March 2, 2025 • 28 mins
Whether you’re considering a move, a job change, or even marriage, there are ways to approach your choices prayerfully and thoughtfully. Pastor Trent and Pastor Bob have processes which they use and they share this with us during this episode of Unsexy Church. Tune in this week to find out more about how to honor the Lord in your decision-making!
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Speaker 1 (00:19):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I did yeah.
Sharing that with everybody, itwas interesting.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Your face does kind of look weird.
It's like kind of.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Thank you, thank you so much for that.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
You did get it numb.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
You said you were spitting water.
Was it just kind of likefalling out of your mouth when
you were drinking something?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I think I was trying to drink it so it just went,
just couldn't feel it, and thenhave you got the feeling back.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yeah, now I have.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Oh good, yes, good, good good.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
So since I've been here in Tampa last eight years,
so I've had glasses or contactssince I was like in fourth grade
, you know, I've been going tothe dentist, especially as a kid
, very consistently.
But it wasn't until I moved toTampa where those two visits
included additional things.
So when I had an eyeappointment in Tampa the first
(01:05):
six months of me being here, Ihad an eye appointment to get
some updated glasses and theydid the dilation and I had never
had that done before.
What I'm serious, I never hadmy eyes dilated ever.
I had had the thing where, likethey, they push the air in your
eye, check the eye pressure Nota fan of that, Not a fan of
that.
And they all have the samepicture.
(01:26):
Have you had your eyes, ofcourse, pressurized?
Yeah, of course.
Yeah, have you?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I haven't.
My eyes are perfect.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, you spit out water today, I wouldn't talk, so
it's always a hot air balloon.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yes, at a distance yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Isn't not a weird thing?
every place is a hot air balloon, probably like one company
making all these things, sostory yeah, but I got my eyes
dilated and then I immediately,like I was in target optical,
came out of target, was going topick up some things, for my
wife had no idea my eyes weredilated and didn't know you
couldn't drive after that or itwasn't recommended.
I'm walking around and someonecomes up to me and was like hey,
trent, and I'm thinking, okay,let me do some explaining here.
(02:07):
I think this happens on acertain under the influence of a
certain drug, but I can't seeyou and I didn't know their
names yet.
Um, it was actually, uh,suzanne Suarez and Megan Cates.
And so, like I immediately said, hey, I've never had my eyes
dilated.
They're dilated right now, butit's because I walked out of
that building.
Sure, not the green alienplaced selling things next door
(02:31):
Target Optical.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
They bought it.
They did buy it.
I'm thankful for that.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
They bought it because it's true, then I also
had never had a cavity and I gota cavity, since I've been here
and had it numbed.
That's a weird feeling too.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
It's weird.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Well, hey, I'm just so glad we're back together.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
That all started just simply because I said that Kara
went to the dentist today.
Sorry about that.
It's good to be back.
Why did we miss last week?
What was up?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
What was up last week .
A lot of things have happenedin the last few weeks.
I was out of town Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
You have new responsibilities that kept you
away Thursday.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So yeah, yep, yep, yep, we're both out Friday.
Friday's me off, so you lostthe soccer game we did Sorry.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
We did, but that's okay.
Kids played hard.
Yeah, that was in regionals,regional final, regional final
so you made it far.
We did.
I'm proud of the boys.
You made it to regionals theyear before.
Is that correct?
We've made it to regionals.
We've never made it to a finalbefore.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
That's as far as we've made, speaking of final B4
, final four, march Madness hasit started?
It's about to.
It's almost March, it's gettingready for conference
tournaments.
I think Tennessee's in top 10,but they were one, they're not
anymore.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Is.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Auburn still number one.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
I think so, but I really have not been following
it.
It's hard for me to tell you Isthis basketball?
This is college basketball.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I don't follow it at all.
I was in Knoxville last weekendfor a very brief time and the
2024 World Series College WorldSeries Champs, aka the Tennessee
Volunteers, were playing a gameon Friday night.
We considered going.
It was like $25, but it waslike 25 degrees so we did not go
(04:15):
.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
That's $1 per degree.
Yeah, I know Way too cold.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Well, hey, I have two options for facts.
Would you like to know aboutBig Brother, or like to know
about pilots sleeping?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I don't think I want to know about pilots sleeping.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I fly too often, especially with all the issues
of flights that have happenedlately.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yes, so do you want to?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
learn about Big Brother, okay.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Whoa.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
TV commercials emit a tone inaudible to the human ear
that your smartphone picks up,letting advertisers know that
both devices might belong to you.
This is one way in whichadvertisers work to deliver
targeted ads to you.
Sounds like a conspiracy theory.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I'm not saying I doubt it, I'm just saying it
sounds like a conspiracy.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
More things involved could be conspiratorial
Technically.
This is not Big Brother, thisis big advertisement, this is
big retail.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Have you noticed that commercials are always louder
than whatever program you'rewatching.
Yes, so they do thatintentionally.
They record it louder.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah, so they could.
I mean I guess they could emitsome sort of signal your
smartphone could pick up.
I know, like, as you get older,do you remember this?
There was a tone that so backin the day, with like Razer cell
phones when the Razer was likethe cool cell phone people were
trading ringtone songs viaBluetooth.
(05:39):
Okay, sure, one of those songsthat was traded around via said
via, via bluetooth, wassomething called the mosquito oh
yeah it was a certain pitch ofsound that as you get older, you
can't hear anymore.
It's a high pitch, but dogs canhear it and freak out right.
(06:00):
So if we were to play thatsound now, I don't think you'd
hear it.
I doubt I would hear it anymore.
Wow, kara might still be there.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
It is.
It's been a couple of weeks.
It did eventually.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Kara might still be able to hear it.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
So there are frequencies we just can't hear,
and apparently advertisersrecognize that.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
I appreciate you clumping us in the same category
as we.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, have you.
I did, I clumped myself inthere.
Have you seen like all thejokes on like social media?
So we know that big retail's athing and we know that, like
microphones are used on yourphones to help gather
information about you, to sellyou things right.
So have you heard the jokesabout like a husband going to a
wife's phone and being like newtruck?
(06:40):
new truck new trucks, you know,so that their phone might
immediately or eventually showan ad for trucks or something
like that.
Yeah, pretty funny.
How to care for your husband.
Cool gifts for fathers yeah,pretty funny, you were about to
say something.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
No, I thought twice about it before I said it.
Oh, okay.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I filtered.
Okay, you made a decision.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
I did make a decision , and a wise one at that.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
All right, Bob, here's a question for you.
Would you rather get $1 million?
We're back to those.
I get these from other podcasts.
I have to look at other peoplewhich podcast.
Bread Basket something.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Bread Basket.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Two guys that vote on things together and stuff.
They do kind of like a sportspodcast.
They do different sports feats.
Could you do it?
Feats, could you do it?
Would you rather get $1 millionor make $50,000 every time you
run, slash, jog, slash, walk amarathon?
That's been an officialmarathon, so you can't just go
out walking, you can't add inyou know your mileage for a week
(07:43):
and it be a marathon.
Oh really what?
It's an official marathon.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
You got to go and walk a marathon.
This is simple.
I mean, I can't physically dothat anymore, so I'm taking the
money up front.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
How many marathons do you have to run?
What's one million?
Speaker 3 (07:56):
divided by 50,000?
Is it 20?
20 marathons I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I would do a marathon you could do a marathon once a
year, every year.
I physically could not run amarathon.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
No, I run, slash jog, slash walk.
I'm not sure I can walk it.
You could walk a marathon.
You aren't in my legs, it wouldtake a day.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
So you devote a day right A year and you just need
to do it for the next 20 years.
But if you did it for 30 yearsand remain healthy at the same,
time.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I think it would keep me on tabs with my health as
well.
So I would totally do that.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
They did two marathons in one year, In 30
years.
Do you think?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
I'm going to care how much money I have.
That's probably true, probablytrue, rawr.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Sorry, it's the old Ecclesiastes.
What's the last chapter, 11?
, 12?
Is 12?
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Is there 12 chapters?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Where he basically says one day you don't want to
wake up anymore right, you'rejust tired of life.
You're just tired of life, sothat year you're not going to
want to run a marathon.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah, so I'm taking the money up front and investing
.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Talking about making decisions.
We want to talk about makingdecisions in today's episode.
That is, making decisions ontoday's episode.
That is making decisions ofwhen maybe you're presented with
an opportunity to move and takea job somewhere, or it's a make
a decision between going to onmissionary work to China for a
year or Japan for a year andthere are two good opportunities
(09:20):
.
Maybe it's a you know, a chainis chain of scenery for your
family and you work a remote job, your wife doesn't work, your
kids like the outdoors, and soyou choose do I want to move to
the beach or do I want to moveto the mountains?
I want to talk through how dowe, as Christians, make
decisions?
What are some things we need tothink through?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
So you just give examples of big decisions.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
These are big decisions, life change decisions
.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
That's kind of what's in my mind a little bit, so not
just everyday decisions likeshould I upsize my happy meal?
Speaker 2 (09:54):
You know that kind of thing, bigger than that, but
not necessarily as big as moving.
Okay, so should I buy a newhouse?
Should I move churches?
Yes, should I.
I mean, we make decisions everyday, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
And somebody said that your life is really just a
result of all the decisions thatyou've made.
Series of decisions.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
So we're thinking about medium-sized to bigger
decisions here, ones that youreally are really struggling.
What decision?
What do I do in this situation?
Decisions you really have toslow down and think about.
Yes, so we're slowing down andthinking about how they should
make, how people should makedecisions.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
That made my head hurt.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Yeah, we're helping people think by thinking
ourselves, so that people mightthink about our thinking when
they think next time.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Okay, all right, look at that, run that back.
Ladies and gentlemen Thinking,inception Wow Okay.
Thinking-ception,thinking-ception.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Nice.
So, pastor Bob, he made adecision there.
I am confused, clearly, I amconfused on the next decision
I'm going to make, and it's abig decision.
Okay, I was just presented theopportunity to, um, you know, I
(11:11):
don't know buy a brand new car.
That's a decision.
And my car is.
It's a little rough, it's, it'suh, it's, it's not on its last
leg, but I don't really like itanymore.
Um, I have the money.
Uh, what do I do?
This is not me, by the way.
I'm keeping my car, but what doI do?
Speaker 1 (11:32):
How do we think through decision making as
Christians, there's a lot ofthings you have to weigh in and
factor in, and I would say evensmaller decisions.
The principles that you usethere go into your bigger
decisions.
So there should be a process bywhich you're making decisions
even on small things.
But these medium-sized things,decisions even on small things,
yeah, but these medium sizedthings, there's, there's a
process by which so, do I needit?
Is it, is it responsible, youknow, can I afford it?
(11:54):
Those kinds of questions youneed to ask yourself as you, as
you consider a purchase of a car.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
What color is it?
I am not see here's the thingy'all.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
I am not a fan of bright colors with cars, or
really much color at all.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Well, I'm green.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I would do black, silver, gray white.
But you know, to each their own.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
But that is part of your decision making.
Not only am I going to buy it,but what color should it be?
I?
Speaker 2 (12:21):
say that.
You know I'm going to talkabout this for a second.
I do like the new kinds ofmatte M-A-T-T-E colors, where
they're not as glossy orsomething I don't really know
what it's called Matte colors,and I like the sand.
Look the beige, the beige andthe green in the matte colors.
(12:43):
Those look cool, those are cool.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
So it's a brand new beige matte green car, or even
the.
A brand new beige mat green car, oh yeah, or even the green.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, the green mat.
Did I already say green?
Are you going to buy it?
What are you going to?
Speaker 3 (12:55):
do what?
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Are you going to lease it?
Are you going to buy it?
Yeah, I'm not going to doanything.
I'm keeping my car Newpreviously owned.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I'm wanting to buy a house, so why aren't we using
all house buying as an example,don't know.
So what are some principles orprocesses by which we should
make decisions?
Well, why don't you start?
You have some, okay, so whydon't I just give all of mine
and you give all of yours, okay?
And then we'll let the listenerdecide which one's better.
They have to make a decision.
Ours are very similar.
They are very similar.
(13:23):
So I divided it up intoprinciples and a process.
Okay, so principles first, tothink through, and then, if
you're still not sure what to do, here's a process.
Okay, here's the principles.
Does this decision lead todisobedience to God's word or is
it disobedience?
Speaker 1 (13:40):
to God's word.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
So the first thing to think through is is this
obeying or disobeying God's word?
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Right, okay.
So how can buying a car beeither obedient or disobedient
to God, bypass the principleExplain?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Well, so buying a car it may not be either, and so
that principle is checked out.
Move to the next principle.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Okay, but what if buying a car puts your family at
risk because you don't reallyneed the car?
I've got other factors for that.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Okay, I've got other factors for that.
Okay, I've got other factorsfor that.
So, these are principles just toconsider that should just shut
down the decision immediately.
Okay, right, so that would bethe process section, pastor,
what if it's a foreign car?
Well, it depends what foreigncar.
If it's Toyota, sure.
If it's Nissan, nissan's hadsome problems.
I, if it's Nissan, nissan's hadsome problems, I don't know.
(14:29):
Sorry, I digress, go ahead.
So yeah, there might not be ayes or no answer to all of these
, but these are check marks tothink through.
Okay, could this lead todisobedience?
If it does, it should stopthere.
Second, is this against myconscience, where I have
Christian liberty?
So maybe someone's pulling meto do something?
I need to make a decision forit, but really my conscience is
keeping me from it.
I know this is not something Iwant to do personally, so don't
(14:50):
do it.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Not prohibited from doing it Biblically, biblically.
But your conscience is tellingyou it's not the right thing.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
That's correct For you at this time, and to go
against that, according toRomans 14, would be sin.
Sin, yeah.
And then local church.
If I'm a part of a local churchnow, it should probably
prohibit me from making thatdecision.
Unless you're in wartime,you're going to the military and
(15:18):
there might be unique factorswhere, for a short, limited time
, you may not be able to be apart of a local church.
But if this is going toprohibit me from going to local
church, I probably should justsay no, sure.
So those are the immediate no'sDisobedience against my
conscience, or it prohibits mefrom being a part of the body of
Christ.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Those are the principles, big principles that
overhang all decisions.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Yep and buying a car.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
none of those really have much to do with buying a
car, not directly, but theycould.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
So here's, then, the process.
Those are the immediate no's.
Here's the process.
Those are the immediate no's.
Here's the process.
Pray for wisdom Proverbs bidsus, encourages us to seek wisdom
from the Lord and he willprovide it.
Proverbs 4, 5 through 9.
And so maybe you say you know,it doesn't seem like an unwise
decision.
That's the first part of theprocess.
So then let's move to thesecond part of the process,
(16:04):
consider practical matters.
How can I use my gifts here?
Is this a wise financialdecision?
Is this a better move goingforward than where I am now?
Is there more opportunity there, or does it seem like I would
flourish here better?
Do I need to wait until I havemore facts and questions
answered before I make adecision?
So those are practical matters.
The Lord has given you a brainto use right.
(16:24):
The Proverbs are a whole book ofjust matters of prudence, what
to do in given situations.
And even the Proverbsthemselves.
They say I think it's Proverbs22 or 24, it says do this.
And the next verse it saysdon't do this.
And so they're to be appliedpractically in given situations.
(16:46):
Don't answer the fool, answerthe fool.
There are certain times toanswer the fool.
There are certain times to notanswer the fool.
So use your brain, use the mindthe Lord's given you.
Consider practical matters.
Pray for wisdom.
Consider practical matters.
The third is seek the counselof wise people in your life.
Proverbs 12 talks about this.
Proverbs 15 talks about this.
If you don't listen to wisecounsel, you are a fool
(17:10):
Sometimes.
Just a note on this sometimesan outsider can help us see the
decision objectively.
Where you might have a lot ofemotions tied up in it, they
might help you just thinkthrough it from an outsider's
perspective.
A lot of times we already knowwhat we're to do, but we need to
hear people agree.
(17:31):
We need to hear people affirmokay, yes, you should not do
that Right.
Number four, fourth part of theprocess make the decision and
trust the Lord.
If you've sought the Lord inprayer, so you've already went
through the principles.
It is not a matter ofdisobedience to God's word.
It's not a matter of goingagainst my conscience.
I can serve at a local church.
(17:52):
There I've prayed for wisdom.
It does feel like it's a wisedecision, but there will also be
a wise decision to do thisthing Practically.
It makes sense.
It's not necessary, but itmakes sense.
I've sought the counsel of alot of people and they say you
Make the decision and trust theLord.
Don't get into analysis,paralysis.
Make a prayerful, prudentdecision, wise decision and just
(18:15):
trust the Lord.
A lot of times we try to almostlike figure out the sovereignty
of God.
If I do this, is it going totake me away from his?
Is it going to mess up thebutterfly effect of his plan for
my life?
And I think God's sovereigntyis greater than that.
He already knows the decisionyou're going to make and if
you've sought him in it, it'snot to be like well, sorry,
trent, your life's messed up now.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
No, he's already blessed that it's a good process
.
Thank you, does it work wellfor you?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
I think, Seems to have.
Here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Here's the thing.
We, I think, can come up withgood advice.
It's a matter of are we goingto follow that advice?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
right, so have I always followed this advice?
Speaker 2 (18:52):
No, should I?
I think so.
This is wise advice.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
It's all good.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
All right, tell me why my principles and process is
not as good as yours.
No, I wouldn't say that.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
It's very similar actually.
Okay, I clump my principles andmy process together, so I
didn't separate them out.
And I don't know that Iconscientiously that's what I'm
looking for, conscientiously, asevery decision I make, go
through this list and go have.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I done.
This have I done this?
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Have I done this?
It just becomes part of who youare and your decision-making
process.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
We're not encouraging people to.
Should I go to McDonald's orWendy's?
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Well, let me pull out what Trent said Exactly.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Is there disobedience , right right?
Speaker 1 (19:37):
right, but but at the same time, when you again, when
you're practicing these thingswith everyday decisions, they
help you when you get to thebigger decisions in life.
And so, um, my, my first step isjust a daily attitude of
striving to live for God's will,not my own.
So waking up every day, going,god, your will be done in my
life today, whatever you wouldwant me to do, and so just
(19:58):
having that attitude overarchingeverything.
God, if I do this, is thisbecause I'm selfish in this or
because it's your will for mylife?
So, a daily attitude of justliving for God's word.
Secondly, just constant prayer,just being continually in
prayer, and that's notnecessarily stopping and praying
over this particular decision,even though I think that's
(20:18):
important.
It's just an attitude ofconversational prayer with God
on a regular basis, so that whenI'm having to make a decision,
it is God, help me make the wisedecision.
God, what would you have me todo here?
God, give me wisdom, sendsomebody into my life to speak
into my life on this.
So, just continual prayer.
So attitude of God's will in mylife, continual prayer.
(20:39):
Then weighing out my options,looking at okay, here's the
decision I have to make if Ichoose this or if I choose this.
A is going to lead me here.
B is going to lead me here.
Sometimes that's clear,sometimes it's not, but I need
to understand.
I'm very pragmatic.
I need to understand.
I will make lists to say thisis what will be, this and this
is what will be.
So, pros and cons, pros andcons Of staying or going,
(20:59):
staying or going, picking this,or picking this, buying or not
buying, exactly so that's justkind of how my brain works.
So sometimes I do thatphysically, sometimes I just do
it mentally, but I'll weigh outmy options, say okay, here it is
, and then I seek God's word forwisdom.
So does God's word speakdirectly into this decision?
Is there a decision I'm makingthat God's word says this is
(21:22):
what you should do to be in mywill, and if you do this, you
won't be.
But God's word doesn't speakdirectly into every decision we
make in our lives, but it doesin principles and in decisions.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
He does say white, black, silver, gray, matte,
green, matte, tan, car it is infirst opinions.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It's in there somewhere.
So, daily attitude to livingfor God's word, continual prayer
, weighing out options, biblicalwisdom and then seeking godly
counsel.
You mentioned this one Wise menseek counsel.
They just do one Um um.
Wise men seek counsel, thatthey just do Um.
Now you have to be careful.
It has to be wise counsel.
That's right, you can getcounsel from 20 fools and they
(22:01):
all agree and you go oh, I'mgoing to follow those guys.
Well, they're making a foolishdecision.
You need to seek wise counsel,so making making sure you have
people in your life that canhelp you make those and perhaps
even in areas where financialthings that they understand more
deeply than you do, havingsomebody in your life that you
can call up and go hey, you'remy guy on this, help me think
through this.
(22:21):
Or you're my girl on this, helpme think through this.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
So, godly counsel, even on practical matters.
We might have someone in ourchurch who knows about cars
matters.
You know, we might have someonein our church who knows about
cars.
So if you're buying a car, hey,um, I don't appreciate.
I don't just appreciate yourgodly wisdom, but I appreciate
what you've learned in yourtrade.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
Help me out.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Sure yeah sure, darlene and I are going through
the process of selling our houseand buying a new home right now
.
We've done that six times, soit's not like it's the first
time I've ever done it.
I'm not getting surprised bythings, but there are people in
our church who do that every day, deal with those contracts
every day.
That's right, so I can callthem up and say, hey, give me
wisdom on this.
This is what they're asking orthis is what they're saying,
give me wisdom on this.
So godly counsel is important.
(23:01):
I'd say that, with spiritualdecisions as well, not just
practical decisions, findingpeople that you trust, then I
would say make a determination.
Make a decision, like you say,at some point, after you've
waited all out, you've prayed,you considered, you sought
counsel, you have to make adecision, you have to decide,
and so make the determination.
This is the way I'm going to go.
And then the thing that I addthat you didn't have in yours
(23:23):
was own that decision.
Once you've made the decision,go right Now.
There are going to be timeswhen you realize, oh, I made the
wrong decision and you have toeither repent of that or ask
forgiveness for that or changebecause of that.
But once you've made a decision, own it and go with it, don't
dance around it.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Go with it.
Indecision is a decision andit's a bad decision.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
It is, and it's frustrating to those around you
who are waiting for you to makedecisions.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Yeah, he stared at me when he said that is, and it's
frustrating to those around youwho are waiting for you to make
decisions.
He stared at me when he saidthat he's very self-conscious.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
He's probably talking about you.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
You should probably take that to heart.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
And then, finally, I have the same thing you did
Trust God.
Trust God that he's sovereignover all of it.
Trust in the Lord with all yourheart and lean on your own
understanding.
He's going to direct your pathanyway.
So if you're doing all theseother things and you're walking,
striving to walk in God's will,god's sovereign over all these
things.
So I think it's important foreveryone to practice decision
(24:26):
making, to make good decisions,to make godly decisions.
It's very important for leadersto be able to do that, because
people are looking at you, goingokay, we need to make this
decision, help us walk throughthis process.
And not just make the decisionfor them, but help them walk
through a process of decisionmaking.
And if you're not doing that inyour own personal life, it's
hard to do that and you'releading a group, leading a
(24:47):
church, to do the same thing.
That's right.
That's right.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
I think that last piece is so helpful Trust God,
especially when you know, wetalked to college students who
may have found who they think isthe person they're going to
marry right and they're goingthrough this process that sought
wise counsel.
They prayed for their futurespouse.
They have prayed for wisdom inwhether this is the right time
(25:14):
in their life and I think somecollege students expect there to
be just like this formation ofclouds that say the name of the
person you're going to marry, abright light behind them, that
kind of thing, which I know thathappened for you and Jaden.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
It did.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Yeah, where just the clouds just formed and it said
Jaden and put like a smiley facethat looks really similar to
him in the clouds.
You took a picture of it?
Show me.
No, but that's not how the Lordworks, right?
He gave us godly people, hegave us his word, he gave us
minds and he offers his wisdomright.
Very few times are we going tohave that pie in the sky moment.
(25:52):
We can trust the Lord with whathe's revealed to us, who he's
surrounded us, with the mindhe's given us that is renewed by
his spirit, to make a decisionwithout just living in fear that
we're outside of hissovereignty in any given moment.
Yeah, I think that's superhelpful.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
I think there's also wisdom in knowing that some
decisions you don't need tothink about.
There are certain things thatare just black and white.
I shouldn't do this, so I don'treally need to go through this
process.
That's why I had mine inprinciples Right.
So if I'm living for God's willand this is clearly outside of
God's will or this is againstwhat God's written word says,
(26:28):
against my conscience?
Against my conscience.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Or there's maybe not a local church Exactly.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
There are certain decisions that we don't have to.
You know, if we are strugglingwith it, it's because it's in
our own sin.
Yeah, that's right, not justgoing okay, god, that's not what
you have for me, that's notwhat's best for me, and even
though selfishly I may want topursue that right now, that's
the wrong decision, so I'm goingto go this way.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
They shouldn't even make it in the process of
consideration.
Exactly you know those.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
What would Jesus do?
Bracelets, yeah, um, someonemade a joke and I forget who it
was, but they said what wouldJesus do?
Jesus probably wouldn't be inthis situation in the first
place.
Probably, not, probably not.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
I would also say, most of the time, um, when you
have to make a decision, it'spretty rare that you get to that
end of that process and it'sjust like crystal clear.
You know 100%.
This is the direction I need togo.
Usually there's still some.
If you're making a toughdecision, there's still some.
You know back and forth, butyou just got to trust.
Don't trust your gut, Don'tdon't do that, but just trust
(27:28):
the, the, the research you'vedone, trust the counsel you've
received, but just trust theresearch you've done, Trust the
counsel you've received, Trustyour conscience and, having
talked to the Lord, and thenjust go, Just take the step.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Yeah, word church wisdom.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Take the step.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Yep Take the step.
Well, thanks for listening.
Hopefully this was helpful.
We recorded an episode under 30minutes, yay, I think we should
celebrate.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Is there a cheers?
Yeah, I got to find it.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Hold on.
I always need to have thisready to go there.
It is Under 30 minutes.
Hey, thank you for listening in.
That is the end of this episode.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Wait, do you want to know how I make decisions?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
Every day I call the church, I ask for whatever
pastor is available, and I saybye.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Have a great day.
Okay.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I did yeah.
Sharing that with everybody, itwas interesting.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Your face does kind of look weird.
It's like kind of.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Thank you, thank you so much for that.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
You did get it numb.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
You said you were spitting water.
Was it just kind of likefalling out of your mouth when
you were drinking something?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I think I was trying to drink it so it just went,
just couldn't feel it, and thenhave you got the feeling back.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yeah, now I have.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Oh good, yes, good, good good.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
So since I've been here in Tampa last eight years,
so I've had glasses or contactssince I was like in fourth grade
, you know, I've been going tothe dentist, especially as a kid
, very consistently.
But it wasn't until I moved toTampa where those two visits
included additional things.
So when I had an eyeappointment in Tampa the first
(01:05):
six months of me being here, Ihad an eye appointment to get
some updated glasses and theydid the dilation and I had never
had that done before.
What I'm serious, I never hadmy eyes dilated ever.
I had had the thing where, likethey, they push the air in your
eye, check the eye pressure Nota fan of that, Not a fan of
that.
And they all have the samepicture.
(01:26):
Have you had your eyes, ofcourse, pressurized?
Yeah, of course.
Yeah, have you?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I haven't.
My eyes are perfect.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, you spit out water today, I wouldn't talk, so
it's always a hot air balloon.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yes, at a distance yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Isn't not a weird thing?
every place is a hot air balloon, probably like one company
making all these things, sostory yeah, but I got my eyes
dilated and then I immediately,like I was in target optical,
came out of target, was going topick up some things, for my
wife had no idea my eyes weredilated and didn't know you
couldn't drive after that or itwasn't recommended.
I'm walking around and someonecomes up to me and was like hey,
trent, and I'm thinking, okay,let me do some explaining here.
(02:07):
I think this happens on acertain under the influence of a
certain drug, but I can't seeyou and I didn't know their
names yet.
Um, it was actually, uh,suzanne Suarez and Megan Cates.
And so, like I immediately said, hey, I've never had my eyes
dilated.
They're dilated right now, butit's because I walked out of
that building.
Sure, not the green alienplaced selling things next door
(02:31):
Target Optical.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
They bought it.
They did buy it.
I'm thankful for that.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
They bought it because it's true, then I also
had never had a cavity and I gota cavity, since I've been here
and had it numbed.
That's a weird feeling too.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
It's weird.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Well, hey, I'm just so glad we're back together.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
That all started just simply because I said that Kara
went to the dentist today.
Sorry about that.
It's good to be back.
Why did we miss last week?
What was up?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
What was up last week .
A lot of things have happenedin the last few weeks.
I was out of town Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
You have new responsibilities that kept you
away Thursday.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So yeah, yep, yep, yep, we're both out Friday.
Friday's me off, so you lostthe soccer game we did Sorry.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
We did, but that's okay.
Kids played hard.
Yeah, that was in regionals,regional final, regional final
so you made it far.
We did.
I'm proud of the boys.
You made it to regionals theyear before.
Is that correct?
We've made it to regionals.
We've never made it to a finalbefore.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
That's as far as we've made, speaking of final B4
, final four, march Madness hasit started?
It's about to.
It's almost March, it's gettingready for conference
tournaments.
I think Tennessee's in top 10,but they were one, they're not
anymore.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Is.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Auburn still number one.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
I think so, but I really have not been following
it.
It's hard for me to tell you Isthis basketball?
This is college basketball.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I don't follow it at all.
I was in Knoxville last weekendfor a very brief time and the
2024 World Series College WorldSeries Champs, aka the Tennessee
Volunteers, were playing a gameon Friday night.
We considered going.
It was like $25, but it waslike 25 degrees so we did not go
(04:15):
.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
That's $1 per degree.
Yeah, I know Way too cold.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Well, hey, I have two options for facts.
Would you like to know aboutBig Brother, or like to know
about pilots sleeping?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I don't think I want to know about pilots sleeping.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I fly too often, especially with all the issues
of flights that have happenedlately.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yes, so do you want to?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
learn about Big Brother, okay.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Whoa.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
TV commercials emit a tone inaudible to the human ear
that your smartphone picks up,letting advertisers know that
both devices might belong to you.
This is one way in whichadvertisers work to deliver
targeted ads to you.
Sounds like a conspiracy theory.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I'm not saying I doubt it, I'm just saying it
sounds like a conspiracy.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
More things involved could be conspiratorial
Technically.
This is not Big Brother, thisis big advertisement, this is
big retail.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Have you noticed that commercials are always louder
than whatever program you'rewatching.
Yes, so they do thatintentionally.
They record it louder.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah, so they could.
I mean I guess they could emitsome sort of signal your
smartphone could pick up.
I know, like, as you get older,do you remember this?
There was a tone that so backin the day, with like Razer cell
phones when the Razer was likethe cool cell phone people were
trading ringtone songs viaBluetooth.
(05:39):
Okay, sure, one of those songsthat was traded around via said
via, via bluetooth, wassomething called the mosquito oh
yeah it was a certain pitch ofsound that as you get older, you
can't hear anymore.
It's a high pitch, but dogs canhear it and freak out right.
(06:00):
So if we were to play thatsound now, I don't think you'd
hear it.
I doubt I would hear it anymore.
Wow, kara might still be there.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
It is.
It's been a couple of weeks.
It did eventually.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Kara might still be able to hear it.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
So there are frequencies we just can't hear,
and apparently advertisersrecognize that.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
I appreciate you clumping us in the same category
as we.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, have you.
I did, I clumped myself inthere.
Have you seen like all thejokes on like social media?
So we know that big retail's athing and we know that, like
microphones are used on yourphones to help gather
information about you, to sellyou things right.
So have you heard the jokesabout like a husband going to a
wife's phone and being like newtruck?
(06:40):
new truck new trucks, you know,so that their phone might
immediately or eventually showan ad for trucks or something
like that.
Yeah, pretty funny.
How to care for your husband.
Cool gifts for fathers yeah,pretty funny, you were about to
say something.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
No, I thought twice about it before I said it.
Oh, okay.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I filtered.
Okay, you made a decision.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
I did make a decision , and a wise one at that.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
All right, Bob, here's a question for you.
Would you rather get $1 million?
We're back to those.
I get these from other podcasts.
I have to look at other peoplewhich podcast.
Bread Basket something.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Bread Basket.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Two guys that vote on things together and stuff.
They do kind of like a sportspodcast.
They do different sports feats.
Could you do it?
Feats, could you do it?
Would you rather get $1 millionor make $50,000 every time you
run, slash, jog, slash, walk amarathon?
That's been an officialmarathon, so you can't just go
out walking, you can't add inyou know your mileage for a week
(07:43):
and it be a marathon.
Oh really what?
It's an official marathon.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
You got to go and walk a marathon.
This is simple.
I mean, I can't physically dothat anymore, so I'm taking the
money up front.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
How many marathons do you have to run?
What's one million?
Speaker 3 (07:56):
divided by 50,000?
Is it 20?
20 marathons I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I would do a marathon you could do a marathon once a
year, every year.
I physically could not run amarathon.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
No, I run, slash jog, slash walk.
I'm not sure I can walk it.
You could walk a marathon.
You aren't in my legs, it wouldtake a day.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
So you devote a day right A year and you just need
to do it for the next 20 years.
But if you did it for 30 yearsand remain healthy at the same,
time.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I think it would keep me on tabs with my health as
well.
So I would totally do that.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
They did two marathons in one year, In 30
years.
Do you think?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
I'm going to care how much money I have.
That's probably true, probablytrue, rawr.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Sorry, it's the old Ecclesiastes.
What's the last chapter, 11?
, 12?
Is 12?
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Is there 12 chapters?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Where he basically says one day you don't want to
wake up anymore right, you'rejust tired of life.
You're just tired of life, sothat year you're not going to
want to run a marathon.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah, so I'm taking the money up front and investing
.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Talking about making decisions.
We want to talk about makingdecisions in today's episode.
That is, making decisions ontoday's episode.
That is making decisions ofwhen maybe you're presented with
an opportunity to move and takea job somewhere, or it's a make
a decision between going to onmissionary work to China for a
year or Japan for a year andthere are two good opportunities
(09:20):
.
Maybe it's a you know, a chainis chain of scenery for your
family and you work a remote job, your wife doesn't work, your
kids like the outdoors, and soyou choose do I want to move to
the beach or do I want to moveto the mountains?
I want to talk through how dowe, as Christians, make
decisions?
What are some things we need tothink through?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
So you just give examples of big decisions.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
These are big decisions, life change decisions
.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
That's kind of what's in my mind a little bit, so not
just everyday decisions likeshould I upsize my happy meal?
Speaker 2 (09:54):
You know that kind of thing, bigger than that, but
not necessarily as big as moving.
Okay, so should I buy a newhouse?
Should I move churches?
Yes, should I.
I mean, we make decisions everyday, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
And somebody said that your life is really just a
result of all the decisions thatyou've made.
Series of decisions.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
So we're thinking about medium-sized to bigger
decisions here, ones that youreally are really struggling.
What decision?
What do I do in this situation?
Decisions you really have toslow down and think about.
Yes, so we're slowing down andthinking about how they should
make, how people should makedecisions.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
That made my head hurt.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Yeah, we're helping people think by thinking
ourselves, so that people mightthink about our thinking when
they think next time.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Okay, all right, look at that, run that back.
Ladies and gentlemen Thinking,inception Wow Okay.
Thinking-ception,thinking-ception.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Nice.
So, pastor Bob, he made adecision there.
I am confused, clearly, I amconfused on the next decision
I'm going to make, and it's abig decision.
Okay, I was just presented theopportunity to, um, you know, I
(11:11):
don't know buy a brand new car.
That's a decision.
And my car is.
It's a little rough, it's, it'suh, it's, it's not on its last
leg, but I don't really like itanymore.
Um, I have the money.
Uh, what do I do?
This is not me, by the way.
I'm keeping my car, but what doI do?
Speaker 1 (11:32):
How do we think through decision making as
Christians, there's a lot ofthings you have to weigh in and
factor in, and I would say evensmaller decisions.
The principles that you usethere go into your bigger
decisions.
So there should be a process bywhich you're making decisions
even on small things.
But these medium-sized things,decisions even on small things,
yeah, but these medium sizedthings, there's, there's a
process by which so, do I needit?
Is it, is it responsible, youknow, can I afford it?
(11:54):
Those kinds of questions youneed to ask yourself as you, as
you consider a purchase of a car.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
What color is it?
I am not see here's the thingy'all.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
I am not a fan of bright colors with cars, or
really much color at all.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Well, I'm green.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I would do black, silver, gray white.
But you know, to each their own.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
But that is part of your decision making.
Not only am I going to buy it,but what color should it be?
I?
Speaker 2 (12:21):
say that.
You know I'm going to talkabout this for a second.
I do like the new kinds ofmatte M-A-T-T-E colors, where
they're not as glossy orsomething I don't really know
what it's called Matte colors,and I like the sand.
Look the beige, the beige andthe green in the matte colors.
(12:43):
Those look cool, those are cool.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
So it's a brand new beige matte green car, or even
the.
A brand new beige mat green car, oh yeah, or even the green.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, the green mat.
Did I already say green?
Are you going to buy it?
What are you going to?
Speaker 3 (12:55):
do what?
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Are you going to lease it?
Are you going to buy it?
Yeah, I'm not going to doanything.
I'm keeping my car Newpreviously owned.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I'm wanting to buy a house, so why aren't we using
all house buying as an example,don't know.
So what are some principles orprocesses by which we should
make decisions?
Well, why don't you start?
You have some, okay, so whydon't I just give all of mine
and you give all of yours, okay?
And then we'll let the listenerdecide which one's better.
They have to make a decision.
Ours are very similar.
They are very similar.
(13:23):
So I divided it up intoprinciples and a process.
Okay, so principles first, tothink through, and then, if
you're still not sure what to do, here's a process.
Okay, here's the principles.
Does this decision lead todisobedience to God's word or is
it disobedience?
Speaker 1 (13:40):
to God's word.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
So the first thing to think through is is this
obeying or disobeying God's word?
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Right, okay.
So how can buying a car beeither obedient or disobedient
to God, bypass the principleExplain?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Well, so buying a car it may not be either, and so
that principle is checked out.
Move to the next principle.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Okay, but what if buying a car puts your family at
risk because you don't reallyneed the car?
I've got other factors for that.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Okay, I've got other factors for that.
Okay, I've got other factorsfor that.
So, these are principles just toconsider that should just shut
down the decision immediately.
Okay, right, so that would bethe process section, pastor,
what if it's a foreign car?
Well, it depends what foreigncar.
If it's Toyota, sure.
If it's Nissan, nissan's hadsome problems.
I, if it's Nissan, nissan's hadsome problems, I don't know.
(14:29):
Sorry, I digress, go ahead.
So yeah, there might not be ayes or no answer to all of these
, but these are check marks tothink through.
Okay, could this lead todisobedience?
If it does, it should stopthere.
Second, is this against myconscience, where I have
Christian liberty?
So maybe someone's pulling meto do something?
I need to make a decision forit, but really my conscience is
keeping me from it.
I know this is not something Iwant to do personally, so don't
(14:50):
do it.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Not prohibited from doing it Biblically, biblically.
But your conscience is tellingyou it's not the right thing.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
That's correct For you at this time, and to go
against that, according toRomans 14, would be sin.
Sin, yeah.
And then local church.
If I'm a part of a local churchnow, it should probably
prohibit me from making thatdecision.
Unless you're in wartime,you're going to the military and
(15:18):
there might be unique factorswhere, for a short, limited time
, you may not be able to be apart of a local church.
But if this is going toprohibit me from going to local
church, I probably should justsay no, sure.
So those are the immediate no'sDisobedience against my
conscience, or it prohibits mefrom being a part of the body of
Christ.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Those are the principles, big principles that
overhang all decisions.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Yep and buying a car.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
none of those really have much to do with buying a
car, not directly, but theycould.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
So here's, then, the process.
Those are the immediate no's.
Here's the process.
Those are the immediate no's.
Here's the process.
Pray for wisdom Proverbs bidsus, encourages us to seek wisdom
from the Lord and he willprovide it.
Proverbs 4, 5 through 9.
And so maybe you say you know,it doesn't seem like an unwise
decision.
That's the first part of theprocess.
So then let's move to thesecond part of the process,
(16:04):
consider practical matters.
How can I use my gifts here?
Is this a wise financialdecision?
Is this a better move goingforward than where I am now?
Is there more opportunity there, or does it seem like I would
flourish here better?
Do I need to wait until I havemore facts and questions
answered before I make adecision?
So those are practical matters.
The Lord has given you a brainto use right.
(16:24):
The Proverbs are a whole book ofjust matters of prudence, what
to do in given situations.
And even the Proverbsthemselves.
They say I think it's Proverbs22 or 24, it says do this.
And the next verse it saysdon't do this.
And so they're to be appliedpractically in given situations.
(16:46):
Don't answer the fool, answerthe fool.
There are certain times toanswer the fool.
There are certain times to notanswer the fool.
So use your brain, use the mindthe Lord's given you.
Consider practical matters.
Pray for wisdom.
Consider practical matters.
The third is seek the counselof wise people in your life.
Proverbs 12 talks about this.
Proverbs 15 talks about this.
If you don't listen to wisecounsel, you are a fool
(17:10):
Sometimes.
Just a note on this sometimesan outsider can help us see the
decision objectively.
Where you might have a lot ofemotions tied up in it, they
might help you just thinkthrough it from an outsider's
perspective.
A lot of times we already knowwhat we're to do, but we need to
hear people agree.
(17:31):
We need to hear people affirmokay, yes, you should not do
that Right.
Number four, fourth part of theprocess make the decision and
trust the Lord.
If you've sought the Lord inprayer, so you've already went
through the principles.
It is not a matter ofdisobedience to God's word.
It's not a matter of goingagainst my conscience.
I can serve at a local church.
(17:52):
There I've prayed for wisdom.
It does feel like it's a wisedecision, but there will also be
a wise decision to do thisthing Practically.
It makes sense.
It's not necessary, but itmakes sense.
I've sought the counsel of alot of people and they say you
Make the decision and trust theLord.
Don't get into analysis,paralysis.
Make a prayerful, prudentdecision, wise decision and just
(18:15):
trust the Lord.
A lot of times we try to almostlike figure out the sovereignty
of God.
If I do this, is it going totake me away from his?
Is it going to mess up thebutterfly effect of his plan for
my life?
And I think God's sovereigntyis greater than that.
He already knows the decisionyou're going to make and if
you've sought him in it, it'snot to be like well, sorry,
trent, your life's messed up now.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
No, he's already blessed that it's a good process
.
Thank you, does it work wellfor you?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
I think, Seems to have.
Here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Here's the thing.
We, I think, can come up withgood advice.
It's a matter of are we goingto follow that advice?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
right, so have I always followed this advice?
Speaker 2 (18:52):
No, should I?
I think so.
This is wise advice.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
It's all good.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
All right, tell me why my principles and process is
not as good as yours.
No, I wouldn't say that.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
It's very similar actually.
Okay, I clump my principles andmy process together, so I
didn't separate them out.
And I don't know that Iconscientiously that's what I'm
looking for, conscientiously, asevery decision I make, go
through this list and go have.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I done.
This have I done this?
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Have I done this?
It just becomes part of who youare and your decision-making
process.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
We're not encouraging people to.
Should I go to McDonald's orWendy's?
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Well, let me pull out what Trent said Exactly.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Is there disobedience , right right?
Speaker 1 (19:37):
right, but but at the same time, when you again, when
you're practicing these thingswith everyday decisions, they
help you when you get to thebigger decisions in life.
And so, um, my, my first step isjust a daily attitude of
striving to live for God's will,not my own.
So waking up every day, going,god, your will be done in my
life today, whatever you wouldwant me to do, and so just
(19:58):
having that attitude overarchingeverything.
God, if I do this, is thisbecause I'm selfish in this or
because it's your will for mylife?
So, a daily attitude of justliving for God's word.
Secondly, just constant prayer,just being continually in
prayer, and that's notnecessarily stopping and praying
over this particular decision,even though I think that's
(20:18):
important.
It's just an attitude ofconversational prayer with God
on a regular basis, so that whenI'm having to make a decision,
it is God, help me make the wisedecision.
God, what would you have me todo here?
God, give me wisdom, sendsomebody into my life to speak
into my life on this.
So, just continual prayer.
So attitude of God's will in mylife, continual prayer.
(20:39):
Then weighing out my options,looking at okay, here's the
decision I have to make if Ichoose this or if I choose this.
A is going to lead me here.
B is going to lead me here.
Sometimes that's clear,sometimes it's not, but I need
to understand.
I'm very pragmatic.
I need to understand.
I will make lists to say thisis what will be, this and this
is what will be.
So, pros and cons, pros andcons Of staying or going,
(20:59):
staying or going, picking this,or picking this, buying or not
buying, exactly so that's justkind of how my brain works.
So sometimes I do thatphysically, sometimes I just do
it mentally, but I'll weigh outmy options, say okay, here it is
, and then I seek God's word forwisdom.
So does God's word speakdirectly into this decision?
Is there a decision I'm makingthat God's word says this is
(21:22):
what you should do to be in mywill, and if you do this, you
won't be.
But God's word doesn't speakdirectly into every decision we
make in our lives, but it doesin principles and in decisions.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
He does say white, black, silver, gray, matte,
green, matte, tan, car it is infirst opinions.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It's in there somewhere.
So, daily attitude to livingfor God's word, continual prayer
, weighing out options, biblicalwisdom and then seeking godly
counsel.
You mentioned this one Wise menseek counsel.
They just do one Um um.
Wise men seek counsel, thatthey just do Um.
Now you have to be careful.
It has to be wise counsel.
That's right, you can getcounsel from 20 fools and they
(22:01):
all agree and you go oh, I'mgoing to follow those guys.
Well, they're making a foolishdecision.
You need to seek wise counsel,so making making sure you have
people in your life that canhelp you make those and perhaps
even in areas where financialthings that they understand more
deeply than you do, havingsomebody in your life that you
can call up and go hey, you'remy guy on this, help me think
through this.
(22:21):
Or you're my girl on this, helpme think through this.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
So, godly counsel, even on practical matters.
We might have someone in ourchurch who knows about cars
matters.
You know, we might have someonein our church who knows about
cars.
So if you're buying a car, hey,um, I don't appreciate.
I don't just appreciate yourgodly wisdom, but I appreciate
what you've learned in yourtrade.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
Help me out.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Sure yeah sure, darlene and I are going through
the process of selling our houseand buying a new home right now
.
We've done that six times, soit's not like it's the first
time I've ever done it.
I'm not getting surprised bythings, but there are people in
our church who do that every day, deal with those contracts
every day.
That's right, so I can callthem up and say, hey, give me
wisdom on this.
This is what they're asking orthis is what they're saying,
give me wisdom on this.
So godly counsel is important.
(23:01):
I'd say that, with spiritualdecisions as well, not just
practical decisions, findingpeople that you trust, then I
would say make a determination.
Make a decision, like you say,at some point, after you've
waited all out, you've prayed,you considered, you sought
counsel, you have to make adecision, you have to decide,
and so make the determination.
This is the way I'm going to go.
And then the thing that I addthat you didn't have in yours
(23:23):
was own that decision.
Once you've made the decision,go right Now.
There are going to be timeswhen you realize, oh, I made the
wrong decision and you have toeither repent of that or ask
forgiveness for that or changebecause of that.
But once you've made a decision, own it and go with it, don't
dance around it.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Go with it.
Indecision is a decision andit's a bad decision.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
It is, and it's frustrating to those around you
who are waiting for you to makedecisions.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Yeah, he stared at me when he said that is, and it's
frustrating to those around youwho are waiting for you to make
decisions.
He stared at me when he saidthat he's very self-conscious.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
He's probably talking about you.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
You should probably take that to heart.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
And then, finally, I have the same thing you did
Trust God.
Trust God that he's sovereignover all of it.
Trust in the Lord with all yourheart and lean on your own
understanding.
He's going to direct your pathanyway.
So if you're doing all theseother things and you're walking,
striving to walk in God's will,god's sovereign over all these
things.
So I think it's important foreveryone to practice decision
(24:26):
making, to make good decisions,to make godly decisions.
It's very important for leadersto be able to do that, because
people are looking at you, goingokay, we need to make this
decision, help us walk throughthis process.
And not just make the decisionfor them, but help them walk
through a process of decisionmaking.
And if you're not doing that inyour own personal life, it's
hard to do that and you'releading a group, leading a
(24:47):
church, to do the same thing.
That's right.
That's right.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
I think that last piece is so helpful Trust God,
especially when you know, wetalked to college students who
may have found who they think isthe person they're going to
marry right and they're goingthrough this process that sought
wise counsel.
They prayed for their futurespouse.
They have prayed for wisdom inwhether this is the right time
(25:14):
in their life and I think somecollege students expect there to
be just like this formation ofclouds that say the name of the
person you're going to marry, abright light behind them, that
kind of thing, which I know thathappened for you and Jaden.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
It did.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Yeah, where just the clouds just formed and it said
Jaden and put like a smiley facethat looks really similar to
him in the clouds.
You took a picture of it?
Show me.
No, but that's not how the Lordworks, right?
He gave us godly people, hegave us his word, he gave us
minds and he offers his wisdomright.
Very few times are we going tohave that pie in the sky moment.
(25:52):
We can trust the Lord with whathe's revealed to us, who he's
surrounded us, with the mindhe's given us that is renewed by
his spirit, to make a decisionwithout just living in fear that
we're outside of hissovereignty in any given moment.
Yeah, I think that's superhelpful.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
I think there's also wisdom in knowing that some
decisions you don't need tothink about.
There are certain things thatare just black and white.
I shouldn't do this, so I don'treally need to go through this
process.
That's why I had mine inprinciples Right.
So if I'm living for God's willand this is clearly outside of
God's will or this is againstwhat God's written word says,
(26:28):
against my conscience?
Against my conscience.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Or there's maybe not a local church Exactly.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
There are certain decisions that we don't have to.
You know, if we are strugglingwith it, it's because it's in
our own sin.
Yeah, that's right, not justgoing okay, god, that's not what
you have for me, that's notwhat's best for me, and even
though selfishly I may want topursue that right now, that's
the wrong decision, so I'm goingto go this way.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
They shouldn't even make it in the process of
consideration.
Exactly you know those.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
What would Jesus do?
Bracelets, yeah, um, someonemade a joke and I forget who it
was, but they said what wouldJesus do?
Jesus probably wouldn't be inthis situation in the first
place.
Probably, not, probably not.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
I would also say, most of the time, um, when you
have to make a decision, it'spretty rare that you get to that
end of that process and it'sjust like crystal clear.
You know 100%.
This is the direction I need togo.
Usually there's still some.
If you're making a toughdecision, there's still some.
You know back and forth, butyou just got to trust.
Don't trust your gut, Don'tdon't do that, but just trust
(27:28):
the, the, the research you'vedone, trust the counsel you've
received, but just trust theresearch you've done, Trust the
counsel you've received, Trustyour conscience and, having
talked to the Lord, and thenjust go, Just take the step.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Yeah, word church wisdom.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Take the step.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Yep Take the step.
Well, thanks for listening.
Hopefully this was helpful.
We recorded an episode under 30minutes, yay, I think we should
celebrate.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Is there a cheers?
Yeah, I got to find it.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Hold on.
I always need to have thisready to go there.
It is Under 30 minutes.
Hey, thank you for listening in.
That is the end of this episode.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Wait, do you want to know how I make decisions?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
Every day I call the church, I ask for whatever
pastor is available, and I saybye.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Have a great day.
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