223. Jeffrey Rybold Interview On "The Warriors Compass"

Welcome back to the For Freedom podcast. Thank you for being with us today. We've got a great show ahead of you. James has been telling me about it. We'll talk about that, more about that in just a second. But man, things have been really good lately. We've got some things coming up in the near future. James, I don't know if you know this, but I mean, it's crazy how close Orlando is. I mean, it's like right around the corner and it kind of snuck up on me. I wouldn't expect it. Yeah, at the time of this recording or when the recording comes out, we are less than one month away right now. This comes out the 7th of May and we'll be in Orlando June 3rd is when we're getting there, that Wednesday. So man, we are T-minus 20-something days. My kids have one more full week of school and then we're going to take a quick little beach trip before the summer begins. Um, and so man, yeah, we are, uh, ready for Orlando. Um, I'm ready for a busy, busy, busy summer. Uh, it's going to be crazy. Uh, we've got two more weeks of the podcast before we take a summer break and we break for June and July. And, uh, we are excited about the content that we have been putting out and also about what we've got coming up in the future. Um, thankful for all those who listened to the James Spurgeon episode to the Bryson Davis interview. Um, just had a lot of, a lot of views, a lot of content there and, uh, several reached out to me, which was a blessing. Um, but man, I I'm excited about today. We'll get to that in a minute. Brett, uh, your oldest graduated. How does it feel? Uh, has, has graduation happened yet or recording what, what type, what day is graduation for you? May 17th is going to be 17th. So yeah, two weeks or a week away. Um, you're about to be an old man and you're about to senior. I can't imagine, uh, my son graduating. So, uh, what's, what's the emotions going through in the life of Brett right now? Uh, you got a senior, you're about to kick him out of the house. Well, what's going on there? Well, my main concern is, you know, not, I mean, I guess emotional a little bit, you know, Collins, he's my buddy, he's my best friend. And, uh, so he, you know, Caleb too, I got two boys. Colin was our oldest. And, uh, my thing about Colin is I just want to set him up for success. You know, I want him, we're trying to figure out college and what he's going to do. And he kind of flop flip-flopped on what he told me he wanted to be. And, uh, so we had to change what college he is going to, what courses he's taken. And then we're still trying to work out the financial part of it, you know, how are we going to pay for it and, uh, trying to get FAFSA and all that stuff together. And so it's a lot of moving parts. And so having to deal with that, and then also my own schooling, which I've got maybe two and a half weeks left. So, uh, it's getting down to the wire where I have to turn in finals and I have to turn in term papers, uh, here in the next week. And so it's just a lot kind of all together, really hadn't really had time just to process the fact that he's graduating, but you know, he's ready to go. He's looking forward to it. He's trying to get his schoolwork done, uh, so he can walk across and get that diploma. And so we're having our greatest graduation service on Sunday morning at church since he saw him school. And, uh, man, we're just, we're just looking forward to it. You know, it's my, my wife's real emotional about it. You know how women are, um, but she is, uh, I'm just kidding, but, but yeah, so, you know, things are, things are, you know, having a senior it's different. He's my first one. And, uh, so we're just looking forward to it. Yeah, man, that's awesome. I'm excited for you. One way you can support Brett in this endeavor is go buy a four freedom cigar so that you can fund his college expenses. That's about to come into him, uh, by sending his son to college. Um, it is not a cheap thing. Uh, my wife came to me this week and said, James, uh, they've changed some of our pay scale up and they're actually incentivizing her. Um, if she gets a master's, she'll actually make more money. It's the first time this has ever happened for us where our degree actually matters. She said, do I go back to school and get my master's? And so we're weighing the cost benefit analysis right now. Do we invest in getting her master's, um, pay the difference of what that would be? And then with, how many years would we recoup? Would it take to recoup that money, uh, in order to, would it be a benefit at all? And so, uh, we're, we're looking at that right now, but I'm, I'm just looking at the bottom line, man. That's another couple of 10, $15,000, uh, to get her master's at Southeastern and education. Um, so what would that look like and how would that be? And then all those stuff. So, uh, I definitely know what you're talking about there with trying to figure out college expenses. So, I mean, I'm, I'm sure you're going to investigate scholarships and what, what you can get off and stuff, but you know, there might be some available out there for you. Well, for North Carolina Baptist in South at Southeastern, they allow pastors to go for free and get their masters, just like you're going, um, they've got a grant at just like at New Orleans theological seminary. Um, but she's not a pastor. Uh, we don't affirm women pastors in the convention. Um, but she's a teacher, but so they, they do a SBC discount, um, a couple hundred dollars off credit hour. Um, and a couple other ways I looked at Luther Rice, they don't do a master's of education that I could see. Um, we have to reach out to our, my buddy Marcus, uh, and figure out what they're doing. And, uh, but yeah, we're exploring those options and maybe fall semester, she may be returning into a student. Um, so we'll see what that looks like. Now, speaking of you brought it up, women pastors, do you think that the convention this year is finally going to, uh, say no women pastors? Are we going to flip flop on it again? Um, what, what's I can't, I can't remember his name. Moeller, Moeller, uh, had said something about it in a podcast recently, and I had wanted to get your opinion on that. Yeah, we need to, uh, I'm for it. Um, I like how, um, uh, Heath Lambert the other day on a podcast made this statement. He said, anytime it's a bylaw change, it gets voted down. We never have enough to vote it for. Um, he said, but when a pastor or when a church is brought forward from the credentials committee that have women pastors, they always get voted out. They're not in friendly cooperation with us anymore. He said, so in practice, we're against it, but in principle, we won't vote for it to be part of our documents. And he said, you know, he said something to the fact of, you know, it does take up a lot of convention hours to deal with this. If we had a committee, uh, that would do it, which we do, they just need to be empowered through the change in the bylaws. I want it done. I think it would make our convention a little more stronger. Uh, we'd have a firm stance on what we believe and why we believe it or we're, we're credo Baptist, right? We believe in confessions and, and statements of faith. And so that is part of our statement of faith, uh, is we affirm male only pastors. And so, um, yeah, that that's, we'll see what happens. I know there'll be a motion this year, uh, to bring back up a resolution or an amendment. And so we'll see how far that goes and what that looks like. And really it's just about the support of the people that are behind it. Um, uh, to see whether it goes forward or not. But yeah, I think it's gonna be a great year at the convention. Um, the pastors conference are doing a micro conference. Are you doing any of that? Are you sending your wife to any of the micro conferences or you just going to the pastor conference? Did you see that? I didn't see that. I'll have to look into that. They're doing a four micro conferences with the pastors conference, a worship conference, a youth conference, a children's conference, and a discipleship conference, um, with the pastors conference. So they're encouraging you bring your whole staff, bring your deacons, send them to the different ones. Maybe you've got a deacon that's over the youth, send them to the youth micro conference or a youth pastor or a discipleship pastor or worship pastor, send them to those conferences so they can begin to, uh, get a little more out of it. I'm just going to the pastor's conference. I'm a pastor of the other people, the other places, uh, you know, doesn't bother me much. I enjoy the, the preaching that's done there at the convention, uh, the, the pastor's conference. So looking forward to that as well. I might talk to send my wife to the, uh, you know, ask if she wants to go to the women's thing. I think that'd be pretty cool. So I'll look into that. Yeah. Uh, what, what, when is your, y'all ready for Bible school coming up? Vacation Bible school right around the corner as well. I'll tell you this. Our Bible school starts on a Sunday. It ends on a Wednesday night and Thursday morning. I go to Orlando. So we're, we're having it right before we leave. It was really the only way we could, we could work it out because I was going to be gone. My music director, who's also our PBS director, she's going to be gone around the same time. Um, so this is about the only week that we could do it. So we're doing it Sunday through Wednesday. And then the next morning I'm waking up going to Orlando. So it's coming up quick. So I'm going to have one night in Orlando without Brett. Let's go. I didn't know that. So yeah. Are y'all getting there Wednesday? Yeah. Wednesdays and we're getting there. Yeah. Thursday evening. Okay. Yeah. So y'all are May 31st through June 3rd is your Bible school. Right. Yeah. Ours is two weeks later. So I come back from the convention on that Thursday. Uh, and then that next Sunday is when we start, um, uh, our, our, uh, Bible school. So yeah, it's going to be interesting, but lots of things going on, man. I'm excited about what, what we've got going on the podcast. Uh, like I said, we've got, uh, an interview today we'll talk about, but we've got Orlando coming up. Um, if you're going to be in the area, let us know. We'll come hang out with us. Uh, we're also right now in the middle of March, we're celebrating our freedom. Um, not only through Memorial Day or May, not March, May, uh, through Memorial Day that's coming up. Uh, we're running a May sale on all of our products on our for freedom podcast or cigar company. Um, all 15% off. You just have to use the code may 15 freedom. Uh, I made a mistake on last week's episode. I said may for freedom. It's may 15 freedom, all one word. Uh, you can, you can put that in at checkout and they'll give you 15% off of everything we've got on our product line. Um, just want to give you opportunities to buy a father's day gifts, graduation gifts that are coming up, uh, ways that you can, uh, support our podcast, but also, uh, be an encouragement to those that are around. And so if you would mind going and helping us out, that would be a blessing for us. Um, Brett, anything else as far as housekeeping before we get started with our interview? I think that pretty much covers all the bases, you know, we're, uh, looking forward to Orlando and I think that, uh, pretty much gets us covered. All right. Well, yeah, we've got today, uh, an interview with Jeffrey Rybold. He's a chaplain for the air force and, uh, man, I had an awesome time interviewing him. Brett wasn't able to make it to the interview. He had some church things going on. Uh, but he is just recently put out a book called the warrior's compass, uh, part one of seven books. And, uh, he is very, uh, the podcast has been influential into him. And so it was great to connect with him. And, uh, you're going to hear some of that on the podcast as well. Uh, but I hope you enjoy this episode and enjoy, uh, what we have to offer today with the Jeffrey Rybold interview. For freedom, you set me free. Not for change, not for guilt, not for Pharisee. Grace lit the flame. Now I'm puffing peace, cigars and victory justified, released. Welcome to the For Freedom podcast. This podcast exists to bring the freedom of the gospel for everyday Christians with everyday issues. I ain't saved by dress codes, not by what I eat. I'm covered in the righteousness, washed from head to feet. No tally of tradition, no man-made code. Blood bought my freedom, now I ride that road. They clutch pearls when they see smoke rings rise. But my praise still ascends past the legalist cries. Christ plus nothing, that's the real math. So miss me with your fence laws and your extra path. He sat with sinners, I'm sitting with saints. Sipping grace from the bottle, no room for face. I light one for liberty, toast to the king. Every ash a sermon, death has lost its sting. For freedom, you set me free. Not for change, not for guilt, not for Pharisee. Grace lit the flame. Now I'm puffing peace, cigars and victory justified, released. For freedom, you set me free. Not for change, not for guilt, not for Pharisee. Grace lit the flame. Now I'm puffing peace, cigars and victory justified, released. Let grace begin. For freedom, you set me free. Not for change, not for guilt, not for Pharisee. Grace lit the flame. Now I'm puffing peace, cigars and victory justified, and Brett Martin. Well, we are excited about having Jeff Reibold here with us. And Jeff is an Air Force chaplain with the military. And he has done some great work over the last couple of years. Me and him came in contact. He reached out to me while he was in Texas, I believe, a couple of years ago, and had started a small group of men and just continued to disciple men and women in his role where he's at. But recently, he has written a book called The Warrior's Compass, and it's going to be coming out in just a couple of weeks. And so I wanted to have him on just to talk through that. And so, Jeff, welcome to the show. Introduce who you are to our guests, to our audience, and let us know who you are and what you do in the real world. Awesome. Thanks, James. Yeah. So my name is Jeff Reibold. I'm a captain, United States Air Force, active duty chaplain here in Okinawa, Japan. It's been fun connecting, trying to get a time where it fits for both of us. But yeah, so I joined the United States Air Force by enlisting back in 2002. I joined because of September 11th, got into enlistment, only planned on doing four years. And here I am 24 years later, crossed over from enlisted side to officer side back in 2018. And it's an interesting story for sure. I won't get too much into it right now because it's actually a pretty long story. And it actually has a lot to do with kind of my faith journey as well. So yeah, let's get this thing going. I'm excited to be here with you guys. Yeah. My heart always goes out with military men and women. My father pushed me to go into the military to be a chaplain. I'd already surrendered to preach. And so he said, Hey, if you go and you join the Air Force, you can be a chaplain and you can preach every day and you can be around guys. And my mom was like, no, it was 07. So we were in the middle of the Afghan Iraqi freedom and all that. And my mom's like, my boy is not going to war. She was dead set on that. My grandpa served in the Air Force. And so, um, he, he pushed all three of us boys to try to go. Neither, none of us went. Uh, but my heart always goes out for military men and women, um, that, that, that thankfully serve us, but thanklessly do that, um, all the time, uh, with training and the rigor they go through. Uh, but you recently wrote a book called the warrior's compass and, uh, tell us why you wrote the book. Tell us sort of your inspiration to write the book and sort of a brief cliff notes version of what it's about, how it's there for, uh, I'm going to be purchasing a copy for, uh, um, uh, an army guy who just started coming to our church. That's sort of a self-proclaimed atheist. And so he's went through war. He went through some things and he sort of turned his back on God. And so I've read the, the pre-release copy and, uh, I've already told him, Hey, I'm getting this book for you. We're going to start talking through it and going through it. So, so tell us a little bit why you wrote it. Awesome. Yeah. So it's, it's kind of funny because I never thought about writing a book. It wasn't something that was ever on my radar or anything. Um, I'd say probably about a year and a half ago, I started thinking through, Hey, what am I going to do next after the military? Um, and I got connected with a retired general who's a keynote speaker and he does a lot of leadership advisement and coaching and stuff like that. And I was like, that's what I want to do. I like coaching. I like speaking. And so I got connected with him. And so we had a conversation and I was like, Hey, what, what do I need to do to start preparing myself for that next step? And he's like, write a book. And I was like, I'm not writing a book. Like, what do I got to tell people? I mean, you know, there's great writers out there, all this kind of stuff. And he's like, just write a book. Like, you have a story, everybody, and people need to hear it. Right. And I was like, okay, yeah, I'll pray about it. I said, I'll pray about it. You know, like sign of kind of sarcastically didn't really intend to, uh, hung up, hung up the phone and I sat down. I was like, you know what? I said, I'm going to pray about it. So I might as well actually pray about it. Um, and you know, I actually put some prayer into, I was like, Lord, if this is the next step for, for my life and I am to write a book, what in the world would I write about? And it just came to me. Um, and, and, and it's really based off of the times in my life, whenever I felt like I was lost and had no direction. Right. Um, not lost as in not saved, not a Christian loss as in I'm doing something. I think it's what is expected of me, but I feel like I'm just turning my wheels, not doing anything. Like I'm not where I'm supposed to be. Right. Um, and so it kind of developed into getting back to that foundation because there was a point in my life where I was a pastor in a church. I was a reservist in the air force and I thought I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, but I just felt like I was just turning my legs. I was running in place and I was, it was just a very uncomfortable time in my life. I actually, I would say it's the, the most depressed I ever got in my life was actually as a pastor in a church where I wasn't supposed to actually be. And as you see in the introduction of the book, I mentioned that I, I, I decided I was going to step down from that position. And I was like, Lord, I'm stepping down. I'm quitting today. I have nothing else to go on. You've got to provide something. Cause I literally have nothing to step into. I said, amen. And this is not a joke. This is not an exaggeration. Less than five minutes later, my supervisor and the reserves called me and was, she was so apologetic. It was, it was so funny. Just the timing of it. She's like, I'm so sorry, but are you able to come on long-term orders because such so-and-so is deploying and we need someone to step in and, and you're the first one because you're assigned here. And I was like, I don't, I, I'm not going to use her name cause I don't have her permission. Um, but my supervisor said, um, can you do this? And I said, Sergeant, you don't understand what you just did. Like you are literally an answer to prayer. And it was that moment that I re I got redirection in my life and found what God truly wanted me to do. It was ministry, but it wasn't the ministry that I thought it wasn't the ministry that I thought was expected of me. It wasn't the ministry that I envisioned. It was something far greater. Um, and so it, it just, it just worked out that way because I felt so lost in that moment, but then just, just surrendering to God and saying, you got to take the reins. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm lost in the woods. I thought I had this plan, this map of my life, but I'm, it's like, you're standing in the middle of the woods in the dark. You have a map, but you, it makes no difference. The map is pointless. So I had to just get back to that compass and get in those, those next right foundational steps in my life. And that's kind of what started it. And it's funny because I want, I decided on just the one book at first, but then as I started praying about it and started writing things out, it's, it's going to be seven books. So it's a whole, it's a whole warrior series that I'm, uh, that I'm building. I'm actually, I'm on my second draft of my second book, uh, which is called the warrior's map. That's the map part. Um, but yeah, so this book really gets into, you know, getting to the foundation of, um, who you are and which direction you're supposed to get back to going. Um, and, and it really does tie into, uh, just my personal faith as well, because, um, so I grew up as a Catholic and then in high school, uh, I had a close friend of mine who kept inviting me to his little Baptist church in, in Fulton, Missouri. Uh, and finally to get him off my back, I was like, okay, I'll go. Um, and I heard the truth of the gospel for the very first time there. And so that's, that's when I became a born again Christian. Um, and so I grew up in an independent fundamental Baptist church in little podunk town in Fulton, Missouri. Um, and it was a great church, great pastor, great people. Um, but as I, as I grew up in that community, while it started off great, there was a lot of things that started being demanded and, and, and put on me that I was like, why do we do this? And there was never an answer to the why. Right. And so whenever me and my wife got married, she's actually, um, my pastor's daughter. I'm one of those guys. Um, fell for the pastor's daughter. Come on, man. Uh, so, so we, me and my wife, probably about 10 years, 15 years in our marriage, we started thinking, okay, why do we believe the things that we believe? Um, and so we really started examining that kind of stuff and saying, we're going to go back to the scriptures and we're going to do what the Bible says. We're going to follow God's truth. The rest is preference. Right. Um, and, and so that really did free us up. And it was around that time that all this stuff started happening. Right. Um, when I was a pastor in Georgia, I was a, an associate pastor at a small independent funnel, fundamental Baptist church. Um, and it just did not work out that way. And, and so God really opened up our eyes through his word. Um, and actually that was around the time that we found like the RFP and then got connected with, um, that community and then found your podcast. It was actually Phoenix, Arizona, whenever I contacted you, not Texas, um, where I started a, a small worship service for airmen in the dorms and I called it the four freedom worship service. Um, and it went great. We had pretty, um, pretty big building. We started off with three people. It grew by the time I left that particular ministry, uh, to about 27 or 30. So, um, but yeah, that, that all kind of connects it all together into, uh, the book. Um, and so that, that's kind of where it, it, it came from, where it goes, uh, and all that. So, uh, that that's, it's kind of the inspiration that, that happened there. So Arizona, not man, I just told a guy here that was Texas, not Arizona. So it's all desert, you know, it's all desert. It's all crazy. Um, but yeah, man, that's awesome. And to know that those pieces connect together, especially to the RFP and, uh, through our podcast. And, uh, it's just great to, to be able to see that, Hey, there's, there's a reason I sit behind a mic once a week with me and Brett and we talk like there, there are stories out there that people are helped by. Uh, so it's encouraging for us to hear that. Uh, but, but one of the questions, so I skimmed through your book and, and I got to the end and I saw that you did say that, Hey, if you're wanting more, look out for the number two. And I'm like, Oh dude, he's going to hold like number two. I didn't realize it was going to be seven. Perfect number of perfection there. Again, not intentional. Okay. That's, that's just how it happened. Yeah. In, in, in one of your parts of the book, you said that, uh, most of us gets lost slowly. We, we, I use the illustration and use it as a drifting, uh, like a boat, I don't know, water that's sort of drifting downstream. Uh, what does the drift actually look like for someone in the real world? Uh, and why this is one of the things that we look at often. And I look at it as a pastor, even faithful, disciplined, discipled people end up drifting off course. If they're not careful, why does that happen? What, what insight would you give as you write this book? Oh, absolutely. So I, because the title of the book, the worst compass, it's all about navigation, right? And if you've ever done any type of navigation, one thing that you learn is that if you start walking on your azimuth that you shot with your compass and you don't look at it often, you're going to be walking and you're going to start maybe going around a tree here, going around, um, a boulder here or something like that. And, and you're slowly getting off of course, you don't realize it. You think you're going straight. You think you're walking in a straight line, but if you don't keep looking at that compass or setting a mark in the distance that you're walking to that you can see, cause sometimes it's not possible depending on the terrain, um, you can get off of course. And then all of a sudden you look down and you're like, I'm not where I'm supposed to be. Right. I never found this, this mark I was going to on the map because I drifted. What that looks like in real life is, you know, we can be, we can be faithful. We can have the right intention. We can be disciplined. We can do all these things, but if we aren't in the right place at the right time, it's all about God's timing in our life. You know, and you see this a lot with Paul. Um, he, he intended to be certain places, but God had different plans. And anytime that he kind of pushed against it, he would be, he would have something occur in his life that he would write about. Right. Uh, we see him being imprisoned. I guarantee you that was not his plan. Uh, we see him getting, uh, uh, shipwrecked on an island. Again, probably wasn't his plan. You know, all these things that happened to him and the same happens to us. Now we might not be at the same extreme that Paul had, but those do occur in our lives. Like we're going along. We feel like we're, we think we're, we're supposed to be. And a lot of times that's because of what the expectations that are put on us, right? You like if for the majority of my young adult life, I thought I was supposed to be a pastor. And so I did things trying to work towards being a pastor. Well, God was calling to be a minister, but not a pastor. I didn't know at the time it was called to be a chaplain. And so I was forcing myself to be in the ministry. I love the people. I love the ministry, but I know that wasn't where I was supposed to be because of that discomfort. And, and, and, and, and the further and further I drifted without looking and getting back to the true North, that's where I started knowing that I was drifting and off course. It's just, you know, it's what, what I thought I wanted, but I wasn't continuing looking at the one who was supposed to be guiding me. Yeah. That's, that's a great thing to look at and think about. Uh, and, and one of the things you mentioned in the book is the distinction between burnout and disorientation. Uh, you know, we can, if you're like me, uh, you're, you're a go getter, you're a type a personality where you've got to go, go, go. Um, you know, I, I get an extra hour or so of my, uh, my day back to me and I'm like, I'm filling it up with other things. I've got another book to read. I've got another commentary to study. I've got another sermon to prepare. Um, and those restful times are needed. And I understand that I take Fridays off just to, you know, meditate and to help my soul out. Um, but there is a difference between burnout and disorientation. Uh, and you said this in your book, it's not just that people are tired, but they've lost their bearing. How can someone recognize that they're not just exhausted, but they're actually off course. And because they're off course, that's causing them to get frustrated and exhausted even more. They're just not on the right path. How can someone understand that, that concept? Well, so first let's, let's kind of, um, talk about the distinguishing, right? So burnout is typically something that happens when you're doing something you don't like, right? It happens really fast. Like for example, when I was a radio maintainer, uh, when I was enlisted, I didn't want to do that job. And so it would be really easy for me to be burnt out and exhausted whenever things would come my way, because I'm doing something that I don't want to do. Right. Um, and that, that usually occurs when you don't have the right purpose. You don't have the right mindset. You don't understand the bigger mission. Um, that that's, that's oftentimes where burnout occurs. Disorientation is more like, you, you know, you would like that job. You're doing something that you feel and you have purpose with, but it's the wrong timing or in the wrong place. And so it's not that you don't love the work. It's that it just, there's something just off is it's like one of those things is hard to describe, but you're just going along and it just feels like you're not accomplishing what you're there to do. Um, so it's usually recognizable. Um, whenever you're going into work, you're putting in the hours, you're doing the ministry and you're like, man, am I really making a difference? Am I really doing what God called me to do? And so you start questioning everything. Um, and it's a difficult, it's a, it's a really difficult place to be. Whenever you start the drift, when you start to feel the disoriented, usually it's easy to kind of push off. You're like, you know what? I'm fine. I just got to change some things up. And so you start doing more right. And in an effort to try to appease that feeling, um, or that, that, that, that position that you're in. And so you say, you know what? I need to change these things up. Let's add this ministry. Let's add this thing. Let's add that thing. And you start adding things to it and you're adding more work. Well, more work doesn't fix it. What it does is it starts to drift you farther away because if you don't get back to following Jesus and his calling and knowing what God's calls for your life, then you're just doing ministry. And we aren't called to just do ministry. We're called to do his ministry. Um, and that's where I was like when I was that pastor in that one church, I was like, okay, we got this youth group. Let's start a, let's start a Friday night Bible study. Maybe that'll get us going. Um, we started that Friday night Bible study. It went great. I'm like, oh man, I'm still feeling like there's still got it. I got there's feeling like something's missing still. So we would add something to the bus route. We'd hate, let, Hey, we got bus kids coming. Let's do this. Let's do that. And we started adding more and more and more. And then finally I just got to the point where I was like, man, I, I just feel unaccomplished. I feel like even though I'm doing all these things, I feel off. Um, and then it came to a head because I wanted to do these things. It didn't align with the senior pastor. And I mean, it came to a big explosion and yeah, that kind of goes to where I ended up deciding to leave the church there in that particular moment. So, and that can happen so easily. And so often, um, with just that all zeal, not a lot of knowledge, just trying to get things done. And oftentimes we do associate life as busyness as success. If I'm busy and I fill my calendar up, I'm good. Um, get the satisfaction of actually seeing changed because we're going for the wrong purpose. We're not seeing hearts changed, uh, because we're just trying to stay busy and God doesn't care about our busyness. He cares about doing things effectively and for what he has for us. Um, one of the lines you use in the book is called, um, God is not a W O L. And maybe that's a term that you use in the military. Um, cause as I'm reading through, I'm like, man, this is some words I'm going to have to study, but I looked it up and it means absent without official leave. Uh, I think is what that means. Correct. So AWOL is absent without leave. And so that basically what AWOL is, is someone that goes outside and leaves their mission without approval, right? Without the authority to actually leave. And so I use that term, um, because from a veteran standpoint, at least, um, I wanted people to understand that God is always there. He's never going to leave. He's never going to be away. He's always present, always there. And he's the one that should be guiding us. Right. Um, the, the, uh, if you, if you read the beginning of the book, I use my life verse as kind of the guiding scripture for the entire book. And that's Proverbs three, five, and six. Um, I love that verse. I've used that verse every phase of my life. And, you know, uh, when it says trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not into thine own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path. That's what this whole thing is about is getting back to him so that he can guide your path. And so, um, getting back to that and, and, and, and knowing where and who God truly is, is where we need to start. Right. Because if you don't have that foundation, you're not going to be able to find your true north. That's really the bottom line of it all. That's really good. Uh, on your shirt there, you've got with us, you talk about the idea of the true north. Um, and oftentimes, uh, the, the question I'm going to get to it in just a minute, but, but how does someone define their true north before life gets hard? Oftentimes we go through life. We try to figure out what's going on. We don't meet our goals. We don't meet our aspirations. And when we don't meet those things, we oftentimes will fall back on our values. We'll fall back on where, what we have defined and who has made us our foundation, right? A wall falls in the foundation still there. You just got to rebuild the wall. Um, so the idea of the true north, how does someone define that true north before the wall falls in before you get off track and you're heading south, when you're supposed to be heading north, like how do we begin to work through that? Uh, and we're going to get to the real framework and this may be a part where we segue into that, but tell us how we, what, what, what advice you would give on that? So true north is based off of the foundation of which you identify yourself, right? Not frozen to right now. What not frozen to no, no, no, it's one of my daughter's favorite songs. So I listened to it all the time. Yeah. Um, so, so the, the, the foundation of who we are is, is, is where it's all going to come from. Like our identity is what helps us find that true north. And you should be able to, every, any person should be able to go back when everything else is stripped away, they should be able to go and, and identify who they are, not based off of their role, not based off of their rank, not based off of their position, based off of Jesus Christ. And when we, when we strip everything away, when we, when we take, let's say that you lose your job, let's say you lose your finances, let's say that you are in prison, shipwrecked, just like Paul, right? Um, who are you and what is the next right step? Right. And so that true north is all based off of your identity in Christ. And so in order to find that you have to first go back to Jesus scriptures. I mean, he says it himself in Matthew, seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you. Um, and so you need to get back to that because he is the one that gives us that direction in our life. And so even though, you know, you think about a compass, you think about north, um, I use the term true north because it's the, it's the direction that you are called to head to. Um, and so that's what, that's what you need to get back to. And so like, whenever I, I talked about my situation as a pastor, thinking I was doing the things I was supposed to do, I was doing ministry. I mean, you would think that would be the happiest time in your life, you know, as a minister in a church, but if you're not in the right position in the right place for the right reasons, you're going to be miserable. And, and I tried to force myself to stay there until finally it just came to that breaking point. And I had to take a step back. I had to pray and just submit to him and he opened up the pathway and I had to get back to that trust in him and he will direct my path. Yeah. Now, as we walk through this, we've just got a couple of questions left. Um, you introduce near the end of the book, uh, what's called the real framework. And so I'm going to let you talk about each one of those acronyms and sort of talk through and discuss these four pillars and how they can help someone recalibrate when they've drifted, because that's, that's one of the hardest things is when you're off course, how do I get myself back on the course? I use no illustration that I use often of when I was a kid and we went to Myrtle beach and I was out in the water and I'm out there and my, my brothers were with me and they had left and I'm playing with some friends that we had made. And I looked up and I couldn't find mom and dad and come to find out the water had slowly drifted me like a mile down the, the, the beach. And so I'm panicking as a, like a five, seven year old kid, I'm trying to find my mom and dad and I'm running up the beach and I get to them. And this is what I said. Why did you move? In my mind, they got up and they moved. It wasn't my fault that I was, that it was their fault. They weren't in the right place. But what actually happened is I was off course. I had moved down, not even realizing that I had drifted, but in my mind, they were the ones that changed. I didn't change. And I had to begin to recalibrate. Oh, the water was pushing me. The life was pushing me off track. I've got to get back on track and I've got to stay digital diligent on knowing where I'm supposed to be at at all times. Um, so walk through the real framework and sort of how we can recalibrate this idea. Awesome. Yeah. So this, this whole book is actually broken down into four parts with each, those three chapters in each of these parts of the framework. Right. And so the, the real framework has been developed over years of different counselings, uh, both as a pastor, both as a youth director, um, but also as a chaplain. Um, and this framework is kind of the, the, the pillars that help a person to recalibrate. Right. And so this is broken into those, those four parts. So real is an acronym in the military. We love our acronyms. You mentioned earlier, a wall. You're like, yeah, look up some of these acronyms, find out what they mean. So real stands for redemption, excellence, authenticity, and legacy. And those are the four areas that we need to look to in order to get back on track and to be, be, be pointed in that right direction and take that, that next right step. So the redemption part is all about the hope we have, right? It's, it's not a passive type of hope. It's a forward looking expectation of hope. Um, it's, it's rooted in Christ. Um, it's, it's, it's about redemption, making us a new person. And so redemption is that first part. And I would argue is probably the most important part, because if you don't have that foundation, everything else is going to be kind of fluid, right? Now, excellence, we're not talking about being perfect. We're talking about, um, being faithful. We're talking about, um, striving for the better version of yourself. Uh, in the air force, we have three core values, right? Service before self excellence, all we do. Um, and then integrity first. And so those three core values kind of, uh, help us understand us as human beings. That's what the, they're, they're there to do. They're there to guide a person's values. And so excellence is one of those that helps you to be steady, um, in and through whatever it is that's going on. Uh, whether you're going through hard times or you're going through great times, you should be, have excellent character, uh, in it all. And then authenticity, this is about being real, being true, um, about who you are in Christ. Uh, it's about being genuine and having the type of posture that stands firm for others to see and be able to lean on as well. Um, one of the most difficult parts about leadership is being authentic. Uh, so many people get into leadership positions. They want to look like a good leader, right? But you have to be a good leader. That's that authenticity part. And it, it, it prioritizes people instead of just positions and things like that. And so, um, there's, there's often an argument about what's more important mission or people. Um, and it's not that easy of a question to just say, oh, it's people, oh, it's mission. It's both there. There needs to be a, uh, symbiotic relationship because if you take care of people, they're going to take care of the mission. So the better you take care of people, the better you take care of the mission. So they work together. It's not one or the other. And then the last one is legacy. This is that part, um, that is about pouring into and investing in others. So, so that whatever it is, doesn't end with you. Um, scripture talks a lot about discipleship in the military. We talk about mentorship and development, uh, whichever direction you look at, it's about investing in others so that the, the message you have, the, the values you hold, those things carry on and carry forward more than just your lifetime, hopefully for generations. Uh, the goal is to influence and impact the next generation so that they too will influence and impact their next generation so that it multiplies. That's, that's the whole idea of, I mean, Christian discipleship anyways. And so it's all about building that legacy. Yeah. So that's great. Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah, I was going to say, and, and so you put those together and when you have that framework done, you're able to look at yourself, do a self-evaluation, say, okay, where am I off course? And, and how can I get back on course? And, and the book has a lot of tools that I developed because I want it to be a helpful resource, not just me talking about things, but how can you apply those things? And every chapter has a tool. Um, every chapter has questions that you can do either, either as an individual or as a group and, uh, and, and, and you're able to work those things out so that you can apply those truths, um, into your life as well. Yeah. One of the takeaways that I got from just reading through what I got to read through was, uh, it almost felt like a counseling session, uh, through a book, which is how me and John wrote the book that we wrote recently for brokenness to freedom, uh, was sort of in a counseling room, right? We're walking through things. There's homework assignments, there's scripture there for you. There's a question, ask yourself. Um, and that's sort of that, that, that meat and bones that we need, uh, when we read something, not just reading information, but how can I apply this to my life? How can I, uh, allow it to penetrate my heart? Um, and so oftentimes, uh, sort of the last question before we close up today. Um, I had a guy I worked with, uh, when I was 18 years old, his name was Dan. Uh, he was from New York. He was, uh, in the army. He was a military guy. Uh, he had gotten off track a little bit, but he always made this statement. He said, my mom told me, and, and he had his Yankee accent. Uh, he was so much of a Yankee, um, that he wore blue on home games and white on away games. And then he had a girl that he wore when there wasn't a game. Um, and he, his outfit for the New York Yankees was based on their schedule. I mean, he was a diehard Yankee, loved it. Um, but he would always say, my mom told me when, when things get tough, just to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. And that was the idea that he always pushed forward is I've got to work harder. I've got to work better. I can't let adversity come against me. Uh, but in the book, you said, it's not about pushing harder. It's about slowing down, recalibrating and figuring out what this problem is to be able to get you back on track. So what does that look like practically? Because in our world, it's, we've got to be stronger, better. We've got to do everything to the best we can. Nothing can slow us down. If you're slowing down, you're going backwards, but you're pushing it the opposite way. You're saying slow down, figure out some things before you move forward. So what does that look like practically on an everyday, uh, sense for someone's life? That's got a busy life. It's a pastor. That's a, that's an office, a doctor. That's got to have 10, 15 patients in one day. And they're going from one surgery to another and life is chaotic and busy. How does that look like? What does that look like practically? So there's a term that special operators use. They say slow is smooth, smooth is fast. And so when I talk about slowing down, it means sometimes, cause, cause when, when we're in a fast paced, high tempo environment, so here at Kadena, we're a high ops tempo base. Like we've got China on our doorstep. We've got South Korea on our doorstep and got Russia on our, all three of those are right here. We're what's known as the gateway to the Pacific. And so we're constantly moving and I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm reminding them, Hey, just because you're moving doesn't mean you're right. All right. Sometimes you need to take that step back and make sure you're moving in the right direction. Because if you're like, Oh man, I got to push harder, but you're pushing through the wrong direction. All you're doing is getting further in the wrong direction. So when I talk about taking that step back and recalibrating, I'm trying to help people see, Hey, just because you're pushing somewhere doesn't mean it's right. You might be. And if you're in the right direction, push hard, push fast, get in there and do what needs to be done. But if you're feeling lost or disoriented and you continue down that path, you're just getting further and further away. And that feeling is not going to go away. And so when I talk about slowing down, sometimes we need to take that step back. Like again, whenever I was back in that pastoral position back in Georgia, uh, I kept pushing and pushing and pushing and doing and doing and doing, but I wasn't going the right direction. And so no matter how much I did, all it did was have me drift farther and farther away. It wasn't until I surrendered it all, took a step back and said, all right, God, you're in control and redirected to the right direction. It wasn't even a drastic change. I was already doing chaplain assistant stuff in the chaplain corps. I was already had my foot kind of in the door in the right direction, but I was trying to still keep myself in that wrong spot, um, and continually pushing. So, um, taking that step back is so important because we need to make sure that we're practicing and training the right things that we're maybe even developing the right people, whatever the case might be. And so in order for us to practically start getting back to that, um, the right direction, we need to take that step back. Sometimes it just means taking a step back, taking a deep breath, praying, maybe taking, taking a couple of days, right? You're like, you know what? I need a couple of days off. There's a reason why, um, pastors specifically are told to take sabbaticals, take some time off because they need to recalibrate. They need to refresh. Otherwise they're going to keep going and then they're going to get disoriented or burnt out one of the two. Um, and so it's a great time to take that step back, um, and examine whether you're, whether or not you're doing the right thing. I mean, you think about the life of Jesus before he went to the cross, what did he do? He took a step back, went out into the wilderness, prayed, right? And, and the way he said it, it kind of makes me think I tried to put myself, what it would be like if I was in that position. And he says, you know, if, if it be your world, take this cup from me, but if not, then, you know, give him the strength to do it. And, and that's how we often are, or at least should be, we should go into those places of, of, uh, solitude, um, or maybe with one or two close people and pray and think, okay, Lord, is this what I'm supposed to be doing? Is this the path I'm supposed to be on? If it is, give me the strength to do it. If not, remove it from me and show me where I'm supposed to be going and what I'm supposed to be doing. So that, that's kind of, uh, the direction I want people to take with that is it's, it's not about just whether you're pushing hard or not. It's about whether you're going in the right direction in the first place. And sometimes you got to slow down to make sure that you are. Yeah, that's so good. And I appreciate you saying that's a good word there. Uh, last question we've got before we close it up today, um, is I'm sure there's people that are listening. I'm sure we've got an audience out there that feels lost. They feel tired. They feel unsure of what's next. And I'm sure there's some that are out there that were like you and, and like me as well. Like I was in this place, uh, where they may say I've drifted. I'm so far off course. Uh, I'm so far gone. I don't know if there's a way back for me. Like I've, I've gone so far down the rabbit hole, um, that I don't know if there's even the light at the end of the tunnel or when I get out of that tunnel, is there even going to be a place for me? So what would you give the advice to someone who's listening that feels that way? And how would you sort of advise them of what to do next? Um, the hardest part of being in that position is trusting God with what's next. There, there, the, the reason I have a Proverbs three, five and six is because it's so helpful for me to know that I don't have to know what's at the end of the tunnel. I don't have to know what's on the other side of that forest or that valley that I'm walking through. I just have to know that I'm taking that next right step. And so surrendering is so hard to do when you, when you're in that position because of the unknown. Um, but when you think of it from a navigation standpoint, if you're lost in the woods, that map isn't going to help you. If you're lost in the woods, the only thing that you have to get you to the other side is a compass, right? You have to get back to that compass. You have to get back to finding that you're, that you're going in the right direction in the first place. And that might mean you got to go back some steps to where, where you came from to be like, all right, I need to take some steps back here. Let me recalibrate here. And then let me keep my eye on the compass as I, uh, as I traverse this forest, this fog, this nighttime expedition, whatever, whatever circumstance or situation you're going into. Sometimes you need to just keep your eye on truth and that compass to get you through it. And when, so when you're feeling lost, tired, or unsure of what's next, that's what you got to do. You got to be like, okay, I don't know what's next. I don't know how I'm going to get there, but I do know this God is in control and I can trust him. And so whatever it is, God has something greater for you on the other side of whatever circumstance you're in, just trust in him and he will direct your path. Yeah. So that, that song firm foundation, right? He hasn't failed me yet. I'm going to keep him. Not going to fail me. I may not know what's going to happen, but I'm just going to keep taking those steps, uh, in the right direction, uh, to know that he's going to take care of the rest. Um, Jeff, thanks for coming on, man. Thanks for sharing your time. I know you're busy, uh, with where you're at, but in the closing war words or thoughts, um, where can they get your book? And I'll link these to the show notes. Um, what, what, who's your publisher? Like, how can they find that, find your, your information here? Oh, sure. Um, yeah. So my, my, uh, project is published through, um, trilogy Christian publishing. Um, they're a branch of TBN. Um, so you can, you can get it at any, any bookstore. It's actually on pre-order now through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google books. So you can pretty much go anywhere. Just look up Jeff, Jeffrey Reibold. That's J E F F R E Y R Y B O L D. Look it up in any major bookstore. Um, they're available there. You can do pre-orders online through Amazon books, through, you know, all those things. Um, so those are the ways to get through it. You can follow me on any of my social media outlets. Um, I've been posting content daily, trying to get the word out. I've got an advanced team as well. Um, trying to get again, the word out. I don't have a lot of followers, so, um, I'm really relying on the community and I can't go around the country doing book signings because I'm in Japan. So I'm like community help me get the word out. Um, so yeah, anybody that's listening, if you would like to, uh, help, help out, um, a poor chaplain out there in the middle of Japan, uh, by all means pre-orders, uh, launch week, which is June 2nd. Um, and then reviews, reviews are the oxygen of the book world. So any of that would be super helpful. Um, and I'm just trying to get this message out to people that need it. Um, so if you read it, you like it, share it, get more people to, um, take part in the message as well, because I know it's going to help people because it's the same message that helped me. Um, and so yeah, it's super helpful, but yeah, trilogy, Christian publishing. Love it. It's about three, three weeks away from when this episode comes out. So, uh, you've got time to go find it. I'll link that in our show notes as well. Um, man, thank you for coming on. Thank you for being a part of the podcast today. I hate Brett couldn't be here. Um, you haven't even heard it yet. I don't think, uh, but Brett is actually changing his MDiv to, uh, not just pastoral theology, but pastoral and chaplain theology, um, to get chaplain certified. Um, he said, you know, in the, in the Avenue that I'm at with pastoring, I'm, I'm doing a lot of like hospice care and chaplain work. Um, the, where I met, there could be an opportunity. And it was like two classes that he had to add, um, to do that. And so, um, he's going to be chaplain certified as well. So I know he wanted to come on here and talk with you, uh, but he couldn't do to the schedule. Um, but thank you for coming on. Thank you for sharing your heart. And, uh, if you, if you would do it, do me a favor, go find his book, uh, find Jeff's book and, uh, the warriors compass. I know it'll help you. It's helped me. I'm excited about sharing this with some of my friends, um, and, uh, getting this out to some people. So, uh, I believe in this cause I believe in what Jeff's doing and I know it'd be a blessing to you as well. And so, uh, until next time, thank you for turning, tuning in today, uh, to God be the glory, great things he has done. Amen. Found my new name, found that good grace, found that healing and the tears fell down my face when I found my beginning that has no ending. Found that second chance, found my best friend, found my forgiveness, found my happiness. I've been singing ever since. I found my freedom. Thanks for listening to the for freedom podcast. If you enjoyed our content, do us a favor by liking, subscribing, or sharing our podcast or whichever podcast platform you use. Be sure to join us next time for the for freedom podcast.

Auto-generated transcript · 10,936 words. May contain errors.