Melissa Lapin (00:09.922)
Hey everybody, welcome to this episode of After the Well. My name's Melissa and I'm really glad you joined me. If this is your first time, welcome. I hope you enjoy this episode with my friend Brandon. If this is not your first time and you're back again for more, I really appreciate that because that means I'm doing something right. And I'm thankful. But today I have my friend Brandon Beard on here and he's a kind of a recent friend and I got the
actually was privileged enough to spend some time with him. at an event that we did actually two events back in Vegas, at the big air moral day weekend or before Memorial Day weekend. And then this past weekend, we spent some time together, at an event as well, hanging out, talking and chit chatting. And I liked his story. And so here he is and Brandon, a welcome to.
after the well.
Brandon Beard (01:10.27)
Hey, thanks for having me on. So, I guess I'm just doing.
Melissa Lapin (01:12.194)
Yeah, man. Go ahead and yeah, yeah, go ahead. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself because I'm not sure I remember all the things we talked about.
Brandon Beard (01:24.734)
Yeah. So I'm Brandon. I've been married 23 years in July. I have three kids, 19 and two 16 year olds. Retired military. I own a small construction business where I flip homes and do rentals and just kind of carrying on through life, having fun doing it.
Melissa Lapin (01:53.346)
So I want to, I mean, we've already talked about it. I just want to jump in because I have actually never interviewed anybody. Well, that's not true. One person, actually two people that I know are in the military. But your story is, you know, just kind of very different from their stories. One was a military chaplain and the other did.
Military police I believe she did both female but I have yet to interview a guy and so I'm pretty excited and just your story so if anyone Yeah, we're gonna skip that question so I don't know I've got a lot of questions that I just want to jump into but I want to honor
your story and how you want to tell your story. And those of you who know me and have been listening for any length of time know that most of my friends that I interview come from School of Kingdom. So Brandon is such a friend. He's also with School of Kingdom and he's a first year student. And so the first year of school is always pretty intense because you hear...
I'm hearing a lot of things that make you go, what? What have I believed my whole life? You know, how did I get here? All the kinds of questions. And I know that was part of your story. So I think let's back up just a little bit and tell us a little bit about your past growing up with religion, with not religion. Where was God in your past?
Yeah, let's just start there and we'll go.
Brandon Beard (03:47.582)
Okay, I grew up really, my family was ended church, but not really ended church, if that makes sense. Like we had a belief in God, belief in Jesus. We knew that we just didn't go to church. Around 12 years old, my dad said, okay, well, we're going to start carrying you to a youth group. So it was right up the road from where I was growing up. So.
I started going there about 12. And funny enough, there was only like 12 or 13 kids that went at the time. Just really, like that's where I made all my friends and stuff. And, you know, just throughout high school, that's, that's where I was at most of the time. And it, that youth group grew to pretty, be pretty big. I mean, whenever I graduated high school, it was close to around,
50 or 60 kids there every time the doors are open and sometimes we's up to 100 and 110, you know, so.
Melissa Lapin (04:55.682)
Wow, okay, and that's, I guess that's good for, cause you grew up in a small community, you've told me, right? Yeah. In East, in East Texas, right? Yeah. Yeah. So in that upbringing, I mean, like, what was your, what was your everyday with God then? Or was youth group more just a social networking kind of hangout thing for you?
Brandon Beard (05:00.35)
Yes, yes, yeah about 14 ,000 people.
Brandon Beard (05:21.246)
it was a lot of the social networking, but I always had a desire like more, right? we'd go on mission trips and things like that. And, you know, we would, we would be doing like just random plays and stuff at, at parks, you know, in these towns that we go do mission trips on. And, you know, I just always had that urge to.
Like not be in the background, but kind of step out and or whatever, on that. And I would say around 17, we had a intern come in and we had a, you know, what a lock in is. Okay. So we used to have them a lot. but, I just remember one night we was just kind of soaking and having music and he just started praying over me, like for wife and like future wife and.
Melissa Lapin (06:04.898)
Mm -hmm.
Brandon Beard (06:20.478)
future things and stuff. And man, I just had that knowing in my gut that, hey, I'm supposed to minister somewhere. I don't know where. At the time, I thought it was youth ministry. But I just knew that was some part in my life. And so I always had a little bit where it was a big time social deal for me.
I always had that little bit of where I wanted to go a little bit deeper. So like I, you know, I researched and read my Bibles at home, like just my mind was centered around, you know, around that wanting of that relationship.
Melissa Lapin (07:03.65)
What do you think it was that drew you? What aspect of that spiritualness or supernatural, whatever we want to call it, what is it that you think drew you?
Brandon Beard (07:15.614)
I honestly, because I, I grew up Baptist. I don't know if I mentioned that earlier. but I always had just a inner knowing or like, I always kind of knew things would happen, you know, before they had happened or like, I could tell somebody, Hey, you need to, you know, this, this, and this, and then it would happen, you know, further on. But growing up in.
in that church setting like that, like I didn't, I remember I didn't even know what the Holy Spirit was until 2009, you know, and that was, you know, a good, was that 12 years after I realized that I had that calling to be a minister of some sort. So I think it was really just the Holy Spirit in me and, you know, just that, hey, I know where you're going, but.
Melissa Lapin (07:53.186)
Right, wow.
Brandon Beard (08:12.542)
I was just kind of oblivious to it. I knew it was there, I just didn't know what it was.
Melissa Lapin (08:17.634)
Right, which begs the just a clarification of community is so important. You know, if if you're listening and there are things that are happening in your life right now, like this or have been happening since your childhood, because like I did not grow up with God. My parents are atheists or anything. Just just church and God just wasn't a thing. You know, I mean, I would randomly go to youth group or whatever in high school with.
some friends, but it was the same people I was selling weed to. So it was like, what, what's the point of trying to go to church and be all holy, you know, when you're buying weed for me on Friday night kind of thing. But ever since way back then, I've been like really prophetic with the, you know, deja vu deja vu is the prophetic it's, you know, Doug talks about it.
that your deja vu is like when your when your body catches up to where your spirit's already been you know and that was so true and so for my whole life it was like that but i never had you know until i was probably four i think i was 40 years old until i had any kind of community that even began to
articulate what supernatural was, what the prophetic was, what Holy Spirit was, and all of that. So I know there are people out there listening that have questions about the things that are happening to them, which that's the importance of community. Reach out to like to me, to people who you see that are kind of operating in something that you're feeling that might can answer questions. Don't ever be afraid to ask questions. And if someone says something or laughs at you,
find someone else to ask, you know, because we got to have answers. We got to have answers. So continuing in that vein, what was what was your because you joined the military right out of high school, right?
Brandon Beard (10:17.342)
Right.
Brandon Beard (10:31.326)
I was 19. I worked offshore for a year. And then because by that time I was, I was chasing money, you know, that was, I was in a hot rods and things like that. And, you know, that was just my thing I did. So I worked offshore for a year, saw some bad things happen there. And then I came back home and my friends that I hung out with had, had
Melissa Lapin (10:36.386)
Right.
Brandon Beard (11:01.278)
went off to the military, you know, cause I worked two weeks on two weeks off. And so whenever I came back home, they was gone. And so I had a, my dad left when I was 16 and I was really lucky to be able to surround myself around, three, men that I considered as father figures. And so, I mean, just listening to them and talking to them.
just, I decided to join the military. And since all my friends had joined, talking to them, they're like, no, don't go in the army. Don't come to the Navy. You know, don't come to the Marine. So I ended up joining the air force, you know, because of that. And then once I joined, I originally came in as EOD, which is bomb disposal and.
was watching some training videos, going through school for that, and there's no room for mess up at all. So I like to teach myself when I'm doing things. So I figured if I want to stick around a little bit, I should probably cross train out of that. And so since I had some knowledge with bombs, they moved me over to munitions, which is basically I was building bombs and getting the
like the 20 mil and 30 mil ready to go onto the plains and stuff like that.
Melissa Lapin (12:34.338)
Wow. So when you're in the military, did your spirituality, your connection with God translate into that? Did you take God with you or no? Okay.
Brandon Beard (12:45.854)
no, no, because I was, I mean, God stayed with me, but I didn't necessarily invite him to come with me, if that makes sense. I was just at early twenties. I never lived outside of home and. You know, I was always, you know, involved in, in church, you know, growing up. So I got, when I got out of my own, it was.
Melissa Lapin (12:52.546)
Mm -hmm.
Melissa Lapin (12:57.314)
Bray rate.
Brandon Beard (13:14.142)
Party time is what it was, so.
Melissa Lapin (13:16.674)
Yeah. And that happens with a lot of people. Unfortunately, you know, just because I think some of it comes down to that a relationship with God is so grossly misrepresented by our parents, you know, that we're like, I don't want anything to do with your God. And so then we walk away and then hopefully prayerfully years later, you know, we find God for ourselves, which is a lot of what this.
this podcast is about and the story of Fatini is like, okay.
I know you see me and I want to see you. What does this look like now? So when, when did, when did that translation start happening for you? When did you kind of start inviting God back into your life?
Brandon Beard (14:12.286)
it, I hate to say it, but it's almost like, I can pinpoint like certain things that had happened to me that wasn't the pleasant of things. And then, you know, just like everybody else, right. Whenever something bad happens or death or anything like that, everybody gets, they turned back to, they get real spiritual for about six months. And then, you know, it.
Melissa Lapin (14:38.594)
Yeah.
Brandon Beard (14:39.71)
they ease off and back to their own ways, you know. So I could really pinpoint certain times in my life, like 2003, this is a little bit of some PTSD issues that I suffered with for a while. Was over there building bombs. Of course they was leaving, they weren't coming back. And then we were eating and all you see is like,
on the news what had happened that day, you know, what bombs hit what and all this stuff. And like, I remember hearing children crying and I was eating with a mentor of mine and he said, you know, I don't believe in a God that would allow women and children to get hurt. And man, I didn't know how to answer that. In my heart,
Melissa Lapin (15:29.09)
Mm.
Did this person know that you were making the munitions and the bombs and things? And he still said that?
Brandon Beard (15:38.718)
Yeah, yeah, he worked with me. Like, yeah. And so, but like, I didn't know how to answer that, how to combat it, you know? In my heart, I knew that wasn't true, but I just didn't know how to answer that, but it really weighed on me. And, you know, the next morning I ended up getting a phone call from my wife and I found out my mother had passed away in a car accident.
Melissa Lapin (15:48.066)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (15:52.322)
Right.
Wow.
Brandon Beard (16:07.838)
And so my brain just correlated those two things, me being involved with building those bombs, what happened, and then that was my punishment for being involved with that. And so it...
really got dug deep into it, back into my relationship and stuff for a while. But I fell away again just because I didn't, one, I always consider myself not worthy because I didn't follow my calling. I went and did that. And I wasn't worthy enough because in my mind, how it translated, I ended up...
My actions got my mom, you know, killed in a car accident, you know.
Melissa Lapin (17:02.306)
So, which you've shared with me that you like have since understood that that's a lie, right? Yeah, yeah, because God is not going to kill anybody. God is not going to take anyone out before something we did. He's not going to punish someone else for our actions and he's not necessarily going to punish us. However, there are consequences for our actions, right?
Brandon Beard (17:10.078)
Right. Yes, ma 'am. 100%. 100%.
Melissa Lapin (17:30.178)
But God is not a punisher God. And it just points to the truth and the fact that bad theology, false teaching about an angry punisher God...
Brandon Beard (17:30.206)
Yeah, right.
Melissa Lapin (17:51.394)
like sets us up to believe things like that. Like when you told me that the other day, like my heart broke for you. Like literally I was like dying inside just the grief because there are
yours yes military and what you did but I've heard so many stories of people who have have carried the weight of a lie like that for years and years and years and years because someone quote spiritual told them that if you do this then or this happened because you did that like a like it's just it hurts my heart and I want to throat punch people.
because it's like why would you tell somebody if you you know it's like that that that thing you know step on a crack break your mother's back who the hell made up that little song thing why why are you going to tell some little kid that and then they're going to go around jumping on cracks hoping that someone's back it's you know the stuff that we say to people but the things that we say that are just ugly and untrue about god
Brandon Beard (18:39.166)
For sure.
Brandon Beard (18:48.35)
Right.
Brandon Beard (18:55.87)
Right.
Melissa Lapin (19:07.842)
that keeps people in this bondage of shame and guilt. And because I can't imagine like how you lived for as long as you did with that thinking that and when you're in the military and you've got a job to do, you still have to do that job. You know, with that lie, you're like, I'm still making this and this is going to kill me. Who else is going to die if I make this bomb? Is my dad going to die? Or is my
Brandon Beard (19:30.174)
yeah.
Melissa Lapin (19:37.73)
Sister gonna die or you know, all that. I mean,
Brandon Beard (19:43.006)
Yeah, and that's what, so like I got real spiritual trying to find answers to it. And, you know, I just didn't have the right mindset and theology behind it because, you know, it's what is it?
Melissa Lapin (19:50.37)
Mm -hmm.
Melissa Lapin (19:59.554)
Well, you're trying to dig yourself out of that hole. It's not allowing, because of already having...
Brandon Beard (20:04.062)
Right.
Melissa Lapin (20:11.778)
I don't want to say false here, whatever, just like wrong theology, bad theology, people doing the best they could, we get that. But saying those things or the works mentality of religion of you need to pray differently or you need to fast or you need to do all of these things, that is literally us trying to nail ourself on the cross and hang there for our own.
stuff, right? And it just doesn't work. It's fruitless. It's infuriating. It's pointless. It's exhausting to go around that hamster wheel. If I just do this enough, if I just do this enough, if I just do this enough, then everything will be great. You know? it doesn't work. No.
Brandon Beard (21:03.934)
Right. And it don't work. I mean, that's, that's one reason why like six months I really dove into it. And then I just went back to the way I was because like it no, no matter how much I believed or read my Bible or whatever, like nothing changed. So, and that just compounds onto all of the other crap that's been told to you because
Melissa Lapin (21:17.25)
What's the point? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (21:30.434)
Yeah.
Brandon Beard (21:31.55)
Once I started believing that false truth about myself, then you start trying to do everything and make it work, nothing changes. So it just verifies that false truth, right? And so you just start looking for other ways to cope. Mine was alcohol and food. And then around an isolation, for sure around 2009,
Melissa Lapin (21:43.746)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (21:59.65)
Yeah.
Brandon Beard (22:02.014)
around 2009, I had, by that time we had all three of our kids. And like I said, one of my triggers was, was crying, right? Kids screaming. And so imagine having twins, right? It's doubled. And like, it just drove me to a point to where I was just shutting down and, me and my wife started having some marital issues. And then that's what drove me to, we was in San Antonio at the time that
Melissa Lapin (22:11.618)
Mmm, yeah.
Melissa Lapin (22:21.442)
Wow.
Brandon Beard (22:31.358)
drove me to Church of Acts where Ryan's dad is pastors. And man, that just totally opened up a new world for me. The first day I was there and they just, they read my whole book, like my whole lifestyle, like started giving me prophetic words and I had no clue about none of that. I was like, who the hell are these crazy ass people, you know? Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (22:55.33)
right? Where have I come to?
Brandon Beard (22:58.942)
But I mean, it opened up my eyes. So, you know, long story short with that, it just goes to show that even though I hadn't invited Jesus to come with me, he was still with me. You know, he was, he was, he was humbly guiding me, you know, how I needed to go just to, just to see me and meet me just for a little glimpse in time. Cause he knows in the long run, you know, what that little bit of
Melissa Lapin (23:12.322)
Mm.
Brandon Beard (23:28.766)
meeting interface would do, you know. So, like it, my life really started to change around 2009. Still had, still was fighting some issues and things like that. And I think around 2017, my kids was older and I started seeing them pick up on traits that I had as far as being antisocial.
going in stores, starting to look around, preparing for exits and things like that, you know, because I'm at 2003, 2017, you have all these lies that just verify the other lie and they compound and compound and compound. And you start believing things about yourself that aren't true, right? They're not, excuse me, they're not to your original intent, you know?
Melissa Lapin (24:20.514)
Mm -hmm.
Brandon Beard (24:27.166)
and so that's, that's when I went to go, get help professionally. And, you know, through all, you know, through that therapy sessions and stuff, I was able to process a lot of information. And one of my biggest deals was, you know, the highlight was in reading the Bible, I never heard or never read where, you know, somebody was punished for being involved with things that happened at war. Right.
And so that was a big turning point for me with that.
Melissa Lapin (25:05.89)
Did you, who were you connected with at that time? You know, like you said around 2009 when you really started like at the church of acts, was there someone in that community that kind of took you under their wing or like Ryan's dad or Ryan even?
Brandon Beard (25:27.518)
No, it was actually and he's still there to this day We called him brother II just because I couldn't pronounce his name it starts with a II but we just called him brother II and I mean he took me underneath his wing and you know just Treated me like a like a son, you know and just talked to me coach me and then as I got more comfortable with him I fell into
I started, of course, receiving things, right? Couldn't explain what I was receiving, so went through and I talked to Ryan's dad a little bit and he kinda explained it to me, he said, we have a training if you'd like to set in with that. And so I set in with Leslie Lopez, I don't know if you know her or not.
Melissa Lapin (26:24.162)
I think so, yeah.
Brandon Beard (26:27.486)
I think she's one of the prophetic coaches at SOK. And she kind of went through some things with me. And so I just got to where I was able to understand, you know, things that I had experienced ever since I was a kid. And when it really clicked, they had a guest speaker, Luke Holter there, and I started hearing like my own thoughts.
So there was like answers to questions before I even had the thought of the question. Like, for example, you know, why can't I hear the Lord? Well, out here, you can hear the Lord before the thought of why can't I hear the Lord ever popped in my head, you know? And so that's when it clicked, you know, that I had, that I was hearing, you know, that sometimes, you know, most of the time it's my own thought, but I know it's not my...
Melissa Lapin (27:02.978)
Hmm, that's cool.
Melissa Lapin (27:12.066)
Mm -hmm.
Brandon Beard (27:27.262)
thought pattern, right? That's the way I hear it.
Melissa Lapin (27:29.918)
Yeah, that's good. That's good. Yeah, that clarifies a lot because people are like, I can't hear from God. You know, people are afraid like God's going to show up in a different voice. You know, all I hear is my voice. Well, if you hear other voices, then that's like schizophrenia, right? So for those of you out there who are wondering about the prophetic and hearing the voice of God, yes, it will sound like your voice. But that's a brilliant I've never heard anyone put it that way.
Brandon Beard (27:32.958)
So.
Brandon Beard (27:47.582)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (27:59.17)
that it'll be my voice, but not my thought pattern. And I'm going to write that down and I'm going to use that. So thank you to you and whoever told you that, because that's a brilliant way to put it. We we but we don't stop. A lot of times we don't stop long enough to analyze. OK. Where is this coming from? Is this me? Is this how I would think? You know, but a lot of times we blow it off because.
Brandon Beard (28:02.718)
Right.
Melissa Lapin (28:27.682)
You know, that's just me. Well, if God is alive inside of us and we believe the creator of the universe is inside of us and talking to us, then why can't it sound like you? You know, why does it have to be some crazy outside voice or whatever, you know, the King James version of God inside your head? You know, God talks to me like I talk.
Brandon Beard (28:40.638)
Right.
Melissa Lapin (28:57.41)
you know, so.
Brandon Beard (28:59.422)
And like Dubb says, you know, we're, we're created in his image. So why wouldn't we, why wouldn't he sound like us? You know.
Melissa Lapin (29:06.594)
Exactly, exactly to do that. So, what is, what does your journey look like now? You know, just a few years outside of those revelations and into that. where are you? It's a little bit council -ish, counselor -ish, but where are you in your head space with all of this? What, what does it look like in your everyday life?
Brandon Beard (29:32.542)
Brandon Beard (29:36.478)
I'm really in a good head space. I do, sometimes things do get overwhelming and I have to step back a little bit just to process stuff. I've learned how to process things. I've processed it so much on paper. I can just roll through it in my head real fast. I'll step back for a few minutes, 30 minutes or so and just kind of...
run through all my scenarios in my head and process it. You know, if there's truth there, then yeah. But if I realize that it's a false truth, then I just go ahead and dismiss that out of the way and then just continue on. But it's really good from 2017 to now because even the
things with my kids, how they was picking up on traits and stuff. Like I can see all that just breaking off of them. And, you know, they're just back to being normal kids again, you know, just living life and things like that.
Melissa Lapin (30:41.25)
Thanks for watching!
Melissa Lapin (30:47.138)
Yeah.
Brandon Beard (30:51.678)
But it was also, I think that's how I came to the School of Kingdom, honestly, is because I was having some issues and Ryan, I saw Ryan was supposed to be speaking up in Dallas. So I drove down there just to listen to him. And it's funny because Doug came up to me just as blue, like try to introduce himself. And, you know, I was like, no, I'm not here for you. I'm a friend of Ryan, you know, and like I blew him off. I didn't even know who he was, you know.
Now we're pretty good friends, but yeah, just listening to them speak, especially Dubb and stuff, I mean, it just like resonated with everything I knew inside me, but I just couldn't find it with the teachings and theology that I had, you know? So once I got around that and learning, I mean, things is just really amplified for me.
being in relationships with kids, business, being able to go out and socialize. Like I really, when I said I isolated myself, I probably in the past year and a half just started like getting friends again because I was able to just give a little bit of trust, right, to people. And so it's just been a real big journey.
for me and it's really just amplified once I started getting some good water on some good theology water you know on some seeds that I had in me so.
Melissa Lapin (32:27.746)
Yeah. Yeah. So what do you think?
Or can you identify something that you've heard Jesus say to you that amplified that, like launched you? Like what was your well moment? Like when, when Fatini was with Jesus and he said, go get your husband.
knowing full well she wasn't married to the man she's living with. And she said, obviously you're a prophet. And then they had whatever conversation they had, because we don't know all the conversation. And she went back to the town and she said, come see this man. He told me everything about me. Can you share like, what was the, he told me everything about me. Like, was there something or two or three things or a lot of things?
that he told you that just ignited your heart. You know, like when that on the road to Damascus, when Jesus walked with them and then later they're like, did our hearts not burn within us? You know, can you share maybe a couple of those kind of moments?
Brandon Beard (33:32.318)
Brandon Beard (33:50.206)
Yeah, for sure. I think the biggest one was last March. Of course, I hadn't started School of Kingdom yet or anything like that. I was mowing because I have quite a bit of land here, so I do a lot of mowing. And so that's where I do a lot of my conversating with God, you know. And I remember I had my AirPods in. And you remember DC Talk?
from the 90s, there was a music, Christian music band. The song, What Have We Become came on and man, it just started resonating with me big time. And you know what, that was my question in my head, what have I become? And then I heard again, that thought said, I'm taking you back to where I called you in the beginning. And so,
Melissa Lapin (34:21.666)
Absolutely.
Brandon Beard (34:47.966)
I immediately shut off the mower and I messaged Ron. I was like, Hey, how do I get ordained? And he's like, he gave me an answer. And sure enough, I had another mentor mind in the military. He reached out to me, about some business things and I got to talking to him and he was like, man, getting ordained is easy. You just go to all face .com and fill out a paper and they send it to you. And I was like, okay.
But I didn't want to do that, right? Because I just knew that I needed to do it through a different stream. And so lo and behold, a year later, here I am ordained. And there's no other way to explain it, right? Because I kind of always knew that it was going to happen. Just didn't know when or where. But that's kind of the...
Melissa Lapin (35:22.242)
Right.
Melissa Lapin (35:28.258)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (35:44.93)
Mm -hmm.
Brandon Beard (35:48.542)
That's kind of the moment where, you know, for sure, I knew he said, I'm carrying you back to where I originally called you, you know? And so that was, that was just kind of, it all clicked to me. Like it's, he's never left me. He's never looked down upon me. You know, he's, he has the same faith in me than what he did from day one, you know, now. So I went, I would, I would say that would.
probably be my biggest whale moment.
Melissa Lapin (36:21.922)
That's very cool. So what is it? What does it look like? What do you what? So this is the problem. I have like 500 questions when I interview people and I was like, OK, God, which one do I pick?
In that...
What?
How has your everyday changed from that moment to today? Because that was like what a little over a year ago, you are ordained and I've heard you drop some crazy prophetic words on people and stuff and you know, it's pretty intense and having my conversations with you and stuff. So what does, how has your everyday changed?
Brandon Beard (36:57.662)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (37:18.562)
begin to change from that moment. What does it look like now for you to walk with Jesus?
Brandon Beard (37:28.158)
I've realized that because even before Dubb had mentioned me getting ordained or anything like that, people started coming to me and asking me, hey, we're getting married. Would you officiate my wedding? Or hey, we're having problems with this. What would be your suggestion? I just started attracting to me, if that makes sense. And it's...
Give my everyday thing is really.
Like before I was a pretty angry person. Now, don't get me wrong, I still get pissed off at times, you know, I think everybody does, but I have a whole lot more grace for people, especially my family and stuff now. I'm able to look at it through a different lens, I guess I would say, a more grace, graceful lens or a more loving lens.
Melissa Lapin (38:11.586)
sure.
Brandon Beard (38:31.102)
just because I tried to see where they're coming from, right? And to every day, you know, I try to, because to me it's all brand new, right? It's a good feeling, right? The kingdom's attractive, it feels good. Just try to drop little hints and plant little seeds into people, you know, like, hey, I know you're going through this hard time, but it don't, you know, if you look at it,
this way, you know, it may change your view on some things like that. But yeah, every day, like I, and my wife works at the county jail, and so she'll come home asking me questions because I have a lot of, of course, people in there that struggle with things. So I think it's really just me asking Holy Spirit, you know, how to help minister to people, not necessarily,
Like, yes, I'm ordained and a lot of people ask me, hey, are you going to get in front of a church or try to do that? Well, I really don't know that, right? Because I haven't, I mean, that's as of right now, I haven't been called to do that. And I know I really feel my calling is outside of the church and, and helping people, you know, come into their own relationship. But also just remembering that, hey, Jesus had,
Melissa Lapin (39:49.314)
Right.
Brandon Beard (40:01.086)
Jesus took 20 something years, he's very patient, kind. I don't have to change somebody's mindset in one day. All I have to do is present the real Jesus to him and he's gonna do the rest. So.
Melissa Lapin (40:11.714)
Right.
Melissa Lapin (40:16.482)
Well, yeah, because we're not anybody's Holy Spirit, you know, and that's, that's sadly, you know, how our modern church looks at evangelism. You know, it's a one and done. I need to tell you about Jesus. You need to pray the prayer. Boom, check you off the list. Right. And instead of discipleship.
Brandon Beard (40:40.062)
Right.
Melissa Lapin (40:42.818)
and walking with people and getting in there every day and sit with them while they cry or, you know, walking with them while they're, you know, cussing up a storm and angry and hating God because we've all been there on some level, whether we want to admit it or not. You know, but religion just doesn't. Religion.
doesn't make space for the journey to me. They want one and done. Like I said, get somebody, give them a track, make them say a prayer, check them off the list, go to the next guy, right? Because we got to get butts and pews. We got to get that tie. We got to, you know, it's all about getting people saved. And then, and then what? You know, what's the infrastructure? Where's the discipleship? I would much rather.
sit around a campfire, drinking a beer, talking Jesus for months on end with someone, and they never ever set foot inside of church, but fall madly in love with Jesus. I would do that every time versus checking off a list and telling somebody they're gonna go to hell if they don't get baptized and they're not really a Christian if they aren't baptized, you know, all the stuff that we say.
Brandon Beard (41:54.654)
Right.
Melissa Lapin (42:08.994)
You know, so I almost hope you never go to church. You know, because I think you have kind of a, I don't know, there's a.
There's a tenacity on you. You okay, I'm going to do this like live and in person right here. You asked me and I didn't know the time what you needed it for, but asking you the five words, you know, you asked me five things, five words that I thought about you. And I've actually been thinking about that for the last two weeks. I've been thinking about it because I didn't know you needed to write that. But there's, there's a tenacity about you.
Brandon Beard (42:30.046)
All right.
Melissa Lapin (42:51.842)
that doesn't give up and you're not going to give up on people and I freaking love that and I think that is something that is only useful outside the church for you so for those of you don't understand I'm dropping a little prophetic right here so that that it is it's a tenacity that is useful outside the church because you
because of what you've gone through and the grace that is on your life, you can, you have that grace and are invited to walk with other people. People will invite you to walk with them and they don't even realize they're doing it. And that allows the open doors that allows for the intimate conversations that allows for the, you know, you're one of those rare people that can.
have the seed, till the ground, plant it and water it. You're like a complete farmer, you know, cause not everybody can do that because not everybody takes the time to sit with people, you know, and you living on your land and doing what you do, you understand farming. You know, you understand that you have to understand the soil. You can't just throw any seed into any soil and you understand that with people. And I think that's a gift that you have.
from the beginning with the prophetic, the type of prophetic that you carry, seeing things before they happen, being able to hand somebody a seed and say, here's your seed. This, I know you're the ground that this seed goes in, but it's up to you to do something with it. But then because of the tenacity that you have, you kind of hang out and you're like, let me help you. You know, let me be here for you. And they're okay with that. I see you being.
Brandon Beard (44:37.502)
Right.
Melissa Lapin (44:49.538)
a spiritual father to many people because of the patience that you have and you know, because farmers are going to be farmers. Yeah, I mean they through droughts, through whatever the hardest time there, there is no person on this planet like a farmer. When it comes to digging their heels in and going, no, this is my land.
This is fertile. This is going to produce fruit. Right. And.
I think you're going to become more aware of that capability within you. You're kind of like a dog with a bone on a grand scale. There's this whole vision that you have for a person's life.
that you see and you know you have a part of.
but you only drop little bits of it to them at a time. Does that make sense? Yeah, you just, you see, and I see that. I see like somebody will be with me and I'll see like 15 different parts of their life, you know, and just different segments and increments of their life. And I'm like, okay, well, I can't tell them all of that, but let me just throw this little bit right here right now, you know? And I see that in you and the patience that you have.
Brandon Beard (45:56.766)
Yeah, 100%.
Melissa Lapin (46:22.306)
and the grace that you have to just to take people by the hand and go that's okay we got time you know there's someone like me though i'm like all right we got time and yet you need to hurry up i get a little impatient
Brandon Beard (46:36.158)
That's me driving, for sure.
Melissa Lapin (46:41.922)
Yeah. That's funny. So as we, as we kind of wind down a little bit, do you have anything else you want to share specifically or anything?
Brandon Beard (46:58.846)
I think just one thing that the, cause I woke up this morning, it was super early, around four. And one thing that the Lord was highlighting to me was, you know, there's a, I always had a mindset of separation and it's really, I've really been praying about that lately. like show me where I am, where you are in me and where I am in you.
Melissa Lapin (47:17.026)
Mm.
Brandon Beard (47:28.158)
And then, you know, I just had these images of these circles, right? The big circle, if you can imagine, was God. And the smaller circle was Jesus. Then another circle, Holy Spirit. And then the smaller circle was me, where they're all encapsulated in that one circle, right? And so that's just really highlighted to me that none of those circles were outside the circle. So there was no separation.
They're all intertwined with each other. And then I had a conversation one time, because I have some Indian blood in me. And I had a conversation, because I live close to Oklahoma. And so there's a lot of reservations and stuff. So I was talking to this Indian, and I was letting him know, yeah, I have some blood and stuff in me. And he was like, so you're Indian? Well, no, I'm just a little bit. He said, no, if you have Indian blood in you, then you're Indian.
It's not a percentage. It's not anything like that. That DNA is in you. And so it just that circles. And then that conversation was highlighted back to me. Like there's, there's no separation at all. You know, even though we create our own separation in our mindset because we think we're not worthy or, you know, we've done something bad or, you know, who am I? God is almighty. And here I am just as slowly human, right?
Melissa Lapin (48:54.37)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Brandon Beard (48:57.15)
But I mean, he's in us, you know, and if he's in us, then our DNA is him. So it's just a really a good, it was a good mind shift change for me to, and I hope I really grasp a hold of that because I think that, I mean, that's just gonna change my life even more as opposed to what other people say about me, right? Other people like,
Melissa Lapin (49:24.098)
Yeah.
Brandon Beard (49:26.75)
I had another conversation, I won't name who with, but they're like, man, what's your thoughts on this? And I was like, well, I don't, I don't believe that at all. And they're like, man, I really was hoping that you'd be a fire and brimstone preacher because we need to get back to that. And I'm like, that's totally not the purpose of, of anything, you know, no, I mean, you can scare people to change their behaviors, but you cannot change.
Melissa Lapin (49:47.362)
That's not God. Yeah.
Brandon Beard (49:56.062)
their person by scaring them to do it. You know, so I mean, yeah. And so, I mean, that's just kind of...
Melissa Lapin (49:59.138)
that's so good. Say that twice for the people in the front row. Wow.
Brandon Beard (50:09.886)
highlighted me today, you know, like there's other people out there will be mad at you or angry at you, you know, because you're not doing it their way. But once you realize that, hey, I'm one with the father and the father's with me, it really don't matter what they say, you know, like I'm able to brush that off, right? Because if I internalize that, that helps create that separation again, you know, so it's just kind of.
Melissa Lapin (50:27.298)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (50:36.034)
Yeah, yeah, as you were talking, I was picturing the DNA strand and, you know, we're made up of billions and billions and billions of DNA strands and they're all identical, right? It's going to the Indian thing. It's not like half your DNA strands have some Indian in it and the other half don't. No, every single DNA strand that you have has Native American in it.
Brandon Beard (51:04.798)
Mm -hmm.
Melissa Lapin (51:05.506)
you can't and you can't go in and pick them out or bad things happen. That's the the AIDS virus actually mutates our DNA and look what happens when we when that happens. Bad things happen people die because you're screwing with your DNA and so when we understand that
We cannot be separated from that. We don't earn it. We don't earn our DNA. You know, we can't make our DNA better. We just have to live to the fullest of that truth that we can in the best of our understanding of God is in me. I am in God. He's my DNA.
I'm made in his likeness. Okay, God help me do something with that. Because that's that's outside of us. You know, and it's just so it's so crazy how to me how we have distorted what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be a son or a daughter of God with complete autonomy with complete inheritance with complete.
resources with all the things. We've made so much more of it than it really needs to be and not in a good way.
Melissa Lapin (52:47.426)
crazy crazy crazy. So what would be, and maybe even just adding on to what you just said, but what would be just a piece of advice or encouragement that you'd like to leave with the listeners?
Brandon Beard (53:03.742)
Just don't give up. I mean there's
There's been times in my life where I wanted to give up completely, but don't know why I didn't. I mean, there's always something brighter on the outside. There's always a better truth for your life that goes back to your original intent, right? We get so caught up on...
Melissa Lapin (53:34.882)
Mm.
Brandon Beard (53:39.454)
on trying to fit this single mold, right, that the world has put around us and we can't get it. And then we become, we get identity issues because of that. And just, I mean, there's our true, I don't even know how I'm trying to frame this. Just remember that you can always go back to your original identity and you're originally who you are because that's, that's ingrained in you, right? There's.
Melissa Lapin (53:43.97)
Mm -hmm.
Brandon Beard (54:09.022)
And then that, that ingrainment is how you should be living your life to the fullest. You know, you can have a full life trying to fit that mold or that box, but you won't get fulfillment in it. That's the reason why you see so many rich people that have all the money, fame in the world, and they're just not happy. You know, so just, if you find yourself in a low spot, don't give up. Really try to.
Like what you were saying with community, try to find somebody that out there that won't put you down, but will help guide you, you know, to better yourself, you know, and, and not, not fit the mold that people, you know, try to place out there on.
Melissa Lapin (54:56.834)
Yeah, avoid the people who try to put you in a box. Because there are those of us out there and communities out there that will not put you in a box and we will encourage you to be who you are as an individual. That's so good. Thank you, Brandon, for hanging out with me today. I'm glad you just... Yeah, I'm glad you decided to suck it up and...
Brandon Beard (55:19.742)
Yes ma 'am, I'm glad you have me on.
Melissa Lapin (55:25.538)
be on my podcast, even though you didn't really want to.
Brandon Beard (55:30.526)
It's new. I'm trying to learn new things.
Melissa Lapin (55:34.658)
Well, I am an activator. So consider yourself activated. There's no more hiding. There's you know, there's there's only bigger and better and shinier things going to happen for you. I don't know, maybe you'll have your own podcast. That would be cool. Thoughts thoughts for mowing the yard.
Brandon Beard (55:56.926)
We'll see, I'm open to anything, so.
Melissa Lapin (56:03.17)
And God knows that. And I think that's what's gonna add to your acceleration. I think you're gonna be in a very good season of acceleration that it's not gonna be too entirely overwhelming for you, but it is gonna be faster than what you're used to. So get ready for that. And I'm speaking it. So.
Brandon Beard (56:25.374)
All right.
Melissa Lapin (56:28.578)
I want to thank everybody for listening. If this is your first time, I hope you enjoyed it. If this is not your first time, welcome back and thank you. And I would really appreciate it if you would go to whatever platform you listen to this podcast on. Give us some likes and some love, some thumbs up, share us so that we can stay in the algorithm and play their game. Even though we know that God's going to put us in the ears and eyes of whoever needs to.
be part of this podcast. So I appreciate all your patronage and have a good one until next time.
