Hustle & Flow
Join us for the wisdom, humor and insight from a married couple of 33 years on the hustle and flow of life.
We have worked so many types of jobs over 33 years. We have worked in the service industry, retail, corporate and blue collar work. We have been Realtors for 18 years, managing property, flipping houses and owning short term rentals. We have worked staff work which includes everything from Pastoring to Youth Pastoring to Children’s ministry.
We have been involved in CrossFit for over 11 years, owning a gym, coaching and actively working out. We are involved in Spartan races and travel the nation competing.
We own a Dessert Cafe called Crave in Downtown Tupelo that has been open since 2014. We currently have three locations.
We have raised four children and currently have two grandchildren. Family is of utmost importance to us.
We have a life full of stories that we can’t wait to share with you.
Hustle & Flow
There's No Hate Like Christian Love
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Brad and Tiffany tackle the difficult subject of the church and culture. They discuss what Christian love looks like and how it translates into every day life.
https://chriskratzer.com/evangelical-christian-what-the-hell-did-you-expect-me-to-do/
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2312581/support
Good morning, good morning. This is Brad, and I'm with my wife Tiffany. We are the authors of the Hustle and Flow podcast. And hey, check this out. This morning we're going to be talking about there is no hate like Christian love. And that's a hot topic. It's going to be a juicy one, and we're just going to roll and have uh have some good thoughts this morning and just uh talk about how that uh how that transpires. But uh good morning, Tiffany.
SPEAKER_00Good morning.
SPEAKER_01What's happening in your world?
SPEAKER_00I am on uh day four of a 5K a day, and my body is mad about it. So it's uh, you know, that was the challenge that you put out, and there's uh somebody at the gym told me this morning that we're all dumb. He said I didn't know you were that dumb too. But um apparently I'm that dumb too. So it's run or walk, a 5K a day. You gotta run it consecutively or walk it consecutively, and I am on day four, and my body is a little upset about it.
SPEAKER_01Well, and and so that turns into, yeah, we we issued a challenge uh uh 5K a day for 30 days in June. And basically just a kick in the pants to maybe get you back off of uh being off a vacation or graduation or all the Mother's Day and parties and all the stuff that you have where you might put on a little holiday weight. Uh one of us might have done that, me, because I've been snacking quite a bit. But uh anyway, so 5K day. We're on day four. Uh and for a lot of people, it's it's going to be more miles in a month than they they've ran in a long time or walked in a long time. It turns into somewhere around 92, 93 miles for the month. And so uh it's pretty fun, it's pretty exciting, and I guess it's not exciting.
SPEAKER_00I don't even know that like there's nothing exciting about it. I don't that's a s that's crazy.
SPEAKER_01I guess it's dumb is the word. But anyway, so hey, I do dumb things all the time. This is just one more of those dumb things you can chalk up, but uh it's tough on the days that we also go work out at CrossFit.
SPEAKER_00That's the days that's making it tough. Two a days. Yeah, I did that when I did 75 Hard last year, and so it's uh it's a remembrance of that pain and suffering, but we're gonna get through it. And it is it the fun part is the group and the you know, the Facebook group and the people that have joined in, and so that's fun.
SPEAKER_01And it's cool because there's people that I don't know personally who have joined the challenge and you just get to interact and and encourage each other, and it's just fun to see uh all the all the people interacting together. But again, especially after today, we had a crazy dumb workout. Uh partner workout, uh you had to do a hundred calories on the rower each, followed by a hundred calories on the bike, the assault bike, and then a hundred burpees. And that's each. And and I can tell you, it's as close as I've came in a long time to needing the garbage can because I asked them, hey, bring the garbage can close because uh I was real close to needing it. So anyway, but hey, I hope you're having a great morning listening to these podcasts. We thank you so much for listening and being part of our our uh listenership. I don't even know if that's a word, but I'm gonna coin it right now. Thank you for listening, supporting our show, giving us uh five-star reviews. We appreciate everybody who takes the time just to to listen to us. But this morning, we've got an interesting topic, and we're gonna talk about there's no love or no hate like Christian love. And this is sparked out of a little article or uh I don't know, a post-a post. Uh uh from a from an article off of a guy's page, and we read it a couple weeks ago, and it just stuck with me. And so we're gonna I uh Tiffany's actually gonna read that. So here we go. If you like books by tape or books by red, here she goes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I don't know if I have a an audible voice for reading, but this is by Chris Kratzer, and the um the link will be because I know it's hard to listen to things sometimes, and you may want to read it for yourself, but the link will be be attached as well. So to the church of my youth, what did you expect me to do? You told me to love my neighbors, to model the life of Jesus, to be kind and considerate, and to stand up for the bullied. You told me to love people, consider others as more important than myself. You taught me to sing red, yellow, black, and white. They are precious in his sight. We sing it together, pressing the volume pedal and leaning our hearts into the chorus. You said that he loved all the children of the world. You told me to love my enemies, to even do good to those who wish for bad things. You told me to never hate anyone and to always find ways to encourage people. You told me it's better to give than receive, to be last instead of first, to help the poor, the widow, the stranger at the gate. You told me that Jesus looks at what I do for the least of these as the true depth of my faith. You told me to focus on my own sin and not to judge. You told me to be accepting and forgiving. So I paid attention. I took in every lesson and I did what you told me. But now you call me a Lib Tard, a queer lover, you call me woke, a backslider, you call me a heretic, you make fun of my heart, and you mock the people I'm trying to help. You say I'm a child of the devil, you call me soft, a snowflake, a socialist. You shun the very people you told me to help. What did you expect me to do? I thought you were serious, but apparently not. I believed it all the way. I'm still believing it all the way, which leaves me wondering what happened to you.
SPEAKER_01Man, I and and that's gonna take a minute for it to soak in if you actually reel back and listen to it a little bit closer. But when I read that, I read that and I thought the part that got me was I thought you were serious, but apparently not. And we've talked about this and and and as church, I'm gonna be honest with you, sometimes it is so confusing to people. Because all those things, uh red and yellow, black and white, they're precious in his sight. Uh he loves all the children of the world. You tell me to love my enemies and and do good for people. You tell me not to hate people, you tell me there's better give than receive. And you know, you tell me that Jesus wants us to do things to the least of these. But then when we look at culture and society, and you actually do that, uh then those words that you read, Lib Tart, uh, queer lover, woke, backslider, heretic, uh, making fun, mocking people, child of the devil, snowflake, socialist, uh those words really come to heart. And you know, the the statement that we read to start with is that there's no hate like Christian love. I've heard that time and time again. I've heard that so many times, that um if you really want to be hated, just talk to a Christian. And why is that though? Why why do you think that this why do you think this article here is so impactful when you read it from a different perspective of, oh my gosh, we actually teach these things but we may not be serious about it. What do you what are your thoughts there?
SPEAKER_00Well, and I know we'll talk a little bit more about it, but I think I think we get so caught up in making sure everybody knows where we stand on everything that we feel like we can't do two things at the same time.
SPEAKER_01What what do you mean by that?
SPEAKER_00You know, I may feel like I can't believe what I believe and what I feel like God has showed me is right and wrong, and still love you if you're doing something that contradicts what I feel like he showed me is right or wrong. And it it's it's like we feel like we can't do the the the two things at once.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I can't love you if I feel like, you know, if I feel like gambling is wrong, but I know that you went to Tunica, you ate the buffet, and you dropped $20. I feel like I can't love you at the same time instead of just saying, Hey, can't be associated with you. I can't love you. You know, it's and it's you know, we always say, what is it, love the love the sinner, but hate the sinner and everything, you know. And some of this is about that, but some of this is just a again, just going back to people that are not like us, red, yellow, black, and white, they're all precious in his sight, and just valuing people in general. But I think that, you know, it it's that we feel like we can't do two things at the same time. I can't I can't line those two things up.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I can't have standards and love people. I guess. And and it it's a weird I I I'm I'm just you know, and today's gonna be probably a little bit different, maybe a little more free, but just being honest and talking about what this even looks like. This this article, and and let me just say that uh the article again is uh we'll tag it, it's uh Chris Katz Kratzer. And uh, you know, from what we can tell, and and and no dig on Chris, Chris is anti-establishment. And apparently, you know, he he may have gone to church or been in church, but he's anti-establishment as far as church. But even in that, it doesn't say that he doesn't love God or love Jesus. Uh and I'm not defending Chris either way, I'm just saying that that just so you know where this article and the heart of this article may come from is that he's anti-establishment. I'm not anti-establishment. I I but I will say this. I've been in church a long time. You you've not been in church as long as I have. Uh the church is full of problems. The church is the church is full of problems because I grew up uh in a denomination, and you may have too, that there were standards and but sometimes the standards overrode the love. And, you know, we preach about love your enemies, we preach about loving those who are different from you, we preach about not judging people, we preach about or talk about all these things, but when it really happens, it gets uh it gets weird. I'll use this example, and you may kick me under the chair. We may have to edit this part out, I don't know. But when I was youth pastor, my first stint as a full-time youth pastor, um, you know, I I I grew up in in a small school, I grew up in a small town, and I'm gonna be honest with you, it was there was a lot of racism. Tons of racism, you know, and I've talked about that. You know, uh I think I had four black people who went to school with me. That's it. And so it we then I grew up in an in that atmosphere, and I had to work out of that because my mind didn't necessarily lean that way all the time, and I had to work through that kind of stuff. And so my first end as a youth pastor, I remember I had the shirt that it said love is colorblind, and it had uh a face on it, half of it was black, half of it was white. And and I believed that. And so we started embracing uh everybody because I just love kids. That I just loved kids. And I remember I remember the first nights I brought uh a a couple of uh of black kids to our youth group. Uh you would have thought that I had done something just so wrong because of the way that people looked and acted. And the truth is is that we believe that God was no respecter of persons. We preach that. But all of a sudden, God is a respecter of persons when it comes to your standards or denominations or your thoughts and opinions. And so uh, you know, the things that we teach, the church is chock full of problems when it comes to actually practicing what you preach. What do you think?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean and and like you said, you you you know, you you kind of touched on on that, but going back to you know, to what this is talking about and talking about Chris being anti-establishment, you know, when we were talking about this, I said, you know, I really feel like though some of these things are why not just Chris but young adults are coming up anti-establishment because of the the contrad the the contradicting message that we're that we're putting out. You know, if we're putting this message out but then they don't see it in practice and they hear us talking and they see the way we look at people that are different, and we they see us not going over and extending a a a right hand of fellowship or even a a smile or a or a greeting or anything to people that are different, then we're constantly contradicting ourselves.
SPEAKER_01A hundred percent. Because you know, the Bible says that God is love, and you preach that God is love, but what does love look like? Love love looks like that I love you and I'm going to accept you, and no matter what you look like, smell like, feel like, act like, I'm still gonna love you. You know, I I I that that I think it comes down to to what Christian love really is versus what we've made it to be. Does that make sense? Is that we've made it to be uh a set of rules, a set of standards, and if you don't look like me or act like me, if you're not Republican, if you're not Democrat, if you're not an independent or libertarian, if you're not any of those things, then you don't fit my uh ideology. And and I think it goes back to the practice of of love when it comes to these things. I I I you know that's that's where I'm at with it. And again, like a and I I'm gonna say this, and and again, the church's hot button right now, and you know what I'm gonna say, and you're probably gonna w want me to not say it. But the church's hot button is homosexuality.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It is homosexuality. And wherever you lean on that subject, wherever you wherever you feel, it is the church's hot button. And and if you're a homosexual, you have a a tough time uh uh even uh accepting anything about God because of how people treat you. As you watch people who are heterosexual fornicate and they get a slap on the wrist or they get a high five or they still get to sing on the stage, but because you're a homosexual, you don't get to participate in those things. I I I heard there was a denomination that we were we were talking about. I heard that in order to to there there's ways to be disqualified from being a pastor. And this I found this ludicrous. Okay, and this is this is this is the duplicit stuff that we deal with in society, and it's not just about homosexuality or heterosexuality, okay, but that is a real thing that we're dealing with in our churches right now. But I I read or or saw where if you have an affair with a woman as a pastor, you can be restored to become a minister again. But if you have an affair with a man, you can never be restored to pastor a church again. Now tell me the difference. I'll tell you the difference. Because it's taboo if a man has a relationship with a man, but it's okay if a man has a relationship with a woman, and that's the duplicit living that we're we're having when it comes to articles like this right here, that people see that stuff and they're like, I don't want nothing to do with that junk. You know, you can do things that you can do with a man that you can do with a woman, but because it's a woman, you can be restored to be minister again. That that blows my mind.
SPEAKER_00Well, and it is, and it's and it's it's it is the picking and choosing and the hot buttons and the um we can we can love you, and we're gonna talk about this. We can love you if you have wandering eyes and you are lusting after every woman on Facebook and you're commenting on every post.
SPEAKER_01That's the next that's the next podcast.
SPEAKER_00You can still sing worship, you can still greet at the door, but if you walk in here with somebody of the same sex that you've got a relationship with, then you, you know, we're we're gonna talk about it and you're gonna hear about it. You're gonna hear about it maybe ten times before the service is over. But it it is, and it's the um, it is the we pick and choose who who we can love because you know, we've we've built up a um we've even built up, you know, a standard. God ha God said sin is sin. God said this is this is wrong, this is right. And like I said, we're not just talking about things that we necessarily feel like are are right or wrong issues, just in general, of even um, you know, I think about the the talking about something that's not a a sin issue, it's just different. You know, the when we went on the the tour in uh New Orleans and they were talking about the mortal vampires and these people walk around with these um very expensive things that they've had custom made to their teeth. You know, let's just be honest, if I if I'm get set on if I'm on a cruise and you get set with people you don't know, and that's my dinner guest every night, then then then what am I am I gonna embrace them? Am I gonna love them? Am I gonna talk about them? I'm gonna find out everything about them, or am I gonna shrink back because I'm because it's different and they're not like me. And that's what some of this is about is you know, some people sometimes not being like you. But um, you know, I think I think we were talking about where you know, what is the problem with all this? I think where does love stop? I think where it stops sometimes is because we feel like if we love people, we embrace people, we're kind to people, we're good to people, we consider them more important than ourself that it's that that for let heaven forbid anybody get it twisted that we condone it. And that's where the problem comes in, is is that we're so afraid of loving anybody and everybody because we don't want it twisted that we condone what anybody and everybody is doing. And that's where I think the pro that this where love stops is because we can't ever be can you know perceived as somebody who condones something that's maybe, you know.
SPEAKER_01Right. That y that and that's it, is that we don't want to feel like that we don't want anybody to think we condone it. You know, condoning just basically means that you're giving approval to it or you allow it or maybe you regard it as harmless or something like that. And so we don't want nobody to think that we condone stuff. But the the question was, is where does love stop? Well, love does not stop at all, ever. We stop it. But the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts according to the scripture should never stop. I I and and I was thinking, I I was thinking about a gentleman that I know, and uh I I will loosely use this. Um one of his one of his sons had uh began to transition in and dress uh uh as a woman and um got to where he wouldn't come home, and then he got to where he wouldn't come home as much, and and this this guy that I know never made him feel whatever he loved his son, regardless of where he was and who he was. But until now, I was told he told me the other day that he doesn't even know where his son is anymore. And do you think that even though that maybe uh his son was doing something that he didn't necessarily agree with, that he stopped loving his son? Absolutely not. You know. Uh I can say this, I've probably broke my parents' heart time and time again. I know I have. But I don't think they ever stopped loving me. My kids have broke my heart. They've broke your heart. But I've never stopped loving them. And so where does love stop? Well, it never stops, you know. And and that's it though. It comes back to where we don't want to condone stuff. We don't want people to think that we're okay with that. And uh man, I don't know. This we talked about you know, it goes back to even uh if we went to a bar and and had food with some friends who were drinking beer or or doing whatever. It's the appearance. And we don't want people we we're we're so cautious that we don't want people to think that we can donate that we stop short of really loving people and being open to people. I I that's just kind of where I'm at with some of that.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, because I was gonna say the other side of the um uh uh I've been on the other side of people, you know, saying if my kids have maybe been doing something or somebody in my family, you know, and and somebody said, Well, how can you let that go? Well, I mean, I I'm not it's how can how can I stop grown adults? You know, if I've got friends, if I've got family, if I've got anybody doing something that maybe isn't what I'm taught or what I feel like is is right for what God has showed me, you know, I can't I can't stop someone else. Because here's the thing that I bel that I bel I believe, this is what I personally believe. It is my job to point you to Jesus and make sure you know about him and who he is. Right. And then it is your job, once you know who Jesus is, you've got to figure out what does he want for you. You've got to get in the word and figure out what he's and let him teach you and tell you what's right and wrong. Or the ch the church, the church sometimes, you know, preachers, whatever. But my job, if I'm friends with you, my job is to make sure you know about Jesus. My job is not to stand around in your house. House 24 hours a day and make sure that I think you do everything that lines up with the word of God. Because again, we have hot buttons, but there's a lot of stuff. Like we were talking, you know, we we both fail. We both have issues. Mine is, you know, I have a serious issue with patience. And people live say, I'm not patient either. Like, I know I have a serious issue. I haven't that's that's an issue for me. It's it's you know, I've got to I've gotta work on it. I've I'm constantly working on it. But I mean, are you gonna stand around every day and tell me, okay, you weren't patient right there? I mean, do you have time? I don't have time to to stand around all my friends and all my family and and worry about the places they're getting it wrong. But what I do need to make sure is all my friends and family know who Jesus is. Right, right. And know that he saves. And that's what my job is. But sometimes we judge other people for not judging. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And it's crazy. Right. And that's good. Say that again. That that you're Yeah.
SPEAKER_00We judge others for not judging people.
SPEAKER_01Right. And I mean, and and let's be honest, the Bible specifically says to not judge. But what do we do? When somebody walks into our life, our congregation, our our whatever, and they're different than us, what do we do? We automatically begin to line them up with some standards that we have in our mind, which may not even be right to begin with, because as much as we are uh, as much as we want to chase after God, I'm not perfect. I'm still human and I still sometimes miss it, and I still don't understand, and I make mistakes and I don't have understanding, correct understanding of of maybe what God is doing at times. And so for me to judge you, and I know that everybody's like, well, you know, God's got standards. God does have standards. But what was it you said about guilt and not guilt? That was I love that.
SPEAKER_00Here's the thing though, is is if I am not to judge you, we always think of that like, well, don't judge me and you can't judge me. Okay, that's fine. But if I can't judge you, that means I can't find you guilty, but I also can't find you innocent. It is not that and and so that line that goes along with like saying that you're, you know, I also can't, if if I feel like there's something you're not doing right, that's right. I can't judge you and find you guilty, but I also can't say, well, that's fine. Whatever you're doing is fine. And so that's where that's where sometimes, you know, condoning things comes in. If I'm not judging, then I'm not judging you either way.
SPEAKER_01Right. And and let's be honest.
SPEAKER_00If you ask me, yeah, yes, I'll tell you. I'll tell you you know, what is the scripture? What do you why do you feel like let me show you? I've this is what I feel like God has showed me of why whatever it is is not right.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00And so you pray about that, you read that and see, you know, if he shows you that. But it's not my job to go around judging you right or right or wrong.
SPEAKER_01No. Because at the end of the day, uh the Bible says, judge not lest you be judged. And then it says that you need to take the moat out of your own eye before you worry about the beam that's in your your brother or your sister's eye. And and I'm gonna be honest, it's so much easier for me to look at you and tell you what you're doing wrong. I could tell you right now. You want me to you mean to list it? I'll be happy to list it out.
SPEAKER_00I think you shouldn't.
SPEAKER_01It will be but it's so much easier for me to look at you and say, you know what? You suck. This is what you're doing wrong. And the truth is is that I don't even look in the mirror and and decide or even begin to fathom what I'm doing wrong. Because I'm so constantly worried about what you're doing that I'm not worried about what I'm doing. And somebody may listen to this that know us, you may think, oh my god, they've gone off on some liberal tangent and they're they're no, I I this this article affected me. It affected me. It wasn't something that I just read over and gave it a a happy face and and and whatever or care face. It affected me. Because what we teach in our churches, do you really believe it? Are you serious about it? And if you're not serious about it, then quit teaching it. Stop teaching it if you're not serious about it. Because when somebody walks into your church or walks into your life and they're different than you, or they don't look like you, or they don't think like you, or they're not even the same uh religion as you, they're Hindu, they're Muslim, they're Buddhist, all of a sudden it just it messes with our mind. Because I go back to this God is either real or he's not. He either has a plan or he doesn't. And he he has a has a way that he wants to do things or he does not, and you either believe or you don't. And and for me, I am working at fifty-two years old, I am working harder than I have ever worked to try to let God lead me and me not lead myself and not be so rigid because I know that that's your hot button with me. Like that she tells me I'm mean and rigid sometimes. And you know, the the truth is is that I am. I grew up rigid, I grew up legalistic, and I grew up with those things. I grew up with telling everybody what they were doing wrong, and that was what I thought my job was. But I'm telling you, I'm challenged at 52 years old because I I can't fix people. And I think that's it. You know, my kids, I love my kids. I I mean I would fight you for them. I'll fight you now if you want to fight, meet me. I would fight for my kids, but I can't fix them. Like, and there's things that I see sometimes and I just want to thump them on the head and think, oh my God, what are you doing? Because I've been 25 or 27 or 30 or 32, and I'm thinking, this stuff will get better if you just, you know, in time, but you just want to thump them on the head, but I can't fix them. When they were little, when they were little, I could control their behavior by discipline or by grounding or by taking things from them, and I can make them act or do whatever I felt like they w that I wanted them to do. But I can't do that anymore. So I have a choice. I can be a butthole and just be obstinate and tell them everything that I think about, everything that they're doing all the time, and just tell them how rotten I think that all these things are. Or I can just, you know what? I can kiss them, my daughters, not my son. I can kiss my daughters on the cheek when I see them. I can love them. I can give my son that that that man fist bump or that you know where you put the the hand between you and you pat the back and tell them you love him, but I can't fix them. But I can love them. And that's where I'm working at. And I think it goes back to for me, I am serious about God. I am serious about my faith. I am serious about that I believe that there's a heaven and that there's a hell, and that there are choices made here that give you that determination of where you go. But that don't mean I'm always comfortable with everything. I I you and I've talked about this. There's some situations right now that I'm dealing with with family. I am not comfortable. And I'm I am working hard to love God and believe God, but it doesn't necessarily mean I'm comfortable. Because I don't ever want to go back, and I think that's it. My my mindset, my denominational legalistic mindset sometimes doesn't ever want somebody to think I condone it. That's where I that's where I'm at. How about you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you said a lot. Um and that's that's it. And it and and and again, though, like I said, this is not all about things that we necessarily perceive as as biblical biblical wrongs and rights. It can just be people who don't look like us. You know, we were at a restaurant um outside of Tupelo the other night, and you were getting stared at really hard by a much older couple because you have tattoos. I remember in my twenties, I I feel like I'm some you know activist talking about the days in the 70s when we were all, you know, out there fighting for, you know, it fighting against the man. But, you know, I I remember in my twenties going through a phase where I was really um frustrated with the church of how because we had some young people coming in that did not look like everybody else that then, now that was in my twenties. That's 20-something years ago that had tattoos and piercings. And I was frustrated with the church of how these people were being, you know, received. And here we are, 20 years later, when you're one of those people and um you got, you know, I I thought that lady's gonna break her neck looking at you. I thought, just eat your pizza, like this is good pizza. We drove 30 miles to eat this pizza. I I don't know if you live here or not, but like let us let us eat, lady. But it's it's it's it's not just things, and I do know that some people feel like, you know, you and and that's you know, that's such a good point. There are people that feel like you are wrong because you have tattoos on your body because of verses that they hang on to that they feel like mean that you're in error.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00But they have a choice to love you or to steer clear from you because of what they believe is wrong or right.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00And it's you know, because because you're you're on the side of that sometimes. I am of and I'm okay with that. Yeah, and so and that's that's the thing. Like, and if somebody steers clear of you because they feel like you're a sinner because you have tattoos, they're missing out.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00People that know you, and I mean, I'm not just saying this, you're great. You're such a good friend, you're such a good mentor. You know, many of my girls were talking about some of the young guys that you you talk with on a regular basis. You are such a good um, you know, person, uh a role a role model, somebody to look up to because of your all the things that you know that you talk about with these people, but they're missing out if they steer clear of you and they can't love you because you've got drawings all over you, you know. So, um, and that's a you know, I've there's people in my life that I would miss out on. We were talking about just trends, and you know, my kids, if my kids bring home somebody on taco night that has a PP and wears wears pearls at the same time, I may be missing out on, you know, that person of not seeing them for their their gifts or their personality or what they bring to the table because I think it's strange that they have a PP and wear pearls. I don't understand that trend right now. I don't even wear pearls as a female. I don't really really understand the guys wearing pearls things right now. But just because I don't understand it does not make it wrong. Like and people are listening going, oh yeah, it's definitely wrong. Well, it's a fashion to me, it's a fact it's it's wrong fashionably. It's terrible. But again, you know, it's just not my place. It's my place to love you. And and I believe that by by creating that with our coworkers that don't look like us or act like us or believe how we think they're supposed to believe, with our family members, our even people that anywhere in our walk of life, I believe it's our job to keep acting like Jesus acted with love and kindness. And you know, I always say this, the goodness of God. If you feel like somebody's wrong and then you pray and you don't stand there and judge and point it out, the goodness of God, you know, leads men to repentance if that's the issue.
SPEAKER_01And it does. And it comes back to as we as we get ready to finish here getting to know somebody because uh learning who they are, each person I and I'll say this that person that you can't stand, that person that you think is wrong, that person that has a PP and wears pearl necklace, that that's funny to me. That that person who don't dress like you or who don't love like you, who or has their whatever you call, God loves them. One hundred percent. God loves them as much as he loves you, raising your hands in church every Sunday. God loves that person just as much. They have unique gifts and they have unique callings, and there's things in them that God wants to call out, and you know what? He loves you for who you are.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01He can love them for who they are. Right. And who knows? It very well may be that the love that you show is the catalyst to bring that person to what it is that God needs them to become.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And and and we miss it. And so I go back to this. Are you serious? There's no hate like Christian love. I never want that to be associated with my name. I want them to say there's no love like Brad's Christian love that God put in his heart. Because I really want to love people. And I want people to know that there's a God who loves them and that I'm not perfect, and that that together God will God will help them. So any pardon thoughts?
SPEAKER_00That's it. I think we said a mouthful.
SPEAKER_01I think we said a bunch. And so, hey guys, thank you for listening. And and we know that may be a heavy subject, but uh there's a lot of things here that that God wants to work through. And so we want to encourage you, get in the flow of life. If you want to go a direction, find people who are headed in that direction and jump in the flow with them and go. Thank you for listening. Talk to you soon.
