Kingdom Everywhere

Yo, what up family? Um, so man, I typically been fortunate to work remote for some time. I've been kind of in the tech space, um, 36 now. I've been in the tech space for since I was 21, 22. Always been in ministry, uh, well not always, uh, officially about 6 years ago officially accepted my call. And of course, that's— it's a never-ending walk, uh, but this would just be like a little ramble. I'll try to keep it 3 minutes, um, but, oh man, first is I, I love, uh, what's going on with all the creative, all the innovation. And then this is not to— like I said, again, I work in tech, so I'm used to change. Um, I just transitioned to what they call a senior agile coach, where I spent most of my time now just coaching product and tech leaders And then, you know, working outside, internally and externally, uh, as well as teams and focus on team health, team maturity, and all that type of stuff. So a lot of stuff is like ground— I spent a lot of time in project management and being an Agilist. I don't know everything, I know some things, but that's the beauty in it, man. You're always expecting and adapting and being highly transparent. And then in the ministry concept context still the same thing. Um, man, we'll never arrive, we'll never master the Bible. I've been to seminary twice, uh, independent schools. Like, I could have went, you know, for whatever. Uh, my wife was actually one that kind of inspired me to go back, uh, with her. She was at Liberty, a Master's of Divinity, and she's a chaplain. So I just, I wanted to more so just learn, like, about formation. Um, so, um, so I've been in kind of like a secular sense in ministry, and it's a lot of overlap. I'm not saying that to be boastful or anything. Like, you, you do, you learn a lot. And my, my track was, um, so my track has been like engineering and business leadership, and then transition over to seminary, study biblical counseling and past— a master's in pastoral leadership and ministry. And so again, like, it's a lot of overlap there. Um, so I said all that to be said, say, I mean, just in the last probably 2 to 3 years, um, I've learned kind of like really not to like separate the two. Like, you know, I've always kind of felt like somewhat of like I wasn't doing the Lord's work because I, I wasn't in full-time vocational ministry. Um, and I always kind of had this idea because I was shaped Um, but then, you know, of course, and then you see this a lot now where it's kingdom everywhere. And so I've been fortunate to more so volunteer and work a lot as kind of like as an executive pastor function, because I do believe that there's overlap and structure when it comes to systems. And, you know, then also too, systems are living, and this video is going to be a lot longer than I thought, but systems, uh, they're, they're living organism. And so as things change, the system adapts. Ops. You, you— and the systems is made up of people, it's made up of processes, like all this type of stuff. And you have to really have, like, um, you have to be trained as a systems thinker, a systems coach, but then knowing when to intervene in the system, when to coach the system, when to reposition people. Like, you have to, you have to look at all of that. And none of us look at things in a complete way, so we have to be able to think critically, we have to be able to think creatively. And that's testing our thinking. And so, um, so all of that, like, a lot of things come back to the simplicity and the fundamental of things. And for me, uh, in, in all of that, it's like I love that space, but then I also love, like, I love God's word. Um, I, I strive to be, um, like, you know, submit to it. I don't— I wrestle with it at times, as much as I would love to be as mature as I preach and desire to be. Um, there's times that, you know, there's a wrestling match and I always lose. I always have to eventually submit to God's word. And so all of that being said, where am I going with this video, man? Um, so one is just be encouraged, man. Do it. Like, the Lord has really been pressing on my heart to study a virtue called prudence, uh, because in this time, and it is always voices telling you what you should and shouldn't do. Um, again, it's a lot of beauty. I don't— I, I don't— they're like the Bible itself, the word of God presents the good and the bad, but ultimately always points to Jesus. It always points to the plan of God, uh, for us. Um, well, the Bible was written for us but not to us. It was actually written, wrote to real people, real cultures. But what I'm saying is that it is the inspired word of God. Like, if, if I can get past the 'in the beginning God created,' then I can trust that God knows how to preserve his word. And yes, you get into all this tainting and stuff like that, but what I'm trying to say here without rambling, um, is that God can preserve his word and he presents the good and the bad. Yes, he used men of God to carry the word of God, to write the word of God we have today, preserve it. But anyway, he's God, he can do that how he chooses to do it, how he chose to do it. That's— he's God. So, um, that's what I see in a lot of things. Like, I don't— I strive not to over-index on the good, and I, and I strive not to over-index on the bad. Like, I just— like, both of them are before us, and this is where, like, the virtue of prudence, you know. And then you have— you get into a space of, like, was what's good and what's good enough. And it's just this over-exhausting just information. And so yes, I have disciplines in my life that try to help me. Again, not perfection, but faithfulness. And, uh, one of the things I, I would say, again, just going back to the heart of this video, man, it's just strive to, uh, and it's again, there's no knock on, uh, digital community, digital discipleship, and none of that, because I believe all of that's needed. Um, but strive to find community, man. Like, be a part of a local community, a local church if you can. Um, you know, a pastor, but also too, like, your pastor doesn't always have to be your spiritual father or spiritual mentor. Like, you can find another mature believer or believers, and then find people that have different gifts because you want well-rounded balance. The Bible tells us a multitude of counselors that does not always just have to come from the pastor per se. Test everything according to the scripture, no matter if it's me, because I can start to drift. I can. And it's times that, you know, like even when trying to really strive to test it against scripture and I stand corrected, I trust me, I go back and critique things I say. Now I am striving to do better, to be careful what I release and make sure that I'm not slipping over into emotion in my humanity. Um, but you know, man, it's, it's, it's real. Like, this is not a game. Uh, but man, just be encouraged. Like, whatever you're doing, like, whatever you're doing in life, whether it's teaching, coaching, you're in the military, you're a police officer, you were— you're in Congress, uh, you work at Chick-fil-A, you work at McDonald's, Hobby Lobby— I'm looking, I'm about to go to the gym— you work at the gym, uh, whatever it is Man, um, God can use you there and he has graced you. Uh, even if we're not where God desires us to be, personally I hope I'm saying that right. Sometimes we're where God has graced us because God— I do believe it's times in my life personally, I won't speak for you all, but that I should be further along, but also to thank God for his grace and mercy. So Um, so man, like I say, I just— I know it's kind of, again, me just kind of sharing my thoughts. I should have more structure to this, but I do believe I was compelled by the Holy Spirit just to jump on here and share, is that, uh, man, just, you know, seek more prudence. Like, again, like, I'm, you know, like, AI— like, I'm gonna close out with this thought. I don't believe that it's inherently good or bad. I believe that we have to work more so on the posture and pray for the posture of people and train them and develop them on the people that are using it. Like, I can nerd out just about with anything tech, uh, relatively to what I, what I like and what I'm competent in. Um, but also too, at the end of the day, man, you're starting to see this fundamental question of what is it to be human? Uh, because, man, it, it— I'm seeing so much. And just being again in that, that tech, that this consistent disruptor, consistent change management It's the question like, what is it to be human? And I just believe that as people of God, as true disciples and followers of God, as being a part of a local community, a local church, and also, you know, to the universal church, as people say, Big C, um, I believe us that follow Jesus, we have the greatest example, the greatest model, that everybody we quote in the scripture that has truly loved God. It— the ultimate example is Jesus Christ, is what I'm trying to say. He is the master, the ultimate example of what it is to be deeply human, but also to— of course, we know he was fully man and fully God, but to be the ultimate example. I believe certain things in scripture that Jesus did was literally to model for us. It was like, okay, I— he knows that he's fully God, but it was also to model in his humanity what we should do. And so, man, I just again want you to be encouraged. He was out in the field, he was out in the trenches. Uh, so one thing that I'm striving to really do, man, is just kind of get back to like— I love these tools, I love interacting with them, uh, it's nothing wrong with them per se. But, um, you know, man, just connecting, uh, being with people, seeing people. When I'm coaching, you know, I love— and that's where AI has been a blessing to me. I use it up to so much of a point, like I have the bots and building certain things, but I'm also loving and really working hard to allow it for me to just see people, like sit with them, be with them. Hear them, uh, validate them regardless if I agree or disagree, just to sit with them. Amen. And I'm asking you all to keep me in prayer, um, keep me in prayer as I navigate things. Uh, I'm excited and I wrestle with excitement and somewhat, I'll be honest with you, fear at the same time, because I've been on the side where I've seen people get laid off. And you can point to bad leadership and over-indexing or whatever, over-investing, But at the end of the day, man, when you have kind of led in these spaces, and then also too, you, you're in the local church, um, you sit with people, and some people have been caught up on the bad side of— even my role was, uh, eliminated. And, you know, hence they switched me more to a senior agile coach, um, and now looking out for more. And it's so easy for things to get like deeply transactional, but I'm a highly relational person. But I also care about results and getting things done, but I want to do it in a very humane way. And so I just again want you to be encouraged, man. Like, you know, just sit with somebody, connect with them, and just be with people. So again, this is not an anti-technology post. Like, I am a I guess what you would call a digital leader, or whatever you want to call it, whatever the term is today. Like, I've been to a lot of the conferences and done a lot of the trainings and programs or whatever, but nevertheless, man, um, my prayer is that we just continue to use these tools responsibly and not lose sight that, you know, also let's make sure that we're connecting with people. So way longer than I thought. Uh, but I'll wrap it up now, man. I love you all. Continue to be blessed and definitely praying for you all, man. Go connect with somebody and go fellowship and, uh, fellowship with a local church if you're not a part of one. Love you.