Beyond Religious Performance: Rick Osborne on Faith, Identity, and Living a Transformed Life

[00:00:00] Beyond Religious Performance, Rick Osborne on Faith, Identity, and Living a Transformed Life. How much influence does faith have on the decisions we make, the relationships we build, and the way we navigate life's challenges? Research from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University reveals that approximately 66% of Americans who believe in the God of the Bible say,

[00:00:24] God has significant influence over their life choices. This includes those who believe God has total influence over their decisions, and those who say, He frequently guides their choices. These findings raise important questions about the relationship between faith, personal identity, and everyday decision-making. How do individuals move beyond simply believing in God to developing a meaningful, transformative relationship with Him?

[00:00:52] And what role can faith play in strengthening communities, fostering inclusion, and creating a greater sense of purpose and belonging? Rick Osborne is a Bible teacher and founder of Transform You, an online Bible school dedicated to helping believers experience meaningful, lasting transformation through the teachings of Scripture. Grounded in the New Covenant and the finished work of Christ, Rick's approach emphasizes understanding biblical truth

[00:01:22] through the broader context of Scripture, allowing the Bible to interpret itself. His mission is to help individuals move beyond religious performance and obligation toward a confident, authentic, and relational walk with God. Through his teaching, Rick explores the intersection of faith, personal identity, spiritual freedom, and practical decision-making,

[00:01:44] helping audiences understand how biblical principles can influence their relationships, leadership, and everyday experiences. His work focuses on several foundational themes, the New Covenant and the finished work of Christ, understanding the significance of grace, redemption, and spiritual freedom. Identity in Christ. Encouraging believers to develop confidence in their spiritual identity,

[00:02:13] rather than defining themselves through religious performance. Hearing God's voice. Exploring how individuals can seek spiritual guidance with biblical clarity and discernment. Understanding Scripture. Understanding Scripture. Helping believers recognize the Bible as a unified, transformative message. Faith in Everyday Life.

[00:02:37] Applying biblical principles to relationships, personal development, community engagement, and life's most important decisions. Rick reaches a growing international audience through several educational initiatives, including Get Face to Face with God, featuring weekly live Bible studies and interactive discussions. Transform You. Offering structured biblical courses and intensive learning experiences. Kingdom 40.

[00:03:07] A year-long foundational discipleship program. And Beyond K40. An ongoing community providing deeper biblical exploration, mini-courses, and live engagement. At the heart of Rick's work is the belief that genuine spiritual transformation is not simply about acquiring religious knowledge, but allowing that knowledge to influence how individuals think, live, connect, and contribute to the world around them.

[00:03:36] During this episode of Lets Have This Conversation, Rick joins host Kevin McShan for a thoughtful discussion about the intersection of faith, community, inclusion, and personal transformation. Together, they explore how spiritual beliefs shape individual decisions, the importance of building authentic relationships, and how faith-centered communities can foster greater understanding, compassion, and belonging.

[00:04:04] The conversation also examines the distinction between religious performance and genuine spiritual connection, challenging listeners to consider how their personal beliefs translate into meaningful action. Because ultimately, faith is not simply about what we believe. It is also about how those beliefs influence the choices we make, the people we serve, and the communities we help create.

[00:04:30] Join Kevin McShan and Rick Osborne for an engaging conversation about discovering purpose, strengthening spiritual identity, and understanding how faith can become a foundation for lasting personal and collective transformation. I'm Kevin McShan. Lets Have This Conversation.

[00:04:51] I'll take a moment to welcome you to the program, and I'm super excited to talk to you today about the intersection of faith and purpose.

[00:05:33] It's great to see you, my friend, and happy Tuesday to you. It's great to be here. I appreciate you having me on, Kevin. I appreciate it so much. Absolutely. Rick, I wanted to start our conversation by asking your perspective on the intersection of faith, purpose, and call to action in life. How do you think our faith and our purpose are connected to our call to action in life?

[00:06:03] What are your thoughts there, my friend? Well, you know, the more I study the Bible and the more I live, the more I realize there's very little separation between what you just talked about. I mean, we tend to, kind of with a worldly point of view, we tend to separate God from certain things. It's like there's some people who would like us to have, you know, God just relegated to the time of our life when we're praying or just to the church, right?

[00:06:33] That God was the one, and you know this as a man of faith yourself, God was the one who created our lives. He created politics. He created fun. He created beauty. He created the earth. He created, he had all of these systems that we have in mind, perfection, of course, in mind when he created it. He created marriage. He created parenting. So, then he called us his children.

[00:07:02] Well, here's a question for you. If you had grandchildren, would you exclude them from things? No. No, of course not. No, of course not. It's like we're his children and we want to, he wants us to invite him into every single part of our lives. He wants to be our wisdom. He wants to help us out. You know, Jesus is called the shepherd, right? Now, what is a shepherd? Well, what am I, a sheep?

[00:07:32] No, the whole metaphor there with a shepherd, if you follow it through the Bible, is that he wants to walk along with us. He's not just our savior, but also our shepherd. He wants to walk along with us, give us wisdom and help us in every area of life. That's one of the reasons why he came as God to this planet to walk as one of us so that he could fully understand what we go through and fully understand and help us walk through it.

[00:08:02] So, I, probably everyone you've interviewed, yeah, I find the most, I mean, I find the least separation between those things of all the people you've probably talked to. You're probably right about that. I know, Richard, you are passionate about helping people and believers encounter God personally and live in a deeper relationship with their father.

[00:08:32] So, I'm curious if you can take me back to the beginning of your journey and what drew you to this calling to come, where did this calling come from and how has your, understanding of that evolved? So, how has your faith journey evolved and why is it so important for you to take people along on this journey, my friend? What are your thoughts then?

[00:08:59] Well, you know, it started with me quite a few years back, just before my 19th birthday. And I had cried out to God because I had been raised one way as far as an understanding of God, which I wasn't following. My teenage years were drugs and alcohol and everything that I knew was not necessarily the right way of living. And yeah, and then my mother switched what she was doing. She became a Christian from what she raised us up in.

[00:09:30] And it was all kind of confusing to me. And I saw the movie about Jesus back then that was in the theaters. And it struck me really, really hard when I finished watching that. Here's a tough guy with my, you know, my tough boy, my tough boy clothes on and, and my attitude and all that kind of stuff. And I broke down in that theater trying my best not to cry because the thing that hit me was Jesus did all that for me because I believed in Jesus.

[00:09:57] I mean, yeah, he's historical. He's a real person, right? I believed in Jesus. And I watched that movie and I went, he did all of that for me. What am I doing for him? And the answer was nothing, nothing going the opposite direction. So that, that night I, I, I pushed past my girlfriend and my parents who were with me at the theater with my parents that invited us. I pushed past gently, but they could see I wasn't talking. And I ran, I ran home.

[00:10:26] I ran for probably more than a half an hour before I even stopped. And when I stopped, I was just feeling so confused. I looked up and I said to God, I said, I don't know what's what, which way is right. I don't know. You know, is Buddha right? Is this, is Jesus right? Is it what, what's right? I, I said, if you're, if you expect me to figure this out, you must not be the one who made my brain. Yes. And I actually prayed that.

[00:10:58] And I said, this is what came out of my mouth. I said, you have two weeks. I said, I really want to know. I really want to know. I want to know. And if you let me know, I'll go with it. But I said, I can't live in confusion. So I said, you have two weeks to show me.

[00:11:17] Two weeks to the day, I was at a full gospel businessman's meeting, which was, I had thought when I was invited that it was a businessman's meeting, that it was going to be about business. I didn't know it had anything to do with Christianity or gospel or anything like that. So I was, I went with an attitude, Kevin. I went with an attitude once I found out, but I was raised that you could keep your word. So I said I was going.

[00:11:44] So I went, but with an attitude, I didn't say I wouldn't have an attitude. And at the end of this meeting, I was, I was honestly, I was looking to check out. I was already, they were, you know, the guy with this playing the piano or the guitar and stuff like that was already going up the front and the guy had stopped speaking. And I was just looking for the exit door. And so the second that the word dismiss happened, I was going to be out that door. Right.

[00:12:14] And I heard them do this thing. I'd never heard, I'd never heard it before. He said, if you want to accept Jesus as your savior, come and stand up here on your right, on my left hand side. And Kevin, the people saw me walk up there, but I have no recollection of it. I did not make a decision. I did not decide to go up there. I was looking for the door.

[00:12:41] And the next thing I know, I'm standing in front of a guy who's about six, four, six, five looking up. And he says to me, do you want to receive Jesus? And I heard myself say, yes. God had answered my prayer. God had answered my prayer. I realized later it was two weeks to the date that I had prayed that prayer. And he's supernaturally. I said, I want to know. And if you show me, I'll go. So he took me.

[00:13:08] I don't know how to this day, but he took me, even though I had an attitude and he placed me in front of that man. And he had me pray the prayer. And I have never been the same man since. And that day changed me so radically that all my friends were wondering what happened to me. Where is Rick that we knew? It's like that scripture that says I was changed into another man. And I have been ever since then on fire for knowing God.

[00:13:35] And one of the first things that I did in that prayer, Kevin, because I told God, I said, I'm all in. And so, and I didn't even know this language. I said, God, you showed me. I'm giving, I give you my whole life. I give you my whole life. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do. And I've never backed off of that. And all of these decades, giving my whole life.

[00:14:01] And what I realized, Kevin, as I started to live that life with him, is that was the most selfish thing, the most self-serving thing that I could ever do. Because I just gave my whole life and the stewardship of my life to the one who loves me so much that he sent his son to die for me.

[00:14:23] I just gave my life to the God of gods, the father of all, who made everything, who understands how life works, who understands everything about how he made me and what my gifting is. And next thing you know, he's got me walking in and learning the things that he gifted me with and prepared me for. And the things that I love to do, and I didn't even know I loved to do them. Like, I'm an author. I'm a teacher.

[00:14:51] Those things are the way I was built, the way I was gifted. And I'm doing the things that I love. Mm-hmm. Because I didn't continue to try and say, well, this whole God thing is a religious thing, and that's boring. I just want to do my own thing. There is what you would call the intersection between my purpose and my calling and every part of my life and my faith.

[00:15:19] It became one because I realized, man, I just gave my life to the best person. Kevin, if I asked you, if I said, okay, I've got this room full of mentors. One is the richest man in the world, the other is the most successful man in the world. The other one's the most philanthropic person in the world.

[00:15:45] The other one is the one who understands all wisdom and all understanding. And I put this room, and I said, you have access to these people real time. You can phone them and talk to them anytime you want. Would you avail yourself of that? You know, Rick, I always say that the day that you turn your mind off to learning is the day that you die.

[00:16:12] So no matter how old you get, you can always learn from somebody else. That's absolutely right. Yeah. Exactly. So you would say, well, man, other people would be willing to pay these guys like $5,000 an hour, and you have free access to all of them. Well, of course, like you say, you'd have to be silly not to go in there. Well, prayer is not a religious thing.

[00:16:36] Prayer is talking to your father who has all that wisdom, who has all that understanding, and who knows you, Kevin, better than anybody knows you. He knows every part of you. He knows how he built you. He knows how he gifted you. Why wouldn't you want to have his wisdom in every single area of your life? Yeah, absolutely.

[00:16:59] You know, Rick, I think that brings up an interesting point, and it leads to my next question, because I wanted to ask you about how we can lean on faith during times of division.

[00:17:12] You know, so many times you turn on the news or you're influenced by something you see on social media, and you're someone who wants people to go beyond just not understanding Scripture, but using it as a transformational tool. So I'm curious, under that context, how do you think we can use Scripture and the Bible to help heal the visions that we're seeing today in society?

[00:17:41] What are your thoughts there? Well, there's two tracks with that. But the most important track is John 3, 16, which every single person, not every single person, but most people know that verse. It's the one they used to put up in the football stadiums all the time on signs. It's, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

[00:18:05] It doesn't say, for God so loved this political party, or God so loved this race, or God so loved this age group, or this demographic. It says, for God so loved the world. In other words, we're all of his children. He loves us all. He loved us so much he gave his son, Jesus Christ. And what we don't realize, because we sometimes get this idea that God is an angry God,

[00:18:30] is we think that somehow some people have earned his love and some people haven't. Now, go back, hear the Scripture again. For God so loved the world. Nobody was a Christian. No, but Jesus hadn't come yet. It was before he came. For God so loved the world then, when the Roman Empire was in charge, when that world was a mess. Okay? For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son.

[00:18:57] So the thing is, when we start looking at the world and our neighbors through those eyes. So I don't get mad at and angry and stop loving in one political party because I don't agree with them, or one nationality because I don't agree with them, or one demographic because I don't agree with them. I start, and this is what the Bible does. The Bible says that we should see everyone through the eyes of faith. And I'll tell you something, Kevin.

[00:19:24] When you turn that thought in your mind, that angry thought, that hateful thought, and I know I've watched some of your videos and I've heard some people say some pretty good things about your attitude and how you approach life and everything like that. So I'm sure you don't do that.

[00:19:40] But if you turn that off, if you turn that off and instead choose to love everyone and see everyone as God sees them, well, the division and the strife and the navigating this world starts to go away.

[00:19:57] Because sometimes, you know, you watch this new channel and it's kind of the left and you watch this new channel and it's the right and you don't realize that they're making money off the commercials and they tend to fire things up. And, you know, you start letting it make you angry as opposed to trusting that if you love people and if we all love each other, even if we have different opinions, it's going to work better.

[00:20:27] And that's what I find is the best way to navigate this world and navigate troubled times is knowing that and also knowing that the God who invented this world knows how everything ends. And it's in his hands. And I once heard, Kevin, I once heard somebody saying that, you know, us people are worried about what's going to happen to the planet.

[00:20:54] It's like two fleas on the back of a dog arguing over who owns the dog. That's an interesting and accurate analogy. Absolutely. You know, Rick, I'm also wondering if you're going to be a good one.

[00:21:11] I'm curious to ask you about personal growth and self-reflection because anyone that reads your story knows that you are one of the most defining parts of chapters of your life happened when you stepped away from the platform of doing this work for nearly a decade, my friend.

[00:21:32] And then you went into a deep, you know, time of study and prayer and communication with God. So I'm wondering how did that time in your life sort of give you a clearer picture of a self-reflection, your relationship with God and how you help other people on their own spiritual journey? What are your thoughts there, my friend?

[00:22:01] Well, that's a good question. I mean, when my life after giving it to Jesus and then following him for my whole life, I'd become a bestselling author. My books have sold over 10 million copies worldwide. I was a speaker. I was doing all the stuff. I was very successful in what I was doing. And I remember one time when I was in the home that I had because my books were doing well and my family was doing well and God had provided all that.

[00:22:30] And I was just thanking him for blessing us. And I heard a small voice down inside of me and I knew it was God say, if because I was looking at all the beauty he'd given me in the place where I lived. And and he said to me, if I asked you to live in the shack, in a shack in the middle of nowhere, would you do it? And I said, absolutely, Father, I would do that a minute. I trust you. I've followed you my whole life.

[00:22:58] If you change things, if you change the direction, I'm going that direction. And then I forgot about that, Kevin, because the spirit of God didn't say anything else to me. I forgot about it. And then years later, the when when everything was going really well and doing really, you know, the books were doing well and all that kind of stuff in my life was on track. And and the Lord walked into the room in a vision.

[00:23:24] And some of your some some here some of your viewers might not understand this, but it's it's it's common in the Bible. I mean, in after Jesus went back to heaven, he appeared in a vision to Ananias, just a regular disciple and gave him instructions. And that's in the book of Acts. Right. It's it wasn't it's a relatively normal thing. It happens. Anyways, he he walked into the room in a vision and he said, I'm going to start teaching you personally and directly from my word.

[00:23:52] And that turned into one thing to another until he asked me to stop everything else and. Just spend time learning from the word and people who knew me would already say they would argue with with you, Kevin. If you told him, oh, Rick doesn't really know his Bible, they'd say, no, Rick knows his Bible better than anyone we know. So it wasn't like I didn't know, but Jesus felt I needed to know more. And so I said yes. And we ended up moving because we couldn't.

[00:24:22] Well, the family had moved out as well. The kids had moved out and stuff like that, but we needed to relocate. But we couldn't afford that place anymore if I wasn't going to be working and continuing to write books. So we moved seven hours away into a very small rental place that we owned. And I remember getting there, Kevin, and saying, Lord, are you sure? Kind of thing. Is this where we're supposed to be?

[00:24:50] And instantly he reminded me of that thing that he had said years earlier about the shack in the middle of nowhere. And I looked around with a big smile on my face and I said, I'm truly in the right place because this is a shack in the middle of nowhere. So I knew that I was in the right place. I didn't know how long that was going to be. It was radical the way that Jesus showed up.

[00:25:14] And there's a scripture that says after the resurrection that Jesus came to his disciples and he opened up the Bible, which then was the Old Testament. They had the LXX, the Septuagint, the Old Testament in Greek. They had that at that time. And he opened it up and showed the disciples everywhere in there that was talking about him. And it says that he caused them to understand the scriptures.

[00:25:42] Sometimes we try and understand it without the one who wrote it. And so what he did was he did that with me for 10 years. And here's the bottom line, Kevin. Everything he taught me was so deep and so anchored in the word. Everything he taught me changed me. I'll tell you this.

[00:26:11] My wife started calling me Weepy Boy. If you ask her why she called me Weepy Boy, her answer to you is because my husband wept for 10 years. So when you are hearing him and understanding his wisdom, his truth, the way life works, it changes you.

[00:26:41] You're talking about bettering yourself. How about, and this is what the Bible teaches, Philippians chapter 2, verse 12 and 13 says that we can work out our salvation or take it to completion because it's God who's at work within us, causing us to want to do and causing us to do. And that's what we were talking about at the very beginning, Kevin. That's the shepherd. That's the shepherd shepherding our lives from the inside out.

[00:27:09] And so now what I do is when he released me after 10 years of being in the shack in the middle of nowhere, and he released me to go and teach and write again, that's what I do. I teach what the Bible talks about is called transformation, where the word of God and the spirit of God actually transforms you in a way that you start living a life. Well, can you imagine?

[00:27:36] I mean, can you imagine your inner atmosphere always being love? Your inner atmosphere and your thoughts always being at peace. Your inner atmosphere and your thoughts always being joyful. That's what God made us for, and we can be transformed into that. It's something we can be. Yeah, absolutely. You know, that moved me to my next question.

[00:28:04] It's actually an interesting segue, because I wanted your thoughts on this, because our friends over at Statistics Canada, they did a study this year, and had found, rather, that nearly half of Canadians said that their religious and spiritual beliefs play a major or important factor on how they make decisions,

[00:28:32] both at work, in society, and morally, my friend. So how do you think, first of all, what do you think about nearly half of Canadians being driven by their spiritual decisions? So how do you think we can continue to educate people about how their decisions also merit on what their faith is attempting to teach them?

[00:29:01] What are your thoughts there, my friend? Well, that's an amazing statistic, and that's happening all over the world, as even the younger generation is more and more moving towards, because they see a lot of confusion in the world. They see a lot of hate in the world. They see a lot of differing opinions in the world. And a lot of younger people, and people of all ages, are moving more towards faith because of that peace, because of that confidence, and that ability to get up in the morning

[00:29:30] and know that there is a God, and you're not it. And you find, even when you are just lightly in Christianity, just because you've given your life to Jesus Christ, you're going to find more peace, more of an anchor in your life, knowing that somebody else who controls everything, who knows everything, is fathering you and shepherding you.

[00:29:56] That is the ultimate key to peace to start with. But then if you can actually become a disciple of Jesus Christ, and that's what he did before he left. He said, go and make disciples of nations. If we can actually teach those who come to Christ how to walk as he walked, because that's what Christian means. It means like Christ, a little Christ, right? Like him. And sometimes we say a prayer to go to heaven, and we got our ticket to heaven,

[00:30:26] and we don't end up becoming like him. And then we wonder why sometimes we're miserable, right? So what he taught me is to truly know how to be a disciple, and how to make disciples. Not disciples of a church, not disciples of a denomination, not disciples of a pastor or a priest, but disciples of our shepherd, disciples of Jesus Christ. Because he's never left.

[00:30:55] He's never left. Through the Holy Spirit, he's right here, and he wants to disciple us and teach us. And we're right back to the beginning of this amazing interview, Kevin, where we talked about the shepherd and him walking with us. He wants to do that, and yet so many Christians, even the Christians, and then all non-Christians, feel that God is so far away. But God never meant that to be. Did you know that the Lord's Prayer,

[00:31:23] our Father who is in heaven, Jesus taught us to pray that, right? And we think, why would Jesus say our Father, which makes him really close, because he's our dad, he's our Father, and then say who is in heaven, which then throws him off a long way away again. And we're looking up to heaven, wondering if we can get his attention. The word there, in heaven, if you trace it through the Bible, and in the Greek, and in the Hebrew, it doesn't,

[00:31:51] it's not identifying his location. It's a saying, or an idiom, that talks about his power, and ability to answer our prayers. He's in heaven. He's the boss. He can do anything. That's what that means. So what Jesus was telling us to pray is, our Father who can do anything. And then Jesus himself said that, talking about after he went to the cross, and we could be saved, and be filled with the Spirit,

[00:32:22] he said that, myself and the Father are going to come, and make our home with you. That one verse right there, Kevin, will alter the trajectory of your life. I mean, that's amazing. He's right here with us, consistently, wanting us, we think of prayer as a religious habit, that's going to make, you know, a far away God happy. And no, that's not it. That's not what prayer is.

[00:32:52] Prayer is spending some time, with the person who loves you, knows you, knows your life, and wants to help you learn, and get better at life, and do what he's called you to do. Which is what he made you to do. The two match. And to have you walk in peace, and in harmony, in everything that you're doing. And that's a pretty amazing thing. Yeah, absolutely. Rick, I also wanted to talk to you about, how faith, you know, influences organizational culture, for executives.

[00:33:22] Because, you know, I'm always essentially with executives, as you do, and organizations, on leadership, inclusion, and resilience. And I'm curious to ask you about, creating cultures, where people feel valued, where they believe their faith, and their leadership, can actually, actually pay dividends, and particularly, when leaders are, searching for clarity, wisdom, and humility,

[00:33:52] and resilience. How do you think, their faith, can make them better leaders? What are your thoughts there, my friend? Well, here's the thing. I mean, without people, a city, a town, a corporation, an institution, is nothing but papers, and a building, and some machines, and some chairs, empty chairs, and desks. All of those things, are made up of people. Right? We got to realize,

[00:34:21] that the value, the value in this, of everything on this planet, the thing that's valuable, here, is people. If there were no people, on this planet, all of a sudden, this planet's useless. It rots, and goes into the ground. It's the people, that are the value. Right? So, that's what Jesus, was trying to teach us, that he wants, to be the king. It's his kingdom. He wants to be the king, in each person's heart. So, if,

[00:34:51] if I'm a Christian, and he's right here with me, and the Bible says, that he's been made unto me, wisdom. In other words, he's given me his wisdom. He's given me his understanding. He's given me his righteousness. If I live my life, like he lived his, demonstrating, that, I'm putting, I'm, I care, and I love what you're doing, on the board that you are, because you're demonstrating, that you care more about others, than you care about yourself. Giving back,

[00:35:20] is the way you said it. Right? If you're a righteous person, and you're a loving person, you're always going to be giving back. You're always going to be loving each person, whether you see them as higher on the, the, the cultural tree than you, or lower on the culture. It doesn't, there becomes no lower and higher. You love everybody. So, when I'm leading my team, and my staff, it's got to do with, it's got to do with, loving each thing, every one of them. Loving them,

[00:35:50] being kind and gentle, leading them, seeing them grow, in the wisdom that God's given them. And when you start to do that, when an organization, starts to value the people, and the people they serve, more than the thing, and the money, and the position, then all of a sudden, our organizations, our governments, our corporations, all become a different place. So, the same thing is true, and I know some people,

[00:36:20] who run some very large companies, and are in places of big, large leadership. The more you serve him, and know him, the better you are at doing that. Not just being kind, and righteous, and loving, but also, like the wisdom. Solomon was the wisest king, and the wisest in business, and the wisest in everything, they say back then, of any king that had ever lived. And yet Jesus, when he was here, he said,

[00:36:51] talking about himself, hinting to us, he said a greater one than Solomon is here. And then he gave us his wisdom. We have no idea, Kevin, how much God has for us, when we walk with him. The wisdom we can have, the righteousness, the understanding, the business acumen, the ability to understand systems, and run bigger situations. I mean,

[00:37:20] Jesus himself said that he was faithful and little. In other words, who can start following him, and learning from him, he was faithful and little, will be ruler or much. And then he said, the ones that are faithful and little, he'll put them in charge of cities. Yeah, absolutely. You know, Rick, that's an interesting transition to my next question,

[00:37:45] because I wanted to ask you about the role that family plays in our relationship with faith, and the Bible, because, you know, family and the values and morals that we instill our kids with as parents are often sort of formed in the home. So I'm curious to ask you from your perspective, how should, you know,

[00:38:14] your Christian faith influence parents and their sort of philosophy when it comes to parenting, and raising the next generation of leaders? What are your thoughts there, my friend? That's a beautiful question. And, you know, one of the areas I've written in is parenting. And what I always encourage parents is,

[00:38:38] is that we are the temporary father or the temporary mother of a child. Jesus is actually, will always be their teacher and Lord, and shepherd. And the father in heaven is their true father. We get, we get to babysit for a while. So Jesus said something really clearly, because, and he got, he got a little put out with his disciples in this, in this moment. He said,

[00:39:07] let the little children come to me. That come is the same come. He says to adults, come, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and learn from me. And I'll give you rest. Every time he said, come to the father, no one comes to the father, but by me, that's the same word come. In other words, sometimes we think, well, yeah, let him come, let, let, let Jesus come, bring them to Sunday school. So Jesus, the Sunday school teacher can kiss them on the head. That's not what it's saying.

[00:39:37] What Jesus was saying was teach them to know me, even from a young age. And Jeremiah, the prophet prophesying about the new covenant said that in Christ, we would all know God from the least to the greatest. So sometimes we get this, and this is one of the biggest lies parents believe is that, well, we'll just, you know, we'll let our kid grow up and, and decide for themselves that they believe in God.

[00:40:07] That's the biggest lie that we could ever disservice we could ever do. What we need to do is help them to have a relationship with God from the time that they're very young to hear God's voice, to know him, to experience him. Like I've experienced him in my life. If you, if you raise children, and I know some kids who are like that, that are being raised that way, there, there's no turning back, but they don't just learn to be church goers. That's not the point.

[00:40:35] Church is a nice place for us to gather, but it's going to a church doesn't make you a car any more than standing. Going to church doesn't make you a Christ-like one any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. Okay. Yeah. That's where, that's where we gather, but we're, we're, we're, we have a relationship with him. We get to know him. We get to follow him in life. So if you raise your children, for instance, and they've got that relationship with Jesus,

[00:41:04] they understand about, you know, becoming, being righteous. They understand about his peace. They understand about walking with him and being directed by him. You raise your children that way. And there's, there's, they, they, they can't move off of it. They can't move off of it because they've actually experienced a very real God. And what you're doing, like I said in the beginning, is you're recognizing that you've got a temporary position in their life. You'll always love them. You'll always be with your kids and your grandkids. I love my kids and grandkids,

[00:41:32] but you know that eventually your influence on their life diminishes. And his influence becomes the 24 seven influence that anchors their entire life for the rest of their lives. Because everybody's relationship with God as individual. Absolutely. Exactly. Exactly. And if you know that, that gives you security in parenting too, because you know that even when they leave,

[00:41:59] if they live in the same city or move to another country, even if you know that they know him. And also as, as they're walking, they're going to be walking with him, protected by him, guided by him, you know, blessed by him. Right. You know that. And you can be comforted with that as a parent. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. As you know, but I am someone who believes in pouring into people.

[00:42:29] And I'm going to tell you a little story about myself. So when I was nine years old, on one of the guiding quotes that I still live my life by, is something I heard from my orthopedic surgeon when I was nine years old. I had just completed my seventh and final surgery for my disability. And I was sitting in a hospital conference room, waiting to be discharged from the hospital. And my doctor,

[00:42:59] Dr. Tim Carey, came into the hospital conference room at Times Valley Children's Hospital. And he was going through the successes of the surgery and what he was hoping to get out of it. But at the end of the meeting, he said something that I keep on my wall in my office every day. And I look at it and it says, you know, we've done everything that we can for you at Times Valley Children's Hospital.

[00:43:28] But we have one more thing we want to tell you. And that's, my friend, that you won't be able to walk for the duration of your life without assistance because of the severity of my cerebral palsy. So, you know, I look at life and I tell people that everyone's portrait of success is different. So I'm curious, for your perspective, when people are confronted with major decisions about relationships,

[00:43:59] career, money, and purpose, or morality, what role do you think Jesus should play in helping them guide themselves to their own portrait of success? How can we get more people to be rooted in faith when making major life decisions? What are your thoughts there, my friend? Well, Jesus said, in this world, you will have trouble. Then he said something amazing, Kevin,

[00:44:28] and you probably know it. He said, but be of good cheer for I have overcome this world. So in other words, the one who's with you always, when you're a Christian, the one who's with you, Jesus Christ, who's sitting right there with you, Kevin, he's already overcome the world. It doesn't matter what comes at you. He has the wisdom. He has the power.

[00:44:54] He has the understanding and the ability to help you navigate it. It's as simple as that. We start this whole thing with me saying, I gave my whole life to God. I remember a time, Kevin, one of the first times I heard almost the audible voice of God. I said to him, I said, I'm giving you my whole life. Whatever you want me to do, I will do. Wherever you say go, I will go. I will follow. Right? So I gave him my life. And then he started showing me.

[00:45:24] And it's like, one of the things I love to do is write. Well, I became an author. He did that. Right? It's like, I love to teach. I love to talk, do public presentations. He took me into that. He showed me how he built me and what I was built to do. And he took me through life. But that doesn't mean I haven't gone through bumps along the way. But learning to know that he's right here with me always has really, really helped because I look to him and I hear his voice, like it says in John 10.

[00:45:52] And I let him guide me through that trouble. And I remember one time early on in my Christian walk, I was walking down the street, going for a walk, and I was upset about something. And my brain was going nuts. You know how it happens, Kevin? You're going to worry about what happens if this happens? And what if I do this? And where am I going to go? And why is this going on? And there was trouble. And I was being conflicted. And I heard almost the audible voice of God say this simple thing.

[00:46:23] Are you saying that I'm a bad steward of what I've been given charge of? He fathered me in that moment and pulled me up short. It made me repent quickly, but it made me smile. Because he loved me so much to remind me I'd given my life to him. That doesn't mean he just was taking the good parts. That he was going to guide me through everything.

[00:46:52] That he was going to help me no matter what. And instead of sitting there worrying about everything, what I could just have done, which I learned to do, was just go and talk to him about what's going on. It's called prayer. Talking to your father. Talking to your savior and teacher Jesus. And when you do that, there's nothing in life, there's nothing in life that you can't go through, that you can't navigate. Yeah. You know,

[00:47:21] I've got two questions left for you. And I wanted to talk to you about ethical dilemmas in today's modern society. In the world, you think Christianity and the Bible should help when, you know, the Bible doesn't immediately come up with the answers. And what do you think people should know about navigating ethical dilemmas in life and how their faith can help them

[00:47:50] sort of navigate through those troubled waters? What are your thoughts there, my friend? Well, it depends on, it depends on, well, no, it doesn't depend on it. It's, the Bible's pretty clear on this. Jesus, the Bible says that Jesus died in our place and he gave us his righteousness. If we understand, like Peter wrote in his, in his letters that are in the book, first and second Peter, he wrote that

[00:48:18] we are partakers of the divine nature. When we understand that, that when we're born again, we become different people and we can walk in that and he causes us to be transformed into his image. When you understand that, ethical decisions become something that you make out of who you are. Not because of, like the old covenant was 10 laws written on stone, outside of us,

[00:48:49] immovable. The Bible said in the new covenant, those, the, the God's nature, God's, who, who God is, his wisdom, his nature, his love, is written on our hearts, not stone, our hearts, a soft heart. Right? So what happens is, sometimes, we can get into an argument about somebody who come up to me and says, well, I, the Bible doesn't mention this, I think I'm allowed to do this, but Christians say I can't. I say to them, I say, well,

[00:49:19] what, what is your father saying to you? Have you talked to God about this? It's not me, it's not up to me to decide for you what is ethical or what is right and wrong in your life. What you need to do is, as you grow, and when I teach, I do very little teaching about, okay, this is the list of wrongs and this is the list of rights. Because I've found that if people know Jesus and learn to walk with him,

[00:49:49] he's the one who shows them that. And it doesn't become an ethical dilemma anymore, it becomes a matter of joy in them understanding the truth and changing from the inside out. Yeah, absolutely. Rick, as we wind down our conversation today and bring it to a close-up, I'm curious to ask you about, after 30 years of teaching the Word of God through the Bible and Scripture, I'm curious,

[00:50:17] when you look at the dash between the day you were born and the days that you ultimately go home to heaven, how do you want your personal and professional legacy to be defined? And how do you want, you know, God to judge you once we get to the gates of heaven, my friend? What are your thoughts on your own personal and professional legacy and the impact that you've left in the Word?

[00:50:48] It's a beautiful question, Kevin. Thanks for asking that. I used to say, all's I want on my tombstone is the words, he knew God, because that's always been my deepest desire. But I've changed that now. I've adjusted it. What I'd like it to say is that he taught others to know God. Yeah, absolutely. Because, you know, I always tell people

[00:51:16] that we're all given sort of a life compass, my friend, and it's coming upon all of us to point in the direction that we want it to go, right? The more learning that we do, the more sharing that we can all do, the more growing that we can all do. Would you agree with that? Absolutely. And it's as simple as this. Just like, for instance, when I stand in front of, when I stand in front of my father and I stand in front of the Lord Jesus

[00:51:45] on the day that I pass from this world into heaven, I am going to hear, well done, thou good and faithful servant. I already know that. Why? Because every morning that I get up, Kevin, I spend time with him and I'm still doing what I said on that, that committed to do on that same day that I asked him into my heart. I'm still following him. I still do today

[00:52:14] what he's asked me to do. So if he's right here now with me and I'm doing what he asked me to do, which is what, he's the one who asked me to go on people's podcasts and to do this sort of thing. I know. If I were to die right now, there's, because he's, I'm already walking, pleasing to him. So there's nothing changed between here and the momentary trip to heaven. It's well done, thou good and faithful servant. Sometimes we wonder,

[00:52:43] is he going to be, is he going to be mad at me or is he going to judge me or is he going to be happy with me? Well, first of all, if you know Jesus Christ, he's automatically going to be happy with you. But he's saying, is he going to, is he going to give you the reward? That, well, all you have to do, you don't have to wait to get to heaven to find that out. You just get up each morning and say, Father, thank you for fathering me. Jesus, thank you for being my shepherd. Help me today.

[00:53:13] I hear your voice. Help me to walk the way you want me to walk, to love the way you want me to love, to be who you caused me to be. And I trust you to guide me and direct me to give me your wisdom and help me in each interaction. Help me live the way that you created me to live. And if you're doing that, you never have to think about what's going to happen the moment you hit the pearly gates. And you know, Rick, I'm curious

[00:53:42] because I know that you live in western Canada and I live here in southern Canada in Windsor. So, anytime I get a chance to talk to a Canadian, my friend, I end our podcast discussion by asking you what's the best part about being or living in Canada, my friend. You know, I love Canada because of its beauty. I love Canada because it's a strong country.

[00:54:12] I love Canada because we're, we have strong values. we have strong, strong Christian background. I love Canada because the people in Canada are amazing people. I love living here. I'm looking out at trees and mountains out my window here beyond the, beyond where I'm looking at you and at a window here. And it's, it's, it's, I live in a beautiful place. British Columbia, all of Canada is a beautiful, beautiful place. and it's so large and it's so,

[00:54:42] so great to explore. And I'm praying constantly for Canada, for our government, for the governments and for the change that we all want to see in Canada. Not change as in something radically is wrong, but the change as in us going from, going from the great nation that we are and to continue getting better and better and better and better. Yeah, absolutely. And Rick, Father, tell me if people want to get connected with you or,

[00:55:12] or, uh, buy your books, my friend, what's the best way they can do that? Well, they can get a hold of me. My website is rick-osborne, that's O-S-B-O-R-N-E dot com. So, rick-osborne dot com. Well, absolutely. Well, Rick, I really appreciated our discussion on the intersection of purpose, faith, and inclusion. My friend, I think they're doing a tremendous work.

[00:55:42] They help people all get clarity and purpose in their lives, my friend, and I want to thank you for engaging in conversation and for being here this afternoon. It's most appreciated. Well, thank you. Thank you. It's an honor to be on. I'm glad that you took the time to interview me. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.