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Show Notes for SNS 001

Hi. My name is Charles, and this is the Simple Not Shallow Podcast. A podcast for those who want a deeper faith, not a confusing one. That is what our name is all about, keeping faith in Christ simple, simple enough that a child like myself can understand it and yet, not so shallow that when the storms of life hit, our faith is forced to run aground. We want a faith that is like a very good cup of coffee. Simple, strong, full of flavor, and richly satisfying. Like the cup I’m sipping on right now, an excellent French roast; very satisfying.  

In this first episode I just want to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about what we are all about as simplenotshallow.com. So, about me…  

As I said, my name is Charles, Charles Yerkes.  Basically, I’m a fun loving and deep-thinking kind of guy. I love Dad Jokes, and you may hear a few in these podcast sessions. And I love pondering the mysteries of life. I have always found that the deeper one thinks, the more he has to laugh; or he ends up taking himself and his ideas way too seriously. 

Mine has been an interesting path, I have done many things in my life. I’ve been a Staff Sargent in the Air National Guard, a carpenter, locksmith, founder of a Christian singles group, a photographer, storyteller… and many other things besides.

No matter what I was doing, I always tried to live a life that showed God’s love to others. However, a few years ago a couple of things changed and I began wanting to do more in terms of sharing God’s love with other people, specifically with other Christian people. I have always enjoyed stories and I enjoy writing. I figured the best thing I could do, then, would be to learn how to write like C. S. Lewis. A man who was very, very, very good at taking great big, complex, hairy ideas, theological ideas, Christian ideas and stating them in a sentence or two. I figured that I could do that. That is what I wanted to do.

So, I went back to school to learn how. It took a few years, but I now have a Masters of Arts in Theological Studies, a fine piece of paper on the wall saying so, and several other pieces of paper telling me that I owe quite a bit of money for that fine, fine piece of paper on my wall.

 The important thing is, the longer I was in school, my ideas and visions concerning how I wanted to share God’s love began to change. It became, no longer about merely writing like C. S. Lewis, it became about connecting with other like-minded Christians. Ones that are more interested in knowing Jesus and the abundance of life that he came to give than… rather than anything else. So, Simple Not Shallow was born. Since receiving that ‘fine piece of paper’ that is now hanging on my wall, I have begun connecting with others through videos, social media, blogging, and now this podcast.

The name Simple Not Shallow is referring to our faith. Specifically, to a faith that is simple enough that a child might own it, might understand it, might possess it (Mark 10:14,15). And yet, one that runs deep enough to have the wisdom of a serpent (Matthew 10:16). One that is thought out, practical, and strong enough to face the real-world challenges that face us all. It is interesting, there was a song out several years ago by a man named Charlie Peacock, off of his Secret of Time album, entitled Experience. Where he said that, in order to be understood, truth must be experienced, it must be owned, it must be possessed. It is not enough to have head knowledge; you have to be living it. And that is what we are talking about. The roots have to run deep enough to help you weather all storms that are coming your way. It is a faith that helps you thrive even as the storm rages around you. For it has nothing to do with the storms.

This is reflected in our motto:

Existence begins at life, living begins at love, God's love. 

So, our main goal is to help you learn more about God and his love. To help you live and not merely exist. To help you discover the vibrancy, reality, and authenticity that is to be found in a simply kept yet profoundly possessed and experienced faith; faith in Christ and Christ alone. 

A great part of this is keeping things real. It is to be a real and honest in pursuing this relationship with Jesus. Which involves asking some very tough but honest questions. Yes, asking those tough questions but then not settling for merely asking questions; which can be a smokescreen. It also involves fearlessly exploring for the answers and then boldly accepting the honest answers that you find. And it involves engaging in honest communication through comments and social media or person to person, face to face. That takes a lot of courage. 

Yet, it is only in this way that your faith in Jesus will become all you want it to be and, more importantly, it is the way it becomes all he wants and means for it to be. 

That is the lifestyle I have found very rewarding, very exciting, and very exhilarating. It is the life I call the Simple Not Shallow Life. For it is one focused on learning to know God, on learning how to love him… and our neighbors.

One quick housekeeping note before I bring this brief introduction to a close. Throughout these podcast episodes, I will reference Scripture quite often. For all the ideas I share, all the answer to life’s problems that I have found, all of the growing in Christ that I do, and that I think anybody does, is only done as we learn about who Jesus is and who God is. And all this comes through the Bible, it comes through Scripture. So, it will be interwoven through our conversations, through these podcast episodes. However, rather than interrupting the flow of the conversation to interject what that Bible passage was, I’ll keep going in the conversation and list the Bible passages in the show notes.  Well, for instance; if I’m talking about one of my favorite Bible passages, one that I reference quite a bit, which is the one about the greatest commands ever given. Rather than simply saying, “Jesus tells us what the greatest commands ever give are, which is in Matthew 22:34 – 40.” I’ll simply say, “And we are told that the greatest commands ever given are to love God with our entire being and our neighbors as ourselves. So, it’s something pretty important for us to do.” And then I’ll keep going with the conversation. However, in the show notes, after saying this, I will have the passage listed. It will look like this: “And we are told that the greatest commands ever given are to love God with our entire being and our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:34 – 40). So, it’s something pretty important for us to do.”

That way you can know where I get my information. Now to see this information, again, simply go to simplenotshallow.com. Click on the podcast section and then click on the podcast episode that you are listening to. For example: this would be episode number 1 in the podcast section. And in the show notes you will see the show notes you will see the transcript of this episode and you will see Matthew 22:34 – 40 typed in at the point I referenced it.   

Well, there you go, there you have it, there it is. The Simple Not Shallow Podcast. In a nutshell… more or less. 

Thank you for listening. I do hope you like this podcast. Please go ahead and check out the other episodes and if you like them, please subscribe through the podcast service of your choice. And go to the show notes, because, in the show notes you can leave me a comment and tell me what you’re thinking. Ask me some questions, or tell me your disagreements. For honest communication involves all three. And I look forward to hearing from you soon.   

Until then, enjoy a good cup of coffee. For it is proof that God did not give up on mankind…. We’ll cover that eventually. Chow.