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Preaching Behind Bars: You Can Still Be Free (Ep. 438)

March 9, 2023 51m 33s Full transcript available
Preaching Behind Bars: You Can Still Be Free (Ep. 438)
0:00 / 51m 33s
In this episode, I share my transformative experience preaching behind bars at a federal penitentiary. Despite my throat issues, I delivered powerful messages of hope and freedom through Christ to inmates, witnessing dozens respond to the gospel.
Transcript
1300 segments
0:00 (upbeat music)
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0:30 (upbeat music)
0:32 - This is "On Daunted Life" a man's podcast.
0:51 I'm your host Kyle Thompson.
0:53 Let's get into it.
0:54 Remember those who are in prison,
0:56 as though in prison with them,
0:58 and those who are mistreated,
0:59 since you are also in the body,
1:01 that is Hebrews 13-3.
1:03 Guys, thank you so much for listening to today's show.
1:05 I will tell you right from the jump.
1:07 I normally have throat issues.
1:08 You guys know a lot about that.
1:09 I also have strep throat,
1:11 and I also haven't fully recovered
1:12 from speaking for like three hours over the weekend.
1:14 Okay, so I'll get more into the speaking over three hours,
1:17 but if I'm a little bit more subdued in this episode,
1:20 I'm actually gonna try to be a little bit more subdued
1:22 so I don't have to take 17 breaks
1:23 that I have to edit out later in all that kind of stuff.
1:26 So please pray for me that we can make it through this.
1:28 But also, if you guys have not left a review,
1:30 we've gotten a lot of great five-star reviews here recently.
1:33 I love reading the comments, okay?
1:34 Not the comments and like the comments section
1:36 on my social media and YouTube videos.
1:38 All right, it's already going bad.
1:40 But the comments that you guys leave
1:41 when you leave a five-star review,
1:42 I'm so thankful to hear why exactly you guys
1:45 like the stuff that we do
1:46 and what exactly is speaking to you.
1:48 So please continue to do that.
1:49 And also just a reminder,
1:50 we are affiliated with OriginMain.
1:52 So guys, they make some of the best products
1:54 that are 100% made here in the United States of America.
1:57 So they do jeans, work boots, they've got belts,
2:00 they've got wallets, they've got a whole bunch of stuff.
2:03 If you do jujitsu, they have the best keys and rash guards
2:05 on the planet and they're actually working on
2:07 some new jujitsu shorts that are amazing.
2:10 And on the Jocko Fuel side, they've got energy drinks,
2:12 they've got a lot of supplements.
2:13 And guys, if you go to their website,
2:15 which is in the show notes,
2:16 you can use the promo code undaunted
2:18 to get 10% off your order.
2:20 So go there, get whatever you wanna get,
2:22 use the code undaunted to get 10% off your order.
2:25 And if you're listening this
2:26 and perhaps you're not on our mailing list
2:28 or you're not following us on social media,
2:30 I need to let you know something, okay?
2:32 We have new merch, okay?
2:34 Now, you guys have been bothering me about t-shirts
2:36 for forever and ever and I've told you,
2:37 maybe we'll get with a company later on
2:39 that'll make it more advantageous for us to do t-shirts.
2:41 But right now, it's just so unbelievably expensive
2:44 and time consuming to get them out to you guys
2:46 for not very much profit.
2:47 But we just dropped this.
2:49 A brand new hat, we are calling it the Green Lion,
2:52 classic elite hat.
2:53 Guys, if you're watching this on YouTube or on Rumble,
2:55 it is right there in front of your face.
2:57 But the thing about this hat
2:59 is I'm like a hat junkie, okay?
3:00 And I'm also a hat snob.
3:02 So there's a lot of hats out there that, you know,
3:04 are made for like golf tournaments and random crap
3:06 and they're just junk.
3:07 These are junk hats.
3:08 This hat is unbelievable.
3:10 Okay, so we are selling less than 50 of these
3:13 'cause we didn't make very many of these
3:14 'cause I didn't wanna be spending the next
3:15 like several weeks, you know, sending these out to you guys.
3:18 But this is Brandon Bill's E100 series,
3:20 classic elite hat.
3:21 So it is a snapback.
3:22 But the thing about this is it's the adjustable snapback
3:25 but it's breathable and water resistant.
3:27 So if you can see right there, that's all mesh,
3:29 but not like the crappy mesh material that you'll get
3:31 from like some of these terrible hats
3:33 that you buy at, you know, your local store
3:35 that'll put your logo on it.
3:36 This is like you put,
3:37 if I were to pour water on top of this right now,
3:39 but run right off breathable, water resistant.
3:42 It's got this quad foam cushion
3:44 and these performance panels.
3:46 It's a silk soft front panel.
3:47 And so basically when you put it on your head,
3:49 it just doesn't feel terrible 'cause some hats feel terrible.
3:52 There's thread lock technology.
3:53 It's got our PVC patch there on the front.
3:55 So you guys can see right there,
3:56 we've got the thing there on the front.
3:58 So this is mainly what I wanted
4:00 because I was wanting to do like an early season hunting hat
4:03 and all the camo hats I found at like Cabela's
4:05 and Bass Pro and all that.
4:06 They were kind of like those weird hats
4:07 that just don't fit your head right.
4:09 So I kind of selfishly wanted to make myself
4:11 my own hunting hat and then this is the one that we produce.
4:14 So if you were listening to this on time, okay?
4:17 And if you follow us on Instagram and Facebook,
4:19 you already know about this, these go on sale today.
4:23 So if you're listening to this on time,
4:24 they're on sale today as of noon central standard time.
4:27 So today is March the ninth, okay?
4:30 And again, like I said,
4:31 we have less than 50 of these available, okay?
4:33 That's it.
4:34 And when they're gone, they are gone.
4:36 I mean, unless we get just overwhelmed
4:38 with emails from people and messages like,
4:40 oh yeah, I didn't wasn't able to get a hat.
4:41 I want to order it because again,
4:43 these were very, very expensive hats to make.
4:45 And you know, it's just basically me shipping them out
4:48 to you guys and boxing them up.
4:49 But guys, they go on sale today.
4:52 The only place to get them is at undauntedlife.com
4:56 or sorry, undaunted.life/shop.
4:58 I'm messing up my own links here.
5:00 Undaunted.life/shop.
5:03 Again, as of noon today, if you're listening to this on time
5:06 on the ninth, they are available.
5:08 When they're gone, they're gone.
5:09 The little button basically won't work to order them
5:12 if you get in afterwards.
5:13 But then, I mean, again, if you really wanted to get one
5:15 and you weren't able to get one,
5:17 just go ahead and send us an email.
5:18 And if we get enough of those,
5:19 maybe we'll do another run.
5:20 But again, this hat, this amazing, amazing hat,
5:23 which has already become my favorite hat,
5:25 is available so you guys can go there and check it out.
5:28 So, I'm skipping quick hitters again.
5:30 Now, I know a lot of you guys really grew
5:31 to love the quick hitters
5:32 and we are certainly bringing them back.
5:34 I'm not getting rid.
5:36 See, I'm like coughing all over the place.
5:40 Got to get a drink.
5:40 We're not getting rid of the quick hitter segment.
5:43 But again, with my throat surgery coming up,
5:45 I literally feel like, have you ever had a hoopty?
5:48 Has anyone had a hoopty out there
5:50 where you're literally about to get a new car?
5:53 And as you pull your hoopty up to the dealership
5:56 to pick up your new vehicle,
5:58 then the engine finally explodes
6:00 and there's fire and crap everywhere.
6:03 That's what I feel like is happening with my throat.
6:05 So, April 10th is my surgery,
6:07 but I feel like I'm literally gonna drive this thing
6:10 into the ground and just put all the faith in God
6:13 and the surgeons that they can fix my throat.
6:15 (coughing)
6:16 So guys, you all are just gonna have to deal with it.
6:18 I mean, keep clearing my throat today,
6:19 keep taking treats, you know,
6:21 things to get drinks and little breaks and stuff like that.
6:24 But I promise, I promise, I promise.
6:26 Before my surgery, we will do quick hitters.
6:28 I literally have a list on my phone
6:29 of all these ridiculous stories that I want to talk about.
6:32 And I just haven't had time
6:33 and I certainly don't have the miles on my throat right now.
6:36 But I really, really wanted to come to you and talk today,
6:39 even though I'm sick, even though I got strep,
6:41 even though I probably shouldn't be talking.
6:43 I've got to talk about what I did over the weekend
6:45 and why we're naming this episode,
6:47 preaching behind bars, you can still be free.
6:49 And so, I'm just gonna tell you this story
6:51 because it's a very, very important thing.
6:53 And over the weekend, it was literally,
6:54 I feel like one of the seminal experiences
6:56 that I've had in my life
6:58 and something I feel very, very thankful
7:00 that I was able to experience.
7:01 So follow along with me.
7:02 But last year at some point,
7:04 I meant to go back and look for
7:06 whenever the very first consultation was,
7:08 but I wanna say it was late summer, early fall,
7:10 something like that.
7:11 I was reached out to by a chaplain
7:13 of a federal penitentiary or a prison.
7:16 I'm not sure all the terminology,
7:18 but it's a max security or medium security prison
7:21 in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
7:23 And what he wanted to do is he wanted to invite me
7:25 or he did invite me to come and speak
7:27 to the prisoners there at that penitentiary
7:30 or at that prison.
7:31 And so, the thing about it is
7:33 is you can't actually be paid as far as I understand.
7:35 You can't, sorry, excuse me.
7:39 You can't actually be paid to go and speak at a prison.
7:44 You have to go as an unpaid volunteer,
7:46 but he still wanted me to come out.
7:47 And so basically we worked it out to where it's like,
7:48 okay, I'll speak at the prison,
7:51 but in order to basically take care of the fee
7:53 and the travel expenses and all that,
7:56 that I would also speak at a mens of it while I was there.
7:58 And so, it was kind of one of those things
8:00 where I get reached out to quite often
8:04 about coming and speaking at things,
8:06 but typically it's people that don't have a plan
8:08 in place.
8:09 So typically it'll be some guy at some random church
8:12 that's like, oh, you know,
8:13 what would it cost to get you to come out here?
8:14 But they don't have any decision-making power.
8:16 They don't have money.
8:18 Like they don't have a budget to do an event.
8:20 They don't have an event date picked.
8:22 They don't have, you know, a venue.
8:24 They don't have anything picked.
8:25 They're just curious.
8:27 And so I kind of gotten in this mode of like, okay,
8:29 for every one that actually books there's gonna be 10,
8:31 just kind of look you lose that don't really have
8:34 anything that they're gonna actually get going.
8:36 And with this process of booking me to go out
8:38 and speak at Lewisburg Prison,
8:40 I kind of felt like it was gonna be like that.
8:41 It's like, oh, you know,
8:42 someone was just curious and reached out
8:43 and it's just never actually gonna work out.
8:45 But lo and behold, it did work out.
8:47 And so the chaplain,
8:48 and again, I'm using his name as the chaplain
8:51 'cause I didn't get anyone's permission
8:52 to use their actual name here on the show,
8:54 but he got a group of people together
8:56 and they did some interesting things to raffle
8:58 and raise money and bring attention to me coming out there.
9:01 And then we booked it.
9:02 And so it's like, okay, it's booked.
9:04 You know, we're gonna go out there and march.
9:05 And, you know, we'll see what this is gonna be.
9:07 But it was basically going to be on Lewisburg,
9:10 they've got the big house,
9:11 which is the prison where the, you know,
9:14 they have the guys, they've got MS-13 there.
9:16 That's where murderers, rapists, pedophiles are all,
9:19 you know, locked up in there.
9:20 But then they also have a camp,
9:22 which I didn't know this was actually a thing,
9:23 but there's also a prison camp that these people can go to,
9:27 which it sounds terrible.
9:28 It sounds like Gulag Archipelago.
9:29 But basically these people,
9:31 they're not under lock and key necessarily.
9:33 It's like a camp that's outside the walls,
9:35 a regular prison, but they are still prisoners.
9:37 They have to, they have to come.
9:39 They have to be counted and those types of things,
9:40 but it's like super low security.
9:42 So they wanted me to speak at the camp.
9:45 They wanted me to speak inside the prison.
9:47 And then they wanted me to speak at a men's event.
9:49 And so that was all gonna be happening in less than 24 hours.
9:52 And so obviously as I've detailed for a lot of you guys,
9:54 you're probably tired of hearing about it.
9:55 But I'm like, oh my gosh, my throat and my voice
9:57 have been just awful.
9:59 You know, it's hard enough as evidence right now,
10:02 it's hard enough to get through one podcast
10:04 where I record for 45 minutes, 60 minutes by myself.
10:07 How am I gonna speak for three hours in less than 24 hours?
10:10 And then in addition to that,
10:12 talk to people in between and all that.
10:13 So that was kind of part of my preparation,
10:15 just mentally getting to a space where it's like, okay,
10:17 take care of your voice enough
10:19 to where you can like, you know, with bubble gum and duct tape,
10:21 you know, keep it together long enough to get through this.
10:24 But then as I was preparing, it's like, okay,
10:26 now I need to figure out exactly
10:27 what I wanna talk to these guys about.
10:28 And as you've probably seen on my website
10:30 or heard me talk about before,
10:32 I have some canned speeches that I could go and give tonight.
10:35 Right? And so these aren't speeches that I have to practice.
10:38 These aren't, you know, speeches that I have to like,
10:40 really think about what I'm doing.
10:41 I've already got my notes.
10:42 I already have the stuff, the ideology in my brain.
10:45 So I just go there and just do it, right?
10:47 I just go there and make it happen.
10:49 But something didn't feel right about that approach
10:51 with this opportunity.
10:53 'Cause I've never spoken at a prison before.
10:55 I've never spoken to inmates or any of that type of thing.
10:58 And so it was like, do I just get repackaged
11:01 something that I've done for other crowds before?
11:03 It didn't really feel right.
11:05 And then about four or five days or about a week,
11:09 we'll say a week before I was set to leave,
11:11 to go and go to Lewisburg prison there in Pennsylvania.
11:14 I talked to a couple of guys that I know had spoken
11:17 before prisoners before.
11:19 And that's Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame
11:21 and pastor Joby Martin.
11:23 And so Joby Martin has, they actually have campuses
11:28 of Church of 11, 22 in prisons.
11:29 I know at least two, I think, maybe three.
11:32 And then Phil Robertson has spoken there at Angola prison.
11:35 I think it's a max security prison down there in Louisiana.
11:38 And so I spoke to both guys on the phone
11:40 and kind of got their overall ideas
11:43 about what they would do if they were in my position.
11:45 Some things that they would talk about,
11:47 some things that they would avoid,
11:48 just really picking the brains of these two guys
11:51 that have done so much in the Christian space
11:54 and also in terms of presenting material before,
11:57 whether written or spoken or any of those types of things.
12:00 And after speaking with those two gentlemen,
12:02 I was like, okay, I'm just gonna scrap the entire idea
12:06 of what I was going to even to print this in about
12:08 and just start from scratch
12:10 and present something completely different
12:11 and new to these guys.
12:13 And so thank you to Phil Robertson and pastor Joby Martin
12:15 for all the thoughts and preparation and time you spent
12:18 with me just kind of giving me your overall thoughts.
12:20 But yeah, I did scrap my speech,
12:23 created a brand new speech
12:25 and the entire time I had these prisoners in mind
12:28 because the interesting thing about it is like,
12:30 I don't really think like a prisoner
12:31 'cause I've never been one, right?
12:33 Now I've put myself in the mental space of, okay,
12:38 what would have to happen to one of my family members
12:40 where I would do something
12:41 that could potentially land me in one of these places?
12:43 I've obviously kind of thought through scenarios
12:45 like that before,
12:46 but I've never been under lock and key
12:48 like these men have.
12:50 But I spend quite a bit of time
12:53 and I create some new notes and I get some new ideas
12:56 and I just gotta tell you,
12:57 whenever I felt like I was done with the new speech,
13:00 I was like, this is good.
13:03 And you guys know that feeling,
13:04 like whenever you produce stuff,
13:06 whether it's at work or if you're a content creator
13:07 or something like that,
13:08 there are times when you just create stuff
13:10 like with me on this podcast,
13:11 there are times when I get done recording a podcast
13:13 and I was like, you know, it was fine.
13:15 It's fine, I hope the people think it's fine
13:17 'cause you know, it's just, yeah, it's whatever.
13:18 It's acceptable.
13:20 But then there are times when you do something
13:21 where you're like, nope, I nailed it.
13:24 I hit the target.
13:25 And since I hadn't presented it yet,
13:28 I couldn't know that it would hit the target
13:29 or that it would have any type of impact at all.
13:32 Essentially at that moment, it's like, okay,
13:34 it's good enough for me to feel good,
13:36 good about getting on a plane.
13:38 And if I had to deliver it right at that moment,
13:40 I'd be good to go.
13:41 So I get the speech, good to go, get packed up,
13:44 fly out there.
13:45 By the way, my very first flight,
13:47 'cause I think I flew to Charlotte
13:48 and then from Charlotte to Pennsylvania,
13:50 the very first flight was like the roughest flight
13:52 of my entire life.
13:53 And I was like, I don't know if this is a sign from God
13:55 or if just like the weather gods,
13:57 if doors matter or something like that, guys know,
13:59 I don't believe in Thor, it's just a joke.
14:00 But it was super rough ride,
14:02 but got on the ground on the East Coast
14:04 and then flewin' up to Scranton
14:06 and then was picked up at the airport
14:08 by a great guy who, you know, we were able to chat
14:10 on our way there.
14:11 And, you know, I'm hangin' out the night before, right?
14:16 So it's me and a few of the guys that are, you know,
14:17 that work at the prison and some of the guys
14:19 that were gonna be helping with the men's event.
14:21 And I'm trying to conserve my voice
14:23 because I know the next day I'm speaking twice
14:25 at the prison and so I'm just trying to kind of lay low
14:28 and all that, but then I also start feeling sick
14:31 like the night before.
14:33 And I'm just like, okay, this can't be happening.
14:37 Like it can't be sick.
14:38 Like, 'cause you're already on the road,
14:40 you're not at home, you're not gonna sleep
14:41 in your own bed, so you're feeling, you know,
14:42 like you're gonna be a little bit, you know,
14:44 out of your normal routine, but at the same time,
14:46 you're thinking like, okay, you can make it.
14:48 Then I start feeling sick, start feeling run down.
14:51 And so I go back to the hotel that night,
14:53 I just go to sleep and I wake up in the morning
14:54 and I feel fine.
14:55 So this is the day I'm gonna be speaking, I feel fine.
14:57 That's great.
14:59 But then I automatically, and had been not just that morning,
15:02 but certainly in the days leading up to it,
15:04 feeling the weight of the opportunity.
15:07 Now, for any of you guys that have done prison ministry
15:09 before, perhaps you don't feel this way
15:11 or never felt this way, but I was feeling the weight
15:14 of what I was gonna be doing.
15:16 'Cause I knew that day that I was gonna be talking to men
15:21 that didn't feel like they had any help.
15:24 And I was gonna be talking to men
15:28 who would never be leaving the inside of that prison.
15:32 And even if they did, you know, they would be,
15:37 you know, you know how it is for recidivism
15:39 and all those different things.
15:40 And so it's like, these are people
15:42 that are going a particular direction
15:44 and they literally need to go in the exact opposite direction
15:48 if they want to have any hope.
15:50 And I could feel the weight of that.
15:52 And typically when I speak live anywhere,
15:54 I always feel the weight of it
15:56 because I do some level of a gospel presentation.
15:58 And so I'm constantly feeling the weight of, excuse me,
16:05 of presenting that message.
16:07 But here we are, it's the morning of, you know,
16:11 let's get ready, let's get our game face on.
16:14 And so that morning we go to the museum,
16:17 they have a museum there.
16:18 Oh, and I guess we need to talk about
16:19 when I got my first look at the prison,
16:21 like this is where you get the expression in the big house.
16:23 Guys, I'm really sorry about the cough
16:25 and I'm trying not to do it on the mic.
16:28 But they've got this big smoke stack.
16:30 This is like a hundred year old prison.
16:31 Looks gorgeous from the outside.
16:33 And you're pulling up.
16:35 And the one thing I remember is there's kind of this long drive
16:38 before you get to like the admin building
16:41 to even get into the prison.
16:43 And here I am just being driven up there
16:45 because here I am a guest speaker, right?
16:47 But I think about those guys that are brought up
16:49 that long drive, they're on a bus
16:51 and they're in a jumpsuit and they've got, you know,
16:55 handcuffs and ankle cuffs and all that.
16:57 And it's like, they're going to be in there for decades.
17:00 And they know that and how different that feeling might be.
17:04 But we go to the museum that morning,
17:06 I get a little tour, get to know some of the names,
17:09 some of the famous names of people
17:10 that have come through that prison before Al Capone
17:12 had been in that prison.
17:13 Michael Fransese, who's a podcast interview
17:16 was released the day that I flew out to go out there
17:19 and getting to hear some of those stories,
17:26 they have like this whole like museum
17:28 of like all the different shanks they found over the years.
17:31 And so we're talking about like the sharpened toothbrushes
17:34 and you know, things of sheet metal and like glass
17:38 and all these crazy things.
17:39 And so again, this used to be one of the roughest prisons
17:43 if not the roughest prison in the United States
17:44 and they've kind of changed the culture a little bit there.
17:47 But again, it was just kind of a reminder of like,
17:49 hey, there are people in there
17:51 that don't want to see you walk out, right?
17:53 And that's just kind of the whole deal of it.
17:57 So got to take a little bit of a break, do some lunch
18:00 and then it was basically time for me to speak at the camp.
18:03 And again, the thing about the camp is guys can kind of come
18:05 and go, this is more the, I guess the white collar criminals,
18:09 I guess is how it was described to me.
18:10 So, you know, I can't really think of different white collar
18:13 or crimes or things like that.
18:14 But these are guys that, you know, three months from now
18:16 will probably aren't going to be there.
18:17 A year from now, probably aren't going to be there, okay?
18:20 And so I go in and I speak.
18:22 And we're in kind of this like classroom thing.
18:24 And the thing is, before I even start speaking,
18:27 the guys were so appreciative that I was there
18:30 because as I understand it, this was the very first time
18:33 that in a long time that anyone that wasn't law enforcement
18:36 had spoken to these guys in any capacity.
18:39 And so they were to a degree, they were just thankful,
18:41 like, oh, hey, here's this guy, here's a circus act,
18:43 like let's go and check it out.
18:45 But then there were other people that had been praying for me
18:48 for months and they were so excited to actually see me
18:51 in person and these are people that go to the church there,
18:54 you know, at the camp and, you know, they had been, you know,
18:57 praying for me beforehand, they prayed for me once I got there.
18:59 And so there's some people there that were excited to see me,
19:02 there were other guys that were excited to see me specifically
19:05 because, you know, they were Christians.
19:08 And then there were just kind of looky-loos,
19:09 there were dudes that were bored.
19:11 And so I go in there and I deliver this speech
19:14 and it's funny, I keep calling it a speech,
19:16 but they really were sermons.
19:18 Like I was preaching while I was in there.
19:20 And so I talk about, you know, the masculinity of Christ
19:25 and I talk about based on scripture,
19:27 like what type of guy he was, how he wasn't just Tinder,
19:30 but he was also tough.
19:31 And how, you know, he's a guy that's worthy of following.
19:35 And I read through Luke and I read through the crucifixion
19:38 account and then I do a gospel presentation at the end.
19:42 And, you know, I even kind of made fun of myself.
19:44 I was like, I'm from Oklahoma,
19:45 but I'm not about to be a Southern Baptist here
19:47 because it's normally like, all right, every head bowed
19:49 and every eye closed.
19:51 I was like, every head up and every set eyes open.
19:54 And I said, you know, if you think for the first time
19:57 in your life that when Jesus died on the cross
20:00 that that's somehow counted for you,
20:02 that he blotted out your sins
20:04 and now gives you a pathway to the father
20:07 and you want to put your faith in that today, stand up.
20:09 And I'd say I'm bad at like judging, you know, numbers,
20:13 but about a dozen guys in the room stood up.
20:16 And anytime you give a gospel presentation
20:19 and people respond to it, like it's overwhelming.
20:21 At least it is for me.
20:22 Maybe it's old hat for guys that have been doing it
20:24 for a long time, but it's just, it's so overwhelming.
20:27 And it's such a cool experience.
20:29 And again, I'm not in a place to know if that was legit
20:32 or if these are just guys that stand up every time
20:34 or if they're trying to look good for their parole board
20:36 or all that, like that's not really my concern.
20:38 They stood up and made a response to the gospel call.
20:41 And then I just said, all right, guys, come on up here.
20:43 Like, you know, let's, let's pray together.
20:45 And again, there's nothing magical about the prayer.
20:47 It's not the prayer that saves you.
20:48 But I just wanted to pray with these guys real quick.
20:50 And so we prayed and then, you know, gave some hugs out
20:53 and some handshakes and those things.
20:54 And they all sit down, do a little bit of Q and A.
20:56 There's a guy there named Rocky and, you know, he's very,
21:00 very cynical and skeptical about this whole thing.
21:02 And so he and I had a very fun interaction there quickly.
21:05 And then, you know, the guys needed to go.
21:07 And so we called it and, you know, I interacted
21:09 with a few of the guys and then we got out there.
21:12 And so the feeling was very interesting during the break
21:17 because I was like, okay, I've voice made it, you know,
21:19 I had laws and just ready to go.
21:21 And so I was, I was good to go, but it's like, okay,
21:22 let's just kind of relax and let's kind of, you know,
21:25 get things back going.
21:26 But then the guy was with the chaplain that was, you know,
21:28 taking care of me while I was out there, you know,
21:30 he's like, hey, let's go walk around.
21:32 Let's go show you parts of the prison.
21:33 I was like, yeah, great.
21:34 And the thing about this prison guys is now,
21:36 so we were at the camp.
21:37 Now we go inside Lewisburg, inside the big house.
21:42 And I got to tell you, it was gorgeous.
21:45 Again, this is a 100 year old prison, but it was gorgeous.
21:49 I think it was, the architecture is based off of
21:53 or mimicked like a monastery or something.
21:55 And you just couldn't believe that it was a prison.
21:58 Someone mentioned, I think it was a chaplain like,
22:00 hey, if this place ever shuts down, it needs to be, you know,
22:02 just like a protected historical site
22:05 that people can come and walk through
22:07 'cause I completely agree with that.
22:08 Just absolutely, absolutely amazing.
22:10 I don't know if there's a lot of pictures online
22:12 inside Lewisburg, but just really, really wonderful inside.
22:17 But then, again, guys, excuse me.
22:22 We go in and we start walking around the different cell blocks
22:26 because we were like trying to find a couple of guys
22:28 that were gonna help with the PA system
22:30 that was gonna be in the place where I was speaking.
22:32 And, you know, one point I kind of realized,
22:35 okay, we're just walking around a cell block in a prison.
22:39 And the only guard, if you will,
22:41 was the chaplain that I was with.
22:44 And so again, in this part of the prison,
22:46 that's the murderers, the rapists, the pedophiles,
22:49 the kidnappers, like this serious dudes walking around.
22:53 But again, they were so thankful that I was there.
22:57 They knew I was coming.
22:59 Again, several of these guys,
23:01 one guy specifically, his name was Sojourner,
23:04 he had been praying for me for months.
23:06 And then here I am, I'm there
23:09 and they're just so excited to hear what I have to say.
23:11 And I kept having guys coming up to me,
23:15 saying, "Hey, man, we're so glad you're here.
23:16 "Thanks so much for being here."
23:17 And I'm just chatting with them.
23:19 Like they're just regular dudes,
23:20 because at the end of the day, they are,
23:22 they've crossed some lines that I haven't crossed,
23:25 but they are regular dudes at the end of the day.
23:27 And so walking around the cell block,
23:30 you know, just kind of having fun interacting
23:32 with these guys, I go get a little bit of food
23:36 and they're just gonna go take a break
23:37 in the chaplain's office.
23:39 And then it came time to speak.
23:41 And I'm really feeling the weight.
23:44 Because again, I had three speeches I was gonna deliver,
23:46 one of the camp, one inside, and one at the men's event.
23:49 But the one inside Lewisburg,
23:51 that was the one that I was feeling the most weight of.
23:53 Because again, a lot of these guys are lifers.
23:58 Many of these guys will never,
24:00 ever see the outside of Lewisburg prison.
24:03 And so I really wanted to be on my game.
24:06 As mentally, physically, I wanted to be
24:08 as squared away as possible.
24:10 And so they take me into where I'm speaking
24:12 and I'm trying to describe it.
24:13 It's this huge open room, gorgeous architecture,
24:18 like these pews that are set up.
24:19 Like I can't even like, you know,
24:21 I can't even begin to describe how big it is.
24:23 There's a stage in there where, you know,
24:25 different bands and speakers have performed in.
24:27 But I was like, I don't want to be on the stage.
24:28 I want to be on the floor.
24:30 And the floor, it kind of like ramps up towards the back.
24:33 And you know, I'm just standing there waiting.
24:35 I've got, you know, a couple of inmates behind me.
24:38 And then the inmates start filing in.
24:41 And so they come in and it's just dozens and dozens
24:44 and dozens of these inmates.
24:46 Again, they weren't forced to come.
24:47 They got to choose whether or not to come hear me speak.
24:50 And they kind of spread out,
24:51 but a lot of people came and sat down at the front.
24:54 I introduced myself to a ton of them.
24:56 I wanted to kind of interact with them a little bit.
24:58 And you know, it's kind of like take a little bit of that,
25:00 sting out of it.
25:01 Like, look, I'm not any different than you.
25:03 Like let's just, let's just talk, we're just people.
25:05 And then I gave my speech or my sermon, if you will.
25:09 And it was the same one, at least in terms of the notes I had
25:14 as the one I delivered earlier in the day.
25:16 But everything was elevated, everything was.
25:19 The feeling in the room, the excitement, my nervousness,
25:25 but it wasn't like nervous, like,
25:26 oh my gosh, what's gonna happen?
25:27 But like, just like, hey, you got this,
25:30 but don't mess it up, you idiot.
25:32 Like it was one of those types of things.
25:34 And so I deliver this, I'm getting,
25:38 I'm not getting a whole lot of feedback though,
25:39 inside the prison, which is the opposite of what I thought.
25:42 I thought the dudes at the camp were gonna be more subdued
25:44 and the guys inside were gonna be a little bit more,
25:46 like animated, but it was the exact opposite.
25:48 But same thing comes at the end.
25:51 I talk about the gospel.
25:53 I present the gospel as if they had never heard it
25:55 because you can ever assume that everyone in the room
25:57 has heard it the same way that it would be presented by you.
26:01 And then I say, if you think this counts for you,
26:04 and this is the first time you're making that decision,
26:05 stand up.
26:07 Probably a couple of dozen guys stand up.
26:11 So for the day, we're at about three dozen people
26:14 that are responding to the gospel message.
26:16 And in hindsight, this is kind of funny
26:19 because all of the guards are in the back.
26:23 So it just look at it.
26:24 There's a stage behind me with two inmates behind me
26:27 helping with the PA system.
26:29 There's me on the floor.
26:31 There's lots and lots of inmates, right?
26:34 And rows and rows and rows and rows and rows of pews.
26:37 And then at the very back, there's like three guards.
26:40 So from a security standpoint,
26:42 probably not the greatest set up for me,
26:44 but I wasn't worried about me at all.
26:46 And I say at this point,
26:49 we had all these guys respond to the gospel.
26:51 I say, you guys come up here and get around me.
26:55 Like get gathered up around me,
26:57 which is weird because again,
26:59 murderers, rapists, pedophiles, rough dudes.
27:02 And so they come up and they gather around me.
27:05 And then all the guys sitting down, I was like,
27:06 you know what, these are your brothers.
27:08 Come on up here and lay hands on these guys,
27:11 not like put hands on it, but like, hey,
27:13 we're just gonna lay hands on somebody,
27:14 make sure you're touching somebody and I'm gonna pray.
27:16 Again, nothing magical about the prayer.
27:18 And so I do that.
27:20 I pray and it was,
27:22 I remember in the moment being like,
27:24 it was almost like it wasn't me talking,
27:26 which is weird to say.
27:27 It's almost like, ah, you're being extra poetic.
27:29 But it's like, it was literally like
27:31 the Holy Spirit was speaking through me.
27:33 Like I wasn't even thinking of the words
27:34 that I was gonna say.
27:35 Just kind of like, just coming out of my mouth, right?
27:38 So I say this prayer and we're done.
27:40 And this is a very regimented, right?
27:43 This isn't like the camp where the guys can kind of hang around
27:45 and do whatever they want to do.
27:46 These guys were on a time limit, right?
27:48 They needed to go back.
27:49 And so I think I answered one or two questions
27:51 and then the guys like literally had to balance.
27:53 They had to get out of there.
27:54 And it was just such an overwhelming feeling
27:59 that I went there to give a speech.
28:04 The speeches turned into preaches, right?
28:08 Or preaching, if you will.
28:09 And to have about three dozen guys,
28:13 prisoners, inmates, respond to the gospel call,
28:17 which just overwhelming.
28:19 It was such a unique feeling.
28:22 I literally feel like I kind of, you know,
28:25 ringed or wrung myself out on the proper verb tense
28:28 for these guys while I was there.
28:30 It was like, I'm going to give them everything I've got.
28:34 And I did.
28:35 And, you know, we walk out of there.
28:38 Excuse me.
28:42 Chaplain was very happy with how everything went.
28:45 The, you know, I was happy with how things went.
28:49 We get out of there, it's raining.
28:50 You know, we get out of there.
28:51 We go get some food and I go back to my hotel room
28:53 and it's like, okay, let's go to sleep.
28:55 You know, got to wake up in tomorrow
28:56 and, you know, do it all over again for a group of guys.
28:59 And I wake up the next morning, super sick.
29:03 So that was kind of, I guess the front end
29:05 of what I'm dealing with now, a strap
29:06 and all kinds of other things.
29:08 And so what I was supposed to do
29:10 is I was supposed to go to this venue
29:11 where they're doing this men's event
29:12 that they've been planning for months and months and months
29:14 put a bunch of effort into it.
29:16 And I was supposed to interact with a bunch of people, right?
29:18 Interact with the guys, interact with their families,
29:20 kind of just hang out, be around for a few hours, you know,
29:23 be around for the lunch.
29:24 They, they, you know, smoked up a couple of whole pigs
29:27 and, you know, it was just gonna be a whole whole deal.
29:30 And I just messaged the guy at the morning.
29:32 I was like, look, dude, I feel awful.
29:36 And my voice is like destroyed,
29:37 not just from speaking twice the day before
29:39 and all the other speaking I did,
29:41 but like something's going all with my throat.
29:43 Like I need y'all to pick me up like just in time
29:46 to get me to the venue in time to speak.
29:48 Like that's, that's how bad I feel.
29:50 And so he's like, absolutely.
29:51 And you know, I just kind of rest there in the hotel.
29:55 I try to get some fluids and just try to get a little bit.
29:58 And, you know, I take a shower, I get dressed,
30:00 I assume I'll feel better, you know, after I get food
30:02 and a little bit of an energy drink
30:04 and different things like that.
30:05 But I'm still wiped.
30:07 No energy.
30:08 I've got no pep and it's like, dude, whenever I speak,
30:11 especially when I speak live, like I try to do a lot
30:13 of things off the top of the head.
30:14 I try to be, you know, funny and interact with the crowd.
30:16 And I'm feeling none of that right now.
30:18 And out of nowhere, I think about one of my main Jiu Jitsu
30:22 coaches is named Livingston.
30:24 And so he's one of our black belts.
30:25 He's also done a lot of fighting and different things like that.
30:28 And for whatever reason, I'm like, call Livingston
30:32 and have him give you a pep talk.
30:35 And this is a really busy guy.
30:36 He does a lot of traveling on the weekends.
30:38 And so I'm like, ah, I'm gonna call him.
30:38 He's not gonna answer.
30:39 And what do you know, two rings in?
30:41 Hey man, what's up?
30:42 And so I, I very calmly and a very calm voice.
30:44 I go, hey man, I'm really sick.
30:48 I woke up sick, but I'm here in Pennsylvania.
30:50 I've already done two speeches.
30:51 I have one more to go, but I got nothing in the tank.
30:55 And that night was the night that John Jones
30:57 was gonna be fighting Sir O'Gone for the heavyweight title.
30:59 And I was like, so I need two things from you, Livingston.
31:01 Number one, I need you to tell me
31:02 who you think is gonna win the championship fight.
31:05 And number two, I need you to like be my MMA coach.
31:08 I need you to get me fired up.
31:10 I need you to like, you know, get me ready
31:11 for what I'm about to go do.
31:13 And so he just immediately starts telling me why he thinks,
31:16 you know, John Jones is gonna win the fight,
31:18 but you know, some things are all gone, it's probably gonna do.
31:21 And then he flipped a switch and turned into an MMA coach.
31:24 And I can't remember exactly what he said.
31:28 I can't, but all I remember is sitting there
31:31 in the chair in this hotel room,
31:33 and being like, oh, you know, kind of just slumped over
31:36 like not feeling well.
31:37 And as soon as he went into MMA coach mode,
31:40 I start like, yeah, yeah.
31:43 Like I'm like, you know, pat on the floor, pat my legs.
31:46 He legitimately got me all fired up.
31:48 And he was basically like, you're out there to do a job.
31:50 And that's exactly what you're going to go to.
31:52 Go out, you've got a calling from God, make it happen.
31:55 And I was like trying not to like yell,
31:57 but as soon as he was done, I go,
31:59 that's exactly what I needed.
32:00 Thank you very much.
32:01 I'll talk to you later.
32:02 And then he just hung up and moved on with his day.
32:04 And so I'm feeling a little bit better.
32:06 I get picked up, I go out to the venue
32:08 and I get to interact with the guys.
32:09 The thing that was odd about this event that I found is like,
32:11 from the moment I walked in, it was like,
32:14 I think I finally got to feel like what it felt like
32:15 whenever you're like the hottest girl at prom
32:18 and like everybody's looking at you
32:19 when you walk in the room, that's kind of what I felt like.
32:21 I was like, okay, here I am, I'm wearing all black.
32:23 Like I normally do when I speak.
32:24 And it was like, everyone's looking at me like,
32:26 oh, is that the guy?
32:27 And so that was kind of funny.
32:28 But I introduced myself to a bunch of people
32:30 and we had a good time.
32:32 Now, one of the things they did to help raise money
32:33 for the event was to do a gun raffle.
32:36 And it's really funny, they bought me a ticket
32:38 for the gun raffle like months before.
32:40 And I remember telling them, I was like, yeah, you know,
32:41 I want to get a new 300 win mag or a six, five creed more
32:44 and different things like that.
32:46 And wouldn't you know it, I won the raffle
32:48 for a six, five creed more?
32:50 Like in the whole time, I'm like, surely not.
32:53 Like please don't let me win.
32:55 Like they're doing this like slow lowering of the numbers
32:58 like to where it's like, all right, everybody's standing up
33:00 and then they slowly have people be eliminated
33:01 and it sit down and I'm like, oh my gosh,
33:03 I'm about to win this thing.
33:04 They're going to boo me out of here.
33:05 Like they're going to string me up outside.
33:08 Like you can't be the speaker, you know,
33:10 the center of attention and when one of the guns
33:13 that is going to be given out.
33:14 And so here I am, I win this firearm.
33:17 And I'm like, as I'm walking up there, they're all laughing,
33:19 but I'm like booing myself, throwing two thumbs down
33:21 and all that.
33:22 So that was a cool thing.
33:23 So that'll hopefully get to me before too long.
33:25 But then I get up there and I deliver a speech to those guys
33:29 or you can call it a sermon different than the one
33:31 that was in the prison, some similar elements,
33:33 but again, talking about the masculinity of Christ.
33:36 And I'm getting a lot of responses.
33:37 You know, this is a Christian crowd, a male Christian crowd
33:42 and they were really responding when I was talking
33:43 about the feminization of the church,
33:46 how Jesus is presented in a very effeminate way
33:49 in artwork and music and those things.
33:51 And then at the end, I'm like, okay,
33:54 I'm going to do a gospel call again.
33:56 Because even though you're purportedly
33:58 in a room full of Christians,
33:59 you never know who you're talking to, okay?
34:03 And so I do a gospel call and three guys
34:05 respond to the gospel for the first time.
34:08 Varying ages as well.
34:11 And so I had those guys come up,
34:14 had everybody else in the room gather around them
34:15 and we prayed for them.
34:16 Again, nothing magical about the prayer.
34:18 And that was a really cool moment.
34:20 But I can tell you, as soon as I was done praying
34:25 for those guys, I was like done, done.
34:27 It was like every last bit of energy that, you know,
34:29 I had in my system or that Livingston got me fired up for
34:32 beer, like powered down, big time.
34:35 And so I'm looking at my watch and it's about time
34:38 to get out of there because I had to get to the airport.
34:41 And, you know, I'm doing a little bit interactions,
34:43 but ultimately I get to the airport, I travel home.
34:46 And there was a little bit of delays.
34:48 I had to stay one extra day in Chicago,
34:50 but I eventually got home.
34:52 And so it was such an unbelievable experience.
34:54 I'm very thankful for my time out there in Pennsylvania.
34:58 And specifically, I do want to give some thank yous out.
35:01 Again, I don't know what types of names I can use,
35:03 but to Chaplain Wallace and to his wife.
35:05 Thank you all very much for being such gracious host
35:08 to me while I was out there.
35:09 Chaplain Wallace, you obviously put a lot of time
35:12 and effort into the event and a lot of thought
35:15 into what would go down and that was evident.
35:17 So I'm very, very thankful for y'all.
35:19 Also to everyone that helped with the men's event.
35:22 There were people that were, you know,
35:23 driving Miss Daisy, they were driving me around.
35:25 Making sure I got to where I needed to go.
35:28 The guys that, you know, there were people that drove in
35:30 from like Ohio just to come hear me speak in Pennsylvania.
35:33 So like getting the word out and all the marketing
35:35 that was done in that area was great.
35:37 To everyone that helped with the prism
35:39 that walked me around and showed me different things,
35:41 people that checked me in and out,
35:43 people that kept us safe and made sure
35:44 we were all squared away.
35:45 Thank you so much to them.
35:47 To the inmates of Lewisburg camp.
35:49 So thankful for you guys.
35:51 I hope that I can connect with you guys
35:53 in a different context down the road.
35:55 Also to the inmates of the big house, inside the walls.
35:58 I hope to see you guys again.
36:01 'Cause I know for a lot of you guys,
36:03 you know, the two guys that were helping with the PA system,
36:05 both of them were on like 20 year terms or sentences,
36:08 I guess you could say.
36:09 And you know, they've got like seven, eight years left.
36:12 And they're talking about it, hopefully like, yeah, you know,
36:14 seven or eight more years and we're out of here.
36:16 And it's like, man, that's two undergraduate degrees,
36:19 you know what I mean?
36:20 And they're talking about it like, hey, we're almost there.
36:23 I hope to see you all again.
36:24 Hope that's not the last time I'm out there
36:26 to speak in Lewisburg.
36:27 I would certainly accept an invitation to do that again.
36:29 So if y'all will have me, I'll certainly do that.
36:32 But before we get out of here,
36:33 I do want to kind of give some of my overall thoughts about this,
36:37 but also, you know, bring some things out in scripture
36:40 that I noticed.
36:41 But again, I definitely want to go back speak at Lewisburg.
36:44 I would love to speak at more prisons.
36:46 So I don't think undaunted life is going to shift
36:48 to be a prison ministry necessarily.
36:51 But this podcast can be listened to and viewed
36:56 by just about anybody in the world,
36:58 but I don't think there's really any way for the guys
37:00 in the prisons to hear any of this message.
37:02 So they can't just go to YouTube and watch this.
37:04 They can't just go to Apple Podcast on their phone
37:06 and check me out.
37:08 So being able to take this message directly to them
37:10 is something I'd certainly like to do more of.
37:12 And so interested in doing that,
37:14 so for guys that have connections
37:17 to federal penitentiaries or prisons,
37:19 you know, what these guys did is like,
37:21 okay, they brought me out to speak at the prison,
37:23 but then, you know, I was able to be paid
37:25 through a men's event kind of a deal.
37:26 So there are different ways to do this
37:28 that I think would be very, very interesting.
37:30 And what's funny about this situation
37:32 is just kind of another overall thought.
37:34 Sometimes you just have to say yes,
37:36 and then you have to ask yourself,
37:38 so what's the question?
37:39 Or ask the people, you know, you're talking to,
37:41 so what's the question?
37:43 Because I said yes to the opportunity of speaking
37:46 in the prison before we figured out any of the logistics.
37:49 Before I knew how many times I was going to be talking,
37:53 before I knew the types of guys I was going to be talking to,
37:56 before I knew really anything, I just said yes,
37:59 'cause it just felt like God was saying,
38:01 you need to do this.
38:02 And I was like, all right, yes, Lord, let's figure it out.
38:05 But as I was reflecting on my time there at Lewisburg,
38:09 I was reminded of a couple of things from scripture
38:11 that involved Paul and also involved in prison.
38:13 So there's one time in Paul's life,
38:17 so he's in prison and he's writing a letter to Timothy.
38:20 And so he wrote, he wrote two letters,
38:21 so that's first and second Timothy.
38:23 And I would consider Paul to be,
38:24 excuse me, guys, I know that's annoying.
38:28 I would consider Paul to be a very, very manly man
38:30 for a myriad of reasons.
38:32 But I especially think it's because of how he
38:34 comported himself at the beginning of his second letter
38:37 to his people Timothy.
38:39 So at the time of him writing that second letter,
38:41 Paul is languishing in a Roman prison.
38:43 This is likely a second stint in a Roman prison.
38:46 And he's awaiting his coming execution.
38:48 He does not assume that he is ever going to see
38:50 the outside of this Roman prison.
38:52 So Paul is absolutely up against it,
38:56 spiritually, mentally and physically.
38:58 We always talk about spiritual, mental and physical resilience.
39:00 So spiritually, he knows his execution and death are imminent.
39:04 And for a lot of people, you know,
39:05 perhaps you've noticed this with people in your life
39:06 that were, excuse me, their death was coming
39:11 and they knew their death was coming,
39:14 maybe they were terminal.
39:16 Those people get very, very spiritual
39:18 because they know that there's something on the other side
39:21 and that they need to reckon
39:22 with what exactly that's going to look like for them.
39:25 Mentally, in his letter, you know,
39:27 Paul talks about how several of his supporters
39:29 had abandoned him during this time.
39:30 So imagine being like the guy, you know, Paul, the apostle,
39:33 and then now you're in prison and all your supporters go away.
39:36 Had to be very, very mentally taxing.
39:38 And physically, I mean, he's in an ancient Roman prison.
39:41 Those things weren't exactly known
39:42 for their spa-like qualities, right?
39:45 And at this point, he had been flogged multiple times,
39:48 beaten multiple times, shipwrecked, snakebit,
39:50 like the whole gamut, right?
39:52 So Paul is going through spiritual, mental and physical anguish.
39:57 But then he still manages to show resilience
39:59 to share this unbelievably beautiful message
40:02 with his people, Timothy.
40:03 And specifically, I'm talking about second Timothy one
40:06 versus one through 14, but just to kind of conserve
40:09 my voice, I'll read verses 12 through 14 here.
40:12 But I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed
40:15 and I am convinced that he is able to guard
40:17 until that day what has been entrusted to me.
40:19 Follow the pattern of the sound words
40:21 that you have heard from me in the faith
40:23 and love that are in Christ Jesus.
40:25 And by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us,
40:28 guard the good deposit and trust to you.
40:29 So again, he's languishing in prison,
40:33 knowing he's about to be executed
40:34 and knowing that his supporters are not there for him anymore.
40:37 And he writes that.
40:38 I gotta be honest, I'm a very pessimistic guy.
40:42 And when things aren't going well, I lament.
40:44 And I'm like, "Oh, this sucks.
40:45 "No, no, what I've done deserves this blah, blah."
40:48 And I start to sound really weak in those moments.
40:51 But look at that resilience.
40:53 Look at that resolve.
40:56 But also we see in the book of Acts
40:58 about Paul and Silas being in prison.
41:01 So I'm gonna read from Acts 16 and I'll start in verse 23.
41:05 But just to set it up, they were mobbed, Paul and Silas.
41:09 They were mobbed for preaching the gospel, Jesus Christ.
41:12 They were stripped, they were beaten.
41:14 They were beaten with wooden rods apparently very, very severely.
41:16 And then they're just kind of tossed in prison.
41:18 So Acts 16 starting in verse 23.
41:23 The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape.
41:26 So the jailer put them in the inner dungeon
41:28 and clamped their feet in stocks.
41:30 Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying
41:32 and singing hymns to God
41:33 and the other prisoners were listening.
41:35 Suddenly there was a massive earthquake
41:37 and the prison was shaken to its foundation.
41:39 All the doors immediately flew open
41:41 and the chains of every prisoner fell off.
41:43 The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open.
41:46 He assumed the prisoners had escaped
41:49 so he drew his sword to kill himself.
41:51 But Paul shouted to him, "Stop.
41:53 Don't kill yourself.
41:54 We are all here."
41:56 The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon
41:58 and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
42:00 Then he brought them out and asked,
42:02 "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
42:05 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus
42:07 and you will be saved along with everyone in your household."
42:10 And they shared the word of the Lord with him
42:13 and with all who lived in his household.
42:15 Even at that hour of night,
42:16 the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds.
42:19 Then he and everyone in his household
42:21 were immediately baptized.
42:23 He brought them into his house and set a meal before them
42:26 and he and his entire household rejoiced
42:28 because they all believed in God.
42:29 So I'm gonna go back to the main message
42:35 that I gave to the men that were in prison.
42:38 Because again, I wasn't getting a lot of response.
42:41 You know, there's not amends
42:42 and it wasn't a crazy charismatic experience.
42:46 But there was one specific quote
42:48 that I got directly from Phil Roberts
42:50 and I still have the notes sitting here right in front of me
42:52 'cause this is something that he said
42:54 when he's presented in prison.
42:56 And you know, he spoke to me for 10, 15 minutes
42:57 and then he goes, "Kyle, here's the point.
42:59 And this is what you need to tell these guys."
43:02 And so I just basically parroted it directly to these men.
43:05 I told them, "You can be under lock and key,
43:10 but you can still be free."
43:13 And in the three presentations I did when I was out there,
43:18 but especially in the prisons, inside the prison.
43:23 That, it was like, it got everyone woken up.
43:27 That's where you got amends.
43:28 That's where you got the, "Ugh, you can be under lock and key,
43:32 but you can still be free."
43:33 Because I told these men that they had crossed
43:39 the lines of man and certain lines that they had crossed
43:44 came with laws and came with punishments
43:47 and that's why they were in there.
43:48 That's why they were assigned a number
43:52 and assigned to a cell because they crossed the laws of man.
43:55 But I told these men that all of us have crossed
44:00 the lines of God, all of us.
44:03 All of us have fallen short of the glory of God,
44:07 all in all means all.
44:10 So I told these men, there is no difference between you and I.
44:13 In terms of the lines that we've crossed
44:16 that God set forth, we've crossed different lines of man
44:19 but the same lines of God.
44:21 And we must have an intercessor between us and the Father
44:26 for us to be made holy and righteous.
44:29 And so God sent his own son here to him who knew no sin,
44:34 made him to be sin so that we would have
44:37 the righteousness of God, us.
44:39 And that's the sacrifice that counts.
44:43 Not where you reside on this planet,
44:46 geographically inside or geographically outside of prison.
44:50 What matters is where you put your trust
44:52 and where you find your identity.
44:54 And I put my trust in the sacrifice of Jesus,
44:58 a real person that was also part of the triune God
45:03 that was sent here to die
45:06 so that I would have a way to get to the Father.
45:08 And I said, if you put your faith in that,
45:13 you will be saved.
45:14 And if you don't, you will not.
45:18 And that's it.
45:19 You can be under lock and key, but you can still be free.
45:23 You can be freer than any of these people
45:25 walking around outside these doors, if you have Christ.
45:29 And so that's what I told them.
45:31 And that's what they responded to.
45:33 And I'm gonna tell the same thing to you.
45:35 To someone listening to this right now,
45:38 of which there are many, some of you,
45:42 for the first time are feeling like,
45:44 the sacrifice of Jesus, you knew the story.
45:46 You've heard this stuff before.
45:47 Oh yeah, you know, Middle Eastern Jew, you know,
45:49 was arrested and then beaten and flogged.
45:51 And then he was killed on a Roman cross.
45:54 He was crucified and then he was dead
45:56 and he was buried and supposedly he woke up
45:58 and he was resurrected and all these different things.
46:01 But for the first time in your life, for whatever reason,
46:04 you feel like that counted for you.
46:06 That somehow, you can't explain it.
46:09 You don't have a theological degree to explain it in detail,
46:13 but you think that that counted for you.
46:16 That when Jesus was sent here by God
46:18 to die for the sins of humanity,
46:20 that that counted for you.
46:22 And you wanna put your faith in that today.
46:25 And I would tell you, wherever you are right now,
46:28 unless you're driving, don't be dangerous.
46:30 But if that's you, I want you to stand up.
46:32 I want you to stand up.
46:35 I want you to respond to the call of Christ.
46:37 I want you to respond to the gospel
46:39 because that's the good news.
46:41 You are depraved.
46:42 You have no way that you could possibly be good enough
46:47 to be before the Father who cannot have sinned and is present.
46:50 And so Jesus died for you.
46:52 So if that's you, we're not gonna do a prayer
46:55 'cause again, there's nothing magical about a prayer,
46:57 but I do want you to reach out to me.
46:58 Info@Undaunted.life is our email.
47:01 Info@Undaunted.life where you can DM us on Facebook
47:04 or Instagram or something like that.
47:06 I wanna talk to you.
47:07 Wherever you're at, I wanna see if I can help get you
47:09 plugged in at a church.
47:10 I want you to start your discipleship journey.
47:12 If you can't get a Bible,
47:14 we wanna make sure we get one of those in your hands as well.
47:17 But I want you guys to respond to the gospel.
47:19 And to those of you that are already Christians
47:21 listening to this right now,
47:23 I want you to remember that evangelism is required of you.
47:26 You need to share the good news of what Christ has done
47:29 in your life and the good news of the gospel
47:31 and a full gospel.
47:33 Not, you know, Jesus is okay with everything.
47:35 And he came to dialing for certain people
47:36 or for certain sins, no.
47:38 You are so depraved, you have no chance
47:41 of saving yourself.
47:43 And literally thank God that he sent Jesus in your place.
47:46 So, to those of you who have responded to the gospel today,
47:50 I'm so excited for you.
47:52 I wish I could show it more with my voice,
47:53 but I'm just trying to make it through the end here.
47:55 Please, please reach out to us.
47:57 We'd love to talk to you.
47:58 But but guys, before we let you go,
48:00 we are gonna do a quick resilience boost
48:01 at Undaunted Life.
48:02 Our mission is equipping men to push back darkness
48:04 with content that forages spiritual, mental,
48:06 and physical resilience.
48:07 So I've got a link to the Origin website, again, guys,
48:09 keys, jeans, boots, protein, energy, drink supplements,
48:12 all that is at the Origin main website.
48:14 Use the promo code undaunted to get 10% off your order.
48:17 I've got a link to where you can donate
48:18 to keep what we're doing here at Undaunted Life Alive.
48:20 And then I've got a link to the Undaunted Life Shop.
48:22 So at noon on Thursday, if you're listening to this,
48:25 that is Thursday the 9th of March,
48:27 you can check it out and get one of our new green hats.
48:29 Thank you guys for listening to this episode.
48:31 Wherever you're listening to this,
48:32 please subscribe, rate and leave us a positive five star view.
48:35 If you want to come speak live at your event
48:36 or on your podcast, you should me an email
48:38 to info@undaunted.life.
48:40 That's i-n-f-o @undaunted.life.
48:42 Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook
48:44 and check out our website for everything else,
48:45 including how to donate to keep more content
48:47 like this coming your way.
48:48 Just go to www.undaunted.life.
48:51 And as always, we want to thank the band August Burns Red
48:53 for allowing us to use their music for our content.
48:55 The music on this podcast is our song "Cutting the Tides,"
48:58 which is off their 10th anniversary re-recording
49:00 of their album leveler.
49:01 The links are in the description.
49:03 I'm your host, Kyle Thompson.
49:05 Remember, keep pushing back darkness,
49:07 keep forging spiritual, mental and physical resilience,
49:11 keep seeking the lion of Judah.
49:13 (upbeat music)
49:35 (upbeat music)
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You can be under lock and key, but you can still be free.
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