10.1 - New Year, New Me

Season 10 of Stand Strong comes with a new format! Join Paul and Noah as they work through the five segments of this episode:

Proverbs Made Personal – Proverbs 11:14
Topic of the Day – New Year, New Me
What's in our prayers?
People Want to Hear: Budgeting, Finances, and Stewardship
What are you hearing or reading?

Fill out our Listener Survey or Submit a Question.

Paul and Noah both preach and teach with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/

Transcript

Noah: 0:22

Welcome back to the Stand Strong Podcast, season 10. We're in a new year, 2026, and I know that where we're going here right at the beginning is the proverbs. Paul, you picked out a proverb. In Proverbs chapter 11 for us to talk about here at the beginning. What what verse was that again?

Paul: 0:41

It's verse 14. I love Proverbs 1114. Here's a proverb made personal to me, Proverbs 1114, where there is no guidance, the people fall, but in abundance of counselors, there is victory. Mm.

Noah: 0:56

Yeah, that's it's interesting. I'm reading from the ESV and it says there's safety there at the end. Oof. I'm thinking about times in my life where that I, I should have been hearing that, but why'd you pick that? You know, this is Proverbs made personal. Why'd you pick that?

Paul: 1:11

Well, whenever I see guidance, so he says no guidance, other translations. The absence of wise leadership. What's gonna happen? People are fall, other translations, nations are gonna fall. Yeah. Bad things happen to individuals to people, to nations, to churches, to families in the absence of wise leadership and good guidance and counsel. Yeah. And the point he makes is, okay. I like the translation that has victory. Yours has, I think safety. Yeah. Both of those fit. But if we want victory and safety, everybody listens and says, I don't want victory or safety. That's

Noah: 1:45

crazy.

Paul: 1:46

We want victory and safety. In our lives, in our families. So what's the wisdom you have to have? Not just counselors. Mm-hmm. Plural and abundance of counselors. Yeah. Those are two things, Noah. Counseling wise. Counseling and a lot of it, because you get a different perspective.

Noah: 2:07

Yeah.

Paul: 2:07

Different voices, different perspectives. All the voices are wise. All the voices are gonna implement truth.

Noah: 2:15

Yeah.

Paul: 2:15

It's, it's worth hearing. But different perspectives.

Noah: 2:19

Yeah.

Paul: 2:20

And, you know, moving forward, man, I know what we want, what I want, what I want, what family needs. We just gotta be willing to listen to others. Yeah. Yeah. And trust the advice of others. Man, I,

Noah: 2:34

this is one of those things that I wish I had developed a skill. Earlier in my life, and I'm quite frankly, I wish that I have had, had developed it to a greater extent than I already have. This is something that I, I, an area where I still need to grow to a large degree, and I know it that I, I need to find. Wise counsel, and like you said, not just a little bit of wise counsel. Mm-hmm. I, I have a tendency to make this personal to me. I, I have a tendency to make up my mind about things. And then seek out counsel. Right? And yeah. When, when you do that, what are you really seeking out? You're not seeking out counts. I know when I'm in that situation, well, I know what I want to do and I've already kind of made up my mind. So now who can I go talk to? Who I think will agree with me. Right. And it's not even, that's not even to discredit those people. They could be wise, experienced people, but I'm not, there's not an honesty in what I'm doing there. And that's something that sticks out to me when I read this proverb. Something that hits me very personally is I need to seek this out because, like you said, it offers a different perspective. If I'm picking my counselors because I think they'll agree with me. Then I've got the wrong criteria. The right criteria is that they're wise wisdom Proverbs, what is it? Proverbs one, seven. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Fear of the Lord. Mm-hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. So that, that's something that's really helpful for me when I'm, when I'm reading it.

Paul: 4:07

Yeah. And I want, I want to end with this some counsel here don't make mistakes that I have made. And one of the mistakes I made is I would read a proverb like this and agree with it, which I should, right? You know, this is God trying to speak to me here through His word, the abundance of counselors. Well. 20, 25 year ago, Paul would, would hear that and say, okay, I need to go buy three or four different books. Mm. It's a new year. I'm gonna go buy three or four different books and read'em all, get a different perspective. They'll, those are my trusted counselors. Mm. I, I'm short circuiting that, which means in a chat, GPD copilot. You know? Yeah. Let some, some robot that I don't know. Talk to me. Develop relationships in your life. Yeah. So that as a result of the relationships that you have in your life, you have someone that you can go to yes. And sit in the same room with, talk on the phone with. Those are the trusted counselors. That's the wise leadership, the mentors you need to welcome into your life. So start now investing yourself into the life of other people. Mm-hmm. So that you can learn. And find safety and victory.

Noah: 5:31

Yeah. Amen to all of that. Well, I feel like there's a little bit of explanation due. You may feel like you're getting dropped into the middle of something here. For, for the family here at Cedar Park. We gave them a little bit of a heads up that in 2026, the Stand Strong podcast is gonna have a little bit of a different format and a little bit more nuanced direction, perhaps you could say. So for, if, if you were. Worshiping with us on January 4th, and you heard us discussing this, then you already kind of know where we're going. If you are among the people who listen to this and are not members of the Cedar Park Church and are not aware this new direction, I'll summarize it this way. The first Monday of every month, we are going to release one longer episode, like the one that we're doing today. And then the second Monday of every month, we're going to release a shorter episode, about 10 to 15 minutes where we'll be kind of unpacking and discussing one of the things that we'll bring up in the long episode. And that'll be it for the month. There will just be two episodes a month, one long, one short. And if you follow along with us. Then I think you'll pretty quickly get the rhythm, get the feel of this new format. And our prayer is that this will be beneficial, it'll be helpful and it'll provide some opportunity to discuss things in a way that previously we haven't here on this podcast. So I'm excited about it. Yeah. Like different every once in a while. New. Yeah. New flavor. New flavor, new flavor. Which, you know, this is an appropriate time to think about that. I think we we, the topic that we're gonna be discussing for the next few minutes is this idea of New year new. Me. Yeah. That's a phrase that we hear a lot.

Paul: 7:18

Oh yeah. Well, why not? Why not every other podcaster? Let's jump on board. But we had talked about that season opportunity where so many people are, are thinking about newness. Mm-hmm. Freshness. Different change and, and that can be a good thing, it can be a positive thing. There's, there's a poem, Noah, I, I don't know who the author is. And to be honest, there have been different variations of this poem. And it's even been attributed to different authors. This is the best I can do is just tell you, I don't know who wrote this, and there's different flavors to it. Let, let me just read you the shorter version of it. I kinda like this poem since it's a new year. I came to my teacher with quivering lip, my task undone teacher, do you have another page for me? I've spoiled this one. He took the old page, stained and blotted, and he gave me a new one, clean and unspotted, and into my sad face. He smiled and said, do better next time. My child. I came to the throne with trembling heart. The old year gone, Lord, do you have another chance for me? I've spoiled this one. So my Lord took the old year, stained and blotted, and he gave me a new one, clean and unspotted, and into my glad face. He smiled and said, do better next time my child. You know, now you've probably already heard that poem. Here's why I like it. 58-year-old Paul likes that poem because it reminds me of the mercy of the Lord. It's new. It, it's fresh. Mm-hmm. The opportunity for a fresh start, but I have to be honest in evaluating. Last year, old me who hasn't made mistakes.

Noah: 9:07

Yeah.

Paul: 9:07

Who doesn't have some regret? Who's not excited and thankful for the mercy of the Lord and the forgiveness of the Lord or the compassion of the Lord. And he says, okay, you, you get a do over. You can learn. You've learned from'em. Yeah. You can't undo 2025, but you can learn from it. Yes. Anyway, the 58-year-old Paul in the room kind of likes

Noah: 9:32

that poem. Yeah, I, I think that's a, a good reminder. It's interesting this time of year, it's, it's arbitrary in one sense, and yet there is a universal sense of appreciating the passing of time. I think everybody at some point has a moment where they stop and they go, wow. Mm-hmm. Like time is moving quickly and I think the new year is. A, a natural time for us to do that, as stereotypical as that may be. And so that kind of a reflection, I think is really helpful and really positive. I remember when I was in college, one of my college professors said, you know, in, in your high school yearbooks and in your college yearbooks, sometimes people will write a note in it that says something like, don't ever change. He's like, what a curse. What a curse. Another thing I think that's interesting about the new year is it's one of the times when people encourage themselves to change. Kind of going along with what you just said a moment ago, what that sparked in my mind was part of change means we have to recognize. That there needs to be a change. Mm-hmm. There is no, there's nothing wrong with looking back at a, at the past year or two years, or five years or however much, and go, I didn't do that. Right. I made these mistakes. I can see where I've, where I've had these problems, done this, done this the wrong way, made these mistakes, handled this incorrectly. I can see where I failed to glorify God and I want to do better. That's something that. I, I want to encourage in myself mm-hmm. And in other people, and I think now's a good time to do that.

Paul: 11:17

Yeah. You know, I, I keep coming back to, I've, I've got it in my office. You know, one of the definitions to Insanity, people have heard this over and over, but, but it resonates. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Noah: 11:32

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 11:33

You can't just keep doing the same thing over and over. If something needs to be changed, then, then change is not just a good idea. It's the best idea. Yeah. And here's a basic thing, Noah. When, when, when people start looking at change and honestly evaluating their life. Two mistakes generally can be made doing nothing or doing too much. Yeah. So the right balance in that, I mean, always start with God.'cause nothing in life is right unless the heart is right mm-hmm. With God. So, to, to start with God. I think it's, it's a simple, okay, Lord, here's. Here's where I know I have been weak, and here's where I know I need help.

Noah: 12:28

Yeah,

Paul: 12:29

and, and Lord, I'm gonna start by talking to you about it and seeking your wisdom. And it may be that I need to get help with some of these things from other people back to our proverb, right? And I may need some counseling or counselors, but where do we start? We always start with God. Spend some time alone with God. You want to hear from God. When I mean, hear from God, what I mean is you need to be speaking to him in prayer and, and, and listening to, to what his word has to say to you to start implementing change. Yeah. Need to change in your life. Yeah.

Noah: 13:06

Change, like you said a moment ago, it's not just a good idea, but when, when something needs to be corrected, when something needs to be. Improved change is, it's the calling. It's what we're called to be a part of. And when, when we put it in that context, when we, when we think of it that way I think it helps us appreciate the importance of, of hammering away at it. Just, you know, sometimes people will use the idea of, of, of the grind and there is somewhat of a grind mm-hmm. Involved. And, and here's the real reason that becomes important because if we are, if, if our, if our attempts to change, attempts at renewal are based on. Perfectly establishing new habits, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, as we sometimes get hung up on at the beginning of the year. Then January 5th is gonna hit, and we'll have gotten behind on our Bible reading, and January 12th is gonna hit, and we're gonna have eaten something that we said we wouldn't eat. And February, you know, you see where it goes, it's so quickly we burn ourselves out. As opposed to thinking of it in the way that scripture talks about change, when scripture talks about the kind of transformation that we're supposed to experience, that we're supposed to be participating in this renewal that we see talked about. Mm-hmm. Two things. One, it's always talked about in terms of something that we are working with God in. It's not simply by our own ability. Rather, we're being renewed. We're being renewed, and what's the other part of that day by day? Mm-hmm. There's a daily aspect. So I, I recognize that I could risk getting really preachy here, but if we don't wanna burn out, we have to recognize those two things. One, it's not all us. Right. And two. We, it's a, there's a daily thing. Earlier you said Mercy's new every morning. That's Lamentations, right? Mm-hmm. His mercies are new every morning. Yeah. Last year was last year, but also yesterday was yesterday. So if we want to be transformed, if we want to to change as we're called to change, then we have to remember that yesterday is yesterday and we have to remember that the harvest is still there. We will reap, as Paul writes in Galatians chapter six, we will reap a harvest if we don't give up. That's what he says in that context. So I I, I give that clarification to say, if you hear me say the grind and you think, oh, he's saying we just have to grind out our own happiness and our own productivity, and it's all up to us. No, no, no, no, no. Mm-hmm. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is we can't give up. Right,

Paul: 16:16

right. In, in any journey. Don't, don't go on the journey alone. Yeah. You, you, you always, you always take the Lord with you. He, he wants to partner with you so. You know, you, you gotta spend time in prayer. You gotta spend time in the word, take the Lord with you. You're dependent upon him. Take other people with you too. You're dependent upon other people. Yes. And when I say take other people with you, I don't mean like Noah, you, I'm going to, I'm gonna tell you what to do this year and what to be in my life. Yeah. But you make yourself accountable to other people. You, you establish relationships with other people. And in doing that, you, you are the one that's responsible for identifying core, certain core values. You know yourself better than anyone else, if you'll be honest. Don't overdo it. When I say identify core values, it's back to what you said. You know, okay, in January I've identified 25 core values. Well, guess what's gonna happen in February?

Noah: 17:13

Yeah.

Paul: 17:13

You know, I'm gonna be so frustrated. It's too, but you need to identify just a couple. Of core values. Those are the absolute essentials. Non-negotiables. Mm-hmm. I can't, I can't, you know, give myself a pass here. These are things that I have got to strengthen in my life, and so I have to develop a doable plan to make sure that those core values are growing and being strengthened in my life, being implemented in my life again. Understand. In order to move forward, you have to forget the past. And when I say forget the past, I, I'm not saying don't learn from the past. Right. The past is the, is the past failures mistakes? Those are over. You get a do over, don't become your own worst enemy by looking at yourself in the mirror and saying, what, I can't believe you did that last year. I can't move on. Yeah. That's why establishing core values will help you to not relive the past. Move forward. Don't live in regret of the past. It is what it is. Learn from it. Take the Lord with you. That's why I said start with God, because if the heart's not right, all of the plan or the plans, they will fail. Mm-hmm. They will fail. The heart has to be pure in, in, in everything that we do.

Noah: 18:37

Yeah. So all of that being said, I want to take a moment to disconnect that from the new year, and here's what I mean by that. Now is not the the time to take these, take stock of yourself and evaluate yourself. It's not the time to start making changes. It's not the time to refocus on the Lord. It's not the time to begin building relationships and connections, like all the things that you and I have already talked about. It is a time.

Paul: 19:09

Mm-hmm.

Noah: 19:10

And I would encourage people to take advantage of it, but an underlying part of everything that we've talked about is if you need to have your own New Year's in four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks, have it have your own New Year's where you sit down and you go, okay, I to use your terminology, I stopped taking the Lord with me. Time to refocus. Time to refocus. I lost sight of those core values that I, maybe I wrote'em down, I prayed about'em. I, I, I did, you know, studies on'em or however, you know, whatever the approach was. I did that and I lost sight of'em again. I'm gonna sit down. I'm gonna find another way to do it. We don't wanna fall into the trap of, I'm gonna do it the exact same way every time. Mm-hmm. You said earlier the definition of insanity, trying the same thing over and over, expecting different results. But the fact is there's, there's a foundation there that we have to come back to and we have, we can lose sight of it so easily, and we think that we've built something when in reality we're way over here, the foundation, it's still back there waiting for us, and we're way over here doing something else. We can have our own New Years. It doesn't have to be January 1st. Yeah. So I, I, that's something that has, I'll say that's, that's something that I've struggled with in the past and I continue to think about regularly. Some of the best and most successful habits that I've been able to develop have taken place in March. You know, or even. Late in the year, September, October, when I go, I'm done. I, I've, I've beat my head against a wall for so long. I'm, I'm doing, I'm giving up and I'm trying a different way. And what I have found, going back to that, I love the proverb that you picked for today.'cause I think it's so helpful for this kind of a discussion.

Paul: 21:11

Mm-hmm.

Noah: 21:13

One of the most consistent ways that I have found, I am able to find change in renewal. Is by finding people who excel where I do not, and surrounding myself with those people. Mm-hmm. And in a spiritual context, particularly if they, if, if I'm having trouble in my communication with my wife, then I need to find a man who has a good, strong, communicative relationship with his wife. Mm-hmm. And I need to befriend that man. Right. Same thing for parenting. This is gonna be very dependent on, you know, I'm, I'm thinking of the people that might be listening to this young, old, married, single, you know, having children, not having children. All of this is gonna depend on your particular circumstance, but really no matter where you're at, you can find somebody. Maybe your problem is I have lost all joy. Mm-hmm. That can happen at any age. You might be talking to someone half your age and see that person. That person's got joy. So befriend that person. Mm-hmm.

Paul: 22:30

Yeah. Sorry. Welcome to the time of the year when, when people are hacking and coughing and, you know, what you said is so true. Sometimes surrounding yourself with someone who, who has learned by, just by doing. Mm-hmm. There, there is wisdom with age. Yeah. Not always, but there is wisdom with age. One of the things that that has been helpful to me is to talk to people who have been in a similar situation. That I have found myself in and say, okay, what did you do? So for me, like if I look at something in 2025, I'm looking at something now in 2026 as it relates to 2025 and say, I want, I want to, I want to work on this. I want to get better at this. Well, what is the this?

Noah: 23:25

Yeah.

Paul: 23:26

Well then once you've identified what that is, then. Who might be able to help me with that.

Noah: 23:32

Yeah.

Paul: 23:33

One of the things I like to do, not just in January, but as, as a regular habit because it works for me, is who or what needs to be prioritized in my life, or you could, who or what can't wait. And what I typically do is I, I need to think about that and pray about that and identify one thing. Because I've learned if I identify more than one thing, two things are gonna happen. I'm gonna take on too much in the beginning and, and that will discourage me and frustrate me. I tend to fail. The second thing is, if I've, once I've identified the one thing, then I work to overcome. And, and to grow through that and to get better with that, to make change. And I can, I can measure the progress. Mm-hmm. It's one thing. So maybe the thing is who are who or what needs to be a priority in my life. It, it's a person or maybe it's, it's a habit that needs to be implemented because some, a common thing you hear from people is, I was guilty of procrastination.

Noah: 24:39

Yeah,

Paul: 24:40

that's a common thing. Okay. How do I overcome the procrastination? What was making me procrastinate? Why was I giving myself a pass? Six times last year saying, well, I'll do better. I'll do better. And so identify the one thing, who can I talk to that can help me with the one thing? And now I can measure progress. I, I don't procrastinate as much. Or it's instead of a what? It's a who. Oftentimes it's a child, a mate, or, or something like that. How do I make them a priority? Yeah, yeah. One thing.

Noah: 25:16

Yeah. I think something that partners well with that. And it's, it's nothing, it's not a new concept, but the idea of identifying the motivation, identifying the why.

Paul: 25:32

Mm-hmm.

Noah: 25:32

And making sure that it's the correct motivation can go a long way in establishing change that has previously failed. You know, I think the classic, you know, physical example would be how many people at the beginning of the year have all of these, like health related goals, weight loss related goals, that kind of thing.

Paul: 25:56

Mm-hmm.

Noah: 25:56

Well, a lot of times the why. Is not developed. Someone just says, well, I, I know that I am, I'm heavier than I should be, and so I wanna lose weight. Okay? That's not a why for me. In, in times that I have been particularly dedicated in habits of healthy as far as what I eat and how I take care of my body, the why. I remember I had a, I had a friend who made a, some very pointed comments to me. And the made it clear that if I don't take care of myself, the work that I do with my family in the kingdom, it will suffer. Mm-hmm. As life goes on. And if I can do something now to extend the, the efficacy of my work with my family and with my kids, that clicked for me. That made a difference and other people may have have different motivations and that kind of thing, but for me, that's what clicked. That's what got my mindset in the right place. Why do I eat what I eat? Because I'm thinking about my kids and grandkids. And some people would say that's, that's overcomplicating it. Well, maybe for you it is, but for me, that's what I needed. And so I, when we bring that into the spiritual realm, I think sometimes we have trouble identifying what's the motivation for this. We know that we should pray more often and we should read our Bibles more, more frequently. Why it's the right thing to do. Okay, well, yeah, that's true. It is the right thing to do, but that's not always gonna motivate you. Find the, find the real reason that you are motivated to do those things. That can go a long, long way. I, again, I'm, I'm risking getting on a rant or becoming preachy, but this is something that's been very personal to me and very helpful when I try to evaluate these kinds of things.

Paul: 28:10

Yeah. Yeah. Jesus. Who, for the joy that was set before him, right there, there, there, there's a sense in which. There, there's the reason, the why behind the what. Yeah. And, and there are lots of books about that, lots of podcasts about the why behind the what, but that, that is essential, the motivation. And again, I, I would, I would add to that be humble enough back to the proverb that we started with. When, when you invite someone into your life, listen to what they say.

Noah: 28:41

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 28:41

Because there's a temptation to not like what you hear. And since you don't like what you hear, you, you, you find a reason to say, eh, yeah. They don't, but see, I'm, I'm gonna dismiss about half of it.'cause they don't really understand why I was guilty. Right. Why I gave myself a pass and know, listen to what they say, then come up with a game plan to implement the advice that you, you get. Yeah. Back to insanity if you do the same thing over and over.

Noah: 29:08

Yeah.

Paul: 29:08

And expect different results. No. Yeah.

Noah: 29:11

I feel like one little nuance should be thrown in here.'cause I'm thinking about some of the people that could be listening to this and I have some very dear people in my life who would self characterize themselves as people pleasers. That they, they recognize, they have a desire to meet other people's expectations. So one risk, one thing, when you bring an abundance of counselors into your life. Is that if you have that tendency, you suddenly feel like a slave to all of their perspectives and you're you. You can feel a burden to fulfill all of their expectations for what they think you should do in any given circumstance. And sometimes they might have conflicting ideas of how to handle a situation or how to, you know. What you should be doing. And so I, I was thinking about that.'cause again, I have some people that are very close to me that they would struggle in that situation. They've been in that situation and have struggled. And so something that I think is important, going back to the proverb, I, we did not intend for the proverb to, to suffuse through this podcast like it has. But that's the way it's gone. You can't please everybody. You don't need to please everybody. The purpose of bringing these wise counselors in is not so you can please them, but so that you can listen to their advice, you can consider what they have to say and you can use the wisdom that they share with you in order to please God. You are not trying to please your counselors. You're trying to please God, and the abundance of counselors gives you perspectives. That can help you do that better. So that's my little, my little nuance on on what you're saying there because I, I can imagine, especially if we're being honest here, especially young people, there are young men and young women who are, feel beholden to those who are examples to them and influences over them. You're not beholden to your influences, you're beholden to God. That's who you owe allegiance to. So listen to your advisors. Consider very carefully the wisdom that they share and use it to glorify God.

Paul: 31:45

Yeah,

Noah: 31:46

so.

Paul: 31:47

Like that. Like that. Start with God. Start with God. Okay. Noah, we we're, we're we wanting to infuse a, a very serious segment here in, in the longer podcast that connects to, since we started about tar, starting with God. It's always good to evaluate our prayer life and to look at what's the communication like between us and God, and where, where are we growing? Where do we need to grow? Where do we sometimes say, yeah, I'm, I'm kind of getting stuck here, or this has become a challenge for me. Mm-hmm. And it's, it's not a God thing, it's a me thing.'cause God's always faithful. Yeah. But where are you in your prayer life? What's going on with you?

Noah: 32:30

Well you know, right now what's been in my prayers a lot recently is well, so I'm, I feel self-conscious talking about myself, so this is something I'm gonna have to get used to, I think. But this is, this is a personal thing. What's in, what's in our prayers? Well, what's in my prayers right now? Is, I've been thinking a lot about my time here with the church at Cedar Park. January, excuse me, January marks four years since McKayla and I moved down to the Austin area and began working with the church here in Cedar Park. And, there's, there's a lot that's gone on in the last four years on a personal level. I mean, we've had, we've had two children since we moved down here. You know, we are coming up on, on close to 10 years of marriage at this point, and we were not near that when we moved down here. Life just kind of keeps moving along. And so each anniversary of our move this becomes a weighty. Feeling that I have. And I think this year better than in past years. I have, I've taken that to God and I've, I've prayed to him more about what's happened to me personally over the past four years. The growth that I've experienced, that the, the difficulties I've faced. I've prayed more about the church and the same thing, the growth that it's experienced and the difficulties that it's faced. The highs and the lows of the last four years. And what I found is when I pray about those things I can't help but think about also what the future holds, right? What opportunities is God gonna present us with over the next four years? What opportunities is he gonna present to me personally, to you, to this church? So that's, I, I know that that may not seem super specific or maybe it seems really specific. That has been something that has been in my prayers and, and on my mind a lot recently, and I have found a lot of comfort and a lot of peace in, in bringing that to God. So that's, that's what's been in my prayers

Paul: 34:40

recently. Hmm. Well, I, I think a lot, a lot of people that are listening today know can, can relate to that. I, I like that You mentioned you find comfort and peace by communicating these things. I mean, just opening your heart to God, first of all, here's what we know. He already knows. Yeah. But, but there's so much benefit in Good when, when we talk to our father. About what is on our heart. Yeah. I've also learned not everybody's comfortable with this, and I, and I get that sometimes something we're not comfortable doing may be a good thing to start doing, and when we start doing something that we're not comfortable doing, it's awkward.

Noah: 35:22

Yeah.

Paul: 35:22

Boy, that was profound, wasn't it? But we know that here, here's, here's, it's as it's connected to prayer. It. Noah, I know this with Noah because I know Noah and McKayla they, they are a close knit husband and wife team. What's on Noah's heart? McKayla says, that's on my heart. Because you're not next to the Lord. You're number one.

Noah: 35:43

Yeah.

Paul: 35:44

And McKayla needs to know what's on Noah's heart. And sometimes it's, Hey, McKayla, can we pray together? Or it's, I want to pray. I'm praying this in front of Mikayla. I'm praying this in front of Amy. I'm praying this with Amy. And as, as I have suggested that to people, I have learned this, Noah, most of the time people say, I haven't done that. And I say, why's?'cause it's awkward. It's like, well, you're married to them. Yeah, yeah. And, and, and I'm not fussing at people. I, I'm not saying, oh, I can't believe that you're not comfortable.'cause people that people have been married 30 and 40 years.

Noah: 36:20

Yeah.

Paul: 36:21

And they don't pray together or they're not comfortable. Sometimes what's on our heart needs to be on the heart of our mate or someone that we're partnering with to give counsel to us, but always share it with the Lord. Mm-hmm. There's peace and comfort that comes by knowing I get to talk to the creator of the universe that he cares his wisdom, his his, his sovereign rule in my life. I don't know how he's gonna do it. If he chooses to do it, but he always will do the right thing at the right time. My position is to share my heart with him and to trust him.

Noah: 36:55

Yeah.

Paul: 36:55

Yeah. That,

Noah: 36:57

that's really helpful for me, and I hope it's helpful for the people that are, that are listening in. This is gonna be a, the plan is that this is gonna be. A a regular part of our time together in this, in this first Monday of the month podcast is for one of us to talk a little bit about what, what's been on our minds, what we've been praying about, why that matters to us, and to reflect on that for a little bit. Yeah.

Paul: 37:26

I think, I think it's helpful to people. So something else that people want to hear and know something about, let's go back. To season an opportunity. It, it's the entrance into a new year, Noah. Mm-hmm. One of the things that people want help with. Mm-hmm. Or they just want to hear about, Hey, Paul and Noah, it's y'all's podcast. Y'all get to speak to this. One of the things that people want help with, or I just want to hear more about. If you call it budgeting has to do with their finances. It has to do with the issue of stewardship. Sometimes it's where I need help or sometimes it's gimme some advice or sometimes it's, Hey, I'm or we are frustrated back to a better me in this new year. It has to do with, with a budget or a plan, something's workable that will help them in the area of their finances moving forward.

Noah: 38:22

Yeah. Yeah. That's a worthwhile discussion and as some people probably know, it's one that I. I have a lot of passion for not, I wouldn't say a lot of expertise, but a lot of passion for, and one quick clarification before we dive into this concept of, of budgeting and finances. And I'm excited to hear your thoughts on these things, Paul,'cause you've got more experience in that area than I do. More failures. Well, that's sometimes that's what experience. Yes. Yeah. Some of the best best advice that I have financially comes from the times that I have failed to manage my finances. But but for those listening. We want to hear from you. So, you know, today we're gonna talk about this budgeting, finances, stewardship kind of thing for a little bit. And that's because people want to hear about it, right? People want to hear about it. We're, we think that you guys probably, at least many of you want to hear about it, but we also want to hear from you. And so if you, if you go into the the show notes of this episode, or if you look at the episode description, there should be a link that says, fill out the q and a. You can click on that link. And you can let us know. What do you want to hear about? Something from a scriptural perspective, yes. But also just from the, the experience and, and thought of, of two guys who have experienced different things in life and, and are gonna try to speak to it based on their understanding of life and, and scripture. So feel free to click that link. We would love to hear the kinds of questions that you guys have, people want to hear.

Paul: 39:56

Yeah.

Noah: 39:57

And we want to answer. Yeah, and,

Paul: 39:58

and which, Hey, you, you can't, you can't excite two preachers anymore than if it's simply Noah. They're going in there and saying, Hey, I've been studying this or reading about this. I heard a sermon on this. A guy somewhere else made a comment about this, and I was like, I wait a minute. That's different from my, what I've heard most. All of my life, or I was studying about this, I don't know. I wanna know more about, so maybe it's like some context in the word, some principle, you know, in a parable or something. And they want us to unpack that man. Oh man. I mean, that's, that's what we want to do. That's not me saying Paul and Noah are the smartest guys on the planet. We've got answers to every Bible question or principle that's in the word, but we're happy to try. To address that.

Noah: 40:45

Yeah. Yeah. We yeah, we are eager to, I, I mean, there's a reason that we've described this is we want this to be a place where everyday life interacts with the word of God. Right? Right. God's word has principles and we want to bring those to bear on everyday life. And today what we have kind of landed on for today. Is this idea of like budgeting, finances, stewardship, I, you know, I taught a class, the high school class on stewardship. Oh man. I think it was early this year. No, last, it's 2026. So early last year. And one of the things that we talked about in stewardship. Stewardship goes so far beyond finances.

Paul: 41:32

Mm-hmm.

Noah: 41:32

You know, and it goes into every area of life. But the underlying principles are still fundamentally the same. That being a good steward of our money is also going to help us be a good steward of our time, and that's gonna help us be a good steward of our relationships because a lot of the principles underlying are the same, but I think that money is particularly. Challenging in its own way. In its own right. Yes. And there's a number of reasons for that. But I've got one word that I, I undergirds what I think is one of the most important ideas in being financially responsible. But I don't wanna spoil that if it's what you've already got. So, you know, I want to hear what you've got. Paul, one word. If you had to pick what's the most important word? I'm okay. I'm putting Paul on the spot, which is gonna be happening a lot more in this hour long format. But here we go. Paul, if you had to pick one word that undergirded, you know, a, a, a scriptural approach, or, or your biblical approach to finances, what word would you pick? Oh man. What one

Paul: 42:47

word? Balance, balance the, the right balance, the difficulty of that as it relates to, like in my case. Amy and I work together on this.

Noah: 43:02

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 43:03

This is not well, I'm the leader of my home and honey, I've sat down and I've come up with a budget and I don't need your input. And on the while, there's a lot that's wrong with that. We do this together now. We partner with God. We start with God, but we do this together. We listen to each other. We come up with a plan. Where could we do better? Where do we, but start with balance. And here's, here's what I have discovered over the year, when now to the, to the single people out there listening. There, there'll be another side of this maybe in the next podcast, but this relates very well to the husband and wife team. When you work together, you begin to realize how different you are.

Noah: 43:44

Yeah,

Paul: 43:45

and I, I married an accountant, thank the Lord he was looking out for me. But, but we both have approached giving as a God thing.

Noah: 43:58

Yeah.

Paul: 43:58

We both have approached saving as a God thing.

Noah: 44:01

Yeah.

Paul: 44:01

But we are radically different.

Noah: 44:03

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 44:03

And so when I say strike the right balance, find a balance, okay. In particular, a balance to saving and giving. And those are both biblical subjects as they connect to stewardship.

Noah: 44:14

Right.

Paul: 44:15

So you've got some person that doesn't realize that, that, that they're a hoarding, they're a hoarder.

Noah: 44:19

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 44:20

Not everybody who's, who's a hoarder is selfish. Right. Some people that are hoarding and storing it up afraid to release and give away is they've got an issue with fear. It's a lack of faith. Well, let me preach you a sermon, honey, about your lack of faith and what's wrong with you? No. Okay. Find the balance between saving and giving. Some people don't save like they should. Because they just gonna give it all away. Well, I'll, I'm, I'm trusting the Lord. I mean, we need to be walking by faith, not by sight. I'm gonna cite you that passage. Well, if you give everything away and you can't pay your bills Right. Or you get to a point, you gave it all away and you're in need of help from the church or someone else, maybe the, the, you haven't found the right balance. Yeah. Between saving and giving. I saying all of that to say that's not an easy thing to do, but it is absolutely essential.

Noah: 45:16

Yeah.

Paul: 45:17

Yeah.

Noah: 45:18

That's really good observation. And it, it makes me think about the one word that I had picked out and the way those two connect.'cause the one word that I had picked out is the word contentment. Yeah. And I, I think of passages like Philippians four where Paul talks about, I have learned to be content in all situations. I can, I can have a lot, I can have a little, but I've learned to be content. Or I think about Hebrews 13. Verse five, where the Hebrews writer says, keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Four, he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you pointing to the provision of God. I think contentment is a incredibly important principle when it comes to dealing with finances because many financial problems that we find ourselves in. Come from a place of wanting. Mm-hmm. More. Now, the reason I think this connects to your balance, comment in an interesting way is sometimes when I've talked about that there's been a an objection of, but if I have more, I can give more. And that's true. Very true. That's very true. But this is where have we found the balance? And the fact is contentment, like Paul says in Philippians four, can be found with much or with little. Exactly. And so the problem is not wanting more so that we can give more, but if we want more. And our excuse is so that we can give more Aha. Contentment's not existing. Balance is not in place if we want more so that we can give more, there is a balance in place. There's a contentment that that's coming from. So that's, you know, the first thing I would lay down when it comes to, to budgeting and finances is strong. Finances comes from a place of contentment. Yes. Not a place.

Paul: 47:30

Greed. Yes. Never a place of greed. Right. You know, and we, we've heard this before. You know what, what I need is not the same as what I want. Yeah. What you need is not the same as what you want. Make a distinction between needs and wants. And that necessitates asking some hard questions or letting someone else, inviting someone else into your life back to the counselors that Yeah. That have earned the right to ask you the hard questions. Yes. Met some people in my life here at Cedar Park

Noah: 48:02

mm-hmm.

Paul: 48:03

That have asked me a hard question or have said something that was hard for me to hear. And once I thought about it, it's like they just, they just addressed an issue with me that if I don't deal with that. Then I'm gonna continually be frustrated and I don't wanna make an unwise choice in my budget, but I'm going to not because I was trying to, but because I didn't address the situation. Back to you said, somebody said, well, if I had more, I could give more away. Why do you want more? Mm-hmm. When you start thinking about that, why do you want more? Yeah. Why do you want?'cause you're not content, you're trying to stay up with somebody else because you maybe No, no. Now I'm saying this. I don't mean everybody's this way. Right,

Noah: 48:46

right.

Paul: 48:46

But, but sometimes, well, if I had more look at status mm-hmm. Look at how people would view me. I wanna be viewed this way. I want to be seen this way or this, this will give me security. Security is a big thing. Yeah. Security is a huge thing, but sometimes how we define security right, is not how God defines security.

Noah: 49:09

Yeah. If, if I can just interject Sure. For the, ben, for the benefit of the people listening, I'll just interject on a personal note. I've realized in adulthood I didn't, I didn't. Evaluate this like this when I was younger, when I was in, you know, still at home mm-hmm. Or when I was in college. But as in adulthood, I have come to realize that that is one of my greatest struggles is the struggle for security. That's some, that's something I feel very deeply and it's been a challenge. Mm-hmm. So if you struggle with that, if you're listening and you struggle with that, just know. I'm sitting right here with you. I'm not speaking from a place that I've got that all figured out. Alright, go ahead.

Paul: 49:46

Yeah, I, I, you, you, you cited contentment and, we'll, we may get to unpack this more Lord willing next week in, in our next episode, this shorter. I would, I would have us to think about that. Paul says Timothy one, Timothy six, I think it's about verse six. He doesn't say contentment is great gain.

Noah: 50:09

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 50:09

He says, godliness.

Noah: 50:11

Yeah. With

Paul: 50:11

contentment, we have to find a way back to balance to merge those two together. I would make this a suggestion for people to think about the godliness is the attitude, the disposition of someone's heart?

Noah: 50:26

Yeah.

Paul: 50:28

The contentment is the result of godliness. It's the fruit of godliness. You cannot have contentment without first having godliness. Hmm. Is contentment essential? Yes. But the contentment there, back to some security issues and some other things. What is my approach to life, my attitude in life? Back to the hard question or questions that, that are being asked to make me go back to. Godliness.

Noah: 50:57

Yeah. Yeah. Godliness. I think that's a really good point. If you're listening right now and you're thinking, okay, okay, but I want, I want more, I want more details. I, I want to talk, you've talked a lot about balance and contentment. You guys tried to summarize, you know, biblical concepts of, of financial stewardship. In two words or less. We are gonna talk about this more next week. That's gonna be where we get to unpack this, this kind of question and answer people want to hear section. We're gonna unpack that some more. So, you know I can't tell you for sure what's gonna, what's gonna happen next week, but I can tell you some of the things that I've got in mind is. Seeing how contentment plays out in our priorities and how that plays out in our generosity and what it looks like to be realistic with our financial outlook and realistic with what we need. And anyway, there's a lot more that we could talk about and we will talk about at least some of it. Next week.

Paul: 52:01

We're going to enter the Noah world. We're gonna go into Noah's life. Noah, what have you been hearing or reading?

Noah: 52:09

Oh, man. I hear a lot of things and I used to read a lot of things and now I, I read a lot fewer things because of time, but I'll tell you right now, I'm reading a book that I'm really enjoying. And I, I'll, I'll. Give this upfront. It was written by my great uncle, and so I'm biased, but I'm really enjoying the book. It's even though I don't agree with every single point that my uncle is making, I think he's doing a really good job. The book is called Leaders and Followers. I think it's the subtitle in family. In business, family, and the church. Anyway, it's talking about the concepts of not only leadership, but what it looks like to be a good follower of leaders. And I haven't, I haven't read through the entire thing yet, but re the most recent chapter that I've been reading has been on from the leader's perspective, evaluating the motivation of your followers and trying to enable them. To, to use that motivation to accomplish good. And that, and it's been particularly striking how helpful that is in the context of a church for, for people who are under the guidance in the shepherding, for instance, of a group of shepherds, like what we have here at, at Cedar Park, how, when, when they're motivated to do the work of the kingdom. The church is so much bigger and so much more capable than just one group of people. And, and getting to see that kind of broken down in a, in a digestible way, I've really enjoyed. So that's, that's what I'm reading right now.

Paul: 53:47

Yeah.

Noah: 53:48

Now is it just gonna be me or are you gonna share what you've been hearing, what you've been reading

Paul: 53:52

next time?

Noah: 53:52

Oh, next time. We have to wait until next month, next

Paul: 53:55

month. We can't both put it all on the table next month. What I've been hearing though I want to be as positive as I can as often as I can. What have I been hearing? I've been hearing some amazing things about opportunities that parents are finding to encourage their kids to look for ways. To serve other people.

Noah: 54:28

Mm.

Paul: 54:31

There are a few things that excite me more to, to, to hear about parents that are, that are asking questions or finding ways to intentionally motivate and excite their kids to come up with a way. To, to serve other people rather than mom and dad saying to the 8-year-old, the 10-year-old, why aren't you doing this? Mm-hmm. What is wrong with you? You, you, your selfishness, selfishness, selfishness. You know, we can't abide that there, they're seasoned, teachable moments to take a positive approach to motivate and encourage. And sometimes that can be challenging with siblings. Like you got 2, 3, 4, 5 kids and sometimes that can be really good to let the kids be the ones that are like, mm-hmm. Okay. If they're doing it, I gotta do something. Yeah. You know, and that's what I'm hearing. I'm hearing parents now, are they reading certain books? Are they listening to podcasts? Are they getting advice from other counselors? I don't know. They haven't told me. I can just tell you what I'm hearing. I'm hearing conversations about that. That excites me as a granddad. To see the younger generation saying, Hey, we got this, or, we're working on this because I can tell you the next generation, you know, that that's, we're looking for the next generation. Somebody's gonna have to be building the churches. Mm-hmm. Somebody's gonna have to be paying the bills. Somebody's gonna have to continue to sow the seeds in faith so that the gospel's being taken so that God's people are being encouraged and served. And, and built up. And when I see young families, you and McKayla, when, when I see the young families here in and other places and I hear what they're talking about, that excites me. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing that. I appreciate it.

Noah: 56:19

Well that was, that was really helpful and and I'm encouraged by hearing that. Well, we're gonna wrap up now, but for those who are listening, thank you for continuing with us in this new season of Stand Strong. And as a reminder, next week we're gonna have a, a shorter episode that's gonna be further discussing and further unpacking what people want to hear about. And this month the topic therefore is budgeting, finances, stewardship. So make sure that you tune in next Monday morning to catch that episode as we continue to unpack that.