Issues From The Heart
Issues From The Heart, a community-focused series produced by The MIXX Network. This platform is designed to highlight real stories, spark meaningful conversations, and empower the communities we serve.
Issues From The Heart
Don’t Give Up On Your Dream | Pastor Samuel Moore
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What happens when faith leads you beyond the pulpit?
In this inspiring episode of Issues From The Heart, host Joel Martin sits down with Pastor Samuel Moore for a powerful conversation about purpose, perseverance, entrepreneurship, family legacy, and trusting God’s timing.
Pastor Moore shares his personal faith journey, the vision behind Scoop Me Up Ice Cream & Treats, and how a dream he first imagined in 1998 eventually became a completed feature film. Along the way, he discusses leadership, community impact, family business, resilience, and why it’s important to never give up on what God has placed in your heart.
Whether you’re building a business, pursuing a calling, raising a family, or waiting on a dream to come to pass, this episode offers encouragement and practical wisdom for the journey.
Key Topics:
• Faith and purpose
• Entrepreneurship and family business
• Community development
• Film and storytelling
• Leadership and legacy
• Perseverance through life’s challenges
• Keeping hope alive
“If God gave you the dream, don’t give up on it.”
Hosted by Joel Martin
Issues From The Heart
A Production of The MIXX Network
Hello and welcome. My name is Joel Martin, and this is Videos from the Heart. Again, I'm Joel Martin, your host for today, and I am here with Mr. Samuel Moore. What's going on, brother? Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. We have an amazing show for you all today. Um one of this this episode, I really like the title of it. It's called Uh Faith, Film and Favor. When Purpose Expands Beyond the Pulpit. Let's dig in, shall we? All right, let's go ahead. All right, so we have uh again, Mr. Samuel Moore, Pastor Moore. And um can you share a little bit more about yourself?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I'm Samuel Moore. I'm from Reevesville, and I've been a pastor in the United Methodist Church going on 10 years. However, I feel like denominations are twos to just divide us. I feel like the church should be like the armed forces, so the military has different names like the Marines, the Air Force, the Navy, the Coast Guard, but they all have one purpose, and that's to keep people safe. So whether if you're Methodist or Holiness or Baptist, whatever, we should have the same objective, and that's to help save souls for the reign of God. I did not want to be a pastor. I wanted to be rich and famous, and I did not see a pastor being rich or famous. So I used to want to be a professional basketball player, but if you all notice, I'm short and I'm not that good. I wouldn't, I could not jump that high. I'm not a Deontay Neal. Right. I couldn't play like he plays. And then later on, I wanted to become a rapper. And I felt like God was calling me into the ministry. And I even told God one time, I said, God, how about letting me get my record deal and party, smoke all the marijuana that I want, drink all that I want. And after I'm done partying, I go ahead and preach for free and build a church with the money that I made. However, that was not God's plan for my life. And I try to tell people, do not have that rock bottom, excuse me, prodigal son experience because it hurts. And that's what happened to me. I I went so low that only thing that I could do was look up. And I remember being in my apartment in Greensboro, listening to a preacher, and that preacher said that you're the devil. And I felt like God was calling me the devil, and I was like 25, 26, and I began to cry because I thought that I was a good person. And at that moment I said, God, I'm gonna start going to church. And there was a Baptist church right across the street from me, and I started going to church, Sunday school, Bible study, reading my Bible, and that's when the transformation began, even though I'm still on this journey, but I thank God for my best friend who got saved, or was saved before then, but we we both decided at the same time. It's amazing how God worked. I called my best friend, I'm like, Bobby, I do not want to be in the streets anymore. And he was like, Samuel, that's crazy because I feel the same way. So we had each other on this journey, and times when God was not giving me revelation, God was giving him revelation, and vice versa. And it was amazing on our faith journey because he and I used to talk, maybe we'd say, What does Psalm 27 mean? Then we would go to church, that Baptist church right across the street, and the preacher would preach on Psalm 27. So as soon as we get out of church, we were zoomed because we just talked about Psalm 27, and then the preacher talked on to bring clarity. And that's one thing I love about God. When you have a desire to learn something about God, God will reveal stuff to you. And like I said, I'm a pastor of two churches here in Reedsville, Chapel Hill United Methodists and Midway United Methodists. And I'm just trying to help save souls, make the world a better place. Um, and just do my part. And also make money. Make money the right way. Yeah. Because money is a resource, money's not evil, money's not good. And and this help this city of Reevesville, that's where I'm from. And what the Bible says, charity begins at home. However, that's not where it ends. So I'm just trying to do my things to help build up this city. I tried to help other cities, so let me help my own city, and I feel like that's why God has me back at home. That's amazing.
SPEAKER_01You know, I I think one of the things I like what you, or a few couple of things I like what you said, um, is um one, um, you went to your your friend, your close friend of yours, sir, and um one you were just you you were vulnerable. Let's just put it like that. Yeah you know, you were living a certain way, and as men, how often can we just say, you know, I'm feeling a certain way that, and I don't, I don't feel comfortable sharing that, but I'm going to. I'm gonna be vulnerable, even though you're my friend, and say that, listen, I don't want to live the same life I want to live. You know, and how even better was it that he had the same thoughts already, you know? So what I was going to say with that is like iron sharpening iron. Yes, sir. You know, and it's just a continual growth from that point.
SPEAKER_02And you make a valid point because us being men, it's hard for us to make ourselves vulnerable. And you have to be careful being vulnerable around the wrong people because they will take advantage of you. But but like you said, iron sharpened iron, but also the spirit knows the spirit, so you can know who you can be vulnerable with, and and that's when people get liberated is by being vulnerable. And that's one thing I try to do when I preach. I try to make myself vulnerable to show, hey, I'm human. So guess what? I sin, I'm sure you sin, but guess what? The only way we get forgiveness for sins is the knowledge in our sins. And that's that vulnerability. We have to be vulnerable before God. We we cannot come before God proud. I do not need God. No, we need to come in humble spirit. Right. God, I need you, and without you, I'm nothing. I won't be nothing. And that that takes the place of growth, and I still struggle with pride. And like I like to tell people, pride is a dangerous sin, just like other sins. Because what, after pride goes destruction.
SPEAKER_01So true, so true. You mentioned also um about business. You talked about business some and um you went back home to your hometown, Reevesville, 27320 representative. Yes, sir. Um, so uh um, can you talk about your business that you you're now open?
SPEAKER_02So me and my wife were opening up Scoop Me Up. It's an ice cream, sweets for everyone.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02So we're making a homemade ice cream, and that's part of just trying to create money for this economy and hopefully employ people. And one thing that I'm saddened about Reeseville, like I said, I'm from Reevesville, so I know when an American Tobacco Company left, that took a lot of the life out of Reedsville. And if we want people to live in Reedsville and we want our younger people to have an opportunity to advance in life, we need to have opportunities for them. And nope, nothing against Greensboro, nothing against Virginia. We just have a lot of our resources being taken to Virginia and Greensboro because we do not have these things here.
SPEAKER_01And it's almost like a larger, sorry, I mean a country. But it's almost like a larger market, so it's an opportunity for them to you know branch out.
SPEAKER_02Yes, sir, absolutely. And uh Ida Mines are double playground, so we need to have things here for our kids to do. We need to have reasons for to make our children want to live here. So I moved to Greensboro because hey, I feel like reasons are too small. Where are we going to eat at? Yeah. You know, we we need some five-star restaurants, and there's only what, one Walmart. And I I claim on what we had like three food lines. We used to have Pigly Wiggly, Wendy Ditsies, Hurst, Tila, like we got all we have all these grocery stores, but but where is the Olive Garden? Where is the the other restaurants, the Jakes Doners, and and not just those, but what about the small businesses that help generate our economy and and help Reevesville be a great city? Because we are the most winning this football, and I tell everybody we have the most state championships in North Carolina. Come on now. However, I just want us to be more than than the football capital. So true. I want us to be known for resources and in a prosperous city because we do have some great people here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Now, the name of the uh business again is called What Again? Scoop Me Up. Scoop Me Up. And that's um it's um going to be opening soon.
SPEAKER_02Yes, hopefully in the next few weeks.
SPEAKER_01Okay, gotcha. What's your location? It's 207 South Scale Street, Reese. South Scale Street.
SPEAKER_02All right, I'm looking forward to that because my family loves some ice cream. So it's an amazing ice cream, and I would just share it is I'm a lactose tolerant person, but this ice cream does not mess up my stuff. Really? Even better. And we use local, like local milk, local eds. So, like I said, we're trying to help invest back into this economy. Oh, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. Now, um, with that, especially when you it's a family-owned, so why is um starting a family business uh so important to you? Why was it important to you? Well, I want to give my children something.
SPEAKER_02And and as we talked earlier, what are we passing on to our children? Are we passing on when we die? Will, are we passing on bills? And it's it's so hard in life a as it is. So when you put your kids behind the finish line, it makes it much harder for them to succeed. Even though sometimes we have to have that fine balance because sometimes if you give people too much, they may not appreciate it like that. But if you can cultivate them them the importance of hard work and appreciating things, then they'll flourish.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so what we're gonna do now is we'll take a moment to pause for a few words from our sponsors. We'll be back with issues from the heart.
SPEAKER_00Friday, June 26th from 1 to 5 p.m., reveal Market Square is the place to be. We will host our first annual Henley Home Care Health and Wellness Fair. Contact your coordinator, Katrina Harrison, 336-394-3942, to secure your vendor space. We look forward to seeing you.
SPEAKER_01Okay, we're back with more issues from the heart. I'm Joel Martin, your host, along with Mr. Samuel Moore. Um, I I just want to go a little bit further in our conversation. Um you know, we were talking about entrepreneurship and also talking about ministry. And um what I want to talk about is uh or ask you is what are some of the lessons, vice versa, uh, with uh uh entrepreneurship and also with ministry and uh how they the lessons that you may have learned um with the two, you know. And let me paraphrase or uh rephrase, like I'm sure there's lessons in as a pastor uh or as a ministry that you can take into on your uh business wise and uh and vice versa, business-wise, how can you make that uh what you've learned effective in ministry as well?
SPEAKER_02So it kind of kind of ties back to me getting that record deal and preaching for free. So it's always been a desire for me to preach for free because the gospel is free. So I'm hoping that this business will open up doors so that way the church would have to pay me a salary and and I could use that money to do other things. And being a pastor, you have to take care of a church. So there's a lot of roles that I, or a lot of hats that I wear being a United Methodist pastor. So I'm a ministrator, I'm a CEO, I'm a pastor, I'm a teacher or mentor. I I I I carry several hats. I wear several, several hats, excuse me. I wear several hats being a pastor. And when you're a business owner, you wear several hats as well. So I'll be in the ice cream shop making ice cream, I'm going to sweep the floors, I'm going to do whatever it needs to do to make that business run, and that's the thing at the church. I want to do whatever I can to make that church be the successful church. So I just try to tell the church members that I'm not going to ask you all to do anything that I'm not doing, have not done, or will not do.
SPEAKER_01It's almost like, um sorry I mean to cut you off the idea, but I was going to say it's it's almost by it's like living by living and working by example. You know, and you made a very good point when you said that when you're at church, I'm not gonna sweep the the floor or vacuum the floor. Uh well, I will be willing to vacuum the floor. Um but not only that, it shows the people that, hey, if my pastor's willing to do this, my leader's willing to do this, how much more would he be willing to do for me? And then how much more would I be willing to do for the church as well, and for God, you know, because we all serve in some capacity. But not only that, if you're what you're doing at the church also flows back into your business as well, you know. Again, and then the question I have, like, is why? I would assume the answer is because you love when you love God, but not only that, you also love your business. I mean, if you love God and your business, why not give it your all?
SPEAKER_02Yes, sir. You I feel like if you're going to do something, give 100%, and that's been my philosophy as I became older. If I'm not gonna give 100%, I'm not gonna do it. And I I'm not gonna waste no one else's time. So when I went into ministry, I wanted to give it my all. And and that's hard because it's very exhausted. And but like I said before the camera, I think when I was living in the world, I did wrong for the devil, and now I'm saved. I want to give all myself to God. So when I see God, God says, Job well done. Yeah. And the same thing for my business. I want to, if people paying money for a business, for your service that you're providing, I want to provide the best services. Because people work hard for that money. And I can tell you, it discourages me when I spend $20 or $30 on a meal, and it's terrible. Yeah. That's my hard-earned money going down the drain. So I we want to give people a quality product, and that's what I want to be the best pastor that I can be. I love Dr. King, Reverend Dr. King. He said, Do what you do better than the dead, the living, and unborn. And that's what I try to do.
SPEAKER_01Wow, wow. You're um, aside from the uh scoop me up business, um, you also have uh you also are a screenwriter.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01And um you have a um was it a movie that you have currently out that you're working on?
SPEAKER_02So I'm working on my distribution. It's it's the film is called Stranger Things Have Happened to Me. So this is an idea that I had back in 1998. This is not my true story, but it is something that could happen. And as I was talking to Jamal in Jeremy about how this film came about. So, like I said, it was 1998. And when I started attending college, I took a theater and a playwriting class because I always liked movies. So when I grew up, my parents were not rich, my parents still not rich, but I always had everything I need: food, lights, electricity, clothes. But we did not have cable television until I was about 13 years old. But we used to go to the movie store like every Friday. You all remember Action Video? Uh-huh. What about the Blockbuster too? So we used to go to the Blockbuster, but we had Action Video back in the day right beside where Lawrence's shop is, and and you know, in that little plaza. Yeah. So we used to go to the Action Video like every Friday seemed like we'd probably get like five movies. Yeah. And we'll watch those movies Friday and Saturday. And I think that was the seed that was planted in me to make me like movies. And I watched so many movies, I was like, I know how this movie's going to end. So I said, I want to do a movie that people cannot predict at the beginning, but still have a meaning in it. So this going back to when I'm at college, I took theater and playwrighting classes, and I knew I had something special when my professor said, What are you going to do with this? And I said, Well, I'm going to do something with it. And then fast forward to 2020, we had the COVID. And one of the pastors I used to listen to, R.A. Vernon in Ohio, dynamic pastor, Reverend Dr. R. A. Vernon. He's like, People say they're bored. How are you bored when you need to get a degree or do something else? And I said, I have this movie. So I wrote it as a book because I actually believed that it'd be easier to get a book deal than a movie deal. So I wrote it like 80,000 words, and I kept shopping it to different companies, distribution companies, publication companies, contests, and they kept saying no. But I believe in resilience. And I know that you only need one yes. And I just think about the scripture when the woman in the Bible said, well, the man said, the judge, the corrupt judge, he said, this woman is going to wear me out. So the woman, he gave the woman justice because he didn't want to be worn out, not because he feared God or feared man. So I just knew I'm gonna just be persistent and consistent. And then my friend India Trice told me about Ken Cannon. And Ken Cannon has like the number one show on MTV right now, Unfaithful Called in the At. So I knew if he liked my first 10 pages, he would be interested. So I sent my first 10 pages. Like, what else is what else? Let me see the rest. So I sent him the rest. And he's like, what do you want to do with it? I was like, hey, let's what what can we do to make the most money? So he's like, let's make it a movie. And it's an amazing thing to just have this dream back in 1998 just come to fruition now, even though it has not been released yet, but just to have it done and just see the process of having your baby born. And it was great to have actors and actresses employed because we we paid them, I paid them so that way I helped give somebody some money and give somebody a job as well, and still tell a story. And I had phenomenal producers, Ken and Karen Cannon, they're phenomenal, and my director, Ron Givens, he's a phenomenal director and phenomenal assistant director, Nikisha, phenomenal cast. Uh the actors and actress they came in. They were one line and doing better than I do behind the camera. But they they had the lives. I like these these people came in about that business. And and my sound person, he was phenomenal too. It was just amazing. And I'll just tell you about the the Canons. So they they fed us the last day of filming. They they brought us to the house. So it was like a family environment. And all of us came together. It was this family, it was love, and looking forward to working with them. And this huge shout out to King Cannon. He has big things going on. Decisions are never black and white. He also has decisions after mouth. And his wife, Karen Cannon, she's a comedian. Ryan Givens has several films out. Peaches, um, Atlanta 10.0, I believe. So uh it was just a blessing.
SPEAKER_01Wow, wow. So a vision for a movie since 1998 to now, and here we are.
SPEAKER_02And I think about David and Joseph. You remember when Joseph got the dream that his brothers would buy down, it took many years before it came to pass. And even with David, when David was anointed king by Samuel, he did not become king right then. He was a shepherd. He was he was working under Saul, he was playing the instrument for Saul. Right. And it took him a while. Even before that, his son was chasing him, trying to kill him. So it was many years before that dream came to pass. And that's one thing I felt like don't give up on your dream. And that's one thing I try to tell kids. If you have a dream, and that dream came from God, it's going to come to pass. You just have to be resilient.
SPEAKER_01Do your part.
SPEAKER_02Do your part. Wow. Believe in yourself. And I would say, bet on yourself, and know that the greater one is in you.
SPEAKER_01Wow. That's fantastic. I'm I'm just floored right now. That is amazing. The uh what we're gonna do now is we're gonna take another break. Um we'll be right back with more issues from the heart. We're almost at the end of our show, and so what I want to do is something slightly different. I want to with a little twist here, some rapid questions here. Random, I won't say rapid, but some random questions here that um I want you to really ponder on, think on, and um let's go ahead and get started. Okay. All right. So, Pastor Moore, was there a moment in your life when you realized your calling was bigger than what you originally imagined?
SPEAKER_02I would say absolutely. That's one thing I wrestle with a lot, my calling, because who am I to be used by God? And that's a great task, a great responsibility. And I'm just thinking about what the Bible says. To them, much is given, much is required. And I'm from Reeville. Yeah. Small city. I used to smoke weed every day. And a lot of sadly, a lot of people that I went to school with, they're dead, incarcerated. And I was in the same circles, same places as those people, but God spared my life, and God is using me. And I think that's the greatest gift. Huge gift and a huge responsibility to be used by God. So it's scary at times, but also a blessing at times. Because I want to make God proud.
SPEAKER_01What did growing up in a small town such as Reevesville teach you that still guys how you lead today?
SPEAKER_02I'll just add that you always well, it taught me to be mindful of never forget where you came from. And some people may look at a small town like Reevesville, a country area, as we're ignorant or dumb, because we're not as fast-paced as other cities. But there's a lot of great people in Reidsville, and some of the greatest people in in in in my opinion came from Reidsville. So I'd say there's great things in small beginners as well.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02Humble beginners.
SPEAKER_01Indeed, indeed. Okay. You're a pastor, entrepreneur, and creative in many ways. Some people see those as separate worlds. How has your faith influenced the way you run businesses like Scoop Me Up NC?
SPEAKER_02Well, I feel like because God is creator, I believe we're made in God's image and likeness. So God gives us a created ability. And also the Bible says God gives us the ability to get wealth. And I think you just have to find out what your gift of gifts is. And you'll be great. I'm trying to think of the scripture that says that God will put you in places with mighty, powerful people, something like that. I'm misquoting the scripture. So your gift will take you, your gift will put you in rooms, but I hear somewhere else that your humility or your work at it to keep you in it.
SPEAKER_03So I like that.
SPEAKER_01Okay. When you think about your family watching, everything you're building, from ministry to business to film, what do you hope they see in your journey?
SPEAKER_02Well, and I just need to give credit to Heather because that was her idea for the ice cream shop. And I'll just say thank God for a virtuous wife, because she's a virtuous wife. And one thing I'm trying to show my kids, our kids, is that if you have a dream from God, it'll come true. And I'm a firm believer that if we do our part, God will do God's part. And realistically, God has already done God's part. And God is waiting on us to do our part. And I just want people to realize hard work pays off sometimes in this world. But to get something from nothing is hardly going to last. So I just want to be a positive role model, not only to my children, but to all children. That's one thing. I feel like we lack a lot of positive role models. We glorify the wrong people, and no one is better than anyone else. But have we taken the time to converse with them to show them the way? Have we taken the time to listen to them to understand our story instead of just past judgments? And one thing me and my wife talk about a lot too, support systems. Everybody does not have a support system. Some people are learning how to do stuff on their own, and they're just doing the best that they can. And I was fortunate that I had a family that had my back and provided for me, but some people who do not know how to cook, know how to clean, how to groom themselves, and some of us pass judgment on them. And I heard one preacher say, instead of us trying to destroy the fruit, we need to get to the root and destroy the root. And that takes time to just listen to people. And that's what Jesus did. Jesus listened to people. And I think we learn, I know we learn by listening. And I was taught that we have two ears and one mouth, so we should do twice the speaking, twice the listening that we're doing speaking. Yeah. And we learn by listening.
SPEAKER_01I love that. I love that. Um just to take a pause right quick, and I was it made me think about you were talking about uh the the younger generation and uh the older generation not taking the time to figure out or even have the conversations, but it just made me think back when I had a cousin some years ago, and he was at work, but his uh vehicle um had a flat tire. And you know, he's a teenager, he's actually probably early 20s, uh somewhere in that area. But he didn't know how to change a tire. You know? So, you know, I went over there, changed the tire, but I'm just thinking, I'm like, you don't know how to change a tire? Like, what if you were in a serious situation? What if you you had uh your your your girlfriend, your wife or whatever had an emergency, and you can't even take them if you have a flat tire because you don't know how to change. But then again, it made me think about like, where's the father at? Where's at the time I even thought about myself, where was I at to help him learn when when they, you know, uh during the time. But you're so right, you know, the elders, what are we doing? How are we reaching out? How are we teaching and you know, at the same time? So because we should know more than them because we've been living longer. Yeah. So true, so true. And we should be willing to offer the information, you know, the um the experience that we have, we should be willing to share that same experience, whether good or bad, because even in the bad experiences, they can learn not just take those, take those same roles or steps that we did.
SPEAKER_02And I think we can learn from them too, because they know some things we don't. And I think some of us, we feel like, hey, I'm older than you, I know more than you, we have more life experience. But they they can understand some things that we do not. Like if you give a little baby an iPhone or an iPad, you see them little babies scrolling on stuff like, how do you know how to do that? They working that thing better than me.
SPEAKER_01I'm like, what? What's going on? Yeah, I give what you mean. I give it to me. So uh going back into this question here, you also, uh you're also the screenwriter of the film Stranger Things Happen, uh, have happened to me. What message do you hope audiences walk away with after seeing it?
SPEAKER_02So I want people to see the danger, the dangers of jealousy, anger, and lies. So people think that a small lie is innocent, but that's one thing the film shows that what you may think is a harmless lie is innocent, but it can have catastrophic damage as well as anger. It's okay to be angry, but not sin. So anger is a healthy emotion, we just know how to deal with it. And and jealousy is never a good thing. I agree. Because God bless you, God bless all of us. I agree. And and because of jealousy, anger, and lies, chaos erupts at a college campus.
SPEAKER_01Samuel. So what I'm gonna do now is I'm gonna ask this one other question here, and I want you to really take a moment to look into the uh camera uh and really uh ponder this thought uh and speak to the hearts of them since we are dealing with issues from the heart, let's speak from the heart. This question here. If someone watching this feels stuck in life right now, what would you say to them?
SPEAKER_02If you feel stuck and you're watching this episode, I just want to tell you to keep hope, keep believing. There is a philosophy or study that's theodicy. How can God be real, all-loving, and all-powerful, yet evil exists? And I would say that bad things happen, but God is still real and God still loves us. And do not throw in a towel, keep persevering, and keep running your race, and you'll see that no matter what you went through, it did not break you because God is with you. Just keep pressing. Keep pressing. Never give up. Never give up. Just to honor the late Jesse Jackson, what do you say? Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive.
SPEAKER_01I love it. I love it. Thank you, Samuel Moore. Thank you, Brother Joe. Fantastic, man. Fantastic. There you have it. Another episode of Issues from the Heart. I hope today's episode gave you something to keep you uplifted, something positive to keep you thinking and encouraging you to keep pushing. Don't give up. Keep hope alive. And just remember, you can make it. Life gets hard. Life be life in. Life be life at times. But as the word speaks about joy will come in the morning. Keep present. Issues from the heart.