Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 971 | Hurricane Helene: Elon Musk to the Rescue, True Stories of Hope & How We’ve Been Duped

Episode Date: October 9, 2024

Thanks to Elon Musk, Phil, Al, and Jase are joined by Zach for his firsthand account of Hurricane Helene relief efforts in North Carolina. Phil believes this is the perfect justification for bringing back outhouses, and Zach is in awe of how the church stepped in to care for storm victims, both physically and spiritually. Zach also offers on-the-ground insight into why central planning and the government could never take the place of kingdom people during a disaster. The power of God's kingdom is evident in the stories of hope and love amid the tragedy in southern Appalachia. In this episode: 1 Peter 2, verses 4-12; Matthew 16, verse 18; Colossians 2, verse 6; Hebrews 3, verse 6; Ephesians 2, verses 19-22; Isaiah 2 -- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. We are super excited because we have from the epicenter of the one of the, I guess, a hundred year plus disaster area is Zach, which is amazing that Zach, you can even be talking to us today. Are you there? Yeah, I'm here. If you guys can hear me, thanks to Elon Musk. We've got a. Starlink, a bunch of Starlink's got sent in. So I got Starlink on top of the building, and then I've got a 6,000-watt generator full of gas outside and about eight extension cords to make all this happen. So here we are. It's happening.

Did you ever think we'd been our culture where you open the podcast by thanking Elon Musk for, thank you? Look, and it's free. It really is the world's most interesting, man. I mean, he's, they should have done the beer commercials about him. I'm like, yeah, because he's giving these things out. And like the first month is free if you're in the storm.

So, and they're starting to trickle in the area. So it's, it is amazing how, you don't, the things you take for granted, communication, toilet water.

That's my top two. Communication and, and toilet water. So there's a new term. J. A new term we've, I have, for the arsenal of vocabulary.

It's called non-potable water. That's been the term that everybody's talking about. That's your toilet water. When the water lines break, you don't have water. You don't have water. You can't flush your toilet. So you've got to pour water in the toilet. But you don't have any water. So you've got to get that out of a creek or we've got a pool that's full of, you know, water.

So we're using that. Seems like a good job for teenagers and go get some non-potable water. That's what we're doing. I'm saying kids go out. out there. I got the five gallon buckets. I've got a bunch of Home Depot buckets and they and every bathroom has its own, we call it the bucket of shame because if you're walking out with a bucket, everybody knows what you're about to do. But it really is that. You think about it, it is a dichotomy because in one way you're going backwards, you know, haul the water in,

cook outside on the open flame. But then on the other side of it, you've got Eli Musk, you know, who's sending rockets into space, and you're able to link up and still talk to us in the middle of a place where you don't have any water or power. So it is a strange, you're experiencing a very strange thing. It comes with a price, do you pay? You call it a place where you take a leak, take a dump. Yeah. And it's inside the house. So eloquent, that.

Inside the house and you need water. Well, when I was raised, there was a toilet. about 100 yards below the house, a hole in the ground and it had a little building there, a little rough building. When that didn't fill up, you just moved over and you did that one. Just a hole in the ground, but no water needed. No water needed. You could just say there, just pee into it or sit on a beach right there.

But there would be no water necessary. See, this high-tech stuff has got us all. He's toilets. Because we've got to go get some water to put in the toilet and flush the thing. How is, there was no fleshing. Dad says bringing back the outhouse. But I was raised up until I was almost 20 years old, you know, in high school, just a toilet. What stood out about that, film?

A hole in the ground is you just have a board with a round hole on top of it. You first look for for forest and the spiders. You check that out. Our mothers told us you always check. Look for a spider because they'll bite you where you don't want to be bitten. Now we've got high-tech stuff, you know, the water, you know. Yeah. When Zach was talking, I was thinking, this reminds me of how many yuppies does it take to figure out how to take a leak.

But then all of a sudden, you went into a very graphic. depiction of what I was thinking. So thanks for doing that, Phil, because I thought, you know, there were no bathrooms inside the building. Yeah. With everything I was working with. Oh, man. No.

Yeah. That came later on in life. Years. Yeah, I mean, I was treasure hunting a week ago in a field, and I had a moment where I thought, uh-oh. And I started looking around, but I wasn't panicked because I realized, you know, I'm a grown man. I'm in the outdoors. I will figure this out. So, Zach, I think that's the least of your worries.

So we laugh and we joke, but there's, you know, this has been a tremendous sobering moment for our history. A lot of people have lost their lives and a lot of stories are just horrific. And so that's really what I wanted to ask is how is that management going on the ground? Yeah, I mean, it's crazy. The amount of people, I don't know what the total count is. I mean, they're still pulling bodies out now. Some of these bodies, some of these people's bodies will never be recovered because they're under, you know, 20 feet of mud and these mudslides and this river just, I mean, it's, it's horrific. And we're hearing those stories because our church sits.

I mean, there's a lot of epicenters. There's several areas that were really hit hard. I mean, I don't know. I mean, Swan to Noah is one of the worst for sure. I mean, Burnsville got hit hard, a little town called Pensacola, you know, up in the mountains got hit hard. Chimney Rock was just completely wiped away. So there's a Asheville that River Arch District was flooded.

But Swananoa, where we live and where we're kind of focused at, the whole. like the river just came through and just me just I mean I can't describe it it just ripped out just like a a little stream turned to a massive river and so you know like these bodies are I don't know if we'll ever recover them but um but the guys are working hard you know we're you know we're out there serving people our church has kind of become an epicenter of distributing food and supplies and now we're met with a group called world vision yesterday they're going to come in and help rebuild. build some of these houses because a lot of these people that have insurance, they have flood insurance. Most people don't have flood insurance. And so the big fear is, and I have seen some articles about this, is that there's not going to be a way to these people recover. Was it true that it was a 30 inch rain?

Because I've never heard of that. Yeah, we got 35 inches in Swannanoa. Good. I mean, I mean, just. Did you imagine that? What is that in a 24-hour period? About 48 hours. Yeah, it was a, yeah.

But it just, I mean, I've never, I've never seen anything like it. But to answer your question, like one of the, one of the stories, and there's so many of these because our neighborhood is like in the, right here in this. So we're hearing a lot, we know a lot of the people involved. We, one of the, our church members went out to take some water and food and supplies to an area that hadn't been reached at a trailer park around Swan and Owe. And they get in there. And one of the guys, the member of our church named Brian, he had worked for the boys and girls clubs. So he was familiar with this neighborhood because he had gone in there before and knew some of the people there. And he got connected with one of the students that he had served at this previous job and found out that he had lost his dad.

That whole neighborhood just got swept out. And he had evacuated and then went back with a boat to get his dad out. And he's like literally grabbing his dad's hand trying to hold on to his father. And the river just takes him away and never to be seen again. Like that story is multiplied over and over and over and over and over and over again. So it has been absolutely horrific. But I'll tell you this, though, like to see God's people swarm in has been, I mean, it has been humbling. That part has been beautiful, you know, in the midst of all the storm to see God's people coming to this area in a way that I never knew.

I never knew what was possible. I saw a video of you guys worshipping somewhere. outside and, you know, just praising God. And it was just, it's very humbling for us outside. Of course, in my case, it's a weird situation because I was actually there. You weren't there. I was there as that when it happened. But I left not realizing how bad it was. You came in and then we, you know, you can't tell at first. When you're in the middle of something like that and it first happens, you have no idea because you have no way to, everything's cut off, all the information's cut off. And you just assume, because you're looking around, it's bad, but you don't really know how bad.

And then the two days or so comes in, and then you realize, you know, this is a devastating situation. But I don't know, I was just very moved and touched by you guys, even just worshiping in that moment. And it even took me back to, you know, Job's moment where he had this terrible calamity fall on him. And the Bible says he fell down and he worshiped, you know, and he still knew God was enough and who he was. And so I don't know, that was just one of the scenes that I've seen just from, I don't know who posted it, but of you guys doing that. And I just thought, man, what a, what a testament to how powerful God is that even in

the midst of something like this, you still know he's God, you know, and what you see. Yeah, we had a, our whole church came out and the neighborhood. And we just got in our parking lot and, and just had a service. And we shared communion together and we prayed and had this, uh, someone preached a short sermon because it was, you know, we're outside and it was kind of, the sun was coming up.

But yeah, it was awesome singing that song that we ended with, that David Leonard song, who we had on the podcast. It's your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise. And the whole church is just, I mean,

we're just singing up to the God, uh, who made all of us. And, but the kingdom is, you know, we talk a lot on this podcast about the kingdom being here. And,

um, one of the things, one of our pastors said, he said, we, we don't build the kingdom. You see, I remember that. Like, we, we are in the kingdom.

We participate in the kingdom, but God builds the kingdom because the things that we build, our little structures, you know, a wind, a rainstorm can take all that away. But what God builds is everlasting and what he builds is a kingdom that can't be shaken nor destroyed. And so you're seeing that happen. You're also seeing another thing happen too. Like, everybody's coming together, like this multi-ethnic kingdom and just serving people in a way that is, I mean, the tears. The way it should be.

Yeah, it's the way it should be. So you're seeing a lot of good in, come out of the ashes of this as well. And we got this group came in, campers care. I wanted to mention them, camperscare.org. These guys are coming in and they're donating campers.

People donate their campers to them. And some of them they buy. And then they give them to people who can't, who've lost their homes. one of the guys that is part of our community, his name's Kerry. And Kerry's on dialysis. He's been on dialysis for 14 years. And he barely got out of his home alive.

He lost everything. His home was completely gone. Nowhere to be found. All of his belongings. The only thing he got out with was his car and the shirt on his back. And I was able to watch these guys at Camperscare.org come in and give him a place to live. So we're actually stacking up campers next to our church right now. folks, but I mean, you just see that kind of stuff and you're like, man, God is good. You do see God.

I mean, he is in the midst of all this and you see it when you see people in tears because someone else love them enough to give them a home to stay in. You know, that's pretty powerful. Yeah, and I mean, it's like we always talk about opportunity. When you were saying that, Zach, about the kingdom, it reminded me of 1st Peter 2. And, you know, we don't think about this passage a lot with where you are, but this is exactly what you're seeing. As you come to him, the living stone rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him, you also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus. And then he goes on later in verse 9, says,

you're a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light. Once you are not a people, now you're the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you've received mercy. And it's such a beautiful picture of what you're describing about what happens when these living, breathing, holy spirit stones come together to build what's been destroyed and what's been wiped out. And so it's amazing to me how many people. people around the country, and I've heard a ton of stories. Of course, I know some from my home

in Weston Row that came up, and I saw video of them cooking and preparing meals, but this like that from all over, I just always amazed that some people run out away from situations, and some people run in and two, and they think, what can I do? And I've talked to people that flew helicopters in there early when, you know, it was so chaotic. The idea, that we're here. We're here for you. We want to help you. We want to do that.

It's, it's really, it's been a spectacular thing to watch. Well, I mean, one, one kingdom was, they were the first people to respond to us and,

and they gave us money and supplies. Like, they were first people in. And then they sent the food truck up, which has been excellent, by the way. Yeah. I mean, we got like, we got like,

roast be po-boys. And we did, of course, these people were like, what's a po boy? I, I, that,

that's sure, you want to find out. So I might have to explain Louisiana cooking. Jumbalaya, they're doing all the stuff. But it's been, those guys, Rick and they've been.

Yeah, Rick and DM, which I met with on their way out. Oh, they brought me, and they brought me a lot of cash from Jace's poker earnings. I did.

So for all you people who have attacked me for playing poker, I contributed a very large amount of money to Zach. family and friends because what they learned in that situation in the moment is they need some cash. Well, it's funny, Jason, you called and told me that or somehow we got connected briefly. I can't remember how, but you said, I'm sending cash. And I was like, but you couldn't get gas.

The only place you could, if the gas station was open, they only took cash for like a hundred mile radius. Well, there's no problem glad to do it. But, and like Rick and Deanne, I mean, look, here, here's this couple who, who. are just servants. I mean, they load up their vehicle, and they're like, we're going to go cook roast beef, pull boys for them,

and with all this equipment, which I asked him on his way out the door, I was like, well, where are you going to stay? And he's like, oh, we're going to sleep in a truck. I was like, okay. I mean, just knowing that as you're leaving, and look, when they're, when they come back, because we have our Miyamu event,

this up, coming weekend and they head up the volunteers for that but it just strikes me that when you said that in this moment that you were humbled by the outpouring of the kingdom of god the people who represent the kingdom it truly is amazing i mean you talk about these people who run to the conflict and the storm and the danger on their way to go into their next project uh that's a glimpse of what the Lord can do. And as far as our new creation now, when you brought that up by the kingdom, I like Al, just a lot of verses flooded through my mind.

And the one when Jesus said, you know, Matthew 16, when he asked his disciples, who do people say I am? When Peter said, you know, you're the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And he actually said that quote. He said, I tell you that you're Peter and only. this rock, I will build my church and I'll give you, Peter, the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And so I think most people in our religious world, when they hear the word kingdom, they always think later and far away.

And that is not a picture of the kingdom. What you're seeing is that glimpse of spirit-filled people, giving you a glimpse into new creation already happening on the planet. I mean, yes, through the resurrection, we got a glimpse of what Jesus is offering to us in the next life, which, you know, we all believe is a new heaven and a new earth. And that's why they were so fascinated with Jesus. You remember in John 21 after he was resurrected? Well, they knew it was him.

And in John 21, it says, but they didn't dare ask who it was. there was something different about him. Yeah. Yet the same. He was like, look at my hands and look at my feet. But there was also him going around, going through buildings. He was him, but he was a new version of himself. And ultimately, we know we'll be a part of that.

But he gives us that glimpse now through His Holy Spirit. And so I think it's a really powerful testimony for God's plan of not only redoing humans on the earth now, but redoing humans for the next phase of life. Well, it's crazy. You think about the impact of the kingdom, because I was on Lembeck show a few days ago, right when it happened. By the way, I mean, he came in big. Mercury won, his charity. They have been very instrumental in the world. work here. And that's an excellent organization. I've been working with JP over there. Those guys notch. They move quick. And I was thinking about like, you know, the kingdom is so quick and mobile. How I mean, they just, I mean, guys people moved in so fast. Everyone, Glenn was asking me about FEMA. And I'm like, well, I don't, I had, I really, I couldn't say anything bad about

them because I had just haven't seen them. I said, I haven't seen any FEMA, any, at that point, I hadn't seen any, really federal response. I saw a ton of linemen. You know, all those guys from the energy companies and all the guys from the road companies, like, they're there there and, I mean, just killing it. And then the amount of volunteers that poured into this area with truckloads. I mean, I mean, truckloads. I mean, abundance. I've never, I mean, it was like the response and if there was ever an argument against central planning,

this would be the argument because you think it's not that the central planners, It's not necessarily, I'm not saying that it's nefarious. It's just that they don't have the ability and the competency to move as quickly as the kingdom of God can. And if you look at all the places that supplies and food, water, shelter, showers, dumpsters, I mean, anything you can think of clothes, flashlights, batteries, gasoline, diesel, water purification system, water pumps. I mean, well, that chainsaw crews that came in from just normal folks. And I told, I told my guy, I got a local, they don't have rednecks up here. They have hillbillies. So, but it's like a hillbillots, they're very similar to us, you know,

but there's just a little more, there's a very small difference. But I had one of my guys, Kevin Toops, I was sitting there with him. And he's done, this guy is just a good old country boy. He's done more in this area than any, any guy that in a central. planner from DC could have ever done because he knows the people he knows where resources are at he knows how to distribute things and i've just been like man this blown away by that so to all i do want to say to everybody who donated from unashamed by the way what's the response there was amazing all of you guys like it like your love has is is felt by the people here in these

appellation mountains and and and they feel the love so thank you thank you thank you thank you for all that you guys have done was that because interesting because the way you just described that, because I was going to ask you about that because obviously we're in a political season. We got a presidential election coming up now in a month. And so there's a lot of talk about that. Obviously, North Carolina is a swing state. So it's garnered a lot of attention in a lot of political ways, which I don't want to get into all that on the podcast, but I did want to at least bring it up because I wondered how people there, if you're even, if everybody's just too busy to even perceive that that's going on, because you guys

are in the thick of it, just trying to go day to day doing what you're doing, because a lot of the outside of the country, that's what they're talking about. Of course, there's a lot of criticism about the government, about FEMA, about the current administration. But I love the way you just frame that, that really, and this is what this podcast is about, it's about the idea of services is from the bottom up. When Jesus came here, he's obviously our king and our head, but he left us here to serve and work with people.

And he showed that again and again while he was on the earth. And so it's the idea. It's not a top down because it's cumbersome. You know, kings tend to live in mansions far away from people. But this idea is the kingdom living is bottom up and everybody serves everybody else. and then opens the door of opportunity. So I love the way you frame that because a lot of national discussion right now is not really

about that, but more about just angst and anger. Well, yeah, and that's why I've been asked by a lot of the political pundits to come on the shows and talk about it. And I don't want to turn it into a divisive thing because that's not what our intention is here. But I do think there's a conversation that needs to be had on a, that we all need to be having that the federal government that they're not capable of taking care of you. And that's just a fact. I mean, Ronald Reagan said that.

He said the nine, I think it was nine most feared words in the English language where I'm from the government and I'm here to help. And I don't think it's that it's like if they're nefarious in it, like I said, they just can't. I mean, that's why central planning. It just doesn't work. And what's happening in our culture right now is that is that we're being slowly duped into believing that the government systems and programs are going to take care of us.

But in a catastrophe like this, you see it. You see the incompetency of it. And you think, well, it's not possible for someone trained at the London School of Economics that sits in an ivory tower in Washington, D.C. to know how to fix something in Swannanoa, North Carolina. There's no, he has no connection to the area. He doesn't know. I don't care how smart he is. And so, I mean, there's some level of central planning that, like, Interstate Road.

and probably defense and things that are, but we're so far away from what is, what is acceptable. We have to have a conversation about that. And too, you know what? Honestly, having these people come in and serve in the way that they have,

like there's something tangible to that. One of the guys that Grant met with, my brother in that same trailer park I was telling you about, they had lost everything. And they came in with supplies, a lot of supplies. And these, these folks were overwhelmed with gratitude.

And they started, but they received the supplies and they started to walk off. And Grant said, hold on before you go. He said, can we just pray with you all? And those two men turned around to the three men that brought the stuff, one being my brother. And they were like, yeah. And they all got in a circle. They put their arms around each other.

And Grant began to pray. And he said that these men, these two grown men, began to weep uncontrollably sobbing, which then, of course, the three other men began to sob. And you got five grown men just in a puddle of just uncontrollable tears. And in the moment, Grant said, you know, it's funny because we met their physical needs, but he said, we have to remember as we go out, I thought it's just such a good charge to the church. He said, people are not just physical. we are we are not just a body we have a body but we are spirits with a body and and we have to

minister to their spiritual needs and that prayer that connection point that moment yes we fed you yes we gave you water yet but but in that but there was a spiritual feeding that was mutual by the way because because they received our people received just as much spiritual food from that encounter as the people that were that were weeping over over the prayer and so So I think that's important as we think about like, and that's one of the reasons why central planning doesn't work either is because it turns you into a nine-digit number. You're a nine-digit number and it's looking at you as a cog in the wheel, but you're not,

but it's not ministering to you as a spirit. So I would love to have an extended conversation moving forward about how do we take power out of, out of the central planners and push it into local economy. and local communities, local churches. We need to redistribute the power, not the money, redistribute the power back to the people. That conversation needs to be had. Yeah, this reminds me of, I'm going to have an odd illustration here.

But I've been thinking about this for days. And because, you know, a lot of people's like, oh, this is, you see these images and pictures on TV of the devastation, and they use words like this is like apocalyptic. And they use these visions. that we see, you know, in the Bible. And meanwhile, you know, in most of the country, just life goes on. And, you know, I had an interesting encounter, I guess, just watching college football, the pregame.

And they had Nick Saban there, which, speaking of an apocalyptic occurrences, Vanderbilt beat Alabama. I saw that. And I was at the Christian school, OCS, they were doing kind of a 50-year anniversary, and my wife's parents were part of that initial plan. And Phil, you were actually one of the first teachers at that school 50 years ago. That's right. And it was real kind of nostalgic, Zach, because they were doing a video and what I saw in the first couple years of that school.

You know, here's a Christian school being planning. And I saw a picture of your mom, dad's sister, in like year three in a yearbook. It just happened to come up there. And I saw, you know, Jan Dasher, which made me kind of emotional. And so you said, what does this got to do with Nick Saven? So it kind of the question came up on the pregame about why he's now an analyst and not a coach. And he said, you know, I've got a belief on this. He said, you know, the problem with college football from his perspective is it became transactional instead of transformational.

Wow. And look, it was like crickets on their set because I thought, no, where's he going with this? Because when I hear the word, when I hear the word transformation, I immediately go to what God does in people. Yep. And so I thought, where's he going with this? and if I can remember what he said, he said, what I mean by transactional is it became about kids wanting to transfer, you know, to school, and they had two questions.

What is the quickest that I'm going to get playing time and how much money am I going to get? And he said, what I'm after and what I've been all about in my coaching is getting kids to buy in to this is bigger. than you. He said, we want them to be transformed into selfless, unselfish young men who go through adversity and they grow and mature and look at the overall big picture of this, which the more he talked, I thought, well, this idea is based on what this Bible is about through Jesus. Now, granted, they're trying to do the same thing, but it's a wonder, you know, I don't know how many national championships he won. But when you get people there to serve for a greater purpose and they're playing for each other

and they're not worried about how quick can I get out there and be highlighted and how much money, which are all a little short, temporary things. And I think you can apply these same principles to the conversation you said about the government because they're transactional. Oh, we have a problem. Let's throw some money at it. We'll get some people that fill out these forms. but real transformation is going through this process.

And when you detach God from the government, which is what's happened in our society, and that's begun, you weed out all these principles of service and selfless acts, which is why the kingdom of God are the first responders. Because these people, we brought up Rick and D. Ann, I mean, where are you going to find people like that? who just stop everything, load up the vehicle and say,

we're going to North Carolina for a week. We'll be back with all. And work 14 hour days. I mean, you're not going to. It's like, Anne, you know what?

When, you know what, you know what? I love what that, what you're doing, when they cook that food, when I tell you that the joy that I look at on their face, and when they're watching people just pound these poboys.

And I mean, they're, the joy on their face and the love they put into it. And they're proud of the food that they're making. They're very proud of. And they should be because it's excellent. And I'm thinking, man, that's, that is transformational. Yeah.

And when, when, when, even when FEMA does come in, you know, because I did hear that they, they're in some areas. It, it turns it into a transaction. And it's funny how it just kind of robs a community as well of their response of like, you know, of, of, of hand to shoulder, you know, just I love you. I'm here. We're neighbors. we've never talked before. Maybe we didn't even get along. And all of a sudden, guess what?

You got a, you got to pull. I need some water to flush my toilet. Yeah, come over, get what you want. Like, neighborhoods coming together. So there's all that. And I think that what you see out of that is, is that idea that you're not just a number. You're not just a body that you're a spirit that needs to be ministered to. And that's what community is really about.

And we're tasting that part of it now. Now, we get a long road. We still don't have water. We still don't have electricity in most parts. But, you know, roads are getting a little better. But, you know, as far as the community coming together, I've been blown away. That's what you'll see long term will be the lives change. I love what you described earlier about that, about the spiritual and emotional part of who we are is just as much an important component as the physical.

And I thought of another verse, this idea about rebuilding. And this is one we studied back. We studied Ephesians chapter two. It says, consequently, you're no longer foreigners and aliens. And I love the picture you described, Zach, of different people, different ethnicity. I mean, everybody in this moment is just coming together. Nobody's thinking about any of this stuff of division. But fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household built.

on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you two are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit. So again, it's back to that idea of this spiritual, you know, transforming of people's lives that it deals with the moment about being hungry and about being thirsty. But it's so much more important because it deals with the eternal nature of who we are. And the Holy Spirit then is able to do his work. And so what you're describing a government can never provide that. I mean, you know, it's just they're incapable.

When you bring heaven to earth, it's a major factor. Yeah, that's what it is. That should be the title of life, Phil. I mean, and look, what did Jesus pray? You know, when they said, teach us how to pray. And he's like, I pray that heaven will be on earth. God's will. Heaven can come to earth.

Yeah, we say, but your will be done in Swanah Noah as it is in heaven, you know, or wherever you live, you can pray that prayer. There was a cool moment where these guys came over, these Hispanic guys came over, they had an excavating crew, and they lived on the other side of Asheville. And I don't know, they knew somebody. They knew how hard we were hit over here. They came over and they came over and said, we're here to serve. about 10 guys.

I didn't know if they were believers or I just, I didn't know, but I'm like, I don't care. I was like, yeah, we can use you. And so they started excavating,

helping us get folks out. Um, but the third day, I realized, like, these guys are like, not just solid believers. Like,

one of them like was a pastor's son. They were all part of a church on the other side of Asheville. Well, the whole area has been decimated in terms of supply chain. And, and so they don't have anything. Well,

we've been inundated with like just, tons of, I mean, tractor, trailer. I bet we've given away $1.5 million worth of just supplies out of our little church in the last five days. And then you can go to swan. Dot church, by the way, if you do want to help donate to. And that's not counting the money that we've already brought in that we're going to use for rebuilding.

But we said, we say, how are you guys doing? And they're like, well, we don't have anything, but, you know, we're just, but we're good, though. I said, no, y'all bring, bring some trucks over, go in our warehouse, load up is like y'all go fill your church up too because your people need these stuff as well so then a bunch of them came back they brought their pastor with them and these guys were just on fire for jesus and we were sitting out there and the other pastor was ministered to me and i put my arm around him i said you realize what this is right here he said what's that i said we're we're living out Isaiah chapter two multi-ethnic kingdom going up the mountain to worship the lord together I said, you're Hispanic church, our church, we're here together doing the work of the kingdom. And both of us teared up.

And he was like, amen, brother. That's exactly what's happening. You won't see it. You won't see the fruit too clearly, but it will get very clearly when Jesus does come back. Uh-huh. I'm ready for that. I guarantee you. Yeah, it's a good question because we're, you know, this, you see all this decimation.

You see all this destruction happened, and we've spent this whole podcast talking about building and what is being built. And you say, well, how does that happen? Because the Bible, that's one of the most frequent illustrations in the New Testament, is things that are built. You know, God built us through the Holy Spirit to rise to become the dwelling place of God. Yeah. The verse you just mentioned, Al, and it.

Even in Hebrews 3, 4, it says, for every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house, and we are his house if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. And even in the book of Colossians, when we get to it, you'll see. this passage where he uses two metaphors in chapter 2 and verse 6 of Colossians it says so then just as you receive Christ Jesus is Lord continue to live in him rooted and built up in him strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness and what's interesting about the book of Colossians is these people had just experienced an earthquake I mean they have been

decimated. And there's no wonder that Paul was reaching out to a place and to a people. He hadn't even met, but he had heard about their faith. And I think with what they had going on with this crazy monster in charge, Nero, having experienced an earthquake, and he's having the same conversation that we're having 2,000 years later when a hurricane sweeps through and decimates everything. What God builds in human beings is what comes to the forefront when these kind of tragedies happen. Because we know our future is secure. We know we have an answer to what happens next, because that's what people come in? They're like, well, what am I going to do? Well, we have in Christ, we can have a secure future despite whatever the present conditions are. I mean,

Our whole dwelling place has been decimated, and people have lost lives, and there are people that are injured. But we know, you know, what Jesus builds has eternal consequences, but it also applies to every single major thing that could ever happen to a human being in present life. That's what I find so fascinating about when we start talking about the transformational power of God, despite our circumstances. I mean, this is what he wants to get out to the world. So I thought about this, Zach, because I talked about this when I was kind of sharing mine and Lisa's experience, you know, right after the storm. And, you know, we still weren't able to communicate with you guys at the very beginning much. And you gave us a quick little, you know, phone interview just that you were okay. But one of the things I noticed was even being there in the initial aftermath and not having any.

idea was as bad as it was, is that you're drawn to family. And, you know, we, we were trapped, you know, and I'm the kind of person that's the older I've gotten, the more I've gotten claustrophobic. And I do not like to be trapped in any situation anywhere. I don't like, you know, it's even affected me sometimes even flat on an airplane. I just don't like it. And so I felt this pressure like it was like a just a weight on me. And it was really interesting. The only place, that I could go and I didn't feel that weight was when I went to Ben and Melissa's. You guys were trying to get in. And so we're sitting around outside because I didn't even want to be inside a house. We're sitting around outside. And I thought, man, when things go sideways, family is what

matters. And both physical family, earthly family, but also forever family. And that's what you're experiencing now and seeing that expansion of the idea of family that you're with people, that you're not alone that you're not trapped, that there's some place for you. And I thought about even the way you guys live up there, because you love to camp and y'all hike and do all the stuff you do outside. And I thought, man, did that pay off for this situation? Because, you know, we're cooking food. We're, you know, we're enjoying life in a moment when everybody else is trying to figure out what they're going to do. But if we were in a big city and there was no way to even live outside of just depending on a restaurant or, you know, someone to bring you your food or, you know, whatever.

And I just thought, man, how you live, and we talk about Transformation Alive, how you live in every single day affects what you can do when something unplanned happens to you. And so that was just a great picture, you know, that I experienced while I was there. Well, those first 48 hours after the power went out was some of the best cuisine ever because it was like, everybody was cleaning out their freezers because the frie mani all this stuff you've been saying yeah all the best stuff we've got to cook it out and everyone's like outside grilling and they're like your sharing I mean that's like at least in our neighborhood you know some of these neighborhoods that I mean well everything

tastes better in a duck blind or after some kind of tragedy when there's no electricity but I think the questions that are always asked when things like this happen is people blame God and they're like, you know, why would God cause this? Where's God in this? And the answer is, oh, he's coming. They're the lives of spirit-filled people. And that's how he makes his presence known. And so all these problems that we see and that cause us nervousness and anxiety and pain and suffering, that's when you see these spirit-filled people show up with truly the answers to the life, the calm and peace that is found in Christ, even in death. I mean, you know, what Jesus displayed covers every problem in mankind, including death. And that's why I brought up that

resurrection moment. That was when the disciples had their aha moment. After all the pain and suffering and this didn't go well, and you're like, oh, wait, this guy is the son of God. And this And so then all of a sudden it created a courage and a boldness and a willingness to love people and rushed to all kinds of dangerous environments because he truly had filled in them through his spirit a courage that they knew there is a God. He has a plan for all humans and we win now and forevermore. And so that's how this works. And that beauty of the resurrected Lord came out of the ashes of his death.

And yeah, that's the thing that I'm hanging on to. So I don't know who all can hear this in the areas that were affected. But hang on. I mean, I know that you're seeing what I'm seeing as well. There's going to be a tremendous opportunity over the next year and a half to love on people in a way that none of us ever knew possible. And, you know, we live in, we all came out of Louisiana, so we know what happened in Katrina. And, you know, these storms can devastate people's life. There's one hit in the state of Florida in the next few days.

Yeah. I'm not sure when this episode will air, but, you know, praying for those guys. But God, God's moving throughout history. He has a strategy, a plan of all of human history. He is sovereign. I have hung on to the fact that God is sovereign in all of this and that he has an ultimate plan. and I hang on to that Isaiah 2 passage. That's the day that I look forward to that day when his kingdom is called up,

having this come to earth fully, and everything is restored as God intended it to be from the beginning where we are worshiping him together. That's what I'm looking forward to in all of this. Well, and even you guys, you know, when y'all left Louisiana, I was sad because, you know, you want to be together all the time. You want to live together and raise your kids together. But, you know, obviously, God had a plan for the Dasher wing of our family and took you guys, North Carolina.

And, you know, you've done a lot of things there and accomplished a lot of things and done a lot of ministry already. But little did we know a few years later, you would be at the epicenter of an opportunity to help people find God in a brand new way. And so we throw you on the bus act. And we will continue to do that. That will never change because that's the way we are. but we couldn't be prouder of the work you guys are doing, just the example you've shown as being believers, what that looks like to be on your knees serving other people as members of the kingdom,

because that's really what it's all about. And we get those moments to step up opportunity in life, and you've got to grasp it. You've got to seize it and you've got to go for it. And that's what you guys are doing. So just remember that. You're never alone either. Not only have us, your family,

and your brothers and sisters, but you also have Unashamed Nation that's, you know, pulling for you guys in a big way because I've, I've gotten tons of notes. Yeah, these guys are awesome. Yeah,

please tell Zach. We love him. You know, we're praying for him and we're going to help out how we can. I thank you guys. I love y'all too, ma'am all of y'all. And love the shame nation.

We're almost out of time. Dad, I'd love to close today with a prayer. Just, you know, for those affected by this and, and the rebuilding and the ministry that's going on. Would you pray for the folks affected by these storms?

Father, I pray for all the ones that were touched by this monster of a storm. Father, you've given us the idea and the hope that we would, in fact, always glorify you, love you, and love each other as we go forth. have mercy on father on all of us when these kind of things happen life is short and full of trouble and we thank you for always being there you're the only hope we really have the only one so help us be more hopeful as we move forward and love each other from our hearts and love you with our might in the name of jesus i pray this for all the ones affected here.

Amen. Amen. Thanks, Dad. Love you, Zach. Hang in there. Keep doing the work. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes.

And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click that little bell to get notified about new episodes. And for even more content that you won't get anywhere else, subscribe to Blaze TV at blazed.com slash unashamed. Thank you.