He Got Shot At, Wrongfully Arrested, and Then Found God | Flip That Switch Podcast

In this episode of Flip That Switch, Brandon Sudduth talked  with Pastor Calvin Gates to share his incredible journey from a childhood surrounded by drugs, violence, and gang culture to a life transformed by faith. After being shot at, wrongfully accused, and facing jail time, Calvin experienced a powerful encounter with God that changed the course of his life.

Together, we discussed the stigma surrounding pastors, the realities of growing up in a challenging environment, the consequences of the choices we make, and the power of redemption. Calvin also shares how mentorship, community, and a deep relationship with God led him to become a pastor dedicated to helping the next generation find purpose and hope.

00:00
Introduction to Calvin's Journey
01:48
Addressing the Stigma of Pastors
07:00
Calvin's Childhood and Family Dynamics
13:48
The Impact of Environment on Youth
17:59
Transitioning into Teenage Years and Identity
24:50
The Shift into Gang Culture
32:51
The Consequences of Choices
39:11
A Life-Changing Encounter with God
50:01
Transitioning to a New Circle
53:05
Becoming a Pastor: A Journey of Faith
56:28
Engaging the Youth: Strategies for Connection
01:00:22
Future Aspirations: Growing the Ministry
01:03:14
Advice to the Younger Self: Trusting the Process

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#pastor, #childhood, #stigma, #environment, #youth, #faith, #testimony, #familydynamics, #personalgrowth  #growth  #gangculture , #choices, #consequences, #faith, #transformation, #personalgrowth  #growth, #youth  #struggles, #redemption, #lifelessons  #lessons, #spirituality  #faith, #youthministry , #personalgrowth  #growth, #community, #transition, #pastor, #mentorship, #spirituality, #socialmedia , #youth  #engagement 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So we pulled up to the stoplight and uh I'm in a car, I'm in the back seat, I'm in the middle, then my brother's driving, and they pulled up beside us, and then they just start just opening fire, just boom, boom, boom, open fire into the into the into the car. So my brother, my brother drove off, and then we went up to the hospital right there off uh off 20 off the off the service road, 20 and cooper.

SPEAKER_05 0:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

And uh that moment it changed my life because it it I saw the rearness, yeah. We getting shot at all the time, but this was close to home. You know, somebody that I knew got shot in the arm. We in my mom's car, so we had no choice but to call my mom. And uh so we waited for a while, but before we called my mom, my mom called us because the police was already at the house because they ran the license plates. So the police was already at the house. And then my mom told us not to come. We waited, so we waited for the police. When I got home, my room was just in shambles. You know, police came in, took everything. Like at that time, I told you at the time I was selling, I was selling weed, so they took everything, took the scales, they took everything. My room went to shambles, and just to see the look on my mom's face, it was just like like she knew we was involved, but but to that extent, it was just it was heartbreaking. So um it was just a lot at that time, man. And just going through that season in my life and and seeing my mom and that, man, that really did something. It made me want to change and just calm down.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

What's up, you guys? Welcome back to another episode of Flip That Switch. I'm your host, Brandon, aka B to the sis naie, and we're back with another episode. If you want to be a guest on the Flip That Switch podcast, you have a story that you want to get out there, make sure you hit me in the comments or you can DM me at Flip That Switch on the IG page. But one way or the other, if you want to be a guest on the show, make sure you hit me up. Today we're gonna be diving into a new episode. And the person that's stopping by to interview with me today is my boy Calvin. Um, Calvin has a story that he wants to get out there and hopes that it can inspire someone. Um, and he's a pastor, so he's gonna talk a little bit about you know, before he gave his life to Christ, after he gave his life to Christ, kind of where he's at now, and just um talk a little bit about what he's got going on. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce Calvin to the show. What's up, man?

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Man, what's good? What's good, Brandon, man? Appreciate you having me, man. It's a blessing. Like I was sharing with you, uh, hey, you know, you got a big big platform, you and your wife. So I commend y'all on what y'all are doing. It's just an honor just to be here. I'm grateful just to share my testimony and just you know what God is doing in my life and uh how he's been a blessing to my life. Hopefully to bless somebody that with a similar story, or if your story is not similar to mine, you know, hopefully you can receive something that will, you know, change your life or just empower you to keep moving and just go forward, you know, with the strength that God is giving you.

SPEAKER_02 2:55

Yeah, for sure. And I'm gonna tell you right now, man, there's always nuggets that could be taken away from every situation, even if even if the full totality of it isn't for somebody, there's always something that could be taken away. So we just appreciate you for coming on and uh blessing us with what you're gonna be blessing us with, man. Much love, bro. Much love. All right, so I want to start with this question. There is a certain stigma around pastors, and you know, obviously it's it's based off social media. I mean, social media is kind of like the culprit of just pastors really just kind of get trying to get money and get having these get money quick schemes and things of that nature. You know, you see the pastors asking for donations, thousands of dollars here and there. Talk to me a little bit about what's your thoughts on that, and is that really the stigma that social media is making it out to be with pastors?

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Well, that's that's a good question, man. And you know, when you when you ask that question, the first thing I think about is the is the juicey, is the juicy skit. So it's it's definitely a stigma and it's definitely there because it's like any bad apple, it spoils the whole batch, you know. So uh when it comes to things like that, I kind of look at it from a whole because anything that's that's drama-based, it's worth attention. You know, you can you can just you can just I'm gonna use this as an example, right? Then I'll answer the question. You could take for uh just being African and black African American, you know, the most videos you see is gonna be us acting out, you know, some type of crime, some some type of, but not, but not all of us are like that. You know, you're not like that, I'm not like that, but that's just the stereotype, that's just the stigma. So when it comes to the body of Christ, you do have those pastors that I mean, I I've never met one, but that are unfortunately mismanaging the things that God has given them. So those things get magnified. And because because those things hurt a lot of people, you know, when you're dealing with people's money, you're dealing with finances, people are giving and you mismanaging it. So those things are gonna magnify themselves. So you do have some pastors that are unfortunately are ruining it for the rest of us. You know, it makes it hard, it makes it difficult because you know, you you don't even want to ask people to give, you know, because of the because of the stigma. So it's it's difficult. It's definitely definitely a difficult time uh within the body to kind of rebrand ourselves and re-rebirth uh the name of pastors. You know, it seemed like uh especially when it comes to you dealing with money, that you see that these pastors are living lavish, you know. That's that's only like a handful, you know. I my pastor, the church that I attend, he's full time, but he doesn't get paid. He he he does not get paid. We don't pay him. So that just goes to show you that's just an example. No one on my church staff gets paid. Everything that we do is voluntarily. So there's there's the certain people that uh that ruin it for the rest of us. So man, it's just like you know, uh, we just have to keep pressing, keep praying, and just keep hoping that God will God will change the minds of the people. It's just like um if I was to go to my job and I'm I'm just a bad employee. That doesn't mean that the whole company is bad. I just miss misrepresented the company. You know, I just did something wrong, you know, and a video just went viral. Hey, don't don't don't go to Chick-fil-A. No, it's just this one person just ruined it for everybody. So that's kind of how it is, man. You just get pastors who are um, you know, under maybe under a lot of pressure. Everybody's situation is different. So I try not to uh to judge why they do it. No, I don't I don't condone it, but you know, everybody's situation is different. You know, there's all types of temptations that we deal with. Somebody could be money, and they just like they just at the time they need it, and it can be it become a habit. They begin to sink, they begin to take, take, take. And unfortunately, you can't, once that habit starts, if you don't try to break it, you know, you feed into it, it starts to grow. So, man, it's it's a it's a bad stigma on the body of Christ. But I just want to tell y'all, not all pastors are like that. It's just unfortunately that you do have those few that kind of ruin it. And you know, some people don't really understand that the church does need money. I'm gonna say that. You know, the church does need money to help run the church. You know, you gotta pay bills, you gotta pay uh electrice, the electric, the water, you gotta play music, uh pay musicians. So that's where the money comes in. And uh some pastors are full-time, so they do get paid, which, you know, I I do understand that. But um, man, it's it's something that definitely does have to change within the body of Christ. But unfortunately, you do have those few that kind of ruin it for you know for the rest of us.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Yeah, yeah, no, for sure. And I like what you said. It's not everyone's doing that, it's basically a few that's kind of ruining it for everybody, and now it's got people's mindset. Because once what you know, with the with the world we live in, once somebody sees it one time, they're like, That's it, you got one time, you know. And if you don't make that, if you make a bad impression on me one time, that's it. Yeah, you know, I'll never I'll never look at it's not that I'll never look at you the same. It's I'll never look at you or anybody else that does what you do the same.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Exactly, exactly. And so it leaves it leaves it leaves a wound, right? And it leaves a wound, and certain wounds are hard to heal. There has to be a level of consistency, you know what I'm saying? I'm talking years of consistency because this this has been going on for years, you know, before you and I was born, you know, uh you got the what they call it, televangelists, you know. So it's been going on for years, yeah. And you know, with social media, it's just gonna be magnified. And you know, the world likes drama. The love, the world is gonna anything that's you gonna talk about, we're gonna, you know, we're gonna talk about it. We gonna we're gonna blow it up, we're gonna make it big. You know, it's by soon as happened by time the end of the day, the whole world's gonna know. So it's just one of those situations, man.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

Yeah, yeah. No, I appreciate that perspective on that. Much love, much love. There's a lot up. Um let's talk a little bit about your childhood growing up. Oh, yeah. About what the family dynamic was. Um, how was it coming up? Any siblings? Did you have both parents in the home? Give me a little bit of the family dynamic.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

So uh I'm originally from um a small town called Madison, Illinois. It's right outside of East St. Louis, Illinois. So you got St. Louis, Missouri, then you got East St. Louis, Illinois. It's two different cities, but in different states. So we live right on the border of Missouri and Illinois, small town right outside. Like you can see the arch from my grandma's porch. So it's predominantly black. Um my mother had us, me and my brother, I have I had a twin brother.

SPEAKER_05 9:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

So my mom had me and my brother uh at an early age when she was 16. So very young. We were the first born of my grand of my grandmother, of her grandkids. So, you know, my grandma had 10 kids, you know, so I got a lot of cousins, and you know, so my mom is is one of one of 10. So she had us very young. So just growing up in that environment, uh predominantly black community, uh, you know, black teachers, black principals, you know, the school was named after the principal. So it's a very small, knitted town. We got uh probably one stop, like no grocery stores, everything is everything is family-owned, you know what I'm saying? So everybody knows everybody. My kindergarten teacher was my mama's kindergarten teacher. So that if you want to put things into perspective of how small the town was, and um just growing up in that environment, like you say, we right outside of St. Louis, so it's a lot of drugs, you know, it's easy for you to see a lot at that young age. And you know, um, we're not my father was there, but he wasn't there. You know, we lived in the same city, so it's just kind of my mom just raising us on her own with my grandmother. And we lived with my grandma for a while just growing up, and uh just me and my brother, you know, my uh my mom and just uh her siblings, you know. My grandma's house was it was always a lot. A lot of people there growing up with your cousins. You know how it is when you're younger, you know, everybody, families around. So just growing up in that environment, and at that time when you younger, like in the early 90s and the early 2000s, like you see a lot of drugs, you know, it was heavily drugs related, you know, dope, marijuana, just all these different types of things, you know. You seeing these things growing up, you know, you idolize these things because that's the only role models that you have as men. You know, most of them, all the men that was in my life either uh sold drugs or you know, they that they protected the neighborhood in certain different ways. So just growing up, seeing that, you know, seeing the violence, you think is normal. You know, you grow up, you think it's normal, you think that's the way of life because there's no other example. Yeah, we go to church, but that's only on that's only once a week. What happened throughout the other six days of your life? You're consuming all of this. And like I said, the community that we live in, it was so everybody knew everybody, so we all went outside. Like, you know, back then everybody goes outside. So we outside, you know, we roam in the neighborhood, we roaming free. So in that environment, you see a lot, and um it starts to impact your mind mentally, you know. So you you go in this direction where you think is that's why the Bible says there's a way that seems right into man, but in the end, that way leads to destruction. So all these things that I'm seeing, uh these men that are influencing me, you know, go outside, they shooting dice, and hey, hey twin, you know what? I'm asking me, let me get five, let me hope. They like, hold on, you know, you you you witnessing all of this, you know, you excited as a kid. So you you look up to these people because you know, these are the drug dealers, they driving in nice cars, you know, rims, you know, bumping the loud music. So, you know, you um you get used to that. And you know, my uncle was a huge influence on my life at that early age. And um, you know, he like you said, he he sold drugs at the time, and you know, just to see the life that he was living, you know, nice cars, you know, women, you know, everybody knew him, you know. And and you know, when when you're in a small town like that, your family name, it means everything. So, you know, everybody talk about, you know, the Gregories or the Gates, you know, it's your family name. So we having a big family, you know, our family name was really big in the community, so that took some type of pride, you know, in uh in who who I was. And so just just not having that full guidance, you know, nobody to really just tell you, like, hey, you know, this is wrong, even though you have people influence you, like, hey, you know, you don't want to go down this path, but hey, y'all doing it, so you know, this this all you see, and you know, just things like that really um played a factor on how, and we'll get into how it will affect me later on in my in my just in my teens, and you know how it would affect me, and just growing up seeing that, you know, my grandmother on my uh father's side, she was really uh a a crack addict, like really deep off into that, like really, really bad. Like if you would if I could paint a picture, it would be like you seen the movie New Jack City.

SPEAKER_05 13:53

Yeah, that's one of my favorite movies. Okay, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

So if you can paint that picture of the environment, it was similar to that, not to that extent, but I think Chris Rock created a character Pookie, yeah, right? So that character is is kind of similar to how my grandmother was, right? So she would just roam the streets. I mean, sometimes it would just be it would be embarrassing because you as a kid, everybody knows like hey, that's that's your grandma, you know. So it would just be tough just dealing with that, you know, knowing that this is your grandma and she just strung out. You a kid, you can't do anything about it. All you can do is just just watch, you know, maybe walk her back to her house. So it was just things like that, you know, that you have to deal with, you know, as a kid. And like I said, you think it's normal. You you think it's normal. You seeing people getting shy, you see people get shot at. You know, you playing football in the middle of the football in gunshots, and you just you just gotta run, you just gotta flee. So it's just it's just things like that that I'm grateful that my kids don't have to grow up like that, you know, seeing that. And um, and I think that's what a lot of people, especially when it comes to uh black people, that they don't understand that sometimes these things aren't these are things that are developed as a kid, and it's hard to come out of it. It's hard to come out of that environment if you don't have a strong um support group that's really they have to take you out of that environment. And and so it's it's hard because this is our unfortunately, this is our culture. You know, we we we grow up to think that this is who we are, and we have to live out these uh this mentality of no, I gotta be a drug dealer, I gotta can't nobody disrespect me. So just having that mindset just growing up, it was uh it it was it was it was tough, man. It was tough.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

Wow, yeah, I I'm sure. Um and what's funny is I'm originally from uh Chicago.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Okay, okay, yeah, yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

I lived in St. Louis for like two years. Um and I would uh when I lived in St. Louis, sometimes I would step over to the East St. Louis side. Okay, we'll just go hang out and turn up and yeah, so so you know, yeah, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So but uh it was one of the most, it was one of the craziest things I'd ever seen because even coming up from Chicago, it's like, you know, you have your parts where it's like, okay, this is the hood, but then there's other parts that you can go to and be like, all right, but yeah, being in St. Louis and then being on everywhere, everywhere. It's like the whole city is exactly bro. It's wild. It's it's wild how much of um how much of that city is just like it's just you see the same thing, you know? And I'm like, man, it's crazy because it's like, you know, you could you could you could fix up an area of a city or a part of a city, but it's like with that, it's like man, how do we clean up the whole situation in the totality? You know, so I I'm sure I know it was tough for you growing up and coming up, just kind of being around that. Um you mentioned earlier, you know, people you you obviously like there was one side telling you this was wrong. However, you saw people that were close to you that were doing it. So it's like, okay, it can't be that wrong, right? Um did you did you have a fascination for it? Like, is this something where you were like, you know what? When I grow up, I want to be this. I see him selling drugs, I see him doing this. This is what I want to be when I grow up. Is that kind of the vision you had for yourself?

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Yeah, that was that was that was definitely the vision because like I said, like at that age, like your family name meant a lot, right? Yeah, so one of my uncles, you know, it were our family name was the Gregory. So, and just hearing that, oh you you you one of them Gregory's. So just hearing that, you know, like I said, my grandma had 10 kids, so all of us, so my aunts and uncles, all of them had kids. So just imagine 10 people having kids, yeah, multiple kids, so it's a lot of us. So just having that stigma and seeing my uncle uh be a trailblazer in that area, it's like everybody knows him. You know, he comes around like, oh no, you know, that girl, you don't mess with them. So it's having that pride, and I I admire that, like you said, it was a fascination. You know, you hear the music, the music is showing you that this is what they're doing. Like, you know, so it's just having that passion and you just growing it, and when you see that, it makes you want to do it. You want you want the fancy cars, you want the the acknowledgement and the excitement that comes with the life because you know that's that's that's that's what's that's what's brought before you. So it was definitely a fascination. I could always see myself um wanting to do that, you know, wanting to live that life, you know, wanting to be that the biggest drug dealer, you know, wanting to sell drugs, you know, wanting to drive a knife car. So it's just that fascination that comes with it. And um as a kid, you you you think you thinking in your mind that you you don't you don't see the harm in it.

unknown 18:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

You know it's danger, but my my uncle coming home every day. So it's it's you know, people respect him. So you don't know what it takes, you don't know, I don't know what he's dealing with outside of that, but it definitely was a strong fascination and you know, wanting to to be that person. Even as a kid, I would sometimes, you know, dress like him or you know, walk like him, talk like them. You know, you you you adapt certain things because that's what you want to do. You know, you whoever you aspire to be, you're gonna you're gonna you're gonna work towards that. So unfortunately, I was working towards the wrong thing, but yeah, yeah, man, the fascination was definitely there. Even just my peers, you know, people that around me, you know, so they all want we all want it the same.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Yeah, yeah. Is your uncle are you uncle still alive today?

SPEAKER_00 19:30

No, no, no. We I was I was gonna get into that, you know.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

Oh, okay, okay. Yeah, but we can, we can we can't. Okay, so so as a child, obviously you're going through that, and then you're you're coming up, right? Now you're starting to get into where you're a kid, you have an idea of what's going on, but it's not really registered to the extent of like what's actually happening. Now you start getting into your teenage years. And now you you know you're more aware, you're you know, you know more about your surroundings, you you kind of understand what's going on and what's happening. What's your mindset at that point?

SPEAKER_00 20:09

Okay, so so I'm gonna say this and then I'm gonna lead up to that. So when I when I was younger, my probably like eight years of my uncle, then all of a sudden, he ended up dying. So he ended up getting killed when I was younger. So that kind of really registered because that that was the first um death in our family that was a traumatic death that we all can relate to because he was like the breadwinner of our family. So anything that we needed, he he was there for us. Since my dad wasn't in my life, my mom would always go to him, like, hey, this is what my sons need, you know, can you do this? And he would always do it for us. So when he when he died, we ended up moving. My mom was like, No, we she can't handle this no more, you know. So we ended up moving to Texas, so that's how I got to Texas because of that event. Okay, so uh through that event, um, even though it was a still an early child stage of my childhood, it left a heavy impression on me. So we moved to Texas, but we would go back every summer. So we would go back every summer, but when we moved to Texas, my mom got saved, she gave a life to Christ.

SPEAKER_04 21:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

But me, then my stepdad, my stepdad, my mom got married, and uh, but my stepdad, we all from the same area. So we moved to Texas, and then us moving to Texas, it took us out of that environment, but but my mindset was still there. You know, my heart, I left my family, so my heart was still there. So going back every summer, you still developing these habits, but at the same time, we're going to church. So it's like you, it's like you balancing between two lifestyles.

SPEAKER_05 21:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

So uh so as I as I began to grow up, yeah, we in church, but uh I still struggle with, you know, my mom shelters from a lot of things when we was growing up, once we moved to Texas. Couldn't listen to certain music. You know how you go to church, couldn't listen to certain music, couldn't go. So there was a distance where I felt left out. You know, I felt like I wasn't able to do a lot of things, but I didn't know that at the time it was helping me. So my mom knew they they reached a rough path where they stopped going to church. So now Now I'm in my early teens, probably like 13 or 12. So now I can venture out a little bit. Things are a little lenient, you know. Mom and dad, and they're not pressuring me no more. So, you know, we can kind of you know do our own thing just a little bit. So now I'm uh in that stage where things don't really start to kind of register like until I get to about I'm gonna say like high school, like my uh sophomore year, right? So my sophomore year, uh I was going to Timberview, and um so when I was at Timberview, and still I was just still just a regular kid, but I still had that mentality because we in the suburbs. I'm like, man, okay, we're in the suburbs. So I'm thinking about my everybody, you know, you move to these suburbs, everybody acting gang. So I'm like, what y'all doing, bro? This we we we in the suburbs, but what's what's going on? You why we why we acting like this? So I could never understand. So I'm in this environment, so I really feel like I don't fit in because of the culture that I come from. So I'm feeling like I don't fit in because when I moved to Mansfield my my freshman year, you know, Arlington is Arlington is different from Mansfield. People don't know Arlington is a little bit different from Mansfield at that time. Arlington was predominantly black in the area that I lived in, so I could relate a little bit. But when I got to Mansfield, it was mixed culture.

SPEAKER_05 23:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

So and you had you had black people, but they didn't act like your other black people that I grew up with. So I kind of felt left out just a little bit. So just growing up, so once I got to that, I'm sorry, once I got to that place and then my teenage years, Timberview, I loved Timberview at the time. Like I said, I didn't really know anybody. I was playing sports, got into football, played that through my, you know, all the way up until you know my sophomore year. I'm playing football, and you know, I ended up getting hurt. So, you know, that was everything that I had was football. Like I love football. It was just everything that we did since we were little. Me and my brother, we played football. So once I end up getting hurt, I pulled my hamstring, so I was out for the entire season. So now that I'm out, I'm like, okay, you know, what am I doing with my time? I can't go to practice. Uh so I end up, you know, just connecting with different people. You know, that's why, that's why I always, you know, that's why it's important that parents to put your kids into sports, because it definitely keeps them out of trouble. So I mean not playing football, I had to do I had idle time. So I end up just connecting with people, and then you know, during that idle time, you know, you get involved with just you just sometimes you be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Yeah, so in that situation, um we was at a one of my friends ended up getting into a fight, and I'm just just for the sake of because you know, we connected to a lot of different people that I know, I just won't name no names, but one of my friends ended up getting into a fight, and um and somebody showed me a video, and they're like, Yeah, they like man, your friend got into a fight, and I was like, Oh yeah, but so I'm watching the video, and so I know both of the people in the video. So I'm like, hey, you know, so I went to show somebody, I'm like, hey man, your homeboy just got beat up by somebody I know. So he went and told him that. So when he told him that, the dude got mad. So we at McDonald's off Matlock and Cooper, you know, McDonald's, it's Matlock and Subley. Matlock and Sublett. So we at the McDonald's, so we just chilling. At that time, everybody used to go to McDonald's. It was it was just a spot. So we at McDonald's, we just chilling, we just, you know, just relaxing. Everybody's there. So these dudes come out like they're like, who is the twins? You know, back then people knew us by, you know, I was twins. Like, who was the twins? I'm like, man, what's up? I don't even at this time I was fresh on the scene. Like, I wasn't going out, like I said, I was playing football, so I wasn't going out, so I'm fresh on the scene. They're like, Who is the twins? So I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, me or what's up? They like so that dude was like, Yeah, I heard you was talking down. So I'm like, man, I don't even know who you are. Like, I've never seen you in my life. So we got into that big altercation. So, so uh the people that I was with, so we was about to fight. So, you know, one thing led to another, and I didn't know that this whole other world of clicks existed. So mind y'all was still to myself, but it was this whole other world because I was still new to Mansfield at this time. That so at that time it was we was it was heavy on clicks, so I didn't know this world existed. So I'm like, where are these people coming from? Like, who are y'all? You know what I'm saying? Like, what's what's going on? So that happened. So, you know, we get to school the next day, and everybody talking about it, so it's kind of like we were sucked in at that moment, and from that moment, everything changed. Like uh, it was hard to go somewhere by yourself, so you kind of find the people that was that kind of want to protect you. So that's how I got introduced to uh Pac PAC at that time. So I got introduced to them, you know. We really got cool, we really got connected, but they were older than me. So um, so I just kind of want to connect with people of my age. So we end up um starting our own clip, you know, called Plexit. So people that I knew that was around me at that time. So we all went to Timberview, PAC Plex set. We all went to Timberview at that time, and then so it was just a lot of click, click, click gang violence. So I'm gonna call it gang violence at that time. So so we just so like I said, it just it just found us, and me being in that, it took me away from the foundation that I was at. So now I'm reminded, like, okay, these are the things that I saw growing up. So now it's like I gotta switch this switch the flip in my mind, like, okay, so now it's on. So now I can really get back into you know my environment, how I grew up, even though it was still I knew right from wrong. I knew how my parents raised me, but like I said, it just it just drew me in.

SPEAKER_02 27:21

You was comfortable in that environment.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

I was comfortable in it. Yeah, so it drew me in. So uh we end up you know going out every every weekend. We out, you know, we in the streets, you know, through all my teen years, you know, it was heavily gang click violence, you know, shooting, you know, fighting every other week, you know, going to parties, and it's really all about you know getting your name out there. See, I was really big, like man, you know, getting getting your name out there. You want the this then again, you want the girls, you want all the things that come with it. You want the name. So it's it was about just getting your name out there. You fighting, everybody knowing who you are, so you go to parties. Oh, that's that's such and such. So that type of thing, you get that excitement. This is pre-social, this is pre-we on we on we on my space at the time.

SPEAKER_05 28:01

Yeah, we on my space.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

People posting, you know, this this is the Agtown Fights era, like this is the height of Ag Town Fights. So everybody wants to be on Ag Town Fights. So this this is the thing, like you gotta get out there, you gotta fight, you gotta get your name out there. So this was the mindset at that time, you know, just being in that situation, coming in the house, all type of night. Sometimes sometimes you don't even come home. You know, I leave Friday, don't come home till Sunday morning to I mean to Sunday night till it's time to go to school the next day. So you just we just out in the streets, you know, smoking, drinking, you know, partying all night, just doing all type of stuff, man. Just you know, going out of town two hours away, you staying in college dorms. So, you know, we really we was really doing a lot at that time, and um, and I got involved with you know, people so I'm like, I need money too. You know, you you if you want this, you know, you can't just be fighting and be broke, you know. So I wanted money too. So I turned to some people that you know all I knew was was selling drugs, people that I knew was selling drugs. So, you know, uh growing up seeing that environment, yeah, I could do this, I know how to do this, I can flip this. So, you know, we got to introduce to some people, you know, that was you know selling drugs at the time. You know, you get you you score you some, so now it's time to flip it. So now I'm selling weed, you know. Now I I got the weed, I got all of that, so I'm selling that, you know, and a lot of stuff that comes with that, you know, you attract you attract certain things that comes when you're selling weed, you know. Uh people that you don't know, now they got your number. You know, people you meeting up with people that you don't, you know what I'm saying? So now you need protection. So it's a lot of things that have came with that. That when um I start producing that way, it's like uh it's like you reap what you sow. You know what I'm saying? You sow into this, you're gonna reap the outcome that comes with it. That's how that's how it works spiritually. No matter how you see it, uh the things that I was doing, I begin to reap those, you know. Slowly but slowly, uh it's it's not gonna work out. You know, only it the that's the only way it's gonna lead to destruction. There's no good way that's coming out of what I'm doing. Right. So, you know, getting involved in that. Now I'm selling weed, now I'm um police pull you over, now you caught with the weed. So having to go to jail, mom bonding you out, it was a lot of things that came with it. Now my name in the system, you know. Now the police know where I live. Now they now they associated me with different gang violence. Now your picture is up on the audience and PD. So they come now, they're coming up to your job. Because at the time I was working at um Burger King on Matlock by uh Zaxby's down there towards Mansfield. So then they're coming up to your job. So it's just dealing with, you know, all of that people knocking at your door, people coming to your house, people shooting your house up. My mom's car getting shot up, you know, on Matlock in uh 20, you know, right there at the light, you know, at the light that's sitting on the light in Matlocking 20. And you know, when that incident happened, it really honed in on me because um one of the friends, one of the people I was with, he ended up getting shot, you know, on. You know, my brother, my brother was driving at that time. So um, and they pulled, they pulled up beside us and just started just got out and just started shooting. So, you know, seeing that. Huh?

SPEAKER_02 31:08

You was in the car when they got it.

SPEAKER_00 31:09

I was in the car, yeah. So we so we pulled up to the stoplight, and uh, I'm in a car, I'm in the back seat, I'm in the middle, then my brother's driving, and they pulled up beside us, and then they just start just open fire. Just boom, boom, boom, open fire into the into the into the car. So my brother, my brother drove off, and then we went up to the hospital right there off uh off 20 off the off the service road, 20 and cooper. Yeah, and uh that moment it changed my life because it it I saw the rearness, yeah. We getting shot at all the time, but this was close to home. You know, somebody that I knew got shot in the arm. We in my mom's car, so we had no choice but to call my mom. And uh so we waited for a while, but before we called my mom, my mom called us because the police was already at the house because they ran the license plates. So the police was already at the house. And then my mom told us not to come. We waited, so we waited for the police. When I got home, my room was just in shambles. You know, police came in, took everything. Like at that, I told you at the time I was selling, I was selling weed, so they took everything, took the scales, they took everything. My room went to shambles, and just to see the look on my mom's face, it was just like like she knew we was involved, but but to that extent, it was just it was heartbreaking. So um it was just a lot at that time, man. And just going through that um series, that that season in my life, and and seeing my mom and that man, that really did something. It made me want to change and just calm down. So just not having, you know, uh my stepdad was there, but I just think that you know, at the family dynamics at that time, he probably felt like he couldn't do nothing, you know what I'm saying? So because we were gonna do it anyway. So it was probably you know hard on him at the same time because we grew up in that two-parent household. You know, when my mom got married, we grew up in there. But my stepdad, I guess, you know, at the time my mom, you know, she protected us a lot, you know. You know how you know, you know, so she protected us a lot. So um and it it led to those things, but you know, after that moment, man, it really honed on me. I kind of calmed down a little bit, but not a whole lot. So, you know, that was kind of like my teen years like in a nutshell.

SPEAKER_02 33:18

Wow. Wow, wow. That's crazy, man. That's a crazy story. Um, all all this over you showing somebody a video, and then somebody wanted to come fight you, which means you had clicked up to get protected, and then it just spiraled into wow.

SPEAKER_00 33:41

Yep, it just spiraled, man. It just it took off after that. Like I said, that was the height, that was the height of Ag Town fights. Yeah, so like I didn't know a lot of people at that time. So just think just me just as a normal person going to McDonald's just because your friends is going there and you involved in this, and that's how that it drew us in. Like it drew us in, it introduced me to another world that I did didn't know exist in the area that I was living in. I was like, Man, I didn't know y'all was involved into this, so I had to take comfort because people that I knew, older people like, man, twin, we got your back. So for me, hearing them, okay, cool. I need to stick with y'all. Plus, we all go to the same school, so that's so that's kind of how I drew into it. I wasn't, it didn't something that I just wanted to do. It it it drew me in. It found me.

SPEAKER_02 34:31

The enemy, the enemy, so the thing about it is is like as you're growing up, right? This is this is the environment that you're used to, this is the lifestyle you're used to. And the enemy, he knows that, and he and he'll he'll put it right back in your face and be like, you know what? Facts, I know what you was about, I know growing up what it was like. So let me reintroduce you to this because I know you're gonna gravitate to it. Yeah, that's exactly what happened, bro.

SPEAKER_00 34:56

Yeah, you you talking, that's facts. You is and you know, I you know what in all these years I never looked at it that way, but man, you speak in facts, but you know, but the Bible says that all things work together for the good of those that love God and those that are called according to his purpose. So, you know, so what was meant for evil, God turned it around for my good. You know what I'm saying? Now I can testify about that situation, how God brought me out of that and um where I'm at today, you know. So I I really never even thought about it that way.

SPEAKER_02 35:25

Bro, it's crazy. Wow, wow. So what was it? Give me the turning point on when you were like, you know what, man, I gotta get up out of this. I I I gotta I gotta give my life to God, you know what I'm saying? I gotta turn over a new leaf. This is not uh there's only two ways this is gonna end up with me either in prison or in the grave.

SPEAKER_00 35:47

Mm-hmm. So the okay, so the turning point for me was because I was skipping school a lot.

SPEAKER_05 35:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

So I would go, but certain classes I just wouldn't attend. So I had enough credits to graduate, but I just couldn't pass the I think it was a tax test at the time. I just couldn't pass it. So I didn't walk. So I wasn't able to get my get my diploma to walk with my brothers in my class, so that really impacted me. So so when everybody graduated, I was kind of in this dark place, you know. I felt defeated. So like I gotta do something. So I ended up going to job court, right? Yeah, so but before I was at job court, uh we end up we ended up staying at a friend house. So I left my ID, I left all of that, we stayed the night there, and I left my ID. So I'm at job court, so I left all that job court. I'm not thinking much of it. So I'm there, I'm at job court probably for like two months. And then a detective called my phone. Mind you, I'm not thinking nothing of it because at job court you can leave on the weekends. So I'm leaving going back. So I'm still involved with my friends. So I get this call while I'm at job court, and the detective was like, hey Calvin, you know, we got your name up here at Arlington PD, you know, for uh armed robbery. I'm like, armed robbery. I'm like, how? They like, yeah, man, they said with a deadly weapon, man. The guy picked you out of the lineup. I'm like, so at that time, I'm like, nah, I'm at job court, ain't no way I could have done that. So he was like, okay, so that was it. So I didn't think much of it. Not little did I know that at the time I told him where I was at. So the next day I wake up, um at Job Corps, you can you can do like little assignments. Like they can call, like if you sign your name up to come help, you can do volunteer work. So they call my name. So I'm thinking they're calling me down to go do volunteer work. So I'm walking down with the security guard in my mind. So mind you, I'm not thinking nothing of it. Soon as I get there, uh Collin County, because you know, it's in McKinney. I'm in Jabo, McKinney. So Collin County, as soon as I get there, Mr. Gates, I'm like, yeah, like you under arrest. I'm like, underrest. They're like, for what? They say, you know, for uh assault, an arm robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. I'm like, what? So I'm so they so I'm in the office, so they chain me up, chain on my arms and on my legs. I'm like, man, this this is uh unnecessary, you know. After the leash just put me on the back, but I'm walking out like a fugitive. So it's a bit wasn't a big campus, so everybody seeing me walk out of the office. So I'm walking out like like I'm getting off the bus, like I'm about to do time. So I'm just walking out, chained on my legs. It it was embarrassing for me because I'm like, dang, like I ain't do nothing. So I'm in the car, so they drove me there. So I didn't know what was going on. So by the time I get there, call my parents, and so they tell me, you know, he read my rights and all that good stuff. So my mom looked up the charges and she told me what the charges were. So I'm like, man, I I don't know what this is, I'm not there. So I called, so I I said I tell my mom, let me speak to my brother. So I start talking to my brother. My brother, I was telling him what was going on. I was asking him, hey, you know, you need to find out, you know, what's what's going on because I don't know. So they shipped me to Arlington. When I got to Arlington, the police, that's how I found out. They told me what happened, they told me who was there, they found my ID in the car. So my yeah, so my ID that I left, it was in the car. They had it, but they fled. So the people that I was with at the time, they robbed somebody and they and they had my ID, and my ID got left in the car. So when the police ran my ID, uh the items that they stole, they pawned it. So the pawn shop had a picture of my like the the police had all these evidence like like against me. So they the police show my like they showed me they showed my signature that I did not sign. Somebody signed it. I did not sign. So I'm like, man, this is like I didn't do this. So I had to try to prove my case. So I'm just sitting in jail, and I'm just like, this is the first like I I like we grew up in church, you know, I believed in God, but this is the first time where I really like God, I need you. Right. I did not do this. So they offered me, listen, we can give you three to five. I'm like, man, I'm not, I'm not taking nothing. I'm not taking nothing. So the police telling me all these information, like, okay, I know this person was, I know this person. So I when I talk to my brother, I'm like, go talk to this person, but nobody wanted to talk. So I at that time, I'm like, man, the streets is not for you. Now I learned that lesson. Like, you know, you hear it in the songs, you hear it in the music, but that was a shift. Like, man, like these, they supposed to be my homeboys, you know, people that I trust, people that I roll with, you know, we supposed to be damned. But I'm seeing this and I'm like, man, at that time it was a shift. And I was like, God, if you please, God, if you get me out of this situation, I promise you, I'm not going back. You know, I'm not going back. And I sat in there and then one day, I probably, it's probably like two weeks later. And police, like, police came and got me like, Mr. Gates, you free. I'm like, I'm gone. I'm free. So it was just two two weeks of just torment, not knowing. You know, my mom trying to find a lawyer, all this different stuff that go into it, man. And I'm young, and I'm 19 at the time. I'm 19 at the time, you know, facing uh uh assault with a deadly weapon, that's a felony. You know what I'm saying? I could face long times on. I'm small at that, all things going to my mom. I'm like, man, this ain't gonna work for you, boy. It ain't gonna work. It ain't for me. Nah. So when I got out, I felt so alone. You know what I'm saying? I felt so dark because the the the life that I knew, you know, it rejected me. You know, it hurt me, it no longer wanted me. So, and I'm looking at everybody differently, and it was just it was just a mindset, mindset shift at that time. Like, I couldn't explain it. Life got real for me. You know what I'm saying? Like, I didn't go to school, didn't graduate. You know, your mom moved you out here for a reason, not for you to keep doing that. So at that time, so I'm sitting in the car, just going through this mental depression, like heavily depressed, nobody to talk to, nobody to really just understand what I'm going to. Mind you, my brother he got he got he graduated, you know, he got his diploma. So I'm just in this lonely place, just not understanding what life is, and you know, at this time, so at this dark place, I used to smoke a lot, used to smoke weed a whole lot. So I so once, so I was just in the car just smoking like I just normally do. And um, at that time I used to write music. I used to write music a lot, you know, just to kind of free myself. Um so I'm writing this song. So while I'm in a car, um the presence of God just boom, just fell on me heavy. Um mind you, I believed in God, but this made me really believe in God because I was minding my business. It's kind of like it's kind of like Paul on the road to Damascus. You know, he was on his way to do something. I was in a mindset, like, man, I'm ready to, you know, okay, this is how y'all want to act. I I I got it. So I'm in that mindset, I'm in that mode, and then boom, God just presence just fell heavy in the car. I mean, heavy. I felt so much joy, so much peace that I cannot explain it. And I was in the car by myself, but I felt like there were people in the car with me. So I'm writing this song, and I can hear this voice just call my name like a loud echo. And I'm like, man, like this is this guy talking to me, like I can feel it, like every the atmosphere just shifted, and I began to see this vision, and I saw this image, like I couldn't see his face physically, but I saw this image of this man, long hair, you know, long hair down to his back, and he walking through his garden, and he got kids on his shoulder, kids on his arm, they holding onto his leg, and it's just a joy. I'm like, man, that's Jesus. Like, I'm really seeing Jesus right now. So mind you, I'm still writing music at this time. Like while all this is happening, I'm still writing.

SPEAKER_05 43:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:49

And uh I can hear God telling me, Calvin, you know, I got plans for you, I have a purpose for you. And then right when I look, and I I don't even remember writing the music. When I when I looked up the music that I was writing, it was talking directly into my life. I had never ever wrote anything like that specifically. I mind you at this time I never wrote read the Bible. So I was able to write Bible characters in my story, and God was telling me about my life. Like I needed to change. Like I thought I thought I was going to heaven when I died, but at that moment I knew that if I would have died at any moment before that time, I was on my way to hell. And that shifted my life completely. Having that encounter, and I always tell people that I didn't just come to the like I was called. And uh three days later, I'm just in this awe. I have a desire to read my word, my music is changing, things around me is changing. So one day I get up, I walk outside, like the sky is blue, the grass is green, everything seemed so defined. It's like going from HD to 4K. You know what I'm saying? Everything was so defined, and I'm just like, man, this is real. It's like I could breathe. It's like I was so connected to the earth. I could hear the birds chirping. It was it was just so I felt like God was with me. And that was completely shifting my life, you know, having that experience, the presence of God, and I knew that God had called me, and I knew that uh my life was changing like within an instant, like that same day, like my life changed. Like if you met me a day before and you met me the next day, I was a completely different person. That's how quickly God worked in my life within a hurry.

SPEAKER_02 45:38

Man, I was getting ready to ask you. Uh oh man, and this is how you know it's real, because I was just I was gonna ask you what was the transition like, but you just gave me everything, you just gave me the answer. Like you said, man, like the little detail in just going outside and seeing how things are differently. You never looked at the grass, you never looked at the sky, you never, your your thoughts never went beyond your circumstance and your environment. Yeah. And now you're starting to branch out. Now your mind is starting to branch out, and you're starting to look at everything that's going on outside, nature, things of that nature. That's a transition, man. That is a dope transition. Because even a lot of people who are called or have that voice speaking to them, it still takes a while for them to kind of like be like, okay, you know, you they may still have one foot in, one out, they may be slowly inching towards it. But for you to have that and just be transformed the next day like that, bro, that is amazing, dude.

SPEAKER_00 46:42

Man, I I I thank God for it. Like I said, I definitely needed it at that time because the route that I was going, like at the time where I was at, yeah, uh, people started guns started coming up. Like people, a lot of people I know started dying. So it was a real, it was like a route, like you, it was like a fork in a row. Which way do you want to go? But I just felt like I knew I was headed down the wrong. Like I knew that all in my being having had that situation happen to me, a lot of anger built up, built up into me. Like, I can't trust nobody, you know what I'm saying? I'm out here by myself, so you lose a lot of trust, and you know, that trust build that that untrust builds up to anger, you know. You you get angry, you know, you're mad all the time, you know. So you start to take on a different mentality. So I saw myself changing, and I and I know God saw me changing too. So I for me, I had to have that encounter because of where my mindset was. But somebody else, they could just be in church, just waving their hands, you know. I I needed God to smack me across my head because of the because of the direction, because what was my foundation was was built on you know being aggressive, you know, having this thug mentality from from a young age. So I needed that encounter to shift my life. I needed God to intervene in my life.

SPEAKER_02 48:00

Wow, wow. I want to go back real quick before we kind of move into um where you're at now. Um so so what ended up happening with that situation? How were you released? Like, did uh go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 48:14

Yeah, so because they couldn't find no evidence against me. Okay, right? Because, like I said, so they had to backtrack, they had to see that I was at job court when I said I was, you know, so um they had they didn't have any evidence against me, but they never really gave me understanding of why. So, but when a detective called my phone when I got out, he was like, Yeah, you know, we didn't have no evidence against you, so you know we had to we had to let you go. So uh what happened with the case, I didn't see nobody get convicted that I knew that was involved. You know, they still out to this day. So um, yeah, nobody never got convicted, and you know, nothing never happened. I ended up going getting out. Um, they dropped they dropped the charges against me. So uh, yeah, man, I end up end up walking out free, man. Walking out free, man. They just show you how good God is that God used that situation. You know, what I thought was because I didn't go back to Job, where I tried to, but I couldn't. Yeah, you know, they wouldn't accept me back because of the situation. You know, they heard about the case, they knew everything, they didn't want me back, so I'm like, dang. So, but God used that. That's like I said before, you know, God would take uh what was meant for evil, what was meant to destroy me, God turned it around for my good. You know, so now you know you can look at situations like this situation, it looked bad, but it's working out for me. You know, God took me and he had to place me kind of like like Jonah. Jonah sitting in the sitting in the belly of the belly of the fish. God waiting for him to repent. Now I'm gonna sit you right here until I get a yes out of you. Yeah, and I need your yes. And so that's what God did. He he had to keep me there until for two weeks until I said yes. Jonah took three days, but your boy was sitting in there frustrated for two weeks. Not I wasn't seeing the signs, I was mad. So it took me two weeks to say yes to God for my heart to be ready for God to intervene. It couldn't have happened no other way, he couldn't have orchestrated it no other way. My heart had to be ready. I have to have a contrite heart, a heart of ready to repentance, a sorrowful heart. You know, God wanted to see me cry out, he wanted to see me weep before him. Yeah, and so it took that event, man. It took for me to go through that situation for God to intervene.

SPEAKER_02 50:24

Yeah, yeah. He needed to get our attention. And you know, at the end of the day, man, we had like we have faith in things that everything's gonna work out for our good because that's what he promised, right? But when you in the midst of it, when you in the belly of the beast, you like, oh, what's getting ready to happen? All the while, God is just making you sweat to be like, hey bro, are you gonna turn around? Are you gonna turn over a new leaf? Or you wanna just continue to go down this path? You know, and so that's exactly what it is. You know, it's like God has to get our attention and he's gonna either involuntarily do it, or you're gonna voluntarily, I'm done, God. I'm done playing games, man. So let me ask you this. Um, so obviously you've given you give your life to Christ, and you know, you're going to church, you're doing your thing. I want you to talk to me about how your environment changed and what I mean by your environment, the circle of people you hung around with. Like now, now that you're you're you're you're giving your life to Christ, right? Your circle has to change, your people have to change. You can't no longer hang out in these areas or these communities or with these people. Tell me about what that transition was like. Like, how did you let them go and start gravitating towards people who were more um like-minded and and and people after God's heart? And talk to me a little bit about that transition.

SPEAKER_00 51:46

That was good. For me, I'm gonna say it wasn't for some people it was difficult, but for me, it wasn't because the passion that I had at that time, um, it had changed me radically, and I wanted everybody to experience that. I'm like, man, y'all gotta experience this. So at a there was a phase where I'm witnessing to all my friends, like, yo, bro, y'all gotta experience this. But you know, because it comes with that rejection, them not wanted it. So for me, I just had to, like you said, find people that were similar to me. So I I just had a desire to, I never really thought about uh it in as a perspective where I had to let people go because at that time I was by myself, anyways. Okay, so I had a few people, but I wasn't really just tight with them like that. So at that time. So when I found a group of people that were similar to me, people that had similar stories as I did, you know, people from New Orleans that came from you know the third war, I ended up uh clicking up with them because you mind you at that time Hurricane Katrina happened a couple years before this. So we had a lot of people from New Orleans that was here. So I ended up connecting with some people that was from New Orleans and I share my story with them, and they they had just got saved too. So just being around them and hearing their stories, it gave me like it gave me this boost like I'm not alone. So being in that environment, it helped sharpen me because they had they had been in it longer than I had. So just being around them and having them uh show me like this is this is because it's a new world to me. You know, I'm not familiar with this being saved. So just them showing me the word, you know, uh reading me the word, teaching me the word of God and how we ought to live, it was different. So just being around them and having to leave that environment that I was in, it was it was it was refreshing because I I I I related my environment to the level of my old environment to a level of fear, right? I don't have to watch over my shoulder anymore, you know. I don't gotta worry about you know, people putting them at my house because I feel like God will at this time God will protect me. So for me to escape my environment to go to a new environment, it was easy for me to transition because now I ain't gotta deal with y'all fools, you know. I ain't gotta go, I ain't gotta go to McDonald's and worry about y'all shoot me up. I ain't gotta go to the mall, or you know, worry about getting jumped or anything like that. I'm safe. So the transition was me. I mean, I'm escaping. Let's yeah, let's go. You know what I'm saying? Y'all better come with me. What y'all doing? Y'all still over there? So the transition was kind of smooth for me. Uh it wasn't it wasn't too difficult. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:11

Okay, cool, cool, cool. So talk to us a little bit about what you got going on now. Now, you know, you're a pastor, you're doing your thing as far as that goes. Talk a little bit about what inspired you to become a pastor and then kind of what you got going on right now.

SPEAKER_00 54:27

So um I ended up going to this church uh probably around 2009.

SPEAKER_05 54:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 54:34

It's called it was called Word of Peace.

SPEAKER_05 54:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 54:36

So I go to the church uh called Word of Peace, and um we end up joining through a friend that I knew that was her mom, their parents was going there. So we end up going at that time. I was still doing music too. So at that time, the music that I was writing, I ended up straight in transition doing gospel music. So she knew, so she invited us to this church, and we go to this church, we do a gospel thing for the youth. My brother and myself. So my brother had got saved too at the same time. Crazy. The same situation was happening to him at the same time. So we kind of had similar encounters. You know, his story is a little bit different from mine. You might want to, you know, talk to him or his story a little bit different from mine, but we ended up doing music, so we found this church, we ended up going there, and then a pastor was like, Hey, I want you to uh work with the youth. But I haven't joined a church yet, so I started going, you know, then I ended up joining. The pastor was like, I want you to, you know, what you think about, you know, working with the youth. So I'm like, okay, cool. I I don't mind, you know, I I can pour into them. So there was already a youth minister there, but you know, he kind of taught me, you know, uh just different things. So I'm connecting with the youth. Um, just this like early 2010, you know. So I'm connecting with the youth, working with the youth there, and then he ended up leaving. So they needed somebody to fill in. I'm like, okay, you know, I'll do it. You know, I'll work with them for now. And then so we went end up going to a school of ministry. So while I'm working with the youth, I transitioned in this the church that I was with, opened up a school of ministry. So I ended up going there getting my license as a minister. Okay. So I just had this, I just had this desire just to grow in Christ, not knowing everything that comes with it. I'm still fresh, still young, still a baby in Christ. I'm just hungry. You know, you got that zeal. I'm just, you know, anything that I can learn, I'm I'm I'm consuming it. So I attended school, got ordained as a I mean, got licensed as a minister. I'm a youth minister at this point. We have no youth pastor, so I'm doing youth ministry for probably about two or three years. Then my pastor's like, hey, you know, I want to ordain you as our youth pastor. I'm like, man, as a pastor? Okay. I started to see myself, I'm already doing the work as a pastor. I'm already shepherd, and I'm already going to football games, attending youth events, you know, saying I'm already doing the work. Pastor is just solidifying it. So I'm like, man, so I prayed about it, and I just felt like, you know, it was time, it was a move. Um, pastor ordained me as a youth pastor, and then, you know, I've been at been involved in the youth ever since then, you know. Uh it's been like what 15 years now, been empowering the youth, strengthening youth. Um, I'm a I'm a young adult pastor now, you know, because a lot of my youth transition over to young adults. So I'm just kind of bridging that gap because they were with me the whole time. So I'm kind of between the youth and young adults right now. So um being in that position, just being able to pour out to the youth, give my testimony of where I've been and what God has done in my life, man, it's it's been a joy, man. Being able to be something that I wish, like a big brother to a lot of the youth, you know, some that I wish somebody would have done with me, you know, took me by the hand and and and really poured out into my life at that time. So that's currently where I'm at now, man. Uh, I'm loving it, I'm enjoying it. Uh just doing different things for the community and for our youth, man. It's it's it's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 57:42

That's awesome, man. You you're you're being obedient and the vision that you've been given. You're you going out here and you executing, man. Yeah. You executing it, and you know, God is uh man, God is so faithful, man. And he's he's you it just to see where you come from, to see that you almost could have went to prison or you almost could have. Yeah. I mean, even I mean, look, they pull up on the side of you start shooting, you could easily be in it, you could easily be gone. You know, and God had different plans and purposes for you, and and you're here to tell about it, and you you're doing the calling that's been put on you. So that's commendable, bro. I respect that. You know what I'm saying? Praise God, man. Let me ask you this, bro. So, you know, you mentioned that obviously you're you're dealing with young adults, right? And you were once a young adult, and you you've seen how it went. And this is like you said, this is pre-social media. This is pre society. I mean, society has been society, but we didn't have the level of being able to witness and see things like we do now on social media. So your era is different than the era that you're in right now, right? How do you because here's the thing there was manipulation back then, there was peer pressure back then. Now it's more heavy than ever because of the platforms we have. How do you get the kids on a straight and narrow and and give them the necessary tools to be like, listen, in spite of social media being here, society brainwashing us? How do you get kids to stay on the straight and narrow? What's some of the tactics that you use?

SPEAKER_00 59:22

That's that's good. Uh, a lot of things you have to do, you really have to bombard their life because, like you said, it's it's it's social media, it's tangible, it's easy. So you have to be heavily involved. Whenever they have an event, I'm there. Invite me, I'm there. You know, uh, you have to follow up consistently. You know, you have to be somebody that's that's holds holds them accountable. Any event that they have, you gotta be there. Any uh, you know, whether it's showing up at their house, little things like that, you have to show them that you're always you're always there for them. You have to show them the love of God consistently. So that's one of the things that I always do. Like whenever y'all got an event, show me I'm coming to the football game, I'm coming to the graduation, I'm coming to the recitals, I'm I'm attending all of those. All those events, I'm there because they need that. You know what I'm saying? They need as they need to see that this brother is is really for me. So I I do things like that, you know, and I also allow them to be involved. You know, what are your ideas? How can we help you? I like to hear from them and see what what's going on. What's the better way that I can reach, you know, people y'all age, just hearing from them and listening to them, you know, being an open ear, not judging them, just accepting them for where they are and uh and just trying to build from where they are up.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:38

I love it, bro. Yeah, I love it, man. You gotta bombard their lives. Oh man, that's it, bro. You gotta bombard their lives. You gotta you gotta become annoying to them.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:48

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:49

Exactly. Because the moment the moment you fall back and the moment that you're not that outlet for them, somebody else will be.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:58

Somebody else will.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:59

And it's easy, it's easy, right? It's easy, it's easy.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:02

Way easier. It's way easier. Man, and I noticed that this time you deal with a lot of kids, have a lot of mental, mental because growing up, you know, it's it's I see different seasons, being in the youth ministry, different trends. This trend now is more mental, it's more emotional. Yeah, they're dealing with a lot of more, a lot of deep insecurities, you know. So it's having to being able to transition and to to fix those things. So it's a it's it's difficult, man. It could be hard sometimes, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:33

Yeah, for sure, for sure. But that's why people like us are put in place, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:36

Exactly, yeah, exactly, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:39

So what is the few what does the future look like for you, man? What does the next three to five years look like for you? How far you want to take this? I mean, where are we going with that?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:47

Man, I want to take it as far as God will lead me, man. So right now, man, my future right now, right? Like I said, right now, I'm I'm I'm the young adults pastor. So I help with the youth. I'm still there, but I'm the young adults pastor. So right now it's just just growing that ministry, man. I I really want to uh connect with all the young adults in the DFW area, you know, being able to build that that area up because you know, young adults, you know, coming out of their A's to uh, you know, college, and you know, you you have the found you may have the Christian foundation, but you get to college and you're like, I'm a kid in the candy store. So it's kind of helping them transition into that, you know, being that reminder, like, hey, you know, I know you're in college, but listen, you still need guys. So just being that reminder and that guy. I see myself uh I want to vision just having young adults from all over just coming, being in a community of believers and helping grow young adults in that area, man. Whether it's through like like last night we did a bonfire night in Cedar Here Park. We had a bonfire worship, so different untraditional type things like Bible and brunch. You know, whatever it takes to capture the culture and help them feel involved in what we're doing, not being traditional, but being un, you know, being something that that that's non-traditional. That's the type of person I like non-traditional, something that nobody else is doing. I want to do.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:05

It's awesome, man. It's gonna happen. It's gonna happen. The train gonna keep moving, the vision's gonna keep going forward, and you're gonna look up, and you're gonna become a big name, bro. You're gonna become a big human name. Yeah, yeah, just because of what you're doing, bro, and how you impact it. It's it's not the fact that you are impacting, it's how you're doing it. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? It's it's your character, it's it's what you're trying to do. It's it's it's um just what's inside you, what's in the heart. You know what I'm saying? You ain't out here trying to, you know, be on no turn-up type stuff. No, but but at the same time, you're meeting the young generation where they are. So different ways to have fun, right? It's different ways to turn up, it's different ways where you can do it, but it's still be good, clean fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:55

Exactly, exactly. And that that's the key thing about me too, man. I'm not uh I'm focused on the area that God has called me to. You know, I don't have to be in the front, I don't have to be in a pulpit. I recently just started posting stuff about myself. You know, see if you go back to my old social. I was never on camera, never been that person.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:12

Uh, so yeah, man. And I and I I just like where I'm at now, man. I really just want to, like you said, just empower them, and you know, do something different and to help push that. You know, I got a great support system, you know, with my wife, my kids. So, yeah, man, it's it's a it's it's a blessing, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:28

That's awesome, bro. Well, I'm gonna get you out of here on this last question, man. Um, let's say you're sitting across the table from 20-year-old Calvin, man, and yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:38

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:40

He's going through exactly what you went through. Um one foot in, one foot out, but the one foot that's out is really the foot that's winning right now. You know, the the world, worldly things are winning right now. He's not necessarily gravitating to the spirit, but he's gravitating to the flesh right now. Yeah. He believes in God, he knows there is a God, he's he, you know, but at the same time, it's like, bro, I'm having fun right now. I'm in my comfort zone. But he comes to you for one piece of advice to help him navigate and maybe start gravitating toward the spirit, start gravitating to that one foot end. He wants to, but he's he's it's an internal battle, right? It's an internal battle right now. So, what's one piece of advice that you would help him to kind of help him strive towards gravitating to that spirit?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:33

I would definitely tell him, I was like, hey man, life is life is gonna be great when you trust God. That's the only thing I would tell him, man. When you seek God, life is gonna be better than where it is now. You may you may look at your situation right now, you may be depressed, you may be, you may feel lonely, but God is gonna God is gonna bring you out of that. So just trust him, trust his process. Don't don't question nothing that God does. You know, his method, his ways, just believe in the process that he's taking you and allow him to walk you out. That's that's the only thing I would tell him, man. That's it. Trust God, trust the process, trust the process. The process is everything. You have to always tell people is that you have to fall in love with the process. You know, you gotta fall in love with the process because you look at if you look at the situation right now, it'll defeat you, it'll discourage you. But fall in love with the process and keep your eyes fixed on the end picture.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:26

Yeah, yeah. And and trust that trust that this is a part of it. Don't look back and be ashamed or be embarrassed from where you are now because it's a part of it. You can't have a testimony when your life is just perfect the whole time. You know what I mean? So trust it. Trust where you are, trust where you're going. Don't be ashamed, don't be embarrassed. It's okay, but know that you're gonna come out of it. You just gotta you just gotta put your faith in him.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:55

Man, facts. That's it, brother. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:00

And I appreciate it. Yeah, I appreciate your journey and perspective, man. This is you, you gotta great testimony, bro. That that will a lot of people can resonate with, like, inspiration from, bro. So keep doing what you're doing, man. Like, keep keep keep grinding because you're on the other side of it now, right? So now, yeah, because of your passion, it becomes easy. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:23

Right, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:25

Facts. So, and so just keep keep doing what you're doing, bro. Keep letting God lead you. And and again, when you when you're giving that vision and you're executing the vision, the train is gonna keep moving. So keep moving that train, bro.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:36

Man, I appreciate it. Likewise, man, I appreciate you, Brandon, just for having me on the show, man. Trust me, this means a lot, man. I definitely appreciate it from the bottom of my heart, man. I just pray that God continue to bless you. Whatever your vision is, man, I pray that it come to pass, that whatever your dream is for this, for this, for this podcast, that God supersedes it, man. And that's my prayer for you, man. I want to see if you ever invite me back one time, I'm gonna see a million followers on here, man. So I'm praying that God will God will do it for you, man, because you're doing the great work, man. It's it's uh it's an honor, it's a pleasure to be on here just to be chosen, man. And I like I said, I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. I don't take it lightly. I love your work, what you've been doing thus far. I do follow you, so I definitely appreciate it, man. Everything that you're doing, man. Like I said, I hope God continues to bless you and your family.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:23

Man, thank you so much, bro. Yeah, appreciate that. Following us on IG where we post reels from the episodes. And if you can't watch us, you can listen to us wherever you get your podcast at flip that switch. So whether you're watching us or listening to us, just make sure you're tapping in. And um, Calvin, good luck to you, bro. And we're gonna be rooting for you and uh keep doing what you're doing. And uh, if you need anything from me, bro, uh whether it's to help out at events, whatever the case may be, bro. I'm there because I always like to support. Um, I I I bel I truly believe that we are put on this earth to help others and support and all that. So, whatever you need from me, bro, you got it.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:02

You know, I got you, man. I appreciate that, man. I appreciate that. I got you.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:06

I got you for sure. And we're gonna see y'all for the next episode, and we out. Peace. Much love.