LIFE Podcast Show

[00:01] Dez: Welcome to the Life podcast, where we offer real hope to real people dealing with real life. We filter our thoughts through God's thoughts and our ways. Through God's ways, we pray. You're blessed by this podcast. Enjoy the show. Welcome back. This is the life podcast. Living intentionally for eternity. People, I am back. Des OOTS. Missed you. We on season two. That rhymed a little bit.

[00:58] Dave: Uh oh.

[00:59] Dez: Flowing. He's a poet and he knows it. This is season two of the Life podcast. We took a break, about a month break, but we are back and better than ever. Better than ever. I don't want to waste any time because I know hopefully you all have missed us. I am joined by my guy, the creepy caller himself, the man who levitates, the smoothest man in the land, Mr. David OOTS. What's up, brother?

[01:32] Dave: Hey, Des. Good evening to you, sir. It is so good to be back. I don't know, I missed it. Excited about jumping right into it.

[01:42] Dez: Sure thing, man. Sure thing. I miss you too, brother. Dad, have you been following this frenzy?

[01:52] Dave: Of course, of course. How can you miss it?

[01:57] Dez: What do you think about all that?

[02:00] Dave: Well, I think it's twofold. I think it's a wonder whole thing as far as bringing recognition back to HBCUs, because I don't want to forget that part. How much he did do for HBCUs and the recognition that he brought back to the HBCUs. And then the fact that so many of the kids followed him to Colorado and they're able to compete on that level and that he's able to compete on that level with such a short coaching career. So I think it's pretty good. Some of the stuff is a bit overboard, I think. A lot of brashness, a lot of materialism.

[02:56] Dez: Yeah.

[02:57] Dave: But at the same time, I feel like most of it is positive. Let me just say that most of it is positive in my eyes, in my opinion. Yeah. What about you?

[03:10] Dez: Sure, I like it. I've been locked in. I've been watching everything I can get my hands on or eyes on, rather. I've been watching when they win. I'm looking at the pressers. I'm looking at pregame pressers. I'm following them like crazy. I have a man crush on, you know, he's just infectious, and he makes you want to listen to him. He gets you almost as Hype as Ray Lewis when he talks, makes you believe that you can do it. And he holds people accountable. The way he speaks to these young men with dignity, but sternly and with ferocity that I think that they need totally needed. These young men need to be challenged, and I think he challenges them. I can do without promoting their own personal brand. I think football is the ultimate team sport, but he's finding a way to do that for those young men. I know he says he's a follower of Christ. I pray that that's genuine. I don't really judge him based off of his children because they're young and they have to have their own relationship with the Lord, but it don't look like they are following the Lord anyway. They're pretty flashy and care about a lot of things about this world, the trickets of this world, money, cars, women. So their hearts may be far from the Lord, but it seems like he's genuine. He's outspoken about his faith, so we'll see. But I'm thankful, I'm glad that they were one in eleven last year and they started three and O. That's pretty impressive. And they beat the defending champions or the defending they almost won a championship TCU first game of season. Right. So that's amazing right there as a win that they've taken over. I mean, you can't not talk about them guys. They got killed this weekend. But that was versus an excellent team, excellent coach team. They were on a mission, you could tell. They came to kick their butt and they did it.

[05:04] Dave: Right.

[05:05] Dez: They took no prisoners, right? No prisoners.

[05:11] Dave: It's all about learning. It's a learning experience for that squad. A lot of teachable moments, a lot of checking yourself is a measuring stick, right?

[05:25] Dez: Oh, yeah.

[05:25] Dave: You get to really see how you line up against, truly against the big boys. And that's what you did when you joined the Power Five conference, man, is that you're playing with the big boys now and sure, the fact that they've exceeded expectations already. I know that they're going to win more games, but most people projected them to win only three games this year and I'm pretty sure they're going to win a few more games. I'm not going to say they're going to be I wouldn't be surprised if they made a bowl game, but not expecting them to. It's going to be interesting and like you said, locked in, man. Everything Colorado.

[06:07] Dez: Everything Colorado. I'm watching everything locked in. Right. So I think it's good for college football. I think it's challenging the notion he's using his recruiting skills, his name, his brand, nil deals, we can talk about that as well. To build the brand of Colorado, they need some big boys up front that will probably help a lot with their team, but I think in a couple of years they may be a so maybe.

[06:35] Dave: I think so. Mean, all of this is helping his recruiting efforts. Big know who doesn't want to be.

[06:41] Dez: There now, you know what I mean? Boulder, Colorado. If you want to actually come to Colorado Auto Stars and said it was like the Bet Awards one night.

[06:51] Dave: Yeah, that's a whole nother topic right there.

[06:54] Dez: Beyond me, brother. That black culture stuff, boy. But today, dad, we have an interesting show. But before we start that, you know, at Life podcast, we like to filter our thoughts through God's thoughts. Like to filter our ways through God's ways. And we like to filter our perspectives through God's perspectives.

[07:11] Dave: So amen.

[07:12] Dez: In light of sports that you and I enjoy sports probably more than any other man, probably even more. You played sports at a high level? I did not, but I played recreationally at a pretty I was a street ball legend, you know, made a name.

[07:31] Dave: For yourself in the streets.

[07:34] Dez: People knew my name Concrete Jungle. But we thoroughly love sports. Live it, drink it, sleep it, eat it. But as believers, we also know there's a balance, or unhealthy balance rather to sports where it can become idolatrous. So today we just want to spend a couple of moments talking about the idolatry of sports. The idolatry of sports. This is passage in one corinthians that's interesting because when you read Paul, paul is the missionary apostle that God converted on the Damascus road. Jesus spoke to him as he went to kill more Christians. He was already a murderer Christian. He was going to do his biggest job set. I mean, yet he was pretty much the hitman for the Pharisees.

[08:22] Dave: Yes.

[08:23] Dez: So he had got permission to go kill a lot of Christians. He was going to carry it out. God challenges him on the road to Damascus. Jesus calls to him, tells him, Stop. Saul saw, why are you persecuting me? Saul says, who are you? Lord? He said, I'm Jesus of Nazareth. He changes his life. He goes on to become a missionary. He goes on to plant as much churches, I think, as anybody, even now. He said he labored more than all the apostles. He said, yet not I, but the grace of God. But he also endured suffering, pain, loss, shipwreck bitten 39 lashes or 40 lashes minus one, three times left for dead at sea. Had to be lowered down in a basket to escape persecution. Like this dude was hunted down. Right. But it was something interesting about Paul that I enjoy. You can tell that Paul was a sports guy, too. You can tell he was kind of into like sports and combat and military life because you hear, be a good soldier of Christ, spiritual welfare, gird yourself up, put on a full armor of Christ. Right. He said, I'm not shadow boxing. I beat my body to submission. Right. So he talks about boxing, talks about running, laying aside every weight as you run this race, as Olympians used to do. Some argue that they ran naked in the Olympia during the Roman Games. They were run naked because they didn't want anything holding them back. So you would hear Paul kind of take these things and make them translate relevancy to biblical things, right? So he took physical realities and made them spiritual realities. And I appreciate that about Paul. So our life point for today actually comes from one corinthians, 924 through 27. It says, don't you know that the runners in the stadium all race, but only one receives the prize run in such a way to win the prize. Everyone who competes exercises self control in everything they do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown. So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

[10:43] Dave: So amen.

[10:44] Dez: Dad, I just want to ask you a quick question just to start us off. And that question will be me framing as a statement, observation first, and then I'll ask you the question. So a lot of people say that sports is the greatest teacher of life. You heard that, right?

[10:59] Dave: Yes.

[11:04] Dez: I see why people say that. I get their point on why they will say something like that because I think sports can teach valuable lessons. But what is so unique about sports teaching you lessons that life just happening to you can't teach you? What can sports teach you that life can?

[11:27] Dave: Well, when you frame it like that, actually there isn't anything that sports can teach you that life can't teach you. Sure. I think sports is a great conduit to teaching you a lot of life lessons.

[11:47] Dez: Right.

[11:48] Dave: It's a way to draw in people because sports builds confidence, right?

[11:56] Dez: Okay.

[11:58] Dave: It builds courtesy, build discipline. It's required. Everybody doesn't have the same level, but a level of discipline is required. Teamwork unity, all of those things are required when you're in sports. Even if you're in an individual sport, you still have to be unified and work as a team with your coaches and anyone that's instructing you and so on and so forth. It does give you those things. For me, it was a great confidence booster because I was shy, kind of insecure about my body and those things because I was husky.

[12:47] Dez: Come on.

[12:48] Dave: They called us back in the day. So sports was a wonderful way for me to come out of that chill and be comfortable or gain confidence in myself. So just to answer your question, I don't think sports can teach you anything that life can't teach you because you have to build up so many things in other walks of life that are just as competitive or just as.

[13:28] Dez: Need.

[13:29] Dave: The same disciplines that you need to succeed in sports. So that would be my answer. Sports is not the end all to be all as far as building character and all of those type things. Great conduit, though.

[13:43] Dez: Great conduit, yes. So would you argue that sports so these are four things that I jotted down that you said how sports helped you. And then I have like four things here that I constantly hear about sports, that people say what? It builds. Right? Right. And we can add to this as we go on. So the first thing you said was it built confidence.

[14:14] Dave: Right.

[14:17] Dez: It took away, in some ways, your shyness. Right. It helped you with your body image problems, correct?

[14:26] Dave: Right.

[14:27] Dez: And endurance.

[14:30] Dave: Yes.

[14:32] Dez: Right. What I hear a lot are these four, and you can modify this if you want. You can add so this is what I hear a lot about sports. What sports? Producing people. So first thing is discipline. Agree?

[14:46] Dave: Yes.

[14:46] Dez: All right. Teamwork.

[14:48] Dave: Yes.

[14:50] Dez: Agree?

[14:51] Dave: Yes.

[14:52] Dez: Accountability.

[14:53] Dave: Yes.

[14:55] Dez: Right. And last but not least, character.

[14:59] Dave: Right.

[15:00] Dez: Okay. So you want to add anything to that?

[15:06] Dave: No, because I think discipline encompasses a lot of it, you know what I mean? Self control, those type of things. So, yeah, I think that's it.

[15:19] Dez: Okay. What about perseverance?

[15:24] Dave: Yes, definitely perseverance.

[15:28] Dez: All right. Leadership. Leadership, good.

[15:32] Dave: Yeah, leadership.

[15:35] Dez: So I have discipline, teamwork, accountability, character, perseverance, leadership, failure.

[15:44] Dave: Yes. That's part of perseverance, I guess.

[15:46] Dez: Okay, so if we take that sports is the greatest teacher of life, right, or one of the greatest teachers of life, we're saying that outside of sports, you cannot learn discipline, teamwork, accountability, character, perseverance, leadership, and learn about failure.

[16:09] Dave: Right.

[16:11] Dez: Only sports can teach you. That another thing that people say in sports, and remember, those who listening, we're talking from a perspective of people who love sports. I'm not bashing sports. Clear.

[16:28] Dave: Clear.

[16:29] Dez: Not bashing sports. I love sports. I'm just trying to think through the worldly, thinking we have when it comes to sports, especially men, because men tend to in a different way, women can idolize sports in a sense that they want their son to make it really bad. So they make everything about their schedule, about getting their son to practice, practice, practice, practice, because he's going to buy Mommy a big house. So that can be idolatry. But men either can live vicariously through their sons, right. And they make it idolatry. They make idols out of their children or the sport in general. Everything suffers because they got to go to practice. They got to coach these kids. So their wife suffer, their kids suffer, their job suffer because they got to be out. Just I just voted. Bachman said this one says, you know, people come up to him, says, hey, man, you gonna let your son is a big guy. Guess his son is big. He's like, you gonna let him play sports? And he need why do you think he needs to play sports? He said the first thing that people say is, well, sports breeds character. He said, So let's deal with that. You know how he is. He said, let's deal with that. So if sports is one of the main conduits of building characters, therefore we must be able to look at the sports world and be able to find character.

[17:54] Dave: Right.

[17:55] Dez: Is that true? If that's the case if the case is that sports builds character in young men, we should be able to take that assumption and apply it to sports.

[18:09] Dave: Right.

[18:10] Dez: In the headlines. You don't see men of character.

[18:13] Dave: No.

[18:14] Dez: On the sidelines. You don't see men of character on the debate shows. You do not see men overall of character. There's some good ones, but for the most part, these men are selfish, greedy, immoral, self centered, boastful right. It cost divisions and fractions bullies. So does that really build character? It's all about right? Right. So I think we have something better in Jesus than what sports can bring. And I think if sports is in its proper place, it could be great. But it needs to be in its proper place.

[19:06] Dave: Right.

[19:07] Dez: It needs to stay in it first and foremost. It's a game. It's a game you kind of see. My pastor always says, if you want to know what someone idol is, see what makes them angry. So whatever makes a person angry, you usually can find. If they don't have it or if they don't get it. If they don't get it, that's probably their idol. So when a team loses and parents are in the stands fighting, wrecking, that's their idol, right. Winning competition. Right. All that stuff is their idol. And I think that it's problematic that it's become such a big thing in America. Like, you and I talk about this, all this how much we loathe AAU basketball, right? Because they not teaching nothing. They just stacking teams, not practicing, just going out there and playing. Right? Then you get basketball players like Kevin Durant. He's selling these kids dreams, and they feel like they got a sense of bravado. Because I'm on Team Durant, kevin Durant wanted me knowing that only 1% of the population that played basketball going to actually make it to the NBA 1%. You know what I'm saying? And I just think it's dangerous to make that aspect. You can only play a sport, the major ones for about professionally for about 14 years, and that's a long career. Most people don't make it past three.

[20:44] Dave: Right?

[20:44] Dez: That's a long most people don't make it past three.

[20:46] Dave: Right.

[20:47] Dez: So how do you deal with that, that small amount of time. I mean, your life is already a vapor is what the Bible says, but that's a small amount of time. If it's true that God gives man three scores plus ten three scores, the score is 20. So 60 years plus 1070. God in his grace guarantees man 70 years, 14 years. Not a lot.

[21:10] Dave: No, it's not a lot. It's really not shorter than a military career.

[21:17] Dez: Come on. Come on. Because when you talk about discipline, the military can do that, right? Teamwork, the military can do that. Accountability. The military is going to do that. Character, you better have some perseverance leadership failure. My whole point is we have bought the lie that sports for young men and now young women is the end all and be all, and it's not true. Jesus commands Jesus's life and what he expects from his people all involve these things we just talked about, and I'll prove it right. So in second Peter I'm going to go to second Peter really quick. In second Peter, verse one, listen to what not verse one. Let's say verse ten, second Peter, chapter one, verse three. It says growth in faith. So listen to this. Look at what God's power produces in us, all right? So it says, his divine power has given us everything required for life and Godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness. So everything you need for life and Godliness I don't see sports in here, dad.

[22:45] Dave: Right.

[22:46] Dez: Everything you need for life and Godliness through knowledge of Him, jesus, who called us by his own glory and goodness. By these, he has given us very great and precious promises so that through them you may share in divine nature, especially the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self control, self control with endurance, endurance with Godliness, godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities and increase in measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So I think the life of Christ produces a lot in think that is I think that it's just me and Uncle Lonzo used to talk about this all the time. Another man who loves sports and uses sports as a metaphor for life all the time. And I think that you can I agree with it. Right. I think that that's true and that you actually can use sports as a metaphor. This episode is talking about how we make it an idol we set up as a golden calf, like it's going to deliver us from everything. And it's not. Most people are not even going to make it. But the Bible has something that is just as true and something that produces more in us than a football in our hand, a ball on our foot or ball on our fingers as we dribling or a bat in our hand. Like that stuff. Yes, it can produce discipline, teamwork, accountability, character, perseverance, leadership, failure. But it does not always produce that in people, right? But if you are a Christian, it always produces that in you.

[24:39] Dave: Amen.

[24:39] Dez: Accountability. Confess your sins to one another. Right? Discipline. We just read it. You just read it. I discipline my body and bring it under strict control so that after preaching to others, I myself may not be qualified. If you look at the word disciple, you are disciplined. Learner of Jesus Christ. A lifelong discipline. Learner of Jesus Christ, teamwork, love one another, bear each other's burdens. Let the affirmities of the weak be passed on to the stronger ones. Endure. If anybody's in sin, caught in sin, go to that brother and snatch them from the fires of hell. That's some teamwork for you?

[25:21] Dave: Yes. Right.

[25:23] Dez: Character. How does God produce character in his saints? Dad, what does God give in order to build character in his people?

[25:34] Dave: Test.

[25:34] Dez: What do you think? Test.

[25:36] Dave: Yes.

[25:37] Dez: Test and trials.

[25:40] Dave: Trials.

[25:40] Dez: Test and trials. Correct.

[25:44] Dave: Amen.

[25:45] Dez: Listen to James. One, two through four. Consider it great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its full effect, that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

[26:05] Dave: Amen.

[26:07] Dez: You want to speak on that, dad, how trials actually produce character in you?

[26:13] Dave: Oh, yeah. When we go through trials, when we're tested, that's the part where we talk about the endurance and the perseverance that you get through trials and tribulations. Trusting God, that track record that you get with God, understanding that he's going to pull you through if you just trust in Him and believe in Him. And that builds confidence in your relationship with God. So through our trials, it's like pushing against a rock. You heard the story about the young man that was pushing against the rock. God just told him, Push against the rock. I ain't tell you to move the rock. I just said push against the rock. And just those things just help to build you up, build your confidence up, build your faith up, build your trust in God. All of those things are the test and the trials that we go through. That's why he tells us to count it all joy when you're tested. Count it all joy when you go through trials. Be joyful through all of those things, because first of all, it proves that you're a child of God.

[27:28] Dez: Come on.

[27:30] Dave: So rejoice into those things. Who wants to rejoice in storms?

[27:37] Dez: Not naturally, none of us.

[27:38] Dave: Not naturally. Right. But as you grow in your faith and as you grow through those trials, it helps you to be joyful through them. It helps you to rejoice through them because you know what's on the other side. So God testing us is the way that he builds our trust in Him, our faith in Him, our relationship with Him, and our love for Him. So just understanding that the layers of that relationship and what it pulls out of us, because on a personal level, I think I gained more from being in the body of Christ than I ever did from being an athlete.

[28:36] Dez: Preach it, brother, preach it.

[28:41] Dave: I gained more confidence in being in the body of Christ. I gained more integrity because of the challenges that the word push puts you through, the challenges that you go up to be, like you said, a dedicated, disciplined follower of Christ, a disciple. Dedicated, disciplined follower of Christ. That's what a disciple is. And in order to be a disciple, you have to submit to the teachings and in order to grow, you have to submit to the teachings in order to grow. You have to pass the test, the different tests, or you're going to keep repeating the test.

[29:25] Dez: Come on.

[29:26] Dave: Like we used to do in old time public school, you had to repeat the grade.

[29:32] Dez: Don't do that no more. Hurt their feelings.

[29:34] Dave: You don't even do that anymore, right? Just push them on through.

[29:43] Dez: But you're dumb as a brick. Dumb as a brick. But you got your diploma. Got your diploma. Dumb as a butt.

[29:52] Dave: Bless his soul.

[29:54] Dez: Bless his bless his heart.

[29:57] Dave: Bless.

[30:01] Dez: Yes.

[30:02] Dave: But through the trials and through the tests and knowing, trusting God, that either way is for your good. Learning those lessons, because you don't know it's for your good. When you first become a disciple of this, you learn it's for your good as you go through the test and as you come out on the side, you realize that all of those things are for your good. And that's when the Scriptures come alive. And that's one thing that I always talk to Lonzo about you, Pastor Lonzo, is that just understanding the joy of the layered effect of His Word. It's like an onion. If you ever peel the onion, man, you just keep peeling, you keep pilling. This is different. It's just layers and layers and layers, and it's always something good on the next layer, man.

[31:04] Dez: Come on.

[31:05] Dave: So, yeah, man, just being a disciple of Christ, being in the body of Christ, surrounding yourself with like minded people, you can't help but grow and yeah, that's what God does for us through his tests and through his trials.

[31:23] Dez: Yeah, man, you said a lot. You said some things you learned character more from being in the body of Christ, integrity more from being in the body of Christ. You've had more confidence, obviously, in Christ, not yourself, right? More confidence from being in the body of Christ. So there's some things that I wrote down that testing reveals kind of just off the cuff. Tell me if you agree with it. So I said, Testing reveals our love for God, number one.

[31:53] Dave: Amen.

[31:53] Dez: That we really love him. Number two, testing reveals our love for the world, and three, Testament reveals where our faith lies.

[32:05] Dave: Amen. I agree.

[32:06] Dez: You think?

[32:07] Dave: Yes.

[32:09] Dez: And after verse four, James kind of goes into the next logical thing, which will be, since you have this testing, it should make you cry out for something, and it should be wisdom. If you lack it, ask God for it. You have not because you ask not. You need wisdom in order to pass tests. And we know from Uncle Lonzo, Pastor OOTS, that wisdom is knowledge applied. Wisdom is knowledge applied. So something I just wrote real quick. I said, man, if I had to compare since we're talking about sports, if I had to compare Christianity to a sport, I would say it's like golf, right? So Christian life is more like golf than a sprint, like 100 yard dash, because it teaches patience, endurance and failure, but overcoming by. I love. I was listening to Michael Jordan the other day and Deion Sanders and some other people who play golf now, and they just was like, one reason I picked up golf is because I can't master it.

[33:21] Dave: Right.

[33:22] Dez: I cannot master, like, man, I master basketball, right? Dion Sanders, I was listening to an interview with him on Shannon Shop show the other day, and he said, Baseball. He picked up baseball and played it because it was a challenge. He said, man, anytime you fail seven out of ten times and you consider the great, you know, that's the hardest sport.

[33:45] Dave: Exactly.

[33:48] Dez: So he said, I played baseball because it was a challenge. Football, I mastered that. I reached my apex, but I could never master baseball. And that's why those sports are good correlation to the Christian life. You don't retire from being a Christian. There's no goats of the Christian faith. We have a hall of faith, but they're not goats. You know what I'm saying? Exactly. I just think that is imperative that we understand that golf can I mean, golf sports can be used and sports can do those things that produce good things in you, but it's not a guarantee. But in your Christian faith, it is a guarantee. You walk with Jesus, you change. Amen, you change. You walk with Christ, you change. Listen to this. This is an excerpt. This is a commentary from James one two through four. It says, Christianity teaches men to be joyful under troubles. Such exercises are sent from God's love and trials in the way of duty will brighten our graces now and our crown at last. Let us take care in times of trial that patience and not passion is set to work in us. Whatever is said or done, let patience have the saying in doing of it. When the work of patience is complete, it will furnish all that is necessary for our Christian race and warfare. We should not pray so much for the removal of affliction as for wisdom to make a right use of it. And who does not want wisdom to guide him? That's what Christianity produces, right? A fool would not want wisdom to guide them.

[35:40] Dave: Exactly.

[35:43] Dez: Just to close out dad, I just wanted to read this just to kind of wrap up this part one, because we'll come back to it and talk about a little bit more. I love this passage because, again, whoever is the writer of Hebrews we don't know. Some people speculate. It's Paul. Some people think it's one of the puzzles. We don't know. But I love this passage because it's another sports thing that this writer is kind of gleaning from to show us he's giving us a physical reality, to show us a spiritual truth. And I love this. In Hebrews twelve, one through two, it says, therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding. US. Let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith, for the joy that lay before him. He endured the cross, despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Amen.

[36:44] Dave: Amen. Amen.

[36:45] Dez: Dad, here's the thing where I get the man's thirst for sports and competition and brute force and the survival of the fittest and who's the better man. I get all that stuff. And I think that's what drives men to it. We love that stuff. Like somebody got to win the competition and the grit and somebody putting their body to the test. I get all that stuff. And I wish that Christian churches had more masculine driven passage like this that speaks to the masculinity and the manliness of Jesus Christ.

[37:20] Dave: Amen.

[37:21] Dez: Jesus stood toe to toe with people and told them they were evil. Jesus called the king herod. Old fox. That's the leader of the Roman Catholic at that time, one of the leaders outside of Pontius Pilate.

[37:39] Dave: Right.

[37:41] Dez: He told Satan, get behind Peter. Get behind me. Satan.

[37:45] Dave: Satan. Amen.

[37:46] Dez: She said, if you want to follow me, you must eat my flesh and drink my blood. If you follow me, you got a cross to carry. You got to adore. He said, you're going to suffer. He said, you're going to suffer. But Jesus also say, abide in me and I abide in you. It's that accountability. It's like that coach putting his arm around your shoulder and said, I got you. When you fail, Jesus when you fail Jesus is like to you. Same thing to Peter. Do you love me? Do you love me? Feed my sheep. Teachable moment from Jesus. All of our lives as disciples of Jesus, as his brothers and God as our Father. He's given us teachable moments. He's teaching us how to endure. He's teaching us how to be disciplined. He's teaching us how to hold ourselves accountable and accountable to other people. He's teaching us character, what it looks like to have integrity. Right? I was thinking about this today. One thing that Jesus does that I think is so beautiful, one thing that Jesus does that's wonderful to me is this he puts a man on a mission, he gives a man a vision and he makes a man stand firm in his convictions.

[38:52] Dave: Amen.

[38:54] Dez: Say that again. Jesus Christ gives a man puts a man on a mission, he gives that man a vision and makes that man stand firm in his convictions.

[39:05] Dave: Amen.

[39:06] Dez: We need more men like that. And sports ain't producing that. No, but if you have these feminine churches ran by these feminine pastors that's catering to feminine desires because the women who go there and paying all the money are feminine. You get feminine men that have the bodies of men. But they have no convictions. The measure of a man is I'm sorry that people don't like this, but it's true. The measure of a man is not his wallet. It's his sacrifice. It's his suffering.

[39:37] Dave: Yeah, we've talked about that before. Amen.

[39:40] Dez: How much are you willing to suffer? But going back to our life point for imperishable reef, not a perishable reef, I mean, you think about it. I hear stories all the time about Olympic world champions train all their life to get that gold medal. You ask them where they are or somewhere in my closet gold medal, they were on the stage receiving it. They put the thing around their neck and their glory, big body pinnacle. And they're forgotten. Forgotten the next year. We only know like Michael Phelps, you know what I'm saying? Gabby Douglas, like we only will be. We don't even know all of them, flojo, you know what I'm saying? We all know all about them. But it's million people, it's millions of people that want gold medal that we don't even know about. But that Imperishable Reef, that one that comes from the glory of God. And for the glory of God, that's what we run towards. And sports can't teach that you use as a metaphor, but they'll never teach that. So that was just part one, dad, we'll come back to that. Any last thoughts?

[40:45] Dave: Well, I think it's important that we know or we teach the people that we disciple that what you do is not who you are.

[40:58] Dez: Amen.

[41:00] Dave: And I think that's where so many people get caught up into it. And that's where a lot of people suffer after the glory days are gone and behind them, because that's what they identified as. But when we identify as children of God, disciples of Christ, like you said, that's an eternal identity. So as we journey through this earthly walk with eternity in mind, as you said, our passion is for the kingdom, it's not for what we do. As occupation, you know? So just being in the body of Christ, as you and I've talked about, as, as we've grown in Christ, we've lost our passion for sports. You know what I mean? We love sports, but it doesn't affect us the same way. I can remember being physically sick sometimes when the cowboys lost, crying, crying, don't want to go to work, don't want to see nobody or don't want to read the newspaper, watch. Exactly. And that's crazy for grown men to be like that. And then you kind of go, what is wrong with me? And that's the growth that you go through when you start identifying in something else and you move your passion somewhere else. Those things doesn't affect you the same way you can enjoy it in the same way that you enjoy a movie, a very good movie with your favorite hero or whatever. You go through those emotions too. You get upset, you get mad, you get excited, all of those things. And when movie is over, it's over, right? It's done, and you move on to the next thing. So entertainment is entertainment. So again, not wrapping up ourselves and what we do goes a long way in helping us to cope and deal better emotionally, mentally and spiritually if we don't do those things, man. And it only grows through a love for the word of God.

[43:32] Dez: Amen.

[43:33] Dave: Passion to be more like Christ every day.

[43:36] Dez: Amen. We press, there is work, there is sweat, right? The word discipline comes from a Greek word that we get gymnasium from, and it means hard work. Sweat toil strenuous agonizing pain. That's what we do. Jesus says, enter through the narrow gate, right? Narrow is the way. Hard. Difficult is the task to eternal life. So we have a hard task in front of us, and it's harder than any sports you can play, amen. Right? Because it never ends. You never stop warning against the flesh until you die. You never conquer the flesh until you die. You're being sanctified. And it don't depend on you, depends on the Holy Spirit. You have to die in order to be great sports. It's about your dominance. Christianity in real life is about your submission.

[44:36] Dave: Amen.

[44:37] Dez: It's about your servant, how much you willing to follow someone greater than you.

[44:42] Dave: Amen.

[44:42] Dez: And that's just real life. So those are listening. Don't run for things that's perishable, things that's here today, gone tomorrow. Run for the things that's imperishable, which is living intentionally for eternity. You know, we like to filter our thoughts through God's thoughts. And we like to filter our ways through God's ways. And we love to filter our perspectives through God's perspectives. I am Dez OOTS, and I was joined by the creepy crawler, the man who levitates and feet never hit the floor. Thus smooth this man in the land, Dave OOTS. Say bye to the people.

[45:14] Dave: Goodbye, people. It's been a pleasure.