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Show Notes
Welcome back to another inspiring episode of Fierce Calling! Today, we’re thrilled to have a conversation with the multifaceted Josh Huisman. Josh is not only a pastor but also an author, coach, artist, and podcaster. In today’s episode, Josh shares his incredible journey through the ups and downs of life and how he has embraced a path where his passion, compassion, and conviction uniquely intersect. He opens up about the transformative power of intentionality, whether it’s through cultivating a routine of reading scripture, harnessing creativity through music and art, or leading a healthier lifestyle.
His stories and insights offer practical advice on how incremental growth can lead to significant life changes. Join us as we dive deep into an engaging dialogue about faith, creativity, and transformation. Plus, don’t miss the chance to hear about his exciting projects, including his podcasting ventures and upcoming book.
Listen in for an episode filled with wisdom, encouragement, and a reminder of the impact of making small, intentional changes every day.
Key Topics and Takeaways …
- Intentional Living: Josh shared the importance of having a game plan in various aspects of life, whether it’s setting a daily routine for Bible reading, creating healthy habits, or pursuing personal passions. He emphasizes the power of showing up every day and making intentional choices. 🌱
- Faith in Action: With his vibrant story from being a sports enthusiast to a pastor and musician, Josh inspired listeners to trust in God’s plans. His journey reminds us that total surrender and openness to where God leads can result in a fulfilling and purpose-driven life. 🙏
- Incremental Growth: Josh advocates for incremental daily changes rather than extreme short-term goals. Whether it’s health, faith, or professional growth, small, consistent efforts lead to sustainable transformation over time. 💪
To listen to more of Josh’s journey and inspiring insights, check out the full episode of “Fierce Calling.” This is a must-listen for anyone looking to enrich their life with purpose and intentionality!
#FierceCalling #Podcast #IntentionalLiving #Faith #GrowthMindset
Connect with Josh!
My episode with Josh on The Josh Huisman Podcast/Surrender the Joy Stealers of Your Life
Chase the Sunset by Josh Huisman
Josh Huisman is a pastor, author, coach, artist, and host of The Josh Huisman Podcast and Biblical Mindset. In ministry for over 20 years, his ministry and art exist to glorify God. His podcasts bring you content from Christian leaders who are doing their best to walk upright before the Lord.
Connect with Josh at joshhuisman.com
New Hope Community Church in Brentwood. New Hope’s website is newhopechurchtn.org
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC12vv4i7kJlosft5vcu-03A
Spotify open.spotify.com/show/6XzNAbd4bgeZiZxKHJIPoz?si=de079f44b5344684
Apple Podcasts geo.itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1688067162?ct=rephonic&mt=2
YouTube Music music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiHwMg6xzXt8S39o3oC9snt9gJGRlDYpn
Google Podcasts podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9lMWMwMWY5OC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiQ49ik_sb_AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQNQ
Amazon Musicmusic.amazon.com/podcasts/6258e5bf-bfa0-426f-bac1-93cc1d3f6653/the-josh-huisman-podcast
iHeart Radioiheart.com/podcast/269-the-josh-huisman-podcast-115186628
Castbox.fmcastbox.fm/channel/The-Josh-Huisman-Podcast-id5438709
Connect with Doris!
Connect with Doris at https://dorisswift.com/ For speaking engagements, visit her booking page at womenspeakers.com
Join us for this heartening episode of Fierce Calling and be inspired to deepen your biblical study and walk with God.
What Threatens to Steal Your Joy?
Check out Surrender the Joy Stealers: Rediscover the Jesus Joy in You 6-week Bible study rooted in John 15. You can find more info at https://dorisswift.com/book/
Let’s Stay Connected!
Find my free resources including Fear Fighting Bible Verses, Simple Tips for Sharing Your Faith, Surrender the Joy Stealers, Step Out of Your Doubt and Into Your Calling ebook, and more on my dorisswift.com homepage!
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Thanks for Listening!
I hope this episode with Nancy encouraged, inspired, and challenged you to cultivate community, live and walk in the value and worth God gave you, and take action where your passion, compassion, and conviction intersect. You’ll find links in the show notes to connect with Nancy and with me.
If you’re looking for a speaker for your next women’s conference, retreat, luncheon, or workshop, reach out and connect with me on my speaker page at https://www.womenspeakers.com/florida/edgewater/speaker/doris-swift
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Stay tuned for more amazing content and remember to check the show notes for all the links mentioned.
Thank you for being a part of our community. We are grateful for your continued support and encourage you to embrace the unique gifts that make you magnificently you.
I hope you’ll join me next time when I talk with another woman who is taking action where her passion, compassion, and conviction intersect …
Until then friend, have a blessed week, and I’ll talk to you soon.
With love and joy,
Doris
P.S. Don’t forget to follow us on social media for bite-sized wisdom and inspiration from Doris and our incredible guests! 📲
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Transcript
Doris Swift:
Welcome back to the show. Today, I am so excited to introduce to you my friend, Josh Heismann. He is a pastor, an author, a coach, an artist, and a podcaster. He does a lot. He wears a lot of hats. So we’re looking forward to getting into this conversation. He had me as a guest on his show, which was amazing, and I really enjoyed being on that show so much. And I’ll put the link in the show notes so you can go back and check that show out as well.
Doris Swift:
And for now, we’re gonna jump into our conversation and have you just hear a little bit about, Josh’s story. So welcome to the show. We’re glad to have you on Josh.
Joshua Huisman:
Doris, it is an honor to be on here and to be a part of this program. And thank you so much. And it’s cool to you know, we had you on a month ago, and now it’s cool to be on your show. So thank you very much.
Doris Swift:
Thank you. Yeah. I love when we can kind of reciprocate that and just get, so we’re, like, sitting at the opposite end, you know, from host to guest. And so it’s kinda neat to be able to switch up like that. And I would love if you would share with our listeners a little bit about your story and how you’re currently taking action where your passion, compassion, and conviction intersect.
Joshua Huisman:
My passion, compassion, and conviction intersect? Is that what is that okay.
Joshua Huisman:
Yeah. I like that. Calling.
Joshua Huisman:
It’s really good. Oh, I’ve been in full time ministry for over 20 years. I started as a youth pastor in 2003. Before that, I had a couple different things that I really wanted to do with my life. I grew up in a sports family on the south side of Chicago, and both my my brothers and I played baseball and grew up you know, we’re we’re all within 3 years of each other. And so we just grew up always playing on the same teams with one another through high school. And we took that on even into college and went on and played baseball at Ole Miss, University of Mississippi in the SEC. And that was a wonderful time.
Joshua Huisman:
In fact, my junior year, my older brother was a senior. I was a junior, and my younger brother, Justin, was a freshman. So we’re all in the same team together, and it was such a cool experience and, and I loved playing baseball. I thought that’s what I was going to do. Do that professionally. God had other plans for me when that came to an end. Both my brothers went on and played pro ball. But when that came to an end for me, I switched gears and and went into the music world and played music and sang, and I love doing that.
Joshua Huisman:
And I really thought that was a direction that God was gonna take my life as well. So I was pursuing that living just north of Nashville between the year 20,021,003. And I was working at a Christian radio station while I was trying to pursue the music thing and something crazy happened and I lost that job. And my wife and I were we we were in a place where we’re going, what are we what are we gonna do? And, lord, whatever you want us to do, we’ll do it. We just need to hear from you. And literally, the next morning I I mean, it it sounds like out of a book. I I should write it. I should put it in a book.
Doris Swift:
You should.
Joshua Huisman:
Literally, the next morning, I get a phone call from the church I grew up in, and it was my mom. And she said, we’re looking for a youth pastor. And I know you’re doing the music thing, and you’re trying to get that going. And and but our pastor said, can you at least just call Josh and see if he’d have any interest in moving back to Chicago in doing this? Now we had just prayed the day before, Doris, and said, god, whatever it is, we’re we’ll do it. And my goodness, that that was the beginning of full time ministry. My wife, Sarah was pregnant with our first child at the time, when he was born. Then just a few months later, we moved up Chicago. We did youth ministry up there for for 3 years, and then God called me back down to where I am now, which is on the south side of Nashville, Tennessee.
Joshua Huisman:
And I work, for a church started as a youth pastor at New Hope Community Church in Brentwood, Tennessee. Did that for several years, and then they moved me into the senior pastor role. And I’ve been doing that for 11 years. So I’ve been here 18 years of craziness. So that’s the I’m trying to put it in a nutshell for you.
Doris Swift:
Yeah. Wow. Well, that sure is a great story. The part of your story about the whole the, like, total surrender. Because it’s just time and again, you know, when we see when we surrender something to God and say, okay. We have no idea what’s gonna happen next and you do. And so we’re just gonna trust wherever you send us. And then the next day because that happens a lot.
Doris Swift:
Sometimes it takes a while, but it just seems like he wanted to get your attention right away and get you where you needed to go and just continue the equipping of what his call was on your life. So I think that’s fantastic. And it is interesting too how your your brother you all were in school at the same time, played for the same team. It’s like you were, like, ruling the sports arena in your high school. And, and then they went on to do what you thought you were gonna do. And then you did something you thought you were gonna do, and then here you are. But you’re still doing some music. Right? Do you still do that?
Joshua Huisman:
I do. I’ll lead worship at our church every once in a while. And I also pretty cool story. I for several years, when I became a senior pastor of a church, I thought, well, that music side of me, I’m gonna let that just go dormant and just fade away. And I actually found that to be very not healthy for me. In fact, in after several years, I realized this needs to come back into my life. God gave me this even just for an outlet for myself to be able to do it. And so I began to work my way back into it.
Joshua Huisman:
And then, then, up to the point where even 2 years ago, I I wrote a project, just a 4 song project that I put out called seasons under my name, which was kind of a, an introspective look at things that was were going on in my life. And one of those songs is actually called chase the sunset, which many people will relate to because it’s all about loving the beach and going to the beach and just sitting there and and giving giving life a reset and relaxing. And even, you know, in, 2nd Corinthians 10:5, take every thought captive. Well, the beach is a good place to kind of restart and take thoughts captive and just go, Hey, it’s not as bad as I think it is. And let me just be here and chase the sunset has. It’s become the most successful thing that I’ve ever done. In fact, I would encourage anyone go and go to YouTube and put in chase the sunset, Josh Heitzman and check it out. And, I think you’ll, you’ll enjoy it because I really wanted to capture, a peaceful a moment.
Joshua Huisman:
It’s it’s actually a mid tempo song, but it it just, to me, encapsulates what I feel when I wanna go and hang out at the beach and be a part
Joshua Huisman:
of that.
Joshua Huisman:
So, anyway, that’s that’s my plug.
Doris Swift:
Yeah. That’s beautiful. I’ll I’ll put the link in the show notes too so people can go check that out. But and thanks for the reminder because I live, like, 15 minutes from the beach, and I I, like, never get down there. And I keep thinking, I gotta get down there. I gotta get and, you know, I grew up in New Jersey, so we had to travel It seemed like forever when you’re a kid to try to travel down the shore, but it was probably only like 45 minutes. It probably wasn’t that far, but it was just something we got to do. We had lakes and those kind of things, you know, in our in our neighborhood, in our area.
Doris Swift:
But the actual beach with the ocean and all of that is just so powerful and just like, just we’re just awestruck when we see that magnificent, you know, body of water washing into the shore and all of that. And so, but yeah.
Joshua Huisman:
Well, if you’re 15 if you’re 15 minutes away from it, then I would just say, listen. You know, Jesus would often retreat on these these little getaways that were right there by him, but he would spend time with the father to find rest and to just have that alone time. And I I think every single person who’s listening right now, if you don’t already have one, you need to identify where is the place that’s accessible to you, that’s easy to get to, that it could even just be your back porch or your house, whatever, that that you know when I need that reset. It could be every day. I need that reset in that time with God that this is the place where I’m gonna do it, and I’m gonna keep it sacred, and I’m gonna I’m gonna protect it. This is my place. Yeah. And Jesus did that.
Joshua Huisman:
And if he did it, that’s good enough for me too.
Doris Swift:
Yeah. Amen. That is so good. And then you’re kind of reserving that space. Because I know I’ve heard you say before that you have kind of changed your lifestyle habits, and you you wanted to make certain things, like, accessible during your day. Like, you wanted to read your bible, you would keep your bible close by, or where you knew you were gonna be, and that kind of thing. So if you could talk a little bit about how it might help someone listening right now to start cultivating those type of good habits, because we cultivate a lot of bad habits. But how do we kind of get on that track, with with doing that with, you know, the healthy lifestyle and drawing close and just being healthy disciple all the way around.
Joshua Huisman:
Yeah. Well, this this will be interesting to some, because like I said, I’ve been in full time pastoral ministry for over 20 years. And this has not always been something that I’ve been good at spending time reading the Bible, spending time in prayer. And I was probably like most who, who would say things like, you know, I really wanna start reading the Bible more. I really wanna spend more time with God and and and really grow my relationship with God. And I would say those things too as I was preaching multiple times a week and teaching lessons and doing all of those things. But for me, the real. A light bulb moment happened.
Joshua Huisman:
I went to the Cove in Asheville, North Carolina, as we know right now, Asheville is just going through it. Yeah. Praying, praying for everyone there. But the cove, Billy Graham’s place is there, and they do retreats. They do teaching and seminars, but but, I did a sabbatical a few years ago, which it was just it was a short 1 month sabbatical. And and one of those weeks, I went and did a personal guided spiritual retreat at The Cove. With we went in, you spent 3, 4 days with a group of people. John Parrish is the pastor on staff there.
Joshua Huisman:
He leads that guy to retreat and and, you know, points you to scripture. And we went around the room, and he and he gets input from everyone in the room. One lady in there, she probably didn’t even realize that she was changing my life. She’s just making a comment and contributing to the group, but but God just made this light bulb go off. She said, I make it a point when I wake up in the morning, I put my bible over my phone. You know? So you’ll hear some people say, don’t put tech technology in the room or don’t do any of that. But she says, I intentionally take my bible, and I put it over the phone so that if I’m gonna go and check my phone first, I have to make a decision that I’m gonna move my bible and reject God to go to my phone first. And I thought, that’s amazing.
Doris Swift:
Yeah.
Joshua Huisman:
So so it put this thought in my head. What if I put my Bible where I knew I was gonna be every day? So when I wake up in the morning, it’s it’s right there. And and with that thought in mind then, I’m gonna make a decision. I am not going to check my phone. I’m not gonna turn on the news. I’m not going to do anything that’s gonna distract me away from the first thing I’m gonna do is spend time in the word. So now so then so now I got the wheels turning. Okay? And then I thought to myself, okay.
Joshua Huisman:
What is the one thing on top of that that keeps people from reading scripture is most people will say, I wanna read my Bible more, but then they don’t actually have an intentional place where they’re gonna read their Bible. And when I say where, meaning not where you’re gonna sit in a chair, but I’m talking about what text are you going to read that day. So, for example, right now, tomorrow, I know that my reading in the New Testament is Luke chapter 12. My reading in the Old Testament is Amos chapter 3, and I’m in Song of Solomon because I like to read through the wisdom books. I’m in Song of Solomon chapter 4. I set those things. I know what they are tomorrow. So now I know all I need to do is I know where my Bible is, and I know exactly what I’m gonna read.
Joshua Huisman:
I’m taking all the decisions out
Doris Swift:
Yeah.
Joshua Huisman:
And I’m just doing them. This all came from that time in the cove, from a lady saying one thing and God going, here’s the game plan. Wow. Intentional living. And and now I’m I’m, a couple years into it. I never started this saying, oh, I wanna read through the whole Bible. I have now doing doing this, and it’s it’s just an intentional plan of, I read a chapter in the New Testament each day, a chapter in the Old Testament, and a wisdom book of the Bible chapter. And I put an x next to them, and and I keep going through it.
Joshua Huisman:
It’s been wonderful.
Doris Swift:
Wow. That is so encouraging. And to think that it was from hearing that one thing, like you said, the woman that was there, she had no idea the impact that those words would make on you, and who knows what’s in the room. And oftentimes, we’re prompted to share something, but we really don’t know why we’re sharing it or that somebody else in the room needs to hear it. And so God can use us to do those things. And and I love how intentional it is. Because like you said, you’re taking the decision out because that is something that can be a roadblock. Like, I don’t you know, and by the time you figure out what you’re gonna read, and then next thing you know, the phone rings or the kids are calling you or you know, there’s different things that happen.
Doris Swift:
So having that game plan I mean, when you played baseball, there was a plan. Right? I mean, they have a batting order. They it’s like there’s a strategy to this. So it’s not, you know, unusual or unbiblical to, like, have a a plan and yet not have it to be legalistic. Because I know sometimes people can fall into that. Right? If they feel like they are just doing it because they feel like they have to. Right?
Joshua Huisman:
Right. And you’re you’re a 100% right. And this one this one change that I’ve done in my life, this intentional plan that started with bible reading has completely transformed all areas of my life from, you know, the this this scripture where Jesus, you know, tells us, love the lord your god with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love the lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength. And so to start with my heart is the time that I spend in the word with the Lord. I love the Lord with all my heart. That’s my bible reading. With all my soul, everything that I am.
Joshua Huisman:
You talk about my passion. He becomes my my passion with all my my mind. So I set my my mind on on his ways and the things above. And then also it drives the decisions and things I make throughout the day. And then with all my strength, it the last component of it was now I want to get healthy physically. I want I want to transform my life from top to bottom. And the plan that I did starting with bible reading, I took that same exact idea of intentionality and applied it to every area, and God’s just been doing awesome things from it. So
Doris Swift:
Wow. I love how you unpack that scripture because sometimes we can just read right through it and kinda rattle it off, but we don’t really take time to actually chew on it. And and what does this actually mean to love God in this way and and everything? So I love how you kinda broke that apart and applied it. So it’s applicable, you know, for someone to just think things through. And to think about just simple changes can make such an impact. And I think sometimes we just settle. We settle for, like, okay. You know, it’s not, like, really God’s best, and we just settle for, I’ll take a walk tomorrow or, you know, I’ll I’ll read the bible next week, or we might even be involved in a bible study, but that’s the only thing that we’re doing is studying that one, you know, bible study, but not actually studying it on our own.
Doris Swift:
So I think, you know, that’s that’s an encouragement to be intentional about that and doing it because you love, like, to even pray for a hunger and a love for the word, so that we don’t feel like we’re just wanting to read because we have to.
Joshua Huisman:
Yes. That is so good. Be I’m glad you said that because I used to pray that really frequently. I would when I was trying to go, I lord, I need to spend more time in your word, but I I just don’t have that desire. And that’s a very real thing. Right? We you know, time in the day goes by really fast. You get a lot of things going on for anyone raising kids or whatever. I got 4 kids, by the way.
Joshua Huisman:
And so you’re you’re taking them to this event. You’re you’re trying to keep the house in order over here. On top of that, I have the pastoral responsibilities of the the church and the things that we have going on. It’s very easy to wake up and just run, run, run, run, run, and miss it. And I used to hold my Bible reading time and say, I’m going to do that. That’s the last thing I’ll do of the day, because I’m not a morning person, yada, yada, yada. And I would get to the end of the day and I’m like, I am so tired. I just I’m going to bed.
Joshua Huisman:
Okay. And I realized this, this needs to change. And so I would pray. I was like, Lord, just put up a desire in my heart and a passion to, to do this. And the way God did that was he had that lady share that moment and he clicked the light bulb because this here’s how you can do it. This is, this can be a me and you time that we do first thing in the morning. You don’t have to wake. This is just me now.
Joshua Huisman:
You don’t have to wake up at sunrise, Josh, and do it. Okay? You just wake up when you when you do, and let it be the first thing that you go to. And, and so it’s been wonderful.
Doris Swift:
Yeah. That’s so freeing too. Because I I know oftentimes we might hear someone gets up and they do their quiet time at, like, oh, I wake up at 5 or, you know, 4:30 or something to have the quiet time and all. And sometimes people can be intimidated because it’s like, well, I, you know, I don’t really think I can do that. But the way you’ve explained it, you have a plan and you just get up and make that a priority and start with it. Because the things that we put off, you know, what gets scheduled gets done kind of thing. I think Michael Hyatt said that. I don’t I don’t remember for sure.
Doris Swift:
But, but, yeah, it’s important to have a plan and get up and and do that and have that, like, start your day because and it’s not like just the like, I I love different scripture passages. Sometimes we’ll get these reminders from these different apps, and it’ll be like the verse of the day. You know? And it’s like, it’s nice to have a verse of the day, but it’s not it doesn’t take the place of actual studying and reading and understanding because oftentimes that’s taken out of context. And I’m going through a class right now that’s called, out of context. It’s by Mhmm. The Brad and Brad guys that do walking the text, and, they have a series called out of context, and they go through these very well known bible verses that people often take out of context, you know, might put it on a t shirt or or on a coffee cup or something. And, but it’s just important to know the background and what that verse actually means. Like, what really stuck out to me about the Jeremiah, 2911, because, you know, we quote that all the time, about God has plans for us not to harm us, but to give us hope in a future and to prosper us.
Doris Swift:
And and so the word prosper in that verse means shalom, and that is so much more precious than prosperity gospel kind of stuff. You know? So I think that’s important. So I love how you just implemented this because, as you said, this light bulb
Joshua Huisman:
Well, in anything that person does, you know, my hope is that someone listens to me or listens to you. And what what every person needs to do is is understand that that they need to seek the Lord and find something that works for them. The most important thing is that you do it, that you open God’s word, and that you read it. But don’t listen to me and say, oh, it has to be in the morning, or don’t listen to someone else to say it has to be at night. Don’t listen to whatever it may be. But but the thing I will say is, let it become an intentional thing that you know you’re gonna do, and then you work with that a little. Find out what works for you. And the most important thing when I’m when I’m coaching people or talking to someone about this, I will say, here’s what’s gonna happen.
Joshua Huisman:
You’re going to open the scriptures on that first day, and you’re gonna start reading. And you might like it. And you’re gonna read that chapter that that I I told you to read, and you’re gonna go, I’m gonna read 2 chapters because I’m enjoying this. And then you’ll go, I’m gonna read 3 chapters because I’m enjoying this. And I’ll tell them, do not do that. And there here’s the reason why. Because what we’re trying to establish is not how many chapters you can read in a day. What we’re trying to establish is a new daily routine that each day you’re gonna return and read.
Joshua Huisman:
You read that one chapter today, and tomorrow you’re reading chapter 2. And the day after that, you’re reading 3, and you’re showing up every day. And it usually takes for me, it took 6 to 8 weeks to to build habits into my life that I guarded and I protected them. And when I got to 6 to 8 weeks, now this is not a, oh, I have to do something or whatever it may be. These these are the things that when I go to bed at night, just like when I look forward to having coffee in the morning, I look forward to spending my time in the word just as much. And I I cannot state this enough. That was not me before. This was a new way that God built new habits into my life of just spending time with him.
Joshua Huisman:
And my last thought, I will just say for those verses of the day are great, but go back to the scripture that says we’re to love the Lord our God with all our heart. Right? Just like I love my wife with all my heart. And because I love my wife with all my heart, I don’t go to her in the morning and say, hey. Just give me one line for the day.
Doris Swift:
Right. Yeah.
Joshua Huisman:
We have a relationship, and we have conversations. And the context of reading scripture in a chapter is relationship. It’s getting the full picture of who God is when you do it in that way. Verses of the day are great, and they’re good to cherry pick and, you know, you can even slap them on your mirror or whatever it may be, but read the read the context. Learn the scripture.
Doris Swift:
Yeah. Yes. So good. That’s such a good word right there. And it is about relationship. So Yes. That’s so important. And, yeah.
Doris Swift:
Well, great. Hey. Hey.
Joshua Huisman:
Hey. On a fun note on a fun note, if you hear drums going on in the background and you hear music and stuff, I’m I’m doing our studio is in our church has a thing called create hope studios, and we do drum lessons, guitar lessons, painting, art lessons, all that fun stuff. And there’s a drummer going on in the background now. So if someone’s going, what is going on? That’s that’s the fun noise. So anyway, just had to put that disclaimer out there.
Doris Swift:
Okay. Well, that’s awesome. That’s really cool that you offer that and use the space, you know, that God has given for creativity. You know? So I love that. So, so tell us about okay. So you write. You have podcast. Tell us about those kind of things and how God is working in your life through those avenues.
Joshua Huisman:
Yeah. The the, the podcasting part of it, I’ll just say, right now, the studio that I’m sitting in is in Create Hope Studios. We we started this as a part of a vision that, the Lord really gave gave me to train up young people and to give them opportunities to use their gifts. I was at a conference years ago called SEEDS Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Church on the Move, and one of the speakers gave a talk. They just said, how come as a church we’ve we’ve given away the arts and we’ve, we’ve said as a church, we’re we’re just gonna let the culture take care of that stuff. And he goes, as a result, we’re getting what we’re getting now. And that really hit home for me because I I grew up in a church where I was able to be a part of, you know, passion plays for Easter and, lots of other fun things, singing songs on Sunday morning. I was like, yeah.
Joshua Huisman:
The church was a place where I was able, as a kid, to use gifts and and learn things. And so I wanted to do that that same thing. So we the staff of our church, we we put this in place, Create Hope Studios, and, developed different things. Like I said, art. We have art hall art studio. We have a dance studio. There’s instruments studio. There’s creative writing classes that we do.
Joshua Huisman:
And then we built the podcasting studio. And as I said, I I had a a background in Christian radio that I did for a couple years, and I love what we’re doing right now. I love this. I love having conversations with people who are in ministry, who are doing the Lord’s work. And, in fact, one of the reasons I started because I love talking to pastors and and people, authors who maybe a lot of people don’t know. Mhmm. I’m like, these people are great. We know all the megachurch people, and we know the people who are on TV and and yada yada yada.
Joshua Huisman:
You can’t get to them. Yeah. There’s so many great people of the Lord who are serving the Lord well and writing books and sharing what God’s given them, and and they don’t have a platform. And and I and so this podcast behind me, the Josh Heisman podcast, really started from that. And then being located in Nashville, I I I was able to have a couple name people come on the show. You know? That that’s been really fun. So I’ve been doing that now for a year and a half, little less than a year and a half. And then, a couple months ago, started a another podcast that we call a Biblical View, which was really I would I would get questions from people in the church.
Joshua Huisman:
You know? What about, you know, can I lose my salvation? Or or what does marriage look like in the bible? Or what and you should preach on this subject, and you should preach on this. And I’ll say, well, there’s only so many Sundays in in the week. I need another avenue to to really, have time on these conversations and on these questions. And so biblical view came out of that. And it’s something I I really enjoy. It doesn’t impact what I’m able to do as a pastor and just in shepherding people and being 1 on 1 with people when I need to. So so, yeah, like, a couple months into those, and, I’m just gonna kinda continue to grow it. So it’s it’s been fun.
Doris Swift:
Yeah. Oh, I love that too. And just sharing truth across the airwaves, because you never know how many people you can reach that you never would normally have had an opportunity to reach and even into other countries. So that’s pretty powerful too. But even getting to ask the questions, because I think that’s really important that people are able to actually have an active participation in their faith journey and getting answers and finding out, you know, different different answers to the questions that God provides in his word and to point people in the right direction. And I think it’s great that you do give platform to people that might normally not be heard, except for maybe in their church. And but you had you had did you you had the guy on from was it the Newsboys or who did you have on your show? Had
Joshua Huisman:
several Christian music artists. That has been one of the coolest parts of Mhmm. Of doing this, the Josh Heismann podcast is, is the conversation piece of and being in Nashville where there’s a lot of Christian music artists. I grew up listening to a lot of these guys who have been able to to interview, but, yeah, I’ve had the Newsboys on. There was a Christian band called White Hart that I’ve had several of those guys on. I’ve had on, Petra’s lead singer. I I’m working on right now. Oh, I’ve had Andy Christmann who was in the group for him.
Joshua Huisman:
He’s been on. I could just continue to go down the line, but but, that has been a lot of fun. In fact, oh, I 1, for anyone who’s in the trenches, Christian music fan, Steve Taylor is gonna be coming on here pretty soon. I don’t know if you know that name, but he was someone who I listened to growing up. Love him. He’s doing a new project with Russ Taft, And and I don’t know. It’s just cool to see how God has kinda pulled it together. And it all started, Doris.
Joshua Huisman:
There’s a friend of mine who has a studio in town called the hit lab. His name’s Nick Hider. And I was he’s had me on his show because I’m his pastor, and he’s had me on his Christmas show. And finally, you know, 3 the second time, I think it was, he’s like, pastor Josh, you need podcast. And I said, Nick, why would anyone want to listen to a podcast from me? There’s enough podcasts in the world and he knows I write songs. So he goes, he goes, oh, so there’s enough songs in the world too. So why don’t you stop writing those too?
Doris Swift:
Oh, snap.
Joshua Huisman:
I know. I was like, touche, Nick.
Doris Swift:
Yeah. That was a good point.
Joshua Huisman:
Yes. Yes. So, that was the start of it. I was like, okay, we got the studio. Why am I not doing this? It was already in place. It just wasn’t doing it. So Yeah. There you go.
Doris Swift:
Well, you’re a great host and do a great job, and your show is informative. And, you know, it’s entertaining too, which I think is really important. And, you have really good guests, and you touch on a lot of different things that maybe people really, really wanna hear about. So that’s good. And mainly to sharing the truth of the word of God. Yeah. Because there’s so many voices out there that aren’t
Joshua Huisman:
Right.
Doris Swift:
You know, even in the name of Jesus. And I’ll
Joshua Huisman:
tell you, you know, I went to like, how I even had you on the the my show in the first place was I went to a Christian Publishers conference Mhmm. And got a hold of your book, the the joy stealers. And okay. Off the top of my head, tell me the title again. Now consider the joy stealers.
Doris Swift:
Yeah. Surrender the joy stealers.
Joshua Huisman:
Surrender the joy stealers. That’s what it is. Okay. And, you know, I met these authors. Now just to be honest, I had not heard of you before that I was able to get that book. And that’s a great title, and it is such a it’s a much needed topic to talk about, especially for a women’s bible study where there are so many things that the devil throws at women to steal their joy.
Doris Swift:
Yeah.
Joshua Huisman:
And, I mean, you could just go down the list of comparison game, negative thoughts, feelings of not measuring up. I mean, there’s so many things. And here you wrote this book. And had I not had a podcast, I would have just said, hey, Doris. Nice to meet you. Appreciate your book. You know, have a good life. Mhmm.
Joshua Huisman:
But the podcast is no. People there’s an audience and people who who I want to introduce you to and who I wanna have this conversation with. This is a worthy topic. God put this in his word to be addressed. And since I did that show, I’ve I’ve I had a couple copies of the book. I’ve given it out to people. We have a couple people in our church going through the study, and it’s all from the podcast. Yeah.
Joshua Huisman:
So it it’s cool how God uses these things that that connect us.
Doris Swift:
Yeah. For sure. I love how God connects us. It’s it’s so powerful. And, yeah, it it is kind of funny that we met in Kentucky. And so yeah. So the Christian products expo where authors basically give their books free away to booksellers and, you know, other people who are involved in in the book industry to get their word, you know, the book out, the message of the book out. And so I think that was great, but it just such a blessing.
Doris Swift:
Thank you so much for sharing that and that you had the book and then you reached out to me, and now I had the opportunity to have you on my show. So that will reach other audience members, you know, out there too. So it’s just kinda Yes. Spreads how God does that. It’s just really amazing. So
Joshua Huisman:
Yeah. It’s so cool.
Doris Swift:
So cool. Very thankful for that. So, so are you currently writing anything right n