The Tim Ahlman Podcast
The Tim Ahlman Podcast is your go-to resource for inspiring conversations that equip leaders to thrive in every vocation, inside and outside the church. With three primary focuses, this podcast dives deep into:
Leadership: Learn from experts across diverse fields as we explore how their insights can shape and sustain a healthy culture in the local church and beyond. Over 60% of listeners expressed a desire for practical discussions on cultivating thriving environments—and that's exactly what these conversations will deliver.
Learn: Engage in deep theological discussions with scholars who illuminate how Christ is revealed on every page of Scripture. Together, we’ll bridge theology to the realities of a post-Christian America, ensuring practical application for today’s world. This segment aligns closely with the themes of the American Reformation Podcast and resonates with the 60% of you who crave more exploration in this area.
Live: Discover healthy habits that empower leaders in all vocations to become holistically healthy. As followers of Jesus, we’re called to lead not only with faith but also with physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Join Tim Ahlman as we navigate leadership, learning, and living with purpose, so you can lead with strength, wisdom, and a Christ-centered vision.
The Tim Ahlman Podcast
Songs of Faith: Worship Leadership and Spiritual Connectivity with Marlene Lamb
Join us as we explore the profound depths of the scriptures with our special guest, Marlene Lamb, a devoted worship leader with a passion for transformation and a gift for communicating across generations. Together, we journey through Revelations 2 and 3, John 15, and other passages, finding wisdom and guidance in Jesus' messages to the church.
Imagine boarding a flight and having an unexpected encounter which deeply impacts your spiritual journey. Marlene shares her fascinating encounter with an Orthodox Jewish man, showcasing how travel and interaction with different beliefs can shape and refine our faith. We delve into the crucial art of listening and loving those who hold different perspectives, and the importance of standing firm in our beliefs while emanating love and respect for others.
Ever thought about the power of digital communication in your spiritual journey? We explore innovative ways of fostering connections within our community, from digital materials to social media, and the central role our church app plays in this digital mission field. Hear Marlene's unique insights from her role as a worship leader and the story behind her inspiring song 'Without Hesitation'. By the end of our conversation, we hope you’ll be stirred to stay connected with your faith, embrace diverse perspectives, and harness the power of communication in your spiritual journey.
Listen to 'Without Hesitation' here!
Hello and welcome to the brand new American Reformation Podcast. We long to see the wider American Christian Church fall more in love with Jesus by learning from the practices of the early church and other eras of discipleship multiplication. We want to hear from you, make sure you comment and leave a review, wherever you're watching or listening, to tell us what God is doing in your life or how you feel about today's conversation. Lord, have your way in us. Let's dive in.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the American Reformation Podcast. It is a fantastic day. I pray. The joy of the Lord is your strength, and I love on this podcast because we get to talk to a lot of people who are experiencing Jesus in very, very unique, unique ways. And today we're going to hear an amazing story and you're going to meet one of my favorite people on planet earth.
Speaker 2:Her name is Marlon Lam, formerly Marlon Saravio, and she joined us. She comes from the amazing country of Guatemala and I'll let her share a little bit of her story and who she is here at Christ Greenfield. She's actually the director of communications development here at Christ Greenfield. She is the youngest of three daughters to Fernando, who is a passionate follower of Jesus, missionary, who's spirit now rests safe and secure in the arms of Jesus in paradise, awaiting the resurrection, and then her awesome mom, mary Annela. Shout out to Mary Annela. I know she hangs out with us here at Christ Greenfield quite a bit.
Speaker 2:So opening question Marlon, how are you praying for Reformation in the American? Now there's a story here. I remember back in the day when I said the American Christian, you just think it's the United States of America. When we in Guatemala say America, that means, yes, north America, there's Central America and there's South America, so we're going to include all the Americas. How are you praying for Reformation in all of the Americas? Marlon, thanks for hanging out with me, yeah yeah, of course, thanks, yeah, that's funny.
Speaker 3:In Latin America, many countries, we would say Americas, all of the Americas, south, north and Central. Thanks for that acknowledgement. Awesome to be here. Great question.
Speaker 3:I mean, there's so many ways to be praying for the church. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Revelations 2 and 3, and it's this beautiful description of Christ being the center of the church and letters that he, you know, writing to the churches, and I think there's a beautiful picture and things that we can be praying for in the church. I mean, there is nothing new under the sun, but we are still waiting for his return. We're still waiting for Christ's return to make everything whole and we are praying. There's something beautiful John 15 is something that I'm probably praying for my own spiritual life and for the church. You know, this concept of being tethered to Christ and staying, remaining in the vine, abiding in him, something that I'm praying for every follower of Jesus, that we would be bearing fruit, but we know that we can't bear fruit apart from him. So this concept of being remaining in Jesus, as he remains in us, because we could be tempted to carry along and forget that he is our source, and yeah, and so Revelations 2 and 3, I mean you see different letters of Christ addressing different churches. You know saying like hey, this is something you've done really great. You know you're very cellist about my word. You're very cellist about theology, you're very cellist about justice, you're very cellist about remaining faithful.
Speaker 3:Yet you know there's different. You know there's different things that the Lord is addressing, and one of them is when he's talking to the church, I believe, of Ephesus, and the same night you have forsaken the love you had at first. So there's different warnings there. So what's awesome is that, through the different letters that he's writing to the churches, he says whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So I think that's something to be praying for the church. You know like what is the Holy Spirit speaking to the churches? What is Jesus? He's coming soon and he says hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown. That he does it, for instance.
Speaker 2:That's so good, I love. I love your reference to John 15. That was at a recent conference I was at. That was one of our theme texts. And what does a branch do? Branch doesn't do much, but just hang out right, just things out. We're very, very passive in the process and yet God still uses us by his Spirit's power. Actually the vine to bear fruit, the last. And then I like, I like how you reference Revelation 2 and 3.
Speaker 2:And Jesus has specific words for specific churches, doesn't he? He sees and this is kind of audacious it's not just a one Holy, christian, apostolic church, right, but like he has a specific word according to the Spirit, and this is to be discerned, connected to the never changing word of God and connected to discerning how the Spirit is speaking through one another. What is that respective word for Christ Greenfield, for St John's, for Cornerstone, you know like, or or for, maybe the church, because these are regional churches, or for the church in Gilbert, you know my church in Mesa, or wherever you happen to live? There's this very our God's very specific he's, he's broad, he's big, but he's also very near to us in our, in our journey to multiply disciples. And then I love how you're saying.
Speaker 2:The reason we should pray for Reformation is that sense of urgency that we wouldn't lose that first love that we had at first right.
Speaker 2:Why is there a sense of urgency?
Speaker 2:Because Jesus is coming back very, very soon and, if we believe, all of the Bible is true, and in contemporary Christianity we don't really like to talk this this way much, but there's going to come a day of separation between the sheep and the goats, the wheat and the shaft, those who believe and those who do not believe, those who have bent in the need of Jesus as King and Lord, and those who have said no, I'm King, king or Lord, we found, we found a Messiah somewhere else or in someone else.
Speaker 2:Like this is a heavy thing. There is a place called the new heavens and the new earth, and then those who are outside of the Jerusalem walls. This is Revelation 21 of God's provision, his, his care, his protection. And if we, if we really believe that Gehenna is a real place outside of the protection of God, hell is a real place and, yeah, this should give us a lot of care and urgency and it's not about us, it's planting seeds and letting the Holy Spirit do the work and leaving it all up to the up to the Lord. So that's sad there, marlon.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, I think you said something really important there. The beautiful thing is that Jesus is recognizing how many different churches there are right, and how he's addressing a problem specific to that church and he's commanding them and he's also giving them praise for a specific thing that they've done well. So it's this beautiful concept that Jesus is at the center of His church and that he knows His church and he knows us. So I think that's important. That's why it's important for us to listen to what he's saying, because maybe something that we do well here is something that another church maybe does not do well, but then what they do well is something that we don't. You know what.
Speaker 2:I mean, so it's yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, let's, let's learn with one another about what the church here in the US can learn from our sisters and brothers in Guatemala. What does the Lord say to the church in the United States? You need to look at the church in Guatemala. So what can we learn from your native nation, your native country in Guatemala? And maybe what does Guatemala because I love mutually beneficial relationships, love and challenge right? What does the church in Guatemala maybe have to learn from us here in the States?
Speaker 3:Oh man, that's a great question.
Speaker 3:It's a big question. It's it's also, you know, two different cultures, two different, yeah, two different ways of expressing love, community and praise to God. But I think we're in Guatemala we're very Cette overdue. I would say maybe Latin America as well very community center focus, like it's just part of the way that we interact with one another. We're very all about like big groups, big families, like you know. You say, one of the S, one of the S do like people like good afternoon, good morning, people walking in streets. It might not be the same in the cities, but so, yeah, that concept of community, of like doing life together, we love doing that and it comes naturally for many of us in what church has come to us.
Speaker 3:Also, I would say like a great dependence on God for everything, because, depending on where you are, there's very big needs. So you know, poverty might be, sometimes it might be something that's physical and that's materialistic, but then there's also poverty of the spirit. So the different types of poverty, but you know, when you experience a need, a lack of something, god comes back, provide a unique. You look at him, you look to him for all of that permission, and so I would say there's a big dependence on God for everything. Not saying that that's not the case here in the States. There's a lot of here too. But yeah, it's just expressed a little different.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean go ahead, keep going, oh no, I was just.
Speaker 3:I was just going to say the US, the church in the US, has great things. For many years, decades, we've seen the impact that it has had in the nations, and so something that I love is that sense of systems and education and programs. You know, how do we? I would say, like, people in the States are very analytical, like, like, like, like, let's learn this and let's digest this and how do we apply this and how can we make this better? Again, there's at both places, you see that you see analytical people and people wanting to learn in Guatemala as well.
Speaker 3:That's not what I want to say, but you know, it's just interesting. It's different ways of expressing love.
Speaker 2:Well, I asked you to paint with a pretty broad brush and I think you did really well. I mean, we are more, maybe, entrepreneurial, and the entrepreneurial bent here in the States comes from that kind of rugged individualism. Right, america was kind of United States of America was built on people, individuals risking leaving home, like coming here and kind of pick yourself up by your bootstraps, and that mentality still pervades, I think, not just in corporate America, united States of America, but also in the church as well, and that's good. And you know, every culture has gifts and gaps, right, and so maybe that is something that the Guatemala is a Central American church can learn.
Speaker 2:And there are and I was actually a part of PLI International connected to the movement of the Lutheran Synod in Mexico, the Mexican Lutheran Synod and we did talk with PLI about very simple we don't want to lose the sensitivity toward relationship and making sure everybody's on the same page and that there's no one person kind of who's the egomaniac. I mean they're very sensitive in the church in Mexico and, I would imagine, in Guatemala toward that end. And then there's certain ways and systems that we could put in to help people grow in their leadership toward respective roles within the church pastor, teacher, etc. And the systems then that can support that structure. Right, maybe using technology a little bit more so than they have, and there was a great openness to it.
Speaker 2:But I think it starts with us as educators, as those from the United States of America, just coming in with great, great humility and working from those points of strength rather than saying, man, you all are kind of wrong. That is the work of a missionary, right? I mean, you grew up in a missionary family. Just speak of the missionary heart, of really listening, loving, empathizing, placing yourself in the position of those who you're trying to reach, and then, you know, stepping up and out and then speaking from a place of truth. But it comes after a lot of listening, because listening develops trust, right? Marlin?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean and that's a key thing I think there's a misunderstanding that you know you go somewhere else to do missions and yeah, you're going to go and bless people. And there's there's truth to that You're, you are going to go and bless people. But what's fun is always seeing how people that thought they were going to go and you know bless others and that being so blessed by what they encounter. And that's because God is so beautiful. You know there's different, different expressions of his love and his beauty and creation in different parts of the world. And, yes, there may be a lot of poverty that they encounter here in Guatemala, a lot of students that came with missions organizations but they also encounter people that are living in poverty but are extremely joyful and content in the midst of really hard circumstances. And so, you know, it's so beautiful to just see how there's beauty everywhere and we are all learning from each other. I think we should all try to be learning from each other.
Speaker 2:Yes, and that is the power of travel, or getting outside of your context. How blessed are we that we live in a time when you can get on a plane and in a couple three hours you're back in Guatemala right In a radically different context. I love being a dad of three teenagers. I love taking them to different places and placing them in uncomfortable maybe, or different situations and just seeing how they respond and their eyes just kind of come up and out. I mean, for those that have lived and there's, you know, to each their own. But if you have the ability to leave, you should go for a time to learn how to cross that culture. It will build sensitivity in you and I think it's that sort of sensitivity that allowed you to sit with that man on that plane and hear his story from a Jewish context when you thought you were going to be sleeping. So tell the story from a couple three weeks ago on your flight back to Phoenix and this evangelism opportunity.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So my husband and I, we were flying back from San Luis, we had a sermon writing retreat, so we were flying early Monday morning and had to wake up at like two or three in the morning and I said, oh, I'm going to sleep on the plane because I want to be so tired. But right when the flight started I noticed that the man sitting right next to me was reading a book and I was eyeing it a little bit more and I noticed it looked like it was the Torah and so you can see Genesis, and it had the English version on one side and the Hebrew version on the other, and I was just so intrigued so I probably inherited this from my mom. But I just couldn't help but like ask, no, it's that Hebrew. I knew it was Hebrew, but I didn't want to like assume it. So it opened the door for a conversation that lasted the entirety of the flight. But yeah, it was, yeah, it was crazy, it was amazing experience Just being able to encounter maybe as Christians, sometimes we're like in our bubbles, you know, a lot of times we're hanging out with believers, we're hanging out with a lot of people.
Speaker 3:So it was a great experience for me to just meet someone who is a practicing Jewish and hear what he had to say about Christianity and what I've believed my whole life. That's the truth, the life of the way.
Speaker 2:And he was very, as an Orthodox Jew, he was very evangelical toward you, wasn't he? I mean, he was trying to give some proofs as to why, no, jesus is not the Promised Messiah. We're still waiting for the Messiah, and here's why it's all a little bit about his trying to convert you, marlon.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so very, very passionate. That's something that I really appreciated about him, even though in the moment felt really intense. But he was so passionate about what he believed and he was so passionate about the Torah and it being, you know, the ultimate word of God. And just trying to, from me, to experience God without Jesus being in the picture and you know it was it was a very interesting experience. In my mind and in my heart, I wanted to debate so many things, you know. I wanted to say hey, but like yeah, that's the word of God, but it's not complete, like you're still missing the New Testament. But I also knew that maybe debating was not going to be the answer here, and so I started praying for him in my heart. I started praying, I started asking that the Holy Spirit like help, like what do I say? Like what do I do, and I just have this sense of listening and like, obviously, you know where there were opportunities where I would say hey, like I believe that Jesus is the truth, the life of the way, and I believe that I experience God at the full is because of Jesus and I, you know, I think this and that and in trying to be respectful as possible and trying to ask more questions, remain curious and allow for an opportunity to love someone who believes something different than I do.
Speaker 3:Obviously, we there are some things that we believe. We both believe the same, but there are other things that we didn't, and so what does it look like for us to love? Sometimes we are trying to prove a point a lot of times. Sometimes we think that, oh my gosh, this person needs to hear what I believe in, you know, they just have to hear it, and I think there's context for that.
Speaker 3:There are times where that is the case, but you also have to ask the Lord for the situation. What should I do? Why should I do right here, like Leighton, what am I supposed to say or respond? It taught me a few things, that experience, and I think one of them is we prepare, like how the Bible says, we prepare to defend what you believe, you know, but also learn to love and learn to listen and care for the person and pray for them. Because now, when I think about Dodo David, the person that I met, I pray for him and I say Jesus, like, is there any way that you can, you know, reveal yourself to him, like he like show up and like have him and his family experience you.
Speaker 2:You know, arguing, debating, I don't think works as well as a lot of people, because some people are, like, really hardwired toward apologetics. But, apart from a deep relationship of trust over time, like I don't think it's gonna take place. So I you know, in hearing this story now a couple times, best case is that he's got a little bit more of a soft spot in his heart, because not all Christians are argumentative and judgmental, and you were at least willing to hear him and it sounds like to a degree, he was at least willing to to hear you, though I think he did probably most of the talking, because it sounds like he was a pretty strong, strong character.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, well done. The Lord used you in a beautiful way and you planted a seed and we'll see what the Holy Spirit wants to do. Just keep praying, right? That's about all you can do at this point, anything else on the story the Lord taught you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean the harvest is it's the amount of people. It was, in a way, a wake-up call. There's so many people that don't know Jesus as Lord and when you grow up this may not be the case for everybody, but if you grow up in a Christian context, that's all you know sometimes, and there's a lot of people that need to hear about Jesus and experience and encounter him and remain in him. So praying and trying to connect with people that are that are in need of Jesus is huge for us.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, this story even solidifies all the more, Marlon, why I'm proud to have you as Christ Greenfield's Director of Communications Development, because that heart is so, so powerful, and we want that heart of hospitality and care Obviously the love of Christ, not compromising the truth, though to be what characterizes our communication strategy here. So tell us a journey of growth at Christ Greenfield into this leadership position. It's been quite a journey, hasn't it? It's been fun to see you grow.
Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely. I mean, one of our core values at Christ Greenfield is leadership is our passion, right. So our leadership you guys are very passionate about racing leaders and empowering people to help them discover development, you know, and so my experience has been very interesting in the sense that I begin I joined the team by helping creating slides, and that was back in 2019 and was able to be a part of the media team all of these past years and now it has evolved to lead the communications department, which you know. I think we can all relate to the year of COVID and how that was such a shift for many of us in church communications. We're so thankful for Todd, because he had already Todd Freeman had been setting some systems and things in place like live streaming, our services that allowed for so many people to be able to still experience church, even from home during the COVID quarantine, so we're so thankful for that, and that also raised a lot of questions of that.
Speaker 3:Covid communications is so important in church settings, right? You know we have to not only invite people to come to us, but also reach others who are not in our building, and we know that the church is not just building but it's the people in. A lot of people are, you know, Monday through Saturday. They are not necessarily in our building. So how are we doing our church? How are we meeting people where they're at? And a lot of them are online social media. There on the website, they're with each other. So it's been an amazing journey of learning a lot of things, but also knowing how it's an evangelistic effort at the same time.
Speaker 2:That's it. So tell the story of how our communication strategy has evolved, especially through COVID, and talk about let's get a little more granular what's our perspective? Not every church is going to have the same perspective, but what is our perspective right now toward written materials, how we're using our church app and the main function of our website? If you gave some clear direction toward those ends, that'd be wonderful.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's awesome. So one of the beautiful things about Christ Greenfield Church is that it's a multi-generational church, that we have people from nursery all the way to eight. It's 90 years old, so it's wonderful. And you also have to realize that you are going to reach people within our community, like already a part of our community, in different ways. So a lot of people that are not necessarily used to digital materials you know it's a lot of our teams work is brainstorming, connecting how can we also connect with them throughout the week in our written material? But also a lot of our congregation is families, young families, and a lot of them are online.
Speaker 3:So we have this awesome app, the CG app. If you don't have it yet, I encourage you to download it. You can find it on the Apple Store or your phone store Android as well. So just search Christ Greenfield and it should appear there and download it. We have this awesome dashboard, which is very targeted, specific for you.
Speaker 3:We have more contents that we continue to create, but this is a hub and this is a space for our church, community, people that are a part of our community, to remain connected, to check out events, to find messages and just helpful information to stay connected with God, and we also have the app sorry the website and our social media platforms, and so this is crazy when you think about the times that we live in.
Speaker 3:Most of us are online a lot, a lot of hours throughout the week.
Speaker 3:Some of us have a bad habit I admit that and I am confessing and repenting to the Lord and I'm working towards getting better but a lot of us are online all the time, and so this is an amazing mission field that we have. We want to be found not only physically but also online, and our website is like a front door for all the people online that could find us through Google ads, through Google my Business, that could find us through social media. So our website serves as that front door, that introduction for people to get a glimpse at our community, and we hope and we pray that it leads them to being a part of our community if they're in the Gilbert or the East Mesa area in the Phoenix Valley, and we're praying that it would lead them to come in person. But it's a front door, it's a window, and so the same thing for social media. I know we're getting towards people that are not a part of our community sometimes, so we also want to invite them and meet them where they are and share the gospel.
Speaker 2:That's so good. You know we made the choice when the Lord opened the door of COVID and there was no other way to really see it. It was an awful time discombobulating, isolating, all of that, but are you going to embrace the open door through struggle that Jesus is giving? And so we've been 100% online and 100% in person now and we're getting closer to kind of pre-COVID in person worship numbers on both of our campuses and at the same time, we're engaging the same amount, if not more so, online through, yes, a live stream, but then all CG live in a number of different ways the daily Bible studies, all of those ways that we're trying to engage people with the word of God seven days a week. So well, well done. And at the same time, recognizing there's trial and error and things you mentioned cross-generational right what works for a certain demographic may not work for another demographic, and so for, like, the Gilbert campus started producing kind of a one page news and notes what's most current for people to stay connected, because they're not on the app as much as maybe we'd like them to be, and that's okay. We need to serve the members as well as we can. I've really appreciated how you and the team have adjusted to the needs of our diverse context while still staying committed to our core principles. Meaning the website is our front door, that's not our bulletin board for all the different ministries you know. So that's good. But then moving people to the app to connect to one another, to sign into worship on the app just the way we're using that and it's gonna continue to get better into the future.
Speaker 2:So tell us. I'd love to share this story. It was about a year ago where I was in a retreat with Marlin and she kind of brought up why do we exist? What is the big, why? And I remember saying, well, it's a 20 and 20, with 20 campuses in 20 years, we have a multi-site vision here in the East Valley. And you kind of said, well, I think it's more than that, why is it 20 and 20? And so you went on this journey along with others on our communication team to listen to members and staff to say what shapes the Christ Greenfield culture, what is our big why, what is our vision statement and even our now in this season of life tagline. Tell why the culture guide was needed and where we arrived Marlin. I think it's really, really powerful.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean it's nothing. I would say it's nothing new. It's things that have been a part of this community for many years and we're just trying to find words and trying to find fresh ways of saying that and connecting people. So, as Pastor Jim was saying, we had this experience where we were at a retreat talking about our mission and, as communicators or our communications team, we have to find ways of connecting with people and inviting people into this awesome community of faith. And so I remember there was a point where Pastor Tim and Jack were talking about the don ratio and how there's like six million people right, and in the Phoenix Valley it probably is increasing, and then there's a percentage of people I'm gonna say about like four points something or five points something, million people that are on charts and maybe on Christian, and so that means that there is a big need of churches and faith communities in the Phoenix Valley, and so we truly want to see more Christ Greenville faith communities and family of ministries, because we want to see people encounter Jesus and you wanna see Him transform by His power.
Speaker 3:So we went on a journey of listening and serving our staff and just learning a little bit more from the congregation as well, of why do we think we exist in and how does this play into it. And it just it was a great, I would say, a process of about four months or a little bit over that of listening and researching and praying a lot and trying to put together our culture guide, which has our vision statement, our tagline, our mission in core valleys, which we already had in just a set of language and things that we are and say in what we do and how we do it, because something that's important to say is that culture happens all the time. It's happening all the time in every organization there's a culture and it's either by intention or by default, and so we want to like be people that we're intentionally shaping the culture that we're in and we're trying to shape an environment. That honor is God-consistent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, culture is such kind of a buzzword, right? What does it mean? There's a number of different definitions, but one of my simplest is the way we do things here. This is the way of treating other people, this is the way of having the fruit of the spirit. This is a way to disagree agreeably. And who's responsible for the culture? Now, there are certain leaders who can kind of help set the culture, but it's all of our respective responsibilities, from not just your staff but the church in general.
Speaker 2:And what does Satan yearn to do? Steel, kill, destroy and divide, right? So we must, by the power of the spirit. This is what Jesus did. He was the greatest culture carrier of all time, right? He went to the cross and then invited us after he ascended into heaven, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, invited us to pick up our crosses and follow. He showed us the way the early church was actually called the people of the way, the healthiest culture of all time, people who would lower themselves for the sake of elevating the name of the one true God. And so that's who we seek to be here in the East Valley and our goal.
Speaker 2:You mentioned the Don ratio. It's actually one church for every 500 people. One church for every 500 people. A lot of people say, well, who needs to worry about church planning today? We already have enough. We should just worry about church revitalization. Yes, and we should be planning churches. Both things need to be taking place at the same time. This is why leadership development for us, those who carry not just the words of Jesus but also the way of Jesus, the humility of Jesus, out into their culture. So this culture guide is more than just words on a page. It's actually a living document that's gonna be shaped for the way we do things here at Christ Greenfield. So so proud of you, thank you for your bold, bold leadership, because, I don't admit it, at that retreat there was a moment where I'm like Marlon, what you talking about, we know, we're going, we know we're doing people are gonna be like oh, we got more work to do.
Speaker 2:And feel free to challenge me and Jack and the rest of the leaders here with great, great boldness, because humility is always gonna be on you. But never lose that sense of boldness to lead passionately. All right, you are not only the director of communications and amazing evangelist on plane rides, you're also an amazing worship leader. As a singer myself, it's so much fun to praise Jesus with you, to get to sing with you, to lead God's people into his presence. So tell us about your experience writing songs with the collaborative Lutheran writers group that you've been a part of and, for the life of me, right now I'm drawing a blank on what the name of that group is, but you guys are writing the song.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the songwriter initiative the songwriter initiative, there we go.
Speaker 2:So tell us about the songwriter initiative and you even getting to sing on some of those recordings as well as do some writing. Really really good, really really good work.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so the songwriter initiative is connected to Concordia University Airmind, so just a great, great group of people Shout out to Kip Fox and a lot of other people that are involved. Just amazing people. It was an unexpected blessing I think it was last year, maybe that our first time joining the retreat, and it was just one of the most wonderful things. My husband, adam, and I have been a part of just great people, solid people, awesome. They love Jesus, love music, but it's been a great experience.
Speaker 3:I was very hesitant to go first because it's not something that I had done in group settings that often writing songs but I'm so glad I did. It was wonderful. Music is such an important part of my story. I went to school, to university to study worship arts, so it's a music degree with theology in it, so it's fantastic. I love worship music. It's one of my favorite ways to connect with the Lord and songs have really shaped me and I think it's a great way to connect with the Lord in my faith, in my walk, jesus, and I just pray that that's a way that we can continue to serve His church.
Speaker 2:The people of God yeah, tell us about some of the new songs. I mean, without Hesitation is a new song that's being sung across many, many churches in the Lutheran Church, missouri Synod. So praise be to God and some others that you're really, really happy and excited about as they get released in, and please tell people how they can get connected to these songs.
Speaker 3:Yeah, amazing. So it's just wonderful experience. Last year we got to write a song with Matt Preston, who's also in our team, kevin and Kip Fox as well. We were all a part of this. So, basically how the retreat goes you have groups and you do breakouts, write songs and then come and present them back, and we just had such a great time.
Speaker 3:It was the last session of the retreat, our first retreat, and the theme was creation, and we got to talk a little bit more about creation story and all the beautiful things that God has done, and we were talking about you just remain in awe and all that God has done for us and like, what can we really do? There's really nothing that we can do but praise it. We can worship him, we can say thank you for everything that you've done and we will continue to praise you. And so that's the story behind, without hesitation, a lot of prayer behind that song as well, and so you can go into Spotify, you can go into social media and if you search the songwriter initiative, you should be able to find it. I think we can link things in the podcast. Maybe we'll add a link there as well for people to find it.
Speaker 2:I love it. Last question this has been so much fun as you prepare to lead God's people into His presence as a worship leader. What is that pre-service prayer, marlon?
Speaker 3:I pray that the Holy Spirit would use me. I pray that I would be a vessel for him. Understand that it has nothing to do with me, but it's all about Jesus. I think that's worship leaders, that's our job to steward the moment and point people to Jesus, to point people to the goodness of God. And so I'm also praying for the people that are in the congregation that they would be reminded of God's goodness, if they've never experienced it. That they would have a revelation from Jesus that he is good and words are powerful, and so sometimes a certain lyric, a certain word connects with people in a different way. So my prayer is always that connection with Jesus that people would just see His goodness, that they would be reminded of. Sometimes we just need to be reminded.
Speaker 3:Life gets in the way, and we just need to remember that God is good to us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we don't need to be told, we just need to be reminded. We've heard the story over and over again. And sin, death and the devil and the temptations of this world and the chaos and the distractions of this world lead us away from the promises of God. That's why we get closer, that's why we draw together in corporate worship. Right? We just gotta be reminded of how much God loves us.
Speaker 3:What else? And you know what. There's so much power in the act of worshiping. As humans we have been created Like there's a divine design within us to worship, so oftentimes, most oftentimes, unfortunately, we're worshiping something else. That's the story of ancient Israel. It's still the same case for us. There's always idols right, and so we are constantly praying and asking the Lord that he would be first, that he would be our source. But there's so much power in congregational worship because it represents community. It represents it's a foreshadowing of what's to come right A gathering of believers praising Jesus.
Speaker 3:He's worthy of both praise and in its faith, it's faith in motion. We are confessing, we are declaring, we are remembering together. Sometimes we need the encouragement that comes with each other and sometimes you can do it on your own. It's for connecting with Jesus, but you need both. You're intimate times with the Lord, but you also need the congregational aspect of it, and it's so powerful. It reminds our hearts sometimes of hey, he is God. You are a person Like remember in lifting up His name and the book of Psalms, there's so much of that right. The Psalmist is expressing despair and just like a hardship in situations, but then there's a turning point and he will praise the Lord, and I will remember and I will praise and I will sing of your goodness, so yeah, Marlon, this has been so much fun.
Speaker 2:I'm so grateful you're on our team here for the way the Lord is using you, your humility and your strength, your being a bilingual leader, your story from Guatemala to here. Did I tell you I'm doing Duolingo right now? I'm learning Spanish.
Speaker 3:That's awesome, I got 30, move in.
Speaker 2:Gracias, mi amiga.
Speaker 3:Oh you're the end.
Speaker 2:No, but I'm learning. I'm on day 30. I'm very early in this journey, right, I'm relearning a lot because I took it all the way through high school, but, man, that was 26 years ago, so I got some things of dust off. Next summer or fall, when I go down to Mexico City again, I would like to be able to carry on at least general conversations with my sisters and brothers there.
Speaker 1:That is my goal. I can do it, and then over years maybe I even become bilingual with your help.
Speaker 2:Will you talk Spanish? Is Guatemala and Spanish like way different than Mexico, or is it pretty?
Speaker 3:close. It's pretty cool. We just have different accents and different like I don't know what is it called like different, like slang? I would say, yeah, different slang.
Speaker 2:Different colloquial kind of ways you say things. But yeah, I can't wait to carry on conversation with you.
Speaker 1:So hey, come up in like a month.
Speaker 2:I need about a month more, and then I could maybe have a little bit more help. It's amazing how many of the Spanish words are actually very closely connected, like telefono.
Speaker 3:Telefono. Yeah, yeah, there you go.
Speaker 2:Banjo. What's bank?
Speaker 3:Yeah, banco very similar Banco. Yeah, banjo Banco.
Speaker 2:All sorts of One letter yeah. One letter also.
Speaker 3:I was so happy to see that you and Alexa were in Mexico and that's so beautiful. I was like yeah, hey, we're a little bit of a shout out, Can I do that? Sure, sure, but next year. So Maddie Hasse are one of our next gen leaders and he's my second cap of leader. Her and I are going to Guatemala next week for our vision trip. That's in preparation for our mission trip that we are wanting to do Christ Greenfield next summer, 2024, to Guatemala. So anyways.
Speaker 2:Yeah, even if you're not a part of Christ Greenfield, you want to hook up with that. Reach out to Marlon. How can people connect with you, Marlon? What's your email?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, you can. My email is mlam, so mlamb At cglchurchorg. If I'm there, you can also go to ChristGreenfieldchurch and find the leadership tab there to connect with any of us in the team of Christ. Greenfield.
Speaker 2:Amen. This has been so much fun. Thank you, Marlon. Sharing is caring. Please like, subscribe, comment wherever it is you take in these podcasts from the United Leadership Collective we got lead time podcasts that come out mainly with LCMS, Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod Leaders, and the American Reformation Podcast With leaders like Marlon. We're definitely in the LCMS, but we're praying that this message reaches far beyond the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod into Catholic, to charismatic, everywhere in between people that declare Jesus Christ as Lord. It is his one mission, of which we're a part, and it is an honor to do so. We'll see you next week with another episode of American Reformation. You rock Marlon. Way to go, sister.
Speaker 3:Gracias, see ya guys, Alright.