Real Stories Real God

Real stories are only powerful if they lead somewhere, and we’re here to lead back to Jesus. On the very first TKO Podcast, we introduce who we are, why we care so much about authenticity, and what “It’s been real” actually means when life is messy but God is faithful. We’re Pastor T Crockett and Pastor Kathy Milner, and we’re inviting you into a space where faith is honest, Scripture matters, and the goal is never to impress people, it’s to lift up Christ.

We share our testimonies, from getting saved young, to seasons of drifting, to finally giving God a real yes. You’ll hear how our paths crossed through ministry, how spiritual connection can be God-ordained, and why it takes humility to protect unity when division and jealousy try to creep in. We also talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the reality of spiritual influence, and why learning to celebrate others is part of growing up in your identity in Christ.

Then we get into what sparked a personal reset for us through worship and teaching at Jesus Image in Orlando: a re-evaluation that strips away noise and brings everything back to the cross, the blood, the Word of God, and simple devotion. We share a sobering persecution testimony that re-centers perspective, and we leave you with a question that can change your schedule and your soul: who is driving the pace, Jesus, people, or you? If you’ve been feeling heavy, stretched, or off-center, this conversation is for you.

Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review so more people can find TKO Podcast. What part of your life needs to come back to Jesus first?

Transcript

What TKO Podcast Stands For

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to TKO podcast. Welcome everyone. Welcome. It's been real where we have real stories, but why? We have a real God. And I am Pastor T Crockett. And I am Pastor Kathy Milner. Woo! And we are here for our first podcast. We are TKO.

SPEAKER_03 0:25

Excited. We are so excited. Knock out.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

So let's lies of the mind, the lies of the enemy, and let Jesus take control and have the throne in your life.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Yes, yes. So that's what we're about. We're going to go into first explaining what TKO podcast is about. TKO, it's been real, real stories and a real God. And Kathy's already on fire. Pastor Kathy over here. I love her energy. I'm going to try to match her energy today.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

I know we are together in this. Like someone just said, we're you two separated out. I know. So we are very kindred spirits. We are Mary and Elizabeth. You may say, what does that mean? It means that we help each other's destiny dreams leap in each other's destiny.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Yes, yes. So that's our plan. That's uh what the Lord has put into our spirit is to kind of help people through Jesus, through learning about Jesus, through loving Jesus, and knowing that what Jesus has planned for their life is greater and more immaculate than they have ever seen because we go through things in life. Hence the real stories because though we have experience and we have the title and the calling of pastor, we have real stories. And we've been through some real things in life. That's right. Um, but we have experienced a real God.

SPEAKER_04 1:51

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

So the real God that we have experienced, we can also give it to you.

SPEAKER_03 1:54

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

And we are excited about this journey that the Lord has us on together.

SPEAKER_03 1:58

We are very excited, and we are here. You know, we know this is a podcast, but we are here outside of this gift in this realm to help you.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Our heart is that in these last days that you would know what you've been destined and created for. And I firmly believe, and I know Pastor T feels the same way, that transparency, authenticity, those are the things that are gonna help people realize who they are and the potential they have in Christ. And as Jeremiah said in 29-11, before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you and I set you apart. And he's got a good plan for your life. So it doesn't matter what you've been through, the plan of God will prevail in your life if you believe it.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

So yes, that's true. So welcome, welcome to this transparent part of our lives. Yes. And we hope that that gives you permission to also be transparent and understand that God is with you, He is for you, and He loves you no matter what storm you're in, no matter what period of life that you were in, God is with you and He has not brought you this far to leave you.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

So let's get into this then. Let's get into this.

Pastor T Testimony And Calling

SPEAKER_03 3:10

So, Pastor T, how long have you been walking with the Lord for and been in ministry for? Tell us a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Interview time. I love this. I love it. So I have been in ministry. Okay, so let's start from the very beginning, right? So I grew up in church. My grandmother took me to church. I lived in a household where I don't care what you did last night, you're going to church. All right. All right, go ahead, grandma. So grandma made sure that we went to church every single Sunday. She made sure that no matter where we were, what we were doing, we were raised and going to church. So I've always had that foundation. You know, I know that there are people that don't experience that foundation. So it might be a little tougher for them to know and experience the real God that we're talking about. That's right. Um, however, I did think, thanks to my grandmother and her foundation, I had that foundation growing up of Jesus. And then in my teenage life, you know, you kind of start experiencing life a little bit and you get out there. And so, you know, I kind of strayed away a little bit, still going to church, because you were still going to church. Um, and then I remember I got saved when I was 19. Um, I had my son when I was 17. He was two years old at that point, and I was like, you know, this is this is what I want to do. I feel like I really know this Jesus that I've been experiencing since I was a young girl, and I really need something bigger because I feel like my life is on a, you know, it's on a roller coaster. So I need something to bring some peace into my life. Um, however, after that time, I really, really, you know, I I strayed away again. About 23 years old. I remember straying away. I started experiencing some other things in my life. And it wasn't till about, let me see, I don't remember the year time frame, but I can give you the not the exact date, but the year date. Um, it wasn't, let's see, 2013, 2010. I'm gonna say around 2010 is really when I gave God a real yes. When I said, you know, I am going to serve you and serve you for real. I'm done with this world. And not that I didn't fall, not that I didn't, um, you know, that things didn't happen or I didn't, you know, have times where I would, but I was I was faithful.

SPEAKER_03 5:40

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 5:41

Even even in my lowest points, um, I was faithful. And so, yeah, around 2010 is when I gave God a real yes and and I started serving him for real.

SPEAKER_03 5:51

And so the foot has been on the gas. It's been on the gas since what 16 years. Yep, it's been on the gas since then. And folks, I don't think it's about to let up. No, anything, God has it whoosh all the way down to the ground. Right, oh my god, hold on. She is going with it, y'all. So that's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. So, well, this is wild. So, this, as many of you know, maybe some of you don't know, but we call each other bestie. Yeah. Again, I know we said this once, we are very kindred. Little did I know until right now, I got saved at 19. Really? So, yes, yeah. So this is crazy. And this wild, this is absolutely wild, y'all. So, I mean, we we think we learn each other, and all of a sudden we have another aha moment. But so I got saved December of 1996. Uh, wasn't raised in church either, you know, here and there, wonderful parents. Um, but it was more like, you know, we moved a lot. My dad was in journalism. So at times, like they would send us to like a VBS, like in our local community. So I remember as a little girl making a craft of John 3 16. And I'll never forget that. And I kept that, but that was the seed that the Lord put in my heart. But full surrendered happened in December of 1996. And I'll never forget, it was right before Christmas, and the pastor at a church of God in this area preached on a Merry Christmas, M-A-R-Y. And it was that moment of that little girl sitting at VBS making a craft of John 3.16, and then hearing that God sent his only son to die for me. Oh, it became personal.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

Even sitting there with 150 people at a church service on a Sunday morning, it was like it became personal to me.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:39

And he said, if you want to receive this man named Jesus, just look at me. It wasn't like a hoopla, it wasn't running to the altar moment, but it was a connection. And I looked at the pastor's face, but at that moment, it wasn't a man's face. I knew I was seeing the face of Jesus. And so I surrendered my life to the Lord. And like you said, too, I had my hiccups, I had my moments, I had my, you know, my shortcomings, but I knew that I was destined for something. And so in his perfect timing, it all began to make sense. And so I just kept moving forward with the Lord through hang-ups, through hurts and so forth. Let him do his delivering work in my life. And then I and again, I knew there was a call, as we cited Jeremiah earlier. I knew in my mother's womb that there was a plan for my life, and it was good. Even in the midst of the harm and the hurt and the hangups and the trials, he took all those things and he used them for good and for glory. And so ever since then, I've been walking with my husband in ministry as pastors here at the place we're sitting in at Bethlehem Church in Frankfurt for 24 years. Um, mom to three wonderful kids. I've been married to my husband, Dennis, for 27 years, and I am a mimsey of three, almost four grandchildren in a couple more weeks, and just doing whatever Jesus says has to be done. Yeah. Because the harvest is ripe. It is. And it's time. And so, and this is part of the timing too. So we are very, very excited.

SPEAKER_02 9:11

So we are. Oh my god. Well, let me give a shout-out to my son and my husband for sure. My wonderful husband, Ricardo Crockett.

Pastor Kathy Testimony And Ministry Life

SPEAKER_02 9:20

I love you so much. And my son, I'm a mother of one. Um, but we share other children with uh I share other children with my husband as well. Um, but um, my son was he was my heart, you know. Yes, because because I had him at 17, I always said, you know, we were like, we grew up together. And so in growing up together, you know, you learn stuff about yourself and you learn stuff about your child, and he taught me a lot, which is why I'm so close to him, is because he taught me, he taught me how to love, he taught me how to be a friend, he taught me how to be a mom. You know, he taught me a whole lot. So um I really, really, really deeply have a love for my son for sure. Um, and he he loves loves and is serving, serving Jesus. But I want to get into our our aha moment that I just recently shared with her. She had no idea about this. And no idea about this. I can't believe I never even told you. I can't believe that. But um, so there was a moment, let's going back to even how we met. Um, it was at a service that because I do praise dancing, liturgical dancing ministry.

SPEAKER_03 10:33

And one of her many, many gifts, everyone.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

One of her many gifts. That was definitely one of the first ministries that God gave to me. And I love, I love how He uses me through that. Um, but I was called to minister and dance, and she was the guest speaker, had no idea who each other was, but we were both guests in this this place, uh, this church. And so she went to do the word, and I was like, she was giving it, okay? I was like, oh my gosh, who is this lady? She is so fast, like she is on fire, and I love it on fire. And so she um, of course, did art to call like normal, called art to call. So I go up to altar call, and you know, there are some times in life where you you have specific things where you go to the altar for, and I had no expectations when I went to the altar this day. I just went because the sermon blessed me, it touched me, and it was kind of like another moment of surrenderance to God, like whatever you want to do in the next level of my life, I'm here for it. So I went to the altar, and as I go to the altar, um, I remember like I can still see that altar. I can still see the people at the altar and me standing at that altar with my hands lifted up, and she came and laid hands on me, didn't say anything, just laid hands on me. I felt the fire of God. I heard her speaking in tongues, and that fire spread from heart to heart and bosom to bosom, and I spoke in tongues for the first time. And I mean, there was no stammering, no staggering. This was a fluent tongue. I never spoke in tongues, never even thought I was going to speak in tongues. You know, I didn't know what this moment was ever going to feel like if I ever spoke in tongues. Unexplainable, unexplainable fire and presence of God. Yes, all the that was many, many years ago. I mean, had maybe 2012.

SPEAKER_03 12:33

I was gonna say it was probably shortly after Sharon, like 2010 when you came back to him. It was probably right around that facet of time.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

It was right around there, it was, and I I mean, that's the first time I ever spoke in tongues. Is so from that moment on, it was like, and I remember us even exchanging numbers after, yes, and then I had an event, and she spoke at my event, um, dancing for healing, and then it was like a rap from there. Yes, a rap from there. We were just like boom, we're connected, we're here, it's us. And um, I just want to say it we don't call each other besties because we talk every day, because we tell each other our deepest secrets and you know, all of that. It's because we're kindred. Yeah, there's a kindred spiritual spiritual connection there, and we know it, we recognize it, and we allow it and we accept it for what the Lord is doing in our lives. Now, uh, please believe there is definitely a trust factor there. Absolutely. There is a trust factor and there is a loyalty, yes, and um, there's been things that I've had to, you know, even come to you and apologize to you for because I'm not gonna cry. I'm not gonna do it. But just because there was a moment when I was under the subjection of a spiritual influence that was pulling me away from the connection, and you really have to be careful of those who are, you know, kind of uh, you know, I have to be very careful with my wording here, but those who are trying to create um division in spiritual connections because that will happen. Yes, and so um when you're under a spiritual influence of subjection, then it's hard to see past those things. And you know, it's kind of like um the man in the Bible when Jesus touched him and the scales came off of his eyes, and then you can see things, and it's like, ooh, I can see now. Wait a minute, I was blind, but now I see. Now I see, you know, and it's crazy to think that sometimes you can be blinded by spiritual influences, and when you when you come from under those specific spiritual influences and you're no longer blinded, it's okay to go back and apologize and reconnect and say, look, I don't know what was happening, but Lord, I'm ready now. But I can see clearly now. I can see clearly now that the rain is gone.

SPEAKER_03 15:10

I was hearing him all in my head. That song. That song. I was hearing him all in my head. But that it's so true. And you know, Pastor T really hit on something. You know, I'm sure we're gonna have there's men that'll be listening to this podcast. There's females are gonna be listening to this podcast, and we want all, no matter where you are in your walk, to be blessed by this podcast because one plants, one waters, but it's always God who's gonna give the increase. But especially as women, women do not get jealous of one another. Like love each other, celebrate. You know, I heard I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to me last week, he goes, What you tolerate, you don't celebrate. And so we have to get to a place where we don't just tolerate people, but we learn to celebrate them. Like everyone has a story, everyone has something they've been through, and we gotta learn to celebrate each other. And so, as Pastor T just said, you know, she had to come back and apologize. I had to make things right with her and apologize to her because, you know, the enemy, the enemy knows and he's strategic and he'll use whatever he can. And one of his greatest culprits is jealousy and intimidation, and especially that in women, like we've got to learn to find our identity in Christ. Because when you know who you are in Christ, it's it literally will help be a launching pad when you know your identity in yourself to help launch people into their God-given destiny and purpose as well. And so, but what was wild when when Pastor T was sharing about being baptized in the Holy Ghost, so that happened 16 years ago. She literally shared that story with me back in March. Yep. When we were in Orlando, Florida at Jesus Image. By the way, check out Jesus Image, check out their worship, check it, check out their teaching by Pastor Michael and Pastor Jessica. Oh my gosh. Um, but we were there and in the hotel room getting ready to go to another service, and she told me, and I looked at her and I said, What? That's when you were baptized with the Holy Ghost, and that's a whole nother topic we're gonna talk about one day is the baptism of the Holy Ghost being filled with power and fire. Listen, y'all, you need it. As my husband says, you need the baptism of the Holy Ghost walking into Walmart.

SPEAKER_02 17:21

But anyway, you do, especially Walmart. Maybe not so much Target, but definitely Walmart. Definitely Walmart.

SPEAKER_03 17:27

And I don't know, but uh that uh one place, I can't even think of the name of it, but it's like a big truck stop when you're traveling south. Buckies. Buckies!

SPEAKER_02 17:36

I've never had Buckeys, but I hear about it all the time.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

I'm gonna be all the time. I'm gonna be slow to speak right now. But I stopped at a Bucky's in Florence, I think Georgia or South Carolina. Oh, good. Oh god. So anyway, but yeah, but he says you definitely need the Holy Spirit when you go into Walmart. But anyway, we're gonna side, we're gonna table that for another podcast of TKO. But she was telling me in Orlando, Florida about being baptized in the Holy Ghost. And so we were blessed with the opportunity to march to go to a women's conference down there. And as we were seeking the Lord, like, God, what do you have for this first episode of TKO? That is something we definitely wanted

Speaking In Tongues And Spiritual Connection

SPEAKER_03 18:16

to share with y'all. Just a few gold and beautiful nuggets from that moment. So yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and let Pastor T start. I'll start it.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

It will chime in, but yeah, check out Jesus' image, y'all. Oh my gosh, it's so amazing. Before I start, let me shout out my church. Um, Restoration Community Church. Pastor Neil and Pastor Cherie love them so much. Can't let this go by without shouting them out. They're amazing.

SPEAKER_03 18:39

Kingdom-minded leaders, you all at restoration, kingdom, kingdom-minded leaders. So thank God for our houses coming together. I mean, we've come together.

SPEAKER_02 18:49

That's what it's about, y'all. Unity.

SPEAKER_03 18:51

Kingdom, kingdom kingdom, kingdom and unity.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

That's what it's about. You're so much better together when you can come into agreement. You don't always have to go to the same church to come into agreement about something.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

Let's get this thing done. Yeah. Let's get this done.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Kingdom, kingdom. But I'm going to start really quick about um what was what I experienced at Jesus and image. Let me get to my notes, you know. We have notes. We have notes. Yeah. Transparent. We're being transparent and real. These are real stories, okay? Sometimes you're prepared and sometimes you gotta get prepared. But anyway. Well, we are ready. We are ready. So the women's conference was awesome. We'll start there because we also then went to the leadership conference with our husbands, which was amazing. Um, but the women's conference, for that to be our first experience, it was just like no other. I mean, the worship, first of all, the worship.

SPEAKER_04 19:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

When you have a whole house, it's different when you're in, you know, a church that have 50 people, maybe a hundred people, and there is worship happening and going on. But there was like at least 1,500 people in this room. You didn't have to tell these people to stand to their feet. They were already up, they were primed. Expectation. They came with an expectation to worship. And this was a hundred or over a thousand women in this one. I mean, everybody worshiping, everybody in it, everybody focused. It was just amazing, and it really, really, really set the stage. And we went from what Friday night to Sunday morning. Yeah. I mean, they really, really talked about some amazing, amazing things. And my prayer at at the time was, Lord, I just want, again, my eyes to be open because I'm at a place in my life where so the season I'm at in my life now is a re-evaluation. Okay. It's re-evaluation because I know there are some things that I need to relearn and there are some things that I need to unlearn. That's good. Because there are just some things about Jesus that not things about Jesus that you were taught, but things about like just people in general. And I just want to serve Jesus. Yes. Yes. I just want to love Jesus. It's just about Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

Not making me, I say, churchy or making it difficult. We make it too difficult.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

We make it too hard. We make church hard. We make life hard. Yes. And if we just make it about Jesus, we make preaching hard. We make singing hard. We make worship hard. We make praising hard. We make everything so hard. When it's if our focus is not on man, if our focus is not on church, and our focus is just on Jesus, that's right. Then life is just so easy. That's right. And this was just a reevaluation for me that brought a new light to say it's just About Jesus. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

It's about Jesus. Hence the church name is Jesus. Jesus' image. So they want everything pointing back to Jesus. To Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

To the cross, to the blood, to his name. Yes. For his glory. To communion. To coming. Yes. Breaking. Breaking with his body. Yes. You know, and and drinking of his blood, drinking of his name, drinking of his glory. Because if you're cleansed in his blood and you're cleansed by his water, you're cleansed in his glory, then you don't have time to focus on anything else. You don't have time to let anything else from this world enter into your system and enter into your body. So the focus for me was just getting myself back in align with Jesus, with his name, and knowing and understanding that nothing else matters. Like opinionated preaching doesn't matter. You need to be preaching Jesus. Come on. Preaching what you did last night, unless it's referring and reverting back to the cross and you have a revelation, then it's about Jesus. That's right. Taking a moment and preaching how you feel and your feelings and um your thoughts. And if it's not about Jesus, he gave us everything. I my Bible's on the floor is about to hold it up like this. Let's pretend. I'm trying not to yell because I don't want to uh kick back. But if it's not in the Bible, then it doesn't matter. That's right. That's right. You know, all that matters is Jesus. That's right. And going to this conference really, really set my insights back on the reevaluation of Jesus. That's right. His blood, his glory, the cross. It's all that matters.

SPEAKER_03 23:56

You had a reset. And you can reset core. Yeah. The chief cornerstone. The foundation is built upon. That's right. You had a reset.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

I had to start rebuilding. And in the rebuilding stage of the chief cornerstone and of the foundation, you realize that okay, I can use this piece, but this piece has to go. That's right. All right. I'm gonna keep this piece. It might be a little broken, but I can re put, I can put it back together with Jesus. But that piece, yeah, I'm gonna leave that piece over there. I don't really need that piece like I thought I did. And last season I needed that piece, or I thought I needed that piece because I thought I needed to be something that Jesus wasn't even calling me to be. So all I need is are these pieces right here, and I can restructure and rebuild my house on the chief cornerstone to rebuild my house on Jesus. That's right. That's right. Because if I'm giving Jesus to people, that's right, then nothing else matters. If I'm giving them the word, if I'm revelating, me and my son were having a talk, and he was just saying, Mom, I'm at a place in my life, and he didn't even know about this revelation, this enlightening that I had. He said, Mom, I'm at a place in my life where I just want to revelate the word. Come on. I just want to know what every single word in that Bible means. That's right. I just want to know what what it all means so that I can completely serve Jesus. I said, that's where I am too. Yes. I just want to know what every word means. I want to know what the Hebrew word means. I want to know what the Webster dictionary version means. And speaking of, both of us, when we when we preach, we love definitions, okay?

SPEAKER_03 25:41

Why are we where we're at in the word? Exactly. Why is it in there? We want to know.

SPEAKER_02 25:47

I want to know why. I want to know what it means. I want to know what Jesus meant when it was in there. So, yeah, so that was just an an enlightening, definitely moment for me. A light bulb definitely went back off, went off for the foundation and growing in his word.

SPEAKER_03 26:04

Praise God. You know, T Pastor T is at a place, and so am I, where we keep saying, like, this is our oceans.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:10

We are in a season, like, if you're not familiar with the song Oceans, it's by Hillsong United. And basically they sing about, you know, spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. And many people, you listening, you might you might listen to a lot of Christian music. And those of you that don't listen to Christian music, you probably know this song because it's very, very popular in the Christian world and in the secular world as well. But anyway, if you've never heard it, you need to listen to it. But we both feel like we're in our oceans where we're stepping out and we're doing new things that we feel we've been created and destined to do. And to parallel with that, there's also a stretching that's taking place in both of our lives. And the scripture talks about how you got to enlarge the place of your tent, meaning you've got to let your mind, you gotta let your spirit, everything realize that I've been doing something, but there's more being required of me. And so as Pastor T was referring to, she had a reset, a re-evaluation in her life.

Re-Evaluating Faith Back To Jesus

SPEAKER_03 27:10

For you to stretch, you've got to have less weight.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 27:15

You've got to have less things in your life that are holding you back. It's easier for you to fly, it's easier for you to propel forward and upward with less baggage, with less weight. And I I just feel the Lord speaking to my heart right now. Yeah, there are some that are listening to this podcast right now and you feel so heavy. You feel so weighted by things. Listen, Jesus wants to take that from you. Yeah. The scripture says that he takes that spirit of heaviness and he gives us a garment of praise. And you may be saying, Well, Pastor T, Pastor Cathy, how do I do that? Just ask the Lord. Yeah. Just say, Lord, I can't do this anymore. I need you to take this from me because it's not coincidence that you're listening to this podcast this very first episode. You may say, Oh, I've been so excited about this. But everything, our prayer has been every word would be orchestrated by him. And so I just really feel very strongly in my spirit that there are listeners that are feeling very heavy that are watching this right now. And God wants to take that from you and He wants to stretch you, my friend. He wants to take you. Yes, heavy burden. He wants to take you to places in your life that are unimaginable. He wants to take you to things in your life, the exceedingly and the abundantly above all that you could ask or think. And some of you have been thinking, you've seen things, you've been asking, but God wants to blow your mind. He is God. And the scripture said there is nothing too difficult for him, and there is no one like him. The scripture says that the greatness of God no man can fathom. And so that's what that woman's conference did for Pastor T. And she alluded to also that our husbands went with us to a pastor's as well as your senior pastors. Yes. Uh, Pastor Cornelius and Pastor Cherie went with you guys as well, you and your husband. But in June, just a little over a month ago, we went back to Orlando, Florida.

Stretching Season And Laying Down Weight

SPEAKER_02 29:04

There's something else in Orlando.

SPEAKER_03 29:06

But we went back to Orlando for a pastors and leaders conference, and we felt very compelled by the Spirit of God to just share strongly about that moment, you know, in there. And and one thing, Pastor T, that God bestie, that God gave me was when we heard Brother Young. And we're gonna probably definitely get into that more, but but listen, if you go to church and you feel like you have persecution here in America, okay, you might. But talk about that re-evaluation.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 29:38

He was in a he was in the underground church in China, radically gave his life to the Lord, and he was so on fire for the Lord that he was persecuted by beatings and so forth. That when Pastor Michael introduced him, he said, The wounds of persecution are embedded on his body. He says, Church, I have seen the wounds and I have seen the scars. I I don't have any wounds or scars on my body. One scar. Can y'all even see that?

SPEAKER_02 30:07

I can promise you this wasn't by persecution.

SPEAKER_03 30:10

No, I don't have any of that. And so right there, it was like, I ate a piece of humble pie. Yeah. Because I've never been in that. And he shared his story, like about how basically um, you know, a shorter part of the story was he was so on fire for the Lord and was preaching the gospel in the underground church in China that they threw him in prison and they broke both of his legs because every time the China or Chinese police would come to arrest him, he would run. He was very fast physically. So they broke his legs so he couldn't run from them. And so he was sitting in a prison cell. His spiritual father's in a cell next to him. He was praying for him, just like in the book of Acts. And the Spirit of God spoke to Brother Young and said, get up. And he basically was like, How am I gonna get up with two broken legs? Yeah. And he said, I scaled the wall with my hands, got up, and it miraculously he walked out. Now, y'all, I've had one broken leg when I was four years old. I had a fracture, a hairline fracture. I was in a cast when I was four years old. So I could walk, but I had a cast. I've never had two broken legs. And he miraculously got up and walked out of the cell. He said he basically walked down the hallways of the prison, walked out the front gate of the prison, and then he said there was a taxi waiting there for him right outside the prison in the door. So I know, just like you read in the book of Acts. So you may say, What? Read it. It's in the book of Acts. And so that that was something that challenged me so much. Like, don't get me wrong, like, I had bad days. God cares about your bad days. But what I've been through is nothing compared to what he's been through.

SPEAKER_02 31:49

Nothing, nothing at all compared to it. And I'm like you, I was right there with you eating that humble pie. Yes. Because I'm like, well, I'm going through what? I'm going through nothing. And it it's just the same as um, like when you whenever you go to a third world country, like I've been on a couple of mission trips, and you're like, what? I think I'm bad here because they make my drink wrong at Starbucks. And you know, I'm so upset. And then I go over here, and it's like, what? There, okay, okay, yeah. It it really, really, really does humble you. And just listening to that man with so much joy and listening to him to sing and pure joy, okay? And listening to listening to him sing, I have decided to follow Jesus. I mean, that was his favorite song. He sang that the whole time we had the video stage on my own. Oh my gosh, me too. It's like it just gives you so much joy. Like, you just feel what he's feeling, and that he loves Jesus so much, and that no matter how many times they lock me up. The one, the thing that got me was when he said that they were um looking for volunteers to go in the jail. I don't remember the the whole story, so I'm probably paraphrasing. I don't want to mess this man's testimony up by far, okay? But he said they were looking for volunteers to go into the prison, and he said, I'll go.

SPEAKER_03 33:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 33:16

Send me, I'll go. Listen. Okay. Jesus, I love, I love Jesus, but can I please minister from the outside? Yeah. No, because he was going to be in, he was volunteering to go and be an inmate in the Chinese prison. Yes. I'm not even going to volunteer in the American prison unless I'm going in for a day and we're like have a section set off for us and then I can leave right away. That's right. So just his, just how he invited himself into persecution. He's like, I'm going to walk into persecution. I don't even, I don't care. Like, God, that's send me, I'll go. Right. No matter what. That is the yes that Jesus is calling for. And I'm like, oh my gosh, Jesus. I just, I admired that that session so much. Anytime that he got up and spoke, and even his spiritual father was there. Yes. And even when they got up and spoke, it was just like, you were just amazed. Like these are the hands and feet of Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 34:21

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

This is what we're talking about here. This is what like persecution still exists. And that there was a taxi right out there waiting for you for him. Talk about God providing.

SPEAKER_03 34:35

What? He didn't have to call Uber, he didn't have to call an Uber.

SPEAKER_02 34:39

God provided the Uber. I mean, we we wrestle against God providing to pay our car payment. You know what I'm saying? And it's like God provided the whole Uber there for him. And I can only imagine when he went to wherever he was going, when he was going home, um, being like just like in Acts, you know, with Peter or Paul? Peter, okay. When he walked through the door and, you know, he knocked, and they're looking out the window, and Peter's like, let paraphrasing again, go read it for yourself.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

He's like, let me in here. What y'all doing? I thought y'all were praying for this. And they're looking and they're like, and it was the women and the men in there, and they're like, Is that Peter? Hold on. No, we were just praying for this, and then they hear the knock on the door, and Peter's like, hello, it's me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:32

And that had to be the same type of situation. They were probably in there praying. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 35:37

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 35:37

And he goes and knocks on the door. Yeah. And they're like, wait, God. That's right. So my question is for you is, do you even believe what you're praying for?

SPEAKER_03 35:45

Come on.

SPEAKER_02 35:46

Because what if your prayer is coming and knocking on the door? And will you even recognize it when it comes and knocks on the door if you've been praying for it?

SPEAKER_03 35:55

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 35:56

You have to be able to recognize what you're praying for, and you have to be able to believe what you're praying. You're not just praying just to be praying. You're praying because you believe that your prayer is about to knock on the door in the middle of your prayer. That's right. So that that really, really, really hit home for me. And another thing was when Pastor Michael said, This, I think I even texted you this. Who's driving the pace? Yes.

SPEAKER_03 36:20

Yes, she did text me that. Who is driving the pace?

SPEAKER_02 36:24

Who is driving the pace? Because sometimes we can try to go so so quickly, thinking that we are, I don't know, trying to outrun or trying to outmove or or we think we're missing something. And I like sometimes people can make you feel like you're you're missing out on something. And then you start experiencing FOMO, like a fear of missing out. True. And it's who is driving the pace? Because God sometimes he's gonna come and he's gonna say, move swiftly. And sometimes God is going to come and say, just follow me real gently and real smooth. And it'll be real easy, it'll be real easy going. And so it's like, who is driving the pace? Is Jesus driving the pace or is man driving the pace? Or are you driving the pace?

SPEAKER_00 37:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

Are you following God or are you trying to lead God? That's right. Because Jesus, Jesus just needs to drive our pace. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 37:19

That's that's right. In fact, um, my husband had shared with me that he was watching a podcast of Pastor Michael, and Pastor Michael was being interviewed by his sons because they have uh I think it was two boys and then um Pastor Jessica. And they said, How do you know when you're being stretched and when you're being pulled if it's from the Lord or not? Because life, if you're listening and you're in ministry, you know how much ministry can pull you. But life can also pull at you, demands, expectations. And sometimes we, especially as women, sometimes we think that we've gotta, you know, wear all these hats and meet all these expectations. So when his son said to them, hey dad, how do you know when Jesus is the one pulling at you or a man? And he says, if it's pulling you closer to Jesus, then it's of Jesus. If what's coming to you is pulling you away from Jesus, then it's not Jesus. So for those of you that are walking with the Lord that are listening, the things that are pulling at you, if it's making your walk closer to Jesus, stay the course. Stay the pace.

SPEAKER_00 38:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:32

But if you feel like the things in life that you're doing are pulling you away, it's time for that reevaluation. Yeah. And to say, hey, look, I've got to take away some things and to know how the Lord is leading me. So that was very powerful. So you can tell through ministry and through life that he wants to know that he's in pace with the Lord, and that the things that he is doing is pulling him closer to the Lord. It was, it's very, very

Closing Encouragement And How To Connect

SPEAKER_03 38:59

powerful. And you know, what we're discussing is a lot about church and about walking with Jesus. But this is life, y'all. This is life. And you just got to take that reevaluation to figure out the things I'm doing in life, my marriage, my parenting, if you're single, the things I'm doing with my social life, what is that doing for you? Is it pulling you closer to the Lord? Because again, I probably said it a couple times. You're listening to this podcast for a reason. Yeah. The Lord is, if you're listening to this, our heart is for the Lord. And so it's all about Jesus pulling you into Him. Real stories about a real God, and He's just wooing you, He's calling you for such a time as this. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

Definitely good stuff for sure.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

I love that. So we are going to end on that note.

SPEAKER_02 39:47

I think that's a good place to end. We have left you with some things to kind of think about and some things to prayerfully draw you closer to Jesus, this real God that we know about and have experienced and love so dearly, and he loves you too. And we pray that you are drawn closer to him. We are lifting him up. He says, if I I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. So as we lift him up, we pray that we are drawing you closer to him.

SPEAKER_00 40:20

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 40:20

Um, so thank you for joining us on our first episode CKO. It's been real because it's real out here and real stories, and but we serve a real God.

SPEAKER_03 40:34

We do. And it's our heart, our goal is to try to, you know, starting out here in our oceans is to have one podcast a month. So yeah, be, you know, checking things out. And uh again, um, we're here. If you ever need anything, just reach out to us. Again, we want to be the hands and the feet of Jesus. So we love y'all so much.

SPEAKER_02 40:54

We love y'all. Follow us on our Facebook, TKO Podcast. It's been real. Follow us on TikTok, follow us on Instagram, TKO TKO, it's been real podcast. Um, so yes, please follow, like, and share and comment. Let us know what you think. Let us know if you love the content. Let us know what you would like for us to talk about as long as it's drawing us nearer to Jesus. Okay. Yes, but we definitely want to know. But we definitely want to know. Keep us, keep us um informed on how we're doing and how we can better serve you because we're just servants of the Lord. We're just here to serve.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

Yes. And again, we're knocking out anything that's not like Jesus, and we're here to help you. So you're gonna learn a lot more about us, and I'm we're definitely gonna be catalysts for your life. So we love you. God bless you.

SPEAKER_02 41:42

Yeah, bless you guys. Love you. DKO, DKO, knock out.