Love Fort Wayne Podcast
The Love Fort Wayne podcast amplifies the stories of everyday people who are loving and leading in Northeast Indiana to spark imagination, root inspiration, and ignite transformation.
Love Fort Wayne Podcast
From Accounting to Ministry: Pastor Tony’s Faith Journey and Vision for Unity
What if a major detour in your career path could lead you to your true calling? Join us as we sit down with Pastor Tony from Northeast Church in Fort Wayne, who shares his incredible faith journey from accounting to ministry. Learn how a significant spiritual reawakening redirected his life and how he now serves with a vision of bringing people together to live the beautiful way of Jesus, all while raising a family with his wife, Hannah, and their four children. Tony provides heartfelt insights into the power of mentorship and the vital role of encouragement throughout his transformative journey.
Get an insider's look into the meticulous art of crafting sermons, straight from Tony who's mastered the process. From the initial steps of starting with a blank sheet of cardstock to seeking divine inspiration and weaving in relatable stories, Tony reveals the secrets behind his compelling messages. Discover why he believes practicing sermons out loud is crucial for internalizing the message and ensuring it resonates with the congregation. Plus, understand the value of stepping back occasionally to live out teachings and allowing diverse voices to enrich the community.
As we explore the challenges and rewards of ministry leadership, Tony opens up about the importance of authenticity, the risks associated with fame, and the dangers of isolation. Feel the liberation as Tony describes shifting the focus of Sunday gatherings to drawing near to God. Hear about the dynamic faith movement among young adults in Fort Wayne and initiatives like Love Fort Wayne and One City Week, which foster unity and collaboration among churches. This episode is a treasure trove of wisdom, encouragement, and a vision for a united and thriving faith community.
Welcome to season four of the Love Fort Wayne podcast. The Love Fort Wayne podcast amplifies the stories of everyday people who are loving and leading in Northeast Indiana to spark imagination, root inspiration and ignite transformation in our community and beyond. At Love Fort Wayne, we believe the pillars of a flourishing community are its leaders, pastors, schools, families and prayer. And in season four we're excited to learn from and be encouraged by people who not only lead but love our city in these areas each day. Before we dive in, we want to say thank you to our partners at Remedy Live Dream On Studios Star Financial. Want to say thank you to our partners at Remedy Live Dream On Studios Star Financial, brotherhood, mutual and Shepherd Family Auto Group for making the podcast possible. Hey everybody, welcome to the latest episode of the Love Fort Wayne podcast. So glad that you guys are back with us here in the month of September. I got my man Mitch with me, as always.
Speaker 2:Mitch, how you doing. Hello, I'm great. How are you yeah?
Speaker 1:I'm doing good, man. It's always good to be with you. We're excited because we've got a good friend of both of ours here, pastor Tony, how you doing.
Speaker 3:I'm good, yeah, yeah, thank you for having me on today, yeah absolutely, man.
Speaker 1:We've got, if you first time listening watching the Love Fort Wayne podcast, excuse me. Our hope is to amplify the stories of the men and women of our community that are loving here and leading here, to inspire us all to love and lead here. Well, and man, tony, you do that so well. And, mitch, we get a delight because we get a chance to speak to some of our local pastors in some of these episodes, and so Tony's a pastor here in our community, so we're excited to dive in and just spend some time with you today and learn from you and hear your heart. So can you introduce yourself formally to us? Tell us a little bit about your family, your history, your background?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely Well. First I just want to say again thank you for having me on, and it's so good to sit here with both of you. As I was preparing for this, it was just on my heart to say to each of you Jeff, I think that all that you're doing with Love Fort Wayne is really, really significant in our city from a kingdom perspective and that you are in this role for such a time as this.
Speaker 1:Thank you, brother, yeah.
Speaker 3:And I'm so thankful for that and for our friendship. Yeah and Mitch, you know this, but you had a very significant impact on my life. My story had a really pivotal time in my journey. I grew up in the church and then wandered away and then, when I first surrendered to Jesus as an adult, as a young adult, I landed back at Blackhawk Ministries and you were part of the pastoral team there at that time and, man, you just spent time with me and you uh, let me rage against the machine as a mid, mid 20 something and, uh, most importantly, you just encouraged me and spoke words of life to me again, and at a very pivotal time, and kept me on the path in those early days.
Speaker 2:Praise the Lord, I'm so thankful I didn't ruin you.
Speaker 1:I got to tell you.
Speaker 2:I'm the one who's blessed for anyone who's listening. Any opportunity like that, always say yes, yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, it meant a lot to me and I'm so thankful.
Speaker 2:So I haven't responded to your question yet.
Speaker 3:So I'm Dr Anthony Opliger, but nobody calls me any of that. So I'm just Tony, tony O, and I've been married to Hannah for the last over 18 years now, and she's just, she's wonderful. We have four kids, two boys, two girls, three biological, one adopted, and they're ages 14, 13, 10, and 7. And so we are in the thick of it and they're great.
Speaker 2:It's one of the greatest times of life. Yeah, it's, it's so much fun.
Speaker 3:We just ended summer, so I'm kind of grieving that another summer is ended. But we're back in the school rhythm now and, uh, they're all at blackhawk christian school, where both hannah and I grew up and um. For the last 15 over 15 years now I've been at northeast church and, um, yeah, our vision as a church is together living the beautiful way of Jesus for the glory of God and the good of the next generation.
Speaker 1:Can you say that again? That's really great.
Speaker 3:Yeah, together. This is what we're all about. This is what I'm all about Together, living the beautiful way of. Jesus, for the glory of God and the good of the next generation.
Speaker 1:That's beautiful. Yeah, it is beautiful.
Speaker 2:Can you tell us more about your story getting into ministry?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yes, absolutely so, yeah. So I grew up in the church like I mentioned and then like most so. Christian Smith is a professor at Notre Dame and he's done a ton of research on the next generation over this past 20 years, or whatever, and, um, he found that young adults during this time have two main goals. One is to prepare for economic success and the other is to have as much fun as possible.
Speaker 1:That's a smart dude man.
Speaker 3:That's what the study showed Ding.
Speaker 1:Show me the money.
Speaker 3:To have as much fun as possible without infringing on number one preparing for economic success, and even though I'd grown up in the church, when I hit that late teenage year and went away to school that's really, as I look back that's what I was trying to do more than seek after Jesus. I wasn't part of a church during that time, so I was wandering for most of my young adult years, and then, when Jesus just got a hold of my heart in my mid-20s and I began to seek him, by that time I had a master's in accountancy and accounting and so I was kind of heading in that direction already. So I did public accounting for a stretch, and then the door opened for me to go to Taylor University, fort Wayne, where I was a professor of accounting and business, and I was on campus there for seven years, and it was really during that time where my calling began to really take shape. I never thought that I would be a pastor.
Speaker 3:I never wanted to be on staff with the church, but during that time, I did start taking seminary classes because it just felt like a step of obedience and I thought maybe I would go the academic route be a professor at a teaching Bible or theology at a university or a seminary. And so, when Taylor University closed down the Fort Wayne campus in 2009, Hannah and I began fasting and praying and asking God, seeking wisdom from others, and, really to our great surprise, he led us to this little church on the northeast side of Fort Wayne called Northeast Christian Church. And so then we've now been there for over 15 years. Wow, it's just hard to believe.
Speaker 2:You have a lot of personality for an accountant.
Speaker 3:I don't know. I know accountants. I think they're awesome, full of personality.
Speaker 2:I know accountants. I think they're awesome, full of personality. As a follow-up, to that.
Speaker 3:One thing I'm really curious about is do you think your marketplace activity equipped you for ministry as a lead pastor?
Speaker 3:Yes, I think that was part of it. I even think being away from the church though I don't think that's the best case scenario but even being away from the church for me for six, seven years, plus having experience in the marketplace gave me just a completely different perspective on the church and on being a pastor and um, and then what it, what it looks like for most people during the week in their in their nine to five everyday life. So I feel like I have a little bit. It's been a long time now, but I had more perspective on what they're actually facing day to day. But then I also um, I think I was able to, um, just than if I would have stayed inside of the church and kind of gone the traditional path. So I'm definitely, like I said, I never set out to be a pastor. The people at Northeast, from the very first day on, have been so kind and gracious and very patient with me, as I've learned to put on the clothes of you know, wear the clothes of a pastor, so to speak.
Speaker 1:Man, that's. We know your story, but to hear it with the detail.
Speaker 1:it's just beautiful how God he weaves together our story, God of redeeming God that redeems us, and then weaves together the story that we didn't even think that would be a part of our story and you know, you share it with us, that for 15 years now we've been at Northeast and um man ministry. Leadership is hard like but but it's got a lot of joys, um, and so I just want to know, like, what are some of the joys? You know, some of the challenges from your leadership position.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. So I mean, when I hear the word joy and I think about pastoral ministry, the first thing that comes to my mind is the people, and I'm just, I love the people of Northeast Um the uh. We are a highly engaged church, so highly participative. People are very active and we're a highly relational church, and so these are the people that I laugh with and cry with and hang out with on a friday night, and so we're we're friends again. Maybe to tie back to the last question, part of that is I don't have never seen myself as the pastor. I'm just, you know, even the way I introduce myself on sunday mornings is my name is tony and I'm one of the many leaders within this church, and part of the reason for that is because I believe it's really true.
Speaker 3:I certainly have a unique role, but I'm just one of the people, and so that's allowed me to have friends and just be one of the people and share life together with them, and so top of the list for joy is that. And then the other thing that comes to my mind right now is, um, I still get a lot of joy out of preaching and teaching the scriptures, um, although certainly some weeks are like walking through the valley of the shadow of death, you know, and there's always a crucible uh in in the preparation of a message. But I just find so I mean, I experience God's joy as I'm doing that.
Speaker 2:Can you talk about how you prep, because I thought, when I prep for messages, or if I still do, that those moments alone with God are really difficult to put into words.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yes, yeah, it's such a unique thing. And so the again, having done it for 15 years, you just kind of develop a pattern of doing it. So I always start with a blank sheet of cardstock and I'll print the main text on it and then just start taking notes and praying and asking God for his direction in it, asking others to ask God for his direction in it, asking others to ask God for his direction in it, and then I'll often get out the commentaries and listen to the podcasts and try to get other resources in the mix, and then just the way it happens, over time the idea and the outline kind of happen and it's such an art form, right, it's like. So you're not just coming up with an outline, but you're trying to include stories and illustrations yes and sometimes those you have like right at the beginning.
Speaker 3:And it's just so obvious and sometimes it's like saturday and you're like I don't have any illustration on this yeah and then, as you lay it out, you want to have a flow to it, so that you don't have 15 straight minutes of content right um, you've got to insert, you've got to allow people to come up for air so to speak with a something that's funny or engaging, or thoughtful, or so it's um.
Speaker 3:It's very much an art form and creative, and so then, for me, I manuscript it, which which means I type it out and I still and this. This is probably something that I need to grow in. It might be a controlling or image base, but I go over, I go through mine out loud, probably five times do you really? Yeah, before I get up there on Sunday morning alone, yeah, yep. Yep, uh, although my family hears it.
Speaker 2:So and there we're just all used to it.
Speaker 3:We've pushed through the awkwardness of that a long time ago. Uh, my kids have just grown up with that's. That's what dad does so yeah. But what I found, um is that those for me, in addition to those moments of prayer and just blank sheet God, what do you want to do?
Speaker 3:Those moments of going through it out loud is when it gets in my soul and I most often feel like God encounters me and so that when I get up there on Sunday, yes, I have it pretty down, but it's also like deep and not just memorized, but like deep in my soul.
Speaker 3:Like I'm trying to bring something. And the other thing that comes to my mind is that and I've been in a context where it's been really okay to not be the one preaching every week, which for me, for me has been really helpful because I want to really try to live I mean, that's a whole process that is heavy lifting and there is a crucible to it, but I want to try to live out what I'm preaching teaching about.
Speaker 3:And to do that week after week after week is for me really been a challenging thing to do and so thankful we just have lots of other voices in the mix and some Sundays we don't have a sermon, we pray, we have testimonies, and, again, super thankful to be part of a community where that's not just okay but it's actually welcomed.
Speaker 2:I think hearing it too, makes it real. I think you can picture your audience hearing it as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I can relate to that. It's like, oh yeah, just being able to go through it, the moments where I'd be in the basement and I hear my son's feet coming down the steps as I'm going through it out loud and he would sit there sometimes as I, just you, as I'm going through it out loud and he would sit there sometimes as I just you know, I just shared it out loud, but it does it.
Speaker 1:The word begins to speak back to you as you share it out loud and you hear different things from the Lord, from the spirit in the moment, like, oh no, I think that was me that wanted to project that, so let me put a line through that. Yes, or there's something else that you wanted to say that I didn't really even notice last week, but now that I'm saying it out loud, to myself earlier this week.
Speaker 1:I think this is a point that I skipped over, that you want the body to hear. So I love that. I love your preparation for it. I think in all the spaces where we share truth with people, share truth with people, so on a Sunday, when we're leading them in marketplaces, to be able to honor that gift that we've been giving to impact people in that type of way is so important.
Speaker 1:Tony, I wanted to ask you a little bit about also maybe, some joys and challenges of your peers, because you know, Mitch, I met Tony really in a relational setting. It was eight of us that said we're going to come together as pastors and pray, and I think maybe it only took the first time where it's like we talked life. We're like we were supposed to pray. You know it got to like 10 minutes. Well, maybe we should pray, and so I think we stretched that from an hour to like two hours because we realized that we needed to talk life, be in each other's lives, pray together, share stories, lament with one another, and all that to be said is relationally. I know you have connection to so many other ministry leaders in our community. What are some things that you just hear from guys and gals about? Here are their joys, here are their challenges, and because I think it'd be helpful for folks from the city to know this is the truth about the leaders who lead you from a ministry perspective.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a great question, yeah, I think I think for me and for all of my brothers and sisters who get to serve in this way, I mean there's tons of challenges, right, but I think the biggest one from my perspective is just continuing to be real, and what I mean by that is to. I mean this this whole thing really is just simply following Jesus Like that's all. That's. That's what a pastor is. Someone who should is just zealously going after Jesus, knowing him more and more and having our lives formed, transformed from the inside out to like really live, like we say at Northeast, the beautiful way of his kingdom. And then it's doing that, it's living that way, it's being transformed and then inviting other people into that journey, and the biggest challenge is to just have that actually be what we're doing.
Speaker 3:There's so many other distractions and I think there are, and lots of other people have talked about this but there are things that are inherent in pastoral ministry, in this role of leadership, that work counter to that, that are actually potentially deformative for us, that take us away from living the way of his kingdom. So and you guys are familiar with this but the stage itself is something that is potentially deformative for those of us who serve in this way, I mean, like the literal stage, who, in our cultural context, actually goes up on a stage?
Speaker 2:week to week Not very many people.
Speaker 3:It's an elevated role in that, like a physical stage, but also just the position in people's lives. It's unique in that way. So there's like that stage thing that I mean we know that that can, that's a, that's a form of fame, that's a which is a form of power which, if we're not being formed to, um, more and more to in jesus, to handle that, uh, or enough to handle that, it will deform us and so many people, it just destroys us. So we're all and we're all, you know, however, many steps away from that happening. Yeah, so the stage is one also, I I mean isolation is another one, and for me that that has less to do with having people that I'm close to, but just secrets so keeping.
Speaker 3:I think there's a temptation inherent with pastoral ministry to not share what's really going on with my thoughts in my life, in my habits behind closed doors and um, those, those secrets have a way of coming out somewhere. And so in pastoral ministry, what I found is the circle of people who you feel free to do that with over time shrinks, and there's all kinds of reasons for that. Some of it's circumstantial and real, some of it's just like our own fears and worries, and so I think that kind of isolation is is a challenge that goes along with this Um and then again, there's tons of parts to this, but the pressure of Sunday morning we were just talking about a little bit with the sermon, but just the whole Sunday morning gathering.
Speaker 3:It is so central in our cultural moment with the church and this goes back generations.
Speaker 3:But there's a lot of pressure for for me and us in that being that feeling a certain way, that going a certain way, that um having a certain number of people maybe you know that kind of thing, and that's a lot of pressure week to week.
Speaker 3:Um. And so what we've done on that is we have explicitly said over the last six months or so at Northeast we've identified like our primary reason for gathering. So there's tons of good reasons to come to a gathering of the church. What we keep saying again and again almost every Sunday is that the primary reason that we are here together right now is to draw near to God and to minister to him. So more than we're there to be ministered to although that's important and even more than we're there to minister to one another, which also is really important, the primary thing that we're doing is drawing near to God together and ministering unto him with the hope that he, and ministering unto him with the hope that he might encounter us with his presence, which is actually the very best thing that could happen to us.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And so as individuals and together as a church, and so for me I've found increasing amount of freedom from that pressure of Sunday morning. It doesn't actually have to be. I mean, I still feel it and I still turn around during announcements and I'm like where is everybody? Because they come 10 or 15 minutes late.
Speaker 3:You know. So I still have that going on in me, but it's it's. I think it's freeing me up to say really what we're doing here, with however many people, no matter what it actually feels like. We're here to draw near to God and minister to him.
Speaker 2:That is so insightful. How would you say that? This new generation of adults, because it seems like our audience is always changing or transforming. How would you say, how would you describe this new generation of young adults, and how do you reach them?
Speaker 3:with Christ. Yeah Well, I, I am um. I think central to my passion is the next generation.
Speaker 3:You even heard it when in our mission or vision statement you know, together, living the beautiful way of Jesus, for the glory of God, that's first, but then also for the good of the next generation. And so I I am not sure the answer to fully to your question of how to how to reach the next generation. One thing that I've noticed is that when I first started 15 years ago, um, not only was I the young guy in the room at the time was in most settings Um, but I also just naturally spoke the language of the people who are young, the next, the millennials, at the time Right right, right, that was.
Speaker 3:that's kind of my native language and culture, even though I'm a little bit older than them. But now I've found that when I'm interacting with somebody let's say ages 18 to 25, who's like the next generation behind them, it's cross-cultural communication for me, yeah, so I'm still very much learning about how to this is it's new for me like how do?
Speaker 3:how do I speak their language? What are, what are the overlap? Where am I misunderstanding? Where am I hearing things are the wrong way, um, and so I'm very much on the learning curve there. But I will say this I believe that central to the calling of every generation of the church is to be passionately and intentionally devoted to the formation of the next generation. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, I mean, and I think we as a church have more work to do to have that actually be true for families and for us as a church, and I could make a case like for that from the scriptures. But I think it's, I think it's really true that that that is God's call on us to invest more and more, to orient ourselves more and more to the next generation, especially today in this cultural moment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one of the common themes we've discovered through Love Fort Wayne and our Ignite leadership development movement is that both veteran leaders and emerging leaders want to connect with each other. Yeah, and it is a mutual satisfying but mutually beneficial.
Speaker 3:Mutual, satisfying but mutually beneficial connection, yeah, and so I think the question is who are the next generation people?
Speaker 2:around you.
Speaker 3:I mean, it's really that simple. If you just look around in your circle, in your sphere 18 to 25, or, for that matter, 0 to 25, who is it, who's around you, and then, honestly, it's like doing what you did with with me, mitch, it's, it's building a relationship, it's sitting across the table and the other thing that you and others did for me is um in in the context of that relationship. You gave me opportunities to serve and lead before I was ready, yeah, yeah and.
Speaker 3:I and I think, if, if we can just do that simple thing, orient ourselves to look around and see the next generation, whoever's around us for some people that's a bunch of people, for some that's maybe one or two but to, uh, establish relationship with them, encourage them and then give them opportunities Again, I would say, before they're ready to and then pick up, you know, pick up the pieces and it but in in the context of relationship, you can do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's okay. Yeah, I love that Cause, I think this, I think at least in our region, but I would say, excuse me, I think nationally we're seeing it globally maybe that this, this, this generation, which perhaps it's like this from generation to generation, but we're experiencing.
Speaker 1:our generation, um, the 18 to 25 year old, has a, has a heart to lead, a heart to serve, a heart to pursue the true heart of Jesus, to encounter the presence of the Lord. Miss you day, live that out. So I'm like you know the that temperature is so hot right now. You know, to be able to lean in intentionally and then give opportunity for them to lead from that place of passion is so important right now.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah, I totally agree.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, with that being said, because they're a part of this city, this community, god, he's on the move here. We say that to each other, tony. Like he's on the move here, he's doing something here and we can sense it. The words I use is I think he's calling us out of the water and into the work, because we feel like this movement of the living water, of the spirit in the city, in our region, and God's inviting us into that next thing, you know. So, as you think about what he's doing here, what excites you, what excites you about the context of what God's doing here in Fort Wayne and just our city and region as a whole? Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3:I love Fort Wayne. I mean, this is home for me, uh, and I love the church of Fort Wayne.
Speaker 3:I'm very much a product it's probably the wrong word but I'm very much a product of the church of Fort Wayne and, uh, I just I, I believe in the church of Fort Wayne and I the thing that I makes me really excited is how I see the church coming together in unity, and I think the heart has been there for a long time and there's tons of relationships among leaders within the church, um, which has been so encouraging for me to see and personally experience for 20 years now, but the tangible movements toward unity are just so exciting. So, like Love Fort Wayne is a primary example of that and all the things that you guys are doing I'm excited about One City Week coming up here the first week in October with One City Prayer, one City Serve, and then what you and I've been working together on with other pastors, one City Word, which will be Sunday. Can I just promo it here?
Speaker 1:Yeah, please.
Speaker 3:Sunday October 6th will be an opportunity, as part of One City Week, for the church to be unified in a tangible way, and we've created a menu of options for churches to use, based on what works for them. So churches can pray for the church in our city or for specific churches. You guys are putting together a video that can be used by churches that Sunday morning to spotlight the fact that we're actually one church here together in this city.
Speaker 3:And then there's also we're working on a unified sermon, or unified word for that for that day, and that sermon is going to be about we've been working with other pastors and it's going to be about Fort Wayne. It's going to be about Jesus heart for, and call and prayer in John 17 for unity, and it's going to be about how, in the midst of all of our differences which there are really there are very real differences in all kinds of ways, not the least of which is theological differences within the church but in the midst of all of that, we come together around the fact that Jesus is King.
Speaker 1:Yeah, amen, and that's the good news.
Speaker 3:And so we'll. Yeah, we're designing a message to, uh, and. And as part of that, look at what the apostles did. They went out proclaiming that message and as they went, like in the city of Thessalonica, and when they proclaimed that message, it says that the whole world was turned upside down. And so that's really the hope for for me on Sunday that, by God's grace and by the church coming together, that in some way the city of Fort Wayne will be turned upside down in the best possible way.
Speaker 1:Super pumped.
Speaker 2:Yeah, being in the front lines and being part of that unity. Have you seen any particular needs of our community emerging to the top?
Speaker 3:Yes, I do want to also, just before I answer that one, answer the other question in one other way, because I also get to be part of something called the Common Table which is very unique in Fort Wayne to Fort Wayne at this moment.
Speaker 3:So the Common Table is a movement to bring Catholics and Protestants together. Catholics, I'll say it again, catholics and Protestants together in unity. And it has been so transformative for me to get to know Father Brian Eisenbarger and Father Thomas Zare and Sister Maria Gemma and Shema Culture and just these other wonderful Catholic brothers and sisters who I haven't known before, and to learn from them and to have some of my own assumptions just totally demolished. And getting to know them and be part of this has just been super transformative. So we've been doing these forums every six months and the next one is October 30th and it's at the university of St Francis, and so the panel for that is made up of Catholics and Protestants, and then everybody sits in tables and those tables are, uh, we have group discussion that are led by a Catholic and a Protestant brother or sister, and so, uh, again, just a unique way that God is bringing the church together. So, but there are certainly, I mean there's tons of challenges in the city and in the church of Fort Wayne.
Speaker 3:As I thought about this it's not going to surprise you, based on other stuff I've said, but I think the greatest need that we have is for an awakening of the next generation. Need that we have is for an awakening of the next generation. I believe that you talked about coming up out of the water or whatever metaphor, tipping point. I believe that the tipping point is a real old school revival within the next generation of the church, and I'm so thankful for organizations like Youth for Christ and Young Life and, for this, so many youth pastors. Youth pastors are so often just the real deal. They're the ones they don't have the stage in the same way, but they're actually doing it and they are orienting themselves to the next generation, which, again, I believe is central to our call. And I believe, as we, as the church together, more and more orient ourselves in that way, we're gonna see it happen A great awakening among the next generation of the church in the city. And then, when that happens, I mean watch out, that's what we need, that's what I believe yeah, may it be so yes may it be so and selfishly lord, may I be able to see it yes, yes
Speaker 1:yeah, man, tony, tony, oh, we love you, man. Yeah, we do, we love you. Thank you for sharing your story, uh, giving us so many gems, um, that we can, you know, instill into our lives or think about, and I my hope is that the folks that are tuned in received it as well. So, again, thank you for all that you do, thank you for your heart, um, thank you for the body at Northeast and the posture that you guys take as an example to the rest of us as the church, um, we, we need that posture wholly as as a city. So thanks again for joining us.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Thank you again for having me on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Everybody. Rewind the video, rewrite the listening, write down some notes if you missed some things and steal some of these principles into your life. We look forward to seeing you and you seeing us in the next Love what Way podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for joining us this month. We drop a new episode the first Monday of every month. Love Fort Wayne has some amazing episodes coming up. You don't want to miss a single one, so subscribe today, wherever you are listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please like, share and leave a review. We want to share your thoughts and comments with listeners on future episodes. Thanks again for joining us today. Join us next time, as we hear from leaders that don't just lead but love our city.
