Revisiting The Words of Jesus With Brandon Klotz (Ep 40)

Jason: Hello and welcome to the My Minister Mission podcast. My name is Jason and I'm your host. I have with me today an awesome guest. He's a Christian, a father, a husband, an entrepreneur, and a creative mind. He's the kind of man who doesn't see problems. He sees opportunities for a better solution. His name is Brandon Klotz and he owns a pressure washing service in Cincinnati, Ohio called Blue Solutions.

So if you're in that neighborhood. And you need a pro to come out and clean up your cement, bricks, shingles, rock, stucco, vinyl, basically anything, I suggest you visit his website at https://cincibluesolutions.com, that's https://cincibluesolutions.com, the links to his website and to his Twitter and Instagram and YouTube channel are all in the show notes.

So why is Brandon here? Well, In our conversations back and forth, he made references to some powerful words that Jesus said that we should definitely take a second look at. And I thought this was a brilliant idea, and I think all Christians should focus on some or all of these topics a little bit more. Even non-Christians should look at it. So, keep on listening because you're going to love this.

All right, Brandon, welcome to the My Ministry Mission podcast. And thank you for taking time out of your busy weekend to speak with me and the listeners.

Brandon: Oh, thank you. I'm very glad to be here. I'm looking forward to the discussion.

Jason: Before we dive into this, I, I really enjoyed hearing about how you got started with blue solutions. Would you mind sharing that story with me again, really quick? So everyone can hear it because I think it's really inspired.

Brandon: Oh, thanks. Um, so blue solutions is my pressure washing business and, um, I live in Ohio and Cincinnati and, uh, had some white siding and I tried to clean my own siding with a pressure washer and then my sidewalk and then my driveway and then my patio and it took days.

Like, there's got to be a better way. So did some research, got some equipment and thought I would probably pay to have someone else do this for me, or perhaps others would pay to have me do it for them. And that's kind of how I got started. So I'm growing slowly and surely just did my first oil spill cleanup this week.

So that was a lot of fun. And, uh, yeah, it keeps me busy.

Jason: That's great. I love that story. I really do. It's, you took something that was a huge headache for you and you, you turned it into a business. I'm like, who does that? You know, most people, myself included, would have finished the multi day job and put it in the never speak of it again category.

Um, but you thought it was a great business opportunity and you've figured out how to do better. That's probably why you're a good entrepreneur. So

Brandon: Oh, thanks. I guess I'll meet a lot of people in the community too. So that's another plus, you know, a lot of neighbors, a lot of people I've never would run into or have contact with that just opens up doors. So that's also really nice.

Jason: That's great. So you gave me a list of things that Jesus said that you feel really demand a second look. And I would say even a third and fourth look, right? you know, I don't, I don't know if you care what order we go in while there will, otherwise we'll just do them one at a time, but I figure we'll kind of roll into that and you can, you can share your thoughts on it.

Brandon: Yeah, so I think, you know, Christianity at the heart of Christianity is Christ, and there's so many people giving their opinions writing op eds writing all kinds of ideas and Jesus said some pretty interesting things too that I think ought to be considered and Reconsidered as you mentioned and shoot on because there's nothing else like them.

I mean you can look everywhere and not find Some of the things that we can go through here shortly. And to start with, he said in Matthew 28, "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me"

Jason: Right.

Brandon: That's a lot to chew on right there. All authority above Kings, above rulers, above everything. He said, it's, it's mine.

Wow.

Jason: Right. Consider everything that he's done that falls into the category of humble. You know, he was born in a manger. Um, you know, he, he wasn't a prince or anything in this world, at least, you know, the, the people that he picked as his disciples were just common folk, you know, people that were fishermen and tax collectors and zealots and, and everything he did was surrounded with humility.

Yet he had the ultimate power.

Brandon: Yeah. And you know, he didn't consider equality with God, something to be held onto, but he made himself of. No reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and gave himself, it's like, wow, who says all authority is mine? Not even rulers on earth say that. Um, and that's just, I think that's the basis of the great commission, which comes next on the basis that I'm the one who has the authority when you're sharing life with others and you're helping them to obey my commands and.

Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, teaching them, remember, I have all authority and I'll be with you always. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be with you.

Jason: I like it.

Brandon: That's, it should be verifiable. You know, something that it's like right now, like that's a right now verse, you know, in my daily life, in my little house in Cincinnati, Jesus said, I'm with you.

That's incredible.

Jason: Yeah. And if I, if I remember correctly, like in the context of Matthew 28:20, Jesus was sending was sending his disciples out on a mission and he's making a promise of, of his constant presence. And this is, this is, you know, a reminder to us, you've mentioned it already that the presence was more than enough to strengthen and guide them as they went out on the mission.

You know, as you said, they weren't alone, even though Jesus was on earth at that point. He's still telling you, there's more to me than what you see in this body.

Brandon: Yeah. And this is at the very end, you know, before he ascends and he's saying, basically, don't, you don't have to be afraid of anything. I've got all the authority, whatever comes against you, you're going to be fine.

I'm going to be with you. I've got the power. Relax. Let's do this.

Jason: Absolutely. I have a theory on this and you can tell me what you think about this, but you know, His presence provides protection, but I think there's a caveat here. Jesus wasn't promising to protect us or his disciples from harm in this world.

And we see that in, you know, the church of Ephesus or Smyrna, sorry, the church of Smyrna, where they get heavily persecuted, but his protection is spiritual and his presence brings us peace and, and guidance and empowers us in, in the eternal life, not the, the physical life. So I figured I'd throw that out there and see what you thought about that.

Brandon: Yeah, that's, I think it's kind of like Paul, you know, who was imprisoned, chased around, running away from people who trying to kill him, mobs trying to ... You know, he list his whole rap sheet of beatings, whippings rods, shipwrecks, and yet he's the one who said. I'm content wherever I find myself, with little, with lot, in all these things, it's an honor to suffer for Christ.

So I, in the words of Dallas Willard, someone who's really inspired me, he said, this world's a perfectly safe place to be when you're with Jesus. Not that you're not going to get hurt, persecuted, stoned, killed even, but as one of the sayings later on this list, I'd like to look at it. Jesus said, if you believe in me, you'll never see death.

So even if it does come to death, you're still going to be fine for me to live as Christ and die as Cain, right? So definitely there are difficult things, but it is spiritual protection, and if physical life is taken away, we're going to be with God anyways. So we really don't have anything to be afraid of.

Jason: Now, the, the next one on your list is, is one that I have it as one of my favorites and, and I have a lot of favorites. I say that a lot, but there's a lot of good things in the Bible, so I feel like that's okay. But, but you, you know, come, come to me all who are weary and heavy late and I would give you rest.

Brandon: Yeah. That's so needed. And the world right now, excuse me. And you look at China and Taiwan, you look at Russia and Ukraine. You look at Israel and Palestine. You look at the drug cartels in Mexico and South America. You look at, you know, the crime in the U S and people are angry, full of hate, restless, and really don't have a clue what they're doing.

And he says, no matter what you're going through, what you're suffering, where your life is come to me, learn about me. I'll take all the burdens you're facing, no matter what difficulties you're going through and you'll find rest for your soul.

Jason: Yeah, I will give you rest seems like this, this comfort that we need deep within our souls that we starve ourself of, if we're not close to Christ.

Brandon: Yeah, it's sort of, uh, you know, it involves trust and trust involves a risk where you take a step and it doesn't mean we don't face difficult situations. It just means when the difficult situation or difficult individual or. Scenario, whatever comes up, you say, okay, well here, Jesus, I want your yoke. You take this, you know, I'm going to trust you. Everything's going to be fine. And, uh, we can rest in him. And so that's, that's one of my favorites.

Jason: And that leads into the, one of the second ones that you are, one of the other ones you said is that take my yoke upon you and learn for me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest, rest for your soul.

So it kind of repeats the rest for your soul. But, um, but this idea of taking the yoke, you know, I was thinking about that. And in order to take his yoke, we have to become disciples, which reminded me of Matthew 16:24, "that whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up the cross and follow me."

So I, I feel like there's more than just, you get to have an easy time of it. You know, we have to put in some work. We have to follow him, we have to accept Christ into our heart, we have to carry him with us in order to carry that yoke.

Brandon: Yes, certainly. And I think that, um, the work that's required to be put in as far less than if we weren't to be a disciple of Jesus, you know, a lot of people think, Oh, I have to deny myself and take up my cross and follow Jesus, but I think, you know, you're taking up a cross either way and if you're not with Jesus. You're carrying your own cross, and you don't have any help.

Jason: That's a really good point, I didn't think of that.

Brandon: When you, uh, take Jesus yoke, a yoke is typically two. Oxen or beasts of burden or whatever they're called, he's going to do it with you.

We're learning from him with him to walk with him. So I could tell my daughters, we, uh, I have four daughters all under the age of six so things are a little rambunctious sometimes around here. If you hear them screaming, my apologies, but, I tell them we, we have a choice between two hard things.

We can choose the wrong thing and that's hard. Now and later, or we can choose the right hard thing and it's hard for a little bit right now, but it gets much easier after the results are better. So I think it's like that with Jesus, you know, we, we take his yoke and as opposed to trying to carry our own cross and walk by ourselves and he helps us and guides us.

And that's another verifiable statement. That's like, wow, that's incredible,

Jason: The yoke represents an obligation to God, uh, specifically by the Jews. I mean, they had the yoke of the kingdom, yoke of the law, yoke of the command, yoke of repentance, yoke of faith and so on. Correct me if you think I'm wrong, but what I think is Jesus is teaching us that we can kind of forget about all of that other stuff.

Thanks to him, just follow him, take his yoke and he'll guide us to where we need to be.

Brandon: Yep. That's pretty much it. And he didn't come to abolish things, you know, but he sort of fulfilled everything in himself, so... Yes. But at the beginning, that's why we follow him. He's a, he's meek and he's a little, and that's really encouraging because nothing's worse than someone who is pressuring you to follow them here.

I know this or that or the other, and Jesus is just meek and some podunk corner with nobody's and is perfectly comfortable there. And that's encouraging to me relate

to that.

Jason: Yeah. I tell people I like it cause it rhymes, but meek doesn't mean weak. People misunderstand. Meek is, it's a form of humility is, is it's not subservient. It's not, you know, less than it is. It's quiet, quiet confidence.

Brandon: Yeah.

Jason: All right. So tell me about your next one. Eat of me and you will never be hungry.

Brandon: Yeah, this one, it took me a while to understand this and the people in John 6 who Jesus was talking to, you know, they didn't quite understand it either. They thought he was talking about cannibalism. Um, he said, I'm the bread of life. The one who comes to me will not be hungry. The one who believes in me will never be thirsty. And this only makes sense if you think of humans in one sense, which is our physical bodies and our stomachs. Uh, it doesn't make much sense and eating him doesn't make much sense.

But if you had a second dimension, which is, you could call it the spiritual non visible metaphysical other realm. He's kind of saying that we have a second stomach or a second heart, if you will, and that things are going into it and like the woman at the well, who is, he said, if you drink this water, you'll thirst again. But if you drink the water that I give you, like in the next verse here, um, you're never going to thirst. So it's helpful to me, um, as a full time nurse to think of this as a, we have two stomachs or two hearts and we're filling it with something. And he says, if you put me in there. You're not going to be hungry. You're not going to be thirsty and you're never going to need to go looking for food. Wow.

Jason: Yeah, no, it is kind of, I could see from the outside and it is a little weird to say, you know, eat, eat of me. Um, but the world, so in the world, in this world, we have to eat bread to sustain our lives. You have to drink water to sustain our lives.

And Jesus is, like you said, taking that other dimension to say, well, you know, you have your physical bread, but you also have a spiritual need and, and I am the one who, who provides the bread for the spiritual need. I'm the one who provides the water for your spiritual needs. And you can live on in this physical body with, with all the bread that you want, but you're going to starve on this other, more important level.

If you don't pay attention to me, that's kind of how I read into it. You mentioned the Samaritan woman. This is, I think one of my favorite. Uh, things about this is that this is the woman he first told anybody outright. He was the Messiah. And he picked this, this woman who had lived a sinful life, it was a Samaritan woman.

You know, it was a woman because back then, you know, Jews did not give a whole lot of authority and relevance to, to women. But he sat there and said, you know, you're so important to me that I'm going to not only offer spiritual guidance, but I'm going to be telling you who I am for the first time. You have that authority now.

Brandon: Mhm.

Jason: Well, tell everyone else.

Brandon: Yeah. And have you seen, have you heard of the ?

Jason: Oh, I love the chosen.

Brandon: So this scene, um, one of my favorites that I've seen, I haven't seen all of the, I think there's on the third season now, I think, but, um, I need to probably catch up. But in this scene, he says something that so I can just picture Jesus saying it, the woman is .

You know, she's real antagonistic and like, well, why are you talking to me? I'm just a dog, aren't I? And you have your temple and we have this and she's just real hostile. And Jesus said, here, I want some water. And then he says, I have water to give you. And she's like, okay, where is it? Let's have some of it.

And anyways, it's sort of hostile. And then. He begins to sort of lay out and prove to her that he knows about her life, right? This husband and this husband and this, which I could see him doing that. And, uh, she comes slowly to the realization. This is, this is somebody different right here. And then he says, don't worry.

It's not about the temple. It's not about, it's about worshiping me in spirit. Like we just talked about in the previous verse and truth. And she's like, you mean I can be in the in? I can be I can get the goods? I'm not disqualified? And he's basically says, no, you're the one I came to see. And she's like, I'm going to go and tell everybody.

And then he says, I was counting on it. It's perfect. It's it. What I can picture Jesus, you know, being like and saying, yeah, I'm coming to redeem all that brokenness. I'm coming to fill you up like we just mentioned. You don't have to come to the metaphysical spiritual well anymore. You're gonna be satisfied.

Wow. That's incredible. And in light of all the people these days who are saying all their options for what to believe and whatnot, there's Jesus. Who just calmly says I've got the water and it's going to be bubbling up from inside you and you're not going to need to go anywhere. You can rest. Oh, it's just incredible.

Jason: Yeah. And I, you mentioned the chosen it's, it is one of my favorites and I think that whole episode there was a little bit of that, that comedic component where she keeps running around to people saying, he told me all about me,

Brandon: Like of all the things she's excited about, but yeah,

Jason: But yes, this is, you know, you know, drinking regular water. I don't know if, you know, if, if you, I'm sure you have considering the work that you do, but, you know, you, you get to a point where you're just, you've worked really hard. And you, you take a big glass of water and it's just for whatever reason, I mean, water is tasteless, but it, it just tastes so good at that point.

Brandon: Yeah.

Jason: And I imagine, you know, when, you know, for me, because I've only been a Christian for a few years, for me, that was the best way to describe it is, you know, taking a nice long, draw of cold water after a hot, hard day.

Brandon: Yeah.

Jason: That was the first time I walked in church that that's the best way I can describe it.

Brandon: That's, that's wonderful. It reminds me of, I used to be a mailman years ago and I was delivering on a really hot day. And I ran out of water and I just had to keep going, and they're always wanting you to go fast and deliver everything on time and get back to the office in the right time. And, uh, I was in this complex, I think it was like a condominium complex.

And I was like, I gotta get water. And I saw this hose right by the front door of this house. And I just put the mail in the box, squatted down, turned the faucet on, and I'm drinking out of this hose right in front of the front door. And the homeowner opens the door. And just like looking at me.

Jason: Whoops!

Brandon: I'm just squatting on the ground. I just look up at all. I felt so guilty. And so like, oh no, I like apologize. Like, I'm so sorry. I'm just so thirsty out here. I just had to have a little water. I ran out and they were so kind and just like, oh, don't worry about it. Here, turn that off. Let me get you a fresh cup of ice water. And it was like, kind of what you're describing where you're just thirsty. And it's like, wow, my thirst is quenched and that's. What Jesus offers, he's saying, believe me, follow me, you'll find rest, and you'll be full.

Jason: Yeah, absolutely. Um, okay. So sorry, I got lost in that one a little bit. Uh, you go next to john 8 31 and 32. If you continue my words and you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. And that kind of, I mean, it kind of leads into that because you were talking about, you know, not only the, the spiritual, but the truthfulness of, of what Christ brings to us.

Brandon: Mhm. I've heard it said, you know, you find it posted in different places in the world. Anybody and their brother saying the truth will set you free. The truth will set you free.

Jason: Oh yeah.

Brandon: That's not quite accurate. That's not what Jesus said. They get it from the Bible, but they only get part of it. He said, if you continue in my words, and then you're a disciple, and then you will know the truth. It's an if then statement, you know? So, the truth, for the most part, makes us flee, um, on the whole, rather than setting us free, you know?

Um. Things that come up that are honest looks at our own life and situation or others, it's like, you know, we typically want to hide it and it'll make us flee. But Jesus is saying, if you take what I've taught you, what I've said, act on it, live in it, you will then have a one to one interaction experientially with a reality that will set you free.

And it's like, isn't that what people want? They want freedom. Uh, we often don't want to, uh, deny ourselves though, or continue in his words. We'd rather continue in our words. But he offers freedom and says, uh, back to the beginning. I have all power and authority. I know how this works. If you follow what I said, you follow me. Trust me. It's easy. It's light. Don't worry. You'll find rest. You'll be filled and you'll also be free.

Jason: Yeah, it's easier and lighter than before,

Brandon: But yeah, I've heard the cost of discipleship is quite high. People preach, but it's not quite as high as the cost of non discipleship, so much easier to follow and judge Jesus than to not be a disciple.

Jason: I've been working on a series with a friend of mine about Revelation, and one of the things that we, you know, we, we talked about is that Revelation. It, you know, it wasn't, it's a scary book, but it wasn't written to be scary as written to provide truth. But that truth is scary. And that's where people get, I think, caught up is that they, they experienced truth. It scares them. And then they forget that Christ said, you know, fear not for lack of a better thing that, you know, he's saying that this is going to be, this is going to be scary, but I, I've got your back. You don't have to be scared because I am here.

Brandon: That's a good way of putting it.

Jason: Moving on from that, John 14:16-20. Um, there's quite a lot, quite a lot there. Uh, I don't know if I'll read the whole thing, but I'll let you get started on that.

Brandon: Yeah. So I was talking with someone recently, actually on a, on another podcast and they were asking, you know, about how can you prove to say. Muslims or other people who might be hostile to Christ. How can you prove to them certain things and 9 of these 10 statements that on this list here that we're going through everyone we've mentioned so far is something that's verifiable where Jesus is saying you will experience this if you know you meet the condition.

And this is another one where you said, um, if you're following my words, basically, and you're trusting me and you're my disciple. I'm sending a helper, the spirit of truth, and you'll know him because he'll abide with you and he'll be in you. This is something you will be able to verify, which is another just remarkable claim.

And on top of that, he goes from John 14, uh, 17, the next verse, verse 18. I'm not going to leave you as orphans. You're not going to be left alone. Yes. I'm leaving, but don't worry. I will come to you and I'll be with you. And in that day, you're going to know that I'm in the father and you're in me and I'm in you.

And what a reality. I mean, that God would want to be in us with us and it's going to be great. Not leave us as orphans, which I've often felt as an orphan quite often in my life. Um, just another amazing truth that makes me think this, sit back and say, wow, God must be incredible. And

this is, this is in reference to him telling you, you know, I will ask the father and he will give you another helper that helper.

Or in that he may be with you forever. And I, if I'm not mistaken, and I, I didn't look this up, so I, I, I could be wrong here, but I believe the Greek word used for the spirit here is pericles, which is literally a helper that goes alongside you an advocate, if you will.

Yeah, someone to help you guide you in the truth.

And it also says the world can't receive him. So that's another thing that you won't find rest in the world. You'll find it in Christ. You won't find the helper in the world. You'll find it with Christ. Great.

And I think this idea of the Holy Spirit is very, very, it's really hard, even, even sometimes for Christians, you know, especially when you, you, you try to wrap your mind around the triune God, you know, they've got the father, you've got the son, you've got the Holy Spirit and they're all independent, but they're all the same.

They're all God. And it's very, you know, it's, it, it hurts the brain to try to try to understand it. And that, that in itself is a lesson to us is that we, we don't have to understand it. Going back to the chosen, you know, he even says that, you know, they argue about, well, we don't know this or that, and they're like, you don't have to know it.

You just have to believe it. And I think, you know, we, we miss those lessons. We try too hard to, to really understand what's going on. And, and I think Christ and all of this is telling us, you, you don't have to. I understand it and that should be good enough for

you. And if you follow me and live in my words, then everything else will work itself out.

You know, make sure you start and you're headed the right direction and the spirit will take care of

the rest. If you want, you know, simpler, simpler terms. If you take your car to a mechanic, you don't have to understand what the mechanic's doing. You just have to pay him and let him do it. So I think, you know, crisis is the same thing.

He's saying, he's telling us very overtly, this is the stuff I'm going to take care of. And you really don't have to understand it. Just, just go sit down and let me work.

Mm hmm. And, and that ties right into the next one that, um, John 14, 25 and 26, five verses later, it kind of repeats that the helper whom the father is sending will teach you not just be with you, comfort you, be a helper, but we'll teach and remind you of everything I said.

Now they weren't writing everything down that to my knowledge. Um, and the chosen what disciple was it? Yeah. Tax collector who maybe he was the only one writing stuff down, but, um, God's. The Spirit, the Helper whom the Father is sending, will teach and remind you. That's another credible statement. It's like, wow, this, I'm not alone here.

I don't have to figure things out entirely on my own. I follow Christ. I trust Him. He sends the Helper from the Father. He'll teach me and remind me and... I will be led as a disciple into the realities of the kingdom that he talks about.

Yes. It's very, it's very comforting. Once you just accept it, helper came because Jesus's ministry wasn't done when he ascended.

That's why he's like, I'm sending you this helper because this, the spirit, the Holy spirit will continue to teach you what I. Need to teach you. Yeah. And that's, I mean, that's for all of us, you know, in, you know, I, I equate it to those moments when, when I read a scripture or something pops into my head and I have this new understanding of what it means and I'm like, ah, I have this aha moment and it's like, you know, that's the spirit teaching you.

That's the spirit guiding you.

Yeah, I've had, you know, it was a long period of not aha moments. And then there was a period of a lot of aha moments shortly after something. Um, my understanding of faith was kind of just revolutionized everything. When I came to understand that it involves a risk involves trust.

It has to have an object. In this case, it's a person. And there are certain things that when you take this step, the other side or the individual will take a reciprocal step, and there should be a 1 to 1 interaction, which is called knowledge, something you've. Become acquainted with in, um, thinking and reasoning and experience and, uh, you know, that's the beautiful thing.

It's not, it's a dynamic sort of interplay. It's not just a dry set of ancient creeds that we must beat ourselves with and adhere to. It's this sort of give and take. Of an active to active agents, two sides, you know, um, giving, learning, growing, walking, doing, uh, so that's, that's another incredible

thing.

And then, and then your, your, your attention on, on your list focuses back to peace, John 14, And this is kind of following that 14.

So tell me how that kind of plays out in your mind.

Yeah, you know, my life has seen a lot of not peace. Um, I have just. Spent years trying to make sense of life and, um, there wasn't peace. There wasn't rest. There wasn't, um, there wasn't much good on the inside. They'll say that. And, uh, piercing through the darkness comes this just simple phrase.

My peace. I give you not as the world gives. Don't let your hearts be troubled. Don't be fearful. I'm, I'm going away. I'm going to be with you. Everything's going to be okay. You can trust, you can rest, and, um, I'm going to prepare a place for you. Also, that's added later. But the idea that no matter what happens in life, you can just let it all go.

Give it all to God. Everything. Things about myself, things about others, things about life, money, problems, health, you know, everything. Just let it all go and trust Christ. And that's real peace. Not that there's no storm, but it's sort of like, uh, hidden like the little there's a painting that there was a storm and there's a little bird tucked away on the cliff and the waves are crashing, you know in this painting and the birds just sort of sleeping there with its little chick under its wing and in spite of the storm it was at peace in the cleft of the rock and I think that's kind of Kind of the imagery that I, I think of when I see, don't let your hearts be troubled, no matter what's going on, my piece I'm going to give you, and it's going to be the good

stuff.

Yeah, it's definitely good stuff. And you know, I, there's a distinction here and I've mentioned, I've actually mentioned this other episode. That's why it popped into my head. But Jesus was never saying that we wouldn't experience troubles. What he's telling us is do not let those troubles infect your heart.

Let me sit there instead. And all these worldly troubles, they're going to work themselves out one way or another. And even, even in the most catastrophic circumstances, you know, You know, like you said, if, if, if the worst case happens, we lose our life, we know where we're going and we know what's going to happen next and you know, it's not pleasant.

We don't like losing loved ones. We don't like losing our own lives. The thought of that. But, but it's not something that we have to fear because you know, we're, we're in the hands of

Christ. And I think, you know, this is a, some of these statements we've gone over are. They're really powerful opportunities are saying is that can be used with someone who might be seeking or questioning or interested in Christianity, and it could be you can even phrase it in a question to help another person understand their situation.

So, for example, someone came to you and said, so you're a believer, right? Or I saw your post or I interact with saw your bumper sticker, whatever. Why? Why? What's it all about? And then you could ask them, do you have peace in your life right now, would you say, and your job and your family, and do you have rest, you know, and these are really great opportunities to say, well, most people aren't going to say they're at a peace in life and all aspects or that they have rest or that, you know, they.

They're burdened. They're heavy. They're restless. There's wars and rumors of wars and all, you know, all these things to be concerned about. And then you can say, well. One of the reasons that I trust Christ and follow him is because he gives me peace and he gives me rest in spite of all these things and I think I think it's easier to lure people in to the kingdom with the good things, which is what Christ did with me rather than sort of guilt them in or shame them in or beat them in with I have the truth and you have to follow it.

It's sort of like, no, no, no, no, we get to. Yeah. Enter into these riches of this other reality that Jesus came to bring near. He said, the kingdom of the heavens is at hand. It's it's here now, something new and different, and it's full of peace. Just, I keep saying incredible and amazing for every statement, but they are like, they are, that's, that's incredible

news.

The importance of living these truths, living in Christ and behaving the way he has asked us to behave as Christians. Is you gain more authority with others through that, meaning, you know, if you behave in a certain way and you, you tolerate these troubles and you don't let it get to your heart and you, you have the right attitude, eventually somebody is going to be like, how do you do it?

And that's your door to say, well, I do it because I know Christ knocking on people's doors. Hey, have you met my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? They're going to slam the door in your face more times than not. Right. So it, it, it gives you an in just from a behavioral perspective.

All right. And it's not even something you have to consciously think, okay, I'm going to do some witnessing actions today.

It's just, just, you know, and I think when he sees when the world sees something different in our behavior, in our love, in our, uh, interactions with. Others and our results of our life, they're going to say, what is that? I want that. And that's the way it's supposed to be, you know, and unfortunately, in too many cases, it's not quite like that, but, um, we each, you know, can take a, another step.

On the road of discipleship to grow and get better at these, so,

Jason: absolutely. Well, I definitely wanna touch on John 8 51. Um, very truly, I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death. And I, I think this is a very complex construct that non-Christians don't quite get.

Brandon: Yeah. Even the Jews in the next verse said, you have a demon, right.

after he said this, it's like, what? Are you Abraham died? You're now bigger than Abraham. Are you, you know, and what Jesus I think is saying, and I thought about this and I mentioned Dallas Willard earlier, he's helped me sort of understand that whatever we think now of our of death in our sort of natural fleshly mind, we think of it as an end.

It's sort of like, Everything is over at that point, and then we're scared because right now a lot's happening in my life, and I'm here and then. I'm not going to be, and it's going to be bad. And he said, he, you probably won't even really know you've died. You might, you know, it might take a few minutes and then you'll sort of look around and think, you know, the setting's a little different now, what happened?

It's sort of, it's sort of like a fog. Or like a, you're driving through the forest on a rainy, cold morning, you know, and there's just, just a little bit of fog and then you keep driving and then it kind of gets a little brighter. The sun starts to come out. I think that's kind of what Jesus is referring to for those who are following and trusting him.

It's like, it's going to be a continuation. Of what already is, we're just going to sort of go through a little doorway and we might not even know, Oh, am I in the doorway now? Did I did that? Did I go past the doorway? You know, it's just, it's going to be more of the same, just a little different and a lot better.

Yeah, a ton better. Uh, That's, that's incredible. I mean, I worked healthcare and, you know, I had, we had two code blues just last night and, uh, you know, brought someone back whose heart was stopped and it's like they were literally dead, uh, clinically dead and, uh, the family's just worried, I've seen people just lose their minds screaming and everything.

And I think what a powerful witness for someone who trusts Jesus to. Come to the end of their life and think, wow, nothing's about to happen. That's, uh, that's a unique idea. That's nobody in the world has ever said, except for Jesus. Like, yeah, you're gonna not die. You're just going to continue with

Jason: me.

Well, I think that the Pharisees, uh, I think they forgot their own, their own scripture, their own guiding light, because the Jews were not. They didn't, they knew of the second death, they called it the second death and some of these, the wording is specifically, you know, you to avoid the second death. If you look in commentaries, whatever the, the, the concept was there.

And even if we look at, you know, the conversation that Nicodemus had with Jesus. You know, Jesus is like, how are you a religious teacher and leader? And you don't know these things because Nicodemus is like, what do you need? Second birth? I can't cry, climb back in my mother's womb, but these concepts were not necessarily foreign to the Jews, um, to the Pharisees, to the religious leaders back then, but it's kind of like they didn't apply to them because they were the chosen, they were the chosen people.

So I think they lost sight of, of what Jesus, I don't think Jesus gave them anything brand new, but he took what was there and he's like, this is the way it's really supposed to be.

Brandon: Yeah, it's sort of like there's a part of their minds that were darkened. And unfortunately, you know, the, the further and higher into religious systems and.

Uh, institutions you get, it can become more difficult to understand Jesus words. You know, that Jesus spends the whole, his whole three year, at least in the new Testament, saying things that the Pharisees couldn't understand. And they're always trying to like, okay, here's a question. Let's trap him. We don't, we don't know what he's about.

So let's try to figure it out. Paint him into a corner, you know, figure out who he is and what he's really up to. Cause they don't have a clue. And then Nicodemus, you know, and the chosen is sneaking to him at night. Like, okay, all right, here's, I'm just going to give you the down low. I think there's more to you than all the others, but I still don't get it.

You

Jason: know? Right. Well, I'm curious how they're going to play out Nicodemus because he was there. He helped carry Jesus to the tomb. So he has more to do in, you know, in terms of the storyline. So I think, you know, I think there's going to be more to that. And I know they take some creative license to it. I liked a lot of it, but, but you know, there, there is, there's a lot of, you know, there, there was a lot of transitions that happened in the minds of the leaders.

I think back then that a lot of them were even afraid of themselves. You know, things are happening and we're seeing miracles where I'm feeling a different way and I'm seeing the world in a different way and it scared the heck out of them.

Brandon: Yeah. I mean, when you've, you're the whole understanding of the world is that you're the right, you're the one who's right.

And then someone comes along, who's doing really good, amazing things that you've witnessed and seen the results of. And then what are the implications for my world? Like it's. I need to change everything. Like, everything is upside down. All that's... I'm not in power anymore. There's something else going on.

And, well, their response, most of them, was, I don't like it. And we're going to fight against it. And, you know, take his life eventually. And, uh, but... I think he probably was worried he was probably thinking, you know, I'm not going to see death either. Yeah, I'm I have there. I know I can see the other. Um, I know there's another reality and, um, it was difficult.

No question about that. My goodness. But Jesus for the joy set before him endured and despised all the shame and went through thinking things are going to be okay. I'm going to defeat death and then I'm going to start a incredible movement of bringing people to myself, reconciling them. And, uh, I think he was probably thinking something along these lines, like, yeah, this is difficult, but I've done my work.

It's time now transition to the next step where it gets even better. So,

Jason: so I think the last of the last verse you have, uh, john 14 versus two and three is a good way to, to kind of tie this up. I'm going to prepare a dwelling place for you and I'm coming back to take you with me.

Brandon: Yeah. And this is out of all the statements.

The only one that's not verifiable in this life, all the others, you know, we can kind of verify. Experience interact with, but then it's not, it's not just about, okay, we are trusting Jesus and then we don't see death. We transition into what, you know, well, I think there's going to be a lot more in heaven than most people typically think.

Um, I think there's going to be. Organization, like, um, structures, there's going to be work to do. There's going to be, um, events. There's going to be banquets, you know, there's probably, uh, there, we know there's a banquet in the tree with fruit and, um, it's, it's going to be a lot different. I haven't spent too much time thinking about it.

There's a book I want to read on heaven, but it involves dwelling places. It involves. No tears, no pain, no sorrow, none of this stuff we know in this world. And, uh, Jesus said, I'm going to get it ready. So you have something to look forward to. It's not only going to be good, peaceful, restful, you're not going to die now, but it's only going to get better.

And, uh, that's pretty remarkable in

Jason: itself. I think this is actually the beginning. Cause I did a whole series on the farewell discourse. I think this is the beginning of the farewell discourse, which is ironic because he's. He's basically preparing them for what's coming by telling them I'm preparing a place for you.

And I, I think... as we go about our lives, that we are all spending time preparing for what comes next, but not really realizing it by, by following his teachings, by, by learning these things, by immersing ourselves in, in Christ like behavior. We are preparing ourselves for those banquets for the next step, for the, for the, the next beauty, the new Jerusalem, you know, whatever we want to go roll with.

But, you know, I think it's important to, to realize that, that, That we are going to constant state of preparation in this world until we're not.

Brandon: Yeah. I've heard it called training for

Jason: rain training. That's a good,

Brandon: well, because, you know, I can't remember the reference, but we're going to be. Disputing or judging between angels, there's a reference in the new testament that, you know, the believers are going to be sort of overseeing certain activities and the next life.

And, uh, I wish I had the reference here. I'll have to look it up, but it's going to be a lot of stuff going on. And right now, this is training, like you said, and, uh, you know, sometimes we spend so much time on how we What car we drive or what, how we look or what kind of house we have and all the additions we want to make to the house and everything.

And, you know, I talk with my wife and I'm like, You know, if Jesus is building a place for us, he's probably a lot better at it than we are at this place. It's

Jason: fair.

Brandon: So, maybe we shouldn't spend so much, like, effort to try to bring our house up to some artificial standard of the culture, or have this or have that, you know, of course make it livable, but I think Jesus knows the house that Would be good for us and, uh, we won't be married up there, but you know, he'll take care of that too.

So yeah, another incredible statement does not only are things good on earth here, but there's another reality with more to look forward to.

Jason: I think that's a good place to close. Brandon, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us and, and, uh, you know, good luck with your business and everything and God bless you.

Brandon: Thank you, Jason. So nice to talk with you. All the best.

Jason: Thank you again for joining me on this episode of the My Ministry Mission podcast. And a special thank you to Brandon who took the time to have this really great conversation. As you read your Bibles, pay close attention to those red letters because what Jesus said was important.

He was very intentional about his messages. Read them over and over again and let the Spirit guide you on your faith journey. And as always, I invite you to visit me online at MyMinistryMission. com. Be sure to visit Brandon's business site for Blue Solutions at cincibluesolutions. com. Again, that's C I N C I bluesolutions.

com. All of the links to his social media is in the show notes. All of the links to my social media can also be found there as well. I invite your feedback, and if you'd like to be a guest too, visit myministrymission. com slash guest. Now in our next episode, Laura and I will resume our conversation about the book of Revelation.

So be sure to come back. But until then, remember to feed yourself through prayer and Bible reading. Remember to love each other, and may God bless you and keep you. God bless, everyone.