Meet Dr. Don - Episode 37

Meet Dr. Don : A Spiritual Journey

When did Dr. Don Schaefer meet the Lord? This is Part One of our hosts Justin Olbrantz and Dr. Don Schaefer sharing their personal testimonies. They discuss their faith journeys, the transformative power of God's unconditional love, and the importance of acting on one's faith in the moment. From Don's early experiences with the Holy Spirit to their joint efforts in leading Bible studies and marriage courses, the episode offers a rich narrative of growth, belief, and dedication. Listeners are invited to learn more about the hosts' backgrounds and the impactful moments that shaped their spiritual lives.

Stay tuned for Part Two!

Transcript

Episode 37 - Sharing Our Testimonies - Part One

[00:00:00] Justin: Hi, everyone. This is Justin Olbrantz. And this is Don Schaefer. And you are listening to the wise and the wandering podcast - for those who know “The Way” and for those who are led astray. And if you feel like you fall into either of those categories, then you're in the right place. So, let's dive in.

[00:00:32] Justin: So Don, what are we going to 

[00:00:33] Don: talk about today? Well, I think Justin, this week we're going to talk about ourselves a little bit and try to help people find out who the wise and the wanderers really are in this podcast. Kind of like a meet the hosts. That's right. Maybe we can explain ourselves a little bit and where we came from, our backgrounds.

[00:00:50] Justin: Yeah, that sounds good. I mean , the topic title that I had in mind was sharing your testimonies Ah, and I think this might be like a two part series [00:01:00] possibly. So yeah getting into that I guess when it comes to sharing your testimonies, I think that's so important because We didn't all start this way.

[00:01:10] Justin: No, we are We are a work in progress. We are Projects ourselves. We are and I think what it's important for us as believers to share with other believers You know, the things that brought us here, the things that got us here, the things that maybe we've been through, the things that we experienced, the hard times, the good times, and maybe even just doing it with complete transparency and honesty, you know, because I think that is a good witness to people.

[00:01:40] Justin: That is really, that really does build up something and it does help share your faith. 

[00:01:45] Don: Yes, that's true. And I know, um,, We read the Bible and stuff like that, and we realize in there, it's his story. It's his story that we're reading. Everybody has a story. And, uh, I think, you know, or a [00:02:00] testimony of what God has done in their life.

[00:02:02] Don: And that's where I think it's important sometimes, because a lot of times people look at individuals and they say, Wow, you know, I can never be that, or whatever. But you realize that Life is a process of growing and everybody starts someplace. And, uh, you know, that's the beauty of it. So I don't know how we want to handle this Justin, if we Yeah, 

[00:02:22] Justin: so I guess I would just start off by saying, I know you've maybe talked about your, um, I know you've talked in the past about when you came to the Lord 

[00:02:35] both: Yeah, 

[00:02:35] Justin: and when you really started to fully believe 

[00:02:38] both: Yeah, 

[00:02:39] Justin: and I think that's really what it comes down to us I always say this as believers right because at the core of everything that we are as a Christian or as 

[00:02:47] Don: a 

[00:02:47] Justin: Christian A follower of Jesus Christ, you 

[00:02:50] Don: know, 

[00:02:50] Justin: whatever you want to consider yourself, we are believers.

[00:02:53] Justin: We are, we believe, we believe in the good news. We believe in the gospel. We believe in the [00:03:00] healings, the signs. 

[00:03:01] Don: Yes. 

[00:03:02] Justin: We'll follow those who believe. Okay. So when you had unbelief in your mind and you weren't, let's, let's try to think of a time where you, you weren't a believer. I guess, I guess, who were you before that?

[00:03:16] Justin: What, what, what, what? You don't have to describe your personality, but like, , , what was life like before you really believed? I can, 

[00:03:24] Don: I can explain that a little bit. You see, I, uh, , you know, I knew the basics, you know, as far as God and all that stuff and Jesus, that he died on the cross.

[00:03:33] Don: But I never had a relationship or never had a reality for me. Did you ever 

[00:03:38] Justin: like, 

[00:03:39] Don: did you want a relationship? No, I mean, I wasn't seeking that. Because I didn't know I needed it, because I was part of the crowd, you know what I mean? Everybody's like me. So I was, uh, living life, you know, I was working a job.

[00:03:52] Justin: Fitting in. 

[00:03:52] Don: Yeah, I was fitting in with everybody else, and then all of a sudden one day I got a call, and , my sister, [00:04:00] She was gonna get baptized. Okay, and you know, she was baptized as a baby But she was gonna get baptized again, and I'm sitting there what's with this and I was talking to my dad and but They said that she spoke in different tongues 

[00:04:16] Justin: Okay, and 

[00:04:17] Don: I says what's with that cuz I never heard of that before 

[00:04:20] Justin: and 

[00:04:21] Don: I thought this was a miracle, you know So it really got my interest.

[00:04:24] Don: So I went and I went to the church, I seen where she got baptized, and actually my brother got the baptism of the Holy Spirit that night, and I'm sitting there, what in the world is going on 

[00:04:37] Justin: here? There was all kinds of 

[00:04:38] Don: excitement. So you're, 

[00:04:38] Justin: so, okay, let me get this right. So your sister just received it, she got baptized, now your brother gets it as well?

[00:04:44] Justin: He 

[00:04:45] Don: gets the 

[00:04:45] Justin: baptism. So your family members are just like falling over like 

[00:04:48] Don: dominoes? Yeah, what's happening to Don? So, but then I was offered a Bible study. You know, they wanted to share some of this stuff. And so they did. By your sister? Or who taught the Bible? Actually, it was my brother in law. My [00:05:00] sister's husband.

[00:05:01] Don: Okay. He started teaching me a Bible study. And it was interesting because So how old were you guys? Just in context. Like, I guess Well, I was, um, let's see, what was I? I was 20 Let's see, what would it have been? I was 29 years old. Okay. I believe. 

[00:05:18] Justin: Okay, so you're around like 30 years old and your sister probably around close to your age.

[00:05:22] Justin: Yeah. Okay. You're younger Yeah, because I just want to put some context in this because a lot of the times I think with that that church background and stuff Yeah, you're you get blessed and baptized as a baby. So you're thinking We're 30 years old. Yeah. Why, why do you, why, why is my sister getting baptized?

[00:05:39] Justin: I 

[00:05:39] Don: know, I know. I was covered and my dad says, I went to her baptism once. Why should I have to go to another one? You know, but, but I did this and, uh, they came, they started teaching me a Bible study and the very first night, You know, we got involved in a Bible study. It started becoming real, you know, everything that was experiencing to me It started to be [00:06:00]real and I started to think about this stuff 

[00:06:02] both: and 

[00:06:03] Don: it was probably I would say less Maybe a month later that I was praying And I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

[00:06:11] Don: So then it became really real. And then 

[00:06:14] Justin: you're really a believer. I feel like the first part, see, I love the way God works. The first part in that is like, it happens to your sister, and there's not necessarily a belief there for you, but there's a curiosity that's built. And you were curious. You know, you weren't listening to your dad.

[00:06:30] Justin: You weren't listening to him saying, you know, I don't want to, she doesn't need to be baptized again. There was something drawing you closer to that. And now you're And that's where that belief is really built and grown. Yeah, 

[00:06:41] Don: I got stirred up. I got, you know, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and then everything 

[00:06:46] Justin: became real.

[00:06:46] Justin: So, so when you received, cause we talked about this kind of last week and I think this manifests itself a little differently when it happens to people. But I guess, how can you, can you just play out like how that happened, , the [00:07:00] baptism of the Holy 

[00:07:00] Don: Spirit? It was, it was easy. Um, we see, I was, uh, we had a little Bible study and we started praying afterwards and it was fresh, you know, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, people receiving the Holy Ghost.

[00:07:11] Don: So I started praying too, but I didn't know how to pray. You know, I mean, I knew the written prayers and stuff like that, that you repeat over and over again, but as far as just to pray to God and stuff, and, uh, they were just saying, just tell the Lord that you love him. And I remember sitting there, you know, asking him for the Holy Spirit and saying, Jesus, I love you.

[00:07:30] Don: So did they put you, 

[00:07:31] Justin: they pass you the baton and they say, okay, Don, you take over the prayer? We were all praying at the same time. Okay, you were all praying to yourselves all at the same time. 

[00:07:38] Don: Yeah, out loud though. We were, yeah, we were praying out loud and I was saying, I love you, Jesus. And all of a sudden, it was, I love you, Jesus.

[00:07:46] Don: It was hard to pronounce the words and the people around me knew what was going on. He said, Don, this is happening. This is happening. You know, and then, you know, I, so I, I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and one thing they told me, they told me that [00:08:00] what the next day you need to pray until you can do that again and then the following day again, because what will happen is the next day you'll say it never happened, you know, because you get away from it because that unbelief creeps in.

[00:08:13] Don: So I spent, I probably the first yeah. Five years and and praying in my heavenly language every day because I didn't want to lose this and but then it becomes real You know, and and there's no doubt about it and stuff and even the flow of it everything kind of developed But then the whole thing changed for me You know my because people started to see a change in me because I used to use uh four letter words And they weren't like love or work And stuff like that.

[00:08:41] Don: Yeah. But, uh, yeah, same here. Yeah. Yeah. But my, but my language, my actions and language started to change at work. And I remember, uh, I used to go to work then with a little bible in my back pocket. Mm-Hmm. . And, uh, when I got opportunities, so this 

[00:08:54] Justin: all happened in like a month basically. Oh. 

[00:08:57] Don: In a period, period of time.

[00:08:58] Don: Probably a number of. few [00:09:00] months, you know, three, four months, you know, in, 

[00:09:03] Justin: so you went out and pursued finding a Bible, a little Bible to put into your pocket. I had it in my pocket. Within just a few months. I still got it someplace. This is from like the point of your sister. Yes. Getting the baptism of the Holy Spirit from the point that you now have a Bible in your back pocket.

[00:09:17] Justin: Right. This was a few months. I 

[00:09:19] Don: was armed and dangerous. I really was, you know, 

[00:09:22] both: but so. Concealed 

[00:09:23] Don: carry. And I, and I always did it in a loving way, but I would always. You know, try to slant conversations where I could talk about my experience a little bit, 

[00:09:32] both: you 

[00:09:32] Don: know And I had a number of bible studies and actually actually the thing which this is good This is good The thing that I was taught and the thing that I did Is when you find god and god starts entering in your life You need to find something you can do as fast as you can Because I think so many people get on the wayside, you know, they find god they have the experience But then they don't put anything into action.

[00:09:57] Don: And like for me, within six months I was [00:10:00] teaching Bible studies. I, you know, I feel sorry for some of these people that taught Bible studies because I wasn't that good and I didn't know a lot, but I had an excitement in me. You know, and I taught Bible studies, and I taught Bible studies probably for 20 years.

[00:10:13] Don: You know, um, studies after studies. Numbers of people that I worked with and people around me and stuff. I mean I would just become friends with them Some people were struggling. I would bring them over for a Bible study We'd go through a Bible study many people came to the Lord and you know, our living Christian lives have had children I mean it's It's humbling sometimes when it's hard to imagine how many people right now Have a different perspective of life because I remember this one band player.

[00:10:42] Don: He played in the country in western You know, he took a bible study. It completely changed his life, you know, and he still today says his The study is what brought him to god, you know, and so there was For me, it just enriched me. I, you know, I just fell in love with this and, [00:11:00] and I was, I'd go and I'd listen to people preach different messages and I would take notes of everything.

[00:11:05] Don: I was trying to learn everything I could learn. You know, I was just wanted to know. I just really wanted to know. And in all that, I, I wanted to give back. You know, I always wanted to be able to people to be able to bring them in a good way, you know, not telling them they're going to hell or something like that, but telling them there's great possibilities in front of us and what God can do in your life.

[00:11:28] Don: And don't, don't, don't, you know, get yourself in a position where you're giving up on 

[00:11:34] Justin: an opportunity. So you, you, I would assume you came from a a church background, right? It's growing up Yeah Well, you're 30 you're 30 around 30 years old and then this is all happening You didn't want a relationship with the lord before that 

[00:11:48] Don: not that type Was there a reason 

[00:11:50] Justin: why you might have not wanted a deep connection with the lord in those first 30 years?

[00:11:55] Don: Oh, I thought I had it covered, you know I thought I had it covered and I was a part of this [00:12:00] organization don't want to mention the church but uh part of this organization But But, uh, and then I would have Christians once in a while while started talking to me about God and stuff. It's like, I don't really need this and stuff.

[00:12:11] Don: Yeah, I pushed it. I wasn't ready for any

[00:12:13] Justin: like any like certain pastors or any like religious people pushed you away or turn you off or anything like that. Uh, not 

[00:12:20] Don: at that time. That time I was hungry. 

[00:12:22] Justin: You know, 

[00:12:22] Don: I would actually, you know, I was, I mean, in the, before the 30 years, I'm saying growing up, anybody push you?

[00:12:29] Don: Not really. Not really. You know, I was never really pressured hard and stuff like that. I just went through the rituals and as long as you, you know, yeah. 

[00:12:38] Justin: You were just having a good time with life. Yeah. And you thought, this is what it is. Yeah. And I don't really need anything else, you know. Yeah. I'm getting by good.

[00:12:46] Justin: I'm fitting in well. Yeah. I'm liked and perceived well. I was a good old boy. But then you saw something that, You saw something that you didn't quite understand, I think, right? [00:13:00] Witnessing this happen to your own family member, and then another family member, and it's like, wait, there's something, there's something here.

[00:13:06] Don: You know, I'll tell you the truth, Justin, God became real. 

[00:13:10] both: I started realizing 

[00:13:11] Don: that God is watching everything, that God had a plan, I mean, all of this stuff. I was thinking I was just, you know, evolved here on this earth, and I was just living, and you know, someday maybe I have to die. That was the hard part.

[00:13:24] Don: The hard part was realizing people get old and die. You know, it didn't matter how big of a building, how much money, or whatever you make, you gotta leave it someday. That was the hard part for me to digest in my head. But I would sit there and just kind of play the game with everybody else. And then all of a sudden, reality hit.

[00:13:41] Don: I started to see how valuable it was to be able to be developed and walk in the things of 

[00:13:46] Justin: God. Yeah, because I mean, you're giving, so you're doing these Bible studies. I've had people even reach out to me and I'm thinking of even starting up a Bible study. Yeah. Which is interesting to just see the, you know, trajectory of the history of how [00:14:00] things have worked for us.

[00:14:00] Justin: for you, but you're given these Bible studies and I'm sure that you're getting a lot out of this too. I mean, you're growing and you're obviously growing in your theology because you're teaching this stuff. You're forcing yourself to learn it, to be able to, like you're saying, to appear like you know, you're the expert, right?

[00:14:17] Justin: Or you're not, or at least somebody who knows what they're talking about, right? To, to minister this stuff to people. So I guess , when do you reach the next?, Your next checkpoint, your next breakthrough, because I feel like with a lot of people, the reason I want to bring this up is because I feel like with a lot of people that like you were saying, you, you broke it down so well, as you're saying, when, when you get something, when you get that word or when you feel that power of God on you, you got to act on it immediately.

[00:14:46] Justin: You can, because that's, that's, you're acting on the faith, you know, a lot of people say like,, I have a lot of faith. Right. And it's like, okay, but faith in what?

[00:14:57] Justin: You know what I'm saying? Cause, cause you don't, you, , [00:15:00] you don't talk about your faith. Like there's something that you have faith in, just like you love, right? You don't just say I have a, Bunch of love. I have so much love. Yeah. You know, that's not a normal thing. Right. You know, people to go around saying, I have so much love.

[00:15:13] Justin: Yeah. No, you have love for your wife. You have love for your Right. Your boyfriend, your husband, your mother, your father, your grandpa. You have love like for them, and you show it. Yeah. Yeah. So for some reason though, we say I have, I have so much faith. Right. But what do you have? What do you have faith in?

[00:15:28] Justin: Who do you have faith in? Yeah. Okay. Well, well. You understand as believers, right? We have faith in Jesus, right? We have faith in what Jesus did We're not worthy. He's worthy. That's right. We are accepted. We are forgiven. We're loved We are adopted but we're not worthy I think that what we're, we're not worthy.

[00:15:47] Justin: That's why he came to take to, , to give us an example, to bring us back to our father. I know not to take our place so that we just pull ourselves off the mat. 

[00:15:58] Don: Yes. 

[00:15:58] Justin: It's to show us the way so that [00:16:00] we get in the ring and we do it ourselves. Right. We do it like him, right? Yeah, that's right. So the faith that we have is in him, but one.

[00:16:08] Justin: But not to get too preachy here, what happens is we let that faith get built up into us and then when we don't do anything with it, it's like holding water in your hands and it just starts to, it's, it starts to pour out and soon you're not left with much. That's right. If you're not caught in, you know.

[00:16:24] Justin: Like you were saying constant prayer. You thought I have to keep praying this way every day I need to build it up and that's often a thing is building up the faith Yeah, but I feel like when you are faithful and when you act on that Yeah, the Bible says we've said this before you go from faith to faith Yes, and so that moment that happened where you learned about your sister than your brother.

[00:16:47] Justin: I know that was faith Faith building inside of you. It was before you even knew what it was This is what god's doing in your life So it goes from faith to faith and it keeps growing And as that [00:17:00] keeps growing so does your belief right so I can now say I have Not only just a lot of faith.

[00:17:05] Justin: I have a lot of belief. That's what jesus I have a lot of belief in god and what he's doing in my life. Yeah, so I guess What happens though is it can go backwards or it gets catapulted forward. And I think that's the way the supernatural works is when you start acting in faith. Yeah, it's reciprocated And there's breakthroughs that happen and it goes from faith to faith and it gets you to a new level of belief And now you're thinking wow, this is this is even beyond my comprehension But I need to keep acting on it to keep building it up.

[00:17:33] Justin: So I guess what Over the timeline of things what what happens to keep increasing that building that faith? Okay. Well, 

[00:17:39] Don: it's interesting what you're all saying They're about faith because actually faith is an action word, you know, it's like a verb It's like it's something that you can say you have faith and you can make it a noun or you can make it a verb Yeah, but faith is an action word.

[00:17:53] Don: So requires action and I remember a guy named charles wesley I read about him He had big churches, [00:18:00] you know, big Protestant churches, whatever, but people would want to be part of his church And if he didn't see something in them, there was not a change in them He says you're not you know, you you don't have faith in God 

[00:18:12] both: because 

[00:18:13] Don: there's got to be a change 

[00:18:14] both: Yeah, there's 

[00:18:14] Don: got to be a desire There's got to be something happening in your life because that's what faith does faith stirs you it moves you you look at great men of God in the third world things they've done.

[00:18:25] Don: It was because they built a level of faith. And that's where in life right now, the situations we go through, we learn how to build faith. Prayer is a good faith builder. Getting involved in the things of God, hearing the word of God, all that faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. All of the things are a builder of faith.

[00:18:45] Don: So the stronger the faith we have, the more we give God something that he can work with. And I know myself, I tried to, to Stay busy doing things, talking on the things of God, studying, growing, continually growing in [00:19:00] a knowledge of things, open to whatever. And one thing led to another thing, to another thing.

[00:19:05] Don: Because I know we've had, I don't know how far we want to go on this, but, uh, 

[00:19:08] Justin: Well, I'd like to, I'd really like to unpack it. And you do have such a strong and bold faith. So, but the, you know, you are a busy man as well. I know this. You're a busy man. Dr. Todd Schaffer. I try to be so so then so then what what's happening in your life?

[00:19:24] Justin: What I guess walk me through how this has been built up to get to where we are now Okay, I mean in in bite sized chunks, but just what what's happening? What's over? What's some experiences that you've had or what's what's helping to really? anything that you can share that would really show people like where this road is going Right.

[00:19:43] Justin: To not give it up. Yeah. To act 

[00:19:45] Don: on it, like you're saying. Right. But with this road that you're talking about, Justin, it took a lot of years. You know, this isn't something that happened in a five year span, but you know, we did Bible studies, and that was good, and we were excited about the things of God, [00:20:00] and , eventually what happened was we had studies where people were coming to the studies that weren't involved in a church.

[00:20:07] Don: You know, so, uh, a couple of us went together, and we put together a church body, for say, non denominational, and we gave people a place to belong. And, uh, you know, that's where I was part of that ministry. You know, I used to, you know, minister in different ways. And part of, I used to do Bible studies and talk on different subjects and stuff.

[00:20:28] Don: , I used to open up for services. I used to like to talk with people just about life in general. And, uh, we had a real good time with that. And I know, um, back in the late 80s, early 90s, They, uh,, wanted me, well, there was people that wanted to get married.

[00:20:44] Don: And, uh, so what I did is I said, yeah, I'll marry them. And so what I did is I went through and I started studying on marriage and I put a bunch of stuff together and I ran them through a premarital course and I married them. And then there was people [00:21:00] that were coming to us that had marriage problems. So I'm saying to myself, I don't even want to be in a room with these people in marriage problem because it's it's hard Listening to people with problems, but you 

[00:21:10] Justin: probably felt kind of called to do it Well, it was 

[00:21:12] Don: different.

[00:21:13] Don: It was a different type of calling. I I said, you know the premarital I loved So what I decided to do is be proactive And put together a course that I could teach people so that they could learn the principles So they wouldn't have to come to me with all their problems and actually we put a course together to taught You Principles we taught people how to do certain things so that the problems would disappear 

[00:21:36] Justin: Yeah, 

[00:21:36] Don: and uh, that was back in the early 90s So from all that was 

[00:21:41] Justin: that was uh, knitting hearts.

[00:21:42] Justin: That was knitting 

[00:21:43] Don: hearts at that time Hearts together and uh, that took off pretty well, you know, we put on events We actually I think it was in 94. We had a one day seminar, you know where we had maybe I don't know maybe 10, 20 couples that came together, all day seminar. We went [00:22:00] through a bunch of stuff and talked about God, not God so much, but marriage and God in it.

[00:22:05] Don: But, uh, you know, and it blossoms. So then we decided that we wanted to do more than that. And so it just, it just kept building, you know, finally I was, we were doing like three dinner, we'll call them dinner nights where we would have a eating place. We would set them up and we would fill it with people.

[00:22:22] Don: Yeah. You know, they'd come out with their spouses and they would have dinner and then after dinner I would talk on a subject, you know, so I would change up the subjects and all of a sudden people got interested in me because I know um marriage encounters International asked me to talk at their international convention in green So I uh, we had I remember a couple of topics I talked 

[00:22:45] Justin: I talked that was in Green Bay you said it was in Green Bay 

[00:22:48] Don: was that the university and But I I remember talking actually I don't remember the title.

[00:22:53] Don: I talked about a million dollar marriage.

[00:22:55] both: Okay, and 

[00:22:56] Don: I talked about what you You know, how you place value in a [00:23:00] relationship 

[00:23:00] both: and 

[00:23:00] Don: you can have something that's the most valuable that you'd never want to give up. And so we talked on that and it was, it was interesting because a lot of people at the end stayed over and ask questions and stuff like that.

[00:23:11] Justin: So what I see right there. Again, it's that those people right there. It's like the same way that you felt about your sister and your brother There's a curiosity that's right built right and there's a level of belief that's being built there and then because they see you and they see Your marriage, you know with your wife and they see things work and they see okay this this guy's he's got it figured out And I don't so there's there's like a level of belief that's built there Yeah, so I think that even though, you know, God, you know It might not look like he's working in a supernatural way.

[00:23:42] Justin: He's using you for a natural means right to Get to get to people and to help couples, which i'm sure many marriages were were saved and restored I'm sure through this one 

[00:23:53] Don: testimony. I can share. 

[00:23:54] Justin: Yeah. Share that. Yeah, we had an 

[00:23:55] Don: early class And, um, my wife and I, we were at a restaurant, [00:24:00] and a lady comes up to us with a couple teenage girls, and she says, Do you remember me?

[00:24:07] Don: And we, we set this up, we had classes, not only did we have the dinner nights, we taught classes too. Seven week classes. So, um, but the classes we could have in many couples as could come because we didn't talk about the problems We talked about solutions and the whole class was set up on how to solve problems And a lot of come and we had times where couples would come and the lady would cry I remember one time surely going out in the hallway with a box of kleenexes because whatever we were talking about We were hitting home and they had some issues going on.

[00:24:38] Don: But you know, in a class or two, they were coming hand in hand. Everything was fine. But this lady comes up in this restaurant. She says, you don't remember me? And I said, no, I don't. And she said, I was in your class. And then she broke down and she started crying and getting choked up. She said, I'm sorry.

[00:24:52] Don: These two girls wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the class that you put us through. Because my husband and I, we were contemplating divorce. [00:25:00] This was the last straw. You know, we heard about this class, and we took it. You know, and they were still married, and they still had kids, uh, they had the kids, and I'm sitting there, I was just touched.

[00:25:09] both: You know, 

[00:25:10] Don: but it's stuff like that, that I, not only builds your , Faith, but gives you the encouragement to continue on you realize that you know, your life is doing something in other people You know, and yeah, so we we continue to blossom with uh, marriage courses 

[00:25:26] Justin: And I think that's that kind of visit so it's it's growing from faith to faith.

[00:25:30] Justin: Yeah, like you were saying it's that moment now I have more faith to go out and, and it keep continuing on Yeah. What I'm doing, knowing that this is serving a purpose. Yeah. And , this is helping people. Right. It is. This is maybe transforming, it still is transforming lives. Yeah. Still is.

[00:25:47] Justin: Yeah. Definitely. So , that's a really good testimony to testimony to share on an episode about sharing testimonies. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that. It's so powerful to [00:26:00] know sometimes the plans that God has for people and they don't realize it because we live in this We live in the world and we're of the world.

[00:26:10] Don: Right. 

[00:26:11] Justin: And we're called to be not of the world Yeah, we're called to be, you know We're called to be sons and daughters of light. We're called to be a lot different than we're living. And I think that once those, there's these little moments that happen, like you were saying, there's these little moments that bring some curiosity or some faith or some belief.

[00:26:34] Justin: And when you get that, when you feel that, you have to act on that. It, it's not about just waiting for God to do things in your life. Cause, cause it'll happen. But I think it happens when you start to act on the faith. When you act on these, Ideas these thoughts in your mind that could benefit the lord, right?

[00:26:54] Justin: That could work that like, okay This this could be god talking to me That's right. If if you have [00:27:00] to wonder if you have to think to yourself, then it probably is You know because we were created in his image the way we were created was to never Not see the face of our father to never know if he's a god Talking to us or not to always know to be in constant communion with them.

[00:27:21] Justin: See what I'm saying? Yeah, so now we live in this like, you know fallen world and we're we're in this Fallen state where we have to question if he's talking to us or not So if you even have to think that's probably a good sign that he's trying to tell you something, right? Yeah, so I think when you act on that though, then you start to see When your, when your, when your faith grows, then your belief grows with it because it's kind of like this, um, it's kind of like this flywheel and then it kind of starts a momentum, but you start to gain favor with the Lord. I think you gain favor and things start to happen differently in your life. And I think I think it, I think it is a process and it takes time. Like you were saying, it does not, it does not [00:28:00] just happen overnight, but what does happen, what happened to you in three months?

[00:28:04] Justin: Like you were saying. I mean, that's like a supernatural thing. You go all of a sudden to not believing any of this, to being a guy who's like, I need to get a Bible in my back pocket and be armed with the sword of the Spirit, no matter where I go. Yeah, I gotta be ready to just, you know, I gotta be ready to pull it out of the holster and you know It's it's gonna be good the bad and the ugly, you know, and god's gonna take care of them all.

[00:28:27] Justin: That's right 

[00:28:28] Don: That's right I think I shared this once before but uh I remember when I first came to the lord and things were starting to happen. 

[00:28:34] both: I 

[00:28:35] Don: remember making an agreement with god Yeah, 

[00:28:36] both: yeah, 

[00:28:37] Don: and I remember because I used to uh, yeah, you put them on notice I did I because I and I I even remember the spot because I used to uh, You I work for Pierce Manufacturing as a fire truck company, and I used to check out trucks, inspect trucks at the end.

[00:28:52] Don: So I'd write up a list of the things that need to be done yet. So I go through the orders and all that, but I'm sitting out there and it's a hot summer day. You know, I'm outside, the truck's [00:29:00] outside, you know, they were doing something on it. And I says, God, I said, I'm going to give you a year, you know, cause I, I, you know, this is early stages.

[00:29:07] Don: I said, I'm going to give you a year and if this is an 

[00:29:10] Justin: ultimatum, that's right, 

[00:29:11] Don: if this stuff is real. You know, uh, in a year, maybe I'll put, put everything into it. Well, it took me probably about a two, three weeks to realize, you know, this stuff was real and God made it very real. And I could start to see things happening and changes in me.

[00:29:27] Don: It was just, uh, and, and the, I don't know, I don't know if this is a blessing or curse, but you know, you go through life. And it seems like when you start to allow God to work in your life, you start to realize you can do things. Because I know, uh, right now, where we're sitting right now, there's a room full of books and stuff.

[00:29:44] Don: I remember when I first came to the Lord, I didn't own a Bible. And, uh, the only book I had on my shelf was in my basement. And it was Tarzan. It was a book on Tarzan. That's the only book. Just, just Tarzan. Just Tarzan. That's the only book I, I owned. That's a testimony. At that time, you [00:30:00] know, because I wasn't into reading.

[00:30:01] Don: I wasn't into none of this stuff, you know, so I, I, you know, I'm sitting there starting to collect books, you know, two, three, four books, you know, I get myself a Bible. I remember going to the, uh, the store where they were selling Bibles and I asked the guy, he says, is there a place I can buy salvation? He looked at me and he says, I don't think so.

[00:30:20] Don: But I said, I need a Bible. And he suggested a Bible and that Bible is still sitting over there. But I went, um, I went and I got this Bible, you know, and that's where I started putting the pieces together. And I really wanted to be able to help people. And I saw that, that Bible over there, that's actually your first Bible?

[00:30:36] Don: That's the first one I used for teaching. Okay. I had another, the little one in my backpack. pocket and stuff. But I picked that one up for the teaching end of things. And, uh, so that was, uh, that was good, but it's, it seemed to grow itself. It grows a life. Cause I know right now, uh, we don't have time to talk about it, but , I know I've, I've got a lot of things going on right now.

[00:30:58] Don: And I look back at some of this and [00:31:00] I say, how in the world did I ever do this stuff? We did, you know, I mean, if I had to start over again where I was when I was 30 years old, I was sitting there. I had a long ways to go because I didn't know a whole lot about anything back then. Yeah, but catching up to do but but the thing the key and I think you mentioned that you talked about the faith And what it does it creates a desire and a commitment in people, 

[00:31:24] both: you 

[00:31:24] Don: know And a lot of times they you know, they talk about a decision.

[00:31:27] Don: There was a time I had to make a decision I mean made deals with god, but I made a decision I said this is what I want to do and this is what i'm going to put my life into You know and once you make that with God. You know, God starts to supply all your everything. Because I know the Bible talks about the angels in heaven get excited about one person coming to God.

[00:31:48] Don: I believe that when one person makes that decision, there's excitement. And there's angels and, uh, you know, in the spiritual side of things, Waiting for an individual, waiting for one [00:32:00] person that's saying, you know, this is it. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to try to be useful. I'm going to try to be open to whatever God shows me.

[00:32:08] Don: I'm going to do this, you know, and I'm going to let God use it. And then you sit there at the end of it and you look back and you say, it wasn't me. You know, I mean, I know I wasn't capable of a lot of stuff, but God allowed the development, allowed the opportunities, all of that stuff to come into place.

[00:32:23] Don: All of a sudden you've got something you can say. You go help glorify God and make God a little bit bigger in people's lives, you know And I know this podcast what we're doing right now is just a part of it You know, it's just an expansion of the things that God continues to pour into people's lives You've been a blessing justin coming into my life because you know, this is a part to just add it It was an element That God supplied the need and, uh, it seemed like through the years I've had people, opportunities, all this stuff.

[00:32:54] Don: But when you have a desire and a commitment, you know, and allow God to pour into [00:33:00] that, there's no limit. So you look at people and sometimes you can say they're great and whatever, they're just who they are. It's God that's working inside of them. There's somebody behind the scenes. It's pushing the buttons.

[00:33:11] Don: Yeah, definitely. That's stirring things up. 

[00:33:13] Justin: And that's a common theme. I think as you start to see things and you're like, there's no way they could be doing these things on their own merit or by their own strength. That's right. You know, and I think that's, that's the wonderful thing about the power of God is it's, it's really about changing you.

[00:33:29] Don: Yeah. 

[00:33:29] Justin: And like, and until you're willing to change. Because you're not, you're You know, you're accepting, we have free will. So, so we have to agree. God's not gonna force anybody to love him. You know, he's, he's gonna love you unconditionally.

[00:33:44] Justin: And I think once you Once you come to terms with that as a believer, it's, it's, it's kind of a, it's a very monumental thing to understand. Yeah. Because before then, you do have complete free will. Right. Also, everything that you do in [00:34:00] His name is, He is glorified, right? So, It's a matter of when you do come, you know, I hear people say like, Oh, I chose to come to God.

[00:34:08] Justin: And it's actually backwards. It's actually God chose you. You didn't choose him. That's right. So calling, but we still have free will at the same time. You see what I'm saying? It comes to a point where that belief grows. And by the belief growing in some, just like anything else in your life, that belief grows, that faith grows with it, and then it creates fruit, you know, it creates fruit, and you know them by their fruits, right?

[00:34:33] Justin: So, the fruits of the Spirit, you know, this tenderness, this, you know. You know, meekness is patience. This is joy. These are eternal things. 

[00:34:42] both: They're 

[00:34:42] Justin: not like worldly things like happiness. That's just elation. And it just comes and goes. It's temporary. It's just, it's, it's just a moment of happening. This, these are things that are built and they're rooted in eternity.

[00:34:54] Justin: And that's the difference between things of God and the things of the world. So I think that [00:35:00] opening your mind is opening your heart to these things and realizing that it's just, That he is a god of love. And I think Every believer comes eventually to the same terms before they really start to worship and they really start to grow in relationship with God.

[00:35:16] Justin: And that's that he is a God of love. No matter what the church people told me, no matter what the church told me, no matter what my neighbor told me, no matter what I heard on the TV, no matter what I read on social media, He's a God of love. I've now realized it. I've understood it for myself. I know the truth, right?

[00:35:34] Justin: I shall know the truth. They shall know the truth and the truth shall set them free. And when you start to see the truth, the way, the life, then you can be out of captivity yourself. You can come out of captivity. It was Jesus when he gets up and be, Before he accepts his calling, he says, I've been called, that spirit of the Lord is upon me.

[00:35:56] Justin: He said, I've been called to give sight to the [00:36:00] blind and to set the captives free. And that's what this is all about is getting out of captivity.

[00:36:06] Justin: Sometimes you don't realize you might go 30 years You don't realize you're in captivity because you don't think you need anything greater and then something just happens around you that Kind of nudges you and it's kind of like a spiritual sense. It's telling you. Hey, I'm here. I've been here this whole time I've just been waiting for you.

[00:36:23] Justin: I've been waiting for you to accept. Not me. I've been waiting for you to accept my love I've never went anywhere. You might have went You might have went all, all different places. You might've even, you might've even denied me many times publicly. You might've even spoken bad about my name publicly. You might've even blamed a lot of things that happened in your life on me that I didn't actually give you.

[00:36:47] Justin: But I've been here. I've been here as love this whole time. And I think once you realize that it just sparks something and it gets you to, completely unravel your mind and it brings you to a level of [00:37:00] humility I think and that's where we need to be is we god's love to come on to us Our belief in god the result of that has to be changed.

[00:37:08] Justin: Yeah, we cannot we cannot just be who we are And expect things to change. We say this all the time Insanity is doing the same thing over and over the same way and expecting a different result We no longer need to do things the same way. We need to do things the way and accept him in our life Yep, and that and 

[00:37:28] Don: the beauty of all of that, uh, justin is , The bible says and this this touches people because everybody wants things, you know, you want things you want You Rewards and it's not yeah You know, the Bible says God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him Yeah You know and and then Bible talks about I can't see nor a mind Understand the things that God has prepared for those that love him, you know, so we're entering into a time I know Earth, time on Earth is short, and, , you know, we go through a [00:38:00] period of time, but we're entering into eternity.

[00:38:02] Don: So the things we do right now in our lives, this is stuff that's eternal. You know, this actually, this moment right now, we're speaking into eternity right now. Because God is wanting to do some powerful things in our lives, and if we can just realize how valuable eternity is. He is to develop each and every one of us.

[00:38:22] Don: It doesn't matter who the person is, God's got big plans for all of us. And I heard one guy say some, uh, once that God is going to introduce us to the man we could have been, you know, it could have been, you know, so I'm saying to myself, okay, what do I need to humble myself and surrender to, to become that man?

[00:38:42] Don: Because God wants to do some beautiful work in all of our lives. Yeah. Amen.

[00:38:47] Justin: Well, I think that wraps it up for today. This was a good one, Justin. I think so too. Hey, we're glad you guys found your way here today, and we hope you can join us again next week for another good word. [00:39:00] Until then, stay blessed by the best.

[00:39:04] Justin: See you guys.