Ep 27 | A Youth Pastor Marked by God's Unfailing Love

Steve and Sarah White have been in ministry together for about 24 years and have 3 fabulous kids. They have also been friends and mentors of mine since I was in high school so it was a joy to chat with him for the podcast. Steve talks about how learning about God only fuels a desire for more of God, how his Bible study has changed over the years and his calling as a disciple-maker.  We also talk about God's unfailing love and how doing stuff FOR Jesus can often get in the way of simply being WITH Jesus. (PS - The retreat he speaks about at the end was a few weeks ago and was amazing. Praise God.)

Transcript

Chelsea Eubank: 0:05

Hey friends, welcome to Real stories of life with God, a podcast with a pretty explanatory title, because that's what we're here for a conversation with real people about their unique life with God. I'm your host Chelsea Eubank. And I'm so glad you're here. Let's jump into today's episode. Yeah. All right. Dave, tell us a little about you.

Steve White: 0:26

So I've, gosh, a little bit. So it all started when I was born. I, ministry wise, and in my life, I've I've felt the call of ministry. When I was in high school, I was actually on the summer after my junior year. And it was at a camp, there was all those things, you know, that, you know, it's those moments that we've all experienced, it wasn't around a campfire or anything, like, Kumbaya are nothing but but just really just felt a tug on my heart for ministry. And so from that point on, I just began to pursue it and, you know, pursued it through some education pursued it through mentorship. I had mentors in my life. That was my youth pastor who eventually became my pastor who I actually was his, my first youth pastor job was with him in launching a church. And so, you know, going from about 23, I was 24 years of ministry at this point, specifically in student ministry. Man, I've I've learned so many different things. I mean, at the very beginning of ministry, me and my wife got married. We've been married for 23, almost 24 years now.

Chelsea Eubank: 1:42

Oh, yeah. So it's almost like almost neck and neck with him at a time you

Unknown: 1:45

started. Yeah. Well, and and honestly, that was one of the things that brought us together was our love for ministry, we it was on a mission trip that God really confirmed in our hearts that we were not just loving each other. But we love doing ministry together together. Yeah, it would just fit well. And so I was like, let's just keep doing this together for the rest of our lives, you know. And so, so for the, for these last 2324 years, you know, I've had, I have three kids. One in college, sophomore in college, one's a senior in high school, one's a freshman in high school, the two older being the girls, and my youngest being a boy. So we've gone through many family and life experiences, wow, in the midst of going through ministry experiences, and having them the family being a core part of it. You know, my wife, and a partner in ministry, my kids, even for they were a part of youth ministry still came around. Yeah, they're still part beings. And so, so it's been, it's been a haul last several, especially these last several years. But God's been faithfully. I mean, it's, it's been a, it's been a great ride, and I can't wait to see what God has ahead of us. You know, I used to tell people all the time, my calling is youth ministry. This is what I'm called to do as a youth pastor. And I'll tell you in the last four or five, maybe six years now, that's kind of shifted in my brain, not that I don't love being a part of student ministry, because that's, that's what excites me. I love it. I love it. But I'm called to share the gospel just like every other follower of Christ. I'm called, I'm called to make disciples. I'm called to train and equip the saints, the Scripture teaches us. And my audience is determined by God. And so if I'm a if my audience that God puts me in front of his teenagers, which I love, then I will do whatever it is to make more disciples who make disciples and if it shifts in any point where my audience becomes adults if they don't necessarily want preschool, but God knows the heart, right? Yeah, I'm flexible enough to this. My life is his I mean, it's not me it's Christ who lives in me. And so I'm just always excited to see what that may be what that may look like and just be just God to use me.

Chelsea Eubank: 4:08

Okay. Two of my questions are kind of inspired by Grace commandment in Matthew 22 Jesus is asked which commandment in the law is the greatest and he says Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and the second love your neighbor as yourself? It's my first question for you is what currently stirs your love for God

Unknown: 4:26

stirs my love for God I really truly really two twofold okay. My time with God knowing him and the more I'm in His Word, the more I know him. And the more I realized I don't know about him. And so it just created it makes me just crave more and more to know about him. But I think the second part of it is when it when I'm able to walk out what I know and and see God move in me but also move through me and allows other people around me It just gets me excited because I just want, I just want more, I want more of him, I want him to use me more. And it just, it just makes that love. You know, you always got God patterns, everything, according to his love for the church, the him being the groom and the church being abroad. And I think about the same that love for him is like, I have that love for my wife or for Sarah and it's like, I see her, she walks in the room, and it's just like, just catches my eye. And I just want I just want to be with her, you know, just right now she's on a mission trip with my, my middle daughter and, and I miss her like crazy. I told her that last night, you know, and after 23, almost 24 years. It's like, I just I just, I just want to get to know her more even after all this. And so, so I think that's the thing is, is my knowledge of His word allows me to get to know Him. And it makes me want to know Him more and be used by him more and whatever he has, whatever whatever task he has for me to accomplish.

Chelsea Eubank: 6:03

It is kind of amazing how it's like the taste and see the Lord is good. Like once you get a glimpse of that. You're hard pressed to not want more of that. Right? I

Unknown: 6:13

love to cook Yeah, I love to grill there's no I have a RegTech at the house and I love to smoke different things and with with the rec tech and and it's just like when I taste some of the food that I guess I want to see. Tomorrow also, yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah, you could get expensive with a big price right now. Great. I guess that's a cool analogy from the standpoint of like, when you when you taste and see the Lord is good. Like, you just want more, you want more every day?

Chelsea Eubank: 6:43

Well, the more you cultivate with him, the more he shows up, like you're saying fall like you follow him and he uses you. And that's listening. Just cultivate that ear a little bit. So it's almost like prayer. I don't know, oh, there's just like an adventure nature to it a little bit. And like coming alongside and believing that he's actually in all my things. And with me all the time. It really changes your thinking changes the way you you live your life, if you actually believe that, that we

Unknown: 7:13

know is such confidence, those of us that have tasted it, and we want to urge people taste and see it's good. Y'all mean you want more. And that's so that's why I drive our students are leaders, adults, anybody that come around, it's like, hey, just give it a try. Like give a try. I know you won't be disappointed. You want more? So even if you have to make yourself right. I'm gonna try to it. And then you realize, oh, wait, this is actually

Chelsea Eubank: 7:41

has your Bible study reading methods changed a lot over the years? Or do you feel like you've kind of stuck in a rhythm and like, this is what works for me. And so

Unknown: 7:53

it kind of has changed a little bit because I think early on in ministry, it's like things I wish I would have known early ministry is, is a lot of my Bible reading or study was was usually in preparation for teaching.

Chelsea Eubank: 8:06

So just meditating or instead of just enjoying Yeah, yeah. And it wasn't

Unknown: 8:09

for my own feeding it was so I could feed others. And it was like I was just more carrying the word rather than it just to have an overflow out of me. So over the years, I've learned that as I as I start my mornings, when I usually want to get to work, I usually get here a little early, just to start my day off in that manner. And because I wanted to be an out of the overflow. And so I tell our students all the time, or if I get a chance to speak on a Sunday that i What's what I'm speaking on today is what God is teaching me. So I'm not preaching at you, I'm actually just letting this overflow out of me what we're showing me. And so my, my prep time isn't for the sake of preaching or teaching or speaking. It's really out of the abundance of what God is speaking into my heart. And so it's kind of reversed of what it was, you know. And honestly, I see a difference in my life because of that, because early on in ministry, I didn't have a firm ground in my knowledge, knowledge of the world, but also walk with the Lord. And so I was susceptible to the enemy. And that different temptations or different things that would come my way. And, and really, truly, I really realized at that moment, it was because I really wasn't getting to know him for our relationship. It was just so I could pass on the information.

Chelsea Eubank: 9:33

Easy. Next question is, is there anything that currently stifles your love forgotten?

Unknown: 9:39

So when I hear that question, okay, I find out very quickly, how much I'm like Peter. Because it's like, Jesus looks at Peter. He says, Do you love me? Yeah,

Chelsea Eubank: 9:53

right. Of course I do.

Unknown: 9:55

Yeah, I mean, like so just say what staples is like nothing stifles my love for God. What do you How are you, Chelsea? But the truth is, is like, out of, you know, our actions out of our priorities really determine shows where our love is. And there's busyness of life will stand in the way of me living out that love for the Lord, you know, it's there. But when Jesus said, Hey, Feed my sheep. That was he was saying, you know, you say you love me Do not do something, you know, you've been with me, it's time for you to walk out what what you've seen what you know, and do it, you know, and sometimes it's just a business in less than a ministry, if people have been around ministry, whether it be from a volunteer standpoint or as a as a occupational job calling kind of thing, you know, that sometimes we just get busy with doing things for Jesus, that it kind of can stifle that love or that that outpouring or walking out in that love. And so I'll tell you that in a heartbeat. That's that that would be the greatest thing that I could be just so busy about God that I start to lose that show in my love for him. Yes,

Chelsea Eubank: 11:21

I can definitely relate to that, except for like, I'm a I'm a, I lean towards self sufficiency. A good bit. Um, and I think I think it might be to what I'm realizing in myself is that I find a lot of comfort in how I'm perceived or how I'm how I'm seen. And some of that might even be for beautiful reasons, like for being helpful or for being there. But if I'm strapping myself because I'm being everything for everyone else, and never giving any of that slow, unhurried time to hear the Lord then, so for me to take a step back and say, I'm going to give a couple days of the week or a couple hours where I'm not going to be reaching out and responding and markup following and all the things I'm going to give that to the Lord instead. And pray for whatever comes to mind. And trust that he's perfectly enough.

Unknown: 12:11

Yeah, obviously, it's the it's kind of the the control freak that's in all of us. Sometimes it's like, if I can, I can, if I can just dive in God I can help with I can help you on this. Yeah. Like you kind of just give that a nod. I got I got this. And he's like, No, you don't. And, and really, if we got to that busyness sometime, is a sign of that self sufficiency. And like, I have to do all these things. I need to do all these things. And sometimes we do it under the label, like you said, God doing this for you. And, and in essence, it's like, okay, but you're

Chelsea Eubank: 12:46

missing some major part of me right now. In the process, yeah. Series. And it really, especially in I mean, every, every voice of culture, too, is saying do more, be better. Be more, you know, and God is saying be about me. And that might be slowing down a ton and ignoring everything.

Unknown: 13:11

And allowing him to be sufficient. And everything but also the trust of realizing God's big enough he can he's got this

Chelsea Eubank: 13:21

handle it? Yes, yes. And he's enough for me, to satisfy me or give me rest. When I'm finding I'm tempted to find that in the busyness in the doing right. I find life satisfaction in the reward and the fact that I did something that's great, but they're thinking about you right? The whole time right now. Not really thinking about God at all.

Unknown: 13:41

Yeah, yeah, there's your reward. Right? There it is.

Chelsea Eubank: 13:45

You feel great for like five minutes. Anyway, okay. The truth that God is blank means a lot to you, because blank

Unknown: 13:54

is a good one. I think it's the truth of the God is, and His love is unfailing. I've experienced a lot of things in my life. Growing up, you know, early on in marriage, in ministering to where I saw love that was dependent upon an action or love that was dependent on me doing or being a certain way for someone else. I also saw in a lot of ways, even through my through my wife early on in our marriage, that there was a reflection of God's love and her for me, that even when I failed, that she still loved me. She desired me wanted me to be well or be right in my life and do things right and get right before the Lord in certain areas of my life. She's still showing that love so I've seen both the love that is not a reflection of God's unfailing love and, and a love that was sort of like have that. And so through that I tell everybody that, that relationships are not too far gone. To be to find a healing because God has a love that shows unfailing love and God is a God of restoration and those kinds of things. And so and so I'm grateful for for his unfailing love. Number one, because I needed because I fail constantly with certain things in my mindset of, of life, or how I go about my life, or I'm about me or whatever. And if I truly have a repentant heart, that he welcomes me back every moment every time and you know, so so that is that is one of the greatest things for one for my life, but to to show other people because we live in a world where people are quickly left behind cancelled or people walk away and are just like, no more, I can't, I can't deal with that anymore. So therefore, I put you aside or put you away, kick you out, you know, shoot you while you're wounded, whatever that may be like it is that that's the world we live in. So if we can show that unfailing love of Christ through his love that he showed us on the cross, and it's just, that is one of the greatest pictures of who got his

Chelsea Eubank: 16:20

thing. The last question is, what is something you're looking forward to?

Unknown: 16:26

You know, what was crazy to us? I'm not very event driven in ministry, but I am so excited about a couple weeks from now. We have a weekend called Kingdom Kingdom weekend. Yeah, it's gonna be about you know, I think it's like six churches that are coming together to do a weekend retreat. And I'm excited about it not because it's a retreat, not because it's I love camps. I love what God because how God got ahold of my life, at camps, when I was a teenager, but to see the unity of the Body of Christ, that it's not about the individual four walls that we put up on different pieces of property. But it really is about the kingdom and seeing students from all over our area. Get to know the Lord on a deeper level and be taught how to live within the kingdom and invite other people in. So I'm excited about that is something that spurs me on theatre still, yes, just it's exciting.

Chelsea Eubank: 17:23

It's great. Thank you for taking the time I spent on screen

Unknown: 17:27

it really has me.

Chelsea Eubank: 17:29

Listening friends. It means a lot that you added us to your day to day. Thank you so much. Wherever you find yourself on your journey with Jesus. I hope you finished this episode with your faith teared, refreshed or strengthened. Until next time,