Hope + Ron: Unfiltered - Dealing With People's Opinions

Foreign.

Hello, everybody. It's Ron and Hope. Unfiltered, real, raw, relevant. And we are so glad that you are here today. Hey, Ronald.

Sore throat.

I know it. He woke up with a gooey, ooey, gross throat. Did you take the medicine? I just bought?

The only thing worse than, like, a sore throat is, like, sinus medicine.

Yeah. Because it dries you up, makes you.

Feel hollow, makes you. Makes your head feel like it don't have anything in it.

Did you take the medicine?

I have not taken the medicine, Ronald, because I don't want to get sleepy and all that stuff while he was sitting here doing a podcast. Just that medicine in the back of your throat. Ugh.

It's that time of year. Spring. Everything's blooming and it's so gorgeous.

Right now we're getting ready to have July 4th. No.

In California right now, we're in spring. Our summer starts in, like, September. August. September.

Spring in South Carolina started, like, in late March.

Right.

We're always there. So if I feel a little. I mean, not feel. If I sound a little froggy, I am dealing with some stuff here, and I haven't taken any things. I'm trying not to do that because I want to feel halfway normal while I'm talking to all you guys.

So, anyway, what are we talking about today?

We were going to talk about dealing with the opinions of others, if I remember right correctly.

Yeah. You know what they say about opinions.

Yeah. Everybody. Well, they're like, well, I ain't going to say that. Everybody's got one. We want to kind of take a biblical example and then maybe share some stories, because I think there's some people out there, like, you know, I'm going to turn this podcast off. This is for people who are public. I'm really not public, you know.

No, no, no.

I'm nine to five. I'm going to tell you something. Social media has made everybody public.

That's right. And if you've got a friend or if you are in a family, you are subject to people's opinions, and they. And you know what the truth is, Ron? It hurts when people don't like you.

I was going to say. I don't know. If you don't say that, I was going to be for real and say, yeah, it does.

We can act like it doesn't matter, but everybody internally wants people to like them.

I think. Let me put it this way. I think if character is not important to a person.

Right.

There are people that. They live life kind of greasy. They know they're greasy. They make no apologies. You know, they always look and they.

Kind of have a seared conscience.

They look for an angle and everything, and that's just kind of the way they live. And I don't know that opinions affect those guys a whole lot. But when you are a person that really, really believes in trying at least to do the right thing, when people have an opinion contrary, especially in a certain area that's important to you, that is when it's just a gut punch.

Absolutely.

That's when it's a gut punch.

And, you know, their opinion is completely opposite of what the truth really is.

I've always told my staff, you know, especially when our staff got large, we've squeezed it a little bit now over time, we've tried to automate, delegate, and do a lot of other things better because at one time, really the staff was too. And I had about 220 staff members at one time. And I remember, you know, you're always dealing with stuff because staff are people too, right? And I remember sometime we had some division in the house and some question marks, you know, about where people felt about me. And I had to have a very. I don't know if you remember this or not. I'd probably say this was 2008, 2009, really, in the heyday, going to multiple services in the big building and everything, it was booming. I had to have a meeting. And I remember I told him, and I was upset. And here again, that don't happen much. That happens about three times a year, maybe. I was upset and I told him, I said, you have the right, everybody in this room, as a staff member, you have the right to question my head. You never have the right to question my heart. If you question my heart, you can't be here, right? So the decisions I make, the way I'm gonna do it, this is the system I'm putting in place. This is how we're gonna respond. That stuff's up for debate. Let's sit at the table and talk.

That could be done a hundred different ways.

Exactly. You know, I'm gonna do this. Well, we could do it this way. Well, we could do it this way. When my thought processes are challenged, that happens all the time, right? I probably go with other people's thoughts, as many as I go with mine. But when you question this, that gets me riddled.

When you say, when you question my heart, what do you mean? Like your integrity, your motive?

When you question my motive, when you question, what is he really doing? When you think there's when there's something behind the curtain, when you think that, you know, there's something else going on, there's something under the table, there's something we don't know. When you start doing stuff like that around me, you can't run with me. No.

Because you.

Because you obviously don't know me. Yeah. You obviously don't know me. And so that is a huge, huge deal with me. It may not be with everybody. That may not push everybody's button. That really pushes my button. And you have watched me go through the pain of people attacking my character when you know good and well.

Right.

I've done everything I know to do to help people.

That's like somebody calling you a racist.

I mean. Yeah.

You know, in our whole life.

Yeah, you're going to get me a route up.

We're with so many different cultures our entire life and they stay at our house, we go on vacation with people of.

Everything we've done has been cross country ethnicity. Every part. Everything we've done publicly and privately reaches across all cultures.

For someone to say that Ron or Hope Carpenter is a racist, that's just. That digs at you.

Exactly right.

But if somebody says, you know, Hope.

Well, we'll just be real wrong and relevant. You know, I've been. I've had people that I had to, you know, let go for various reasons and to turn around and get sued for being a racist. And I replaced them with somebody of their same color. And, you know, those are the things.

You mean when you say question at.

Heart, when you question what kind of person I am. You know, somebody gave $100,000 and Ron chose to put it toward the indebtedness of the building instead of putting it in missions. Okay.

That's the question.

You know, what was the best way to spend the money? That don't bother me, that don't hurt me. Ron's a liar.

Yeah, that'll get you, man.

That right there gets me. So to sit there and say opinions don't matter. I don't think that's reality. I think that's good preaching.

Yeah, it is. And it's a good preaching.

Instagram, little post, you know, you can take the microphone and get, get folk all riled up when you say people's opinions don't matter. But the fact is, if you care about people, then what people say hurt.

Yeah. And especially too if you're in leadership, you know, whether we like it or not, those things do matter. Credibility. You need to be credible. You need to be trustworthy. So if there's people who think a certain thing about you that that will affect your fellowship.

Some of the craziest stuff I've ever heard is for a guy to get up in a room full of ministers at a pastor's convention and say, don't worry about the opinions of others.

You have to. If you want followship.

Exactly. I am here to try to create followers of Jesus Christ.

Right.

I am here to try to earn the respect of the people to where they trust me enough to believe in a vision and be a part of that vision. And so the fact is, I am extremely concerned about people's opinions.

And the truth is in leadership. How do you say this nicely? You know, I've heard and seen so many Instagram posts, Facebook posts. I don't care what y' all think.

I don't care what you know.

I'll wear what I want to wear. Y' all don't. But, you know, five. Ministry.

We're.

We're created. God sent us here as gifts to men. We're wearing. We're here for them. We're here for the people listening. We're here for the people in the pew. So we need to be concerned how we're perceived.

I can't make everybody happy, but you're very right at the signals that I send. I do try to not be exclusionary. I do try to not ostracize myself from a certain people group. I try to do things where anybody in an audience will give me a shot and say, you know what? I'm not even a Christian, but let me hear what this guy's got to say.

So it almost. Ron, when I hear those things and then I think about us have done this 33 years in ministry, and, you know, the things we've learned, the ups, the downs, the way we've grown, it's almost prideful to hear people say, I don't care what you think about me. I don't care what they think about me. I'll wear what I want. I'll do what I want. I'll drink what I want. I'll go where I want. It's just such a prideful feeling.

It's rebellion anyway.

It's rebellion.

It's rebellion. I care what other people. There's a difference in I don't care what you think about me, and I don't care what you think about me. You say, explain that. I will in just a moment. You have to move on with your destiny despite what people think about you.

Yes, you do.

I've had to go on and do what God said, despite what people think about me. That's when I don't care what people think about me. You know, I know that I'm called to do this. I had to leave a denomination that I grew up in and went to their schools, went to their colleges, went to their. Went to their youth camps. Met you there. My dad was their bishop. I had to get outside of that system. And, you know, because it was by far and away, especially in the States, it was a white church. That was not what I wanted. I knew it in the system it wouldn't be impossible, but it would be difficult to have a cross cultural ministry. So.

Minstrel.

Minstrel. But anyway, I knew it would be difficult. So there were a lot of opinions I created. Okay, that's what I'm talking about. I don't care what you think about me. In other words, I was not going to let the opinions of people that watch me grow up hold you back from doing what I knew God had called me to do. That's when you say, you know, I do not care what you think about me, but to just look out.

I'm doing what God taught me to.

Do, but to look out there and, you know, unbutton your shirt down to here.

Yeah.

And say, I don't care what y' all think about me. That's stupid.

Yeah. Well, you know, a lot of people do deal with people's opinion and I am so grateful for our sponsors. And this podcast is sponsored today and brought to the listeners by Better Help. Love them so much. Listen, working with a counselor or therapist will help you get closer to the best version of you and what we're talking about right here today. So many people get locked up in anxiety set, poor self image, so many things because of the opinions of others. You know, how they were brought up, what they were, they were bullied in school or how they were talked to by parents or people in their life. And they. And they really need some help to be able to get that out and to detox. You know, sometimes in life we're faced with tough choices and the path forward just isn't clear. Whether you're dealing with decisions around careers, relationships, anything else. Therapy helps you stay connected to what you really want while you navigate life so you can move forward with the confidence and excitement. Trusting yourself to make decisions that align with your values is like anything. The more you practice it, the. The easier it gets. So if you're thinking about giving counseling a try, better help is a great option. It's helpful for learning positive coping skills, how to set boundaries. It empowers you to be the best version of yourself. It isn't just for those who've experienced major trauma either. It's for everybody. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. So let therapy be your map with be better help. Visit betterhelp.com Ron and Hope today to get 10% off your first month. That's better. H lp.com Ron and Hope counseling counseling helps you in so many areas, but it's also like, you know, getting, getting a, a third opinion. You know, a doctor second or third or fourth.

You got to pull the veil off of it because I was one of those people, you need a safe place. I thought growing up there was no such thing as counsel anywhere.

Oh, no.

Never heard of. And so I thought, you know, if, if you needed counsel, there was some, there was some sign of, of weakness, some sign of mental fragility. And the fact is, what I've learned having been through counsel now is it is an objective third party because you have blind spots.

Yeah.

I don't care who you are.

Yeah. Gives you a different perspective.

I don't care who you are. You have blind spots. And when you get an unbiased, objective third party in your life, it is amazing how like, wow, I didn't see that.

So if you need it.

I didn't know that.

Listening. Betterhelp.com RonAndHope completely online.

So glad they're sponsored.

Yeah, it's just an amazing venue to get some of the help you need.

Okay, back to talking about the opinions of it. I was talking about the things when you need to really not care. Hope, when you married me, there were some strong opinions about me. You had to. Okay. I know. God brought me Ron and I don't care what you think. Did you?

Yes, absolutely.

Yeah. You had to do that.

I had to go with the peace in my heart versus some opinions, family opinions. Because in the natural, it, it didn't look flowery and butterflies. It was going to be hard. It was going to be plowing out of church. It was going to be living on missionary money. It was not going to be prosperous. It was going to be tough. And my parents especially knew that. And what parent wants that for their child?

They didn't know how bad you wanted me.

Oh, my God.

They didn't know. They didn't. That's what they didn't know.

Oh, my gosh.

That was that. You couldn't let them understand.

They had no idea did they. They had no idea. But. So, yeah, I go with my gut and know what God had said to me and you. Despite. Even if it caused, you know, a lot of trouble.

What am I doing? I'm talking about the instances where you don't care. Here's the difference. Living. Pushing the envelope of character, integrity and. Right. Living and saying you don't care and attributing it to God, but really it's a form of rebellion.

Ooh, say it again.

I don't know if I can say it again.

For the people that.

Living outside of character and righteousness.

Yeah. Just doing whatever you want to do.

Boundaries. Living. And I don't care what you.

Yeah. Nobody can judge me.

Grace is. Yeah, nobody can judge me but God. You ain't my daddy.

It's rebellion.

Who are you to tell me this, that and other.

What's the Bible say about rebellion?

Yeah, there you go being religious again. That one's all the time. That one's all the time.

Yeah, being religious.

There you go being religious.

What does the Bible say about rebellion?

Sin of witchcraft. And so the fact is, that's what I would like to bring in. Where that's just crazy. You know, I don't come in here with a shirt unbuttoned right here like I see some guys doing. You know why? Because you know what I told you the other day when I saw that? I said, look at this. Very, very popular pastor.

Preachers on stage with their shirt on.

I said, I would lose half my.

Followers showing their chest in a day.

If I posted a picture like that. And I do think that there's maybe a segment of the younger society that loves a flawed leader. They love a flawed leader. They are attracted to a flawed leader. I think sometimes because it makes them feel better about themselves. There does need to be vulnerability in leadership that we ain't perfect. But there is such a thing that if I don't live higher, I can't call you higher.

That's so good, Ron.

I can't call you higher. If I live just like you, there's no way that I can elevate you. And I go back to where God says, live the life worthy of the calling that you have received. So people say, I don't care what you think. No, you live the life worthy of the calling and the influence and impact that God has for you. And to be honest with you, hope the greater impact people have, the tighter they live.

Yeah, you have to. Your circle gets smaller.

Your circle gets smaller.

Your choices. Your choices become smaller.

And Your choices have greater impact. Your choices have greater impact and you're limited, you know, so many times at what you can do. I got people all the time. You know, where we've gone out with people, great people, but maybe they are local pastors. They don't have a media ministry or anything like that. And, you know, they want to entertain something that maybe is not bad. But I just. Look, I'm like, y' all go ahead. Yeah, y' all go ahead. Not bad. Not seeing. I'm like, I can't be seen there.

Yeah.

I can't do that. I can't be here.

Right.

You know what I'm talking about. I can't be in this movie. I just can't do it. Why? It's not because all the time you're looking at what's morally right and morally wrong. It's when you look at somebody who knows me and sees me as that preacher on TV would be confused, seeing me entertaining that activity.

Yeah. Would you want to be seen in that place? Would you want to be seen in that restaurant or that bar or whatever. Whatever.

You know, I talked a few weeks ago, two. Two Sundays ago, I thought, because we're.

Not supposed to be a stumbling block.

Right. Said if you want to go there.

Yes.

That opens up a whole nother. Can let me tell the jaguar story.

Do it. It's a great story.

Okay, Hope and I tell you a little bit about these primitive beginnings we've had. Some of you have watched us long enough. You saw the transition, and you know we're telling you the truth. People saw us when we first went on tv and now you know the truth. It was a very primitive beginning. And I look back on it now, even in some ways, almost ridiculous. So many things could have been done differently. So many things could have been done better. I could have been more patient and had a lot more quality, but I wasn't. So it was just ridiculous. But me and Hope did live, what do you call it, hand to mouth. I mean, yes, we did at that time. We lived day by day.

We thank the Lord for overdraft.

Yeah, we did. Day by day. Oh, my God. We lived in overdraft. We lived in overdraft. And not only stuff like that, but the broken down cars, you know, literally going outside the next morning hoping it runs.

Yeah.

And I feel so bad for people that have to live like that because I've been there. I've been there, you know, the thing sitting on E and literally, literally praying, God, get us there.

Rolling quarters.

And so, yeah, Going back, rolling pennies, rolling quarters, all these things. We live like that and to a lot of people that's foreign because there's so many different ways to live now. I don't know how many people have experienced things like that. We were on welfare for a while, but it really wasn't government supplements as much as it just was. We worked hard but there wasn't a lot of money in what we were doing.

Yeah, we used that when we had two children just to help us get through formula stages because we couldn't afford formula.

You know, formula was like buying gold. And so we had a car. It was your car, that little pulsar you had.

We drove the Huey out of it.

I don't even know how many miles that car had. And my brother in law at the time, you know, was a mechanic and he just basically, we know we rolled it in there again and he just looked at me and said, ron, it is dead, Ron.

And it is, it does not have a Lazarus anointing. It's not clean.

I've raised this thing from the dead. You know, it's got 6 trillion miles on it. It as I got bobby pins and duct tape. I'm doing everything I can to make this car run, Ron. It's over, you know, it's over. And so me and you, I remember vividly, I think the number was 3,000. We came up with what we could afford. What, the payments?

Yeah, not $3,000, not $3,000.

We could, we could afford the payments on a $3,000, you know, if I could get a 36 month loan, $3,000, you knowSight, $89 a month, something like that, we could go out and afford a $3,000 car. This is in the early 90s.

That's pitiful.

And so we found a car. I found a car. I said I found it in the paper. But it was weird because it was at the Jaguar dealership and some as a trade in, somebody traded it in and it was one of those cars for people who don't know the way they used to do it in paper back then. It was going to get wholesaled. They weren't going to keep it on the lot. It was too old and had too many miles on it. They were going to wholesale it off but they put it in the paper in case somebody buy it. I went, it was the kind of car that would have serviced as well if it still had any life left in it. And they had it, you know, like 2999, something like that. Anyway, long and short of it is. I went there and the manager came out because it was like on a Monday, and the salesman didn't come out. That was very odd. And I'm just a young man and the manager of the jacket.

No children.

Yeah, the manager or the owner. It might have been the owner. And I could say the name. I could say that name. I know who it was that owns it. But he came out and he started talking to me, and he didn't really want to talk about the car. He just started talking to me like he just needed some conversation. And I told him, you know, I had come there, I'd moved there to start a church. Well, that really intrigued him. You know, a young guy like you could be doing a million different things. Why are you being a preacher? You know, really questions like that. And so I got a chance just to sit up against the cars, and we just chatted it up. He was probably about 58, 60 years old. And we had good conversation. Then we got back around to why I was there. You know, I saw this car in the paper, and he said, it's in back. He said it hadn't even been washed yet. He said, we haven't even cleaned it up. He says, we just put it in the paper. And that was when he told me. He said, I tell you what. And it was the one we were leaning up against. It was maroon.

I remember.

You remember it? It was maroon with white leather interior, cream on it.

It wasn't white.

It was cream, but it was so cream, it was white. It was gorgeous. And he said, why don't you take this car and drive this thing around while we get it cleaned up and detailed for you? And I sit there like, are you serious, Hope? I don't know about you and your youth and all your family. I know there was some people in your family that did pretty good. I'd never been around. I'd never sat in a Jaguar. I'd never been on a Jaguar dealership. I didn't know anything about a Jaguar. You know, Jaguar. We were Chevrolet. We were Chevrolet people and glad to have it, you know, and drove them to the Wills fellow. So that guy literally gave me and you the keys, I remember, and we drove that thing off, and it was gorgeous. I remember just closing the door. I'd never heard a door sound like that.

It was like floating.

Yeah. And it just floated down the road. I think it was called XJ12 or so. I don't know what it is. Giant car. And so we're going around town. I mean, you you know, we don't have money for Burger King. And we're driving around in this Jaguar with this tan leather interior, beautiful car, chrome wheels.

All right, Ron, come on.

Can remember it.

You sitting over there drooling.

We're going around town and we just drive and drive. Cuz, you know, that's what he told us to do, just drive it. We did. And I remember sitting up at lights and we'd roll the windows down, had the music playing, music playing, our head bob. And we're having ourselves the best time because me and you had not had many experiences like that. So we're having ourselves the best time. We get back and the guy comes out, meets me again. He said, how much you got? I said, well, I said, that's why I was looking at your car. Me and my wife have determined. We feel like we can make the payments if we get the right amount of financing time, we can make payments on about a $3,000 car.

I bet he thought, these people are pitiful.

He said, what if I just sold you this for $3,000?

Brand new Jaguar.

I mean, we were in a quandary. The things that went through my head, right. I remember you were grinning.

I was grinning.

I remember you were. I was in a quandary. You were smiling.

I said, this is the Lord. This must be. It has to be God.

So I think about what people don't, about people's opinions. This is what I'm talking about. There had recently been. We're right on the hills. Yep. And I love these people, bless their soul, not bash them. But we started our church on the cusp of the PTL scandal. And then right after that, Jimmy Swaggart had faced his difficulties and he was probably, outside of Billy Graham, the greatest voice maybe in America, in the world.

And it was highly scrutinized.

Was scrutinized. And then we had had some startups in our city of Greenville. Yeah. That had come, got some people coming, got the treasury built up and. But renting spaces and people come and the doors were chained and they were gone. So we were not living in the day of great trust.

Right.

Toward ministry leaders.

Yeah.

And immediately in my mind, you know, most people are like, you know, how fast can I get in there and put ink on paper? Yeah, this is Jaguar. I don't even know if I could have afforded the insurance on.

We couldn't. I know we couldn't.

But when that man said that, and I think looking back on it, I think he may have been the owner of the dealership I don't think he was the. I don't think he was the manager. I don't think manager could make that decision. And you're like, ron, why don't you sign it and go. I was so tormented in my head because I could see we had a pitiful building. Just. It was pitiful building. We had a handful of members and a lot of our members were pitiful. Hope. They were people that needed. They were broken people and that needed help. They were broke and they were broken. And I just could see myself driving that Jaguar up to the front of that building, that pitiful building. And people say, you know, there's another one just sucking them dry. And we turned that guy down and that guy could not.

He couldn't fathom.

He could not understand his head. Why did we do it? Because of other people's opinions. Opinions.

Opinions, yeah, because it was the wise thing to do.

Because Jesus, I mean, Paul said, but if it offend thy brother, if it offend thy brother, there was no way. Me at 23, whatever, 4 years old, 23.

I think nothing good could have come out of that other than our bank account.

And I believe to this day I would have left that situation with a nice car and no church.

Yeah.

I could have forfeited my destiny over that decision. Immediate gratification. Okay.

So I can hear people right now listening, saying, I can too. But if it offend thy brother. Whatever you do is going to offend somebody.

No.

And it is, it will. There's always going to. People are always going to have something to say. But what we're saying is the people that matter in your life, if you.

Are trying to create fellowship, I'm telling you, there's a level, there's a level of stewardship that you're going to have to have with your life that may rise above your own personal standards.

That's right.

There's some things that I wouldn't do just for me, but I'll do it because I lead you.

Yeah.

Does that make sense?

Yes, absolutely.

So that's what I'm trying to get to here again, back to that life worthy of the calling that you have received. When it comes to doing what God said, you got to forget people's opinions. When it comes to people tearing down your self worth and your character and your esteem. You got to forget about people's opinions when it comes to the way. Because you want to create impact in people's life, you got to be very, very concerned, very concerned with people's opinions because it's Their opinion of you that will determine whether or not they follow you.

Yeah, absolutely.

And so in this day and time, here's the problem. You know, like I said, when I started off, there was a day where only public people had to worry about opinions. In a day of social media and people having an iPhone and a video, everybody's got to worry about an opinion. There's been some times where I got caught in some quagmire situation. I look at you and say, boy, I'm glad ain't nobody got no phone. Because I said this would look ridiculous right here. Just when we got caught up in something that just was around us and somebody could have. You remember that time I told you, got grabbed by the people in that gas station?

Yes. Where they. These two women ran up to you and threw their arms around you?

Ran up to me when I opened the door, jumped and threw their arms around me and wrapped their legs around me in Chase, and about this tall, and he's standing there looking at me. And I'm standing one foot in the door and one foot out, and I don't know what to do with your hand, because anywhere that I touch her to try to remove her is going to be bad.

Right.

And I'm thinking back, that was kind of back in the day of the flip phone. I'm like, thank God.

Yeah.

Why? Because people's opinion could have been shattered in that moment.

And you did nothing wrong, and I.

Didn'T do a thing.

Yeah.

But I was just caught in a situation.

But Chase Shore did come home, and the first thing that boy said was, mama, you are not going to believe what happened at the gas station. He told it all. He told it all.

Well, to be honest with you, there was a gentleman's club about, what, a quarter of a mile right down the road from it. And I think these two ladies were from that. But they screamed my name and came and jumped on top of. Came and jumped on top of me, you know, And I'm just standing there Right. When I open the door, what do you do? And so Ron Carpenter lives a life very worthy of. Very wary of people's opinions. The people that I want to make a difference in their life, impact their life, and people that I want to follow.

You have to. You have to. It's just wisdom. And it's a sign of maturity. You know, kids don't care if they walk around with boogers hanging out their nose. Kids don't care if they walk around with poop in their diaper and everybody smells it. But if they did that, if they walked around with boogers hanging out their nose and poop in their diaper when they're 20, just like they did when they're 2, something wrong, something's bad wrong, and that they've not matured. So I think it's just a sign of maturity when you can really balance that. You know, I really care more about what God says then I care next about what Ron says, then my family, then my friends, then my church. You have to know who's in your circle and who you're influencing and who you're called to serve.

The world is preaching a gospel right now to make sure that you put yourself first. That is not the gospel. The gospel says that you will bear. I was preaching a couple of weeks ago, take up your cross and bear your cross and follow me. Be my disciple. And I told him, I said, if you follow God, you'll bear a thousand crosses.

Yeah, you will.

You'll bear a thousand crosses. Things you want to do that you can't do for the sake of somebody else. Places you want to go, but you can't go for the sake of somebody else. So in that case, people's opinions matter. I can't believe we've already been doing this over a half hour.

It's been so good, though, because this is something that not just one person struggles with, but or a section of people. This is what everybody will struggle with in our life. And I'm so glad that finally we've gotten to a place of maturity where, you know, we know how to do that balance, how to figure out, you know, who we're serving, who we're called to, who we're ministering to, and to use discretion.

And whose voice is important.

Yeah, whose voice is important?

Whose voice is important? You know, somebody just out in Twitter land. You know, I remember Bishop Jakes one time when we were going through some stuff on social media. He said, there's traffic running 80 miles an hour on the social media road. And he said, you stuck your foot in the traffic.

Yep.

He said, and they'll keep on moving on. You know, am I going to roll over twice in the night over what Twitter world thinks? No, I'm not. But the people in my life that I want you to believe in me, your opinion means everything to me.

Absolutely.

And so I try to live a life worthy of that.

That's so good. Well, we got a lot going on. We've got, you know, a lot that you can follow us. We're on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, what do.

We want them to do with this, though?

Yeah, you need to. Like this.

Like this.

You need to share it.

Need to share it.

You need to download it.

You need to download it.

Yes, absolutely.

If you're watching on YouTube, subscribe.

Subscribe to Ron Carpenter.

So many things you can do to push this thing, the algorithm, to the top where it starts showing up on people's phones and computers and they may get something out of it. People have never even heard of us before. I was going to tell you, tell.

Them about your women's conference in San Jose, California and in Greenville, South Carolina. So go to hopecarpenter.com and click the events. You'll see everything that we got going on. We love you. We want to connect with you. Listen, if you go to hopecarpenter.com would you give me your email address? Sign up and I'll you send. Send you weekly devotions. I just want to connect with you, want to be your friend. Got some amazing things in the pipes coming up in the fall for Hope Carpenter Ministries, a wonderful circle of friends and a mentorship program that we're working on. So go follow us. A lot going on. This is running Hope Unfiltered.

Love you guys. Until next time, God bless.