Minding God's Business (I Once Had Nowhere To Go with Anthony Brown)

[Music] born into abuse alcohol and drug use led to homelessness living on a park bench lost and confused mama got shot never knew my dad addiction strangled me prison was the only Refuge I had collapsed to my knees Screaming God are you real from that moment I transformed my life sober off to college don't be afraid to dream I'm proof anything can be [Music] accomplished that word it's me Anthony Brown and I have myself once I had nowhere to go I'm super excited today about what's going on where I'm at what God is doing in my life and I just want to share with joy the the love of Jesus and I'm just I can't wait to tell you but before we get started let's say a quick prayer Heavenly Father we come before you today Lord just just excited that you have allowed us to experience the holy spirit that wakes us up and guides us through our day Lord and we just want to share what we learned about you Lord Lord and our our past and how how we get to where we are and how we can just Praise You More by just living by example Lord and I'm just grateful and we're grateful Lord that we get the opportunity to come here today and I pray that that the ears that need to hear hear them and pray the Holy Spirit Come here with me and Damian and you know the rest of you so that we can be able to enjoy what God has for us today in Jesus name I pray amen amen woo man okay I told you I'm super excited okay now the reason why I'm excited if you notice I am not in my regular studio okay I'm actually at the 419 barber shop in downtown Mansville with with Damian here and and man let me let me tell you a story about this young man here now everybody knows I'm here in mansvi because God has me on the mission okay my mission I thought was to help the homeless people but I realized it's to carry the message of God's love and was getting ready to do a show and I couldn't find a haircut you know I'm the new kid in town you know I'm calling all over the place I'm I'm doing walk-ins and every I was like no no no you have to make an appointment and so I went to my car and I do what I normally do you know I said a prayer like God help me and next thing you know I got a referral to the form9 barber shop and I just walked in I said hey can I have a haircut Damian said yes come on end and next thing you know I'm starting to hear little little trinkles of the gospel and I'm saying oh Lord I'm in the right spot oh yeah and so it's really fascinating that he has volunteered to be my guest today and I just want to share I want him to share you know some of the things we're gonna we're going to talk about him a little bit we're gonna talk about the 419 and then we're going to talk about the Bible of course you know I came prepared my little Dusty Bible that I found in the trash can when I was in prison 25 years ago you know God will touch us where it needs to touch us you know and for me I had to have everything removed before I can hear what he had to say you know I was caught up in oh let me get this let me get that it's like what about Jesus I'm like wait a minute you know I got something else to do god like okay I'm taking everything from you everything and I'm and and a lot of times people thought that they're getting arrested I was getting arrc you and I didn't I AR you and I didn't realize it I did not realize it and so now I carry my little bible with me and I get to bring get into the 419 I get to enjoy the blessings and you know it's funny I say 419 think it's a gang it's a bar there's some clippers right there on the wall you know and so I'm gonna um let Damian introduce himself and talk a little bit about the shop and how he got all started then we can go ahead and jump into the gun yeah yeah okay so go ahead Daman tell us who you are Damen Buford as he said barber shop owner of 419 Barber Shop one shop three locations God has blessed us tremendously to be um right downtown in the heart of the city I think it was a strategic move um from God himself um when you talk about coming in here and hearing the gospel being shared like God has put that in us to be that light to the world to our immediate Community you know and so um it's not every day that you go into a barber shop and you're going to hear the things that we talk about and do we have normal Barber Shop talk and stuff absolutely but um we put God first in everything we do we wouldn't have this we wouldn't be here today if it weren't for him and so bless what a blessing yeah it's it's it's totally a blessing so um praise God you know I'm thankful that God has has given us this um and so it's so much more than a haircut um so much more than a haircut we literally get to touch lives we get to be a part of people's lives get to see people grow up um grow in their faith um we we we hear about the highs and the lows and it's a it's a whole another Ministry ball game but uh guys's equipped us for it and we're here for the long run huh and and it's really fascinating because barber shops are historically known sort of like for therapy Community therapy y you know you go in you lay down your problems you you get stressed out you lay back get a warm cloth on your neck break out the break out the razor next thing you know you're at ease all your phones are out the door you get rid of the hair you get rid of the stress Y and and then you get an added bonus because when you walk into the 419 barber shop if you listen you might hear some word yeah yeah and honestly when you talk about therapy in communities and stuff it's a lot of healing can take place in a conversation but uh truthfully and I will argue this with any profess professional in in the field of therapy or any psychological whatever like true healing doesn't happen without Jesus he just doesn't can you say that again true healing just doesn't happen without Jesus true healing doesn't happen without Jesus now you know I I I love that because I was a lost soul and that's why the name of my show is once I had nowhere to go because I really didn't I was long as I was was caught up in doing drugs I was caught up in you know trying to sell drugs or that didn't work I was caught up in it's okay to go to prison I was homeless fighting angry all the time and next thing you know it's like I found God and then I found somewhere to go yeah and I found my home y you know and it's really fascinating because once I surrendered myself to God once I got baptized in water and all my sins got washed away and then I got baptized in the Holy Spirit life changing it was life you know and next thing you know God put me on the mission you know and then I discovered that God cleans us up for a reason you know and it's really fascinating because that's what I like talking about like well why did God choose me know God chooses all of us he loves all of us it's just some of us don't want to hear it yeah don't want to hear it right don't answer the call don't want to answer the call okay and so going back to what what made you want to create the 419 barber shop um I was uh working for a um organization called The Ridge project in the prison system I was teaching character-based fatherhood classes um so I had young children at the time and I spent a lot of my time on the road so I would travel get up and travel to work um to these various prisons across Ohio before my kids would get up sometimes not getting home till after they went to bed just missing out on a on a lot um and my my dad was very active with me um I wanted to be active with them so my barber Sarah told me barber therapy I'm telling her my problem she's like go become a barber you can set your own schedule you can have more flexibility be with your kids and so um I wanted to become a barber for the purposes of being more present with my family um even though life is so busy and it's still a task right um but then also for more time for community and for Ministry like that's just my heart you know okay okay all right and then and it's it's really fascinating because cutting hair is an art okay I'm I'm a scientist I'm a nurse okay but I don't know nothing about cutting a hair okay believe me and and for those out there who want to cut their own hair and you don't know what you're doing do yourself a favor pray and put the Clippers down best thing you can do okay I don't even come on here you don't I don't okay you got you got a nice little F going on everything else but yeah and and it's really f because it's when we come to love Jesus we get this joy in our heart yeah and so word rathers cutting hair doing nursing isn't really a job it's a pleasure absolutely because we get to serve get to we get to serve and a lot of people don't realize how important that is yeah you know not just serving each other but serving our community and that's what I feel or that's what I felt I'm a SC you walk into you say welcome yeah I'm like oh then I got some of that word I'm like yeah got him I've been coming here every since I've been coming here every since and so when did you first discover um your your love of God in Jesus so grew up in the church um I was born and raised in the church I remember at six years old getting baptized and I you know at six years old was like hey should I do this now a lot of people like frown upon the kids getting baptized and stuff but I had this tug I remember this experience I had even at 10 years old like this first real experience I had the Holy Spirit um and it's so like goddess has always had a call in my life I've had plenty of people speak into my life from an early age and so um but it wasn't until I was like 22 till I really answered that call so I'm like all right I'm done playing around you you know what you're supposed to do but you run so so long um from the call of Christ it's it's a a heavy a heavy thing to carry um and I've seen my family do it I have a ton of ministers and Pastors in my family um and so some of that unconscious you know pressure maybe even I don't know but so 22 you know I remember being at a youth service at my at my dad's church at Shiloh Baptist here right downtown and uh the Spirit came over me like no other youth pastor and the man speaking that day came up into the balcony this is youth service I'm 23 I'm just they're supporting you know and uh laid their hands on me and it was it was like all right God I'm I'm I'm G live for you and I'm going to do what I got to do for you you know it's it's way bigger than me you know that was yeah that was that yeah and and it's I love stories like that you know we when we're least expecting it all of a sudden God Taps us yeah you know and for some of us God has to tap us a little harder you know sometimes God have to slap Us in the back of the neck go Hey listen to me yeah you know especially when you get caught up in doing all that stuff the see you is always on on your pathway you're working with people you're already in belonging to a church you're helping out the youngsters you know which is really important I think that absolutely absolutely the Young are the future us yep and it's really important that we get to them somehow yeah have to we have to we have to I have a heart for the Next Generation it's just exactly it's like they're going to be the future church right going to be the future Church yeah and you're you're working with them then God comes up and say it's your time you're like okay you know and then I and that just touches me that just touches me and for all of you out there don't be afraid to have God come and touch you yeah you know I you know when I first had my spiritual experience I I remember it completely I I had I had small increments of hints you know uh God put me in jail because he knew I was running wild yeah and see again I was a rescue you I was saved and I didn't understand it until I realized that I was doing something wrong yeah and then when I found my Bible and started reading it I started understanding I'm not the only one there's a lot of people in the Bible have been a yeah a lot I'm not saying folks out there that you got to go to jail to find God I have to go to jail to find okay but what I'm saying is it's important that you you you hear that calling yeah and you answer it so an interesting thing is that I heard that calling answered or so I thought but I was still playing around and so a year later I ended up in prison and God put me in a place where I had no other option but to look up and so um it was in that place where I grew with the Lord and it was necessary you know people I I say like I try not to live life with regret like even in the word you say God works all things together for the good and so like I never really understood that scripture until being locked up in the sell without you know freedom I never really understood that but then I discovered like true Freedom you know right yeah right and that's and that's man that's powerful you know a lot of times we think all of this stuff out here it's it's something that's worthwhile and you know and all that stuff but the true freed of lies in our relationship with PRI you know and we get to God that way you know we we we praise and worship and and turn our lives over to Jesus and next thing you know we're get prepared for the next step because God sent him here for a reason for a reason for a reason and so again folks out there I just want you to understand because I'm I'm really excited nothing according to ecclesiast nothing happens in God's world by mistake yeah there was a reason that everybody else out there told me they couldn't cut my hair there's a reason and here I sitting now understanding more and more of this reason yeah because I don't know I can't speculate but I might not have heard as much word in those other barber shops as I hear down here at 419 you know not and so it's it's really good and now it's as we move along you you have to be special shout outs to anybody before we start getting into the word you want to say hi to some folks some kids or who what yeah you know I want to say hi to my wife Anna uh my family my beautiful children love you guys all and of course my 419 team again like I said God has blessed us with a great team um and we've been strategic in building that and so I want to give a shout out to all of them all right all right hey you know what man we give away so we can keep it yeah you know we give away so we can keep it okay so I'm going to jump into my Bible cu I love my Bible I already told you guys the story about this I found it laying in the trash can that was covered with fluids and I took it to my cell and I peeled every page one by one and allowed it to dry in the window of my cell and that's why it's all all beat up and everything but you know I had to get beat up before I found the word Y and and the word is still strong still strong still strong strong and so speaking of getting beat up that's a good segue to go into what I want to talk about because I want to look at and it's really I stumbled upon this a couple weeks ago and be honest with you it made my heart skip a little bit in because in Mark 13 that's what we're going to talk about the whole chapter 13 it's really fascinating how when you read this and again I'm not going to try to scare you but I need for you to understand what's going on out there just in case we get confused because there there's a lot of strange things occurring a lot there's there's a lot of animosity there's a lot of people not liking each other you know a lot of division all that stuff and everybody's jockeying to try to get ahead of each other but they forget the most important thing jockey for Jesus jocky for Jesus jocky for Jesus you know fight to get his attention you know pray to get the Holy Spirit you know work towards the Kingdom of Heaven to you know not trying to get the big Bank account yeah because when we leave we ain't taking none of this nothing nothing I've never and I said this before I'm going to say it again I Ain never seen a Herz trailer hooked up I've never seen a Herz with a U-Haul trailer hooked up to never never you know when it's time for you to go and they put you in that box I don't see nobody with with luggage yeah so ain't none of this going none of this going it's all St it's all St you know now I understand that God allows us to play with this stuff you know He blesses us with it but we cannot worship nothing before him yeah and a lot of times these things are happening and I sit back and go why is this happening did I just happen to come across Mark 13 in the Bible and if you got your Bible open turn to Mark 13 and I'm going talk about the whole chapter because I think this is important related to today today's times because sometimes we get frustrated you know sometimes walking out that door you just got to take a side or you got to turn the TV off because it's too much and you're wondering why is this happening it says it right here the word will tell you it tell you it'll tell you but you got to open up the word to find it in order to know in order to know and sometimes in order to decipher this clearly you have to ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes so that you can actually see what's going on you know I reviewed this several times and I'm like okay what does this mean then I get on my knees and say okay God help me understand yeah and the gist I got out of say don't get caught don't don't sweep yeah because the days are coming y regardless of what's going on outside I know as a human being I ain't going to live forever y but what I want to do is live in himen yeah okay that's what I'm working towards right now and so when I get through some trials and tribulations and I'm all upset about something I gotta stop and go you know what this is just Earthly stuff yeah yeah you know this is just the world but the word says be no more there should be no more and so as I go through here I'm looking at chapter 13 it talks about you know Jesus was sitting there with Peter James and John and Andrew and he was sitting over on the Mount of Olas now it's really fascinating because in the beginning one of the disciples said to him I'm going quote it right here it says 131 and as he was going out to the temple one of his disciples said to him teacher behold what wonderful stones and what a wonderful building see they're worshiping the WR thing already they're telling Jesus look how good this is and Jesus is like you talking to me now I know Jesus didn't use my terminology okay but God has given me a voice in today's age so I can carry a message to hit those ears that need to hear hear now they need to hear yeah and so here's this person said okay look at these wonderful buildings I see people look at my mansion that Mansion ain't going to get you into heaven it ain't you know I don't care how much security you got you ain't going to keep that way and so these words with then Jesus turned around and say do you see in verse two Jesus said him do you see these great buildings not one stone should be left upon another which will not be torn down see Jesus already said you can worship that but it's got to go got to go it's got to go you can hang on to it all you want it ain't going to last and when I think about the things on this earth when I think about whether it's a job whether it's a house whether you got a car eventually it's G to go yeah and then what are you going to do you know I'll let it go yeah I'll let it go and so ain't no sense of getting frustrated about it because I'm trying to work my way into heaven heaven heaven and so as it continues on it says here you know and it talks about in verse three where Jesus and who was talking to him I mentioned earlier Peter James John and Andrew and then they said well tell us what will these things be what will be the signs when all these things are to be fulfill they're talking about when is Jesus gonna come back yeah and Jesus laid out he goes some stuff is gonna happen a lot of stuff is gonna a long step for and I look out my window and I see this stuff going on man I have to go oh Lord that's my first oh Lord you know then I open up the Bible and I go well thank you Jesus because I know and so what's important for me and what I want to be important for you is Get Ready Get Ready don't wait till the last day to say okay I'm gonna get down on my knees now it might be too late yeah you know you might just get your leg bent and time is up it might be over with it might be over with you know and so I'm G do what I can to get prepared because Jesus says here it says see to it in verse one see to you that no one misleads you many in verse many will come in my name saying I am he and he will mislead many now you know there's some crooked people out there there's some people trying to talk to talk but they don't walk to Walk y I see what they're doing and I don't begrudge anybody to see I learn that if I don't understand I just ask God to help you I ain't got to do it I'll let him have it you know and if you I am I'm telling you right now I the worst person to try to argue with I am because I'll say God bless walk away that's it I'll go home and pray and say Lord and mean that too and mean it mean I want you to have what I got it's not the stuff but that inner peace that the Holy Spirit has given me and I'm here to share that with you not just by words by through action yeah and I see that in you when I walk in the door as well as a lot of people that work for you yeah you know it spreads yeah it does it does it does and so as I'm going through as it says okay you know be be careful and it says when you hear of wars and rumors of wars do not be frightened for these things must take place but that is not yet the end now I don't know if you realize it we got some Wars going on around here again I'm not telling you this to scare you I'm telling you so you can be aware yeah because I want all of you to be with me in heaven yeah I want all of you to get prepared I want all of you to confess your sins I want all of you to get baptized in the hope in in in the water so you can get rid of those sins and I want you to ask for the holy spirit because I know I'm not gonna be alone but for me more is better yeah yeah more is better you know I'll be happy sitting in your heavenly Barber chair huh just move the Halo to theou me up that's right God's GNA give us what we need you know and so I can so it's so it's interesting when you talk about the the wars and the nations against each other and the kingdom like so like you say those things are happening not to scare anyone um but when I was reading this um I it made me stop and think and like go back to like what like what really stuck out to me in this so we go back to like if we go to verse 10 okay um in verse 10 there it says and I'm reading the NLT version but it says that for the good news must be first preached to All Nations and so you have all these things going on in the world around us right now right and so it could be scary but at the same time I feel like we have a lot of work to do as Christians right so when I think about opportunity this tells me so the verse before this says we're given the opportunity to share the gospel like verse n talks about that so when I think about that in the end times and everything going on like God has given us another day every time we wake up he's giv us another day right to to get it right another day to share the gospel right and these are opportunities that he presents before us and so we see all these things happening but we have a job to do right we have to reach all nations with the gospel he's not coming back until that happens so while that is scary and we see some of this stuff happening we still have to reach people with the gospel tell it we have to reach people with the gospel that's right and so I think about Cornelius in this I think about the Ethiopian unic I think about the Samaritan woman um all of these people the Gentiles you know the people that's not um a Hebrew that had opportunity to share share the gospel right so um a lot of this you read in Acts but God gave them an opportunity to share the gospel to reach all the nations and so um we have those same opportunities every day every day here and it's it's our job it's our job to go reach Every Nation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ man oh man oh man and it's really fasina I'm glad you brought that up too because we do have a job that's why we're here right now we're right now God B ear on the Holy Spirit work which is a beautiful thing right this is all ties back in because this is you doing the Lord's work so thank you for what you're doing well thank you for what you're doing man I'm telling you man we're we're tag team wrestling right now get up in the dream we got something for you don't worry we a mess up you you know again you know I'm I'm G close with this verse because I'm go all the way to the end and again I encourage you read Matthew 13 and again I I love the contrast between both of our Spirits yeah you know I'm I'm going to sit there and say oh yeah it's going to get rough and you say don't worry about it it's going to be all right you know I'm saying the water is gonna get Rocky but you're saying well Jesus gonna Ste the boat I'm like all right well then I'm okay then I'm ready go back out there you know but in the end it says on verse 37 and what I say to you I say to all be on the alert you know be on alert for those that's carrying the message be on alert as I have been when I walked into the 419 a couple months ago and my ears was open I was on the alert on alert you know and it doesn't have to be Doom and Gloom because I got a job to do even through all the turmoils and the trials and tribulation I'm still supposed to carry the work that's my job abolutely that's my job and what am I gonna get paid for this job I get to go to hell get to go to I get to go pay check CH man I tell you I wish I could keep going to I'm fing the spirit but we're running out of time and so I just want you have any closing words for everybody out there um I think just to reiterate like God created the world and everything in out of love right and so um we were we were separated from sin you know and so God sent Jesus as a sacrifice and it's through like faith and repentance that we have new life in Christ and so like that's like as simple as the gospel can get um it's our it's our job to share that gospel with the world like God has a place in the Kingdom for each and every person out there um and so you're never too far from God um you're never too far from the message and the love of Jesus Christ and so um you also have that responsibility to share whether it's a loved one whether it's somebody in a barber shop whether it's somebody you come across on the street uh you have opportunities in front of you every single day and so please please please share the gospel I fall short of this too I I I miss opportunities um but even in reading this when you guys read through this here it talks about um knowing god and so when you when you know God when you know the father talks about here being led by the Holy Spirit right when you know the Father the holy spirit is going to lead you and how to have those conversations and how to share the word and so just be on watch for those opportunities opportunities will come yeah you know what do it say knock in the door shall open sat you shall find and opportunity always presents itself just like I have here at the 419 vir well we're going to wrap it up thank you Dam you want to say a quick prayer for us all right go ahead man Lord um thank you thank you for today um I pray that you help us to be uh where we are today God that you allow our feet to rest and abide um in you that we would live our lives in you for you and that you would do the miraculous work that you continue to do through us God and so um it's only by knowing the father Lord I pray that everyone listening to this would take more time to read their B to know the word to get more in tune with God so that they know their assignment um we all have an assignment we all have a job to do and I pray peace and blessing over each and every one of you um God continue to lead your people thank you for your Holy Spirit that's in our lives that's guiding us and leading us um to the way of righteousness and so I pray these things in Jesus name thank you amen amen and that's it like I said for the holy for our show today don't forget to stay tuned to the Holy Spirit broadcast network you can always find me at um Anthony Hower brown.com you can go to the JJs foundation and look us up you can always get a hold of us at 71438 2273 um you can just tune in type in do whatever and we'll pray for you and all that and if you happen to be in man so work can a FR you downtown man with in the Brickyard 419 barers shop I'll pray for you here too okay okay and so until the next time we'll see you later thank you [Applause] for hi it's me Anthony Brown sitting here with Damen from the 419 barber shop in mansfi we're doing a commercial folks and this is really fascinating because sometimes it's important that us that we able to get our business out yeah yeah and we know that media is the way to go and so as we see we just got done filming for the Holy Spirit work has not this is a little after show show and we thought we go ahead and do something you know to help Market this young man's business yeah yeah thank you so I'm not going to do it he is so go ahead tell tell us what's going on here where you at how long you been in what what can I get when I walk in here so again my name is d Beau for owner of 419 Barber Shop one shop three locations we are located in downtown Mansfield in the Brickyard um 21 East Temple Court um it's a beautiful place you will walk in this shop and not only get um a good haircut you're going to get a really good word get a really good word and so um God has blessed us to be here God has blessed us to touch lives and impact and impart um into lives and so we're here to do that we're not going nowhere um and we give all glory to God for what he's given us okay and so giving all glory to God that means that God has blessed you with the golden clickers the golden Clippers the Golden Clippers okay and so as I sit in your chair and and and feel the presence of the Holy Spirit I feel it when I'm in here right now and I hear the H of the golden Clippers okay now as what's an example of some of the cuts you you you're what's your specialty what what you do I would say my specialty is um probably tap taper where you clean up the Sid right here in the back nice sharp lines um and a beard so I don't do my own but similar to this my brother Kai did this for me but you'll get like a similar look you know and uh get you together get you we get you camera ready camera ready okay I'm just saying and it's really fascinating because what I like about this shop is everybody's friendly yeah who who are some of the people that you we've been super blessed so we started out when I said one shop three locations um it started out with a COR group of us myself Kai Crawford Sarah linhard Aaron Fairbanks they're now married and they run our as and Shop so we have Matt over there with them and then we've expanded to Shelby Ohio and we have Kelly and we have so many people Erica now and Taylor and Olivia and Jessica and right here in Mansfield right here right here it's myself Kai Erica and Gabe and so um big family okay um and we all are again we're blessed with a great team and we love the Lord and we are again like all glory to God we get to we get to be a part of people's lives we get to cut their hair and uh we're we're thankful for it okay okay now you know I'm a nurse okay I don't know nothing about cutting hair but I got to ask this question like caring though you still care it's a caring thing okay it's a caring thing okay now what I want to know because see I watch too much TV and I see them with that strap and razor y okay going back and forth getting busy y now here's the question I might put you on the spot okay okay but how do you keep your hand steady to make those straight lines so what's what's really interesting about that is if you really look closely when I'm cutting somebody to make straight lines whether it be with this or a razor my hand is actually shaking oh oh oh hold up my hand shakes with a razor in it but most Barbers do okay it's a weird it's a weird thing okay but we just the Holy Spirit okay no I have to put this in there I've never seen nobody bleed and walk in out so the Holy Spirit guides that hand across your face and because I think that's fascinating you know it's funny when I was a little kid I used to watch TV there' be some of the old gangsters like let me pull a razor off a boo yeah like this man sits here and got one that he gets paid you it's easy it's easy it's a lot lighter easy you have you have a lot of control okay it's an art it's an right right yeah being a barber is an art yeah and and I appreciate that but see I I I just absolutely insist on enjoying I ask some of the craziest questions and something I just come off and just open my mouth I just want to know you know because I know my head can be difficult to cut because it's not a smooth head this is what God blessed me with sry but I know we got tools for every job we got tools for every job look good look great I look good this came from here I just said the golden Clippers the Golden Clippers Golden Clippers okay so again in our little commercial thing tell us again how did I get hold of you you had a website a Facebook page give me all that stuff so you can find us at 419 barbershop.com um again we're located in downtown Mansfield Ohio we're also on Facebook Instagram and Google all 419 Barbershop we got 419 barber shop Mansfield 419 Barbershop Ashlin 419 Barbershop Shelby we're all tied together well you'll find us okay all right well thank you I appreciate you until next time man I'll see you guys down here I just wanted to give a shout out cuz this place is giving me love man 419 419 [Music] the preceding program was brought to you by the Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network