Old Man/New Man Podcast - Rusty Stewart & Stephen Canup

It's time to put off the old man, which is corrupt, and to put on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. It's the Old Man, New Man podcast with host Stephen Kennep. Well I want to thank everybody for tuning in today. This is the Old Man, New Man podcast, and we take that after 2 Corinthians 5.17. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, and old things are passed away. That's why that picture's sitting there. And all things have become new. So we're just celebrating today Jesus. We're welcoming you to thank you for tuning in. I'm sitting here with my friend Rusty Stewart, and Rusty actually had, I'm going to move your glasses right there, Rusty actually had a testimony that's in this book, Lepers Know More, and it came out in 2021. And we're going to talk a little bit about Rusty's testimony, but for a better update and more complete testimony, check out this book. It's on your tablet in Pando or Edovo, both. And so you can check that book out. This book also answers a whole lot of questions in the back that we've gotten in from prisoners over the years, and asking, well, what's it like in the free world? How hard is it to get a job if you have a criminal record, if you're an ex-con, felon, even a sex offender, which the people in this book, all of us, all four of us, had some sort of sex offense on our record. So we try to hit it. Most people, convicts in general, felons in general, have trouble getting jobs. And we tried to cover that right here in this book. So part of what I want to do today with Rusty is kind of get caught up on where are you now, what's happened in almost five years since you wrote the testimony in here with Don Castleberry. Yeah. God bless you.

You know, so let's just start with, let me just ask you this, how long were you in prison and what were you there for? 32 and a half years. I had two aggravated sexual assaults against two adult women. And you were, and what were your sentences? You were doing, it was life or? I had 99 years that was stacked on a life sentence. So that means no parole, basically, because you got to parole the first one to start the next one. You didn't think you were ever going to get out. I'd sold out. I'd gave in to prison life. I adjusted my way of living to survive in prison, you know, to get by without boredom overtaking you. So I was upbeat. I ran gambling operations. I participated in the prison life, I guess, you know, the atmosphere. You really weren't trying to serve Jesus and walk the right way most of that time. What could Jesus do for me back then, you know, that's what you think. And you know, you've, one thing you got to remember guys or girls or whoever get this is that you got to let God be still and let God. Once you realize that, he will direct you in that path to get you going. Amen. Amen. You let go and let God, right? That's right. Yeah. So you spent how many years there? 32 and a half. 32 and a half.

And you've been out now. So this is 2025 when we're recording this. When did you get out? August 7th, 2019. I walked off the Greyhound bus here in Lubbock, Texas. Amen. Stepped into the confines of Kingdom Towers where I still reside. The Christian Residential Transition Program. It's five years and 10 months today, but here soon I will be walking out that door Nick to a new life and getting married. You're getting married. You're engaged. Yes. Praise God. I want to hear about that too, but let's back up a little bit. So when people can check out your testimony inside the book, but I do just kind of want to ask you a couple of things about that. You grew up in kind of a normal family, if I remember right. You grew up here in Lubbock, Texas. Is that right? Actually, Shallowwater, Texas. Yeah. Kind of a suburb. My dad was a car salesman here at the Villa Oldsmobile Company for years. He passed when I was 16 years old from a lung cancer, emphysema. My dad passed away with emphysema. He was a smoker. Yeah. So was my dad. Got him.

Basically, my mom and dad smoked and they went to the doctor at the same time. The doctor said, y'all quit. Y'all live a more affluent life. Mom quit. Dad didn't. Thus, you know. Yeah. Wow. But you know, you met somebody, so you used to go to church. Yes. And I'm kind of giving away part of your testimony in your book, but you met somebody who was a Sunday school teacher. Yeah, he was actually my youth director. Youth director. At the Methodist Church, and our senior year in high school, him and his wife and his two kids were there, and they held a little cookout for a few of us, you know. And one thing that I always remember, because when he came back into my life, years, 20 plus years later, is that he says, Rusty, well he told us all, he said, this is what we do every night before we go to bed. They went down to their basement, they got on their hands and knees and prayed to God. And that was the last- You were a senior in high school. Yeah, that's the last- His name was Don Inger.

Yes, that's a lasting impression because it's always about planting the seed. You don't know when it's gonna mature and get watered. That's right. So this is 1983. Yeah. So when was your next connection to Don Inger? 2009, I was still over on the B-01 unit. And out of the blue, my sister sends me a letter. This is before the phones had actually got processed in. And- And you'd already been in prison over 20 years at this point. Yes, sir. And she said, Don Inger wrote me. I ran into Don Inger and he wants to write you. He wants to come see you. Well, this is where God starts working. First thing he does, he writes me and he knew about the visits and everything else because real quickly on what got him was that he ran into my sister at a grocery store and said, Cindy, how's Rusty doing? He's in prison. So that set you back. You don't never, he don't know. Right. He'd been away from. He said, when's he getting out? She goes, never.

Which was true. I'd never expected to get out. I never thought I'd get out. But God. But God, I was deserving of my sentence. I had accepted that. Okay. What hurt me the most, I guess, not hurt me, but what I regret the most is that I wasn't able to tell my mom that I was guilty. That's one thing you have to always do before you start. You have to take accountability. You're not there because you got framed. You're there because you messed up. Then once you take that accountability, you own it. You own it. That's the biggest thing. It's hard. Because the atmosphere around people in prison having to chime, it's not hard to find out what you're in prison for nowadays. I went and assisted them in the 80s when they didn't care what you was in prison for. They just wondered if they could punk you out. Right. If you fought back, then they left you alone. You did your time. But basically, that's what it was. That's some pretty rough time.

I mean, it's not easy anywhere at any time, but there have been some years. We were walking constant fear. I know I did. Who's gonna find out today? That was Satan working on me until God came in. Said, you don't have to worry. I've got your back. I'll protect you. My blood covers you and protects you. But Don Inger got in touch with you? Yeah, he wrote me a letter. So, this is how God works. So, he knew I wasn't getting visits so much anymore. My two sisters had lived in the Metroplex area at the time where Mom could fly in and come see me down the street, basically in Palestine, Texas. I had moved back into the Lubbock area. So, it wasn't so easy for your mom even to get there. So, Don Inger got in touch with the state representative here in Lubbock, Texas, who was a relation to him in some kind of way in a marriage, and asked if he could get me moved closer to home for visitations. Well, y'all know how it goes when you ask to be transferred closer to home for visits. They don't care about that. You know, they're there because you're a security risk or whatever, and within two weeks of him asking him, I was on a Smith unit in La Mesa, Texas like that.

A whole lot closer to home. Instead of being nearly 400 miles away, now you're only 60. I was in a dusty boat. Wow. I drove up on the back of a little van, and the hell squads out there hitting on all the dirt. There ain't no grass, there ain't no trees growing. There ain't no shade. No farmland out there. Yeah, they digging up the dirt. making new trenches, but that's about it. But you weren't really serving God. You really weren't interested in God. But Don had a really strong Christian testimony going all the way back to when, even when you were growing up, that you remembered him to be serious about the Lord. You remembered him and his wife praying and everything. So how did, just briefly, how did Don's getting in touch with you, did that begin to, you still felt like you're going to be locked up forever, but how did that begin to give you some kind of hope and encouragement? What happened there? Well, before I actually got shipped, that transfer, I did my first parole hearing, which was 22 years after the fact. And I was in denial. And so, automatically, I got no votes. And Don sent me this Bible. It's called Life in the Spirit Study Bible. That's my favorite study Bible. Yeah. So actually, when I got it, it's also called the Fire Bible. If any of you have that available to you in your facility, the Fire Bible or the Life in the Spirit Study Bible, it's great. So I had a cellmate. He was not a Christian. In fact, he was Catholic by faith, but he didn't practice it. So when I get this Bible sent to me on the Beedle 1 unit, just right before I got shipped, I go, I wonder what he wants me to do with this? Use this as a radio stand? Because I wasn't interested. You weren't serious about it. I wasn't. You weren't interested. Because I'm like, I'm the one that sits in that crowd in the front, mocking people to get up there and give their testimony about how great God is.

That was me. Because why would God use me? Why would God pick me out? Because it takes five votes to get out. So when I got to Smith Unit, I got to thinking, you know, and this is 2009. So I got a job in the mattress factory there, worked in the mattress factory, and they did a Kairos walk. Well, I got to participate in 2012. So Kairos is a spiritual retreat weekend that they have inside the prison, and they only take like 40 people. You have to apply for it or be nominated for it. So you actually got into that. That was kind of a miracle right there, I guess. It was because it's all who you know, who the chaplain boy is. A lot of times, we'll cut their buddies up in there and everything else. So you had some favor that way or something? That's right. I didn't have that favor. I didn't. Oh, you didn't have that favor. Okay. I'd go to the service. I'd go to the church service. But when I seen these guys coming back, first, I got to saying, I'd like to participate. I signed up for it. So at the same time, I'm working on my associate's degree in arts. Bachelor of arts, associate of arts. Yeah. So I get it at the same time that I did the Kairos walk. And that's the second time I came up for parole at that same time, because I get to see the commissioner over the Amarillo-Lubbock district area. His name was Officer Lefevers. He's an ex-homicide detective. In fact, he was the parole officer that a good friend of mine and Steve allowed to get out even after he'd been on death row for years. You know what I'm talking about. But I was the very last one that day out of the guys that had been there 20 plus years to get to see him. It had to be that evening when I got to finally get in there and see him. And about this West Texas wind, when you get a cool front moving, it can be awful cold when you're out there in just nothing but a shirt and a pair of pants. And so I'm out there freezing everything for about an hour. And when I finally get in there, he stands up and shakes my hand. He says, I want to congratulate you on getting your associate's degree. I want to encourage you to get your bachelor's degree. So I knew right then and there the answer was no to my parole.

Right. But at least they recognized that you, they realized that you realized you wanted to do something with your life. So let me back up a little bit here. So Don didn't realize I could make parole. And so when I told him about it, I said, it's nothing. It's just a, you know, Formality. Formality to go through. They're going to tell me no. So Don Inger didn't even realize how the system worked. So, and I wasn't even expecting it. You know, I will tell you this, my family stood behind me all them years. You know, I got three, I got a brother and four sisters that stood behind me, even though they knew I was lying. They don't want to believe their loved one did something as extreme and atrocious and devastating to two women what I had done. I still to this day struggle with, why me, Lord? Why are you letting me? But you get past that. You got to forgive yourself, but once you learn that, you'll know. Everyone comes in moderation with God because He gives you that inkling. It's the Holy Spirit that will speak in your heart and lead you to that next step. Well let me kind of interrupt at this point and say that Don Inger ended up having a really direct impact on this process of parole, but God's the one that was in control. You did make parole, and I want to encourage you to read Rusty's story in there. He was, real quickly, he went and talked to the parole officer personally. He thought he might get five minutes, and he gave him an hour and a half. Then the next time I came up, same thing, he gave me an hour. And that time he goes, well, what is the point of him coming up for parole if you're never going to let him out? Why can't y'all parole him on his first one so he can start the next one? The first sentence so you can actually start the second sentence. Yeah, and then maybe have a chance at a little bit of life. The parole officer looked at him dead in the eye and said, because if we parole Rusty,

he's going home. I didn't believe it. I had stacked sentences. You don't get out of prison if you got stacked sentences. You got to parole one and start the next one. So I was in denial. At the time I did the Kairos walk, it was 26 years in. But like I said, Don, and then a friend of ours that just passed, Randy Smith, had come up there to see me many times, talk with me and pray with me. They had my back, but why would a man that has a life, has his own life to run, go and do what he did for me for 10 plus years? He believed in you. He never gave up. But you know what? He's like a father to me. Yes, amen. And y'all are still, you got out and he's been your friend ever since. Yes. And he's still representing Jesus to you. In fact, let's just, I will encourage you to read Rusty's story. One thing that really got me in your story was your mom had dementia. Your mom was still living, but by now she had some dementia going on. But I'll give away this part of your testimony. You got to go see her. Tell us briefly what happened when you got to see her. It was the day I got off the bus. So after 30 plus years of eating prison slop, I got to go enjoy a nice chicken fried steak at the Red Zone restaurant. And from there, we was going to go see my mom at the garrison. She was in assisted living?

Yes. Yes. And so like you said, she was in throes of dementia to where she didn't realize at times she would call me my brother's name or call my brother me, or even my son me. But when we got there, she was in a wheelchair and Cindy, my sister Cindy, pulled around, mom, look who's here. And it's like a blank stare. It's like a thousand yard stare. They're seeing nothing. They're just staring straight at you. Right. And it was like a light bulb went off and for two hours, God gave her clarity. And the first words out of her mouth was, they finally let you out. You're home. I knew them women were lying, but that's when I got to give her, I had to tell her right there, no mom, them women wasn't lying. I did that to them. But I saw a peace come over her when I admitted it to her, you know, because as a parent, you want your child to be truthful, whether it's down the road or right then. And I learned that. I learned, I learned a lot of things because you can't always look back. You can look back, but you can't, you know, regrets. So you got to see your mom. And then now is she gone on to heaven? Yes. How long after that did she go to heaven? This was about three years later. About three years later. Well, no, two years later. So you got to spend some time.

Yeah, I actually, during the COVID, I was the chosen one to get to go do the, you know, go in there and dress up and everything else, be her caregiver. Oh, wow. The other family, you know, because. Well, that's a blessing to you. It was because, you know, even though sometimes I couldn't go in, whoever the activity director there was would have her phone there. Wow. And would sit there as long as mom wanted to sit there and talk to me. Oh. You know, it was a blessing. But when I got to go in, we got to go in. Yeah. In fact, my first year out, for her birthday, my oldest sister, who was actually a stepsister, had actually hired an Elvis impersonator to come up there to the facility and perform for my mom for her birthday. And everybody there, and he wrapped a scarf around her neck and everything. It was beautiful. I didn't realize that she was such an Elvis fan until years before when my brother took her on a tour to Graceland and everything else. Yeah.

So you mentioned your son a minute ago. Now, did God restore that relationship too? Because he'd been out of your life, I guess, most of those years, right? Yes. Me and my ex-wife, we did not have a good marriage. We fought more than we got along. We was apart more than we was together. Sometimes people use that as a crutch. Well, that's why you didn't, no. How old was your son when you went in to the prison in the mid-80s? Well, he was born in 86, so I went in in 88. So he was almost two years old. He was about a year and a half when I got locked up, but by the time I went to prison, you know, she was not gonna bring him to see me. While I was in the county, my mom would bring him up there to see me, you know, but a child, they don't know what's going on, really. No. They're in the atmosphere like, well, I can't daddy come out and play. Well, yeah, they don't understand. You know, so. So how many times in the 33 years you were locked up, is that right, 33? How many times did you get to see your son while you were in prison? I didn't get to, I got to see him,

because I did, between 91 and 01, I did a 10-year stint in segregation. Went inside 23 hours and got out for an hour a day, wrecked. That's like solitary, or with a shoe, or administrative segregation. Basically, yeah, that's what it is. So when I got out and got shipped back to B-01, I was on stall, you know when that happened. I got shipped over there, put in sick over there. But when I got over there, back over to B-01, mom and my sister and my son came see me. Oh, wow. And for the first time. I remember him standing at the door waiting on me. Came into my arms, we hugged. But I tell you this, it was funny, because he was wearing a yellow shirt, and he was on the outside wreck, and a wasp landed on him. Uh-oh. Now, I used to be scared to death of wasps, you know, even if they wasn't bothering me. But one of my jobs was working on the back dock, so I was around wasps, hornets, all kinds of things flying around out there, so I got used to them being around. So he's a wimper, and he's like, I was like, oh, don't worry about it. I just wanted to flip the wasp off of him and stuff. But, you know, I thought, well, maybe we can restore,

maybe I can be a, I haven't got the part, you know, where you can't be a dad in prison. Yeah, it's hard. All you do is be a friend and a supporter. Encourage them to make better choices. Yeah. Well, we wrote for a while and everything else, but by the time he got to be a senior, I get a letter from my mom saying he's acting out. And she goes, you getting all them letters and cards he's been sending? I said, I haven't heard from him for two years. Well, he was probably out here, he hadn't ever really just came out and said he was out here doing, messing with dope or drinking or whatever. But I told him flat out, I wrote him a letter, I said, I don't know why you're lying to your grandma about you've been writing me some cards. I don't know what you got going on in your life, but I guarantee this, if for some reason you haven't learned through the years of why I'm not home, please don't come to prison, I said, because I won't own you. Because I feel like you haven't learned anything. There's no reason for you to be doing what you're doing. I said, you're acting out how I did when I was your age. You're gonna end up where I am. Yeah. I said, it don't have to be for what I'm done,

but you can do something stupid, you never know. Get in here. I said, get yourself together. So I didn't hear from him, this was probably 2007-ish. And so in 2009 when I got shipped out to the Smith unit, it was on his birthday he showed up. Oh yeah. You know, I wasn't even expecting a visit. I come down there and there he is, and he said, well, it's too late to tell Grandma. So that was the last time I seen him while I was in prison. By then he was like 23 or so. Yeah, 2009. So then. Yeah. Yeah. So then from that moment on, you know, I didn't get out till, you know, 19, 10 more years. And it was like, well, you didn't really have a relationship. Now do you have a relationship now? Well, he's going through some personal things that I get. He's in a relationship out of God's blessings. He's, you know, he chose that lifestyle. And his partner doesn't have a job, hasn't had a job. He's passed his unemployment. So he can't. So I understand they're going through. So you've seen, you've seen each other, but you're still praying for God to totally restore him. It was like three months after I was there that he actually showed up at the Kingdom Towers. Yeah.

He's in Steve's office waiting on me after I got out of class. Yeah. Well, God's in the business of restoration, but sometimes. And he does it. He does. Yeah. Because when I say my family was there for me, they were there in a sense that I was on their minds. They was praying for me. They'd send me letters and cards. But when I got out, you know, I was on a monitor, I was, I was on the SISP monitor. So that's the maximum security monitor. What do you call it? Yeah. And you're on it for a year. Okay. But God. You're supposed to be on it for a whole year and it's intense supervision. That's right. Yeah. So, but like I say, but God. And this was funny because my pro officer told me, he says, I don't know what it is, but they're taking your monitor off in 60 days. I did it for 62 days. I had my monitor taken off. That's golly. Talk about grace and favor. That was, and that's all God has done. You know, it's like my favorite scripture in the Bible. It's actually my scripture in the Bible because it goes back to the only person I ever had

a Bible study with in the 32 plus years. And he's my last cellmate and only cellmate that we ever shared the Bible. And you know, instead of, I was a day room rat. I always wanted to be in the day room. I always wanted to be involved, be out there watching TV, sound off about sports, whatever's going on, you know, do my spiel, but I always wanted to be in a cell with him that's listening to the radio, the Christian radio broadcast on the weekends where the families are calling in, you know? And I felt like, well, that's God telling me, that's what he's got in store for me to get out and share my story over the radio and pray for the guys and just encourage them. But you know, God don't... That's kind of what you're doing today, as a matter of fact. Yeah. God don't let you just do what you want to do, because he's already picked out what he wants you to do. Right. If you just cooperate. Like I say, once you learn to be still and listen and be directed, I mean, you can't do nothing without God. It's all about God. Amen. It's all about God, because what I've got going, five plus years, about four and a half years now, I've been a private cleaning vendor. So you own your own business. Yes. And that was of God, because... Wow. That's a blessing. You know, not really knowing the Bible for years, just knowing it in my hand, reading the scriptures, where they're not reaching out, they're not grabbing me, like, you know,

how did God speak through these scriptures to you? You're trying to force it, because it wasn't until Jeremiah 29, 11, 13, after I've read it over a thousand plus times, for I know the plans I have for you, not to harm you, but to prosper you. Give you hope and a future. That's right. And that's what he does. Yeah. So, that scripture is not just for me, it's for every individual, because the blank of the you is a blank, and that's your name, and every word says you in there. I actually did that in a class I was facilitating there at the facility. I wrote it on the board, and I said, you know, you see all these blanks here, put your name in them. As we read them, I had a pretty full class that day. I was very blessed. I said, you've got to realize, you've got to take that every story about every prophet is about you. See yourself in these, in the Bible. Because it's like they say a lot of time on the Christian radio stations. This is a story that's live today. Because even though these were done back then, they're happening today. They still apply today. And see, because in my situation was, when I got out, I have a couple afflictions. I have rheumatoid arthritis and I have gout that flares up and that makes it hard to walk. Sometimes even without a crutch. And then my hands sweat up where I can't even use them.

So there was a couple of jobs I went through that physically I couldn't do them no more. And I went through a sciatica nerve attack that put me down for- Like construction, you were doing construction for a little while. So for four months, I was out of work because I could not function. I could not hardly move. But God took care of you and got you through that. And Don Inger paid my rent for four months. You know, that's dad, you know. Right. And- Now, he got you involved in church. Yes. And you did get to give your testimony. Tell us just a little bit about that. Okay. A lot of people have questions of, will they be accepted as someone with a criminal record and those of us even that have, you know, some kind of sex charge, whether you're, whatever charge you have, sometimes people are hesitant to think, well, the church is not going to accept me and everything else. What did you find? Was that hard for you? Or did Don Inger help you?

Very. What happened? What happened? I was scared to death for the first year I was out. As a sex offender, you're required to report to the Lubbock Police Department or the Lubbock Sheriff's Office, depending on where you're at inside the city limits or outside the city limits. My situation, I had to go every three months. Then you had to take a SOTP class, which was a sex offender therapy. That's mandatory. If you have two unexcused absence- That's every week. Yeah. You have two unexcused absence, they'll violate you and you go back to prison. All right. I've never missed one unless I had some kind of problem going on, but I made it up so I didn't count as unexcused. Right. I've been doing this faithfully. There comes a time when you can file, which a buddy of mine has gone to where he only goes once a month. Okay. Are you still going every week? I go every week because I chose it.

This is my atmosphere, this is my comfort zone because we're all alike. It's good to have accountability. We're a therapy group of 12. Sometimes not that many, but we're in there together. We're fighting the same thing out here in the streets together. So that can be a positive experience if you let it be. And I feel like there's something that I'm out here, or it's like I always tell guys that there's something in everybody's story that can help you or your story might help them. But yeah, like I said, for the first year, I was scared to death. I was scared to death of women. Because actually, I'd had a job lined up when I was gonna get out, who with a friend of the family's, Don Ingers, had his own business and he was gonna put me to work in his warehouse. But he spoke to a lady and let her know that there was a registered sex offender who was gonna come into work there for him. And how would that make you feel? She goes, I can't do it. I'd quit. So I already knew, facing these challenges, I didn't know how to respond. Through Don Inger and a couple of friends, I was able to get a couple of jobs.

But once I went through this affliction, or the sciatica nerve attack, I got a chance with Stephen's brother's company to clean a property. And they put me to work, working as a private contractor through them, doing everything. And so I've been doing that for four and a half plus years. And it wouldn't be without God. I always say, I'll God you to death. Amen. God you to death? Yeah. Well, but God, right? That's right. So actually having the opportunity to basically start your own business. and you're still doing it now, and from time to time you've actually hired people to help you, and then sometimes it's just you. So I did just want to mention, and I'll get people to read your testimony, but Rusty did get to give his testimony at church, and are you still going to Trinity – no, you go to the Lubbock Dream Center now, but you went to Trinity Church. You've been able to give your testimony a number of times, and that's been a real encouragement to people in the free world to actually find out about that. So I encourage you to read Rusty's testimony to maybe find out more about that. Well, I will always cherish, you know, when I first started going to the church that was represented through Kingdom Towers at the time, but then I felt like, well, I need to go to the church that Don and them go to. Don Inger was going to. Yes.

And so then I found out I could get baptized, and he could be the one that dunks me, and so I had him baptized. He was the one that dunked me in the water. I got baptized and went to church. But the great thing was, I got to give my testimony at this church – part of the church is the primetime, which is where the elderly people go. People with gray hair like us? Yes, 70, 80 – I'm not 70, I'm just 60, so 70, 80, 90-year-olds. I'm 73. Yeah. And so it's more like a Bible study. It's more old traditional. They sing out of the hymns, and you couldn't tell if they had an infirmity or anything going on in their lives because the smiles on their faces are so big, so welcoming. So I got to give my – Don Inger is a Gideon minister, and so – Yeah, part of the Gideons. I had a Gideon New Testament when I was locked up. I bet a bunch of you that may be watching this right now have seen or maybe even have a Gideon New Testament. So Don was part of that ministry. Yeah, and he actually goes into churches and gives a brief story about the Gideons. About the Gideons, yeah. You know, to get – Help raise money. Because they're self-supported on donations only, because worldwide, except for the countries that don't recognize God as their God, gets these Bibles everywhere. But then he says, now here's where God works through prison ministry. And I get to go in behind him and give a brief. So he gave you an opportunity to kind of give a testimony. So at the prime time, I got to give my first testimony ever.

Wow. And from there, I've given 10 to 12 different churches, I've got to give it. And there's always a lady or a man comes up. I needed to hear that today. I needed to know that there is hope. And have you been back in the prisons to give a testimony yet? I haven't had a chance. I got to go in the front door of the Moffitt Unit here. Yeah. And walk out the front door of the Moffitt Unit here. It's good to go in and out the front door. I was the greeting line that day. Yeah. And so I got to experience what the volunteers do when they go in. And it made me get a new sense of what a volunteer goes through giving up their weekend when they choose to do. And even when I gave my time as a Celebrate Recovery facilitator there at Kingdom Towers for years, it took three hours out of my day, but I was doing it for them. And for the Lord. Yes. Yeah. You felt called to do that. And still to this day, I look for the opportunity to share or to just say how good God can do for you. Amen. But once you buy into what God has for you, it's like I said starting out, you've got to take accountability. You can't be on the fence. You're either all in or you're all out. Come on.

That's right. Yeah. If you're not giving God glory every morning before you start your day. Giving 110 percent. And start your day with prayer and walking out that front door or wherever you're living at, you're not prepared for the day. And believe me, it's not a cakewalk. I've went through some downfalls. I had a credit card abuse problem that, as of yesterday, I paid that bill off. Praise the Lord. Finally. I know, because debt, oh man, stay away from debt. Don't run up those credit cards. That's just another form of prison, really. Amen. Anything that's against, you know you shouldn't be doing it. Anything you're doing against God's will and you're still doing it, you're sinning. And God's sitting back watching you like, well, when's he going to get it? And then he opens the door back up. It's like the prodigal son coming home. He's always going to wrap you in his arm every time you come back. He's always going to forgive you. I refer my afflictions to what Paul went through. You know, you've got to look at it like, where am I deserving that? When you look at everything, I know that Stephen has said many things in prison, you know, that these prophets, they weren't saints. Moses was a killer. He murdered his own. David got into some real trouble, didn't he? Yeah, committed adultery. A lot of those guys were actually in prison at one time or another. And then to top it all off, Saul killed Christian.

He participated in the rest of them and everything else, didn't he? But Jesus found where he could use him. So you always got to look at that. Jesus can use you. Right. But you got to get past you. That's right. It's not about you. It's about serving God. Because God has a purpose, like I said in Jeremiah 29-11, for you. And once you learn how to be still and let God, God will just reveal it in ways that you don't figure it out. You know, every day I have an opportunity to speak about God. Amen. You know, it might be to a cashier. I'm going through a storyline or whatever. But like I said, it's not a cakewalk. I went through many struggles where I should be flushing cash and bank accounts. I'm just now actually building that back up. You know, we all make some bad decisions sometimes. But the main thing is to stop, realize it's a bad decision, turn the other way, quit doing whatever it is, running up the credit card, and then try to work on getting it straightened out. And I just know that your heart is to try to do the right thing. Yeah. Let me just real quickly put you all at ease. Because while I was scared to death for that year, once I did find the opportunity to meet somebody, I had a couple of good years with her and her family. Well, I moved on from that. But what I'm saying is don't be afraid of the streets of society, you know. I didn't know how to do a cell phone, you know.

You never had a debit card, a cell phone, a computer, or anything. I didn't know all this. And I still figure it out to this day, you know. But you're making it through. I'm making it through. And being on parole here in Lubbock, you know, even though I'm on parole for the rest of my life, I have to rest for the rest of my life. But God, I always say this, but God. But God. I'm going to take that away one day where I'm not going to have to do all that. And a very Christian man that many people say he's like God because everything he does, his prayer. When you pray, you pray positively. You don't pray in a negative manner. You come to God saying, thank you. I know this, you know, Lord, I'm thanking you right now for what you're doing for me, for what you're going to give me. Come to him demanding it because he wants you to have it. But he wants you to demand it because he wants you to really want it through him. Well, all the blessings of God and promises of God are available to us. They work out in lives, different lives and different times and different ways. But God wants the best for you, even though we go through trials and tribulations and sickness and things like that, that we have him to go through with us. And he's still wanting to figure out a way to make even bad things turn out for good. Right. Romans 8, 28. And what in Genesis 50, 20, what men meant for evil, God can use for good. As we wrap this up, I just want to thank you, Rusty, for coming in and giving us an update on where you're at and what you're doing. And real quickly, I know. that you're thinking about getting married. God's brought you a new friend and that y'all are making some plans, so I pray in Jesus' name that His perfect will would be done in both your lives because I know that you're excited about that. And that's just another

way where both of you are putting God first and you're doing things God's way rather than trying to get out in front of Him. You've got to put God first in everything. You've got to give Him His day. Actually today was the day that I got to go to the Dream Center where the powerful message that usually it's just about going up there. It's a day of outreach, family outreach where they're helping people. At the Lubbock Dream Center. Yes. And what is so great about it, sometimes they'll give a message like they give on a Sunday. Right. And that's what the pastor did today. He says, what would I tell the younger me? Oh, okay. You know what? Well, you know what? There's a lot of younger you's listening as we close this out. What advice or encouragement or hope would you give younger versions of you, so to speak, that are looking at this right now? You've got to get past what you, why you're there. You've got to get over yourself. You've got to get God to be the primary source of everything you do. Let God work through you. Let patience be part of what you probably never had. Yes. Like I was the world's worst disciplined patience. But once you get God and he calms and stills your heart, because like this, 99 years stacked on a license, 32 and a half years later, I walked out them doors when I wasn't supposed to walk out them doors. Amen. That's right. So never give up hope. Never give up. Don't blame nobody else. Take accountability and let God, because you will walk the path that he has chosen for you once you do. And you got to buy into everything that's going to come with it. Amen. Patience, because I've seen too many success stories where they let God do his job. Amen. Amen. Wow. What a great way to end. You know, I want to thank you again for tuning in to this podcast and Rusty Stewart. Thank you, Rusty, for coming. And y'all be sure and pick up a copy of, or check out a copy of Leper's No More on your tablet in Edovo or a Pando. You can find that, read his testimony, read the whole book. I think it'd be really helpful. Very well. We answer a whole lot of questions in the back that would answer a lot of your questions about, well, what's it really like when I get out? Or is it hard to get a job? Or how hard is it to find a church? Or all kinds of questions that we've gotten over the years. We try to answer each of us from four different perspectives in this book. So I want to encourage you with that. God bless you and thank you for listening today. Rusty, I didn't tell you I was going to do this, but you want to just close us out with a little prayer? Most definitely. Most graciously, Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this day, Lord. Thank you. This day was not promised to us. Thank you, Lord. We live for you daily. We don't look

for what tomorrow brings. We look for what you have for us today. Lord, I just ask right now, Father, that this message that's being sent out today, that it will speak to these guys, these people's hearts. They will open their hearts up to you. They will seek your guidance. They will look past the me and look to you so that when the time comes for you to release them, they're already prepared to what they're walking into out here because you're going to lead them in the hand just like you had put Prince in the sands walking before everybody else. I just thank you, Jesus, for everything you've done in my life, for the favor and blessing you've done upon me. I thank you for the favor and blessing you've done upon Stephen and his ministries, the Freedom of Jesus Ministries, the people that go in there. Just thank you, Lord. We thank you for all the servants that come before you that give up their time for days like this. We thank you for the man behind the mic and behind the cameras. We love you, Lord. God bless everyone, Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, thanks for tuning in. I'd go for a while. Amen. All right. Well, God bless you. ♪♪