D2l - Brian sumner - Questions

This is Brian Sumner, and we're going to answer some of your questions, and we asked for 10 but we got about 25. And we kind of put them together to make it easier because a lot of people asked the same kind of questions, so I'm just going to read through and list. This is from Elvis Taylor, he says "Brian, does skateboarding affect your life as a Christian?" And then Carey and Caleb Hunt also asked "Has your skateboarding life ever affected your faith with God, or has it been a challenge?" Colossians 1:16 says "All things were created by Him and for Him", so that means everything. That means the camera, that means my skateboard was created to glorify God if you can understand that, because we're created to worship Him, so everything we're given is to glorify Him. And I used to just be a skateboarder that was about myself, or skating was just something I did, I was abusing the gift that God had given me. But, now I'm a Christian who looks for ways to use my skateboard to glorify God because Paul says "I'll become all things to all men that I may win some." So skating is just a tool He's going to use. And when my life was in chaos I spoke out to the Lord and said "While I know I'm filthy and I know I'm in sin, by Your blood, by what You did on that cross, please, by Your Holy Spirit, transform my life, make me clean, make me righteous before You." I said I'd remarry my wife, that I'd get baptized, and that I'd go all around the world sharing the gospel, and that I'd give Him my skateboarding. So today, as you've probably looked, if you've seen my career, my skating career is totally different than it ever was. It was always about me, it was about certain kinds of sponsors, and so when I think of skating now today, I just think of it as a way to stand up for the cross of Jesus, because He said "When I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto Myself." The actual act of skating, it is different, I mean, it was all my time and now my life's so different that if I'm going to go skate I want to go and I want to be kingdom minded. I mean, the fellowshiping with other Christians, like, Christian Hosoi and Pastor Jay or Harmony or Tim Tim or Richard Jefferson, the Reliance and the Siren guys, or, I mean, I'm just trying to sow those seeds and just, be the light. It's totally different, but to all you skaters out there, I mean, those of you that are Christians, God will use skating, but you've got to honor Him in all the areas. Don't just honor Him on your skateboards, saying "God wants me to do this and do that" you've got to be faithful with everything about your walk, so that you look as a minister of the gospel, you don't just look like some punk skater kid who uses God as a way to hopefully turn pro one day. That's abusing God. This is from Beck, "I've been trying to set up a skate/snowboard ministry at my church but the heads of the church are skeptical. They feel that skate/snowboarders don't exactly mix. How do you break that stereotype?" Well if you're all Christians, for one, you're meant to be different ligaments, members of the body, the body of Christ, of which Christ is the head, Ephesians 5. And, you know, like anything, we are skaters, I was a little skate rat, I'd go skate a spot and respect authority and the police, but then a bunch of kids would show up and be all crazy and rowdy and we'd get a bad rap, and it's the same way. And also, too, you can be young and have this zeal and it's good, but you've got to be submitted to the vision of the church. But you should show them this video and say "You know what, the Lord will use all things." Search the Scriptures and find things that you can share with them and show that you're seeking the Lord and that you're wise, and that you're not just trying to do what you think you need to do. Because if God's put the vision there, He'll honor you as you honor Him, and give you favor. Because the Lord is going to use skateboarding and snowboarding, He's going to use everything to reach all the lost. And Dylan "What other Christian skaters do you like to skate with?" All of them, I'm not a respecter of persons, neither is the Lord, so anyone. "Do you know Chad Tim Tim?" Yes, I know Chad Tim Tim. We just did an episode on Chad in the new season of the Uprising, season 2. SteelRoots.com/TheUprising. Chad just had a baby girl, Chad is serious about his faith, and he's getting to go around the world and share the gospel, and he's awesome, he's a really good friend of mine. "What made you change sponsors from Audio to NSS?" Audio got bought by a brand, and my buddy Jeff Taylor said "You know, your contract's up pretty soon, and a lot of the people here are losing their jobs and we're probably going to go ride for all these other people, so if you want to look for other sponsors you can." And I prayed about it, and I just said "You know, I just want to go share the gospel, so I'm just going to go talk to these shoe sponsors and see if they want to sponsor me." And part of the fact that most of these brands you have to obviously skate at a certain level, but also a lot of it is on image, how many people are really going to come to a Christian skater and say "We're going to back you, and nice skate shoes, dude." And, I don't care, necessarily who I ride for, it's not about me anymore, it's about the Lord, and I've been riding for Nice for awhile, I'd ride for many more, but I ended up quitting Audio, but ultimately it was a decision that people were going to pay me, and were willing for me to go around the world and share the gospel, and those guys at Nice were awesome, I was blessed by them. "Are they a Christian-affiliated comany or something?" No, but you know what, they just weren't bitter and they didn't tell me what I had to do, and I don't want to go and do things that are just going to multiply the world anyway. We're to be in the world, but not of it, so I don't want to go and do things that are going to sell sex and drugs and the party lifestyle, that's not who I am anymore. "Is Reliance going to come out with a full-length video?" They did, it's called The Burl Factor, and actually we're going to work on some projects these next few months to get many updates on the RelianceSkate.com website and just promote that ministry. "Who are your favorite people to skate tour with on the Reliance Siren teams?" All of them, been friends with them now for a few years, we do demos all the time, outreaches, it's awesome, the iron sharpening the iron. "Hi, this is my question: Why did you quit sponsorship with Birdhouse? It paid more, and how did you change sponsorship?" Well, you cannot serve both God and mammon. Mammon is translated a lot of times as money, but actually means love of anything, anything that has you. So, like I said at the beginning of this interview, that my goal is to please the Lord, Galatians 1:10, am I pleasing God or am I pleasing men? You know, I love Birdhouse, a lot of my friends are over there, but ultimately it came down to I'm at a time in my life when I just want to do ministry, and I've been friends with the Reliance guys, you know, Rick Weigele, and Darren Wells, they've had a vision for a long time, they've been pursuing it, I'd skated with the guys a bunch of times and did different outreaches with them and they just said you know "We want to stand up, we want to do things that no one's doing, we don't want to honor the Lord by partially saying we're Christian and selling all this other junk on our skateboards to be relevant, we just want to do this cold turkey for the Lord." And I said "Okay, you know what, I'm down with Tony Hawke, it's cool, it was a blessing to ride for him all those years, and I love all the guys on that team, we got to be a light over there and we shared the gospel, I still talk to all those guys, but ultimately, the position I'm in, I want to preach the gospel, that's my life and that's all we're called to do, if we're really in Christ, we're called to bear fruit and go into all the world, and that's why I ride for Reliance Skateboards today. And that was from Dylan. This is Sandra and Nathaniel, "Has God inspired you to attempt bigger and better tricks?" You know, I'm 29 years old, I skate all the time, but I'm not trying to jump off everything and just wreck my body and just, like, stand out, it isn't about me anymore. So when I go skate I try to push myself and do all things as though to Christ, but it's different. It's like I don't need to be the guy that's trying to outdo anyone. I'm just, I'm just trying to be who I'm called to be in the Lord, and it inspires me everyday to try and be better and more Christlike, but not to do better tricks, even though when I skate I do want to outdo myself and I do want to learn and progress. Christafarian asks "Once you became a Christian, how hard was it to stop all the usual unhealthy habits? Because I've been a Christian for five years now and I'm still having trouble, stop cursing and all that stuff." Well, the Bible says that a just man falls seven times, but he gets back up, and he keeps persevering. And I'm not going to say that you're never going to sin, because the Bible says if a person says he doesn't sin he's a liar. And we're to beat our flesh into submission. But you've got to think that we're not meant to have coarse joking in our mouths, the power of life and death is in our tongue, so why am I going to curse, why am I going to speak foul things? And that's partially because who are you around? Are you around other Christians, are you around people that hold you accountable? If I'm around Pastor Jay or Pastor Christian Hosoi and start talking like that? They're going to rebuke me in love and say "Why are you carrying your cross that way? Do you really have the love of Christ in you?" And this might sound judgmental, but I don't know that every person that says they're a Christian truly is a Christian. Because it isn't just the belief, you look at that verse in Romans 10:9 and it says "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." If you go into the Greek it's way different than people think. I can't just say "Hey, do you believe?" because everyone wants to believe, they want to believe in Jesus so they can get to heaven. They just don't want God to be there when they show up because they're in sin. And the fact that you're really in Christ is that you have been regenerated, your heart has been transformed. You realized you were filthy and it was a once and for all repentant state, and you went down into that grave, and when Christ came out, you came out with Him. Because we're dead to the world and we're new creations, so the fact that the Holy Spirit is in us is that we hate our sin. When you sin, you should hate it so much, because you're doing what's opposite to Christ. Christ didn't need to curse, Christ didn't need to be like the world, He didn't need to chase all these things, neither are we meant to. So, it's that daily reading of the Bread, men shall not live on bread alone but by the Word of God, it's the daily reading of Scripture, it's the praying, it's fasting at times, it's crucifying my flesh and carrying my cross, and pray - begin to read, open up a book like Colossians and go why was this written, who was it written to, what is the purpose. Read and begin to understand the Scriptures, read commentaries on it, and as you read, you're going to know more about the Bible. The Holy Spirit will use that Scripture to convict you, and you'll look more and more like Christ. So Drock asks, "What was the hardest thing to let go of and let God deal with?" That'd be your life. You can't be in Christ unless you've given up your life, Jesus says so. He says "He who holds onto his life will lose it, but he who loses it for My sake will find it." What does it mean? It means that Jesus is the master. He's the Lord, the Kurios. I'm His slave, His bondservant, I'm His dulos. What does that mean? It means that I can't be in the world and be in Christ, it's one or the other. And just as you're watching this camera that someone purchased and they own, the Bible says that Jesus purchased you and I, those who are true believers, with His blood. And what does that mean? It means that I submitted my life to Him. He's Lord, He's Lord whether you like it or not. But when He came into my life and transformed me, by the power of His blood and the Holy Spirit, I am no longer my own, but I'm His. The apostle Paul said "I die daily." Die to what? Die to myself, the sinful desires, to chase the world, to be like the world, I die, and I live in the Holy Spirit, that's Christ, part of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. One times one times one is one, the triune being. That's who I'm following and submitted to, so the fruit in your life should be that you are Christ, and that daily you crucify your flesh and you're carrying your cross. Micah asks, "When you first became a believer, what did you have trouble adjusting about your life, swearing, what you watched on tv, and who you hung out with?" Kind of answered this earlier, but you know, swearing, you just don't swear, and people around you, when they swear they'll apologize to you, why? Because they notice it. The power of life and death is in the tongue, so why would we speak that stuff? We're meant to speak only godly things, otherwise what? It becomes godless chatter, and it's gangrene, and there's this coarse jesting and it's foul and it's filthy and Christ never did it and why would we, if we're meant to be like Christ? TV, I mean, tv is just a time waster. Sure there's things on there that you can watch, I watch a bunch of Christian shows, there's, there's things on there that I enjoy or I'll spend time with my family with, but it's not the same. I don't watch all the same kind of movies, I'm not focused on those things, why? Because they're not playing in heaven. Neither is all this music I used to follow, that's not playing in heaven either, why, because it's either of God or it's of the devil, that's what the Bible says. So everything that's not of God, wasn't created by Him, isn't being used to glorify Him, I don't need to partake in it. Also, "What is most exciting about being able to travel again?" Well, now that I'm a citizen I can just travel around the world, but I mean, I only really travel if it's for the gospel, I don't go on just random skate trips unless I'm filming for something. I know all my sponsors that are about me sharing the gospel and they support me as a minister, so it's totally different today. This is from Matt Cruz, "Do you believe in the sufficiency of life, death, and the resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of sin? Grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone? That's the question. I hope that if you have a relationship with the one true God that He will bless your career as you seek to follow His leading in your life. Stay bold for Christ. Matt Cruz." And you see the way he presented this question, because he's very aware that some people who say they're in Christ aren't really in Christ. What does he mean? Look at John 15, He talks about the vine and the vinedresser, Christ the vine, God's the vinedresser, and we're the branches. And it says "If you abide in Me." Judas was around Christ for three or so years, but he never abided in Him. He was lost, ultimately, and that's the difference in that verse in Matthew 7:21, "Many will come to Me in that day" speaking of the Lord's day, "saying 'Lord, Lord'" Jesus speaking, "but I will tell them plainly 'depart from Me I never knew you.'" And it says only he who does the will, the thelema, the will of God, so I do believe in grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone, Martin Luther, sola fide, a verse from Romans 3:28, that's it's by faith alone. But when I preach this stuff, I also preach it that you're saved through your faith in Him, but there's got to be an evidence of salvation, there's got to be fruit, and what took place - if you look at Martin Luther himself, he said that James was the book of straw, why? Because he was so much about the faith, the faith, the faith, but the actual evidence that I'm truly in Christ is that there's fruit in my life. "You will know them by their fruit." Paul uses that verse in Genesis 15:6 about Abraham, Abraham was found to be righteous, why, because he believed God. But then James uses that same verse, why? To tell you that Abraham's faith was true faith, because he was willing to sacrifice Isaac unto God. What's he saying? He's found to be faithful because he believes God, but the fact that he's willing to take his son and offer him up to the Lord, that act of faith, that act of works is evidence that his faith is genuine. Ephesians 2:8-10, we always use that verse in Ephesians 2:8, it's that no man can boast, it's something that Christ did, He gave us that free gift, but it goes on to say that we're His workmanship. We're Christ's work, He's the architect, He's the author and finisher of our faith, but He created us to do good works. The word in Matthew 7:21, the word will, the thelema, evidence that you're truly in Christ is that you're doing things. So I believe it's faith, faith in Him, because I can do nothing to get to God, the Bible says all have sinned and all have fallen short of the glory of God. James 2:10 says if you've broken the law in any one place, you're guilty of it all, that means every person's guilty of it. I cannot reach out to God, He had to reach out to me, you and I, that's what He did, the cross, and we can be washed in His blood, He did it all. That's how we're saved, by putting our faith in Him, the evidence that you're truly His, the way you live your life. Am I saying you're never going to sin, not at all. But you're daily pounding your flesh into submission, not so you can be saved, because you've been saved, justified, sanctification continues to take place as you're doing that daily and daily and daily, running the race, as Paul says, so that we finish good, hope. Matt Cruz, that's an awesome question, could have been titled by Charles Spurgeon, that's awesome. Caleb, "Hey Brian, I saw the ad on Reliance Skateboards and thought maybe I could try it out and ask you a bunch of questions. Where do you think you would be if you never found Christ Jesus in your life?" John Macarthur says we never found Christ, because Christ was never lost. Christ found us, so Christ reached out to us and what did Jesus say? "You did not choose Me but I chose you." If God had never chosen me, if he's never found me, who knows. I mean, I was divorced, I was suicidal, I was over my life, a bunch of money in the bank, being able to run around with the world, getting attention and fame like it's even relevant, it's all vanity. I'd just be in the same hole or I'd be dead by now. But because of Christ's righteousness, because of His love for mankind, because of what He did and his sovereign grace, what He chose to show upon my life and do, today I'm set free by His blood and I am blessed. Remarried to the same woman, I have two children, and want to sit here sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with you. Jay, "Hey Brian, this is Jay Bollum from Portage, Michigan. I was just wondering what's the hardest thing you've faced when preaching the gospel and what steps you took to overcome it?" One of the biggest lies in modern Christianity is that we actually do anything when we're preaching the gospel, and we really don't. The Holy Spirit is the one that transforms a person, so I can't preach to someone to bring salvation to them. This is my reasonable sacrifice to give to God, because the Bible says that the message of the cross is foolishness to those that are perishing. Jesus said that when you're persecuted for My name's sake, you are blessed. So when I go somewhere, I'm aware already that people aren't going to be happy. When I tell you who are watching this, who are sitting there mocking this, Jesus died for your sins, and He loves you, and He wants to set you free from the wickedness and the attacks of the devil and the world so you can have eternal life with Him, that sounds ridiculous to you. But the fact that that verse says the message of the cross is foolishness to those that are perishing, proves that the Bible is true, proves that it's real. And it's only by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit as you acknowledge your sin by looking at the 613 commandments, by which we've broken any one of them, and we're guilty of them all. So when you say "What is hard about preaching the gospel?" Well, I just go and preach. The Bible says we're blessed when we're persecuted. I just go and share the gospel and as long as you make sure you're sharing the true gospel, it'll accomplish its purpose, it goes out, it does not return void, and how so? Because it convicts people. It condemns people because they don't respond to it. They hear it and they don't respond to it. Or they hear it and they do respond to it. That's what the word of God does, that's between them and God, we're called to walk in love and be the example, we're to be the salt and the light. King Lurky says "What has it been like since the day you got saved?" It's been amazing, it's been an uphill struggle, why? Because I'm still dealing with me and the flesh. Though inside I've been washed, I'm still dealing with the flesh of Brian and the things of the world that want to stick to me. And the wiles of the devil that I have to just rebuke, and flee from him. It's been amazing since I've gotten saved. "Do you think it is wrong to have tattoos?" It's not wrong to have tattoos, most of the people I know have tattoos. A friend of mine, actually, Dave over at the Bible Bowl, I asked him one time "Why don't you have any tattoos?" I was just curious. He said "Well, you know, the only time I ever have money, I pray to God about it and He's never told me to go to tattoo." Never told him to get a tattoo, so is it something I condemn a person for, no. People do say that, many of the older preachers will condemn kids for getting tattoos, but you've got to realize also in that verse in Leviticus, it says not to trim your beard. It also says whenever you're around elderly people, stand up to honor and respect. So to those old-school preachers who are getting legalistic on the youth, you've got to realize something that if you're going to use that verse, you've got to not trim your beard, either. And you've got to stand every time an old person walks by you. And that's what's dangerous about Christianity, but I don't have any tattoos myself, I don't desire to have them, why? Because I don't see it as something I'm going to do to glorify God, even though if I got one, I'd only get something to glorify God. But, I don't feel the urge to do it, I feel the urge to go preach the gospel. I feel the urge to reach out to the lost because the dangerous thing is, you can go to church, showing off your tattoos, but how much better to go up and show them Scripture. Tattoos are just something that, it's fading anyway, you know what I mean, but I don't have a problem with it. If you're going to get one, it's between you and the Lord. I think it's a minor issue and it's part of the old law which is...living under a period of grace, which we shouldn't abuse, but I don't have a problem with tattoos. If you're going to get tattoos, though, make sure that you put more time into the Word, more time into the gospel and serving your Lord than you do your tattoos, because tattoos, like anything, can become an idol. "My name is Hayley and I'm eleven and a half and I'm a skater from North Carolina." How're you doing, Hayley? "My sister Noelle is seven and a half and she has a question she wants to ask you, but I will go first, and my question is this: With church, skating, and other things going on, how do you balance all of that and family life?" Well, God, family, and the rest of what I do. Why is God before my family? Because if I love the Lord, and I'm crucifying my flesh, it's going to teach me to treat my family and love my family better. The biggest struggle in my life is my family. It's an easy thing to go share the gospel and get on the stage, or read your Bible, or seem like you're oh so holy, but to truly love your wife, when you guys are going crazy at that time of the month, or you're having crazy chaos going on, it a difficult thing to do to truly love your kids when all hell is breaking loose, it's a difficult thing to do, but that's my first love as well. Loving the Lord and right after Him, my first love is my family. They're my first sheep. You can tell a lot about a person by his relationship with his wife and the same for a wife to her husband. Because we're called to be one flesh and if we're out of line with each other, it's bad. So, how do I balance all of that? I love the Lord. I love my family. And everything else falls after that. It's the Lord including ministry and all these things and then my family. "Also" she says "I find it hard to talk to my friends about Jesus if they don't know Him already, because they don't understand what I mean." Which is what we just said, the message of the cross is foolishness to those that are perishing, they won't understand, but how will they hear if they haven't heard through preaching? That's why you preach the gospel and you share. And in Matthew 3:1, John the Baptist came, preaching, what does that mean? He came preaching the Word, and the Greek is kairuso, he came heralding, proclaiming, shouting, and people say well, that was back then, that's not how Jesus preached, but it is. Matthew 4:17, "From that time on, Jesus came preaching" kairuso, same word, heralding, proclaiming, that's what we're called to do. We're not called to shout at everyone, we're called to walk in love, but we're called to be bold, and we're called to preach the gospel, same word, repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent. Of what? Of our sins, of the things we've done before the Lord. So if you love your friends, approving everything that they do that's going to take them to hell, isn't true love. "No greater love than this that a man lay down his life for his friends." So for me, telling my family who don't believe in Jesus but are coming around, some of them do, that Christ died for them and in sin they will go to hell, that's love. That's what you're called to, that's the great commission. Being an example that's faithful in your walk and sharing the gospel with them, that's what you need to do and you're going to get rejected, they're not going to like it, why? Because they don't want to hear about it, people like their sin. The Bible says sin is fun for a season, look around the world we live in. "I want to tell them about Him because I want them to be saved, how do I do this?" You share the gospel with them. You share the love of Christ. Here's the sister's question, Noelle, "What do I do if someone does not like me talking to others about Jesus? So they tease me, try to hurt me and make me leave." You read Galatians 1:10, you pray to the Lord, you ask for favor, you go in the Holy Spirit, and whatever happens, you believe that the Lord brought it about, why? Because His thoughts toward us are only good, whatever the situation is, you can't worry about offending people because the message of the cross is going to offend them. Hayley and Noelle, God bless you girls who skate. Daniel Jackson, "I always wondered if you pro skaters have to hold down part-time jobs. My friends all tell me that even being a professional skateboarder, unless you're P-Rod and Ryan Shackle, for example, you can't make enough money and have a living. So, do some pros have to work on the clock when off the board?" I'm sure some of them do, I don't really know, for me, I don't, I worked, I had work experience when I was a kid at some cd store and I've never had a job since then. I mean, my job today is just sharing the gospel, I believe that I'm called into ministry and I want to follow that. But for other skaters, yeah, I'm sure there's some that get jobs, why? Because people go and buy crazy cars, they spend money on all this stuff, they buy things they don't need to, when hard times come they don't have any money and they end up with a job. But most skateboarders if they're smart and they're skating enough, have shoe sponsors, clothing sponsors, all different kinds of sponsors and they're making enough money to live. "Hey Brian, I've been a little shaky on my faith recently. Did you ever have a time like that, and if so how do you get around it?" How do you get around it? Well, if Jesus is the Lord in your life, if He is first, that's going to be what you follow. You've got to crucify everything else, you've got to draw near to God as He draws near to you, daily He wants to spend time with you. People don't see this enough. Get up, don't put the radio on, don't put your television on, open up the Word of God, ask for divine revelation, get to know the Scriptures, get to know what's written down about your Lord because He's alive in the word. Get to know the Holy Spirit as He dwells inside of you. Repent of your sins, go and evangelize and share with people, and watch how the Lord stirs you up. That's what you need to do. If you've been shaky on your faith, pray about that. Pray you'd be more strong, get to know the Word so it is imparted into you, and you understand. "Did you ever have a time like that and if so, how do you get around it?" There's times when I feel very dry, I'm not close to God, and He's just pulling you closer and closer to Him. He's a stone's throw away from you, so with all your strength, you can do all you can and He's right there on the outside. But He's drawing you nearer and nearer to Him and it's a blessing. Samoa Alexander, "When trying a trick and you can't land it, but you've been trying so hard to land it numerous times, but you just can't do it, do you pray and give it to God's hand, to make it happen, or do you just quit?" You know, I'm not going to learn every trick just because I'm a Christian, and just because I believe the Lord should bless me, because that goes along with just believing everything I ask. The Bible says that when you ask you don't receive because you ask amiss, you ask for your own pleasure. You've got to realize that God's sovereign, it's all according to His will, and people don't like that. They say no, well He says such and such, it's not the case. He's called us to go, He's given us a plan, so for me, whatever tricks I make, I'm going to try harder to make them, but if I don't make it, I end up getting hurt that day or worn out, I'll just go back another day. Because the Lord, if I'm around a bunch of nonbelievers and I say "Lord, let me land this trick right now or You don't care about it" and I bail it one time, is that really glorifying the Lord? No. If I fight for that trick and I show myself to be eager to please the Lord by doing this, they're going to see that I try as hard as they do. That I'm eager as hard as they are. And if I don't make it, I'm comfortable, why, because my joy comes from the Lord, not that trick. Anthony Moore, "I've been working on my own ministry and I was wondering what are some of the biggest challenges you've gone through in preaching the gospel and talking about Jesus?" Nothing you're going to go through that someone else hasn't gone through. Think about it. The apostles were crucified, they were killed, they were martyred, they went through hell, to share the gospel. You may end up going through that, I don't know, I can't promise you you won't, because when we're persecuted for His name's sake, we are blessed. Be faithful in what the Lord's calling you to do, and He'll be faithful in taking care of you. And that doesn't mean that you're always going to be safe, it means it's God's will, you've got to be submitted to God's will. Nick Thomas "My question is as follows: What do you say to people when skating that gears the conversation toward the spiritual aspect of life?" You haven't got to look for this divine revelation, or divine appointment that day, because everything is really a divine appointment. Unless the Holy Spirit tells you not to go places, like it told the disciples in Acts, then just be seasoning everything with salt, be walking in love, be full of joy, and be going places to share the gospel in everything you do. Why, because we're meant to be the light to the world. If you truly are a light and Christ truly lives in you won't people will be drawn to you? Wasn't Moses drawn to a burning bush? What was it about the apostle Paul, a stiff-necked religious Pharisee, who thought he could do no wrong, he encountered Jesus Christ, He lives inside of him, and from then on he called himself a sinner and saw the wickedness that's going on. What does that mean? It means you're called to bear your cross, and just be the salt and the light. Jake asks "I want to know what it was like being around the original PD, the Warner Avenue Crew?" You know, at that time in my life I was a young skate rat, only I skated, I lived with Andrew Reynolds, Jim Greco, Jay Strickland, Ali Boulala, we were around Ellington, all these guys, we were always skating, having fun, it was awesome, it was all about skating. And I met my wife, ended up moving out, they moved up to Hollywood, it was fun, it was just skating, daily, it was very pleasant, joyful. I didn't know the Lord then, but I don't regret it, it was fun. Justin said "Did you enjoy skating with the Baker team and do you still skate with any of them?" My life is so different, my life's all about just trying to be more Christ-like. I love all those guys, and they have skate careers, you know, they're all out there doing their thing. I see Figgy a lot of the time, I'm still friends with those guys, I don't really go out of my way to go and hang out because I know that they know what I'm about, and I just pray for all those guys, I pray for everyone that's in the skate industry, I just...you know I could tell all these people great things, I could say "Your tricks are awesome" or "You looked awesome in this interview" or "Everything about you is cool" but, I mean, it's all vanity. It's all going to fade away one day, it's not going to matter when the earth is tried and cleansed by fire, the New Jerusalem descends, and those who are in Christ have eternal life and those who don't are separated from Him. My goal and my prayer for the skate world is that they'll come to the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus because just that one sin, that one lie, the one thing we've done, the ***, the sex outside of marriage, I mean, that sends you to hell, and if you don't agree with that that's between you and the Lord. You know, what's going on in my life right now is a blessing, my riding for Reliance Skateboards, Truth Soul Armor, I don't have a shoe sponsor right now because I'm in the middle of transitioning, some stuff in the works, it should be awesome, be praying about that for us. Independent trucks, Rocket wheels, Ninja bearings, Fender skateshop and Fender guitars. My skating is just, I'm trying to do it all for the Lord, He was faithful, I'm remarried to that same woman, I'm a deacon at the Sanctuary Church, SanctuaryHB.com, I preach every Saturday, I go around the world sharing the gospel. I'm just blessed. We do this reality show, Christian reality show, called The Uprising, SteelRoots.com/TheUprising, working on the second season of that, and my goal, really, is just to share the gospel. I'm doing all this stuff with Reliance, my buddy Brandon's out here right now, we've spent four months just working on this video to send to many ministers about how to fellowship and share the gospel to a lot of you little skate rats out there. And I want to say thanks so much for supporting all the ministries that I'm involved with. Reliance has stepped out, they don't want to be a ministry that's going to have *** on their skateboards, or drugs, they want to be sold out for Jesus Christ, and I can't believe how many people have begun to buy their skateboards and go to their website SubjektSkateSupply.com to honor them, because they're going after the Lord, sending people to Africa, all around the world. And Truth Soul Armor is just fully about the Lord, and it's a blessing to ride for them. The Uprising reality show, we go around the world sharing the gospel and if anything I'm just blessed. I'm just taking one day at a time, trying to lead souls to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ for His kingdom. And just like the apostle Paul said, that I die daily. That's my goal. So, send us some more questions, and thank you for supporting ministry. I'll see you guys on the road, and carry your cross, because Jesus Christ is returning, and we're more than conquerors in Christ, but we need to be submitted to His authority. Read your Bibles, get into the Word. Don't believe lies of typical Christian American society that just tells us that we can just say this prayer and that we're good to go, because that's not true. Either you're for Christ or you're against Him. And people say "Who are you to judge?" It's the Word of God that judges, I'm not called to judge anyone, but I'm meant to be my brother's keeper, meant to be submitted to the Lord, ask the Lord what He wants you to do, read the Bible and see what He has for you, you'll be blessed.