Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Truth Of The Matter is Episode 180 : Special Guest - Ahmard Vital
12 Plays3 days ago
The truth of the matter is podcast is all about providing an honest, contextual, historicized, Philosophical and Psychological view of the Bible through the use of Hermeneutics, while sharing some personal experiences from myself, Daniel and on occasion our special guest. We believe in sharing practical ways of applying God’s word to everyday life. Today I spoke with Ahmard Vital who is a Motivational consultant, international speaker, and author. He has published two books. In 2011, Awaken the Baller and I Am More Than Enough, in April 2019. As a mental performance coach, Ahmard helped secure more than $6 million dollars in scholarships and worked with athletes at the Division 1 level and the National Football League.Not long after a successful career as a college football recruiting analyst with Scout.com, a Fox Sports affiliate, Ahmard founded That Guy Media Group and expanded his platform to small business and nonprofit organizations where he focused on dream building and goal setting. Tune in and learn something from a follower of Christ and his development.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to a special edition of the Truth of the Matterist podcast. I'm your host, Jonathan, and I'm here with our special guests. But before we introduce and welcome him inappropriately, let's begin by recognizing and appreciating all our with new and consistent listeners.
00:00:21
Speaker
We thank you all in advance for continuing to press play at your own convenience. ah This is your first time listening to the Truth of the Matterist podcast. We want you to know that it's all about providing an honest, contextual, hysterized, philosophical, and psychological view of the Bible through the use of Herman Newick's while sharing some personal experiences from myself, Daniel, and on occasion, our special guest.
00:00:43
Speaker
We believe in sharing practical ways of applying God's word to everyday life. And today we will praise God for another new testimony that we will hear.
Guest Introduction: Amard Vito
00:00:52
Speaker
We hope that after you hear this man of God, that you will be encouraged and uplifted. And we hope that you will see how an encounter with Jesus Christ will guarantee that your life will not be the same. Therefore, without further ado, let's welcome in our guest, Amard Vito. How are you doing this this morning, sir? I'm great, Jonathan. Thank you for having me on.
00:01:13
Speaker
Thank you so much for coming on. So something that we've added to our podcast is this concept of reflecting and seeing what God has done for us throughout the previous week, being that this is the new upcoming week. So I'll ask you what I asked Daniel. I asked myself, will you, what, in what way do you believe the Lord has blessed you in your previous week?
00:01:37
Speaker
Ah, man, this previous week, man, and what where do you, where do Where do you start with that? know We had a great service over in our youth with my youth group. We had a great service. We had our fall festival where we talked about just basically opening up and and and allowing God to make moves to your life and not and not hindering the works he's trying to do in and through you. And I and i was blessed to be able to to take that in and to see Our students there are taken in God's word and they're not keeping it in the confines of our students in a room at our church. More than four or five groups have taken and making small groups in Bible studies at their
00:02:41
Speaker
that I get to play a role with that and God is allowing me to use all that I've been through to be able to assist them through this process has been an amazing thing. And so I think that would be the blessing that I would call for this week.
00:02:52
Speaker
All right, beautiful sounds good. So before we dive in a little bit and learn a little bit more of your story, your testimony, what are you doing currently for the kingdom of God?
Amard Vito's Career and Personal Growth
00:03:01
Speaker
I just want to provide our audience with a little background story, a little background information about you. So Marta is a motivational consultant, international speaker and author.
00:03:11
Speaker
He has published two books in 2011, Awaken the Bowler, and I Am More Than Enough in April 2019 as a mentor performance coach. Ammar helps secure more than $6 million dollars in scholarships and work with athletes at Division I level and the National Football League. Not long after that, a successful career as a cosfoot, but recruiting analysts with Scout dot.com and Fox Sports affiliate,
00:03:37
Speaker
Ammar founded that guide media group in expanding his platform to small businesses and nonprofit organizations where he focuses on dream building and goal setting. So before you press forward, is there anything that I'm missing that you want to add? You you you nailed most of it. I mean, the only other thing that I did, I did write another book this year, um beginning this year, I wrote now what five steps to get up and create the most alive, but That pretty much is the is the is the background and it's it's interesting listening to that because so many of those things are being transformed and changed and the business is really turning over. So you all are kind of catching me in that um kind of a resurrection type of a thought process, especially from a business standpoint that um so many things have changed and sometimes we can get
00:04:27
Speaker
Even in our successes, we can become stagnant. And I'm very open in sharing the fact that, yes, a lot of my marketing materials are are about to literally just be transformed and redone because I've grown into a new person. I've done so many new things.
00:04:43
Speaker
and There's things that I'm going to be offering and there's things that I'm not going to be offering going forward. God has revealed a lot to me over the past two to three years. Basically the the COVID took the mask off of a lot of things, including how deep my faith was. And so now I want my business practices to represent my Wednesday and Sunday practices on a stronger level.
00:05:09
Speaker
and just leaning in on all of it as God is the reason that I'm able to do all of these things. So I want to make sure that when I show up places that I'm fully embracing and showing more of that when I show up in companies, schools, and different nonprofit organizations.
00:05:28
Speaker
completely understand that. So we're going first and foremost here on the podcast. One of the things we do is as we pray and we'll ask of you if you're open to praying to close and we'll get that started. So heavenly father, Lord, in Jesus name, we first want to thank you so much for the time of Mark. I set a time to have this conversation with us. We believe anytime two or three had gathered there on a mess. So we appreciate the time that he set aside.
00:05:55
Speaker
Lord, when you say anytime two or three are gathered, they are in a mess. We understand that when two people, two believers come together and are able to have conversation about what you're doing currently and what you have already done, it it's nothing but a powerful statement on how good of a God that you are. So anyone that's listening, we pray that they would receive the information that's provided to wisdom that is bestowed upon them and that they know what to do with it, Lord.
00:06:22
Speaker
most important thing, Lloyd, is that we want to know, let people know that these conversations that we have are necessary, necessary because in the climate that we're in, we need leaders, we need wisdom, right? And it gets to a point almost where wisdom is growing at such a high place that we need a character to sustain it. And it doesn't seem as though that that's something that's being encouraged and also inspired to do.
00:06:48
Speaker
So Lord, I pray that after this conversation, not only will people be uplifted, but they're being encouraged to take the additional steps needed for them to be successful in the image of you, right? We're all creating an image and therefore we have a responsibility to but uphold what you have placed inside of us. And that's not just the Holy Spirit, but it's our desire to do good works as a result of that. So I pray that we understand that, that we appreciate that and that we look forward to being an ambassador and representative of you. We hope that in this conversation, we will learn to take steps necessary to move in that direction and not steps back. Without further ado, Lord, we say these things in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So I believe I want to start with this. Tell us a little bit about how did you find Christ? Actually, what was a little bit of the background story about that?
Amard's Faith Journey and Denominational Transition
00:07:43
Speaker
Well, that that that question is very relevant because I could probably point to about three to four different times because i I've come in and abandoned on a multitu on a multitude of times throughout my life. Obviously, I was first introduced to Christ, very young age, probably somewhere between you know eight, 12 years old. I know I was baptized in the Baptist Church. When my mother got remarried, I accepted ah Catholicism. we we change We changed over to Roman Catholic.
00:08:10
Speaker
When I went to college, I went back to Baptist. Then I went non-denomination and then I went just straight probably alcoholic and did whatever I wanted. And then I came back into a new type of pseudo-Christian faith. And then of course, that led me to the Bible-based church I am now. So I always jokingly say that like, I've always kept the Bible near me, but it always has had quite a bit of dust on it for most of for many different patches throughout my life. But obviously my relationship with Christ has been a bit of a roller coaster, but I'm pretty sure if we look through the Bible, look through our own lives, we've all had those bouts where, you know, let's just say we're all somewhat prodigals in that way. And i was i was I gratefully appreciate what COVID did in society to my heart and my walk with Christ because that,
00:09:10
Speaker
It put me in a place where I didn't have anywhere else to turn but to him. and you know Rejoining a new church, Bible-based, hardcore, very Old Testament, um brought me brought me to my knees. and and I was grateful for that um to to be around a great group of men and women who could who could pour into me on ah on a daily basis. and so Now, obviously, I'm reignited, I'd say within the past three to four years, um to really go out and share the gospel, to go out and do what what the word has caused to go go make disciples, go go go minister to the people. I've always worked in youth ministry for many a time, but I can say in the last three years, I've grown more than the past 15. And I'm so grateful for that. And so that would be,
00:10:00
Speaker
kind of where my Walker crisis currently and a little bit, you know, a quick backstory of the roller coaster of where it has come up to this point. So we understand that, you know, the difference between the baptism, the the Baptist denomination and the Catholic denomination, just a little bit. Can you tell us the big difference for you and why you felt maybe the shift ah more to, I don't know, currently, are you non-denominational? Are you Pentecostal? Or none of those things and those titles really mean anything to you?
00:10:33
Speaker
Honestly, you feel like there are people in Christ in all those areas even though some of the doctrines and some of the practices are maybe not all agreed upon.
00:10:44
Speaker
Well, obviously, um my the the break between Baptist and Catholicism, I was very young. um So kind of looking back on that, like I was just like, you know, you go where your parents tell you to go at that point in time. But of course, once you break away and go to college and you're like, all right, I'm going to go with what I know, which is the Baptist Church.
00:11:03
Speaker
And then, you know, the Baptist Church on me and I'm like, I'm not really feeling this. And then yeah it's like, oh, there's this non-denominational thing. What's that? Let me go try this out. And then you go in there and it's like, oh, this is not too bad, but whoa, I don't understand that over there. So I'm out of there. So I go back home and join the Baptist Church again, only to go to the same place where I was baptized. And then it was almost like a
00:11:28
Speaker
You went with what was familiar, but what maybe we not what was best. It just didn't resonate with me. Like the gap of, I mean, there was a lot of elders in the church, but there was no, not too many people around my age. And it just, it felt dated. And this, remember, this is at the time, at the time I felt like I was probably 26, 27 years old. I was like,
00:11:48
Speaker
This is just not for me. I felt like I'm only doing this to kind of appease my family. and I'm not going to do this. And then I found, I found a kind of like a new thought, Christian science type of experience. And I break it down like this. It's like, it was based on the teachings of Jesus. It was based on the Bible, but it took in spiritual practices from other religions, other world religions.
00:12:17
Speaker
the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Islam, like all of a sudden. So at a time when I was in a very depressive state from the standpoint of bad relationship choices, financial issues, you know roller coasters in my job, I thought at that time, and and I'll be honest, at that time, that's exactly what I needed. I was like, I can still have my Lord and Savior and I can have you know some Buddhist and Hindu traditions didn't seem to work as well. And i was I was like, man, I was like, I'm getting the best of everything. So yeah i I did that for 12 years. And somewhere along the way, i i was always I was still a sports writer during that time. So I was always working with youth and just in what capacity.
00:13:00
Speaker
And then one day that church invited me to speak on a Wednesday night service and the youth and family minister was like, I think you'd be great with our kids. Can you put together a three-part program to come teach our kids? I'm like, cool, I can do that. Interestingly enough, that program was named I Am More Than Enough, which ended up being the book. But at the time it was just a lesson I taught to the kids, to the teens. And then when I got done with the three-part series, it was interesting because there were people saying that like you could see that the class was growing every week. Started off in the mid-20s, got up to the 30s, and then next thing you know it was plus 40, we're bringing in tables. And there were parents coming up to me saying, thank you, you're you're the reason our kids want to come to church.
00:13:43
Speaker
All right, maybe I'm on to something here. And so they say, hey, would you like to stay around as a volunteer? And I had a gentleman come in. He sort of taught me, you know, youth ministry, because I mean, I just know, you know, I just know athletes, jocks, you know, students, you know, teachers, you know, in service and things of that nature. So I didn't really know ministry from the teen level, but he taught me the game. Over three or four years, we built that ministry. And of course, then COVID happened. And COVID was the first time that my, that my,
00:14:13
Speaker
my values were questioned. ah And I had to make a line, even draw a line into saying, even though I loved my teens, I built that ministry, I knew it was time to go. And so once I came out of that and you know churches was closed down and I remember there was a woman I ran into at the grocery store and I hadn't seen her in years and she was just like, yeah, you know I'm going to this church called Grace and it's open. I was like, there's no churches open. She's like, we're open.
00:14:41
Speaker
And I'm like, I didn't even know that was a thing. Cause you know, everybody's doing a virtual online church. So I ended up there and I got to tell you, John, as soon as I walked in there, I was just like, it's like a kid getting fed some food. It's just good for them, but it's so rich that you're just like, whoa, you know, I'm, I'm nearly 40 years old. And it's like the word presented at this level.
00:15:07
Speaker
I hadn't really heard it like that because it was, it was, you know, it's, it's evangelical Christianity that I'm seeing right now where it's, it's biblical based. It's not a lot of extra. It's not a lot of, you know, overly interpretations of the Bible. it it This is what the word says. And this is what we're going to do. Like no, no compromise. And in my life I was a no compromise guy, but I wasn't a no compromise guy in my faith because I wasn't that,
00:15:38
Speaker
I wasn't that well versed because, as you can see, my my ah spiritual experience was on some sort of a roller coaster. So I didn't really get a chance to actually be nowhere where I can dive in deep into the Word in this church, taken me to taking me to that spot where I've grown so much. And so now it's like, now I can sort of see the difference where I, you know, obviously, you know, going into different, you know,
00:16:01
Speaker
Like you said, whether you're talking about Catholicism, whether you're talking about Lutheran, Baptist, AME, and all the different things, I may not know the full differentiations between all of those, but I do know a hardcore Bible-based church when I see one. And I do know when you walk into a place when they're honoring the word of God and sticking to the word of God, and that's where I know I am now. And so um I'm just grateful that that all of those experiences led me to be in where I am now.
00:16:29
Speaker
Just ah for clarification as well, so do you still take in some of the the practices from the other belief system? Is that morphed into the church that you go now? Or if you've completely abandoned that and that was something that you've learned in the 12 years there, but it hasn't really folded over to the ministry that you're at now currently?
00:16:48
Speaker
No, I've basically abandoned all of those things, but I just I see it as it was a stepping stone to to for for For God to use that experience to wake me up to where I could see the difference But no those practices I'll even go even a step further even the books that I was subscribing to over there I've already started a nice large pile over there and they're all about to go as well because I don't even want I don't even want those don't don't that I I don't want the physical representation of that even in my house anymore. It needs to go. Because now we're in like more of a new age, or they call it the occult, where they're trying to combine different schools of thought and kind of morph it into a one world religion and then that's where we
00:17:35
Speaker
We get a cult and you get different pieces and those all those certain things. But I still believe religion in itself it has value because it's it provides stability for people that are lost looking for a place. And I understand ah the the argumentation that comes along with the belief that religion is a sign of control, but I think also is a sign of order. right Whether we necessarily subscribe to certain belief systems or not, they provide a roadmap to want to live life in a prestige way where you feel like you're getting up every day with a purpose. So even though, yes, we even on this podcast, we don't subscribe to the other belief systems, we can still recognize and appreciate the value that religion places on a person's life and how it kind of
00:18:21
Speaker
leads them in a direction to them looking for a purpose
Mentorship and Living by Values
00:18:25
Speaker
in life. So but without further ado, let's kind of dive in a little bit into what do you do? So what drives each and every day for you when it comes for you to serve and to help others? What drives you to be who you are now?
00:18:42
Speaker
That's a great question. And and I really sat with myself a long time and and thought about this and one of the things that drives me, at least from a ministerial standpoint when it comes to the youth, because obviously that's a multi-layered question as far as different things, but when it comes to my ministry, which my primary ministry is to the youth, is I i work and I ask God to create in me the man I needed when I was 17.
00:19:07
Speaker
that is something that really, really sits with me. It was just like, you know, I had two fathers. I had, you know, solid men in my life. I had coaches. I had teachers. I had a great solid group of men in my life, but I wanted that buffer, right, between my father, between my coaches. I wanted that guy who was like an older brother but but but not my father in in that sense. like I wanted someone who i can who had you know somewhat of the wisdom of my dad, but still could understand maybe the technological changes and just different things that were going on, some things where it's like,
00:19:47
Speaker
You know, cause my dad was old school army Vietnam guy. So everything was, you know, everything was just raw meat. You know, it was, it was, it was very, you very stoic, very pragmatic, very, you know, orderly man. I love the way you used order and structure, even when it comes to religion, uh, because order and structure is needed and order and structure is, you know, definitely prominent all through the Bible from the standpoint of that. Um, and I, I lived my life, um,
00:20:16
Speaker
you know, my life, my my prayer life, when I come out of that, the actions I take on a daily basis, I focus on three words. Service, gratitude, and impact. Service, gratitude, and impact. And I say, okay, God, I want to make sure that every action I take throughout the day involves all three, or at least two of the three in everything I do. Meaning, if I am not in a servant mindset and the servant in ah in ah in a servant leadership mindset. If the action I'm doing doesn't represent one of those three things, then what am I doing? Am I honoring my father by this? And I feel like those three words, and of course, some people will say, you know, well, where's the love? Well, gratitude, gratitude, gratitude for me, gratitude and love, in that sense, when it comes to my actions on a daily basis, um are kind of synonymous.
00:21:14
Speaker
ah with that. and And I think because service, gratitude, and impact, those are really, really hardcore action words that I like to they like to lean on a lot. And so that's where I am now to where I'm mindful of the idea that when I go out or when I'm in the office or when I'm coaching or whatever I'm doing, even if I'm going to the grocery store, just does service, gratitude, and impact involved in the action I'm doing? And if it's not, then I really need to sit down and question what it is I'm doing and does it really represent what what my father is calling me to do.
00:21:49
Speaker
So when you think about the concept of service and you think about just on the basis of what Jesus has, you know, mentioned to us, talk a little bit about the example that Jesus provides in the act of service. How has that helped you serve? Or is there anyone in particular that you modeled after that you saw their way of serving was something you wanted to apply and implement into your own way of serving?
00:22:18
Speaker
You know, I think I had a mentor some years ago, a former mentor of mine who um I was trying to, you know, you you're coming up in your professional life and you're really trying to figure things out.
00:22:33
Speaker
and you're and you're always thinking about, you know, what am I getting out of this? What, what what like what you know, kind of like, what's what's in it for me? Like, if I'm gonna go do this, what's in it for me? And what he helped me to understand was not what can I get, but whom can I serve? Now, what can I get, but whom can I serve? And so once it got to the point, cause I mean, like you said, I mean, i mean Jesus has so many different examples of how,
00:23:00
Speaker
of of Of service. I mean, my goodness, you know, in the healing the feeding the in the belief in the mindset that he operated with, like, you know, just just don't just his whole walk, even when he say even even even in his action words, it was just like, you know,
00:23:17
Speaker
Pick up, you know, pick this up and walk like, and no, I can't. No, no, I'm i'm not, I'm not going to make this complicated. Like pick up your mat and and and walk, you know, by your faith, you have been healed. And so when you talk about service, service obviously goes, obviously it's an action word, but it's also in in an example and trying to do things in a way where when people see you, they're just like, you know what? It's something different about this man over here.
00:23:41
Speaker
right And so what when i when I go into the Student Center, when I go about through my life, um I work very hard to make sure that I'm living in a way to where when I'm teaching my teams on Wednesdays and Sundays and any other day of the week, that things that I'm doing, they can point to and say, oh, my leader does this, right? When he sits down and mentors me and he's talking, we're talking about money. We're talking about service because I, I, we have a great student leadership.
00:24:18
Speaker
ah portion of our of our ministry to where we' we're teaching them to teach the younger ones, to teach the younger ones. And so there's a nice line of that. And so I want to make sure and represent leadership qualities. I want them to see me willing to pick up things off off the floor. I want them to see me willing to come in and invest time and into them when is before service and they need to sit down and talk about what's going on at school. What can they do to to get a part-time job? like All of these different things like that, like like the mentorship and the discipleship that I look to lean into with them um is a big part of the service I provide. I know this past
00:24:56
Speaker
yeah we're We're going into 2024. Goodness gracious, to the the year's gone by so fast. um I made one of the goals this year for me was to tie three hours a week in mentoring young men and young adults. That was something that I really wanted to lean in on from the standpoint of, let me equip them not only you know, from the from a biblical standpoint, but also, hey, let's let's let's get you let's get you to to to raise other areas of your life, whether it's educational, whether it's financial, whether it's, you know, service on the weekends, whether it's, you know, honoring your father and mother and these different things. And so i I've committed three hours to that direct kind of one-on-one
00:25:41
Speaker
coaching and discipleship with some of these with some of these young men. And it's been a great thing. And I just want to continue leaning in on that and building in on that, especially going into next year. So speaking of impact, ah let me just for for those who are listening, obviously this there's a portion of scripture that supports things we do. So I just want to provide maybe a verse of support and the idea of just the concept of serving. I believe it's province chapter three, ah verses three to four, it says, let love and faithfulness never leave you, bind them around your neck.
00:26:15
Speaker
write them on the tablet of your heart, then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and in man." So speaking of impact, when when we talk about, you know, the the understanding of impact, how do you measure the success of your impact? What are you looking for at least that is satisfying and contentment for you personally?
00:26:44
Speaker
o that's a That's a deep question, because obviously, um you know that's almost getting to the point where it's like, because cause you know this is not me. That's the father who's in me who who who is doing all of these works. And it's not about me. But but I do understand, like you said, as you as you're going, you do want to see you you want to see some fruit. Some fruit. no you just You just do. I think for me is the fact that, um especially with the young men,
00:27:14
Speaker
um I see them leading their peers. yeah I see them changing the the words, very calculated in their words, meaning ah less disrespectful things are coming out of their mouth or less negativity, period. I see them leading Bible studies at their school. I see them paying attention to detail. I see them changing their mindset
00:27:45
Speaker
in their attitudes when they come in. Even to some degree, we see them changing their attire. i they don't They don't just come in, you know, we don't have teenagers dressed today. It's like, you know, just throw something on. You know, these guys are coming in and their clothes are ironed. They're wearing pressed jeans. They're wearing button-up shirts. And they're coming in presenting in a way because us as leaders are showing them like, hey, this is not about a look at me and show me. But at the same time, you need to present yourself in a certain way because when you present yourself in ah in a in a
00:28:18
Speaker
in a respectable manner, people are more likely to listen to you when you come in and want to and want to speak on the gospel, right? You come in looking, you know, like one man, they even, you know, even talking about that from a fasting standpoint, right? Don't come in looking like you've been fasting all day, you know? yeah Come in, you know, looking like you you've got your things together so that you can, you can live in a way that is pleasing to God. And I think that what I'm seeing is, is I'm seeing young men growing their faith. I'm seeing young ladies growing their faith around us and it's, in it and it's, and it's energizing. Um, and even, and even more so, um, I, in this interesting, you asked this right now because I got a recent text and and a young man, when we were done with service and says like, Mr. Vitale, I need to get with you. And I'm like, okay, great. You know, let me know. And,
00:29:10
Speaker
A message was sent to me and it was just like, I just need you to know that did the conversation we had the other day, um it was helpful because I took what you told me and share it with a friend who was having thoughts about harming themselves. And now I'm able to show them and give them scriptures so that they can understand that God loves them. And and because you poured into me, I'm able to pour into my friend who now is pouring into his family.
00:29:40
Speaker
that That's major. And it's not why we do it, but it's kind of why we do it. If that makes sense. Like, yeah we're not doing it. Like, this is cause this this is this is not about either one of us. And we and and we we are both men of God, and we understand that. This is not about us. This is about the Father. It's like, Father, use me. I'm i'm the messenger. I'm the vessel. i am I am your chosen representative in this time in human history to do this, but this is not me. I'm simply being used and following your word, following your calling, following ah your your Holy Spirit and leading the way for me to be able to do these things. And sometimes, like you said, you you you get some affirmation that you know what?
00:30:27
Speaker
God is letting you know you're on the right path. Now continue on and do this. And so I feel grateful in knowing that there is some impact being made in that way. So when did you just get to the this so point in which your life, when you realized that God was using you and you knew that you knew that you know God wanted you to go in the direction to actually mentor young adults? What was it for you that you realized there was a passion, there was a burn,
00:30:57
Speaker
that you wanted to go into that particular area versus anything else, Ashley, in all the other accolades you've actually done. What about this drove you in this area?
00:31:08
Speaker
You know, I was, you know, and I'll i'll take it business and then I'll bring it back in to my faith. In the business, I was, you know, we you start seeing some sets here and there, you wrote a book and, you know, I was You know, I was a, I was a sports writer and, you know, I'm going into these nonprofits, I'm going into colleges and I'm doing this. And I was just like, man, I was like, my marketing, my everything, it's all over the place, but like, God, really? What do you want me to do? And I realized that the common denominator was young people. So I'm like, all right, you know, no matter where I go, young people are involved, you know, whether it's sports, whether it's doing career days, whether it's doing,
00:31:49
Speaker
Nonprofits whether it's you know doing things over here and it's like and the range goes from five years old all the way up to like 32 So it's like all right. We got to figure something out here in God. I just need you to reveal to me something Which what do you what you want me to do? But I think that the the The fire came and interesting enough it came at the kind of all are welcome here church um I was at a we were at an event, and like a rally or something. And I remember, you know, we were going through one of the rituals and the ritual wasn't...
00:32:23
Speaker
you know, really like anti-Christian, it was more kind of universalist or whatever. It was a lot of praying going on. And I remember going through and there was, there was affirmative words that were being shared. And it's interesting cause I think the Holy Spirit was moving in that place, even though I wasn't, you know, in a Bible based church, I think the Holy Spirit was even using that to deliver me then. And I remember I was going through this process and you know, we're going through and people were people were touching me and i when I came out on the other end and I remember going outside and I just came to the table and and like God just broke me in the middle of this conference rally or whatever and I was sitting on this sitting on this park bench outside and I just broke into like
00:33:09
Speaker
like a holy cry that I can't, that I can't even quantify. Like I'm just, like you could tell that there was a bucket under me of just letting sweat and tears go. And I remember sitting there and I thought I was all alone. And then I remember just coming out of that and all of my teams were around me just hugging me and just loving on me in that moment. And even though, like I said, I wasn't,
00:33:36
Speaker
I wasn't in a Bible-based church at that time, but God was able to show me that like you pouring in to the future generations is where I want you to be. And I need you to to invest your life into making sure that my word can my word continues on in the young people who are who are engaged in your life. And I think that i think that was the that was the moment yeah was the moment where i where i where I knew that that God was working with me, where I was working through me even then, even before I dove into his word deeper, because I wasn't that deep in the word then. But the Holy Spirit don't don't don't need you deep in the word to deliver you from some from some things. We know the Saul, the Paul, like just boom. Why are you perfect? You know what I'm saying? So I think that was a moment.
00:34:29
Speaker
And I think it was at that moment that it was step one of a three to four step process to where I am now. That's great because I think a lot of people have to understand that God god can meet you wherever you are.
00:34:42
Speaker
Right? You can meet you outside. He can meet you in church. He can meet you where you're not supposed to be because that's just God, right? He he knows how to take the good out of the bad situation. He doesn't completely move the bad situation because it's the bad situation that you're in that brought him to you in the first place.
Speaking and Community Engagement
00:34:59
Speaker
So I think that that's very powerful and necessary to bring up.
00:35:03
Speaker
because some people think that God can only be found in the church. And before we actually started believing that the church was the place where God was at, he also resides in the human heart as well. So I want to talk to you about how'd you get into Keesho speaking? Like what made you, what desires you to want to be a speaker? And yeah, what what ah what about that that you love so much or give some pointers to some people out there that are desiring to want to be speaker?
00:35:31
Speaker
You know, ah honestly, I jumped into speaking. I mean, obviously my foundation is media and journalism. So I never had problems being able to express myself because, you know, and for the most part, though, my my true passion is writing. I mean, everything foundational for me is writing. So even the keynote speaking comes from writing. So, you know, and I've done radio spots and things of that nature. The interesting thing was is that I never really was into keynote speaking at all.
00:35:57
Speaker
But I remember my, a mentor of mine had had shared with me, he started a spiritual experience outside of one of the churches we were going to. He started his own little spiritual experience. And I remember he used to have an affirmation that used to go along with the experience. And I remember calling him one day and I said, um hey, you know, that affirmation, it hit me in this way and I was breaking it down how it meant so much to my life. And he's like, why don't you present that to the people when we open up?
00:36:27
Speaker
And I was like, okay, I don't mind. Kinda like, I'm just like, got a guest coming up here and they're just gonna share a word and you know sit down. Well, I went ahead and put put a little blazer on it. I'm going to go share with the people what this affirmation meant to me. And when we got done, I was only up there for five minutes. When we were done, there were a bunch of people coming and saying, and hey, what what segment are you teaching on next week?
00:36:52
Speaker
I'm like, yeah yeah, I was just, I just said, my guy told me to come up here and say these things. And you know, that's it. And they were just like, no, like, when are you speaking again? I'm like, and I looked over him, I was like, I didn't know I was. And so then there ended up being a segment at the front half of the experience, it was about 10 to 12 minutes, called vital thoughts for transformation, kind of playing on my name. And I did that for a couple of years, you know, just in just in the spiritual experience, that's it. But then when I wrote Awaken the Baller Within, you know, I was like, hey, I got this book, man. I was like, how do you help sell the book? And it's like, you know, the best way to sell a book is to go speak. I was like, oh, is that what you do? Okay, so then, you know, yeah a football program bought 80 copies of my book. And I said, since you bought 80 copies, I'll come speak to your team. And so then I'm doing this first talk, man, I'm all over the place, you know,
00:37:45
Speaker
you know, got my index cards and like, I don't know, I don't know, I had no clue what I'm doing. I'm just like, ah, but then it, you know, it started and I started joining speaker associations and different things. And, um, and obviously, you know, one thing led to another, you know, and every time, you know, God just kept working through those different things in the, in the opportunities to have more and more till obviously I ended up overseas at one point in time.
00:38:10
Speaker
But I would share with anyone who who who's wanting to get into get into this, it's like, you already have an audience. You already have an audience. you know Whether it's at your church, community center, or school.
00:38:25
Speaker
your family, extended family. So if ever you're putting something together and you have something you want to get on your heart or get off your, you know, get off, you know, from your heart and, you know, you want to write some things down or you're working on a book because most times the book usually sparks people to writing and writing comes into the speaking is utilize the community you already have.
00:38:48
Speaker
people who know you, admire you. You know, obviously you don't want someone who's not gonna give you some constructive feedback, but you have an audience to be able to test drive your your material. You know, start off in a small group. You know, you and three other people, and just share. Like, have them in a room, sit on a couch, whatever, and you stand.
00:39:09
Speaker
and you present and you see where it goes from there. but you will Put your recorder near you. You can use your phone, mic yourself up, speak and then go back and listen to it. Newsflash, your first couple of times might sound awful, right? you know That's part of it. you know Go back and listen to yourself, critique yourself and then say, oh, you know that was really crazy to say that and that's the infrastructure didn't work. But you have to start somewhere and you start off with a group you already have and you know just utilize what what you have to go ahead and get where you're trying to go and just and just start off small. you don't You don't need a big audience. You start off small and then incrementally get it larger and then keep working it till you see something. So there's something that crossed my mind that i I want to ask you, but I also
00:40:01
Speaker
wanted to provide a scripture that supports it. So in a book of Proverbs, it says, ah let's go to Proverbs 11, 14, it says, where there is no guidance, the people fall, but in abundance of counselors, there is victory. So as an individual that loves pouring into others, what is your experience and how does it feel for others important to pour into you, right? As a leader, as a leader for men and and women and trying to help them,
00:40:30
Speaker
Talk to people the importance of having people pour into you as well. Oh my, you you are you really you you really put put that out there and and and thank you for that scripture. Man, I then yeah i love Proverbs. I tell people what it's like. Say, when do you start off in the Bible, I was like, look man, if you want to start off in Proverbs and the Gospels, you'll be good to go if you have no Bible plan. Just let's start there. But no, I'm i'm extremely big on community.
00:40:59
Speaker
on community. I encourage my young guys to to create their own council, a council of a righteous men to be around you. But everyone needs community. And that's one of the reasons why you know I understood why people were trying to go to the virtual church during COVID, but it's like,
00:41:19
Speaker
And people are like, oh, you know, just just just look at church online. It's like, that's not the same thing. Hearing a word through a screen and being in the midst of other believers is two completely different things. To sit next to people, I mean, I don't care if you're four feet from them. To just be in the room and worship with others is extremely important. And so when we when you talk about people pouring into you, and and and and and i have to I have to admit, in full transparency here,
00:41:47
Speaker
um sometimes when you get into this, you know, you get to the point where it's just like, you're so giving, but you don't allow others to give to you. And I want to make sure people don't, don't get caught up in that because I've had some moments where it's just like, you know, you take advice and counsel, but you don't truly let someone pour into you. Like, you know, fill your cup up, right?
00:42:14
Speaker
and and be like a pastor or a minister, so a mentor, you know ah someone who can literally give you, like you're going to a Bible study so you can go out and and do a Bible study somewhere else, but you need to be poured into first. I mean, you need, put your mask on first. it get you eat from your Eat from the buffet first and then you go out and share what what you have because this this half-heeled cup is not going to work. So I want,
00:42:43
Speaker
the people listening to make sure, man, I'm going to just come out and say it. and joint Join a Bible-based church. Get some people around you because you're not meant to fight this battle of life alone, right? You know, when when you have a church community, when you get beat up and you will, because this is life, right? And you come in from battle and you're wounded.
00:43:07
Speaker
and you need to be healed. You need to be able to go into a church. I always say, when I walk into the when i walk into the back doors of that church, I can have 20 hands on me in a second to pour into me and say, hey, brother, we're not letting you fail.
00:43:20
Speaker
We're not going to let you fall. We're going to go to God together. We're going to agree and and build and build you up like, you know, we we we do a lot of that, man. we'll We'll pull somebody aside in the middle of the hallway and be like, what's your name? It's like, man, it's one of them days. Father, Father, we come to you in a name like we will do a right there on the spot because we need that. And so I don't want people to try to I want you to take your time in your secret place and go with your father. But when you get done with that, if you are still going through life and there's some, there's some heaviness on you, go see somebody, call on somebody. Put, put, put the cloak of humility on, right? Allow people to pour into you. And, and really Jonathan, if I can add this one thing into it,
00:44:08
Speaker
If you're going through something and you don't tell anyone, I mean, I understand you may be doing your own prayer time, but if you're going through something and it's really weighing on you and you yeah just keep it to yourself, you're blocking the blessing of someone else. Amen. You are blocking the blessing of someone else because you coming and saying, man, I've prayed, I've prayed, I've prayed. And it's just like something is still heavy on my heart. And two or three people hear that.
00:44:38
Speaker
and they circle around you, and they put hands on you, and they're going in they're going in the name of Jesus, and they're praying for you in that spot. You are allowing God to work through them to you, but when you say nothing, you don't give them the opportunity to pour out after they'd been poured in into by someone else. I had a brother who taught me that one time, he was letting me so he was letting me stay with him, and you know I was,
00:45:06
Speaker
going through saying I was giving him money, this and that and this and that. And he had given me something. I was just like, hey, man, you're letting me into your house. I don't need you to give me anything. And he was just like, why are you being so disrespectful? I was like, no, man. I'm like, I'm respecting you saying you don't need to give me anything. You're the one doing for me. He was like, why won't you let me pour into you? Why are you blocking my blessings?
00:45:30
Speaker
ah
00:45:33
Speaker
Total checkmate, man, total checkmate. And it taught me so much in that moment to where it's like, you know what, when people ask how you're doing, be honest with them, you know, and allow them to pour into you. And I know, you know, sometimes people, you know, they got their ego in the way. It's like, oh, I don't want to let nobody see. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, show your vulnerability. Let people know how you really feel. Let people know how you feel about them and allow them to pour into you because It's just as important for God to work through them on your behalf as it is for you to extend that out to others. So speaking about just in sports media, can you probably get us a little bit insight? are it Is there a belief that God is present even in those big places of sports and scouting? right Talk a little bit about ah recognizing or probably looking back.
00:46:30
Speaker
that the presence of God is even in those places as well. Because when we get into sports, obviously, there's a big concern about, you know, where is God present with all the people chasing money, they chasing positions, they placing fame, they placing notoriety. Talk a little bit about when you were there, what was the sense and what was the the spirit of people in those particular areas?
Faith in Secular Spaces
00:46:58
Speaker
Absolutely, the Lord is in that in that place. And even when I wasn't at the level I was now, I could recognize it then. There's a lot of believers on these football fields, these baseball fields, these basketball courts.
00:47:10
Speaker
And I know that you know you look at social media, all you see is the gluttony, all you see is the lust, all you see is the the narcissism, all you see is the greed and the look at me and the self idol worship, which I'll be honest, sports is full of that. But there are there is lights in those different in those places. and And we know that you know we live in a fallen world, so it's going to be more on the other side. And that's what's glorified more because the media wants to show the darkness. They're not trying to shine light on, you know, those who are praying before the game. They're not going to show that, but they're going to show you doing an end zone dance, but they're not going to show the young man on the sideline who's over there praying in between, uh, in between series. Um, but even back then I could see that the Lord was, was, was in that place. I saw the Lord protect a lot of those young men and women who are going through these sports. Uh, I've seen the Lord work through these injuries.
00:48:05
Speaker
Um, that was the big thing. Um, and now you're starting to see a large movement of when the game is over because you know, there's this whole weird separation between church and state, which is nonsense. Um, the church has always been in the state, but that's a whole nother podcast for another day. Um, but the idea that like, uh, when, when, when, when the game is over, um, both teams, regardless of the winner or get a center field or go somewhere and they'll pray together.
00:48:32
Speaker
oh I look back on my time when I was playing high school ball, we had an optional, or you know it was open, when we used to get with the FCA director and we would go in the other room and we would pray. And I wasn't in high school, I wasn't much of a big praying type guy. But I mean, when it when it showed up, I was available. It's just I wasn't doing it a lot on my own. um yeah But we yeah we use we used we used to pray before every game.
00:49:01
Speaker
Um, we used to pray before, you know, obviously before our meals, we used to pray before services, but I do like, um, and I think we're going to start seeing a little bit more of that. Uh, right now it's brewing. And the reason why I can say that is because I'm seeing the generation behind us. Yeah. And they're on fire for Jesus. these so So, you know, I know these college campuses are gone crazy, but what they don't show you is that there's just major revivals going on on some of these college campuses. I'm talking about major.
00:49:30
Speaker
revivals going on. I'm talking about student-led groups where they're out there proclaiming the name of Jesus. I'm seeing, you know, some of these high schoolers, right? Again, stuff they don't show you, right? yeah But then again, it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't make the clicks.
00:49:47
Speaker
to see 117-year-olds ah praying by a pond, right baptized go going to get baptized ah ah you know in the ocean out here in Texas, right and in in the Gulf. that's that's That's not popular. That's not cute. That's not safe. That doesn't get clicks. But I can tell you right now that in sports and in any areas where there's young people and where there's even adults playing in these arenas,
00:50:12
Speaker
um God is absolutely in those places They won't show it but I can tell you what our question that it is there in his presence is strong It's strong and I'm and I'm I'm encouraged by that you were asking earlier about some of the signs. There's enough Almost like that Moses moment that there's there's been just enough light shown in these different places throughout society where it's like I see that that's that's Brian because see I think we as believers, we think that they're supposed to just be this massive, huge, big movement to like make changes. And it's like 10 to 12%, 15% for the tipping point. Because again, one of my goals, and I don't mean that to to go off because you were asking me about sports. One of my goals is to duplicate myself
00:51:05
Speaker
and what and what I'm doing with these young men. I want to duplicate myself a hundred times before I leave here. I want to duplicate myself a hundred times because if I can if i can take what i'm what I'm creating and pouring into these young men and a hundred of them,
00:51:22
Speaker
created to me. Like that's a massive movement because um I know that God didn't just send me to do this good work, right? So I look at it from that standpoint. It's like if if I'm committed to that, what are some of my colleagues? What are guys like you? What are you committed to? You know, how many, how many, how many disciples are you? Are you looking, what are you looking to accomplish in this? There's enough of us in society who are doing this to where There's gonna be a great yeah ah ah upheaval and and a revival going on. and And I look forward to it. Even if I don't see the full fruition of it within my lifetime, I'll know that that the fire got started.
00:52:01
Speaker
Yeah, I 100% agree with you because I think people overlook the fact that what God did that was so unique is he sent his son. And we know that the gospel message is not just a personal transformation, it's a public and community reform. So what God did was he sent his son into the society to impact the society versus the society impact the individual.
00:52:25
Speaker
And by God doing that, and Jesus entering into a context that was needed of his wisdom and his discernment, what that did was that impact everyone else. It's sort of like the story with Jesus' conversation with the women at the well. Once he had that conversation with her, she went and told the tribe. Once the tribe knew about it and and then welcomed Jesus in, then they all were saved, not just because of what she said, but because of what he said. So there was an overflow of God's presence in the moment, in the places that help change everything. and And even when we talk about being light and salt, right? Salt in Hebrew or in the Greek is prudence, godly wisdom, godly discernment, godly judgment. So when he says, let your light shine before others, it's Matthew 5.
00:53:14
Speaker
so they may glorify your Father in heaven. The impact as that representative or that ambassador that you're speaking about is got you we all little Jesus' is walking into context that is full of darkness. And when we let our light shine, that illuminates the darkness. It then brings truth into the context that ultimately pro provides justice and elevates who we were called to be, not just dust out of the earth, but for us to rise in the soul of our feet to allow us the impact of the context that we're all stepping into. So I think you're making a phenomenal and an excellent point as it relates to that. So this is an interesting question that I have that I think it's probably necessarily that we should ask you is now we know probably the most notable
00:54:06
Speaker
expression of a writer's ability to write books. What made you want to write the book and what legacy is a person leaving behind when he or she writes a book?
00:54:20
Speaker
So obviously, you know, I wrote my first book somewhere around 11 years old. I published my first book, you know, in my, in my late twenties, early thirties. And for me,
00:54:37
Speaker
Writing is the greatest gift God gave me to express myself. Now I've expanded on that into speaking and, you know, workshops, seminars and curriculum and all of those different things, but everything comes down to writing. I always say, uh, my power comes from within and expressed through my pen. God gave me, God gave me the pen to be able to change the world in the way he's calling me to do.
00:55:05
Speaker
When I write something, I want it to bless others. I want it to be the light that they can read without me being there. I want them to read those words and say, there's nothing more fulfilling then when someone reads something you wrote and you don't quote a scripture directly, but they say, I'm loving that I'm reading a man of God. I was in one of my cycling classes the other day and ah and a young you know and a woman was kind of hanging around and she was talking about her son. And she's like, I want my son to connect with a man of God. Mind you, I didn't,
00:55:59
Speaker
on the bike I didn't say a word that would directly say like you know I'm a Christ follower but she knew and that was like all right God thank you for that because you know you have a ministry I have a ministry and you know mine's through writing yours is through podcasting and many other means but it's like Our ministry is everything, isn't it? Every move we make, your ministry is in the grocery store. Your ministry is at you know the coffee house. Your ministry is at your church. Your ministry is at your job. The ministry is that when you go get your car serviced, you are the ministry. And so when I write, I want that God-given ability and God-given words
00:56:51
Speaker
to touch people through my writing. So when people write, when people decide to write a book, you need to decide, I know when there's all these marketing terms, like, oh, what's your target demographic? But when people walk away from what you wrote, what do you want them to take with them? How do you want them to be inspired? What information do you want them to walk away with? Or better yet, how do you want their life to change because of what you wrote?
00:57:22
Speaker
I would say that that's where I would start with those things.
00:57:27
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you. Just the desire to hope you don't you won't see the impact that it has. But the fact that it's out there, you pray and hope that it the way you were touched and actually put in the paper to put in a pen to paper, you hope that whoever stumbles across it and that whatever way that it becomes a blessing because that's that's what we want. You know, our work to re resign and obviously through Christ and whatnot.
Fitness, Health, and Stewardship
00:57:55
Speaker
So talk to us a little bit about fitness. what is your Why is fitness important to you? What do you get out of it? And how does it fuel your faith and fuel your your walk of life? And what you say is all a coincide, yeah. Talk a little bit about that. It all comes together from the standpoint of taking care of the temple, of just getting your proper you know caloric intake,
00:58:22
Speaker
the amount of water you need in a day. I would suggest my ladies to get 10 to 12 servings of water. Again, guys 12 to 14 servings of water in. That that properly flushes the body. it Some people are like, well, that's a little excessive. And it's like, well, the more you train and work out, the more your body will yearn for water. And water is a great flushing system. And the last I checked, that's one of the gifts God gave us is water. You notice we've never ran out of water?
00:58:53
Speaker
yeah yeah There's no shortage, there's no shortage of water. And for whatever reason, we should have ran out by now if if if I'm not mistaken. But fitness to me is is is ah is is an honoring of the physical body. But also, there is a spiritual component. There is a mental component to to being ah from a fitness standpoint of of not only from appearance, but just keeping the body fit to go do the Lord's work. Like, I mean, I've been on two mission trips in the past couple of years. And i I can sit back and say, man, my fitness has helped me be able to do these 18 hour days. i You know, when when you're going out and you're doing street evangelism and you're on your feet, probably logging in, you know, 15,000 steps.
00:59:47
Speaker
It helps to, you know, have a good amount of protein and the good carbs and the good fatty acids in you that go along with the fitness for you to be able to do this work, right? I know that the spiritual side of things is is huge, but like God didn't tell you just to abandon your body. And so um I was a much larger individual um coming out of college. I was a size 40 in the waist. I was about 240 pounds.
01:00:14
Speaker
um And this is ah from a former college football player, right? And I just let myself go, you know, turned to, you know, alcohol, late night eating, worked at a bar, chain smoker, right? Did all of that stuff from the back end of college all the way through the early adulthood when I when i moved out of, when I got out of college.
01:00:36
Speaker
And I remember the day when the Lord spoke to me or I had a meltdown of some kind in a Banana Republic dressing room. I was like, I can't do this anymore. I can't do this. I'm looking at myself and I'm like, this is not how my father, none of my fathers, my heavenly father and my earthly father did not teach me to be like this. I can't do this anymore. And I broke down.
01:01:01
Speaker
And I was on a mission, man. I lost 43 pounds in the first five months and I ended up losing 68 in total. And for the last 12 years, I've held down a 31 and a half inch waist and somewhere between 180 and 190 on my weight. and that's what we're go to And that's the philosophy we're gonna keep going forward. But it's absolutely important, especially for my young, especially for my fellows out there.
01:01:26
Speaker
And I'm not saying that ladies don't need to be in the gym. I'm just saying for for for young men and for men in particular, there's no option. You need a fitness regimen without question because for you to go out there and work the type of jobs we work, stand on your feet in the way we do and go out there and do the good Lord's work. You need to be fit. You need to have stamina. You need energy. You need endurance. You need strength, right?
01:01:54
Speaker
because we're called to do great and amazing things, right? We're called to go out and and and and fight and provide and protect for those we love, the women and the children and all those who who we have under our care. That takes some energy, that takes some strength and you need to be prepared for those. And fitness is one of the greatest ways outside of prayer from a physical standpoint, you know, a fit routine with some cardio and some ah some weight resistance training is gonna be extremely important for you to be able to do what you're called to do.
01:02:24
Speaker
Gotta add the structure in there too, right? You're gettin' older, can't touch your toes anymore, you guess so. Don't we get tired going up a flight of stairs, man? We can't have that. You know and go to a ball game. you can You can't make it up to the upper deck at the baseball or football game. We got a problem. right yeah Get off the elevator. Go ahead and take those stairs because you got it like that. right yeah and i did yeah just i want people to be I want people to be as fit as possible because because I want people to have um
01:02:57
Speaker
The longest longevity of life you can have that you're, that that, you know, the good Lord put you on earth to be, right? I want you to have a, you you can sustain much longer when you have a better bill of physical health. It's just, yeah it just is. and And go, go make that happen. Now, were you a traveler when you wrote or you were more stable stability?
01:03:24
Speaker
I will, there's a book that I haven't put out yet that I did travel and write an affirmation book. But aside from that, mostly I'm mostly i'm at the house, but I keep ah i keep a book near me all the time because I'm steady writing. If I flip my camera around right now, I think there's about 75, 80 composition books in my office right now. I keep those on standby. Every and free back to school, I buy 20 to 40 of them, and I continually use them. Yeah, so the reason why I asked that, because I wanted you to talk a little bit about but about the importance of what we eat, right? Because obviously, the meal planning, the prepping, I was going to ask, because a lot of riders that travel
01:04:08
Speaker
eat a lot of junk. They don't have the opportunity to prep their meals. They don't have the opportunity to eat the healthy things. So I want to see if you had any pointers for those people who are, oh, maybe you're a writer and they're traveling and they need to want to stay healthy and how difficult it is, right? The fast food is quick, as fast as easy versus prepping your meals and having the access to do them. Any suggestions you have for those people?
01:04:35
Speaker
Yes. The same way you budget your money. Well, hopefully your budgeting and money is the same way you budget your caloric intake. Right. And I'm, and I'm working on, I'm working on some material right now. I was jokingly, I used to be a joke and now I'm actually going to do something with it. Um, how you can stay on your, um, on your caloric budget with a gas, with gas, with a gas station menu. Uh, I'm working, I'm working on that because obviously that's,
01:05:03
Speaker
you know, traveling is is equivalent to kind of a gas station menu, not a lot of options, not a lot of healthy options. But really, ah really jumping what it comes down to is discipline. What are your goals? Right? And everybody's like, you know, like, Oh, my cheat meal. It's like, do you have a not cheap people are talking about a cheat meal. It's like,
01:05:23
Speaker
So when are you actually doing what is right? Because you can only say a cheat bill if you're clean. It's like saying, I'm going to splurge. Yeah, but are you on a budget? Otherwise, everything is urgent. And so I would i would tell them the things i do that that well i the thing that I do that that a lot of people are are not willing to do is to log your meals. Take track of what you take in.
01:05:48
Speaker
Same way you get on the app and see how much money you spent. You get on your app every other day, see how much money is in your account. Do that with your do that with your caloric budget in that way. What ends up happening is that if you take your weight and say alright, here's what I weigh right now And then for the next month you every day Whether you use a my fitness pal or whatever the app is or you actually write it down I actually write it down because there's an energy and writing things down and you see how much you take in in a day and you'll be like oh and Once you see what you take in and you look at the scale Now you can be like hmm
01:06:27
Speaker
I probably can countt count that third snack out. If I remove that third snack and now I add in something here, you know, I always say drop your caloric intake and up your water, right? You continually stay on the water game, but but I would say first and foremost, start logging your meals and start checking your weight twice a week and see where you are and then you can decide where you want to go.
01:06:51
Speaker
That's the main thing. The main thing is that you need to know what you're taking in. It's like, oh, I know what I ate. Do you know how many calories is in it? Right? i was in the I was at a church recently and I was like, there's something there's something to writing down two Shipley's donuts, 380 calories. When you sit there and you look at that and then you're looking at the scale saying, you don't like what you see on it, it's like, okay.
01:07:18
Speaker
So what of this listing of things you took in the day, what needs to go? Just like if you want to be able to make your rent, you realize, okay, I can't go to Starbucks for that four times a day anymore because that's cutting into the light bill. Treat your money account, like treat your health account how you treat your money account.
01:07:42
Speaker
Gotcha. The same way you sit there and obsess over how much money you have or do not have, treat your health the same way. And I guarantee you'll start seeing some differences when you start making goals from a fitness and and and caloric intake standpoint and a nutritional standpoint. And obviously, there's a couple of little things. There's some meals and things that that um that I could help people with as far as that's concerned. And um if you want to you know add my um my email address and the show notes or whatever, I'm more than happy to to help people get on that path because i I had about four different directions I went as far as losing my weight. But the bottom line is calories in, calories out, right? 3,500 calories is a pound, right? 3,500 calories burned is burning a pound. See what a math is here. So how much are you taking in on a day? And how much are you burning?
01:08:38
Speaker
That's how you lose weight. It's very, very, very simple, but it takes a lot of discipline and most people just aren't willing to do it. They they don't like the fact that their clothes don't fit well. They don't like the fact that they're sluggish throughout the day, but they're not willing to pay the price. Just like a lot of people aren't willing to budget their money and cut out certain fast foods, cut out eating out, cut out frivolous spending because they're not good stewards of their health and their money.
01:09:07
Speaker
And that's what it comes down to. Cause like you said, were hit he you're the truth of the matter. We're going back to the Bible. The Bible says to be a good steward of many things in life. And most people are very reckless with this, right? They don't do the Habakkuk two, two, you know, write things down on paper, make it plain so you can what? Run with it, right? Meaning have a plan, have a purpose.
01:09:35
Speaker
Most people do not want to sit down and have those uncomfortable conversations with themselves about their money or their health. And that's where we usually have a problem. But like you said, and I agree with you, everything you need is right there in that word. Somewhere in there, every aspect of life is in there. yes It's not my opinion, it's it's it's the truth. And it's a very much so the truth. And more people need to lean in on that to get the understanding of why you do certain things.
01:10:02
Speaker
Yeah, most people don't know Jesus mentioned money quite a few times. Yeah, that's the finest people. making I'm glad you said it because most people make it seem like, you know, that's why some of these commercials are kind of weird to me. It's like, why do you all assume like my Lord and Savior was broke? Like it's like he's like this, like, you know, this lowly just kind of beggar kind of dude is like, dude, he had accountant.
01:10:27
Speaker
Right? I mean, like, there's some kind of exchange going on here about, am I losing you? Like you said, he was, he he is the great example because he maxed out everything, right? yeah You know, he had all the wisdom, all the, breach like he had all he needed. He was, you know, yes here's God, the father come down, sends his son, boom, here we are, right?
01:10:51
Speaker
He is a great example. That's why the gospels are so important. Not that the rest of the Bible isn't, but the gospel gives you that that that direct, here's his words, what he did. And then of course, everything else supports it from the old and the new from that standpoint. But I've told you, Jesus was just this kind of just like,
01:11:12
Speaker
you know, vagabond or something like that. I mean, what are you talking about? Right. like so Yeah. right Oh, that's so cool. I know. but It is. So give us a little insight of each book. So those who are curious to to want to pick it up and where you can get them, to you know, tell them a little little and background information for each book, if you don't mind, that you wrote so far. Yeah.
Book Insights: Sports Metaphors and Life Lessons
01:11:35
Speaker
ah the the The first one is I'm ah Awaken the Bottle Within, it was basically paid as like a life manual for athletes. Because the same way Napoleon Hill did Think and Grow Rich by studying the success happen to billionaires, I did that with high-end college football players. I studied what their mindset was that correlated over to their success. So what is the mindset behind the tackles, the the the the you know the the the rushing yards, the passing yards, the the the d
01:12:06
Speaker
Exceptional gameplay that helps you play on Fridays and Saturdays. What is the mindset behind that? And of course, we settled in on dream book building goal setting in a relentless pursuit of both of them is to the backdrop of Awaken the Baller Within because what I did with a Awaken the Baller Within is I used sports as a metaphor for life. Nice. parents you Parents used to pick this book up and be like, all right, let me see what my kids reading. And then they they'll come back and say, a mod that says nothing to do with sports.
01:12:36
Speaker
that the point because because sports is sports is an absolute metaphor for life. And it is the, it's written in a language that jocks football players, basketball players, track room, like athletes can understand, but the principles in it is all about having a better life, having a God, having a creative God-filled life where you're doing things mentally, you know, be not conformed to the patterns of this world, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This is a mindset book that uses strategies to help your mindset and understand, hey, what did this guy do to help him be successful? And how can I use that to be a better parent, to be a better realtor, to be a better teacher, to be a better policeman, right? Because all these guys, they're all in college, which means what? They're 10 minutes from being what? Into the real world.
01:13:28
Speaker
It's not about sports, right? Because even if you do play professional sports, it's still only a third of your life. Yeah. Athletically, now you can get into coaching and some other things, but from a physical, I'm on the field, it's only a third of your life. At best, at best, it's only a third of your life. most Most people consider athletes old when they're what, between 33 and 37? Yeah. You're still a young man. You're still a young man in life. You're still young.
01:13:54
Speaker
So, so we need something beyond that. I'm more than enough what was written. My second book is I'm more than enough. Three ways to overcome the fear of your own reflection. um It focuses a lot on just how you see yourself. Right? How you see yourself. You know, because you know, whether you want to go with the old saying God doesn't make mistakes, God didn't make trash.
01:14:18
Speaker
That's very true because he made you in his likeness and image and God is awesome. So you can't be garbage because God made you in his likeness and image, man and woman, he created them. So we can't be like, you can't be whack unless you choose to be, right? yeah you you are You are that man, that woman, right? And so it focuses a lot on when you look in the mirror, what do you see of yourself? Because see what a lot of people see when they look in the mirror is they see the mess.
01:14:45
Speaker
yeah They see their history. They see their rap sheet. you know They see the police report. They see you know a failing transcript, a divorce, and they attach themselves to it. Instead of using that as like, this is part of the process, they look at it as their identity. And so I'm more than enough goes through a three-step process from you know identifying who you are and whom you belong to, yeah accepting the fact that, yeah, you made some messes, but that doesn't define who you are, God does. And of course, making the changes, right? See, that's the thing. it's It's owning up to the fact that that mess is yours and then making the changes to fix it. And those that process between those two really bogs people down a lot of time because
01:15:43
Speaker
You wanna blame your parents. You wanna blame your ex. You wanna blame a teacher who didn't believe in you. You wanna believe the coach who didn't play you. You wanna believe the next door neighbor who hated on you. well You wanna blame the bully at your school. And none of that stuff matters. It really doesn't. And that may sound harsh, somebody would be like, well, you don't understand where I came from. I don't care where you came from. I really don't. What I care about is the fact that you wake up and understand your God's chosen child.
01:16:11
Speaker
and that he has something great for you. Your job is to lean in on his understanding, not yours, his word, not yours, and become what he's calling you to be, right? Because we were not created equal. The talent showed us that we were not created equal, but we're equally loved by God, and God has a plan and a purpose for you. It's a matter of you listening and finding out what that is.
01:16:39
Speaker
So that I'm more than enough encompasses all of that. It's been one of those books where like it really, like it brings a lot of people to tears to read that book because it really does address the fact of who you see in the mirror. Like people break down and cry for what they see in the mirror sometimes. And you know what? I invite that. I want them to cry. I want them to break because God can take those puzzle pieces and put it together to a beautiful work of art. And of course, the last one, the most recent one is, uh,
01:17:05
Speaker
Now what? Five steps to get up and create the most of life. That was been in in the middle of 2020. And it's a strategic book to get people out of a hole, to get people out of the the the mess they have created for themselves. Or just to make a major transition in life. What's a major transition? Starting a family, you know going back to school, um launching a business.
01:17:29
Speaker
heck launching a podcast, writing a book, like something major to where you're like, something major that scares scares the mess out of you to do it because it's like, there's certain things that you're called to do and you want to do that you know that like a big portion of your life is going to have to change for you to be able to even to do it.
01:17:47
Speaker
That makes sense like something like things need to shift in your life majorly for you to be able to do this. And so now what takes you on a step? A five step process with strategies at each step, you know, you talk about reflection, right? You don't know where you're going until you know where you are.
01:18:05
Speaker
Right. You may look up and I always use the closet reference. Everybody, most people have that closet that they haven't looked in in a while. And it's a bunch of junk in there and they just don't want to deal with it out of sight, out of mind. But then you open that closet up and then you have, you get avalanche with all the junk in there because you haven't cleaned that out. Now take that and think about your mind. yeah Your mind is full of a bunch of junk that you need to get rid of. And so reflection allows you to say, all right, I've made some mistakes. There's some mess out there.
01:18:35
Speaker
But let me forgive myself, and where do we wanna go? And then that takes us into the decide chapter. What is it that you want to do? You don't like what you've created, but you don't know that what you've created prepared you for this decision moment to do something new. So you decide what you wanna do. And then from there, reflect, decide, and then you go into the planning stage. All right, I've decided what I wanna do. Now, how the heck are we gonna get there? Like, what do we need?
01:19:00
Speaker
Like, you know, kind of start putting the piece together. I always say, this is where you put the little squares, the mind map. You start getting that, you put the big old goal up there and then you put all the lines down and say, now what can I do each day? What step can I take each day? What thoughts can I take each day to get to that goal? And then of course you go into action. Time to get up and go. You can only plan so much before you just got to go out and test drive it. And you know what? You might run into a roadblock. In fact, you will run into a roadblock because all the best laid plans typically don't work the first time. As anybody who started a business, a marketing plan, and they budgeted out, and it's like, where did that other 300,000 go? Oh yeah, we don't know. Because it's just it's just it just it's like that sometimes.
Guidance and Decision Making
01:19:42
Speaker
And of course, the last one, and you hit on it earlier, that's what struck a nerve with me, ah is to seek. And seeking is counseling. Get your community. Get you experts around you. Get you people who can pour into you. Get you people who are smarter than you.
01:19:57
Speaker
I know we're in this ego-driven, I'm that guy, I'm that man, you know, whatever. Find someone who's smarter than you. Get people around you who who have wisdom. Get people around you who are righteous. You know, a lot of times, you know, when when you're starting something new, you're starting a business, obviously you want to find somebody and kind of be an apprentice to them and, you know, learn from somebody who's an expert. But I always say, part of your counsel, you just need someone who's just a righteous, good dude.
01:20:24
Speaker
What do I mean by that? I mean, somebody who who can, you can bounce some ideas off. Like my late father, that's what he was for me. Where what you're asking about is not illegal, but is it moral? Like it's not, you won't get locked up or get a ticket for it, but is it like not good to do that? If if that makes sense. so Like from a morality standpoint, you don't want to be known as a guy who does this.
01:20:53
Speaker
Or to do business this way is not really a way you want to do things. How about this instead? You need that person in your life, kind of a moral barometer who could be like, you know, Jonathan, yeah, you can do that. And it's not bad, but what's the cost that comes along with it? And I'm not talking about costs for money. I'm talking about costs from, you know, from your soul. Will will this sit right in your soul? and And I want people to think about things from that standpoint. You know, when we talk about honor, our father and mother,
01:21:22
Speaker
One of the things that I use in my life is when I'm, aside from surface gratitude and impact, I also say, wouldn't my father be proud of what I'm about to go do?
01:21:37
Speaker
And i if I have to think as long as I just thought to make this response, I probably shouldn't do it. Meaning that there's there's a there's ah there's ah there's an imbalance in my spirit.
01:21:52
Speaker
There's a there's a this there's a there's a conflict there's conflict within my spirit as to if I should do this or not. And that typically means if you have to think that hard about it, maybe maybe you should look at another way. And I want people to, you know through the Sikh chapter, I want people, there's there's ah there's a portion in there where I want people to kind of look at life through that moral barometer. It's like, who in your life cant can can can pour into you and say, you might not want to do things this way.
01:22:20
Speaker
Here's an alternative. yeah and I think that's great. Pastor, a minister, a deacon, you know, someone who can help you with that. Yeah, amen.
Closing and Further Engagement
01:22:31
Speaker
So I want to thank you so much for coming on. I'm pretty sure that the amount of wisdom and information that you've dropped will be helpful to my audience, including myself, right? Also the host. So if people want to get in contact to any Instagram, Facebook, group, email, you could put it all out there in the vehicle. And I'll make sure I put it in the show notes so as well.
01:22:53
Speaker
Yes, amaudvital.com is pretty much everything. Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, not very hard to find. amaudvital.com is the website. You know, info at amaudvital.com is the is the email address. I'd love to hear from the the Truth of the Matter crowd, especially if you have some young people out there. um It's rough out there for our youth right now. And if your son or daughter or somebody close to you is had a season that's went on too long. And you know they just need a word from someone outside of their current circle. By all means, reach out to me. I'm committed to working with the youth in that way. And there's any resources that I have that I can share with them to help you know understand who who they are and whose they but whom they belong to. Reach out to me and just put truth of the matter in the subject line.
01:23:53
Speaker
and we'll we'll we'll look to assist them with that. that's so That's a mission I've been on for some time and I i want to be there. I want to be there vessel for for them. Absolutely. Okay, so you don't mind closing out with prayer for us? I do not mind. I glad I thankfully will will do so for yourself, for the audience.
01:24:16
Speaker
Father, we love you. We thank you. we or gracious We're grateful to be in your presence right now, Heavenly Father. Lord, we thank you for this time. We've been able to share what you share together with with Jonathan, with he yourself, with everything that is going on, Heavenly Father. Lord, but I pray that the ears who heard this, Lord, Lord, I i pray that they that they want to lean in and and learn more about you and your word, Heavenly Father. Lord, I ask you to continue to bring them opportunities, bring them increase, and just bring the blessings unto them, Lord, when they put their plate faith and trust in you first. Lord, it is not by accident that the name of this podcast is called The Truth of the Matter, Lord, because we know the only truth is you, Heavenly Father, your word, your walk, your works, your worship, your wisdom. Everything about you, Heavenly Father, Lord, the truth lies with you, Lord. And I pray that did the truth was expressed here today, and Lord, and can touch someone who's in a moment right now.
01:25:11
Speaker
Lord, I pray for those who who are listening to this podcast right now, who are who're suffering right now, Lord, where there's a dark cloud over them, Heavenly Father, Lord. Lord, for we know that where there is darkness, that you, you defeat darkness every time, Lord. For we can know that light is undefeated against darkness, Lord. And I just ask you to just be with them and bring them peace and comfort and healing during this time, Heavenly Father.
01:25:33
Speaker
because we see what is going on. The enemy's on attack, Lord, but we know we serve a God who is almighty, Heavenly Father. We know you are the great provider, Lord. We know you are the great healer, Lord, and we know that when we place all of our lives and our trust and wisdom in you, that all things are not only possible, but Lord, you will make them happen, Heavenly Father. Lord, for you said your grace is sufficient, Lord, for we know that these issues that are going on may continue, Heavenly Father, but Lord, we know that when we Place our lives and everything in your hands that you will be able to deliver and bring this to us. Heavenly Father, Lord, I ask you to bless Jonathan his in his ministry, Heavenly Father, Lord, for the work you're doing in and through him. Lord, placing him what is needed to continue this ministry, Lord, and reach so many people through his words, through his works, through his podcasts, through his hands and through his actions, Heavenly Father.
01:26:27
Speaker
Bless this man, Lord, with increasing opportunities he has not yet seen yet. Heavenly Father, Lord, I ask you to just bless him and it in this time, bless his family, bless his home. I ask in the Holy Spirit to make ah make ah make a move through his through his home, Heavenly Father, every square inch, Lord, and we ask you to cover it in your blood and healing and restoration.
01:26:49
Speaker
Lord, we bless those who are out there. Lord, listening in this time, I ask you to just bless them, Heavenly Father, and just continue to be with them during times of need and times of strife and time for comfort. Lord, we know that This time is your time and your presence is felt, welcomed and needed in this moment. Lord, we're just so grateful for the blessings. We thank you for your life, for our lives. Thank you for continuing to work in and through us. And Lord, we just ask you to continue to to bless us as we go out and share the good news with all those whom you place in our path and whom we encounter.
01:27:26
Speaker
And for that, we're so truly grateful. Lord, we love you. We thank you and sing your mighty gracious and loving name. We pray the beautiful name of Jesus. Y'all say it. Amen. Amen.