Next is Now - Guest George Kubai

You're tuned into Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Justin Lester is an average guy who refuses to let Mondays control him. Justin is a husband, dad, pastor, student, and Jesus follower. He's done a lot, he's learned a lot, and he wants to see you at your best. Let's win Mondays. Hey, Justin. What's up today?

Welcome into Made for Mondays. Today we're starting a brand new series where we are taking a look into the lives of four leaders under the age of 25 who I believe are going to be amazing leaders for the future. We begin this week with George Kubai, who's a student at Brown University and blogger at BibleTalk co. Take a moment, go follow him on Instagram and go take a look at his blog. You'll be blessed by it. Let's jump into our conversation. Our conversation was recorded on Zoom, so the audio quality is not perfect, but the inside is right there for you. Let's jump in to Made for Mondays. You were made for this. Well, hey, everyone. Welcome to Made for Mondays as Justin here. We're glad to have all of you here today and we're beginning a brand new series this week. I don't really have a funny name for it because I don't think I'm not all into that stuff, but I've reached out to four amazing leaders who are, I think, Generation Z on the bird of that Z and Millennial piece, but also people I believe that in the next 10 to 15 years are just going to be phenomenal, amazing leaders. And you'll want to know their names now because you're going to have to know their names soon. And so one of those, the first one is just a power, powerful, powerful young man who I've met who had a chance to just do some great ministry with here in Rhode island, who's a student at Brown University, about to be a senior Brown, but he'll tell you his story and I want to welcome to the podcast. George. Welcome.

GE thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.

Yeah, man. And happy and humbled by you doing this man for us. So let's jump into it, man, if you would tell us a little bit about you and just who you are and where you are, what you're doing and kind of just like, who is George in this season of your life?

Yeah, absolutely, Absolutely. I think that's a question that I'm still answering myself. But I'm George. I'm George Kubay. I'm 21 years old and like you mentioned, I'm. I'm a rising senior at Brown University studying biomedical engineering. So I actually moved here from Kenya when I was 8 years old. And I'm a younger brother to one, and I'm a son to incredible, incredible, incredible single mother. But above all these things, I think my story is defined by my creator. Who I am, who I will become, is defined by the person who made me. So I grew up in the church and was raised in the church, but it was when I was like 13ish, that I decided to give my life fully over to Christ. And around my senior year, fresh year of high school, I started. I sort of started to like lose my way in that faith. But so I started to work my way. That faith sort of started to drift away and go into the Lord. And I sort of, I got so I sort of started to lose that first love that I had. It's talks about in Revelations, but apart from that. So I started battling with things like anxiety and loneliness and like indifference in my faith, lust, things like that. But I just want to thank God that he was relentless in his chase for me and he drew me back a lot. A big part of that was through Congress Street Baptist Church, shout out to you guys, because that's a part of the way that I found my way back into my faith. So long story short, that, you know, he found me after I'd exhausted, exhausted, like trying to do it on my own. And he reclaimed me. And now I'm a year away from graduating and he's using me to do some pretty incredible stuff like leading a Bible study on campus from Black Christian Ministries and have gotten a chance to just touch people's lives. And most of all, he's used me as a vessel through a blog that I started called Bible Talks. And he's used me to sort of spread his message in a way that's been sort of just sharing myself in that. And that's really where I am now. Apart from that, I'm just trying to figure out as I go along who God is making me to be.

Yeah, no, that's real, man. That's awesome to hear. And I guess my question to that man, even to build upon what you're doing, is how are you balancing all of that? Right. So I can hear the pieces, the important things to you, which is your relationship to God. I hear in there, your relationship and honor to your mother.

Right?

And then I also hear in there, just think the ways that you've grown. And then also you're leading folks. How, how are you balancing all that so that you. You maintain a space where you're not jumping, falling back into the places of either loneliness and anxiety and things that. When things do get crazy, how are you balancing your time yourself? Right, right.

I think one thing that I've learned is, or one thing that I've seen myself try to do is I've gotten into this. I had gone into this habit of, like, I believe that I had to do and do and do and do. And like, if I wasn't doing something, if I wasn't doing this or this, then I believe that I was somewhat inadequate. But one thing that I've really learned is that, like, especially when I read the Word, it shows that it's the complete opposite. Like, God wants to do less. Actually, God wants me to just be. Because we focus often on this concept of, like, becoming. I have to be this. I have to be a good son. I have to be a good student. I have to be this. But one thing that I've learned is to just sort of just instead of trying to become and trying to do, do, do, just sort of be and allow myself to be. And where I am now doesn't, you know, it doesn't. It doesn't mean that I'm not growing, it doesn't mean that I'm stagnant, but also allow myself to embrace the place that I'm in right now, the relationship I have with my mother now, the relationship or the. The work that I'm doing in school now, the work that God is doing in me, sort of allow that to be in this space. That's how. That's where balance comes in, is just allowing yourself to be, be instead of all. Constantly strive, strive, strive, strive, strive, strive. And I think when you realize that, that you don't have to strive all that in God's kingdom, you don't have to strive, strive, strive. That's when you sort of realize that the balance sort of starts to come in itself.

That's real, man. That is so real. And I guess with that, my question to you as well. So you mentioned you're in biomedical engineering. How are you keeping your faith in the midst of, like, balancing a strong identity of faith and what's. I guess I don't. I don't think it's true, but I think stigmatized. Right. As a place where it's like, we're proving something, whereas faith is I'm trusting God's word. How are you keeping yourself in a space like that?

Yeah, absolutely. One thing, something that I was thinking about or I thinking about and talking to my friends about was like, where, like when we read the Word, we never see God call us like, I've called you to be an engineer. I've called you to be a businessman. I've called you to be this. But the one thing we do see is that I've called you to make. I've called you to make disciples of man everywhere you go. So I think the thing that I found is even as an engineer, even as a biomedical engineer, the one call on my life is to make disciples of man. And that's just how I balance that out. You know, my. My identity is not an engineer. Even if I draft or I go away from engineering into business, or if I go from that into ministry, none of those are sort of my identity. My identity comes for, you know, his commission over my life. So when I look at each thing that I do as a vessel less than as an identity or as a. As a way for God to use me less instead of an identity, that's. That's. It sort of helps with keeping and balancing that, man.

That's beautiful, man. Because I have. I have a friend of mine who I talked to a couple weeks ago who, who she just recently graduated and she's teaching now at a university. And she was talking about how there has to be the struggle she personally had. Right. Of taking all, bringing all that she is into spaces. But that's the first time I've heard it where we. Looking at our identity and that our identity is not in our titles the world gives us, but our identity. Man is in the titles that God is calling us to bring into the world. Yeah, that's beautiful, man. So how are you then, man? So you mentioned some things earlier. Keeping yourself spiritually and mentally fed in this season so that you are as you're growing, so that you like practices that you might have to sustain a lot of the language you're using, a lot of the person that you are to sustain that spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally, to keep you together.

Yeah, yeah. Apart from. I mean, obviously the core of that is reading the Word of God. As I found, is just diving into the Word of God and not only reading it like mechanically, like how I'd read another novel, but sort of reading it and allowing the Holy Spirit to bring revelation in that and to sort of sit in a word and understand it. But outside of that, I like to. I like to write a lot. So usually as I read, I read the Word of God, I usually have like my little journal next to me and I Like to write. I like to write things. I like to write like spoken word type things or just free write. So I think I like to write a lot and that has helped me even in understanding the word of God more. I think the most important thing is to feed yourself with the word of God and ways that I do that is through writing, listening, reading books. I remember I asked you before this earlier in the semester. I was just like, what are like five books that have greatly impacted your life? Because this year I wanted to get into reading a lot. So I was just like, I'm going to read books, but not just any book, but books that are going to make me better. So that apart from reading the word of God, I've been trying to read more books that grow me and strengthen me. I've been trying to write more.

And so, yeah, what is that creativity done for you personally to help grow your relationship with Christ? I hear you saying you do it. So how has that grown with you or help you grow in terms of like creativity for like what you're doing, like even in school, what you're doing with the word of God?

Yeah, absolutely. So the creativity has helped me not only like, I think when I write, it's usually not I, it's usually God speaking through me. And so it's usually most. A lot of the things that I share are words that God has given me. And I was like, well, I needed that in my life. I needed to hear that. And I'm like, if I needed to hear it, somebody else definitely needs to hear it. So a lot of like me writing has been God revealing things to me and God speaking to me. And through that I was like, there's. If I needed this, then somebody else definitely needs to hear this. It's been a lot of revelation through writing.

That is powerful, man. So I guess another thing with that man and I. So what I'm noticing when I see you around campus and one of the reasons I wanted to ask you on this is that it seems that. So like when I first met you, you know, you're. You're being mentored, people are talking to you like, hey, like you're a freshman, all of this. But I noticed since I've been on campus with you and noticing the BCM and even in church, you move from being a mentee to a mentor. Right? How has that transition been for you? And as you've been the one that's not that you act, it sounds like you're pouring into yourself, right? Because you've got to Pour into people. How has that transition been as leadership has kind of pulled you, whether you asked for it or not, just because of the anointing of God in your life?

Yeah, it was a funny transition because I was in a place where first of all, I was like in the world lost. And then God pulled me back into just faith and so forth and just did a work on me, took me through a process. And then as God was working on me, sort of started to transition me into him working on me, but also using me to help other people. So it's really weird to be like that in that place of leadership while God is still working on you at the core of your heart and drawing you closer to him. But one thing that I've learned in that is that like, the most important part, like part is to lead with vulnerability. Because if God is working on me, then me leading with vulnerability looks like me using me, like admitting that God is still working on me. But this is how I can lead. Because as God works on me, I can use that to help other people, though do my blog through BCM or Bible study and so forth. The most important thing has been to lead with vulnerability because as God works on me, then I'm able to sort of expand that forward like he works on me. Then I work through me and into other people. It's leading with vulnerability has been the most important part of that.

Man, that is one of my favorite works is this writer from. He wrote it in the late 19, early 1970s, right after civil rights movement named Ronald Heifetz. Heifetz talked about leadership without easy answers. And he's the first one who brought up that notion of adaptive, vulnerable, creative leadership based upon what MLK did. And he was talking about how MLK didn't lose himself, but that had to lead with vulnerability. And at times it's like, it's a beautiful thing because it's like, yeah, man, like these things are powerful. And then there's like one or two people that are situations where someone tries to attack it. And I think that's where the strength, as you mentioned in your identity, man, is what's going to sustain you because it will be tested. Right. Because you're making. You're literally opening up the places that you're bleeding.

Yeah.

Inviting others not to put a band aid on. Because I'm one guy to heal it. Right. It's a interesting space. And that's one of the reasons, honestly, when I reached out to you when, like a couple of months ago, you know, because I could See that you were moving from being someone who you're, you're, you're looking to continue to grow. But also there's a whole bunch of folk that are leaning on every one of your words. And there's a way, there's a way to that, man. So what, what advice, man, are you giving yourself or what advice men are you soaking into that God is even revealing to you about continuing to be the person that God is calling you to be in this season, that if you could give it to somebody else that you're soaking in so that you're growing?

Yeah, absolutely. I think the biggest point of advice, and this was not just one piece of it, but it was a whole season in my life where God constantly repeated this over my life. Because I was in a place where I was worried sort of like about my future. And I was like, I could see God, like, we tend to do this as Christian where we can see God working in everybody else's life, but it's so hard for us to see him working in our lives. And I was in that place where I was like, I could see it in everybody else, but when I look at me, I'm like, I don't know if he's working. I don't know if he's going to work either. And like, the word he gave me every single time that I came to him and I asked, like, God, you know, are you working, working on me? Are you working through me? Every single time he did the same thing, which was stay hidden, stay hidden in me. And if you remain hidden long enough in me, then then I'll do the rest. So I think that's the biggest advice that I give myself daily because I still find myself in places where I'm doubting, like, is God going to use me? Is God using me? Currently, I could see it in everybody else's life, but the thing that I have to remind myself is to remain hidden in Him. And as I remain hidden in him, that's, that's when he begins to work on me. And when he's worked on me, that's when he's going to use me. Whether that's on or wherever place he places me, that's when he's going to use. It's after I've had that season of remaining hidden in Him. So that's the advice I give myself, and also I would give anybody else who's in that place is to just, if you remain hidden in him long enough, then he's going to exalt you.

Wow. Thank you for sharing that, man. That is powerful. Can you tell us a little bit about the blog you have now? It's. It's awesome. It's amazing, dude. And so you tell us a little bit about it, how to find it, and kind of what was your inspiration behind that as well? Sure.

Yeah. So this blog started, funny enough. It was in a season of my life where I was just, you know, I. God told me, like, if I'm going to heal you, I'm going to work on you. Then you need to switch your environment. So I just wasn't going. I wasn't going out as much as I. As I used to go. I was in my room a whole lot of the time, and I started diving into the word of God and not only diving it, but receiving revelation on that word. And you just start to really. I started to really, like, fall in love with the word of God. And I was just like, I would receive a lot of good words and I'd be like, you know, somebody probably needs to hear this. So I'd post it on my story on Instagram. And like, I just post little stories. I post a verse, I write little something, and people are responding. People are like, yeah, this is really good. Thank you for sharing this. And eventually, as I was posting them, I would write, like, I just wrote Bible talk. You know what time it is? It's Bible talk. And then I'd post verse and I'd write. And eventually just kept growing and people were responding to this. People were really getting blessed by this. And I remember, like, at the end of last year, I was just. Just in my alone time, and God was just speaking like, he's like, I'm. I want more from that. I want to use that more. Like, this is not. It doesn't end at Instagram stories. So I started thinking about, how can we take this and expand it? How can we take this and make this more accessible to people? And I was thinking, like, should I do a podcast? Should I do a blog? Should I do an Instagram, YouTube videos? Like, what exactly is it? And eventually I landed. I don't know exactly how, but I landed on, like, you know, I think I want to do a blog. So when I was studying abroad in Spain, I just started sort of working on. I had a lot of free time before classes started. So I was. Started working and building this website and building this blog. And like, the biggest thing I wanted to keep in that is I wanted to be. To be inviting to people. I wanted it to be down to earth. And because I feel like a lot of times we're fed like this mechanical gospel that you can't really relate to. So I wanted it to be relatable to people. But in that same regard I wanted to be convicting. I wanted to speak the real true word and I wanted to convict people's heart. So that's the thing that I kept in mind. And I've sort of, I put it together, I put the blog together and I sent it out. And it's weird, sort of releasing this part of yourself into the world where you're like, now it's out, I don't really know how people are gonna respond. It's out there. It's up to the, it's up to the world now. You know, I released it, I let it out and like the response was incredible. Like people are blessed by this. People are like, you know, I'm blessed. I was been really blessed just reading these blogs, reading everything you're posting and everything. God is speaking through you. So that was the sort of validation that God is like, I, you know, if I tell you to do something, that means I'm working through it, which is incredible. And now it's gone from just blogs to, I've done like a spoken word thing and also I'm doing like devotionals now where I feature other people come, they just have a 10 minute spot, they do a devotion, speak a word and we like, we sort of cycle through that like weekly or bi weekly. But it's reached a lot of different people and it's dope to see how God has worked on that. So this is BibleTalk CEO. You can find it on the website.

Awesome. And we'll put the link in the show notes for those of you who are listening to this, it'll be you guys swipe up and you guys can click and go right to it. It's very, it's awesome. And what I love about it, man, to tell you the truth is I love that you do not compromise the gospel. That's what I absolutely love. On just a serious tip, because what I've, I've seen too many blogs or people start stuff and it's just like they got an agenda, right? And the agenda is their own personal agenda and not an agenda to share the gospel. And so I appreciate just like the full, I hate saying raw, but just like, it's just, it's just the gospel. It's just the gospel.

I hear that because I was thinking about that because I was thinking about like, and I was wondering like who am I making this blog for? Like, is this blog for me? Because if I'm gonna make a blog for me, I can do like, georgekubai.com and you can read all about me. Or am I making this. Or am I making this blog to be used, you know, for. To share the word of God. And that's one distinction I had to make. And after I made that distinction is when I realized this is not. This is not about me. This is not about the name George Kubay. This is sort of about, like, this is about God. Even in my bio, when I was writing my bio on there, I was like, I could tell my whole story or I could tell my through the lengths of the gospel because at the end of the day, this is not about me. So that's one thing that I've been trying to keep in mind with everything I do on that blog.

I love it, man, and it's great. I do believe once again it's going to continue to reach the masses, man. So thank you for your time, George. This is great. And into the first leg of this, man. I'm excited for your future. Now, you guys, I told you guys before, save the names. You guys want to make sure you bookmark George's blog page and bookmark George's name because I guarantee this won't be the last time you guys hear it. George has an amazing future ahead of him, but also an amazing present with them as well. And so I pray that these, these the principles that George gives will be things you guys can hold on to, holding on to who you are, holding on to where you are today and holding on to where God is taking you. And those things we're gonna are gonna sustain you for the future. So, George, thank you for your time. Thank you for your time, man, on this. You guys go on about your day. George, I'm in the recording really quick. Well, I pray you were blessed by that today. Let's say our affirmation and jump into our week. If you repeat after me, simply say, I am me. I can be me. No one will stop me from being me.

I am me.

You were made for this. Have a wonderful day.

This has been made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Be sure to follow Justin online at mrjlester and online at www.jlester.com. see you next week. Go win. You were made for this.