July 16, 2025 • 28 mins
In this episode, Brody shares how to stay anchored in Christ when life’s transitions and cultural pressures tempt us to drift. Drawing from decades of ministry experience, he unpacks the subtle warning signs of spiritual drift and offers practical wisdom for staying faithful through every season. With encouragement from Hebrews 2:1 and 2 Peter 1:10, Brody reminds us that no one drifts toward holiness—spiritual growth requires focus, discipline, and daily dependence on Jesus.
- Spiritual drift often starts with neglecting Scripture and leads to doubt, dullness, and disconnection
- Hebrews 2:1 warns us to “pay closer attention” to the truth we've heard
- 2 Peter 1:10 calls us to confirm our calling through consistent, intentional growth
- Anchoring your identity in who Jesus is—Creator, King, High Priest—keeps you steady
- Lasting faithfulness often comes through relationships with mature, accountable believers
- Expect criticism when you’re making a gospel impact—keep your hand to the plow
- Those who walk away from the faith often first pull away from community and accountability
A Message to Our Staff | No One Drifts Towards Holiness
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This week's episode of no sanity required.
I want to give y'all a just achallenge, a thought uh to to
run your race.
Well, we've been doing thislittle series start strong, run
hard, finish well.
And I want to insert uh, but westill have to do the third and
final episode, which is finishedwell, which is really a
(00:22):
challenge, in a word, for peoplein their fifties and sixties,
which is finish well, which isreally a challenge, in a word,
for people in their 50s and 60s.
But I want to pause and, comingout of the episode that was the
second in this series, whichwas a few weeks ago now, run
hard.
I want to give you a word ofencouragement that I shared with
our staff today.
Seems like in the years thatI've been in ministry, a lot of
(00:45):
people have fallen away orturned away from the gospel, and
so, somewhere between runninghard and finishing well, it's
important that we focus on thetask that God's put in front of
us, and that task is to walk ina manner worthy of the gospel,
remain faithful, rejoice always,pray without ceasing and
everything, give thanks.
This is the will of God for us.
The scripture gives us the willof Remain faithful, Rejoice
always, pray without ceasing ineverything, give thanks.
(01:05):
This is the will of God for us.
The scripture gives us the willof God.
It says those things, and thenit says that the will of God, or
the plan and purpose of God inRomans 8, 28 to 30, is that we
be conformed to the image ofChrist.
So God's told us what his planand purpose for us is Conform us
(01:26):
to the image of Christ, andthat our task, the task set
before us, is to pray and tomeditate on his word and to give
thanks and everything and torejoice always.
And if we do those things we'llremain faithful.
Peter says this in second Peterchapter one, in verse 10,.
Therefore, brothers, be all themore diligent to confirm your
calling and election, for if youpractice these qualities, you
(01:46):
will never fall.
I want to talk today about howwe remain faithful.
Just kind of a transition inrunning hard.
Now that you're running hard,how do you keep running hard so
that you can one day finish wellthat in between?
So we're kind of adding a thirdpiece to this.
I'm also going to link amessage that I'm building this
(02:07):
episode off of a message that Igave to our staff on this past
Monday in staff worship.
We're going into week eight ofSWO 25 and really trying to
encourage our staff to finishthe summer well but to prepare
to transition well.
We've got staff going into themilitary, staff going off to
college and university, staffheaded to seminary, staff going
(02:29):
into the workplace, some intoministry, ministry jobs and
positions.
We've got staff headed to themission field.
We've got staff that arestaying right here at Snowbird
and going to continue the workthat we're doing in our fall
stuff and our fall schedule.
Wherever they're going, we wantthem to transition well.
That begins with finishing thisseason well and then transition
and into the next season Well.
(02:49):
So it's all kind of in that,that second category of running
hard from a few weeks back.
What I want to do today isshare some things with y'all.
That uh came from the, thethoughts that I shared with our
staff today, and to include itin this series on starting
strong, running hard andfinishing well, and I hope it'll
be an encouragement to you.
So hang around and welcome tono Sanity Required.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Welcome to no Sanity Required from the Ministry of
Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters.
A podcast about the Bible,culture and stories from around
the globe.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Well, June 16th we dropped that last episode, part
two.
We've had a couple episodessince then.
We've actually had threeepisodes since then.
So we're coming back to thatand we want to get the third
episode in that series StartStrong, Run Hard, Finish Well.
We covered the starting line,we covered the middle miles and
we will get to that thirdcategory, which is finishing
(03:52):
well.
But I want to share with y'allsome thoughts that I shared with
our staff today.
Man, we've had a couplethousand people serve on staff
here over the last 28 yearsstaff here over the last 28
years and so I want to sharewith y'all some things I've
learned from watching peopleremain faithful and from
watching people fall away andturn away.
(04:12):
This past week we had gosh.
We had multiple groups here.
Who?
This was in week seven, who theleaders, whether that was a
youth pastor or some parents orone pastor's wife all former SWO
staff.
And it's so encouraging.
Anytime I get to talk to peoplethat remained faithful, have
(04:33):
remained faithful, they'vestayed the course.
Their hand is still fixed tothe plow.
One hand grips the plow andthey're, they're, they're,
they're, they're doing the work,they're plowing forward and
doing the work, and then anotherhand grips the sword, the sword
of the spirit, the word of God,and they're being faithful and
it's encouraging because a lotof people um, not a majority,
(04:54):
but a lot of people have turnedaway.
The Bible says, uh, that thatthere is in the last days, many
will turn away and uh, the, theword that the Bible uses is
apostasy.
People like to use that worddeconstruct that's kind of a
progressive Christian worddeconstruct and we don't use
(05:15):
that word because we use Biblewords and the Bible says
apostasy.
But the idea is that peopleturn away.
Last year we did an episode onDemas, someone who turned away
and fell in love with the worldand abandoned the ministry
calling God seemed to haveplaced on his life.
It was an encouragement lastweek to fellowship and gather
(05:36):
with folks that have remainedfaithful.
Even here, their encouragementto us that we've remained
faithful has been anencouragement to them.
Hear their encouragement to usthat we've remained faithful has
been an encouragement to them.
This is where I want to pauseand say I've not on on the NSR
podcast.
I've not talked about the book.
The book is out and it's it hasflown off the shelves at SWO in
the gear store.
I don't know how many NSRlisteners have, uh, have ordered
(05:59):
a copy.
Um, but, uh, man, we, we.
This is the second full weekthat we've got the book and last
week and part of the weekbefore, man, it was like I
couldn't believe how many peoplepicked up a copy.
The book is called uh, no sanityrequired the visionary story of
snowbird wilderness outfitters.
(06:19):
It's an easy read.
Um, it's a hundred, about 150pages.
Um, some cool endorsements.
Dr Jamie Dew, the president ofNew Orleans Baptist Theological
Seminary.
He says Snowbird is aphenomenal ministry.
It's been used by God to impactthousands upon thousands of
teenagers with the gospel LanceBingham, who many of you will
(06:40):
know that name.
He's kind of the man that Ipatterned my life after in terms
of how I wanted to be a husbandand a father when I was a young
husband, been married aboutgosh just a few months when I
met Lance.
He's the director of track andfield and cross country at
Liberty University.
Snowbird has impacted me, myfamily as well as thousands of
others.
The exponential influence ofSnowbird for the kingdom cannot
(07:01):
be measured.
And then Will Graham, executivevice president of the Billy
Graham Evangelistic Association,Will said I love telling people
about Snowbird, its humblebeginnings and what God has done
there through Brody and Little.
Those are just some of theendorsements and this just tells
the story.
But it doesn't just tell thestory of SWO.
It helps you understand ourculture and our DNA.
(07:22):
We get into our core values andwhere the mission statement
came from and um sort of how weapproach um, how we approach our
, our staff training andequipping.
And so in in that book you'llsee our heart for um, remaining
faithful and then training upthose that remain faithful and
(07:43):
continuing to equip andencourage.
And I think about the earlychurch and how frustrating it
must have been for Peter when hewrote.
Listen to what he wrote insecond Peter, chapter one, verse
10, therefore, brothers, be allthe more diligent, all the more
diligent to confirm yourcalling and election, For if you
(08:04):
practice these qualities, youwill never fail and he's
speaking to believers to remainfaithful to the end.
I encouraged our staff todayand we're linking that last talk
that I gave to our staff.
We're linking it here in thenotes to this episode.
We'll link that message that Igave the week eight message from
Monday's message that I gave tothis episode.
We'll link that message that Igave the week eight message from
, uh, from Monday's message thatI gave to our staff, but but
(08:27):
he's telling us that we need tobe diligent to confirm our
calling and election.
If we do that, we won't fail.
So what does that mean?
It means it means every singleday when my feet hit the ground,
I'm going to confess that Jesusis Lord.
It means every single day thatI walk out the door of my house,
I'm going to confess that Jesusis Lord and I'm going to fix my
eyes on Jesus and I'm going tofocus on him and think about him
(08:50):
.
I'm going to remember he's theone that called me.
This was his idea.
I didn't save myself.
I was saved by grace, throughfaith in Jesus, and he was the
one that gave me that gift.
Hebrews, chapter two, verse one,says we must pay closer
attention to what we have heardlest we drift away from it.
What is he talking about?
He says, therefore, we must paycloser attention.
(09:11):
Therefore, comes at thebeginning of chapter two, which
means he's reflecting back onchapter one.
This is something you'll seethe writer of Hebrews do.
A lot of teachers will do it inthe Bible.
He turns from chapter one,which was exposition, to chapter
two, which is exhortation, andthat's something that's real
common.
Where you'll see a shift fromthat word, Therefore, will be a
(09:32):
shift from we've exhorted andproclaimed truth and declared
certain things, and now, um, uh,I mean, I'm sorry, we've given
exposition of, of doctrine andtheology and biblical truth, and
so now we exhort and proclaimand declare truth and then
charge you to go act accordingly, like let that truth motivate
you.
He's saying that based on richtheology which he unpacked in
(09:55):
Hebrews, chapter one.
We should react to thatappropriately, and so there's an
exhortation, and that'll keepus from drifting away.
So how do people not drift away?
How do you, while you'rerunning hard, how do you
transition towards finishingwell, especially for those of
you that are, you know, my age,you're in your fifties how do
you continue to run hard so thatyou will one day finish?
(10:17):
Well, as I'm recording this,John MacArthur is in the
hospital and they brought hisfamily and friends in and, I
guess, primarily just his familytogether around him, because
the word is that he's probablygoing to going to go be with the
Lord soon.
And I think, man, I want tofinish the way that man has
finished.
You know, I want to finish well, but.
(10:37):
But finishing well meansrunning well to get to that
finish line.
And so what happens with somany people?
I wonder, and I feel so bad forpeople that that apostatize or
deconstruct and turn away.
What are they going to do asthe years wane on and on, and
they've?
They've abandoned the thingthat they were once contending
(10:58):
for, They've stopped confirmingtheir election and calling and
they're no longer fixing theireyes on Jesus.
I don't want to be like that.
I want to finish well, havingrun well.
And so the writer of Hebrews issaying hey, here's how you
finish well, here's how you keepfrom drifting anyway.
And he goes into and listen toeverything he says in Hebrews,
(11:19):
chapter one.
He says that Jesus is the finalprophet through whom God has
spoken.
He says he's the creatorthrough whom God has spoken.
He says he's the heir of allthings.
He says the he's the exactrepresentation of God's glory.
He says he's the upholder ofall things.
He says he's the high priestwho's made purification for all
things, and he says he's theking of Kings all those things
(11:40):
about Jesus.
So he says in Hebrews, chaptertwo, verse one pay attention to
that, Pay attention to thoseseven things about Jesus, and so
pay close attention to what wehave heard.
It's so easy to read and learnabout the Bible in an
informative way.
It's easy to have emotionalappeal during corporate worship,
you know.
But it's so critical that wegrow in our knowledge of who
(12:01):
Jesus is and to be reminded ofwho Jesus is.
And so he's warning us not todrift, and he's saying the way
you don't drift is by payingattention to the things we've
said about Christ we're being.
Essentially, he's challengingus to consider and examine
deeply the person and work ofJesus.
(12:23):
Fix your eyes on Jesus, Bereminded of who Jesus is.
Think about what Jesus has done.
Look to the cross, Look to thetomb, Look to the throne Shoot,
look to the manger and theincarnation, Look to the kingdom
that Jesus is establishing John14,.
He says I go to prepare a placefor you, and if I go to prepare
a place for you, I'll comeagain.
Jesus is going to bring us tobe with him.
(12:45):
In one way or another.
The work of Jesus on earth isfinished in one sense, in terms
of, you know, when he said it'sfinished, to tell us that he's
completed the work of providingsalvation.
But, man, there's still so muchto come, and so we've got to
keep our eyes on Jesus so thatwe don't drift.
No one ever drifts towardholiness.
We'll say that again.
(13:05):
That's a John MacArthur quotethat we use here a lot.
That's one of the first quotesthat I ever remember, quoting
from a pastor that reallystarted to shape this ministry
and identify sort of thisministry.
No one ever drifts towardholiness.
It's a fight.
If you just, if you just get inthe current, you'll drift.
(13:28):
You got to swim against thecurrent to remain vigilant and
to pursue Christ.
So let's consider the causes,patterns and effects of drifting
.
This is what we talk about inthe message to the staff today.
The pattern is that a personwho stops paying attention to
the word of God Hebrews 2.1, andstops confirming their election
(13:50):
and their calling, that personbegins to drift.
They become careless.
The pressure of culture.
When I say pressure, maybe it'snot pressure like when we think
of I'm under pressure, but justthe gentle push of the current
of culture.
There's a constant pressure.
So if I'm left to the currentor the flow, then I'm just going
to drift, and so that comesfrom not paying attention to the
(14:13):
word of God and becomingcareless.
That's Hebrews 2.1.
Now if I do that, the next thingthat's going to happen is I'm
going to begin to be controlledor consumed by doubt.
Begin to compromise and avoidthe word of God.
Hebrews, chapter three, verse12.
He says take care, brothers,lest there be in any of you an
evil, unbelieving heart leadingyou to fall away from the living
(14:35):
God.
So begin to doubt, begin tofall away.
So drifting leads to doubtingleads to falling away.
So I drift away until I falloff the cliff, you know, fall
over the edge.
And then he says in Hebrews5.11, I become callous, we
become callous, we abandon theword of God, and when that
happens, we grow dull.
So drift, doubt, and then wedull, we dull, we lose the edge.
(14:59):
We lose the sharpness, thegleam in our eye for the gospel,
the excitement over being in arelationship with Jesus and on
mission with Jesus.
So we drift, we doubt, we dull,and then next is that we drop
out.
We cut off fellowship andrelationship with people that we
know will hold us accountableto the word.
The effect of this it's broad,it's all encompassing, it's like
(15:20):
a person who is dropping out ofthe faith, who's turning away,
who's becoming apostate.
They cut off fellowship andrelationship with the people
that they know will push andchallenge them.
Have you ever noticed this?
A person who turns away fromthe faith and drops out of it.
They don't maintain thoserelationships.
(15:43):
They build new relationshipswith unbelievers or with
progressive, liberal,secular-minded, professing
Christians that drop out, andwhat that then leads to.
The fifth and final thing isdefiance.
They become defiant, becomeangry at the word, angry at
those that represent the word.
They become angry andmean-spirited towards those that
represent Christ.
(16:03):
And so we challenge our stafftoday hey, listen, if you'll
finish this summer well andtransition into the next stage
of life, well, you'll continueto run hard.
You've been running hard.
Don't stop running hard.
And I think the answer to thisis found in Hebrews 2.1 and 2,
Peter 1.10.
(16:24):
So here's how you keep fromdrifting, so that you don't
doubt and dull and drop out andbecome defiant.
You pay close attention to whatwe know to be true about Jesus.
Look at Hebrews 1.
Let me read that again.
Hebrews 1, Jesus is the finalprophet through whom God has
spoken.
Hebrews 1, verse 2.
(16:45):
Also Hebrews chapter 1, verse 2, but also verse 10.
Jesus is the creator throughwhom God has spoken.
In Colossians 1 it says in himall things are created.
Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3.
He's the heir of all things.
That's verse 2, rather.
He's the heir of all things.
His's verse two, rather.
(17:05):
He's the heir of all things,his inheritance we are the
reward of his suffering.
The inheritance of the saintsand glory.
That's Jesus's inheritance, thekingdom he's building.
Number four Jesus is the exactrepresentation of God's glory.
That's in Hebrews, chapter one,verse three.
Number five.
He's the upholder of all things, so he doesn't just create it,
(17:27):
but he upholds and sustains it.
Hebrews one, three and 10.
And then he's the high priest.
We are priests of God becauseJesus is our great high priest.
And then last, he's the king ofKings.
That's in Hebrews, chapter one,verses one through four, is the
king of Kings who sat down atthe place of honor, in verses
eight and nine.
So Hebrews, chapter two, verseone.
(17:51):
Simple little exercise for notfalling away, drifting away.
Pay close attention to whatwe've heard.
Pay attention to these things,Consider these things.
Consider Jesus, who he is, whathe's done, and there's a host
of other things we couldconsider about the incarnation
of Christ.
Um, so many things.
You could consider his humanity.
(18:12):
You can consider his deity, hisvirgin birth, consider his
miracles, consider his, hispassion and his compassion.
And then the second verse isthat.
Second Peter, chapter one, verse10,.
Therefore, brothers, be all themore diligent.
So be diligent, Don't be lazy,Don't be lackadaisical,
(18:34):
lackadaisical, lackadaisical Idon't remember how you say that
word, but you know the word I'mtalking about.
Don't be passive.
Be diligent to confirm yourcalling and election.
How do you confirm your callingand election, your salvation
and what God's called you to?
By practicing these qualities,which never fail.
(18:54):
What qualities are those?
Second Peter, chapter one,verse five for this very reason,
make every effort to supplementyour faith with virtue, virtue
with knowledge, knowledge withself-control, self-control with
steadfastness, steadfastnesswith godliness, godliness with
brotherly affection andbrotherly affection with love.
For if these qualities areyours and are increasing, they
(19:16):
keep you from being ineffectiveor unfruitful in the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For whoever lacks thesequalities is so nearsighted that
he's blind, Having forgottenthat he was cleansed from his
former sins.
Right there, people, that's howyou don't drift, you hold you,
you, you practice thesequalities.
So, second Peter, chapter one,verses five through 10 practice
(19:38):
these qualities and in then, inverse 11, you'll receive
entrance into the eternalkingdom of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
It breaks my heart to think ofthe people that have walked away
or turned away and that nowcriticize us, Even here at SWO,
that criticize us for the way wedo ministry.
It breaks my heart.
(19:59):
I don't get mad, I getheartbroken.
And it's because they've turnedaway, They've fallen away.
So pay close attention.
It was funny today.
I'll tell you, I'll tell you afunny story, Um, and then I'll
wrap this episode up a littlebit shorter than normal episode
because we're going to follow itwith another episode.
So you get to this week, butabout the same total time,
(20:19):
probably as a normal one.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Um.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I met with a mom.
I won't say any names, but Imet with a mom of a young man
who's serving on staff here andshe had heard she had heard
things about this ministry.
I mean absolutely crazy things,laughable insanity.
I mean just crazy.
Like, uh, that we were amilitia, that that.
And I said, what does that mean?
(20:43):
She mean she said, well, thatyou guys train in firearms and
then you smuggle firearms intoother countries but you do it
under the guise of missions.
And I was like, okay, that ishilarious, but let's don't
correct that, let's just letpeople think that that might
that might.
That's worth giving peopleentertainment.
I said now, to be honest, I'venever smuggled a gun into any
(21:03):
country and I've never knownanybody that did outside of the
military.
But and then I don't thinkthat's smuggling, I don't know
anybody that has.
And then I was like, oh no, Ido know.
I know a guy, a good friend ofmine.
One time his son was going tothe mission field and he was
going to a pretty difficultplace and he, uh, the dad who's
a good friend of mine, it is agood old boy, this was about
(21:27):
probably 15 years ago.
He smuggled a pistol, he hid itin the container that all the,
all the uh like their, their,their kerosene powered
refrigerator and then their,their little gas range and
everything that they weresending.
They had a little oven, alittle stove and oven, a little
kerosene powered refrigerator.
(21:48):
You're going to the third world,some African country, and this
guy hid a pistol in, like one ofthe metal appliances and when
it got off the container it madeit through and he told his son
he said, hey, when that, whenthat stuff gets there, tear out
the insulation in the back ofthat.
I don't remember if it was therange or the little refrigerator
(22:10):
or whatever.
He tears it.
I slept him a nine millimeterpistol.
He said that's in case you needsome self-defense.
And that boy, he took that gunand destroyed it.
He's like, oh my gosh, I'd havegotten in so much trouble if I
got caught with that.
It's the only, that's the onlymissionary gun smuggling story I
know.
But anyway, I I was laughingabout that.
And then I said what else?
And she said, oh, you know, itwas just kind of like silly
silliness.
Um, and you know, you're, y'allare a cult because, and I said,
(22:34):
well, what makes us a cult?
And she said, uh, because youall believe the same thing.
And I was like, we're SouthernBaptist, essentially where our
partnerships are.
I said we hold to the 2000issue of the Baptist faith and
message.
We're non-denominational, butyou gotta.
You gotta determine where youalign.
And so we align.
(22:54):
Now we have our own statementsof what we believe, but then we
pretty much align with theSouthern Baptist.
We're not a formal SouthernBaptist ministry, but that's
where we line up.
And then also I told her, Igave her a copy of the book no
Sanity Required.
I said read this, you'll knowwho we are and what we're about
and you'll probably enjoy thestories in here.
But then also I explained toher that every sermon we've ever
(23:18):
preached at least as long aswe've had the technical ability
capability has is posted.
We have a log of thousands ofhours of content.
To go listen to the sermons, goread the blogs.
Heck, just come up, uh, anytime, and come to a worship service.
Uh, you can follow us on socialmedia and you'll see what we're
about.
Anyway, saying all that to sayif you're, if you're running
(23:40):
hard and you're doing thesethings that we're talking about
in this, in this series, you runhard and you put your hand to
the plow and you, you shine thelight in the darkest places.
Don't be surprised when there'ssome conflict, people going to
come at you and most peopledon't have the courage to come
talk to you.
I could name three or fourpastors, local guys, that I know
(24:02):
have talked ugly about us, butthey've never come and said
anything to my face because theydon't have the courage to.
And I don't mean that, likethey're scared, I I would fight
them.
I mean they don't have thecourage to articulate their self
and to address conflict.
And these are, you know, andthis is, these are backwards
thinking guys that that hold tosome really fundamentalist ideas
(24:23):
.
Um, but but then on the flipside, for every one of those two
or three guys, there's 50 guyswho are, who love what we do.
I think of a friend of minewho's a pastor of a little
country Baptist church and hethis guy, lives on my road and
he loves what we're about.
And so, um, the majority loveit.
And then there's those thatdon't.
(24:45):
And if you're, I've learned it'sjust a principle of life.
If you're making an impact forthe gospel, you're living your
life in a in a positive andproductive way.
You're going to, you're goingto push some buttons and you're
going to face some criticism andsome ridicule.
Just run hard, get after itevery day, keep your hand to the
plow and consider these thingsabout Christ and confirm your
(25:06):
calling and election and andhold fast to the word of God and
keep your eyes on Jesus andconfess and proclaim that he is
Lord and believe it.
And and you'll, you'll not onlyrun hard but you'll transition
well in the different stages andseasons of life, particularly
as your race begins to wind downand you prepare to finish Well,
these are things that'll matter.
(25:27):
I also told our staff that, uh,ministries that are proven are
ministries that you want to hityour wagon to.
You know, like a ministry hasbeen around for 18 months.
They, they may be faithful andthey may be here 20 years from
now, but they may not, we don'tknow.
And so if you're going toinvest in a church plant, you're
going to, you're going to gowith a team that's going to plan
(25:49):
a church.
Um, have a sit down with thatpastor, that lead pastor and
that plant team.
Find out what their strategy is, what their plan is.
My buddy, michael Talley, who'sa church planner in Denver,
colorado Um, you know a guy likethat.
He went in with a plan, he hada strategy, um, and he's a super
faithful guy and he personallyalready had a proven track
(26:11):
record of leadership.
And find ministries that haveproven, leaders and ministries
that, if they've been aroundlong enough, they're proven.
Let me tell you something SWOexists 28 years later, thriving,
growing and flourishing,because the good hand of God has
never been taken off of thisministry.
I can handle a little ridiculeand criticism and not even get
upset about it.
So run hard, run hard, don'tdrift.
(26:33):
Keep your hand to the plow,keep a hand on the sword.
Keep your eyes on Jesus, squareyour shoulders up, don't mope,
don't whine, don't complain,don't play the victim.
You're more than a conqueror,and so let's run our race well
and let's finish strong.
Let's finish well.
We start strong.
We should finish strong, evenif we're worn out and exhausted.
So I'll circle back and do thefinal part to this series.
(26:56):
We'll drop that later this week, but hopefully you're
encouraged by that, and thenwe'll include that message that
I did with the staff today.
I like to do that from time totime.
I think we've done it once sofar this summer.
Might have been a message backduring staff training, I don't
remember now, but we like tolink those from time to time.
It gives you a glimpse intowhat we do here with our couple
(27:18):
hundred people that are servinghere in a full-time capacity for
the summer, and hopefully it'llbe an encouragement to you go
get the book.
Knuckleheads.
We need you to get the book.
The more these you, the morethese we sell, the more that
that this book gets put out, themore it'll confirm that we need
to continue putting this kindof content out.
We've got some stuff outlinedfor the next few books, and so
I'm excited about that.
But, man, if you know, if, ifthis thing comes and goes and we
(27:39):
only move three or 400 books,I'm gonna be like, does it make
sense to write more?
I think it does regardless, butI'm excited.
I'm very proud of the work thatwe've done on this.
Um, I'm the longest writer inhistory.
I started this book, uh, morethan three years ago.
I was going to start it ThenCOVID hit.
We hit pause.
We didn't know where it wasgoing to go.
We waited until the dustsettled, gave it a couple of
(28:01):
years, ramped back up in 2022and told the COVID story as a
section in the book.
So, anyway, please, please, goto the SWO gear store.
Um, jb will link we'll link thewhere you can buy this book.
She'll link it also in thisepisode.
We'll start linking it in thenext few episodes.
And, yeah, that's what I gotfor you.
It's a shorter episode today,more content coming out this
(28:24):
week.
Keep your hand to the plow,keep your eyes on Jesus, and
we're in it together.
Thank y'all.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
We'll see you next time.
Thanks for listening to noSanity Required.
Please take a moment tosubscribe and leave a rating.
It really helps.
Visit us at SWOutfitterscom tosee all of our programming and
resources, and we'll see younext week on no Sanity Required.
This week's episode of no sanity required.
I want to give y'all a just achallenge, a thought uh to to
run your race.
Well, we've been doing thislittle series start strong, run
hard, finish well.
And I want to insert uh, but westill have to do the third and
final episode, which is finishedwell, which is really a
(00:22):
challenge, in a word, for peoplein their fifties and sixties,
which is finish well, which isreally a challenge, in a word,
for people in their 50s and 60s.
But I want to pause and, comingout of the episode that was the
second in this series, whichwas a few weeks ago now, run
hard.
I want to give you a word ofencouragement that I shared with
our staff today.
Seems like in the years thatI've been in ministry, a lot of
(00:45):
people have fallen away orturned away from the gospel, and
so, somewhere between runninghard and finishing well, it's
important that we focus on thetask that God's put in front of
us, and that task is to walk ina manner worthy of the gospel,
remain faithful, rejoice always,pray without ceasing and
everything, give thanks.
This is the will of God for us.
The scripture gives us the willof Remain faithful, Rejoice
always, pray without ceasing ineverything, give thanks.
(01:05):
This is the will of God for us.
The scripture gives us the willof God.
It says those things, and thenit says that the will of God, or
the plan and purpose of God inRomans 8, 28 to 30, is that we
be conformed to the image ofChrist.
So God's told us what his planand purpose for us is Conform us
(01:26):
to the image of Christ, andthat our task, the task set
before us, is to pray and tomeditate on his word and to give
thanks and everything and torejoice always.
And if we do those things we'llremain faithful.
Peter says this in second Peterchapter one, in verse 10,.
Therefore, brothers, be all themore diligent to confirm your
calling and election, for if youpractice these qualities, you
(01:46):
will never fall.
I want to talk today about howwe remain faithful.
Just kind of a transition inrunning hard.
Now that you're running hard,how do you keep running hard so
that you can one day finish wellthat in between?
So we're kind of adding a thirdpiece to this.
I'm also going to link amessage that I'm building this
(02:07):
episode off of a message that Igave to our staff on this past
Monday in staff worship.
We're going into week eight ofSWO 25 and really trying to
encourage our staff to finishthe summer well but to prepare
to transition well.
We've got staff going into themilitary, staff going off to
college and university, staffheaded to seminary, staff going
(02:29):
into the workplace, some intoministry, ministry jobs and
positions.
We've got staff headed to themission field.
We've got staff that arestaying right here at Snowbird
and going to continue the workthat we're doing in our fall
stuff and our fall schedule.
Wherever they're going, we wantthem to transition well.
That begins with finishing thisseason well and then transition
and into the next season Well.
(02:49):
So it's all kind of in that,that second category of running
hard from a few weeks back.
What I want to do today isshare some things with y'all.
That uh came from the, thethoughts that I shared with our
staff today, and to include itin this series on starting
strong, running hard andfinishing well, and I hope it'll
be an encouragement to you.
So hang around and welcome tono Sanity Required.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Welcome to no Sanity Required from the Ministry of
Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters.
A podcast about the Bible,culture and stories from around
the globe.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Well, June 16th we dropped that last episode, part
two.
We've had a couple episodessince then.
We've actually had threeepisodes since then.
So we're coming back to thatand we want to get the third
episode in that series StartStrong, Run Hard, Finish Well.
We covered the starting line,we covered the middle miles and
we will get to that thirdcategory, which is finishing
(03:52):
well.
But I want to share with y'allsome thoughts that I shared with
our staff today.
Man, we've had a couplethousand people serve on staff
here over the last 28 yearsstaff here over the last 28
years and so I want to sharewith y'all some things I've
learned from watching peopleremain faithful and from
watching people fall away andturn away.
(04:12):
This past week we had gosh.
We had multiple groups here.
Who?
This was in week seven, who theleaders, whether that was a
youth pastor or some parents orone pastor's wife all former SWO
staff.
And it's so encouraging.
Anytime I get to talk to peoplethat remained faithful, have
(04:33):
remained faithful, they'vestayed the course.
Their hand is still fixed tothe plow.
One hand grips the plow andthey're, they're, they're,
they're, they're doing the work,they're plowing forward and
doing the work, and then anotherhand grips the sword, the sword
of the spirit, the word of God,and they're being faithful and
it's encouraging because a lotof people um, not a majority,
(04:54):
but a lot of people have turnedaway.
The Bible says, uh, that thatthere is in the last days, many
will turn away and uh, the, theword that the Bible uses is
apostasy.
People like to use that worddeconstruct that's kind of a
progressive Christian worddeconstruct and we don't use
(05:15):
that word because we use Biblewords and the Bible says
apostasy.
But the idea is that peopleturn away.
Last year we did an episode onDemas, someone who turned away
and fell in love with the worldand abandoned the ministry
calling God seemed to haveplaced on his life.
It was an encouragement lastweek to fellowship and gather
(05:36):
with folks that have remainedfaithful.
Even here, their encouragementto us that we've remained
faithful has been anencouragement to them.
Hear their encouragement to usthat we've remained faithful has
been an encouragement to them.
This is where I want to pauseand say I've not on on the NSR
podcast.
I've not talked about the book.
The book is out and it's it hasflown off the shelves at SWO in
the gear store.
I don't know how many NSRlisteners have, uh, have ordered
(05:59):
a copy.
Um, but, uh, man, we, we.
This is the second full weekthat we've got the book and last
week and part of the weekbefore, man, it was like I
couldn't believe how many peoplepicked up a copy.
The book is called uh, no sanityrequired the visionary story of
snowbird wilderness outfitters.
(06:19):
It's an easy read.
Um, it's a hundred, about 150pages.
Um, some cool endorsements.
Dr Jamie Dew, the president ofNew Orleans Baptist Theological
Seminary.
He says Snowbird is aphenomenal ministry.
It's been used by God to impactthousands upon thousands of
teenagers with the gospel LanceBingham, who many of you will
(06:40):
know that name.
He's kind of the man that Ipatterned my life after in terms
of how I wanted to be a husbandand a father when I was a young
husband, been married aboutgosh just a few months when I
met Lance.
He's the director of track andfield and cross country at
Liberty University.
Snowbird has impacted me, myfamily as well as thousands of
others.
The exponential influence ofSnowbird for the kingdom cannot
(07:01):
be measured.
And then Will Graham, executivevice president of the Billy
Graham Evangelistic Association,Will said I love telling people
about Snowbird, its humblebeginnings and what God has done
there through Brody and Little.
Those are just some of theendorsements and this just tells
the story.
But it doesn't just tell thestory of SWO.
It helps you understand ourculture and our DNA.
(07:22):
We get into our core values andwhere the mission statement
came from and um sort of how weapproach um, how we approach our
, our staff training andequipping.
And so in in that book you'llsee our heart for um, remaining
faithful and then training upthose that remain faithful and
(07:43):
continuing to equip andencourage.
And I think about the earlychurch and how frustrating it
must have been for Peter when hewrote.
Listen to what he wrote insecond Peter, chapter one, verse
10, therefore, brothers, be allthe more diligent, all the more
diligent to confirm yourcalling and election, For if you
(08:04):
practice these qualities, youwill never fail and he's
speaking to believers to remainfaithful to the end.
I encouraged our staff todayand we're linking that last talk
that I gave to our staff.
We're linking it here in thenotes to this episode.
We'll link that message that Igave the week eight message from
Monday's message that I gave tothis episode.
We'll link that message that Igave the week eight message from
, uh, from Monday's message thatI gave to our staff, but but
(08:27):
he's telling us that we need tobe diligent to confirm our
calling and election.
If we do that, we won't fail.
So what does that mean?
It means it means every singleday when my feet hit the ground,
I'm going to confess that Jesusis Lord.
It means every single day thatI walk out the door of my house,
I'm going to confess that Jesusis Lord and I'm going to fix my
eyes on Jesus and I'm going tofocus on him and think about him
(08:50):
.
I'm going to remember he's theone that called me.
This was his idea.
I didn't save myself.
I was saved by grace, throughfaith in Jesus, and he was the
one that gave me that gift.
Hebrews, chapter two, verse one,says we must pay closer
attention to what we have heardlest we drift away from it.
What is he talking about?
He says, therefore, we must paycloser attention.
(09:11):
Therefore, comes at thebeginning of chapter two, which
means he's reflecting back onchapter one.
This is something you'll seethe writer of Hebrews do.
A lot of teachers will do it inthe Bible.
He turns from chapter one,which was exposition, to chapter
two, which is exhortation, andthat's something that's real
common.
Where you'll see a shift fromthat word, Therefore, will be a
(09:32):
shift from we've exhorted andproclaimed truth and declared
certain things, and now, um, uh,I mean, I'm sorry, we've given
exposition of, of doctrine andtheology and biblical truth, and
so now we exhort and proclaimand declare truth and then
charge you to go act accordingly, like let that truth motivate
you.
He's saying that based on richtheology which he unpacked in
(09:55):
Hebrews, chapter one.
We should react to thatappropriately, and so there's an
exhortation, and that'll keepus from drifting away.
So how do people not drift away?
How do you, while you'rerunning hard, how do you
transition towards finishingwell, especially for those of
you that are, you know, my age,you're in your fifties how do
you continue to run hard so thatyou will one day finish?
(10:17):
Well, as I'm recording this,John MacArthur is in the
hospital and they brought hisfamily and friends in and, I
guess, primarily just his familytogether around him, because
the word is that he's probablygoing to going to go be with the
Lord soon.
And I think, man, I want tofinish the way that man has
finished.
You know, I want to finish well, but.
(10:37):
But finishing well meansrunning well to get to that
finish line.
And so what happens with somany people?
I wonder, and I feel so bad forpeople that that apostatize or
deconstruct and turn away.
What are they going to do asthe years wane on and on, and
they've?
They've abandoned the thingthat they were once contending
(10:58):
for, They've stopped confirmingtheir election and calling and
they're no longer fixing theireyes on Jesus.
I don't want to be like that.
I want to finish well, havingrun well.
And so the writer of Hebrews issaying hey, here's how you
finish well, here's how you keepfrom drifting anyway.
And he goes into and listen toeverything he says in Hebrews,
(11:19):
chapter one.
He says that Jesus is the finalprophet through whom God has
spoken.
He says he's the creatorthrough whom God has spoken.
He says he's the heir of allthings.
He says the he's the exactrepresentation of God's glory.
He says he's the upholder ofall things.
He says he's the high priestwho's made purification for all
things, and he says he's theking of Kings all those things
(11:40):
about Jesus.
So he says in Hebrews, chaptertwo, verse one pay attention to
that, Pay attention to thoseseven things about Jesus, and so
pay close attention to what wehave heard.
It's so easy to read and learnabout the Bible in an
informative way.
It's easy to have emotionalappeal during corporate worship,
you know.
But it's so critical that wegrow in our knowledge of who
(12:01):
Jesus is and to be reminded ofwho Jesus is.
And so he's warning us not todrift, and he's saying the way
you don't drift is by payingattention to the things we've
said about Christ we're being.
Essentially, he's challengingus to consider and examine
deeply the person and work ofJesus.
(12:23):
Fix your eyes on Jesus, Bereminded of who Jesus is.
Think about what Jesus has done.
Look to the cross, Look to thetomb, Look to the throne Shoot,
look to the manger and theincarnation, Look to the kingdom
that Jesus is establishing John14,.
He says I go to prepare a placefor you, and if I go to prepare
a place for you, I'll comeagain.
Jesus is going to bring us tobe with him.
(12:45):
In one way or another.
The work of Jesus on earth isfinished in one sense, in terms
of, you know, when he said it'sfinished, to tell us that he's
completed the work of providingsalvation.
But, man, there's still so muchto come, and so we've got to
keep our eyes on Jesus so thatwe don't drift.
No one ever drifts towardholiness.
We'll say that again.
(13:05):
That's a John MacArthur quotethat we use here a lot.
That's one of the first quotesthat I ever remember, quoting
from a pastor that reallystarted to shape this ministry
and identify sort of thisministry.
No one ever drifts towardholiness.
It's a fight.
If you just, if you just get inthe current, you'll drift.
(13:28):
You got to swim against thecurrent to remain vigilant and
to pursue Christ.
So let's consider the causes,patterns and effects of drifting
.
This is what we talk about inthe message to the staff today.
The pattern is that a personwho stops paying attention to
the word of God Hebrews 2.1, andstops confirming their election
(13:50):
and their calling, that personbegins to drift.
They become careless.
The pressure of culture.
When I say pressure, maybe it'snot pressure like when we think
of I'm under pressure, but justthe gentle push of the current
of culture.
There's a constant pressure.
So if I'm left to the currentor the flow, then I'm just going
to drift, and so that comesfrom not paying attention to the
(14:13):
word of God and becomingcareless.
That's Hebrews 2.1.
Now if I do that, the next thingthat's going to happen is I'm
going to begin to be controlledor consumed by doubt.
Begin to compromise and avoidthe word of God.
Hebrews, chapter three, verse12.
He says take care, brothers,lest there be in any of you an
evil, unbelieving heart leadingyou to fall away from the living
(14:35):
God.
So begin to doubt, begin tofall away.
So drifting leads to doubtingleads to falling away.
So I drift away until I falloff the cliff, you know, fall
over the edge.
And then he says in Hebrews5.11, I become callous, we
become callous, we abandon theword of God, and when that
happens, we grow dull.
So drift, doubt, and then wedull, we dull, we lose the edge.
(14:59):
We lose the sharpness, thegleam in our eye for the gospel,
the excitement over being in arelationship with Jesus and on
mission with Jesus.
So we drift, we doubt, we dull,and then next is that we drop
out.
We cut off fellowship andrelationship with people that we
know will hold us accountableto the word.
The effect of this it's broad,it's all encompassing, it's like
(15:20):
a person who is dropping out ofthe faith, who's turning away,
who's becoming apostate.
They cut off fellowship andrelationship with the people
that they know will push andchallenge them.
Have you ever noticed this?
A person who turns away fromthe faith and drops out of it.
They don't maintain thoserelationships.
(15:43):
They build new relationshipswith unbelievers or with
progressive, liberal,secular-minded, professing
Christians that drop out, andwhat that then leads to.
The fifth and final thing isdefiance.
They become defiant, becomeangry at the word, angry at
those that represent the word.
They become angry andmean-spirited towards those that
represent Christ.
(16:03):
And so we challenge our stafftoday hey, listen, if you'll
finish this summer well andtransition into the next stage
of life, well, you'll continueto run hard.
You've been running hard.
Don't stop running hard.
And I think the answer to thisis found in Hebrews 2.1 and 2,
Peter 1.10.
(16:24):
So here's how you keep fromdrifting, so that you don't
doubt and dull and drop out andbecome defiant.
You pay close attention to whatwe know to be true about Jesus.
Look at Hebrews 1.
Let me read that again.
Hebrews 1, Jesus is the finalprophet through whom God has
spoken.
Hebrews 1, verse 2.
(16:45):
Also Hebrews chapter 1, verse 2, but also verse 10.
Jesus is the creator throughwhom God has spoken.
In Colossians 1 it says in himall things are created.
Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3.
He's the heir of all things.
That's verse 2, rather.
He's the heir of all things.
His's verse two, rather.
(17:05):
He's the heir of all things,his inheritance we are the
reward of his suffering.
The inheritance of the saintsand glory.
That's Jesus's inheritance, thekingdom he's building.
Number four Jesus is the exactrepresentation of God's glory.
That's in Hebrews, chapter one,verse three.
Number five.
He's the upholder of all things, so he doesn't just create it,
(17:27):
but he upholds and sustains it.
Hebrews one, three and 10.
And then he's the high priest.
We are priests of God becauseJesus is our great high priest.
And then last, he's the king ofKings.
That's in Hebrews, chapter one,verses one through four, is the
king of Kings who sat down atthe place of honor, in verses
eight and nine.
So Hebrews, chapter two, verseone.
(17:51):
Simple little exercise for notfalling away, drifting away.
Pay close attention to whatwe've heard.
Pay attention to these things,Consider these things.
Consider Jesus, who he is, whathe's done, and there's a host
of other things we couldconsider about the incarnation
of Christ.
Um, so many things.
You could consider his humanity.
(18:12):
You can consider his deity, hisvirgin birth, consider his
miracles, consider his, hispassion and his compassion.
And then the second verse isthat.
Second Peter, chapter one, verse10,.
Therefore, brothers, be all themore diligent.
So be diligent, Don't be lazy,Don't be lackadaisical,
(18:34):
lackadaisical, lackadaisical Idon't remember how you say that
word, but you know the word I'mtalking about.
Don't be passive.
Be diligent to confirm yourcalling and election.
How do you confirm your callingand election, your salvation
and what God's called you to?
By practicing these qualities,which never fail.
(18:54):
What qualities are those?
Second Peter, chapter one,verse five for this very reason,
make every effort to supplementyour faith with virtue, virtue
with knowledge, knowledge withself-control, self-control with
steadfastness, steadfastnesswith godliness, godliness with
brotherly affection andbrotherly affection with love.
For if these qualities areyours and are increasing, they
(19:16):
keep you from being ineffectiveor unfruitful in the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For whoever lacks thesequalities is so nearsighted that
he's blind, Having forgottenthat he was cleansed from his
former sins.
Right there, people, that's howyou don't drift, you hold you,
you, you practice thesequalities.
So, second Peter, chapter one,verses five through 10 practice
(19:38):
these qualities and in then, inverse 11, you'll receive
entrance into the eternalkingdom of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
It breaks my heart to think ofthe people that have walked away
or turned away and that nowcriticize us, Even here at SWO,
that criticize us for the way wedo ministry.
It breaks my heart.
(19:59):
I don't get mad, I getheartbroken.
And it's because they've turnedaway, They've fallen away.
So pay close attention.
It was funny today.
I'll tell you, I'll tell you afunny story, Um, and then I'll
wrap this episode up a littlebit shorter than normal episode
because we're going to follow itwith another episode.
So you get to this week, butabout the same total time,
(20:19):
probably as a normal one.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Um.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I met with a mom.
I won't say any names, but Imet with a mom of a young man
who's serving on staff here andshe had heard she had heard
things about this ministry.
I mean absolutely crazy things,laughable insanity.
I mean just crazy.
Like, uh, that we were amilitia, that that.
And I said, what does that mean?
(20:43):
She mean she said, well, thatyou guys train in firearms and
then you smuggle firearms intoother countries but you do it
under the guise of missions.
And I was like, okay, that ishilarious, but let's don't
correct that, let's just letpeople think that that might
that might.
That's worth giving peopleentertainment.
I said now, to be honest, I'venever smuggled a gun into any
(21:03):
country and I've never knownanybody that did outside of the
military.
But and then I don't thinkthat's smuggling, I don't know
anybody that has.
And then I was like, oh no, Ido know.
I know a guy, a good friend ofmine.
One time his son was going tothe mission field and he was
going to a pretty difficultplace and he, uh, the dad who's
a good friend of mine, it is agood old boy, this was about
(21:27):
probably 15 years ago.
He smuggled a pistol, he hid itin the container that all the,
all the uh like their, their,their kerosene powered
refrigerator and then their,their little gas range and
everything that they weresending.
They had a little oven, alittle stove and oven, a little
kerosene powered refrigerator.
(21:48):
You're going to the third world,some African country, and this
guy hid a pistol in, like one ofthe metal appliances and when
it got off the container it madeit through and he told his son
he said, hey, when that, whenthat stuff gets there, tear out
the insulation in the back ofthat.
I don't remember if it was therange or the little refrigerator
(22:10):
or whatever.
He tears it.
I slept him a nine millimeterpistol.
He said that's in case you needsome self-defense.
And that boy, he took that gunand destroyed it.
He's like, oh my gosh, I'd havegotten in so much trouble if I
got caught with that.
It's the only, that's the onlymissionary gun smuggling story I
know.
But anyway, I I was laughingabout that.
And then I said what else?
And she said, oh, you know, itwas just kind of like silly
silliness.
Um, and you know, you're, y'allare a cult because, and I said,
(22:34):
well, what makes us a cult?
And she said, uh, because youall believe the same thing.
And I was like, we're SouthernBaptist, essentially where our
partnerships are.
I said we hold to the 2000issue of the Baptist faith and
message.
We're non-denominational, butyou gotta.
You gotta determine where youalign.
And so we align.
(22:54):
Now we have our own statementsof what we believe, but then we
pretty much align with theSouthern Baptist.
We're not a formal SouthernBaptist ministry, but that's
where we line up.
And then also I told her, Igave her a copy of the book no
Sanity Required.
I said read this, you'll knowwho we are and what we're about
and you'll probably enjoy thestories in here.
But then also I explained toher that every sermon we've ever
(23:18):
preached at least as long aswe've had the technical ability
capability has is posted.
We have a log of thousands ofhours of content.
To go listen to the sermons, goread the blogs.
Heck, just come up, uh, anytime, and come to a worship service.
Uh, you can follow us on socialmedia and you'll see what we're
about.
Anyway, saying all that to sayif you're, if you're running
(23:40):
hard and you're doing thesethings that we're talking about
in this, in this series, you runhard and you put your hand to
the plow and you, you shine thelight in the darkest places.
Don't be surprised when there'ssome conflict, people going to
come at you and most peopledon't have the courage to come
talk to you.
I could name three or fourpastors, local guys, that I know
(24:02):
have talked ugly about us, butthey've never come and said
anything to my face because theydon't have the courage to.
And I don't mean that, likethey're scared, I I would fight
them.
I mean they don't have thecourage to articulate their self
and to address conflict.
And these are, you know, andthis is, these are backwards
thinking guys that that hold tosome really fundamentalist ideas
(24:23):
.
Um, but but then on the flipside, for every one of those two
or three guys, there's 50 guyswho are, who love what we do.
I think of a friend of minewho's a pastor of a little
country Baptist church and hethis guy, lives on my road and
he loves what we're about.
And so, um, the majority loveit.
And then there's those thatdon't.
(24:45):
And if you're, I've learned it'sjust a principle of life.
If you're making an impact forthe gospel, you're living your
life in a in a positive andproductive way.
You're going to, you're goingto push some buttons and you're
going to face some criticism andsome ridicule.
Just run hard, get after itevery day, keep your hand to the
plow and consider these thingsabout Christ and confirm your
(25:06):
calling and election and andhold fast to the word of God and
keep your eyes on Jesus andconfess and proclaim that he is
Lord and believe it.
And and you'll, you'll not onlyrun hard but you'll transition
well in the different stages andseasons of life, particularly
as your race begins to wind downand you prepare to finish Well,
these are things that'll matter.
(25:27):
I also told our staff that, uh,ministries that are proven are
ministries that you want to hityour wagon to.
You know, like a ministry hasbeen around for 18 months.
They, they may be faithful andthey may be here 20 years from
now, but they may not, we don'tknow.
And so if you're going toinvest in a church plant, you're
going to, you're going to gowith a team that's going to plan
(25:49):
a church.
Um, have a sit down with thatpastor, that lead pastor and
that plant team.
Find out what their strategy is, what their plan is.
My buddy, michael Talley, who'sa church planner in Denver,
colorado Um, you know a guy likethat.
He went in with a plan, he hada strategy, um, and he's a super
faithful guy and he personallyalready had a proven track
(26:11):
record of leadership.
And find ministries that haveproven, leaders and ministries
that, if they've been aroundlong enough, they're proven.
Let me tell you something SWOexists 28 years later, thriving,
growing and flourishing,because the good hand of God has
never been taken off of thisministry.
I can handle a little ridiculeand criticism and not even get
upset about it.
So run hard, run hard, don'tdrift.
(26:33):
Keep your hand to the plow,keep a hand on the sword.
Keep your eyes on Jesus, squareyour shoulders up, don't mope,
don't whine, don't complain,don't play the victim.
You're more than a conqueror,and so let's run our race well
and let's finish strong.
Let's finish well.
We start strong.
We should finish strong, evenif we're worn out and exhausted.
So I'll circle back and do thefinal part to this series.
(26:56):
We'll drop that later this week, but hopefully you're
encouraged by that, and thenwe'll include that message that
I did with the staff today.
I like to do that from time totime.
I think we've done it once sofar this summer.
Might have been a message backduring staff training, I don't
remember now, but we like tolink those from time to time.
It gives you a glimpse intowhat we do here with our couple
(27:18):
hundred people that are servinghere in a full-time capacity for
the summer, and hopefully it'llbe an encouragement to you go
get the book.
Knuckleheads.
We need you to get the book.
The more these you, the morethese we sell, the more that
that this book gets put out, themore it'll confirm that we need
to continue putting this kindof content out.
We've got some stuff outlinedfor the next few books, and so
I'm excited about that.
But, man, if you know, if, ifthis thing comes and goes and we
(27:39):
only move three or 400 books,I'm gonna be like, does it make
sense to write more?
I think it does regardless, butI'm excited.
I'm very proud of the work thatwe've done on this.
Um, I'm the longest writer inhistory.
I started this book, uh, morethan three years ago.
I was going to start it ThenCOVID hit.
We hit pause.
We didn't know where it wasgoing to go.
We waited until the dustsettled, gave it a couple of
(28:01):
years, ramped back up in 2022and told the COVID story as a
section in the book.
So, anyway, please, please, goto the SWO gear store.
Um, jb will link we'll link thewhere you can buy this book.
She'll link it also in thisepisode.
We'll start linking it in thenext few episodes.
And, yeah, that's what I gotfor you.
It's a shorter episode today,more content coming out this
(28:24):
week.
Keep your hand to the plow,keep your eyes on Jesus, and
we're in it together.
Thank y'all.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
We'll see you next time.
Thanks for listening to noSanity Required.
Please take a moment tosubscribe and leave a rating.
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Visit us at SWOutfitterscom tosee all of our programming and
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