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Just A Guy In The Pew
United States
เข้าร่วมเมื่อ 25 พ.ค. 2018
Welcome to the pew, the place where everyday guys talk about everyday things, in front of the one person who can do something about it: Jesus Christ.
The Heart of the Matter
In this special Christmas Eve episode, Victor and I reflect on the true meaning of giving your whole heart to God. Too often, we hold back out of fear-fear of being hurt, fear of what surrender really means, or even fear of giving up the “worldly things” that we think will satisfy us. But here’s the truth: the heart is where transformation happens.
When God calls us to follow Him, He doesn’t just want our minds or our actions-He wants our hearts, fully and completely. We dive deep into what it means to stop hedging your bets and go all-in with Christ, trusting Him with everything. This isn’t about perfection; it’s about choosing Him each day and giving Him access to every part of your life, even the messy places.
From scripture to the wisdom of the saints, we explore why the heart is so central to our faith:
- Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.”
- Ezekiel 36:26: God promises to replace our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh.
- Psalm 16: David’s example of choosing God as his “portion and cup.”
We also talk about the powerful reflections from Archbishop Fulton Sheen and St. Augustine:
- Fulton Sheen reminds us that part of our hearts are with God in heaven, and we’ll always feel incomplete until we turn back to Him.
- St. Augustine famously said: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
And let’s be honest-this hits home for all of us. So many of us try to “play it safe” with God, hedging our bets and keeping one foot in the world. We share personal stories and struggles with this, and how we’ve learned (the hard way) that true joy and peace only come when we surrender fully to God’s love.
And hey, this isn’t just for “perfect Christians.” We talk about how the journey to giving God your whole heart is ongoing-there are ups, downs, mistakes, and grace-filled moments along the way. Jesus doesn’t demand perfection; He asks for our trust, our surrender, and our love.
On this beautiful Christmas Eve, we’re reminded that God gave everything for us. He sent His only Son to take on flesh, to live among us, and ultimately to give His life for ours. If God has already given us His heart, how can we not respond by offering Him ours in return?
___________________________________________________________________________
⏰ Timestamps:
0:00 - Welcome back! Merry Christmas Eve 🎄
3:15 - Why the heart matters: The place of transformation
6:25 - Why we hold back: Fear of being hurt
10:10 - The Bible on the heart: Key scriptures
13:55 - Giving your whole heart: What surrender looks like
18:45 - Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s powerful reflection on the heart
22:20 - St. Augustine: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
26:15 - Practical steps to give God your heart (prayer, confession, sacraments)
29:40 - Heart surgery: Jesus heals gently, not forcefully
32:00 - Closing thoughts: Live a life fully surrendered to God
33:00 - A Christmas prayer of surrender
___________________________________________________________________________
#advent #justaguyinthepew #healinginchrist #catholicpodcast #vulnerability #devotional #catholicprayer #christmas2024
When God calls us to follow Him, He doesn’t just want our minds or our actions-He wants our hearts, fully and completely. We dive deep into what it means to stop hedging your bets and go all-in with Christ, trusting Him with everything. This isn’t about perfection; it’s about choosing Him each day and giving Him access to every part of your life, even the messy places.
From scripture to the wisdom of the saints, we explore why the heart is so central to our faith:
- Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.”
- Ezekiel 36:26: God promises to replace our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh.
- Psalm 16: David’s example of choosing God as his “portion and cup.”
We also talk about the powerful reflections from Archbishop Fulton Sheen and St. Augustine:
- Fulton Sheen reminds us that part of our hearts are with God in heaven, and we’ll always feel incomplete until we turn back to Him.
- St. Augustine famously said: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
And let’s be honest-this hits home for all of us. So many of us try to “play it safe” with God, hedging our bets and keeping one foot in the world. We share personal stories and struggles with this, and how we’ve learned (the hard way) that true joy and peace only come when we surrender fully to God’s love.
And hey, this isn’t just for “perfect Christians.” We talk about how the journey to giving God your whole heart is ongoing-there are ups, downs, mistakes, and grace-filled moments along the way. Jesus doesn’t demand perfection; He asks for our trust, our surrender, and our love.
On this beautiful Christmas Eve, we’re reminded that God gave everything for us. He sent His only Son to take on flesh, to live among us, and ultimately to give His life for ours. If God has already given us His heart, how can we not respond by offering Him ours in return?
___________________________________________________________________________
⏰ Timestamps:
0:00 - Welcome back! Merry Christmas Eve 🎄
3:15 - Why the heart matters: The place of transformation
6:25 - Why we hold back: Fear of being hurt
10:10 - The Bible on the heart: Key scriptures
13:55 - Giving your whole heart: What surrender looks like
18:45 - Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s powerful reflection on the heart
22:20 - St. Augustine: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
26:15 - Practical steps to give God your heart (prayer, confession, sacraments)
29:40 - Heart surgery: Jesus heals gently, not forcefully
32:00 - Closing thoughts: Live a life fully surrendered to God
33:00 - A Christmas prayer of surrender
___________________________________________________________________________
#advent #justaguyinthepew #healinginchrist #catholicpodcast #vulnerability #devotional #catholicprayer #christmas2024
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Thank you for your words. God Bless
[12.10.2024]
Thanks for highlighting John 1! It is my absolute favorite passage in Scripture and always brings peace to a part of me that feels all alone. Knowing that Christ, from the beginning, wants nothing more than to bring light into my heart. God bless guys!
Amen brother! I love it too! He comes for us out of love and His own free choice. There’s no way anyone can say God doesn’t care about me if they really sit with that and listen
John, thank you for your dedication to this change of heart. Your story, your wife's forgiveness, your preparation with us for Christmas is awesome. I hope you have success in both the mens fellowship retreats and your youtube presence. Continue to Be strong. I will try to participate with you and Vince (?). I think that was his name. Ha.
HAPPY ADVENT TO YOU ALSO MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU IN ALL YOU DO I WILL LIGHT A CANDLE FOR YOUR SON
𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝
That is crazy!!! I never thought about Jesus that way, as a tiny valuable baby, how terrifyingly devastating 💔 we humans kept him alive all the way to adulthood and then murdered him😢 Dear Lord, I am sorry, I have failed you! I want to know how to proclaim you correctly in every situation ❤❤❤
Jesus is always close
Amen
Thank you both this was amazing I agree with Heather at 49:05 John Thank you for the story about the leper and that healing Jesus provides May God bless you
Thanks Robert! I really appreciate you following and sharing our work!
Some of us lost our joy because our loved ones are all in Heaven and we are all alone in the world, and don't see the point of anything anymore. Gratitude is in short supply around my empty house.😢
I’m sorry for your losses. This is why we need community. Do you have a group of people at church or anywhere else you can spend time with?
@justaguyinthepew It's a sad world, but my son died of a drug overdose 13 months after my husband died from heart disease, both died during the two COVID Shutdowns, so neither were permitted a funeral. People just don't know what to say, so they don't say anything. Maybe we'll evolve one day and learn to get through the difficulty as a community. And it's been three and four years, so I guess they think it's done. Mostly it is, but their birthdays were this month, and with Thanksgiving this week... there's a little bit of sting left. Honestly, I don't know what possessed the drug overdose, but I would never put drug's it in my mouth or body. But, my only child is forever 39 and it's always going to be a bitter pill for me. Sorry, I didn't mean to write a book, just hyper emotional this week. 😢 Be blessed and continue to be a beautiful blessing. Eventually I will figure it out, meanwhile, I just try to avoid the awkwardness, and stay home. I don't feel anything lately.
Man I miss you guys from Mens Group! Guys I had to make some changes in my life that opened up a new beautiful life with my wife an daughter. Thank you guys from Group. I miss you guys. Love Alex w
Well come on back Alex! We need ya!
Would anyone doubt that young men are at their lifetime sexual peak at the awkward age of 17?!?! Maybe this isn't toxic... but it is certainly difficult!?
Give God your Lousy Best!+ ■ Fr. Walter Cizek
👍👍👍👍🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏👍❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷
it s actually a desire to go back to god
God bless you all! ❤️🔥
Thanks Guys, I needed that.
Thank you for this John. Needed this talk this week, words can’t thank you enough but know that your words really touched my heart May God bless you and your family. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
You are so welcome!
Catholicism is NOT the same as Christianity
Then he took a look at what the Bible says and found out Martin Luther had made some good points.
That was a lovely sparkle when you spoke of Jesus as a Baby
Tar
Bill into LAW H.R. 6090 will make America an interesting place.
😂
This was a message I desperately needed to hear. Thank you so much! It's so difficult to wait on God's timing especially when things are difficult. My family is going through trying times right now and it's tough to not just (try to) take control and make things happen by my own strength. God bless!
I’m glad you found it helpful! Thanks for listening. We will be praying for your family!
Great session in Folsom, thank you! Love this follow-on reminder as well. Time very well spent.
Thank you so much for your kind words and for being at the event. Thank you as well for following our TH-cam channel!
Jesus Calling: October 1st Worship Me only. I am King of kings and Lord of lords, dwelling in unapproachable Light. I am taking care of you! I am not only committed to caring for you, but I am also absolutely capable of doing so. Rest in Me, My weary one, for this is a form of worship. Though self-flagellation has gone out of style, many of My children drive themselves like racehorses. They whip themselves into action, ignoring how they exhausted they are. They forget that I am sovereign and that My ways are higher than theirs. Underneath their driven service, they may secretly resent Me as a harsh taskmaster. Their worship of Me is lukewarm, because I am no longer their First Love. My invitation never changes: Come to Me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest. Worship Me by resting peacefully in My Presence.
Source please, sir
Loved this ❤✝️❤️ great cool story ✝️🦋
Thank you! 🤗
Thanks bro, got me to listen to some conviction today
Especially where he says God doesn't do this with everybody
He does do it with everyone. He gives us plenty of chances. It’s whether we choose to take them or not
Interesting point
I’m so glad you talked about us Millennials bringing our parents to the faith. I have been struggling not to resent my parents lately because they “raised us Catholic” but now our family unit is completely shattered and they are confused as to what happened. Well, turns out if you never pray with your kids or take them to Confession, you might have some problems. And the faith is so beautiful why would you hide something so amazing from your own children! Sure we went to church on Sunday but that was where our faith began and ended as a family. Perhaps with Bl. Carlos’s intercession, I can have peace and hopefully bring my parents back to God.
I was planning to make the trip to Folsom for conference, but my work schedule changed so I can't make it unfortunately. Hopefully I'll be able to get to one soon.
I’m sorry I’ll miss untouched buddy! Our paths will cross one day!
Thank you for this!
Glad it was helpful!
Another great episode John. Reminds me of Fr. Larry Richards exhorting us at a men's conference that God is Always talking to us, we just have to listen and do what he's calling us to do. I think that is why we feel we have to always be doing something, because God puts into our mind things to do in the present. We can't demand that God tell us what he wants us to do in the future, or how to respond to things that have happ;ened in the past. We need to be patient like you said and do what he's telling us to do today. Whenever I go to adoration I usually can't stay more than 10 minutes because I feel him telling me what he wants me to do right NOW, so I get up and go do it. Whenever I feel that I don't know what to do next, that's when I know God is telling me to take a rest! Rest in the Lord! That is when I stop and watch a video like yours and just wait in rest until God puts into my mind when he wants me to get up and do something. That is when I can pause a video like yours and go do it and come back later to resume the video when it's again time to rest in the Lord.
In a world desperate for vulnerability, thank you guys for playing your roles in helping facilitate more of it.
Thank you so much for the encouragement!
Please adjust the audio levels of your podcast so that everyone's audio is at the same/similar level of loudness. Your guests are often much quieter than you, as with this one. But I enjoy your shows!
Thanks for the feedback! We've had a few tech issues in the studio recently and we're actually working to get that very problem solved!
Thank you for this. It was Holy Spirit led. It definitely spoke to me where I am at.
Glad it was helpful!
Preserving? Or persevering?
Thank you, Lord, because today I have been in touch with the faith that everything can get rights to whom prevails from the target of the darkness in the world 🌎 🙏
Amen
Great interview, St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us
Amen! Greetings from Bmt tx
Thanks for watching!
Lots of good advice John. Got me to realize that since going on the Pilgrimage to Italy earlier this year with you, I felt God calling me to not go on more Pilgrimages, but rather to go on Missions, but without fully realizing it until just now, that's exactly what I'm doing right now, spending 5 weeks at my son's house doing home renovations that he cannot do himself and cannot afford to pay to have done. I get 100-fold payback from the fruits of the spirit doing what I love by helping others do what they cannot do. I also get to spend time with my son when he's not at work, but also with his stay-at-home wife and my 3-year-old granddaughter. His house has lots of additional projects that I won't be able to get to during this trip so looks like I'll be coming back again and again. Oh, and this time I've learned that my son is a now daily communicant, and he went to confession for the first time since his teenage confirmation, and he now feels compelled to supplement his civil marriage by promising his Pastor to have a Catholic Marriage as soon as his wife gets Confirmed herself, with him being her RCIA sponsor. All this is part of the 100-fold reward for doing daily what I feel God is calling me to do. I also feel God telling me to give him a Jesus Calling daily devotional. His birthday is later this week so it will be part of his birthday gift, and I will suggest that he and his wife read it together daily when they are putting my granddaughter to bed.
Folsom is kinda close to me. Maybe I'll do a road trip for the event.
I'd love to see you there! Head to the events page on justaguyinthepew dot com and you can get all the info & register!
The little Larry story got me choked up. So cool to see people like that woman moving with the gifts of the spirit so nonchalantly. This was gold man.
thank you
Utter nonsense, Catholicism is Not Christian. They worship and pray to marry not to mention they promote the "Trinity" wich does Not exist. One Lord One Faith One Baptism. ✌️
Go Noles!!