Eric Albright (00:01.718)
Hey, welcome back to the Red Letter Leadership Podcast. Jordan, it's good to see you here. I think it's probably late March or so. Is that about right when this thing comes out?
Jordan Ames (00:12.58)
Yeah, it's probably gonna be that late March, early April. Yeah, good to see you, man. I think it's the first one we're doing, just the two of us. Ben couldn't make it. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. You got a great lesson ahead.
Eric Albright (00:16.206)
Yeah, well happy Mark.
It is absolutely the first one, just the two of us. So yeah, happy what we presume to be.
early springtime, wherever you're listening at, probably. And so I say that because, you know, something I'd like to open with Jordan that's gonna be a little less timely because of the March release, it got me thinking because I'm looking at your background and I'm seeing a flag and a U.S. of A in the back, which is incredibly patriotic of you and highly motivating, but we coming off a pretty news flash. These aren't recorded.
the day they come out, you know? And we've got a few of these in the hopper and so it's been a big week for the United States. Jordan, has it not?
Jordan Ames (00:59.634)
Yeah, he's not lying.
Jordan Ames (01:07.706)
it absolutely has. Not only the men's, but the women's Olympic ice hockey teams won gold. That's incredible.
Eric Albright (01:17.44)
yeah. Absolutely. The first time for the fellas since not- the women are like just dominating the world routinely I think.
Jordan Ames (01:24.154)
Yeah, yeah, which is insane.
Eric Albright (01:25.198)
The man haven't won it since the Miracle on Ice in 1980 against the Soviet Union. And before that was in 1960. And so we're going to get into it on this podcast talking Jordan about being right where I need to be or right where I should be. But I think we I think a little bit of like let's just do a little American leadership because this is a leadership podcast celebration because hey look we're just getting over the Olympics. We had a fantastic finish.
the most exhilarating 60 minutes of sport actually 61 and minutes and 50 some seconds of sports that I've seen in a long time and I just want to talk about the leadership those guys have real quick because our man Jack Hughes what can you tell me about our man Jack Hughes Jordan
Jordan Ames (02:14.704)
Jack Hughes. I don't know much about his own upbringing. I don't know much about the person himself, but he clearly is a team player. Which before you can, talk about leadership, a lot of people think, leadership's all about that position of leadership, getting somebody else to do something you want them to, you know, influence your will on them and get them, inspire them, whatever, get them to do.
Eric Albright (02:26.756)
yeah.
Jordan Ames (02:44.058)
But it starts with, if you can't be a good team player, you have no business being a leader. And Jack Hughes, in the sport of ice hockey, showed himself to be a phenomenal team player. pick your sport. He's a guy that you'd probably want him on. Like, we can train him to play football. Like, I want him on my football team. You can train him to whatever, do something else. I want him on my team.
Eric Albright (02:49.218)
Yeah, you gotta be teammates.
Eric Albright (02:56.746)
yeah!
Eric Albright (03:07.426)
When I watched him at the end of that game, and I'll tell you what happened if you're not paying attention, but I wanted to watch that interview. He had the flag draped around, bloodied up, missing teeth. I wanted to, I would run through a wall for that guy for in that exact moment. Are you kidding me? So sometimes, you know, leadership sometimes is soft and subtle, but a lot of times Jordan, it requires us to get in there, grind, get in with the team, and then literally in his case, get in the arena.
Jordan Ames (03:18.094)
Yeah, I love that. Yeah. Right.
Eric Albright (03:37.376)
and get after it and for him and you're gonna get battered bruised and bloody sometimes and for him he took that to the extreme which is in like I don't know eight minutes left in the third period tied 1-1 old boy takes a stick a hockey stick a full-sized hockey stick with a full swing in the face okay broke his tooth knocked another one out busted his lip four-minute double minor for the other guy and wouldn't you know
Jordan Ames (04:03.995)
Yeah.
Eric Albright (04:05.55)
Not only did that stall the Canadians momentum in the game, he came back in overtime Jordan and won the game winner. He had the game winning goal shot for the gold medal. That is a leader buddy. Knocked down, bloodied, bruised and said, give me some more. I want to go. Man.
Jordan Ames (04:21.105)
yeah. Yup.
Jordan Ames (04:26.17)
Yep, give me some more. Like I wanna be in the arena.
Eric Albright (04:30.848)
And so it just highlights for me, I think, you I get fired up about it because we, and I are super patriots, right? Former military. We get more patriotic folks, but like just watching this guy, it brings me this question. Here's the major of a person, Jordan. Like here's a major of a person's character. Just ask them this, okay? And it'll settle everything. Are you willing? I don't care who you are. Jordan Ames, Ben Hunter. I don't care if you're blank person.
Where are you willing to take a hockey stick to the face and knock your teeth out to allow the United States to win a gold medal? You know Exactly you know I'm saying come on like it's pretty simple You can so
Jordan Ames (05:09.35)
100%. Like think of, yeah. Yeah. Even if I don't know the future of like, I then go on and score the golden goal. I don't even know that. But yeah, like take a stick to the face. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead right now. I'll lean forward.
Eric Albright (05:23.266)
You don't need to know that. We're not gonna tell you how it ends.
Eric Albright (05:32.13)
That's it. And here's the thing about it. And sometimes that stick to the face isn't real, isn't literal, but it's certainly proverbial. You know, because there's times in which we're sticking up for our teammates and we're in a spot that we're right where we need to be and we're doing the right thing and we get, you know, the proverbial gut punch, stick to the face, whatever that thing is that we have to respond to. And so if you're not willing to do that, and if this isn't an accusation, this is for us to consider,
Jordan Ames (05:39.68)
yeah.
Eric Albright (06:02.074)
If we're not willing to do that, we need to ask ourselves, are we really in this for the right reasons? And are we really committed to the team that we're surrounded by?
Jordan Ames (06:14.18)
Yeah, yeah. So like Jesus said multiple times in the gospels, deny self. And then even Luke chapter nine, he said, deny yourself. If you're going to follow me, deny yourself and take up your cross. And we talk about having to endure some suffering, endure some hardship, endure a stick to the face every now and then. Like Jesus, like take up your cross. That's what it's going to take. Why would he say that?
Eric Albright (06:27.181)
Yeah.
Eric Albright (06:36.148)
yeah.
Yeah, daily every single day not on the weekends not on Sunday morning Jordan There's six days. Here's a newsflash. There's six days of the week that aren't What does that look like for you? You know as a Christian put like a Christian t-shirt on and say what does it look like for me on Monday to Saturday? That's different from Sunday Bro, that's
Jordan Ames (06:47.002)
Right.
Jordan Ames (06:56.122)
Yeah.
Jordan Ames (07:05.796)
Yeah, I think there's and I've say this a lot. I say it in my LinkedIn posts and stuff like I believe that American church is comfortable and this is why I believe it's comfortable. Generally speaking, there's some churches that are constantly seeking God for for more things and more ways to advance his kingdom and you know, being creative or just letting God lead them whatever way they're doing. But we have come as a society, we have come so accustomed to
Eric Albright (07:14.552)
Yes.
Jordan Ames (07:35.526)
Deserving, enjoying, being entitled to God's blessings and as a body of Christ in America, I truly think we've become accustomed to if something is difficult, painful, causes conflict, ruffles feathers, then therefore it's probably not a good idea and God doesn't want us going that direction. But that's 100 % not the case.
Eric Albright (08:00.012)
and we avoid it.
Jordan Ames (08:03.802)
We live in a fallen world and God's pretty much saying, like, look, if you follow me, you will face trouble. You will face hardship.
Eric Albright (08:10.264)
Wars, famine, trials, tribulations. Look at the deaths of the apostles, of the disciples. Look at the deaths. I have a list that I keep in my Bible right here. This isn't where I was going tonight, but I have a list that I keep... American flag. USA.
Jordan Ames (08:17.744)
Yeah.
Jordan Ames (08:27.398)
On your shirt too.
Eric Albright (08:30.91)
yeah, look at that. What's the chances Jordan? How about it? Look here. So I have this thing I keep. Alright, so we're gonna, I did, this is not part of what I intended to talk about, but I want to read this to you. Because if anybody thinks that this...
this whole following Jesus thing, this whole Christian thing is rainbows, butterflies, and ice cream. Buddy, I have news for you because go ahead and show me where any of those words, well the rainbows are, and we took that sucker back in Genesis 9, by the way, the original rainbow. But you know, that's not what Jesus ever preaches. He said pain, trial, torment, and tribulation, you guys will suffer because you follow me. Alright? Real quickly, if you've never done it, and I think I wrote about this in one of, I don't remember which lesson,
Jordan Ames (08:57.872)
Yeah.
Eric Albright (09:14.186)
It was Simon Peter also knows see fish you guys know him right Simon Peter rather crucified upside down in Rome Jordan Is that easy or not easy? Not easy
Jordan Ames (09:25.708)
Not easy. why, why was he crucified upside down?
Eric Albright (09:29.432)
for his belief system.
Jordan Ames (09:31.206)
Yeah, but the tradition I understand, and I don't know if it's biblical or just scholars believe or whatever, historians, like, did he not ask for that? Like, he knew he was getting crucified, he knew was getting executed.
Eric Albright (09:43.314)
he did because he said, I can't be crucified with the dignity of my Lord. Put me upside down.
Jordan Ames (09:47.468)
Exactly. He was like, no, there's no way you're whatever. He's killing me the way you killed him. Like do something different.
Eric Albright (09:54.146)
Yeah, I don't rate. Flip me over and put me up.
Jordan Ames (09:58.723)
Yeah. And if he really wasn't ready to suffer for Christ, he probably would ask for something. Can you do something that's a lot more quick? You know, I don't want to, you know, go that route because my Lord did that, but then offered a more comfortable death. No, no, he didn't. And that's where I think you see his heart. He was like, you know what? No, give me something worse because I don't even deserve to be killed the way he was killed.
Eric Albright (10:26.83)
I'm not worthy of the crucifixion. That's what he said. How about that? Alright, so Andrew, crucified at Patrus, Greece on an X-shaped cross. James, slain with a sword. John. This is an interesting one, actually.
Jordan Ames (10:28.27)
Not worthy. Yeah.
Eric Albright (10:43.884)
But John was plunged into boiling water, did you know that? And, or I think his was boiling oil. And he survived! He's the only possible to die of old age, but not because of the fact that he didn't get, they didn't attempt to kill him, it's because he survived it!
Jordan Ames (10:47.302)
Yeah, we survived.
Jordan Ames (10:57.966)
Right, right, right. It's not like he was just comfortable and never suffered anything, no.
Eric Albright (11:02.636)
And the thing is, like, and then he went on to obviously they banished him to Patmos. He wrote Revelation there. And I'm not sure when he was... That I didn't know. That's interesting.
Jordan Ames (11:09.476)
And he looked after Jesus' mother.
yeah, her home was in Ephesus, is Patmos is like an island off the coast of Ephesus.
Eric Albright (11:23.776)
I actually didn't remember that. That's good stuff.
Jordan Ames (11:25.242)
Yeah, but John looked after Mary, the mother of Jesus, all the way up until her death.
Eric Albright (11:29.166)
And so this isn't... here's the other crazy thing, anybody that's like questioning the validity of the Gospels, guess what? That story? Guess where that's not in, Jordan? Scripture. That's historical fact. That's Roman history. That has nothing to do with Scripture. That's well after. Isn't that crazy? So like go ahead and start to like question, okay, now you're gonna question Roman history and the Gospels, right? Well guess what? That ain't even in the Scripture, buddy. But anyway.
Jordan Ames (11:42.864)
Yeah.
Eric Albright (11:58.2)
Philip, hanged, crucified, or stoned in Asia Minor. Nathaniel, there you go Jordan, flayed alive and beheaded. Armenia. Matthew, slain with a sword. Ethiopia. Thomas, run through with the lance. India.
Jordan Ames (12:06.916)
Mmm, lovely.
Eric Albright (12:18.54)
James, son of Alpheus, thrown from a tower in Jerusalem, then stoned and clubbed by an angry mob, which he miraculously survived. Okay, you ready for this one? Later mutilated with saws. Can you? Isn't this crazy? Did you know this stuff?
Jordan Ames (12:36.33)
I don't have a list of it. I don't remember specifically which ones, but I knew they were all brutally martyred. Yeah.
Eric Albright (12:40.364)
Yeah, but like, I'm talking violent, gory deaths. Simon the Zealot, fatally attacked by a mob near the Persian Gulf. Judas, the son of James, shot the death of Eros in Mesopotamia. Judas is scary out, we know about him. Mathias, unknown. Here's the thing, Jordan, that's the list. He wasn't a disciple. I'm not sure how he died, but he was in prison and they killed him. What was the, I don't know how they killed him.
Jordan Ames (12:59.75)
Paul, the apostle Paul, wasn't he beheaded? He wasn't one of the original 12, but wasn't he beheaded in Rome?
I don't know either. I think you might have been beheaded, anyways.
Eric Albright (13:13.442)
Brody, check us out. So, here's the thing that just stuck out to me, and this is absolutely not where we were gonna go today, but this is where we're at, so we're gonna talk about it.
Jordan Ames (13:20.454)
That's all right. Obviously, I think there is a little bit of tie in here.
Eric Albright (13:23.906)
So, Acts 1a, okay? it is! There's a B where you're supposed to be. But Acts 1, and even if it's gonna end in tragedy...
Jordan Ames (13:28.868)
Yeah.
Eric Albright (13:33.446)
And Acts 1a, here's the thing that stuck out to me now, that for the probably the first time I've read that list and I've done it a dozen times, but you know what stuck out to me outside? I knew they were all brutally ex- or murdered or executed or killed. Buddy, Acts 1a, now what stuck out to me was where? Like, because it tells you where it was at. And here's the thing, Acts 1a, let me read this to you.
all of Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. That's the last thing he says before he's glorified and lifted into heaven, right? That's Jesus says. Bro.
Those guys there, they didn't all die in Jerusalem, they didn't all die on the board, you know, on the, you know, the coast or in Nazareth or any other place. They were Acts 1, 8 all over the place. They were taking the Gospels to the end of the earth and what I'm reading there and you can make an assessment, by what we're reading, at no place on the planet, because they were everywhere. India, Africa, Europe, Middle East.
they would, the gospel was received the same way everywhere, terribly. Anytime that in earthly, your earthly flesh hears the power of the gospel, it rejects it, okay? And so that's the point here is like when we're trying to get the gospel out, we're trying to lead, you know, with servant leadership, Jesus type qualities, you should expect to be rejected.
Jordan Ames (15:05.596)
yeah, 100%. And I love, like that passage you read there highlights the why behind this whole reason why we wrote this book and reason why we have this podcast to helping people grow closer to Christ and grow in their leadership ability. The whole purpose, the reason behind that foundationally is to spread the gospel.
Eric Albright (15:35.48)
yeah. Or to demonstrate the principles of the Spirit, the fruits of the Spirit, through your leadership.
Jordan Ames (15:35.536)
Like we do that, if I'm.
Yeah, through my leadership, whether it's in the whatever boardroom, you know, the secular environment, environment, whether it's in the ministry, the family community, it doesn't matter through my leadership. If I am leading as Christ has taught us and shown us to lead, God, I believe, is going to open doors to where we can actually share our faith. Now, if we just roll right into sharing our faith, that's one that's a method.
Eric Albright (16:03.548)
yeah.
Bye.
Jordan Ames (16:10.534)
But Jesus didn't, he may have done that sometimes, but he didn't specifically do that. He may have done that to a crowd like he started preaching the good news. But whenever he just had a personal interaction with somebody, it was like he's just healing them. He's just loving them. He's doing something to have influence over them, to do something good to them. And that's where I think Christians, I heard it said, actually by John Maxwell at his conference last year, he made mention, he said,
We need to stop cursing the darkness and just turn on the light. I'm like, man, that's a great point. Like we, you know, I'm guilty of it too, but Christians just want to be like, yeah, it's like, we just want to be like defenders of God's word. I'm like, it needs no defense. It doesn't need my defense, right? It just, does need me to do what it says. It does, it needs that. And it commands me to do that.
Eric Albright (16:47.091)
Wow, now that's funny.
Eric Albright (16:52.12)
Because that's a mindset, Embrace it.
Eric Albright (17:01.122)
Buddy, that's a-
Eric Albright (17:06.125)
interesting.
I was at, we were having a conversation last night prior to the other podcast that I've told you guys about with one of the young guys. This is our editor, young guy, great young American guy, great young kid. He's a, he, and I said, all right, I have a question for you, Matty V. I said, look, and it wasn't a loaded question. It was, I just wanted to see his answer. And this goes in line with what you just said.
If someone asks, you believe in miracles? And he's like, yeah, I think so, you know, which is a normal answer. And I said, if someone asked you to explain why you believe in miracles, what would you tell them? And he proceeded to, you know, he's like, well, medical this, these other things, da da. I'm like, that's all valid and accurate. But I said, and it aligns with what you just said. It needs no defense because I said, Matty B, I used to do the same thing and I tried to reason with them, but human understanding cannot understand it. So don't try.
to reason somebody with something that's outside of their limit of comprehension. Here's the simplest answer I've come to only through trial and error and time spent in the Word and discernment, and it's this. I don't need to explain miracles because I've got this thing called the Bible, which is the story of creation through the return of Christ. And it in there tells me these things happen, witnessed by thousands of people, and
because simply the fact I believe this to be true, which is supported by historical evidence for the last 4,000 years, I don't need to try to understand it. Because it told me about Jesus 37 of them that happened right here just in the gospels. I don't need any more explanation than that because I'm not meant to understand it. Yes, I believe in miracles and here's why. Go read for yourself because I'm not going to be able to explain it to you in a way that
Eric Albright (19:02.544)
that will pragmatically make sense from your scientific earthly lens that you're using. Does that make sense, Jordan?
Jordan Ames (19:09.978)
Yeah, yeah, 100%. And I would add to that is like, the one, like people, we could have arguments on how we interpret God's word. We can argue with somebody, whatever. What nobody can argue with is your own personal testimony, what God has done in your life. They cannot believe it. They can say you're a fraud or whatever, but if that's truly what you know, how God has worked in your life and you share that, nobody, nobody can argue it.
Eric Albright (19:26.03)
That's exactly right.
Jordan Ames (19:40.336)
So that's why I believe, that's why I believe in, what is it, Revelations 12, 11. says, overcame him, meaning the dragon that's talked about, the enemy. They overcame him, one, by the blood of the lamb, by Jesus, and by the word of their testimony. That's it. The word, because all the...
Eric Albright (19:40.364)
That's exactly right.
Eric Albright (19:54.03)
That's right.
Let's go. That's it. Jesus did it and you tell him how it affected you and your experience. That's it. The enemy has no defense to that.
Jordan Ames (20:04.762)
That's it!
Jordan Ames (20:08.624)
Nope.
Eric Albright (20:09.74)
And you didn't need to explain anything. Yeah, we talked about this in our men's group a couple of sessions, like summers ago, falls ago, because we were working through, because we were working on our missions trips coming up and things like, fellas, you're going to be asked about why you believe what you believe. And we spent 12 weeks, you know, we were in, maybe it was Romans or Corinthians then, might have been Corinthians, doesn't matter. And so, but we went through, before we started doing our study, every week, and be like, someone else gave their testimony, because if you haven't done that before, your first time ought not to be when someone asks you, that has a serious question.
Jordan Ames (20:16.454)
Awesome.
Eric Albright (20:39.724)
about it. And the whole thing was like, we came to the conclusion like, what is the required biblical IQ on a scale of 0 to 100 that you need to share the gospel with somebody? What do think?
Jordan Ames (20:39.748)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jordan Ames (20:53.754)
the ability to speak.
Eric Albright (20:55.518)
Zero! Because of your point. your most powerful testimony is your simple witness. Tell him about who you were before Christ and tell them about who you are after you met Christ and you're gonna know that personally and you're not gonna need to have a biblical IQ to remember it. And there's nobody that can refute it because it's your story and you're speaking from the heart, you know? And so that's it.
Jordan Ames (21:21.318)
But our testimony is not only how we've come to have faith in Christ, although that's where it starts, that story. But it's also what God continues to do in our lives. Like my testimony is going to grow much greater in 20 years because God's going to do great things in my life over the next 20 years if I deny myself and submit myself to His will.
Eric Albright (21:34.284)
Both good and not good.
Eric Albright (21:45.934)
That's so good and that's where the whole leadership in my opinion like leadership maturity comes into play Jordan It's do you are you willing to not only celebrate the wins that he's given you? But also embrace the losses that you're gonna have to endure And the way that you perspective wise you said this is why you know what it was Maxwell's quote again
Jordan Ames (22:09.176)
We need to stop cursing the darkness and just turn on the light.
Eric Albright (22:12.098)
Yeah. Dude, that's so, dude, that guy, I mean, like, as we all know, like, that's legit. And so, you know...
Jordan Ames (22:16.454)
Yeah. We talk about like guys that have speaking ability and experience like this guy's been, you know, thinking and dedicating himself one to the word, but also just to, you know, developing leadership content for over five decades. like, yeah, he's got golden nuggets.
Eric Albright (22:32.684)
brand.
That's right. And so like not just celebrating the wins, but like when you're going through a trial, man, you can look at it as one of two ways. And that's what Maxwell's saying, think, John's saying. You can either look at it as a curse or a blessing. And if you look, it's a curse if you look at it from a selfish perspective. It's a blessing if you look at it from Jesus servant leadership altruistic perspective. Why? Because what you're going through now and as terrible as it might be and as stressful as it's become and what you're dealing with, somebody in the future, if you look at it with an eternal perspective from a faith-based lens,
can use your experience to help them down the road if you're willing to share it.
Jordan Ames (23:09.444)
yeah. Yup.
Eric Albright (23:11.606)
Right? And so that's it's all perspective. George, stop cursing the position you're in and just turn on the light and realize someday and this is I it's a mature perspective because in this today's society we all want instant gratification. This isn't part of that. This is a long-term trust plan that God has your best interests in order and maybe this thing you're going through has nothing to do with you. So stop thinking about yourself and stop being selfish because there's somebody else that he has in mind that will
benefit from the trials that you're going through right now. Way easier said than done, but I've seen this play out as reality. When you accept that and you submit to that, that's actually a fact. Then you start to see it for what it is. You remove yourself and you look at other people's lives that have spoken to you and all the things that they went through so that you could glean that experience from them themselves and not having to go through it yourself.
Jordan Ames (23:47.919)
yeah.
Eric Albright (24:11.5)
you know, something that kept you from doing, you know, that aligned with the enemy's tactics. Buddy, that's worth more than anything you can get on this world. Anything Solomon had, right? But he had that wisdom.
Jordan Ames (24:24.592)
That's what he tells us in Proverbs, right? He's like, wisdom, understanding is worth so much more than gold and silver and yeah, so true.
Eric Albright (24:31.79)
in 1 Kings 3.
God appears or visits Solomon right after he took over the throne from David. By the way, Solomon is a... He's the second son of Bathsheba, who was David's wife through very ill contrived means, which we won't get into, right? Very... Like that's enemy style behavior. But God redeemed David after the first son died because he repented, recognized and repented. Much like the prodigal son, which we might... I think we talked about last time I on here. But anyway,
Jordan Ames (24:57.466)
He repented exactly because he repented.
Eric Albright (25:04.564)
you got Solomon and the the Lord's like look I'm gonna give you any I'm gonna go there and that's where we're in we're not going to get to Jesus in the temple I'm looking at the clock but that's okay yeah so first Kings three God appears to
Jordan Ames (25:12.742)
We can do that another episode.
This has been great, yeah.
Eric Albright (25:23.658)
Solomon and he says look and he said this is first Kings 3 3 Solomon loved the Lord walking in the statutes of David his father only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places and the king went this Gibyan to sacrifice there because they didn't have a temple yet they didn't build it so they had certain places that they did worship and Gibyan was the highest of them okay according to this Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar at Gibyan the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night Jordan the first time he did
And God said, ask what I shall give you. And Solomon said this. This is where we'll finish today. Not like on the verses here, but we'll just dissect this and be done. And Solomon said, look.
You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father because he walked with you before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart towards you. And you have kept for him this great steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on the throne this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to get in or to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people,
too many to be numbered or counted by multitude give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people that I may discern between good and evil for who is able to govern this your great people and so that's the that's what Solomon says when the Lord appears to him in a dream because he's basically look I just want wisdom and here's how I want to break that down Jordan and I'll let you finish this thing out the first thing he did there's you ever hear of the when you're praying of the acronym ACTS
Adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, supplication. He starts and he does that right here. Adoration, look. Well here, let me just start by this. What Solomon could have asked for and didn't? Wealth, power, prestige, all these things, all those things. The enemy's head in battle. He didn't. He didn't ask for any of those. He's like, Lord, let me start here. I just want to say I am in adoration. He was king. He just became king.
Jordan Ames (27:28.868)
Now, you said he was king by this point, right? Yeah, he was king already, yeah.
Eric Albright (27:34.476)
Like this is one of the first things that happens as King. And so he says, look.
I just want to pay homage and acknowledge who you are God and who my father David is. I'm giving you guys all the credit. That's the adoration. That's where he started with because he said you've shown great steadfast love. That's he's talking, you know, he acknowledges who God and what he is. And then to your servant David my father because he walked through in faithfulness. God his father and his earthly father are both mentioned as let me just throw some adoration. Then he goes into contrition, which means basically I'm not worthy because he says this later on after.
gets done talking about David. Although I am but a little child, I do not know how to go out or come in. He's the king David, or Jordan, he's the king, but he's saying I'm but a little child and I have no idea what I'm doing. Man, and then he says, and the contrition is, he's like look.
Jordan Ames (28:20.55)
Yeah.
Such humility, yeah.
Eric Albright (28:32.534)
Or the Thanksgiving is the portion is and your servant is in the midst of your people who you have chosen a great people like Thank you for having put them in front of me They've numbered there too many to be numbered or counted like I'm thankful for them and he's like and the only thing I asked that's the s a CTS Supplication or special requests if you want to look at it that way is this he said therefore give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people and all he asked was that he may discern between good and evil for who
able to govern this, your great people. So his whole mindset was, this isn't about me, in fact I want to acknowledge who you are God and who my father David was and the only reason I'm here. And he said I'm not worthy to be here, I'm thankful for the great people you've put in Israel and all I ask is you give me the ability to discern between good and evil so that I can lead them effectively. Isn't that something?
Jordan Ames (29:25.67)
That's incredible. It just made me think like, we know how great David was as a young man, as a king, as a warrior between killing Goliath and fighting battles and running from Saul and those different things, then becomes king and he had a heart after God, yet he's still screwed up, like huge, right? And then he repents and then Solomon's born. I wonder.
Eric Albright (29:49.728)
yeah.
Jordan Ames (29:54.982)
the mentorship and the fatherly counsel that he gave Solomon. Like by then, he's, I don't know how many other kids he had before that, plenty, but by then in his upbringing of Solomon, he clearly was a good father for Solomon to take over the kingship and have this type of humble attitude. You know I mean? Like so much we can learn from, and this isn't, I mean,
Eric Albright (30:19.682)
Yeah. yeah.
Jordan Ames (30:24.74)
I don't know what's in scripture regarding David and Solomon's father-son relationship, probably not much. So I'm just speculating. But I think that's one thing great about God's word is we can speculate like that. And you could assume David probably invested as a father should in a son into Solomon. Yeah, so like for me, that's what I want for my children. I want them to have that kind of human.
Eric Albright (30:46.422)
There we go. Now you're greasing. I love-
Jordan Ames (30:54.598)
So then the question is, what am I doing as a father to instill that into him?
Eric Albright (31:00.866)
Yeah, we're even a mother.
Jordan Ames (31:02.904)
Yeah, 100%. Obviously, I'm talking men, because there's men in the characters and we're here, yeah, yeah, for absolutely. Like, what are we doing to instill that type of attitude in our children? Because you never know what God's going to take your children to do. What kind of power, wealth he's going to give them, who knows? Whatever's going to advance his kingdom. Right.
Eric Albright (31:05.259)
as parents.
Yeah.
Eric Albright (31:20.606)
yeah, that's right. Or what is planned for them? They're in their prep time. What are you doing to support them? Right? Because they're in their prep time. I think we talked about this last podcast when I was on. They're in their prep time for something they don't even know is coming. There's a storm that they don't know is coming. And they're going to have to face it. What are you doing right now to get them ready for that? Oof. That's heavy stuff. Yeah, man.
Jordan Ames (31:36.187)
Yeah.
Jordan Ames (31:41.626)
Yeah, that's Yep. And as leaders, that's, I mean, Solomon's such a great example. For all of you, the listeners that are listening to this podcast and you're thinking like, okay, how can I take this to apply it to whatever organizational leadership I'm doing? Workplace, church ministry, nonprofit work, community, whatever organizational type leadership you're doing, how can I apply this? Well, just start with the humility
of Solomon. Like he could have any. God said, ask me for anything. And he was like, what did he think of what him be being given that level of wisdom? Who's going to benefit from all that? It's going to be all the subjects of Israel. So he's thinking about the people who's are going to suffer or be blessed by his decisions. That's who he's thinking of.
Eric Albright (32:29.224)
yeah?
Eric Albright (32:40.258)
yeah, 100%. And he didn't say make me the wisest man on earth. He didn't say any of that. That's our deduction. He said, give me the ability to discern between good and evil because I want to heartily and faithfully lead the people you've entrusted me with.
Jordan Ames (32:41.312)
That's what servant leadership is all about.
Jordan Ames (32:54.928)
Yeah, man, that's, you don't even have to make up your own prayer. Just pray specifically those same words and have a heart after it. And God's gonna bless that. For sure.
Eric Albright (33:02.766)
there.
yeah, he'll honor that.
Yeah, man. And Solomon goes on what they say is like the wisest man who ever lived, right? Earthly man who ever lived. And he wrote, like you mentioned earlier, Proverbs. He wrote Ecclesiastes, which is like everything is just vapor. He had everything and it meant nothing because you can't take it with you. God is it. And that's the last line of the chapter 12, I think. And so, yeah, man. mean, so I did just who Solomon is, what he was. So if you haven't read scripture and know who Solomon is, you can go back to First Kings and read all about
him and his exploits and hey news flash fellas because he's of the fall which we all are it doesn't end great for him because God said don't do the thing he does the thing they worship other gods and he has a downfall like every one of us does so he's not some perfect human but he has but from every story like yours Jordan mine and anyone that's listening they have you me we all have an imperfect story but it's what can be taken out of what
you've gone through an experience that someone else can glean benefit from. And in Solomon's it's not worship a bunch of gods, we're going leave that one off to the side. It's, let me just rewind though for his high points and the moments that are impactful. And the most impactful moment to get started is the way he chose to lead his people, or ask for wisdom in order to lead his people. All right buddy. Well that's it, we're there.
Jordan Ames (34:30.598)
So good.
Yeah, we're there. a great episode.
Eric Albright (34:35.532)
We've covered Jack Youth to Solomon today. How about that?
Jordan Ames (34:39.366)
So Eric, why don't you leave the listeners with a challenge on how to apply what we've talked about? There's a lot there. There's definitely, we've, yeah, we discussed a lot.
Eric Albright (34:51.106)
Yeah, that's a good question. What would the challenge from today's podcast be? I think it would be simply this. Have a thought about your leadership style, okay? And it's very simple, Jordan. Is it self-serving or group-serving? And say it.
Is it self-serving? Does it serve you or does it serve the team? The way that you approach business every single day. And no one's asking you to go tell somebody. We're just saying, have a thought. them. Yep, self-audit. That's a great word. Do a self-audit. And you, as the listener, can go ahead and do with that what you will based on your results.
Jordan Ames (35:23.738)
I guess so far.
Eric Albright (35:34.638)
That's it. Because we're not here to tell you what to think. We're here to simply share ways in how to think and things that we've experienced previously and that we've gotten wrong so you don't have to. That's all.
Jordan Ames (35:35.588)
awesome.
Jordan Ames (35:45.766)
And all for the purpose of leading like Christ. There's no, definitely dig into other books, follow other leaders. But if those books, those leaders, if they're not marrying up to the standard of God's word, like get rid of them, go follow something else. And we gotta be in the word if we're gonna know what the standard is. Yeah. Thanks Eric. All right, till next time. See ya. All right.
Eric Albright (35:50.306)
Yep, servant leadership.
Eric Albright (36:01.932)
Yep. There's plenty of it. Exactly right.
There it is. All right, buddy. Yeah, thanks, We'll do it again.
See you buddy.
