Judah Smith - Nashville Pastor's Summit on the Soul

this may not seem like it to you but it's it's a it's a super significant night and I know this is going to sound super weird it's not about me but full disclosure this is essentially the first official night initiated kind of not at somebody else's church or somebody else's conference but you're literally sitting in the very first night as a 37 year old man pushing 40 for crying out loud that I am saying I'm actually initiating I'd like to help pastors it's literally my first night ever doing something like this I've done it for pastor Brian I've been to some of your churches but for us to go hey this is Chelsea and I saying I think we can help you we'd like to help you if nothing else be encouraged by our glaring weaknesses and challenges and inconsistencies you're going to feel a lot better about yourself but that is this night so it's like a big step you could ask Chelsea Elijah and Emory I have fought against something like this for a long long time because I always thought if you need help go to Andy Stanley go to Craig Rochelle go to Rick Warren for obvious reasons they're geniuses kind of what what do we have to offer I had to put my big-boy pants on and realize that I think we could help some pastors and some leaders and so thank you for being a part of a night that is admittedly slightly awkward challenging and somewhat intimidating to say hey I think we can help you but I do believe we can help you we've been through some stuff and we're still here I would highly recommend going to the beach with your spouse immediately in fact go back and tell your staff and tell your board that Judas said you have to immediately take a tropical vacation with your spouse any single people here by the way other than Trace I'm Jay's oh whoa whoa like a little hot spot right here Trace for guys oh man she hates me the lost art of it but that you have to be empathetic is that how you say it yeah I love it okay third John and verse two brothers and sisters I wish that you prosper and be in health even as your as your soul prospers ask yourself that question tonight honestly just internally not to do it out loud how is your soul how was your soul and what's your metrics engage for that the vibes are good you feel good attendance is up giving is strong your brand is good what are you where does your brain go to answer yes or no how do you quantify or qualify that answer yes I'm good because no I'm not good because I found myself personally slightly kind of lost in an effort to decipher and discern whether or not my soul was good for instance and we write about this in the book when it comes to diet diet right this is a hilarious discussion I grew up if you're like me on breakfast cereal because breakfast here was healthy do you member that and like healthy was what it was raising Bryant Raisin Bran right cuz had a brand in the name so you know that it's healthy right or then there was a frosted mini-wheats and you knew it was hell because there's wheat some of you like still think this is healthy it's not newsflash Nashville okay so and then like Raisin Bran is caked in those races or caked in preservatives in sugar like they're not healthy for you at all but that was the thought it was like a little bit of milk a little bit of raisin bran right Grape Nuts anybody still eat grape nuts Wow they've lost their market so and it's amazing how and then for instance there was a while where bacon was the most evil wicked thing and I didn't eat bacon for like a decade because it's fattening and it's horrible right remember the big fat craze fat-free everything that'll be fat-free now if you're like me I am the exact opposite right like I've done this like bulletproof diet we're now good fats are where it's at have you I'm sure you've heard this I'm probably insulting your nutritional intelligence but but literally good fats is worth so you got to have avocado good fat butter cake it on right bacon as much as you want which is probably over the top but that's how I think so and now it's it's good fats and recently someone told me this certainly happened someone was eating a banana and this particular person Tracy knows who it is and he's like excuse me are you eating a banana are you eating a banana and the person was like yeah he's like you might as well have a can of coke he literally said this and I'm like what what is happening to the world what do you mean he's like the sugar processes from a banana and your body just like a can of coke I'm like win-win bananas and Coca Cola are synonymous I'm out I cannot handle this anymore I can't process the ever increasing knowledge of dye how lost are we when it comes to diet we had a discussion with friends in Pensacola the other day and it was all around diets and depending on which doctor you talked to that doctor would tell you know can't shouldn't never Wow right I had a friend today in the publisher meeting which will not be named Brian Hampton vice-president of Thomas Nelson who was drinking Diet Mountain Dew that's poison Nashville okay dear Lord but anyway sing about if we are this confused about our physical body and the diet it needs how confuse must we be when it comes to what our soul mates think about that I mean we we got so much effort in our culture and in our world and all these books and resources you can read to help facilitate a temporary she'll when we talk about the soul in the book we talk about the inside you you know Psalms 103 we'll talk a little bit about it starts by saying bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me if you do any research on the soul you will know that scholars writers thinkers speakers talkers any Bible readers there is so much discrepancy so much dialogue so much discussion and debate over how to define the soul it seems in the narrative of scripture that spirit and soul and heart are kind of synonymous kind of not but mostly and so I've done an effort to just keep it simple and clear I think your soul is all that is within you I think it's the inside you but of course our culture you've heard it a million times focuses so much on the outside you which by the way the Bible makes one little PS it is of some profit right to kind of take care of your body it's of some profit God is for the body the scriptures but of course we know that the majority of the narrative in relationship to the human being is centered on what the inside you how is the inside view and of course your job ironically as a church leader a Bible teacher a Jesus storyteller is to actually minister to an aide and help the insides of others which is why I can't put together a project like this and not stop press pause before we go any further with the project and say how are those who are tending to the souls of others how is your soul how is the inside you right now in fact I would challenge you to start asking each other those of you that are on team together serving community together I would challenge you to start using the term hey how's your soul and make somebody give you an answer it's so awkward well it how's my soul well I think it's I think it's good why well I feel good good breakfast it's sunny I don't know vibes how is your soul good furthermore it gets more complicated how about when your soul is not good no I'm not good why I just know I'm not good I got some sin I got some arrogance so I how do you fix that how do you fix that you ever gone on vacation come home and you know the classic cliche statement you need a vacation from your vacation you ever gotten physical rest but come home emotionally drained honestly that is an epidemic amongst church leaders you get time in Maui and everyone thinks you're coming home like you should just be invigorated but for whatever reason your soul didn't find repeat reprieve and rest and so you come home more frustrated more agitated more annoyed it probably comes out in your preaching let's be honest because you can't seem to recapture your breath you out of breath you don't have the margin you need you don't have the space you need how do you recover a healthy soul how do you recover a healthy soul what's it going to take we talked about in the book I go back to the Garden of Eden and I call it the original environment for an optimal human soul we talked about the four R's that are right there by the way the very first first element or ingredient of an optimal environment do you know what it was Garden of Eden and it says in the trees were beautiful to look at and the fruit tasted really good you know that's the first characteristic we're told of the garden that is it not the responsibility that Adam will have not it's it's it's that Oh like how amazing is God he's like I made these trees how cool are those you should taste the fruit it's called natural sugar eat a banana for crying out loud right like who is this God that we've taken so seriously misunderstood him that we have lost sight that one of the most essential elements for an optimal healthy soul is rest relaxation and enjoyment that you should enjoy art you should enjoy the beautiful sights of trees and you should enjoy natural raw sugars as opposed to refined sugar so one of the first thing said about the garden it goes on to describe that Adam had a job you need rest you need responsibility by the way working is an honor and a privilege it's not a part of the sin equation it was always there right responsibility Adam was to serve serving by the way benefits to servant more than any one serving is good for the soul maybe you don't need to go to Maui maybe you need to do what you used to do before you were a big-time pastor with bodyguards maybe you need to go back and just serve people and just remember what that was like going door to door maybe need to go back to when you started your community and started the church and used to just hang out late nights laughing talking about Jesus and sharing the highlighted passages of your Bible right like serving people what an honor and what a privilege we are benefiting the most of course relationship it's the most important thing it talked about God would come and he would be with Adam and then of course we know that the very first not good I'm talking to preachers the first not good and Bible is what that Adam was by himself so he made even there was relationship but one part of the garden we don't talk about a lot and that is the one tree the one tree the one tree God said you can't touch that tree now I've had a like I know you had Lord what theologically why would you do this why would you even put the tree there and of course there's a lot of stuff we could talk about that is beyond my level of intelligence but I know this much that without that tree there is no choice and we fail to have a definition for love without choice right without that tree there is no choice of whether we obey God love God honor God worship God or choose our own way so we need choice but you know what else what I think our soul needs we need we need restriction I literally think God put that tree there for Adam because Adam needed to know in his life you know it's crazy about being your own boss some of your church leaders is you actually had a healthier soul when you had someone telling you what to do honestly it was so easy to have a healthy soul when I when my mom was in charge oh my gosh I mean my life was regimented are you kidding me I mean it was just like what I mean and mom keeps a tight ship but now all the sudden I'm in charge and I don't expect office hours except for I think the finance department and then everybody else is like I don't know I mean if you're in your office all day aren't we supposed to be out with people so like it's weird to me I'm the most like the worst nightmare for me as a pastor is walking through our church offices I don't even know if we need church offices anymore but walking through and seen like all the pastor's like at their desk like clicking on their laptops like we have lost the mission of Jesus so like I don't really I don't really care about that but I've noticed even in my own life when all the sudden I can call my own shots am i implementing a necessary no just because you can doesn't mean you should have you told yourself no lately and of course these responsibilities and restriction and and rest and what's the other one that I did I share all of them and relationship none of that works without righteousness and we know that all of this is pre sin and of course this is what we've got to get out to the world that you can have all the rest you can ever want you can have all the cars and all the money and all the girls but until you receive imputed righteousness from the Lord Jesus Christ nothing will ever be truly okay on the inside.you but he who knew no sin became sin so that we might become right with God permanently and eternally forever and ever without end were made righteous a lot of our unsettled souls are as a result of our image of Jesus image of Jesus is that we are now in Christ my life is hidden in Christ when the father sees me he actually doesn't see me he sees Jesus and guess who he's always pleased with Jesus so be as long as you stay hidden as long as you stay in Christ which happens how by simply accepting and receiving the gift that's why Jesus let's you become like a little child you'll never understand what I'm doing and building in my kingdom I'm a king with a kingdom but you got to accept it like a child my I used to ask my kids will you forgive me they would say yep yep do you accept the forgiveness of Jesus like that Lord do you love me yep it's just simple God's smiling at you he loves you and he approves of you now from that place of righteousness ah which we could talk about righteousness for three hours imputed righteousness the gift that we simply receive from Jesus this is our story by the way now we can begin to look at those four elements of an essential soul I want to I want to land on one last thought in conclusion and I want to read it to you in Genesis chapter 2 check this out Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7 now again I'm talking to preachers so bear with me I'm sure you've read this and you've memorized it in Hebrew but it says Genesis 2:7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life cama cama and the man became a living creature did you hear that how do you define the soul what is our soul how do I know if I have a good soul a bad soul a healthy soul is sick soul how ha what what what is the soul well wait a second I think we just got an indication here it says so God formed Adam and clearly according to Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7 one of the most fundamental the theology scriptures in all the Bible man was a hollow empty lifeless shell so we have literally the form of a man but he is not a man and he is a not alive until what God's breath and then we are told he became alive the most fundamental characteristic of the soul is the breath of God it's the breath of God your breath that you are breathing literally is a gift from God in actuality fundamentally theologically philosophically we actually are living on the borrowed breath of God we literally share his in his essence we share his image his breath is what makes us who we are apart from his breath we cease to be human beings we ceased to be living creatures we are lifeless and empty and shells and of course this is our story about Redemption this is our story about reconciliation with God and restoration and forgiveness is that people are The Walking Dead they are literally living lifeless they are like shells and if you're like me and you walk the streets of your cities or your communities and you love these people and you know how much God loves them you can literally see that they are walking around not recognizing and realizing that within them is the breath of God and what they're actually searching for is to be reconnected and reunited with the one who gave them life in the first place this is our message but it is imperative for us to remember and here is my one encouragement to you if you're sitting tonight and you're saying my soul's not well first of all I know exactly how you feel like like someone said do you feel like quitting yes annually my soul I've been there more times than I can count I'm not well I just know you know when your nowhere all of a sudden I'm not okay my mind my will my emotions however we define the soul the inside me is not okay and here's the scariest part about leadership the longer you let this discrepancy grow in secret the more difficult it will become and the more haunted you will be until eventually you'll do something so ridiculous so that you can alleviate the growing secret pain of the discrepancy and the inconsistency of who you are publicly and who you are privately and personally so if there is any discrepancies speak now say something now okay I'm not well something's not okay talk to your team talk to those around you make new friends let us know if we can help you but I'm gonna give you the most honest answer in terms of what I do and I do this on a regular basis and how I find buoyancy is that okay to use that word I find buoyancy do you know when your soul is bought it you know when your ins when your insides just feels like it's resilient you feel you feel alive when you're when you're in your soul as well here's how here's how I'll explain kind of what I've learned to do Psalms 103 which I mentioned a few minutes ago and I'm coming to a close soon I have no idea what time it is my watch is on a different time zone so someone stop me okay is it is it is it 8 o'clock 8 10 8 5 sometimes 10 MOCA come on God's good Psalms 103 I'm sure you've read it um one one scholar one writer that I read said Psalms 103 is the whole gospel in one song it's the whole gospel it starts personal the psalmist writes and then it goes to the public and then it ends with the whole earth do you remember how Psalms 103 starts and ends do you remember Psalms 103 starts with bless the Lord O my soul and brought Koated a moment ago in all it is within me bless His Holy Name do you know how Psalms 103 ends bless the Lord O my soul and all it is within me bless His Holy Name you know there's 22 verses in Psalms 103 that's the same number of the Hebrew alphabet which I find interesting it's as if it's as if the writer is giving us a hint even in the ancient language to say all of life bookending all of life is when your soul blesses the Lord it's as if the psalmist is giving us a hint that the whole purpose for which you're actually literally created it's not your cute little projects and programs and things in buildings we build and we're so proud of them aren't we we're like man look at our new website it's so cute and like I think gods in heaven going all Slugger I'm so proud of you you're so cute you got 10,000 people in your church you're changing the world little buddy you know but we're so proud of our accomplishments aren't we and maybe the extent we should be but but the truth is that's not the essence of life the essence of life isn't recognition it's not opulence it's not resources it's not things it's not stuff it's it's actually found in this ancient Psalm it's your most alive your most at your primary purpose when your soul is blessing the Lord that word bless in the Hebrew means to gratefully and affectionately praise God but you know what's crazy about the word soul there is that actually if we look at breath is the number as the primary characteristic of the human soul and we look at Psalms 103 it's it's all connected that the psalmist is saying here's how your soul is well here's where your soul becomes alive is when you use your breath the breath that is the primary characteristic quality of your soul when you use that breath do not underestimate the significance of you actually using your breath to gratefully and affectionately praise God and I don't just mean when Hillsong is in town eating worship literally on your own by yourself when you start opening your mouth don't underestimate what it does to your soul what it does to the inside view the inside view yearns to articulate and verbalize the beauty and the majesty and the glory of God we talk about worship and how it blesses God and it does but I am Telling You right now when you affectionately gratefully articulate verbalized use the breath that he's given you and you use it to affectionately honor and glorify God something is ignited in your soul the very reason for which you have breath is to use it to glorify God I can prove how fundamental worship is to the entire Earth experience do you know what Jesus actually said if nobody gratefully or affectionately flaps their gums and their tongues to tell me that I'm great these rocks will grow lips gums and tongues and they will actually give me the praise that is due from creation all of creation all of the earth is this it is an altar of worship to the creator and the artist and the Majesty in the glory that is our God it exists so literally when you like this morning we're driving this little airport in Florida making our way here and she'll says let's pray together and all something happens when I start talking to God god I love you thank you so much all of a sudden whoa I mean we could talk left or right about prayer and making a difference at all I I just know this when I open up my mouth to start talking to God do you remember when you were young do you remember before you became a professional preacher and used to pray for hours and used to talk to God but then you got more mature and you realize that you know hours of Prayer it's all about Jesus is not about my prayers and he's a little more sovereign than I thought he was and so what's the big deal it's almost as if you need to have a returning to get to that childlike faith where you just talk to God about everything and you just praised him everyone who used to write songs remember when you were kind of weird remember when you were like you you said weird spiritual stuff to people and now you're like you know you're hipster and you're cool and you guys got a great brand than a great logo and it's awesome but I wonder sometimes if we kind of need to be part of kind of who we used to be sometimes like we just we grew up in services that lasted like three four hours like I don't really totally want to go back to those days but there's a part of me that's like man it was I was on to something as a 20 year old young man god I love you you're amazing remember before you had pressures to sell books or post podcasts or travel to different campuses you remember when it was just simple man for me I remember being a custodian and just vacuuming the floors and cleaning the ladies bathrooms what a nightmare and I remember listening to PI member let's say podcast I don't know if the word podcast listened to Bishop Jake's listen to my dad listen to different leaders and preachers and dreaming and talking to God and crying I remember getting down to the bathroom one time on my knees I've never told the story before and I'm like crying out for revival because I figured if I could cry be emotional I could bring God down to save the people I had some really weird concepts but nonetheless I I love Jesus I love Jesus I can really love Jesus I I just think there's something that your soul wants to do and you need to let you so do it more that is to use that breath you know how the whole psalm ends Psalms 150 you know how the whole collection of the greatest songs ever written you know how it ends and let everything that has soul let everything that has breath breath and soul are synonymous in the Hebrew in essence let everything that has soul praise the Lord and it's in that place you find life and you find health when you find strength it's amazing and it's not complicated I promise I'm ending with this but remember Mary and Martha by the way have you put two and two together you know Mary and Martha you know Mary gets commended for doing nothing Martha gets reprimanded for doing everything remember that do you know the passage right before do you know what it is the Good Samaritan this is in Luke's record it's the Good Samaritan or the Good Samaritan story does all these bands of wounds pay the bill you know takes them to the Best Western to do and then at the end Jesus says so go and do likewise and the next passage no wonder young people are confused reading the Bible the next passage Martha looks more like the Good Samaritan not Mary Martha's the one in the kitchen doing go and do all this there's Martha Mary she's doing nothing she's a creative she's an artist she's a worship leader she's doing nothing I love worship departments what do you guys do all day it's like dude check out this new Tomlin but Tom oh man um remember so so so Mary's there the hopeless created like Martha probably pays all the bills she's the older sister classic stereo like birth order issues right Martha's a doer she's a provider she's preparing hello Messiah Jesus is in our home listen home in our in our home in our home I felt like God asked me long before this book ever became a project he said when is the last time your soul went home you ever been on a long trip how cathartic is home when you get when you get back me it's your musk in the air right like it's your toilet no toilet seats needed it's your home right there's nothing about I mean it's proven psychologically I'm no doctor but like it having your own space does something for you emotionally mentally even physically improving your health when you're finally home when's the last time God asked me when's the last time your soul was home I don't think it's an accident that Jesus bottom lines the human existence in a living room of a home now I would Jesus literally bottom lines our whole purpose for existence with two young ladies now if I'm Jesus if you're going to bottom-line the human existence I say get more bang for your buck and do it like on the mountain when you're doing like the Beatitudes or something like but right in the home and living room he turns to Martha you know the story and he says no Martha I'm not going to rebuke Mary because she is doing listener she is doing though the one thing that is necessary in all of life but God are you bottom lining the human existence right now in an evening in Martha and Mary's living room yeah so if you're like me this one thing is necessary and Mary is like and Mary has accepted that she's doing it are you like me do you stop and try to look at the scene and go what is very-- daily like she's not really doing anything right I mean in terms of oh we're from America we're doers okay like what what is she doing as a leader can I just be honest with you which do you look more like right now Martha or Mary it gets back to our discussion of success you know get anything done sitting there like Mary you gotta get out there and get it done I mean I want to be more like Mary can I just say that I don't know if that's the most popular thing in our culture Mary sat there what did she do well she didn't do much of anything did she tell you what she do what she what she do I tell you what she do okay but I'll tell you what she did she listened to Jesus didn't she come on you know what it was like she's a creative she sat there just wow what did Jesus talk about I don't know love grace we're not even privy to their private personal conversation Mary is just enraptured with her Messiah and Jesus he says to Martha that is the one thing that's necessary in life really god but I'm doing all this for you we're building these churches we're building these ministries we're doing god we're doing great things have you seen Lord we're starting we're starting a clothing line at our Scot aren't you impressed God we got a new espresso machine in our lobby well we're so busy it's only one thing that's necessary what is that to be with me just to be with me to listen to fictionally gratefully praised and that's when you're alive alright Judah I get it I get it I get it so it's wanted we're doing one of these things again where you tell us pastors that we need to go back to the future we need to go have a Renaissance go back to relationship with God art I get it I get it we gotta get in our Bible time you got to get in our devotions got to pray a little bit I get it yep alright I'm landing the plane I got it I'm gonna re-up my devotions it's going to be great I'm gonna do my devotions I think it an effort to help people connect with God we have over packaged being with Jesus am i okay to say that like I do devotionals will sell you devotionals if you'd like to buy at one time $9.99 but it's a joke relax I wonder if we've complicated it it's not okay to say like Chelsea and I we had to plan this trip I'll give you that but when we got to this beach for two and a half three days we were just we were just with each other and it was part of the beauty is the spontaneity we're going to ride bikes we're gonna ride around and and we're just gonna I don't know you want to stop here want to go to this cafe you want to get a salad here not a Diet Mountain Dew like what do you like do we do that anymore with God like if you ever catch a story and I'm almost done I promise I remember sitting room as a youth pastor speaking about 20 year old self oh my gosh I was very militant at times it was embarrassing never going around the room and I'm like I'm going to every guy I'm like how you doing it wasn't how your soul is how you doing how's your prayer time has your Bible time right and all the guys were like good am I how long you pray and each guy was like thirty minutes for him you know I get to one of the new guys that have recently gotten say vyses how you doing he's like uh pretty good I think you he's like what we to me and I'm like how's your prayer life and he's like oh yeah good I'm like how long you brain and he literally said this he goes I didn't know we were timing our prayers I'm not entirely sure how long I prayed and I was like who's the idiot I am and I say hey if God says I want you to pray 30 minutes every day I hope you pray 31 minutes every day and I hope you time it that's between you and the Lord but if we're not careful we're gonna make it about devotions I don't want to do devotions I want to be with Jesus if I gotta want to limit it just the morning devotions I want to talk to him I want to listen to him I want to be with him I never gotten into any of this to be a professional I just love Jesus I remember in high school just telling my basketball buddies about Jesus because I just love Jesus do you remember those days like before you knew like you had to have Instagram followers and you had to have a brand and you had to have like a hipster Church with a coffee house connected do you remember when you met Jesus do you remember what you just told people about him remember when you just invited people to Jesus not because you're youth pastor preached a series on inviting friends of Jesus the deep I remember those days it's like I just love Jesus this is really embarrassing to admit but as a leader have you ever secretly privately asked yourself do I literally love Jesus all by myself or do I love what following Jesus has given me or do I just love Jesus I just want to follow him no matter what I want to challenge you I want to challenge you I'm I guess I'm just begging I'm shamelessly begging you as leaders that you would rediscover and you know if you're hearing you said Judah this might be news to you to be honest man I've never been in a better place with the Lord can I just say thank you and we're going to close this session and then you're gonna have a session okay but for some of us in this room that's just not the case anymore things have gotten complex and layered and challenging can I encourage you to develop to develop an authentic friendship with Jesus one thing is necessary one thing is necessary one thing is necessary not church attendance not tithing an offering to one thing is necessary what's the one thing Mary's doing she's sitting there engrossed and enamored with Jesus with Jesus I promise I'm ending this is my last story and I'm a couple minutes early Tracy's here Tracy's dad and mom passed a church for 30 years in Boise Idaho and now her cousin one of my best friends in the whole world and one of the smartest Christian minds in the whole world her brother is now pastoring the church along with his wife I uh I was nine eleven years old in Boise Idaho and my dad was speaking a seminar that he called the the Dragonslayer seminar and we traveled as a family for about five years if you can tell it was the 80s the Dragonslayer seminar by the way the logo is super cool now fact I'm gonna start wearing the t-shirts again it's awesome anyways um he was preaching about vision and destiny and purpose and I'm sitting there and I'm probably doodling just listen to my dad I love my dad and all of a sudden I heard the closest thing to the audible voice of God to this day I've ever heard and I heard this you will be a preacher to your generation that's what I heard and I and it's hard for me to explain what I experienced that night and I walked out of the room and we were all going to I don't know our favorite place um we're in downtown Boise Idaho speak town beautiful Tracie hates when I take shots at Boise but great potatoes and massive and I'm walking out thank God for it I know not everybody had this but thank God for my dad he loved Jesus he was sensitive to Lord we're walking out and he's walking out with uncle Kenny his best friend and I said oh hey dad any country I was like son you good we can see it the restaurant he's just about to walk out the door thank God he didn't he turned her back he goes son what is it I never forget looking at my dad and thinking and immediately you know I'm I'm an emotional basket case I've been this way for 37 years and I started crying and before I could even say it he started crying and I said dad Jesus called me he called me and I remember a weird feeling you know it at 11 years old thinking I'm so honored to serve Jesus you know and I remember looking at my dad and we're crying and we're praying and I remember having the craziest feeling that was the coolest thing in the world that I could serve Him and I didn't know enough to know that you know I would have book deals and I would meet with celebrities I didn't know it I just I loved my dad wanted to be like my dad I met at 11 years old I wasn't a perfect kid but I loved Jesus I love Jesus I closed my eyes and I remember back then we'd have camp and camp will go till midnight I didn't know any better now I'm too tired to do that I want to raise my hands that long oh I'm so modern but do you remember like for me as a kid I I can't all night man we worship for an hour and then the preacher would preach forever and then we'd worship for another hour and as a kid just I just loved Jesus when did when did we lose some of that you know when did we lose some of that I think you know I'm not trying to put my challenges on you again maybe some of your like dear God Judah when this is done we're all gonna hug you cuz we're not sure you're so I'll take it okay I just I want to love Jesus you know in our world needs not more professionals and by the way there's people who do better smoke machines who do better clothes who do better speaking and singing than we but you know what we get to do is leader some pastors we get to tell the story of Jesus and that God actually gave us it may not be a great gift but he gave us somewhat of the gift enough to captivate a few people when we tell them the story of our God and that is a high honor when did we lose sight of that what a privilege Jesus is so crazy about you he loves you so much and so there's a part of me I'm so the optimist right like everything's awesome and I always say that I love people I have friends who are like you know I only say that love you to people that I mean it to and I'm like oh my gosh I can't fathom life like that you don't know why but I don't think I have any makeup on but I feel like mascara is getting to my eye but I know the feeling if you're wondering but just to be honest so yeah I mean I'm the guy that a night like this I'm like I hope everything changes for pastors and it may not it may not that might be overplaying our hand a little bit but I don't know I guess I'm hoping another else you're kinda if I could say it like you're haunted by night like this have you lost the joy of your salvation have you lost the simplicity of loving Jesus have you lost that 11 year old wonder of I get to follow Jesus Wow god you're amazing and I love you so much do you remember highlighting your Bible a ton do you remember just reading the Bible not for a sermon or curriculum but just reading it and losing track of how long you had been reading it do you remember that do you meet with people sometimes and they say like pastor would you pray for me like I only read my Bible through one time this year and I really believed I was going to read it through twice and you're like that's a lot more than your pastor sure I'll pray for you and I feel horrible you know like if you had some of those moments and let's recover let's recover the joy of our salvation let's recover that childlike faith this yeah I want you to get your hands on it yeah I believe in it this is not exhaustive at all but this is me trying to bleed on paper and saying we can't have any more casualties so I am I'm begging you to do whatever it takes we need you I love you again there I go saying I love you I know maybe we never met but I love you and I believe in you and I guess if God has given us you know ah I gotta think of like someone's cat dying or something I stopped crying but but actually that's thrilling to me but um less cats better world but um I uh yeah you know we just love you and my family's here my friends are here if we can serve you it's embarrassing to say that I think we can I think we can't help you because I never want to be that guy in the room you know but it's humbling ha um work we need the message of Jesus so bad right now you know and um I'm just losing it but uh we need you to tell the story of God but if you're not well what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul you know so I'm asking you if you got to stop you got to get time off you got do whatever it takes can we help you we love you I saw this night being so much more fluid and concise and profound but it is what it is and this is not another book for me it's not another project it's a passion of mine to serve pastors and to help you in any way that we can you

Channel: Thomas Nelson Publishers

Views: 28,454

Rating: 4.8878503 out of 5

Keywords: Judah Smith, healthy soul, how's your soul?, Nashville, The INK Building, Pastor's Conference

Id: 0rdhHPIv07g

Length: 44min 28sec (2668 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 08 2016