Beyond Sunday
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the Podcast that takes you deeper into the Word of God throughout your week, with your Host Pastor Lee Day.
It's Time to Inspire, Uplift, and dig deeper. Beyond Sunday starts now!
Beyond Sunday
A Pastor’s Son Finds His Way Back
We share Paul Butler’s journey from a pastor’s son to a bold witness who led a Christian metal band into bars and biker hangouts, then chose family over the spotlight. The throughline is simple: a father’s love, a mother’s support, and a life tuned to the Holy Spirit.
• early memories of a father’s steadfast love
• moving for a blind father’s training and starting over
• raised in church shaping conscience and choices
• public profession of faith and learning the Spirit’s nudge
• dyslexia, culture shock, and standing up for belief
• forming a secular band then returning to purpose
• party years, a dangerous roommate, and coming home
• mom-made flyers and launching King’s Cross
• ministry in bars and unexpected open doors
• marriage, instant fatherhood, and laying down the band
• Romans 8:28 guiding service over spotlight
• gratitude for parents and a call to reconcile
Father, we just we thank you. We we we thank you, Father, for this episode. We we we thank you, Father, for the testimonies that you've given us, but you're just working out those testimonies new every day. If there be anyone out there that has not yet received Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as Savior of their life and soul, I would just encourage you to say a prayer like this: Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner and I repent of my sins. I recognize that you died on the cross so that I could be forgiven. And I ask you to come into my life, forgive me and save my soul. Fill me with the power of your Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ's name and blood. Amen.
Welcome everyone to Beyond Sunday. I am your host, Pastor Lee Day, and I pastor CFO Church, located in Amelia, Virginia. And I would like to take a moment and personally invite each and every one of you to come on by and worship the Lord God Almighty with us. Doors open at 9:30. Service begins at 10 a.m. On today's episode, sitting at the table with me is a good friend of mine. He is a brother in Christ. Paul Butler, how are you doing today, my brother? Man, I am highly blessed, highly favored of the Lord. Yes, amen. Because you are in his hand. Absolutely, brother. In his hand. Paul, there have been some really amazing testimonies that have come on to this show, and yours is going to be just as powerful. However, your testimony, brother Paul, is going to come from a different angle. And that's what I love about it. You were the first ever pastor's son that has come on to share your testimony. So thank you for sitting at the table with me today, brother. Absolutely. I am a totally honored pastor. Before we get into your testimony, Paul, can you share a memory? Could you share a memory with your dad that means so much to you? Because I know you've shared with me before how much you knew you knew that your dad loved you. Is there something specific that stands out that's like your go-to memory with your dad?
SPEAKER_02:I I think the uh the rocking chair incident when I was an infant, which I don't remember, but I was told the story that dad was holding me in his arms, rocking me in the rocking chair. And I guess he got a little carried away, but one of the rockers on the rocking chair actually broke and we went backwards. Yeah. And he held on to me, never let me go. Praise God. And that's a symbolic of my relationship with my dad the rest of my life.
SPEAKER_01:Amen. He was right there for you. Right there. All the time. Yes. Letting you know that he loved you. Yes.
SPEAKER_02:And literally, I've got you, and I won't let you go.
SPEAKER_01:Man, what what what a father-son relationship. Oh, yeah. When when you were a young boy, your dad's health took a turn for the worse. And the doctor said that your dad was going to lose his eyesight. Yes. At this point, you guys have to move to Richmond, Virginia. Yes. In 1971. Yes, sir. So that your dad could be trained to live life blind. Yes, sir. What was the family going through during this time? What do you know about it?
SPEAKER_02:Well, it was it was very tough because uh dad pastored a very small country church. We lived in a parsonage, and there wasn't a lot of money. So we were not able to come to Richmond and just purchase a house and all that. We had to come to Richmond and move in with my grandfather Butler, my my dad's father. My grandmother had passed many years before. And so we had to transition into his life, move into his house, and with nothing. Mom didn't have a job, dad was without a job.
SPEAKER_01:Starting all over.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So it now I was very little, but it was quite the transition. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I'm sure it was. From from first grade to college, you and your family went in church. Whenever the doors were open, y'all were there. Y'all were there. You eventually, though, you you walk away uh from from living a relationship faithful and obedient to the Lord, and you hit the party scene for a while in life. But but before we get into that part of your testimony, would you share how being raised in church and showing up every week impacted your life and how it ends up bringing you back to the truth when you strayed away from it? Because I'm going to put this verse out there. Proverbs 22, 6 says, Train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is old, he will not depart from it. So how did how did your family bringing you to church every time the doors were open, how did it affect you later on in life when you had strayed away?
SPEAKER_02:Well, being raised up in the word, being raised up around believers, people that loved you because they love the Lord, right? As in Sunday school teachers, nursery workers, uh ushers, you know, being in that atmosphere. True, genuine Christian. Absolutely. And and you knew right from wrong. You knew the way it should be, not the way that it could be. Right. And so when you strayed, you always knew what you were doing was wrong.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It didn't feel right at all. And it was more testing limits. Yeah. And then you just knew you needed to get back in relationship with the Lord. Yeah. Yeah. It's so important to live the life that you had been shown and taught. Yeah. And know that's right.
SPEAKER_01:Not a question, it's right. Yeah. You know. That's right. That's right. Erica once read the following statement, Brother Paul, and it it says this if you as the parent don't train your child in the way they should go, there is a very real enemy that will. Absolutely. So that's that's our role. That's our responsibility as parents. I I once heard someone say, uh, as a parent, they said, I'm not raising my child to be best friends with them right now.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_01:I'm gonna raise them and discipline them in a way so that when they're old enough to leave my home, it's someone that I want to be friends with then. Right. You know what I mean? Right. I know parents that are currently raising young children and they just want to be their best friends, but I look at those types of children and there's not much structure, there's not much discipline because mom and dad don't want to break bad at times and correct things that need to be corrected because they don't want to hurt their feelings, you know. And man, I so line up with that, with with the theory of I'm not raising my best friend right now. I'm raising a child who I want to one day be an outstanding young man of the faith in this world, and and then I'll go be friends with him. That's right. You know, then then I'll be friends with him.
SPEAKER_02:There were times I actually thanked my dad later on for discipline that he did earlier in my life that you probably weren't a fan of it those days.
SPEAKER_01:Not at the time. On October 19th, 1980, during a revival service, you made your profession of faith. What do you remember about that night in 1980?
SPEAKER_02:Well, the biggest deal of that was not that I wasn't a Christian, it was publicly declaring it. Yeah, you know, Jesus hung on a cross publicly, yeah, with all the worst that could ever be. And all I was being asked is to walk forward during a church service and present myself to the congregation with my pastor standing beside me. Yeah, and yet I was terrified just to walk up. And so my pastor had come to me the week before and said, We've got a revival, wonderful time for you to go ahead and make your profession of faith. And I was like, Okay. So I made the agreement, now I'm terrified. So I sat near the front because, you know, hey, it's a shorter walk. That's right, and went on up. And uh it was the most freeing thing because not only had I made my profession of faith, but now I knew, even though I knew I was a Christian, I knew that my name was in the Lamb's book of life. Amen. And I just celebrated so much. Yeah, yeah. It was official. Absolutely. It was official. And then my dad, uh, being a pastor, but not the pastor of our home church, he actually got to baptize me, which was incredible. What a blessing.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. That that I'm sure that that was one of his top honors that he that he ever participated in.
SPEAKER_02:Never, ever, ever forget that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that that that's awesome. In in your testimony, Brother Paul, it states that you first felt the Holy Spirit in your life at youth camp. Yes, sir. How has your relationship with the Holy Spirit impacted your life even up to today?
SPEAKER_02:Well, once I could recognize the feeling of the Holy Spirit, what it what it did inside of me, then I could recognize it from there on. Yeah. And then I'm able to uh be sensitive to the move of the spirit and realize this isn't me, this is God moving in me through the Holy Spirit. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:That's how it's I I I love the term that you just use there, sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Yeah. So many people, I'm just going to talk for a moment about not being sensitive. Let's talk about, you know, sometimes you can talk about the opposite of something to figure out what something actually is, right? So someone who's not sensitive to the Holy Spirit, they're the person that's trying to do it their own way. They're not yielding to what the spirit is leading them to do. Uh, and therefore they can get to the point to where they're not even listening anymore. Right. Because they become to the point to where they just want to do it their way and what they want to do. But I love, I love that term, sensitive to the Holy Spirit, meaning that you're always listening and looking for what the Lord God Almighty wants you to do. Absolutely. And how his spirit is trying to get you to go into that direction. But I think that if Christians would be uh sensitive to the Holy Spirit, man, there would be, there would just be revival across this land.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_01:You know, you you would have people loving their neighbor as they're really truly called to love their neighbor.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_01:Understanding that their neighbor is whoever they're around in the moment that they're around them. You know, it's not just the person living in the physical home right next door. Right. You know, we go to the grocery store, we got neighbors around us. Right. You know, so are we going to be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is asking of us? And to me, obedience just breeds more obedience. Right. You know, the the the more we do yield to the calling of the spirit, the more we're gonna begin to hear the spirit calling us to do other things. Right. Would you agree with that? Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:We set our plan, yeah, but then God can change that plan. That's right. And we have to be sensitive, as I said, to what he wants to be done now.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Like we were talking earlier. Yeah. We have a set schedule for our Sunday worship and praise and all that. But if the Lord speaks to you as pastor that this is more important right now, then that's what we do. Then that's what we do. And we're being obedient to the move of the Holy Spirit. And that's when ministry really happens.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Oh, amen, brother. Like what nothing wrong with structure. Absolutely. But we don't want to be so structured that we miss what the Spirit may want us to do a little bit different today. Right. Right? Just a little, a little bit different. And I think sometimes, and we're we're all guilty of this, myself included, we go through our day and we have things and tasks that need to be done that if we're not careful, we've got blinders on. Yes. Because we know we have to accomplish this and we'll miss people or divine appointments. Yeah. We'll miss things that God is calling us to do because we know that we've got to do this and do this well. And so, again, sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Absolutely. Amen.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01:When you were a teenager, um you were diagnosed with dyslexia.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:And you ended up going to a different school that was equipped to help you with that.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01:You went through some culture shock at that at that new school because the other students weren't like you. Walk us through what that was like and why.
SPEAKER_02:Well, because it was a private school that was uh put together by parents that had dyslexic children and they had to bring in some really uh powerful or knowledgeable teachers that knew how to teach to help you in your specific type of dyslexia. Right. So the uh tuition at the time was like six thousand dollars a year. That's big money back then. Yeah, we're talking 79 or something like that. And that was huge.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And so Well, especially when when mom and dad weren't and grandpa weren't already paying for education. But now to be told, hey, six grand a year, right, back in those days, even today that's a lot of money. But back in those days, that's a tremendous amount of money.
SPEAKER_02:So what happened is a lot of people that you know didn't have that money, you just had to deal with what you had to deal with in the public school system. Right. So what what you had is is most of the kids that were there came from very wealthy families. So my mom and dad, they they tirelessly worked to get a grant from the city of Richmond to get me to allow me to go, and the city of Richmond paid my tuition. Come on, man. All the way till I graduated from 8th to 12th. Wow. So God providing for you. So many of my uh classmates were f very wealthy families, and I came in. Yeah. Not from that. No, yeah, and I mean it was all about what kind of clothes you wore, your shoes, you know. Uh, I was just backwards compared to them, and it was tough until I started making friends, you know. Yeah. And I had to stand up for my faith a few times, where we'd be history class and we're talking about the Middle Ages and Christian, you know, things that would go on, be blamed on Christians. Right. And I actually stood up and had to say, I'm a believer in Jesus Christ, and I want that known. And everybody just looked at me, you know. I sat back down and nothing was said. The teacher didn't get upset. So, but I let it be known, you know. Yeah. So you were you were a voice for the Lord. I right there. I tried to be because there again, you when you're raised in it, yeah, it's still right and still wrong, and you know what the truth is, and you that's right, you can't help but uh go towards it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you know. Yeah, I've known you for a very long time. The Lord put us together um back when I was in I was in high school when I first was introduced to you and and and to your wife Joy. Um, and that's one thing that I have appreciated about the two of you guys. You have no problem standing up for your faith. Right. It's really something that attracted to me, attracted me to you very early on in our friendship. And I was like, man, I gotta, I gotta be connected with this brother because I I love people that don't back down when it comes to their faith. Right. These are the people that God is looking for to be in the family, in the army of God, people that God wants to use out in the public square that says, I will take a stand for my faith. I will take a stand for my Lord. And I think we we have to do that. I know we have to do that because he took the stand for us. Absolutely. As you mentioned earlier, he went to the cross. Right. You know, so if he did that for me, he did that for you, he did that for our listeners, then we ought to take a stand for him today. Absolutely. And forever. We're we're gonna we're gonna go right into your high school years because things are about to get very interesting. You formed your very first rock band. Uh, because let me just say this for those who do not know you personally, I just want to inform them music is your thing. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:I know I say absolutely a lot.
SPEAKER_01:That that's a jam. It is, man. Yes, sir. Music is your jam. Yes. Uh, it was then and it is now. Yes, sir. You you still enjoy good music. Uh, but back then, this band that you were in, it was not Christian music. It was not faith-based. It was a secular band. Yes, sir. And you were the lead singer. Yes, sir. You're the band leader. You you played your first gig in 1985. Yep. Um, I was four years old back then. There you go.
SPEAKER_02:You could have been there, man.
SPEAKER_01:Walk us through that time in your life. You're going to church, but not fully, completely sold out. What how were you, how are you bouncing back and forth? What's going on?
SPEAKER_02:One foot in, one foot out. I knew the Lord. I loved the Lord, but there was the rest of my life which was secular, which was I listened to the music I wanted to listen to. I did basically things I wanted to do. I didn't do anything outrageous. I wasn't drinking or smoking dope or anything like that. But I was celebrating uh secular things by the music. Right. And so I'm an organizer.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I'm a gatherer of people. And I brought a friend of mine from Hermitage High School, who I'd known since first grade, brought him in as a drummer. He was a drummer. And he brought in a guitarist from Hermitage High School. And I brought another guitarist in from my school, New Community School. And that's how the band was formed. It would have never happened, but I was the guy pulling everybody together, making the phone calls. And then it was, well, what songs do you know how to play? And since I couldn't play anything, I'm the singer. I organized, but hey, somebody's got to sing. So I grabbed the mic. And that's how it was. And um, I didn't really see an issue with the lyrics at the time.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I wasn't thinking about how this is influencing people there watching me. Right. You know, didn't look at it like that.
SPEAKER_01:Right. So what was the name of that band? That was Labyrinth. Labyrinth?
SPEAKER_02:Which means maze. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So for so for anybody that may be listening right now that once heard Labyrinth. One of those gigs, you know, we can now say that the lead singer is sold out for Jesus Christ. Yes, sir. Absolutely. So you go on to graduate high school and you move into an apartment with a buddy. Yes. And you begin taking a two-year college course on dental laboratory technology, correct? Yes, sir. And you end up getting into the dental lab tech career. Yes, sir. In your testimony, Brother Paul, you call these years your your party time. Yes, sir. There was drinking, there was smoking, there was girls. You said that your roommate was was even more out of control than you were. Yes. But here's the good news. God intervened again for you, didn't he?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, just right there again. And I just think about probably how many times your mom and dad prayed over their son.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:You know, and and even now, with with with my two boys, my wife and I are constantly day in and day out, all through the night, when we wake up and we're we're praying for our boys. Yes. It's it's so important. And I just encourage the listeners right now, pray for your children.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:Pray for your children. You know, it is worth investing in. It is worth taking the time to do. Uh, would you just share with the listeners how, as I just mentioned, there's there's drinking, there's smoking, there's girls got a roommate, and and and this, this, this guy, this friend of yours, he's just he's just even more out there than you are. Knowing all that and kind of kind of now being able to look back at it, because that's a gift to be able to still be alive today to look back.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:How do you see God intervening for your life in in in that time in those years?
SPEAKER_02:Well, there again, uh knowing right from wrong, I still did wrong, but I knew I don't know how how to explain it, but I could find the limit. You know, I'm gonna only do so much, I'll go right to the ledge and then stop. Yes. I mean, I didn't do any drugs, but you know, smoking cigars and and drinking beer and drinking liquor and and going to parties and driving drunk, you know, I did that one time and uh but it was always a limit. Yeah, it wasn't just outrageous, and and and I'm not pointing fingers because wrong is wrong, but my my uh roommate got to where he was getting dangerous. Yeah, I mean, fireworks in the apartment, wow, you know, uh, had to be drinking every single night.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I still needed to make good grades, you know. I still had to study. Yeah. And so I have to, you know, close myself in my bedroom, let him do his thing. And then it got to the point where I just couldn't stay there anymore.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, you got to close your door, hope he's not burning the apartment down with fireworks out. Yeah, absolutely, man. I thought clearly not in a sound mind. No. In the in the other room. It it gets so bad that you end up going home, you've got to humble yourself and you got to go have a talk with your parents about how bad things have gotten in your life and and in in in that at the apartment. What does that conversation look like?
SPEAKER_02:Well, literally, uh, there had been an incident. And I don't I can't remember if it was the fireworks or when he tried to pour drive his four-wheel drive truck up through the sliding glass windows, but wow, uh, I left and went home. It was, I don't know, 9 30 at night, something like it, went home. And I walked in, and mom and dad are sitting up in the bed reading. And I'll be honest, I had a little bit to drink. And I'm standing there and I was holding on to the bedpost, steadying myself, and I said, I think I need to come home. Wow. I said, It's it's got out of control. Yeah, and I'll never forget. Dad said, Well, you've tried some things that I told you where they were gonna go, and you've had to learn on your own. Um, I'm glad you have learned, and just know none of that will go here if you come back. That's right, the rules pick back up.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_02:The rules absolutely. Yeah, but but what I want to speak about on that is the love of my parents that they allowed me. They were paying my rent, man. I wasn't working, I was just going to school. Yeah, I had a car, they were paying for everything, man. I had a little spending money, yeah, bought some groceries, but they they were doing it all. Yeah, my grandparents were actually paying my college tuition, and I was living free, man. Yeah, and to allow me to try that and trust me, even though I I messed up some, yeah, and then to welcome me home, like the prodigal. Yeah, yeah, come on back. Here's the rules, of course, but come on back. Yeah, that was the awesome thing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you're welcome to come back at any time, but you can't bring the silliness with you. Right. Yeah, that's that's done. That's awesome. What I love about that is that mom or dad didn't scold you, they didn't verbally whip you over, beat you over the head, do anything like that. They say, Hey, you're welcome to come back, but the rules are still the rules. Right. Uh maybe there are people listening right now, brother Paul, and and and and it if you find yourself where at some point where brother Paul was just talking about you, you need to come, you need to come back home. You you need to come back home. You need to you need to tell the truth. Maybe you got to confess some things, you got to ask for forgiveness. If that's you, I just encourage you, just let this be the episode that just pushes you to take that next step. Because if you're willing to do that, it will begin a process of setting you free once you go get the help you need. And odds are there there's someone listening that does need to go talk to somebody and they just need to get some help. Uh, I I can only imagine that when you see your roommate getting ready to drive his vehicle through the double glass doors, that you gotta be thinking, man, this is uh this has not ended up into the the plan of my life that I thought I had. Not at all. This was this was not in the works for me. No, yeah. Uh so you go on, brother Paul, you you finish college, and then something happened to you while watching a TV show. You saw on that show a Christian metal band named Stryper. Yes, right? You remember that? Yes, sir. Um you you begin praying to God about starting a Christian metal band. So so you're going from secular into being sold out with a crystal, uh Christian metal band. You wanted to take your passion, and this is what I love about it. You wanted to take your passion and honor God with it. Yes. And now now there's no internet back then, right? No, no, no, no, everybody's got a computer in their home. No cell phones. No, yeah, no cell phones. This is pre-computer age. Probably hard for some listeners that are listening right now to to think about that. But but man, I I graduated in 2000. I mean, you go back just 25 years ago. And in 2000, I was the only, I was the first, and in that year, the only one in in my school that I knew of that had a cell phone. Wow. Now I was paying for my own.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But I was the only one that I knew of in the entire high school in 2000 that had a cell phone. Now you probably can't hardly walk down the hall and see someone without one. But this is the pre-computer age for you. And here you've got this Christian, you want to begin forming this Christian metal band, and you're gonna need some help making some flyers. Tell the listeners, and this is just awesome, man. You talk about you talk about people who love you. Tell the listeners who helped you make those flyers for your band. Well, my mom did. Amen.
SPEAKER_02:And we were we were Southern Baptist, okay? That's how I was raised, Baptist. And I love the Baptist, okay? God took me another direction, but I love the Baptist. My dad was a pastor. Uh, my mom worked for the Virginia Baptist Board, okay? They're the organizational platform. So you don't get more Baptist than we were.
SPEAKER_01:And here she's getting ready to make some uh some flyers for a Christian middle.
SPEAKER_02:My mom has access to uh ways to make flyers on the job. Right. So I wrote out what I wanted. And Lee, I was just looking for everything. I had nothing. I need guitarist, I need drummer, I need bass player, you know. And I mom made it up and run some copies for me. And I got in the car and I drove to every music store, you know, where you would buy instruments, yeah, and they all had bulletin boards. And I put them, I went all over Richmond, put them up Chesterfield, wherever, and waited for the phone to ring.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And it did. It did. I just I just think that that's awesome, man. Like one of the things I see this episode as is really a tribute to your parents.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, my parents were and are awesome. My mom is one of my greatest supporters. Yeah. You know. Um, dad is on with the Lord. I'm so looking forward to seeing him when I get home. Amen. But mom, oh my goodness, she was the fighter for so much of what I wanted to do. And when I formed the band, there was never any backlash.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, my dad did say something kind of funny one time. He said, You realize that bands are dime a dozen. You need to have a real job. Yeah. But I was working. Yeah. I was working.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah. Now let me just say this. That just that little piece of your testimony should encourage some parents. I know it encourages me, to get involved with what their children enjoy doing. So many times I see parents force, because I coach baseball for a long time. I seen parents force their children into playing sports and and the child didn't want to be there. Right. But that doesn't mean that that child didn't have an interest in something else. Right. So, so I just want to say this if you're a parent out there, grandparent out there, or if you're you're helping raise or you're raising children, find out what the child enjoys doing and then help them uh put passion into that. Find out what they're passionate about and go go fan that flame. Right. You know what I mean? Go, go, go fan that flame. See how you can, and then and then here's here's taking it a step further. See how you can take that passion and then say, okay, I see this is what you enjoy doing. How can we honor God with this?
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so Paul, you you you like music, but okay, you want to do a metal band, but it's to honor Christ. Yes. How can I help you do this? Right. Mama's gonna make up some flyers.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:You know what I mean? I mean, that that's powerful.
SPEAKER_02:And I have another funny story, considering my parents, when the band first formed, we didn't have anywhere to practice. Right. So we had an extra room at the house. And so here it was a small room. We packed the band in there.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And we're we're practicing. And I mean, this is at mom and dad's house. And it was loud. And uh mom's out front watering flowers or something, and a neighbor across the street came over and said, Danny, what is that noise? And mom goes, What noise? I don't hear anything. She said, You can't hear that. And mom goes, Oh, that's just Paul's band practice. Oh, that's awesome, man. And kept right on, yeah, you know, ordering the plants.
SPEAKER_01:That's awesome. That's awesome. That that just goes to show her love and support for what you were doing. Yes. And it was also honoring the Lord. Right. And I I just think that that's awesome. You guys are in there honoring God, and even though it's loud, you're willing to, you know, mom's willing to put up with it. Never a complaint. Hey, I I look at it like this because sometimes our oldest will bring friends. Home from college or we'll go somewhere and they'll meet us out there. Yeah. And Erica and I see it like this. At least they're with us. There you go. They could be somewhere else doing who knows what, right? Like you take advantage of that time that your children want to come back home. Right. You know what I mean? And so, you know, your mom, I'm sure she could have looked at it like that as well as a parent. Hey, at least my baby is under my roof. Yeah. He's got his friends and they're together under my roof and they're in there honoring God. Right. I mean, that's that's powerful.
SPEAKER_02:My dad would work the front door. See, we're we're in the back of the house in another room. We don't know that, you know, the guitarist or whoever showed up. So dad's answering the door, and he doesn't know these guys from Adam, and he's hugging them and telling them, I love you, and all that. Come on, man. You know, because that's how he always greeted my friends. Yeah. And even though he didn't know them, yeah. It's like, you know, welcome, I love you.
SPEAKER_01:You know. That's so deep, brother. That's so deep. Just welcome them into the home, showing them the love of God, right? Showing them the love of Christ. That's one thing that Erica and I do when Elijah, our oldest son, he's 20, when he leaves with his buddies back to college, doesn't matter if we were at an Apple Festival and we're all leaving, doesn't matter if they were at my house for a bonfire and they're all leaving. Um, one of the things that we always do is we say, okay, let's pray before y'all go. There you go. Let's pray before you go. And if he's got like the last time he was at home, there was uh two friends that left before the other three. And so even when those two friends left first, we're like, all right, hold up. Go pray. We're gonna pray. We're gonna pray. You know, and I want them to know that when you're in our presence, you've been in the presence of the Lord. Right. I want them to know that when they've been in our home, that they've been in the presence of God Almighty. I want them to know that even if we're at an apple festival at a mountain somewhere, we've been in the creation of God and in his presence. And let's take the time to honor that. So I think that even as our children get older, we don't stop pursuing them in the name of the Lord. You know, we we don't stop pursuing that. I just think that that's fantastic that your dad works the door and he loves these people as they come in and he's hugging on them. Right. Because man, you never know, man. You you never know if that person has a dad that hugs them. Well, see, and the other thing was see, this was brand new.
SPEAKER_02:I just put a flyer out and I interviewed people. Yeah. It's being a young Christian, uh, you don't know where they're really coming from. Right, right. How mature in their faith are they? Right. Yeah. And so I had some people that were really on the edge. And this might have been the only hug they ever got. That's right.
SPEAKER_01:You know, so it was a witness. Yeah. Or in that exact moment, they needed that hug from a godly man. Exactly. They needed to feel the love of God.
SPEAKER_02:Never experience anything like that. You just never know when you're being Christ like what you're doing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's what you're but again, sensitive to the Holy Spirit. That's right. Taking the time to love on people the way God loves on us, right? And the way we want to be loved on.
SPEAKER_02:Right. And when you're investing in your children, it doesn't necessarily mean you this is what you want them doing.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But do it for the Lord. Whatever it is.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_02:Promote that.
SPEAKER_01:Do it for the Lord. How can we honor God in this? Absolutely. So this metal Christian band that you go on uh to to create, which which I love because there's so many different types of Christian music today, man, that that people Christians have no reason to go outside of Christian music. I mean, we've got Christian rap, uh, you know, Christian country, believe it or not, Christian metal, Christian rock. There's so many types of Christian music. And and again, these people that had these these desires and passions and these gifts out in the world, that now when they come to Christ, they're using these gifts to honor God for the glory of his holy name. You know, and and I just think it's great, man. I just think it's fantastic. But this this metal band, because maybe there's some people that are wondering, uh, it's named King's Cross. Right. Right? King's Cross. And and I just think that that's awesome. You guys ever have any t-shirts made or anything?
SPEAKER_02:Never had t-shirts, never did any recording. Yeah. Um, a lot of uh of the Christian bands or rap groups, or whoever, the first thing they did was record. Right. And that was the you know, emphasis. Well, for me, I didn't want to write songs, I wanted to be a cover band to cover other Christian artists and get out there to share Jesus with people wherever we could go. Amen. We're playing biker parties, we're playing, you know, pool parties, we're playing in bars. Yeah, they didn't know we were just a metal band.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And then you come in there preaching Jesus through the movies. Absolutely. And uh, but that's that was the emphasis for me. Yeah. I don't want to take months and write songs and try to record it and all that. Let's let's learn the songs and get out there. Get out there. That's I want to see people's lives change.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, that's a great advocate. That's what it was. Yeah, because those people at the parties, those people at the bars, they need to hear Jesus just like everybody else. That's where he was. Yeah, that that's awesome. Everywhere, right? Yeah, omnipresent. Right. That that's awesome. You who knows who you were ministering to at those places that that they could have felt like they were just on their last leg, down and out, ready to give up. Right. And they sit there and they're hearing a gospel presentation through metal music. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, that that we we were uh playing at a bar in Richmond. Uh-huh. Newgate prison was the name of it. It was a biker bar. Uh-huh. And the owner comes up to me and he says, We have church here on Sundays. Come on, man. Can you come and lead worship or something? And and we we never did it, but you just don't know. Don't know what someone's going through and how the Lord's working in their life. And I told you that story about the the two young men that the bouncer let in free after asking me, because these guys come in free. And then they started mocking me. Well, that bouncer grabbed them up by the shirts and threw them out there.
SPEAKER_01:Threw them out of there for mocking you for doing Christmas.
SPEAKER_02:Respect for what we were doing. Those two didn't, right?
SPEAKER_01:But but the bouncer even did. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:God's in all of it. Come on, man.
SPEAKER_01:Amazing. Praise God. Yeah. That the band goes on, and you you guys are getting heavy into it. You're having uh multiple nights a week for rehearsals, you got gigs on the weekends.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Um, but something had changed in your life. You got married, yes, and and you realize that that season of your life of being in the band uh was going to be over. You had to back out. Obviously, you had a lot of time invested in it, but why do you think that at that time it was it was time to move on?
SPEAKER_02:Well, the Lord blessed me, and while I was working at the dental lab, a beautiful young lady came in looking for a job, and they hired her. And uh went along, we were having lunch together and two different lives. She was a little bit older than me and came from an alcoholic background and drug abuse and everything, but she was saved and loved the Lord. Long story short, I had to marry this this this girl, this beautiful woman. And when I did, I became an instant father because she had a son, and I think he was 10 or 11 at the time. Okay. So I had an instant family.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And we were going to a church called House of Prayer, which was full gospel. Holy Spirit had free reign, and it was a heavy teaching church. I mean, you really. And I learned for the first time in a life, my life, what the role of a husband was and a father was. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And then all of a sudden you're like, hey, I gotta be home.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. Yeah. And I felt guilty for being gone at, you know, a couple of nights a week. And she was very supportive. She never asked me to quit. Never. So I had to go to these guys that I had gathered, and I mean, we went through personnel changes and some tough times. Arguments, you know, we're people.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I had to tell them I've got to walk away from what I had organized, which I had made and absolutely loved. Yeah. Because of my family.
SPEAKER_01:That was a hard decision. That's so good, man. Again, we're we're just talking about parental roles here.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Sometimes you got to let go of something you love to do what you know you need to do. Absolutely. And then I think that it's okay that you love that band, but now you're in a new season. Yes. And you've got to see what you're supposed to love well now. Yes. Right. And I think that there are different chapters in our lives that we do have to look back at and say, okay, let me just kind of evaluate. Let me take, let me take a physical and spiritual, a mental inventory in my life and see if see if I'm loving on the right things and the right people at the right time in my life. And so you had to step away from that thing that you loved.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:In order to love the season that God was currently having you in. I I think that's great. Um, brother Paul, in your testimony, you included Romans 8 28, where Paul writes, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:For those who are called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_02:Amen.
SPEAKER_01:Before we wrap this episode up, explain how this verse has impacted your life, that God has worked it all out together for the good because you've been called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_02:I have discovered that when I submit to God's authority and realize my plans are not his plans, it doesn't mean you don't try to do things and and stay, you know, trying to serve, but he's gonna direct you. And just because you were planning on being uh in a Christian rock band and and tour the world and see people saved, it does not mean that uh being a parent, being a greeter, an usher, um, an organizer of celebrations of life at our church is not just as important. It's serving the Lord and doing what he's calling you to do. That's right. It's like being directed to Christ Family Outreach. I knew you, I had no intention to go to that church, but Joy and I laid it before the Lord, take us where you want us to go. Yeah, and that's one of the things I love about you. You never pestered me. Every time I saw you, you loved on me. You never said, Come to my church, come to my church, you know. And we were like, we got to go over here. And we walked in and I felt the Holy Spirit and I heard the truth being preached, and you laying your life out in front of us, yeah, your faults, and showing us you're real. Yeah, that's what it's all about to me. Yeah, is when I experience the Holy Spirit moving and realizing I don't have to be in a spotlighted area. That's right. You serve where you're created and be open to do what the Lord's director you do. So when your pastor says, I need you to sand this writing off of a table, yeah, yeah, that's not beneath me. That's an honor to do that in my house.
SPEAKER_01:My God's house is my house. Yeah. Amen. Amen. I love it. It's about being part of the family. Absolutely. Being part of the family, absolutely, part of the team.
SPEAKER_02:And and to honor an authority in my life. It doesn't have to do with I'm older than you, you're younger than me. You're in a position God's placed you. Right. So I honor my pastor by listening and praying for him every single day. I have to pray for my pastor because I know the evil that is trying to take things out that are for good. We're gonna win. That's right. That's right. And that's what one of the things you do, you point. This is the way we're going. You go with us or you don't. Yeah. And that's I'm going.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I'm going. Not backing down. Right. Not moving. Right. That's right. That's right. Keep it on, keeping on. Straightway. Right. Amen. Don't give up. Amen. Well, Brother Paul, I appreciate you coming on this podcast. Honored to be here. And I know that we've encouraged some parents out there. Yes. Uh, and and I and I think also, too, we have encouraged some children uh that may be young, but also some some children that are now adults. Yeah. That if if they are blessed and have the gift of their parents still living, yes, they could go back and just say, Thank you. I love you.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. I encourage, take the time right now to thank them and love on them because you might not have tomorrow. That's right. And and when they're gone, they're gone. Yeah. If they're saved, we'll see them. That's right. But they're still gone. That's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_01:Father, we just we thank you. We thank you, Father, for this episode. We we we thank you, Father, for the testimonies that you've given us, but you're just working out those testimonies new every day. Every day we're just adding on to what you are doing in our lives, and we are grateful for that. If there be anyone out there that has not yet received Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as Savior of their life and soul, I would just encourage you to say a prayer like this: Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner and I repent of my sins. I recognize that you died on the cross so that I could be forgiven. And I ask you to come into my life, forgive me and save my soul. Fill me with the power of your Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ's name and blood. Amen. Amen and amen.
