Think You’re Disqualified? From Gang Life to God’s Call with Roosevelt Sargent

Think your past disqualifies you? This episode will challenge that lie. Roosevelt Sargent opens up about leaving gang life, becoming a teenage father, and walking through grief, addiction, and the kind of endurance that looks like crying in a bathroom stall, praying, and getting back up anyway. We talk imposter syndrome, learning to trust discernment, and how Roosevelt turned testimony into Christian rap, touring, and now mainstream storytelling through film and novels—evangelism for the unchurched that’s honest about struggle and relentless about grace. Plus: his REP Factor (Risk, Effort, Profit) decision tool to get unstuck and take your next step with God—while afraid.

Roosevelt's contact info:

Websites - rooseveltsargentspeaks.com & setfreenashville.com

Email - rsargent73@gmail.com

Roosevelt's books:

Victorious Underdog book trailer 

Victorious Underdog

Victorious Underdog: The Underdog's Devotional

🎙️Hope Unlocked Listener Exclusive! Feeling stirred but not sure what to do next? Book a 45-minute Holy Spirit-led 1:1 coaching session w/ Hope Unlocked host Kristin Kurtz, founder of New Wings Coaching. This powerful conversation will help you move from stirred to activated—with peace, clarity, & a Spirit-led next step. Book your call HERE now–special pricing to listeners!

Transcript

Welcome And Mission Of The Show

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Welcome to the Hope Unlock Podcast. I'm your host, Kristen Kurtz, and I'm also the founder of New Wings Coaching. I help and empower wild-hearted and adventurous women of faith feeling caged and stuck, unlock their true purpose and potential, break free from limitations, and thrive with confidence, courage, and hope. If you're curious to learn more about coaching with me, head to newwinkscoaching.net and be sure to explore the show notes for ways to connect with me further. Get ready to dive in as we uncover empowering keys and insights in this episode. So tune in and let's unlock hope together. Welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast. I'm Kristen Kurtz, your host. I pray this episode is like a holy IV of hope for your soul.

Meet Roosevelt: Early Life And Trauma

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Please help me welcome Roosevelt Sgt. I am thrilled to have him on here today. We had a chance to get to know each other a little bit more before we got started, but I actually like surprises. So I don't know the fullness of his story, to be honest with you. So I'm just anticipating hearing um more about his walk and how it will bring all of you hope and encouragement on your journey. So, Roosevelt, would you be open to sharing a little bit about yourself before we get into your story?

SPEAKER_04 1:23

Absolutely. Good morning, Christina. Thanks for having me here.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:28

Yeah. So I'm I'm a guy, Roosevelt Sergeant. I was born in Stockton, California, and I I grew up under very common circumstances when it comes to um people that live in the community that I came from. Um for example, I was a person who had two parents that were both in prison. Um I was raised by my gangster grandmother. Um I was involved in a murder at a very early age when I was 16 years old. I was a teenage parent, and I was a drug dealer and a gangbanger, and all the things that plagues the youth of inner city society. Um a hundred percent of everything that plagues the youth of society plagues poverty, homelessness, drugs, gangs, violence, the whole, the whole gambit.

A Scripture That Shattered The High

SPEAKER_04 2:28

Um I had a serious encounter with the Lord when I was about 17 years old. And um, I walked into a room, I was high as a kite, and an old lady asked me to read a scripture out of 1 Corinthians, and the scripture was speaking about how we are bought with a price, and we are not our own, you know, and the word jumped out of those pages and touched my soul in such a way that my high was lifted instantly. Wow, I did not give my life to the Lord that day, but I have not been the same since that day.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 3:11

That day I realized the word of God, these are not just pages in a book, but this is alive and it's real because I felt it.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Wow. Now, did you know this woman that came up to you to have you read the word?

SPEAKER_04 3:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Actually, I was um, I was walking into to meet my son for the first time. You know, he was just a little baby. He was he was about a week old, and I was meeting him. I had the story, we'll get into the story, but the story goes, I had I had was my second child was born while I was when I was 17. I was 17 already, had two kids by two different women. Like I'm telling you, I was I was going oh speeding to nowhere fast.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Wow, that's a word right there, right?

SPEAKER_04 3:52

Yeah, man. I'm telling you, and I not only was I was I plagued with losing circumstances, I made a whole bunch of bad decisions on top of it to compound my own life circumstances, you know. Um, but the power of God is just so real. What I've learned is that He He loves cases like me, He loves the worst case scenarios. This is where He does his best work, yeah, and once I dug into the Bible and started reading reading the stories and seeing what good company I'm in, I realized that this is actually his way. Yes, he always takes the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, he always takes the hard cases, the worst case scenarios, and does miracles in their lives and uses them for great things, right? So it's like and and and and even knowing that, don't we still still sometimes struggle with why me?

SPEAKER_00 4:45

You know, oh absolutely. I mean uh I I think we ask that question often, wouldn't don't you?

SPEAKER_04 4:53

All the time. I I I there's a there's something that I've that I've been introduced to, a new a term called imposter syndrome.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Oh, yeah, that's a whole thing right there.

SPEAKER_04 5:03

I struggle with that do you so much because because I just because I know how broken I am and I know the things that I that I've done in the past and the things that I struggle with, I know I'm forgiven, I know all is well, but it's one thing I I recognize is that my flesh never said yes to Jesus.

Imposter Syndrome And Daily Spiritual Battle

SPEAKER_04 5:21

So so my flesh is always gonna present the ungodly. And and and sometimes we can forget that um we can be focused on the cardinal sins, right? Lying, cheating, stealing, you know, murder, the the those things. We we I'm a good guy, I don't do any of those things, but then we're struggling with so many other things.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yes. Well, and wouldn't you say too, you know, a lot of that goes back to just the enemy is really coming at you with lies to even bring you back to those times in your life in the past where there is, you know, it's like re-accusation to put you on trial again.

unknown 5:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

So how do you how do you get through it through that?

SPEAKER_00 6:02

How do you get through it? Like on the daily, because I had I heard the statistic last week and I I knew that this is a whole thing, that um 80% of our thoughts are actually lies, like it's not even truth.

unknown 6:15

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

But so how does that resonate with you?

SPEAKER_04 6:19

I I I I gotta be honest with you and tell you that that is a that is something that I I have to fight.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:28

Because I'm an evangelist and I'm in a lot of um, I'm in the public square and in a lot of worldly places, I am always fighting those distractions constantly. Like if we are called to do this, we gotta know who we are and we gotta understand retreat and is is is something that should happen regularly.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Retreat, you said?

SPEAKER_04 6:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 6:52

We should get into a quiet place and get get and and and get rid of all the all the the the stink because when you're on the front line, you're on you're in the you're on the front line of a battle zone.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 7:03

So you're coming back home smelling like it. Yeah, and looking like it. Scrub off. Yeah, you got to get that off of you, man. And and and and and and if we're not careful, um, like you said, like I never heard that statistic, but it resonates with me because I'm always and what I've learned how to do is

Grief, Addiction, And Choosing Endurance

SPEAKER_04 7:23

keep putting one foot in front of the other. And in 20, in 2017, I like I've I recently um have been uh remarried, but in 2017, my previous wife passed away. Oh with her being sick and her on her way to to taking her last breath, I refused to believe that she would die because of all the other trauma that had I I had experienced in my life. And I even was I had a shouting match with God, and I was like, there is no way you are taking her from me after all that I've been through. We've been through so much together. Yes, we've conquered every demon, all the all the all the trauma that that you have allowed me to see in my life. It's just not possible that you can do this too. I'm not believing that because one man can't see so much, yeah, and it wasn't like I was demanding him to do it my way, I thought I was speaking hope and faith. Yeah, absolutely, and um eventually, you know, she did pass away, and in in the aftermath of that, I was so tore up.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:48

And and I was literally drunk, like literally, I went and got a bottle and got in it.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Yeah, and you hadn't had any for a long time prior to that. Right.

SPEAKER_04 8:57

I mean, I would the occasional glass of wine, you know, that type of thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Yeah, yeah. But no, I got inebriated.

SPEAKER_04 9:04

Yeah, I got drunk for I was drunk for six months.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Oh wow. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 9:09

Yeah. And um, and and and strangely enough, but this is the this is the to the God be the glory. In the middle of in the midst of that, the Lord woke me up. And it was just me and God. I wasn't going to people, I was just dealing with my pain. I didn't want to hurt anymore. So um the Lord snapped me out of it just like overnight. And he started showing me how addiction begins with an event. Um, before I knew it myself, I didn't know it. I'd I'd counseled people and ministered to people that have gone through grief and this and that, whatever, but I had no idea what it really was all about. You don't know a thing until you actually know a thing, exactly. Yes, you know, and um grief has physical attributes. I would thought I was dying. Many nights I laid down and I thought I'm not waking up. My heart is hurting so bad. I started having physical.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Wow, like from a broken heart.

SPEAKER_04 10:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, um, but what I learned how to do, and this is what I teach, and I'm I'm I'm dead on this.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:19

One foot in front of the other. Me putting it again.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Like literally, it's just it's so simple, but yet say it again.

SPEAKER_04 10:25

It's putting just putting one foot in front of the other is the secret sauce to life. Because you can do that in pain. Yeah, you can do that, doesn't matter how you feel, if you can function. So if you keep putting one foot in front of the other, you will get to the other side.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Yes. So, what did that look like for you? You know, it it sounds like he he woke you up from your stupor, and like he's like, Come on, boy, get up. It's time to move. So, what did it look like for you to get that one foot moving again?

SPEAKER_04 10:59

Oh, good question. I I did

Fighting Fear And Moving In Obedience

SPEAKER_04 11:03

it with the pain. So at first, I didn't want to hurt anymore. That was my focus.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

That was the main focus, was not hurting. So the the alcohol numbed it for you.

SPEAKER_04 11:12

Yeah, so that's where all of our addictions and all of our bad behavior comes from. We're just dealing with symptoms.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Yes, it's not root cause, right? It's not root cause.

SPEAKER_04 11:22

So when I decided I'm not going to focus on the pain anymore, I had to live with the pain. But I had to get to the other side of it. So, how do I do that? That means I get up and go to work in pain.

SPEAKER_02 11:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:36

And I'll take a break and go in the bathroom and cry, and I'll come back and go to work, and I'll pray and I'll push through it. See, the word teaches us that he who endures to the end will be saved.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04 11:48

So endurance is important. It's a it's a it's an attribute, it's a characteristic that we must understand.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 11:57

And if we don't want to understand it, God will put us through a situation that causes us to understand it. And so I have to understand how to operate in in the pain and not run from the pain.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

And wouldn't you say, like just even looking at that's our human nature is to run and hide from the pain.

SPEAKER_04 12:18

Absolutely, absolutely. And what we learned on the streets, fight or flight, right? So what I learned on the streets is I'm a coward if I run from this fight. So I'm gonna stand up, come hell or water, high water, uh uh win, lose, or draw. I'm putting up my fist, and we're about to fight. So I'm carrying that same attitude in the spiritual round.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

Yes, wow.

SPEAKER_04 12:41

This is happening, whether we want it or not. So I can't be afraid. And and guess what? Fear ain't always bad. Right, right. You know, it can help you understand that you you are in need of a savior.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Exactly, exactly. Yeah, right. You know, these things he calls us into, even like taking that first step. Like, did you have some fear in that? Even yes, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:08

I'm just obedience, right? I'm moving in obedience. The f there's a little fear there, but I'm doing it anyway.

SPEAKER_02 13:16

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:17

And God understands, you know, I'm I'm I'm not a superhero. I'm not gonna act like I'm never, but you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Well, do you have like a superhero? I always, you know, it's interesting I would ask this question, but for me, like I kind of have like a superhero that I think of, you know, when it comes to some of these things that he calls me into or from walking through some, you know, moments or seasons. Um, do you have like a superhero or even somebody that you look to? Um, you know, whether I don't know, even like in a movie, I know that might sound silly, but truly, like I I get really encouraged by like movies and you know, quote unquote superheroes and the underdogs.

SPEAKER_04 13:56

I love that. Me too. I I I I worked in the movie world and I it's kind of my language. I hear God speaking to me through lines in movies. Yes, you know, and I've never thought about what you're saying as far as a superhero goes, but I imagine all the time that I have angels flying all around me doing working overtime, keeping me alive and keeping me safe, you know. And it I literally am doing this while I'm driving down the street. I'm imagining there's angels all around my cars.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

That's beautiful.

SPEAKER_04 14:31

And so, um, and and the Holy Spirit, you know, I'm always talking to God. Like you might, if you drove by me, you could see me, my mouth visibly moving sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Yes. So are you what are you having a conversation with God typically?

Discernment, Seeing, And Spiritual Gifts

SPEAKER_04 14:48

Yeah, it is like so. In my in my mind, I feel like Jesus is riding shotgun, and and when things are happening, he's the superpower that's keeping me. Yeah, you know, and because I I I imagine that I'm stepping out into a war zone because we understand that that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, right? That the principalities, the powers of the air, there's things going on invisible all around us. So so in my mind, the unseen, I actually feel like I can see it.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

So you're like a seer in essence, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:24

And and and um and so there's there's movies going on in my head all the time.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:32

And I've never actually thought about a single superhero, but that's kind of how I see it.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

I love it. Well, maybe there's a movie that you could create out of these visions that you've um had, even I don't know, just saying.

SPEAKER_04 15:43

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Like I'm constantly, I I I kind of think in pictures and I'm always seeing like if I'm reading the Bible, it's like my brain is creating a movie. Um, so I've been thankful for you know, movies that are like well made or series that are well made that really actually bring things to life, right? Um, because I'm like, wow, just seeing things all the time. And you know, it's interesting, Roosevelt. I was talking to somebody recently, and you know, I was just saying something. I was like, Oh, I just see this, da da da da. And this person was like, What do you mean you see it? And this she said, Well, I don't like I don't see anything. I didn't know, I thought everybody saw things. Have you always been this way?

SPEAKER_04 16:31

I I have, but I didn't always understand it.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Right. So was it like unharnessed, maybe when you were younger? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:41

And it was yeah, I just thought I'm just this is life. This is I'm feeling something. And when I got, I would be before I became a Christian, I would see things, you know what I mean? Like I like when I was a very little boy, and we were we were visiting my father in prison, and we were coming down off of this mountain, and we were coming down off of a high mountain, and I looked down at the bottom of the mountain, and I want to say this was a quarter of a mile away, and I could see a car that was it was so far away, it was tiny, but I saw it, and I saw a city crashing into that car. Oh my gosh, and five minutes or three minutes later, we crashed into that car. Seriously, seriously, wow, and that's the first time it happened. I was such a little boy, I couldn't even barely explain it to my mom because they were all traumatized and all that stuff. Yeah, um, I'm talking, I was like five or six is you know, I was I was very, very young. I was trying to tell everybody I saw it coming, but you know, I don't know, people wasn't believing me, I guess. But when I got when I gave my life to the Lord, God would show me things about people and I would rebuke myself because I would think, why are you thinking that? You don't know that person. Um but then it would come to pass. Yeah, yeah, you know, and so and then I started learning about the gifts, and then I started realizing, okay, this is that this is a discernment that he's given me. Yes, yes, this is what the word talks about. So um I just started praying about the things that he was showing me because it took me a few years because I still didn't understand if it was me thinking or if it was God showing me something.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Okay. So you you would you say you definitely have like a high gift of discernment and prophetic as well?

SPEAKER_04 18:36

Not not so much as prophetic that that I can see, but just I can I'm a I can read people in scenarios and I can it's just like I know what's going on without people knowing.

SPEAKER_02 18:47

Okay, awesome.

SPEAKER_04 18:48

And I and I and I don't know, I don't know guy, I just don't know all the purposes. I just pray because I don't want to judge everybody all the time, but I know what's going on.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I have like I too have a very high gift of discernment, and I I think that you know, kind of going back to that word of unharnessed, like it it can go, it can go sideways if if we're not um you know bringing it to the Lord, of course, because there can be that, you know, the negative side can kind of come off as judgment, right? Right. Um, but I I think it's a beautiful gift. It it I think it helps us avoid landmines.

SPEAKER_04 19:29

Definitely. That's exactly what I was about to say.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

What did you say?

SPEAKER_04 19:32

I was about to say the same thing. It keeps us it keeps us safe. It's a it's it's a guidance tool for me because we're I'm walking around in the wilderness regularly.

SPEAKER_02 19:41

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:42

So I need to know what's what by way of God, other than by what you're telling me.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

Yes.

Walking Out Of Gang Life By Faith

SPEAKER_00 19:48

Well, I wanna like I really want to capture you, you mentioned you've you've done um work, you know, with movies, and I heard you say you're an evangelist. And so you you come out of this um really in essence, like a dangerous um life that you you were literally saved from. Um, what did it look like for you to kind of there there's obviously a process in between, you know, from then to now. What did that look like for you to really start um you know stepping into who you are now and and really grabbing onto your God-given identity?

SPEAKER_04 20:28

It was really about me just um just being bold enough to step away. First of all, God was giving me the the inclination, the it was happening inside of me. Things were happening, things were changing inside of me that I couldn't explain. But I've never been the type of dude that'll just do things because it's cool to do. So um, I just felt God so real that I felt like I should obey. I felt the power and and and so I followed it. I just followed the power, and I believe this is the same thing when Jesus walked, He He did miracles to make believers. You know, he to you know, in a lot of ways, he was showing himself, showing who he was, yeah, you know, and and in me personally, it's the same thing. He did he did so much for me and made me realize, okay, this is real, I'm gonna follow it. Yeah, and so at first I would go hang out on the block with my homeboys and not say anything. Okay, but they knew I would that had that had just come from church. They were like, Oh, Rose going to church now.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

Did they give you a hard time about that?

SPEAKER_04 21:44

Yeah, a little bit, a little bit, a little, a little playful banter, but nothing too serious. So, in in the gang world, it's called blood in, blood out.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 21:54

That means you gotta come in through some violence, and there's only one way out, and that is. Through violence or death. Right?

SPEAKER_02 22:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 22:04

And it's this, it's it doesn't change, but we just say blood in, blood out, but now it's the blood of Jesus that gets us out of it.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 22:14

I know so many gangbangers and so many ex uh gangsters that have sworn to a gang that have walked out because of the blood of Jesus with no consequence.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Wow. So what did that look like for you?

SPEAKER_04 22:26

Same thing. I just walked out. I told people I'm giving my life to Christ. We get a pass for that.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

You get a pass for that. We get a pass for that. In some cases. They get it.

SPEAKER_04 22:36

Yeah, they get it because we're always God-fearing people.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:40

You know, um, I don't know. The black community relies hard on faith.

SPEAKER_03 22:45

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 22:46

So even when we were gangsters and and living foul, we would be driving down the street with playing our loud music, but we would turn it down when we got passed by the church. You know what I mean? We were hardcore sinners with with morals, if you will. You know?

Calling, Creativity, And Early Seeds

SPEAKER_02 23:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:03

In fact, I robbed a church. You robbed a church. I completely robbed a church when I was about 16 years old. And I I was with a group of about eight dudes that were all like, we were all robbers and things, bad guys.

SPEAKER_02 23:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:20

We we found we were walking by a church one night and I saw a crack in the back door, and I said, We gotta go in there. Nobody's in there. And um, when I opened up the door and I turned around, I was by myself. And my friends, my friends were standing in the distance, and they were saying, You crazy, we are not going in that church.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

Wow. So you went in on your own?

SPEAKER_04 23:43

Yeah, I went in by myself.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Like I'm on a mission here.

SPEAKER_04 23:46

Yeah, I came out with a bunch of goods and we sold them and did whatever. But the guys, they they they they dubbed me as the guy that was going to hell because of because of what I did. And and to my knowledge, I'm the only one that became a preacher.

SPEAKER_00 23:59

Wow. So like did they grow up in church? Did you go to church when you were a kid or anything?

SPEAKER_04 24:04

That no, I went to church on Easter.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Easter, like the creasters, the Christmas, Easters?

SPEAKER_04 24:10

Christmas and Easter. That was it. But we had, you know, I had knowledge in my family. You know, I believe I'm a result of my praying, praying grandparents. My great-grandfather was a preacher, and he built he built a church in my hometown, Stockton, with his hands, you know.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_04 24:27

So it's in your blood. It's in the blood, and and it was prophesied to my mother when I was two years old that I would preach the gospel.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

Really?

SPEAKER_04 24:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Oh, it's beautiful. So, what was what was the outcome of you robbing the church? Was did anybody know, or did did you just get away like Scott?

SPEAKER_04 24:44

Oh, I got away with it. No, nobody ever knew. But here's the outcome: God got me. They said he would get me. He said he did it his way. And now I'm a prisoner of the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

I love that. A prisoner of the Lord, is that a book title? It can be. I'm I'm thinking.

SPEAKER_04 25:02

Hey, I know you're an ideal woman because you keep hitting me with these.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

I I see things. I people say words and then I see it, and I'm like, wow. I mean, it's almost like um this is what I'm seeing. It's like what do you call it when a bunch of people write, like they take like a chapter of a book and it's like testimonials from different people. So it's almost like this book of, you know, you said you know the gangbangers who've come out of it taking their stories and putting it together. Is it called an anthology? I don't know. Is that what it's called? Testimony. We we need some more of these testimonies um to give hope to these, you know, young kids that um, you know, I just I I didn't grow up in the same, you know, life that you did, but I did grow up in a life that was haywire in a different way. And um testimonials break chains, right?

SPEAKER_04 25:59

Absolutely, man. And and and uh another thing I love to share is that you know, they used to tell us when we were kids, you can do anything you put your mind to. I always thought that was corny. I never subscribed to that. It it it sounded like an after-school commercial, just say no, like whatever.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

Yeah, like this is your brain on drugs, right?

SPEAKER_04 26:20

Get out of here. However, what I have learned is that is the entire truth in Christ. Like, like, for example, I was a young boy, and I and I want to I want everybody that that is aspiring to do anything to understand that it is the entire truth. You can do whatever you put your mind to, especially if it be God's will and if you put God first, right?

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Say that again. We gotta stop. Like, pause, rewind, say it again.

SPEAKER_04 26:50

You can do anything you put your mind to. If you're aspiring to do something, you should know that it is the entire truth, especially if you're in Christ. If you put Jesus first, you can do all things. Yeah, once you realize it's in the will of God, God give God is He gives you the green light, man. I'm I'm here for it. I'm I've produced so many things as a young boy. I was glued to television. Yeah, I I I would watch, um, I remember when MTV first started. Uh I remember that too.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Yeah, I was watching that all day.

SPEAKER_04 27:29

All day, right? Yeah, and and there wasn't any, I was

From Rap To Film: Vision And Legacy

SPEAKER_04 27:33

into hip hop and things like that. There was no hip hop. I learned, I got an entire music education from MTV, and that was rock. I I'm a guy, I'm a hip hopper from from the hood, but I love like I know Journey, you know what I mean? I know I know I know Queen and Metallica and all these old, it's all from MTV, but I would watch it for hours and catch one Michael Jackson video.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

Really?

SPEAKER_04 28:01

Yeah, and and then I or Prince video or something like that, but it it evolved and to turn into everything. But when it first started, it didn't include all genres of music. Yes, that's true. I but I still loved it. I was glued to television, I was glued to movies and different things like that, and I literally saw myself being a part of this world. I had no idea how, when, where, what. I had no clue. I love that. And and fast forward when I'm in the fifth grade, we do a there's a book writing contest where we have to write the story and create the book. It was like an art project. We bind it together and all that stuff. I made up a total, completely fiction story and called it my family. And it was really the dream of what I wanted my family to be.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04 28:53

Do you still have this book? I do not have the book. Okay, I won the contest.

SPEAKER_00 28:59

You did?

SPEAKER_04 29:00

Yeah, I had no idea I would be a writer. I had no idea what my trajectory would be from there. I was in the fifth grade, it was just a thing.

unknown 29:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 29:10

Um, later on, a few years later, I'm in mid in a junior high school. Now I'm in a I start rapping in a rap group.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:20

So now I'm writing every day. And I'm not knowing that writing these songs is gonna turn into writing stories and writing scripts. You know what I mean? I I I've I became a produced rap artist. I'm one of the uh pioneering Christian rap artists. I was in a group called Christide, and you know, we toured extensively all around the country sharing the gospel message, sharing our testimony through these rap songs. Wow, um, it was just a crazy thing. I was I was even able to produce the first Christian rap group to ever stand on the Soul Train stage.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

If you remember Soul Train, I remember Soul Train. I watch Soul Train all the time.

The Trojan Horse Of Evangelism In Media

SPEAKER_04 30:02

Yes, so God what God's plan for your life, people, He He will do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think. And and and what that literally means is if you can think it and you can believe it, he is ready and willing to do far beyond that. Yes, and I'm not here, I'm not about prosperity preaching, none of that. I'm just talking about legacy, I'm talking about vision, I'm talking about doing the life that God has for you.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

Yes, because it's like it's already like in our DNA. Yeah, but there's so much, like you know, look at your um teeners, like you, like me, like probably have moments where you shouldn't be here talking to me.

SPEAKER_04 30:49

Absolutely, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:52

But this the seed of um, I I know this won't resonate with a man, but like we're all pregnant with purpose, and it could, but there is this, you know, the seed of an idea that he's put in us that needs to be birthed.

SPEAKER_04 31:08

Absolutely, right?

SPEAKER_00 31:10

And too often, um, you know, I I believe men and women, you know, just again, kind of spiritually speaking, like we can self-abort because of doubt, shame, you know, maybe people on your path that are like, who do you think you are?

SPEAKER_04 31:28

Poster syndrome, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:30

Who do you think you are? And I like to say, well, let me tell you a little bit about it. So when we really know who we are and what we were created to do, but first of all, who we be, you know, it's not proper English, but who do you be? Like who is Roosevelt to the core?

SPEAKER_04 31:50

Yeah, to man, I I love that question because when you tell me who do I think I am, I'm gonna tell you who I think I am. I actually know who I am. Yeah, amen. I'm just a I'm I'm I'm somebody who is a nobody, who God has chose to use. And let me tell you, I'm a I'm a boast about the bad things to give God the glory.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 32:14

Yeah, I'm gonna tell you who I am. I'm a ex-gang banger, dope dealer, drug, you know what I mean? I did all the things. That's who that's who I am, but I'm a person who has surrendered his life to God, man. Yes, yes, and and and and and I'm a vessel that he can use. And and I'm gonna I start off by telling you 10 horrible things about me, and there's only one good thing about me. I said yes to Jesus, and I keep saying yes every day.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Wow. Well, I I would say that there's a multiplication on the good things beyond the bad for sure. Absolutely. Um, and that's like your old life. Like we've been like that old life, it's gone, but it still creeps in at times.

SPEAKER_04 32:56

Yeah, it still creeps in at times, and those are the things that it's kind of like controversy sales, you know, those are the things that people are so interested in.

New Works: Devotional, Workbook, And REP Factor

SPEAKER_04 33:03

They're like, What? You get that? Right, you get and then and and and let's keep it real. I could tell you some things that I thought about last week, some things that I actually done last week. My my one of my one of my um older brothers recently passed away, and yeah, and I went back home to the funeral and dealing with family, things like that. And um I have five brothers, and I got into a little tiff with one of my another of my brothers. Okay, you know what I mean? Now in the room, I'm the only preacher in the room. Okay, so my my behavior should be above reproach. You know, but I had a moment where it wasn't.

SPEAKER_00 33:49

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:50

And and this is I'm talking uh three weeks ago. Sure. Yeah. So I don't mind sharing these things from the pulpit because I want people to know that your missteps don't disqualify you from the call that God has placed on your life. Yes, his grace is in effect for those moments.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Absolutely. Again, go back to those, you know. I look at the you know, the people in the Bible that are highlighted.

SPEAKER_04 34:20

Absolutely. That's what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

Who's highlighted? Who who's your who's your highlighted one that you look to? Who who do you resonate with most?

SPEAKER_04 34:29

It's David. I'll tell you, I got two. First is David because David did the worst thing ever. Saw a woman, lusted after her. I've done that. He he he he not only lusted after her, he went and had her. Yeah, I've done that too.

SPEAKER_00 34:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:50

And he offed her husband. Well, and I haven't done that. So I've been talking to God on that, and I'll be like, we're we're good. Yeah, I'll be talking to God about, you know, David, he's part of the family, and I go to God, I'll be like, hey, I am not as bad as David. I need to kill a man for the for the woman. So I know you got me, you know what I mean? But but I like to share that because it is true. God went on to call David the apple of his eye.

SPEAKER_00 35:19

Yes, yes, because a man after God's own heart.

SPEAKER_04 35:23

It's like a man after God's own heart.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

Come on, and the world, the world would be like, what? Like, you're not a poster child for first.

SPEAKER_04 35:32

Yeah, so so look, think of what think think of what the world is doing to you. See it in social media, it's everywhere. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 35:42

Right. Like I that's a whole other rabbit hole we could just right, like it's wild type. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 35:52

Yeah, so my other identifier is um John the Baptist. Okay, because I I believe I am a modern-day John the Baptist. Um, John was in the wilderness, yeah. He was a wild boy, he was dirty, he didn't smell good, yeah, and he wasn't in your organized church service, right? He was outside, yeah, but he understood his call. He was doing the work that God called him to do, he was being obedient, but he was he knew how to send people to the church, yes. So I feel like that's my job. I'm a I'm an outside guy, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 36:33

Yeah, would you say you're like more like apostolic then? Are you a builder?

SPEAKER_04 36:37

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I I I cr I cross over into the apostolic because I I've traveled a couple of places and set up ministries. I just kind of I kind of that's kind of the the the only the only resemblance of apostolic for me, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 36:52

Okay. Um, so my my other question, um, I know you've you mentioned you know writing and you know, you're in the media. Um I like to say, I don't know if you've heard of the seven mountains of influence, but there's you know media and entertainment, and I believe that you know many of us are called into these different spheres. Like for me, I'm I'm business is kind of

How The REP Factor Guides Decisions

SPEAKER_00 37:12

my mountain. Um, partly going in in a ministry way to help people who are like taking on these different mountains to help flip the script in you know what we're seeing in this world, right? Um so as you have been like in the you said, you know, doing movies, music. Um what what is something even this year? I'm imagining that that's not you know dead and gone. There's still that um vision with more like what do you feel like he's stretching you into this year that maybe is a little bit uncomfortable? I am beyond what you're doing already.

SPEAKER_04 37:52

Yeah, that's a great question because I'm I'm actually working with a group of people out of Los Angeles that are a tech startup company, and they are giving me a situation that's it's it hasn't all the way come come to pass. But this is what I'm this is what I'm looking at. Creating a movie that uh I already have a partnership with a man named Um Omar Gooding, who is the younger brother of Hubert Gooding Jr. Oh yeah, and he um we we have a movie that I wrote called Black Smoke. This is this is very edgy, it's very evangelistic by way of like it's it is not a Christian movie.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 38:38

So what I have done here was I I've made a movie that goes to the mainstream, it's just a story about a struggling alcoholic who lost his wife and he's just trying to figure things out. So it's something that will just entertain people. What I have done was I put a two-minute sermon right in the middle of it.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

Oh, I love it.

SPEAKER_04 39:09

And there's a there's a fight scene that happens at a bar, and then an old man stands up and commands everybody's attention in the bar, and then he speaks a gospel message, basically. Wow, and then the scene ends, and then goes back to the movie. So this is this is something that I'm experimenting with. Yeah, you know, making something that's for the unchurched. When I did Victorious Underdog, my my novel, it's the same thing, it's it's a it's a rated R story, okay, and it's all about the darkness and the grim, and it's my testimony, and it you don't see Jesus until about halfway through the story.

SPEAKER_00 39:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 39:48

So yeah, the things that I'm doing, I'm doing for the unchurched.

SPEAKER_00 39:52

Yeah, so it's like under you're almost like undercover in a way, too.

SPEAKER_04 39:56

Absolutely. It's that Trojan horse thing, right? Um, it's not always understood by Christians because they judge it after they read the first word and they they they gotta see it on the outside. And uh, I'm saying I I get it, I understand. I I wrestled with it at the beginning, but you this is one of those things that are are kind of not comfortable for me, but I have to be obedient. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 40:17

Okay, and he has called you to run with it this way. Absolutely, okay, and that's all that matters.

SPEAKER_04 40:24

That's it, you know. So I'm I'm not gonna be accepted in some places, but that's okay because I'm here for the one, you know, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 40:33

I like to say I'm not for everybody and everybody's not for me. Makes it easy. Absolutely. You know, that's how how how it goes. Jesus was not always well well uh uh appreciated by the masses, and we're not really called to the masses, but we can reach the masses. And I believe that you know, we we truly need, I like to say, like, we need to follow our butt God said and not these but what if people out there that you know they're well-meaning, they they just don't know.

SPEAKER_04 41:04

Right.

SPEAKER_00 41:05

Some of them

Pacing Ideas And Timing With God

SPEAKER_00 41:06

are well-meaning, not all the time.

SPEAKER_04 41:07

There's a lot of voices out there, a lot of distractions, a lot of influence. I just want to stay in the space of personal obedience.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

Absolutely. Well, what um what do you have happening, like coming up? And then second of all, I want to make sure that we capture um your books that you've written, and we can, you know, if you want to share the titles so that they can people who are listening can go check them out. Um, what's available for them to kind of dig in deeper with you?

SPEAKER_04 41:39

Something that I have done that is brand new is I have a I have a companion, I have two companions to Victorious Underdog. Victoria's Underdog is my novel. The that's the that's the deep dark story that everybody needs to hear.

SPEAKER_02 41:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 41:56

Then then I have what is called the underdog's devotional. It's a 30-day deep dive into the past, pain, redemption, and truth. And it's it's a different type of devotional, it really gets into your grittiness, right? So outside of that, I have a decision-making formula that I came up with about 30 years ago. I just published it.

SPEAKER_00 42:25

Oh wow. 30 years ago. I love that.

SPEAKER_04 42:30

Yeah, it's called the rep factor. Rep R E P. R. E. P. Yeah. And so I know that you I've seen on your on your information that you deal with getting unstuck, right?

SPEAKER_02 42:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 42:43

So this is awesome. Yeah, this helps, right? If you feel feel unstuck every time you have to make a decision, you're not alone, but you don't have to stay there in a world full of noise, options, and overwhelm. The rep factor gives you a simple, powerful formula to make a confident, clear, and fast decision that will align with your goals. So rep means risk, effort, profit. So you weigh the risk against the effort, and you look at what the profit is, meaning the outcome, basically. Yeah, it's basically a decision-making formula, and it's it helped me. I haven't made so many bad decisions that I know finally know how to make some good ones.

SPEAKER_00 43:25

And so I'm sure Can you give us an example? Like, could you give us an example of like how you might walk through that formula?

SPEAKER_04 43:32

How you walk through the formula, like okay, so so let's say if I'm um thinking about um quitting a job, right? So let's look at the risk of of of that. What what are the risks? You know, I'm gonna I might lose income, you know what I mean? Um I might um lose uh Stability, all the the things you think of things that are risky,

Youth Healing, Therapy, And Resilience

SPEAKER_04 44:04

bad things, right? You then you think of what are what is gonna take? What is it gonna take for me to do this? You know what I mean? Do I have to prep? Should I should I save some money before I quit? Should I find another job before I quit? What is what does this look like? Um, am I gonna have to go on interviews? Is it gonna be something that I'm gonna go co-calling people, or am I gonna do a Zoom? Like you got to think of all the the effort that it's gonna take. And then you have to realize what's the outcome? What am I gonna gain? Am I am I doing is this gonna give me more sanity? Is this gonna give me more peace? Is it gonna give me more money, more time? You know, uh you have this is a formula that you can put on paper and see the decision that you're making.

SPEAKER_02 44:49

That's so good.

SPEAKER_04 44:50

Yeah, it's basically my way of one-upping the pros and cons list.

SPEAKER_00 44:55

Sure, yeah, and it it it digs in deep too, right? Do you invite do you invite the Lord in like to this problem with you too?

SPEAKER_04 45:04

Absolutely. I believe the Lord gave this to me because as Christians, we we want to depend on the Lord, right? Yes, and this is that God gave us a brain for a reason, you know. I I I often tell people the Bible dummy proofs our life, so you don't have to think if you don't want to, just read it. But God wants you to think because He gave you a brain. Yes, yes, get involved in your decisions. Sometimes we want to pray and say, God, tell me what to do. Well, maybe God wants you to work through the process, and this is a way to do that.

SPEAKER_00 45:37

Yeah, yeah. That is so good. So many people need this.

SPEAKER_04 45:41

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

Because I think a lot of times, I mean, I don't know if you've had did it just come out?

SPEAKER_04 45:47

It just came out, it's on Amazon.

SPEAKER_00 45:50

Awesome. So this is great timing. Um you know, I think of how many people I was even talking to somebody yesterday. It's like, you know, you can have so much just in your brain. Like it's like, you know, you've done kind of like it's it's in essence like a a very like well thought out brain dump in a different like it's organ, it's an organized brain dump, right? If you've heard that term before. And a lot of times, um this is kind of like a silly analogy, but like it's almost like your brain is constipated. Like you gotta get it out.

SPEAKER_02 46:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:29

Otherwise, you're just gonna be like worrying and stirring about things, and right?

SPEAKER_04 46:34

Yeah, and once you realize you've made the best calculated decision that you can make, you deal with it. Yeah, no matter what happens, right? Because sometimes we we we go we go we go down on ourselves because maybe the outcome didn't work out the way that we thought it would be, and we're mad and this and that, whatever. No, make a decision and live with it.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

Yeah, just do it, like Nike said. Just go. Oh, I love that. Well, and yeah, um, it's gonna ask um really quick. Have you had anybody walk through that has had um like a really amazing testimonial?

SPEAKER_04 47:08

Yeah, um, I've been dealing with the rep factor for so many years, you know, and so it's just been something that I've been privately talking to my friends with. I've been contemplating whether I was gonna make it a book and try to get it out there to the world for all this time.

SPEAKER_00 47:25

Did you do the rep factor to decide if you're gonna make it into a book?

SPEAKER_04 47:29

No, I didn't, but I should have.

SPEAKER_00 47:32

But it sounds like you just you just went for it though, right?

SPEAKER_04 47:36

I went for it, but I've I've been operating with the rep chapter for so many years, and I think half people just think I'm crazy because I'm just like saying, Hey man, what do you think about this? And I'm just like, oh no, this this is my life, this is a book, man. Let's do that right.

SPEAKER_00 47:49

Well, and sometimes when you have something that you've you know been operating in for so long, you just kind of think it's normal, and maybe you don't even think that this is something to get out there in the public. I don't know. Is that maybe something you're dealing with?

SPEAKER_04 48:01

Yeah, and and and that's true too. That's that's the thing, is like I have uh my brain works, man. Thank you, Jesus. I have so many things that I want to do. I want to pace myself, you know.

SPEAKER_00 48:13

Oh, yes, that could be a whole podcast episode. I'm the same way. I'm like multi-passionate uh ideas coming all day long. I'm like, can we just slow the slow the pace here a little bit? Yeah, and you put it up on the bookshelf, right? And it's it's for later. I think sometimes people you know think that it's like for now, but there's a timing aspect to the things he gives us, and that can be a whole you know operating system that we have to um kind of get in pace with, like that pace of grace, right?

SPEAKER_04 48:43

That's amazing that you said that because I love that too. I I I never stop creating, but it doesn't mean that it's to be released tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 48:50

Yeah, exactly. No, I have oh, sorry about that. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 48:55

Oh no, no, no, go ahead. That was it.

SPEAKER_00 48:57

Oh, you did you say Yeah, I was gonna ask about your I want to make sure we um like highlight your other book as well.

SPEAKER_04 49:04

Yeah, this one is a workbook that goes along with Victorious Underdog. It's called Victory Rising.

SPEAKER_00 49:11

Oh, I love it.

SPEAKER_04 49:12

And it's the Victorious Underdog Youth Workbook. This is designed for schools, youth programs, and organizations that invest in the next generation, right? So Victorious Underdog Youth Workbook guides young people through a powerful journey of self-reflection, resilience, and personal growth. I'm just reading, I'm reading the back. It says, inspired by the true story of Roosevelt Sargent, this workbook creates a safe space for students to explore their identity, understand the influences around them, examine their choices, process their challenges, and recognize the strength already inside of them. With practical activities, thoughtful prompts, and real life insight. This workbook empowers students to rise above obstacles, build confidence, and step into their next chapter with purpose.

SPEAKER_00 49:55

Wow. Well, that's a book that kids need these days.

SPEAKER_04 49:59

Absolutely. Adults need this book.

SPEAKER_00 50:01

True.

SPEAKER_04 50:01

So what I what I've done with this book is I don't know. Um, I'm just giving you some context. I don't know how familiar you are, but in the black community, they we frown on uh therapy.

SPEAKER_02 50:15

Okay, I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_04 50:17

That has that is shifting within the last 20 years or so. Okay I am a firm believer of it. Um and I believe God has given me a unique way to to get therapy into our young people without saying it's therapy.

SPEAKER_00 50:38

Yeah, you're you're you're like underground.

SPEAKER_04 50:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:41

You're a ninja. You're a ninja.

SPEAKER_04 50:44

Yeah. For real, man. And and and I've understood I've I've understood this about myself, man. Many times there there's grown men walking around that are that still have that unresolved trauma from when he was 12 years old in a school.

SPEAKER_00 51:00

Absolutely, absolutely. So many. I mean, just like there's there's so much, so many, like our I think our generation, um, I think I think I'm a Gen X, I'm 48. I don't know. But um, I think our generation definitely um you can see kind of the outcome of just a lot of trauma that has been unresolved and and throughout all the generations, but you know, I think things things progress so quickly when it came to like the information age, you know what I mean? That's what I'm kind of seeing. Um, and then we've got our kids, you know, I've got um late teens, early 20s who kind of were born into this um information age, and I think of these young kids now where it's like there's so much information coming at them so fast.

SPEAKER_04 51:53

And they they need something all this is crazy.

SPEAKER_00 51:56

Yeah, and I'm like, I can't even keep up, I don't even know.

SPEAKER_04 51:59

Right. I'm with you.

SPEAKER_00 52:00

So well, it has been a joy to have you on today. Um, how can people get in touch with you if they want to reach out?

How To Connect And Final Encouragement

SPEAKER_04 52:09

Um, you can look at roosevelt sergeant speaks.com.

unknown 52:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 52:14

That's where all my stuff is at. Um, the books that I just mentioned are all on Amazon. You can catch catch those titles on Amazon.

SPEAKER_00 52:22

All right. I'll I'll be sure to link it in the show notes. All your book um links and then your your website as well. So um, as we close today, um, as why I shared before, I do this podcast for the one. So if you could get in mind that one who's listening in today, um, do you have any other like words of encouragement or um anything else you'd want to share over that one? And then would you pray us out today?

SPEAKER_04 52:46

Absolutely, we'll do. I I would say to everybody that's listening, or to even to that one um God loves you and He wants to bless you. He wants to be intimate with you in spite of what you were told, in spite of what you think, in spite of how you feel, if it's not the right way. God loves you and He wants to bless your socks off in every imaginable way. I I said it earlier, you can do whatever you put your mind to, especially if you trust in God for the outcome. This is the God that we serve. He always takes the foolish things to confound the wise. You don't you don't have to be. I am no Bible scholar, you don't have to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, be used by God.

SPEAKER_00 53:43

Amen.

SPEAKER_04 53:44

If you're if you're the sharpest knife in the drawer, that's a bonus. It's just a bonus because God loves you and He wants to use you anyway, yeah. Right? So I would encourage you you have a dream, you have a desire, whatever it is in your heart, put it, give it to God and go for it. Give it to God and go for it in Jesus' name. He is a good God, he's a loving father. Life is hard and things are dark in a lot in a lot of ways, but we have a good, loving Father as a God.

SPEAKER_03 54:20

He wants to love us the way a natural father would. He wants to bless your socks off in Jesus' name.

Prayer And Closing Blessing

SPEAKER_04 54:28

Let's pray, Father God, we thank you. We thank you for this time. I thank you for my sister Kristen and what she's doing with her platform. Right now, I pray for everyone who hears this interview, this conversation. That you would move by your spirit in the lives of your children, that you would uh encourage where it's needed, lift up the hung-down head, bring joy and peace, Lord. The joy of the Lord is our strength. I speak joy in the lives of the listeners, I speak uh uh the peace of God that passes all human understanding. And we we thank you for the global reach of these conversations. We know that it is not your will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

SPEAKER_03 55:10

So this is our prayer that lives will be touched, lives will be changed, lives will be influenced for the kingdom of God. We love you and we bless you in Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_00 55:21

Amen. Thank you, Roosevelt. Wow. Well, thank you so much for being a brave voice who's setting so many free. I'm gonna close with our anchoring verse for Hope Unlocked. It's may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. And that's Romans 15, 13. Thank you again, Roosevelt. Uh, it's been a joy to have you on. I will be back with another episode next week. Listeners, have a great day.