I’m Confused About My Calling with Earl and Oneka McClellan

Summary

Stay True with Madison Prewett Troutt
Episode: “I’m Confused About My Calling with Earl and Oneka McClellan”
Release Date: May 12, 2025

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Introduction

In this heartfelt episode of Stay True, host Madison Prewett Troutt welcomes longtime friends and esteemed pastors, Earl and Onika McClellan, from Shoreline City Church in Dallas, Texas. Madison sets a warm and inviting tone, highlighting the deep connection and mutual respect between her and the McClellans.

“These are the most joyful, encouraging people. When you listen to this podcast, you're going to have a smile on your face so big.” (02:04)

Personal Journeys and Foundations

Earl shares a pivotal moment that shaped his calling. During a Passion Conference in London, he dreamt of leading a church, a vision that initially felt overwhelming amidst personal tragedy—the loss of their middle son, Caleb, in a car accident.

“In the dream, Christine Cain is talking to me... I'm supposed to lead my own church.” (12:05)

Onika complements Earl’s narrative by recounting their mission to honor their pastors' guidance during their absence, emphasizing the importance of honor in pursuing one's divine calling.

“We really fought to honor during that time.” (16:21)

Understanding Calling and Purpose

The conversation delves deep into discerning God’s call and understanding one’s purpose. Earl and Onika emphasize that a calling is not merely a personal ambition but a divine assignment meant to serve others. They draw parallels to Biblical figures like David and Saul, illustrating how true leadership requires faith and patience rather than impulsive action.

“I'd rather be a water-walking, sometimes sinking disciple rather than a disciple that never gets out of the boat.” (00:48)

Overcoming Insecurity and Self-Doubt

Madison raises a crucial concern: How does one overcome insecurity and step into their God-given calling? The McClellans share practical strategies:

• Renewing the Mind: Filling one’s thoughts with God’s word to counteract negative self-talk.

  “Renew our minds... fill our hearts and our minds with the truth of God.” (52:20)

• Serving Others: Reframing one’s purpose as a means to bless and uplift others, maintaining humility.

  “My long term goal is to wash people's feet and to serve them.” (35:38)

• Accountability and Mentorship: Engaging with mentors and accountability partners who can provide honest feedback and guidance.

  “Have somebody that you're willing to submit something under and you're willing to hear a no from.” (28:06)

Practical Tools and Daily Practices

The discussion highlights several actionable steps listeners can take to align with their calling:

• Daily Prayer and Meditation: Establishing a routine to seek God’s guidance and reinforce one’s identity in Him.
• Speaking Life into Others: Encouraging others not only benefits them but also shifts focus away from personal struggles.

  “I send voice memos to other people and I just speak life over other people.” (55:14)

• Embracing the Waiting Season: Understanding that delays are often opportunities for growth and character development.

  “God is developing some things... Are you still willing to trust God during that time?” (01:09)

Biblical Insights and Parables

Earl and Onika reference Biblical stories to underscore their points:

• David vs. Saul: Highlighting the importance of patience and faith over immediate gratification and control.

  “David honored God and others, whereas Saul acted out of insecurity.” (22:43)

• Exodus Journey: Illustrating how God’s longer path often includes challenges that fortify faith and resilience.

  “God did not take them the shorter route because they were going to face a battle.” (81:14)

Conclusion and Encouragement

As the episode winds down, Madison and the McClellans offer profound encouragement to listeners grappling with their purpose:

• Trust in God’s Timing: Emphasizing that God’s plans are perfect, even when they deviate from personal timelines.
• Celebrate Others’ Successes: Encouraging a mindset shift from comparison to celebration, fostering a supportive community.

  “If you cannot celebrate what God is doing in that person, then you better get off of Instagram or TikTok.” (63:37)

• Endurance and Faithfulness: Reminding that true fulfillment comes from persevering through challenges with faith.

Madison wraps up by reiterating key takeaways:

“Don’t bury your gifts. Serve people. Use your gifts to bless others.” (80:47)

She also provides resources for further exploration, including links to Earl and Onika’s books and Shoreline City Church’s website, encouraging listeners to delve deeper into their spiritual journeys.

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Notable Quotes:

• “I'd rather be a water-walking, sometimes sinking disciple rather than a disciple that never gets out of the boat.” — Earl McClellan (00:48)
• “When you know the truth, it's the truth that will set you free.” — Madison Prewett Troutt (08:00)
• “Weakness is actually going to drive me to the feet of Jesus and say, hey, when I'm weak, you're strong.” — Madison Prewett Troutt (58:37)

This episode offers a compelling blend of personal testimony, Biblical wisdom, and practical advice, making it a valuable listen for anyone seeking clarity on their divine calling and purpose.

Transcript

[Chris Gethard]

Beautiful Anonymous changes each week. It defies genres and expectations. For example, our most recent episode, I talked to a woman who survived a murder attempt by her own son. But just the week before that, we just talked the whole time about Star Trek. We've had other recent episodes about sexting in languages that are not your first language or what it's like to get weight loss surgery. It's unpredictable, it's real, it's honest, it's raw. Get Beautiful Anonymous. Wherever you listen to podcasts, what would.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

You say to the person who is confused about their calling and asking, what is God's call for my life?

[Earl McClellan]

I like to look at the gifts that God has given a person, and I think that gives you an indicator of which direction you're supposed to go.

[Onika McClellan]

Who are you when everyone says it's good, but God said, no, I'd rather.

[Earl McClellan]

Be a water walking, sometimes sinking disciple rather than a disciple that never gets out of the boat.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

How do you overcome the insecurity in order to step into who God has called you to be?

[Grant Trout]

God has a plan and purpose for your life. He's just getting started. He's excited about you.

[Onika McClellan]

Can I miss my purpose? Can I make the wrong decision? And all of a sudden, that domino effect, I miss out on what God had for me.

[Earl McClellan]

God is developing some things. You might be 17 years away from one of the most significant things you ever do in your life. Are you still willing to trust God during that time?

[Grant Trout]

It's my favorite thing, watching people become who God's called him to be.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It's beautiful.

[Earl McClellan]

I have the pictures.

[Grant Trout]

Literally, I was like this text conversation, text conversation.

[Earl McClellan]

Onika goes, did you eat my cookie?

[Onika McClellan]

No, I literally said it.

[Grant Trout]

Here.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

What's up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of Stay True podcast. I'm your host, Madison Pruitt Trout, here in not the Stay True studio, because we're in Dallas, Texas, sis. I'm here with my husband and close friends. I'm so excited, you guys. We have Earl and Onique.

[Earl McClellan]

Let's go be here.

[Grant Trout]

So excited.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Oh, my goodness. I don't even know where to start with these guys. These are. I was just praying right before this and I was saying they are the most joyful, encouraging people. So when you listen to this podcast, you're going to have a smile on your face so big. But you're also going to feel so encouraged, challenged, convicted, and closer to Jesus. But they are authors and speakers. They are pastors for Shoreline City Church here in Dallas, Texas, which I went to when I was here in Dallas. And we. We go way back.

[Earl McClellan]

Go way back. Love having you. You're the best of you guys. The two of you together. Dynamic duo.

[Grant Trout]

Lightning in a bottle.

[Earl McClellan]

Yes. And then you had the audacity to bring in the cutest little girl.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Listen, she.

[Onika McClellan]

How about the name, too?

[Earl McClellan]

It's pretty special.

[Onika McClellan]

Worshipful name.

[Earl McClellan]

It is a worship name.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It took to land on that. He was the harder one.

[Grant Trout]

Really.

[Onika McClellan]

It's those final weeks, like, she's about.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

To be born, and I'm like, listen, I'm about to just name our child without you.

[Grant Trout]

On the floor.

[Onika McClellan]

Psalm.

[Earl McClellan]

Psalm.

[Onika McClellan]

Salah, Beautiful. Hosanna.

[Earl McClellan]

Oh, those are the three. Okay.

[Onika McClellan]

Lot of psalms.

[Grant Trout]

Worship we love. All worship, we love.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

But I'm so glad that you guys are on the podcast. It is about time.

[Grant Trout]

You're two of our favorite people.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It is about time. And we got to start with how we met you guys, first of all. Well, I met you guys, like, just through going to Shoreline.

[Grant Trout]

Literally, like, the Saturday night.

[Earl McClellan]

Saturday night, like, oh, yeah, it was, like, 2 o' clock in the morning. We left those days far before Jesus, though.

[Onika McClellan]

We would have had a good time. I know we would have.

[Earl McClellan]

We're having a better time.

[Grant Trout]

It is a better time.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

We met in church at Shortline City. But you met them at Passion Conference.

[Onika McClellan]

I met. I met Earl in the bathroom.

[Earl McClellan]

It was in the bathroom at the Passion Conference.

[Onika McClellan]

It was. By the way, we got to just bring up, like, that sermon that you gave, bro. We will never forget it, man. I don't know why.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It was a sticky sermon. You know those sticky.

[Grant Trout]

Those ones that just like, yeah, stay with you.

[Onika McClellan]

It was anointed, but it was. I am with you heart and soul.

[Earl McClellan]

Oh, man.

[Onika McClellan]

And, bro, that was, like, one of the most anointed sermons I heard.

[Earl McClellan]

I appreciate you even saying that.

[Onika McClellan]

And so I'm going to the bathroom. I love you.

[Earl McClellan]

I love.

[Onika McClellan]

And I see the dude that just spoke, and I was like, that's my guy.

[Earl McClellan]

I love him.

[Onika McClellan]

And I don't know what I said to you.

[Earl McClellan]

No, man, you. You stood in the urinal right next to me, which is weird.

[Onika McClellan]

I waited.

[Earl McClellan]

That's against God's rule. Supposed to be you seeing my sho. Everything.

[Grant Trout]

Everything.

[Earl McClellan]

Yes.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Was it bonding over the shoe game?

[Earl McClellan]

I don't know. No. You were so kind. We did. Yeah. And you're a Hooper.

[Onika McClellan]

Hooper, bro.

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah.

[Onika McClellan]

Y' all both played college, and then.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

No, but you. He comes out of the bathroom, and he's like, I just linked up with Earl. And, like, I love that.

[Onika McClellan]

I'm with him, heart and soul.

[Earl McClellan]

I'm with y' all.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

What just happened in the bathroom?

[Earl McClellan]

I'm like, there's some people you meet, though, and you feel those instant connections. It doesn't happen with everyone. Right. You know, but you meet some people, you go, man, huh. Seems like I've known you forever.

[Grant Trout]

Right?

[Onika McClellan]

That's what we feel. The joy, the Lord, the two of.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

You, like, just the two most joyful men I've ever met. I'm like, no, it makes sense that they bond.

[Grant Trout]

Exactly, exactly. It's. I mean, just literally our first double date. We were taking selfies in the bathroom.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

We're just like, y' all were in.

[Grant Trout]

There for a minute.

[Earl McClellan]

You guys were in there for a minute.

[Onika McClellan]

Tell them how we went to the Mavs game.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

So we're. Grant and I are always praying. So we were living in Waco, Texas, at the time, and we're coming to Dallas for, like, a couple days, and we get some. I almost said Map City. I keep saying Map City. It's not Map City. That. That sounds better. Basketball game.

[Grant Trout]

Yes.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And we have tickets, and we're like, we have two extra. Who should we invite? And we're praying. We're like, who should we invite? Earl and Onika are put on our hearts.

[Earl McClellan]

That was definitely the Lord. Let me just tell you right now.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Bria has with them is meeting Earl Guy, you know?

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And we're like, this makes sense.

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah, it felt right. Yeah.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Let's call him up, man. And then you guys said yes, and we had the best time.

[Grant Trout]

It was so fun.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

We're having, like, deepest testimony talk.

[Grant Trout]

Like, we're talking about family, all the things. We got it all in.

[Onika McClellan]

Totally.

[Earl McClellan]

No, it's a gift. When God gives you those moments, right, with people, and you're like, you know what? It's a little slice of heaven on earth right here, you know, because we all have plenty of, you know, this drama and problems and issues going on. But then you have some friends that you sit with and you laugh and you talk, and it just seems like almost you don't have any problems for a little while. So you guys are definitely those kind of people. We love y' all a touch.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

We love y' all so much. My girl Oni Guy said this right before the podcast, but she is the most intentional person. I'll just, like, receive flowers from Ona, and I'm like, my whole life is made.

[Grant Trout]

That was just so.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And they're, like, the most stunning flowers you've ever seen in your life. I'm like, go to Dollar General.

[Earl McClellan]

You know, do they have flowers at Dollar General?

[Onika McClellan]

I love it.

[Earl McClellan]

I love it.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Throwing shade on me. They hanging on these myself. We were laughing right before the podcast.

[Grant Trout]

Because why we got.

[Onika McClellan]

Come on.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Nick and I are talking about our expectations for, like, birthdays, Christmas.

[Grant Trout]

You know what I' experience.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

We like. Yeah, we like. Give us a good experience and put some thoughtfulness into it. And my sweet Grant, who is so thoughtful for Christmas, he took my words literally when I said, hey, don't give.

[Onika McClellan]

Me anything for Christmas.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I said, we don't need gifts for Christmas.

[Onika McClellan]

That's agreed upon.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I came in with, like, four gifts.

[Onika McClellan]

We're ready to shoot.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

He comes in with the letter, and.

[Earl McClellan]

I said, yeah, what is this?

[Grant Trout]

What else?

[Earl McClellan]

Clues.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Blues clues.

[Grant Trout]

You could go way back.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

That's really good.

[Onika McClellan]

Thoughtful letter, though.

[Earl McClellan]

Thoughtful letter.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

No, it was a thought.

[Onika McClellan]

Thoughtful letter.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It was a really thoughtful letter, but my love language is not words of affirmation. So I said, thanks, sweetheart.

[Grant Trout]

I want to open up.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Oh, yeah. Come on.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah, that's a gift.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

So I just watched him open the gift's eye, and I said, the word says it's better to give than it was a teaching.

[Earl McClellan]

Grant.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

Leading your family, Loving your wife. Yeah.

[Onika McClellan]

Sharing the word.

[Earl McClellan]

Powerful.

[Onika McClellan]

Someone's got to do it.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Someone's got to do it.

[Grant Trout]

Someone's got to do it.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Okay, guys, I'm taking a short break from this podcast to tell you about some exciting news. My new book, Dare to be True. Stay true. Dare to be true. It just makes sense. When God laid this podcast on my heart, I actually had already started working on my next book, Dare to be True. And the whole point of this podcast and the whole point of this book is we were all designed and made for truth, and everyone in this world is searching for it.

[Grant Trout]

It.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yet so many of us are searching for the right things in all of the wrong places. And this book is all about tackling the lies that often entangle us and bind us and finding the truth that sets us free. And so, in this book, we're going to be tackling all the things from sin and shame and the lies around eternity and the lies around your identity and the lies around your purpose and how to find the truth and live free. Because the reality is, it says in Proverbs 14:12 that there is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death. There is a way that the world preaches that we should go, that we should follow, that we should conform to, that we should look like. And in the end, it leads to death. Yet what God's word says is Jesus says in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. So he is saying, the truth you are looking for can only be found in me. I am the truth. And I'm not only the truth, I'm the truth that leads to life, life, and life abundantly. And then it says in John 8:32, when you know the truth, it's the truth that will set you free. And so if you have ever felt bound by lies, if you have ever questioned your worth, your confidence, your purpose, if you've ever wondered how you can break free from feeling weighed down, exhausted, overwhelmed, or even insecure about who you truly are and what your purpose is on this earth, this book is for you. I have often said, I just want to be free. I have looked at my husband many of times and said, I just want to be free. I'm tired of feeling weighed down. I'm tired of feeling not enough. I'm tired of being on this endless cycle of striving and performing and never feeling like I can reach what I need to reach and be who I need to be. And when I go back to the truth, when I go back to who God is and who God says I am, that is when I experience true freedom. And so this book is for you and I am so excited. True crew for you to go and get your copy of Dare to Be True. You can pre order it now. I will be including the link in this episode and so you can go and pre order it. It will be coming out this fall. I'm so, so excited and I can't wait. We're going to be doing some really fun series all about some of the content in this book. But you're going to want to get your hands on it because there's some really, really fun special pieces in this book that you can't get in this podcast. So you guys can go and pre order Dare to Be True now. If you want to break free from what is breaking you. I am so excited about today's conversation because I can't think of two better people than to have a conversation about purpose and calling. Oh, because just list. I mean doing life on life with you guys and like getting to. I mean I was telling Grant earlier, like just going to coffee with Onika. I leave there and I'm like, I was made for this moment. I was born royal. I can do things God's called me to do. I mean just the ability you have to encourage and believe in people. But you are. But it's because you're so secure in who you are and because you know who God says you are. And the God, like, the anointing that God's put on your life, that it's not intimidating or insecure to affirm someone else's and their calling. And I love that about the both of you. And so we're just so excited to get to jump in this topic, and we want to learn from. I'm like, this is.

[Earl McClellan]

Is.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

This is therapy to us. This is counseling to us. I mean, we were even saying some of the questions that we were kind of talking about and thinking through. I'm like, yeah, I actually want to know the answer to the like. Like, come on, give it to us. So I think, first of all, we just want to hear about Yalls story. And we were talking right before this about how your church is 13 years old.

[Earl McClellan]

13 years old. It is. Yeah.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Shoreline City is 13 years old. And if you guys saw it from the outside, you'd be like, this church has been going for so long because it's just. It's booming. God has blessed it. It's beautiful. And I want to hear how you got to where you are, because I know it didn't just. It didn't just start with the drive.

[Onika McClellan]

Booming, because all we know is the last two years of you guys, you didn't start here.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

So it started with a dream.

[Earl McClellan]

It really did. Literally, a dream. We were in actually, London, which sounds bougie, but there was a church we were a part of in Austin because we were on staff at a church in Austin. And a guy at the church of business leader was like, hey, I feel like you're supposed to go to this conference. Can I pay for you to go? And I was like, yeah, I think that's the Lord.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And in London, clearly.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah, clearly.

[Earl McClellan]

My son. My mom paid for our son to go. So we're over in London at this conference, and it was on my birthday, actually, and I have a dream. And in the dream, Christine Cain is talking to me in the dream, and she's saying, earl, what are you supposed to do with your life? And in the dream, I'm doing this. I'm kind of. Those who are just listening to this, I have my head down right now. I'm kind of hemming and hawing. I'm like, I don't know. I'm not sure. And then the dream, I go, that doesn't make sense. And I look at her and I go, I'm supposed to lead my own church. And I wake up. So I don't know, it's three o' clock in the morning. I wake up Oneka. I'm like, honey, I just had this dream and this is the truth. She goes, duh. I've known that since college. Go to bed.

[Grant Trout]

I was like, sleep deprived.

[Earl McClellan]

I like that laugh.

[Grant Trout]

I was like, duh, you've been holding out.

[Earl McClellan]

Oniga. Oniga's not a morning person, okay?

[Grant Trout]

She needs her coffee first. I did not have my coffee.

[Earl McClellan]

She is the most encouraging person you'll ever meet. And in that moment, though, I remember, like, oh, really now? I had some inklings at some times, but to me, it didn't seem like a noble pursuit per se, to be like, hey, I'm going to be pursuing this. I feel like that's something God has to let you know about for me. And so I just started the journey. Come to find out our. Not come to find out. We were in the middle of our pastors. Their middle son had just died in a car accident.

[Grant Trout]

So the church was like waiting, grieving, navigating this tragedy that was 17 years.

[Earl McClellan]

Old, fell asleep at the wheel, hit a tree, gone in an instant. So we're right hand people to our.

[Grant Trout]

Pastor and they take time away. And they said, we want you and a couple other people to lead the church in our absence so we can go heal.

[Earl McClellan]

Yep. So we're just, you know, doing the best we can, serving the church, you know, being what you need to be for the church while the pastors are away.

[Onika McClellan]

And what year is this?

[Earl McClellan]

This is 20. This is 2009.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah, I think.

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah, I think that's right.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah, sounds about right.

[Earl McClellan]

Yep. 2009. And we. I had the dream after that, that was July of 2009, that Caleb went to go be with the Lord. And then it was October of 2009 that I had this dream. I don't know what to do with it. I'm like. So I just hold onto it. I'm not going to share this with our pastors. There's no way.

[Grant Trout]

Their hearts are, like, gutted. We can't say, like, we're leaving, you know, during that time.

[Earl McClellan]

And we're like, like pillars, you know, in the church. This is not. Not that we're awesome. I'm just saying in the life ecosystem of the church, we're there to be, you know, stabilizers to help things be strong and help things keep moving forward. So we just hold onto it, hold onto it, hold onto it for months. Months, months. We go get into 2010. Then he finally asked a question. I share it with him. And I think all this does connect with purpose too. Because some people do have a dream in your heart. But then how do you end up. How do you get from where you are to where you're supposed to be? And one of the things that really helped us out a ton, honoring.

[Grant Trout]

Yep.

[Earl McClellan]

I know it's not a popular word for a lot of people, but it helped us in such a huge way because you get the dream and you think, it's time I better go. God, put this on my life. I gotta obey him. Wow. Yes. But then there's also order and honor. So in that, we were just trying to figure out how do we definitely honor the Lord, obviously, first and forem. After that, how do we honor two human beings that God made in his image in our pastors and help their hearts be stewarded? Well, during this time now, you can't control anybody. Don't want to do that. And you can't dictate all your purpose based on everybody else's opinion. You can't do that. But you can honor. And we really fought to over honor during that time.

[Grant Trout]

They showed themselves so trustworthy that we could trust them with this dream. And we knew that they loved us and wanted our best interests. And so we brought it to them and said we had this dream because something had come up in a meeting.

[Earl McClellan]

Six, seven months later.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah. So we held onto it for that long. We weren't like printing merch and like, we're out.

[Onika McClellan]

You bought the building.

[Grant Trout]

Starting the Instagram account. There's like all this stuff or having.

[Earl McClellan]

All these side conversations because we were.

[Grant Trout]

Like one of the faces. We were like kind of the face of the church meeting. We were always up on the platform because they trusted us. And so we could have used that to our advantage where we have like these side meetings of like, hey, we had this dream. Totally, totally. But we just kept it just the two of us. Cause we wanted to honor them. And so we brought it to them and we said, we trust you with the timeline. And so. And we trust you if to tell us if we're crazy or not. And they said, we love you, we believe in you. We do not wanna hold you back from what God has for you. We don't wanna see you go. But at the same time, because of how you brought it to us, let's pray on this together. And so we literally gave them our dreams.

[Earl McClellan]

And I would like to tell you.

[Grant Trout]

Guys that it was easy.

[Earl McClellan]

It was easy. Oh, it was so simple. We just trusted him so much. No way. We had this dream in our heart.

[Grant Trout]

And it was like burning in our heart.

[Earl McClellan]

Oh, my goodness. I'm like, man, I feel like God wants me to do this. So 2009, I had the dream.

[Onika McClellan]

Did you call Christine Cain? She knows that. She knows now.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

All the time Christine Kane tells you to do something.

[Earl McClellan]

She knows now. I mean, literally, this church. God used her in my dream to bring our church to life.

[Onika McClellan]

Unreal.

[Earl McClellan]

And she's about to preach at a church in just a few weeks actually, too. Whenever somebody's reading, you know, hearing, this might be another time. But she. 2010. That whole year, we did not move. Going to 2011. Still have not moved.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Wow.

[Earl McClellan]

It is January. It is February, it is March now. By 2011, we know we're supposed to go to Dallas. Okay, okay. We know this now. We haven't told the church in Austin. Nobody knows. Oneke and I keeping it to ourselves. We have to sell our house. But we can't tell any. We haven't told any of the leaders yet because we don't want to create any instability. So we'd have leaders over to our house, take our for sale sign out of our yard. You're lying. Literally, you were lying. No. Some people are like, why would we have to do that again? When you don't have any leadership responsibilities and you're looking at a situation, you might think, oh, just go ahead and do it whatever way you want to. But now that I'm in the seat of our pastors, I understand there's a bunch of nuances here. As somebody who is a pillar of the church is about to go. So he just had to do it at the right timing for him. And honestly, I think the Lord was challenging me at that time. I remember sitting down with oneique at the table going, honey, let me just express to you I am frustrated. Let me express to you that I'm sad. Let me express to you that we have poured a ton of effort and time and energy into this church for all these years, and I just would like to not have to hide this anymore. Our son was going up to get prayer at church, telling people, we're moving to Dallas. We'd like for you to pray for us.

[Grant Trout]

He's, like, horrified to his little leader.

[Onika McClellan]

That's a childlike faith.

[Earl McClellan]

So their leaders are coming up to us crying, we're laughing. Okay, listen, we haven't told anybody yet that is happening, but I need you to hold on to that. But it all worked out at the right time and in God's timing. But honor is such a powerful gift.

[Grant Trout]

And I feel that God has given. You know, 13 years later, we are reaping this incredible harvest with, like, the most amazing people. We, like, look at each other on a Sunday. We look around, and we can't believe the caliber of people that God has trusted us to lead.

[Onika McClellan]

Who's your girl? Who's the singer?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Anna Golden.

[Grant Trout]

Oh, yes.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Well, she's married. Married now, but. But, yeah, I love.

[Grant Trout]

She's my golden and, like, a perfect example. And we were talking to one of our mentors recently, and she said, they're now retired. And she said, they're retired pastors. And she said, the reason why my husband and I are at your church is because of how well you stewarded your time when you're on staff at another church. Because we keep looking at ourselves, like.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Why are they at our church?

[Earl McClellan]

Like, why are they here?

[Grant Trout]

We're like, you know, like, why? And she said, I watched the way you guys led in that moment, and she said, it still speaks to me all these years later.

[Earl McClellan]

There are these secret things that you do. Right? There are these things behind the scenes.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yes.

[Grant Trout]

That they're not shiny.

[Earl McClellan]

They're not just grinding. It's just.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

No one pats on the back for it. You're not doing it to be patted on the back. You're doing it because you want to honor God. You want to be. You want to be honorable. You want to love people. Well. And then before you know it, you know God, he starts blessing things, and you're like, why is this happening? And we had no idea about that mentor. We had no idea the reason they're now here. The highest caliber people. You're like, what are you doing here? I'll tell you why I'm here. It's because of something that you did 15, 16 years ago, which is crazy.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

That's.

[Onika McClellan]

Dude, we're watching House of David right now. And that was David's story, which was.

[Earl McClellan]

I love David's story.

[Onika McClellan]

Anointed king and then honor.

[Grant Trout]

That's true.

[Onika McClellan]

And Absalom is having the side combos.

[Earl McClellan]

That's right.

[Onika McClellan]

It's like, man, David honored. There's something about that there. I will not touch the Lord's anointed until it's time. And that's a beautiful thing.

[Earl McClellan]

You got Saul throwing all these spears.

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Earl McClellan]

David has a chance to actually kill Saul. And it almost looks like God gives.

[Onika McClellan]

Saul into David because his community tells him.

[Earl McClellan]

That's right.

[Onika McClellan]

This is from the Lord.

[Earl McClellan]

This is from the Lord.

[Onika McClellan]

But David's heart struck him.

[Grant Trout]

Yes.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Who we've been talking about.

[Onika McClellan]

That's my story right now.

[Earl McClellan]

That's it.

[Onika McClellan]

Even if your godly community says, this is from the Lord, David's heart struck him. Who are you? When everyone says it's good, but, you know, God said, no, you gotta sit.

[Earl McClellan]

And wait because you don't kill the king.

[Onika McClellan]

You don't.

[Earl McClellan]

You know, you don't kill the king or cut corners. You don't cut corners. So he goes up and he just cuts the edge of the. You know, Saul's garment, Right. Which is. Saul's in a very vulnerable position. He's going to the bathroom, revealing his feet or something. He's going to the bathroom.

[Grant Trout]

He's like, I'll be back.

[Earl McClellan]

So here they are. He's doing his business. Who knows what he was eating. Didn't go down.

[Grant Trout]

Right.

[Onika McClellan]

I don't want to know.

[Grant Trout]

I don't want to know either.

[Earl McClellan]

And David cuts it. And this would have been so epic. What if he chops off Saul's head? All of Saul's army is out there. David comes out with Saul's head. It would be the most epic story.

[Grant Trout]

Iconic. Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

But.

[Grant Trout]

Nope.

[Earl McClellan]

I'm not even touching. I shouldn't even have cut the hem of his garment. I shouldn't even have gone that far. But God will honor as you continue to honor him. And it's not. I'm not trying to do this, like, to get something from God. I want to do the right thing because it's the right thing to do.

[Onika McClellan]

Man. That's really good.

[Earl McClellan]

But it's really difficult. It's really difficult. I mean, look at you. This podcast is fantastic. Oh, my goodness. People want to have one. It's wonderful. But you had to make decisions y. That other people weren't willing to make. Again, you're not better than anybody. We're not. None of us in here are better than anyone. But you had to be willing to do some things in secret. And God's like, I see that secret stuff.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yep.

[Earl McClellan]

Okay. I'm actually going to honor that publicly. So thank you for your faithfulness in staying the course. Both of y' all, for real.

[Onika McClellan]

Oh, her, man. I watched her for two years. Say, now, Lord. He was like, no.

[Grant Trout]

Wow.

[Onika McClellan]

Now, Lord. And I would watch her go to her prayer closet, and this prayer of podcast is on the wall. And the Lord was like, not yet, daughter. Do you trust me? And she would fast and pray. And then year three.

[Grant Trout]

Wow.

[Onika McClellan]

Of this dream burning in her heart. The Lord said, you ready? And he's blessed it.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

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[Earl McClellan]

But God.

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

But God, they, like, this was my dream first. Like, why are you blessing? Why are you blessing?

[Onika McClellan]

I feel like you're getting behind.

[Earl McClellan]

Exactly.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah. I feel like I'm getting further and further from my dream. And the Lord's like, just, just be still, wait. Spend time with me. Trust me. And I'm so thankful. And it was from my prayer closet that my podcast started. It started in a prayer closet. Like, I turned my prayer closet into the podcast studio. Still, still half the prayer closet studio. And it's just, it's so, it's so important, like what you're saying of just the secret place moments, the hidden moments, who you are alone with the Lord. Faithfulness when no one's watching, no one's watching. Faithfulness not to receive something, spending time with the Lord, to be with him, not to get something from him, which I think is what God's been laying on my heart. Burning recently is the story of Mary and Martha and just how we can often get so distracted. We want to do. We want to go. We want God. You, you, you, you know, you put this through my heart. Okay, I gotta go. I gotta do it. I wanna make it happen for myself. Like, let me bust open the doors for myself. Like, you gave me the dream, let me make it happen. And so often it's like. But we're losing sight of the whole, whole point.

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

We're missing Jesus. Like we're, we're neglecting the moment of sitting at his feet, basking in his presence, beholding the king, and, and waiting upon him. So when he says go, go, you're ready, you're ready.

[Earl McClellan]

That is so good.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And I, I think if we go too soon, that then it, it's in your own strength. It's in your own strength.

[Onika McClellan]

Now you're insecure about holding it together.

[Earl McClellan]

Which again, it's hard sometimes to figure out the timing of things. Right. It could be difficult because I don't want to go too late, I don't want to go too early. How do I make it just right? And I also think that is part of the faith. That's part of the journey. That is what God wants for us. Whenever I feel like God is silent, which he never really is because obviously we have his word, but you know, he's trying to get direction like, Lord, what should I do? And you open the Bible up to a random scripture. I'm in Habakkuk.

[Onika McClellan]

Yeah.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

You'Re right.

[Onika McClellan]

One more time.

[Earl McClellan]

One more time.

[Onika McClellan]

A little bit further down.

[Earl McClellan]

Let me try this on my phone.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And you start scrolling Ephesians.

[Earl McClellan]

So we all have those moments like God, tell. If you would just tell me. I'm supposed to do it on Tuesday at 4 o' clock. I'll do it on Tuesday at 4 o' clock. And it doesn't usually work like that. Right. But I do think those times when he's silent, I think God might just be whispering, hey, y. Lean in. Yeah, get a little bit closer. And even if he's not whispering, I just, it just forces me to go, go, wait, what's going on? So I have to lean my ear in a little bit more. I'm blessed with an amazing wife. I love her so much. My secret weapon, no doubt about it. Most beautiful woman, most encouraging person you'll ever meet. Has her own life giving connection with Christ in such a beautiful way. So as a husband, I do have someone to drop to bounce things off of. So that agreement there does help. And then, you know, some people, they're not married, right? You're single and you're on your own. You're trying to figure it out. Well, are you in a great church? You know what, talk to a leader in your life, you know, have somebody that you're willing to submit something under and you're willing to hear a no from. I like to ask guys that too. When a girl wants to marry a guy, I ask, does he have anybody in his life that can tell him no?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Wow.

[Earl McClellan]

You don't want to follow a person like that. You don't want to be linked up with somebody, you know, like that. So I've got a great wife that I'm willing to submit to as well, to hear, hey, is the Lord speaking this to you as well? I've got other leaders in my life, you know, some men I can go to to say, hey, I'm feeling this and I'm thinking about to take. I'm about to take this step now and, and their, their counsel, their mistakes, their discernment. I get to put all of that stuff together and then you can feel like, all right, yeah, I think I'm, I think I feel piece, you know, to take this step at this point in time. But nowadays we get the word, we just want to go sprinting. Go sprinting. It's like, no, no, no, no, no. It's not time yet. David was anointed, but not appointed. Right. As they say, it took time for him. Now compare it to Saul. Saul gets, I forgot the chapter that might be 14 of scripture. I could be messing that up. Maybe it's 10 or 11. But he is told he's going to be king, and it's only three chapters later he's anointed king.

[Grant Trout]

Yep.

[Earl McClellan]

Take David. He's got anointed here. You got to keep flipping till you get to a whole nother book until he is anointed here.

[Onika McClellan]

That's good, that's good.

[Earl McClellan]

But that right there is the process. It's the process. It separates those two guys from each other. And I think that's what we want. We want the long haul.

[Onika McClellan]

Yeah, 100%.

[Earl McClellan]

I don't want the short.

[Grant Trout]

I feel like that's why we're able to do what we now do because of that waiting season. Because when we first moved here, it was very difficult. There was so much spiritual warfare. It looks like when you watch on the outside in, because we were on staff, we were super close to our pastors. We were like a right hand couple. So we felt like, oh, we get this. We're about to go to Dallas, let's go. And 15 people later, you know, we're like preaching our guts out to a room of 15 precious people. But just the, like, warfare that came against Us, the grit, the hustle, the feeling, misunderstood, the God, did we make the right decision? We're in this city. We're by ourselves.

[Earl McClellan]

Very sick, too.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah, I got super sick. Just, like, randomly. I got hit with sickness. Then our son got sick. And we have this promise because. And we're like. We waited. We did the right thing by getting the blessing of our pastors. But I feel like in that wait, it taught us to have the stamina and the spiritual grit to handle the warfare that came our way, to handle the disappointment. And so there was development in the weight. And I feel like when we just sprint to something without the development, that's when you can, like, fall apart.

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah, you get crushed because you.

[Grant Trout]

You build it on yourself, and then you have to sustain it on yourself instead of like, oh, God, this was your idea. I need you to sustain it.

[Earl McClellan]

I even love what you're saying, Maddie, about you being in your prayer closet for those couple years. Grant, great job, you know, honoring your wife like that. So beautiful. But it's like, here's a couple years. You're praying, and you think, man, I'm wasting time. God's like, oh, my goodness. You have no idea what I'm doing in you right now. I am shaping you in ways you can't even see. And now look what God has done with this and how he has just opened such amazing doors and how he's using this for his glory. But now you have even stronger character to be able to sustain what God is putting on you. It's remarkable. We're inspired by you guys.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

That's so good. It is in those waiting seasons that you're developed, and it's in that development that it builds that endurance. Because we say all the time, it's like, we want to make it to the.

[Onika McClellan]

To the end, man.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Look at Saul and David and the. The thing that sets them apart is how they finished. It's like they both started at the same point. You know, they both were anointed as king, but they didn't finish the same. It's like, we want to make it to the end. We want to endure to the end. Anyone can start well, but can you finish well? And it's in those waiting, hidden seasons where that endurance.

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

He gives you that. You're saying, that stamina, that ability to go the distance.

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

To go the distance and to not give up.

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[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I'd love to just kind of like generally for those listening, you know, with those asking like, I'm confused about my calling. Sure. I'm confused about this whole idea of purpose. What, what, what advice or what would you say to the person who is confused about their calling and asking what is God's call for my life?

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah, I love that question. I've got some thoughts on it, but you can totally.

[Grant Trout]

I was just going to say, but then I'll let you pop off because I know it's about to like flow out of you. Pop off King. I was just going to say that framing any call with serving people is so safe because then you learn that whatever I'm going to do, if I'm going to be an author, if I'm going to be a speaker, if I'm going to be a stay at home mom, if I'm going to be a business leader, if I'm an influencer, if my long term goal is to wash people's feet and to serve them and to leave them better than when they started. I feel like it helps you not be selfish in what you build. Other people are blessed by it. And so I think if we reframe our call of like God, you gave me this dream. How can I use this dream to serve other people? I feel like it keeps your heart tender, it keeps your heart pure. It helps you not to think too highly of yourself. It helps you to walk into a room and be humble and to not think, like I'm about to blow up. You know, let me pop off. Exactly.

[Earl McClellan]

Share that. Honey, here I am versus there you are.

[Grant Trout]

Oh yeah. One of our mentors years ago Taught us this phrase, when you walk into a room to have a, like, there you are. Spirit, like, there you are. I'm so excited to see you. Instead of, like, here I am. And I think that even with whatever call that God has placed on your life, if you have the there you are with whatever you're called to do.

[Earl McClellan]

Exactly. It just teacher, business leader, whatever it is.

[Onika McClellan]

And I have something small that I just watched with you guys. Is y' all both asked Dylan what her name was. And.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And we, you know, Dylan works here at the studio.

[Onika McClellan]

Dylan works. She set all this up. But I like, man, you're around enough Christian people that are doing big things that walk into rooms and don't see people, and you guys see people. And that's what I love about y' all is, is it's easy to walk in a room and sit down. But you saw Dylan, and that's the small things that the Lord honors. And he sees that man. And it's a beautiful way to frame it. How are you going to watch it?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And we say that often is.

[Onika McClellan]

Yeah, we've heard that, too.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

What is it? There.

[Onika McClellan]

There you are.

[Grant Trout]

There you are. Yeah.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

So good. Yeah, I love that because so often when we're thinking, God, you gave me this dream. This dream is about me. This dream is going to serve me.

[Onika McClellan]

And you, like, slap God's name on it, right?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

God bless this dream for me. And it's like, you read throughout Scripture, you look at the life of Jesus, every gift that is given you. Read through Romans 12. The gift you've been given from the Lord is to serve the body. It's to edify the body. Then to ultimately glorify God.

[Earl McClellan]

That's right.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It's like, that's what it's about. It's not the dream. The purpose God's put on your life isn't for you.

[Grant Trout]

No.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It's for him and for others.

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Earl McClellan]

I would be. I would love to challenge someone. I would love to see an example of somebody in scripture that received a gift that was just supposed to be for them. I don't know of one man.

[Onika McClellan]

That's good.

[Earl McClellan]

I mean, the gifts, to your point, were always. God is saying, I'm giving this to you as a gift. And then you're supposed to share it, you know, with the world. We. You guys do doordash?

[Onika McClellan]

Oh, yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah. All the time. Are you kidding us?

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Onika McClellan]

Like, looking at my hundred dollars.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I'm like, babe, steaks.

[Grant Trout]

It's exactly. Yes.

[Earl McClellan]

And I don't want to be exclusive to Doordash. Maybe Uber eats. I don't know who's sponsoring.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I have all of them on.

[Earl McClellan]

Both are good. Whoever can get it to be fastest. Expensive. Yes, but why? If I place an order on DoorDash and it comes to my house and the person delivering it is eating my order.

[Grant Trout]

That happened to me recently.

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah, which. For real. The crumble cookies that were you talking about?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yes.

[Earl McClellan]

You're lying. Guys, wait, listen.

[Grant Trout]

We were so excited.

[Earl McClellan]

We can't prove it, but we think.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Listen, listen.

[Grant Trout]

I was so excited. You know, you can pick the flavors. So I curated our little box for our family. I get there. We get there. The seal is broken.

[Earl McClellan]

A cookie's missing.

[Grant Trout]

No. So listen, listen. Why did I retext the driver?

[Earl McClellan]

Guys, I have the pictures.

[Grant Trout]

Literally, I was like.

[Earl McClellan]

Of the.

[Grant Trout]

This text conversation.

[Earl McClellan]

Text conversation. Onika goes, did you eat my cookies? No, I literally said it.

[Onika McClellan]

I'm here.

[Grant Trout]

I got nothing to read around the photo that literally. What is missing? Where's the chocolate brownies? Yeah, Crumbs on your lips busted open anyway. Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

But it makes no sense for the delivery driver to consume what he's supposed to be delivering.

[Grant Trout]

Wow.

[Earl McClellan]

Same thing with us with our gifts. Why would we think these gifts that God gave us, right? Somebody else is placing an order. Somebody else is calling God, God, I need some hope. Or God, I need a podcast. I need a word that's going to encourage me. Me, God, I need a doctor that's going to help me here, whatever it is. And then God goes, oh, great, I'll get that to you. And he finds a grant. He finds a Maddie, he finds an Ona. Hey, I'm going to give you this to give to them. Why would we consume it and use it all on ourselves when it wasn't for us? This is God's delivery system here. So I love Onika's point there. First and foremost, you gotta be like, I'm here to serve. I also think sometimes this can get framed uniquely, depending on, you know, the person, because we think calling and we think my job. And I just think your job is gonna change a lot of times depending on the season of life that you are in now. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe somebody's gonna be a teacher forever. But I actually think, what am I called to? I like to look at the gifts that God has given a person, you know, and I think that gives you an indicator of which direction you're supposed to go and say, you do have a gift to teach. Well, you could work in government, you could work in business. You can work in the education system, you can even be at a church. But that same gift can operate in all of those different places. And so I. I try to get away from, oh, this is the thing that I'm going to do forever, and I'm never going to have another job. You might have another job, but the gift that God has given you, you. That's going to continue to be used no matter where you are. So I like to ask the people around, I encourage people, ask people around you, what am I good at? Yeah, what do you see that comes out of me naturally? You're like, man, you're really critical. Okay, how can I use that for God's call?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Right, right.

[Earl McClellan]

That's right. Do I have any other kids? No. Really, just pull the environment down. Yes, you are. You probably need to work for an insurance company.

[Onika McClellan]

Yeah.

[Grant Trout]

So funny.

[Earl McClellan]

But I think that really can help a person. Just on a super practical note, stop looking at everybody else going, oh, I want to do what they do. I want to do what they do. Are you even designed and built to do what they do? So that's first and foremost. But another one, and this, I think I would say that that's, how has God formed you? But then I also ask, man, where might I want to be formed? Like, where do I feel like I have, like, a leaning? Now, this would be a bad example, Mattie, because you're here doing this podcast and you are always. I think maybe we're always great up in front of people. I don't know. But somebody might think, you know what? I want to have the ability to be able to speak in front of people. Well, you can work on that skill.

[Grant Trout]

Right?

[Earl McClellan]

You can get better there. It doesn't mean you have to hold God to. I'm going to do this in front of the masses. It just might mean you're growing in a skill that you want to develop in. And you might never be a 10. Maybe you'll be a 6. But you know what? Right now you're a 2. So better than be a 6, than being a 2. So I like to find some things that I feel like it would even stretch me that I might not even be good at. I picked up the guitar a long time ago. I didn't finish it, but I picked it up. I'm not good at it, but it worked. Some other stuff in me that I was just good to develop in. I want to get fluent in Spanish. I'm not there yet at all, but. But you know what? I want to just try that. And I Just think some of those things help an individual become who God has called them to be because you begin to discover some things about yourself along the way. So I don't know if that helps.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

We just set up a Blackstone, so that's his next.

[Onika McClellan]

Yeah, I'm building things now. I got my hammer and nails, and. Are you serious? It's. I'm growing.

[Earl McClellan]

I'm.

[Onika McClellan]

I'm being stretched.

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah.

[Onika McClellan]

So it's good, man.

[Earl McClellan]

That's really good.

[Onika McClellan]

I got a question A lot of people are probably wondering, like. Like, can I miss my calling? Can I miss my purpose? Can I make the wrong decision? And all of a sudden, that domino effect, I miss out on what God had for me. We. We get that question a lot. What would y' all say to that? I mean, I know y' all had that stretch when you moved to Dallas, and it was hard.

[Grant Trout]

Very hard. Yeah.

[Onika McClellan]

And I think people can mistake hard for. Is that wrong?

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Onika McClellan]

Give me the little moments individually for y' all.

[Grant Trout]

Yes.

[Onika McClellan]

Either where you were like. Like, did I miss it or. No, this was just hard. Like, talk to that person right now. Struggling with that.

[Earl McClellan]

Really good, honey.

[Grant Trout]

I was just going to say that. During the hard seasons for any of us, like, I remember during the pandemic, leading our church through the pandemic. Jess was probably, like, outside of moving here and, like, starting the church, the pandemic would be the second, I feel, like, hardest thing we've had to do together, for sure.

[Earl McClellan]

And parenting.

[Grant Trout]

And parenting, yes. Parenting, yes. You have three kids. They serve us. We're obsessed with them, but they stretch us. And that's harder than leading the church. It is, actually. But, Jess, our church looks like heaven. So you have everyone.

[Earl McClellan]

And before the pandemic, white, black, Latino.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah. Asian, Asian, literally.

[Earl McClellan]

You got older people, younger people, business.

[Grant Trout]

Leaders, stay at home, moms, college kids. You got every political stance that you could think of all in one place. So before the pandemic, that was like. We're like, this is so amazing. Look at heaven, bringing all these worlds together. Anytime a guest speaker would come before the pandemic, they would. Their breath would be taken away because they would just go, look at all these people from all different walks of life. But then that very thing, that is a gift, and still a gift to this day, was the most difficult thing because we weren't leading a group of people that everyone thought similarly. And so we would say one thing, and then the person would hear it with the wrong lens or wrong ear and twist something that we were saying. And so we felt very misunderstood during that time. As leaders then the world's trying to tear everybody apart, not bring everybody together. And we're like preaching Jesus. We're like preaching into our church. There's nobody there. Cause we had to close. So we're like pouring our guts out to just like empty rooms when we're used to people to lock eyes with. People are sick. People are trying to decide, should I go to the grocery store? Should I not Mass. You can't see people's faces. And so it was just for all of us. Not just us. It was like, such a difficult time. And I remember feeling so misunderstood. And I remember thinking like, God, is this what you've called us to? Because the pressure was so. It was like, intense. It was intense. And I remember questioning, like, God, do you want us to keep going? Because the weight of this is so heavy. And what helped me when I felt like, did we miss this? Like, should we go into another profession? Was actually worship. I kept playing worship music, and worship music reset me. Me, reframe my thoughts, gave me my. Why? Because you sing these songs like, God, I'm available. God, use me. And then when he uses you, and you make yourself available, sometimes there's this press. And I think I used to believe because God's on it, because he's graced it. That means it's going to be easy. But it's. And then that would discourage me. But even when you're in your call and it's hard, it could just be God developing you and forcing you to trust in him and to lean on him. So it's my long way of saying is worship gets me through the times when I feel like this is too hard. And sometimes hard is good. Because then it forces you. Because anything that you do that then God blesses. Then it grows. Then you start to think you can believe the lie. Like, oh, I did this. You know, so I got to keep doing. Keep this. And so the heart actually forces you to go. Like, this is not even mine. This wasn't my idea. This belongs to God. God, if you don't show up, then I can't do this. So hard can be good.

[Earl McClellan]

I love that. I don't know any new life that comes into the world that doesn't come with some level of pain. I mean, you have hosanna. I mean, listen, natural childbirth.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Let me.

[Grant Trout]

No edurl that straight. That alone.

[Onika McClellan]

Straight 10 hours of. And I'm right there. I'm face to face. Not about me. It's about you.

[Earl McClellan]

I had A roll with the pool. We don't care about you. Gr.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

No, you didn't do anything the whole time. Yes.

[Grant Trout]

You see your beautiful wife and your love. Oh man.

[Onika McClellan]

Well, she's in so much pain.

[Grant Trout]

Of course.

[Onika McClellan]

But any. Anyways, it came with pain.

[Earl McClellan]

There's a gift. The gift like how beautiful she is. Oh my goodness. Gift from God. Lord, this. Did that not hurt?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Right?

[Grant Trout]

Right. Did that not both of you all.

[Earl McClellan]

In a different way?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Did that hurt like you can't even.

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Earl McClellan]

I can't imagine. I can't imagine. So that is the reality. And I do think in our brain sometimes we're like, oh, God gave me this dream or God gave me this opportunity. So that means it's going to be smooth. And I just don't even know where we got that idea.

[Grant Trout]

But we believe it. And then it takes people out because they leave when it's hard.

[Earl McClellan]

That's right. And we had a mentor say this to us even the other day. It was really good. Is this doable hard or destructive hard? And I love that delineation. Doable hard or destructive hard? And she was saying even in some seasons one thing might be destructive hard, but in a later season it'll be doable hard because you gotta grow some as well. So how can somebody miss their calling? Well, I may be technically, but if somebody's asking that question, I actually would think they're on the right path. I would think that person is already pointed the right way. And even if they are older and even listening to this podcast older, you can decide what that number is. You know, some 27 year olds like, oh my gosh, I'm so old right now. So whatever number that is for you, you go, oh no, no, no. God does amazing things all the time. We talk about Passion. Louie Giglio did not have the first passion conference when he was 39. He did not start Passion City Church until he was 50. So it just puts it in perspective. Cuz somebody's 22 and they're like, oh man, I missed it my time. It's like, wait, what are you talking about here? God is developing some things. You might be 17 years away from one of the most significant things you ever do in your life. Are you still willing to trust God during that time, during that process? And that is again, this is him shaping us into the character of Christ so we can reflect his glory and his goodness every place we go. But I'm not trying to get someplace so that people validate me 100%. This is where it goes back to the cross and it being enough. And I know I don't even want to sound cliche, but I am not looking for anybody else to validate me. Maybe there was a day I was.

[Onika McClellan]

And that's huge.

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah, but you gotta get there to that place. It's like, you know what? I don't need somebody else to co sign on my life for me to say I'm worth something. The cross already did that. The empty grave already establishes God knows my name. He loves me, and since I'm here on this planet, that means he wanted me here. I don't care if your parents are divorced. I don't care if you had to go through. You're adopted. We've got two kids that are adopted. God was in the midst of all of that as well. Got them in the exact right family that God wanted them to be in. So the Lord's hand is on you. So I'm not looking for a certain number of followers or to go viral or to have a book or whatever to be the thing that now validates me. Oh, I got my master. Now I'm validated. No, if you keep looking for all these other things, you'll be striving for the rest of your life.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It'll never be enough.

[Earl McClellan]

No, I'm gonna go get my master's degree because I want to maximize the calling that God has put on me so that I can love people and serve people the best I possibly can. That's why I'm gonna go do that. And if it comes out of that place of wholeness, man, life is filled with so much more joy.

[Onika McClellan]

We've been talking about sprinting in our gifts. And that's my prayer right now is, Lord, I feel like I've crawled or walked or even run. And I was like, I want to sprint. And I want that young David mentality. That is not prove. Nothing to lose. I know who I am. And as you. We've just talked so much about David and Saul. And you know, God said, saul, your king, but when they called Saul up in front of the people, he was.

[Earl McClellan]

Hiding in the baggage.

[Onika McClellan]

He didn't believe he was who God said he was.

[Earl McClellan]

That's right.

[Onika McClellan]

Therefore, he's fighting out of insecurity. But David came up and it could look arrogant. He believed who God said he was. And that's the difference, man. How do we walk in that?

[Earl McClellan]

So good.

[Onika McClellan]

And that's hard to walk in even as believers, man.

[Earl McClellan]

Like, that's hard times, too. Go ahead. I'm sorry.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

No, I was just Going to say, like, you wrote a book on this called Born Royal, and I would love to ask a question out of that because I know that there's a lot of people who have this dream that God's put on their heart or this purpose they feel called to, but they're fighting so much insecurity or unworthiness or I'm not qualified to do the thing that I feel God's called me to do or I don't know where to start because I can't even. I don't even. I don't even like me. So how am I gonna go and like, do this thing? Cuz I don't. I'm not even good with me. And so what, what would you say to the person who is fighting a lot of lies right now? And how do you overcome the insecurity in order to step into who God has called you to be?

[Grant Trout]

Yes, that's a great question.

[Earl McClellan]

It's a great, great question.

[Grant Trout]

I would say it starts with renewing our minds. I feel like we take in so much, like all of us just take in so much, so much, so much. But we don't replace a lot of it with God's word. We just take in all the things on our phone, you know, consuming all the stuff. Yes. All day long. I'm guilty of it too. I love my phone. I'm not mad about it. But I lay down the idol, honey, if not more. I love. But I love my Bible more and I love spending time with Jesus more. And I feel like if more of us spent time of, like God. What do you think of me? How do you see me? What do you say about me? I feel like then that helps erase some of the lies that the enemy tries to place in our minds. And so I'm praying that even during this conversation that God is supernaturally renewing minds, that God is supernaturally like replacing the lies of the enemy with what the truth of his word says. That like, you're fearfully and wonderfully made. Made. God has a plan and purpose for your life. He's just getting started. He's excited about you. Like, your sin and what you've done in the past does not define you. Like, today can be your fresh start. And I feel like if we fill our hearts and our minds with the truth.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Amen.

[Grant Trout]

And what God's word says about us, it's like the title of this podcast, Stay True. Instead of staying focused on the lies, staying focused on the truth of God. And I think the truth of God is what's Obviously, it's the truth that sets us free, but it also reframes and gives us a new, fresh mind. So I think asking God, help me to see myself the way you see me, and then asking God, like, speak your word over me and reading scripture over yourself, I even sometimes will, like, I'll lay hands on myself. I'll literally, like, put my hand on my head, and I will read scripture over myself. I will ask God to fill my mind with what his word says about me. When all those crazy thoughts come in, those lies that we all get inundated with, like, I'm not good enough. I missed it here. I messed up there. I'm like, God, I need you to reprogram this thought and reshape, which he does so beautifully. So I think first and foremost, doing that.

[Earl McClellan]

And you gotta do that daily, too. Oh, for sure.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It's not like moment by moment, Moment by.

[Earl McClellan]

No, it's like. Yeah, I know. I wanted to say to a great conference, and, man, it was amazing, and just give it a week. You know, that stuff can kind of wear off, if you will, where you have to steward what God has given you. And I think these are some really practical tools here to go. Hey, today I'm gonna start my knees on my. I'm gonna start my day on my knees. Today I'm going to do that. And then you even see Daniel. He prayed three times over the course of a day.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

Interesting. He worked in the marketplace, was in a culture that was not honoring the Lord. Your boy went up three times a day to pray, to go, let me make sure I'm reorienting my heart and my mind and the truth of who God is. So maybe somebody in the morning, you do it. And then during your lunch break, you got another seven minute, you know, are you throwing whatever song you want to throw one. You open up your scripture, you're like, lord, I want to help reprioritize my mind and my focus. I want to refocus my heart where it needs to go. And that again, that's not sexy.

[Grant Trout]

No, no.

[Earl McClellan]

But it's right. It's healthy. It's good. I'm sorry, honey.

[Grant Trout]

You still going so powerful. And the other thing that I was going to say is speaking life over other people. I think that sometimes when we're stuck in our own feelings, we just let those take us out. But when I get discouraged, I send voice memos to other people, and I just speak life over other people. I DM people. I. I text people. And I like, it takes my mind off of myself. And then by the time I'm encouraging someone else, then I forget that I'm discouraged. And I think that that's a superpower that we can all have access to, which is speaking God's word and speaking life over other people. And it helps you get you out of your pit. And then you're like, oh, my gosh, God does have a plan for my life. He used my life to speak words of life over someone else. And then your words become water to the seeds in people's heart. And then it's my favorite thing, watching people become who God's called them to be. Like, when you see someone who's like me, you think me and. And God's like, yes, you. And then you watch them walk out their journey. It is. It is, like, so inspiring.

[Onika McClellan]

We're sitting in part of that. Like, she met with you, and you did that, and you watered this seed, this physical seed.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

We're sitting about Stay True Pocket Stay True.

[Onika McClellan]

So you're doing that.

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah.

[Onika McClellan]

And it's beautiful. We see it on both you guys.

[Earl McClellan]

It is so remarkable.

[Grant Trout]

It's so. It's an honor to be in the field that you guys have planted together as a couple. And we're looking around at all the fruit in the field that you guys have planted, and the harvest is just, like, stunning and supernatural. But God trusts you, and he keeps, like, blessing you and giving you voices into all these different spaces and rooms because of how well you steward it.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Hey, guys. This episode of Stay True is brought to you by Glorify, the number one Christian daily devotional app. Whether you've been following Jesus for a really long time or you're very new to your faith journey, this app is for you. Glorify meets you right where you're at. If you're feeling strong, stressed, anxious, or maybe you don't know where to start in your Bible, go to Glorify's app and find daily devotionals, guided meditations, worship playlists, and so much more. You can start your mornings with Glorifi's Bible passage of the day, devotional and immersive daily walk with God. And if you're anything like me and your mind will not shut off at night, you can check out their sleep meditations. Join over 20 million people who have downloaded Glorify and have drawn closer to God just one step at a time. Visit glorify-app.com Stay True to download Glorify for free. That's glorified-app.com StayTrue to download the Glorify app for free. Glorify-app.com StayTrue I love what you're saying, because I think we have a choice when we feel weak, and it's that weakness can lead us to despair, or that weakness can lead us to desperation to say, lord, I'm desperate for your truth. You tell me who I am for that wrestle. Yeah. And. And Paul had this beautiful moment of saying, weakness is not going to make me insecure. Weakness is not going to make me hate myself and look in the mirror and say, how can you be the way that you are? Weakness is actually going to drive me to the feet of Jesus and say, hey, when I'm weak, you're strong. Where I end, you begin. And you get to tell me who I am, and you get to show people you are. And I think that's where we have the opportunity to say, okay, I. I am unqualified. Like, I actually am unworthy. I actually don't.

[Earl McClellan]

That's right.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I want to know the truth about all those lies. There. There's truth to it. Because, like, so when the enemy says, hey, you ain't worthy. You're like, actually, actually, you're right.

[Grant Trout]

Right.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I'm not worthy because of the blood of Jesus and because of the righteousness that he clothes me in.

[Earl McClellan]

Exactly.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I am now.

[Earl McClellan]

That's right. That's right.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And so we get to boast in the cross of Jesus Christ rather than within saying, no, I have to be strong. I have to have it all together. I have to. In order to. To walk out this dream, I have to feel. It's like, no, actually. Like, I don't have what it takes. And I'm coming into this with fear and trembling. But I know that if God has given it to me, then he's going to provide. He's going to make a way. He's going to sustain me. And the outcome's in his hands. Like, I just have to be like, yes, okay, I'll be obedient. And then what you want to do with it, God, you do with it. And that takes the pressure off.

[Earl McClellan]

It really does take the pressure off. That's powerful. I have. We. We have not done this yet, but I keep thinking I want to do it one day, which is have our staff get a garden. Have a garden outside the office and just grow stuff because it's slow.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

You got to weed.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah. It's not easy.

[Earl McClellan]

Fertilize.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

Something's going to come, but then something gets destroyed. You're like, wait, how did that get destroyed? How did that bunny or whatever, getting a squirrel get in here and eat this? You know, I kind of want to do that because of a little phrase we have on our staff is we're farmers, not magicians. A magician can be like, oh, hocus pocus, you know, kind of. But nothing's real. It's all just smoke and mirrors.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

Farmer man. You just in it. You got dirt underneath your fingernails. I think it's beautiful that God put Adam and Eve in a garden. I like that. It was like, that's cool. And nothing grew. You can read this. Nothing grew for two reasons. One, because God hadn't sent rain, and two, hadn't put a man on the earth. Earth to work the garden. That's what scripture tells us. No rain had come. That can only come from God. The man can't make the rain come. But there's also not a person to work it. And I feel like we're wanting to try to make the rain come and trying to work it and then wanting it all to be fast. And it's like, hey, chill out. This is garden work here. What we're doing. This is. And it's a lifetime, and it's beautiful. And one day, Joseph Rosanna is going to be 15.

[Onika McClellan]

Oh, my gosh. Don't do it.

[Earl McClellan]

It's going to be crazy.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

He's already not letting her wear bikinis.

[Onika McClellan]

She ain't wearing bikinis.

[Earl McClellan]

I love bikinis.

[Grant Trout]

I said, girl, no, you let.

[Earl McClellan]

Get her a dress immediately.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

We're full on Amish.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Literally. She ain't even seeing the sun. Right, right.

[Earl McClellan]

That was so funny.

[Grant Trout]

That is so funny.

[Earl McClellan]

But she can't get there now. Now that's just process. That just happens. That just. That's just time. And I'm okay with that time. And it's. I get frustrated because we're all people listening to this podcast are probably doers, goers wanting to make things happen. Leaders, you know, Great. We are, too. I want to do all that God has called me to be, and then I got to trust God, like you said, with the. With those seasons and times. But the comparison. You talked about, the insecurity. I do feel like the comparison is killing us.

[Grant Trout]

It is looking at other people.

[Earl McClellan]

People and going when they're doing it. Well, I should be doing that. And look what age they are. And that happened in their life. And I'm. I'm about to be that age, so I should be doing that same thing. Wait, they're married. Wait, they have kids. Wait, they bought a house. Wait, they went on that vacation. Wait, they did? And it's like, whoa. And it leads to two places, right? Leads to arrogance, comparison or at least insecurity. One of those two places. And that's why it's so unwise. The Bible tells us now, do I want to be inspired? You want to see other people. People. But to on's point, I want to celebrate. If I cannot celebrate what God is doing in that person, then I better get off the gram or I better get off of Tik Tok, because obviously my heart can't steward God blessing other people. So let me go ahead and get off of this so that I can make sure I can get strong enough to be able to celebrate everything that is happening with the Stay True podcast. What's happening with Yalls, baby. What's happening with Yalls life. I want to make sure. And any person who. You can't know that about yourself, don't beat yourself up about that. Go. You know what? Time for me to grow a little bit.

[Onika McClellan]

We all go through that. The Pharisees, they would, you know, God would do something amazing. Jesus would, you know, he's. The man's carrying his mat and he's walking. And the Pharisees couldn't see the miracle.

[Earl McClellan]

The miracle.

[Onika McClellan]

They just started to poke holes. And there's a lot of people that see movements of God. And you can't even celebrate the movement of God because you're trying to poke holes.

[Earl McClellan]

Oh, my God.

[Onika McClellan]

Is this real? What are they really doing?

[Grant Trout]

Exactly? What are they really like?

[Onika McClellan]

And that's no real way to live.

[Earl McClellan]

No.

[Onika McClellan]

Because no one's went like, you're losing.

[Earl McClellan]

You are. And you think you're exhausting.

[Onika McClellan]

You think you're the Sherlock Holmes figuring everything out and you're bitter on the sideline doing nothing. And so it's time to, like, stop poking holes and just like. What did God call YouTube?

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah. Grant's talking to somebody, right?

[Onika McClellan]

Let God deal with them.

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah, it's good, man.

[Onika McClellan]

We could just do that.

[Grant Trout]

Oh, my gosh.

[Onika McClellan]

I'm not in the role of. To see who's actually real and who. Who's not.

[Earl McClellan]

Oh, my gosh. Don't get me. I can go down that road a long time. We won't do that right now.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

We won't do.

[Grant Trout]

That's good.

[Earl McClellan]

That's aggravating. What a waste of energy. Waste time.

[Grant Trout]

Who has time anyways?

[Onika McClellan]

Yeah, man.

[Earl McClellan]

If you got that much time to be, never mind.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Start a garden. Start a garden.

[Earl McClellan]

Start a garden.

[Grant Trout]

Yes.

[Onika McClellan]

I Got a question. So I'm personally in this. I sense a dream from the Lord, but I've always been a. You know, I want to dance.

[Earl McClellan]

Right.

[Onika McClellan]

Dancing with the star.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I'm ready, like, ready theater.

[Onika McClellan]

But I've always kind of wait on the Lord phrase.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Onika McClellan]

You know, wait on the Lord. And I saw that with y' all.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Onika McClellan]

And we've hinted at this, but I can't tell right now if the Lord is like, go.

[Grant Trout]

Right, right, right.

[Onika McClellan]

And so how do y' all wrestle with the balance on small decisions and big, big of Lord, am I waiting on you or Lord, have you said go? And you're just like, go.

[Earl McClellan]

Oh, I love this question.

[Onika McClellan]

Like, how do I know, man? How do I know?

[Earl McClellan]

Number one, I think the waiting on the Lord, and I think you're doing it actually right where you're saying, I'm not sitting idle.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

I'm actually active. So if you look at a waiter at a restaurant.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

They're waiting on you. What's your order? And they go, fulfill the order. Then they come back. Any bad waiter would just sit down at the table, not do anything, not get your drink, not anticipate anything. So I say, you're already doing a great job because you're going to God saying, hey, Lord, what's the order? Hey, you want some nuggets? We got the best nuggets here, Lord. We'll go cook them up. What do you want me to get out there and do you need another drink, Lord? What do you. So you're coming to the table over and over and over again. You're not being absent from listening to his heart and his voice. So that's first and foremost, well done. So that's how I try to think of my waiting on the Lord. I'm coming to him saying, lord, what is it that you would like? Not me just sitting in the corner doing nothing, you know, if you will. So you're already. I think you're winning that way. Not now. Next. You walk by faith and not by sight. That is the reality. And are you willing to make a mistake? Now, the cool story about Peter when he walks on the water is he walks on the water to Jesus. We know he sank, you know, we know he looked at the wind and waves. Okay. But we say this at our church, too. I'd rather be a water walking, sometimes sinking to something disciple rather than a disciple that never gets out of the boat.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Wow.

[Earl McClellan]

There were at least 11 others. I'd rather be a water walking, sometimes sinking disciple rather than a Disciple who never gets out of the boat, man. So we want to do things that I know I'm. It's assure I'm gonna, I'm gonna succeed. It's. There will be no mistakes. Every, every T will be cross crossed. Every I'll be dotted. So Lord, I'll take the step when I know it is all perfect. And God's like, when have I ever asked anybody to take a step like that? This world is already broken. Nothing is perfect. With that being said, you got to be willing to fail. I think that's part of the trust. I think that's part of the faith. I think that's part of. This is not about me. It's part of God. I don't care how people see me.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

Cuz some of the hesitancy is I'm not going to do it or what.

[Grant Trout]

Other people will do.

[Earl McClellan]

Other people.

[Onika McClellan]

If it doesn't work, it's really good, man.

[Earl McClellan]

So let's try to deal with all those demons and all those lies and go, hey, if I sink and everybody sees it, that I'm still okay because I was walking towards Jesus.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Amen.

[Earl McClellan]

I was, I was just trying to do all that God was calling me to do and I'll own it. Like, dang, man, I did sink this 9. I'm gonna learn and next time.

[Grant Trout]

But I got out of the boat.

[Earl McClellan]

But I got out of the boat. I took a step. So you can do the same thing, the same behavior with different motives. You can get out of the boat because you want everybody to look at you, or you can get out of the boat because you're just trying to trust the Lord.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Wow.

[Earl McClellan]

It's the same behavior. God's the one that's going to be able to judge your heart. Maybe you'll know your heart too, or I'll know my heart. But it's the same behavior you can do. Somebody can lead worship from a place of look at me or look at God.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

Somebody can have a podcast look at me or look at God. We're not going to be the ones to try to judge everybody's motive. We just talked about that a little bit. That's between them and the Lord.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Right.

[Earl McClellan]

But I'm going to take a step in, Lord, after you've purified my emotions, purified my motives, I've given them over to you as best I know how. I've prayed 138 times. I don't want this to be about me. I want this to be about you. God's like, I hear You.

[Onika McClellan]

I got you.

[Earl McClellan]

I know this. Go take the steps now. That's good, brother. And once you do, that's the word. I'll let you fall if I want you to, because I'm here to catch you. Because this is about me and you and growing and serving others. So this is about my kingdom being pushed forward, not yours. And then sometimes you find yourself walking even longer. You like, whoa. What? I'm still on this water. Wait, how is this happening? But you know, it's not you. You know, you know it's the Lord. So I don't know if that's practical at all, but that has helped me for sure.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

It's a good pairing of like, of faithfulness with faith steps, which is what we've been talking about on this podcast so far. It's like, don't neglect those hidden alone moments with the Lord. That's where you're going to be able to discern, is this God or not? Because sometimes we have dreams for ourselves to promote our own kingdoms. And we label it with this is from God all the.

[Earl McClellan]

All the time.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

But when you are faithful in the season that God has you and you honor the people God has put around you, you celebrate others well. You spend the hidden moments alone with the Lord, faithfully and. Well, to where you know, the voice of the Lord, you know, okay, this is what you know, this is. This is what God's putting on my heart. And you're being faithful. There's still going to come a moment where there's a crossroads. Do I. Can I. Can I take these steps? Like, I can choose to stay on the boat. All the other 11 disciples are on the boat. You know what I mean? It's comfortable on the boat. It makes sense. Sense. The boat makes sense. It doesn't make sense. Doing something that's never been done before.

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Doing something that's supernatural, that requires something greater than my own self, that. That requires me to let go of control. That's. That doesn't make sense.

[Grant Trout]

Right, exactly.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

But. And so there's still going to come those crossroad moments of it's. It's faithfulness, but there. There's still going to be steps of faith, steps of faith, and it doesn't always make sense. And people might not always agree. I. I assume the disciples were like, are you crazy?

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah. What are you doing?

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Earl McClellan]

He can't even say he was Jesus.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Jesus can, but you ain't Jesus.

[Grant Trout]

Right, right, right.

[Earl McClellan]

Jesus said, come, if that's you, come.

[Onika McClellan]

And like, they probably assigned motives, like Peter Just wants to be. And that's where I feel like I struggle too, is like I don't want people to think blank. And that's. That's just gonna. I'm just gonna stay in the boat. It does, man.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

You're a man.

[Earl McClellan]

No, that literally is. That has been my struggle.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

For.

[Grant Trout]

It's like since college.

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah. And maybe even beforehand, I.

[Onika McClellan]

How have you. How have you fought? You wrote a book.

[Earl McClellan]

Get your spirit back.

[Onika McClellan]

Which I love. Hey, I got the smoothest shorts ever.

[Earl McClellan]

They're big, bro. They're down to my. Yeah, yeah.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Literally, hooping was.

[Earl McClellan]

An and one short. So back in the day.

[Onika McClellan]

AI, bro.

[Grant Trout]

So funny. So funny.

[Onika McClellan]

That's a lot of people short struggle.

[Grant Trout]

Yeah.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

So that negative self doubt that.

[Onika McClellan]

Negative. That. What if they think they're probably going to think.

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Onika McClellan]

And that is.

[Grant Trout]

I don't want them to think of.

[Onika McClellan]

Why I'm not doing the thing. I sense God just to be vulnerable. I feel that.

[Earl McClellan]

Exactly.

[Onika McClellan]

And so that the false humility.

[Earl McClellan]

It's a false humility.

[Onika McClellan]

Talk to me about that.

[Earl McClellan]

It is. I try to relate. I want to rename it from false humility to pride because that's really what it is. And I'm saying it because this is what I struggle with. This is literally my battle. And false humility just sounds nicer. You know, it sounds like, hey, I'm so stupid.

[Grant Trout]

I struggle with being humble.

[Earl McClellan]

I struggle with being humble.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

I mean, Lord, it's really difficult for me. But really, that false humility is pride. It is saying it's still about me. It's about how I look. And it's not how I look. It's not the kind of pride that turns people away. It's actually the kind of pride that's endearing. People are drawn to that.

[Onika McClellan]

Safe.

[Earl McClellan]

It's safe. I don't. This person's not going to try to take advantage of me. This person's not trying to make it about themselves. So it feels safe. It feels good. But then when God is asking you to do something and you're like, well, I think they might think that. I think that what. When did it become about what they're going to think about what I'm doing and not what God is calling me to. So over and over I've had to kill this and I still fight it. I still to this day have to go, oh, I feel myself leaning the direction. That for whatever reason, seems to be a natural tendency for me. It seems to be a natural tendency for me to not make it about me. But to kind of make it about me when I'm not making it about me, and then I don't do the thing that I'm supposed to do. I almost didn't write that. That book for that reason. I'm like, I'm. I can't write a book. What? Well, what if people think that I think that I know something or, like, I'm smarter than them or I'm. What? It was so dumb to even navigate that. And I don't know. Let me take that back. I don't want to call myself dumb. Here I am beating myself up. This is my struggle. This is the thing that I have to navigate. Other people have different battles that they have to navigate. They don't have this fight. Some people, they are super prideful, you know, and they just are always about themselves, and. And that's their strength. Struggle. And they're like, I wish I had yours. And I'm like, well, I wish I had yours, because maybe I would be.

[Onika McClellan]

I would do some more things, more.

[Earl McClellan]

Aggressive, and I'd be. You know, we'd be here or doing that.

[Onika McClellan]

Totally, man.

[Earl McClellan]

But, hey, we are who we are. It's how God wired us. We know the battles that we have. So I'm not gonna beat myself up that this is my struggle, but I am going to call it out when I see it in myself, and I want to give other people permission to call it out. So Onika, she's in my life. She can call it out. I've got some other friends. They can call this out. They're saying, earl, why haven't you done X, Y, and Z? And I'm like, well, I don't want people to.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Oh, when you start the sentence with.

[Grant Trout]

That, then you know, yeah, yeah, bro.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I feared the people.

[Onika McClellan]

Satan. Oh, yeah, this was. Saul said, but Satan, man, he's coming after this.

[Earl McClellan]

That's right.

[Onika McClellan]

Crazy dude.

[Earl McClellan]

Yeah.

[Onika McClellan]

Shuts us down right here. You got to renew your mind.

[Earl McClellan]

Your mind. You got to renew your mind.

[Onika McClellan]

Like, I think people could look at you and you guys and be like, y' all arrived at freedom. And, you know, y' all had some day where all of a sudden, you're just free for good.

[Earl McClellan]

Oh, no.

[Grant Trout]

Daily.

[Onika McClellan]

And it's daily.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Daily renewal. Yeah, daily.

[Grant Trout]

So good.

[Earl McClellan]

He asked the person, the guy who's at the pool, Jesus asked him, what do you want me to do for you? He asked blind Bartimaeus, what do you want? Well done, blind. I want to see. Well, if you get this freedom, it's going to require you to live Differently. Blind Bartimaeus, you're used to sitting on the side of the road and people just handing you stuff.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah, that's a word.

[Earl McClellan]

So if you want to be free, you're not going to be able to sit there anymore. You have to get a job.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yeah.

[Earl McClellan]

You have to go work. You're going to have. Your whole life is going to change. The guy that was carried on the mat, yeah, he got to take up his mat, but now he has to walk, right? So it's a whole new way of life. So you probably have a system set up in your house for you not to have to walk. Walk. All your stuff might be down at, you know, I don't know, knee level.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Man, that's good.

[Earl McClellan]

But now you're gonna have to change your whole. You're gonna have to remodel your whole house because now you can stand up. So now you need some things that are eye level and shoulder level so that it's going to require you to be. It's going to cost you to be free. And now I'm like, you know what, God? I want to be free. Keep on challenging me. That's what I want. I want. My coaches challenged me. They pushed me. I can't remember how many suicides I had to do, you know, I never thought I could run that far. I never thought I could give that much much. But I went there, you know? So let me now start living my life for Christ that way. Why would I do that? For my law degree, but I'm not going to live that for Jesus. No, no, no, no. I want to take this into my walk with Christ, and I want to go as far as I possibly can for his glory. And at the end of the day, if nobody knows my name, that was never my objective. I'm trying to hear, well done.

[Grant Trout]

Amen.

[Earl McClellan]

That's what I'm after.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Amen. When we're face to face and we have to give an account for our life, like, what do you want to be said? What do you want to see in the eyes of your savior? You want to. You want him to be pleased, you know? Or is it like, man, you were so concerned about what everyone else thought about you. You never walked in the purpose I had for you. It's like, I don't want that. I want to hear, well done with you, my good and faithful servant. You. You knew who you were. You walked in it, and you were. You believed me.

[Earl McClellan]

Yes. And I was so concerned. Concerned about what you were gonna think. God. So I didn't do anything sometimes. This is the parable of the talent.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I was just. Yes.

[Onika McClellan]

Oh, man.

[Earl McClellan]

I got one.

[Onika McClellan]

Oh, man.

[Earl McClellan]

I knew. I knew what you were like. So I hit it. Here's exactly what I have. I don't wanna mess it up.

[Grant Trout]

Yep.

[Earl McClellan]

God's like, wait, what?

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

I gave you those gifts.

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Earl McClellan]

I gave you a gift to lead, to sing, to influence, to encourage, to bless.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Don't bury the talent.

[Earl McClellan]

All this stuff. And you're giving back to me exactly what I gave you. You. Oh, no, no, no. So I don't want that either. So you've got these competing thoughts and all these lies swimming through our head. Yeah, I told Onika, we talked about this the other day, and I was kind of getting free. She is really particular with things on the outside. Like, you talk about her sending, you know, the flowers, like, she can curate. So, I mean, so. And it's not for any other reason other than she wants people to feel valued and seen and loved and cared for. It's so beautiful. I've learned this from her. I'm really particular in my head. I've got all this stuff that goes on in my head, and I'm particular with how something should be said or how it's gonna feel and all this stuff. So I'm always, like, thinking, and I'm pretty much a happy person, but I still have a lot of, like, going on in my brain. And sometimes I feel like it kind of paralyzes me. And, like, torment might be too strong a word, but it aggravates me for sure that I'm like, I wish I did not have this going on in my head. And it's me really trying to say, God, I can steward it. I can carry this. I can handle this. And I saw myself taking all these glasses, like a person had a struggle, and I would take and go, I can hold that. Then somebody else, I'll take that. Somebody else, I'll take, take that, and I'll take that. And I'm never giving it to God. I'm holding all of this stuff in my hands, trying to figure out how do I make all of this stuff work properly and everybody get along really well and everything be really smooth, and everybody know that we're about Jesus. And everybody still have a lot of fun. And then everybody know that, whoa, no wonder I'm so stressed out. I got all this going on in my head. Lord, I'mma take that glass, but I'm going to put it in a bag, and I'm gonna let you carry that bag. I got a gym bag right here. Lord, I'm gonna let you carry that. So now I have, like, this duffel bag behind me, like my gym bag that I kind of go, I'm gonna put that in there. And it's got all these little. Little slots in it for each glass, and none of them are gonna break. And God's gonna carry the bag. I'm not gonna be the one carrying.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

That's good.

[Earl McClellan]

And it's just kind of helped me in my own soul to try to unwind a little bit, because I feel like, again, I'm a happy person. But inside, I feel like I'm so tightly wound. So many. Does that make sen. That you're speaking.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

In language, speaking all of our language. I mean, the pressures we carry that. That God's like, I never. I never intended for you to carry that. You're carrying things that you weren't designed to carry.

[Grant Trout]

Exactly.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And saying, oh, this is just the way it is. And it's like, no, we can cast our cares on him. We can actually lay this at his feet. And, man, I. This has been so good and so encouraging. I mean, for. For me, for. For. I know grant. I'll speak on his behalf. And also for those listening and watching the podcast, I'm so grateful. Grateful for yalls faithfulness, for yalls obedience, for yalls step of faith, and the way that you continually do that. And just to kind of wrap up a couple practical things that we talked about, you know, it always starts in the presence of the Lord. And in the presence of the Lord is where the renewing of the mind takes place. And the presence of the Lord is where we get the truth of who we are, the truth of who he is. Be still and know that I am God. We have to steal ourselves and get in his presence to know you are God. I am not. Okay. This is who I am now, am I? I can. Can walk in that.

[Earl McClellan]

So good.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And then other practical things y' all talked about is. Is serve people. Go and serve people. Go and bless people. The gifts you've been given, don't bury them.

[Grant Trout]

Right.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Go and use them to bless other people. So I'm just. I'm so grateful for this conversation. And truly, I mean, I. I feel inspired to go and walk out my purpose.

[Grant Trout]

Yes.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And to use the gifts God's given me.

[Earl McClellan]

I know you're ending.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yes, but. But give it to me. Pastor, what else?

[Onika McClellan]

Come on. Come on.

[Grant Trout]

Me.

[Earl McClellan]

This has really helped our church and helped me personally. I can't remember the exact verse It's Exodus. It might be chapter 13. It says they left Egypt and God did not take them the shorter route because they were going to face a battle, so he took them the long way. And I feel like so many people are wanting the shorter route route, but God is intentionally not taking you that way because there are some battles you'll face that'll actually make you want to turn back and go to Egypt. So it's his grace that is actually keeping us on the longer road.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

So good.

[Earl McClellan]

Many times we're upset with him that it's not the short path, but it's his love that says, no, no, no, I'm not taking you that way. That's so I'm taking you the longer away.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

So that reminds me of the. Of the verse that's like the Lord is not slow in keeping his promises, right? And it goes on to say because he wants everyone to come to repentance. So it's actually kindness that you're having to learn patience. Like it's actually his kindness that it's not going as quickly as you want it.

[Earl McClellan]

So good.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

And so I think that's a perfect way to end. And. And just a reminder that God. God's hand is on your life. God has a purpose. You were made on purpose and for a purpose and take it to him and say, God, what. What have you called me to? Like, these are the dreams that I. I have. Are these of you and from you. Ask your. You talked about it. Ask your accountability. Ask your mentors. Take it to other people. Don't just have yes people in your life. Let people say, no, that ain't from the Lord. That pride full you need that actually you do need to bury that ain't from God.

[Earl McClellan]

You know, bury it immediately.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Immediately discard it.

[Grant Trout]

Let throw away the shovel so good.

[Earl McClellan]

You want to be a dancer.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

No, not your dance.

[Earl McClellan]

Not your dance.

[Onika McClellan]

All right, all right. I got that. And I and I want to end real quick with on. On the other side of Yalls. Yes, souls are coming into the kingdom of heaven. And so the. The lie of don't do that. They'll think right? There's souls in the balance. That's so that and so somebody's listening right now of Satan's so loud of they'll think, they'll think, they'll think. And it's like because he knows there's souls on the other side. And so look at 13 years and even before that of how many souls are coming in the kingdom been holding hard. It's been weighty 2020 tested you 2024. Political. It's just all that, man. But souls are coming to know Jesus, and Satan hates that. But. But greater is he who is in you.

[Earl McClellan]

That is true.

[Onika McClellan]

So someone needs to say yes. And it's not about you.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yes.

[Onika McClellan]

It's not about you saying yes. It's like, oh, I got children over there.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Yep.

[Onika McClellan]

On the other side of your.

[Earl McClellan]

That's exactly right. That's so good.

[Onika McClellan]

It goes back to washing feet for purpose.

[Earl McClellan]

That's right.

[Onika McClellan]

Like, if God answered all of your prayers, how many souls would come into the kingdom? Or would you just be, like, comfortable and health, have a spouse and, you.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Know, have a lake house?

[Onika McClellan]

Yeah. Our food's nourished, you know.

[Earl McClellan]

So good.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

So good, so good. I mean, that's so true of, like, other people's freedom and other people's salvation could be attached to your yes. And so saying yes and taking that.

[Earl McClellan]

Step of faith and through the hard things, too. I love that. I mean, we wouldn't have hosanna if you weren't wanting to go through hard. Thank you for your willingness to go through the hard stuff. And everybody's listening, listening to this. Who's in a hard season right now? We just speak life and strength and hope over you that you would peace, that you would know that God has not forgotten you, that there is purpose on the other side of that. And Jesus, he even had to go through a storm before he got to that man who was living amongst the tombs. So he had to go through the storm in order to get to him. And the disciples thought they were going to drown. So we're just praying that you might feel like, oh, my gosh, I'm drowning right, right here. God is going to get you through this storm. Matter of fact, we just speak peace, be still, you know, over every one of those storms. And then you get to the other side. We can't wait to see that salvation. Like, you're talking about hope and life over every person. Man, you guys are the best. The absolute best. Honey, you are, too.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

Hanging out with best friends here feels right. Didn't even feel like we were being recorded.

[Grant Trout]

No, no.

[Madison Pruitt Trout]

This was hanging out for my soul. Good for our soul, man. Well, I am grateful for you guys and for those listening, I'm going to include just link links for their books and the church's website. You can go and check out just more from Earl and Onika and you can get more from them because obviously they're just so full of Jesus. I mean, truly and just his word, and I'm so grateful for that. It just pours out of y' all so easily. You can tell you've spent time with the Lord and so I am grateful. Stay true is better because of you. So thank you for, for coming on. And as always, guys, be sure to stay you. Stay true. We love you.

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[Grant Trout]

Let's go.

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[Madison Pruitt Trout]

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