Texas Leadership Summit Podcast
Empowering leaders with the courage, tools, and hope to ignite a revival of Christian leadership. In each episode of the Texas Leadership Summit Podcast, leaders bring you empowering insights and easy-to-understand takeaways you can use to lead yourself and others. You’ll learn practical ways to grow as a leader, get involved in your community, lead your family, and grow your faith.
Texas Leadership Summit Podcast
The Power of Prayer in Leadership with Coach Joe Kennedy
How does an 18-year Marine veteran and former angry atheist transform into a devoted Christian and high school football coach? Join me, Tim Webb, founder of the Texas Leadership Summit, as I sit down with Coach Joe Kennedy to uncover his remarkable journey of faith, leadership, and resilience. Coach Kennedy opens up about a personal crisis that led him to a life-changing commitment to God and how mentoring young athletes became his calling. Despite not having a football background, his passion for team-building and leadership shines through.
We delve into the profound impact of mentoring and the trials that come when standing firm in one's beliefs. Coach Kennedy shares the emotional turmoil he faced when his public prayers after games sparked conflicts within his community and school district. Drawing from his military service and constitutional beliefs, he navigates the challenging intersection of personal faith and professional obligations. His story is a testament to the strength and perseverance required to uphold one's values amidst adversity.
Reflecting on the essence of faith in everyday life, Coach Kennedy and I discuss the importance of starting with a personal relationship with God and extending it into our homes, schools, and communities. From the pride of watching young athletes mature to the support of brotherhood in leadership battles, this conversation is a heartfelt reminder of the power of faith, mentorship, and mutual support. Tune in to hear how we can all step up as leaders and role models, inspiring those around us with courage and conviction.
Hello everyone. My name is Tim Webb. I am a pastor but also the founder of the Texas Leadership Summit, and before we begin with our special guest today, I just want to remind everyone that the Texas Leadership Summit is about empowering everyday leaders with courage, tools and the hope to ignite a revival of Christian leadership. And what our desire is is for everyday leaders and what we mean by that are moms and dads, husbands, wives, school teachers, people in the local community we want people to have the ability to step forward with their courage to stand for their faith in the local community, and we hope that if we can get at least 10% of leadership at the local community to step forward with their faith, we believe that 80% just like on a football team, 80% will follow those leaders and the 10% that are naysayers or are on the sidelines, they're going to do what they want to anyway, but we want to mobilize the local community, we want to engage local leadership in everyday life, stepping forward with the ability to have the courage to stand for their faith. And so today I am really excited and in the pre-show I was just expressing to Coach Joe Kennedy, that's who we have with us today.
Speaker 1:I'm very excited to hear about his story. Coach Joe Kennedy is an 18-year Marine veteran. He was also an assistant varsity football coach for Bremerton High School and before he even coached his first game, the Marine-turned-football coach made a commitment to God that he would give thanks at the conclusion of each game for what the players had accomplished and for the opportunity to be part of their lives through football. Now, as we all know, this was met with disapproval from the school district and turned into a lengthy court battle, and that just ignited a journey for Coach Kennedy that we have all heard about to some extent, and so, Coach Kennedy, I just or you go by Coach Joe or Coach Kennedy, or just Coach.
Speaker 2:Call me anything you want, brother.
Speaker 1:You've probably been called other things as well, so but, coach, I just thank you for being with us today.
Speaker 1:I am very excited to hear more about your story. We're recording this before our upcoming 2024 summit, and in doing this, we know that there's a lot of details that you're not going to be able to give at the summit, and so people will be hearing this after the summit, and so just to give them more background, more information that you going to be able to give at the summit, and so people will be hearing this after the summit, and so just to give them more background, more information that you won't be able to share at the summit. So I just I'm very thankful for this opportunity, and so I would really like for you to just starting out, just tell us a little bit about how your faith, how you got on this faith journey and what ignited this faith that we're going to be talking more about. That gave you the courage to step forward. Tell us a little bit about that faith journey and how you got started on that, if you don't mind.
Speaker 2:Sure, even before I was born, when I was in the womb, I was on one pregnancy, so I was put up for adoption. I was an angry kid. I got kicked out of every school I went to. I was in boys' homes, group homes, foster homes, so I made those rounds and I had people planting seeds in my life that I just ignored and they went on to this rocky soil and it was an infill.
Speaker 2:After I was getting ready to get out of the Marine Corps, when I hooked up with my childhood sweetheart, my first love, and got married, we were not openly yoked. She was a great Christian, she grew up in the church, she loved the Lord and I just thought it was really cute that she did that and I let her do her thing. I was an atheist and it was comical to me that somebody would believe in this fairy tale God. And it was until I really started failing as a husband and I had no other place to go. I didn't know what to do and I didn't want to lose my wife. So I threw myself onto the altar and I said God, if you give me my wife, I will give my life. And it was like deal, and he took me up on it. Next thing I know I'm coaching football and living for the Lord.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow. And so, in that giving your life to the Lord and then just being discipled, did you have mentors that stepped into your life along the way to help you develop in that faith? Or, man, were you just thrown in the fire?
Speaker 2:I always had people that were mentoring me, but I just didn't listen to any of the biblical part of it. It sunk in, thank God, and it just needed a chance to, you know, to bloom. And then next thing I know I'm pressed into the middle of it. I haven't read the Bible, I don't know all the Gucci stuff, but God, I love God and I will serve him the rest of my days, and I just we said that with them, that I'm here to serve. I'm not qualified, I don't have any background, but I am here for you and I just want to do what I can while I'm on the field.
Speaker 1:Amen, that's great. Well, tell us a little bit about your passion for football. Why did you't big enough to play football?
Speaker 2:I was a wrestler, but I loved activities. I always loved sports and contact sports. It wasn't until when God came to me and I saw the movie Facing the Giants that I felt convicted. I felt this calling. For the first time in my life, people talked about their calling in their life. What does God call them to do? And God called me to do football. And I was like I don't always think about football, nothing. So I think you got the wrong guy. But he equipped me with knowing how to make a good team, the leadership, team building discipline that you need to help these young men and better young men, and that's what they hired me for. I got to focus fully on the kids instead of worrying about football games and plays. I was just worried about the people that were actually doing the plays, and it was awesome.
Speaker 1:Well, I think that's, you know, a testament. God is not an accidental God. With your background that you mentioned, you know, as a troubled child growing into a teen and then now, all of a sudden you are, you're giving this opportunity. What a, what a blessing to be able to focus on the character of the, the, the athlete. That's an amazing opportunity. You know, being on that side of the equation, yeah, I, I really loved that.
Speaker 2:I I was terrible as a father and I already screwed up two other marriages and I didn't know what I was doing. My life was a mess. I lived for the world and I was very successful at the world, but now the responsibility is in our community. I'm embracing these young men that have grown up with my kids. All of our kids are in the same school. We go to the same churches.
Speaker 2:I went to high school with these people that now I'm coaching their kid and I take it real seriously that I wanted to help these people become better young men. As much as they say that I was part of their lives, man, there's no way of even explaining the joy and the pride that you get seeing these young men just developing into some people from the you know 13, 14 year old. You know some kids that step onto the football field to even now. I go to their marriages. I flew up last month to go to one of their weddings and this is 10 years later. They're in almost 30 now and still part of my life and I just feel that immense pride and love for these guys.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's such a fulfilling, just a reward, a blessing, to be able to be in that position to pour into guys, young men and young women. So, with that, obviously, in this transition, could you share with us a little bit more about just what did it look like? What did it feel like to find yourself pouring into these young men, these athletes, as a football coach? And then, all of a sudden, there's this division. All of a sudden, there's this battle that you found yourself in. How did that impact you at the local level with your relationships? Again, we're dealing with the local leader, everyday leader, moms and dads, husbands and wives, teachers, people at the local community, local government. Obviously, you're going to see these people at the grocery store. So how did you, what was that like? That transition of all of a sudden standing for your faith and now you're dealing with these people that you see every day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, it started in my own home. Like you say, the leadership starts there. I had two kids. We I'm sorry we had two kids. My wife and I had two kids at the high school during this time and we had one in the middle school. My wife worked for the school district. She was a human resource director for the school district. You can imagine what it was like just in our everyday home. It was tough. We almost got a divorce over this.
Speaker 2:I put my wife through you know, I hate to say it I put her through a halt all the way through this, which God knew what he was doing, but I didn't know what God was doing. And then to face all my friends, my coaches, to lose my football team, other people in our school district, some of them friends in our community we're at war all of a sudden. I could not understand what was happening. I'm like God. I'm just doing a simple prayer. I don't understand why this is happening and the way it blew up. God had something to say. Now that I look back, I can see it, but while you're going through the storm, all you can do is just hunker down and press into God and say God, I hope you got this. You better know what you're doing with this, and he absolutely did, and even though I had no idea what he was doing.
Speaker 1:So I think some people have said you know well, I can only imagine what people have said to you and about you as you move forward making this stand. But just for a moment, how did you come to the decision to do the act of kneeling? And I think too, for context, we have just gone through a period where people would kneel instead of standing for our flag at sporting events, and now you're kneeling in prayer. Do you have anything that really motivated you to do that, or is this something that came to your mind? What drove you to take that kneeling stand, if you will.
Speaker 2:So originally, my prayer started. I saw the movie Facing the Giants, which inspired me to go, and I stole it right out of the movie God, I'm going to give glory after every game, win or lose. We were in our football season of doing this with opposing teams and it was something that we actually got complimented. That's what started. All this was a call into our principal and they said what your football program is doing is awesome. Now, when they told me to stop praying with the team, I said well, this is your school, it's your rules. Uh, it's unfortunate, because this was something that was really great, but I never prayed with the team again. I didn't want to fight, I didn't want. I just wanted to coach football and be left alone. I wanted to continue on with my what I thought was my happy little life. And then then, when they said oh well, you need to go pray where people can't see you and that's the part I really had the trouble with trying to just figure out what do you do as a Christian versus an American?
Speaker 2:Because I was in the military, I fought for our Constitution. I had brothers and sisters that have died defending the Constitution. Now, all of a sudden, it's being jeopardized over something so small as a 30-second prayer. And the First Amendment is very clear to me. You've got the freedom of speech, the free exercise and the freedom of religion Very clear in my mind.
Speaker 2:But now they're telling me to go somewhere else and as a Christian, I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Are you supposed to stand up and fight? And you still think you've been, and you hear all the different sides. You get blowback from. I got preachers, uh, people of faith, other people that would throw that one verse out of go pray in your closet, and I didn't know what to do.
Speaker 2:But as a red-blooded american, I just just there was no way I was going to let this stand, because if I gave in to this, what kind of leader would I have been? What kind of example does that set for my players and for our community and for everybody else around me who knew that this was not a bad thing and you shouldn't have to hide your faith nor choose between your faith and your job not in America. So this was worth fighting for and it was the principle of it that it was something as trivial as a 30-second prayer. But look what it turned into and the battle that it started was that God wants people to just be able to stand up firm in their faith to fight the good fight. It doesn't say anything about winning. It says firm in their faith to fight the good fight doesn't say anything about winning. It says that you're called to fight the good because god's already got that right and we leave the results up to him in the everyday life.
Speaker 1:you know, we just we have, we have a duty to respond now because since we, since we have some people that are in similar situations now with the way our government's been going, the culture, society, how did you see, describe for us how the people came together to help you in this? Because many times our leadership is a lonely place to be many, many times and we tend to isolate when we have these storms in our lives. But you step forward. How did that come together in that journey to start moving into this battle, this new battle that you were facing?
Speaker 2:It was tough because I had no way forward. I didn't know what I was doing. I had this great group, first Liberty Institute out of Texas that represented me. After the school shut down and all communications between me and the school district, I knew I needed help. This was a fight that I was not equipped for.
Speaker 2:God had the people show up, the right people at the right time, and it wasn't when I wanted him to do it. It was when I really needed him to do it. So his timing is always a little bit goofy for me, but he knows what he's doing and it was a battle. But every single time that I felt discouraged or I felt like I couldn't go on any farther, I'd get a call from somebody like you or one of the other coaches or somewhere all over the United States. I would get a letter or a text and just that little word of encouragement that we're praying for you. And when you know that the entire United States is praying for you, or even just a couple of your friends, it gives you the strength to carry on. People are looking at you all the time and we have to set that example. That's why we're called into leadership, not to fight. We are there to stand forward and to protect everybody else.
Speaker 1:Well, and I think that's something that you probably most likely experienced in the military, in that training. So I think that's it Again. We don't have an accidental God. You're walking through the military and learning these concepts and these principles, your values, and now you're in a whole different war, and so that's an amazing thing to see how God uses all of that as you were walking through this, and so you had the council, you had the attorneys fighting for you. Share with us a little bit about the front row seat in the courtroom and moving into that whole different battlefield, if you will.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was really weird to see all of your colleagues that you've been friends with, you go to holiday parties with, we carve pumpkins, we sit in church together and now all of a sudden, they're sitting on the aisle next to us and they're closing courses. My wife, who worked for the school district. She didn't want to attend the first couple of trials because she didn't have to sit in there with her bosses. What side did she sit? On the school side or on mine? She had to face her own giant and finally come to terms with that, and that was, to earth's purge, the power of a praying wife. It was just incredible and it took forever.
Speaker 2:It took years for us to go through the court systems. We lost seven times in a row. So I kept thinking maybe we're doing something wrong. Is this me or is this really God? The things that they would say in the courtroom. It would just floor you over how people could just make up stories and present them as evidence which nobody would take that into consideration. Sitting in courtrooms is just not like you see, on law and order, where something happens and boom, boom. Next day everything's worked out. This was just loss after loss. Every time they ruled on something that was sticky. So you can imagine that my biggest fear.
Speaker 2:During all of this. I didn't even really worry about winning. It's what happens if I would lose. If I lost this, I would have been the one that was responsible for taking away the religious freedom of all Americans. That's why I turned gray overnight. It was that weight that was on my shoulders.
Speaker 2:I knew God had a plan, but I was nervous and I had my doubts throughout that and when we got to the Supreme Court, it was finally where I doubt. That's where I was like God, this is where you have to shine, because there's no other place to go. This is the final stop. I think, god. There's great people on the Supreme Court and had justices that were appointed that are conservative, that want to look at the Constitution, not the liberal things that are going on in our world. Forget about the Republican and Democrat and all of that.
Speaker 2:We're supposed to look at the laws, the way that they're written and the way the Constitution is, and the facts of those cases can balance it all. This was the first time that anybody actually did that, so hats off to the Supreme Court for actually looking at the facts of the case and looking at what happens in the Constitution, and got to correct a 50-year bad standing from old case. Lemon, which is boring, is all get out, but there were 7,000 cases that has been squashed of religious liberty over the past 30 years because of this old case and what God did was turn that around and got rid of the lemon and now we have 7,000 cases that could be no return. We could have the 10 commandments in our classroom. We could have crosses in our public square. You can have prayer anywhere you want to go. We can bring God anywhere into our public life, which is the way that it originally was intended and that's the way that freedom is supposed to work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, looking back, it's kind of like okay, lord, now I understand why you made me go through all the losses to get to the big win Brother. He was putting you on the big stage.
Speaker 2:There's much more qualified people, man, I didn't know what I was doing. I still don't know what I'm doing here. It's amazing that God can use the least likely people, and if he can use me, imagine what he could do with everybody if we all stood for strong in our faith and had that boldness.
Speaker 1:But I think that's why we do what we do. I mean the everyday person. When you go into this fight, the everyday leader in our communities, they got their head down, they're plowing, they're just doing what they do for their marriage, their family, their community. They're just doing what they do for their marriage, their family, their community. They're not looking for a fight. And I think that's what's really sad about the opposing side setting you up as if you were looking for this fight, as if you were drumming up this issue or trying to stir up strife. And so I just think it's amazing that God would say to an everyday football coach former Marine pouring into students and say, hey, I'm going to move you down a trail that you're not going to like, but in the end it's going to be worth it.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I did not like it. Let me tell you, yeah.
Speaker 1:So you mentioned something that I think people shy away from, and it's the weight that I think people shy away from, and it's the weight carrying the weight of your decision and the potential to lose how did you do that?
Speaker 2:I really don't know. I really think that God's fingerprints has been on my life throughout Everything that I went through. You could see God's fingerprints, even though I didn't see it when I was a kid, when I was living on the streets or breaking into someplace to have someplace dry to sleep, or stealing food or money so I could live. You don't see that, but those are the things that are. They can either build you and make you stronger, or they can prevent you from doing things and holding back, or they can prevent you from doing things and holding back. And I just always had that driving force that I did not want to be, you know, a victim of my past. God has made me into something strong and I want to be able to flex those muscles. I didn't want to be the guy that just gave it in. And we see that every day.
Speaker 2:People don't even know that we have faith and they don't know we're Christians in our everyday jobs. What we don't even know that we have faith and they don't know we're attritions in our everyday jobs. What we don't bring up religion, we don't bring up politics. We're afraid as human beings. This is america, the land of freedom and all of a sudden, we have lost our spine, being able to stand up if they're not leading in their community houses, in their homes, in their families.
Speaker 2:That's where I want people to start is right there on their own knees with their relationship with God, and then start branching out from there. Be the leader in your house, in your schools, in your communities, in your jobs, and then up to the state federal level. That's how it goes. State federal level that's how it goes. It just breaks it out. Instead of living in this tiny little life that we think that, oh, we want to protect this and just this is what we're responsible for. God put us, it gave us dominion over this earth and so far, I think we've done a pretty bad job of actually doing that. So I think this is our chance to really shine and turn our country around.
Speaker 1:Well, you said what you've been expressing is a principle that I know. Looking back, we could spend a lot of time talking about this, but that essential first things, what are the first things in your training? You being equipped. You had a street training that other people didn't have, training that other people didn't have. You know how bad it can get. But moving into as you progressed and grew and became stronger, more focused, and moving into the military and learning those things the military doesn't just hand you a gun and say, go shoot people.
Speaker 1:There's this equipping of what it means to be a soldier and, I think, what's been really good. From outside, looking into your life and looking back on this journey, I see an amazing process that God used to equip you along the way that you didn't even see. And I think that one thing that you said that is vitally important and I stress this in the church, I stress this with other pastors we can't ask men to be men of faith in the big community if they're not doing that everyday learning and being equipped in the marriage and family. I can't ask them to do that in the big family. They're not your marriage in the middle of all this and I don't even know those midnight stories.
Speaker 1:You know when tempers are flaring. I mean, we don't talk about those things in public, you know. But the reality is that we all have them, and how we work through that with our faith in Christ is powerful. And in the middle of that, you know this to be true. In the middle of this, you're going. I don't know how this is going to turn out, but I'm going.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you end up sometimes on the top of the mountain. Sometimes you're in the lowest of valleys and you're it's a roller coaster and you just got to. When you're on that downhill slide, it's just sometimes that's all you have is just your faith. That's a great time to press in. And then when you get up to the top of the hill, man, you just don't let it coast. That's when you really start praising the Lord. When things are great, it gives Him all the glory, all the credit, and really enjoy those things, because you know you're going to have those lows and, man, it's a never-ending battle there.
Speaker 1:Well, we're praising God for your victory. Now that you've, you're on the other side of that and I understand in my reading and just hearing your story. You went back to the high school, then you made another transition. What's that been like for you?
Speaker 2:And what? What does it look like for us who are outside looking in? Yeah, I really wanted to stay up there with the team when I when they reinstated me, but there were still the hurt feelings. They took the fun out of it and I just thought it was better that, you know, and my wife and I, that was the best thing is that after that first game I went and took my knee back on the 50-yard line. Nobody even noticed it, because the game was so good. That's the way it's supposed to be, where if somebody's playing in public, nobody should even notice it. It should be an everyday thing, not something that should raise eyebrows. And, oh, what are they doing? Man? I tell you it's there's, so there's. I can sit here and talk about this. Great, yeah, yeah, uh, we. We got called after so with the um.
Speaker 2:So after that game, we pressed in, really pressed in, my wife and I, into prayer and we said, god, how long are we in this battle for? Because I was willing to stay the rest of the year and for as long as God wanted me there. The next day we got a test results back on our father my, my wife's father down here in Pensacola, florida and we got his test results and they did not look good and it was like clear sign that God said you've done good. You, you fought a good fight, you finished the race, you remain faithful, now go serve in other places. So we got to resign. My wife and I resigned our jobs, we moved down here to Florida and now we're taking care of dad. And I'm just writing the word about the First Amendment, about God. And really, as an American, how do we deal with everyday problems and hopefully men become men and leaders in our communities and in our homes?
Speaker 1:Right. Well, that's an amazing opportunity that you have been given and as you've transitioned into this role, we here at Texas Leadership we are very thankful for you telling your story, brother. That's, it's momentous and it's amazing to see how that transition God has just walked you through all of that. Any any comments about your family impact? Looking back, now you're through what are some of the celebrations for your family? Obviously you won the victory, but what? What has God done through your faith in this process to grow your family? Have you seen your family dynamic change?
Speaker 2:Which is really interesting to see, because the only thing we asked for was to be able to be reinstated as a coach and to be able to pray. It was the only two things we asked for. Now, what God did with it is he took it to a whole new level. We have more religious liberty now than we've had in the past 50 years, which opened our eyes that God can do some amazing things. Our faith in our relationship my wife and I has just grown so much.
Speaker 2:We wrote a book that got to share the entire story of both of our lives. We have our movie coming out. Both of them are named Average Joe and we really get to share our testimony in everybody else's life. I mean really that platform. This is just crazy what God could do. Now it's going to be in theaters all over the United States. So God didn't give us a break. He put us actually into our mood. Now there's no hiding us and we've had to dig into our faith a lot because we don't hide anything. In the movie. This shows the nitty gritty of our lives and the battles that we have gone through and how faith has just sustained us. So if we can make it through this what everybody else can make it through and it kind of puts several things into perspective. But God continually pushes us and adds us, still with our past and always moving forward Right.
Speaker 1:So basically you're saying you're okay living in a fishbowl for all the world to see, I don't have a choice in that when God calls, I just ran.
Speaker 2:There are stories in the Bible about people that didn't want to do what God told them to do, and I don't like the alternative. I would rather live in the fishbowl than by the fish, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, I concur than by the fish, you know. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, I concur. I'm on that same side there with you. But it's good.
Speaker 1:The refining of our faith is, you know, from a pastor's perspective, the refining of our faith, you know, the Lord would say through James consider it all. Joy, my brother, when you encounter various trials. What's the goal? The goal is perseverance, endurance, and we can do that with joy. And we can do that. We can have joy in the middle of that storm, as we're walking through it, because we know that God is ultimately building a people of faith that will not only just worship him but glorify him, honor him and be that light in a dark world. So I am so thankful for your journey. They're everyday leaders in our local community, just showing up and being faithful. That's a win. Show up and be faithful, there's your win. Let God take the results, work on them and transform people. But for our everyday leader, any parting comments, words of encouragement, If someone else is finding themselves in a difficult spot, like you were, in any words of encouragement for them.
Speaker 2:Well, I got it tattooed on my arm because I can never remember Bible verses. But 2 Timothy 4, 7 is fight the good fight, finish your race and remain faithful. That's been my mantra, just having that verse constantly, and that's been a huge driving force for me and really was my anchor this whole entire time. And it is the simplest thing to do. We know what is right and wrong. We know that, but it might not be easy to actually do it. That's where we lose.
Speaker 2:Our faith is that we don't do it because there are easier things to do. But do this, just do what's right, because everybody's looking at you and you can either be known as a person that shied away or the person that has stepped forward and remained strong in the storm, because that sets the example for everybody else. And if I could do this, I think I can do this. So, hey, first people just continue to keep fighting. You're going to screw it up like I do every day. I ask for forgiveness 24-7, and I'm probably one of the worst Christians out there, but every day I get up with something new going. God Friday youth meet today for something good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's so refreshing, coach, just being able to say that you know, I know I'm going to make mistakes. That's not the point, we know. But that getting back up, that staying in, thank you for that kind of heart, that kind of commitment and just acknowledging you're just a man who's been saved by grace and the blood of Jesus covers all your sins, and you're excited about your Lord and just being a vessel, and that's just so wonderful, so encouraging. So I want to thank you for today, thank you for our time.
Speaker 1:I am so looking forward to you being at our Texas Leadership Summit in October and on October 5th, and so that Saturday we're going to have you, we're going to have other speakers, and this is the whole point behind all of this is just encouraging everyday leaders to step forward in their faith, have the courage to do the right thing. You nailed it, brother, when you said we know what the right thing is to do, but responding and doing the right thing, that's where the courage has to kick in. And so great example. We're thankful for your example. And if we can encourage you in any way, brother, we want to. We want to lock arms and be in this battle together. So if we can pull other leaders in the local community and across our state of Texas and beyond in other states, we want to do this. We're stronger as the body of Christ when we're united rather than being divided. So thank you for being a great soldier in the battle and we're encouraged by your story. Thank you, brother.
Speaker 2:Thank you, brother and homie, anytime you need anything.
Speaker 1:I'm always here for you all right, I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 2:Hey, we're not done, we're just getting started in this battle. So, thank you and, uh, we'll talk soon. All right, brother, we'll see you soon.