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The NewCity Orlando All of Life Podcast
The All of Life podcast, hosted by Nate Claiborne, provides weekly episodes that help further our mission to call, form, and send disciple-makers. At NewCity, we want to see Orlando flourish by filling it with people who say "Follow me as I follow Jesus in all of life."
The NewCity Orlando All of Life Podcast
NewCity Stories: Discipleship is Intentional Friendship
In this episode, Benjamin Kandt sits down with JD Widhalm, Michael Hampl, and Dylan Yost. The discussion revolves around Dylan’s journey to faith and how the community at NewCity played a significant role in his transformation. Dylan shares how he initially connected with the church through friendships, particularly with JD, Michael, and Ben. His journey began with social interactions—working out at a park, attending backyard wrestling nights, and engaging with community members who welcomed him before he believed. Despite feeling out of place at first, he was drawn to the kindness, authenticity, and intentionality of the people around him.
Over time, Dylan’s curiosity about Christianity deepened. He was given a Bible and began reading the Gospel of Mark, leading to spiritual encounters that helped him recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit. Conversations with JD and others helped him process his experiences, and after a period of contemplation, he committed to following Jesus. The podcast highlights the power of organic, relational evangelism—how simply living life with gospel intentionality can impact someone’s faith journey. Dylan’s story reflects a patient, community-driven approach to discipleship, where love, curiosity, and personal conviction ultimately led him to embrace Christianity.
Well, this is Ben Kent and we are on the All Life Podcast. I am sitting here with Dylan and Michael and JD, and we are going to have a conversation about something really remarkable that's happened in the last few months, which is Dylan came to know Jesus in a new and fresh way, and I wanted to sit down with each of you because you all had played a role in this process and, over the course of a few years, in God's work to draw Dylan to himself, and so I'm honored to sit here with each of you and I get to essentially just ask the questions and hear a little bit about who you are and what's been going on. But let me just start off. Jd, would you tell us about yourself and introduce yourself, and we'll kind of go around to Michael and Dylan and then we'll jump in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm delighted to be back. So my name is JD Whithelm. I've been at New City for coming up on five years now. The first Sunday I came to New City I was brought by a friend, kyler. We'd been roommates through college and he'd known me for, at that point, probably five or six years and at the time I was going to a different church, wanted some space from the heavy theology of the PCA, wanted a place where my heart was actually engaged and we were hanging out. One day and he said, jd, like I know you're kind of burned out with the PCA, but you should really come give New City a try. Okay, fine, I'll try it. So I showed up and immediately that first Sunday went yeah, this is exactly where I want to be. No second doubt in my mind. And then Tuesday that week we went into lockdown and the pandemic started.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 2:And so, a it's easy for me to remember the answer, but also, b walking through that process and seeing how New City, both as leadership and as a congregation, handled that, made me realize, yes, this is the body I want to be a part of, and there's been no looking back since.
Speaker 1:So great, and JD made the comment that this is the second podcast we've been on because we got to have this same, very similar conversation with Jason Wynn, who you were also integral in him coming to know Jesus as well. So I love that. Michael, tell us a little bit about you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, my name is Michael Hample and I've been at New City for about three years. When my wife and I moved down to Orlando I met Trevor Houck playing soccer and he told us about New City and he was a really cool new friend of mine. So then we started coming to New City and we've loved it and been a part of it since.
Speaker 1:So good, dylan, we're going to take some more time to unpack your answer, but we'd love to hear just a brief intro of who you are and how you find yourself here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, my name is Dylan Yost. I've been living in Orlando since 2021, and I started going to New City in early 2023. I think Ben was the first person that I met. That was part of New City, working out at the park. I met Michael kind of in that same time frame and we were acquainted for a few months throughout 2022, but it wasn't until early 2023 when I actually went to New City for the first time, and it was through meeting JD, who he was the one who first pushed me to go and said hey, you know, if you want, at that time, you know, I I didn't know Jesus, um, wasn't going to church at all, and JD was the first one that invited me to come. Um, that's where it all started.
Speaker 1:That's so helpful. It frames the context, and so the place that you and I met Dylan was at Blue Jacket Park and there's some pull-up bars there. They're bright orange and in our house they're affectionately just called the bars, which is funny because I will regularly say, hey, alana, I'm going to take Augie to the bars, and if you didn't have the context of what that meant, it sounds a little bit questionable parenting.
Speaker 1:But for years I've just gone there and you know, two or three times a week to do a pull-up workout or something like that. I always bring my kids and and I get to meet the regulars and Dylan, you've been one of the regulars there for a long time too. And.
Speaker 1:I actually remembered this recently, which is you and I when we first met and I introduced myself and, uh, I think we just started talking about things. You were potentially going to go into the military, and one of the reasons why is because you were interested in learning leadership, and one of the things I remember saying to you was hey, have you ever read the book of Exodus? And I think you might've said no, or something like that, and I was like, well, it's a really interesting book about leadership.
Speaker 3:And I was preaching through I didn't know what it was. I didn't know what it was. You didn't know what it was.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And we were preaching through the book of Exodus at the time it was in, probably the fall of I don't know, 23 or 22 or something like that, Probably the fall of 22,. Actually that would make sense, and um, and I was serious. I mean, there's a lot of really cool leadership principles in the book of Exodus, but uh, I also there's. It's also God's written revelation of himself. I knew that too, so so anyways, I'd be curious, do you, do you recall that interaction?
Speaker 3:Well, now that you mentioned yeah, I, I remember. You know I didn't think of that specific instance of the conversation, but you know I just got that, that memory unlocked. So yeah, I kind of do. Yeah, that's so funny.
Speaker 1:I don't know what it was for me too, but that's a good way to put it. The memory kind of got unlocked, and yeah. And then Michael and I have had a regular pack practice of going there, probably since you moved here.
Speaker 4:Yeah, more or less yeah.
Speaker 1:And so you know, maybe every Monday or Wednesday or Friday, something like that, we just have a pattern of meeting up there doing a workout, and so then we ended up meeting a lot of the same people and, uh, we're almost always there around 5 PM. Anybody can join if you guys want to come, Um and. And so, Michael, then you, this was around the same season when you started hosting backyard wrestling nights, Tell us a little bit about the the inception of that idea and where it came from.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's a great question that I still don't fully know. I got randomly invited to a guy in Orlando's backyard fight night where we did some boxing and wrestling. But he only did it once a month and I got addicted really quickly and thought I could do this with my friends. So then I started inviting all my friends and a lot of strangers to come to Ward Park, which is a park by my house, to go wrestle in the grass, so much so that my wife would get mad at me. I would like meet a new person and be like hey, man, do you want to come wrestle with me tomorrow night? And most people would say no. Some of my friends said yes, because you guys are kind and gracious, can.
Speaker 1:I interrupt here. So I would be at Starbucks with Michael and he would meet somebody who had a German accent, because Michael knows German, and he would go talk to them in German and then, within a few paragraphs of the conversation, invite them to come wrestle with him. That's a true story, so good.
Speaker 4:Yeah, um, and Dylan was one of the first strangers that actually took me up on the offer and said, yeah, I'll come, cause I think you introduced me to him at the bars. You're like hey, this is my friend, dylan. So we talked a little bit and I probably invited you to wrestle the next night and you showed up so good yeah yeah I, yeah, I mean just to add some additional context.
Speaker 3:I was right after I got back. So I just to back up about the military thing. Um, I went, I actually did go to navy ocs, but I dropped out, just decided that I didn't want it bad enough. So I get back to orlando around the new year 2023. Um, you know, part of the reason why I was like, yeah, I'm down to go is because I was just trying to meet new people. At the time I didn't know anyone in Orlando and I mean, I knew you a little bit from before. Uh, but I was like, you know, this is a good opportunity to to go meet some, some new people. So that's why I I was more more open to going. Um, yeah, maybe I still would have gone if I knew a bunch of people already, you know.
Speaker 4:But right, that'd be less likely to maybe, yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 3:I don't know how how that would have turned out. But yeah, I mean, I was going there mainly just to, yeah, try to meet new people.
Speaker 4:And meet new people. You did. And in a very intimate way, when you're wrestling with some other guy who probably also doesn't have a shirt on, and I think that's where you met JD right.
Speaker 2:That's right. Yeah, there's few first introductions, as rolling on the ground with another dude shirtless trying to pin each other down, be like, hey, what's?
Speaker 2:your name again. But yeah, I think, ben, you're responsible for convincing me to come the one time I did, and I think at the time we were talking through some of my conflicted, complicated relationship with God, and I think you challenged me out of since we were going through Exodus or no, it was because of conversation we'd had when we'd gone through Genesis about Jacob wrestling with God and you pushed me of like, hey, you should go do this thing.
Speaker 4:I did not know that. I didn't know that either.
Speaker 1:That sounds like something former men would say that's perfect.
Speaker 2:Hey, read Exodus about leadership and you're wrestling with God Come come wrestle with some other guys, and so there was a huge part of me was like I, this is just not my cup of tea. But there was also part of me that realized the only way you grow is doing things outside your comfort zone. I love it, and if you haven't been willing to push yourself, is it really worth it to say no?
Speaker 2:So I was like okay, I mean, uh, dang it. Okay, fine, then I'll I'll say once yes, so I show up and I will say there's something very unique, memorable, about getting to wrestle your pastor and uh, I think we only wrestled for three rounds. I'm guessing you probably took the first one, I took the second one, and so it's kind of one and one third round. Who's going to get it? And unfortunately I can say that I lost quite handily and Ben took me to the mat.
Speaker 4:But it was a very memorable experience.
Speaker 2:I was completely gassed. I don't think I could wrestle anyone else for the rest of the evening.
Speaker 4:I can't remember that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so funny the the. The slight advantage I had is that I wrestled in middle school and almost everybody else it was their first experience. It was backyard wrestling with Michael at ward park.
Speaker 4:Right, but middle school, ben, he must've been a fierce wrestler, cause you, you still have the moves yeah.
Speaker 1:He had something. Okay, we're telling this story because this is kind of the context of how you met all three of us and, as you said, jd is the one that actually invited you to come worship with New City. And one of the things I want to point out is you said you know, I was essentially looking for friends. I didn't have many friends in Orlando and one of the values we have is that people are able to belong before they believe. Like. It's important for you to be able to have this sense of like.
Speaker 1:We know you, we care about you, we're for you, you, you're one of us. We were friends like. All of that's real and authentic and you don't believe the same thing we do, and that's okay, but that's not contingent on our relationship or our relationship is not contingent upon you believing what we believe and simultaneously, we really think that what we believe is true and that's best for you and it would be a good thing to come to know Jesus. So I'm curious, as you reflect back on that time and kind of coming into the community of New City, what sticks out to you? What do you recall from that season?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, at first, when I first started going to to new city, I was pretty inconsistent.
Speaker 2:I'm sure jd will will remember this um I mean a little, yeah, you kept coming back.
Speaker 3:Eventually I mattered I would yeah, I would usually come, you know like maybe once or twice a month or something like that, and I felt honestly kind of, you know, uncomfortable coming at first. It was just, you know, I didn't grow up going to church a ton. My mom's side of the family is Catholic, so I had a little bit of experience with that, but my mom left the Catholic faith when she was younger so I didn't really grow up in it at all. Growing up in Costa Rica never went to church. I went to church a handful of times over the course of my 13 years there, whether it was just with a friend or you know. There was this girl that I liked and I was going to her church because I liked her, not because I was, you know, wanting to go to church. We've all been there.
Speaker 2:I was going to say, power of pretty cool, get you to go to church.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, you know, like I didn't have a ton of experience and I I've, you know, I wasn't a believer, so I just felt, felt kind of uncomfortable, but what kept me going was just how, you know, everyone was was just so, so friendly and so positive. Everyone just had a very, you know, positive outlook on life and, um, people were kind, were kind and and friendly and and that that's really what you know, drew me in and you know I would hang out with um, with friends at New City, outside of the church context sometimes and, uh, you know it, slowly I I got to be more comfortable coming after a while, I just kind of got used to it. But you know, it wasn't until recently, about two years later basically, when I actually came to faith. So it was a gradual process.
Speaker 1:So helpful. I love hearing that tension which was, on one hand, there were some things that were uncomfortable about being in that space. On the other hand, there was an invitation from the people. The people is really, what had you coming back? And when I try to get outside of just what I experience on a Sunday morning and think about it from the lens or the eyes of an outsider, it's not a concert, but it's kind of got some concert vibes. It's not a TED Talk, but it's got some TED Talk vibes. There's a point at which somebody gets up there and breaks bread and pours wine into a cup and says it's got something to do with the body and blood of Jesus.
Speaker 1:The songs we sing can be a little bit weird sometimes. There's all these foreign elements. We have our own language. We have our own language, we have our own way of interacting, all those kind of things. So true. What were the things that were that made you uncomfortable on a Sunday morning when you came and worshipped? All of the above?
Speaker 4:Yes, yes.
Speaker 3:I mean, I think, yeah, so you know, church always starts off with music, off with music. And you know people in New City are are, you know they, they get into the music and you know they, they start raising their hands and you know, uh, I just was like, oh, you know, it's just, you know, to me initially, just kind of know to me initially, it just kind of just felt kind of strange like seeing people getting so into it, you know, and it just it was foreign to me. Obviously it doesn't sound strange now, or to you guys, but to me as as a as a new, as a newcomer, it was, you know, uh, a little unusual. So I guess you know it wasn't what I was used to seeing in general society.
Speaker 1:Um, do you remember how you made sense of that, like what was the story you told yourself about why people were like getting super into these songs and raising their hands?
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, I just to me, you know, it looked like you know people were, they were just really they, they, they had a genuine connection to God and they weren't afraid to display that. You know, even for me now, as a new believer, I sometimes I, I feel, you know, like, like I'm not, you know, like I don't want to just like put on this huge display and put my hands up in the air, I still feel you know a little.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't. I'd still feel you know a little, I wouldn't say uncomfortable, but just uh, you know, not as uh, I guess, willing or free to just show my true emotions in a big public space, which is kind of like what I when I see that. I see people, they're, they're just, it's just them and God, and they don't care about the way they look, they don't care about them displaying their, their emotions, they're excited. Yeah, let's put our arms up, you know.
Speaker 1:So I really admire that your your interpretation of it, because when you're in a space where you're uncomfortable and something's confusing, um, it's easy to bring kind of to overlay judgments on those things Like what are all these like holy rollers doing? You know like there's ways you could have gone with that, but the way that you went was actually to give them the best read on the situation, which was wow, these people like genuinely feel to God and they're expressing this out of a place of sincerity and I really respect that. That was your interpretation of what was going on and I think that that's true, I think you're accurate. But as an outsider coming in, there's a lot of different ways. You could have stories you could have told about what you were witnessing in that moment.
Speaker 3:Yeah, um no, but you know it.
Speaker 3:just to me it just seemed like, like I said, people were uh, they were just really, really into it you know, for lack of a better way to say it, um, and you know, like I said to me, it was, it was foreign. And you know, like I said to me, it was foreign, it was strange and it's just not something that you see out in the normal world. So I'm trying to think of other things. I think, you know, communion at the end of church was always uncomfortable for me because I didn't go up. It was, that was always.
Speaker 3:You know, it was something I always, you know, didn't look forward. That moment where you have to like just kind of excuse yourself, uh, or just let everyone walk past you. And you know, I feel like people are looking at me, like there's just one guy in the whole church that's not going up, you know, and like you know that you know, for better or worse, you know, I was feeling that that would make me feel uncomfortable, you know, because people just naturally want to be a part of the pack. So when you're outside of that, you feel, you know, that outsider feeling adds another layer of uncomfort.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So that was probably the other aspect, but no, I'd say those were probably the main, main two things.
Speaker 4:yeah, yeah, that sounds totally lonely to be like. Three to five hundred people are all getting up to go take communion and you're one of the few people sitting there, so that that makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 2:But as one of the people who would often be sitting next to Dylan, because many times you would sit in my row. That was something I really respected and admired about you throughout the. I guess it was about two years of kind of on and off attending New City Once you understood why we did communion and the fact that this is a distinctly for believers sacrament. You got that and you respected it and you were like, yeah, that's not me.
Speaker 2:It was clear that at that point you were being drawn. So there was this I want that, maybe could possibly be me, but it's not me right now. And so the fact that you had the consistency and the integrity to say, yeah, I'm going to sit this one out and kind of would use that window, as I guess I'll run to the bathroom every week. I really did admire that, which also made it to foreshadow later part of the story a lot more special.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you have had that like consistent integrity, like JD saying of I don't know. I feel like it could have been easy for you and hanging out with different people from new city to try to like put on a show like yeah, I'm really interested in this. Or like I to try to like put on a show like yeah, I'm really interested in this. Or like I'm going to become a Christian soon. Just like please us, maybe, and trying to fit in. But I felt like the whole time you were just very honest about where you were at with God and your beliefs, even if it was contrary to ours, but you were still willing to be our friend and willing to come hang out.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's really cool. So one of the things that is, I teach my son, I teach Augie this, which is, uh, we don't go to church, we are the church and uh, it's, it's one of the cool things about your story. It's like you, you came to worship with us on Sundays but actually where you really experienced the like entryway into Christianity was through the church, the people of God. So the event the Sunday morning worship gathering had some things that if left alone, would have been off-putting and even maybe pushed you out. But since we don't go to church, we are the church, you actually felt really welcomed in by the church, the people of God, and you were connected with one of the communities that you show up to. I'm curious what that was like as you started building relationships with some of the people of New City, um, what that process was like and how those developed and deepened over time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, it was Michael Hample that invited me to community, that got me plugged in there and, um, those were good. You know, I first started going to those during my first year, I think. Again, I felt like it was just another opportunity for me to go and meet new people. During those first few months I was just trying to meet as many people as possible. I would take the offer up on anyone that you know would invite me to go do something. So I would. Yeah, I went to community. It was Michael and Aaron that were hosting them at first. I think you guys were, at least during my time. You guys were the first hosts of, of that group and we would, we would have them at your house and, um, yeah, it was always, you know, good time.
Speaker 3:The first hour was spent eating and then the second hour was, you know, sort of, uh, you know, read the Bible and talk about Jesus, go over some verses and um, again, you know, obviously, as a non-believer, that second hour was, it was always. You know, I just felt kind of out of place because you know everyone's sitting down in a circle and reading the Bible. I'm just kind of sitting there on the side just observing, basically not really contributing much of course, and didn't have much to say. I think every once in a while I would ask questions, but for the most part I was just a silent observer for those. But I kept going for a while.
Speaker 3:It was initially it was just for the social aspect, but then eventually, you know, I started to get more and more curious. To get more and more curious. The first thing I'd say that got me curious, and what I would say was at the time is I'd like to be a believer, but I can't just wake up and start believing everything, because I just saw how everyone conducted themselves. I aspired to to be like that and it just seemed like everyone was living the good life. To me, you know, um, you know that that was really kind of the first drive forward, uh, but you know, I was in that stage for a while where I I was, you know, wanting to believe, but I couldn't just like say, yeah, I'm gonna just start believing all this stuff.
Speaker 4:and you know, I remember that, yeah, like, it like it seems really good what you guys all have going on here. It seems really good to have this belief. But how do I force my brain to believe this or force my heart to believe this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what were you seeing that was attractive?
Speaker 3:Mainly, people just seemed happy and positive. You know, friendly and open-minded. You know that am friendly and and open-minded, you know, and, uh, yeah, there was. There was just some something about, uh, the people in community, the people at New City, that that I just felt I felt drawn to them, felt I felt drawn to them. Um, you know, you try to compare them to you know sort of standard non-believer people. Uh, I'd say the main thing they would be more interested in in you as a person, you know, um, I remember, you know, early on, when I was, whenever I would have a conversation with, with someone at new city I was at first, I was always thrown off guard by the amount of questions they would ask me. I've never had in the past, I've never had someone ask me so many questions, and that was a big, a big unique factor. People just seemed interested in you.
Speaker 1:There's something cool about. Cs. Lewis says if you ever met a genuinely humble person, you wouldn't be struck by their humility. You would find that they were just genuinely interested in you. And I just like I love that that was your experience. Jesus says in John 13 that the love that the Christian community has, and then in John 17, the unity that the Christian community has, that those two things, if they're there, they will attract people to Jesus. They will be signs, that kind of point beyond themselves that Jesus must be legit and so it's so. It's super encouraging to me. It's called the community apologetic. So like you couldn't, maybe you couldn't get there rationally, like how do I believe in this stuff? Rationally, like I don't know how to get there. But there was something happening at maybe a heart level where it was. You kind of wanted it to be true which.
Speaker 1:I think, is maybe one of the first dominoes to fall for somebody to come to know Jesus. It actually this looks desirable. Not only believable, but desirable.
Speaker 2:I remember a conversation we had at some point during this window where you were commenting on one of the things that was a little odd or different about the people you were building a relationship with at New City, versus friends you'd had for years who weren't believers, and it was so funny to me the way you put it. You said, man, y'all are really affectionate, you hug each other a lot, and it kind of took you off guard a bit, and yet it was also clear there was something about that that you found really admirable and desirable and it was really amusing and also encouraging for me to hear you say that, because, yeah, that's what we want it to be, because of what, ben, you just said that's so good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, some of these things I'm hearing for the first time too, which is cool. I love hearing the story put together there's another time we're at our community.
Speaker 4:we did the potluck meal. Then afterwards, I think we were just like praying for each other, just like sharing updates on what's going on in life, what's good, what's bad, and praying for each other, and we kind of all went around and we got to you, dylan, and I think you didn't want to share, but you were like you guys are the most vulnerable people I've ever met, because everyone was just sharing their like deepest and darkest stuff going on and hard stuff and I don't remember exactly what you said, but it was something along the lines of yeah, basically that no one in the world does this, except for Christians.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah, yeah, it was totally. It just felt, you know, totally foreign to me. I have never experienced that you know in other social groups.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it really is. You use the word foreign there and I think that's the right word. So many of these things were foreign. They were strange even to the point of uncomfortable or confusing. And it wasn't actually in the downplaying of the strangeness, it was actually in the full-proof strangeness that over time that was actually what was attractive.
Speaker 1:And I just think about that like if the gospel is true, then the worst thing that could possibly be said about me was that the Son of God had to die on a cross to make me right with God. So what could I possibly tell you guys about me? That's worse than that. Therefore, I'm freed up to be honest and be vulnerable. So like the gospel actually changes a people, it creates a community built like that's born of the gospel and kind of oriented around the gospel. That is ought to be utterly contrasted with any other social gathering that you might find yourself in. So I just I'm more or less highlighting that to say like that's cool, like it's actually working the thing. That's actually doing the thing. Michael, when did you buy Dylan a Bible in this process?
Speaker 4:To be fair, I didn't buy it for Dylan.
Speaker 3:When did you give Dylan a Bible? I?
Speaker 4:think this Bible was for free from somewhere that I grabbed A Hilton hotel room.
Speaker 4:The Bible itself looks like it came from a Hilton hotel room it's pretty old school, it's old school scratched out hilton to put hample on it, the hample hotel um, I don't know exactly when, but I do remember it being very late in the game of knowing dylan. I think you came over to dinner one night with me and Aaron, and we were talking, said something about the Bible and then I realized I'm like, dylan, do you have a Bible? And you said no and I was like, oh man, we've known Dylan for probably like a year and a half two years at this point and never offered you a Bible. So that felt like a big shame on me, but I was like, oh, let me grab you one. So I gave you one that night, I believe.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that was the summer of last year, it was like. July or August or something yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And how did you receive that? I mean, you've been in these Bible studies when people are like sitting around and talking about the book and now somebody's trying to give you the book. What is that like for you in that moment? Do you remember?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're trying to give you the book. What is that like for you in that moment, do you remember? Yeah, I was at first. I was thinking, you know, this is cool, I'm probably not gonna read it for a while and part of that was because I was studying for this test at the time.
Speaker 3:So that was kind of taking up a lot of my mental energy. But you know, yeah, I was thinking that's cool, cool, maybe I'll open it up one day. But I didn't have any intention to open it up as soon as I got home that night.
Speaker 4:You were studying pretty hardcore right for these tests, for work you work all day and then go home maybe do a quick workout and then study the rest of the night.
Speaker 2:Pretty much and for the bulk of the time that we were friends, this was kind of the regular cadence the night pretty much, and for the bulk of the time that we were friends this was kind of regular cadence rhythm of your life and so the fact that, yeah, it's true that there would be, like you said, months where you'd be at new city once, maybe twice, but there was still in amongst this very demanding schedule, there was still something about this space of these people that you found, yeah, this is, this is worth it for me to pursue, even in the midst of juggling all this other stuff 100 yeah dylan was just real quick.
Speaker 4:Dylan was the most faithful member of our community for at least a year, like more faithful than me when I was leading the community, like I think, I missed more of the meetings
Speaker 3:than he did, which is saying something. I think think Dylan led most of them.
Speaker 4:I don't believe any of this yet, but let me teach you.
Speaker 1:I actually think that's true for worship too. Like after, maybe, the early on point that you talked to about with JD, I saw you almost every Sunday and there was just this commitment Like this. This became a staple of your life rhythm, which was worshiping on Sundays and community on whatever day of the week it was.
Speaker 1:But, there's just something cool about that that you were in that space. So I remember having a conversation with you over lunch and I think it was like hey, you know, you've been around us, you've been seeing this thing, like what are your thoughts? And you're like you shared some of the things you shared, um, and I was like what do you think about God? Like where? And I this is my language, not yours but there was just kind of this general eh, it's just like irrelevant to me right now. Um, and I think I invited you to read mere Christianity with me by CS Lewis, and you were like no, that's okay Back were like no, that's okay.
Speaker 1:Back to his honesty, yeah it was great, and you were just like no, I'm good, I got these tests I'm studying for. You were like I just don't have time to read a book right now. I was like okay, that's fine, and so that was like part of the conversation. When did the momentum shift kind of in favor of exploring the faith?
Speaker 3:of exploring the faith. I'd say it really started after I finished studying Last year. I took the test I think it was in August and then there was like the six-week waiting period where I was waiting to hear back from the test, people to hear if I passed.
Speaker 2:And you were stressed out, man. Oh, yeah, yeah I was yeah.
Speaker 3:So it was really after I finished studying, but especially after I knew that I passed. That's really when it happened, and I remember that shift happened when I was over at jd's place and we were on the back porch just having a conversation great conversation, you know long I talk a lot guys yeah, um and yeah, throughout my time there were several people that went up to me and said hey, you know you want to read the Bible together.
Speaker 3:You should start reading the Bible declined at first. It wasn't until that night when JD I think it was the gospel Mark JD was like, hey, you should. I think, out of all the gospels, I think Mark is the one that you would. That's what JD told me. Mark is the one that you know, you, I think would resonate the most with you, or or one of them.
Speaker 3:Um, so I started there and, and that's really like when my curiosity, uh, like really started to take precedence and I that's when I started reading it. I didn't have to worry about the test or or studying, and, um, you know that that's when the actual process of coming to faith started, pretty much right then I remember I went on this trip to Costa Rica for a few days or a week or something, and I read a little bit of it before going on the trip. I went on the trip, kind of forgot about it, and then when I came back, I started reading it more seriously. Um, you know, jd was like, yeah, just just read it. And now let me know what you think. And and we met up again and, um, it was when I got back and I was reading it that second time around, when I kind of had my first moment, or encounter, you could say, with the Holy Spirit, and I remember telling JD about it.
Speaker 1:Would you tell us about it now?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely it. And yeah, yeah, absolutely. I just I was, when I was reading it one night I was before I picked it up I was just feeling anxious about something and I don't know. A few minutes into reading it, I just felt like the that like feeling of anxiety, you know. Those butterflies in your stomach just immediately went away and yeah, I've never really felt that before. And that was kind of like my first moment where I was like, oh you know, maybe there's something to this. Wow Moments like that. You know, encounters with the Holy Spirit started happening more frequently after that. I remember JD telling me you know, it sounds like the Holy Spirit is wooing you in.
Speaker 1:What a good language. And it was when you're reading the scriptures.
Speaker 1:So you'd open the Gospel of Mark, you'd be reading and you'd get this sense which, for the record, john Wesley, who's a well-known Christian, he described it as his heart was strangely warmed. I just love that language. He didn't really know what else to say about it other than my heart was strangely warmed. But there is this experiential dimension of the Holy Spirit at work. That doesn't always happen, isn't always there, but when it is there, there's something that he's doing. And I hear you saying like oh wow, I'm experiencing something that I've never experienced before while reading the scriptures. Or I'm even thinking now about Luke 24, when they're walking on the road to Emmaus and they said did not our hearts burn within us as he opened up the scriptures to us? Like, in other words, your experience has both biblical and historical precedent. Like this is something the Holy Spirit does, accompanying with the Word of God. The Spirit of God comes to to bring that kind of encounter.
Speaker 2:I love that language and this part of the story was super exciting for me because Dylan, I had first met that one and only night at backyard wrestling and I could tell, like he's new, he doesn't know anyone. This has kind of been trained into me from years of college ministry and so struck up a conversation. We talked for goodness I think it was probably like two and a half hours.
Speaker 3:We were there so late that the lights had like it had gone dark.
Speaker 2:They turned off the lights Like we needed to leave the park because it was closing.
Speaker 4:No way.
Speaker 2:And like it was a great conversation. And from that very first conversation I just had this like deep sense. I feel like god's wooing and after this guy. But having seen this play out at least once now with jason and potentially with another friend who's earlier in this process, the hardest thing has been realizing it is never on my timetable yeah, wow and so going okay, this, this is probably gonna be a long, long haul journey.
Speaker 2:So by the time we fast forward to this point in the story where dylan's passed the test and really you were, kind of it felt alive again the way you hadn't been before, because you actually had mental and emotional bandwidth and this time where it's like oh, I feel alive again and so we were able to spend more time together and, as he's sharing these not just moments, but also even before the moments, this actual curiosity in me, there was an awakened excitement of oh okay, it's happening.
Speaker 2:And so then it became the dance of what does it look like to faithfully like, encourage this process and kind of fan that flame, but also remembering I can't change his heart, I can't actually bring him to faith. It has to be the Holy Spirit, and then kind of waiting and seeing. So is this like another year? Is this two more months? Like what? What's the timeline gonna be? But that moment on that back porch like hang out talking.
Speaker 3:Yes, good yeah was like. Yes, here it is, that's so good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean to that point the Word of God, the people of God and the Spirit of God kind of coming into alignment is you can tell the hand of God is usually at work when that happens and that's clearly evident in the story, at least up to this point. So that was like October 24, right?
Speaker 3:October 2024?.
Speaker 1:So tell us from there, kind of how did you find yourself to coming to the point where you were like I think I'm ready, From, as Michael said, like hey, this looks cool, but I don't really know how to get there, To where you were like I think I'm ready. What was that process like?
Speaker 3:I'm ready. What was that process like, yeah, I'd say, you know, it took about maybe two or three weeks from like that first moment where I, you know, I felt like I had the encounter with the Holy Spirit, um, and, and like I was saying it, I kept having those those moments, but it took me kind of a little bit to, you know, was trying to I didn't know what to make of it. I was trying to figure out, okay is, is this, is this real, you know? Am I just like imagining things? Is it a placebo or whatever? Um, but it kept happening pretty frequently during that period, during those two weeks, and, you know, after happening enough times, eventually I just, you know, I was like, yeah, this is real.
Speaker 3:And it was kind of around that time when I went up to you after church and told you about the experience I was having. I would say I remember that same day I was at lunch with JD and our group of friends and I was telling him I feel like I'm 95% there. There was just like a little bit of, you know, I just wanted to like, make sure, before making the like, the official commitment that I, you know, because to me, the commitment under, you know, false pretenses you could say, and I just, you know, wanted to be sure of the decision that I was making. So I was a little bit hesitant for a few days and really during those it was probably about two weeks, you know, and you know, I was like especially thinking, coming from a non-faith background, a non-believer, all of this was just really new to me and I just I didn't know what to make of it and I was, I was going back and forth a lot and, you know, trying to figure out, if you know, if, if it was actually happening and, um, yeah, it, it wasn't like there wasn't some dark line in the sand where I was like, okay, here, 5 o'clock on Saturday October 15th, I'm not a believer and then 6 o'clock that same day, okay, I'm a believer.
Speaker 3:Now it wasn't like that, wasn't like that it was. There were, like I keep saying, you know, there were a lot of these little experiences I was having, encounters with the Holy Spirit. It was a cumulative effect of all those experiences that eventually led me to the ultimate commitment.
Speaker 2:And I think that's one of the reasons throughout the entirety of our friendship it has been a real friendship Because, again, this is something about Dylan that I've admired so much is from the outset you've been super clear about. Hey, I don't want to just jump in on this thing out of bandwagoning or trying to fit in.
Speaker 3:If.
Speaker 2:I'm going to commit to this it's because I'm all in and A I just really enjoy being around people like that. I think people who are fully committed are the most interesting and engaging people. But then also it actually made it really fun and enjoyable to go through that long waiting process of how is the Holy Spirit going to do this, because there was never the question of well, is he just saying this to appease me? No, like he was being completely upfront. These are my hesitancies.
Speaker 2:These are where I'm feeling drawn, and so I remember that conversation where you're standing in line to order food and on the inside I'm fist pumping like oh, he's so close. But at the same time I was actually more excited about the fact that you were so intentional of. I want to make sure I really mean this and I'm not just following purely emotion or just something I've kind of tricked myself into, like I want it to be real and I'm owning it and I've really respected that.
Speaker 1:The whole time through. Appreciate it now yeah, your outsides and your insides would match right like that, that you really do believe this and not just speak and act as if you do. So, from my vantage point. So you come up to me after a service on a Sunday and this is my summary. I don't think either of us said this, but there was some version of like I think I'm ready to take whatever the next step is towards God, kind of a thing.
Speaker 1:And so we sat down and I read Romans 10, nine and 10 to you about if you believe in your heart, uh, that God raised him from the dead, and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved, right, I read that and I was like, hey, do you believe this? Like do you think Jesus really is alive from the dead and do you, are you willing to his forgiveness and his life for his death, for your life, those kinds of things? And you were like, yeah, I do. So we prayed together. And then you go to lunch and you're like I'm 95% there. And then you and I had a meeting that Wednesday, um, at black bean deli.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And we, we talked more than um when, as you said, you don't know when that like moment was, but you can look back and say, oh yeah, I came to faith. When did that happen, when you could look back and go, uh, or when did you have the realization of like, oh, I think, whatever that 5% is, like I, I did that, I crossed that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. The remaining 5%, I would say, looking back now happened that night, that Wednesday, when, when we had that meeting and I don't think I realized it 100% at the time, but looking back it was probably just a few days after that where I was like, yeah, if I had to draw that line in the sand, that's probably where it happened- so cool and one of the things I think is so significant is, uh, we just read the Luke 15, the prodigal son, and just talked about that story of what it means to come home to the father, and then, uh, and then briefly talked about the four soils, how Jesus talks about the, the, the seed is sown.
Speaker 1:Some fall on this kind of ground, this kind of ground, this kind of ground, and then there's some that fall on good soil and actually take root and bear fruit. And that was, that was most of our conversation, do you recall?
Speaker 3:anything else from that conversation that that maybe lingered? Um, I don't think so. I mean, you know, I, I the the key messages stuck with me. You know and I was just talking about that one parable I forget exactly what it was called about planting good seeds yesterday with Trey, who's discipling me now, and I think it was such a great verse or not a verse, a section of the Bible, to go over as a new believer because it's all about laying those good roots.
Speaker 3:Now, I wouldn't say there was anything else beyond those core messages that stuck with me and I've got to keep reminding myself of them all the time, of them all the time, about, you know, laying those good roots and then about the parable of the lost son.
Speaker 3:I mean, the key with that thinking back now, is just that, you know, to me it was, you know, it's interesting to see from you know, christian perspective, that you can kind of go out and do all these bad things, um, but you know, as long as you, you know, after realizing, oh, I did all all these bad things, and you know, you realizing, oh, I did all these bad things, and you know, you come to that realization and come back to your father, you know, and say, oh, I'm sorry, I messed up, I did all these things. In that story the father was compassionate, despite the shortcomings that he had. You know, a lot of times, sort of, in the secular world, there's just not that forgiveness there, you know. So that stuck out to me and it's just a comforting feeling, you know, knowing that, um, you know, obviously we're not perfect, we're going to mess up, but uh, you know it, it's just despite all that, you know, god still loves us.
Speaker 1:So good.
Speaker 3:Oh I love that.
Speaker 1:Okay, so, as we close out this conversation, Real quick.
Speaker 4:Which Black Bean Deli was that at?
Speaker 1:Colonial. Yeah, Okay cool, yeah, the original, I think so good. Well, I would love to, I'd love to hear, kind of since then that was in November what tell us what that's been like? So you've been you know. So, let's say, november, december, january, february. Now, what's it been like following Jesus? What's it been like with this newfound faith? You mentioned, trey, somebody who's been discipling you. I know JD's had a role in that too.
Speaker 3:Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, trey, jd and Michael have all been doing a great job at discipling me. I'm very grateful. I'm grateful for the people around me. The community's been great and I noticed when I go away for a time I've been on two trips since coming to faith Whenever I go away, I miss the community, I miss, you know, going to church and being around everyone at New City and it's just been, yeah, really great experience. Great people just been, yeah, really really great experience. Great people.
Speaker 3:Um, um, you know, um, as, as we all are, of course, I'm trying to put God above everything else. You know I, we all have, uh, you know me coming from from a non-faithith background especially but we all have our idols and you know I'm working to put those idols lower on the priority list and put God and Jesus in that number one spot. And you know that's what it looks like for me now. That's where I, I, I see the importance of my time being spent and sort of my, my thinking to go into into that. And you know, being in that, being in community has been very helpful, very grateful for it. Reading the Bible, praying, those are all things that bring me closer to God. Of course, we get drawn and I get drawn to other things still all the time, you know. But you know, going to corporate worship on Sunday and community, it's that anchor that brings me back.
Speaker 1:It's just so encouraging, I love hearing this story.
Speaker 4:I could sit and listen to you all day long talk about these things well, because, like just rewinding a year or two years ago, we never would have had this conversation with you.
Speaker 4:That's right yeah, these weren't things you wanted to talk about these weren't things that were actually happening in your life, and it did like it felt so slow the past couple years like your progression in faith, I guess but then all of a sudden it just happened real quick at the same time. So sometimes I'll do that. I'm like, wow, the way Dylan is talking right now about how the Holy Spirit's working in his heart and like wanting to choose God over these idols. I'm just like this is not the Dylan I knew five months ago.
Speaker 4:So it's really refreshing man Really fun.
Speaker 2:And one thing that's been rewarding and interesting in our process of me being one of the guys who's discipling you is, I can remember back through college and high school, some of the men who helped disciple me and I would say broadly, it seems like there's kind of two schools of thought or approaches to discipleship. One is a very kind of structured, kind of curriculum-oriented, walking through. It's more theology, fundamentals, and the other is more just kind of relational mentoring. What's relevant in life right now? And I think there's really value in both.
Speaker 2:And for me though I know that I often found that first one to feel a little rigid and there would be something relevant in my life that I'd want to engage with with the person who's discipling me, but it felt like we couldn't get to it.
Speaker 2:And what's been interesting and cool is something Dylan and I have noticed is in his time with Trey. That's more the structured, almost like working through theological fundamentals, and then Dylan and mine's time together really is more of that, just relational mentoring. Where are you at in life right now? And I'm reminded of one of the men who discipled me in college. He had this really incredible way of whatever we were talking about, he would find the gospel through thread and draw it back in. But he didn't feel ham-fisted. It was almost this ability to see what's the deeper element of where god's at play here, or where this aspect of culture is showing, like our sinful hearts longing for what is true and good and us veering off to the side. And so we get together, usually sunday afternoons, make a meal together common rhythm. I often feel like I'm lackluster at it, but we do this one consistently.
Speaker 4:Did you point at Ben? I did, okay, I thought you were pointing at something on the wall. No, no.
Speaker 2:He's always hounding common rhythm, common rhythm for a common love. And the other piece, though, is it's really remarkable how, in that space of sharing a meal together and just talking about life, it's really remarkable how, in that space of sharing a meal together and just talking about life, every time we really do end up digging into a passage pretty extensively, in an exegetical way, going through. Here's what's actually being said and this is how this applies to life. Here and I'll end with this Sunday you were preaching the beginning of Hebrews. The passage you referenced in Revelation at the end had come up in conversation, completely unrelated, saturday, when we were together and we had literally read and discussed that passage, and then, maybe 12 hours later, you're referencing it in a sermon, and it's just cool to see how the spirit is weaving this tapestry that we just see the back side of that's great, and that wasn't the only time it happened to me.
Speaker 3:It happened to me one other time, yeah, when you were preaching on leviticus, I think back in in november, during that that time period that you know it. Just it was. I felt like it was directly targeting something that was going on in my life at that point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, I love that. The language of the Holy Spirit is weaving a tapestry and what we just got to do together over the last hour or so in this conversation is basically look at the backside of that tapestry and trace some of those threads. And there's countless more that we won't know until we're with Jesus and he's looking and telling us the story, you know. But just even as we close, like I want to honor both of you, Michael and JD, and for your intentionality, Like I really think how this whole thing works is living everyday life with gospel intentionality. It's not adding a new thing.
Speaker 1:I mean, we were just working out or doing something that you wanted to do anyways, or eating a dinner on Saturday, or you know, it's just like but you're doing it with a gospel intentionality that there's people around here that don't know Jesus that would be welcomed into a community that would love them well and genuinely be interested in them, and so just the intentionality of that, I think, is a significant like just takeaway for anybody that might listen to this and say, oh, I could invite somebody to this thing, I could invite somebody to read the Bible, I could invite you. Know, it's like there's just these invitations over two years, but that kind of add up in the Holy Spirit's math somehow, to Dylan sitting here telling us about how the story of the prodigal son is good news because we all fail and we can come home to a father with compassion.
Speaker 2:It's like yes and amen, what a beautiful thing and something that for anyone in the audience who's listening, because if I was to be on the other side of this four years ago I probably would have had a very different perspective. The church I grew up in it was very big emphasis on kind of an EE model of evangelism, also like door-to-door salesman, and I remember like in high school there was this big emphasis on are you bringing a friend from school?
Speaker 2:into youth group it was this very go get them tiger mindset, very performative and, unsurprisingly, I never saw any fruit from my own attempts at that. But just within our church and community in general fast forward. I moved to college, I experienced ruf and that's the first time I encountered this intentionality of oh, the gospel is actually big enough to engage in life in all of the ordinary spaces, not just the Sunday safe ones. But in this experience it's never been this formalized go-get-em and I think what really shifted for me a few years ago and I'm curious, michael, because you've also, I think, had something like this was realizing I can't actually change anybody's heart and when I try to, I basically get in the way because I make it about me.
Speaker 2:And the interesting thing is, in the whole 27 years, 28 years I've known the Lord. I've only seen two people come to faith, both of those since being a new city and both of those in this same way of just intentional lived life over many years, without any of this formalized, performative approach that can be so easily pushed, as that's what evangelism is yeah, that's cool man.
Speaker 4:It also reminds me of I know a guy who says that evangelism is a team sport and just like, oh, oh, this is our, our little team right here.
Speaker 4:I mean all four of us now. And it was like God used each of us in a very distinct and clear way, with our own life stage and capacity. Like Ben with his kids probably can't hang out on Sunday nights, but JD can. And then Dylan was a part of our community and JD wasn't wrestling and working out all the time, but sometimes, um, that was where I could do more of that, um. So God used, like our different giftings and life stages, to pursue Dylan and love and to give us friendship with him. Um and.
Speaker 4:I just think it's. It's so cool to like do it as a community.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so was it. Well, and Dylan, we want to honor you for your uh I put the word integrity on it earlier. I think that's a fine word for it but just your willingness to be who you are and to not have to feel this pressure to conform to some mold, that actually it was really helpful, it was really refreshing. Alana will say this that it's hard to tell me no. And you had no problem telling me no you were just like.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to read that book with you. I really admire that and I'm so thankful for it. Maybe lastly, just to honor the Lord. I love the fact that Jesus loved you enough to die for you and to call you to himself and to use whatever means he needed to to pull that off. But, as JD said a little bit ago, there was this real sense of like oh God's after you in all the best ways and we get to honor him.
