Everybody Has Ideas. Geniuses Close The Gap. | POP Podcast Ep. 7

You know what we always say, pop till it pops. Actually, I'm starting to get into the rhythm of it. We're talking about vision, big ideas, creative ideas. I think a lot of people's visions are stuck. We haven't even written the vision down and made it plain. So it is an idea, not a vision. Because the Bible tells us what qualifies it for a vision. It gotta be written down. You get the vision to inform your current situation. Talk to me. So I get the vision of what God says and how he sees me and where I'm going to then say, okay, what am I doing now that that man can't do up there? I'll never forget. I was cutting dress socks into Allen Iverson's sleeves because I couldn't get- Let go. Because they were kind of thin, you know what I'm saying? That's vision right there, ladies and gentlemen. If you've never seen Vision, that's vision. If you could go anywhere, where would you go and with who? The immediate place is a place I haven't visited, but I really want to go visit Japan. Bro, that was about to be my answer. No way. I am not- We going together. We're going to Japan. They ask you how you are,

and you just have to say that you're fine when you're not really fine. Pop podcast in Japan. There you go. Let's do that. Producer Steve. Producer Steve. I would love that. Let's go. Well, hello, friend. I hope you're doing well. My name is Charles, and I want to officially welcome you to the Pop Podcast, progression over perfection, where progression is the point. So if you logged on and you're a perfect human, man, you might feel out of place, but if you've got some areas that you're making progress, that you're moving forward, you have found the spot. My name is Charles, and I'm joined by my amazing friend, pastor, leader, co-laborer, just to throw in a spiritual word for you, Pastor Michael Todd. What's up, man? How you doing, man? I'm good, baby. It's good to see you. We are on episode seven of this new adventure that we have decided to submit to. People have been asking us to do something like this for a long time.

It's true. We've had this idea for almost four or five years, but everything is about timing, and so actually I'm starting to get into the rhythm of it. Yeah, I'm starting to feel it out for sure. Yeah, it feels right only because this is not preaching. This is not preparing a talk. This is two people who have dedicated their lives to being a part of transforming other people's lives, talking about the realities of navigating that, which aren't perfect. And my encouragement and our encouragement to anybody that's watching this is that you would be fueled to continue to do what God's called you to do in whatever sphere of influence you're in, knowing that this will not be a linear journey, that there will be ups and downs, that there will be moments that you know what you're doing, and a ton of them that you have no idea. We are living proof that progression is the point. And so today is gonna be an amazing episode. And I'm excited about what we're talking about today. It's gonna be a great episode. Before we jump in, we always gotta do a check-in. But you had a great question for our week. Let's jump in about it. So one of the things that we've been talking about in some of the other episodes is rest, and if we would've said Jesus model,

we would use the word withdrawing, and actually learning how to properly put pressure in its place and have the appropriate amount. And so one of the things I wanna know is if you could go anywhere, right after this podcast, I mean, be teleported, be like right there, where would you go and with who? Very good, very good. If you could just pop into a new location, pop in. That's something. We gotta, producer Steve, write that down. We got some questions to pop in. Pop in a second, go ahead. No, I think the immediate place is a place I haven't visited, but I really wanna go visit Japan. Bro, that was about to be my answer. No way, we going together. We're going to Japan. I was about to literally say the same thing. I told Mo that literally two days ago. Oh my gosh, yes, that way, just culture, fashion. We're going. So yeah, mine would be Japan, and I mean, the only person I'm going anywhere with is Abbey Rose, so I mean, immediately. Well, obviously, we're coming. I just wanna let you know I'm coming, too. Yeah. Yeah, man. That's where we're going.

That's it. And I honestly told somebody, because I've been a lot of places, I've been blessed to go a lot of places. Me and Natalie love to travel, but I wanna see something completely other than. Oh, yeah. And every time I look at just the architecture, just the culture, the everything, it's like I've never been in a place like that. And so we're going to Japan. You're gonna be right here on the Pop Podcast. If you have any actual direction, because that's a big place. Yes. And just hit us, email us, DM, whatever. So, pop podcast in Japan, there you go. Let's do that. Producer Steve. Producer Steve. I would love that. Yes! Go! Producer Steve is coming. He's coming. Now, the list is growing immediately. Jay, you come into Japan with us. Jay, over and out of the switcher. Okay, so today, we're talking about something that is near and dear to my heart,

as well as, I believe, the catalyst for anything impactful on the earth. We're talking about vision. We're talking about big ideas, creative ideas, something that come now very naturally for us, but we have found out through leading that it is not necessarily innate, or people mislabel creativity and vision. And today, we wanna talk about what you do or what happens when God gives you something bigger than you feel ready for. Again, I just want people to understand that God doesn't, you know that saying, God doesn't put more on you than you can bear? That's not biblical. Where is that from? I know somebody put it in a song, and so people think it's real. That's not real. God definitely puts more on you than you can bear. God definitely is like, yeah, they can't do that by themselves. And I think that part of the idea when it comes to vision is that is a part of the fabric of how God has made us to be able to see things with our invisible imagination that we do not know how to hold with our hands. And what do you do with that? And how do you deal with that? How do you wrestle with that? How do you literally walk into fields

that you have no idea how to make it happen and then make it happen? And so today I wanna help the dreamer, the visionary, the leader, the person that knows they're called for more that you've been having this thing burning in your heart for a long time, and you're trying to figure out how to get it from idea to actually being in front of you. Like today is going to be a podcast for you. So let me pop it open with what is the biggest idea that you have ever had that scared you to say it out loud? Ooh, scared me to say it out loud. And now you got to say it out loud. Yeah, I know, I know. I was like, this kind of defies the whole point. Scared me to say it out loud. I think the most recent thing that comes to mind is the process of actually taking the idea of God chose me and putting it in a book. Because it was already like, it had so much like- Energy. It was like this. Oh my God. Like if you were at conference when Charles spoke God chose me, or if you have not watched that message back, like the energy, it was like building, building, building, building, building. It was like, it was crazy.

It was crazy. So it was, and this goes back to even our last episode was that pressure. It just felt like, can I match that? And it's funny because, which I feel like you relate to this too, because when you do something so often, people assume you can kind of do everything like that. So it's like, I preach and that's what I do. And so I've preached messages that have been impactful. Nothing similar at that point to that. But then it was like, people don't realize I've never written a book before. Like, you know what I'm saying? Oh, you killed that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you could write a book. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you could go ahead. It's like- That's the equivalent of somebody cooking a good meal and thinking that they can dunk. Like, it's like, oh man, that was a slam dunk meal. So now go and do a windmill. That doesn't make any sense. No, man, I think I just found myself like, with the actual reality of like, I have to write and fill 250 pages with my actual words. It's a different thing. So yeah, man- And not say the same thing over and over

and over and over again. You know what I'm saying? And over and over and over. And I think too, I didn't do well in like, English class. I'd never forget, I was writing a paper and I remember I wrote the paper and then it was like, it had to be however many pages. And I remember going back through it and thinking, where can I add and, however, also, therefore? And I went through the whole paper just to make it longer. It was like, where I've just said like, you know, I would add like, and also therefore. I just had random phrases. I was just adding in to make the paper longer. Hey, I get it. So yeah, man, I think that was one for me that was like, because there was, again, that expectation of like, oh my gosh, it's God chose me and it's the book and it's going to be amazing. And then there's the reality of like, you got to execute. Yes. I think that's even something we'll tap in today, like the gap between ideation and execution. So that was mine. What about, I mean, you have, I don't even know, I think the question is a little flawed in my submission to you, because I'm sure you do. That's not true, that would be unfair, because I think you're brave in the face of scary things.

But I think you also have a lot of reps, and so I think it takes, my submission would be, it maybe takes a lot more to scare you than maybe it did a couple years ago. Oh, completely. I think the question for me is like, I don't say things out loud because it'll scare the people around me. There you go, that's true. I think that I have unlocked and untapped God's unlimited supply to be able to provide for the things he gives me, and the ideas he gives me, is that if I get it, I know it's possible. Like if I get an idea, and it's not the tacos I ate, it's like a real idea, I know it's possible. And I try to test that limit. I try to figure it out. And I mean, you know, working with me for all this time, and all this, there's things we have done that is like, if I say it out loud, people are like, that's impossible. And then it happens. And that's part of the reason why my mantra in life is it's only crazy until it happens, because the truth of the matter is, you have to have crazy faith. But one of the things that I preached when, I preached at VU Church, I think, when we did the book launch, but it was talking about unlocking your imagination.

Unlocking an anointed imagination. Anointed imagination. You remember that, it was there. But I think about the thought process that God has given every person the ability to be in one situation, and close their eyes, and imagine themselves in a different one. And then he literally says that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And without faith, it's impossible to please God. So there's this connection between, like, pleasing God and your imagination. Wow. Like, and I've literally tried to close that gap to just think like, anything that God gives me can happen. Is it supposed to happen is where I go into like, is this me, or is this you, or is this all that other stuff? So like, the latest thing that I've been thinking about is I've been thinking of buying like, this huge workout complex. Okay. Like, and turning it into stride gym. I mean, it's massive. Like, it's big. Without saying all the different things. And the idea behind it is, I really believe since I've been on this health journey,

God used that as a catalyst for me to go from 270-something pounds down to 225, and more healthy than I've ever been in my whole life. I mean, you know how I eat, and I mean, breakfast is not a thing anymore. Like, there's all kinds of different things that are there. But it's been a lifestyle for me, and I've seen how it's changed every area of my life. When I read the scriptures, now I'm going deep into the vision part, but this is how it happens. But as I read the scriptures, the Bible tells us that in Acts 2.42, they met in the temple courts every day. And a part of the temple courts was the synagogue, but it wasn't church. And I started to think about like, where do people go more than they go anywhere else if they're committed to it, is the gym. I see people in the gym five to six times a week, and people usually come to church one, maybe two times a week. So what if we created a place that was the modern-day temple courts, where literally there's courts there, pickleball courts, basketball courts, soccer fields, like everything in a modern thing. But it hit me, because I took one of my kids to this sporting event

that was playing basketball at 8.30 at night on a Tuesday to this huge sports complex we have in our city. There was 850 people in there at 8.30 on a Tuesday night. Parents in places doing like co-working space, like literally doing work and answering emails, people in daycare, kids practicing everywhere, soccer court, and I'm looking like, hold on, wait. And so my mind started going, and I was like, think about, we get one temple. So I just started going, and again, I don't know, but it's been a big idea. And like, you know me, I get big ideas. I started walking places. You start walking, making phone calls, taking pictures. I already got my phone is full right now. You know what I'm saying? But again, I think that it sounds scary because it's like this, what I'm talking about is double digit millions of dollars of investment, and it would have to come from the Lord. Yeah. But I think that a lot of people kill ideas before they see them. That's good. And the Bible teaches us the greatest time to kill something impactful is when it's in seed form. That's why the edict went out to kill. every child under two when they were looking for the next messiah. Because it would be easy to kill it in child form. And I think that a lot of people watching right now, you need to let your vision live long enough to see if it's something that is from God. And a lot of people just kill it in

infancy. I mean, Solomon could have killed David's vision at the temple. Like, it could have been something that was, like, done. But, do you understand what I'm saying? So it's just, yeah. Even as you're talking, I think part of the question for me, even as you were talking, is my growth area is sometimes I'm afraid to say it out loud because I know I'm accountable to it once I let it out. So it's easier to have all the ideas in my head of what I'm going to do and how I'm going to do it and what it's going to be. Because if I don't do it, nobody knows. You surprised if I didn't, and it's a win no matter what. You know what I'm saying? But to say it and to put it out loud and to commit to it is an act of growth and faith. And because I think for me, the gap that I always wrestle with is, man, do I have what it takes to really pull it off? So let me submit to you something that could reframe how you're thinking. Like, you may need to say it out loud to see if it's something that you need to act on. Because life and death is in the power of the tongue. I can't tell you how many things that I'm like, this is going to happen. And then I started saying it or even going down that road. And it's not the thing. It's the thing that leads to the thing. Like, an object in motion stays in motion until it's brought to a place where it meets something else that is standing still. And the thing is, faith is a muscle that you have to work. And so a lot of people stay in ideation, but life and death is in the power of the tongue. And so sometimes it's like, I'm going to build a gym. And I just said that out loud. Or I'm going to build the modern day temple courts. And it's like, well, maybe not. And God can have the ability to correct that. But this is what I say. It's always easier to steer a moving car than one that's standing still. Like, if you've ever ran out of gas or anything like that, what you do is you get somebody to get behind you and push it in neutral. And then we can get it off the road to the side. Because turning the wheel does nothing if it's not in motion. And I think a lot of people's visions are stuck. There's no motion around it. You won't even go open the bank account. You won't even tell nobody the vision. You haven't even written the vision down and made it plain. So it is an idea, not a vision. That's so good. Because the Bible tells us what qualifies it for a vision. It's got to be written down. So you got me started already, but this is what I believe. Well, I think I was having a conversation with, it was Erwin McManus one time. And I remember talking to him, I feel like halfway talking to a computer server and a sage and a monk.

I've been catching them words every 18 some of these words. But he said, I remember he asked me, we were sitting down and he was like, it was one of them questions where it's like, I don't do well with these, where I know it's a trick question, but I can't figure it out. I'm like, man, quit trying to trick me. Just tell me what you're trying to tell me. Tell me. You say it. But he was like, man, he said, do you want to be a creative or do you want to be a genius? And I was like, I mean, I think the genius, I don't know, creative genius. But his premise was, he's like, he said, the difference between a creative and a genius is a genius is always fighting to close the gap of vision and execution. A creative just has mad ideas. And he's like, it's a beautiful thing to be a creative because creatives have ideas all the time, but a genius will say, no, it's not enough just to have the idea. I got to figure out how to bring this thing into life. And so that's been the growth. And I think for anybody here today, the presupposition I want to submit for everybody presupposed, or the idea you have to start with is me and you have a belief and the Bible sets context that everybody is creative. Everybody is creative. This is important to understand because we're about to talk about vision. We're about to talk about dreams. We're going to talk about bringing things into life. And some people, they have a predisposition or a prethought that, well, that's not my, I don't have, I'm not a dreamer. I'm more execution. I'm more, I'm not a creative. I'm more administrative. Yes. No, God, if the scriptures are true, which is we are created in the image of God, meaning that there is a reflection on the inside of every human from our God. Well, the first attribute we get of God is in the beginning, God created. So that means everybody is creative. How you are creative, how that expression, it shows up differently. Our friend, our friend Brie is a creative, administrative genius. Genius. I'll be watching her in documents and stuff and be like, yeah, Charles literally says that would have taken me seven years. Like, like every time we're in a meeting. Every time. But it's, it is her genius because she has closed the gap between the ideas of certain things and the execution of it. But she's probably not going to give you the dopest design for something, but she's going to make sure the system works behind it. And I got to shout her out. Her presentations have gotten, she has leveled up a thousand percent getting clowned and roasted. by us. That's a part of our growth package. You gotta get a little rusted. But I think that is one of the coolest ways to think about this. Like, I am creative. How it shows up

is unique to me. Very good. And maybe you need to hear that, you need to see that, because if you do not even believe that, then it will be hard for you to get vision. And if you're comparing your ability to get vision to somebody else who just seems like it comes naturally, you will discount the things that God has given you. I think about things that, I don't know, I've been watching Shark Tank with Bella. Bella really likes Shark Tank. That's amazing. And I love that. Hello sharks. And so she is fascinated with people's ideas, but one of the things that I have watched that show so many times, and I hear people come in the house or in the room and they're like, I had that idea. Like, oh, that was my idea. And I've heard people say stuff like that. I mean, you know what I'm saying? Man, I had that idea. And the truth of the matter is, I truly believe that God gives vision to multiple people to see who's going to execute on it. Like, I do not think the idea of owning this building we own was God's, was solely just for us. If you don't know the crazy faith story about the building we're in right now, we're in Transformation Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This used to be the Spirit Bank event center built by the city of Bixby for $54 million, 200,000 square foot building, 900 car parking garage. I mean, this place is literally ridiculous. It sat for eight years. It literally sat with the arena empty for eight years. I think God's too good of a steward to not be like, all right, it's going to sit. Like, who will believe me? Who will have vision that this can be something that the kingdom owns? And I believe when he got to me, I was like, bet. Like, let's go. We're broke. We have no qualification. There's 350 people coming to the church. And I literally wrote down in my room on what we know around this part as the prophetic vision sheet, like, the Spirit Bank event center will be Transformation Church. Like, I had to have the courage or the crazy, probably a little bit of both, to write that down. And now we sit in this building paid off. I say that to say, like, I don't think God is saving his best ideas for one person. Because the Bible tells us he's no respecter of persons. I think he's dropping them and watching who's about to do something with it. And for me, I tell everybody, I just want God to trust me with the next one. And I know his pattern. So I'm going to be a good steward over this one. It goes back to the story of the talents. He gave somebody 1, 2, 5. He wasn't looking for the same amount from each one of them. He was just looking for them to take what he gave them. Them get a vision about how to, he didn't give them vision of what to

do to get to double it. That's one of the things that I love about that story is that we don't know what everybody did to actually make the 5, 10 and the 2, 4, but we do know what the one did. He buried it. He didn't have any vision for what God had given him. And so he lost what God graced him with because he did not take his initial gift, put vision behind it and just at least double it. So if God gives me a vision, I got to at least double it. That should be the bottom line of anything. If he gives you something, double it. That's so good. I saw a quote the other day. It says, you are right. You could have made this, but you didn't. Yikes. Thank you. But it was so good. It was like, you're right. You could have done it, but you just didn't. You could have made the album, but you didn't. You could have restored the family, but you didn't. You could have planted that church, but you didn't. I think there's this idea I'm cooking. I have a running note for my next book, but one of the thesis statements that I'm really working on right now is the people who live out their dreams and the biggest lives are those who possess the bravery to do what scares them the most. Yikes. And I think the gap between the life we dream of and the life we live is that courage to say it out loud, to not just stop at saying it, but then to start moving on it. And I want to ask you some questions as we get into this. Can you help? Maybe people are sitting here and they're like, what is vision? I think we start there because we're going to talk about vision and execution, but. People are super natural to them. Some of them are like, what you see, what you don't see, but how would you give someone a working definition of what vision is? A working definition for me would be, vision is what you see when your eyes are closed. So sight is what I see when my eyes are open. Yeah. Like I see this studio, I see the lights, I see the thing, but vision is me seeing this podcast reaching millions of people. Vision is a starting this off of a word from God

and it being a catalyst to somebody creating something that changes their lives, their family's lives, and our lives. Like vision is this studio we're in is a complete warehouse. Like we're in a studio right now, but this will be a small studio in a warehouse full of studios with podcasts. Like it's what I see when my eyes are closed. And a lot of people are so bound by what they see. I only see a hundred dollars in my bank account. Wow. My sight says I don't have a team. I only see that like nobody chooses my ideas at this job. So close your eyes. What does God say? What's in you? What is your natural disposition? How are you supposed to maneuver and bring something that is in heaven here on earth? Yeah. And I think that because I am such a visionary when it comes to things that are not here yet, I see scripture differently. So when I see as it is in heaven, let it be here on earth, I think of that through the vision lens first. Yeah, yeah. So like, I don't think like a lot of people think miracles and signs and wonder. I'm like, what creative ideas, what technologies,

what things are in heaven right now that God wants to be on the earth to help his kids? Wow. What songs already written in heaven? That he wants to, and my language is, I just want to borrow them. Like, I don't even want ownership over them. Let me borrow the idea. Let me get it down here on earth. Let me be your partner and let that help somebody. The other part of vision, now we go from the practical working definition to a scriptural is like where there is no vision, the people perish. Another translation says the people cast off restraint or it goes down to say they stop caring. And so vision actually is a vehicle for people to have purpose and care in their life. That's so good. So without a vision, you literally become sloppy. That's a very, very frank way to say it, but like some of the sloppiest people in the world are not because they're bad people. It's they just don't have a vision of their life in health. They don't have a vision of a healthy family or a healthy anything. And so I encourage people, I say vision is most valuable because you don't have to live in it yet, but if as long as you can see it with your eyes closed,

it is obtainable for you. That's so good. And so yeah, that's- That's so helpful. I think what encourages me about that is to me, sometimes that picture gives me the information I need to become who I'll need to be when I get there. Yikes, I like it. If I don't have a vision for, if I'm single and I don't have a vision for being married, I can never picture what type of man do I wanna be when I get married. And let me become that man now. Many people, we are waiting on the moment of when I arrive and then I'll be that person. So I'm gonna make a million dollars one day. And when I get a million dollars, then I'll be generous or then I'll be able to whatever. And it's like, I don't know, you get the vision to inform your current situation. Talk to me. So I get the vision of what God says and how he sees me and where I'm going to then say, okay, what am I doing now that that man can't do up there? This was a thing I had a leader tell me one time, this was so helpful. I was a youth pastor and my schedule was just all over the place. Like I would get to work and I would just be talking all day and then I'd have work to do

and I would just stay till eight o'clock and do my work and be fine. And he said, Charles, he was like, you are a hard worker and your learners are made at your time. He said, the only problem is you are building a pattern that will not serve you when you're getting, when you get to where you're trying to get to. And he was talking about marriage. He was saying, you can't just work for whenever at whatever time and not be checking in with nobody. He's like, so build the pattern now that's gonna serve you when you are a husband and when you have kids and when you have, and I think one of the things for people with vision is you can get that vision, but sometimes that vision is so big, it paralyzes people. It paralyzes them to just like, oh gosh, it's so bad. I don't know how it's gonna happen. Let's talk about that idea. When you, let's say, okay, they got the vision. Okay, I see myself, whether it's health or the business or the church or the ID or having kids or just forgiving. I see myself being healthy emotionally, purity, whatever the vision is. How do you go from this big idea, the spirit bank of incident will be Transformation Church to not. every step but a step. I think that can be an intimidating spot for people. My question is how do you eat an elephant? I've never eaten an elephant.

I know, but it is a very easy analogy. If you were to eat an elephant, it would be one bite at a time. And I think that's where no animal on earth could swallow an elephant whole. Again, I'm in the animal kingdom right now, but even a lion could not eat. He would have to eat the elephant one bite at a time. And I think that is the transition that everybody needs to make. It's literally the title of or the theme behind this podcast, progression over perfection. It would be perfect to just be able to, oh, I got an idea. It's done. But that's not how anything works because if you do not do it one step at a time, you miss the learnings along the way. That's so good. And that's what people aren't always factoring in is that when God gives you a big vision, it's not just to see the vision become something, it's to see you become something. There you go. He is always doing the thing under the thing while he's doing the thing. That's how God works. And so for me, let's go back to the example of the Spirit Bank Event Center. I wrote that vision down. And then five years later, it was when that made sense. So it wasn't like, hey, we're getting the Spirit Bank Event Center next week. No, we don't have enough money to pay these light bills. In the grocery store. We need to hire somebody. So I had to wait. So the first bite that I had to take is to be able to hold the vision in good regard while my reality didn't look like it. That is so good. And a lot of people discount or get bitter or get mad. God, you showed me the Spirit Bank Event Center. It would not make sense for God to give us this big old building with 300 people coming at the time. He was trying to teach me something. And so I had, like many of you may be watching this, and you get a big vision. And the first thing that you have to do is write it down and authenticate that it's a vision from God and then wait.

And how you wait determines if it ever will manifest. That's so good. Because a lot of people, when I talk to them about their vision, they automatically get discouraged. They automatically get down. They automatically are like, well, I tried and da-da-da. And I'm like, yo, what if the timing was just off? What if this is it, just not yet? That's so good. What if there's more? And that's why I always tell people when it's time, part of the way you know it's time because somebody said, how do you know it's time? It's like God always gives provision for his vision. And so something will come. Something will appear. Something will manifest. Something will be made known. And you'll be like, this has to do with the thing. So let me tell how that progresses. I'm waiting five years. We go from one service to five services. And when we get to five services, I'm like, I can't do this. I'm on oxygen tanks. I'm fat. I'm unhealthy. I'm eating double cheeseburgers at night. I'm eating Blue Bell ice cream every night. I'm just emotionally trying to survive. Holding on. Holding on. We all were. And God in prayer was like, I've already given you the plan.

And I'm like, the plan? What do you mean the plan? And our building can't hold no more people. We're doing video services. We're doing all this other stuff. And God's like, I've already given you the plan. And this is the grace of God is that in a season where I had more space, he gave me a vision for a season where I was overwhelmed. And so a lot of people don't realize that vision stands outside of time because God stands outside of time. And he gives you a vision in time for an appointed time. At the right time, he'll be on time. Come on! If you don't know where that's from, PC taught a message that was epic. I want to interrupt and add to what you're saying because I've learned this so much from you is you are amazing. And now I've learned and taken it at capturing everything. You got to. And I think that's the thing I've learned from you is I don't know when this is for. I don't know what it's for. I don't know who's going to use it, but it's for something. And so I'm going to get it. I'm going to write it down and capture it. But I think that's such a key because God is giving you keys to doors that you haven't hit up against yet. And I've seen that happen so much in our journey where we'll be fighting and it'll be like, hold on, wait a second. And you'll go back through a note. I'll go back through a note. It'll be like, wait, he gave it to us. Well, because that's a faith step. Like writing, writing down that the Spirit Bank Event Center was going to be Transformation Church, saving that document. on my computer is absolutely insane until it happens. Until we have keys to this building. Until we're turning like locker rooms into offices.

So there's a part of a vision that you have to live with the ambiguity of looking dumb while God does the work. And most people are so concerned with the manufactured pressure of what other, or the external pressure of what other people think that they won't stay in a place that's like, yeah, this is completely wild. And like, if this wasn't me, I would think you're completely dumb and you might think I'm crazy and I'm gonna stay here because I got a word from God. Or I feel like this is supposed to come into this. Just think about, I watched the movie Jobs the other day and it's the journey of Steve Jobs. Think about how nuts it was for this man to build a personal computer when computers at the time he was building them were in whole buildings. Like it was one computer that took up like- Floors. It was completely, and now we're sitting here- And now he's like, and then we're gonna take that and put it into, yeah. We're sitting here with endless songs, information. I can buy anything. I can plan our trip to Japan on my phone. But that came from, but watch this. It's normal now. It's absolutely normal now because somebody decided,

I'm not going to let this vision that nobody else, and watch this, no other company, even companies that were more funded than him, that were the leaders and things, they didn't think it was possible. Again, I'm saying that to say like, part of writing it down, part of saying it out loud, part of believing in it is a faith step. That's so good. But faith without works is completely dead. And so I think that a lot of us, the step that you need to take, some of you need to wait, but then some of y'all need to get moving. Come on, there we go. Like there are too many people that I'm waiting on God, I'm waiting on God, I'm waiting on God. Nope. God's waiting on you. What are we talking about? Right now, I asked somebody else, somebody was telling me that they have a vision of the me and debt free. And then I just literally asked him, how much debt do you have? And he said, well, I said, right now, I'm gonna pay all your debt if you can tell me the exact number. And they could not, and they started making up numbers, obviously.

264,700. I said, if that's the exact number, I'll pay it. And obviously it wasn't. Because the truth of the matter is, that's a step, that's a working step you could take. I have a vision to be debt free, and I know the exact amount that I need to be debt free is this. And I know if I pay this much money, this long, it will get me to this point. And I will be debt free at 960 years old. But I do know, but I do know. Because faith without works is dead. And so many people are looking for an excuse to not do the work, just because they don't think it will yield the results. And I think God is looking to give the results to the people who have faith and do the work. And so I'm just saying to somebody out there right now, you got work to do. Because it is a vision that is valid from God. It is valuable. But God's saying, this vision with the faith you got, with no work, means nothing. That's so good. Well, it's that idea of you can't do everything, but you can do something. And so I think I need to hear our producer, Steve, because I see you over there. I think you got a spicy question.

Move, Steve, what you got over there? I got a new bit called Spicy Steve. Spicy Steve. He made his own segment. Ladies and gentlemen, you are witnessing this, a first on the Pop Podcast. Look, Steven said, get out of my way. I got a segment. Spicy Steve, here we go. What's the question, y'all? Get this chili pepper. Y'all are cooking already, but they don't even know what we have the meat of this podcast still. So I want to just segue us with this spicy question. Have you ever disagreed on vision? And what did the process look like without breaking each other's trust? Me and him? Yeah. All the time. What are we talking about? What are we talking about? What are we talking about? Come on, Spicy Steve. I'm sure there's so many leaders I love it. who are partnering together. Good question, yeah. And they disagree, and then they end the company.

Right, right. Very good, very good. That's a good question. Yeah, the answer to the question is yes, because we are two very strong, unique individuals. I think three things come to my mind when I think about, because this is true. What we have is unique. And you don't see it often. It's true, very true. Charles can lead, and speak, and create, and write. Mebacon can do all the things that I do. some things that I can't, like ride a bike. Crash on a bike, yeah. No, I can crash on a bike, but I can't ride it at 45 miles an hour. Like, I can't do that. So, um, but I think that one of the things that we have come to the conclusion is of is the vision is more important than our opinions. Very good. And so we have bought into the vision of representing God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ that anchors what we're doing. The second thing is we have a culture that we do that in. Yep. So, like, it is a, so we say it like this, culture eats vision for lunch. Yep. Because you can have a vision for something, but if it's in the wrong culture, it's toasted. Yep. And, and so there's a culture that we have an honor. Like, there are ideas that I let him fully express to be able to actually be open in my heart to the idea. Yep. Also, there are times when I'm like, nah, that's not what I was feeling with the thing. And he's like, yo, okay, cool. Yep. And then there's other times, like, make the decision. Like, I don't, whatever you think. Yeah. I mean, one of the beautiful times that this comes out is, like, when I go on sabbatical past couple of years, I've given Charles a six-week series, and I don't, like, with anybody else or anything else, like, I'm like, okay, what are you preaching? What's happening? But, like, I give him autonomy, like, whatever you want it to look like, whatever you want it to feel like, whatever you want to speak about. And because of our

relationship, he'll be like, yo, so this is what I'm doing, and he'll run things back by me, and he wants that. But, like, style, fonts, music, we disagree on all those things at times. Yeah. But I think the, the vision is the anchor. Yep. The culture is the container. And then the, what I would say is that the thing that binds us together is our relationship. Yep. There you go. And so I think, for me, it's kind of like, yeah, I would do that differently, but that's crazy, though. Yeah. Like, there's certain things that we do. So what would you say? Well, I think, to me, the biggest thing is trust. Like, I think we have cultivated trust through communication, through giving that trust, like, through adversity. Yes, absolutely. Through, there's some stuff you only build through going through hardship. And I think that's a specific thing, and I can speak to this from, from specifically my perspective, meaning if you are in a position where you are there to help execute vision, so you have vision in you, and you're there to help execute vision, is I've seen, I mean, so many moments of investment that you do as a leader, that you invest in friendship, in relationship, in support, in love, both practical and spiritual, all these different things. So that way, when you're like, hey, I got this big idea, you've got a wealth of trust that you've invested that you're pulling on. Yeah. And then there's also times where you also, I think, as a leader, you're so generous with vision and ideas that you invite that in. Yeah. So you, you have people around you who it's like, oh, man, part of me being here all this time is, man, I know there's no idea that God hasn't given me that you won't create space for in the right timing, in the right setting. But it's like, I think that's something that's so missed is either people withhold their ideas or they feel like there's not space. But I think that's something in our disagreement to go back to what you said about vision is you have to have a big enough vision that can hold the people you think you want. He just said a full bar. And I would phrase it like this. The vision has to be bigger than you. Like most people don't have a vehicle that other people can get in. That's good. You are literally riding a motorcycle. Yeah. And my vision is a bus, like a sprint. Mine is the one that you take from the church trip with like the, I

don't know what the company is called. 55 seats. Yeah. Like, yeah, it's true. If you have a vision that can carry people. Yeah. Then number one, you don't feel isolated. Number two, you have community and relationship. And number three, it's fun going there. Yes, bro. And I think a lot of people only have vision for them and their husband. Yeah. You don't even have vision for your kids. Wow. Yep. Come on. Like you got a family of seven, but only vision for you and him. Come on. Or you only got vision for you and your child. Yep. And your husband's sitting like, when y'all coming back for me? Like, like, I just think that analogy is so true. And I think there are too many pastors, leaders of organization that the vision is only for them. Yeah. To be at a level of success that strokes their ego or makes them feel comfortable. But I truly believe like the Bible says it like this, the world of the generous gets larger and larger, but the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. I don't think that's just in finance. Yeah. I think that's an influence. I think that's Platform. I think that's in relationships. Yeah, and so for me I mean and you can probably speak to it But the vision since you've been here because if you don't know Charles was about to be a lead pastor of a church that was going it was named Eden He killed the thing and literally came and it's like I'm supposed to be here. Yeah and walk with you and I'm like, whoa Like brother. Okay. Like hey, but Charles did not have a job for seven months Yeah, like I want you to I want you to literally think he came to work and people don't know this But I can say this because I saw it every day I mean if somebody's like I'm coming here to help you and he's like, well, we wasn't planning on that Yeah, so we don't got money right now and we do not have an office and we don't have a desk Yeah, and every day he came on time for seven months with no paycheck like Again, that's where some of the trust was built. Yeah. Yeah, that's true You spoke at Transformation Church three weeks into being With me. Yeah, Brie and Tammy was like, who is this little boy?

You ain't gonna have him preaching. You ain't even let me breathe. Yeah And I was like, yeah, I know he has something like I saw it in you I mean that was a that was such an investment trust to me Like that was a oh my gosh, like I've only been here a couple week And when you when you do that it pulls something out of you that you didn't know was there and so now I'm just I'm Just saying that because I think there's so many people in marriages and in friendships where that trust is both ways Yeah, when you invest in that way, it gives them space to then be like, oh, I'm so down what vision we got Let me do it. And so it's a beautiful thing. I want I want to get to something that we were actually talking about yesterday Yeah, which is if you have this big vision, I think there are key elements and it's not it's not Exhausted but there are some key things that it takes. Yeah to go from Ideation to actually implementation to it's in my head. Okay. I wrote it down But oh, it's actually here you you the spirit bank of it. There's a thing then it's like Oh, we're actually in the room or you have the vision for the business or the vision for the idea vision for the family But how do you actually do that? There are some key elements that we were talking about the other day that I think can be helpful for people to kind of Put some legs to how do I actually do this practical handles? Yeah to taking your vision creative vision, whatever vision. Yeah, I'm bringing it into real life. Yeah I would say the first thing is some type of skill. Come on We got a star and I got about there because there are a lot of people with vision to be a singer that can't sing Like I want to be very clear like like like you want to be a dancer. You don't have rhythm And I'm not saying you can't get rhythm. You don't have it now. Yes, we got to be honest A lot of times and I'm using trite examples Yeah, but a lot of people want to be a CEO that can't talk to people. Mm-hmm A lot of people want yeah want to be millionaires and can't manage thousands Yeah, yeah, and so I think that the skill part of it a lot of time gets Skirted over in church because we think that God will allow us to do the impossible Like like brother like like I gotta work with you. Yes, I can do all things do Christ's in me That's not what the scripture means in first off at number two Like you ain't gave him nothing to work you like you are not proficient in yes like yeah, and I think that that is why I am grateful for the culture of

Continued learning that I have adopted you have adopted. I mean I think about and again, this is the vision part of it I'm just I'm reminiscing of when we did not have money as a church when I did not personally have money when I did not have a Vehicle as the lead pastor of the church Walking. I got a house close enough so I could walk to church to my job Like I need everybody to understand this. Yeah in that season. I begin to study finances Yeah, now most people would be like Why would I be studying finance? I have nothing to even work with but I knew that there would be a point in my life that I would manage millions And if I didn't have the skill to understand the language to be able to have intelligent conversations to understand profit loss and Loss statements and what assets were and be able to understand event if I didn't know that stuff Yeah, I would God blesses what you prepare for so good And I just kept saying that God blesses what you prepare for and so I got skilled. Yeah in Money, yeah up to the point where I was able to Negotiate deals. Yeah for our church for my personal life for all this stuff because I got the skill before I had the actual Substance, there you go and that's where I'm just encouraging somebody like if you're gonna bring the vision to life if you have a vision to be in fashion Like study something. Yes I know something even if it's not what you're gonna be doing like be able to have that because your ability and your proficiency in your craft matters. It matters, bro. And I don't know, I just. This, we have to make sure we hit our time, but this one for me is such a soapbox because I think people use the excuse of talent as like a reason of why they're not able to reach their greatest potential. Wow. And the idea is everybody in the NBA is talented.

Yeah. So it's like, talent is, I knew kids in high school who were talented. Good analogy. I know kids now, who can, we got a kid at the, they did a dunk contest. Jumping over people. Jumping over two people between his legs. But talent is not the make or break between you reaching the greatest potential God has put on the inside of you. It is your ability to work and grow in your craft. The skill. And that is something that you can control. You can grow in. So people who are watching this, it's like, and you've challenged me so much in that of like, if I say I want to do this, show me the evidence by how you're working on your skill. If I was to look at how much time you spent doing the thing you said you're going to do one day, would it be apparent like, oh yeah, they obvious. Part of that for me, practically right now, is I wrote my first book and I love the process and I really feel like, man, I want to have a vision of writing multiple books on a wide variety of topics from theology to practical stuff, to like all this stuff. And I had a friend ask me, it's like, okay, great.

So you're going to be a best-selling author with hundreds of books. How much time a week do you spend writing books? And I was like, well, I mean, I just finished my last book. But like, how much time a week do you spend developing your writing craft? And I was like, well, you know, so none. So just one day, you're just going to match. And it was just a good check for me. Well, now I have a requirement, it's like, oh, I write four articles a week. And it's a practical thing to force me to say, I now have evidence for what I say I want to do because I'm working on my craft. And so I think to anybody, if you're going to, and this is a great indicator of maybe why it's not the vision, or even a greater thing, maybe God's trying to give you the vision, but you don't have the partner yet. So God will give you the vision, but he's saying, I'm going to bring somebody in that has the skill for that. But you said skill, what are some other things that help bring that? Let me just make this, I'm going to go to number two, but I do want to say, I'm writing my fourth book and I hate the process of skills. Charles can literally say he loves the process. I hate it.

But at the end of the day, and again, but that's not stopping me from doing it. Come on, there you go. Because I've had to develop the skill, watch this, to do things that are hard, to get results that are unheard of. That's so good. A lot of people think hard means I'm supposed to stop. Hard for me means that I'm supposed to do it because God has something on the other side of this that his eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, neither has it entered in the heart to make the things that God has planned. But a lot of times the pathway to peace is through hardship. There you go. And so, yeah. There's something, there's a quote I found at the end of writing my first book that said, amateurs write when they feel like it, and professionals write whether they feel like it or not. That's nasty. And it just, and you can apply that to anything in your life, but that's what you're talking about. It's like, if I'm gonna grow in this, I can't look at how I feel or what's natural to me. I've gotta put it in the work. Let me just finish with this. That's why vision is so important. Because vision is the North Star when it doesn't look like

or you don't feel like doing it. Very good. You have to remember the vision. Let me give you Bible for it. The Bible says, for the joy that was set before Jesus, he endured the cross. He's literally up there bleeding out for all of humanity. People said Hosanna on one day, then spit at him and chose Barabbas the next. Like all this other stuff. And it said he had a vision in front of him that made him endure the hard moment. I think that everybody has to realize vision is so powerful that it kept Jesus on the cross. For the joy that was set before him, for the vision, he saw himself rejoicing over every salvation, over me coming to him out of addiction or pornography. For the joy that was set before him, he endured this moment. Come on. I think that, that's why I say vision is most valuable. Because vision will give you the power to endure when it's absolutely unbearable. Come on. What you got Steve? That's why pressure doesn't dictate your direction, vision does. Uh oh, he's bringing up a former episode we haven't checked out. We talked about leadership under pressure, but that is so true.

And that's why a lot of times I think that people need to develop in their skill. That's gonna help you execute that vision. And then I think people need to develop in their speech. Because one of the things that you have to realize when you get a vision is you're gonna have to tell some people. You're gonna have to be able to explain it. You're gonna have to explain it. You're gonna have to communicate it. And a lot of people get stuck here. I really do have this great idea. I mean. It's like tell me about it. Yeah, it's gonna change the world and it has something to do with the tube. And then it's like, whoa, brother. Like wait a minute. I really feel like sometimes I'll be asking Arlo, he be made something. He's like, yeah. Um, and then you're and it's kind of like, you know, it's like no actual like thing. It's just all the it's your filler words He got that that's a generational blessing that passed down to him. He's making his speech long No, it is. You gotta be able to communicate it. Yeah, and I think that um, that is a skill too. Mm-hmm that you can learn Yeah, so many people say I'm not good at talking and I'm psyched first off change your confession Yeah, like life and death is in the power of the tongue like yo If you are going to be somebody that has a big vision, you're gonna have to communicate it Yeah, whether it's people to execute it whether it's people to partner with you Whether it's people to actually help you do it because I tell people this don't ever pay for what vision can pay for. Mm-hmm A lot of people think they need money when they just need to know how to communicate better, bro

That is so good. A lot of people said well, I got a higher videographer Do you know there's a videographer praying for work right now? And I'm not saying that That you don't pay them I'm saying that you might have a partner if you could convey the vision Yes, and then he brings the part that you can't do Yeah, and then y'all both get paid when you sell the company to like yes Yeah, but a lot of people think they need money when they need better communication. That is so good I can't tell you like even we were talking about Brie earlier. Yeah, but Brie I communicated the vision while she was in college of Being a leader on my youth leadership team. Mm-hmm and with my mouth no Yeah, no money. Yeah, no paycheck. No nothing. She gave along with about eight other people Five years of their life to helping me build This youth ministry Wow, and now she's the chief of staff at Transformation Church Well, that's because I couldn't pay her not just I would yeah, yeah but vision Yeah, what's the thing that made her be like, but I want to give to this Mm-hmm, and so I'm just encouraging somebody like your speech may be worth more than you think Yeah, like good you work on your skill But you also work on communicating what God has given you and I think that changes everything. Absolutely I think the third thing that I would say that everybody needs a spark. Come on Yeah, like like what is your creative engine? What does what does where do your ideas come from? Yeah, and I think this is fun for me and you because we are Sparks for each other 100% there are practical ways that we get spark So if you got this one vision or you got this thing How do you keep that thing or more ideas or how do you keep those things going? Well, I think it's it goes back to this idea of being just being open and seeing to me I view everything as a spark. Yes, sir So I think some people kind of they have these modes where it's like, oh I have my time I set aside to work on the business and then I'll sit there and I'll just be inspired and you know like that Visitation and some sort of versus like all throughout my life this thing right here can be sparking Oh that can that color I saw when I was at the Walgreens and it was on that thing

I like that color and then we're in a design meeting for the represent store and I'm like, wait a second Green we say that all the time. I mean, that's how we just found out our branding literally for the pop podcast Yes, you've already seen it now. Yes, but you don't know this because we're about progression over perfection. We have done six episodes Yeah without knowing what the feeling look and not because we didn't try Yes, we have had tons of iterations and doing different things. But what we we just stayed open Yeah, like we knew it wasn't it like producer Steve been like god, yeah, here's 90 images Which one is it? I got a producer. Yeah for stand stand Sturdy, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but but the truth of the matter is when it came. Yeah, everybody was like that's it That's it Yeah And because we were opening up and I and I think it's because our spark as soon as I said it though Charles goes to his phone. Yep, and I literally get a text message of 19 Graphics, you know that are in the vein of what we're talking about because all we needed was a spark. There you go and this reminds me biblically of When Mary was pregnant with Jesus that she went to I believe it was her cousin's house. Yeah, and What was in her made they were both pregnant at the same time what was in her made what was in the other jump? Yep, that's what a spark is Yeah Like who is around you and what do you watch that makes the vision on inside of you jump? That's so good Who are the musicians you listen to that make you want to write music who who are the preachers you listen to that make you? Want to be better at your skill like matter of fact who makes you want to be better at just preaching. Oh, this is good I just There is I mean the the mate the I watch a sermon the other day by Judah Smith that still got me because he like he's him was like Early person that I watch preach that got me But somebody random that inspires me a lot is, shout out to Graham Ferdig. Oh! Graham just started- Shout out, Graham!

Shout out, Graham. I love Graham. So Graham is literally 19 years old. Like 10 years over in North Carolina with a Bible study. Literally. Started a Bible study. It blows up. And I mean, his story is so beautiful because, I mean, he's straight out- he's a senior in high school now, so maybe he's 18. So he's in high school and he had a scholarship to do wrestling to go, and he felt- I remember he texted me, he was like, I think I'm going to do church and I'm going to start this little Bible study. It's blown up. And the other day I watched him preach a sermon, it was called How to Live in the Low. And his introduction, his setup, his story, how he flipped it. And I watched a 45 minute sermon from an 18 year old kid and was taking notes on, dang, that was a beautiful- Yeah. And I think to me that is the- that's a part of the spark thing is some people limit their spark to certain types of people. Yes. So it's like I can only- if I'm a preacher, I can only be sparked by preachers who are either further than me or more than me. Or in the same stream as me or believe everything. Yeah, dawg. No, bro. Like there are so many people. There are people I listen to that it's like, I don't even be preaching how you preaching or what you- but how you do that one thing is so specific and proficient that I want to learn from that. And so, yeah, for me, it's that. I also went on a random rant of studying actors and how they navigate like a scene in a movie to try to gain spark from. But yeah, there's a- what about you? Where do you- where do you get your- I mean, I listen to everybody. Yes. You- you know, my- my- my preacher speaking gamut is everybody from- It's so wide. Martin Luther King to like, you know, like I be trying- just because I'm into people

who have figured out how to communicate. Like, and- but if we go pastors like Darius Daniels is a monster. Like, it's- it's very kind of unfair. Stephen Furtick, I have watched how he crafts- craziest thing in the world. You talking about his son. Um, the way I met him is he saw a message of mine that I titled the same message he titled because he had inspired me to preach the message to our church when we were 1519. So people don't even understand that, like, even giving credit when you're sparked. Yes, that's so good. Like, people don't understand. I literally- and I was like, shout out to Pastor Stephen in the message. I was like, you don't know it yet, but we're friends. And like, I'm literally out there just looking like a dweeb. And he finds my number, calls me and leaves me this minute and a half voice message. And I was like, yo, hey, I don't know who you are, but you're anointed. You're called. I watched how you did it and said the same basic thing you said about Grammy is like your setup and your delivery and the jokes and he's like, it just inspired me. And I'm like, what is real life right now? I remember, bro, you- we were in your car in the Impala. We were in the black Impala and you played that, but we were like, what? Like, literally both of us. Bro, like, but what are you thinking? Like, I'm just pastoring these 300 people and this dude who has churches all over the world and has inspired our journey in different ways. Like, what is going on? So I think about, like, the spark coming from different places. Also, the spark comes from my kids. Like, I cannot tell you how many messages and moments and thoughts that I get from listening to Bella or listening to Ava or listening to MJ and what he's into and the music he likes. And Gia is a genius. Like, I just, it's like all. So I think that an old drummer told me that you can learn from anybody. They may not be as good as you, but you can learn something from anybody. And I've adopted that. And so I think that is one of the things that we did. So we've talked about, because we got to wrap this up because this is a good one. This is good. We might have to do another vision sometime soon, but we talked about us actually having skill. And then we talked about us actually getting communication, our speech together. If you got a vision, you're going to bring it to real life. And then we just talked about the spark, the creative engine. And then I think everybody needs stamina. Like, it's not enough to just get the idea or the vision. You got to have some skill

around it, all that. But like, will you last? And what is your work ethic? Like, I've just not seen a lot of people reach the level that they desire or that even God designed without stamina to stay. Come on. That's it right there. And I heard Darius say this. I said, he said, faith is not about how much you have. It's how long you last. And a lot of times, will you have faith in the vision long enough to see it come to pass? That's so good. I mean, I think about these stories where people were about to give up. about to stop, and it was literally like, no, just keep going, and then that's when everything broke. And maybe you're tired of doing the thing, but I think I wanna encourage you with the scripture that says don't get weary in well-doing. If you're doing the right thing, keep doing that, keep believing in the vision, keep staying on purpose, keep showing up, keep giving to the thing that God has given you, because at just the right time, God's going to show up and renew your strength to those who watch this, don't faint. They don't stop, they don't give in. So if it's the marriage, don't give up on it. If it's the business, don't give up on it. Pray for spiritual stamina, physical stamina. Pray for a work ethic. If you used to be a procrastinator or lazy, or that's your tendency, pray for stamina so that you can actually walk into everything that God shows you with your eyes closed. That's so good, that's so good. Well, I think it is, you can't replace just hard work. There's just no replacement for it. It's funny, I think as with our kiddos,

I'm trying to figure, it's funny, I was talking to somebody, it was another dad on Arlo's soccer team, and I was like, it's weird to try to teach your kids the lesson you got without the circumstances in which you got it. Yikes, yikes. So Metcalf's got some hard, you know what I'm saying? Metcalf's got hard work from some trappy situations, you know what I'm saying? Like, not crappy, trappy. It was just, we didn't have it, or we couldn't do it, or we had to walk some. We had to make it work. Yes, so there was this figure it out, and like, okay, I don't got this, and oh gosh, I'll never forget, I was cutting dress socks into Allen Iverson sleeves because I couldn't get. Let's go. I was wearing my dad's black, because they were kind of thin, you know what I'm saying? That's creative. That's vision right there, ladies and gentlemen. If you've never seen Vision, that's Vision. Cutting the end off a dress sock, but I'm saying that to say, now I'm trying to think of like, okay, I got hard work because of these certain things, and at a certain time, my dad was like,

hey, you gotta get, at 14, he's like, you gotta get a job, you gotta start paying these little things, and I'm trying to get now, it's like, okay, there's some of these things that are the exact same thing. There's some of these that it's like, oh, if I can provide this for my kid, I wanna be able to do that, but how do I still get you this value of hard work? Because you just can't, you can't replace it. I think that as parents, and I know this is not a parent podcast, but part of the thing is, you're supposed to train a child in the way they should go, so that when they get old, they don't depart from it, and so you may have to set up those situations. That's what we've had to do. Like, Bella wanted to quit basketball, and she's actually good at basketball, and we let her take a break, but we told her that she had to start playing again, because I need you to understand, like, there's something that you have to continue to do even when you don't want it, because it may not be basketball, but it's gonna be something else, and I would rather her learn that lesson with mom and dad there to help coach her, and to help her when she's down, and to give her a different perspective when she wants,

you know what I'm saying? And so I think that part of our responsibility, even for ourselves, is to put ourselves in positions that create stamina. I mean, I remember when you first started riding bikes, like, it was like, I'm gonna ride these, whatever miles was low. And then sometime recently, you told me you was gonna ride 100 and something miles. What did you say you were riding? It was a century, a sub-five century, so it's 100 miles in under five hours. Look at my face. Nope. What? You're going from here to Oklahoma City on a bike? It's true, yeah. What in the world? Well, and here's the connection with that. This is a beautiful connection. So in cycling, the reason you ride certain amount of miles during the week is because you can get strong, but it doesn't matter if you're strong if your heart can't take it. So what happens is there's this washing machine effect they talk about in cycling, where it's summertime, everybody rides their bike, it's amazing. Over the winter, some people will keep riding

or they'll exercise, but the decrease in the volume, your legs stay strong, but your heart gets weak. And so what the connection is, your heart is the first thing to go. And usually when people are giving in a vision, you have the strength to go, but your heart hasn't built up the stamina. The connection would be your character hasn't built up the stamina, your integrity, your honesty, your forgiveness. And so the thing is you gotta stay consistent because you don't want your heart to go. And I think for anybody, if you've got a vision, building up the stamina is something you gotta have. What's our last one? Well, I think that once you get the skill, once you understand that you actually have to have the right speech, and then you walk into environments that have the spark, or you get the environments that have the spark, and you commit to having stamina, I think that's the key. That's when the supply comes. There you go. The resources. Yep. The provision. Yeah.

And a lot of people want the provision before they do any of the other stuff. Come on. Lord, if you just give me the money, if you just give me the job, if you just give me, I'll get the skill. Yep. And you know what? I'll start talking, right? And then you know what? Like, and we do it in reverse, but I definitely believe everything on that list to see it go from idea or imagination to a vision to actually creative execution and implementation in front of us. It takes us doing those things first. And I think it's God's promise that he'll give the supply. That's good. I think about a scripture that says he'll give seed to the sower. That means you have to actually have decided you're gonna sow. You actually have to find a place you're gonna sow. You have to dig where you're gonna sow. You have to, all of that stuff, and then seed comes. Yeah, yeah. You have to get a vision of this place producing fruit. Yeah. Like, why would you plant it if you don't think it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then he gives, oh, here's a seed. Yeah. Because I know that you've done everything you need to do to sow. And so I'm just encouraging somebody that's watching this right now, man, I know God has placed big things on the inside of you. I know there are things that almost seem scary to say out loud right now that God is saying, but I want it to come to pass. This is your opportunity to go from the victim to a victor, to change your perspective on the vision that God has given you. It's not too big. It's too big for just you. So that means he's gonna send people, but what can you do right now? And I'm just praying that you have progress in this area, that you have the courage to actually do, say, and see what God has in store for you. This is, I believe, the biggest vacancy in most people's lives, how decades, how months turn into decades of no progression because they do not have a vision. Because without a vision, people perish. But with the vision, people live. Families live, communities live. And today I'm just believing God wants to do something big on the inside of you. Charles, this has been amazing.

This has been a great one. Yeah, bro. Episode seven. And I believe, I just wanna encourage you, man, take one step today. Yeah, dog. One step today. Maybe you had the idea, write it down. Maybe you wrote it down, you need to clarify it. You work on talking about it. But one step today and you do that, you line those days up, and it'll turn into something beautiful. Wow, because progression is the point. Come on, somebody. And it's time for your idea to pop off. Pop off. Listen, we love you. Share this with somebody and share it with a friend. And we love you so much. Thank you for joining the Pop Podcast. Hey, we wanna hear from them. Like, yo, if you wanna hear any topics, if you wanna find out literally anything about us. If you got some questions for Spicy Steve. For Spicy Steve. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Like, we really are excited about where this is going. And if you've watched all the episodes, you have seen the progression of what is happening.

And honestly, we're just getting started. So until next time, like, comment, subscribe, and share this with somebody. If any nugget helped you, get creative with this. Take something we said, create a graphic, create a song. Like, I'm daring somebody right now to let, the thing I always tell Charles is, I love when creativity sparks creativity. Something we said sparked you. Let us know. We wanna celebrate it. If you make some dope clothes, send us one. I'm an extra large, he's a? Extra medium. Extra medium! Medium! And until next time. You know what we always say. Pop till it pops!