A Church is Born - The Brief Story of WCF — Shane Idleman

We want you to understand the transparency. We want you to know what direction we're going. We're not pastors that are aloof. And we go sit in a green room. And that's one of the things, I'm kind of amazed when I go and travel and speak, and they're like, okay, we've got a green room for you.

I'm like, no, I want to pray with people. I want to be with the people. Are you sure? I mean, that's going to be draining. And yeah, it is. But that's the heart of shepherds to really minister to people.

And so I don't want to be in a hurry, and I don't want to talk too much about things that aren't really relevant, but I want to give you an idea. And you can actually find my testimony on YouTube. You can find Morgan's testimony on YouTube.

And if you're listening to this one in the future on YouTube, you can just look in the description and it'll be right there. So this isn't my testimony. We did a 10-year anniversary video that you can watch and hear testimonies about people, what Westside has done over the last 10 years in their lives.

The Birth and Purpose of Westside Christian Fellowship

But this is a little bit different. This is how God, I think the title is. I forgot the title, I didn't write it down. Oh yeah, there we go. A church is born, the brief story of Westside Christian Fellowship.

And then our hope is to also let new people listen to this on a regular basis every month. Like, okay, here's what Westside is about. Here's what God is doing. And then I think when you can paint that picture, we can all understand and be on the same path.

But again, you can text questions. I answered with Pastor Abram an hour and 40 minutes of questions last night at the men's study. So everything from theology to the graven images to can you listen to heavy metal music to all kinds of stuff.

So there's a lot of questions and answers you can listen to when you get a chance. So I'm not gonna really talk about that. I'm gonna just tell you about the church that you are calling your home church, at least for now while God has you here and wanna tie in some practical application.

And so here is a snapshot of what God did. Often, God will use a person, let's say the lead pastor. And he'll take my disposition, whether right or wrong, my character flaws, my character benefits, or however God designed me.

And that's usually what the shape of the church will take kind of. If the pastor's passionate about certain things, the church will be passionate about certain things. And so I could see that God early on was wanting Westside to be a little bit different.

God Uses the Least Likely

And He often uses the least likely, amen? So let that be an encouragement to you because I know a lot of believers are like, you know, God can't really use me. Well, you should have seen me 22 years ago.

I mean, talk about just, nobody's more surprised than me. And I run into people, even people come here and they're like, I can't believe you're doing this. Like, I can't either, I should be dead. I should be, I mean, I was the partier.

The guy that would never amount to anything. And kind of stupid, you know, from the farms of Oklahoma my dad came from. And so, God often uses the least likely because He gets the most credit. And what happened is I was actually born in Courtsill.

Have never moved. Right now, I live a quarter mile from the house I was born in. And so, I love California. I mean, if God does move us in the future, that's up to Him. There's no plans. We've never talked about it.

There's no desire. And I just have a heart for this area. And I like to be where God wants me. I remember we traveled to, and there's nothing against moving. I think God, people move all the time. It's good, it's healthy.

It's obviously, we have to move. But you want to make sure you're in the center of God's will. And I remember visiting Texas. Remember, we were up in Idaho, up in Star, Meridian for a week. And I was just like, I just miss home.

You know, and so God's got me here to minister to this area. And so what happened, you can again, listen to my testimony, all the good, the bad, and the ugly to how we got here. But in 2000, really it was 1999.

Surrender, Repentance, and the Turning Point

1999 was the year God said enough of this. I'm going to break you. So, men or women, if you're being broken, it's a good thing. I would encourage you, don't fight it. Because it just, it gets harder. And I remember God was breaking me, and I'm like, well, I wouldn't listen.

He's breaking me, I wouldn't listen. And it was a very hard year. And then 2000 is when I really said, okay, I'm all yours. And I think it was the 1999 started, but I would go back. Anybody go back into their old life?

You know, I've been set free. Praise God, I'm going great. And then my old man, the old man calls back. And you get hooked in that. And then now you're depressed because you're not where you want to be.

And I was going back and forth, vacillating for a year. And I remember my friend actually, at the time he was coming here, he doesn't come here anymore. A couple months ago he was coming here, and I told him, you know, we were on our way back from Laughlin with jet skis and Corona.

And I said, I'm done with this. I can't keep living this going back and forth. And that kind of separated our friendship and brought it back recently. And that is where the turning point was. Because I think, in my opinion, unless full surrender takes place, it's hard for God to put you where He wants you to go.

Because without full surrender, you're kind of kicking and screaming and wanting to go this direction. God says, no, go this direction. You're fighting the whole time and really kind of miserable. You're not really sensing God's lead.

Life's kind of challenging. You've got an attitude. You're angry. And I struggle with that. I say, okay, whatever, wherever you want me. I don't need to make a lot of money. I don't need to live in a certain area.

Just bring me a nice wife, please. And funny story, many of you have heard it, but I think it's so funny. I'm laying on the couch, hungover, doing what I always do, listen to Great American Country. Boy, that can make you really depressed.

And Craig Morgan, do you have any of you ever heard of him? His very first video was something to write home about. And Morgan got the part to be in it. And I'm watching, I'm like, Lord, if You could just bring me someone like that.

And of course, don't pray that because obviously that's not often a good thing. But God knew what He was doing and I met her, ran into her at the gym and we started going to church. And long story short, we met and started dating.

Sound Doctrine and the Church's Theological Foundation

But this is 2000, before I met her, I really started to dig in and God would give me a passion for theology. And that's why with this church, we love sound doctrine. We love proper theology because you have to have a gauge on which you gauge behavior.

You have to have a plumb line. A contractor has a set of plans. So without that, and that's when I talk about hyper charismatic churches, sometimes they throw out the plans and just build the house. But the plumber's putting something here, the roofer's doing it over here and it doesn't fit because they have to get back to the plans.

What does God's Word say? And so, just a love for theology. And in that though, liking both sides. Pretty interesting. I would read the different debates because there's different sides out there on the non-essentials.

This Calvary chapel would believe this. The Reformed theology would believe this. And I just wanted to know what does God's Word say? And just a desire to hear about the different views out there and then unwavering on the essentials, which is a non-compromising thing that we did.

It's even in our bylaws with the elders. On the essentials, we're unwavering. But in the non-essentials, gifts of the Holy Spirit, there's so many things. End times, eschatology, church politics, meaning governed by a leader by elders or a plurality of elders or the main pastor leading, how you handle communion, all kinds of things.

And so, we don't want to argue over those, but the essentials were critical. And then for some reason, again, I believe God, I didn't have any of these desires before I was just following the world. And then all this changed.

Revival, Repentance, Worship, and Prayer

And then there was a desire for revival and repentance. And because I was reading a lot of things like David Barton who spoke, actually started reading a lot of his material about America and how far we've drifted.

And to read about the founding fathers and what they wanted for our nation. And my mom, even though I talked with the Mayflower Compact Society, or I think it's just the Mayflower Society, my lineage can be traced almost to Purgham White, the first baby born in the Mayflower in Cape Cod Bay.

And my great-grandmother said that the prayers were that the grandchildren would be, you know, take God's Word into the next generation. They were part of the Methodist circuit riders. So maybe that has something to do with my passion for this area and revival.

And all my books on revival would stack up high because I love that theme. Because it is biblical. It is very biblical. And I don't like when people give it a bad name. You know, do weird things. And it's like revival is probably one of the most powerful things that can happen in the life of a community and a church and a nation.

Because it awakens. It awakens. And that's kind of what happened with me in my 20s. I was a Christian. I gave my life to the Lord. I remember it was a pretty significant event up by, I think it was Mountain High.

I don't remember the exact name up there. I'm actually going to preach at a men's conference for a few days up there. The same spot, I believe. And that's pretty cool. But then, my dad wasn't a Christian.

He was from Oklahoma. And a hard dude. You know, those guys with weathered skin out in the sun all the time and just not real emotional and just walking on eggshells at home. And he would not raise me in the fear of the Lord.

It was, you know, did you meet a girl tonight? Kind of thing. And they gave me my first drink, of course. I remember on Avenue M2 by that library. It was not paved. It was a dirt road. It was a contractor.

And my dad thought I wouldn't like it and never have it again. Instead, it had the opposite effect. Like, this banquet is pretty good. And I was 12 years old. And that kind of started the process of being led in that direction.

Then my mom came out of Roman Catholicism. And I was an altar boy. And I would go and do all the sacraments and help the priest. And just dead as can be, though. It was just not relationally. Into a lot of works, just a lot of things that, you know, I mean, if you read the Bible, a lot of it's just not biblical.

To go to a man of confessional, Mary perpetual virginity of Mary, and the Immaculate Conception, and Purgatory, and I could just keep going on the papacy. They won't say it, but it's up there above the Bible.

You know, that's the final authority in Romans. And so, my mom became a born-again believer. Gifts of the Holy Spirit were very evident. I mean, her prayer meetings were powerful. People still tell me about them.

35 years ago, in our house in Quartz Hill, and people being delivered and set free. Very powerful prayer warrior, gifted. And I didn't like that stuff, because of my dad's influence and hanging in with the wrong crowd.

And we would go, and right where Quartz Hill is, Quartz Hill Mountain, there was no houses, so we called desert parties. And we'd bring our four-wheel drives out there, and I talked to a friend of mine, Henry Marvin, he comes here.

He knew me back then. He had a Dodge Ram Charger, one of the bigger Dodge Rams when we would race. It was that time, and so, drawn away from the Lord. Miserable, and then God brought me back in 2000. And also, the focus, not only on revival, but there was a focus on worship and prayer and the surrendered life.

So often, you see a lot of those same themes in the ministry. And not everyone prefers my style, and I got it. I don't prefer their style. I mean, right, we have preference. That's why I put it up there.

But just because it's not your calling doesn't mean it's not my calling. And so, God has uniquely gifted people, you, all of us, for certain areas. And that's what began to take on the form of West Side Christian Fellowship, even before it was a church.

Jeremiah's Call and the Fire of God's Word

And so, I would go and travel, and I'm going to speak about that in a minute, but I want to put up some Scriptures that when you say leaped out from the page, I think we've got them there in Jeremiah and Luke, these just jumped out and I knew God.

Have you ever read something where you're like, yep, that's for me. That is my life verse, or that is God just wrecked me. I put the Bible down, began weeping sometimes. And he's talking to Jeremiah. And usually when these Scriptures leap out, it's an issue I'm struggling through.

The Lord said to me, do not say I am a youth, for you shall go to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.

Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, behold, I have put My words in your mouth to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down and to build back up and to plant.

And I just really resonated with that. And also Jeremiah 29. Then I said, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name. Have you ever been so beat down that you're like, forget it. This is a hard battle.

This woke culture is taking over and we can't even keep our kids away from these predators and all kinds of things. But His Word was in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones. I was weary of holding it back and I could not.

In other words, God's Word was bubbling over in my heart. And it can be in your heart as well. That fully surrendered life, getting into His Word, getting to run the heavens and letting the Spirit of God just bubble out of you.

It's powerful. It's life-changing. You don't ever want to go back. The enemy tries to tempt you to go back. If you've ever fallen, how miserable is it? Miserable. Sucks. That's a good word. It's like, man, He got me again.

But the key really is to get back up and continue fighting. And of course, Luke 3 .16, John answered saying, I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I is coming whose sandal strap I am not even worthy to loose.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And I'll never forget, that was just, Lord, what is the fire? What is that? And that's what happened in 1999. I remember the couch. I remember getting off the couch and just almost falling to the ground.

And not really being able to get up for a while and just weeping and weeping over the condition. And when the prodigal son comes home, it's messy. I destroyed everything. My marriage, my life, my finances, my reputation.

And just weeping and weeping. And God began to just fill me with His presence. And then joy unspeakable followed. It's like I'm in the worst spot ever, but I'm so happy. What happened? I remember driving down Rancho Vista Boulevard.

Many of you know Palmdale. Just weeping for so much joy, but I'm going through hell. This doesn't make any sense. And then I can't wait to read God's Word spending hours in the morning. Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

How did I miss this? Whoa! And then we had to kick country to the curb. Back then, it was Hillsong. We were Darlene Check. Shout to the Lord. These are the days of Elisha. Man, this is powerful. Michael W. Smith, I think, started back then too.

From Personal Renewal to Public Ministry

And so God was just changing my heart. And so that began the process. And now, I've got this fire burning in my belly. And here's the thing. Many people in the church can't relate to you when you've been radically changed by the Spirit.

The Spirit-filled life, full of the Spirit, not everyone is. Most people aren't. And so you look like people just settle down. You don't have to get that excited about God. The old times would even tell me that, remember?

Just because they've lost that fire. Or they've never had it. And then God began to have me go and speak. I'm like, ah, I do not like speaking. I would actually get out of public speaking. I never did it in school.

I was always sick or got out of it somehow. And I did have a stuttering problem a little bit more back then. More just really nervous and didn't like it. But God would begin to open doors for that. I actually spoke to the homeless at Grace Resource Center about health and fitness and taking care of themselves better and things like that.

And little doors here and there. And then those little doors turned into bigger doors. And then I wrote my first book, which is silly because I couldn't even write well. My mom had to edit it and edit it and edit it.

But it almost actually got to Oprah because a friend of mine who lost like 500 pounds, Joy was her name, she was friends with her. And that's why I finished it, but then that fell apart. But then, not that that's a good thing to be on Oprah necessarily.

Now I couldn't go on. She wouldn't probably have me on there. But it opened the door so people would read it. And the first guy who read it was a pastor. And he said, hey, would you come speak at the vineyard?

They won't let me speak there anymore. But 20 years ago, 20 years ago, Jim Gertleston on a Wednesday night said, hey, but I don't want you to speak about your book. I want you to speak about chapter one, changing from the inside out.

It was my very first sermon. And I should see if I even have the CD. That'd be interesting. And I preached it with all of my heart and gave just that call to respond. And like 80 hands went up. Like, oh, they probably didn't understand what I said.

And you kind of repeat, like if you really need to fully surrender and get your heart right with the Lord, and it was just the response was incredible. And then a pastor friend of mine was there and said, why don't you speak at our church on Father's Day at Hope Chapel?

I hope chapel. And I did that. And the Father's Day message, it was, I remember that night or that morning. And then they took the CD and they duplicated it. And promise keepers in Canada made 10 ,000 copies of it and sent it out everywhere.

I don't even know how they got it actually. And so that kind of opened the door to where you got to get your feet wet on dealing with crowds and speaking in different places. I remember I was in Wisconsin speaking at the American Baptist Association.

Their annual conference is a huge hall like out past the street. And people start getting up and leaving, like in the back. And then one lady came up and she goes, I got to stop you right now from speaking out against homosexuality.

He said, well, hold on. Okay, hold on. Is my time up? It's not okay. I appreciate it. And I just kept on preaching this way. And I said, I'll talk to you later. And just people clap. I'm like, what is going on here?

Come to find out they were voting that weekend on embracing same-sex marriage or not. And they didn't let me know. And all I said was the court system, the Supreme Court, what they're allowing now would have never been allowed 50 years ago.

They would have laughed this agenda out of the courtroom. There they go. There they go. There they go. And here comes this lady up and trying to tell me to stop. And that kind of opened the door. I spoke at Grace Chapel to their men's group.

I spoke at Central Christian to their men's group. And we'll go to a lot of men's events. And so hearing the heart cry of men and knowing what men struggle with, I've seen thousands of men over those years, some large conferences, some smaller.

And that's kind of why I shoot people straight. That's how I was raised. I think that's the only way. I'm not, a beat around the bush drives me crazy. You know, I say, just get to the point. You know, what are you trying to say?

What are you, you know, tell me the truth. And so, I would really see men rocked. Like I'd be preaching, you know, like I do. And he's crying, he's crying, he's crying, he's coming to the altar. Like God is just moving and moving and moving and breaking, confirming what he wants me to say, obviously.

And then traveling more, I went to Calvary Chapel here in town. Pastor Mike there is a friend of mine. And then they would have me go speak at different Calvary chapels. Teotihupe, Hesperia, Yucca Valley, North Edwards.

And so I'd be a traveling pastor for the weekend. And so God, I could see he's using all this experience to finally eventually launch West Side Christian Fellowship. But I needed seven more years to prepare.

Planting Westside Christian Fellowship

Seven more years to prepare. And that's where I started writing the articles, the passion for the church is developing. And when I left Calvary Chapel, we were kind of confused, like what is God doing?

I didn't even know what he was doing, really. And we left just to say, you know what, I've got to do what I feel God's put on my heart. And more extended times of worship. No offering box, no announcement prayer.

Just really a church, a revival type church seeking the heart of God. And it's not for everyone. And people apologize, and I say, hey, if it's not for you, I understand, you don't have to apologize. This is what God's called me to do.

Some people want to go, some don't. I mean, I have to answer to Him, not you. And so that type of church is what God was wanting to plant with West Side Christian Fellowship. And there's other great churches around there, but He'll take different personalities and upbringing and have them launch that church, I believe, if they're truly called of God.

There's a lot of people calling themselves. They think, oh, it'll be fun to pastor, I like people. No, it's a nightmare and a huge amount of demonic attack if you're not called, because the enemy will take you out.

And so over a series of events and time just seeking the Lord, that's when the articles, I started to write the articles. My mom would continue editing. And so that got everything out there kind of nationally.

And so I would speak a little bit more in Texas and different places. And then people begin to ask, have you considered planning a church? And I said, no, I'm not going to do that. I'm not a pastor. That's a little wimpy.

It's kind of wimpy, I thought, because I'm in construction. And those guys, they wear glasses and they're all nice and quiet. But the more people begin to ask, and I said, okay, well, Lord, I'll consider it.

That's why I believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially the gift of prophecy or when somebody has a prophetic word for you because I was struggling big time. I'm like, Lord, is this You? Because if You want me to say all this stuff, man, this is going to go over like a bull in a china shop in the American church.

Like that Jeremiah, that boldness. And I wasn't hearing that in a lot of churches. Like, Lord, are You sure? And I was at a church in Lancaster, and I've got it on audio tape. It's really old. And he said, he just read my mail.

And he just answered everything I was praying to God that week. And even some of you might know Billy Nettles at the Highlands. Before he was at the Highlands, he was at a different church. And the whole church is there.

You know, there's 300 people I'd say. And everybody's up front, and he goes, you two, Shane and Morgan, he didn't know our names. He lays down and goes, God is calling you to the ministry. People say, well, he just got it right.

No, that's not. The only person he mentioned, and I'm already asking God for wisdom in this. And I'll share that prophetic word. It was Mario Murillo. I don't know if you've heard of him. He was at a church.

It was 2003. I'm in construction. I'm digging ditches. I'm going to work Monday. And he had me stand up. The only one the whole meeting. And he said, God is calling you. He said, it's not arrogance.

It's boldness. Now, I want to tell you something. This is a very unusual moment. I want you to help me, if you will, my brother. I want you to walk over to this very tall individual. And I want you to lay your hand on him for a moment.

And this, sir, so far transcends physical healing. There are aches and pains and illness that God is going to take away. But that isn't nearly what this word is about. You have a gift, my friend. You have a gift from God that's extraordinary.

And you've got to understand that I appreciate your humility and so does God. But God has said that it's time for boldness. God said, I appreciate your silence and I appreciate your calmness and I appreciate your humility.

But it is time for boldness. Now, in order for you to fulfill your destiny, some kind of a shell you have to come out of. That's what God said. You got to come out of a shell. And there is a kind of a, and you're so young that retirement's not even on the radar screen, OK?

But there is an attempt by the enemy to put a retiring sense in you. Well, I'm going to wind things down. Buddy, you haven't even wound things up yet. And everything you've been through in your life has been a setup for this moment.

Now, my brother, would you lay your hand on his back? And then I want you to know, sir, God is healing you in your body. But the Lord said that the healing of your body is so secondary to the inflaming of your passion to do a great thing.

You see, you're afraid, the Lord's saying this to me, you're afraid that the boldness of your vision is arrogance. And God said, it is not arrogance. It is God. And men of God have got to be bold. And they're mistaken.

I mean, you know, holy confidence can be mistaken for arrogance. But it is not arrogance. Because if you fulfill your vision, you're going to help so many people. And you can help them in a way that nobody else can help them.

Somebody clap for Jesus.

And I just told Morgan that week, I said, this is so, people are going to think I'm arrogant. And he said, it's not, it's boldness, it's God. And He's giving you this gift to be bold. Like, how does that just happen?

Exactly what you're praying for and struggling ministry? See, that's what the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for, to go and complement and to help us in our journey. Not to get weird and out there and taken advantage of and get all kind of in la-la land.

But to help God's people get through this journey of life. The gifts of the Holy Spirit for the edifying of the body. And so I experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. When I came back, all the gifts I've seen before, I've experienced it.

But because I had the John MacArthur Study Bible and I was conservative, I didn't want to share it with people. And God really convicted me. And I shared it, I think a couple years ago, you can watch it online.

I kind of repented of that, keeping all this silent for 18 years on what God did in my heart. But I've also seen the damage when abuse has occurred too. And so that's why I often say the cemetery or the circus.

And trying to find that balance, because I've been in so many cold, dead churches, and I kind of like the excitement of the city a little bit better. The energy and worshiping and pursuing God. And so that's why what we believe, and the elders support this, and Pastor Abram, with the role of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The Church Launches in 2010

And so we finally launched the church September 2010. As a new church, how much do you talk? I'm Shane Eidelman, by the way. West Side Christian Fellowship. What is He calling me to do? What does He want out of me?

What's His will for my life? So I just thank you all for coming. Our worship was a blessing helped out back to when we were in Lancaster. And it was more like what it is now. It was just a good 30 -40 minutes of just worshiping and getting our hearts right.

And I remember it was challenging for people. You know, hey, I come from this church and we like to greet each other after the second song. And I come from this church and we really like to pass the plate for a while.

And I like when the person goes up there and makes announcements. And so we tried all that. And I remember, I'll never forget, I'll send this to Randy. He was with us from the get-go. He left, I think, about two years ago now.

He was our treasurer. And Ronnie was actually leading worship. And I said, okay guys, we'll try announcements. So he's leading worship. And I think it's like one of those songs where you're just broken and you could just camp out there for a while.

And so he stops and the guy comes up. Alright, let's go over everything we have going on for 10 minutes. Like, talk about a buzz kill. If you don't know what that is, that's okay. But Randy afterwards goes, yeah, we're not going to do announcements anymore.

Now we'll make some now and then, but to this service, it doesn't mean announcements are wrong. It doesn't mean passing the plate is wrong. But for where God had us, really pressing in worship, the Word and prayer.

And that's been our theme for 12 years. And continuing doing that same thing. And so when that happened, Levy can relate probably. We had a guy named Garrett and he got the website going. He's like, we gotta get video.

I'm like, I'm not gonna go on video and all this. He goes, yeah, that's the wave of the future. Like video cameras? Back then we had, I think it was CDs and recorders and things. You make copies of the CDs.

I'm like, I'm not gonna go on video and worry about a camera on me the whole time. He goes, no, if you don't do that, that's saying you're not gonna reach people. And then I get talked into podcasts and video pod.

Media Ministry and National Reach

And so you see though that God uses different platforms to get the message out there. And so once the video started getting better quality, then other places picked it up. And we would hear from people.

And that's where I started to realize, oh, okay, God's doing something. I mean, just about every state in the United States, people being, man, that message wrecked me. Or I went home and repented. I mean, we're talking, I don't know how many emails over the years now.

It's just Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. People, I mean, just even today a guy called in and just God's getting the message out there. So see, that's why we're a little bit different too. Not everybody, every pastor has that calling.

There's more maybe focus just on the local level. And when you look at the message that's going out nationally on the radio, that's where God has us. And so again, when I say these things, trust me, my heart, I'm not boasting, but we are to boast in what God is doing.

I think it's amazing, absolutely amazing what God is doing. And breaking and humbling people. And yeah, I just got a text yesterday too, that Charlie Kirk is reading the articles or seeing the sermons.

Turning Point USA is sharing a lot of the things. And then other leaders in the Christian community I know were sent to President Trump two years ago. Friend of his, and said, you've got to read this guy.

And so God is getting that information out there. So now I have a responsibility not only locally, but God, what are you doing even nationally? And so that's why West Side is a little bit different. And so we're open for constructive criticism, but not everyone is going to understand or line up, especially if they have a different heart.

Following God's Calling Rather Than Every Cause

I remember, man, it was like pulling teeth with these certain individuals for a while because they wanted to be a missions church and only focus on missions, but that was their heart. So I'm like, go for it, do it, we'll support it.

But no, you need to. God needs to tell me what I need to do. He's not telling me to change my whole trajectory, or whatever that's called. You handle the missions, we'll support them, we'll do it, I'll mention it.

But here's where God has me. And not everyone, you need to go. I remember one guy, he was so mad, he used to sit there. Why don't you go on the 40-day marches with us around Planned Parenthood and always talk about abortion and get these signed things and go do this and go to L .A. with us for the training.

I'm like, I'll support you, but that's not my wheelhouse. That's not where God has me. Here's where He has me. Well, why don't you get, it's just like, people want you to do certain things. Even in politics, they wanted me to run for certain things in office and get mad when I don't.

I'm like, that's not where God has me. And so maybe that's encouragement to you is to find out where God wants you and stay within that framework. Now, of course, we have to do other things, but I think when we juggle too many plates, we end up dropping them all.