Main Thing Podcast
This podcast encourages others to love God and people by leading them to know and follow Jesus’ truth.
Main Thing Podcast
INSIDE COVENANT | Worship Pastors Nathaniel & Eden
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We talk with Nathaniel & Eden about how Jesus becomes real beyond upbringing, how worship leadership matures through obedience, and why the presence of God matters more than preference. We also share the story behind Journey Music Collective and the kind of freedom in Christ that breaks shame and fear.
• Moving from obligation to calling in ministry and worship leadership
• Journey Music Collective’s origin story and God’s provision for recording
• A producer encountering God through Christian worship music
• Leading worship across generations by setting preference aside
• Pursuing the presence of God and rejecting fear of people’s opinions
• Freedom in Christ as the antidote to shame and religious performance
Check out Journey Music!
Keep The Main Thing Centered
SPEAKER_04Main Thing Podcast with Pastor Steve, equipping you to respond and thrive in the world we live in today. Keep the main thing the main thing has been a saying that Pastor Steve has told for decades. It means no matter what is happening around us, Jesus is what we need to have front and center in our lives. There couldn't be a more powerful reminder for us to recall in today's divisive and dark culture. From foundational truths and scripture to the hot topics of today's culture, allow this podcast to inspire and motivate you on your faith journey. Well, welcome back, Main Thing Podcast Peeps. Thank you for joining us again. This is episode 42. And like last time, I'm going to encourage you to subscribe and leave a review. The reason is because it allows us to get this message out and reach people. The vision of this podcast is to lead others to Jesus and then teach them how to lead others to Jesus. So thank you for being here. Eden and Nathaniel. It's been a long time coming. This is like the third time we've tried to get together.
SPEAKER_01We're really busy, important people. It's hard to make an appointment with us.
Travel Introversion And Rest
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. Yes. So we talked to you, Eden, a little bit. Yes. So, Nathaniel, we're going to focus on you. Lighthearted. So obviously in ministry, you gotta find some ways to let loose and just kind of enjoy life outside of ministry. What's a couple of things for you?
SPEAKER_05I like to travel a lot. I've been doing that a lot recently. So um been doing different things with that, but I like to go explore other places, whether it be other cities, I'll take weekend, like day trips out to other cities and just go have fun. Or um travel out the country and go explore other cultures. It's very fun for me to do that, to get a break from everything else. Um, but very real time all the time. Very much an introvert, so I really like to be just by myself, chilling, doing my own thing, watch a movie. Um, I have no problem going to eat dinner by myself somewhere, sitting in a booth by myself, just chilling out. Like it's it's it's it's totally fine with me.
Books Audiobooks And Training
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I love it. So um, on a side note, how many books have you listened to so far since your marathon training?
SPEAKER_05So between listening and reading, because I'll read a little bit too. Um I mean, last year alone I read over 70, I think it was. Wow. Um I've toned it back a little bit because I'm not training right now, so I don't have to listen to so much stuff. Um but yeah, I'll crank out a book or two a week. Just chilling. Yeah.
Meeting Jesus And Calling To Ministry
SPEAKER_04Nice, nice. I have I have just recently discovered the art of audiobook. It's beautiful. Loving it. It's beautiful, loving it, loving it. So, Nathaniel, how how did you meet Jesus and how did that transpire into you sensing a call to ministry?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so I have grown up in a ministry family my entire life. Um in my immediate family alone, there's like 10 of us ordained ministers, and so it's kind of in the blood. That's how I like to say it. Uh, you can't get away from it. And so, as long as I can remember, I've grown up in church, grown up being a part of things. Even before I was saved and serving the Lord, I was serving the Lord because you're gonna come to church and you're gonna do this. Um, and so we were always there, uh, first ones there, last ones to leave, taking care of everything. Uh, we've been involved in every aspect of a church's ministry, and so I've done all of that from a young age. And then there was one summer I went to kids' camp, and I couldn't tell you what uh the speaker was preaching on. I couldn't tell you what anybody else in the room uh was thinking or feeling in that moment. All I knew is that the Lord was getting a hold of me in that moment, and I was seven years old, and I from that point uh I responded to the call of that of Jesus asking me, uh, will you let me be Lord of your life? And I just chose in that moment from a young age to surrender to that. And um from there, of course, you grow up as a teenager and you're figuring things out, figuring life out, while at the same time, I always knew that I had that relationship with Jesus as well. And so a little bit later on, probably 10, 11 or so, um, I felt the Lord calling me to do ministry from a different mindset than what I had been doing up to that point of just doing it because it was like an obligation because this is what your family does. Um, it became something that I internalized that I wanted to do for the sake of God's calling me to do this. And so um I served for a while in kids' ministry. That's why, like VBS and all, it's no problem for me to jump up and play a character and make an appearance and do all that. Um, and then transitioned out of that at a certain point, and uh music took over because music runs in my family as well, and uh worship became the avenue that I just really took off in, and the Lord opened the doors. And so you were you were playing music as a child? We were singing all the time. Um, my dad plays piano, my mom sings. Okay. So I got both of those and was doing that on my own, and then they put me in lessons for a little while. But like it was not uncommon for us to be going down the road and we're singing in three-part harmony and just chilling. Um, and it was fun, and it just became natural. Uh, but at about 11 years old was the first time I like stepped up to do anything in a church service with worship. And I knew immediately at that point, like, this is this is it, this is where the Lord's leading me. Um and so from that point, we just kept moving forward and I just kept progressing and figuring things out. And then at the age of 16, I became a worship pastor for a church uh to lead through a season. And then I left for college and was traveling with a group, leading worship every weekend, traveling with the president of the school, uh, ministering to all these churches all over the state. And when I wasn't there, I was at my church that I was at through college, doing ministry there. And so even through all these different seasons, I've just been constantly keeping this theme of I'm gonna do worship ministry. Right. Uh it's what the Lord's called me to do, knowing that one day I was likely gonna step into it full time, not knowing that that would uh happen back home here in Homa.
SPEAKER_04So um, whenever you were 16, so you were at CCA, and while you were attending high school, you were leading worship at a church. Yeah, yeah. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_05I because I was leading in youth at the time, and then we had actually started doing chapel for CCA, and I was leading worship for that as well. And um after just tons of different things, I ended up just taking over worship for the church that we were attending. And um, so you're a high school student trying to graduate, figuring out all of your life, everything, and then I'm my job is to go and lead worship.
SPEAKER_04So that's awesome. And I I asked this because my my experience, I came to know Jesus much later. So my childhood didn't have Jesus. And so I'm always curious to hear this from people because because of all the the younger people that I've counseled through the years. Was there ever a moment as you were growing up where maybe there was like I call it a crisis of faith, somewhere deeper than others, but like where you had to come to the conclusion of okay, now it's time for me to own my own faith and what I truly believe. Was that like when you were 10 or 11, or did that happen later on? I'd say later.
SPEAKER_05Um, because I I was just surrounded by so much that you just kind of get in the flow of it and you just keep doing it. Right. It was when I went to college, and I know that's kind of a hot topic for a lot of people in the sense of uh you go to these universities and you gotta be strong in your faith because they're gonna whatever. I was going to a Christian school, like a Christian college. And in that, you're not surrounded by Christian people just because you go to a Christian school. Um, same thing in high school. And so when I got to college, I was with that understanding, not only are you surrounded by people who are not at all Christians, but they all don't believe the same as you. And so being in conversations with all these different people, with all these different opinions, it makes you take a step back and reevaluate, like, okay, Lord, I'm here because you called me to be here and you've opened the door for me to be here. But I I need I'm realizing I need to take a step back and figure out like, do I believe what I believe because it's what I've been told? Or do I believe what I believe because you've said it in your word? Right. And I know it to be true.
Early Worship Leadership And College
How They Met Through Fine Arts
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Amen. Absolutely. Uh so let's transition. Nathaniel, obviously, you've been here, is it six years now? Six years in May. In May. Um, so Eden, you've been here now for how many months? Six months. Six months. I love it. Because think things have really things have really ramped up here at Covenant Church the last year. Yeah and a half. I mean, like it extremely, right? In a good way. Um, the Lord has been doing amazing things. And so before we get to here, I want to hear about how y'all met and then how how that journeyed into the journey music collective. Okay.
SPEAKER_01You want me to go?
SPEAKER_05You start.
SPEAKER_01Okay. How so it's such a long story. I'll start with how we met and then I'll tell us to you. So we grew up um in the same like avenue of church, and this um church had a Christian competition called Fine Arts. And it's an awesome program. I feel like we both grew and benefited a lot from it. But basically, the purpose of it is to encourage like students, youth to just use whatever gifting God's given them to glorify him. So they have a state division and a national division. And Nathaniel and I would compete. We would both compete in this Christian competition and represent the state of Louisiana. And um, mainly like he did a triage of things. That's his story to tell. But I've seen Nathaniel do all sorts of unique talents that he has. Um, but we both competed heavily in the music division. And so typically I would be kind of the girl representing Louisiana, and he would end up being the guy representing Louisiana. And so we didn't like know each other super well, but had a lot of mutual friends and would see each other compete. I think had like a mutual respect for each other. And um, and at that competition, I think we could probably both attribute to part of why we're in ministry, just learning to use those giftings, like our musical giftings for the Lord. Um and then pivot years later, um, we are both asked to come in and lead worship at a conference in Texas. Um, and again, we know each other. I wouldn't say we're friends, right? Like we're just mutual acquaintances. And this was what, maybe six, seven years ago that this happened. Would you say?
SPEAKER_05I don't even know. Somewhere in there.
SPEAKER_01What's funny is like because we're such great friends, I think people assume that we've been buddies for so long. Him and Caden have known each other way longer and known each other more closely. Um but yeah, we get asked to go to this conference in Texas to lead worship. So they they bring us both in as guests, and we get to kind of reconnect a friendship over the week and lead worship together. And um, while we're there, um how do I even explain this?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, we were leading worship, and this weekend was like rather intense. We were doing a lot of music, a lot of a lot of services, lots of services, yes, lots of ministry taking place. And in all of that, um we we like received this word that um we felt we wanted to like pray about and and see like if the Lord is in this, what he's doing, because we we felt like the Lord wasn't done with what was happening between us in that moment. Uh we knew it was something unique and different that you don't come across a lot with other worship leaders. Um, because a lot of times in those scenarios, uh we've done it lots. So you just get brought in, you do your part, and then you dip out. And we were like, this is a little different. Um, and so after that weekend, we were we had kind of devoted to like take some time to pray. So you're like, what's what's the Lord doing? What's what what's gonna happen here? So we took some time to pray on our own. And uh at at I think it was in January actually, we like came back together to talk. And we said, okay, like the Lord's doing something here. Uh let's see what we can do. And so we both obviously lead worship, we sing, um, but we also write music, but we had never done it in a context that was with other people, yeah, or for the sake of other people really hearing our stuff and like worshiping to it. It's a very uh closeted personality. Yeah, very personal because you start writing stories that are personal to you, and so it takes a little bit of a different approach, yes. Um, and so we would start from that point on that January. I would drive out to Mississippi where they were living, or she would drive over here to Homa.
SPEAKER_01I would come here to Covenant and we would write.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and we would write music together. We would take a day and just write. We would eat and write and eat and write. Um and before we knew it, we had this group of songs, and we're like, okay, like Lord, we feel like you told us to do this.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Um and we feel like it wasn't just for it to be these songs that are just sitting in our phones waiting for nothing. Right. Um, what do you what do you want? Like, what do you want us to do? And uh from that point, we just we just all we knew was that we didn't have the means to, you know, record this stuff, and because it takes a lot of money to do any of it, like like so much more than people would actually think. Um and I would say even with what we did, it was probably the lowball of budget goes, and we were trying to make it work. Um, but we just knew we didn't have any of that, but we knew the Lord wasn't done with it, and so we just kept being obedient to what we knew he said to do, which was to get together and write. And what we saw was that not long after that, there was a producer that literally walked into Eden's life, which in turn opened the door for us, um, a full-time producer that wanted to work and you know, work on music. But naturally, a producer, uh, a full-time producer who does it for a living, they need money. And so we were very upfront with the fact of like, hey, we don't like we literally have nothing for you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Um, and we were like, but if you're willing to like stick this out with us, like we believe the Lord's gonna provide. And so we just kept being obedient, kept writing, kept stewarding what was happening. And don't you know it before long, we literally had all of the funds that we needed. We had all of the people that we needed in order to get it done. We had the facility, we had the the equipment, we had everything we needed, and it's all a testament to the fact of like the Lord honors obedience. Yeah. And he, when you are walking and what he's called you to do, he will make sure that he provides for his vision. Yeah, that's right. And so um, all of that to say that was the birth of Journey Music Collective and kind of came down to where the name even came from of like that journey in itself was one that the human side of you takes over at different times and you start to doubt and you start to question like, are we even doing this? Because it gets tough for a second. But it's like, hey, we just need to take a second and choose to enjoy this journey, right? Because we feel like this is one that the Lord has evidently been showing himself through, and so we we just we we were we were doing that, and so it was um Journey Music Collective was birthed out of that, and we've seen so much fruit, even just from the music that has gone where it has.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, um also like our um producer that he mentioned that kind of came into our life at that time, like he hadn't given his heart to the Lord yet, and so like a cool aspect of it. Nathaniel mentioned how we just asked him to kind of like work with us by faith, even though we didn't have the money. And he definitely thought we were crazy, but he got to see God provide the money and the testimony of that, and then work on this Christian music with us. This was his first time doing Christian music. He's a great, he'd work with Stevie Wonder, he's like a great producer, yeah. And um, and so now all of a sudden he's in his studio just mixing this Christian music all the time, and he would encounter the Lord, I mean, in there weeping, mixing this music and got got radically saved. Wow, so that like he said, we've seen a lot of testimonies come out of it, you know. God do really cool things.
SPEAKER_05And it was so cool because when you go through that album, there's there's a lot of music in there, and as he was focusing in on different songs on different weeks, it was ministering to the very things that were happening in their own lives. And so um, just to watch God literally before it was even released begin to use it to touch people was very special.
SPEAKER_04And and side note, journey musiccollective.com. Right, yeah, just to let everyone know. Okay. All streaming platforms, other things. I just subscribed to the email list, by the way. Beautiful, you ought to get a little ping somewhere out of whatever you post. Not sure why I never did that before, but I went online and I was like, oh, I can subscribe, so I did. Yeah, okay. And so with that music, it obviously you produced it, it went out, and then what?
SPEAKER_05From there, we just kept doing what we've been doing, honestly. Yeah, um, y'all travel together some.
SPEAKER_04I mean, y'all still do stuff together.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we do. It's it's cool now that we're here together because we were playing in such different arenas, you know, both worship pastors at different churches. So he's leading here, I'm leading and on the Gulf Coast and Ocean Springs. And we are traveling when we can together and worshiping, but now we've gotten to do that.
SPEAKER_05This is the most we've gotten to do it consistently, you know, which makes it unique for us because we've obviously worked together through that whole process of producing an album. And then when we travel out together, um that dynamic of working together and leading a team together, but having to come alongside each other week after week to lead a team, we're learning new things about each other and just how to how to operate. Um, nothing bad. Just just we have we just have different things that are like um important to us. And so bringing both of those sides to the table and meeting in the middle and seeing like, hey, how can we collectively do this together?
Presence Over Preference In Worship
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I I want the church to understand the blessing that we have as a church body. And um, I'm not sure everybody understands. So we have two worship pastors here at Covenant who travel, who go to other churches, who are a blessing, not only in the music you produce, but in the week-to-week face up front with leading worship, testimonies here in church. I know I can speak to my own life and my own family's life during revival, how we were changed. And so I just want to point out what a blessing it is to have y'all here, to be part of the ministry. And I think one of the things that is so cool in my mind is that I would have never imagined that we would have the worship we have as a church body. Because I was here, you know, back in 2011 at the old church, you know, with the old stuff and all that stuff that was going on. But to be where we are, and this is the key, to effectively be reaching the next generation, I think is something worth noting. Because if we don't change the way we do things, we're gonna miss the generation. We're we're not gonna have a hand in what God is doing for them and with them. And so I just I just wanted to mention that. I think it's really cool.
SPEAKER_05And I I think our heart at the end of the day is ultimately to just go after the presence of God. Yeah, um we've been blessed individually and together to lead worship in rooms that are young and old and everything in between. And so what that makes you do as a leader in that moment is set your personal preferences aside. Because there are things, being quite honest, that I would love to sing, that I would love to do and we we don't. Right. And there are things that we do that preference we'd rather not. I'd rather not. Yeah. Um, because I just I don't like that song. Right. But anytime we sing that song, the whole room is engaged with us. And so, all right, we're gonna we're gonna keep this room together.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_05Um, and so ultimately that's what it comes down to for us of like we're just going after the presence of God. And so, whatever that looks like, whatever that sounds like, personal preference aside, we're gonna submit to what the Lord's wanting to do. That's right. Um, and I I say this humbly, I don't mean it arrogantly at all. What's been very unique in our dynamic as well. Is that the Lord has given us the ability to really be a part of some big movements and moments in our own lives growing up in different areas of ministry and helping lead and steward those things. And so I don't believe it's by accident that the Lord has us here for a time like this. Um because I I truly do believe that the Lord's doing something special here at the church. And a huge part of that naturally is worship because worship is what brings in the presence of God. And so being that we've had that history, we can bring that experience here. Um and it's it's not a charismatic thing, it's not um a young people thing, it's just simply, hey, we're just doing what the Bible says and we're worshiping Jesus.
SPEAKER_04And let's let let's let's just be raw, okay? When you we get to heaven, it ain't gonna be boring. I hope not. It's gonna be loud, it's gonna be boisterous, it's gonna be filled with the warrior lamb. I mean, we're talking about the presence of the king, like on his mighty throne. Do do we really think we're gonna go in there and go, oh, that looks really cool? No, it's gonna be like, holy moly, the presence of God has engulfed me for all eternity. Praise be to the king. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you you got these words, I call them trigger words because every denomination has them and it's just the most ridiculous thing. But when you encounter the presence of the king, all that goes out the window. Yeah, you know what I mean? So to your point, the heart is the presence of God, and that's the way it should be. Yeah, you know, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_04So, so let's let's transition to a little bit of deep of deets of what's going on in the church right now. So obviously, we got another campus, yes, and so y'all are gonna be split up, me and Steve's gonna be split up. We don't know all the you know inner workings of how this could work just yet, but it's an exciting time, right? You get to expand the worship team, you get to expand the church and really do what God has called us to do. So, um, what is that gonna look like for you guys as much as you know right now, as far as the time.
SPEAKER_01Um, I think we're we're definitely still in like the beginning stages of like navigating that. And we're just like working as a team. I'm thankful we have each other to navigate because taking new territory is difficult. We gotta be strategic, we gotta be prayerful. And so I think like, first of all, like we're gonna utilize the current worship team that's been built here um to help. But we also believe like God is gonna send like fresh gifting in to the Thibodeau campus and like gonna provide all the people needed um over time for that campus to be exactly what he wants it to be. So we're just kind of prayerful, we're open, we're working with our team to prepare them. And I think a lot of them are excited to partner in this aspect of ministry and help launch and reach this new city and area together. So we're actually gonna meet some more about it today. We got a meeting this afternoon. So it's just a lot of strategy and um and prayer, really. That's the main thing I can say.
SPEAKER_05And I I've said it to the team a couple of times, and it's like, hey, this this is new territory, not just for us, but for everyone involved. Yeah, and so we're doing our best um to be obedient to what the Lord's calling us to do. And so we just need you to be graceful and merciful towards us, and we'll do the same thing. Yeah, and you know, what what works at the very beginning, a couple weeks, a couple months down the road, it may need to shift a little bit. Right. Yeah. And so we're just gonna be my new favorite phrase is uh blessed are the flexible, or they will not be bent out of shape. Uh you just you gotta you gotta stay flexible with it, be okay with the changes. Because the only thing constant is the fact that it's gonna change. It's gonna change. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's right.
Freedom From Shame And People Opinions
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Yeah. What's um what's your and I know you said the heart is the is a presence, and and that's that's my heart too in worship, is meeting the presence of God, being changed, and then going out into the world and influencing, right? Um, but for both of you, like what is what is a specific burden that the Lord has placed on your heart, uh, not only for our church body, but just for believers and people in general when they encounter the Lord. Like, what's a specific burden you have? What's something you want them to grasp and get? That's a weighty question.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that really is. There's so much. What's interesting, I will say this before we both answer this. We talk all the time about how we are opposites. Like Nathaniel and I are opposites. But as far as like ministry foundational, that's the same. So I feel like we'll probably align on this. You might get the same answer. And I think that's why we work well together because we have the same heart and like vision for what God wants to do in the church. I feel like for me, one of the main things I want people to understand is like there's freedom in Christ. Like you can worship freely, you can live freely, you can live in total peace, like without fear of man, like and that that comes into boldness in the way you worship, and the way you share your faith, and the way you live out your faith, but that you can walk in total freedom. Like there's no condemnation, there's no shame, there shouldn't be guilt. Like if you are a new creation in Christ, like that should translate uh to total freedom in your life and the way you serve God. Like the other day, I had somebody very kindly like, we're just amazed at the way you worship. Like you, you know, they and they were being sweet. They were saying, like, I feel like we need that here. Like, we don't really understand why you're able to do that. And I'm like, well, man, Jesus has set me free. Yeah. That's why I'm able to do that. You know, it sounds simple. And but like the the longer you walk with the Lord and the deeper you know him, you're not worried about what anybody thinks. It's like, I'm I'm so excited to worship God. I'm so excited to honor him with my life, to share my testimony, to give him my all. So I would say that's one of the main things for me is like, man, there's freedom. Like when you give your life to the Lord, you should be like in total freedom with him. Amen. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I I have like a couple of thoughts. The first one being what I talk about a lot is that at the end of the day, no matter what's happening in a service, you cannot deny when you've encountered the presence of God. You cannot deny it. You may not be able to make sense of it all, but he didn't ask you to either. What I've come to realize is that when we try to make sense of what God is doing, we're trying to use our natural mind to make sense of a supernatural thing. Supernatural meaning beyond our comprehension.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And so there are moments that the Lord does things and you can't fully grasp it, but you know that you've encountered him. And so the heart is just how do you how do you get to that place? It's by ushering in his presence. And in that, what I want people to be free of at the end of the day, I feel like it's a big thing that holds people back. It's the opinions of others. Because we will be bound up, chained down to the opinion of other people, and it will keep us from engaging into the presence of God. Right. And so when you can break free of that, and you can get to the place of saying, like, he's been too good to me for me not to worship him. Yeah. Like, my goodness, he's saved my life. Yeah, he's provided for me. I have a job, I have a house, I have food I can eat. I've got plenty of reasons to bless his name. Right. When you can get free from that may not be acceptable to somebody else, that that may be a little too much for somebody else. When you don't care about that anymore, and you can just truly be free and worship him, that's whenever you're engaging with his presence and you can encounter him in that space.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Look, I told you we were gonna say the same thing in different ways, freedom.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I think it's cool because I touched on this Sunday morning. Um, the heart of that, yes, freedom, but not being bound by religion, but stepping into a real relationship with Jesus. Because that's the difference, man.
SPEAKER_04That was such a word for Easter Sunday, let me tell you.
SPEAKER_01Thanks, Chats.
SPEAKER_04Yes, no, when you said that, I'm like, bam, hit it right on the nail, man. Love it. Because I mean, how many uh this is this is Catholic country, okay? There were a ton of people going there with their mama and their daddy, you know, because they wanted them to be there. So when you said that, I was like, that just that was the heart of what everyone was there for. Love that. That was good.
SPEAKER_01That was all Jesus, because I don't ever plan what I'm gonna say. I'm not good about that. I'm like, Lord, you just tell me what to say in the moment. I'll say I love winging it. But yeah, that's that's the heart of it. It's like not being caught in like calisthenics or ritual or but like a real relationship with Jesus, and there's just freedom in that. And I don't it's like how how do you help people get there, like get out of that, you know? Oh, I have to come to church on Sunday, and oh, we're gonna sing a couple songs, and you know, I've got to sit in here that like, but to really like the heart of the matter and stepping into relationship with Jesus Christ and coming to know him, right? And when you get to that point, you'll want to worship.
SPEAKER_04That's right.
SPEAKER_01You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_04And the the so because of this culture, I was raised Catholic. You're raised to believe that you have to do this and do that in order to gain favor. Never is there like this freedom, it's just you got to keep working to get something. Yeah, you don't get to really experience it, you just get to receive favor uh in the sense of salvation. And so most of the people here are dealing with that indoctrination. And I can testify from my life, you know, it took me a long time to realize that I'm truly free. Yeah, and if I'm honest, there are still some times I struggle with that because of my upbringing.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_04That just keeps it keeps coming up, you know. So that's kind of what we're dealing with in this culture.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And so the fact that like freedom is the heartbeat is really what what this place needs. This this whole region.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And I think something about the two of us as well, in our in our own ways, because we're uniquely different, sure, is that we both um are not afraid to just be bold in that. And so we have a bit of an evangelistic sense about us, a little more fire, right? You could say, um, in the sense of like, it don't scare me about who's in the room or what they may think, you know? I'ma just go and I'm gonna say what I need to say in order to bring you with me. And if you choose to not engage, that's on you. You have to answer for that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And so um I'm on worship. Yeah, I'm gonna write. I I'm thinking, I'm thinking about like we had rehearsal last night, and this Sunday we're singing Ask Me Why. And it's like, so ask me why I worship the way I do, yeah, right? Please, I'll tell you. Like he's he's been so good, so good to me. Um, and so we we have no problem being bold for the sake of the call that he's placed on our life.
SPEAKER_04So, what is the absolute most favorite aspect about what you get to do?
SPEAKER_05The first thing that comes to mind is that I truly love when for the sake of analogy, like there's a spotlight on us simply because we're on the platform, we're out in front, we're the ones singing. But when we can get them to a place that they don't even care, it's almost like we step out of that spotlight, yeah, and it just creates a space for the Lord to be the center of attention. That's good words. That's always my heart. And that's that's probably the favorite for me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was gonna say about the same thing. I love getting the room to a place where um almost like what Nathaniel said, like the attention is completely off of us, but I would do this a lot in Ocean Springs, like have them sing their own song, like worship the Lord in their own way, and just begin to thank him out loud for what he's done. Thank him for his work on the cross. Um, you know, thank you for loving you. Like just take a minute in your own words and worship. And I've been in rooms where I've done that, and people begin to just like exalt the Lord so loudly that blesses me, like out of their own mouth. Because, you know, you can get people to sing a song, sing words on the screen, but when you can get a whole room to begin to worship the Lord themselves out of their own heart, like that's powerful, you know.
SPEAKER_04So I love that. I think that's a good that's a good opportunity right there to teach who's listening and watching because I think a lot of people don't truly understand what our role is to shepherd, and that is right there the epitome of what you guys said. Like it is to get people to a place where we're no longer in the picture and it's just them and the Lord. And a lot of time, a lot of times, it's ministry is all about leading people where they don't want to go until they get there and they realize, oh wait, this is a wonderful place to be.
SPEAKER_05And I think that's why we like the tension of like stirring up it and pushing them a bit, right? While also understanding that they can only take so much, yeah, you know, at a time. Yeah, right. And so it's just like a muscle, you know, you can only push it so far, right? Gotta let it rest for a second, and then you can push it a little further.
SPEAKER_01And that's why, like, with what we do, you have to really be led by the Lord. Because my, if you know my personality, I am a lot and loud. And my MO is to go go like punch, punch, punch, like give the devil a black eye. Like, we're gonna worship our pants off. And then I'll hear the Lord be like, be quiet, Aiden. Like, calm down, like you're overwhelming the people. So it's like, you know, really being led by the Lord in every moment. Because that we talked about preference. My preference is to come out swinging. Can't do that all the time.
SPEAKER_05Yep. We always joke that she's the one that's like ready to jump off the cliff. Yeah. And I'm like, hey girl, do you have a parachute on? Like you check your strap. I'm good to go, but can we put on the parachute first?
SPEAKER_04I I love that. Uh four years ago, an older elder in the church, not this church, came up to me and he said, Chet, he said, buddy, I love you. And I'm like, Okay, I love you too. He said, You are intense. And he's like, You I feel like you may be getting ahead of the Lord a little bit. And I'm like, Ahead of the Lord? What are you? And I'm just like getting defensive coming back. But now, as I've gotten a little older, I realize to your point, just to what you said, I realize, you know what? Maybe, maybe that gentleman had a good point. Yes, yeah, but yeah, come out swinging. I understand that.
SPEAKER_01Because our job, our like Nathaniel said earlier, our job is like, how can I most effectively minister to the people in front of me? Yeah, like what Lord, like what do I need to do to do that? So it's like what do I what do I need to do? You know, yeah, and sometimes that's be quiet.
SPEAKER_00Not what I like to do, but that's what I'll do.
SPEAKER_04That's a powerful word, exactly. And is isn't ministry all about a lot of times humbling ourselves and doing what we don't want to do? Yes, yeah, you know, yes, for sure all the time, I would say.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04It's a very humbling experience over and over again for sure.
SPEAKER_00Yes, it is.
SPEAKER_05And the moment you try to get anything in your head that puts you up a little bit, he will very quickly get it right from you. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01But the other thing is like it's so faith-building. Like, I I was thinking the other day, and I'm not trying to like this is not a humble brag, I promise. I feel like I've developed like the gift of faith because of one, my history with the Lord, but just like being in ministry. Like, I realized the other day, it almost makes me emotional, but I realized I'm like, man, Lord, I trust you so much. Like, I don't have any doubt you're gonna come through. Like, I I'm to that place and I'm so thankful. Like, every move we've made to pastor, like we have made some crazy moves, like where we knew nobody. I mean, and so like coming here, we knew Nathaniel, but like our last, you know, place we pastored, we knew nobody. And so I I'm just thankful now to have this history with the Lord where I'm like, man, you've come through time and time again. That doesn't mean it was like a cakewalk, it might have been kind of rocky, you know what I'm saying? Right, but like I really trust you, like I have great faith you're gonna move, and that translates to worship on Sundays. Like, I'm just gonna worship you and you'll do the rest. Like, I have great faith you're gonna touch these people and they're gonna receive what they need to receive today, and I'm just gonna do my part. So it, I don't know. I'm like, thank like it just hit me the other day. I was like, thank you, God. Like I've reached a place in my life, and I feel like I mean, I'm I'm young where I'm like, I fully trust you. If you told me to move to Africa tomorrow, I would pack my bags, you know. Yeah, and so it's cool, it's cool how it translates to, like I said, all aspects of life, but especially in what we do. Because it's nerve-wracking to get up there and lead a song and put yourself out there, and you know, but trust in like Lord, like it's really not about me, anyways. I'm gonna kind of get out of the way, do what you've asked me to do, and trust that you're gonna move in this room, yeah, and you'll get the glory.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, amen. That's a good word. Security in him, peace in him, joy in him, freedom in him. Yeah, and you know what though, you don't get there unless you go through the fire.
SPEAKER_00So true. Yeah, so true.
SPEAKER_05I talk about it a lot. It's like uh people want, you know, people want to see God be provider for them. Well, that means you gotta be in a place that he needs to provide. Come on. Like, yeah, oh, you want him to be peace. That means you you're probably gonna deal with something that disturbs your peace a bit. Yep.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Um, so it's like be careful what you're asking for. Yeah, yeah. It's like you can pray for it and ask for it, but also understand that that means you're gonna walk through the fire for a minute. He's not just gonna snap his fingers all the time. There are moments that he wants to be miraculous in your life and do that and take care of a situation. But more often than not, he's just gonna come with you and be there with you. Um, but a lot of times what people don't want to like talk about is that you'd rather complain about it than actually just submit to him in that space. Yes. Yes.
SPEAKER_01And it's like you mentioned, Chet. So much of like what we do is you have to like to do it well, I should say, not everybody's like this, but to do it well, you do have to stay in a place of humility. Because there are gonna be days you come in and you don't really like the room, what you th what you thought should happen or what you want to happen didn't happen. You didn't really see the room jump in with you. But if it was about you, you'd walk off offended. Pride's hurt. But when it's about the Lord, that doesn't matter. It's like, well, Lord, I did my part, you did your part, we did all we could. You know, high five, high five, Jesus, we did what could. But if it's all about you, you know, you're gonna walk in this spirit of like they didn't respond that you know, so it's this place of like humility as well. Lots of humility, lots of trust in the Lord.
SPEAKER_05And I can't tell you how many times He's checked me on that in the moment of you have you have moments like that, and you feel some type of way when you walk off. And we had that recently, too. And it's like, oh, oh my goodness, why not? Um I was there, like they were, you know, and um after service, someone walk up to you, tears in their eyes, talking about how much they were ministered to, that the Lord was doing stuff in their life. And I'm like, Okay, Lord, yeah, it's not about me, it's not about what I want. Okay, you're still working. It may not be how I want, but you never asked me, right? You know, it's about what you want.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah. It isn't that Satan's ploy, though, the spirit of deception and and the spirit of confusion.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Um, every time I speak, it doesn't matter in what level. Uh, I'll I'll get down and for about five minutes, wait, why'd I say that? Why'd I say and then I'm like, wait a minute, wait, wait, wait, wait. What I said is what the Lord wanted me to say. Yes. And I'm good with that. Right. Yes. You know, but that's just like that's that's demons and that's Satan just like pounding you thinking, making you confused, and dis deception and all that those things that you constantly go through in your mind. And um the Holy Spirit's in control.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, for sure. For sure. Yep.
Closing Prayer For The Church
SPEAKER_04Oh, awesome. Well, guys, I appreciate y'all being here. And if it's okay, I'd like to pray. Yeah. Heavenly Father, we believe in the power of prayer. And Father, I I thank you for the series. I thank you for Nathaniel and Eden, Lord. I thank you that they lead us in worship each and every week. I pray that you would guard their minds and their hearts, Lord, that you would fill them with your peace and your passion. Lord, that their burden for you, their burden for the lost, their burden for others to experience you and your presence, Lord, I pray that it would grow. Lord, I pray that uh that you would give them the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and hearts melted with compassion for your people. Father, I pray for a powerful move in our church. I pray that you would continue to work. God, you have started something. Started something here that is not done yet. And Lord, we pray in faith that you would continue to work, Lord, continue to transform lives in our worship services each and every week, Lord. We pray for our pastor, God, that you would continue to give him a word. And Lord, continue to give him strength and courage as he stands in the pulpit. And Father, I pray that for this Sunday, for the next Sundays coming, Lord, that your presence would be evident. It would be real. And Lord, that people would be transformed by you. It's in your name we pray. Amen.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
Goodbye And Next Episode Tease
SPEAKER_04All right, guys. Well, we'll see you on the next one.