Bruce Purpura

We'll be hearing the personal testimonies of all sorts of people who have one thing in common. Jesus has transformed their lives. Jesus used parables because he created us to learn best through story. And as we listen to how God has worked in others' lives, we find encouragement and inspiration for our own faith walk. Whether you are already a believer or just a curious seeker, we believe that as you listen to these stories, you will be encouraged on your own faith journey.

We are sure that God can speak to you through one of these episodes and that you will see that our Heavenly Father truly works all things together for our good when we simply love and trust him. If you are currently going through a trial, we believe that you will come to see that your troubles, heartbreaks and failures are not gravestones, but stepping stones into new life in Christ. Here's Jesse with today's guest.

my first ex exposure to, church really, that I can remember was, one summer I was in, third grade, maybe fourth grade. And, I was playing outside. I was, and up the street from us was a church, about three, about 300 yards from our house. And there was a bunch of kids out there playing kickball and, I was having a grand time just watching 'em.

they invited me to play and I, so I was playing kickball with 'em and all of a sudden they stopped and they went inside the church and I said, where are you guys going? They said, we're going into vacation Bible school. And I said, oh, and one, one kid said, you want to come too? And I said, sure.

And, that was back in a day and age where, you went out at Sunrise and you came back in at sunset and you're, as long as you were in yelling distance of your parents, you just were out and about for the day. And so I went in and I went to this bible school, vacation Bible study and had a good time. And I went back the next day 'cause I was having such a good time. And, so that next Sunday, I'm went to Bre.

I'm at breakfast and I'm sitting there in my school clothes and my mother says, what are you dressed up for? Are we, why you're not going to school? Summertime? She, I said, I'm going to church, I'm going to Sunday school. And she said, really? I said, yeah, I am. And she goes, where'd you find out about that? I said, I've been playing kickball and going to vacation Bible school the last two days. She goes, really? She goes, aren't you full of interesting news?

And, so yeah, that was my first ex exposure to the church. And, I enjoyed youth group and things of that nature. I felt connected. I was very connected in, youth group and, like 10 through age 12, early 13 to the point where, I actually got up in church and spoke and, shared the gospel. And, I don't, I would really enjoy the path I was on. And something happened, that summer, I guess it was 1969 and I, I found, the other part of the world, I found, rock and roll.

I found all the, other things that went with it. And, I was off to the races. I found it very attractive and, it, I filled my life with that and I I, as I say, I made a right turn in Albuquerque and there I was, and I stayed that place for a long time. I always felt something inside of me about, about, a spiritual, a spirituality. but I couldn't, I wasn't intentional about doing anything with a relationship with God at that point. Any exactly. Almost all the way the other side of the coin.

And, In high school, I was, I was partying pretty hard, from ninth grade on, alcohol, mostly drugs also. I, it was just part of what I did. the point was I was really still really pretty good in my studies. 'cause I, I was, I guess I wasn't smart enough to know that if I kept my grades up, everybody left me alone. And, and so I, I was an outstanding student, but I was playing very hard and I was, I had an entrepreneurial spirit as well.

And so I found out that I, if I sold things, I could basically, I could make money off of it and, have my partying for free. And, anyway, that entrepreneurial spirit carried on into. When I graduated high school, and I think my graduation day was really the first time I can look back and say how I drank maybe a alcoholically. at that point it was just more or less, nothing crazy, but a constant, a constant buzz, for about four years of my life. And then, graduation day, I took it to a new level.

parents had a wonderful party plan for me, family, friends, everything. And I, after graduation, I didn't come home for two days. I was off at a party. And so I, what I found out was that was my first real binge drinking. And and I was off to the races and that became a pattern in my life for. Quite a while. I could go for periods of time. I was still doing dry goods, but I wasn't drinking all that much, but when I did. And, so that continued on, into my, early twenties.

And, I got married for the first time and we were both real young. In fact, we, everybody told us we were too young and they were right. we just had to prove them wrong.

but at that time, shortly there, not long after thereafter, a couple years after we had her, we, it just got to a point where we couldn't be married anymore. And, I moved on and, that went on for a little bit and I met a, another person that I got involved with and eventually married and. That was a decision based on, they, they partied like I did. And that didn't work out well at all. not well at all. And that didn't last very long.

I was a, a child of, a child of a marriage and my, my, my mother and dad who had me, they were a product of divorce. And then, my, my mother had, who had remarried, divorced again, and when I was like 21 and 22, just about when I was getting married. so I, I had this mindset, I was not gonna be another statistic. I was gonna make this work. And, that was for all the wrong reasons. it was nothing spiritual about it.

It was just, trying to say, I'm not gonna be a statistic and prove I'm wrong, just like I had to prove I'm wrong. That about it was I was, we were too young to be married and, we showed them, that didn't work out well. in the meantime, my drinking's escalating my, I'm at the same time also though, I'm being, I'm fairly successful at what I'm doing in, in, in my business life. I worked for the government, I worked for, I was rising, up in the executive level, in the postal service very quickly.

and, So it, from the outside looking in, it looked like I, I was, everything was okay, but, behind the curtains, like the Wizard of Oz, it wasn't okay. And, so lo and behold, I'm now working in Washington DC and working at headquarters and, I'm now raising my second daughter by myself. she's 18 months old, and so I get my act together and I'm doing, I'm being a single parent. I'm working, I'm doing all these things. so I really didn't have much time to be out there ripping and running.

but when I, but when I did, I still, it was to excess. And, but that carried on for a little while and till I, I'm divorced at this time for a second time. so they, you talk about the wreckage of the past, and they say, the only person I'm hurting when I'm out there ripping and running is me. far be it. There's a lot of, there's a lot of, collateral damage that goes on with, living that lifestyle. And, I meet this amazing, person.

I'm not looking, I'm not looking, in fact, at this point in my life, I'm saying, you know what? I never again, and,

and lo and behold, after dating, for a little bit, I started to really understand for the very first time in my life, which I thought was one of the corniest phrases I'd ever heard about, a soulmate. and I said, I think I've found what that means, and she's my best friend. And, and we've, we established a wonderful relationship, not only in love, but friends, and, and, and lo and behold, we got married, nine months after meeting each other. We just knew.

we need, we were destined to, meant for each other, without a doubt. and that's true to this day. we know that with all the things that had happened previously in her life and in my life, for God to have brought us together had to have been something, only he could do. And but,

I knew I had what I had for my two daughters. One an older daughter, 11 years older than my youngest now. And, my youngest and and my oldest was growing up with her mother in Ocean City, New Jersey. And, a man that she, married and, and here I am in Washington, DC and I was nervous because my, my, my soulmate Camille, the love of my life. is, 13 years my junior. So I'm, I'm at that time, 41 going on 42. She's 28, and I'm thinking she might want to have children.

And, so I said, I just need to let you know, and I think she said the same thing. I just need to let you know, she had, she said, I'd love your children. I'd help you raise your children. I have no desire to have children. And it was like we both went, all right, we're good. We're good to go. we're both on the same page. and, so that was a good thing. we were on the same page from the get go. And, and we love each other dearly and, we started a beautiful life together.

And, I get, my career is soaring at, where I was with, at headquarters, at the postal service, and. All these things are going on, and, but I'm still having these, this, when I played hard. I was a good provider. I was, a loving husband in many ways. and, but at the same time, my, my wife would say, that 98% of our marriage was off the hook. Amazing. Just wonderful. but she said the other 2% was gonna kill us, and kill it. And that was my drinking.

And I don't know how many promises I'd made, countless promises I'd made, and I'll never do this again. And I honestly, I know to this day, if I'd have taken a polygraph, I would've passed it because I honestly meant it. I honestly meant it. I had, I saw the hurt in her eyes and I, the pain it was causing her and. And, and she said, why did you do it? I said, and the honest answer I had is, I don't know. I don't know. It just

The Friday before Memorial Day and, we're at the beach and, I decided to go out for a happy hour and which was, ended up three hours and, come back. I, the rest is what I share is what my wife tells me afterwards. 'cause I was mo I was in a blackout. I said some of the most horrible things a person can say to the one he loves the most. And we know how to hurt our loved ones, especially 'cause we know exactly what their buttons are.

and, and I went back out the door again and I rolled in, who knows, one, two o'clock in the morning. and, and I just saw this look in her eyes, laid in bed and saw this look in her eyes that it just broke me on the inside. I didn't see anger, I didn't see fear. I didn't see, I saw blank, a blank emotion. And this is this woman with this beautiful fire in her and beautiful spirit in her. And I said, what have I done?

And, that was my moment where I was just, I was staring into the darkness in the dark of the night. and the just wondering, what do I need to do? I can't. I gotta stop her pain. I gotta stop what my pain, I don't know how not to do this. I end up on the balcony, which overlooks the ocean, beautiful view, and it's the early morning hours and I'm on my hands and knees, basically just pleading and sobbing to a God I really did not have an, a direct relationship with anymore.

Asking him please to gimme the strength and the courage to jump, take, walk over the rail and jump. We lived 14 floors up. And, I thought I ending it all would end it all for me and for her. and, thank God. Thank God I, I can look back now and know I had a spiritual moment and, and I'd been in the rooms of AA before, in 2007. I thought I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, and I went to aa.

and, I look back now and I was probably doing AA light and I never put away the reservation that one day someday I could drink safely again. and as my program got lighter, I'm out to lunch one time with my sponsor, and of course, he feeds, puts it out there. Well, maybe not an alcoholic, you know, maybe you can drink safely. I don't know, maybe, Dr. Try control drinking. I go home, I tell my wife.

Hey, my, my sponsor doesn't think I'm an alcoholic, And, she'll, maybe you can have a glass of wine with dinner and there's something like that. And I'm be like, yeah, but that's not how I drink. that just pisses me off. And, she'll never say that to this day. In fact, she tells me if there's ever anybody out there whose spouse says, you're good. Now, you could probably have a, you haven't drank in six months, a year or two years. you could probably have a cocktail with me.

She's, you just send them to me and I'll tell them, I'll tell 'em exactly what that outcome's gonna look like. And, I've never done that, but it's in the tool chest if I ever need it, the, The fact of the matter is that, I know I had a spiritual moment, a god moment, right there on that balcony, I get, I walk into the rooms of AA at Ocean City, Maryland. I get there an hour early. I'm the only one there except for this old timer.

got nose to nose with me and said, boy, you gotta get honest with yourself. Had me read the first three paragraphs, chapter three in the big book of aa. they're reading it out loud, snot flying, all upset. And, but I felt a weight lifted off of me that, I could remove the thought that one day, someday I could sit, drink safely again. It had been smashed and it felt a weight come off of me, and I know then that was a spiritual moment looking back. And I jumped head first into the program of aa.

I got back to Northern Virginia where there was a, I got sober with a very crusty bunch of men in a very, in a closed group of. Men's only group of Alcoholics Anonymous that, they literally took the gloves off. It was, tough love. It was exactly what I needed. the con the conversation was very colorful. I'll just leave it at that. God was spoken in that room and so a lot of other four letter words. but, at the same time, the passion for recovery was, I'd never witnessed anything like that.

these are guys that would go to hell and back with a thimble full of water to save someone if they wanted to help. but they weren't going to do it for you. and that's, that, that saved my life. And, very early on, I, my, my sponsor asked if I believed. and I said, I think I do. He says, could you believe it? I believe this will, this program will work and I have a higher power. I said, absolutely. I said, I know there's something out there.

I just, I hadn't had a connection with it in a long time. And, he got me started and for a while, the group was my higher power. And, but very early on he was, he had me drink from the fire hose with this regards to welcom me through the steps. And, we were quickly at step three and he said, you're gonna need something far bigger. And, he introduced me to a bunch of guys that, outside the rooms, did a Bible study.

And, I got plugged in with him and that was, began my journey of really falling in love with the Lord again. And after a lot of questions and, and walking through that, I'd met another person down at the beach. there's a big convention that's here, but it's going on for 60 years, an AA convention called Sessions by the Sea. And it's like 3 3500 people that come to this thing on every week after Labor Day. And, it's huge. And I met him there and, also a pastor, in recovery.

and we got to know each other. We got to, he got to be my spiritual sponsor. And, he answered a lot of questions for me. And lo and behold, a year later, we're walking on the beach during sessions I said, I don't have any more questions. I said, I, what do I do next? He says, have he accepted the Lord as your, have you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior? And I said, I haven't said those words out loud. And I, he said, do you, I said, absolutely. And so we.

Dropped to our knees right there, and we did it right there on the beach. And, and, I was on fire. I wanted to tell everybody what that felt like and where they could find it. And almost to the point, even in the rooms of aa, I was a little over the top and, I got told. So this is a spiritual program and,

And so all across my life, I'd always been searching for a father figure. And I found that when I was reading Romans, I said I had Abba, I had my daddy. And and I never, ever had to search again for another father figure in my life. I had the most beautiful, wonderful, amazing father in heaven, and he loved me. And, and the world needed to know that.

And it, and what happened was, it just, I realized my mission was just to get them pointed to where, what I got pointed to. And so I got them pointed to where a Bible study or to a appointed to a going to check to a message out at a local church. and, and so I knew that God had something bigger and better in store for me. That I'm, I knew at that point that I was, there was something in me that said, I'm supposed to be something, doing something different in my life, that, that is to serve him.

And I had an opportunity at the, to go to, Calvary Chapel Bible Institute, which is a, a seminary out of, out of, Calvary Chapel and, a two year, seminary in,

and I, along the line, I'd had a mentor there that was mentoring me and coming next to me and alongside of me and, helping me. and, and he had a small church out in Winchester. And, and so I came alongside him and I. I started, I, when I came out in my business world, I was a very strong executive, in helping leadership grow and do what they needed to do better. And so I envisioned myself as like a second for a pastor that could help.

I, 'cause I didn't believe in my heart I would, I didn't have a 30 year theological background to me. So I po I couldn't teach or preach. that just was, I didn't think I could do that. And, he helped me understand differently. and one morning I was on my way to my day job and I was going over a mountaintop in Winchester, out leaving Winchester coming down into Northern Virginia.

And, as the sunlight burst through my windshield, I just got this because I'd constantly be telling God, I think this is what I'd be good at. I think this is what I like. I was giving him my resume and. And basically the, you know what the message that came to me was, why do you keep telling me what you think you can or cannot do with me? And through me, you can do anything. Trust, trust me. Stick to the script. You can't go wrong. And I went, okay.

that was one of the pon things my sponsor beat into me early on. He said, Bruce, stop asking why, and just say, okay. And so I said, okay. And, from that point forward, I, I was willing to be led and to be, to be obedient in whatever that next thing was in serving the Lord. And I realized then I received my calling, to serve him all the rest of the days of my life, whatever that was, wherever that was. and my mentor gave me a prayer whenever, wherever, whatever, to be willing to serve him.

And it, I. and be careful when you pray that 'cause it's gonna take you places. And, it brought me to living at the beach down here. I thought my calling was to o to do a church plant down here in Ocean City, Maryland. And then I realized that, maybe it was come alongside a, an a, a pastor down here, a church down here, and be a part, just be a part of.

And then I had an opportunity to come to Fernandina Beach and we were down there, and we fell in love with Fernandina, my wife and I, and we ended up moving there. And I was, one of the things that helped me move there is I, there was a church down there that asked me to come down and help do recovery ministry down there and, and paid on it went down and when it came back again, they circled back. They said, we're really praying on this and we really think he'd be right person at home.

Really nurture and get this started. Okay, I'm gonna pray on this some more. And lo and behold, one thing led to another and we were off to the races. I said to my wife, I think this is what we're supposed to do. And she said, let's go. And that's one of the things my wife has been incredibly supportive of, when I truly believe that the calling is, this is what we're, this is the next thing we're supposed to do or I'm supposed to do. She said, okay, let's go. Yeah. And that's huge.

that's not easy. And in fact, it's very hard, just picking up and going and, and it took me down there for five plus years, but I always stayed in contact with the church up here, ocean City, Baptist Church. And I was always still connected to the men's group up here. In fact, before Zoom I would, on Friday mornings, I'd be part of a Bible study. And they were so patient because, they'd put me on a speakerphone. And I, that's, that can be so annoying to the group.

Everybody else is there except me and I'm on the speakerphone. And, but they were very patient and loving and, and then something moved us to say, let's get a place back up there again and just come up for four months during the summer, may through September maybe. And, and we got really reconnected again with the church and I got really reconnected into the men's ministry and being a part of serving some other ministries there. And, it felt right. It just felt so right.

And, but we went back to Florida at the end of September and but it just, and when I left the pastor there said, boy, he says. if you ever come back, he said, I'd really, I think God has plans for you here, with regards to men's ministry. He said, just pray on that. Keep that on your heart. And we did. And I prayed on it and prayed on it. And, lo and behold, it was right after the new year and, and we were talking some more like this pastor and I, and my wife and I were talking about it.

And, I have a realtor friend, a young man and his wife were just loved the Lord. and he'd helped us with selling a couple properties down there. and we'd already had, and we did a business down there too. My wife and I, Aloha Bagel and Deli and we hired people in recovery and people who loved the Lord. And it was just an amazing place to work. and we had such fun doing it. And, and, but we realized also that. We were, they were there for a season and a reason.

And then we, and we ended up selling that business to a gentleman friend that I met and the in church. And, and, we had a great connection and it was just the next great thing to do for him and for us. And, that worked as, worked out wonderfully for everyone. but lo and behold, this real estate friend of mine said, if I think you, you could really do well in selling your home. and I said, I don't think we could do that. And he said, let's put it at a price tag that we think is beyond.

He says, if you're really being called to go back, God's gonna make a way. And, 'cause I couldn't keep both places forever and, financially, and so I. He said, let's put it, let's put that, put a number on it. That is a stupid number that No, he said, you, it can't happen unless God's behind it. And, I said, okay. So we got ready, they got a listing and a show and ready to go on the market and they had some showings lined up right away. and, the market goes live, it's official.

And we had three dogs and us. So we get the dogs out for the day, us out for the day. And, he calls me back at four o'clock that afternoon. And I said, so what's the verdict here? He said, he said, we have three contracts on your house. All well above the asking price. I'm here. I said we put it at a number that you said was far beyond what we should ask. He says, yep. He says, And you're telling me we have three contracts that are far beyond what we asked. Yep. I said, how do you explain that?

And he says, God wants you to get going. Yeah. when God wants you to get going, he gets you going. So in short order, and also how he orchestrated it was I said, we can't move until the end of May. And here this was in February and People allowed us to rent back for, rent free till the middle of May. That was also part of their offer. wow. Apparently they couldn't get there till then either.

me being one of them and it's a small church. we have about 150 people in our church total. And, the summertime it gets really big because we have a lot of vacationers and things of that nature here. But, when I say real big, it means it's filled both services, to about 200 people. But, the, that men's group, just started, God just was just, the Holy Spirit was all over it.

and it just, the word of mouth got to other guys and it got to other churches in the area where men were looking for a men's group that was like that. 'cause we did relate, we talked about real life in that men's group. We talked about the stuff that men need to talk about in that men's group. the stuff that Bible says we need to talk about in that men's group. And what was said in that men's group, stayed in that men's group and it does to this day.

And of course, doing the, the food and fellowship to start out with, men feed 'em when they will come. it didn't, that didn't hurt either. But, we have men from different Christian denominations and our Catholic Presbyterian Methodist all come to the Ocean City Baptist Men's Group on Wednesday night. We have guys that come from Salisbury, Maryland, 35, 40 minute drive away, group that comes from there.

We're now up to around, between 30 and 40 guys on a, any given, and and we tell guys, look, if just 'cause you can't make it one night, because a lot of times people feel that guilt trip. If I can't make it every night, I. I can't make it at all. And I say, no, we know how life gets. You have families, you have the things I said. The point is we try to make it as often as we can and we hold it every week. And, and on any given night, we have at least 25 to 30 guys there.

when we have different functions and stuff, we'll have, we did a short, a men's night out at the local minor league baseball game. We had 60 guys there. it's just, we had a retreat where we went away for, three days, a spiritual retreat. We had 40 guys there. it's just, it's the way the Lord is working and the Holy Spirit's moving in. That group is amazing and awesome. its,

And, and we take our time walking through that and we break it down and we talk about how, not only how it was relevant then, but what does that look like in application today. And, we get some really great conversations going on that just blow me away. And and I walk away from that each night going, wow, God. just, you know how he's, he blesses me and teaches me, and these, I'm supposed to be the one facilitating it and leading it, but. I'm the one feeling blessed,

And, I had a head on, I was driving the wrong way on the Pennsylvania turnpike in a blackout, had a head on collision with a tractor trailer, and I walked away from that. And, the, everybody walked away from that. And, at the time I thought I was lucky. And I know far differently today that I'm here because God went with it,

And and, and I'm praying on that daily and what that is and what that isn't, and learning what, where my swim lane is and what it isn't, and, how do I do that effectively and. Always, it's about God and it's about the church and it's about flock and it's his flock. And, and we have a team that of elders that all believe that same mission and that vision. And, even though we're, new as a team, we know that it's all about God.

It's all about what our church is already doing and how can we do it better. This little church has a mercy ministry that reaches the homeless. So it has an international ministry that reaches all the international students that come here and work during the summer from all over the world. They serve three to 400 meals every Monday night home cooked meals to the, to them. And we get to chat with them and talk with them.

and we, I. We get to do all these different things in our community, this little tiny church.

We are sinners saved by grace, grace and mercy. I'll take that all day long. will I ever be sinless? No. Do I pray each and every day that I sin less. Yes. I'm a work in progress. I have to surrender every day. I surrender. And when people ask me to lead a an AA meeting, the, my topic's always surrender.

He says, every darn day, laying next to the bed is this tug of war rope. Your self will, his will. And, every darn day we're gonna pick that rope up. Right up. He says, our hands might be bloody and blistered from tugging on that rope. He said, but every darn day we're gonna pick up that rope sometime during the day. He says, what we get better at doing is dropping it quicker.

I need, member brothers that are my accountability partners in life in Christ. I need all of it, but at the center of it is God and, and my love and my passion for, sharing about the love of Jesus.

But he thought it was important to put the word so in front of love, that God so loved the world that he gave us his son. And, today I just try to remember that, my, my mentor, he's, he played these like kinda little spiritual games with me. Like we'd be out to lunch, he says, so today, now you've been, doing this for a while. And so where do you think you are on a scale of one to 10 and your spiritual walk with Jesus? And I, I'm here like, ah, I know I'm not a 10.

maybe I'm not a one, maybe I'm a six or a seven, and he'd say, Nope. I said, what do you think I am? I'm thinking, oh boy, what am I like A three? And he goes, you're a 10. I'm here. What? He goes, God sees you through the blood of Jesus. You're a 10.

Because, our little egos don't want to say, don't want to talk that way because, we're not good enough. But Jesus is the one that made us good. He's the one that made us righteous. So to reject his free gift of salvation and this free gift of, this relationship is to just identify with him. I think that's what he wants. He wants us to be his hands and feet and to speak his words. And like he said, he.

he only says what he hears His father say, he only does what he sees his father do, and that's the model is to follow him, do what he says, and quit trying to quantify, our relationship and just be,

there's a trying moment there for my spirituality, out there on the highways, but, I know I've given my life to Jesus. I know that what that looks like today, I know what that feels like today. the rest is between now when I leave this mortal Earth is the sanctification.

there's all sorts of, I think it's left in a way that, so that we can, any one of us can identify in to that thorn. and, and so I think we're given all these wonderful places in the Bible, to relate in. And I think, we did a study in one of our other Bible studies on Genesis. It took a whole year to go through Genesis and, and ever since the beginning, ever since Adam and Eve.

The Bible tells us a whole bunch of different stories through the Old Testament into the New Testament, and the story's the same with regards to sin. It's always been since Adam and Eve in the Garden, the story of choices and consequences.

I think that's true for Christians and for anybody that's doing their walk with the Lord. we have the willingness to change at the speed of pain, but today we've been given this God conscience and, the pain, the threshold is a lot lower than it was when we were out there ripping and running. we could glaze over anything, and it was, we could get by it, but today, even the littlest speed bump bothers us, and that's a beautiful thing.

I love the widow story about persistent prayer. we can't wear 'em out. We can't wear 'em out. And, and to be, just to be willing to be a lantern, to carry his light. it's not much to ask. He doesn't ask, he doesn't ask much of us.

Lord, I pray, Lord, that you, as you bless us and each and every moment of our existence, Lord, when we surrender to you, Lord, that we just find that, that comfort, that inner peace, common comfort that can only come from you and we draw close to that, on a daily basis. Lord, I pray, Lord, from the listeners, Lord, that I pray that there is something that they found that, that, that fell on the ears that needed to hear what exactly what they needed to hear.

Whether it be something that nourished, something that, That, that lit a fire or, for me, a lot of times I hear what I hear and it serves to prune, it serves to, to cut back on me, and it stings a bit, Lord. And, I, I grow at the speed of pain and I know that many others do too, Lord, and I pray, Lord, that as we thank you for your blessing of the, of your son, and, we, we just are so blessed to that you so loved us and you still so love us Lord.

And I thank you for Jesse and his heart and what you've given him as a calling Lord, to do this and, what a blessing he is to me. And I pray this in your holy and wonderful name. Amen.

Can make a big difference in someone's life, but our Heavenly Father knows. Speaking of sharing, if you know a Jesus follower with a story to tell, please send them a link to Faith and Purpose Podcast. It may encourage them to tell their story. That person may even be you. Our only criteria is that Jesus be glorified. Most Christians don't share their faith because they mistakenly think their story is not interesting enough.

Or that it's self-centered to talk about themselves or that they are not competent to explain the gospel correctly, but none of that is relevant. If Jesus has changed your life, you have a story to tell. All of our stories are completely unique. No one has a story like yours, and you may be the only one who can reach someone else through telling your experience. So don't be intimidated. A story is just that a true account of your own experience, and no one can disagree with your experience.

When we tell what Jesus has done in our lives, we are being obedient to his command to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. It's not about theology and it's not about how interesting or special you are. It's all about Jesus. So when you are ready to tell how Jesus has impacted your life, you can let Jesse know at his ministry website, jesse duke.net. There you can download guidelines that will make it easy to prepare to tell your story.

Thank you for listening today and shalom.