Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: You're listening to the Known Legacy podcast brought to you by Known Legacy Ministries. For more information, go to knownlegacy.org now here's your hosts, Bill and Travis.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the Known Legacy Podcast. We're so glad to have you here where you can help. We can help you wake up, gear up, and come alive to who God called you to be.
[00:00:23] Speaker A: Absolutely. Morning, Bill.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: Morning, Travis.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: Morning, Kyle. In the corner.
[00:00:27] Speaker C: Good morning.
[00:00:27] Speaker A: Good morning, man. Thank you guys so much as always. You can check us out on Instagram, YouTube as well as the Facebook, man, if this is impacting you in any way, man, if you could share it and. Or give us a review, that'd be fantastic. We always appreciate that. Go to the known Legacy.org webpage if you want to find out about Bill and his speaking engagements. Coming up, the men's retreat. That's coming up.
[00:00:47] Speaker B: That's still.
[00:00:48] Speaker A: Well, I think we're past the discount, but man, come on.
We got so many guys signed up already.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: We have a little.
[00:00:54] Speaker A: Few spots still open and so now is the time to sign up. Do not delay.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: Yes. We are so excited. We're for this next one, man. Spots are filling up fast and so make sure you get your spot. It's a great time to connect with the Lord, connect you with yourself and with somebody else because we really believe in the value of having an armor bearer, someone who's going to walk this life with you. So glad you guys are here today. Travis.
[00:01:13] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: How was the. I know that you're. We're probably going to do this in February, but, man, we're just coming back. We're off a break. But, man, how have things been with you guys? You guys doing good?
[00:01:23] Speaker A: I'm happy 2025 is over. I'll be honest with you. It was. It ended really hard. Started off really good. Ended really hard. I'm ready to go into 2026 and see what God has in store for us at the church plant as well as us as a family and big stuff going on.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: How about you, man? Honestly, things are. Are good now. Kind of looking through 2026 now. Excited about the future, excited about what God has in store and cannot wait to see what 2026 in totality has to offer. But man, overall, super excited.
[00:01:51] Speaker A: Kyle.
[00:01:53] Speaker C: I'm gonna. I'm doing good.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: I don't know what to do with my hands.
[00:01:58] Speaker A: I don't know what to do with my hands.
[00:02:00] Speaker C: I didn't know I was gonna get asked, so, no, I'm looking.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: That's why Kyle's in the corner.
[00:02:04] Speaker C: My 2026 will start in March.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: Oh, yes.
[00:02:07] Speaker C: Since my. My. My wife is out of the country until then, so I'm bacheloring it with my son, and we'll see how we survive. I think that by the end of the next two to three months, the house is going to look like a jungle.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Kyle's.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Kyle's in the corner, like, crying.
[00:02:25] Speaker A: We are. Pray for Kyle, everybody.
[00:02:26] Speaker B: Pray for Kyle.
[00:02:27] Speaker A: And pray for his wife, too.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:02:29] Speaker A: Hey, question of the day.
[00:02:31] Speaker B: Question of the day.
[00:02:32] Speaker A: All right, so, you know, Christmas season just ended for us when whenever release a podcast, we release it. But I always love the time of Christmas because you get all the Christmas movies. You get the Hallmark movies and everything else, but every once in a while, you'll find these vintage movies that you haven't seen forever in a day. You know, movies like say anything. You.
In your.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: Your eyes, the light, the heat.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: Your eyes.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: I am complete.
[00:02:55] Speaker A: I just went really weird. You did Wedding Singer. I just totally went Wedding Singer on that. I apologize to anyone watching. I apologize. It'll never happen again. But anyways.
[00:03:04] Speaker B: No, it should. I think it should, actually, you know.
[00:03:06] Speaker A: So there's this nostalgic road that you start to walk down, right? And the thought that I had, you know, it kind of goes back to the Garth Brook song. Thank God for unanswered prayers.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: And who was your.
I'll do two.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: Who was your real life junior high, high school crush that you're just like, man, she was fantastic. And who was your never gonna happen Hollywood crush of that time? That's where we're gonna start today. So, Bill, why don't you kick us.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: Off so I'll start. I mean, when I was. And I was like, junior high, there was one girl and her name was. Was Amber.
And I actually can't remember her last name anymore, but that's okay. It's irrelevant.
[00:03:44] Speaker A: But.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: But, man, I think she was kind of like everyone's kind of crush, you know what I'm saying? She was like, that popular girl, whatever. But I never felt, like, worthy of being a boyfriend for somebody.
[00:03:55] Speaker A: Gotcha. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: But I mean, which is a whole nother podcast.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: We'll.
[00:03:58] Speaker B: We'll tune in there another day.
[00:03:59] Speaker A: So.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: But. But, man, I. I think when it. When I thought about that, man, I did love a lot of movies. So this one just came to mind, even though it was a long time ago. I've got two, so I'm going to. Going to bonus you with two.
[00:04:13] Speaker A: The first one, I hope Your wife is listening.
[00:04:15] Speaker B: The first one was. Well, my wife knows about this one.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: Elizabeth Shoe, gorgeous show girl next door. Gorgeous.
[00:04:21] Speaker B: Amazing. Yeah. Fantastic. Yeah. So I always had a huge crush on her from Karate Kid and Back to the Future when they replaced the one girl, which she did a great job in the first movie. But when that, like, garage door opened, and then Elizabeth, she walks in, she goes, how about a ride, mister? And I was like.
Like. I was just, like, dumbfounded. I was like, it's Elizabeth.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: You pause the movie.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: She's so pur. You know, saying.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: But I got all these feelings I got to do.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: But it did remind me this, too. And this sounds weird because I was. I was already. I was a kid when the movie. I saw it on, like, video and stuff like that. But Princess Leia, like, Carrie Fisher, it.
[00:05:01] Speaker A: Was a bikini scene, wasn't it?
[00:05:03] Speaker B: I don't want to. I'm gonna neither deny or. Nor am I going to accept that. That truth. But I am gonna say, he is watching.
[00:05:09] Speaker A: He's watched the beginning of that third episode.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: Even with the cinnamon roll, she was really cute, so it didn't matter. But, yeah, so I definitely had a crush on her. When you said. I was like, oh, wait, Carrie Fisher.
[00:05:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: So that was a long, long, long, long time ago. Long ago in a galaxy far, far away times.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: Long ago. Kyle, how about you?
[00:05:26] Speaker B: What about you, Kyle?
[00:05:27] Speaker C: Okay, for the high school.
[00:05:29] Speaker B: He gave us a breath. Okay, so I got a chapter for.
[00:05:33] Speaker C: The high school going between 8th and 9th graders.
This girl just showed up with her family moving from California.
[00:05:42] Speaker A: She's a California girl. Were you California dreaming?
[00:05:45] Speaker C: I was when I first saw her in my youth group.
[00:05:48] Speaker B: All the leaves are brown.
[00:05:49] Speaker A: No, that's.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: That's. That's.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: Yeah, okay. Sorry.
[00:05:53] Speaker C: So I immediately fell in love with this girl.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: Time out. What is wrong with us?
[00:05:58] Speaker C: I don't know. What's wrong with you guys?
[00:06:00] Speaker A: Paul McCartney.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: John McCartney.
[00:06:03] Speaker A: John McCartney.
[00:06:05] Speaker B: You did it right this time.
[00:06:07] Speaker C: So anyway, I fell in love with her first time I saw her. And then a week later, we became boyfriend, girlfriend, and we dated until, like, six months after high school.
[00:06:16] Speaker A: Dude, you had moves. It only took you a week to win her.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: He's like, if I don't score this now, I'm never gonna.
[00:06:21] Speaker C: I don't remember the exact. Could have been two weeks, but it was pretty cool.
[00:06:24] Speaker A: Does she have a name?
[00:06:25] Speaker C: Becky.
[00:06:26] Speaker A: Becky. Amber and Becky.
[00:06:28] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:06:29] Speaker A: Man, those were the days.
[00:06:31] Speaker B: So what about you, man? What about your. Oh, hey, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I got so excited oh, yeah, no, yeah, we're on the.
[00:06:37] Speaker C: I got my.
[00:06:39] Speaker B: I apologize. I apologize.
[00:06:42] Speaker C: I'm gonna go with Brooke Shields. He was the first.
[00:06:44] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:06:45] Speaker C: Like any type of woman like that, once I reached puberty, that showed up on the movie posters for a movie or whatever.
[00:06:54] Speaker A: Did you see Blue Lagoon?
[00:06:55] Speaker C: I did not see it.
[00:06:56] Speaker A: Probably a good thing.
[00:06:57] Speaker C: My mother would not let me.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: Your mom is a wise, wise woman, Travis.
Okay, so let me count the ways.
So I'm gonna say two girls from junior high. Well, one girl from junior high. One girl from high school. The girl from junior high, her name was Julie. I have no idea her last name. Could not tell you, but she was a redhead. And she is actually the reason why I ever started listening to YouTube. Because we were in typing class together. Right? YouTube.
[00:07:24] Speaker C: Not YouTube.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Yeah. Did I say you?
[00:07:26] Speaker B: I thought you said YouTube. No, but you said you were just.
[00:07:28] Speaker C: Clarifying the band YouTube from Ireland.
[00:07:30] Speaker A: YouTube with Bono from Ireland. Correct.
[00:07:33] Speaker C: Which are now making a new album.
[00:07:34] Speaker A: Oh, that's gonna be horrible. Anyways, so. And we were sitting next to each other and she was so amped up this one time when she came in and she had just bought the new album Joshua Tree. And so I being the guy that wants to find her. And. And here's the funny thing. So my best friend and I, we were downstairs, it was a Friday night. We were talking, and we're talking about our crushes. And I was talking about this girl named Julie. And I this. I met her in sixth grade. It was eighth grade. We never dated. I just had a crush on her from afar. And I was like, dude, if she were to call me right now, I would ask her out. And he goes, yeah, you would. Yeah, you would. You know, he's pumping me up. Swear to God, to this day, the phone rings and I don't even know how she had my number. And it was her. And I'm like, ah, Totally, totally whiffed on that one. Did not ask her out. Totally. Two second conversation. I still to this day can't remember because as soon as I heard it was Julie, my entire body and mind shut off. My mouth became dry as a desert. My hands started sweating like the.
[00:08:30] Speaker B: Like.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: Like a rainforest.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: And I'm like, that's crazy.
[00:08:34] Speaker A: And. And I remember turning to my friend, I'm like, it's hard. And he was like, losing his mind. It was fantastic.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Your mom's like, get off the phone. I gotta make a phone call.
[00:08:44] Speaker A: It was awesome. It was awesome. And then in high school, there was a girl named Stephanie that We dated for a little while, and then she dumped me. Broke my heart. First heartbreak. First heartbreak. But she was always great. She was a great person going through some family stuff. And I get it now. I understand it now.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:08:57] Speaker A: At the time, you just don't get it, and it hurts so bad.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: Of course you don't. Of course.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: She was fantastic. And.
Yeah. And in fact, her uncle married my sister, so that's always a fun little track.
[00:09:07] Speaker B: Her uncle married your sister.
[00:09:09] Speaker A: And for the. For the Hollywood, it would be Kathy Ireland, straight up. Kathy Ireland. Yeah. I think I had a poster of her rolled up hidden in my sock drawer because, you know, my mom's never gonna find it there. She found it and. But, yeah, it was not displayed on the wall, but it was in my room. You had it rolled up and sometimes unrolled, so that's awesome. Yeah, I'm not proud of these moments.
[00:09:31] Speaker B: But, you know, that's hilarious.
[00:09:32] Speaker A: Well, so share your Hollywood crush in the. The comments.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: Yeah, we'd love to know your. Who your Hollywood crush is, because if.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: We don't know who it is, we will definitely Google and find out who these. Who these crushes were.
[00:09:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Especially an obscure one. But don't share your real one because we don't want any drama on the page.
[00:09:48] Speaker A: Don't. Do not fish it on Facebook. Exactly. Do not find their Instagram.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: Well, you can tag them in here.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: If you want to, but you know what? It depends on what kind of conversation you want back at home.
[00:09:57] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: You know, so.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: But all of this is nostalgic for me. And it does remind me of when we were younger.
[00:10:03] Speaker A: When we were younger.
[00:10:04] Speaker B: When we were younger. You know, and. And as, you know, the more statistics that I see about the kind of people that are coming back to church after everything that's happened this last year is. Is again, 18 to 24 year olds.
[00:10:16] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:10:16] Speaker B: And it's generally males.
But I still. I still see that there's a. There's a shift of that generation kind of looking, but I think a lot of those girls were already kind of in process to be a part of that. They already were there.
[00:10:28] Speaker A: Right.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: But these guys are coming back. And it made me think about my journey and where I was from 13 to 18 and the things that I would say to myself and the things that I would say to myself. Now if I could. If I could go back in time and have that conversation, it makes me think about all the. All the things that I would possibly say based on the fact that, man, if I had just Come to know the Lord. If I was just starting out, what kind of advice would I give myself as a young man.
[00:10:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: Who is like, okay, what do I do with this? Because so many of these guys are coming from homes that don't know the Lord.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: Okay, I'm gonna take two things off the board right now.
[00:11:02] Speaker B: Go for it.
[00:11:03] Speaker A: All right. One is invest in Microsoft, and one is invest in Apple. I'm taking those off the boards.
[00:11:08] Speaker C: Thanks, Travis.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Kyle's main two. You just pulled his two.
[00:11:13] Speaker A: I knew they were coming.
[00:11:14] Speaker C: This is what happens when you text prior to the podcast.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:11:18] Speaker A: We all would have done finances. Different. All right. We all would have done finances.
[00:11:22] Speaker B: We all would have. Yes, I know. You see, I keep seeing all those memes of, like, you know, at 8 years old, what you're doing is like, I should have been. I. I shouldn't have been having my lunch money. I should have been investing in the house.
[00:11:31] Speaker C: Well, he didn't say Amazon, so there you go.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: He didn't say Amazon, so that's still on the table. But so it made me think about all the things that, man, what would I Google myself? You know, And I think a lot of times, you know, as 2026 is rolling in and now that all of the. The New Year's resolutions have failed for most people, it's kind of reassessing, going, okay, what. Let me get practical. What would I really say to myself?
[00:11:54] Speaker A: So what would you say to yourself?
[00:11:55] Speaker B: Man, the first thing I would tell myself is, come to the reality that, man, you need to know what is true. What is your basis of truth? What are you leaning on?
Because even then, like, I like. Like we're talking about the, you know, the people that you know. Okay, I like this person. And why didn't I believe in myself? A lot of it was because I didn't believe I had any self worth.
And. And I had a friend in school. His name was John. And I remember, man, he just had this confidence about himself that he just didn't care what other people thought.
But even beyond not caring, it's knowing that you had someone who did care, who was in your corner as the father, that if I looked at the truth and I said, man, God's word is true, and this is what he says about me. What if, bill, you at 15 actually believed that? What would I have done differently? Oh, my gosh, my life would have been a completely different story.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:45] Speaker B: If I really walked in to my high school with that kind of boldness. Does that make sense?
[00:12:50] Speaker A: Absolutely makes sense. That's a deep dive.
[00:12:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I know.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: I'm not sure I'm there. I would have said stay in shape.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: That works too.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: But I'm saying like, you know what the donuts away.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: I get that too. But I think that's all that, that's that core element of all of that is like, where is my self worth? And at the time, my self worth was in that I'm out of shape. My self worth was in that I'm not good enough for somebody or that whatever. But instead to go, okay, let me look deeper into what God sees about me again. We talked about these, that, that we are a masterpiece. I mean, what if my wrestle in high school was you are valuable. Why do you not believe that?
[00:13:27] Speaker A: You know what's funny is I think those things will come back to us and they still haunt us on some levels still today, right?
[00:13:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:33] Speaker A: And so, you know, I make fun of being pudgy or whatever, but anyways, I'm not going to get into that story, but I do remember I was speaking at a youth conference, this is probably 15 years ago and it was in Florid.
And one of the things I like to do, like I'm convinced if I can get a community or a group of people laughing with me or at me, I've got them. Like they are willing to invest and listen to whatever I have to share with them about the good news of Jesus Christ. So often I'll use self deprecating humor to make that happen. And I was making fun of myself because I'm a little overweight or something like that. And I was pudgy and that became like the thread for the weekend, right? It just, it hit and kids were loving it and I was good with it and everything else at the end of it. It's Sunday afternoon, I'm about to leave and a mom comes running up to me. She has tears in her eyes. I'm like, hey, it's nice to meet you. And she goes, my son was here all week and he just, he loved it. I was like, that's awesome. Because. And I gotta tell you, like he's, he's a pudgy kid and he's always doubted his value because of that pudginess and the way that you framed that for him. He is like, he's a different kid today than he was Friday when I dropped him off. Like he has, he's, he's understood.
And I realized that sometimes our weaknesses can be used by God to bring hope and bring healing to those around us. And so the challenge is, do we want to hide them or do we want to like Paul saying, hey, everything in the past, all the good and the bad, it's trash compared to the great news of Jesus Christ. So I have no problem telling and writing to a church, hey, you know that I was the one that was there watching Christians get killed. You know, I was the one going into homes, pulling Christians out. That's who I used to be. But in Christ, I'm someone completely different, so I don't have to hide from it. I think for me.
So I've just. I'm dyslexic and I. It's a story long ago. But what was funny is in the early formative years, if you struggled with math, and I think it's still true today, there's great compassion for you because math can be complicated, math can be difficult. Math came easy to me, but I could never spell. And the, the assumption is, well, if you can't spell, you must be stupid. Stupid.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:31] Speaker A: And when you, when not even when you hear that, but when you feel that or sense that, you begin to believe that. And so, like, I would get straight A's in high school, and I literally would think to myself that, that sympathy and empathy from my teachers that know I'm really not that smart, but they like me because I had a personality, so they're giving me a better grade. That lived all the way through seminary. When I graduated with a 3.8 in seminary. Right. Phenomenal. Top 10% of my seminary class. Right. And I'm still walking across the stage thinking to myself that my professors were really kind. They didn't really serve it right.
[00:16:07] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: They, they, they were really kind. They, you know, I was able to get on their good sides and they were giving me grades. Like, maybe I deserved a C on this paper, but they gave me an A because, you know, I'm dyslexic. And, and, and it wasn't until just recently I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. There are things that I could have engaged in and done, like write books or write material or, or things like that that I still today disqualify. Because I'm like, ah, I'm just an idiot. I'm just an idiot. Does that make sense?
[00:16:33] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely.
[00:16:34] Speaker A: So I think if I were to tell myself, I'd go back and I'd say, hey, dude, the way your mind works is not broken.
And absolutely lean into your personality for sure, because it brings life, hope, and joy to others around you. But don't think you're stupid because you're not.
[00:16:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:50] Speaker A: And it's still, it's amazing how that still affects me today.
[00:16:54] Speaker B: Well, it leads me into the second thing, really, because it's this idea of second Timothy4.7 that he's not given us a spirit of fear. Yes, that's four, seven, Right. SECOND TIMMY one seven.
Anyways, it's in second Timothy. He's not giving us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. Sorry, I was doing a Bible study this morning. I think second Timothy four. Seven is a different. We were studying that one this morning. But anyways. But this idea of man knowing that your value comes, that God looks at you and says you're valuable, take the risk. That's what I tell myself.
Take the risk, make the phone call, join the team, try the event, go to the whatever.
Because so many times I would sit at home and I would go, no, I'm not worthy like you're talking about. I am not where you, man, we are peeling back some, some, some wounds today. But I would, I would tell myself, take the risk. Like, what do you have to lose here? I am 40. Well, probably at this point, I'm almost gonna be 47 by the time that this thing comes out. I'm going, 30 years ago, I'm going. I still look back and I go, I wish I had tried this.
[00:17:50] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:17:51] Speaker B: And to not live with regret. So it's to look at myself as a 15 year old and go, take the risk because you will regret this if you don't take the step.
[00:17:59] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: So why not in the boldness of Jesus, who you know is for you, who you know, sees you as valuable regardless of how big you are, small, you are, skinny, whatever, who knits you.
[00:18:08] Speaker A: Together in the mother's womb. And he doesn't make mistakes. Yeah.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: So the way that your brain is.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: Wired is not a mistake or a flaw. No. It's something that he can use and glorify him and his goodness.
[00:18:16] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And you're not. So as you step forward in the truth of who God is, you're not going to mess it up. It's like God puts that, that's part of the plan. And so it's like, take the step, take the risk, jump out and make, and make it happen.
[00:18:28] Speaker A: I love it. Kyle, what about you? Anything?
[00:18:31] Speaker C: Well, in line with what Bill's saying, it gets down to boldness. If I could tell myself one thing would be, don't care what anybody else thinks of you.
[00:18:41] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:18:42] Speaker C: And in terms of it's okay to be bold for Christ. It's okay to publicly show you're a Christian as opposed to worrying that everybody's weird. So I think that all sort of ties back to what you're talking.
[00:18:56] Speaker B: Absolutely. I think there's something valuable about man just being bold, taking the step. And then I just, I would say, like, man, you know, even, even as I keep looking at that, even that, that like just another element, another third thing is like, just continue to be a learner. Like, you're not failing, you're learning.
[00:19:12] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:19:13] Speaker B: And so then not looking at it like, okay, I did this wrong. I'm just not going to do this again.
[00:19:17] Speaker A: Right.
[00:19:17] Speaker B: You know what I talk about? Edison tried to spent 99 times trying to build the incandescent bite. You know, the light bulb, the bike.
[00:19:25] Speaker A: The light angle, the light angle, the light dongle.
[00:19:28] Speaker B: You have to go back to some other podcasts to figure that out.
But there he is. You know, he didn't give up. He just found all these ways not to do it. And I think so many times we look and go, okay, I tried that. I'm not going to do that again. I'm a step away. And we again, allow our identity, allow our fear to dictate that. So to walk in that boldness and to keep on trying. Because if I had done that, I wonder where I would have been earlier. Now, again, I don't have any regrets about my life. Where I'm at right now, I really do feel like I have peace. But it's like, what I have learned quicker. Yeah, what I. But I did not learn with the basis of being encouraged to look at the truth and go, this is what God says about you.
So imagine if we have these 18 to 24 year olds who are now, hey, I want to, I want to pursue the Lord. Okay?
Even if you're at worst 20, 24 years old, you've got 20 years of messing up that you can still do. And the idea of, like, I'm gonna try something and it may look like I'm failing, but really I'm moving forward towards the Lord. Like, try it. Start the business, try to, you know, make the phone calls, step out. Most people, you know, I love this. God's put this in me, that fortune favors the bold kind of thing. And when I mean that, I'm not just talking about haphazard, I'm going to jump off a cliff, but, like, I'm going to make the attempt in the name of God. God, if this is you, I'm going to keep Walking forward.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Right.
[00:20:41] Speaker B: I'm going to try this because I believe you put this in front of me until you stop it. If you stop it, great. But could you imagine if we had a generation of 18 to 24 year olds who are like, I'm going to be bold for Jesus and I'm going to just try it, not leaning on what other people say about me, but leaning on the truth of God's word, taking those risks and saying I'm going to step out and do something great.
[00:20:59] Speaker A: I think another point that I would put out there is I would have invested in some of the people differently.
Like, there are some people that I look back now and I'm like, dude, they were laying down gold. But because they didn't dress the right way or they didn't listen to the music that I liked, I disqualified them or I dismissed them instead of investing in them. And what I've come to realize, and I think this is true universally, everyone is an expert in something.
And it's a powerful thing. When you have a posture that says, my job is to find out what they're an expert in, then let them share so you can learn A, from them. That's a posture of humility and B, give them value in that thing that they're an expert in. Right. And I look back at my college years and man, college for me was my grace years. I was, I was all off the rails in so many different ways. But I think back to some of the professors that we had. It was a small college, so our classes were like 10, 15, 25, I think was maybe the biggest class. And I'm like, here you have these men and women who are experts in their field. And I dismiss them because I had an issue with education, because I'm like, you don't have to be educated to be wise.
That's how it hit me. That's how it had been become manipulated.
And I did not sit at the feet of some of these amazing men and women that I know would have impacted me in powerful ways because of that hurt that I never resolved in way too late in life. Does that make sense?
[00:22:22] Speaker B: Yes. Like be teachable.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:22:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I love that.
[00:22:25] Speaker A: And be inquisitive. Be teachable. Be inquisitive.
[00:22:27] Speaker B: Be curious.
[00:22:27] Speaker A: Like, be curious of the people around you. Like, if someone's willing to have lunch with you, man, find out what they're passionate about and lean into that, you know?
[00:22:34] Speaker B: No, I love it. You know. And the other statistic that I do love, statistics, even though most of them are Made up on the spot. We're good with that. But the idea of at this point in your life, you are in from high school down, your. Your impact or your. Your community shrinkens. You know, shrinking Shrinks.
Shrinkens. Your community shrinkings.
Yes. Yours is.
[00:22:58] Speaker C: 15% of people say that.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: There you go, shrinkens. But you're not going to be even your college years to be around that many people. It just. As you get life and family, your circle shrinks.
[00:23:11] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:23:12] Speaker B: And so you have this opportunity to learn from so many people, possibly all over the world, especially now, to remain teachable when you are. Because so many times guy wakes up and he's 40, and he's like, oh, my gosh. Like, I'm beyond that. Like, you wake up, oh, my gosh, I'm 40. I've got kids, I've got, like. But you're not at that point where you've got this large circle anymore. So use the, the moments that you have now for the greatest ability of where you are. So if you're, you know, if you're 18 to 24, if you're a young adult and you're sitting there going, man, what do I need to do? I would, I would heed that you would share this with your friends, but also look at kind of the impact that we're talking about and. And see your circle as mean. It's going to keep shrinking. Not as a detriment, because God refines you in this time to then use you in a specific circle as you get older.
[00:23:58] Speaker A: So two things. One is, remember this axiom. Our past informs us it doesn't define us. Right. And some of us, if I'm honest, are still being defined by those hurts of our junior high and high school years. Right. And even the college years, the mistakes that we made in the high school, junior high, college years, or whatever it is. So let that inform you in who you are. Don't. Don't let it define you. Second thing that I'm going to kind of end this podcast on, because I think this is the guys that are driving around and they just went down nostalgia road and they're thinking about their crushes or whatever.
[00:24:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:31] Speaker A: Knowing what we know today.
[00:24:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:33] Speaker A: What is this going to impact for you in 2026? Like, for me, I get a sabbatical this year. I'm really excited. I get two months off after faithfully doing church planning for the last eight, nine years. I get two months off. Right. And they want you to have a project because, you know, rest isn't good enough.
[00:24:49] Speaker B: Right, whatever.
[00:24:50] Speaker A: And the project. And I very sheepishly put this out there to the team. I was like, I think I need to codify and write a book that kind of tells the story of like the lessons learned in church planting that can be applicable beyond. Right. And do it in my own way. Like, I would love it if I could write like deep theological, you know, Henry Nouwen, you know, these, these epic stories. I just got to do it my way. And, and I feel like for me, it's like I know Satan's going to continue to tell me and whisper to me. See, you can't write, you can't put a coherent thought together. Punctuation, that's a joke that's made up by the commies, you know, to like, no, no, no. There's good things that I've experienced and know. And there's stories that can help illustrate that. I need to codify that in a story. Whether anyone buys a book or not, I need to do that. You know, does that make sense? So for me, 26 is like, forget that you can't spell and you're stupid.
Actually produce something that can be a blessing to people whether you're in proximity to them or not.
[00:25:48] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. What about you, Bill? For me, ask the question again, because my child, I got so excited about.
[00:25:54] Speaker A: What you said, saying what you were saying about the hurts and kind of the value. How is that going to impact what you do today in 2026? Because again, this isn't just talking to your 18 year old self and what you do different. It's being honest with who you were as an 18 year old, letting that inform you and saying, okay, what is that going to impact you in 2026?
[00:26:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I think for me a lot of it is I want to strengthen relationships and especially for me right now, I really feel like me as a 46 year old man, I want to see the impact that I can make in mentoring the next generation, passing that truth. And I think anybody out there who's going, I have nothing to offer. If you're listening to this, I would challenge you that the person that just came in your mind, the younger young adult teenager, that you're like, I need to connect with them and take them out to coffee or take them out to lunch. And you're supposed to do that, you're supposed to be a part of their journey. So ask the Lord God, is this what you want me to do? But I would say you have enough to offer this world, whether you've walked through a bunch of Mistakes. You're still breathing. You know, it's like, but did you die? You didn't.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: You're still there.
[00:26:55] Speaker B: You've got a lot of wisdom. I'm going to challenge you. We're going to challenge you to step out and make that phone call and connect. Because this world needs other men to reach out to the next generation. Yes. To encourage them to maybe not do some of the things, but also to do some of the things and to have someone in their corner. People are lonely. We are in a lonely paradox right now. The most connected world. But we are the loneliest people. And it takes us to step out and make a difference in this next generation. That's what I would say to them.
[00:27:22] Speaker A: Kyle, anything from you.
[00:27:26] Speaker C: Agree about the youth? You know, I have a son's about turn 19 and have been trying to do that for a long time, and I'm finally, after years and years, seeing some huge progress.
So praise God. I'm gonna. I love that.
So I'm gonna continue to do that for the new year.
[00:27:45] Speaker A: I love it. I love it, I love it. So, guys.
[00:27:47] Speaker B: Yeah, go for it.
[00:27:48] Speaker A: I was just gonna say. So, guys, here's the deal. We all have passed. We all know that we have some successes. We have some failures. Let it inform you and who God's created you to be. Who God is, is pruning you, growing you to be today where you need forgiveness, man. Seek it boldly at the cross of Christ. And then when he's. When you know that forgiveness is there, don't let Satan use that against you anymore. Be like Paul and say, it's all trash compared to the goodness I have in Jesus Christ. And then boldly go out and find a guy to mentor.
[00:28:12] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:28:13] Speaker A: Or do something that, you know, God's been putting on your heart for a while. And you're like, I have excuse. I have excuse. I have excuse. Don't be like Moses. Find your Aaron. Go out and do what God's called you to do.
[00:28:23] Speaker B: Yeah. And for you, 18 to 24 years, if you're going, I need someone to connect with. I want you to email us infoownlegacy. We have some tools just for you that you can get started on this journey of becoming who God's created you to become. Connect with us today. That's your call to action today. Because we want you to be a part of something amazing for God's story, not just for your own.
[00:28:41] Speaker A: Amen. God bless you guys. Have a great week. Thank you so much for listening info at Known Legacy Podcast, whatever, wherever you listen, share it like it and we appreciate you guys and your time.
[00:28:50] Speaker B: Check it out. Have a great day guys. God bless you. God bless.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to the Known Legacy podcast. We'd love to hear from you. So email us your questions or comments to infonolegacy.org SAM.
