From Inmate to Minister - How Rob’s Encounter Sparked a Jail Revival

I've read the Quran for 34 years and he stood up and evangelized in the whole thing just got saved he's like I've read it for 34 years in my life never have I got what I got out as soon as I started reading the word of God and I started really reading the Bible and it come to life to me and I went baptized now and he comes when I'm like what I'm saying there's a hunger hey y'all thank you for jumping into another episode of the podcast I have a spur the moment we are getting ready for a time of worship and prayer at the table in Harrisburg and my good friend Rob Reynolds is here I'm here with Jason say I them and sitting down and having the random out of nowhere conversation and we literally maybe this doesn't speak to preparedness a lot but we literally just decided on the topic as we were having a discussion prior to sitting down and so we're just going to bring youall into that conversation and talk about the Harvest and what the Lord is doing it's interesting as you guys were talking I was on I was remembering a vision I think I shared this with you that I had earlier this fall where the Lord had showed me that I was going to the garden with a tiller and I was supposed to be going to the garden with a basket that I was in this mindset of going into the garden to break the ground up and SE seeds and the Lord was trying to say no it's a time to get your basket and go out and collect the fruit that's already grown and so y'all were talking about you the fruit off some of your Evangel let to Ministry what you're seeing the Lord do in the prisons and what you guys were talking about what you're seeing happened here at the tab like God is just moving everywhere and it really is a season of harvest to see the Harvest come in so let's just follow that thread and you guys going to jump in and Rob let me ask you tell me a little bit about what's happening in and with the ministry that you're Leading The Way Ministries and on what you're seeing the Lord do in the jails prisons right now pretty crazy it was just telling Jason literally at the E region there which were out spit to half years in prison in jail and some several other time before that but that's where God had me when the devil had me for a while but then God has released me back in there and I've seen in a couple months since I'd say September October and a little end November so two and a half months maybe we've seen 83 salvation of the men I go and preach three services a day and then there's R 35 baptism with the men they up been preach the women which is normally not even something they do but he's like hey you want to preach the women I'm like absolutely there's been 18 or 19 women give their life to Christ all of them are waiting to be baptized there's 20 more on the baptism list for the men and then I'm getting in the juvenile center up in chick buckby and there's out of 23 kids 18 of those have given their life to Christ and they're getting ready to go to A discipleship series that I just got approved and I'm seeing things honestly if I could be as real as I can be which I will me but I'm seeing things happen in the jail that lots of times I'm not seeing in the church right now out of either unsaved or backsliding Christians that don't even understand it like I've cast demons out almost every time on there out of people it's a it's what you're going to get when you go there you better ready for that for sure and there's this I remember one guy that like there were so many demons coming out of him but he still could hear voices and he's like they won't leave and I watched eight other guys in the room tattooed Hard Men come around this man while he's weeping lay hands on him and every one of them is still going you remember when you spoke Matthew 6 over me you remember when you spoke L said like when they started quoting the scripture back to him how they encouraged him and I thought wow this is really God pouring out in the jail cell that's happening in the chapel and he's wasn't used to is like I don't know what to do I'm like it's God's favor the guards in the jail that hated him in the beginning are actually coming to him asking to pray for him and giving him favor now and helping with the baptisms and so it's like God is just cing out this wave of his presence and his goodness all over the place seen in high schools and the rivals the jails the prisons the rehabs it's just crazy I love it yeah man that's awesome as an evangelist I love the Harvest you talk about that all night but I just I think we're in a season though of even being an AG person okay that's the most Evangelistic supposed denomination out there right but everywhere I go it's like where are they at like I think we've had Generations where we've really lost the want to get out and go cast our Nets and I think that's what the Lord's been speaking to me lately like we haven't been tending the Nets getting them ready to go but now Jesus is saying launch out into the deep go to the Dark Places go to the places nobody wants to go it's time get ready for the Harvest and so I'm I'm really believing for an Evangelistic move to come back yeah yeah crazy Jason how does that resonate to what you guys were seeing happen yeah here at the table and here in the Harrisonburg Rock County area rob you mention the Nets and in in January we were at a a little mini conference with Nate Kibler and I had a vision that that the first part of the year that the Lord was getting his churches and the Ministries ready in the second half in of this year that the Harvest was going to be starting and man for us it's been on the campuses there's been just this thing of redigging Wells of Revival on campuses it's in cities and as we were talking about this gen Z generation and the younger generation there is a hunger there's a hunger for real and authentic they've they've seen it fake too much they've seen the they've played the game too long or they've seen the game played too long and they're hungry for real and so we've just seen a wave of ones that are hungry for discipleship like they want to know the Lord better and that's for us that's been really encouraging and andan it's you mentioned School Ministry earlier and so last year we launched something called encounter ship and really what it's been is this community discipleship an opportunity to bring people together walk with them and know not only the Lord better but get to know family better amen so it's yeah I think a Revival of family is beginning in this season yeah that's powerful with the Gen Z folks so how a curiosity both of you guys have seen God do some tremendous things Jason with the work here Rob I know you've been out you've seen some incredible moves of God at some of the high schools and services the Lord's allowed you to be planted in are you guys seeing for the most part are these unchurched are these younger folks that were churched in the version of Christianity they were brought up in didn't quite work or is it a mixture like I'm just curious on I think it's a mixture I was telling him earlier when we was talking about that she said we talking about the Harvest I think the enemy is always greedy and over plays his hand like he's so he doesn't just take an inch he wants a mile what and like he has been doing that and I think he's gotten this generation both the lost that have just been broken and never been in church obviously they've seen the judgmental side of the church and don't want it but then you have the ones that's grown up in it but it's they have no point of reference of really a move of God it's just been a tradition that everybody did in their family and like he said it's just not working it's not real it's just this thing they do and then people live differently through the week and like that's not working and I think you've got a mixture of both of them people that are just saying show me the real thing and if the enemy pushing all that away and taking the Bible out of school and doing all of this stuff and all the confusion with gender and all of that like all of that's going it looks really bad but I think he's messed up and gotten people so broken that if we'll just take them the gospel they're ready for the raw real gospel that sets them free and we'll just go out and do that if we'll launch out into the deep that's what he's talking about in Luke 5 he's like Peter launch out into the we fished all night no launch out we've been fishing we've been trying and they now they're broken and they're ready go launch your nets yeah try the other side yeah that's really yeah similarly I think it's a mixture of both those that have grown up in the church and then those that are just discovering this for the first time there's a couple years ago I was asked to come share at a evangelism committee at a just a more traditional Church in the area and they they were interested in young people how do we get young people involved how do we get young people to our church and a couple of people like so should we provide like hot dog should we give pizza for them to come and I'm like guys I don't know if that's going to work I think you got to go get them like go to the campuses go to the college campuses go to the high school campuses start building relationship show these the Youth of America that and that's what changes hearts and it's really like I mentioned this earlier but I feel like that we're really in a season of restoring family yeah the enemy has done a great job of tearing apart family and it was God's idea to begin with right like he's our father so he is he's created this concept of family and he's bringing and this last week David Bradshaw was here and he's getting ready to launch this communion table up in DC next for the Feast of Tabernacles and it's bringing people to the table like at the table a powerful thing happens right you eat but then when you eat together like you just do life yeah you Fellowship there's family it's it's it's powerful yeah you think a lot of the digital age a lot of what I think we're all part of the generation that had to adopt and adapt to social media right it didn't exist but really a lot of the stuff that gets a lot of flat from the younger generation like it really is that it's root it's the desire to connect with people yeah and I think the church has not done a great job with that cuz the it's like the younger folks that have 20,000 Instagram followers what I'm saying they don't have any Instagram followers they'll put a picture up like once every two months but yet when they do it's like massive cuz they're like oneon-one connected in DMS right what I'm saying there's like this deep connection that's taking place it's funny you guys mentioned the family I was on Apple released a TV at this last week and it was the first time in a long time that I've seen one of these really large companies like positively represent the family oh wow there was a mom there was a competent dad what I'm saying and there were two kids in this ad and you're seeing this now like for the first time and this is non-Christian companies is usually your hyper woke companies that do all the nonsense and yet you're seeing this family presented and there's something there is something shifting right now it's really interesting to watch yeah I think one other thing that I've learned walking with just a we specify it as this jenzy generation gen Alpha's coming right behind but man they want to see they want to be heard they want to be involved they don't necessarily I think our generation we would have went and served and been like okay our leaders would have said okay it's not your time yet maybe in 5 years you can go that's not working with this group of kids they want to seat at the table now they want to be involved they want to see where they can be put to use and they want to do it yeah and if we can figure out how to work with that and navigate that in the right way wow what a blessing to all of us yeah which increases the Harvest right like yeah well The Internet's been the great equalizer you have 20y olds that are multi-millionaires starting companies in their bedrooms you that's crazy we didn't have that we I'm so I tell people all the time I'm glad door Dash didn't exist cuz I'd have been door dashing in between meth Rons what I'm saying like there's no question dude I drove a cab there in my methun I get you I would have he might have been door dashing methun Absol yeah flipping it and selling the food all of it all at once it have been but like just this generate it's just different then when we were coming up yeah or sorry you were saying something and I started talking about door Dash and M I don't know i' have messed it all up I just said I would have been like I was driving a cab during that stuff what so I figured out how to incorporate but we didn't have door Dash or any of that but just sitting there thinking about how we can tap into and again I think a lot of it man we at a conference a few weeks ago with a bunch of mentors that I know we down in charlon a lot of them Tony Suarez was there and a couple other people really was talking about how we've missed it some as a whole in the church for these next Generations by giving them really a point of reference of a move of God a point of reference of signs wonders and miracles that are normal what their normaly of gen Z's church is like show up on Sunday good worship 20 minutes of the word and roll out right there's really no Sal half times you go to church there's not even a Salvation call there's nobody at the altar and like we're wondering why they don't want anything they want to be handson they want to get involved and if God's not moving like we wonder why they're drifting away there's no real point I'm not saying there isn't but it's it's few and far between you got to really seek I know where I'm at you got to seek I got to drive 35 minutes or come up here two hours to find the church that's really moving and is hosting the presence of God not just having some traditional thing I think we've all over the last two decades though watched this this multicampus corporate Church model become prevalent and popular because I remember when we were first getting involved in Ministry it wasn't it was the one off but like the large churches and I'm not knocking them like Life Church and others that really popularized the corporate church if you will Church in a box you can go in launch in a community three or 400 people come out and then you're getting into multiple Services multiple locations very fast and so what it created is this 60 Minute in andout experience where it was easy to hide yes and there's been some don't get me wrong there's been fruit some of those churches like I get it but that this generation that's what they a lot of them were raised in seeing those that were involved in church and yet now it's like the small is being valued again right you guys talk about people being hungry like we've been involved in Teen Challenge for 15 years and you used to have to pull two to and nail to get guys to respond but we got guys coming in and within 2 3 weeks they're standing over here in the corner you're worshiping hands in the air not thinking everybody's crazy cuz they're dancing yeah and like guys getting saved and baptized and then telling somebody else about Jesus two years later yeah and it used to be five six month journey to get guys to that to get to that like that they're actually engaging there's a hunger that whether they grew up in church or not that is there right now and it's it's pretty astonishing that's that's happening at the jails too I was telling him earlier like there's been two Muslim guys at the Regional Jail that came and they're like he I know this Jesus guy but I I'm like okay cool man and then demons were cast out stuff was happening they're just sitting there and the guy came two or three weeks in AO a row and the chaplain called me like a week later and said hey you're not going to believe it guess what the Muslim guy I'm like yeah he gave his life to Christ in the cell and he's on fire wait till you come he wants baptized and so we did baptisms and he's right in the front row and I said I got to know like I've heard like you give your life to Christ and he said pastor I got to tell you I'm like what he said I've read the Quran for 34 years and he stood up and evangelized in the whole thing just got saved he's like I've read it for 34 years of my life never have I got what I got out as soon as I started reading the word of God and I started really reading the Bible and it come to life to me and I want baptized now and he comes I'm like what I'm saying there's a hunger and then there's a guy that come in two weeks ago and he pushed his Bible to the front I'm like how you doing cuz I always asked him what you doing here what do you want out of Chapel what do you want and he's like this thing's not even real it's just a story book that you read to your kids at night and I said I just pray by the end of the service Holy Spirit touches you where you realize that it's tangible presence is all over you and I started telling my testimony and I heard His and I turn around and he's just balling and I'm like you okay he's like I don't know what it is man I'm like yes Lord and I just stopped I'm like does anybody else want to give a life to Christ cuz I'm assuming you do he's like yeah and four people did and he couldn't even repeat what I was saying cuz he was sobbing so much there's a broken hunger in people a desperation yeah like you're saying it's it's not as hard it is cuz I really feel like the he's pre in the Harvest man yeah that's good it's been easier to witness like than normally and yeah we had a guy I'm not going to tell the whole story because I don't want to put by him blast but we had a guy minister to a dude at his job and he hit him on some things from a guy from our church got fired up one Sunday went ministered to his coworker and hit him pretty hardcore on something that would have got him fired should have got him fired the way he in normal culture but the dude responded to it should up a church a week later gave his life to Christ at the altar and was in the water two weeks later and like yeah and the wrong moment how what he challenged him would have got him fired yeah but yet the Lord used that and there is there's just that openness to hear the truth of the Gospel so how do we respond and to the hunger that we're seeing in Jin Z folks like Jason you guys have got this unique environment here where it's it's small it's intimate it's close I've heard you use the thing life to life one toone discipleship life on life discipleship over and over since I've known you what program do we create for people right it's tongue and cheek question like yeah I yeah that just in general like how do we respond to the hunger and be home yeah and I I think this is part of my answer but I think the Acts 2 and three Church is the model of I think what is coming what is happening right now because it's it's meeting in homes it's meeting in the intimate places it's meeting it's not this and not against the corporate but it's not everything corporate Jesus Wise It's Jesus meets us in our room he meets us in our secret place and I feel like that's a big part of it is the secret place this AB these this generation they know the lingo they've been they've grown up with the lingo but I don't know if they know how to cultivate it secret place well yeah that's where you meet with God but do how to do it do how to get into that place and allow the Lord to speak to you do how to hear his voice so that's I think for us that's been a big play a big piece of just teaching intimacy with the Lord not just expecting that you have it without laying it out step by step yeah it's really good you have a generation that does has never had more information available to them yeah like what are they going to do with more information yeah what I'm saying like there's nothing write a book I can't there needs to be some application yeah it's like it's got to there's got to be that encounter that experiential encounter that's got to take place cuz like mean I think about this as a pastor all the time everybody in my church can pull up somebody that can preach 15 times better than me yeah before they leave the parking lot what I'm saying like there's nothing I can there's no eloquence that I can give I as Paul talked about that right he said I don't come with eloquence wise spe but a demonstration of power and that really is what I think the Lord like yeah just in my perspective there's got to be that and I see people don't get S they're not satisfied with just a three-point sermon no and and there's a place for that don't get me wrong it's necessary the preaching of the word is important right but it's got to be packed in with some experiential I think it's the John 14:21 manifest presence where Jesus says those that love me will keep my commands and I will reveal myself he manifest himself and those are those encounters that we're talking about my son last January he had he grown up in the church gone through the well in my opinion I would say he'd gone through the motions for a long time but in January had an encounter with the Lord for two hours woke up different and has been running on Fire since and it's that manifest presence that encounter with the Lord that shifted things yeah and really like we all know who how we encountered the Lord it probably wasn't just a regular church service like the Lord show I was in a prison somehow the Lord showed up in a way and he made himself real and I think that's yeah that is what I'm praying as we continue is like well let me just back up real quick in 2020 when we were birthing all this I was listening to a sermon by Michael Miller and he presented this concept of ministering to the Lord well in 10 years of vocational Ministry I was always taught receive from the Lord and give to people ministering to the Lord why does he need Ministry and what I've learned in this process is all we have to do is host his presence we welcome him in here he chooses to use us he doesn't need to he chooses to but when he shows up he knows what every single person needs and one of the example Michael gave that there was the guy that was sitting in this church for a long a long time he was a drag queen for a really long time and was came up to Michael after one of the services and said hey I've been sitting here for a long time I want to go all in do you have a program that you can turn me on to that I can jump into and Michael's like no just keep coming and let the Lord finish what he started amen and I think we've been a generation that is programmed for everything we've given you a program for this and this specific way we just need the presence of the Lord shifts and change every everything yeah well that's where like I've been of course I told you like I got a five and a six-year-old so I guess that's the alpha generation so I've been trying to say okay God like my other kids I got saved in the middle of them what so they knew all bad for one season and now they're getting all Jesus but I have these two ones and these young ones God how do I cultivate like of course I'm getting them in a word and I'm praying for them and we got specific scripture we pray a lot before we go to bed but I'm like God what and this is what she said like this what you said that's the Lord been speaking to me too if I'm not passing on my intimate secret place what good is all the scripture doing I'm not saying it's not good but like you need both and it's like yes we can teach them that we don't think it's like we forget that hey they're little babies but they can still understand that five or six and so God was like yes teach them so we started at night just taking and they're young they can't do it too much like I can sit for an hour now and just be with the Lord so we started at night before bed it's like getting 15 minutes and turning on a worship song Sometimes just one worship song and just teaching them hey let's just sit we're not going to say nothing we're just going to believe and Dad's going to like prophesy over you that God would come down visit you would feel his presence and know he's real and you can talk to him just like we're talking and if he don't say anything it's okay but you're going to hear the voice of God eventually and we're going to sit and do that's good and so I feel like it's the same thing when you're getting new baby Christians in if we're not first rooting them in the intimate secret place we can shove all the knowledge we want but they're missing the encounter experience not that it's all about that but without that it's just yeah stuff it's just knowledge what yeah cuz if you don't like experience that early on in your walk like it's easier when I've been in the faith for 20 years and normal church is just working right without the encounter without the intimacy it's it's harder to get to that place like you what I'm saying like yeah cuz I think you see new Christians come in quickly and grateful for the freedom and grateful to be set free and they just go all in yeah they experience that where somebody's been life is halfway okay for 20 years what do I need to spend three hours in the pr for like it's working so far not really Generations behind you aren't following J they running away so something's broken and that's what we have to come to real as a whole that come to that realization that Hey listen for the past two or three decades whatever we've been doing hasn't worked let's just collectively shift change sit with him and find out what to do like that's the program sit with him he'll tell you I think and receive the new W like let's get rid of the old W skins that had their place and had their time and let's really put on some new wine that we don't know what it looks like and what's coming but we're willing to sit with you and have you pour it in and whatever comes out that's good well guys thanks for the random chat we're going to turn this off now getting ready for soundcheck and stuff in here but Rob I'll drop your information in the comments below all to the table for those who are watching and want to connect but any part words no just stay hungry and get ready to cast your nets into the Harvest that's right that's good I think we need to continue this at some point it's been a good conversation I will