“I Didn’t Find Him, He Found Me”

0:00 Intro

1:44 Neb’s childhood and troubled teenage years

7:28 The prodigal son returns home

17:38 Rediscovering a Christ-centered life

23:03 Neb’s advice for men rediscovering their faith

31:16 Uncoupling our relationship with God from the “father wounds” we’ve suffered

37:06 The most common obstacles to a satisfying prayer life

41:09 Neb’s reflections on fatherhood

46:04 Neb talks about his church, ministry, and podcast

53:22 Closing thoughts and encouragement for men seeking Christ

Snippets/excerpts

6:16 to 7:16—“When you’re down and out, the only people you feel comfortable around are the people who are in the same place, because they don’t awaken your conscience”

10:15 to 11:11—Long nights of solitary Bible study lead Neb to an epiphany about his wrong choices

19:59 to 20:54—The members of Neb’s old church community who had once annoyed him became his role models

25:11 to 25:52—You don’t have to find “perfect” role models on your spiritual journey; “It’s not about perfection, it’s about progress”

26:18 to 27:29—“It’s not just about what you give up, it’s about what you replace it with”

Discussion

3:26—Does Neb’s description of his younger days resonate with you? When you attended church as a child, did you do so willingly, or were you, like him, “drug” there by your parents? Was there any point when you really started paying attention to the service and engaging with the services or sermons? Proverbs 22:6

6:27—Does Neb’s statement about the people you feel comfortable with when you’re down and out echo in your own life? When you were at your lowest moments, who were you more likely to seek out—upstanding people who would challenge you and help you turn things around, or people in your same situation who helped satisfy your desires but not your real needs? Proverbs 13:20

9:05—Have you ever had a “prodigal son” moment when you had to return to the safety and security of home after having lived in an irresponsible and ultimately unfulfilling way? How difficult was it to admit the path you chose had been a dead end? What reaction did you expect from the people you returned to, and what reaction did you actually receive? Luke 15:17–20

20:31—Outside your own family, who are some people who offered you good advice or a good example for how to live, and you didn’t realize it until many years later? How did you come to realize they’d had the right idea all along? Have you ever thanked them for what they tried to instill in you? Proverbs 19:20

27:27—On your spiritual journey, have there ever been times when you thought all you had to do was give up sin and indulgence? At what point did you understand that just giving things up wasn’t enough, that you had to replace them with real devotion to God? Colossians 3:9–10

33:26—Positively or negatively, did your view of or relationship with your own father color your perception of God? Did that make it harder for you to feel a connection with the Lord? As you’ve traveled your spiritual journey, have you been able to separate the two and understand that they’re completely different? Hebrews 1:3

40:58—As Neb described the hangups or obstacles that can keep people from fully connecting to God through prayer, did you recognize any of them from your own prayer life? What is the single biggest thing you think you’re lacking in the way you talk to God? Philippians 4:6–7