Faith and Family Journeys: Jason Burris of CRU

Imagine moving to a vibrant city like Miami, igniting a transformative journey for your entire family. That's exactly what happened to Jason Burris, who joins us to share his compelling story of faith, family, and athletics. As a former college athlete, Jason opens up about his life-changing experience with Crew, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ, and how it brought new dimensions to his spiritual and professional life. From meeting his wife, Janice, at a Crew event to raising two teenagers, Eli and Zoe, in a faith-centered household, Jason's narrative is a testament to the power of community and steadfast belief.

Through heartfelt anecdotes, Jason illustrates the balance between sports and spirituality. He recounts the challenges of intertwining his athletic pursuits with his deep-rooted Christian faith, drawing parallels to athletes like Steph Curry and Maya Moore, who are known for integrating their beliefs into their sports careers. The conversation delves into the importance of stepping out of comfort zones and the blessings that often follow such bold moves. With personal stories of triumph and lessons learned, Jason underscores the need for a supportive spiritual community, whether facing career choices or the pressures of public scrutiny.

In a reflective and inspiring discussion, Jason also shares his vision for the future, emphasizing personal growth and service to others after his wife’s victory over cancer. His dedication to cultivating meaningful connections with his family and community shines through, offering listeners a profound message about the significance of living in the present and valuing relationships. Join us for a conversation that not only celebrates the intersection of faith and athletics but also encourages using one's platform to inspire those around us.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're tuned in to Friends and Family, a God's Way
Radio exclusive where weintroduce you to some amazing
people.
In John, chapter 15, verse 15,jesus says I have called you
friends for all things that Iheard from my Father I have made
known to you.
That's our aim that God wouldbe made known to you.
Stay with us until the end ofour conversation for more

(00:22):
information on this program andother unique offerings from
God's Way Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
One of our business sponsors, one of the supporters
here at God's Way Radio, is theChristian Businessman's
Connection CBMC.
We're so thankful for theirsupport and we've kind of grown
in the partnership where it'snot just the support, it's not
just the spot that plays, butactually doing some programming
together.
This is the second one of theseand we're very excited.

(00:48):
This is kind of like abrought-to-you-by-CBMC interview
and program, so we're veryexcited about that.
We're glad to have Omar hereagain.
If you guys don't know Omar,that's because you're not
listening to God's Way Radioenough.
But no, no, just kidding.
You will get to know him, I'msure.
But we have a very specialguest with us, a gentleman by
the name of Jason Burris.

(01:10):
My brother, thank you for beinghere today.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
And you know I'd love to hear.
First of all, allow you to justintroduce yourself and tell us
a little bit about your family,and just start there for sure.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
Jason Burris moved to Miami in 2005 to get married to
my best friend, janice Burris,aka the black queen.
Awesome, and yeah, we livedhere, started our family here.
Here we have two kids, my sonEli and my daughter Zoe, both

(01:49):
teenagers.
So I'm in that stage of life,yeah, yeah, and we have a little
dog named Rocket Awesome, butwe love Miami.
We really have enjoyed being apart of the community.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, so is she from down here and that's why you
came down, or?

Speaker 3 (02:05):
yeah, actually she's from houston texas, okay, um,
right outside of houston texasand um, she was a track and
field athlete.
Okay, and she got recruited andcame to the university of miami
.
Long story short she became anall-american in and field and we
started dating.
She came to a camp called theUltimate Training Camp, put on

(02:29):
by the Athletes in Action, andthat camp was at Colorado State
University, where I went toschool and I ran track Nice.
And so yeah, we are two.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Sounds like a movie man.
Yeah, yeah, that's amazing.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
It's a little bit like a movie.
That's amazing.
But yeah, that's a little bit.
It's a little bit like a movie.
So, um, but yeah, that's that'show we connected.
So she, she came here for trackand I came here for her after I
ran track awesome awesome,awesome.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, we're glad you're here and um, I mean,
there's so much that that wewant to look at.
Let me ask you this um, jason,how did you come to faith in
Christ?
When did Jesus get a hold ofyour heart?

Speaker 3 (03:05):
Yeah, yeah.
My parents were believersbefore they had me and I thank
God for that so much.
The atmosphere in our home wasa God-honoring atmosphere.
My parents, they were justincredible examples and they put

(03:27):
me in spaces since I canremember, in the church and
around good people since I was akid.
So I said the sinner's prayerand I became a Christian young
in life, but I would say itwasn't until probably college,
where I was off on my own, outfrom under the loving care of my

(03:50):
parents, where I needed tolearn how to own my faith and
make sure I knew what it meantto be a believer.
They had given me a lot oftools and resources but, man, I
think it was in college where itreally all made sense and came
together for me.
Wow.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
You know I have a couple kind of questions related
to that.
You said you ran track incollege.
Did that afford you ascholarship that kind of paid?
You right through college.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
Yes, I was part of.
If you get to know me well,you'll know that in my childhood
one of my favorite favoritethings about my childhood was
the MWTC, that's, the MarcusWalker Track Club okay and man,
we were uh to this day.
I love those people.
Um, we still.
I still talk to some of thoseuh friends that I have, but, uh,

(04:39):
marcus Walker was an incredibleuh man track coach.
Um, he actually had a trackcareer as well and he put
together a team and I startedrunning when I was about eight
or nine years old.
That's what I was going to askyou.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
One of the first things that comes to mind is
this idea of growing up in aChristian home but being an
athlete as well since a littlekid.
What do you remember about that?
Was there ever a pool betweenchurch things and track things
or commitments or being busy?
What was that like, growing upas an athlete and a Christian

(05:19):
home?

Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah, For me, sports was always something.
You know, my dad was an athlete, my mom was an athlete and
that's kind of all I really knewis just, you know, to compete
and play sports.
But again, my parents, they dida really good job and there was
a good balance.
At least as a kid, when I lookat them and think back, there

(05:44):
was a pretty good balance onwhat our priorities were as a
family.
You do your sports, you do yourthing, you stay committed, you
cultivate those relationships,but you also keep God as a
priority and it doesn't mean.
I think sometimes thelegalistic side of it is like,
oh, you can't miss anything onSundays because you got to go to

(06:06):
church.
My family wasn't like that,thank God.
But yeah, where's your heart?

Speaker 2 (06:12):
right, the posture of your heart was the priority in
that I bet, as you got into thehigher levels, maybe even before
high school, you're probablytraveling a lot for sports.

Speaker 3 (06:23):
Yeah, I did get a chance to travel with track and
field and a little bit with.
Basketball was my other, myother sport and actually it's
for that love the most, butheight challenge.
So but yeah, I got a chance totravel and and play sports and
go around and there werecommitments.
As a kid, you, just you, youlove it, you do it.

(06:43):
If you can compete at a highlevel, you, you go for it.
Um, but man, my mom and dad madea lot of sacrifices and a lot
of financial and just time andenergy sacrifices that, um, I
won't ever be able to pay themback for so that I understand
that now, as a parent having twokids of my own, I'm like yikes
are they interested in athleticsas well?

Speaker 2 (07:04):
they?

Speaker 3 (07:05):
are, they're, they're , uh, they're really good
athletes.
They're high performingathletes.
My daughter is in competitivecheer after trying pretty much
oh man, every sport there isyeah she loves it man she loves
the environment too.
She's a great athlete.
And my son, uh, just just thisyear this is his second year

(07:25):
he's playing his playing foursports and in school and doing
well in school.
I'll say that they both aregood students and doing well,
but they love sports and um,it's a.
It's a fun part of our life.
We've been around it a lot so.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
So let me ask you this and we'll probably move on
after this, and and omar, ifsomething comes to mind that you
wanted to ask as well but, um,remembering what it was like as
a kid, what your parents did orwhat they had you do, and now as
a father to athletes as well,if there's someone listening,
you know what I like thinking ofwho might be listening, and I'm
I'm asking a little bit formyself too, because I have a boy

(08:01):
.
One of my boys is, I mean, he'sathletic, he's just I, I gotta
get that kid signed up, uh, forsomething.
I mean he's, he's three yearsold and he can dribble a soccer
ball.
He runs down the fielddribbling a soccer ball, he, he,
anyways.
So I'm maybe I'm just asking formyself, but that's okay, they
gave me a microphone, so no, I'mjust kidding for anybody that
would want to know, seriously,what are some principles, some

(08:23):
wisdom that you've learned withraising kids that are they're
going to excel in theiracademics, they're going to
excel in athletics, they'regoing to be on track with the
Lord.
You know, man, the marriage isstable.
You know you're able to do itall in a sense.
What are some principles, somethings that you've learned some
things that God has shown you.

(08:43):
For the parents listening.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
Yeah, we're blessed and I'm really grateful God gave
me an MVP.
I married a champion, ingenise,who is just an incredible young
lady and you know, I think thecombination of us being together
and even our backgrounds goingto the way we grew up was one

(09:08):
we're gifted.
I think we live in a time and aculture right now where it's
like push your kids into sportsand everybody's going hard and
going 1,000 miles per hour.
But Janice was a gifted athletewhich allowed her to do four
sports in high school and get ascholarship to the University of

(09:29):
Miami and be a high levelcompetitor.
Everybody can't do that.
You know, I had the chance to doa very similar thing coming
from Colorado State, so growingup it was different.
Like our parents put us instuff, we did it and that's kind
of how it was.
What we've learned as parentsnow on this now we're on the

(09:50):
other side is everybody has aplan and everybody wants your
kids to be everywhere else allthe time except for where you
want them to be, and that justcan't.
It can't happen.
And I can't stress withoutmaking this longer than it needs
to be.
As a parent like you, got toknow your priorities and you got

(10:11):
to live in the now.
Live in the reality.
If my, if our kids get a chanceto play college sports like we
did, it's because God wantedthem to.
There's not enough practices wecan put them in.
Not enough team travel teams.
They can go on to likeguarantee or secure that.
In fact, I might create anxietyand tension.
It's just an opportunity for usto be a part of the sport, be a

(10:35):
part of other people's livesand to see them grow and develop
.
So sometimes it seems like ourkids are doing a lot of things
but, um, they have the capacity,yeah, and when and when they
don't.
It's time for us to pull out,because what's our priority?
God?
Family and you growing up to bethe best version of yourself.
So we just try to have balanceand harmony and what's good for

(10:57):
us.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
Well, I I love what you said, it's, it's so.
I mean that's it.
I mean lessons learned, youknow, from your childhood and
now raising your own kids.
And you know, we kind ofskipped over it or I may have
interrupted.
You mentioned oh, now she's incheer, or something like that.
It sounded like she's probablytried different sports and found
one that she really enjoys, andso, again, that's the key,

(11:19):
right there.
Right, how you mentioned notputting that pressure on them.
You got to get a scholarship.
You, how you mentioned notputting that pressure on them.
You got to get a scholarship.
You got to play this.
Well, I didn't play basketball,so now you got to play
basketball.

Speaker 4 (11:29):
None of that I want to say something.
You speak very highly of Deniseand I think that's a wonderful
thing.
It's really something verytouching that he speaks so
highly of his wife.
But let me say this to you,because we're in the sports kind
of show.
I don't know Denise and I don'tknow you that well, but I think
Denise got a number one draftchoice when she got you and I

(11:54):
think that the Lord has put youtogether for a reason.
It's his marriage and not his.
And as I look at sports as awhole and what you do in the
sports world, one of the thingsas Christians that we should do
is that we should strive to winall the time and be number one.
One thing that drives me crazyis kids getting a trophy for

(12:15):
finishing in eighth place.
That makes no sense to me.
Paul was very clear Okay, westrive to do what To win the
race?
Okay, and the trophy is Jesus.
And the last thing I want tomention about that is that, yes,
we have to run the race and benumber one, but we have to abide
by the rules, and the rules arewritten in the Bible.

(12:37):
If we end up number one withoutfollowing God's rules, we're
going to be disqualified.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
Yeah, amen, amen.
And you know a lot of that waskind of assumed, you know, in
you being believers, and youknow we'll get to it here in a
moment.
You know, I like the way thatyou described yourself or your
calling or your job statesidemissionary.
You know we're going to getinto that, but you know, living

(13:05):
out the Christian faith and then, okay, now, how does that look
like when your kids are insports?
You know, but, man, soimportant for folks listening,
you know that we were faithfulto the Lord, we're obedient to
His Word, because if we don'thave that, everything else is
out the window, you know.
So, guys, I do want toencourage you, folks listening,

(13:28):
this is our regular live program, so that means the phone lines
are open if you have aparticular question.
For jason burris or for omar, uh, again, we have cbmc
represented.
We have we haven't gotten to ityet, but let me throw out the,
the big names here.
We have miami heat represented.
We have crew represented.
We have, you know, and and notin an represented.
We haven't gotten to it yet,but let me throw out the big
names here.
We have Miami Heat represented.
We have Crew represented, andnot in an official capacity, but

(13:51):
just to say that we're going tohear about a wonderful ministry
that Jason's involved with.
So all that to say, hey, if youhear anything, you want to ask
a question, you want to send aword of encouragement, you want
to text your question, whateverit is.
Remember, the studio phone lineis open to call or text
786-313-3115, 786-313-3115.

(14:17):
So, jason, you got involvedwith crew in college while you
were still in college.
Yep, okay, tell us about that.

Speaker 3 (14:23):
Yeah, man, great story here.
I remember going to.
I was in track practice.
I was a track and field athlete, as we said, and this guy came
out, a little bit older whiteguy with glasses.
And I tell this story openlybecause everybody knows.
If you know me, you kind ofknow this guy Jeff Pryor Preezy

(14:43):
we call him.
He came out to track practice.
It was probably one of thehardest days of practice and he
did a spill.
He was a Campus CrusadeAthletes in Action guy and he
just basically said in anutshell I'm here for you.
If you want to grow in yourspiritual walk and your
convictions and figure out howlife and God and sport go

(15:05):
together, I'd love to meet withyou.
And I looked around and mostpeople weren't listening.
A lot of us were tired afterthe hard workout we had just had
and I was like at least I couldfill out the card and I'm not
sure if I was going to meet withhim but, at least I would do
that out of respect.
Yeah, and sure it is.

(15:26):
Jeff followed me up a coupletimes, um, and we met for lunch
eventually, um, after I said noa few times, and uh, he was
exactly as authentic as he, ashe said at that meeting and that
started a journey, him and hiswife Nancy.
He shared his family with thestudent athletes at Colorado

(15:47):
State Kind of opened up theirhome.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
Yeah, man had.

Speaker 3 (15:50):
Bible studies and barbecues and he would do
anything for you.
Yeah, Jeff was a big part ofjust inviting me into what I
would call a greenhousecommunity, a spiritual community
, where you learn what does itreally mean to live out your
faith?

Speaker 2 (16:07):
in college amongst your peers Because you're away
from home right, you're awayfrom home.

Speaker 3 (16:12):
Yeah, so it wasn't far from me Colorado State.
I grew up in Denver, okay, butstill you're in a different
place.
So, it was great.
That was the start of, as Isaid earlier, me owning my faith
in me.
It wasn't about going to church.
It was great that was the startof, as I said earlier, me
owning my faith in me.
It wasn't about going to church.
It was about reading the Bible,growing and developing,
trusting the Lord, praying andseeing things happen.

(16:32):
And yeah, that was where itstarted.

Speaker 2 (16:35):
I like that one praying and seeing things happen
, praying and actually seeingthose prayers answered, Praying
in faith, I like that one.
I'm going to add that Read pray.
I don't know, I'll figure itout later.
We're in the middle of aninterview, but, um, I want to
ask you this uh, what happenednext?
So you, you graduate fromcollege?
Um, did you get married prettysoon after graduating, or what

(16:57):
happened after college?

Speaker 3 (16:58):
yeah, so, uh, actually I was having a meeting
um with jeff and he asked mewhat am I gonna do after college
?

Speaker 1 (17:04):
and I said I've been meeting with you, for he asked
me what am I going to do aftercollege?

Speaker 3 (17:05):
And I said I've been meeting with you for a long time
.
Yeah, what do you think?
I had a great time in college.
I was a communications majorand most people say, well, what
is that?
I had a good time communicatingand enjoying college.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (17:19):
So but yeah.
So Jeff told me about crew andhe told me just about everything
and I don't remember I'll sayit this way but I don't remember
Jeff telling me about raisingsupport.
So it was really clear to me,when he explained kind of what

(17:40):
Crew was, that I could spend thenext few years of my life,
which now has been over 20 years, but I could spend that time,
uh, cultivating relationshipswith people so that they would
know and walk with god, like inany context, you know, in

(18:00):
athletics, as a student, acollege student, uh, using music
, um, whatever.
In the business community.
There was just so muchopportunity, um with crew, to do
that and, um, I was like man,that sounds like a really good
job a really good plan yeahwithout knowing you got the
right support, but it was great.

(18:22):
So that's what I did, man.
Um.
I graduated in in may, um, andI came on staff with campus
crusade which was using thecampus that summer in july um
for their staff conference and Icame on staff that same summer.
So in mobi arena I graduatedand two months later I was
coming on staff with crew that'samazing and that's kind of what

(18:44):
started my journey in 2000 whendid you get?
married 2005 okay, so yeah, so Imet Janice at ultimate training
camp, which is a crew event,which is a yep crew.
Athletes in action camp forathletes and crew stands for.
It's just, that's the name ofit crew.
To have a name, a kind of aname change okay, it used to be

(19:06):
campus crusade for christ, okay,and now it's just crew, cool,
okay, okay, so uh which is whatwe most of us called it anyway,
okay by that time.
But um, yeah, so janice and Imet.
She was competing in college, Iwas competing in college and,
uh, we ended up getting marriedin 2005, which started my Miami

(19:27):
chapter my move to Miami.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
The reason I ask is because that's an interesting
season to get married.
You know raising support,you're a missionary, you know
you're fully dedicated to theministry.
What was that like for her?
For you Do?
You remember any of thoseconversations.

Speaker 3 (19:46):
Yeah, she was a year ahead of me, so a little bit
down the road.
So she graduated college andstarted working and at first she
interned and worked for theministry.
She worked with Athletes inAction here in Miami, with
Stephen Arlene de Barter-Labanlegends heroes of the faith here

(20:07):
in miami, and, uh, she did that.
And then she went on to have ajob and what she loved was
retail.
She was the manager, one of theleading um, uh, influencers or
whatever you call them, atbloomingddale's.
So when I was coming on staffand raising support, she was
kind of doing that and we hadtalked a lot about like what do

(20:30):
we want our life to look, like,what do we want it to be, and it
wasn't hard conversations.
Raising support is difficult.
And raising support as aminority is more difficult and
raising support as a minority inMiami more difficult can be
sometimes so.
Um, oh yeah, we did have thosetype of hard conversations.

(20:52):
But the question for anybodyraising support, regardless of
where you come from, right, Isare you trusting the Lord and is
he faithful to provide?
And 21 years later, here we are.
Low times, hard times, shortchecks all the realities, really
incredible stories of people'sgenerosity, blessing us,

(21:14):
blessing our kids, God has beenfaithful.

Speaker 4 (21:17):
Let me ask you a question.
When you guys get married andit's tough for a young man to
say to a young woman we're goingto get married let's tough for
a young man to say to a youngwoman we're going to get married
let's go into the mission fieldand the whole idea of the
mission field.
Lots of people that may belistening don't equate the
mission field to miami, althoughI equate the mission field to

(21:39):
miami trust me that's part ofcbmc's kind of mindset.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
right, that's correct your work, your business.

Speaker 4 (21:44):
So the whole idea of okay, it's not really a mission
field, you're in Miami, it's amission field.
And I'd like for you to tell usa little bit about that because
it's real mission work.
Yeah, thank you Good question.

Speaker 3 (21:56):
Yeah, I think I learned actually just in my time
being around crew and athletesin action was like what is the
mission field?
Right, like like what's thereal mission field?
And you know, since Cruzbeginnings, dr Bill Bright, you
know incredible vision andspiritual leader in the country.

(22:21):
Just, the vision was to get onthe college campus and because
the mission field is the leadersthat are going to be coming
from the college campus, that'sthat's.
I forgot how he said it, butthat's what it was, it's like
you know, these are tomorrow'sleaders.
In fact, they're today's leadersbecause they're going to be on
campus.
I mean looking for a job nextyear.

(22:41):
So, yeah, the fact that CampusCrusade already kind of
redefined, I would say, what amission field looks like, which
was primarily the college campusat that time, was really
important to me.
And then, as an athlete, Ilearned in college like it
wasn't just about winning orbecoming the best.

(23:04):
I had aspirations to be a proathlete, but winning really
meant could I have relationshipsthat I would love and that the
people would benefit from?
Could, I add value to people'slife, like real value when a
friend is going throughsomething really hard, like not

(23:26):
that I have an answer, but thatI know where to point him so he
can get an answer, you know, orhe can be comforted and have
peace.
So the mission field for usbecame the context in which god
gifted us in and put us in, andthat was in athletics yeah and
uh, and then you know long storyshort.
Obviously we get here in miami.
Yeah, my miami is an incrediblemission field because it's a

(23:49):
melting pot of the world.

Speaker 2 (23:50):
There's people here from all over, and even in
athletics I mean.

Speaker 3 (23:54):
There's a lot of great programs in my great
programs in miami and uh, so itwas, yeah it.
For us it's easily been amission field with the different
neighborhoods to work in.
You can walk outside your doorright now and say, man, I can
help someone, I can show someonelike what it means to do

(24:15):
whatever right People are inneed here in our city.
So it's easy.
It's easy to see the need if weare aware and sensitive to what
God is putting in front of us,amen, amen.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
I wanted to ask you to elaborate a little bit on
your experience that you alludedto right Raising support as a
minority in Miami.
What were some of thedifficulties that you faced?

Speaker 3 (24:40):
Yeah, man, they're still difficult Okay okay yeah,
it's just, um, I'm I'm not asalesman.
Me and my wife never wanted tobe, uh, that person.
That's like you know what?
Let's ask everybody we see andknow to join our support team,
like that.
That.
That that feels weird, you knowlike.

(25:01):
It's like oh, here comes jb man, man, he's going to ask me for
money.
We never wanted to be that guy,yet it's important, right?
Because they're not askingpeople for money for us.
We're asking people for moneyto support God's work and help
us impact the community.
So, yeah, I just think it's beenhard because I mean, look at
some of the things we do.
We live in Miami.

(25:22):
It's expensive here.
Um, there's been a lot of teammembers come and go because of
how hard it is to live here inMiami.
Um, if you have kids, where areyou going to put them in school
?
Um, like you know, house, car,all that kind of stuff.
And then it's just like, who doyou know?
I think one of the challengeswith crew is like there's never

(25:47):
been a lot of minorities oncampus or on staff and you have
to ask why.
And one of the reasons, atleast what was real church
communities that want to, orhave the means to support
missionaries ongoing, so that'sjust been very difficult.

(26:15):
Now I am grateful I talkedabout my parents.
They put me in some spaces thatallowed me to be a little bit
more comfortable, that were notjust my ethnic background spaces
.

Speaker 2 (26:27):
You got used to being around a lot of different
people.

Speaker 3 (26:28):
I got used to being around and this is a funny
conversation, especially inspiritual life because I got
used to being around what peoplesay they're conservative or
Presbyterians or Lutherans.
I got used to being around alot of different people.
That's awesome and I neededthat.
It taught me so much so that Icould used to being around a lot

(26:51):
of different people.
That's awesome and I neededthat.
It taught me so much so that Icould relate to people and I
could share with people andpeople could share with me.
So it hasn't been easy, becausewe've had to step outside of
our comfort zone to raisesupport.

Speaker 4 (26:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:59):
But it's been really cool.
We wouldn't trade ourexperiences the last 21 years
because we've seen God doincredible things and I'll share
just really quick one story.
We had a season in our lifewhere we were just we had to
move every two years and part ofmoving one because the rent was

(27:20):
going up or like differentthings were happening the person
was going to sell the home orthey were raising the price.
Whatever Part of that time thiswas about a 12-year period we
moved every two years.

Speaker 2 (27:34):
Here in South Florida , here in South Florida Wow.

Speaker 3 (27:37):
And we wanted to be close to the campus because we
did ministry, we invitedstudents over our house.
We went to Stephen Arlene'shouse.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
Those are all expensive neighborhoods.
Those are really expensiveneighborhoods.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
And it's hard to be like in the ministry of presence
.
It's hard to be there when yougot to go.
You know 45 minutes home and weall love Miami traffic.
Anyways, there was a young manthat came to school here was a
track and field athlete.
There was a young man that cameto school here was a track and
field athlete.
We connected, I was able to tojust be a guide in his life.
He was an incredible young manalready, um, and he asked me

(28:11):
when he graduated to officiatehis wedding.
So me and my wife did somepre-marriage counseling with him
and his uh, his um, soon-to-bewife, and when that wedding was
over, his dad said hey, you wereincredible with my son for the
last four years.
What would be helpful?
How could I bless you?
And I was like we may have tostop being on staff and we may

(28:34):
need to leave Miami because wecan't afford to stay here.
We've moved around for the last10 to 12 years, around for the
last 10 to 12 years and, um,that that individual um, was the
beginning of what would turninto an over a seventy thousand
dollar gift that helped us put adown payment on a home in south

(28:54):
miami, where we live today, sothat we could be present for
students, for people in thecommunity, we could raise our
family.
It totally changed thetrajectory of our life.
So it's hard, it is amazing.
That's God's story.

Speaker 4 (29:11):
I was just thinking that the three of us, our three
organizations, survive onassistance.
This church, Calvary Chapel,Miami, survives on the
assistance of others.
Cbmc, we survive only on theassistance of others and you are
the same, but God has assistedus greatly because this church

(29:34):
is a very active and alivechurch.
Cbmc is a growing organization.
Very active, yeah, and whatyou're doing out there.
Jason is growing.
So, despite the fact that wedon't want to go out there,
quote unquote and beg for money,the Lord has been very good to
the three of us because we arebasically quote unquote, three
beggars.

Speaker 1 (29:53):
We want to call it that.

Speaker 4 (29:54):
But God says in my economy you're not a beggar,
yeah, in my economy you're myson.

Speaker 2 (30:00):
You know him Well.
He was, on one of our mostrecent interviews, one of the
assistant pastors here.
He's a bivocational pastor,jose Casas.
We were just in a meetingyesterday.
He said my God's not broke.
You know my God's not broke andyou know it was.
You know that comment wasattached to a God story.
How you know, he was prayingabout a sale and business and
land and all that, and sale andbusiness and land and all that

(30:21):
and just how the Lord camethrough and man so many things.
But I love that story, you know.
I love that story because Ithink sometimes as believers, we
can end up on one side of thespectrum or the other.
You know, we can become thosepeople that are always asking or
always begging or acting likeGod is broke, oh, I don't have.
Oh, poor me.
Oh, I need, I need, I need.

(30:41):
But sometimes we can endbegging or or acting like god is
broke, oh, I don't have.
Oh, poor me.
Oh, I need, I need, I need.
But sometimes we can end up onthe other side of the spectrum
where we become too proud to askfor help, you know.
Or we think, oh, I don't wantto, I don't want to bother you.
Hey, somebody asked a questionand you made the need known.
Well, now that you asked, thisis where we're at and the lord
did it.
And the lord did it.
So.
So such an amazing story, suchan amazing lesson.

(31:02):
We actually got a text here witha question.
You know, I'll just read it asis.
I think it's a good questionand we can look at it.
We can elaborate on it ifneeded, but let me just read it
as it was written.
What would you say to someonewho grew up thinking that
pursuing sports did not have anyeternal value or any value as a

(31:25):
career?
But this person is open tolearning how one can use it for
God's glory.
So they kind of grew up with acertain idea, or they kind of
grew up with a certainperspective, but they want to
learn.
You know they're listening toyou.
I guess they're listening tothe conversation, saying, wow,
look at what God did.
What would you say to thisperson that that grew up with a

(31:48):
very different perspective?

Speaker 3 (31:50):
yeah, I think, um, it's important to to know and
realize that god is ineverything.
And I mean, if you take amoment just to to, to in, like
you realize, like man, like Godis in, he's literally in
everything.
And there's so many, there's somany things, you know, that

(32:11):
come to mind for me.
But there's a quote here that Ihave, and this is a little bit
more about work, but I'llconnect it here in just a minute
.
John Mark Comer says the way weturn our work from marking time
into ministry isn't by becominga pastor or starting a
nonprofit.
It's by doing whatever we dohere.

(32:34):
It is the way we imagine Jesuswould do it if he were us, with
skill, diligence, integrity,humility and kingdom ethics and
so on.
And I just I'm so grateful thatI learned and really was around
people I didn't come up withthis myself that like I can be

(32:54):
an athlete.
In fact, that's what Athletesin Action really helps athletes
do is to see like I can be anathlete and honor God.
I can be an athlete and like myworship to God is the way that
I practice and perform in mysport, the way that I love my
teammates, the way that Irespect and honor my coach, lord

(33:17):
willing, the way that youprovide for your family.
It's actually a job.
It becomes that.
So I think I would encouragethe person who asked that just
to say like, god is ineverything, and if you are an
athlete, there's a way for youto love God and worship God as
an athlete, at whatever levelyou are.

(33:37):
If you're a referee, there's away to love God and worship God
and add value to culture andcommunity.
A coach does it.
It's not one is higher orbetter than the others.

Speaker 4 (33:52):
You can find God and you can honor God and you can
worship God in whatever you do,and I think that's important to
realize you know, and I thinkthat's important to realize yeah
, um, in my case, um and that'spart of the case of most people
I did not achieve the dream thatI wanted for myself.

(34:12):
I was going to be a baseballplayer.
I was born and reared in cuba.
I was a very good player.
I ended up playing professionalball double A ball and then my
dreams were crushed.
Just like we are no longerathletes, but God prepared us
and give us all those skillsthat you use as an athlete.

(34:34):
The skills you use as anathlete are very much alive
today.
The competition, theunderstanding, the rules all of
that is part of being aChristian.
So for me, it is a privilege tohave been an athlete, because
it taught me how to be, a betterChristian.

Speaker 2 (34:51):
I didn't know it at the time, but I know it today.
Yeah, Would you agree with thatthat athletics, team sports
really has a lot of parallelswith our faith?

Speaker 3 (35:01):
Yeah, I think there's a lot of value, excuse me.
There's a lot of value with ourfaith.
Or, yeah, I think there's a lotof value, excuse me.
There's a lot of value in inteam sports.
There's a lot of value in therelationships that you build
with your peers and with yourteam.

Speaker 2 (35:14):
It gives you a an incredible context to uh, to
learn real lessons in life youknow, yeah, I would ask also um,
while you're getting a, a sipof water there, um, does I mean?
I guess the answer is like, yes, everybody does.
But how much does the athleticcommunity, whether it's at the

(35:39):
school level, the college level,the professional level, need
believers?
You know what I'm saying?
Like, like, how desperate isthat need, how real is that need
in this arena of life?

Speaker 3 (35:51):
yeah, I think it's, uh.
I mean I think it's reallyimportant, uh, because what is
life without God?
What is life without faith?
Like it's, you could argue, isnothing.
There's, like there's it'syou're looking for a purpose,
you're looking for something.

(36:11):
To me like something meaningful, right?
I mean we read it all the time.
There's athletes that win thechampionship and the very next
day they're like now what?

Speaker 2 (36:25):
Or quarterbacks that are touted as the greatest of
all time so many rings and thenget a divorce.

Speaker 3 (36:31):
Yeah, I mean there's a lot of different things, so I
think there's always.
Sports presents a lot of notonly growth opportunities for us
and the atmosphere createsincredible spaces to learn and
grow in and, like I said earlier, develop just life lessons.
But I do think we have to learnhow to have a healthier

(36:58):
perspective of what sports isLike here in America.
Man sports is it Like it's onTV, it's everything right, it's
entertainment, it's like it'ssuch a big thing.
And while I believe God createdsport and while I believe God
created sport, you know we havea kind of a messed up view a lot
of times of what that is.

Speaker 4 (37:21):
Maybe put it too high on a pedestal.
We put it too high.
It's interesting because youwere a track star and you grew
up as a track star.
But I got news for you you area much bigger track star today
than you were in college becauseyou're running the race for the
Lord, amen, okay.
So when we talk about trackstars, you are a track dim star.

(37:43):
Right now you are a brighttrack star for the Lord because
now you're running the real race.
And you know one thing aboutyou running the race today you
know you're going to win.
Thanks, brother.
There's no doubt in my mindthat you're going to arrive at
the finish line and God's goingto say well, done good and
faithful servant.

Speaker 2 (38:02):
Amen.
What an encouragement.
You know I can't believe howthe time flies with these
conversations.
If you're listening, I want toencourage you again.
We've gotten one text so far.
Maybe you want to call, maybeyou want to text with a question

(38:34):
.
A word of encouragement Again.
We have an incredible resourcehere in Jason Burris.
Got a scholarship in track andfield to college, has worked
with a crew now as a statesidemissionary for over 20 years
raising teenagers.
We have more that we're stillgoing to talk about.
So if anything that we talkabout, you have a question or a
comment, please do not hesitateto call or text us here at the
studio now, because at 4.30,your opportunity is going to be
over.
You don't want to miss it.
7-8-6-3-1-3, 3-1-1-5,7-8-6-3-1-315.

(38:56):
786-313-315.
Jason, I'm just going to jumpright into it because I fear
that we may run out of time andI know at least Steve was very
excited about this part.
You've worked with a certainorganization for about we did
the math about 12 plus years.
Some little organization herein Miamiami.

Speaker 3 (39:19):
People might know it you want to tell us about it, or
, yeah, I, um, when I moved here, uh, one of my first
experiences actually in 2005, um, I guess it was this was that
the summer.
Some of you fans are gonnaprobably call in and get me on
this one, but the Heat had justwon a championship, and I don't

(39:39):
remember if it was that, whichsummer it was, but I moved here
in 2003.
And, man, it was so cool.
It was the first time I everwent to a parade like that and
just celebrated with the city,went to a parade like that and,
uh, just celebrated with thecity.
And I remember thinking and Istill think about this today

(40:00):
like, look how much joy and loveand unity the miami heat
brought to the city when theywon a championship.
You know, like, like incredibleman, oh, everybody's got a
jersey, everybody's got a jersey.
We're hugging each other andhigh-fiving and just living it
up, man.
So I remember that when I, whenI went to that parade and I

(40:23):
gotta chime in.

Speaker 2 (40:24):
I gotta chime in because, talking about cultures
and you were describing yourinteractions with different
cultures and and omar may mayknow this from the hispanic
culture, do you know you?
You you might know this alreadybeing here so long.
In Miami, even at La Carreta,they go crazy when the Heat win
Cubans with pots and pans over abasketball game.

(40:44):
It's amazing.
I live nearby, I hear it frommy house blocks away, so I just
wanted to give another exampleright of the unity when you talk
about unity.

Speaker 4 (40:53):
Do you realize that the heat games are broadcasted
in spanish?

Speaker 2 (40:57):
every single game.
Yes, yes, amazing.

Speaker 3 (41:00):
So I'm sorry so continue, so you saw the parade.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
You saw the.
I saw the parade.

Speaker 3 (41:03):
I saw the unity man, it's just.
I mean, it's sports.
Like you know, it happens everyfour years, too right with the
olympics we just man, we, wejust man.
we love to see incredibleperformances by God-given talent
.
So, anyways, I was here working.
My role when I came to Miamiwas to be part of the Athletes
in Action South Florida staffteam and I mentioned before

(41:26):
Stephen, arlene, debarter, labanjust incredible people had been
working already in sportsministry for years and one of
the things they did was workwith the Miami Heat and me and
my wife.
We just jumped in kind of likewhatever they needed we're

(41:47):
picking up speakers from theairport, we are buying things
from the store for a little gettogether and gatherings and we
just served alongside Steve andArlene.
And, long story short, steveeventually said hey, we'd love
for you to start coming tochapel with me and just seeing
what it's like.
You know, we go in the arena.

(42:08):
Our light shines bright for theLord.
We're there to encourage peopleand walk alongside people.
And so when that started, man,that was kind of my first, my
first thing.
I remember my first game.
Uh, I did that.
I got my credential.
We went and did chapel, youknow, walked around, greeted
people, met a few players and Icalled my friends and said,
guess what, fellas, I made it tothe league, I made it to the

(42:31):
nba that's right, becauseoriginally that was the dream
basketball man I would love.

Speaker 2 (42:35):
I love basketball.

Speaker 3 (42:36):
That's awesome that's awesome, but you know yeah, it
was great and I've been doing itever since, you know, for many
years alongside Steve.
Yeah, and just in the lastseveral years with myself and a
good friend of mine where youkind of took the lead role.
Yeah, steve, steven Arlen kindof passed the baton to to Janice

(42:57):
and I and a young man namedChase Scott, who's also an
incredible chaplain here inMiami, and yeah, we we hold the
role and we we love to to comealongside the NBA as long as
also with other chaplains.
We we are connected with otherchaplains in the NBA as well.

Speaker 2 (43:17):
So a few questions about that.
I mean really interesting, youknow, to learn about this part
of the NBA.
So you mentioned chapel andgame day.
Is it always on game days?
Yep.

Speaker 3 (43:26):
There are chapel and the NBA, and every sport is
different, but chapel and theNBA is 60 minutes before tip-off
every NBA game.
Oh wow, 60 minutes beforetip-off, that's what it?
Is, is that all the teams, theyhave all the teams every game,
that is so every game in the NBA.
There's a chapel uh, that isavailable, yeah, um, and then

(43:48):
there's some other times andother things that happen, but
that's uh, yeah, pretty standardthat's pretty interesting.

Speaker 2 (43:54):
And are there other like religions represented?
Do they share time?
How does that work?

Speaker 3 (44:00):
yeah, no, we um the space is presented for um the
players and regardless of yourreligious background, um your
religious preference it's aspace for you to be able to come
and, yeah, just make space foryour convictions, your faith in
there.

(44:20):
So a lot of times we, yeah, wejust gather and it's a word of
prayer.
We usually share a scriptureand we just talk life.
There's different things thathappen in there, but that's what
it boils down to, okay, becauseit's really small and intimate.
And the pro.
It's a voluntary thing, right?
Think about you going to workand you know, an hour before

(44:44):
your shift starts, the chaplainwalks in and says like hey, come
to chapel.
Yeah, like, so some people areable to take advantage of it.
They love being part of that.
Sometimes it's in the middle ofa guy's routine, yeah, but when
you come, it's an intentionaleffort because you make time to
do that before the game.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
Man, that's really, really neat.
Didn't know that.
About the NBA, we actually gotsome questions here, so let me
get to some of these.
So these two are from the sameperson, so I'll read both of
them as they're written and thenwe can tackle them one at a
time.
And they're pretty similar.
What would you say to a youngathlete about balancing, being

(45:27):
humble but also being confidentand doing your sport with
excellence for Jesus?
So that's the first question,right?
So balancing, being humble butconfident and doing your sport
with excellence.
The second question and I canreread this if you need to, but
in case it ties together Also,what encouragement would you
give a naturally gifted or anaturally talented athlete with

(45:50):
regards to working hard?
So they're a little bitdifferent.
I can reread that second one ifneeded.
Let's tackle the first oneBalancing, being humble but
confident, going out there towin.
I'm going to crush it.
I'm going to win it, butstaying humble, staying focused
on Jesus.
What do you got?

Speaker 3 (46:08):
Yeah, that's great.
I'm kind of big on quotes.
I'm kind of big on quotes.
I'm always reading a quote.
In fact, we use a quote and ascripture for every game that we
play and the quote is toconnect with people who may or
may not have, you know, have afaith.
And the scripture on the backis usually kind of talks about

(46:33):
and supports the quote.
So I'll just read this quotereal quick for that young person
.
It says don't let what youcan't do interfere with what you
can do.
And, um, that's by john wooden.
John wooden, he's an old legend, basketball legend, and uh, I
thought about that quote, forthis is because, know you can
have talent.

(46:55):
A lot of us have talent indifferent areas.
As far as balancing that withyou know, having Jesus in your
life and you know Him helpingyou be a better athlete because
of your talent, I really think,kind of the power is in the walk
.
If God is important to you, ifyour faith is important to you,

(47:20):
let it be important to you.
You know, don't shy back, don't?
You know, go in a closet whenit's time for you to step up and
to say things or to be acertain way because of what you
mean Be bold.
Be bold with your faith.
That's going to outlast yourathletic abilities any day, but
realize that God gave youathletic ability for a reason

(47:44):
you know.
You look at somebody like,let's just say, steph Curry, for
example.
He's an incredible athlete,right, he shoots the ball,
dribbles the ball ball as wellas a lot of other guys, but he's
a really incredible shooter.
But you know, what's reallycool about Steph Curry is his

(48:04):
walk, like what he supports,what he talks about, how he, you
know, is with his family andhis and his kids, like like you,
just, you just see that there'sother things and I think that's
what our faith does.
When you balance that out, yousee, man, there's a lot more to
a person than just being anamazing athlete.

Speaker 4 (48:27):
That's kind of easy to be if God has gifted you that
way, but what it's a little bitharder is for you to Jason is
there a situation where anathlete, a star athlete, who's a
Christian, doesn't want to beout there because of the
pressure it puts on him and onhis walk, because people are
going to put the microscope onyou if you are the Christian

(48:49):
superstar?

Speaker 1 (48:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (48:51):
That happened to.

Speaker 1 (48:51):
Tebow, have you ever?

Speaker 3 (48:52):
seen that yeah.

Speaker 4 (48:53):
Yeah, in other words, that's an interesting thing,
because there's a lot ofathletes there that are
Christians but are kind oflukewarm in their Christianity,
not because they don't love God,because they're afraid if they
put their feet in that waterthey're going to really get wet.

Speaker 2 (49:08):
Yeah, I wonder if you saw that more in college
ministry.
You know kids that werethinking about signing or going
pro or what they're going to dowith their life, and they maybe
you saw again, obviously don'tshare their name or anything but
maybe you saw a kid say uh, youknow what?
I don't want, I don't want that, I don't want to go there.
Did you ever see anything likethat?
You?

Speaker 3 (49:25):
know, um, peer pressure is tough, man.
Peer pressure is tough andsometimes that pressure is, uh,
coach pressure, sometimes it'sparent pressure.
Again, man, the most importantword in this question is
balancing that out with yourlove or your passion for Jesus,

(49:47):
and that's why it's reallyimportant to have a spiritual
community.
Maybe you have a mentor.
You just want to you, you wantthat space, you want that part
of yourself to develop and grow,because you can't avoid the
pressures.
Guys, I, I have the privilegeof walking in the nba locker
room.
You know, I've been around somenfl guys.

(50:08):
I've been around some topcollege uh athletes um, there's
pressure.
You ain't getting away from thepressure and you're not getting
away from all the people in themedia that talk about it.
But what you can have is faithand you can have stability and
you can have God who can sustainyou in those ways.
So what I've seen is peoplehandle themselves differently.

(50:30):
People throw out the name Tebow.
There's different people likethat.
I personally love the story of a.
There's different people likethat.
I personally love the story ofa close friend of mine, maya
Moore, who was an incredibleathlete, maybe one of the best
women basketball players.
She's definitely up there andGod put a mission on her heart.
If you don't know her story, Iwould encourage you to look it

(50:50):
up.
But God put a mission on herheart and you could see as great
of a basketball player she was.
She also had a great faith andit allowed her to pursue and do
some things and there wasn't aquestion.
Was she a good athlete?
She was great, but she alsoloved God and really went after
and made some cultural changes.

Speaker 2 (51:10):
You know, one of the things I take away from what
you've said and I want to say itin case you know, in case I'm
way off base here um, you know,one of the things I I heard from
what you said is, if you lookat that sport as a platform for
jesus, right, that makes all thedifference.
Right, because then it's notjust about being confident or

(51:33):
being cocky or being proud orbragging on yourself, but you
want to win, you want to getfirst place, you want to get the
scholarship, you want to makeit to the league to talk to more
people about Jesus or, to useyour own words, to walk it out
right or to live it in front ofmore people.
Is that something that was inthere?
Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 3 (51:54):
Again, I think, when in front of more people, is that
, is that something, that thatwas in there, that, yeah, for
sure, like I again, I think, asyou're, when you're consuming
sports and you're enjoying it,like like, you're like man, what
do you want?
You want you to be in thelimelight.
It looks amazing.
But it doesn't look amazingwhen you're always in the
limelight and everybody'sjudging your every move.
That doesn't feel good, youknow.
It looks amazing because youknow somebody's salary.

(52:16):
Yeah, man, I mean, we all, weall say the the rap line right?
uh, biggie, more money, moreproblems like sometimes you just
you need, you want to becontent, man, so like these
things don't make your lifebetter.
Um, it's your character, it'sthe things that god has given
you, the things that you'regrowing and developing you.
So the sport is the has givenyou the things that you're
growing and developing you.
So the sport is the sport.

(52:36):
Guys, you can play basketballwhen you're 10.
When you're 30 and you're a proplayer, the sport is very
similar.
It's just all the stuff aroundit that changes.

Speaker 4 (52:50):
You are a blessed missionary.
Yeah, you truly are a blessedmissionary.

Speaker 2 (52:55):
Yeah, it's not too rough in the locker room
hopefully for the missionary andagain, I love it.
I've heard this many times, manydifferent ways, and I want to
give some information,especially regarding CBMC and
the connection here today andthe lunch coming up next week.
But I've heard it in manydifferent ways but basically the
point is, you know, sometimeswe think missionaries or pastors

(53:17):
or churches or Christians areonly for poor, needy folk.
You know, rich people haveproblems too.
You know, and you justdescribed them.
You know, being in thelimelight, being judged for
everything, the pressures ofthat, the temptations of that
man, they need the Lord.
You know so many of those guysand ladies need the Lord.
So so I'm glad you're there andI'm glad there's missionaries

(53:40):
in the MBA.
So, if you've been listening, ifyou want to sneak in one more
question you got about fiveminutes I'll, I'll, I'll try my
best If you text us or call usright now 786-313-3115.
Please call or text now if youwere waiting.
786-313-3115.

(54:01):
Omar, I want to let you givesome information, but let me
just give the details.
One of the connections heretoday is that Jason is going to
be at the upcoming CBMC lunch,is going to be at the upcoming
CBMC lunch, specifically theWest Dade Luncheon that happens
at 94th Arrow Squadron and iscoming up this coming Tuesday.

(54:22):
So that's the connection herewith CBMC with Jason and Omar.
Any information I missed onthat.

Speaker 4 (54:29):
No, you didn't miss any information on that.
But I want to say this we aredoing this program from a church
.
We know what a church is like.
That lunch will be like goingto church, when brothers and
sisters get together and discussthe Lord and do something that
honors the Lord.
That is church.
So, basically, I am invitingyou to a church event next

(54:50):
Tuesday at the 94th Air Squadron, simply because what we have
there is church in action.
Yeah, amen and in thisparticular case, our pastor is
going to be the Honorable Jason.
The Honorable Chaplain, jasonand I will be doing what you're
doing today.
I will be interviewing him,except I won't hog his time like

(55:10):
you did.

Speaker 2 (55:11):
Oh my goodness, I have so much to learn.

Speaker 4 (55:13):
I'm just kidding.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
Jason, you're going to wear a jersey next Tuesday,
you're going to do the polo.

Speaker 3 (55:19):
I'll probably be in polo.

Speaker 4 (55:21):
I'm not sure it takes a lot to get me in a jersey,
you're going to have a lot ofHispanics that are going to say,
oh, they love the heat.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
So just be ready, they should come and join and
with the pots and pans like ifwe won a championship.
Jason man, it's been such a joyspeaking to you and, again,
just so much running through mymind.
I mean we could have talkedmore about crew, could have
talked about music ministry.
I mean we didn't even get tothat.
There's so many things that Godhas allowed you to do.

(55:50):
Let me just ask you this whatis your dream, your vision,
vision, your desire for thisnext season, whether it's for
crew, for yourself, for the heat, what, what, what?
What's the vision god has givenyou, the hopes and dreams that
god has given you for thisupcoming season?
I don't mean physically this nbaseason, but maybe the next year

(56:11):
, next couple years, five years.
I don't know what.
What's god putting in yourheart?
I mean, yeah what are youdreaming about?
What are you praying about?

Speaker 3 (56:17):
that's a big question , man yeah that's a really big
question.
I'm a.
I'm one of those guys that I'mbig into.
Uh, you know, it's a new year,right it's a new season there's
kind of some you know, what doyou think?
what does god put on your heart?
And, to be honest, man, likethe little bit that I've thought

(56:38):
about it already is just like Iwant this year to be a year of
transformation for myself andthe people that I'm serving, and
I can't in my season of life.
It would be great, I guess, tohave some incredible career
goals.

(56:58):
I need to make a little bit ofmoney, obviously, to take care
of my family and our needs.
I do have two teenagers thatI'm learning when you live in
Miami.
I only have two.
Some people have a lot more.
It's crazy expensive, but we'reblessed to be in the space we
are.
Really what I'm wanting to dois to lean in with my family.

(57:19):
Some of you know my wife isjust coming off of a two-year
breast cancer journey and thatchanged a lot of our life just
the dynamics that we lived byand my schedule.

Speaker 2 (57:38):
Is she cancer-free right now?
She's cancer-free right now,praise God.

Speaker 3 (57:44):
And it was a journey that totally caught us off guard
, like most people.
But one of the things that Ilearned is the value of the
present.
the things that I learned is thevalue of like the present and
she is get having some normal,getting back to normal again
with her life and and herschedule.
I want to be there for mydaughter she's 16 like I miss

(58:09):
her when she was little, yeah,and the most important thing I
can do as a father is to lean inwith her, my son, who's 14.
So I want to really be therefor my family and then man
people that know me I would loveby the end of this year they'd
be like man.
Jb really cared for me.
Jb really connected with methis year.
So those goals don't alwaysexcite everybody, but man they

(58:32):
excite really want to.

Speaker 2 (58:33):
They excite me, they excite me.
So now I'm going to pull anOmar and talk about you like, if
you're not here, you know whatI like about what he said.
All his goals are people goals,correct.

Speaker 4 (58:42):
Correct.

Speaker 2 (58:42):
He didn't talk.
He mentioned money.
He said, but for the family,you know, for the family, right.
But man, I love that.
The career five-year plan, Ilike those.

Speaker 4 (58:52):
And it's interesting, I never met JB until today,
until today, yeah, and you knowbut what.
It's very hard not to like him.
Yeah, I mean he really.
I'm looking forward to nextTuesday to interviewing him.

Speaker 3 (59:04):
Yeah, it's going to be fun.

Speaker 4 (59:05):
Yeah, because I think it'll be something interesting.
We're going to continue doingthis interview next.
Tuesday it's going to be great.
Continue doing this interviewnext Tuesday.
But it is a privilege for me tomeet you today, because I've
learned a lot, even though I'mmuch, much older than you.
I've learned a lot, a lot ofwonderful things.

Speaker 1 (59:22):
We hope you enjoyed Friends and Family, unique
conversations recorded andproduced in our studios, where
you get a chance to hear whatGod is doing in people's lives.
Jesus tells us in John 15,verse 15, I have called you
friends for all things that Iheard from my father I have made
known to you.
So that's why we love to sharethese exclusive interviews with
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Our hope is that through theirstories God will be made known

(59:46):
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