Hey, everybody, welcome back to The Covenant Eyes Podcast and a special edition of our Voices of Victory. We're going to have some fun with this episode. I'm really looking forward to this. We've got an amazing guest joining me. I've got Marty coming from the Marty Ray Project. If you haven't heard of it, definitely check it out. Hey, Marty, how's it going? It's going great, Karen. Good for having me on. Yeah. Of course. Oh, my gosh, we've been having a hoot. You're. You're just a funny guy. I love it. Like I said before, the cameras which are rolling. Yeah. Now you're going to freeze up. I'm nervous. I'm a. Nervous. Oh my gosh. Well, for our listeners that might not be familiar with you, which I don't know how they can't because I watched several of your, your videos and you are so talented. Oh my gosh I love your rendition of Ice, Ice, Baby takes me back to the 90s. I love it. But for those people who are not familiar with you, can you tell them a little bit about yourself? Well, there's probably a ton of people not familiar. I me, if there was enough people familiar with me, then I would be rich and I'm not, so probably wouldn't be here if I was rich. But I think coming to your podcast. Maybe I would be here. You all seem like nice people, about myself that other people might not know. I'm pretty open book when it comes to my fans and things such and such like that. So I comment back to them. I think that's why they love me so much is because I'm very interactive with them. Have been from from fan one. I've been making sure I love on them. And because my mission is more than just music, so since my mission is Jesus first and music second, and really everything else second, I guess I should say family second. Yeah. Makes me sound. Yeah, it sounds better. Yeah. Maybe you edit that, I don't know, but yeah. Mute. Jesus first, family second, and then everything else after that. But I do know that my calling is to do music. I don't know if, what people might not know about me in particular, but I know that I came out of the womb singing, so not literally, but, I mean, I was born and I could sing and, so I know I can do that. That's the one thing I'm sure about. Yeah, is that I can sing and I might not do it right, but I know I can do it. Yeah. So that's all I. That's all I got on that. I don't know. No. That's good. You can keep digging and I'll give you. Oh wow. Just keep digging and we'll get more dirt. Right. All right I love it. But you're all up there. No, I think that's great. You're actually very talented. I mean, I think you undersell your skill set. You have a voice. It. It's amazing. It's like a mix of blues and gospel and just all of the things, like what got you into music? Well, I think like everybody else, I think music is a part of everyone's life growing up. Yeah. And when you're a kid, I think, I think this is the general consensus of all children when you're a child. I think music is just always in your life at all times in your ears. If you can get in your ears, at school, when the teacher tells you not to, you still do. And, you know, it was that. That was for. You. Yeah. Unfortunately, I think that's. I just think that's, a young person's type thing. So really, I've always loved music. Hated country music. Really growing up. Because that was what my parents listened to. So that was old people music. Yeah. And so I listened to a lot of R&B, like Boys Demand and stuff like that, and a lot of gospel and black gospel. It's funny you say gospel. My mom and then would listen to Mahalia Jackson and Shirley Caesar and people like that. So I just really connected to those people. Rance Allen and so I listened to a lot of that and a lot of R&B and that kind of got me into later. I got into country, I got into country when, Garth Brooks did a show in Memphis, okay. And, I went my mom took me to his concert, and I saw that he was busting guitars and flying on a rope in the crowd, and I thought this guy might really be a rock star. Yeah, so I want to check him out. And so then I started listening to Garth Brooks, which got me into deeper Into Country, George Jones and such. And then that led kind of into Charlie Daniels. Oh yeah, Charlie Daniels, because he's kind of rocky, you know. Yeah. That led into, some rock music, Lynyrd Skynyrd and people like that and Lynyrd Skynyrd and them led into some blues, which is B.B. King. And it was kind of all became a it culminated into what you hear, I guess, my voice the way it is now. And it's a beautiful blend of all of those genres. It's so good. So talk to me about some of your favorite artists who were some of your favorite artists. Favorite artists growing up? Boys to man. Yeah, 100 artists. That's amazing. Yeah. Nobody would ever see me and think that. I don't think. They know I did. They didn't come to my mind. To see you soon. He probably loves boys to me. Yeah. Look at that guy. No, that didn't, that don't come to mind, but it was boys to man. It was a a lot of R&B, as yet. All for one. All for one. Actually, I sang with all for one. Such a crazy, crazy life that the Lord put you on sometimes, but. Yeah, all for one. And then, just the name of the artist I just mentioned, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Elvis Presley was a big one. Yes. You know, and, now, to be honest, I don't listen to a lot of music at all. Okay? It is weird, but I don't. Not even my own. I listen to a lot of podcasts and books and things like that. Not not trying to sound smart. Where's what camera we own. I'm not trying to sound like I'm smart. I just really I think I'm becoming more like my dad. My dad. Growing up, I would always because, like, I was a teenager. So I would say, I want to listen to music. We'd be on long road trips or something, and he would just sit there in silence looking at the road, and I'm going, how in the world are you doing this? What are we doing? Why, we have a radio. It works. He just did not like to hear things. And I'm getting more like that. I like I embrace the silence sometimes. It's amazing how we morph into our parents as we get older. It's weird, I know. Yeah, it is scary. Me too. Yeah. Oh, my gosh, time's running out. Well, you talk a lot about, you know, Jesus is first in your life. So how do you, you know, blend that into the music that you create? And how does that guide the music that you create? Well, when I first started, I didn't come from a family that was like, they didn't they? They weren't dreamers. They didn't. They didn't say, hey, you can get after you, you can do that. You got a gift. It's not that they were, something they bashed me, but they would. My dad was a man, and he believed you got to work with your hands to make it. So if you're going to make it in this world, it's your hands. Not your. Not your your gift. And my mama would always say you can sang. But she never believed that you could make a living. Do it. Make a living doing that. You know. And so that's kind of the that was kind of the way my whole family was. And for the most part, probably I lived in a small town. I grew up in a very small town right outside of Memphis. So in that whole town and you were kind of there was a there's a steel mill there. So you were kind of taught to go after that Nucor Steel life to, to get that job. And that was because it's a great job. It's still there to the day to this day. And and you can make 200 plus thousand dollars a year there. And so that's a great job. I'm not knocking them at all. But I knew that, I knew that I always there was something I always wanted to do, and I, I really didn't know what it was because I didn't. I can't say that I'll sit here. And I wanted to always sing. I knew I loved to sing, and I would always sing, but I would mimic people. Mainly what I did was when I was growing up, I would just mimic certain artists and whoever they were, I would try to sound just like them. So I didn't really have my own voice, you know what I'm saying? So I think it was, I don't know the exact time timeframe, but when I got my, when I got my first laptop, I was, it was a MacBook and MacBook has what's called GarageBand, which I'm sure you've heard of. Yeah. And this was years and years ago, and I had no clue that you could at that time. Like I said, I'm thinking about what can I do to not have to work for my dad, my dad on the business. And I just did not want to have to work for him. And so I was trying to do anything other than that. And I pulled up this, this computer, and I started messing with this GarageBand. And I figured out, you can record yourself on this. And I thought, wow, I thought this would take thousands and thousands of dollars to do. And so but I knew nothing about it. It was just recording through the the computer mic. And when I heard that though, I contacted my cousin and he had he had created some CDs and they, they all sang in church, my cousin or my uncle, you know. And so I said, hey, what do you do to get better sound and all these things? And so we ended up, we ended up going to the church. It was a it was a Christmas. And we ended up going to the church. And I wanted to do, I wanted to do Hallelujah with him, with my uncle. We didn't get to finish that. My uncle left and my cousin and I were there, left. And I said, well, I want to get something recorded that I can mess with and play with in the software. And so I said, just pick a song out of the hymn book and I'll just sing whatever it is. I'll sing. I'll look at the lyrics and I'll sing it. So he picked Great Speckled Bird, and I had never heard anybody sang that one. Okay, so I had no reference point in my head to mimic someone. So then I went into the vocal booth and, which was just the pastor's office on the right of the platform. There wasn't it wasn't a real vocal booth. And, he started playing, and I was. And that's the first time ever that I had nothing to go off of. So I just started singing. What a beautiful song I've been thinking concerning a Great Speckled Bird. And I thought, and that was good, as you have stated, that felt real nice. And I thought, wow, this is. And it was like I felt I had chills, I felt the Holy Spirit and I was like, this right here is this is something here. And it was almost as if God was saying, that's your voice. Now, what are you going to do with it? And I thought I was going to come out of there and go, and he was just going to be because I was always trying to impress them, because they were the ones singing in church. Like I said, they were leading worship and stuff. So I thought I was gonna come out there and he was going to go, wow, dude, that was amazing. I come on said, we talked about, there he goes, I'm sorry. Oh, I said, oh, shoot. So then it was a while after that that I ended up making a video and just I said, I'm going to see what people think. Just random people online. Thank God for Facebook. Yeah. Sometimes. Yeah. And yeah. And so I posted that video and it got about 30,000 views at the time I thought, I'm famous right now I'm about to blow up. Yeah, I thought, this is it, I quit that, you know what I mean? It's over between. Us. Oh my God, I'll send you money. You know what I mean? But that didn't happen that way. No, Unfortunately so. But I thought that was the start of it. That was the spark that, I don't know, a question you asked at this point. Did you ask me a question or if I've just been talking? It's okay. I love the story. Yeah. No, no, no. It's okay. You gotta reign me. Oh, no no no no, this is great. Just kind of how you got started in music I love this. No. That's great. So you got all these followers on Facebook and then what happened? Well, actually, the craziest story, I guess I should probably tell the craziest story since we're telling stories. And I know you have a list of questions. Oh, no, I. Don't want to. I don't want to take over the show. But I do know there's some aspects of my current my journey that are pretty wild and they seem fake. So I do enjoy telling them sometimes when I get the chance. So after that video, after that video, I decided to make an album with some songs that I'd written, and it was my first EP. And so I made this and I was going to, Gold Strike Casino every time they would have an artist in there, and I would go and try to get to meet them, because I knew the guy that booked them and sometimes he would get me back to meet the artist in there, and I thought I could. That's what I thought, would I? That's the way I the route I thought I would use to make it. If you will never make it means and I was handing this this, you know, well done musically, but not the best done artistically. Meaning the album and the artwork and whatnot. It was just really thrown together. I was harnessed all these artists, and it just seemed like none of them was listening. And so you have this spark that that you're growing up like this, and you think that God put me on this path and I'm about to I'm about to make it. This is all I got. Just got to stay the course. And then all of a sudden nothing's happening. So it starts to go back down. You think, yeah, I was mistaken, you know? And this one time in particular, I was, really I was really about to give up. I was, done. I was thinking, this is the last show I'm going to go to, and I'll just go back to towing cars for my dad. And it was B.B. King. It was a B.B. King show, one of his last shows, and I was on the front row and he was playing. He had his whole whole band out there, and he was playing, and, I was just sitting there and, you know, doing this is back and forth. And he knew me, you know, he was doing all this. And I was just really just enjoying it. And then as he's doing, I mean, he's in the middle of the song and I got my eyes closed, you know, because that's how tired I kind of listen to music, especially back then. And I got my eyes closed and he goes, everybody hold on. Everybody hold on. He stop, just hold man. Like this. And so then everybody in the world was running for something wrong with the sound, or something wrong with the lights or whatever. And he stops the show and he points over there. Me? Well, I'm not. Keep in mind, I'm about to give up and God put me on this journey. And he points at me, I don't know B.B. King at all. And he says, as long as that guy right there is having a good time. So my group that many deal is gone away, you know, and I'm like, what in the world? And so then these people, they're thinking, wow, he must be he must be keen or something. Yeah. And I don't know why they would have thought that because that was weird. But, I like the fact that they say, you know, you know what I mean? And, so they were they were kind of like, I, you know, B.B. and I was like, I know B.B. King the same way you do as a fan. And so because Neil was the guy. Neil. Thank you. If you if you ever see this, Neil was the guy who booked for Gold Strike. He got me the the the honor of being able to go backstage and meet B.B. King. Oh, my gosh. But there was about 50 people there that were all supposed to be his family. So I was the only white guy going backstage, you know what I mean? And I was kind of just trying to stay in the back. But as they're leading us on the side of the stage, it's pitch black, dark, you know, everything. And they're leading us with a flashlight like this. And I'm like I said, I'm the last one. And there's a security guard standing there and they got their arms crossed, you know, like this. And as I'm going by, I'm just following all of his family and I'm going by and next thing I know, a hand comes out in between the security guards and grabs my hand and starts pulling me towards the security guards. And I'm and I'm doing like this. And they're going, hey, you got to move on. You got to move. I said, somebodys got a ahold of my hand. And they looked down and it was B.B. King in a wheelchair. Oh my gosh. He pulled me up to him. He goes, I don't want you to know I enjoyed having you here tonight. And I had a record in my hand that I was going to try to give him a sign and a picture, and I was I was kind of stunned. I was like, why in the world is this happening? And I'm like, Mr. King, I love you. You know, that's basically why I say he goes, he said, he said, son, I love you too. He said, what you got there? And he sounded. He said, I'll see you back there. And so there's about 50 people I'm waiting in line. I got a Martin guitar, acoustic Martin guitar. And he was at the time, he was contractually obligated to only sign Gibson guitars. Oh, and so I'm watching as all of his I wanted to get my guitar signed, and I'm watching as all of his family's being sent away with guitars not signed that were not Gibson. So I thought, well, I'm not going to get my guitar signed. But at the very least, if I can give him this, this album, he seems like he might this might be what God has orchestrated. This might be the moment, you know. And so my hopes are way up and I see as as it's coming in, they're, they're kind of acting as if they're about to cut it off, you know, because B.B.'s energy's getting low. But they, they said we got time for one more and or something like that. And I walked in there and I had my guitar in my hand. And when I walked in, B.B. goes, hey, my friend. Oh my gosh. He walks up to he. I walk up to his, he's sitting in the chair and I walk up to here. I handed my guitar and he goes. He looks up at the head of it and he looks up at me and he goes, I'm going to sign it anyway. And he signed B.B. King on my guitar, which is the one you see in all the videos I play. Most of them, it's got B.B. King probably the only Martin guitar signed by B.B. King in the world. Maybe, I don't know, but he signed it and I handed him that album and he he got the album. He goes, well, well, well, that's you, ain't it? And then I go, that's me, Mr. King. And he goes, he goes, he's got that Sharpie. And I said, no, no, I said, that's, that's for you. I thought, I thought that he thought that I wanted him to sign that for me. And he said, and he said, I, I know who this is for. And they brought the Sharpie back and he said, I want you to sign this to Mr. B.B. King. Oh my. Gosh. And I signed my first album ever, my first autograph ever to B.B. King. Wow. Which proves that the scripture, Proverbs 1816 is literally my life, how a man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great man. Oh my gosh. That's my life. And I got many of those stories. But I figured I needed to share that one, because that was a time when God said, don't give up. Don't give up because and it happens a lot. It does. Yeah, I think a lot of our listeners will appreciate that story because, you know, a lot of us have been at that place where we would just want to give up. We thought that we were on our calling or we're following God's will and you get frustrated and discouraged. So thank you for sharing that. Beautiful. You're welcome. Yeah, yeah. Wow. That's incredible. I don't even know if I answered your question or not. Yeah. It's okay. It doesn't matter. It's fine. Yeah. You see how my podcast typically goes? It gets fun. I'll say that it is, but it's okay, I love it. It's a good time. Pentecostal preacher I. Love it, I love it. Yeah, well, no. That's good. I think, you know, I love music, like all types of music. I grew up in the 90s, I love 90s, I love the 2000, I love country, I love all of it. And I think there's something beautiful about music and how it brings people together. So you can disagree on a million different issues, but there's something that you like unifies people with music. Talk to me a little bit about what you've seen music do in that way. Wow, that's a crazy question and a crazy idea because that is true. The Bible says that when a man's ways are pleasing to God, he will make even his enemies to be at peace with them. And so whatever, whoever, whatever you want to say is the enemy, not necessarily of the person directly, but of the, the message of Jesus. Right. And so in my music, even though even though I'm very vocal about Jesus and he's all glory to him and and even in the songs that I write, he is the undertone of every song. And, I have a song called trigger. It's, and it's literally it's really just about the it's about giving and giving up and him keeping you from it. Like it's about it's essentially talk about a gun. It just says, hold the gun, but you hold the trigger. I am so small, but you made me big. You know, and it's talking about we might hold the gun, but he holds the trigger, so you might. You might think about giving up and the the giving up is just that. That I use the gun because that's the ultimate giving up. You know, when you, when you see somebody. And that was from a fan of mine who messaged me because she, my family, they didn't they weren't for they weren't really on board and they still really aren't on board with me doing secular music at all. So whether it's covers or whatever, they don't, they never have really been on board with that. Not my immediate family, but my, you know, my, my other family that are my grandmothers and such. And, but I, I told them, God, confirm to me that I'm doing the right thing. And one of the ways he's done that is there was there was a time when there was a time when I thought about, I'm just going to call myself a Christian artist. Now, I'm not an artist that's a Christian. And I'm going to call myself a Christian artist. I'm only going to do Christian music. And it was as if he said, if you call yourself a Christian artist, only Christians will ever hear you. And I didn't come to preach forgiveness to the righteous, but to the lost. And I said, man, okay, all right. And so I kept I kept the, you know, the I kept the needle moving in that same direction. And I remember there was a message that came through, and it was a guy that messaged me on Facebook and he goes, he goes, I want you to know that your music kept me alive last night. And I said, man, bro, please don't ever think about doing something like that. Man. He goes, he goes. I was, he said, I had a gun to my head. And he said I was about to pull the trigger. And he said, I had a YouTube playlist going and one of your songs popped up and it was a letter cry by Hootie and the Blowfish. It was a cover of Letter Gras. And he said something told me to put the gun down. And I said, man, that was the Holy Ghost telling you that. And I said, that was Jesus, my friend. I said, it has nothing to do with me. I said, I have no nothing without him. And so I tell my family that to to let them know, hey, if I wouldn't have done a secular song, maybe that guy's not here, you know? And that's happened many times. So as far as what I was talking about earlier with the the enemies I've had, I've had fans of mine where I would post a scripture and some of the fans would say they're leaving and they don't want to see that. I don't, I don't I ain't here to be preached at, you know, just because I post a scripture or something. And that's happened for years, you know, and it just depends on whether Facebook gives that attention or not. But when it happens, every now and then there will be a lot of reactions and there'll be some people that say they're leaving and then then the people that defend me and they say, you don't have to announce your departure. And all these things and whatnot are people that are Christians. Enemies. Right. So when I say when I say that, that scripture, it means a lot to me, he will cause your enemies to be at peace with you. And that's my life that I think that's what music does. Yes. That's one of the that's one of the ways for music to do that, because you can have disagreements. Like you said. Now it seems like nowadays it's getting more and more to where people can't if they if they hear that you support this person, that that person, then I can't listen to music, I wouldn't dare. And maybe we all have a little bit of that in us, you know? But for the most part, you still go back to those songs that moved you no matter what they did, no matter what they believe. So true. So yeah. That's a great story. Thank you for sharing that. You're welcome. You're welcome. I think that brings up a good point. I mean, when you're listening to music, so many and especially country songs, they have a story. And I think that's why so many people really relate to them. You know, it's there's something there, you know, the pain that someone is experienced. Maybe you've experienced that. And I think that's what music does is it shares emotion, it shares humanity with other people. And I think that can be done through Christian music and gospel music. But I think even some secular songs can strike a nerve. You know, at the core, those people are searching for something. There's something beautiful in those songs. Like Johnny Cash is one of my favorite artists, and I think a lot of his songs are just so profound. Do you, do you think that as well? And what are your thoughts about, you know, how music can convey the humanity of people? I think if somebody is honest, especially the songwriter, then no matter who, especially if it's a gift that God gave them, then they're going to reach at least one person with that song, because that song is not just meant to. That song is not just meant for you, sometimes not meant for you at all. Now I have a song called flowers that I wrote. I wrote it years and years ago and, I was scared to release it because it's about. It's about losing your spouse. I never lost my spouse. So it was kind of this story that I told in this song that, I was just pulling from the ones I have lost, that that meant so much to me. But I've never known the loss of a spouse. But this song now has been a song for people in that situation, and it's giving them hope. Yeah, and I mean, it's a it's a hard song for me to even sang from when people ask for it at a show or something. It's hard for me to saying without bawling, you know? And so I know that. I know that if somebody is honest, then you're going to you're going to connect with somebody, even if it's just one person. So you said Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash, the songs are they're not all most of them are not his. But so sometimes you have the songwriter, if they're honest, and sometimes all it takes is the person singing it. To be honest, when they're singing. That's kind of how Ice Ice Baby happened, you know? I mean, it's funny and it's fun, but but there's people, believe it or not, that have listened to that song and have said that it moved them to tears. Wow. Can you believe that? No. But. Right, I will, I'll believe you. Yeah, I'm. It's crazy when you take. You take a song. That is. All right. Stop. Collaborate. And then you go, all right, stop. Collaborate and listen. Ice is back. One brand new invention. Something you know, it's. For whatever reason, it takes certain people to a certain place. Yeah, and it moves them and they move Vanilla Ice to, you know, our friends to this day because of that song. Yeah. He's like a real estate guy now, isn't he? He retired from the whole music scene. Or now he retired from music. No, no. Okay. We played shows together. You're. You really? Oh my goodness, that's cool. Yeah, that is cool. Yeah he does. I love the 90s store. Oh. Interesting. Yeah. You might have to get on. Well, get them on the show. Yeah, I might have to. My gosh, that's like my body. Oh my gosh. Well that's great. Well, I know that we're going to we're going to change gears a little bit and talk about something less serious for a minute. So the beard let's talk about the beard. Oh yeah. So you've got you've got a company that specializes in beard products correct. I do yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Talk to me a little bit about that because you've got a beard event here. I mean that's nice looking beard. Thank you. Yeah yeah. Say more. Yeah. Well it looks great. I mean I'm a big fan, so. Yeah, I like it. Yeah, I like this. I will use this for commercials. There you go. There you go. That's funny. You get the beard. Is that the beard? Whole. The whole beard company. It's so crazy that you ask that because we it's segue perfectly. Because the only reason that I have this company is because I did my I did my second show ever with Vanilla Ice. Okay. In Miami. I did a show he called me after I did that cover. It went viral, 200 million views or whatever. Collectively. It was crazy. And somebody, everybody was saying they were there. Vanilla ice was their best friend. And what was their what was my number? And I said, well, what's it going to hurt to give him my number because I run its own service. Yeah. So I might, I might as well get a Toyota. Yeah. And so teasing. Right, right. So then one of the guys was on line, but now ice calls me up. He goes, I answer the phone just like no one. I said, Glen Ray's Towing, you know, he goes, hey Marty Ray like that. And oh my gosh I said, hey Glen, Ray's don't you know, he goes, I like that Vanilla Ice ice. Yeah, I like that Ice, Ice, Baby acoustic. I said, thank you so much. I appreciate the how can I help you, you know, how can I help you? I'm thinking, do we have your car or you need a tow? And he goes, this Rob man is Rob. And I go, okay, hey, Rob, how are you doing? You know, how you doing, Rob? How can I help you? And I, I didn't know his name was Rob, and he goes, it's Vanilla Ice. And I said, okay, sure. And so then he says, I want to bring you out to Miami. And I said, when I see the email, I'll believe it. And sure enough, he I got the email, went to Miami. I did one show before that and for about 100 people, I went from there to Miami and, and that show was for about 40,000 people. So I was I was. There different crowd. Yeah, I'm sure totally different. Miami. Not one of my family members was in that crowd. No. Yeah, it was totally different. And, yeah, I did that show. After that show, there was an after party. I went to the after party. There was this man that comes up and that after party, and he's a Frenchman, and he goes, I want to touch your beard. We touch up, it goes, yeah. That's all. Whoa, bro. What, like you ain't touching my baby. You have. No, no, I own, I own the company. I own beard beard product company. You're like, no. That's your bro. Sounds like some sort of catfish or something. I don't know what you're doing, man. You need to. He goes. Okay. No, no. Okay, I will show you. I will show you. And then he talked about a guy that it's a friend of mine. Yeah. So Gary, I said, yeah, okay. Gary Falconer and he, I said, you can touch it. And so then he just, he goes like this, he goes, oh, this is a luscious beard. And I said, thank you so much. Pay me. Right. That's what I'm thinking. I can get some money. So then he ended up, he and I ended up having a conversation and I was sponsored by this company way back then for about three years. And the goal was for me to get equity in the company at some point. That didn't happen if after three years, he just dropped me and I was, I was kind of upset. It was I was I would be very upset. Yeah, that's that's a heck of a note. I helped you build your brand. I helped you build your brand online, and you just dropped me. And so, there was some bitterness for a long time, many years. And he and I never spoke. And this was literally, literally, like, the end of last year, I'm in, I'm in the shower and I'm praying. And I said, Lord, I don't want anything in me that that's not from you. I don't want no bitterness in me. And that man's name came up and I said, sure, okay. What I said, I pray blessings on him. Lord, I don't want that. I don't want that. I'm not bitter at him. I pray that he's doing well and I pray blessings. And then it was like the Lord said, would you work with him again, though? And I said, oh, because I always told people, no, I would never work with you again. And I said, I said, sure, yeah, I would, I would do it. And two weeks later he called me the guy, the owner, the Laurent, the Frenchman. He called me and I did a show with him and I said, let's talk about I said, let's talk about this beard company. And so we, we, I own the company that that I was that I have made all those videos for, you know, I don't know if you looked at it, but I have tons of, beard music videos out there. Yeah. That's really that's like a that's a thing. Wow. That's amazing. Thing. I think I created the thing, but yeah. Yeah, I love it. The very first viral video I ever had was actually a beard videos. It was a parody of, Meghan Trainor song All About That Bass. Okay. Yeah. That's your beard. That's right. You know, I'm all about that beard back there. Be no stubble all about that. That's that song borrow. Yeah. So great. There's a bunch of those. And then it did well for him. So now. Yeah. If anybody has a beard or you got a friend that has a beard, please tell them to use Beardilizer I love it. Jesus will love you if you do. Oh my gosh, I love that. Well, we are coming to the end of today's episode. So I want to kind of give our listeners kind of just a nice closing word of encouragement and maybe, you know, I'm going to leave that up to you. What would you like to share with our listeners, whether it's from your harder. Maybe your favorite scripture, favorite? Well, my favorite scripture is my favorite scripture is is where we're commanded to have unfailing love because unfailing love covers a multitude of sins. And I believe that that seeing is not just other people's, but yours. You if you if you want, if you want God to forgive you of your sins, and you better have on unforgiving, unfailing love. And, but I would say the message I would say, though, would be don't give up. I heard a song. There's a song on TikTok, this beautiful song that this lady wrote, and she just goes, God, don't give up on me. Yeah, you know what I mean? And you go, wow, it's that is a prayer for a lot of people because you get to the place to where you think and you hear in me right now because it feels like you ain't hear me right now. And then he goes, I'm hearing you. Because it's about the waiting. The waiting builds patience. I guess that's the message. Be willing to wait, because those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint. So wait always until you're dead even wait, you know. So that's what I would say. I love that, that's so inspirational. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us today. And thank you. For having. Me. Absolutely. Yeah. It was an. Honor. Thank you. Thank you so much. And to all of our listeners, thanks for tuning in to this episode of The Covenant Eyes Podcast. Our Voices of Victory series. Thank you. Take care. God bless you.