Ep 1037 | Jase Starts a Take-No-Prisoners Sparring Match & the Bible’s Take on Immigration
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I am unashamed. What about you?

Zach almost violated the child labor laws. Right there at it. He would if he could, Jason. I'll tell you that right now. Let me tell you how we hired Matty. I actually called up

The school that I graduated from and I called the communications. I said, who's running the communications department? Actually, I knew the guy, a friend of mine. I said, who is the best student that you have coming out of your program this year? And he said, Maddie. I said, I want to talk to that person. That was the interview process right there. Wow. And you're not going to say what led to that?

What led to you making that call? No, I'm not. I'm not going to say that. No, we had a person in Matty's role that never spoke in two years. He didn't laugh. He didn't smile. He didn't speak. So for us sitting here talking after a couple of years, I thought...

You know, this guy, he just thinks this is absolutely the most boring thing ever. It was just zero response. Well, to be fair, Phil had one guy that Phil had changed his name to no name. Yeah. So there was a hostile kind of work environment. Well, he wouldn't speak. What is your name? Nothing. Nothing.

So he became the man with no name. That was actually a pretty good movie. Jay, people that have produced us tend to think it may be better to melt into the wall than become part of our operation. So Zach's right. They're not sure exactly. But Matty has come in like a fresh flower.

And we love her. She keeps us in line. There's nothing to keep old men in line better than a young woman who loves what she does and is good at it. So we love Maddie. Have we started this podcast yet? I think we started it with – Jersey Joe's in the house. Jersey Joe. Yeah. Jersey, fresh from New Jersey. Welcome, Jersey. Yeah. I want to get one thing straight here. I no longer want to be considered a guest. I am a contributing member. Oh.

Oh, he's changed his title. We got to get that straight because, I mean, there's too many appearances. Does that come with a raise? It comes with a raise. Zach, would you double his contributing salary? I'm sure he will. As long as the raise is a percentage of your current salary. I say double it because two times zero is still zero. I was going to say that. In Louisiana, the math.

always works with that zero very simply. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I noticed, so a little birdie told me, Al, that you thanked everyone for that new studio but the guy who did the bulk of the work. Oh, did a birdie tell you that? That's what I heard. I heard that there was a whole conversation about how nice that new studio looks and Al thanked the money man, Zach. He thanked all the production crew and

And they said, he never mentioned your name at all. And didn't you go down there for like a week to do that? Did you really? I said, yeah. Yeah. So, Joe, did your little birdie tell you that I might have been waiting until you came on the podcast to tell you face to face? You know. Joe, you're not going to hem him up. Yeah.

He's slick. You know how this group works, though. This group likes to pit everyone against, you know, and just put a little thing in your ear, you know, to pick on somebody else. That's how everybody works. You know, they got to pick on somebody. Well, let me tell you something, Joe. I've learned this as being part of this family. Somebody told me this one time, and it stuck with me. It's a brilliant line.

You got to write this down. Expectations are premeditated resentments. Oh, boy. Here we go. All right. Let's break this down. I need a dictionary first. I like that. Let me look that up. How do you like it? Expectations are premeditated resentments. When Jace came by Black Mountain and he didn't stop.

I think he called or text. I can't remember now. It's been so long ago, but I never got offended. I never. But the reason why there was no no resentment because I had no expectation. I had just evaporated expectations when it comes to particularly with my family there. We just not great at like showing our appreciation. Oh, yeah.

I can't believe you're still bringing this story up. No, I'm fine. I'm telling you. You really hurt him. You know that, right? I was busy. I didn't just do nothing. I blew the horn. Yeah. And then sent him a text and said, if you heard that horn, that was me. Yeah. That was a nice gesture.

It's all right. But yeah, I mean. All right. You know. That's something. We have a saying in the fire service, and I have to put this in a way so I, you know, kind of put it. So doing a good thing around here is like peeing in your bunker pants on a cold winter day. You get a nice warm feeling inside, but no one else notices. Yeah.

This is getting more and more disturbing. So let me just say officially that Jersey Joe, along with my grandson-in-law, Joey, they transformed a six by eight foot closet

in my lower room and to the unashamed lair. And they did an excellent job. You see behind me, the background they put up, they put some Wayne's code in here, a fantastic job. And more than anything else, Joe, who is an expert in all things IT, he got my internet lined up because that was the biggest issue down here. It's hard to get reliable internet. So yeah,

Joe, this is your official appreciation since you brought it up. I'm warm inside. You know why you didn't get appreciation? Why is that? Because God, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in buildings built by handsome men. That's true. That, my friend, will preach. Yes. Whatever you're talking about, that'll preach. So.

That's my contribution to this conversation because 75% of what y'all just said didn't register to me. Didn't register. No. So I got one question for Joe because I just want to get his take on it because we spent a lot of time talking post-duck season.

about Jace's new mentoring program of the Duck Boys and Buck Boys, and we've been trying to figure all that out. But Joe, you actually are part of that group, even though you're not a boy. Yeah.

You're like a 50-year-old man. If you miss the podcast, I put you in that category. You put me as a duck boy? You are a duck boy. You've only been duck hunting three years. Four, actually. Well, four. Okay. But duck boy, I mean, maybe like duck, I don't know, young man. I don't know what the-

We have definitely a level that you graduate to every year, I think, with this group. And I can safely say I am no longer the gopher and the bottom of the blind now. I now have a little bit of authority in the blind when some of the duck boys are there. So, you know, I kind of like graduated up there. So I would not classify me as a duck boy anymore.

Well, you are, but you're further along in the process. Would he consider Jace a Duck intern maybe? Has he moved up to intern status? Well, the problem is what he has absorbed from an information standpoint makes him more advanced than the other Duck boys. However, due to his maturity physically –

Is that a fat joke? The young duck boys, they can just do more stuff physically. It's a fat joke. I actually saw one run on top of three-foot water. Of course, there was a bed of smartweed under him, but I just thought, now that was impressive. So he quickly started ascending up the duck boy ladder.

austin you talk about austin no this was actually luke oh he went to go get a duck and he just took off because i then i went there i thought what would happen if jersey would try what he just did jersey would be buried there you'd have to call some of your fireman friends yeah jay's do you remember you told the story about the one time jersey pulled the boat in

100 yards or something because the water was shallow. Do you remember that story? Oh, yeah. We've had multiple motor issues this year. And there was a sound that

First, I thought it was like a dog. You know how when a dog gets something hung in his throat? But then I realized we didn't have a dog this year. And somebody said, no, that's Jersey. That was my allergies. So I have an allergy problem. And I was having an attack. My allergies.

Jace, after the podcast, almost every time when I call you, you get down the road about two miles and the phone drops every single time. You just thought it was dropping.

You're hanging up on me? Well, I will tell you, nothing makes me more upset than a dropped phone call. I didn't know you were hanging up on me. I don't believe you, actually. But we just went through a major storm here in North Carolina. And man, it was so incredible how frustrated it was when I didn't have cell phone coverage on my phone and everybody else did around me. So what I did is I actually made the switch. I switched to Pure Talk. And that's important because this is the first conversation

company that I've actually reached out to and said, hey, we want you guys to advertise with us because I'm using your product. And for $25 a month, you guys can get unlimited talk, unlimited text, and five gigs of data, $25 a month. That's about as cheap as you're going to get on the market. Average family saves over $1,000 a year on their cell phone bill when they switch. I've made the switch. I've kept my phone number and I've actually have

a brand new iPhone. When I did it, I'm telling you guys, like I made the switch. And here's what I love about them too. Their customer service team, they're amazing. They're good old Georgia folks out of Covington, Georgia, which is around my stomping grounds where my family comes from. So that's a big deal. Great customer service. And the CEO of Pure Talk is a veteran.

And he supports veterans, which is something that obviously we're very passionate about here at Unashamed Nation. I know you guys care about veterans as well. They have given over $50,000 to provide scholarships to support veterans coming out of active duty. They've helped to eliminate veteran debt. They're raising donations to end veteran suicide. These guys are all in with our veterans, and we want to be all in as well. Just go to puretalk.com slash unashamed to save 50%.

off your first month. Make the switch today at puretalk.com slash unashamed and join America's wireless company, Pure Talk. You know, we can talk. Let's talk about your lady scarf, right? So we all get in. So we usually meet at the lair about five o'clock, somewhere in that time frame. And of course, Jace, you know, being Jace, he's always fashionably late, which is on time to him. So he's always the last one to get there.

So we're all in there. I'm standing next to Martin. We're talking and Jace walks in with slippers on and a big jacket, takes the jacket off. And I'm talking with Martin and I happen to look over and

And he has this like velvet woman's scarf that he's wrapping around his neck. It's actually silk. And I said, what are you doing? And they all look at him and he goes, well, it was dark this morning and I tried not to make a ruckus and I just grabbed...

And I'm looking and he's even wearing it correctly. So I started to really start to think what's going on here with Jace. But in his defense, it happened to be the lucky lady scarf. So it's now known as Jace's lucky lady scarf. And he needs to bring that with him. It gives him this superpower because let me tell you something. He drove one of the Polaris. I happened to get in, in the Polaris with him to go out to the boathouse and

I have never seen him drive so fast. He was like Superman in this lady scarf. I'm sitting in the back, and if I tell you that if I didn't have Martin there to hold me in, I would have been flung out of the four-wheeler. That was a funny morning. What happened, now that I can tell you, is I get this espresso from Europe.

And look, they only go up to 12 in years past. 12 what? Intensity level. Okay. So one to 12. I said, don't send me anything less than four. So I only have four through 12 because I just didn't. What are we? We going to drink some coffee here or we going to drink some coffee? Well, they had some new additions this year.

And it was a 13 and a 14. Well, that morning was the first time I tried a 14. Yeah. So now, you know, because I didn't seem like I was in a hurry. So you're saying it's not the lady scarf. I mean, did the lady scarf give you power? The lady scarf gave him power. I don't care what he says. We've had one profound quote. I'm going to give you another one if I can, because I'm making it up as I go here.

What was your quote again? Expectations are... Premeditated resentments. Premeditated resentments. See how slow my brain works? I still haven't even... I'm not going to remember it either. So now I'll give you one. In a world of gender confusion where we're trying to use God's holy book to...

and just common sense to provide some clarity on it, I will give you this. Warmth is gender neutral. I think we just invented a slogan. I didn't read that. Yeah. Yeah. It is. So that's why I go to the kids and women sections of,

of stores, because I feel like if a lawsuit came from kids or women, it may have a greater chance of succeeding. It's like, how dare you make this person cold? So I just think they use better products. Some guy there, you're a man, get over it.

So I've just noticed that a lot of their products are warmer. Well, you put this in my head now, so now I'm wondering what other lady products do you wear? I have gloves. I have gloves. To be fair, if you said, hey, go get a warm scarf, and I'm looking at four selections here, and one of them is silk, I don't think I'm picking that one.

Well, I didn't know it was silk, but I thought it was mine. And it turned out to be my wife's. But when I put it on, just heat began to generate. And I thought, this is warm. Then I had to go watch a video. So it did give you powers. I did have to watch a video on how to wear it.

It was an infinity, what they called an infinity, you know, typical advertising. Yeah. We have an infinity scarf because you make a figure eight. I actually wore it on a podcast here. You did? I did. Did I not, Matty? We need to pull that picture up. And you put it on, and after you get past the idea that we want to advertise using godly qualities to get my money.

My wife bought this, but I have now taken it over because I did rip it. I ripped the tag off of it, which then created a hole, but she no longer wanted it. The tag that said made for women? Yeah, probably. No, it said infinity because I was still thinking the only thing I know of that has anything to do with infinity is the Lord God Almighty.

So let's rip that tag off. I do remember Jace wearing it because I was thinking to myself, whew, that is one ugly woman. Yeah.

Well, the coffee definitely did something for him, too, because he was definitely amped up, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. And, you know, he was talking like he was from New Jersey. I mean, he was, like, fast. He was just, like, driving like crazy, talking like crazy. And then that was the day you got out of the blind, and you left for, like, an hour, and we wondered where you were at. Man, there's all kind of hypocrisy going on here, because I'm thinking about, like, Jay said, like...

I mean, brutally chastised me when I wore a coat on the podcast. And I did it because I was cold, but now he's wearing silk scarves to the podcast. Well, the problem with that was you were wearing a coat indoors in Louisiana. There was an invention that came along in part of our history, Zach, and it's called central air and heat.

I just thought that was embarrassing that you came from the mountains to come to Louisiana. And it's like, oh, you walked in and you had a coat rated for 20 degrees. I'm just saying we're not that different. Like you're doing the same thing that we're not that different, Jace.

No, I just showed you the scarf I wore that I love. Oh, and another thing that you're hypocritical on is that you have been ripping me behind the scenes. I think the audience needs to know this. For the way I read the ads, you said I'm talking too fast. This morning, what did you say? Are we going here? You just saw this. Look.

It's one of the most exhilarating things because our viewers are not getting this. And let's deal with this. Look, when Zach reads an ad, it is amazing because I feel like I'm watching some kind of demonic possession that takes over. Because look, he'll be talking normal, like whatever Zach normal is.

And then he gets to this ad and he's like, we're here in the book of John. And then all of a sudden he starts speaking faster than a human can speak. Yeah.

It's like, what did he just say? So I feel like now that I want to recommend all our viewers. Look, they now have a concept. You're a software man. You can actually, you know how the chipmunks made millions of dollars by speeding up people? Well, look, you can slow them down and actually hear what Zach is saying. Zach?

So I said he's like a World Wrestling Federation color commentator when it comes to ads. And he always does it. Jace, here's some proof that what you're saying is right. We just got a new ad script that we did today.

And halfway through the ad script, I've never seen this before. Whoever sent this said, slow down. And they hadn't even met that. So Maddie, she's 23 years old. Technically, Zach is paying her salary. So she's trying to be nice. So now I just said, look, I'm going to jump in here and be the interpreter. So I was like, Zach, try doing this about 1,000 speeds slower. Okay.

Slow down. It's almost a miraculous speaking in tongue moment. Poor Zach. I don't know what it is. Sorry, I brought it up. Thank you, Zach. I'm glad we gave you Jason softball on that one. One more thing before we get to our strategy today, because we've got to get back to John 1. But I do want to mention Jersey Central on the podcast.

that you have been heading up our Unashamed Bible Study that we do at WFR. We do it every Sunday. And once a month on the first Sunday of the month, we've been doing a guest Robertson, we call it. I think I did the first one in January. Jace was last week. And we try to get one of us in there just so you guys can meet us because we know that's part of it. And just to tell you how much we love you guys, because a lot of visitors come in.

And so once a month we do kind of a special one, but I just want to tell you, you've been doing a great job. You picked up the mantle. Dad obviously can't do the class. He does come every once in a while just to observe and give that thumbs up. But I just want to tell you, thanks for that. And one, let the audience know we love it when you guys come, we encourage you to do that. Sometimes people get baptized. Sometimes they rededicate their lives.

So Jace, have you ever had any problems with the IRS? Yep. And I invited all of them to church.

Did they come? I'm just saying, I'm trying to be like Jesus. That's true. Well, we've got some help because you do run into problems with the IRS. Lisa and I have had some issues with them in the past. And the A word we call it, the audit, it's always frightening. But we've got some friends, Tax Network USA. And they're going to help us because...

They're experts. It reminds me of something Phil used to say, that your problem is you don't know what your problem is. A lot of people don't know their risk level and if it's high enough that the IRS agent is about to show up at your home or over unpaid taxes or even unfiled returns, or maybe they're going to freeze your bank accounts. Most people don't know if they're at risk. So understanding your IRS risk level can help you decide how to

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It's a great class. I've kind of taken off where Phil left off, and I'm just doing what Phil taught me, and obviously everything that I've learned in my readings. Every Sunday I'm there, 9 a.m., and I lay it out there. I talk about the gospel, talk about some current events related to the gospel, and

Jace was there just last week. Jace and I did one together. I wanted to talk about this. Is your skin really thick? My skin's always thick. You kidding? So Al, here's how it went. So we had Phil there, which was awesome. NK. Yeah, NK. And we didn't have... We had a few visitors, but a lot of people...

you know, like my in-laws came. I was like, are y'all visiting? We have regulars that come every week, the same people coming every week. Okay, so they're just a part of the class. Yeah. So Jersey, you know, he asked me to do it. So he got up and gave about a 15-minute sermon, and I thought,

Well, I'm long-winded by nature. So I was like, we might already cut that to five the next time I get there. Well, listen, I know I've spoken with you before, and the problem is if you don't start talking before Jace, you'll never talk. Yeah. Amen. Yeah, welcome to understanding. Al, this reminds me of a conversation that we had when I was an intern briefly and realized that I needed to just do something else. Yeah.

But not that there's anything wrong with an intern. I mean, being a duck man intern or duck boy intern. Don't say duck boy. Yeah. I'm just saying. So I learned...

You know, back then, it's like when you have a song leader, you know, when they have the, what do y'all call it, Al? Worship leader? Well, I was going to call it a church service, but I'd already thrown that under the bus because most people are actually not serving. They're just sitting.

Yeah. But we call it a church service. Yeah. But there are people there serving. We should show up and serve. A church gathering. But I remember they had a debate one time because the worship leader was giving... He's supposed to lead worship by singing, but it was turning into... He was giving many sermons, and so the preacher was like saying...

Hey, that's my job. Because by the time the preacher got up, since there had been so many sermons, he didn't have much time to actually do what he was supposed to do. It was an interesting little back and forth. I don't know if you remember that, Al, but I'm sure that... Oh, I remember it. And also, by nature, Jase, I've learned through the years of ministry that most worship leaders want to speak and most preachers want to sing. That's right. And stay in your lane, bros. Yeah, that was the culmination of the meeting is like,

You sing, I'll preach. So anyway, so you were supposed to introduce me, but it was more of a sermon and then an introduction. So look, here's how Joe introduced me. He's probably forgotten this because he was doing this off the top of his head. He said, now this guy doesn't drink, he doesn't cuss, and he's real blunt. And I thought, am I following John the Baptist or Jesus? Am I Nazarene?

Am I a Pharisee? What is this? That's just being complimentary. Well, that was true. Well, all those things were true, but I did think that was interesting. I thought, boy, the man who needs no introduction. I just thought that was funny. It was so funny to me. So I think it went well. I did delve into...

Because I didn't have any notes, you know, I introduced Jesus, but I've been so inspired by this realization that we're part of a kingdom of heaven on earth. And so I did a little five minute dissertation on that, Zach, and you'll be surprised that the response was this. You ready? Yeah.

Yeah, there was some yawning. I looked out. It wasn't a yawn. It was a half yawn. It was the mouth went open, but there wasn't a yawn because they thought. Watches went up. What is he talking about? And I think I gave a line that I had never given before because I made a reference of people saying, well, where is heaven? What are we going to do when we get there? You know, I gave a little few heaven questions.

And I'm like, I gave a question. I said, you know where heaven is? And everybody, boy, they perked up on that. I said, you're looking at it. And it was. So then I made the point that I have the Holy Spirit of God, Jesus specifically. So heaven, in a way, that didn't come from anywhere on earth. So I'm representing as an ambassador of Christ here.

himself. I mean, he did a great job. So I took Phil home afterwards. And the first thing Phil wanted was food. Phil needed food. So there was no conversation in a truck until we got food. But once Phil ate his food, he then said, he said, how about that, Jace? I said, yeah. I said, it was an awesome job this morning. He said, I'm so proud of him.

he's just taken it to a level that I can't imagine all my kids. They've taken it to a level that is beyond me. So, I mean, he was totally complimentary. He enjoyed listening to you. So I think he did a great job and we're only kidding. You know, people weren't sleeping. They weren't up, you know, they weren't checking their watch. It was, it was a great message. It was a cricket moment, but I wanted to bring this up. I think, I think it's because what we're talking about on this podcast a lot is

And it's you cannot reduce the message of the kingdom into sound bites. And I think it's hard because it's not a it's not as easily packageable what we're saying when we this idea of heaven coming to earth, the kingdom of God being here. I mean, especially if you've been trained up from the early age into thinking that heaven and eternal life is way out there.

That's quite the feat to overcome. I think that's why when you start teaching on this, especially if it's in a group that hasn't heard it yet, then it's kind of like, wait, what?

Yeah, I've experienced the same thing. I mean, it's exactly, it's where that word came from, you know, that phrase that we hear, heaven on earth, right? Heaven on earth. What is heaven on earth? And it's what we're living, you know, when you have the Holy Spirit with you and you are living a godly life, you are living heaven on earth. I mean, that's really what I see.

They're getting, you know, hours and hours of what Zach just talked about in us painting this picture, whatever text we're in, it keeps coming back to the same central theme. And so when they come to WFR, usually it's what I call to make the proclamation of intention. In other words,

They're making their call that, look, I want to be a part of that kingdom. I want to be a part of this. I want to build and help other people know about what I now figured out. So that's why I love the idea. It's just an entry point into something now that is motivated to heart to make a life change, which is powerful. That's why Jersey, you know, he took over Phil's class. And you're like, well, that's weird. But it shows you a power gap.

in the kingdom of God. And I wanted to read to you where that came from because, I mean, I'm just going to be brutally honest. If you look at me and Jersey, he's from New Jersey. I'm from Louisiana. That is just the tip of the iceberg of things we don't have in common. You know, this is almost to the scale, to use a biblical analogy, of Jew and Gentile. I mean, we are from two different worlds. But,

We've now come together in Christ. We both have the Holy Spirit. We're brothers in the kingdom of heaven on earth. So I want to, we skipped over this verse in John 1, Al, but I wanted to read it because I think it's interesting where he says when Jesus, you know, he started off, it doesn't say Jesus, he starts off word. He was in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and

Through him all things were made. Without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. So we share that. We have this life. That's not only now, what Jesus is doing now through his spirit in us, but we will have life that does not end.

So 36 times he brings up life in the book of John. So then he gets to verse 10. He says, he was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. They were looking at it from a worldly point of view. Oh, he's a carpenter. He's from Nazareth. Nothing good can come from there. He came to that which is own, but his own did not receive, even his own nation where he was from. There's a lot of people who are like that.

They're looking for the Messiah and he's like, hey, he's got his hand raised and they're like, who are you? They didn't recognize him. But then this interjection here in 12 and 13 all of a sudden takes a global past, present, and future humanity vibe to it is what I'm offering. It says, yet to all who received him,

To those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Children born not of natural descent. You say, what does that mean? Like the borders of where you're from.

He's in the context of... It's not correlated to your DNA. Yeah. Well, I'm an Israelite, or I'm a Jersey... What do they call people from New Jersey? Jersey... They call us Cajuns, but... People from New Jersey. Oh, people from New Jersey. You need to work on that. Come on with a slogan.

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You can do more without spending more. Learn how to save at Cox.com slash internet. Cox Internet is connected to the premises via coaxial cable. Cox Mobile runs on the network with unbeatable 5G reliability as measured by UCLA LLC in the U.S. to age 2023. Results may vary, not an endorsement of the restrictions apply. It's like the Romans 9. I'm pulling it up real quick. It's kind of a similar language, Romans 9, when he talks about Israel not being...

connected to the flesh. It's not the children of the flesh who are the children of the promise. It's not your border, and it's not... The next thing is not based on human decision. I think I'm going to be...

you know, born of God here or be a children of God. It's not, you know, he's not, it's not about the physical natural birth nor a husband's will, but born of God. And it just, it is a statement that I think is profound because it includes the

Everyone. Yeah, everyone. I mean, what does Jesus say? Come to me. Yeah. He's inviting everyone, and he's giving you the right to become children of God. I mean, I looked up that word right. Potentially, yeah. It's like the potentiality is for everyone has the potential to become a son of God. I think it's a profound statement that when you say, well, he's inviting everyone. Yes, absolutely.

You remember the parable he told when he's like, you know, go invite these people. They're like, well, they don't want to come. He's like, well, go to the streets. Find the lame, the poor, invite, invite, invite. I want my house to be full.

I just think it's a very profound statement. And what I'm saying is that's why this works, even though we don't have a lot in common from a earthly standpoint. Our culture is totally different. It's almost like a foreign country. I mean, absolutely. And I mean, you know, God brings everyone together, right? And, you know, every...

You know, I see, you know, with what I get to do on Sundays, I meet a lot of people and I, you know, and I always start off with saying everybody's got a story, right? You have some story that has brought you here, but we all have one thing in common. We were created by God and we believe in God. We believe that Jesus died for our sins and that unites us spiritually. And we will always be united in brothers and sisters in God.

And I think that's really the crust of it when you start to really dig through, you know, why do we have a lot of the issues that we have today in life, right? Why do we have wars and why do we have enemies? And it's because of different lines of thinking, right? Or where you're from. Or where you're from, absolutely. So, I mean, you know, Jesus is truly the answer to everything when you look at it, right? There isn't a problem that can't be solved. Right.

Well, one of the things that differentiates what Jason was describing in 1, 12, and 13 is all those other decisions, whether it's your bloodline, a decision of a husband and wife, all these you don't make. Your bloodline, the decision for two adult people to procreate and bring you into the— you didn't make a decision for any of that. But when you're born of God—

You make a decision to follow God. You're making that decision. That's how you're born. It's like when someone wants to come here to America, maybe they're from some other country and they want to get here so bad, they want to become a citizen. And we've had a lot of this idea of immigration, a lot of issues. But there's always been an opening for people who weren't born of the American blood to

not American parents or grandparents, but want to get here. Why? Because they want to be citizens of this country and what that brings to them. That's a very small scale compared to what it means to be born of God, because you can do that from anywhere in the world. You don't have to be of a certain country, of a certain race, you know, a certain gender, none of those things.

This is truly an opportunity for all who have been called, who have been sought out by Christ to now choose to be a part of him. I've used that line many times. People that get so upset that they're shipping back people from other countries. I said, well, you need to get in Jesus because he brings people from all nations together. If you want to visualize a place with no walls, uh,

And no borders. And that's what God does through Jesus. So here's what I think is fascinating. And you brought Joe into the conversation, Jace. So Joe received a call from the Almighty. He wasn't sure what it was, but that's what it was. He was being sought out because he just knew he knew that things weren't right with him, with his family. Joe, I'm just speaking for you. But if I'm wrong, correct me.

And then he was like, I need to answer this call, but I'm not sure how to do that. He winds up feeling like God wanted to reposition him in Louisiana because he had met us through the podcast and through the show and other means. You know, he wanted to learn. He wanted to know more.

And so he changed locations from the place he grew up, people he loves, to come to a country that he knew nothing about, Louisiana. And it's interesting, after five years, he's now as Louisiana as any of us with a Jersey flair. But more importantly...

He is now a born again son of the Almighty, as well as his family who now have followed his lead, not only to come here, but more importantly, to come to Christ. And so I just think that's a picture of anywhere. I mean, it doesn't have to be Westman or Louisiana or some other place, but that's the idea here.

Christ seeks us out. So, I mean, I think as we're about to get into these first disciples being called, it goes on even to this day. He does. And you don't know. See, I have this now famous saying that I say that, you know, Garth Brooks got it right when he said some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. And I talk about it all the time, but I get into more detail on what I mean about that.

So, you know, we talk about, you know, the Bible says that, you know, our stories are written even before we're born. You know, God knows what he has in store for us. We don't. We're just along for the ride. We listen to the calling that we get, that little voice in the back of our mind that we hear that says, you know, you got to do this or you got to do that. But

You could have something that you pray on and pray on and pray on and pray on, and you don't get it. And you don't know why you don't get it. And some people get discouraged. And they say, oh, well, there's no God. I've asked for this and asked for this and asked for this, and it's never happened. My prayers are never answered. But what we fail to realize as human beings, our stories are written. And God knows what he wants for each and every one of us. And you may think you want something.

and pray on it and pray on it and not get it. But then you find out years later that if you'd gotten what you wanted, you wouldn't be where you're at now today. So you can relate that whole thing to my story. You know, I say it all the time. I didn't know why I had to move. I just had this feeling down in my heart after listening to this podcast multiple times,

I had this feeling that said, you know, you need to make a change in your life. And at that point, I was stressed out of my mind. I was angry, nasty, screaming, yelling all the time, short-tempered, just very unhappy.

I mean, financially, I was doing fine. I had a great career in the fire service. I had a full-time job. I was feeling good about life. I thought I was happy, but I really wasn't happy. And I didn't know true happiness until I answered the calling. And once I've answered the calling, boy, the blessings, they just keep coming. I mean, I've

got tied in with you guys, and I continue to... I mean, if you'd said that Joe Congemi was going to be teaching a Bible study on Sundays that Phil Robertson used to lead, anyone that knows me in New Jersey would say, no way. But he's going to one day become a duck boy. Yeah, he'd be a duck boy.

So here's a question for you. What is the gospel? The way you answer that question has a lot of significance in how you live your life out. And we would argue, based on the teaching of Jesus in the book of Mark, that that definition of the gospel should not be separate from the coming of the kingdom based on Jesus' words in Mark.

We're talking about this on my new podcast called Not Yet Now. Would love to invite you guys to join. We're going to go through the series, the series on the Book of Mark. We launch every Tuesday and would love to have you guys be a part of it. So go check us out. Not Yet Now podcast with Zach Dasher. You can find us anywhere podcast or heard. The title, again, is Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher. Or you can check us out on YouTube as well at Dasher Zach, Z-A-C-H, at Dasher Zach. Hope to see you guys there.

I would say, you know, when John, when you look at John the Baptist's role and leading into him calling these first disciples, you know, when John later on said in chapter 3, when he said, because they brought up, they're like, look, Jesus and his followers are baptizing a lot of people. You know, he clarifies it in chapter 4, saying, well, Jesus actually wasn't baptizing them.

but his disciples were, because they were kind of trying to, you know, look, he's doing more than you. And John the Baptist said this in verse 27. To this, John replied, a man can receive only what is given him from heaven, which kind of goes back to that John 1, 12. We were talking about born from God. Remember, in between, you got Nicodemus, who here's a guy who's a religious man,

authority, Pharisee, and Jesus tells him he needs to be born again. And why? Because you can see the kingdom of God once you're born again. And then he's like, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he's born of water and the spirit. So John makes this statement that you can only receive what is given from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I'm not the Christ, but I'm sent ahead of him.

The bride belongs to the bridegroom, which is a preview of what's fixing to happen in Jesus that humanity would become his bride. So then he says, the friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy.

When he hears the bridegroom's voice, the joy is mine and is now complete. But then he says this, and that's what I was going to say about this, what Jersey said, he must become greater and I must become less. And that same thing happens to us. You know, when when Jersey said, oh, we all have a story. Yeah, we do. And it's interesting to us that.

But what moves people is God's story in us. And as we mature, he becomes greater and we become less. And of course, then he eventually goes on to say that he gives the spirit, going back to the John 3 Nicodemus conversation, without limit. And that also goes back to this. We have the right as people. Where was that at? That's in...

That's the last verse of John 3. Listen to this. It is so powerful. 36. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, which is where this whole thing started. Not just life here. Yeah. It's life forever. Eternal. But whoever rejects the Son will not see life. But we've already said everyone has the invitation.

For God's wrath remains on him. I skipped the verse. Where is that? It's verse 33. Whoever receives this testimony. That's it. The man who has accepted it has certified that God is faithful. I feel like we should go back. Let me just read 31. The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth.

The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. That's going back to the John 1 about they didn't recognize him, that he's from heaven. Then it says, Remember, Jesus comes bringing grace and truth. And then this is the verse. You're right.

Verse 34. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, and God gives the Spirit without limit. Yeah, you got to sit in that because that's a big point when you think about... I always have said it like this. The Holy Spirit...

is an open conduit of full revelation of God. That's a really, break that down into simplistic language. Imagine it is like a connection, like a hose, and it's just like no like...

There's nothing that's encumbering the flow of this God revealing himself to man because the Spirit is given without measure. And so if you read in the scriptures, there's terms like the blasting the Holy Spirit, which is kind of related to this, or another term is used to quench the Spirit.

And I think about like quenching, it would be like taking your hands around that hose and like squeezing down. So I'm not getting all of it and I'm not getting his revelation. I'm holding on too tight. I'm quenching the spirit. So I like this verse because what it shows us is the only thing that stands in between us and the revelation of God and himself, which is like the source of all life is

It's not on God's part. God's not withholding his goodness. We quench that spirit, but he gives you the spirit. It's also quenched because we're like, well, he's from another country.

I mean, you're going to see this. Because you're believing in something that's not real when you believe that lie. And I think that's going back to the baptism of Jesus. And when he says that the one that's coming after, I baptize the water, but the one coming after me is going to baptize you with the spirit. Again, a large part of that means it's like God's going to, he's going to move in you now. So now I'm, it's not about, I'm directly connected with God because God has made his home in humans. He's made his home in the human body.

Your body's a temple. That's why that thing you said earlier, Jace, is kind of key. God makes his home in human body temples. And what that means is I have direct connection now with understanding what the good life is. So if you think about your own life, you sin because you actually believe the good life is something outside what God has revealed it to be. Well, that's my point because I think this is a foundation for moving forward through John. Because when you get to John 4...

And you have his disciples, you know, they go in this city, but they had rules. Now Jesus is thinking outside the box because where does it say where Jews do not associate with Samaritans? That's in 4. Yeah, well, so we have a limitation here because the disciples, they went in the city, nothing happened. Well, Jesus went out here and broke down every limitation here

that they had already put on in that Jewish culture, which is you can't be having a conversation with a woman in broad daylight, and you can't have a conversation with someone who's from Samaria. But you also showed, Jase, from that example, that most people aren't going to come to that realization

unless where they are is challenged. This woman who was there had all these personal issues, had all these issues that Jesus just, I mean... Yeah, that's the next box to be checked. Exactly. He easily brought those out. But I find that fascinating because most people, and we used Joe as an example earlier, they don't come to that place just by natural order. So,

Something supernatural has to break through to them that they need this. Which is the revelation of the Holy Spirit. That's why in John 4 text too, you think about the whole text there. It's interesting. It's all like wrapped in this language of temple, right? He says, we worship Samaritans. We worship at the temple up there in the mountain. Oh, it was a place. It's all about where does worship happen. He says, you guys worship down at the temple in Jerusalem, the second temple that was built by Osiris.

And Jesus said, yeah. She said, where do we worship at? He said, yeah, it's not in the places anymore. The Father wants you to worship worshipers who will worship Him in truth and in spirit. Again, connecting back with the Holy Spirit. So you see this idea that that's really what the whole thing's about. If you drink the water I have to give you, it'll be a spring in you welling up to eternal life. What's he talking about? The Holy Spirit living in humans. Well, we're almost out of time, but I want to

I'm saying I think we're missing one thing here. It's about people. When he said, I've given everyone the right to become children of God, well, he's now running within the Israelite circles that have all these cultural laws and customs that's not going to allow all people to

to see Jesus because he can't even associate with him. That's why he's going to people's houses and they're like, what's this? What are you doing over here? Well, he's giving everybody. He's inviting everybody. So what happens at the end of that story in John 4? Well, she goes and causes a breakthrough. I mean, the other disciples came back and said, what? You ready to go?

That was all that. Nothing happened. But he had this encounter with this woman. She then went and told everybody about who this person she met was. And then what happened? People started putting their faith in Jesus. All of a sudden, that John 1, 10 through 12 is being lived out.

And that's what he did. He broke down all these walls. So eventually when we get to that, those passages that says there's neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, all that's going to make sense because of

how Jesus started this whole ministry. So, uh, we're out of time. Um, Joe, it's always a pleasure having you on the builder of studios, the, the duck intern, and now the contributor on unashamed podcast. Zach, uh,

Joe has done so well today. I think we should triple his salary. I've decided tripling his salary needs to happen. Zero plus zero. Maybe senior contributor. Okay. Senior contributor. I'm going to have business cards made. So thanks, Joe, for coming on. Thanks for all you do for the kingdom. We'll see you next time. It's been great.

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