God Can Use Your Past (feat. Pat Gwinner)

In this powerful episode of Robert the Realist, we sits down with Pat Gwinner to hear his testimony of redemption, faith, and transformation. Pat shares his journey of being in and out of jail, the struggles that shaped him, and how God used those experiences to completely change the direction of his life.

Now, instead of letting his past define him, Pat uses it to reach others through jail ministry with Family Life Fellowship. His story is a reminder that no one is too far gone, and that God can turn even the hardest chapters into a purpose-filled calling.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:01

That's what people have called me for years. Really? Well, now I don't feel original.

unknown 0:06

Whenever I lived in Central, Illinois, I had a janitor at my school that will call me that.

SPEAKER_04 0:10

I love that. And he, I'm my favorite person ever.

unknown 0:14

I love that.

SPEAKER_03 0:15

And we're not going to edit that out because she's already recording. I want to see the podcast. We have the story.

SPEAKER_04 0:21

The story behind the name.

SPEAKER_03 0:23

All right, guys. Robert the Realist is back today with another special guest. I also have Jajia and Madison. Hello. And our special guest, the Mr. Patrick. Is it Patrick? Yeah. Patrick.

SPEAKER_04 0:42

No, it's Patricia.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

Patrick Gwinner with us today. We'll also give the shout-out on Propel Collision and Autobody. I told him you mixed the words up on me. Autobody and collision. I don't remember. What did I tell you that why did it mix me up? I can't remember what it was. I don't remember. Because you said I asked you about your name of your business, and then I said you needed to change it because of something. And you said, well, I don't want to do that because I want to do more of this. Maybe you want to do more collision than autobody. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Because I thought it should be propel auto body and collision. It just kind of rolled off the tongue a little bit better, but you don't care, right? As long as they bring you the business and pay the bills. Um I've known Pat for what do you think, Pat?

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Probably five years.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Five years, yeah. Say five years. I do not know his testimony, but he has we've we've had a lot of conversations, and today he is going to tell Madison and Gia and I his testimony. And I told him that's like it'll be like 30, 40 minutes. He's like, man, that's a long time. I'm like, now Gia'll be cutting you off here in no time.

SPEAKER_04 1:53

It goes so fast.

SPEAKER_03 1:54

Then he asked, Am I gonna be talking the whole time? I was like, sometimes you do. I like to talk, so not purposeful, but uh but yeah, so we're gonna roll off what Madison thinks, and Madison calls Testimony Tuesday.

SPEAKER_04 2:06

Testimony Tuesday.

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Yeah, see, we could probably get a jingle with that one.

SPEAKER_04 2:10

It does flow good.

SPEAKER_03 2:10

It does flow good. Yeah. And if you know me, everything I do is got like Market Monday, Wisdom Wednesday, Thankful Thursday, and Testimony. We're just simple, simple people. So tell us a little bit about Mr. Quinner.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Well, um, I'm from Morbury, Missouri, where we are at. And uh I was born in Macon, raised here, though. We moved here when I was young. I'm 55 years old, so I'm older than the rest of y'all.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

I was gonna say like 35, but go ahead. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

I look 35. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm 55. Love my life now. It's a good life right now. Everything is going great. I'm married. I've been with my wife for 30. I want to make sure I say this right. I'm sending this to her. I'm sending this to her. Been with her 36 years, been married 30 years. Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah, we're getting ready to celebrate our 30th year this November. What do you got? Awesome.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

We better go big.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

I don't, I really honestly don't know.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

Cruise?

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Well, I we we had planned on going overseas, but I think that we're going to wait. We're living in a camper right now. You are. So we are going to By choice. Yeah, by choice. By choice, yes. By God's will, we are doing what He wants us to do. But um we are looking to buy a house or build, so I think we're gonna hold off on going anywhere until we decide that's exciting what's gonna do what's gonna come from that.

SPEAKER_03 3:36

I've always told myself, don't die first. Stop it.

SPEAKER_02 3:39

Yeah, yeah. I'm not worried about that.

SPEAKER_03 3:42

Just real, just keeping it real. Yeah, yeah. Take that trip. God's got a plan.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

God's got a plan. So I have to do that. I'm not gonna question you.

SPEAKER_03 3:50

I'm not gonna question your plan with God because I think you got one. So I know you're gonna have a hard time, but since this is Robert the Realist, I want to know some real stuff about Peg Winter.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

Well, obviously, some of y'all might know a little bit. I was not a model citizen growing up. I was a uh troubled child, uh, got in trouble a lot as a kid, been in jail a lot of times, never been in prison. Sometimes it gets hard because that's not who I am anymore. So it's kind of hard to talk about it. Um I uh I was a violent person growing up when I turned about 14, 15 years old. What started it was I was sexually uh abused as a kid from a family member from the time I was eight till I was 14. And then I figured how to protect myself and figured out that I could protect myself and I put a stop to it. Um but but it it uh it caused a lot of emotions and feelings and made me question everything about myself, uh my sexuality, my manhood, uh what people thought of me, how they looked at me. Um and uh I uh I got ugly. I got ugly. I hated the world, and then I got a taste of being able to defend myself and what that kind of attention that it brought, it wasn't the same attention that I was getting before, but it brought an attention to me that people were looking at me like I wasn't that person. And uh I kind of ran with it, and I would fight at the drop of a dime, and a lot of times it didn't even have to be for any reason. It was just me starting it, and it unfortunately it got me thrown in jail a lot. Um, and I got uh my first two felonies as an underage uh for breaking and entering and and um stealing, and then I got um probation out of that, spent three years on probation from that. I was a juvenile, so that stuff went off my record. Then I got uh two more felonies growing up. These are not including all the misdemeanor charges because I was going to jail on a weekly basis. Um sometimes three or four times a weekend. And uh them were all as uh misdemeanor assault charges. And back then the city, it was a city ordinance. Uh nowadays it's a felony and you're going to jail. So uh, but um yeah, I uh I I I was pretty pretty in a dark place. Um I was abusive to my girlfriends, uh not a very good person towards them. Um my first uh my first daughter who who now I have a relationship with, uh I was not a good dad to her. Uh the night she was born. I um I took another girl to the hospital. And uh yeah, I was not a good person at all. And um then uh her mom didn't want me a part of her life, so uh we she made it kind of hard, and I made it easy for her to make it hard. And um, so she took her from me. And I tried my wife, my girlfriend at that time, which is my wife now, um, tried to get me to have a relationship with her, and uh she really pushed um and uh for it. I just didn't, it wasn't who I was, and it I wasn't nowhere ready to be a dad. I was liking the attention that I was getting from from doing what I was doing. So I ended up signing my rights over to her when she was 12. A little bit of trickery going on in that situation, but uh I did it, and um it's the worst worst thing I ever done in my life. Worst mistake I ever made. Uh everything happens for a reason, I guess, and and God makes you know, out of everything bad, he can make something good. That's right. And uh he has done that. So um I guess I guess I look at it, it was all in God's plan. So it's all lessons. Yeah. And uh so with the woman that I'm with now, my wife, she is, I'd I'd tell everybody. I mean, she saved me. I believe God put her in my life to save me from me. If it wasn't for her, I would uh probably be dead or in jail, in prison. And um, I don't know how many times she has gotten me straightened out, and and she has put up with a lot, and I literally have put her through hell like abuse physically, mentally, verbally, sexually. I mean, uh she's been through it, and uh, you know, one thing that I share in jail ministry is that a lot of people are in there for a domestic, and I've never had a domestic assault charge. She's never called the law on me. Wow. Never. And she's never never ran. Carried a few black eyes I have. You know, she's fought back, but I she's never, you know, she has been, yeah, she's been my rock. Wow. When I was supposed to be her rock, she was mine. And um she's a she's an amazing, amazing person. Probably one of the smartest people I ever met. And uh a lot of people don't know that because she's not the most social butterfly. Yeah, but she is one of the smartest people you'll ever meet. Um, but anyway, we will send this to her. It's I know we'll send this to her. We'll give me some brownie points there.

SPEAKER_03 9:28

We do, yeah. And he's not lying. She's an awesome person.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

I um when I was 21 years old, I uh was sitting at home at my parents' house one night, and uh my brother showed up there and and he had been getting smacked around on one night, and they were by a bunch of kids, and they were like 15, 16 years old, and I was, you know, 19, I think I was 21. Anyway, me and my day, I said, well, let's go take care of it. And uh I went and got a buddy of mine, and we went to their their house, and they were at all these kids were outside in the yard, and and I just said, go get your parents. And the dad came out and um I he stuck a knife in my face and caught me on right underneath the eye, and uh the fight was on. And I got him up against a vehicle, and he turned around with his face facing the windshield, and I punched him in the back of the head, and his face went through it, and uh he got cut up pretty bad. And then somebody came behind me and tried to stick me with a knife from behind, and my buddy, who used a weapon, hit him in the back of the head. So we took off. Somebody yelled the cops were coming, and we took off, and I was not gonna snitch on my buddy for hitting somebody in the back of the head because I draw I dragged him into it, and um, so we I went to jail. Me and my brother both went to jail for the same charges and uh unlawful use of weapon and assault, the deadly weapon. And I uh I hated jail, absolutely hated it. Yeah, I mean I thought I was something, you know, when I was free, but I actually go crazy, I think.

SPEAKER_03 11:14

I've heard prison's better than jail.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Prison, if you go to the county jails, they would rather be in prison. Yeah, you know, because they got more freedom in prison than they do the county, which is crazy because when you're in county jail, you're allegedly a you know charged. You're not you're not even convicted yet. That's true, you know. So the struggle. Yeah, it's real.

SPEAKER_03 11:36

Yeah, I mean, I spent I just spent my little 10 days in county in the old Randolph County jail upstairs. I'd be crying the whole time. Well you were in. I cried.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

You were in the female pod.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

Upstairs in the little room. Yeah. It was all dudes, but yeah, yeah, they closed. I heard that thing clank shut, man. I was like, this is getting real. I'm scared.

SPEAKER_04 11:55

It would be scary.

SPEAKER_03 11:56

I'll talk to them guys, they're like, I do 30 days in prison, then 10 days in this place. Absolutely. Yeah, I'd do 30 days in prison next time, other than 10 days.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

But I know that's you bring up that old county jail. When I got my last charges, uh, they were two felonies, and um, they were uh, you know, the unlawful use of the weapon, assault with a deadly weapon. And um I was looking at 15 years on both of them. And I was in Randolph County, and and not to not to say that I wouldn't have pushed it so far, but it was more of attention getter. I tried to commit suicide. And uh it was more, I just wanted out, you know, and I knew that they would take me to the hospital. So I got out, they took me to the hospital, they did a psych evaluation, and I told them it was just an attention getter. You know, they took me back to the county, and there was uh a little jailer that worked there. Her name, her last name was Tremaine. I actually grew up with her boys, went to school with them. Super nice lady, but I didn't know who she was then, you know. I later found out who she was, but she came and got me after I got back, and uh she took me down and had cookies and milk. Oh wow I think I really believe that's why I have the connection with jail ministry that I do is because this I mean You gotta have good seeds in there.

SPEAKER_04 13:20

Oh yeah. Because you had they have bad seeds, like they got bad seeds, but you gotta have the good seeds.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

You know, it we didn't have nobody coming in and preaching to us. No, nobody coming in sharing the word of Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 13:32

And and oh you just talked to the wrong person, you won't go sing.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

Oh yeah, yeah, I want to take my guitar and I want to go sing. We can make that work, yeah. But it was it was a great, you know, just I don't know. She just she just like sowed a seed in me. You know, she made me feel like somebody actually made you feel seen. Yeah, yeah. And they actually took me up into the the pot upstairs. And that at that time it was the female pot. It had one window in.

SPEAKER_03 14:00

What year was that?

SPEAKER_02 14:01

Oh, this was probably in nineteen. My daughter was maybe uh two, so maybe in ninety-four.

SPEAKER_03 14:12

Say I was in there, well, I don't know, uh 98, 99, something like that. Yeah. When they had too many dudes. There wasn't a female to be seen in that place.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Yeah, they didn't have females for hardly ever. It was mostly men. But women didn't get in trouble back then.

SPEAKER_03 14:26

I know. Yeah. It was always men.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

It was always men.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

Yeah. What was your longest stay in jail?

SPEAKER_02 14:33

I didn't stay in jail very long. I didn't.

SPEAKER_03 14:35

I had too many people that you never had any sentences for jail?

SPEAKER_02 14:38

No, never got sentenced. I I did from the time I was 15 and a half years old till I was 29, I was on paper of some sort. So it was probation. I always took a plea bargain. Um I I mean public defenders did the best they could, I guess, if if you want to call it that. But you know, I think you turned out all right.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

They kept me out of prison.

SPEAKER_02 14:59

So yeah, yeah. I I mean, there were in the last charges that I got, there was no weapons. I mean, from me, you know, and they couldn't prove it. Yeah. So and I couldn't afford a lawyer. So I took what I could. And I actually um took the plea bargain and spent six years on probation at that time. Probably should have gone to jail plenty of times, but I had such a really cool uh probation officer.

SPEAKER_03 15:27

I was gonna say, wow. Yeah. Yeah. So I just had two misdemeanors and did 10 days.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:33

In jail.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

I think the lap the longest I ever done in in jail was probably 20 days.

SPEAKER_04 15:42

Pack unlucky.

SPEAKER_03 15:45

Still thanking God for that one. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:47

But for 20 days, 20 days, I did not, I did not take a shower.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

Now it's horrible.

SPEAKER_02 15:53

And uh you literally, my socks could walk on their own.

SPEAKER_05 15:56

No, nasty. Yeah. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

Well, just that short story of that upstairs pod. There is uh a total of five rooms, one center room, which is half the size of the room we're in now, and that's where you congregated. The shower was in there. Yeah. And then it was double, you know, double bunk cell, double bunk cell, double bunk, double bunk. Yep. And that you'd be watching TV and do just showering right there. Yeah, in your little 13-inch TV card. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:26

See downstairs. If you were upstairs and downstairs in the cells, you had four bunks.

SPEAKER_03 16:32

And we walked through there.

SPEAKER_02 16:34

Just on the other side of one of the bunks was the restroom. Yeah. And the shower.

SPEAKER_03 16:39

Yeah, it was pretty bad downstairs. It was all open.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

It was wild. Yeah, it's all open.

SPEAKER_02 16:44

You got to see everything.

SPEAKER_03 16:45

You got to see. Yeah, you've seen everything and everything you didn't want to see, too.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Yeah. So uh, yeah, that's you know.

SPEAKER_03 16:52

All right. So what's your what what's your turning moment? What was your God moment?

SPEAKER_02 16:59

So I shared this the other night at our leadership meeting. So a few as as a year my wife got to a point to where she was tired of the abuse. And she said, she left me, and we were split up for about, I think about seven months. And um she said, We have to get I have to get help. And uh she found a uh counselor for me to go see. And I had never shared anything about my past with anybody like who would do that, right? I mean I wasn't I didn't want to share that information. And um so I went to speak to this counselor, and she was an amazing, amazing faith-based counselor. She spoke true to me. I mean, she didn't sugarcoat it, and but she I, you know, I shared with her a little bit of of a little bit. And she helped me a lot. That was in '95. And I'm I I stopped, you know, I physically stopped abusing my wife. I still verbally abused, and I would still be angry, and I would still take it, I just take it out on something else, like a wall or whatever it was. And um, but I was still, you know, acting out and being silly. And then that was in 1995. And then it is a few years later, uh, I actually was working at a tire shop and uh I saw Pastor Brad and Pastor Vic come in. We would do their buses on their tire on the tires on their buses, and I knew who they were, I just didn't know who they were. Right. I I knew of them. Right, right. And uh I asked Pastor in my devilish self, uh, when I wasn't saved, I asked Pastor Vic a obscene question. And I was being condescending and not very nice and just trying to antagonize him. But he sat down on the on the tire, him and Pastor Brad both, and um Pastor Vic said something, the answer to the question, and um it was legit. It was just a real honest, just straight up answer. And I said, after they left, I said, if I ever go to start going to church, that's the church I'm gonna go to. Yeah, right? So then I uh I went to my brother-in-law got out of prison and he thought he had found God and he wanted to go to church. This was Easter Sunday 2013, and uh it was it's my wife's brother. So my wife's like, let's go to church with him, let's support him, right? So we go to Family Life Fellowship, and that day was the the the turning point for me. And I didn't even, I mean, I knew it, I knew I was never gonna be the same when I walked into there. Like I felt it the minute I walked into it. Like as I was walking into the church, like I'm I'm that guy that was going, it's gonna burn down. Yeah, you know, it's gonna fall down. People are gonna judge me. You know, I lived in this town my whole life, people hated me, right? I was not a good person at all. And um, to walk into that church and to feel the way I felt, I cried the whole service. The whole service. That's the right one, you know, and I and it's and obviously I didn't change overnight, but I knew I wasn't gonna be the same. Right. Well then I'm trying to think of what year it was. We went to Branson for family vacation, and um I got drunk. I did something to my wife that and it wasn't really that bad. I I'll just be honest. I went up behind her in front of everybody, and I'm I was being silly, and I she had sweats on, I think, and I dropped them. Embarrassed her, right? She turned around to slap me, she stopped herself, but it was a look in her eye, and I didn't say anything, she didn't say anything, she just started crying, and I was so ashamed and so embarrassed, even drunk, I was like, that's that's it.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 21:02

I went to bed, we didn't talk, didn't say a word. I got up, we came home, I called Pastor Brad, and I I told him, like, I confessed everything. He knows more about me than my wife knows about me. And that day, that trip changed who I was, and and I have not looked back since.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

So she didn't slap you, God slapped you. God slapped me. God he does that sometimes. I got one of those. I got one of those. I got I got the slap from the wife and I felt God slap in it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 21:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

No, I I she didn't I mean, I don't know what it is, but when when she that when she turned around and looked at me, I was like, I actually thought my life was over. I thought my marriage was over. I thought every you know, it was it was enough to the look in her eye, the disappointment, you know. And I mean now I I never Want to see that again. I never want to see that disappointment. Not to I, you know, not to say that we have a perfect perfect life, but it's pretty close. Yeah, you guys like mine. It's she's absolutely amazing, and and our relationship now is better than it's ever been. That's awesome. And and I think that it is all God at work. God has put me in places and has done things in my life that man, amen. You know, I'm so good. I I just I don't know, you know. I go do jail ministry. The last place I ever thought I would be doing jail. First off, I would never never imagine doing ministry, right? You know, but to go in and share what Jesus can do in your life in jail ministry and to see people like grab a hold of that, it just changed like you know it's gotta be.

SPEAKER_04 22:52

I I loved when we just went and sang it the prison, and my cousin's in prison for life. So it I feel like I would have a good like I know how your family, you know what I mean? Like, I know how your family feels, you know, like you know, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 23:04

You're being recruited right now.

SPEAKER_04 23:06

Yeah, oh we've talked about it before.

SPEAKER_02 23:08

I'm gonna every every person, every person, didn't matter who I and I share this in jail ministry, every person, uh I don't care who they are, sitting in the seat at the church or sitting in a seat at the gas station has a story. That's right. And God can you God used in the in the throughout the whole Bible, God used people like you and I to change the world. Yeah, you know, you're just a parable.

SPEAKER_03 23:34

Just that's it. You could be a parable. Yeah. Your story. Yeah. That's good. Yeah. That's good. You've you've I'd say similar past. Mine probably wasn't as mean as you were, or didn't get as caught as much. Um, but to see us both now, I my testimony is God's always been there. Yes. Like when you talked about it a minute ago with Robin, I mean Mindy's the same way with me, Mindy and Tyler, um, you know, adopting him. Like I didn't, it didn't turn me perfect, and I didn't start believing in God, but I started going down the path of I'm gonna live and not be in prison. Yeah like you said, because that was my option. I had two roads. One was gonna go prison or death. Because I mean, you know, how many times can you drink and drive before you eventually kill yourself? Absolutely, or just drink so much that you don't know what you're doing, you're blackout drunk. That's what I did. Um, or take the path of you know, got me where I was today through still mistakes, still mess-ups, still trips up, you know. Um, like you said, we're not perfect. There was only one person that walked on this planet that was perfect, and we're not him. And so we're gonna make mistakes. But I can always look at it like uh like your eyes squinting, kind of like I'm getting, I'm getting better and I'm getting better, and I'm getting better every day. Every day one percent. And and I'm not saying like the eyes close is when you die, but when your eyes close, you die, and when your eyes close, hopefully you're at at the place you're trying to get to every day. Yeah, so just try to get one percent better every day, whatever it is, whether it's a relationship with God, whether it's the wife, whether it's the kid, whether it's somebody at work, somebody you meet, you know, that's that's kind of how I you asked me earlier, you know, why do you do all these things? Podcasts and all that just to reach the one.

SPEAKER_02 25:26

Just to reach one.

SPEAKER_03 25:27

I share the prayer on social media every day for the last three years. And I've had multiple people reach out to me and thank me for that because they needed it that day. I'm like, I'm just copying and pasting. Like this ain't me. I'll take credit for putting it out there. That's what that's what I needed. Thank you for doing it. Oh, it's a vessel. Yeah, that's just a vessel, yeah. And that's you know, guy hit me up one day. He's like, I don't even know who you are, but I appreciate you and can I appreciate you sharing those prayers. And can you tell me where that app's at? Yeah. And now he shares the prayers. Yeah, you know what I mean? And so that's with your testimony. I like I don't know how to say I like hearing it, but I like hearing it because I want people to hear it. And I don't care if only 30 people listen to this. If we get the one.

SPEAKER_02 26:17

Just get the one.

SPEAKER_03 26:18

Get the one that says, Man, that guy did it. That guy's been through more than me. And here he is, great wife, great life, God's good, business is good. Like, I mean, what else do we need?

SPEAKER_02 26:33

Yeah, yeah. I I'm uh no high school diploma, uneducated, ninth grade as far as I got, didn't even graduate that, you know, and to have what I have and to be where I'm at, like.

SPEAKER_04 26:48

Well, it all it it I mean you we gotta think like it all started that the enemy had you first, absolutely and the enemy didn't win.

SPEAKER_02 26:54

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. God, you know, and you talk about reaching one. I was doing the one of the first nights I did jail ministry, I walked in with Pastor Vic, because he was he was training me, I guess, if that's what you're gonna call it. But um I sat down and they brought in the men's pod. And in that men's pod, there was people that I went to jail with and the and the guy that I went to jail for.

SPEAKER_04 27:19

So the first time you said you went?

SPEAKER_02 27:21

Yeah, the first time the first time I went. And then his brother, these kids that I went to jail over, that was beating on my brother are in jail. And they're you know, they're just five, six, seven years younger than I am, right? And like I I hated these kids. Like I didn't, you know, at not before before I hated that. Right. Like I I would have loved to have seen them at 18 years old, you know, and had my way with them. Yeah, right. But they come in and he sits down, he he he knows who I am. And I'm trying to, I I think I know who he is, you know. You're trying to place him? Yeah, I'm trying to, but I'm being hesitant because I didn't know how he's gonna respond, you know. And because I put their stepdad through a window.

SPEAKER_03 28:12

Yeah, you know, face first.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

So I'm like, this could get ugly, Pastor Pick. And this guy, when it's all said and done, he opens up and he at the end of it, he hugs me.

SPEAKER_04 28:24

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 28:24

And I ministered to his brothers. I even they even called me. They got out one the one of the brothers got out of jail. I invited him to church. Come sit with me. Sat with me, and after church, we went and had breakfast together in front of the sheriffs. Sat down in front of the sheriffs, never just looking just feeling.

SPEAKER_03 28:45

Yeah, they were just trying to do it. It's a full circle moment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:48

And then even to top that off, they called me and said, Hey, you know, their mom's passing away. Oh no. And they wanted me to come pray with their mom. Oh, isn't it crazy though how it's connected like that? Yeah. And these are kids that I, you know, and now I love them. They're good, they're good people, they're just in bad places. That's right.

SPEAKER_04 29:07

You guys needed to be connected further down the line. That's why you got on the fire. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 29:11

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 29:12

It's crazy how literally everything does happen for a reason.

SPEAKER_02 29:15

Yeah, yeah. And I tell them this all the time. I don't believe in bad people. I really don't. Yeah. I I mean, the worst of the worst, I don't believe in bad. I be I believe that there's there's hurt people, hurt people. And there's and broken people. I don't know. Bad people make good bad or good people make bad choices. That's it.

SPEAKER_03 29:34

Yeah. If you look at their past, usually there's a there's a moment in that past that made them that way. Yeah. And we could have been that way. Easily. Easily. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's what Pastor Brad and I talk about all the time. Which can't wait to hear his.

unknown 29:48

I know.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

It's kind of he's got a powerful one.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

He does. We might have to block him off for two times. He might have a whole bunch of things. Yeah, we'll get that laugh in there. We know that laugh. I heard that laugh for nine days in Romania, Moldova. Heard it. Even when I didn't want to hear it, but I still heard it.

SPEAKER_04 30:05

We should get a button to displace that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:09

Man, do you got anything else? I mean, that's that's that's powerful.

SPEAKER_02 30:13

Well, I mean, to be honest, you know, the one thing that I share most of the time is no matter how bad you think it is, or how broken you are, Jesus can use each and every one of us. Amen. And if we in our hearts, and it really is honestly, it's all about our heart and our relationship with Him. And then everything else flows from that. You know? And I mean I get emotional talking about it, but I ain't this isn't me. If this was me, I mean, this would it this just isn't who I am. This is God at work. You know, this is God using me to do what He wants me to do. And that's strong. I would screw it up if it was me.

SPEAKER_03 31:04

Yeah, yeah. You're talking about education. I said I barely passed and cheated most of the time. So yeah, yeah. Yeah, we we we can mess some stuff up. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

Yeah, that's exactly right. I mean, I'm yeah, if I was to go back and get my GD, I'd have an associate's uh degree in ministry. You know, you know, but uh God's using me.

SPEAKER_03 31:26

Yeah, you don't need that paper.

SPEAKER_02 31:27

I don't need that paper.

SPEAKER_03 31:28

He's still using you, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:30

He still uses me.

SPEAKER_03 31:31

So I would never have guessed a squirrely little Pat winner just walking around whooping people.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

I know, I mean it's funny because people don't, you know Pat wouldn't hurt a full.

SPEAKER_03 31:43

I mean I could I could see it, but like knowing you now.

SPEAKER_04 31:47

No, I can't I can't picture the person that personality.

SPEAKER_03 31:50

I mean, you're telling me about the one story, and I'm like, This is a bad little dude at one point.

SPEAKER_04 31:54

I've only known you as hi. Yeah, I'm Pat. Yeah, handshake church.

SPEAKER_02 32:00

That's it. Yeah, and that's why it's so hard for me to talk about it anymore because it's not who I am. You know, I don't even see myself as that person. Yeah, you know, I was sharing with somebody the other day at the shop about what God's been doing. And I mean, at one point, I was it was either I was gonna die or somebody else was gonna die. That's right, you know, and and I was so scared that I had a pistol in my hand, and my buddy sitting across the table from me heard it click, heard me cock the hammer back because I was scared for my life, you know, and what stopped him? Because he was he told me he was gonna kill me, you know, and I was scared to death. So I was going either I was gonna die or I was he was gonna die. I don't even remember what happened, what stopped him. I don't. Yeah, well, you know, that was God at work, and I didn't have to.

SPEAKER_06 32:54

Yeah, you know, why you're here right now. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:57

Yeah. So it's it's really hard for me to talk about it. I mean, when I go at first when I started doing Joe Ministry, it was easy. I could share my story, and people just, you know, a lot of them knew who I was though. Now, I mean, I've been doing it for almost seven years, and and they the faces come and go, so they don't know, you know.

SPEAKER_04 33:16

It's getting past the mindset of how you think other people were will perceive you when they hear those parts of it. But you know what I mean? Like it does that doesn't matter, that part of it.

SPEAKER_02 33:27

And and not to take away from anybody that does Joe ministry, but if you've walked in their shoes and you've you've done, you've been where they're at, they they make that connection. And then they want what you want. Yeah. I remember coming into church and I see all these people happy. Everyone is every one of us have said this. I want what that person wants. You know, I remember seeing Christy Ford.

SPEAKER_06 33:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:51

The joy. The joy and the praying in tongue, and and I was like, I want what that wants. What she's got. She got it.

SPEAKER_03 33:59

You know, she's got it. Yeah. Locked in on that holy spirit, man. I'll tell you what. Yeah. I think I get her on here. Uh she's so fun. That would be funny.

SPEAKER_04 34:09

She's caught me being a bad kid at Family Life Fellowship thing. Oh, what was it? Cafe 41.

SPEAKER_03 34:15

You guys wait till y'all wait till Pastor Brad comes in here because I cuss Pastor Brad out.

SPEAKER_04 34:22

Oh no.

SPEAKER_02 34:23

I I share this all the time with people. I love Pastor Brad. Pastor Brad is probably uh and and he might not feel this way sometimes because sometimes I really don't like what he says.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

I really do.

SPEAKER_02 34:37

It's friendship for it is, but I love him to death, and he is he is like, I mean, Pastor Vic's my my lead pastor, but like Pastor Brad's my mentor, right? You know, and I always call him. I call him more than I call anybody, you know. Yeah, yeah. But and I don't always like what he says, though. No, but he's true, he speaks true.

SPEAKER_03 34:57

I know, yeah, yeah. That's why he don't like it.

SPEAKER_02 35:00

Yeah, that's exactly right. 99% of the time he's telling the truth.

SPEAKER_04 35:04

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:06

I don't want to hear that. Yeah, it drives me nuts.

SPEAKER_04 35:07

I know I asked, but I don't I didn't really want you to tell me.

SPEAKER_03 35:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

I called him last night on my way home. We're we're getting set up for jail ministry uh to do baptisms in Macon County tomorrow night. So I called him last night because I'm struggling with uh calling religions out and uh how you know how to do it. And it was crazy because he said um said something about uh what's the words he used? Redemption. I I posted about it today on Facebook. Something about redemption. Um oh redemption some religions believe that good works lead to redemption, and that's not the case, you know. And and it's redemption leads to good works. That's why I say you know, you Jesus first, you know, God first, then everything else flows from that. That's right. You know, you can do all the good works you got, but it don't mean nothing if you get saved. You don't get saved by doing good works. Well, hopefully you all don't look at me any different.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

No, no, no, absolutely not. I look at you even I look at you different, but in a better way.

SPEAKER_04 36:20

This is the only Pat I've ever known, okay? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:23

Yeah, just you're just that much more of a man and stronger in my eyes.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

It's it's all God.

SPEAKER_03 36:30

Yeah. Oh no. That's why you're sitting here. That's why we're sitting here.

SPEAKER_04 36:33

We're all supposed to be relatable. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:36

Yeah. So I've seen I appreciate you giving your testimony. I mean, I know it's not always easy. I know you've had a little practice with the jail ministries and stuff, and I appreciate you doing that because I know that I should be in there with you, Madison. I mean, I should definitely be in there with you of anybody that you know has done a little time, got in trouble.

SPEAKER_04 36:53

I wanted to do the intimate worship so bad. Because you couldn't do that there. We were all like, you know what I mean. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:58

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:59

I want the where you where you don't have to like act like you're so far from some.

SPEAKER_03 37:04

Well, I mean, and and we're in Moldova, their prisons we weren't. They were just like fifty-five dudes and two female officers.

SPEAKER_00 37:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:14

And then we went to the juvenile prison, it was about sixty teams.

SPEAKER_04 37:19

I want like the the the prison worship you see on like the prison behind bars pages and stuff where you're you go in and you're like, you're with them. You're you're not like not connected.

SPEAKER_02 37:30

When we did the worship at the prison a couple years ago, I actually went into the yard. Yeah, that's what we asked them. I always knew if they would let me go into the yard and walk around and talk to them. Yeah, yeah, that was amazing.

SPEAKER_04 37:42

See, that would have been awesome. Like it was, I mean, it was all awesome. It was a great experience. Like you you you could tell who you got through to, but yeah, you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_02 37:50

I I I I I believe that there's there's one person, if not multiple people out there that need to hear your story. That's right. Right. You know, and you and that story is gonna change people's lives. I do want to share one other thing real quick. Yeah. So speaking of my oldest daughter, uh, who I didn't have a relationship with, uh, one of the things that I've been blessed with is I got to minister to her in jail. And she she went to prison, and I started having a relationship with her while she was in prison. I actually go on go you would go up and see her and stuff. And uh what was crazy is she's been clean for several years now. At that time, it was about three years, and I got her to go do jail ministry with me into Macon County and share her story.

SPEAKER_03 38:40

Full circle. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_02 38:42

So yeah, that's big stuff.

SPEAKER_03 38:43

Another thing.

SPEAKER_04 38:44

But have you guys have I know didn't you guys do a testimony video at the guys ever said down? I watched that last night.

SPEAKER_06 38:51

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:52

I got a testimony one out there too. I think it's about 10 years old. I don't even know who that guy is. It popped up the other day. I was like, man, can you slim me up a little bit next time, Sean? I think Sean included it or something to make me look better. Man, I was rough. I still wasn't great then. I still was in bad shape then. So yeah, I didn't tell you anything. But all right, Pat. Well, I appreciate you hanging out. Appreciate you being on here. Thank you for having me. Yeah, absolutely. And hopefully this gets at one person. Yeah, maybe that's what it's about. Your story's powerful. Thank you. And thanks for recruiting a couple people for jail ministry, too.

SPEAKER_05 39:24

So absolutely all right, guys.

SPEAKER_03 39:26

Well, I appreciate you tuning in. Like, comment, subscribe wherever you're at, and don't forget, God loves you. Robert Theryl is out.