From Terminal Diagnosis To Testimony Of Faith - Ed Young Interviews Dylan Mandell

I got to experience both prolonged suffering, where there wasn't breakthrough, that I was praying for, but then I got to also experience miraculous healing. And so I can really understand that there's both prolonged suffering that is in the will of the Father, and there's also miraculous healing that is in the will of the Father also. James says, count it all joy. That's an impossible ask if the tomb wasn't empty, but it is. How do you pray for people in your life that you come in contact with who are not believers? I honestly never pray for blessings on people. If you were interceding for family members or friends in private, you should be very to the point. That's right. You should be saying, Lord, I want you to save their soul. Even if that means ups and downs. Jesus told Peter and Andrew, drop your necks. Is there pride? Drop it. Yes. Is there alternative motives? Drop it. Are you distracted? Are your eyes somewhere else? Drop it. Yes. Because you can't recognize your brokenness. You can't recognize your sin. You can't recognize your dependency on Jesus if you are prideful. If you wear a cross on your neck and you are careless in your speech and you're gossiping and you're cussing and you're living however you want, well, those other people might see you and say, well, if they don't respect their faith, then why should I?

I got saved in pain. I was outside of Christ, and now I got to be in Christ and called the righteousness of God. Today we have Dylan Mandel with us. This guy needs no introduction. I've watched your stuff. Just one of the great things about social media is the influence that it has for the gospel. Now, there's also a dark side, but man, welcome to this podcast. I don't even do podcasts a lot. I do some, but I thought, man, connecting with you, I definitely want to hear just about your life and what God is doing, Dylan. So tell me just in like a summarized form just about your life and where you are today, basically. Yeah. So... I know that's a difficult question. It's a loaded question. But the Lord met me in suffering. That's the premise. If you take it in one sentence, the Lord Jesus in his ultimate wisdom, embodying Romans 828, met me in my suffering and used it for good. I've been diagnosed with cancer four times in the last four years. I was 18 years old when I was first diagnosed, chemotherapy, radiation, surgery. The Lord Jesus did not meet me on a high mountaintop, but he met me in a pit of darkness, flat on my back in a hospital bed. That's my testimony. Yes. Now, did you have a background, okay? Before that happened, Dylan, did you have any sort of church background or did you,

I mean, where were you? I grew up going to church and I knew of Jesus, I just didn't know how intimate he really is. Yes. Like he's more than just a Sunday school story. That's right. But he's a real God who is really glorified and really is at the right hand of the Father right now. Yes. And that was what I really learned in that season was it was more than just a story that I knew and more of just less of a memorization, but it was actually like there was a real gospel and it was a real relationship and he really did love us. He met me with compassion. He met me with strength and love and all of those things I felt in the midst of suffering. And there's something beautiful about the Lord meeting you in suffering because he'll teach you things in your lowest that you could have never understood at your highest. Very well said. Very well said. So how long were you in the hospital with your first bout with cancer? So it was my entire senior year of high school, 24 rounds of chemotherapy, brutal surgery, full radiation treatment. And so like that's the low, like that's the rock bottom. And you, I guarantee you definitely played sports. You had to play sports. Yeah. Football. Football and lacrosse. Lacrosse too. Those are great sports. Oh yeah.

Super fun. Do you still follow both of them? I'm a huge football fan. Are you? Huge football fan. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Shout out TCU. That's right. Exactly. So you, you were an athlete, lacrosse, football, then you found yourself facing cancer and the Lord Jesus. met you at your worst, I mean, during a time of complete and utter suffering. Complete suffering. And that's… that has to paint a picture about who our God is. It does. You know, he doesn't… he doesn't say you're gonna come into Christ and your life's gonna be perfect. That's right. That's not the promise. The promise is that when your life isn't perfect… Yes. …there's another in the fire with you. That's right. That's his promise. And I've really got to experience the fullness of that promise, is that never for a second was the Lord not good. Even in those nights where we'd be thrown up and we're in the worst pain, the Lord was still good and he was still there. He never got out of the fire when it got… when it got increased, but he doubled down in the midst of it. And I got strength that I didn't have. I got hope that I didn't have. And it's all from the Lord. And it's like what he can do for me, he can do for you. It's not like I'm some special guy that got special treatment in my sufferings that you don't get the same treatment in yours. But we're all his

like little brothers in Christ who get the same beautiful love and compassion in all of our needs and lows. Yes. So that's… that's my experience. That's a piece of my testimony. And the Lord is so good. Yes. You know, Dylan, I am… I've been a Christian for a long time. I grew up in a pastor's home. And, you know, I dealt with some, you know, persecution, rejection, you know, people throwing shade as you, you know, mature as I was called into the ministry. But five years ago, my wife and I lost our oldest daughter. She's now in heaven. And I know a little bit about about suffering because it's hard to even articulate. I'm sure no one really understands what you've gone through unless they have been there with you. And I think the same is true about losing about losing a child. When I say losing, obviously, I know where she is. She's in heaven. But it's amazing. I just want to totally underline and underscore what you're saying, how God is a God who is there with you in suffering. And I like what you said. He doubles down. I mean, it's… He is walking with you. And it's not that, too, Dylan, you don't have grief or remorse about your situation or mine, but that parallel track of joy, just crazy joy that God gives us in the midst of suffering and what he teaches us that we would never, ever get if we're riding high. Yeah. And, you know, like your salvation is even more important than your comfortability. That's right. Your salvation. Oh, my gosh. Your salvation is even more important than you getting healed of cancer. That's right. And that reality… That's great. That… I mean, it's like as you grow in Christian maturity, you realize that you've actually had more growth in your sufferings than you did in your prosperity. And that's not like a Sunday message that people love to preach. That's right. But it's the truth. So true. Like if you were to sit down right now and take five minutes to be brutally honest with yourself, the Lord has done more work in you through your sufferings than in your blessings. Brilliant. And so in his sovereignty, in his ultimate wisdom, he will incorporate all things into the salvation equation. Yes. Right? I got saved in pain.

I was outside of Christ, and now I got to be in Christ and call the righteousness of God. And that was through me finding the Lord in pain. Okay, Dylan, does someone share… It's so beautiful. Does someone share with you in the hospital, like, okay, Dylan, you need to come to Christ, or did it just happen? I mean, how did that… Well, so my grandma's been the intercessor of my life since the day I've been born. Really? And she has a love for the Lord that when I got diagnosed, I'm like, I want to figure out what she has. Wow. And so I was diagnosed terminal when I was 21. Terminal. That was the experience. They said, we've done all the treatment, like, go live on a beach. That was the speech. And I went home, and I found a Bible that my buddy from home gave me, and I put it on the desk, and I thought of my grandma, and I'm like, I don't wanna leave this earth without having read this word that I know has changed her life so much that when I talk to who's in her 80s about what this looks like when she moves on, she says with absolute certainty, and I looked at myself, and I'm like, I wanna have that same certainty. confidence and joy that she does. And so I took this word and I read it not as a fairy tale, but as fact. I didn't read it like a Sunday school message like I just said, but I read it like this is a historical document of eyewitnesses, of real people like you and I, who encountered a real Jesus and then testified to it in the Gospels. And so I read these Gospels like these are just people like me who got touched by the Savior

and the joy that they experienced I could also experience in Christ. And so the more I read all the healing accounts, the more I realized that healing was actually possible for me. And of course, it's the will of the Father to heal, but it's also the will of the Father to save, right? And so we don't want, right? So I know we just talked about that, but we can have hope and belief that healing is possible. And so I sat there in my backyard after this crazy diagnosis, and I'm like, Lord, I just want to experience your presence and I believe that you can heal me and touch me. And he did. Wow. And three months later, cancer went poof and it was gone. And literally on a scan by scan comparison that I'm sitting in a UCSF oncology room where they said this is a real life miracle. Yeah. And so I've seen it. Yes. I got to experience both prolonged suffering where there wasn't breakthrough that I was praying for, but then I got to also experience miraculous healing. And so I can really understand that there's both prolonged suffering that is in the will of the Father, and there is also miraculous healing

that is in the will of the Father also. And so I just want to give hope to any listeners in the room who are going through something difficult that you can have hope because the tomb is empty. That's right. You can have hope in the midst of your pain because Jesus is glorified right now. And that's the hope that we get in believers as believers. And there's so much joy in that. When James says, count it all joy. Yes. That's an impossible ask if the tomb wasn't empty, but it is. Yeah. And so we can be joyful right now in the midst of everything. Wow. Dylan, so you were telling me too that you have battled this several times, cancer. More than once. So the first diagnosis is when you became a believer. And then have you faced it since then? Has it come back? Or are you? Yeah, so it was four diagnoses. Okay, four. 18, 19, 21, 22. And that's been the last four years of my life. Four diagnoses? In four years.

And the Lord has done big works in the midst of it. I mean, hallelujah. Okay, where are you now just as far as physically? What are the doctors saying about you? They know what I'm about. Yeah. They know what I believe. Yes. They know what I preach. I step into these appointments and I'm not ashamed of the gospels. Yes. And so I don't care if you are at a church or if you are in a hospital. Yeah. I'm going to proclaim the only truth that I know. And so they just let me do my thing. That's great. Dylan, how do you, how do you, this is gonna sound basic, but it's a great question, I believe. How do you share your faith? For example, you're young, you're cool, handsome guy. How do you go about, because I know a lot of people ask me all the time, I just don't know how to share my faith. You know, I want to, walk me through how you do it. I know that's kind of a loaded question. It's a good question.

I think the best way you can share your faith is through your actions. We got a lot of bright ideas floating around this world. That's right. But what's a bright idea without backing it up? You gotta walk the walk. Exactly. And I like to practice what I preach. I will never say something that I don't do myself. Right, and like, when you have like roommates or friends or peers or family members that aren't reading the word the way you are. Right. And I heard someone say, I wish I could give them credit if I knew who said this, but they're like, the best, or like the only Bible that they'll ever read is you. Yes. And your actions, your behavior, how you walk as a man of God matters. They might say, well, why are they so compassionate? Why are they so friendly to everyone? Why are they so slow to speak and slow to anger? quick to forgive. Why do they walk in this mannerism? And those question marks will actually draw people to faith. And so we have to walk the walk as believers. I wear a cross on my neck, not as a prop, but as a proclamation that I am in Christ. But there's also big responsibility. If you wear a cross on your neck, that means your behavior is under a microscope. That you don't, you can't tell me that if you're in your job, in your office building, when you wear a cross, there's not co-workers who are watching how you behave. Because if you wear a cross on your neck and you are careless in your speech and you're gossiping and you're cussing and you're living

however you want, well, those other people might see you and say, well, if they don't respect their faith, then why should I? But then on the opposite, if they see you being very, like following the scriptures, like I said, you were clean, you were conservative in your speech, you were compassionate and nice and respectful, they are going to then see you with a cross on your neck. They're like, that's a man of God, that's a woman of God, and they respect it. So I will respect it too. That's great. So well said. And you earn that platform, that right, don't you, to articulate the gospel. How do you, Dylan, how do you pray for people in your life that you come in contact with who are not believers? I mean, walk me through that, because obviously you have such a heart for evangelism. How do you do that? Because people, I mean, I want to know, we want to know. How do you do that? I want the Lord to do whatever it takes for them to be saved. Yes. I honestly never pray for blessings on people. That's a very dangerous prayer. It is, yes. Like, it's one thing if you're praying over them, like in their ear. Yes. It's another thing if you're interceding for them in private. Oh, exactly. If you are interceding for family members or friends in private, you should be very to the point. That's right. You should not be cute or soft. Yes. You should be saying, Lord, I want you to save their soul. Yes. Even if that means ups and downs. Right. Even if that means you shake things up a little bit, because I got saved, my life got flipped upside down. Yes. And so I can understand how that works. And so, Lord, do what it takes to save their soul. If you love someone, their soul being saved should matter more than their blessing in their life. No question about it. Dylan, how about people, okay, that are checking this out, obviously who follow you, and maybe you don't, and they're going through suffering right now. What do you say to, let me say it this way, what do you say to someone who is not a believer, who's not on fire, who's going through suffering? And then what do you say to the follower of Christ who is going through suffering? Because I'm thinking about my wife and I, again, five years ago, here we are, we've been called into the ministry. We obviously have not lived perfectly, but by God's grace, we've been together and have a great marriage and family. And all of a sudden, boom, our oldest daughter. And then talk to me about that, because I know so many people are going through suffering. Yeah, it's a whole different ball game between like praying for someone who's not a believer versus someone who's already in Christ, because it feels like offense versus defense a little bit. When you were praying for someone who was not in Christ, that's when I really feel like my back's

against the wall. That's when I want to go to their house and just minister to them and sit with them for eight hours and go through the entire salvation formula. Yes, that's right. Right? If someone is not in Christ, you should be sharing the gospel with them before you pray for healing. This word is number one priority. It is. I love that though, Dylan. That is so brilliant about their salvation before healing. Before all things. Before healing. For all things. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. You should be ministering to them. You should be laying by their bed. You should be talking through them, letting them ask questions, walk them through. And that's our number one priority if someone's not in Christ. If someone is in Christ, I mean, we're on offense. We're entirely on offense because guess what? Whether you live 20 years or 70 years, we're going to the same place. And when your eternity is in Christ, when your eternity is in Christ, that's your inheritance. That's the beauty, that's the abundant life that Jesus came to give. And we can honestly rejoice in suffering when we're in Christ. We can celebrate where we are headed. And we can also declare healing. We can see big things happen. We can see big moves of God. We can be bold in faith. I love, if there's a believer who's in a deep suffering season and some sort of hell thing, you really have nothing to lose when you're already in Christ.

So why not pray big prayers? That's right. Pray bold prayers. I'll sit with people and I'll be like, let's be silent for five minutes and let's think of the boldest prayer we could possibly pray right now. And let's just pray it. Wow. That's what we're doing. Yes. It's offense. Yes. It's offense. That's great. That's a good football. Come on. Metaphor. Come on. Yeah, yeah. Okay, Dylan. Come on. What do you do to stay in great shape? Let me go with my ADD self. Yeah. What do you do to stay on it? I mean, you're physically fit. It matters. Everything matters. Like discipline.

Discipline is this interesting trait where you have to be disciplined in all aspects of your life for it to count. Yes. You can't be disciplined in ministry, but then be incredibly lazy outside of ministry. You know, you can't be like disciplined in the things that like you're good at and they come naturally to you. But then the stuff that isn't natural and is hard, then you're like very standoffish. It matters to be consistent in all aspects of your life because then it translates into the things that are supposed to matter. Yes. Right? For me and you, ministry is what matters. That's right. Making disciples is what matters. But I've noticed that if I'm eating good and I'm taking care of myself and I'm getting good sleep and I'm taking care of my body and working out, I'm actually very more, like I'm more efficient in making disciples when all those other things are taken care of. But if I'm not sleeping and not eating and not training and I'm like not careless in my speech outside of ministry. See, I like that word training. Yes. That means you're a true bodybuilder.

You know, we don't work out. We train. I do too. I say the same thing. Yes. You gotta train your vocabulary. I'm gonna give you history on training. Come on. Back in the day, I mean, I'm talking about even when I was a little kid, there was a guy named Joe Weider. He's the father, if you Google him or AIM or chat GPTM, the father of all the fitness, weightlifting, all of this. He's the guy that found and discovered Arnold Schwarzenegger, blah, blah, blah. Okay. He was the first guy that used training. That was his thing. We're not working out. It's not fitness. It's training. I love it. Anyway, I just wanted to say that. It makes no sense. But now, you know, when you say training, hey man, that's a historical thing. It's like inner circle vocabulary. That's right. You know what I mean? That's right.

You know, you're like a real gym bro when you started using the lingo. So do you do free weights mostly? Machines or combination? I train like an athlete still. Like what? Like, so I'm doing all explosive movements. Like I train legs very athletically. So all the stuff that I, all the movements our trainers did for us, like power cleans, power squats, like they say strong legs is a strong body. And that's all you people who maybe are getting older in age. If you can walk and get strong quads, that is actually one of the most important tools to longevity in general. If you have strong legs. So I want to be known as quadzilla. Yes, sir. Quadzilla equals long life. I'm not even kidding. Yes, it does. If you have strong legs and you have like mobile legs, you will live long. That's like, that's, that's scientific. Yes it is. And I'm no scientist myself, but that's true. So you gotta be training legs and taking care of yourself because we're too often we're seated.

And when you're sitting at a desk all day, your leg muscles are getting zero. Yes. Right, so getting your legs stronger matters. Second of all, I just want to get jacked, bro. Yeah. Okay. Is that, is that too much? You're looking great. You are jacked. People ask me and they're like, they're like, is it that complicated? I'm like, I don't think it's more complicated than that. All right, Dylan, Dylan, we've been talking about bodybuilding. Now let's go and transition to the body of Christ. Yes, sir. Okay. We talked as we walked up here to, to, to our studio about the church. And we mentioned just a great, great pastor, a guy that I've met, Joe B. Martin. Yes, sir. So me, Dylan, I want to ask you, why is the local church so important? I mean, people are probably going to go. I really have to go to church. What would you say? It's the Spirit of God present in a building when you are connected with other believers.

That's right. It is when you are dropping your nets at the door. Yes. And you walk in and say, I'm here to get a fresh filling and anointing of the Spirit. I love dropping your nets. Explain that. OK, let me hear that. Dropping your nets. Yeah, so in the same way that Jesus told Peter and Andrew, right, drop your nets. OK. Right, which means. I love that. Oh my gosh, the Lord tells me to drop my nets every time I go and commune with Him. He's like. Drop your net. He's like, is there a net that you need to drop? Is there pride? Drop it. Yes. Is there alternative motives? Drop it. Are you distracted? Are your eyes somewhere else? Drop it. Yes. And honestly, pride is the number one. Yes, it is.

Drop your pride. Because the world is pride. If you were to put a single title, like a label, on the world, it is pride. Every single thing of the world is sourced to pride. No question. It's the forerunner of all sin. Amen. Pride. Yes, and so drop it at the door. Drop your nets. And walk in humility. Because you can't recognize your brokenness. You can't recognize your sin. You can't recognize your dependency on Jesus if you are prideful. That's right. So check it at the door. Surrender yourself to Him. And I love the house. Because you get filled in the house. There's something supernatural, isn't it? About all believers coming together. Yes, sir. And there's something about podcasts like this, which are great. And there's something about social media clips and YouTube stuff, which is great. But there is nothing that can replace the body of Christ. The five-fold ministry.

We need people of all aspects who are there to build up the body and minister to the saints. This is our commissioning. This is our role. And there can be nothing that can replace a Sunday. At a house. What a great word. That matters. Yes, it does. And you know what also matters is worship. Yes. No one gives it credit, especially as someone who's a man. Because the men are not worshipers across the board. That's right. And that's what I want to tell you is drop that net. Come into this house and worship. We are worship beings. Yes, we are. Someone said to me, trying to catch me on a live, they're like, well, why would God create us if he could just do a better job in this and everything? And I sat with that for a second. And I'm like, maybe because he just enjoys our worship and our praise. And I think one of the primary roles for our entire existence is just to actually exalt his name and just to lift him up. Not like I could ever do a better job than he can. It's not about that.

That's right. He just delights in our worship. And so come to church. Come to the house. Show up at 9 AM on a Sunday in a nice outfit. And comb your hair. And give him praise. That's hilarious, Dylan. It's the truth. Dylan, you're funny. Thanks. You have a great sense of humor. Thanks. I'm serious, too. Now, Dylan, you've got some great hair. Thank you. Man, I would pay. In fact, I paid money for hair like that. I got hair transplants a while back. I probably need another round. But you've got some great hair. God bless. Well, you know, a lot of great men of God had great hair in the Bible. Is that right? Oh, David's hair. Oh, yeah. Solomon's hair. Saul's hair. Well, I don't know if Saul's that great.

But those two. Let's just talk about David. He had great hair. That's awesome. You know what? I did a series of messages from the Bible about hair. Really? Think about it. Samson, he had a hair issue. I talked about David's hair. I talked about David's son's hair, Absalom. When they cut his hair, his hair weighed over two pounds. Is that right? Yes. Two pounds? Yeah. So I did this whole thing on hair. Anyway, I don't know. Dylan, I don't know why I said that to you. What were the talking points? Yeah, huh? How did you turn that into a series? Well, Samson, the story of Samson, one of my favorite stories. Samson's formula, if you hang out with the wrong people, they'll take you to the wrong places. And you'll end up missing God's principles and power for your life. Wrong people, wrong places. You could say the wrong things.

That's a relational noun. And I used that. And of course, I just used the hair, talking about, you got a haircut in the devil's salon, all that stuff. But the point was, it was about relationships. And then the other one I did on Absalom, his hair got caught up, David's son, in the trees. I talked about pride. Because he had a ride of pride. You can't say pride without saying. Ah, pride, and so he was on that ride of pride. Boom! Caught his hair in the limbs. He was hanging there. Absolutely suspended between heaven and earth. And that's when they took his life. Anyway, does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. I'm probably going to go find that sermon service. Oh yeah, I'll bet. But anyway, I'm trying to think what he was like. Dylan, do you like fishing? No. No. Hunting? I've never fished. You ever hunt? I can shoot. Yeah. Yeah. Joby wants to go hunting. Yeah. And honestly, I'm half excited, half nervous. I really, I want to get to know Joby Martin better. His church is so great. It's anointed. I really, really, when I've been around, I really enjoyed hanging out with him. We need to have him here at Fellowship Church. He's in Jacksonville. Isn't that a great town?

Beautiful. Yeah, beautiful place. Great town. Great town. So how did you meet Joby? They just reached out to me on social media. Just the power of a direct message. Honestly, I think social media has been the number one networking tool for me. I mean, what the Lord can do as far as like who you can message directly, it's unbelievable. Yes, it is. And so if we want to get all like businessy on this podcast, we could talk about, I'm no business guy, but networking matters. Yes, it does. And I've seen like social media networking be like my number one asset as far as what the Lord's been able to do and the opportunities that's come up. And so, yeah, I credit a lot to just like the power of social media. Yeah. Virality has been unbelievable. I've never heard that term, virality. How is that even possible that now anybody anywhere in the world can put up their phone in the car... It's insane. ...with no lighting or anything and just be like, Jesus saved my life. Let me tell you about it. Yeah. Post it and that goes save souls. Yes. You know, there's many people who are focused on eschatology and I'm not really one of those people. I'm not either. I'm more of a great commission guy.

That's me. To be fair. Oh, yes, somebody. But I will say like the Lord is using media. Like when he says like, oh, all people will hear the good news. Right. I really think that now more than ever are we having, you know, evangelists and pastors across the world who are just saying like, hey, my name is Dylan and I'm in my car right now. Let me tell you about the Lord. And it's like, that's ministry. That's right. And there's people who are proclaiming the word and the bar to now be a preacher is zero. You don't need a Sunday morning stage. That's right. Now proclaim the gospel. Yes. And so I love social media for that. And there's people who are spreading the word far and wide. We got millions of preachers now with social media. As well known as you are in the Lord. OK, how do you deal with with hate when people are like, you know, on the comment section, I can't believe a little bit. How do you deal with that? People ask me that question a lot. Pastors and young people are like that. And sometimes it's easy to, as you know, to get caught up in that. How do you deal with that? I live for an audience of one. I just said that today.

Come on, come on. Yeah. Live for an audience of one. We're not here to be swayed in the wind. Yes. By what's popular and what's not popular. And if you're cool this year, you're not cool next year. Because this word is constant. Yes. This word is not a trend. Yeah. This word is not like up and down, fluctuating. And what matters is that when you commune with the Lord in your private time, when the pitch dark and the doors closed, and it's just you and the Lord, does he say, are you a good and faithful servant? Yes. Like when he tells me, well, you were my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased. Like, that's what matters. Yes, it does. And that sentence coming from the Father directly is more important than any praises or approval that you could get. Because the humans, we're so fluctuating. Yes, we are. The guy who's patting you on the back one day is stabbing you on the back the next day. And so we cannot be living for the approval of men. So you try personally just to rise above it and not, you don't let it. Were you? Yeah, it's impossible to please everybody. Yes. You know what I mean?

And the more truth you proclaim, the more people you piss off. That's right. That's a fat jack. It's true. Yes, it is. And so we're preaching truth. Yes. And we're not here to, like, sugarcoat it and be all cute and nice. Well, see, sometimes… I just said that, too, the day we were talking about that. Yeah. People are afraid. We're afraid. And, hey, I want to be kind, but there's a difference of being kind and nice. I mean, but you have to stand on the truth and say, thus saith the Lord, obviously in love, but it's like my grandson. His name is Thunder. Thunder, that's awesome. Thunder was, he was staying with my wife and I, and he was walking down the steps and he had mud on his feet. And I said, Thunder, Thunder, listen, don't walk down the steps with mud on your feet. Just, just sit down and let me take your shoes off. He goes, you're, you're not being nice. I said, Thunder, I am. Yes, I am. I'm telling you the truth about, about, you know, about your condition. And I think about what you've dealt with, Dylan. Okay. Here, you had cancer. What if your physicians had said, oh man, everything's cool, brother.

Dylan, you look great. You're awesome. Just no, no. They, they loved you enough to tell you the truth. Hey Dylan, we have an issue here. There, there, there, there's cancer. So I would argue they were being really kind by, by saying that. And as Christians, we have to be honest like that. Especially with sin, the sickness of sin. That's what I'm saying. Yes. The disease of sin. Exactly. You know, and you know, we're, Paul says like, we're not to soften and dumb down the gospels. That's great. You know, he says that in one of the Corinthians. Yes. Like that is so powerful. Yes, it is. Like we're to preach this a hundred percent all the time. Yes. Not one percent just to make people feel good. You know what I hate is, is when people leave church feeling all puffed up. Yes. You're not to go to church to get more prideful. You're here to go, get to church, to get fed real doctrine, real truth, to get, to feel real conviction. That's right. Because conviction is not condemnation. And if you feel conviction, hallelujah, because that means the spirit of God is actually in you and working, but people just can't really discern conviction and

condemnation and often feel convicted as a bad thing. When I want to say, no, no, no, no, no. Like, like receive the conviction from the Lord. Yes. And then let the spirit actually sanctify you from glory to glory. Like that's the process. And so I don't want to be in ministry where everyone just feels good all the time. I love it when some hair stands up on people's arms because they get, you get the chills. I do too. Like let the Lord like touch people and let the Lord take over your mouth. Like, I also love to not be so like, my, my speaker notes are always very light. Yeah. Very light. Yeah. Like let the spirit speak, let the spirit move, let the spirit touch people in the room because that matters way more than just giving some brilliant ideas. That's right. We talked about ideas like a few minutes ago, like nobody needs ideas. Ideas are not that valuable anymore in this world when everyone's scrolling all day and they're getting a bazillion thoughts in their mind. What matters more is a real encounter with Jesus. Yes. Who needs a TED talk? You need it. You need Jesus. Yes. You need the spirit of God to like penetrate your heart and to break chains and to touch you in a supernatural way. They don't need me. They don't need my comprehension, articulation and me sounding all smart.

Yeah. Who cares? People need a real conviction and they need to experience the real Jesus. That's right. And that's what we can do when we're faithful. Exactly. Come on. Dylan. Come on, talk to me. This has been so great getting to know you. Let's go, bro. And I've seen you so often on social media. Let's go. And for us to connect, this is awesome. Yeah. So again, it's the power of social media. Come on. Come on. Yeah. It's just, this is the Lord moving. I think this is one of the biggest assets for the Lord in 2026. There's a huge kingdom impact coming. I think that this next generation, Gen Z, is going to take the Gospels and the commissioning farther than we've ever seen before. And for the Lord to give me a small assignment in that big, in that big picture is a huge honor. And I wanted to steward that the best I can. Well, Dylan, let me tell you something, man. I cheer you on and so appreciate what God has done and is doing in your life. I just love your, I mean, who you are, your countenance, your boldness.

Tell me about your parents and family. Like, do they? Oh my gosh. What the Lord? What the Lord? No, they're back in California. Originally from California. So that's where you're originally from. Originally from the Bay area. Yep. Where in the Bay area? Like East Bay. Okay. East Bay area. Okay. Yeah, man. And the Lord is doing a huge work out there. Uh, I got a great home church back in the East Bay where the Lord just planted a years ago and there's been a huge revival in that town. What's the name of the church? Shout out Mission Church. Mission Church! Shout out. Yeah, I mean it's just so like... That's good. When you have pastors and leaders who are just so faithful and not really in it for any reason but the Lord, it's like, that's where revival is. That's right. The Spirit of God is not complicated when it comes to who He endorses. Yes.

You know, you have alternative motives and you're in it for money and fame and all this other stuff, like you might have some cool building but like there's no presence. Right. But when you come to the Lord and say, Lord, this is all for you, like your name's exalted, my name is irrelevant, He'll say yes. And when He says yes to a house is when there is huge revival. Right. You know, like there are churches who boom with salvations. Yes. Because the Spirit of God... That's right. That's right. Fell on that house. Yes. And so let us be people who He endorses. Let our ministries be a ministry of Holy Spirit endorsement. Let this house be a house where the Holy Spirit dwells and rests. That's right. Upon all people who walk in the doors. Because when you have a house that the Spirit dwells in, then some guy who got invited by a buddy... Yeah. One Sunday, who's never heard the good news, comes in that door and just gets smacked up across the face with the Holy Spirit. Yes. Their whole life changes. Yeah. And that's what our God can do. He can. So Dylan, you were talking about your family.

You've seen just some great things with your... Oh my gosh. Yeah. So my parents have made transformations in their 50s like I've never seen before. I've just seen them both like just fall down to their faces and surrender to the Lord. And it's like one of the most beautiful things. The Lord kind of told me that I'm the shepherd of the family. And so my favorite mission field is my parents and my siblings. And for the Lord to be touching their hearts and working on them, it's so beautiful. That's so great for us to hear because that's challenging with our family. Mm-hmm. And I love how that God's called you to be the shepherd, okay? You have other brothers and sisters? Identical twin brother. No way. Yeah. Yeah, there's two of me. My wife and I have twins. Yeah? Yes. Dude, twins are awesome. Yeah, they're twins. I love twins. Yeah, yeah. So you have an identical twin? Identical twin brother. Yep. And where does he live? He's in Fort Worth. We're roommates. We live together. You can't beat that. No, you can't beat it.

Twins, it's amazing. Here, I'm telling you this, you know. Yeah. They're close-knit. I mean, they've been knit together. Obviously, as Jeremiah says, we were knit together in our mother's womb. I mean, before we were in our mother's womb. But then you have twins. I mean, it's just like... And our twins today, it's almost like they have their own language, and they can just look and you know. They know. It's beautiful. Yeah, his name's Ryan. So it's Ryan and Dylan. Okay. And man, he is... It was so divine for us to be put together. Yes. Like, we commune with the Lord together. That's great. He's... I mean, he's the most disciplined in the most... You think I'm disciplined in the gym? This dude's on a whole nother level. Really? Whole nother level. And so when you live with someone who's also so disciplined and so in their faith and doing things for the Lord, it just... It rubs off. Yes, it does. Iron sharpens iron. Iron sharpens iron. And so that matters. And so I'm just like, when I think of the biggest blessings in my life, I think of my brother. What a great story, Dylan. Yeah. Has this been great, Dylan? Come on. Yeah, you guys are awesome. Dylan!

Come on. What a great name. Thank you, Ed. Dylan. Ed. Just two letters. Are you Edward? Edwin. Edwin. My father, Dylan, also is a pastor, was a pastor, grew up in a pastor's home. And my brother, my father stepped down, he retired. And my brother, who's two years younger than me, took over that church. It's a church in Houston, has a unique name, Second Baptist. Isn't that a weird name? Second Baptist. Second Baptist, yes. Okay. So I grew up in a... What does that mean? Well, back in the day in the thirties, I think they were a part of a first Baptist and some group, a group broke off and they started Second Baptist in the 19... Yeah, thirties. So anyway, I grew up in a pastor's home. That's, that's my, that's my life. And then I was around, Dylan, it's weird. I was, grew up in a great Christian home, but I was thrust into a lot of ungodly environments by virtue of playing sports and the schools that I went to. And, you know, I, I became a Christian as a young guy. I met my wife when I was 15. In church, Dylan, have you ever heard of Sunday school before?

That's where I met her. So we've been together. That's great. Okay, Dylan, we've been married almost 44 years. Beautiful. But we've known each other. What? Dated. No. Yeah. What do we call it now? I'm talking? Is that what you say? Yeah. We started talking at 15, and then we got married at 21. And we have four kids, one's in heaven, and then seven grandkids. Beautiful. And see, what's so weird, Dylan, as you get older, it's like, I don't feel like I'm that much older than you, but I know I am. It's weird. I'm almost 65. When you're 65, remember what I said, you'll be like, oh man, I'm still training. And I think I still have a lot of that mind of when I was your age. And then what's so funny is sometimes I get to talking to you, I'm like, yeah, we're about the same age. Yeah. We can hang out. I'm like, no, man, you're 65. It's just funny. Yeah.

We'll hang out though. Yeah, let's do it. I'm down. I mean, dude, you give me a date or a time and you want to go hit a workout or a run or something, you want me to work you out and then you'll go, wow, you'll go throw up in a trash can. Yeah. Thank you, Dylan. Yeah. Yeah. But anyway, Dylan, let me pray for you too. Come on, Lord. Before we go. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much for Dylan. I thank you for his life. I just thank you for the anointing. And I thank you for his power and his words. Just protect him, God, enable him, give him your mind, your heart to step out with boldness and to continue to be the guy that you have in store for him. And I just look forward, God, to seeing what you're going to do in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen.