June 17, 2025 • 55 mins
Pastor Geno Gardner shares his transformative journey from military service to ministry, revealing how discipleship and trust in God's process unlocks purpose and transforms lives. His DEA model (Discipleship, Evangelism, Apologetics) provides a framework for believers to discover, defend, and develop their faith.
• From passed out drunk to passing the torch: Pastor Geno's pivotal moment in Korea that redirected his life
• Military structure providing the foundation for ministry leadership and manhood
• Marriage as a training ground for discovering authentic manhood
• The critical difference between being a Christian and being a disciple of Christ
• How the Lion's Den ministry connects 94 men across six states for spiritual growth
• Saying "yes" to God's calling even when it means relocating family and facing uncertainty
• The power of allowing Christ to change behavior without changing personality
• Three words for finding purpose: "Trust the process"
To learn more about Pastor Geno's upcoming book for men's development or to connect with the Madman Podcast and other ministry resources, follow his work through Rehoboth Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, continue to press into your purpose!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Hello, my name is Valeria Wright and this is
Pressed Into Purpose.
Now let's meet today's guest.
Today's guest is Pastor Geno LGardner, pg-13.
He's the passionate anddedicated lead pastor of
Rehoboth Church in Birmingham,alabama, where the mission is
clear to preach theunadulterated gospel of Jesus
(00:46):
Christ and transform livesthrough hope, healing and
freedom.
Rooted in Luke 4.18, pastorGino's ministry focuses on
discipleship, evangelism andapologetics, guiding believers
to discover, develop and defendtheir faith.
A 22-year US Army veteran,pastor Geno brings a spirit of
(01:11):
excellence, discipline andservant leadership to his
calling.
He holds a master's inapologetics, with an emphasis on
cultural engagement fromColorado Christian University
and is passionate about bringingfaith and culture with truth
and love.
Through initiatives like MenAce, the Madman Podcast and the
(01:34):
Lion's Den, he empowers men tolead spiritually and
relationally.
Pastor Gino believes ininvesting in the next generation
, creating spaces where childrenare nurtured in their faith and
equipped to become confidentleaders.
His innovative DEA modelDiscipleship, evangelism and
(01:55):
Apologetics serves as a powerfulframework to help believers
grow deeper in Christ, share thegospel and stand firm in truth.
Anchored in 1 John, 4 and 4,greater is he that is in you
than he that is in the world.
Pastor Gino encourages everyoneto trust God's power and
(02:17):
embrace their kingdom purpose.
Please help me welcome PastorGino Gardner.
Welcome, sir.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Very welcome, very welcome to be here, thank you.
Thank you, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Listen, I have to tell people, I have to tell them
listen, we, we, before we getto all the other things, we, we
are on location.
Okay, preston, the purpose ison location in Birmingham,
alabama, okay, we, we, we aretraveling.
Okay, I thank you.
Absolutely you know for, forallowing us into your humble
abode you know what I'm saying,pleasure, you know pleasure.
(02:49):
Now I just, I just just read thebio for the people.
But listen, we've been knowingeach other for a very, very long
time.
We've known each other since wewere teenagers.
Yes, and listen, I've seen yougrow.
Yes, from you know the, the, the, the wonderful teenage man, um,
to the, the wonderful matureman of god.
(03:09):
You see what I'm saying, uh,husband, uh, father, all the
things.
You know what I'm saying.
Leader, uh, look, serving,serving all the things I read.
You know what I'm saying, um,I'm just, you know, I, just I
want to.
I want you to start, I want tostart off and I want you to tell
the people, in all the I don'tknow if I want to call them
(03:32):
assignments, but in all theassignments that you have had,
what do you believe is yourpurpose at the core?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
purpose at the core?
That's a phenomenal questionbecause, evolving, I've seen
life in so many different lanesand as I matured, of course you
see it in one space.
You see life and how itoperates in one lane and then,
as you mature and develop andgrow, you see it evolve into
something else.
And as I matured, I realized Iwas called to people for
(04:08):
development.
I realized that I was called totake people with no knowledge
of how to do a thing and helpthem create, help them
strategize and develop what itis to do and how it's fleshed
out, as you read in my bio,through manhood and also through
the Christian faith.
And those two lanes have been aspace for me to honestly help
(04:32):
people evolve, and I wasn't one.
That was a part of me, myentire.
I never realized how valuableand critical God was really
trying to develop me in thatrealm, to help people develop,
master themselves, in a sense,that they can better be men and
also believers.
(04:53):
So those two spaces is Ibelieve that that is my core
purpose is to transform and helppeople master who they are and
where they're going in theirfaith and, specifically, in
manhood.
Ok, so that's kind of my, myarea.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
So how did you discover that within yourself?
How did?
How did you come to mastermanhood?
You know, the faith, all ofthose things?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Trial, trial by fire.
It's no pretty answer for that,okay, like it's not cute at all
.
And so when you've been triedenough and gone through enough,
you realize at some point you'vegot to make another turn, at
some point it has to derail.
That train has to go anotherway down the track.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
And so in my life, as far as my manhood, I learned
Christ said it in the scriptureshe learned obedience to the
things that he suffered.
And I feel this, though, thatin my marriage I learned a lot
about manhood in the marriage,not that I had that framework
fully fleshed out as a teen, asan adolescent.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
I didn't have that Listen.
We typically don't.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
We think we do, but our Ain't the thing.
So here we have it.
I learned it through marriage,in marriage, and it does have
its ups and its downs, its cutesand its not so cute.
And so those things are areaslike you're in the moment trial
by fire.
I'm learning, but the thingabout it was my commitment to
God was relentless Okay, and Ialways want to stay committed to
him.
So in the process of meunderstanding who I was, I said
(06:29):
I'm not gonna let him go, so I'mnot gonna let this go right so
he kept me connected to furtherdevelopment.
had I lost him, I feel as thoughthat I would have left, maybe
even marriage, or ministry Okay,or or, or people okay, but it
was because of him that I keptthose things together.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
OK, so let's go back early in the manhood piece,
let's start there.
So what helped?
What were some of the thingsthat helped you to develop as a
man?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Seeing some of our forefathers operate okay right
observation for me was big, so Ireally didn't have opportunity
to have really interactivediscussions with them.
Right and in my heart, my heartand mind, I wanted that right.
So oftentimes, what we do withthose things that we cannot or
we feel as though we don't haveor received, we search those
(07:26):
answers out.
Yes, and people do it throughdrugs, alcohol, through gangs,
whatever that may be, or throughpositive modes, and in my
aspect of it, I really wanted tolearn manhood and then
leadership through the male lens, okay.
And so I didn't feel as thoughI had a pretty picture of that.
I didn't feel as though I got apretty picture of that.
I didn't feel as though I got apretty look at that, okay, a
very intuitive look.
(07:47):
Okay, someone that would sit medown, walk me through the
numbers, have grace, patienceand love with me.
And in that process I redefinedwithin myself what it was to be
a man that does that.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I was able to discover what that was through
the things that I did notreceive.
And so if I didn't for example,if I didn't receive how to take
care of my home in a positiveway instead of an abusive way
oftentimes what I would do is goback and say Lord, how can I
navigate this to make itappealing to not just me, but to
(08:24):
other men?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
And I would just take notes within myself,
restructure it and then try tolive it out.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Okay, okay.
Do you believe that yourservice in the military helped
you in that process?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Absolutely.
I mean, I wouldn't take awayfrom it at all because of the
discipline of it.
The open, well, let's say this,the well-traveled verse of it,
because we go everywhere.
So you see, culturenationalities and then you
understand it through the human,the Westernized view, then you
understand it through theEastern view, you understand it
through all these lanes andlenses, so you're able to
(09:02):
navigate what it is to be ahuman then, also to be a man
specifically, and you see itfrom both lenses and contexts,
so you're able to take that andaccept it or not.
And then take this Western viewand accept it or not, and then
you have the discipline aspect,the well-traveled discipline
aspect.
The structure, the militaryprovided structure discipline
(09:26):
aspect.
The structure the militaryprovided structure order.
You didn't have to think much,it was given to you, and so that
helped me understand howimportant it is to have security
, to have something there tolive for the rest of your life,
retirement, have a stable home.
These are frameworks of manhoodin my opinion.
So the military helped navigatewhat it is to not only have
(09:46):
structure.
But then it played into mymanhood and so I brought that
dynamic into my marriage and mymanhood.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Okay, so you've mentioned marriage a couple of
times.
I happen to know your beautifulwife.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Bless his name.
She's a beauty.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Isn't she, isn't she lovely?
She's lovely Listen.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
And isn't, she Isn't she, she's lovely.
She's a powerhouse herselfPhenomenal.
We'll have to get her on thepodcast.
You know what?
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I'm saying I move out the way for her, but I know
that you all got married veryyoung.
Let's delve into what it lookedlike for you to be a young
husband who was also stilllearning how to become a man.
(10:33):
Wow, what did that look like?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Patience and grace.
Honestly, I didn't know what Iwas doing.
My wife and I talked to eachother a lot and then also to
other people.
We didn't know what we weredoing.
My wife and I talked to eachother a lot and then also to
other people really know what wewere doing.
I'm 21 years old.
A lot of men don't reallydiscover themselves to, like 25
or later, like really start tosay, hey, I understand kind of
sort of what my purpose is at 21.
You don't know nothing.
You can come up in here and saywhat you want.
(11:00):
You was at the.
You know I was born formarriage and if these things
were just, you could say that,if you want to at 21, a 21 year
old man, I did not know Right.
What I did know is that Iwanted to serve God and I wanted
to marry her.
Okay, what that was going to be, okay or become, I couldn't
give you a defined answer onthat.
Okay, I was just trusting thatI would be patient and humble
(11:23):
enough to grow within themarriage.
Okay, to accept it's good andit's bad.
Like Job says, accept the goodand the bad of the Lord and in
the marriage and then justevolve.
(11:46):
I was very blind, I'm not goingto lie, I was blind.
I was learning as I go,learning as I went, as we do,
and we do that, and so that'swhat it was for me.
It wasn't like I was someposter child for just having
this framework developmentbefore I went into marriage.
No, okay, it wasn't me.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
So we've got the dynamic of learning to become a
man, joining up in the military,finding a wife and still trying
to discover who you are.
Was there a oh?
And also growing as a man ofGod.
(12:17):
So let's, let's, let's talkabout that before I ask this
other question what was yourearly spiritual journey like?
I mean, I met you in church soI mean.
I know you had a foundation, um,but I also know you know that
you know we don't always, uh,stand ten toes down on that
foundation you're telling all,you're telling everything, man
(12:38):
you don't have to go into allall of that, all the details you
know, share as much as you wantto share.
You know what I'm saying, butno, what was that?
What was that early journeylike as far as your, your, your
faith walk?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
My mother was everything.
She was the pillar, she was therock, she kept me in church.
It gave me a good foundation.
Now I will say that now I madea lot of dumb mistakes and a lot
of made, a lot of decisionsthat I regret.
Needless to say, god used himas pivot points for me to be the
man that I am today.
So my mother was thatfoundation and that bedrock.
She absolutely helped meestablish a core and central
(13:18):
relationship with God, somethingthat has now become unmovable,
unwavering, relentless.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Listen, I know your mother because you know she
helped not only you but a lot offolks to establish that
foundation.
Okay, listen.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
A mother to many.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
As yours, as yours.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
I know, I know, but your, mother.
Let me look at the camera.
Bless God, is this camera on?
Speaker 2 (13:43):
It is Her mama.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Look, and your mom, and in a great way our mothers
have blessed the kingdom andcontinue to bless the kingdom as
they've blessed us.
They sure have.
You see what I'm?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
saying Listen, it's the bedrock, she was the
foundation.
Yes, though I strayed, though I, they said, when the father and
the mother, when the father andyour mother has forsaken, then
the Lord will take you up, butthough he the child, though I
strayed, I returned.
I returned back.
And the thing about it was isthat my mother put that in me.
She showed me how important itwas to trust God Bottom line,
(14:17):
and that never left.
Though I made bad decisions,though I knew God was central
and that carried along with me.
That went along with meeverywhere.
I went as an 18-year-old, as a25-year-old and now, presently
as a 43-year-old, god is stillthe center.
So she was that bedrock, shestarted it, she put it in me and
I tell you right now I did notreturn back, I didn't leave it.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Because the Bible says Come on.
The Bible says Come on.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
I was trying to get the scripture out.
I couldn't form the scriptureListen listen, listen.
It says train up a child in theway they should go, in the way
they should go.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
And when they are old , they will not depart from it.
Come on, listen, come on.
So you had no choice but tocome back to it, because that's
what the Word says.
Absolutely, absolutely.
Shout out to mothers of thefaith, come on who loved
teaching.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
My mother was a teacher, as yours, studying and
reading the Bible.
She put that in me.
We would do Sunday school everySunday morning.
Before Sunday school she wouldteach me the lesson at home, see
.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
My father and mother did the same thing to us on
Saturday night, so we had tolook.
Saturday night we was therelearning that Sunday school
lesson.
We was six and eight years old.
I don't want to sit here andlearn no Bible.
Can we go back outside and play?
No, Sit on down.
We finna learn this Bible wefinna sing, we finna pray and we
finna go over this Sundayschool lesson.
That's what we finna do.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Okay, because you gonna go in there knowing this
lesson oh, man, knowing yourword that they were serious
about it Serious, serious,shaped me, made me and it's
still in me to this day, stillin me to this day that
seriousness, that focus, thatrelentlessness that she
(15:56):
possessed for the gospel, thatframed, helped shape my
worldview.
Okay, okay, as a young man,yeah, I said there's no way that
this, this woman, is thatpassionate, passionate about
something that is just a figmentof our imagination.
Right, it's a mist, a vapor.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
it has to be something more, yeah listen so I
can see some of that samepassion in you as a, as a man,
but also as a leader and apastor and a father and a
husband and all those things.
So let's so so as we put allthose things together.
(16:38):
Back to my other question fromearlier.
So we've got young man of God,we've got going into the
military, we've got a newhusband.
We've got, you know, stilltrying to search and discover
who God is.
You know, called us andpurposed us to be.
Was there a pivotal moment orany pivotal moment or moments
(17:01):
that made you say, wait a minute, I have to take notice of this.
That shifted your life?
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Absolutely, and I tell the story all the time.
It happened in Korea.
As soon as I left Chicago andjoined the military, I was going
over there with a focus todrink turn up party, as I was
doing.
Okay, just to be clear.
Okay, okay For the camera.
Did you already do it?
I was already doing.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Okay, just to be clear, okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
For the camera.
Did you already do it?
I was already doing it.
It wasn't nothing new.
Okay, I went over there withthat focus to do the same thing.
Okay, now, here it is,18-year-old kid thinking on
those lines.
God said not so.
So I get to Korea all the way,take you out of your home, your
comfort, all the way to Korea.
And I was standing out, I waswashing clothes in the barracks
(17:45):
and I seen these two dudes,these two soldiers, dragging
this dude in from outside thevillage and so they party out
there, they drink club, do allthey need to do.
He was drunk and he wasthrowing up and they were
dragging him back into the roomand at that moment, god showed
me.
He said do you want to continueto live like this, operate like
(18:05):
this?
And that, right there, turnedmy heart.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Because I too had some very situational situations
that looked very similar to ourdearly beloved brother that
they were dragging in fromoutside the club drinking on
that strong soju and he gave upa lot of you know, a lot of
fluids on that concrete.
(18:37):
He gave up a lot of bodily fluid.
And so the Lord he said listen,now, look at him.
He gave me a clear shot at thebrother.
Look at him, do you want to?
And in my spirit, now look athim.
He gave me a clear shot at thebrother.
Okay, look at him, do you wantto?
And in my spirit I felt it andI heard it.
Do you want to continue downthere?
Because right before I left Iwas in Virginia.
I had an experience like that.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Oh, where you were, the one.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Oh, passed out, oh, passed out.
Oh wow.
Yeah, we were in training.
We had our weekend pass.
I was so excited I couldn'twait to drink.
You turned up, got a halfturned up.
Got a half pint of Jack Right.
A half pint, a half pint ofJack.
A half pint of Jack Right Wentstraight to the.
(19:17):
I mean, we was in the hotelroom, we all had our drinks.
Yeah, Right.
Right, and I wasn't even 21 atthe time.
I was probably wasn't even 19yet I was still 18.
So somebody, you know, becausethe military of every age group.
So we got somebody to buy thedrinks.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Right.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Right.
And so we're in a hotel, we'redrinking.
I had a half pint, I think.
I know I did chase it.
I believe I don't know I forget, but I took it to the face.
I think I did chase it, took itto the face and next, you know,
I'm on a curve, I'm rocking.
I feel like I got to throw up.
Next, you know, I'm out.
I didn't wake up untilnighttime in a hotel room on a
(19:50):
bed.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Well, thank God for your brothers that made sure you
got back to the bed.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Now, they did take care of me and they reminded me
of that I bet they did we tookcare of you that night.
That of that I bet they did.
We took care of you that nightand those was my guys like
through all the training yes,they carried me around, passed
out wow the whole afternoonuntil it was nighttime, because
it was like afternoon we startedokay, okay, okay, you just got
(20:17):
me excited.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
You just got me excited.
I, I know, I know, see, see,okay, so listen, so listen that
visual.
This is what it made me thinkabout.
You said my guys was carryingme around Right now.
That's what you do for others.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Wow, wow.
You see what I'm saying, but inthe kingdom but you see what
I'm saying.
I do, I do, I do.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Like wow, Full circle .
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Full circle, He'll turn it man.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Now you're helping others Carry.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Carry.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
The cross the cross.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Come on.
Wow, it's innate.
It becomes inerrant that whatyou've gone through is not a
setback but a set up for whatyou'll be Absolutely.
And I now that you've.
I mean, I've told that story amillion times too, but I never
put that together.
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (21:09):
I never connected that and said that that was God.
I'm sitting here like, wait aminute, they was carrying you
and you got back to safety andlisten.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Now you carrying others and you helping them get
back to safety.
Come on, come on in the kingdom, come Helping them get back to
safety.
Come on, come on in the kingdom, come on.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Listen, listen.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Pivotal, pivotal.
Come on Pivotal.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
I mean so, look, that just blessed me.
I'm sorry, I just it blessed me.
I never thought that thatblessed me Listen, because you
got the lion's den.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
You've got, you've got the, the, the DEA.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
You've got all these things where the man cave.
You've got all these thingswhere you are helping to build
up other men Absolutely, so thatthey can be the leaders, the
fathers, the, the, the husbands,the, the, the men of God, just
who they are, who God haspurposed them to be, purpose
them to be.
And so what inspired that?
(22:04):
What made you say, okay, I'vebeen poured into God.
You've been building me brickby brick, what was it that said
man cave, lion's den, dea.
What was that?
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Man just evolving.
I evolved into all those thingsbecause, in essence, da, that's
now, but menace or menace, thatwas three years ago.
And the Madman podcast.
That was maybe four, abouteight months ago.
So that podcast, all that wasjust evolution and so mad.
(22:41):
Marriage apologetics anddiscipleship.
That's my focus on the podcastMarriage apologetics.
So marriage, that male componentis still there, and then my two
babies, apologetics anddiscipleship, and so those
things evolved and I believe inmy heart, in the core of me,
those elements are keeping meOkay, like my marriage keeps me
(23:03):
sane.
It keeps me whole.
It keeps me focused, likehaving a healthy marriage, and
then apologetics helps me defendthe faith, but then
discipleship.
It keeps my walk with Christsteady and transformative.
Yes, it keeps it building andthose things are so pivotal and
I believe in that.
Again, going back to themilitary and discipline and
focus and structure, all thosethings had a part to play, yes,
(23:27):
in these puzzle pieces thatwe're putting together of DEA,
mad Men, podcast, menace youknow the Lion's Den.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
The Lion's Den is a conglomerate of 94 men from
across the US Come on.
Birmingham, texas, tennesseeand Chicago.
Okay, across in Atlanta Georgia.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Come on, georgia's in the building, okay.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
We got like Cincinnati now.
Oh, georgia, come on, georgia'sin the building.
Okay, we got like Cincinnatinow, oh wow.
So we got like six or morestates represented, yes, In the
Lions Den, which is a privategroup.
Yes, mad Men podcast, morepublic and outward facing.
And then Menace really waschurch initiative.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
I'm still fleshing that one out, okay, but
everything's, for the most part,is the Lions in Private.
External Face and MadmanPodcast.
But, then you have the Lions inPrivate.
What was the one I missed?
Speaker 1 (24:15):
DEA.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
DEA that's church specific, but I'm creating that
as a model to teach and trainother churches.
So as I train my church, I'mgetting them solid so we can go
and partner with other churchesand teach it.
Okay, so DEA is not justsomething that you know them
solid, so we can go.
And partner with other churchesand teach it.
So DEA is not just somethingthat you know, it's a Bible
study that just you know.
We're growing, we're learning.
(24:37):
This is something.
I'm trying to turn and tour toother churches and say, man, I'm
just my church, we just theculture is beating the life out
of my church.
I got something for you.
We're coming, we're there.
Okay, and DEA is, in my opinion, will fix that problem.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Okay, let's talk about this discipleship piece,
because you've mentioned thisseveral times and I know how
important discipleship is.
I don't know that I've alwaysreally embraced discipleship as
I should or had a proper view ofdiscipleship.
(25:12):
So what does discipleship looklike for you, what does it mean
and what does it look like foryou?
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Disciple, right, a disciplined learner, right,
someone that is disciplined tolearn, but, more specifically,
one that was disciplined tolearn of Christ.
So a disciple in this context,or a Christian disciple, one
that is disciplined, learner ofChrist Jesus, a student, but one
that is being transformed byhis teaching.
(25:42):
So it's a transformative thing.
It's not just something we'regoing, it's not a social hour,
it's not just a gathering.
We're talking about this.
It's a moment, social hour,right, it's not just a gathering
and just we talking about this.
It's a moment of transformation.
It's a continuous moment oftransformation.
You never stop being disciple.
You never stop, you never stop.
I'm gonna be 80 years old.
Listen bless the lord.
(26:02):
I thank you, I receive it injesus name.
In jesus name and I will stillbe a disciple and being disciple
.
Yes, it's an ongoing thing.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Because if you stop being a disciple, that means
you're no longer learning.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Come on, you're no longer growing.
Come on.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
And if you don't have anybody to pour into, to
disciple you know what I'msaying.
Then how are you then it?
Because, so this is, this is.
This is what I've learned aboutdiscipleship.
It actually helps to hold youaccountable, come on, because
you have other people that arewatching and learning power from
you.
Powerful, so when, as you arewalking out the word of god,
(26:41):
then other people see youwalking out the word of god and
they're like, oh so that's how.
I'm not that we're perfect byany stretch let's.
Let's not get it twisted.
We are not perfect by anystretch of the imagination, but
we're all working out our ownsalvation.
You know what I'm saying.
And so, with fear and trembling.
So when we are living out thatword, other people see it and
(27:03):
they can say, wait.
Well, how did you overcome that?
Or how do you deal with that?
Or I saw how you were treated.
How did you walk away from that?
Not knock their head off, youknow cuz you know, sometimes it
get me like father.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I stretch my hands to these hands on yourself.
Could you be ready to go?
Okay, this, I know this, I knowyou hit the nail on the head,
because discipleship is anaccountability metric.
It is not to be something thatleaves alone, like you leave
alone and you put it on theshelf as if you're reading a
(27:41):
book and you set it down.
Discipleship is ongoing rightEvery day, so we talk about in
my training DEA, we talk aboutmentorship, we talk about small
groups and community that holdyou accountable to what you've
learned and what you're learningand so what you're walking
through.
It's a life breathing experience, and that's how I teach it.
I don't teach it like it's justa one and done Right.
(28:03):
I don't teach it like we hadthis beautiful workshop.
Ok, now let's go back, right?
Speaker 3 (28:07):
We have been discipled.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
We've been discipled.
Right, we have been discipled,we've been discipled.
So, after you've gone throughDEA, now you're paired with
stronger disciples.
That's now a part of whatyou're doing and how you do it.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
OK.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
But we're teaching them community.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
So it doesn't look invasive.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
You all in my business.
No, you know we're walkingthrough and I teach them through
the lens of Christ and how hedid it, so people don't get all
offended.
He walked with Peter the sameway.
Peter got him on his nerve,last nerve.
He walked with him the sameexact way, yes, and he had to do
the same thing with them.
The sons of Zebedee, james andJohn, had to do them the same
way.
They were rambunctious, yellingand fighting for the Lord and
wanting, and he like.
(28:44):
We don't need all of that,gentlemen.
He had to teach Peter, jamesand John these significant
things as he discipled them intheir own personality.
Look, in their own personality,he discipled them.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
He didn't change their personality, come on.
He encouraged them to changethe behavior.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Come on, thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Thank you, and I think sometimes we miss that.
We do and I think sometimes wemiss that when we are discipling
people or just interacting withpeople.
For sure, we don't always wewant, sometimes we want people
to act like we act or just, youknow, just do it this way.
But we're all uniquely made,uniquely made so we all have
(29:29):
different personalities that,when we are at our best, god can
use each one of ourpersonalities and impact the
entire world.
Because there are people thatyou can impact, that you will
impact just because of yourjourney.
There are people that I willimpact just because of my
journey.
And that's really what thisthing of what this Christian
(29:54):
life is all about.
Thank you, Impacting otherpeople, thank you Along the way,
because Jesus came and impactedpeople, 12 disciples to be
specific.
You know there were many others, but those 12 men then took the
gospel and spread it throughoutthe entire world.
Come on, come on.
He changed, he walked with andchanged the lives of 12 men that
(30:18):
then went and changed the world.
So the men that you are walkingwith and discipling, listen,
they, they, they in your cornerof the world you are impacting
and discipling, and now they'regoing to go out and do the same
thing.
What does that mean?
What does that mean to you, andhow do you carry that?
Speaker 2 (30:41):
That's a powerful question.
It's humbling.
You know why it's humbling?
Because I know I was a wretchundone.
I knew I was not perfect, Iwasn't right, I know I thought
wrong.
I'm dirty, filthy and I knowall the errors I've made, I know
all the things that defiled mywalk with God and yet, and still
, I had a Paul experience thattook me, on the road of Damascus
(31:03):
, from once slaying Christiansto now being one that is the
most profound in the faith.
I'm humbled by that, because hecould have selected someone
else.
He could have picked another waybut, he selected me to carry
this cross and anytime you havethe opportunity and people don't
realize that carrying the crossit's an opportunity to
greatness, because what heembodied on the cross was the
(31:24):
crucifixion of sin and anytimeyou can take that mantle on and
humbly, gracefully, live outlife.
It's a powerful movement.
For example, the thief on thecross meant today you'll be with
me in paradise.
He does this after they saidgive us Barabbas.
So now I'm in a conversationthat my own people turn against
(31:44):
me and I don't take pride, Idon't take hurt and I don't let
my emotions overtake me.
Now I go to the cross andextend grace to somebody else
and say today you'll be with mein paradise, I don't care what
you've done.
That is the cross that I'mhumbled to carry.
That's the cross that I amhonored to carry.
That's the cross that showed methat when you were yet a sinner
(32:05):
, he died for you.
That is the powerful truth ofthe gospel.
It's transformative and that'swhy I disciple men.
Okay, because men need to knowthey got hope.
Yes, your past failures thatdoes not define your future.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Come on, come on.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
And there is a way out.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
There is a way out.
If he can say today, you'll bewith me in paradise, after
saying give me Barabbas.
I can do the same and say bro,I know you failed 30 times ago,
but here we go.
Listen, let's get that stuff,gather what you got and let's
refocus and rebuild.
Okay, that's my MO.
I'm humbled to be able to carrythat cross, because that's not
(32:43):
one easy to carry.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
It's not.
It's not.
Today's episode is brought toyou by Destiny Film and Media.
Go to destinyfam1.com for allyour media needs.
Destiny, film and media, yourdestiny through film and media.
You and your wife, pastor, um,you all have pastored a few
(33:06):
churches at this point.
Listen, listen, but I I feellike each time has been a growth
point.
Listen because I'm telling youlisten I've been watching, I've
been watching, I've been, I'vebeen seeing what the lord has
done, so I so I got a question.
So I have a question, um, andI've asked you this before, um,
(33:27):
off camera, but I'm gonna askthis on camera.
So what made you?
What made you give God a yes tostart a church?
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Man, I don't know, I don't, and this is what I mean,
because my whole journey in thefaith was just to serve.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
I did not want to pastor.
I had no desire.
My mother's not a pastor, myfather's not a pastor.
He didn't go to church reallyat all.
I'd never seen my father reallygo consistently to church at
all.
My aunties and uncles, theyweren't in church.
My auntie Nene was faithful tochurch, choir faithful to this
day, but all the rest no.
(34:19):
My mother's side is almost thesame, kind of off and on, and I
didn't have a lineage like someof solid, faithful church goers,
preachers, teachers and allthat.
So for me it was like when Ilearned Christ, I learned
servitude and I was at thewashing feet moments of my
ministry just to serve, just todo right, clean, cook, serve
whatever you need, that's whatI'm doing.
And at that point God began togive me language that was far
(34:42):
beyond my comprehension and Iwould be talking to people,
ministers that were preachingand all that, and they'd be like
yo, that's kind of deep and I'mlike what and you know I didn't
really take note of that I'mlike I'm just talking to you.
I'm reading my Bible, I'mstudying it, and God put
something extra on me and Ibelieve that he gave me a David
experience, where David was inthe field, herding right, taking
(35:03):
care of the field the sheep andyet Samuel comes and anoints
him and said that he's going tobe the next king.
And I felt that that was myjourney.
Okay, I felt like I was justworking the field, okay, minding
my business.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Minding your own business.
He died and knew my heart.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
Yes, yes, yes.
He looked beyond my faults andsaw my needs.
Yes, and he knew my heart andhe anointed me in secret.
And then he made me a publicexample of what he can do in
private.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
Yes and so.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
I really never wanted it, I never asked for it.
I evolved into it.
Yeah, yeah, because I've stillbeen certain.
I tell people this all the timeBilly, I lie, not to you, val,
I lie not to you.
I say listen, I'll be fine justbeing the head of discipleship.
Put me ahead in evangelism, orput me ahead If you want to
create, I'll create anapologetics program for your
church.
Ok, I'll be found that I don'thave to have the pulpit, yeah.
(35:54):
I don't need to be on theplatform.
Yeah, I just want to developpeople.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
To do the work of the Lord.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
That's why I was with it.
But he said no, I need you topass.
I said well, here we go.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
I ain't got no history of training or pastoring
.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
I had to learn that yes yes, listen, I had a bird's
eye view of some of the learning.
You know what I'm saying,listen, but I will say it has
been for me on the outside,looking in, it has really been a
blessing to see you and yourwife continue to give God the
(36:36):
next.
Yes, glory to God.
For real, I am not going to cry, jesus, you're about to make me
cry.
To watch you all continue togive God another yes, and
another yes, and another yes,wow, and another yes, wow, and
another yes.
And these yeses are not easy,because y'all have moved from
city to city as God has led you,and I'm like y'all get, but
(36:59):
y'all got kids and y'all get,and y'all.
So you just pick it up and go,oh, because the Lord said, oh
well, bless the king and yourfaith, hallelujah.
But then like, but I would prayfor y'all and I'm like well,
god, they say that they heardyou.
Just bless them Like, show themfavor you know what I'm saying
(37:27):
Like, and then I would see Goddo what y'all said.
He told y'all Like, use what hegave y'all and make it
something.
And so for me, from the outsidelooking in, it has just really
been pretty amazing to watch.
Like for real Glory to God,like.
It truly amazes me, jesus,though, that you all continue to
(37:48):
give him a yes, even when it'schallenging, even when it looks
hard, even when it, you know, isnot, not, not popular.
Like what?
What is that?
Like?
How?
I know it's totally goes, Iknow it's Holy Ghost, but what
(38:17):
do you hold on to as?
Speaker 2 (38:17):
you take these leaps of faith.
From my perspective, yeah, welldone.
My good and faithful servant,and what that means to me is
this I want him to be pleased ineverything that I do, and my
way of saying thank you isthrough my yes.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Oh, oh.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
That pass out drunk in the hotel.
That's why I say yes.
That near-death experiencecoming from the club downtown.
That's why I say yes.
That dude out there strugglingin his marriage, out there on
the street, strung out, addicted, broken.
(39:01):
That's why I say yes.
And that's why we say yes,because we know this life is not
perfect or pretty, but he diedfor that.
Yeah.
He came for that.
And in the process ofeverything that he said, man,
everything that we've done,every transition, the
(39:21):
uncomfortable space for our kids, our kids were not comfortable.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
Listen, listen.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
They were mad.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
I can imagine they were mad.
I can imagine.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
They wasn't.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
I can only imagine being uprooted, as like in
elementary school and then onein high school.
Like what are we even doing?
What are we doing?
We moving again, again, like.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
And us, being soldiers, you know that has a
lot of more fabric.
We add to that material because, being soldiers, that's what
they do.
Every three years they move toanother state.
That's embedded in our DNA.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (39:59):
That's embedded in our DNA.
We serve as unto the Lord, asunto our commanding officers.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
Come on.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
That's the framework God gave us as we modeled this
thing called life with Christ.
Okay, we modeled that image,and so Paul talks about it too
with the whole armor of God.
He equates that to the Romanarmy and how each element of the
uniform or the weaponry isdefined out in the gospel.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Yes, right, so we take on that same mantle when we
transition.
We like yo.
Now we got to put on the helmet, now we got to put on the
shield, now we have to put onthe belt, the buckle.
Speaker 3 (40:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Right, we have to gird our loins.
We have to, and we take this inevery assignment that we do.
So us it's like we're goinginto another battleground to win
for the gospel.
We take it.
It's so deep to us, it's sodeep to us.
It's deep to us.
It's not comprehensible.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Listen, because I'm sitting here.
I'm like so listen, I think youjust made me think about Dr
Miles Monroe, god rest his soul.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
Rest his soul.
I'm not worthy of thecomparison.
I'm not worthy of thecomparison.
Go ahead.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
No, but I read his book and because he came from a
(41:40):
rule where there was a kingdom,he understood how kingdoms
function.
And so now I'm talking to youand you're like, because we had
that training as soldiers, we,we understand how that functions
.
So now you bring that training,you bring that discipline over
to the body of Christ, thekingdom of God, and you're able
to execute the mission becauseyou were trained to do so.
So like, okay, that makes awhole lot more sense.
Not that it makes it any easier, easier, but but but it's like
(42:05):
God, okay, if, if it's, if it'stime to move to the next
assignment, then it's just timeto move to the next assignment.
And okay, okay, I'll give youanother.
Yes, y'all pray for me.
Pray for me, because I justgave God a yes to his.
I've always said, god, whateveryou want to do, I will do it.
(42:26):
God.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Yes to your will, lord, yes to your will.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
I didn't always want to do it his way, though I'm
just being honest.
I'm just being honest.
Listen, I just gave him a freshyes to his way.
Come on A few months ago, likethe beginning of November, like
in real life Praise.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
God.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
But I tell you he had to get me together because what
, what he was?
Look this podcast today.
The reason why I'm doing thispodcast today is because I
finally said yes to his way,because I didn't want to do it.
I don't want to do it.
I was like God, it's a millionpeople out here doing podcasts.
What do you need me to do apodcast for?
(43:04):
So I just sat on it and I waslike, and there were so many
reasons I gave him, you know,like Moses, so many reasons I
gave him, you know why Ishouldn't be the person to do
this.
But and that was 2020 when hegave me the idea I was working
on everything else that he hadgiven me to do, but I wasn't
working on the podcast.
And in November I said Ifinally said, ok, god, I'll do
(43:30):
it your way.
And when I tell you that, thingsjust begin to fall right in
line it does so I have a more,even more respect for you all
now, because I see that thequick obedience obedience in
general, but that quickobedience garners fruit.
(43:53):
It does Not just in your life,but in the life of others it
does.
So I know we got to wrap upbecause we could talk all day
and I will because I'm lovingthis.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
This has been a blessing.
I'm encouraged this has beengood.
You're amazing.
This has been great, thank yousir.
You're doing good work.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
You are.
What is it that?
If you had to tell somebodyabout walking in their purpose,
mm-hmm what would you say tothem?
How would you encourage them towalk it out or even discover
their purpose?
Speaker 2 (44:35):
Three words trust the process.
Now, that's easier said thandone.
What they're going to find outis that life is going to throw a
lot of curveballs and monkeywrenches and, in that process, a
lot of storms and a lot ofcalamity and a lot of cloudy
days and rainy nights sleeplessnights, rainy days, right, and
in that process it's not goingto look clear to them.
It's not going to be clear, butthey have to trust that.
(44:57):
It's a journey that they mustgo through and a lot of times
the journey is the hardest partbecause each part links you to
your next elevation, your nextpiece of growth, that next piece
of wisdom.
Yes, if you don't have the linkthrough the journey, you don't
get that next access.
And it's so powerful to be ableto say Lord, I'm grateful that
(45:23):
you humbled me enough to trustyou, because in trusting you, I
didn't know the end.
I was curious, I was curious, Iwas skeptical, I was all of
this confusion, but I trustedyou and you provided me with the
clarity.
Yeah, and that's what gets youout of the storm.
Trust in the process gets youthrough it.
Yeah, and when you get throughit, you get the clarity of what
you've been made to do how hebuilt you, how he designed you.
(45:47):
And many don't make it throughthat.
Many don't make it throughthose storms.
Many throw in the towel, manygive up, many lose hope.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
Many don't even start .
Speaker 2 (45:56):
Don't even start.
And you know why they don'tstart Because they see the storm
brewing.
And oftentimes, when we see itbrewing, we'll say no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, I don't want togo through that.
And that is the crux to thefaith.
The faith is not saying no, Idon't want to go through it.
It's like, lord, if you saythat I have to trust that, if
(46:23):
you send me, I'll go.
That's Bible, and I think thatthat's the critical piece.
Lord, if you send me, I'll go,that's the yes again.
But that is the process and thebreadth of getting you to
purpose.
You've got to trust thatprocess.
You've got to trust that he'sthere.
It's not a what I talked abouta couple weeks ago, dealing with
(46:46):
trust, but also dealing withprotection.
People want to controlenvironments.
That's not trust.
You're controlling, you'remanipulating, you're managing it
.
But when you say I am not goingto touch this, please, lord,
put your hand on it, move it.
However you will, and I trustthat your hand is better in that
(47:11):
you learn you, you learn yourpurpose and you learn that this
life that we live is not our own.
We've been bought with a price.
It's not for you, it's forwhat's to come.
Speaker 1 (47:24):
Listen you talking to me.
Speaker 2 (47:26):
Listen, I'm talking to myself.
Y'all this minister to me,listen, I'm talking to myself.
Y'all this minister to me firstlisten, I'm sitting over here,
like Jesus, we helping eachother, babe as my mom would say.
Speaker 1 (47:37):
I'm about to bust over here like I should tap my
eye a little bit, cause listenwe helping each other I mean, my
goodness, like for realtrusting the process, trusting
the process, like nobody reallywants to do that because we,
(47:58):
like you said, we want to, wewant to control the outcome and
when we trust god and hisprocess, we do not control the
outcome.
We don't control any of it.
We so I've been.
I was talking to somebody, uh,uh, last week or the week before
, and they were like yeah, youknow that, that's saying, we
(48:19):
were talking about that, sayingyou know, jesus my co-pilot.
I'm like, hold on, wait aminute, he ain't.
He ain't your co-pilot, he's apilot.
What you're talking about, heain't your co-pilot, he the
pilot.
What you talking about.
I've heard people say jesus ismy co-pilot.
No, you in the wrong seat.
First of all because if you, if, if he your co-pilot, that mean
that you, you leading the ship,oh, y'all going down, okay, the
(48:42):
plane is going down, okay.
But if Jesus is in his properseat and we are, and we're
behind him and following what hetells us to do, like listen,
listen, the pilot is the onethat's in control.
We are not in control.
(49:02):
The sooner we realize that, thebetter our life will be, and I
think that's a continuallearning, because we'll get it
in one area, like, okay, I'm God, I see and I think that's a
continual learning because we'llget it in one area, like, okay,
god, I see, I'm not in control,I'm not in control.
But then we'll go right on tothe next thing and be like, well
, I need to control this.
I need to because, god, I knowyou say it, but I need to do
(49:23):
this my way.
And then we go and we stumbleand we fumble like the children
of Israel, we go around incircles, come on, and then
finally, all right, god, fine,I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired
of losing, I'm tired of all ofthis.
I do it your way.
And he's like that's what I'vebeen waiting on the whole time.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
Trust me, trust the process and in that right, you
learn that that's what you needto do.
It's not really.
It's not.
People may.
Don't beat yourself up becausemany have to go through that way
.
We have to journey that way.
Yeah, and that's all a partabout the discipling right.
You learn how to.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:01):
Right, we don't just read our Bible, and some do just
read it in its face value, andthat's it.
And some do just read in hisface value, and that's it.
But in discipleship program andprocessing with him and with
teams and communities, you learnwhat that looks like and you
begin to embody what it lookslike to trust him.
Yeah, right, and that'sdifferent than just reading
about the trust.
Right, right, right.
(50:23):
You, I want to.
I want to experience that, Iwant to share in the suffering.
Is what the scripture says Iwant to share in that suffering
just a little bit.
That's bold, right.
That's declarative bold, yeah,but at the same rate, what it
does is it teaches us whatdiscipleship.
But look, it's sharing thatwith Christ.
Man, I can't go to the cross, Iprobably wouldn't even be bold
enough.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
I'd be scared and denying.
I'd be like Peter Listen, oncethey whip me the first time.
Listen, I'm done with this.
Pack it up, listen, y'all ain'tgoing to be saved today.
Speaker 2 (50:52):
I'm not your savior.
Listen, get the crown of thornsor something.
Speaker 1 (50:56):
Listen, that cat of nine tails hit me one time.
Listen, hit me not one time.
Speaker 2 (51:00):
I'm done, I'm out Not doing it.
I ain't making it to the cross.
Speaker 1 (51:03):
Listen man, Listen man, pick somebody else.
Speaker 2 (51:06):
And he had enough endurance to say Father, forgive
them, for they know not whatthey do.
And then also today, you'll bewith me in paradise.
How do you go through all thatand still have grace and love
and patience?
That's a discipled heart.
Yeah, that's a disciple heart.
Man, it ain't just a churchgoer, that's a discipler.
I was reading, watching apodcast from Philip Mitchell and
he talked about the differencebetween a Christian and a
disciple.
Come on because there's adifference.
(51:27):
It's a whole difference, ain'tit?
I'm going to leave it rightthere.
I'm not going to get into it,but if people have heard enough
of this podcast, they'll knowthere is a distinction between a
disciple and just a Christian.
Speaker 1 (51:38):
Yeah, yeah, listen, I have we just going to stop
right here, because if we don't,we don't keep talking for about
another hour and I will.
I just will.
I have, I appreciate thisconversation.
It has blessed me.
It has even pushed me andencouraged me in ways that I
(51:59):
didn't even know that it wouldso.
So I appreciate you as a friend, I appreciate you as a man of
God.
As a friend, I appreciate youas a man of God, I just I
appreciate you for and I thankyou for your yes, because you
didn't have to say yes to comeon the Preston's Purpose podcast
, but the people needed to hearthe conversation from today.
Listen, you needed to heartoday's conversation.
(52:22):
You might want to replay it acouple of times to get all of
the nuggets, because it was itwas some good nuggets that was
dropped on today.
It's a good gems and I Iappreciate that.
I appreciate you and I justwant to say thank you from the
bottom of my heart, not only forsaying yes to being on the
podcast, but for opening up yourhome for us to be on location
(52:42):
in the great Birmingham Alabama.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
You see what I'm saying.
I'm telling you I'm humble.
The pleasure was all mine, thehonor is all mine.
I give him the glory.
I'm thankful for you offeringthe opportunity.
Our home, mi Casa is Su Casa,it's yours and I'm thankful.
This, right here, is nothing.
I'm grateful that you justoffered it to me and I'm
grateful to share with youraudience too.
Speaker 1 (53:04):
Thank you.
Well, is there anything that weshould be looking forward to
that you have coming up?
Coming out, yeah, okay, look inthe camera.
I'm working on a book.
Speaker 2 (53:12):
So for men, okay and I'm not going to share the title
with you just yet but I'mworking on a book for men and
men's development and a lot ofwhat I talked about today and
what I'll share in the book.
So be on the lookout for that.
Be on the lookout on many otherthings my Mad Men podcast and
some things we're going to beteaching and walking through.
I'm just excited to do what Godcalled me to do.
Speaker 1 (53:32):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (53:32):
Walking in my purpose .
Speaker 1 (53:33):
Come on.
Come on, because we've beenpressed.
Come on Into purpose.
Speaker 3 (53:38):
Into purpose.
Hallelujah.
Speaker 1 (53:40):
And on that note I say thank you.
Thank you, gino, thank you God.
Thank you, gino, Thank you God.
Thank you those that arelistening, that have tuned in.
I appreciate you and we willsee you next time on Pressed
Into Purpose.
Speaker 3 (53:57):
A lot of women look at me and they're like you're so
confident.
How are you so confident?
How are you the way that youare, and I'm like it has been a
journey.
Speaker 2 (54:06):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (54:07):
I didn't just wake up and become Kareem Gardner.
Yeah, it was a journey ofself-love, uh, discipline, uh,
learning myself, healing fromthe things that tried to to
break me and being okay withfacing the dragon, being okay
(54:27):
with admitting that I'm wounded,being okay with admitting that
that hurt me and that affectedme.
Yes, and not trying to sweepthat under the rug.
No, I'm okay.
No, I was not okay, was it?
I'm still living.
I still got scratches andbruises from some of that stuff
(54:47):
Just because I'm moving on andI'm okay doesn't mean it did not
affect me.
It doesn't mean I don't haveresidue and sometimes we just
learn how to keep going withtrauma.
But I was determined to facetrauma head on, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (55:02):
Today's episode is brought to you by Destiny Film
Media.
Go to destinyfam1.com for allyour media needs.
Destiny, film and media.
Your destiny through film andmedia.
Hello, my name is Valeria Wright and this is
Pressed Into Purpose.
Now let's meet today's guest.
Today's guest is Pastor Geno LGardner, pg-13.
He's the passionate anddedicated lead pastor of
Rehoboth Church in Birmingham,alabama, where the mission is
clear to preach theunadulterated gospel of Jesus
(00:46):
Christ and transform livesthrough hope, healing and
freedom.
Rooted in Luke 4.18, pastorGino's ministry focuses on
discipleship, evangelism andapologetics, guiding believers
to discover, develop and defendtheir faith.
A 22-year US Army veteran,pastor Geno brings a spirit of
(01:11):
excellence, discipline andservant leadership to his
calling.
He holds a master's inapologetics, with an emphasis on
cultural engagement fromColorado Christian University
and is passionate about bringingfaith and culture with truth
and love.
Through initiatives like MenAce, the Madman Podcast and the
(01:34):
Lion's Den, he empowers men tolead spiritually and
relationally.
Pastor Gino believes ininvesting in the next generation
, creating spaces where childrenare nurtured in their faith and
equipped to become confidentleaders.
His innovative DEA modelDiscipleship, evangelism and
(01:55):
Apologetics serves as a powerfulframework to help believers
grow deeper in Christ, share thegospel and stand firm in truth.
Anchored in 1 John, 4 and 4,greater is he that is in you
than he that is in the world.
Pastor Gino encourages everyoneto trust God's power and
(02:17):
embrace their kingdom purpose.
Please help me welcome PastorGino Gardner.
Welcome, sir.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Very welcome, very welcome to be here, thank you.
Thank you, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Listen, I have to tell people, I have to tell them
listen, we, we, before we getto all the other things, we, we
are on location.
Okay, preston, the purpose ison location in Birmingham,
alabama, okay, we, we, we aretraveling.
Okay, I thank you.
Absolutely you know for, forallowing us into your humble
abode you know what I'm saying,pleasure, you know pleasure.
(02:49):
Now I just, I just just read thebio for the people.
But listen, we've been knowingeach other for a very, very long
time.
We've known each other since wewere teenagers.
Yes, and listen, I've seen yougrow.
Yes, from you know the, the, the, the wonderful teenage man, um,
to the, the wonderful matureman of god.
(03:09):
You see what I'm saying, uh,husband, uh, father, all the
things.
You know what I'm saying.
Leader, uh, look, serving,serving all the things I read.
You know what I'm saying, um,I'm just, you know, I, just I
want to.
I want you to start, I want tostart off and I want you to tell
the people, in all the I don'tknow if I want to call them
(03:32):
assignments, but in all theassignments that you have had,
what do you believe is yourpurpose at the core?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
purpose at the core?
That's a phenomenal questionbecause, evolving, I've seen
life in so many different lanesand as I matured, of course you
see it in one space.
You see life and how itoperates in one lane and then,
as you mature and develop andgrow, you see it evolve into
something else.
And as I matured, I realized Iwas called to people for
(04:08):
development.
I realized that I was called totake people with no knowledge
of how to do a thing and helpthem create, help them
strategize and develop what itis to do and how it's fleshed
out, as you read in my bio,through manhood and also through
the Christian faith.
And those two lanes have been aspace for me to honestly help
(04:32):
people evolve, and I wasn't one.
That was a part of me, myentire.
I never realized how valuableand critical God was really
trying to develop me in thatrealm, to help people develop,
master themselves, in a sense,that they can better be men and
also believers.
(04:53):
So those two spaces is Ibelieve that that is my core
purpose is to transform and helppeople master who they are and
where they're going in theirfaith and, specifically, in
manhood.
Ok, so that's kind of my, myarea.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
So how did you discover that within yourself?
How did?
How did you come to mastermanhood?
You know, the faith, all ofthose things?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Trial, trial by fire.
It's no pretty answer for that,okay, like it's not cute at all
.
And so when you've been triedenough and gone through enough,
you realize at some point you'vegot to make another turn, at
some point it has to derail.
That train has to go anotherway down the track.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
And so in my life, as far as my manhood, I learned
Christ said it in the scriptureshe learned obedience to the
things that he suffered.
And I feel this, though, thatin my marriage I learned a lot
about manhood in the marriage,not that I had that framework
fully fleshed out as a teen, asan adolescent.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
I didn't have that Listen.
We typically don't.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
We think we do, but our Ain't the thing.
So here we have it.
I learned it through marriage,in marriage, and it does have
its ups and its downs, its cutesand its not so cute.
And so those things are areaslike you're in the moment trial
by fire.
I'm learning, but the thingabout it was my commitment to
God was relentless Okay, and Ialways want to stay committed to
him.
So in the process of meunderstanding who I was, I said
(06:29):
I'm not gonna let him go, so I'mnot gonna let this go right so
he kept me connected to furtherdevelopment.
had I lost him, I feel as thoughthat I would have left, maybe
even marriage, or ministry Okay,or or, or people okay, but it
was because of him that I keptthose things together.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
OK, so let's go back early in the manhood piece,
let's start there.
So what helped?
What were some of the thingsthat helped you to develop as a
man?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Seeing some of our forefathers operate okay right
observation for me was big, so Ireally didn't have opportunity
to have really interactivediscussions with them.
Right and in my heart, my heartand mind, I wanted that right.
So oftentimes, what we do withthose things that we cannot or
we feel as though we don't haveor received, we search those
(07:26):
answers out.
Yes, and people do it throughdrugs, alcohol, through gangs,
whatever that may be, or throughpositive modes, and in my
aspect of it, I really wanted tolearn manhood and then
leadership through the male lens, okay.
And so I didn't feel as thoughI had a pretty picture of that.
I didn't feel as though I got apretty picture of that.
I didn't feel as though I got apretty look at that, okay, a
very intuitive look.
(07:47):
Okay, someone that would sit medown, walk me through the
numbers, have grace, patienceand love with me.
And in that process I redefinedwithin myself what it was to be
a man that does that.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I was able to discover what that was through
the things that I did notreceive.
And so if I didn't for example,if I didn't receive how to take
care of my home in a positiveway instead of an abusive way
oftentimes what I would do is goback and say Lord, how can I
navigate this to make itappealing to not just me, but to
(08:24):
other men?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
And I would just take notes within myself,
restructure it and then try tolive it out.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Okay, okay.
Do you believe that yourservice in the military helped
you in that process?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Absolutely.
I mean, I wouldn't take awayfrom it at all because of the
discipline of it.
The open, well, let's say this,the well-traveled verse of it,
because we go everywhere.
So you see, culturenationalities and then you
understand it through the human,the Westernized view, then you
understand it through theEastern view, you understand it
through all these lanes andlenses, so you're able to
(09:02):
navigate what it is to be ahuman then, also to be a man
specifically, and you see itfrom both lenses and contexts,
so you're able to take that andaccept it or not.
And then take this Western viewand accept it or not, and then
you have the discipline aspect,the well-traveled discipline
aspect.
The structure, the militaryprovided structure discipline
(09:26):
aspect.
The structure the militaryprovided structure order.
You didn't have to think much,it was given to you, and so that
helped me understand howimportant it is to have security
, to have something there tolive for the rest of your life,
retirement, have a stable home.
These are frameworks of manhoodin my opinion.
So the military helped navigatewhat it is to not only have
(09:46):
structure.
But then it played into mymanhood and so I brought that
dynamic into my marriage and mymanhood.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Okay, so you've mentioned marriage a couple of
times.
I happen to know your beautifulwife.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Bless his name.
She's a beauty.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Isn't she, isn't she lovely?
She's lovely Listen.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
And isn't, she Isn't she, she's lovely.
She's a powerhouse herselfPhenomenal.
We'll have to get her on thepodcast.
You know what?
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I'm saying I move out the way for her, but I know
that you all got married veryyoung.
Let's delve into what it lookedlike for you to be a young
husband who was also stilllearning how to become a man.
(10:33):
Wow, what did that look like?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Patience and grace.
Honestly, I didn't know what Iwas doing.
My wife and I talked to eachother a lot and then also to
other people.
We didn't know what we weredoing.
My wife and I talked to eachother a lot and then also to
other people really know what wewere doing.
I'm 21 years old.
A lot of men don't reallydiscover themselves to, like 25
or later, like really start tosay, hey, I understand kind of
sort of what my purpose is at 21.
You don't know nothing.
You can come up in here and saywhat you want.
(11:00):
You was at the.
You know I was born formarriage and if these things
were just, you could say that,if you want to at 21, a 21 year
old man, I did not know Right.
What I did know is that Iwanted to serve God and I wanted
to marry her.
Okay, what that was going to be, okay or become, I couldn't
give you a defined answer onthat.
Okay, I was just trusting thatI would be patient and humble
(11:23):
enough to grow within themarriage.
Okay, to accept it's good andit's bad.
Like Job says, accept the goodand the bad of the Lord and in
the marriage and then justevolve.
(11:46):
I was very blind, I'm not goingto lie, I was blind.
I was learning as I go,learning as I went, as we do,
and we do that, and so that'swhat it was for me.
It wasn't like I was someposter child for just having
this framework developmentbefore I went into marriage.
No, okay, it wasn't me.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
So we've got the dynamic of learning to become a
man, joining up in the military,finding a wife and still trying
to discover who you are.
Was there a oh?
And also growing as a man ofGod.
(12:17):
So let's, let's, let's talkabout that before I ask this
other question what was yourearly spiritual journey like?
I mean, I met you in church soI mean.
I know you had a foundation, um,but I also know you know that
you know we don't always, uh,stand ten toes down on that
foundation you're telling all,you're telling everything, man
(12:38):
you don't have to go into allall of that, all the details you
know, share as much as you wantto share.
You know what I'm saying, butno, what was that?
What was that early journeylike as far as your, your, your
faith walk?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
My mother was everything.
She was the pillar, she was therock, she kept me in church.
It gave me a good foundation.
Now I will say that now I madea lot of dumb mistakes and a lot
of made, a lot of decisionsthat I regret.
Needless to say, god used himas pivot points for me to be the
man that I am today.
So my mother was thatfoundation and that bedrock.
She absolutely helped meestablish a core and central
(13:18):
relationship with God, somethingthat has now become unmovable,
unwavering, relentless.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Listen, I know your mother because you know she
helped not only you but a lot offolks to establish that
foundation.
Okay, listen.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
A mother to many.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
As yours, as yours.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
I know, I know, but your, mother.
Let me look at the camera.
Bless God, is this camera on?
Speaker 2 (13:43):
It is Her mama.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Look, and your mom, and in a great way our mothers
have blessed the kingdom andcontinue to bless the kingdom as
they've blessed us.
They sure have.
You see what I'm?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
saying Listen, it's the bedrock, she was the
foundation.
Yes, though I strayed, though I, they said, when the father and
the mother, when the father andyour mother has forsaken, then
the Lord will take you up, butthough he the child, though I
strayed, I returned.
I returned back.
And the thing about it was isthat my mother put that in me.
She showed me how important itwas to trust God Bottom line,
(14:17):
and that never left.
Though I made bad decisions,though I knew God was central
and that carried along with me.
That went along with meeverywhere.
I went as an 18-year-old, as a25-year-old and now, presently
as a 43-year-old, god is stillthe center.
So she was that bedrock, shestarted it, she put it in me and
I tell you right now I did notreturn back, I didn't leave it.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Because the Bible says Come on.
The Bible says Come on.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
I was trying to get the scripture out.
I couldn't form the scriptureListen listen, listen.
It says train up a child in theway they should go, in the way
they should go.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
And when they are old , they will not depart from it.
Come on, listen, come on.
So you had no choice but tocome back to it, because that's
what the Word says.
Absolutely, absolutely.
Shout out to mothers of thefaith, come on who loved
teaching.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
My mother was a teacher, as yours, studying and
reading the Bible.
She put that in me.
We would do Sunday school everySunday morning.
Before Sunday school she wouldteach me the lesson at home, see
.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
My father and mother did the same thing to us on
Saturday night, so we had tolook.
Saturday night we was therelearning that Sunday school
lesson.
We was six and eight years old.
I don't want to sit here andlearn no Bible.
Can we go back outside and play?
No, Sit on down.
We finna learn this Bible wefinna sing, we finna pray and we
finna go over this Sundayschool lesson.
That's what we finna do.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Okay, because you gonna go in there knowing this
lesson oh, man, knowing yourword that they were serious
about it Serious, serious,shaped me, made me and it's
still in me to this day, stillin me to this day that
seriousness, that focus, thatrelentlessness that she
(15:56):
possessed for the gospel, thatframed, helped shape my
worldview.
Okay, okay, as a young man,yeah, I said there's no way that
this, this woman, is thatpassionate, passionate about
something that is just a figmentof our imagination.
Right, it's a mist, a vapor.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
it has to be something more, yeah listen so I
can see some of that samepassion in you as a, as a man,
but also as a leader and apastor and a father and a
husband and all those things.
So let's so so as we put allthose things together.
(16:38):
Back to my other question fromearlier.
So we've got young man of God,we've got going into the
military, we've got a newhusband.
We've got, you know, stilltrying to search and discover
who God is.
You know, called us andpurposed us to be.
Was there a pivotal moment orany pivotal moment or moments
(17:01):
that made you say, wait a minute, I have to take notice of this.
That shifted your life?
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Absolutely, and I tell the story all the time.
It happened in Korea.
As soon as I left Chicago andjoined the military, I was going
over there with a focus todrink turn up party, as I was
doing.
Okay, just to be clear.
Okay, okay For the camera.
Did you already do it?
I was already doing.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Okay, just to be clear, okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
For the camera.
Did you already do it?
I was already doing it.
It wasn't nothing new.
Okay, I went over there withthat focus to do the same thing.
Okay, now, here it is,18-year-old kid thinking on
those lines.
God said not so.
So I get to Korea all the way,take you out of your home, your
comfort, all the way to Korea.
And I was standing out, I waswashing clothes in the barracks
(17:45):
and I seen these two dudes,these two soldiers, dragging
this dude in from outside thevillage and so they party out
there, they drink club, do allthey need to do.
He was drunk and he wasthrowing up and they were
dragging him back into the roomand at that moment, god showed
me.
He said do you want to continueto live like this, operate like
(18:05):
this?
And that, right there, turnedmy heart.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Because I too had some very situational situations
that looked very similar to ourdearly beloved brother that
they were dragging in fromoutside the club drinking on
that strong soju and he gave upa lot of you know, a lot of
fluids on that concrete.
(18:37):
He gave up a lot of bodily fluid.
And so the Lord he said listen,now, look at him.
He gave me a clear shot at thebrother.
Look at him, do you want to?
And in my spirit, now look athim.
He gave me a clear shot at thebrother.
Okay, look at him, do you wantto?
And in my spirit I felt it andI heard it.
Do you want to continue downthere?
Because right before I left Iwas in Virginia.
I had an experience like that.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Oh, where you were, the one.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Oh, passed out, oh, passed out.
Oh wow.
Yeah, we were in training.
We had our weekend pass.
I was so excited I couldn'twait to drink.
You turned up, got a halfturned up.
Got a half pint of Jack Right.
A half pint, a half pint ofJack.
A half pint of Jack Right Wentstraight to the.
(19:17):
I mean, we was in the hotelroom, we all had our drinks.
Yeah, Right.
Right, and I wasn't even 21 atthe time.
I was probably wasn't even 19yet I was still 18.
So somebody, you know, becausethe military of every age group.
So we got somebody to buy thedrinks.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Right.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Right.
And so we're in a hotel, we'redrinking.
I had a half pint, I think.
I know I did chase it.
I believe I don't know I forget, but I took it to the face.
I think I did chase it, took itto the face and next, you know,
I'm on a curve, I'm rocking.
I feel like I got to throw up.
Next, you know, I'm out.
I didn't wake up untilnighttime in a hotel room on a
(19:50):
bed.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Well, thank God for your brothers that made sure you
got back to the bed.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Now, they did take care of me and they reminded me
of that I bet they did we tookcare of you that night.
That of that I bet they did.
We took care of you that nightand those was my guys like
through all the training yes,they carried me around, passed
out wow the whole afternoonuntil it was nighttime, because
it was like afternoon we startedokay, okay, okay, you just got
(20:17):
me excited.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
You just got me excited.
I, I know, I know, see, see,okay, so listen, so listen that
visual.
This is what it made me thinkabout.
You said my guys was carryingme around Right now.
That's what you do for others.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Wow, wow.
You see what I'm saying, but inthe kingdom but you see what
I'm saying.
I do, I do, I do.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Like wow, Full circle .
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Full circle, He'll turn it man.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Now you're helping others Carry.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Carry.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
The cross the cross.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Come on.
Wow, it's innate.
It becomes inerrant that whatyou've gone through is not a
setback but a set up for whatyou'll be Absolutely.
And I now that you've.
I mean, I've told that story amillion times too, but I never
put that together.
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (21:09):
I never connected that and said that that was God.
I'm sitting here like, wait aminute, they was carrying you
and you got back to safety andlisten.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Now you carrying others and you helping them get
back to safety.
Come on, come on in the kingdom, come Helping them get back to
safety.
Come on, come on in the kingdom, come on.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Listen, listen.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Pivotal, pivotal.
Come on Pivotal.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
I mean so, look, that just blessed me.
I'm sorry, I just it blessed me.
I never thought that thatblessed me Listen, because you
got the lion's den.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
You've got, you've got the, the, the DEA.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
You've got all these things where the man cave.
You've got all these thingswhere you are helping to build
up other men Absolutely, so thatthey can be the leaders, the
fathers, the, the, the husbands,the, the, the men of God, just
who they are, who God haspurposed them to be, purpose
them to be.
And so what inspired that?
(22:04):
What made you say, okay, I'vebeen poured into God.
You've been building me brickby brick, what was it that said
man cave, lion's den, dea.
What was that?
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Man just evolving.
I evolved into all those thingsbecause, in essence, da, that's
now, but menace or menace, thatwas three years ago.
And the Madman podcast.
That was maybe four, abouteight months ago.
So that podcast, all that wasjust evolution and so mad.
(22:41):
Marriage apologetics anddiscipleship.
That's my focus on the podcastMarriage apologetics.
So marriage, that male componentis still there, and then my two
babies, apologetics anddiscipleship, and so those
things evolved and I believe inmy heart, in the core of me,
those elements are keeping meOkay, like my marriage keeps me
(23:03):
sane.
It keeps me whole.
It keeps me focused, likehaving a healthy marriage, and
then apologetics helps me defendthe faith, but then
discipleship.
It keeps my walk with Christsteady and transformative.
Yes, it keeps it building andthose things are so pivotal and
I believe in that.
Again, going back to themilitary and discipline and
focus and structure, all thosethings had a part to play, yes,
(23:27):
in these puzzle pieces thatwe're putting together of DEA,
mad Men, podcast, menace youknow the Lion's Den.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
The Lion's Den is a conglomerate of 94 men from
across the US Come on.
Birmingham, texas, tennesseeand Chicago.
Okay, across in Atlanta Georgia.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Come on, georgia's in the building, okay.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
We got like Cincinnati now.
Oh, georgia, come on, georgia'sin the building.
Okay, we got like Cincinnatinow, oh wow.
So we got like six or morestates represented, yes, In the
Lions Den, which is a privategroup.
Yes, mad Men podcast, morepublic and outward facing.
And then Menace really waschurch initiative.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
I'm still fleshing that one out, okay, but
everything's, for the most part,is the Lions in Private.
External Face and MadmanPodcast.
But, then you have the Lions inPrivate.
What was the one I missed?
Speaker 1 (24:15):
DEA.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
DEA that's church specific, but I'm creating that
as a model to teach and trainother churches.
So as I train my church, I'mgetting them solid so we can go
and partner with other churchesand teach it.
Okay, so DEA is not justsomething that you know them
solid, so we can go.
And partner with other churchesand teach it.
So DEA is not just somethingthat you know, it's a Bible
study that just you know.
We're growing, we're learning.
(24:37):
This is something.
I'm trying to turn and tour toother churches and say, man, I'm
just my church, we just theculture is beating the life out
of my church.
I got something for you.
We're coming, we're there.
Okay, and DEA is, in my opinion, will fix that problem.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Okay, let's talk about this discipleship piece,
because you've mentioned thisseveral times and I know how
important discipleship is.
I don't know that I've alwaysreally embraced discipleship as
I should or had a proper view ofdiscipleship.
(25:12):
So what does discipleship looklike for you, what does it mean
and what does it look like foryou?
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Disciple, right, a disciplined learner, right,
someone that is disciplined tolearn, but, more specifically,
one that was disciplined tolearn of Christ.
So a disciple in this context,or a Christian disciple, one
that is disciplined, learner ofChrist Jesus, a student, but one
that is being transformed byhis teaching.
(25:42):
So it's a transformative thing.
It's not just something we'regoing, it's not a social hour,
it's not just a gathering.
We're talking about this.
It's a moment, social hour,right, it's not just a gathering
and just we talking about this.
It's a moment of transformation.
It's a continuous moment oftransformation.
You never stop being disciple.
You never stop, you never stop.
I'm gonna be 80 years old.
Listen bless the lord.
(26:02):
I thank you, I receive it injesus name.
In jesus name and I will stillbe a disciple and being disciple
.
Yes, it's an ongoing thing.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Because if you stop being a disciple, that means
you're no longer learning.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Come on, you're no longer growing.
Come on.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
And if you don't have anybody to pour into, to
disciple you know what I'msaying.
Then how are you then it?
Because, so this is, this is.
This is what I've learned aboutdiscipleship.
It actually helps to hold youaccountable, come on, because
you have other people that arewatching and learning power from
you.
Powerful, so when, as you arewalking out the word of god,
(26:41):
then other people see youwalking out the word of god and
they're like, oh so that's how.
I'm not that we're perfect byany stretch let's.
Let's not get it twisted.
We are not perfect by anystretch of the imagination, but
we're all working out our ownsalvation.
You know what I'm saying.
And so, with fear and trembling.
So when we are living out thatword, other people see it and
(27:03):
they can say, wait.
Well, how did you overcome that?
Or how do you deal with that?
Or I saw how you were treated.
How did you walk away from that?
Not knock their head off, youknow cuz you know, sometimes it
get me like father.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I stretch my hands to these hands on yourself.
Could you be ready to go?
Okay, this, I know this, I knowyou hit the nail on the head,
because discipleship is anaccountability metric.
It is not to be something thatleaves alone, like you leave
alone and you put it on theshelf as if you're reading a
(27:41):
book and you set it down.
Discipleship is ongoing rightEvery day, so we talk about in
my training DEA, we talk aboutmentorship, we talk about small
groups and community that holdyou accountable to what you've
learned and what you're learningand so what you're walking
through.
It's a life breathing experience, and that's how I teach it.
I don't teach it like it's justa one and done Right.
(28:03):
I don't teach it like we hadthis beautiful workshop.
Ok, now let's go back, right?
Speaker 3 (28:07):
We have been discipled.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
We've been discipled.
Right, we have been discipled,we've been discipled.
So, after you've gone throughDEA, now you're paired with
stronger disciples.
That's now a part of whatyou're doing and how you do it.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
OK.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
But we're teaching them community.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
So it doesn't look invasive.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
You all in my business.
No, you know we're walkingthrough and I teach them through
the lens of Christ and how hedid it, so people don't get all
offended.
He walked with Peter the sameway.
Peter got him on his nerve,last nerve.
He walked with him the sameexact way, yes, and he had to do
the same thing with them.
The sons of Zebedee, james andJohn, had to do them the same
way.
They were rambunctious, yellingand fighting for the Lord and
wanting, and he like.
(28:44):
We don't need all of that,gentlemen.
He had to teach Peter, jamesand John these significant
things as he discipled them intheir own personality.
Look, in their own personality,he discipled them.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
He didn't change their personality, come on.
He encouraged them to changethe behavior.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Come on, thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Thank you, and I think sometimes we miss that.
We do and I think sometimes wemiss that when we are discipling
people or just interacting withpeople.
For sure, we don't always wewant, sometimes we want people
to act like we act or just, youknow, just do it this way.
But we're all uniquely made,uniquely made so we all have
(29:29):
different personalities that,when we are at our best, god can
use each one of ourpersonalities and impact the
entire world.
Because there are people thatyou can impact, that you will
impact just because of yourjourney.
There are people that I willimpact just because of my
journey.
And that's really what thisthing of what this Christian
(29:54):
life is all about.
Thank you, Impacting otherpeople, thank you Along the way,
because Jesus came and impactedpeople, 12 disciples to be
specific.
You know there were many others, but those 12 men then took the
gospel and spread it throughoutthe entire world.
Come on, come on.
He changed, he walked with andchanged the lives of 12 men that
(30:18):
then went and changed the world.
So the men that you are walkingwith and discipling, listen,
they, they, they in your cornerof the world you are impacting
and discipling, and now they'regoing to go out and do the same
thing.
What does that mean?
What does that mean to you, andhow do you carry that?
Speaker 2 (30:41):
That's a powerful question.
It's humbling.
You know why it's humbling?
Because I know I was a wretchundone.
I knew I was not perfect, Iwasn't right, I know I thought
wrong.
I'm dirty, filthy and I knowall the errors I've made, I know
all the things that defiled mywalk with God and yet, and still
, I had a Paul experience thattook me, on the road of Damascus
(31:03):
, from once slaying Christiansto now being one that is the
most profound in the faith.
I'm humbled by that, because hecould have selected someone
else.
He could have picked another waybut, he selected me to carry
this cross and anytime you havethe opportunity and people don't
realize that carrying the crossit's an opportunity to
greatness, because what heembodied on the cross was the
(31:24):
crucifixion of sin and anytimeyou can take that mantle on and
humbly, gracefully, live outlife.
It's a powerful movement.
For example, the thief on thecross meant today you'll be with
me in paradise.
He does this after they saidgive us Barabbas.
So now I'm in a conversationthat my own people turn against
(31:44):
me and I don't take pride, Idon't take hurt and I don't let
my emotions overtake me.
Now I go to the cross andextend grace to somebody else
and say today you'll be with mein paradise, I don't care what
you've done.
That is the cross that I'mhumbled to carry.
That's the cross that I amhonored to carry.
That's the cross that showed methat when you were yet a sinner
(32:05):
, he died for you.
That is the powerful truth ofthe gospel.
It's transformative and that'swhy I disciple men.
Okay, because men need to knowthey got hope.
Yes, your past failures thatdoes not define your future.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Come on, come on.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
And there is a way out.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
There is a way out.
If he can say today, you'll bewith me in paradise, after
saying give me Barabbas.
I can do the same and say bro,I know you failed 30 times ago,
but here we go.
Listen, let's get that stuff,gather what you got and let's
refocus and rebuild.
Okay, that's my MO.
I'm humbled to be able to carrythat cross, because that's not
(32:43):
one easy to carry.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
It's not.
It's not.
Today's episode is brought toyou by Destiny Film and Media.
Go to destinyfam1.com for allyour media needs.
Destiny, film and media, yourdestiny through film and media.
You and your wife, pastor, um,you all have pastored a few
(33:06):
churches at this point.
Listen, listen, but I I feellike each time has been a growth
point.
Listen because I'm telling youlisten I've been watching, I've
been watching, I've been, I'vebeen seeing what the lord has
done, so I so I got a question.
So I have a question, um, andI've asked you this before, um,
(33:27):
off camera, but I'm gonna askthis on camera.
So what made you?
What made you give God a yes tostart a church?
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Man, I don't know, I don't, and this is what I mean,
because my whole journey in thefaith was just to serve.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
I did not want to pastor.
I had no desire.
My mother's not a pastor, myfather's not a pastor.
He didn't go to church reallyat all.
I'd never seen my father reallygo consistently to church at
all.
My aunties and uncles, theyweren't in church.
My auntie Nene was faithful tochurch, choir faithful to this
day, but all the rest no.
(34:19):
My mother's side is almost thesame, kind of off and on, and I
didn't have a lineage like someof solid, faithful church goers,
preachers, teachers and allthat.
So for me it was like when Ilearned Christ, I learned
servitude and I was at thewashing feet moments of my
ministry just to serve, just todo right, clean, cook, serve
whatever you need, that's whatI'm doing.
And at that point God began togive me language that was far
(34:42):
beyond my comprehension and Iwould be talking to people,
ministers that were preachingand all that, and they'd be like
yo, that's kind of deep and I'mlike what and you know I didn't
really take note of that I'mlike I'm just talking to you.
I'm reading my Bible, I'mstudying it, and God put
something extra on me and Ibelieve that he gave me a David
experience, where David was inthe field, herding right, taking
(35:03):
care of the field the sheep andyet Samuel comes and anoints
him and said that he's going tobe the next king.
And I felt that that was myjourney.
Okay, I felt like I was justworking the field, okay, minding
my business.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Minding your own business.
He died and knew my heart.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
Yes, yes, yes.
He looked beyond my faults andsaw my needs.
Yes, and he knew my heart andhe anointed me in secret.
And then he made me a publicexample of what he can do in
private.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
Yes and so.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
I really never wanted it, I never asked for it.
I evolved into it.
Yeah, yeah, because I've stillbeen certain.
I tell people this all the timeBilly, I lie, not to you, val,
I lie not to you.
I say listen, I'll be fine justbeing the head of discipleship.
Put me ahead in evangelism, orput me ahead If you want to
create, I'll create anapologetics program for your
church.
Ok, I'll be found that I don'thave to have the pulpit, yeah.
(35:54):
I don't need to be on theplatform.
Yeah, I just want to developpeople.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
To do the work of the Lord.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
That's why I was with it.
But he said no, I need you topass.
I said well, here we go.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
I ain't got no history of training or pastoring
.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
I had to learn that yes yes, listen, I had a bird's
eye view of some of the learning.
You know what I'm saying,listen, but I will say it has
been for me on the outside,looking in, it has really been a
blessing to see you and yourwife continue to give God the
(36:36):
next.
Yes, glory to God.
For real, I am not going to cry, jesus, you're about to make me
cry.
To watch you all continue togive God another yes, and
another yes, and another yes,wow, and another yes, wow, and
another yes.
And these yeses are not easy,because y'all have moved from
city to city as God has led you,and I'm like y'all get, but
(36:59):
y'all got kids and y'all get,and y'all.
So you just pick it up and go,oh, because the Lord said, oh
well, bless the king and yourfaith, hallelujah.
But then like, but I would prayfor y'all and I'm like well,
god, they say that they heardyou.
Just bless them Like, show themfavor you know what I'm saying
(37:27):
Like, and then I would see Goddo what y'all said.
He told y'all Like, use what hegave y'all and make it
something.
And so for me, from the outsidelooking in, it has just really
been pretty amazing to watch.
Like for real Glory to God,like.
It truly amazes me, jesus,though, that you all continue to
(37:48):
give him a yes, even when it'schallenging, even when it looks
hard, even when it, you know, isnot, not, not popular.
Like what?
What is that?
Like?
How?
I know it's totally goes, Iknow it's Holy Ghost, but what
(38:17):
do you hold on to as?
Speaker 2 (38:17):
you take these leaps of faith.
From my perspective, yeah, welldone.
My good and faithful servant,and what that means to me is
this I want him to be pleased ineverything that I do, and my
way of saying thank you isthrough my yes.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Oh, oh.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
That pass out drunk in the hotel.
That's why I say yes.
That near-death experiencecoming from the club downtown.
That's why I say yes.
That dude out there strugglingin his marriage, out there on
the street, strung out, addicted, broken.
(39:01):
That's why I say yes.
And that's why we say yes,because we know this life is not
perfect or pretty, but he diedfor that.
Yeah.
He came for that.
And in the process ofeverything that he said, man,
everything that we've done,every transition, the
(39:21):
uncomfortable space for our kids, our kids were not comfortable.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
Listen, listen.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
They were mad.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
I can imagine they were mad.
I can imagine.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
They wasn't.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
I can only imagine being uprooted, as like in
elementary school and then onein high school.
Like what are we even doing?
What are we doing?
We moving again, again, like.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
And us, being soldiers, you know that has a
lot of more fabric.
We add to that material because, being soldiers, that's what
they do.
Every three years they move toanother state.
That's embedded in our DNA.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (39:59):
That's embedded in our DNA.
We serve as unto the Lord, asunto our commanding officers.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
Come on.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
That's the framework God gave us as we modeled this
thing called life with Christ.
Okay, we modeled that image,and so Paul talks about it too
with the whole armor of God.
He equates that to the Romanarmy and how each element of the
uniform or the weaponry isdefined out in the gospel.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Yes, right, so we take on that same mantle when we
transition.
We like yo.
Now we got to put on the helmet, now we got to put on the
shield, now we have to put onthe belt, the buckle.
Speaker 3 (40:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Right, we have to gird our loins.
We have to, and we take this inevery assignment that we do.
So us it's like we're goinginto another battleground to win
for the gospel.
We take it.
It's so deep to us, it's sodeep to us.
It's deep to us.
It's not comprehensible.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Listen, because I'm sitting here.
I'm like so listen, I think youjust made me think about Dr
Miles Monroe, god rest his soul.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
Rest his soul.
I'm not worthy of thecomparison.
I'm not worthy of thecomparison.
Go ahead.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
No, but I read his book and because he came from a
(41:40):
rule where there was a kingdom,he understood how kingdoms
function.
And so now I'm talking to youand you're like, because we had
that training as soldiers, we,we understand how that functions
.
So now you bring that training,you bring that discipline over
to the body of Christ, thekingdom of God, and you're able
to execute the mission becauseyou were trained to do so.
So like, okay, that makes awhole lot more sense.
Not that it makes it any easier, easier, but but but it's like
(42:05):
God, okay, if, if it's, if it'stime to move to the next
assignment, then it's just timeto move to the next assignment.
And okay, okay, I'll give youanother.
Yes, y'all pray for me.
Pray for me, because I justgave God a yes to his.
I've always said, god, whateveryou want to do, I will do it.
(42:26):
God.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Yes to your will, lord, yes to your will.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
I didn't always want to do it his way, though I'm
just being honest.
I'm just being honest.
Listen, I just gave him a freshyes to his way.
Come on A few months ago, likethe beginning of November, like
in real life Praise.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
God.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
But I tell you he had to get me together because what
, what he was?
Look this podcast today.
The reason why I'm doing thispodcast today is because I
finally said yes to his way,because I didn't want to do it.
I don't want to do it.
I was like God, it's a millionpeople out here doing podcasts.
What do you need me to do apodcast for?
(43:04):
So I just sat on it and I waslike, and there were so many
reasons I gave him, you know,like Moses, so many reasons I
gave him, you know why Ishouldn't be the person to do
this.
But and that was 2020 when hegave me the idea I was working
on everything else that he hadgiven me to do, but I wasn't
working on the podcast.
And in November I said Ifinally said, ok, god, I'll do
(43:30):
it your way.
And when I tell you that, thingsjust begin to fall right in
line it does so I have a more,even more respect for you all
now, because I see that thequick obedience obedience in
general, but that quickobedience garners fruit.
(43:53):
It does Not just in your life,but in the life of others it
does.
So I know we got to wrap upbecause we could talk all day
and I will because I'm lovingthis.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
This has been a blessing.
I'm encouraged this has beengood.
You're amazing.
This has been great, thank yousir.
You're doing good work.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
You are.
What is it that?
If you had to tell somebodyabout walking in their purpose,
mm-hmm what would you say tothem?
How would you encourage them towalk it out or even discover
their purpose?
Speaker 2 (44:35):
Three words trust the process.
Now, that's easier said thandone.
What they're going to find outis that life is going to throw a
lot of curveballs and monkeywrenches and, in that process, a
lot of storms and a lot ofcalamity and a lot of cloudy
days and rainy nights sleeplessnights, rainy days, right, and
in that process it's not goingto look clear to them.
It's not going to be clear, butthey have to trust that.
(44:57):
It's a journey that they mustgo through and a lot of times
the journey is the hardest partbecause each part links you to
your next elevation, your nextpiece of growth, that next piece
of wisdom.
Yes, if you don't have the linkthrough the journey, you don't
get that next access.
And it's so powerful to be ableto say Lord, I'm grateful that
(45:23):
you humbled me enough to trustyou, because in trusting you, I
didn't know the end.
I was curious, I was curious, Iwas skeptical, I was all of
this confusion, but I trustedyou and you provided me with the
clarity.
Yeah, and that's what gets youout of the storm.
Trust in the process gets youthrough it.
Yeah, and when you get throughit, you get the clarity of what
you've been made to do how hebuilt you, how he designed you.
(45:47):
And many don't make it throughthat.
Many don't make it throughthose storms.
Many throw in the towel, manygive up, many lose hope.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
Many don't even start .
Speaker 2 (45:56):
Don't even start.
And you know why they don'tstart Because they see the storm
brewing.
And oftentimes, when we see itbrewing, we'll say no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, I don't want togo through that.
And that is the crux to thefaith.
The faith is not saying no, Idon't want to go through it.
It's like, lord, if you saythat I have to trust that, if
(46:23):
you send me, I'll go.
That's Bible, and I think thatthat's the critical piece.
Lord, if you send me, I'll go,that's the yes again.
But that is the process and thebreadth of getting you to
purpose.
You've got to trust thatprocess.
You've got to trust that he'sthere.
It's not a what I talked abouta couple weeks ago, dealing with
(46:46):
trust, but also dealing withprotection.
People want to controlenvironments.
That's not trust.
You're controlling, you'remanipulating, you're managing it
.
But when you say I am not goingto touch this, please, lord,
put your hand on it, move it.
However you will, and I trustthat your hand is better in that
(47:11):
you learn you, you learn yourpurpose and you learn that this
life that we live is not our own.
We've been bought with a price.
It's not for you, it's forwhat's to come.
Speaker 1 (47:24):
Listen you talking to me.
Speaker 2 (47:26):
Listen, I'm talking to myself.
Y'all this minister to me,listen, I'm talking to myself.
Y'all this minister to me firstlisten, I'm sitting over here,
like Jesus, we helping eachother, babe as my mom would say.
Speaker 1 (47:37):
I'm about to bust over here like I should tap my
eye a little bit, cause listenwe helping each other I mean, my
goodness, like for realtrusting the process, trusting
the process, like nobody reallywants to do that because we,
(47:58):
like you said, we want to, wewant to control the outcome and
when we trust god and hisprocess, we do not control the
outcome.
We don't control any of it.
We so I've been.
I was talking to somebody, uh,uh, last week or the week before
, and they were like yeah, youknow that, that's saying, we
(48:19):
were talking about that, sayingyou know, jesus my co-pilot.
I'm like, hold on, wait aminute, he ain't.
He ain't your co-pilot, he's apilot.
What you're talking about, heain't your co-pilot, he the
pilot.
What you talking about.
I've heard people say jesus ismy co-pilot.
No, you in the wrong seat.
First of all because if you, if, if he your co-pilot, that mean
that you, you leading the ship,oh, y'all going down, okay, the
(48:42):
plane is going down, okay.
But if Jesus is in his properseat and we are, and we're
behind him and following what hetells us to do, like listen,
listen, the pilot is the onethat's in control.
We are not in control.
(49:02):
The sooner we realize that, thebetter our life will be, and I
think that's a continuallearning, because we'll get it
in one area, like, okay, I'm God, I see and I think that's a
continual learning because we'llget it in one area, like, okay,
god, I see, I'm not in control,I'm not in control.
But then we'll go right on tothe next thing and be like, well
, I need to control this.
I need to because, god, I knowyou say it, but I need to do
(49:23):
this my way.
And then we go and we stumbleand we fumble like the children
of Israel, we go around incircles, come on, and then
finally, all right, god, fine,I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired
of losing, I'm tired of all ofthis.
I do it your way.
And he's like that's what I'vebeen waiting on the whole time.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
Trust me, trust the process and in that right, you
learn that that's what you needto do.
It's not really.
It's not.
People may.
Don't beat yourself up becausemany have to go through that way
.
We have to journey that way.
Yeah, and that's all a partabout the discipling right.
You learn how to.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:01):
Right, we don't just read our Bible, and some do just
read it in its face value, andthat's it.
And some do just read in hisface value, and that's it.
But in discipleship program andprocessing with him and with
teams and communities, you learnwhat that looks like and you
begin to embody what it lookslike to trust him.
Yeah, right, and that'sdifferent than just reading
about the trust.
Right, right, right.
(50:23):
You, I want to.
I want to experience that, Iwant to share in the suffering.
Is what the scripture says Iwant to share in that suffering
just a little bit.
That's bold, right.
That's declarative bold, yeah,but at the same rate, what it
does is it teaches us whatdiscipleship.
But look, it's sharing thatwith Christ.
Man, I can't go to the cross, Iprobably wouldn't even be bold
enough.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
I'd be scared and denying.
I'd be like Peter Listen, oncethey whip me the first time.
Listen, I'm done with this.
Pack it up, listen, y'all ain'tgoing to be saved today.
Speaker 2 (50:52):
I'm not your savior.
Listen, get the crown of thornsor something.
Speaker 1 (50:56):
Listen, that cat of nine tails hit me one time.
Listen, hit me not one time.
Speaker 2 (51:00):
I'm done, I'm out Not doing it.
I ain't making it to the cross.
Speaker 1 (51:03):
Listen man, Listen man, pick somebody else.
Speaker 2 (51:06):
And he had enough endurance to say Father, forgive
them, for they know not whatthey do.
And then also today, you'll bewith me in paradise.
How do you go through all thatand still have grace and love
and patience?
That's a discipled heart.
Yeah, that's a disciple heart.
Man, it ain't just a churchgoer, that's a discipler.
I was reading, watching apodcast from Philip Mitchell and
he talked about the differencebetween a Christian and a
disciple.
Come on because there's adifference.
(51:27):
It's a whole difference, ain'tit?
I'm going to leave it rightthere.
I'm not going to get into it,but if people have heard enough
of this podcast, they'll knowthere is a distinction between a
disciple and just a Christian.
Speaker 1 (51:38):
Yeah, yeah, listen, I have we just going to stop
right here, because if we don't,we don't keep talking for about
another hour and I will.
I just will.
I have, I appreciate thisconversation.
It has blessed me.
It has even pushed me andencouraged me in ways that I
(51:59):
didn't even know that it wouldso.
So I appreciate you as a friend, I appreciate you as a man of
God.
As a friend, I appreciate youas a man of God, I just I
appreciate you for and I thankyou for your yes, because you
didn't have to say yes to comeon the Preston's Purpose podcast
, but the people needed to hearthe conversation from today.
Listen, you needed to heartoday's conversation.
(52:22):
You might want to replay it acouple of times to get all of
the nuggets, because it was itwas some good nuggets that was
dropped on today.
It's a good gems and I Iappreciate that.
I appreciate you and I justwant to say thank you from the
bottom of my heart, not only forsaying yes to being on the
podcast, but for opening up yourhome for us to be on location
(52:42):
in the great Birmingham Alabama.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
You see what I'm saying.
I'm telling you I'm humble.
The pleasure was all mine, thehonor is all mine.
I give him the glory.
I'm thankful for you offeringthe opportunity.
Our home, mi Casa is Su Casa,it's yours and I'm thankful.
This, right here, is nothing.
I'm grateful that you justoffered it to me and I'm
grateful to share with youraudience too.
Speaker 1 (53:04):
Thank you.
Well, is there anything that weshould be looking forward to
that you have coming up?
Coming out, yeah, okay, look inthe camera.
I'm working on a book.
Speaker 2 (53:12):
So for men, okay and I'm not going to share the title
with you just yet but I'mworking on a book for men and
men's development and a lot ofwhat I talked about today and
what I'll share in the book.
So be on the lookout for that.
Be on the lookout on many otherthings my Mad Men podcast and
some things we're going to beteaching and walking through.
I'm just excited to do what Godcalled me to do.
Speaker 1 (53:32):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (53:32):
Walking in my purpose .
Speaker 1 (53:33):
Come on.
Come on, because we've beenpressed.
Come on Into purpose.
Speaker 3 (53:38):
Into purpose.
Hallelujah.
Speaker 1 (53:40):
And on that note I say thank you.
Thank you, gino, thank you God.
Thank you, gino, Thank you God.
Thank you those that arelistening, that have tuned in.
I appreciate you and we willsee you next time on Pressed
Into Purpose.
Speaker 3 (53:57):
A lot of women look at me and they're like you're so
confident.
How are you so confident?
How are you the way that youare, and I'm like it has been a
journey.
Speaker 2 (54:06):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (54:07):
I didn't just wake up and become Kareem Gardner.
Yeah, it was a journey ofself-love, uh, discipline, uh,
learning myself, healing fromthe things that tried to to
break me and being okay withfacing the dragon, being okay
(54:27):
with admitting that I'm wounded,being okay with admitting that
that hurt me and that affectedme.
Yes, and not trying to sweepthat under the rug.
No, I'm okay.
No, I was not okay, was it?
I'm still living.
I still got scratches andbruises from some of that stuff
(54:47):
Just because I'm moving on andI'm okay doesn't mean it did not
affect me.
It doesn't mean I don't haveresidue and sometimes we just
learn how to keep going withtrauma.
But I was determined to facetrauma head on, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (55:02):
Today's episode is brought to you by Destiny Film
Media.
Go to destinyfam1.com for allyour media needs.
Destiny, film and media.
Your destiny through film andmedia.
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