December 30, 2025 • 38 mins
What if the question holding you back isn’t “Why me?” but “Why not me?” We sit down with Dr. Ed Newton, lead pastor of Community Bible Church and author of Why Not You, to unpack a life-changing shift in identity and calling. Ed opens up about battling rejection, dyslexia, anxiety, and a season so heavy he almost didn’t make it through—then shows how counseling, community, and the Holy Spirit rebuilt courage from the inside out.
We explore why shame quietly fuses failure to identity, how guilt can lead to repentance without defining who you are, and why most of us carry “rent-free” voices from the past that still drive today’s choices. Ed shares a practical path to renew your mind, grounded in Romans 12: capture the thoughts, test the story, replace the lie with truth. He makes the case that your design is not an accident—image of God is your baseline—and even your supposed kryptonite can become a superpower when it’s surrendered to purpose.
The conversation lifts from the personal to the practical: a pregame talk to a losing basketball team becomes the spark for a book deal, a fresh reminder that calling is usually discovered through ordinary faithfulness. We talk imposter syndrome, true humility versus self-deprecation, and the leadership question that rewires self-awareness: What’s it like to be on the other side of me? Along the way, Ed points you to simple next steps—daily devotionals, teaching, and tools—to keep your inner script aligned with who God says you are.
If God will use someone today, why not you? Hit play, reframe the question, and take your next bold step. If this resonated, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help others find the show.
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Elsa Kurt: You may know her for her uncanny, viral Kamala Harris impressions & conservative comedy skits, but she’s also a lifelong Patriot & longtime Police Wife. She has channeled her fierce love and passion for God, family, country, and those who serve as the creator, Executive Producer & Host of the Elsa Kurt Show with Clay Novak. Her show discusses today’s topics & news from a middle class/blue collar family & conservative perspective. The vocal LEOW’s career began as a multi-genre author who has penned over 25 books, including twelve contemporary women’s novels.
Clay Novak: Clay Novak was commissioned in 1995 as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry and served as an officer for twenty four years in Mechanized Infantry, Airborne Infantry, and Cavalry units . He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2019. Clay is a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School and is a Master Rated Parachutist, serving for more th...
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Every conversation tells a story, and the best ones
(00:03):
begin with honesty, courage, anda little curiosity.
That's where Elsa Kurt comes in.
She's an author, podcaster, andindependent media personality,
and this is where she bringsreal life to the table.
Authors, thinkers, creators,leaders, everyday folks with
extraordinary journeys.
We sit down, we dig in, and wetalk about what matters, what's
(00:26):
messy, what's beautiful, andwhat just might inspire you to
look at the world a littledifferently.
So pour a cup of something good.
Settle back and join me.
This is Elsa Kurt Interviews,where truth has a seat and
everyone's welcome.
SPEAKER_03 (00:42):
Oh, well, hey, friends.
Welcome back for another week ofElsa Kurt Interviews.
I have yet another amazing guestfor you guys.
I'm very excited to uh bring onDr.
Ed Newton.
He's the lead pastor over atCommunity Bible Church in San
Antonio, Texas.
And we're going to be talkingabout his book and his message
(01:03):
and his mission, and it's goingto be a lot of fun.
So take a listen to this firstand then we'll get into it.
SPEAKER_00 (01:11):
There's a question most of us have whispered at
some point in our lives, usuallyin a quiet moment, sometimes in
disappointment.
Why me?
But what if we've been askingthe wrong question all along?
Today's conversation invites usto turn that question on its
head and look at it through thelens of scripture, calling, and
identity.
This week's guest is Dr.
(01:31):
Ed Newton, lead pastor ofCommunity Bible Church in San
Antonio, a multi-generational,multicultural congregation of
more than 27,000 people, and theauthor of the new book, Why Not
You.
SPEAKER_03 (01:44):
Well, hello there.
Welcome and thank you forjoining me today.
SPEAKER_04 (01:48):
Hey, Elsa, thank you so much.
That intro video, by the way,well done.
I uh I just gotta take a momentjust to recognize, man, the
quality of your level ofleadership here is on full
display.
SPEAKER_03 (02:00):
Oh, you are so kind.
Thank you very much.
I wanted to I wanted to give youa proper, a proper intro.
So I'm very excited to talkabout it.
SPEAKER_04 (02:08):
That was I was like, man, I thought we were about to
have a commercial.
You know, this was brought to usby cheese it or tristits or
something.
And then it was like about me.
I was like, my gosh, this is acrap.
SPEAKER_03 (02:16):
Yes.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
I'm so glad you like that.
Yeah, I uh, you know, I like tomake this about about my guests,
not about me, you know.
They listen to me all the darntime.
They got me sick of my mynonsense all the time.
So this is uh this is such atreat.
Um, I I love I love everythingabout this.
I love the title of your book,Why not you?
And it it just it it calls to itanswers or or counters that
(02:42):
question that we all askconstantly, all day long of
ourselves, you know, why me?
Why is this happening to me?
And of course it's got anegative connotation, and you
just take it and you flip itright around.
Um, so before we go anywhereelse, what does that phrase
really mean to you?
SPEAKER_04 (02:59):
Yeah, it's been a phrase that also I've been
carrying since about 2010, wherea gentleman actually spoke into
my life, and that's the book isdedicated to his name's Chuck
Yates, and the first chapter ofthat book is talking about just
our encounter.
And don't want to give it fullyaway, left for our readers to
check that out.
But um he he just put that in myspirit in 2010.
I carried it for a season, uh,and then it really began to take
(03:22):
fruition about maybe four orfive years ago, where it became
more of a mantra, it became moreof a message, it was a call up.
I think sometimes uh we we failto recognize that nobody talks
more to us than us.
And the question we gotta askourselves is what are we really
saying to us?
And uh what what are wecontinuing to speak over us?
And the scripture is so clear isthat life and death is in the
(03:43):
power of the tongue.
And and sometimes we speaknegativity and we speak doubt
and we speak sometimes evendisappointment and levels of
devastation over ourselves.
And so, why not you wasn't justthe call out, it was the call
up.
And it begins from theperspective of of who we are in
Christ, and and that's thejourney.
And I know we'll get more intoit, but that's where it all
(04:03):
started.
SPEAKER_03 (04:04):
I love that so much.
And you know, of course, you'reso right, and it's so true, and
and I know it in myself, and andI know it in people that I care
about and that I love, and youhear it all the time.
You know, we're so mean toourselves, we're so rotten to
ourselves, and and that's justnot who he created us to to be
and to feel and to live like.
So um, you know, what a profoundand beautiful way to to just
(04:28):
flip that around, to just turnit uh completely around.
Why do you think we do that toourselves?
Is it is it culture, you know,is it the society thing?
Is it something to do with justour, I don't know, our sin
nature?
Where do you think that evencomes from?
SPEAKER_04 (04:43):
Yeah, I definitely think that one of the great
tactics of the enemy is to causeus to really question our worth
and value.
And so we we see this oftentimesum in ourselves where we
self-doubt really because welack the understanding of who we
are in Christ.
And so it goes back to AmagoDay.
When we really understand who weare in Christ, when we
understand that we're made inthe image of God.
(05:04):
And this this applies to anybodythat's watching this show that's
not even a follower of God.
Like you can shake your fist atGod and be an atheist and an
agnostic, and it doesn't changethe love that God has for you.
And that it doesn't change thefact that you're actually made
in the image of God and Goddoesn't make junk.
And um, and so when you thinkabout a God that actually has
shaped you with a soul to livefor all eternity, then you
(05:25):
understand that you were madewith great intentionality, and
when you recognize that you weremade for something so much more,
and how vast are the thoughtsthat God has to you, more than
the grains of sand in the wholeworld.
And this is how much God thinksabout you.
But the unfortunate reality isthat we've allowed a lot of
other voices to speak louderthan the voice that God has for
us.
And this is where, for manypeople, including myself, there
(05:46):
are two dimensions to everyperson that shapes who they are.
It's their nature and theirnurture.
It sounds very similar, it'sjust really separated by just a
few letters.
But nature is how I've beenwired.
Nurture are the things that haveshaped me, positive and
negative, that have actuallymade me who I am.
And when I say positive andnegative, the things that
actually were like positivereinforcements.
(06:06):
And then there were things thathappened to you, uh, done to
you, or maybe you did, orwhatever it may be, your
situation that has actuallybegun to create uh an
unfortunate, what we call acognitive bias that may not be
true of who you are.
And this is where guilt andshame come into the story.
This is where we have todifferentiate between what guilt
(06:27):
and shame is.
Guilt is, and God uses guilt tolead us to a place of
repentance.
But the moment where we go, Ifeel bad for what I've done,
versus I am bad or I am a badidea, you can you can you can
see the difference there.
Guilt is I've made a mistake.
Shame is I am a mistake.
And you can watch how anidentity flips that I am the
(06:50):
cumulative totality of thedecisions that I've made that
were all bad.
And then you begin to allow yourpast to define you and your
mistakes to shape you.
That's where a lot of this comesin to go full circle, and then
that's where the enemy choosesto leverage all of that to keep
(07:12):
you from being all that God'sintended intended for you to be.
SPEAKER_03 (07:16):
Yeah, just it just reinforces every negative thing
that you believe about yourself,and and maybe others have spoken
about you to you, uh, that'snegative, and and it becomes
your identity so easily.
And it's so sad because again,we see it in ourselves, we see
it in people that we love, wesee it in children.
(07:36):
And that I think that's alwaysthe most heartbreaking to me
when you see a a child umexperiencing that type of
self-doubt and self-dislike,really.
And uh it's it's heartbreakingto see.
And, you know, it makes me thinkof too how how grand that is in
(07:56):
a bad way, that it's so easy forus to look at somebody else and
say, don't think that ofyourself.
Don't talk about yourself thatway.
And yet at the same exact time,we're really saying just such
terrible things to ourselves.
And I think we actually becomenumb to it.
We don't even realize it thatwe're doing it.
Like I I am, I'll I'll speak formy of myself here.
(08:17):
Uh I'm a great self-deprecator.
You know, I'm the first one.
And and I always say that in mymind, I'm doing it because I was
always such an anxious,insecure, um, worried child,
adult person.
And I can't bear for anybodyelse to feel like that.
So I always try and like I guessI always call throwing myself
(08:39):
under the bus.
Like, I will be the first one tothrow under myself under the bus
if I think it'll make somebodyelse feel better.
And but yeah, but I'm walkingaway feeling, you know, kind of
kind of not great about myself.
And it's like, why?
Why do we do that to ourselves?
And it's and I I think it'sbecause you know, we're not
strongly anchored in who Godsays we are, right?
I mean, that's probably a hugepart, right?
SPEAKER_04 (09:01):
Well, first of all, thank you for your honesty in
that.
And I think probably why a lotof people love listening to your
show.
And I think that's the the truthof what this book is about.
We talk about imposter syndrome,we talk about all of these
things that we we create thesefalse narratives that nobody
wants to hear from me, or I'mnot the best person.
And and this is this is wherethis flips in the conversation
(09:21):
is where we go.
And you you brought upself-deprecation.
And I've I've done a lot ofpodcasts concerning this book.
And people are like, so where dowe begin to actually believe
what God believes about us?
And I said, You actually have tobegin with self-awareness, and
for you, Elsa, to begin withself-awareness.
The the leadership question wealways ask is what's it like to
be on the other side of me?
(09:43):
And this is where timing andtone intact in regards to 95% of
communication is nonverbal.
So that's crazy to even thinkabout.
Like more of my mannerisms tellyou something more about me than
actually my words tell me aboutme.
And when you think about justnot just what it's like to be on
the other side of you, but butwhat are you saying to you that
other people have wanted to sayto you, such as you make
(10:06):
yourself the brunt end of everyjoke, or you use
self-deprecation, or you alwaysopt out when honestly you're the
best person that should stepforward.
And we used to think that washumility, but actually we just
feel like that's fear.
Yeah.
And then self-awareness causesus to actually invite some very
honest people into our lives.
And I would just dare to say,you you can't, I wouldn't
(10:28):
encourage anybody to go tosocial media and go, hey, tell
me what you think about me.
Um don't do what guys say.
But I go to some people that Ilove and trust and be ready for
the honesty of the of thecomment.
Like, hey, you do this, and thenlet the self-awareness begin to
go, that's not who I am.
(10:49):
And or how about this one?
Why do I always default toself-deprecation?
And then it and then it revealssometimes, and I and it's gonna
sound crazy, it's the voice ofmaybe somebody that said
something 15 years ago that'soperating in the echo chamber of
your heart that you've allowedto live there rent-free.
(11:13):
Right, right.
And you and you've chosen tojust let that negative narrative
play out, and that has a face.
It could have been a teacher ora coach or a boyfriend or
girlfriend or ex-wife orex-husband or one of your kids
that just said something and itjust stuck.
And then the enemy creates afoothold that leads to a
stronghold, and then you findyourself in a situation where
(11:35):
you go, I'm of no value.
And that's what this whole bookis about is actually
deconstructing the idea ofwhatever has been said to you or
by you, uh, that actually can berewired and reshaped to a proper
identity of what God has.
And this is where I always tellpeople when we talk about
identity discovery, you don'tstart with you, you start with
(11:57):
God.
And when you start with God,then it allows you to know that
the God who never changes, theGod that's good no matter what,
who sees you for not just whoyou used to be, but the
potential of you is speakingworth and value into your life.
Then you start there.
Because if you trust yourfeelings and you trust culture
and you trust a lot of otherthings that are what culture has
defined as the as the identityshapers, then they're predicated
(12:21):
most likely upon things that areexternal.
And that's why God's like, hey,I don't look at the external, I
look at the heart.
Oh, that makes sense.
SPEAKER_03 (12:29):
It makes complete sense.
I'm just listening, and I know,like as you're talking, I'm
nodding my head, and I'm justpicturing anybody listening and
watching to this, and and I knowthey're doing the same, that
that they're just recognizingthemselves so much.
Because that that is, you know,that is such a common condition
that we are all sufferingthrough right now.
And it it's so reassuring andpeace-bringing and peace-giving
(12:52):
to know that it just doesn't,not only does it not have to be
that way, that you don't have tofeel like that, there's an
actual guidebook, you know, andwe know the ultimate guidebook,
of course, is the Bible.
Um, but you know, this is such apractical application for
people.
And and I I love that you have,you know, with the scripture
that's in there, you make it,you know, historically
(13:15):
understandable and accurate, ofcourse, and all of the things
and correct, but you also makeit so relatable and
understandable to how it appliesto us.
And that's so helpful.
I call myself a baby Christianall the time because I truly am
a baby Christian.
This is so new for me.
And I just want to absorbeverything like five minutes
(13:37):
ago, you know.
I want I want to stick a USB forin my head and just download the
Bible into it, not just theBible, like the understanding.
And, you know, this is where,and and I think this, I hope
this will apply for other newChristians, maybe seasoned
Christians too, watching, whojust don't have that
understanding of the Bible thatthey want to.
Um, books like yours are sohelpful, so helpful to get that
(14:02):
message in the proper way, youknow, the right message, not the
not the world's version of themessage, which is either diluted
or you know, misconstrued or,you know, deliberately or not,
whatever the case is.
But you know, we get so manydifferent messages that are not
really helpful.
And this is something that is somuch.
(14:22):
Um, for listeners who feelfaithful, um, but they're
stalled, serving God yet quietlyshrinking back, what's the first
lie that you think needs to bechallenged?
SPEAKER_04 (14:34):
Yeah, I I think the the typically what ends up
happening is is that we reallydon't see what God sees in us.
And I think we have to actuallyask this question has there ever
been a moment for a parentthat's watching where you had
that really inspirational hypemoment that you had with your
kid where you're trying to talkthem into something that they
feel as if that they can't do.
(14:54):
Um I just think about an exampleof my children, it was a test
that they were gonna take, andthey're like, I'm just gonna
fail it, you know.
I'm like, but I saw you study infour hours.
Yeah, but I just you know, Ialways fail stuff like this.
And I go, Hey, um I think yougot this.
God's got you, you know, and allof that.
And then you try to hype themup.
(15:16):
And then I remember uh mydaughter getting out of the car,
and I just said, uh I justbreathed this prayer.
I was like, God, I just wishshe'd believed what I believed
about her.
I wish I could put my confidencein her so she could walk into
this classroom with theconfidence that I have.
I wish I could actually exportit and import it into her that
she could carry it.
And I felt the voice of the HolySpirit say, Hey, that's what
(15:37):
I've been trying to do with youall these years.
SPEAKER_06 (15:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (15:40):
I put the Holy Spirit in you to give you the
confidence.
And that's why Jesus goes,You'll do greater things than
me.
And that's why the Holy Spirit'sknown as the comforter.
And so I I think for somebodytoday that realizes, man, I
really struggle with confidencethat God could actually use me.
Yeah, I I would just say he gaveyou the greatest gift, which is
(16:05):
the Holy Spirit of God, thatcalls to remembrance things that
you need to know, that gives youcourage in moments of fear, that
in moments of nervousness andanxiety, that you could actually
pray a prayer, God give me theright words, and somehow
supernaturally, uh God, Godtunes the hearts of people that
you're speaking to, and youdidn't even do anything.
God was working behind thescenes.
And then we recognize wow, thisGod is so for me that actually
(16:26):
He wants me to win more than Iwant to win.
SPEAKER_03 (16:29):
Yeah.
And and and I and I know fromyour story that this isn't just
pastor speak, this isn't hype,this is this is personal uh
experience, personal story.
Um, speak to that a little bitif you will, because you are
speaking before a congregationof what was it, 27,000.
Uh, you do speaking events, menspeaking, like you are speaking
(16:51):
in front of thousands of people,and that's just the in-person.
So you have, of course, theonline audiences and and all of
that.
Um, and we talked a little bitabout imposter syndrome.
Speak to a little bit about howthis has transformed your life.
SPEAKER_04 (17:08):
Yeah, I I think for me, I have always wrestled with
uh confidence.
I've wrestled with self-doubt.
I've I've battled, I'm notanxiety, I'm not depression, but
I battle it.
And um, and so for me, I Iremember being in a conversation
with uh my counselor, and I'msuch a big believer in
counseling.
I go to a week intensive everyyear, like kind of a nine to two
(17:32):
thing every year with acounselor.
And um he said, and there aretwo types of people in life.
There are people that feelrejected, and then their
response is then they are bydefinition never good enough.
He said, then there's anothertype of person that when they
feel rejection, then they livetheir whole life to prove
everybody wrong.
(17:54):
And he goes, and both are wrong.
And he goes, but you're optiontwo.
He goes, you have facedrejection.
Both my parents were deafgrowing up.
My mom and dad are in heaven,and so uh I wasn't rejected by
my parents, but I watched, Ilived in a culture where deaf
people were just oftentimes madefun of or um discriminated
(18:15):
against.
And I'm 50, and so I watched alot of this happen before some
laws got into practice.
And even when the ADA AmericanDisability Act kind of gets
incorporated, there just wasn'tan awareness of what it meant to
actually engage with a deafperson.
And so there'd just be a lot ofthings that I heard as their
primary voice that I was justabsorbing, just it created a
(18:37):
sense of like we're justdifferent, but not different in
a good way, but we're differentin a bad way.
When I say we, it was just meembodying my mom and dad.
Then you can't pass the SAT.
You know, I try to take ittwice.
College counselor, or excuse me,my high school counselor's like,
hey, you're just not collegematerial.
But my dream was to go tocollege.
So you just told me, like, okay,I'm I'm just not gonna make it.
(18:59):
And then you kind of just fastforward, and my counselor just
kind of began to put all ofthese moments of rejection.
And he says, And when you justput all of that together, what
that did for you is created aninternal motor and motivation to
live your whole life to provepeople wrong, all the while not
fully recognizing that when youprove somebody wrong, there's
another one in line that youhave to prove wrong.
(19:21):
And that just is endless.
And then there was this justgold statement that came out
instead of living your life toprove your creator wrong, how
about you live your life toprove your creator was right?
And you chose you and calledyou.
And that's this journey thatI've been on.
And this book Elsa came out.
(19:42):
I mean, the crazy part aboutthis whole book is this was just
literally I could show you amirror in my office uh that
says, Why not you?
So every day I just have a callup moment of going, God's gonna
use somebody today, why not me?
Um, but that that whole concept.
Came through some pretty darknights of the soul.
And until in 2023, December26th, um, man, I didn't want to
(20:07):
live anymore.
And and so that was a prettyhard season.
My wife and I have been married27 years.
So this is almost two years ago.
And uh my five foot tall littleFilipino wife just curled up in
my lap and just was like, hey,we're gonna get through this.
And that's when I began to checkinto counseling and work through
therapy and began to realizesome stuff about me that I was
just carrying a lot of rejectionand I'm not good enough.
(20:30):
And so yeah, I'm on stage infront of thousands of people,
but internally dying.
And then getting to a pointwhere I didn't want to live
anymore.
And so God met me in a veryinteresting place and in um this
journey.
So all of this why not you, forsomebody that's like, Ed, you've
believed this your whole life.
Like, actually, this is likeDecember 2023.
(20:52):
I mean, it's a couple years old.
So I'm still.
I mean, you just mentioned thatyou're kind of a new believer or
maybe a Christian, but like thiswhole why not you, like I said,
was mentioned to me in 2010, butreally started to get lived out
in a real way just two yearsago.
SPEAKER_03 (21:09):
Wow.
And it it's such an amazing uhproof testament to you know
God's timing, not our own,right?
Like just the patience and andjust the just to rest in the
waiting.
And I and I know as achronically impatient person,
you know, I want everything fiveminutes going.
We just I just told John to puta USB port in my head.
(21:30):
Um, you know, what a great,valuable thing to hear that, you
know, it wasn't immediate.
You weren't just born with it,you weren't just doing this,
you're just not, you know,feeling it every minute.
And and I think that, and I andI hear this from pastors very,
which by the way, um, we knowanybody who knows knows that uh
being a pastor is truly one ofthe most difficult jobs you
(21:56):
could possibly have, and thatthe you know burnout rate is is
pretty high.
And you know, it's so it's soobvious as to why, you know, the
the burden of uh the the weightof everyone's expectations and
needs of you, um, and thendealing with whatever you have
going on yourself, um, that'sthat's a lot.
(22:17):
It's a lot to ask of of a humanbeing.
And, you know, people do tend toforget that that is exactly what
you are.
You're you're human beings, andand you know, um I speaking
briefly about uh very brieflyabout our our own pastor at our
church, um what always strikesme about a great pastor is the
humility and just the humblenature, and I see that in you,
(22:38):
just that grateful, humblenature, and and and I think
that's what resonates withpeople so much because we don't
feel like we're being pardon thethe the phrasing, but we're we
don't feel like we're beingpreached to, we feel like we're
being ministered to or beingspoken to, and and it's just
such a treasure, and what you'redoing is such a treasure.
And now hearing, you know, justa little deeper part of that
(23:00):
story, even more so to know thatthe struggle has been there, and
I'm sure it still goes on.
You're is still having theseconversations with yourself,
right?
And that is so helpful foranyone um experiencing the same
types of things or their ownversion of it.
SPEAKER_06 (23:19):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03 (23:20):
Yeah.
So many people imagine uhcalling as a lightning bolt
moment, but your story shows ajourney as we were just talking
about, and you mentioned 2010,but I know there was another
incident from your childhood,and I I know it's in the book,
so I won't ask you to tell thewhole story if you're watching,
(23:40):
but will you speak down a littlebit if you will?
SPEAKER_04 (23:43):
Yeah, I was 10 years old and I was at McDonald's and
interpreting for my parents onOrlando, Florida, where we used
to live.
And a sweet African-Americanwoman approached me and she
said, Do you do this everywhereyou go?
And I said, Yes, ma'am, I do.
And I was just trying to order ahaving meal for myself, you
know.
And uh I always ordered for myparents and then I would order
for me.
And um, and I'll never forget, Iwas 10, I didn't come to know
(24:05):
Jesus until I was uh 15.
And she goes, I just want totell you that one day God's
gonna greatly use you.
And it was the first timeanybody had ever kind of spoken
that into me.
And uh just like I said earlier,I'm I'm 50.
That was 40 years ago, and Istill could hear it, I could
still see it, and just the powerof belief, you know.
(24:25):
Um, what's more I think that'sthe phrase uh she she didn't use
the language, why not you?
But she was saying, why not you?
SPEAKER_06 (24:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (24:32):
You know, she was like, God's gonna use somebody,
basically, why not you?
But she said in a way of likeone day God's gonna greatly use
you, not right one person, thisperson.
She looked at me as like you,God's gonna greatly use you.
SPEAKER_05 (24:43):
That's incredible.
SPEAKER_04 (24:45):
And I think that's what somebody on the other end
of the screen today, or maybelistening with some headphones
on, and just needs to hear thatGod wants to use you.
SPEAKER_03 (24:53):
Yeah, I think we, you know, we go about life
thinking that we're not um we'renot good enough, we're not
consequential enough, and uhit's amazing, right?
How many people are looking atthemselves in such a dim light.
Just incredible.
And um to to realize this, toget your message ingrained in on
(25:18):
their heart, not even just intheir brain, on their heart.
It's just it's justlife-changing.
I I cannot tell you, thelisteners, the the viewers,
whichever one you're doing, it'sjust life-changing.
It's just so exciting to me thatthis is out there for people
because there's gonna be, andyou know the you know the deal.
One if just one person reads itand it it changes their
(25:42):
perspective on themselves, it'sthat that ripple effect, you
know, then they're gonna changesomebody else's life, and you
just keep growing that effectfor people.
SPEAKER_04 (25:52):
Elsa, can I can I'd say two stories real quick?
SPEAKER_03 (25:54):
Yeah, please do.
SPEAKER_04 (25:55):
Um, well, I I battle dyslexia, and um, and so
somebody may get this book in anaudible form.
Well, they're listening to a guythat read it himself two days,
17 chapters and a conclusion,and uh who battles dyslexia and
uh all all that to say.
So when you're listening to it,it's the a guy that just
(26:20):
struggled like reading itbecause the way they do an
audible book is that you go to astudio and you you know this as
an author, you go to a studioand you're reading your book,
but then it's been recorded froman another state in another
city, and he's so he kind of hekeeps coming back and he's like,
Hey, you you're making up words.
(26:41):
And I'm like, I know, I justgotta tell you, um, yeah, words
move.
And so when words move for me, Ifill in words, he's like, No,
they're it makes complete sense,it's just not the book.
And I realized that one of thethings that um if anybody's
listening and goes, yeah, I getthat.
(27:03):
What if I were to say that's nota criticism?
What if I were to say that itcould be a superpower?
No, you know what I'm saying?
Like the very thing that peopleuh say is kryptonite.
What if I were to say it'sactually the opposite?
What if I were to say the ADDthat I was diagnosed with, uh
let's just say diagnosed byteachers who're like, you're
(27:24):
hyperactive and you're you'reyou know causing a lot of
problems.
What if that ADD now serves asthe as the the energy that I
needed to to lead a church at50?
You know, so all I'm saying isthat I always always just tell
our our our congregation, don'tlet the labels people put on you
stick because the blood of Jesuswon't let it stick.
You know, he's got a differentlabor for you as son and
(27:45):
daughter, and you can do allthings to Christ who strengthens
me.
So hope that helps.
SPEAKER_03 (27:50):
Oh, tremendously, tremendously.
Yes, that's that's working in myheart.
Are you kidding?
Jeez, I I feel like we're uh wecould be siblings separated, uh
you know.
So many relatable things thatyou're saying here.
Like I almost actually likeraised my hand, like, yep, yep.
Oh, oh, the messages we hear inour lives that need to be turned
(28:11):
around and corrected.
Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_04 (28:14):
Here's the second, here's the second story if you
got it, if you got a minute.
SPEAKER_03 (28:17):
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04 (28:18):
All right.
So um this book was not, I mean,I didn't I didn't want to write
a book called Why Not You.
It wasn't it wasn't a book.
It was uh it was a message on mymirror.
And I got invited to uh speak ata high school basketball game
(28:39):
for a team.
Uh I live in San Antonio, so inour town, a school was playing
another school that was inAustin, and this team comes in
from Austin, and the coach is afriend of mine that went to our
church and he said, Ed, listen,our team has lost five games in
a row, and we need amotivational like pregame talk.
And so I go in, they're they'rein San Antonio, so I drive over,
(28:59):
I give a pregame talk, and I'mlike, I'm like, hey man, here's
the deal.
Somebody's gotta get a rebound,why not you?
Somebody's gotta dive on thefloor, get a loose ball, why not
you?
This game's not gonna end in atie.
This isn't soccer, you know?
I mean, somebody's gonna likesomebody has to win, why not
you?
So I kind of just use thismessage.
Don't think anything about it.
The whole pregame deal was justlike, why not you?
Why not you?
(29:19):
Why not you?
Watch the game next week.
I get a phone call.
Um, it's a book agent.
Her name's Esther.
Esther is the book, she sheoversees and owns the Fed
agency.
And the Fed agency, um, likeshe's the literary literary book
agent for Mark Batterson, thatcircle maker, Brock Purdy, who's
(29:42):
the quarterback for the 49ers,and a list like Judah Smith and
just like all these famous,famous, famous, famous people.
Well, her son was in that lockerroom.
Comes out of the game, ridingback to Austin, says, Mom,
listen, you represent a lot offamous people.
And the guy that came and gavethe pregame talk, not famous,
(30:05):
never, don't even know who thatguy is.
It was the best talk I've everheard.
Um, and I think you ought torepresent him.
So Esther calls me.
She goes, I don't even know whyI'm calling you right now,
except for the fact that my sonwas in a locker room and told me
I'm supposed to call you.
Tell me about yourself.
And I was like, Well, I'm I'm apastor in San Antonio.
She was like, Okay.
(30:26):
Um, she goes, Can I come seeyou?
So she comes to church and she'sin this office that I'm telling
you about.
And she was like, if you wroteone book, what would it be?
I'd say, why not you?
Wow.
You're so anybody that's that'sso you're if you're holding a
copy or listening to a copy, oreven the fact that we're even
having this conversation, thisall got started with a pre-game
(30:49):
speech to some high school dudesthat lost five games that just
needed to be motivated.
And the trickle-down dominoeffect of once more, this is my
whole point of why I tell youthe story for somebody that's
like, Man, I just feel like I'mcalled to something more and I
don't know how to get startedand I don't know what to do.
Just be faithful and do what Godcalled you to do today.
SPEAKER_06 (31:11):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (31:11):
Because who knows if the phone rings tomorrow.
But it won't ring tomorrow ifyou're not faithful to what
you've been given to do today.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (31:22):
And it's such a it's such an exciting way to look at
your life too.
Like you just don't know whatamazing thing is around the
corner or what seemingly simplemoment will lead to something
absolutely incredible andlife-changing.
Like you don't know.
And so rather than sit back andand you know, say, well, this
(31:46):
moment stunk, you know, itwasn't the moment I thought it
was gonna be, um, look at it as,well, you know what, this moment
might have not been the one thatI thought it was gonna be.
Um, but I trust that that I'mbeing led to something greater
because of this moment, likeeach moment is going to lead to
the next moment, and you justdon't know what it's gonna be.
(32:06):
So to me, I think that's soexciting.
It's such an exciting way tolook at life in in general.
And I I love that you sharedthat story.
It's it's really cool, really,really cool.
And it's just incredible howthose little moments became what
they are right now, and and nowyou have this, you know,
wonderful book out in theuniverse for people.
(32:27):
Um what so when a reason when areader closes, why not you?
When they finish the book, justturn that page or hit end on the
the audible there.
What do you hope changes first?
They're they're thinking, uh,their praying, or their courage?
If you had to pick one first,like what's the order of of that
for them?
SPEAKER_04 (32:46):
Yeah, thinking.
It all begins with thinking.
SPEAKER_03 (32:48):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (32:49):
It all begins with thinking.
Um, yeah, uh my prayer forsomebody today is that they
would know that there's a Godthat yes can forgive sin, give
salvation, but actually canrewire your brain to make you um
believe differently.
And you go, Ed, by whatauthority do you say that?
Romans 12.
(33:09):
It says that uh it saysliterally do not be conformed to
this world, but that your bodyis a living sacrifice, holy and
accepted one unto the Lord.
That we know that that section,but then there's that one moment
it says, but be transformed bythe renewing of your mind.
I love that.
So I I would just believe infaith that somebody can have a
renewed mind and believecorrectly about themselves and
(33:31):
actually learn how.
And the book gives a verystrategic way of how to actually
reclaim thoughts or not allowthem to drive you or lead you in
directions that are not what Godsays about you.
SPEAKER_03 (33:47):
Yeah, I like that.
This is, you know, this is atthe top of my to-be-read list.
It's not even on, I'm takingit's not even on the list, it's
just what I'm reading tonight.
It's just my book for tonight.
And I'll it's my bedside bookfor tonight, or virtual bedside
book, I guess I should say.
Yeah.
Uh and no, you know what?
Thank you.
And and on behalf of anybodywho's gonna watch this and see
the clips from this and all ofthose things.
(34:09):
I I am thanking you on theirbehalf because I know they will
want me to do that.
Um, tell everybody where theycan find you, where they can
find your books, website.
Uh, I'm I'm sure your churchthey can watch online, I'm
assuming, yes.
SPEAKER_04 (34:23):
Yeah, absolutely.
You can buy the book anywhereyou buy books.
Uh, I think everybody goes toAmazon nowadays, but um, you can
wherever you buy books, you canget the book.
And for anybody that's onInstagram, it's Pastor Ed
Newton.
Um, so there's a lot of contentthere.
We have an app.
I know that sounds really crazy,but I just really believe that
that I wanted people to know howto read the Bible.
(34:44):
And we have an app, it's EdNewton.
If you go to the app store, it'sEd Newton.
It's free.
Just download it.
You can see a lot of contentthere, but there's a devotional
like every like if you subscribeto the email list, you'll get a
devotional every morning uhthat'll just send your heart to
God.
And it's all that's free.
And then our church, communitybible.com, or online church is
probably the easiest way, onlinechurch.com.
(35:05):
Uh and watch our messages.
SPEAKER_03 (35:07):
So I love it.
I have to ask you, I know I saidthat was the last question.
I have to ask you one last one.
Your foreword was written by MaxLocato.
Will you very quickly tell us alittle bit about that?
Because that's kind of cool.
SPEAKER_04 (35:18):
Pastor Max is like a spiritual father.
Uh he lives in our city and he'sbecome a dear friend and has
been like a spiritual fathermentor to me along the way.
And yeah, it just honestly,Elsa, even the fact of uh Pastor
Max doesn't do forwards.
Wow.
(35:38):
He doesn't do forwards.
Like he made a commitment acouple years ago not to do
forwards.
And um, I just straight up askedhim.
I was like, we did have a tattooexperience together.
I got a lot of tattoos, and uh,why do I know that story, the
tattoo story?
SPEAKER_03 (35:53):
I think I just heard about the tattoo story fairly
recently.
Crazy.
SPEAKER_04 (35:56):
Yeah, he uh he got a tattoo.
I won't take his story, but hegot a tattoo for celebrating 50
years of being a Christian.
And uh he called me and he waslike, he's like, Ed, listen, he
goes, uh, I've never I've neverasked a man this before in my
life.
Uh he said, but I I need a Ineed to get a tattoo.
So um so he and I went and gottattoos together, and it's he
(36:20):
got the word tatelesti, whichmeans paid full.
Oh, and um so yeah, the the therunning joke between both of us,
and he just preached at ourchurch the other day.
And um the running joke is totelestai paid in full, but Ed
paid for my tattoo.
SPEAKER_03 (36:36):
I love that.
Oh, that is so fun.
SPEAKER_04 (36:40):
What a 70 years old, got a tattoo.
I I love it.
SPEAKER_03 (36:43):
I love that so much.
That is so awesome.
No, I would not have thoughtthat night.
Only know because I'm uhforearm.
SPEAKER_04 (36:53):
I mean, like, not you know, not one of those V is
like a little, oh no, like righthere, just right there for
everybody to see.
SPEAKER_02 (37:00):
Go it on him because really, like, you know, if
you're gonna do it, go go big orgo home.
Come on.
SPEAKER_04 (37:07):
All the Max Vicato fans, and there's a lot of them
in the world, or uh, a few ofthem are like, You're such a bad
influence on Pastor Max.
I'm like, he called me, man.
SPEAKER_03 (37:15):
That's not your fault, it's not your fault.
I'm not gonna blame you.
I think I listen, I think it'sawesome.
I don't have a single tattoo.
I've been talking about gettinga tattoo my you know entire
adult life.
I've never done it.
So I I I have tattoo envy and Ithink it's really cool.
And now I'm even more inspired.
If Max, okay, no at 70.
Did you say 70?
SPEAKER_04 (37:34):
70.
SPEAKER_03 (37:34):
Yeah, there's my uh inspiration right there.
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for giving me theextra couple minutes there.
Um, it was wonderful talking toyou.
Uh guys, all of the uminformation that you need, um,
link for the book, everythingthat you need will be in the
show notes.
Uh, thank you guys all forwatching, and especially thank
(37:54):
you, Pastor Evan, for joining metoday.
Guys, go get the book, you'regonna love it.
Take care.
unknown (37:59):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_03 (38:00):
Bye-bye.
SPEAKER_01 (38:01):
From small to the local tourist to battle truth
and loyalty.
Uh-huh, but small to take hardpeople.
Ordinary people facingextraordinary moments.
You'll find one second.
Even if you find the microphone,small tournaments of different
worlds in 1924.
Every conversation tells a story, and the best ones
(00:03):
begin with honesty, courage, anda little curiosity.
That's where Elsa Kurt comes in.
She's an author, podcaster, andindependent media personality,
and this is where she bringsreal life to the table.
Authors, thinkers, creators,leaders, everyday folks with
extraordinary journeys.
We sit down, we dig in, and wetalk about what matters, what's
(00:26):
messy, what's beautiful, andwhat just might inspire you to
look at the world a littledifferently.
So pour a cup of something good.
Settle back and join me.
This is Elsa Kurt Interviews,where truth has a seat and
everyone's welcome.
SPEAKER_03 (00:42):
Oh, well, hey, friends.
Welcome back for another week ofElsa Kurt Interviews.
I have yet another amazing guestfor you guys.
I'm very excited to uh bring onDr.
Ed Newton.
He's the lead pastor over atCommunity Bible Church in San
Antonio, Texas.
And we're going to be talkingabout his book and his message
(01:03):
and his mission, and it's goingto be a lot of fun.
So take a listen to this firstand then we'll get into it.
SPEAKER_00 (01:11):
There's a question most of us have whispered at
some point in our lives, usuallyin a quiet moment, sometimes in
disappointment.
Why me?
But what if we've been askingthe wrong question all along?
Today's conversation invites usto turn that question on its
head and look at it through thelens of scripture, calling, and
identity.
This week's guest is Dr.
(01:31):
Ed Newton, lead pastor ofCommunity Bible Church in San
Antonio, a multi-generational,multicultural congregation of
more than 27,000 people, and theauthor of the new book, Why Not
You.
SPEAKER_03 (01:44):
Well, hello there.
Welcome and thank you forjoining me today.
SPEAKER_04 (01:48):
Hey, Elsa, thank you so much.
That intro video, by the way,well done.
I uh I just gotta take a momentjust to recognize, man, the
quality of your level ofleadership here is on full
display.
SPEAKER_03 (02:00):
Oh, you are so kind.
Thank you very much.
I wanted to I wanted to give youa proper, a proper intro.
So I'm very excited to talkabout it.
SPEAKER_04 (02:08):
That was I was like, man, I thought we were about to
have a commercial.
You know, this was brought to usby cheese it or tristits or
something.
And then it was like about me.
I was like, my gosh, this is acrap.
SPEAKER_03 (02:16):
Yes.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
I'm so glad you like that.
Yeah, I uh, you know, I like tomake this about about my guests,
not about me, you know.
They listen to me all the darntime.
They got me sick of my mynonsense all the time.
So this is uh this is such atreat.
Um, I I love I love everythingabout this.
I love the title of your book,Why not you?
And it it just it it calls to itanswers or or counters that
(02:42):
question that we all askconstantly, all day long of
ourselves, you know, why me?
Why is this happening to me?
And of course it's got anegative connotation, and you
just take it and you flip itright around.
Um, so before we go anywhereelse, what does that phrase
really mean to you?
SPEAKER_04 (02:59):
Yeah, it's been a phrase that also I've been
carrying since about 2010, wherea gentleman actually spoke into
my life, and that's the book isdedicated to his name's Chuck
Yates, and the first chapter ofthat book is talking about just
our encounter.
And don't want to give it fullyaway, left for our readers to
check that out.
But um he he just put that in myspirit in 2010.
I carried it for a season, uh,and then it really began to take
(03:22):
fruition about maybe four orfive years ago, where it became
more of a mantra, it became moreof a message, it was a call up.
I think sometimes uh we we failto recognize that nobody talks
more to us than us.
And the question we gotta askourselves is what are we really
saying to us?
And uh what what are wecontinuing to speak over us?
And the scripture is so clear isthat life and death is in the
(03:43):
power of the tongue.
And and sometimes we speaknegativity and we speak doubt
and we speak sometimes evendisappointment and levels of
devastation over ourselves.
And so, why not you wasn't justthe call out, it was the call
up.
And it begins from theperspective of of who we are in
Christ, and and that's thejourney.
And I know we'll get more intoit, but that's where it all
(04:03):
started.
SPEAKER_03 (04:04):
I love that so much.
And you know, of course, you'reso right, and it's so true, and
and I know it in myself, and andI know it in people that I care
about and that I love, and youhear it all the time.
You know, we're so mean toourselves, we're so rotten to
ourselves, and and that's justnot who he created us to to be
and to feel and to live like.
So um, you know, what a profoundand beautiful way to to just
(04:28):
flip that around, to just turnit uh completely around.
Why do you think we do that toourselves?
Is it is it culture, you know,is it the society thing?
Is it something to do with justour, I don't know, our sin
nature?
Where do you think that evencomes from?
SPEAKER_04 (04:43):
Yeah, I definitely think that one of the great
tactics of the enemy is to causeus to really question our worth
and value.
And so we we see this oftentimesum in ourselves where we
self-doubt really because welack the understanding of who we
are in Christ.
And so it goes back to AmagoDay.
When we really understand who weare in Christ, when we
understand that we're made inthe image of God.
(05:04):
And this this applies to anybodythat's watching this show that's
not even a follower of God.
Like you can shake your fist atGod and be an atheist and an
agnostic, and it doesn't changethe love that God has for you.
And that it doesn't change thefact that you're actually made
in the image of God and Goddoesn't make junk.
And um, and so when you thinkabout a God that actually has
shaped you with a soul to livefor all eternity, then you
(05:25):
understand that you were madewith great intentionality, and
when you recognize that you weremade for something so much more,
and how vast are the thoughtsthat God has to you, more than
the grains of sand in the wholeworld.
And this is how much God thinksabout you.
But the unfortunate reality isthat we've allowed a lot of
other voices to speak louderthan the voice that God has for
us.
And this is where, for manypeople, including myself, there
(05:46):
are two dimensions to everyperson that shapes who they are.
It's their nature and theirnurture.
It sounds very similar, it'sjust really separated by just a
few letters.
But nature is how I've beenwired.
Nurture are the things that haveshaped me, positive and
negative, that have actuallymade me who I am.
And when I say positive andnegative, the things that
actually were like positivereinforcements.
(06:06):
And then there were things thathappened to you, uh, done to
you, or maybe you did, orwhatever it may be, your
situation that has actuallybegun to create uh an
unfortunate, what we call acognitive bias that may not be
true of who you are.
And this is where guilt andshame come into the story.
This is where we have todifferentiate between what guilt
(06:27):
and shame is.
Guilt is, and God uses guilt tolead us to a place of
repentance.
But the moment where we go, Ifeel bad for what I've done,
versus I am bad or I am a badidea, you can you can you can
see the difference there.
Guilt is I've made a mistake.
Shame is I am a mistake.
And you can watch how anidentity flips that I am the
(06:50):
cumulative totality of thedecisions that I've made that
were all bad.
And then you begin to allow yourpast to define you and your
mistakes to shape you.
That's where a lot of this comesin to go full circle, and then
that's where the enemy choosesto leverage all of that to keep
(07:12):
you from being all that God'sintended intended for you to be.
SPEAKER_03 (07:16):
Yeah, just it just reinforces every negative thing
that you believe about yourself,and and maybe others have spoken
about you to you, uh, that'snegative, and and it becomes
your identity so easily.
And it's so sad because again,we see it in ourselves, we see
it in people that we love, wesee it in children.
(07:36):
And that I think that's alwaysthe most heartbreaking to me
when you see a a child umexperiencing that type of
self-doubt and self-dislike,really.
And uh it's it's heartbreakingto see.
And, you know, it makes me thinkof too how how grand that is in
(07:56):
a bad way, that it's so easy forus to look at somebody else and
say, don't think that ofyourself.
Don't talk about yourself thatway.
And yet at the same exact time,we're really saying just such
terrible things to ourselves.
And I think we actually becomenumb to it.
We don't even realize it thatwe're doing it.
Like I I am, I'll I'll speak formy of myself here.
(08:17):
Uh I'm a great self-deprecator.
You know, I'm the first one.
And and I always say that in mymind, I'm doing it because I was
always such an anxious,insecure, um, worried child,
adult person.
And I can't bear for anybodyelse to feel like that.
So I always try and like I guessI always call throwing myself
(08:39):
under the bus.
Like, I will be the first one tothrow under myself under the bus
if I think it'll make somebodyelse feel better.
And but yeah, but I'm walkingaway feeling, you know, kind of
kind of not great about myself.
And it's like, why?
Why do we do that to ourselves?
And it's and I I think it'sbecause you know, we're not
strongly anchored in who Godsays we are, right?
I mean, that's probably a hugepart, right?
SPEAKER_04 (09:01):
Well, first of all, thank you for your honesty in
that.
And I think probably why a lotof people love listening to your
show.
And I think that's the the truthof what this book is about.
We talk about imposter syndrome,we talk about all of these
things that we we create thesefalse narratives that nobody
wants to hear from me, or I'mnot the best person.
And and this is this is wherethis flips in the conversation
(09:21):
is where we go.
And you you brought upself-deprecation.
And I've I've done a lot ofpodcasts concerning this book.
And people are like, so where dowe begin to actually believe
what God believes about us?
And I said, You actually have tobegin with self-awareness, and
for you, Elsa, to begin withself-awareness.
The the leadership question wealways ask is what's it like to
be on the other side of me?
(09:43):
And this is where timing andtone intact in regards to 95% of
communication is nonverbal.
So that's crazy to even thinkabout.
Like more of my mannerisms tellyou something more about me than
actually my words tell me aboutme.
And when you think about justnot just what it's like to be on
the other side of you, but butwhat are you saying to you that
other people have wanted to sayto you, such as you make
(10:06):
yourself the brunt end of everyjoke, or you use
self-deprecation, or you alwaysopt out when honestly you're the
best person that should stepforward.
And we used to think that washumility, but actually we just
feel like that's fear.
Yeah.
And then self-awareness causesus to actually invite some very
honest people into our lives.
And I would just dare to say,you you can't, I wouldn't
(10:28):
encourage anybody to go tosocial media and go, hey, tell
me what you think about me.
Um don't do what guys say.
But I go to some people that Ilove and trust and be ready for
the honesty of the of thecomment.
Like, hey, you do this, and thenlet the self-awareness begin to
go, that's not who I am.
(10:49):
And or how about this one?
Why do I always default toself-deprecation?
And then it and then it revealssometimes, and I and it's gonna
sound crazy, it's the voice ofmaybe somebody that said
something 15 years ago that'soperating in the echo chamber of
your heart that you've allowedto live there rent-free.
(11:13):
Right, right.
And you and you've chosen tojust let that negative narrative
play out, and that has a face.
It could have been a teacher ora coach or a boyfriend or
girlfriend or ex-wife orex-husband or one of your kids
that just said something and itjust stuck.
And then the enemy creates afoothold that leads to a
stronghold, and then you findyourself in a situation where
(11:35):
you go, I'm of no value.
And that's what this whole bookis about is actually
deconstructing the idea ofwhatever has been said to you or
by you, uh, that actually can berewired and reshaped to a proper
identity of what God has.
And this is where I always tellpeople when we talk about
identity discovery, you don'tstart with you, you start with
(11:57):
God.
And when you start with God,then it allows you to know that
the God who never changes, theGod that's good no matter what,
who sees you for not just whoyou used to be, but the
potential of you is speakingworth and value into your life.
Then you start there.
Because if you trust yourfeelings and you trust culture
and you trust a lot of otherthings that are what culture has
defined as the as the identityshapers, then they're predicated
(12:21):
most likely upon things that areexternal.
And that's why God's like, hey,I don't look at the external, I
look at the heart.
Oh, that makes sense.
SPEAKER_03 (12:29):
It makes complete sense.
I'm just listening, and I know,like as you're talking, I'm
nodding my head, and I'm justpicturing anybody listening and
watching to this, and and I knowthey're doing the same, that
that they're just recognizingthemselves so much.
Because that that is, you know,that is such a common condition
that we are all sufferingthrough right now.
And it it's so reassuring andpeace-bringing and peace-giving
(12:52):
to know that it just doesn't,not only does it not have to be
that way, that you don't have tofeel like that, there's an
actual guidebook, you know, andwe know the ultimate guidebook,
of course, is the Bible.
Um, but you know, this is such apractical application for
people.
And and I I love that you have,you know, with the scripture
that's in there, you make it,you know, historically
(13:15):
understandable and accurate, ofcourse, and all of the things
and correct, but you also makeit so relatable and
understandable to how it appliesto us.
And that's so helpful.
I call myself a baby Christianall the time because I truly am
a baby Christian.
This is so new for me.
And I just want to absorbeverything like five minutes
(13:37):
ago, you know.
I want I want to stick a USB forin my head and just download the
Bible into it, not just theBible, like the understanding.
And, you know, this is where,and and I think this, I hope
this will apply for other newChristians, maybe seasoned
Christians too, watching, whojust don't have that
understanding of the Bible thatthey want to.
Um, books like yours are sohelpful, so helpful to get that
(14:02):
message in the proper way, youknow, the right message, not the
not the world's version of themessage, which is either diluted
or you know, misconstrued or,you know, deliberately or not,
whatever the case is.
But you know, we get so manydifferent messages that are not
really helpful.
And this is something that is somuch.
(14:22):
Um, for listeners who feelfaithful, um, but they're
stalled, serving God yet quietlyshrinking back, what's the first
lie that you think needs to bechallenged?
SPEAKER_04 (14:34):
Yeah, I I think the the typically what ends up
happening is is that we reallydon't see what God sees in us.
And I think we have to actuallyask this question has there ever
been a moment for a parentthat's watching where you had
that really inspirational hypemoment that you had with your
kid where you're trying to talkthem into something that they
feel as if that they can't do.
(14:54):
Um I just think about an exampleof my children, it was a test
that they were gonna take, andthey're like, I'm just gonna
fail it, you know.
I'm like, but I saw you study infour hours.
Yeah, but I just you know, Ialways fail stuff like this.
And I go, Hey, um I think yougot this.
God's got you, you know, and allof that.
And then you try to hype themup.
(15:16):
And then I remember uh mydaughter getting out of the car,
and I just said, uh I justbreathed this prayer.
I was like, God, I just wishshe'd believed what I believed
about her.
I wish I could put my confidencein her so she could walk into
this classroom with theconfidence that I have.
I wish I could actually exportit and import it into her that
she could carry it.
And I felt the voice of the HolySpirit say, Hey, that's what
(15:37):
I've been trying to do with youall these years.
SPEAKER_06 (15:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (15:40):
I put the Holy Spirit in you to give you the
confidence.
And that's why Jesus goes,You'll do greater things than
me.
And that's why the Holy Spirit'sknown as the comforter.
And so I I think for somebodytoday that realizes, man, I
really struggle with confidencethat God could actually use me.
Yeah, I I would just say he gaveyou the greatest gift, which is
(16:05):
the Holy Spirit of God, thatcalls to remembrance things that
you need to know, that gives youcourage in moments of fear, that
in moments of nervousness andanxiety, that you could actually
pray a prayer, God give me theright words, and somehow
supernaturally, uh God, Godtunes the hearts of people that
you're speaking to, and youdidn't even do anything.
God was working behind thescenes.
And then we recognize wow, thisGod is so for me that actually
(16:26):
He wants me to win more than Iwant to win.
SPEAKER_03 (16:29):
Yeah.
And and and I and I know fromyour story that this isn't just
pastor speak, this isn't hype,this is this is personal uh
experience, personal story.
Um, speak to that a little bitif you will, because you are
speaking before a congregationof what was it, 27,000.
Uh, you do speaking events, menspeaking, like you are speaking
(16:51):
in front of thousands of people,and that's just the in-person.
So you have, of course, theonline audiences and and all of
that.
Um, and we talked a little bitabout imposter syndrome.
Speak to a little bit about howthis has transformed your life.
SPEAKER_04 (17:08):
Yeah, I I think for me, I have always wrestled with
uh confidence.
I've wrestled with self-doubt.
I've I've battled, I'm notanxiety, I'm not depression, but
I battle it.
And um, and so for me, I Iremember being in a conversation
with uh my counselor, and I'msuch a big believer in
counseling.
I go to a week intensive everyyear, like kind of a nine to two
(17:32):
thing every year with acounselor.
And um he said, and there aretwo types of people in life.
There are people that feelrejected, and then their
response is then they are bydefinition never good enough.
He said, then there's anothertype of person that when they
feel rejection, then they livetheir whole life to prove
everybody wrong.
(17:54):
And he goes, and both are wrong.
And he goes, but you're optiontwo.
He goes, you have facedrejection.
Both my parents were deafgrowing up.
My mom and dad are in heaven,and so uh I wasn't rejected by
my parents, but I watched, Ilived in a culture where deaf
people were just oftentimes madefun of or um discriminated
(18:15):
against.
And I'm 50, and so I watched alot of this happen before some
laws got into practice.
And even when the ADA AmericanDisability Act kind of gets
incorporated, there just wasn'tan awareness of what it meant to
actually engage with a deafperson.
And so there'd just be a lot ofthings that I heard as their
primary voice that I was justabsorbing, just it created a
(18:37):
sense of like we're justdifferent, but not different in
a good way, but we're differentin a bad way.
When I say we, it was just meembodying my mom and dad.
Then you can't pass the SAT.
You know, I try to take ittwice.
College counselor, or excuse me,my high school counselor's like,
hey, you're just not collegematerial.
But my dream was to go tocollege.
So you just told me, like, okay,I'm I'm just not gonna make it.
(18:59):
And then you kind of just fastforward, and my counselor just
kind of began to put all ofthese moments of rejection.
And he says, And when you justput all of that together, what
that did for you is created aninternal motor and motivation to
live your whole life to provepeople wrong, all the while not
fully recognizing that when youprove somebody wrong, there's
another one in line that youhave to prove wrong.
(19:21):
And that just is endless.
And then there was this justgold statement that came out
instead of living your life toprove your creator wrong, how
about you live your life toprove your creator was right?
And you chose you and calledyou.
And that's this journey thatI've been on.
And this book Elsa came out.
(19:42):
I mean, the crazy part aboutthis whole book is this was just
literally I could show you amirror in my office uh that
says, Why not you?
So every day I just have a callup moment of going, God's gonna
use somebody today, why not me?
Um, but that that whole concept.
Came through some pretty darknights of the soul.
And until in 2023, December26th, um, man, I didn't want to
(20:07):
live anymore.
And and so that was a prettyhard season.
My wife and I have been married27 years.
So this is almost two years ago.
And uh my five foot tall littleFilipino wife just curled up in
my lap and just was like, hey,we're gonna get through this.
And that's when I began to checkinto counseling and work through
therapy and began to realizesome stuff about me that I was
just carrying a lot of rejectionand I'm not good enough.
(20:30):
And so yeah, I'm on stage infront of thousands of people,
but internally dying.
And then getting to a pointwhere I didn't want to live
anymore.
And so God met me in a veryinteresting place and in um this
journey.
So all of this why not you, forsomebody that's like, Ed, you've
believed this your whole life.
Like, actually, this is likeDecember 2023.
(20:52):
I mean, it's a couple years old.
So I'm still.
I mean, you just mentioned thatyou're kind of a new believer or
maybe a Christian, but like thiswhole why not you, like I said,
was mentioned to me in 2010, butreally started to get lived out
in a real way just two yearsago.
SPEAKER_03 (21:09):
Wow.
And it it's such an amazing uhproof testament to you know
God's timing, not our own,right?
Like just the patience and andjust the just to rest in the
waiting.
And I and I know as achronically impatient person,
you know, I want everything fiveminutes going.
We just I just told John to puta USB port in my head.
(21:30):
Um, you know, what a great,valuable thing to hear that, you
know, it wasn't immediate.
You weren't just born with it,you weren't just doing this,
you're just not, you know,feeling it every minute.
And and I think that, and I andI hear this from pastors very,
which by the way, um, we knowanybody who knows knows that uh
being a pastor is truly one ofthe most difficult jobs you
(21:56):
could possibly have, and thatthe you know burnout rate is is
pretty high.
And you know, it's so it's soobvious as to why, you know, the
the burden of uh the the weightof everyone's expectations and
needs of you, um, and thendealing with whatever you have
going on yourself, um, that'sthat's a lot.
(22:17):
It's a lot to ask of of a humanbeing.
And, you know, people do tend toforget that that is exactly what
you are.
You're you're human beings, andand you know, um I speaking
briefly about uh very brieflyabout our our own pastor at our
church, um what always strikesme about a great pastor is the
humility and just the humblenature, and I see that in you,
(22:38):
just that grateful, humblenature, and and and I think
that's what resonates withpeople so much because we don't
feel like we're being pardon thethe the phrasing, but we're we
don't feel like we're beingpreached to, we feel like we're
being ministered to or beingspoken to, and and it's just
such a treasure, and what you'redoing is such a treasure.
And now hearing, you know, justa little deeper part of that
(23:00):
story, even more so to know thatthe struggle has been there, and
I'm sure it still goes on.
You're is still having theseconversations with yourself,
right?
And that is so helpful foranyone um experiencing the same
types of things or their ownversion of it.
SPEAKER_06 (23:19):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03 (23:20):
Yeah.
So many people imagine uhcalling as a lightning bolt
moment, but your story shows ajourney as we were just talking
about, and you mentioned 2010,but I know there was another
incident from your childhood,and I I know it's in the book,
so I won't ask you to tell thewhole story if you're watching,
(23:40):
but will you speak down a littlebit if you will?
SPEAKER_04 (23:43):
Yeah, I was 10 years old and I was at McDonald's and
interpreting for my parents onOrlando, Florida, where we used
to live.
And a sweet African-Americanwoman approached me and she
said, Do you do this everywhereyou go?
And I said, Yes, ma'am, I do.
And I was just trying to order ahaving meal for myself, you
know.
And uh I always ordered for myparents and then I would order
for me.
And um, and I'll never forget, Iwas 10, I didn't come to know
(24:05):
Jesus until I was uh 15.
And she goes, I just want totell you that one day God's
gonna greatly use you.
And it was the first timeanybody had ever kind of spoken
that into me.
And uh just like I said earlier,I'm I'm 50.
That was 40 years ago, and Istill could hear it, I could
still see it, and just the powerof belief, you know.
(24:25):
Um, what's more I think that'sthe phrase uh she she didn't use
the language, why not you?
But she was saying, why not you?
SPEAKER_06 (24:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (24:32):
You know, she was like, God's gonna use somebody,
basically, why not you?
But she said in a way of likeone day God's gonna greatly use
you, not right one person, thisperson.
She looked at me as like you,God's gonna greatly use you.
SPEAKER_05 (24:43):
That's incredible.
SPEAKER_04 (24:45):
And I think that's what somebody on the other end
of the screen today, or maybelistening with some headphones
on, and just needs to hear thatGod wants to use you.
SPEAKER_03 (24:53):
Yeah, I think we, you know, we go about life
thinking that we're not um we'renot good enough, we're not
consequential enough, and uhit's amazing, right?
How many people are looking atthemselves in such a dim light.
Just incredible.
And um to to realize this, toget your message ingrained in on
(25:18):
their heart, not even just intheir brain, on their heart.
It's just it's justlife-changing.
I I cannot tell you, thelisteners, the the viewers,
whichever one you're doing, it'sjust life-changing.
It's just so exciting to me thatthis is out there for people
because there's gonna be, andyou know the you know the deal.
One if just one person reads itand it it changes their
(25:42):
perspective on themselves, it'sthat that ripple effect, you
know, then they're gonna changesomebody else's life, and you
just keep growing that effectfor people.
SPEAKER_04 (25:52):
Elsa, can I can I'd say two stories real quick?
SPEAKER_03 (25:54):
Yeah, please do.
SPEAKER_04 (25:55):
Um, well, I I battle dyslexia, and um, and so
somebody may get this book in anaudible form.
Well, they're listening to a guythat read it himself two days,
17 chapters and a conclusion,and uh who battles dyslexia and
uh all all that to say.
So when you're listening to it,it's the a guy that just
(26:20):
struggled like reading itbecause the way they do an
audible book is that you go to astudio and you you know this as
an author, you go to a studioand you're reading your book,
but then it's been recorded froman another state in another
city, and he's so he kind of hekeeps coming back and he's like,
Hey, you you're making up words.
(26:41):
And I'm like, I know, I justgotta tell you, um, yeah, words
move.
And so when words move for me, Ifill in words, he's like, No,
they're it makes complete sense,it's just not the book.
And I realized that one of thethings that um if anybody's
listening and goes, yeah, I getthat.
(27:03):
What if I were to say that's nota criticism?
What if I were to say that itcould be a superpower?
No, you know what I'm saying?
Like the very thing that peopleuh say is kryptonite.
What if I were to say it'sactually the opposite?
What if I were to say the ADDthat I was diagnosed with, uh
let's just say diagnosed byteachers who're like, you're
(27:24):
hyperactive and you're you'reyou know causing a lot of
problems.
What if that ADD now serves asthe as the the energy that I
needed to to lead a church at50?
You know, so all I'm saying isthat I always always just tell
our our our congregation, don'tlet the labels people put on you
stick because the blood of Jesuswon't let it stick.
You know, he's got a differentlabor for you as son and
(27:45):
daughter, and you can do allthings to Christ who strengthens
me.
So hope that helps.
SPEAKER_03 (27:50):
Oh, tremendously, tremendously.
Yes, that's that's working in myheart.
Are you kidding?
Jeez, I I feel like we're uh wecould be siblings separated, uh
you know.
So many relatable things thatyou're saying here.
Like I almost actually likeraised my hand, like, yep, yep.
Oh, oh, the messages we hear inour lives that need to be turned
(28:11):
around and corrected.
Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_04 (28:14):
Here's the second, here's the second story if you
got it, if you got a minute.
SPEAKER_03 (28:17):
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04 (28:18):
All right.
So um this book was not, I mean,I didn't I didn't want to write
a book called Why Not You.
It wasn't it wasn't a book.
It was uh it was a message on mymirror.
And I got invited to uh speak ata high school basketball game
(28:39):
for a team.
Uh I live in San Antonio, so inour town, a school was playing
another school that was inAustin, and this team comes in
from Austin, and the coach is afriend of mine that went to our
church and he said, Ed, listen,our team has lost five games in
a row, and we need amotivational like pregame talk.
And so I go in, they're they'rein San Antonio, so I drive over,
(28:59):
I give a pregame talk, and I'mlike, I'm like, hey man, here's
the deal.
Somebody's gotta get a rebound,why not you?
Somebody's gotta dive on thefloor, get a loose ball, why not
you?
This game's not gonna end in atie.
This isn't soccer, you know?
I mean, somebody's gonna likesomebody has to win, why not
you?
So I kind of just use thismessage.
Don't think anything about it.
The whole pregame deal was justlike, why not you?
Why not you?
(29:19):
Why not you?
Watch the game next week.
I get a phone call.
Um, it's a book agent.
Her name's Esther.
Esther is the book, she sheoversees and owns the Fed
agency.
And the Fed agency, um, likeshe's the literary literary book
agent for Mark Batterson, thatcircle maker, Brock Purdy, who's
(29:42):
the quarterback for the 49ers,and a list like Judah Smith and
just like all these famous,famous, famous, famous people.
Well, her son was in that lockerroom.
Comes out of the game, ridingback to Austin, says, Mom,
listen, you represent a lot offamous people.
And the guy that came and gavethe pregame talk, not famous,
(30:05):
never, don't even know who thatguy is.
It was the best talk I've everheard.
Um, and I think you ought torepresent him.
So Esther calls me.
She goes, I don't even know whyI'm calling you right now,
except for the fact that my sonwas in a locker room and told me
I'm supposed to call you.
Tell me about yourself.
And I was like, Well, I'm I'm apastor in San Antonio.
She was like, Okay.
(30:26):
Um, she goes, Can I come seeyou?
So she comes to church and she'sin this office that I'm telling
you about.
And she was like, if you wroteone book, what would it be?
I'd say, why not you?
Wow.
You're so anybody that's that'sso you're if you're holding a
copy or listening to a copy, oreven the fact that we're even
having this conversation, thisall got started with a pre-game
(30:49):
speech to some high school dudesthat lost five games that just
needed to be motivated.
And the trickle-down dominoeffect of once more, this is my
whole point of why I tell youthe story for somebody that's
like, Man, I just feel like I'mcalled to something more and I
don't know how to get startedand I don't know what to do.
Just be faithful and do what Godcalled you to do today.
SPEAKER_06 (31:11):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (31:11):
Because who knows if the phone rings tomorrow.
But it won't ring tomorrow ifyou're not faithful to what
you've been given to do today.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (31:22):
And it's such a it's such an exciting way to look at
your life too.
Like you just don't know whatamazing thing is around the
corner or what seemingly simplemoment will lead to something
absolutely incredible andlife-changing.
Like you don't know.
And so rather than sit back andand you know, say, well, this
(31:46):
moment stunk, you know, itwasn't the moment I thought it
was gonna be, um, look at it as,well, you know what, this moment
might have not been the one thatI thought it was gonna be.
Um, but I trust that that I'mbeing led to something greater
because of this moment, likeeach moment is going to lead to
the next moment, and you justdon't know what it's gonna be.
(32:06):
So to me, I think that's soexciting.
It's such an exciting way tolook at life in in general.
And I I love that you sharedthat story.
It's it's really cool, really,really cool.
And it's just incredible howthose little moments became what
they are right now, and and nowyou have this, you know,
wonderful book out in theuniverse for people.
(32:27):
Um what so when a reason when areader closes, why not you?
When they finish the book, justturn that page or hit end on the
the audible there.
What do you hope changes first?
They're they're thinking, uh,their praying, or their courage?
If you had to pick one first,like what's the order of of that
for them?
SPEAKER_04 (32:46):
Yeah, thinking.
It all begins with thinking.
SPEAKER_03 (32:48):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (32:49):
It all begins with thinking.
Um, yeah, uh my prayer forsomebody today is that they
would know that there's a Godthat yes can forgive sin, give
salvation, but actually canrewire your brain to make you um
believe differently.
And you go, Ed, by whatauthority do you say that?
Romans 12.
(33:09):
It says that uh it saysliterally do not be conformed to
this world, but that your bodyis a living sacrifice, holy and
accepted one unto the Lord.
That we know that that section,but then there's that one moment
it says, but be transformed bythe renewing of your mind.
I love that.
So I I would just believe infaith that somebody can have a
renewed mind and believecorrectly about themselves and
(33:31):
actually learn how.
And the book gives a verystrategic way of how to actually
reclaim thoughts or not allowthem to drive you or lead you in
directions that are not what Godsays about you.
SPEAKER_03 (33:47):
Yeah, I like that.
This is, you know, this is atthe top of my to-be-read list.
It's not even on, I'm takingit's not even on the list, it's
just what I'm reading tonight.
It's just my book for tonight.
And I'll it's my bedside bookfor tonight, or virtual bedside
book, I guess I should say.
Yeah.
Uh and no, you know what?
Thank you.
And and on behalf of anybodywho's gonna watch this and see
the clips from this and all ofthose things.
(34:09):
I I am thanking you on theirbehalf because I know they will
want me to do that.
Um, tell everybody where theycan find you, where they can
find your books, website.
Uh, I'm I'm sure your churchthey can watch online, I'm
assuming, yes.
SPEAKER_04 (34:23):
Yeah, absolutely.
You can buy the book anywhereyou buy books.
Uh, I think everybody goes toAmazon nowadays, but um, you can
wherever you buy books, you canget the book.
And for anybody that's onInstagram, it's Pastor Ed
Newton.
Um, so there's a lot of contentthere.
We have an app.
I know that sounds really crazy,but I just really believe that
that I wanted people to know howto read the Bible.
(34:44):
And we have an app, it's EdNewton.
If you go to the app store, it'sEd Newton.
It's free.
Just download it.
You can see a lot of contentthere, but there's a devotional
like every like if you subscribeto the email list, you'll get a
devotional every morning uhthat'll just send your heart to
God.
And it's all that's free.
And then our church, communitybible.com, or online church is
probably the easiest way, onlinechurch.com.
(35:05):
Uh and watch our messages.
SPEAKER_03 (35:07):
So I love it.
I have to ask you, I know I saidthat was the last question.
I have to ask you one last one.
Your foreword was written by MaxLocato.
Will you very quickly tell us alittle bit about that?
Because that's kind of cool.
SPEAKER_04 (35:18):
Pastor Max is like a spiritual father.
Uh he lives in our city and he'sbecome a dear friend and has
been like a spiritual fathermentor to me along the way.
And yeah, it just honestly,Elsa, even the fact of uh Pastor
Max doesn't do forwards.
Wow.
(35:38):
He doesn't do forwards.
Like he made a commitment acouple years ago not to do
forwards.
And um, I just straight up askedhim.
I was like, we did have a tattooexperience together.
I got a lot of tattoos, and uh,why do I know that story, the
tattoo story?
SPEAKER_03 (35:53):
I think I just heard about the tattoo story fairly
recently.
Crazy.
SPEAKER_04 (35:56):
Yeah, he uh he got a tattoo.
I won't take his story, but hegot a tattoo for celebrating 50
years of being a Christian.
And uh he called me and he waslike, he's like, Ed, listen, he
goes, uh, I've never I've neverasked a man this before in my
life.
Uh he said, but I I need a Ineed to get a tattoo.
So um so he and I went and gottattoos together, and it's he
(36:20):
got the word tatelesti, whichmeans paid full.
Oh, and um so yeah, the the therunning joke between both of us,
and he just preached at ourchurch the other day.
And um the running joke is totelestai paid in full, but Ed
paid for my tattoo.
SPEAKER_03 (36:36):
I love that.
Oh, that is so fun.
SPEAKER_04 (36:40):
What a 70 years old, got a tattoo.
I I love it.
SPEAKER_03 (36:43):
I love that so much.
That is so awesome.
No, I would not have thoughtthat night.
Only know because I'm uhforearm.
SPEAKER_04 (36:53):
I mean, like, not you know, not one of those V is
like a little, oh no, like righthere, just right there for
everybody to see.
SPEAKER_02 (37:00):
Go it on him because really, like, you know, if
you're gonna do it, go go big orgo home.
Come on.
SPEAKER_04 (37:07):
All the Max Vicato fans, and there's a lot of them
in the world, or uh, a few ofthem are like, You're such a bad
influence on Pastor Max.
I'm like, he called me, man.
SPEAKER_03 (37:15):
That's not your fault, it's not your fault.
I'm not gonna blame you.
I think I listen, I think it'sawesome.
I don't have a single tattoo.
I've been talking about gettinga tattoo my you know entire
adult life.
I've never done it.
So I I I have tattoo envy and Ithink it's really cool.
And now I'm even more inspired.
If Max, okay, no at 70.
Did you say 70?
SPEAKER_04 (37:34):
70.
SPEAKER_03 (37:34):
Yeah, there's my uh inspiration right there.
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for giving me theextra couple minutes there.
Um, it was wonderful talking toyou.
Uh guys, all of the uminformation that you need, um,
link for the book, everythingthat you need will be in the
show notes.
Uh, thank you guys all forwatching, and especially thank
(37:54):
you, Pastor Evan, for joining metoday.
Guys, go get the book, you'regonna love it.
Take care.
unknown (37:59):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_03 (38:00):
Bye-bye.
SPEAKER_01 (38:01):
From small to the local tourist to battle truth
and loyalty.
Uh-huh, but small to take hardpeople.
Ordinary people facingextraordinary moments.
You'll find one second.
Even if you find the microphone,small tournaments of different
worlds in 1924.
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