Looking Like Jesus: A Practical Guide

Join Pastor Brent McQuay and Pastor Harry Valentine as they explore what it means to truly live in the image of Christ. This episode strips back the complexities and focuses on the essence of Jesus' teachings, the impact of living a Christ-centered life, and practical steps for everyday application. It's a candid dialogue on embracing the challenges and joys of following Jesus, offering insights for anyone seeking to look like Him.

If you're looking to get even more out of this podcast episode, check out the full sermon on the same topic on our YouTube channel https://go.clc.tv/ps48

Episode Transcript

(00:11):
Hey, welcome back to another episode of Between Sermons.
This one's going to be a little bit back
to our normal flow. No Q and a today.
Instead, we are just going to have a conversation
where we're taking our Sunday message. That's really, honestly,
the format's a little bit more of a monologue.
It's just a guy standing on the stage talking
at people. And so we want to turn this
into an actual conversation. And so we started a

(00:34):
brand new series called like Jesus. And so for
the next six weeks, we're really just focusing in
on how do we become more like Jesus, because
that's kind of the whole point of Christianity. But
as always, you don't have to have listened to
that sermon in order to get something out of
this conversation. But if you'd like to check it
out, it'll be in the show notes for today's

(00:56):
episode. But today I've got a special guest, Pastor
Harry Valentine.
Yes, sir.
What up, bro? Man, how you doing here? How
you feeling?
I'm doing amazing.
Yeah. Repping Chicago White Sox. I appreciate know we
got a lot of Cubs fans in this building.
For some reason, they're upset right now. You're in
the wrong hemisphere of Chicago.
That is true.
But yeah, as Southsiders, born and raised.

(01:18):
So Chicago White, favorite team for life.
Let's go. All right, but most important question that
we can probably ask today, I got a standing
ovation in one of the services from one person.
So I don't know if you can really call
that a standing ovation because I put to rest
the is Michael Jordan the Goat debate. But you

(01:39):
are an actual basketball fan. Super fan. I'm just
that kid that grew up watching Michael Jordan and
being like, that's awesome.
Yeah.
So goat?
Oh, for sure. Hands down.
I was about to say we got to kill
this podcast immediately.
Michael Jordan, MJ 23 45. Whatever number he wears.
The Goat. Yeah, he's the Goat. Okay, no debate.

(02:03):
But I know some of my friends. They are
diehard LeBron fans. And don't get me wrong, LeBron
has done some amazing things in his career. Absolutely.
And he has gained me as a fan for
sure, but not in that conversation that sits in
a totally different category.
Yeah, he never actually gained me as a fan.
Really? He never took me over that. This would
probably get me in trouble. I respect what he's

(02:24):
done. I don't even think he's in the number
two slot personally.
That's debatable. I have Kobe in that number two
slot.
Yeah, I got Kobe in the number two as
well. But some of it's personal preference.
True.
And then, of course, if we were talking to
somebody in their 50s, they'd be throwing out some
different names.
Different names for that one two slot. But, you

(02:45):
know, championships matter.
Come on.
I mean, what we do it for. Yeah, why
are we on the team? What are we playing
for?
You don't get the ring. It ain't worth it.
Mike Kobe, come on now. And your boy LeBron
is still searching. He's playing. He's still playing. He
hasn't retired yet, but we'll see.
You think he's got anything?
He has a lot left. He's definitely playing at
a high level. But the chip talk, it's not

(03:06):
happening in LA for you?
I don't think so.
It's not here in Chicago either. But still.
Man, don't even get me started on Chicago sports
right now. But yeah, this isn't a sports talk
show, so we should probably get back to the
subject at hand. We do want to become more
like Jesus, and it's more than just a desire.

(03:29):
There's a quote that I didn't use in the
message. We were talking about it a little bit
ago from C. S. Lewis in mere Christianity, which
is a side note. If you're a Christian and
you haven't read mere Christianity, what are you doing
with your like that should be required reading for
anyone. So if you're listening to this podcast right
now and you have not read mere Christianity, just
stop and go get. Yeah, Amazon will have it

(03:52):
at your house by the time you finish listening
to this podcast because they're crazy. But C. S.
Lewis said in mere Christianity about. So we used
Romans 13 as kind of a kickoff passage that
in the. I think it was the ERV that
I was using, or the NLT, I forget, which,
says to be like Christ in the ESV, which
is where I do a lot of my actual

(04:13):
study, it says to put on Christ, which is
probably the language a lot of more seasoned believers
probably know. Like, we're supposed to put on Christ,
man, that has all kinds of connotation to it.
And we could talk about that for a minute
if we want. But he says when it comes
to putting on Christ, this isn't one of many
tasks that a Christian is supposed to do. He

(04:35):
says it's not the thing that's reserved for the
top of class. It's like the pastors need to
put on Christ, but the rest of us can
just do whatever we want. No, he says, it
is the whole of Christianity like the whole point,
the whole reason why we are christians is to
put on Christ so that every single day when
people look at us, they're not seeing us, they're

(04:56):
seeing a reflection of Jesus. And that just becomes
such, I don't know, a pivotal moment for christians.
But, man, we get it so wrong so often.
I mean, when's the last time you saw a
Christian that wasn't looking very christlike? This morning? It

(05:16):
won't take you very long.
No, it doesn't. It doesn't take long at all.
But the thing about that is it's an everyday
challenge, right? It's something that you have to do
daily, right? That we have to make sure that
we're being clothed with Christ on a daily basis.
And oftentimes, depending on your circumstance, situation, life, seasons,

(05:36):
that could be difficult. Some seasons are easier than
others. However, it's not a choice. It's mandatory. It's
what we're called to be and called to do.
And I've seen the benefits of doing that in
spite of wanting certain things to be my way
or see things differently. But when I put it
in God's hand and I am clothed in Christ,

(05:58):
then the outcome is just that much better for
everybody involved. So that quote definitely hits home. It's
like, it's not a suggestion box, it's a requirement,
right? So that's the part that we need to
embrace.
And when we get it wrong, it's like Gandhi,
who's know, I like, like.

(06:19):
I like what he read about Christ.
I'm like, this guy sounds amazing like Christ. But
then I meet Christians and I'm like, that's a
paraphrase of the. So, like, it is so vital
for us as christians to every single day. We
wake up in the morning, we're getting dressed, we

(06:39):
need to put on Christ, which means we're putting
on his way of thinking, his way of caring
for people, his way of talking to people, his
way of just doing life. We're putting that on.
And so we're saying, I'm not going to live
like me because the moment I meet Christ, it's
no longer me, it's now him. And so that

(07:00):
though, I just, man, it is such a challenge.
Yes.
And there's a reason why so many christians get
it wrong is because it takes a lot of
work to be less like Brent McQuay and more
like Jesus Christ. It takes a lot of, you
know, you don't have to go more than a
few moments without realizing, man, Jesus is a lot

(07:20):
better than me.
That is so true. And I love that object
lesson that you displayed on yesterday of having that
mirror in front of you. And, hey, if you're
walking past the mirror, ask yourself that question, am
I reflecting Jesus? How do I look today? What
are you reflecting? And if you see more of
yourself, that's a problem for a Christian, right? You

(07:41):
have to process that internally and say, hey, maybe
this is more of me and how I feel,
how I'm allowing for this moment in life to
dictate how I want to respond. Like, I know
how I want to respond to this, but Christ
wouldn't do that. And we see that displayed in
scripture, how he responded in certain situations, that if

(08:04):
I put myself in that moment, could be a
different outcome. But walking past the mirror, man, even
just this morning, I said, what would Jesus do?
How would Jesus respond? Today is a day that
you have a choice to be more like Christ
or be more like Harry.
We need to bring back those bracelets, the WWJD.

(08:25):
As soon as you said that, I went to
Amazon, did you get. I did. So I will
be delivering those, right. And WWJ. WWJD. It is.
It's that thing that we have to continue to
remind ourselves, what would Jesus do in this moment,
in this situation?
And I think one of the big issues is

(08:46):
that we don't stop long enough to have that
true. Right. Like, so people are always saying, think
before you speak. And they have to say it
because we don't. We just let things rip, and
we're just going through life. We're just doing our
thing. And so we don't even pause long enough
to realize, man, what I'm saying right now, this
is not honoring Christ. This is not pointing people

(09:06):
to him. This is pointing people away from him.
And, man, I still remember the moment that some
kids in my school, way back in the day
realized that I was a Christian. And they're like,
that don't really make sense because we know what
Christianity is supposed to be about, and we know
what you've been doing with us.

(09:26):
Wait, what?
And we do. We kill our witness to people.
And honestly, that's the most important thing. Heaven and
hell is vital. Now, we talked on Sunday that
it's not the goal. Heaven is not the purpose
of Christianity. Purpose of Christianity is to have relationship
with Christ and to be like him. And so

(09:47):
we got to make sure that we don't get
the wrong thing as the focal point, the wrong
thing as the goal. But heaven and hell is
a very serious issue, for sure. And we want
more people going to heaven and less people going
to hell.
That is so true.
And if you're going to do that, then you
need to reflect Christ in everything you do.
Yeah. My dad shared a story with me a
few years back. So my dad is retired carpenter,

(10:09):
and he's been in construction for, man, 40 plus
years. And he would go to the local stores
and purchase drinks and chips, fritos and Pepsi, right?
In the local stores. Most local stores in the
neighborhoods that he was working in were liquor stores.
So he goes in, and one day he was

(10:31):
going out the store, and he realized like, hey,
everybody that leaves out this store has a brown
paper bag, right? And for him, he's like, well,
I just have a Pepsi and some peanuts and
some fritos. And just speaking on that point of
protecting the witness to someone that is just a
bag, it's just chips. But for someone driving by
and they see Harry, Pastor Harry, right. With that

(10:55):
bag coming out liquor store. Right? What could that
say to them? And so he said, every day
since God has showed me that, and that revelation
came to mind for me. He said, I just
go in there. No bag, please. Right. And I
think that is essential to how we live, is
we have to make sure that we are mindful
of what it is that we're even delivering or

(11:17):
carrying and what that will represent. Does that represent
Christ? Even if it's difficult, it could be something
as simple as just a bag of chips in
a brown paper bag. But it speaks more to
those who are watching. So our life is very
important in how we live when it comes to
our faith, because that's what draws people in right

(11:39):
before they even know who Jesus Christ is, you
are the closest thing to him. And so if
they're going to have that first conversation with you
about Christ, make sure that that reflection is not
of you, but of him.
Yeah. We're supposed to be Jesus in every relationship,
every situation that, every interaction that we have is

(12:02):
supposed to be illuminating him. We are supposed to
be set apart. As a Christian, you are supposed
to be different. And I think Christians, man, we
got a camouflage problem. We're trying so hard to
just blend in with the people around us when
God literally created us so that we would stand
out, so that people would look at what we're
doing versus what they're doing and go, wait a

(12:24):
minute. How come you're different when the whole office
is doing this thing? You're doing that. Why is
that? And it's supposed to be the question that
they ask of why should be our open door
to be able to say, because of Jesus, right?
And we lose that when we, scripture even tells

(12:44):
us we're supposed to avoid even the parents of
evil. And I think so much, we're just kind
of blending in with evil people, and we kind
of draw these lines. We're like, well, I won't
cross that line. But it's like, it might just
be the brown paper bag, but, man, that's real.
So good.
So silly story. So I did a sermon years
and years ago talking about the power of the

(13:06):
Holy Spirit. Actually got this from Tim Ross. And
so it was basically an object lesson of alcohol,
that when you're under the influence of alcohol, there's
changes that happen to you. When you're under the
influence of the Holy Spirit, there's similar changes that
are supposed to happen to you. So, drawing all
these parallels, but for the message, I actually had
a bottle of alcohol on the table. I don't

(13:27):
even remember what it was because I don't drink
at all. But when we had to go to
the store to buy it, I sent my wife
in. I was like, babe, I cannot be coming
out of that store. But you go risk your
witness. I ain't touching mine. And then, just so
that everybody was clear after the message, we did

(13:48):
a video for social media where I literally, I'm
standing in the kitchen and I open the bottle
and I pour it down the drain. Look, we
understand alcohol is not a sin. Drunkenness is. But
as a pastor, I want to be above reproach.
I want to avoid even the appearance of evil.
I don't want anybody seeing me at dinner going,

(14:10):
is that his first glass of wine or is
that his 8th glass of wine? How much has
he been drinking tonight? And so I just avoid
it completely, for sure. But just throwing that out
there because some people are going to be like,
but alcohol is not a sin. No, it's not.
No. But I think that's a great point to
highlight because it's just the protecting our witness. Right.

(14:31):
The guarding our witness is that we are very
intentional on how we live. So therefore, something that
may not cause you to stumble, it may be
a stumbling block for someone else.
Oh, yeah. Right.
And so it's important even for me, being a
man who is a father and a husband and
really hold that to a high esteem in my

(14:53):
life, that when I am mentoring or connecting with
the youth, the males, that they can see that,
okay, Harry is the same in his house, he's
the same at the church, and he's the same.
If I'm working with him, they can see that
consistency of not so much of myself, but the

(15:15):
Christ that I allow to dwell in me and
do those things. So I tell them, listen, do
the thing before it happened. Practice the thing before
something happens. It's like in basketball. If you're practicing
a left hand layup two days and you put
in a work the moment you're in the game
and that instinct happens, you're not going to think
about it, you're just going to do it. So,

(15:35):
no different than your faith is that if there's
something that you're struggling with and you know that
I need to be more like Christ in this
area, put in the work. What paul say, press
on towards the goal, is that pressing and putting
in the reps in order to be ready so
your spiritual instinct can kick in the moment you
need it to. And so I know for me,

(15:56):
early on in my marriage, I knew that, okay,
I'm going to put guards up as it relates
to the look of women looking at women. So
I would do this so weird. But what I
would do is if a young lady is walking
by and I knew I would just do a
180 and I'll go the opposite way. And I

(16:17):
tell you, that was ten years ago. Well, 17
years ago that I implemented that, but now it's
a part of who I am now. I don't
do the turn. It's just I'm here with it.
Right. And because it's something that you have to
put in practice, you have to press toward, especially
if you're trying to be more like Christ. It's
everyday work. You have to put in that.

(16:37):
My version of that is the eye bounce. If
your eye hits something, you just bounce them as
quick as possible. Just bounce it away for sure.
And if there's anything in you that's like, I
want to get another look. Exactly. Because the world
is, man, it's a place.
It's a place.

(16:57):
But yeah, man, this may get super personal for
you, but what do you think is the area
of your life? I love that you talked about
putting in the work because we talked about that
on Sunday. That desire is where this thing starts.
We got to desire to be like Christ before
we can actually be like him. But like, with
everything in life, if you have desire for something,

(17:19):
but you don't put in the work, it's just
not going to happen. But where do you find
the biggest struggle for Harry Valentine as a follower
of Christ? You're like, man, it's in these situations
or it's in this area of my life that
I know that's going to be my biggest struggle
in being like Christ.

(17:40):
That is a thinker. And I say that not
in a way of just kind of putting myself
up or anything. I have been so intentional of.
Let me go back. So when I first came
to Christ, every day that I walked out the

(18:03):
house, I would say this prayer, and then I
would challenge myself to do this. And I said,
today I'm going to live sinless. Right. And so
for, like, every day, I would be intentional. Thoughts,
where did that come from? Lord, forgive me. I
was really just trying to get these things, get
these reps in, right? But if it's like, okay,
if I act in something, I say something, watch

(18:26):
my words, watch the way I talk, and watch
the way that I move and my decisions. And
I did that for years. For years. And I
think that just built something in me that I
have this default to not what Harry wants, but
what, you know, how God wants things to be
done. But if I could speak to a moment,

(18:48):
it's just the area of communication.
Okay.
And that communication has been, the way that I
communicate has been a blessing. But at times, it's
actually hurt it as well, of saying what needs
to be said when it needs to be said.
And I know to some people that's like, oh,

(19:08):
that's easy, right? No, but that has been really
difficult. Right. That has caused me not only moments,
even in my marriage early, but then also in
relationship. And so being an ambassador and being the
mouthpiece of Christ, there are times where that communication

(19:29):
piece has really hindered me from actually displaying who
Christ really is in love, regardless of the situation
and circumstance. And so I think if I could
say that is that very thing, that side piece,
that even over the last few years, I've even
grown into at times. But I still don't feel

(19:51):
like I've arrived to that. And there are some
layers that comes along with that. But I think
that's the piece for me that I really have
a hard time or had a hard time and
still working towards of just communicating the things that
needs to get communicated without.

(20:11):
We kind of talk about that a lot. The
truth and love. Yeah, there's times when we avoid
the truth because we don't want to upset people
or we don't want to rock the boat. And
then some people, they avoid the love because they're
like, no, this is truth.
Exactly.
And, man, I'm all for truth. But even Jesus
had a lot of love. It's funny that he
had less love and more truth. For the believers,

(20:35):
it was actually the Pharisees. It was the ones
that professed a faith in God that he had
less love and more truth for. And we do
the opposite. We have no love for the world,
people that are in sin, and we just want
to hit them with truth. But then we got
somebody in our church that's in sin and we're
like, oh, well, they're struggles and we make excuse

(20:59):
for. It's like, man, I would love no truth.
We just reversed Jesus's model on this subject. But
I love that you did start off by talking
about when you were leaving the house. You're like,
I'm going to have a sinless day today. And
I think that needs to be the starting point
for a lot of people in becoming like Christ.
Because when there is an obvious, glaring sin issue

(21:19):
in your life and you're kind of like, I
don't know, accepting that, like coddling that saying, this
part of me know one day God will deliver
me from that. And so I'm just going to
hold onto this while I try and become like
Jesus in all these other areas. It doesn't really
work that way. When you have a sin problem,

(21:39):
that needs to be the first line of attack.
That's the thing that you've got to deal with.
Now, does that mean that any of us live
sinless? No, we don't. But it's that repetitive sin.
It's that sin that just becomes a stronghold in
your life. And you can't become like Christ when
you are entertaining sin. So something has to be

(22:00):
done about sin. And I think that's one of
the struggles that I feel like in modern Christianity,
churches don't really like to talk about sin anymore,
or they like to talk about sin way too
much. It's kind of like one or the other.
And we do need to find that balance. But,
yeah, you can't be like Jesus if you're still
playing with sin.
Yeah, I think one, I guess, illustration that has

(22:23):
helped me over the years, and something that I
speak to is, how's the closet? Right. I'm not
talking about the big boxes that everyone can see
from just walking past the closet. I'm talking about
that small box that sits in the back that
you just continue to push to the back. Push
to the back because that's the one that you're

(22:46):
not ready to deal with. You can be vulnerable
and honest and transparent about the ones that everybody
can see and the ones that, hey, you're dealing
with that. So it's easier for me to have
that conversation about that because there's relationship relatability in
that particular area. But that one, that's a little
dark, right? That is hard to really deal with.

(23:07):
That's the one that you have to get from
back there. The one that's collecting the dust in
the back of the closet, because that's the one
that's going to keep you separated from the father.
He wants that one. He doesn't want these. You've
already confessed, you've already asked for forgiveness. He's pushed
those away. But the one that you've yet to
speak to and speak about and ask for forgiveness

(23:28):
and ask for help and healing for, that's the
one that he wants. And so my analogy is
that I want my closet to be wide open.
See it, hey, this is what I experienced. This
is what I went through. This is what I'm
going through. But guess what? You could come in
and check the back of the closet because I
want you to see that in Christ, with Christ

(23:50):
putting on Christ allows for me to deal with
these things the right way, not my way. My
way would tend to just hide and put things
to the back and, hey, avoid. And I could
just look like a Christian but not live like
Christ. Those are two different things. When we talk
about being clothed in Christ, that's putting on his

(24:11):
nature and who he is and what he did
and how he's shown us to live this life
on this earth. Being a Christian is just putting
on enough so that that could satisfy people totally.
Two different things. So just cleaning the closet, sweeping
it clean and being confident. Here's the thing. The
enemy can't keep that sin over your head. Keep

(24:32):
dangling and whispering in your ear about that very
thing. If you expose them, bring it to light,
the light dispels darkness. Once you bring that and
pull that sin issue out and give it light,
the enemy can't use it anymore to keep you
in that shame and that guilt or that condemnation.
Expose him. Live free, walk in that freedom. And

(24:56):
that's what Christ wants for us. Yeah.
And, man, I feel like this conversation about sin,
I run into so many people, maybe it's working
with young men a lot too, where it's a
repetitive sin that they feel horrible about. And so
they'll cry about it, they'll repent of it, they'll

(25:16):
say they're sorry for it, and then they go
right back to it. So let's look at something
obvious. One, pornography. Yeah. So like a kid or
young man or old man, who cares? Somebody that's
got an issue with porn. This is a sin
issue in their life. They feel bad about it.
They feel guilty. They say they're sorry. They repent.

(25:38):
And I use air quotes for that because repentance
is supposed to be a change of mind and
a change of direction. But they do the I'm
so sorry for this, but they don't delete the
apps on their phone that are leading them to
it. They don't put the blocks on their computer
that are leading them to it. They're still watching
the same show that every time they watch that

(25:59):
show, there's somebody on it that it's triggering and
they're like, and something happens later that day. So
they haven't done the work needed. They felt sorry
for the sin, but they haven't done the work.
And I think if you're truly repenting, it's a
change of mind, of saying, okay, my mind and
my body, my flesh really likes this thing, but

(26:23):
I'm going to change my mind on that. I
don't care if my body wants it. I know
that it's not good for me. So I'm changing
my mind on that thing, and then I'm changing
direction. I'm not going to keep heading down a
path that's going to eventually lead me to that.
So it may start with the music you're listening
to, and then that music gives you some imaginations
and some thoughts. And now that music is leading

(26:44):
you towards this thing, it may be the shows
that you're watching. It may be the websites that
you're visiting. It may be starting an instagram, and
you just keep scrolling. You see a pretty girl
and then you see a pretty girl, and then
you see a pretty girl, and then all of
a sudden, it's like an hour later. And all
of these things are what's leading you towards the

(27:06):
sin issue in your life. And so if you
don't address these things, you're going to keep falling
into the trap.
So true.
And every week, you're going to be really sorry
about what you did, or every day you're going
to be really sorry. And you're going to go
back to the mirror and you're going to see
that thing in your life and you're going to
be like, I'm so sorry. Jesus, forgive me. I'll
never do it again. I'll never do it again.
I'll never do it again. And then five minutes

(27:26):
later, you're back on instagram, still scrolling. Like, at
some point you have to cut away some things
from your life or you're just going to keep
in that cycle of sin.
Yeah, the cycle of sin. You're so absolutely right.
So I have some friends that I've helped walk
through that journey. And what we've been able to

(27:50):
do is take a look at the terrain, take
a look at what's in front of you. Let's
talk through those from early morning to late night.
Where are those areas that are the trigger moments?
What happens throughout the day? These are just the
practical approaches. It's in your face. You know, that

(28:11):
it's something that you want to be delivered and
freed from. However you have to put in the
work, to your point of taking a look at
it and say, where does the triggers take place?
Moment you identify the roadmap. And now you can
see you start to make adjustments to that roadmap
to ensure that you are protecting yourself from either

(28:34):
that lust or that temptation, but then also, too,
bringing in your accountability in the moment, regardless of
where you are. Hey, man, you got time to
talk for an hour or two? Let's do it.
Let's happen. Let's make it happen. But to your
point, you have to just change the way that
you're doing it. You may have started, hey, I
could do this alone. Most guys start there. I

(28:57):
think I could do it. It's not that bad.
I could figure it out on my own. But
then you find yourself back into it even deeper.
So then maybe you do reach out to a
friend. Hey, man, you might be able to.
White knuckle it for a little bit all on
your own. I got this willpower and maybe a
couple of months, maybe six months, but.
I think, too, once you get past that point

(29:17):
of, okay, I just can't do it anymore. And
God, I really want you to do this for
me. He'll do it. But then maybe there are
some extra steps. Maybe you have to go and
get counseling, right? Maybe you have to go get
support outside, and that's okay. But it's putting the
work to get to that point so that you
don't find yourself back into the cycle of. I

(29:38):
love the testimony of Tim Ross when he speaks
about it and how vulnerable he is about it
and how open he is about it. Like, hey,
man, listen, it was bad, but it was coupled
with more than just, okay, got to do it.
He will, but we have to do some work
in the process, too, right? So just partnering with

(29:58):
God in that journey to allow for you to
smooth out the terrain and be patient with the
process and allow for it to happen. But it
is a work. It is a work, and it
starts with your heart.
It was Tim Ross's vulnerability with it. This is
like 1520 years ago, he was talking about it,
and I was convicted, so I was looking at

(30:19):
porn. And we're talking like 20 years ago, 15
years ago, hearing his testimony, hearing his story. I
went up to him after he got done talking.
I was like, hey, man, you were talking about
me. And I just need you to pray for
me, because when I get in the car and
I start driving home today, I'm going to be

(30:40):
confessing this to my wife. And he did. He
prayed for me. I got in the car, confessed
all of this stuff to my wife.
And it's something beautiful about the testimony of the
believer, the power. That's what the word says. It's
power in the testimony and how life giving it
is to hear from someone that's on the other

(31:01):
side now while I'm experiencing what I'm experiencing, but
I'm talking to you on the other side so
I can relate. I understand the mental, the emotional,
the physical, and even that spiritual deficiency that you
have in this season. But I'm on the other
side. And I want to let you know that
you can be on this side as well. You're

(31:21):
not too far gone. That God loves you and
he cares for you and that everything that he
wants for you will continue to happen. It's just,
okay, in this moment, in this time, I need
to let that go. I need to confess that
and really say, God, I want you to take
this from me and allow for him to do
it. But it's something beautiful about that, the power
of the testimony, that I can be encouraged by

(31:43):
the faith of others, even when I can't really
believe and have the faith for myself. And that's
what I believe. That took place even in that
moment. And you hear it often, but it's something
that we really have to hold to and do
more of the testimony. What happened to that situation?
Right? Yeah, I came out on the other side
and God did and.

(32:03):
But you also put in work. You did. There's
still action on your part. I think so many
people are just waiting for that prayer moment where
they're like, jesus, take this from me. And then
it's like, poof, it's gone. I never have that
desire again. But the reality is you've got to
change some aspects of your life so that when
you look in the mirror and you see a
glaring sin issue, I think the best example of

(32:25):
it would be like when Jesus talks about, first
remove the plank out of your own eye before
you deal with the spec in somebody else, when
it comes to becoming like Jesus, the plank in
our lives is the sin. We've got to deal
with that. And once we've dealt with that, then
we can start working on the specs. Because I
think for a lot of believers, when it isn't
just this major sin issue anymore, it's still. It's

(32:47):
that little stuff. Look, there's little moments where I'm
talking with somebody, and all of a sudden I
say something, and I'm like, ooh, that was not
God honoring. Or I'm interacting with a neighbor, and
all of a sudden I'm losing my temper, and
I'm like, oh, that wasn't good. I wouldn't outright
call those things or those moments sin. Sure, but

(33:08):
it's that spec. We're going to get into the
spec issue, I guess. But before that, I just
want to let people know. We talked a bunch
about porn, but that's not the only sin issue
that you need to do things to change. I
had a friend who. Recovering drug addict, recovering alcoholic.
Alcohol led to drugs, and so he's clean, he's

(33:31):
sober. And then he realized that going to sporting
events became a trigger. And I would have never
in a million years, so that's never been one
of my struggles, but I would never in a
million years connected going to a sporting event with
triggering an alcoholic.
Sure.
And then I was at a basketball game, and
somebody ordered a beer, and I'm passing the cup,

(33:52):
and the smell of alcohol is so strong for
me. That's not an alcoholic. I can just keep
passing that for him. The moment that thing comes
in front of his face, all he's doing for
the rest of the night is thinking about that.
That's true.
And so he's gotten to the point where he's
like, I don't go to sporting events. It's like,
hey, I got free tickets to a baseball game.
You want to come? No, I can't go to

(34:13):
baseball games. I can't go to basketball games. I'll
watch it at home on my tv. But he's
had to make some hard decisions in his life
to cut out some things that he loves, some
things that are like, man, this is a great
thing, and it's not even a sinful thing. It's
not a sin to go watch the White Sox.
It might be a sin to go watch the
bears sometimes. I love my bears, but, man, come

(34:35):
on. Talking about those little triggers, watching a Bears
game. I'm like, what are you doing, idiot? So
we all have to put in some kind of
work in order to remove the sin stuff from
our lives. And then comes that daily refining process
where you're constantly working this. We talked about the

(34:58):
five things that you need to become like Jesus
on Sunday. And we talked about how it's a
cyclical process. Well, it's a cyclical process because there's
these little things in our lives. It's like, oh,
these little moments. The way I treated my wife,
the way I talked to my kids, the way
I drove my car today may not have been
very christlike, which is always a funny thing. When
I get cut off in traffic with somebody that
has, like, a church logo on their bumper, I'm

(35:20):
like, wWJD? Yeah, great, awesome. And so there's all
these little moments that then we have to work
on. And so you talked already about one of
your struggle areas is that communication piece. What's one
of your success areas? If you're like, man, if
you met Harry 1015 years ago, for sure.

(35:44):
Yeah, I would say I could see the beauty
in just about anything. And the hope and very
optimistic. And it has a lot to do with
the hope that I found in Christ. Right. That's
the main thing. That's why I'm able to see
that. But it just allows for.

(36:07):
To.
When the Bible talks about, think of those things
that are right, pure, just. I said, I have
the option. I have a choice to make. I
could think about the worst situation and the worst
outcomes in this, but I have a choice to

(36:27):
choose to think differently. So in that choice, I'll
choose joy, I'll choose peace. I'll choose to say,
well, although what I see in front of me
proves that this is the truth in some regard,
I still think that there's a glimmer of faith

(36:47):
or a glimmer of hope in that to turn
that thing around. And I think that has just
allowed for me over the years, to walk and
be the one that people are like, you know
what? I think you even said this. If you're
having a bad day, go see Harry.
You have a bad day. Talk to Harry.
Yeah. And that's just who I've been becoming. It's

(37:09):
simply because I just want to choose to see
things brighter.
It's funny because you embody that so well. I
would have just guessed that was Harry at five
was that. And Harry at 15 was that.
Let me tell you, 20 was that. So my
mom tell me this, she said, okay, when we
were growing up, my sisters, we would go to
the store. Didn't have a lot of money, but

(37:30):
we go to the stores, and she was like,
you would always say, mom, I don't need anything.
Let my sisters give my sister clothes. Right? So
that started young, but as I got into my
teenage years, all of that changed. That's when I
was a part of the world.
Okay, I've seen your mug shot.
Yeah. And it's real. Do we have that up?
Put that up. But even then, there was something

(37:51):
in me. I was sitting in a Camaro. My
friend had a black Camaro that was not well
for teenagers riding around in the city of Chicago.
In the all black Camaro, I had a purple
mustang. I don't know if that's better or worse.
It was bad. It was bad. But in the
back of that car, I can remember like it
was yesterday, sitting, getting prepared to do something that

(38:13):
we should not be doing right. And God's conviction
was always with me. But in that moment, this
is hindsight. I wasn't even thinking about God at
that time, but I could remember in the backseat,
not so much of fear, but, like, what are
we? Like, what is happening here? We could be

(38:34):
doing something totally different, but we're not. And I
think those nudges of even from a young Harry
growing up and just those stories that my mom
would tell me about just how you were different,
right. And the world got a hold of me
and kind of changed the way that I thought,
changed the way that I moved. And so being

(38:55):
able to be that, to be restored, Christ, restoring
that in my life, just brought me back to
what I original design, how I was as a
child and how God really wanted me to be.
And I've been able to just be a blessing
in people's lives. But it blesses me also, because.

(39:19):
I.
Don'T know the example you're able to be for
people to see, man, something different about you that
they would even reach out. My friends message me
all the time from my past teenage years and
say, man, thank you. Or can you pray for
me? You are an example for what I want

(39:42):
to become, right. And what I want to be.
Those are the moments where I say, you know
what? I got to continue. I have to stay
with it. Right? Days will be hard, will be
difficult. But there's so many other people that are
attached to me that I have to continue with
that hope that one day they'll receive Christ like

(40:04):
I did. And the day that I received Christ,
I had been on drugs, selling weed, all of
that. All of the drugs that you could sell,
I was selling, right? And I was living a
horrible life. But that Sunday was the last day.
Like, God can take it away immediately, right? If
he needs that to happen for you, he'll take
it away right away. And that took place for

(40:25):
me. And so that's when I knew. I don't
have to question this. I don't have to go
and ask. And I know that it was done.
God did it for me right in that moment.
And there's going to be some times in some
past, some times in my life that I had
to just do a little bit more, right, in
that process of just being sanctified. And that's my

(40:45):
encouragement, is find the beauty in everything, right? The
hope that we depend on is not the hope
of ourselves, but the hope in Christ. And that
hope has been very powerful and still is powerful
today. And that's my encouragement. Man, it's beautiful.
I love it. As you were talking about. So
you talked about the area you're still trying to

(41:08):
grow in, is that communication, the area that you
have grown in is something totally different than that.
When I look at my own life, I feel
like where I've grown the most and where I
still need to grow the most is the same
thing. And I think it's just because it really
has been such, I don't know, a glaring thing

(41:28):
for me. When I look in the mirror and
I'm comparing my life to Jesus, it always came
down to grace. I was grace deficient ever since
I was a kid. And it's black and white.
There's right, there's wrong. And so when you do

(41:48):
the wrong thing, I got no grace for you.
That was stupid. Yeah, you shouldn't do that. I
joke all the time about you don't want me
as a counselor, because if I'm counseling you, I'm
just going to find the dumb thing that you
did and say that was dumb. Don't do that.
For sure because it is still, like, I struggle
with grace. But it's funny because I do see

(42:09):
a lot of growth in that area of my
life. And I realize it. It was a few
weeks ago, I think it was maybe a month
or so. Carlton was like, we need, like, 2017
brents to come back for this decision. And I
was like, what are you talking about? And he
was like, man, you're just so graceful and kind,
and you're just giving people the benefit of the
doubt when you really shouldn't. We need maybe go

(42:33):
back to 2017 and just be like, this is
how it is. Cut it out. For sure. And
it was funny to me because it was, like,
in an area where I still don't see myself
as having arrived. I mean, as Paul talks about,
not that I've already achieved it, right, but I'm
pressing towards it, and I'm like, man, is that
me? And, like, I started here, and now I'm

(42:54):
all the way over here, but I'm still looking
at wanting to be over. Like, I think that
where I'm struggling and where I've seen the most
growth is actually, for me, it's the same place.
And that may be true for somebody else that's
listening. It's like there's something you've worked on a
lot. I mean, my nickname in high school for
the football team was Smiley, and it wasn't because

(43:14):
I was always smiling. I played with a chip
on my shoulder. I was angry all the time.
We could be having, like, team dinner, and it's
like a fun event, and I'm just sitting there
thinking about, we should be in the gym right
now.
What are we doing?
We'd go on missions, trips, and the trip leader
would be like, we're going to have a fun
day today. I'm like, that's a waste of time
we should be doing. I had no kind of

(43:35):
love or grace for people and stuff. I'm like,
if you came here for a fun day, what
are you even doing on this mission trip? Stay
home. You should go to the amusement park. We're
here to serve.
Going in a mountain, my boy.
I'm going to go witness to somebody forget ice
cream. But I do see that there's been a

(43:56):
lot of growth in my life as I keep
going back to the mirror and I keep saying,
okay, I want to be more like Christ in
this area. And so just encouraging people that are
listening, that are like, man, I know that this
is an area of weakness to stop for a
moment. And this is why we encourage people to
get into groups. Because you need somebody else in
your life to be able to look at it
and be like, no, you actually have. You made

(44:19):
some serious changes. And sometimes it's obvious you had
mugshot, and then you have pastor pictures, like staff
photo. Those are two very different pictures, that is.
And so you have that clear moment where you
can look at. But for a lot of people,
it's like, man, all I'm really seeing is where
I am right now. I'm not paying attention to
what I came. Yeah, Paul does talk about forgetting

(44:42):
what's behind and pressing towards the future. But I
think that there is a value in us recognizing,
even if it's just for a moment, like, I
have progressed.
Yes.
Which means I can still keep progressing. Yes. And
I think that's the thing that people get discouraged.
It's like somebody wants to lose 50 pounds and
they've lost five and they're like, I'm never going

(45:03):
to get to 50. But you lost five.
If you can lost five, focus on the five.
Do that a few more times. Do that ten
more times and you lost 50. That's right. So
just keep progressing. Keep doing it. And so I
just want to encourage people to don't give up,
don't stop. Yeah.
And my encouragement also to just add to that
is my family. What we do at the top

(45:25):
of the year is we look back and say,
okay, what have we grown in? What can we
say that man, God, you really blessed us here.
And we sit back and we talk through that
just to see, like, man, God, you've done this
so that I don't get blinded by, well, this

(45:47):
didn't happen and this didn't go well, or this
situation or this circumstance that I'm not going to
think about all the things that didn't go well.
I'm going to sit and just talk about the
blessings and what God has done and the faithfulness
that he has and how he's been able to
take our family from one place to the next.
And if we could just see a slight bump,
that's a win. That's a win. I know we

(46:09):
had all of these goals and aspirations at the
top of the year last year, and perhaps we
didn't hit all of those goals, but if we
can say that we moved forward, that's growth, that's
a win for us.
It's worth celebrating.
It's worth celebrating. So if it's one pound, okay,
if it's one day without porn, okay, if it's
one day of just speaking life, when I'm the

(46:32):
one who is usually speaking the opposite. Right.
Not so much life, right?
But take the wins as they come. Don't overwhelm
yourself with trying to do everything all at one
time. It's like, okay, this is not rapid fire.
Right. Be patient with the process and celebrate the
wins along the path and you'll find yourself in
a better place.

(46:53):
I love it. Okay, so we've kind of taken
these things a little bit out of the order
that we talked about on Sunday, but I think
that's fine. So there's five kind of components to
this. Becoming like Jesus starts with knowledge. And so
we didn't really hit that at all on the
podcast. But I think people grasp that concept. Like,
you can't become like something you.
Don'T know anything about.
So open up your bible, read about Jesus, see

(47:15):
what Jesus did, and then we go to that
mirror. We have that comparison, that examination of where
does my life match up with his and where
does it not, and when it doesn't, I need
to do something about it. And so we've talked
about putting in the work. There's two things that
we haven't talked about that I'd love to get
your opinion before we wrap up. The one. First

(47:35):
thing is what I alluded to in the message
on Sunday was going to be the hardest part
of the process, and that's surrender. And so when
you stand in front of the mirror or you're
reading your Bible, and all of a sudden Bible
talks about something that's sinful, and you're like, crap,
I'm doing that. Or you look in the mirror
and you're like, okay, I know how Jesus spoke

(47:57):
the truth with love. I'm not doing that. How
do you go about surrendering that area of your
life?
I heard someone say this, and it's impactful. It's
that we accept Christ as Lord and savior. He's
our saving grace. Salvation is secure through Christ. But

(48:22):
when it comes to that lordship of Christ, that's
where we struggle. That's the hard part. That says
that to your point, heaven isn't a goal. It's
a free gift. It's there. I receive, I believe.
But now, from that moment on, this is now
allowing Jesus to be lord over my life. Every

(48:45):
situation, every circumstance, every deficiency, every strength, every weakness,
this is where that lordship becomes evident. And so
now walking through that, says this, I don't go
back and forth, just me, but I know how

(49:05):
you can grapple with that. I don't go back
and forth. The word of God says this, I'm
going to go with that.
You don't ever find yourself arguing with Jesus.
Can I tell you that? I don't argue. And
I think it's because. No, it's the way that.
I think I came to faith because it was

(49:25):
really like the way that he did it and
how he healed me in the moment was like,
what are we arguing about? You've been ten years
of stuck in this for ten years. And in
one day, I delivered you from it. So for
me, I'm like, I really don't have an argument.
There's nothing.
I mean, none of us do, but true, some

(49:47):
of us are personality styles. Maybe this is a
me problem, but I think we still try and
argue.
Right, exactly. But I think for me, the reason
that I've just kind of been able to is
because of that moment. For me, that Sunday, when
that happened, Monday, I woke up like, I don't
have the desire anymore, like, what's happening? But I
think that proof of who he is has allowed

(50:09):
for me to just take his word for what
it is and just say, this is what I
do. Not to say that it's perfect. Not to
say that I've done everything right, but that is
all I need. It's okay. Not about what I
want or what I say. What does God say?
What is he trying to communicate in this situation?

(50:30):
And that's been the beauty and the benefits of
leaning towards his will and not mine. And again,
I don't want to come off as like, oh,
he got all figured. No, I've totally not. Not
at all. But in terms of arguing his word,
I don't really have an issue with that. Now,

(50:50):
applying it, yeah, that could be a little difficult
at times. It's like. But in terms of what
truth is, no, I take that. I'll accept that.
I'll walk that, and I'll do my best to
press towards that goal. In any event that I
may stumble or I may not hit the mark,
I know that his love is sufficient for me.

(51:12):
I know that I have another opportunity to come
back and try it again. But my heart, making
sure that the heart is in the right place
while doing it, even if you stumble, even if
you trip a little bit, if my heart was
in the right place in my attempt to reach
that mark, God honors that. Now, if my heart

(51:32):
isn't in the right place, then that's where the
issue comes in, I think, just for me personally,
but I just really. And maybe it's just that
hope, maybe it's that optimistic approach to life that
I know that his yes, I say this all
the time. His yes is better than my yes,

(51:52):
and his no is better than my yes. Right?
That's accurate. If he says no, that's better for
me than I could ever want for myself. So
I'm okay with leaning into that. Is that if
he closes a door, as hard as it is
for it to close and as difficult as the
things that took place and how I feel emotionally
and maybe mentally or even physically, I know that

(52:15):
that was needed for me. That's better for me.
Than how I feel. The outcome of that situation
is a lot better because he has the end
in his hand. Right. And he is walking me
through this path, and so I have to just
trust that.
Yeah, but I think the reality is for a
lot of people, that's a hard thing to learn.
It's a hard lesson to learn because when you

(52:36):
have a desire and you think it's the right
thing, you think it's a good thing, and then
God's like, no, it's really hard to be like,
okay, yeah, it's hard. And I do think that
part of it is that heart issue of where
your heart think, you know, you started talking about,
the way I phrase it is we like Jesus
as messiah but not as master.

(52:57):
That's right.
So it's like, I love that you came in
and saved me, but now I want you to
let me do my thing. I got this. And
it doesn't work that way. If he's not master,
he's not messiah.
Yeah.
And so it really does become this. I don't
know. The more we submit, I think the easier
it is to submit. I think the more stubborn

(53:18):
we are, the harder that first act of submission
is going to be. And from my experience, I
think a lot of times God just, he doesn't
give us, like, baby steps to it. He usually
start with something big that he wants you to
lay down. And if you can do the big
thing, then he's like, all right. From there, you
can do all the little things, too. But I
think it is. Submission is not easy, but I

(53:40):
also don't think that there's a magic formula for
it. I don't think. Here's an eight step program
to how you can surrender. It's a yes no
situation. It is, am I submitted or am I
not? Is he king or am I still trying
to be king? And I think a lot of
times we're going through life and we're like, yeah,
I made him king, but I still want to

(54:00):
have control over my sexuality because I like what
I like. And he came in and said no.
Well, I don't like that.
What has helped me is yes, no.
But yeah, I like that.
I mean, that's submission. I don't have to think
about what comes after that. If I'm submitted, my

(54:25):
answer is yes. Okay, no problem. Even if problems
present themselves, I'm okay with just saying yes. Just
being obedient, being a disciple of Jesus Christ. And
there's a discipline in your yes when you say
that. It communicates so much more to people. When
you are available to be led by Christ, your

(54:51):
Life is different. The way that you walk, the
way that you talk, the way that you live,
it actually opened up for your witness to be
something that people draw to more. Right. And so
that submission part allows for that witness to just
kind of be seen more when you can just
say yes, no. But because when I get into
the butt, I start to overthink. I get into

(55:13):
the butt, then I want to include myself in
that, and I don't want to bring that conjunction.
There's no, nothing left out there.
Yeah. For me, I had a similar moment to
you. You had your major transformation moment. For me,
it goes back to, I was raised in church.
I didn't have the super crazy rebellious stage. There's
no mug shots of me floating around. But I

(55:33):
absolutely, I've heard, was living in sin. There was
very much sinful aspects of my life that we
can get into detail if somebody wanted to. But
I'm not ashamed of it. I recognize it. But
at 19 years old, I remember I was part
of this internship. Long story. We had just done
our missions training, which was the most ridiculous thing

(55:55):
I've ever done in my life. But we would
need, like, 8 hours to be able to tell
that story completely. But after the end of that,
sleep deprived, exhausted, just messed up, but just broken
physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I remember I was
sitting in this room that they had set up
this dark room with some worship instrumental playing where

(56:17):
it was like, we know that what you just
went through over these last five days was a
lot. It was intense. And so this is like
the decompression room. You're going to spend like 30
minutes mandatory in this room. Nobody's talking to anybody.
It's just you, this worship music, your journal, and
God. And it was in that moment that I
wrote down in that journal, God, whatever, wherever, whenever.

(56:40):
My answer is yes. And so for me, that's
20 years ago, and I still go back to
that moment. And the cool thing is, sometimes I
don't go back to that moment. The holy spirit
goes back to that moment. And so I'll have
a moment where I'm like, yeah, I really don't
want to do that. And all of a sudden,
I'll just have this flash in my head of
sitting in that room with that journal out, whatever,

(57:04):
whenever, wherever. Wow. My answer is yes. And I'm
like, suck. Wow. But it does. I think that
everybody needs kind of that kind of moment to
hold on to that when our desires, when our
hopes our dreams, our plans, our whatever, start to
rise up and we start making ourself king over

(57:24):
everything. We need that moment in us to check
it and say, no, I'm not king. I made
him king of my life. There's a quote I
didn't use in the message. It's from, oh, man,
I forget who said it. Anyways, she says that
surrender is when you give something to God and

(57:45):
we don't snatch it back. That's a horrible paraphrase,
but the concept is there. And I think for
a lot of us, we surrender things just to
snatch them back. And true surrender is when you
put it in God's hands and you refuse to
take it back for any reason, any circumstance. It
doesn't matter what's going on. I've already put that
in your hands. We're going to lock it there.

(58:07):
I'm going to throw away the key. There is
no taking this thing back. And we have to
make that, I guess, commitment, that decision. And there
is a lot of heart that has to be
a part of that. But if we want to
have relationship with Jesus, it is only in the
I'm the king or he's the king, and I'm

(58:29):
not relationship like Jesus, my homeboy, may be the
worst t shirt ever designed, my bro. Right? Like,
yes, Jesus is a friend, and he's awesome and
he's amazing, but he is king, and he is
always king. And if you make him your best
friend but not your king, then he's not your
friend. Sorry, I offended some people with that one.

(58:55):
Yeah, that was good.
Somebody's listening to this while wearing a Jesus is
my homeboy t shirt looking down, going, oh, man,
it wasn't Clc merch. At least I know, but
all right, so last thing, and then we'll close
this out. The Holy Spirit. The thing that I
love about this whole process is the fact that
it is like, is there a world where Harry

(59:18):
Valentine can be like Jesus Christ?
No way.
Is there a world where Brent McQuay can be
like Jesus Christ?
No way. No way.
I know Brent way too well. I know all
my flaws. I know my shortcomings. I know my
attitude issues. I know my language. I know lust
that's been a part of my life. I know
all of these traps and all these sins and
all of these things. And it's like the chasm

(59:40):
between where I am and where Jesus is. There's
no bridging that gap. Absolutely without the Holy Spirit,
but with the Holy Spirit, because it's like, what
can the Holy Spirit do anything. What can the
Holy Spirit do with me? Same as before. My
limitations don't hinder his ability. And so we have

(01:00:04):
to approach this whole process with God. I need
your help in this. I cannot do it on
my own because my boss is crazy or you
know what, I'm really lonely and there's a girl
that's flirting with me and I know it's going
to go somewhere and everything in my body is
screaming, yes, I need the Holy Spirit.

(01:00:30):
Yeah, I love how the Holy Spirit is described
as the helper and that Jesus said, go and
wait, and I'm going to send the Holy Spirit.
I'm going to send the help because I'm no
longer going to be here. And I know you
will need help. Right. You don't have this thing
figured out, right? When Jesus, that took place for

(01:00:50):
Jesus and Peter denied Jesus three times, that was
clear sign that, okay, we're going to need some
help. And he told like, you ain't got this,
bro. I'm really not gone, really.
But yeah, I just love that, that whole process
because Peter's like, I'll die with you. And then

(01:01:10):
5 seconds later, I don't even know that man.
I don't know what he's talking. You know, it
just goes to show that we need help to
do the very thing that God intends for us
to do. We need help and he sends the
helper, but yet he's not only a helper, he's
an advocate. He wants, who continues to be the

(01:01:30):
one who speaks in us, through us, to give
us discernment, to allow us, for us to navigate
through life in a way that is pleasing to
the Lord and, but we have to be sensitive
to the Holy Spirit and allow for him to
dwell, allow for him to actually do what he's
been sent to do. And I think oftentimes we'll
get in the way even of that. It's like
he's here to help, but I got it. Okay,

(01:01:52):
well, he's not going to be able to assist
you and help you in that area. So I
just so grateful that God would see the need
and his love and his grace and his mercy.
He's pretty brilliant to yet still say, okay, go.
And I know that the moment that took place
while they were waiting and just that experience in

(01:02:13):
it, all of the sound of a russian wind
and how all of that took place, but ultimately
it was for God to then dwell within us.
And now that we have everything that we need
to live this life pleasing to God, we're set
now. So we have to lean into that help
and allow for him to help us, because that's

(01:02:34):
what he's here for.
That's awesome. And the only thing I'm going to
add is the task does feel impossible, that when
you're standing in front of that mirror and you're
really taking a hard look at yourself and you
know who Jesus is and what he's expecting of
you, and he's saying to lay down your life
to follow me, and he's telling you all of
these things of how he lived and how you're

(01:02:56):
living, and it can look like there's no hope
in that situation. The Holy Spirit is the hope.
The Holy Spirit is the one that makes this
whole thing possible. And so if you're feeling discouraged
today, if you're looking in the mirror and you're
going, man, there's no way. There is a way.
It's called the Holy Spirit.
That's right.
And so we surrender to him. And the reason

(01:03:16):
why I know it's possible is two things. One,
I've seen the change in my own life because
of the Holy Spirit. I see who Brent was
even five days ago compared to who Brent is
now. Look at Brent 15 years ago. To Brent
today, I see the transformation that takes place. And
I know it's not accredited to me, true, it

(01:03:37):
is credited to the Holy Spirit. So first, I
know it's possible because I've seen it happening in
my own life through the power of the Holy
Spirit. Second reason why I know it's possible is
because God told you to do it.
That's right.
And God doesn't tell you to do something that
you can't do. Yes, he knows you need help
in doing it, which is why he sends the
helper. But he wouldn't have told you to be
like Christ if it was impossible for you to

(01:03:58):
ever be like Christ, because he's not cruel.
Right.
He is a loving father. And so I'm not
going to ask my kids to do something that
there's no way they could do. I may ask
them to do some things that are impossible for
them to do on their own, but as their
father, I'm going to step in, I'm going to
help them, I'm going to carry them across the
finish line when necessary, but as a loving father,

(01:04:21):
I'm never going to ask my kids to do
something that is actually impossible for them to do.
Neither will God. So when God says, be like
Christ, it's because you can. So do it. Let's
get to work. Like Jesus. We're going to be
talking about this for a while now, but thanks
a lot, Harry.
Oh, yeah. Anytime.
Appreciate it.
Appreciate you, bro.
And you wore Chicago white socks, which.
Makes me happy for the win. Yeah.

(01:04:43):
Let's go. Come on. White socks.
See what we do?
Yeah, come on. All right, everybody, thanks for hanging
out with us for this episode of between Sermons.
As always. Check out the footnotes if you want
to check out the Sunday message that this conversation
was based off of. And we hope to see
you next time as we're going to be talking
about how to pray like Jesus. It's going to

(01:05:04):
be good. See you there.