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Since 2000 Every Man Ministries has been activating men worldwide to live out their truest identity in Christ through its discipleship resources, live events, and steaming platform.
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From Dream to SEAL Determination 0:22 Hey, everybody. It's Kenny Luck. Welcome to this Everyman exclusive. I am so stoked to be catching up with my friend, Chad Williams. And you might have heard that name, because Chad is a best selling author, Chad is a0:34 former Navy SEAL, Chad is a Fox News, CNN, cable news contributor on all things military events going on in the world. They call Chad for, his perspective.0:46 In fact, Chad, that was the first time I ever heard you. I didn't hear you as a speaker. I was watching cable news, and I was listening to you talk, and the interviewer, was0:57 talking to you about, numbers of guys who are deployed in the region, and, and then Chad says, it doesn't matter how many men. Give me 1000 committed men, and we'll go get the1:09 job done. That was the first time I'm like, okay, who is this guy? And then you talk about freedom1:14 Mhmm.1:15 And how freedom is never free and that it's paid for in blood.1:19 That's right. That's the currency.1:20 That's the currency. Right. The currency of freedom is blood. So, we just had Chad at my church at Crossline Church for the Beast Feast. It was an amazing night, 800 guys. And, Chad, I gotta1:32 say, a lot of guys came to know Jesus, that night. But more than that, a lot of guys who didn't know Jesus, for the first time, they heard a man talk to them like a man. Mhmm. And it was1:44 so, appreciated by our team. But I wanna get kinda to your book, some of your story lines, talk about your kind of your personal life as a dad and a husband, talk about Jesus, and then we're gonna talk about just men's1:56 culture in general. So let's start with your book. I'm not gonna give away the whole story, but, there are a couple parts of your book that really interested me. 1 of them was you're 19 years old. You2:08 have this pipe dream, especially from your dad's perspective. Yep. Right? Yeah. 19 year old guy going to get to junior college, don't have a great track record of2:20 following through, and then you announce to your family that I'm gonna become a Navy SEAL. So your dad and did he he tracked down this guy, Scott Halvasten2:28 That's right.2:28 Who was 1 of the most accomplished Navy SEALs in history. And he said, will you give my boy a test drive?2:34 Mhmm.2:34 Right? And so you meet with Scott and he he says take off running, away from the beach into the wetlands, and you're like, where is this guy?2:43 Where is this guy?2:44 Where is this guy? And then I think you describe it like in Terminator. That's right. You know the2:48 Terminator run? That's right. Where the2:50 guy just show shows up and he starts catching you and he reels you in.2:54 Mhmm.2:55 And when he catches you, he kinda starts throwing you around.2:58 That's right.2:59 Hit you in the gut.3:00 Mhmm. Closed lined me.3:01 He oh my gosh. Okay. So he closed lined you and then he says stay 3 paces behind you. That's right. And at that moment, you're like, okay. I guess I'm gonna stay 3 paces behind you. Then you3:13 get to this at the end of the run. Mhmm. And then he asks you a question. And he said, if we would have kept going Yep. Would you have hung with me? And what was your reply?3:24 I told Scott, I'll die before I quit.3:26 Okay. So why here's my question now. That was all big lead up for Yeah. This moment. Yeah. So why did that moment in your life get you kinda to commit3:39 and to follow through? Whereas, you know, the advice of your parents or friends or teachers, why did that moment really why was that a turning point for you?3:49 I think the the lead up to it was I was miserable with my life. You know, I'm failing at the local community college. Mhmm. I used to have certain things that I did that brought me, like, identity and value with my4:00 friends, and it made me really feel like I was important. I was sponsored by Vans Shoes for skateboarding, but I wasn't really doing that anymore. You know, before that, it was baseball. Now all my peers are passing me4:11 by. I'm not even an average Joe. I'm sitting in a school parking lot failing all my classes, and it just hit me like a ton of bricks. Like, I am turning out to be a loser. I mean, the kind of guy that I never wanted to4:22 be, and I know that time is running out. It's time to fish or cut bait. So what am I doing with my life? And that saying, the greater the need, the greater the result. You know, there's a reason why some guys that are4:33 locked away in prison for life, like, they find ways to break out of those persons that are impossible to get out of, right, because they have this great sense of need. Like, I want freedom. I wanna get out of here. And4:42 so I'm brainstorming, and that's when I came up with that idea. Like, I know what I wanna do with my life. I got it in my crosshairs. Like, I wanna be a navy seal. Yeah. And once I grabbed on to that, I knew, like, this4:54 is what I really want. And then I find myself on a workout with the navy seal. And And for all I know, this guy wasn't a Navy SEAL. Like, I didn't know. I was very skeptical because I know my dad doesn't know any Navy5:03 SEALs. He shows me the computer screen, and it just says on the computer screen, can Chad come out and play tomorrow? I'm telling my dad, like, Clay, You know, like, you set up a workout with some guy you met off the5:15 Internet that's saying he was to play with me. You want me to go do this? He's like Right. He's a SEAL, son. Just go meet up with him.5:21 So Wow.5:22 On that run, as he's just smashing me into the ground, I never saw that coming. Yeah. He's on top of me. There's poof of dirt up all around me on this trail. He's ragged on me. I still have the sound of the threads of my5:33 shirt ripping, spit flying out of his mouth as he's screaming, going nuts. It's hitting me in the cheek, the forehead, and I don't understand anything he's saying.5:41 Right.5:41 But then I hear those words. Yeah. You wanna be a Navy Seal. You better stay 3 paces behind me. Yeah. And I think it was that moment right there where I realized that if I quit right now and I have the feelings. Right?5:52 Like, I'm gonna go on. This is miserable. Right. But I just knew if I quit right now, I'll forever be a quitter. Like, this is a moment that affects the trajectory of the rest of my life. Yeah. And so that's where I6:04 really determined, like, just die before you quit. And I just had the wind knocked out of me after running as fast as I can. You know this feeling6:11 where6:11 if you spit at the wrong moment, it throws off your whole breathing rhythm. Yeah. And I just had the wind knocked out of me. This goes on for a handful of miles. We get to the end of the trail, though, where he circles6:19 up. He's pacing back and forth. I don't know what the deal is with this guy. I'm thinking no direct eye contact. Oh, yeah.6:25 He's, like, walk he's, like like, not talking to6:27 you. Yeah. He's Like, he wants to beat me up some more. And so I'm thinking, just look down. No direct eye contact. Just use your peripherals. Don't Yeah. And that's when he says, you know, if we would have gone another6:38 mile or 2, would you have stayed with me? And I just told him, Scott, I'll die before I quit.6:42 There's something to that. There's something to, somebody a man confronting a man on being a man. I always say men become men in the company of men.6:54 That's right.6:54 You know, we don't become men in the company of women. And it's true sociologically around the world. There is this we all have to be be given at least a chance Mhmm. To respond. And,7:07 I bet your your dad and your family were just like, okay. Right, Chad. And then your dad sends you out with, you know, lord knows who. You don't know who this guy is. And then you have that7:18 moment. I'll I'll die before I quit. And then that really kinda is the headline.7:24 Mhmm.7:25 Because then you go into BUDS.7:27 That's right.7:28 You go into BUDS after that with kind of that head steam, that experience. And this is another moment in the book that really, caught caught my attention. It was, you're 2 weeks before,7:41 your graduation. Mhmm. And you see the news report about Scott. Your mentor Yeah. Well, let's go back on that. Trainer. Yeah. He what7:49 it was was we'll7:49 have to7:50 go back because it wasn't 2 weeks before graduate. It was 2 weeks before going in.7:53 Oh, 2 weeks before going in.7:55 That's right.7:55 Okay. So your mentor is killed in Iraq?8:00 That's right.8:00 Or okay. Yep. In Fallujah?8:02 Fallujah, Iraq.8:02 Okay. Fallujah, Iraq. He's killed. He's on the news. He's being dragged around the street. And you have this, like, okay. Now I even wanna be a SEAL even more.8:11 Right? Much more. Oh, yeah. Because I wanted revenge. Yeah. You know? Scott was like a second father to me, so he went from this guy that was really just giving me that test fire, that rite of passage. Like, I respected8:23 him, and I loved him that much more for what he did to me. I needed that.8:26 So that was a in BUDS, that was a driving force for you.8:29 Absolutely. I had his name written on the inside of my hat.8:32 Oh my god.8:33 So anytime it got difficult and I began to hurt, I would just glance up. And you have that hat on pretty much everywhere you go. Yeah. Even when you got a boat on top of your head. Scott's name. I see his name. Scott8:42 Helvinsten. Wow. And it's like, you're gonna have to kill me to take this out of me. Wow. Like, I will have to drop dead before I ever reach over and ring a bell and say, I'm ringing out. I'm I'm done with this. Right.8:51 So vengeance is kinda part of the fuel of your fire. Yeah. It is. The fuel. I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna do this. I know what I wanna do. But then when Scott is killed in Fallujah, your mentor, then it's double9:02 fuel.9:03 Oh, yeah.9:03 Then you get to the end of BUDS, 1 73 start, 13 finish. You get your Trident, and, I love this this description. You say it was the happiest day in my life and 1 of the saddest days9:15 of my life because, you had achieved the ultimate.9:19 Mhmm.9:20 Right? But then it's a lonely moment because you've achieved the ultimate, but yet it didn't give you what you wanted because after that, after you get your TriNet, you go back home.9:31 That's right.9:31 And what happens when you go back home? After this amazing9:34 Huge expectation of, like, once I become a SEAL, even after what happened to Scott, I'm thinking, you know, I'm just gonna walk in his footsteps. You know, what I need is, you know, I just I need some closure with this,9:45 and and maybe it's, you know, just, you know, filling those shoes, becoming a seal, doing this in honor, memory of him. The last conversation I ever had with him on the phone, which I didn't know is gonna be the last9:55 conversation, but it was just before he goes off to Iraq and just before I go off to boot camp, he says, I wanna tell you something that I've never told anybody I've ever trained before. And so there was a silence, and I10:05 know this is an important moment right now. This is 1 of those things. I'm gonna burn this into my memory. So it's like, send it. And he says, I know you're gonna make it through SEAL training. And so to have those10:16 words, that's the last communication. I didn't even know that that was gonna be it. Yeah. And then just a matter of days later, I'm turning on a television. I'm seeing Scott when I shouldn't be seeing Scott smiling on a10:26 screen. And I'm like, why is he on TV right now? I thought he's supposed to be off in Iraq, and he's on TV all the time because he's this phenomenal athlete. He was a youngest SEAL, like you mentioned. He's a world10:36 champion, an athlete. He was the only man to ever beat the beast on a TV program that was called man versus beast. Where he raced a chimpanzee through an obstacle course and pulled ahead of that monkey on monkey bars.10:46 Right?10:46 Yeah.10:46 And so I'm just thinking it's another show he's on. Yeah. And then I see in the lower third of the screen, though, his birth date followed by a dash, and it says March 30 first 2004. And before I could process in my10:57 mind, like, the meaning of that, I didn't have a chance because then it cuts to just graphic video footage, and this is the guy that I know. You know? This is the guy that when I'm sitting in the passenger seat in the11:08 truck, I have those memories of, like, looking over at him, his arm up on the wheel Yeah. And thinking, like, I wanna be just like him. I wanna be I want my arms to be just like Scott's 1 day, taking, like, funny little11:19 mental pictures. And and, and now I'm looking at those same arms on a screen, and he's lifeless. Right. And so I just went through all the emotions, you know. It's like, I even went through denial. I thought maybe he has11:29 some secret covert operation. I didn't know how it all worked. Right. You know, that he had to fake a death, but at the same time, it's like, I know what I saw. I know who I saw there. Right. As he's hanging upside down11:39 from a bridge now, and they're setting him on fire and chanting in Arabic over and over for Lucius, the graveyard of Americans, I think you can kind of pick up a sense of why suddenly now I would have this rage and this11:49 vengeance.11:49 Yeah. You have you have all that kind of inside. Mhmm. Then you go to graduation, then you go back to your hometown.11:57 Mhmm.11:59 And you have, like, this this this public private thing going on. Right. Publicly, you're a seal. You're you you made the seal. You have your trident. You have this persona outwardly. You have the label.12:11 You have the designation. But then inwardly, it's kinda like12:16 Man, I was falling apart.12:18 Yeah. Yeah. And and I felt like12:20 I was I would have been better off never becoming a seal and and and and feeling like at least I can, like, go after trying to become a seal, though, because that gave me drive. That gave me something to12:32 invest into. I had a goal. But now that I have arrived, it's almost like the Wizard of Oz. It's a scene behind the curtain. It's like, this is all that it is? Like, I'm still just the same man. I put so much into12:44 becoming a seal thinking that it would deliver the ultimate for me, that I'll get some type of closure with what happened with Scott. Yeah. And that day was 1 of the happiest, most fulfilling moments of my life. But12:53 within that same 24 hours, it was 1 of the lowest times because I had this expectation that it would just deliver Nirvana from that point forward. And I realized that if this goal like, I'm left13:05 hungry and thirsty for something more when I can't even think of, like, what's next. If this doesn't do it, nothing will. And that's where you get those words by Ravi Zacharias. He says, 1 of the loneliest moments a man13:15 will ever experience is when he's achieved that which he thought would deliver the ultimate, in the end, it lets him down. Let's him down. That was me. And I heard those words years later, and it just took me right back13:24 to graduation day. That's what I experienced.13:26 Right.13:27 And so, you know, like you said, having this sort of public persona, all my family, my friends are like, you did it. You're a seal. You gotta be on top of the world. Right. I would play into it, you know, just like most13:37 men out there. I'm not gonna really let them know how I feel underneath it all. I'm not gonna show any kind of vulnerability. And so I'm just like, oh, yeah. Rockstar living a dream. When the truth was, I was more13:47 miserable at that stage of my life than I'd ever been. And it13:50 And your behavior kinda, like, in that zone was, like, self destructiveAchievement's Empty High and Rock Bottom 13:56 That's right.13:56 Almost. It was like, hey. I'm gonna park. And what cracks me up is that in that, like, malaise and, you know, it's sort of like you were an iceberg. People only saw the tip.14:07 That's right.14:08 They could not see every the substance of what was going on inside of you under the waterline. And then you're, you you cut you get in a fight or something happens with your14:20 and and your hand gets blood and you start putting blood in the walls of your home.14:25 And this had to be retold to me because what happened was I went out with some friends. I really adopted this whole since I don't feel really anything anymore, what really stimulates me makes me feel to go out and drink14:36 and just cut loose with the guys. And so I looked at it as, like, I'm a SEAL. Work hard. Play hard.14:42 Yeah.14:42 Okay. So Yeah. We had stolen 2 kegs of beer from Orange Circle at a beer fest, and we stashed 1 of my dad's garage.14:49 Oh, that's14:49 right. Drank 1 up that night, and that was what brought me to that state of just just blackout. Okay. And so You can't14:56 even remember.14:57 I don't even remember.14:58 But the14:58 consciousness know I need to get 26 stitches in my knuckles, and I do know that I'm going down the 5 freeway waking up, coming back to consciousness, and I'm in a car, and it's dark and I don't know what car am I in,15:10 what's going on right now, and I'm flipping on the light because I'm in that back seat and suddenly I hear he's awake, and it's my mom and my dad's driving.15:20 You're you're in your parents' car.15:21 In my parents' car. And I'm like, what's going on? My arm's all wrapped up in something, and I'm trying to unwrap it. And she goes, look at your hand. And so that's when I see this huge gash in my hand, and I go, what15:32 happened? And that's where they told me, you came to our house last night, and you were out of your mind Wow. Spreading blood all over the walls like a maniac. Wow. And they're confronting me. They're like, this is it.15:42 You know? Like, you're gonna get yourself killed or somebody else killed. We don't know what your deal is. Like, you became a seal, and you're blowing all of it. Like, you know, you're not welcome at our home anymore.15:51 And so that was some tough love.15:53 There's another brick Yeah. On on your on the emotional stack.15:57 I wish I could tell you. I felt remorse when they told me all that. I laughed at it. I was like, really? You guys don't appreciate how crazy and funny that is. But you Wait till the guys of the team said16:06 all this. You were like, okay. But I gotta be here. And you're like, alright. I need to score some points. And so how do I do that? I'll do something spiritual.16:16 Because I16:17 don't know that's something that they want. What cracks me up is that it was a manipulation that turned into salvation for you.16:24 That's a good way to put it.16:26 I I did. I put I put, wait, he wants to get that other keg of beer that he hid in the garage Right. And then he's gonna, like, he needs to be around that keg of beer Right. So he's gotta get some he's gotta put some16:37 coins in the bank. Right. So how do I put coins in the bank? I'm gonna go to church. I'll go to and that's when and they invite you to the Harvest Crusade, and that's when you gave your life, Chris.16:46 It was an event very similar to the Crusades.16:48 It's an16:48 outdoor event that was happening at Calvary Chapel. It's called Big Tent Revival. But that pastor, Greg Laurie, he is the 1 that's gonna be speaking there.16:56 Oh, yeah.16:56 And, you know That's great. Yeah. For me, I was getting stitched up by the doc at the team, and he's just wrapping up. I'm sobering up. And as I'm recalling any parts of the night I can remember, I do remember, hey.17:07 There's another cake of beer that we didn't crack into. And so that's just where I was at. After all that17:12 We were laughing at your parents.17:13 Yeah. We're like You guys don't get it. You guys don't get it. This is a crazy like, as if it was some type of, like, you know, story to tell. Like, I did what? Like and I go to the teams and, you know, even the guys in17:24 the teams, they're like, dude, like, what17:27 did you do? Right?17:28 And I was just like, You know? Because it was that work hard, play hard mentality. I thought it was bragging rights.17:33 Yeah.17:34 Just stupid. Right? Okay. And so I get back, and I'm trying to get to that keg of beer, and my dad's like, what are you doing here? And I'm not gonna tell him. I'm not gonna tell him, like, I just wanna get to that keg,17:44 but I could tell he's really not gonna let me inside like he said. And so that's where it was the manipulation.17:50 I17:50 was brainstorming and thinking, well, they've always been trying to get me to go to church. It's been years and years since I've gone. It's not like I'm an atheist. I do believe in God, but they're so worried about me17:59 that maybe I should just throw them a bone. I could suffer through it. I'll punch my card in at church, and by the time this thing's over, it's an evening thing. It'll be over by 8 39 o'clock at night. I don't even18:09 start, really. I don't even start till, like, 10 or 11. So we'll go home. I'll fall off their radar as they go to sleep. I'll grab that keg of beer, and it's a win win situation. I18:18 love it. You know what I love? I love that, you know, the mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his way.18:24 That's right.18:25 You know, it's it's sort of like, you know, God's like, oh, now I got him exactly where I want him.18:29 Oh, yeah.18:30 He's he's got the plan. Well, your story is, you know, hundreds of thousands of people have heard your testimony about you being there at that crusade. And it just so happens the passage is about a18:41 warrior named Naaman. He's an airman general. He has the has the outer Mhmm. Has the outer guard, but underneath the armor is the leprosy. And I love how you just kinda connect your own18:53 life and you you you talk about how all of us have imperfections and shortcomings and it's called sin. And, and just how Naaman to be cleansed, he had to come into the water.19:05 That's right.19:05 When you were talking to the men at our church, I'm talking about, you know, to be cleansed you have to come to living water and you have to, you have to embrace Christ, and you unpack how he died for our sin19:17 and just how personal that was for you in that moment that you go to this thing they're talking about a warrior and, he's got he's got problems that he can't solve on his own. You can read about19:29 that in the book as well. But I wanna I kinda wanna move on with the time that we have together. 1 of the things I wanted to ask you is, you know, you're in your story, 1 73Show more In this video 0:00 From Dream to SEAL Determination13:54 Achievement's Empty High and Rock Bottom19:35 SEAL Mindset: Common Man, Uncommon Desire30:51 Family, Fatherhood, and Masculine StrengthComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
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