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Welcome to the rod of iron podcast fundamental Baptist breaking down discussions dogma and daily events I'm your host pastor Bruce Mihia first works Baptist Church here in beautiful Southern, California And we have a special guest with us this evening pastor Burzins is with us from stronghold Baptist Church in Georgia What's what specific part in Georgia cross? What is it Norcross Norcross outside Atlanta outside of Atlanta Norcross, Georgia? And so he'll be he'll be with us this week. He's actually preaching on Thursday and he wasn't planning to it's too late I already announced it so You are now And of course we have for the hike here and brother Ulysses on the PA and so we're looking forward to a great episode I'm just gonna pick pastor Burzins brain a little bit We're gonna do some fellowshipping just kind of shoot the breeze and we'll see where the conversation takes us All right, and so pastor Burzins you ready? Let's do it. All right, let's do it and So, how was your flight Good, not bad at all. I was early. Yeah caught the first flight out, but I needed to work today. So I Got in. I think I had my my rental car by about 930. Is this the second time you've been here this year? I Don't I don't think so. I Mean, I've been out to California went out for the red hot. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, yeah Yeah, yeah, but I'm saying you didn't he preach for us at the beginning of the year Oh Last year was that last year? Oh, yeah, cuz I've already sent another one of my guys out in between my visits That's right. I wasn't here for you because we switched switched pulpits Oh, that's what it was. We switched pulpits and then one of your church members came out here as well, right? And then you came out here for the red hot, but that was in northern, California Sacramento and and I was at faithful word, of course right before that. So yeah That's been all my traveling. Okay? So, how's the church doing great, yeah great tell us about it. Yeah, we're actually Expanding into the the space next to ours. So that space became available recently and her is a perfect answer to prayer because We've been starting to outgrow our space. Yeah, you know, we've been having some good attendances and it's about that time and We were looking around. It's just been really difficult to find So I really feel sorry for these guys that are you know, like steadfast are getting kicked out of their churches Because it is not easy to find Good locations to have a church. Yes, especially if you're growing. Yeah, there's a lot of special things Yeah, I consider the other bathrooms and parking and you know all this stuff that that a lot of other businesses Don't have to worry about you know with churches you got some special needs, right? So But no, we found out that space became available. We jumped on it We got all the permitting done. Now. We're just waiting. We got some scheduling for Demo work to be done to get the the wall down in between it's gonna not quite double our space But it's it's significantly gonna gonna increase the capacity. That's awesome. So we're doubling the bathroom. How many of you guys run right now? What was it last Sunday morning last week? We had a hundred. Oh nice. We don't always run, you know a hundred But it's not abnormal now either. So we're you know, we're kind of in the it could be 70 80 90 a hundred In any given Sunday, that's great, you know, but it's depending on sickness and certain big families We have some we have a couple really large families are over over ten, you know, like twelve people. Mm-hmm makes a big difference Right. Oh, yeah. Well if you have a family of twelve and they get sick it affects the attendance we have a family like that in our church just like Ten or twelve people or something like that and if all of them get sick is just it affects the it can it can affect the attendance to a certain extent, you know, but We've gone through we were I think we went through a little bit of a sixth season recently But I think we're gonna be going into the sixth season again in December only because you know You have like the holidays and then you know the boost in sugar and so your immune system is down and then people start getting sick and the kids are have fevers and one kid has a fever and then he then they spread it To the other kid and everyone gets sick, you know, it's just like a yearly thing. You know, I mean it happens Yeah, well, that's great. You guys are expanding the last time I was there. It looked like it was packed out. Yep. That's great Yeah, yeah, everything's going really well I mean even the you know The salvation's are up the baptisms are up the we've got new converts that have been out so winning with baptized out so winning with us Nice, it's just really exciting. It's an exciting time for our church This doesn't really make sense though because from what I heard the new IFP is like dying. Oh, yeah Yeah, I've heard that too. I heard the ship is sinking. It's dying So what you're saying it must not it just wasn't you must be lying Yeah, I think you're lying, but I'm using this platform just to spread as much lies Yeah, that's it because this doesn't fit the narrative of the fact that the new IFP is sinking But if you came out you might you might actually see something different though. Like if you actually came to our church I don't know. I'm not gonna go visited I'm not gonna go because I'm gonna go with the narrative that the ship is sinking Yeah, no seriously, I mean I think most of the new IFP churches pretty much all of them are growing Yeah, you know what? I mean, they're growing in attendance their baptism salvation's New people I always hear about new people getting integrated new people learning how to soul win It's like the common theme of every church, you know, I'd say we've been around now for four years So and and I really feel like the last year and a half has just been now like like we've been kind of I think Getting established. Yeah for the first few years and just and just maintaining Slow growth, but but you know kind of real slow and steady and then past 12 months 18 months has been Just really really exciting lots of new people lots of visitors like, you know, just a lot of cool things happening So that's awesome. And it's obviously a major difference from word of truth in in Prescott Valley I Was there and and actually I have a I have my wife's grandfather lived in Prescott Valley So when I went to go preach there, I had him come over and it's obviously a really small town Yep So it kind of shows you that it's not necessarily Like there's anything wrong with the church or anything wrong with the way ministry is done Sometimes the areas are just not as receptive because you basically took everything that you're doing over there And you took it to Georgia and now you're just like flourishing. No exactly and it's you know, I Wouldn't have even thought about moving except we had already knocked all the doors too. I mean it kind of hit the whole area Yeah, and we'd already spread out into some of the neighboring cities Yeah, and got some of those done some of those half done, you know I mean we were spreading out into the next place we're gonna go to is Chino Valley. That was another area There's just it's like we're going as around this radius and just kind of seemed like the same Mentality what was it so winning like in Prescott Valley? Well, what was really interesting? It's it's the The one area that I think I've run into the most saved people. Mm-hmm Just out so it was not uncommon to run into one or more saved people impressed like every week Yeah, oh wow, and this is this is what was frustrating right because I'm running into people who are saved But they're not in church Or they're just going to some watered-down church. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, right Yeah, and that's about it. But it was just no one was really but no one was excited, right? I mean here we're doing something different Right. We're going out. We're preaching the gospel word, you know trying to make waves and do something big for God and everyone just like Yeah, I care But yeah, the salvation is where you know, we were getting people saved We had I think we had approximately What a hundred over a hundred people saved every year, oh, that's great, you know in the four and a half five five years It's been around So it was I mean we still did a good work. Yeah, we still reached a lot of people We still helped a lot of people but overall just the area just did not seem very Wanting of Our style. Yeah, and it looks like I mean from the last time that I went soul winning in Atlanta It seemed really receptive because there's a there's like a marathon that we had over there I don't know exactly there's a conference or something and we went there Sowning and I remember just being really receptive. Yeah. Well, I mean, that's why a lot of people have asked me, you know Well, why Atlanta? Why did you choose here? Why what did you go there for and that was when I was looking at places to start a new church? That was right when when the mega marathons were still happening Yeah, so I was able to see the results of that current mega marathon in 2018 and There just was a lot there's one there's a lot of people that attended and For not having a new IP church there, obviously, Arizona, Texas They're gonna have these huge attendances right California huge attendances huge Salvations because you've got a lot of people going out because you've got established new IP churches there Yeah, but this was an area where there was like I want to say at least like 30 people showed up. Mm-hmm just 30 people going out soul winning yeah, and I Can't remember the Salvations, but it was it was like equal, you know, it was just a lot it was like Maybe even double the Salvations or something as the people out there like two to one Something to that effect. It was it was a loud just like man. That's that's amazing That's a good way to determine where to start a church too is just like where all the soul winners at We're all winners and people want to hear it, right? It's like if it's receptive Yeah, that's awesome. So you've been there for four years. Yep, and the church is growing You've seen a lot of Salvations you're getting baptisms out there How do you see like the receptiveness of the people as far as like even after the gospel is being preached and they get saved Have you caught a lot of flack for what you preach over there? Not really. I mean we had How long I don't know how long it was now when I had that new story done on me Mm-hmm actually caused me to lose my job, but it was even even that story Was not like whatever everyone else gets I didn't even think it was that bad of a hit piece. You know, it's like kind of like Like They did a good job. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, like they didn't they didn't they weren't just completely taking me out of context They weren't just twisting all my words Obviously they were using some statements that might be more inflammatory or whatever and they definitely cast me in a shadowy light But overall hearing it. I'm just like yeah, I mean that's well, here's my opinion on that. Okay when people make hit pieces on us You Know if you if that hit piece was made on your average pastor They would think like this is the worst thing that's ever happened to me. You know what I mean? But for us it's like yeah, I did say that it's like I'm glad you're actually putting that out there You know for us we see it differently like, okay, I get the word of God out there. That's a good article Yeah, you know like they wrote an article about our about our church on our YouTube channel And I thought it was an awesome article like he's telling the truth. Yeah, that is what that is Yeah, did you did you get so you didn't get any like but slack over that? I was like it never hit national okay, and that's when it that's when things explode right when when stories go national then you get the the alphabet animals come out of the woodwork from yeah where and they Know you're good. Yeah There's this video. There's no terms alphabet animals. You have the what is pastor Shelley column the The eight no the a IDs community I Like alphabet animals because my kids had this video and it's like it's a kids video right and it's and it's all about learning the alphabet Mm-hmm these animals. So now forever that that's there's this the song that goes along with it I'm not gonna sing it but as a connotation where it's just like Yeah, let's let's let's count the animals from A to Z and then it's you know, like a is for an eater what you know what it goes through all that but That's stuck in my head now go ahead and sing it for us. No, I'm just not gonna happen So we never got and I think during that news cycle when when my story came out Something else big happened nationally and so it just went just kind of under the radar Okay, we never got anything more after that. So and you know, I'm fine with that. Whatever it was Yeah, it allowed us to continue to grow. We also are in a pretty good spot for our location for the church building There's no sidewalks. Oh So even if they so like if someone wanted to protest us and we're kind of on a hill It's like if you're gonna approach the places they could protest we wouldn't see them. Yeah, and There's not very many businesses there and we take up now like a third of the whole complex. That's great. So It's not very conducive to protesting basically No, not at all and and and we're not really interrupting anyone else's business. Even if you did come out to protest It's like everyone's closed. Yeah So, I don't know. I mean, we'll see what who know you who knows whatever is gonna happen I don't know. It's gonna come our way. We've had some good just been blessed with with where we're at and what we're doing and What is the furthest that someone travels to come to your church I Think at least two and a half hours From like a state. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, we have multiple families that come from South Carolina Wow We've had people coming from Alabama and from Tennessee man, I Mean, we thought it was crazy dude to have we had a couple and they moved now, but They were coming from Utah to our church. You have like from multiple states. Yeah, that's commitment right there. Oh, absolutely Is I mean, that's the type of people like the church is just awesome, right? I mean the people that are coming are really dedicated. Yeah, they really take it seriously. They love the church great church and And it's also now encouraging to me because I'm looking at this going like hey church plant, South Carolina Church plant, Alabama and it's good and those those churches will Thrive. So are you planning to start a church in the way? Yeah. Okay. I mean, it's it's is that in the works That's yeah, it's gonna take a little bit. Yeah, we still need the leaders and all that. I mean, we're training men no one's at the at the level yet to Be able to take on that task. Yeah. Yeah, but you can see it in the future Yeah, we can and you know, I'm everyone has a little bit Ella pastors have I think a little bit of a different approach to Determining when they feel people are ready and kind of what they want to set them out to do and whatever and I'm extremely conservative Well explain to me. What do you mean by that? Like so it's so conservative an example if you're to if what would be some some qualifications? Obviously you have the quality of the Bible in the Bible, right? Yeah, but aside from now you would have your own preference Let me just yeah so a preference that I see maybe that other people have used that I probably wouldn't use is You know, it's Bible says you have to have obviously children. So more than one child. I agree with that 100% Yeah, but in order to determine if you are ruling your house well and faithfully I would want to see more of growth in the children. So not like a one in a three-year-old I see or something like that To just check the box like I kind of would want to I want to feel more comfortable of like so Let me ask you in there in that regard. Are you saying to send someone out? where they are Permanently the pastor or for that individual to be sent out to just be the leader of that true different things That's right, two different things. Okay, and I treat those two different things. I see so you would want to see more growth For you know to be able to see that those children are not unruly They would have to obviously have to be older to be able to understand Like a one-year-old. How do you determine for one-year-olds? I'm right, right. I mean there So you basically saying that you would want to see that a man's ruling his house Well, his children are not unruly. They're in subjection with all gravity Before you would actually lay hands on them to ordain them as the official pastor of that. Yes. I see. Okay. Yes And now now I actually had this discussion with someone recently at church too because they were asking me just about different You know with church planting, especially I've no problem sending people out to What you know what we call the boots on the ground and and help to run the ministry and help to do things on a day to day Administratively, they're not the pastor. They don't have the pastoral authority over the church. It's just a church plant and I'm cool with all that But the way that I have decided to approach that is it's gonna be on a case-by-case basis With the people involved. Mm-hmm and on the distance so like a church plant that's closer to us I'd be more willing to have somebody over that who's like less qualified less qualified Yeah, because then it's easier for me to take up the slack or do anything and have more oversight direct oversight Yeah, when needed whereas it's a little further you would need that person to be a little more mature Mm-hmm, you know kind of have their stuff in order Yeah, I mean I don't necessarily have to worry so much about like the small things exactly I mean if there's someone that's like I'm they're really close to already being ordained. Yeah, like great Like here's gonna be some more training for you. I think there's gonna be really good Yeah opportunity and that makes a lot of sense because obviously someone who is not Necessarily mature in the Lord or their novice, you know The closer they are the more mistakes they can make and you can kind of help them with that Whereas if like they're in another state it just becomes difficult It just becomes difficult and then you're just kind of like oh man, what are we gonna do with this person? You know, what if they quit? Yeah, what if they get discouraged or you know what I mean? Like you would want someone who's At least has that aptitude to kind of deal with problems and not you know overburden you or something Well, and there's also you to consider to like so what I what I also consider is not just the eligibility of the people from a scriptural standpoint, but you know, they have families They have jobs What's it gonna take for them to? Up plant, you know uproot and go there and is it something that they even want to do? Yeah, like I have these ideas of where I would like to see churches planted. Mm-hmm, and they if they even have that desire May want to go somewhere else So are you saying that like for example if you have an individual in your church? Who is working towards that end of being a pastor? Are you saying that you would prefer for them to favor? The area that you would want to go plant a church in or it doesn't matter It doesn't matter but it but that would come into play on to when I would be wanting to send them out Yeah, right what you're saying? So let's say someone someone's hometown is in I don't know how far like a San Diego, New Mexico, whatever right just I mean just just farther away from Georgia Okay, just anywhere you start going out west or whatever and They didn't want to you know, start a church in one of these areas. That's real close to us Then yeah, I'm gonna want them to be much more prepared if not just send out a pastor Yeah Send out someone who's a lot closer in simplest form you basically That would almost be put on the backburner because the immediate areas would be probably a number one priority because they're easier and it's more likely for them to Take that position if they are willing to go closer Whereas if they're going further out, they need more training and and I already know these close areas. We have people Mm-hmm. I know the soul innings we've been doing these smut these so winning marathons at these states Yeah, I mean the soul innings been good. The people are there. There's a lot of people I don't know and I'm trying to help people to get to see this too, right? how could you not want to have a church like a Brand new church plant with a whole bunch of people are gonna come right here dedicated that I mean, I love that about Starting in Atlanta. Yeah compare. We're just talking about word of truth word of truth started with nobody in my house Yeah going out knocking doors Which that's hard. I mean, that's hard hard work Well, that's that's pretty much my philosophy when it comes to church planning that churches should start churches obviously, but along with that is that the church plant that you start should remain a church plant for a little bit and the main church should have a little bit of authority over that until it's ready to be on its own and I think it's it's far more productive if the pastor Starts that church and there's already a group of people there to do the soul winning They can song lead Maybe they can play a piano They can do all those things and I think that's more of a biblical model And in fact years ago before we started first works Baptist Church was which is previously faithful word I had helped my father-in-law started church and that's exactly what he did. He basically sent like sitters to the church plant that was about 30 minutes away from the home church and There was workers there were song leaders. There's people that can run different ministries and They were there for a couple months until they can train someone You know to kind of take their place and then you know that church was kind of functioning on its own after a while But it had like a group of people there already So it's like you're not singing to like you're not singing a solo when you're doing the congregationals or something Like there's a group of people that are already singing with you and there's a group of soul winners out there I think that's a lot better because in the momentum it's all yeah, you you're already ahead in the game. Yeah it's It really is hard I'm telling you. Oh, yeah Started from scratch. My father-in-law started from scratch He called it like parachute church planting where it's like you just drop a guy somewhere He's like just do it, but I mean and he did that and he said it was so hard Because you just don't have anybody. It's just like you your wife and your kids if it's all building momentum Yeah, right. So and because some people they're not comfortable like oh man, there's like two people here Yeah in this guy's house. Yeah I've definitely seen people pull up and then drive away, you know Yeah, for sure so but you know, but hey if you if you're doing it that way great I Yeah, God will build the church for sure. God will build the church It is harder and but there is something to be said for having already a bunch of people agree I think it's solid core. Yeah, it's just it's just gonna move things along faster. Yeah Well, I'm all for Streamlining the process You know and doing it that way because I just think it's and then you know If you get a guy who starts a church or helps us to start a church, you know They can easily lose motivation If you just drop them somewhere on a different state if they don't have the experience like they can lose motivation They can get discouraged they could you know They're gonna want to quit it requires a certain level of fortitude to just plow away, even though you're not succeeding You know what I mean? Well, that's why as a pastor When you're selecting somebody to do that you keep in mind what they're going in what are they to love and yeah And and you're you're how you observe that person. What do you think that they're you know, if they're able to withstand, you know Making sure they don't faint in the day of adversity But whereas you know the church plant, you know Like my father-in-law basically told me when we started that church He used the pastor and I was the boots on the ground and then it kind of gave me an opportunity kind of like fail Allah, you know I mean just like kind of mess up because then I would bring it to him and he kind of just like fix it and Teach me and repeat me and correct me, but then I learned a lot sure So it's just like, you know, I wasn't you know Essentially just destroying the church or something with bad decisions because it was still you know under his authority, right? But at the same time I learned a lot, you know, you learn by failing I mean you yeah when you fail things you do things there, you know, and it's a safe way to fail Yeah, because you still have your pastor there you can communicate with I think that's a great idea That's one of the reasons why I've heard all the guys that I train to I they have to be going through some kind of ministry So like we do like nursing home ministries or we do like a prison ministry or anything like that Yeah, you have to you have to get experience doing things like that because that also just builds experience So those those are times where you're preparing sermons are gonna be running the show They're gonna be doing things and and you know, they have to learn on the job on the fly I have to learn on the job and are you saying that like you got you have to observe productivity like if they're productive people No, I'm talking about just it for my training program is You need to be involved in some ministry and some ministry that you're gonna be responsible for. Okay? I and the reason why is because I learned a lot that way myself. Yeah pastor Anderson Suggested me starting up a nursing home ministry He really just put all of that on me, okay, you're gonna do it you're gonna contact the people, you know He was there for me if I needed any help or any questions, right to get any guidance But the whole the ball was in my court say okay you go out You find the people you make the schedule whenever you're able to do it. You make the commitment You make sure you're there every week if you need anyone to fill in for you. That's your obligation, right? It's my responsibility. So you have ministry you have to learn how to build something. Yeah build people and and and and have the You know the responsibility factor of going now every week I Have to have a sermon ready. Yeah every week I'm I'm responsible for that. So if I'm gonna go on vacation if I'm gonna do anything else You know someone I'm gonna make sure someone's gonna fill that spot. Yeah Teaching them responsibility. Yeah, I mean this all of it for me for me just doing the sermons every week was a big deal Yeah, cuz way back then I mean it could take me eight hours to write a 15-minute sermon, yeah That was a big deal. Yeah for sure Yeah, that's good also Man, what was I thinking of right now? you know when you Send someone out. I think it's a really good idea. The the whole church is planning churches because like if you think about it, let's say you send someone out from your church and They're kind of under your leadership for a while and then they become fully qualified and then they become autonomous they become independent they've kind of built up a really good relationship with you as their pastor and So even though they're independent Like they can always reach out to you, right? You know, I mean because you have the experience and so if they run into a situation at their church that they're not necessarily Familiar with they can always contact their pastor because they have a good relationship with them Like hey, what do you think? I should do in this situation or you know, can you have any counsel or advice? I think that's a really good thing. I think it's important for like pastors to have Pastors who are more Experienced than them that they can still reach out to him. Absolutely. I mean look I've done that plenty of times Yeah, me too. You run across situations that Have an experience before just got a question had Curious how you would handle something like this. Yeah, it's it's a good It's good to have that yeah, you know in the multitude of counselors or safety, right? Yeah for sure Well, I'm just saying like when you plant that churches that you just I'm assuming like the the the church planner the one who's there It's gonna be a really close to the pastor, you know I mean, they're obviously have a good relationship Like you still have a good relationship with Pastor Anderson You guys are really good friends, even though he essentially almost like a mentor to us. He's still your friend Yeah, and I'm sure you're comfortable with just calling them up and saying hey I have a question about something because you have a good relationship. Absolutely Yeah, so I think that's a really huge benefit to like planting churches in that manner. Yes, you don't cut ties completely Well think about that compared to the the current model of so many other churches of sending people off to Bible College Oh, yeah, you know what I mean? I mean there's there's extra bond that grows with pastors training men to preach and stuff because you're spending more time together. Yeah naturally so When you're going through that whole training ground process and everything you you know these guys and Then you rely on them in church more and you're dealing with them more because they take on more more of the load Right. Yeah Bible College kind of severs that relationship It kind of strains that because you're not you're kind of estranged from your pastor So if you do get sent out as it's like, you know That closeness, you know to me is not there. Yeah, that's definitely true Yeah, well, I had the privilege even though that I went to Bible College the college that I went to was my pastor's Bible So I still was close to him right but I can definitely see that with like other colleges if they send them out out of State right somewhere. They don't see their pastor for years Yeah, and they make you stay in contact with them a little bit But then when they come back and they're ready to be sent down, it's just like they don't really have that relationship So that's definitely a plus that's good stuff. Well, what else would you say, you know as far as preparing someone To start a church. What else would you be looking for for the ministry? I mean they have to have a desire Yeah, too, I mean that's that is like a self-starter stuff Yeah, someone who wants to do it someone who's out. I mean someone who's already showed themselves faithful to I mean if you can't You know the obligations You have to be able to to meet a lot of obligations and be able to juggle a lot Yeah to keep things running. Yeah, it's and it's definitely time-consuming and one other point too on I think I'm with the children is You know, I remember the difficulties because it's not it While the pastor is the authority and in charge of the church There is a lot of work on The wife in the family. There's an impact. There's a toll taken for doing that ministry. Mm-hmm and You can't overlook the preparedness and readiness of the whole family Mm-hmm Because of the strain yeah, and if you have a mom with with just little ones That's just like really difficult to like if they're already having a hard time Maybe you know, they're fit in the bill and so many areas great people great Christian workers, whatever But you can still see there's maybe some you know Not still quite solid Give us an exam with attendance with you know with other things happening maybe in their life Whatever do you want you want to have people who are? solid, yeah Obviously everybody's got some level of chaos going on in their life at some point, right? Especially yeah, you have kids if you're serving the Lord you're doing a lot of stuff But like are you saying like if you feel like maybe this area and their family? the children That that area is being neglected Well, that could be a possibility right? Cuz that that's that's obviously a possibility with with pastoring, you know just end up Getting so consumed with everything that you end up neglecting yeah, the home but that's that's not really what I was thinking of as much as just The family needs to be in order before you start something so big so explain to me. What do you mean by not by yet? Exactly. No, so not just an order of obviously the kids need to be Obedient. Yeah, right wife needs to be obedient, right? So you're not gonna have any any type of Conflict conflict in that regard. Mm-hmm, but maybe There's a lot of hardship of even being able to say make it to church and not quite getting there on time and not you know and and I See what you see these little things, right? But those little things if you're not a you know, kind of paying attention to it are the types of things that can grow Maybe a little bit more out of control as you add a lot more Weight and a lot more duty to the yeah. Are you saying like for example, let me see if I can explain it if Basically, like the pastor even if he's not the pastor yet But the overseer and his family they essentially have to be the examples. Yes of that whatever the congregation So in order to be the example They have to be able to fulfill the basics Already like already. Yeah, you have to be the example of being punctual example of soul winning Attendance like you just have to be the example of you know, because people are looking towards you That's right as an example of what a family should be So if they are lacking character in those areas, maybe an example of discipline example of you know chastising your children and not you know, you have to essentially fit the bill at its most basic level, you know in order for them to be sent out because of the fact that their Examples to everyone else. That's right. So if they're not fulfilling even like for example attendance or they're always late or You know, they're just something going on in that family where just they lack character in a certain area. That's what you're referring to exactly Yeah, I agree with that. That's good. Amen You said it much better. No, I think that's great because I do agree with that. I think for me, it's like if they don't have those basics down that means that For me the basics are very important, of course, yeah, yeah and The way you displayed that they're important is that you you you execute it with excellence you know, you're consistent with it and it's not like, you know, obviously the Pastor or the overseer he's not gonna be doing a barbecue on Sunday night or something like that, right? I mean, I'm saying like, you know, they're there but they arrive 15 minutes late. It seems like they're disorderly They're not necessarily taking the work of God serious as leaders Then that's not necessarily a good sign of leadership or someone who should take over right? Well, and at least it just shows that like hey, there's some work to be done here. Yeah, so it's not time yet Yeah, and they could be great likes a great people Doing a lot right? Yeah, and and have a lot of knowledge but just some things to Just look for them right because I agree with that because it's such an important It's such an important function and role like you really don't want to set anyone up for the failure disaster Right like that because that's a that's a huge setback When you're getting someone sent out and then and then it fails Yeah, right because it causes a lot of ridicule and mocking and everything else, you know, you don't count the costs, right? And then and then also you could just damage that person's Their own their own spiritual life their own spiritual life and they get discouraged and everything So it's not like you know, we Because people could listen to this and say oh man, that just seems too strict or something That just seems a little too much. But really I mean your people's lives are at You know that is at stake like other people's lives and ritualize well and think about too I mean people might move to join a church. I mean, yeah Yeah, definitely that almost happened to us. Yeah, you know, we were gonna start a church a couple years ago in Denver, Colorado and We were essentially sold a bill of goods because it was communicated that you know, there's this big core group there and everyone tithes and they have enough money to support a pastor and I mean they they kind of sold it and they when I say there's like two people. Okay, and You know, they basically were saying like oh man You know people are faithful. We got a we got like 30 people and you know, they can support a pastor It's great out here. And so they even wrote out like they gave us a packet of And I was like, wow, they got their stuff So I flew out there and I was like I want to fly out there I want to meet everyone You know this 30 people that you claim are here I want to meet them and Then I just want to spend time with you guys and just kind of get to know the people there and then we'll consider whether We're gonna start a church and you know, if all what you say is so yeah Then you know, I don't see why we couldn't start a church, you know, so we went out there and There's like seven people and maybe like out of those seven four of them already had a different church they went to and You know, we went soul winning and the soul winning it was just kind of disorganized and I was just kind of like This is not what they what communicated and then they were just kind of talking to me like yeah So when you make us independent like well, like wait a minute I was like make you independent like you're not even institution yet, you know and so He said well, we're looking at a building tomorrow. You know, we could go look at that building and and then we'll go from there and then you know this person can preach and and I was like Are you able to preach and they're just like I don't know. I've never done him before in my life Oh, man So I remember going back to my hotel room and I was just praying like I don't know if this is yeah I don't think this is of the Lord and I just pray and I was just like Lord just kind of expose If this is a really bad idea so we're driving in the vehicle and and the people who Helped me find out what the truth is probably gonna be listening to this so they know exactly how this went down They're really good people. Yeah, but we're I was driving in their vehicle and we're we're on our way to the building and And The husband was driving and the wife was sitting behind me and I just got this bad feeling in my stomach I'm just like this is such a bad idea. I don't like this idea I don't think this is gonna happen and then the wife's like pastor Mihir I have something to tell you and I was just like tell me everything I was like leave no stone unturned tell me everything Yeah, I was just like now's the time and I thought I was like you need to tell me everything now Don't leave anything out and he's like this person said there's 30 people. There's no 30 people here. They're like literally in fact he said or she said When the meeting was over yesterday He told us to make sure to contact people from our church to come tomorrow to make it look like It was like a lot of people and I was just like that's all I needed to hear So we get there to the building and you know, the the guy the real estate agent He's just kind of showing the building and I'm just like looking around thinking to myself like no I'm just putting on a show right now because we're not So then we go out and the guys just like so what do you think I was like well You know, we're not started this church. I was like you guys are the only people here I think all of you need to go back to your church You need to go find a church or go to their church because we're not starting anything any times and the guy was just livid him and his wife were just Beside themselves Wow, they'd even talked to me for the rest of the trip, you know they do we went because we're supposed to go back to that the the family's house to go have lunch and they went back and They went upstairs and just locked themselves in a room and just never came out Wow, and I was thinking myself like man, we dodged the bullet. Yeah, you know what I mean? Cuz sometimes You know, that's why you got to be diligent. I mean it really is. It's that important. Yeah for sure. I Could have been a disaster. Yeah nightmare. Yeah But yeah, you're absolutely right cuz interesting that happened in Denver too, why is that What you like Denver? Yeah, I do like Denver. That was pretty cool That was one of the places when I weird Airport before yeah, very weird before we started word of truth I was we were traveling around and I was considering different places and I went to that place. I visited a church there and I had this weird opportunity Where the guy was like like I just met him that Day. Mm-hmm and was like inviting me to start this church there and like they would have all this funding and all this stuff and I'm just going like He was telling me about this ministry that they had Yeah, where the money was coming from? No, I doubted. This is wait. What this was bizarre Okay, they had this ministry where it was to like support. I I Don't remember it was so long ago, but it was like children It was it was some type of a children's thing where they were like collecting this money To have kids to be able to go to school or something like that but but basically what are you saying was that well the church was Able to use some of that funding To be able to start this church, yeah, and that's why I was like whoa If Someone was interested just in money It sounds like it would probably be a really good deal. Yeah, but that's not what I was interested in at all. This is like no Wow, like I'll think about it. Thanks I thought about it for a little bit. You're like, no, thanks. Yeah, no No, that's nuts. It's just it's just interesting as Denver somebody no offense to the people in there We know there's good people Denver, Colorado Awesome families over there just weird stay in that church. You guys are doing great but it's just you know, but who knows maybe the Lord will lead us to start a church there one day who knows and and That and that's not the only time that's happened This happened to us like three times already where like an opportunity to start a church you know came to us and I was like gun hole because I really want to start a church, you know I mean cuz I have a heart for church planting I just I just feel like it's important to just flood the United States with churches like ours But obviously I'm not just gonna rush into anything, but there was like another church that was like that and they're just like the buildings paid off and You know Buildings paid off and they can they can pay for a pastor. We just need a pastor and it was like a small group of people and I was just like I'll say myself. Well, maybe we can utilize whatever money that they can pay to just fly out Like pastors or fly out pastors and people to go preach until we can like train someone And so I basically told him I said well if I go over there like I'm gonna end up being the pastor Right, once once you guys vote me in we're throwing out that Constitution, right? Right, right. Everything's changing. Everything's changing And so are you fine with that? And then you know, they talked about it on Sunday night and they're just like have him come over like this sounds great You know everyone was for it But then the next day the Deacon's wife like just like blew up on everyone was just like he's a hate preacher He says all these things do not let him come over here and they're just like you can't come and I was just like You're lost then, you know, whatever. Yeah, but that could have been a nightmare too. Yeah, you know and so if Anything seems like an overnight type an opportunity to be an overnight success. It's probably just not a good idea Better to just have the slow process Where you're training someone? Doing the the boots on the ground just laboring and failing. It's just that's a better quality church You know rather than the overnight success I agree It's a lot of work. Like I can't imagine I've never run another church plant. Oh, yeah, I have enough With one. Yeah, like that's and that's another thing for me, you know Maybe when I'm not working another full-time job I'd be a lot more inclined to then want to push a little bit harder Yeah to see if we can get another plant going but for me I'm I Need someone really ready to go. Oh, yeah, because I don't have the time. Yeah pastor Thompson you crazy It was like five churches one of them is like in a different country He's like the only new IFB guy who has a church in another country Like it was in the UK which by the way that church is doing really good. Are they yeah in England They're just the the but you see here's the thing. He has a great leader there. That's right Who's just you know, I don't know. It seems like a preach as well. He's a great leader He's just doing a great work and the church is growing and I think that's him like you were saying because it's far away It's important to have someone like that like that because aside from the fact that You're not gonna be dealing with problems if that person's mature enough to deal with the problems too You know, you can kind of just kind of like let him do whatever he's gonna do cuz he's gonna grow the ministry He's gonna grow the people. He's gonna you know Be a go-getter a self-starter. You don't have to worry about those things. So that's like the byproduct right there But pastor Thompson's crazy, man That's like a lot he has I don't know how many church plants and I'm sure he's planning to start more churches God bless you. I say God bless. That's it. That's why I say is God bless. Yeah, I always say that you know I bless the work of the hope. I hope that all those churches succeed and thrive and absolutely and they're all doing good Yeah, and you know, I don't know if any new IFP church is not doing good Yeah I think they're all doing good because of the fact that I think they have the right people in the church as leadership and and You know, they're preaching God's Word unfiltered They're not compromising They're doing a lot of soul winning and I think God's blessing the churches because of that I do want to start churches. I hope one day I can start a church in California But I just learned from those experiences those last three that I'm not gonna rush into anything because maybe you know Our church is just not ready for it. Yeah, maybe we're just not ready to do it Obviously we need the leadership but you know, I just kind of said whenever that door comes to us. We'll go through it Yeah, and you know, there's no rush We're only five years old and you know, we might not start a church until we're 10 15 years old Who knows but until then just plow away in your church and you know, just have that vision to start a church one day And yeah, I don't know when like faithful word was seven years old when word of truth was started, hmm, and then Actually eight almost eight years old. Okay, because they started 2005 Christmas and Word of truth was started in November 2013. I Remember you remember seeing that video pastor burzins, he had a really big beard. You're like on the side You know, you know, I had that big beard until I burned it in my fire pit. You burned it. Yeah Man I've never I've never I've never it's really bad. I've never had a big beard like that since So you had a big beard and then you how'd you burn it? Or what I just pour it it's called pouring fuel to the fire And what you just lit it it just yeah, it just blew as a fireball But your beard protected your face or something. Yeah, I mean, I didn't get I didn't get like burned Oh, but it but it made the hairs singe, right? So just like And and it was noticeable. So like I had to just I had to trim it down then I was like, all right That's like a lopsided beard Funny story about Man, that's crazy. I'll never forget that video. I remember we used to watch that commercial Yeah The commercial it inspired us to make our own because because when we when we started church I was like, I want to make a video like pastor burzins So we when we when we started people were Baptist Church in LA We did when it was almost like identical to yours. Like we even had like I Yeah, it's like I would watch yours I was like I need to do it like this that's a cool commercial Yeah, that's cool. That was a at your house. Yep. Oh, okay. Yep Yeah, man Yeah, I mean, you know, I think the faithful word was really helpful for us Yeah, I mean that was one of the benefits of having a church plant that was kind of close How far was Prescott? It's like an hour and a half. Okay, somewhere that hour and a half hour 45 minutes, you know It's far enough but not not too far at all. Yeah, so we they would they would send people up occasionally You know, we would do probably every quarter. Maybe people be coming up But we do big soul winning events and yeah, so it was a great blessing having them there That's awesome to help and that's one of the benefits, you know church planting and having someone sort of close You know be a couple hours away You could get a lot of extra additional support from the sending church. Yeah for sure and You know, he's he's don't what you know that a faith board helped us to be able to even produce that That commercial because we weren't in any position to do that But they helped us with that You know Paul filmed it and yeah, it was cool. That was great. Yeah, I like it was a great blessing I'm telling you I remember watching it with Ulysses. Yeah, we watch it like man. That looks cool That's pretty cool. Yeah, and then I need to get back into the video stuff Man, it's a do you do video editing? No, oh, there it is Yeah, look that's my house Well, that's a perfect setup for a church though. Like that looks awesome. It looks like a church. It looks like a church Yeah, everything. It's like it's almost you're like a steeple. You know, we got the size of that beard though So you burn have those no Joe How long did it take you to grow that? I don't know. So can you still grow a beard like that or what? Yeah, prove it. No, I'm just kidding It's November right? No shave November Yeah Yeah, see he said that I said that in my video too like old-fashioned fundamental King James only It's like the nicest way to say you're old-fashioned and fundamental having a big old-fashioned beard. Yeah Yeah, you still have that pulpit. I do. Oh nice. Yeah, it's raised up a little bit now since then So it kind of fits my height a little bit better. I was hunched over that thing for like two years. Yeah How tall are you? Six two. Are you talking to passenger Thompson? How tall is Pastor Thompson? He's a giant. I know he's an Amalekite, but like we measure him in qubits. I mean I know he's a descendant of Anak of Anak Yeah, he's pretty what is he what do you think? Seven Yeah, I think so, I think it's like six seven something yeah, yeah, I don't like standing next to him No, what'd you say? Oh, yeah feel like a grasshopper in a side. Yeah Yeah Yeah, that's great. So then What year you started in 2000? We're 18 13 and Word of Truth and yeah teen for a stronghold stronghold. Okay, great That's cool well, Lord willing, you know, the Lord will open up some doors for us to start more churches and You know Thankfully, I'm thankful that you know, even though I'm not starting churches like our friends are you know, absolutely Yeah, yes, you have like pastor a man is starting churches. It's just a matter of time though. Yeah, right I mean you just you you probably have plenty of guys that are growing spiritually. Yeah, right. I mean just just in Here's the way I look at it too. We don't just have one guy that we're like training Yeah, I mean we have we have a whole bunch of guys that are at different levels of training but One day. Yeah, then I'm then I'm thinking we'll probably be able to start sending off So, you know doing some more plants in a shorter period of time, right? Because then we'll have gotten a bunch of people ready to go. Yeah And that'll be the time for that and you know, it's we're not there yet But then the time is gonna come and then we'll be going boom boom boom boom boom And we'll see kind of like right now we're seeing the growth internally for our the home church right the only church then we'll be reaching the stage of our development where we start to Expand out. Yeah that way. Hey, man That's awesome. That's good. It's a totally different subject. You don't mind me bringing it up. No, go ahead There's something that's been just recently in our soul winning. We've been hitting these neighborhoods in Atlanta This is one of the cool things about Atlanta. Also, it's this hub of like All people from all over the world. It's this international hub, you know Atlanta Airport's like the busiest International Airport like a huge isn't it the biggest airport in the United States? Yeah, it's massive The greater Atlanta area is like 10 million people Wow, and they're literally just people from all over the world So we hit areas. I mean the area we were just doing on Sunday is like people who speak a lot Swahili a lot African people and and different types too, I mean as people kind of from all over and what we've been using making the Great use of is the faithful word app Do you guys use that out soul winning or no, like we do you ever do run into pockets of people I know people who do language. Yeah, and then you have the languages Like we literally go stand there and play it for them. Yeah, obviously I'm not like counting salvation's on something where I don't I mean they're listening to but they get to hear the gospel. Yeah Right, and who knows if they get saved? I mean, you know, yeah. Yeah. What a great opportunity I mean, what a great blessing that we could live in a time Where you can have the plan of salvation in your hand Yeah, and you could just play that for somebody to hear in their language Yeah for sure and even have like the translate apps and stuff where you can talk into it I don't you ever done that before either you you you talk and then it'll play it for the other person yeah, and translate it and you could kind of it's a slower process, but We've been doing a lot with there's that's been coming up a lot more. Are there a lot of Hispanics there? Oh, yeah Especially in Norcross actually, that's it's a very highly Hispanic area like a lot of Mexicans or Yeah cans or there's a good mix but a lot of Mexicans. Okay, and I mean, that's another thing we plan on doing is doing another Having a Spanish service because there's so many Hispanics there really and we've got a few people in our church that that are fluency Spanish preach in Spanish. That's great Yeah, I could speak Spanish, but I'm not fluent enough to You speak Spanish see You can't really like like have a conversation Wait, why are you scared? I'm sorry. I'm gonna start talking to you in Spanish right now That's least oh, yeah. No un poquito. Mm-hmm. That's what everybody know. Why does everyone say yo you Nintendo un poquito Let's get something else. Let's see. What else you got. Come on The amalgam de la vivia Los effecios Capita lo dos Cristo Salvación Or capo gracias toi salvos por la fe esto no no debos otros pueses donde dios No por obras para que nadie se gloria. You heard it here first folks Pastored a verses just quoted Ephesians 2 verse 8 through 9 in Spanish in Spanish. That's pretty good So you can preach the gospel in Spanish. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. I have very few salvation is just because I'm not I When I go through the Bible the Bible helps me with my Spanish, right? So like if I want to say something then I could like oh, yeah That's you know, this is how I say it and kind of use the Bible as a help Yeah, but if someone if I run into people who that's pretty good. They They their heart like like I have to answer a lot more questions or something and then I'm gonna be like Lo siento Sorry By a condiose That's pretty good though. So can you read in Spanish? Wow, so I mean but the hardest part for me is like people who have different dialects So some people I just cannot understand at all Seriously, but then there's other people but think about like I'm in the south. There's people who speak English. I can't understand The people I could communicate with the best are the people who even if they only speak Spanish But yeah, I could barely understand Pastor Robinson sometimes. No, I'm just kidding I'm kidding If they've been in America for a long time and their accents been Americanized Yeah, I could understand that really well, but if they're like fresh off the bone From Cuba or Puerto Rico or something like that That's well, that's one but some of it's just that it's just the inflection in a way that they yeah Like I can't even understand lately understand. I I'm fluent in Spanish. I'm fluent in Spanish. I can speak Spanish I can preach in Spanish. I read in Spanish But there's certain people like from Cuba from Puerto Rico if I had a conversation with I just don't know what they're saying Because maybe they speak too fast or just the way to pronounce certain words I'm just like, I don't know what he's saying. Like I'll catch words here and there but I totally agree. I thrive at Spanglish You got the person that could speak some English right I can speak some Spanish it's like hey we could we could actually How did you learn do you just learn did you Oh high school also, you know in Spanish is then four years in high school Really? Yeah Wow So then I was better with the with the conversational and then I just didn't do anything with it until Faithful word and then you know in Phoenix going soul-winning. Oh, yeah, I started picking it back up again yeah, right, so pastor Anderson was teaching some Spanish classes and I too was taking those and Refreshing a lot of stuff. Yeah, Spanish fluently And that's why I started doing the Bible memory Mm-hmm in Spanish, you know and those types of things just to help the soul-winning. So and now it's still it's still Very important for soul-winning. So go ahead and introduce yourself at the door in Spanish. Hola Senor, my own mayo. Mo David yo soy de la la la lacy about tista stronghold Baptist Church See As a queremos in Vitale no esto Iglesia Pero más importante que vale Iglesia. It's una pregunta y la pregunta sabe You said seguro que vayero cielo cuando muy te concien percento. I would say Cuz they're always like Yeah, that's pretty good So you've been pronounced your name in Spanish? Oh, yeah, you're like ola mi amo David Well, I'm glad you you actually pronounce your church in English Because sometimes people will try to like they'll speak to someone in Spanish Yeah, and they'll pronounce our church as though like we're a Spanish church, right? Like someone's like let's see about these that that be met us all but us right? I'm like, that's not the name of the church Although or just say Iglesia about tista, you know, but yeah a lot of times when people are native like They'll say their names Americanized or like English eyes, right so that they'll do the same thing. I've noticed that a lot. I Do that and well and people people do that. I think one of the things I like about preaching gospel in another language Especially with Spanish. I don't know any other language. So I guess I can't really compare but but but here's the thing the Hispanic culture is a Very grateful. Oh, yeah when when When you see some gringo like me come up and then be able to communicate your language I'm more more and more often than not. Yeah, the and and they're always telling me. Oh, no No, you're because I'm like lo siento me espanol. No, it's bueno. Yeah No, no, no, it's good. It's good. Yeah, just like To them. It's like I know I know exactly what you're talking about. They see it like It's like a noble thing right that you'd be willing to learn their language to come Yeah, well and it makes them like they'll listen. Yeah Yep, they do listen. I mean it's the vast majority of time. They're listening. Yeah. Yeah, that's good. That is 100% true I've seen that with other people who are not Hispanic. They'll say that they'll say that people are a lot more Just open to speak Yeah forgiving and Just be willing to speak to you because they see that you're putting in an effort to like learn their language and speak it Because it takes a lot. Yeah, just kind of put yourself out there like yeah, my favorite thing is catching people That say they don't know English and then you speak Spanish like oh, yeah That's the best. Well, I used to do that in in Mandarin because I was learning Mandarin for a while And so but and I was doing it because we're like in Monterey Park And so there's a lot of Chinese people there but after a while I was like, I don't think I even need to learn the entire language because most people here know English and so, you know, I'd run into someone and You know, I'm like, you know, I just want to give an invitation to our church and they're just like no English No English, and I'm like, oh, you know, are you Chinese? Yeah, and they're like, yeah. Yeah Mandarin I'm like, oh and they're like, oh you speak Chinese. I'm like, yeah you speak English, and then after a while they would just talk. Right, right. So you kind of use that to like break the ice. Yeah, definitely anybody here who speaks Spanish they do speak English even if they speak it broken They do speak it, you know, there's parts in Georgia like around Atlanta. I Mean you have you have all kinds of different nationalities even even Hispanic that they don't speak English. Really? Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah It's great, but but there's so many communities because there's so many people That I think they're able to survive and do okay without speaking English because there's enough people that that they can associate with that they could Help them or you know even go to businesses. Yeah I mean, there's businesses that just have the signs and other languages. Mm-hmm Yeah, we have that here too. Where's like cities that are just filled with like another language Yeah, we have a lot of Asians. There's a huge Asian population What kind of region a lot of Korean Korean specifically but but lots of different types of Asians, too It's just do you have any Armenians there? We have we have Calvinist I Think I've run into one or two Armenians I was trying to think like I don't I'd he's like I'm not a big fan I haven't no I haven't hikes are mean. That's why I even I haven't run run into too many Okay, but you hit a pocket and it's just like whoa, you know, there's a ton of people there. Yeah, and We've got like Hispanics you got Asians What else black black people? I mean white people It's The South it's cool, but what's cool about our County to Gwinnett County is is one of the most diverse counties Probably anywhere. Hmm. And what's cool about that too is like one of the things I like what I appreciate about is You know, I don't care about segregation one way or the other honestly Like if people naturally segregate because it makes it easier for them, you know, people are coming from another country They said it's easier to be around people that can speak your language for one Mm-hmm and maybe know some other friends or relatives of yours Yeah, and that are gonna be helping you and you live close together. Like if people want to do that who cares Yeah, like I'm not for forcing people to are you all to? Mix with yeah, who cares? I mean it's natural for that for that to happen, especially with with people that are immigrating right but That being said, you know, we're like in my neighborhood specifically there is just I mean there's Chinese black white You know Korean what at like just second just about just all over the place Just all live in the same neighborhood and it's cool. It doesn't matter at all. Yeah, that's cool It's kind of how Long Beach is Long Beach is like a melting pot You have like a black guy who lives next to a Cambodian who lives next to a Mexican Yeah, that's cool. Yeah amen Well pastor burzins. Thank you so much for being on the episode. That was an awesome conversation about church planning soul winning preparing me preparing men to for the ministry and so looking forward to hearing you preach on Thursday and Thankful that you're here. Hopefully we'll still have a church after you done preaching and That's pretty much it folks. Thank you so much for tuning in to the rod of iron podcast tune in next Probably in two weeks or so for the next episode. Have a good night You