No Sanity Required
No Sanity Required is a weekly podcast hosted by Brody Holloway and Snowbird Outfitters. Each week, we engage culture and personal stories with a Gospel-driven perspective. Our mission is to equip the Church to pierce the darkness with the light of Christ by sharing the vision, ideas, and passions God has used to carry us through 26 years of student ministry. Find more content at swoutfitters.com.
No Sanity Required
Facing Difficult Trials | Looking at Paul's Example
Conflict, pain, brokenness, and loss are all around us. This world is fallen and trials are inevitable in this life.
This week, Brody looks at Paul’s life of trials and hardships, and examines how he relied on the Lord. Paul bore the scars of persecution that showed he belonged to Jesus. Paul's scars show us proof that the Lord is faithful to carry us through. God often gives us difficult trials to keep us humble and reliant on him, our sovereign king who comforts us.
- Romans 8:28
- 2 Corinthians 11:22-28
- 2 Corinthians 12:7
- Galatians 6:17
- Acts 18:9
Be Strong: Snowbird Men’s Conference
Please leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help improve No Sanity Required and help others grow in their faith.
Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.
Today on NSR, I want to talk to you about how the Lord sometimes uses difficult situations in our lives, and I'm taking a break from I've got a pretty long list of content and topics that we want to cover and I've mentioned some of those in the last couple episodes.
Speaker 1:But I just feel that one of the things I love about doing this podcast is there are times where the Lord will put something on my heart, and I want to be sensitive to that because I'm assuming One of the things I love about doing this podcast is there are times where the Lord will put something on my heart, and I want to be sensitive to that because I'm assuming it's because there are needs, that people have, situations people are going through, and it seems like I've had a lot of conversations recently with people that are going through very difficult situations.
Speaker 1:I'm going to share some of those and I want to look at some scripture in a in a moment in the apostle Paul's life where the Lord used a very difficult situation uh, to and more than once, to bring about a greater good and to and to bring glory to the Lord. Ultimately. I don't know what you're going through right now. I don't know how hard life is for you. I don't know what that terrible situation you're facing is. It seems insurmountable or something that you can't overcome. There's no way you can, and you might not feel like you can get through the day or the week, but I want you to know that the Lord is not only in control, but he uses things oftentimes for our, for our good and to to grow us and also to bring about greater glory, which is the ultimate fulfillment for us. So I pray that today's episode is an encouragement. Welcome to no Sanity Required.
Speaker 2:Welcome to no Sanity Required from the Ministry of Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters. A podcast about the Bible, culture and stories from around the globe.
Speaker 1:Before we get into this content, I want to introduce Joy Beth Kidd. I mentioned her last week. Maddie has passed the torch to Joy Beth. She is affectionately known around SWO as JB. To Joy Beth she is affectionately known around SWO as JB. So welcome, jb. I love you, I'm thankful for you. Appreciate your family. Jb is one of the closest friends to my middle daughter, lailie. They are, they're very close. So JB has spent a lot of time at our home and I'm just thankful for her, for her commitment to SWO, for her commitment to the Lord and to the gospel, and she has served faithfully at SWO for several years. Now We've got a couple of you'll get to hear from her because we're going to be doing a couple episodes on the Element program coming up here. That was one of the things that we actually skipped over for today's episode that I had planned on bringing out sooner rather than later, but it'll be up in a couple weeks. Sooner rather than later, but it'll be up in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1:Element is our leadership mentorship next gen training team that targets upperclassmen in high school. Um, it's 20 guys, 20 girls that are in that program each summer and it is a program designed to cultivate and develop leaders and and to really invest in teenagers. Some of our listeners may be in that category, or maybe parents that have kids. I'd encourage you if you're a parent with a son or a daughter that's in that 17, 18-year-old range, junior, senior in high school. We're going to start videoing and posting these episodes on YouTube so that you can watch, especially not necessarily the ones where it's me talking. That's not a big deal, but a lot of times when we're interviewing somebody it might be more engaging, but we're going to do, uh, a couple episodes on the element program, at least one in-depth episode where we're going to talk to several element leaders, people that work in that program. Jb one of her other jobs is that she works in the element program. We have three men and three women, so six total folks that work full-time with the element team in the summer. It's an amazing program, but JB works with element and I'm just thankful that she's stepped into this role is going to be working with me on the on the NSR podcast.
Speaker 1:Um, what I want to talk about today, let me share a couple of stories of things that are going on right now with me. Uh, just people I've talked to. I've had several people. It seems like seems like when you're in ministry, things kind of come in in waves. And here recently I've had several people. It seems like seems like when you're in ministry, things kind of come in waves. And here recently I've had wave after wave of ministry needs and prayer requests. And one one friend who reached out, a prominent ministry leader who had to take a step away from ministry because of some family issues a couple of years ago and his family's just unraveling. Uh, I don't know what's going on. He's just asked for prayer. Uh, his wife is. Uh, there's tension in his marriage. I don't know, I don't know the details.
Speaker 1:Uh, to my knowledge there's not been like infidelity or unfaithfulness or anything like that, just. But there is some major conflict and I believe that that a lot of it stems from one or two of his adult children who have turned away from the faith. They have deconstructed or apostate, apostatized. I don't know exactly what, what's going on, but they've turned away and I don't know if they've turned on him, because I don't know. But I just know this brother who I love deeply and dearly, who I've shared a lot of ministry burden with through the years, um, he's in a bad place. So you know, just praying for him, it's kind of like front and center in my mind and my heart every day I just feel for him. Um, so he's going through horrible family conflict. In my mind and my heart every day I just feel for him. So he's going through horrible family conflict. One of the things I pray is that the Lord would bring about good in all of this, that ultimately there would be good that comes out of this. A second situation that has come up over the last few weeks is a friend and brother named Dave that I was just texting with over the last few days. He's a pastor, very faithful brother, love him a lot. Used to be a student pastor and brought kids to SWO. Hadn't been here in probably seven or eight years but came for over a decade. But Dave's wife is, even this morning, as I'm recording this is, at the doctor because there are separated right now going through a terrible time of marriage.
Speaker 1:Difficulty Seems like conflict and pain and difficulty and loss are all around us. This all coming on the heels of, as a lot of you know, this past year has been a year where we've seen a lot of death and people that didn't seem old enough to die I know that sounds like a stupid statement, everybody's old enough to die but didn't seem old enough to die. Seemed like they had a lot of life left to live. Several people connected to our church or our ministry that have gone on from this life. It just kind of seems like the longer you live in this fallen and broken world, the more conflict you're going to face and the more difficulty you're going to face. And then and then I talked to a lot of people in the daily rhythm of my life, day in and day out, that just just just in a tough place, man like, work is hard. There's conflict with a boss man or there's conflict with um, a neighbor or a coworker, and the reality is, the world we live in is is chock full of trial and difficulty and pain and loss. I mean, we, you live in this world. You're going to constantly be facing difficulty and battles, and it's because this world has fallen.
Speaker 1:I'm, I'm, I'm right now looking at my desk. Here I have, uh. I have two uh programs from two celebration of life services and sermons that I conducted in the last few months Ronnie Waldroop and Cameron Ogilvie. Cameron was 22 years old. We talked about him on an episode. He died just before his 23rd birthday in a car wreck. And Ronnie Waldroop, who was my age, who passed away just a day or two before his 52nd birthday and he died in his home just unexpectedly.
Speaker 1:A couple of guys that I knew and loved and uh, and they're gone now and they've left hurting loved ones. And I know, uh, uh, being a ministry, we deal with people that have lost their children, have lost their spouse, have gone through a terrible divorce or breakup. So what do we make of all of it? There's an old saying about motorcycle riders. They say if you ride a motorcycle, there's two kinds of bikers those who have been in a really bad crash and those who are going to be in a really bad crash, and I think that's very accurate you ride long enough, you're going to wreck. It didn't take me long.
Speaker 1:I had a really bad motorcycle wreck when I was at a few dirt bike wrecks when I was a kid, but at a really bad wreck when I was gosh, uh, I think I was a senior in high school or maybe I just graduated and was leaving a party one night. I was not where I needed to be, I wasn't in a relationship with the Lord and I wasn't where I should have been doing the things I should have been doing. Um, but had a, had a motorcycle wreck and it it was uh, um, it was, it was it. I could have died from it. You know the Lord spared me and I look back now at that night and think, oh man, he really spared me. You know the Lord spared me and I look back now at that night and think, oh man, he really spared me. You know why did I survive that? Why did I live, and and so, anyway, I'm getting sidetracked that whole motorcycle thing about.
Speaker 1:There's those. I'm not telling the motorcycle story as part of this, the theme of this episode. I'm telling to say that, saying there's those that have been in a bad wreck on a motorcycle and those that are going to. If you ride a bike, you're going to wreck. If you live on this planet, in this earthly body, there are those who have endured hardship, calamity, loss, pain, depression, difficulty. There are those who have endured it and there are those who are going to endure it. We're all going to face it at one time or another, and most of us at multiple times.
Speaker 1:I remember when little's granddad passed away in 2020, at age 99. I remember, just reflecting on his life. He was a great man and a world war two, a veteran, a South Pacific Marine. He was on tarawa and, um, if you're familiar with with that, it was a difficult place to be and serve and but he had outlived everybody. You know it was like his uh, his son and daughter and grandkids were still living, but that was about it. He had outlived six, I think five or six siblings. Um, all of his extended family, all of his friends. Um, you live long enough. You're going to go through loss and you're going to bury friends and family members and, um, god forbid, but you might face terminal illness or you know horrible calamity.
Speaker 1:Maybe, as you're listening to this, you're going through a horrible relationship struggle. Someone's been unfaithful to you, or you have a spouse that's got an addiction to pornography that's been exposed or has said they don't love you anymore. You've got a child that's rejected the faith that you thought you had raised them in. You've got a child that has transitioned and says I don't want to be a boy or a girl, I want to be this or that, or someone who's come out of the closet and said I'm gay, I don't want to be in a biblical relationship, or they've rejected the gospel altogether. Maybe you're personally awaiting the results of some physical medical testing and you're freaked out about what that result's going to be.
Speaker 1:How might the Lord use difficult situations in our lives? Paul says in Romans 8 that God causes all things to work for good For those of us that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. God works for our good and his glory Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 11, he talks about how difficult life has been for him. There's several instances where Paul does this. One where he talks about being a Hebrew of Hebrews, and then here in 2 Corinthians 11, he says are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I.
Speaker 1:Are they descendants? They Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. So he's like man, I'm Jewish through and through. Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I've served him far more. He's like. I've got this strong Jewish identity, so identify with the Jews. And I've got a lifetime of service to the Lord, so I've. I've been faithful to serve in the calling God's given me. Um, I've worked harder. Now listen what all he's been through and put in prison more often been whipped times without number, face death again and again.
Speaker 1:five different times the Jewish leaders gave me 39 lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and day adrift at sea. I've traveled on many long journeys. I face dangers from rivers and from robbers. I face danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I've faced danger in the cities, in the deserts and on the seas, and I've faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I've worked hard and long, and during many sleepless nights I've been hungry and thirsty. I've often gone without food. I've shivered in the cold without enough clothing to keep me warm. Besides all of this, I have the daily burden of concern for all the churches. Yeah, I kind of feel Paul's words in this. He's saying, no, I've not endured the things he's endured. He's like man I've been beaten, I've been stoned, I've been shipwrecked, I've been imprisoned. I've gone through calamity after calamity after calamity.
Speaker 1:And in all of that I've got a heart, the heart of a pastor, and so I'm burdened for others. Perhaps you feel that way. It's your you. You can't grieve your own situation or you can't struggle with your own um difficult situation because you're so burdened for others. I think, as parents, we can feel this, can't we? You know you think about a dad who loses his wife I was talking to again. This is this episode's coming from just a cascading flow of calamity in people's lives. Talked to a guy two days ago whose wife died, got diagnosed and died of cancer just in a short period of time last year, after 23 years of marriage. She's left him behind with their, with their two kids, and it's like his. His grief is not only for his wife that he's lost, but he's worried about his kids. You know we can identify with that as parents. Maybe you can identify with it If you're listening to this and you've lived through something like this. This guy, he's like man. I can't even grieve properly Cause I'm so concerned about my children.
Speaker 1:I remember sitting on the porch of the coop at the main campus of Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters one time and watching this man just weep. I mean, he cried so hard and he was a pastor whose wife had been diagnosed with an illness and had died and I think they had four children and three of them were adults out of the house but the baby was like 14 and and she was crawling in bed with him at night just weeping and bawling and boohoo and herself to sleep and this man was just devastated because he didn't know how to comfort his daughter who had lost her, mama, paul's. Like man, I've been through all of this and, to compound it, I feel the weight and the burden of responsibility that I have to. Other people said I have a daily burden of uh, of my concern for all the churches, so I can identify with that. Maybe you can.
Speaker 1:Um and and then Paul in the next chapter is that really well-known passage where he talks about um, about the thorn in the flesh? He says this is 2 Corinthians 12. If you've wondered where the thorn in the flesh verse is, this is where it's at 2 Corinthians 12 and verse 7. Even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. There's a lot of speculation about what that was. I don't know what it was. I don't know what it was that God put in Paul's life to keep him humble.
Speaker 1:Maybe it's a physical disability. It's funny I do not play competitive sports anymore. I was so competitive in my you know, my youth and in my twenties I was an athlete, and really all the way through my mid thirties. Uh, I remember every week in the early snowbird days and when I was at the master's in the camp I worked at previously, every week we'd have a camper staff basketball game and I think we went, like I think I was 11 summers without losing you know, our, the staff team uh, between the two ministries may have been 15.
Speaker 1:I don't remember, but it was. And we would, you know, we'd put our best five out, they put their best five out. We'd play every week. It was so fun. And I remember the summer where I realized that I didn't have the step, the spring, in my step and I couldn't jump and I couldn't elevate like I had been able to. You realize. Oh, I've aged out of this and I'm no longer as competitive. I'm competitive mentally, but I don't have the physical ability. And for me I know a lot of guys are like I still just play, man, I like to get out there and play. But when you become the old guy on the court, you're reduced to either just standing outside and shooting which don't get me on this rant, but that's what modern pickup basketball is anyway. People just stand outside and shoot. They've watched too much Steph Curry. They think, well, I'm just going to stand out here and shoot threes, so I could probably work on my three ball and just be that guy. Or old guys will back down into the paint and just post up and try to bang inside.
Speaker 1:You know, I remember we used to get in. Every year we'd get in a couple of flag football tournaments. We'd play in one league it was a co-ed flag football league and we would just light it up. In one league it was a co-ed flag football league and we would just light it up. We never lost. I remember going to Atlanta.
Speaker 1:We were in our little, probably in our early to mid-30s, and the league the tournament we played in was like if a girl, it had to be co-ed, you had to have at least one girl on the field and she had to be involved in a certain percentage of the plays, either throwing it or catching it. So she had to touch the ball like every third player, every other play. I forget how it was something like if a if a man or boy made a a positive gain for yardage, then the next play had to have. The girl had to touch the the ball in some way, so had to be involved in the play. So they set it up. Well, well, little would just destroy. It, did not matter what girl they put in front of her, she'd destroy them. And so I remember going down and playing this Atlanta tournament and we destroyed everybody and we got into the championship game. It was called the Something Cup.
Speaker 1:You know, we're playing for the Something Cup and the other team that we're playing for the something cup and, uh, the other team that we're playing was a bunch of I mean, it was like a bunch of 20 year olds we're in our early to mid 30s bunch of 20, 22 year old athletes from down in atlanta. You know, like in the city, like these guys have probably grown up playing street ball, playing hoops, you know, and they were. They're very athletic, very fast, very athletic. But what they had done they'd made a mistake. They got a girl on their team who was just like a marginal athlete, I think you know just kind of you had to have a, you had to have a girl on your team. I don't know if they just couldn't recruit one that was a stud athlete, but they got this girl. She wasn't very good. I felt bad for her. Little just picked her apart.
Speaker 1:First play from scrimmage and I would play quarterback. I tossed Little about a 40-yard post route. I said just go, just run a post Boom. She goes, toss it to her Touchdown. They get the ball, you know. Second or third play they've got to throw it it to this girl and little just picks it right off from her and takes it to the house. So pick six so little scores our first two touchdowns. You know we're we're smoking this team and that there got to be a point where little had torn her acl. I've had some issues with my right elbow, my throwing arm. I got no. I can't throw the ball anymore. I don't like to go play basketball because I got no first step. Why am I ranting about being an old man? Because what I'm saying is it's humbling. It humbles you. You become the guy that, if you're not careful, you talk about. The glory days, the good old days. Man, I used to be able to dunk, I used to throw the ball this far. I was a baseball player at such and such. I don't know how many times I've sat down with an old fart, you know, or a guy in his 30s, even at camp, and we start talking he's like yeah, I played a little college baseball, you know, and he had
Speaker 1:had a one-year stint at a JUCO somewhere and it's like living the glory days. And Paul's like God gave me something to humble me so I couldn't be boastful. You know, for me, I think, when I was a young man I had a lot of pride in my athletic ability and the Lord takes that away from you. Part of it's just the natural aging process. But you start to feel aches and pains and creaks and bones cracking and joints that are, you know, the wrong body parts are grinding and rubbing together. You know bone on bone and your shoulder, your elbow, your knee, your hip, whatever it is and all of a sudden you're like, oh my gosh, I'm not young anymore and so it's very humbling. But sometimes God humbles a young person, you know, by taking something from them. Paul's saying I've endured a lot, I've endured a lot, but but think about this y'all this is crazy. Even in enduring all of that, I could have become boastful, but the Lord gave me something to constantly remind me of my reliance and dependence on him. Listen, if you don't get anything else from today's episode, no matter what you're going through, you have to rely on the Lord totally and completely. You have to look to him for peace and wisdom. You have to trust to him for peace and wisdom. You have to trust that he's sovereign. Whatever you're going through right now, he's not taking a back bite. He's not on his heels trying to figure out what am I going to do, how am I going to move forward. He's in control y'all. King Jesus is on the throne. He is the King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords. He can comfort those who are hurting. He can wipe away the tears that we don't think will stop flowing. Paul said God humbled me by giving me something that literally kept me in a place of brokenness and humility. And he said and I'm grateful for that, even though I asked the Lord to take it away, I'm grateful because it pushed me into a deeper dependence and reliance on the Lord. He said, man, when I take pleasure in my weaknesses and insults and hardships and persecutions and troubles that I suffer for Christ, for when I'm weak, then I am strong. I'm immediately reminded of the story over.
Speaker 1:I think I did an episode on this. I can't remember Um, but it was when, when Paul was, when he was going from, he had gone to Athens. Y'all remember this. He had gone to to Mars Hill and he had debated in Mars Hill, you know, on the, at a place called the Areopagus. If you remember that the Areopagus was a place that was, um, it was kind of like the place where all of the really smart people communicate with each other. You know debates and, and you know famous oratory, um, like, like big speeches were given, and I always think of it as kind of like a mix of academia. So imagine an open forum or a debate, or a speech given at Harvard, or debating or arguing a case before the Supreme Court. Take that and then imagine putting that in the context of, like, the Super Bowl halftime show. You know, it's like a big stage where everybody's watching and Paul had defended the faith there. You can read about it in Acts 17. And when he leaves there, he meets a couple named Priscilla and Aquila.
Speaker 1:He moves to a city called Corinth and he's discouraged. I mean, he's just broken down and discouraged, and I love this moment in Acts 18, verse nine One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him don't be afraid, speak out, don't be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me. So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half teaching the word of God. I love that because what happens is Paul's struggling. He's what, if you really drill into the story, paul's? Paul's dealing with some anxiety, some depression, some fear, some overwhelming fear. And I love it because what he's doing is he's saying um, he he's saying that the Lord came to him and comforted him and said hey, I'm with you and I've got a plan moving forward and it's going to be okay. And you know, ultimately Paul died, right, I mean, he went to be with the Lord, but by that time he was ready. He was ready.
Speaker 1:So, whatever you're going through right now, the Lord might come to you in a still small voice and say don't be afraid, it's okay. In a still small voice and say, don't be afraid, it's okay. To my buddy whose wife is kind of turning on him. His daughters have turned on him. I would say to my friend and my brother the Lord is with you. And he would say to you don't be afraid. To my friend whose daughter has transitioned and changed her name to a boy name and is insisting that her father call her this. And I would say to that brother, as I have before. The Lord is with you and he's with your daughter and he's he's I believe he's going to turn her heart back to him and to you. Uh, to to the, the husband whose wife is facing breast cancer. The Lord is going to walk through this with you, whatever the outcome, and he's going to give you exactly what you need to be sustained.
Speaker 1:To the parent who's wrestling with the child that has rejected the faith that you raised her in. The Lord is with you and he's going to do a work. To the couple that can't get pregnant and you're overwhelmed with your infertility and you feel like, well, why live? What are we living for if we're not going to raise a family? And the Lord is with you and he would say don't be afraid, I'm with you, I'm here, I've got you To the kid that's heading off to college for the first time, or the parent that's dropping that kid off and for the first time, you're facing what a lot of us have had to face, which is overwhelming. Oh man, wish we could keep them young and at home forever, but we can't. The Lord is going to be with you through this season. The to be with you through this season. The Lord doesn't leave us, he doesn't forsake us. He's with us wherever we go, even to the end of the age.
Speaker 1:Paul in prison, in a Philippian jail. He said you know what, if the Lord would use my imprisonment so that others would know the gospel, then it's worth it. Whatever you're going through, the Lord is not going to leave you or forsake you. In the midst of this, he's with you. I was watching, I was thinking about what we read in 2 Corinthians 11.
Speaker 1:Paul saying I've been beaten and whipped with rods and stoned. Some of you heard this story before, but this is funny. I was preaching one time this is years ago, early snowbird days. I was talking about hardship and difficulty and I walked through this passage and I was like Paul's been through this and this and I said he even said I've been beaten this many times and whipped with rods and this many times I received 39 lashes. I mean, imagine being whipped like a dog, like a slave, like a subhuman abuser and being whipped. And he had that happen five times. I think it said in that passage. But he said I've been stoned and I remember saying have any of you ever faced 39 lashes? Have you ever been in front of a judge where you got whipped and beaten five different times? The Jewish gave him that, the Jewish leaders gave him that Three times he was beaten with rods have any of you ever been beaten with rods? And then he says once I was stoned. And I said have any of you ever been stoned?
Speaker 1:And this kid in the back of the room, literally he's in the back of the room. It was early snowbird days, so there was maybe 50, 60 kids in the room and this kid slowly raises his hand, you know, and I could tell he wasn't being cute, it wasn't trying to be cute or funny or sarcastic, cause I was pressing the question. I was like what? And he said, yeah, but it was just a couple of times and it was with my brother at his house, and I know you're not supposed to do drugs, but I was like no, no, no, no, ma'am, that's my bad, I didn't mean stoned like that. Hilarious, hilarious. A lot of us have been stoned like that.
Speaker 1:That's not what I mean. And so, um, you know this idea of stoning, paul was stoned and, if you remember, in that story he was left for dead. Stoning had one end goal and that was to kill somebody. You know, when they whipped him those five times, when they whipped him, it was a punishment, but it wasn't meant to kill somebody, it was meant to beat them into you know it was a punishment and to leave them hurting and scarred. So they didn't forget. He had that happen five times, but stoning was. You know why did it only happen once? Well, because it's supposed to kill you. And they left him for dead. They thought he was dead, they threw him out of the city, if you remember that story, and he got up and he walked back into the city and he continued to do ministry See this with believers in the early church. Peter and a couple of guys were thrown into prison, into jail, and they got up and walked right back into the city and preached.
Speaker 1:But I thought what did Paul look like? He said I carry in my body the marks. He says that to the Galatians, galatians 6, verse 17,. He says Don't let anybody trouble you with these things, for I bear on my body. The scars that I show, that show that I belong to jesus. Paul's body physically, literally, was broken. He carried scars and and he walked with a limp and he, you know, his face would beat up.
Speaker 1:And I mean, we were, uh, a week or two ago, we were over at my my folks house and I got a pool in the backyard brilliant grandparent move. By the way, I don't know how many grandparents listen to this, but one of the best moves ever was my folks got a pool. They had a. There was an old pool in their backyard that hadn't been operational for I don don't know how long and, uh, I think they decided, you know what, if, if this pool is functional, the grandkids will come over. So so we're over there, we're playing in the pool, the kids playing in the pool, and it, and it just kind of was that point of the day where everybody, the girls went out to go, I think, to Goodwill and me and the boys went inside and and, uh, pap was watching, um, their granddad was watching, uh, the the first John wick movie. Now, I'm not endorsing it, it's super violent and I don't think there was anything sexual or inappropriate that way, but I know the language was very harsh.
Speaker 1:But we go in there. And you know this guy, if you've watched those john wick movies I haven't seen them all, but I've seen the first one and then parts of one of the other ones and you know it's basically like watching a cartoon or reading a comic book. It's very unrealistic. And this guy, you know he fights. He'll fight 30 people and beat them all, but when it's done he'll have'll have a gunshot wound through his leg and a gunshot wound through his gut and his face will be bleeding and marked up. He'll have stitches, he'll need stitches and he'll just be a train wreck. And I thought there's a scene where he's getting in his car to leave and he's wearing a suit. He's got on this really nice tailored suit. There's a scene where he's getting in his car to leave and he's wearing a suit. Right, he's got on this really nice tailored suit, but his face has got scars literally all over it. Not just scars but like blood. It's like bloody. You know it's bloody. I mean just mangled. And I was like don't matter how fancy he dresses up, that dude looks rough. You know, I got a friend. His name is Victor. You might, you might've heard of him. You know him as Vitor Belfort. Um, he, he goes by Victor, I think it's what most of his buddies call him, but Vitor Belfort was the. I think he was a two time, three time, I don't know but he was a UFC champion. He was an MMA champion. I think he fought at 185 and 205, but he's a friend of mine. I got to know him.
Speaker 1:Our boys were both in the Under Armour All-American pipeline for football when they were in high school and it ended up. This is kind of a cool story. We met when Tuck was going to be a junior and his son was going to be a freshman, I think, and Tuck was doing some training at a at a place in Fort Lauderdale. We had flown down. He was training with a guy named Anquan Bolden, who's like a legendary NFL receiver. So Tuck's doing some training down there as a bunch of NFL players training there, and this guy, uh, vitor Belfort was there, cause he he's an MMA guy, but he was training in the same facility. There was like some pro hockey players, some pro baseball players, just a bunch of pro athletes, and so Tuck was there by invite, getting to train, do some training with some guys. And this guy, vitor Belfort his son, davi, is a quarterback, and so him and Tuck got to be friends and over the next few years, as they're both being recruited, we kept in touch. We met up and went to some events together and it's cool because now his son is at Virginia Tech, where my son is they're both there. His son's a freshman at Tech. He's a quarterback.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I'm rambling. Vitor Belfort had a 20-year fighting career and I'm going to tell y'all you look at that dude. He has got scars all over his face. His eyebrows, his eyelids, his lips, his ears are cauliflower. He's been cut so many times and his face it looks like.
Speaker 1:But to me this is the point I want to make. Okay, here's the big point. Thank you to my friend Vitor for this. He doesn't look like the victim of abuse, he looks like a dude who has made a living fighting. He has fought and fought and fought and sometimes he's won championships and sometimes he's been on other people's highlight reel for getting knocked out. You know what I'm saying. I remember Anderson Silva front kicking him and knocking him into oblivion. He's got scars to show from all the fights he's been in.
Speaker 1:So when you think of Paul's scars and the brokenness in his body and to beat up, like when you feel like you've been broken and beat up. And I want you to think this is what it looks like the scars of battle, the scars of war, the scars of combat, the scars of being in the fight. This is not a John Wick cartoon. This is not a real life story of Vitor Belfort, mma fighter, is as real as his story is. This is, the scars that you're carrying are the scars of a man or a woman that has lived for the gospel and stayed faithful to the Lord. That's what Paul's telling us about.
Speaker 1:And in the end there will come a day where you will gaze on the face of Jesus and hear the words well done if you'll just remain faithful. So, my brother, my sister, please remain faithful this week. Carry the scars in your body that reflect faithfulness to Jesus and in your heart and in your soul. Carry that. And if you've got a trial, a difficult situation you're going through right now, know that the Lord's strength will be made perfect in your difficult situation. He loves you, he won't forsake you, he's with you always, even to the end of the earth. Know that we love you and care about you here at Snowbird and at NSR and uh, and our prayers for you as our listeners, that God would richly bless you.
Speaker 1:I want to pray right now. I don't once in a while I'll do this on the show, but I want to do that. I want to pray right now, god. I pray that for those listening that needed this episode I don't know who it might be, but I feel like you. You really gave me the clear direction to do this today.
Speaker 1:I pray that you would comfort, bring wisdom, that the beat-up, worn-out, faithful follower of Jesus who's wrestling with and questioning some huge piece of their lives right now whether it's relational calamity and difficulty, physical calamity and difficulty, somebody struggling with anxiety or depression, whatever it might be that they would feel your presence, that your strength would be made perfect in their weakness and you'd get them through this week and this season of life, and that you would glorify yourself in all things. Thank you, lord, that you love us, you care so much about us and that you will not leave us or fors. Lord, that you love us, you care so much about us and that you will not leave us or forsake us, but you'll walk through the valley with us. You'll strengthen us and give us the strength that we need for the journey, and I thank you for that. I love you in Jesus name, amen. A prayer for you is that, uh, the Lord would use this to encourage you and bless you. So in the days and weeks ahead, we do want to bring you some content. That's a reflection on where we spent this past summer.
Speaker 1:I still have that lined up to meet with Zach Mabry and talk about deconstruction, john Rouleau and talk about Love is Love the Element team leaders. We want to talk about love is love, uh, the element team leaders. We want to talk about element, and it'll be good to to get some folks on here to talk about, um, what God's doing at SWO and and kind of where we are culturally right now in society. And then also we will have a presidential election deal. You know we'll talk about the election and most of our listeners are pretty like-minded, but, um, the things that matter most to us are going to be what matter most to you. So, uh, pray for SWO.
Speaker 1:We've got um, this weekend we have our first off season. You know, I say I still call it off season because early on that's what we called it. Now we call it retreat season but our first post-summer retreat South side, uh from. It's a group of churches South side Warner Robins, south side Kathleen church, called pleasant hill, I think. Um, all part of the same uh church network group of churches um from middle Georgia, the Warner Robins area, going to be coming in here this weekend. This weekend, 250, 300, I don't know students and leaders. It's an annual event. This will be about our 20th year, I think, doing this. I'm excited to have them and trusting the Lord to give us an awesome weekend.
Speaker 1:College football kicks off this weekend. Hope you all are ready for that. Those of you that are fans, I will be following my team, the Virginia Tech Hokiesies, as they go to Tennessee to play the Vanderbilt Commodores. Um, I won't be at that game cause we have this event, but the following week they'll be playing at home against Marshall university. I'm going to go watch that Um, so whoever your team is, I hope that you have a good season and enjoy uh, the fall.
Speaker 1:I tell you what, man, this morning here in the mountains of North Carolina it was 49 degrees. It dipped into the 40s. Finally, in some places, everywhere, it was like low 50s, 52, 53. So it's close and we're in August. You know you usually don't start getting those temperatures until September, so it's been a hot summer. I was ready for some fall weather and it's here. And you know I love to hunt and so archery, bow seasons, right around the corner. It's a good time, good time of year. I love it, um.
Speaker 1:So thank all of you for listening and for your support. It means a lot, uh, it means the world to us that you care about this ministry and you're and you're following along on our journey and I pray that the content we put out would be an encouragement to you. Last thing is this go to SW outfitterscom. Uh, have JB link a couple of uh adult conferences in the the description show notes. Uh, we have a couple of marriage retreats with a little bit of opening uh and availability still, at least at one of them. Uh, those are both in October. Our be strong men's conference is filling up super fast. There still is a little bit of space left there. So look for that if you're interested in coming to one of those conferences in the near future. Be Strong Men's Conferences is in September. Marriage Conferences are in October and we'd love to see you at one of those and if not, maybe we'll see you down the road, either at your place or at a future SWO event in the upcoming season. God bless you.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to no Sanity Required. Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a rating. It really helps. Visit us at SWOutfitterscom to see all of our programming and resources, and we'll see you next week on no Sanity Required.
