Sip Some Hope pt.2: Discipleship Over Espresso

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Welcome to Small Town, Big God.

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My name is Michael Collins, and I'm here to share a story about God at work

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in Rutherford County, North Carolina.

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Now this is part two of the story of Hope House Coffee, so I highly

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suggest you go listen to part one first if you haven't done that already.

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But in this episode, you're going to hear from Carl Schultz.

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Carl's a manager at Hope House Coffee, and he probably spends more time

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discipling and leading Bible studies inside that coffee shop than anyone else.

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Which is saying something.

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Because there are a lot of Bible studies and discipleship conversations that

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take place inside Hope House Coffee.

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The first half of this episode is going to be about the amazing way that God brought

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Carl into his position at Hope House.

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And the second half is going to be about some of the discipleship that takes place.

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And one young man in particular who I believe God brought into

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the coffee shop and into Carl's life at a very intentional time.

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I hope you enjoy this episode of Small Town, Big God.

Carl: 00:01:06

So I I met my wife in Cleveland County, which is just a county

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over, but her grandparents and her family lived in Rutherford County.

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So even when I was in middle school, I started coming to Rutherford County.

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And so you know, get older and you want to venture out.

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We moved away and.

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Lived in Charleston and lived down in, on Amelia Island and then in two, we

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got married in 2008 and and then in 2010 we decided to move back to Rutherford

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County so we got plugged in with Element.

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I mean, day one.

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And so, we've been Well, well it's Yeah, that's funny you ask because our pastor

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in Florida, he said, Hey, do me a favor.

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So we let him know we were moving, and he said, When you move to North

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Carolina, make sure you get involved.

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With a church that you see people being set free and, and lives being changed.

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And so first Sunday that we attended, element was brand new.

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I think they're only like a year and a half or so old.

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Maybe two and it's just crazy how the Holy Spirit works and so when the same time

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that the Lord was laying on Neal's heart to open element church the Holy Spirit

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dropped on my wife and I on our wedding day same exact time we were laying on a

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bench at Waterfront Park in Charleston right after we got married and the Lord

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just dropped on both of us simultaneously, I'm gonna do something big with your

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marriage and so we both heard it at the exact same time and we both just looked at

Carl: 00:02:50

each other just you know, just completely bewildered of how that could happen and

Carl: 00:02:56

so it was just like, did you hear that?

Carl: 00:02:57

Yeah, did you hear that?

Carl: 00:02:58

Yeah, it was just it was, it was the Lord.

Carl: 00:03:01

And so we didn't know exactly what that looked like.

Carl: 00:03:04

So about a year after, cause I didn't get saved until I was

Carl: 00:03:08

24, got married when I was 25.

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But about a year after I got saved we were a single income house.

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I was a chef worked for the Ritz Carlton hotel company on Amelia Island.

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And I'd been there for quite some time.

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I just felt like the Lord was saying, Hey, I'm calling you into full time ministry.

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And I would go to her and I would just be like, Hey, I feel like I'm

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being called into full time ministry.

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Her being at home, single income, , we had little ones at the time, and so,

Carl: 00:03:39

she, She would look at me kind of panicked and scared and like what does

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that look like and Every time I was like, I don't know and so like another

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year would go by and I'd say the same thing and It was just it was a it was

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a really Challenging time just hearing that and still having to go to work and,

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. And the kitchen is a really hard place to work.

Carl: 00:04:01

I used to say it's like being around a bunch of pirates, like everybody's

Carl: 00:04:06

just a bunch of scallywags.

Carl: 00:04:08

It was challenging for me to, to be filled with the spirit.

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And to go into these really dark places.

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. I had applied at some churches and I talked to the pastors of, of everywhere.

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I never really felt like I was called to a seminary or anything.

Carl: 00:04:25

I just, I knew that the Lord had a different plan for me.

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I didn't know what that looked like, I knew he was going to use my

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talents, but I just didn't know how.

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So Carl was ready to jump into ministry, but God wasn't opening the

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doors that he wanted to walk through.

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But But then, God used a radio sermon to open Carl's eyes and help him surrender

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to whatever the Lord had planned for him.

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And that same week, God began opening doors.

Carl: 00:04:53

One day I was driving back and forth to Asheville and I was actually

Carl: 00:04:58

listening to a, Sermon by Lecrae, he was delivering it to a class of graduating

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seniors from Liberty University.

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And so it was playing on, on the radio and Back then we actually listened

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to radios, but anyways, he started it by saying, you know, everything

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that the Lord created is good.

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And I didn't see what I was doing as that.

Carl: 00:05:21

I saw working in kitchen, kitchens and cooking, it was a form of,

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of idol worship for a lot of the, the people that I worked with.

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They worship the craft and it was just a godless, a very godless place.

Carl: 00:05:38

So, you know, just to hear him, paint that picture of

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everything that God made is good.

Carl: 00:05:45

We're the ones that, that taint it.

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And so you know, the next thing as he built the sermon, he was talking

Carl: 00:05:52

about Daniel and how Daniel, when, when Nebuchadnezzar wanted to promote him.

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Daniel didn't say, well, no, no, no, no, no.

Carl: 00:06:00

I want to go back and, I want to interpret dreams for my people.

Carl: 00:06:04

You know, he, he stayed in that kingdom, that wicked, dark, perverse kingdom.

Carl: 00:06:10

And so, and he used it as leverage to lead Nebuchadnezzar to the

Carl: 00:06:17

knowledge of one true God.

Carl: 00:06:19

And so, I accepted that.

Carl: 00:06:21

I was like, okay.

Carl: 00:06:22

Lord, if, if you're calling me to the kitchen, then I'll stay, you know,

Carl: 00:06:28

I'll, I will accept my lot in life.

Carl: 00:06:30

And if that's my ministry, then, then I accept it.

Carl: 00:06:35

And it was that exact same week that I was on the soccer field over at

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ICC, and my son was practicing soccer.

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And, I was sitting there in a little camp chair, and Neil Perry, our pastor,

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he comes walking by, and we wave, and he had his little girl with him.

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I think she was practicing soccer as well.

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And he kinda did a 180, and came over, and he mentioned, he said, Hey, he's

Carl: 00:07:02

like, I just really He's like, I wanted to wait to have this conversation, but I

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just heard the, the Holy Spirit say now.

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And so he said, we want you to be our campus pastor for our

Carl: 00:07:15

new campus that's going to open.

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And this was back in 2015.

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And so I just, I just bawled, started bawling because it was so

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significant that I had surrendered.

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That same week, I just surrendered to the Lord.

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I surrendered to His calling on my life.

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And Neil was like, hey, go to Tryon.

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They're building this huge horse park.

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And just go up on the hill and pray over that place.

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He's like, I just feel like the Lord's doing something there.

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So I did.

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I went and took my family and we walked around the town of Tryon.

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We prayed over the horse park there, Tryon International.

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And It was quickly after that that my father in law, who was working there

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clearing the land for that facility, he talked to a chef that was there.

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The chef's like, hey, we really need some help.

Carl: 00:08:07

And and he let him know that I was a chef, and so I wasn't looking for a job,

Carl: 00:08:11

but the job found me, I felt like the Lord was pulling me in that direction,

Carl: 00:08:16

so I prayed about it, dropped my resume, and I worked there for seven years,

Carl: 00:08:21

and just trying to figure out what the Lord was doing there during those

Carl: 00:08:23

seven years, and made the most amount of money I've ever made, and, you know,

Carl: 00:08:28

saw lots of fruit, I mean, the ministry that I had there was just incredible.

Carl: 00:08:33

Carl was finally working in the ministry that he always wanted, but

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that didn't mean he was immune to mistakes, as he's about to share.

Carl: 00:08:42

And then, when the pandemic hit, it forced him to make a hard reset.

Carl: 00:08:48

2020 happened.

Carl: 00:08:49

Everybody knows, you know, 2020 was, was a riot.

Carl: 00:08:53

And, there was some some pride that had crept into my life some financial

Carl: 00:08:57

pride that it kind of crept in.

Carl: 00:08:59

Not that I had Stopped ministry, but I just kind of stopped pursuing what

Carl: 00:09:03

that campus looked like that Neil had mentioned I just thought that That was

Carl: 00:09:09

where I was supposed to be and I was untouchable and then 2020 happened and

Carl: 00:09:13

I had three months of furlough and I Sat at the house just trying to figure out

Carl: 00:09:18

what the Lord was up to and it was during that time that the Lord really relit the

Carl: 00:09:24

fire for What Neil had dropped on me five years prior and so The building across

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the street, which is the coffee shop for me, it was like, Okay, maybe, maybe

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there's going to be a restaurant there.

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Maybe there's going to be a soup kitchen there.

Carl: 00:09:42

Maybe there's going to be, something , that I could be useful for.

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And so I was just, entertaining what that might look like.

Carl: 00:09:51

I had my own ideas.

Carl: 00:09:52

And, and the day that I was going to come and talk to Neil and JR I had like this

Carl: 00:09:57

manila envelope full of ideas and stuff.

Carl: 00:10:00

And I prayed about it right before I came that morning.

Carl: 00:10:03

And I just heard the Lord say, Starting a coffee shop.

Carl: 00:10:07

And so I just left that little packet at home.

Carl: 00:10:09

I came in, I talked to Neil, I talked to J.

Carl: 00:10:12

R.

Carl: 00:10:12

And I just said, Hey, I feel like the Lord said starting a coffee shop.

Carl: 00:10:17

And so, all my food background I just left at the door.

Carl: 00:10:22

Never worked in a coffee shop.

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It's not really my background.

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I don't like getting up early.

Carl: 00:10:27

So , I knew it was the Lord because it went against the

Carl: 00:10:31

things that I wanted to do.

Carl: 00:10:34

God gave Carl the same vision that he had already planted in the hearts of J.

Carl: 00:10:39

R., Eddie, and Neal, but knowing that God is calling you to something

Carl: 00:10:43

better doesn't automatically make it easy to leave what you already have.

Carl: 00:10:48

And this next section is one of my favorite parts of this entire story,

Carl: 00:10:52

so I'm going to stop interrupting for a little while and just let Carl

Carl: 00:10:55

finish telling you about how God brought him to Hope House Coffee.

Carl: 00:10:59

It was very, very terrifying to

Carl: 00:11:03

just leave.

Carl: 00:11:05

Everything that I knew and we never, we never discussed finances.

Carl: 00:11:11

I had no idea what that would look like.

Carl: 00:11:15

And so it was terrifying for me , to leave.

Carl: 00:11:20

that I had financially to go into an unknown situation financially and not

Carl: 00:11:27

even know if it's ever going to work out.

Carl: 00:11:29

You know, not knowing if, if this thing would get off the

Carl: 00:11:31

ground and then quickly dissolve.

Carl: 00:11:33

And so, so I wrestled, I wrestled for, wow, it felt like forever.

Carl: 00:11:39

And one day I, I woke up, and this is, and this paints a picture of how important

Carl: 00:11:45

it is to stay connected with the Lord.

Carl: 00:11:47

How important it is to be able to discern the voice of the Lord.

Carl: 00:11:54

in your life, I woke up one morning, everybody was asleep, and I went in the

Carl: 00:11:58

library, and I sat down, and I picked up this, this old KJV, a Schofield Study

Carl: 00:12:04

Bible, that I rarely carry with me, but I just use it, and, and and so I open

Carl: 00:12:10

it up to the very front page, where it's just blank, it's like two blank pages at

Carl: 00:12:17

the very, very front of the Bible, and I had inscribed on there, and, Coffee shop.

Carl: 00:12:23

Just, that's it.

Carl: 00:12:24

That's all it said.

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It's a coffee shop.

Carl: 00:12:25

And the date was 6 7 17.

Carl: 00:12:30

And I, I just, I was very puzzled.

Carl: 00:12:33

Like, what in the world was the Lord trying to teach me?

Carl: 00:12:38

And, and the only thing I could come up with was like, maybe I think at that

Carl: 00:12:42

time he was calling me to open or to start a Bible study in a coffee shop.

Carl: 00:12:49

So I was like, okay.

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And then there was another inscription beside it that said,

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God loves us in spite of ourselves.

Carl: 00:12:57

And it had the date 6, 7, 17.

Carl: 00:13:00

So I was like, okay, Lord, you're confirming right now.

Carl: 00:13:03

You're confirming by these two dates, you know, that, that this coffee

Carl: 00:13:07

shop is what you're calling me to.

Carl: 00:13:10

So I was like that's really neat.

Carl: 00:13:11

I need to show this to JR.

Carl: 00:13:13

So I bring that arduous KJV Schofield study Bible leather bound to church

Carl: 00:13:22

that morning and lo and behold who's standing out front it's J.

Carl: 00:13:26

R.

Carl: 00:13:26

and so I, I see him and I walk up to him and I show him, I open the Bible

Carl: 00:13:31

and I'm like, hey, look at this, man.

Carl: 00:13:32

And I said, I said, you see what that says?

Carl: 00:13:35

And he says, yeah, it says coffee shop.

Carl: 00:13:37

I said, you see the date?

Carl: 00:13:39

And he's like, yeah, you know, it's back in 2017.

Carl: 00:13:43

He said, that's really cool.

Carl: 00:13:45

And then I walked in to church, you know, and I sat down with my family and, and

Carl: 00:13:49

Neil comes out on stage and he says, Hey, you know, we're in the Easter service.

Carl: 00:13:53

This was April of 21, April of 21.

Carl: 00:13:56

So it just kind of shows you a picture of how long it was like a year of me

Carl: 00:14:00

wrestling with, you know, leaving.

Carl: 00:14:04

My career, essentially.

Carl: 00:14:06

And so this was April of 21 that Neil comes out on stage and

Carl: 00:14:11

it's during the Easter series.

Carl: 00:14:13

And he's like, Hey, open your Bibles up to Exodus chapter 15.

Carl: 00:14:19

He said verse 21 through 26.

Carl: 00:14:22

And so.

Carl: 00:14:24

I did, and Neil said from stage, he said, Hey, I wanted to preach out of Luke this

Carl: 00:14:28

morning, but the Lord wouldn't let me.

Carl: 00:14:30

And so when I, when I opened the Bible to Exodus chapter 15 I had

Carl: 00:14:36

circled verse 26, and it had a date next to it, it was just 6 7 17.

Carl: 00:14:45

And it was those three confirmations, that was on a Sunday, and it

Carl: 00:14:49

was those three confirmations.

Carl: 00:14:51

That made me very very confident in the Lord that the Lord was leading me to the

Carl: 00:14:57

coffee shop And I know that's kind of a long story to to you know To kind of

Carl: 00:15:02

paint the picture of how I got involved, but it was a hundred percent spiritual.

Carl: 00:15:06

And so I went in that was on a Sunday.

Carl: 00:15:08

So I went in I had Monday off I went in on Tuesday and typed up my letter of

Carl: 00:15:12

resignation of resignation And, you know, it was the hardest thing I've ever done,

Carl: 00:15:16

is submit that and just put everything on the line, financially, put everything

Carl: 00:15:22

on the line, and just trust the Lord.

Carl: 00:15:25

So that was in April of 21, and we did not open the coffee

Carl: 00:15:29

shop up until September of 22.

Carl: 00:15:34

So I had a year and some change of walking out this road of humility.

Carl: 00:15:43

I watched how, you know, somebody who I had trained became my boss and the

Carl: 00:15:49

Lord, during that season, he showed me, he showed me so much, but the root.

Carl: 00:15:54

of humility is humiliation.

Carl: 00:15:57

And I was so humiliated daily, you know, because I'd let so much

Carl: 00:16:01

pride creep in and the Lord just dealt with me on all of that pride.

Carl: 00:16:06

And there was a season of fasting in there where the Lord just brought so much up.

Carl: 00:16:11

An out and, you know, just, just walking that out and there, there were so many

Carl: 00:16:16

things that I was not aware of that became ever present during that year, year and

Carl: 00:16:22

a half of, of walking out that notice.

Carl: 00:16:26

Man, isn't that an awesome story?

Carl: 00:16:28

Because Carl was able to trust God and let go of his pride, God has brought him into

Carl: 00:16:34

a place where he can use his talents for ministry in a way that he never expected.

Carl: 00:16:40

And it was a lot of work, especially at the start.

Carl: 00:16:42

Carl was a trained chef, not a barista.

Carl: 00:16:45

I threw everything I had at it.

Carl: 00:16:47

I pretty much slept there for the first few months just go home nap come right

Carl: 00:16:52

back in and and and just enter the interpersonal Relationships that that I

Carl: 00:17:01

get to be a part of I think that's That's the most rewarding part about what I do.

Carl: 00:17:07

You know, I learned quickly because there was, there was a lot of concern.

Carl: 00:17:12

I'm like, you know, I've been a chef pretty much, you know, since I

Carl: 00:17:17

was 16 at least a chef in training.

Carl: 00:17:19

And so I was like, do I even know how to make a coffee?

Carl: 00:17:23

Like, you know, I know how to make Bernays.

Carl: 00:17:27

I know how to make hollandaise.

Carl: 00:17:28

I can break down foie gras and, and make bellinis for caviar but, you know,

Carl: 00:17:34

do I even know how to make a coffee?

Carl: 00:17:36

And so it was just, you know, there was, there was a learning, it was a

Carl: 00:17:39

steep learning curve of, of how to even hone in the, the art and I'm,

Carl: 00:17:47

I'm not there, I haven't arrived.

Carl: 00:17:50

I'm sure there's a lot of continuing education that I need to do in order

Carl: 00:17:56

to, to keep growing the business and keep growing you know, just the, the.

Carl: 00:18:02

The day in day out operation of, of making fantastic drinks

Carl: 00:18:07

While Carl enjoys making drinks and learning how to apply his skills as

Carl: 00:18:11

a chef in a coffee shop setting, it's really the people that make up the

Carl: 00:18:16

substance of his work and the ministry of Hope House Coffee as a whole.

Carl: 00:18:21

Management comes pretty easy for me just because I love people.

Carl: 00:18:25

I love, I love that the everyday interactions that

Carl: 00:18:29

I get with all the staff.

Carl: 00:18:31

And I love to watch them grow spiritually.

Carl: 00:18:33

I love to watch them grow.

Carl: 00:18:35

In their, in their jobs and their roles, you know, my goal and the way that I

Carl: 00:18:43

manage it, I always, have it in the back of my mind that That I want people

Carl: 00:18:48

to be able to learn what I'm doing and, and to, to replicate that and, and so

Carl: 00:18:54

that's really, it's really the day in, day out for me but seeing, The people

Carl: 00:19:00

that come in, not just on, on the back of the house staff wise for all of the

Carl: 00:19:06

and I hesitate to use the word customer.

Carl: 00:19:09

But for the guests who, you know, we get to, to be a part of their lives, you

Carl: 00:19:15

know, I've seen so many people set free in that room and just in the coffee shop.

Carl: 00:19:19

I've seen, I've seen.

Carl: 00:19:21

People get interested in God again.

Carl: 00:19:23

People start attending church again.

Carl: 00:19:25

I've seen, you know, just people really start thriving and, and,

Carl: 00:19:31

and give their life to the Lord.

Carl: 00:19:33

And it's, and it's because there is a community of people who genuinely

Carl: 00:19:40

believe what they say they believe and they live it out each and every day.

Carl: 00:19:43

And the interesting dynamic about church is that the doors are open

Carl: 00:19:48

maybe twice a week and people can come into the church and, and find help.

Carl: 00:19:55

Spiritually twice a week, whereas the, the doors of the coffee shop are open seven

Carl: 00:20:00

days a week, and people can come in and have those conversations and have that

Carl: 00:20:08

fellowship and that meaningful interaction seven days a week, and I think that is the

Carl: 00:20:15

Lord's heart for Hope House Coffee Shop.

Carl: 00:20:19

Carl's desire to minister and lead people well goes deeper than

Carl: 00:20:23

just an extroverted personality.

Carl: 00:20:25

He also see's the need we have in our country for father figures.

Carl: 00:20:30

Carl's desire to minister and lead people well goes deeper

Carl: 00:20:34

than just loving people a lot.

Carl: 00:20:36

He also sees the need that we have in our country for father figures.

Carl: 00:20:41

You know, I, I grew up in a fatherless home.

Carl: 00:20:45

My heart is to father the next generation.

Carl: 00:20:50

And so, you know, really, and.

Carl: 00:20:53

I say, you know, 20 somethings, it's 20 something year olds, but

Carl: 00:20:57

I've seen, you know, 40 and 50 year olds who are unfathered.

Carl: 00:21:03

And I, and I, and honestly, I think it's an epidemic of, of the vast proportion

Carl: 00:21:10

for America as a whole is we're seeing an entire generation of unfathered men.

Carl: 00:21:18

And, and so, and even, I even talked to, to guys who grew up in a home with

Carl: 00:21:25

a father and they're still unfathered.

Carl: 00:21:27

You know, they're still undisciplined.

Carl: 00:21:28

They, you know, they have, they've yet to, to, step into that, discipleship.

Carl: 00:21:34

And so that's really, when you see me, you know, when I'm in

Carl: 00:21:38

there, it's really discipleship.

Carl: 00:21:40

Carl's love for people and desire to see others succeed have helped him to

Carl: 00:21:44

be a great manager, and it's his heart for the fatherless and discipleship

Carl: 00:21:50

ended up leading him to connect with a young man named Robert Lee.

Carl: 00:21:55

Lot because I know he spent a lot more time with him than I did.

Carl: 00:22:06

A lasting impression, not just on myself, but on, on so many people.

Carl: 00:22:11

And so really how that all got kind of off the ground was he

Carl: 00:22:16

came in, he was looking for a job.

Carl: 00:22:18

You know, I noticed that he, you know, he, he was just very well put together, you

Carl: 00:22:24

know, and, and carried himself very well.

Carl: 00:22:27

And I was, I was super impressed with him and I could tell that he, he enjoyed.

Carl: 00:22:32

You know, working out and, and fitness and everything.

Carl: 00:22:35

And so I had planned on kind of like a, a 5, 16, where it says Jesus

Carl: 00:22:41

often withdrew to, to lonely places.

Carl: 00:22:43

I'd.

Carl: 00:22:44

I had planned on my day off just to kind of get away.

Carl: 00:22:47

And so, I wanted to go on a hike so I was going up to Mount Mitchell

Carl: 00:22:51

and I was going to do the, the arduous trek of, of of that trail.

Carl: 00:22:56

And so, right before, like the day before I was leaving he came in and I just asked

Carl: 00:23:01

him, I said, What are you doing tomorrow?

Carl: 00:23:02

I didn't even really know him, he was still a stranger.

Carl: 00:23:04

And I said, What are you doing tomorrow?

Carl: 00:23:06

And he said, I don't have any plans.

Carl: 00:23:08

I said, You want to go hike the highest peak east of the Mississippi.

Carl: 00:23:13

And he's like, yeah, I said, we'll meet me here at seven in the morning.

Carl: 00:23:16

We'll go.

Carl: 00:23:17

So got up that morning, got all my stuff ready to go.

Carl: 00:23:21

Grab my pup swung by the coffee shop, picked him up.

Carl: 00:23:26

And man, we really, we were stuck together for 12 hours.

Carl: 00:23:30

And so for 12 hours, from 7 that morning until 7 that night, man, we just, we

Carl: 00:23:35

had an amazing time of fellowship.

Carl: 00:23:37

I learned that Robert Lee was a believer.

Carl: 00:23:40

He shared his testimony with me.

Carl: 00:23:42

You know, I learned that, that he kind of had a rough upbringing.

Carl: 00:23:47

He was a, a product of the foster care and You know, I learned, you know,

Carl: 00:23:52

what he was doing here and, you know, and so yeah, we just had a, we had a

Carl: 00:23:58

fantastic time that day and shared some incredible views and You know, I think

Carl: 00:24:05

that he, he really enjoyed himself and, and he talked about that trip a lot

Carl: 00:24:11

during the time that I got to know him.

Carl: 00:24:14

And so dropped him off and then I got to see him, you know, he pretty

Carl: 00:24:18

much lived at the coffee shop and he was there every single day.

Carl: 00:24:22

It felt like from open to close.

Carl: 00:24:25

He was always on his laptop, he was always just networking, he was, you know,

Carl: 00:24:30

he had his headphones in, his earbuds, you know, he was, he was plugging away,

Carl: 00:24:35

he was on his phone, you know, I, I, I assumed, you know, from what he had told

Carl: 00:24:39

me that he was, he was working kind of remotely and so I left him alone and,

Carl: 00:24:45

and he, he was always just in the zone a lot of times when he left the coffee

Carl: 00:24:50

shop, I'd see him out there running you know, at night he, he would go and

Carl: 00:24:54

he'd run and just a really solid guy.

Carl: 00:24:58

But I'll tell you the way that I live my life, Mike, is, is, is I

Carl: 00:25:02

don't want to have any regrets.

Carl: 00:25:04

And I, I say this to people and I say this to you now.

Carl: 00:25:09

You just, you, you never know when.

Carl: 00:25:12

Tragedy might strike and it's hard to have those hard conversations with people.

Carl: 00:25:18

It's awkward, but I am So glad that I had those hard conversations with Robert Lee

Carl: 00:25:27

tragedy did strike with Robert Lee.

Carl: 00:25:30

Just a few months after he first walked into the coffee shop,

Carl: 00:25:33

Robert Lee was struck and killed by a vehicle on Highway 74.

Carl: 00:25:38

It was a tough time for everyone who knew Robert, but we were all so grateful that

Carl: 00:25:43

God had brought him into our lives, and Carl especially was able to have some

Carl: 00:25:48

of those hard conversations with him.

Carl: 00:25:51

And I actually had a chance one day.

Carl: 00:25:54

I asked him I Went through Romans Road with him gave him the opportunity

Carl: 00:25:57

to give his life to Christ.

Carl: 00:25:59

He made sure to you know to Confirm hey, you know, I definitely have done

Carl: 00:26:06

that I asked him one day, I said, Hey, if you were to die today, do

Carl: 00:26:10

you know where you'd spend eternity?

Carl: 00:26:11

He said, yes, I do.

Carl: 00:26:13

I said, do you have peace with God?

Carl: 00:26:15

He said, yes, I do.

Carl: 00:26:17

So I had those really hard conversations with Robert Lee.

Carl: 00:26:22

He.

Carl: 00:26:23

Continuously was, was able to, to just reassure me that

Carl: 00:26:29

he actually did know Christ.

Carl: 00:26:31

And and so when, when we got the news of his tragic passing, you

Carl: 00:26:36

know, it was, it was really hard.

Carl: 00:26:38

It was hard for me to process the sudden loss of someone who was just

Carl: 00:26:43

like family to me and to many others.

Carl: 00:26:46

He just sucked you in and, and he had such a, a fantastic personality

Carl: 00:26:52

and his laugh and, you know, he's just such a fantastic guy.

Carl: 00:26:55

And so when I got that news, man, it was, it was really

Carl: 00:26:59

hard on me and, and it really.

Carl: 00:27:01

You know, it just, the loss of life period is just tough.

Carl: 00:27:06

It's tough to wrestle with, but at the end of the day, you know, I do

Carl: 00:27:11

have peace about Robert's passing because of those hard conversations

Carl: 00:27:18

that, that I had with him.

Carl: 00:27:20

And so really, you know, I admonish anybody who's listening is, is have

Carl: 00:27:25

those hard conversations with people that you care about and, and even

Carl: 00:27:29

strangers, you know, make sure.

Carl: 00:27:32

That if, if tragedy does strike in a moment's notice that you can, you can

Carl: 00:27:39

lay your head down on the pillow knowing that the gospel was presented and that

Carl: 00:27:46

you gave that person every opportunity to spend eternity with our Lord and Savior.

Carl: 00:27:53

This episode of Small Town Big God is in honor of Robert Lee.

Carl: 00:27:58

I hope that this story has inspired you to share the gospel with people

Carl: 00:28:02

you come into contact with every day.

Carl: 00:28:05

And if you've never given your life over to the Lord, if you don't

Carl: 00:28:08

know where you're going when you die, then please reach out to me.

Carl: 00:28:12

My email address is mcollins at elementc3.

Carl: 00:28:15

com.

Carl: 00:28:16

I'd love to talk with you.

Carl: 00:28:18

You can also find me on social media.

Carl: 00:28:20

Or, just go to elementc3.

Carl: 00:28:22

com and fill out one of our prayer cards and one of the pastors

Carl: 00:28:25

will be in contact with you.

Carl: 00:28:27

But before we end this episode completely, there's one more

Carl: 00:28:30

thing we need to know from Carl.

Carl: 00:28:32

Which is, what is his favorite drink at Hope House Coffee?

Carl: 00:28:36

I like a revolver.

Carl: 00:28:37

A revolver?

Carl: 00:28:38

What's a revolver?

Carl: 00:28:40

It's, it's eight shots of espresso.

Carl: 00:28:42

Oh!

Carl: 00:28:43

Oh boy!

Carl: 00:28:44

That's it?

Carl: 00:28:45

That's it.

Carl: 00:28:46

So it's just like a coffee cup full of espresso?

Carl: 00:28:49

That's it.

Carl: 00:28:49

Man!

Carl: 00:28:50

That's it.

Carl: 00:28:51

Alright!

Carl: 00:28:52

I'm not the guy that you want to ask like, what's your favorite drink?

Carl: 00:28:56

Cause I am, I, I have an adversity to sugar.

Carl: 00:28:59

And so I, you know, I, I like to taste them, but personally, my

Carl: 00:29:05

favorite is just a, a lot of espresso.

Carl: 00:29:09

And I, it actually comes from my background of working in kitchens.

Carl: 00:29:13

We, we always kept a, Supply of caffeine on hand at all times.

Carl: 00:29:22

Well, I can't say that I recommend anyone else try a revolver.

Carl: 00:29:28

I do hope that you will stop by Hope House Coffee and

Carl: 00:29:31

say hi to the amazing people that work there.

Carl: 00:29:34

You can probably find me sitting at a table in the back corner.

Carl: 00:29:37

But thank you guys so much for listening to this episode of Small Town Big God.

Carl: 00:29:41

And thank you for being a part of Small Town Friendly.