1.Flower Pelting, a Father's Blessing, and Miles of Ministry I Byron Easterling

Musician, composer, and author Byron Easterling joins Jan to talk about the presence of God in worship, a wild encounter in a London hotel lobby, 

the blessing his father spoke over him before passing away, 

and the one question that can unstick anyone who feels spiritually stuck. 

A conversation about calling, mentorship, and never retiring from the gifts God has placed in you.

Psalm 71:18 — “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.”

Jeremiah 33:3 — “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

Byron’s books — all proceeds go toward building homes for widows in Nicaragua — are available at BysBooks.com.

Byron’s Substack to see his posts, podcasts, and prophetic teaching.

00:00 — Welcome & introducing Byron Easterling 

00:49 — How Byron started writing (2008's Dream Big, Dream Often) 

02:13 — Musical roots: piano at 7, brass instruments, and jazz composition 

04:11 — Wedding gigs, worship ministry & Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) 

06:33 — When the song becomes secondary to the presence of God 

08:05 — The "Flower Pelting" story — a divine encounter in a London hotel 

15:07 — The moment that changed his life: his salvation story at age 8 

19:13 — His father's final blessing before passing in 1984 

22:27 — The call to mentor and bless the next generation 

25:08 — Lessons from 3.25 million miles of ministry travel 

28:57 — Why you never retire from a God-given calling 

31:16 — What's next: new books, Substack, and staying obedient 

32:19 — Byron's parting encouragement: ask God for a new question 

33:36 — Where to find Byron's books (BysBooks.com — proceeds fund homes for widows in Nicaragua)

https://uppbeat.io/t/monument-music/the-beyond

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I'm Jan Johnson, a seasoned believer who loves relationships and, you know, just talkin' about Jesus.

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Transcript

[00:03] Byron: You know, I think that it's the connection that a person has with the Holy Spirit that opens up that understanding that. That the presence to be in that place.

[00:23] Jan: Hey, friends, here's a question to sit with before we dive in today.

[00:27] What happens when worship stops being a performance and becomes a place?

[00:32] A place so real that a total stranger will pelts the pianist with flowers because she can't walk away from it?

[00:40] My guest today has lived that question.

[00:42] Byron Easterling is a world traveler, musician, composer, worship leader, and author of 12 books, including Curious Tales of a Common man and the Meditations of a Common man series.

[00:55] He's logged over 3 million air miles serving in ministry across four continents, written music for productions ranging from the Olympics to the Miami heat, and more than anything,

[01:05] spent a lifetime learning what it means to actually live in the presence of God.

[01:10] Today, Byron's going to tell us about a wild moment in a London hotel lobby. The blessing his dying father spoke over him, and the one question he believes could unstick anyone who feels spiritually stuck.

[01:24] So let's get into it.

[01:33] Welcome, everyone, to Just Talking About Jesus. So glad to have my guest, Byron Easterling with me today. Welcome.

[01:41] Byron: Thanks, Jan. Great to be here. Thanks for having me. Yeah.

[01:44] Jan: Byron is a world traveler, a musician, composer, arranger, worship leader.

[01:50] Ooh, what a great thing.

[01:52] A man with a lifetime of ministry lessons. An author of Curious Tales of a Common man and a few other books. Right.

[01:59] Byron: Yeah.

[02:00] Jan: Along the same idea where you kind of tell about your stories and adventures.

[02:05] Byron: No, there's devotionals. There's a whole series called Meditations of Common Man. Yeah. So now about 12 books out there.

[02:14] Jan: 12. Oh, wow, you are prolific.

[02:18] Byron: Ooh.

[02:19] Jan: When did you start writing?

[02:21] Byron: Well, officially, I would say 2008.

[02:25] Jan: Okay.

[02:26] Byron: The first book I wrote was called Dream Big, Dream Often. And it was about a journey of my life that I got challenged into. And that was with a.

[02:36] First published with Brilliant Book House Publishing company.

[02:40] And since then has been.

[02:42] And that got me writing.

[02:44] But my first real writing started when I was about 12 or 13.

[02:48] Jan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. My first book was called the Little Red Man. I think I was in fourth grade when I wrote that.

[02:57] When we believed in space creatures and all of that.

[02:59] Byron: Yeah.

[03:00] Jan: My dad bound it with a leather binding and a hole. See?

[03:06] Byron: Really?

[03:07] Jan: Yeah.

[03:08] Byron: Wow, that's. That's a surprise.

[03:09] Jan: I mean, it was a thin binding.

[03:12] Byron: Yeah.

[03:12] Jan: But still. And illustrated. Self illustrated, of course.

[03:18] Byron: Do you still have a copy of it?

[03:19] Jan: You know, I don't, but I do have. I do have my mud pie recipe book.

[03:26] Byron: Okay.

[03:27] Jan: Yes. So in case anybody is interested in that, they could have a digital copy.

[03:34] Byron: Oh, that is cool. Oh, wow.

[03:40] Jan: You got to be creative when you're a kid, right?

[03:41] Byron: Yeah, that just sounds like fun. Yeah.

[03:45] Jan: Yeah. What line of work were you in?

[03:47] Byron: You know, I.

[03:49] From really,

[03:51] I was in college and the Lord kind of captured my spirit and my heart and I ended up going into ministry when I was 20.

[04:02] I mean, outside of that, I painted houses.

[04:06] Jan: For a real job?

[04:08] Byron: Yeah, for a real job, I painted houses and. And then music. I did music. Yeah, music was my income, you know.

[04:16] Jan: Did you, did you grow up as a musician?

[04:19] Byron: No, no, I mean, as a musician.

[04:23] Jan: Well, like, did you play an instrument in band or.

[04:25] Byron: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. I mean, I,

[04:28] I'm the third, I'm the youngest in our family and I,

[04:33] my, I started playing piano at 7.

[04:36] Yeah. And then I played trumpet, French horn, baritone,

[04:40] you know, the brass instruments. And then went to college and studied jazz piano and composition.

[04:48] Yeah. So it was, it was.

[04:51] I don't think it was my parents first desire for me.

[04:56] Jan: What are you going to do with that?

[04:58] Byron: Yeah, that's a good hobby, Byron, you hobby? No, no, it should be a career.

[05:04] Jan: And it's hard to do.

[05:06] It's hard to. To do art as a career,

[05:09] you know,

[05:10] I mean, my parents were both artists,

[05:13] but had teaching jobs on the side.

[05:16] But it's just. I mean they would have loved to been just full time doing,

[05:21] doing that, but it's hard. And then I started out with a major as ceramics. And I'm thinking, why did I do that? Because I love music more.

[05:28] But I just had a major in music.

[05:31] But you know, it was then like, okay, how am I gonna make a living with this? That's probably not gonna work. So, you know, I followed the footsteps and became a teacher.

[05:39] Byron: But I was,

[05:42] we got married.

[05:43] Excuse me. We got married in 81. And I was doing,

[05:47] I did anything. I mean, I was doing a lot of weddings.

[05:50] You know, I had my, I created my own version of the Wedding March.

[05:56] And so people started hearing that and then they hired me for the Wedding March because it was a very cool, very unique.

[06:03] And you know, got to a point where I, I wanted out of that world and I was doing, I'd play in. I, I, you know, I was very fortunate. I never had to do much band, like gigging out in clubs,

[06:17] very, very little of that. God really opened the door for me with worship. And then we were on staff with what was then called Campus Crusade for Christ,

[06:27] called Crew, with their Music ministry.

[06:29] Jan: Okay.

[06:30] Byron: So yeah,

[06:31] so I was on, played for the bands on that. We let a lot of evangelistic events and then, yeah, it just opened the door to producing and writing.

[06:42] I work for, you know how it works. It kind of builds one on the other and I was very, very blessed.

[06:49] Yeah, I ended up being able to write and compose music for a production facility that did video and we did planetarium shows and all kinds of different stuff. So a lot of fun.

[07:01] You know, it's nothing fancy. I did end up doing like music for Miami Heat. I did an Olympics thing. I did track and field for Olympics.

[07:11] You know, I did some things that were really cool, but most of it was just making a living doing life.

[07:19] Jan: When you are playing worship,

[07:23] there's,

[07:24] I mean, obviously it's a different music than just playing jazz or blues or whatever else kind of thing that you're doing.

[07:33] Although not to say that those aren't fun life giving as well,

[07:38] but when you're doing with the spirit of God,

[07:42] it's just in some moments, you know, where all of a sudden the song becomes secondary to just that relationship.

[07:52] Can you talk about that a little bit and how that has been for you?

[07:56] Byron: Yeah, you know, I,

[07:58] it's interesting.

[07:59] I mean when you're in a musician or any kind of artist trying to make a living, you do,

[08:06] I mean you teach, you, you, you do everything you can to make a living. So it's multiple and then at some point it feels like it takes off into one aspect of it.

[08:16] I mean, I was,

[08:18] when I was a kid, I would play for our Baptist church, you know, and you could feel the presence of God.

[08:25] You didn't really know at that point what it was because nobody talked about it in that particular arena of faith. But you know, as I grew and then I became a part of a, of a Vineyard church, we, we,

[08:37] we started to learn about what is the presence of God and how do you step into that world. And really, you know,

[08:45] and I think that for me,

[08:48] worship any, any art. Even if you're playing the blues, right, or jazz,

[08:54] it comes, if it's coming from the spirit of God through you. I mean, David,

[09:00] he played,

[09:02] he was an instrumentalist, he did sing, but he also played to calm the spirit of Saul, that spirit that was on salt.

[09:12] And you know, I think that it's the connection that a person has with the Holy Spirit that opens up that understanding,

[09:25] the presence to be in that place.

[09:28] How many times I have a story in that book, curious tales about. It's called Flower Pelting.

[09:35] In London, where I was asked to sit down at a piano at the St. James Hotel. Oh,

[09:44] in the. In the entryway of this lovely hotel.

[09:48] And we were there for a conference. And the conference was over and we were just hanging out.

[09:53] And so some of my friends were there and they said, hey, Byron, sit down. Let's do some worship. And they went and asked the manager and it was just, you know, it was perfect day.

[10:02] Oh.

[10:03] And they just. The manager goes, yeah, sure, go ahead. You know.

[10:09] And we were. I was just playing.

[10:12] Not at that point, I just started playing. And it. The presence of God just filled that space.

[10:19] And there's a whole story behind that that happened because of that people that came into that moment.

[10:26] Jan: Well, and when somebody's playing that, it draws people to you around. Just. I mean, anything just. You can't just pass it by because it's.

[10:36] Byron: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's that presence of God. That's that place that God is in. It. And when God's in something, it's hard to.

[10:47] Jan: It.

[10:48] Byron: It's hard to put away. It's hard to put off.

[10:51] Jan: It's kind of a. It's a. It's a goosebumpy moment,

[10:56] you know,

[10:57] I mean, when you feel that. And it's just like, for me, I just feel like.

[11:01] Like all of it truly is a feeling.

[11:05] I mean, my whole chest feels.

[11:07] Feels full and like, just goes through me, you know, as a. It. It's something that isn't explainable in any other way. I don't know.

[11:18] And doesn't happen in any other way other than when I feel the spirit of God coming in.

[11:22] So tell us what happened when you were playing. There was a certain woman that came in.

[11:27] Byron: Oh, well, I started. So then we started worshiping.

[11:31] And it's just a small group of us kind of gathered around the piano. What we didn't know is there was a big insurance conference there in London that was happening in a ballroom.

[11:41] And it let out and so a bunch of people came, gathered around, and this gal was.

[11:48] She was standing, but she kept singing, sing the blues. Sing the blues.

[11:53] And I'm like.

[11:54] And I kept looking, going, something's not right here.

[11:57] You know, because she was really. It wasn't normal.

[12:00] Jan: Well, how did she know that you played blues?

[12:03] Byron: She didn't. Yeah, she must have known I was American, you know, from the US or something.

[12:08] Jan: Oh. And so she was maybe equating that way just because.

[12:11] Byron: Oh, interesting,

[12:13] you know.

[12:13] And so finally I stopped and I turned to her and I said,

[12:17] I'll tell you what? I'll sing you a blues tune if you listen to one of my tunes.

[12:23] And she agreed.

[12:25] Jan: Okay.

[12:25] Byron: She agreed. So I take it when somebody comes into agreement that you have authority, right

[12:33] Jan: there, you have authority.

[12:35] Byron: I played a blues tune. She was totally into it. Everybody's into it.

[12:40] And then I finished, and she started to walk away, and I said, uh,

[12:45] you said.

[12:46] And she was. She couldn't leave. She tried to leave. So I started singing a worship tune that I had written based out of Isaiah 12.

[12:55] And literally, she started taking.

[12:59] I mean,

[13:00] it's more funny than anything. There was this beautiful vase of flowers on the piano, and she started grabbing these flowers out of there and pelting me with them,

[13:14] not saying anything. And her friends are there.

[13:17] Jan: Is she. Like, what's her feeling behind that? I mean, she's doing it to kind of wanting you to stop or to.

[13:25] Byron: Well, yeah,

[13:26] she wanted free,

[13:28] didn't she?

[13:29] She wanted free.

[13:32] She had said yes to, you know, she had agreed with me, and I wasn't going to let her out of that agreement. I didn't say anything else. I just said, uh, you said I could, you know,

[13:43] and she started. And all her friends were like, what is going on?

[13:48] Well, what was really cool then,

[13:51] of course, my friends were there watching,

[13:54] and they come around her and start praying for her. And they had a wonderful prayer.

[13:59] Jan: She didn't have a chance.

[14:00] Byron: She didn't have a chance.

[14:02] But it ended up being a really cool time. Yeah. And,

[14:05] yeah, it just turned into a.

[14:08] I would want to talk to other people. You know, the others that were there just went off with her and prayed for her and had, you know, it turned the scene.

[14:17] I don't know where she is now. I never got her name,

[14:20] so. Or maybe I did. And, yeah, I don't remember,

[14:24] you know,

[14:25] but to think back and go, I.

[14:28] I hope I get to meet her again.

[14:31] Jan: You know, and maybe. And maybe, you know, because of that seed that you threw in there, you know, years later, then maybe that's the one thing that she goes back to as a defining moment for her.

[14:45] You know,

[14:46] whether it was an instantaneous thing, but. Or something years later, that could be her defining moment.

[14:53] Byron: It could be. Yeah.

[14:54] Jan: Yeah, yeah.

[14:56] Byron: There's definitely a reaction,

[14:59] I think, in the story I put at the very bottom of the story, in that little section of the book, I. I put,

[15:06] no, no, people were harmed by flowers or something like that.

[15:13] Jan: Oh, my gosh. Yeah.

[15:16] I.

[15:16] I think that it's just interesting how God does work within things,

[15:22] you know,

[15:24] things that you don't anticipate are gonna,

[15:26] just the twists that go. Right.

[15:28] Byron: Yeah.

[15:29] Jan: You know, where you're in the middle of something and you don't know that that's the way you know.

[15:33] Byron: Exactly. Yeah.

[15:35] Jan: This random person just walks out and comes into your life, you know, But I would guess that every day you wake up in the morning and you say, hey, God, how are you gonna use me and who are you gonna have me meet?

[15:49] Byron: That's true. I mean, best I can, you know, if, if I remember. And.

[15:56] Jan: Yeah, absolutely, you know, and then he goes, yeah, okay, I'll answer that prayer. Yeah.

[16:02] Byron: I think we all want those divine moments, those divine appointments where we run into somebody that you just know. Right, right, right away. That there is, there is something to connect with here.

[16:14] Jan: Yeah, yeah.

[16:16] Byron: I think that's where discipleship starts.

[16:18] Jan: Absolutely. And you know, if that, that might have been a moment that changed your life, but what's, what's been a moment that changed your life?

[16:29] Byron: One moment that changed my life.

[16:32] Well, I mean, obviously I always go back to the very beginning of my coming to Christ if I can go there, because that, that's always.

[16:44] Yeah.

[16:45] So I was, I grew up in a Christian home. My folks were believers.

[16:50] I always say we came from a non profit household.

[16:56] They didn't really believe in the gifts, but they had a strong faith in God.

[17:00] And when we were, I grew up in the Midwest, small town,

[17:05] and I was about 8 years old.

[17:08] And in this community,

[17:10] when you were about eight years old, it was time to go forward.

[17:14] Oh, and, and kid Jesus.

[17:16] Jan: Okay, okay. All my friends, the, the, the age of accountability.

[17:22] Byron: Yeah, I guess so.

[17:24] You know, if you didn't, pretty soon people started kind of looking at you like, what's wrong with him? You know?

[17:30] Well, well,

[17:32] I was, my buddies were going forward and, and so I thought,

[17:36] I guess I better go do this thing. And I got up and I started, got up out of the pew and I started to go. And my dad grabs my pant leg and kind of just gently sets me back down and says, where are you going?

[17:50] I said, well, I'm going up front.

[17:53] Well, why are you doing that?

[17:55] And I said, well,

[17:56] Wayne did and he said,

[18:00] we'll talk later.

[18:02] And we had a thing in our family that was so cool.

[18:06] Now back in that,

[18:08] that time frame,

[18:09] you know,

[18:10] my mom would put a pot roast on.

[18:13] You'd have a big Sunday meal after.

[18:14] Jan: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[18:15] Byron: Well, my dad would ask my brother, he was the oldest, so what'd you get out of this Sunday?

[18:20] Then he'd go to my sister. What'd you get out of this Sunday?

[18:23] And then he'd come to me and I'd pretty much parrot whatever they said.

[18:28] Well, this Sunday it changed. And he said, byron, what did you get out of this Sunday?

[18:34] And he started with me and he began to help me realize who God was in my life.

[18:42] And a year later,

[18:44] I will tear up a year later.

[18:47] They would never let me sit on the aisle because they knew I'd probably try to trip the ushers.

[18:55] Yeah, well,

[18:57] I was the kid that skips five vacation Bible school to go to the pool hall.

[19:05] Then they tell my mom and my mom would go, you got a choice. You either stay there or I tell your dad.

[19:12] Jan: Oh, we don't want dad to know.

[19:14] Byron: Well, anyway,

[19:16] this Sunday morning,

[19:18] my dad said, just sit on the aisle, Byron. I was like, okay.

[19:22] And it came time for the altar call and he leans over and he says to me,

[19:27] what are you waiting for?

[19:29] And he knew I was ready and I just looked at him and I ran to the front.

[19:35] Jan: Oh, man.

[19:37] Byron: It just,

[19:38] that was the moment that I knew Christ.

[19:40] Christ was for me and I was for him. And it was my, you know, it was that changing moment of my life that my dad brought me to,

[19:49] that I will never,

[19:51] I, I, I, I will always.

[19:53] Yeah, you can't forget that.

[19:56] I hope I never do, you know? Yeah.

[19:58] Jan: Think of how much better that was that he made you wait.

[20:02] Byron: Yes.

[20:03] Jan: It wouldn't have been that experience. Yeah.

[20:06] Byron: You know, he, he's one of the, he's, he's one of the great,

[20:10] you know,

[20:11] greatest generation.

[20:12] He was a,

[20:13] he was a naval officer in the eastern rim and in that Asian rim and came to Christ on ship through the navigators.

[20:23] So it meant something to him.

[20:25] Jan: Uh huh. Yeah. I had another interview with somebody, the same thing.

[20:29] Byron: No way. Is that right?

[20:31] Jan: Yeah. On a Navy ship. And. Yeah.

[20:33] Wow.

[20:34] Yeah. Yeah. It was really, it was precious. You wrote in one of your books about your dad giving you a blessing.

[20:42] Tell us about that.

[20:43] Byron: That was the other one I was going to say.

[20:46] So he was cancer ridden and had, Little did we know it was Christmas Day and he literally had a month left. We didn't know that, of course, at the time, but he was bedridden and so we were, he, he,

[21:02] he said, you have to have dinner together, guys. Just have family dinner together. And he would call out every once in a while, hey, what are you guys having? You know,

[21:11] and, and then we'd say, and then we'd get to dessert, which was his favorite. And what do you have. And we'd go,

[21:18] pecan pie Alamo, dad, you know, he's going, why are you guys. You know,

[21:23] because he really liked pecan pie Alamo.

[21:26] And when we were finished, he said, can I have everybody come in?

[21:31] And we came in and we gathered around, and I.

[21:35] I could be wrong on some of this.

[21:37] You know, it's my side of the story. So there might be other positions on this, but I think my wife and I are pretty straight on it. I think she's set me right once or twice on that.

[21:51] But my dad looks at me and says, byron,

[21:55] we were in ministry. We were on staff with Campus Crusade at that time. We were just coming on staff.

[22:01] And he said, are you doing what God has asked you to do?

[22:04] And I said, yeah, dad,

[22:06] we are.

[22:07] And he looks at Crystal, knowing that I could lie.

[22:13] Jan: That's right. You were the guy that went to the pool.

[22:17] Byron: That's not the only thing.

[22:21] And he likes a Crystal. And he says,

[22:23] is that true?

[22:25] And she goes, yeah, dad, that's true. And he looks at my family and he says, leave them alone.

[22:33] Basically, let them do. And then he said.

[22:36] He took our hands and he began to pray over us and bless us into the next season.

[22:41] And a month later, we got to be with him when he passed,

[22:44] which was an amazing time. You know,

[22:47] I have to say that if you are young and you have a parent who's going, and you get an opportunity to be with them,

[22:54] be with them even to the end,

[22:56] because there's, you know, his best friend came in the next morning, said, byron,

[23:02] you and your sister and brother don't have this opportunity.

[23:07] They'll never experience this. And you did. And it's the most amazing thing.

[23:12] I didn't say it's fun.

[23:14] It's just the most amazing thing.

[23:16] Jan: And I think the flip side of that is,

[23:20] yes, spend time with your family, you know, but the flip side is we,

[23:27] especially as parents and older and older generation,

[23:32] need to be blessing our children.

[23:36] We need to be the one that's passing that torch to them.

[23:40] Byron: Yes,

[23:41] absolutely.

[23:43] And more than we are. What I find now,

[23:47] I don't know if you edit, but you can edit this if you want,

[23:51] is for me,

[23:53] if I find someone who is older,

[23:55] I'm not saying we're perfect. I'm not saying we don't need to keep growing,

[23:59] but if we aren't doing that very thing,

[24:02] I think we're missing it. If we're not mentoring, if we're not speaking into. If we're not giving away to the next generation,

[24:09] whatever that is. I think we truly are missing the greatest call that we have on the earth at our age.

[24:18] Jan: Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, I think scripture speaks to that anyway.

[24:22] Byron: Yeah.

[24:22] Jan: You know. Yeah. Of being that for the next generation.

[24:26] Shout out to Catherine Rose, who I had interviewed before, but she has a.

[24:31] A ministry called Eternal Echoes and a podcast. But her heart is speaking with older generation and hearing their God stories and sharing those with people,

[24:45] and it's. It's just fabulous. It's just such a. Such a rich,

[24:49] rich thing. And, you know, because a lot of people get forgotten and stuff, and here's all these. Here's all this richness that can be shared, you know? Yeah.

[24:58] Byron: So curious tales of a common man. That's how it started. My daughter came to me and said, dad, you really need to write your stories down. And then some people that I mentor at the same time began to say, hey, you really need.

[25:11] You tell us these stories, but where are they written down?

[25:14] So I went. I sat down. I had. I think there's 13 in that book. 12 or 13, but there's 60 that I have to write.

[25:21] So I have at least two or three, four more books in that series.

[25:26] Jan: Yeah,

[25:27] yeah.

[25:28] Well, I know. And it.

[25:29] They are just such important things because everything. There's such a truth in each story that you have,

[25:35] you know,

[25:37] and he really, when you look back at. I mean, you've traveled all over, correct?

[25:40] Byron: True.

[25:41] Jan: How many countries have you been in?

[25:46] Byron: Let's just say I have 3,250,000 air miles.

[25:53] Jan: Okay. Okay. All right. Most of the world.

[25:57] Byron: Yeah. The only continent I haven't been to, Africa, which I've been invited a number of times. The Lord just hasn't opened that door.

[26:05] Central America I've been a lot to, but not South America. Otherwise I've been. Been to. And Australia, I haven't been to Australia. So four continents I've spent my life traveling to.

[26:15] Yeah.

[26:16] Jan: And so out of all of those, you've had a lot of encounters with a lot of people. Yeah. What are some of those that stick out to you?

[26:24] Byron: Well, I.

[26:25] I just think overall,

[26:27] the blessing that I've had,

[26:30] they. They were trips that were ministry focused. So I was often.

[26:35] And. Or my wife Crystal, we were staying with people,

[26:40] not always in hotels,

[26:41] especially in other cultures,

[26:44] because hotels are incredibly expensive. And sometimes I did. Sometimes we'd stay in pensions, but we also stayed with people,

[26:52] and we got to live in their home and eat their meals and discover the heart of their culture.

[27:01] And I think that's what opened me is the cool thing in America is you can go across the street and learn a new culture.

[27:11] You can't. I mean,

[27:13] you have so many different cultures in our country,

[27:16] it's unbelievable. If you really want to know a culture,

[27:19] go find somebody who's not you and ask them questions, interview them, be friends, grab them a cup of coffee or whatever they drink.

[27:27] Jan: Yeah.

[27:28] Byron: And enjoy it. And I think for me, that's what it did when I traveled there and I would spend time with the families and I'd get to know their culture, I'd get to know who they are.

[27:38] And it taught me a lesson coming from the U.S. especially because, you know, we tend to be pretty proud of ourselves and there's nothing wrong with that. But when it comes in saying, well, I have something to bring you.

[27:54] Well, I do have something to bring you, but what I really learned is, oh, you have something to bring me.

[27:58] Jan: Exactly.

[27:59] Byron: Yeah. And that's, that's probably the biggest lesson of all those times is just don't, don't be the only one talking, start asking questions and, and learn.

[28:12] Jan: Yeah, exactly, exactly. So was most of your travel through ministry or it was just.

[28:17] Byron: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Almost all my travel. Well, I mean, yeah,

[28:21] pretty much all my travel was ministry based because we've been in ministry.

[28:26] I became a youth pastor in 1979 and from there,

[28:31] I mean, on occasion I would have,

[28:34] you know, I did a couple of vivocational moments,

[28:38] but most of it's been with our, with our ministries in full time, either at a church or with our nonprofit.

[28:45] Jan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and I don't know. I don't know that there's anything much better as a vocation.

[28:53] Byron: Well,

[28:56] Jan: not that it doesn't have some ups and downs, but, you know, it all does, but, you know.

[29:01] Byron: Yeah, it does. If it wasn't for the people, if it, you know.

[29:08] Jan: Exactly, exactly.

[29:10] Byron: We, we.

[29:11] Yeah, I,

[29:13] it's,

[29:13] you know,

[29:15] I got into music in, when I was at, in my teenage years,

[29:21] I was like, I wanted to be in music because I knew I didn't have to, quote, unquote, retire.

[29:27] And when the Lord brought me in through the season into ministry, it was like, oh, that's the same thing. How do I retire from a calling?

[29:36] You don't retire from your gifts and your callings, right?

[29:40] No.

[29:41] So, yeah,

[29:42] I think I'm not retired. Have I slowed down a little bit?

[29:48] Probably,

[29:49] you know, a little bit.

[29:52] But I,

[29:53] but we still have our non profit. We still do a lot of work. We still are,

[29:57] you know, moving Forward.

[30:00] It wasn't. Here's your watch. Thanks. For 30 years,

[30:04] you know, and I.

[30:06] That's been a blessing. Let me just put. I have nothing against that. If that's where God would have led me, I would have done it.

[30:13] You know, I used to try to get it. I used to want to do that.

[30:16] And my wife always said, byron, you'd last a week, dude, you would just drop it.

[30:24] Jan: Right,

[30:25] right. Yeah.

[30:26] And then now in this season, then you're probably doing more mentoring people and, you know, building up the next group to take your place in that, you know, sharing the things that you know and whatever.

[30:39] But God also, you know, if you're writing and you're doing, you know, you're on substack, you're doing things that are. He's leading you different directions.

[30:48] Byron: Yeah.

[30:48] Jan: Same God, the same message and whatever else, but also new relationships and new things, you know, it never stops. Right, right.

[30:58] Byron: Right.

[30:59] Well, unless you choose to make it stop. But, yeah, no, I. I think that's right. That's. That's. That's our heart behind it is.

[31:07] It's transitioning from what I was doing to really the same thing. It's just. It looks very different, and it's focused on a different purpose.

[31:18] Jan: Yeah, yeah,

[31:19] yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I. I really like.

[31:24] I think this is one of my best ages to be right now, you know,

[31:28] just because I am at a point where I understand God better than I did years ago,

[31:35] you know, and I can share that purpose,

[31:39] you know,

[31:40] with other people and to mentor others as well. So.

[31:44] Byron: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I would suppose your writing takes that on as well, right?

[31:50] Jan: Yeah, yeah. Right now I'm working on,

[31:53] I think, my last book. I'm.

[31:55] I originally, I was thinking eight books, and this is number eight. So I'm working on my last fiction. One I just wrote was called Nuns with Guns.

[32:06] Really? It's kind of a.

[32:08] A comedy.

[32:10] Whatever. My youngest daughter became a nun.

[32:13] And so anyway,

[32:16] it's got a gang and a dead body and a kidnapping and some Ukrainian kids that are being saved with Brother Ben, who's keeping them safe during the war, and just a bunch of shenanigans and whatever and redemption at the end.

[32:30] So, you know, that was.

[32:31] Byron: Oh, I got to get that.

[32:32] Jan: That was a lot of fun. And then now I'm writing a second Bible study. I think God wanted me to write one on prayer, so that one is two. Just. And I love doing research and, you know, researching the scriptures and finding all the, you know,

[32:47] different parts. So, yeah, I'm enjoying that.

[32:50] Byron: Yeah.

[32:51] Jan: Yeah.

[32:52] Byron: So I'm gonna. I did check out your website, but I'm gonna do it again because I, I want to get that book.

[32:59] I remember that title because that stuck with me.

[33:01] Jan: Nonsense. Yeah, It's a lot of fun. It's just if you want to laugh and, you know, kind of go on an adventure, it's a lot.

[33:11] Byron: I'm writing one of those myself called Strange Reaction.

[33:14] Jan: There you go. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I had never written anything in that genre because the other ones are romance. And that same nun daughter wrote romance with me, some medical romance,

[33:28] but now she found the ultimal ultimate husband. So we're all.

[33:35] Anyway, what would you like to leave our audience with?

[33:38] Byron: You know,

[33:39] just,

[33:40] you know, keep going after the things that God has placed in your life. That's. Don't stop, don't, don't, you know,

[33:47] don't let discouragement take you away from the truth and the promises. It's. If you have a promise from the Father,

[33:56] then it will get fulfilled in some form or fashion. And if you're not, and this is the key,

[34:02] if you're asking the question, you're getting the same response,

[34:06] then ask him to give you a different question.

[34:09] Because it's the question that we're not asking that often leads us into a new truth and understanding of how to move forward.

[34:18] And that's what stops people.

[34:21] I think so much of the time is that we keep asking that same question and we just need that help over the edge to go, oh, I just need to ask a new question.

[34:32] And that new question sets us into a place of going,

[34:36] of awakening that dream, that purpose, that promise again.

[34:41] So.

[34:41] Jan: Yeah,

[34:42] beautiful. Yeah, I think that's a truth.

[34:44] So I'll put your substack link in the,

[34:48] in the show notes and are there any of the links you'd like to have in there?

[34:52] Byron: Yeah, Buys books by S B O O K S dot com. Buys books as in Byron.

[35:00] Jan: Okay. Okay.

[35:01] Byron: Yeah. Buys books. Not B U Y, but Right, right. Byron's books. Buys books.com. and that brings you into just the different books I have.

[35:11] Jan: Okay.

[35:12] Byron: And all sales, just so you know, I will.

[35:15] All sales go to help build homes for widows of Nicaragua. I don't, I don't get the funds. Yeah, perfect. So if you buy a book,

[35:24] the couple bucks go down.

[35:26] Jan: Yeah, perfect. Oh, I love it. Thank you so much for guessing today. And it's just, it really, truly has been a pleasure.

[35:35] Byron: Thanks, Jan. Ditto.

[35:41] Jan: Well, now, that was a rich conversation with Byron Easterling today.

[35:45] If there's one thing I want to walk away with. It's this don't keep asking the same question and again expecting a new answer. If you're stuck, ask God for a new question.

[35:56] That's often where the breakthrough starts.

[35:59] Here are three scriptures that I think go well with this episode that we've had today.

[36:06] Psalm 71:18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.

[36:18] I guess I feel a little bit like that too.

[36:22] Jeremiah 33:3 Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

[36:30] Hey friends, thanks so much for listening. You can find Byron's books, all proceeds going to build homes for widows in Nicaragua@bysboks.com that's by S books.com links are in the show notes.

[36:49] And just gonna ask, have you bought your copy of Nuns with Guns yet?

[36:56] It's pretty funny. It's got some pretty good reviews, so you might want to look into it. I'll leave it a link in the show notes for that too.

[37:05] Until next time.

[37:06] You know what to do.

[37:08] Just keep talking about Jesus.