What Happens When a Strong Man Finally Surrenders

What happens when a man loses everything... and discovers that the answer wasn't trying harder, but finally surrendering?

In this episode of The Valiant Forge, Mark Osborne sits down with Joe Rooz for an honest conversation about faith, brokenness, and the journey from self-reliance to complete dependence on God.

Joe shares how losing everything forced him to confront a difficult truth: he had spent years trying to fix his life on his own. From growing up in a religious home to questioning everything he believed, searching for his old Bible in an attic, and encountering God's grace in unexpected ways, Joe's testimony is a powerful reminder that our greatest strength is often found in surrender.

You'll also hear the unforgettable story behind the words:

"We're trying to save your soul. They're trying to save his life."

If you've ever felt like you're carrying life's burdens alone, this conversation will encourage you to stop striving, trust God, and discover what true surrender really looks like.

In This Episode

•  Why so many men struggle to surrender 
•  Losing everything and finding hope again 
•  Religion versus a relationship with Christ 
•  The power of Scripture to transform a life 
•  Why real strength begins with trusting God 

Connect with Joe:

https://rumble.com/joerooz

https://youtube.com/@joerooz

https://facebook.com/joeroozshow

Instagram: @notjoerooz 

Tiktok: @joerooz 

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Uh in the course of a year and a half, I lost everything. That was a mistake that I was doing. I was trying to fix everything on my own. I was just making more of a mess of it. I didn't surrender.

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Why do you think that surrender is such a hard task for most men?

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Because I think a lot of men look at surrender as failure, as weakness. Literally took me by the arm and led me outside and handed me to my mother and said, We don't need his kind here. I will never forget those words. Mark, when I tell you that at the end of every sentence, I heard, talking to you, Joe. Joe, this is for you. And and and honestly, and I say this over and over again, I don't mean to be cliche, but it literally scared the hell out of me. The pastor just very gently just comes walking over to me, he taps my elbow, and he says, Come on, let's go. He goes, What we're doing is more important than what they're doing. He goes, We're trying to save your soul. They're trying to save his life. And every verse of scripture that he was giving me was like a punch in the gut.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Welcome to the Valiant Forge podcast, where we help men overcome life's battles, show up better in the world, and become a valiant warrior for God. This is a place where we share practical strategies that will equip you on life's journey to help you become the man God has called you to be. Are you ready to overcome your doubt and fulfill your purpose just by giving it? If so, let's go.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Joe, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Hey Mark, thanks. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Yeah. I had the pleasure of being on your show, and in our pre-recording, we had a conversation and I I found a little bit about your testimony. So that's like I have to have you on.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Well, you're one of the few people that actually uh say it's a pleasure to be on my show, but that's great. I appreciate that. It's it's a it's a blessing. It really is. So thank you, brother. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

Well, I I've listened to a few of your your live episodes, which I think are great. You have some very colorful guests sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Say the least.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Some interesting characters along the way, absolutely. And may not and it may not necessarily agree with everything that we talk about, but you know, everybody gets a voice.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Yeah, well, I love I love that you honor that, you know, that everybody can speak. It's not you are a faith-based person, but it's not necessarily everybody's a faith-based person that comes on. And I I appreciate that, you know. Obviously, you're very patriotic. You got the red, white, and blue. And I know there's something about making Texas independent. I'm not a real political person, but if you want to explain that, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Sure. Uh so I am part of an organization called the Texas Nationalist Movement. Uh technically, I am the deputy county coordinator for the organization here in Maverick County in uh in Texas. Um basically what the Texas Nationalist Movement looks to do is to advance the the idea, the prospect, and the possibility of Texas once again standing as a free and independent nation among the nations of the world like it once had. Uh and we're not talking about running around with the muskets and all that stuff. It's none of that. It's all through the legislative process. Uh the movement is to get a ballot referendum in place where the people of Texas would vote on whether or not Texas should pursue its independence from the American Union. And uh, you know, interestingly enough, there's a lot of support for it here in Texas. Um and uh Texas is not the only state that has movements like this that are working their way through the process. As a matter of fact, Vermont is the uh is the oldest uh running independence movement uh in in the in the uh the American Union. Uh California has one. Uh of course, Texas, Louisiana has one, many states do. If I remember correctly, I think there was like 20 states or so that have independence movements working their way through the legislative process. And also what the Texas Nationalist Movement does is it supports uh candidates uh for the State House and the federal level uh that would be willing to sign a pledge, placing Texas first above all else. And uh we've been very successful in getting a number of Texas first uh pledge signers into elected office uh throughout the state level. And you know, we're still working on folks in the at the federal level, but you know, the state, the state level is where it really happens. So that's kind of where the focus is right now. But it's uh it's a great organization, a bunch of great people. Um I've actually, interestingly, I've been following them uh even before I moved to Texas. You know, I'm originally from New York City. And uh when I had my radio show, well, my internet radio show uh up in New York, uh, we actually had the president of the Texas Nationalist Movement on the show as a guest. And uh sure enough, here I am. I've had him on this show a few my show a few times, and uh yeah, he's a great guy, uh great, super smart guy, man. You want to know about the TNM, he's the guy to talk to. Um and uh he's a great guy, a bunch of great people in the organization that I stayed with it all those years, and then once I got here to Texas and officially became a citizen of Texas, I made sure that I signed up that paper as a full-time supporter of the organization. So it's it's uh it's a great bunch of people, a lot of fun, uh great conversation, really smart. You know, these people know what they're doing. And uh again, it's all legislative. None of this is you know taking up arms and none of this is for through violence or anything like that. It's all peaceful through the legislative process.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

That's awesome. I'm glad you that you do that. I kind of want to start this show off kind of like you do yours, just as an honor to you. Okay. I've I had never been asked icebreaker questions on a podcast before, so I'm gonna ask you a couple of icebreaker questions, if you don't mind. Shoot. If you could instantly become an expert in one totally random skill, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 6:37

That's a good one. I might steal that one from my show. That's a really good one. If I could be an expert in one randomly chosen thing. Um I would love to understand a woman's mind.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

That that's more like a superpower question. Yeah, I guess so.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

I would like to be I would like to be an expert podcaster. That's what I'd like to be. Oh. You know, yeah and and uh um let me put it this way. Uh I was asked to write a paper, uh an article for a podcasting magazine about how to grow a podcast. And my reaction was if I knew that, you know, I I wouldn't be a small podcast. I'd be a lot bigger. I don't I don't know. But um but uh so yeah, I I think and anything it's in all seriousness though, but in all seriousness, to be an expert in any one thing, you know, I think that we should always strive and we should always try to do the very best we can in serving our Savior. Um I don't think any of us will ever be an expert in doing that, but I would love the the chance to even experience it for one day and just have a day where every single person I spoke to I was either a Christian or somebody that I could lead to Christ. That's what I would like to be an expert in, even if it's just for a short time.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

That's awesome. What's something that you've changed your mind about in the last year? A little little bit deeper.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Yes, uh yeah, very good. Um let's see. Uh something I've changed my mind about in the last year. Well, uh on our show on my show, uh I don't I don't think we talked about it on the show, but we talked about it I think after uh uh before or after the show. Um I had gone through something uh really traumatic for me. And um uh in the course of a year and a half I lost everything. And uh it shames me to say it, but I did not handle it the proper way. You know, I I let myself fall back into some very, very bad old habits, and within the last year, I look I realized that I was trying to fix my life on my own. I was trying to fix my life doing things that were really hurting myself more than helping myself. And I came to a point and I realized that, you know, as a Christian, as a believer, why am I letting myself try to control the situation and not give it over to the Holy Spirit? Not give it over to the Lord to deal with. And I so I had to have a really harsh look at myself and examine myself, like the scripture tells us, you know, we have to examine ourselves daily. Um I examined myself carefully and I realized that that was a mistake that I was doing. I was trying to fix everything on my own, and I was just making more of a mess of it. I didn't surrender. I didn't put my hand, I didn't put my life in the hands of my Heavenly Father. I tried to do it on my own, and which just made things worse and compounded the problem. So over the course of the last year, what I've decided to do is to spend more time in prayer, more time in the Word. I restarted teaching the Bible study show on my podcast because I felt the nudge of the Lord. Because prior to the podcast that I'm doing now, I did a Bible study podcast, and that's all I did. Uh I did two shows a week, live shows. I did it on Thursday and on Sunday, I had a Thursday night Bible study, a Sunday, a sermon Sunday show. And um, you know, I I put that aside when everything started going downhill. And it it the Lord kind of nudged me to get back into it, and that's what I did. So for the last year, I've been working hard at that. I've been doing my regular show during the week, and then on my Sundays, I've been doing my uh my Sunday Bible study show. And uh, you know, I realized again that you know I was trying to fix things on my own. I needed to put myself in the hands of my father, and uh that's the that's that's the course correction that I made over the last year to spend more time in the word, to spend more time in prayer, to to rebuild that fellowship that I had prior to me trying to mess everything up.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

Yeah. That uh surrender is such a hard thing to do, especially as a man. Because we want we want to show that we have it all figured out, that we we got our act together. And from my perspective, and I know there are people who don't follow the Holy Spirit that seem like they have it all together, and maybe they do to a certain extent. But this is why this the Volume Forge is all about guys who have come through the fire and are figuring it out step by step, little by little. Why do you think that surrender is such a hard task for most men?

SPEAKER_00 11:48

Because I think a lot of a lot of men look at surrender as failure, as weakness. Um I know I kind of looked at it like that myself for a while. That you know if I'm just if I just give up and I'm not doing something to in in in my particular circumstance, and if I'm not doing something to actively work my way through this, then I'm a failure. And I think a lot of a lot of men look at at surrender as a weakness, it's a failure, and which is not true at all. Absolutely not true, especially in the spiritual sense of the word, because you can't grow unless you are willing to surrender and you you know you put yourself in the hands of and it's hard because you know what does Hebrews chapter 11 say? You know, what is this what is faith? It's the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It's hard to put yourself into uh a position of surrender to someone something that you've never seen. It's very hard to do that for a lot of men, I think, anyway, my opinion. Um and uh so I so that's that's where I think on that. I think that a lot of men look at surrender as as a weakness. It looks at they a lot of men look at surrender as a failure.

SPEAKER_02 13:00

Yeah, absolutely. So let's get into your story a little bit. Sure. You know, when I when I first I listened to a few of your live streams before I came on your podcast, and I I heard you mention faith a little bit, and I heard you talk about your Bible podcast, but I didn't know you know exactly who you were as a Christian. So how how did you first come to faith and then kind of take us through your life that brought you up to starting the podcast?

SPEAKER_00 13:28

How much time do we have?

SPEAKER_02 13:31

It's gonna be a long one. But I just may interrupt you at some point. So Okay, that's fine. That's fine.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Um well, like most people where I grew up, I'm I'm I'm from New York City originally. I'm not native Texas. Um I I'm an Italian. You know, I grew up in an Italian family, and of course, like most Italians, you know, you're brought up in the Roman Catholic faith. Um well that didn't exactly sit well with me, even as a child, uh, partly because my uncle, my uncle Joe, who I when I was a child I idolized, uh he was the first person in the family to step away from the Catholic Church and went a different route. He became a Christian, uh, and then he decided to go to Bible school, went to seminary, became a pastor. And uh and uh did I'm not gonna mention the denomination because um since I became a Christian, I realized there are some doctrinal issues there in that, and I don't want to steer anybody that way. Um so uh but at my young age, I was I think it started about eight years old, because that's when he gave my first Bible. Man, I should have, I didn't think of it, I should have brought it in with me. I still have it. It's uh it's this little itty bitty Bible, it's about that big, and it is beaten up, the cover's ripped off, it's terrible. But um, but I still have it. And he wrote in it. The date he gave it to me was Christmas in 1978. So I was about eight years old, nine years old. And um I've had that Bible from f since then, and then every Bible that I had, up until I hit my teenage years, is my uncle uh gave to me. But when my uncle was going through seminary, uh he would he would come home on his breaks and he would bring all of his theology books, he'd bring all of his textbooks, everything, and he would leave them because he didn't need them for the next semester, so we'd leave them at at home. And as a young kid, I would go down there and I would in the basement where we would keep them and I would actually flip through them, I would read them. So I I started a I had a curiosity about it at a very, very young age. Now I'm not saying I got saved at that point, I did not, I just I had a curiosity. Uh I was still in Catholic school, uh Catholic catechism, rather. So uh there were times where I would when he would come home and I would go to catechism class and I would open up my catechism book, and there would be big red X's drawn through everything and a piece of paper stapled to it, handwritten out, saying, This is not what happened, this is really what happened, with arrows pointing down to it, and he would rewrite the Catholic catechism book for me. Of course, I would get in trouble for that because you know, it's their book, it's not mine, you know. So um, but he was a very, very big influence on me. He's the one who taught me that, you know, it's not the Roman Catholic priest that that can uh that can forgive your sins. It's it's not Mary, it's not the saints. You know, that I had that I had that basic foundation at a very, very young age, so much so that when I went to confession, uh because I was still part of Catechism, uh, I went out, I went to they they wanted us to go to confession, I think it was for our you know, first communion or or something like that. One of those big steps. Uh I refused to go into the confessional. And the priest was telling, you have to go, otherwise you can't do this. And I'm like, well, I'm not going in there because there's no reason for me to tell you what I did wrong because you can't do anything about it. Well, that didn't sit well with the priest, so he he and I I will put my hand on my Bible if you want me to. He literally took me by the arm and led me outside and handed me to my mother and said, We don't need his kind here. I will never forget those words. Forgive him, yes. Forget it, no. But that at that point, my mom was like, Okay, fine, then you don't have to go here. Then you won't see us anymore. Fine. And uh from that point on, as I grew up, I wanted to follow my uncle. I and so I would tell him, you know, Uncle Joe, can you send me tapes and let me hear you teach? I'd like I want to learn, I want to study. And he set me up with all these different Bible studies from that particular uh denomination. And uh as as wrong as they were on a number of important things, they had a lot of stuff right too, but it gave me a good foundation. You know, it it gave me a solid, everything was pointed back to the Bible, interpretation-wise, incorrect in a lot of ways again, but it gave me a foundation. It it taught me the Bible, it taught me how to read the Bible. As a matter of fact, um a few year years ago, I I bumped into an old friend of mine uh from junior high school, and uh he's passed away now, but uh I ran into him one day and he said to me, He goes, Hey, do you remember when when we would have gym class, you wouldn't take part. You would always sit in the bleachers with your Bible and you would teach everybody. I was like, I don't remember that. I don't, really don't. Because no, I remember, I guess you used to do that all the time. And I was like, Oh, okay, well, praise the Lord. You know, that's great. You know. Um, but uh he uh uh uh so my uncle, you know, I I would talk to him all the time about it, and I asked him one time, uh I think I was about 13 or 14. Uh I had been through I had been to his ordination service, and uh it was beautiful. Honestly, it was. It was beautiful and uh very emotional. And uh I remember after that I I went up to him and I said to him, I said, Uncle Joe, this is maybe about a year or so later. I said, Uncle Joe, I I want to be what you are, I want to be part of your religion, I want to convert. Will you baptize me? He goes, No. Like, what? No. He's like, no, no. He goes, it's not for you. And I was like, oh. Okay. Well, that's interesting. That's a different take. I mean, I don't know if you were trying to stoke the fire for me to do more research or what, but but you know, that that that was interesting, interesting take on it. So um fast forward, really. I, you know, I so I kind of wandered around a little bit, did my own thing. Uh I used to tell people I was the Pope of the Worldwide Church of Joe. You know, I I thought what I wanted to think, I believed what I wanted to believe, I said what I wanted to say, I was my own authority, I was my own final word on everything. Um and it didn't really do that.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

But you but you had a biblical foundation.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

Yes. Yeah, okay. And uh, you know, but I I tried again to do it on my own, do my own thing. Um so I kind of wandered around through my life like that, you know, and I I fell into some very, very bad habits, did a lot of bad things, um, bad relationship choices, and you know, I had a lot of issues, a lot of problems, but again, I do what I want, I plug my way through. So I'm gonna fast forward a little bit to 2000. Okay, now I'm 30 years old, and um man, I'm struggling. Uh I you know, I just feel like there's something missing in my life. There's just something not right. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. You know, I had I had a beautiful home, I had a beautiful marriage, I had beautiful kids, I had a had a great job, uh, everything that you could physically want, I had. But there was just something not right, and I and I could not put my finger on it. So one day I went home and I I went up into my attic and I was just look kind of looking around there, and I started pulling through boxes and I had I I was ripping things open, just throwing things down the steps, you know, from the attic downstairs, I was throwing stuff down, just getting rid of stuff. And uh my wife at the time, she she was like, What are you doing? And and I didn't even think of it. The only thing came out of my mouth, I'm looking for my Bible. And she was like, You have a Bible? Yeah, I have a Bible. It's up here somewhere. And I found it. I found that old, beaten up, dog eared, falling apart, no cover Bible that my uncle bought me when I was uh the second one when I was like 10 or something like that. And I took that thing out and I was looking at it, and I was flipping my pages through it, and I saw all the places I had highlighted and underlined, you know, and it was like, wow, you know. I was really reading this thing. And um I started doing it again. I started reading again. I reached out to my uncle and I was like, Hey, Uncle Joe, um, I know we haven't spoken about this stuff in a while. I said, But can you set me up with with those Bible studies again from from your church? And he was like, Well, Joseph, you know, I'm not I'm not with them anymore. I'm not I'm not teaching. I'm not pastoring there. I'm doing something different, you know. But um if you if you really want to, here's you know how how you can do it. And he gave me an address, and this is before internet stuff, so you had to mail things away. Uh at least I didn't have a computer yet at that point, so you had to, you know, mail stuff. So I did it. And I started doing those Bible studies. And I started just going through that stuff again, and you know, um, and it was it was good. Like it was I was I felt different as I was reading it and studying and and going through these things, these Bible studies. And then um then one day I got notified that I was being transferred on my job. And I was transferred to uh a command that was in lower Manhattan, and um they were gonna put me on an overnight shift. So I went to meet with the commanding officer, and for those listening that may not understand, I I worked in law enforcement in New York for for my my career. So uh I went, I spoke to the commanding officer, which was great because I knew him, because he was one of my academy instructors, you know. So he he knew me, I knew him. And uh he was like, Yeah, Joe, I'm really glad you're gonna be coming on board with us, you know, but I do have to put you on the overnight, I'm sorry. I'm like, no, that's fine. That's that that works for me. It's it's perfect. And he was like, Yeah, and it's also it's your turn. Well, my turn. My turn for what? He goes, he goes, we all had to do it. We all have to we all had to go through it. It's kind of like uh I and he used an interesting phrase, like baptism by fire, but you gotta go through it. I'm like, okay. What is it? He goes, you have to ride with Gail. I'm like, Gail, who's Gail? He goes, Gail is one of those born-again Christian types, and she's gonna talk your ear off all night long. He goes, So I'm just giving you a heads up. So I was like, okay. I was I felt like I was grounded enough in what I already knew that I can handle that, you know, and um so the first night that I reported, uh, she comes walking out of the locker room and she just stops, she just looks me up and down. She was like, Are you saved? And I was like, Oh, here we go. And she goes, Oh no, no, no, no, don't you answer me like that. She goes, Are you saved? I said, Can we go and get coffee first before we start talking? Because I need coffee. We went, we got coffee all night long. That's all we did was argue. I mean argue. All right. Of course, over time the arguments became more debate and just conversation, but it was arguing. Um, and she just wouldn't let it go. And and every single night, five nights a week, eight to twelve hour shifts, that's all we did, which is debate back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Um, but I had a lot of respect for her, you know, I I really did. And she was she was a good she was a good person. She really held her faith close to heart, and it was something admirable. I I thought it was fantastic. And uh, even though it made me laugh sometimes, and uh, you know, she she had some some pretty interesting theories and theology, but um, be that as it may, one day she said to me, uh, and it was after shift, it was like six in the morning, and she said, uh, hey, you know what? There's this Christian radio station that you might like, you should check it out. And she gave me the call sign for it. It's I was on the AM stations up in New York City. And I was like, all right, yeah, I'll I'll check it out. So I I left and I keep my word. If I'm gonna tell you I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it. You know, so I I put it on, and uh man, I heard this guy preaching. He was teaching a Bible study, uh Jay Vernon McGee. And uh good old Jay Vernon, man. I you know, I had no idea at that point that Jay Vernon was gone, like he was with the Lord already, but it just seemed like the Bible study he was teaching was pointed directly at me. You know, I I just and I would drive home slower purposely just so I can hear the whole show, the whole Bible study. And then I subscribed to his stuff and I would get his his materials and I would go through them listening to the show. And uh man, I I started learning. I I was getting hungry, all I wanted. I I it was I would get home from work and I would go up to the bedroom, close the door, and where I should have been sleeping, I was sitting at the desk, I had the Bible open, and I I was listening to I recorded, I would record the show, or I'd find a replay of it, or listen to a tape or something of Jay Vernon, and I would just study and just constantly read and read and read and read. And uh it was just amazing. It's just amazing what the Word of God can do to somebody. And um so one night, I think it was in um June, early, no, sorry, late June, early July. I was getting ready to go to work, it was a Sunday night, and uh I was like, uh, you know what? I always listen to the traffic reports. Let me hear what's on this Christian station at nine o'clock at night. Have never did it. I was listening in the morning, so let's find out what's on the station at nine o'clock at night. So here I am, I'm sitting in traffic on my way to work, the same traffic I'm always sitting in, nothing new, nothing different. And there's this guy, and he's and he's teaching a Bible study. And I think this is kind of where I got the inspiration to do something like this, because this this was important to me. Um and here he is, he's preaching and he's taking phone calls. He's preaching and he's answering questions. Back it's a live, it was a live show, and uh and it it he was he was teaching a lesson on hell and who's going there. What the name of it was, I don't remember exactly, but it was that was the subject. It was Hell and Who's Going There. And Mark, when I tell you that at the end of every sentence, I heard, I'm talking to you, Joe. Joe, this is for you. You know, and again, not not audible. It wasn't like you know the thunderous voice from heaven or anything like that. It was just that feeling, that that sense in the back of your head that, hey, this is important, man, that you got better pay attention to this. And and and honestly, and and I say this over and over again, I don't mean to be cliche, but it literally scared the hell out of me. Literally. I wrote down the phone number to that um to that radio show, and I was gonna call them when I got to the office. I didn't have a cell phone yet, you know. I was gonna call them when I got to the office, and uh, you know, but of course, traffic, I I didn't get there in time, which was fine because I I was kind of chickening out along the way. Um but uh but I remember I I I I used uh don't tell anybody, but I used the work computer to uh to try to look up information about this guy in this church and find out all I could about them, and I found a phone number to that church. So I was like, all right. Worked the whole shift through the next day, the next morning when I got home uh before I went to bed, I called. And I must have sounded like an idiot. You know, I probably did. I heard you on the radio, I'm a fan, you know, that type of thing. But um but he called me back. He called me back within 10 minutes. And we sat there on the phone for about an hour, and I was just talking to him about everything, telling him everything that was going on. He was like, hey, so why don't you come to church? I was like, Yeah, no, I'm not coming to church. Are you out of your mind? I said, first of all in the building, that's gonna fall down, you know. So how about this? Let's do this instead. Can I come to your office? We'll sit down, we'll talk a little bit more, get to know each other a little bit more before I make a commitment to visiting church. And he's like, Well, you know, we don't really have a church of our own. We rent space in this little community school down, and he told me where it was, and I was like, You're kidding me? I said, That's literally across the street from where I my where my command is. Wow. So so he was like, Really? He goes, Well, that's great. He goes, What's your shift? And I told him, He go, and he said, Well, how about this? Uh, why don't we meet before you go into your shift and we'll get dinner and we'll sit and talk over dinner. Okay, sounds great. Perfect. Got you where I want you now. So I grabbed every single book that I had, everything. And I had this big red duffel bag that I had gotten from my dad, and uh I stuffed every book that I had into that duffel bag, and I carried that thing with me into the city. And um it was weird too because I got I never saw him, didn't know what he looked like. He didn't know me from a hole in the wall, but yet he even said later on that he knew it was me and I knew it was him. And he actually wrote a book and he tells my whole testimony in the book. So I don't think he'd be making it up. So he um so I met him and uh we went, we sat down, we had a great meal, we were sitting there talking, and he was like, Well, Joe, he goes, I don't think that the Lord brought us together just so we can have a dinner. So he goes, So let's so so what's going on? So I was like, All right, great. So I pulled the chair back and I grabbed that big duffel bag and I just went dumped everything out on the table. This is where he got me. He looked everything over, and then just went like this, pushed everything off to the side, took out his Bible, put it down on the table, and he goes, This is all you need. I was like, Okay, speak on. And he just started taking me through scripture, and uh he answered all my questions. Like, and there wasn't even like hesitation, you know. It was like like what Peter says, you know, be prepared to give an answer. You know, he was ready, he had everything, and I'm getting goosebumps talking about. Uh so uh we talked and talked and talked and talked and talked, and I realized, oh man, I gotta get to work. So I I get up to go to work, and and he's like, Well, let me walk with you this way we can talk a little bit more. He goes, I I really want to talk to you more about this. I'm like, Yeah, yeah, come on, let's go. So we walked, and as we're walking, he's given me the gospel. And man, it is it's like, you know, they they they you know the the Bible says that that the word of God is like a two-edged sword, right? Yep. And it's quick, it's sharp, it's powerful. And every verse of scripture that he was giving me was like a punch in the gut. I may not have reacted to it, but I felt it. Like I knew uh he's talking about me. You know, this is about me. And um we get to we get to uh where my command was, and he was like, Do you have like 10 more minutes? I just I really he goes, This isn't this is a one of those divine appointments that I just don't want to let go. Can we go someplace and sit down for just 10 more minutes? 10 more minutes. Yeah, okay, fine, let's go. So we went out to onto Pier 34, which is on the corner of Canal Street and West Street, along the West Side Highway there, and uh the second bench off the gate. We sat down, he opened up the Bible and he started taking me down the Romans Road. And it was amazing. And just as we started getting into it, out of nowhere, I don't know where this guy came from, a guy on a bicycle, and I am not kidding, I am not exaggerating, this is not gonna be like a movie or anything like that on Hallmark Channel, whatever it is. This is true, it's in his book, he wouldn't lie, you know? Um, he uh says this guy on a bike, he's he's just comes riding around, he's riding in a circle around the like the two benches, the three benches, uh the first one, second one that we were on, and the third one. And he's just riding in a circle around those benches. And as he's riding around, he's he's cursing at us, he's spitting at us, he's calling us names, he's making fun of us, and and all that stuff. And all of a sudden, out of all of that, I don't know what he hit, but he hit something on the deck of that pier of that boardwalk that flipped him over the handlebars of his bike. And when he flipped, he literally busted his head open. All right, now, okay, I work in law enforcement. My my instinct, my reaction is I gotta help this guy no matter what. Right. So I'm doing everything I can. I'm getting the I'm I'm reaching out to the folks that I work with, trying to get them down there to to come down, we get a bus to come down, a bus. This is an ambulance, we call them, we call them buses. So we had to get the bus to come down and all that stuff, and and I'm trying to talk to the guy, I'm trying to coordinate the scene. That's what I do. Trying to coordinate everything. Uh the pastor is talking to him, he's trying to pray with the guy, and some lady comes over, starts yelling at the pastor to leave him alone, starts cursing him out. So he steps back, he walks away from it. Um my guys got there, the bus got there, they start working on him, and the pastor just very gently just comes walking over to me, he taps my elbow, and he says, Come on, let's go. He goes, What we're doing is more important than what they're doing. He goes, We're trying to save your soul. They're trying to save his life. And I'll never forget that because I was like, okay. And we just what we just stepped away from it. We prayed for the guy. We prayed for the guys that were working on him. Don't know what happened to the guy after that. Um, but man, when he after we prayed for that guy and he started he started going back down that Romans road, brother. I dropped down on my knees right there in the middle of all of that. And I cried out to the Lord and I asked the Lord to save me, and he did. And I know he did, because when I got up, I was not the same person I was that when I got down on my knees. I knew it. I felt it. I knew there was something different. I felt clean, I felt whole, I felt like whatever it was that I was searching for at that time was just it was there. And it was it was the most incredible experience in my life. And when that pastor reached his hand down and helped me stand up and called me brother. Oh man, when I tell you that, what a sh how that went right through me. That went right through me. And you know what? I was in church that Sunday and it didn't fall down. But uh after uh after all that happened, though, the funnier part of the whole story is after that happened, I went to work. And uh I walked in, I walked into the command, and there's Gail. She comes walking up out of the out of the ladies' locker room, and I never I never told her that I was meeting the pastor. I never told her any of the things that I was dealing with. I just kept it all to myself because I'm that's that's me. You know, that's the way I do it. Right. And um she comes walking out of the locker room and she looks at me and she goes, You got saved. I was like, What are you talking about? She goes, Don't you start lying right now? She goes like you got saved, it's all over you. Your whole face is different. You usually look different, like Moses radiating in the desert. All right, let's calm down with that one. But yeah, and I told her what happened, and and um man, we spent the whole night just driving around, just you know, doing the job and in between calls, just praising the Lord, you know, for the for what he did. And every time, every time I finished telling her the story of what had happened, she was like, Okay, that's great. Tell me again. And just kept on telling her over and over and over again. And it was it was it was incredible. Uh when I left work and I went home, I was so fired up. Um my uh my wife at the time was was pregnant with um I'm sorry, no, she was she we had just had our second our second child, my son. And um when uh I got home, she was dead asleep. She had a rough night with him, and I think she must have gone to bed maybe an hour before I got home. And so she was dead asleep. And I remember I I ran into the house, I ran up to the bedroom, dead asleep. I just grabbed her by the collar. I was like, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up. She's like, what? What? What's wrong? You're going to hell. Wait a minute. You know, she says, go downstairs. Yeah, right, yeah. Well, wait, I I've learned since. But she but she was like, wait a second, go downstairs, put up some coffee. I'll be down in a minute. And she came down and I told her what happened. I told her my story, how I got saved. And uh she wasn't she wasn't unimpressed. She was like, Well, that's good. She goes, I'm glad you're happy. Now I'm going back to bed. And it took her, it took her two years after I got saved for her to make her profession of faith. And um, and then uh, you know, it was just a wild ride from there. I mean, so many things took place, so many things happened, and 9-11 took place, and you know, I was a new Christian for that. And um, you know, but God had me there. I was there for it, you know, and um uh He used me in some ways uh as uh as counsel for some of the folks that I worked with. Some of them came to me and talked to me about it, and I'm like, I'm new, I don't know. I I I don't have the answers to this. I I you know I I'm just learning myself. But, you know, uh God saw something that he would direct people my way, and and uh it I guess it helped me uh going growing up as I was growing. Um and then I and then He just put us He just put a heart in me that I just wanted to teach, I wanted to preach, I wanted to do whatever I could. I got right into a discipleship program at the church. I think I I got saved in July. I preached my first message at the church in December. And uh so and then um you know he just opened up ministry opportunities for me, and I I any I never said no to anything that I was asked to do. Um I was actu I actually was uh invited out to a to a church in Washington uh and I had an opportunity to speak to 400 lumberjacks and give a testimony and saw I I I couldn't even tell you how many hands go up at the invitation that the pastor that invited me out there gave. You know, uh that was a blessing, it was an absolute blessing. Um he he gave me his pulpit for two two services and he let me preach in his church, and which is if if anybody, if nobody knows, it is incredibly hard for a pastor, for a preacher to give up the pulpit to anybody, you know, and sit there and listen. So that was a that was a blessing. I was scared to death, but but you know, it it it was a blessing to do that. And then uh, you know, God just continued to work on me. He just continued to bless me. Yeah, he tore me down. He sure did. You know, he made me confront a lot of the things that I that I'd been thinking and doing, and he changed my mind, he changed the way I thought. Um and I go right back to the word we talked about earlier, surrender. That's where I really learned what surrender was. And uh when I made that, when I made that this that conscious decision, okay, Lord, this is on you, this is in your hands. I am trusting you. Take over, do what you need to do, fix me, mold me, make me what you want me to be. Big mistake. Don't do that. Because he will.

SPEAKER_03 41:28

Because he will.

SPEAKER_00 41:30

And if you're not ready for that, folks, if you're not ready for that, forget it. Forget it. You're you're you're done. You're done. But it was a great it was a blessing, brother. It really was.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Yeah. What you have such a powerful testimony.

unknown 41:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:45

I just want to say because you're talking about the molding and the shaping. That's what we do here. This is the valiant boards. This is where I sometimes I like to say this is where valiant warriors come to be sharpened. Because you mentioned at the top of the show, we don't have to get into it, but I know you went through some things recently, and that's that's you know, the devil just putting an attack on somebody that he knows God is using in a powerful way, just you know, just through your show. I I've I haven't watched a ton of your episodes, but I've watched a few. And the way you talk to people, you meet them where they are. You know, and that that's really Paul talks about it being all things to all people. Yeah. And that that's really, you know, our most men's hearts should be to reach others. I agree. And obviously, yeah. Yeah, and I've I've heard I've heard a lot of people get saved and get on fire, and they're, you know, I I talked to one pastor once. He's like, the day that I got saved, I worked in a butcher shop. I took this guy that was smaller than me and I hung him up on a hook, and I'm like, you need to give your life to Jesus. He's like, I've learned since then that's not the way to do it. But yeah, you know, sometimes zeal is hard to contain. Go ahead, you were gonna say something.

SPEAKER_00 43:04

Uh you know, zeal without knowledge. That that's yeah, and and that's something else that I that I struggled with too, because later on, um, you know, the more I taught and the more I I mean, I would street preach from time to time. Not my favorite thing to do, I'll be very honest with you. But it's funny though, because God puts you with people, I I think anyway, God puts you with people to take you out of your comfort zone. And he put me with a bunch of people, guys from church that I've that I just developed a bond with, you know, from when I were first walked in the door. And they were, they, they, they love to street preach. They went out street preaching at least twice a month, sometimes more than that. And they were like, You gotta go, come on, you gotta come with us. I'm like, oh no, I'm uh no, I'm not gonna street preach. Are you crazy? And um, but uh, you know, I it was I was uncomfortable, yeah, but I did it. And uh it taught me a taught me a lot. It taught me how to have a thick skin, it taught me how to talk to people. People. And uh, you know, plus the training that I had in working in law enforcement, you know, helped with that also. Um, but the uh but but you know, I was really uncomfortable doing that stuff, but God made me do it. And he taught me something out of it. He broke me down and taught me something. Uh I st I I was I was doing street preaching more frequently, even when I got here to Texas. I I would go downtown. There was there's a bank on Main Street, and I would just I would stand up on the corner over there and I would just hand out gospel tracts. And I wasn't shouting and screaming like I used to, but I would just hand out gospel tracts and ask people about their soul. And you know, hey, you know, Jesus Christ is your savior. You know, if you die today, you know, if you died today, where would you end up? If you stood before God right now and God said, Why should I let you into heaven? What are you going to tell them? You know, I would ask questions like that. And um it was um it was it was challenging. It was very, very challenging. Um and then, you know, as time went on, you know, I I served as an associate pastor of a small independent Baptist church up in up in New York, up on Stat in Staten Island where I lived. Um I did that because our senior pastor was was incredibly sick and he needed help and he asked me if I would do it. And I said, Yeah, I I would do that. And uh put it to the church to vote the to vote. The church voted me in, and I served as an AP for uh about two years, almost two years. And man, did I learn a lot doing that. I learned I learned what not to do, I learned what to do. And one of the things that I struggle with, if despite everything, despite and and if you know, guys, if if if you have any preaching experience, a teaching experience, and talking about zeal without knowledge, one of the things that that that I still struggle with is oftentimes I wonder how many people I put into bondage because I didn't know enough on a particular subject. And that's something I struggle with even today. You know, I asked the Lord to forgive me. I asked him to kind of you know wink at that one for me, but still it bothers me, you know. That's why I choose what I say very carefully, especially when I'm teaching the Bible uh on my show, because you don't know who's listening, and I I you gotta be very careful. You know, God holds people who preach and teach the Bible, His Word, to a much different standard. So uh I think it's very important, but you have to temper yourself, you have to learn, and that only comes with experience. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

Yeah, I went through that same thing. That was part of the excuse that I went through for months before starting a podcast because I know that teachers have a higher accountability on them because you're teaching the word of God and you can easily lead someone astray. I still now struggle with it because I haven't I haven't gone to seminary. I spent 40 years as a Christian. Unlike you, I didn't spend a lot of time diving into the Bible and learning, and and you know, I have in the last five years, but before that I didn't. I didn't I never got up and spoke in front of people until two years ago. My pastor was like, you know, I see you coming along, I hear you on your podcast. I think you're ready to like, you know, teach a lesson. So he gave he gave me James 4. It was James 4 or 3. I don't I don't remember which one, but you know, the first scripture is that teachers hold a higher accountability. And I was like, really? You're gonna make this be my first message?

SPEAKER_00 47:33

My first my first message was out of James also. My first message was um well though not I'm sure my first message outside of my own church was from James. And it's and it was uh for what is your life but a vapor that appeareth for a little time and vanisheth away. That was the that was my text. And um the first message I ever preached was um it was the um oh why did I just draw a blank on it? I don't know. The Pharisee and the Publican. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, folks. The Pharisee and the publican. And um I wasn't I didn't even choose that. He assigned it to me. He was like, here's your passage, is what you're gonna preach on. I was like, oh, okay. He goes, Yeah, don't get comfortable picking your own stuff. He goes, I'm gonna make you uncomfortable.

unknown 48:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:19

And he did.

SPEAKER_02 48:20

Let's let's talk about your teaching a little bit. I have not listened to any of your your shows yet, but I remember you saying on one of your shows that you're a King James Bible person. Yes. Yeah. So is there a reason that is that the only translation you'll read? And is there a reason for it?

SPEAKER_00 48:40

No. Um I'll look at other translations, but I would never spend time in using that. I would never teach from another version other than the King James Bible. I'll look at it just to see, you know, where they make their mistakes. Because I I have a very high opinion and high standard for scripture. I I firmly believe that the King James Bible is God's word for us today in English. God picked 1611 of that time period to assemble 56 of the most intelligent men you could possibly find. There's a level of scholarship within those men that you will never ever reproduce, not even today. And he put those men together to translate those texts and to give us a perfect Bible. Um the myth that King James himself was involved with it is not. King James had nothing to do with the translation. They call it the King James Bible because in those days, in order to translate a Bible, you had to get permission from the King to do it. So that's why it was called the King James Bible. Um, and that's a simple explanation for it, but that's that's that's why it's called that. The actual name for the King James Bible is the authorized version. Authorized because the king gave authorization to translate it. But um God picked that particular period of time because English at that time was at its peak of eloquence, meaning, and rhyme and rhythm. You you could not translate a you cannot translate a Bible today because of all the different nuances of language. Now, the problem that I have with the modern Bibles is that they change things. And they and they change things and they say, well, you know, this is from the newest and the most greatest text you can possibly ever find. And six months later, we found it, the newest, the greatest text you can have, and we're translating a new Bible, and then they slap a copyright on it and make their money. King James Bible has no copyright. You can use it for whatever you want, basically. Um The King James Bible, to me, in my studies and my appreciation of it, is stemmed from the fact that I asked God. I took my King James Bible and I put it on the floor on my floor, I got down on my knees in front of, prayed over a passage of scripture, and I told the Lord, I said, I am going to believe that this is your book until you tell me otherwise. And he all he has done since I've done that is confirm that that book is his word. Now, if you want to read another Bible, fine. Go ahead. Read another Bible. Do what you want to do, it's fine. You know, I'm not here to tell you and convince you to throw the other ones away and just stay with your King James. That's the Holy Spirit's job. You know, uh if that's gonna happen for you, the Holy Spirit's gonna be one to do it for you. But I believe that that book is God's word for us in English. You know, and if you look at some of the things, like I had a guy when when I before I even came to that conclusion, and before I had that moment of time of prayer, I had a I had a pastor who was a King James guy. And uh I I used the King James, I I, you know, that's all I would use, but I was I didn't hold the position of that that was the per perfect, preserved, inspired, plenary word of God. You know, I I was like, it's a good translation. It's the best translation you're gonna get. That's my that was my position. God changed my mind on that, and he made it to where it is now, that I believe that that is the word of God, and that's it. This guy, I asked him one day, uh, I said, so why do you think that? And he goes, Well, I'm just gonna I'm gonna give you an example, and I'll let you make your own decision from that example. I said, Okay. He goes, take your Bible, and he took me over to a passage of scripture, and he read it from the King James, and then he went to his library and he he pulled off the latest, greatest translation of the time, I think I think was the NIV. He pulled that off and he opened up the same passage and he read it, and he goes, What's the difference? And it was uh it was from Colossians, uh Colossians 1, I think it's 1.17 if I'm I'm going from memory here. Uh I think it was Colossians 1.17 where it says, um, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins in the King James. Well, the new versions take a very important word out of that verse. In the new versions, you can look at any you could lurk look at any new version, and it it'll say to the something to the effect of, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Okay. Doesn't seem like a big deal, right? But it is. What paid your sin debt?

SPEAKER_02 53:58

The blood.

SPEAKER_00 53:59

And they take the blood out. Okay, and they do that time and time again. The modern versions have over 5,000 changes that are not based on any text anywhere. They just arbitrarily changed it. You know, uh, another one. Um, well, my to finish my story, when he showed me that, he was like, Do you see it? I said, Yeah. He goes, Do you want to see another one? I said, Yeah. He goes, Why? That should be enough. And then I went on a hunt for myself. I looked up things on my own. Another example, Luke uh chapter two, I think it is, 233, where um where Mary and Joseph are presenting the baby, Jesus, at the temple. And the the King James says, the uh and the uh the child's that that it says uh Joseph and his mother marveled at the things that were said of him. Okay? That's the King James. Go to any modern Bible, it will say the child's father and mother marveled at what was said of him. Okay. Question. Who is Jesus' father? It wasn't Joseph, but yet the new versions say that it was. And so what does that do? That takes away the deity of Christ.

SPEAKER_02 55:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:31

And you'll find little things like that. It's when you study your Bible, it's incredibly important to see what's there and what's not there. It's very, very important. And they will go through that Bible, they will take out references. Uh, another example, um it's uh Psalms, Psalm 11. Psalm 12, sorry, Psalm 12, uh talking about preserving the word of God. All right, in Psalm 12, God made a promise. He said he will preserve his words from this generation forever. Alright, I'm trying to do I have I don't have my Bible here with me. Let me pull up the verse here one second. Because I want to make sure I got it right, because it's very important. Okay, so Psalm 12, verse 6, in the King James says, The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Then verse 7 says, Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever. Okay. So the antecedent in verse set in verse seven, them, is talking about the words. Right? Thou shalt preserve them, thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever. The new versions take verse six, and they say, The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth seven times, and then it says in verse seven, Thou shalt keep him. Well, who's him? There's no reference to a hymn anywhere in this in this whole psalm. Who's him? Somebody doesn't want you to know that God promised to preserve his word. Another interesting thing here, too, another interesting thing in this verse. It says in verse 6, the words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Did you know that the King James Bible is the seventh official translation of the Word of God?

SPEAKER_02 57:46

I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_00 57:48

Yeah. All the other versions, the Geneva Bible that so many people are up on nowadays. Uh I hear all of the Geneva Bible, you know, the 15th, yeah, Luther's Bible. Yeah, yeah, all great works. But even they acknowledged and they admitted that it wasn't perfect. The King James is the only one that says that. Purified seven times. And the and the King James translators were honest. If you ever look at a King James Bible, if you never notice this, there are certain words that are in italics. Those words that are in italics are words that the translators inserted into the verse to make it make sense for context. Okay? This is the only Bible that does that. Look at any of the new modern Bibles. They do not do that. So you can't tell what was in the originals and what or the manuscripts that were used to translate, because the originals don't exist. They haven't existed for centuries. All right. It's another thing, too. I I anytime I anytime I'm in a service and I hear some preacher say, in the originals, okay, show me. I'd like to see the originals. You've never seen the originals. I've never seen the originals, they don't exist. So what originals are you talking about? Are you talking about Nestle's Greek translation? Are you talking about Darby's Greek translation? Are you talking about Westcott and Hoard? Are you talking about which which one are you talking about? You know? I have the pres I have the preserved, inspired, perfect Word of God in my hand, and that's my King James Bible. I trust it. It has never proved itself otherwise. I have never found one thing in this Bible that I cannot cross-reference and prove that it's not a contradiction.

SPEAKER_02 59:38

Wow. And you you've convicted me a little bit. And my dad's gonna love this segment. Because my dad, my dad is like you, he is the King James is the only true translation. That's it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:50

Yeah. And again, I don't fault it, I don't I don't judge anybody if they want to use a different version. Look, you know, God can use a sunrise to bring someone to Christ. God can use anything to bring someone to Christ, even a bad translation of a Bible. You know, but that book, man, that book, once it gets into your soul. Another great thing about the King James Bible, it's easy to memorize. It's really easy to memorize. People say, well, you know, all the these and the thous and the the Don't let that bother you. I mean it's it's poetic, really. It exactly. The the King James is written with rhyme, rhythm, and meter. It's easy to memorize. Very easy to memorize. So, you know, people throw a lot of oh, it has all these archaic ancient words. Show me one. The King James Bible is written to a sixth grade reading level. Wow. 72% of your King James Bible are one-syllable words. I mean, come on.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:01

Man, if I had known how passionate you were about this, we could have done a podcast just.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:07

Oh yeah, well, I got actually I have one in the works. So uh you if you'd like to join me on that one, I'd that'd be fine. You know, um can I show you one more?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:17

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:17

One more thing? All right. I'm gonna go over to uh go over to 1 John. My internet's working. And by the way, just so you know, I hate using digital Bibles. I'd rather have the book in front of me. Let me see where I can find it. Okay. So I I used this actually on somebody who um and and and I I kind of did it in kind of a spiteful way, I'll be honest with you. All right. Um I had a guy in my church back in New York, and um smart guy, you know, had I think he had two master's degrees. He was a super smart guy, like like really very, very intelligent. You can you just it just oozed off of him. When you walk into a room, you saw him there, you just knew this guy's a smart guy. So we got to talking one day, and again, I I I have some college, I don't, you know, I'm not I went to Bible school for about a year and a half, you know. Um, and he's telling me that the King James is too hard for him to read, is too hard for him to understand. And this is a guy with with two master's degrees and uh and some advanced other stuff, certificates and things like that. So I took him over to 1 John chapter 5 and in verse 12, and I said, All right, and I gave him my Bible and I said, Read that verse to me. And he said, and so he does. He goes, and verse 512 says, He that hath the son hath life. He that hath not the son of God hath not life. Interpret that for me.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:07

Straightforward.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:09

Interpret that. That's hard for you to understand. I think that's pretty simple. Okay. And then I took it a step further. And I was like, and um I said, Do you notice anything else about that verse? He's looking at it, he goes, No. I said, He that hath the son hath life, he that hath not the son of God hath not life. Every single word, everything, every single word in that verse is a one-syllable word. You have two master's degrees. You're telling him you can't understand a sentence all made of one-syllable words. I said, that's pretty scary, buddy. And I walked away. Wow. Right spirit? No. Absolutely not. But you get the idea. Um, it you just gotta take it by faith. You just gotta read it. And uh, and you know, don't if you if you look, if you're new to this, if you're new to a King James, don't and by the way, a new King James, meaning the the new King James Bible, the NKJV, is not a King James Bible at all. It is translated from the same modern text that the other modern versions and the corrupt manuscripts that they used. All right. Uh just a a hint, by the way. The manuscripts they used are called Sineaticus and Vaticanus. Should tell you where they got them from, you know? Uh so uh exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:31

Yeah, Roman.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:32

Exactly. So that's it. That's all I got.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:37

All right. So that there's there's a question I ask every man that comes on the podcast. Sure. I'm looking forward to hearing your answer from a King James perspective. Okay. 1 Samuel 22. I don't know what it says in the King James, but I I think it's the ESV where I got this. It says they were disgruntled, disheartened, and discouraged, the men of the kingdom. This is when they came to David in the cave of Udulum. David was there taking refuge from Saul who was chasing him to, you know, because he was jealous of David. While those men were under David's tutelage, they ended up becoming David's mighty men. These were men who were originally disgruntled and disheartened. Modern day, you got the opportunity to speak, you got a group of men in front of you who are disgruntled, disheartened, and discouraged. You got the opportunity to speak into their lives. What would you say to them?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:34

Oh wow, that's a good one. That's a good one. What would I say to them? It's it's interesting because I myself have been feeling disgruntled and disheartened and disillusioned. But not in my faith, I'm just saying in life. In general. Right. But the one thing that I the first thing that pops in my mind though would be you know just trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Just put your full faith, trust, and confidence in what He has planned for you. I'm assuming we're talking about saved individuals, people who are Christians. You know, he He He He He didn't save you. He didn't go to the cross so that you could be a victim. He went to the cross so you can be a victor. So that you can be victorious in your faith and victorious in Christ. Even the smallest setbacks are for the Lord. And the Bible says also, uh it's I believe it's it's it's in it's in Proverbs, you know, that a righteous man falls seven times, but he gets back up. But he gets back up again. You know, I would use I would say something to that effect. I would probably use that verse to try to encourage them to keep on going. Don't give up. Don't give up. Because what are you gonna go back to? Right. You know, what are you gonna go back to? You're gonna go back into the world, you're gonna go back into the booze, you're gonna go back to the drugs, you're gonna go back to uh, you know, uh inappropriate relationships with with women, and you know, you're gonna step outside your marriage, you're gonna do all that stuff. No. No, don't give up. Just keep just keep going. Keep going. Put your faith, your full faith, trust, and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ and what he did for you on the cross of Calvary. It was it wasn't in vain. He didn't do it because maybe. No, he did it because he knew that that was a victory. It was a victory over death, it was a victory over sin. And all you need to do is put your faith and trust in that. And he'll give you the victory over it. It may not be right then at the moment, it might take a little time. You know, we all grow at different rates, we all grow at different speed, we all move at different paces. Some of us are a little more thick-headed, you know, like me. You know, it may take 30 years for it to get through. Yeah. But don't give up. Don't give up.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:16

Amen. I love that. I got a I got a couple of quick ones for you. Sure. This is just kind of based off of what you do on your show. Okay. What's a belief you hold that you that you know will challenge people, but you think it's worth seeing anyways?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:33

Oh, my my my stance on the King James Bible.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:36

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:37

Very, very easy. Um I have a I have a lot of um I have a lot of opinions, but I only have one conviction. I don't care what color the wallpaper is, I don't care what color the the carpet is. I I don't care. My my my conviction is that I would die for is is my Bible.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:00

Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:02

What's an idea you're currently exploring that you haven't fully formed yet, but you're willing to wrestle with publicly.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:10

Oh man. Uh in a non-scriptural sense, uh, it's the transition that I'm making with my show, with my podcast. Uh moving from different from one type of format to another, uh, trying to make that work, trying to figure out how to make it work without it being too much of a disruption in things and in the way we're producing stuff. Um you know, uh I don't want I want to pitch the show, you know, but we do we do five live shows a week. And uh it's it's a it's a lot to do, especially when you work a regular you know, day job, 40 hour job. And you know, like tonight, for example, I I got stuck at the job. I wasn't sure if I was gonna be here on time to start with you by seven o'clock, and uh you were gracious enough to want to wait. Um But uh when you're doing a live show and you know you're up against the clock, you got a guest coming in, uh, you got to get there and you gotta be ready to go, it's a lot to do. And then on top of that, there's a lot of times where guests just don't show up. And you have uh you know, you have a uh an empty chair, and uh what do you do? So it's hard to pivot at 10 minutes to seven o'clock when the show is about to start, you know. So, you know, we're looking to make some changes and and and how we do things. Uh from a scriptural point, from a faith point of view, you know, I I don't I don't I can't think of anything just off the top of my head that that I'm I'm really struggling with, except maybe the fact that as I'm still dealing with a lot of the stuff that brought me down in the first place, that knocked me down a few pegs. And um still not completely settled in the fact that I'm over it all yet. You know, and it it's something it kind of reminds me of something that somebody much wiser than I once said. You know, uh you go to God, you ask God to forgive you, and you believe He forgives you. You know He forgives you. The Bible tells you He forgives you. The hardest thing is forgiving yourself. And I think that's what I struggle with. I know God forgave me for the stupidity that I went through, you know, after everything happened, but I haven't I don't think I've completely forgiven myself yet. I still kind of hang it over my own head that that's sort of Damocles. Um and it's tough. It's that's tough. But yeah, we'll get there.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:48

Yeah, yeah, I know you will. A lot of us are in that have come across that same thing where we have a hard time forgiving ourselves. You you know, you know my story, and I still have a hard time not looking back with regret. But you know, we we learn and grow from those moments.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:07

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:08

I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna let you go and let you take care of your your girls.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:13

My babies.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:15

Your babies, yeah. Where can people find you? Connect with you.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:19

All right. Well, uh you have our website is uh joiruz.com. That's Joe, J-O-E-R-O-O-Z.com. Uh that you can find links to all the places that you can check out the show. Uh if you want to find us uh on Rumble, it's rumble.com slash jourus uh on YouTube if you really want to go to YouTube. Uh I kind of push people away from YouTube to Rumble, but if you want to go to YouTube, it's YouTube.com slash at JoeRuz. Uh and of course, the the audio version of the podcast is available wherever you get your podcast. And uh all we're asking is that if you come over, just drop a comment, let us know what you think. Uh all opinions are taken, uh some are actually acted upon, um, and complaints get flushed down the toilet. So I'm kidding. I'm kidding. We take everything into consideration. But um yeah, Mark, this is great, man. Thank you. I appreciate you having me on the show.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:08

Yeah, it was a pleasure having you. I'm looking forward to staying connected with you.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:11

Absolutely. We'll do something together very soon. And by the way, just so you know, I don't really do interviews myself. I I this is only the third one, I think, or the fourth one that I've done. So uh so I appreciate I appreciate the invite. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:26

This was great.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:27

Amen. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:29

God bless you.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:30

God bless you too, brother. God bless you, and thank you folks for paying attention and watching tonight.