The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count Rob Skinner

In this episode, I talk to Ryan Painter, who leads a church in Cleveland, Ohio.  Listen as he shares:
·        How he became a disciple at Ohio State
·        His struggles with anxiety and panic attacks and how he manages this while leading a church and preaching
·        How he has seen God bless the church this year with 9 baptisms in four months in a church of 85 disciples. 
·        What he did and would recommend to get a church that has stalled to grow and baptize again.
·        Why he feels like having fun is essential to making this life counts.
You can reach Ryan at ryanapainter@gmail.com

Join me as I talk to Dr. Sean St. Jean, author of his new book, "Spiritual Trauma."  I recently met Sean and read his book and we talk about his background, his book and why he wrote it.
More about Dr. Sean St. Jean:
Dr. Sean St. Jean is a full-time professor at King University in Tennessee, teaching therapy at a graduate level. He is also a therapist in private practice, and has worked with hundreds of disciples and ministry staff around the world who are struggling spiritual trauma, workplace stress, and ministry burnout. His new book, Spiritual Trauma: A Guide to Healing Your Heart From Church Hurts was just released this fall and can be found at seanstjean.com. Sean, his wife Erin, and their 3 children currently live in British Columbia, Canada, and are active members of the Vancouver Church of Christ.
Dr. Sean St. Jean can be reached at sean_st_jean@yahoo.com

How to Put God's Word into Practice Immediately

Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.  Isaiah 66:2
The multiplying disciple responds and acts on God’s word.  He or she goes beyond mere head-nodding and mumbled assent during a sermon, “Mmmm.”  He takes it and immediately puts it to work. 
God compares the different responses of two different kings, Saul and David, in Acts 13:22.  After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’  Saul was called to wait on Samuel to make an offering and to wipe out the Amalekites.  He chose to ignore and modify God’s clear command.  His lack of responsiveness to God’s word disqualified him as king.  Look at how God addresses his refusal to obey,
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
    as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
    and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
    and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
    he has rejected you as king.”  1 Samuel 15:22-24
David, on the other hand builds an eternal reputation as the “man after God’s own heart.”  Why?  Because, unlike Saul, he was willing to do everything God wanted him to do.  He put things into practice.  David made a ton of mistakes and committed some major sins like adultery, conspiracy to murder and abuse of power.  However, even when he did those things, he repented and turned back toward God.  He never left God or turned away from him like Saul did.
It’s easy to disconnect our feelings about God from our obedience to God.  We say things like, “God knows my heart.”  As if God gives us credit for good intentions or having the right feelings toward God.  It’s clear that God does know our heart, but like David and Saul, we reveal the contents of our heart by our humility and responsiveness to God’s word.  I want God to say about me, “Rob is a man after my own heart, he did everything I wanted him to do.” 
What does that look like in our current generation?  How can we be people who put things into practice?  Here are some indicators of a person who “trembles at God’s word.”
Take notes during sermons, classes and seminars. 
Notetaking is a lost art.  As a young Christian, those sitting around me in church often had both a paper Bible, a notepad and a pen.  People scribbled furiously as they listened to the sermon.  Notetaking is not proof of obedience, but it is one way to stay tuned in and to allow the word to penetrate deeper.  I will often write things down and then place a star next to the points that I felt were particularly convicting or challenging. 
Immediately write down three things that you can put into practice. 
I’ve gotten into the practice of offering “next steps” a the end of my lessons.  I learned this from Nelson Searcy.  I think it’s valuable to know how to apply the lesson of the Bible.  Action is what matters, not simple accumulation of information.  I like to make lists and one thing I will do is start the day by writing down three things I can put into practice from what I read or heard.  When we listen to a sermon or read our Bible without regular application, we resemble those who listened to the words of the prophet Ezekiel:  31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays

 
Every wondered what to do in a tricky dating situation or relationship tangle?  I’m here with Chris Schwartzenber, a close friend who leads the church Spokane, Washington.  We’re going to field questions submitted from you our listeners on the subject of relationships and dating.  Disclaimer, these are our opinions only and ask you to get advice from trusted people within your congregation, family and trustworthy friends.
Here are the questions sent in from one of our listeners:
Best ways to meet people outside of your home church, other than conferences How can I (not me specific) become a more “marry-able” person? How can I remain hopeful and faithful that someone is out there for you? (Knowing that being single forever does happen for some people) What are Rob’s top 3 red flags for someone you’re interested in? Green flags?   How to let someone down easy if you are not interested in pursuing a relationship with them How to know the line between “I need to persevere through this situation” and “I need to move on to something new”

How to Be a Multiplying Disciple:  Seek pleasing results, not pleasing methods
“When do you plan on moving?  How long have you lived at this address?  Where did you move from?  How did you happen to pick this area?  If you were to move, where would you go next?  And when would that be?” 
In the middle of the great recession and housing collapse of 2008, I clung to this sales script as if it were straight from the Bible.  I had only been selling real estate for two years when the real estate market collapsed.  In order to survive, I looked around for some way to list and sell houses in one of the worst markets on record.  I had a wife and three kids in elementary and middle school.  I had a mortgage and I had just bought a brand new Chevy Suburban. 
I saw an advertisement for a real estate sales conference held in Las Vegas taught by a man named Mike Ferry.  Mike made Donald Trump appear humble, but he guaranteed that anyone who followed his methods would sell in any market. I put the conference on a credit card and listened for three days as he expounded on how to sell homes.  I came back with the confidence that if I just put into practice what he taught, I could keep my head above water and sell homes. 
One technique he promoted was direct sales or door knocking.  This is a method that most realtors avoid at all costs.  However, desperation drove me on.  Nearly every morning I would knock on fifty to one hundred doors and recite the script Mike had provided.  Amazingly, it worked.  I started finding people who were thinking about selling their homes.  One lady said, “Yes, I need to sell my house immediately.  I called another realtor, but they never called me back!  Come right in.”  I listed and sold her home.  I found another couple that wanted to sell their home and then called my brother who was looking to buy in that same neighborhood.  He lives there to this day.    It wasn’t easy, but I was able to support my family on straight commission sales (I only earned money if I actually sold a house), build a new house and support the newborn church we had just planted in Ashland, Oregon.
Why would I do something so uncomfortable?  I was new, unknown, untested and had few relationships in the community.  I didn’t have time to build a relationship network in time to feed my family.  Desperation drove me to embrace unpleasant methods.  The result, however, was pleasant results.
If you desire to multiply disciples for Christ, you have to ask yourself the question, “Do I want pleasant methods or pleasant results?”  I talk to many disciples who sincerely want to save souls, bear fruit and help people to know God.  They’ve been praying for years to find someone open, but they remain barren.  The problem is they are praying for pleasant results while using pleasant methods.  They aren’t running to win.  Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
All disciples are running the Christian race, but not all are running to win.  They have a false expectation that even if I don’t beat my body and make it my slave, I can still win the race.  Paul understood that only those willing to crucify themselves would see the kind of life-giving results that most disciples pray for. 
When we were living in Japan, my wife, Pam, got sick of not saving souls.  She made a decision to start sharing with 100 people a day for seven d

This past weekend I went to Pine Summit Camp in Prescott, Arizona for an All-Arizona Men’s Retreat.  Chris Reed, who leads the church in Salt Lake City was the keynote speaker and preached on what it means to be a man made in the image of Jesus.  I got together with three twenty-somethings after Chris’ lesson and discussed the topic of masculinity in your twenties.  Listen to Johnny Nitafan, a 22-year-old married YouTuber, Brennan Sciascia, a 25-year-old graduate of Brown University and engineer at Intel and 20-year old Nick Kaplan, a junior at the University of Arizona.  They discuss what it means to be a man in 2024.
You can reach Rob at Rob@RobSkinner.Com or go to RobSkinner.Com