Kyle Renfrow

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.

So I'm the baby of 11. And so when you're the baby of 11, first of all, you're just glad to be here, but. Um, The interesting part about it is I've known. My dad is a follower of Christ my whole life and, uh, Some of my other brothers and sisters didn't have that opportunity because. He was, uh, a self-proclaimed alcoholic and. Chasing things of the world. Um, when he, when the, the spirit. I guess impacted his heart to where he knew he wanted to be a follower of Christ.

That changed the dynamic of our family. And, um, I like to share that because. There's a statistic out that says if the dad or the family or the father of family. Seriously chases after Jesus and has a genuine relationship with him. There's an 85% chance that the rest of the family. We'll Follow Jesus genuinely as well. So I always like to start there. Again, it's. You know, we know from scripture that we have our own fakes and.

We can lean on our parents' faith for, for questions, but we had to have our own faith, our own relationship with Jesus and. The spirit lives within us when that's the case. So I always like to start there. Just because I do think it's important to understand. The ancestry or. Connection to faith. Um, And we see that in scripture as well, but my story begins, I grew up in, in Dillon, South Carolina. Had two Christian parents, my entire life. and we were in church.

Every Sunday, twice on Sundays and on Wednesday. And. Doing revivals. And, uh, so, uh, just had a strong foundation of, of. Of what facts look like. And, um, I became a believer at the age of seven at camp pine hill and Bennettsville South Carolina. Um, which was a special place. In my faith journey because I continued to. To go back to that camp summer after summer and, um, had a lot of strong. Man of God pour into me.

Um, so I look at that as a, uh, a really strong foundation on my faith and where I learned, where I was discipled and. so at the age of seven accepted Christ was baptized at Kemper Baptist church, a little small church that my family attended for the first eight or nine years of my life. So that's where my, my faith walk began. At the age of seven, I, it's probably fair to say that not even our frontal lobes have developed at that point in time. So, so you, you know, you process what you can.

I do think the spirit was living in me at that point. And I say that because. Um, there were times in my life where I just felt him. push, push me, pull me, guide me and counsel me. Um, even at that age, my mom was the town librarian and in lake view, where I went to school in lake view, Dillon county. Was our county Dillon high school was a big rival of ours. My dad. On a mechanic shop and Dylan. And so. Uh, I spent time. In the library. Um, with my mom, I spent time. At my dad's mechanic shop.

I learned a couple of things there, both my parents were very given people. My mom. One of the first things she told me. Um, When I went to school, she, she gave me some money for some canteen money is what we call it. And she said, listen, If you bought anything at that canteen, you better buy your friends something. And so. You know, just some of the, the, the morals that we know that. Um, You know, Christ would want us to live by or exemplified. Through my mom. And then I watched my dad.

Did the same where he would do. You know, he, he was in the mechanic business. A lot of times I saw where. It didn't seem to, he made much money cause he did a lot of things for free. And so it taught me some things about what's important in life. Um, I know that. There's a difference between. Good. And good and guide, but, uh, I think we all know that God is, is. Overflows with good. And so, you know, Through my life, trying to understand that became. I'd say difficult at times.

Um, faith was difficult at times, but. We do know that chasing after Jesus and looking at how he lived his life. Um, there were a lot of just great things, good things that he did. Um, what I never wanted to do. And as I'm older, I see that now it's confused good things for things that were from Jesus. And so. It may sound a little headsy, but I think it's an important distinction. So. You know, just talking about some of the trials in my life. I had a great youth ministry at my church.

We, we eventually started going to church And Dylan at first Baptist church. And. Same to have several. Strong leaders in our youth ministry. And. Um, One of the first trials in my life that I remember that just dominated me is I was on a church youth retreat and. The first time I saw a pornographic video. I walked into a hotel room already stay in and. Um, Some of the guys had something on TV. What I didn't realize is how impactful that would be on my life.

Um, Pornography became a struggle for me. Um, And at a teenage age. Um, what was an accidental stumble into something? Satan. Began to use it in my life to. To distort, um, A lot of things. You know, as I, as I got older and God grace and mercy helped me get through some of, some of those issues. I started realizing that the science behind that and. Science says that when we see it. Uh, pornographic image. Embeds in some of our neuro pathways.

And it's not something that we can just forget about. Um, obviously. Guides. Ah, gray skin can work through that. And. He obviously forgives us, um, When we repent of things. But it was a much bigger deal than I thought it would be. And so. It changed? Uh, the way I looked at. Female friends. It changed the way. I thought about. Um, guys's on a sex. it became a sinful tool That Satan used, um, through my youth. And. Even in the college. And so. I could spend a ton of time there. it's a trap.

It's a trap that, uh, you know, I pray for my kids about, Yeah. But before you go on. I just. Um, very familiar with. Pornography myself. I've had my own struggles, but that was way before. Uh, the internet. And all that. You know what I mean? The Playboy. Yeah. And yeah. Hustler. Wasn't a big deal when I. I was a teenager. Sure. you had to really work to find. And the real sneaky and stuff, but nowadays

Yeah. So it's a. You know, I'm 43 years old. And, uh, It was a little different back then, uh, you know, I heard from my kids and. Uh, my friend's kids because. Of social media now and how, how easy it is. To get to. The pornographic world. Uh, Satan's obviously grown so much. Um, when I was growing up. We didn't have cell phones. We didn't have internet until I was a senior in high school. Um, uh, right around that time, maybe the summer of my senior year, I think it's the first time.

We had internet at home. Um, So typically, you know, I never w or I didn't, it was not. Around magazines. It was usually through TV. And back then satellite was a big, big way of getting TV and. Satellite. You know, it was pretty much. Anything you wanted to find and you could, and so. I learned quickly how to find those things. Um, and. I didn't realize at the time how it was a trap. And how it. Dominated my life and my thoughts and, um, Even as God was working in my life.

It was a sin that just had me. You know, by the neck. So. So. I guess your question was. How does it, how does somebody get. Uh, based on your experience, how you get free of that trap. So I think that the first, the first thing, and I think it goes for any sentence to, to confess it. I'm not just confess it to. To the Lord, but which is ultimately what we have to do, but confess it to somebody that, you know, we'll hold you accountable. Well, Explain to you.

You know, The significance of what you're doing. Um, And that's the only way that. Um, I saw any victory over it. So the. The way out is to. Confess. Or first year after. To know that it's an issue. Right. And you confess it to God and to another person who can be an accountability. Sure. Uh, and so, and then, um, you, you just sack to. Prey. Yeah. First strength ever done. So. This would happen later in life for me, but. You know, and I looked at sin.

As something that I had to be violent about, meaning. God tells us in scripture that. Where it's a violently bite against our sin every day. Not in our own strength, but obviously in his strength. When I started looking at Sand from that approach. It was you respect Sen. And in a sense, meaning that. We know how quickly Satan can entangle us. We know how quickly our flesh can untangle us. I think those were two. There too. The two things that lead us to send typically are our selfishness.

And then obviously, Satan is right there at, uh, to add to it. But, uh, it's a fight. And even to this day and his adult. And God's given me so much victory over that and so much forgiveness and I've shared it with my wife and. Um, We're both aware of how quickly that can ruin a marriage or. Or, uh, certainly impact a marriage. So just a confession of that, the accountability that comes with it. But then is this a spiritual fight? That you have to have inside you. Um, That comes from the spirit.

Um, obviously, but also. From a want to you. Uh, you know, we talk about effort a lot in. And our Bible studies and. Whereas effort come in to the gospel. You know, for, for me. You know, hearing the gospel is a free gift, you know, but our effort is an act of love. So. Um, I don't think we can discount that the effort. You know, if I. If I want to be a better Christian. There's an effort I can put in. To get in God's word. More often. You know, hopefully daily. To spending more time talking to.

To the Lord and prayer to, to practice in my faith. I think. Some of that comes to mind and Philippians four 11, Paul says. I've learned to be content. And. When, when I hear that initially, You know, I don't think this way, but in order to learn something. You have to practice it. When I learned my multiplication tables, I had to practice them. So. Um, to overcome. to go from Paul. The killer of Christians to Paul. Somebody willing to die. For the cause of Jesus.

It didn't just happen overnight. It didn't just happen by circumstance. He committed himself. To spending time in God's word. And he was a smart guy when he was killing Kristen. So. To to understanding what grace meant to understanding, you know, this guy, Jesus. He was real and he was real because of what he had done in his life. Not. Not just what he heard. So. That's how we have to fight sin and. At 43 years old, I'm still trying to, to work on that. Um, but. Having a fight.

Is is a big part of it. And. We denied to apologize for, for being. Violent towards him. Like. You know, if you can't handle a cell phone with internet. Get rid of it. Right. Yeah. If that's leading you down a road. And it's it's it is important. We know we serve. Uh, God that forgives, but. We also are called to be obedient. And, um, John 1421 says. Whoever keeps my commandments. He loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my father. And then he says he'll manifest himself in us.

If we, if we honor that. Show himself to us. So. It's Not easy. But it's simply stated, um, and. So our act of obedience to F to fighting that sin, to turning our backs on that sin, to. To have the accountability. Is part of that learning to be content and some of these things. So. I think. You know, obviously God's given us armor mints in the gospel. Um, And you can study those for a year, if you really wanted to. But I, you know, it's. It's certainly in my opinion, an act of love.

I mean, cause if Jesus went to the cross in a violent way, Um, to, to basically. Atone for our sin. And so. Um, It's not, it's not a joke. Like sends not a joke. Satan's here to dominate us. And so anything, that's not a joke. Takes effort. I think. Yeah. And in the way we love God by, by running from sin. We love God by fighting sin. And we also love God by. Sharing our story. We love God by. Being obedient to the things he's told us to do. Um, loving people. Um, loving him.

Spending time with him. You know, there's not a secret sauce. And these are things that you learn. Cause. There's not a secret sauce to. To love and Jesus. It's. You've got a Bible. You know, you got the spirit in, you. We've got, um, An opportunity to be in God's word. Collectively. On Sundays. Um, you know, You practice those things every day. Or, you know, as many times as we can get into corporate worship, we try to do it. But. So that's the secret sauce. So so-called secret sauce, I guess.

Um, And then we listen. And I think. And I've spent. A lot of my life trying to be a doer. Of things and you know, sometimes God just has this here to listen. And there are seasons of our life where I think that. It was more evident than others. So. Well, if you don't mind me, Can I turn the corner here, Jane. Talk a little bit. You mentioned being a doer and. And I know that's true. You've. Pushed a lot in your life.

And. Uh, can you tell us a little better about What motivates you to do the things that you do and maybe talking about. Business and family and just life in general and how. The ward informs that. Yeah, I think, um, growing up, you. You always aspire to. To do something. I, you know, I thought I was going to be a ballplayer my whole life. When I was playing ball, I wanted to be great at it. I was.

White and slow, but, uh, You know, I tried to work hard and you can, you can have some success being white and slow, so that's okay. Yeah, I think, uh, You know, our family in general. You know, my, I had older brothers who went to west point. He went into Clemson who were successful at business, who I had older sisters who. We're extremely successful in the things that they did. We teachers nurses. And so. It was certainly looming in my mind as I grew up, you know?

Okay. I want to, I do want to honor the Lord. I want to arm my family. And then I, there were always days where you're like, okay, what can I do this? Can I be successful? Um, And playing ball. Uh, you know, I had a couple of incidents. Instances in my life where. Um, our successful play in football and baseball and. Had some. Some opportunities to play. For championships. And one Psalm and. Those things are certainly. At the time you think they're there.

The only thing in life that matters, but looking back. It's it's how God taught you how to, to go hard and. Try to try to be good at things. From Lakeview high school. I went to Clemson for a year and I was there a year and a half. And. Um, Had some opportunities to play college baseball and just decided to go to Clemson. Um, trying to walk on. Certainly it was not. Uh, Climpson caliber baseball player.

So, um, but it, you know, it showed me that very clearly when I tried to walk on and I didn't make the team. Ended up transferring to north Greenville and play in baseball. Um, for basically a year. And. got Bayswater my system. That's where I realized I really didn't love baseball. Like I thought I did. Um, But I love to compete. So. I mean, I remember days in college where. I did. I played a different sport. Five times in one day, just competing and you know how to in a marital level and.

Trying to find some time in there to study. You know, that was certainly not. Uh, top of my list and then. When this one summer. I came to work with my brother William at. His business run, bro brothers. And. He, uh, took me under his wing and started showing me business. And man odds just fell in love of business. The whole process infatuated me. The idea of building a team, the idea of. Buying low and selling high.

The idea of, um, You know, just trying to fight to find the diamond in the rough or, or. That last little bit of. Profit. It was just fun for me. And. So I was not finished with college, but we, um, Let me come in and work with him. Some. And learn a lot and we did several different things within his business, but. Ended up saying, we basically told me that, you know, he would not pay me another dime until I finished college.

And so I went home and I. The cool thing about that is I got to spend some time on my mom and dad. I was actually married at the time. I got married. Uh, About a year before I finished up and, uh, to my wife, Jackie, who is. My queen is ally. Um, Like to, to tell. People about her, but she's just special, man. God's gift to me. I'm going to get you back to the business. Yeah. College thing, but. Uh, tell us how you met Jackie.

So I met Jackie at north Greenville and I was a. It's one of those spiritual things where. When I left Clemson, gab guide to this, this. Just the spirit. It was the same guy. You got to go to north Greenville. Like you got to go up there and talk with the baseball coach and. And it was kind of, unlike me, I just took off one warning. And headed up for a low workout with north Greenville and. That got me there. I didn't know that guy is going to. Push me there. So I'd make my wife, but.

Jackie's Mom and stepdad were, were missionaries at the time in Paraguay. Um, when. Uh, I got to know Jackie war and. Because of their connection to the. The Southern Baptist association. Jackie, who was at the time living in Maine. Ended up coming down in north Greenville. And, uh, so she came out away from Maine to north Greenville to. To meet the man of her dreams.

So, But there's a. There's a lot of God's grace in that, um, Yeah, just that short time I was at north Greenville for him to connect those dots with. Finalizing baseball for me with. Allow me to meet Jackie and. Um, become. Best friends with her and then going on to get married and. Heard a. I basically see my passion for business and support it. Even when it looked crazy. Um, It was certainly something that God. Orchestrated. So. So back to the business. Yes. You you w you finished. I finished.

I graduated from Francis Maine with a business administration degree. And. The cool part about that is I'd spent. A lot of time. Working. And then I got to go back and most of my senior level classes at Francis Marion at that time. Most of your senior level professors were ex-business men and women. So. It really clicked. For me and started growing that passion just to be around folks who had been successful at it. And then we're willing to come back and teach. So. From there.

I came back to work with William. I was. Probably a better employee at that time, because I. Growing up some, uh, I had more to lose because Jackie had. Was pregnant. And so when I moved back to the upstate. I had One more person to be responsible for. And so that, that motivated me to. To want to work harder, to learn more. And. So that's what I did. I started. Just trying to, to learn things and watch people and listen to people.

And. I did find that a. Yeah, people are people and people were gonna let you down at times, people were gonna. B. Extremely gracious at times, people are going to. Teach you things that they don't have to and That was a lesson that, you know, as a, as a young person, you look up the people and you don't realize. That I struggled just like you do So I worked for folks within the business. I had customers who. We're brilliant. But maybe struggled with things that I thought.

Where we're simple things that conquer life, but this is how they were made. so I ended up graduating. At Francis Marion, when I think I was around 23. So it took me about a good five and a half years. Then I worked for William for about four or five years. And we were in a couple of plants here and there where. They would have equipment that. they didn't necessarily need any more. It was an end of life, piece of equipment. At Tom's. They were buying a new piece.

And then, so I went with him and I said, William, I love to see if we can buy some of this equipment. That still has life in it. And then maybe sell it to some other plants that we know or. And that's where ESS kind of developed. So I've got to stop your Watsi. Yes. ESS ESS is a. a business. That's. Really. Paid for a. A lot of kids. But it's also, man has put some amazing people in my life. We started it back in. Oh, 7 0 8. So that makes it about 17, 18 years old.

Uh, what is E S ESS is equipment sales and surplus. It's. Okay. We do. We're a little too broad for our own good. We do four or five different things, but we buy equipment. Who are you? We recycle equipment. We relocate equipment for customers. We, um, Warehouse equipment. they all niche together. And when we're operating. At our best. W, you know, the customer's been able to utilize all of those is what really is the magic and what we do. So. That's what we tried to do the last 17 or 18 years.

And, um, Man it's, uh, it's taught me a lot about people. It's taught me how to love people. It's taught me that. Hiring good people on your team. Can be so crucial and it's not just the talented people. It's the people who understand. Um, what a team is, is that people who understand What trust is and. That or, you know, give you reasons. To trust each other. Um, it's also allow me to. Make mistakes and learn from them. Um, You know, if we're serious about our faith.

Then our faith has the overflow into our, our work throughout the week. And. ESS has given me an opportunity To let my faith ever flow. And I assure you there's been more in perfect times and there have been things done. Right. But. Man God's grace is still been right in the middle of everything. So. You know, you. It's still about people and relationships. And I, I can't imagine any business that is successful. That won't echo that.

Um, Where you deliver, you seem to handle water, really good people working for you. I'm and. And I'm curious as to how you. Go about finding such a car. Yeah, I don't know, man. You know, I don't, I don't think. That is anything I've done. Certainly. I think our leadership authentic. I think. You know, one thing that I've tried to, to. To, to get out of directly hiring people. And I think when one of our. Successful, uh, Ventures has been that we.

We have four or five people who, lead our company. in the different divisions and before we hire anybody, they, those people that we are trying to hire meet with each of those four or five people. They walk around with them. They talk with them because, you know, as a. As a business. You know, we obviously are looking for, for great people who understand. Our culture and what we do, but. Bareness. They've got to be, you know, they've got to enjoy working here. So are you.

Feel free to say more about. Uh, I don't want to. Too much time ago. hearing a little bit about your. Rest of your face. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. So the rest of my family, yeah. So my oldest kid is, is Kaitlin grace. She's 19. Um, now she is Kate she's graduated. Tiller people call her Kate now. I still call her Caitlin grace Kate's awesome. She's a. a tremendous athlete. She's a volleyball player. In high school and just got gifted there. She's.

She's a caring person who is growing up now and to see her. Mature and grow. Has been a blessing for me. And her mom. Um, And so I'm excited about what God's going to do in her life. rollin is my 16 year old. He's my, my oldest son. Raelynn is, uh, He's a, he's a con fella. He, uh, he loves football. he loves our church. She loves. being around his friends and, um, Excited to see you. What, his high school career is going to kind of bring, I will say that our church.

Uh, we churched at the mill was, uh, God, that's tremendous student ministry in my kids are. Benefiting from that. And that's, um, If I could say. Anything to any. Young family is find a church with a strong. Kids and student ministry, because. You know, that's, uh, that's huge in, in the growth of our kids. Certainly Bible-believing church that. That has strong leadership there. My youngest, daughter's Macy, Claire. And. She is a. sweetheart. She's 14. She. She acts like she's 20.

Just a sweet girl, who is. Always witty and bubbly and, um, She likes fashion. So. Her and her mom get along well, they like shoes. Um, But just proud of her and. As I am, uh, the rest of my kids. And then my youngest is Beckett who. If you asked my four kids, they would probably say he is. Extremely intelligent. And, uh, he's also very witty. He loves video games. He plays golf. He, um, It's just a funny dude, who is. Very very smart. He got that from his mother. And, uh, He is. 10 years old.

And man I'm excited for him. He's he's actually gifted musically. He doesn't know what as much, but. He can sing. I can't clap and sing at the same time, but back at it just has some, some God given talent with that. So, yeah, so my prayer for my kids is that. They'll know Jesus, that. The live for him that. They'll realize that he's our hope that. When things get tough. He's our hope Where are you now? While we're on the subject of your kids. I was thinking about how, you know, you mentioned.

How your dad and your mom both taught you. Uh, generosity. And kindness and given to other people. And that's the one thing I've definitely noticed about all your kids. Th they, they tend to go out of their way to be. Hospitable. In caring and thoughtful. Of capable, which is rare for a child. to be so, um, willing to connect with an adult, especially an old guy. Yeah. And, uh, so you you've definitely passed on that. less than new.

You're learning from your parents and I'm sure Jackie had a lot to do with it too. She used CISO. The same way. So. Anyway, I just wanted to. Ah, thanks for sharing. Uh, we've seen them, uh, Have some tag team wrestling matches amongst each other. So. That's okay. It's nice to hear. You know, your kids. Getting it right. You know? Yeah. So, You go, go ahead and continue. Whatever you want to say. I do have a question for you. Yeah. So I, you know, again, I wanna reiterate, you know, gods.

I didn't go to school thinking, Hey, I'm on this unique business one day that. Is around big, heavy equipment and, um, Is is very much like some of the teams I played on the sports in terms of how you, you fight for each other. And you root for each other. Um, love each other. Um, We've had tragedy in our entertaining. We've had success in our team and, uh, We made some money along the way. We'd lost some money along the way.

Um, but what I, what stands out to me most is just the people and how God orchestrates people in our lives. Yeah, I can say anything is chased. The people don't chase the money chase. Um, You know, The journey of it, the growth that can happen when. A team can selflessly trust each other and root for each other. Um, so. And it's a tool, you know? Ah, it's a tool that, that God has given all of us here to, to honor him with. And. You know, we meet customers who are struggling.

We meet vendors who are struggling, some of our competitors who, who have things going on in their lives that. it can just be a struggle for him at times. And. That's when we have 100% permission to slow down. And pray for him and show up for him and love him. So. Customers. Customer. Yeah. Competitors. And it's, uh, we try, you know, we like to compete, but we like to. We want to be. Friendly competitors to our competitors. And. It's interesting. How in different industries of what we do.

You know, we work with our competitors. And some. Facets of our business. Our competitors don't want to do that, but. I always thought it was pretty cool. When you can work with a competitor. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. So it sounds like you're using. Godly principles to run your business. And then yeah, every day we got to. You know, we, one of our core values. Is built on Philippians two, four, and it says, look, not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others. And so.

If we can genuinely do that, then. You know, it doesn't matter who you are. When, you know, somebody's concerned about your interest. You can let some guards down and be real with each other. Yeah. Yeah. So. Well, that to me, that's the secret. It sounds like the secret of your success as you've been. January. mean, and in every aspect of your life and, God has rewarded. I mean. Jesus says give, and it will be given to you press down, shaken together, running over.

It sounds like that's well, I, you know, It sounds good. You know, but man, I've been the recipient of that. A ton. Um, You know, my, my mom, my dad, William. My brother who. You know, just taught me about giving. Who's a very generous person. I mean, I go through every one of my brothers and sisters and tell you shit. where. They, uh, Just gave selflessly. For my benefit. I can tell you about so many people in business, I've done that and I've worked for.

And so I saw the least, you know, the least that we can do is. Try to, to honor Jesus by. Doing what he said, you know? Sure. I love others. Treat others as you want to be treated. You know, we're, we're a for-profit business, so it's, it's, you know, we're here to try to win. You know, profitably. But there's no amount of profit that can Trump. You know, just loving to work with the people that you work with. And making sure they know. That you know, their interests are important to you.

And. Yeah, I hope our guys see that. You know, Uh, I don't, I'm sure there's times we've gotten it wrong. But. If we do, we want to. Ask for forgiveness and. Get it right. Yeah, so. Well, I haven't really been keeping interacted time here, but before we get too far I wanted to ask you, uh, Just kind of take a 30,000 foot view of your. Spiritual journey and your life and What, what advice or wisdom would you have to pass along to some, somebody out there that a. Uh, Jeremy struggling.

I, um, You know, I think a couple of things, you got to start with a personal relationship with Jesus and. No one can personally live my faith and I can't personally live someone else's faith, but. I was probably 33, 34 years old before. Somebody. Walk me through. What it looked like to spend time with the Lord daily. Now don't get me wrong. I was taught to spend time with the Lord daily, but to sit down and walk me through scripture reading. You know, observing what you read, writing it down.

Writing down an application of that scripture to your life, and then praying over that whole concept. So my advice is. Lorna method. With spending time in scripture and having the personal time with the Lord. Um, There's a lot of methods out there. There's soap there's camp, but ultimately. Um, they all, um, Um, our tools that just allow us to. To here. C apply. God's commands. And God's teaching. And so. I also was probably about that age when I really started taking that seriously.

And you look at folks in scripture who did it, even Peter. Peter was a. You know, the Peter we hear most about. I was kind of a. Wasn't afraid to say anything. Probably put his foot in his mouth a lot, but there was a time where Peter just put his head down and said, this was after Christ died. But on the cross for us, but. Learning scripture learning what that meant to let the spirit live in him. And. And then the, the Peter that came from that was a stud. For the, for the gospel. And so.

If we want to be studs for the gospel. We got to learn. To spend time with the Lord. Daily. To spend time in prayer daily. Um, And then where whatever God's given us as a platform, whether it's. Working for a company owning a company. Um, Being a good husband, being a father. You know, that's where we have the opportunity to exercise those things. And. I've also found that exercise and those things. I guess you'd say They're just. Getting in the messiness of life.

I'm in the middle of a. Have a 20 week. make war discipleship group. And. Went through the class and now I'm on the leadership side of it learning to, to help lead some of this stuff. And. You know, theirs. Plenty of other things that I could be doing on a Monday night. And God's just impressed upon me that. Two hours on a Monday night. Too. Fight like Peter and Paul fault. To to know God more so that. When obstacles come, when opportunities come that I can. Share Christ better. It's worth it.

Um, But then also every morning when I wake up or when you go to bed, whatever you choose. You know, just spending that time and God's word and. Um, talking to the Lord and listening to the Lord. And, and being in relationship with Jesus is a. You can't fake it. you just got to do it. And. One of the more trying times of my life happened this past November, when I went in to my doctor's visit for a routine checkup. Had a little nod on my forehead. The doctor and I started talking, he's a friend.

Um, And he said, Hey, let's just, x-ray that thing. And, you know, just see what it is. It's probably not the major. Um, I get a call about two hours after I leave. And he says, Kyle, you got a gross behind your score. And I don't know what it is and I'm concerned. Did an MRI two hours later and they said, man, you got a growth behind your school. And we don't know what it is. And now when he says behind your score, does he mean between the. Bone and your brain. No behind the school.

Touching your brain, but not intertwined in my brain is what it ultimately was. So, wow. Then they started calling it a tumor and then they started calling it. You know, I don't know what it is, I finally meet with the surgeon and this is about. two and a half weeks after. I was told I had a tumor behind my school. And, uh, Two and a half weeks was, was one of the more trying times in my life because I. I just didn't know, uh, you know, And. I mentally was Satan was winning.

Um, I reached out to, to one of the. The gentleman who is. Leading one of my discipleship groups. I said that I'm scared, man. I don't know what is going on. I don't feel bad, but they tell me I got this growth. Really close to my brain and. So. He said, I'm going to send you some scripture and I want you to read these out daily. Out loud to yourself. Um, And so I just. There were bouts. Of doubt, there were abouts of, uh, Just being scared to be quite honest.

No. It's asking God, what in the world are you doing? Um, And so. Lotta a lot of, uh, Prayer, a lot of tears. I'm not life because neither one. Understood. What was going on and, um, But I want to read this verbatim If I can find it. The scripture. Yes cause it was this guy's name's Jared Henkel, And he's uh, he's one of those guys that. Or certainly. Stud. When it comes to the gospel. Hang with me for a second here. Yeah, that's right.

I haven't found this scripture that, but ultimately I was just confirming that, you know, God's sovereign. And, um, He wants you to understand he's sovereign and he wants you to trust him. And, um, That, that sounds really good until you've got the, the lesion in your head. It turns out it's just going to be a lesion. But, um, but for tonight, Yeah. For two and a half weeks. And then even after that, you know, as they were telling me that. The signs were. You know, good in my favor.

I, you know, you still don't know. And, uh, So, these are my words. I said, Jared, I said, I'm scared, brother. I just need to confess that to somebody. He said, let me look up some scripts. Reflect and meditate on. And he sent me about 10 and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God. Today's. Who are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew you. He also predestined to be conformed to the image of the sun. He said I would encourage you greatly.

To read these passages out loud. Let the enemy hear you. Proclaimed these promises of God. I realize say it loudly. Say it would belief. Say it with assurance. And then he, he said, He sent this scripture to second Thessalonians three 16. Now may the Lord of peace himself, give you peace. Always. And every way the Lord be with you. Cashier burdens on the Lord and he shall sustain you. Um, Should I send a load with all your heart. You know, things that we had, we've all heard in.

But at that moment, You know, My only hope was found in Jesus. And. Trusting his promises. Trusting the sovereignty. And realizing that if, if this was going to be. A much bigger battle than. he'd be with me It turns out that five weeks later I'm in surgery, they. They cut a quarter size out of my school. Um, they pull out this mass was turned out to be Coagulated blood vessels that started kind of growing. Away from my brain towards my school, which couldn't have been a better situation.

Put medical statement back in there and. the next day I walked out. The hospital, the next, actually the next I was there two nights. I actually know that was yeah. Two nights. Um, And I did. Two nights. Thing or the plan was we can biopsy had been, you don't really just. Biopsy something next to the brain. It's still an invasive You know, you have to get in there so that their thoughts were. Because it was. You know, three, four centimeters. At that time.

Um, They would just go ahead and remove it. And then biopsy it. Yeah. And. I think there was enough. I thought that it could be. Turn out to be okay. That they thought we had time to. So they. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I found out. December 11th. I had the surgery. Two days later, they called me and told me that. It was diagnosed as a humanity, Homer, which is. Just blood vessels, that coagulate. And a lot of times they don't even mess with them.

If they know what it is, but because of where it was. You can't really boss biopsy something behind your school without going out of your school. You know, But this thing was pushing hard now. It was right here in it. It was about. That big. And so you could see it. If you. You probably wouldn't notice it unless I showed you, but she could see those a little knot on my forehead. And, uh, wow. So it J it just rocked my world because.

And I know I like to eat sweets, but fairly healthy in the whole scheme of things and still fairly active. Um, Had just gotten through with the eight week course and make war. The discipleship program I think it was. Certainly a time for me to. Put my money where my mouth was. In my face. and so God was certainly. Showed himself to be enough. A lot of people prayed a lot of people. You know, comforted me, tried to comfort me. You know, my brother Ben was there. Uh, my nephew.

Steven who I call Bubba. I was checking on a constantly. My guys at work were constantly checking on me. And Jared made it intentional to, to go through it with me. Um, Which. Man, if you're ever going through something tough and you got somebody that says I'm here with you. And it is special. Yeah, man. So it sounds like you. Got a lot closer to the Lord. Yeah. I told him and I told God during that time, I was like, man.

Yeah. If you'll just help me get through this, I promise you I'll tell the world about it. And, uh, this is, this was probably one of the biggest reasons I wanted to share is. Because. I told him I would. And a man guy's been faithful in my life and. I, uh, There's so much that's aligned in my life. That would. There's no, there's no other reason it would have without God's faithfulness. Um, so. Thank you. Jesus. So there's a lot of people.

Christians and non-Christians I Go through these health issues and. Come up against the unknown. Diagnosed. But pre diagnosis, I would say. And that period of time is, is, is scary. When you don't know what's going on. so What was the thing that Gave you the no. You know, I think about that. And I don't know, cause there was paralyzing moments where. You know, I could really do is go sob in a corner. Thinking about it, but.

Um, You know, what I do know is that when I was sobbing, I was talking to Jesus about it. And, um, So. Was it easy? Was it a walk in the park? No. Is that what faith does, where you know, this. This fate take away pain. No. There's God promised they'll be no pain. No. He promises. The walk through with us and, you know, we've got family members and friends right now going through some tough stuff and. You know, I want them to know I'm with them, but more importantly, I want them to know that.

if they're followers of Jesus and have a personal relationship with him. He's there with them. And. If we're really serious about this eternity thing. And I kinda went face to face with it, as in my thoughts, unfortunately, my situation. Was not terminal and turned out to be best case scenario, but. We're going to spit. A ton more time and eternity than we are. On this earth. And. It's hard to process that from, from this seat today. But. I'm P I'm banking. Um, Jesus being there.

Okay. And I'm banking on being with him. Because of what I seen him do in my life today. And. What he'll do moving forward that that's where I'm going to put my faith. And, uh, I hope others around me will as well. I see enough in my life to where they want to do that. But. You know, that's my calling is to share the gospel. And. You know, To, to share it with the urgency. To live it so that what I say, and my actions match up. You know, I'm not called to save people.

Because I couldn't get my own strength. But I don't know where else she turned. If you're in those situations, when. It makes Hopeless situations. Extremely helpless. You know, so. Um, I want to be an overcomer. You know, I'm a coward at times. I struggle with faith at times. Um, But I think Jesus wants us to be overcomers and that's all I could think of in that moment is. Yeah. You're going to get me through this somehow. Lord. And when Satan rared his head and. And my wife was huge.

This. You know, she's like, Yeah, let's talk about facts. What do we know? You know, And what are God's promises to us? That's not take it somewhere that, you know, we don't have to take it. So having people around you encouraging you is, is huge. And my wife's was certainly that Jared was that. My team here at ESS was that. Yeah. That's a great experience. Thank you for sharing that. I know there's people needed to hear that.

Well, uh, I'm sure we could go on and on, Is there anything else you want to share? Please do otherwise. I'd like for you to. pray for people out there who made. She ain't getting that. Just gotten a diagnosis. That's really scary. Or somebody who's struggling with. Their faith. Yeah, let's pray. father, you are Everything we need. Um, Father. I know that. Uh, what you've done in my life. And, and then I know what you've done in Jesse's life.

And. Father we're undeserving, but, uh, because of the cross and because of what Jesus did for us, um, Um, you tell us in your scripture that you see us as perfect and you love us. You know, understanding that you love. Centers who fell is, is a hard concept at times. And, um, Father, but she loves us so much. And you did too much for us by sending Jesus to the cross, to, for us to think. You don't love us. So, uh, the hurting people around us who were in the middle of their. Their trials.

Um, You know, I implore them to look to look to Jesus. Um, pour them to lean on their faith. Um, implored them to, to tell you about it, to tell you where their fears are to tell you. Um, where they're struggling and then to be ready to listen. Um, So many characters in the Bible and we don't claim to be those characters, but we want to, to see, you know, how they managed struggle. And how faithful you are to them. And so many of those characters were just honest with you.

And they told you what they were thinking. Father. They talk to you. And the biggest part of prayer is, is talking and listening. And so. Father when we struggle, we just have to talk to you and lay it at the foot of the cross father and a. At your feet. And so. I encourage folks who are struggling, uh, you know, you tell us to count it all joy. Um, that's easier said than done. The father. I know that when we're hurting. And when we come to you. You're there as our comfort.

Your layers are peace. And I know what, because you promise it in your scripture and then because of what you done. You have done in my life. So father, thank you for this time. Thank you for Jesse's vision and got to know his ultimate goal was to. To point people to you through these conversations and. If a guy like me can say anything. Um, it's that? my relationship with you And growing that relationship is the most important thing I'll ever do in this life.

And then guide you very clearly tell us to love people. Along the way to love them enough to tell them about. you and what you did for us on the cross. So. Thank you for that cross. And then, The fact that you, you rose again and you're a living God who lives in us. And that we can lean on in times of struggle. It's certainly been evident in my life in the last year. We love you. I have a forest Cletus. Thank you for the blessings in our lives and your precious name. We pray. Amen. Hey, Matt.