The Sevan Podcast - #200 - Greg Amundson

Episode Date: November 6, 2021

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Just found my earpieces. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Nine seconds into the show. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm hungry. I just finished with Lindsay. About to go live with Greg Amundsen.

Holy cow. Holy cow. The love sharing the light and the love of Christ. That's the topic of this episode. I don't know if that's something I know a lot about. Let's see. I know Greg knows a lot about it, so that's going to be perfect. I wonder if I'll still talk a lot, even though I don't know a lot about it. Seems to be my MO. Oh, my feet got cold. So basically i was on the podcast this morning with lindsey from birth birth fit um two hours and 40 minutes what a great conversation i really liked her and i think and she's engaged and trying to make a baby with an old friend of mine lance can too

i haven't stayed in close contact with lance but man what a great dude when i knew him back in the day the early days of crossfit i I don't know, 2006, seven, eight, something like that. He he was around a lot because I would go down to I would I would see him with the Texas crew like Jeremy Teal and stuff. Anyway, she was on and then in like two hours into the podcast, she's like, yeah, I'm going to I'm marrying that dude. And I was like, whoa whoa what a small world a few days uh so speaking of old school i don't know where i was going with that had too much coffee but speaking of old school uh this next guest is greg amundsen oh shit i'm supposed to email i'm supposed to email the link to him i texted to ah my old one guys i'm supposed to i'm supposed to send him an email control copy give me one second i i am i am 100 a mess you guys are love this. This is probably the least I've ever been prepared for a podcast.

Greg at gregomminson.com. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. What a morning. I promise you the show is going to be great he's a great guest you can't go you can't go wrong with greg it just sucks that you guys are having to see the b uh behind the scenes basically a few minutes ago i was uh cleaning my kid's skateboard ramp off between podcasts there sent sent sent sorry shit sorry greg god uh yes i just emailed

sorry greg okay through the panic phase three minutes and 12 seconds. And I'm so sorry for anyone who tuned it. I got to trim the beginning of this first part off on this, when this lives permanently on YouTube. So this morning I did birth fit with Lindsay and I don't know why her last name is, is leaving me. Um, I want to say Lindsay Valenzuela. It's clearly not Lindsay Valenzuela, say Lindsay Valenzuela it's clearly not Lindsay Valenzuela but but um I did birth fit with her for two hours and uh 40 minutes and by the time I got off I was like shaking I think I was shaking because I drank too much coffee I was too hungry and the subject really really uh stimulated me the whole the whole thing with birth is um the whole thing with birth and babies is amazing. And then on top of that,

within 20 minutes, I had to eat something, get the skateboard ramp dry and get ready to talk about light and the love of Christ with Greg Amundsen. Yes. Yes. So good brother. So good.

Booyah. Gotcha. Gotcha. Good morning. gotcha good morning uh good morning i was just on with uh for with uh lindsey from birth fit um she's over there out of uh texas and um uh we were talking about one of um uh god's greatest gifts to the planet um babies babies little little little babies and just the making of babies and just the importance of the right mindset the right spirit of the parents and uh yeah and then and then and then 20 minutes later greg almonds so greg is greg is going to be for some i wanted to have g Greg on the show as a guest. And the timing is just kind of crazy because the producer, Matt Sousa, reached out to him and Greg for whether he wants to go into it or not, is going to be out of.

He's going to be busy with completely taken over by life for a few months, maybe a year. I don't know how long. But basically, we had a very short window and it's like, hey, I can year. I don't know how long, but basically we had a very short window and it's like, Hey, I can, Greg was nice enough to be like, I can come on today or tomorrow. And then after that, I'm going to kind of be off the scene for a minute. So I was like, fuck it. Let's do it. Let's get them. So here we are. Thank you. I appreciate you asking me to come on your show. Thank you. Good to see you also. Yeah, thanks. The last time I talked to you, you were studying to become a, you were going to school to become a, I don't know if school's the right word, a minister?

Yes, I'm going to seminary. Seminary. Yes, yes. And are you still doing that? I graduated last year, then continued with another degree that will satisfy the doctorate requirements. I want to go for my PhD. So this final semester, I graduate with my second master's degree in December. Then I can go into the doctorate program. Okay. So I haven't, like, I have no idea what now I'm swimming in deep waters. I thought that you go to seminary school. So this is what I thought. I thought that you find the love of God or the love of Jesus, and then from there you want to learn how to spread His word with accuracy and the way he or she would want it spread. And so you go to seminary school.

And then once you go to seminary school, you start spreading the word. And you do that through the systems in place, which are called like churches and stuff. But how are you getting it? Like you can get a PhD in this. So explain to me where my thinking and my understanding is all jacked up. Yeah. You know, what's interesting about seminary is that in many other pursuits of mine, whether it be law enforcement, military, CrossFit, the day I decided I wanted to go into law enforcement, I didn't just raise my hand, take the oath. Oh, here's your badge. Here's your gun. Go get them, Tiger. There was a very long process involved of training, of preparing, of educating.

So that when I took the oath of office, I was equipped. Same principles involved in the military. In many respects, the same principle is involved in CrossFit. is involved in the military. In many respects, the same principle is involved in CrossFit. You might have every intention of opening a CrossFit studio absent the prerequisite requirements. You're just not able to. What's interesting is that in ministry, that is not necessarily the sequence of events that has to take place. So there's a lot of renowned pastors that have opened incredible churches absent any real theological or biblical training. But the way I'm wired, that didn't make sense. If I wanted to do something, whether it be in ministry or in anything else, the way I'm wired is I have a

responsibility to the people that I'll either be serving and protecting or ministering to, to do everything I can to prepare myself, to educate myself. So that's what ultimately led me into seminary with the goal of at the end being a law enforcement chaplain, which is what I'm currently doing. Yet once I started, it's like CrossFit or martial arts. You just want to keep going. It's so enriching. The seminary I attend is Western Seminary. The promise of the education is it's gospel-centered transformation. That's really what I feel has happened the past four and a half years, and that's what I want to continue to experience. So I just decided to stay in school. I've been a student my whole life, so it's nothing really that new.

I – my experience with God, and I probably use the word differently than you use it but uh i use it interchangeably with the unknown something that i'm i'm not comfortable um not not comfortable is not the right word god it for me is the let's just say the unknown for now and i'll export my um uh was something that i've um i would have never maybe i was experiencing it my whole life but my first experience with it where i acknowledged it was when I was at rock bottom. Shit was like fucking coming unhinged it all seems, right? Basically, life or death situation. Like – and not like I got in a car accident, but I was ready to tap, right?

Life's got me in a chokehold. I'm ready to tap. And then I have this either either maybe god was always there and i just became aware of it in that moment or maybe we bumped into each other in the mall i'm not sure how it worked but but there was that interaction right with the unknown wow um for and then from there i understand i'm not sure if i'm using this word right the proclivity of wanting to share that with everybody for two reasons one because it's so awesome and two because you're not sure if it's fucking real and so you need validation from the outside world that

that was fucking real um you know i knew i wasn't on drugs but but i but it but it's pretty far out as they say in the 70s for you so there are two questions for you what was what was it for you that got you to be passionate enough to want to share it three questions um what was what what happened to you that made you passionate enough to want to share it um what made you certain that that this these principles that surround the bible i guess or jesus were the correct for your experience and and three i don't i don't think it's possible to have that experience unless you do hit rock bottom but some people think that you can and i just don't believe it because i every time and then i finally meet someone who's actually had

like one of these like kaboom it's like shit what it's never like hey i was just riding them i was just like kissing my girlfriend and it happened you know it was it was like no an axe was coming towards me you know what i mean so those are my my three questions uh for you sorry i'm just so excited so good so good brother well you know what's great about what you just said regarding your experience with the unknown is we could change the illustration a bit. That was my experience with CrossFit. Okay. Yes, yes. It's a CrossFit on a way grander scale.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. My first CrossFit workout, did that just happen? Yes. What's that? I went to the sheriff's office where i was a brand new deputy sheriff i told everybody about it because i wasn't sure it really happened then i wanted them to come join me because if it did happen i wanted to experience it and you need proof that it can happen to someone else right two things yes is that real? Yeah, so very, very similar experience. Well, there's a great— Is it okay to ask someone about their God experience?

Is that too personal? Am I allowed to ask you? I think it's wonderful. Okay. Yeah, I think it's great. I think that's—well, I mean, wouldn't it be interesting if that's where most conversations started? Sure. Hey, what's your experience been with the unknown, with the Almighty, with God, with Jesus? Wow. That would be an enriching conversation. Yeah. What's the

richest moment of your life? Well, this one time I'm pretty sure God talked to me. Yeah. That gets conversations real, really quick. Yeah. Well, there's this interesting story in the acts of the apostles, which was written by the apostle Luke. So Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles, which was written by the Apostle Luke. So Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke, then the continuation of that is Acts of the Apostles. In Acts of the Apostles, the Apostle Paul is in Athens. As he's walking around Athens, he sees all of these shrines to gods. He comments on the spirituality of the Athenian people saying, my goodness, everywhere I go in your city, there's shrines to gods. You are so religious. In fact, I even saw a shrine to an unknown god. So I'm going to tell you about the unknown God that you do not yet know. Wow.

Then Paul went on to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. So the reason that I think in my life, learning about Jesus and having faith in Jesus has been so transformational, is that it's the unknown, infinite God becoming incarnate in a real person. So Jesus himself said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one can get to the Father, to the unknown, to the infinite, except through me. So Jesus gives us this really objective, concrete person who is God, that we can know, that we can relate to, because he's a person, yet he's also God. So unlike some of the other attempts at experiencing the void or the unknown, Jesus has just given me a really tangible way to know God, to have faith in God. So I'm trying to share that because I don't know if absent Jesus, that same level of certainty and the goodness and the

love and the light of God, I don't know if absent Jesus, that can be experienced. That's the proclamation of the gospel, is that apart from Jesus, we just can't know the true love of God. That's been the experience in my life. Really no different, but on a far more profound level than the experience in my life for over 20 years is you just can't get fit absent CrossFit. You can work out. Yet if you really want to change your life, if you want to experience levels of fitness that will astonish you mentally and physically, you've got to do CrossFit. It's really the only way. And that's been my experience with the gospel. It's the only way. For me, for me, um, the CrossFit piece was even more simple

was I remember just doing, I think the workout was Nicole or something, but basically it was some workout where you run 400 meters as fast as you can. And then you do some pull-ups. When I did that, I was like, Holy shit, I'm 34 years old. And I can't tell you the last time I ran as fast as I can. Um, I'm going to push it on this a little bit more. What was your, why did you awaken to, why did you awaken to Jesus? What did you see? What did you experience that, that in your life that made you go, okay, I need to pursue this. And then the other thing is, is are you open to exploring doubts or are doubts something you push out? Or is that, is that the Satan character?

Hmm. Is that is that the Satan character? No, no, no. Thanks for letting me just bomb you. I know I'm just coming in hot. So good. So good. Well, the first question, really, that's the question I think you're getting to is the conversion story. Yeah. What made you say yes to Jesusesus what was that moment in your life and some people a lot like your experience some people have this radical experience something just interrupts their life a life ambush as my friend jason redmond would say that leads you to the light uh-huh i've had of those experiences. My experience has been more gradual continuing to this day. Now, along the way, God has given me glimpses into his power, into his presence. Yet, even absent those experiences, my faith has been increasing through the study of the scriptures.

So the potential challenge with before we convert to use that theological language, the challenge with needing and almost like demanding of God, I need to know for sure. I need to have an experience, God, before I'm going to put my trust in you. That's just not the biblical example of faith that we see in Scripture. Gotcha. And by the way, mine was not like that. Mine was just total accidental. Right? Just hit by a car and then like oh shit what is this nonsense over here what is going on and it basically i had just some unexplainable um interactions with life that were just like you can't get your head wrapped around it yeah Yeah. Yeah. And those are, those, you know, those experiences are

great for sharing, just like you feel so inclined to do for sharing your experience. Right. Just like, do you see it every day, Greg? Do you see God in your life every day? Like things that like people, um, I saw this morning, tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. So let me just tell you mine real quick that just happened. Yeah. Call it whatever you want. I've been looking for this for four days. They're my AirPods.

I've searched everywhere for them. I use the Find Me app. It said they were at my house. I set the sound off that's supposed to alert me to where they are. I've stood over the location where I just found them fucking 30 times since this morning. Just now I look and I see the text from Greg Amundsen, and it says – the phrase that I get attached to is sharing the light and love of Christ. And as I'm reading that, I'm pulling up in my chair, and I look down, and there are my AirPods. Now, am I saying that God just put them there no maybe who the fuck am i to say but am i but but for me that's like okay every time i've been looking for these i've been panicked

something's not like i'm not like oh this is fun looking for these but i read that and then why can't that just be a signal to me that like okay like, do you see that? Like, I'm, I'm really drawing you to this moment. I had you lose these for a reason and I'm gonna have you find them for a reason. And you'll like, I'll never forget this story now until I die or I get dementia. But I found these as I read, you know what I mean? Like, anyway, so, so that was my God experience this morning. Yeah. Well, interesting God experience,

because the purpose of that apparatus is to help you listen. Right. I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm with you. I totally with you. It's great. It's great. Some great continuity. You're like a real life author, the way you web, web, weave the story together. Greg, how many books do you, have you written? I think I'm on, I'm on either. I'm about to release number 10 or I've already released 10. God, you're so awesome. I love your discipline and your work ethic. Okay. Tell me about your, your experience this morning. We were talking about God talking to you.

Well, every morning I have a spiritual discipline. Before I do anything else, I get up, I read scripture, then I meditate. So every day it's part of my life experience, just like the self-discipline to exercise. I prioritize my time with God as the first priority in my life. So I'm always putting God first, always seeking his presence in my life. And when you say meditate, can you define that for me? Yeah, that's a good one. Because it can be that that word is so broad and inclusive that it can be used in a variety of different ways.

So the way that I meditate, like my objective experience when I meditate, what I tangibly do is there's an ancient prayer called the Jesus prayer. It's also called the prayer of the heart. So I just close my eyes and I repeat in my mind, Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me. I'll just repeat that as an anchoring prayer. Then just like most forms of mantra meditation or repetitive meditation, as I'm repeating that, I'll notice, oops, I'm having a thought other than what I intended to pray or meditate on. When that happens without attachment or aversion to the thought, I just gently make my way back to the prayer. And I do that twice a day for 20 minutes at a time. And do you catch yourself doing it at, um, at other times too, like you're flying on an airplane and you feel some turbulence and you feel that sucker just

your mantra turn on? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. I, uh, it's, it's, it's crazy. Meditation practices. The story I like to tell, it's tantamount to being in a small room, a six by six foot room, and with no doors or windows and someone drops a cobra in there. I'm not sure how it gets in there. And all of a sudden you become singularly focused on the cobra. And you better not take your eyes off the Cobra. And if you do take your eyes off the Cobra, you better get them back on the Cobra without like feeling sorry for yourself for making up another story about it, because this is some serious shit. And that is, um, that is, uh, my illustration. Um, you, you run a, um, successful business. I'm assuming – I saw it just a few days ago. It's still there. Yes, yes.

Amundsen CrossFit. With your – when someone is this steeped in – what is the word? Do you call it religion, God, love? What are you steeped in? Religion, God, love, what are you steeped in? To come back to the message I sent you earlier, I'm steeped in the light and love of Christ. Okay. I was just talking to Lindsay about Rich Froning this morning about how there's nothing alienating about him. We all know that he loves Jesus and he's a hardcore Christian, or at least he wants us to believe that, and I believe it.

And yet there's no alienation from him. Like someone like me who's not religious, who's not Christian, there's – how do you do that? How do you run a business and not – how do you make it so comfortable for someone like me to still come close to you when you have such strong conviction and our convictions don't align? Or do you even need to worry about alienating people? I mean, the thought doesn't cross my mind. I just try to be – I'm just being me, you know, I'm just, um, I'm not, I don't, I don't do anything different in different. I don't compartmentalize my life. So if I came to your house for dinner and you were to pray, we would hold hands and pray. And it wouldn't matter if I was Muslim

or whatever, we would still pray. Yeah. It's not your concern if it alienates me or not. It's just who you are and I can decide to accept it or not. Yeah. And if I knew in advance of your faith background, I would try to be as inclusive of your religious worldview as possible. You know, um, the, the, the, the illustration I often use is I've always tried to build bridges from my life into someone else's life. So even in CrossFit, I'm not going to get anywhere if I walk into a gym and if I see an athlete standing in front of the mirror doing bicep curls. I know what's far better than a bicep curl is a pull-up. I'm not going to get anywhere if I ridicule the person for doing a bicep curl.

But if I go next to him and just start cranking out pull-ups, I'm going to win him to the pull-up. It's the same thing in my faith. I'm not going to get anywhere if I ridicule or insult or belittle someone because of their religious worldview. But if I authentically live according to my faith in Jesus, if I just radiate that in my life, I might be able to spark interest and curiosity in someone to ask, like, what is it about you that – what drives you? And then I can share with them. you and then i can share with them um you you can take your l1 and it's it's the um it's the it's the recipe for fitness right i mean it's the recipe for a lot of things but but but

it's a recipe to to basically um control controlled struggle to force adaptation eating the proper food nutrition should get the healthiest the fastest fastest. It's basically the recipe for your DNA, right? Is the Bible also the recipe for becoming a conduit of God or having a relationship with Jesus? Is it like, let's say I don't have a relationship with God. Can I read it? And then I slowly, I, what rules do I follow the 10 commandments? Like explain to me the relationship of that book and sort of tuning in your antenna to be with God. Is that how it works? Am I, am I understanding it right? Um, yeah, let me set my notebook here. I thought you fell down for a second. Quick call 911. By the way, the way congrats that that that painting behind

you is awesome i saw that you i saw that you just sold it congratulations that is really cool thank you that's my warrior pain yeah it's dope did you ask the person you sold it to if it's okay to be on this podcast no probably probably ups the value anyway. There's seven of these. This is mine. Oh, awesome. This is mine. Okay. In fact, I've pretty much moved out of my condo. This is going to leave with me last. It's that important to me.

I pretty much got that, my computer, and my Bible. Awesome. I'll tell you. Where is your condo? It's on 41st Avenue. My A window overlooks O'Neill's Surf Shop. I got a little ocean view right by my CrossFit gym. Okay. And that's where I see you running. Exactly. Yes. Yes. I told that story. I bet you on a dozen podcasts where I see you running down the street and I'll be driving

behind you and I don't know it's you. And I just see this man in a pair of shorts running us. I'm like, who the fuck is this buff ass dude? And then I write, as I ride by you, of shorts running us. I'm like, who the fuck is this buff ass dude? And then I write, as I ride by you, I'm like, oh, it's Greg! And I roll out my window and I'll scream, Greg! Let me share this with you. The Bible provides us with wisdom

so that we can be competent with regard to the realities of life. And what is wisdom so wisdom is something altogether different than knowledge or discretion imagine there's five different right legal, ethical choices you could make. Wisdom gives you the sensitivity to know what's the right choice. It gives you wisdom pertaining to all matters of life, insight, direction, composure, to all matters of life, which is different than knowledge. So

many programs or institutions can provide you with remarkable knowledge, steps to take in given circumstances of life. You experience stimulus A, you reply with response B. What's interesting, though, is life doesn't often work that way. We're presented with stimulus A, then in light of stimulus A, I can do a lot of things. How do I know which one is right? And what's interesting is that as a pastoral counselor, as a chaplain, very often when people come to me for help, it's in knowing the will of God. People come to me, I want to know God's will for my life in this area. The Bible tells us, use wisdom.

So you redirect them back to themselves. so you read so you redirect them back to themselves well the bible also says do not be wise in your own eyes so it's not so much that i'm turning them back onto themselves because very often the predicament we find ourselves in is a function of our own thinking so if we turn it back on ourselves we just perpetuate the problem right so there's a higher level of insight of perception or wisdom that we can attune ourselves to and when you say attune is it is it also maybe cultivate work on like like through your meditation practice through eating through exercise through, through reading the Bible? Like it's a. Yes and no simultaneously, because there are certain disciplines that we can utilize, such as exercise, nutrition, hydration, rest, meditation, prayer, journaling, silence, solitude. There are these spiritual disciplines. these spiritual disciplines. Yet what's remarkable about the message in the scripture is that you could take two people who read the same gospel or the same passages of scripture.

The person who has the Holy Spirit of God within them will see things in the words that they're reading that the person without the spirit will not see. So the thing that's a radical departure, and this has been the biggest area in my life of hopefully with humility, I can say contribution because I've been so immersed in phenomenal programs such as CrossFit. I've been immersed in Mark Devine's program, unbeatable mind for years. As you know, Savant I taught the CrossFit goal setting and positive self-taught course. Yet fit goal setting and positive self-taught course. Yet, independent of how wonderful that curriculum is and how wonderful those programs are, what the scripture teaches and what I've experienced in my life is that if we really want to experience the life that God created us to experience,

he has to come into our life in a supernatural way to provide us with the change of heart, to use theological language, the new life that allows us to be the person that we were made to be. It's not something that we can do on our own and that's it you know that makes sense yes there is a um i'm going to tell you something that's in the bible and usually when i tell people that they're like that's not in the bible so feel free to tell me that there's this there's this this, there's this moment in the Bible where Jesus is talking to the apostles and he basically says to them, Hey, um, when I'm gone, they're going to come for you. Don't prepare your defense. When you speak in front of the Kings, just open your mouth and let God speak through you. Is that true? What I'm saying? Yeah. Remember that part? Is that

part of that? Make that up. You're on that up you're on point we we we can unpack it a bit more generally you're in the area though you're in the right and i remember reading that or maybe listening to it on an audio book if i'm going to be more accurate um and i remember being like i like this part this resonates with me i i get this because i know when god's speaking through me i know when the unknown is like, like I've opened up and the unknown is now controlling me. And I even always sometimes wonder if like, um, at the reason why athletes pursue athletics at such a high level is because they get into a, into a frenzy or a state of surrender and yet hyper-awareness, like you're in the cage with the cobra that then makes them a

conduit for, for God. Like sometimes I, and in the beginning, when I first found CrossFit, that's what I actually tried to like share that with Lauren and Greg, and they thought that I was crazy, but I basically said, Hey, there's an evolution going through here that by putting people through these physical discomforts and forcing them into these oxygen deprived states you're forcing a spiritual evolution accelerated evolution but they were like you you know they're they're you know greg is like measurable repeatable fucking wackadoodle you know what i mean he quickly he quickly stomped that out of me. But go ahead. So in reference to – and then one other thing to touch on too about hearing the word of God and applying it.

Someone hearing the word of God or hearing scripture in the Bible who has the spirit, I guess, within him versus someone who doesn't and their interpretation of it. It's very similar to the way I see society work. You can tell a hundred men, hey, there's a snail crossing the street here. Please help it. Some people will just stand by the snail and guard it to make sure it doesn't get stepped on. Some people will pick it up and carry it across the street. There's a million different ways. But some of those ways of helping that snail will actually kill the snail.

And actually a lot of them, someone may pick it up and set it into a, uh, into a vat of poison that someone has put somewhere. Someone may pick it up and then accidentally drop it while it's carrying it. Someone may pick it up and take the opportunity for that snail to learn to cross the street. And so the next time it crosses it, it didn't have that skill because you were helping it and took it from that snail and therefore it dies the next time it tries it, it didn't have that skill because you were helping it and took it from that snail and therefore dies the next time it tries. And so I feel you on that. I know that's a little bit different, but I feel you on the misinterpretation of things that are direction that we get. I think a lot of people think that they know what help or good means and they don't, that's usually a lot less hands-on than they think um but but going back to going back to that thing that god said to the apostles so tell

you were going to unpack that a little bit for me now this is just me being selfish and talking to my own private um minister oh no what's interesting what you just said is remarkable. You just said what God told the disciples. What God or what Jesus? One and the same. Okay, okay. Whereas most people would say what Jesus.

Wonderful to think accordingly what God imparted to his disciples. So, this is in the section of scripture. This is in John. John chapter 13, 14, 15 are Jesus explaining the gift of the Holy Spirit. So this is towards the end of his life. Jesus had been with the disciples in very close proximity with them. He'd been teaching them, ministering to them, demonstrating to them the love, the kindness, the power of God.

Now he's telling them, guys, I'm leaving. However, it's because he knew he was going to be killed. Yes, yes, he is. He's leaving. He knows that his death is impending. He knows he's going to be with you forever. So what's amazing about this, this is actually the topic of my next book. It's called Fresh Wind. So what's amazing about this is that the people who were alive during the ministry of Jesus on earth, the disciples,

During the ministry of Jesus on earth, the disciples, when they wanted to be with Jesus, they had to physically be in his immediate proximity. Scripture is full of instances where Jesus got up early while the disciples were still asleep to withdraw to an isolated place to pray by himself. So in the years of his life, when Jesus was with his disciples, there were many days, if not weeks, when he was absent. His disciples, they were not with Jesus. Just like any human relationship, we can relate to that. In order to be with a loved one, for example, in order to be with your wife, you have to be with your wife. What Jesus promises, therefore, is just, it's an amazing promise that in a supernatural way, now through faith, he will be with us forever, always. So that presence, the indwelling presence of God through the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. When I was speaking earlier about there's some things that we would see the person with the spirit in Scripture that someone else might not see. There's also things, I believe, that the person with the Spirit will think, will say, will do, will feel that someone absent the Spirit will not think, say, feel, or do.

So what we see in the Bible is that when people receive the power of the Holy Spirit, their life was turned upside down. We would expect no less. That's the Spirit of God dwelling within a human being. We should see some change. We should anticipate some change. And that's the change that is the promise of the gospel, is that through the grace of God, his presence fills our life, fills our heart. We're transformed from the inside out. We become more like Jesus. But the key is that not because of anything we do. So if I wanted to be more like really any other person in the world, I would have to do objectively what they do. It's going to take a lot of work. Yet that's not what happens with the Holy Spirit.

It's a gift that is given independent of anything I do. In fact, there's nothing I can do to earn it. And quite frankly, for some CrossFit athletes, that's the biggest challenge in our understanding because we're so conditioned in a good way to do work for a result of that work are you saying you can't cultivate the relationship we have to what do you mean you can lose. So you have this transformation. You get what did you call it? You get imbued or you get filled with the Holy Spirit. You have that. You have that that that occurrence in your life. Now you're saying that you don't have to – Yeah, so what I'm saying – Did I hear you say right that you can't cultivate that? Because, I mean, I'm no Christian, but I think you can cultivate that.

Well, what I'm saying is that – Like don't you want to walk – like I see like my life is better when I follow the rules of the Bible. Yeah. Even though I'm not a Christian. I'm like that's some good shit in there. Like that – like my life is way when I follow the rules of the Bible. Yeah. Even though I'm not a Christian, I'm like, that's some good shit in there. Like that, like my life is way better when I do that. My life is better when I see things that Jesus did.

And I try to emulate them on some, on some level. I try to, um, I try to walk barefoot. I try to fast. I try to be, um,

uh, present with people. I don't care whether they're, um, it doesn't matter to me whether they're whores or not like like i'm just cool i just try to be cool with everyone you know what i mean and then when i and then when i and then when i see things that are wrong i don't be a coward and i and i address them amen like he did like so so let me let me interject doesn't that cultivate your so go ahead

yes please let me answer your question please I don't want to be misunderstood. Okay. What Scripture teaches is that the receipt of the Holy Spirit that's given by the grace of God through faith in Jesus, there's nothing we do to earn that. We can't work to achieve that free gift because it's God's grace. It's a gift. Right, right, right. Once we receive the gift gift and you can't reject it either right if you get it you got it you know you now know yeah you're filled with the holy spirit now just like any gift i can receive something that is

that is beyond anything i could ask for or imagine. I can receive a gift of infinite value and just disregard the gift and not care for it or nurture it or love it. I think that's... Don't be like a dog and return to your own vomit. I remember that line in the Bible. Is that in the Bible? That is something in the Bible according to that effect. Yeah.

Yeah. That one rocked. That one kind of rocked me too i was like once we receive the holy spirit that means dogs have been eating their own vomit forever it's great crazy crazy how that one that'll last forever sorry to interrupt let's talk about this point because it's very important yeah sorry so once we receive the holy spirit then there are certainly certain things we could do that would make us more sensitive to God's presence, thus the spiritual disciplines. The key distinction, though, is that you could do all the spiritual disciplines absent the gift of the Holy Spirit.

You see that? So I can obey the commandments and perhaps live a life of ease. And that's wonderful. It's far better to live a life in obedience to the commandments than to willfully disobey the commandments. That seems to be natural law where we tend as a society to be desirous of let's obey these laws. I mean, this is what allows societies to function in harmony with each other. Right.

Right. Yet no amount of obedience to the law leads us into this relationship that God just wants to freely give us through faith in his son. Oh, shit. That's not good. And on the flip side of that, it even seems like those people who are most disobeying it get slapped up and be like okay here's some holy spirit for you right i don't understand what you just said what what if i'm understanding you correctly you're saying that like you can be a good person um my words you can read the bible you can follow the scripture you can follow the ten commandments you can do all the things that you believe to the best of your ability that god and jesus wants you to do and yet you might not get filled with the Holy Spirit. And yet there's people who are like

genuinely just complete rabble rousers, shit disturbers. I don't want to call them bad people because I don't know God's plan, but then the Holy Spirit imbues them. And it seems to be like, that's the common story. Like someone like either something with horror, like it was someone like who was in Auschwitz and all of a sudden God spoke to them. And it was like, geez, that's the common story like someone like either something with horde like it was someone like who was in auschwitz and all of a sudden god spoke to them and it was like geez that's that's that seems a lot of and yet the guy over here who's practicing the bible um isn't getting it um so how how so it's just happened chance if you wake up or not if you get if you have um jesus fill your heart if you have have God fill you with the Holy Spirit? No, no.

Okay. Sorry. Sorry. I'm trying, Greg. I'm trying. It's okay. Yeah, it's a wonderful doctrine. So the gift of the Holy Spirit happens at the moment of, to come back to the word we used earlier, conversion.

So the moment that someone… But how do you get that? You just won the lotto? You just get lucky no imagine imagine that well i don't even have to create an imaginary story so this happens on a fairly regular basis where people come people seek me out because they want a new life. The direction they're going is just, it's not working well for them. And they believe that God has something greater for them in store. They don't yet have a personal relationship with Jesus. They haven't received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

So in a conversation, I lead them to faith in Christ. And it's just a matter of that person saying, Jesus, I repent from my sin, which means that the direction I'm going, I turn away from that to follow you. I put my faith in you. I believe that you are the son of God. I want to follow you for the rest of my life. I want to follow you for the rest of my life. So Jesus, in that sense, might, in that person's understanding of who he is, he's no longer just the historical person, Jesus.

This is now Jesus, God, the son. So they put their faith in Jesus as their Lord, as their savior. And in that moment, according to my understanding of scripture, in that very moment, that person is given the gift of the Holy Spirit. So they have it. It's not a lottery. They don't wake up one day. Well, it happens immediately. And then their and then their new life begins. So think of it this way. When someone enters or joins my CrossFit gym, they enroll. They turn from their former life of bicep curls. They want to enroll into the new way, the new methodology.

That day, they join. That'd be the receipt that day of this new life. Then they keep coming to the gym. Every day they come, they experience more of the awesomeness that the gym has in store for them. It's very similar in my walk with Jesus. Every day there's something new in store for me. Is it like it's everywhere already. And when people come to you and they have this talk with you, that something inside of them opens or accepts it or becomes aware of it.

My wife sent me something the other day. It was just a meme on Instagram and it says, you'll only see what you're prepared to see. And that's like a, that's a, uh, I don't think people realize like how crazy true that might be. Like, uh, I'm like this thing, this thing was sitting on the ground at my feet for the last five days. Was I not prepared to see it? Uh, um, is it like that? Is it real? Is it the Holy spirit is everywhere.

And that when they talk to you, it allows them to interact with it? Or am I being too superficial? I'm trying to bring worldly aspects to it. I don't – I mean God – I'm sure you've heard the cliche, God works in mysterious ways. There is perhaps a fitting story, though, to this very effect. In the Gospel of Mark, there's a story where Jesus gets into the boat with his disciples. His disciples bring him into the boat, and the particular verse says they bring Jesus with them just as they thought he was. just as they thought he was. So now Jesus is in the boat. He falls asleep. No sooner had he fallen asleep than there's a mighty storm. The waves are crashing over the boat. Their lives are all in jeopardy. So the disciples wake Jesus up. Jesus then rebukes the storm, calms the wave. Then the disciples think to themselves, who can calm the storm? Who can rebuke the waves? Well, the answer is God. Then they realize who Jesus really is.

You see that? So this is, I think what happens all the time is we have this idea of who we think Jesus is. So I want Jesus in my life, in my boat, just the way I think he is. The storm comes. We cry out. Essentially, we cry out to God who is sleeping within us. God, help. He calms the storm in our life. Maybe this was your experience. You realize, you know, the thought I had in my mind about who I thought Jesus was might not be who he really is. No, it was more like the other way you said it. It just caused upheaval in a good way, but it's basically like just someone coming into your room and just throwing all your shit around.

Yeah. Like, hey, you better get your shit together and reorganize this shit. But yeah, I get it. So I like the way you say that. God works in mysterious ways. You can't put it in a box. You can't put it in a box. I don't see how that could be possible the journey when i was a sophomore in high school i had a english teacher and he said that um hey i know i'm not supposed to teach you

guys the bible if you and you guys want to report me to the principal or superintendent like i don't give a fuck we're gonna read job in here and then we're going to act it out. And there was never any like Jesus talk or Christian talk. We just did Job. We just did Job. And man, did I, I got a D in that class, but man, did I love doing that? I loved reading it. I loved like we took turns reading it.

I loved the story. I didn't like, I mean, it's just, like we took turns reading it. I loved the story I didn't like. I mean, it's just brutal ass whooping, right? But then we acted it out and I liked all of that. Where does religion have a place in school? Where does the Bible have a place in academics? Great question. Thank you. I'm just winging this shit this is just this is just this is just loving on greg amundsen right now just like you're so open so i'm just like

fuck it bring out the nukes bomb them bomb away i've always appreciated your you've interviewed a handful of times i've always appreciated the way you ask me questions and your interview style in general i think you really get great great conversation going um also savannah i only got about 15 minutes left perfect perfect i i have to pee every hour on the hour and i'm approaching it okay um so how old are you greg oh 43 damn you you are so fun to look at you are such such a cool dude. Okay, go on. You're so young looking still. Thanks, brother. Where does religion fit in school?

Yeah. Or I don't even want to say religion. I'm fine with saying religion. But the Bible in general, it's such a shame. It's such a fucking train wreck that we can't teach the bible in schools i don't there's two there's two reasons one because it's such a it's such an important book i'm okay with other other stuff being taught also but it's such an important book it can be taught without being um part of some conversion process but also i have a friend who is not religious at all

and he's basically over the years really pounded into me that the greatest people on the planet for civilization to move forward are Christians. And if they are completely wrong, it doesn't matter because they hold down the fort in a healthy way. And it took me forever to realize that. Like whether I agree with what they're saying or not, these rules that they live by push humanity further in a healthy way for the most part i don't want anyone to get on and be like well the christians killed six million people here in 12 million yeah we're still just people but but anyway so where does the bible have a place in school without does it have a place in school and by school i mean the public school even though public school is just what a disaster i mean they're forcing they're forcing kids to take

drugs in order to go to school now my kids can't go to school because they won't take the drugs by intravenous injection um but but i can't teach them the bible in the school oh now i'm getting myself riled up now i'm getting myself and i up. Now I'm getting myself. And I'm not even a Christian. And I have all the injections, people, me personally. And yet I would rather than teach the Bible in the school, which I don't believe in, than force the injections on them that I have. So there, take that. OK, sorry. Where does the does the Bible have a place in school? Well, here's a – I just love –

Gandhi also said this. Sorry, one other thing. He says you cannot separate religion and state because I – my life is my religion, and I really believe that. Right now as I talk to you, I am – this is my religion. I'm always my religion. Whatever the fuck that word means, I know that that's what – like I go to 7-Eleven. I'm taking my religion i'm always my religion whatever the fuck that word means i know that that's what like i go to 7-eleven i'm taking my religion with me i'm talking to greg amundsen i'm taking and same with you you're taking how can you not you're going to separate that's your life force okay

sorry i'm done i'm going to chill out now to to continue the trajectory of what Gandhi said, because there's a lot of wisdom there. So there's an interesting story. So remember a moment ago, I said that Jesus promised that when he left, it would be okay. In fact, it would be even better because now his spirit would be with the disciples forever. It would transform from the inside out. with the disciples forever. It would transform them from the inside out. Whereas before, Jesus was standing alongside them. Now his presence is within them, changing the way they think, the way they speak, the way they behave. So to that effect, two of his disciples, Peter and John, they were on trial for talking about God. The people who were trying to convict Peter and John were watching them, listening to them. Then they had this thought. They realized these guys are unschooled,

ordinary people. Yet nevertheless, they couldn't take their eyes off them because they realized, oh, those guys have been with Jesus. So what I love about that is it's not what necessarily Peter or John knew. They didn't come in there with their Bibles and their religion. It was just these two guys that had an encounter with Jesus and were transformed. So what's going to change the world or change an institution isn't necessarily just memorizing Proverbs from the Bible and quoting Scripture and hammering people with the Ten Commandments. What's going to change people is people who have been transformed by Christ themselves. Entering into the workplace, entering into a gym, entering into any type of institution, because people are going to take notice that boy or that girl, that man or that woman, man, they've been with Jesus.

Look at that person. I want to be like them. Now that's, what's going to have a real change in our, in our world. I think that's what our world needs is that type of change. I'm going to ask you a crazy question. Ready? Brace yourself. How many people, if there's 7 billion people on the planet, how many of those have been filled with the Holy Spirit? Did I ask that right? I think you asked the question correctly. I just wouldn't even know where to. Like, could you, could you be on the planet and not know someone like, like, is there,

there's nothing in scripture that says one in three men or one in five men. What about that? What about that thing in the Bible where it says anytime three men are together, God is present or Jesus is present. Is there something like that? Or did I make that up from a Apollo, Carlo book or something? No, you're doing great. Jesus said, whenever two or more gather in my name, I am there with them. Why is that? How come not one?

How about this line? So how about this line? This one, I love this one too. I like the dog one a lot, but I like this one too. The guy who stands up in church and sell and praises me and celebrates me will receive his accolades and his rewards in church.

He who stands up alone in his bedroom and celebrates me will receive the glory of God for the rest of his life or some shit like that. You know what I'm talking about? I'm not, I'm not wearing it. I'm trying to make it or some shit like that. You know what I'm talking about? I'm not, I'm not wearing it. I'm trying to make it sound fancy, like put my own, like what I,

what words I think come out here. It's basically like the people who are in church doing the hallelujah thing will receive their reward there in church, which I guess that reward being, um, the, the respect of their peers and blah, blah,

blah. But he who like celebrates me and communes with me privately in behind closed doors will receive me for the rest of their life meaning like the i think it's a it's a it's a talk on humility like hey don't just do this just for sure that doesn't ring a bell with you well i'm bound to make something up the last you've really gone with me the last five things i've made up you been like, oh yeah, there is something like that in the Bible. It's bound to strike out sooner or later. Yeah, you're on the right track. The first thing I would say, and this is really, really important, is whenever we talk about Scripture, we have to take what usually is one or two verses,

we have to take them within the context of the big picture of the entire canon of Scripture. Otherwise, we run the risk, and history has sadly demonstrated this, of a misapplication of Scripture. So you could take one verse completely out of context and make a case with that verse yet. And start a cult and start a sex cult. Sure. You can do a lot of harm that way. So it's always important to see the big picture.

Also, all of Scripture is about Jesus. Amazing. All of Scripture is about Jesus. So if we want to understand when you say scripture you mean the whole bible the whole bible okay yeah so if we want to understand any verse we just take a step back to see that verse within the context of that particular book of the Bible, then we take a further step back to see what that verse reveals to us or demonstrates to us about Jesus. He is the ultimate interpretive key that we have to see scripture. So what you spoke to a moment earlier, really what's remarkable about this idea is how congruent it is with what we just naturally tend to want to affirm. So integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one's watching.

Integrity. I love that word. It's so easy if everyone's watching me to be a man of integrity and then to go behind closed doors and then my real self comes out. So how much better to be the man or the woman that in the privacy of my own home, I uphold the values that I really believe to be true, that I really want to demonstrate and to falter out in the world. I really want to demonstrate and to falter out in the world. Isn't it better to see that sequence of events where when I'm in public, I just crumble, but man, I'm really trying to the privacy of my home. Then the opposite to fake it in public and at home, you got fooled all you. Right, right, right. So we just, we just tend what's so wonderful about, about the Bible, about scriptures. part of us just we just seem to say yeah when when we unpack it a bit more

we we see the to use the word again we see the wisdom in what jesus was teaching sometimes um regarding the school life how sad, that that someone couldn't learn that really valuable principle. Yeah. The lens of scripture in an academic environment. You could talk about integrity all you want. Yet if you were to talk about integrity through the lens of theology, don't go there. Yeah, it's crazy. And that story has stuck with me my whole life. And it's really given me like it it dug it it dug a depth into me that that's made me richer as a person way way way way way way richer right here's the story of this guy who's just trying to be faithful to god at uh at all costs i mean mean, um, uh, it, it, you know, one, one of the, my life is so easy, Greg,

I know you have to go, um, but my life is so easy. Uh, the hardships in my life are when I'm walking down, um, from the point to the hook along the Pacific ocean. They're one of the most beautiful spots on planet earth, just short distance from my house and your house. And I'm walking down and I see a dog has pooped on the path. And I normally pick up dog poop on the path. So other people won't step on it because I'm a fucking greatest human being who lives since Jesus. And, but I don't want to pick the poop up because I'm afraid someone will think then it's my dog that pooped. So now I'm stuck in this dilemma. What if they think that, and then I don't pick it up all the way. So now instead of me getting credit for picking up the poop and being

such a great person in the public eye, now I'm a bad guy because I couldn't pick it all up. Cause you know, somebody got smashed in the concrete and these are the dilemmas of faking being a good person in public as Seva Amatosian does. Greg, how long, are you allowed to say where you're going and for how long you'll be, where are you going? Are you allowed to talk about what you're doing, what your next path is? Keep it. Okay. You're a good dude. Please stay in touch. If you weren't, if you weren't vanishing,

I would say we start a series called the once a month called the Bible hour with Greg Amundsen. I really, I really, thank you for giving me your time. Oh, thank you. You're a good friend. I love you, brother. Thank you. All right.