Followed By Mercy

Why the Worst Thing That Can Happen is Actually the Best

• W. Austin Gardner

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 36:21

Send us Fan Mail

"I grew up stirring the mash... that kid grew up and is getting to preach the gospel today."

In this concluding session of Followed by Mercy, Austin Gardner and Pastor Rickey Howard dive deep into what it means to truly "change your story." Rickey opens up about his heritage—from a moonshining family to a life of legalism and "goofball" mistakes—to the radical freedom of living under the "umbrella of grace."

If you’ve ever felt like you’ve wasted too much time or that your past is too "broken" to be useful, this conversation will challenge you to stop seeing yourself as a victim and start seeing the Giants through the eyes of the two spies who knew God was bigger.

In this episode, we cover:

  • The Plane Crash Metaphor: Why the worst thing that can happen (death) is actually the best thing for a believer.
  • Victim vs. Victorious: How to stop lying to yourself about your past and start redeeming your story.
  • Redeeming the Time: Moving from "wasting time" on overtime and sports to "investing time" in eternal outcomes.
  • The "Get To" Mindset: Why serving God isn't a chore we "have" to do, but a privilege we "get" to do.
  • The Storefront Miracle: How God put a diverse group of people together in a storefront church behind a Taco Bell to do something eternal.

Connect with us:

#Testimony #RickeyHoward #FollowedByMercy #AustinGardner #Grace #GospelTransformation #Ministry #FromMoonshineToMinistry

Updated Timestamps:

  • 00:00 – Intro: A legacy of moonshining and prison.
  • 04:42 – Moving out of the "rubbish" of your past.
  • 07:59 – Is brokenness an excuse or a platform?
  • 14:37 – The first step to getting out: Stop making excuses.
  • 23:33 – Can you be free, or are you just managing the pain?
  • 25:31 – Can God really redeem your story?
  • 30:13 – The Plane Crash: Why we don't have to fear the "worst-case scenario."
  • 31:38 – Changing the Story: Why Rickey isn't a victim anymore.
  • 33:12 – Redeeming the Time: Learning from wasted years and misplaced priorities.
  • 35:04 – "Get To" vs. "Have To": The love of Christ as our constraint.
  • 36:31 – The Moonshiner’s Grandkid: From stirring the mash to preaching the Gospel.
  • 37:21 – The Storefront Church: God’s grace behind a Taco Bell.


Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

Welcome And Why This Story Matters

Austin Gardner

Welcome to Followed by Mercy with Pastor Ricky Howard. We're talking about the life that he lived, having a moonshiner for a granddad. His dad died when he was 10 years old. His dad has spent almost his entire life in prison. And he's had a rough life. But God has shown him victory. He has enjoyed victory. And he is now married to a wonderful lady, has wonderful children, wonderful ministry, wonderful friends. And so I wanted him to share his story with you. Not to brag on him, and he knows that, but to brag on the one who did it, and that's Jesus. So, brother, do some people stay stuck because they have to, or do they do it because they never realize that they can step out of it?

Habit Can Become A Cage

Turning Brokenness Into Ministry

SPEAKER_02

I I will I will say a majority of people who stay stuck in situations do it because they I guess they just don't realize there's a way out. I'll tell you from my experience watching my mom and stepdad. And I can I can only really look to them because uh, you know, most of their most of their marriage, they were given a place to stay. They were given a place to stay so that my brother and I would have a place to go home. But when my my grandmother passed away and then my my granddad passed away, and it wasn't long after that that they were kind of my mom and stepdad were put out on their own for the first time. And there was one other time, but it it was always my grand my my stepdad, you talk about somebody who may use amazing talent when it comes to in in a in a can do just about anything. He can rebuild an engine, he can he can do anything on a vehicle, the older ones probably couldn't touch one of these newer computerized ones. But uh he but he could do do anything on a tractor. When it when it comes to road grading, um, you know, always had people tell me he was he was the best there was, then the what they would do is, you know, they would didn't matter how how messed up he was, how bad he was, when they needed something done right, they would come and get him. They would pay him cash if they had to, so he didn't have to drug test and all this. And I if you would just get straight with the career you could have, right? Like he could have instead of being dependent on for running the equipment, he could have been up there in the business running crews and uh really probably provided for us. The pot the kid their problem was they always had it given to them. They were always they were always didn't have to, right? But when they had to, they they stayed at the lowest level because they never were driven to reach further, reach above. It was always what what is the what what can I do the minimum for? But it ended up, you know, after my granddad died and they're living out on their own, you know, it ended up instead of being what can I do the least amount for, now he found himself, and he still finds himself working the maximum amount, you know, just putting everything of himself into work for the most minute reward. And and it's like whether it just be, I think about this this last home they had was this rundown trailer that if you rode by, you would probably assume it was abandoned. He would he'd work his fingers to the working his fingers to the bone for this place that you went and offered somebody a thousand dollars for, they'd probably give it to you. And and so that's just kind of but it it's the there there I really feel like there were two things that I watched them go through. One is they they never went above because they didn't have to. Because it they they could they could do everything they enjoyed and still have what they want, you know, what they needed. Uh but two, when they had to, uh they they just they had the mentality of, well, this is as good as it gets. It doesn't get any better than this. Not not for anybody like me. And I think it's a lie you start telling to yourself because um I I don't know, I don't know where I it wasn't it wasn't friends and it wasn't it wasn't girlfriends or anything like that. I don't know where my uh where where God gave me this mentality that you don't have to stay in the in the rubbish. You don't you don't have to remain in the rubbish you can build out of the rubbish. And uh, you know, it's I don't I don't understand sometimes. Uh, you know, our churches sit one block from a homeless shelter here in St. George. And we we get a lot of stories from people. We hear a lot of stories. And most people are in this cycle where there's a out here in in this area, there's a run. You can catch shuttles or buses from Phoenix or LA. They'll bring you to Vegas, from Vegas to here, from here to Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City to Boise, and then, you know, in the summer they'll turn around, they'll do that same trek back and spend their winter down in uh Phoenix or LA. And so it it's just you see people, uh it some people, you know, it gets too hot here in the summer to live on the streets, and if you can't be in the uh homeless shelter or whatever, but uh there there's these people who are stuck in that cycle and and you don't understand like what what is it, what is it about you, or what is it about your story that says, I can't just stop and settle down. Sometimes you don't understand. I I think a lot of people think once they get in a routine, that's the only routine they can have. And people are creatures of habit. They find themselves in this routine, and that's what they do day in and day out. I have a routine. I get up in the morning and I drink two cups of coffee while I read my Bible. That's my that's and that's my coffee for the day. Now that that is a somewhat of a that's like a five-year routine. I've gone through that for probably well, I'd probably say for probably about six, seven years I've had that routine. Two cups of coffee while I read my Bible. Some days I might have a cup of coffee throughout the day, sometimes not. I used to have a routine of eating breakfast and not eating again till dinner. Now I have a routine where I might eat lunch and I might eat dinner, usually one meal in the evening and a snack in between. You know, but we're creatures of we we develop these habits and we hold on to them. The sad thing is sometimes we develop these habits when it comes to our situations. We get in a situational habit. Sorry.

Austin Gardner

Well, some, you know, in a lot of ways, your life was broken and things went wrong and it wasn't what you wanted. And you could use brokenness as an excuse, or maybe brokenness is a platform for you to be used of God and to help people. I don't know if if you see it that way. If you do, could you kind of explain it to everybody?

Seek First And Redefine “Worst”

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, definitely, because you know, when I always tell everybody when I started, when I knew that the Lord was calling me to ministry to do something different, my thought was there's no way God's calling me to preach. There's no way. There's no way I could get up there and talk in front of people. And so my my thought was maybe a juvenile probation officer or a juvenile court counselor or something. I even thought about being a police officer at one time. I thought, what better than to have a police officer pull up at the park and be like, hey man, you don't have to do this. You know, and so I had all these other thoughts, like what can I, you know, from what I went through, how can I translate that to help other people because the point you you don't have to what whatever you went through, somebody else put you through, you had to live through, that's not who that doesn't necessarily have to be who you are. Uh even, you know, I I I was telling you a while ago about, you know, in 2009, um, during the during the recession back then, uh, we lost everything but our house. But that didn't mean that I had to be a financially broke person for the rest of my life. The rest of our marriage was going to be in shambles, right? We we might have had to start over from the dust pile, but we've we've been able to build out of it by the grace of God. And but it's I just I determined there was a point in my life when I determined how I can use my life to be a help. The ministry has been, I mean, I feel like when when I get an opportunity to preach, I don't know what it is about our group here, everything in my life, there's somebody in our church that everything in my life they can relate to, whether it's my childhood, our marriage, my teen years, my work life, somebody can relate to something that I've lived through. And so a lot of people when they preach, they use illustrations. Most of my illustrations are personal. And sometimes my wife and kids don't like that. But uh and sometimes I don't like it. Sometimes it brings up things I don't like to talk about. It fit way if it fits the message, I use it because it could be a help. I really think I grew up around this uh around this, I guess you would say preachers don't preachers don't open up. They're they're not supposed to be real to the to the congregation. And I I can't do I can't do this ministry and not be real. I can't do this, I can't do this ministry and put my pedestal myself up on this pedestal like I've never been you, right? The only way I feel like I can be effective in the ministry is to say, I'm you. And look and God saved me. I'm you, and God is using me. I'm you and God is much better than what I was. God is much better than the situation that I came out of that I was in. But God has been so much better. That that doesn't always mean my wallet's full and the pantry's full. Hey, we go through empty refrigerator moments like anybody else, right? Uh well we go we go through times where, okay, well, we're having spaghetti twice this month or twice this week. I mean, you know, it is what it is. That's just life. But you know what I don't have to worry about? I don't have to worry about the necessities. And and I know that God's gonna provide as long as I stay doing what he wants me to do, what he has for me to do. Yeah, I I find this interesting. I think you and I share life versus Matthew 6 33.

Austin Gardner

Amen.

SPEAKER_02

That that's been that's been that's been my life first for a long time, because seek ye first the kingdom of God and his will, and all these things should be added unto you. And so to me, I'm I'm not looking at the possessions, I'm not looking at the the things, I'm looking at all these things, all these necessities. I mentioned on the last one, I've got more suits in my in my closet now than I had outfits growing up. But you know what I had? I I look back at it, you know what I had growing up? I had outfits. I I've heard your story. You know what I never had to face? I never had to go to an outhouse until I started working construction. Yeah, and so uh, you know, I I I I I never had to go out and work a garden early in the morning. I never had to tend animals. In all honesty, I I've watched I've watched my brother who is two years younger than me, he'll be 41 next month. I've watched him just now at this point begin to work in life. He's still here. Yeah, and I look at it and I'm like, when you when you look at situations, you look at life and you think, what's the worst that it could be? Well, for me, the worst that it could be is not what I see with the person who, you know, carries the trash bag full of clothes down the street every day. Because he has nowhere to lay his head. That's not the worst it could be for me. The worst it could be for me is that I don't have my family. The worst it could be for me is is that is that I don't I don't have anybody I could pick up a phone and and just say hey to or just just talk to. That's the worst it could be for me. Uh you know, I I I think about those things but I but I think if I don't if I don't have this house that we live in if if everything goes awry, where can I what can I do to make sure my family has a place to lay their head to shower and make sure they have food. Can I can I do that?

SPEAKER_01

As long as I can do that, I'm okay.

Austin Gardner

Well, if someone's listening right now and they know they're stuck but they want out, what would you tell them to do right now? They're stuck and they want out, so they need to know what the next step is.

SPEAKER_00

Stop making excuses.

SPEAKER_01

That's good. I think I think that's the that's the first thing.

SPEAKER_02

When when so I I'll go back when I first when I really first started working, I'm not talking about working fast food restaurants and all that, because I was young, I was in school, and I would I would use my work in fast food to get out of doing school work, and I would use school to get out of doing work at fast food restaurants. I was good at making excuses. And so, you know, why are you late today? Well, I had homework. Okay, you're a kid. You know, well, why didn't you do that project? Well, I worked 40 hours this week, which wasn't a lie, but I could have I still could have done my work, right? But, you know, I quit making excuses. My the only time I've ever been fired in my life is because I made excuses over and over and over. I work in the middle of the summer in North Georgia, you know, or here's where it was. I was in Conyers, Georgia, uh working 60, 70 hour weeks, you know, not not running equipment, running a shovel, yeah, concrete, uh, doing everything, everything laborsome. And uh I would, I would, you know, every couple of weeks, I'd just be like, you know what? I got an excuse not to do anything. Uh, you know, I'm I'm tired today. I want to it's Monday. I've been out with my friends all weekend. I don't want to do this. But I was still a kid. But when I really, when I really got into career work, when I knew, okay, I'm about I'm gonna get married, I'm gonna have a family, I'm gonna do this, what what keeps me going? What what kept me going all along? Man, I I tell I tell people here at our church all the time that because uh with every pastor you deal with unfaithfulness. And and you don't you don't have to you don't have to be harsh about it, you don't have to hammer it straight on. But when in conversations with certain people, I talk about it. You know, I only the only time I ever missed work, ever, the only time I ever called, and it really wasn't me calling in saying I can't make it, I'd call my boss and say, Hey, I'm on my way to work. I just want to let you know I've got a I've got a stomach bug. And he'd tell me, you better turn around and go home. You ain't coming here today. And so that that was really the only time, only days I ever missed. Um, you know, I can remember being at work with the flu. I can remember being at work with COVID when COVID first hit. I can remember being at work with COVID and getting out of breath, just climbing up on my tractor and just climbing up on my excavator, being like, I can't breathe. What is wrong with me? And so those kind of things, we always have an excuse. You got an excuse not to go to work, but can't you? I remember you used to lay out of school when I was sick, but as soon as everybody got out of school, what I'd do? I'd get dressed, I'd run down to the park and we play basketball all afternoon.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I was I wasn't too sick to play basketball. Why couldn't I go to school? And I tell my kids this, my kids are homeschooled. And so I tell them, I say, hey, sick kids don't go to school. Sick homeschoolers do. So because you don't change a thing. You do school in your pajamas anyway. And so And for my oldest, my oldest, he he curls up on his bed and watches his videos for homeschool. So what's the difference? You know, but we can find an excuse not to do anything. But if you're if you're in if you're in a situation that you feel like you just can't get out of, that's the biggest excuse. I can't. I can't, I can't. Yeah, you can. You can because one, God gave you the power to, God gave you the strength to. I'm trying to think of the the reference. I just read through it the other day. I I'm not good with Bible reference. It's in 1 Corinthians, I believe, where the Bible says that uh he wouldn't he won't give you anything. People like to misquote it and say God won't give us more than we can handle. But it's not exactly that. It's basically he he gives us a way of escape, right? Yeah. I wish I had it open here and I could read it, verbatim, but you understand what I'm saying. But that way of escape is him. When you feel like you've got all these excuses and all these reasons why you can't piling up, guess what trumps every bit of that? He does. Every reason you can't rise above your situation, there's Jesus that says, Oh yeah, I've already done it. Amen.

Austin Gardner

All right, if someone's listening right now and they feel completely alone, what do you want them to hear?

SPEAKER_01

Can I use myself as an example on that one?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I felt alone my whole childhood, teen years, everything. I knew my grandmother was right there. I could go talk to her about anything. But there's just things that, you know, when I was 13 years old, this 70-year-old woman, she don't understand. What does she know? She she's from she's from back then, right? And she she don't know these modern problems. And there were so many times, even before I was saved. It was this is God's mercy and grace for me, I guess. But there's so many, so many nights that I would get up. The road we lived on, if you went around the circle, it was real dark, very heavily wooded. I mean, we're in town and it's like a dark wooded area over there. But a lot of times at night, after everybody settled down for the night and things were kind of quiet, I would, I would walk out of our house and I would walk down to that dark curve, and I would just I would walk to the street light and I'd walk back to our driveway, and I'd walk to the street light and back to our driveway, just talking to God. And like, Lord, I I feel I feel alone here. Like, no, nobody here gets me. I don't everybody here is on this different path, and I don't want to be on it. I don't I don't want to be here, I don't want to do this, but I'm by myself. I I need I need somebody. And there there was, even before I was saved, there was always this piece of you're not alone. That you there's you have God to talk to, you have him there with you. But you know, really, here's the sad part. A lot of times we we ostracize ourselves and we make ourselves feel like we're alone in the battle, we're alone in the fight, but there's always somebody there. God's always got somebody there to help you out. If you just open up, I'm the worst. I don't talk to anybody about anything. If I talk to initiate a conversation, it's because I think we might have something in common with sports. Whether it's the Braves, Georgia Bulldogs, you know, something like that. That's the only way I'm really, or even if you play golf or something like that, you know, I might initiate conversation. But I'm the world's worst when I feel like I'm alone. My wife will tell you, she'll look at me sometimes, she'll say, What's wrong? Nothing. And she'll bug me all day. Something's wrong. Something's off with you. Until finally I'm like, it's this. I'm thankful God's given me somebody that can read me and know when I'm off and know when know when I need to open up and talk about it. But I don't know how to really open up and talk about what's wrong. You know, I my granddaddy raised me. You don't talk, you know, you hear all the stereotypes. I feel like it was a generation before me. You don't talk about your feelings, you don't talk about your, you know, you don't talk about these things. Well, that's how I was raised too. You know, don't be a sissy, suck it up and get it done. And that's that's how I that's how I live my life.

Austin Gardner

Can the person listening that's hurting be free or will they just manage the pain?

SPEAKER_02

No, no, no. I don't I don't manage the pain. Again, I I'm I'm talking about me. I'm there there's no managing the pain. I don't dwell on anything that I've been through. I've told you, like, you asking me to do this. I don't talk about this. When you were out here with us, I didn't I didn't tell you this stuff. My wife told you.

Austin Gardner

I don't I don't she got you in trouble, didn't she?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Uh I don't I don't talk about this stuff because I mean it's already done. Done. And so I can't, I can't sit in shackles over something that's already done. The the only shackles that I'm in right now are any kind of issue that I'm trying to get past now. Does that make sense? And praise the Lord. And I don't mean it to sound like a woe is me, a boohoo or anything like that. It's not really a tribulation. It's not really a heart it heartache or anything. It's just the work of the ministry. I mean, it's people. And so it's just, you know, I don't have anything. I've got, I keep myself, and I maybe it's this. I keep myself focused on right now because what can I change? I can change my next step. I can I can change the next step. I can't change the step I if I walk, if I walk from this room to the sanctuary here at the church, there's two ways I can go. I can go the long way, I can go the immediate way. Now, I can change my direction at any moment, but I can't change where how I got to where I'm at right then, right? And so what's done is done. You can't do anything about it. Just go forward the best way possible. Can God redeem their story? Yes. Well, look at, I mean, look at me. I was a I was a goofball. You know? I was I think you you like you used to use this word a lot when I was around you, dingbat, right? You still use that word a lot? I don't know. I hope not. Well, you used to say it a lot. And I did always and and I I I really thought every time you said it, I'm like, you talking about me? Because I'm the king of them. But uh no, I I was I was your typical goo goofball. I mean, I if you could if you could attempt to do things the wrong way, I probably tried it. I probably tried to do things the wrong way, whether it be uh trying to be trying to be a good husband, I probably did that the wrong way and all this, but uh no, it's just gone can God can use you and who you are. And as I mentioned earlier, he uses to this day, he's using the old me to show the people I preach to here what he can do if you allow him.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00

Tell us what God means to you right now.

SPEAKER_02

Well, as I I don't just preach it, I don't just say it. He is everything. He he is my is my reason for everything. We we like to we like to be stereotypical or we like to be cliche, that's the word. Well, my wife and my kids are everything. Well, if that's true, then your wife and kids can crumble you, right? And I say that in a loving way. If God is your everything, if you if you put your structure your life on the umbrella system, right? God first, wife second, kids third, you know, and everything else under that. And if God is the top layer of everything that you are, I mean, here's the way it is. I love sports. I love, I love my wife, I love my kids, I love all these things that I can sit and I can talk about, I love. What's the the first thing I do in the morning is not sit and check sports scores. The first thing I do in the morning is not sit down and, you know, try to see if somewhere in my calendar I can fit in at tea time to go play golf with somebody. That's not the first thing I do in the morning. First thing I do in the morning is I grab and read my Bible. I want to know more about my creator. I want to know more about my God. I want to know more about my father. I want to, I want to be able to take his word and it be so much a part of me that my conversations are centered around him and his goodness. I want him to be highlighted through everything I do.

Austin Gardner

Can everybody listening right now enjoy the same freedom and love that you you're talking about?

SPEAKER_02

Well, everybody, he, I mean, we we know that he he tasted death for every man, right? He tasted death for every man. He took the punishment for all of us. And so if if he did all that to to redeem our souls, then why not? And I know we can we can look at things, and and I'm going on a very philosophical look here. We can't we can't compare God's goodness in our life to the next person. That's foolish, right? God's goodness in in your life it might not be the dream car. It might not be the recreational freedom and things like that, but God's goodness in your life, God's grace and mercy in your life, might just be the lack of hurt, the peace that the peace that comes after the hurt. And that's that's where I find uh a lot in me, I don't have all these, I don't have all this stuff. I don't have all that, you know, all the you know, people like to amount things to blessings. Oh no. The biggest blessing in my life is the peace of God. Yeah, man. I I look back and I can just see all throughout my life God working in my life, and I see, and I just have the peace of God. There's nothing I remember you saying it to my brother-in-law at our send-off service a few years ago. You said you told him because of this fear of flying, and you said you know you're saved. So if the worst that can happen, which is the plane crashing and you dying, if the worst that can happen is the best thing that can happen, you spending the eternity with Jesus, what are you afraid of? Okay. And hey, I I've I preach that here, you know? What are we so afraid of? What what are we so down and out about? And and if you what it what it what are you lacking in this life? That's always my question. What are you lacking in this life to be happy in this life? Because if you can think of what you're lacking in this life to be happy in this life, now let me ask you, what are you failing to do in this life to be happy in this life? Not what are you lacking, what are you failing to do to make yourself happy? But it all it all comes down to what do you find happiness and peace in?

Changing The Story You Tell

Redeeming Time And Serving With Joy

Austin Gardner

Amen. Well, I think you have heard great truths. And here's what I want you to see that Ricky Howard has done. He has told us his story, but he made it clear he changed the story. He changed from being a victim to being victorious. He changed from everything going wrong to seeing how God worked in his life. And did you notice how he brought up all these things, friends and pastors, and preachers, and bus routes, and then a wonderful wife, and all of it to God's glory. So no matter who you are, go back to your story and redeem it. You're not lying, you're just seeing it different. Can I remind you, ten spies saw giants that made them feel like grasshoppers? Two saw the same giants but saw a God above them. What Ricky Howard has done is simply change the story from being like the ten spies to being like the two who knew that God was bigger. And Ricky Howard has seen God work in his life and do a great thing. I wish you could visit his church. It's the sweetest, most wonderful group of people in the world. They got such a fantastic, sweet fellowship. God is working in big ways, and I just want to tell you, it's because surely goodness and mercy do follow us all the days of our life. Brother Ricky, take the last few minutes and just anything you want to say to kind of sum it up about God's working in your life and what he'll do in other people's lives.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I I can tell you, uh a lot of a lot of us, a lot of people, especially us men, I I say, I say men, especially, because we most most of us men are goofballs. Would you agree? Uh but the apostle Paul writes, uh I believe it's in Ephesians, he writes about redeeming the time. And you know, you think about every moment wasted. And I I can look back and I can think about all the time wasted. I can think about time wasted, you know, foolishly taking, you know, taking these jobs and working all the extra overtime. I can think about foolish times of being, you know, that I wouldn't with my wife and kids that I should have been. I can think about being talked into, you know, talked into taking, you know, the extra overtime and all that because it would be better for my family when me being there was better. I can think about all this time of wasting time. But you know, the biggest time I wasted was wasting time trying to figure out, and and it and it really goes along with what we're talking about here, but really the wasted time of trying to figure out how I can make myself better and how I can make make it better for my family than what I had. What a waste of time that was. Because you know, the only way that we can really make it better, the only way that my life's going to be better, or the only way that my life has gotten better, and the only way that my family's life can and is better is because we're living for the Lord. We're not living for the stuff, we're not living for the world, we're living for God. And everything we do, it starts with what can I do for him today? Not because I have to, because I get to. That that 2 Corinthians 5.14, for the love of Christ constrained us. That that passage of scripture changed my life. I don't have to preach. I don't have to, I don't have to be at this church. I don't have to go out and knock doors. I don't have to tell, I didn't have to tell my neighbor this morning about why our church is different than the Catholic Church. I didn't have to, I didn't, I don't have to come in here on Wednesday nights and and feed a bunch of kids and uh let April teach them a Bible lesson and then try to give them the gospel after. I don't have to do that. I could have, let me tell you, my flesh, you know what was going on during our during our service yesterday? Last night? The Braves game. The Braves game was going on. You know what happened at the end of that Braves game last night that I didn't get to see? There was a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Braves were losing, and they a walk-off home run, the Braves won. I missed that. But you know how much I care? Not a bit. I don't care. Because even as exciting as it was, I don't care. Because I was doing something that had eternal, eternal consequence, or not consequence, but outcomes. Nobody got saved last night, but the truth was the truth was relayed, and I didn't have to. I got to. God allowed me this scumbag, poor kid, moonshiners grandkid, grew up stirring the mash, grew up feeding the sugar cane into the press, grew up capping the jugs of moonshine. That kid grew up and is getting to preach the gospel today. Amen. That blows my mind. It blows my every time I every time I pull into this part. Some people might pull up to a storefront church and be like, ooh. I used to. I used to see a storefront church and be like, I don't know if I'd ever go there. That was foolish. I pull up to this storefront church behind Taco Bell and I look at it, how? How in the world did I end up here? Why is God allowing me to do this? I look at some of the people who come in here on a Sunday morning. I look at every person that comes in here on a Sunday morning, and I think, how did God put us together? Amen. How did God see fit to put these people into my life and allow me to have this much influence in their life? What a God.

Austin Gardner

Well, you've heard it right from his mouth. He's just told you about how good God is, and I know that God is working in your life. Surely, goodness and mercy to follow me all the days of my life. God's mercy is chasing after you, and all you need to do is trust and accept and expect God to do great things. I'll put the information about how to contact Brother Howard in the comments, and I want you to just know what God's doing and pray for him. Thank you for listening. I pray this has been a blessing. Brother Howard, thank you for being with us. Thank you, brother. I appreciate it. It's been good talking with you. God bless.

Head Shot

Austin Gardner

Host