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GraceFilled Community
The GraceFilled Community Podcast is a place where faith, connection, and community come together. We explore meaningful conversations with guests who share their unique insights, experiences, and stories to inspire and empower others. Each episode offers listeners practical wisdom for living out their faith, creating belonging, and building community. Whether you're looking for spiritual growth or ways to connect deeper with those around you, the GraceFilled Community Podcast provides valuable content that enriches both your personal and spiritual journey.
GraceFilled Community
The Brushfires of Purpose - John's Journey from Software to Ministry: Empowering Discipleship and Discovering Divine Design
Unlock the secrets of purposeful living with John, a seasoned software developer turned ministry founder, as we explore the transformative journey behind Brushfires Ministry. Discover how John's personal calling inspired a movement to address the church's challenges in discipleship, using tools like DISC and Myers-Briggs to help individuals uncover their God-given design. Listen as we discuss the creation of a Digital Workshop Program, aimed at integrating these assessments into church communities, and the importance of fulfilling the Great Commission with sincerity and intention.
Our conversation with John takes us to the heart of community and collaboration in both evangelism and discipleship. By drawing parallels to Jesus's nurturing of his apostles, we explore the value of slow, intentional growth in nurturing true discipleship. We dive into the distinction between fleeting happiness and enduring joy, inspired by the Apostle Paul's steadfast spirit, and how trials, as described in James 1, can lead us to spiritual completeness and a life aligned with divine purpose.
Come along as we examine the unique design for service that resides in each of us, celebrating the diversity of God's gifts. Through engaging workshops and impactful resources, like the "How We Love" study and songs that touch the soul, individuals can explore their unique paths. Reflecting on the Church of Acts, as practiced by the Graceville Community, we aim to inspire a revival of these ancient, yet timeless, Christian principles in today's world. Join us in this enriching episode to uncover how you too can contribute to a transformative movement within the global church community.
My name is Nicole Cater, your host, founder and servant leader of Gracefield Community. I want to thank you for tuning in to Gracefield Community Podcast. This is a safe space, a place in which we just share stories of how God has touched individuals' lives all across the world and how they are now impacting the kingdom of God. Thank you for tuning in. Blessings to you. Hello Grace Field community listeners, I am so excited for you to tune in today. I have a guest here that I know we're going to have some fun Grace Field style conversations style conversations, so I'm not going to withhold time and conversation. Let's get directly to it, john. Welcome John. Thank you, nicole. I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you and to your listeners Absolutely Well. I am excited for us to dive in today here at Graceville Community. Please tell our listeners just a little bit about yourselves and some background so when we start talking they know that there's some context inside of you.
Speaker 2:Well, to be true to my teaching that we do in our digital workshop. My name is JR. I am a born again son of the most high God. I think that when a believer can start to introduce themselves that way as opposed to are they married? What do they do for work, that sort of thing that kind of takes the the relationship that you have with the father to a different level. I have been in the software development industry for over 40 years Now, with my own business for nearly 40 years where we developed wholesale distribution, accounting, manufacturing, software, and my plan was I was going to do that till my retirement age and then slowly wind it down and got had a different plan and in 2016, he kind of put me on a timeout with the software company saying, all right, yeah, you're not going to do that anymore. I got something else for you, and that led me to finding and founding the Brushfires Ministry in 2017.
Speaker 1:Yes, awesome, okay. So we're going to get into some deep dive conversation here, but before we do, tell us just a little bit about what Brushfires Ministry does here.
Speaker 2:But, before we do, tell us just a little bit about what Brush Fires Ministry does. So one of the things that had been really frustrating for me is seeing the ineffectiveness of the church, where we're not really making an impact, and that, I think, is because most of the people that are part of the body of Christ are not doing what they were created to do, and that's been something that's bugged me now for well over 20 years, but I didn't really know what to do about it. I'm not a pastor. I don't have that position in the church to have that sort of influence. And God, in 2016, led me into this psychometric assessment training program that I initially said no to because it didn't make any sense, considering my financial position and everything else that was going on in my life, and what I discovered was we are all uniquely designed and there's a way for us to discover that design through psychometric assessments. Psychometric assessments are like DISC or Myers-Briggs. Psychometric assessments are like DISC or Myers-Briggs, the one that we happened to use. We have the license to be able to reproduce these, and they were all created by born-again believers, and so for me, it was like alright, I got these assessments. That allows us to discover.
Speaker 2:But the church doesn't embrace this teaching. And in May of 2017, I was contemplating my purpose statement, which is a statement that we develop at the end of our program. The purpose statement read such as this I must strategically lead a gifted team to embrace the power of their God-given design for long-term positive results. So I looked at that and I go all right, well, embrace the power of the God-given design. That's the psychometric assessments. That tells me that that first part I must strategically lead, nicole. I've been put into the leadership position since I was 18. It's like I can't avoid being promoted into these spots and eventually my own, being the owner of my own software company. So it's just like that's always happened. And then the last part, which was to produce long-term positive results that's good fruit. That's Galatians 5.22. So I'm looking at that and I'm going all right. Well, you got the assessments.
Speaker 2:The church is not embracing this teaching. What do you got to do? And at that point in time, I said well, I guess I'm going to write the curriculum to introduce this to the church. That eventually became the Digital Workshop Program and that's where we're at now. The interesting thing, nicole because a lot of people ask us about the name of the ministry. As soon as I made the mental agreement that I was going to write the curriculum for the program, god gave me the name. I know it was heard in my mind first that I was the first one to speak it out, but I can't take credit for the name because God just gifted it to me. As soon as I made that agreement he said and you're going to call it Brush Fires Ministry. It was sort of funny. It's always been a cool name, their God-given design and purpose.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. So you said a keyword that's near and dear to me and I'm just going to get on this topic discipleship. And I'm just going to get on this topic, discipleship. You know, recently I was having a conversation with someone and I was stating and this is what Gracefield is about is just we confront things, as Paul did. Right, let's just be head on, direct with what we need to improve as sons and daughters of God. Right, are we doing the great commission? Are we doing it effectively? Are we bearing fruit and teaching others as well how to bear that fruit? And so we talk about discipleship and especially the state of discipleship in the church. I want to ask you, like what do you consider to be the state of discipleship in the church today?
Speaker 2:Well, I actually think it's atrocious. It's just not there. There are various aspects of a good discipleship program that are in place. There are churches that have great biblical scholars that are teaching real good theology and really making that message, and there's some that are really having a relationship where men and women are being held accountable and are in this sort of things. But that's just a small part of it.
Speaker 2:If you look at what Christ did with his apostles, what he did was he taught them one-on-one. The other thing was, because he's God, he knew exactly what Peter's design was. He knew that he was impetuous, but he was a born leader. He knew John's heart and his heart for humanity. He knew all these things about them. Why? Because he created them. Well, we have a way of being able to do that too.
Speaker 2:So over the last number of years, one of the things that has frustrated me is that when we get a person to the design discovery meeting, which is when we develop those purpose statements and every one is unique. There isn't one that is the same as the other. We get them to that point and you can see the revelation and the confirmation in the person's eyes. I mean, oftentimes they're bawling because they're being seen for the first time, Things that they were frightened to be able to speak out because other people shouted them down. Oh, you're not a leader, You're just being excuse the word bitchy, you know. I mean, a lot of ladies get that, A lot of lady leaders get you're just bossy or you're just this or that. And so what happens is, you know, they get to this place and they go okay, I am being seen, and then that's the mountaintop experience, and then they go down and then they go back to life and the missing ingredient was discipleship. So what we are doing now is we're actually in a process of developing a discipleship framework.
Speaker 2:This is not a program. This is not a cookie-cutter thing. This is going to take real effort on church leaders to employ, but it's the way, I believe, that Christ wants it done. What we do is we take our design analysis and our purpose statements and we say, all right, this is what the person is designed for. Who do we have as a strong leader in the church? A discipler, a mentor that we can partner this person with so that they can start to help them walk out the sanctification process and be able to grow in that? So it's discipleship with an intentionality, with a purpose.
Speaker 2:Think of it as being recruited into the army. When you're recruited into the army, they send you through a series of batteries of tests and those tests are intended to figure out what your aptitudes are in a certain area. So if you're up there at the shooting range and you're hitting bullseyes in a certain area, so if you're up there at the shooting range and you're hitting bullseyes, guess who's going to get promoted to the sniper division? Because you have that gifting, you have that skill set. The church can do the same thing. We can find out who our counselors are. Our assessments reveal that. We can find out who our teachers are. Our assessments can reveal that we can find out who our leaders are. And then we take that and we train their leaders how to walk them out in their design and so that they can actually become who it is that God is wanting them to be.
Speaker 2:Now, traditional discipleship, as it's being done in the church, is still necessary. I cannot send a new recruit out into the battlefield to be chewed up by the enemy if they don't have biblical foundations. They need to know certain things to be true. They need to know that they are saved by faith and it's grace and it's not by works. They need to know that Christ was 100% man and 100% God. They need to understand these truths so that, when the enemy attacks them, they can fall back on the truths of the gospel, their position in Christ, and go yeah, not today, enemy, I am not going to be tempted into that sin, I am not going to be dismayed, I'm not going to be discouraged, because I know who created me and I know what he created me for. Sorry, you get me talking about this and it's so close to my heart, Nicole, I just run with it.
Speaker 1:Right, no, I hear you. I understand, because I fall within the same line. Right, I have been in aspects of ministries behind the scenes for over 20 years and in multiple various ministries, and especially in what I do now in a Graceville community serving ministries with leadership development. That's one of the main things that I see, especially in when you have your small, your mid-sized churches.
Speaker 1:It's this aspect of, oh, we have somebody here, they just got saved last week and we need volunteers, and so we kind of like it's just thinking, like we throw them in and it's like, oh, just spend time here and eventually you'll grow and develop, which is very true, right, as they're sitting under the word, they will grow and develop, but there are some innate abilities that the Lord created in them that if we take the time to really get to know them, get to know their strengths, find out actually what are their weaknesses, right, paul teaches us that we have our weaknesses there, so that we still find ourselves having to go back to God because we do have these weaknesses.
Speaker 1:So it's important to understand, like, what are your strengths, what are your weaknesses, and how does that come together in the body? Because we each carry a part of the body. So I'm right there with you, because I think it is a thing of our discipleship aspect that gets thrown off in churches. Right, and we do it in the workplace, we do it in corporate and not the church is corporate. But I am a firm believer that there are some things that do happen, that corporate does, that the business world has, does that we can utilize in the church to be even greater effective, for which really is outreach right.
Speaker 2:Well, that is the case. I mean, there's actually two things that the church has been called to do, and it's the last two words that Christ gave to the church. First of all is spread the gospel. Okay, so evangelism is a mandate, but the other one is discipleship. Make disciples. Disciples are people that are intentionally doing what they were created to do.
Speaker 2:Use the word weakness and when we're referring to sin or lack of education or training, okay, I'll accept it in that area, but I don't want it to be this concept where, okay, I have to be more of an evangelist because I'm 0% evangelist and that's not really where my heart is. No, that's not the case. God created me to be a leader. Now will I evangelize at various times when called upon? Absolutely. But my focus should be in leadership, building other leaders and helping them to understand what they were created to do. So I prefer the word shortcomings, because once we know what those are, then we know who in the body of Christ is missing in our ministry to fill that need that we can't fill on our own.
Speaker 2:We were built for community community with God, but also community with one another. We are stronger and more effective when we work together. I mean the people that have come alongside our ministry to help us develop the online digital community workshop videos, the people that have worked with me on the various books that I've released, the people that have come alongside and made resources that they've spent their life invested in. Those have all been part of the missing pieces that are necessary. So we need to teach one another that we're not lone ranger Christians, that we are designed to work in community. That the enemy understands that will use our differences against us. He'll use the fact that Mary is a high creative and Martha is a high maximizer and Martha does not like Mary messing up her well-established program and Mary's going.
Speaker 2:But there's a better way. We could do it better. I just want to make it better and Martha is like all over because guess what? You're messing with. How it's always been, we've always done it this way. Why are we changing it? Community is what is necessary for these things to be accomplished, and that's what the church is supposed to be about individually raising up the specific warriors that God has created, that he has put under your shepherding, so that they can become the best version of what God created them to be, and then partnering them with the other members of the body to accomplish his will.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely, his will, yes, absolutely. You brought up a great point earlier and I'm going to go back to it of when we look at how Jesus even gave us the example of how he had his apostles right and I think it's, you know, ideal. If we just look at that example. He took 12 and he took 12 and he spent time with them and he nurtured them and he pulled their strengths Right and he gave them all roles within as they traveled and what they did. And I think one of the things that we see in discipleship with church is like OK, I want to take this 200. Well, it's impossible for one person and this was Jesus who created them. That said, I'm going to work with these 12.
Speaker 1:Who created them? That said I'm going to work with these 12. Now, yes, did he speak to the masses? Yes, but his disciple, his apostle, was those 12 and he developed them and then said you go out Right. And so, as we talk about the solutions for discipleship, like one thing I think about is slow growth Sometimes I think we want that instant gratification, especially now here, we are in 2025 where everything I mean pressure cooker is quick, Like I don't even know if people still use slow cookers anymore.
Speaker 1:Like you know, everything is like given to us now and discipleship is a process, and so when I when I'm thinking about that, I also understand that sometimes the things that it takes slow, it's time for us to receive, there's a greater joy behind it, right cooker, when I take that, meat out the slow cooker.
Speaker 1:It is nice and tender and juicy and it falls perfectly apart. I'm like I did this Versus. When I pop something in a microwave, I'm like, yeah, the manufacturer did a great job on this right. And so how do you think discipleship even connects and purpose connects to, like achieving aspects of joy?
Speaker 2:well. So okay, that's a multi-fold question. The very first thing that I do want to address, and and say yes and amen, is that it has to be done in community and in small groups. You know, if jesus could only handle 12 of us knuckle heads at one time, how are we supposed to handle 200 or 2,000? So that's number one, and the person that is leading them needs to be qualified, needs to actually be walking in their purpose and actually have the foundational items in place.
Speaker 2:Number two with regards to joy, there's a difference between joy and happiness. In 2013, I wrote an article called what is Joy, and I made, first of all, the distinction happiness is based upon your circumstances. When my wife puts down a medium rare ribeye steak in front of me, oh, I'm happy. And if there's garlic mashed potatoes, I'm even happier, you know, and a nice crisp green salad with blue cheese dressing, oh, this has got to be a great day. I mean, that's sort of you know, that's sort of where that is, but guess what, five, six bites into that meal and it's like, all right, well, I'm not as happy. I'm still happy, but I'm not as happy. Joy is different. Joy comes from within.
Speaker 2:In 2013, I was sitting in a church and the pastor was talking about the Apostle Paul and about the specific calamities that he went through shipwrecked and being beat and stoned and imprisoned and so forth and he counted it all joy. And that's when God stepped in and I couldn't hear the pastor anymore. And so I'm sitting there going all right. This makes no human sense. How is it possible that a human being can go through all that physical trauma and being turned over by his fellow Jews and all these other things? How is that humanly possible and still consider it all joy? And that's when I was wrestling over that and God whispered in my ear because he was doing what I created Him to do.
Speaker 2:See, we cannot do the works of God on our own strengths and abilities. It doesn't do my ministry or our ministry any good if people point to my giftings and say, oh well, this is all because of JR's technical abilities or this or that. No, that does not bring God the glory. Did he use my talents? In many ways, absolutely. What brings God glory when I'm in the middle of a design discovery meeting and all of a sudden he whispers in my ears something about that person and you see the shock on their face where you go. How did you know that? I can't pull that off? That's God working through me, and so forth.
Speaker 2:So when you are doing the work of God and it is manifesting the power of God, the individual gets to be used by God and the humble one, the one that is not thinking it's all about them, is going. I got to partner with the creator of the universe. That produces joy, that gives you a sense of purpose, that gives you a sense of fulfillment that nothing else can and it doesn't go away in five minutes. It's like wow, I impacted that person's life and because God used me in that way, they are now off on this trajectory, changing their lives and changing other people's lives. I got to play a part in that. That's the difference between joy and happiness. Joy is sustaining, joy is fulfilling, Joy is empowering. Joy comes from God. Think of it this way when you're doing what you were created to do, joy is when God smiles at you and says well done son, well done daughter. Hey, let's take a quick break to tell you about Grace Filled Community.
Speaker 1:Grace Filled Community is an organization that focuses on the primary principles of the Church of Acts, centered around building communities that impact the kingdom of God. We do this through three core extensions. One, graceville Church Network, where we empower churches and nonprofits for God's success and growth. We offer tailored growth strategies rooted in biblical principles that will help you expand your reach and impact your communities. Just like the early church, we focus not on attendance in numbers but on discipleship, providing leadership teachings and trainings to today's ministry leaders.
Speaker 1:Our second extension is Project of the Grace Field, where we provide biblical counseling, mentorship, workshops and events that are dedicated to encouraging individuals to live a life filled with grace and purpose, rooted in the understanding that all have fallen short and are a working project. Let us help the individuals in your community grow as they walk with God and experience the fullness of his love. Our third extension is the grace-filled business. Grace-filled business is here to help small, faith-based business owners develop their business in a way that honors God, that brings increase and allows them to pour back into his kingdom, through marketplace ministry and financing his kingdom. We do this through our 15 years of experience of virtual administrative work, digital marketing, business development and consulting.
Speaker 2:Welcome back.
Speaker 1:Yes, I love that. I'm actually going to go to the scripture because there's something I want to point out in there so that for our listeners, if you don't know, that's James 1. And it's I'm going to kind of read through because there's something very key that we it's in this, this verse, that all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. Verse three knowing this that the trying of your faith work is patience. Verse four is what my husband likes to say is the formula Right, but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Speaker 1:And I think often, you know, we just hear that like wanting nothing. And the first thing that our minds go to right is the materialistic aspect right of like wanting nothing, like I don't have to want finances, I will have to want food and so forth. And then verse five continues to say if you, if any of you, lack wisdom, let him ask God that giveth all men liberally, meaning that he you ask, he will give answer right, like he gives liberally if you ask of him. And so the thing that I have set with the Lord on about this is, as you mentioned, like, I remember the verse where Paul talks about like it would be good to die, like he initially acknowledges. Like I'm sitting in prison, right, it would be okay for me to die right now, like my human body says that might be better because then I will be in glory, right. But then he acknowledges but the better thing is to remain and do the work of God, like, do what he is called to do, do what he has purpose to do, right.
Speaker 1:And so, even when I think about, like our own temptations or our trials and tribulations that we go through, I believe that sometimes, as humanity, we walk into those trials that we caused. You know, often we hear people put the term like oh, the devil put me in this circumstance. Well, no, it's because we're walking outside of the purpose that we were created, in that we find ourselves in consistent trials and tribulations and it will all come align if we walk in purpose, in his purpose, which is what leads us to count it all joy. Because when you're walking in his purpose, like you said with Paul, like those circumstances are not the driving factor for you and they're not where your joy comes from, right, the joy of the Lord is what gives us strength, even in those circumstances.
Speaker 2:It's something that's a little bit beyond that. Yes, we can applaud the outcome and we can worship and praise God for what he did, but there's something about that intimate relationship where God says I'm going to use your voice to change this person's life. I'm going to use you helping them to change this person's life. There is an exchange that happens when you give your free will over to God and there's something that is deposited in you. Now we don't have time for all the stories that we've gone through, but there was one I referred to as the kryptonite man, where I was doing a design discovery meeting and God spoke to me in the middle of the design and it absolutely shook me and shook him. At the end of that day, at the end of those design discovery meetings with him and his wife, I had to be poured into the front seat of our car. I couldn't drive. I was so wiped out and drenched from God using me in that man's life.
Speaker 2:So there is something that is exchanged and that is different about joy and happiness. Joy, actually. There's something and I haven't figured it out yet, but I'm going to. One pastor said it's grace and I get that part of it. But there's something that when you freely say yes, father, I will be used by you and he comes through and works in your life and changes another human being's life through your obedience. There is something that is exchanged to that point that is, the deposit of joy that's placed in you is priceless. It's that parable where Christ says the man finds a pearl and he'll buy the entire field because he wants that pearl.
Speaker 2:Guess what Joy is? The same way, when you start to experience it on a regular basis and then you get the idea or the concept, do you mean I can continue to do this, I can continue to experience joy, I can continue to get a reckoning for all the terrible things that the enemy has done in my life. I can stick my finger in the enemy's eye and take back the ground in my life or other people's lives that he's stolen. Oh yeah, I'm in, I'm all in.
Speaker 2:And you get a taste of that, I'm telling you, your sin problems start to go away Because now you say I don't want sin because it's going to prevent me from experiencing joy. It's an exchange that you. It's like saying I'm going to hand you a hundred dollar bill or a 10 cent coin. Now a baby might grab the coin because it's. You know, a dime is shiny. An adult says oh, the hundred dollar bill is worth a lot more. We're going to grab that. That's the difference. Don't settle for a dime of immediate gratification in sin when you can receive hundreds of dollars from your father of joy.
Speaker 1:Yes, I love that analogy. That is a excellent analogy and that's exactly what it is right. It's the joy that is only given by him, a joy that can't be received in any other fashion or form. Man, I feel like time flies by when you're having fun. Right Flies by. I looked at the time. I'm like what happened? Yeah, that was quick, I looked at the time.
Speaker 2:I'm like what happened? Yeah, that was quick.
Speaker 1:Yes, it was. You know, before we go, I do have one more question that I just I really want to get to and really want to talk about is the belief that every person is designed to serve humanity and be a part of, like a ministry Right, what? Are your thoughts on that.
Speaker 2:Well, one of the unique things about doing our program within a church body where you have, you know, dozens of people which we've done many live workshops but we can also be done online at brushfire-digitalcom. One of the unique things about doing that in a body situation is that you can describe certain attributes of a person's design and they'll go oh yeah, that's me. And the person sitting next to them will go man, that's not me at all, when they can start to see the diversity of God's giftings amongst his children. One of my favorite things that we do is we show the video no Longer a Slave, okay, jonathan Hesler and his wife Melissa. In that song, towards the end of it, his wife Melissa just takes off and that girl is pumping her fists in the air and she's singing with everything that she has and she's just absolutely in that moment. You can see that there's nothing left. Use a football analogy she left it all in the field in delivering that song and as soon as that's over, I will take a person that is 90. You're a 100% thinker and I will ask them tell me what you thought. And it'll be something like this Well, she really executed that song amazingly. It was just really powerful and I could just feel the presence of God and it was just really very moving. And then I'll go to the person who's 90 or 100% thinker or 90 or 100% feeler and first of all they're all bawling, they're crying, they're absolutely weeping because of the emotional impact that they just went through watching Melissa deliver that song. And the thinkers over there are going wow, we just watched the same thing. Why are they all crying? And I'm not.
Speaker 2:That polar opposite of design is intentional by God. There's nothing wrong with that thinker. That thinker is designed to be a surgeon or a police officer or in the military, somebody who needs to follow orders and do things by precision and not allow their emotions to take over them. That feeler quite likely is going to be a counselor or a coach or somebody that is there to help nurture somebody else, because they have an open, empathetic, sympathetic heart. And when people start to see the diversity of God's design in a group setting through our workshop program, then they go wow, I am uniquely designed. It's great with husbands and wives. All of a sudden the wife goes. Well, the reason he doesn't really express his feelings and emotions is because he controls them by his thinker. He has feelings and emotions. He just doesn't let them get in the way of his decisions. Right, and my part in our relationship if she's the feeler and he's the thinker is to let him know when his objectivity has gone too far and he needs to have some compassion and some empathy for his children or for his fellow man.
Speaker 2:What gets even more twisted, nicole, and we see this recently, we've been exploring this dynamic. We typically will associate a high thinker with a male personality and a high feeler with a female personality. But God doesn't do that. We have watched many marriages that we have helped restore, because the guy's the feeler and the woman is the thinker and she's basically ashamed of her man because he's got emotions and you know, basically emasculating him and he's trying to put on a strong face because you know he's supposed to be this kind of guy and he's not. And we see tremendous division being created by the enemy because these preconceived ideas of what is a man has been placed on certain types of design types. If a woman is a high thinker and a guy's a high fielder, there's nothing wrong with that. God's just got different work for them to do.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely, I absolutely love that. I don't know, have you heard of how we love?
Speaker 2:I don't think I have no.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm like we're going here, but how we love is a um, a study that we use very often within graceful community when we do biblical counseling with couples, and very similar to what it describes is you really look at the five different love styles, right, and how those love styles are taken, right From childhood, from what you've seen, did you become an avoider? Did you become a people pleaser? Did you become, and how those things carry out into adulthood?
Speaker 1:and then understanding how do they come together with your relationships, with relationships with each other as a couple, your relationships with your kids and relationships amongst community, and so it's very similar in the aspect we sit with couples all the time and we tend to do that with like a study group in a small group settings so actually just last week we did the first assessment with our newest semester of group and there were couples in there that are like, like you said, the husband is more of the empathetic, more of the filler, but he's been trying to suppress those things because that's not what society has said the male should express, or the male should be right.
Speaker 2:He probably got beat up by bigger boys as a kid because you know he dared to cry.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Oh, you're a sissy, you're this or that. So he learned real quick If I show my emotions, I get hurt. I don't want to get hurt.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And so that leads me into a point of like, why and I'm going right back to that discipleship component of why it's key to take that time to disciple, like you said, in small group settings, right? Because when I'm speaking to the masses, and I'm speaking to 2000 people, I don't get a chance to understand what was your childhood like? What are the things that shaped you, what are the things from your yesterday that you've brought into today that has shaped and formed even how you walk in your purpose. Right, there are things, like you know, as a maximizer, I can walk in purpose, but I do need somebody that sometimes says hey, nicole, celebrate the moment. The moment was good. We could talk about everything we need to improve tomorrow right.
Speaker 1:Like, let's celebrate tonight. You need that and that's the importance of community and that's what acts Like. If I I look at acts and I look at how community was established. Right, there was sharing of resources, there was financial aid provided, there was prayer and encouragement, hospitality, spiritual guidance, like it said that the community none went without, because they understood that each person had a part, each person had a purpose, each person had resources that was meant to supply the community. So I say all that to say, jr, I absolutely love what you guys are doing at Brush Fires. I know we could probably talk for another like five, six hours, we could go a couple of days, but I should let us at least get lunch and continue the rest of our day. So, that being said, please, just to our listeners, how can they make sure to stay connected with you? I know we'll put links in the show notes, but I want them to hear from you Like what, what would be the ideal person also that should reach out to you, to be connected with you?
Speaker 2:Well, man, there's our, because our ministry deals with people and we are trying to help them get from where they're at to where God wants them to be. It could be a struggling marriage. It could be somebody who's simply going I know there's more for me in this Christian thing, but I haven't been able to discover it. It could be somebody who's been stuck in an area that they are completely unhappy about and they're afraid to even complain about it because you know you're not supposed to be grumbling. But if you know, if you're designed for something else and they've put you in children's ministry for the last 15 years, there may be something more for you out there that God really wants to do. I would say, first of all, go to our website, brushfiresjewelcom. If you simply register as a new user, we will give you one of our assessments for free. Our spiritual gifts assessment is always made free. We're going to give you two books up front, one that I wrote and one that was written by one of our graduates.
Speaker 2:I'm actually going and releasing my fifth book and that will be made available on that platform called Sparks Turn Into Brushfires. But then look at our premium packages, and in the premium packages I would strongly encourage you to sign up for one of those. You'll get the workbook, you'll get the eight-session video series about 130-some hours of video presentation You'll get the 11 different assessments and at the very end of it, you'll get a three-hour coaching session where we will develop your purpose statement. For you, if you were doing this as a husband and a wife, the wife will be present when the husband does his, and vice versa, so they can actually get to know each other at a much deeper soul level. You can do that for as little as $59 a month that's how low the bar is to be able to do this.
Speaker 2:And we are also looking for counselors and coaches and church leaders. I would prefer teaching church leaders how to do what we do and them absolutely being the ones that are implementing and them shepherding their flock internally. And if they need our support and training, we'll train the leaders. But that's where we're at right now. We're in the multiplication phase of our ministry and we want to work with leaders of Christian organizations and churches so that they can bring the best out of their people, the best out of what God wants to do in their ministry. So, brushfires-digitalcom, register as a new user and that will. It's free to register and that will get you started.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, jr, thank you so much for your time today, thank you for pouring out, and I do want to say just thank you for all that you're doing, you and your organization, and I know it takes a team your team to just support and really advance the kingdom of God. So thank you for being on today.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, nicole, and I look forward to working with you and others as we go forward.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, well, graceful listeners, as always, we hope that you have enjoyed today's podcast. I do want to encourage you to make sure to check out the show notes, see how you can be connected and get connected. If you are in a space where you do not have community, or if you are even questioning this whole God thing, we encourage you to reach out to Gracefield community and we would like to get you connected wherever you are. We have community spaces and resources globally that we trust to get you connected with Everyone. Hope you have a wonderful and blessed day, take care. Thank you for tuning in to today's episode of Graceville Community Podcast. We would like to invite you to visit gracevillecommunitycom.
Speaker 1:Graceville Community is all about doing church the way Church of Acts did, using five main principles that we see in the Book of Acts. Sharing resources, as believers pool their possessions and resources to support those in need, as we see in Acts 2.44. Through hospitality the early Christians practiced hospitality by opening their homes to others, as we see in Acts 2 and 46. By financial aid the church in Antioch sent financial aid to believers in Judea during a time of famine, as described in Acts 11 and 29. Prayer and encouragement they supported each other through prayer and encouragement, as we see in Acts 4 and 24. And finally, spiritual guidance. The apostles and elders provided spiritual guidance and teaching to help strengthen and build the community, as we see in Acts 15 30. I would like to encourage you. If any of those areas are areas in which you are in need or can contribute, please reach out to Graceville Community. We are working together across the world with ministries and individuals alike, to help bring back the Church of Acts.
