Today my guest is Rick Soto.

Rick and I go way back. He was one of the first people I met and had a real conversation with after I moved to Santa Barbara in 2002. When my future wife and I were involved in a serious accident in the middle of the night on October 27, 2002, I told the first officer on the scene, "Call Rick Soto." At the time Rick was a pastor at Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara.

Rick is married to his lovely wife Jane for 29 years, they fell in love while serving the Lord in the former Soviet Union. They have 4 sons.

You can find Rick at SimpleBibleCommentary.com and on Twitter he’s @GoRickSoto.

He can also be found at RanchChurch.com

In 2018 when I was going through the darkest time of my life, Rick is someone I turned to. Over the years I have always appreciated his insight and friendship.

Things that struck me in this interview:

1. "40 is the old age of youth and 60 is the youth of old age."

2. The gift of limitations. At 40 you start to recognize certain limitations on your life, and limitations are a gift because they allow you to hone in on where your gifts really are.

3. Rick said he was tired at 40, and when he said it, I felt it. 40 for him was a pivot point where he hit a wall and fell apart emotionally.

4. In January 2019 Rick was involved in a major accident that drastically altered his life. It was a "forced rest" and his perspective recently coming out of this experience was interesting to me.

5. At 40 he was reactionary. Now he moves at a less frantic pace. He's more strategic.

"God has open doors before me that no man can shut."

"I wake up every morning and there are doors opened up before me."

"I'm much more at peace with who I'm not."