September 10, 2025 • 52 mins
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What happens when we step out of isolation and into real community? Pastor Kyle Reno shares how authentic relationships—first with his brother and coach, then across racial and cultural lines—transformed his life and ministry.
From the dangers of isolation to the hope of true connection, this episode offers practical wisdom on building intentional friendships that reflect the diverse family of God.
📣 Join us for the Living Reconciled Celebration on September 25 at Mississippi College’s Anderson Hall as we continue exploring what it means to live reconciled in Christ.
Special thanks to our sponsors:
Nissan, St. Dominic's Hospital, Atmos Energy, Regions Foundation, Mississippi College, Anderson United Methodist Church, Grace Temple Church, Mississippi State University, Real Christian Foundation, Brown Missionary Baptist Church, Christian Life Church, Ms. Doris Powell, Mr. Robert Ward, and Ms. Ann Winters.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
This is Living Reconciled, a podcast dedicated
to giving our communitiespractical evidence of the gospel
message by helping Christianslearn how to live in the
reconciliation that Jesus hasalready secured for us by living
with grace across racial lines.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Hey, thanks so much for joining us on this episode
of Living Reconciled.
I'm your host, Brian Crawford,hanging out with my good friend,
Nettie Winters.
Dr Nettie Winters, how are youdoing today, sir?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I'm wonderful, I'm great, I'm excited about our
guest man.
I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
So am I, so am I.
Before we introduce our gueststo our listening audience, we
want to give a quick shout outto our sponsors, folks like
Nissan, st Dominic's Hospital,atlas Energy, regents Foundation
, mississippi College, andersonUnited Methodist Church, grace
Temple Church, mississippi State, real Christian Foundation,
brown Missionary BaptistChristian Life Church, doris
Howe, robert Moore, ann Winters.
(01:08):
All these good folks, thank youso much for everything that you
do.
It's because of what you dothat we're able to do what we do
.
If you would like to join thislist of sponsors and supporters
and investors in the work ofreconciliation, you can do so
really, really easy.
Just go tomissionmississippiorg Again,
missionmississippiorg, get onthat list to support this
(01:29):
podcast Living Reconciled.
Or if you would just like topartner in the work of Mission
Mississippi, you can do so thereas well.
We have an incredible guest, areally good guest, and a guest
that has become a really goodfriend, a gentleman by the name
of Kyle Reno.
Kyle is the pastor of CrossGates Church in Brandon,
mississippi.
Kyle is a husband and a father,a ferocious preacher,
(01:56):
passionate about the gospel,passionate about Christ and his
bride, but also passionate aboutmanhood and seeing brothers
come into their own as itrelates to God's vision for what
a man should be, and I'm surewe'll get a chance to talk a
little bit about that as well inthis podcast journey.
(02:17):
But first presenting to some,introducing to others, kyle Reno
, how are you doing?
Speaker 4 (02:21):
brother man.
Honored to be hanging out withmy friends and I'm enjoying
getting to know Brian and Nettiebetter and love the work that
you guys are doing and honestlylove what God's doing in the
state of Mississippi.
So humbled to be here on thepodcast and with the listeners
today.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Amen, amen.
Fantastic brother.
Why don't you tell us a littlebit about your story man?
You have a scenic route toBrandon Mississippi, yeah.
So why don't you take a fewminutes, man, and help us
navigate that journey?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Yeah, well, I think one.
I would just say I was thinkingabout this morning in line with
this podcast.
You know you're just onerelationship away from real life
change and my story shortversion of it, I told Brian I
had lunch to talk about thatsome recently.
You know I come from a familythat put the fun in dysfunction,
you know, like a lot ofbrokenness.
(03:15):
And one thing I appreciateabout my family is they never
faked faith.
So I grew up in rural Alabama.
So I grew up in rural Alabama.
I grew up country poor and Iwas never in church with my
family my whole life.
That's true.
Even to date I've never been ina worship service with my
(03:36):
father and a lot of people were.
There was a lot of Christianeseand people that were around the
things, but I never had thatexperience as a child and so one
.
There was a lot of brokenness,but at least my family never
faked it, you know, or evenacted like it was a part of our
life.
So it wasn't until my senioryear that my younger brother
(04:00):
came to Saving Fates and Christ.
He went to a camp with somepeople because he wanted to hang
out with some girls, as he'dsay.
He's eighth grade I was asenior.
He called back home and said tomy dad on the phone and our
family was going through a lotright then my dad was leaving
and there was a lot ofbrokenness in it.
He called back home to say hewas born again and we didn't
(04:21):
have language around that.
And then a couple of nightslater he called back and told my
mom that he had surrendered topreach the gospel.
So I'm a senior with an eighthgrade brother and he went from
nowhere on spiritual zero tosaved by Christ, to surrendering
to preach and is a pastor evennow at 40 something years old.
(04:43):
So he came home, came after hissenior brother.
My dad fled in that season ofour life and our relationship,
by the way, I want to say, isrestored now in awesome ways and
God's done so much in him butin that season it was really bad
.
So he left my brother's bargingthrough the doors sharing the
(05:03):
gospel with his older brotherand I'd run him out and, man, I
was trying to find life in a lotof things relationships,
athletics, and then that went toalcohol and drugs and my high
school baseball coach, my senioryear, sat us down and said, hey
, things are going to bedifferent this year because I
(05:23):
have surrendered my life toJesus Christ and so I had my
brother.
Then I had my superhero coach.
That was a pro baseball guy, 10plus years, and I'm his catcher
and he's in many ways he wasalready fathering me and now I'm
watching the gospel change hislife.
And he came after me, cameafter me, and so I believe this
(05:48):
A lot of us, brian, we talkabout manhood For me, when I saw
a man on fire for the Lord, itcaptured me.
It captured me because I watchedtransformation, life change.
It captured me because Iwatched transformation, life
change.
He was a cussing, cooler,breaking coach.
You know that's now beenchanged by Jesus Christ, and so
(06:11):
it didn't mean he stoppedbreaking coolers, it just means
he had to repent after he didand and confess his need for
Christ still.
And so, man, man, it changed me.
So by the fall of my freshmanyear, man, it changed me.
So by the fall of my freshmanyear, I'm GA and coaching with
them and made a bunch of baddecisions.
(06:31):
Man, I walked into a presenceof God, saturated worship
service with that coach out oflove for him, not because I
wanted to go to church, becausehe'd invited me a thousand times
and I finally went in and I satand, man, we know this.
It's one thing to be around thelanguage of Christ and people
(06:52):
talking about him.
It's another thing to besitting in a room in a moment
where God is making himselfknown and you're seeing people
that are alive in Christ.
And when I sat under the gospelthat fall of my freshman year
and heard it and then I saw menthat were fully alive, it
awakened something in me.
(07:14):
Seven days I wrestled.
My sinfulness came back thenext week.
I beat that coach to theworship service.
He found me on his pew and hethought what are you doing?
He literally said what are youdoing?
I said well, I thought youcould come back.
So by the end of that service Icrumbled, dude at an altar and
nobody had to lead me through aprayer.
(07:34):
I didn't know none of thatstuff anyway, but I just said
here's my life.
I need your life, jesus.
And I was born again.
And so the thing that I say andI'll shut up is you're one
relationship away from real lifechange.
My brother was impacted, mycoach was impacted by Christ,
and then they came after me.
And then, out of that Sundaywhen I was born again.
(07:57):
That next Thursday, four dayslater, I was meeting at
Shawnee's at 6 am with thatcoach and a staff member and
they started discipling me,brought me a New Living
Translation Bible, slid itacross the table to me my first.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Bible.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
And they said let's get in this.
And so two years later, bro,I'm more alive than I could have
ever imagined and surrenderingto ministry, you know, and
saying, here it is.
And so I sort of started myjourney.
So I'd say to any of ourlisteners you know, I hear and I
try to encourage people all thetime You're that relationship
If you're a follower of Christ.
(08:34):
You're that relationship forsomebody else, for real life
change, that Jesus decided thatthe gospel gets to people,
through people, and that we getto be a part of that.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yeah, yeah, talk to us about how you got here, man.
Yeah, and here beingMississippi, right, brandon
Brandon, where Crossgates Churchhappens to reside.
Yeah, like I said, you'retelling us you're an Alabama boy
.
Yeah, that's right.
Somehow you made your way here.
Talk to us a little bit aboutthat I did.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
The abbreviated version of that is the pastor
for 17 years here preceding meis David Jett, and when I came
to Christ in Gardendale, alabama, he was the associate pastor at
that church and he was one ofthe first spiritual fathers that
I had in my life.
(09:26):
I can close my eyes and picturea scene, because when I came to
Christ, there was a group in myage demographic that was
catching fire for the Lord andwe were hungry and man, we'd go
anywhere to hear more, learnmore, learn how to live this
thing out.
And one of those vivid memoriesI have is David Jett, who's a
(09:46):
pastor at Crossgates for 17years, before me, sitting in a
chair in the corner of a livingroom and a bunch of youngins
sitting at his feet, basically,and just asking questions like
hey man, how do you really pray?
Hey, dude, what's this fastingthing?
Like, yeah, explain to me theOld Testament man.
Yeah, I need some help, youknow.
(10:08):
And he just became, in a newcovenant way, a rabbi for a lot
of us and a spiritual father.
Fast forward, two years later,two and a half years later, he's
hiring me on staff at GardinaleFirst Baptist to be a college
pastor, and so my relationshipwith him is a big part of why
(10:28):
I'm here in Brandon Fast forward.
Years later had the privilege.
Katie and I my wife plantedchurch Conway, arkansas.
10 plus years see a move of Godin central Arkansas turns into
multiple churches and we got toride a great ride.
Bought five acres.
Brian and Nettie are going tobuild a house.
(10:48):
Give me a plot to bury myselfin.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Yeah, yeah, brian, at every intention.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
And then the Lord gave us a word Toward the end of
that.
We'd been able to appoint fourlead pastors at the churches
there in central Arkansas.
My role had changed to moredirectional oversight, preaching
it to the primary locations.
And then Joshua 22, when really, joshua looks at the three
tribes that had promised Mosesthat they would help establish
(11:18):
Israel on the other side of theJordan if Moses would allow them
to come back to this side andestablish themselves, and Moses
said, yeah, if you'll fulfillthat and help us establish on
the other side of Jordan, youcan come back here.
Well, joshua 22 is the momentwhere Joshua says to those
tribes hey, you did everythingyou said you was going to do.
(11:40):
I want you to come, I want youto feel the freedom to go back
home and to see what God's doneon this side of the Jordan, on
that side of the Jordan.
(12:04):
So what I've skipped out here isI had the privilege of serving
five years, from 2008 to 13, asDavid Jett's associate pastor at
Crossgates, before we left togo plant a church in Conway,
arkansas, and so it nevercrossed my mind until that
moment, in the Word, that Godhad released us.
We'd done everything we weresupposed to do in Arkansas and
that the Lord was calling us toMississippi, everything east of
the Jordan, everything east ofMississippi.
And what the Lord put in myspirit then was to believe for a
move of God across the state ofMississippi.
(12:26):
That's marked by many thingsMen, lives being changed by a
prayer movement in the state andto just be a help, just be a
part, just be a part of what Godis wanting to do in the state
of Mississippi.
So I got that word from theLord, sat on it, told my wife
about it and she said well, ifthat's the Lord, you know we'll
do it, but I don't want you tosay anything about it.
(12:46):
And then that was in April.
In July, a few months after that, david Jett calls me, not
knowing about that conversation,and says hey, I think I
fulfilled my role here.
I think that I was.
I think his word for him is hefelt like he was like King David
(13:06):
, he had done the part to war onbehalf of this church and that
the Lord was going to bring meto be a part of building.
And that's been true.
So we've been here this nextJanuary It'll be three years had
a one year transition herewhere I got to honor a spiritual
hero, which was awesome, tohonor him and to walk with him.
(13:27):
He still serves on our staff asa teaching pastor and ministers
to people every day.
And then he handed it off to meand, man, we've been watching
the Lord do some really coolstuff.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, it's fantastic man, that's fantastic.
You know, kyle man, you havealways, ever since I met you,
and we've known each other look,man getting close to a year I
think now where we've kind offormally been kind of connecting
and building.
But one of the things that'salways struck me about you is
(14:01):
that you are a bridger, you knowyou're a connector, you have
the ability to just kind ofbring different pieces and
voices together.
Really curious, man.
Is that something that the Lordcrafted in you later in life?
Is that something that the Lordkind of used your story to,
(14:23):
kind of building you andcultivating you?
Because you know some of thosethings are nurturing, bringing
salvation.
We don't know what God is doingand then we come back 20 years
later it's like, oh okay, now Isee why God put me in those
situations.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
You know how would you speak to that as it relates
to what God was doing in yourlife regarding that, yeah, yeah,
I think the Lord doesn't wasteone part of our story, right,
yeah, yeah, I think the Lorddoesn't waste one part of our
story, right, yeah, he redeemsit, even the bad parts, the
broken parts.
And so I mentioned, you know,that I grew up, I would say,
country poor in Alabama.
A part of that and, brian, whenyou talked about this, you know
(14:59):
I went to Johnson ElementarySchool from kindergarten to
sixth grade, where I was one oftwo white guys in my class, and
so all my friends were black men, black young men, and what that
did for me, I think, andhonestly, as broken as my family
was in the different parts ofit, I think one of the greatest
(15:23):
things God gave me is I lived onthe other side of the tracks
for a while and what that didwith me is made me very
comfortable relationally withpeople that look different than
I do and by God's grace, thathas served in kingdom ways that
I'm very, very grateful for.
So I gravitate toward thoserelationships.
(15:47):
You know I want to foster thoserelationships for the sake of
my kids that are growing updifferent than I did.
You know that they would seethe kingdom of God as it is
presented in Scripture,displayed through the way their
dad lives, relationally, youknow, through the way that I
lead, lord willing,intentionally.
(16:08):
So I think part of that is, youknow, by God's grace I'm just,
I'm comfortable in that spacebecause I grew up, I was
foundational years of my life,you know, I got to have those
relationships that makes itnatural for me to walk into.
And then the other thing, man.
I think that shaped early whenI came to know Christ.
(16:32):
It was like I came to knowChrist and somebody gave me a
passport and that's a greatcompliment to the church I came
to know Christ in because theywere sending people like crazy
and I was young and full of zealand was all in and I was that
guy.
So before I'm on ministrythey're letting me lead mission
trips and I'm like a year and ahalf in the faith which I'm like
(16:56):
man thinking about now is likeI would never let anybody do
that, you know, ever.
But we were living on the edgeof mission, so much so that I
mean, in those first 10 years ofmy faith I filled a passport up
.
I was going everywhere, goinganywhere, and what it did is it
got me above, honestly, aboveany contextual part and saw the
(17:21):
kingdom as it pertains to everynation, tribe and tongue and it
built something in my heart andI hope to see God nurturing the
heart of our church in the heartof our city and state that the
Lord Jesus has got a big thinggoing on, a big thing and it
(17:42):
transcends all those lines thatwe build and he's building a
family.
He's building a family and Ijust want to be a part of that.
So I think some of those things,god in his grace, sovereign
grace, let me experience youngin life.
That would help, but then alsoyoung in faith.
(18:03):
That helped shape mindset.
And now, like you saw, I meanwe got to lean into.
Now we're leaning into momentslike with Better man, what we've
used before, saying like man.
We're going to be veryintentional around diversity,
very, very intentional inbridging those denominationally,
racially, all the stuff we getlost in saying no, no, no, no,
(18:26):
no, no.
We're going to let missiondrive us, mission drive us and
we're going to let any of thosethings distract us.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Yeah, yeah, you know, kyle, people use that word
mission a lot and I'm not sureSometimes it's in context of
what it really means biblicallyas it relates to mission.
But you talked about thisdiversity, you talked about
racially denominated,politically otherwise being
diverse in the kingdom.
(18:55):
This intentionality on yourpart to cross those lines, to
approach those lines, as you say, fit into that kingdom mission
as it looks toward the biblicalperspective of missions.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Yeah right, yeah, I think, nettie, and you know
y'all live this.
I mean, you have strived andbeen an example of it, so I want
to honor you for that and theway that you've done that here
and just your reputation for thekingdom.
But relationships drive what wedo Right, and so I think you
can't mean in a lot of times,unfortunately, the church gets
(19:39):
lost in mission statements andvision clarity.
You know, and, like man, we canput it, we can put it on a
website, you know, and we canput it like I don't know any
church or many, let's just goeven organization that that's
worse at salt, probably thatdoesn't have, you know, some
clarity around statements.
(19:59):
You know some clarity aroundstatements.
But the question I have, andwhat drives me, is going like
what ways are we fosteringrelationships to actually help
us fulfill that mission?
To actually fulfill thatmission, how are we being
intentional?
For us, a vision statement, asimple vision statement for our
church, is helping people findhope.
(20:20):
We want to be a church thathelps people find hope.
Oh, that's great.
I mean, you put that on a tag,looks good on a shirt, you know,
like all that.
But how are we helping ourpeople, our people that are part
of this faith family, identifythose in their life that need
hope, you know, and how are wehelping them engage across that
(20:42):
in that workspace, school system, family dynamic, build the
relationships so that themission of the kingdom can get
to that person to see their lifechange.
So that's on a micro level inlight of our church, individual
people.
We'll take that on a region,jackson Metro.
You know, like part of that,that, when we leaned in saying
(21:06):
like, hey, we want to see Godmove in the hearts of men in
Jackson Metro area, well, whatthe Lord put in our heart from
the front, from the verybeginning, is one one.
This is in God's heart.
So we ain't got to questionthat.
Like we know that God, godwants men to win and when men,
when men win, everything elsegets changed.
(21:28):
But if we want to do that in away that really impacts the
heart of a city region, then Igot to build some relationships
with pastors that are differentthan I am I got to go sit down
with.
I got to go sit down and havelunches, coffees, spend time,
you know, and to the point thatthey know I don't want from you,
(21:50):
I want for you, I want for thekingdom, you know, and man,
listen, y'all have been aroundthis long enough.
You know when someone shows upand they want from you, know,
like you know.
But what I would pray is, in akingdom movement to fulfill the
mission, is we show up and belike man.
We want for the kingdom, wewant to experience this together
(22:18):
, like I want you to feel thewind of seeing the kingdom
advancement in your church and Iwant to cheerlead that.
I want to be.
I don't want, you know, astatement that the Lord has put
in my seared, in my heart, isthat I don't want to be known, I
do want to be used and I thinkin our culture today, everybody
(22:41):
wants to be used.
You know, and I think in ourculture today, everybody wants
to be known, everybody wants tobe known.
That's what social media feeds,that frenzy, you know, and we
want to be on man's radar, youknow, and what God's saying is
like no, just be on mine, justbe in the center of what I'm
doing and bring people alongwith you, and God will use, will
(23:04):
use that.
And so I felt like we wereseeing, you know, in our region.
You know that God is bringingus together around mission, but
it takes strong relationship.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
It takes, it takes trust over time.
Yeah, you know, kyle man, thatthere's a.
You mentioned how culture iskind of pushing against the
current, so to speak, ofrelationship and kind of, in
some ways, warping what it to bedeeply known.
(23:40):
Right, we trade in, we trade inattention, we trade we, we, or
we trade in to be deeply known,for attention, for platform you
know, for quote unquoteinfluence as it, as it relates
to social media influence, right, we trade, we trade in to be
deeply known for all of that.
In other words, we're tradingin relationship and and even as
(24:01):
you, and even as you, and evenas you, you know, as you're
describing what you'reencouraging your church towards,
the one thing that I'm struckby is the culture runs counter
to this.
Also, as it relates to pace,right, it's like everybody is in
such a rush trying to buildtheir own kingdoms, trying to,
(24:25):
you know, build their, you know,build and enhance their
portfolios and things of thatnature, which obviously nothing
wrong with, you know, stewardingthat which God has given us,
but there is such an insatiableappetite for it, right, and that
keeps us moving.
(24:45):
At this pace, this breakneckpace, it makes it hard to do the
very thing that God is tellingus to do, which is to know one
another deeply and to be deeplyknown by others.
That leads to this kind ofcultivation of relationships
across all these different lines.
You know, what counsel would yougive to church members?
(25:09):
Because let me go back becausesome of these relationships, we
feel like we are naturallygifted Nettie's naturally gifted
to interact with anybody thathe walks in a room with right.
You're naturally gifted tointeract with anybody that you
walk in the door with, butthere's a lot of people that are
in the hustle and bustle thatdon't feel this natural gifting,
and yet God is still callingthem to these relationships
(25:31):
across lives.
What kind of counsel would yougive to that?
Speaker 4 (25:34):
group, that specific group, yeah, yeah, I think one
is to come to a right biblicalbelief around our need for
relationship.
That's not a personality type.
I think you're exactly right.
You know a lot of people thinkNettie is a winsome person.
(25:55):
You know, I don't getuncomfortable in a room either.
You know like I walk in and Ican sit at a table with
strangers and by the end of thelunch, you know, know them and
be comfortable in thatconversation, right?
Well, not everybody is naturalwith that and that's OK, right.
When you don't, you don't haveto fake it or you don't have to
(26:17):
try to be somebody else.
But to realize is that you needthe presence of people and
people need your presence, youknow.
And so what you what?
Every person.
Take a church member we say thishere.
Some of our language aroundthat is that we want to make
sure that every person that's apart of our church finds their
(26:39):
group of people each season oflife.
So we want you, we want to helpfind your people, and sometimes
that might mean that you're thequiet person in the group for a
while.
That's okay.
Just know who your group is,find your people, find your
expression of God's family in acontextual way, in a way that
(27:03):
you could say, hey, I'm going tolean into that.
And here's the truth.
Like I always say, friendshipsdon't happen in a microwave,
right, like true, genuinefriendship.
Slow cooking man.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
It's slow cooking.
Yeah, it's slow cooking.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
And church leadership books will hate this what I'm
about to say, but we know it'strue.
Just because you get in a lifegroup, a small group, a Sunday
school class or whatever kind ofway you do your group structure
which I value, all of themdoesn't mean you're going to
form and foster deep, abidingrelationships, does not mean
(27:41):
that right.
No, what I think is it helpsset the table.
What it does is it gets youaround people that you can be
intentional beyond that moment.
You can be intentional in it.
But then beyond it, like beintentional in that moment, like
get to know people a little bitbetter.
Man, circle around scriptureman, learn how to pray together,
(28:02):
share, be intentional in thatmoment.
Like get to know people alittle bit better.
Man, Circle around scriptureman, learn how to pray together,
share some things, growaccountable.
But that relationship that youneed most is going to take time
and the best way to get thatkind of friendship, spiritual
friendship, is to be that kindof friend.
Yeah, that's the best way.
I've often counseled withpeople that show up and they're
(28:27):
saying I need those friendshipsin my life, which is awesome,
glad you acknowledge that.
But what they want is just toget that friendship.
But what they have to make sureis I'm going to give that kind
of friendship.
I'm going to give that kind offriendship.
I'm going to give that kind ofrelationship If you'll show up
(28:49):
to be that kind of brother, thatkind of sister.
Here's a promise.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
If you, sow that you'll reap it, that's the
principle of the kingdom.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
If you show up to say I'm going to be the friend this
person needs right now, I'mgoing to be that.
Even if that's just, I'm goingto stand beside them in the
storm.
I ain't going to say a wholelot, I'm going to pray when it's
needed, but I'm going to bepresent and if you'll give those
kind of relationships, you'llbe that kind of person.
You'll look up I don't carewhat your personality type is,
(29:19):
you'll look up, steadfast overtime, up.
I don't care what yourpersonality type is, you'll look
up, steadfast over time.
You'll look up and you'll havethose kind of friendships.
You know, and we do this in theChristian world we make that,
we make it an impossible thingto accomplish because we set
some idealistic things like man,if you'll get in here, you'll
get that relationship.
(29:39):
Well, no, you got to work at it.
It's going to take time and yougot to be that yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Yeah, it's interesting that you talked
about that principle of thekingdom, because Luke 638, given
it shall be given unto you.
Good measure, pressed out,shaken together, running over,
will be put into your lap forwhat the measure you use it.
For what the measure you use,it will be measured back to you.
And people often hear thatpassage and they're thinking
(30:05):
about all sorts of things,they're thinking about finances,
they're thinking about money.
The context of that passage isrelationships.
Right, it starts judge not andyou won't be judged.
Condemn not and you won't becondemned.
Forgive and you'll be forgiven.
Yeah, and it will, will begiven.
It is a relational concept.
That's really at the now.
Obviously you can, you know,it's a principle that you
(30:25):
probably can expand to otherthings, but at its root it is
relational Giving that which youdesire to receive back.
And so, like you said,friendships have to be given,
and the intentionality, the timespent and even like the ideal
of, like you said, there aresome people that are naturally
gifted to walk in a room andjust light it up, right, but I
(30:49):
like to think aboutrelationships in terms of
relational capacity.
In other words, that's like theGod-given container that God
has given me to do relationships.
But then there's also relationalcompetency and relational
fluency, and I feel like that'sdiscipleship, right.
Learning how to be a friendright.
So I might be an introvert, butit doesn't mean that I have to
(31:10):
be a poor friend and I can be anintrovert that learns how to
not just be a good friend butlearns how to be a good friend
to a diversity of people.
Right To learn how to crosslives with intentionality and
connect, even in my introversion.
Right.
And so oftentimes I fear thatwe allow those personality types
(31:33):
to push us further and furtheraway from what I feel like is
ultimately kingdom mandate,which is to be family right and
to be connected in some form orsome fashion to the larger body
of Christ that he's grafted usinto.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
You know, Brian and Kyle, you know God put the DNA
of relationships in us from thevery beginning, and so there's
no question in my mind that whenGod designed us, he had
relationship in mind, First ofall with ourselves and with him
and with others.
The challenge is during theevangelism and the discipleship,
which I don't think the churchhas done a very good job in.
(32:16):
But when you're talking aboutthat, how do you capture or
cultivate that relational DNAthat's in you?
I think that's that's thequestion for me, and I'll let
you guys rattle with that shesaid the answer oh, wise one.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Yeah, right, right, you can share the answer, jesus.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Jesus is the answer, man you know he is amen you know
the little boy sitting in classand the teacher says what is
brown and clam trees eat nutsand do all that.
And little Johnny says itsounds like a squirrel, but I
know the right answer is Jesus.
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Well it is, it's the life change you know, nettie.
I mean once you've been changedby Christ, you know, and the
gospel gets to you.
The good news got to me.
I'm studying right now andpreach Ephesians 2.
You know?
Speaker 1 (33:17):
we're walking through .
Speaker 4 (33:17):
Ephesians, and I'm thinking, you know, we all got
the same problem.
We were dead in our trespasses.
Dead in trespasses, it's sinsman.
We were not adversely affectedor just stunned in our
sinfulness, you know we sin,because we are sinners, we're
(33:38):
broken, you know, and we can'tmake our way out of that.
And what the good news ofChrist is is he's come for all
people, you know, to make usalive and to make us one, and it
continues on, you know, inEphesians 2, to make us family,
to make us family.
(33:59):
You know, and I think what yousaid, if you could lift your
head enough to see that Jesus isadopting a family that looks
like every nation, tribe andtongue, every people group, from
every background, and ourdesire in fulfilling the mission
of God is to see the fullestexpression of that family here
(34:22):
and now, here and now, and tolive in that kind of
relationship now, which will betrue, a picture of what will be
true ultimately in heavenforever.
But that takes time, it takesintentionality, it takes focus,
man, it takes heart change, ittakes transform to the renewing
of our mind.
You know, it takes thecleansing, washing my mind with
(34:45):
the water of the word so that Isee things the way God sees
things, I hear things the wayGod hears this, I feel what God
feels around this.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah, yeah, Such a good conversation.
I'm often, you know, I'm reallyreally really thinking a lot
about how, the many differentways in which the heart is being
tugged at, Sometimes we'reaware and sometimes we're not
aware.
Like I mentioned to you, to youguys, that pursuit for more
(35:19):
right, the pursuit to be forattention, the platforming, you
know, pace of life, phones, youknow I've been reading this
really really good book that'stalking about just how
technology in and of itself hasbeen an alienator, whether we
understand it or not.
You know music, for example.
(35:40):
Music used to be a communalexperience and then, in the late
70s, Sony came up with thisgame changing device called the
Walkman, where now you listen tomusic in your headphones by
yourself.
Now you listen to music in yourheadphones by yourself, and
then eventually it went from theWalkman to streaming, where
it's like now we don't even havea common album that we listen
(36:02):
to together.
You got a million differentsongs over there that you listen
to.
I got a million different songsover here that I'm listening to
, and so when we come togetherfor community, we're not really
even comparing notes like weused to, or there used to be
like a.
It went from not having a TV inthe home right to having a
family TV in the home where weall had the same five channels
(36:23):
and we all watched the sameshows and we create a community.
And then it went from that tonow we're all looking at this
little tiny stream that has beencustomized to basically meet my
demand, right, and so we don'thave it.
And so there's an unraveling ofcommunity even in that, without
(36:44):
us recognizing it, because wedon't share as many communal
experiences.
Even your game system, Kyle.
We used to have Nintendo 16-bitand Super Nintendo and all of
that, except it wasn't online.
It was like, hey, this is anembodied experience where you
got friends that you bring overand you guys play the game and
all that kind of stuff.
And so there's so many ways inwhich we're changing, but we're
(37:07):
not adjusting for that change toin the midst of it.
Right, welcome the change andsay, okay, great, great
technological advancements,that's awesome.
But how do I preserveconnection in this?
We're not asking that question,we're just adopting these
things.
So, okay, great, you know paceof life, we're getting quicker,
we're getting faster, you knowwe're commuting more.
(37:29):
Okay, great, got it.
Understand, that's changed.
That's life.
But how am I preservingconnection in the midst of that
change?
Because God desires that Iremain connected to him and I
remain connected to his people,right?
So what am I doing to preservethat?
And that is what I find to bethe challenge of the day, kyle,
(37:49):
because I think it's justhappening to us.
I don't even think we realizethat it's happening to us, if
that makes sense.
But am I just phrasing andthinking that I'm here having a
counseling session with mybrother now, but talk to me
about that.
I mean, is that something thatresonates at all?
Speaker 4 (38:06):
Yeah, well, I mean, I'm looking at future
generations and one, I'm raisingthem, but two, we're trying to
reach them, you and me both.
Yeah, trying to reach them inour church and our community and
in some ways I'm not making ablanket statement, but the deck
(38:27):
is stacked against themrelationally, you know, like
everything is isolating,everything is individualistic.
You know, yeah, I mean, thatcomes from sports, like one of
the things I love sports, butthat we've lost team in a way,
that's that's startling,startling.
(38:47):
You know, like I I have a vividimage.
I helped coach one of my son'slittle sixth grade football
teams and last year, firsttouchdown of the year, you know,
and we score a touchdown.
And I watched, we had film ofthis the guy who scored runs
(39:08):
into the corner in the end zoneand then the other 10 players
all walk away by themselves andno one celebrated that.
We just scored a touchdown.
Yeah, let me tell you why.
And then I watched it was amanifestation of what's true.
Because in their mind, hescored not, we scored yeah, and
(39:32):
because everything, every statthing they have is about
individual stuff.
Every, all, all this it's aboutyou, it's about you and that's
what all your preferences, allyou're saying like, hey you,
that they build whole algorithmson how to capture and keep your
attention.
You know yes yeah, so, yes, soyeah.
(39:53):
I mean I think it's.
And here's the thing, man, theguy mentored me, david Jett,
that preceded me here one of thebest statements he ever made.
He says the enemy alwaysisolates to assassinate.
He always isolates toassassinate If you find yourself
alone.
If you find yourself alone inlife, one no, you're not truly
(40:16):
alone.
One no, no, no, no, no one.
Obviously God's there, won'tyou, but also the enemy's got a
plan.
He got you out there byyourself because you'll believe
a lot of things by yourself.
You shouldn't believe You'll doa lot of things.
You shouldn't do Like that.
Nobody slips and falls in onemoment into moral failure.
(40:38):
There's a slow, steadyisolating like that.
I was about to say isolation,yeah, isolation, isolation, yeah
.
You get out there and you'rethe master of your own soul.
Yes, and you don't want that.
You don't want that.
You need some others in theboat with you that are looking
(41:01):
at you and going, hey, brother,we're going the wrong way, your
heart's trending toward thewrong things.
I feel you might be deceived.
I got a group of guys, brian, Imeet with Tuesday mornings.
You know that are my guys andmy caveat is, when I show up
there, I'm not Pastor, I'm Kyle,you know, because I need
(41:26):
someone in weekly ways thatlooks at me and go, hey, are you
really okay?
Like, hey, I'm just, I'mreading you and you, if you,
when you really get to knowpeople over time, I can look and
go man, I listen to something'swrong.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Like something's off.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
Something, but you got to show up to get that.
Yeah, like you got to show up,you got to be that to get that,
and so you got to give.
You got to give, so we'll begiving back to you Got to so I
would say I encourage any of ourlisteners if you're alone in
this season of life, you're in adangerous place.
You're in a dangerous place.
(42:01):
So be brave, be courageous.
Maybe you've been burned bythose relationships before.
Well, welcome to the party,Welcome to the human experience
you know absolutely man yeah so,but don't give up on it, don't
give up on, don't give up onwhat God intended and designed
(42:25):
like.
You need it.
You need, you desperately needrelationships, so go be that
yeah yeah, yeah, man.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
I tell people often that join my church, that the
Lord has allowed me theprivilege to pastor, but I tell
people often that you're lookingfor a perfect church man, just
stop the membership processright now, because, because
(42:54):
eventually, eventually, at somepoint in the life of this church
, I'm I'm probably going topunch you in the teeth, and it's
not going to be because I wantit to right.
I'm going to say something.
I'm going to say something thatmay be hurtful, but I promise,
man, that I'm not setting out tobe hurtful.
I'm not.
I'm not waking up today saying,hey, how can I hurt the members
(43:15):
of my church?
But I'm going to probably saysomething that you didn't agree
with.
So I'm probably going to walkby on a day and maybe my posture
, my countenance, communicatesthat I'm not welcoming or I
don't want to talk to you.
There's going to be somethingwhere you're like, hey, man, I
felt a little hurt by the waypastor approached me today, or
(43:35):
by the way he didn't approach me, or he ignored me, or he did.
So, he that.
And I say that to just set thetable, man, Listen, man, I'm
human and you're going to besurrounded by humans in this
church.
Yeah, that's right.
And so don't allow, don't letyour whole you know ideal of
relationships and what God iscalling you to hang on whether
(43:57):
or not all of us can live andadopt perfect postures toward
one another, because that's nothow this works, Right and so.
And so to your point don't quit.
Don't quit on relationships.
There are obviously some peoplethat do intentionally set out
to hurt people and they wound usgreatly when they do.
But, man, God has a millionother opportunities for us.
(44:20):
That's made available.
Where people are, they'll belife changing.
They'll feed you life if youremain open and available for
God to minister to you throughrelationships.
I mean, there's a reason why hesaid that it's not good.
It's not good that man's alone.
(44:43):
It's not good.
We were created, like Nettiesaid, it's in our DNA to be
relatable and connect.
So, Kyle, man, it's been anincredible time, man.
We could talk to you for hours.
I know I could talk to you forhours.
I know I could talk to you forhours and give us one thing as
you think about, you know justwhat God is doing in Crossgates
(45:03):
as what God is doing in branding, what God is doing in your home
, in your life.
Give us one thing, man, that'sjust lighting the spark in you.
Speaker 4 (45:12):
Yeah, here's what's in my spirit.
I'll put it that way.
I think that something ishappening right now that started
long before us.
I think that men, I'll sayagain, I think men like Nettie,
(45:32):
men like David Jett precedingmen like that, I think, men,
I'll say again, I think men likeNeddy, men like David Jett
preceding men like that, I thinkthat there's been prayers that
have stacked up in heaven forour country, for our state, that
the Lord has heard and that heis moving.
And there's a moment that'shappening right now that you can
(45:53):
miss.
You can miss Because, obviously, the enemy loves headlines and
so if you go turn down, I don'tcare what your news choice is.
The enemy is promoting hisgarbage on every part of that.
But here's the other side.
But the Lord Jesus is changinglives right now.
(46:13):
There is a move of that.
But here's the other side.
But the Lord Jesus is changinglives right now.
There is a move of God that ispercolating, it's moving, and so
I would encourage all of us tobelieve big right now.
Believe big, believe big inyour church man, believe big in
your church man, believe big inyour city, believe big on behalf
(46:36):
of what God's doing in ournation right now, and I'm
talking about what he's doing inthe, in the lives of the next
generation of followers ofChrist, the amount of people
that are coming to know Christ.
You know, I have the privilegeof Sitting on the board for
better man and knowing some ofthe stories that, man, there are
right now.
(46:59):
Right now, there are thousandsof groups of men that are
meeting across the United Statesthat's just using these
resources.
Well, that was not so, that wasnot so years ago.
Like, and that's just one,that's just one thing that's
happening, man, you go back to,uh, nadine, don't remember the
promise keepers kind of uh ofdays and things that was
happening in the lives of men.
(47:20):
Like, things are percolatingright now.
I know I know big civic centersthat are getting rented for 26
and 27, you know to forconferences to be held to rally
men across denominations, acrossraces, across, to really lift
up Jesus and see what it meansto be God's man.
(47:41):
You know.
So I mean, as I know, I know aguy that tracks prayer movements
and the amount of differentprayer rallies and things, and
more of those are happeningright now than have happened in
years past.
And so what I think is I reallybelieve we may be, may be in
(48:02):
the beginning waves of a realmove of God.
A real move of God Now,regardless if that ends up true
and being nationally in scopeand sequence and all those kind
of things, we should believe forright where we are.
We should believe for it in ourchurches, in our cities.
And my heart is Lord, I prayyou.
(48:24):
Send it global awakening,national revival awakening.
But if not, man, bring it toMississippi.
Bring it to Mississippi, lord,let it be a catalyst for that.
And that's not just talk,that's tangible.
You could go and see that asthings are happening in an
uncommon momentum right now.
(48:45):
So believe big is what I wouldencourage folks.
Speaker 2 (48:49):
Amen, amen, let it be , let it be Lord, let it be Amen
, amen.
Brother, it's been great tohave you, man.
Thanks so much for joining us.
How can people keep up withKyle, reno and Crossgates Church
?
Speaker 4 (49:01):
Yeah, crossgatesorg.
I'm not cool so I'm not on anysocial media.
That's not because that's somespiritual statement, it's
because I'd get too easilydistracted.
So I'd say go to Crossgates.
You know, you can find thingslike that from preaching what
(49:22):
God's doing in his church.
And then I do serve with Betterman and so I have stuff that's
there If you go to bettermancomthat you can find any of those
resources as well.
Speaker 2 (49:35):
Fantastic man, fantastic, and we are incredibly
grateful for our brother, kyleReno, joining us on this podcast
.
Feel free to like, share andsubscribe.
If you're a social media person, that's for sure.
If you're like Kyle, if you'relike Kyle and you're not just
spread it by word of mouth, thispodcast.
Speaker 4 (49:55):
I do podcasts.
Now I do podcasts.
Good deal, good deal.
Speaker 2 (49:57):
Or you can search on any podcast app and you can find
us Living Reconciled.
And then also, we want toextend a personal invitation to
you.
September, the 25th, atMississippi College, anderson
Hall, we are hosting our LivingReconciled celebration.
It's going to be a family stylebanquet, which means that the
tables will be a little biggerand there'll be a little bit
(50:18):
more food passed around thetable, with the goal to
establish and create a space forconnection and seeing one
another.
Heard on this podcast today, oneof the great challenges of our
day is that, because of allthese things that we talked
about technology and pace andpursuits we don't see one
another, and so we would like tocreate a space where that
(50:41):
begins, that changes, where webegin to see one another deeply,
and so there'll be dialogue,music, there'll be conversations
, there'll be great food.
It's all around the attempt tocreate space to see one another.
So join us September 25th atMississippi College, anderson
Hall.
You can go tomissionmississippiorg to
register for tickets.
We would love to have you joinus that evening.
(51:04):
Again, it's been great to haveour brother, kyle Reno.
This is Brian Crawford, nannyWinters, signing off saying God
bless, god bless.
Speaker 1 (51:14):
Amen.
Thanks for joining LivingReconciled.
If you would like moreinformation on how you can be a
part of the ongoing work ofhelping Christians learn how to
live in the reconciliation thatJesus has already secured,
please visit us online atmissionmississippiorg or call us
at 601-353-6477.
Thanks again for listening.
This is Living Reconciled, a podcast dedicated
to giving our communitiespractical evidence of the gospel
message by helping Christianslearn how to live in the
reconciliation that Jesus hasalready secured for us by living
with grace across racial lines.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Hey, thanks so much for joining us on this episode
of Living Reconciled.
I'm your host, Brian Crawford,hanging out with my good friend,
Nettie Winters.
Dr Nettie Winters, how are youdoing today, sir?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I'm wonderful, I'm great, I'm excited about our
guest man.
I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
So am I, so am I.
Before we introduce our gueststo our listening audience, we
want to give a quick shout outto our sponsors, folks like
Nissan, st Dominic's Hospital,atlas Energy, regents Foundation
, mississippi College, andersonUnited Methodist Church, grace
Temple Church, mississippi State, real Christian Foundation,
brown Missionary BaptistChristian Life Church, doris
Howe, robert Moore, ann Winters.
(01:08):
All these good folks, thank youso much for everything that you
do.
It's because of what you dothat we're able to do what we do
.
If you would like to join thislist of sponsors and supporters
and investors in the work ofreconciliation, you can do so
really, really easy.
Just go tomissionmississippiorg Again,
missionmississippiorg, get onthat list to support this
(01:29):
podcast Living Reconciled.
Or if you would just like topartner in the work of Mission
Mississippi, you can do so thereas well.
We have an incredible guest, areally good guest, and a guest
that has become a really goodfriend, a gentleman by the name
of Kyle Reno.
Kyle is the pastor of CrossGates Church in Brandon,
mississippi.
Kyle is a husband and a father,a ferocious preacher,
(01:56):
passionate about the gospel,passionate about Christ and his
bride, but also passionate aboutmanhood and seeing brothers
come into their own as itrelates to God's vision for what
a man should be, and I'm surewe'll get a chance to talk a
little bit about that as well inthis podcast journey.
(02:17):
But first presenting to some,introducing to others, kyle Reno
, how are you doing?
Speaker 4 (02:21):
brother man.
Honored to be hanging out withmy friends and I'm enjoying
getting to know Brian and Nettiebetter and love the work that
you guys are doing and honestlylove what God's doing in the
state of Mississippi.
So humbled to be here on thepodcast and with the listeners
today.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Amen, amen.
Fantastic brother.
Why don't you tell us a littlebit about your story man?
You have a scenic route toBrandon Mississippi, yeah.
So why don't you take a fewminutes, man, and help us
navigate that journey?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Yeah, well, I think one.
I would just say I was thinkingabout this morning in line with
this podcast.
You know you're just onerelationship away from real life
change and my story shortversion of it, I told Brian I
had lunch to talk about thatsome recently.
You know I come from a familythat put the fun in dysfunction,
you know, like a lot ofbrokenness.
(03:15):
And one thing I appreciateabout my family is they never
faked faith.
So I grew up in rural Alabama.
So I grew up in rural Alabama.
I grew up country poor and Iwas never in church with my
family my whole life.
That's true.
Even to date I've never been ina worship service with my
(03:36):
father and a lot of people were.
There was a lot of Christianeseand people that were around the
things, but I never had thatexperience as a child and so one
.
There was a lot of brokenness,but at least my family never
faked it, you know, or evenacted like it was a part of our
life.
So it wasn't until my senioryear that my younger brother
(04:00):
came to Saving Fates and Christ.
He went to a camp with somepeople because he wanted to hang
out with some girls, as he'dsay.
He's eighth grade I was asenior.
He called back home and said tomy dad on the phone and our
family was going through a lotright then my dad was leaving
and there was a lot ofbrokenness in it.
He called back home to say hewas born again and we didn't
(04:21):
have language around that.
And then a couple of nightslater he called back and told my
mom that he had surrendered topreach the gospel.
So I'm a senior with an eighthgrade brother and he went from
nowhere on spiritual zero tosaved by Christ, to surrendering
to preach and is a pastor evennow at 40 something years old.
(04:43):
So he came home, came after hissenior brother.
My dad fled in that season ofour life and our relationship,
by the way, I want to say, isrestored now in awesome ways and
God's done so much in him butin that season it was really bad
.
So he left my brother's bargingthrough the doors sharing the
(05:03):
gospel with his older brotherand I'd run him out and, man, I
was trying to find life in a lotof things relationships,
athletics, and then that went toalcohol and drugs and my high
school baseball coach, my senioryear, sat us down and said, hey
, things are going to bedifferent this year because I
(05:23):
have surrendered my life toJesus Christ and so I had my
brother.
Then I had my superhero coach.
That was a pro baseball guy, 10plus years, and I'm his catcher
and he's in many ways he wasalready fathering me and now I'm
watching the gospel change hislife.
And he came after me, cameafter me, and so I believe this
(05:48):
A lot of us, brian, we talkabout manhood For me, when I saw
a man on fire for the Lord, itcaptured me.
It captured me because I watchedtransformation, life change.
It captured me because Iwatched transformation, life
change.
He was a cussing, cooler,breaking coach.
You know that's now beenchanged by Jesus Christ, and so
(06:11):
it didn't mean he stoppedbreaking coolers, it just means
he had to repent after he didand and confess his need for
Christ still.
And so, man, man, it changed me.
So by the fall of my freshmanyear, man, it changed me.
So by the fall of my freshmanyear, I'm GA and coaching with
them and made a bunch of baddecisions.
(06:31):
Man, I walked into a presenceof God, saturated worship
service with that coach out oflove for him, not because I
wanted to go to church, becausehe'd invited me a thousand times
and I finally went in and I satand, man, we know this.
It's one thing to be around thelanguage of Christ and people
(06:52):
talking about him.
It's another thing to besitting in a room in a moment
where God is making himselfknown and you're seeing people
that are alive in Christ.
And when I sat under the gospelthat fall of my freshman year
and heard it and then I saw menthat were fully alive, it
awakened something in me.
(07:14):
Seven days I wrestled.
My sinfulness came back thenext week.
I beat that coach to theworship service.
He found me on his pew and hethought what are you doing?
He literally said what are youdoing?
I said well, I thought youcould come back.
So by the end of that service Icrumbled, dude at an altar and
nobody had to lead me through aprayer.
(07:34):
I didn't know none of thatstuff anyway, but I just said
here's my life.
I need your life, jesus.
And I was born again.
And so the thing that I say andI'll shut up is you're one
relationship away from real lifechange.
My brother was impacted, mycoach was impacted by Christ,
and then they came after me.
And then, out of that Sundaywhen I was born again.
(07:57):
That next Thursday, four dayslater, I was meeting at
Shawnee's at 6 am with thatcoach and a staff member and
they started discipling me,brought me a New Living
Translation Bible, slid itacross the table to me my first.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Bible.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
And they said let's get in this.
And so two years later, bro,I'm more alive than I could have
ever imagined and surrenderingto ministry, you know, and
saying, here it is.
And so I sort of started myjourney.
So I'd say to any of ourlisteners you know, I hear and I
try to encourage people all thetime You're that relationship
If you're a follower of Christ.
(08:34):
You're that relationship forsomebody else, for real life
change, that Jesus decided thatthe gospel gets to people,
through people, and that we getto be a part of that.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yeah, yeah, talk to us about how you got here, man.
Yeah, and here beingMississippi, right, brandon
Brandon, where Crossgates Churchhappens to reside.
Yeah, like I said, you'retelling us you're an Alabama boy
.
Yeah, that's right.
Somehow you made your way here.
Talk to us a little bit aboutthat I did.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
The abbreviated version of that is the pastor
for 17 years here preceding meis David Jett, and when I came
to Christ in Gardendale, alabama, he was the associate pastor at
that church and he was one ofthe first spiritual fathers that
I had in my life.
(09:26):
I can close my eyes and picturea scene, because when I came to
Christ, there was a group in myage demographic that was
catching fire for the Lord andwe were hungry and man, we'd go
anywhere to hear more, learnmore, learn how to live this
thing out.
And one of those vivid memoriesI have is David Jett, who's a
(09:46):
pastor at Crossgates for 17years, before me, sitting in a
chair in the corner of a livingroom and a bunch of youngins
sitting at his feet, basically,and just asking questions like
hey man, how do you really pray?
Hey, dude, what's this fastingthing?
Like, yeah, explain to me theOld Testament man.
Yeah, I need some help, youknow.
(10:08):
And he just became, in a newcovenant way, a rabbi for a lot
of us and a spiritual father.
Fast forward, two years later,two and a half years later, he's
hiring me on staff at GardinaleFirst Baptist to be a college
pastor, and so my relationshipwith him is a big part of why
(10:28):
I'm here in Brandon Fast forward.
Years later had the privilege.
Katie and I my wife plantedchurch Conway, arkansas.
10 plus years see a move of Godin central Arkansas turns into
multiple churches and we got toride a great ride.
Bought five acres.
Brian and Nettie are going tobuild a house.
(10:48):
Give me a plot to bury myselfin.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Yeah, yeah, brian, at every intention.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
And then the Lord gave us a word Toward the end of
that.
We'd been able to appoint fourlead pastors at the churches
there in central Arkansas.
My role had changed to moredirectional oversight, preaching
it to the primary locations.
And then Joshua 22, when really, joshua looks at the three
tribes that had promised Mosesthat they would help establish
(11:18):
Israel on the other side of theJordan if Moses would allow them
to come back to this side andestablish themselves, and Moses
said, yeah, if you'll fulfillthat and help us establish on
the other side of Jordan, youcan come back here.
Well, joshua 22 is the momentwhere Joshua says to those
tribes hey, you did everythingyou said you was going to do.
(11:40):
I want you to come, I want youto feel the freedom to go back
home and to see what God's doneon this side of the Jordan, on
that side of the Jordan.
(12:04):
So what I've skipped out here isI had the privilege of serving
five years, from 2008 to 13, asDavid Jett's associate pastor at
Crossgates, before we left togo plant a church in Conway,
arkansas, and so it nevercrossed my mind until that
moment, in the Word, that Godhad released us.
We'd done everything we weresupposed to do in Arkansas and
that the Lord was calling us toMississippi, everything east of
the Jordan, everything east ofMississippi.
And what the Lord put in myspirit then was to believe for a
move of God across the state ofMississippi.
(12:26):
That's marked by many thingsMen, lives being changed by a
prayer movement in the state andto just be a help, just be a
part, just be a part of what Godis wanting to do in the state
of Mississippi.
So I got that word from theLord, sat on it, told my wife
about it and she said well, ifthat's the Lord, you know we'll
do it, but I don't want you tosay anything about it.
(12:46):
And then that was in April.
In July, a few months after that, david Jett calls me, not
knowing about that conversation,and says hey, I think I
fulfilled my role here.
I think that I was.
I think his word for him is hefelt like he was like King David
(13:06):
, he had done the part to war onbehalf of this church and that
the Lord was going to bring meto be a part of building.
And that's been true.
So we've been here this nextJanuary It'll be three years had
a one year transition herewhere I got to honor a spiritual
hero, which was awesome, tohonor him and to walk with him.
(13:27):
He still serves on our staff asa teaching pastor and ministers
to people every day.
And then he handed it off to meand, man, we've been watching
the Lord do some really coolstuff.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, it's fantastic man, that's fantastic.
You know, kyle man, you havealways, ever since I met you,
and we've known each other look,man getting close to a year I
think now where we've kind offormally been kind of connecting
and building.
But one of the things that'salways struck me about you is
(14:01):
that you are a bridger, you knowyou're a connector, you have
the ability to just kind ofbring different pieces and
voices together.
Really curious, man.
Is that something that the Lordcrafted in you later in life?
Is that something that the Lordkind of used your story to,
(14:23):
kind of building you andcultivating you?
Because you know some of thosethings are nurturing, bringing
salvation.
We don't know what God is doingand then we come back 20 years
later it's like, oh okay, now Isee why God put me in those
situations.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
You know how would you speak to that as it relates
to what God was doing in yourlife regarding that, yeah, yeah,
I think the Lord doesn't wasteone part of our story, right,
yeah, yeah, I think the Lorddoesn't waste one part of our
story, right, yeah, he redeemsit, even the bad parts, the
broken parts.
And so I mentioned, you know,that I grew up, I would say,
country poor in Alabama.
A part of that and, brian, whenyou talked about this, you know
(14:59):
I went to Johnson ElementarySchool from kindergarten to
sixth grade, where I was one oftwo white guys in my class, and
so all my friends were black men, black young men, and what that
did for me, I think, andhonestly, as broken as my family
was in the different parts ofit, I think one of the greatest
(15:23):
things God gave me is I lived onthe other side of the tracks
for a while and what that didwith me is made me very
comfortable relationally withpeople that look different than
I do and by God's grace, thathas served in kingdom ways that
I'm very, very grateful for.
So I gravitate toward thoserelationships.
(15:47):
You know I want to foster thoserelationships for the sake of
my kids that are growing updifferent than I did.
You know that they would seethe kingdom of God as it is
presented in Scripture,displayed through the way their
dad lives, relationally, youknow, through the way that I
lead, lord willing,intentionally.
(16:08):
So I think part of that is, youknow, by God's grace I'm just,
I'm comfortable in that spacebecause I grew up, I was
foundational years of my life,you know, I got to have those
relationships that makes itnatural for me to walk into.
And then the other thing, man.
I think that shaped early whenI came to know Christ.
(16:32):
It was like I came to knowChrist and somebody gave me a
passport and that's a greatcompliment to the church I came
to know Christ in because theywere sending people like crazy
and I was young and full of zealand was all in and I was that
guy.
So before I'm on ministrythey're letting me lead mission
trips and I'm like a year and ahalf in the faith which I'm like
(16:56):
man thinking about now is likeI would never let anybody do
that, you know, ever.
But we were living on the edgeof mission, so much so that I
mean, in those first 10 years ofmy faith I filled a passport up
.
I was going everywhere, goinganywhere, and what it did is it
got me above, honestly, aboveany contextual part and saw the
(17:21):
kingdom as it pertains to everynation, tribe and tongue and it
built something in my heart andI hope to see God nurturing the
heart of our church in the heartof our city and state that the
Lord Jesus has got a big thinggoing on, a big thing and it
(17:42):
transcends all those lines thatwe build and he's building a
family.
He's building a family and Ijust want to be a part of that.
So I think some of those things,god in his grace, sovereign
grace, let me experience youngin life.
That would help, but then alsoyoung in faith.
(18:03):
That helped shape mindset.
And now, like you saw, I meanwe got to lean into.
Now we're leaning into momentslike with Better man, what we've
used before, saying like man.
We're going to be veryintentional around diversity,
very, very intentional inbridging those denominationally,
racially, all the stuff we getlost in saying no, no, no, no,
(18:26):
no, no.
We're going to let missiondrive us, mission drive us and
we're going to let any of thosethings distract us.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Yeah, yeah, you know, kyle, people use that word
mission a lot and I'm not sureSometimes it's in context of
what it really means biblicallyas it relates to mission.
But you talked about thisdiversity, you talked about
racially denominated,politically otherwise being
diverse in the kingdom.
(18:55):
This intentionality on yourpart to cross those lines, to
approach those lines, as you say, fit into that kingdom mission
as it looks toward the biblicalperspective of missions.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Yeah right, yeah, I think, nettie, and you know
y'all live this.
I mean, you have strived andbeen an example of it, so I want
to honor you for that and theway that you've done that here
and just your reputation for thekingdom.
But relationships drive what wedo Right, and so I think you
can't mean in a lot of times,unfortunately, the church gets
(19:39):
lost in mission statements andvision clarity.
You know, and, like man, we canput it, we can put it on a
website, you know, and we canput it like I don't know any
church or many, let's just goeven organization that that's
worse at salt, probably thatdoesn't have, you know, some
clarity around statements.
(19:59):
You know some clarity aroundstatements.
But the question I have, andwhat drives me, is going like
what ways are we fosteringrelationships to actually help
us fulfill that mission?
To actually fulfill thatmission, how are we being
intentional?
For us, a vision statement, asimple vision statement for our
church, is helping people findhope.
(20:20):
We want to be a church thathelps people find hope.
Oh, that's great.
I mean, you put that on a tag,looks good on a shirt, you know,
like all that.
But how are we helping ourpeople, our people that are part
of this faith family, identifythose in their life that need
hope, you know, and how are wehelping them engage across that
(20:42):
in that workspace, school system, family dynamic, build the
relationships so that themission of the kingdom can get
to that person to see their lifechange.
So that's on a micro level inlight of our church, individual
people.
We'll take that on a region,jackson Metro.
You know, like part of that,that, when we leaned in saying
(21:06):
like, hey, we want to see Godmove in the hearts of men in
Jackson Metro area, well, whatthe Lord put in our heart from
the front, from the verybeginning, is one one.
This is in God's heart.
So we ain't got to questionthat.
Like we know that God, godwants men to win and when men,
when men win, everything elsegets changed.
(21:28):
But if we want to do that in away that really impacts the
heart of a city region, then Igot to build some relationships
with pastors that are differentthan I am I got to go sit down
with.
I got to go sit down and havelunches, coffees, spend time,
you know, and to the point thatthey know I don't want from you,
(21:50):
I want for you, I want for thekingdom, you know, and man,
listen, y'all have been aroundthis long enough.
You know when someone shows upand they want from you, know,
like you know.
But what I would pray is, in akingdom movement to fulfill the
mission, is we show up and belike man.
We want for the kingdom, wewant to experience this together
(22:18):
, like I want you to feel thewind of seeing the kingdom
advancement in your church and Iwant to cheerlead that.
I want to be.
I don't want, you know, astatement that the Lord has put
in my seared, in my heart, isthat I don't want to be known, I
do want to be used and I thinkin our culture today, everybody
(22:41):
wants to be used.
You know, and I think in ourculture today, everybody wants
to be known, everybody wants tobe known.
That's what social media feeds,that frenzy, you know, and we
want to be on man's radar, youknow, and what God's saying is
like no, just be on mine, justbe in the center of what I'm
doing and bring people alongwith you, and God will use, will
(23:04):
use that.
And so I felt like we wereseeing, you know, in our region.
You know that God is bringingus together around mission, but
it takes strong relationship.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
It takes, it takes trust over time.
Yeah, you know, kyle man, thatthere's a.
You mentioned how culture iskind of pushing against the
current, so to speak, ofrelationship and kind of, in
some ways, warping what it to bedeeply known.
(23:40):
Right, we trade in, we trade inattention, we trade we, we, or
we trade in to be deeply known,for attention, for platform you
know, for quote unquoteinfluence as it, as it relates
to social media influence, right, we trade, we trade in to be
deeply known for all of that.
In other words, we're tradingin relationship and and even as
(24:01):
you, and even as you, and evenas you, you know, as you're
describing what you'reencouraging your church towards,
the one thing that I'm struckby is the culture runs counter
to this.
Also, as it relates to pace,right, it's like everybody is in
such a rush trying to buildtheir own kingdoms, trying to,
(24:25):
you know, build their, you know,build and enhance their
portfolios and things of thatnature, which obviously nothing
wrong with, you know, stewardingthat which God has given us,
but there is such an insatiableappetite for it, right, and that
keeps us moving.
(24:45):
At this pace, this breakneckpace, it makes it hard to do the
very thing that God is tellingus to do, which is to know one
another deeply and to be deeplyknown by others.
That leads to this kind ofcultivation of relationships
across all these different lines.
You know, what counsel would yougive to church members?
(25:09):
Because let me go back becausesome of these relationships, we
feel like we are naturallygifted Nettie's naturally gifted
to interact with anybody thathe walks in a room with right.
You're naturally gifted tointeract with anybody that you
walk in the door with, butthere's a lot of people that are
in the hustle and bustle thatdon't feel this natural gifting,
and yet God is still callingthem to these relationships
(25:31):
across lives.
What kind of counsel would yougive to that?
Speaker 4 (25:34):
group, that specific group, yeah, yeah, I think one
is to come to a right biblicalbelief around our need for
relationship.
That's not a personality type.
I think you're exactly right.
You know a lot of people thinkNettie is a winsome person.
(25:55):
You know, I don't getuncomfortable in a room either.
You know like I walk in and Ican sit at a table with
strangers and by the end of thelunch, you know, know them and
be comfortable in thatconversation, right?
Well, not everybody is naturalwith that and that's OK, right.
When you don't, you don't haveto fake it or you don't have to
(26:17):
try to be somebody else.
But to realize is that you needthe presence of people and
people need your presence, youknow.
And so what you what?
Every person.
Take a church member we say thishere.
Some of our language aroundthat is that we want to make
sure that every person that's apart of our church finds their
(26:39):
group of people each season oflife.
So we want you, we want to helpfind your people, and sometimes
that might mean that you're thequiet person in the group for a
while.
That's okay.
Just know who your group is,find your people, find your
expression of God's family in acontextual way, in a way that
(27:03):
you could say, hey, I'm going tolean into that.
And here's the truth.
Like I always say, friendshipsdon't happen in a microwave,
right, like true, genuinefriendship.
Slow cooking man.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
It's slow cooking.
Yeah, it's slow cooking.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
And church leadership books will hate this what I'm
about to say, but we know it'strue.
Just because you get in a lifegroup, a small group, a Sunday
school class or whatever kind ofway you do your group structure
which I value, all of themdoesn't mean you're going to
form and foster deep, abidingrelationships, does not mean
(27:41):
that right.
No, what I think is it helpsset the table.
What it does is it gets youaround people that you can be
intentional beyond that moment.
You can be intentional in it.
But then beyond it, like beintentional in that moment, like
get to know people a little bitbetter.
Man, circle around scriptureman, learn how to pray together,
(28:02):
share, be intentional in thatmoment.
Like get to know people alittle bit better.
Man, Circle around scriptureman, learn how to pray together,
share some things, growaccountable.
But that relationship that youneed most is going to take time
and the best way to get thatkind of friendship, spiritual
friendship, is to be that kindof friend.
Yeah, that's the best way.
I've often counseled withpeople that show up and they're
(28:27):
saying I need those friendshipsin my life, which is awesome,
glad you acknowledge that.
But what they want is just toget that friendship.
But what they have to make sureis I'm going to give that kind
of friendship.
I'm going to give that kind offriendship.
I'm going to give that kind ofrelationship If you'll show up
(28:49):
to be that kind of brother, thatkind of sister.
Here's a promise.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
If you, sow that you'll reap it, that's the
principle of the kingdom.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
If you show up to say I'm going to be the friend this
person needs right now, I'mgoing to be that.
Even if that's just, I'm goingto stand beside them in the
storm.
I ain't going to say a wholelot, I'm going to pray when it's
needed, but I'm going to bepresent and if you'll give those
kind of relationships, you'llbe that kind of person.
You'll look up I don't carewhat your personality type is,
(29:19):
you'll look up, steadfast overtime, up.
I don't care what yourpersonality type is, you'll look
up, steadfast over time.
You'll look up and you'll havethose kind of friendships.
You know, and we do this in theChristian world we make that,
we make it an impossible thingto accomplish because we set
some idealistic things like man,if you'll get in here, you'll
get that relationship.
(29:39):
Well, no, you got to work at it.
It's going to take time and yougot to be that yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Yeah, it's interesting that you talked
about that principle of thekingdom, because Luke 638, given
it shall be given unto you.
Good measure, pressed out,shaken together, running over,
will be put into your lap forwhat the measure you use it.
For what the measure you use,it will be measured back to you.
And people often hear thatpassage and they're thinking
(30:05):
about all sorts of things,they're thinking about finances,
they're thinking about money.
The context of that passage isrelationships.
Right, it starts judge not andyou won't be judged.
Condemn not and you won't becondemned.
Forgive and you'll be forgiven.
Yeah, and it will, will begiven.
It is a relational concept.
That's really at the now.
Obviously you can, you know,it's a principle that you
(30:25):
probably can expand to otherthings, but at its root it is
relational Giving that which youdesire to receive back.
And so, like you said,friendships have to be given,
and the intentionality, the timespent and even like the ideal
of, like you said, there aresome people that are naturally
gifted to walk in a room andjust light it up, right, but I
(30:49):
like to think aboutrelationships in terms of
relational capacity.
In other words, that's like theGod-given container that God
has given me to do relationships.
But then there's also relationalcompetency and relational
fluency, and I feel like that'sdiscipleship, right.
Learning how to be a friendright.
So I might be an introvert, butit doesn't mean that I have to
(31:10):
be a poor friend and I can be anintrovert that learns how to
not just be a good friend butlearns how to be a good friend
to a diversity of people.
Right To learn how to crosslives with intentionality and
connect, even in my introversion.
Right.
And so oftentimes I fear thatwe allow those personality types
(31:33):
to push us further and furtheraway from what I feel like is
ultimately kingdom mandate,which is to be family right and
to be connected in some form orsome fashion to the larger body
of Christ that he's grafted usinto.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
You know, Brian and Kyle, you know God put the DNA
of relationships in us from thevery beginning, and so there's
no question in my mind that whenGod designed us, he had
relationship in mind, First ofall with ourselves and with him
and with others.
The challenge is during theevangelism and the discipleship,
which I don't think the churchhas done a very good job in.
(32:16):
But when you're talking aboutthat, how do you capture or
cultivate that relational DNAthat's in you?
I think that's that's thequestion for me, and I'll let
you guys rattle with that shesaid the answer oh, wise one.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Yeah, right, right, you can share the answer, jesus.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Jesus is the answer, man you know he is amen you know
the little boy sitting in classand the teacher says what is
brown and clam trees eat nutsand do all that.
And little Johnny says itsounds like a squirrel, but I
know the right answer is Jesus.
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Well it is, it's the life change you know, nettie.
I mean once you've been changedby Christ, you know, and the
gospel gets to you.
The good news got to me.
I'm studying right now andpreach Ephesians 2.
You know?
Speaker 1 (33:17):
we're walking through .
Speaker 4 (33:17):
Ephesians, and I'm thinking, you know, we all got
the same problem.
We were dead in our trespasses.
Dead in trespasses, it's sinsman.
We were not adversely affectedor just stunned in our
sinfulness, you know we sin,because we are sinners, we're
(33:38):
broken, you know, and we can'tmake our way out of that.
And what the good news ofChrist is is he's come for all
people, you know, to make usalive and to make us one, and it
continues on, you know, inEphesians 2, to make us family,
to make us family.
(33:59):
You know, and I think what yousaid, if you could lift your
head enough to see that Jesus isadopting a family that looks
like every nation, tribe andtongue, every people group, from
every background, and ourdesire in fulfilling the mission
of God is to see the fullestexpression of that family here
(34:22):
and now, here and now, and tolive in that kind of
relationship now, which will betrue, a picture of what will be
true ultimately in heavenforever.
But that takes time, it takesintentionality, it takes focus,
man, it takes heart change, ittakes transform to the renewing
of our mind.
You know, it takes thecleansing, washing my mind with
(34:45):
the water of the word so that Isee things the way God sees
things, I hear things the wayGod hears this, I feel what God
feels around this.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah, yeah, Such a good conversation.
I'm often, you know, I'm reallyreally really thinking a lot
about how, the many differentways in which the heart is being
tugged at, Sometimes we'reaware and sometimes we're not
aware.
Like I mentioned to you, to youguys, that pursuit for more
(35:19):
right, the pursuit to be forattention, the platforming, you
know, pace of life, phones, youknow I've been reading this
really really good book that'stalking about just how
technology in and of itself hasbeen an alienator, whether we
understand it or not.
You know music, for example.
(35:40):
Music used to be a communalexperience and then, in the late
70s, Sony came up with thisgame changing device called the
Walkman, where now you listen tomusic in your headphones by
yourself.
Now you listen to music in yourheadphones by yourself, and
then eventually it went from theWalkman to streaming, where
it's like now we don't even havea common album that we listen
(36:02):
to together.
You got a million differentsongs over there that you listen
to.
I got a million different songsover here that I'm listening to
, and so when we come togetherfor community, we're not really
even comparing notes like weused to, or there used to be
like a.
It went from not having a TV inthe home right to having a
family TV in the home where weall had the same five channels
(36:23):
and we all watched the sameshows and we create a community.
And then it went from that tonow we're all looking at this
little tiny stream that has beencustomized to basically meet my
demand, right, and so we don'thave it.
And so there's an unraveling ofcommunity even in that, without
(36:44):
us recognizing it, because wedon't share as many communal
experiences.
Even your game system, Kyle.
We used to have Nintendo 16-bitand Super Nintendo and all of
that, except it wasn't online.
It was like, hey, this is anembodied experience where you
got friends that you bring overand you guys play the game and
all that kind of stuff.
And so there's so many ways inwhich we're changing, but we're
(37:07):
not adjusting for that change toin the midst of it.
Right, welcome the change andsay, okay, great, great
technological advancements,that's awesome.
But how do I preserveconnection in this?
We're not asking that question,we're just adopting these
things.
So, okay, great, you know paceof life, we're getting quicker,
we're getting faster, you knowwe're commuting more.
(37:29):
Okay, great, got it.
Understand, that's changed.
That's life.
But how am I preservingconnection in the midst of that
change?
Because God desires that Iremain connected to him and I
remain connected to his people,right?
So what am I doing to preservethat?
And that is what I find to bethe challenge of the day, kyle,
(37:49):
because I think it's justhappening to us.
I don't even think we realizethat it's happening to us, if
that makes sense.
But am I just phrasing andthinking that I'm here having a
counseling session with mybrother now, but talk to me
about that.
I mean, is that something thatresonates at all?
Speaker 4 (38:06):
Yeah, well, I mean, I'm looking at future
generations and one, I'm raisingthem, but two, we're trying to
reach them, you and me both.
Yeah, trying to reach them inour church and our community and
in some ways I'm not making ablanket statement, but the deck
(38:27):
is stacked against themrelationally, you know, like
everything is isolating,everything is individualistic.
You know, yeah, I mean, thatcomes from sports, like one of
the things I love sports, butthat we've lost team in a way,
that's that's startling,startling.
(38:47):
You know, like I I have a vividimage.
I helped coach one of my son'slittle sixth grade football
teams and last year, firsttouchdown of the year, you know,
and we score a touchdown.
And I watched, we had film ofthis the guy who scored runs
(39:08):
into the corner in the end zoneand then the other 10 players
all walk away by themselves andno one celebrated that.
We just scored a touchdown.
Yeah, let me tell you why.
And then I watched it was amanifestation of what's true.
Because in their mind, hescored not, we scored yeah, and
(39:32):
because everything, every statthing they have is about
individual stuff.
Every, all, all this it's aboutyou, it's about you and that's
what all your preferences, allyou're saying like, hey you,
that they build whole algorithmson how to capture and keep your
attention.
You know yes yeah, so, yes, soyeah.
(39:53):
I mean I think it's.
And here's the thing, man, theguy mentored me, david Jett,
that preceded me here one of thebest statements he ever made.
He says the enemy alwaysisolates to assassinate.
He always isolates toassassinate If you find yourself
alone.
If you find yourself alone inlife, one no, you're not truly
(40:16):
alone.
One no, no, no, no, no one.
Obviously God's there, won'tyou, but also the enemy's got a
plan.
He got you out there byyourself because you'll believe
a lot of things by yourself.
You shouldn't believe You'll doa lot of things.
You shouldn't do Like that.
Nobody slips and falls in onemoment into moral failure.
(40:38):
There's a slow, steadyisolating like that.
I was about to say isolation,yeah, isolation, isolation, yeah
.
You get out there and you'rethe master of your own soul.
Yes, and you don't want that.
You don't want that.
You need some others in theboat with you that are looking
(41:01):
at you and going, hey, brother,we're going the wrong way, your
heart's trending toward thewrong things.
I feel you might be deceived.
I got a group of guys, brian, Imeet with Tuesday mornings.
You know that are my guys andmy caveat is, when I show up
there, I'm not Pastor, I'm Kyle,you know, because I need
(41:26):
someone in weekly ways thatlooks at me and go, hey, are you
really okay?
Like, hey, I'm just, I'mreading you and you, if you,
when you really get to knowpeople over time, I can look and
go man, I listen to something'swrong.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Like something's off.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
Something, but you got to show up to get that.
Yeah, like you got to show up,you got to be that to get that,
and so you got to give.
You got to give, so we'll begiving back to you Got to so I
would say I encourage any of ourlisteners if you're alone in
this season of life, you're in adangerous place.
You're in a dangerous place.
(42:01):
So be brave, be courageous.
Maybe you've been burned bythose relationships before.
Well, welcome to the party,Welcome to the human experience
you know absolutely man yeah so,but don't give up on it, don't
give up on, don't give up onwhat God intended and designed
(42:25):
like.
You need it.
You need, you desperately needrelationships, so go be that
yeah yeah, yeah, man.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
I tell people often that join my church, that the
Lord has allowed me theprivilege to pastor, but I tell
people often that you're lookingfor a perfect church man, just
stop the membership processright now, because, because
(42:54):
eventually, eventually, at somepoint in the life of this church
, I'm I'm probably going topunch you in the teeth, and it's
not going to be because I wantit to right.
I'm going to say something.
I'm going to say something thatmay be hurtful, but I promise,
man, that I'm not setting out tobe hurtful.
I'm not.
I'm not waking up today saying,hey, how can I hurt the members
(43:15):
of my church?
But I'm going to probably saysomething that you didn't agree
with.
So I'm probably going to walkby on a day and maybe my posture
, my countenance, communicatesthat I'm not welcoming or I
don't want to talk to you.
There's going to be somethingwhere you're like, hey, man, I
felt a little hurt by the waypastor approached me today, or
(43:35):
by the way he didn't approach me, or he ignored me, or he did.
So, he that.
And I say that to just set thetable, man, Listen, man, I'm
human and you're going to besurrounded by humans in this
church.
Yeah, that's right.
And so don't allow, don't letyour whole you know ideal of
relationships and what God iscalling you to hang on whether
(43:57):
or not all of us can live andadopt perfect postures toward
one another, because that's nothow this works, Right and so.
And so to your point don't quit.
Don't quit on relationships.
There are obviously some peoplethat do intentionally set out
to hurt people and they wound usgreatly when they do.
But, man, God has a millionother opportunities for us.
(44:20):
That's made available.
Where people are, they'll belife changing.
They'll feed you life if youremain open and available for
God to minister to you throughrelationships.
I mean, there's a reason why hesaid that it's not good.
It's not good that man's alone.
(44:43):
It's not good.
We were created, like Nettiesaid, it's in our DNA to be
relatable and connect.
So, Kyle, man, it's been anincredible time, man.
We could talk to you for hours.
I know I could talk to you forhours.
I know I could talk to you forhours and give us one thing as
you think about, you know justwhat God is doing in Crossgates
(45:03):
as what God is doing in branding, what God is doing in your home
, in your life.
Give us one thing, man, that'sjust lighting the spark in you.
Speaker 4 (45:12):
Yeah, here's what's in my spirit.
I'll put it that way.
I think that something ishappening right now that started
long before us.
I think that men, I'll sayagain, I think men like Nettie,
(45:32):
men like David Jett precedingmen like that, I think, men,
I'll say again, I think men likeNeddy, men like David Jett
preceding men like that, I thinkthat there's been prayers that
have stacked up in heaven forour country, for our state, that
the Lord has heard and that heis moving.
And there's a moment that'shappening right now that you can
(45:53):
miss.
You can miss Because, obviously, the enemy loves headlines and
so if you go turn down, I don'tcare what your news choice is.
The enemy is promoting hisgarbage on every part of that.
But here's the other side.
But the Lord Jesus is changinglives right now.
(46:13):
There is a move of that.
But here's the other side.
But the Lord Jesus is changinglives right now.
There is a move of God that ispercolating, it's moving, and so
I would encourage all of us tobelieve big right now.
Believe big, believe big inyour church man, believe big in
your church man, believe big inyour city, believe big on behalf
(46:36):
of what God's doing in ournation right now, and I'm
talking about what he's doing inthe, in the lives of the next
generation of followers ofChrist, the amount of people
that are coming to know Christ.
You know, I have the privilegeof Sitting on the board for
better man and knowing some ofthe stories that, man, there are
right now.
(46:59):
Right now, there are thousandsof groups of men that are
meeting across the United Statesthat's just using these
resources.
Well, that was not so, that wasnot so years ago.
Like, and that's just one,that's just one thing that's
happening, man, you go back to,uh, nadine, don't remember the
promise keepers kind of uh ofdays and things that was
happening in the lives of men.
(47:20):
Like, things are percolatingright now.
I know I know big civic centersthat are getting rented for 26
and 27, you know to forconferences to be held to rally
men across denominations, acrossraces, across, to really lift
up Jesus and see what it meansto be God's man.
(47:41):
You know.
So I mean, as I know, I know aguy that tracks prayer movements
and the amount of differentprayer rallies and things, and
more of those are happeningright now than have happened in
years past.
And so what I think is I reallybelieve we may be, may be in
(48:02):
the beginning waves of a realmove of God.
A real move of God Now,regardless if that ends up true
and being nationally in scopeand sequence and all those kind
of things, we should believe forright where we are.
We should believe for it in ourchurches, in our cities.
And my heart is Lord, I prayyou.
(48:24):
Send it global awakening,national revival awakening.
But if not, man, bring it toMississippi.
Bring it to Mississippi, lord,let it be a catalyst for that.
And that's not just talk,that's tangible.
You could go and see that asthings are happening in an
uncommon momentum right now.
(48:45):
So believe big is what I wouldencourage folks.
Speaker 2 (48:49):
Amen, amen, let it be , let it be Lord, let it be Amen
, amen.
Brother, it's been great tohave you, man.
Thanks so much for joining us.
How can people keep up withKyle, reno and Crossgates Church
?
Speaker 4 (49:01):
Yeah, crossgatesorg.
I'm not cool so I'm not on anysocial media.
That's not because that's somespiritual statement, it's
because I'd get too easilydistracted.
So I'd say go to Crossgates.
You know, you can find thingslike that from preaching what
(49:22):
God's doing in his church.
And then I do serve with Betterman and so I have stuff that's
there If you go to bettermancomthat you can find any of those
resources as well.
Speaker 2 (49:35):
Fantastic man, fantastic, and we are incredibly
grateful for our brother, kyleReno, joining us on this podcast
.
Feel free to like, share andsubscribe.
If you're a social media person, that's for sure.
If you're like Kyle, if you'relike Kyle and you're not just
spread it by word of mouth, thispodcast.
Speaker 4 (49:55):
I do podcasts.
Now I do podcasts.
Good deal, good deal.
Speaker 2 (49:57):
Or you can search on any podcast app and you can find
us Living Reconciled.
And then also, we want toextend a personal invitation to
you.
September, the 25th, atMississippi College, anderson
Hall, we are hosting our LivingReconciled celebration.
It's going to be a family stylebanquet, which means that the
tables will be a little biggerand there'll be a little bit
(50:18):
more food passed around thetable, with the goal to
establish and create a space forconnection and seeing one
another.
Heard on this podcast today, oneof the great challenges of our
day is that, because of allthese things that we talked
about technology and pace andpursuits we don't see one
another, and so we would like tocreate a space where that
(50:41):
begins, that changes, where webegin to see one another deeply,
and so there'll be dialogue,music, there'll be conversations
, there'll be great food.
It's all around the attempt tocreate space to see one another.
So join us September 25th atMississippi College, anderson
Hall.
You can go tomissionmississippiorg to
register for tickets.
We would love to have you joinus that evening.
(51:04):
Again, it's been great to haveour brother, kyle Reno.
This is Brian Crawford, nannyWinters, signing off saying God
bless, god bless.
Speaker 1 (51:14):
Amen.
Thanks for joining LivingReconciled.
If you would like moreinformation on how you can be a
part of the ongoing work ofhelping Christians learn how to
live in the reconciliation thatJesus has already secured,
please visit us online atmissionmississippiorg or call us
at 601-353-6477.
Thanks again for listening.
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