Shaun Newman Podcast - (Replay) #430 - Joshua Allen

Episode Date: December 23, 2023

He's the Cowboy Preacher and one of the founders of Full Armour of God Man Camp. From one of the darkest places on earth to changing his life completely around. Let me know what you think. Text me 587-217-8500 Substack:⁠https://open.substack.com/pub/shaunnewmanpodcast⁠E-transfer here: ⁠[e-mail]⁠m Website: ⁠https://silvergoldbull.ca/⁠Email: ⁠[e-mail]⁠Phone [phone] – general sales line, ask for Grahame and be sure to let us know you’re an SNP listener.

This is Tanner Nadee. I'm Trish Wood. This is Tammy Peterson. This is Curtis Stone. This is Quick Dick McDick. This is Carrie the Don, and you're listening to the Sean Newman podcast. Welcome to the podcast, folks. Happy Saturday, as we continue the countdown of the top 10 episodes of 2023.

So if we roll through it here, today we're at episode number four. You've got to go back to the start of the month where we started with number 10 was Dr. Robert Malone, Number nine, Ken Drysdale, that was the Drysdale Report episode. Then it was Jamie Sinclair and Chuck Prodneck, the first ever. It wasn't quoted as the military roundtable, but that's essentially what it was. Then you had number seven as Tamara Leach, I think we all know who that is. Number six was Dr. Eric Payne and Dr. William Macass. Then the raging dissident was number five, Jeremy McKenzie, which leads us to today, the top four.

And today's number four episode is the cowboy preacher. you know him as Joshua Allen and I remember sitting across from this man and since then we've you know I've been out in the back country with him a few times and we certainly talk more than we knew each other before we walked in and shook hands and sat down and was blown away with what he was doing with the men's camp

a man camp up north and you know he came in and laid it down and obviously this struck a chord with a whole chunk of you because here it is at number four and without further ado, my friend, the cowboy preacher, Joshua Allen. The guy who built is Carly Clawson, his group of folks over at Windsor Plywood. And in year one, I was sitting in this old basement of a house, and a buddy of mine Ken Rutherford had said,

like, I got a spot for you to put your podcast and walked in, there's most poop on the floor, and, you know, you kind of land everything. So we just tore it all apart, built a wall kind of like this one. and then just started to put it together. And at the start it was like an old office desk. You know, like one of them that comes standard in every corporation building under the sun. And so I just went into Windsor and I said,

you know, I'd be really cool if you could build me a table. And we just did it for, you know, like I gave them advertising and I said like as long as I'm doing the podcast, you know, the table's mine, but I quit the podcast and give it right back, you can sell it and you can, you know, you can do whatever you want with it. And at the time, I'm sure, tree's like well that seems like a pretty fair deal right and i don't know if you thought i was

going to use it for six months whatever now we're never going to year five you know it hasn't gone anywhere it's a whole a solid uh hunk of wood and the thing is is like uh um when people come in you know through COVID nobody's coming in so nobody's got to see it uh but when people come in they all do the same thing others appreciate it for what it is more but everybody touches it and looks at it and oh man this is something oh i've always loved wood and uh build in all these axe targets that we made for this man camp. We used three by 12, like recycling old tank boards. And this is the fanciest one I've ever seen. But a buddy of mine who was a drilling rig consultant for years, like chains and mud and winch trucks. And he's taking a passion

for doing these resin boards like this. I don't think his are quite this thick. But just this last while, he's put a ton of money into it and he's starting to do it all the time. Yeah, well, it's one of things I always talk about with Windsor and specific, you know, I sound like I'm doing an ad right now, but I've always loved the pieces of wood they get in there, right? Like they have some just character wood. Like when you walk in, you're like, oh man. So my goal eventually, Josh, is as much as I love the long table. So Carly, if you're listening, you know, you got to be on the lookout. I should probably just mention it to them. But I would love for it to be a round table. Like there's these big chunks of round. You could. And then you do the resin on it. And I don't know how to heck I would

ever get mics, you know, because it'll be a thick, whatever. But like, that's what I hope, because I think a round table would be more conducive to what I want to have the feel like. But regardless, I can't, I'm complaining about nothing. Like, this is a beautiful piece. Like, when I walked in this too, I'm like, oh, man, my studio's got to start to match what my table looks like, you know? Well, your dad's down at the river fixing fence all the time.

That's where I met him. Yeah. And tell him to keep his eyes peeled every now and then, like a huge pine, large enough for a table. No, that's a good idea. Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm going to put that in the back of your brain now, too. I'll keep my eyes peeled.

We're down there all the time. Well, give me, you got to, you know, I don't know. We can talk about this little, you know, how this comes to be, because this is kind of out of the blue, you know. It's a little bizarre too, because just a few years ago, I'm down by the river, checking the river intake, right? I look after Wells, and I see this old cowboy up the river, pulling on this barbed wire.

And ever since I come to know the Lord, I pay attention when the Lord brings people into my life, right? Because the Lord knows only what he wants to do. And I walk up the river and meet this cowboys. He's yarding on this fence that the ice has ripped out. And we must have spent half an hour, 45 minutes pulling it out. And that was the first Newman I ever met. And then just the other day, my buddy Robin at work, he says, man,

you got to meet this guy, Sean Newman. You're hardcore like him. And I said, well, Lord willing, I will and left it at that. We finished the day. Three, four days later, I'm in at L&L talking to Tyson Moorbutter, who's really blessed us with this upcoming man camp we're doing. And I was sharing just a little testimony of where the Lord's brought me from. And I'm truly proof that he'll take a wild animal and turn his life around. And there was another fellow there. And two days later I get a call from Tyson. He's like, man, my friend figures you ought to meet Sean Newman

because you got an incredible story. And man, it was just days after Robin said, you got to meet this guy. So as soon as I heard Sean Newman wanted to actually have coffee and spend some time, I was like, for sure, I'm going to be there. You know, I don't know why. Even that story makes me emotional. And it's just like it's surreal to hear somebody tell it like that, you know. because lots of like I mean that's how it's been playing out lately you know just like you know my side of the story is I'm sitting at uh I think I'm sitting at hockey you know a new hour hockey and Sam's sitting there and he's been on the podcast a while back you know he played in the world's longest hockey game uh and he was sitting beside me he's like you gotta meet this

Josh I'm like I'm like well tell me about it just just you know give me your elevator pitch because people come through the text like it was just this morning I got most likely two more guests coming on over the next you know whatever it turns out to be and it comes from people saying you need to meet this person okay okay well give it to me what what's what's caught your eye and then and then he goes well he's a guy who went from the you know I don't know and I'm going to hear about it but the dark side if you would and found God and he goes and he's intense and he's got you know all these stories and like sounds like my type of guy. Let's let's let's hear him out.

So, you know, I know Tyson, one text. And Sam's sitting there beside him. He's laughing. He's like, it's that quick. I'm like, well, we don't need to wait on this. I'm like, in my opinion, if you're telling me, and he was sitting with Tyson. And then, you know, I'm like, it's going to be, you know, we'll see. Like, maybe he's not interested.

And then you're like, you're not going to believe this. Sit with Robin Noble. If Robin Noble hadn't have said that, just two days before I'd have said, well, maybe I can make time. but that type of coincidence doesn't just happen all the time. And, no, I truly am a unique story. Well, tell us about it. We got all the time in the world. I don't have a, you know, memorized script.

I just come from riding fence. Well, let's start here. Where are you originally from? I was born in Chauvin, Alberta. And grew up on a farm there. Farming kind of petered out for my family. You know, the interest rates in the 80s weren't, you know, real good, 20%. And so my dad decided to get into the oil field big time.

And I tour around the country following his work. And then spent the last 13 years of my life at that point living in Bonneville. I made some poor choices. Working on the service rigs and chasing pipelines, I decided to make alcohol a big part of my life. Alcohol and drugs and the wildlife, the party scene, and it cost me dearly. It literally filled my life with emptiness and pain. And I didn't come to know the Lord in the church or because I went to some type of a special meeting. I picked up a Bible at a house party

and I began to read the Word of God and something snapped in my head. Somehow, reading the Word of God opened my eyes to the fact that there was hope for me if this Jesus I was reading about was legit. And the more I read the word, the more I seem to hear this like still small voice,

in the back of my head, kind of directing me to make changes in my life. No more booze, no more drugs, say goodbye to the girlfriends, and just focus on the life I have for you. And I begin to read the Word of God, and the more I did, I could feel my life changing for the better. And something radical happened, man. I tell people that I'm proof the Lord would take the worst of misfits, a wild animal and turned his life around.

And the hundreds and thousands of people that knew me prior will agree with that. I was a hopeless case. They all figured I'd be dead by the time I was 20. But at the age 21, I found the Lord in, like, the darkest place. And I also tell him that I was similar to, like, Lieutenant Dan on the top of Forrest Gump's ship at that point. And after three weeks of being in the Word of God, I found myself outside my four-wheel drive, getting psyched to go to work on a rig. And still in the booze, still kind of lost and hollering at God and saying,

you know, if you're real like this book says you are, if this Jesus really can change my life, I dare you to show up and try. And if you can, I'm willing to let you, and I'll serve you. for the rest of my life. And it sounds like a religious fantasy, but from that point on, man, I walked away from that dark life in an instant. And the world around me thought I was actually losing it

because I changed that hard and fast. Of course, that's 2001, right? Because I'm 43. Proof that you can actually get free and stay free throughout the last 21, 22 years, I thought I could, you know, kind of take lordship back into my own hands a few times and slowly but surely my life began to unravel again and like that emptiness and that need for something to fill that void

begin to grow and develop back into that same condition I once had. But the Lord is gracious and took me back every time. He's so faithful, right? which leads me to now. I have a beautiful wife, Leah. I got four kids. I'm incredibly busy with cattle and looking after wells. And I'm really struggling two years ago to maintain my marriage,

to be the father. I knew I had to be to these kids. And I realized that my walk was gone, had grown stale. And I couldn't maintain that life that the Lord had built for me. on my own and my own strength. So I, realizing this, went back to the Lord

and started back at the basics, more time in the Word, taking time each day to look to him, and asking him to forgive me for trying to really do it in my own strength. And, man, he just poured the fire to it. And this last two years, I've been on fire. I've been looking to him every day to use me.

I've been feeding myself on the Word of God like a starving person. And each and every day that I do that, he'd been opening doors to meet people and to encourage them and be a part of their lives. And, well, we don't have time today to talk about all the incredible things the Lord's done in the last two years,

but it's impacting the countryside around me. It's an incredible thing. For instance, last year, February, I find myself at my church where I go to church here in a lot. Working with a group of individuals trying to share the love and the light of Christ with nonprofits and different outreaches and things. But the group is almost entirely made up of females, ladies, wonderful ladies. I'm convinced the body of Christ is held together by females.

They got to be the body. in the backbone of the body of Christ at least. And I begin to get a little bit critical that there wasn't more men involved. Men are out there working their tails off, trying to feed the kids and make the bills mean. Life's gotten so busy. They always have excuses.

They're not doing things that are wicked or evil, you know, in a sense, but they're always busy, so they're not really taking part a lot of times, or getting involved. And I became critical about this. And I believe the end of the end of the end of the same thing. he was using it to really make me negative instead of productive. And I was just, you know, in my devotion saying, God, what do I do about this?

And it just became clear to me that instead of whining about it and sniveling about it, I should let him use me to do something about it. And that's where he put it on my heart to start this man camp. And I didn't have time for him. camp. So God, if you want me to do this, you got to make a way. You got to give me like the energy, the zeal, the passion to do it because I got a lot on my plate. And I mean, I'm looking to you for strength already. But as the days went on, man, let's fire in me to do something to stir up the men around me, to be the men of God that they created. They were created to be. Just grew and

grew and grew and grew. And I found a buddy of mine up north. And this Yarrow grew tight. and he's a good buddy of mine. And he also, the Lord's pulled him right out of the fire too. I told him, man, God's put on my heart to do something to wake up the men in the world. He says, me too, man. I can't explain it. It's so timely you're mentioning this.

I've been struggling with this. I said, well, let's pray and we'll see what God wants to do. And in the next week, we'd come up with a plan. He's involved with a church camp west of Bonneville, this Moose Lake Pentecostal camp. And he's a technically savvy guy a real business mind. And I'm like a bare-knuckle cowboy

that's never done nothing but the oil field, right? I mean, I didn't have skin on my knuckles for six years of my life before I met Christ. And he says, well, I'm on this camp board, and I think I'll talk to him. We can use the camp to do this weekend. I said, we'll call it Fishers of Men, Man's Camp, and we'll put it in God's hands.

He's going to make a way. It's like, okay, all right, man, I'm on board. one thing led to another and the camp board actually allowed it you know a couple of wild animals wanting to do something at a productive church camp i mean they could have just told us forget it but he says no they're going to let us do it make a little video so i i was checking fence i climbed off my horse put on a clean shirt and in 15 minutes the lord had given me a word that i mean i never made a video in my life. Only video was on was like a surveillance video.

And this word came forth, man, that was like incredible. I mean, it moved me as much as it moved the men, but it spawned this thing. And he posted it on his Facebook, and I wasn't

on Facebook. I mean, I didn't have time to have a smartphone, let alone Facebook. And it was encouraging men to show up to be a part of this man camp and to let God empower them to be the fathers, the husbands, the men of God in the community that he had created them to be. And every step of the way, from the speaker to the meals, to the finances, the Lord just, like, it overwhelmed me how he

made a way. It just clicked. Like it doesn't click in the natural world. It just came together. And it encouraged me every step of the way when he did that because I'd lived long enough to know that things just don't work out that slick. And even a religious group of individuals, I'm sure they meant well, they said, well, we've seen a lot of these man-camp things and different outreaches come along. Just don't be discouraged if nobody comes. Because, I mean, it's kind of flimsy.

You guys don't really have a bunch of experience with this. And just don't let it bring you down if it fails radically. And I said, well, no, I understand where you're coming from. I mean, the Lord hasn't put it on your heart like he has ours. But you've got to understand. He's literally confirmed this every step of the way, and we're going to fall through with it and see what he has up. Well, 135 men showed up that first day, including the staff, would be 140 plus.

And we didn't have room for anymore, no more chairs, no more plates, no more anything. We had to shut the door. and the man of God that had committed to preach, I mean, he was preaching from the Word of God. There's no Oprah Winfrey or Dr. Phil involved. This was right from the book, old school Bible preaching. He brought the word, and I didn't know how the men were going to receive us. A lot of these guys weren't Christian guys.

They said, if there's any of you out there that want to be strengthened by the Lord, you want to make a decision to follow Christ. 70 men stormed the altar and surrendered their life to Christ or rededicated their lives to Christ. I never seen a move of God like that in my life. Grown men like transformed. Guys, I never met the Lord,

and some of them with major issues, walked away that day and left this man camp three days later. Completely changed. It started a half day on a Friday, full day, Saturday. half day Sunday we had big bacon egg breakfast

there was a short church service in the morning then we threw axes dozens of axes and shot bows and we did a little fishing derby because we didn't realize the amount of men were coming we only rented five six seven boats and we didn't have near enough

but guys were fishing off the dock and the shore and we had recent little prizes you know Richardson had donated a couple of watches and we had bought a bunch of big fancy leather bibles. This year we got these fisher, we got these full armor of God like football championship rings for the prizes on the axes and the 12 men tug of war in that. It's incredible. We added canoe racing, this big tug of war. We bought more bows and built more targets. Tyson more butter, he let us uses CNC plasma cutter.

It's a fancy computerized deal and hammered out like a hundred plus axes in no time. And then guys just grinding and sharpening these. So when is this? This camp this year. You see, last year it was in September. And so

many men left changed that their wives mostly and their pastors and people that knew them were phoning to find out what we did because some of these guys, 20 years of marriage, these ladies had never seen these men on fire and encouraged and like full of joy and peace and they will they a lot of them come to the camp depressed and discouraged and empty and anxious and they just went

home charged so they're all phoning when are you doing the next one i said i don't know i mean i'm new at this i don't even know if we're going to do a next one it took a lot of work and money like thousands tens of thousands and i said i'll only do another one if the lord puts it on my heart like something supernatural i don't have time for it otherwise I'm not going to be a part of some just stale religious thing there's there's enough of that if he puts it on my heart heavy so much that I can't get it off we'll do another one and this year it's in June 9th 10th and 11th half a day in June 9th registration opens at lunch June 9th supper at 5 goes through till Sunday the 11th at noon

then we're going to have another water baptism we didn't even think to have a water baptism last year. It just happened. A bunch of these guys, they surrendered their life to Christ. They're just lit up and they're like, what do we do next? I said, well, you just got to follow Christ from here on, boys. Feed yourself on the Word and you're going to have to get water

baptized eventually because the Lord instructed it in the Word. Well, let's do it now. We did it. We did a big water baptism. It was incredible. This year we planned to do one, the Sunday afternoon. And the families are welcome to come. It's going to have a barbecue.

Actually, a bunch of oil field outfits have donated now their trailer barbecues. These huge barbecues. L&L. Tyson's donated the L&L one for the weekend. One outfit that didn't really want a bunch of publicity or PR, but kudos from Bonneville, Wild Rose. You know, not to pull you away from what you're talking about, but what I think of is, it's funny, June 9th, 10th, 11th. I'm like, oh, of course, the next S&P presents, the next show that Sean puts on the live show is June 10th.

I have been doing live shows at the casino here in town, just in not in the actual casino, but in their event center. Yeah. And I did my first one in Eminton in March, and it wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for businesses, you know. And there's some businesses, they didn't, two of them in Eminton didn't, were just like, don't even mention us. I'm like, well, you're the major sponsor of this.

It's like, no, no, we believe in what you're doing. And we need more of it. You're like, oh, okay, okay. They make it happen. Yeah, like it's... Who's got $30,000 to put on a man camp just out of pocket? No, they make it happen. They come alongside you and they contribute and they support you.

It encourages you when they do it, right? And when you talk about a man camp, you know, it's interesting. I've been talking a lot about it, and I wonder, if some of this is where you've got to talk to Sean, right? I've been talking a lot about men need to get into men's groups. And I don't mean men's groups where you go and drink beer and sit around and, you know, not talk about anything or talk about the Oilers. I mean, they, in the playoffs and everything.

But like, and certainly that's not like it can't be in there. But at the same token, you've got to start talking about real things. You got, you know, we started a book club, five of us talked a lot about this. Listeners tease me because I've been, you know, I've been talking a lot about it. it, but I'm dead serious. This is no coincidence. Five years ago, 2018, we started a book club, and has it been all suns, strand and roses? No.

But the idea was better husbands, better fathers. That's where it stem from, right? That's awesome. I mean, if you go back to the first podcast, folks, and the first podcast, me and Kenner talking about it, he's like, do you want to talk about this? Are we not talking about it? It's kind of weird. You know, it's kind of like tabooed.

And I'm like, no, we can talk about it. I'm like, even when I look back on it, though, there was embarrassment to be a better husband and a better father. Like, think about that. And right now, I'm just like, when I hear what you're talking about, the only thing I'm not angry about, I'm like, disappointed in this. Like, sounds super right up my alley. Like, I'd love to come and experience it, right?

Like, to me, that sounds like exactly what so many men are after. Is there after, honestly, like, trying to get around and better themselves, and what does a better husband even mean? What does a better father even mean? Like, how do I figure those things out? What do I, you know, and I just read, oh, man. Man. Of course, I don't have my phone on me. But I was just, I just had Tanner Nadei in here not too long ago, so we were talking about the Bible, you know.

And one of the, if you follow the truth, it'll lead you to the light. I'm butchering this, folks. I'm new to this. But, you know, if you follow the, if you speak the truth or you follow the truth, it'll lead you to the light. And the light being Jesus. And it's, me and Tanner have had lots of conversations about this. He's the way the truth in the light. Yeah, because it's interesting to me. Like, I find it fascinating. You know, I find it.

more so even fascinating the the series of events that lead our two stories kind of together you know like well what is that well i didn't uh i didn't come um from a past of being a christian you know in a in a perfect christian world um you mind do you mind sharing a little bit about that josh you know like i wouldn't mind if the you know you say you were in a dark place i was in a very dark place i don't know what that to me i have an idea what that means, but I would love for you to share, because there's going to be people listening to us that are in that dark place, you know? You bet. No, my mother, I was very great. I'm very thankful for a mother that was, you know,

encouraging me to look to Christ my whole young life. She was a Christian, and my dad let her be. And I grew up not really wanting to be just like my mother, but more so like my father, who was, you know, never really surrendered completely to the Lord at all. He would go to church when I was a child to more so please my mother. And as years went on, him and my mother's relationship kind of broke down. And they separated him or divorced just before I was 16. But I'd never, you know, surrendered my life to Christ. I was introduced to him as a little boy.

I mean, my mother tried very hard to steer me in that direction. But I rebelled and ran as hard and fast. away from God as I could. I wanted nothing to do with it. I had known some men and that was the trouble. I focused on people more so than the Lord, but I'd know some Christian men that really let me down and I said, I don't ever want to be like them and I think this whole Christianity is a scam. A scam. A cult? A cult of sorts and I wrote it off completely. So from 10 years old to 21, I went as hard and fast in the other directions as I could. And I made poor choices.

I tried to find happiness, joy and peace, and the things of the world, the women, the drinking, the parties, even drugs. And in my late teens, I got into, you know, cocaine, hard liquor. And I was an alcoholic. From the time I was 15 to 21, hard drugs and booze. fighting. You know, the Lord made me high energy. He really did. And really athletic, wired really tight, and I didn't back up

good. I don't really have a good reverse. And in that mind frame and in that life, I was probably, you know, ten times as violent as the average person. I remember fighting every weekend for years and training mixed martial arts just so that I could continue to keep my head above water doing this and yeah I tried to fill that void with the booze and the

excitement of the world and and all the things of the world and it's just like a band-aid it doesn't it doesn't heal it or fix it it just covers it and like I said and when I when I was 21 I I I picked up that Bible at a house party could you could you go through then the night of picking up the Bible you're the house part because it I mean I won't go into great detail because it's it's quite dark but I was surrounded by incredibly dangerous human beings and one of those men was flipping through a Bible and in his frame of mind and with no respect for God he began to tear pages out and wreck this thing and then he hollered at me he said hey blankety blank

Put your gun down and quit drinking. Come over here. You're in the Bible. And I said, what are you talking about? Look here. Joshua. It says here, Joshua hamstrung their horses and burnt their chariots. So maybe I was in the Bible.

It was Joshua 116. The first verse I ever read as an adult. And I took that Bible away from me. You don't wreck a Bible, you're meatball. I almost slapped them. And why do you think you said that? I said deep down I think I had a respect for the word of God even because of my mother and my My grandparents you know hammering that into me as a child even though I'd rejected it

And it's an interesting thought isn't it? Yeah, yeah, it was but there was a respect for the word of God And it was that word that really you know essentially Initially transformed my life I didn't find Christ in a church I mean I had a lot of opportunities my mother forced me to go to church as a child and I remember getting spanked almost every time because I was that kind of haywire kid getting in trouble but I began to read that word man I was still drinking and the drugs and the alcohol were all over this house and I was

oblivious to it my life was in shambles guilt the sin and the lifestyle it just left me completely cold and empty and I'll begin to read this one Word of God, man. And the Word of God is a lamp into your feet and light into your path, right? Proverbs 3-6. I'll begin to read it. And like when your life's that dark, man, that light is so easy to see. Like I was hunting a bullet. I was in bad shape. Any night I could have been, it could have been the end of the line back then. And I begin to read the Word of God. Something snapped in my head. Something opened my eyes. It says that, You say snapped and I think clicked.

Clicked. Yeah. That's it. Right? It says faith comes by hearing in Romans 1017 and hearing by the word of God. So we obviously need to hear. And what opens our spiritual ears is the word of God. Right?

It says that the word cleanses and sanctifies it. Literally washes off the filth and the lies of the enemy. That's what happened. I'll begin to read the word. And I mean, I could barely read at that point. I didn't read nothing in like five years. And it was incredible. It opened my eyes to how vile my life had become

and how filthy the choices I was making were. And it also opened my eyes. The word in James One says it's like a mirror man looks into, right? And that word, it doesn't just point out the flaws in your life and the areas that need to change. and all the mistakes you've made. Of course, it exposes them. It exposes sin for what it is, right?

The word does. But it also exposes the fact that the Lord Jesus wants to pour out the fullness of everything he lived and died and rose again to give you. And all the hope you could have in him and all the blessings of God that you're not living in. It does a mighty work on your brain. So as I read this word, things begin to click that I couldn't fathom before. And I ended up reading that Bible for like three weeks. Choices I had made back in 2000, almost 2001, had left me in a situation where I didn't want to be out in public a whole lot during the day.

You don't get to brawl that much. Yeah. You're living in the night. And cross the line that much. you know, violence and crime, it doesn't pay. And so I was mostly living at night. I, sorry for button-in, you know, I've been, I don't know, I've been listening to different things where I've been reading the New Testament.

I've been talking about this lots, or somewhat, I guess. But every morning I've been reading the new chapter because I'm like, you know, I got to the point where I'm like, at some point, you know, if I'm, to read all these smart people. But Jesus was pretty smart. I mean, can we just, you know, you don't have to be a devout Christian to go, can you put them on the level of all these different people? And maybe we should put them a little higher.

But at the end of the day, that's where Sean's brain was. So I just started reading the red words, right? Because obviously it's easy to find if you flip open a Bible. And then, but that doesn't give you the context of the story. And so, you know, then I decided, okay, let's just read this from the start. And I find it very fascinating. Like very, very fascinating. When he talks about the, you know, when he gets taken in the middle of the night, you know,

for the crucif, I mean, what eventually becomes a crucifixion, it's in the night. And he doesn't have. And he hasn't. It's not, I forget how he phrases it. And certainly maybe you can refresh my memory, but he's basically saying I have no power in the middle of the night. I, you know, this is, you know, I'm not going to stop him or whatever from having power. And you think of like, when do we all make poor choices? Middle of the night.

Never in the light of day. Very little. I mean, they're trying right now. They're trying to, you know, like, and by they, I certainly mean if it's going to be the enemy, let's just call what it is. Like it's literally playing out in the daylight right now. And as long as none of us talk about it, it just continues to get to play. It's like, okay, well, he has no power in the daylight.

At nighttime, it's a little different. Yeah. You know? There is an enemy. I think a lot of people make the first. mistake. They don't realize that there's a dark force trying to literally sidetrack them and play out, you know, his will in the world. The fact that they don't realize they're under attack makes them pretty vulnerable. I mean, I've heard it said the devil, the biggest trick he ever

pulled was convincing the world. Convincing everybody didn't exist. Yeah. No, you want to see there's an enemy. You just try, pick up the word of God, try put all your kids and your wife in a car. and take them to a church that's still preaching the Word of God on Sunday, and you'll encounter distraction and setbacks and everything. Well, this is a simple one for me. I'm not saying maybe it won't work for other people, but for me, this has been my experience with it. I have like a little bit of a routine in the morning right now

where get the kids off, get the wife out of the door, they're off, okay, good. And you sit down, and when you try to sit down, two things happen. your brain starts thinking a million miles a minute. And actually I'm reading the screw tape letters. And as soon as I started reading cold chills everywhere, I'm like, oh, like, that's interesting. And so that's one. Two is everything will buzz at you. You know, I wear a watch, I take it off because it's hooked to the phone and it wants to tell me that people are trying to get it or emails or whatever, right?

And it starts talking. And then phone calls to come in. And it's like, oh, today must be an important day. That's the way I look at it now. I'm like, it must be an important thing I'm about to sit down and read. That's the way it's going to work because it's strange, you know. I was thinking maybe people can hear this or not. I'm a, I chuckle about it, but I'm like, the studio is not even remotely soundproof,

but I'm like, I've done so many interviews where nobody's ever in the building. Of course, people are in the building today. I'm like, that's interesting, you know? Maybe it's just coincidence. Maybe it is, Josh. But I'm like, that's interesting to me because normally this doesn't happen. You can just roll on for, you know, three hours and have nobody in the back, you know, from time to time you can hear.

I don't know if that for a second, brother. You've stepped into my world of weird. Like since I became sold out, not just, you know, attending church once a week, but waking up each day and saying, God, use me. There's men calling for Mancamp as we speak. I got to, like, not answer this phone. They might have to get a new phone number after Man Camp because it doesn't stop. No.

But is that a bad thing? It's a great thing. Right. I've never seen so many lives changed. Literally lives changed every day. Even like not meeting you prior to this podcast and not even really knowing what a podcast was. I should have brought my Bible. The thing looks like a five-year-old got a hold of it with a pencil crayon.

It's not a bad thing. I've never seen so much good in all my life. But it's only like, it's only the last two years that I realized. and in order to not have my walk with God like a total roller coaster, I had to continue to acknowledge him in all my ways. And that meant every day, I couldn't just make him Lord for Monday to Friday, three weeks while he got me out.

Yeah, some kind of problem I'm facing and run to God. No, he wants to be a Lord of all. If he's not really like Lord of your life, if you're not looking to him or making him priority, is he really Lord at all? And so I realized this, man. And that's what really changed it. all when I realized that if I had you know looked to him every day and fed myself on the word of

God and then when I had a decision to make went to him and looked to him for direction I could avoid it all the ups and downs because like from 2001 until now there was like years of my life where I was lukewarm and like totally taking the reins back from the Lord into my own hands and making all the same stupid mistakes again never getting back into the darkness like I was. But still, I'm not being the man I could have been. It's a cautionary tale then.

It is. The excitement of when you first pick up and start to read it for what it is, right? It's very exciting. It's like one of my lowest moments I've ever had in my life came after Ottawa or maybe during Ottawa where I truly thought like the movie is coming to an end. Like this is coming,

everything's coming to an end. I don't know how to be more cryptic and not cryptic all at the same time. I just, to me, that's where I got to. And then the most exciting point was going, no, the adventure is just beginning. It is. Like it is just, but in saying that, you're a cautionary tale because, like, you're, you know, how old are you? I'm 43. Jeez, I got to be honest.

You don't, you look pretty good for a 43-year-old. If I had not looked to Christ, you wouldn't be looking at anything because I'd be gone. Fair enough. Well, you think about it, though. The cautionary tail, for me, comes at 21. Yeah. You find it. Something clicks.

Boom. change your life. But you're saying for the next, you know, 22, so the next 20 years, yeah. The next 20 years, yeah. You kind of just kind of like, well, I just kind of like,

I had a season initially where he set me free. He rocked everyone that knew me with how much he transformed my life. And then once I got free and everything stabilized and I was living, you know, free and clear of that old life, I slacked off, man. You can't just look to the Lord in times of total trouble.

If you're doing that, you're just going to be looking to them too late, and you'll find yourself in that trouble. But I slacked off about 2003. I went to sleep spiritually for like three, four years. And then when I realized once again that I couldn't be Lord in my life and expect the same results, I come back, and he's so faithful to forgive, eh? I come back to the Lord. I humbled myself before God again.

to forgive me, which is key. I took back up the word of God every day and pulled me up and under that darkness like that again. What was it, if you don't mind me asking? So you mentioned the house party at 21. Boom, you pick up the Bible and it's like something clicks. Then you talk, you know, if I'm following the timeline, right, for a couple of years, you're like gung home. Yeah. Then there's the lukewarm period where you just kind of...

That lukewarm period came shortly after a... I decided to get too busy to take time each day to be in the world. So this is an interesting thing of the Western culture. You know, I was talking about this with Paul Brandt. And folks, I don't know if we talk about this on the podcast. Yeah. Interesting world I live. And I'm not going to lie.

I've been to Paul Brand's house and interviewed him there. And it's weird. I was just literally emailed, email chatting with him yesterday. Anyways, it's a weird world I live. And you talk about a weird world. I'm in a weird world. Yeah, you're in it. And I forget what I was saying?

Paul Brandt. Yeah, but what the heck were we talking about now? Well, the stability comes from being in the word every day and look into the Lord in all your ways. I like when I slacked off on that, I got too busy. The busyness. So Paul Brandt talks about going overseas to all these different countries and they talk openly about the spiritual world. Oh, yeah. He's like, they don't hide this.

All you got to do is leave Western civilization. We're talking, we're probably talking all. all of like Canada, North America, like the United States, but we're also including Europe. We're probably including Australia. We're probably including a bunch of different places. Now, in fairness, I haven't been to Australia, folks. Maybe I'm wrong there.

He's talking about third world nations. He's talking about lower income. He's just talking about where you go to a place and the goal of life isn't to chase fame, success, riches. And what you'll see, and now I'm just paraphrasing Paul Branden as he goes, they talk about the spiritual realm. They talk about what's going on. They talk about that it's not.

And he goes, but here we're so busy, we've forgotten it even exists. Yeah. So he goes, how do you get people to slow down when we're so caught up and like chasing, you know, well, working our lives away? And I'm not saying that you, that's a bad thing, right? It's like men got to provide for their family. Listen, I get it. I went through trying to get this podcast going, you know.

It was, I don't know, three years of like up at five, worked a podcast, go to work full day, come home, get the kids to bed, kiss the wife, go back to work the podcast. Sometimes it's till 11 over and over and over. And now this is the fruit of it. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying don't work your butt off. But I get what you're saying when you get too busy and you're just like all of a sudden you kind of forgot what you've learned. Because that has happened multiple times in my life, I'm convinced that because the enemy is creative.

The choices of, you know, to live that lifestyle and to make those mistakes prior, they were exposed for what they were, and I won't fall for them again. That living in the alcohol and drugs and making those huge mistakes. So they won't work for the enemy longer. Now, he doesn't just jump up in front of me and say, hey, let's go grab a 40-ounceer and have a party. Instead, he gets behind me, I find. And he tries to push me so hard and fast that when the Lord says take a left, man, I'll blow right through the corner and get too busy. And that's what happened, man. I got too busy trying to be successful, trying to prove I was productive and build a life that I forgot to maintain my walk with the Lord.

And I put the Bible down. And it was six months before I picked it up the first time and I had to wipe dust off it. And then that was just for a quick read because maybe I was facing some troubles or having. a rough day. Still didn't pick it up, never woke up. Left it down for another six months after a year not being in the word and spending no time in prayer trying to be Lord of my own life. I was in the ditch spiritually, man, and I was floundering. But he's so gracious, I picked it back up, man, and I got on my knees. I said, forgive me, Lord, for trying to do this in my own. It ain't working real good. Please forgive me. Take me back. Just like that. He's so good. And I realized, oh, I got to be in the word

every day. God's breathing life back into me. Good for like five, six years. I'm having kids and I'm married. I got to try to maintain this life and this rat race that I've got myself into again. Like a fool. Put that Bible down and just get busy. Let my life get so busy again that my walk with God begin to falter. If you don't ever talk. to him or feed yourself. He is the word, right? John 1. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and nothing was created without the word. It goes on like verse 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. That's Jesus. You don't ever talk to the Lord. You don't ever humble yourself before God and spend time in prayer. You don't never feed yourself

on the word. You don't ever follow the leading of that still small voice that lines up with the word. man, your relationship's going to fall apart. And you're going to be back trying to do it in the flesh and your own strength, and you can't. That's something that's intense. I got to tell you this. This year, man camp, right? I've been praying.

I prayed like four or five. Every time somebody phoned and said, when's the next man camp, I said, I don't know if we're even doing one. I mean, I can't do it in my own strength. If God doesn't put in my heart, I'm not doing it. Pray in like seven, eight weeks every day. God, give me direction.

If you want to do a man camp, these guys are wanting one. They want more of what you do. did last year. All of a sudden, December 18th, I'm sitting there in my truck and, man, God pours it out on me. And I can't shake the thought of man camp for like five days. I barely slept. At the same time, I open my Bible and he shows me Ephesion 6, 10 through 17, right? I got to bring it up because I don't want to mess it up.

I know most of it by heart now because it's been heavy on my mind, but Ephesians 6. 3 of 17, actually 18. So he's helping me here because in my own, I can't really pull it off. So here in the NIV, it says, Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. He can't do it in your own strength. Put on a full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. This exposes the fact that we do have an enemy, and he's a scheming and liar.

The word in John 1010, I think, says that the thief comes to, still kill and destroy. I just read that this morning. Yeah, it's not a wonder. But the good shepherd come that you may have life and life more abundantly. Like the devil tries to blame all kinds of trouble on God. And he loves it when people buy the, you know, take the bait, try to point the finger at God for all the bad things that happened in this life

and this fallen world, right? But anyways, back to the forearmary God. This is what he puts on my heart December 18th when I'm trying to get the motivation to do a man camp. I didn't have to look for it, man. I could barely sleep. He put so much on me. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against spiritual forces of evil and heavenly realms. It's not even against people, right? It's against the dark force behind the evil and terrible things in this world. We don't judge people in the world. God judges people in the world.

And the word of God judges people in the world. we don't get to judge them. We're against those things behind what they're doing, the thing that puts a thought in their head. We're not against people. Therefore, put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, which I think we're living in,

you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand, stand therefore with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted in the readiness that come from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming errors of the evil one. So the shield of faith, right? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The shield of faith, it's clear in my mind that's got to be maintained.

You can't just strap a bottle cap to your arm and hope to stop every fiery lie from hell. you got to be built up, fed the word of God, and your faith needs to be such that when the lies, those fiery darts of the enemy come, the lies, you know, the manipulation, the thoughts that take you down that wrong path, that shield of faith stops them, right? And then, I think, from the helmet of salvation,

and the sword of the spirit, turns out the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, it says. Right? That's what fits the armor of God. God to you and maintains it. It's the only offensive, really offensive weapon that I can see he gives us. The Word of God, right? When Jesus was let off into the desert to be tempted, right after the Holy Spirit ascended upon him,

he didn't fight the devil with his knuckles or with a machine gun. Every time the enemy come at him, and he just spoke the Word of God and it just put the devil's fire out. It's this Word of God that's a ticket to overcoming. So he gave me this scripture, Ephesians 6, 10 through 18, right? And I said, God, this is awesome. You know, I've read this 10 times and it's never meant so much to me. I mean, you've given me understanding of it and I'm on board. We'll do this man camp.

We'll base it off the scripture. We'll call it the full armor of God man camp. How are we going to get it done? I mean, I read it 15 times and it never meant too much to me, you know. He gave me Romans 8, verse 14. And it says, them that are being. led by the Spirit of God these are the sons of God not them that once were led or knew somebody that was led by the Spirit of God but those that were being led by the Spirit

of God and so you want to lead them by your spirit and that that's a ticket to literally putting on the full armor of God yielding to that still small voice and letting the Spirit of God the Holy Spirit remember Father's Son Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit is literally the voice of God in this world And when he leads you, I mean, if he's Lord of your life, he expects you to follow that leading, right? It only makes sense. And when you allow the Spirit of God to lead you, this literally enables you to walk in the full arm of God. I said, well, how did we miss it, God?

I was praying about it for two, three days, right? Because I don't have a degree in hermeneutics. I don't got Bible school doctorates and edgimication, right? He takes me back to Romans 8 again, but earlier in the chapter. I think it's 8. I'm not going to bring it up, but it's from memory here. Because I've pondered on it so much. It says that in the flesh, it was never possible to accomplish God's will for your life.

It was really not possible to even apply the instructions, the laws of God, and written in the Word, to your life. never in the flesh could you do it it's only possible by the spirit of god right and if you're trying to do it in the flesh it's impossible to please god takes me up to first corinthians um i believe it's two verse 14 and it says that uh

the mind of flesh can't even comprehend spiritual truths and thoughts so our human minds as incredible as they are you know god made an incredible thing when you made a human mind. Can't wrap their mind around spiritual truths and the revelation that God wants for us to. So we got to be led by this spirit of God. And I'm convinced that the Lord intends to through the many services

at Man Camp and the fellowship, it's incredible. I'm like, what the Lord brings out of the word during the message, John Bounds, who preaches by the whole. ghost he preaches right out of the word of God like a machine gun he's going to preach three of the four services what it does in men's hearts is carried on out of the service into the meals and the fellowship around the axe throwing and everything and it's knit together in the next service this continues it on and and by the end of the weekend man the Lord's painted a picture in men's minds of the hope they've been

finding Christ and it shows men how like saying yes to God and feeding themselves on the word and and all those things are like the ticket to maintaining their relationship with the Lord and being you know empowered by God to to accomplish what he's given them in their lives it changes him it's radical I'm convinced that's what he intends to do this year my phone to buddy right after this right after the Lord poured this out on me and kind of put it on my heart, I phoned my buddy and I said, man, God finally brought the, you know, the unction, the desire to do man camp.

He finally did. He's given me Ephesion 6, 10 through 18. And it's all about the full armor of God and finally he would be strong in the strength of the Lord's might, not our own brother. And I think he wants to equip men to put on the full armor of God and overcome in their lives. and he's like, dude, hold on, you're freaking me out.

I'm just finishing a book. I'm doing a final review of all the chapters in my new book. I think it's true north, I think he's calling it. It's not even rolled out. It's going to be a big deal. But he says, you're freaking me out. You have no idea what I'm doing. I'm editing the last chapter, one of the last chapters in my book.

And the entire chapter is based on Ephesians 6, 10 through 18. and I'm in the middle of it now and it's the first day this year that I've even picked it up like the odds were astronomical astronomical and he's like dude whatever God's put on your heart man if it's like last year I'm down with it whatever you need you just let me know

because this is incredible and that's how he's done it he's literally taking a hillbilly cowboy like the last person on the planet that the world thought would ever be used by God for anything. And he's breathed life into me to be a part of this. And then

every step of the way, like even with you today, he's confirmed it from the inside out and like gone ahead of it, come behind it. I'll say something to somebody about this man camp. They'll open their Bible five minutes later and God'll floor

them with the scripture. Somebody not even involved in any way will call them like in the next day and be like, hey, we need to do something for men. He's like, man, this freak cowboy that used to be hell on earth just phoned me yesterday. And he's like, we're doing something for men. Come with me.

We'll be a part of that. Now, there's hundreds of men come to this man camp. And guys like Moore Butter and all these other guys are just pitching in and provide him. If you're sitting here listening to this and you're like, oh, man, this sounds, you know, like, can you still get into it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And how do they find it? Unfortunately, we put an early bird discount on from... Nobody's going to care.

No. First of March to May 15th. And May 15th, it goes from being $150. And we sponsored a couple dozen guys already because we want people to be there. So we just, like, believe God for finances and pay their way. But for $150 registration, they get the six meals in the whole weekend. It just covers the cost of food and rentals. And after May 15th,

until I believe it's first of June. They can still register at Moose Lake PC, right? Moose Lake Pentecostal Camp. And... What for the listener, what he's going to do is Josh is going to give me the link and I'll put it in the show notes. That way people can just click on it. If they scroll down, you bet,

they can click on it and go right to it. Another thing for Facebookers, like I'm kind of new to the Facebook world. I don't post a lot. I'm not a really good Facebooker. But my buddy Yarrell has set up a man-camp. Facebook page just for this purpose. And if you search,

Sons of Thunder, this is the name he's designated for all these men that want to do this, right? Sons of Thunder, 2003, Full Armour God Man Camp on Facebook, and all the information, the brochure.

Well, I'm going to make sure that I share it. I'll toss it on the page because anything, in my mind, there's so many people wondering where the men have gone, right? Yeah. Where are they? They're waking up.

Well, they're waking up. And they're waking up at an exceptional rate. Yeah, yeah. And you're seeing it, you know, on boots on the ground, so to speak. And if I can help share something that's going to not only benefit the men, but the community that they're in, it's like, well, that's what I'm all about. Like, to me. I appreciate it, brother. I believe the Lord will use that.

A cool thing, though, like me, never having anything to do with the religious world leadership-wise whatsoever. I encounter all these different denominations. This is something good. The factions and the different denominational groups all kind of pulling their own way and doing their own thing. I get to encounter them all, right? Because they're always wanting to see. You want to pull that mic just into a touch? Yes, sir.

They all want to see what I'm about, right? Because they don't want to send their men off to something that's going to be some kind of weird thing. And it's funny, they always ask me one thing, they say, yeah. So if you don't mind, what denomination are you, sir? And I used to say, well, I don't really have a denomination. I'm kind of non-denominational. But not long ago I was talking to a prominent religious leader in a certain Pentecostal group. And I said, well, that's simple.

I'm a baptismal word of faith there. And he said, what? I said, yeah, well, you heard me? a baptismal word of faith. I've never heard of that. Is that legit? I said, well, that's just a man that's sold out for the Lord Jesus Christ,

filled with the Holy Spirit, and believes the word of God to be true. Oh, well, yeah, that should be good. He said, I'm going to send my guys anyway because the three that went come back so on fire for God, so encouraged and so transformed that I merely didn't care what denomination you were

because you know a tree by its fruit. And if a tree bears nothing but poison, bad, toxic fruit, it's probably bad. But if you follow me for five seconds and you see the fruit that come from a life reborn, a man that walks away from drugs and alcohol after 30 years, or a man that kicks depression and emptiness and doesn't look back, that's good fruit. And he's like, yeah, I'm going to be trying to send every man in my church. So anyway Where I was going with that was So I'm kind of new to this right

I don't never done a podcast I never made a man camp video I never did no public speaking to mention I just go from place to place And the Lord opens doors And I share what he's done in my life I share the simple truth That he's no respecter of persons

that he'll literally take and embrace anybody that looks to him as Lord repents of their sin and, you know, chooses to follow him. You know, just breathe life into them. He offers them peace, you know, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. The joy of the Lord, it's unspeakable and you can't find it at a pharmacy. Wholeness and meaning like you can't find in the world. And then I try to. because my grandfather told me and showed me by example.

I try to put a little New Testament in their hands, and sometimes they take that, and it's years sometimes. It's only moments other times. The biggest guy that I ever squared off with, a giant of a man. And I beat him the first fight, and he'll admit to it, and then he beat me the second fight. I hadn't seen him in 21 years. He showed up in one of my leases the other day.

And I didn't know if we were going to be friends because the last time it was the police that broke us up. And this is back when I was in the world. And I showed up and when I saw he was there, those memories came flooding back. And I went, you know, in my vehicle I went towards the lease he was working on. And I began to ask God for courage and strength to, like, face this guy. because these thoughts just come flooding into my mind that he's just gonna still hate you and Possibly you know be aggressive or anything like that and I said no Lord just give me strength to To share what you've done in my life just like it's anybody else and the fact that he's benched in 400 pounds and

Six foot three and we have a history means nothing just give me the courage to do what I do and I went into that trailer and and I looked at him and I said Greg? He turned around. I could see the look in his eye. He hadn't seen me in 20 years. He probably thought I was dead. I said, easy big man. He said, you. I said, yeah, but I'm not hunting trouble. I'm actually not the same guy that you brawled those two times back in the day. I said, I'm proof the Lord can take a total wild animal and turn his life around. He filled that emptiness that drew drugs and booze and women and bikes never could. I said, but I'm here on business, so let's just take care of business. And we did. And then I ran into him the very next day, and he came up to me, and he was in his full gear. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, dark glasses, pulled off his glove, and reached out his hand, and he says, man, if you hadn't have fought me twice, and what were you doing, fight me?

You were just a scrawny cowboy rig pig. If you hadn't have fought me twice, I never would have listened to you. but that emptiness man that you said god filled I've never been able to fill that in my whole life and I've made millions I said man if he takes me he'll take anybody I give him that little New Testament Bible

I said this is where I found in the Lord you read this you feed yourself this word of God it's gonna open your eyes to your need for Christ and the hope you can have in him it's gonna open your ears to hear his voice and he took that to go back to his hotel and he read that he didn't know how long he read it

maybe five minutes maybe an hour and he come back the next day and I tried to talk about work with him he said no man I need the Lord Jesus and my wife needs him too I said well we gotta finish doing our work man I can't be doing this at work I'll be in trouble he said well whatever man as soon as you have time

I said man I can't hook you up with God myself I mean you got to look to him yourself so you just read this book today and when I'm done you know I'll come over I'll find you I just prayed with him and he you know begin to pray on his own it was just like a giant little boy looking to the Lord the first time Lord forgive me for you know not looking to you and this and that and I just prayed with him and let him to Jesus and he cried out to God on his own man and he was changed that he was a big man like he picked me right up off the

ground and it was weird but people don't matter how much money they got and how much things and and how successful they are in this first world country they can't fill that void inside of them with all the stuff in the world and this guy man he looked like the kendall he looked like he's just jacked all the finances and women and toys still man it wasn't enough He found Jesus and that was worth more than all that This is the biggest guy ever, you know, swap punches, but he's doing it every day and men are waking up. The things of this world aren't enough.

You know, if I could have predicted, first off, it's a beautiful story. Like it's, you know, like... It's not perfectly composed. It doesn't matter. It's a... We've all... Well, no, I shouldn't say we've all. I mean, a lot of men...

have, well, those, what, 16 to, for some is 25, for some it's 18, for some is 21. It doesn't matter. There's a period of time where you're a proven ground, you know, you're walking around, you're 10 feet tall, you're bulletproof. I think we got her to be tough for like some kind of manly guy. And you just think you got the, you do have the world by the tail, but you just don't realize that you're so far out to lunch on certain things. It's just, it's so it's a wonderful story.

I think it's a wonderful story. I you can look around everything's hockey I see this lots right studios hockey minus you know I got the

the charter of rights and freedoms now when I watched sports one of the things they always say sports shows we don't talk

politics and religion anything else pretty much goes right is kind of what they say and so when I first started this

I would say like I kind of embodied that unbeknownst to me it's kind of like when you talk about Christianity growing up around it

you had respect for the Bible I kind of had respect for I'm doing the show and we're not going to get bring too many troubles into your life. I wasn't sure if you're going to let me like this is what I do right? Yeah. I owe everything to the Lord so I mean if you were going to kick me out of here I was going to take it like a champ. Well it okay so for a hundred and I forget what it is folks is 160 some episodes it's something like that for the first until 2021 summertime um Sean talks

hockey doesn't talk anything else lots of um wisdom coming through like people's uh perseverance and their stories of like how they made the n hl or you know different stories like that but then covid just won't relent and so at some point i'm just like like i either got to start talking about this or i don't and so sean takes the leap of faith and he started there's no bible there's no like all you're talking about i just i i chuckle about i guess it uh because it just keeps going And when I talk about, you know, I've got to try and bring it up because it's going to bug me if I don't. I wanted to play hockey. Like I did play hockey as a young man, but I was too poor and too aggressive to actually play hockey back before Christ.

I got some good buddies that went a long ways, played a lot of hockey, a lot of pro hockey, dub hockey. My nemesis Ashley Langdon, I fought him a couple times. and he's actually made a decision to serve the Lord in an elementary way now. He's a work in progress. He's grown, but this guy brawled all over the country, both the states and Canada.

Played the Quebec Hockey League. Oh, man. I love hockey. This is the verse I was trying to spit out, and obviously, you know, I'm just, you know, anyways. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light. I don't need the rest, because I read that, And I'm like, so rewind the clock.

The podcast, we're not going to talk about anything, religion, and anything politics. I didn't believe in that. But as it goes along, that's what I'm thinking. And COVID won't relent. And so I start talking to, I basically do a 180. For anyone who started here and I was doing the local stories, and I love the local stories, but we're talking sports stories and everything else. It just overnight, it goes 180.

I'm sure the audience was like, what is going on? Some people applauded it. Some people hated it. And on we went. And for, you know, 100 plus episodes. We talked nothing but politics, well not even politics, more just COVID, doctors, nurses, lawyers, professors, anyone speaking out like, what is going on? And then, you know, this lady named Daniel Smith comes through when I've talked to her and then she's running for politics. I'm like, well, we got to get this right.

So then Sean starts talking politics. And I swore I'd never, I was pretty sure I'd never talk politics. And then I started talking politics, you know, now she's the premier and you're like, so I guess I'll have the premier on the podcast. I don't know what that's going to do. This will be interesting. And then Ottawa happened. And I guess I should back up. Ottawa happened before she became Premier.

And Ottawa was like, I've been, you know, I go back to episode 110 and I listen to me and Judy Reeves. And she, she's like, what are you doing? And I'm like, I'm just interviewing people. I just like hearing stories. It's pretty like a pretty surface level answer, right? No, you're not. You're looking for something. You're digging.

And when I go back, it's almost prophetic her words. I don't know, you know, like just to me at least. And I was looking, I knew I was looking. I was looking for truth. I was looking for like, what is the truth? Is there more than METI or not? In Ottawa, I just take my hand for the listener who can't see what I'm doing and smack. Like, that's what I do?

I run into a brick wall. Shoes go flying. You know, I'm like, what was that, right? Because it's an introduction to things that can't be seen on steroids. Yeah, yeah. And I come back from there. I'm reeling. I'm going, what?

It just happened. you know and I you know and and then fast forward to um fast forward to probably I don't know what is it folks three months ago like you know what screw this we got to start talking about we got to start talking about the Bible back to truth we just got we just got to talk about it and I got to see what what I feel about it what the audience feels about it and we're just going to like we've talked about everything else at this point I come back from Ottawa I run into all these people and they go what happened in Ottawa I'm like what story do you want. Like, what do you mean? I'm like, well, I can tell you that it was stress. I can tell you

that it was drugs and alcohol. I can tell you that it was lack of sleep. I can tell you that it's spiritual. Wow, we all know it's spiritual. And so then my brain goes, okay, if we all know what's spiritual, why aren't we talking about? And what does everybody say? Well, they'll deem you crazy. And I'm literally explaining about four or five conversations, John, or Josh, where they, I'm staring at John. I'm going to have to go back and now listen to these podcasts. Well, so I get to this point where I'm like, I'm having these conversations off air with people and they're saying we know exactly what it is and I'm going, well, why aren't we talking about? This is COVID all over again. We're not allowed to talk about COVID. Now you're telling me you know exactly what went on in Ottawa because it's happening in your life and nobody's going to talk about this. It's like, well, yeah, but they'll deem you crazy. I'm like, I'm already crazy. Like they already think I'm crazy. I appreciate that you're willing to like step up. It takes backbone. A lot of people choose to bypass all these. topics to fit in with society. My problem is whoever lives by the truth or or comes to the

light and it's like me and me and Tanner today if you haven't listened to those folks we talk about this in the first one and the second one it's like that to me I'm like so if you chase the truth you're eventually going to hit this point where you come back to to God you come back to spirituality you come back to like and I'm not saying I got this right by no means I you know I mess up things all the time I just know that it's I don't know I don't get all the coincidences I just you can see it when it's happening we talked about it right off the hop about these coincidence that happened you start well when you really get involved with the Holy Spirit and Lord Jesus the coincidences begin to pile up on top of

one another you can't there's no way you could be convinced that 15 different coincidences happen in one day. When you go from having one happen every six months to have an incredible like one and three thousand coincidence, one in 300,000, like winning the lotto max type coincidence every day. I shared Christ with a bunch of people up at Mission Hill on 97th and 107th with this wild for Jesus woman, Sleena Higgins. She loves the Lord with her whole heart, right? I'm sharing, I'm preaching and witnessing and loving on these people that are living on the streets. Fingers froze off and ears froze off and all this. And I see this street preacher and I tell them about man camp, so I'm a heart heavy.

And I say, I believe the Lord wants to breathe some, you know, life into you and encourage you and being a part of this man camp, John Bounds is going to bring a word from God and it's going to build your faith. And you're going to meet a lot of other people that are going to come alongside you and help you accomplish God's will for what you're doing here. And he said, I think it's the enemy going to try and distract me from my calling. And I said, well, think about it. Call me.

And he phoned the next day. He says, yeah, I think it'll just be a distraction from what I'm doing here on the streets. And I said, well, listen, man, you think the enemy wants you to be strengthened, spiritually, encouraged. You think the enemy wants you making dozens and hundreds of relationships with men around you in your own backyard that are going to help you? to accomplish God's will for your life? You think you're going to reach the whole of Eminton like the lone ranger all by yourself? Give your head a shake, man.

That's not the devil. The Lord wants you to be a part of this to equip you for what you're called to. He's like, oh, well, maybe, maybe. I'll keep praying about it. Half an hour, an hour later, I'm working away trying to help my wife with something and thought to phone this guy comes to mind.

this guy I hardly have seen in years and years and years in Empton. I know he's a Christian. I know it's not the enemy wants me to phone and encourage this guy. Why would he, right? Yeah, keep living for Jesus, man. Keep shining bright. You think the devil wants that? I'll phone him up, get a hold of him.

He said, man, you're doing a good work. You're shining bright. You're doing a tremendous job of showing the light and love of Christ to that city, man. You keep going. I'm not cut out for city life, so you've got to do it. And he's like, well, thanks, buddy. What are you doing? actually I was up in the city just the day before and we were trying to love on some homeless folks

and you know put clothes and food in their bellies and met this guy this street preacher he was just like so critical and like rung out I'm kind of praying for him and believing God that he'll come to this man camp we're doing to get strong and get you know refreshed and he's like is his name Tim I said I won't say his last name but he said his last name. I said, that's him. Out of how many millions of men in Eminton? He said, dude, this guy's got a session booked with me tomorrow morning.

I said, you're kidding me. I said, he's like, no. I booked it two weeks ago, long before he ever met him yesterday. He's slated to sit in my office today and talk about that issue. You're telling me he has. I said, well, do your best let God use you. I'll talk to you later, buddy. this Tim guy phones me that day after his session and he's like hi how you doing I said good he's like

you'll never guess what happened I said what do you mean let me guess I said the Lord's confirmed that you should be a part of this man camp just a shot in the dark he's like yeah yeah yeah you never knew I booked a session with that Mike I booked that two weeks before I ever met you if it's okay with you I'd still like to come to that man camp you guys still willing to sponsor me? I said, yeah, man, we're welcome to have you. Praise God, you finally decided to come. And yeah, we'll cover all the costs. We just want you to be there. You're doing a good work. That was like winning the lotto 649. You don't just pull a name out of a hat and phone one of the 4,000 preachers in Emmetton and he's got a session booked with him the next day. That's God, man.

He can do way more than we think. That's happened 10 times since December. That kind of coincidence. You don't find that in the Sports Illustrated magazine. That's the word of God. So anyways, you go on, bro. Sorry, I kind of sidetracked us. Quincyance. You were saying this coincidence.

No, you don't need to apologize. I get carried away. I'm fired up about this. Like, you don't get to be used by God in a huge way and experience God without getting, you know. It's funny. Somewhere in my back of my brain, I guess. I wonder how many people I'm pissing off

by having, having, a guy like me? It doesn't, it doesn't, no, no, just religion in general. Oh yeah, you're probably pushing the buttons on a lot of people. You know, but that's funny.

Like, once upon a time, like, once again, I don't know where I'm at with all of this, but you can, like, honestly, sitting here, folks,

I can feel it. It's like, I get it. Now, I've had my eyes open to an awful lot over the course of a little bit over a year. There's things that went on

in Ottawa that I just, I can't even, I can't even begin to put words to it's just like I don't know how to explain it bizarre things oh and bizarre is a good word weird strange seeing more of it every day yeah well I'm experiencing more of it every day so it's like do you run from that and just write it off is my mind's just playing tricks you could be a coward and do that at any time that's right or do you just go I get it right I sometimes wonder I I I hate to play little games with myself but

Like, how did I write this off for so long? And the God of this world blinds the eyes of mankind. They're ever seeing but never perceiving. We're hearing but never understanding. He literally, he bamboozles us. And then one day the Word of God washes off, that veil and that film from our eyes. And we can see clearly. And I resent them for it now.

I look back. I see his tracks all over my life. I've seen him rip apart my family. I see him tearing apart. our families every day. I'm kind of mad about it. It's like a righteous mad. I resent him for what he did to my life.

He's doing it to a lot of folks. You can see I'm a little mad about it. Yeah. Exposing him, eh? He's not happy about that either. I can bet on it. Well, I get told this an awful lot. You tell me if you agree or your thoughts on it,

the more you talk about it, the more of a target you paint on yourself. Yeah. Have you experienced that? Oh, man. And the minute you stop going with the flow and coasting along with the rest of the lukewarm world and you start fighting back and making a difference for Christ, you encounter tons of it. But you see what it does is it, you never put on any muscle if you never got nothing to lift.

And so when you start bucking it and he starts to put weight on you, as long as you run to the Lord, right, submit to God, resist the devil and he'll flee from you, James 4-7, right? As long as you're submitted to God, resist in the end. enemy, he got to flee. So every time he nails you, you learn to run to Jesus. You learn to speak the Word of God. That's how I learned all this. Before Christ, I could barely remember my debit card number, man. I'd be standing at the checkout at the liquor store and have to look in that notes tucked into my wallet someplace to remember my dumb number. Now that the Lord's like tweaked my brain in the

Holy Spirit, let me memorize whole Psalms like 40, 50 verses at a time. So every day you. So every time he nails me now. I recognize it, man. I was born a warrior. I've always been a fighter. Now when he pokes me with a jab, I slap him silly with the Word of God. And it's the sword of the spirit. It puts him to sleep. He got to recoil him back up. That's how you fight him. Yeah, yeah, I've hidden the Word of God in my heart, so that I won't be led astray by the enemy every five second. So literally, yeah, you start starting. Stepping up, speaking up, being curt, bold and courageous with your faith and what you've experienced. You shod your feet in the gospel of peace.

You start doing your part to reach the world for Christ. Yeah, you get hit. But if every time he hits you, you run back to the Lord, then it just makes you stronger. If every time he hits you, you cower and wine and pee your pants. Yeah, you wins. I'm drawn near to him, and he'll draw near to you, right? He says, come to me all you who are weary and heavy ladies. and for I'll give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you for my burden is light. My yoke is easy. My burden is light. You run to him every time the enemy slaps you. He just puts a little beef on you spiritually. Feed yourself the word of God every day. It's a lamp under your feet and light into your path. That light literally leads and helps direct you.

It also exposes all the lies and the tricks of the enemy. That's why it's so important. we feed ourselves the Word of God. It literally lights our path. It's the Holy Spirit and the Word work together. They're like one. Holy Spirit will never lead you in a direction that goes crosswise of the Word.

And the Word is truth. If it ain't in the Word, it ain't the Holy Spirit. And if it goes crosswise of the Word, I mean, you can go alongside the Word, but if you're getting led by anything that goes crosswise of the Word of God, you better think about it because that's not the Holy Spirit.

I'm going to be fascinated to see where you not end up. I was going to say end up, but like obviously you're not whatever age, right? I just mean I'm going to be interested to see where this goes. I know of just that off the top of my head, I know of like probably three, four people that really I think would benefit from hearing this. Whether or not it goes anywhere with them is up to them, obviously. But like, as you talk, I'm like, two things come to mind.

One is I'm like, once upon a time, in the middle of a podcast, I just had this epiphany. I'm like, am I becoming a traditionalist? Like, am I, what am I? And right now I'm like, what are we doing here? You know, like, and I don't have an answer to that. I just go,

this is probably going to draw more of a target all over again, you know? Yeah, well, brother. You know? But in saying that, COVID drew a target. And at the end of the day, you know, I can't forget some things that have gone on. It's like, just can't. So what are you going to do with that?

Got to talk about it. Because I feel, and I maybe fear a little bit too, that in the dark days of COVID, in the lockdown times, so many people felt like they were alone. You know, they were in that dark place. And the dark place is lonely. It is debilitating. It is crippling. Yeah. And right now, if there's people that are walking and don't under, like they think they're

crazy or they think they've, you know, like nobody else is experiencing different things. It's like, then it's on all of us. And certainly I have an opportunity sitting with a podcast to at least open people's ears and eyes to it to see if, you know, holy crap, there's more out there than I thought. Because at times I'm telling you, I came back from all. nobody's ever going to understand any of this. Certainly the people in Ottawa, lots of them understand it, but nobody's ever going to understand any of it.

And that isn't true at all. Actually, I find I'm more shocked at how many people understand exactly what's going on. And you're like, okay, okay, right? And I think the audience needs to understand that too. I'm in a unique place where I get to talk to a lot of people. When they all start saying, no, no, I get it. So we all get it. Why aren't we just saying what it is then?

Yeah, not just the Christian people are recognizing. that this world's coming undone morally and integrity wise. My buddy of mine, he just recently gave his life to the Lord. I worked for his dad for three years, and he was from kids got him. I got a phone call. Like, I've watched a lot of men this last while. Financially successful wives, kids, lives appear to be in order. I've seen him take their lives this last while.

I carried this fellow out of the house, and we cut him down, and we carried his body out of the house, and because I was the only Christian guy and, like, the most hardcore Christian guy that this family knew, I think they thought it was some kind of a preacher, speaker, pastor, but I'm not like I wasn't. They said, well, you do this service. Will you speak at our father?

our husband's funeral. And I said, I got to warn you, you know, this depression, this emptiness, this demonic dark thing that's caused your husband, father, grandfather to take his own life. I'm going to expose it for what it is, and I'm going to point right to Jesus as being the answer. You know that.

Well, yeah, yeah, maybe just don't be too preaching. I don't make any deals. You having me on here. You could have kicked me out if you want. I was still going to point to Jesus because it's the only thing I've ever seen really reconstruct lives. I've seen thousands of people try to medicate spiritual problems and put like a temporary fix on them. But then I've seen now dozens just in this last year walk away from conditions that they've been diagnosed with as being like mental health issues and physical conditions. and all these different diagnoses.

Well, how come when they get filled with the Holy Ghost and make Jesus Christ Lord of their lives, not just playing church, but surrender their lives to Christ, how come they walk away from those things hard and fast? That's what I want to know. So I tell this family, I'm going to be, if you want me to preach, I'm not a preacher. I've only spoke like preached four times in my life,

and it wasn't, I didn't do a great job. I'm not a public speaker. I'm getting better, it seems, but. I went to this funeral, and it turns out it's full of oilfield people that I've worked for, consultants from all over the place, like two, 300 people. I didn't even know what I was going to say. I started watching the eulogy and seeing the six grandkids he had to live for, and a beautiful wife and his daughter, and the life he had, and that got mad.

I mean, what kind of demonic thing convinced him he had nothing to live for? what created that depression, that emptiness in him to take his own life. He had so much to live for. And I got up and I began to preach. And it come from the inside of me, man. It rocked me. I don't know how it affected them. But it rolled out smooth and it wasn't me. And it pointed a direction right at Jesus as being the cure

the way, the truth, and the life, right? He says, right, dang says, anxiety, depression, stress, all similar things. Philippians 4, verse 6 and 7 says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything through prayer and supplication, right? Taking those things and Thanksgiving, so thanking them for these things you're asking them for in faith,

giving them your cares, your anxieties, your stresses. Make your request known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding or all comprehension will guard your heart and mind in Christ, right? Your heart being your spirit, your mind being your soul, your mind, will, and emotions, that's your soul. And I begin to preach from that. And right, he says in 1st Peter 5, I think it's 6 and 7, I don't have my Bible, but he says, humble yourself before God, that he may exalt you or lift you up in his time, right, and that he offers you peace.

And so this last while, man, seeing these guys on. unravel and seeing the stress and strain that the busyness and the lack of God and the emptiness in our lives is creating. I've been, you know, administering the gospel to these people, the depression, the anxiety, the stress, strain, the meds, they fall away like a scab at the swimming pool. Christ is truly the answer, brother, to almost every situation. plaguing mankind. I never realized it until like this last couple years, like even playing church and my lucre-warm Christian walk before that, I was sitting there, man, I was getting spoon-fed the

word of God by John Bounds for years. And I never seen it clear until I like, surrendered lock, stock and barrel to Christ. He's the ticket to every plague on this planet. And he's the only one that offers salvation and forgiveness of sins. This is the ticket, man. We got to actually, I'm probably going too far for your podcast now. But I'll pipe down on. No, by now, listeners know this, and you're learning this. I don't shut things down.

No, I won't go into how. To me, this is, well, certain conversations, certain conversations make people uncomfortable. I got lots of them. And I got lots of them. This ain't one of them. This is one where I'm like, you know, when, when, and I bring up Tanner and a day lots. But when Tanner Nadee and me get going, what people say is, man, I'd sure go listen to him at a church, right?

Is that the, is Tanner the one I met in Tysonmore Butter's office? Or is that Sam? No, that's Sam. Sam. Okay. Yeah. Cool guy. He was dad, a tremendous doctor. Yeah.

But for this, it's like, I don't know. I'm not bored. How long have we been going? Hour and 30 minutes? Oh, brother, I'd take it all day just like this. I got to share Christ with this transgender guy the other day, right? And I've never encountered. Before Christ, I was pretty narrow-minded.

I stepped to my own type, and I just blocked everything else out. Sure. And this LGBTQ world, I don't know a bunch about it. But a missionary friend of mine come back from Nepal. after three years and he says to me what are you doing man what's God doing in you I heard you're like lit up for Christ because I mean he's seen me in a spiritual stupor for years I said man he's he's done a work on my mind he's like working in my heart and for instance like this years ago I was I was pretty shallow in so many ways and and like homosexuality and transgender I just blocked it

all out I didn't care about it I was really negative towards it and even like if somebody was to approach me I'd be like aggressive and you know threatening so but God's put it on my heart man if he can deliver me from alcohol drugs you know racial issues rage hatred emptiness all these things I'll believe he can straighten people out in in any arena of life and I don't want to you know I can't remember who was talking about this LGBTQ movement and all this. I'm not out to attack anybody. I said, but they know, like,

I no longer, you know, have any resentment towards them. I surely don't want to slander them or maliciously attack them in any way. But the few people in my life, I've known three or four people that live that lifestyle, they all seem to have this incredible anxiety and like brokenness, and they were so confused in so many ways and felt so attacked. I said, I'm convinced if they were to encounter Christ and sincerely make Christ's Lord of their lives,

that he could heal that brokenness in them. And I don't think it's any different. I mean, if they're confused or anxious or depressed or discouraged or have any type of mental illness, I believe he can mend and heal any of that. So we arrive at our destination and who comes in first time in my whole Christian walk, but this six foot one indigenous male in full drag. And John Bounds preaches the message. He brings it, man.

He just, he don't preach from notes, man. He opens that word and as he reads the word, the Holy Spirit puts it on his heart and he lays her down. That's the kind of preaching I got to have because I can't settle for Dr. Phil or Oprah win for any of that. stuff. It doesn't build my faith. I need to be, I need the word of it. And where does he preach at? I'm at the word church, you know, just like directly behind the new McDonald's on the south end. Okay. Incredible young guy. A Bible teacher like, you'll look a long time for you to find another guy that age preaching like that. This fellow in full drag, like an incredible face makeup, like a lot of ladies on the catwalk,

probably would have loved to have this guy do with their makeup. Come forward to receive Christ. John Boundsman, he judges nobody. He shares Jesus with everybody. Praise with them. You know, introduce them to the Lord, and then looks over at me and says, and now I'd like you to spend some time talking to my friend

and associate Joshua. And he's going to pray with you and spend time with you. And man, the fact that I, this is that weird coincidence thing too, right? I had just finished talking to John and my buddy Matthew, who came back from the ball, about the same thing, like 20 minutes, 30, whatever it was, 40 minutes before. And I sat down with this guy, man, and I had nothing but love for him. Like, I felt he was broken and felt so empty.

and he was going and telling me all this stuff and then I had nothing but love for him no resentment no the Lord had done a work in me right and I began to pray with this guy and something ugly revealed itself and something in his facial features

transformed and he come at me and stared into my eyes and his eyes just shook and I said Jesus loves you man and he offers you the peace and joy and wholeness that you couldn't find in this lifestyle or in this world. And it just put his fire out, man. He was just like a different person.

That ugly thing that rose up in that man and called itself Sally, let Jerome go and just sat back down. And I hugged on him. I give him the manliest backcracking hug he's ever had. And we prayed together another 10, 15 minutes. and him and I were friends right until the service was over, like I couldn't get rid of him. But he felt the Lord touch his heart in that service, man.

As long as he holds on tight to Jesus, man, I think he can overcome that depression and any of that anxiety and brokenness. It's incredible. He'd be, you know, I hear your story, and where my brain goes is, you imagine talking to Jerome now. just seeing what his thoughts are.

And, you know, let's... Who's this? You said Jerome, right? Yeah, yeah, cool guy. Sitting down and talking to Jerome now. You know, I hear your side of it, but I mean, to... Wouldn't that be fascinating? Oh, brother.

I can't wait to see him, man. This would be just a couple weeks ago, right? I won't say his last name. Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah. But he, yeah, yeah, as long as he replaces those things in his life, with more of Christ, I believe we won't even recognize the guy. Like he, the joy and like whatever God did in that guy

changed him. Yeah, maybe he'll show up at man camp. Maybe. It'll be intense. Man, we took a guy off the street. Paul Day's a buddy of mine. I keep saying their name. Is that allowed?

Yeah, absolutely. Solid guy. Did you just say Paul Days? He's a close friend of mine now. Big man, tough guy. Paul Days and me grew up together. Literally, like Mike. closest neighbor on the farm. Paul's like the solidest boss I ever had. One of them. And I've

had a couple. But Paul is one of my good friends. And anyways, his missus, he got a lot of kids, right? So his missus has a baby or she's about to have a baby. Can't come to Man Camp last year, right? Pull the mic back. Yeah. So he can't, sorry about that. He couldn't come to Man Camp. So he said, I've already paid. I don't want a refund. I want you to, you know, so I'm going to sponsor somebody else to go. So we pulled a fell off the street. We literally, my buddy, y'all went into town, he find this indigenous guy, awesome guy, says, hey, do you want to come to Man Camp? He's like, wouldn't even talk to him. Like, the guy was broken. I was walking down the side of the road. All you can eat barbecue, awesome food. There are going to be some

services, get to throw axes, shoot bows, throw knives. There's a fishing derby. There's a fishing derby. The guy never cared about any of that. And even at man camp, he never, I don't know if he took part. And he just sat there and he was like taking it in. Was there, this guy Paul sponsored off the street shows up. He never said a word the first two days. Not a word. It was like he was speechless. Halfway through the service on the Saturday night. And said, if there's anybody that just wants more of God in their life or wants to surrender to for the first time or rededicate their life if they've walked away, rejected the Lord or taken the Lordship of their life back into their own hands and let their walk with God fall

apart. Come forward, man, we'll pray with you. This brother come forward, right? He hadn't said nothing for two days. You couldn't get him to talk. I said, what do you want? I want Jesus. Simple prayer. Lord Jesus, forgive me or the sin in my life. Forgive me for being the Lord. And I let him in this prayer, forbid me for trying to be Lord of my own life. Come into my life like you did his, mine, right? Come into my life like you come into this cowboy's life. I want you to be Lord of my life, and I want you to lead me and guide me from this point. And I forgive anybody that I have anything against.

A walk in forgiveness. Like the word says, you don't forgive, the Father can't forgive you. So I forgive anybody that's done anything against me or anything I have. anything held against him in Jesus name and this guy like you flipped a switch on the wall threw his head back and he says I heard the Lord call my name he says I've been like under a curse for years and it's gone he never shut up for the last day and a half of man camp talking to everybody about what the Lord had just done in his life and and how this curse that had been like keeping him silent and powerless

I guess this indigenous brother had ticked off some family of his back in the past and these people were deep into like indigenous witchcraft or medicine he called it and he said that they had put this medicine on him and ever since it had destroyed his life. When he reached out to Christ and wholeheartedly meant it, that came off of him, man. You thought we'd have plugged him into the wall. He testified and fellowshiped with 135 guys

over the next day and a half like a different person. You couldn't even hardly recognize him. He was one of those guys that wanted, I got to be baptized, bro. I said, well, you're like the fourth guy today to ask me if he could be baptized in the lake. Well, there's water. you love the Lord Jesus?

Yeah. You plan on serving the Lord the rest of your life? Yeah. You believe he's everything in the word of God says he is? Yeah, bro. I said, no, why can't you have the water?

We'll baptize you. Now, this year we got a baptismal service. You know what I love about it? You sound like such a cowboy. I am. I can't help it. I can't help it. I hear people say, oh, dude,

are you from Texas? I said, no, man. My parents were busy farming, and they had three other kids right after me, wanted like a set of twins, they left me with my grandpa. He was a veteran and he was a hillbilly and I talk like a hillbilly. So that's why people think it's,

I think it's, it's cowboy meets preacher, you know, it's kind of the cowboy preacher. It's, uh, it's, uh, it's unique. I do break horses and train horses and that opens another door in the cowboy world to like, you know,

share my testimony and encourage others. I go to brandings and rope calves and do things. That's good. Well, you know, I'm curious. I have this thought come all the way back again. Did you ever think you'd be sitting? Never. Talking, I mean, I have no idea where this goes.

Maybe this gets Sean panned off the airways. Maybe this goes to the moon and back. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to me. I'm just like, whatever. It's another interesting, you know, one of the foundations of the podcast when I started was I was like, I really want to pick some interesting brains, you know? And for so long, I thought,

Don't get me wrong. Would I take Jordan Peterson? Yes. But like for so long, I thought it was all these famous individuals. And I find some of the best conversations are with people I've never even heard up before. Down at the river on a saddle horse.

That's where I met your old man. Yeah. Like, to me, you just don't know, like, when you strap the shoes on or the boots on every day, you don't know what's going to come in and you have no idea.

It's kind of like riding on for dear life to a bullet train because it's like, you know, who's going to walk in today? And sit down across from me and rattle off. some things and is it going to piss some people off? Christianity certainly is ticking some people off.

I hope it doesn't wreck your podcast, but I mean, if it changes one life... No, it won't. You know, it won't. You're not coming in here speaking hate. No, no, man. You're not going to speak in here and your testimony of how your life's been changing. It's nothing like hate. It's the opposite, right?

I could have stayed at home, went fishing, riding, all this stuff. If it reaches one person that's walking through this life hopeless without Christ, and at the end of the line or one father that can't you know a husband, his wife or father his children or just, you know,

make it another day, he's just hopeless. If it changes their life, man, I'll drive to Toronto. Well, I've been talking an awful lot about men's groups, right?

Yeah. So when I heard you were doing a men's retreat, a men's camp, I'm like, if only one guy hears it and goes, I'm all about,

like one guy in his community can do an awful lot. Oh man, yeah. And you think if you get, I don't know, I don't know if Army is the right word, but certainly if you get a group of men that start pulling the same drag,

it's like how quickly can we really change some things? Like how quick? And not just that. First, the scripture is just coming to mind, brother. This is not natural either, but First Peter, no, sorry, First John 1-7 says, when we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.

and the blood of Jesus cleanses us of all sin. I've seen teams that work well together. Like, look at our Oilers now, they're winning, right? They're putting out, and they're putting a puck in the net. They're winning games. Even a team that works good together, when he speaks about this fellowship in Christ, when we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, right?

We have fellowship with one another. That fellowship that the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit brings to a group is even different. It's more intense. It's like a unity and a bond that's not realistic. You'll see a hundred guys who are all cocky,

headstrong, and bossy working together for one purpose, like this man camp. I don't know if last year there was even one argument, let alone a disagreement. And everybody pulling together, like what needs to happen and this and this, yes sir let's go and it really is like a well-loyled machine when that fellowship that the holy

spirit brings to a group starts to operate the way it's designed oh man it's it's like if you could mix that like you you you take a an nchel team or an NFL team you get them all filled with the holy spirit and living for jesus you they're probably there's probably not a team in the country that will even compare they're not all after their own glory they're not showboating um It's all about working together for a common cause and like bettering the group. It's intense, man. I never saw it aside from when I, and even as a lukewarm, you know, playing church Christian, I never saw it. It's when you surrender to Christ.

How is your, you mentioned married, kids. How is your family dealt with? It's overwhelming at first, man. Your spouse, when you get lit up by Jesus and you begin to make him first place, right, in every area of your life, areas that they once held, they got to kind of surrender to the Lord. But in the end, the benefit and, you know, the blessing of God in your life,

when you put the Lord Jesus ahead of everything else, those other areas end up with more. It doesn't, it's not realistic. Somehow, it's like tithing, right? One of the first lies in the ever tried to sell me on when I went to church was that they were after my money. Then he puts the spotlight on, 15 different people that aren't sold out for Christ and says they're all like that guy and that guy and this girl and this guy. They're all phony. So focus on them and take your focus off Christ and don't even look at the Word of God.

Just look at them, all their mistakes and what they're doing. Tithing, right? Honoring God with your finances. A lot of preachers won't even touch it now because I don't even. might hurt their little group or whatever. When you take that 10% of what God puts in your hand and you honor God with that, you're left with 90%. You sew it into a ministry that's blessing people's lives or you give it to somebody

that's fortunate. The word says to bring in the whole tithin offering, right, into the storehouse, which is the group of believers that you're involved with. When you take that 10% of every dollar he puts in your hand and you sew it, back into the world, into the ministry, into those men and women that are on the front lines, living for the Lord with the whole heart, you're left with 90%. He says he'll open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing on your life, right? He'll bless what you put your hand to.

It'll rebuke the devourer in your life, those things that devour your, you know, your finances, your health, all those things. I thought, yeah, right. the 90% you're left with goes further than the 100% ever could. It's bizarre. I would have never believed it until I put it to work in my life. Somehow, you put 10% of what God is tithing, right? It's all over the Bible, Old Testament and you.

Put 10% of what God gives you back into the hands of God as an act of worship and thankfulness to him. He blesses that 90% Makes it do what 100 never could I can't even wrap my mind around it completely Right Jesus himself says give and it shall be given unto you Press down shaking together Overflowing Says in I'll believe it's 1st Corinthians 9

He says He who gives sparingly will reap sparingly He who gives bountifully will reap bountifully But I don't know I wish to add my Bible He says God loves it cheerful giver. You don't give begrudgingly or out of compulsion, but he loves a cheerful giver, somebody that gives in thankfulness to him and in honor of him and worships him or makes

him lord of their finances, right? I never bought it for a second until I started to do it. And he takes that 90% you're left with and he stretches it and makes it go further than it ever could as 100%. It's bizarre. That's what God does in your life. When you make him first, you literally make him the center of your focus truly lord of your life the other areas right he says in matthew six 33 seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness was his christ and all these things shall be added unto you i never knew what that meant until i actually made him first place seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness he began to heal the brokenness in my marriage he began to make me the husband I couldn't be

he began to enable me to relate with my teenage sons and I don't know what to do with girls I got a 12 year old girl he began to make me the right kind of dad I needed to be to father my kids people I couldn't stand at work I mean even as a Christian just a lukewarm sort of a laxidious Christian

I couldn't tolerate certain kinds of people I began to focus on Christman and them people somehow God worked at some in these relationships at work. I'm getting along with people. I couldn't stand without Christ. So when you focus on him and make him first,

he takes care of the rest. And the Word's absolutely 100% on the money. In terms of that, I haven't been able to prove that word of God wrong in 22. This has been interesting, Chad. I think that's maybe the word I'm searching for. I'll probably ruin the podcast with a lot of preaching. No. No, let me put your mind at ease. You have not. I'm not. I learned this lesson very early on. No one guest shall ever make a podcast and no one guest shall ever end a podcast. I believe that to my core. If people don't like what you're saying, they're going to turn it off. If they really hate it, I'm going to hear about it on the text line. That's good. But the other side of it's so true as well. If people really like this, they're going to share it. That's right.

And if people really, really like this, they're going to reach out and text me. This is the way it works. Now, if I have Josh and Sean every single episode, that's a different thought. But one episode, you haven't ruined anything. And if you do come down on you, you feel free to just funnel it right back on me. No. To me, I appreciate a guest who comes in and says what's on their mind. Yes, sir.

I don't want to come in here and, you know, I got offered a really nice compliment yesterday. I got interviewed on a podcast and they were talking about how authentic I was. And I was like, well, I don't know. I don't try to be somebody I'm not. I'm Sean on the podcast and that's Sean. Because it's the same Sean that walks down the street. You want to talk to me about some things? I'm open.

I might say a bit more on the street because, you know, sitting across here, I try to let the guests do the speaking if I can and try and learn something along the way. but like no there's no you're not gonna I'm not gonna go back through this and edit out things that Josh said people know that by now You never knew what you were in for when no no no but that's the excitement This is this is you know this is as real as it gets Sean's gonna walk away from this conversation and be like beaming for the rest of the day because I look for conversations like this Nice I look for conversations where somebody Is going to stir up some discussion in my own life not you know par for the course and we just kind of move along and it's it's like no I'm I'm looking

you know I want I want to be I want my brain to be teased and to think about things and to to add discussion to people's lives if I'm not doing that I'm not doing my job so you walking in you're right I had no idea who you were like well the Lord sets you up man because I mean Robbie noble mentioning your name two days before Tyson more butter mentioned in your name and saying hey you got to meet this guy He got backbone. He speaks truth. I think he's a Christian. I said, no, I'm on board.

I said, the Lord's kind of confirmed it, you know, a few days before. I'm going to phone him right away. I've never done a podcast. I'm a little public speaker, really, to mention. I mean, this is just something new. The Lord's doing in my life. I give you credit, man, for you being willing to speak truth and let some wildcard Jesus freak like me in here?

Yeah. you're probably going to get a few people ruffled up. But if 10 people's lives are changed for the better, it's worth it. If one person's life. If one, one, even one, yeah. I mean, the Lord, he sailed all across the whole Red Sea just for one demoniac. And they kicked him out because, I mean, they weren't real keen on hearing the truth either. But, yeah, I guess I should probably put some focus on the man camp.

I think if people are interested in the man camp, They got the dates. They got in the show notes. They got the link. June 9th, 10th, and 11th. Yeah. We have the ability to rent the camp. The camp beside this camp that we used last year.

They said, oh, there's no way we can rent you our camp. I mean, it has nothing to do with your camp. And they've been separate for like 60-some years. My buddy was discouraged. He really tried to get it because we might need overflow, right? And I said, Yarl, it's not really our idea to do this camp. I mean, if God wants us to rent this camp, he'll make a way. And so we'll pray about it, put it in his hands and not worry about it.

For a month and a half, we never heard back from that camp again. And then they contacted my buddy, who's like the logistics guy, and said, hey, we've changed our mind, and we'd like to rent you that camp if you still want it. So we have room. We can take like 600 plus guys now because of this other camp. And so if there's a wave of men that want to go deeper in their walk with the Lord, They want some fresh fire. They want to be encouraged and strengthened in their walk.

They want to just find Christ for the first time. Yeah, you go to that Moose Lake Pentecostal link. You search full armor of God man camp and you sign up. We'll make a way. If there's 10,000 guys show up, we'll make a way. We're just going to have to clean out the Hutter 8 colony in the super store to feed them. But we'll do it. Where is the man camp?

Like, where does it actually? This is west of Bonneville. West of Bonneville. Yep, 20 minutes west of Bonneville on the. far west end of Moose Lake. There's Franshire Bay, and then there's this Moose Lake Pentecostal camp. There's a colony nearby, so if like 5,000 guys show up, we're going to clean them out. But come one, come all.

Anybody who wants more of Jesus? Anybody who wants to be a part of the manliest church you ever saw? You come along. Well, let's do this. It's funny. I've been enjoying the chat. You ain't ruining anything. and I want to make sure you leave here knowing that.

Like, to me, to me, this is what I do. This is, you didn't know what you were walking into. There's an open mic to say whatever you want to say. You invited a cowboy from the sticks to come and talk. Cowboy preacher. It's like, sounds like an interesting combination to me. My email address is Jesus freak. EZ-389.

EZ being Ezekiel 389. He says he's made your head as hard as Flint, harder than Emory, right? that's these preachers. They said, man, you've got a hard head. You're such a blunt force object for Christ. They give me that EZ-389. And yeah, I'm a freak for Jesus, man. Well, let's do the crude master final question.

We can go for as long as you want. It doesn't matter. No, no. I think we'd probably push it too far. We'll lose people. No, no. Once again, you don't know this. So the crewmaster, I'm going to let you think about this while I talk past it.

But the crewmaster final question is if you believe in a cause, stand behind it absolutely. What's one cause that Josh stands behind? So what's one thing you stand behind? But while you think on that, and I'm sure it isn't hard to think on, the thing is, is like, I stumbled into a podcast in 2018. It was Joe Rogan, listened to it. I wish I could remember the episode. You know, I'd love to say it was Jordan Peterson for the first time, but I actually have no idea who it was.

And I was just, like, enthralled by it. Now, I drove a lot back then, and I don't drive nearly as much anymore. So I have to find alternative means to listen to my podcast, right? But I find there's times where Joe Rogan's conversations go three plus hours. And you're angry at the end when it ends because it's been so good and so interesting. And so something you don't normally hear. Listen, I've been, I've gone church, you know, since I was 18 and I walked away from my parents' house, right? It was out on my own.

I didn't, you know, I can count, not count. I mean, it's not that many times I've gone to church. Every time it's like, ears closed off, I'm not hearing what, nobody can get through my thick skull. Yeah. Just like done with this. You're a heart in your heart to him. And it's just, it's almost, like I just, I don't want to be there,

but I rationalized in my brain. Like, it's an hour, Sean, just get through it. Life will go on, right? And so it does. But I also think back to that, I'm like, there was never one person who got up on stage talking, the Bible, word of God,

everything you're talking, and found a way to get through my dense skull. And then over the last, you know, a couple months here, you know, certainly Tanner in a day

and I bring him up lots because I find our conversation is extremely interesting. And he's a godly man. And he's young, he's 24. And he has a way of quoting the Bible like you've never seen. Like, it's just like,

it's like, how do you remember all that? But you, I mean, in saying that, folks, I think we can all agree, Josh has done a pretty dang good job of that as well. So to me, no, the people who tuned in the first five minutes and realized what this was going to be and they turned it off, they're few and far between. My audience listens to, it's like, I forget what the number was the last time I checked.

It's like 97% listens to the last like two seconds. So this isn't where it's like, oh, we probably, it's like, no, they're along for the ride. I'm along for the ride on so many other podcasts. And when you hit the nail on the head, you get this guest, they're like, I don't know if I believe all this, but this is fascinating. You don't want it to get. And I'm not saying you talk just to talk, but you should pull that thought from your head. You're on a podcast. I just wasn't sure.

No. I mean, time flies when this happens and this, whatever catalyst comes together to make this work like this. You and I could sit like this all day. I didn't, I've never listened to a podcast. I'll be honest. I'm the least technological guy you ever met. Well, I'll hook you up with the first one I did with Tanner in a day. That way when you leave here, you got something for your ride home.

probably going to be hooked, man, because when I travel, I don't have a lot to listen to. And so this is probably going to be something the Lord's going to use to, like, educate me a bit. Well, I mean, the world set your fingertips when it comes to podcast. You want to find a podcast on anything. Yeah, I know a few of my buddies is totally hooked. Yeah. But, I mean, for me, specifically, if you want to know more about what the podcast is and who specifically, you know, like, I'm going to send this to Tanner for sure. I think this is right up his alley, you know.

But at the same time, you want to go, who, you know, as a. mentioned his name like 10 times it's like you want to go listen to a young kid around the area that's now i got to meet this guy well i'll saddle up two horses and we can spend the day well you already promised you're going to take me to uh i got to get horses road i need guys to help me oh that's easy yeah that's easy oh it's good we'll make it we'll make a day of it because uh you know there's nothing like uh it's incredible seeing some things and having a conversation now as i babble on what's one thing that josh stands behind hmm well well Well, I stand behind the Lord Jesus Christ now, lock, stock, and barrel.

Because, I mean, to find out that Jesus Christ is everything the Word of God says he is, and everything grandmother told me and my mother told me years ago, is absolutely life changing. I mean, he showed up in my life, and he literally enabled me to route out everything that was destroying me and replaced it with joy. and peace and wholeness and purpose and freedom from those things you can't experience something like that and keep it to yourself i would be some kind of a heartless cowardly man to find something that literally transforms lives sets people free bridges the gap between a fallen mankind and

god the father and not share that with the world i stand behind the gospel of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ is Lord. Bola fact, that's it. You mentioned your mother. Oh, I put her through the mill, bro. I mean, I'm assuming my mother is listening to this right now, and, you know, I haven't exactly been easier on her either. Have you talked to your mom or your grandmother?

Oh, yeah, they know. But how does that conversation go? because let's assume that back then they know what you know now, right? That's what I'm going to assume. So that means they're watching this go on going. They walked by faith and not by sight because everything they saw said they were going to lose their son and grandson before he turned 20. He didn't back up. He picked fights with dangerous people.

And he lived a life of absolute chaos like a Pantera death metal song on repeat for him. until he turned 21. When my mom encounters ladies who are standing in the gap interceding for sons, grandmothers, even men and grandfathers that are believing God to reach

their kids in some way to pull them out of that spiral of death that they're in, my mom says, you got to see my boy. He's living proof like a living Lazarus. he's living proof that the Lord can take the worst,

the darkest, the most violent, chaotic people and transform their lives completely. I got to introduce you to them, right? You got to, you know, you got to hear what God did in his life. They literally, these people, my mother and my grandmother, my grandfather, for instance, they have a testimony of purity, you know, not maybe not front lines, evangelistic, you know,

ministry but purity I mean they've served the Lord for years and years and years and years they use my testimony a lot of times to prove that it's not hopeless and it's not impossible like for years they prayed for me and I showed no sign of turning

no sign of slacking off at all like as pedal to the metal full throttle right to the end and then all of a sudden I mean they had no reason to think that I was ever going to pull out of it their prayers were answered

and I didn't just find Jesus I mean some of my family wishes that I'd have found a little less Jesus my wife for instance for the first while like even this last couple years I think she kind of would have preferred the fight of

you know found half of what I found in Christ because I mean she would love to have me love the Lord and serve the Lord but maybe not make him absolutely foremost in every area of my life

I know that she's in the last couple of years the Lord's done a real work between us and she knows like the fruit of this is nothing but good so she she no longer tries to you know steal me away from it at all or or try to

she's actually come alongside me and encourages me and helps me and assist me. If she gets one more call from guys from Ancamp and has to help them sign up through the online registration, she will, but I mean, she's swamped with that. No. That mother, that wife, that grandmother, you know, believe in God that he's going to, like,

intervene in their loved ones' life. No matter what they see, they got to just continue thanking God and faith for doing it. And I mean, that really shows faith in Christ, right? You ask him for something. And you keep asking him, he keep asking him, keep asking him. But when you start thanking him for it, that's like saying, I know you're good for it.

And thank you for doing what I've asked you. Well, I don't know why the story that pops into mind was he, he's passed away now, but Ron Harris Jr. was a, I did a series of 49 interviews for the city of Lloyd. with the Lloyd Archives. And so I was interviewing these, I would say the youngest was probably 60, was as young as 60, 65, the oldest was mid to late 90s and got to hear their story and their, you know,

and some of their wisdom that came out. And Ron Harris Jr. lately has really been on my mind, I guess, because he talks about becoming an alcoholic. And, uh, um, and, kind of wandering through life, just chasing the bottle and how he got into it. And, you know, he talks about, like, young kids and back then John Wayne drinking him, was always whiskey. And so anyways, he just talks about how he just kind of went into it.

And he was, you know, part of the Lloyd Bordering's back in the day and not playing for him. But I believe as an equipment manager and anyways, he ends up, I believe it's in BC. And I feel like I'm, I started listening to it. And I don't know why I didn't finish. So I'm going to go do that again, folks. So I can get the fact straight. But like what always stuck with me is he walks, he walks into this place that he thinks is a bar.

And it's not a bar. It looks like a bar. But it's actually for people struggling. It's like alcoholics and ominous. And he leaves because they want to take his beer. And he's got to walk around with beer. But then he goes back 15 minutes later. And you can't understand why he's drawn to it.

But he gives his beer over and, and, and, but I'm going to get it back when I leave. Yeah, for sure, we'll get back. But while you're here, there's no drink. Okay. And so he goes in and then he starts going there. And he starts going there. And he starts going there. And then he changes his entire life around.

Ends up moving back to Lloyd and becoming a community pillar to where the city of Lloyd looks at him and goes, you are worthy of being interviewed for your story. Now, do they know that's his story? I have no idea for his works in the city. And anyways, the whole point of this is I go, what is that? What is it where you're walking around and you find by chance, this place that looks like a bar because you want to drink more and you walk in and it is the complete opposite. And his answer then was my parents never stopped praying.

And I don't think I understood back then. I'm like, oh, okay, you know, kind of like what? But the longer I do this and the more people I talk to and the more people that I stumble into that have a background and faith and really talking openly about it, the more you start to go, oh, right? Like, to me, imagine, like, having your mom sit here and listen, you don't have this conversation. Because she's been, you know, like, I can't imagine. I got young kids to have a child go through that and you go like, oh, I just, I got to trust and I got to have faith.

I'm going to pray about it. It's like, that seems. She had no reason to have faith other than her faith in Christ because I never give her any reason. And in the Western world, we're so, I don't know, is it logical? Like, we just, like, pragmatic. I don't know the word. that is where we're at. We don't put any,

and I shouldn't say we don't. Certainly I didn't. And I think a lot of people don't put any weight on the scale for that type of thing. It's all like, well, he got hooked in the drugs at a young age because this happened and this happened. If they would have done this different and they would have, and blah, blah, blah, blah. And it never entered, unless maybe you're in a church, then maybe the discussion opens up about that.

But nobody ever talks about that. That's it. And it wasn't the drugs that was the real big problem. That's why I say, I'm not, where it says we're not at war against the flesh, the people, we're against the things behind it, the darkness, the rulers of the darkness, the principalities and power. So what pushed you into the dark, like if you were to walk back through your early days? Yep. What was the thing that drew you over to that side, wanting to fight and drink and do all those things?

Like, was it one thing that you? just like this was it. My dad was a Titan when he played junior hockey and he was a real athletic hockey player. He was a defenseman and he laid the knuckles down and I always looked up to him that way. And I just personality-wise, high energy and abnormally aggressive physically. Like, yeah, I guess a bunch of it would be genetic. But I looked up to those guys and, like, I. Like, you're imprinted by those that you want to be like.

And as a little boy, you looked up to the tough guys, you've seen the hockey fights, you've seen the John Wains of this world, and you wanted to be just like him. What little boy really grew up wanting to be like his auntie? I had some really cool uncles. That lifestyle has since destroyed their lives, but they were drinkers and they smoked and real tough. guys and I grew up wanting to be just like them. But then to be like them, I made some poor decisions and a lot of willful sin, man. And the choices you make affect your

tomorrow big time. And I expose myself to some dark things, man, through, you know, incredible violence, drugs and alcohol. I mean, when you willingly take the bottle in your hand or you, you know, consume drugs, willingly, you're open. opening yourself up to a world that's you just trend that and look back at people that have made those choices it it's common it destroys most all of them eventually or takes some kind of huge negative toll on their life and I just continued because I'm I'm so hardcore in most ways I'm all or nothing like I I'm either all in or all out I'm playing to win definitely not even consider and losing we're going to try our best but I I I just compounded that over and over again, that willful sin, those poor decisions, surrounded myself with bad company. The word says bad company, crups good morals, right? And I just surrounded myself with people that made me feel comfortable making those mistakes. And some dark things, I'm sure, were allowed into my life.

It wasn't the booze and the drugs. I mean, those did a lot of damage to me, right? But it was the reason I was trying to, like, fill that void with those things. It was excitement. It was the rush. I rode buckinghorses. I fought constantly for that thrill, that pride, and trying to satisfy that emptiness.

You know, the ladies in the beginning, the things, the adrenaline rushes, the sports. Like I didn't do anything that wasn't physical or, like, exciting, right? But it wasn't those things that were my problem. When I surrendered to Christ and found the Lord, he cured the problem that I was trying to use those things to medicate or trying to use those things to remedy. And I didn't have to fight those things all the other. The problem went away and so did they.

I haven't had to spend time in Alcoholics Anonymous. I mean, I was crushing half of 26 a day. The drugs and alcohol, I couldn't seem to quit them at all. once I found the Lord Jesus and surrendered to him and realized that he cared for me and offered me a future that stuff just fell away and have to fight addiction

nothing you really it's true you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness he takes care of the rest yeah the booze and the drugs and the adrenaline and all the excitement that was just what I was trying to fill it with. He's actually the remedy. Not some kind of medicinal aid.

Well, I appreciate you coming in and doing this. I'll be interested to see... I laugh, folks, but I'll be interested to see what the feedback comes off of this one is, you know? Controversial isn't the word that I think when I think of this. It's just when you see the name Josh Allen on the podcast, as your name fits in with so many different other names. You know, I got listeners across Canada in the States.

So they're, you know, like, how did they find Sean Newman? I don't know. At times you just go, I don't know. But certainly from the podcast, my audience, right, nobody, the way you get suggested to me is not obscure because this happens lots, but I think it's kind of obscure. It's not because you are on shows talking and somebody, stumbled across you. It's because of two conversations that happen, in my opinion. One is Sam is in

one of the conversations and then the other one is Robin telling you. And because of that, this happens. It's like, I mean, but how else would I have ever figured this out? Maybe I would have heard the men's camp and I would have been like, oh, this is a really cool idea. Like, certainly folks, that could have happened. That's not the way it happened. And usually the way guests thrown at me all the time is they've been on somewhere. They've been interviewed and they're like, you need to interview this person. This is super unique. So I'm, I'm curious what happens to the phone line, the text line after this comes out, you know, good, bad, and different. And I implore people to, you know, reach out on the text line. I'd be curious to hear people's thoughts because there's a,

you know, there's a, there's a huge portion of my listeners that are feeling called to the Bible specifically. It's something that comes up a lot. I'm feeling called to it, drawn to it. I grew up in a Christian house, but I never really paid any attention. I actually moved away from it, didn't really want anything to do with it. But over the course, specifically over the course of the last couple of years, I've been

getting pulled back to it, but it's uncomfortable. And I don't know if I want to talk about it. And then they usually thank me for sharing my journey. And I'm like, well, this has been the ride of the podcast since day one. The Word of God is the ticket, really, because before the Word of God, there was a Muslim friend of mine from Lebanon. He was cool guy, tough guy, shot six times during some

kind of skirmish between rebels. He said, man, your life's getting dark. At that point, I won't go into detail on how dark, but he was aware. I'd see him every day for meals. I'd pay my tab a week in advance and eat at his restaurant. He said, you need help, buddy. You need to somehow get old to your life because eventually you're going to lose it. And, He gave me a Quran. I read that Quran a bunch. There was a bunch of wisdom in there and different proverb type teachings and stuff. And I mean, if you applied those teachings to certain areas of life, I'm sure there would be some benefit. But when I picked up even Buddhist holy books and things like that, there's always a few truths. But when I picked up the Holy Bible and I

begin to read that book, man, that book began to read me. that book began to open my eyes spiritually like nothing else in this planet could and uh i'll begin to hear the still small voice of the holy spirit lead me man he led me right out of hell on earth and that's what i share with people because that's the only thing i ever seen reconstruct a broken life like that well i appreciate you i'm going to say it one last time i I appreciate you coming in doing this. We could probably do this for a few more hours. Yeah, we better cut it off.

And it's funny, I don't want to cut it off. But at the same time, I'm like, I want to be very respectful of your time and everything else. We'll see what the audience thinks, you know? Maybe they'll be screaming out for a little cowboy preacher. I hope I can call you that. You can, buddy. Call me whatever you want. Yeah, that's, but either way, thank you for coming in and doing this and doing it in person.

You know, I've been getting more and more use out of this place, it seems, day by day. and I ain't nothing better than sitting across from somebody. This has been a blessing. It's a privilege and honor. I didn't know what to expect. This has been good. I look forward to that ride you promised me. Sounds good.

All right, buddy.