
things such as coming to thetable and putting our feet
underneath it as a family, wasvery much of the Lord, even
though we didn't, you know, goto church or talk about the
Jesus.
But the fact that they we werethere, we made time to sit.
(05:56):
Um, and that went on for forquite a while, many years,
decades.
SPEAKER_00 (06:04):
That's uh you're and you're like you're you're were
you a troublemaker?
No, I was a nice young man.
SPEAKER_01 (06:16):
We uh I'm a basketball connoisseur, played
basketball growing up.
We used to play before and afterschool and during school, ring,
and we would always be out thereshooting.
Um how tall are you?
I'm 6'6.
SPEAKER_00 (06:29):
6'6?
I look up to you, man.
Yeah, thank you, David.
Oh, yeah.
Praise God.
Yeah, don't get accustomed toit, but I feel but yeah, I
haven't played basketball inprobably like two years.
SPEAKER_01 (06:41):
I've picked up running.
So I try to run.
My goal is to run three times aweek, but I've only run once in
the past week.
So hoping to get another run inthis coming week, but I'm doing
about two mile runs to to kindof make up the the lack of of
basketball right now.
But with you know, home life,you know, you kind of gotta put
(07:04):
things to the side of what youwant to do with family comes
first.
SPEAKER_00 (07:08):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yes, yes, yes.
So you weren't really uhtroublemaker per se, and good
grades at school.
SPEAKER_01 (07:16):
Yeah, good grades.
I was on uh what's that called?
National Honor Society.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (07:22):
Yeah, you just finished your master's degree
too, right?
SPEAKER_01 (07:24):
I did, I got a master's and master in theology.
SPEAKER_00 (07:28):
Yeah, congratulations again, brother.
Yeah, big milestone there.
SPEAKER_01 (07:32):
Yeah, that was a journey that it took me four
years to get.
And it's interesting how theLord just laid out those classes
where I would take a class andit was speaking directly to the
season of life that I was in.
And so, you know, that only mademe take a class or two a
semester.
And so it was took me fouryears, you know.
(07:54):
It was really supposed to takelike a year and a half, right?
To get that degree.
It took me four years, but theLord used every bit of that four
years to teach me.
SPEAKER_00 (08:03):
That's the year so from basketball to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01 (08:08):
To Jesus.
SPEAKER_00 (08:09):
What what what what what what happened?
SPEAKER_01 (08:14):
Well, I just a friend took me to church and I
never left.
Went to a church that had it wasuh considered a mega church,
thousands of people.
And the pastor there was, it wasas if I was the only one in the
room amongst thousands.
The Lord was using him and hewas speaking directly to me.
(08:35):
All the other people, thethousands of people, you know,
disappeared, and I was basicallysitting there by myself, and
that went on for quite a while.
So some friend took me and neverlooked back.
SPEAKER_00 (08:47):
And so you see you talk about relationship with a
real relationship with the Lord,and how that is very foreign,
perhaps to somebody listeningright now.
They're they're they'relistening like a pretty cool
story, you know.
I still don't get it.
(09:08):
How how does relationshiphappen?
SPEAKER_01 (09:14):
Well, that's a great question.
Well, it didn't start off likethat.
My wife is actually the one thattaught me how to pray and seek
the Lord.
She's a pastor's kid, so shegrew up in the church,
missionaries and churchplanners.
So she was always around thatenvironment.
But when you know, I got saved,got connected with my wife
(09:38):
through college.
And so I, you know, I rememberasking her how to pray.
And I think in that, how she wasteaching me how to pray, it was
a relationship.
And so I think she planted thatseed and a light bulb went off
of, you know, I saw I had no,you know, church background or
any kind of ecclesiasticalknowledge.
(09:59):
So I had no like religion or Ihad nothing in the way previous.
So when it was taught to me andshowed to me the right way by
somebody, I just the light bulbwent off.
And there was no blockage, therewas no hindrances, it was just
hit the ground running.
SPEAKER_00 (10:15):
And so C.
S.
Lewis, famous writer thinker,said along these lines, he said,
considering his conversion, hesaid, one day I wasn't a
believer, and the next thing Iknew it, I was.
(10:37):
It wasn't the big emotionalthing that took place with him.
It was just he had in his heartreached a place where he
believed that Jesus died forhim.
And all the things that Jesusexpressed about himself, he was
exposed to those statements.
And he went from being a skepticto being a believer, and that's
(10:59):
where his connection point tookplace.
And not everyone has thatheavy-duty downpour experience
where they're just wrecked.
Some people are more like docoming on the you know,
settling.
And both are valid.
SPEAKER_01 (11:17):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (11:18):
And so that's what I'm hearing in in your life is a
little more of the do settling.
SPEAKER_01 (11:23):
Yeah, that's a good way to describe it.
I mean, I've had many encounterswith the Lord.
We could sit here for hours andweeks.
But I remember even at thebeginning, you know, you know,
12 years ago, you know, ittaking some time, you know, like
you gotta, you know, justdiscipleship takes is a process.
(11:47):
And so I remember many, I've hadmany encounters with the Lord
and that that do falling on theMount of Hermon, so to speak, of
my life.
You know, I remember being onthe side of the road one time
crying out to the Lord and andhim showing up.
And so, you know, he uh he'sencountered, I've encountered
him in many ways, and so I'vealways been a loyal person.
(12:09):
And when I understood, you know,loyalty to Yahweh, it just
clicked and made sense.
And I've I've never let go andturn back as just continually to
develop and grow over the pastdecade.
I mean, I don't I don't foreseeit ever stopping.
It's a living and breathingrelationship with the one true
(12:29):
living God.
And I've you know, just praiseGod that you know, I have a wife
that is on that same frequency.
And so our home life is, youknow, it's easy to be on one
accord in agreement.
You know, it took time to getthat way.
As with any marriage, two peoplebecoming one, you know, cats and
(12:49):
dogs, you know, you gotta learneach other's language, you know.
No one knows what anyone else issaying.
We all have our own definitionsfor words, and so getting on the
same wavelength.
And so I I didn't grow up withsisters, so you know, you know,
been playing basketball, you'rearound other males, and so you
have this, you know, differentmentality than than women have.
(13:12):
But when I finally understood,you know, what her role was and
how I was to use her and stewardher as a as the husband, you
know, the light bulb went offagain.
And that's when it really therubber kind of met the road.
And instead of bumping heads, wewere starting to walk hand in
(13:36):
hand.
SPEAKER_00 (13:36):
And yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (13:37):
Um we we praise God for that.
There's a lot of testimonies onthat too.
And we're just very thankfulthat the Lord, you know, when we
we choose to honor the Lord, andI said this on the previous
session on the podcast abouttaking ownership.
And so I just took at the earlystages of our marriage, I took
(14:01):
extreme ownership for myfailures.
And I didn't blame her.
I I took the ownership.
And so even though I'm notsolely to blame, you know,
they're two people, it's 50-50,you know, you're gonna have a
give and a take.
But as the man and as the onethat the Lord was looking to, I
had enough sense to take extremeownership for stuff, and and I
(14:22):
did that.
And I think the Lord, you know,honored that and poured out more
mercy and grace.
And I learned to go to himfirst.
I learned that at the beginningof our marriage, I was about
words, and you know, now I'verealized that it's living a
(14:46):
life, a leader to be a true in atrue leadership and being a true
husband is leading by example,not by your words.
And so through that takingownership, the Lord Solomon was
teaching me, like, you know, youneed to live, if you want
something done or you want tosee something changed, you need
to live it out.
(15:06):
And you need to be the exampleand bear start bearing fruit in
it that she can eat and pick andhave her own revelation and get
on board with the things thatI'm showing you how to do.
Like, if I'm showing yousomething, it you can't just go
immediately and start tellingher what she needs to do.
That's not gonna work.
(15:27):
You need to start, you know,praying to me, seeking to me.
You know, I see what's going onin her life, I see what she's
doing.
We need to work, basically worryabout yourself and and get your
business in order and and not beso heavy-handed with language
(15:49):
and words, but you know, youknow, the Bible says to not be
harsh with our wives, but youknow, to treat them as co-heirs
of the grace of God.
And so all these things justcoming together.
It took took years to get overthat hump, and a lot of
mountains, you know, travailedaround and around, uh finally,
(16:13):
finally getting them and passingthe test and stuff like that.
And so now we're in a place, notonly spiritually, but you know,
emotionally, on all levels,connected more than ever.
SPEAKER_00 (16:24):
I can uh I can really attest to that and just
briefly um comment that I'vespent time with both of you.
Excuse me.
And uh eating, having a mealtogether, and it was
comfortable, which is a realcompliment to the two of you.
(16:45):
It was enjoyable.
I look forward to the next mealthat we have.
I can't say that abouteverybody.
I've been with some coupleswhere it's been uh comfortable
to be together, and they mightbe saying the right things, but
still the air is uncomfortable.
And you guys have a good airabout you.
So that's uh that's a real yeah,yeah, that's a good thing.
(17:07):
So see, in just the next couple,three minutes, five, maybe
whatever.
Is there something that's beenon your heart and mind for I
don't know, might be the pastfew years or something that's
been that that you feel like youcould share just a bit of what
the Lord is bringing to theforefront in your life?
SPEAKER_01 (17:29):
Well, that's uh that's a deep question.
I really think from my walk withthe Lord in my life and in this
season that we're in on theearth as a body, as the
ecclesia, I think the Lord nowmore than ever is the urgency to
(17:54):
get in alignment, covenantalignment to be exact.
And so I think there's a senseof urgency for the body of
Christ to get into covenantalignment and understand what
that is and start molding andshaping their homes and their
lifestyles and their calendarsaround covenant alignment with
(18:15):
with the Lord.
And so what I what I mean bythat is it's it's very simple,
but it's also very very deep andrich to keep it simple.
Covenant alignment is is gettingin into agreement with with his
calendar, with the with thefeasts.
There's four spring feasts,there's three fall feasts, it's
(18:36):
the feast of the Lord.
It's not the Jewish feast, it'snot the feast of Israel.
It says plainly the feast of theLord.
And so as believers, we canwell, we're good at humans are
good at picking and choosing.
We we love, I talk to this aboutmy wife all the time.
(18:59):
I say, please, if you see mepicking and choosing, you gotta
point it out because I'm nottrying to be, you know, picking
and choosing.
I mean, what I mean by that is,you know, a lot of people say,
Oh I'm a believing tithing, butI don't believe in the Sabbath.
(19:20):
Well, it's the same that'scovenant, right?
The Lord didn't do away with anyof it.
He came to fulfill the law andbring it to its highest and
fullest expression, not abolishit.
And so you can't have, you see alot of believers today, you
know, tithing, but they're notchoosing to honor the Sabbath
(19:40):
rest, which was made for us andis a benefit for us.
And so that's when I meancovenant alignment, you know.
As believers, these asChristians in the Western
Church, specifically here inJacksonville, is my frame of
reference, we love to take Jesuson our own terms and our own
turf.
Well, that really doesn't workin the grand scheme of things
(20:04):
because it says, you know,there's a warning that says, you
know, hey, we've done manythings in your name.
You know, we we he said, Well, Idepart from you, I never knew
you.
And so the Bible is a Jewishbook written to a specific group
of people in a specific timeperiod.
And our Savior is a Jewish man.
(20:27):
There's a Jewish man in heaventhat rose from the grave and is
seated at the right hand of theFather, and so he observed these
feasts.
The feasts are all about him.
Everything in the Old Testamentis a prophetic demonstration of
a type and shadow of Christ.
And so Jesus fulfilled thespring feast already.
(20:48):
The fall feasts have yet to befulfilled in fullness.
And so, if we're gonna say we'rebelievers in Christ, but not
observe the feast, which iscovenant alignment that I'm
talking about here, it's abouthonoring, it's not about
religion.
Again, it's about relationship,observing, honoring, engaging,
scripture engagement is what welike to call it.
(21:10):
It puts you in a place toreceive from the Lord.
And I've been doing this foreight years now.
And each time that I make anattempt in my own special way at
home to honor the feast, theLord shows up and continue,
continue, he continues to remindme that I'm in these things.
(21:31):
And so, for example, this lastPassover of this year,
2025-5785, it was the last dayin the month of Nisan that the
Lord showed up.
And I and I thought to myself,you've done it again.
I didn't know if you were gonnado it, but the last day, the
last hour before Sun said, theLord showed up and did what I
(21:55):
was asking him to do.
And it really, even to this day,months later, I still pause and
reflect on, you know, wow, youcontinue to show me that you are
in these things.
And so I don't need anyone totry to persuade me or debate me
or anything.
I'm not gonna do that withanyone because I I've
(22:17):
encountered him and I know it'sreal.
So that's my charge and myencouragement is to try, and the
Lord's gonna show up, and you'renot gonna want to get away from
it.
You're actually gonna want todive in deeper to the roots of
our Christian faith.
And so you there's seven feastseach year.
I've been doing it for eightyears.
That's 56 encounters that I'vehad just by the multiplication.
(22:38):
So, I mean, the numbers justexpension expensionally grow.
And it's just exciting to buildhistory and God.
And so the picking and choosingthat I was talking about, you
know, covenant alignment.
We uh, my family, we observe theSabbath in our own special way.
It's not perfect, but we we trynot to go our own way and honor
(23:03):
the Lord and honor each otherand pray for each other and and
rest and allow the Lord to dowhat only He can do is make
things exponentially grow.
You know, we like to say weunhitch our hag, our unhitch our
wagons and come around the tableof the Lord or come around a you
(23:23):
know, campfire, so to speak,metaphorically, and put our feet
up and rest on the Lord.
And so that's what I mean bythat's what I think after eight
years, the intensity of what theLord is doing right now, I think
it's getting in covenantalignment.
As we look around the world,things are getting darker and
darker.
The light of the body of Christshould be shining brighter and
(23:45):
brighter.
And I think covenant alignmentis a key aspect of becoming the
light a city on a hill shiningin this dark time.
SPEAKER_00 (23:58):
That's uh pretty profound, and I I'm 66, right?
And uh I've been in relationshipwith the Lord over fifty-two
years.
Okay, so it's it's been astretch of time.
And it wasn't until three yearsago that I began celebrating the
feast.
(24:19):
It was by the Lord speaking tome, saying, I want you to
experience the code.
And it's been that was mygenesis.
That was my entrance into a veryprofound encounter that renewed
many things in my life.
(24:40):
And so I'm growing in myunderstanding and my hunger at
the age of sixty-six.
So it's never too late or tooearly to come into covenant
alignment.
And so, Stephen, thank you somuch.
And once again, would you closeus with a word of prayer,
(25:00):
please?
SPEAKER_01 (25:02):
Father God, we just come to you in the name of
Yeshua.
And Lord, we just thank you forthis time that we're in, Lord.
Lord, I just lift up everyonelistening.
Yeah, that you would speak tothem, Abba, that you would
encounter them, Lord.
As the light bulb goes off to toseek out what is what is this
(25:25):
covenant alignment that we'retalking about today.
That Lord, you would just throwanother log on the fire, that
you would stoke the fire, AbbaGod, the embers of their heart
to be curious about what is whatdoes it mean to be in alignment
covenantly with you, Lord.
(25:46):
And so there's many aspects ofthat, Lord.
We're just talking about onething here today, but we just
ask, Abba, that you would beglorified, that you would
strengthen your people, oh God,that you would offer fresh faith
in our lives, that you wouldbreathe on us, Holy Spirit.
Lord, you're Holy Spirit, you'rethe air that we breathe.
We just ask for a fresh breathin your people, Lord.
(26:13):
That they would be awakened towhat you're doing in the earth
and how you want to prepare yourbride without spot, wrinkle, or
brunt blemish for this upcomingseason and this upcoming year.
In the name of Jesus, we pray.
Amen.
SPEAKER_00 (26:30):
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
All right, folks.
We love you.
And if you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, please feel
free to drop us a line at lifearound the fire at gmail.com.
That's our email address.
Or you can type in Life Aroundthe Fire and look us up on the
web.
We would love to hear from you.
(26:51):
In the meantime, God bless you.
Adios, amigos.
Howdy folks, and welcoming back to another
episode of Life Around the Fire.
And once again, we have StephenCruz in the studio with us
today, and it's been a realtreat hearing him kind of share
his heart on this whole aspectof beholding and becoming that
we we really do become like thatwhich we give our attention to
(01:01):
most.
And without any uh disclaimerswe here focus our attention in
on Jesus because of who he isand uh how he has transformed
our lives.
And so, Stephen, I'm gonna takea little time and just kind of
(01:25):
do a little bit of uh interviewand testimony concerning your
life and letting people know alittle bit more about you.
So why don't you tell us how oldyou are and what your status in
life is as far as married, dad,all that stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (01:39):
So okay, sure.
Thank you for having me on theshow once again, laugh around
the fire.
My name is Steven Cruz.
I'm I'll be 39 years old inOctober.
I was born in 1986.
I am married, married eightyears.
We have one son, he's 15 monthsold right now.
(02:01):
Such an honor to take care ofhim, steward him, and yeah.
I've been walking with the Lordnow for 12 years.
I got saved around two, 2013now.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (02:19):
So what's what's your relationship like with your
wife?
SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
My relationship with my wife is probably the best
it's ever been.
Being married eight years, youknow, I think the first takes
like five years to iron out thewrinkles.
But we are in the eighth year,and I really felt like it was uh
the eighth being a newbeginning.
We actually did a littleceremony to commemorate that,
(02:45):
and we really felt like youknow, the Lord is prospering us
in in all areas right now of ourlives, uh, prospering us in our
soul, in our marriage, in ourministry, and in our home.
And so my my wife is a full-timemom, which is such a blessing to
be able to uh raise our son andnot have to use daycare or
(03:09):
someone else to uh to look afterhim and have someone else.
You know, it's funny, you know,we everybody wants kids, but
then they want someone else toraise them.
And then 15 years later theywonder what will happen and why
their kids are acting funny, andso such a blessing.
You know, God honors those whohonor him, and so that's really
our heart posture is to, youknow, me being the man, the
(03:33):
priest of my home, is to to bethe provider to go to work.
I have a grace, and all men havea grace to go to work, and so
I've tapped into that, and it'sbeen a joy, it hasn't been a
burden to go to work and to bethe provider.
And you know, she's reallyreined in the you know, just to
see her grow in motherhood hasbeen a blessing to the wisdom
(03:54):
that God has given her how to,you know, just teach even just a
15-month-old that he's he's verysmart.
What's his name?
His name is Benjamin.
And your wife?
My wife's name is Pierlene.
SPEAKER_00 (04:05):
Purleen.
Hey Pierline.
SPEAKER_01 (04:07):
Hey, baby.
SPEAKER_00 (04:08):
Yeah, we go.
Hey, man.
Uh and so uh uh you live inJacksonville, right?
Jacksonville, Florida.
Yep, born and raised.
Born and raised in Jacksonville,Florida.
And your lifestyle or your lifebefore you came to really a
relationship with Jesus?
Well, what just to kind of alittle outline of that.
SPEAKER_01 (04:30):
Okay, sure.
Yeah, I grew up, I have oneolder brother.
I have two loving parents.
They've been married for, Idon't know, 30 or 40 years,
something like that, a longtime.
They are college, collegesweethearts.
But uh yeah, I grew up in aloving home.
My dad went to work, and sothat's probably where I got the
(04:52):
uh the uh the mantle or theanointing to go be the provider.
My mom was a stay-at-home momwith us.
We went to public school, but wealways had I tell everybody
this.
We were I can I can never missor remember a time that we
missed a family dinner.
We were always at the table, thefour of us having dinner.
My mom made dinner every day.
(05:13):
That's rich.
It was ready pretty much when mydad came home.
He changed clothes, came to thetable, we sat and ate as a
family.
And so really like foundationalthings that were scriptural and
biblical that my parents weredoing that I didn't even realize
that it was, you know, of theLord, because you know, we never
(05:34):
went to church, but lookingback, I can pinpoint certain
things such as coming to thetable and putting our feet
underneath it as a family, wasvery much of the Lord, even
though we didn't, you know, goto church or talk about the
Jesus.
But the fact that they we werethere, we made time to sit.
(05:56):
Um, and that went on for forquite a while, many years,
decades.
SPEAKER_00 (06:04):
That's uh you're and you're like you're you're were
you a troublemaker?
No, I was a nice young man.
SPEAKER_01 (06:16):
We uh I'm a basketball connoisseur, played
basketball growing up.
We used to play before and afterschool and during school, ring,
and we would always be out thereshooting.
Um how tall are you?
I'm 6'6.
SPEAKER_00 (06:29):
6'6?
I look up to you, man.
Yeah, thank you, David.
Oh, yeah.
Praise God.
Yeah, don't get accustomed toit, but I feel but yeah, I
haven't played basketball inprobably like two years.
SPEAKER_01 (06:41):
I've picked up running.
So I try to run.
My goal is to run three times aweek, but I've only run once in
the past week.
So hoping to get another run inthis coming week, but I'm doing
about two mile runs to to kindof make up the the lack of of
basketball right now.
But with you know, home life,you know, you kind of gotta put
(07:04):
things to the side of what youwant to do with family comes
first.
SPEAKER_00 (07:08):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yes, yes, yes.
So you weren't really uhtroublemaker per se, and good
grades at school.
SPEAKER_01 (07:16):
Yeah, good grades.
I was on uh what's that called?
National Honor Society.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (07:22):
Yeah, you just finished your master's degree
too, right?
SPEAKER_01 (07:24):
I did, I got a master's and master in theology.
SPEAKER_00 (07:28):
Yeah, congratulations again, brother.
Yeah, big milestone there.
SPEAKER_01 (07:32):
Yeah, that was a journey that it took me four
years to get.
And it's interesting how theLord just laid out those classes
where I would take a class andit was speaking directly to the
season of life that I was in.
And so, you know, that only mademe take a class or two a
semester.
And so it was took me fouryears, you know.
(07:54):
It was really supposed to takelike a year and a half, right?
To get that degree.
It took me four years, but theLord used every bit of that four
years to teach me.
SPEAKER_00 (08:03):
That's the year so from basketball to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01 (08:08):
To Jesus.
SPEAKER_00 (08:09):
What what what what what what happened?
SPEAKER_01 (08:14):
Well, I just a friend took me to church and I
never left.
Went to a church that had it wasuh considered a mega church,
thousands of people.
And the pastor there was, it wasas if I was the only one in the
room amongst thousands.
The Lord was using him and hewas speaking directly to me.
(08:35):
All the other people, thethousands of people, you know,
disappeared, and I was basicallysitting there by myself, and
that went on for quite a while.
So some friend took me and neverlooked back.
SPEAKER_00 (08:47):
And so you see you talk about relationship with a
real relationship with the Lord,and how that is very foreign,
perhaps to somebody listeningright now.
They're they're they'relistening like a pretty cool
story, you know.
I still don't get it.
(09:08):
How how does relationshiphappen?
SPEAKER_01 (09:14):
Well, that's a great question.
Well, it didn't start off likethat.
My wife is actually the one thattaught me how to pray and seek
the Lord.
She's a pastor's kid, so shegrew up in the church,
missionaries and churchplanners.
So she was always around thatenvironment.
But when you know, I got saved,got connected with my wife
(09:38):
through college.
And so I, you know, I rememberasking her how to pray.
And I think in that, how she wasteaching me how to pray, it was
a relationship.
And so I think she planted thatseed and a light bulb went off
of, you know, I saw I had no,you know, church background or
any kind of ecclesiasticalknowledge.
(09:59):
So I had no like religion or Ihad nothing in the way previous.
So when it was taught to me andshowed to me the right way by
somebody, I just the light bulbwent off.
And there was no blockage, therewas no hindrances, it was just
hit the ground running.
SPEAKER_00 (10:15):
And so C.
S.
Lewis, famous writer thinker,said along these lines, he said,
considering his conversion, hesaid, one day I wasn't a
believer, and the next thing Iknew it, I was.
(10:37):
It wasn't the big emotionalthing that took place with him.
It was just he had in his heartreached a place where he
believed that Jesus died forhim.
And all the things that Jesusexpressed about himself, he was
exposed to those statements.
And he went from being a skepticto being a believer, and that's
(10:59):
where his connection point tookplace.
And not everyone has thatheavy-duty downpour experience
where they're just wrecked.
Some people are more like docoming on the you know,
settling.
And both are valid.
SPEAKER_01 (11:17):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (11:18):
And so that's what I'm hearing in in your life is a
little more of the do settling.
SPEAKER_01 (11:23):
Yeah, that's a good way to describe it.
I mean, I've had many encounterswith the Lord.
We could sit here for hours andweeks.
But I remember even at thebeginning, you know, you know,
12 years ago, you know, ittaking some time, you know, like
you gotta, you know, justdiscipleship takes is a process.
(11:47):
And so I remember many, I've hadmany encounters with the Lord
and that that do falling on theMount of Hermon, so to speak, of
my life.
You know, I remember being onthe side of the road one time
crying out to the Lord and andhim showing up.
And so, you know, he uh he'sencountered, I've encountered
him in many ways, and so I'vealways been a loyal person.
(12:09):
And when I understood, you know,loyalty to Yahweh, it just
clicked and made sense.
And I've I've never let go andturn back as just continually to
develop and grow over the pastdecade.
I mean, I don't I don't foreseeit ever stopping.
It's a living and breathingrelationship with the one true
(12:29):
living God.
And I've you know, just praiseGod that you know, I have a wife
that is on that same frequency.
And so our home life is, youknow, it's easy to be on one
accord in agreement.
You know, it took time to getthat way.
As with any marriage, two peoplebecoming one, you know, cats and
(12:49):
dogs, you know, you gotta learneach other's language, you know.
No one knows what anyone else issaying.
We all have our own definitionsfor words, and so getting on the
same wavelength.
And so I I didn't grow up withsisters, so you know, you know,
been playing basketball, you'rearound other males, and so you
have this, you know, differentmentality than than women have.
(13:12):
But when I finally understood,you know, what her role was and
how I was to use her and stewardher as a as the husband, you
know, the light bulb went offagain.
And that's when it really therubber kind of met the road.
And instead of bumping heads, wewere starting to walk hand in
(13:36):
hand.
SPEAKER_00 (13:36):
And yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (13:37):
Um we we praise God for that.
There's a lot of testimonies onthat too.
And we're just very thankfulthat the Lord, you know, when we
we choose to honor the Lord, andI said this on the previous
session on the podcast abouttaking ownership.
And so I just took at the earlystages of our marriage, I took
(14:01):
extreme ownership for myfailures.
And I didn't blame her.
I I took the ownership.
And so even though I'm notsolely to blame, you know,
they're two people, it's 50-50,you know, you're gonna have a
give and a take.
But as the man and as the onethat the Lord was looking to, I
had enough sense to take extremeownership for stuff, and and I
(14:22):
did that.
And I think the Lord, you know,honored that and poured out more
mercy and grace.
And I learned to go to himfirst.
I learned that at the beginningof our marriage, I was about
words, and you know, now I'verealized that it's living a
(14:46):
life, a leader to be a true in atrue leadership and being a true
husband is leading by example,not by your words.
And so through that takingownership, the Lord Solomon was
teaching me, like, you know, youneed to live, if you want
something done or you want tosee something changed, you need
to live it out.
(15:06):
And you need to be the exampleand bear start bearing fruit in
it that she can eat and pick andhave her own revelation and get
on board with the things thatI'm showing you how to do.
Like, if I'm showing yousomething, it you can't just go
immediately and start tellingher what she needs to do.
That's not gonna work.
(15:27):
You need to start, you know,praying to me, seeking to me.
You know, I see what's going onin her life, I see what she's
doing.
We need to work, basically worryabout yourself and and get your
business in order and and not beso heavy-handed with language
(15:49):
and words, but you know, youknow, the Bible says to not be
harsh with our wives, but youknow, to treat them as co-heirs
of the grace of God.
And so all these things justcoming together.
It took took years to get overthat hump, and a lot of
mountains, you know, travailedaround and around, uh finally,
(16:13):
finally getting them and passingthe test and stuff like that.
And so now we're in a place, notonly spiritually, but you know,
emotionally, on all levels,connected more than ever.
SPEAKER_00 (16:24):
I can uh I can really attest to that and just
briefly um comment that I'vespent time with both of you.
Excuse me.
And uh eating, having a mealtogether, and it was
comfortable, which is a realcompliment to the two of you.
(16:45):
It was enjoyable.
I look forward to the next mealthat we have.
I can't say that abouteverybody.
I've been with some coupleswhere it's been uh comfortable
to be together, and they mightbe saying the right things, but
still the air is uncomfortable.
And you guys have a good airabout you.
So that's uh that's a real yeah,yeah, that's a good thing.
(17:07):
So see, in just the next couple,three minutes, five, maybe
whatever.
Is there something that's beenon your heart and mind for I
don't know, might be the pastfew years or something that's
been that that you feel like youcould share just a bit of what
the Lord is bringing to theforefront in your life?
SPEAKER_01 (17:29):
Well, that's uh that's a deep question.
I really think from my walk withthe Lord in my life and in this
season that we're in on theearth as a body, as the
ecclesia, I think the Lord nowmore than ever is the urgency to
(17:54):
get in alignment, covenantalignment to be exact.
And so I think there's a senseof urgency for the body of
Christ to get into covenantalignment and understand what
that is and start molding andshaping their homes and their
lifestyles and their calendarsaround covenant alignment with
(18:15):
with the Lord.
And so what I what I mean bythat is it's it's very simple,
but it's also very very deep andrich to keep it simple.
Covenant alignment is is gettingin into agreement with with his
calendar, with the with thefeasts.
There's four spring feasts,there's three fall feasts, it's
(18:36):
the feast of the Lord.
It's not the Jewish feast, it'snot the feast of Israel.
It says plainly the feast of theLord.
And so as believers, we canwell, we're good at humans are
good at picking and choosing.
We we love, I talk to this aboutmy wife all the time.
(18:59):
I say, please, if you see mepicking and choosing, you gotta
point it out because I'm nottrying to be, you know, picking
and choosing.
I mean, what I mean by that is,you know, a lot of people say,
Oh I'm a believing tithing, butI don't believe in the Sabbath.
(19:20):
Well, it's the same that'scovenant, right?
The Lord didn't do away with anyof it.
He came to fulfill the law andbring it to its highest and
fullest expression, not abolishit.
And so you can't have, you see alot of believers today, you
know, tithing, but they're notchoosing to honor the Sabbath
(19:40):
rest, which was made for us andis a benefit for us.
And so that's when I meancovenant alignment, you know.
As believers, these asChristians in the Western
Church, specifically here inJacksonville, is my frame of
reference, we love to take Jesuson our own terms and our own
turf.
Well, that really doesn't workin the grand scheme of things
(20:04):
because it says, you know,there's a warning that says, you
know, hey, we've done manythings in your name.
You know, we we he said, Well, Idepart from you, I never knew
you.
And so the Bible is a Jewishbook written to a specific group
of people in a specific timeperiod.
And our Savior is a Jewish man.
(20:27):
There's a Jewish man in heaventhat rose from the grave and is
seated at the right hand of theFather, and so he observed these
feasts.
The feasts are all about him.
Everything in the Old Testamentis a prophetic demonstration of
a type and shadow of Christ.
And so Jesus fulfilled thespring feast already.
(20:48):
The fall feasts have yet to befulfilled in fullness.
And so, if we're gonna say we'rebelievers in Christ, but not
observe the feast, which iscovenant alignment that I'm
talking about here, it's abouthonoring, it's not about
religion.
Again, it's about relationship,observing, honoring, engaging,
scripture engagement is what welike to call it.
(21:10):
It puts you in a place toreceive from the Lord.
And I've been doing this foreight years now.
And each time that I make anattempt in my own special way at
home to honor the feast, theLord shows up and continue,
continue, he continues to remindme that I'm in these things.
(21:31):
And so, for example, this lastPassover of this year,
2025-5785, it was the last dayin the month of Nisan that the
Lord showed up.
And I and I thought to myself,you've done it again.
I didn't know if you were gonnado it, but the last day, the
last hour before Sun said, theLord showed up and did what I
(21:55):
was asking him to do.
And it really, even to this day,months later, I still pause and
reflect on, you know, wow, youcontinue to show me that you are
in these things.
And so I don't need anyone totry to persuade me or debate me
or anything.
I'm not gonna do that withanyone because I I've
(22:17):
encountered him and I know it'sreal.
So that's my charge and myencouragement is to try, and the
Lord's gonna show up, and you'renot gonna want to get away from
it.
You're actually gonna want todive in deeper to the roots of
our Christian faith.
And so you there's seven feastseach year.
I've been doing it for eightyears.
That's 56 encounters that I'vehad just by the multiplication.
(22:38):
So, I mean, the numbers justexpension expensionally grow.
And it's just exciting to buildhistory and God.
And so the picking and choosingthat I was talking about, you
know, covenant alignment.
We uh, my family, we observe theSabbath in our own special way.
It's not perfect, but we we trynot to go our own way and honor
(23:03):
the Lord and honor each otherand pray for each other and and
rest and allow the Lord to dowhat only He can do is make
things exponentially grow.
You know, we like to say weunhitch our hag, our unhitch our
wagons and come around the tableof the Lord or come around a you
(23:23):
know, campfire, so to speak,metaphorically, and put our feet
up and rest on the Lord.
And so that's what I mean bythat's what I think after eight
years, the intensity of what theLord is doing right now, I think
it's getting in covenantalignment.
As we look around the world,things are getting darker and
darker.
The light of the body of Christshould be shining brighter and
(23:45):
brighter.
And I think covenant alignmentis a key aspect of becoming the
light a city on a hill shiningin this dark time.
SPEAKER_00 (23:58):
That's uh pretty profound, and I I'm 66, right?
And uh I've been in relationshipwith the Lord over fifty-two
years.
Okay, so it's it's been astretch of time.
And it wasn't until three yearsago that I began celebrating the
feast.
(24:19):
It was by the Lord speaking tome, saying, I want you to
experience the code.
And it's been that was mygenesis.
That was my entrance into a veryprofound encounter that renewed
many things in my life.
(24:40):
And so I'm growing in myunderstanding and my hunger at
the age of sixty-six.
So it's never too late or tooearly to come into covenant
alignment.
And so, Stephen, thank you somuch.
And once again, would you closeus with a word of prayer,
(25:00):
please?
SPEAKER_01 (25:02):
Father God, we just come to you in the name of
Yeshua.
And Lord, we just thank you forthis time that we're in, Lord.
Lord, I just lift up everyonelistening.
Yeah, that you would speak tothem, Abba, that you would
encounter them, Lord.
As the light bulb goes off to toseek out what is what is this
(25:25):
covenant alignment that we'retalking about today.
That Lord, you would just throwanother log on the fire, that
you would stoke the fire, AbbaGod, the embers of their heart
to be curious about what is whatdoes it mean to be in alignment
covenantly with you, Lord.
(25:46):
And so there's many aspects ofthat, Lord.
We're just talking about onething here today, but we just
ask, Abba, that you would beglorified, that you would
strengthen your people, oh God,that you would offer fresh faith
in our lives, that you wouldbreathe on us, Holy Spirit.
Lord, you're Holy Spirit, you'rethe air that we breathe.
We just ask for a fresh breathin your people, Lord.
(26:13):
That they would be awakened towhat you're doing in the earth
and how you want to prepare yourbride without spot, wrinkle, or
brunt blemish for this upcomingseason and this upcoming year.
In the name of Jesus, we pray.
Amen.
SPEAKER_00 (26:30):
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
All right, folks.
We love you.
And if you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, please feel
free to drop us a line at lifearound the fire at gmail.com.
That's our email address.
Or you can type in Life Aroundthe Fire and look us up on the
web.
We would love to hear from you.
(26:51):
In the meantime, God bless you.
Adios, amigos.
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