Conversations: Welcome to the Podcast!

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to the YA podcast. Lean in. As we dive into the practicals of life with Jesus as spirit filled young adults. All right, episode one. We are starting a podcast. Welcome to the young adult podcast. My name is Thomas, and I'm with my wife, Kelsey. Why don't you say hey? And. Yeah, that's what this podcast is. This first episode is all about realistically, why we're starting a podcast. Why are we doing this? Everyone else is doing it, but why are we doing this? Who we are? And we just love to have a chat about that. Why don't we start there? Who are we? [00:00:51] Speaker B: Who are we? [00:00:52] Speaker A: How did we get here? [00:00:54] Speaker B: Yeah, good question. I mean, I guess if you want me to throw all the way back. [00:00:59] Speaker A: Yeah, why don't you start, I guess, with how you came to know Jesus. [00:01:03] Speaker B: Yeah. So, I mean, I wasn't raised in a christian household. My family don't know Jesus yet. But I actually got invited to youth ministry when I was about to transition into high school. So I think I was twelve or 13. Classic youth ministry tactic. I got saved through the tribal wars. [00:01:20] Speaker A: That's what we all want to hear. [00:01:21] Speaker B: Yeah, that's what we want to hear out of a tribal wars night is that people actually got saved. No, I went to tribal wars during the summer holidays with a friend that I went to primary school with. And then, yeah, went back the following week and saw a pentecostal service in full force for the first time. And as someone who literally hadn't been to a catholic service, anglican service, anything, I was like, what the heck is going on? Yeah. Told my mom I never wanted to go back. I literally cried when I got in the car and I was like, these people are crazy. I never want to go back. Lo and behold, though, the Holy Spirit moved on my heart and went back a couple of weeks later and heard the gospel and gave my life to Jesus. And then pretty much since then, it's just been learning what this life following Jesus is actually about. Yeah. When I finished high school, Thomas and I met in high school. [00:02:11] Speaker A: Yeah, we went to high school together. [00:02:12] Speaker B: Yeah, that's how we knew each other and started our relationship. But my first year out of high school, I started my law degree and was volunteering in my youth ministry and then got the opportunity to lead that same youth ministry that I got saved in. That's awesome. Which is pretty crazy. And still such a reason why I love youth ministry so much, because I am a living testimony of how youth ministry actually works and the power of young people actually being discipled into the ways of Jesus and the childlike faith and the power that is carried through this next generation. So super passionate about that. So started doing that and went, what the heck, God? Am I supposed to be in ministry? Am I supposed to be doing a law degree? What's going on? And God, all the way through was like, I haven't told you to stop, so just keep going. Fast forward a few years later, I guess Tom and I got married 15 January 2021. And then I moved to Melbourne, and Tom will, I guess, explain how he ended up in Melbourne. But I followed him over here, started our life here, and then went into an EA role at Neuma, which was amazing and I'm so thankful for that season. But eventually came to a big, big transition point in my life as I was finishing off my law degree and working out God, what am I supposed to be doing next? And the opportunity came to step into youth and young adults aside, Thomas alongside Thomas. And yeah, that's kind of how the heck we ended up here. Do you want to fill in the gaps? [00:03:42] Speaker A: I mean, we'll keep talking about our kind of journeys as we go through these different podcasts and different things will come up, but I guess to fill in some of those gaps. I had quite a different upbringing in some ways. Similar in other ways, but I grew up the child to a kids pastor. [00:03:59] Speaker B: You're like the complete opposite to me. [00:04:02] Speaker A: Yeah. So it was like I couldn't escape my parents. When I went to kids church on a Sunday, they were there. But yes, that was the first, gosh, maybe ten years of my life. And then, yes, I grew up in churches and my dad is still on staff at a church, just in a very different role now. And yeah, did the classic kind of youth rock up on a Friday and a Sunday. Knew how to play it cool, but was doing all the other stuff behind everyone's backs where you think you're getting away with it, but they all know. But I still knew the Lord and felt the Lord was calling me over to Italy for twelve months. So that's when I graduated high school. I left u Kelsey in Perth and I moved over to Italy for twelve months. I was an english teacher, so much I could say about that, but I'll keep. [00:04:52] Speaker B: Maybe we'll say that. [00:04:55] Speaker A: And then when I moved back to Australia after twelve months, I didn't want to move back to Perth, so I accepted a position at the University of Melbourne to study. So I studied a bachelor of psychology and applied linguistics, which I did finish, which is good. And then while I was finishing that. While I was doing that, I was serving in the youth ministry, doing a whole bunch of stuff with church, and then in my final year of that, took on the youth ministry here, and then twelve months ago, took on the young adults ministry and got to work full time with my wife. [00:05:34] Speaker B: How did you feel when you first got proposed the young adult ministry, Thomas? [00:05:37] Speaker A: I didn't want the young adults ministry. Let's all just be really honest here. I said I don't want it. But the Lord had his way. [00:05:44] Speaker B: Now, how do you feel about it? [00:05:45] Speaker A: I love young adults. [00:05:46] Speaker B: Yeah, me too. [00:05:47] Speaker A: Discipling young men specifically is a passion and it's a joy to see. So, yeah, that's really how we ended up here. And I guess a podcast is something we had thought about for a while. [00:06:03] Speaker B: It's probably one of the first things when we took on the role that we felt like the Lord spoke to us about. [00:06:07] Speaker A: It's actually something that we spoke about before we even took on young adults. We spoke about it in a youth context, but I feel like it was never like a desire to do it. It was more like a conversation around a space that could be useful. Would you agree with that? [00:06:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I would agree with that. [00:06:23] Speaker A: It wasn't like, oh, yeah, we really want to do a podcast. If anything, I was probably like, that's a lot of work. [00:06:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And also an interesting space because I feel like a lot of people are doing podcasts. Yeah, I didn't want to just, we don't want to just add something that's not got the Lord's hand on it, essentially. [00:06:41] Speaker A: Yeah. So it kind of sat there for a while and it came up at different points and we had different conversations about it. But it's probably young adults retreat last year, which was awesome. [00:06:54] Speaker B: I feel like anyone who was at young adults retreat knows it was honestly such a pivotal point in our young adult community. I can't even explain the impact that God had on our young adult community in that case. [00:07:08] Speaker A: I think the individual is something that each person can speak to. But as a corporate, I think if we were to explain young adults retreat, it was really when a ministry became a family. [00:07:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I would agree with that, which. [00:07:20] Speaker A: Was a joy to be a part of because it didn't feel like we were leading realistically anymore. It was just we were facilitating a. [00:07:28] Speaker B: Family moment, which I love, and that's our heart for ministry. It's not putting on an event, it's not trying to grow something for the sake of growing it. It is literally God cares about his family. And so if we believe that church is a covenant family, as newer church and as a body of Christ, then our young adult community should look like that, too. [00:07:49] Speaker A: Yeah. And, I mean, that's the model that he set forth for ministry, right? So why would we do something else? Let's not settle for a program when he gave us family. Right? Amen. It's way better that way. So, yeah, it was around that time, and it was afterwards, pretty much the Sunday after, we were chatting with Pastor Erin, who we're going to get on this podcast. Sorry, we're going to get on this podcast because she has a unique voice to young adults as well. [00:08:16] Speaker B: And we know you guys love pastor. [00:08:17] Speaker A: As well, but we were chatting to her, and we were just talking about how to open up similar spaces to what we had at young adults retreat, where we were able to spark conversations and just create a space for people to talk about real things. Really real things. And she encouraged us to do that, and we were like, can you pray about it? She was like, well, I don't need to pray about it. [00:08:42] Speaker B: She's like, I already feel holy spirit. Yes, 100%, yes. You're doing that because at young adults retreat as well, we did. And I think this is probably what brought it back to the forefront of our minds. We did a session. Anyone who was there would remember it was a bit of a q and a bit chatty. Like, it almost could have been a bit of a podcast in and of itself. But literally, we went into that with basically no plan. We had a sheet with a whole bunch of questions on it all the way through, from relationships, church life, finances, pretty much anything we could think of that was, like, young adult related. Then we're like, okay, holy Spirit, what do you want to do with this? And we ended up around a conversation of spiritual covering and spiritual mothers and fathers. And it was just so Holy Spirit led. And that was beautiful in and of itself. But the fact that we had so many conversations with people afterwards who were like, I needed that, and I've never heard anybody talk so practically, but also so spirit led about those particular topics, I think that really articulated for us why this space was becoming more at the forefront of our minds. And something we felt like the Lord was releasing us into is we need spirit led conversations that are also very practical. Because the reality is, being a young adult, there is so much that's changing. There's so much happening in your life. And one of the things that I feel so passionate about with young adults is it's really almost this tipping point and this turning point of, okay, I'm either living fully for Jesus or I'm not. And within that, it's okay, well, if I want to fully live for Jesus, I need to work out how to submit essentially every error of my life to him. When the world is going in a completely different direction and the world's telling us a completely different thing, how do I work out the call of God for my life? How do I submit my finances to him? How do I submit my relationships to him and actually live a life that is in alignment with the way that God desires his children to live their lives? And often I feel like we honestly receive such brilliant ministry in our Sunday context and in our life groups and in our events and all of those things. But the reality is there's some very specific topics that our young adults need help with. The things I need help with. [00:10:56] Speaker A: Very true. [00:10:56] Speaker B: The things you need help with that often don't make their way to a Sunday context because it's not necessarily relevant for everybody in the room. And sometimes we almost get the higher up perspective of that. For example, we want to live a life where we're laid down lovers. But then it's like, okay, well, what does that look like for me as a 19 year old in my university? Or does that look like for me as a 25 year old in the corporate space and actually getting a bit more practical with the conversation of, yes, almost seeing that and going, yes, I read in your word, God that it says that we should be a laid down lover, that we should return to our first love, that we should fear God, that we should submit all things to him. But now I need help to work out what that actually looks like in my day to day life. [00:11:40] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's really the heart of discipleship. Right? You receive teaching, and that's almost that impartation of wisdom and knowledge and understanding, and there's something that comes alive in that, but then you need that walking alongside to do something with it. I think we're oversaturated when it comes to information. A stat came out last year that the generation coming, 90% of the information they access in a 24 hours period was created in the last 24 hours. [00:12:18] Speaker B: That's crazy. [00:12:19] Speaker A: And that's just a testament to how much information is out there and content and video, everything like that. And I think because we are saturated with knowledge and information, we tend not to do anything with it. And I think it's because we don't consolidate that. We don't have conversations about it. We don't ask the questions that we want to ask because we're all automatically onto the next thing. We're getting fed by a new meal. So I think that's realistically the heart behind this is to reinitiate conversations about things that have been spoken on a Sunday, maybe issues that we can see that are facing young adults, questions that we get asked on the daily, the common things that come up with young adults. How do we spark a conversation that's not just more information, but actually going, okay, this is what's been said, this is what you know. Now, how do we do something with that? And we see this all through the gospels, right? Like, jesus would preach a message and then there would be that aside with the disciples, where he would give the parable to everyone, but he would explain the parable to the twelve disciples. And I feel like that's the spaces we are lacking at this point in time as a young adults community. Is that aside that, hey, you've heard that now let me show you how to live that. Do you have anything to add there? [00:13:44] Speaker B: I mean, I think as well, something that we're really passionate about is learning how to wrestle. And I think I'll add as well here that this podcast, the purpose of this podcast is discipleship. Our goal is we don't want to go viral. We're not trying to do something that's for. I'm sure we'll get to reach people across the body of Christ and other young adult communities. And that's amazing. But that's not the point. [00:14:09] Speaker A: Yeah. The only goal that we have is even smaller than just Numa. If the people at NuMA, Melbourne City listen to this and get something out of it, fantastic. If the people across the numer body hear it and get something out of it, that's incredible. Anything more than that, we don't even. [00:14:24] Speaker B: Really think about 100%. The point is discipleship. The point isn't for us to share our thoughts and opinions about things that are happening in the world, because I think there's plenty of other spaces that are doing that, and some spaces are doing that well. But you guys don't need our thoughts and opinions. You need the Bible and you need Jesus. And I think something that we're really passionate about is learning how to wrestle with scripture. Thomas is especially passionate about that. And something that you've probably heard us say, because we say in a young adult context, we say it in a youth context, is essentially the three questions of the Bible and the truth. Do you want to maybe say what they are, because you'll probably yes. [00:15:08] Speaker A: So those three questions that I've started to say anytime that I pick up the word of God is do we agree that this holding the Bible is the word of God? And then my next question, if they say yes to that, is do we believe that the word of God is the truth? Not a truth, but the truth. And then when they agree to that, if you agree to those first two statements, you have to agree to the next one. And that is that when our life is out of alignment with the Bible, our life changes. The Bible doesn't. And you can't argue the third point if you agree with those first two. [00:15:45] Speaker B: That's true. And the reality of that as well is that there's sometimes, and I'm sure conversations will come up with us that could get a bit interesting, could get a bit spicy and heated when we realize that our lives actually are quite out of alignment with what the word says. And even I guess more than that coming back to, well, why are our lives out of alignment? It's probably because our minds are out of alignment. [00:16:07] Speaker A: Yeah, really good. [00:16:09] Speaker B: And honestly, part of the wrestle is acknowledging God. My mind and my thoughts and opinions are actually out of alignment with your word right now. And I don't understand why your word says that. But I trust that you are Lord and I trust that your way is the truth. So help me to renew my mind to what your word says. [00:16:29] Speaker A: Yeah, it's that holding those two things at the same time. Of God, you are Lord. [00:16:33] Speaker B: Yes. [00:16:34] Speaker A: You are ruler. You are king of kings and lord of lords. So I am going to submit to that. But I'm also going to be very honest with you right now and say, I don't even agree with you at times. You can say to God, I don't agree with this. [00:16:47] Speaker B: Yeah, he's not afraid of that. [00:16:48] Speaker A: But you are still lord. Just because I don't agree doesn't make you less of a lord over my life. [00:16:52] Speaker B: And just because you disagree at this point in time doesn't make you any less of a Christian or any less of a daughter. [00:16:58] Speaker A: Good. [00:16:59] Speaker B: Because as well, it's not just like we know God's not afraid of your wrestle, but are we okay with each other's wrestle? [00:17:05] Speaker A: Which we need to learn how to be okay with each other's wrestle. [00:17:07] Speaker B: So what happens when you're in life group and someone says something that is out of alignment with the word of God and it rubs you up the wrong way because you know that's not the truth? How do we lovingly confront that and lovingly approach that to bring the truth in love and to actually be okay with going on the journey with people of, hey, I know that my brother or my sister isn't there yet, but how can I lovingly help them to see the truth of why God said that? [00:17:33] Speaker A: So when it comes to, I guess, this space that we're talking about right now, what are the kind of three segments we could say that we have decided are going to be very helpful in achieving all these things that we've been talking about? [00:17:46] Speaker B: Yeah. So really, the way that we want to structure this podcast is across three almost different streams or themes or avenues. Really, the overarching thing is we want it to be discipleship through conversation, which we've kind of talked about a little bit already, what that looks like practically. So at the moment, we're working to ten episodes in a season, and it'll be almost a rotation of three different themes, those themes being Bible chats, which will be very practical tools for how do I read the Bible, how do I understand the Bible, how do I do exegesis? How do I understand the context? How do I understand why that was written and why that is relevant? [00:18:32] Speaker A: How do I take something that was written to another culture and apply it in today's culture? [00:18:36] Speaker B: Because that's a big thing that I think a lot of people struggle with. The Bible is actually going, how do I make this apply and be relevant? And almost what are the principles that I'm holding on to? What are the laws that I'm not holding on to, and what's the principle in that? And how do I actually apply this into what it looks like in my life now? [00:18:54] Speaker A: It's awesome. [00:18:55] Speaker B: So that's the first one. The second one is bit more conversational. So we want to get people on to talk about different topics. So say, for example, if we were talking about the fear of God, if we were talking about the secret place, if we were talking about relationships, we don't want to just talk about, I guess, the ABCs of what that space looks like from the Bible. We want to hear people's life stories, we want to have a conversation about it. We want to actually open up those spaces to understand what does that look like more in my day to day. [00:19:28] Speaker A: Life and glean from someone's life? [00:19:30] Speaker B: Yeah, 100%. And the third one is very practical. And so even the direction we see this season going, it's almost going to be a bit of a flow between even some of the stuff we're talking about. In Bible chats. But then almost especially, a big tie between the conversational elements and then the practical elements. So, I mean, later in this season, we're going to get Pastor Erin on to talk about, really, some of her experiences and her testimony around how she's developed and cultivated such a intimate and effective secret place with God. And so that'll be her sort of getting to share some of her testimony and some of the things the Lord's been speaking to her about. But then we'll do a second episode that's more practical of. Okay, what are some of the practical things that we can take and glean off her life and put into our secret place or into our context so that we can actually grow as well? [00:20:26] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think that's a really important part is the cool, I've heard this principle, I've heard this concept, I've heard this testimony. How do I live that? Yes, that's my Sunday. How do I wake up on Monday and do that? Which is going to be really cool. So that's kind of where we're heading, I guess. That's where what we've felt the Lord place on our heart. [00:20:47] Speaker B: You want to talk about speed that up? [00:20:49] Speaker A: Yeah. The last episode of each season is going to be a Q and A. And that, again, is we're okay with your wrestle. We're okay for you to wrestle. And we want to open that discussion up in the ways that we can with all of you. So after each episode goes live, if you go onto our instagram, numa young adults, you'll see a question box and we'll take note of those questions. And then in the end, we'll kind of formulate the main ones and we'll have a conversation about that. And we'll put that as the last episode of each season, which will be really fun. [00:21:25] Speaker B: I love Q and A. Yeah, I think that'll be fun. [00:21:27] Speaker A: And that'll actually be a great opportunity for us to revisit some things that we've spoken about and even refine some things that we've spoken about as we've grown, as we've learned, as we've gleaned from other people. That's where we're headed. And you can do that. Numa young adults, it's a great place to be. And the other places, this will be across the usual kind of podcast platform. So you can go there each week and you will be able to find a conversation that you can listen to on your car ride, to work on your run, on whatever it is as you're cleaning the house. [00:22:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Can I just add something there as well? Part of the reason why we wanted to do the Q and A is because, number one, we don't know everything. And I think it's important to say that from the get go is as much as we're leading you guys and we want to feed you guys from the Bible, we're also on a journey of learning and growing as well. And we actually want to learn and grow together. So if things come up, either that you have thoughts about, you've done your own research into, like, we want to hear what you guys have to say. We want to hear how the Lord's speaking to you through these podcasts, and we want to hear your questions. And like Tom said, we'll have that q a episode right at the end of the season. But all avenues of communication are always open. [00:22:46] Speaker A: We're real people. [00:22:47] Speaker B: Yeah. Our heart for this would be that we would hear conversations that are coming out of our podcast in our general young adult. Like, I would love if you guys came up on a Sunday and had a chat and you're like, oh, I love that thing you said. Or I actually disagree with that thing you said. Can we talk about that? And can we wrestle together? And can you help me understand why you said that? I would love that. I think that would be epic. I'd love to hear chats coming out of our life groups and other spaces, too, even like universities, red frogs, all those things. To see it actually become a part of our community and to get to wrestle and grow together, I think would be really epic. [00:23:21] Speaker A: Yeah. So that's us. That's this podcast. That's where we're going. We'd love for you to be a part of it and, yeah, do all the things that you want to do to access that and post your questions. If you have questions, chat to us in person, dm us, email us all the things. And next week, it's going to be our first bible chats with me and Sam. [00:23:41] Speaker B: Come on now. It's going to be awesome. [00:23:42] Speaker A: We'll see you then. It.