Jason Johnson Ep 50

David W Ebel: Welcome to the God Says Yes podcast. You are welcome here. Hello and welcome to another episode of God Says Yes. My name is David Ebel, and I'm your host. And I'm glad you're here today as we're going to talk about something very important. That is, that God loves you. He created you to love. He's always loved you. He will always love you. You were created from the inside out to be like him. We're not supposed to look like each other on the outside, but because he created us to love, we are to look more and more like him from the inside out. That means that. He he loves you when you do good, and he loves you when you do terrible. He loves you on your good days, your bad days. He loves you when people hurt you. He loves you when things go wrong. He loves you when it hurts like crazy, and he loves you on your good days. He just loves you. And that's why we this podcast exists. We call it God says yes, because we want God to say yes to your life. No matter if you've been wounded or hurt or betrayed or belittled or cheated or even hurt at church when that happens sometimes and it shouldn't. And I apologize on behalf of the body of Christ if that happened to you, because you know the church is the emergency room of the body of Christ. And reality-wise, pe not everybody going to the emergency room is happy about it. Some people are pretty ugly about it. And sometimes those same kind of people show up at church. They want change, but they're they're kicking and screaming because they're not used to the change. And sometimes it splashes over on the in the innocent hearts. And so we get wounded while they try to get better. But God didn't. God didn't change. He still loves you and he can heal that and get move you past that while he's changing their life in the process. So we're here today because we want you to be able to say yes to God and try again. To use your faith. God built you with faith inside. God built you with hope. And he wants to reignite that in your life. I have a friend, a brother in the Lord, and his name is Jason Johnson. And ⁓ I really appreciate him and I think you will too. So, Jason, I would like to welcome you to the podcast. All right. Yes. Thank you for having me on, inviting me. ⁓ it's an honor. Well, Jason, you want to tell us a little bit about yourself? Just so we know you. Sure. So yeah, so ⁓ my name is Jason C. Johnson Senior. ⁓ originally from the Maryland, Washington, D.C. area. And Currently in New York and ⁓ over the past several years, I've been teaching in the public school system, and that's been a very interesting journey. ⁓ prior to that, ⁓ I was in Bible college. ⁓ I always felt that you know, God was calling me into ministry, and so I wanted to go to be more equipped. ⁓ You know, I wanted to make sure that anytime I taught the word, that I knew what I was talking about and that I had all the tools that were necessary. You know, because since, you know, early on in my walk, I was definitely exposed to a lot of false teaching. And I wanted to make sure that I was not going to even by mistake, ⁓ you know, carry that on and mislead anyone else. And so I wanted to be as prepared as possible. So I I went to Bible college. ⁓ I finished Bible college and I did missions ⁓ in Medellin, Colombia. I was there working with a ⁓ ministry organization that is still, you know, doing a lot of great things today. ⁓ I was just ⁓ there recently ⁓ for the first time in many years, and it was awesome just to see how much that ministry has. grown and to see even some of the people who at at one point in time they were helping ⁓ because they they work with a lot of people who are on the street and who have, you know, ⁓ history of drug addiction and, you know, ⁓ prostitution and a lot of other issues like that. And it's it's been amazing to see that many of those people who I I saw many years ago who were a part of ⁓ a program where they were going through a rehabilitation. I'm seeing that now today they're still there, but as leaders. And they're actually going out and doing the exact same thing. They're going out into the streets, literally snatching souls from the fire. Amen. So I I really like, you know, am encouraged by those kind of things. And it reminds me, you know, that we can't be complacent as the body of Christ. It's very easy to just be comfortable. And you know, kind of just stay locked into our Christian bubbles. Yes. And and not be as concerned about the lost, you know, but somebody, you know, cared about us enough to share the gospel with us. And so I think that we can't forget that. And and and not just say, well, hey, at least I'm saved. You know. But you know, we have to have that same compassion for others because how else are they going to know Christ if nobody preaches the word? And ⁓ and so something that I love to encourage people to do is to say, you know, you don't have to be a Bible college student or a seminarian. You don't have to know Greek and Hebrew or any of that in order to just be used by God in the most simplistic way. Exactly. And so some some people are discouraged even from sharing their testimony or sharing their faith because they think that they're not qualified. They don't check certain boxes or they've gone through too many difficult things in their life. But, you know, God, you know, throughout the Bible, He never used the people who you would think would be the people, such as even in the New Testament, you know, Jesus didn't go to the Pharisees and make them his disciples. He really was saying, you know, you guys think that you got it. You have all of this. Knowledge, you are well respected in the community, but you guys are missing something very important. I'm gonna go to the fishermen. I'm gonna go to the tax collectors, the people who you consider the the worst of the worst. I agree. I'm gonna use people who are uneducated, people who nobody would be able to say, ⁓ the reason why they're successful is because they're just, you know, so amazing. But I'm gonna go to the people who you think are the least. And I'm gonna do some powerful things through them. I'm gonna use them to bring this gospel around the entire world to where two thousand years later, we're impacted by the work that they did back then. Amen. So, you know, that's the heart of God. And I I really want more people in the body of Christ to understand that, to have the heart of those of those people that we read about in scripture. Jason, you know I agree with you 100%. I couldn't have said that better. Now, the but the the main reason for the us being here today is we invite people who who have a story to tell. And we're we I'm inviting you to tell yours. So the first question we normally ask is who were you before you found Jesus? Sure, sure. So you know, I I came to Christ when I was 16 years old. And so I don't have the type of story where I can say, you know, I I went through, you know, all of these very, you know, ⁓ tragic things or anything like that. And ⁓ and then and I, you know, later on I came to Christ. I can say most of the most challenging stuff that I have experienced, I I would say happened after I came to know Christ. But I I definitely did experience some challenges when I was growing up. ⁓ I grew up in a household with a A mother who was ⁓ physically and verbally abusive. And you know, that was very confusing to me. It was difficult. And not having a relationship with God, I didn't really know how to like how to process that. And so, because my parents they were divorced when I was very young, ⁓ when I was Just a toddler still, really. ⁓ so I was very accustomed to just, you know, living with just my mother. And I actually went to live with my father later, ⁓ when I was 15 years old. And the reason for that was that I had decided one time after my mother punched me in the face, and I remember just thinking to myself. I don't really know how to get out of this situation, but I I was able to see that it wasn't going to be good if I continued to stay in that kind of situation. You know, I'm getting older, I'm I'm getting bigger. Like, ⁓ I I I was thinking of the worst case scenario. What if I fight back? What if I retaliate? I mean, it could be pretty, you know, pretty bad. And so I was. Just confused about what to do. And so one day I asked my father, I asked him if I could live with him. And I was really not sure what he was gonna say. I thought that maybe he would say no or something because he was remarried and you know, I didn't want to mess up his life and what he had going on. And so, ⁓ yeah, so I remember that it was around my birthday, and I asked him if I can come live with him. And he seemed surprised and he asked me, you know, why. And, you know, I j I told him about some of the things that were going on. And we really connected a lot at that time. And, you know, he was there for me at a very, you know, vulnerable time in my life. And, you know, he taught me a lot, you know, and and he he didn't, you know, speak poorly of my mother or anything like that. He just, you know, he wanted me to understand that, yeah. Just in case I had some misinformation about certain things, he wanted to make sure that I was, you know, clear about certain things, even like why their relationship didn't work out. ⁓ some some things that I I had never heard about. ⁓ I had never heard either of my parents really talk about that kind of stuff. So that was I think therapeutic for me at that time. I needed that because I I really felt like I was just growing up with no answers, with no hope, with no really ⁓ understanding of God. Like I believed that, you know, God existed. So I wasn't an atheist or anything. ⁓ I if anyone had asked me back then, I would have said, Yeah, I'm a Christian. Now I didn't know what that meant, right? But but that's what I believed at the time. And ⁓ So after living with my father for about a year, ⁓ that is when I I did come to Christ. And I think that that being in that new environment, I think that that was a very ⁓ healthy step toward that. Awesome. But I had people in my life prior to that that had definitely planted seeds. ⁓ one of the first people that I know that shared the gospel with me is actually my sister. I have an older sister. who has been a Christian for I guess ⁓ you know all my life really. So ⁓ I can remember even being maybe like around three, four years old or so, you know, she would send me like Christian music in the mail, stuff like from ⁓ the singer, ⁓ what's his name? ⁓ Carmen. ⁓ yeah. ⁓ music videos from him, ⁓ the Gerbert ⁓ cartoons. ⁓ music by who else, like Sandy Patty and a lot of different stuff like that. So I was exposed to at least an aspect of you know Christian culture and and things of the Lord, even though I didn't really take it seriously. But these were like small seeds that were planted. And one day she actually, when I was around 12, she sent me a CD ⁓ by a music group called The Cross Movement, which is a Christian rap group that was very popular in the early 90s or throughout the 90s and the early 2000s. And I remember listening to their music when I was 12, 13 years old and thinking, wow, this is incredible. I've never heard rap music that talks about Jesus. I didn't even think that that was possible. And ⁓ I almost didn't listen to the music because When I when I looked on the the cover of the ⁓ of the C D, they had suit jackets on and ties. And my assumption was, ⁓ this is probably going to be like choir music or something like that. Yeah. But I didn't realize until later on the cover they you they had the suits and ties on on the top, but underneath they actually had like sneakers on and ⁓ in shorts and and stuff like that. So it was it was like they were trying to show like, yes, they can be kind of like, you know, business at the top, but then also I guess kind of like street at the bottom. I didn't catch that at first. So ⁓ my friend was over at my house when when I saw that C D in the mail and at first I wasn't gonna listen to it. And he was like, ⁓ come on, let's let's listen to it. You know, it'll probably be funny. So I said, okay, fine, let's listen to it. And I remember listening to it and hearing what I now understand as very ⁓ deep theology. And and like, you know, these were people who have had been to Bible college and seminary, and they were bringing that information and putting it into music. And I had never heard anything like that. And that was another very important seed that was planted. ⁓ because it let me know, because I I liked listening to rap music at the time, but everything that I listened to was talking about, you know, killing and selling drugs and you know being disrespectful to women and all this kind of stuff. That's all I knew as far as rap music. And so I was hearing them and I said, Wow, they're actually talking about Jesus, and they actually are and it's not corny, you know, it's not It's not like Jesus loves me. Yes, I know, because the Bible tells me so. It wasn't anything like that. It was like they were, they, they were really skilled and they were ⁓ you know, bringing a lot of truth. And so I remember listening to that. I would, I would actually, I didn't know it at the time, but I was getting ⁓ theological training even at that time, just listening to their music. I started, you know. listening to it so much I had it memorized. And so fast forward to when I did, when I was sixteen years old, there was ⁓ a music artist who had, you know, he left the music industry and he wrote a book and he said that he was no longer going to be involved with ⁓ with the music industry, that he came to Christ. And he had become a pastor at the time. And I remember I read this book. ⁓ it it was it was by Mason Betha. ⁓ he was he was also known by his stage name, Mace. And I remember, yeah, I remember reading that book, and I and I was like, wow, this could this is somebody that whose music I used to listen to. And I never thought that somebody like that would be preaching the gospel. And so that was like the like the final thing for me that really opened up my heart to God and and helped me to understand ⁓ that I need to respond to the gospel. Like it it wasn't just information anymore. I really saw it as okay, I need to make a choice. Because God is clearly calling me, but he's not going to force me to follow him. Amen. Yeah. And so that that's that's when for the first time I really saw, yeah, if if I continue to reject God, then he's not going to let me into heaven just because he's a nice guy. You know, I have to decide whether Jesus is Lord of my life or not. And so after reading that book, I really understood that for the first time. And so one day I was in my room and I just prayed. I said, God, I I don't know what's supposed to happen now. I don't know what it means to be a Christian, really, other than, you know, what does this mean? ⁓ do I just start going to church or try to be a good person? Like I don't I don't really understand what this is, but I do know that this is absolutely necessary. And from the ages of 13 to 16, I had a lot of deep depression. And there were many times where I just felt like I just didn't want to be on this earth. And I think that part of that is just because I I felt like I had no purpose. You know, like when you when you grow up and no one is teaching you, telling you, hey, God is real. God loves you, God has a plan for your life. ⁓ you're not just an accident, you didn't evolve from apes, you know, you you know, you're not here by random chance. There is actually a God who is not a deist, but he's very active in the world that we're in, and he knows you by name, and he wants you to know him also. I didn't have that understanding growing up. And so for the first time though. At this moment, I started to see that. And so all the music that I heard, the music that I like listening to, where before I just thought, ⁓ that's cool. That's just like the the Jesus version of the other stuff that I like. But then I started seeing it differently. I was like, wow, this is they're doing this because they want other people to know about Jesus too. Exactly. Yeah. And I and I said, wow, this is incredible. And so when I became a Christian, I actually started to Well, I I I'd already started making music before. And so I started making Christian music because I wanted people to be saved also. Because I said, wow, you know, God used music and he used all these things in my life. I see how powerful it is. And, you know, I want to do the same thing. And so I started, you know, just traveling around to different churches, ⁓ high schools, colleges, different Christian events. And I I just started performing music. And it was it was awesome to see other people who were like around my age even coming to Christ just through the music. And I was like, wow, this is so powerful. And it's so much greater than the plans that I had before. Before I, you know, I wanted to be famous. I wanted to be a well known artist. But not to But not to glorify God, you know, I I just wanted to just make music about, you know, foolishness. But I s I r I really began to see at that time when I was sixteen, wow, music is powerful and I can actually use it to lead souls to Christ. And so I did that for many years. ⁓ up until I went to Bible college when I was in my early twenties. And, you know, it was just awesome just to to see, ⁓ You know, I believe that God really gave me a heart for just evangelism and encouraging other people to evangelize. And yeah. Let me let me cut into your just a second. Go ahead, go ahead. You're doing great. I mean, I'm loving everything about it, but I want to make sure that people understand the change that happened when you gave your life to Christ was profound. You didn't it wasn't like a light switch. It was faster than a light switch. It was like lightning. You knew. And it and it it changed your thinking. It changed your behavior, it changed your social life, it changed everything about you because you became a new person in Christ. Yes. And and it anybody can have that happen. No matter you can be on death row and still God can change your heart. It doesn't matter what you've done or not done. He can take it where you are and and turn you into what he dream of you being, he had planned for you to be, his hope for you to be. And that's amazing. And I'm grateful for what you're telling us. But now that that's happened. How how does how does that change your life and how will it change and give hope to the our viewers? Yeah. So, you know, one thing that I just assumed that that was normal to have that kind of radical change. You know, but one thing that I did start to notice ⁓ when I first started walking with Christ is that not everybody seemed to have that same experience. And I wondered. You know, I I've even heard people say things like, Yeah, I'm saved, you know, I gave my life to God, but I didn't have a changed life afterward. I I'm still like basically the same. It's just the only difference is that if you ask me if I'm a believer, I say yes. And I couldn't understand that. And so I used to wonder, like, am I just taking it too seriously or are other people not taking it seriously enough? It it was a little bit difficult, but I saw that ⁓ There were people who were exposed to the Christian culture for much longer. And so many people had already become disillusioned because they've had church hurt experiences, things that I had yet to experience. I just thought, ⁓ this is great. Every church is on point. Every pastor is teaching sound doctrine. You know, I I just thought this is this utopia that I found. And so I I very I I'd say definitely within the first couple of years of of knowing the Lord, I began to see, yeah, it's you know, we have this hope of heaven and the new Jerusalem and all that, but it's not here yet. We don't we don't have it right now. We have a we have a ways to go. And ⁓ and there's a lot of corruption. There's people who use the Lord for, you know, financial gain or for for whatever other purposes, and it's not Because they want to see souls saved. And I I just assumed that everybody was thinking like how I was like, nothing else matters. Let's get out there and, you know, and preach the gospel. I saw that people had other motives, and and that was kind of devastating for me, especially people who were older than me, and people I looked up to and I thought were truly, you know, walking with Christ. I began to see. That on the surface, maybe, but when you really talk to them and and and get a better understanding of their worldview, that wasn't very important to them. And so, ⁓ for people who are just coming to Christ, right? If you're if you're listening to this and you're you're somebody who's like a seeker and you're and you're wondering and you're saying, Yeah, you know, I'm on the fence. I don't, I don't know if I should follow God or not, ⁓ I will say that. There's there's no better life than being in Christ. And there's really nothing to be afraid of ⁓ by not being with him. You know, your your life is only going to be more perilous without him. You're not missing out on anything. You might think that you are. You might think, well, I have to give up this and I have to give up that. But the more that you know him, the less you're going to care about some of these things that you think are so important right now. But there is a distinction. There is a difference between somebody who just is a nominal believer, just somebody who just calls themselves a Christian, versus somebody who has truly put their faith in Christ and has said, you know what? I realize that I am nothing without God. I'm not going to sit here and try to impress anybody. I'm not going to try to act like I'm, you know, ⁓ more perfect than I am or anything like that, I acknowledge that I need God. And ⁓ without him, then I'm totally doomed. And ⁓ what I've found is that there are many Christians, especially people who are in ministry, they find it difficult to admit that they have struggles or that they've, you know, gone through things because it it might make it seem like they're not as spiritual. You know, and so this is Pretty devastating. And this is the reason why a lot of people don't speak up about difficult things that they go through, because they think, well, once you're a Christian, everything in your life is supposed to be perfect. But that's not the case at all. What ends up happening is the closer you get to Christ, the more you realize how much you need him because you are ⁓ so lost without him. You know, you realize that you're thinking in so many areas. Just it needs to be transformed. You know, the love that you think you have for people, you realize, wow, I don't love enough. Like, I don't care enough. ⁓ you're you're never going to reach the point where you can say, I've arrived, I've made it, and now I'm the pinnacle of, you know, I'm the poster child for Christianity. It's never gonna happen. So I I I want to tell you if you're in that kind of situation where you're very new to this. You don't have to worry about ever trying to reach that place. You will reach it when you're in the presence of the Lord, when you leave this life. But in this life, your your primary focus should just be to be honest with God and be honest with others. And just live for Him. Be obedient to Him to the best of your ability, but not because you're afraid that. you know, God is not going to love you anymore, that he is going to, you know, ⁓ remove his favor from you or anything like that. But it's just that you know that he's given you such a great salvation that you want to do the best that you can to show your appreciation to what he's given you. And that's why ⁓ you want to live for him. That's why you you don't want to make certain decisions or go to certain places or, you know, do things to to harm people and things like that. Because you don't want to dishonor the God who gave you such a great salvation. Exactly. You know, it's it's amazing that ⁓ pe when I when I was new in ministry, I had pastors tell me that you can't let someone see you sweat. You can't let them see struggle. It they they think you're holy and you need to live up to that. And ⁓ when as I grew in my ministry and began traveling, So many of the people who were pure hearted actually had a double life. They had the real life they lived, but they had to put on a mask that they was put on by culture and be, I'm okay. Look at me. God can do this, I can do this, we can do this together. Problem was then they'd go home and they would be feeling like I'm a I'm a fraud. Right. And you know, when you fall in love with Jesus and you stay in love with Jesus, you don't have to put on a mask. You the joy comes from inside out and you can't wait to tell people. It's not like you have to work up to it. But when you when you struggle and you can say, Look, I I still love God and I'm doing fine that way. But this hurts or that's wrong or I got cheated or those things and God's going to help me, that builds hope for people who are struggling even more so than we are. Because if if God helps us through it, God can help them even more. And it it builds a better trust l way for people to say, I could do this because you can. Right. And you know, I'm I appreciate what you're sharing because it's it's powerful. And we want people to understand how important God's love is. That God didn't create us so for us to struggle. And I've had people say, Well, if God was so so perfect, why do we struggle? Well, let's let's go back to history. God created the this world perfect. One of the angels decided he was more powerful and beautiful than he ought to be, became vain and eventually got evicted. And he just he turned on God and and made it his business to just try to damage God's creation because God loves us. So he spends his life, his eternal life, trying to get our eyes off of Jesus and off of God and onto anything or anyone or any any offense or any wound, so that we will think about the advice of others or go to other resources or study other things instead of finding out what God really wants. And do that in their life. I have friends who were who used to be new age, and they thought that was it until they met Jesus. And now they can't believe the difference in a in a godly life, in a struggling life searching. And we want that's what this pop podcast is about. We don't need you to search. We need you to discover what Jason has just told you and what I've been sharing with you. That God is amazing. And He created you to love, He always loved you, He's going to continue to love you. But he needs you to trust him. A little child seeing an ice cream truck doesn't see the truck in the middle of the road. He s the child sees the ice cream. And you the little kid will throw a temper temper tantrum trying to get to the ice cream truck. And Dad sees the ice cream man there, but he sees the traffic in the middle. And the kid tries to get to that ice cream truck and doesn't see the danger. It's up it our heavenly father's job is to keep us getting the blessings, but protect us from the danger. For us to be able to get excited about God and not beaten down by the distractions of life. So it's a beautiful thing that we're in. It's an amazing, life-changing thing. And Jason, I'm so excited that you came on and shared all this with us. Now, in whenever we do these podcasts, we always invite our our guests to give us a golden nugget. Something that people can take with them for the weeks to come that they can meditate over or concern over or pray over, or however they and God talk to each other. ⁓ what would you leave with us that we could take with us from this this interview? Yeah. ⁓ so one thing I I do want to mention, you know, because I I said that because I I came to the Lord at a young age, there were I guess certain things that up to that point I just thought, ⁓ you know, I haven't really done that that many bad things yet, at least, you know, in in my understanding at the time. compared to ⁓ how bad things could have been, you know. And so one thing that I really Came to understand is ⁓ I think early on on my walk, I was more I had ⁓ more of a a bent toward legalism, thinking I had to work for God. You know, like I have to do these certain things or else I'm going to lose my salvation or I'm I'm I'm not going to make it into heaven or you know, like putting putting these standards on myself that ⁓ I think were beyond even what the Lord was requiring of me. And and I'll I'll explain what I mean by that. Of course we know from his word ⁓ what his will is. You know, we know that he doesn't want us to be ruled by sin. He doesn't want us to be hypocrites. Yes. You know. But at the same time, he doesn't want us to live in constant fear either. Agreed. Because we are still gonna sin in this life. And one thing that was devastating for me early on in my walk, ⁓ before I became a Christian, I actually you know, I had never had sex before. And so to me, that used to feel like that's what makes me a genuine Christian. To be able to say, ⁓ you know, I'm gonna wait for marriage. I'm not going to to do anything like that beforehand. And I thought that just by doing that, it made me like more, I don't know, like more holy or just like more authentic, you know, more of a true believer. And so ⁓ something that was very popular at the time when I became a believer was something called the purity movement. And there were people such as ⁓ you know, like Elizabeth Elliott and Joshua Harris, they wrote a lot of books about sexual purity and you know, there were like purity balls that that people went to where they like they pledged they they were going to wait until marriage. And and all these kind of things. And I used to be involved in all of that. And and I used to put a lot of weight on that to say, as long as I can do that, as long as I can wait until marriage, then that that is what is going to ⁓ allow me to have a good testimony. That's what's going to allow me to ⁓ to be qualified to even be in ministry and and speak to people about the Lord. And I remember ⁓ you know. A couple years after coming to Christ and being in a situation where, you know, I was in a relationship and I did have sex for the first time. And I and I that like really just destroyed me. Like I had so much condemnation for years. I felt like I can't even share the gospel anymore. I can't even like, like like basically I thought. My testimony is now over. God can't use me anymore. Because I have done this, which to me was like, that's like one of the worst things outside of like, you know, murder or something like that. I thought, wow, like this, this is, you know, really terrible. And I felt really bad about it. even the the young lady ⁓ that that happened with, I made her feel bad about it, you know, and yeah, I I just had a lot of condemnation. surrounding that. And I didn't even want to talk about it. I was afraid to even say that. I didn't even want people to know, you know, that that had happened. And, you know, like one thing that the Bible says is ⁓ in the book of James, it says, you know, when we confess our faults to one another, we will be healed. And I didn't understand that concept at the time that when you're trying to hide something, when you're trying to make it seem like you're not struggling, In an area or that something is not going on when it is, you're not helping yourself at all. It does you no good to try to pretend that, you know, everything is fine when you're hurting inside. And that's the reason why God has given us the body of Christ. Because He wants us to be able to share with people the truth. And unfortunately, we're in a culture where it's like everyone is trying to. you know, save face and and and put on this mask. But the the way that we are really able to experience what God intended for us as the body of Christ is to be honest and so that we can receive counsel, so that we can ⁓ you know go through the healing process ⁓ of of things like that. You know, because God doesn't want us to walk around, you know, just just feeling defeated because of sin. You know, he conquered sin and death on the cross. And he did that for us as a gift. Not so that we can walk around feeling terrible, but so that we can know that even in the midst of sin, even in the midst of things that we know are not pleasing to God, we know that that's not the end of our story. And we don't have to be ruled by those things. You know, and so I I want to encourage anyone that's that's listening. to this and who might say, you know, wow, like I've just I've done so many things. Or you know what, I don't know. I don't know if maybe I've gone too far and maybe God, maybe, maybe I'm just too much for God. You know, He needs somebody better, somebody who's able to to make better decisions than me. You know, somebody who has it all together. But you know, there there's nobody who has it all together. So don't let people fool you and make it seem like that everyone else understands something that you don't. No, because everyone is dealing with something if they're willing to be honest about it. Amen. So God is with you. And God didn't save you just to let you be on your own and have you figure it out. God is with you every single day, and He's with you in every decision that you make. And when you sin, this is the the beauty of. The cross and our salvation is that we don't have to get saved again after we sin. Right? We are, we are saved. We are being saved. We will be saved. It's it's it's past, present, and future, the process of salvation. But God does want us to confess like Adam and Eve hid from God in the Garden of Eden when they sinned. They didn't say, you know what, God. We know you told us not to do it, and we did. What they did was they tried to hide from him. But you can't hide from God. The the very thing that they did, Adam and Eve, we need to do the opposite. Instead of running away from God, when we go through difficult times or when we are wrestling with sin, instead of trying to hide from God, or you know, you you hit even have people they say, like, ⁓ I can't even. I don't even feel good anymore. I can't even worship the Lord anymore. I feel so guilty. I can't even show my face in church anymore because I feel so guilty. All these kind of things. Instead, we should be saying, you know what? God is with me. God understands. I'm not going to use that as an excuse to continue ⁓ in those in those patterns. But I know that I am secure in him. And I know that my name is written in the Lamb's book of life. And I don't need to be afraid of him st ⁓ you know, turning his back on me, no longer loving me, because I don't measure up. And that's something that I wish I understood and that someone told me when I first came to Christ. And so that's something that I really do hope that people understand. No matter what you go through, God is with you. Amen. A scripture that helped me when I was going through the same thing you're going through is when ⁓ when you can f if you confess your sins, he's faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and of all the unright things you've done. that that's not just for people when the first time they meet Jesus, that's for your daily life. When you know when you mess up, if you mess up with somebody and you hurt their feelings, you go fix it. When you're living you're trying to live for a holy God who knows everything, including the thoughts in your head and the and the feelings of your heart, if you do it and you go and admit to him. And ask him to forgive you. The blood that J Jesus shed on the cross washes that away too. So when God sees you, he no longer sees those disobedient things. He sees you and the love that he has for you. And and and you don't live co condemned because you're not. The only one condemning you now is either the thoughts in your head or the enemy of God who has no power in your life unless you give it to him. You're a hundred percent right. Guilt and fear are not from God. And we allow it to have a lot more handle in our life than it ever should have. And it's not shame on us, it's just we don't know. But now that we do know, we can live it and we can find the freedom that comes from understanding how much more God has for us. So folks, thank you so much. ⁓ I will assume that that was a beautiful golden nugget that that will will will last the test of time. That's great. and Jason, I'd love to have you back on again if it's sometime in the future if you if you're willing. ⁓ yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I would love to come back. So Jason, I I I want to make sure that we talk about your book and your podcast and any in and ⁓ and anything else that you're that you want us to know about. So take a couple of minutes and tell us about it. Well, yeah, absolutely. So just want to let you know how you can connect with me, how you can get some more resources from me. ⁓ I think that there's a lot that you'll benefit from. So one thing is I I just recently released a book and it is my latest book. And I decided instead of selling this one, I wanted people to have it for free because I think it's such an important message. And it's about understanding how to be more biblically discerning so that we're not deceived by, you know, false teachers and false prophets who may not have our best interests at heart, but that we can be like the Bereans and know how to test anything that we hear against Scripture. And ⁓ it's called the four step biblical discernment framework. And so it's a very practical. ⁓ book, it's not super lengthy. You can probably read it in about an hour. But it gives you some ⁓ a practical framework to work with. So anytime you hear a sermon or you read a Christian book or you are listening to Christian music, anything like that, you'll kind of know what to look for. ⁓ and you'll you'll be able to see is this something that's that's doctrinally sound or not. you know, so that this will, you know, help you on your spiritual journey. ⁓ because this is a resource that I wish I had early on when I came to Christ, because I I was exposed to everything. The you know, prosperity gospel, the ⁓ new thought and, you know, everything. I I didn't know what was what. I just thought I just assumed that if these people are on T V or if they have a mega church and they're well known, they must be telling the truth. But ⁓ Just because somebody is popular and they have a large following, it doesn't mean that that means that they're saying what God wants them to say. It just means that there's a lot of people who like what they're saying for whatever reason. You know, and so ⁓ if you are someone who does care about being more discerning, I think that that will help you a lot. And you can download it for free on my website. Just go to discerntheword.com. And you just have to put in your name and your email address. And it will be sent to you immediately. You'll be able to download it right away. Awesome. ⁓ and so also that that goes along with a ⁓ podcast that I just launched. ⁓ and it's actually called The Miseducation of God's People. All right. So this is a podcast that is is really in the in the same vein as the book, where it is just looking at what are the most popular Christian teachings today. ⁓ what are things that may seem biblical on the surface, but when you really dig deeper into it, you see that it actually veers away from what the Bible teaches. And so that is something where we ⁓ you know, go in depth on topics such as, you know, the the prosperity gospel, ⁓ whether or not that is sound, what whether or not it is God's will that every single Christian needs to be wealthy and and that if you're you're you know struggling financially or going through poverty, does that mean that you don't have enough faith? You know, we we really, you know, tackle those kind of issues, ⁓ look at some of the new movements that are rising up, such as the New Thought Movement, which uses a lot of Christian language, but also sometimes goes into more of a something that is closer to new age or, you know, mystical things that are outside of the Bible. And so we really talk about these things, try to get an understanding of what is biblical, what is not, so that we can protect ourselves from being deceived. Yep. And so you can you can find that on, you know, anywhere ⁓ where you like to listen to audio podcasts and if you like videos, ⁓ there are going to be special video editions of that. On YouTube. So you can just search for the miseducation of God's people. ⁓ anywhere where you can find that, I have it here too. ⁓ it's on a on a hat, just so you can remember it. It'll look like this ⁓ if you're watching this: the miseducation of God's people. That's the the logo. And ⁓ I also have a a YouTube channel and it's called Fathers That Pray. And This is a ministry that's really focused on those who are healing from either divorce, separation, ⁓ who are going through challenging times in family court, ⁓ maybe parents who are dealing with a a contentious ex and they're having, you know, difficulties ⁓ seeing their children. They're experiencing parental alienation. So there's a lot of encouragement. ⁓ For you know, people in those kind of situations, ⁓ I have gone through divorce myself. I've gone through some very challenging seasons of life, things that I I used to think that being a Christian, I would never experience those things. And, you know, when I actually did, it it really caused me to seek after God way more. And so even though I wish that. you know, certain things didn't have to happen in my life because, you know, things were very painful. I'm actually thankful to God that he actually drew me closer to him through these very dark seasons of my life. And so I really want to just encourage people also who are going through those type of situations to know that it's not the end. And, you know, something that that someone encouraged me with as I was going through some very dark times. ⁓ she she said, You know, you're it's it's not gonna be forever. It's not gonna be this isn't the end of your story. You know, just keep just keep going. Don't give up. And so I want to offer that same encouragement to people. Awesome, brother. Thank you for making sure we that we know about those things as well. You wanna you wanna bring them back on and let them tell some more. ⁓ So you can pray about what we what we can do in the future. But in the meantime, ⁓ I'm going to pray. Then after praying, I'm going to give a challenge. And then the the podcast will be over, but Jason and I are just beginning. So let you know, let God be the k the the the controlling factor in your life and watch what happens. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, we we praise you and thank you for the privilege we've had to to be in fellowship, Jason and I, and with with our viewers. We ask, Lord, that you would just work in our lives to show us who you really are in even deeper and greater ways. We may have may have grown up in church but not be as close as we thought we were. We may have been in church and skipped and fallen out and feel kind of like we we don't even qualify anymore. But you shed your blood, Jesus, so that we could be qualified. So there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. So Lord, don't let people stay feeling condemned. We bind that fear, we ask that the Holy Spirit would work in their lives and draw them back to you so that they could feel that forgiveness and that love. So that you can reveal how blessed and loved they will be when they open their hearts to you. Work in their lives and work in Jason's life and and all the ministry things he's doing in the schools and in his life. And Lord, a night is this this b podcast so that our viewers can be encouraged and be blessed, so that you could do mighty things in their life. And with their life and through their life to the glory of God in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. And the challenge is always seek after God, he will be found. You want to know him better? Ask Jesus. Jesus is the way to God. And he's been waiting his entire life for you to say yes. Seek after God, he will be found. This has been the God Says Yes Podcast with David Ebel. With D. Yes podcast. You can get his latest book, When the Doctors Say No, God Says Yes, at Amazon.com.