 My friend Spencer Nakamura, who is experiencing a lot of fruitfulness on social media as of late. Thanks for being here. What's that been like? What is that like right now in this season? Look at it and go, okay, this is actually starting to work ministry-wise. This is actually starting to work on social media. You're seeing the messages spread. A few of your clips have gone viral. What goes through your mind in this kind of a season? Yeah, it's interesting. I feel like I thought it would feel different than it does. And you'll probably relate with this a little bit where I think sometimes when we're dreaming and we're thinking of what a season of life will be like, you know? So when I started with YouTube, it was, okay, there's goals in mind. I think I want to hit this many subscribers, whatever that looks like. But it's funny because as I've gotten to it, I've never stopped feeling like, oh, well, it's crazy that people want to hear what I have to say. And honestly, it's like, and I hope I never lose that, to be honest. I hope I never get to a place where I'm expecting people to listen to me. You want to always be grateful for that opportunity. Yeah, I always want to have a grateful spirit. But it's interesting because I thought I would feel certain things at 10,000, 25,000, 50,000. And you know, we're actually, I'm actually about 50 subscribers right now, subscribers away from 100,000. As we record this right now, you're 50 subscribers away. Right now, 50 subscribers away. So I mean, I expect to get it today, which is amazing. But it's so interesting that I thought it would feel a lot different. But in reality, hitting those markers is obviously, it's all by the grace of God. I thank God, I'm so thankful to be in that season. But at the same time, the fact that I hit a number makes me really, it doesn't make me feel anything. And it's interesting because when you think about it, I think that's what is the trap of a lot of celebrities or influencers, whatever you want to call it as they gain such a following, is that it really never makes you feel better about yourself. It never makes you feel more fulfilled or more important. It's just, it's just a number really. And so as I've been experienced this season of growth, I've just, my prayer has just been, okay, Lord, keep me humble and keep this feeling in me of like, whoa, this is, this is crazy. Because, you know, we've talked about this before, but I would rather live my life feeling like I'm stepping into blessings of God rather than creating those blessings myself. And it's just been, it's been incredible. I mean, it's been fun. It's just been a dream come true. But the dream is not that more people are following me. The dream is, wow, God is creating all this around me. And I'm really just experiencing it. You get to see the fruitfulness. And there is something exciting about seeing fruitfulness. And you're right, that's a trap for celebrities, but it's also a trap for preachers. Pastors who begin to see themselves as celebrities rather than servants. This is one of the things I appreciate about you. You have a humble spirit. You have the right perspective. And you and I would agree that numbers only matter because those numbers represent lives that are being transformed. And I appreciate that you're saying that there's really not a different feeling to it. People ask me all the time, what does a million subscribers feel like? I said it feels like a hundred subscribers. It's the exact same feeling. Yes, there's celebration. Yes, it's exciting. Yes, we're thrilled that many lives are being transformed. But it's not about that. It's not about the numbers. It's not about the status. It's not about the clout. It's about expanding the kingdom of God, glorifying Jesus and seeing those lives transformed. And if you're looking to be fulfilled by those numbers in and of themselves, like you said, you're going to come up empty every single time. But the season that preceded this wasn't necessarily that fast paced. There wasn't that much traction. So let's rewind a little bit. Take me there. You're in a season of uncertainty just a couple of years ago or so. Yeah, so what I've been doing, this media ministry that we've been building has been going on since 2020. So I mean, 2020 wasn't a certain year for pretty much everybody. You had the craziness of the world going on. But what was interesting about that season is when the pandemic was here, everybody's life slowed down. Everything was closed around. And it almost was a reflection of, OK, my life slowed down a little bit. And at the time, I was working at our church that we still go to. Me and my wife, it's our home church in Puyallp, Washington. But I was working there on our college team. And I was happy because I love the local church. I love serving. And it was interesting because when my life slowed down during the pandemic, like everybody else's did, it's almost like my spirit slowed down a little bit too. And I started thinking more about the future, what God has called me to do. And I almost started getting a little bit convicted from the Holy Spirit. And I felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me, you are living quite the comfortable life. And what's really funny about that, too, is I was living comfortably serving a church. Where we think the idea of God calling us to uncomfortable seasons, we always attribute that to, well, as long as I'm in ministry, that's an uncomfortable season. But the Lord was convicted to me. He was like, you could do this the rest of your life and you could be taken care of and it would be great. But he said, this isn't what I've intended you to be. So that was a really interesting season for me. Now in the same exact season that I started feeling this from the Holy Spirit, there was a job at the church that, because I was doing more of an administrative role, which again, I was super thankful for because I just love serving the local church. But I always felt like, and people always spoke into my life like, hey, you have a gift for teaching and you have a voice. And that's what I've felt has been recurring my entire life since I got saved at 16 years old. So I wasn't utilizing that specific gift, which was okay at the time, but I knew that there was a certain position on church staff that I was like, okay, if I got that position, I would utilize that best. So I was serving on staff at the church for about five years. And throughout those five years, that specific position came, opened up as in somebody transitioned out five times. And all five times I put my name into the hat, I let it be known, hey, I would love that position. And every single time it passed over me. So at first, you know, everybody likes to believe what they would feel like in those seasons. So at first, I was like, okay, it's all right, you know, that person's qualified. That's great. By the fifth time, you know, I'm starting to sit there frustrated thinking, okay, this has came and gone so many times. I feel like I, you know, I'm not justifying my feelings, but this is my true feeling at the time. I deserve this job. I feel like I'd be good at it. So I went to my pastor, which happened to be my father-in-law as well. Interesting combination. Interesting combination. And so I sat down with him and I said, Hey, I trust you. I totally trust your judgment. I would just love to know why I haven't gotten this job. And he looked at me and he said, Spencer, I think that you are a great preacher. I think that you are a great teacher. I think that you would do very well in this role and you would grow this ministry. So I'm sitting there like, and you know, and so he goes, but I will not give a position that I have not went to the Holy Spirit and asked about. And he goes, every time I pray, because your name comes up when this position opens up, your name comes up. Every time I pray, he goes, I have no piece of God that you should have this job. So that was a very humbling conversation because I left that and I had a mix of emotions. I was angry. I was frustrated. I was doubtful. You know, I was like, no, I don't think you're hearing from God. You know, there's that part of me that just kind of was just turning and angst and anxious. And you know, so me and Adrian, my wife, we were processing it. And I remember I went to dinner with a friend of mine. I'm explaining the situation to him and I'm explaining it from my lens, from my perspective, my point of view, which again was her. It was confusion. And it's so interesting. I'll never forget. He looked at me because I said, you know, this, this opportunity came and it went and it passed me. And he looked at me and he goes, Spencer, who are you to think that God somehow isn't in the midst of this? And I'm like, well, what are you talking about? And he goes, you think any man can close a door that God would want opened? And he looked at me and he said, if God wanted you to have that position, you'd have it. But the fact that that door is obviously slammed shut in your face is a sign that maybe there's something else that God wants you to do. So I took that and we prayed about it. And I didn't know what that looked like. I mean, I always looked at my life and thought, well, okay, it's probably going to be a pastor of the church or in some regard. And so we prayed, we fasted, we thought about it. And then we were on a plane, made my wife and on the plane, the Holy Spirit just gave me this picture of like a podcast. And on the plane, I was talking to Adrian and I was like, what do you think if I just started a podcast? If I feel like God has given me some type of voice that the world needs to hear, then maybe it's just maybe it's in the realm of a podcast, because that was the most practical thing that I could even think of, because in our prayer, we were thinking of, okay, is there a job opportunity somewhere else? And we clearly felt that the Lord said, no, you're supposed to be at the church that you're at. So then that led to even more frustration, because I'm like, well, if I'm supposed to be at this church, but I'm not getting this job, then what is what does my life look like? That's what we got the picture of the podcast. So that I came back home and we started planning. And really, that's when I launched my podcast, The Future is Now, back in 2020. And what's been incredible is just the fruit, like you're saying, the fruit of it. And it all was God ordained. It's everything that he saw already. But in the midst of it, it was question of why God, why is this happening, frustration, until I reached a point where I looked back and I said, oh, that's why. And I think it's so interesting that in our faith, a lot of times, the road of faithfulness and getting to a season that God has called us to go to is going to be filled with a lot of whys. And I say that because one of my favorite stories in the Bible is Job. We think about Job, who was afflicted by Satan, who went to God and said, okay, of course, Job is serving you. You gave him all these blessings. And so God said, okay, well, have your way besides his wife and do all these things. So he got sick. He lost a majority of his family. He lost his wealth. And in his distress, Job asks God, why? Why is this happening to me? And instead of God telling him why, he didn't say, oh, Satan came to me and all these, what he did is he took two chapters of Job and he listed off his credentials, God's credentials. And he said, did you form the earth? Did you form the heavens? And so it's so, it's so cool for me to think about the story of Job because that is such a reflection of our life of we have no idea the workings of God behind the scenes that he's doing for us. And oftentimes we'll never truly know that the why question, but we can always trust in who God is. And it's interesting because you're right, God never specifically gave Job that answer. And Job, once he caught a glimpse of God, hides his face and basically says, never mind, never mind. Forget that I asked because he saw his capability. He saw his trustworthiness. Let's jump back into when you started this podcast. So you started at first, I'm sure it's not taking off at first. I'm sure it's not bringing in come at first. I'm sure you're wondering, okay, did I do the right thing? Was there a season of doubt when you first began that podcast? Oh yeah. I mean, and I think, frankly, there are still seasons of doubt that I'll get flashes of even as I'm seeing fruit, which is just the human nature in us all. But in the beginning, it was very exciting. We had this dream, this podcast, and my wife has been the greatest supporter. I will say that without her, I think I would have quit, honestly, without her support, without her prayers and her help. I think I would have quit at this point because we started it. And if anybody's ever started something, they understand that everybody loves supporting you in the very beginning. It's cool to see somebody start a business, start a podcast. But what happens is you fast forward a couple months and then that initial hype wears off. So I was probably, I think I was six months into the podcast, which when you're in it feels like an eternity. But when you step away, you realize it wasn't a long time. But for me, it felt like I was doing it for so long. And I had about three listeners every week after six months. I had my wife, I had my mom, and I had my mother-in-law. And those were the three that were listening to me every single week. It was funny because I was so discouraged because I thought, okay, God, you called me to do this. There's no fruit. In the moment, I didn't realize it was just six months and Adrienne would come home and I'm just so discouraged. I'm like, what am I doing? You know, I had a conversation where I looked at her and I said, what am I even doing? Am I supposed to be doing this? And nobody's listening. And I remember she looked at me and she said, okay, let's not talk about numbers. Let's not talk about any of this. Do you feel like we clearly heard God tell us to do this? And I said, yeah. She goes, then what else are we talking about? If we heard God call us to this, then that's all we need. So I said, okay, and then she challenged me further and she said, you know, maybe we're not seeing quite the faithfulness or quote-unquote the fruit that we think that we should see because are you even asking God? Are you actually going to him with real asks of what can I do? God gave me influence, all these things. And I found myself, I was in a false humility sense of I wasn't asking God for growth because I thought that was the prideful thing to do. And so, which is funny because I thought, well, if I pray for this amount of growth, then God's going to think that I'm prideful. In reality, God sees our heart. So we can ask for whatever we want as long as our heart is pure because God sees our heart. So then I said, okay, you know what? You're right. I'm going to start asking God for things that I can't get myself. And so after that day, this is a crazy story that I've told you before, but after that day, I prayed to God and I said, God, if you trust me, if you trust this calling on my life, if you truly giving me this, then give me an audience of a million people. Let a million people start listening to me. And it was a very specific number because it was a number that I thought, this is such a God. I could not manufacture a million followers or listeners by myself. So I started praying for a million. Well, a couple of days later, I get a call from you. That was a couple of days later. So I got a call from you and me and Diga had not met at this point. And he called me up and you just edified me. You encouraged me. Hey, I've seen you on Instagram. I've seen your reels. I think that what you're saying is good. I think what you're saying is true. And for me, that was a level of confirmation of, because I hadn't gotten that yet, right? And I thought, wow, that's really awesome. Like somebody from Texas or, I don't know if you're in Texas at the time, but it believes in me. That's really cool. I shared that with Adrian. I said, isn't that cool? She said, that's very cool. So then a week later, I think we were talking and you called me back and you said, you know what? I would love to have you come to my studio in Texas. At the time I'm like, wow, this is, this is crazy. And in that same conversation, I'd been praying for a million followers for a week. You on the phone, you said, okay, I don't know why I'm asking you this. I'll never forget this. I don't know why I'm asking this, but what would it look like if you had a million followers? And I just remember the Holy Spirit just in that moment. It was just such a confirmation in my spirit. Wow. Okay. God hears me. God sees me. And God's now making a way an opportunity for the prayers that I'm praying. And so in that moment, it was such a confirmation of, wow, I am where I'm supposed to be. And the second I started asking God with a genuine spirit and a genuine heart for things, he said, yeah, okay, as long as you're asking it now, because a lot of times I think we want things we don't ask for them. You know, and wanting is not the same thing as asking God. Just because you want something doesn't mean that you're having the faith to actually ask it. So once I actually started asking that, we saw this growth in the ministry. We saw us go from, you know, at the time when we had the phone conversation, I think I was at like 3000 YouTube subscribers. Now 10 months later, almost 100,000 YouTube subscribers rapidly growing and growing on Instagram. Same thing about 100,000 followers in 10 months. So it's just been incredible, but it's so, it's so funny for me to look back on the turmoil, the questioning, the why this is happening God, but then the second that I actually look back and I recount everything that's happened, I realized that God was faithful the whole time. It wasn't that he wasn't faithful, and he wasn't in it. He was faithful the whole entire time. And I just, we can only recognize it once we get past that season. We actually look back on that season of testing. And I think you and I would both emphasize and then emphasize again, especially to someone listening to this, who might sense the call of God to do media or sense the call of God to start a podcast. We emphasize this fact that again, it is not just about the numbers. You and I have had this conversation. And again, that's why I so appreciate your ministry because you have the proper perspective on this. And that is the numbers count simply because their lives transformed. And ultimately it's about glorifying the Lord. But I want you to take a moment to look into that camera right there. And I want you to talk to another Spencer Nakamura who's out there, a young man, a young woman who is believing for the fulfillment of what they know is the call of God on their life. They have God given goals. They have a God given vision. But they're just in this season right now of frustration, uncertainty, tension even. Talk to them for a moment. Absolutely. Well, I would first say, be confident in the call of God that is on your life. And look at uncertainty. Try and build your faith to where uncertainty is actually exciting for you. It's not disheartening for you. We know in Revelation 22 that God is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. And the reason that I say that is because when we understand that God is as much a part of your future as he has already created the past, right? So if you're reading Genesis and you read the creation story, it already happened. God is outside of time. So your future is already taken care of and actually created. God has already created that. And he is what? The shepherd of our lives and shepherds go in front of sheep and beckon them and call them by name. He's not behind you just telling you where to go. But he's actually in the future right now creating the place and the foundation for you to walk into. And so my encouragement for you is, yes, life is uncertain. And there may be times where it's disheartening and you have an anxious spirit about it. But in those times, remember that God is already creating the spaces that you're walking into. And if you're faithful to follow the Word of God and follow his voice in your life, you will find yourself just stepping into blessing and opportunity that he has already created is already prepared for you. I know it's hard, but it's a day by day practice to trust in God and to step into his plan. So I want to pray for you now. And I want to pray that the Holy Spirit would bring comfort and encouragement and peace in this season. Father in the name of Jesus, I lift that one to you now who is standing in the midst of a season of uncertainty, of testing, of tension. And I pray that by the precious Holy Spirit, they would receive comfort, peace, encouragement, certainty about your nature, certainty about your Word, for he who promised is faithful. Touch their lives in a fresh way, Lord. Anoint them and bring them into a season of fruitfulness, I pray. In Jesus' name, I want you to say it because you believe it, say amen. Amen. My friend, how can they find more information about you in the ministry? Well, you can always go to spencerknackamora.com, www.spencerknackamora.com. That's going to put you on my website where you can find my podcast and different things and channels there. And then you can also follow me on all social media. It's at SpencerKnock, at SpencerNAK. I made it easy because knackamora is sometimes hard to spell. So on all socials, it's at SpencerKnock. So you can find me on Instagram, on YouTube, on Facebook, and on TikTok. My friend, thank you so much for joining me. And I'm sure it was a huge encouragement to those watching. And thank you for joining me as well. And until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God.