Grayson Marshall

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.

I've been divorced five years, but I have three beautiful daughters. One son and four grandkids. So, life in that space was an amazing, amazing time. I appreciate the time as a father. those things will never leave me when it comes down to it. The essence of my kids are who they are. what I went through made me better. so I look at that all as a positive for me. It's made my new relationship one of the most amazing ones ever.

So I'm grateful for everything that went on because it really allows me to embrace my new relationship with Evie in an amazing way. So, I guess that's in light of what we're talking about here, how things change when you meet God. my, you know, my story goes back to, I was born and raised in Washington, D. C. And, um, uh, my mother was a principal, my dad was a teacher. Uh, so I grew up in an educational family. My family was all about improvement, being the best version of yourself.

That was what I was raised in. I have a younger sister who is the head of online education for the Department of Defense. So everybody in my family was academically inclined. Um, that was a part of our DNA. And I think that, um, my parents did the best job they could do to give me a blueprint. on how to live life. Um, I have a unique story, I think, because I was born and raised Roman Catholic. So, that was the first introduction to any sort of, and I'll use the term, religion that I had.

So, because my mother was devout, every aspect of Catholicism, I engaged in, you know. So, I was an altar boy. I went through my first penance, my holy communion, all these things, and they were ritualistic things that I just accepted as my life. So, it was never about relationship, it was always about a ritual, it was always about a routine. And that's what I limited religion to, that's what I thought it was.

And, it was introduced to me as a, it was a qualifying prerequisite to do anything else. Right, so if I wanted to play sports, I had to go to church. I wanted to go to the Redskins game on Sunday, I go to church, you know, that was always something. So God being first in my life, or put it this way, church being first in my life was what I grew up in. I didn't really, I didn't really know God, I knew church. And so I did church, I did church the way that I was supposed to do church.

Again, I believe that for me personally, church was just a formality. It wasn't an, it wasn't an interesting search to become, it was just something I had to go through.

and because I excelled in sports, I was able to obtain a, um, a private school education, my mom and dad made the sacrifice because they always gave me what they believe was the upper hand to being the best version of myself. Uh, I got to, uh, I ended up going to a boys military school from seventh to 12th grade, all boys military. And, uh, it was a choice that I made. And I made the choice because I always wanted to be different.

Growing up in Washington, D. C., sports is something that is, uh, very well appreciated, established, and looked at. And there were schools that were known for success in basketball. And everybody wanted to go there. Well, I decided I wanted to go to the rival. And so I said, I don't want to go where you are. I want to go to the other side. And I convinced a group of my guys to go to the other school with me.

And we ended up becoming their rival and literally winning more than we lost against the number one team. So I think,

So I decided, okay, now I didn't have a military background. My dad was in the army, but that was never an influence on my life. I just was going to be different. I just like doing what everybody else wasn't doing. That was just me. And so, um, I ended up getting, um, good enough in basketball to, uh, be offered a scholarship to play at the collegiate level, and that was done at Clemson university. So I was able to go to Clemson in South Carolina, not real, not realizing at the time that my.

Um, familial heritage was reared in South Carolina. So, um, my grandfather, my paternal grandfather was from South Carolina and my maternal grandmother was from South Carolina. I didn't know that at the time, um, but figured that out. So, obviously, I was going back to my roots and I didn't know that. I ended up going to Clemson and it was a crazy set of circumstances that got me there.

Because I had actually Committed to University of Richmond, which was 90 minutes away from Washington, D. C. Thought I'd be close to home, my parents would come see me all the time, play, I thought it was the best scenario. And I ended up, um, literally auditioning for Clemson without knowing it. And the audition went so well, because we were playing that number one team I was telling you about, the audition went so well that they offered me a scholarship the next day.

Richmond still wanted me. So I'm headed back to Richmond. Well, the next day, Clemson hires Cliff Ellis as a new coach. And that year, Cliff, the year before Cliff had been, um. He had been coaching in the Sunbelt of South Alabama. My uncle, who was an excellent basketball player at the time, was a nationally evaluated referees at the time. And that year he was working in the Sunbelt. So Cliff Ellis found out that Jim Hollow was my mother's brother.

And Cliff calls my uncle and says, I need to talk to your nephew because all the other kids that had verbally committed left and went to Miami. I was the only one left. And so he calls me up and he says, you need to meet with this guy. And I said, Uncle Jim, I'll meet with him, but I'm not going to Clemson because I'd already gone through that. I don't want to do that again. So, but because of you, I'll meet with him. And the next day, Cliff Ellis was at my house.

And he talked, we talked for about two hours and next thing I know is right back at Clemson and it's the best thing, the best thing that ever happened to me. And I say that, Jesse, because even when I didn't know God, I can look back and see God. Even when I didn't really understand what I know now, I can actually look back over my life and see where he kept me, how he kept me, how he guided my steps when I didn't know he was doing it.

Um, I can see in my life where I was walking by faith as a practice a long time ago because I didn't know what I was getting into. I was going to a school that the coach didn't even know me. He had never, he had never personally seen me play. He was going on the fact that I had verbally committed and went out and recruited some of the kids. So when I got to Clemson, there were other kids he had recruited.

And at first I said to myself, I made a mistake, but I was always raised to follow through in your commitment. And for me, or for what I was reared in, school was not about sports. It was about getting your degree. So I said, all I want to do is get my degree. That was my whole purpose for doing it.

But at the time, if I looked at what I was doing, this seemed to be crazy. You're going to play for somebody who's never seen you play before. And so when I look back again, when I think people, as they really evaluate their lives, If they really take a hard look at where they are today, they can really see where they could have been, and they'll need to understand that that was God, because you could have been somewhere else. You could have been in anything else.

But God kept me through all that, and I was, you know, I was excited about that. I think that going to college and then getting out, Jesse, was when I really began to look for answers. I think that growing up, when you're When you excel academically, when you excel athletically, we think we're the answer and pretty much for, for all intents and purposes, because we're not focused on anything else, we rely on ourselves and sports as a platform is driven by motivation.

You know, that's the, that's the elemental mantra of sports being motivated. Right. And, um, it was for me, I subscribed to that. I even talked to my book. I said, I wasn't motivated. I was competitive. I've always had this thing about motivation and I never subscribed to it. I was competitive. I wasn't motivated. And the competition was I just had to be better and it wasn't in comparison, it was just, I want to be better. I don't like to lose.

That was just kind of where my mindset was and I really didn't leave. I really didn't understand that these were mindsets of Christ. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. When I really look at the mindset that I had, it was really a Christ mindset. When it came down to the foundational beliefs, because I never bought into motivation, I bought into competitive, I bought into drive, I bought into purpose, I bought into will, I bought into destiny, I bought into faith.

And I didn't even know what I was buying into at the time. I had no idea. So when I got out of school, because that was my mindset, Jesse, I had no aspiration to play pro sports. And when I talked to people about that, they're like, well, you were here, you were, you were right, that was you. But it wasn't me. And probably should have been, but it wasn't based on where I got and what I had achieved and many estimations what I'd overachieved. Why would I not go to the next level?

Well, because I was married to Plan B and I'll break that down for you. There's a verse of scripture, Jesse, that changed my life 20 something years ago, and it's Mark 7 and 13. And it says the traditions of man make the Word of God in none effect. Man's traditions. And what does that mean? That means what you have accepted as your path in life. What you see around you. What you see on a normal basis. Man's tradition. So man's tradition for me said go to school, get your degree. Right?

Man's tradition never told me to pursue my passion. I grew up with, again, with educated parents. I grew up with parents who were educators. Never told me to pursue my passion. Never talked to me about my passion. Man's tradition. And I believe that's, that's an element of the world. It's not just my parents. I don't believe many people have been taught to follow their passions. I believe most people have been taught to follow what they're good at.

I mean, I believe most people have been told to follow what they test well at. I believe many people have been taught to follow what pays the most, right? I think these are the prerequisites for what you do and not your passion. So I was just like everybody else. I excelled in what I was supposed to be doing, not my passion, And for the most part, I didn't know what that was. So it's kind of hard to excel in something when you don't know what it is.

So when I talk about being married to plan B, plan B was always something to fall back on. Your degree was always something to fall back on. And when I look at God and when I look at what he has done in life, there was no plan B for God. It was always plan A. It was always just the way it's going to be. But we subsequently live in plan B. And here's what I realized about plan B. Plan B puts you comfortable. I say the greatest adversary that we face. It's not a spiritual devil.

It's not social issues. It's not a bad economy. The biggest struggle that we face, the biggest adversary we face is comfort.

I don't have to buy, I don't have to worry about you. And so I let you literally take care of yourself and move you away from your passion because you're not a threat. You've been accustomed to systems, and you'd rather perform than pursue your passion.

I never, I never do that, but if plan B is not there, all I got is plan A, that means everything I do goes into plan A. That means I had to have total faith in plan A. If I have plan B, all my faith isn't in plan A, it's in both plan A and plan B, and faith can't be split. The reality of it is for most of us, this is where we find ourselves. And so we find ourselves not walking by faith. We end up walking by sight, even though the word tells us that Corinthians 5 7 don't do that, right?

We think about what faith is, and by biblical definition, the Bible says faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. Well, in our English language, Jesse, evidence is faith. Is things you see. So when we're looking for evidence, even though we don't want to, evidence is what we see. So we literally walk by what we see and we're not supposed to. He says the evidence things not seen, but we're always looking for God to show up. I need a sign. That's evidence.

That's something to see. Walking by faith is the things you don't see. So when I began to look at where I was in life, I had to really reassess so many other things. And once I really got into my Bible at 27, when I was homeless, then I began to grab and understand some principles that I'd always lived by, I just didn't know how to explain them. They began to make sense to me, even though I had lived them, but I didn't know where they were, where they came from. They just seemed to fit.

And so when I began to really look at what it took and things that were there, that began to change my life. Getting to know Christ. Was something that was unbelievably beneficial for me

What I found was, is that that degree was a disadvantage more than an advantage many times.

I gained, uh, access to maybe things other people don't have, but I'm behind the, I'm behind the game now because Jesse, who didn't even go to college, is already making more money than Grayson. He's already got a four year head start in the working world on Grayson. So literally what I thought was a benefit for me. Really became a detractor more times than not. So that was frustrating. And I knew competitively, Jesse, I wanted more. I knew that I wanted stuff. I knew that I wanted life.

So how are people getting stuff? How are people living this dream? I, I, um, I sheepishly say that growing up, I love soap opera. I used to watch soap operas growing up and I watched them because. I knew it was TV, but I love the illusion of what I thought at that time, but I knew it wasn't real. But being a corporate executive, you know, walking into boardrooms and making decisions and wearing suits every day, I mean, to me, it was the coolest thing in the world.

And that's what I really wanted. I wanted to be in the business world, but I didn't have anybody that was in the business world. My parents were both in the working world. So I began to pursue business without a coach, without somebody to teach me. And ultimately, when you do that, you fail. Well, I failed miserably at times. Success sometimes, misery at other times. that's when I found myself without a place to live. And it was at that time that I literally just was really crying out.

And I remember my grandmother giving me a book in college. Now, my grandmother was saved as you can be. My maternal grandmother. And she gave me a book called Hind's Feet on High Places.

There was nothing about that that drew me back, and there was no God for me there. So I began to look for a church here in Jacksonville, and I remember driving down the road, and I looked up on a billboard, and because I didn't know anything about church, I figured if there was a pastor on a billboard, then he had to be legit, right? So I didn't think he did that, because I, you never saw a Catholic church on a billboard.

So I'm like, okay, well, maybe this, so I remember seeing the pastors, uh, uh, advertising on the billboards. And so I just drove to the church and I pulled up to the church and I tried to pull in the doors to get in and all the doors were locked. And the first thing that went through my mind, Jesse was this, I've been sinning so bad, I can't even get into the church when I'm trying to get. That was my, that was what went through my head.

And I turned to walk away and a guy came and opened the door. His name was Drake Johnson, minister Drake Johnson. And, um, he took me and we talked for six hours, took me to get something to eat. And I began to pour my heart out to him. And we talked for six hours and he invited me to church. And so I ended up going. to church with him. And I didn't know anything about salvation. I didn't know anything about anything. Right. But there was an altar call. I didn't even know what that was.

There was an altar call and they said, if you want to give your life to Jesus, come on down here. So I guess I was in a place of brokenness. And again, I did not know what I was doing, but Jesus come to him. Sounds good. I'm going down. So I walked down to the front of church. And they began to pray and then they took us in his back room right now. I didn't get, I had no idea what speaking in tongues was and none of that stuff.

And when I got to the back room, Jesse, they took us in his back room. And to me, it was kind of spooky, right? Cause you go into this room, all these lights on and all these people are praying in tongues. And I'm sitting in Jesse when my hands lifted up with one eye open. I'm like, I don't trust you, right? I mean, that's just where I was. I'm being, I was like, this is all new to me, but I figured I knew what I'd gone through as a Catholic wasn't gonna help me.

So I said, Okay, well, I'll see what this looks like. And I got, you know, got there came back to service a couple times and I remember feeling lost. Right. I remember hearing him preach and just feeling lost. Not like I didn't understand, like, where are you going with this message? Like, it doesn't mean anything. It was more of the, it was more the animations, the antics. It was the hooping, it was all that kind of stuff. And I'm like, what, what, what, what is this?

So I'm like, I left there and at that time I was doing radio. And my producer on the show, I was telling him about, you know, getting, getting saved and how my heart was feeling. And he goes, man, you need to come to my church. And I said, okay. And he told me that his church name was the Potter's house. And I said, well, that ain't no name, no church, man. I ain't going to a place called the Potter's house. I don't know what that is.

So he told me about, he told me about the book of Jeremiah and being on a potter's wheel, and that was his based on. I said, okay. So he said, well, I said, when's the service? They're Friday night. I said, man, I'll go to my church on Friday. Oh, he said, uh, I said, I said, do you have a church on Sunday? He said, yeah. He said, uh, I said, what time is it? Eight o'clock. I said, okay, I'll be there.

So I remember going into the Potter's house and they were still in the multiplex at the time and Bishop came and preached at eight o'clock and it was one of the most moving things I'd ever heard. It was an amazing, amazing, uh, uh, message that the music was awesome. I'm like, okay. This is cool. I can do this. This is all right. So I ended up just getting entrenched in the ministry, entrenched in the message. Um, I didn't do anything for about three years, just be there. That's all I was doing.

I was just there. And then shortly after being there for a while, uh, he asked me to take over basketball. And then I started the Blacktop, which is outside street ministry. It slowly progressed into just about everything and then I started a basketball program there and built it to one of the best ones in the city. But it was all about, um, really learning to love Christ. But I think for me, um, I always wanted to really serve God in the best way that I could.

And I was able to hear scripture and listen to it and understand it and retain it. And there was so much that were there. And because I didn't know anything about church, I didn't know what to look for, but I felt good being there. Right. And I felt like the presence of God was there. And I felt like, um, I was learning so much.

Bishop taught me so much about exegesis and isogesis and homiletics and hermeneutics and every aspect of, sharing the gospel Bishop Paul McLaughlin, an amazing guy and I think that, uh, when you, when you come into where you are in life and in ministry, I think one of the things that people don't do is understand what it really is. And I believe that a parent raises a child to leave his house. And I think for most ministries, people pride themselves on staying there.

And I think that's why I'm so adamant about now sharing with people to follow their passion. And what is it? You've got God to answer to, not man. And he puts people in your life to give you directions, to point you in the right direction, to pull you back and let you go. Discipleship is about literally teaching you to be a disciple of Christ, not a member of a church so much. And I think that the whole misconception today is about church membership.

So if I'm a certain denomination, I have to be an act Baptist. I have to be an act Church of God. I'm going to act like a Church of God person, right? So now I become defined by my label I've accepted, and I lose, I lose my individuality. I'm not who I am. Um, this is who, right, this people begin to assimilate themselves with the larger group instead of focusing on and really adhering to or enhancing their own individuality.

So again, that's why I said Mark 7 and 13, the traditions of man make the Word of God in none effect. There's some, there's some things we accept in tradition that don't allow us to be who we're supposed to be. And that can be a frustrating thing at the time, and I think there's a lot of people, Jesse out there, that are frustrated with that. Because they don't know. Um, we've gotten away from really sharing the gospel. And the gospel isn't just getting people saved. It's more than that.

It's a way we live and let our light so shine before men that we might seem, uh, they might seem our works of glorifying the Father, which is in heaven. That's what the gospel should result in, right? Because again, if salvation or getting saved is your ultimate goal, once you get saved, you get comfortable.

He did it so different that his own people. Didn't know, didn't understand him. He said he went into his own, and his own one received him. Now, I mean, how does that feel to be able to go into your own people and say, look, I'm here, and everybody's like, nah, you're not the one. But he still, but he knew what his message was. He knew what his assignment was from day one. He knew what plan A was.

As a matter of fact, even Jesus as an earthly man, Jesse, tried to get plan B. When he was in the garden, he said, look, he said, if it'd be possible, let this cut past before me. He was like, look, I know we talked about this up there. I was with it when I left. I'm going down there, you know, down the sprawls, you know, they, they gonna come back to us. That's what we're gonna do. But when he got down there, right before he was supposed to do this, He said, can we talk pops?

Look, um, I've been with this thing for a long time. Uh, it sounded good when we started. Now I'm down here. It's about to happen tomorrow. Is there anything else we can do? We have no plan B. There is no plan B. It's the only plan that works. And I think if we begin to really look at that as a model, we have to understand what it is. Now, why did that model work for Jesus? Because he knew exactly what it was from the beginning. He had one assignment. From the beginning.

And I think that's where we, that's where we are challenged because we don't know what that one assignment is. We have to find it. And oftentimes it's guided by someone else's agenda. Our assignment usually is shaped into somebody else's big picture or somebody else.

Relevance goes with the culture, you know, and I think because you want to be relevant, you become fluid and you change with the wind. And the Bible talks about it in James. It says we're tossed to and fro by anyone adopting. You want to be relevant. You tend to assimilate to. The culture, if you want to be relevant, I want it, but that's not what I supposed to be relevant. It was supposed to be real.

And it should show compassion. That's what the gospel should do. But when we live in this era that we're living in, where you have things like diversity, equity, and inclusion, and you have everybody loving themselves. Well, here's the reality. There is no challenge because if you challenge or you confront, now you are either phobic or you're canceled. So we can't even share the gospel because that's what the gospel is supposed to do. So what we end up doing is debating and arguing.

And I don't believe Jesus ever debated or argued with anybody. I think we just need to stay focused on where we are. So for me, When I'm sharing the messaging of Build Self With No Excuses, it's about building yourself as God sees you. Build yourself as God has ordained or put out there for you to be. How can we build ourselves to be the best version of ourselves in God's eyes? You know, when it comes down to it, we have to be able to deal with the issues of the day.

But I don't think people want to deal with them because they're not equipped enough to understand their Bible. They don't believe it enough. And so we've got to get to a place where we are encouraging people to stand for God in the right way. You don't have to argue with people. You just live something before them. You know, when I use sports analogies a lot, Jesse, and one of the greatest college basketball coaches was a guy named John Wooden.

John Wooden, they called him the Wizard of Westwood. He was the head coach at University of California, Los Angeles, or as most people know, UCLA. And he went through winning 10 national titles. And he had some great players. He had Walton, he had Jabbar. I mean, you go through it, he had the great ones. But one of the things that, um, made him so significant as a coach is that he never scouted his opponent. Not one time.

Now in sports, usually we scout the other team so we can have a strategic advantage or be prepared.

Is God not busy too? Why are we focused on the devil? This is where our mind goes. We're so fixated on the problem, instead of knowing we have a solution. Why don't we focus on the solution some more? And this again, this man's tradition, we've been taught that fear is what we have to face and get, but he says he didn't give it a spirit of fear, but a power and love and a sound mind. We're focused on the wrong stuff.

So when it really comes down to where we are, how do we really get proficient at the God stuff? When people are looking at becoming, counterfeit, experts, when they're being trained on how to really see a counterfeit, they don't study counterfeits. They study the original paper.

Most of what our deliveries today are, are entertainment. How can I get you in? Well, here's the reality, Jesse. The gospel is supposed to attract. The gospel's not enough. We have to put on plays and concerts. Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to any of those things as methodology, but when it's the way that you attract me, here's what you have to remember. If I attract you that way, I got to keep doing that to keep you.

But I do say this almost every time I go speak, that I'm here for one reason and one reason only, and that's not to be ass backed. Truth! And I mean, and I mean that sincerely. Now, I'm usually ass backed, but my goal isn't to say something fluffy and fun. Now, my goal isn't to rebuke the whole room either. My goal, Jesse, is to get you to think. It's the one thing that we've literally not done lately.

Because we have experienced and engaged in stuff that if you really thought about it, made no sense. So why did I do that? But because man's tradition, the influence of the populace, the influence of the masses, is what gets you to be subjective to how you think. You know what I'm saying? That, for me, I can't do this. And the biggest, the biggest, um, uh, example of that, In most recent years was this COVID thing.

That's all. Now, if I'm gonna, if I'm going to be subject to a conspiracy, Jesse, Jesus coming from heaven, dying on the cross and raising on the third day, I'm gonna go with that conspiracy. If I'm gonna be a conspiracy theorist, I'm gonna go with that conspiracy. Then the other one's y'all the manufacturer, right? When it comes down to it, because none of it made sense to me, right?

If it's familiar, they're more and like, they're more likely to be involved if it's comfortable, right? So Jesse, if you grew up, uh, in a, in a, in a Pentecostal environment, if ain't nobody falling out during church, if ain't nobody running around the building, if ain't nobody casting out demons, you say it ain't church, right?

And so I think for me now, um, as I, as I Find my true place in my passion, which is my heart has always been for people, is to truly realize that those four things I said confront, challenge, confront, convict, and, uh, challenge, confront, convert, and have compassion are all the things that I want to do, you know, so there's so many things that are facing us today. I don't think many people here know how to deal with somebody who may be transgender.

Or maybe in a different gay or homosexual lifestyle. They know how to treat him with the gospel. They know how to tell him it's not right. But how do you really minister to him? How do you share the light? How do you show that? And I believe that's not something that we're taught from pulpits. I believe the part of us being able to disciple is to know how, again, to equip the saints to work in ministry. Here's what's going on. How would you deal with this? How would you deal with this?

How do you answer this? That's not what we get. We get rah rah sessions and motivational messages and we go out here and we fight and we lose the battle of being a light because our light's off when it comes to other people. We don't know how to deal with them.

So I, that's, that's been the, that's been the biggest battle with moving forward in the things that you do is if you look at what's there, you feel like you're losing ground, right. Or you feel like you have to change what you do. You know, you have to become what they are, and I think that I'm never going to do that. So I think that, um, your passionate pursuit of where you are and what you want in life and really know how much God has done for you.

Yeah. You talk about your podcast and the messaging that you want to leave with people is, you know, how God has changed your life. And I think that for me, Jesse, there was some ideologies that. I believe were elements of the church that I just didn't agree with. I think for me, having the boldness enough to stand in a space that I'm going to speak my truth, you know, and it doesn't, it doesn't matter to me how you get it. I was okay with speaking my truth when it came to COVID.

I was okay to speak my truth when it came to politics. There's no politics in the Bible, so why am I even entertaining it?

Uh, so that, that for me is for a lot of people is a different message and I'm okay with that. But there are more people that don't subscribe to that than do, yet their voices are sequestered and squandered because they don't really feel like they have a voice. And I think when you truly disciple people, that's the case. If you look at the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus only talked to the 12. It was the crowd that came and listened. He took the 12 of them away.

You know, I want to talk to you 12 and you go do what you need to do, but everybody else came to hear that. And Jesus spoke in parables. He said, because the things of the kingdom are too complex for you to understand. The accountability to really be a disciple of Christ is way over the heads of most people when it comes down to it. Even the elements of it. I mean, Jesse, come on now. What human being is ready to forgive seven times seven, you know what I mean?

But that's the way it's supposed to be. Right? So the things that a kingdom are hard as when it comes down to it. And ultimately, that's where we have to be. We have to decide if that's what we're going to follow. If we're going to be kingdom people, then we've got to do things that don't look like everybody else.

Uh, you don't have to line up to social norms and, and be a part of that. You need to remove the emotion of most of your decision making and really become. What you need to become for other people. And I think that's where, you know, I am. So I'm relegated to that. I'm okay with that. And I'm going to keep doing that.

I think that's where people come to a complete challenge and where they are, but I think that, you know, Jesse, if you continue to put out the, the information that you're putting out and, and have people on your show that really believe in that way, uh, if we'll begin to work together and get the right messaging to the right places. Uh, I think that we, we definitely will make the impactful difference that we need to make, but we have to be okay with that.

And we have to be okay with what we know we believe, but we have to be studious enough and intentional enough to, to study to show that self approval in the God. A workman need not be ashamed, rightly divine, the word of truth. That's what we have to do.

So I think that my whole purpose is, is to make men aware of who they really are, um, equip them and empower them to reestablish themselves as who they are, and move them to a closer relationship with what will sustain them. When it comes down to it. So, um, I work with men healing, the hurt men hide. I work with them. Um, that's a piece of it. I have a clothing line called manicure present your best self.

So it's all about positive motivational where the guys can literally signify a man of destiny messaging. So it's just a reminder when it comes to it. I think that any takeaway that you can have from an experience is important. Um, that is truly my heart. My heart is just to see people differently. So I've done coaching at the executive level. I've done coaching it obviously in the sports realm, but my heart now is really coaching people who are working through finding who they are.

Um, getting them to challenge their old mindsets. Um, my podcast is called GM, which is my initials talking BS. And talking BS is, uh, belief systems. It's breaking structures. It's building synergy. And anything that you can put a B and an S to that's positive, that's why I want to talk. So it's GM talking BS. And people will see it. Talking BS, well they, they're gonna, it is what it is. And it, but it isn't. But I think that's me. So it's about me really talking BS.

And talking about what your BS is. And you can use the vernacular because that's what it is. It's a really bull, you know what, but it's your belief systems. It's breaking structures, it's building synergy, it's being soulful, you know, it's your bank statements, it's your stewardship, it's everything when you're talking BS. And that's, that's, that for me is where it is. So I think, um, my whole purpose in messaging has become refined to that. To GM talking BS.

And I want to, I want to be, uh, evangelistic. So to speak in that messaging and just be able to go and empathetically challenge people when it comes to it So I do it on a personal level one on one with coaching. I've been fortunate enough to do it in corporations And be able to share in there in a unique, uh, in a unique way, but I'm not afraid to do it. I think that, um, corporate America doesn't bother me. It doesn't fear me. I'm not going to hold my tongue.

So I said, I'm, I'm here to not be asked back. I'm going to say probably what you all don't agree with that is politically correct in your workplace. Well, I don't work here, so I be politically correct. Um, that's just, that's just how I feel about it. But I believe that any opportunity I get. To, um, talk to, challenge, change, have a discussion with. I am passionate about seeing people be the best version of themselves, but especially men, especially men.

and I think that we bought into some narratives emotionally that don't serve us. And those need to be re re evaluated, adjusted, and shifted so that we can be the best version of ourselves.

Not necessarily about who makes the most money. If you did, you reduced the provision that he's providing you all the way around, then you're missing what provision is. But because we reduced it to just money and um, what you can get from me, then you're missing what really the value of the man is.

When it comes down to it, deal with, economic issues, people believe that they're not supposed to have, it's historically been, obvious that there have been, groups of people that may not have been as fortunate as others. If we believe in the gospel, that shouldn't matter, but a lot of, but a lot of times we buy into it. And again, fair is a four letter word that begins with F. It's never going to be fair when it comes down to it. And even when you look at the parable of the sower, Jesse.

The parable says at the end that, and some fell on good ground, right? Some of the seed fell on good ground. But what I noticed about that part of that, uh, parable is the fact that the seed that fell on good ground, it says some produce 30, some produce 60, and some produce a hundred. So Jesse, even when everything is quote unquote equal. Some people are still going to only produce 30. Some people are still only produce 60 and some people don't produce on. It's never going to be equal anyway.

So I think a lot of the messaging that we want to share to reduce us. And again, make excuses. That's why I'm about bill. So no excuses. They exist today, right? I don't believe there's anything in personal color can't do in the world. But yet there's a belief system that they can't. The excuses that we make, whether they be politically, socially, economically, seem to be greater than what's in you. And the Bible says, greater is he that's in you, that's he that's in the world.

One of my favorite, one of my favorite verses of scripture is Ephesians 3 and 20. None to him that is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all who can ask of thing according to the power that worketh in him. And you right that God gave you a Deuteronomy talks about giving you the ability to obtain wealth and wealth doesn't necessarily means money. It means wealth of information, wealth of knowledge, wealth of experience.

You know, I think we reduce that messaging to just money, but it's not just money. It's being as being wealthy all the way around. So I think those narratives, those mantras. Um, those belief systems are where we have to really shift and we have to call people on where they are. You know, there's certain thing in the church that just doesn't serve us well.

Um, there's certain, there's certain egos in the church that literally take the fact that people don't know their word and they use the word manipulatively to get what they want. So I think we have to, the Bible talks about a high time that we wake up out of sleep. We got to see what's happening.

Romans 8 and 28 is true. That all things work together for the good, for them that love God and those that are called according to his purpose. Then, there's no reason for you to be emotionally attached to any outcome. It's all working together for your good. As a matter of fact, I would contend that when you are living that way, there are no wrong decisions. I think we live in a world, Jesse, where outcomes are what we are looking for, and we tend to try to manipulate and control the outcome.

Well, Romans 8 and 28 said that all things work together for your good anyway, so have no emotional attachment to it. When you get an emotional attachment to something, now you become a person. The one who's driving the train. Well, the second part of that is no timeframe for things to happen. Jesse, let me ask you something. When has God ever worked on your timeframe?

So if I take decision making off the table and stop worrying about outcomes now, I'm leaving the outcome to God That's a spiritual thing. Here's what I have to do is a spiritual thing I have to do if I remove the time frames Now, I'm not playing God, I'm allowing God to work. So there's a natural thing I have to do, like 1 Corinthians 15, 46, says first natural, then spiritual. And that first description is talking about exegetically the first Adam and the second Adam.

But there's a rhema, there's a present day truth to that. And I think that's where we have to get to, understanding that, and that's why I believe that if somebody's able to do that, I'm not saying it's easy, nothing about following God is easy. But if you're able to do that, then you can literally change your life and have and begin to have a life that you want to have,

And I hope that whoever watches this, whether it's one or a million, that you get something from it and it can impact you and get you to change.

They, Matthew 6 and 33, and they seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and everything will be added unto them. Make that not just a declaration, but a belief, Father God. So we pray, healing, love, understanding to everyone that watches this. Father God, prosper them and give them what they needed. Have them trust and rely on you for everything in their lives. And we'll always give you the praise and honor and glory in Jesus name. Amen.

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. No one has a story like yours, and you may be the only one who can reach someone else through telling your experience. A story is just that, a true account of your own experience, and no one can disagree with your experience. It's not about theology, and it's not about how interesting or special you are. It's all about Jesus.

So when you're ready to tell how Jesus has impacted your life, you can let Jesse know at his ministry website, jesseduke. net. There you can download guidelines that will make it easy to prepare to tell your story. Thank you for listening today and Shalom.