Skip to content You Don’t Have to be Church Bred! Apr 23 · 28 min ...more
You Don’t Have to be Church Bred!
April 23, 2026 · 28 min
Series Pray TV April 23, 2026 · 28 min · Pray TV
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0:00 In today's episode, we're gonna have a fun ride with Jason Powell, associate pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship, telling us how easy it is to connect with millennials today. And then Chad0:12 Williams will tell us how his fulfillment of being a Navy Seal pales in comparison to fulfillment and excitement of sharing his faith every day. Hi. I'm Barry Maguire, a0:24 car guy, a businessman, and an ignited Christian having fun moving everyone every day closer to Jesus. Those small in numbers and without Bibles or churches, early church0:36 Christians turned their world upside down. We want to ignite your life by showing you what early church Christians looked like today.0:48 I'm on my way to pick up Jason Powell of Harvest Christian Fellowship, who's 1 of the coolest, craziest, fun loving fish shares I know. He's infectious because he's real.0:58 There ain't no way. I called for Uber and this pulls up.1:05 Yes. How you doing?1:08 I'm doing great. This is incredible. Are you kidding me?1:12 Well, had to have a cool car for the cool guy, you know. I had to do something special.1:16 Well, you outdid yourself. This is insane.1:18 2005 Ford GT limited edition retro car, padded off the original GT 40, you know. It was the second fastest production car at the time back in 2005. 550 horsepower, 61:30 speed, you know, mid engine, of course,1:32 all the Can I get in?1:33 Well, I1:33 wanna get in. It's gonna see you, It's1:35 very good to see you. Welcome.1:36 I can't wait. I gotta do yoga to get in. Yeah. This is awesome.1:43 I mean, this car is faster than the original GT 40.1:48 I can't believe it's just a normal key. That's insane.1:50 Yeah. Let's go have fun.1:55 Man, this thing's smooth.1:57 So let's go back to the beginning for your Christian. Well, you weren't always a Christian.2:00 I was a grew up2:01 not a Christian. Wait for the Lord. You didn't know.2:03 That's right. No. I we went to church every once in a while. I would say somebody dies Over or somebody gets married. But you know what? This is what happened, man. Is I in the early years, I had some questions and I2:14 really doubted God. It wasn't that I was an atheist. Was more an agnostic. Like, I don't I don't think I need God. And so I'm just gonna live my life.2:20 Probably like most people today. Majority of people. Okay. You're speaking for most of people that we walk by every day.2:26 It's true. Okay. And so it's not that I was hard against God. It's just like, hey, maybe I don't need2:29 the big2:29 guys upstairs. Yeah. Okay.2:30 Out of high school, I got invited to come to a church. I was working at a gym and some guy came up to me and said, don't you come to church with me? And I said, are there cute girls there? So I went to church for the2:42 cute girls. Yeah. When I was there, guess Yeah. I did see a cute girl but I also I heard a message I'd never heard before. I had heard that, man, I was empty on the inside that God alone could fill that emptiness, that2:53 empty void. I trusted in Jesus. Let me tell you, my life has never looked the same. It's never looked the same. From that first moment that I came into a relationship with Jesus Christ, man, I wanted everybody to know3:05 it. I went the next day and was talking to somebody about Jesus Christ.3:08 Wait a minute. That's that's not3:10 okay. I kinda felt like I had found the cure to cancer and I wanted to run up and down the hallways of the hospital and and give it out,3:19 you know.3:19 That's the way I was viewing it. Is this true?3:22 Okay. Did did I miss something here? You went to church3:25 I did.3:25 And you got this knowledge, but did you kinda make a decision? I mean, when did you make a decision for Christ? When did that happen?3:31 It was that night. That night? That night.3:33 First service?3:34 First time there.3:35 Oh, my goodness.3:36 I heard the gospel.3:36 You were3:37 an accident waiting to happen.3:38 It's true.3:39 I You know what? If you're hungry, most people are, but they never have an opportunity to hear the clear message. Right. Right? A clear presentation of what God's all about.3:47 And that's exactly what happened is I heard that Jesus Christ came, lived on the earth a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose again from the dead.3:55 Yeah.3:55 I put that faith in him. I trusted in him and my sin was forgiven. The guilt was gone. I felt renewed. It's like this prison door swing open and I came running out. I felt freedom for the first time in my4:07 life. Wow. And so Wow. You know this, like, once you taste it, you want everyone to taste it. Like a good meal, you know? Yeah. You know, like, you have a good burrito, you call your buddy and say, hey, this was an4:16 amazing burrito.4:16 You have4:17 to go eat there. I'm a good 5 star Yelp review of Jesus Christ right now. Yeah. Life's been changed.4:22 And we never stopped.4:23 And I want other people to taste it.4:24 Okay. Here's what happens normally. Alright. Somebody gets saved in our church. Alright? Yeah. What do we do? Their normal inclination, they wanna go tell somebody. A it's called the first work. First thing you do.4:33 What's the first thing everybody has? I was I was blind and now I see. Right? Yeah. You have that. I mean, that's a natural inclination you wanna tell somebody. That's right. But what do we do? Let's see. Not just say,4:43 let's see, you have kids. We can put you in the children's department or you sing. We have a great musical department or we use our help with the youth or whatever. And we never say to them, now that you're saved, you4:53 have this sort of experience. Let us teach you how show you how easy it is to share your faith. We never do that to new Christians. We don't do that. Are we thinking when it's the number 1 task?5:05 I agree with you 100 percent.5:07 And the reason you're so happy ever since because you kept doing it. Right?5:10 Absolutely. Oh, I I think once you taste it, like, get a taste of it. You see someone come to faith because you share5:16 the good5:17 news with them. It's 1 of the highlights of life and life.5:19 Well, you speak on stage, you speak to lots, so you do lots of things. Right. But is there anything that matches?5:24 No, there's nothing.5:25 Know your God's using you to impact somebody right there that just happened.5:30 And that was the thing. God brings into your life. I was a nobody. I mean, I worked I was just doing simple construction, doing drywall, and on that next day is when I shared the gospel with this guy on the job site.5:40 Wow. And I think the average person, you know, I think Barry Wow. The average person for some reason thinks that they can't do this. You know, like they're5:47 Only the pastors or only those people they have to do it. They don't think that5:51 it's their job. But it's so much easier.5:53 And they're not gifted or they're not trained.5:56 And and that's true. Maybe we aren't gifted and we aren't trained, but that's just a requirement. You know, generally when I'm sharing my faith with somebody Yeah. This is what I do, is I invite them to church first6:04 thing. Secondly, I ask them a main question. Yeah. I ask them, hey, if you were to die today, where do you think6:10 you would go?6:10 I have found it's easier to share your faith when you ask questions6:14 Yeah.6:14 Than it is just to go in and just bombard them with statements.6:17 Yeah. Yeah.6:17 Okay. There was a funny story. Let me tell you real quick. There was 1 time I was laying in bed with my wife and it was right before we fell asleep. I got a text on my phone. I don't know if you've ever gotten like the6:26 wrong number before someone texted Oh, sure. So this person texted me and said, hey, asked for a person. I said, oh, sorry you've got the wrong number. And then I thought, you know what? This is a perfect opportunity to6:36 share my faith. And so not even kidding. So I just text back real simple, hey, if you were to die today, where do you think you would go? Right? I did. I did. And they responded back, what? Like, are you serious? I'm6:48 like, yeah, I'm serious. They're like, hell? I'm like, oh, really? Listen. It started developing very, very quickly. I preached the gospel over text message over a wrong number. I preached the gospel.6:59 I answered questions. Did you know this? He prayed to receive Christ over text message. I sent him a link to7:06 our website. Over miss misspent text7:08 message. Yeah. Even there are no wrong numbers in God's economy. Right? Like, and I think that goes in everyday life. Like, encounter we have with people around us, it's not by accident. No. It's not. You know,7:20 currently I live next to just a couple that, you know, live a different lifestyle, alternative lifestyle than we do. They k. They believe different. They really don't want anything to do with with God or with the Bible.7:31 Yeah.7:31 So guess what me and my wife do? We love them, man. Exactly what you said. I've been mowing their lawn. My wife for them on a regular basis. Really? And you know, when things go wrong in their life, where do they come7:41 for Yeah. They come to be. His dad recently, Justine had some health problems and his mom passed away.7:45 Wow.7:46 Guess where he came for prayer?7:47 Wow. My house. Wow.7:49 I think we should love the people7:50 in our7:51 life even if they want nothing to do with it. Oh. Like love them, bless them, give them things that would show that you're trustworthy and that what you believe has changed you.7:59 You can't beat people into heaven. You just can't you have to love people into heaven. That's true. God's about love. We keep telling you how bad they are. You know, you're living in sin, all that. God's message is he8:10 loves us right where we're at.8:11 Not too long ago, I I had the tendency of losing things and I lost my wallet. I accidentally left it at the gas station. I go home, I'm looking for it, can't find it. I go back to church that night. We're in small group8:23 and I get an email saying that someone had just bought gas at a gas station with my my credit8:28 card. Really?8:28 So I'm like, what? No way. So I got all my guys together and we ran to the parking lot. We got in my car and we, I mean, drove the speed limit over to the gas station. When we got there, was8:40 profiling everybody trying to find like, who stole my wallet? Who is this guy charging my account? As we look across the street, we see people walking in a Jack in the Box. I pull over there, as I walk as I go pull up, I8:52 I asked them, hey, excuse me, real quick. Question for you. I lost my wallet. I'm just wondering if you happen to have it. They're like, no, we don't have your wallet. What are you thinking? And I look at the girl, I9:02 say, hey, do you have my wallet? She's like, yes, Jason Powell. We do have your wallet. I'm like, you know my name, honey. You know my name. She's like, that's9:08 all you want.9:09 I'm like, oh my gosh. And I'm like, you know what? My brother's a cop. I should call the cops. Like, oh, no. Don't do that. You know? And I thought, you know what? Here's a good opportunity. Yeah. Instead of giving you9:19 what you deserve, this is what I did. Craziest thing. God in the gave grace. I think often God puts things in our hearts, you know, to to use later. In that moment, I you know, I think I should give you what you deserve,9:30 but instead, how about we go inside? I'm gonna buy you whatever you want from Jack. We go in there. I buy him a meal.9:36 I love it.9:36 I love love His name's Anton and Lisa. Uh-huh. We sit down over the meal, meal, and this is what they said. They said, why would you do this? Why would you give us what we don't deserve? I said, that's just the thing.9:48 It's the9:50 truth of salvation.9:51 I have charged up debt on God's account. I have disobeyed And guess what he's given me? Yeah. What I don't deserve. That night, Anton came to know the Lord10:01 in Jack in the Box. Goodness.10:03 The point being there are no That is it. That is it.10:07 Use wallet and you could've put him in jail. He coulda had a horrible life the rest of his life. All the things that coulda gone negative. And instead, you gave him grace and10:19 in in in in in brought 2 people into eternity.10:23 And this is what I think for the everyday person, you know, is that sharing your faith isn't as difficult as you think it is. I think it's just an everyday conversation with someone about spiritual things, dealing with10:35 specifically Jesus Christ. But what we have to understand is that we're called to preach the gospel, Barry. You know, saying Jesus loves you or God bless you, that's not the gospel. It's our job as believers to say,10:46 listen, God loves you and he's proven his love by sending Jesus to die for you. If you trust him, he will remove your sin. He will remove the guilt and the shame. He will come in your life.10:58 He will give you meaning and purpose in life and he's gonna hook you up with heaven when you die, which is like awesome. Wow. Our job is to preach the gospel and I think I don't think I know that everyone11:10 can do it as believers and it's a lot easier than we make it out to be.11:14 Every everyone can do it. Everyone is called by God to11:18 do11:18 it.11:19 That's right. I think there's joy in giving and giving that gospel will light your life.11:24 I love it. I love it. That was awesome, baby.11:28 It was incredible. Thanks so much for today.11:30 You live. You practice what you preach. That's what I love. Your joy shows through. So keep her up, baby.11:36 Thanks again for today, man. Really appreciate it. God bless you, Barry.11:39 When your actions match your words, your words have power. And Jason's words have power because he walks his talk. Up next, former Navy SEAL Chad Williams tells us in a sea of cars11:50 how face sharing is the most exciting part of his life. Back where I'm the happiest amongst cool cars,12:02 let's hear what prompted Chad Williams to start sharing his faith in the midst of his being a Navy SEAL. So Chad, you come to face sharing from a whole different perspective. I mean, you're a warrior. I mean, by12:14 gracious, the life you've had.12:16 Yeah. Yes, sir. I mean, we're all warriors to 1 degree in second Timothy 2. Right? It says we're all we are. But, yeah, I'm a former US Navy SEAL.12:24 Yeah. My respect for you and all your comrades. I mean, huge respect.12:29 Thank you.12:29 What was your inspiration? Go back right quick. We we were talking about sharing faith, to get into the seals and and all this. Sure. What Yeah. How did that all happen?12:37 Sometimes the greater the need, greater the result. And, I felt like I had a great need to do something with my life because I wasn't doing well in junior college, not passing any of my classes. So, I just thought, how12:46 could I turn this around? Wanna do big, something great, something significant with my life.12:51 I grew12:51 up in a in a Christian household, but I hit a certain point going into that first college year where it was kinda like, that's the family's thing.12:57 Yeah. It's not12:57 so much my thing anymore. I'd say I'm on that team. Yeah. But, I wasn't exactly living a Christian life.13:03 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You had other priorities. Okay. And so, did that change for you?13:07 March fourteenth, 2007.13:09 Okay.13:09 Tell me.13:09 So, fast forward now.13:10 I've made13:10 it through SEAL training. I've become a Navy SEAL. I'm in a team. I put so much into becoming a SEAL believing this is gonna deliver the ultimate for me. Yeah. I mean, I could live off of this for the rest of my life.13:20 Wow. I've climbed to the top.13:22 You really well, you have to be, don't you?13:24 That's right. Ravi Zacharias, he says, 1 of the loneliest moments a man will ever experience. When he's achieved that which he thought would deliver the ultimate. In the end Yeah. It lets him down.13:33 Yeah. Isn't that true? I mean, we have all these goals and they become like gods to us. I I wanna get that job or this accomplishment or this fame, but 100 years from now, they're meaningless. It doesn't Oh. It means13:44 nothing. We have all these things that we have for a short period of time and they keep us from understanding13:50 what it's all about. Isn't that crazy? The wisest man that ever walked the face of this planet, you know, he frames it this way. What's it profit a man if he gains the whole world? But in the end Exactly. Loses his That14:01 says it completely.14:03 Fast forward into the SEAL teams,14:04 you14:04 know, March 14 2007, I find myself agreeing to go to an event where pastor Greg Laurie was speaking. And he was speaking on the topic of a soldier by the name of Naaman.14:14 Yeah.14:14 Who's his commander. Yeah. He's had great success in battles. Got this14:17 Was that not amazing timing? I mean, yeah, here I'm not gonna be14:21 a Navy SEAL if I'm gonna come to church. Yeah. And the way I was looking at it then was I'm just punching my card in. I didn't really have sincere motives of being there. Naaman's this mighty man of valor, then you find14:30 out Naaman had leprosy. And leprosy during Naaman's time, Jesus looked back and said, nobody during the time of Naaman ever been healed of leprosy. How quickly I relate with that man. So much for all this success, this14:41 outward persona, the armor that you wear, when in reality, who are you really underneath it all? So Naaman was deteriorating, falling apart, he was a dead man walking. That's where I felt I was. I felt like at that stage14:52 of my life, I'm a dead man walking. Leprosy is a picture of sin. Imagine the mess of just being spotted and blotted, all the blemishes. Right? Jesus, he lives a holy pure15:03 Yeah.15:03 Sinless life. Yeah. And so he was without blemish. He goes to the cross and this is what really struck me that night. He says, Jesus trades skin with you and I. He takes our leprosy, our sin as it were upon himself,15:15 so we could be left with God's grace and his mercy. Immediately, I believed it's true. I believe he's the savior. And not just that, I I grasped the idea of Lord.15:38 Reporting for duty. Right?15:39 Right. It's not just thanks. See you when I get to heaven. It's like, no. What would you have me do?15:43 Most Christians do that. They accept the Lord and they're basically just hanging out till heaven15:46 comes. Unfortunately.15:47 And and15:48 they're not doing it. They're just sitting on the bench bored out their minds and they're not they don't realize they're in they're in full service. We we have responsibility for those under influence.15:56 If we believe Jesus' words are true, when he says Yeah. Wide is the gate, broad is the way that leads to destruction. There are many that go in by it. He's talking about hell. Then we ought to be doing something.16:06 You became a Christian, but then was there a lag time or when did you start saying, I need to get into the game. I need to I I get this great news. I wanna do something. I wanna tell people. How did that start16:17 for I really hit the ground running because it was like, I remember that night very clear. It was like I breathe something in that was just right here all this time and I didn't even realize it. And so how that switch16:27 went on, how I see, I hear, I understand, I thought this is possible for anybody else as well. Like, how could I be missing it? It was so close. So, I immediately went to my brother, you know, to my sister, who I wasn't16:39 a good example, you know, to them. So, started at the house. I went to the guys on my team.16:43 They must have been saying, where did that come from? Right. What happened to Chad?16:46 Totally. Yeah. They were just like, wow. I was raising eyebrows probably for the wrong reasons in the beginning because I was like a bull in a china shop. I'm just trying to convert everybody and16:55 Right. Right.16:56 Don't know exactly how to present it.16:58 Right. You start with your family and then now there's this rest of the world. So how17:02 do So start with the family. I'm telling the guys at the team, and I just knew I should be sharing this with people out in the street. So I started doing street evangelism immediately. Huntington Beach Pier, you know,17:12 I'm I'm HP local. And so I I felt an a kinship towards, you know, my people. How were at17:18 this 0,17:19 weeks. Weeks Yeah. If that. So, you have17:22 to understand, most of the people that are watching this right now don't share their faith at all. Mhmm. Okay? That's right. So, they're not gonna go from where they are this moment out on the beach and start preaching17:31 to thousands of people. They're not gonna do that. Right. But, it's instinct. I mean, we're all different. Right? That's God did prompt you to do it. I wanna capture that right quick. You're a brand new Christian. It's17:40 that's And, you're going17:40 out and and you you have this fervor and zeal. Can you put a spotlight on thatShow more
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