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Welcome to The Overflow—the bonus round of faith and real-life conversation with Brandon and Susan Thomas. Every week, they unpack the powerful insights, behind-the-scenes experiences, and personal reflections that didn’t quite fit into Sunday’s sermon.
This is where the conversation gets practical, honest, and a little bit unscripted. Whether it's an encouraging word, a deeper dive into Scripture, or a hilarious moment from their week, Brandon and Susan bring fresh perspective and spiritual fuel to keep you going.
It’s real talk, fresh takes, and full hearts.
These are the conversations too good to cut and too real to miss.
Welcome to The Overflow, and today I have an incredible dear friend who is joining me, and this is a long time coming. I have known David Nasser since I was a young teen, and that sounds weird to say, but I've known him since I was young, I was in school, high school, and he came in and was one of the most gifted speakers as I was receiving, and now I have the incredible privilege to say that we've become friends, and we'll be at Keystone on July 5 that weekend, and I just can't wait for him to be here, but I thought, let's hop on, because David has a particular story for this moment. David Nasser, welcome to The Overflow, my friend.
Speaker 2:Man, it's so good to be with you. The backstory of us knowing each other for a long time is, man, your dad is such a legend. I mean, you walk in the shadow of a giant of faith And and by the way, I'm so proud of you, what God's doing through Keystone and you and your faithfulness, man. And so you're creating your own path and God's got such an anointing on your life. I remember like coming in and really I was not the speaker, you know, like Jay Strack would be the speaker or Stanley would be the speaker, and I was the intern, which basically, man, I sold t shirts in the back of the lobby of your dad's church, and I remember the Thomas boys, and just going, man, he is raising up the new generation, and so it's good to be with you.
Speaker 2:Can't wait. July 5?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Come on, bro.
Speaker 1:Come on.
Speaker 2:You booked an Iranian for fourth of July weekend.
Speaker 1:Yes. Rockets red, Blair, bombs bursting
Speaker 2:Let's in go. The
Speaker 1:It's gonna be awesome. And we thank you for agreeing to the dress code today. Had to do denim jackets, I appreciate that. But hey, man, David, thank you for coming. And for everybody that is excited about July 5, one of the cool things about your story is this moment, you are an Iranian American, that's been a I've part of your heard your story for so long, but I think it would have blessed so many to just hear kind of your journey and your story.
Speaker 1:I mean, in this moment, wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, like you said, I'm originally I was born in the country of Iran. So I'm originally from Iran and in 1979, Brandon, when the Ayatollah Khomeini and its religious took over our country, there was a revolution. And during that revolution, my family and I were forced to escape from Iran. We I call it religion gone wrong. It was more than that.
Speaker 2:It was a political thing and it was a cultural thing and it was it was about a cocktail of fifteen, twenty different things that went wrong there, but I remember those days being days where everything that we knew to be certain was being turned upside down. And my dad at that time, Brandon, was high ranked in the military in Iran, and so as everybody who was anybody was getting replaced, some of them killed and everything, we knew we had to get out. And so in a pretty dramatic fashion, we went and we paid these doctors that my mom had been going to see for some heart issues that she'd had. And we said, look, we need to get out of Iran, can we leverage this medical excuse as our way out? And so they got in on the plan with us, we gave them money and things to help, you know, kind of sweeten the deal for them, and my mom acted like her heart was bothering her one afternoon, it was all fabricated, and they took her in this place in the back of this hospital and they came out and said she needs emergency bypass surgery, and the family should go along with her to Switzerland for this surgery, that's where the technology is needed for, I mean that is there, so we bought two airline tickets, like we going for the surgery, but even though we bought two way airline tickets, we had no intention of coming back.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And we got the house sitters on that, and we were running away for our lives. And I remember Brandon literally just holding my dad's hand in the airport, and his hand just kept shaking, and he kept saying if they find out we're escaping, they're gonna kill us right here on the spot. But as you know, man, like, when you look back at your story so often in life, you see how in hindsight, God was actually holding you when you actually thought maybe he was even hurting you or had abandoned you. And I look back at my life and even before we knew him, he knew us. And like it says in Isaiah 40 one:nine and 10, man, God just put us in his righteous right hand and helped us.
Speaker 2:And he got us out of Iran, we went to Switzerland, and we got stuck in Europe for nine months trying to become refugees in America because the Iranian revolution had happened. People were watching on TV how Iran was at that time burning the American flag, calling America the great Satan, how they'd held 50 plus hostages from the American embassy in Iran, and so man, we were from the wrong place at the wrong time, trying to get over to The States, and we were hitting a wall. And so for nine months we were stuck in Europe, We tried legally every way illegally every way we could, and then God miraculously opened the doors after nine months for us to come to America. And and bro, I mean, I know your church is in the middle of the heart of Texas, and so this will really hit home. We moved to America, and we don't move to Los Angeles or Erangelis, as we like to call it.
Speaker 2:We don't move to New York. We moved to Killeen, Texas.
Speaker 1:My goodness.
Speaker 2:The largest army base in the world. Yeah. Military town in patriotic Texas, Iranians move in. You know what I mean? Like, during all of that stuff that's going on.
Speaker 2:And so we are like wedgies waiting to happen, know? So we come in, I got the wrong haircut, the wrong clothes. I'm like, hello, I am David, and they're like, you're so gonna get beat up today after school. And we'd escaped halfway across the world to honestly unplug from one kind of terrorism, physical, and plug into a whole other kind emotional. Wow.
Speaker 2:And for years and years, that was me. I mean, for years and years, I was the outcasted kid who ate his lunch alone and would come to America to find refuge, refugees, you know, but it didn't feel like a safe haven. It didn't feel like a place of refuge. And that was me for years until the day my freshman year in high school was about to start. And by this time we'd moved from Texas to Alabama, and things had not gone very differently for me in Alabama.
Speaker 2:I was still this kind of kid that got bullied and was kind of a no I mean, of a a very lonely kid. And and I was sitting in my room the day before my freshman year in high school was about to start, and I was crying because I didn't wanna go to school. And summer at least meant I didn't get, you know, beat around as much, and my dad heard me, came in my room, I told him what was going on, and he felt sorry for me, and so he took me to the mall and he tried to fix it, he tried to like help me assimilate. And so he bought me new clothes and haircut and shoes, same insecure kit on the inside. I got made over on the outside and I went to school the next day and I call it geek to chic, you know, I just, you know, I went from Abdul to Julio, you know, and I found out what you already know.
Speaker 2:Like, I found out that people so often will care more about the label that you wear than the person you really are. And it's so true where it says in scripture, what good is it for a man to gain the whole world, but to forfeit a soul? And my high school years became this bonfire of vanities where I just basically learned how to play high school. I learned how to dump the right girl before she could dump me, how to end up at the right lunchroom table, how to be cold to be perceived as cool. And I just played high school, And I graduated kinda popular, but I graduated completely a sellout and kinda went into depression right after high school.
Speaker 2:And a couple months after high school, one night, to be very honest, I was smoking weed with a buddy of mine on a Saturday night, and he invited me to church. So I that's in the South, by the way, where everybody's on a roll somewhere. And I told him, I said, man, I'm not going to church, I'm not interested in it, and I hate religion, I'm like Shiite Muslim by heritage, but I'm certainly not a good one. I'm stoned in a car with my buddy. But he kept on me about going, and to get him off my back, I went in my house on a Saturday night to ask my dad just so he could say no and leave me alone.
Speaker 2:My buddy comes to the door to make sure. And I asked my dad on a Saturday night if I could go to church, but instead of saying no, this is my favorite part of my story, but I like to share, instead of saying no, my dad asked the name of the church. And I was shocked that he's asking the name of the church, but what I didn't know was that two weeks prior to that Saturday night when I was asking my dad if I could go to church, there were these people from this church, Shades Mountain Baptist Church Yep. About miles from our home, that had shown up at my dad's restaurant. My dad had opened up a restaurant, and they'd seen how he was shorthanded on waitstaff, and this guy named Aubrey Edwards, was the music minister of this church, the worship pastor, instead of complaining about the service at a lunch rush, he got up, rolled up his sleeves, got everybody else at the table up, and they, like, two and a half hours, waited on tables at my dad's restaurant.
Speaker 2:Then they went back the next day, did it again. They went back the next day and did it again. I mean, just just stop and think like a mega church worship leader clearing his calendar to just go wait on tables. I call it he led worship, but with a towel in his hand busting cables, you know. What I didn't know is God had used that to massage my dad's heart.
Speaker 2:He had invited actually my dad to choir practice, and because kindness is a superpower, my dad had gone to choir practice. And then at the end of the choir practice, he had a piece of paper go around and they had signed up for shifts to serve my dad at his restaurant. And so for two weeks, Brandon, these Christians had basically parachuted into my dad's restaurant and they'd served him, and God in his sovereignty had used that to massage my dad's heart. And so when I asked him on a Saturday night if I can go to church instead of saying no, he said, what is the name of it? And it happened to be the name of the same church as the people that had served my dad.
Speaker 2:So my story is not about some Iranian kid that turned out okay. The reason I love that is that part of my story is because my story is about a bunch of believers who just showed up.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know? Who didn't see Muslims as the enemy but the prize of God, you know? And and so I went to church, and, man, this youth group, call actually, youth ministry, it was a youth group. They, man, they just saw me coming, and they just loved on me and my family for eight weeks. They kept coming to my house and visiting with me and sharing the gospel.
Speaker 2:And eight weeks in, one night I gave my life to the Lord. And, man, the old me died, and a whole new me was born again.
Speaker 1:Come on. Did make its way through your family? Like, how did that cause tremors or whatever after you made that decision? You know, you're still in a Muslim family.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. It certainly did. I mean, there was resistance immediately, and I was eventually I eventually got kicked out of my home because of my faith. There were other things too, I was being a punk.
Speaker 2:I was so young in my faith, instead of just like submitting to things that weren't really about my faith, I made things bigger. I have fuzz on my antlers, man, I was just butting it up. But you know, but I say that to say despite the mistakes I made even when I was first a believer, five months after I was a Christian, my sister came to know the Lord. Five months after that, my mom became a Christian, then my brother Benjamin, who God fearfully and wonderfully made Down syndrome, became a Christian, and then two and a half years later, my whole family. So just like you said, one by one, man, telescopic, I mean, God just saved my whole family.
Speaker 1:Do you still have a heart, though, we've talked enough, about where you were born, I'm curious about what, we'll get to what's happening now, but what's your heart for the church in Iran? What is happening in Iran? What do you see there for the gospel?
Speaker 2:Yeah, man. I think we talked about this when we were together in Boston at that pastor's gathering. Know, like, in one sense, bro, our story is a bit of the American dream. Like we came here, you know, bring us your poor, you're tired, like that was us. We came here to America and we didn't come to Ellis Island, but man, we came to Texas.
Speaker 2:But still, like, in one sense, we came to the land of opportunity and look what it afforded us most of all, an opportunity to hear the gospel and come to Christ. However, as much as we are a bit of a American dream story, bro, we've always had this like second dream in the back of our minds. And it has been this like, man, we got out of there, but our family didn't.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Our friends didn't. And we want it for them. We have won it for them for so many years. You know, that that revolution happened forty seven years ago, buddy. And so we we have so long wanted for them what was afforded to us, meaning multi levels.
Speaker 2:We wanted democracy for them, the right to vote, the actual person they want to lead them for that, all the things we have. But more than anything, we wanted the gospel for them. Yeah. And so we've been praying for God to liberate them both spiritually and politically. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And all of a sudden, as much as that's been a burden and a passion for us, all the events that have recently, you know, come into fruition are are feeling like wow, this could maybe actually happen. Yeah. And so it's both frightening for us, because you know, literally bombs are being dropped in the cities where our family members are. So it's both frightening for us but it's exhilarating as well. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And so people keep asking me like how do you feel? I'm like, I feel a lot of things. I feel hopeful and horrified. You know? I feel like this could be freedom, but I know freedom's not free.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Right.
Speaker 2:You know, this is gonna come at a big expense. I'm so grateful. I also feel gratitude. Like, I don't know what side your your folks fall in the political world, and it doesn't matter. I feel gratitude.
Speaker 2:I would have felt it if it was Obama. I would have felt it if it was Biden. I would have felt it if it's Bush. I feel it now that it's Trump. I'm grateful that true allies have come in Yeah.
Speaker 2:And have gave it a push. I think the Iranian people this was this is their fight to fight, but, man, they needed help. And I think the Iranian people feel a lot of gratitude that America because they don't they don't see president Trump. They see Brandon Thomas, they see America.
Speaker 1:They see America.
Speaker 2:And they're grateful that their American friends have come in and said, we wanna give you a better fighting chance to topple over these tyrants, you know, these terrorists that have hijacked basically, have held hostage 90,000,000 good people.
Speaker 1:Oh man. And the
Speaker 2:people in Iran are sick of it. They want to be liberated so much. And so this is an incredible moment in history for it. And I think in years to come, I'm praying that in years to come, Iran will be liberated soon and in years to come this will be the beginning of looking back and saying, man, thank you. And something to really help build the relationship.
Speaker 1:Know, David, growing up, I would always hear about how impossible it was to go into China when I was a kid. You remember that?
Speaker 2:Back in
Speaker 1:the day. Like, man, pray for China, pray for China, pray for China. Impossible. It's so hard. It's so close.
Speaker 1:And now, of course, a generation late, I mean, I'm literally seeing China floating with the gospel. I now feel the same way about The Middle East and particularly Iran. I'm believing we're gonna see the same thing happen there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man. And think about just in your own life, how often forget just our borderless God.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean? Like, I always when they named this particular moment, Operation Fury Force, you know, or I forget exactly what the name was. I don't know. Fury. I mean, such such a, like a, you know, alpha, you know what mean?
Speaker 2:I was thinking like, that's great. That is what it is. That is awesome. But God is the ultimate that.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And he's not just doing the air war and going, you go get the ground war. He's like, I've always been there and I am roaring right now. And so, yeah, I think you're right. Mean, think about Brandon, how like in your own life there have been moments where it just felt like it's impossible, something. Maybe it was the way God gave you a vision for your church, or maybe it was something going on with a health of a family member.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm not I'm I'm saying that. Like, you're thinking about, like, I remember it was bigger than me, but it wasn't bigger than God. If you told me, bro, like, when I was 18 and two months old, one day my dad would know the Lord, I would've been like, there's no way you don't know that man. He is locked down forever. But God was like, I believe in him more than you believe in
Speaker 1:him. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so what we constantly see with an obstructed view of impossible, god's like, yeah. I love the impossible moments where you are desperate for like, you can't on your own. And I can't and by the way, I think the Iranian people and I think our good friends in Israel and I think our good friends in America, I think that the regime can be toppled over. But what Iran ultimately needs is not just a regime to be toppled over. Iran was a monarchy, didn't play well for us.
Speaker 2:Then it became a theocracy, did not play well for us. And now it'll be a democracy, hopefully.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And that's better than the other two. Yep. But Iran doesn't need a democracy. Iran needs revival. Iran needs revival.
Speaker 2:And so, like, that ain't gonna happen without God. And so Iran needs exactly what Fort Worth needs. Iran needs exactly what Richardson needs. Iran needs exactly what South Lake needs. Iran needs exactly what Franklin, Tennessee, where I live, needs.
Speaker 2:Iran needs what everybody else needs, the lord. Yeah. And and look what god's been doing. And by the way, it's not like we need this toppled over so god'll do it, bro. I mean, I know you know this.
Speaker 2:The church in Iran right now, the church, God's bride in Iran right now, is the fastest growing church in the world. The fastest underground church movement in the world is Iran. Yeah. And so literally millions of people have come to know the Lord in the past few years. And God is already, I call it plumb behind the lines, I mean behind the walls, stub behind the wall, and it's there.
Speaker 2:And so can you imagine if the underground church in Iran, if this thing topples over and they no longer have to be underground and they can up from the ground comes the bubbling crude, can you imagine if the church rises up and then it's their finest hour because in persecution, they've been purified and growing. But now if the nation opens up like that, the church can come in and they can do honestly what like Keystone does. Keystone's not just an awesome gathering with a cool pastor. You know, Keystone is like in between Sundays. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Yeah. You're meeting everyday needs. And so can you imagine if the church in Iran becomes the primary trauma counseling arm? Yeah. Think about how much people need trauma.
Speaker 2:Women empowerment arm. After school tutoring arm. You know, feeding the hungry arm. If the church becomes the main infrastructure, and this is why. Because if you're if maybe somebody's hearing me and they're saying, well, how would the Iranian church even begin to do that?
Speaker 2:Because the Iranian church is a part of the capital c church.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I think the Iranian church will do it because Keystone is gonna go, we're gonna empower that, because all missions is ultimately local.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:To the people in Isfahan, Iran or Tehran, Iran or Mashhad, Iran, it's local. Yeah. And so what would it look like for Keystone to go, hey, we're gonna infuse resources and prayer, and maybe you'll get on, Brandon, with some pastors in Iran and do some pastoral, you know, tutoring and mentoring, and we're gonna equip those saints to do the work of the ministry because the Iranian church knows it's got big brothers and little sisters, and I think we could see the most dangerous country in the world, Iran, stay stay the most dangerous country in the world, except instead of being dangerous for terrorism, it could be dangerous for the advancement of the gospel.
Speaker 1:I couldn't agree more, and just to borrow from that, from the Asian Christianity model of what you're describing, if you've been around some of the church that has been liberated in Asian countries, they are strong.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man.
Speaker 1:They are big.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna guess your folks at Keystone know what you mean when you say that. It sounds like that's heavy on your heart, you've probably talked about it lot. But tell, maybe somebody watching, tell them what you mean.
Speaker 1:Like, the Asian church, The underground church in China is one thing, but then you go into Malaysia, and then you go into Singapore, and these are big churches. When they have the freedom to build buildings, they build big buildings. In South Korea, you have small groups all over the country. I mean, we're talking to the biggest churches in the world. It's not necessarily that I have a specific heart for that area.
Speaker 1:It's just more of analogy for me is so profound. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I want you to explain the analogy though for somebody who doesn't understand me. That mentality is, you're right. There's something there.
Speaker 1:Yeah. When you when the the Asian church for forever has been under such oppression, Buddhism, ancestry worship, all of that, that underneath the surface, there's been revival in many different tribes. I mean, there's been charismatic Pentecostal tribes just reviving. There's been Baptist missions reviving, and you'll hear stories before they broke out. Once they got free, they began to tell us their stories, and you'd hear stories of them being imprisoned, and then God opens the prison door.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's New Testament stuff. You I believe we're gonna hear that in Iran. That's what I'm saying. I believe the stories are coming of the faithful church in Iran that we haven't even heard yet, that you said we could invest in them, immediately when I said that, I'm thinking, man, I want to get on video with the, I want to be invested, I want their investment.
Speaker 2:Right. They have Oh no, it's gonna be iron sharpening iron.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I think they're gonna I think they're gonna need you, Brandon. I mean I mean this. Like, you are I've been around you and your wife. You guys are ballers for the kingdom. I mean, gosh.
Speaker 2:You're Thank You are innovative. You are humble. You I watched a video the other day of, like, your children's choir or something on stage.
Speaker 1:It's so
Speaker 2:It is not the normal children's choir. Like, these kids are gunning after god. There are gonna be pastors in Iran who are gonna you've you've come way up the mountain with them on how to, like, gather a crowd, how to communicate well, how to mobilize your army, how to do children's ministry, how to do children in worship. So there's gonna be so much that you can contribute to them. However, I think you're right.
Speaker 2:I think Boomerang right back at you. Like, you're gonna be the Paul, they're gonna be the Timothy, but I'm saying there's gonna be some like, you're the Timothy, they're the Paul because Yes. Because they don't know any better than to be mobilized for mission. Like when someone gets saved in China, they go, like they pray the sinner's prayer, get saved, and I got a buddy of mine who's a church planner in China, he said, the first question somebody gets, like they just gave their life to Christ, brand new, in a home, house church, underground church, they look at them and say, welcome to the kingdom, let's get a piece of paper out, give me the name of four people that you know right now that are not Christians. Guys.
Speaker 2:Who works with you as a teacher? That's the only who's in your neighborhood? Does it so they write the four names and they go, hey, in the next week, how do you how do you begin to share the I will be praying for them. And the ex it's not a suggestion. The expect so for us for us, it's like someone gets saved and we wanna take them through nineteen years of EE training and make sure they know every what every every bead stands for in the bracelet, and then go, would you each find one?
Speaker 2:They get saved in China and they're like, make the list of four, we're gonna call you in a week, bring And if somebody's hearing that, and they're like, well, how would they even know what to say? Like, they're not worried about polish, bro. They're talking about power. And here's what they want them to say. Blood of the lamb, word of your testimony.
Speaker 2:Amen. Blood of the lamb. Share the gospel. The cross, blood of the lamb. Jesus died on the cross for you.
Speaker 2:The blood of the lamb. And then tell him what he did in your testify to what he did in your life. And so I think in one sense, the Iranian church is gonna need Keystone because we all need one another. But in another sense, those people need to come and teach the American church about fervency and urgency and evangelism, and how we can do what we're doing. And there's a hunger in them, you know?
Speaker 2:Can I tell you a story I haven't told on a podcast yet?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I hear this story from a couple different pastors, and I just had it verified. So Mike, so Pompeo, the first term with President Trump, you know, he was head of CIA, but then all of a sudden he was like, he was more than that, he was, you know, Secretary of State and all that. So when COVID started happening, right in the very beginnings of it, Pompeo tells these pastors the story, he says, look, he has access to everything, right? And the whole world's getting locked down. Do remember when like we didn't know what's is this thing gonna kill fifteen, twenty million people It in was just the uncertainty of it all, so everybody's gone in their corners.
Speaker 2:Well, governments are panicking. They're not so in that moment, Iran, even though the people were in the corners, they weren't able to, like, lock down Internet downloads and everything. So there was a little bit of a window. And so Pompeo says, we notice the CIA comes in and notices that there is just a tsunami of downloads coming into Iran. Like they're downloading content, unusual amounts.
Speaker 2:And they're like, what is it? Like, we need to find they're the CIA. They're like, what's happening? Is it what are they downloading? Like, this is Iran.
Speaker 2:You know? So they're a little bit always leaned in on that. So they go in and Pompeo says, and they find out that they have leveraged the moment, the open window of it all. They are downloading at an exponentially larger rate than anywhere else in the world, because the whole world's sitting around with download at a time. They're downloading bible studies, scripture, apps that are and they're buying VPNs to buy they are downloading God's word.
Speaker 2:So they're like they are they are collecting spiritual artillery.
Speaker 1:Come on.
Speaker 2:Amen. So they're like, oh. You know? So I'm just saying to you, like, goes into goes into hibernation. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And everybody's Netflix ing for nineteen seasons of something. They go into hibernation and they're downloading script. So so as much as and that's not an exact truth, like, lot of it, but I'm just saying to you, as much as they can they can benefit from us Yeah. We can benefit from there's something in those people, like Yeah. You get a window and you got two hours on looked at I took I'm downloading script.
Speaker 2:Something has happened there that we could learn from. A lot has happened here that we could learn from. And I love the idea that we could do together what we could never do alone.
Speaker 1:When you have a resource, I'll bring up for you, and that is revivaliron.com. Tell us about that.
Speaker 2:So no one's ever really cared what I have to say. I've been telling this story for literally for four decades that I'll be sharing at your church, but no one's I mean, God's always been good. I've always, I wake up just dumbfounded, I get to do what I do, and the churches I get to go to, places. But I'm never getting invited to Fox News and these major things and
Speaker 1:B and M and all of
Speaker 2:major outlets. Yeah. And big podcasts are for, like, the Craig Grochelles of the world and the Ed Young Juniors. Like, it's not for dozen. But but all of the stuff starts happening in the in the last few weeks, and then the Lord just, like, favors us to be able to step into it.
Speaker 2:And my assignment was really clear from God. I mean, when I was bending a knee, I felt like God had just clearly said to me, say yes to anyone who will let you point to this bigger picture that, yes, this is geopolitical, yes, this is about the price of gas in our tank, like, that matters, that's not don't discount those things. But just I'm not saying minimize those things, I'm saying you can go on Fox News with Laura Ingraham, you can go on whatever CNN wants to talk. You can go on these things, but God clearly said to me, you can go on this podcast that's not a Christian podcast if they wanna ask. Talk about whatever you wanna talk about, but make sure you put in there, the one thing I want you to ask me is what's God doing?
Speaker 2:Yeah. You're a pastor, what's God doing? Because all of those things are there. Don't minimize those. But the primary thing that God is doing is he has a church there.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And he could bring revival there, and that is not just about revival there, because a revived Iran will bring revival here. A safe Iran is a safer Texas. Mhmm. And so this, so for me the assignment's been really clean, like I will go on any podcast I can squeeze in.
Speaker 2:Yours is an easy one. My buddy, I'm gonna be with him. I can't wait. But like the other ones, I'm like, let's stuff him in. I'll say yes to all these things.
Speaker 2:But we've said, hey. Question one through four or whatever. It can be whatever. But can can can the last question be, what's God doing? Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I wanna point to people so that they can primarily see, not just this, everything that happens above the sun, not just under the sun, right, like it says in Ecclesiastes. And above the sun, God is up to something great here in this moment. And so rather than, like, getting distracted by all the, are you team Candace or are you team Erica? Are you is this Israel being pure? Is it the nation or the is it like, listen.
Speaker 2:None of us ultimately know about any of that, and and I'm not telling you not to investigate it, not to have an opinion. I'm not telling what I'm saying to you is do whatever you want in that as long as it doesn't hijack the biggest thing.
Speaker 1:Amen.
Speaker 2:Which is God right now is equipping the saints in Iran to do ministry like never before. Come on. So either this thing is gonna topple and they'll do it in a democracy, or it won't topple and they'll be even more the persecuted church and it'll still be their finest hour. So as I've been championing what you just gave me permission to do on every outlet, people have just come out of the woodwork on their own saying, I watch this and I wanna help. How do I double down?
Speaker 2:So we quickly, with some friends in Nashville, created revivaliran.com. I hopped on a camera, made a quick little video, and we created a giving portal. And every penny that's coming in, we are dispensing to house church networks in Iran because we wanna make those churches heroic for the gospel, and we are beyond the money. We're gonna pray for them and be an advocacy for them, and and and we're strategizing and we're finding ministry partners that I don't wanna name that have already inroads in Iran Mhmm. To to come in what we want is we want people that aren't doing humanitarian work.
Speaker 2:That's honorable. Yeah. But that are doing gospel work. Yep. So the meal is to point them to the bread of life.
Speaker 2:Yeah. The water is to point them to the woodland and water. So so we we want and so I cannot this I cannot say it out loud, but the things that God is bringing together right now. And so we created revivaliron.com. It's a place where people can go and donate.
Speaker 2:And it's been insane, bro. I was at, like, a Pine Lake or a Pine Lake Baptist in Mississippi k. Sunday. I'm walking out of church. Again, I don't I'm not asking for money.
Speaker 2:I just preached. I get done. We talk I'm walking out. This couple walks up. They're like, hey.
Speaker 2:We went we went to the middle service. We went home, came back. We've been waiting for this third service to be done. A couple walks up and they're just like, we feel like God's told us to think about our brothers and sisters in Iran. They hand me a check, you know.
Speaker 2:I don't wanna be impolite and open it in front of them. I get in the car. It's $25,000. Oh. Like I'm like, Lord, this is a stewardship moment.
Speaker 2:Like, this couple in Mississippi probably just empowered five churches all over Iran to be insanely heroic, you know, with the heroin addiction in Iran right now is at an all time high. Really? They are gonna be able to do drug rehab in Jesus name. Yeah. They're gonna be able to do women empowerment in Jesus name.
Speaker 2:So so people have just been coming out of the woodwork in it, and it's been amazing to see organizations hearing about it and stepping up. And it it's exciting to see what God wants to do. Honestly, sometimes I've getting asked the last day or two, what are you gonna do? How what's your I'm like, I I honestly don't know. We've created this portal.
Speaker 2:We're we're ballooning resources that we're gonna put on front burner, but we already are hearing from people that say, oh, we have a lot of relationships there, trusted ones embedded for years and years and years. I was on the phone this morning with the pastor of the second largest a massive church in America. Yeah. A lot of campuses. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And he said he said, man, we have been in Iran for years.
Speaker 1:Gosh.
Speaker 2:Because we've been there for years. So if you're telling me like you wanna like, tell us tell us how I'm like, okay. I actually need you to be on the receiving end of this one because I don't need you to because if you already have if you've already if it's already been stubbed, the veins are there, we gotta get the blood. Yes. You know?
Speaker 2:Blood of the laminate. So so I'm excite as you can tell Yeah. I don't plan as far as but we're quickly bringing people together to figure out how to mobilize. And I can't wait to see what God does, you know, through all of this in the next few weeks. And so I'm on a recruiting trip.
Speaker 1:Yeah. You know? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Asking like, will the church join? And somebody might be hearing me right now and they're like, man, I can't give money. Totally understand. But pray. That's not a secondary thing.
Speaker 2:That's the primary like, you commit to pray for the people, my brothers and sisters in Iran, you know? Be a voice. Be an advocate. If somebody at the water cooler at work is bashing Iranians, say, hey, Muslims aren't the enemy, they're the prize. Islam the problem, not Muslims, and let's pray for salvation.
Speaker 2:And so Beautiful. A lot of opportunities before us.
Speaker 1:God, I love it, and God has put you in a position, and what I love is your instinct is to take the platform that God has opened for you in this moment, and your instinct is to leverage it for maximum impact, and I think that's something we can all learn, is whenever God gives you a moment, whenever God opens a door, a leadership door, an opportunity door, that there's always a go with the flow moment. You never wanna stop the flow. Never wanna stop the for progress, And I applaud you and your wife and your family for just saying, We're going to continue this flow. God's opened a door. That just means a bigger platform to do more good.
Speaker 1:In this case, let's do more good tackling the unbelief in Iran and bring glory to God, man, come on.
Speaker 2:I just would love to hear from you, like, how do you personally, not like pastor of the church, but like in your own faith, buddy, How do you know when God's telling you to, like you said, when you sense in the flow, like, you probably don't have a sermon with three points on it, but just kinda like tell me, in your own, how do you know you're hearing from the Lord?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so yeah. Yeah, totally. I think that, you know, the longer you walk with him, you can develop ears to hear, and sense when things are happening. Now, that doesn't mean the longer you're a Christian you do that, okay? Because there are Christians who haven't developed the taste buds or the ears.
Speaker 1:They've been Christians a long time, they've just wasted their time. But the longer you listen, the better you hear. It's kinda like fishing. The more I fish, the more I know I've got a fish on the line right now. You just get an instinct.
Speaker 1:And what those things that you develop over time, although a new Christian can do this, the things you develop is, number one, knowing His ways through His word. God speaks most clearly through His word. And I are 100% on the same page on that. We're Bible people, you and I, and it's knowing His ways through His word, so you constantly renew your mind with the washing of God's word. And then, I believe in experiencing the Holy Spirit, and God moves in unique ways.
Speaker 1:And so when you're constantly washed in the ways of God, He'll never contradict His word, but then you'll see him do things in a certain kind of way. God loves to do things through people. My father-in-law says, That's God winking at you. You know, a good way of saying it. That's just God winking at you.
Speaker 1:And the audacity to believe that He's constantly interacting with you on a regular basis. So believing for me in the power of the Holy Spirit and communing with God with the Holy Spirit allows me to get a taste bud, you know, for, you know, like people that have developed palates, they can say, hey, there's garlic in that. Yeah. You begin to develop a taste bud for the things of God. You begin to discern.
Speaker 2:Cultivating discernment.
Speaker 1:And then
Speaker 2:He doesn't have to shout, he can just whisper and you know his voice, yeah.
Speaker 1:100%. Even sometimes just a look, you know? And then the people that you run with, I think, is so important. Running with the right people, you begin to pick up their good habits, and you begin to see how God moved with them, and you're like, woah, maybe I need to be open to how God is speaking.
Speaker 2:No good, buddy. Because I gotta believe someone's listening to your podcast, and as much as they're celebrating with me, what God is doing in Iran and stuff, they're they're trying to discern what God is, what assignment he's put on them. Yeah. And this is just hopefully, like, that little five minute, just genius little passage mess message you just kinda just immediately rolled off your tongue. Like, I think that is so timely for someone who's going, god's put a bird in my saddle for my office or god's given me a and I don't know how to and just those few principles of just going to his word, getting close to his heart so you can hear his nuance, cultivating a palette, and then like you said, just walking in the counsel of many, the wisdom and like, not alone, but what you were just saying at the end.
Speaker 2:So good, buddy. So good.
Speaker 1:Revivaliron.com. Yeah. And July 5, you're gonna be with us. On. You know, pastor, we could go another hour, but I heard, they told me just now that President Trump was trying to get you on the phone to get a little insight on the war, and so You want me to tell
Speaker 2:you a fun Trump story?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I'm Liberty University, you know, and President Trump is my, he's our guest. He's our convocation guest.
Speaker 1:Right, big deal.
Speaker 2:And so we're backstage and we're sitting there and they're introducing him. So, you know, my boss, the president of the school, he's up in the front, he's introducing him. And that month we had had Ted Cruz. They were all candidates at that point. He wasn't presidential Trump.
Speaker 2:Was candidate So we'd had Ted Cruz, and we'd had Ben Carson, and we'd had, you know and and I'd invited I'd invited Hillary, and I'd invited Bernie Sanders, because I was just like, we're a platform of this wasn't you know, convocation for us is not a pulpit all the time. Sometimes it's just a platform. Yeah. And I want our students to learn, even if they disagree, how to be respectful Yeah. And godly in the posture of so so we'd invite and wouldn't you know it?
Speaker 2:Bernie Sanders had actually said yes. Wow. And so people should go back and watch, it was an interesting thing, it was amazing how our students were so kind and gracious to him, but yet we held serve on our convictions. Yeah. But anyway, so I'm sitting back there with President Trump.
Speaker 2:So it's just the two of us, just had this moment, you know, it's just like, you know, and he's larger than us, so we're just kinda, he's getting introduced and it's not a short introduction, it's got video and it's got, it's a nine minute intro, you know? And so while that's happening, he looks over at me and he goes, so Bernie was just here. And I said, yes sir. And he goes, have you seen the crowd out there? I says, full house.
Speaker 2:He goes, is this crowd bigger than Bernie's crowd? And I didn't have a heart to tell him, They have to come, it's Yes. I said, It certainly feels bigger. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So diplomatic.
Speaker 2:It actually was bigger. I mean, for what it's worth, people were like, everybody was bringing their grandma to it. But I thought it was such a fun thing. My question, is this a bigger crowd? I was like, yes, sir.
Speaker 2:It feels bigger.
Speaker 1:Dude, that's history, man. That's a historic moment, even more than you knew at the time.
Speaker 2:Who knew?
Speaker 1:Who knew? Hey, man.
Speaker 2:Love you, buddy.
Speaker 1:You'll be there. We can't wait to see you there. Love you too. And, God bless you, man. You're doing great stuff.
Speaker 2:Bless you, Brandon. Come hang out with me in Nashville, all right?
Speaker 1:I will. And we'll see you all next time on The Overflow.