Carolina Classic...With Mercy Hill

This is the Truth Network. We are not only live from the Truth booth, but we are live from the Carolina Classic Fair today on Kingdom Pursuits. And really cool right this minute, Bob, if you look to your right, you're going to see a clown on stilts and he's blowing big, huge bubbles.

Like I'm actually seeing this with my own eyes. Not only do we have the Carolina Classic Fair, not only do we have turkey legs and cotton candy and corn dogs and, oh my goodness, all that's going on out there. But we have Bob, my good friend from 109U Pullitt, as well as Pastor Andrew Hopper. And Pastor Hopper, we've got a big conference coming up, the Breaking Barriers Conference, right? It's coming up in October with Mercy Hill Church in Greensboro.

Welcome, Pastor. Oh, man, I appreciate you guys having me on. Yeah, excited. I wish I was over at the fair with you guys. Well, come on down. Come on down.

I would. My boy's got a football game here in a little while, so that's what we're going to take. Oh, I'm totally, that's a very important thing. Where's he playing? We're over here in the northern part of Greensboro, Summerfield area, so he plays for the Northern Nighthawks. So we're excited about how he's doing and all that. So good to be with you guys today.

I love football, so that's really, that's really, really amazing. So, you know, I don't know if you've ever listened to Kingdom Pursuit, Pastor, but we always have to do, you know, Robbie's riddles early on so people kind of get used to this. And it's just a little fun.

So speaking of fair, right? Yeah, now the fun begins. Have you seen this skeleton with the big dress? All right.

So, Pastor, you didn't know you were going to get a chance at some real humor here, so. No. Yeah, just to warm you up to the idea, you know, Bob, you know what? I've seen a number of fair-skinned, you know, we're at the fair, so I've seen a number of fair-skinned folks out here. They have tattoos of ferris wheels and tilde whorls, you know, snow cones. Fair skin?

Yeah, fair skin, so. Your clown on stilts is juggling now. I'm sorry, I'm distracted. Yeah, that's distracting. And that giant skeleton, he's gotten me my attention too, but anyway.

Is he the one with the jug iced tea in his hand? Well, he may have something to do with a joke, I'm fixed to tell. So, and I don't know why I've always been such a sucker for a good cannibal joke. So maybe you're a sucker for a good cannibal joke.

So why did the Mexican cannibal want to eat after going on thrill rides at the fair? Yeah, you're wondering, how about you, Pastor, you got anything with that? No, I got nothing. All right, here you go. Carne asada. Hey, my favorite. There you go. And apparently that skeleton right there was carne asada.

Carne asada, anyway. If Mississippi, here, you've wondered about this, Bob. If Mississippi gave Missouri her New Jersey, like she's playing football for the Hawks or whatever, right, to wear at the fair, what will Delaware wear? Ah, what might be your response to that great question? Do you have any idea, Christian, you're listening in? He is juggling, there he goes. Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know either, I'll ask him. Oh, that's a groaner, sorry. So here today at the Carolina Classic Fair, Bob, my wife fainted on the Ferris wheel. Why shouldn't we worry? It's an oldie but a goodie, do you know, Pastor, why we shouldn't worry? I don't, I don't. How about you, Christian, you got any idea?

Why we shouldn't worry, I don't have any idea about that one. She fainted on the Ferris wheel, but she's slowly coming around. On the Ferris wheel, slowly coming around. I'm looking right at it.

Looking right at the Ferris wheel. Yes, sir. So, you know, at the end of all those shenanigans, we'd actually have a riddle for you to call in and win today. And so here you go, you know, I volunteer part time as a jouster at the Renaissance Fair.

Bob, you didn't know that. So I'm what they call a freelancer. So with that in mind, who was the best woman freelancer in the Bible? You might say she specialized in piercings. Who was, for again, to call in and win, who was the best woman freelancer in the Bible?

You might say she specialized in piercings. 866-348-7884 is the number to call in and win. 866-344-TRUTH. And if they do that, Christian, tell them what they'll win. They're going to win one of the fabulous prizes from the Kingdom Pursuits Prize Vault. There you go. All you got to do is tell us. And this is really not that hard. Don't overthink it. Which woman in the Bible you might say specialized in piercings?

She was a freelancer. 866-348-7884. Now to get back to this whole idea of breaking barriers, because I think I broke every joke barrier known to mankind right there, Bob. Other crows are flying in, and they're not after the corn on the cob over here.

Your jokes were good today, though. All right. So, Pastor, what's going on with the Breaking Barriers Conference? Yeah, man, so we, our church, we're over here in the Triad, part of North Carolina, so Greensboro, High Point, we're a multi-site church.

We were planted in 2012. And, man, we just really feel like God's put it on our heart, not only to see a movement in our church, but to just try to help in any way we can with other churches throughout our state and region. And one of the things that we've recognized over the last few years of ministry is that it feels like, you know, it feels like a lot of the conversation is rightly around church planting and sending and wanting missionaries to go out, which I obviously applaud. We say a lot of times at Mercy Hill that sending capacity is more important than seeding capacity, and I believe that. But for sending capacity, nothing is more important than seeding capacity. And, you know, there are churches that can grow and not go.

I understand that. But if you're going to be a church that goes, you really need to be a church that grows numerically, more people next year than you have this year, don't be afraid of talking about that in very frank terms. And we feel like there's a good bit of fear, hesitancy around, you know, talking about church growth for whatever reason, in some ways sending is celebrated, church growth is demonized, at least if you talk about it, seen as unspiritual. We just really want to pop that bubble and get rid of some of those stereotypes and stigmas and really help churches think rightly about trying to see their church grow. So that's in a nutshell, we could break any of that down, but that's in a nutshell what this conference is all about coming up for church pastors and leadership teams on October 24th and 25th.

Kind of like if you're not growing, you're dying. Yeah, if you're not growing, it's going to be hard to send people out in a sustainable way. We talk about multiplying, we want churches to multiply, we want them to grow and plant other churches, but truthfully, if you're not growing and you're trying to send other church plants out and that kind of thing, you're really just dividing, it's not really multiplying.

Yeah, yeah. So I'm curious, who all have you got, have you got a number of different speakers, or who is going to be bringing it, so to speak? So our church, we really debated that and talked about it. We have friends all over the country, and we actually decided because this conference is going to be regionalized, mostly in North Carolina, we have a church in South Carolina come and we have a couple of churches from Virginia that will come.

But we decided not to do that. We decided to kind of keep it in-house in terms of our senior team at our church. It's almost a little bit of a opening up kind of the hood and letting people kind of see how our church ticks.

I mean, our church went from, we planted our church in 2012 and we grew from 30 to 3,000 in about seven years. Wow. You did something right. I've got to go, Frank, as I hear this, I apologize, I can hear the music.

Yeah. So we're going to be coming right back with a lot more with Pastor Hopper, and hopefully you've got an answer about the piercer in the Bible. So we'll be right back.

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom, and we're having so much fun live out here today from the Carolina Classic Fair with my good friend Bob Young, and we've got Pastor Hopper who's got a wonderful Breaking Barriers Conference if you want to get some insight for your church on how they went from, you know, just a few hundred to the church plant in 2012 to over 3,000 and what went on for that to happen and how they could maybe help your church come more alive. That's happening October 24th through the 25th at Mercy Hill Church in Gravesboro, North Carolina. And also on the line right now, I understand, we've got Michael Dillon with us, and they've got a big event coming up too, the Hometown Men's Fellowship. So welcome, Mike. Well, thank you. Thank you for having me.

And now we're excited. Tell us about the Hometown Men's Fellowship. It's put on right with the Childress Racing, Richard Childress Racing.

Yeah, well, I got to apologize to the car guy because I messed up on my times and everything, and I really appreciate you guys getting us on. What it is, it's a men's fellowship that we have speaker Mark Cook who wrote the First Hour for Men book. He's coming to speak, and Parker Webb is coming to, he'll be there as our worship leader, and Matt Hammett's coming to sing for us, and then we're going to talk about the First Hour for Men, about getting men back into their Bible the first hour of the day, and it's going to be a great event, I believe. Yeah, and that's coming Tuesday, October 3rd, right, from 7 to 830, and it's, I guess, at the Richard Childress Racing Event Center, right? Yes, they're at the race shop, and welcome, North Carolina. Everybody's welcome to come.

You can go online to Hometown Men's Fellowship and register, but you do not have to register. But we'd like that so we know how many chairs to put out. Right now we're getting towards 500 already registered, so we're very excited about it. Our goal was to get 300 men, and we're going to have a great event and just want everybody to come out, and it is at the race shop, and so we're going to have a good time. Right, and that's like this Tuesday, right?

I mean, it's going to be 7 to 830 p.m. this Tuesday at the Richard Childress Racing Event. You know where that is in welcome, don't you, Bob? Oh, yeah. Bob's here from welcome, aren't you? I know Mike. He and I, our paths cross every now and then. Bob Young here.

Hey, Bob. That sounds like an awesome thing, and I am going to be in town, which is not very usual for me these days, but I might have to see what I can do about getting down there. Tuesday night? Please do. Please do invite anybody that you'd like to.

We'd love to have as many men show up as we can. Well, thank you, Mike. I so appreciate you calling in and sharing all that today. God bless you, and have a good weekend. Well, thank you so much, and thank you for your time. Oh, we're grateful you're calling. God bless you guys. Thank you.

Good talking to you, brother. And also, I understand we've got a couple of Riddler's bombs, so Christian, I guess it was Donna I, Donna Graham, I understand. You got an answer to my riddle about which woman was the best freelancer in the Bible. Do you know Donna? Donna, you're on the Kingdom Pursuits. Are you still with us? Hello, I'm here, Bob. How are you? I am good. Hi. I'm good. I'm excited. Great.

I'm going to try. All right. JL. JL? Yes. That was it? JL? Oh, JL.

You said it. She was really good with a tent peg, which would have helped her out here at the Dixie Classic Fair, right? That's correct. She was the only one, and it's quite shocking when I learned it. But yes, that always kind of stuck in my mind.

Oh, yay, I got it. Bob, that stuck in her mind. That's kind of scary. It stuck in my mind. I think it did for Cicero as well. It was just a bad day. Well, she had the victory.

Yes, there was one way to take care of that. Well, you're a winner today, so thank you so much for calling in. I appreciate it. You're welcome.

Enjoying the day. Thank you, Donna. Thank you so much. You too. God bless. Okay, bye.

All right. You won a prize. Yeah, so Pastor Hopper, you've got to love that. That kind of sticks in your mind, that whole idea of that tent peg, right? Sticks in your mind, it sure does. I think that answer will forever stick in my mind. And man, our man on stilts is going by again.

Blowing bubbles, juggling. And so I'm definitely interested, Andrew, like before you planted this church in Greensboro, where were you and how did God give you the vision, or how did you sense God was in you coming to Greensboro? Yeah, so my wife and I, we went to North Greenville College in the upstate of South Carolina and did a lot of ministry in college. And we felt pretty compelled to go to seminary. I looked at a seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and I also looked at one in Wake Forest just outside of Raleigh. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. And so when we got there, we got involved with a church that's called the Summit Church in Raleigh, Durham. And I was just kind of raised up there in terms of ministry.

I did a lot of different jobs there. In turn, led worship for a ministry. Do you know Will Turberin? I do know Will very well, yep. Yeah, good guy.

He's a pastor at Calvary now. But yeah, we've known each other for years and years because I went to Calvary. So I did not realize, I guess, the connection.

But that's really cool. Yeah, actually I think Will is going to bring some guys to this conference too. So we're excited about that.

I'll bet, I'll bet. Yeah, so we were at the Summit and just had a good experience there and was really trained there. And man, really felt the call to think about planting a church out of there. And so we looked all around North Carolina and we landed on, we felt like we could be most successful in the triad from just kind of our background.

And sort of the things we were looking for in a city that we thought a church plant could do well. And so we landed here in 2012, raised up a team in 2011 and moved with about 30 people out here. All young professionals, all 20-somethings and came in 2012. Wow, and were you a 20-something at that point in time, pastor? I was, I was 28 years old when we planted Mercy Hill. Wow, how fun. And so obviously you must be approaching 31 or 2 or something at this point.

That's just amazing. And so when did you, when, okay God, you know, how did you send that call, how did you sense it from Him is what I'm, you know, because clearly God has to be in that big time to have that kind of growth. Yeah, I mean we don't, you know, I don't really think about an individualized will of God more than I, you know, as much as I just think about God's call to us, every one of us in scripture, I think leverage your life, make a big impact.

You know, and so at, you know, around that age of 26 or 27, I was really thinking about what could we do that would, you know, make the biggest splash. Our pastor would always say, you know, you only get one shot to go around, make the biggest splash you can. And so we started putting our yes on the table before the Lord. God, does that mean going overseas to the unreached and unengaged? Does it mean, you know, pastoring a church?

I was very open to that, you know, if I just, but you know, they don't, it's hard at that age, people don't want to, they don't want to extend a call for a pastor of that age a lot of times. And so we, you know, we also thought about church planting and we just had all that on the table. And, you know, as God kept opening doors, we started to really believe that the biggest impact we were going to make was to plant a church, a brand new church, and to see it grow. And yeah, God's just been totally in it, man.

He's just breathed life into it. Man, you know, we've probably had 1,500 baptisms in the last 10 years. I mean, there's just been a big evangelistic movement that's happened through what he's done in our church. What a huge leap of faith to do that. Yeah.

That's just amazing. And, well, obviously, if all these people are bringing people, and then you have obvious, you know, these folks hearing about Jesus, and the baptism kind of comes with that, it's an absolutely amazing transformation, right? As I'm sure that when you begin to get traction like that, other people sense God's hand there, right?

Yeah, totally. I mean, you know, our biggest, our largest Sundays throughout the year, besides holidays, are when we baptize. And the reason is because, you know, people are wanting to invite others in their life that are not believers or don't have much of a faith background in to participate with them. For example, when my son was baptized a couple years ago, he invited his whole baseball team. That kind of happens very organically where people want other people in their life to participate with them. And then it just opens the door for testimony.

You know, this is who I was before, this is what God did, this is who I am now. And so we've been able to see a lot of momentum off of people whose lives have been changed, reaching out to others, and then seeing their lives change. And so can you kind of share with our listeners, when you guys do a baptism, what is the process as far as those people have an opportunity to share their testimony? Do they do that live via recording? How do you guys do it?

We do it in different ways at different times. I mean, you know, they will have shared their testimony with either an elder of our church or someone on our staff, depending on how it was organized. They'll talk about, you know, what they're going to do, what their plans for involvement in the church are. They'll go through a process before they're baptized, but then when they are, like, for example, two weeks ago we had 30 people baptized in our services across all of our locations, and every one of them shared a live testimony from in the water.

Or they had the pastor that was baptizing them read their statement. So they, you know, we had the opportunity to see all of those stories get told. That is so awesome. Well, I hear the music again, fatally, because we're live out here at the Carolina Classic Fair, so we're going to be right back with a great deal more fair fun. We're going to have a lot of fun at this fair, so stay tuned. Juggling and everything else.

We'll be back fairly soon. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom. And today we have a passion to be fair at the Carolina Classic Fair with my good friend Bob, and we have Pastor Andrew Hopper, who they have this really cool, great, I mean, there's nothing like seeing people come to baptism. There's nothing like seeing people come to faith. But in order to do that, your church has got to be growing and strong and all that. And so they have got this conference going on where they're going to show how God works through them.

October 24th through the 25th, it's at Mercy Hill Church at 7616 Business Park Drive, again in Greensboro, North Carolina. So, so, Pastor, I'm interested, you know, whenever you see that kind of growth going on in a church, it comes with some persecution quite often. And so I was curious what what you kind of leaned on as you felt some of that stuff coming your way, when I imagine you had some opposition headed your way, wouldn't you? Well, I think absolutely. I mean, the, you know, the very common story for church planners, and I've now seen this just because I've been in this world for 12 years in terms of planting other churches. And I'd love to talk about that, about the churches that we've been able to plant, how that works, you know, an overflow from growing. But, yeah, I mean, when you plant, you're just stirring up the hornet's nest in terms of spiritual warfare, and you're putting a target on your back.

And so it's very common for guys to plant churches. And in that first couple of years, a lot of times they just see, you know, crazy things happen, man. They end up having health issues, miscarriages, people on their team, you know, that signed up to go with them.

People having, you know, relational maybe issues or things back home that don't go well. I mean, there's just, you know, story after story of, I don't know that I'd call it persecution so much as I would just call it spiritual warfare up front. And so that's something that we teach our guys that are going out to be very fortified against and to expect.

I think that part of being fortified against those things is knowing that they're coming. And, yeah, there's also, you know, it's funny how the Christian community, there is one side that is incredibly encouraging when you see a movement of God. People just want to, you know, they just want to, we're all on the same team, man.

Jesus is the senior pastor, all of our churches are kind of Sunday school classes, and we're excited for each other, you know. But then there's another side. Yeah, go ahead. No, no, I was just agreeing with you. I couldn't agree with you more. I love the way you put that. Yeah, but then there's this other side that becomes, you know, rivalry, and that often comes out in, well, if your church is growing, you must not be doing X, Y, or Z.

You must not be preaching the gospel hard enough, or you must be, you know, consumeristic, and it's all a big rock show and light show. And, you know, you hear this on the other side, and I do think those are sometimes that are kind of shots fired from, you know, from within the Christian community, and that can be kind of tough. But I do think that knowing those things are coming and staying grounded in, you know, your call and identity in Christ really helps in those moments. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, you had said that you guys were actually planting other churches. I mean, how cool is that, that God has taken what He's done with you and allowed you to pour into others, right?

Yeah, I mean, this is really the thrill of my heart is seeing the movement multiply, you know. So we've planted five other churches in the last four years, and what we say at Mercy Hill is we've parented them, not partnered with them. So a lot of times when people say, you know, they planted a church, what they mean is they partnered with a church plant. They gave them money.

They're going to send them a mission team. They let them come preach at their church one time, and they partnered with them, and they say we planted a church, which is, you know, you have to partner before you can parent. But truly, parenting is this is a church plant that came up from within.

This was someone who was developed to be an elder in your church who God called, and then you raised up a team. And equipped them and funded them and sent them out. And so we've been able to see that five times.

One right here in North Carolina, Waynesville, North Carolina, also Norfolk, Virginia, Roanoke, Virginia, Tampa, Florida, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. And so we have church plants in those areas that are, they're all doing pretty well, and they're growing. And the big thing I wanted to bring out to you guys for this conference sake is, you know, okay, another church growth conference is kind of a callback to the 90s, but the difference now, I think, is we just really want to make the point that to get to the place of being able to parent other churches, it takes a sustainable growth pattern. And so the growth is not the end, it's kind of a means. We say the growth is a currency, you know, for sending. And we want to send other churches out, and we really believe that's the call, you know, that the Great Commission is really accomplished by churches being planted all over the world.

And so we're going to do that, we need to grow. And so that's kind of where the heartbeat, really the heartbeat of the conference is. I can really relate to what you said about hanging the target on your back. I have more experience with that than I wish I did. But it's, it's a very true statement. And, but it's just awesome to me what you're, what you're telling us, because it's, it's the way things are supposed to happen. And you make it sound so simple, but apparently you've got a great, a great plan.

Well, you know, God's blessing it, no doubt. I mean, all you can do is prepare the jars. And I understand there are different contexts. And I mean, we're talking about thousands of people and sending out hundreds of people. And I understand that, you know, for a smaller church context, you might say, well, that feels out of reach.

And, you know, the point, though, is not the numbers, the point is the heart and attitude behind it. You know, are we, are we aspiring to see more in growth and God's abundance, no matter what context we're coming out of? Or have we some kind of way in the very high levels kind of said, well, talking about that or focusing on that is kind of icky, feels too corporate. And I just really want to bust that bubble and say, man, I think if we have that real hot, if that's way upstream, we have kind of beliefs around growth that are unhealthy.

Then I think that it's going to flesh itself out and what we do in the day to day. Yeah, I remember as I came out of the car business, some people know me as a Christian car guy, and I used to tell him, yeah, we got to sell 150 cars this month. But it happens one at a time, and it actually happens helping one person at a time.

Sometimes they don't buy a car. Well, hopefully at least you helped them along the way. You planted some seeds, whatever you could do, you know, because those things are each individual deal. And then you leave, you know, obviously I love that scripture.

It says, you know, Paul planted and whatever it is, and the other one watered, but God makes it grow. That's right. And there's the deal, right? So it's really cool to go out there and go, wow, you know, it's just the next person in front of you.

How can I help them? You know, I've got and I see this so clearly because I actually know some of your members. And they love to tell people in our neighborhood like, man, you've got to come to church with me because I just we are having so much fun. And and there's so many things going on and God's at work. And, you know, that's the deal is that enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm, right?

Yes, no doubt. I mean, you know, you're you're people. I mean, word of mouth in the church world, word of mouth is really the I mean, that's that's the advertising.

I mean, you know, you can do Facebook ads and blah, blah, blah. But I mean, you know, people people advocating because people are naturally evangelistic about things that work in their life. It's why people tell other people, you got to see this movie or it's why they say you got to have an iPhone, you know, or you got to whatever. It's because people are naturally evangelistic about things in their life that are meaningful to them and that work for them.

And when their church is that way and their kids are being discipled and they're seeing other people get saved and they're excited about what's going on, they become kind of that walking billboard for what God is doing in a particular local church. Yeah, it's it's a beautiful thing. And I'm so grateful that that we've had a chance to talk. I've never met you, but I've heard so many amazing things. And it's so cool that that there you are at thirty one.

Right, Bob? Done more than some folks do in a lot than most folks do in a lifetime. It's really amazing. We've got to get back to it.

Or God's done more through you. How about that? That's right. That's easier to chew on, isn't it? Yeah.

The important thing is fixing to happen. Your son is going to play football here in a minute. That's right. You got it. You got to get to that near the music, which I'm guessing would be the end of our time together here on Kingdom Pursuits this morning. But I'm so grateful.

Right. For everyone listening and for you being with us today, pastor. And and so, hey, come on out, join us. We're going to be here all to you know.

You're listening to the Truth Network and Truth Network dot com. So welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom. And your passion should be for radio, Bob, to know that you got one more segment left in the show.

Well, you raised my eyebrows when you said we were done because I wasn't quite on board with you there. Oh, yes, we are here. And let me tell you that it smells good out here. Am I right, Bob?

It does smell good. It's a combination of turkey legs and I see deep fried Oreos. And there was a lady that came by here with this ice cream thing a minute ago that you know that. Did you say earlier that they have strategically placed the apple, the homemade apple pie thing? Well, in the past, in the past, last year it was a little different, but the you could get an apple pie, fried apple pie, and it was right beside the John Deere ice cream. So I was always had a bad habit of going by and getting the apple pie and going by. And you even back then, you even got a discount on your ice cream if you got got it put on apple pie. But the Amish donuts are in that vicinity and they hold a scoop of ice cream as good as anything.

Has that been your experience? Well, you see, if God has got it, you've got a passion for fair food, right? Oh, yeah. I'll have to go find my fried pork chop sandwich here in just a little bit. And you can use that to build the kingdom right by bringing somebody over to the truth booth that's over here. We're right in front of the education building today. And actually, and I will be back here next week to broadcast. So if you can't make it out here today, make plans for next Saturday. You know, I'll be doing Christian Car Guy, Kingdom Pursuits, all that from out here. And then next Sunday, I'm at the Pro Bowl Riders event in Mill Spring, North Carolina.

How fun is that? But I can tell you that the thing that had the biggest impact on me today was hearing Mike Dillon call. We've been acquaintances for a long time. And to hear that him and Richard and Richard's grandsons, Mike. Richard Childress he's talking about. Yeah. Mike is his son-in-law and he is Ty and. Yeah, I met him when I did the bull riders thing last year in in Winston.

Well, super guy. And to know that he is involved with this, it has made me so fired up about wanting to go. So there are five hundred people registered.

Wow. Tuesday, October 3rd, seven to eight thirty at the Richard Childress Racing Event Center right there and welcome. Have you been there, Bob? I've been to the event center. They do a lot of they let the community use that facility. They they do so many great things through that building.

And, you know, sometimes you don't realize what a heart some of these people have. All Richard Childress and how they help so many like the hunters helping kids and so many good things go through that building. And they've got a great facility. They can handle a herd. And I hope there's a herd of people there for Tuesday.

Yeah, I'm very excited about it. Last year at the Pro Bowl Riders event, when I spoke here, Richard Childress came on after me. Right. And so I'd never met him. You know, it was just an interesting experience for me. And he he said, you know, you're only supposed to talk for 30. He said, if you go 20 or 22, that would be long enough for me.

I thought, well, OK. So, you know, I shortened up what I was going to say a little bit because I didn't want to disappoint Richard Childress expecting that he was going to go along. I bet he didn't say 15 words. I mean, but he was directed to the point and what he said.

But his idea was, we've got to get this show on the road, man. But he is a wonderful Christian man. And you can see his heart, you know, for this thing. And this event is for men.

Right. And the passion to be something I'm definitely passionate about is getting up early and spending time in the Bible. I would put that down as the number two best piece of advice I ever got in my life, which is I got it from Norman Vince Peele. Get up an hour early every morning, read the Bible, ask God to help you understand it and where it'll take you. I've got a friend, Scott Hicks, that gets up and reads the Bible every morning.

And and you have told me and he has told me that that's the best time if you want it, if you want to get it. And I used to go to a Bible study early in the morning and it was so impactful on my life. So all this is piling up and hurting up and maybe I'll get it beat through my thick skull that I need to get back in the word. And God's pounding pounding this message at me. Yeah, that's that's an amazing event. And it's cool how God's doing all these things. You know, whether you've got a passion for cars, you've got to push passion for rodeo or affairs.

Right. There's there's all sorts of people there at these places. And, you know, it's really fun having Pastor Hopper on talk about what's going on up there for that Breaking Barriers conference, which that's going on October 24th through the 25th at Mercy Hill Church in Greensboro. By the way, they have an amazing website.

Just go to Mercy Hill Church and they have all the information about the event, how you can register your church and all the things that you got going on there. So very cool. But right now we've got to concern ourselves with turkey legs.

Turkey leg, turkey leg. Great being here today. I just looking at this one more time and I see Michael McDowell's been there and he he's just such a great Christian. He speaks volumes.

It does speak volumes. So join him out there. That's going to be Tuesday night, seven to eight at the Richard Childress Center there. This is coming this Tuesday. So thank you for listening now.

Stay tuned. You got so much truth coming at you. Masculine Journey starts here now at 12. Well, Encouraging Prayer with James Banks is coming right up. And then at 1230, you got the Nikita Kolov. It's time to man up. So much truth coming at you on the Truth Network. This is the Truth Network.