What is God's Purpose for My Life? | S7 E5

Boom baby bottle pop. Wow. Welcome. Welcome back. You don't like any. But I didn't realize that there was there was gonna be a joke that I hated more poppin. Spin it bareback or chicken back or you know that.

Explain that joke. I don't want to explain it. This episode is very special.

Royal Ambassadors and How Mike Freeman Got Started

We had a good friend of ours a man Mike Freeman director of Mid-South RA's. Also has been in charge of our RA that's Royal Ambassador program here at Witten Baptist Church for close to 40 years and He has been faithful in that it's where men teach boys how to be Christian men.

That's the idea behind it. We talked a little bit about how he got started in that ministry and How you know? What ministry you're supposed to be involved in. Where do you start with that? We talked a lot about that practically with Mike in his life and Hunter and I jumped in a couple times.

But it was mostly Mike because he had a lot of good things to say a lot of good things.

He was a teacher of mine personally my entire life and most people here in our church. So without further ado, let's get into the episode. No, well brother Mike you have been in charge of our RA ministry the Royal Ambassadors for My entire lifetime here.

I've been going here since I was six years old. I'm 26 now.

How long Mike? Well, let's see. Could do math. My daughters are in their 40s. That's about when I started our raise. When they were actually they were about six, I guess. Maybe I. Don't know dude. Over 30 something years for sure.

40, maybe. I'm 68.

Wow, you're 68. Yeah, dude right before you walked in. He said that his birthday was last week. I Surprised me and he knows that he knows. It's very graceful.

But yeah, I've been doing it for a long time. I started actually at charging Baptist Church, you know where that's you heard of it. It's up. We'll charging obviously road, but it's over there off. It's our first house.

What's that Street Airways? Airways not the greatest part of town, but you know, it was our first time.

I was down there Friday eating uncle Lou's chicken at Mill Branch and Winchester. Not far from not far from Airways.

Yeah, her grandparents lived down the street her aunt owned the house. We were in and she actually just let us move in without and take up the note. I'm not take up the note but by the house and and didn't have to pay it down payment on nothing.

Mm-hmm, and so it was. That was a good break for us. The house for like 900 square I don't even know if it's that big. It was very small but I get we got involved at a little church that was on the corner charging Baptist and.

A.

Guy that was over our ace and or heard of in my life before was. We became friends and he asked me if I could come over and wasn't I just kind of helping police because he's by himself. Rules a little bit different back then, you know.

We didn't have to have like four or five people and all that stuff but he was by himself and he asked if I would just come up there and help and honestly, I you know, I only did it as a I mean, it's helping a friend.

Yeah, because I mean I got my own kids, you know I didn't need anybody else's honestly and. But I started helping in that program and I was probably up there for about I don't know a couple years I guess and and it just kind of became part of me, you know, I'm saying because I started seeing How God worked in these kids it was just crazy, man I mean, I never really gave it much thought before you know, but but back in the older days older older days kids.

And a lot of Baptist churches and probably other churches, they were just kind of shoved into the corner, you know. Cuz they're kids. What do they know right? Felt boards markers, you know Jesus loves me song blah blah blah.

That's that was a sum total of their ministry was for a child was just like nothing. And so the the and then there was always the debate will well. They don't really understand till they're teenagers and I'm thinking after working with these kids.

Dude by then it could be too late.

Mmm, you know, if you don't if you don't start taking the Bible seriously with them when they're nine.

Don't expect when they're 15 all of a sudden to care ingrained beliefs are already so deep.

No, I don't. I only had two girls. But I did have a background as a boy growing up was a member of when I lived in California. Yeah, now you tell me. Yeah. Yeah, I was we were my brother and I both were members of the YMCA back when it really was young man's Christian Association not what it is today.

Sorry, if anybody hears that that's too bad. I don't care. But anyway, that's what it used to be and and back in the days. It was kind of like a rural bachelor program, you know. But we would earn we would earn our way to camp every year.

We'd spend a time at a camp called Camp Lackey up into San Bernardino Mountains. And I just loved it man. And so a lot of that just kind of played into My exposure to role ambassadors because you know, I I was in Scouts for a little while.

But I was more in the YMCA and it was anything else. But as I started getting more involved You know God started revealing to me that these kids need Jesus. And so I started Diving into the role ambassador program.

I went to the what it used to be the Southern Baptist or Shelby Baptist bookstore. Remember years ago long time ago. That were they used to sell all of the literature and stuff for the RA's and GA program.

And I went there one day with with Carla. We were up there just shopping and I walked around a corner I saw this wall. It just full of RA material. I said, what is all this?

You know.

All I saw was a little magazine that dude taught out of every week and and he was. He didn't even understand that there was a different age group for a different magazine, but it's okay. Anyway, so I walked back there and I looked at all this stuff and I said I've not seen any of this these advancement books the patches and the awards and all this and I and I called got him on The phone.

I said, did you know this stuff even exists? He said no. Nobody's even trained me before. And I'm like, yeah, this is typical and it's what I learned with all RA programs men are brought into these programs without any Training at all, which also kind of fed into another part of what I did but anyway, so I started I started looking around this stuff and I and I.

The guy told me go ahead and buy him and the church would reimburse me. But I started buying up all these magazines and stuff and brought him back and he had no idea this stuff existed man and I saw opportunities for us to to Use this as a way of ministering to kids, you know and the advancement books and everything that were included.

And I just dove into this stuff. I just started I just started consuming me, you know. And the more I got involved the more I realized that like I said Jesus need to be a big part of their lives that I wanted to be a part of that.

You know I'm saying so I started I started working more with our A's. More and more anyway, so We when my girls got a little bit older we came to Whitman. We actually moved over to Hillshire that was where we used to live and started attending here and then and I got involved here with our A's and It just it just like I said became a part of my life.

I started getting involved with the the associate I don't know if you knew the Brotherhood was here in Memphis. That meant I was telling them that our A's was like the Mecca right here in Memphis. It was like the it was so huge.

I got involved with a group of men leaders, if you will that mentored me into the into the leadership part of the program itself they stay as they told me that they felt like I was a buy I would be a valuable asset to their You know planning which is part of the men's the men's ministry in the Brotherhood and.

So they started getting me involved in things like helping out with other projects I used to do a an RA they started me on RA Olympics. I don't know if you this all goes way back man, but we had arrangements with the with the race with a track coach at University of Memphis and He actually let us use their track for free and we put on an RA Olympics there.

We would have like 400 kids come to this thing. Wow, and we had medals. We had all that stuff. It was amazing and that went on for you know several years and until University of Memphis worked with a union to start handling their Garbage and stuff and they were gonna charge us like about $400 to empty a couple of garbage cans.

And so that kind of Ended it after that because I didn't really have a budget honestly. But we did that and then they then they started bringing me into Camper E. And that was when I how I started to get involved in Camper E.

And I became the role ambassador director in Shelby County and as I started getting more and more involved these these same group of men Recommended me to the North American mission board as being a national trainer.

And you don't get that except unless you're recommended by you know certain level people and me and three other guys. Two other guys. Sorry, we're all recommended this group and we went to Dakota, Georgia.

For a weekend of training and our first job when we got back. This is all volunteer stuff, by the way. They gave me a book that was probably about that thick. Mm-hmm. It was nothing but paper eight and a half by eleven tight paper and it was just full of all kinds of written stuff and what that was was one of the new training books that they were gonna have with the Role ambassador program.

It's called there was cut the pro is called PGP personal growth plan. And I was I would actually had the privilege of being one of those that got to edit one of those Wow. Yeah, and and so I was working on the third grade book that that big manuscript you won't call it.

That was it ended up being reduced about like that, but we all so at this point you were certain that this is where God had You yeah, like you're doing all this training all of a sudden this you're certain like this.

God's opening all these doors for me, man. So, I mean I didn't when I got saved I didn't get a card in the mail saying This is your job. By the way, you are now officially. No. No, I just started Serving exactly really exactly.

I just made the step forward and I didn't know where it was gonna take me.

That's right.

But I mean I ended up becoming a national trainer that likes that I helped with the writing trip I even got they even got my name in one of the books on the leadership books. My name is a co-author in that book, but in all of this came from just being willing to able to serve.

Yes, I've I've said I've done training as far out as what's that one of these little towns out off of the Gulf by, Georgia I forgot what Saints around st. Simon Island right in that area. I did I did some training out there.

I did a Huge training out in Takoa at their RA camp out there and then and then I ended up becoming the role ambassador director out here and all of this just was just but my willingness and desire to be able to Bring kids to Christ.

Yeah, but My growth and in my vision started growing and how I wanted to handle it going forward and so we helped form an organization called the Mid-South role ambassadors, which It's very definition is to train other leaders.

Yeah, remember the leader that I told you about that my leader that said he had none of this stuff. So many men were put in the program without any kind of training any understanding what was going on.

And so I my thoughts are that if I could do train leaders I could buy it just through that reach more children. That's right, man. And and so if I figured about every for every leader 20 to 25 kids. You know every leader that I trained that would be right.

Yeah, so and it was it was like This is all. These are all ideas that that that maybe I felt like might have come from me, but I know it was by Providence through God and and the doors he opened and. And and the mission that he basically put right at my feet.

Yeah, and and every time I stepped forward he always had something More to it, you know saying it was it was it said it's been such a blessing to do this and over these 30 some 40.

Years, whatever. It's it's just been so. What would you say if someone were to lean say Mike? So, how do I know where I'm supposed to be serving? How do I know what I'm supposed to be doing?

You just say you started somewhere. Well number one. Yeah. First you have a relationship with Christ. Yeah.

Yeah.

Prerequisite number one. I mean it to serve Jesus must love Jesus.

Well, the Bible talks about that. We have to deny ourselves. Mm-hmm, and this is part of it man. Romans 12 we talked about you know. 12 -1 talk that's right. I was one of my favorite verses, you know.

I beseech you therefore my brothers by the verses of God that you present yourself a living sacrifice. The thing is is that.

This.

Is the is it kind of that same idea. Is that your willingness to be able to serve. If God's gonna provide for you what you need. All you've got to do is be willing to step forward.

I.

Talked about people that I've met that that are grown men. Grown adults that have never served at all because they don't know what their service is.

You know, that's a sad statement.

I found out one of the simplest things to do is to just to start helping other people.

Something I go into your church.

Find somebody has a need and need it. Yeah and meet it and God's gonna add more to that. Yes every time and the more and more you do the more and more God is gonna give you. When I left that church in Chargene and by the time I got to Whitten I knew in my heart that that was my ministry and I've never looked back I people have even come to me.

Are you still doing that? I said dude is I wasn't nominated by some nominate committee. They lift. Yeah, right to move chairs out of the sanctuary at the inner circle, dude. I this is a ministry man. This is an investment in what God is has absolutely shown me where I need to be.

Yeah, I can tell you when it's time for you to be done with that. That's when they put you in the ground and you gotta be with the Lord. That's that's when absolutely that's when your job is done.

Right, right.

I mean here I've come full circle in and it's a I'm 68 now and I I'm now investing in another young man at another church to be the new director. That's right. That's right I've spent he says well, I told don't worry.

I'm not going anywhere until The Lord takes me home. I said so I'm gonna be your co-director and we're gonna work together as a team you and I and we're gonna keep camp. We're going as long as we can and and so he and I now are working together side by side for the same project.

And and I was telling these guys the gentleman I'm talking about he's a. He was like me Coming in times 10 on steroids. This guy this guy is unbelievable and and he has a he has the same heart and passion that I have for these children.

You know putting kids in the back of a Sunday school room and or Hushing them up into the side of a corner and think of this that's the sum total their spiritual experience is just it's just sad. And I blame that on the adults that grow up in that in that kind of environment like suffer not them to come to me.

For such as the kingdom of heaven and I've seen so much of that and.

You know this this felt board. Theology doesn't work man. I Like to get with our boys here and you know this you've seen seen us up at our A's and stuff. We were very interactive with the boys. We try to yes emphasize not only the the ten basic virtues that we have in our A's.

But but we try to help them understand that each one of them have a part in God's plan.

Yes.

And what I want them to do is learn that the best way for them to to find what God wants them to do would be the same that Advice I would give to any adult is This start serving. Yes, don't don't wait for a special sign from God.

He's already basically told you what you're supposed to be doing is serving him and and doing that is the number one is to love One another that's number one when you do that. It's easy to serve and find people that find something to do that shows you you care.

And I guarantee you that once you start serving those other doors will be open. So if they're in their 50s, and they're still sitting in the church trying to figure out what it is Is there supposed to be doing? I'd say they need to get up and start doing something something.

Yeah, I've just anything.

I.

Just to me. I look back and how many times you've been coming to church and and and never and you're still waiting. The opportunities that you've passed. Like I said, I'm 68 and I've seen so much over the last 30 something years.

It's just been amazing. We had a young boy that I've told about talked about before he's he's uh he was a young man that came to our church and he was a Dude man this guy was Problems man, and and I don't know why I seem to connect with those kids the most and more actually more to them.

Than the ones that don't seem to be having such issues and stuff, but this guy had some real problems.

And.

It got pretty bad and he finally grew up out of our race. And I felt like I failed because when when he left he was in my opinion Worst shape that he was when he started you know. But I kind of kept in touch with his mom a little bit and she came to the church they had left the church all together for a long period and She showed up one day and I and I saw her out the hallway and I ran up to us.

I said, it's good to see you all on it. But I really just want to find out what happened to this young man. And and I says whatever happened this I'm not gonna say his name. But and she said Mikey need to pray for him.

I says why she said he's in the hospital right now. I said what? He's overdosed on drugs. So his dad was an alcoholic, I mean it was a yeah, it was a bad bad situation his house and and so, you know, of course I prayed for but it made me it just it just made my heart drop, you know and Years later because I hadn't talked to him she left and I hadn't seen her for a long time I was doing some work at a company that's close to.

Over here and off of Germantown Road and I went out for the lunch one day and I went over to the subway that was behind the building and guess who was sitting there in a booth eating a sandwich that young man growing up and I didn't realize it.

I walked I walked in there and I was ordering my sandwich and I heard somebody say hey, mr. Mike.

Yeah, you look the exact same you did 30 years ago. So what does that matter? Yeah, here's a grown man calling me. Mr. Mike.

You know and I said and I looked at her and I said oh man. And and and he says come sit down let's have lunch and so I said. He just started getting caught up on and he was telling me that I did. I didn't bring up this what his mom had told me about him being in the hospital.

I didn't bring it up. But he said that he just told me he says man I had some tough times there for a while and he said but I've got myself straight now. He said I've gone back to college and I said, yeah, and I said, well, what did you do?

He says I'm getting into computer stuff kind of like what you did. Hmm. Wow, so, um, sorry, I knew it's gonna happen.

But.

Start serving somewhere. You have no idea where God will take it. Yeah, and and you know Mike if I could add yeah. This is one of those things. I think we talked about it last week hunter. But if not, it's a Sunday morning.

I get them all mixed up. I Think all of us. Yeah, and maybe some of those people you're talking about who you know, they're 50. Hopefully, I'll find my ministry one day. I Think if we quit dicing up our life into spiritual life.

Work wife.

Work wife.

Work life school life home. Those categories do not exist in the Bible. True. All of those things are your spiritual life. If you ask 98 of Christians that percents might not be high enough. How are you doing Jesus?

They will answer with. Depending on how they're doing with prayer and reading their Bible. Now I'm not mocking those two things, but that's that is the standard answer, right? Right, and they categorize that that is how they please God of those two things.

What I don't understand is you can please or displease God. Because this right here tells you how to live your work life home life school life, etc. Those are your spiritual life. Though those that is so the encouraging part of that for me is I can please God sweeping a floor man, I can please God.

Computer tech. Now I can please God in either things because he tells me What a boss should look like what an employee should look like what a servant should look like what a? Husband should look like what a friend.

So though I am living my spiritual life. If I'm living it according those standards so the man the men the women who are like, I don't know how I'm supposed to be.

Well.

The natural flow of Applying this to your life. We'll have you serving somebody. That is ministry. And if you do that, I make you a promise. And you know the women we have that helped do the Wednesday night meal.

Yeah, they just you ask them. They just loved to cook. Yeah, and so we had a couple events. Well, we need to extra people. They did it and I can think of one right now. She goes. Well, I should do this more often and Rebecca was like well good I'm tired of cooking.

It's stuff like that like The saw Jim already. I mean so many things like that, right? It's God will open those doors to any heart that's willing. It was the old saying He doesn't call those already equipped he equips those so he has already called yes.

You can you can please. I love what you said that you can please God by sweeping a floor. It's like man needs to be. Your attitude is for what am I doing this? Yes, I do all things as if unto the Lord.

Yeah, you said all these different categories of life man. I'll tell you man the most oppressed People Christians will be is when they separate their category. Yes, say my work life my family my home because you think that's an hour shift.

You just did cannot be pleasing to God. Well, it sure can be right.

Oh, it can certainly be displeasing as well. Because if God's behind you for that 10-hour shift and then like oh you come home and now you can pick it up. Or you say oh and you come home and you wait six more days till Sunday comes around and then we can talk about your spiritual Life, you know, that's not the way that God intends us to live our lives.

And if we're really interested in pleasing God, we shouldn't be categorizing these.

The Will of God Is Your Sanctification

Yeah, a mom can live out her spiritual life. At home teaching her six-year-old how to read. A father can live out his spiritual life. Going and being a shovel man an asphalt company and then coming home and playing.

Capture of a tiger with his kids. He gave all every example we have mentioned so far. This tells us how we're supposed to do it. And if we're doing that we are living a light. What we're doing right now.

What what Seth and Dalton are doing right now. If we're doing it with the right attitude we are living out our spiritual life.

Man, I just it blows me away when when I hear So many old so much in our older folks that have just not because they still haven't figured out. What are you waiting on man? Let me show you this number.

See that number there.

20 ,400 okay.

Camperies. 51 years old if I were to average average the number of kids. Wow. That have been ministry. Wow.

Wow.

20 ,000.

20 ,000 that's an average 400 we've had years and I told them that went back in the days when boys was really huge out here. At this camp out here. We had up to a thousand kids one year. I'm one of them.

I'm one of those number. Yeah.

Yeah, you are my teacher my entire life and look man like like what I love about that. I'm a pastor now. I said this last week you weren't you weren't here. One of the first ministries I Served in was our age and it was like three or four years.

Yeah, and you know the reason why? Mike had a need and I wasn't doing anything else anywhere else and I was 19 maybe. And and he got up one Sunday or and he didn't say I could use some help and I said I got it.

Yeah, no problem. I can do that. That's how I got started. Exactly. Exactly and one thing what I mean, that's how God works.

I've got so many men that are volunteers today that have we're kids in our age that are now working.

Donovan part of the daughter Donovan was in our age.

Yeah, yeah, but I've got a lot of these these men that are have not committed to this one. We call it a ministry. It's a it's a it's an annual mission project. I'm gonna serve for kids. Yes, but but it they they have put it on their calendar every year.

I don't even have to ask them. They're already they're already on board and these are men that have grown up into the RA program. Yes, and I've got I've got me and last year that have basically retired out of that old age physically.

They couldn't do it anymore. Physically. I had one man. This is no joke. I love him to death. He did our camp crap stuff at the camp re he set up all the all the log saws and all that stuff for the kids every year and I I was on one of the little golf carts drive around the camp trying to make sure things are getting taken care of.

I drove by there and he's out there by himself trying to load a a big giant log on to the side of a. What do you call those? Like a cross support. Yeah. Yeah for sawing. I he's got a cane in one hand man and And pulling the log with the other and I'm like, what are you doing, man?

He's all draw to get this up. Let me help you now and I got to help it but it just that day he finally had to retire and I says Where have those people gone, man? Where those people commitment? Yeah, that's what it is.

And I think I think real quick on that is he was doing all that for the log saw. For the log saw and you think well I want to do something that's so important that this did it and the log saw it all it is.

Teaching kids how to use a saw. Yeah, and you know and Even more. So just like how to get past hurdles, you know because that's all we'll catch. And then everybody's looking at you and watching and you trying to learn it like.

Just a small little thing is putting the log up on that thing. Yeah, it's such a big service. Yeah for all those kids. And if you're looking for the biggest flashiest job. You're looking for it with the wrong heart.

We'll see. And he used to have a lot more than he did before that because as you get older he kind of let some Things aside, but he said he's I'm committed to this. You know, I'm gonna be putting that log on there.

The thing is is that he's one of those men I was talking about that brought me up. Yeah. That young man, I want to go back to that real quick when I left. The he hollered at me said mr. Mike and as I was walking out the door, he said and I said, yeah.

He said thanks for not giving up on me. Man, come on man, that's right.

But yeah, that's why I do it yeah.

And.

To watch kids and to see them grow up to this and go. I mean, it's just it's amazing and. How you can deny yourself of doing something like that? I just don't understand it. It's beyond me actually.

And I'll tell you what I think it's so important to what you said when you first brought it up when that guy he asked You hey, come help me and you said I don't want to do that. I've got my own kids. Yes, like that.

That's the thought that goes through. I can't say. Yeah.

I've got leaders that have joined and helped and then when her kids their boys have aged out they dropped out with them. I'm like, I don't understand those things see because I've seen that too. And I'm no I'm not trying to offend them.

But because it to me it to me it's a ministry in it and it's it's ingrained into the soul that. So I look at it from a whole different perspective. So that's why I don't understand why.

When your kid ages out why you feel like your job is because your motives were wrong, right? But let me tell you something. As a current parent of young children I.

Oh.

So much of my children's knowledge of the Bible not to me.

To.

Louise Maddox, for example is she I'm she is 79. Did y 'all know that? She's about to be 80. Well, she's one of our faithful cynical teachers and she doesn't do Felt bore in other words when she teaches on the flood.

She actually teaches on the flood. Yeah, she does you know, I mean she doesn't like not a colored but I mean they color. You understand what I'm getting at. Yeah, Naomi is three years old. She came home and said daddy, here's my verse and.

They took a verse and they took out words and put in a picture to help her because she can't read yet, right? So like it's Matthew 4 4 and like man must not live by bread alone and like instead of the word bread.

It was a loaf of bread like a picture of it. Man was a picture of a dude and she said Matthew 4 4 man must not live on bread alone. But every word that comes from the mouth of God. She's three it's not cuz she's a genius.

That's cuz there's I Don't know 12 people in that nursery every Sunday. I say, all right kids stand. I mean once a month. It's me and it's it is a lot but and they stand up and they say all right kids.

They stand up that to stretch their back and they have to like all right. We'll raise your left hand. Raise your right hand put them down the repeat after me the hand thing was just gonna move it man, but and and Naomi comes home.

And right now she knows Matthew 4 4 and I've never opened this up and read that with her. Well, you can't buy that kind of influence let me tell you something if you have and this is what I mean about people like.

You don't have to Be the greatest orator. You don't have to be an alpha. Personality you don't have you just have to go to work somewhere and. Somewhere and a when you say, how do I know God's will for my life?