Transcript
WEBVTT
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and welcome back to passion plex podcast.
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So glad all of you are joining us.
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It was recording live here in austin, texas and I'm joined none other than uh from the cody sparks band.
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Mr cody sparks, how you doing, cody still?
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Here, still here uh, how's that foot?
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It's getting better.
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You know he uh had a slight achilles tear, had to have surgery, then had to have a root canal, then had an abscess then.
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So you're finally back sort of in one piece.
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Nope.
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No, not yet.
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We're working on it Slowly, but surely Slowly, but surely All right.
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And then also, this is a long-time listener, first-time guest, austin Plekampol.
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This is my oldest son and Austin.
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We're here to talk about what it's like to be a preacher's kid, a PK.
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And if you didn't know that, cody here is also a PK.
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Still a PK.
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Still a PK.
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His dad is pastoring in Perryton Texas.
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Tell us what church that is.
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Victory Family Church Still there Been there 41, 42 years.
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Tell us what church that is.
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Victory Family Church Still there.
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Been there 41, 42 years, so did he plant that church 40 years ago?
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It started off?
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No Well, initially it was a little church called Calvary Temple.
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My grandpa actually preached there for a little bit, but then later on my dad took over, and then eventually they moved to where they are now built there and changed the name to Victory Family Church.
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Wow, and been there since.
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There you go, very long time, very long time.
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Okay, so talk to me, then let's talk about the dynamics.
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So, austin, you're probably just figuring out that you're different than every other kid.
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Yes, so, austin, you're probably just figuring out that you're different than every other kid.
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Yes, when did you realize that?
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And I'd love to hear when, cody, when you figured out that not every kid has to go everywhere with their dad and be pastor things?
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But, austin, when did you figure out that not everyone's dad was a pastor or had a weird sort of job?
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It was probably in second grade.
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What was the thing that?
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I don't know when everybody started cursing and I just didn't know that was normal.
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So at school, everyone was cursing yeah.
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It was normal then, and so, like, when we say cursing, we're talking like S words and F words, we're talking about the full gamut.
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No, nobody knew the F word yet.
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Oh, nobody knew that.
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Okay, so it was just the S word, yes, okay, so when did the F word come into it?
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Fourth grade.
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Fourth grade.
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So second grade the S word, Fourth grade, the F word, and so all the other kids in second grade were cussing and did you sort of like how did you know not to start cussing?
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Well, probably it was from you.
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You kept telling me not.
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It was like against the bible and like to you know.
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So when I when okay, so it's.
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It's one of those things like when your dad tells you something is there any part of that sort of eye rolls and like okay?
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My dad would say that, uh, and how did you overcome the eye roll to go like okay.
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I guess this is important because my dad's making a big deal about it a lot of kids got in trouble for it, and then, when you kept saying not to do it, I kind of saw the point of what you meant.
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Okay, so other kids getting in trouble, me sort of reinforcing that?
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Did I ever say like, hey, when you hear these words, don't say them.
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Or how did I know that you knew those words?
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Well, I came home, probably in the middle of the school year, and I told you oh, I remember one time.
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I remember one time I think you said this to mom all right, you were like uh, hey, can you get that s from down from the the bed?
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It was like.
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It was like you use it in normal vernacular and that's when, uh, mommy came over to me, adrian, my wife, she came over to me and she goes um, austin used this word.
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I don't think he knows that he should use this word.
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I think that's when we had our initial talk about that specific word.
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Cody was was cussing a thing in perryton well, my story is a little different because I went to my parents had a christ academy.
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So, you got extra preacher kid, yeah, extra.
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Up until sixth grade I didn't go to public school.
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I played sports and stuff, but I wasn't around enough to hear a lot of those words, right, right, right.
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And then eventually I mean, obviously I did, I'll never forget, in seventh grade, junior high football it was, I think, like think like first, second, third day and obviously for me, character and integrity and things were like huge.
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Then, yeah, and I was a yes sir, yeah, sharp, trying to keep it together and, as luck would have it, we were getting dressed and one of my friends pushed me and I fell back over the bench in the locker room and on my way down I said oh, yes, oh man, I wasn't a cusser, yeah.
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And of course my coach was in there walking by and heard me, right and lost his mind.
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Well, he didn't lose my mind, he just looked at me and I knew.
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And then I looked at him and I was like oh geez.
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And I looked at him and I was like oh geez.
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And we all got in the huddle outside to get ready to stretch and stuff and he said, sparks, take off to the fence and back, which was far, yeah, and I had to go run and everybody's kind of like what, and Coach was just like he knows why, and then I went to the fence and came back.
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But pure embarrassment.
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That was horrible.
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Yeah, okay, so for you talk to me about and this is also Preacher's Kid in the 90s Different, oh so different.
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Different time.
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Talk to me about I don't know.
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You got to see Austin a little bit, so what's?
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the difference for you on the PK side.
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I think that one thing is that back this goes for like all Christian families for some reason in the 90s felt like what happens at home or in our personal life stays in our personal life, oh yeah and we don't talk about it in public and we it doesn't leave our house right, doesn't go anywhere.
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Um, I don't know if that was a shame thing or we didn't really quite understand grace at the time right or you know, there's a lot of different things that come into play there, but at the time that, you know, we just thought because they thought that was the best thing for people to do then and keep it in, and so then you then, in turn, you don't like talk about things, you're just like, oh, I guess we don't ever talk about that.
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You hold it in and then eventually it'll work itself out.
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I guess 100 yeah or blow up and you got to let it out in a different way.
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Oh man, so it was.
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That part was kind of interesting.
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So I would say, uh, that's tough.
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The difference is for sure.
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Communication, like how you talk to your kids and you say, hey, this is why we do this and this is why we don't do this.
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Um, it's big, it's big, it's important.
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Now we were taught right from wrong sure and I think that's why, when I get in trouble or do something wrong, I have such guilt and shame about it, just because I know that it's wrong, but I still did it, but I still feel, or I feel horrible.
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Yeah, austin.
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So whenever you do anything wrong and like, I get on to you about it, like how, how does I still think you feel some of that right?
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I probably haven't done that perfectly um, yeah, it changes from I don't.
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I handle it differently when I do at school like what do you mean like I feel way more guilty at school than I do here?
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to explain that I don't know.
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What do you mean?
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oh, because at school everybody doesn't know me yet, because I'm like, like, do you?
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Each year you go to a different grade, so it's a new teacher, right?
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So it's like they don't know you.
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So you got to be kind of nice and kind and stuff.
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But you know me.
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So you don't have to be nice.
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Yeah.
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All right, I guess that's fair.
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All right, yeah, yeah, that's fair.
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Let's see, I have a three-year-old and he had his first S the other day.
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Oh, really Funniest thing.
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So not to knock on how much I've been going through, but minus my AC going out and now the hot water heater going out.
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You have a lot of house issues.
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You know home ownership.
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It's ridiculous, especially when you have a six-year-old house.
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That should not be having issues like this Should not have any of these problems.
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So you know it is what it is, but we had a guy over that was doing some work and Aaron and Conway were in the bedroom just watching a movie.
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Right, and recently he really loved Little Giants, yeah, big Green and the Sandlot, yeah.
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So I was in the kitchen on my computer doing some work and they were watching the movie and I could hear it and I know exactly what parts I was listening and I was laughing, and right when Benny the Jet Rodriguez goes over with his PF flyers guaranteed to make you run faster, jump higher, jumps over, gets the ball and jumps back over and they think we're safe, home, free.
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we got the ball Right.
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And then, all of a sudden, the beast jumps over the fence and Benny the Jet Rodriguez says oh yeah.
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And I heard it and then all of a sudden Conway just goes oh, oh, and I'm in the other room and I'm just waiting to hear how this plays out and I'm kind of laughing because it's such pure innocence, right, that he has no idea what he's saying.
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I mean, he doesn't know, he doesn't think anything's wrong with it.
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Right just off the movie and I'm waiting for aaron to see how this plays out.
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And then she's like, hey, um, we don't really say that word.
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It's just not really nice and kind of we don't make a huge deal about it, because I feel like if you do, then they're going to keep doing it, right.
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And so we kind of moved on.
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But I kind of walked in there, walked around the corner and looked at her and I was kind of laughing and she started laughing and I just said, hey, maybe don't say that.
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There you go.
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It's let's not do that again.
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And then we moved on and he hasn't done that before, all right.
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So, austin, one of the things that can be, and I'm sure you had to deal with this too.
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Cody, when you come to church, everybody knows you.
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Do you know I talk about you when I do sermons.
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Oh yeah, Most of the time.
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And does that bother you?
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No.
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Okay.
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So, cody, the whole church knew who you were, because you were your dad's son oldest son.
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And so what was that like, having to constantly sort of perform?
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Everybody always comes and says hello, says hi and was that awkward?
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Was that easy?
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How was that?
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Oh, I think it was all right.
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I was a pretty shy kid.
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I'm still shy, weirdly.
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People probably don't understand that, but I'm a little bit shy.
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I was a pretty shy kid.
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I'm still shy.
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weirdly, People probably don't understand that, but I'm a little bit shy.
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Yeah, you are shy, it's great.
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I think I would just kind of smile and just be like, hey, how you doing.
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What's up it's awkward.
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But there also is the cool part about being a PK is people give you stuff.
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Being a PK is people give you stuff.
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There's one guy, there was one minister that every time he came to speak at our church guaranteed would walk up.
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He was like I love preacher's kids and I care for them and I think they go through it Always would hand me $100 bill.
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No way Always $100.
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Shake my hand and just be like and give me a little wink Every time.
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Even we went and did a thing in LA at this church I think I was 19, maybe 18, 19.
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And I went with my dad there and I wasn't playing music or anything really yet, and I was just there and this guy was there speaking too, and he saw him and he came up and gave me a hug a hundred bucks Just hand.
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He was like just want to bless you, man, just tell you that I appreciate you and I think're great and you're going to do great things.
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And there you go.
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That's wild, it's great.
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So there's pros and cons to it.
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Now, in your hometown of a little town, the difference you got as well is I grew up in a town of 8,000 people, so everybody knew, everybody knew everybody's business and it's rumor central, right.
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So something would always be popping up, that such and such did this or somebody slept with somebody or somebody's doing whatever, right?
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So it was always something going on.
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And then, like these preacher's kids, you do something that the normal kids are doing, yeah, all of a sudden it's like I cannot believe that the Sparks kid yeah, he could ever do that Went toilet papering with the other kids.
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It's unbelievable.
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It's okay for the other kids, but the preacher's kid that is unbelievable.
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Unbelievable.
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You can't believe it.
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Oh my God, so that?
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to me was a little bit ridiculous Holding kids that are learning and growing, holding them to a level of accountability that the adults that are making issues of that kid don't even hold themselves to is a little bit ridiculous.
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Yeah, austin, have you felt that at all?
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Not really, but like sort of.
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So what's when you talk about like at school?
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I'm sure you don't.
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I don't think anyone's like oh, austin's a.
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Do people know you're a preacher's kid at school?
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Most people do yes.
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All right.
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So what is like something that they talk to you about?
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Or do they bring up like hey preacher's kid, or they make fun of you, or there's some kids.
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it's both really Some kids know me and they're like down the street down the street, my friends yeah.
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And then there's some that just like hate Jesus and they're like Jesus means yes, and there's, there's, they're there.
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So how do you react to the Jesus schmeezes people.
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What is like your?
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Do they like?
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Mock you Like oh, where's your Jesus now?
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How do they come across?
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They say you're the pastor's kid right, and I'm yes.
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And they're like well, jesus is so stupid, like, why do you even believe that?
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Wow, so they come right at you.
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Is this at like a?
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lunch table, or is this like in the middle of class?
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It's really anywhere, like in the hallway or something.
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Yes.
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So how do you respond to that?
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What's your?
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I mean, let's say, if someone goes like why do you believe that?
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What do you do?
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What do you say?
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I say well, I usually just walk away from that, yeah.
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That's okay.
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Yeah, because it's challenging, right when someone sort of challenged your faith and you're like and they're just probably doing a drive-by like that's dumb.
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Why do you believe that?
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And they're still walking.
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Yes, so they're not wanting to engage in a conversation, they're just wanting to sort of like stick it to you.
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Yeah, conversation there's one to sort of like stick it to you.
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yeah, usually yeah that's usually what happens, so, um, but there are some kids ask you questions like like they're kind of interested in your answer, like what kind of questions you get it's like some of them are like about the trinity, about like how do you understand that?
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and like I don't even understand that.
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I need to do a better job of that.
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All right, so yeah, so the Trinity.
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What about the Bible?
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They ever ask, like why is the Bible true?
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Yeah, the Bible is the Bible, true, and I'm like, well, I don't know that, I'm still learning about that too.
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Yeah, all right.
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So talk to me about, like when did you become a Christian?
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Do you remember this?
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Mm-hmm.
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I remember when I was three years old, yep years old walking down our old house stairs.
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And then it said I heard this loud voice.
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It said Austin, black and Blue, it's time.
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Really Okay.
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So then that was like it's time for you to become a believer and follower in Jesus.
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All right, and then, from that point forward, what really?
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How have you like you've learned the Bible pretty well?
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Do you know the Bible pretty well?
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Do you feel like yes, how do you know it?
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Well, when I go to bed, I turn on this audio book, the Action Bible, and I listen to it every night, every single night.
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Yes, so essentially does it play the entire Bible every single night?
00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:26.461
Yes, it does.
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So do you know who Job is?
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Yes.
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Who's Job?
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He's the guy in the Old Testament who had a rich, perfect.
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And then Satan wanted to say to God if you didn't give him all these blessings, then he wouldn't believe in you.
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Okay, good, so you know who Job is.
00:15:49.160 --> 00:15:50.294
Do you know who Gideon is?
00:15:50.710 --> 00:16:01.557
Yeah, so he was the guy with like he was like small tribe stuff he needed to go to war and like to prove that Jesus was talking to him, he put the rag in the wool.
