Hello, folks, this is Princess, you are listening to the millennial Mustard Seed, pod casts. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to share with your friends. Then people start to get weapons, they start to get armor, they start to build cities they still supported by their cities. Now God looks down and there's violence everywhere. The battle this war that we are at is not against each other. It's against these principalities in these rulers in, these are cons in the high places.
It's really worthwhile to read the Bible yourself, fear is one of the primary drivers of mind control because We have to take every thought captive and resist. Your going to have a testimony that is a Justice case against the kingdom of darkness. Welcome back to the show. I got an awesome episode in store for you guys. This is ease of edification, I got microns in here, he is a
media production guy. He works with a company in New York City, but you lives in Reading PA, we actually did this interview in person at Grace Church, right? Outside of the city of reading. It was an awesome interview. He's a younger guy, he's got a degree. Ian law, he studied criminal justice and you just really has a heart to serve the Lord and get the community involved.
It's a really cool conversation about a half an hour long, it's edifying and for as young as Mike is surprisingly, he's got a lot of wisdom of really wanted to honor him just by having them on the show. And just saying, man, I see the younger generation, I see you guys. God sees you guys, you're important. You have valium at with all that being said, That I am ready to jump into this episode. Are you guys ready for some ease
of edification? Hey y'all, this is Michael Lanza with the millennial, Mustard Seed, pod cast. He's a edification and that was a dope intro. Mike, it's a pleasure to have you here with me. You're doing some really great things that I would like to some highlight it. And that's why we're here man just kind of chopping it up and encouraging each other. Tell us a little bit about yourself what you're doing right now and kind of how God has directed you into the positions
of roles that you're currently. Yeah not for having me for more context on the production director here at Grace Church, in chilling. PA. I have a interesting way of how God's kind of led me to the positions. I'm in graduate high school, went to college for criminal justice kind of like halfway
through criminal justice. I had some media production classes that I was taking ended up falling in love with it took the classes and did what I had to do to basically have my digital media marketing major and digital Communications minor assumed the role production director here. At the church. I handle all social media and production elements on a Sunday morning and then and then I do freelance for a production company out of New York. So yeah, that's where I'm at right now.
And yeah, I'm excited to kind of see how God leads leads me in the future. I think it's so cool. How we start with this direction we want to go and it morphs over time. The spirit of the Lord leads, those who are the sons of God. He Rex our steps, right? You're representing a generation of younger people and your story and voice needs to be heard. So what you're doing at Grace Church? Why don't you give us?
A quick rundown of what the Young Adult Ministry groups look like and like some of the, like, the venue's you guys have been putting together. I know we have listeners in the reading area and I'm really hoping that somebody will get connected through this episode and be a part of all the future things that you guys have going on. Yeah. Yeah, I guess I shoulda
mentioned. Also here, I volunteer, as a young adult leader, we run, what we call Grace groups here at the church and it's just a time for a group of people to get together meet once a week. Usually were discussing and the message from a Sunday, that's kind of how it started to kind of morphed into, you know, its own Ministry, where we kind of dive into more deeper deeper topics deeper conversations. A lot of times will bring up a topic that that, you know, we've
done. We bring Is to to kind of highlight different things in people's lives and then ultimately open up the floor for people to discuss and kind of give, you know, their background in a certain area or topic and its really opened up to be a, it's a safe space that people feel comfortable to to kind of share in. We currently meet every other Sunday. Sunday nights from 6:00 to 7:30 gear at the church. And yeah we try to host different serve opportunities.
We were actually down Down to Opportunity House, a couple weeks ago, serving lunch. And we'll be down there again, at the end of February to serve lunch again for the residents there. Yeah, so we're trying to get plugged into the community, doing more serving opportunities being the hands and feet as we are called to be, we have different events. We try to do a little bit of fundraising events because you know, some things do cost to
supply needs for people. We actually had a car show here back in October and we have plans to do more More fundraisers to kind of give back into the community. We're just trying to, you know, be active in. You know, what's going on here at the church?
You know, separately with what goes on in the community and just trying to be able to be a resource to not only, you know, people from the outside but be a resource that people are actually within the group and and just creating a safe space for people to be able to share what they're going through. What God's doing in their lives. Yeah. And and what we're finding is like, the more that you allow
open floor people. A lot of times feel that Comfort ability to share more about what who ends up going on in the lives and things that people struggle with or things that people are succeeding at and you know, if it's different things like that. As a young man here in Reading Pennsylvania you have this desire to get people connected in the community and when we're called to share the gospel like we're called to go out, but we're also called to make
disciples. A lot of people want to see like the entertainment on YouTube where it's like all they want to see a demon cast out or they want to watch all this content on YouTube about Nephilim or whatever. I mean there's all that weird stuff. There's a time and place for that. It's very important that we actually Understand the threads that are in the Bible because God wants us to know those
things. But if we are missing the hands and feet aspect of it, We can have knowledge wisdom, we can have Mysteries unfolded. We can speak really well, but if we don't have love, it's all worthless.
So for anybody who listens, if you guys are a part of a Young Adult Ministry or attending a church thinking about attending the church, be the hands and feet, wherever you get plugged in, and if you've got a natural gift and calling to stir something up, they get a small group together or just spend time with people, just organically investing with no ulterior motive, Aman. That's where you're going to see. You're positioning yourself for
God to move. So Mike, not a lot of people are actually getting married who are younger today when dr. Larry Sanger was on, just a few months ago we covered marriage from a Biblical perspective of one into some areas that I was blown away by what she brought to the table. So talk a little bit about your engaged right now and that's exciting. Yeah, you fall in love and you want to pursue this Godly relationship to just talk a little bit about that. We have mine.
My fiancé and I are getting married in early March, so come and more real. Yeah, we met in college and that's where I feel like God's just been leading me. And like a lot of a lot of different people we've discussed about like, oh well like why aren't you using your degree or like, why, you know, why do you feel like you don't have like a full plan yet or we're just kind of going with the flow? I feel like God's like you know, took took me on this journey.
Yeah. And you know I am where I am is because I've been so kind of open to what path he's leading me on. But yeah, we met in college in the criminal justice department we were both criminal justice Majors. My position with dating was to not waste anybody's time and so me and her had like a three-hour conversation on the first date kind of going through all of our
non-negotiables. Where we were in life, kind of our background and it was, it was pretty funny because she grew up Catholic. And, you know, her family upbringing was, was only, you know, along along those lines. And I get, you know, I was at that point, I was working part-time, my role here at the church, looked a little bit differently, but I was still pretty active serving on a
Sunday morning. So I had her come to a Sunday service and, you know, with her Catholic background, it it looked a lot different for her, but yeah, she definitely definitely felt. You know, the pool from God. I would say that first time she lived in Florida in Florida at the time. So we had a three-month period. Where we were with see each other much when she came back over the fall. She played soccer for the school and then we had a transition. With a co-pastor coming on,
actually pass. It Rodney, who was was here for 2020 and 2021 and not me by the way, you guys know. And and I think that whole transition she really got plugged in here at the church and really started to grow, I saw a lot of growth with with her and and I I've walked with, with God, for a good chunk of my life. I've been raised in the church. Church, I've had definitely ups and downs, and and I feel like my biggest growth was growing with her with, with, with our relationship.
So yeah, my my voice definitely is, you know, a lot of people talk about equally yoked and you know, being equally yoked is so important. I mean, you guys people, I feel like can as long as God is in your Forefront, even if both of you aren't the quote-unquote Christians, You feel like you're supposed to be or you're not where you're supposed to be yet
growing together to get there. I feel like is so much so important as individuals because, yeah, I feel like I definitely was not my best self meeting her, but have grown. A heck of a lot in my spiritual walk with with putting her first and learning, the different Avenues of. You know what dating look like. What engagement life look like, what marriage life is going to look like.
And then it's like, you know, just the realism of life in general and like, just a difficulties that come, you know, with living life and then mixing that into into the marriage realm is, is, is very important.
So, so, yeah. I yeah, I would just encourage anybody who's, you know, In a similar situation to make sure God is in the Forefront, cuz I feel like we've grown together, but I feel like if we would have pieced together, the things quicker, we would be even even more even more, you know, on fire than we already are. And I've been, I feel like we're we're definitely pushing for for what God has for us being used here at the church being used in the community, you know?
Yeah. I mean, even the young adults Ministry. I'm one of my biggest things that I was praying for a while is finding Godly Community inside my own age group. And that was something that that God. I feel like is provided through Grace Church in this Young Adult Ministry that we've kind of, kind of Taken and started and, you know, and getting off the mindset of quantity and pour more into quality and that was and that's something that as the young adult.
Street. We've really been purposing to do and we've and I feel like we've grown individually a whole lot and we have open open Realms of communication safe spaces for people to kind of just talk about things that they struggle with the, you know, our daily lives.
It's like it's real, it's there. It's like we have, you know, this world is heavily demonic and, you know, evil is prevalent and You know, but you know evils only going to continue if you don't shed the light in it. So it's like you have you have you have all these, you know, different people that are like all. Let's just let's just huddle here and cluster and just talk that's not what we're called to do with call to go out into the world and be the hands.
And feet will also be the light and be the thing. It doesn't have to necessarily be where, you know, you're shoving, Jesus down people's throats, being the light. I feel like is enough to To show people that you're different and showing people that you're different.
Doesn't mean they they might come to Jesus right then and there A lot of times it does but you know, people have choices in life and I feel when we and I feel like when we stop getting hung up on, Oh, you know, the our mission is to share the word, but it's up to others to receive it. So today, I got home to little tangent there.
But you said being equal, yolks that really jumped form you because a lot of the times people want to just get marriage because they feel he's going to answer all the bad dating history of their life. Right. It is like dating a my opinion. I didn't know any. This does I got saved like nine years ago and it's been a long A rough process. But when I was dating, when I was younger, I was really just practicing separation.
Yeah, you know, it was like, you just get into this mindset was like, how well I don't like this about this individual, six months into it and so on to the next, right? And that was the this worldly mentality. So really taking a serious approach and being like, hey I want to be equally yoked and do we have the same things in mind as huge amount of opinion? And then what stored up in our hearts is going to flow out of our mouths?
I like what we talked about whether we're like on the mic off the mic, just in our conversations like It's going to words. What is in our heart is going to flow? Like, when I was younger, I used to have a lot of conversations that are nothing. Like they are now as a man. No, but I was a boy about like a boy, as a man. I'm thinking, like a man. So here and was flown out of your heart is important to me and some other key things demonstrating.
Being the hands and feet. Like, we're not looking to fill the church today or tomorrow when this episode airs, there may be somebody who hears this episode who lives in West Reading or in Douglasville, Pottstown Philadelphia, any of these small, you know, local cities all around the country and they may hear this and in 10 months they may just wake up and be like yo, I'm gonna go up to that church today because something Mike said or Rodney said stuck with me and I just
couldn't let it go because it was different than what I was hearing at work. Work. It was different than what I was hearing in the world. It was different than what I was hearing when I went to shoot pool with guys after work and chase tail and none of that brings any completion in my life. We don't always know the ripple effect and that's why this is important, and then you said, Jesus sends us out. Yeah, he sends us out two at a time. You think about a man, and a woman.
We leave our parents. We leave our mother, and our father. We cling to our wife. So, we're in marriage, you're already, you're one, but you're too. So when Jesus sent the disciples out, he was like, yo, I'm sending y'all out of two at a time. So like, you never really walk alone and I think that that's like, most man's desire. Like most men were like, First off, we want to be respected, but we want to be loved and seen and recognized. And God gives a wife. And this is talked about.
I think his style Solomon says, it may be. No, David says it, huh? One of them. Are you guys know? I'm not good with remembering exactly the name of the book and the person who said it. But I remember the meat of it. He says I found the one who my heart loves. There's a difference between a woman of the world and a wife from the Lord, and he who finds a wife from the Lord finds favor with God, but all of us are in
progress. So if anybody is struggling through your marriage right now, you're thinking about getting married, but you're scared because of what you seen your sister go through your cousin. Maybe you've been through, you've been divorced and heartbroken seeking God. First seeking his kingdom will add on to us everything that we need. To do time.
I just I'm Blown Away by you know, meeting just getting connected with people all around the world at this point but now locally that was a huge part of like when I met in first talk with you Mike because I was going through a season where I was really lonely, like, I'm podcast, I'm getting hammered, and ways that I don't normally talk about just rejected in certain ways, but I knew God was just tugging me, keep going, don't give up. And when our first conversation
we had over the phone, some of the things that we talked about and then just learn in, like, where you were at, what you were doing and where your heart was, that was a wave of encouragement for me. So, everything, you're sharing here today, I know. Resonates with me, personally. I'm edified by hearing you speak. So, let's kind of like, wind down here a little bit. Do you want to tell people where they can find you and just anything that, you know, close this out?
What do you think is relevant for the younger generation? The millennial generation older generation to hear, what would be your advice to the body of Christ? Yes, but, I mean, especially for the younger generation, I feel like we are You know, we have this mindset that we're in the shadow of the older generation and especially in a church
setting. I feel like you know, we we have a lot to offer the church but I feel like necessarily we feel like oh I can't or I'm not and even as a church you know, the church body as a whole. I mean if there's a you know you I'm sure you have listeners that are, you know, above the young adult a you know, really pouring into the Young Adult Ministry and the Next Generation even student age high school students. It's like all and especially
working. I also as a student leader and I see these kids who have potential in their life, but they struggle with the just garbage that's in high schools nowadays. And I feel like, you know, in Our Generations were called to Shepherd, the generation below us. And we know. So I would say, the biggest thing is, if you're in the young adult age and your Or, you know, a struggling.
Because for me, it was a struggle for finding Christian Community. It's like I had friends but I wouldn't hang out with them a lot because of the activities, they would get themselves into or the things that they like and enjoy that. I don't enjoy because of being partaking of the world. And so, my biggest prayer for a while was that God show me Christian Community and show me friends that I can put trust into and share you know my life with and you know he's done that.
It. He's done that through me, answering a call that he had me, if that makes sense. So like he called Pete, he was like all right. You know, there's people within the church that are here for you but you guys haven't been on that relational aspect yet because there's nothing here to be relational about. So then you know, when we started the group, it started it was rough in the beginning because it's like we've there was a lot of young adults have been coming to this church for a
while. But, you know, and this This is what I feel like sometimes happens in the church. It's like come to church on a Sunday. We know there's other people in our age groups that exist but we don't get connected with them. We're not growing spiritually with one another. So when we started the group it was hard to kind of mold what that look like. Because there were so many people that are in this group that, we know each other, but don't know, each other.
And then, as time kind of kind of felt, you know, progress, we were like, you know, this group Program, like, you can call it a program, but like the order of like, how this group is operating was in substantial for what we needed as young adults. And then that's when we kind of, you know, dropped off into our own Ministry and kind of pushed into, you know, deeper conversation topics that are specific to us and how they relate to us in the times that we go through.
So yeah, I would say, God definitely opened up a whole world. Wind when I saw it to get connected and build something that didn't didn't one point exist. Yeah, so yeah, yeah, definitely. Just, you know, if you're in the, you know, reading Berks County area, were we meet every other Sunday? You can find our website at my grace, church.com young adults, and we have a whole calendar there with the different events in our meeting times and stuff like that.
We're we're kind of like what we're in. We did a book study with crazy Faith by Michael Todd, which was a really a really cool, really eye-opening book. And yeah, and we love to just bring different perspectives to
the table. It's like, you know, I feel like there isn't, you know there's you know, one God, one father, son, Holy Spirit. Like you other than that there's so many ways of interpreting kind of what God's Speaks to different different people and, you know, different people's experiences have different impacts on people's lives. So and we definitely definitely opened up those realms for for this group and Ministry that we're in.
So see if you're in the it's ages, 18 to 30 and we're just looking to connect with one another and continue to grow the relationships. That seems like the world already has the world. Aren't the world are He has these deep connections with one another and people and on and it's funny because it's like we see it. It's like people are willing to put themselves in Risk danger for other people. It can be even with like you
know, alcohol drugs sex money. It's like everybody's willing to put themselves in positions that they, you know, it's not, you know that where they're at having to step, you know, stick their neck out for somebody just to get connected. Just feel like they're a part of something. Yeah, there's a better way. So much better ways. And it's like, sometimes it doesn't. And I feel like as a church, we sometimes do a disservice to people because it's like we we are called to be that bridge for
one another. And if we're not being that bridge for people, then where are they going to go to get communities? Are going to go to the world because as human beings, we Thrive off of community, God calls us in the Bible to be in community with one. Another grow each other up, sharpen each other, and it's like, if we're not doing that in the church then Are we going to do that at? And and that doesn't even mean
the church physical building. Yeah, it's like within the dresslink we are called to be the church. Some people get that Twisted to it's like you know the church building even though yes. Like this is a space that we come we worship. We hear message connect with one another. We are the church. We are what's more important is connecting with people loving one another and as like and The other thing I would also encourage the listeners is to really walk in love.
I've had different experiences in my life where love is hard to do sometimes and you know I feel like as God has shifted and is continuing to soften and change my heart. Love just comes out for people that like man, like it was hard to love this person or that person, but I feel like that God's opened up a whole new realm of insight for me. And it kind of Of how how my life supposed to supposed to
impact the world. It's been an honor to have you here on the show man, and I love seeing how God is getting this. This Broadband message to men, women all across our country is one time. Yeah, thanks well that's it. That's the show Christianity is not a club. We walk this thing out by faith. It's a lifestyle coming to you from Southeastern Pennsylvania. God Bless America. Goodbye.