0:04

At the Coffee and Bible Time podcast

0:06

o ur goal is to help you delight

0:08

in God's Word and thrive in Christian

0:10

living . Each week , we talk to

0:13

subject matter experts who broaden

0:15

your biblical understanding , encourage

0:17

you in hard times, and provide

0:19

life-building tips to enhance

0:21

your Christian walk . We are so

0:23

glad you have joined us , hi

0:27

, welcome back to the Coffee and Bible Time

0:29

podcast . This is Ellen . I

0:32

am excited today to talk to

0:34

you about this topic that I know all

0:36

of us can relate to . If you're struggling

0:39

to maintain a strong

0:41

connection with God amidst

0:43

a busy schedule , you have

0:45

come to the right place and you are not alone

0:48

. Many of us find

0:50

it challenging to prioritize

0:52

our spiritual life among

0:55

the hustle and bustle of daily life , and

0:57

in this episode , we are

0:59

joined by Andrew McLennan , who

1:02

is the host of the podcast

1:04

Faith Boost Ancient Secrets

1:06

for the Modern World , and

1:08

he is going to share with us how

1:11

we can reconcile our

1:13

busyness by incorporating

1:15

the word of God into our lives

1:18

daily , for that

1:20

renewal that we so desperately need

1:22

. So stay with us as

1:24

we discover how to nourish our

1:26

relationship with God even in our

1:28

hectic lifestyles . Our

1:31

guest , Andrew McLennan

1:33

, has a passion for seeing

1:36

people turn to Jesus and discover

1:38

their new identity in Christ through

1:41

prayer , worship , fellowship

1:43

and the Word of God . In

1:45

addition to doing missions , Andrew

1:48

birthed a church in Australia

1:50

that started with just five people

1:52

and , for 18 years , grew

1:54

into a vibrant , healthy congregation

1:57

. Today , Andrew is

1:59

not only a podcast host and pastor

2:01

, but also a presenter

2:04

on Australia's largest

2:06

nationwide Christian radio

2:08

station , and

2:10

that is where Andrew and I first

2:12

met , during an interview

2:14

that he had with Coffee and Bible Time

2:17

. So I'm so pleased to welcome

2:19

Andrew .

2:21

Hey Ellen , how you doing .

2:29

Fabulous and I'm so thrilled to talk to you again when you're in America . You

2:31

just have to love that Australian accent . I'm just saying .

2:34

Well , I'm glad you love it , because I lived in

2:36

England for four years and the English don't love the Australians

2:38

as much as Americans do , so that's why we

2:40

love Americans as well , because we

2:43

feel at home with you guys .

2:45

Oh well , good to be talking

2:47

with you again , Andrew

3:03

Yeah , my family were ranchers I think you guys call them in the States we call them farmers from many

3:05

generations ago , and we were sheep

3:07

farmers and wool farming in Australia

3:09

used to be very profitable . It was the backbone of

3:11

our economy . In fact , the state

3:13

I'm living in , now , Queensland , the infrastructure was

3:16

largely built during the US Civil War because

3:18

the demand for wool was so high by the soldiers

3:20

fighting in the Civil War that we

3:22

couldn't get enough wool to America , and so my

3:24

family did that for a long time . And

3:27

then , after seven years of drought when I was a kid

3:29

and wool prices started collapsing

3:31

new materials

3:33

were used to make clothes , et cetera not as much wool

3:36

anymore my dad

3:38

and grandfather sold the family farm . It was quite

3:40

a good farm , one of the best in the district , and we moved

3:42

to the city , just like the Beverly Hillbillies

3:44

, and completely

3:46

changed all of our lives and bought

3:48

a place on a cliff overlooking Manly Beach

3:50

in Sydney one of the most beautiful parts

3:52

of Sydney , overlooking a beach . So I went from being a country

3:55

kid who loves shooting and hunting and

3:57

riding trail bikes and horses and having

3:59

big open spaces , to being a city

4:01

kid on a beach , and it was quite a transition

4:03

for all of us open spaces , to being

4:05

a city kid on a beach , and it was quite a transition

4:07

for all of us .

4:13

I can't imagine going from living in the country to living

4:16

in a big city like that . Well

4:23

, so you were in the city getting

4:25

adjusted there .

4:28

Yeah , so in Australia , especially in the part of Australia I was from the outback area we were

4:31

from there weren't many Christians . The town I was born

4:33

in , where our ranch was nearby , had

4:35

a lot of pubs , honky tonks , bars

4:37

I don't know what you guys call them Just like in Crocodile Dundee

4:39

, where all the men drink after work

4:41

. And that was really the culture I came

4:43

out of , and so there was no faith in our family

4:46

. We never went to church except for weddings

4:48

and funerals , and

4:50

moving to the city was not good for my dad

4:52

. He already loved drinking

4:54

, but city life didn't agree with him . He went from

4:56

being a landowner that hired other

4:58

people to work for him to getting a job in

5:00

the government , and he became an alcoholic and

5:04

our family was torn apart by his addiction

5:06

. And so I had this beautiful

5:08

view of the beach from my bedroom window

5:11

. I'd wake up every morning and see this beautiful

5:13

landscape . I'd go surfing

5:15

most mornings with my friends , but on the

5:17

inside I was broken and I was hurting , and

5:20

so , like a lot of people in Australia

5:22

do , I turned to the party scene . You know

5:24

drinking . You know

5:26

mild drugs , obama style drugs , just party

5:28

drugs . You know nothing too serious but

5:31

just girls , the whole thing . The party

5:33

scene was big when I was a teenager in Sydney

5:35

and I turned to that , hoping

5:37

that that's where I'd find happiness

5:39

and peace and joy . And as many of

5:42

us know , Ellen , it didn't bring that at all it

5:50

brought momentary

5:52

happiness and then a big headache the next day . So

6:08

how did you come to know Christ at age 17 ? Yeah

6:13

, well , at that time in Sydney there was a lot of Christian surfers and they were organizing

6:15

competitions and they were very aggressive evangelists and they were witnessing

6:17

the people putting on surfing competitions . And

6:19

you know , some of my friends were professional

6:21

surfers or turning pro and you know , we

6:23

kind of thought we were better than everybody else . So

6:26

when these Christians would turn up on the beaches with their Christian

6:28

surfing competitions , we'd go down there to laugh at

6:30

them and mock them . But

6:32

they started witnessing to us and , like the Bible

6:34

says , the word is a seed . It

6:36

gets planted in your heart . And

6:38

over a several-year period , god just

6:41

started convicting me and drawing me to himself . And

6:43

the harder I went in the party

6:45

scene , the more unhappy I was and I just

6:47

reached a point where I literally felt like I've

6:49

got to become a Christian . I've got to try God

6:52

because I know in my heart there's something real about

6:54

this and I'm living a lie with my friends

6:56

. I'm pretending to be happy , I'm

6:58

pretending to be one of the cool kids on the beach , but

7:00

I wasn't happy and I finally just had to

7:03

yield myself to God . Ironically , through

7:05

a professional surfer who became a Christian . He

7:08

was at a Bible study one night I was

7:10

invited to . I went along in someone's home and

7:13

he just nailed me with the Bible , nailed me with

7:15

his testimony and he said , andrew , you need to receive

7:17

Jesus . And I said I will , I

7:19

will , and I prayed a simple prayer , and

7:22

my heart changed just

7:24

radically , dramatically . My heart

7:26

changed instantly . I opened my eyes and I felt

7:29

I know it's a cliche , but I felt like this weight

7:31

was off my shoulders and I was standing up

7:33

straight for the first time in my life and I I

7:35

just felt like God had done something .

7:39

That's so , so beautiful and

7:41

just so powerful . The

7:43

the personal testimony of the

7:46

person who had witnessed to

7:48

you and reminds

7:50

us all right that when

7:53

we share our story , there's no

7:55

one who can say anything against it , because

7:57

it is our story . Well

8:00

then , you went on to do

8:02

missions . Tell us about your experience

8:04

doing missions .

8:07

Yeah , I'll briefly touch on that . I've spent

8:09

a year in Papua New Guinea , which is a country north

8:11

of Australia . I've spent

8:13

a year in Nigeria West Africa after that

8:15

, when I was young and single and very

8:18

enthusiastic for the Lord . And I've also done

8:20

stuff in Eastern Europe . You know , I've

8:22

spent four years in base in England going into Eastern

8:24

Europe and Africa all across the Pacific

8:26

. In the last few years especially , we've done missions

8:29

in countries called Vanuatu , new Caledonia

8:31

, the Solomon Islands , which , if there's

8:33

any history buffs listening , that's where the Battle of Guadalcanal

8:36

was fought with . The Marines defeated the Japanese . The first

8:38

time that's in the Solomon Islands . But

8:40

you know , Ellen , I want to go back to my story . So I

8:42

became a Christian and I was saved

8:45

and I was in church and I was reading my Bible and I was praying

8:47

. But there were days where

8:49

I would just be down at the beach

8:51

and it was a sunny day , a beautiful day , and

8:53

I just felt like this dark cloud would come over me

8:55

and I was a Christian . So I really

8:57

want to go there today and talk about how

9:00

God got me out of that Because

9:03

, looking back now , I had depression . I didn't no one talked about depression when I was a kid it

9:05

wasn't a thing . It is now and

9:07

I was clinically depressed and I didn't know

9:09

why and I didn't know how to get

9:11

out of it . It was , it was horrible , horrible

9:13

.

9:15

Oh , I'm sorry to hear that

9:17

I can relate

9:20

to you because I know I've experienced

9:22

it as well . This

9:24

experience that you had with

9:26

clinical depression really

9:29

impacted what

9:31

you're doing now with this

9:34

podcast and how you

9:36

are trying to help people get into

9:38

the word . Just the busy culture

9:40

that we're in and you

9:43

kind of decided to tackle an issue

9:45

so many of us face right Busyness

9:47

and how it distracts us from

9:49

regular fellowship with God . Tell

9:53

us why you decided

9:55

to address this topic through

9:57

the podcast .

9:59

Yeah , because , like I said , I was living

10:01

in what is probably considered paradise , on

10:03

a beach in Sydney sunshine

10:06

, sand , surf you know we're young

10:08

and everything should be , you

10:10

know , going for us and it just

10:12

felt like this dark cloud would come over me and , even though

10:15

I was a Christian , I'd be with people

10:17

and even if they were Christian people , I'd sometimes just have to say I'm just going for a walk , I'd have to walk away

10:19

. Though I was a Christian , I'd be with people and even if they were Christian people , I'd sometimes just have to say I'm just going for a walk , I'd have to walk away because

10:21

I was embarrassed , because I felt so sad

10:23

. I couldn't laugh , I couldn't smile

10:25

like everybody else . I just had this like

10:28

a dark cloud on me . And so , thankfully

10:30

, I was in a church and it's such a key to being a Christian

10:33

, you know , being in a church . I

10:39

know Christians today think they can survive with just them and God and their Bible and listening to podcasts like ours or , in my case , listening

10:41

to Christian radio in Australia . But we need a local church and

10:44

I'm so glad . I went to church one Sunday and someone

10:46

was preaching about this and he said you know , when I got saved

10:48

. I needed more joy in

10:50

my life . And he goes . I just started to confess

10:52

that I had joy and I started to

10:54

speak against sadness and depression

10:57

. And

10:59

he talked about scriptures , talked about speak to the mountain , confession . There's power in

11:01

our words . You know the word of faith that

11:03

we preach , as Paul described it . And

11:06

so , Ellen , I started to apply that . Whenever

11:08

that feeling of depression came over me , that dark

11:10

cloud would come over me , I'd go for a walk but

11:12

I would start fighting it and I'd start

11:15

speaking against it and I'd start

11:17

declaring in the name of Jesus

11:19

, I'm joyful . In the name

11:21

of Jesus , this sadness is going , and

11:24

I'd use the word of God and I'd quote scriptures about

11:26

joy and quote scriptures about God's

11:28

power . And

11:30

I'm not just saying this to hype it up , Ellen

11:32

. After a few months , that depression

11:34

lifted it left , and here I am

11:36

, a few years later I don't want to say too many

11:39

, but a few years later and it hasn't

11:41

come back , Ellen , like I've literally

11:43

been set free by applying

11:45

the word of God to my life , confessing the word

11:47

, believing the word and just standing

11:49

on the word and resisting everything

11:52

that came against me to steal my joy

11:54

.

11:57

That's a very powerful

11:59

testimony , Andrew . Thank you

12:02

for sharing that with us . How

12:05

are you then sort of

12:07

applying what you

12:09

learned through this experience

12:12

, how the word of God transformed

12:14

your life ? How are

12:16

you translating that to

12:18

the people that will be listening to your podcast

12:21

?

12:22

Yeah . So what the podcast is ? It's five

12:25

minutes and I release three a week

12:27

and it's called Faith Boost and

12:29

it's designed to boost our faith . It's designed

12:31

for busy people . Many of us are so busy now

12:34

we're driving to drop the kids at school

12:36

, or we're going to work or we're going to the gym and

12:38

we don't have half an hour to listen to a message . But we're going to work or we're going to the gym and we don't have half an hour to listen to a message

12:41

. But we want something to boost our faith

12:43

because our world is a world of distraction now . There's

12:45

so many distractions out there . So

12:47

it's designed for busy people . And so I get an old

12:49

testament story . I've been working

12:51

through abraham . I mean you won't believe how many different

12:53

angles and takes I've had on abraham , uh

12:56

, and . And now I'm onto Noah and

12:58

I've done Enoch . I've even done a few on Enoch

13:00

, the guy in the Bible who only gets a couple of verses but

13:03

so much depth to his story . So

13:05

I pull out an Old Testament story and I

13:07

find a New Testament truth in their

13:09

story and I talk about how we can apply

13:11

that . So the podcast is designed

13:13

to do a number of things . Number

13:17

one to inspire people to read their Bibles . You know , part of my journey , ellen

13:19

, of being set free from depression and that sadness

13:21

, was discovering the Word of God

13:24

and reading the Word of God , meditating

13:26

on the Word of God , and I just love the Old Testament

13:28

. I love the book of Genesis , I love the book of Judges

13:30

and Joshua , 1 and 2 , samuel

13:32

, the stories of David , the Psalms you

13:34

know it's all the Word of God . And of course , I love

13:37

you know it's all the Word of God . And of course , I love you know Matthew , mark , luke , john and

13:39

the book of Acts as well . So I'm using fairly

13:41

obscure stories Well

13:46

, obscure in the sense that they're Old Testament stories as the platform for the podcast , hoping and

13:48

praying that people will go wow , that was a really interesting one . I'm going to

13:50

go and read the book of Genesis tonight . I'm going to read

13:52

the whole book of Noah , because as a

13:54

preacher , Ellen , I've preached all around the world . People

13:57

need more than my preaching . They need

13:59

a love for the word of God and they need

14:01

to read their Bibles for themselves . And that's what

14:03

I love about Coffee and Bible Time . You guys

14:05

are all about people delighting themselves in

14:07

the word of God , because I tell you , what if I'm stuck on a

14:09

deserted island ? I want a Bible , Ellen

14:11

, and I want to be able to read that Bible and meditate

14:14

on that and use that as the basis

14:16

of my connection to God .

14:20

Absolutely essential , that

14:22

is for sure . You

14:24

had subtitled your podcast

14:27

Ancient Secrets for the Modern

14:29

World . Is

14:31

that what you're referring to when you

14:33

talk about pulling from the Old

14:35

Testament , or did you have other things

14:38

in mind as well ? No , just the Old Testament .

14:39

It . You have other things in mind as well . No , just the Old Testament . It's obviously

14:41

just to gather people's interest , because

14:43

you know we live in a world that is so progressive

14:46

that you know we are just . It's Australia , it's

14:48

America , it's Britain . I mean , the Western world has just

14:50

gone mad . We need

14:52

courts and judges now to tell us what a man or

14:54

a woman is . I mean , we've just progressed so far

14:57

from our traditions . So what I'm saying

14:59

is these are ancient secrets . Well , the ancient secrets

15:01

are just the Bible and

15:03

Bible truths that have been around for thousands of

15:05

years and they actually work . And

15:07

an example of that is God made man

15:10

in his image and he made them male and female

15:12

. He created them . That's

15:14

the ancient secret . Right there for the

15:16

modern dilemma of gender issues

15:19

, it's like God made man and woman and they're both

15:21

wonderful . They both serve an incredible

15:23

purpose and when they're together , when they're united

15:25

, as Adam and Eve were in the beginning , they can have

15:27

dominion , they can rule the earth

15:29

, they can bless the world , they can harvest

15:31

the crops and they can grow their

15:34

own food and look after the animals and

15:36

take care of the earth . That was God's early

15:38

design and look after the animals and take care of the earth . That

15:40

was God's early design , so that's an ancient secret right there . So it is a bit of a play on words , because

15:42

all I'm really trying to do is say , hey , the Bible is

15:44

the answer for today's world . We don't need

15:46

any new ideas or new approaches to

15:48

life .

15:51

Thank you for that . You know

15:53

that's such an interesting

15:55

way of putting it

15:57

ancient secrets . I'd never thought of it but

16:01

, like for people that have never read the Bible before

16:03

, they really don't know what's

16:05

in there and the guidance and direction

16:07

that God gives in the Bible for us to

16:09

lead our daily lives

16:11

. What kind of feedback have

16:13

you heard from people who

16:17

are listening or even

16:19

that you've just encountered

16:21

with how the word of God has transformed

16:24

their lives ?

16:26

Yeah , I've got a great video testimony

16:28

on my Facebook page at the moment actually from a rancher

16:30

, a farmer , who's from way out back

16:33

as well . Great guy , christian guy , and

16:35

he's been listening to the podcast because you know these farmers

16:37

. Sometimes they're in you know machinery

16:39

or tractors or-wheel drives for hours

16:42

in a day , you know

16:44

working , and they just like listening to things that are going

16:46

to boost their faith . He's a Christian and he's

16:48

just saying he's been sending it to a lot of his friends

16:50

out there , a lot of the other ranchers and farmers out there who

16:52

are Christians . This guy's a great guy , ellen

16:54

. He , of his own initiative

16:56

, would get about a hundred ranches from within

16:59

500 kilometers , about 300 miles

17:01

, and he would get them onto his property

17:03

once a year and they would camp out together

17:05

and talk about the word of God and pray

17:08

. And he just really touched a lot

17:10

of men out there because in Australia we have a

17:12

lot of issues with depression and even suicide

17:14

in our rural areas , especially among

17:16

men , because they're so isolated

17:18

often and the Australian man I don't know about

17:21

the American man traditionally doesn't

17:23

talk much . We sort of used to

17:25

get on with life and just deal with things

17:27

and it was almost a sign of weakness

17:29

to talk to someone else and ask someone for

17:31

help . I don't know if you remember that movie , crocodile

17:33

Dundee , but when the lady in

17:36

that movie said to Crocodile Dundee , do you have

17:38

a therapist ? And he's like a therapist

17:40

, you know . We just go down

17:42

to the pub and tell our mate at the pub and then

17:44

they tell the whole town and that's our therapy , you

17:46

know . And so you know that's

17:49

your classic Australian way , like we don't really

17:51

open up to people and ask for help , and so we have a real

17:53

problem in those rural areas . So this

17:55

gentleman has been listening to the podcast and just

17:57

saying it's really been encouraging him . He's been

17:59

sending the podcast a link

18:01

to friends and family members out

18:03

there to encourage them as well , and he even

18:05

blessed us , like financially he wanted to help support

18:08

the podcast . So that's probably one of

18:10

the best uh pieces of feedback I've had . Now he's

18:12

begging me for more . He wants me to do more

18:14

and I'm like , well , I'll just do three a week , I'll release three

18:16

every week and that's a doable goal

18:19

for me . But he even wants more than that . So

18:21

we'll see how we go . We might do more later .

18:25

That is the neatest testimony . And

18:27

knowing , I mean , it sounds

18:29

like he's just craving more

18:32

and more . Right , that's God's word at work

18:34

in his life . He's wanting to

18:36

know more and more and more

18:38

his

18:43

life he's wanting to know more and more and more . Well , in addition to the

18:45

Word of God , you also have , like it's been important in

18:48

your life that you also

18:50

focus on prayer

18:53

and worship and fellowship

18:55

within the body of Christ . Tell

18:57

us how a busy

19:00

person can also take

19:02

part in those things as well and how it

19:04

would help them .

19:06

Yeah . So obviously you've got to make the time

19:08

. And I say this to people . You know we don't

19:10

hear the terminology much anymore , but you remember about

19:13

10 or 15 years ago , time

19:15

poor was the cliche that everyone is I'm time poor , I'm time poor , but you know the funny

19:17

thing is everyone in'm too , I'm poor , I'm time poor , but

19:19

you know the funny thing is everyone in

19:21

this world has the same amount of time . So

19:24

I don't think anyone is time poor . We all

19:26

have 24 hours a day . You know , your president

19:28

, um , has 24 hours a day

19:31

, and , and some person living

19:33

in the outback in Australia , living

19:35

on their own , has 24 hours a day and and . And

19:37

those two people , one may feel

19:39

they don't have enough time to do their job and another may

19:41

feel they got lots of time , you know , because they're out in the middle

19:43

of nowhere on their own , but the reality is we've all

19:45

got 24 hours a day . So it's just a case of

19:48

prioritizing your time

19:50

, and I think for busy people

19:52

, what works for me is getting up early

19:54

before your day starts and don't check your

19:56

phone . Technology is a wonderful thing

19:58

, but it's also . It's just complicated

20:01

and cluttered our lives , you know . Hence me doing the five

20:03

minute podcast . So first

20:05

thing in the morning I think you got to get up early and

20:07

you've just got to get out there and pray

20:09

and don't check your phone , don't check your text

20:11

messages or your Snap or your Insta or your

20:14

Facebook , whatever your poison is , your

20:16

online poison and just hook into

20:18

God and put Him first . And that's what I

20:20

do . Ellen , and even you know I don't know

20:22

about you , but my life has not been immune from challenges

20:24

, even in the last few years , and I faced some real challenges

20:27

in my family and the only way

20:29

I got through that was get up in the morning , put

20:31

my headphones on , put my worship playlist on

20:33

and walk and pray and

20:36

just seek God on my own for

20:38

at least an hour a day .

20:43

Yes , you

21:37

know . I concur just that

21:40

prioritizing it first thing in the

21:42

morning If it's , you know

21:44

, possible within your schedule . Certainly

21:47

if you're not a morning person , you can do

21:49

it anytime throughout the day , that's

21:51

. All that matters is that you are

21:54

being intentional

21:56

to spend time

21:58

in God's word . How

22:01

about the part of being

22:04

part of a local church ? You

22:06

started to touch on that a little

22:09

bit earlier , but why do

22:11

you suggest that and how

22:13

is that component helpful

22:15

in the word of God

22:18

growing in people's lives ?

22:20

Gee , that's a great question , Ellen . I could talk about that all day

22:22

. So I think by

22:24

going to church , what we're saying

22:27

is many things which are biblical . Number

22:29

one it's a form of humility . The

22:32

Bible is all about humility . If we haven't noticed

22:34

, God resists the prayer , but

22:36

he gives grace to the humble . Satan's biggest

22:38

error was his pride . So

22:40

we have to be humble people . And by going to

22:43

church what I'm saying is I

22:45

can't worship God on my own like

22:47

I can at church with these wonderful people who've

22:50

come in early and practiced the songs and they prayed

22:52

and they're really trying to lift God's

22:54

people . I don't know everything

22:56

. I need someone to preach to me , I

22:59

need someone else to open up the scriptures to me , because I can't

23:01

do it on my own . And also

23:03

I need friends who are God's people

23:05

. I need Christian fellowship , and I find

23:07

that in church as well . So going to church is actually

23:10

a form of humility . It's a way

23:12

of saying you know what I need . Your help , God . And I'll give you an example

23:14

. Just Sunday just gone now and I went to

23:16

. I'm a church addict . I went and I've been

23:18

a Christian 30 years , so I'm not some new Christian

23:20

who's got nothing better to do . I went to three church

23:22

services on Sunday . Well

23:25

, I went surfing in the morning early , really early , 5.30

23:28

. And then my friend was playing guitar

23:30

in his church it's this booming new church and he's part

23:32

of the world and so he

23:34

was playing worship . I went and watched the worship half an hour

23:37

. I worshiped God with him . I had to leave

23:39

to get back to my church , which starts at 10 o'clock

23:41

. Went there , heard a great message from

23:43

my pastor , just really encouraged me because I got a

23:45

bit of a need going on at the moment which I'm believing

23:47

God for the answer , and that message spoke

23:50

into that need , gave me real faith . I was soaring

23:52

in the worship . And then that evening

23:54

I went to another church in the city my church

23:56

doesn't do a night service and I took four people

23:58

who are not really living for God right now with me . Two

24:02

of them are friends . One's actually my son , who's 17

24:04

, who's on a bit of a journey , as we say , and there's this other

24:06

guy there who's a complete non-Christian

24:08

, who's a friend of my friends , went along there

24:11

. The pastor there preached just an amazing

24:13

message . Two of those four put their hand

24:15

up to respond to Jesus and give their

24:17

lives to him . Now , everything

24:19

I experienced on Sunday , Ellen , I could not have

24:21

done that on my own . So

24:24

I need the people of God , I need the church

24:27

and it's just a blessing . And you

24:29

say , oh , but you know people will say , but I've been hurt

24:31

in church , Ellen , I've been hurt in church in ways

24:33

you wouldn't believe , especially as a pastor . Betrayal

24:36

lies , you name it . You know

24:38

rumors , gossip , people

24:41

using you . We've all been used and hurt

24:43

. Okay , We've all been discouraged . But

24:48

, like I say to people , if you're a football fan or a baseball fan or a basketball fan , you know you

24:50

can't write off the team because there's a fan

24:52

in the grandstand or the stadium with you who's

24:54

a bad person , you know . Are there bad

24:56

people in church ? Yeah , Judas Iscariot

24:58

betrayed Jesus . Are there bad people in church ? Yeah

25:00

, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus . There's always

25:02

been bad people in the church . Don't focus on them , Don't make yourself

25:04

vulnerable to those people , but focus on the good ones

25:07

, Focus on what God's doing in your local

25:09

church and just go

25:11

there by faith every week , Hook in

25:13

and allow the Holy Spirit to work in your

25:15

life , because we all need God and we need his people

25:18

, and that's expressed through a local church

25:20

.

25:22

Absolutely , and it's a place

25:24

where you can get connected

25:26

. I really applied to you

25:28

, Andrew , for just being

25:31

so intentional

25:34

about , you know , grabbing people

25:36

and taking them to that evening

25:38

service , and you raise a great

25:40

point in that we are

25:42

all busy , but look how many options

25:44

there are now for churches , right , we've

25:47

got , you know , morning , mid-morning

25:49

, Saturday nights and Sunday

25:52

evenings , and so there's got to be

25:54

a time slot that you can set

25:57

aside and make it a priority

25:59

, and then you get the opportunity to live

26:01

in community , and I

26:04

know it's been so incredibly

26:07

valuable in my life , and

26:09

especially when it comes to

26:11

like being part of Bible studies

26:14

and having

26:16

the church community help holding you accountable

26:18

or explaining things that you don't understand

26:21

.

26:26

There's just so . I mean , the benefits can go on and on

26:28

for sure . Yeah , and there's

26:31

a war against the church in the West and COVID didn't help that

26:33

because a lot of people got out of church in COVID . But I say this to people about church

26:35

there's three types of relationships we all need in a local

26:37

church . Number one the mentor . And that's why

26:39

I love you , Ellen , mentor mama for

26:41

the girls on Coffee and Bible Time and you've

26:43

been a real part of the girls' success on

26:45

this . It's a ministry . It's not just a podcast

26:47

. It's a ministry because they've got that older

26:49

, wiser person in their corner , just

26:52

like the greatest boxer in the world . Arguably

26:54

it was Mike Tyson . I love Mike Tyson . I also love Sugar

26:56

Ray Leonard as well , but they all have

26:58

coaches . None of those guys stepped into the ring alone

27:01

. They weren't training themselves . They

27:03

were trained in a gym by a great coach . Even

27:05

Rocky had Mickey Ellen . I'm

27:07

sure not many of your listeners would be Rocky fans , but

27:09

I sure am . You know , everyone needs a coach

27:11

, and so church provides us with a spiritual coach

27:13

. It can be the pastor , it can be a small group

27:15

leader , the youth leader , the young adult leader , the worship leader

27:18

. Whoever it is , someone who's further

27:20

down the journey than you are . We all need that . I

27:22

need that . I have intentionally got

27:24

great older men in my life , older pastors

27:26

. One of them is a guy in Texas actually , pastor

27:29

Olin Griffin . He goes to the Gateway Church

27:31

. He sent Pastor Robert Morris to start that church

27:33

many years ago . Pastor Olin is a mentor of

27:35

mine . I love him so much because he's older

27:37

than me , he's wiser than me . I've got many

27:39

men like that I've intentionally formed relationships

27:42

with . Then I've got my peers in church who

27:44

are just like me similar age , similar

27:46

journey in God . We encourage one another , we love

27:48

one another , we fellowship . And then we've got the

27:50

new believers in church , helen , and this is the other reason

27:52

why people withdraw from church . In

27:55

a way they're bearing their talents because we've all got

27:57

a gift , we've all got love , we've all

27:59

got hospitality , we've all got faith . And

28:01

there's someone there right now in a church somewhere

28:03

that's been saved a week or two a month . They're

28:10

kind of similar to you similar interests , maybe a similar age and they need someone like you in

28:12

their world to encourage them through a friendship , just being their friend

28:15

and just having a coffee with them after church . So there's

28:17

three types of relationships in a local church

28:19

that all of us need , and the truth is

28:21

, god needs us to hook in there to these three types

28:24

of relationships because it grows the kingdom

28:26

.

28:29

It sure does . Yeah

28:31

, I can't speak highly

28:33

enough about it , that's

28:36

for sure . Well , andrew , as we start to wrap

28:38

things up here , how

28:40

would you encourage someone

28:42

who's listening to this

28:44

feels like they're

28:48

struggling , either prioritizing

28:51

or just struggling to get into

28:53

God's word ? What would you suggest

28:55

to them ?

28:57

I would suggest commit to a time , as

28:59

we said . You know , I think morning

29:01

is the best because it's the start of the day and

29:03

there's nothing else going on and

29:05

if you're not a morning person , just set the alarm and wake

29:07

up and slam that coffee down . But

29:12

hey , we're all busy people . I've had three

29:14

kids in my life and I know what it's like having young kids

29:16

in the house and you've just got to find that time for you to

29:18

commit to it . It's

29:24

amazing how we commit to work . If we work you , you can't just sort of not go to work most days because

29:26

you're busy . You know we commit to work , it's a priority . Make it

29:28

a priority . Um , the second thing is that , yeah , make yourself accountable

29:30

to somebody . You know . Like I said , we need those mentors

29:33

in our lives . A christian who's a little bit

29:35

further down the track than us if we're struggling with prayer

29:37

or the word of God or even church , ask someone

29:39

to help you . The Bible says

29:41

in the Old Testament come

29:44

and let us go up to the

29:46

mountain of the Lord and to the house of

29:48

our God . We need someone to help us on that journey

29:50

. Interesting that Jesus chose

29:52

12 and he connected them together . The

29:54

church was founded by 12 men in relationship

29:56

. There was no self-made man in there

29:59

. There was no one president or founder

30:01

of the church . There was 12 men doing

30:03

life together , journeying together , praying

30:05

together , seeking God together

30:07

. So , yeah , make yourself accountable to someone and

30:09

make a commitment to set aside

30:12

a certain amount of time and also make a commitment to church

30:14

that it's a non-negotiable in your life . I

30:16

just go to church and if you've had a bad experience or you've been

30:18

hurt , I really feel for you and I genuinely

30:21

mean that . I'm sorry that it happened to you , but

30:23

there's lots of other churches out there . Just find another one

30:25

. You know there's lots of great churches

30:27

out there . And if you just need to sit out the back for two years

30:29

and just worship and just hear the

30:31

word and leave at the end because you're still working through

30:34

, that's great , that's

30:42

fine , is really happy to have you there up the back for two years , rather than at your own place at home

30:44

on a Sunday , trying to work things out on your own , because God didn't design you to work things out

30:46

on your own . We all need someone to help us on this

30:48

journey .

30:50

Agreed , Andrew . How can

30:52

people find out more information about

30:54

you and the podcast ?

30:57

Well , the Faith Boost podcast . If you go

30:59

onto your normal podcast platform , spotify

31:01

Apple Podcasts are the most popular and

31:03

just search Faith Boost , that's

31:06

B-O-O-S-T . If you don't understand

31:08

my Australian English , I should pop

31:10

up there . You should see my melon , as we call

31:12

it in Australia , that's our word for head on

31:14

there and it'll say Faith Boost and

31:16

Ancient Secrets of the Modern World . Click on it , subscribe

31:18

to it . I'd love you to listen to it . If it encourages

31:21

you , share it with someone else . We've just started putting

31:23

videos on YouTube , ellen , those shorts , those 60-second

31:25

shorts . So again , my name is

31:28

Andrew McLennan . That's M-C-L-E-N-N-A-N

31:33

. Pastor , Andrew McLennan

31:35

. And we have a website as well

31:37

i2aw

31:39

, that's I , the number two , aworg

31:42

. It stands for Into All the World , and

31:45

we launch our podcast from that website

31:48

. We also do mission trips into the Pacific , as I said

31:50

, and I'm about to start doing really long interviews

31:52

as well long-form interviews like an hour or two and

31:54

really dig into people's stories , and

31:56

I believe people will come to the Lord through those stories as

31:59

well , as I just dig deep into people's

32:01

personal testimonies and their walk with

32:03

God . So look out for those long-form interviews as well . So

32:05

, website is i2aworg

32:07

, but search for the Faith Boost podcast on

32:09

your platform , faith Boost . Right

32:12

now it's the only one on there . Shouldn't be too hard to find

32:14

.

32:15

Awesome . We

32:19

will also include links to those in our show notes . Well , Andrew , before we

32:21

go , I want to ask you some of our

32:23

favorite Bible study tool

32:26

questions that we always ask our guests what

32:28

Bible is your go-to Bible

32:30

and which translation is it ?

32:33

Yeah , I've got a New King James version

32:36

of the Bible . That's the translation . When

32:38

you say go-to , you want like , want , like . Here it is

32:40

here , this big bad blue one here . I love

32:42

it . It's my bible . Um

32:45

, I don't know what . What is that ? Is that

32:47

all the information you need ? It's a large print . It's

32:49

a large print edition , ellen , so

32:51

that my eyes stay nice and healthy , you know

32:54

, you understand in case you forget

32:56

your glasses .

32:57

That's awesome . Okay , do

32:59

you have any favorite journaling

33:01

supplies or anything that you like to use

33:03

to enhance your Bible study experience

33:05

?

33:06

No , I'm a simple guy , ellen . So

33:09

I just read the Bible and , as I

33:11

said , I try and apply the Bible and

33:13

I think the biggest key for me was speaking

33:16

the Bible , confessing the word of God . So

33:18

, like I said when I was struggling with that sadness

33:21

when I was a young Christian , just finding

33:23

scriptures about joy and speaking those

33:25

scriptures as part of my Bible

33:28

study . And Joshua 1 , verse

33:30

8 says meditate in the Word of God day and night

33:32

. That word meditate means mutter

33:34

. In the ancient Jewish culture they would mutter the Word

33:36

of God . In other words , they would speak the Word of God . And

33:38

by speaking the Word of God over our emotions

33:40

, over our minds , over our bodies , over

33:42

our circumstances , God created

33:45

a world . By speaking . He said let there

33:47

be light . And I believe , by speaking the Word

33:49

of God over your life , over your emotions

33:51

and your mind , your body , whatever it is you're going through

33:53

, there's creative power in the Word of God

33:55

. So that's my journal , ellen . I speak

33:58

the Word of God . I'm a simple guy . I don't actually

34:00

write journaling . I'm not against it , I just I just

34:02

, that's just not me .

34:03

No problem , okay , I love that

34:05

tip , though . What is your favorite

34:07

app or website for Bible

34:09

study tools ?

34:11

I can't get past Coffee and Bible Time , Ellen . It's

34:13

just got to be one of my , one of

34:15

my faves , but it actually is . I love

34:17

it . I love your story story we interviewed you on radio

34:19

across Australia encouraged

34:22

a lot of people because I see the

34:24

hand of god in it and I genuinely love

34:26

it . Um , I think there's a couple of girls in

34:28

la who are doing something called girls gone bible

34:31

. I love that as well . I think my my 70

34:33

oh , she's 19 now my daughter she's

34:35

been watching them and she's also on a bit of a journey . I

34:37

think they're doing a good job . There's there's so many

34:39

tools out there now . There's so much good

34:41

content . Vision Christian Radio

34:43

in Australia if you want to look us up , there's an app that's called

34:46

Vision Christian Media . You can listen to

34:48

us 24-7 through the app . We

34:50

have lots of Bible study tools

34:52

and podcasts as well . But I think it all just

34:54

goes back to that key idea , doesn't it ? We've got

34:57

to commit to a time where we

34:59

allow God to speak into our lives and

35:01

encourage us through whatever Apple tool we

35:03

choose to use .

35:05

You're absolutely right . Absolutely

35:07

, Andrew . Thank you so much for

35:09

just taking the time out of your schedule

35:12

to encourage each one

35:14

of us through the noise of the busyness

35:17

in this life . Thank you for being so

35:19

authentic and sharing

35:21

your personal journey with us

35:23

as well . We appreciate that so much

35:25

.

35:26

Thank you , Ellen , for having me Love you guys , Love

35:28

what you're doing and I honestly believe that Coffee

35:30

and Bible Time is going to keep growing and developing

35:32

and God's going to keep using you

35:35

guys to touch people , not just in America but

35:37

all over the world , because everyone in the world

35:39

today needs some coffee and they

35:41

need some Bible time .

35:43

Oh , thank you , Andrew , for

35:45

our listeners . Tune into

35:48

the Faith Boost podcast with Andrew

35:50

. Five minutes , that's

35:53

all you need , and you will be so

35:55

encouraged by God's word through

35:57

Andrew's podcast . Well

35:59

, thanks again for listening . We

36:02

love you all . Have a blessed

36:04

day .