Almost Brothers Podcast
Whats up whats up whats up.. welcome to your new favorite podcast. Join your hosts Michael, Richard, and Tyler as we discuss God, church, life, and the journey through this crazy world. Get away from the stresses of life with this podcast. We will be hitting on various topics from sports, to life with Christ.
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Almost Brothers Podcast
Journey to Compassion and Patience
Imagine learning strategies to transform your relationships and discover a newfound purpose in life—this episode of the Almost Brothers Podcast promises just that. We open up about our personal journeys, sharing how our attitudes and habits shifted dramatically after embracing Christ. Expect heartfelt stories of overcoming challenges, like the miraculous end to cussing and the development of greater patience. We delve into how these changes have deepened our connections with friends and family, making us more mindful and compassionate individuals.
Furthermore, we tackle the complexities of maintaining friendships outside the faith. You'll hear our candid thoughts on balancing these relationships while adhering to Christian values. We also emphasize the power of community outreach, inspired by Francis Chan’s analogy of finding new fishing holes, to spread God’s love beyond our comfort zones. Learn how welcoming newcomers and engaging with those outside our usual circles can be transformative not only for them but for us as well. This episode is packed with practical advice and personal anecdotes sure to inspire anyone looking to nurture relationships through faith and community.
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very cool vc. You look extremely comfortable. I'm all right. Okay, I respect it. I'm chilling, so the flight was good. Oh, you said that was so much despair we, we lived well, that's a good thing live to tell the tale I said that slow so I wouldn't mess up.
Speaker 3:Live to tell the tale. Live tails tells the tale what yeah?
Speaker 2:it was it was my first flight and it was um.
Speaker 3:It wasn't as bad as you thought I thought it was gonna be, but it wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be, but it wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be well, I'm just glad y'all are here.
Speaker 1:Man, yeah, me too. You made it. What's up, what's up, what's up, what's up, what's up, what's up, what's up, what's up, what's up, what's up, what's up, what's up, what's up, what's up, what's up. Everybody, welcome back to a brand new episode of the Almost Brothers Podcast. Thank you for joining us yet again. We love you so much, so, so much, so, so much. Two so's.
Speaker 3:Rock and roll.
Speaker 1:That's just messed up. On today's episode we are talking about relationships, bc and ac ad.
Speaker 2:I knew somehow I knew one of y'all was gonna say it.
Speaker 1:I didn't say it no, uh, before christ and after christ, yeah, the difference in yourself and the difference in your relationships. Do you have the same friends as before? No, have people kind of left you? Do you feel like that's partly their fault, partly your fault? Like you know, you just kind of fall apart. Do you think it's important to keep those relationships? We're going to discuss all that today. I was about to say which one do I answer so so we'll start.
Speaker 1:Yes, we'll start with. What have you what? What is something that you've seen in yourself that is a major change before christ and after christ, other than being saved? Does that make sense? Right, like I know? For me it's just. My attitude has completely shifted. You know, I'm more, I'm more cognizant of others than I am myself.
Speaker 2:Now, right, I, I know the like. The first thing god took from me was the language. Yeah, you know, because I was a horrible cusser like I, I mean it was bad and like I mean it was pretty miraculous really. It just he just took it away. I mean that happened as soon as I just he just took it away. I mean that happened as soon as I got saved, he just took that away from me.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And uh, and I do have a better. I mean it's an overall outlook on life. It changes. Oh my gosh. I remember y'all can't.
Speaker 1:I don't. I can't remember where y'all went, but I remember y'all came back and, like you get mad at somebody at the pool or something, and it just came out. Yeah, oh, that is so funny.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, it was literally. I wasn't it just because word just flew out of my mouth. And what was really cool, though, was the shock Right that I got from my family when I did it, because before you know, it would have been like I was just dead Right, and now it was just like it, just complete silence.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, I didn't know where that came from.
Speaker 2:I didn't either. It was crazy, that is awesome.
Speaker 1:Well, that's good, and some things are like that. You know, when you you get saved. Some things are just easy to just like okay, cool man that. That. That that was somewhat easy, you know, of course we know that that is christ working in us. But some things you just have to like, really struggle and and fight and just keep trying, and keep trying, and keep trying. But that's good that yeah that's good. What about you ty um? You've been perfect your whole life, so this is gonna be hard, I know I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:Um, I would say for me, cussing, yeah, that's one, yeah, it's when you're in the military it's. It's kind of a requirement it make you sign that into your yeah yeah, uh, really it's uh, I kind of like kind of like you having more of a mindfulness for others, especially especially after marrying live, cause, you know, lives the probably one of the most compassionate people.
Speaker 1:Right. Yeah To a fault, to a fault Right.
Speaker 3:Absolutely Love her. She's awesome, yeah. But I mean especially with close friends of mine, like you guys and one of my best friends from high school, best friend from college I'm always reaching out to them. One lives up in Columbia, one lives all the way in Florida, and so I'm always trying to reach out and before really having a relationship with Christ and really being a follower of Christ, I wouldn't probably have done something like that and probably have the attitude of they're not going to check on me, I'm not going to check on them, but making an effort to just reach out to them, ask about them and and just continue having a relationship with them yeah, that's the only thing I can think of at the moment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I know, I know I've caught myself, especially lately, just kind of trying to do a lot of A lot of self soul searching. That's cool, because that all starts with S. I don't mind a few. I've noticed myself catching things that didn't used to be something. I even thought about that. Now I think a little bit more on it being frustrated in line at Kroger, with the people in line and having more patience with the person working or somebody's doing training or something like that. I know I never thought about that before.
Speaker 1:I'm very, very thin on patience and now I wouldn't say I'm a whole lot better, but I'm at least knowing. Okay, I need to work on this. Like this is something I need to work on, you know, especially with with my kids and with jamie. As I get I get very flustered and very impatient with them. But now I'll catch myself before I let it go from frustration to lashing out. Right now I'm like, oh no, that's something I need to work on. Don't let that, you know. Especially.
Speaker 1:You know I told y'all I was watching a video and it was talking about. You know, remember picking your kids up and enjoy it and take the moment, because one day it'll be the last time you pick them up as kids. You know it'll be, you know they just get older and you don't do that. So I've been really trying to focus on spending time and good quality time with the kids, and that's part of it is not being not getting frustrated with them, cause I find myself a lot of times when we're doing something fun, I'll get frustrated with them in the midst of doing it.
Speaker 1:Like we're playing a board game and they're not fully understanding how to play and I'm like, oh my gosh, y'all we're trying to have a game night, like well, why don't y'all just learn? And I'm like I'm the one causing this craziness. It's like take a moment, be patient, be calm. So I know that's something that I've noticed about myself a lot. Same with friendships. I used to kind of dude, what are you doing? And now I've tried to catch myself at doing that and being more understanding and patient with even friends, the group of friends that I have now.
Speaker 2:y'all the feces.
Speaker 1:We're buddies. I love this show Kicking and fun. We're buddies Are you done.
Speaker 2:These are the longest friendships I've ever had. You know, you have work friends. Depending on where you work and when you leave that job, a lot of times those friendships don't go with you. So it's been awesome to be able to maintain the friendships that that we, that we have throughout all this. So it's that's something that I struggle with is is is keeping in contact with people. I'm not.
Speaker 2:I'm not good at that struggle with is is is keeping in contact with people. I'm not, I'm not good at that. I mean, it's even I haven't talked to my brother and I couldn't tell you when, and it's just, I just don't reach out to him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you find? Do you find that friends you had beforehand, before you got saved, just kind of naturally fall away?
Speaker 2:yeah, well, it's it, you just have different interests, right, like I mean, it's it's generally, and I remember being unsaved. You know, before I was saved, being around christians made me feel a type of way right, you know, and I know now what it was. It was conviction yeah you know you were.
Speaker 2:You're seeing somebody live a certain way that you know is what's missing in your life. So now that I am a Christian, I get that from other people. You know they and it's even at work now you know they. They hired me and they told all their employees we hired a pastor. So you are going to have to watch your language.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I'm like that's okay. Thanks, I guess I don't know, but anyway, people are just different around you when they know you're a Christian, so it's hard to maintain friendships with people that are not. And it's a like-minded thing, is all it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, especially when your friendships contain and circle around a certain thing that now you don't do anymore.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:You used to go hang out and go, you know, to the bar, to the club with your friends, and now you don't do that and that was kind of the only time you got together anyway, right. So it's like just naturally now I don't do that, so I don't ever see him. Or you had college friends or high school friends and that's kind of what brought y'all together, and now you're're not doing it, so you just naturally fall away. You know, tyler, you have that in your life. I know you said a couple of your college friends Are you still stay in touch with, though, right?
Speaker 3:Just one from college, Just one from high school, and, and they so when? When I was in college I would say I was towards the end of college is when I was starting to work my way, probably around my third, my third year, maybe fourth year, starting to work my way out of the uh, I guess my before christ era I guess, it's so weird to say um, and andrew, he's, he's um, uh, one thing that that one kind of drew us together, is we both we're kind of the same person, we and that's there's two of you.
Speaker 3:That's, I know, terrifying I know I know, but he's like me, but in a better way.
Speaker 1:I'll put it that up I'll put it that way that's hard to do too. You're pretty great but it's.
Speaker 3:but it's true, we we have, we we really do have like the same personalities. But the one thing that was almost kind of like the glue was we both had that kind of desire for a christ like or a, or a relationship with God, yeah and um, that was. You know he's, he saw me at my worst in college but was still there and was still that friend for me. Uh, same thing with, uh, my friend Austin, who I've known since, I think sometime in junior high, maybe elementary school, and again he was one, saw me at my worst in college and it's still, he's still my friend today.
Speaker 3:So I guess I didn't do him wrong or anything, and you know it's that you could ask them. You know it's that you could ask them because that's another thing that I've noticed is just how I hold myself, how I talk to people, and my personality really has changed a whole lot since really getting serious about being a Christian, really getting serious about, uh, being being a Christian, and you could, you could ask them and they'd probably say it's almost a one 80.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Um, but he, uh, and Andrew's that friend that I mean we talk about. We talk about this stuff all the time.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:What, what we're struggling with and and what we need to struggling with and and what we need to do better about and all that. So that's so. That's that talking about relationships before and before god and after god say you know me and him. We had that. I mean, we're roommates in college, we're best friends, we went to the gym together, and that wasn't necessarily before god, but it was before I started taking god serious Right? Yeah, and now after it's like this is what we talk about on a regular basis.
Speaker 1:Well, and I wanted to ask that because I feel that Christians like to turn to the fact of and Rich, you kind of hit on it. Well, my old friends don't want to hang out with me anymore because they're convicted. But also, on the flip side, I think Christians do a bad job at continuing relationships outside of christ, which we need. We need to have those relationships because we we fail to meet the people where they're at. We kind of say, well, I'm over here, and if you, if you don't make it over here, I just can't hang out with you. And that's not the case either. So I think that a lot of times we allow non-godly air quote, non-godly friendships to fall away because they're not walking the same path as us and we stop giving an effort to still be friends with them Because it's easier.
Speaker 1:Right, right, and it's easy to say, well, it's because they don't want to be around me. Well, no, maybe you don't want to be around them, you know. And it doesn't mean you have to do what they do. But like I've got, I've got really good friends that aren't aren't I'm not gonna say aren't saved, but aren't chasing after christ.
Speaker 1:Okay that I've allowed that relationship to fall away, even though it's a good, healthy, great, amazing relationship, just because of that, because I'm so focused, focused on church and ministry and doing all these things that they're not. So I just I allowed that relationship. Nothing that they did they're not trying to get me to go and do anything that they do, they're just good friends and I've allowed that to happen. So I feel like we we as Christians need to take that accountability. Accountability also is saying you know what I'm going to give effort in those relationships as well, because I think that that would help both parties, whether they're godly people or not. I think we can have those good relationships with people that aren't like-minded. Of course, you don't want to hitch everything that you believe and everything that you are on those people, because, again, you need good godly counsel, but you should be able to have those relationships.
Speaker 2:Well, and I told Jennifer has a friend from high school that she hangs around. Jennifer has friends, she does.
Speaker 1:It's pretty amazing, this awesome.
Speaker 2:yeah, this is oh sweet oh so anyway, jennifer has friends from high school and I said something one day about you know, I don't really care for you hanging out with them because of the stuff that they they do, yeah. And she said well, yeah, but what if me hanging out with them brings them closer to God instead of the other way around? And that's the main thing is making sure that you are strong enough in your faith to hang out with those people without that having the opposite effect.
Speaker 1:And those friends respect that to not even try to get you, Because I could be strong enough to resist that. But you're not a good friend if you're trying to get me to go and do that could be strong enough to resist that.
Speaker 3:But you're not a good friend. If you're trying to get me to go and do that, I'm gonna say it's a hard. It's a hard line to walk and you have to be sure that you're on the side you're supposed to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah and it's respect on on both parties. Like I'm gonna respect you, don't believe the way that I do, I'm not, I'm not gonna expect you to live your life the way I am, but also don't try to get me to go and do those things either. Like, let's, let's meet in the middle, let's hang out, let's do things that we can do together and and when we're apart, hey, you go. Whatever, whatever you want to do, that's your life, but being able to respect each other enough to say, hey, I know where you stand, you know where I stand, let's, let's hang out in this good, neutral zone yeah you know and you know what I talk about mike c all the time, but he really is just one of my, my best friends I've ever had, and we couldn't agree.
Speaker 1:We couldn't disagree on more. Like we disagree on almost every front, except for the fact that we love each other. Right, like that's, that's it. So when we get together, it's funny stories of things that we've went through together and how are you doing, how's life and how's jamie kids? It's a new. It's a very much neutral area, right. I know you were going to say something Sorry.
Speaker 3:Oh no, I was thinking about, um, you know, my friend's wife. I don't, he he's a believer, but I kind of like what you said, not someone chasing after Christ. I'm not sure if his wife is just based on Interactions, but you know, I, I, I, I see it and I know it and I don't let it bother me. And I, and I always make sure that I always think of myself as a representation of Christ and when I'm uh conversating with them, I'm always uh being sure that I'm setting, or I'm being a good representation of Christ and I'm doing nothing but being loving to them, asking how they are, if they need anything, how's life going, things like that and you can.
Speaker 1:it's so easy to show Christ and show the love of Christ in doing that, that simple. Hey, how are you doing? Not, hey, jesus, are you living the right life? What have you been up to Like? Are you still doing that? Like just going? Hey, how are you doing, not? Hey, jesus, are you living the right life? What have you been up to Like? Are you still doing that? Like just going? Hey, how are you doing? Are you okay? Is everything good? How's the kids, how's the wife, how's your mom, how's you know being invested in their life? That is showing the love of Christ to them.
Speaker 2:Absolutely you know.
Speaker 1:So it's like we we've got to do a better job as Christians of having those relationships of people that could not be farther away from Christ, that we could just love on Right and say, hey, how's life going? Like you could tell me like, how's you know how's things going, like, are you okay, right, you know, and I think it's a big deal that we overlook because we click up with like-minded believers, you know, and it's like man.
Speaker 3:Well, it's easy click up with like-minded believers, you know, and it's like man well it's easy.
Speaker 3:It's easy to talk about god with like-minded believers. Um, I was watching uh willie robertson from duck dynasty. He, he did a message at uh life church I think it was, yeah, greg groeschel, yeah, and his his message was all on the importance of conversation and building relationship that could end up leading someone to Christ Kind of talking about the same thing. Just, you know, you see people at, you know all the LGBTQ plus events and rallies and stuff and they're preaching on the sidewalk and you repent and all that and I mean that's not going to get anyone anywhere.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, nobody at those things go. You know what You're right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it just doesn't happen. It's like have, sit down, have a conversation with them, with those, and you may leave and not be. You have not converted anybody in either direction to believe anything you said, but at least you have a conversation. You say, hey, I just want to meet you and and hear your story and talk to you and see you know what your life has been like to make you think this way. I mean, I may think differently than you, that's fine. You would think differently than me, that's fine. But to be able to have those conversations where I don't want to argue with you, I don't want to yell at you, I may completely disagree with what you're saying, that's okay, well, we've you.
Speaker 2:We've all seen that in churches that we've been to too. You know, when you walk in, everybody's kind of standoffish, you know they've got their cliques and their people that they know and and they're not great at inviting other people in into those groups. You know it's and it's frustrating because, as a believer coming into a church where you're new, it's, it's so awkward and stressful and if you have kids, you don't know what to do with your kids and it's scary man, yeah it's just a whole thing.
Speaker 2:But I can't imagine as as a nonbeliever coming into that Right and just you know, I just wanted to check out this church thing. Yeah, see what it's about. And you go in and people won't talk to you and you don't know what to do. You have no idea where to go. Yeah, I'm walking right out the door.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you don't know. Are we clapping right? Are we like what?
Speaker 2:are we doing? I don't know what to do. I don't have a bible. Was I supposed to bring one like? What version am I supposed to bring? Like how do I do this? You know, and it's, it can be as simple as hey. I noticed you're new. Yeah, kind of looking around.
Speaker 1:Come sit with me, we'll talk, we'll, you know I'll help, just guide you through things like, well, if you need any help, if you need being able to be that handout and that, hey, I would like to connect with you, no matter how you believe or what you think, I just want to connect with you. You know, being able to say I just want to be here for you, I want to be somebody that you can come to, we can meet on a neutral playing field and say, hey, we'll meet here and I'd like to help you out, and just relationships are so important anymore with life is you need connection with people, and I feel like we're getting the opposite. We're getting more and more isolated.
Speaker 3:Thinking about love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. It almost sounds like Jesus is putting a, putting us having a relationship with other, with other people, to hopefully eventually lead them to Christ or or keep a whole. Maintain a Christlike relationship with each other just as much as having a relationship with him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I love. So Francis Chan told this story. He had this huge church and it was blowing up and it was doing great, and he felt God leading him away from that. Okay, so he said what it felt like was that we're at a fishing hole. You know, we're we're, we're called to be fishers of men, we're called to be fishers of people. Okay, and he said what it felt like is all these churches and all these people and all these leaders are all fishing in one fishing hole, and it's like he said. He said what it felt like is he's.
Speaker 1:He looked up one day and it's like he said he said what it felt like is he's. He looked up one day and he's like there's another fishing hole over here. We're all here fishing in this one like-minded people, all the same type of fish, all the same things. When there's another fishing hole right here, all we have to do is go over to it. It's like we're forgetting about that because, well, there's all this, there's like-minded believers and there's people that look like us and sound like us and come from the same place as us. Let's stay here because it's comfortable and it's easy. It's like I'm just going to go. I'm going to go to this one. That's awesome what y'all are doing, but I'm going to go over here. It's like I wonder how many relationships that we look at like that Well, I've got my church family, I've got my friend's family and I've got my family. I'm cool with that, and we don't go outside of that to say, hey, I'd love to connect with you.
Speaker 2:You can use my favorite line I don't have time for any more relationships?
Speaker 1:Yeah, none of us man, we're busy.
Speaker 3:Busy people. That's one thing that I'm liking more about the church me and Liver going to is. In our community group we talked about how, in the past, the church has not specifically that church has not done a good job of going out into the community, and that's literally one of the few things in the past couple weeks that we've really just nailed down. What can we do, like listing off things. What can we?
Speaker 1:do Right.
Speaker 3:Like list listing off things. What can we do? And we're actually, we're doing some of that, uh uh. Tuesday at the parade going out into the community and doing things like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you have to I mean as a church, and that's it. All starts with a relationship with with each other, with like-minded people and with people that don't believe to go out into your community and make those connections and and and bring people to Christ, because they're not going to come to church on their own.
Speaker 3:They're not.
Speaker 2:I mean the majority of people don't just walk into a church to find out what's going on. You got to go to them.
Speaker 3:And it's so simple. It's just like you were saying go out and just ask them. No one likes to talk about anyone more than themselves. Ask about them. They'll tell you, Get to know them.
Speaker 1:And then bringing it back around to like before Christ, after Christ. This should be something that, when you get a relationship with Jesus, begins to change, where now you want to bring people from the outside and say, hey, let me, let me show you this, let me show you this group, this family, Let me show you this, this friendship and this friend group of people that love you. Like, come on, and we should want to do that. That should be something that naturally begins to happen as we walk with Christ is we want to be getting people in, you know? So that's something that I think all of us need to strive to do better is those relationships.
Speaker 2:I heard a pastor say one time that being a Christian is like having the cure for cancer but not telling people about it. You know, not sharing the good news that would be exactly what you've got the cure to sin and you're not sharing that with people.
Speaker 1:You have a winning lottery ticket.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And you're just holding on to it.
Speaker 3:A cure for death.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So get out there. We want to encourage you. Get out there, make some relationships. Just talk. Go to a coffee shop, talk to people. Go to Walmart and talk to hey, how you doing? What's your story? What do you have going on? You don't have to. Well, you know what the Bible says. Oh, what you're doing is wrong. What are you doing? Just go to people and and love on them like people are hurting, like people really are. They're hurting.
Speaker 1:so, um, it's our job to show them the light yeah you know not just what the scripture says, it's live it right not just tell them what it says?
Speaker 2:absolutely you know, what I'm saying, I do know you feel me I feel you man, what else y'all got on your heart?
Speaker 3:nothing that was a little aggressive.
Speaker 1:I know my bad boo you whoa what aggressive yeah, I feel you bb. Oh, you said, I feel you oh, my goodness, what's going on? I don't either. That was kind of kind of scary.
Speaker 2:For a second I thought we were gonna go down hey, listeners, we just want to thank you for your continued support for the almost brothers podcast. Do us a favor and go to your favorite platform and rate us and like us and share with everyone that you know. Thank you so much, love you.
