Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, everybody, thanks for tuning in to the Recovering Fundamentalist podcast. Merry Christmas Eve. We are your host. I'm J.C. groves. That's Matt Dudley. Matt, how are you up in the frozen tundra of Missouri, man?
[00:00:15] Speaker B: I'm doing good, buddy. It's not too cold up here this.
[00:00:17] Speaker A: Week, is it not?
[00:00:19] Speaker B: No.
[00:00:19] Speaker A: What's the temperature?
[00:00:21] Speaker B: Oh, 40.
[00:00:23] Speaker A: Oh, that's not bad.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: No.
[00:00:25] Speaker A: Oh, goodness. Y'all get the white stuff? We don't. We don't get snow down here.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: Oh, I wish we did.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: Listen, I don't have heat in my truck right now, but it's paid off. And so I dried around everywhere I got out this morning. And, you know, we barely rarely ever get frost or, you know, our windows really bad. Well, no defroster. So I'm out there with the water hose at 6am Trying to spray the stuff off my windows. I got gloves on. It was miserable. Thank goodness for a seat warmer, because I get in and I'm just shivering to death. But hey, in comparison. In comparison, it's first world problems. Right?
[00:01:02] Speaker B: Right.
[00:01:03] Speaker A: That's it. Of course, our brother, Nathan Cravat is. Is alive.
[00:01:09] Speaker B: There's a good.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: There's a good thing. Last time we were on the podcast, of course it was Brian and I, and we. And I'll be honest, I started writing a funeral, and a couple days later, he woke up, and he is healing and having his good days, his bad days. You can be praying for him. This is Monday, Christmas Eve Eve, and then Nathan is actually going into surgery today to take care of those fingers and toes. And so we want to. Want to definitely keep him in prayer there. But he's healing, man. He's doing good. He's home now. You know, of course, they live here in Chattanooga, so I'm. I'm not complaining. I got my buddy back in. In town, and I'll let him explain all that stuff with everything going on there later on. He'll be back on the podcast with us back in or coming in 2025. So, man, it is Christmas Eve, and this is something that we've done for the last six years. We've come together. This is your first. Were you on with us last year?
[00:02:07] Speaker B: No. For some reason this is the first one.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: No, I thought for some reason you were on with us, but we always gather around on Christmas Eve and just kind of share, you know, I. I remember growing up, gathering around. We. We lived in a trailer there in Indiana, and we didn't have a tv, and mom and dad would turn on the radio and I was like, oh, this is what it was like in the olden days. And now my kids think I was in the olden days because we had a black and white TV at one time.
So my thought was like, hey, let's gather around the podcast and listen to some old geezers talk about Christmas.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: Well, here we are.
[00:02:41] Speaker A: Here we are, buddy.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: So what's Christmas for you, man? What's it been like? How's. How's the season been at your church? You feel rested? You good?
[00:02:50] Speaker B: I. No, I do not feel rested. Everything's good. I, you know, Christmas time for a pastor is kind of, you know, you have mixed feelings. I love it, but I'm always looking forward to getting past that Christmas service, which we did yesterday. Thank the Lord. Great services, great turnout, but now just focused on family, which is my favorite part of Christmas, is seeing the kids open their gifts and. Yep, it's just a lot of fun, man.
[00:03:20] Speaker A: You know, I, I've worked at two pretty big churches where I absolutely hated December because it was non stop to the wall all the time. Christmas hits and you're physically just exhausted. And so I said, you know what, when we plan a church, it'll be chill. We're not gonna, we're not gonna go all out and we have a candlelight service coming up, you know, but this was our, I guess, Christmas service, and we all got the flu last week, and so, yeah, I was the only one that went, bro. That was, that was rough. But it's been a good time. We, you know, being a church planner, money is, is. Is coming in sporadically. And so we told the kids, hey, it's going to be quality over quantity this year. And of course, the kids, they don't really understand that, but we got to go down to Nashville and had a good night with For King and Country at the Grand Old Opry. Great show down there. Enjoyed it. Then they got a new little dog. We got a, we got a golden doodle to add to our labradoodle. He's got a brother now. We got a Bobby and about. We're die hard Seminoles fans. Even if football is horrible, we're still going to be Knowles fans for life there. So what's God teaching you through this whole Advent season, Dudley?
[00:04:31] Speaker B: You know, it's been, it's been a crazy year for us at the church, good and bad. You know, we. We made a big move this past year and it's, it's been a lot of trying season and I feel like we're shifting. I feel like God's moving us into a much more productive mindset. You know, some of it has. We've just had to fight battles kind of left and right. It's been a long season of trial. But man, we've got some amazing things coming up in the new year. We're taking on some.
I've got some, I haven't even announced to the church yet. Of course, my leadership team all know about it, but we are taking on an addictions recovery ministry.
[00:05:15] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:05:16] Speaker B: Hiring, hiring a full time guy to run that. And it's an existing ministry that the people who run it are just burnt out and they wanted to give it to our church and we had to make a pretty quick decision. So anyway, just I've got some new staff coming on in the new year that I'm, I'm just psyched about and God's doing some amazing things. So as far as what God's teaching me, dude, I would just say, you know, the lessons that we already know in our head, I'm just trying to know in my heart and that is be patient. God's always working and, and I'm seeing his hand now and it's pretty, pretty awesome.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:05:55] Speaker B: What about you, bro?
[00:05:56] Speaker A: Man, you know, we really took this season and really focused in on Advent. I've never, you know, growing up independent Fundamental Baptist, we kind of stayed away from that word. I was like, all that's Catholic, we're not going to talk about Advent. But we really leaned into it this year. You know, Advent is just the arrival, the coming into view. And it's leading up to our Christmas Eve service. And so we've taken four weeks and have really focused on hope, peace, joy and love. And especially in this season, you know, with everything that's been going on with Nathan, with watching God move in some radical, tangible ways, you know, we've, we've never needed Emmanuel more than we do right now in our world, in our country. And just seeing Emmanuel, God with us, moving in a real way, it's really helped my faith. I think it's helped our, our church's faith. Seeing prayers that we've been praying for our brother and, and how God has brought him back to life. You know, that, that anytime God answers a prayer that real, it kind of shakes you to the core. And you're like, okay, he does listen. You know, God, God doesn't always say yes. Sometimes he says no. But when God says no, a greater yes is in store. And so we've really leaned into this season. Just hope you know, in. In times where it feels so hopeless and so pointless, we've leaned into peace that really does pass all understanding, and that's found in Jesus. We've leaned into joy unspeakable and yesterday, love. Just talking about, you know, the ultimate sign of love is the cross and that he was born on a purpose and that was to die. And that will lead up to our Christmas Eve service, which is happening tonight. And excited about that. Talking about the light has come and gonna be a special time. First time in our new building.
It is a challenge here in the new building. We. We realized this is the first cold snap, I guess you could say, and the heat doesn't work. We're connected to gas and didn't know we needed to turn the gas on because it's never gotten cold enough to turn the heat on. And we got in here yesterday and it was 55 degrees in the building. That's why I'm sitting in this room with gloves on. I just took them off.
It's really cold, and we are on a septic tank and one of the toilets was overflowing into the hallway yesterday. So it was cool, right? You know, I was like, hey, we're speaking on joy in the midst of the circumstance. But what I'm learning in this season, joy has been the one that has really stood out to me, and that is that there is joy in the midst of the circumstance. You know, Paul was writing in prison, rejoice in the Lord always again, I say rejoice. You know, he was rejoicing in a reality that was rooted in victory. And even though our current circumstance doesn't look good, he's in jail, probably when he's writing that he was rejoicing in a reality that victory was coming. And, you know, I'm learning that in seasons of life where my circumstances that are in front of me may not look very pleasant, that I can rejoice in reality that God is in control, that God is on time, that God is all knowing, he's sovereign, he's in control. And so I trust him in that. And, you know, it's easy to. I don't want to fake it because so many times it's easy to be like, oh, I'm joyful. I am blessed and highly favored. You ever said that. Now, you know, saying those things, but it's, It's. It's almost a facade, a fake. And so just leaning into what that joy really is. And this Advent season has really helped teach that. So excited about that, man, it's it's been a great season. Looking forward to 2025. And we have some. Some exciting things coming up for the RFP in 25. And Nathan will be back. He's going to share his story, which is still evolving every day. There's a new chapter, something new there, but what a story he's gonna have to tell. And, man, we've been saying on here for a long time, does even before you got here, when our stories intersect with God's story, it tells a greater story. And, man, I'm excited to. To hear his story and just continue to share about the joy of our salvation as we grow. So, yeah, not a very long episode today. Just wanted to jump on and say Merry Christmas and thank you all for listening and continuing to stay with us. We're. We're coming at you in 25 with some new episodes and Dudley, I think it would be ideal if you would close us out. Just pray for our RFP fam, and we'll wrap this up and get ready to go open some presents.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: Can we mention the fact that we're going to go to Greece in March?
[00:10:31] Speaker A: Bro, you should probably do that. I. I literally have it written down right here and I totally forgot about it. Yeah, we're going to Greece.
[00:10:39] Speaker B: But I'm psyched, bro.
[00:10:41] Speaker A: We're leading this trip. Yeah, tell them about it.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: I cannot wait. So I've always wanted to do the Pauline tour. I've been to Israel four different times, which I would go back in a heartbeat, but I've always wanted to do that. And then when this opportunity presented itself, dude, I'm. I can't wait. I'm counting the days. So March 10th through the 19th, correct? Yes, off the top of my head.
[00:11:07] Speaker A: So yes.
[00:11:09] Speaker B: Yeah, March. I got my phone. I can check. 99.
[00:11:13] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:11:14] Speaker B: March 10th through the 19th. So anybody interested in going on that trip? It's incredibly reasonable. That's coming from a guy that, again, I have not gone in the past because of the cost. And yeah, I had the dates correct. Yeah, but very reasonable. $3,100 to get you from Atlanta to Thessalonica. Dude, we're flying Thessalonica and gonna be hanging out in Greece. Mars Hill, the Coliseum cannot wait.
[00:11:44] Speaker A: Orinth.
[00:11:45] Speaker B: I mean, it just. I can't wait.
[00:11:47] Speaker A: We're going to Greece.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: I know. I'm so excited. A good missionary friend of mine who serves in Senegal is going along and I've got some leaders in my church that I believe are going to sign up. Had somebody approach me yesterday, so I'D get in while you can get in.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: And of course, Marcus Merritt is going to be there with us again. And this is going to be a great trip. This is. A lot of people were signed up for our Israel trip. Of course, with everything that's going on in Israel, we've had to postpone that trip yet again. And so this trip is now going to walk the footsteps of Paul. My boys and I, we were watching Gladiator the other night. I was like, boys, I'm going to be right there in that coliseum in a couple of weeks. And they're like, what? You're going there? I was like, yeah, buddy. It's not going to look just like that anymore. But I am so excited to go. It's going to be a great trip. Yes, I can go to recovering fundamentalist.org sign up today.
Click on the link. The password is.
[00:12:45] Speaker B: Mar25.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: Mar25. All lowercase mar25. And that'll get you signed up. You can see the itinerary there. You can see how much it costs when payments are due. What a great Christmas present it would be for your pastor, for your youth pastor, for your missions pastor, your pastor and their wives. Sign them up. Let's go to Greece and walk the footsteps of Paul. And I'm excited because this summer we're going to walk through the Book of Acts, and so we're gonna get to see it played out. And bro.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: Yeah. I'm teaching through Corinthians currently, so. Oh, yeah, it's awesome. It'll be kind of.
[00:13:24] Speaker A: We'll.
[00:13:25] Speaker B: We should be going kind of in my interim between First Corinthians and second, so that's awesome. Excited about that. And you mentioned churches sending their pastor. I'm telling you, of course, I've never been on this specific tour, but I've always said a trip to Israel is worth at least two semesters of college. It's incredible the education that you get, just seeing everything in color.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: So after coming back from Israel, I am convinced that every student going to.
[00:13:51] Speaker B: Seminary needs to go 100%.
[00:13:54] Speaker A: Yes. Changed my how I preach. It's changed how I read the Bible just from that 10 days that I spent there. I can't wait to go back.
[00:14:01] Speaker B: Yeah. Once you. You start connecting all those dots, you see the places, Capernaum and, you know, Galilee. So I'm excited.
[00:14:11] Speaker A: So far away. And how he went up from Jericho, you're like, oh, it is up. I mean, just all those little details. Sign up and go with us. It's going to be a Great trip. We're going to Greece in March of 2025, and we just want to wish you a Merry Christmas from all of us here at the Recovering Fundamentalist podcast. Matt, Press out.
[00:14:31] Speaker B: Yep. Father, we want to thank you for the grace that we've received in Christ Jesus. We understand how unworthy we are even to be in your presence. But God, we're so grateful that you stepped down from glory and entered into the world that you created. And yet in your entrance, you were rejected and you suffered and died on the cross for our sins, to give us life, to give us peace, to give us joy. And Lord, we want to focus on you during this season and every season of our lives. We have so much to be thankful for. Father, we thank you for our brother still being here with us. God, for sparing Nathan's life, for continually healing him, and the hope and the joy of knowing that even during this season of pain and trial, you are at work and you're moving him and shifting him into your purpose. And we glorify you in that. And, Father, we wait with anticipation to see what you're going to continue to do with him. With our lives, we surrender to you. We pray that you'd bless all those who tune in, God, those who have found freedom in Christ. I pray that you continue them on their journey of deliverance, God, that they would understand your. The depths of your love and your grace, your goodness. Continue to bless and use us for your glory and your honor. In Jesus name we pray.
[00:15:56] Speaker A: Amen. Amen. Merry Christmas.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: Merry Christmas, buddy. Love you to death. J.C. nate, we miss you and all those listening. God bless you guys.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: God bless.
[00:16:20] Speaker C: Follow the start of a place unexpected Would you believe after all we've projected A child in a manger Lonely and small the weakest of all Unlikeliest hero Wrapped in his mother's shawl Just a child this who we've waited for Cause how many kings step down from their thrones? How many lords have abandoned their homes? How many greats have become the least from me?
And how many gods have poured out their heart to romance a world that has torn all apart? How many many fathers gave up their.
[00:17:19] Speaker D: Sons for me Bringing our gifts for the newborn Savior all that we have whether costly or meek because we believe Go for his honor and frankincense for his pleasure and myrrh for the cross he'll suffer do you is this who we've waited for?
How many kings step down from their thrones? How many lords have abandoned their homes? How many greats have become the least from me?
And how many gods have poured out their hearts? To romance a world that is torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me?
All for me?
[00:18:50] Speaker C: All for me?
[00:18:52] Speaker D: All for me?
[00:18:55] Speaker C: All for you?
[00:18:57] Speaker D: All for you?
[00:18:59] Speaker C: All for me?
[00:19:01] Speaker D: All for me?
[00:19:03] Speaker C: All for you?
[00:19:06] Speaker D: All for you? All for me? All for me?
All for you? All for you? All for me?
All for you?
How many kings step down from their thrones? How many lords have abandoned their homes? How many greats have become the least?
How many gods have poured out their hearts to romance a world that is torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me?
Oh, all for me?
[00:20:10] Speaker C: All for.
