Episode #1 The Story Behind Called and Running | Our Testimonies & Mission

0:00 SPEAKER_01: If this is true, then my birth is an accident, my death is an accident, and everything that lies in between that is also an accident.

0:09 SPEAKER_01: My life is an accident.

0:12 SPEAKER_01: Lacking purpose.

0:20 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is.

0:22 SPEAKER_01: Let's uh let's go ahead and pray and we'll get into it.

0:26 SPEAKER_02: Alright.

0:27 SPEAKER_01: Uh we just we are so humbled by your grace and uh and allowing us to be here and uh uh Lord you're just getting us with this uh with these people in this uh in this place uh that they've uh so graciously allowed us to have to uh to answer our call.

0:45 SPEAKER_01: To uh to be your hands and feet and and to be uh to be a bold voice in a in a crazy world of uh a lot of confusion and darkness.

0:56 SPEAKER_01: So God, I pray that you would just um that you would just speak through us because Lord we can't do it by ourselves.

1:03 SPEAKER_01: And Lord, we just Lord, we just want all glory to go to you and we just want to serve you.

1:10 SPEAKER_01: And Lord, we just pray that we that you would just use this podcast and Lord, just reach out just one more.

1:16 SPEAKER_01: That's all we ask, Lord, just one more.

1:19 SPEAKER_01: God, we just love you.

1:21 SPEAKER_01: And we come to you in desperation, Lord.

1:23 SPEAKER_01: Just give us the words to speak.

1:32 SPEAKER_02: Well here we are.

1:33 SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.

1:38 SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, yeah, yeah.

1:40 SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I'm I'm super excited to be here.

1:43 SPEAKER_01: It's been a it's been a long journey trying to get this thing started.

1:47 SPEAKER_01: Uh lots of uh spiritual warfare we've uh both experienced and um and uh yeah, I mean I'm just I'm so grateful to have uh uh met you and um and just the calling that we both have.

2:02 SPEAKER_01: I mean, it would just it feels like a divine appointment everything up until this point.

2:06 SPEAKER_01: I mean us meeting and uh and us meeting Andrew, who gifted us this studio and said, Hey man, you don't owe us a dying for sharing the gospel.

2:16 SPEAKER_01: It was yeah crazy to hear that.

2:18 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man.

2:19 SPEAKER_00: I mean it's gonna be you know such a wild ride and journey because it's already been one to this point, you know.

2:29 SPEAKER_00: Um it's like you know, going to to day one, you know, just showing up for a Bible study at a barber shop, you know, and like it it was it was crazy because you and I sat right next to each other, you know, and didn't know each other from Adam, you know, and like we literally have a great Bible study, you know, everybody's like tearing up and crying together and having like a good time, you know, and then everybody leaves and you know uh Omar gets his hair cut.

3:04 SPEAKER_00: I stay back, you know, I get my hair cut, and then Sergio's like, yo, I got you know some people I want you to meet later.

3:10 SPEAKER_00: And you know, I'm I'm I'm there at seven o'clock or six forty-five that morning, you know, and then uh it turns into uh you know three o'clock in the afternoon at a at a barber shop before I'm going home.

3:22 SPEAKER_00: And you know, my wife's like, what the heck are you doing?

3:25 SPEAKER_00: But man, you know, just it's like you said, like a like a divine, you know, thing.

3:31 SPEAKER_00: Um because you know, you came in and Sergio introduced us, and then it was like, dude, like off to the off running, you know, talk about hunting for like multiple hours while we're standing there, you know, and just you know, talking about our journeys and where we've come from and stuff.

3:50 SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, and then you know, fast forward a little bit further, you know, we're I don't I don't I don't exactly remember where we were.

3:59 SPEAKER_00: We came, we might have been at uh Bible study, man, uh on Monday night, uh I think when we were just kind of like, hey, you know, I've been feeling this calling to to do maybe a podcast or do something.

4:12 SPEAKER_00: And then you you were like, dude, I've been thinking about doing the same thing, you know.

4:16 SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and with with your um with your Instagram, you know, you were just kind of thinking about finding a way to just dive a little deeper and just take it a little bit farther.

4:27 SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, just you know, through prayer with that, and then like you said, you know, just uh coming here, you know, and having Bible study here and just meeting Andrew.

4:39 SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, unfortunately, I was out of town for that Saturday when you initially, you know, brought it up to him, you know, but just that phone call that you gave me that day where he was like, dude, like I'm not gonna charge you guys a dime, you know, to spread the gospel.

4:53 SPEAKER_00: In my head, I'm like, holy crap, you know, like we get we're gonna get to use like a studio with like legit equipment, you know, we're not gonna be doing this in our living room with a with a cell phone, you know.

5:04 SPEAKER_00: Um but it's like I've been saying for a while, man, like it how much more could God have his hand in something, you know, and then just him willing to just help us launch this and get you know the editing and and helping us get it set up with putting it online and and just spreading it, man.

5:24 SPEAKER_00: It's it's insane.

5:25 SPEAKER_00: It doesn't happen.

5:27 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man.

5:28 SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh I think I really started to get the calling after I went on uh went on my buddy's podcast, shout out uh Aiden Seeger's Intentional Twenties.

5:38 SPEAKER_01: Um I went on his show and I just after that I was just like, man, I think this would be something super beneficial for me to do because I've always had that, I've always had the Instagram account and I've I posted videos and and I mean even from the uh very start of my Christian walk, I mean the very the very first sermon that I went to was uh in Luke, I believe chapter four.

6:02 SPEAKER_01: It might not be chapter four, um, when um when Jesus called here and he said, Follow me and I'll make you a fisher of men.

6:10 SPEAKER_01: And that that's something that really resonated with me.

6:12 SPEAKER_01: So I just had this burning, this burning passion and like a almost a burden.

6:17 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

6:17 SPEAKER_01: Like this is something that I need to do.

6:20 SPEAKER_01: I want people to know the heart of Jesus.

6:22 SPEAKER_01: So I I've opened up the Instagram account and I'll admit, I mean, even some of my even some of my earlier videos, like I I said some things that right now I don't agree with.

6:33 SPEAKER_01: And even going back, like I I don't know, it might sound weird, but I really cringe looking at my own stuff, going back and re-watching my videos, and especially like some of some of the really early ones.

6:44 SPEAKER_01: I deleted some of them.

6:46 SPEAKER_01: Um I was just like super quiet, it looked like I was really timid, and um, and I think a lot of it had to do with like uh I was filming my videos super late at night and I I didn't want to wake up anybody in the house.

6:59 SPEAKER_01: I'm like whispering into the camera and I'm like I look back at that and I'm like, Tona, what are you doing?

7:04 SPEAKER_01: But then God opened this door.

7:07 SPEAKER_01: So we're here now.

7:09 SPEAKER_01: And um I want to kind of talk about what is what is our purpose with with being here.

7:15 SPEAKER_02: Yeah, if you want to.

7:17 SPEAKER_02: Yeah, man.

7:18 SPEAKER_00: I mean it's like recently it's kind of been one of those things where for me uh that I've noticed um is you know, like we're called in scripture to use our testimonies as our strongest sword, right?

7:37 SPEAKER_00: Like it's it's important for us to um to share our testimonies because you know, you can share scriptures and you can um, you know, just blurt out Bible verses, a lot of times people just kind of get in that mindset of like, oh my gosh, here I you know, here it goes again, you know, you know, I've heard that a thousand times, doesn't mean anything to me.

8:01 SPEAKER_00: But when you use your testimony to um just kind of show where you were and where God's brought you from and where you are today versus where you were a month ago, six months ago, five years ago, whatever, um to share your testimonies.

8:20 SPEAKER_00: And I've just found that like uh there's not a lot of places to do that um for some people, you know, there there are people that just kind of get rode off right away.

8:32 SPEAKER_00: Um and or there's just so much red tape that, you know, like uh, you know, for our exam, for example, you know, Sergio, you know, our barber, you know, he just got this calling to want to share his testimony.

8:45 SPEAKER_00: And he does when we're in Bible study and when he's meeting new people face to face, but you know, he's just had this uh this huge calling to want to share his testimony.

8:56 SPEAKER_00: And everywhere he turns to try and do that, people are like, oh yeah, you know, well, let's sit down and let's eat or you know, have some coffee or whatever.

9:05 SPEAKER_00: Like, let me let me see the fruit first.

9:07 SPEAKER_00: And it's like, you know, who are we to tell somebody when and how they can share their testimony?

9:15 SPEAKER_00: You know, um, and and that bothers me to my core that that people face that, you know, and a lot of times people eventually just turn away from it because it's been made so hard for them to do it.

9:28 SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, and yeah, you can do it with your family, you can do it with your friends, you can do it, you know, like as Sergio does from the barber's chair, but you know, sometimes we have testimonies that, you know, uh other people in other areas need to hear.

9:44 SPEAKER_00: And um, and I think that's the biggest push uh for this test or for this podcast is just for somebody to be able to have an open direct channel to just come on here with us and just uh uh share it with the world, share it with whoever wants to hear it, you know, and not not feel like they've got to jump through hoops and and break all this red tape to be able to do so, you know.

10:14 SPEAKER_00: So I mean, I think that that's like the biggest part, the biggest uh calling that I feel from it is just to create a platform that somebody can come on and feel safe and feel vulnerable and um and just be able to just put their story out there, you know, for others to be able to relate, for others to be able to see what God's doing in their life, you know.

10:38 SPEAKER_00: Uh there's a uh a million other Sergio's out there, there's a million other you and me's, you know, and we'll we'll get into our testimonies here in a little bit, you know, but um there's people out there that are going through similar things, worse things, maybe not so bad things, but at the end of the day, you know, uh sin is sin and testimony is testimony, you know, no, no sin is greater than the other, no testimony is greater than the other.

11:05 SPEAKER_00: It's all, you know, um, so we can use our testimonies and their testimonies to maybe just get it out there for other people to be like, oh dang, like he went through that and and he's he's where he is.

11:18 SPEAKER_00: Holy crap, you know, like that could be me.

11:21 SPEAKER_00: You know, maybe I need to give my life to Jesus and legitimately do it, you know?

11:26 SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

11:27 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

11:28 SPEAKER_01: Um, I mean, I think that's a big reason why we started this.

11:31 SPEAKER_01: We just want to have uh have people on and let them know that they have a safe place to share their story.

11:37 SPEAKER_01: And I think in today's society, especially there's far too many people who just feel alone.

11:43 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they don't feel heard, and they feel like their story is different than everybody else's, but that's not the case.

11:49 SPEAKER_01: And even scripture, in in scripture biblically, uh Revelation chapter twelve, verse eleven, it says that we overcome the evil one by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.

12:01 SPEAKER_01: So there's there's power in your testimony, and you're right in saying that that no testimony has has more power than another.

12:08 SPEAKER_01: Because at the end of the day, it's not about us.

12:11 SPEAKER_01: We didn't write our story, he did.

12:13 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

12:14 SPEAKER_01: We're not even the ones who who who who made the decision to to repent.

12:18 SPEAKER_01: Romans chapter two says it's the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance.

12:24 SPEAKER_01: So when you look at it, it has nothing to do with us.

12:28 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

12:28 SPEAKER_01: And it's everything to do with him.

12:31 SPEAKER_01: And um we want people to be able to come on here and and tell their stories because so many people can relate to to all these all these guys' stories in in in some way.

12:42 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

12:42 SPEAKER_01: And I want people to know that.

12:45 SPEAKER_01: And I think also right now, um we just live in arguably one of the most confused worlds that we ever have.

12:56 SPEAKER_01: Like in in today's modern era, people are more depressed, more anxious, uh, uh, more suicidal than ever before.

13:03 SPEAKER_01: And people need Jesus desperately.

13:08 SPEAKER_01: And we want to come on here and just and thank God that He's provided us with this platform just to just bold proclaim the name of Jesus.

13:16 SPEAKER_01: I I can't fix everybody's problems.

13:19 SPEAKER_01: You can't either.

13:20 SPEAKER_01: But what we can do, um, we can change somebody's world instead of changing the world.

13:25 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

13:26 SPEAKER_01: So just speaking to these these certain circumstances that people go through and just speaking scripture over them and just boldly proclaiming Jesus, I think is going to to go a long way.

13:37 SPEAKER_01: And I don't know what what the Lord's plans are with this podcast, yeah.

13:42 SPEAKER_01: But um I'll I'll say it right now for the record.

13:46 SPEAKER_01: All I want's one.

13:47 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

13:48 SPEAKER_01: Just one more.

13:49 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

13:49 SPEAKER_01: I want to see one person uh be changed and and give their life over to the Lordship of Jesus because of this podcast.

13:57 SPEAKER_01: That's the only number I care about.

13:59 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

14:00 SPEAKER_00: I mean, and a piggyback off of that, you know, like all it takes is that one for him to reach one or her, you know, and for that person that they reach to reach another, you know, and before you know, I mean, it's changing generations, you know.

14:15 SPEAKER_00: All it takes is just that one seed to be planted to just blossom and and just the fruit just spread, you know.

14:25 SPEAKER_00: Um it's just it's important, you know, to remember too, you know, like it's not an easy walk, you know.

14:38 SPEAKER_00: Um, I think that's like the the most common thing that people experience, you know, or that they think, you know, when they when they uh when they come to Jesus, they just think that like, oh man, like it's just gonna be like pretty pink ponies and rainbows, you know, like it's gonna be like, you know, like I'm gonna be living in this like crazy fantasy land of like, you know, there's no more, you know, pain and sorrow.

15:05 SPEAKER_00: And it's like, you know, scripture says, I mean, it's actually sometimes the opposite, you know.

15:12 SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's uh we're we're promised to be persecuted, we're promised to be spat at and just talked down to.

15:20 SPEAKER_00: And, you know, uh, you and I both, you know, through our in our testimonies and in our stories, and even up to this day are dealing with just constant um uh, like you like to say, you know, flaming darts, you know, from the enemy, you know, just constantly getting thrown at us.

15:38 SPEAKER_00: And um, it's the one thing that we're guaranteed, you know, it's gonna happen.

15:42 SPEAKER_00: And, you know, and unfortunately, when you put the armor of God on, that's just when the enemy comes ten times harder, you know.

15:48 SPEAKER_00: Um, he he genuinely hates what we're doing.

15:52 SPEAKER_00: Um, whether it's with our families, whether it's with our friends and Bible study groups, uh, podcasts like this.

16:00 SPEAKER_00: Um he just he can't stand it, you know, and and he will do anything and everything that he can to tear it apart before it even gets off the ground, you know?

16:10 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, we are definitely super anti-prosperity gospel over here.

16:15 SPEAKER_01: I mean, trials and tribulation is definitely something that is is promised to us in scripture.

16:21 SPEAKER_01: And um really the enemy has a big problem with people who bear the image of God, but he has an even bigger problem with people on the front lines fighting for the kingdom of God.

16:33 SPEAKER_01: So we're here and and we're ready for these darts, and we're putting on the armor of God and we're picking up our sword, which is the word of God, and and just saying, hey, if Satan wants to get in that rink, so will we.

16:47 SPEAKER_01: And guess what?

16:48 SPEAKER_01: He doesn't win.

16:50 SPEAKER_00: No, especially when you got two people standing side by side, you know, and like it's been crazy, just uh, you know, like I know you see it, but just like the outpour of like um just support and love, you know, from our brothers and and uh and just friends that that we're close to, just like really genuinely excited, you know, for where this journey is gonna go, you know, and I can't I I can't wait to have some of them on, you know.

17:20 SPEAKER_00: Uh like dude, we've got some some really solid warriors that we're that we're friends with, um, you know, that the Lord has just blessed us both with to have in our life, um, that are just constantly pouring into us and constantly guiding us, you know.

17:36 SPEAKER_00: It it's you know first things first, you know, all glory to God.

17:43 SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

17:44 SPEAKER_00: You know, um this, this podcast and just the the the the brothers that we have, man, like none of it would be possible without him, you know.

17:54 SPEAKER_00: And it's it's genuinely just like a a blessing to just feel that uh that comfort and that love from him, you know, throughout all these processes, you know, and uh and just knowing that he's there through those trials and tribulations, man.

18:10 SPEAKER_00: It's like there's no greater feeling, you know, like even when you're like just down in the dump and feeling awful, man.

18:19 SPEAKER_00: Just the fact that you know that you can call on him, and it's like, you know, as fast as you can breathe, as fast as you can blink, man, he's like just arms fully wrapped around you, and you feel warm and you're just ready to rock and roll from there.

18:32 SPEAKER_00: You know, it's uh you know, his glory and hit and his his his fame and his love and just just all the things, man.

18:42 SPEAKER_00: You know, the armor that he puts on us is just like you would think that it would be that it would be like just this heavy uh burden, but it's not, you know, like it's um it's the strongest armor, you know, ever made, ever known to man, but man, just he he carries the weight of it.

19:01 SPEAKER_00: We're just you know the ones wielding the sword in his name, you know, and it's just uh it's an incredible feeling.

19:09 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man.

19:10 SPEAKER_01: And we want all we want all people to know what that's like.

19:13 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

19:13 SPEAKER_01: And that's ultimately our mission.

19:16 SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah.

19:17 SPEAKER_01: I I want to kind of flip it over to like what what is our story and yeah, how has the Lord kind of impacted our lives.

19:25 SPEAKER_01: So uh you want to kick us off.

19:27 SPEAKER_00: Oh man.

19:29 SPEAKER_00: Who are you gonna do me like that?

19:31 SPEAKER_00: I sure am.

19:32 SPEAKER_00: Who uh yeah, man.

19:36 SPEAKER_00: So as a child, man, I I you know I was baptized when I was probably seven, I think.

19:45 SPEAKER_00: It was uh my uncle and I and my little cousin, she was a baby.

19:49 SPEAKER_00: Uh my uncle and I are six months apart, so we kind of grew up together.

19:53 SPEAKER_00: It's kind of a weird story how that worked out, yeah.

19:56 SPEAKER_00: But uh um, yeah, that's so weird to think my mom and my grandmother were pregnant virtually at the same time.

20:03 SPEAKER_00: It's crazy.

20:05 SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, so uh baptized as a kid, um, didn't understand what it was.

20:12 SPEAKER_00: I think I was more interested in just playing around and chasing my uncle around the you know, the the chapel and the church at the time, more so than I was getting my head wet.

20:21 SPEAKER_00: I did not enjoy that.

20:22 SPEAKER_00: Um because I had believe it or not, I had like long, you know, blonde, shiny hair, you know, and when it was wet, it was awful.

20:31 SPEAKER_00: But uh, but yeah, man, I I I didn't understand what that meant, you know.

20:36 SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's like scripture says, you know, like we're we we're born naturally sinful, you know.

20:43 SPEAKER_00: Um, we just come out of the womb that way.

20:46 SPEAKER_00: And dude, I was a heathen, man, just wild, crazy, into everything, you know, taking things apart, you know, breaking stuff.

20:54 SPEAKER_00: Like I was I was just a heathen child, man.

20:56 SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, fast forward into my my teenage years, you know, like middle school, um, I was never really a big kid.

21:05 SPEAKER_00: Uh, I was teeny tiny.

21:08 SPEAKER_00: Um, really not much has changed.

21:10 SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm only five, eight, hundred and sixty-five, hundred and seventy pounds.

21:15 SPEAKER_00: But man, it's just, dude, I just talk about just, you know, having to fight for my life all the time, you know, like kids just constantly picking on me for, you know, just being tiny, you know, and my mom worked at my elementary school, so I got picked on for that and just kind of all kinds of crazy stuff from there.

21:35 SPEAKER_00: But uh, you know, just fighting kids to like protect myself, you know, and it wasn't until high school that I got like real deep into like wrestling and sports and stuff, and just made friends with a lot of the bigger kids, you know, and uh I was able to shine a little bit, you know.

21:54 SPEAKER_00: Um uh I had you know some great years in wrestling and and made some good friends, you know.

22:00 SPEAKER_00: Uh I faced a lot of adversity, you know, wrestling up and weight classes and stuff.

22:05 SPEAKER_00: And, you know, just had a real good brotherhood, you know, with those guys.

22:11 SPEAKER_00: And, you know, a lot of them just kind of came in and was like, hey, look, you know, if you mess with him, you mess with us.

22:16 SPEAKER_00: You know, and so a lot of that fighting stopped.

22:19 SPEAKER_00: Um, but it was like my junior year of high school.

22:25 SPEAKER_00: Uh my mom and dad found a church.

22:28 SPEAKER_00: Um, I have no idea where the pastor is from that church, is uh is Pastor Kevin.

22:35 SPEAKER_00: I can't recall his last name, but great man of God, man, his good word.

22:40 SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, every week.

22:43 SPEAKER_00: And so I was going to like the student ministry stuff.

22:46 SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I had a blast doing that, you know, but yeah, I was uh I was a I was a heathen teenager, you know, like I'd go to church and do all the church and things and playing guitar in the worship band and doing all that.

23:00 SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, I would go sleep with my girlfriend, you know, or uh party on the weekends and uh, you know, cuss and smoke cigarettes and dip and do all the crazy things, you know.

23:12 SPEAKER_00: And um I just never really had that like radical encounter, you know, that um that I expected to have, you know.

23:22 SPEAKER_00: I I don't I I I think it was just because I couldn't get out of my own way, you know, and just was just kind of had myself on like this uh this pedestal, you know, uh on my throne, you know, just living life the way that I wanted to live it, you know, and I mean it just it was fun to me and it just seemed natural.

23:42 SPEAKER_00: And you know, I made a lot of friends from it and it just it flew.

23:47 SPEAKER_00: It just uh it just it was just fluid, you know, and um uh 19 years old, you know, had my first kid, um, went through like this bad, terrible season with that, you know.

24:00 SPEAKER_00: Um her her biological mom was just like uh not a very good person, you know, and um just manipulated me and used me.

24:12 SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, I went to basic training for the army and she was cheating on me the whole time and um, you know, come home to figure that out and um you know, not to mention she was using drugs at the same time.

24:28 SPEAKER_00: And so I I really like started seeing the forest through the trees, you know, and I ended up um leaving uh that situation and fighting for custody of my daughter, and um just went through a hard season with that, and you know, the Lord blessed me with that, you know, with with custody of her, and just uh went through like my 20s, man, of just uh just hard fights, um, just just torment and and stress, just you know, trying to raise her, trying to work and advance in my career and and all the things, man, and um and just be the best dad that I could be, you know, just working two or three jobs at a time, you know, and just missed a lot of things because of that, because I was missing the point of life, you know, missing the point of being a father.

25:20 SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, like I say like I got into church in high school and my dad got like, you know, into like the production side of things and like doing the cameras and like working the sound booth and stuff like that for like worship and all that, and you know, um, but I could see like you know, he was one way there and another way at home, you know, and I and I mean nothing by that, you know.

25:49 SPEAKER_00: Um my dad's a a great dude, you know.

25:52 SPEAKER_00: Uh I I am who I am in a lot of ways because of my dad, uh just good and bad.

25:58 SPEAKER_00: Um, just uh, you know, um learning what to do and what not to do.

26:04 SPEAKER_00: Um, but I just had to really just kind of uh figure out a way to kill some generational curse there, you know, and just uh be my own parent, you know, not be a parent based on how I learned to be a parent, you know, and um man, that was a school of hard knocks.

26:28 SPEAKER_00: Uh but it wasn't until you know I met my wife um that I started really um encountering God, you know.

26:41 SPEAKER_00: Um we weren't really going to church together or anything like that in the beginning, but you know, she would say things from time to time, you know, or like show me things from time to time that kind of like got those wheels turning again after years of being separated from it.

26:58 SPEAKER_00: Um and you know, as soon as we got married, it was like, man, you know, again, just flaming darts, man, just boom, boom, boom, trying to break us apart, you know, just uh just some really dark um times, you know, with uh with with her sons and just trying to um navigate, you know, co-parenting with with her, you know, uh previous relationships.

27:31 SPEAKER_00: Um and just just like I said, really dark times, you know.

27:37 SPEAKER_00: And um she we we moved to Cartersville, and that's where she found Cross Point.

27:46 SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, where you and I both currently go now, which has, you know, uh also been a blessing just having you there.

27:53 SPEAKER_00: Um uh just gaining a brother there, you know, to just kind of walk that walk with and and do ministry with.

28:00 SPEAKER_00: Um but, you know, she started going first, you know, it was her and the kids, and it was one of those things where I think I just was really prideful.

28:11 SPEAKER_00: Um I was more focused on work, you know, not focused on her and the kids and and what I was supposed to be doing as a husband, you know, and uh I was just trying to advance in my career and just trying to make as much money as I could so that way we could keep swiping that plastic and just keep doing like all the things, you know, and just living for this world.

28:34 SPEAKER_00: And uh I started noticing that change in her, you know, as she started getting back, going to church and and hearing, you know, a shout out, you know, James Griffin, you know, our our uh lead pastor um at Cross Point, man, he he just you know, he just got away.

28:53 SPEAKER_00: You know, the Lord just moves through that man.

28:55 SPEAKER_00: And um it's such a blessing to, you know, um, to hear him preach, you know, week in and week out, and and even just to know him, you know, and be able to get in his ear and just uh, you know, just get that wise counsel, you know, from time to time.

29:10 SPEAKER_00: But, you know, she it started moving in her, you know, and um she would do the whole, you know, wake up on Sunday morning and be like, hey, we're going to church, are you coming?

29:19 SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, nah, I got stuff to do around the house, or you know, I'm gonna watch watch that football game or whatever.

29:27 SPEAKER_00: And uh it was just one morning she asked me, man, and it was just like something told me you need to get up and you need to go.

29:40 SPEAKER_00: And so I did, and you know, I went and I just kind of felt like really weird and uncomfortable, and I didn't know what that feeling was, and so I didn't go the next weekend, and then she asked me again, and you know, was never pushy, you know.

29:55 SPEAKER_00: She just planted that seed and let God water it the way she was supposed to, man, and and he did, man.

30:00 SPEAKER_00: Like uh for me, what really hammered it home for me was you know, James was preaching on uh on First Peter uh about you know, husbands and wives, you know, and man, like talk about a real reflective moment of looking in the mirror of going like, holy crap, dude, I'm such a terrible husband and father.

30:24 SPEAKER_00: Like I am not doing this right.

30:28 SPEAKER_00: And uh man, it humbled me, you know, and from that moment I was like, dude, like I've gotta I gotta do something different here.

30:39 SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and short time after that, you know, I just felt this calling that, you know, I wanted to rededicate my life to the Lord and I wanted to get baptized again.

30:49 SPEAKER_00: And it was just crazy how that worked.

30:52 SPEAKER_00: You know, it was me, and then uh my wife and I talked about it, and she was like, Well, I've been waiting for you to, you know, to want to do that because I felt a calling to do that too.

31:02 SPEAKER_00: And I was like, holy crap, well, let's do it together.

31:04 SPEAKER_00: And then next thing you know, we're talking to our daughter about it, and she was like, Well, I want to get baptized too.

31:10 SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Man, wow, yeah, let's make it a family event, you know, and you know, and then fast forward to Father's Day, um, you know, we we did it together, you know, and man, talk about being on fire for the Lord after that, dude.

31:26 SPEAKER_00: It was like just get plugged into every outlet I could in the church and just serve everywhere I could, man, and you know, talk about getting hit with darts, you know, just um even more so than when the ink dried from being married, man.

31:42 SPEAKER_00: It was just like the enemy was trying to destroy everything that he could that we were trying to put our hands on and try to like to use to glorify God, you know, like it was every opportunity that was put in front of us, the enemy was trying to destroy it, you know, and uh you know it it's it's been insane to just kind of watch and and be present um in a lot of the blessings that the Lord has provided, you know, with you know, with our men's group on Monday night, you know, that's been an incredible blessing, you know, to watch you guys grow and come together and and and hang out outside a group and and love each other and just like man, like our our text feed is man, it just it's non-stop.

32:38 SPEAKER_00: Like sometimes, man, my phone is just constantly going, and I'm like, guys, chill.

32:44 SPEAKER_00: But man, like just the fact that God did that, that he's brought that group together, you know, and then this group that we have on Saturday mornings, and just being a part of students at church, man, and just seeing God move in these kids.

33:00 SPEAKER_00: Um, man, like talk about just glorifying himself, man.

33:06 SPEAKER_00: Like it's been such a humbling, beautiful experience, you know, to just like sit back and just watch that and you know, Sergio's story, you know, you know, we'll have him on before too long, you know, to share.

33:20 SPEAKER_00: But like, dude, just all of that, man, like how could you not see God in any of that?

33:29 SPEAKER_00: You know, like how could you not want to just like dive headfirst into the deep end and just you know, absorb those darts, man?

33:39 SPEAKER_00: You know, let God put that armor on us and just, you know, swing that sword and just keep hard charging for for, you know, like you said, for that one and just just constantly, just continuously just reach that one.

33:53 SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, it's just such an empowering, you know, thing, you know, to be a part of and to witness.

34:02 SPEAKER_00: You know, it it's like we could all sit here and go, you know, like, well, I don't deserve to be a part of that, I don't deserve to be a witness to that, I don't deserve to lead that group.

34:13 SPEAKER_00: I don't have I don't deserve to be a part of that ministry, but you know, um just to be blessed enough to be able to to be a part of that, you know, just to to uh experience God's grace that we don't deserve to just wake up with air and and breath in our lungs every day is just um a testament uh to his love in itself.

34:39 SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah, man.

34:40 SPEAKER_02: That's a powerful story, and I mean yeah, you're right.

34:44 SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's not about how we feel, it's about what the word of God says.

34:49 SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

34:50 SPEAKER_01: It's very possible for us to have uh real feelings based on wrong thinking.

34:57 SPEAKER_01: And when I look at scripture, um the the Bible says that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways.

35:05 SPEAKER_01: And that the feelings that I have within my heart are evil and they're wicked.

35:11 SPEAKER_01: So like I I even experience this coming into this podcast.

35:15 SPEAKER_01: It's like oh gosh, I'm 21 years old.

35:19 SPEAKER_01: Look at all the other 21 year olds my age, they're out uh out partying and and they're at they're at college having a good time with my friend w w well with their friends and all that.

35:29 SPEAKER_01: And and I mean people ask me to do they're like, why are you doing that?

35:35 SPEAKER_01: Don't you want that?

35:36 SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, no.

35:37 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well I mean because I it it's it's insane, you know, like we're 14 years apart.

35:44 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, so it's like uh what you just said is so encouraging though, you know, to uh guys that are your age, you know, or gals that are your age, you know, uh just to show that you truly can be happy without having to go chase those things, you know, those things of this world, you know, like uh, you know what we'll we'll we'll dive into your testimony here.

36:13 SPEAKER_00: You know, I I I know I know the people want to hear you as well.

36:17 SPEAKER_00: Um you know what what God saved you from, you know, because like you could just as easily be out there still living that you know, living that life, you know, because the enemy had a hold of you, you know, had his foothold in you there at the beginning, you know.

36:35 SPEAKER_00: So yeah, let's let's hear let's hear your story, man.

36:38 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um I actually just as you know, I shared my story this morning because we actually we host uh or we we have a Bible study that we have in this the same play in the same place right in the other room.

36:50 SPEAKER_01: So I shared my story there, so this will be a refresher for you.

36:54 SPEAKER_01: But um as I said, this is not a Jonah story.

36:59 SPEAKER_01: Uh this is not my testimony, it's his.

37:02 SPEAKER_01: This is his story because he wrote it.

37:04 SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I contributed nothing to it because it was the kindness of the Lord that brought me to repentance.

37:12 SPEAKER_01: Only him.

37:13 SPEAKER_01: Only him, only his love for me.

37:17 SPEAKER_01: So going back, um like I had said, um it it's it's it's difficult for me to to conjure up uh childhood memories.

37:29 SPEAKER_01: And um especially like in my in my late teen years, because all that's really a blur.

37:35 SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't remember a whole lot of my life before Christ, but there are certain aspects of of my life before I knew Christ that really shaped my testimony and to what it is and what God brought me out of.

37:50 SPEAKER_01: So um like especially in elementary school, I really don't remember anything.

37:56 SPEAKER_01: Um I remember um there was one time uh I was in fifth or sixth grade, I think it was sixth grade, because it was a part of the yeah, it was sixth grade, because I was a part of uh my middle school's FCA for for uh for the reason because they had food there.

38:15 SPEAKER_01: I went there because they had some, they would have Chick-fil-A pop-tarts or something.

38:19 SPEAKER_01: So I remember them.

38:21 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I didn't give a rip about uh what what was being said or what the message was.

38:26 SPEAKER_01: I was there for the food and because my friends were there.

38:28 SPEAKER_01: I mean, I had zero understanding of the cross of Jesus.

38:32 SPEAKER_01: I had zero understanding of the gospel.

38:35 SPEAKER_01: And I remember um when I was in sixth grade, I had uh went home and I had told my mom, I I told her I had, hey, I want to be, I want to get saved, but only because I had seen all my friends were were doing this at the at the time, and and I wanted to go back to him and say, Hey, look, I do want the club.

38:54 SPEAKER_01: I got saved.

38:55 SPEAKER_01: So I uh uh I remember she came up to my room and and we had I had uh repeated the prayer in my bedroom and it meant nothing more than the fact that hey this is gonna earn me some status points.

39:09 SPEAKER_01: And um like I said, zero under understanding of what Jesus did for me and how much He loves me.

39:17 SPEAKER_01: And um uh I got exposed to um uh pornography at a very young age and um kind of around that same timeline and that kind of really uh led me through high school down some down some rough roads and and I mean I I say that because there's so many people out there that that relate uh to this and and honestly, I mean I'll say it as a dude, if you don't struggle with lust, if you if you say you don't struggle with lust, you're either lying or you're dead.

39:50 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

39:51 SPEAKER_01: I mean that's that's a part of us.

39:53 SPEAKER_01: That's a every every single guy I know struggles with lust because we all have the same sinful and wicked hearts.

40:00 SPEAKER_01: Um so that led me down to uh some really, really dark paths, man.

40:07 SPEAKER_01: I mean I was extremely depressed, extremely anxious, and and it was just it was it was such a real thing.

40:17 SPEAKER_01: Like before before that had happened to me, um when I had gotten that sort of headspace, when I would hear people say, Oh, I'm I'm depressed, uh, or oh I'm anxious.

40:27 SPEAKER_01: Anything like that I would just brush it off my shoulders because it just I would just it never really meant anything in my head until I was actually in it.

40:37 SPEAKER_01: Like when I was in it, I was like, oh crap, this is a real thing.

40:40 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

40:41 SPEAKER_01: And like I'm not okay.

40:43 SPEAKER_01: And and a part of it was uh or actually all of it was was my doing.

40:50 SPEAKER_01: Um I got into uh a relationship my senior year and uh I it kind of led me to isolating myself from uh a lot of my friends and there was a uh long period where like I just I really wasn't a part of my friends' lives, I isolated myself uh from this.

41:11 SPEAKER_01: And keep in mind at this point I do not have a relationship with the Lord.

41:17 SPEAKER_01: Um and and here's a dangerous lie that I believed at this point as well.

41:21 SPEAKER_01: I'm a good person.

41:22 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

41:24 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

41:24 SPEAKER_01: Oh, you gotta be kidding me.

41:26 SPEAKER_01: Uh and um uh we we dated for about two and a half years, and um uh the relationship had some problems, but I mean uh I at this point in my life, I mean I can look at myself and take the blame because I was a terrible person.

41:45 SPEAKER_01: I would call myself a good person, but at the same time I was all about how I can please myself.

41:51 SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

41:52 SPEAKER_01: At the same time, I was holding grudges in my heart.

41:55 SPEAKER_01: At the same time, I had hatred towards people in my heart.

42:00 SPEAKER_01: At the same time, I was a terrible son.

42:04 SPEAKER_02: I was a terrible brother, I was a terrible friend.

42:09 SPEAKER_02: I was a terrible son of of the most high king.

42:15 SPEAKER_01: And I remember um shortly before that relationship ended, I was just absolutely just broken in every way.

42:27 SPEAKER_01: Everything was falling apart in my life.

42:32 SPEAKER_01: And I and like I had said, like I have I've completely isolated myself at this point.

42:38 SPEAKER_01: And I'm not really a part of my friends' life like I like I was before and like I am today.

42:46 SPEAKER_01: And I just I felt so broken and so and so alone.

42:52 SPEAKER_01: Even though I had uh I even though I had an incredible support group under my roof at my house, my parents, my sister, I mean they all love me um in the best way that they know how.

43:07 SPEAKER_01: And um and really I'm I I I I would be at fault if I did not at least say thank you uh to them because I know that they're gonna be listening to this um for for the way that they've loved me and supported me growing up, and I feel incredibly grateful and undeserving of of the people that I have under my roof, and I do hope they know that.

43:33 SPEAKER_01: Um even with all of that, I was uh incredibly uh just broken on the inside.

43:41 SPEAKER_01: Lost.

43:42 SPEAKER_01: I mean, confused.

43:43 SPEAKER_01: I felt like I had no purpose.

43:45 SPEAKER_01: Because at at this time I'm not even sure that God even exists, and if he does, if he cares about me, if he loves me, if he sees me and what I'm going through.

43:56 SPEAKER_01: And that that that mindset kind of kind of led me to.

44:00 SPEAKER_02: Okay, well and I got to a it was my breaking point.

44:09 SPEAKER_01: And I remember it was two o'clock in the morning in my my bedroom and I'm I'm just I'm breaking down physically and mentally.

44:20 SPEAKER_01: And um I remember just audibly hearing just my name.

44:26 SPEAKER_01: And I just shoot up from my bed because I thought somebody was was speaking to me.

44:30 SPEAKER_01: And I'm like scanning the room and I'm like there's nobody in here.

44:36 SPEAKER_01: And then that's that's the moment it hit.

44:38 SPEAKER_01: And all time stopped, and everything that I had ever known about Jesus just started to make sense.

44:47 SPEAKER_01: All the scripture, the cross, w how much he loves me, it just started to click.

44:54 SPEAKER_01: I'm and at at that moment I just I did the only thing I knew how to do.

44:59 SPEAKER_01: At two o'clock in the morning, I got up from my bed and I flipped the light on.

45:03 SPEAKER_01: I had a dusty Bible in my closet that I had gotten for Easter um when I was super young.

45:11 SPEAKER_01: I can't remember uh how hard I was.

45:14 SPEAKER_01: Um it has my it has my name engraved on it, and I still have it to this day.

45:18 SPEAKER_01: And I just flipped to Genesis chapter one and I just started reading, man.

45:22 SPEAKER_01: And I just surrendered myself.

45:24 SPEAKER_01: And one of the and this was the greatest moment of my life.

45:28 SPEAKER_01: And what what was also uh well excuse me, what was the greatest moment was also the most uh humbling moment for me because this was when I realized that I've committed cosmic treason against a holy God and I've truly started to understand the weight of my sin and that I'm a murderer at heart because I put Jesus on the cross my sin put Jesus on the cross and I had to come to terms with the fact that hey Jonah is not the most important thing in the universe.

46:12 SPEAKER_01: It was time for me to get off the throne of my life and let him have Jesus take the rightful place.

46:19 SPEAKER_01: And he just started immediately working on my heart and I started walking with him and and and growing and I just I was so consumed by his love and I was just so uh so like I I I could not I could not even ex explain um just the things that I was feeling at that moment.

46:41 SPEAKER_01: Like it was just an overwhelming um outpouring of his love.

46:46 SPEAKER_01: And yeah, like I said, he started working on me uh immediately and I felt the uh I felt the call to um to just start serving uh shortly after that.

47:02 SPEAKER_01: I went to a uh like I said earlier, went to uh local church near the house that I had.

47:09 SPEAKER_01: Actually, um that's where we practice football in in middle school.

47:13 SPEAKER_01: Uh they have a football field.

47:14 SPEAKER_01: It's Calvary Baptist Church and I shout out shout out those guys over there.

47:19 SPEAKER_01: They're I love every one of them.

47:21 SPEAKER_01: They're they're still my family, even though um that's from a distance now and need to stop in and pay it pay them a visit soon.

47:28 SPEAKER_01: But um I started going there and and they just they showed me so much grace.

47:33 SPEAKER_01: And um and uh I had heard the first sermon that he uh uh Pastor Jeff he was talking about um when Jesus called Peter to to m uh to to be a fisher of men.

47:47 SPEAKER_01: And that's that's what really stuck with me.

47:50 SPEAKER_01: And I realized like, hey, there's there's so many people out there that are in the place that I'm in, and and like I had said, I can't speak to all to everybody's problems because everybody's problems are not the problems that I've had.

48:08 SPEAKER_01: Even though some might be.

48:09 SPEAKER_01: Uh some some people will have had different problems like for example, like like drug drug abuse or something like that.

48:15 SPEAKER_01: I've never done a drug in my life, so I I I'm not I'm not best equipped to speak to that.

48:22 SPEAKER_01: But what I feel called to do, I just want to I want people to see the heart of Jesus.

48:29 SPEAKER_01: I want them to just just know him and come to him with all your junk, with all your baggage, and yeah, with all your filthiness.

48:38 SPEAKER_01: Because that's how it works.

48:41 SPEAKER_01: That's what that's what it is in scripture.

48:44 SPEAKER_01: People come to him with all their junk and he cleanses them from the inside out.

48:51 SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

48:52 SPEAKER_01: I want people to see that the heart of Jesus.

48:56 SPEAKER_01: That's my story, and uh my story's still being written.

48:59 SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

49:00 SPEAKER_01: And I've got a long way to come.

49:02 SPEAKER_01: Uh I could be a much better friend.

49:05 SPEAKER_01: Uh I could be a a much better uh disciple of the Lord.

49:09 SPEAKER_01: Um I could be a much better son, much better brother.

49:16 SPEAKER_01: I fall short of these things every single day.

49:20 SPEAKER_01: And God has given me grace for that and He's continuing to grow me.

49:24 SPEAKER_01: And uh it's it's not easy because uh whenever I had my moment in my bedroom, if God would have revealed to me all of the wickedness in my heart, I don't think I would have been able to handle it.

49:39 SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

49:40 SPEAKER_01: It's it it would have been too much.

49:42 SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

49:43 SPEAKER_01: So it's been a slow process, and he's been kind of revealing things to me and just saying, Hey Jonah, you know this thing you've been doing?

49:54 SPEAKER_01: That's wrong.

49:56 SPEAKER_02: Let's work on that.

49:57 SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

49:58 SPEAKER_00: One thing after another.

50:00 SPEAKER_00: You know, it it takes time.

50:02 SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

50:02 SPEAKER_00: You know, um I don't think we'll ever, you know, get even close to scratching the surface of understanding all of these things.

50:12 SPEAKER_00: You know, uh I scripture says that we're not uh we're not wired to even be able to understand all of the things of this world.

50:23 SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, that's why when we're reading scripture, sometimes we have to read it multiple times, and then we've got to go, you know, ask somebody for wise counsel and be like, hey, like I do not understand what's on the page here.

50:36 SPEAKER_00: Um, can you help me understand it?

50:38 SPEAKER_00: You know, because you know, some people understand things a little bit differently, some people can relate to it a little bit differently, but at the end of the day, you know, like this is a constant growing relationship with the Lord.

50:52 SPEAKER_00: Like it doesn't like you don't just, you know, uh get saved, so to speak, and then it just, you know, comes natural and normal, and everything's just like this, you know, like we said in the beginning in this hunky-dory thing, you know, it's um it's a constant pursuit, it's a constant um uh like every day, it it's it's like you know, you choose to get up to go to work.

51:19 SPEAKER_00: Um, whether you're sick or tired, you know, uh, I've got to choose to get up and love my wife.

51:25 SPEAKER_00: I've got to choose to get up and love my kids.

51:27 SPEAKER_00: It's the same thing.

51:28 SPEAKER_00: You have to treat, you know, like God and his word that way.

51:33 SPEAKER_00: You know, like you, it's a constant choice.

51:35 SPEAKER_00: You have to get up every day and go, okay, you know, first off, thank you, God, for giving me the air in my lungs.

51:42 SPEAKER_00: Thank you for allowing me to wake up today.

51:45 SPEAKER_00: Thank you for giving me the vehicle to get to and from work, or thank you for giving me this job, or thank you for giving me this home, this roof over my head, and the food in my belly and uh this family that's around me.

51:59 SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and thank you for giving for for limiting your power and giving me the free will of this life to learn and to experience the bad things, you know, and grow from them, you know, and thank you for walking me through those things and being right there beside me to catch me when I fall.

52:24 SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, that that's a it's a constant walk every day.

52:28 SPEAKER_00: And and it, you know, some things might get easier than others, but you know, it's a it's a constant choice, it's a constant battle.

52:37 SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and it's like you said earlier, you know, like you struggled with like porn and and stuff like that.

52:42 SPEAKER_00: I mean, I did too.

52:43 SPEAKER_00: Like it was, dude, it had it's just like you know, like those those those girls that have those like 14-inch long nails, man.

52:54 SPEAKER_00: Like it felt like it had me like like a cat was just like in me, like, you know, like a spider monkey, man.

53:02 SPEAKER_00: It climbed me.

53:03 SPEAKER_00: And dude, it it had every um ounce of my thought, you know, like at work working on cars, I was thinking about looking at porn, you know, on my lunch break, thinking about looking at porn for years, dude.

53:18 SPEAKER_00: Like it was awful.

53:20 SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it wasn't until I realized it for what it was and surrendered that, you know, to the Lord.

53:29 SPEAKER_00: Did I did he rescue me from it?

53:32 SPEAKER_00: But it's still a constant choice, it's a constant battle, you know.

53:37 SPEAKER_00: Like when I was a kid growing up, man, I didn't have the access to it like we do now, you know, where like, dude, you can get on Netflix and watch just about every movie that you want on there and find some form of sexual nature or porn or you know, a sex scene or whatever it is, man.

53:54 SPEAKER_00: Like it's there.

53:55 SPEAKER_00: Wherever you want to find it, it's there.

53:58 SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it's it's you know, it's very important that we turn from that, you know, when we see those things to uh uh uh turn it off, turn away from it, find something different, you know, go get in our word, um, and and just and just pray that uh the Lord just takes that image from our minds and and from our memories, you know.

54:19 SPEAKER_00: So it's it's a it every day you just gotta like like scripture says, you gotta pick up your cross and follow him.

54:29 SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

54:29 SPEAKER_00: You know, and it's the hardest thing to do.

54:32 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's you know, it's it's a lot of adversity that you face through that, but it's very important that we do that.

54:40 SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's like it's like you said, you know, Jesus called Peter and and his disciples to be fisher of men.

54:46 SPEAKER_00: You know, and that's that's what we are put on this earth to do.

54:50 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

54:51 SPEAKER_01: And I mean, that's gonna be a big part of this podcast as well.

54:54 SPEAKER_01: We're just gonna be calling these things how they are.

54:56 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

54:57 SPEAKER_01: Lust, unforgiveness, and uh laziness, things like things of this nature.

55:03 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

55:04 SPEAKER_01: People think that um that these things are freedom, but they're not.

55:09 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

55:09 SPEAKER_01: It's it's freedom until you try to stop.

55:12 SPEAKER_01: Yep.

55:12 SPEAKER_01: It's chains and bondage.

55:14 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

55:14 SPEAKER_01: We want people to to see that, hey, this thing you call freedom, this thing you call enjoyment, it's not actually freedom.

55:24 SPEAKER_01: That thing is is holding you captive and destroying your life.

55:28 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

55:29 SPEAKER_01: We want people to see that.

55:30 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

55:30 SPEAKER_01: And that they can find real freedom in Jesus if they will just humble themselves and come to them and just come to know the truth because the Bible says the truth will set you free.

55:41 SPEAKER_01: So we want people to see that.

55:43 SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, man, this has been been a good first episode.

55:47 SPEAKER_01: You got any closing comments?

55:50 SPEAKER_00: No, man, not other than just uh just encourage everybody that's watching to just uh, you know, no matter what you're going through, man, um, or what direction you look, whether it's left, right, behind you, in front of you, above you, you know, he's always right there, you know, and even in the hardest moment, man, he's there ready to welcome you, he's there ready to pour his love on you, he's there ready to rescue rescue you from whatever you're dealing with, you know, and no matter how bad it is, you know, he was hung on that cross for all of those things long before any of us were born, you know, and there is nothing that he doesn't know, that he doesn't see, that he doesn't um already have predicted to happen, you know.

56:46 SPEAKER_00: So at that point, man, just just really truly dive deep into that and um and just remember, man, like he already knows, he knows every thought before it even comes into your mind and to what extent it goes.

57:03 SPEAKER_00: And so why not, you know, why not just hum humble yourself before him and just say, hey, I'm a broken sinner, man.

57:12 SPEAKER_00: I know all I have is to offer you, you know, filthy, dirty rags, man.

57:17 SPEAKER_00: That's all I have to give to you.

57:19 SPEAKER_00: You know, you don't need me, but you want me, you know, and uh and just give those things to him, you know, because there's no greater love that you can experience when when you do that, especially on a constant day-to-day basis.

57:36 SPEAKER_00: And I just encourage everybody to just uh um just remember that, you know, um surrender it, all things, man.

57:46 SPEAKER_00: He he's never going to cast you out or, you know, um, you know, it's just like you know, being a kid getting getting caught in the cookie jar, you know, and your dad, you know, disciplining you.

58:01 SPEAKER_00: It's it doesn't work that way.

58:03 SPEAKER_00: You know, it it's one of those things where you get caught in the cookie jar and he just kind of says, Hey, you know, you made a mistake.

58:12 SPEAKER_00: Um, let's grow from it.

58:15 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

58:16 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man.

58:17 SPEAKER_01: I mean, I would say to um that's for my closing comment, I would say to anybody who's who's on the edge, um, man, just go all in.

58:27 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

58:27 SPEAKER_01: Because you don't know what you're missing.

58:29 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

58:29 SPEAKER_01: And even for the person who says, Well, okay, I don't I just don't think I need Jesus right now.

58:35 SPEAKER_01: That's what I said.

58:37 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

58:38 SPEAKER_01: Oh, how wrong was I?

58:39 SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.

58:41 SPEAKER_01: Trust me, you need him because I mean the Bible calls it how it is, he calls us sheep.

58:46 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

58:47 SPEAKER_01: And weep are the stupidest animal.

58:50 SPEAKER_01: The Bible's offensive, y'all.

58:52 SPEAKER_01: I mean, you'll come to know that if if if you haven't read it before.

58:56 SPEAKER_01: Um, but we we need a shepherd, and Jesus is our shepherd, and we need to uh we need to come to him.

59:02 SPEAKER_01: So if that's you today, and if you're listening to this and God's tugging at that string in your heart, and you feel like, hey, I feel like God just called me into a deeper relationship uh with him, just do it.

59:13 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

59:14 SPEAKER_01: Just do it.

59:15 SPEAKER_01: You don't have to wait.

59:16 SPEAKER_01: Don't wait for tomorrow because tomorrow might not come.

59:19 SPEAKER_01: We're not promised that.

59:20 SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

59:20 SPEAKER_01: Just go all in.

59:22 SPEAKER_01: And it he will not let you down.

59:24 SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

59:25 SPEAKER_01: Because he's a man of his word, he's a God of his word, and he doesn't break promises.

59:29 SPEAKER_01: So uh, yeah, I've enjoyed this.

59:31 SPEAKER_01: Uh Cody, would you pray over us?

59:34 SPEAKER_00: Oh man, you're gonna do me like that.

59:35 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure.

59:38 SPEAKER_00: Uh Lord, I just uh I just come to you in this moment and I just thank you so much um for just bringing bringing Jonah and into my life um and just uh giving us this platform together um to just just talk and and just um use the wisdom that you've provided us and and the words that you've given us to like we said in the beginning, just reach that one, that one more, because that one can multiply.

1:00:17 SPEAKER_00: You are the great multiplier, Lord.

1:00:20 SPEAKER_00: Um, and all it takes is just the uh a seed the size of a mustard seed.

1:00:25 SPEAKER_00: Um and the results are up to you, Lord.

1:00:28 SPEAKER_00: Um you're you're the one that's gonna water that seed, you know, and we just we thank you for being that.

1:00:35 SPEAKER_00: We thank you for being that great multiplier.

1:00:37 SPEAKER_00: We thank you for all the things that you continue to do in our lives, and we just thank you for all the things you continue to do in these listeners' lives, Lord.

1:00:43 SPEAKER_00: And we just ask that you just um uh provide them with a hedge of hedge of protection, um, just strengthen their armor and just show them that turning to you will be the greatest and best decision of their life, and that you will deliver them from any and all things.

1:01:06 SPEAKER_00: And you're you are the great Redeemer, Lord.

1:01:09 SPEAKER_00: And we just thank you so much um for this opportunity, and we thank you so much for just all of the things that you're doing.

1:01:19 SPEAKER_00: Um, you know that this world is just so dark and it can be so evil, and we just thank you for all of the light that you continue to shine on people and just you know uh just all the love that you continue to show even through the darkness.

1:01:37 SPEAKER_00: Um and Lord, we just ask you to to just continue your doing your thing, just continue to be a pillar of light and a pillar of love and a pillar of grace, and just continue to um continue this revival that's going on in this younger generation, the ones that are going to be leading this country soon, and the ones that are going to be just uh uh leading it as management and these jobs and just these these businesses and all these things.

1:02:10 SPEAKER_00: We just ask you continue to just uh continue to grow in them, continue to give them um just the the guidance and the wisdom through you to continue to reach that one.

1:02:26 SPEAKER_00: Um and we just we you know we pray that you're just with our with our brothers, um, the ones that we're serving with, the ones that we're currently um just just present with in our Bible study that are just going through things, Lord.

1:02:40 SPEAKER_00: We just pray that you just place a hedge of protection over them and uh and just get them through the things that they're going through and and dealing with, Lord.

1:02:50 SPEAKER_00: Um, because you know it all.

1:02:52 SPEAKER_00: Whether we speak it or not, you know it.

1:02:55 SPEAKER_00: You knew it before we even thought it, before we even acted, Lord.

1:02:59 SPEAKER_00: And we just ask that you just uh continue to bless, Lord, continue to do your thing, continue to um just be that that beautiful, uh good father that just genuinely loves us no matter what we bring to the table.

1:03:16 SPEAKER_00: It's in Jesus' name we pray.

1:03:18 SPEAKER_00: Amen.

1:03:19 SPEAKER_02: Amen.

1:03:21 SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you guys for listening.

1:03:23 SPEAKER_02: We will see y'all next time.

1:03:25 SPEAKER_02: Peace.