Walking Our Talk

You heard Michael's incredible story, but you didn't get the whole story! In fact, 22 years ago, Michael and his wife had a daughter who they decided to put up for adoption. Now, Maria has become a blessing to them both by becoming an important part of their life. Get the details in this week's podcast!

From foster care to faith, follow Michael Johnson's journey to find faith in God. Through trials and many difficult tribulations, Michael put his life in God’s hands and has never turned back. He talks about how he is able to share his faith at work and with whoever will listen. Learn more about Michael's story in this week's podcast.

How do you find wisdom and why is it so important? Join Alan and Pauly as they dive into Proverbs 3 to explore this question.

Is your partner acting like a porcupine? And, how do you attempt to hug a porcupine?... VERY carefully. What do you do when all the quills are out and they want to be comforted yet, they are prickly? Great question! And one we are going to answer in this week's podcast.

All of us face the need to forgive someone in our lives. Whether you're looking for forgiveness for yourself or need to forgive someone else, it's often easier said than done. Listen to this week's podcast to learn more about how to find forgiveness in all your relationships.

"Don't worry about anything, instead, pray about EVERYTHING." In this week's episode, we talk about something that's burdening more people than ever - anxiety. Anxiety can be overbearing but rather than letting it take over, get some tips from Alan and Pauly about how to cope and manage your anxiety.

What is the true meaning of trust and how do you apply it to your life? In this episode, Alan talks about the definition of trust and the importance of having trust in God and your relationships.

What is love? Valentine’s Day is a time to explore the meaning of love in your relationships. This year, resurface and share your wedding vows with your spouse. Your wedding vows are meant for a lifetime not just a moment on your wedding day. Spend the day refreshing the love for your partner. Listen and WATCH Pauly and Alan share their vows again and discuss how the Lord is at the forefront of everything in their relationship.

You may have tuned into the beginning of Chris Shoenloeb's story and his fight with the deadly disease, ALS. He shared his miraculous healing story with Walking Our Talk. But how does the story end and where is Chris now? Learn more in this week's podcast.

We know we left you hanging with part 1 of Pauly's story. Don't worry! Part 2 is here! She was kicked off the gymnastics team in college, then what happens? Pauly spent time wondering what she wanted to do with her life and who she wanted to be. Learn more in this week's episode of Walking Our Talk.

You've heard from Pauly on many episodes of Walking Our Talk - but do you know her story? This week, you can not only listen to the podcast on Pauly's testimony but also, watch the recording to get up close in personal with the recording of Pauly's story by watching the video!

The holidays are not always easy, and this year, more and more people are grieving the loss of a loved one. It's okay to not be okay, but there are ways to navigate during nostalgia-filled holiday times. Listen to this week's podcast for tips on how to get through this difficult holiday season.

Wakeup Call Wednesday: This year, most of us are making adjustments to our usual holiday plans. Maybe there are fewer seats filled at the table or maybe you're at home instead of traveling. Family stress is a normal part of family gatherings, now complicated by COVID-19 restrictions and anxiety. To help you reduce your stress and make the most of your time and communication with family, listen to this week's podcast.

In last week's podcast, we talked about what fills your cup. But you might also need to ask yourself, what drains your cup? There are often internal and external stresses that cause you to be unhappy or feel down or drained. Learn more about how to fill your cup in this week's podcast.

Is your cup half full or half empty? Rather than asking yourself that question, take some time to figure out ways to fill your cup all the way up. To learn more, listen to this week's podcast where Alan explores ways to fill your cup: mentally, physically, and spiritually.

It’s possible to not burn out at work or n your personal life if you learn to take time for yourself. It’s not always easy, but it’s much better to take a sabbatical when you chose to, rather than when you're forced to. Learn more about how to beat burnout in this week's podcast. Plus, order Alan's booklet, How to Beat Burnout with a Sabbatical, on our website: https://walkandtalk.org/product/how-to-beat-burnout-with-a-sabbatical-book/

How do you organize your life when your usual schedules are completely rewritten by uncontrolled circumstances - like COVID-19? #INSIDERTIP: Journaling can help organize your thoughts, which will translate that organization into your life. For more tips on getting organized, listen to this week's podcast:

Vacations have been canceled, workspaces are turned upside down, kids are schooling from home, through all of this, how do you find contentment? We have some answers in this week's podcast. + Find more free resources on our website: walkandtalk.org

In the midst of troubling times, the application of scripture can be a very useful tool for those who are hurting around you. Because we are told that, “all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for reproof, correction, and training in righteousness," you can help others through applying it at the right moment. Learn how to use the word to bring healing to others this week's podcast.

We all face problems in life. Rather than view them as a curse. Think of them as friends in a spiritual refining process. Hear more about this mindset in this week's podcast.

It's easy to get caught up in the distraction of life and lose our way. Rather than going through the motions every day, make a conscious decision to live in Christ. Learn how in this week's podcast!

Do you live each day in your identity in Christ? How can you find your identity in Christ? In this week's podcast, we talk about three ways to practically live this out. Get more tips for living a life in Christ in this week's podcast:

Many times, we get caught up with the business of life we don’t set aside individual time to just to listen, and be with the Lord. In this week's podcast, we discuss the importance of one-on-one quiet time with the Him, what the benefits of that time are, and some ways you can enjoy that time. Learn more by listening to Walking Our Talk!

Transformation through Christ happens in many ways, but one of the most powerful ways is through accountable, Sprit-formed relationships. In this week's podcast, we talk about the influence that the people you surround yourself with have on your life and faith. Learn more about the characteristics of discipleship and explore the importance of your connections in this week's Walking Our Talk!

Disciple-making impacts people internally (in their soul) and externally (in their behavior). To truly embrace the characteristics of a disciple-maker, you have to be faithful and sacrifice for another, even when things get hard. You will learn four important characteristics of a disciple-maker in this week's podcast:

A special guest, Chris Shoenleb, tells his story about his Lou Gehrig's disease diagnosis and his miraculous healing. Discover his story in this week's podcast.

What are the ingredients for a disciple-maker? There are 5 key competencies that make up a follower of Chris. Learn what those are and how to grow in them by listening to this week's podcast.

Take the next step to becoming a disciple-maker and help others in their walk with the Lord. Learn more in this Walking Our Talk podcast.

Pauly [00:00:07] Welcome to walking our talk with Alan and Pauly Heller. Join our conversation as we discuss practical ways to apply spiritual principles to your everyday life and help you walk your talk - one step at a time. Alan [00:00:29] This is Alan Heller as we walk our talk and Pauly Heller. Today, we're going to be talking about discipleship. Three men that I respect that have different sorts of views and some similar views on what it means, what it means to be a disciple. And then we're going to talk today also about what it takes to be a disciple-maker. How do you do that? So first, we'll talk about Howard Hendricks. He gave a message one time talking about what it means to be a disciple. And he said that Gallup in the 70s did a poll which talked about, you know, is when everybody was Chuck Colson wrote his book called Born Again and Born Again was a big slogan said in the 70s and the 80s. And Gallup did this poll where the number of people that attended church was greater than it had ever been. People that said the Bible was the word of God just more than has ever been. People who believed in heaven and hell more than they had ever been recorded and that they had a born again experience. The only problem was he made a conclusion at the end of his study that said never before has the gospel made such inroads and yet makes so little difference in how people live. So here everybody say that they're born again, that they believe in the word. But they're not living like it. Pauly [00:02:02] Very trendy to be born again. Alan [00:02:04] Exactly. And so he went on to talk. Howard Hendricks went on to talk about and he was the used to be the chancellor of Dallas Seminary or the honorary dean or something like that in his last years. But at one time, he was the head of the Christian Education Department at Dallas Seminary. And here are the three things he talked about, being a disciple. And I just thought they were very good, an unrivaled commitment. He has to be first in everything that God or Jesus has to be first. And everything that we talked about this in another podcast, he talked about that Jesus made an exaggerated contrast when he said, you need to hate your father, mother, sister and brother, basically saying there cannot be a rival anywhere in terms of your relationship with the Lord. And then he talked about unceasing cross-bearing. Pick up your cross and follow me that Jesus comes before self. What is your cross? It's not just a physical illness or it's not just the hard person you have to deal with or the person you're married to. Picking up your cross means putting down your self, life and your flesh and following the Lord. There are those who will say at the last of their life, God will say to them, thy will be done. And there are other people that he will say, My will be done. And then the last one is unreserved cost. Christ must come before others, self and the things that we possess or our prestige or power that we might have. We need to give up everything or we cannot be his disciple is what he said in Luke: Chapter 14. So unrivaled commitment, unceasing cross-bearing, and unreserved cost. Matthew 16 says, "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it". We are building and we are battling. And we need people who won't quit and won't allow anything to stop them. And the only way that we can be disciples like that, of course, Pauly, is to have the Holy Spirit being filled in, are being filled with always spirit and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 says, "Don't be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit." And then Galatians says, "Don't walk after the flash. And then you will walk after the spirit." Pauly [00:04:54] Yeah. That is so true, Alan. I love that idea of having an unrivaled commitment to Christ. If Christ is first in your life, that's not the same thing as church being first in your life or your ministry being first in your life. Part of making Christ first in your life is being filled with his Holy Spirit because that is his command to us to be filled with the spirit. He sent the Holy Spirit to us to be our Paraclete, which means to walk alongside. He's the one who came to take the place of Christ as God in us, God in the world. And so his Holy Spirit now speaks to us individually and communally and part of being a disciple is learning how to be led by the spirit of God and some of being led by the spirit. And having our commitment to Christ be first is listening to what he is telling us to do and not to do. And sometimes church can lay demands on us that aren't necessarily what Christ wants for us. And we have a hard time saying, no, we need to know what is Jesus saying to me? That for me to say yes to as well as for me to say no to. Sometimes it means yes, you need to get out of bed. You need to go and get to church early. You need to do this. Alan [00:06:45] I like that one, can you do that one? Pauly [00:06:45] But you need to get up and go and do. And sometimes the spirit might say in what looks to be the same circumstance, the spirit might say, no, you need to stay home and spend time with me or focus on your family or be available to your spouse. And you can't know that if you're looking for just a yes and no rule. Like every time that somebody asks me to do something, I need to say yes. Alan [00:07:17] And I think being a disciple and a disciple-maker, which we'll talk about next time, but being a disciple-maker, you need to be principle-based about scripture, not just every little thing, trying to find an answer for every little thing. Pauly [00:07:37] In this situation, you do A or you do B.. Alan [00:07:39] So here's what it says in the Book of Acts, Chapter: 1 "And being assembled together with them. He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You have heard from Me for John, truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? And he said to them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put into his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses. You will tell other people about me, too. In Jerusalem, in Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the Earth." So it's the power of the spirit that's going to see people come into God's kingdom and then be discipled by you. Pauly [00:08:43] That's right. Because we can end up doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. We can serve and serve and serve in the children's Sunday school ministry. And it makes me feel so good about myself because I'm giving so much time to these children or I'm visiting sick people or I'm making meals and I feel so good about myself because I'm doing that. Well, that's doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. Not that you're not supposed to feel good about yourself, but your main objective is to be serving Christ, to be doing what God wants you to do, and that there's a very subtle difference in that, that other people might not even be able to see. But if you are being discipled by someone that the person who's discipling you might say, "so how are things going with the children's ministry?" "Oh, they're going great. I just love these kids. I feel so good about it." And, you know, and on and on and. Well, what if God was wanting you to take a break from that for a while so you can focus on other things? Oh, I could never do that. I'm just saying that a good discipler. Will be able to ask you the questions that will cause you to examine your own heart and your own motives and say to you, you know, let's go a little deeper into this. What do you think Jesus really wants you to be doing here? Is this the best use of your time? Is this the best use of your spiritual gift. Is this really building in you the characteristics that God has for you? Kind of going back to the humility and the meekness that you were talking about before. Alan [00:10:43] Or one of the things that will happen if you're using your gifts and abilities and if you're truly walking in the spirit, you're going to see fruit. You're going to see people coming to know him. You're going to see people being blessed by your ministry. And so it's not that we're saying don't do ministry or don't do what you feel good about doing. It's just is it directed by the Holy Spirit? Pauly [00:11:07] Right. There's a balance. Alan [00:11:08] Let me just. Another great article about discipleship. I read about was Greg Laurie mentions in his article about the requirements for discipleship. His number one was love God more than anyone else, which is what we've already talked about. Number two was deny yourself and take up your cross. That sounds familiar because, in Luke 14:27, it says, "and whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. And if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." That's Luke 9:23. So again, cross bearing. And then three was forsake all that you have. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has. Cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33. To forsake means to surrender your claim to, to say good bye to it. Until I recognize that everything I have belongs to Jesus Christ. I'm not his disciple. Consider Jesus encounter with the rich young ruler, which we've talked about. What must I do to inherit eternal life? And he said, sell all you have. And so, again, forsaking everything for the Lord, you'll lose things. But, you know, he says if you don't lose your life, you can't find it. You lose your life in Christ life, which means you take on a new identity. And we haven't talked love to do a series on what does it mean to be identified with Christ and no longer Galatians 2:20 says, "it's no longer I who live, but it's the life I now live. I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." And so, you know, we can't learn everything all at the same time. But you got to start somewhere. The fourth thing Greg Laurie talked about was counting the cost. Luke 14:28, "For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down and first count the cost. Whether he has enough to finish it." Jesus underlines the importance of counting the cost of a disciple of discipleship. Many people make impulse purchases without even considering the cost. Or they rush into marriage or career. Sadly, some do the same in their commitment to Christ. So the point is illustrated in Luke 9:57-58. Now, what happened is that they journeyed on the road that someone said to him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes. Birds of the air have nests. But the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. So the man in the story did not even wait to be called. He hastily volunteered. He seemed to have a good heart, but he was impulsive. And so counting the cost and telling. You know, when I first was asked to be a disciple of my friend Joe when back in college. And it was I talked about this in an earlier podcast that he basically sat me down at what we called the Beveridge Center, which is sort of the place where you got snacks and stuff on campus in the Student Union Building. So, Joe sat me down and he says, I'm the new guy in town here. And I just want to ask you some questions. And so he opened to Luke, where he talked about the parable of the sower and the seeds and the good soil and, you know, said some of the seed fell on hard pan and just got scorched and some fell on and you know, where it grew up and the thorns and thistles and the cares of the world got in the way. And and he says, what kind of soil do you want to be? He said, there's the good soil that, you know, the seed was planted and it grew and became Life-Giving fruit. And so I said, of course, I want to be good soil. Well, here's what you have to do. And so he gave me some assignments and things that I needed to do in order to be a little bit more committed to my relationship with God. And I am very thankful that he did that. And I couldn't really do all the requirements that Joe had for me about going out and sharing my faith in the dorms and stuff. I worked out three or four hours a day, five to six days a week, and I just didn't have the time that maybe some other students had. But he was willing to let me be a disciple and become a part of this growth group that he had called an action group. And he saw the potential in me. And that was a good lesson. And I think Jesus saw the potential in peter, even though he said, I won't deny you and did deny you did deny him. And he said on this little pebble, I will build my church. He Peter was Petrus, which was Pebble. And then and he turned into a rock. And the church was built on his testimony of who God was. And so even though he failed, Jesus and Jesus had to ask him, Do you love me, Peter? And he said, Of course I love you. And he had to ask him three times. Do you really love me? Do you love me more than anything else in the world? And he said, Feed my sheep. So the last one I want to talk about before we end our time is a classic, the master plan of evangelism, Rodge Robert E. Coleman. And you can get that, you know, in any on Amazon or whatever. But he has a careful study of Christ's life and strategy to reach the world. Involve the following principles of discipleship. So his first one was selection. He carefully selected a few key men as disciples and he prayed for them. He actually fasted and prayed all night. And then so selection and then association. He gave extensive personal attention to his disciples, which we've talked about already, consecration. He taught his disciples progressively more of the demands of following him. In other words, they knew what it was to believe in him. And then he taught him more about accountability and obeying what he said. Importation is the next one. He emphasized to his disciples the essential role of the Holy Spirit, which is what we just talked about. And then demonstration. He modeled what it was he was talking about. And of course, we talk about Jesus model is he did it. Then he asked them to come and do it with him. Then he asked them to do it while he supervised them. And then he just let them do it. And so that's really a great model for discipleship, going with your discipleship and disciple and showing him what to do or her and then doing it with them and critiquing, then letting them do it and then letting them go and do it on their own. And he sent out Jesus sent out, and they came back all excited that demons were subject to them. And they were just excited about this ministry experience. And Jesus said, just be thankful your name is read in the Book of Life. So that's that humility that we've talked about. Then the next one was supervision. He provided alternating instruction and application, giving encouragement and correction and then giving them new assignments. That's in Mark 6:30 and Luke 9:10. And then lastly is reproduction. He always kept before them. The goal of reproducing his likeness in others. So that's in, John, 15:16. So the whole thing is follow me as I follow Christ, not follow me as I go into a brick wall. And so any last words about discipleship or what it takes Pauly and what encouragement would you give to somebody who wants to be a disciple? Pauly [00:19:42] I think the main thing to keep in mind is that being a Christian is is being a follower of Christ and that that everything that we need is in Him. And he provides us all that we need for life and godliness. And that begins with our following Him into death to ourselves and into the resurrection power of His Holy Spirit. And He and anything that He calls us to do, He will do. In us and through us. And there's nothing that he will ask us to do that He will not do Himself well. Alan [00:20:28] Right. He's given us the power and authority. And I think sometimes we forget that it's him who gives us that power and authority. It's not us. And so he said all authority has been given to me. Go and make disciples. And so that's God's call on each of us. And we hope, you know, the name of our program is Walking Our Talk. And we're hoping that these lessons are helping you walk your talk in the Lord. And if you want any more information, just go to walkandtalk.org. It's been great to be with you. We look forward to talking about what it takes to be a disciple-maker, next time. Pauly [00:21:15] This has been walking our talk with Alan and Paulie Heller, where we put into action those principles. We know from God's word one step at a time. You can find more help at our web site: walkandtalk.org

Pauly [00:00:07] Welcome to walking our talk with Alan and Pauly Heller. Join our conversation as we discuss practical ways to apply spiritual principles to your everyday life and help you walk your talk. One step at a time. Alan [00:00:29] This is Alan Heller and we're walking our talk today. Paul is here, too. Pauly [00:00:33] Hello. Alan [00:00:34] Great to have you here in the studio, always. And I'd like to read you from a classic Oswald Chambers. "Utmost for his highest building for eternity, for which of you intending to build a tower, sit it now down first and count the cost, whether he has sufficient to finish it." That's Luke, 19:28. Alan [00:01:00] Our Lord refers not to a cost we have to count. But to a cost which he is counted. The cost was those 30 years in Nazareth, those three years of popularity, scandal and hatred. The deep, unfathomable agony in Get Simone and the onslaught at Calvary. The pivot upon which the whole of time and eternity turns. Jesus Christ has counted the cost. Men are not going to laugh at him, at last, and say this man began to build and has not able to finish the conditions of discipleship laid down by our Lord in verses 26 and 27 and 33 mean that the men and women he is going to use in His mighty building enterprises are those in whom he has done everything. If any man come to me and hate not, he cannot be my disciple. Our Lord implies that the only men and women He will use in the building enterprises are those who love Him passionately and personally and devotedly beyond any of the closest ties on earth. The conditions are stern, but they are glorious. All that we build is going to be inspected by God. Is God going to detect in His searching fire that we have built on the foundation of Jesus some enterprise of our own? These are days of tremendous enterprises, days when we are trying to work for God. And therein is the snare. Profoundly speaking, we can never work for God. Jesus takes over for us, his enterprises, his building schemes entirely. And no soul has any right to claim where he shall be put. Pauly [00:03:02] Wow, that's really great. You know, I think about how I like watching these shows on home and garden television network. And there's this one show called Love It or List It. And the challenge is for somebody to make their home more livable for them. Maybe they started out in a house that had two bedrooms and their kitchen is really small. And now they have two children and they're running out of space. And so they hire this woman to come in and say, well, I can make your home what you want it to be. How much money do you have for me to spend to redesign and reconfigure your home? And they'll say, well, we're going to give you this much money. And then they have a man who goes out looking for another house and they'll tell him, well, we have a budget of this much money. And then this woman is working on remodeling their home, giving them another bathroom, and she runs into an issue and she says, well, we need to give you a new roof or structurally your house will do this. And they're saying, well, we just want you to spend to do everything we asked you to do, but you can't spend any more money than when we've given you. And then at the end of their time, she says, well, with the money you gave me, I could do this for you and I could do this for you. But I couldn't give you that - whatever it was - that you wanted because you weren't willing to spend any more money. Sometimes they get upset with her. Well, counting the cost. Yeah. If you're not willing to invest everything that you that it's going to cost you, then the results are going to be less than what you expect or what you desire. You have to be willing to give God everything and to make the sacrifices necessary in order to live the life that's fully pleasing to him. Alan [00:05:23] Good. So we're talking about attitudes of a disciple, teachable, servant, faithful, heart for God. And the next one we have is humble that there you know, James says, "humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due season." And of course, somebody has said everybody likes to think of themself as a servant until people start treating you like one. Everybody is not real humble when they get asked to do something they never wanted to do. I remember Josh McDaniels saying he was all excited about being a part of Campus Crusade. And then they was working at Arrowhead Springs, which at that time was the headquarters in California. And there his first assignment was to clean out the toilets. And he did not have a very good attitude at that time. But it was a part of him learning to humble himself and do whatever he was supposed to do so he could do what he wanted to do in the future. And, of course, he has spoken to literally hundreds of thousands of students around the country and has a worldwide ministry. And it all started with him humbling himself to do what he was asked to do by the people in authority. And I think that's a pretty big issue. I don't have this down on my notes, but being under authority, I think that's a very difficult thing for our culture, especially in America, to understand, because we, again, demand our rights. We're so into self and rights that humility and being a gentleman or a lady can be very difficult because we are demanding our rights. So, another characteristic would be meek. And we had a pastor, Darryl at Scottsdale Bible that used to say meekness is not weakness, it's power under control. And certainly, Jesus demonstrated that he had a lot of power, but it was under the control of the Holy Spirit. And I think many times with us and as we look at disciples or being a disciple, we need to know whether we have the fruit of the spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patients, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness. And the last one is self-control, which really means Christ control. And so people say you can't measure that. I think you can measure very easily. Hey, if you're getting upset most of the time and losing your temper or all that sort of thing, that's not under control. And so we can work on those things and get others to help us. The next one is being a God pleaser rather than a man pleaser or a self pleaser. And of course, that's, you know, love the Lord, your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and then love your neighbor as yourself. Be diligent. That's not automatic. We have to work at it. And as you talked about in a previous podcast, that as an athlete, I mean, I can't tell you how many bruises on my shins trying to do this thing called a Stutz, which is a half turn on the parallel bars where you swing your body up and let go and then you come around on the other side. And the first hundred times, all I could do is get my knees and shins crashing on the bars and just going down. I'll never gget it. I'll never get it. And then finally, one day I did it and I went, Oh, my God. It didn't hurt. So and back handsprings learning them. One of the things in a back handspring, you have to learn to be off balance and then be able to push off the ground so you can do your flip and not land on your head. And so I think our coauthor in the Trust book, Ed Delph, talks about and unless the pain exceeds the gain, probably aren't going to change much of the pain of landing on my head. Definitely course, that does explain some things that I've thought about. So being diligent and then a heart for people, how can you be a disciple and not love people? And of course, first, John says, How can you love God who you cannot see? If you don't love the people around you whom you can see. So loving people. Lucy, I think or Charlie Brown in one of the Peanuts cartoons says, you know, "I love" I don't know. He says "I love people, but humanity, I can't stand" or something. Pauly [00:10:20] I love humanity, it's people I can't stand. Alan [00:10:23] So a big word humanity. It's just people, I can't stand. Jesus was with people practically all the time, constantly interrupted. If you read the gospels, you see he's got a woman with an issue of blood. He's got a blind person. He knows the lane and the guy who's been thirty two or thirty five years at the pool at the Seita. And he says, what do you want? And the guy says, I want to be healed. But everybody gets in front of me and jumps in the water before me. And this is a story where the waters get troubled or stirred up and people were getting healed. And he's been sitting there and he says and Jesus says, just get up and get in there. And he finally is healed. Pauly [00:11:06] I think of these stories about Jesus where people would come up to him. The gospel writer will make the comment: Jesus looked at him and loved him, or he looked at them and felt compassion for them, knowing that what they were asking him to do would require for them to make sacrifices that they didn't understand that they were going to have to make. Alan [00:11:37] Like the rich young ruler. I mean, here, Jesus, said sell all you have. And he couldn't do that right, because that was so important to him. Pauly [00:11:46] Right. But he didn't say that because he didn't love him. It was exactly the opposite. He looked at him and he loved him, but he challenged him as a would-be disciple. He challenged him in the part that he knew is going to be the hardest for him. And that's what being a disciple is. It's not doing the things that you already know how to do well, it's not doing the things that come naturally to you. You don't need to be disciple. And in being good at the things you're already good at. It's looking at your weaknesses and giving those over to God and letting him have control of those things so that he can show you so that he can work those out in your life. Alan [00:12:38] So another one is availability. Somebody has coined the phrase, I think when we were in crusade F.A.T, are you looking for F.A.T people, faithful, available and teachable? Right. So availability available means that sometimes there'll be interruptions. And that's what God wants you to do and you need to be willing to see your life interrupted in order to minister to people. So there's a love for people and availability. A transparency. I know in our group that we have on Thursday nights, my goal is to try and when I ask people to be transparent in the group, I try and start off with something that I'm transparent about in my life or weakness or you know, I remember sometimes saying to our home group, I just am bushed. I couldn't get to the lesson. It was just a bad week for me - will you pray for me? Or calling somebody in the middle of a week and just saying, I just can't lead this study this week, would you mind doing that for me? And the willingness to be vulnerable and transparent with your disciple. I remember Howard Hendricks, who was a big influence on my life, who used to be the head of the Christian Education Department at Dallas Seminary. And he used to say, the people see me, the students see me as I am. They don't see all the mistakes I made to get where I am. And so he intentionally would share something about what he did that was just a mistake. And so they they'd go, oh, Prof. You know, we thought you did everything perfectly because, you know, the way you teach and everything that you do is just so. And he would share some of the blow ups that he had as a young disciple. We'll talk about actions. So let me just review these the attitudes: teachable, being a servant, being faithful, having a heart for God, being humble, meek, being a God-pleaser, not a man-pleaser, or being diligent, having a heart for people, being available to people, having transparency to those who you're ministering to. We're going to say something? You look like you were. Pauly [00:15:00] Well, I think part of transparency. It is what you were just saying. People see us functioning in the areas of our spiritual gifting. And of course, when we are functioning with the power of the Holy Spirit in the areas of our spiritual gifting, they're seeing God really working through us. And they might think, wow, this person has it all together or this person always does everything right. It's like, no, what you're seeing really is Christ at work in me. This is not me. Don't get me mixed up with Christ working through me, because if you think this is me, you're going to be really disappointed in me. You just need to see that when I am teaching and my spiritual gift is teaching you, what you're seeing is Christ working in me. But if you see me hosting something, trying to make flower arrangements or trying to comfort somebody when it's not Christ working in me and I don't have that gift, you're going to see me and all my weaknesses and I'm going to let you down because it's not me. What you need to see is that this is Christ working in me, and I need to be honest with you. I have lots of weaknesses. So you need to know that as a disciple, you need to know that I'm not perfect and I will let you down. Alan [00:16:42] So something I haven't done in the past couple of podcasts is just tell you if you want to email us, alan@walkandtalk.org. And if you want to interact with us or ask a question, feel free to do that and we'll try and answer it on a podcast in the future. If you want to get any materials from walk and talk. Just go to walkandtalk.org. So now we're gonna talk about some actions and we're almost to the end of our time, but we have a few minutes here. Actions that show that you are a real disciple. And also, what are the actions or deterrents? What are the things that stop you in your tracks? I remember the gal that led me to the Lord came from a Mormon background. She was just an unbelievably excited Christian and she shared Christ with me. She said, you know, you eat my oatmeal cookies, now you're gonna have to go to this Christian fellowship meeting. And I was my freshman year at college and I just said, okay, if I have to go to your meeting, do I get to go with you? And so she was a pretty girl. I kept talking to her, the manager of the gymnast the team came in the door with a Bible in his hand. Girlfriend with a bible in her hand. I couldn't believe Mike was one of these people, too, just like Ginger, crazy talking about Jesus and now he could change my life and do this for me and that for me. And but I ended up spending a couple of hours with Mike and coming to know the Lord. And it was an unbelievable experience. And one of the things that Mike said to me and I've said this in a previous podcast is that people will let you down. But God will never let you down. And here one of the actions that stopped Ginger was by the end of our senior by her senior year. She did not have a marriage partner. And so she ended up going back to the guy that she knew from Alaska and ended up marrying that guy who was a Mormon and went back to Mormonism and totally recanted her faith. And those words that Mike had said to me, "people will let you down, but God will never let you down", came back to me and the Lord was asking me, are you going to let Ginger's life get in the way of you being my disciple and following me? And I chose Him or the guy who led me to the Lord. He had an affair with his secretary, and he was interested in pleasing man more than pleasing God and his own appetite. And then I had another close person that I shared Christ with right after I came to know the Lord, and he read dedicated his life, but he got all involved with business and stopped going to church because he was too busy with business. So what will stop you from being a disciple? It's selfishness. Is it that my heart isn't really given over to God? Because God says he only gives good gifts to his children. And so even though it may be painful, even though something may not feel right to you, if it's in God's word and he's bringing it about, you want to be able to follow him and follow what the word says more than what your appetites are. Actions that show a real disciple - you're hearer of the word and a doer. You're both. You hear it and do it. And James says, don't just be a hearer of the word, but be a doer as well. And we're going to talk more about discipleship and what it takes to be a disciple in the context of disciples in the completion of the process, how to become a full-orbed disciple. And we're excited about talking about this subject and walking our talk. And we hope you are, too. Pauly [00:20:48] This has been walking our talk with Alan and Pauly Heller, where we put into action those principles we know from God's word one step at a time. You can find more help at our web site, walkandtalk.org.

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WARNING: THIS EPISODE IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN This week, we're talking to the founders of REVIVE40, an organization that has changed the lives of people who struggle with sexual addiction and saved marriages. Recovery can be a long process, but you don't have to go through it alone. Listen to learn more about your support options!

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Last week, we discussed the definition of SMART goals. SMART goals are great for long-term financial goals and career goals, but they're even more important in marriage. SMART goals allow you and your spouse to make simple or complex goals easier. Learn the importance of SMART goals in marriage and get a few examples in this week's podcast.

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In this week's episode, Alan and Pauly Heller discuss why you should truly value one another. Do you ever take your spouse for granted? Do you shut them off when you don't agree with them? Valuing your partner means you listen to them and allow them to share all parts of their Communistar (listen to the podcast on the Communistar). Listen and see if you really are valuing your spouse.

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