1
00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,280
Awesome. 
So on this episode we've got 

2
00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,160
quite possibly the I say it 
every Sunday, but quite possibly

3
00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,440
the most sharp dressed guy in 
the church on on Sundays. 

4
00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:36,600
Always, always on point. 
Brother Eric May Senior, how are

5
00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:38,200
you doing today? 
Doing well. 

6
00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:43,120
Doing well. 
Before we before we really get 

7
00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,120
too far going, one thing I did 
want to say that I always 

8
00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:51,840
thought was pretty cool about 
you was based on how you, you 

9
00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,240
and your family have have 
integrated into our church. 

10
00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:59,480
You could convince me that you 
guys have been at Lifegate for 

11
00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:04,239
years just because like you guys
started coming here and just 

12
00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,960
immediately you were going like,
you know, I'm saying like within

13
00:01:07,960 --> 00:01:10,600
months he was like him and him 
and you and your boy. 

14
00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,360
We're both on the music team 
playing you learning to play the

15
00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:15,480
bass, which I think you've 
already got it down packed. 

16
00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,000
You know, you guys are leading 
groups and everything, leading 

17
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:19,880
prayer. 
And I'm like, man, you got, you 

18
00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,120
got in there really quick. 
So that's really, really cool. 

19
00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:24,600
Yes, Sir. 
Absolutely. 

20
00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,400
I imagine you you probably have 
a lot of experience around in 

21
00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,320
churches and stuff like that 
before. 

22
00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:38,040
You know, I would say just being
not military, but my father was 

23
00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,600
military, so we've been a part 
of several churches. 

24
00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,360
I never grew up in one place. 
I got you. 

25
00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,560
So you moving around, so you had
to learn to like adapt like no 

26
00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:50,280
matter where you were at you, 
that's a that's a great skill to

27
00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:55,680
have. 
Did your Did your father raise 

28
00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,880
you in church? 
No, no, OK, no. 

29
00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,920
So we're first generation. 
Oh man, awesome. 1st generation 

30
00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,840
Yes Sir, and. 
What? 

31
00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:07,560
What branch of military were you
in? 

32
00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,280
So I wasn't, my father was. 
He was in, he was in the army. 

33
00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:12,280
Oh, OK. 
OK. 

34
00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:13,560
OK. 
So you just traveled with him 

35
00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:14,640
then I imagine. 
Correct. 

36
00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,480
A military brat. 
There you go there you go, but 

37
00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:20,440
he but he taught you the way 
pretty much. 

38
00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,200
I kind of feel that that's how 
dad was with me like he was I 

39
00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,240
never did it, but he did it. 
So he was always like strict 

40
00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:29,600
schedule like he did everything 
in specific way and that's how 

41
00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:31,280
he had it. 
So you had to do it his way and 

42
00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:35,560
if you tried to delay it, boy 
OCD. 

43
00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:37,520
Let me tell you, if you're not 
OCD when you get into the 

44
00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:39,040
military, I feel like by the 
time you get out of the 

45
00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,240
military, you are OCD you. 
Will be. 

46
00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:44,080
So where? 
Where do you come from? 

47
00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:53,920
So I was born in Fort 
Leavenworth, KS, which is that 

48
00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:58,520
area is known for a military 
prison, Fort Leavenworth. 

49
00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:03,680
OK, so my dad was stationed 
there for about 6 months and 

50
00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,520
that's where I was born. 
I didn't live there for only 

51
00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:12,360
about 6 months. 
So that's, that's, that's where 

52
00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,640
I came from. 
And then from there, we just, 

53
00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:18,200
you know, we moved around 
several different. 

54
00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:19,480
Just all over the. 
Place. 

55
00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:20,640
Yes. 
I got you. 

56
00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:22,600
So you said you're first 
generation in this. 

57
00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:27,120
When did you when, when? 
What age were you at when you 

58
00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:34,000
first discovered the Lord? 
So as far as the Apostolic 

59
00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:39,520
Church, I was 88 and a. 
Half. 

60
00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,840
OK, that's a pretty young age. 
How did you get, how did they, 

61
00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:44,200
how did they, how did you find 
it? 

62
00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,440
I guess what led. 
You to it here's here's my my my

63
00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,160
my background so both fam both 
on my mother and father's side 

64
00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:57,600
is Catholic. 
So my father was born in a 

65
00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,840
island of of Colombia. 
San Andres is the name of the 

66
00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:07,360
island and my mother is from 
Panama, Central America. 

67
00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:14,600
So hence the Catholic 
background. 

68
00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:21,279
But yeah, I was christened in 
the Catholic Church as a baby in

69
00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:28,160
Panama actually. 
So I just kind of we we continue

70
00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:33,920
to progress in our journey. 
A lot of Catholics from my 

71
00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:41,520
background are not everyday like
every Sunday goers and they'll 

72
00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:47,320
go to main events, Easter, 
Christmas, and you know, if 

73
00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,440
you're a little bit more 
dedicated, you will attend on a 

74
00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:54,120
regular basis on Sundays. 
But we went from there. 

75
00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:59,280
But being military, a military 
brat, my, my father was 

76
00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:03,640
stationed in a few areas and you
know, we, we didn't always find 

77
00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:08,840
a Catholic Church there. 
So my my mother would send us on

78
00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:13,120
the church van, whatever church.
Just so long as you got there. 

79
00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,880
Yes. 
So we started going to a Baptist

80
00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:22,280
Church and we lived in Oak 
Grove, KY and of course, my dad 

81
00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:25,640
was stationed at Fort Campbell 
and we'd go to a Baptist Church 

82
00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,720
for the most part. 
Yeah. 

83
00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:36,000
So from there we, we just 
continued going and we, you 

84
00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,200
know, they, they send you home 
with your Sunday school 

85
00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:40,000
material, you give it to your 
parents. 

86
00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,920
Of course, my dad was, he was a 
strict man. 

87
00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,280
He was a hard man. 
He was like a, just a man like 

88
00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,840
military, military. 
So my mom was the one that would

89
00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,200
say, you know, with egg, you 
should come to church with us. 

90
00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:03,160
So she started to come a couple 
of times, but she always watched

91
00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,360
on TV. 
You know, she would watch like 

92
00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:11,480
Christian shows and Trinity 
Broadcaster. 

93
00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:13,880
I, I don't know, the 700 Club, 
stuff like that. 

94
00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,280
Jimmy Swaggart. 
Yeah, she, she always watch that

95
00:06:19,280 --> 00:06:25,440
on Sundays or just in the house.
So that's how the, the, the 

96
00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:31,560
progression came about. 
The story goes kind of like 

97
00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:33,880
this. 
My mom had a good friend. 

98
00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,760
We were living, like I said, in 
Oak Grove, KY. 

99
00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,960
Both Mama, my dad, and my mom's 
friend's husband were both 

100
00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,760
stationed at Fort Campbell. 
And you know, we went to the 

101
00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:56,880
same church, the Baptist Church.
So, but she invited my mom to go

102
00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:01,520
to a prayer meeting one time 
where her mother, which is this 

103
00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:07,760
is my mom's friend's mother, and
invited her daughter to go to 

104
00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:10,480
this prayer meeting and it was 
Assembly of God. 

105
00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:14,560
So they went, she went to the 
prayer meeting, and she received

106
00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:15,800
the Holy Ghost. 
Wow. 

107
00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,440
At that prayer meeting, this is 
my mom's friend, my mom's best 

108
00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:20,240
friend. 
Wow. 

109
00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:25,640
So she came back. 
My mom's name was Marcia, same 

110
00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:29,520
as my daughter, of course, but 
she was like, you wouldn't 

111
00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:31,560
believe what happened. 
I spoke in tongues. 

112
00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:33,120
God, fill me with the Holy 
Ghost. 

113
00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:36,040
I went to this prayer meeting. 
I wasn't expecting anything to 

114
00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:39,280
happen. 
And wow, So my mom was like, 

115
00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,360
really? 
So she's like, yes, you got to 

116
00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:43,840
come to this next prayer meeting
with me. 

117
00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:51,040
And then my mom was like, OK, so
she, the next time she went to 

118
00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:54,120
this prayer meeting and God 
really touched, she's like, I 

119
00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:55,680
never felt the presence of God 
like that before. 

120
00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,360
She didn't get the Holy Ghost. 
She's like, I I never felt the 

121
00:07:58,360 --> 00:07:59,520
presence of God like that 
before. 

122
00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:01,280
That was wow, powerful. 
Yeah. 

123
00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:06,040
So they went to tell Pastor 
John, which was the pastor at 

124
00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:08,480
the Baptist Church. 
They were excited. 

125
00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:10,760
Like, guess what? 
She received the Holy Ghost. 

126
00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,720
So Brother John kind of just 
looked at both of them with the 

127
00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:19,800
look of. 
He didn't say anything like it 

128
00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:22,120
was just a look. 
Yeah. 

129
00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:26,000
And that right there kind of 
they were excited. 

130
00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,280
So that kind of like threw water
on the fire, like, wow. 

131
00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:32,600
And he just said, great. 
That's all he said. 

132
00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,480
He didn't have any input 
whatsoever to say. 

133
00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:36,960
Crazy. 
I mean, at least you didn't do 

134
00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:38,000
it. 
We've heard before, we've heard 

135
00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:42,520
this story before, where the the
pastor goes, this isn't the 

136
00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:44,560
right church for you. 
Yeah, you know so at. 

137
00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:48,880
Least you didn't do that. 
Yes, yes. 

138
00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:54,240
So, so he, so she your, your mom
was the one who really kind of 

139
00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:56,640
pioneered it for you then. 
Correct. 

140
00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:02,840
So I do feel like God used us in
a certain way because she sent 

141
00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:06,320
us to the to church, but she 
didn't go all the time. 

142
00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:09,680
So we would always come back 
with the Sunday school material 

143
00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:16,680
inviting her to come with us. 
And then I'm moving along 

144
00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:19,120
rapidly. 
So we went from we, we got 

145
00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:21,160
stationed. 
So we, we started going to my 

146
00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:24,960
mom's friend's church. 
At that point, we, me and my, 

147
00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:28,240
both of my brothers were all 
three baptized in the Baptist 

148
00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,520
Church. 
You know, we baptized in the 

149
00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:33,480
name of the Father, the Son and 
the Holy Ghost. 

150
00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:35,520
Da, da, da. 
OK, done that. 

151
00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:37,840
So we started going to Assembly 
of God church after this 

152
00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,320
experience. 
And they would, and we were 

153
00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,640
living in Panama, Central 
America, and they had, they used

154
00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:49,760
to have these, these rallies and
it would be in a soccer stadium 

155
00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:56,160
and we would always go up. 
So there was a lot of action 

156
00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:58,640
going on there. 
I mean, it was, this is like the

157
00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,920
livest church I've I've seen. 
I mean, there people's clapping,

158
00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:03,800
lifting up their hands, talking 
in tongues. 

159
00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,440
Is, is action the good stuff? 
Yeah. 

160
00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,520
But, you know, in Panama, they 
had a bunch of like venues 

161
00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:14,520
outside and me and my brothers 
would go out, you know, they 

162
00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:18,960
would be selling like food, 
popcorn, this a bunch of 

163
00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:20,920
different things outside. 
Yeah. 

164
00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:25,840
So we, we would be doing that. 
But at altar Call, we always, we

165
00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:30,000
had to come back in and, you 
know, does anyone want to 

166
00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:31,920
receive? 
You know, we we'd all go up 

167
00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:36,800
every time we'd all go up. 
And, you know, we was at the 

168
00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,280
Assembly God Church for a while.
So we got baptized there. 

169
00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:42,840
Same. 
It was the same, same formula, 

170
00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:43,880
same formula. 
So this. 

171
00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:44,880
Is like the third time you've 
been. 

172
00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:49,000
Baptized, yes, so Catholic, but 
I was Christian in the Catholic 

173
00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:53,680
Church, baptized in the Baptist 
Church and you know when I, when

174
00:10:53,680 --> 00:11:00,320
I am for a mental, I guess, 
landmark for me, it was that 

175
00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,120
left behind reel, reel to reel 
video. 

176
00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:06,720
They used to play and it was so 
I was so scared after that. 

177
00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:10,000
It was like, you know, and 
you've been left behind who who 

178
00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:11,560
wanted to get left? 
Behind nobody I. 

179
00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:16,560
Was a kid too but I was scared 
like God please. 

180
00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:18,480
Man, I'm an adult and I'm still 
scared. 

181
00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:23,520
Yes, yes, yes. 
So you know, we, we, we got 

182
00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:25,360
baptized in the Assembly of God 
Church. 

183
00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,680
Like I said, it was a lot more 
action, a lot more worship, a 

184
00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:31,280
lot more praise, speaking in 
tongues, lifting hands. 

185
00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:36,440
And then my dad got stationed to
Fort Campbell again. 

186
00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:40,280
So we went from Fort Campbell to
Panama and back to Fort 

187
00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:41,280
Campbell. 
Oh, wow. 

188
00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:47,120
So they, they, they referred my 
mother to a Assembly of God 

189
00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:48,840
church. 
They gave her a church to go to,

190
00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:53,760
but she never went. 
And then she was like, OK, so 

191
00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:57,280
maybe we were, we were at Fort 
Campbell for about a maybe about

192
00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,120
a month. 
And we used to see these girls 

193
00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:04,000
and, you know, they had these 
long dresses and everybody made 

194
00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,560
fun of them at the bus stop, all
granny, granny. 

195
00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:11,040
And he was like, oh, man, we, 
you know, we were taught not to 

196
00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:12,680
make fun. 
So we didn't, you know, of 

197
00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:15,800
course you have your mental in 
your mind. 

198
00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:19,320
You're like, you know, maybe 
making fun. 

199
00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,440
But we didn't outwardly like, 
kind of scorn her so. 

200
00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,600
Well anyway, Granny's mother end
up knocking on our door. 

201
00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:31,360
Oh wow. 
Hey, welcome to the 

202
00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,360
neighborhood. 
You know, we're the Dunaways, 

203
00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:38,840
and we just wanted to invite you
and, yeah, your family to come 

204
00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:41,160
be in, be in church with us. 
You know, we wanted to welcome 

205
00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,240
you to the neighborhood. 
I think she bought her some 

206
00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,040
cookies or a cake or something. 
Yeah. 

207
00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,040
And then my mother said, OK, 
great. 

208
00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:53,840
Yeah, we'd love to. 
And that's where it started. 

209
00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:56,200
Did. 
She just send you boys there. 

210
00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:57,200
Did she go with? 
You this no. 

211
00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:01,600
So the first time, the first 
service was my mom went and my 

212
00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:06,080
brother and not my oldest 
brother, but the brother closest

213
00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:08,280
to me. 
I'm the youngest of my brothers.

214
00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:15,760
So my brother Fernando went with
my mom and she came back. 

215
00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:17,520
She was like, I found the 
church. 

216
00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:20,840
Oh wow, she was like she just 
knew from the first service. 

217
00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,000
She was like, I've never felt 
the presence of God like that, 

218
00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:25,120
ever. 
Oh wow, so. 

219
00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:27,160
This is more so even than what 
she felt in the prayer. 

220
00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:28,040
Meeting. 
Wow. 

221
00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,920
She was like this, we're going 
to church, we're going on 

222
00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:33,280
Sunday. 
So they went on a midweek. 

223
00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,760
So that Sunday, we went. 
Wait, you said she went on a 

224
00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,760
midweek service and she felt 
more Holy Ghost than she'd ever 

225
00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,840
felt? 
Oh man, let's go and. 

226
00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:50,800
And then that's when we 
realized, man, we're going to be

227
00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:54,520
going to the same church as 
these grannies that everybody's 

228
00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:57,080
making fun of. 
But it was OK. 

229
00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:04,040
So we were, you know, that's it 
was just what it was. 

230
00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,280
We went. 
And as a kid, you know, I was 

231
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:12,000
only 8. 
And my next brother was 10. 

232
00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,320
My oldest brother was 12, so 
we're all two years apart. 

233
00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:25,640
And it was an experience. 
Like, you know when you see kids

234
00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:30,960
up in the altar praying and 
crying as a kid, it's like, what

235
00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:31,600
is it all about? 
Now? 

236
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,800
This is for adults. 
Yeah, yeah. 

237
00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:41,040
I'm like, wow, kids lifting up 
their hands, speaking in 

238
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:46,360
tongues, like praying, like man,
like serious prayer, like, so 

239
00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,600
I'm like, wow. 
So as a kid, I'm in my mind, I'm

240
00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:55,280
like, this is, this is real. 
And so from there, we we started

241
00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:00,360
going on a regular basis and my 
mom got the Holy Ghost. 

242
00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:01,520
Awesome. 
Praise the Lord. 

243
00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:03,080
My mom got baptized in Jesus 
name. 

244
00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:07,680
Praise the Lord. 
And and then with there was a a 

245
00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:09,600
brother that was a missionary to
China. 

246
00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:17,720
I'm trying to his name escapes 
my my mind right now, but ah, 

247
00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:19,400
man, I wish I remembered his 
name. 

248
00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:24,720
But anyway, he was preaching and
he was talking, you know, 

249
00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:26,360
talking about the end time and 
all that. 

250
00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:30,320
And me and my brothers hadn't 
been baptized yet. 

251
00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,960
We print we went up to the altar
several times, prayed. 

252
00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,320
And then he was like, will you 
make it? 

253
00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,920
If, if God was to come today, 
will you be ready? 

254
00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,640
Will you be ready to go? 
Have you repented? 

255
00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:48,600
Have you been baptized? 
Have you been filled with the 

256
00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:52,920
Holy Ghost? 
So that same brother that went 

257
00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:56,480
with my mom for that, my brother
Fernando, he tapped, got one of 

258
00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:58,960
the ushers and said me and my 
brothers want to be baptized. 

259
00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,200
He didn't say I want to be. 
He said me and my brothers he 

260
00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,040
just got. 
So he put us all in the same. 

261
00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:09,760
So that that night we all got 
baptized, me and my, yeah, me 

262
00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:13,120
and my 2, my three, my other two
brothers, we all got baptized. 

263
00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:15,000
So all three of us got baptized 
that day. 

264
00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:22,720
And my oldest brother, he, he 
received the Holy Ghost first, 

265
00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:25,360
and then I received the Holy 
Ghost shortly after that. 

266
00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:30,840
And you know, from there we just
continued going to church, 

267
00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:34,480
continued seeking God. 
And my dad was one day my dad 

268
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:42,880
was just there inside the house.
And my mom was like, hey, Pastor

269
00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:47,440
Hodge wanted to come by and meet
you maybe this Saturday. 

270
00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:52,240
Are you OK with that? 
And he said, I don't care If he 

271
00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:54,360
wants to come by, he can come by
and I'll meet him. 

272
00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,960
So my dad didn't play. 
No surprises. 

273
00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,160
He didn't want nobody showing up
at his house unannounced. 

274
00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:02,520
Yeah. 
Anything like that? 

275
00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:04,359
Yeah. 
Probably not a good idea if you 

276
00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:04,960
did. 
You're right. 

277
00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:12,000
So, so when when he said he 
didn't mind meeting my mom was 

278
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,000
right away, like she wanted to 
get excited, but she was like 

279
00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:17,079
the Lord was like telling her 
calm down. 

280
00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:19,720
Don't say don't mess this up. 
Yeah, yeah. 

281
00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,440
So she just she. 
Didn't say nothing. 

282
00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,839
She just said OK. 
And she told him, told him what 

283
00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:31,240
time he'd be there. 
So he came by and he met him and

284
00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:33,880
they talked, you know, it wasn't
no long meeting. 

285
00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:36,680
And he said, hey, I would just 
like to personally invite you to

286
00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,120
come out, be in church with us 
on Sunday. 

287
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:41,800
My dad said I'll be there. 
Oh well. 

288
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,000
He said what time? 
I said 10:30. 

289
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,400
He said I'll be there. 
So that's Sunday morning. 

290
00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:49,800
My dad so right, My mom was 
washing dishes. 

291
00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:54,920
She was like rejoicing. 
Like, I mean, she, she didn't, 

292
00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:56,560
she didn't. 
Yeah, she wouldn't let it be. 

293
00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,200
Like she was just like, you 
know, washing dishes. 

294
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,560
Like, you know, I'm sure she was
speaking in tongues in her head.

295
00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:04,720
She probably. 
Was just washing dishes just to 

296
00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:06,280
keep her mind like. 
Distracted. 

297
00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:09,320
She's listening the whole time. 
How is this going to go? 

298
00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:11,600
I got to do something with my 
hands or I'm just going to be, 

299
00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:13,080
you know. 
Yes. 

300
00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:18,240
So that happened and then that 
Sunday morning, my dad was the 

301
00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:21,760
first one ready. 
He was outside, he was smoking a

302
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:24,480
cigarette. 
He had a suit on me eyes. 

303
00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,440
I didn't see my dad, you know, 
he always dressed sharp, but I 

304
00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:31,320
didn't see him like in the suit 
like ready to go. 

305
00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:34,560
He was ready to go to church. 
He was smoking a cigarette and 

306
00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:40,520
he was first one ready, man. 
So we went that Sunday morning. 

307
00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:46,480
I'm telling you. 
So I always get a little 

308
00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:50,680
emotional, but. 
Thank you Jesus. 

309
00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:58,560
I'm telling you man, so excuse. 
Me, you're fine. 

310
00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,440
But. 
This is when you know we're 

311
00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:02,240
getting a good one. 
Right. 

312
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:07,680
Yeah, absolutely. 
So I'll try to distract you a 

313
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:08,960
little bit. 
Yes, Sir. 

314
00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:11,480
Do you think do you think it 
made an impact on your dad that 

315
00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:13,760
the pastor was willing to come 
and personally meet with him? 

316
00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:15,920
Absolutely. 
You know, instead of just being 

317
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:17,880
like, Hey, dad, come to church 
with me or somebody else. 

318
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,200
That was the pastor that 
individually came out and said, 

319
00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:24,680
yes, I wonder that that makes me
wonder like what made that 

320
00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:26,640
pastor decide to make that 
decision? 

321
00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:28,440
Like he must have been in 
prayer. 

322
00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:30,680
And that means that God must 
have like impressed on him. 

323
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,840
Like, Hey, you need to go to 
this house. 

324
00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:36,600
You need to talk to this and, 
and told him, 'cause I think 

325
00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:38,480
that's something that I, I would
struggle with. 

326
00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:41,880
And I'm learning very quickly 
with, with it is, you know, you 

327
00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,240
feel led to go talk to somebody 
and you think, Oh yeah, I'm 

328
00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:46,520
about to go and just, I'm going 
to talk to him. 

329
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:48,080
We're going to talk about Acts 
238. 

330
00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:49,200
He's going to get it right 
there. 

331
00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:51,520
And it's going to be, you know, 
and sometimes it's just, it's 

332
00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,960
just not that all God wants you 
to do is just, hey, just go make

333
00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,520
conversation with him. 
And that's all the difference in

334
00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:00,240
the world. 
It's just it's amazing how 

335
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:04,520
little is really required of us.
For what God wants us to do, 

336
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:06,880
it's like, you ain't got to do 
anything crazy. 

337
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:09,960
Just just just do the very 
little that he tells you to do. 

338
00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:11,400
That's just amazing how that 
works like. 

339
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,960
That and you know, it's funny 
how you said that like that. 

340
00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:20,800
I mean, pastor, Pastor Penn just
preached or just taught 

341
00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:22,760
Wednesday, God in the middle of 
the church. 

342
00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:28,520
So if he's in the middle and 
God's beginning to speak and God

343
00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:34,880
moves you to do something, the 
devil's not going to tell you to

344
00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,600
go invite somebody to church. 
So a lot of the times I hear 

345
00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:43,560
exactly what you're saying, but 
John is like, you feel like, 

346
00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:45,680
man, is this me or is this God 
telling me? 

347
00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,400
Or is this just me? 
And you don't want to be that 

348
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,760
guy. 
Like you don't want to drop the 

349
00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:51,600
ball. 
You don't want to look. 

350
00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:56,040
We don't as it's just a person. 
We don't want to look dumb. 

351
00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:01,000
So but guess what? 
Yeah, you just got you just got 

352
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,160
to go and, and have faith and 
just do it right. 

353
00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:14,240
So anyway, to get back to, to to
the story that Sunday morning my

354
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:16,760
dad repented of his sins. 
Thank you Jesus. 

355
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:21,640
That Sunday morning he got 
baptized in Jesus name. 

356
00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,040
Oh wow, one time. 
I mean just. 

357
00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,120
One service. 
Like like A1 hitter quarter, 

358
00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:27,880
like boom. 
Oh man, he went. 

359
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:35,440
He got baptized, so we had 
Sunday night service that night.

360
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,760
He went back to Sunday nights. 
He got the Holy Ghost that 

361
00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,760
night. 
There you go, repented baptized 

362
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:47,200
Holy Ghost one day. 
I mean I'm like first time I 

363
00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,720
ever seen my dad cry. 
Oh, wow, first time never seen 

364
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:55,480
my dad shed a tear. 
And my dad was like, and then 

365
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:57,920
and when you, when you, when you
said that, what what do you 

366
00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:03,760
think caused my dad to be, I 
guess, receptive to it? 

367
00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,160
Well, my dad told me, he said 
this man was real. 

368
00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:15,160
He said he, he wasn't, he 
wasn't, he was straight up. 

369
00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:18,840
He said I'm a straight up man. 
He said when he told me straight

370
00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:20,960
up, he just, he didn't beat 
around the Bush. 

371
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:25,040
He didn't, he just told me. 
Yeah. 

372
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:27,760
And he said. 
I felt, I felt the realness, I 

373
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:33,000
felt something genuine about it.
So that's what caused me to go. 

374
00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,440
Yeah, I guess that's a thing 
nowadays. 

375
00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:37,640
You get a lot of people. 
I mean, it's a thing. 

376
00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,280
It's very much a thing nowadays 
where you get a lot of people 

377
00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:44,120
who, I mean, church is not like 
originally what it was, where it

378
00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:47,000
was just, it was all about just 
being real and just this is just

379
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:48,920
salvation. 
Like I'm just trying to tell you

380
00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:51,640
what truth is. 
And now it's kind of like this 

381
00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,400
whole charade. 
And I don't want to say it's a 

382
00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:58,120
community get together. 
Moreover, sometimes now, but 

383
00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:00,520
sometimes it can be that way 
with certain with certain 

384
00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:05,200
churches and denominations where
it's like this is just, it's not

385
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,160
even, it's just, it's just a 
community get together. 

386
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,200
That's just all it is. 
And some people, and I probably 

387
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,600
could say it would be me. 
Some of those times where it's 

388
00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:16,200
like, like I said, you, you get 
in your own mind, like when 

389
00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:17,720
you're trying to talk to 
somebody, you start trying to 

390
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:20,960
put your own wording on it. 
You start trying to like, OK, 

391
00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:22,800
this is how I'm going to tell 
them and this is how I'm going 

392
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:24,880
to do it. 
And you start making up in your 

393
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:26,240
mind, this is what's going to 
happen. 

394
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:28,840
And, and it's just it, it 
doesn't have to go that way all 

395
00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,040
the time. 
Sometimes it's just, it's just 

396
00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:35,480
being a heart to heart, just 
saying, hey, we're, we're, this 

397
00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:38,080
is just, this is the truth. 
But whether you take it or not, 

398
00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:39,800
I just want to let you know this
is what it is. 

399
00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:44,760
Exactly, that is so true. 
And, and, and a lot of the 

400
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:47,760
people sometimes that we think 
when you when you look at 

401
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:52,280
somebody's countenance, my dad 
was always he always had a 

402
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:54,000
serious face, even after he got 
in church. 

403
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,040
Yeah. 
So people would think he was mad

404
00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:58,040
or if he was just aggravated or 
something. 

405
00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:01,840
That was just his demeanor. 
It was just how he was, you 

406
00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:04,320
know, but he'll throw a smile 
and then if he let people know, 

407
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,920
OK. 
But his regular demeanor, like 

408
00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:10,480
he would be he he, he was just a
serious guy. 

409
00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:14,800
Yeah. 
So you just don't ever know who 

410
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:17,920
you're going to touch. 
If the Lord urges you, if you 

411
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:21,920
feel, and I would say, you know,
I would encourage anybody 

412
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:26,520
listening, if you feel like God 
has spoken to you or you need to

413
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:31,240
give somebody a word, do it. 
Yeah, absolutely. 

414
00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,120
The only thing that you don't 
have anything to lose. 

415
00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:37,240
Absolutely. 
You don't have anything to lose 

416
00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:40,520
and, and, and you'll be well, 
you have everything to gain 

417
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:45,840
because if somebody receives 
salvation through God using you 

418
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:53,040
as an instrument, a vessel, you 
don't know the shot of joy, joy 

419
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,840
and, and and and and confidence 
and encouragement that gives you

420
00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:57,920
absolutely. 
Absolutely. 

421
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:02,640
And that's only if you have a 
good word, that's that's you're 

422
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:04,400
not bringing anybody a negative 
word. 

423
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:06,400
You're not giving anybody 
anything negative. 

424
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,720
You're giving them truth. 
And you know, so I feel, I 

425
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,000
encourage anybody listening, 
hey, if you feel that urge to, 

426
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:17,840
to speak into someone's life, of
course, if you need to pray 

427
00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:21,160
first pray and do it. 
Absolutely pray and do it. 

428
00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:23,800
I encourage that. 
I, I do think what you just 

429
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:25,880
said, right, there's really 
important like how we frame that

430
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:27,680
in our brains, right? 
Like so many times we get 

431
00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,800
worried like, oh, this person's 
not ready to, you know, like 

432
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,160
basically devote their lives to 
God. 

433
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:35,480
You know, that's how we come 
from it at that, that point. 

434
00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:39,840
But you know, so many times we 
forget that feeling, that moment

435
00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:42,920
whenever that weights been 
lifted, you know where he says 

436
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:44,800
my yoke is light? 
You know what I mean? 

437
00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,880
A lot of times those of us 
forget what that feels like 

438
00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:51,120
sometimes when that weight just 
gets lifted off your shoulders. 

439
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:53,800
And so I mean, like you said, 
remember it's that it's that 

440
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,320
framing, right, Right. 
This is, I'm not doing anything 

441
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,880
negative by doing this is what 
God's given me. 

442
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:01,160
It's A and it's a good thing, 
right? 

443
00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:05,720
Yes, I, I would say to add to 
that, one of the like, for me, 

444
00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:09,240
it's like, and this is me 
literally just being transparent

445
00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:11,520
and talking to myself. 
Like I'm going to give myself 

446
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,120
some advice even if I don't 
follow it. 

447
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:18,680
But it's like, man, I would be 
so knowing what I know now, if 

448
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:25,120
no one ever reached out to me, 
man, how awful I would that 

449
00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:26,360
would be. 
You know what I'm saying? 

450
00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:31,080
Like to know that I could have 
missed out on this, right, this 

451
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,160
truth and this joy that passes 
all understanding in it. 

452
00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:39,680
You know, it, you really do want
everybody to experience it. 

453
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,720
I think it's crazy how we get 
all, like I said, just being me.

454
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:44,520
I think it's crazy how we get 
all up in ourselves. 

455
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,720
Like I don't want to embarrass 
myself talking to this person or

456
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,080
make a mad or anything like 
that. 

457
00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:53,080
But it's like, you know, I guess
at the end of the day, you know,

458
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:58,920
you really do want other people 
to to grasp it because you just 

459
00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:01,720
for me, it's like, man, I would 
hate to know what would have 

460
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,800
happened to me or be where would
I be if I didn't have it? 

461
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:10,200
Like I just the thought of the 
thought of not having something 

462
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:14,120
to look forward to, that joy 
that knowing that hey, if 

463
00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:16,480
something happens to me, it's 
OK, this isn't my home. 

464
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:17,680
That's right. 
That's right. 

465
00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:20,800
That's that's so true. 
And even just the people in our 

466
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:24,360
lives, I truly think that, like,
I think that it's not it. 

467
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,360
You have, we have the eternal 
reward we have, we have the 

468
00:27:27,360 --> 00:27:28,760
eternal reward we always look 
forward to. 

469
00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:31,720
That's the hope, right? 
We always have that, but then 

470
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,520
also just to people like be 
surrounded by people because God

471
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:36,600
calls us to be genuine like you 
were talking about. 

472
00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:38,680
But that's the kind of people I 
want in my life. 

473
00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:42,240
You know what I mean? 
You really can't be a true like 

474
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:44,320
A2 faced Christian. 
Like that's impossible. 

475
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,640
You're not you're, you're either
2 faced or you're a Christian. 

476
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:48,640
You know what I mean? 
Like there's no way to do that, 

477
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:50,880
you know what I mean? 
So true, so true. 

478
00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,200
And this really does give this 
community, really does give 

479
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:55,080
people a family. 
Like we've got people in our 

480
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,480
church who they don't have 
family, but because they're here

481
00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,520
and the church is their family, 
they have a family that's 

482
00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,200
exactly, you know, and that's 
obviously the reason why we all 

483
00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:07,400
say brother, brother so and so 
and sister so and so and 

484
00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:09,000
whatnot, but. 
Absolutely it's. 

485
00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:11,240
It's just it's amazing what it 
comes with. 

486
00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,080
And it's not a charade like it's
not performative, right? 

487
00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:14,720
That's. 
Correct. 

488
00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:19,640
So go ahead you. 
Can go ahead with that. 

489
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,040
So he he gets the Holy Ghost 
that night and you're like, man,

490
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:23,520
how come it couldn't have been 
that quick for me? 

491
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:30,400
Yeah, so after that took place, 
you know, my dad, he so along 

492
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:34,720
along this journey, so we just 
barely getting everything kicked

493
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:37,120
off. 
So to give another another 

494
00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:42,560
angle, so my family, my on my 
mom's side all lived in New 

495
00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:45,120
York, like the city, like the 
Bronx. 

496
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:49,280
So both of my brothers were born
in the Bronx, NY. 

497
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:51,640
Man, you got family from 
everywhere. 

498
00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:54,040
Both both of my older brothers 
were born in the Bronx. 

499
00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:55,800
I was born in Fort Leavenworth, 
KS. 

500
00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:59,800
Unfortunately, I wanted to be 
born in New York but it didn't 

501
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:04,400
happen. 
So we had all the latest from my

502
00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:06,800
cousins. 
We had all the latest rap, all 

503
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:11,240
the latest hip hop, everything 
that was out like fashion, like 

504
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:13,840
we had it. 
I don't because we got hand me 

505
00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:16,280
downs, anything that that didn't
fit them. 

506
00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,240
They were older than us. 
It came our way and my, my, my 

507
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:20,920
arm would package it up, send it
to us. 

508
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:25,480
So we went, we just started 
going to this church now and 

509
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:30,120
it's like we went from listening
to at that time it was LL Cool J

510
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,840
and you know all this. 
He was like the main like he was

511
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,200
it. 
So we had every all the latest 

512
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:38,680
music. 
We went from listening to that 

513
00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:43,160
to the Hemfields Southern 
Gospel, I mean. 

514
00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:51,440
Oh man, you talk about a 180. 
So I mean, and you know what the

515
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:56,720
good thing is how we were raised
is like we were always raised in

516
00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:02,480
a multicultural environment. 
My dad being military, like even

517
00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:08,120
before he got in church, the 
holidays, Thanksgiving, anything

518
00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:13,240
like that. 
If it was Easter, whatever it 

519
00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:15,920
was, my dad made sure we had 
something. 

520
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:20,680
From the time I was a baby all 
the way to 8, There was a party 

521
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:22,440
at our house almost every other 
weekend. 

522
00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:26,200
It's not every weekend. 
My dad would have somebody from 

523
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,760
his company there. 
Like there would be many 

524
00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:31,880
soldiers without family. 
He'd be like, come to the house.

525
00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:33,720
You going to come eat with us? 
Yeah, come on. 

526
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:38,520
All right, We'll have family, 
their, their, their, their, 

527
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,160
their wives and children would 
come to our house. 

528
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:43,440
We always had something going 
on. 

529
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,400
Of course, there was a lot of 
extras involved, a lot of 

530
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,160
drinking and a lot of stuff. 
It was just a party music. 

531
00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:52,320
I mean, it was, that's, that's 
what my dad did. 

532
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:56,960
But BC before Christ. 
So, you know, everything after 

533
00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:01,880
that was like, that's where the 
culture shock was for us. 

534
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:05,200
And the same girls that 
everybody was making fun of at 

535
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:09,800
the bus stop at this point, you 
know, because the way we were 

536
00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:11,760
raised, my parents never 
thought, hey, do you don't make 

537
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:13,920
fun of nobody. 
You know, they, they, they said 

538
00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,200
my, that's one, a few things 
that my mom or dad didn't. 

539
00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:25,160
They did not tolerate that. 
So we were, we were linked. 

540
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:26,920
Now us and the grannies were 
linked. 

541
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,360
So it's like somebody has 
something to say like that. 

542
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:33,800
No, don't, don't talk about her.
Man. 

543
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:38,160
Was like, hey, leave it alone. 
I mean, you know, sometimes as a

544
00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:42,240
as a young lady, yeah. 
You see the dress, you see this 

545
00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:46,240
and that and it's a guy. 
You just there's not that much 

546
00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:48,560
distinction. 
So the distinction is going to 

547
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:52,640
be how you carry yourself as a 
guy, how you act and how you 

548
00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:53,640
react. 
Yeah. 

549
00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:59,640
So not a lot of, I guess visual 
change. 

550
00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:00,560
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

551
00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:06,640
So anyway, from that whole 
process, you know, my, my dad 

552
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:12,160
still struggled with smoking and
my brother used to know my 

553
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:14,000
oldest brother, his name is 
Julio. 

554
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:19,400
He knew where he would hide his 
cigarettes and he at that point,

555
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:20,880
he didn't ever smoke in front of
us. 

556
00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:28,640
So he would just, you know, he 
would smoke away and he knew 

557
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:30,560
where he hid his cigarettes. 
He would always leave a little 

558
00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:32,960
scripture, say, hey, dad, I'm 
praying for you. 

559
00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:34,480
And he'll leave it inside his 
cigarettes. 

560
00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:38,520
So when he opened it, he went to
go get his cigarettes. 

561
00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:43,840
He's seen that he's like, so one
day my dad got he was like, you 

562
00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:45,760
know what the pastor was 
preaching. 

563
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:49,840
He was saying, you know, God 
wants to deliver you from any 

564
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:52,880
addictions that this that the 
other God can deliver you. 

565
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:58,960
And my dad was like he said just
whatever you want, just bring, 

566
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:01,840
bring, bring whatever you need 
to the altar, give it to God. 

567
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:08,360
So my dad had his cigarettes in 
his pocket and he said he didn't

568
00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:10,120
say this is my last one and all 
that. 

569
00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,160
He just took cigarettes, took it
straight up on the altar, set 

570
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:17,640
him there and from got prayer. 
They anointed him with oil. 

571
00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:19,640
He had never touched another 
cigarette after that. 

572
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:22,840
Oh wow. 
So the drinking, he cut that out

573
00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,720
right away, but that nicotine, 
it was something that he always 

574
00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:28,800
troubled with and right away, 
instantly. 

575
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:31,440
That's amazing. 
He never touched another 

576
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:32,800
cigarette. 
I wonder if that was like a 

577
00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:36,400
mindset for for just him, 
because, you know, it could be 

578
00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:39,680
one of those things where it's 
like placebos a thing. 

579
00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:43,840
And if in your head you're like,
man, this is an addictive thing.

580
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:47,640
I don't it's to to just get rid 
of it. 

581
00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:50,600
You know, you can just in your 
own mind just doubt it that you 

582
00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:53,840
can't because it's so addictive.
And then what can happen is just

583
00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:57,840
that Sunday could have been 
like, no, this isn't this isn't 

584
00:33:57,840 --> 00:33:59,400
the thing. 
I'm done with it. 

585
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:01,200
God can deliver me. 
I wonder if it's just the 

586
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,640
mindset that it clicked for him.
I believe it's a little bit of 

587
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:07,080
both because, you know, he 
didn't want to do it anymore. 

588
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:12,080
It was just an addiction. 
And at that point, you know, 

589
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,320
like the scripture says, faith 
without works is dead. 

590
00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:18,040
So at that moment he wanted to 
do some work. 

591
00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,120
Yeah, absolutely. 
I have faith that God can 

592
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,320
deliver me, but I got to do my 
part. 

593
00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:26,679
So that action of him going up, 
putting them cigarettes on the 

594
00:34:26,679 --> 00:34:27,920
altar. 
Oh yeah. 

595
00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:31,400
And, and God delivered them. 
So absolutely, you know, I give 

596
00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:34,080
God and just seeing those things
transpire. 

597
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:41,199
Let me know as a child that, you
know, this is different than 

598
00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:43,000
anywhere else that we've ever 
been. 

599
00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:46,360
It it was real. 
Yeah. 

600
00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:50,400
And my family from the outside, 
my family that wasn't in church,

601
00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:52,639
looking at my dad, knowing my 
dad. 

602
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:58,600
Yeah, they were like, what? 
It's real. 

603
00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:01,520
Yeah. 
All those soldiers that my dad, 

604
00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:07,200
you know, rubbed shoulders with,
what happened to you. 

605
00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:11,240
It's real. 
And through all of that, that's 

606
00:35:11,240 --> 00:35:16,880
how we, we, we became 
established and, and my mom, she

607
00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:23,560
was a prayer warrior. 
My dad always, I guess, backed 

608
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:27,760
up the man of God done anything 
like if there was a work day, Oh

609
00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:30,240
my, my boys will be there. 
So we were, I mean. 

610
00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:34,400
From a young we. 
Were at everything, so if if if 

611
00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,200
something had to get done. 
Yeah. 

612
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:42,160
Selling peanut brittle I got 3. 
You could be the best peanut 

613
00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:45,920
brittle salesman you can be. 
Nursing home, yes, I got 3/3 are

614
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,760
gone. 
Nursing home, nursing home 

615
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:52,960
ministry. 
I'm like, but you know, 

616
00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:58,280
thankfully, I mean, I'm so 
grateful as as it's just a a 

617
00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,840
first generation. 
I mean, God, just he kind of 

618
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:05,280
just threw us in there, you 
know, absolutely that's just how

619
00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:08,240
it happened and that's why I 
feel like it's, you know, 

620
00:36:08,240 --> 00:36:09,320
different places that we've 
been. 

621
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:12,520
We went from there. 
We were there for about 3 years,

622
00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:17,040
3 or 4 years, I think three 
years and then my get my dad got

623
00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:20,600
stationed in Germany. 
So we went to Germany and we we 

624
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:27,160
lived there for four years and 
that was that was awesome. 

625
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:30,360
So got to see a lot of neat 
things. 

626
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:32,240
I was there when the Berlin Wall
came down. 

627
00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:33,920
Wow. 
I was there when. 

628
00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:38,520
So we went to the first 
Apostolic service in East 

629
00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:39,360
Germany. 
Oh, wow. 

630
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:41,560
Yeah. 
Yeah, That's cool. 

631
00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:42,960
Yeah. 
It was awesome. 

632
00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:45,200
I mean did. 
They have churches around like 

633
00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:47,440
they had several churches around
or that. 

634
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:50,040
Oh, an East, East Germany. 
I'm saying where are you guys? 

635
00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:52,400
In Germany, yeah. 
Oh yes, they had. 

636
00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:57,320
So it's what you call the the 
military ministries for UPC. 

637
00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:03,800
They had, they had like churches
established that was not on base

638
00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:08,160
and then they had churches on 
base as well that you could go 

639
00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:14,240
to. 
But we would, there would be all

640
00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:20,160
kinds of people that were from 
Germany and then just army as 

641
00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:22,760
well that, that were actually 
enlisted in the military. 

642
00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:27,000
So it was a good mix. 
It was always awesome to, to 

643
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,960
experience all the culture and, 
and just to be a part of that. 

644
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:37,640
And I just have so many memories
of, of the national. 

645
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:41,080
I, I guess the, it was more like
a general conference for Europe.

646
00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:45,160
It would be in Birches Garden, 
whereas the, that's where, 

647
00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:49,160
that's where Hitler's hideout 
was up there in the mountains 

648
00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:54,360
and in Germany and got an 
opportunity to travel a lot. 

649
00:37:54,360 --> 00:38:01,600
We went to Austria, we went to 
Luxembourg, went to Belgium, UK,

650
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,600
Paris. 
You know, I went to France 

651
00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:06,000
several times. 
We went to the National 

652
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:09,480
Convention in, in France several
times. 

653
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:12,920
And me and my brothers, I mean, 
my brother graduated in Germany.

654
00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:14,520
Both of my brothers graduated in
Germany. 

655
00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:22,160
So at this time I was I was in 
middle school slash high school 

656
00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:27,880
throughout my stint in Germany 
and I wanted to graduate there 

657
00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:32,120
so bad, but my dad got stationed
again to Fort Campbell. 

658
00:38:33,240 --> 00:38:35,440
Man, you just can't get away. 
From Fort Campbell, they always 

659
00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:39,040
they always send them back to 
Fort Campbell and yeah. 

660
00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:43,040
So you know, God is through all 
of that and being in, in, in 

661
00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:46,800
different areas, like so a lot 
of the pastors that would be 

662
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:51,680
there would be, if they weren't 
military, they had a military 

663
00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:55,560
background. 
And sometimes they would, you 

664
00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:58,920
know, some would come and some 
would exit. 

665
00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:07,000
And so you were, you were, 
you're around of, I guess, a 

666
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,560
diverse amount of people. 
It was a, it was a really 

667
00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:19,840
diverse church and there was 
always something that I could 

668
00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:27,400
say was the experience of, of, 
of being there and experiencing 

669
00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:31,320
all the culture and the power of
the Holy Ghost is was consistent

670
00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:34,440
and all of that. 
It was always powerful. 

671
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:38,880
There was always a powerful move
of God like in every service and

672
00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:42,280
and you can see the hunger and 
the and and the thirst for the 

673
00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:45,360
things of God and and the 
soldiers and then the people 

674
00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:47,320
that were just there from 
Germany that would come to the 

675
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:49,400
church. 
What a testimony, right? 

676
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:50,960
And it, it goes and reinforces, 
right? 

677
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:53,520
If we can all have this shared 
experience, then I know I'm 

678
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:55,280
touching at something that's 
real, right? 

679
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,360
Like no matter what language 
somebody may speak, when you see

680
00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:01,520
them having a shared that same 
and everybody's touching that 

681
00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:04,640
same spirit of God. 
What, what, what a powerful 

682
00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:05,760
message. 
You know what I mean? 

683
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,320
It's like it's not just, it's 
not just something that's just 

684
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,440
here, right? 
You know, that's something that 

685
00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:15,360
flows out. 
What was what was that first 

686
00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:17,360
service in East Germany like? 
I'm curious. 

687
00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:22,120
Oh, that was awesome. 
So if you know, I'm not no name 

688
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:28,000
dropper or nothing like that, 
but at the time I believe 

689
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:32,800
Brother Joel Urchin, his 
grandfather was the 

690
00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:35,400
Superintendent. 
Brother Nathaniel Urchin. 

691
00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:41,040
Yeah, at the time. 
And so Brother Enos, which is 

692
00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:45,400
out of Ohio, I believe, which is
Brother Joel Irshan's 

693
00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:51,840
father-in-law, he was over the 
military ministries deal and we 

694
00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:54,360
went to that service with him 
and that service was awesome. 

695
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:57,800
So when we went through, we had 
to go through the check. 

696
00:40:57,800 --> 00:40:59,520
The checkpoint was still there 
really. 

697
00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:03,320
So there was a guard at the 
checkpoint, German couple of 

698
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,080
German shepherds out there. 
He had an AK47. 

699
00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:08,400
Do they just call them shepherds
there or is it? 

700
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:09,720
I don't even know what they. 
Call them. 

701
00:41:09,720 --> 00:41:11,360
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 
It is German. 

702
00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:14,520
You might look, Yeah, yeah. 
I'm just that was a joke. 

703
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:20,000
Maybe they probably was just a 
shepherd out there, but yeah, it

704
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:23,320
was. 
But you, even though, you know, 

705
00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:28,480
we when we went, went inside the
when we was in service, you felt

706
00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:30,520
that liberty. 
But I'm telling you, just out 

707
00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:34,560
there, it still felt like as 
soon as you crossed over. 

708
00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:38,040
No, I mean the gloom is like. 
Like I. 

709
00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:42,520
Mean oh man, night and day. 
I mean, I just can't imagine 

710
00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:45,920
they were very anti religious, 
like as a state, you know what I

711
00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:47,600
mean? 
Like they were very hardcore on 

712
00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:49,600
that. 
So like I like just being able 

713
00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:53,160
to be there whenever you see 
some of that kind of oppression 

714
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:57,040
kind of break out, you know, I 
mean, that's that, that's 

715
00:41:57,040 --> 00:41:58,320
amazing. 
You know what I mean. 

716
00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:02,600
Breakthrough some of that. 
What's you said you were there 

717
00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:05,280
for when the Berlin Wall come 
down, What's that experience 

718
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:06,960
like being there? 
Oh my goodness. 

719
00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:09,160
So it was a big event, man. 
It was. 

720
00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:10,840
It was huge. 
World changing event. 

721
00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:13,560
There so we went there we I went
with my brothers. 

722
00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:18,400
We went like to where the we 
went and my my brother actually 

723
00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:20,000
today has a piece of the Berlin 
Wall. 

724
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:23,440
Oh wow yeah, you know, so it was
it's pretty cool. 

725
00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:26,240
It's pretty cool. 
It's. 

726
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:30,520
Pretty cool. 
That that was history, you know 

727
00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:31,800
what I mean? 
It's like, wow, you know what? 

728
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:33,760
I'm saying that's like, that's 
an event that happened. 

729
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:36,400
That's like that's that's an 
event that. 

730
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:37,200
Happened. 
Yeah, Yeah. 

731
00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:41,920
That's cool and I and if I'm not
mistaken, I'm thinking that the 

732
00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:44,440
whole reason why it came down 
was all because of an accident, 

733
00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:46,720
like a miscommunication. 
I, I believe so. 

734
00:42:46,720 --> 00:42:48,560
I believe that's what it was. 
Yeah, I think somebody 

735
00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:51,680
miscommunicated something and 
the message got out like, oh, 

736
00:42:51,680 --> 00:42:53,720
we're going to break it down. 
So somebody was like, OK, he 

737
00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:56,280
didn't ask questions. 
And once it was coming down, it 

738
00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:58,840
was like, well. 
Can they carry on with it? 

739
00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:01,520
Right, so. 
That's. 

740
00:43:02,720 --> 00:43:06,480
That's that's amazing. 
So man, so your whole family 

741
00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:09,760
gets get saved almost in the 
same general area. 

742
00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:12,080
But what I think is really cool 
about that is it's almost like 

743
00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:14,320
God was laying the bread crumbs 
down for your mom. 

744
00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:17,720
Yes, like just a little bit 
more, a little bit more like it 

745
00:43:17,720 --> 00:43:20,320
was just here's just a little 
bit here, which is going to lead

746
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:21,880
you to this, which is going to 
give you I'm going to give you a

747
00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:25,280
little bit more yes. 
Until finally it was like, boom,

748
00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:28,920
this is the grand prize. 
I can tell you this, brother 

749
00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:31,080
John and Brother Cameron, 
they're like, so it was. 

750
00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:35,920
My mom used to always say she 
would have these dreams when she

751
00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:40,640
was a a little girl that she was
just like in like a paradise and

752
00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:45,080
God was just just always just 
there with her, just like 

753
00:43:45,080 --> 00:43:49,600
comforting her. 
And you know, she just felt like

754
00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:52,240
she, she used to see these 
visions and have these dreams 

755
00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:56,840
and God always talked at her. 
God always was always drawing 

756
00:43:56,840 --> 00:43:59,680
her from from a chat from a, a 
young lady. 

757
00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:05,640
And one one things that I that I
had left out was like when we 

758
00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:10,680
even though my mom didn't go to 
church all the time, like we'd 

759
00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:13,320
gather around the television, 
she'd be watching Jimmy 

760
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:16,720
Swaggart. 
You know, she'll have all of us 

761
00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:21,000
kids come put our hands on the 
on the TV, pray. 

762
00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:24,680
Whatever she knew. 
Whatever she knew, right? 

763
00:44:25,040 --> 00:44:27,720
And so if you're hungry and 
thirsty, God will lead you. 

764
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:32,680
So that's why I never, I don't 
bash and I'm not. 

765
00:44:32,720 --> 00:44:38,520
You know when I mentioned these 
groups, it's not is something to

766
00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:42,520
down talk him, but God will 
always bring you further and 

767
00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:45,920
like if you're hungry and 
thirsty, He'll always allow you 

768
00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:47,840
to take another step. 
He'll always draw you. 

769
00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:50,040
Oh yeah. 
Well, I mean, there's nothing 

770
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:52,080
that says that just because 
you're you're going to a 

771
00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:53,920
different denomination that you 
can't. 

772
00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:56,040
Exactly. 
I don't, you know, God never 

773
00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:58,600
said, hey, I'm only going to 
pour out my spirit on this 

774
00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:01,560
denomination. 
So no, no, I mean you know Jesus

775
00:45:01,560 --> 00:45:04,840
said that you know less the the 
hunger and thirst after 

776
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:07,320
righteousness, for they shall be
filled. 

777
00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:10,000
It will happen. 
So if you are hungry for God, 

778
00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:13,080
God's going to respond to that 
no matter where you are. 

779
00:45:13,080 --> 00:45:15,760
He understands sincerity of art,
you know. 

780
00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:17,680
That's why we've had, I mean, 
we've had so many of these 

781
00:45:17,680 --> 00:45:20,840
stories are so cool. 
We've had people who were going 

782
00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:24,680
to Catholic churches 
consistently and then it hit a 

783
00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:28,040
Methodist, you know, obviously 
people who weren't going at all.

784
00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:30,000
And then now we've got an 
Assembly of God once where it's 

785
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:32,520
like it really doesn't matter 
what denomination. 

786
00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:35,040
I think the biggest difference 
between I would say the UPC or 

787
00:45:35,040 --> 00:45:37,400
what we believe is just going to
come down to some doctrine and 

788
00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:42,440
seems like recently the the most
different differentiate 

789
00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:46,840
different, you know, I can't say
it differentiating whatever that

790
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:50,920
word is factor is just baptism. 
As you mentioned that you went 

791
00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:53,360
to three different, four 
different total denominations 

792
00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:56,440
you've been to and three of them
all one, I don't know how the 

793
00:45:56,440 --> 00:45:59,160
Catholics do it. 
Yeah, it's just they, they, they

794
00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:01,120
sprinkle you. 
They sprinkle you, then you had 

795
00:46:01,120 --> 00:46:04,960
two who had you do it in the in 
the titles, and then you finally

796
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:06,280
get to 1. 
That's like, no, you do it in 

797
00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:08,800
the name now, right? 
So I have to ask that question 

798
00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:10,800
now that I remember it. 
You you went through all those 

799
00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:14,320
different experiences. 
How different was it to finally 

800
00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:16,880
get baptized in the name? 
Oh wow. 

801
00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:18,560
Even though it wasn't your 
choice to do it. 

802
00:46:18,720 --> 00:46:23,560
Not well, you know, I mean it 
kind of it was what you kind of,

803
00:46:23,560 --> 00:46:26,360
you know, sometimes you get you 
get pushed, get pushed into 

804
00:46:26,360 --> 00:46:30,960
things. 
But yeah, I would say it was it 

805
00:46:30,960 --> 00:46:38,720
was definitely it's you feel a 
real weight lifted. 

806
00:46:38,720 --> 00:46:45,360
I would say a genuine washing, 
like like I felt clean, like I 

807
00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:51,080
felt yeah, like just new. 
And even just being like done 

808
00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:53,400
with like, like you're saying 
when you got there after, after 

809
00:46:53,400 --> 00:46:56,920
that baptism, those things, you,
you, you realize I was like, 

810
00:46:57,400 --> 00:46:59,200
man, these people will do 
anything. 

811
00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:00,920
They'll do whatever they have to
do. 

812
00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:04,560
Like you know, nothing is too 
much to ask from God to them. 

813
00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:06,240
That's. 
Right, to change their lives, 

814
00:47:06,240 --> 00:47:07,840
right. 
And that's like you were saying 

815
00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:10,720
you were like, man, that's the 
first church where things really

816
00:47:10,720 --> 00:47:13,880
started changing, where you see 
your dad giving up nicotine and 

817
00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:16,320
these things where it's like 
there's there's something 

818
00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:18,920
different about it. 
Whenever you get a hold of a 

819
00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:22,400
life changing message, you don't
mind when your life starts 

820
00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:24,200
changing, right? 
That is correct. 

821
00:47:24,720 --> 00:47:29,680
And so many times people say, 
you know, and I got a good 

822
00:47:29,680 --> 00:47:32,800
friend that we talked time to 
time, He'd been through all 

823
00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:36,560
kinds of, you know, hooked on 
all kinds of drugs. 

824
00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:40,120
And God, God has delivered him 
and he, he doesn't go to 

825
00:47:40,120 --> 00:47:43,240
Apostolic Church today, but he 
said nobody can take away my 

826
00:47:43,240 --> 00:47:46,680
experience with God. 
Yeah, because I I've been to the

827
00:47:46,680 --> 00:47:47,680
lowest. 
Yeah. 

828
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:52,280
And he said God is and and I 
told him, I said, hey, look. 

829
00:47:53,880 --> 00:47:58,800
And he said, Eric, forgive me 
because I get I, he said, I'll 

830
00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:02,360
put you through a lot. 
And I was like, hey, it's all 

831
00:48:02,360 --> 00:48:05,480
good man. 
I said, God knows God is in full

832
00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:07,880
control. 
He knows what he's done and 

833
00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:10,600
we're still connected today. 
And I feel like, you know, he's 

834
00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:13,920
been baptized in Jesus name, but
he doesn't go to an Apostolic 

835
00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:17,120
Church. 
But I just feel like once a seed

836
00:48:17,120 --> 00:48:19,880
has been planted. 
Yeah, it's going to come up. 

837
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:23,840
Yes, God's going to do what he 
does. 

838
00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:27,600
And if it's like like you, you 
both said if you're hungry and 

839
00:48:27,600 --> 00:48:33,200
thirsty, you'll be filled. 
And a lot of times I feel like 

840
00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:35,240
it's in anything. 
I mean, even in Apostolic 

841
00:48:35,240 --> 00:48:38,600
Church, we can come and some 
people get comfortable and they 

842
00:48:38,600 --> 00:48:41,680
get like, well, I've arrived, 
I've made it. 

843
00:48:42,720 --> 00:48:47,200
You haven't made it until you 
hear, well done, thou good and 

844
00:48:47,200 --> 00:48:50,480
faithful servant. 
You hadn't made it. 

845
00:48:51,080 --> 00:48:53,240
I mean, you're in a good place. 
Don't get me wrong, you're in a 

846
00:48:53,240 --> 00:48:56,080
great place, but we're not there
yet. 

847
00:48:56,080 --> 00:48:58,000
The end game is to hear well 
done. 

848
00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:00,360
And and that's that's that's the
main thing. 

849
00:49:00,360 --> 00:49:09,000
I mean, I, and that's where I 
guess for me kind of shifting 

850
00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:13,800
the conversation is more like 
being under different men of 

851
00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:19,240
God. 
You know, my parents always 

852
00:49:19,240 --> 00:49:24,280
taught me to, you know, we, we 
didn't have the opportunity to 

853
00:49:24,280 --> 00:49:30,720
say or talk about, you know, the
Sunday school teacher, she said 

854
00:49:30,720 --> 00:49:32,280
this or she did that. 
She didn't. 

855
00:49:32,560 --> 00:49:35,680
I didn't think she should do 
that or your sister something. 

856
00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:38,800
My mom didn't play any of that. 
She's like, are they here? 

857
00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:41,360
They're not here, right? 
We're not going to talk about 

858
00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:42,240
them. 
No, man. 

859
00:49:42,600 --> 00:49:46,480
When, If they're not here, yeah,
we're not going to talk about 

860
00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:49,000
them. 
Yeah, because they can't. 

861
00:49:49,080 --> 00:49:51,120
They can't defend themselves. 
They can't say anything. 

862
00:49:51,160 --> 00:49:55,680
They're not here and and such. 
Such a good mindset. 

863
00:49:55,680 --> 00:49:59,480
Absolute that that was it. 
She she knew how to throw cold 

864
00:49:59,480 --> 00:50:02,120
water on on gossip quick. 
Oh man. 

865
00:50:02,440 --> 00:50:06,200
And then, you know, like, even 
in a nice way, you know, if 

866
00:50:06,200 --> 00:50:09,400
somebody was around and they 
would want to start talking 

867
00:50:09,400 --> 00:50:14,160
about something, she would be 
like, well, you know, she'd just

868
00:50:14,160 --> 00:50:16,240
change the subject. 
And then if they still wonder, 

869
00:50:16,280 --> 00:50:18,920
you know, some people don't get 
the hint, but she'd be like, you

870
00:50:18,920 --> 00:50:22,680
know, well, you know, I think 
they should have an opportunity 

871
00:50:22,680 --> 00:50:25,440
to speak on the topic. 
So they're not here. 

872
00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:28,800
So let's just give them an 
opportunity when they are to 

873
00:50:28,840 --> 00:50:30,680
speak on the topic. 
Yeah, Yeah. 

874
00:50:30,680 --> 00:50:33,000
And then she'll just change the 
whole conversation. 

875
00:50:34,440 --> 00:50:38,600
So I'll be like, I'm thinking to
myself, wow, how, how did you, 

876
00:50:38,600 --> 00:50:41,960
how did you do that? 
So she, so she really, she 

877
00:50:41,960 --> 00:50:44,000
really taught a lot of like 
genuineness. 

878
00:50:44,120 --> 00:50:48,240
Oh, man, you talking about, you 
know, both of my parents are not

879
00:50:48,240 --> 00:50:51,200
here. 
So they're they're they, they 

880
00:50:51,200 --> 00:50:55,240
both have passed. 
And I encourage everybody 

881
00:50:55,240 --> 00:50:59,400
listening if you have your 
parents around, I'm telling you,

882
00:50:59,800 --> 00:51:01,480
nobody gave me a hug like my 
mom. 

883
00:51:01,560 --> 00:51:04,680
Nobody. 
I could be going through the 

884
00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:12,360
worst time feeling at my lowest.
Your mom's always going to love 

885
00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:13,040
you. 
Oh yeah. 

886
00:51:13,640 --> 00:51:17,440
And then my dad, I was able to 
re establish a good relationship

887
00:51:17,440 --> 00:51:20,600
with my dad. 
My dad was somebody I could 

888
00:51:20,600 --> 00:51:22,640
always go to. 
He always talked to me. 

889
00:51:23,040 --> 00:51:26,120
He'd always give me advice. 
He'd always tell me, hey, you 

890
00:51:26,960 --> 00:51:30,040
got, you know, talking about my 
finances. 

891
00:51:30,240 --> 00:51:33,000
He said you got to put some away
for a rainy day. 

892
00:51:33,000 --> 00:51:37,640
He'll be always give me 
something like or, you know, so 

893
00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:42,120
through all of that, you know, I
really truly miss my parents, 

894
00:51:43,080 --> 00:51:48,240
but they have left behind a 
legacy and they've given me a 

895
00:51:48,240 --> 00:51:54,080
foundation to build on. 
So I that's, that's, that's, 

896
00:51:54,080 --> 00:51:55,400
that's more than I could ask 
for. 

897
00:51:55,760 --> 00:51:58,040
They've they've blessed me. 
What's amazing about that is 

898
00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:03,920
they changed in a way when you 
have that first generation, they

899
00:52:03,920 --> 00:52:09,520
change the name like it's, it's,
it sounds a little more cliche, 

900
00:52:09,520 --> 00:52:13,200
but they changed their, when 
your name carries weight, your 

901
00:52:13,200 --> 00:52:16,840
family traditions and heritage, 
that first generation that says 

902
00:52:17,320 --> 00:52:20,560
that finds it and this is it. 
They, they change the course of 

903
00:52:20,680 --> 00:52:24,920
heritage and tradition and, and 
it's, it's a very, very powerful

904
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:26,840
thing. 
That's what one of the things 

905
00:52:26,840 --> 00:52:28,400
that I always thought was so 
cool about my dad. 

906
00:52:28,400 --> 00:52:32,760
He was the first one that found 
the truth and got in it and 

907
00:52:32,760 --> 00:52:35,680
said, this is it. 
And you know, I come from a 

908
00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:40,440
family of, you know, my on my 
dad's side of, of men who were 

909
00:52:41,240 --> 00:52:44,160
heathens, you know what I mean? 
And just nothing about it. 

910
00:52:44,360 --> 00:52:48,680
And, and he was the first one 
that that found this and just 

911
00:52:48,680 --> 00:52:52,320
established like, obviously I 
can go and make whatever 

912
00:52:52,320 --> 00:52:54,440
decision I want to make. 
But he was the one that said, 

913
00:52:54,440 --> 00:52:58,080
well, but here's this is it. 
So at least it's, it's, it's a 

914
00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:00,680
history changing thing. 
It's just it's really cool 

915
00:53:00,680 --> 00:53:04,160
whenever you can say even for 
you like, hey, my dad was the 

916
00:53:04,160 --> 00:53:09,160
one that changed the course of 
my my path and my family's path,

917
00:53:09,160 --> 00:53:12,560
and now we're a name that's 
associated with truth. 

918
00:53:12,560 --> 00:53:13,680
You know what I mean? 
Yes, yes. 

919
00:53:13,680 --> 00:53:16,880
Did it sounds like it, but I 
just kind of want to confirm. 

920
00:53:16,880 --> 00:53:19,160
Did both of your parents, they 
stayed in this I'm sure all of 

921
00:53:19,160 --> 00:53:20,600
up until the end. 
Absolutely. 

922
00:53:20,600 --> 00:53:24,280
And you know what? 
I'm so I'm so grateful. 

923
00:53:24,400 --> 00:53:29,160
My mom passed away in 2005, way 
too young. 

924
00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:35,400
I'll tell you a cool story 
before, before it all happened. 

925
00:53:35,400 --> 00:53:37,800
At the time I was dating, I was 
dating Teresa. 

926
00:53:38,400 --> 00:53:42,400
And that day, the day I was 
going to, you know, she lived in

927
00:53:42,400 --> 00:53:45,080
Houston, TX. 
I was bringing her. 

928
00:53:46,200 --> 00:53:48,280
I stopped. 
It was they were in Memphis, but

929
00:53:48,280 --> 00:53:52,080
she was in Memphis with some 
family and my, my brother of 

930
00:53:52,080 --> 00:53:55,000
course, lives in Memphis. 
So I went over there. 

931
00:53:55,000 --> 00:54:00,560
I was going to go pick her up 
and bring her to meet my my mom 

932
00:54:01,440 --> 00:54:04,840
and my dad and my sister called 
me. 

933
00:54:07,400 --> 00:54:11,880
I was still in Memphis about to 
catch I-40 and she called me 

934
00:54:11,880 --> 00:54:16,400
crying that my mom just passed, 
just a heart attack just gone. 

935
00:54:16,680 --> 00:54:21,680
But that Sunday beforehand, my 
mom went out and she went into 

936
00:54:23,320 --> 00:54:25,680
the projects in Clarksville. 
Oh wow. 

937
00:54:26,760 --> 00:54:30,320
That Sunday that the Sunday 
before she passed, she had, I 

938
00:54:30,320 --> 00:54:37,760
don't know, it's probably maybe 
15 plus people on the church 

939
00:54:37,760 --> 00:54:39,000
van. 
Wow. 

940
00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:43,080
And she was just running the 
aisle. 

941
00:54:43,080 --> 00:54:45,480
She was like, I mean it. 
The way God does things 

942
00:54:45,480 --> 00:54:51,120
sometimes is like, it amazes me.
I think about that. 

943
00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:56,840
And then that next week, she's 
just gone. 

944
00:54:57,800 --> 00:55:01,640
So that was probably one of the 
hardest things. 

945
00:55:01,640 --> 00:55:04,040
And then the second hardest 
thing for me is my, my dad 

946
00:55:04,040 --> 00:55:11,640
passed in two in 2000, 2020 2. 
So, yeah, it was a tough deal. 

947
00:55:11,800 --> 00:55:16,640
But, you know, God always gives 
us peace in those times, you 

948
00:55:16,640 --> 00:55:19,680
know, in the middle of, of, of, 
of chaos. 

949
00:55:19,680 --> 00:55:24,080
That's what that piece is, is 
that passes all understanding. 

950
00:55:24,240 --> 00:55:27,200
Yes, Sir. 
And I'll tell you what, I 

951
00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:30,240
wouldn't trade living for God 
for anything in this world. 

952
00:55:30,240 --> 00:55:33,280
This is it's the best life. 
Amen, the best life. 

953
00:55:35,480 --> 00:55:43,080
And I'm just so glad that, you 
know, that somebody had prayed. 

954
00:55:43,600 --> 00:55:48,280
Yeah. 
That God did pull mom at my mom,

955
00:55:48,440 --> 00:55:50,800
yeah. 
And that she did have that that 

956
00:55:50,800 --> 00:55:53,760
desire and that that hunger and 
that prayer life and. 

957
00:55:55,040 --> 00:56:02,680
And today is one of those days 
where, you know, when I think 

958
00:56:02,680 --> 00:56:08,840
about my family, when I think 
about my siblings, I have to you

959
00:56:08,840 --> 00:56:12,720
guys have to forgive me. 
I didn't mention, I always 

960
00:56:12,720 --> 00:56:17,640
mention my brothers because but 
I have two beautiful sisters 

961
00:56:18,800 --> 00:56:22,280
that came after me. 
So I'm in the middle. 

962
00:56:22,760 --> 00:56:26,640
I have two younger sisters. 
One lives in Memphis and one 

963
00:56:26,640 --> 00:56:29,880
lives in North Carolina in 
Durham. 

964
00:56:30,720 --> 00:56:36,480
So, yeah. 
But you know, thank God, each 

965
00:56:36,480 --> 00:56:37,960
one of my siblings are in 
church. 

966
00:56:37,960 --> 00:56:40,480
They serve God. 
And I have two brothers that 

967
00:56:40,800 --> 00:56:43,560
both preach. 
One of my brothers is a pastor, 

968
00:56:43,560 --> 00:56:49,680
the other is a pastor as well. 
Right now. 

969
00:56:49,680 --> 00:56:53,560
He had some health issues. 
He's going through a little bit 

970
00:56:53,560 --> 00:56:58,680
of tough time and then I have 
one of my sisters is a pastor's 

971
00:56:58,680 --> 00:57:07,400
wife and then my other sister is
just an awesome St. and. 

972
00:57:09,600 --> 00:57:13,440
What a what a legacy your your 
parents left behind, you know 

973
00:57:13,440 --> 00:57:14,680
what I mean? 
What a legacy. 

974
00:57:14,680 --> 00:57:18,320
Just like we, you can see their 
lives, they lived just by how 

975
00:57:18,320 --> 00:57:21,240
their children are and how they 
are impacting the world and so 

976
00:57:21,240 --> 00:57:22,960
many different parts of our 
country. 

977
00:57:22,960 --> 00:57:25,200
You know what I mean? 
That's, yeah, that's, that's 

978
00:57:25,200 --> 00:57:28,960
amazing that that that kind of 
lives on through each of you, 

979
00:57:28,960 --> 00:57:29,520
right? 
Yes, Sir. 

980
00:57:29,960 --> 00:57:34,000
What a, what a, what a legacy 
for that again to the to the 

981
00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:35,440
people who reached out to your 
parents. 

982
00:57:35,520 --> 00:57:37,200
Yes. 
They had no idea. 

983
00:57:37,200 --> 00:57:42,840
That pastor probably has no idea
how much effect because it's a 

984
00:57:42,840 --> 00:57:45,160
domino effect. 
You know, he obviously your dad 

985
00:57:45,160 --> 00:57:47,920
goes to church, he gets saved. 
Well, that kind of solidifies 

986
00:57:47,920 --> 00:57:50,760
your family and now your kids 
are all in it. 

987
00:57:50,800 --> 00:57:53,720
And then again, you can look 
through the impact that your 

988
00:57:53,720 --> 00:57:56,000
each of your siblings has had 
through their churches and even 

989
00:57:56,000 --> 00:57:58,160
for here at Lifegate, like I 
said, man, you know, for your 

990
00:57:58,160 --> 00:58:01,320
family to be able to leading 
your leading groups, you're, 

991
00:58:01,320 --> 00:58:03,200
you're in the you're in the 
music ministry. 

992
00:58:03,200 --> 00:58:06,880
You know, that's a domino effect
that continues to just spread 

993
00:58:06,880 --> 00:58:09,200
out more and more and more just 
by one decision. 

994
00:58:09,200 --> 00:58:10,800
Like I can't emphasize that 
enough. 

995
00:58:10,800 --> 00:58:13,160
How like that one decision for 
someone to say, I'm going to go 

996
00:58:13,160 --> 00:58:16,160
talk to this person, right? 
God is leading me to go talk to 

997
00:58:16,160 --> 00:58:17,880
this person. 
Like what that could do? 

998
00:58:17,880 --> 00:58:20,600
And I do feel like like, So what
you're talking about how your 

999
00:58:20,600 --> 00:58:23,840
dad, you know, your dad always 
said, I got three, I got 3 ready

1000
00:58:23,840 --> 00:58:25,800
to go. 
I feel like that same attitude, 

1001
00:58:25,800 --> 00:58:27,440
you know what I mean? 
Like when you came here, it was 

1002
00:58:27,440 --> 00:58:30,840
still that same attitude, right?
Like you're like, we're going to

1003
00:58:30,840 --> 00:58:32,200
be involved. 
You know what I mean? 

1004
00:58:32,200 --> 00:58:34,600
I'm not going to be a complacent
Christian, you know what I mean?

1005
00:58:34,800 --> 00:58:39,840
I'm going to tell you, that's 
one of the things that I, I 

1006
00:58:39,840 --> 00:58:43,320
share with my kids. 
I'm like, well, if, if, if, if 

1007
00:58:43,320 --> 00:58:46,360
Pastor asks you to do something,
if Sister Pen asks you to do 

1008
00:58:46,360 --> 00:58:52,120
something, if one of your sister
Lexie asks you to do something, 

1009
00:58:52,120 --> 00:58:56,520
if any of these leaders in your 
life ask you to do something, do

1010
00:58:56,520 --> 00:59:01,120
it. 
Do it, don't you? 

1011
00:59:01,200 --> 00:59:04,880
You can feel uncomfortable, 
That's OK, That's that's part of

1012
00:59:04,880 --> 00:59:06,240
growing. 
You're going to feel 

1013
00:59:06,240 --> 00:59:10,760
uncomfortable, but but do it. 
Never say no to to to doing 

1014
00:59:10,760 --> 00:59:15,160
something for God because you 
just don't know what, what 

1015
00:59:15,160 --> 00:59:19,160
blessing you're going to walk 
into just by being available. 

1016
00:59:19,600 --> 00:59:22,640
A lot of times just being 
available and that's, that's, 

1017
00:59:22,960 --> 00:59:29,320
you know, a lot of times like he
was telling me, but John, like, 

1018
00:59:29,360 --> 00:59:32,120
you know, it's, it's a little 
awkward sometimes for you 

1019
00:59:32,120 --> 00:59:34,880
meeting people, but you're 
available for this. 

1020
00:59:34,880 --> 00:59:38,840
This you felt like, you know, 
this is a something that you 

1021
00:59:38,840 --> 00:59:42,080
could do. 
So that availability it, it, it 

1022
00:59:42,080 --> 00:59:44,280
got God. 
God knows how to use our gifts 

1023
00:59:44,280 --> 00:59:46,000
and he'll, he'll, he'll make a 
way. 

1024
00:59:46,080 --> 00:59:48,840
Absolutely. 
So I think that's, I think 

1025
00:59:48,840 --> 00:59:51,080
that's awesome when you know 
when you have the availability 

1026
00:59:51,080 --> 00:59:53,680
got to got to got to use you. 
Absolutely. 

1027
00:59:55,560 --> 00:59:57,600
I'll Fast forward a lot and we 
might just bounce back and 

1028
00:59:57,600 --> 01:00:02,320
forth, but walk me through, walk
me through your, your, your 

1029
01:00:02,320 --> 01:00:05,200
family getting to Lifegate. 
I understand it was a little bit

1030
01:00:05,200 --> 01:00:08,160
of a a windy Rd. that got you 
here, but how did you get here 

1031
01:00:08,160 --> 01:00:19,000
when you first came to the area?
OK, so so my wife is she's over 

1032
01:00:20,440 --> 01:00:24,960
Sam's in Sam's Club. 
She was AGM when she was in 

1033
01:00:24,960 --> 01:00:28,480
Memphis and then she decided to 
step down to a Co manager. 

1034
01:00:29,080 --> 01:00:31,600
Memphis is a real challenged 
area. 

1035
01:00:32,080 --> 01:00:38,520
Yeah, it was, it was just tough 
and then but she still wanted to

1036
01:00:38,520 --> 01:00:42,280
pursue her career and all of our
moves. 

1037
01:00:43,080 --> 01:00:45,120
Originally we were in 
Clarksville. 

1038
01:00:45,480 --> 01:00:48,720
That's where my dad retired in 
Fort Campbell and we went from 

1039
01:00:48,720 --> 01:00:53,560
Clarksville to Cookeville, TN, 
which is further east and then 

1040
01:00:53,560 --> 01:00:56,320
from Cookeville went to 
Hernando. 

1041
01:00:57,760 --> 01:01:00,000
And this is all with my wife's 
job. 

1042
01:01:00,000 --> 01:01:02,600
So I'm I'm in construction you. 
Can take that. 

1043
01:01:02,600 --> 01:01:04,440
Anywhere I can go, I can, Yeah, 
I told her. 

1044
01:01:04,440 --> 01:01:06,960
I said I I can go to work 
anywhere You want to get 

1045
01:01:06,960 --> 01:01:09,360
somewhere with with this 
company. 

1046
01:01:09,360 --> 01:01:10,920
I said I'll, I'll support you in
that. 

1047
01:01:10,920 --> 01:01:18,000
So anyway, there was an 
opportunity right here and her 

1048
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:22,320
boss was like, hey, I need you 
in Huntsville in two weeks. 

1049
01:01:23,640 --> 01:01:27,280
So before all this happened, so 
I was in a home missions church 

1050
01:01:28,000 --> 01:01:31,360
and shout out DeSoto life Pastor
Shannon Thornhill. 

1051
01:01:31,360 --> 01:01:38,680
That's where I was at. 
And we were just about to embark

1052
01:01:38,680 --> 01:01:41,360
on the church in the day 
project. 

1053
01:01:41,520 --> 01:01:50,440
You know, it was, I think it was
with the the, I think it's Nam, 

1054
01:01:50,440 --> 01:01:53,040
I believe was over that. 
Some of the it's a pro anyway. 

1055
01:01:53,040 --> 01:01:56,040
It was with the UPC there. 
They build the church in a day 

1056
01:01:57,200 --> 01:01:59,600
and we were right about to do 
that. 

1057
01:01:59,600 --> 01:02:04,040
So I had a lot of I was really 
like a right hand to the past. 

1058
01:02:04,040 --> 01:02:06,440
It was a small, small church. 
I mean home missions. 

1059
01:02:06,440 --> 01:02:07,640
No, we know what that's like. 
Yeah. 

1060
01:02:07,640 --> 01:02:09,720
Yeah, exactly. 
You, you for sure. 

1061
01:02:10,040 --> 01:02:16,200
So we went through that and in 
the middle of that, it was just 

1062
01:02:16,200 --> 01:02:22,040
a tough move, but I just 
continued to press a guy who 

1063
01:02:22,040 --> 01:02:26,360
just, you know, just I, I just 
don't want to go anywhere. 

1064
01:02:28,120 --> 01:02:30,400
And we were looking, I was 
looking online. 

1065
01:02:30,400 --> 01:02:36,320
I was like, man, I, I, I 
couldn't, I didn't have any 

1066
01:02:36,320 --> 01:02:39,200
clear direction, direction on 
anything. 

1067
01:02:39,200 --> 01:02:43,760
So I was like, well, one 
Wednesday, it was the Wednesday 

1068
01:02:43,760 --> 01:02:49,600
before we moved, I think where 
the pool was teaching, you know,

1069
01:02:50,200 --> 01:02:52,560
those of you who know over the 
pool, he's just pretty cut and 

1070
01:02:52,560 --> 01:02:56,960
dry. 
So I told him to, I told him 

1071
01:02:56,960 --> 01:02:59,200
about this. 
I was like, I don't know where. 

1072
01:02:59,200 --> 01:03:07,920
Yeah, I like, I like this guy. 
And so we, we, we show up that 

1073
01:03:07,920 --> 01:03:12,920
Sunday. 
And as soon as I heard Pastor 

1074
01:03:12,920 --> 01:03:19,320
teach, I was like, you know, I 
met with him after the service. 

1075
01:03:19,320 --> 01:03:20,600
He was like, yeah, you know, I 
told him. 

1076
01:03:20,600 --> 01:03:23,720
I said, yeah, I was telling my 
wife that we wanted because I 

1077
01:03:23,720 --> 01:03:26,080
think they came before I came 
because I was still in 

1078
01:03:26,560 --> 01:03:31,280
Mississippi. 
And she had mentioned, she told 

1079
01:03:31,680 --> 01:03:35,360
the past Pastor Fenton that, you
know, you know, my husband 

1080
01:03:35,360 --> 01:03:40,520
wanted to look around and try a 
couple places out before we made

1081
01:03:40,520 --> 01:03:43,600
a decision. 
So after I heard Pastor teach, 

1082
01:03:44,880 --> 01:03:48,760
yeah, he was like, Oh yeah, you 
know, feel free to check out 

1083
01:03:48,760 --> 01:03:52,520
some other places, but we'd love
to have but you know, whatever, 

1084
01:03:52,520 --> 01:03:58,160
whatever you feel led to do. 
But I already knew just from the

1085
01:03:59,200 --> 01:04:03,840
the teaching that Sunday morning
or the teaching slash preaching 

1086
01:04:06,520 --> 01:04:08,360
to me. 
If you when when it's something 

1087
01:04:08,360 --> 01:04:09,920
is right there. 
Why? 

1088
01:04:10,000 --> 01:04:12,040
Why go look for anything more 
It's. 

1089
01:04:12,080 --> 01:04:13,440
It's already there. 
Yeah. 

1090
01:04:13,880 --> 01:04:15,800
You, you felt a kind of peace 
about it, I guess. 

1091
01:04:15,800 --> 01:04:18,440
Exactly, right, right away. 
I mean, my, my, the most 

1092
01:04:18,440 --> 01:04:21,880
important thing for me, yes, you
know, and then when, when my, 

1093
01:04:21,920 --> 01:04:26,720
my, my, my kids, my wife told me
that the kids is when they came 

1094
01:04:26,720 --> 01:04:28,800
that first. 
I believe it was a Wednesday 

1095
01:04:30,360 --> 01:04:33,680
that the youth were waiting for 
him at the door. 

1096
01:04:35,560 --> 01:04:40,880
Like I was like, yeah, they were
waiting for them at the door 

1097
01:04:40,880 --> 01:04:47,720
like the young people. 
So I'm like, OK, yeah, OK, yeah,

1098
01:04:47,760 --> 01:04:51,760
cool. 
And then you know, you know, to 

1099
01:04:51,760 --> 01:04:57,920
come and, and then I hear Pastor
and you know, you just, you 

1100
01:04:57,920 --> 01:05:00,880
know, just look around and you 
feel the presence of God and you

1101
01:05:02,320 --> 01:05:04,680
you feel the the, the 
genuineness. 

1102
01:05:06,320 --> 01:05:14,320
And to me, the shepherd is a is 
a good reflection or the sheep 

1103
01:05:14,320 --> 01:05:15,880
or a good reflection of the 
shepherd. 

1104
01:05:16,040 --> 01:05:20,560
Yeah. 
And, and I could tell that, you 

1105
01:05:20,560 --> 01:05:26,680
know, just being under a lot of 
different pastors, not for bad 

1106
01:05:26,680 --> 01:05:29,200
reasons. 
Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

1107
01:05:29,200 --> 01:05:33,920
No, not not saying like that. 
That's that's what I have to 

1108
01:05:33,920 --> 01:05:36,960
clarify, cause a lot of times we
were like, hang on, you had how 

1109
01:05:36,960 --> 01:05:40,120
many pastors? 
I'm like, yeah, it's just, you 

1110
01:05:40,120 --> 01:05:43,760
know, military, my dad being 
military and just moving here 

1111
01:05:43,760 --> 01:05:45,400
and there. 
And you've seen a lot of 

1112
01:05:45,400 --> 01:05:47,920
different people in the way they
affect people, right, You know? 

1113
01:05:47,920 --> 01:05:55,160
So and I seen that genuine, that
genuineness in in pastor pen and

1114
01:05:55,160 --> 01:05:57,480
I was like, wow, this is this is
this is awesome. 

1115
01:05:58,080 --> 01:06:03,040
And same thing with Sister Pen, 
with Cameron Kobe. 

1116
01:06:03,440 --> 01:06:08,640
I mean you, I mean you ain't 
going to find people. 

1117
01:06:08,640 --> 01:06:14,040
Just just just real, just real, 
just genuine. 

1118
01:06:14,040 --> 01:06:16,680
You know what I mean? 
Nothing. 

1119
01:06:16,680 --> 01:06:18,480
Nothing to hide, nothing to 
cover up. 

1120
01:06:18,880 --> 01:06:21,240
Yeah. 
So was Lifegate the only church 

1121
01:06:21,240 --> 01:06:23,360
in the Huntsville area that you 
had visited? 

1122
01:06:23,360 --> 01:06:25,400
We I told fast I wasn't going 
anywhere else. 

1123
01:06:25,680 --> 01:06:27,880
There you go. 
When you know, you know, right? 

1124
01:06:28,280 --> 01:06:31,040
I said, I said, you know, I said
there's no need for me to go 

1125
01:06:31,040 --> 01:06:33,560
anywhere else. 
This is, this is, this is, this 

1126
01:06:33,560 --> 01:06:40,520
is it, I said, and anything you 
need me to do, if you need to 

1127
01:06:40,520 --> 01:06:44,720
speak with my pastor from 
Mississippi, that's fine. 

1128
01:06:44,800 --> 01:06:48,160
You know, whatever. 
I just want to be able to to do 

1129
01:06:48,160 --> 01:06:54,120
whatever I whatever me and my 
family can to be a blessing and 

1130
01:06:54,520 --> 01:06:57,160
and that's it. 
I mean, I feel like if if we 

1131
01:06:57,160 --> 01:07:02,040
have the, the, the servant, 
servant attitude, the OR the OR 

1132
01:07:02,040 --> 01:07:06,280
to be able to be a servant and 
to be able to do just whatever, 

1133
01:07:06,280 --> 01:07:12,880
whatever you can do, even if 
it's behind the scenes. 

1134
01:07:12,880 --> 01:07:16,040
A lot of people sometimes covet 
the light. 

1135
01:07:16,400 --> 01:07:23,720
Yeah, I don't really. 
I was always a, a quiet guy a 

1136
01:07:23,720 --> 01:07:27,520
lot, a lot of times, you know, 
in my older age, I guess people 

1137
01:07:27,840 --> 01:07:31,360
I, I talk a little bit more. 
As you get older, yeah, yeah, 

1138
01:07:31,400 --> 01:07:33,240
yeah. 
When I was younger, I didn't say

1139
01:07:33,240 --> 01:07:37,040
anything. 
I, I was like, they'll be like, 

1140
01:07:37,120 --> 01:07:40,200
oh, that's Julio and Fernando's 
brother, or that's, that's, 

1141
01:07:40,520 --> 01:07:44,440
that's, that's, that's, that's, 
that's, that's their brother. 

1142
01:07:45,520 --> 01:07:48,320
But I, I, I, I was just, I was 
just quiet and laid back. 

1143
01:07:48,560 --> 01:07:53,880
But when being a part of a home 
missions church that really 

1144
01:07:54,840 --> 01:08:03,640
allowed me to, I was kind of 
pushed into some things like and

1145
01:08:03,640 --> 01:08:08,760
and, and, and I know when you 
dig a workout like pastor has 

1146
01:08:08,760 --> 01:08:14,240
here and what I've been a part 
of from where I was previously 

1147
01:08:14,240 --> 01:08:15,200
at. 
Yeah. 

1148
01:08:16,800 --> 01:08:18,760
And my brother was a product of 
that. 

1149
01:08:18,760 --> 01:08:20,560
He when he went to Memphis, it 
was just him. 

1150
01:08:20,600 --> 01:08:21,880
He wasn't even married at the 
time. 

1151
01:08:21,880 --> 01:08:23,560
Oh wow, and. 
He just started walking the 

1152
01:08:23,560 --> 01:08:25,279
streets. 
That's amazing. 

1153
01:08:25,279 --> 01:08:27,960
Grab given Bible studies. 
Yeah. 

1154
01:08:28,359 --> 01:08:36,560
So when you see that that that 
all the blood, sweat and tears 

1155
01:08:36,560 --> 01:08:44,439
and that had went in to a 
ministry and to people, I 

1156
01:08:44,439 --> 01:08:48,920
respect that highly so and 
that's it's, it's easier for me 

1157
01:08:48,920 --> 01:08:54,200
to be a fit right in with that. 
Yeah, 'cause like I said, I mean

1158
01:08:54,240 --> 01:08:58,040
it your, your family just as 
immediate. 

1159
01:08:58,040 --> 01:09:00,600
Like I was saying, I was saying 
it's like you could ask some of 

1160
01:09:00,600 --> 01:09:02,080
the people here, like, how long 
do you think the maze been 

1161
01:09:02,080 --> 01:09:03,200
coming? 
Like, hey, they'd be like, oh, 

1162
01:09:03,200 --> 01:09:05,040
they must be here for five or 
six years. 

1163
01:09:05,120 --> 01:09:09,160
I mean, you know, they just fit 
right in, you know what I mean? 

1164
01:09:09,160 --> 01:09:10,800
But it's like, it's really not 
been that long. 

1165
01:09:10,800 --> 01:09:12,800
But like I said, like 
immediately, it was like here, 

1166
01:09:12,800 --> 01:09:14,359
you know, you need me to play 
the drums, I'll go play the 

1167
01:09:14,359 --> 01:09:16,080
drums. 
You need me to play bass, I'll 

1168
01:09:16,080 --> 01:09:18,800
go play the bass. 
You need me to lead prayer, I'll

1169
01:09:18,800 --> 01:09:20,880
go lead prayer. 
Well, I think that's like, you 

1170
01:09:20,920 --> 01:09:24,600
know, a concept of when, you 
know, that's like what people 

1171
01:09:24,600 --> 01:09:26,479
say when preparation meets 
opportunity. 

1172
01:09:26,479 --> 01:09:29,319
But if you're like the church, 
if the church is right, nobody, 

1173
01:09:29,319 --> 01:09:32,040
there's not like a waiting 
period like, oh, you got to be 

1174
01:09:32,319 --> 01:09:35,040
10 years in this thing to where 
you get to be involved at the 

1175
01:09:35,040 --> 01:09:36,560
same time. 
It's like if you're ready, the 

1176
01:09:36,560 --> 01:09:38,560
church should be ready, right? 
And that's just kind of how it 

1177
01:09:38,560 --> 01:09:41,279
worked out, you know which? 
Is which is which is. 

1178
01:09:42,200 --> 01:09:44,000
Awesome. 
It's, it's a mindset I think 

1179
01:09:44,000 --> 01:09:45,960
more people should have. 
And obviously, like I said, this

1180
01:09:45,960 --> 01:09:47,880
whole time I'm talking to 
myself, but it's like, you know,

1181
01:09:47,880 --> 01:09:50,560
it's everybody. 
I think, I think everybody comes

1182
01:09:50,560 --> 01:09:52,560
to that point in time where you 
get to where it's like, you 

1183
01:09:52,560 --> 01:09:56,200
know, if I have a if I have a 
gift, I'm willing to use it. 

1184
01:09:56,880 --> 01:09:58,680
If, if I, if I can do this, I'll
do it. 

1185
01:09:58,680 --> 01:10:01,080
I may not be great at it for me,
most of the time I'm not great 

1186
01:10:01,080 --> 01:10:04,720
at it, but it's like I can, I 
can still do it to, you know, 

1187
01:10:04,720 --> 01:10:09,640
So, you know, if I think if more
people had that attitude, you'd 

1188
01:10:09,640 --> 01:10:11,680
see a lot more and. 
And I think a lot of that's just

1189
01:10:11,680 --> 01:10:12,800
faith. 
It's like, you know, even 

1190
01:10:12,800 --> 01:10:15,400
whenever I'm going to fall 
short, even whenever my, my 

1191
01:10:15,400 --> 01:10:19,400
limits are going to be reached. 
I know somebody who who who can 

1192
01:10:19,400 --> 01:10:22,360
take that, You know what I mean?
I'm saying God is limitless. 

1193
01:10:22,360 --> 01:10:25,160
So where my limits reach, that's
where he starts, right? 

1194
01:10:25,160 --> 01:10:27,120
Oh, yeah. 
So there's faith in that, you 

1195
01:10:27,120 --> 01:10:27,720
know? 
Absolutely. 

1196
01:10:29,080 --> 01:10:32,080
Before we, before we cut it off,
I, I just, over the course of 

1197
01:10:32,080 --> 01:10:33,640
your life, you've seen a lot of 
things. 

1198
01:10:34,560 --> 01:10:36,880
One of the things we like to 
hear about, has there been any 

1199
01:10:36,880 --> 01:10:38,920
situations or times that have 
happened in your life where 

1200
01:10:38,920 --> 01:10:41,040
you've witnessed like a miracle,
something that's like, hey, the 

1201
01:10:41,040 --> 01:10:43,200
only, only God could have done 
that. 

1202
01:10:43,480 --> 01:10:48,360
So I, I would go back to what I 
talked about previously in the 

1203
01:10:48,360 --> 01:10:53,320
podcast, like my dad, only guy 
could have done that. 

1204
01:10:55,040 --> 01:10:58,920
No, that that that that that 
would be fictional and anybody 

1205
01:10:58,920 --> 01:11:02,240
else's from anybody else from 
outside looking in. 

1206
01:11:02,960 --> 01:11:08,560
But when they seen that this 
wasn't just like AI guess some 

1207
01:11:08,560 --> 01:11:11,120
little phase he was going 
through that this was a real 

1208
01:11:11,200 --> 01:11:14,480
change. 
Yeah, that that that was only 

1209
01:11:14,480 --> 01:11:18,200
God. 
And then another another time I 

1210
01:11:19,840 --> 01:11:23,840
I was we were in church and 
there was this sister, my name 

1211
01:11:23,840 --> 01:11:30,760
was Sister Dorothy. 
And she just, she was, she was 

1212
01:11:30,760 --> 01:11:37,280
up in the front praying and she 
just, you know, turned white as 

1213
01:11:37,280 --> 01:11:39,960
a sheep. 
She, she just lost all blood. 

1214
01:11:39,960 --> 01:11:43,200
Like, man, she just fell down on
the ground. 

1215
01:11:43,200 --> 01:11:45,400
She was gone. 
That there's a brother in the 

1216
01:11:45,400 --> 01:11:50,000
church that was a type of a 
nurse or whatever. 

1217
01:11:50,000 --> 01:11:53,000
And he was checked her pulse and
checked her hand, checked her 

1218
01:11:53,000 --> 01:11:55,320
neck. 
She was, he was, she was gone, 

1219
01:11:55,760 --> 01:11:57,840
man. 
So one of the other ladies 

1220
01:11:57,840 --> 01:12:05,120
called her, called 911. 
But Pastor, Pastor Reeves just 

1221
01:12:05,120 --> 01:12:08,360
got easy to one of the ministers
to get the oil, anointing oil, 

1222
01:12:08,360 --> 01:12:11,360
got the oil. 
They laid hands on her. 

1223
01:12:12,440 --> 01:12:15,600
They prayed the prayer of faith.
She just sat up. 

1224
01:12:16,320 --> 01:12:16,920
She said, she said. 
I feel. 

1225
01:12:16,920 --> 01:12:17,680
Good. 
Yeah, I feel good. 

1226
01:12:19,720 --> 01:12:24,720
And I was like, so I I was just 
sitting there like, hey, what 

1227
01:12:25,240 --> 01:12:26,840
what just happened? 
How old were you? 

1228
01:12:27,440 --> 01:12:29,320
No, I was, I was like 18 at that
time. 

1229
01:12:29,320 --> 01:12:31,640
Oh man. 
So I I was like, that's. 

1230
01:12:31,720 --> 01:12:34,040
Something that's that's, that's 
wild, that's. 

1231
01:12:34,160 --> 01:12:36,720
Just a casual Yeah, You know, I 
saw a lady come back from the. 

1232
01:12:36,720 --> 01:12:41,120
Dead. 
Yeah, I, I was, I, I didn't know

1233
01:12:41,120 --> 01:12:42,600
what to. 
I was like wow. 

1234
01:12:42,720 --> 01:12:44,720
Wow. 
So that's the first time I've 

1235
01:12:44,720 --> 01:12:49,240
experienced something like that.
I was like, man, and there's a 

1236
01:12:49,240 --> 01:12:55,200
lot of times, you know, where I 
knew it was. 

1237
01:12:55,720 --> 01:12:57,120
I knew God was doing some 
things. 

1238
01:12:57,120 --> 01:13:02,760
I knew God was working in some 
situations and times where we 

1239
01:13:02,760 --> 01:13:08,080
needed a breakthrough. 
Yeah. 

1240
01:13:08,120 --> 01:13:11,760
Financially, yeah. 
And God just comes through, 

1241
01:13:11,760 --> 01:13:16,400
like, right on time, like, every
single time. 

1242
01:13:16,560 --> 01:13:23,960
Thank you, Jesus. 
I mean, those are I can go on 

1243
01:13:23,960 --> 01:13:28,040
for forever on on those kind of 
a miracles. 

1244
01:13:28,040 --> 01:13:31,280
But but you know God has you in 
in his hands or. 

1245
01:13:31,280 --> 01:13:34,200
Absolutely, Absolutely. 
You still have that trust right 

1246
01:13:34,280 --> 01:13:37,960
to this day. 
Yes, and you know, God has done 

1247
01:13:37,960 --> 01:13:42,120
so many amazing things, so many 
so many things like in in the 

1248
01:13:42,120 --> 01:13:47,320
life, like little Marisol, when 
she was born, she was born. 

1249
01:13:47,320 --> 01:13:49,000
She didn't cry when she came 
out. 

1250
01:13:49,000 --> 01:13:52,800
She was just like, I was 
thinking to myself, I was 

1251
01:13:52,800 --> 01:13:54,280
looking at my, I was looking at 
Teresa. 

1252
01:13:54,280 --> 01:13:57,120
I was like, you know? 
Is everything OK? 

1253
01:13:57,160 --> 01:13:59,840
What was going on? 
The doctor just took her back to

1254
01:13:59,840 --> 01:14:03,240
the back real quick. 
The nurses were like, she's not 

1255
01:14:03,240 --> 01:14:07,200
doing anything like, and she was
just there like, not nothing. 

1256
01:14:08,160 --> 01:14:11,080
So I already know. 
I mean, a couple of times we got

1257
01:14:11,080 --> 01:14:14,800
two kids. 
So I'm like, normally the babies

1258
01:14:14,800 --> 01:14:16,200
cry. 
Yeah, yeah. 

1259
01:14:17,880 --> 01:14:20,800
They went to the back and then 
they had to do a bunch of stuff 

1260
01:14:20,800 --> 01:14:27,840
and whatever they do to the 
little baby, you heard after 

1261
01:14:27,840 --> 01:14:29,640
after after a couple minutes is 
like. 

1262
01:14:30,680 --> 01:14:32,520
Yeah. 
You weren't feeling great. 

1263
01:14:32,520 --> 01:14:38,880
Oh no, no. 
So God did that for us, which 

1264
01:14:38,880 --> 01:14:42,360
was amazing. 
I'm thankful for that. 

1265
01:14:44,760 --> 01:14:47,560
Did they, did they ever explain 
like what caused it? 

1266
01:14:47,560 --> 01:14:49,960
Was she just just, was there 
anything wrong or she just 

1267
01:14:49,960 --> 01:14:51,920
didn't cry? 
Yeah, yeah, She just, you know, 

1268
01:14:51,920 --> 01:14:56,880
I, I guess sometimes I guess 
fluid or whatever doesn't come 

1269
01:14:56,880 --> 01:15:01,760
out or whatever doesn't. 
Yeah, they done some kind of 

1270
01:15:02,280 --> 01:15:05,040
compression, compression that 
caused her to start to to 

1271
01:15:05,040 --> 01:15:07,840
breathe. 
They had to get, I think they 

1272
01:15:07,840 --> 01:15:11,360
they tap on the the chest a 
little bit to kind of get the 

1273
01:15:11,720 --> 01:15:13,760
lungs pumping or whatever. 
Stimulator. 

1274
01:15:13,960 --> 01:15:17,400
Yeah, and then she she began to 
cry. 

1275
01:15:17,720 --> 01:15:20,840
Wow. 
So I was, I was so, so, so 

1276
01:15:20,880 --> 01:15:24,120
thankful and grateful for that. 
Yeah, I can. 

1277
01:15:24,120 --> 01:15:26,480
I can understand that. 
There's nothing more terrifying 

1278
01:15:27,040 --> 01:15:30,800
than when when you're just 
having a baby and you're like, 

1279
01:15:31,320 --> 01:15:33,320
you wanted to just be everything
to be perfect. 

1280
01:15:33,320 --> 01:15:36,000
And then next thing you know, 
they're they're taking your baby

1281
01:15:36,000 --> 01:15:37,760
and they're like, you're not, no
one's going to sit there and 

1282
01:15:37,760 --> 01:15:39,840
tell you what's happening. 
Like you see them working and 

1283
01:15:39,840 --> 01:15:41,960
you're like, Oh my God, your 
mind immediately goes to the 

1284
01:15:41,960 --> 01:15:43,840
worst. 
Like I know exactly how that 

1285
01:15:43,840 --> 01:15:45,280
feels because that's what 
happened with Braden. 

1286
01:15:45,280 --> 01:15:48,920
And I'm like, that'll put Gray 
hairs on your head really, 

1287
01:15:48,920 --> 01:15:49,960
really, really fast. 
It'll. 

1288
01:15:52,360 --> 01:15:58,200
Take it off too. 
I've got mine. 

1289
01:15:58,600 --> 01:16:00,240
There's Gray in there now 
there's some. 

1290
01:16:00,240 --> 01:16:03,360
There's some salt in there. 
Funny. 

1291
01:16:03,760 --> 01:16:08,720
I feel that. 
I, I, I don't know if you have 

1292
01:16:08,720 --> 01:16:10,480
anything more, but I guess the 
last thing would be just, you 

1293
01:16:10,480 --> 01:16:13,080
know, before we wrap up the 
floor is yours. 

1294
01:16:13,080 --> 01:16:16,480
If you've had any have any 
thoughts or any advice you'd 

1295
01:16:16,480 --> 01:16:19,800
like to give, we might. 
Yeah, You know, got like there 

1296
01:16:19,800 --> 01:16:21,880
anything in your life you 
learned along the way you might 

1297
01:16:21,880 --> 01:16:23,320
pass on to somebody, you know? 
What? 

1298
01:16:23,360 --> 01:16:27,520
Oh, absolutely. 
So I would say in my years of 

1299
01:16:27,520 --> 01:16:37,680
living for God, the best advice 
I would give, one of the main 

1300
01:16:37,680 --> 01:16:40,960
things that I would tell 
somebody is to just to love 

1301
01:16:40,960 --> 01:16:44,720
truth, absolutely love truth, 
embrace truth. 

1302
01:16:46,600 --> 01:16:48,960
Everything is not always going 
to go your way. 

1303
01:16:48,960 --> 01:16:52,480
You're not always going to hear 
what you want to hear and it's 

1304
01:16:52,480 --> 01:16:55,080
not always going to be delivered
how you want it to be delivered.

1305
01:16:56,600 --> 01:17:00,680
But if you love truth, you'll 
make it. 

1306
01:17:01,320 --> 01:17:05,160
I feel like the key to any 
success is being able to follow 

1307
01:17:05,160 --> 01:17:07,920
instruction. 
A lot of times our biggest 

1308
01:17:07,920 --> 01:17:10,560
downfalls and we can't follow 
instruction. 

1309
01:17:12,640 --> 01:17:22,880
And I just come from AI. 
Guess an era where, you know, 

1310
01:17:22,880 --> 01:17:27,680
there was no explanation. 
There was no I come from the old

1311
01:17:27,680 --> 01:17:33,000
school when they preached back 
in the day, it was like this is 

1312
01:17:33,000 --> 01:17:35,760
what it is. 
It's not it ain't no question 

1313
01:17:35,760 --> 01:17:39,600
ain't no why Yeah, right. 
But there was all everybody. 

1314
01:17:39,600 --> 01:17:41,920
There's always someone that's 
going to have a why. 

1315
01:17:42,480 --> 01:17:45,120
But my with with that why. 
I feel like you could take that 

1316
01:17:45,120 --> 01:17:50,320
to God and and and and don't 
don't allow any root of 

1317
01:17:50,320 --> 01:17:58,400
bitterness to get in your heart.
Don't allow any any type of I 

1318
01:17:58,400 --> 01:18:04,680
guess envy, bitterness, malice. 
Don't let those things get in, 

1319
01:18:05,480 --> 01:18:09,200
but let the fruit of the spirit 
rule absolutely and let the Holy

1320
01:18:09,200 --> 01:18:14,760
Ghost mainly let that rule rule 
your life because God, he has 

1321
01:18:14,760 --> 01:18:17,720
great things in store for each 
and everyone that's listening to

1322
01:18:17,720 --> 01:18:19,960
the podcast and, and for our 
lives. 

1323
01:18:21,280 --> 01:18:25,960
If we can just, you know, yield 
to him, yield to the Spirit, 

1324
01:18:25,960 --> 01:18:28,760
yield to God and, and, and, and 
he would direct and he would 

1325
01:18:28,760 --> 01:18:30,080
lead us. 
Yes, Sir. 

1326
01:18:30,080 --> 01:18:33,680
And like I said, I feel like 
following instruction, have an 

1327
01:18:33,680 --> 01:18:36,600
understanding, seeking after 
wisdom. 

1328
01:18:37,280 --> 01:18:39,320
That's that those are the keys 
to success. 

1329
01:18:39,360 --> 01:18:43,560
And, and, and if you can take 
instruction, whether it's from a

1330
01:18:43,560 --> 01:18:53,520
parent, a guardian, somebody, an
elder, a pastor, I think those, 

1331
01:18:53,520 --> 01:18:59,040
those are key things. 
A lot of times, you know, just 

1332
01:18:59,040 --> 01:19:02,240
being around pastors, I didn't 
even there's so much I didn't 

1333
01:19:02,240 --> 01:19:08,040
even talk about guys like I've 
told Pastor Penn, but on both 

1334
01:19:08,040 --> 01:19:11,320
sides of on my wife's side of 
the family, there's probably 

1335
01:19:11,320 --> 01:19:14,320
like maybe four or five pastors 
on my side. 

1336
01:19:14,880 --> 01:19:20,320
Same thing is like and and it's 
oh Apostolic like. 

1337
01:19:20,400 --> 01:19:22,560
Thank you Jesus. 
And, and and I'm thinking to 

1338
01:19:22,560 --> 01:19:28,760
myself, I see some of their 
lives and I'm like, you know, 

1339
01:19:28,960 --> 01:19:30,160
they've been through some 
things. 

1340
01:19:32,960 --> 01:19:36,840
And a lot of times when you look
at a pastor and and don't get me

1341
01:19:36,840 --> 01:19:40,080
wrong, I'm it's not pity pastor.
They are pity pastor. 

1342
01:19:41,480 --> 01:19:44,520
But it's like you don't know the
weight that they carry 

1343
01:19:44,520 --> 01:19:45,640
sometimes. 
Yeah. 

1344
01:19:45,640 --> 01:19:51,160
So I would say just like any of 
these men of God, instead of 

1345
01:19:51,160 --> 01:19:55,240
being a thorn in their side, 
hold their hands up and always 

1346
01:19:55,240 --> 01:19:58,280
have an encouraging word. 
I would be ready to do whatever 

1347
01:19:58,280 --> 01:20:03,680
you can do. 
It's just like to me, I like in 

1348
01:20:03,680 --> 01:20:07,760
a lot of things to sports is 
like anything If a coach that 

1349
01:20:08,080 --> 01:20:12,280
has to deal with somebody 
outside of the practice field 

1350
01:20:13,360 --> 01:20:15,400
and has to deal with a whole 
bunch of mess. 

1351
01:20:17,120 --> 01:20:19,920
That's hard to coach. 
It's not. 

1352
01:20:19,920 --> 01:20:21,800
It's not a good experience. 
Yeah. 

1353
01:20:22,640 --> 01:20:27,600
But somebody is ready to get in 
there and do anything and it's 

1354
01:20:27,600 --> 01:20:29,640
coachable. 
Yeah, you can do a. 

1355
01:20:29,840 --> 01:20:31,960
Lot you can do a lot. 
You can win a championship, 

1356
01:20:32,120 --> 01:20:33,760
Yeah. 
And that's it. 

1357
01:20:33,760 --> 01:20:36,160
We want to win. 
Yeah, we want to make it. 

1358
01:20:36,400 --> 01:20:39,880
So that's my that's my advice. 
Be coachable. 

1359
01:20:40,240 --> 01:20:43,040
Take instruction. 
That's good. 

1360
01:20:43,400 --> 01:20:46,760
Thank you so much for coming out
here and sharing with us today. 

1361
01:20:46,760 --> 01:20:49,760
You know, we, we appreciate you 
being open and honest with us 

1362
01:20:49,760 --> 01:20:51,200
so. 
Absolutely. 

1363
01:20:51,200 --> 01:20:52,640
I've been bugging you. 
We've been trying to get this go

1364
01:20:52,640 --> 01:20:56,640
for a month now. 
It's just on either way timing. 

1365
01:20:56,640 --> 01:20:59,560
I'm like, man, but I, I, you 
know, like I said, I was really 

1366
01:20:59,560 --> 01:21:01,120
excited for this one. 
So it's like I really like I 

1367
01:21:01,120 --> 01:21:03,160
told you earlier, it's like I 
really don't really don't know 

1368
01:21:03,160 --> 01:21:04,920
you that well. 
So this is an awesome experience

1369
01:21:04,920 --> 01:21:07,920
to kind of get more background 
and kind of hear, hear a little 

1370
01:21:07,920 --> 01:21:09,760
bit more about you. 
And then I've had some people 

1371
01:21:09,760 --> 01:21:12,440
tell me the cool thing about 
this is, you know, when people 

1372
01:21:12,440 --> 01:21:14,560
are new and they don't know 
people here, they can listen to 

1373
01:21:14,560 --> 01:21:16,880
this and be like, oh. 
That's yeah. 

1374
01:21:17,160 --> 01:21:19,200
I know more about these people 
without actually having to sit 

1375
01:21:19,200 --> 01:21:21,160
down and talk to them, so I 
really appreciate you taking the

1376
01:21:21,160 --> 01:21:23,480
time out of the day. 
I know this was peak early 

1377
01:21:23,480 --> 01:21:26,600
morning hours we all had to get 
our caffeine in to get in here, 

1378
01:21:26,600 --> 01:21:27,520
but. 
Yes, Sir. 

1379
01:21:28,480 --> 01:21:29,960
It's an awesome story. 
I think it's really cool. 

1380
01:21:29,960 --> 01:21:31,560
I would have never thought, I 
would have never thought you'd 

1381
01:21:31,560 --> 01:21:33,960
been through so much and seen so
much, you know what I mean? 

1382
01:21:33,960 --> 01:21:37,280
From such a young age. 
So that's all really cool. 

1383
01:21:37,280 --> 01:21:40,480
And and and please don't shoot 
me down if I come asking again, 

1384
01:21:40,480 --> 01:21:41,840
but hey, you want to do episode 
2? 

1385
01:21:42,000 --> 01:21:47,480
Oh no, hey, anytime, anytime. 
I I, I love like I said, I'm 

1386
01:21:47,480 --> 01:21:52,720
more talkative in my in my older
years, so I I, I, I enjoyed it. 

1387
01:21:52,760 --> 01:21:53,680
It was awesome so.