After starting his own church in 2003, Benny Perez was hit with a number of struggles and challenges all at once. My father-in-law was battling cancer and, and, uh, he, uh, fought valiantly, but he transitioned from this place into heaven and, uh, he did not win totally here on Earth, but he's won, obviously totally in heaven.
And so he passed on and around the same time I remember my wife was pregnant and. You know, with our fourth child, and, uh, she had a tragic, tragic, uh, you know, miscarriage as the baby died in her womb. And, and then the baby had to be taken out and, and then the surgery didn't go well and my wife was almost lost on the operating table.
And then my wife hemorrhage and she almost died, literally at her house And. So now my father-in-law passed and I almost losing my wife, and there's difficulty going on in the economy and everything hit us so fast.
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I'm one of five kids. I'm the middle child, two younger, two older. So I've learned how to navigate some things in my life as a lot of, uh, maybe middle children had to do. I. And, um, I grew up in a great family, a loving family. Uh, unfortunately, uh, you know, when I was younger, my mom, my dad, their marriage didn't make it.
And, uh, he decided to go his own way. And, but I have a great mom and she raised me and my siblings and then she got remarried to my dad, who basically raised me for the rest of really the rest of my life, uh, growing up from about, uh, eight, nine, you know, all the way to about 21 and still married today.
And I love him and I love my mom. You know, uh, I grew up in, really in an area called Pico Vera, California. I learned to be an entrepreneur at a very young age. It was kind of interesting that. We had avocado trees and, and, uh, I would pick the avocados and go door to door and, and really, uh, learn how to interact with people, make some sales, make a little bit of money.
It was kind of fun as a, you know, young kid, 10 years of age and, uh, selling avocados door to door and making myself some money. And in that, I, I learned what it was to. Actually now manage some money. And my dad taught me some things in regards to managing money. And one of the things that he taught me was, whatever you do give the first 10% to God.
And that's where I learned how to start tithing and putting God first in my life. And so it was kind of fun even at a young age, uh, learning what it was to, uh, to put God first and, and to make sure that understood what that meant. And so it was just kind of fun. You know, growing up I went to Christian school from third grade to 12th grade and uh, just really had an encounter with God, even at his young child as a third grader, that's where I said yes to Jesus Christ.
And it was in that moment that I began to realize that God had a plan for my life. He is as a, even as a third grader. And, um, I was the first Christian in my family. And, uh, what I did decided to do was I continued to pray for my parents, my mom, my dad, my brother, my sisters. And after about two years, my mom got saved, gave her life to Christ.
And a year after that, my dad, who was a bookie barn or drinker smoker, gambler, uh, owned a bar. Uh, he gave his life to Christ and his life began to change pretty dramatically within that first year. And before you know it, you know, he was no longer doing what, you know, he really wanted to do. And, uh, so he found out that guy was speaking to him, and, and it became a trying time in my family's life because, you know, he had to go find a regular job.
And I remember him, you know, finally getting a job, driving a truck and barely making, you know, uh, any money, uh, making enough just to pay the bills. But we, we were still, you know, being provided for. And, uh, just exciting to note that in the midst of growing up, You know, that we saw God's provision, you know, take place in our life.
And, um, and so I just began to realize that I could trust God and, and really, you know, uh, put my faith in hope in Jesus Christ. I, I remember many times that our family, you know, was, uh, barely, barely gonna make it, and yet God would come through as somebody would come and. And just randomly bless our family or randomly, you know, do something for us.
And now I know it wasn't random. I know it was actually God that was making that happen. And through that I just began to see God's hand in my life and my family's life growing up. And uh, and so I just saw that more and more. But I think one of the things that impacted me the most in my life was when I got hit with some tragedy, even personal tragedy in my life.
When I was in eighth grade, I got hit. With multiple diseases from hyperthyroidism, graves Disease, Marfan syndrome, being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and at one point a doctor saying, I would be in a wheelchair by the age of 25. At that moment, I began to really think about my life, and I remember saying, okay, God, if you're real, why don't you supernaturally heal me?
And through a series of my mom taking me to different meetings and, and it not happening, I actually got bitter and angry towards God. Because he did not do what I asked him to do on my timetable, even though I prayed. I didn't have a maturity to realize that, you know, God's timing isn't my timing and his ways aren't my ways.
And so I literally just got angry and bitter, walked away from God, from, you know, ninth grade to 12th grade, and then began to do my own stuff, begin to make myself the center of my life. And, you know, I went out to, uh, do some things from partying to experimenting with some things and, and, uh, really was, uh, not just walking away from God, but actually.
Was, uh, really antagonistic toward the things of God. The only reason why I went to church and continued to go to church is because I could get free rent and free food if I continued to go to church on Sunday morning. So I did, and it was, uh, it was a good trade off. I figured, hey, you know, free rent and some food to stay with my parents.
If I just went to church on Sunday morning and I would go there not really, really being open to anything that God had for me. I was. I was really more just, just kind of just doing what I was supposed to do so I didn't have to pay anything. And, um, but something happened, you know, and God came after my life.
I, I, I, I want to in, in, in just really, uh, make this point and introduced this thought to maybe somebody who's listening. It's not so much we are going after God. God continue comes after us. I was not looking for God. I was running away from God, but God was looking for me. And in the month of July in 1986, I was on a beach in Southern California where I had a God encounter.
Literally, I had a God encounter in the afternoon where the presence of God came and began to envelop my life. As I was walking along the beach with a friend of mine, literally felt the presence and power of Jesus himself, and I heard this voice inside of me saying, Hey, it's time to come home. It's time to come home.
And I remember kneeling down on that beach so many years ago at Sano Free State Beach on the uh, California shoreline right there, and wondering why God would want me back after all the things that I've said and even blasphemed his name. But I'm grateful for the grace of God, the mercy of God that decided to come after me when I wasn't worthy.
And I began to realize I was never worthy, and it's all God's grace. It's not my performance. And at that moment I nailed down. I said, God, I give you my life back again. And, and even if you want me to, I'll go into being a pastor working at a church because at that time I was actually a senior at Cal State Fortune, pursuing a business degree in accounting and uh, just trying to do my own thing.
But you know, that wasn't really God's calling for my life. It was my call for my life. And. And maybe for somebody listening, you know, business is your call and you know it's God's call in your life, but it wasn't mine. And at that moment I realized I was really running away from God and trying to do my own thing, trying to somehow, you know, make it my way.
And remember at that moment I said, man, you know, I'm in my senior year at Cal State, forward to being recruited by a big eight accounting firm. And, and this would be a big step. And to be honest, I was like, okay, God, this is, if this is you, you gotta. Really speak to my parents and other people to confirm this because it was a scary, scary moment.
One of the most scariest and pivotal moments of my life is hearing that I'm not supposed to do business. I'm supposed to go into the ministry. And at that moment I'm saying, okay, Gaia, you gotta make this clear. And so I remember God spoke really as my mom and my dad prayed and they confirmed what God.
Was supposed to do in my life, even supernaturally. God spoke to my mom and my dad before even said anything to them, and they confirmed literally as if they were watching a D V D, you know, video of what happened to me on that beach. God spoke to them and I knew it was a supernatural confirmation from God at that moment.
I finished up the semester at Cal State, four 10. I then dropped out of Cal State four to re-enrolled at Vanguard University in Southern California, Costa, Mesa, and uh, had to actually do two more years to get my degree. In religion and, uh, finished up my degree in business and I learned a lot of things. I learned what it was to, you know, stay focused.
I, I learned that, you know, I had gone my own way and I'm gonna have to maybe spend two more years because I just kind of did it my way. But I realized that as I stayed focused, I worked hard and God's grace was on my life, I begin to realize that, you know what, even though it's taking a little bit longer, I'd rather have something take a little bit longer.
And me be in God's perfect will than me doing what I wanna do and not being in the perfect will of God. And so I, I was, uh, I was, you know, going for it full time. And I finally graduated, come on. It took me seven years to get a four year degree. But I graduated in 1990 and immediately after that I found myself at a small church in, in, uh, apple Valley, California, where I was a youth pastor there.
And I was there for two years and it was just amazing what God did. Took a small youth ministries of about 17 kids, and within 18 months it had grown to 227 kids and God was doing something special. I learned what it was to raise up volunteers, cast vision. I learned what it was like, you know, to really ask questions from people that have been in the ministry.
And, uh, I, I just, I just wanted to do my very best for God. And, and while I was there, I met a friend of mine who eventually would become a pastor in Seattle, Washington, and invited me to come up to Seattle and to be his youth pastor. After praying and talking with people, I realized, man, I'm supposed to go to Seattle, Washington and be a youth pastor up there and, So I left in 1992 and moved up to Marysville, Washington at a small church called Marysville, first Assembly of God.
And, and there is where I was a youth pastor to about 20 some kids. And it was, uh, it was a youth ministry that wasn't really vibrant or alive and the church needed some, uh, needed some life back again. I remember praying and saying, God, I believe you could do something great in the Pacific Northwest, even though everybody is saying that.
It can't happen. And I remember praying and saying, okay, God, how are we gonna make this happen? And, and God said to me, I want you to teach young people how to pray. So I remember, you know, uh, asking a couple young people, Hey, come, uh, and, and learn how to pray. Just, just come and meet me at the church to pray.
And they didn't know what to do. So I would tell 'em, Hey, uh, just do what I do. Copy what I do. And so when I would walk, they would walk and I, and I would say some things, they would just repeat what I would say, but they were learning how to pray verbally out loud, how to pray and use the word of God, and declare things over their life, declare things over literally the city and the church that we were in.
And, uh, I, I, I remember believing and asking God for some great things for like a big revival to take place. And, and little did I know that, uh, he would actually answer, you know, that prayer and within a short number of years. From 1992 to 19, really, uh, 98 for six, almost seven years, a revival would break out where the youth ministries would grow from about 27 young people to over a thousand young people come in on Wednesday and Thursday nights and mayors of First Assembly of God.
And, and, uh, I had to actually really learn a lot of things I didn't learn before. You know, just in regards to now how do I handle a bigger group and. And, um, you know, how do I, how do I handle, you know, being alone and single and, and uh, really in an area that I was not familiar with. And, uh, so I just learned a lot of things in that area just about my own life and, and begin to realize a few things about my life.
And hopefully this is gonna be. Encouraging to somebody that's out there. I learned to have a routine in my life. I, I really did. I, I learned what it was that, uh, that my life was not just a random kind of, um, uh, uh, of instances happening, but I could take control of my life and I'm a morning person. So I began to realize that I got up early and, uh, I would get up early and I would, uh, go, pray and read the scripture and meditate on God.
And so the very first thing I. What do in my life that I still do today is I get up early and I will pray and read the scripture. I begin to realize that, you know, for my life, that what's important is I gotta keep the important thing, the most important thing that I needed to continue to, you know, put God first even in my time and not just in my resources.
And so, uh, I begin to realize that routine was important. Discipline was important in my life. And, um, and so, You know, little did I know that God would surprise me the way that he did. You know, people say, what, what has surprised you in your life? I, I'm surprised how God has blessed, really, the ministry that I've been a part of and my youth ministry, uh, traveling.
And even the church that I'm in right now that has exploded in growth and running, running thousands of people in Las Vegas, Nevada. And so I, I, I've just really learned, you know, that uh, God will use anyone. Uh, anytime, uh, if they're just open and they are just willing to be obedient to what he said to do.
And so I had a great time and Marysville got blessed. It, I traveled full time. God blessed it. And then I was surprised when God said, move to Las Vegas, Nevada. And we moved here, travel from, and little did I know that God would actually be telling us to start a church. Literally in 2003, and me and my wife, Wendy Perez, uh, started a church in 2003, not knowing very many people, and with a short number of years, uh, it just exploded and God began to bless us again.
And in the middle of all that success though, there was some challenges, some trials, and some people have asked, what is, what is, uh, what are some of the toughest things that ever happened to you? I remember it was probably a two year season and my father-in-law was battling cancer and. And, um, he, uh, fought valiantly, but he transitioned from this place into heaven.
And, uh, he did not win totally here on Earth, but he's won obviously totally in heaven. And so he passed on and, and around the same time I remember my wife was pregnant and. You know, with our fourth child, and, uh, she had a tragic, tragic, uh, miscarriage as the baby died in her womb. And, and then the baby had to be taken out and, and then the surgery didn't go well and my wife was almost lost on the operating table.
And then my wife hemorrhage and she almost died, literally at her house. And so now my father-in-law passed and I almost losing my wife and. There's difficulty going on in the economy and everything hit us so fast and, and I remember thinking, am I gonna make this? Am I gonna make it? I was under so much stress and didn't know what to do, and people said, how did you make it through that time?
Well, number one, I made it through that time because I really did depend on God and I don't think I ever prayed as much as I prayed during that time. Also, I just didn't pray, but I reached out to people and I needed friends in my life. I needed somebody to talk to. I needed somebody that's gonna say, Hey, it's gonna be all right.
God's got this. And I, I remember taking the time to really, uh, forge some good relationships in my life. And, uh, I, I, I've learned for me that when I'm going through some difficult times, I need to really, really, Connect in the relationships that I've built over time. Uh, my life is a summation, really, of relationships that God has brought into my life.
And your life is gonna be a summation of the relationships you have in your life. I often tell people your life are gonna be shaped by the people you know and the books you read, the people you know you do life with, and the information that you take in because it impacts how you believe, it impacts your emotions, it impacts everything about.
Your life. And so we got through that season and, uh, got through the other side of it and begin to realize that, you know what, uh, there's gonna be some tough seasons and you're just gonna have to learn to walk it out. And by God's grace and, uh, just taking it day by day, we got through that season and now we're in a great season in our personal lives, in our professional life as.
Our church now is, uh, growing. Uh, we've purchased a second building and we're gonna open up a second campus. And really the last few years have been really in reinvigorating time for us as we recaptured vision, uh, believe that the best is yet to come, and not allowing negative thoughts, negative emotions, negative feelings, bring us down.
But to realize that, you know, with God, all things are possible. And I realized that my feelings, they come and go. And I, I can't allow my feelings to really dictate my life. And I wanna encourage you right now that, uh, you know, if you feel like you're not gonna make it, if you feel like, man, I just feel like it's my, my life is, is not going anywhere.
Don't go by your feelings. Don't go by your feelings. Go. By what you know, listen to me, your feelings come and go. But you must have a belief system that's anchored in truth, that doesn't change. And for me, that's the word of God for me. That's the scripture, that's the Bible. And so I've been anchored in that I'm not gonna allow circumstance.
I'm not gonna allow things to come into my life. And somehow, uh, some way, you know, tell me that my life. Is over, or my best days are behind me. I, I've learned what it is to stay in the game and don't, don't quit. Don't give up what it means to overcome, you know, my fears. People ask me, do you, do you have any fears?
I said, every day. That's what I do. As I learned to overcome those fears, you know, anytime you try something new, you gotta learn to overcome those fears. And, and so what I'm doing in my own life right now is I, I'm allowing myself to be challenged again and, and just believing. That, you know what, uh, something would not come up unless God gave me the ability to overcome it.
And, uh, so I just wanna, just encourage you in that in my life I have found, you know, that, uh, that to be true. You know, somebody asked me recently what five things are most important to you now? Uh, really, number one, um, keeping my thoughts right? Thinking right? That's really important to me. Number two.
Keeping good relationships that, uh, give and pour into my life and I could pour into other people's life. You know, number three, and this may, may not be an order of importance, but keeping my relationship with God fresh in life, my prayer life, fresh in life, you know, making sure my marriage and my personal life with my wife and my kids, and taking time for my family, you know, that's important for me.
And, and really, You know, exercising and, uh, keeping my physical body, you know, in shape and, and wanting to, as I get older, to, uh, take care of myself so I have energy as I still have. I believe the best years of my life are still ahead of me. And so these are some of the things that I would really want to impart unto you and just encourage you and just believe that no matter what's happening in your life, uh, if it's good, You know, uh, be excited about it.
Um, but even good seasons aren't gonna last forever, and bad seasons aren't gonna last forever. Uh, I wanna encourage you to keep dreaming, keep having vision, uh, don't stop. And just believe that you know, especially if you're a follower of Jesus, that he has great plans for your life and that he's gonna bring about some incredible things in your life.
I would encourage, uh, all of us to believe that literally, you know, uh, I'm not gonna try and change my behavior, but change your beliefs because you know, how you think is how you behave, what you believe is how you behave. So I wanna encourage us, all of us in our lives, get the right belief system. Renew your mind by the word of God.
Understand who you are. Understand that you created the image and likeness of God. Understand that motion creates emotion. Don't stay stagnant. Don't, don't just stay in depression or discouragement, but rise above with changing your thoughts and focusing off yourself and putting your eyes on God who says that with him.
All things are possible. So I wanna give you these thoughts and hopefully I can encourage you and, and I just thank you for really listening and, uh, being a part. Of Pray.com. And, uh, I wanna encourage you in your own personal life to, uh, spend some time in prayer, meditation. And because we found out even now, uh, doctors are telling us that prayer relieve stress and meditation relieve stress.
So take the time out today. I know I do every day in my life, I take time to pray, to talk to God, to listen to him, and I find out that my, uh, my, uh, emotions and my outlook, I. Are better because I take time to be with God.
Learned a lot about leadership, and one of the big things that I learned a lot about is, is I can cast compelling vision. I could, I could let out lay out the, uh, pathway and the road to what I believe the organization is going, but unless I have the proper leaders over a campus, over a department, it is not going to work.
When I say leader, what comes to your mind? Is it just a decision maker? I. Is it just somebody who's been chosen out of a random group or a group to maybe lead a discussion or lead a uh, department? When I say leader, it is much more than just leading something. It's becoming something. I don't think people are born leaders.
I think I've learned that people become leaders and that's a big issue because some people say, why can't lead? First of all, don't ever say that you. Can't lead, uh, say, you know what? I'm gonna become a better leader. So let's talk about, uh, leadership and what it means to lead. Uh, number one, leadership does not mean you will never, ever fail.
I think some people look and say, wow, if I was a great leader, I would never fail. I would never make a bad decision. I, I, I, I, I would never, ever, you know, do something. That, uh, that is detrimental at times and maybe not make a bad decision. But I've learned sometimes that the greatest lessons I've learned is not from my successes, but from my failures.
I keep telling people over and over again that just because you fail doesn't mean you're a failure and in fact, fail. Failure is not fatal. And, uh, the only kind of failure that is fatal is one that you don't learn from. And so I've made some great decisions and I've also made some decisions that, you know, looking back, some people would say, well, he failed.
He, he made a wrong decision there. And uh, and so I wonder if he's a good leader or not. But what I do is when I make a decision that. I really, uh, didn't get right. You know, instead of being discouraged and getting down, I step back and I say, okay, what can I learn from this decision? Should I have included more people?
Should I have waited a little bit? Should I have gotten more information? Uh, what can I learn from what I would say is a failure in the moment, but a great lesson for a lifetime? And so I wanna encourage everybody. That, you know, doesn't matter what you have gone through, doesn't matter what is going on in your life, that you can begin to realize that, you know what, no, uh, I'm gonna lead and I'm gonna make some decisions sometimes that, uh, are not the right decision, but I'm gonna learn.
From those decisions and move forward in my life. One of the decisions that I would say, uh, really comes to my mind was when we were expanding our organization, we're a church and, and we were gonna open up a second campus and we decided to, you know, go to Southern California. We had worked out a deal with a pastor and uh, we now got another campus in Orange County, California.
And I remember calling somebody and this individual who has many campuses, you know, all over the country, he said to me, he said, I would not do it. And uh, a lot of times we've tried this many and, uh, it doesn't seem like it works out. And so my advice to you would be, don't do it unless you've prayed and you feel like.
God is telling you to do it. Well, I think the opportunity was so good and I really wanted to be in Southern California. I actually talked to our team and they felt like, okay, let's do it. Let's, let's, let's go out and, and see if this is really gonna work. And we all prayed. We felt good about it. And so we started down this journey and, you know, the campus started doing well.
And then we started hitting some hard times and it wasn't growing anymore. And, and, uh, there was some challenges with the leadership down there, some challenges with people. And after about a year and a half, we set some goals and we said, if we're not gonna be at this number bringing in this amount of money, then we need to shut down the campus.
And realized that we gave her very best, but it doesn't seem like it's working. And so, sure enough, I remember when we came to that moment where, It was that due date. And, um, we realized we weren't hitting the numbers that we wanted and we weren't really bringing the finances that we had set a goal for that we knew the decision was to now just stop and, and say, you know, we're not gonna do this anymore.
We're not, we're not going to continue this campus. And I remember thinking, And just wondering where I missed it. I honestly felt like a failure, honestly felt like, man, how come it didn't work? And I, I felt like it was the right decision. I, I felt like, you know, that, uh, it was really something, even what God was saying to us.
And in the midst of all that, I realized that I'm not gonna get every decision right as a leader. I'm gonna get a majority, right? But the ones that seemingly, I think I get wrong, I wanna turn those into great lessons. And so we learned from that and we ended up selling that building and recouping our money and learned a lot about leadership.
And one of the big things that I learned a lot about is, is I can cast compelling vision. I could, I could let out lay out the, uh, pathway and the road to what I believe the organization is going, but unless I have the proper leaders over a campus, over a department, It is not going to work. And so I didn't really leverage leadership really well.
I couldn't find a campus pastor that was really a good fit for that environment. I didn't have anybody looking back that was a really a leader at that level that could lead a campus out of state. And so though it was a good idea, uh, I could have done better by training people. Waited till I had the right campus pastor.
To really lead that campus as a result of all that, we had a lot of lessons we learned and a lot of things we are not gonna do in the future, but a lot of things that we will do in the future. And so I wanted to make sure now that as we move forward, that we're always going to have the right leader in place and not just a person that has a leadership role, but has a leadership capacity.
And that we empower people, you know, to really, really. Make decisions and not micromanage. That leads me to my second thing is micromanaging. One of the mistakes that I have made in leadership is that, um, sometimes I'm too hands on and what I'm learning is if I believe in somebody, I'm gonna let them lead and even make a bad decision because they're not gonna learn unless they make some decisions that aren't always right.
In fact, one of my friends. Tells me over and over again, if somebody can do 70% of what you can do, then that's a good leader. And so I'm not stressed out anymore about people making all the decisions, the right decisions. Now I ask somebody whether department lead or, or maybe somebody that's leading, uh, in a certain capacity in an organization, and I asked them, do you feel good about this?
Have you done your homework? Have you gotten all the information? Have you asked other people their opinion? And if you, they say yes to all that and they still feel like this decision to be made, then I say, okay, uh, I'm gonna let you make that decision. I back your decision. And if the decision is the right one, you get the credit.
If it's a wrong one, we all learn from it. And, uh, I'm chosen choosing to empower people and believe in people and encourage people even when they don't make the right decision, to let them know that we all are learning. Really from not just our successes, but even from our failures. And so I wanna encourage you right now, don't play it safe.
'cause you don't wanna fail. Don't, don't stay in the boat because you don't wanna fail, you know? Which brings me to really my third point and leadership is take risks. Take risks. You know, life is too short to play it safe. Now, when I say take risks, I'm not saying just do something you have not researched.
I'm not saying just make a decision kind of just in in a moment. But once you've done your research and once you've investigated and once you've done everything you know to do, you know there's always gonna be that fear. There's always gonna be that anxiety. Am I making the right decision? But I've learned this, once you've done all your research, now you make the decision.
I. And go forward with it. Don't look back and don't say, oh, man, I hope I made the right decision. Once you make the decision, listen, once you make the decision, don't look back. Keep moving forward and believe that you've done everything that you're supposed to do. And now you're not gonna be a woulda, shoulda, coulda.
Well, I shoulda, I woulda, I coulda, woulda, shoulda, coulda. Don't get anything done. Leaders make a decision and they take risks. A lot of times the risks are gonna have a great reward, but sometimes the risks aren't gonna work out. But I often say this as a story in the Bible about Jesus calling this guy named Peter out onto the water to walk on water.
Can you imagine that? To walk on water? Nobody's ever walked on water except Jesus. There's a great storm. And Peter says, if it's you, Jesus. Call me to walk on the water. Well, first of all, Peter is crazy 'cause who would ever ask to walk on water? It is impossible in the natural realm to walk on water. But Peter says, if you tell me, God, if, if you empower me, God, I believe I could do the impossible.
So what does Jesus do? Jesus calls Peter and says, come on Peter, I'm calling you And Peter steps out of a boat. And he begins to walk on water. As long as he was focused on Jesus, he began to walk on water. Well, the story goes that Peter got distracted by all the challenges around him, and he began to sink and he cried out to Jesus, Jesus, please save me.
And Jesus reached down and grabbed him and pulled him up. Can you imagine? There's Peter, he's literally drowning. In this, in this lake, in this sea. The water's over his head. But listen to this, whatever was over Peter's head was already under Jesus' feet. You see, Jesus was walking on what was drowning?
Peter in Peter cries out to the right source, which is Jesus. Jesus reaches down and picks him up, and they both walk back to the boat. And Peter gets back in the boat. I wonder what the other 11 disciples were saying. Oh, Peter, who do you think you are that you could walk on water? Peter, who do you think you are that you really thought that you could do something like that?
Peter, look at you. You took a risk and, and you're drenching wet and you almost died taking that risk. Come on, Peter. Who do you think you are? You see, the 11 disciples chose to play it safe in the boat, but there was one disciple named Peter. That chose to take a risk and he said, God, if you tell me to do it, I'm gonna do it.
And yes, Peter did sink in the water. Yes, Peter almost drowned, but Peter cried out to God and God lifted him back up again. I'd like to say it this way. I'd rather be a wet water walker than a dry bot talker any day. There's too many dry boat talkers. What I mean by that, there's too many people that are critical and negative about those of us that decide to step out of the comfort zone, to step out of the ordinary and reach for something extraordinary, reach for something that is bigger, that is larger than what we know right now.
And in fact, if you are a leader and you're called to be a leader, you're not called to play it safe. You're not called to stay in the comfort zone because the real reward. Is when you step out, as we say in church, in faith, trusting that God is leading you and guiding you, and now the risk zone is where you get the greatest reward.
Over and over again, we see in scripture that Jesus called people out of their comfort zone, into a place of great faith, into a place. Where they had to trust him into a place that was outside of their own realm, and they needed to believe, okay, God, you're calling me out, that I'm gonna trust you. So I wanna encourage you, take a risk.
Don't play it safe. Is it in your business? Is it maybe a career change? What is it that is calling you out of the ordinary before you do anything? Come on, we're talking on Pray.com podcast. You better pray. You better hear a word from God and you better just say, okay, once I do it, I'm gonna go for it and I'm not looking back.
Some people think, well, it's just easy. Once you make that decision, you're not gonna feel any anxiety or worry. But it brings me really to another point, is that you will always battle, worry and anxiety. As you move forward in your life, why do people worry? Why do people have anxiety? Because we are facing the unknown.
You really don't have anxiety or worry over things that you have control over. You only face anxiety and worry over things that you have no control over. Think about that. I only worry about things that are outside of my control, and if they're outside of the control, then I probably should not worry because even my worrying cannot change.
What I have no control over. There's a story in the Bible where Jesus is speaking to disciples and he says like five or six times in Matthew, chapter six says, don't worry, don't be anxious. And he says this to his disciples. He says, because if you're a heavenly father takes care of the birds and your heavenly Father takes care of the flowers, won't he take care of you?
Are you not more valuable than the birds and the flowers? Jesus goes on to say. Hey, if you worry about your life having anxiety about your life, can it add anything to your life? And Jesus says it doesn't even add anything to your life. In fact, we know now that worry, anxiety, stress actually take away from your life.
It actually will cut your life short. It'll cause disease. It'll cause your immune system to be suppressed. And so anxiety and worry that hits you and it will is only there to take from you. To Rob from you, but Jesus said, listen, the way you overcome it isn't, well, I'm not feeling it. No. Jesus never said, don't feel it.
He said, don't become it. Let me tell you this principle that I've learned. Just because I feel something doesn't mean I become something. Just because I feel road rage doesn't mean now I become road rage. Just because I wanna give somebody a piece of my mind doesn't mean I give them a piece of my mind just because I wanna hit somebody.
Or, or, or, or physically just kinda look at somebody and say, you know what, no, doesn't mean I have to become it. And though you're feeling anxiety and worry, you can make a choice to say, no, I will not become it. I may feel it, but I may, I I will not become it. Feelings are fickle. They come and they go. Your feelings, your emotions can be impacted by what you eat.
Not enough sleep by circumstances around you. So don't let your feelings listen. Don't let your feelings lead you and guide you your emotions. Your feelings should be indicators, not dictators. They should tell you, Hey, something's wrong, but your feelings, your emotions cannot make it right. Right.
Believing leads to right living. So Jesus says, the reason why. You can overcome and not become anxious and not become worry. A worried person is when you change your focus, change your focus. And he says, look at provision. Look that God takes care of the birds. Look that God takes care of the flowers. In other words, don't look at lack, look at the provision around you, and then also realize that you have a heavenly Father.
That you have a God in heaven that is watching out for you, that you can trust him. You could pray and put your faith in him to bring you through you See, I believe we can do all that we should do, but then there's a realm that only God can do. I'm not gonna stress out over the realm that God could only do, that God knows the future, that once I prepare, once I do my best.
Once I give my presentation, then I transfer my trust to God and say, God, I'm not gonna worry about this. I'm not gonna be anxious about this, but I'm gonna put my trust in you. And as I change my focus from lack to provision, as I change my focus to from myself to a God in heaven, that is working all things out for my good.
It's amazing. The scripture is true when it says that God will keep. Our mind in perfect peace if it has stayed on him. So I wanna encourage you, if you're facing something right now, come on, take a minute, stop and turn towards heaven, and take a moment to pray and begin to understand that you're not in this by yourself.
You know, I've learned a few things, you know, leading a church organization. With really working with volunteers, we have hundreds and hundreds of volunteers, is that, uh, I need to continue to lead in faith. I need to continue to encourage them. And one of the ways that I've learned to inspire people is to tell stories.
You know, if you're listening right now and you say, well, how can I get my organization to move forward? Tell stories how your organization has impacted and changed people's lives. So people don't wanna come and do a job. People wanna be part of a vision. Did you hear that? People don't wanna come and be a just do a job, even if it's volunteer or even if it's paid.
They wanna be part of fulfilling a mission, a dream being a part of something that's bigger than themselves. So I've learned to cast compelling vision to tell people this is why we are doing what we're doing. The why behind the what. And it's amazing when people begin to see how what they do adds value to the organization.
What they do begins to impact people's lives for the better. It's amazing how they literally begin, not just to perform better, but have a better attitude. Begin to say, you know what? It's not just about a paycheck. It's not just about making money. It's about making a difference in somebody's life. And so I wanna encourage you today, you know, as you're leading people, listen, cast a compelling vision.
Tell them the why behind the what. Tell stories of how people's lives have been impacted. And you're gonna see people rally around your vision, the dream, the mission that your organization has been put up, has been put on this planet to really, really, Accomplish. And so I just wanna encourage us as leaders today that we continue to lead our communities.
And, uh, last point I wanna make, and I've learned this, somebody asked me, you know, how do you have a healthy organization? How do you have a healthy church? I learned this a long time ago, that really, if you want a healthy organization, you need a healthy leader. So if you're leading something, an organization right now, A Fortune 500 company, a church, you know, whatever you're leading right now.
As you become healthy, the organization becomes healthier. Take time for yourself. Take time to get better. Take time to get help. If you need help, take time to read books. Take time to have a vacation recreate. Take time and as you get healthier, as you get your soul healthier, your organization. Your family, everything around you will get healthier.
I personally have people in my life that I go talk to and I see I have a counselor that I see, and he helps me just to think right and to make sure I process right, because I wanna become healthier as a leader. So remember, a healthy leader will produce a healthy organization and health takes time. It doesn't happen overnight.
It doesn't happen in a few days. It doesn't even happen in a few weeks. Sometimes it's months in the making, but I love what the Bible says. Do not grow weary in well doing for in due season. You will reap a harvest if you don't quit, if you don't give up, if you don't faint. I literally believe that as we become healthier, as our soul gets better as we think, right, we live right.
As we don't let our emotions lead us, our feelings aren't gonna lead us. They will inform us, but they won't lead us. As we look to God and say, you're my source. As I look towards provision, God takes care of birds and flowers. When I trust him, he's gonna take care of me. When I realize that things are outside of my control, I'm not gonna worry about them.
I'm not gonna be anxious about them, but I'm gonna transfer trust to God. As I realize all these things, my life begins to fall now. In the right place because I'm following the right pattern because I believe that God is literally leading and guiding me, not just my own personal life, but even in my organizations.
So as I wrap up this, uh, part of, uh, this podcast, I want you to begin to challenge your thoughts and things that are negative and critical and don't line up with your belief system. Then you need to say, you know what? I'm not gonna allow those thoughts to run my life anymore. If you're a Christian, if you know God's word, I would ask you to renew your mind by the word of God.
Get some promises from God's word and begin to realize that if God is for you, who can be against you? I tell myself this every day. That's a scripture. I tell myself that God has opened up doors that no man can shut and shutting doors that no man can open. I tell myself that my steps are being ordered by the Lord.
My life. Your life is not a bunch of random incidences. If we're followers of Jesus, we can believe that literally our life. You say, well, I don't, I don't believe in Jesus. Well, I believe that God then is ordered in our steps. You can put your faith and trust in God and uh, and just just realize that I'm not just living this life randomly, but I put my trust.
That is, I make the right decisions. I'm being led by God and things will work out in my life. So I hope this has helped you. I hope this is encouraging you and I just wanna leave you with that thought. Thank you so much. I look forward to speaking with you again. God bless you.
I don't wanna just be remembered. I want my life to count and I, I'm very passionate about this now. I want people that I lead to go further than me, to do more than me, to experience more than me. My job is to look at the next generation and generations to come and say, listen, what is my ceiling has become your floor.
Did you hear that? What is my ceiling has become now their floor.
In the next few moments, I just wanna share really, uh, about legacy. And, uh, what will you and I be remembered for in our lives? As I speak to you right now, I have crossed the 50 year mark. I can't believe where the time has gone, and now I'm talking like an older person. When they said, time goes by so quick and it really does go by that quick.
And so when I think about legacy, I, I'm really in that phase of my life thinking, you know, the next 40 or 50 years. I plan to live to be a hundred. I don't know about you, uh, but I want a long life, a fruitful life. And, uh, but as I think about legacy, I wanna just, you know, share, you know, a few thoughts with you.
I am a pastor of a church in Las Vegas, Nevada. I am a speaker that travels all over the world. I've been to Australia 49 times. I've been to Europe, I've been to Asia. I've spoken in la, Latin America, Canada. I've spoken in, I think at least, you know, uh, so many countries. I can't even remember how many to over the last 35 years, to hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people.
And so legacy is a big deal for me. One of the things that I really wanna leave behind is I don't wanna just be remembered. I want my life to count. I don't wanna just be remembered. Oh, I remember Benny, Perez. I want my life to count. Now what does that mean? Well, I think it's okay to be remembered. I was a good speaker or man, he helped a lot of people.
Or he was funny or, or, oh yeah, he was the guy in Las Vegas. But I want my life to count. And the way your life counts isn't always what you accomplish, but what you do to help other people. Accomplish their dreams. In other words, as I now have passed the half century mark, I wanna see and invest in young leaders.
I, I wanna find some pastors. I wanna find some business people. I, I'm finding people that I look at them and say, I could help you. I want to invest in you. So my life is gonna count even more because as I invest in other people now, My influence, my wisdom gets multiplied out. Listen, you should not die with all the wisdom inside of you.
I don't wanna be that person that I lay in the grave knowing that I didn't give everything that had away. So right now I'm working with young leaders, young pastors across America. I'm spending time with leaders at my church and young preachers at my church, and. Talking to them about their marriage, talking to 'em about their personal life, talking to 'em about ministry.
I don't wanna just be remembered. I want my life to count and I, I'm very passionate about this now. I want people that I lead to go further than me, to do more than me, to experience more than me. My job is to look at the next generation and generations to come and say, listen, what is my ceiling has become your floor.
Did you hear that? What is my ceiling has become now their floor. Where I have now kind of tapped out is where they begin. I have the baton, I've run my race, and when it's all over, I wanna make sure the next generation is further. The next generation is more equipped. The next generation has the wisdom from me so they don't have to make the same mistakes.
I don't wanna be that guy that said, well, I told you you shouldn't have done that. I want to be preemptive and tell young men especially and even young ladies, you know, here's the mistakes that I made. You don't have to make the same mistakes. You don't have to learn by experience, but you can learn from my wisdom, you can learn from other people's wisdom, which is really other people's mistakes.
So when I think about legacy, when you think about legacy, don't just say, I wanna be remembered. Come on. You just don't wanna be remembered. You wanna make an impact. You, you want to do something that outlives you. So what's gonna outlive you? It's the people that you invest in. What's gonna outlive you? It, it's the ideas, the thoughts that you've helped people form and shape in their lives.
It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's people saying, I would not be here today unless it was for Benny Perez. I wouldn't be here today unless Benny, Perez gave me an opportunity, and I'm grateful for that. And so now you continue to live on, even when you pass from this planet, you continue to live on because of your influence.
That's what I wanna do. I wanna continue to live on again, not be remembered. But make an impact. And so as we, you know, uh, continue to have a church here in Las Vegas, Nevada, you know, one of the things that, uh, we are passionate about is we are passionate about justice. We, we wanna help people, you know, we are involved in fighting sex trafficking, we're involved in feeding people clothing, people we're involved in any way that we can to somehow bring change.
Both in the natural and in the spiritual. You know, I live in a city that's called Sin City and everybody comes from all over the world to do things that they shouldn't do or, or they wouldn't do any place else. And so we have a passion to literally see people encounter Jesus, become followers of Jesus, and help fulfill his mission.
And what was the mission of Jesus? The mission of Jesus was to bring light into dark places. The mission of Jesus, he said it to us, was to be salt, to be difference makers. In the world today to share with people that there's a God in heaven that loves them, that cares about them, that sent his only son to die on a cross so that their sins, my sins, can be forgiven and that we can experience a brand new life found in Jesus Christ.
I'm passionate about sharing the gospel about the good news that God is not angry at you. God is not against you, but God has made a way for you to have a personal, real. Deep relationship with him. And so I believe that I, I believe that it's our mission to share the good news that God said it's his will that none should perish, but that all should come to eternal life.
And so that's what we do, that I'm passionate about that every weekend, wherever I go, I wanna give people hope. I wanna say, listen, your best days are still ahead of you. Yes, you're going through a tough time. Yes, it's difficult right now, but I really believe. That God, and by His power, by his grace, you can actually overcome the obstacles in your life.
You see, I want people to realize that they're not their mistakes. They're not their failures. That's what they did. That's not who they are. Betty Prayer, you can leave a legacy. What would it be? To tell people you are not what you do. You are who you believe you are, so you make a mistake. So you did something you shouldn't have done.
Quit beating yourself up. Don't let condemnation guilt ruin the rest of your life. You can get back up again and say, you know what, that's what I did, but that's not who I am. And begin now to have right thinking leads to right believing. I am really, really passionate. Uh, my kids, I want them to understand.
I have three kids. I tell them who they are. I don't let their circumstances tell them who they are. I. I don't let culture tell them who they are. I look at 'em and say, you know what? You're a child of God. The hand of God is on you. The cone of God is on you because I know that the greatest battle they're gonna face that I have faced in my life is my thinking.
And so I want to help others to get the right thinking, the negative thinking, the critical thinking. The one that always puts, you know yourself down. You know those negative self-talk, all that. You know what can change as you meet Jesus and you begin to realize his plan and his purpose for your life. In fact, if I could go back, I've been asked this over and over again.
If I could go back in my life, what is one thing that I would change And, and to be honest, I would change being too hard on myself. You know, I'm my worst critic and I think everybody at times is their worst critic. You, you, you'll just kind of. I sit there and say, why did I do that? And, and beat yourself up.
And I've done that. In fact, I would say I've wasted, you know, sometimes months, maybe even years if you compile it all. And just putting myself down, I realize this life puts us down. You know, people put us down. We don't need to put ourselves down. And so I've learned that I would just not be so hard on myself.
I, I would definitely learn from my mistakes. I would definitely, you know, just decide, you know what I. I'm gonna learn from that. I'm not gonna do that again. And so I don't want people to live in their past. I want them to live in their present and have a great vision and future, you know, in their mind for what God has for them.
I often say you cannot drive a car looking in the rear view mirror 'cause you're gonna get into an accident again. You glance in the rear view mirror and you gaze out the windshield. See, listen, the legacy I wanna leave is glance at the rear view mirror. But gaze out of the windshield. In other words, let's move forward.
I want my kids to say, I want my grandkids one day to say, you know what? My dad faced a lot of battles. He faced a recession in Las Vegas that, that took a lot of people out, but it didn't take my dad out, didn't take my mom out, didn't take the church out. I want them to see that I had, you know, some perseverance, some tenacity.
I want them to realize that I learned from my mistakes. I didn't keep making them. I want them to realize that even if you get knocked down, you could get back up again. I want them to realize that people are gonna talk and there's gonna be haters, but the only reason people hate on you and people talk about you is because you're doing something with your life.
If you weren't doing anything with your life, people won't be hating on you. I want my kids, my grandkids. I want people to know that you. Can move forward in your life? I, I want you to know that I, I want you to know that you can move forward with your life and for those that seem stuck in their life, that you can help others move forward in their life.
You know, a great passion of mine is to get other people unstuck and to live in a place where you don't have to stay there, you can get back up and move forward. I often remember a story that happened with my church and. It was kind of just an amazing story really of, of just compassionate people. I remember going by a car wash and a guy, an older guy, was there drying cars and it's like 105 degrees and I'm like, man, what caused this man in his sixties to have to dry cars?
And I didn't really know his story, but I felt kind of compelled to do something that I've never really done that often. And I remember him drying my car for me. And I gave him a hundred dollars and I just felt like I should have done that. And I remember seeing him and he had tears in his eyes and he was wondering why I had done that.
And um, and I just felt like, Hey, God bless you. I wanted to do this for you. I was actually telling his story to my church 'cause it happened in the morning on a Sunday. And um, I told him what happened and the guys at the car wash right across the street and. What happened was after church and all these services, people went and got their car washed, and even those that didn't get their car washed, stopped and gave this man some money and blessed him so much so that I found out later that this man had his car that was the repair shop and he needed a certain amount of money to get that car, uh, fixed and that he could have his car back again.
And the people didn't know the story totally, but they went and just wanted to be a blessing and they ended up giving him from this church enough money where he could actually get his car out of the repair shop and begin to drive it again. I remember just being so proud of my community of faith because they began not just to hear about Jesus, but actually be Jesus to a gentleman.
You know, some of the stories in our church of us, of people helping others with groceries or helping others with. You know, a ride, uh, helping others, you know, they need babysitting, helping others, fixing things at their houses over and over again. When people serve other people, I'm telling you, heaven takes notice.
I'm telling you, God takes notice. And you know, I've learned this and it's so true, and this is the legacy again, that, you know, when you do things for others, it's more of a blessing than when you do things for yourself. The Bible says it's more blessed to give. Than to receive. And so our church wants to be known in the city that we're a church that caress.
We're a church that loves, we're a church that moves forward helping our community. Every month we're helping hundreds and hundreds of people with our free market, giving away free groceries and clothing and shoes, and being a blessing to our community. Every month we are making a difference. In the lives of elementary school students and helping with the schools and bringing a blessing to the schools.
And so I want the legacy of my life to be one where I help people, encourage people, loved on people. And if people remember me or not, uh, hopefully they will, but they're gonna remember what I did and what we did. And this has caused me as I've crossed the 50 barrier to really look at people differently, to really realize people are people and people are gonna make mistakes.
And not to be so hard on people, I think to hold people accountable, but to realize that, you know, sometimes we just need to keep helping them up over and over again. I would definitely make sure that I put people in the right place. If somebody is not in the right place, you know, then I need to change their position to make sure that they have the best, best chance at succeeding at whatever they're doing in the organization.
And so, you know, I, I, I just wanna do that and, and hopefully help other people. So for those of you that are listening, don't be so hard on yourself. Don't, don't keep telling yourself all this negative self-talk. Realize that your work in progress realize that you know what, you're gonna look back in your life and you just see, wow, I did a lot of great things and there's some things that you wish you wouldn't have done, but that's not your legacy.
Keep moving forward. Keep being a person that is getting better, that is wanting to make a difference in somebody else's life. And, and what happens is as, as you keep going, one step at a time moving forward, keep helping people. Keep a positive attitude. Keep, you know, Jesus, the forefront of your life. And, and what begins to happen is, is that you are changed, you become a change agent, and now your legacy is gonna be, wow, man, look what Benny Perez did with the church lv, uh, look what this group of people are doing in the community.
And uh, and I just think that that's the biggest. The biggest thing that we could do, so get ready to close. You know, I've been asked over and over again, if you had the power to solve one and only one problem in the world, what would it be and why? That's a big question. Here's what I would say. The problem that I think the world has is that it is self-centered.
It revolves around us, revolves around me. If we could get people focused off of themselves, And onto, first of all, God, first of all Jesus, and get their perspective to change. And now it's not just about me, but it's about God and others. A God first life produces a different kind of a life. I remember Will Smith just recently, I was reading a quote, will Smith said this, That he had all the sex that he ever desired and he ever wanted, and he realized it didn't make him any happier.
In other words, will Smith recently came to conclusion that life when it's just all about him, it didn't bring real fulfillment. So what brings real fulfillment when you look back in your life is what did you do for others? What impact did you make in somebody else's life? So if I could change. You know one thing, it's like, let's quit looking at ourselves and look at our creator and realize that he has a bigger plan for our lives.
He has a greater plan for our lives, and it's just not about me. Is not just about me. So when we live outside of our life, we begin to realize that Now guess what? My life could be different. My life could make a difference. When I look back, I could live life with less regrets and more rejoicing. And when my kids and my grandkids look back, I want them to say, you know what?
My dad, my grandfather did his very best. He lived his life for the glory of God. He fulfilled his mission, and whatever his ceiling was, became our floor. And so that's what I want to encourage you with today. I hope this helped you and hope this encouraged you. I. And really, I, I just wanna say thank you to Pray.com and I pray that you'd be a part of this community of faith.
I pray that you would take time to pray and that you would be a part of what Pray.com is about, and God bless you. Bye-bye.
After starting his own church in 2003, Benny Perez was hit with a number of struggles and challenges all at once. My father-in-law was battling cancer and, and, uh, he, uh, fought valiantly, but he transitioned from this place into heaven and, uh, he did not win totally here on Earth, but he's won, obviously totally in heaven.
And so he passed on and around the same time I remember my wife was pregnant and. You know, with our fourth child, and, uh, she had a tragic, tragic, uh, you know, miscarriage as the baby died in her womb. And, and then the baby had to be taken out and, and then the surgery didn't go well and my wife was almost lost on the operating table.
And then my wife hemorrhage and she almost died, literally at her house And. So now my father-in-law passed and I almost losing my wife, and there's difficulty going on in the economy and everything hit us so fast.
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I'm one of five kids. I'm the middle child, two younger, two older. So I've learned how to navigate some things in my life as a lot of, uh, maybe middle children had to do. I. And, um, I grew up in a great family, a loving family. Uh, unfortunately, uh, you know, when I was younger, my mom, my dad, their marriage didn't make it.
And, uh, he decided to go his own way. And, but I have a great mom and she raised me and my siblings and then she got remarried to my dad, who basically raised me for the rest of really the rest of my life, uh, growing up from about, uh, eight, nine, you know, all the way to about 21 and still married today.
And I love him and I love my mom. You know, uh, I grew up in, really in an area called Pico Vera, California. I learned to be an entrepreneur at a very young age. It was kind of interesting that. We had avocado trees and, and, uh, I would pick the avocados and go door to door and, and really, uh, learn how to interact with people, make some sales, make a little bit of money.
It was kind of fun as a, you know, young kid, 10 years of age and, uh, selling avocados door to door and making myself some money. And in that, I, I learned what it was to. Actually now manage some money. And my dad taught me some things in regards to managing money. And one of the things that he taught me was, whatever you do give the first 10% to God.
And that's where I learned how to start tithing and putting God first in my life. And so it was kind of fun even at a young age, uh, learning what it was to, uh, to put God first and, and to make sure that understood what that meant. And so it was just kind of fun. You know, growing up I went to Christian school from third grade to 12th grade and uh, just really had an encounter with God, even at his young child as a third grader, that's where I said yes to Jesus Christ.
And it was in that moment that I began to realize that God had a plan for my life. He is as a, even as a third grader. And, um, I was the first Christian in my family. And, uh, what I did decided to do was I continued to pray for my parents, my mom, my dad, my brother, my sisters. And after about two years, my mom got saved, gave her life to Christ.
And a year after that, my dad, who was a bookie barn or drinker smoker, gambler, uh, owned a bar. Uh, he gave his life to Christ and his life began to change pretty dramatically within that first year. And before you know it, you know, he was no longer doing what, you know, he really wanted to do. And, uh, so he found out that guy was speaking to him, and, and it became a trying time in my family's life because, you know, he had to go find a regular job.
And I remember him, you know, finally getting a job, driving a truck and barely making, you know, uh, any money, uh, making enough just to pay the bills. But we, we were still, you know, being provided for. And, uh, just exciting to note that in the midst of growing up, You know, that we saw God's provision, you know, take place in our life.
And, um, and so I just began to realize that I could trust God and, and really, you know, uh, put my faith in hope in Jesus Christ. I, I remember many times that our family, you know, was, uh, barely, barely gonna make it, and yet God would come through as somebody would come and. And just randomly bless our family or randomly, you know, do something for us.
And now I know it wasn't random. I know it was actually God that was making that happen. And through that I just began to see God's hand in my life and my family's life growing up. And uh, and so I just saw that more and more. But I think one of the things that impacted me the most in my life was when I got hit with some tragedy, even personal tragedy in my life.
When I was in eighth grade, I got hit. With multiple diseases from hyperthyroidism, graves Disease, Marfan syndrome, being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and at one point a doctor saying, I would be in a wheelchair by the age of 25. At that moment, I began to really think about my life, and I remember saying, okay, God, if you're real, why don't you supernaturally heal me?
And through a series of my mom taking me to different meetings and, and it not happening, I actually got bitter and angry towards God. Because he did not do what I asked him to do on my timetable, even though I prayed. I didn't have a maturity to realize that, you know, God's timing isn't my timing and his ways aren't my ways.
And so I literally just got angry and bitter, walked away from God, from, you know, ninth grade to 12th grade, and then began to do my own stuff, begin to make myself the center of my life. And, you know, I went out to, uh, do some things from partying to experimenting with some things and, and, uh, really was, uh, not just walking away from God, but actually.
Was, uh, really antagonistic toward the things of God. The only reason why I went to church and continued to go to church is because I could get free rent and free food if I continued to go to church on Sunday morning. So I did, and it was, uh, it was a good trade off. I figured, hey, you know, free rent and some food to stay with my parents.
If I just went to church on Sunday morning and I would go there not really, really being open to anything that God had for me. I was. I was really more just, just kind of just doing what I was supposed to do so I didn't have to pay anything. And, um, but something happened, you know, and God came after my life.
I, I, I, I want to in, in, in just really, uh, make this point and introduced this thought to maybe somebody who's listening. It's not so much we are going after God. God continue comes after us. I was not looking for God. I was running away from God, but God was looking for me. And in the month of July in 1986, I was on a beach in Southern California where I had a God encounter.
Literally, I had a God encounter in the afternoon where the presence of God came and began to envelop my life. As I was walking along the beach with a friend of mine, literally felt the presence and power of Jesus himself, and I heard this voice inside of me saying, Hey, it's time to come home. It's time to come home.
And I remember kneeling down on that beach so many years ago at Sano Free State Beach on the uh, California shoreline right there, and wondering why God would want me back after all the things that I've said and even blasphemed his name. But I'm grateful for the grace of God, the mercy of God that decided to come after me when I wasn't worthy.
And I began to realize I was never worthy, and it's all God's grace. It's not my performance. And at that moment I nailed down. I said, God, I give you my life back again. And, and even if you want me to, I'll go into being a pastor working at a church because at that time I was actually a senior at Cal State Fortune, pursuing a business degree in accounting and uh, just trying to do my own thing.
But you know, that wasn't really God's calling for my life. It was my call for my life. And. And maybe for somebody listening, you know, business is your call and you know it's God's call in your life, but it wasn't mine. And at that moment I realized I was really running away from God and trying to do my own thing, trying to somehow, you know, make it my way.
And remember at that moment I said, man, you know, I'm in my senior year at Cal State, forward to being recruited by a big eight accounting firm. And, and this would be a big step. And to be honest, I was like, okay, God, this is, if this is you, you gotta. Really speak to my parents and other people to confirm this because it was a scary, scary moment.
One of the most scariest and pivotal moments of my life is hearing that I'm not supposed to do business. I'm supposed to go into the ministry. And at that moment I'm saying, okay, Gaia, you gotta make this clear. And so I remember God spoke really as my mom and my dad prayed and they confirmed what God.
Was supposed to do in my life, even supernaturally. God spoke to my mom and my dad before even said anything to them, and they confirmed literally as if they were watching a D V D, you know, video of what happened to me on that beach. God spoke to them and I knew it was a supernatural confirmation from God at that moment.
I finished up the semester at Cal State, four 10. I then dropped out of Cal State four to re-enrolled at Vanguard University in Southern California, Costa, Mesa, and uh, had to actually do two more years to get my degree. In religion and, uh, finished up my degree in business and I learned a lot of things. I learned what it was to, you know, stay focused.
I, I learned that, you know, I had gone my own way and I'm gonna have to maybe spend two more years because I just kind of did it my way. But I realized that as I stayed focused, I worked hard and God's grace was on my life, I begin to realize that, you know what, even though it's taking a little bit longer, I'd rather have something take a little bit longer.
And me be in God's perfect will than me doing what I wanna do and not being in the perfect will of God. And so I, I was, uh, I was, you know, going for it full time. And I finally graduated, come on. It took me seven years to get a four year degree. But I graduated in 1990 and immediately after that I found myself at a small church in, in, uh, apple Valley, California, where I was a youth pastor there.
And I was there for two years and it was just amazing what God did. Took a small youth ministries of about 17 kids, and within 18 months it had grown to 227 kids and God was doing something special. I learned what it was to raise up volunteers, cast vision. I learned what it was like, you know, to really ask questions from people that have been in the ministry.
And, uh, I, I just, I just wanted to do my very best for God. And, and while I was there, I met a friend of mine who eventually would become a pastor in Seattle, Washington, and invited me to come up to Seattle and to be his youth pastor. After praying and talking with people, I realized, man, I'm supposed to go to Seattle, Washington and be a youth pastor up there and, So I left in 1992 and moved up to Marysville, Washington at a small church called Marysville, first Assembly of God.
And, and there is where I was a youth pastor to about 20 some kids. And it was, uh, it was a youth ministry that wasn't really vibrant or alive and the church needed some, uh, needed some life back again. I remember praying and saying, God, I believe you could do something great in the Pacific Northwest, even though everybody is saying that.
It can't happen. And I remember praying and saying, okay, God, how are we gonna make this happen? And, and God said to me, I want you to teach young people how to pray. So I remember, you know, uh, asking a couple young people, Hey, come, uh, and, and learn how to pray. Just, just come and meet me at the church to pray.
And they didn't know what to do. So I would tell 'em, Hey, uh, just do what I do. Copy what I do. And so when I would walk, they would walk and I, and I would say some things, they would just repeat what I would say, but they were learning how to pray verbally out loud, how to pray and use the word of God, and declare things over their life, declare things over literally the city and the church that we were in.
And, uh, I, I, I remember believing and asking God for some great things for like a big revival to take place. And, and little did I know that, uh, he would actually answer, you know, that prayer and within a short number of years. From 1992 to 19, really, uh, 98 for six, almost seven years, a revival would break out where the youth ministries would grow from about 27 young people to over a thousand young people come in on Wednesday and Thursday nights and mayors of First Assembly of God.
And, and, uh, I had to actually really learn a lot of things I didn't learn before. You know, just in regards to now how do I handle a bigger group and. And, um, you know, how do I, how do I handle, you know, being alone and single and, and uh, really in an area that I was not familiar with. And, uh, so I just learned a lot of things in that area just about my own life and, and begin to realize a few things about my life.
And hopefully this is gonna be. Encouraging to somebody that's out there. I learned to have a routine in my life. I, I really did. I, I learned what it was that, uh, that my life was not just a random kind of, um, uh, uh, of instances happening, but I could take control of my life and I'm a morning person. So I began to realize that I got up early and, uh, I would get up early and I would, uh, go, pray and read the scripture and meditate on God.
And so the very first thing I. What do in my life that I still do today is I get up early and I will pray and read the scripture. I begin to realize that, you know, for my life, that what's important is I gotta keep the important thing, the most important thing that I needed to continue to, you know, put God first even in my time and not just in my resources.
And so, uh, I begin to realize that routine was important. Discipline was important in my life. And, um, and so, You know, little did I know that God would surprise me the way that he did. You know, people say, what, what has surprised you in your life? I, I'm surprised how God has blessed, really, the ministry that I've been a part of and my youth ministry, uh, traveling.
And even the church that I'm in right now that has exploded in growth and running, running thousands of people in Las Vegas, Nevada. And so I, I, I've just really learned, you know, that uh, God will use anyone. Uh, anytime, uh, if they're just open and they are just willing to be obedient to what he said to do.
And so I had a great time and Marysville got blessed. It, I traveled full time. God blessed it. And then I was surprised when God said, move to Las Vegas, Nevada. And we moved here, travel from, and little did I know that God would actually be telling us to start a church. Literally in 2003, and me and my wife, Wendy Perez, uh, started a church in 2003, not knowing very many people, and with a short number of years, uh, it just exploded and God began to bless us again.
And in the middle of all that success though, there was some challenges, some trials, and some people have asked, what is, what is, uh, what are some of the toughest things that ever happened to you? I remember it was probably a two year season and my father-in-law was battling cancer and. And, um, he, uh, fought valiantly, but he transitioned from this place into heaven.
And, uh, he did not win totally here on Earth, but he's won obviously totally in heaven. And so he passed on and, and around the same time I remember my wife was pregnant and. You know, with our fourth child, and, uh, she had a tragic, tragic, uh, miscarriage as the baby died in her womb. And, and then the baby had to be taken out and, and then the surgery didn't go well and my wife was almost lost on the operating table.
And then my wife hemorrhage and she almost died, literally at her house. And so now my father-in-law passed and I almost losing my wife and. There's difficulty going on in the economy and everything hit us so fast and, and I remember thinking, am I gonna make this? Am I gonna make it? I was under so much stress and didn't know what to do, and people said, how did you make it through that time?
Well, number one, I made it through that time because I really did depend on God and I don't think I ever prayed as much as I prayed during that time. Also, I just didn't pray, but I reached out to people and I needed friends in my life. I needed somebody to talk to. I needed somebody that's gonna say, Hey, it's gonna be all right.
God's got this. And I, I remember taking the time to really, uh, forge some good relationships in my life. And, uh, I, I, I've learned for me that when I'm going through some difficult times, I need to really, really, Connect in the relationships that I've built over time. Uh, my life is a summation, really, of relationships that God has brought into my life.
And your life is gonna be a summation of the relationships you have in your life. I often tell people your life are gonna be shaped by the people you know and the books you read, the people you know you do life with, and the information that you take in because it impacts how you believe, it impacts your emotions, it impacts everything about.
Your life. And so we got through that season and, uh, got through the other side of it and begin to realize that, you know what, uh, there's gonna be some tough seasons and you're just gonna have to learn to walk it out. And by God's grace and, uh, just taking it day by day, we got through that season and now we're in a great season in our personal lives, in our professional life as.
Our church now is, uh, growing. Uh, we've purchased a second building and we're gonna open up a second campus. And really the last few years have been really in reinvigorating time for us as we recaptured vision, uh, believe that the best is yet to come, and not allowing negative thoughts, negative emotions, negative feelings, bring us down.
But to realize that, you know, with God, all things are possible. And I realized that my feelings, they come and go. And I, I can't allow my feelings to really dictate my life. And I wanna encourage you right now that, uh, you know, if you feel like you're not gonna make it, if you feel like, man, I just feel like it's my, my life is, is not going anywhere.
Don't go by your feelings. Don't go by your feelings. Go. By what you know, listen to me, your feelings come and go. But you must have a belief system that's anchored in truth, that doesn't change. And for me, that's the word of God for me. That's the scripture, that's the Bible. And so I've been anchored in that I'm not gonna allow circumstance.
I'm not gonna allow things to come into my life. And somehow, uh, some way, you know, tell me that my life. Is over, or my best days are behind me. I, I've learned what it is to stay in the game and don't, don't quit. Don't give up what it means to overcome, you know, my fears. People ask me, do you, do you have any fears?
I said, every day. That's what I do. As I learned to overcome those fears, you know, anytime you try something new, you gotta learn to overcome those fears. And, and so what I'm doing in my own life right now is I, I'm allowing myself to be challenged again and, and just believing. That, you know what, uh, something would not come up unless God gave me the ability to overcome it.
And, uh, so I just wanna, just encourage you in that in my life I have found, you know, that, uh, that to be true. You know, somebody asked me recently what five things are most important to you now? Uh, really, number one, um, keeping my thoughts right? Thinking right? That's really important to me. Number two.
Keeping good relationships that, uh, give and pour into my life and I could pour into other people's life. You know, number three, and this may, may not be an order of importance, but keeping my relationship with God fresh in life, my prayer life, fresh in life, you know, making sure my marriage and my personal life with my wife and my kids, and taking time for my family, you know, that's important for me.
And, and really, You know, exercising and, uh, keeping my physical body, you know, in shape and, and wanting to, as I get older, to, uh, take care of myself so I have energy as I still have. I believe the best years of my life are still ahead of me. And so these are some of the things that I would really want to impart unto you and just encourage you and just believe that no matter what's happening in your life, uh, if it's good, You know, uh, be excited about it.
Um, but even good seasons aren't gonna last forever, and bad seasons aren't gonna last forever. Uh, I wanna encourage you to keep dreaming, keep having vision, uh, don't stop. And just believe that you know, especially if you're a follower of Jesus, that he has great plans for your life and that he's gonna bring about some incredible things in your life.
I would encourage, uh, all of us to believe that literally, you know, uh, I'm not gonna try and change my behavior, but change your beliefs because you know, how you think is how you behave, what you believe is how you behave. So I wanna encourage us, all of us in our lives, get the right belief system. Renew your mind by the word of God.
Understand who you are. Understand that you created the image and likeness of God. Understand that motion creates emotion. Don't stay stagnant. Don't, don't just stay in depression or discouragement, but rise above with changing your thoughts and focusing off yourself and putting your eyes on God who says that with him.
All things are possible. So I wanna give you these thoughts and hopefully I can encourage you and, and I just thank you for really listening and, uh, being a part. Of Pray.com. And, uh, I wanna encourage you in your own personal life to, uh, spend some time in prayer, meditation. And because we found out even now, uh, doctors are telling us that prayer relieve stress and meditation relieve stress.
So take the time out today. I know I do every day in my life, I take time to pray, to talk to God, to listen to him, and I find out that my, uh, my, uh, emotions and my outlook, I. Are better because I take time to be with God.
Learned a lot about leadership, and one of the big things that I learned a lot about is, is I can cast compelling vision. I could, I could let out lay out the, uh, pathway and the road to what I believe the organization is going, but unless I have the proper leaders over a campus, over a department, it is not going to work.
When I say leader, what comes to your mind? Is it just a decision maker? I. Is it just somebody who's been chosen out of a random group or a group to maybe lead a discussion or lead a uh, department? When I say leader, it is much more than just leading something. It's becoming something. I don't think people are born leaders.
I think I've learned that people become leaders and that's a big issue because some people say, why can't lead? First of all, don't ever say that you. Can't lead, uh, say, you know what? I'm gonna become a better leader. So let's talk about, uh, leadership and what it means to lead. Uh, number one, leadership does not mean you will never, ever fail.
I think some people look and say, wow, if I was a great leader, I would never fail. I would never make a bad decision. I, I, I, I, I would never, ever, you know, do something. That, uh, that is detrimental at times and maybe not make a bad decision. But I've learned sometimes that the greatest lessons I've learned is not from my successes, but from my failures.
I keep telling people over and over again that just because you fail doesn't mean you're a failure and in fact, fail. Failure is not fatal. And, uh, the only kind of failure that is fatal is one that you don't learn from. And so I've made some great decisions and I've also made some decisions that, you know, looking back, some people would say, well, he failed.
He, he made a wrong decision there. And uh, and so I wonder if he's a good leader or not. But what I do is when I make a decision that. I really, uh, didn't get right. You know, instead of being discouraged and getting down, I step back and I say, okay, what can I learn from this decision? Should I have included more people?
Should I have waited a little bit? Should I have gotten more information? Uh, what can I learn from what I would say is a failure in the moment, but a great lesson for a lifetime? And so I wanna encourage everybody. That, you know, doesn't matter what you have gone through, doesn't matter what is going on in your life, that you can begin to realize that, you know what, no, uh, I'm gonna lead and I'm gonna make some decisions sometimes that, uh, are not the right decision, but I'm gonna learn.
From those decisions and move forward in my life. One of the decisions that I would say, uh, really comes to my mind was when we were expanding our organization, we're a church and, and we were gonna open up a second campus and we decided to, you know, go to Southern California. We had worked out a deal with a pastor and uh, we now got another campus in Orange County, California.
And I remember calling somebody and this individual who has many campuses, you know, all over the country, he said to me, he said, I would not do it. And uh, a lot of times we've tried this many and, uh, it doesn't seem like it works out. And so my advice to you would be, don't do it unless you've prayed and you feel like.
God is telling you to do it. Well, I think the opportunity was so good and I really wanted to be in Southern California. I actually talked to our team and they felt like, okay, let's do it. Let's, let's, let's go out and, and see if this is really gonna work. And we all prayed. We felt good about it. And so we started down this journey and, you know, the campus started doing well.
And then we started hitting some hard times and it wasn't growing anymore. And, and, uh, there was some challenges with the leadership down there, some challenges with people. And after about a year and a half, we set some goals and we said, if we're not gonna be at this number bringing in this amount of money, then we need to shut down the campus.
And realized that we gave her very best, but it doesn't seem like it's working. And so, sure enough, I remember when we came to that moment where, It was that due date. And, um, we realized we weren't hitting the numbers that we wanted and we weren't really bringing the finances that we had set a goal for that we knew the decision was to now just stop and, and say, you know, we're not gonna do this anymore.
We're not, we're not going to continue this campus. And I remember thinking, And just wondering where I missed it. I honestly felt like a failure, honestly felt like, man, how come it didn't work? And I, I felt like it was the right decision. I, I felt like, you know, that, uh, it was really something, even what God was saying to us.
And in the midst of all that, I realized that I'm not gonna get every decision right as a leader. I'm gonna get a majority, right? But the ones that seemingly, I think I get wrong, I wanna turn those into great lessons. And so we learned from that and we ended up selling that building and recouping our money and learned a lot about leadership.
And one of the big things that I learned a lot about is, is I can cast compelling vision. I could, I could let out lay out the, uh, pathway and the road to what I believe the organization is going, but unless I have the proper leaders over a campus, over a department, It is not going to work. And so I didn't really leverage leadership really well.
I couldn't find a campus pastor that was really a good fit for that environment. I didn't have anybody looking back that was a really a leader at that level that could lead a campus out of state. And so though it was a good idea, uh, I could have done better by training people. Waited till I had the right campus pastor.
To really lead that campus as a result of all that, we had a lot of lessons we learned and a lot of things we are not gonna do in the future, but a lot of things that we will do in the future. And so I wanted to make sure now that as we move forward, that we're always going to have the right leader in place and not just a person that has a leadership role, but has a leadership capacity.
And that we empower people, you know, to really, really. Make decisions and not micromanage. That leads me to my second thing is micromanaging. One of the mistakes that I have made in leadership is that, um, sometimes I'm too hands on and what I'm learning is if I believe in somebody, I'm gonna let them lead and even make a bad decision because they're not gonna learn unless they make some decisions that aren't always right.
In fact, one of my friends. Tells me over and over again, if somebody can do 70% of what you can do, then that's a good leader. And so I'm not stressed out anymore about people making all the decisions, the right decisions. Now I ask somebody whether department lead or, or maybe somebody that's leading, uh, in a certain capacity in an organization, and I asked them, do you feel good about this?
Have you done your homework? Have you gotten all the information? Have you asked other people their opinion? And if you, they say yes to all that and they still feel like this decision to be made, then I say, okay, uh, I'm gonna let you make that decision. I back your decision. And if the decision is the right one, you get the credit.
If it's a wrong one, we all learn from it. And, uh, I'm chosen choosing to empower people and believe in people and encourage people even when they don't make the right decision, to let them know that we all are learning. Really from not just our successes, but even from our failures. And so I wanna encourage you right now, don't play it safe.
'cause you don't wanna fail. Don't, don't stay in the boat because you don't wanna fail, you know? Which brings me to really my third point and leadership is take risks. Take risks. You know, life is too short to play it safe. Now, when I say take risks, I'm not saying just do something you have not researched.
I'm not saying just make a decision kind of just in in a moment. But once you've done your research and once you've investigated and once you've done everything you know to do, you know there's always gonna be that fear. There's always gonna be that anxiety. Am I making the right decision? But I've learned this, once you've done all your research, now you make the decision.
I. And go forward with it. Don't look back and don't say, oh, man, I hope I made the right decision. Once you make the decision, listen, once you make the decision, don't look back. Keep moving forward and believe that you've done everything that you're supposed to do. And now you're not gonna be a woulda, shoulda, coulda.
Well, I shoulda, I woulda, I coulda, woulda, shoulda, coulda. Don't get anything done. Leaders make a decision and they take risks. A lot of times the risks are gonna have a great reward, but sometimes the risks aren't gonna work out. But I often say this as a story in the Bible about Jesus calling this guy named Peter out onto the water to walk on water.
Can you imagine that? To walk on water? Nobody's ever walked on water except Jesus. There's a great storm. And Peter says, if it's you, Jesus. Call me to walk on the water. Well, first of all, Peter is crazy 'cause who would ever ask to walk on water? It is impossible in the natural realm to walk on water. But Peter says, if you tell me, God, if, if you empower me, God, I believe I could do the impossible.
So what does Jesus do? Jesus calls Peter and says, come on Peter, I'm calling you And Peter steps out of a boat. And he begins to walk on water. As long as he was focused on Jesus, he began to walk on water. Well, the story goes that Peter got distracted by all the challenges around him, and he began to sink and he cried out to Jesus, Jesus, please save me.
And Jesus reached down and grabbed him and pulled him up. Can you imagine? There's Peter, he's literally drowning. In this, in this lake, in this sea. The water's over his head. But listen to this, whatever was over Peter's head was already under Jesus' feet. You see, Jesus was walking on what was drowning?
Peter in Peter cries out to the right source, which is Jesus. Jesus reaches down and picks him up, and they both walk back to the boat. And Peter gets back in the boat. I wonder what the other 11 disciples were saying. Oh, Peter, who do you think you are that you could walk on water? Peter, who do you think you are that you really thought that you could do something like that?
Peter, look at you. You took a risk and, and you're drenching wet and you almost died taking that risk. Come on, Peter. Who do you think you are? You see, the 11 disciples chose to play it safe in the boat, but there was one disciple named Peter. That chose to take a risk and he said, God, if you tell me to do it, I'm gonna do it.
And yes, Peter did sink in the water. Yes, Peter almost drowned, but Peter cried out to God and God lifted him back up again. I'd like to say it this way. I'd rather be a wet water walker than a dry bot talker any day. There's too many dry boat talkers. What I mean by that, there's too many people that are critical and negative about those of us that decide to step out of the comfort zone, to step out of the ordinary and reach for something extraordinary, reach for something that is bigger, that is larger than what we know right now.
And in fact, if you are a leader and you're called to be a leader, you're not called to play it safe. You're not called to stay in the comfort zone because the real reward. Is when you step out, as we say in church, in faith, trusting that God is leading you and guiding you, and now the risk zone is where you get the greatest reward.
Over and over again, we see in scripture that Jesus called people out of their comfort zone, into a place of great faith, into a place. Where they had to trust him into a place that was outside of their own realm, and they needed to believe, okay, God, you're calling me out, that I'm gonna trust you. So I wanna encourage you, take a risk.
Don't play it safe. Is it in your business? Is it maybe a career change? What is it that is calling you out of the ordinary before you do anything? Come on, we're talking on Pray.com podcast. You better pray. You better hear a word from God and you better just say, okay, once I do it, I'm gonna go for it and I'm not looking back.
Some people think, well, it's just easy. Once you make that decision, you're not gonna feel any anxiety or worry. But it brings me really to another point, is that you will always battle, worry and anxiety. As you move forward in your life, why do people worry? Why do people have anxiety? Because we are facing the unknown.
You really don't have anxiety or worry over things that you have control over. You only face anxiety and worry over things that you have no control over. Think about that. I only worry about things that are outside of my control, and if they're outside of the control, then I probably should not worry because even my worrying cannot change.
What I have no control over. There's a story in the Bible where Jesus is speaking to disciples and he says like five or six times in Matthew, chapter six says, don't worry, don't be anxious. And he says this to his disciples. He says, because if you're a heavenly father takes care of the birds and your heavenly Father takes care of the flowers, won't he take care of you?
Are you not more valuable than the birds and the flowers? Jesus goes on to say. Hey, if you worry about your life having anxiety about your life, can it add anything to your life? And Jesus says it doesn't even add anything to your life. In fact, we know now that worry, anxiety, stress actually take away from your life.
It actually will cut your life short. It'll cause disease. It'll cause your immune system to be suppressed. And so anxiety and worry that hits you and it will is only there to take from you. To Rob from you, but Jesus said, listen, the way you overcome it isn't, well, I'm not feeling it. No. Jesus never said, don't feel it.
He said, don't become it. Let me tell you this principle that I've learned. Just because I feel something doesn't mean I become something. Just because I feel road rage doesn't mean now I become road rage. Just because I wanna give somebody a piece of my mind doesn't mean I give them a piece of my mind just because I wanna hit somebody.
Or, or, or, or physically just kinda look at somebody and say, you know what, no, doesn't mean I have to become it. And though you're feeling anxiety and worry, you can make a choice to say, no, I will not become it. I may feel it, but I may, I I will not become it. Feelings are fickle. They come and they go. Your feelings, your emotions can be impacted by what you eat.
Not enough sleep by circumstances around you. So don't let your feelings listen. Don't let your feelings lead you and guide you your emotions. Your feelings should be indicators, not dictators. They should tell you, Hey, something's wrong, but your feelings, your emotions cannot make it right. Right.
Believing leads to right living. So Jesus says, the reason why. You can overcome and not become anxious and not become worry. A worried person is when you change your focus, change your focus. And he says, look at provision. Look that God takes care of the birds. Look that God takes care of the flowers. In other words, don't look at lack, look at the provision around you, and then also realize that you have a heavenly Father.
That you have a God in heaven that is watching out for you, that you can trust him. You could pray and put your faith in him to bring you through you See, I believe we can do all that we should do, but then there's a realm that only God can do. I'm not gonna stress out over the realm that God could only do, that God knows the future, that once I prepare, once I do my best.
Once I give my presentation, then I transfer my trust to God and say, God, I'm not gonna worry about this. I'm not gonna be anxious about this, but I'm gonna put my trust in you. And as I change my focus from lack to provision, as I change my focus to from myself to a God in heaven, that is working all things out for my good.
It's amazing. The scripture is true when it says that God will keep. Our mind in perfect peace if it has stayed on him. So I wanna encourage you, if you're facing something right now, come on, take a minute, stop and turn towards heaven, and take a moment to pray and begin to understand that you're not in this by yourself.
You know, I've learned a few things, you know, leading a church organization. With really working with volunteers, we have hundreds and hundreds of volunteers, is that, uh, I need to continue to lead in faith. I need to continue to encourage them. And one of the ways that I've learned to inspire people is to tell stories.
You know, if you're listening right now and you say, well, how can I get my organization to move forward? Tell stories how your organization has impacted and changed people's lives. So people don't wanna come and do a job. People wanna be part of a vision. Did you hear that? People don't wanna come and be a just do a job, even if it's volunteer or even if it's paid.
They wanna be part of fulfilling a mission, a dream being a part of something that's bigger than themselves. So I've learned to cast compelling vision to tell people this is why we are doing what we're doing. The why behind the what. And it's amazing when people begin to see how what they do adds value to the organization.
What they do begins to impact people's lives for the better. It's amazing how they literally begin, not just to perform better, but have a better attitude. Begin to say, you know what? It's not just about a paycheck. It's not just about making money. It's about making a difference in somebody's life. And so I wanna encourage you today, you know, as you're leading people, listen, cast a compelling vision.
Tell them the why behind the what. Tell stories of how people's lives have been impacted. And you're gonna see people rally around your vision, the dream, the mission that your organization has been put up, has been put on this planet to really, really, Accomplish. And so I just wanna encourage us as leaders today that we continue to lead our communities.
And, uh, last point I wanna make, and I've learned this, somebody asked me, you know, how do you have a healthy organization? How do you have a healthy church? I learned this a long time ago, that really, if you want a healthy organization, you need a healthy leader. So if you're leading something, an organization right now, A Fortune 500 company, a church, you know, whatever you're leading right now.
As you become healthy, the organization becomes healthier. Take time for yourself. Take time to get better. Take time to get help. If you need help, take time to read books. Take time to have a vacation recreate. Take time and as you get healthier, as you get your soul healthier, your organization. Your family, everything around you will get healthier.
I personally have people in my life that I go talk to and I see I have a counselor that I see, and he helps me just to think right and to make sure I process right, because I wanna become healthier as a leader. So remember, a healthy leader will produce a healthy organization and health takes time. It doesn't happen overnight.
It doesn't happen in a few days. It doesn't even happen in a few weeks. Sometimes it's months in the making, but I love what the Bible says. Do not grow weary in well doing for in due season. You will reap a harvest if you don't quit, if you don't give up, if you don't faint. I literally believe that as we become healthier, as our soul gets better as we think, right, we live right.
As we don't let our emotions lead us, our feelings aren't gonna lead us. They will inform us, but they won't lead us. As we look to God and say, you're my source. As I look towards provision, God takes care of birds and flowers. When I trust him, he's gonna take care of me. When I realize that things are outside of my control, I'm not gonna worry about them.
I'm not gonna be anxious about them, but I'm gonna transfer trust to God. As I realize all these things, my life begins to fall now. In the right place because I'm following the right pattern because I believe that God is literally leading and guiding me, not just my own personal life, but even in my organizations.
So as I wrap up this, uh, part of, uh, this podcast, I want you to begin to challenge your thoughts and things that are negative and critical and don't line up with your belief system. Then you need to say, you know what? I'm not gonna allow those thoughts to run my life anymore. If you're a Christian, if you know God's word, I would ask you to renew your mind by the word of God.
Get some promises from God's word and begin to realize that if God is for you, who can be against you? I tell myself this every day. That's a scripture. I tell myself that God has opened up doors that no man can shut and shutting doors that no man can open. I tell myself that my steps are being ordered by the Lord.
My life. Your life is not a bunch of random incidences. If we're followers of Jesus, we can believe that literally our life. You say, well, I don't, I don't believe in Jesus. Well, I believe that God then is ordered in our steps. You can put your faith and trust in God and uh, and just just realize that I'm not just living this life randomly, but I put my trust.
That is, I make the right decisions. I'm being led by God and things will work out in my life. So I hope this has helped you. I hope this is encouraging you and I just wanna leave you with that thought. Thank you so much. I look forward to speaking with you again. God bless you.
I don't wanna just be remembered. I want my life to count and I, I'm very passionate about this now. I want people that I lead to go further than me, to do more than me, to experience more than me. My job is to look at the next generation and generations to come and say, listen, what is my ceiling has become your floor.
Did you hear that? What is my ceiling has become now their floor.
In the next few moments, I just wanna share really, uh, about legacy. And, uh, what will you and I be remembered for in our lives? As I speak to you right now, I have crossed the 50 year mark. I can't believe where the time has gone, and now I'm talking like an older person. When they said, time goes by so quick and it really does go by that quick.
And so when I think about legacy, I, I'm really in that phase of my life thinking, you know, the next 40 or 50 years. I plan to live to be a hundred. I don't know about you, uh, but I want a long life, a fruitful life. And, uh, but as I think about legacy, I wanna just, you know, share, you know, a few thoughts with you.
I am a pastor of a church in Las Vegas, Nevada. I am a speaker that travels all over the world. I've been to Australia 49 times. I've been to Europe, I've been to Asia. I've spoken in la, Latin America, Canada. I've spoken in, I think at least, you know, uh, so many countries. I can't even remember how many to over the last 35 years, to hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people.
And so legacy is a big deal for me. One of the things that I really wanna leave behind is I don't wanna just be remembered. I want my life to count. I don't wanna just be remembered. Oh, I remember Benny, Perez. I want my life to count. Now what does that mean? Well, I think it's okay to be remembered. I was a good speaker or man, he helped a lot of people.
Or he was funny or, or, oh yeah, he was the guy in Las Vegas. But I want my life to count. And the way your life counts isn't always what you accomplish, but what you do to help other people. Accomplish their dreams. In other words, as I now have passed the half century mark, I wanna see and invest in young leaders.
I, I wanna find some pastors. I wanna find some business people. I, I'm finding people that I look at them and say, I could help you. I want to invest in you. So my life is gonna count even more because as I invest in other people now, My influence, my wisdom gets multiplied out. Listen, you should not die with all the wisdom inside of you.
I don't wanna be that person that I lay in the grave knowing that I didn't give everything that had away. So right now I'm working with young leaders, young pastors across America. I'm spending time with leaders at my church and young preachers at my church, and. Talking to them about their marriage, talking to 'em about their personal life, talking to 'em about ministry.
I don't wanna just be remembered. I want my life to count and I, I'm very passionate about this now. I want people that I lead to go further than me, to do more than me, to experience more than me. My job is to look at the next generation and generations to come and say, listen, what is my ceiling has become your floor.
Did you hear that? What is my ceiling has become now their floor. Where I have now kind of tapped out is where they begin. I have the baton, I've run my race, and when it's all over, I wanna make sure the next generation is further. The next generation is more equipped. The next generation has the wisdom from me so they don't have to make the same mistakes.
I don't wanna be that guy that said, well, I told you you shouldn't have done that. I want to be preemptive and tell young men especially and even young ladies, you know, here's the mistakes that I made. You don't have to make the same mistakes. You don't have to learn by experience, but you can learn from my wisdom, you can learn from other people's wisdom, which is really other people's mistakes.
So when I think about legacy, when you think about legacy, don't just say, I wanna be remembered. Come on. You just don't wanna be remembered. You wanna make an impact. You, you want to do something that outlives you. So what's gonna outlive you? It's the people that you invest in. What's gonna outlive you? It, it's the ideas, the thoughts that you've helped people form and shape in their lives.
It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's people saying, I would not be here today unless it was for Benny Perez. I wouldn't be here today unless Benny, Perez gave me an opportunity, and I'm grateful for that. And so now you continue to live on, even when you pass from this planet, you continue to live on because of your influence.
That's what I wanna do. I wanna continue to live on again, not be remembered. But make an impact. And so as we, you know, uh, continue to have a church here in Las Vegas, Nevada, you know, one of the things that, uh, we are passionate about is we are passionate about justice. We, we wanna help people, you know, we are involved in fighting sex trafficking, we're involved in feeding people clothing, people we're involved in any way that we can to somehow bring change.
Both in the natural and in the spiritual. You know, I live in a city that's called Sin City and everybody comes from all over the world to do things that they shouldn't do or, or they wouldn't do any place else. And so we have a passion to literally see people encounter Jesus, become followers of Jesus, and help fulfill his mission.
And what was the mission of Jesus? The mission of Jesus was to bring light into dark places. The mission of Jesus, he said it to us, was to be salt, to be difference makers. In the world today to share with people that there's a God in heaven that loves them, that cares about them, that sent his only son to die on a cross so that their sins, my sins, can be forgiven and that we can experience a brand new life found in Jesus Christ.
I'm passionate about sharing the gospel about the good news that God is not angry at you. God is not against you, but God has made a way for you to have a personal, real. Deep relationship with him. And so I believe that I, I believe that it's our mission to share the good news that God said it's his will that none should perish, but that all should come to eternal life.
And so that's what we do, that I'm passionate about that every weekend, wherever I go, I wanna give people hope. I wanna say, listen, your best days are still ahead of you. Yes, you're going through a tough time. Yes, it's difficult right now, but I really believe. That God, and by His power, by his grace, you can actually overcome the obstacles in your life.
You see, I want people to realize that they're not their mistakes. They're not their failures. That's what they did. That's not who they are. Betty Prayer, you can leave a legacy. What would it be? To tell people you are not what you do. You are who you believe you are, so you make a mistake. So you did something you shouldn't have done.
Quit beating yourself up. Don't let condemnation guilt ruin the rest of your life. You can get back up again and say, you know what, that's what I did, but that's not who I am. And begin now to have right thinking leads to right believing. I am really, really passionate. Uh, my kids, I want them to understand.
I have three kids. I tell them who they are. I don't let their circumstances tell them who they are. I. I don't let culture tell them who they are. I look at 'em and say, you know what? You're a child of God. The hand of God is on you. The cone of God is on you because I know that the greatest battle they're gonna face that I have faced in my life is my thinking.
And so I want to help others to get the right thinking, the negative thinking, the critical thinking. The one that always puts, you know yourself down. You know those negative self-talk, all that. You know what can change as you meet Jesus and you begin to realize his plan and his purpose for your life. In fact, if I could go back, I've been asked this over and over again.
If I could go back in my life, what is one thing that I would change And, and to be honest, I would change being too hard on myself. You know, I'm my worst critic and I think everybody at times is their worst critic. You, you, you'll just kind of. I sit there and say, why did I do that? And, and beat yourself up.
And I've done that. In fact, I would say I've wasted, you know, sometimes months, maybe even years if you compile it all. And just putting myself down, I realize this life puts us down. You know, people put us down. We don't need to put ourselves down. And so I've learned that I would just not be so hard on myself.
I, I would definitely learn from my mistakes. I would definitely, you know, just decide, you know what I. I'm gonna learn from that. I'm not gonna do that again. And so I don't want people to live in their past. I want them to live in their present and have a great vision and future, you know, in their mind for what God has for them.
I often say you cannot drive a car looking in the rear view mirror 'cause you're gonna get into an accident again. You glance in the rear view mirror and you gaze out the windshield. See, listen, the legacy I wanna leave is glance at the rear view mirror. But gaze out of the windshield. In other words, let's move forward.
I want my kids to say, I want my grandkids one day to say, you know what? My dad faced a lot of battles. He faced a recession in Las Vegas that, that took a lot of people out, but it didn't take my dad out, didn't take my mom out, didn't take the church out. I want them to see that I had, you know, some perseverance, some tenacity.
I want them to realize that I learned from my mistakes. I didn't keep making them. I want them to realize that even if you get knocked down, you could get back up again. I want them to realize that people are gonna talk and there's gonna be haters, but the only reason people hate on you and people talk about you is because you're doing something with your life.
If you weren't doing anything with your life, people won't be hating on you. I want my kids, my grandkids. I want people to know that you. Can move forward in your life? I, I want you to know that I, I want you to know that you can move forward with your life and for those that seem stuck in their life, that you can help others move forward in their life.
You know, a great passion of mine is to get other people unstuck and to live in a place where you don't have to stay there, you can get back up and move forward. I often remember a story that happened with my church and. It was kind of just an amazing story really of, of just compassionate people. I remember going by a car wash and a guy, an older guy, was there drying cars and it's like 105 degrees and I'm like, man, what caused this man in his sixties to have to dry cars?
And I didn't really know his story, but I felt kind of compelled to do something that I've never really done that often. And I remember him drying my car for me. And I gave him a hundred dollars and I just felt like I should have done that. And I remember seeing him and he had tears in his eyes and he was wondering why I had done that.
And um, and I just felt like, Hey, God bless you. I wanted to do this for you. I was actually telling his story to my church 'cause it happened in the morning on a Sunday. And um, I told him what happened and the guys at the car wash right across the street and. What happened was after church and all these services, people went and got their car washed, and even those that didn't get their car washed, stopped and gave this man some money and blessed him so much so that I found out later that this man had his car that was the repair shop and he needed a certain amount of money to get that car, uh, fixed and that he could have his car back again.
And the people didn't know the story totally, but they went and just wanted to be a blessing and they ended up giving him from this church enough money where he could actually get his car out of the repair shop and begin to drive it again. I remember just being so proud of my community of faith because they began not just to hear about Jesus, but actually be Jesus to a gentleman.
You know, some of the stories in our church of us, of people helping others with groceries or helping others with. You know, a ride, uh, helping others, you know, they need babysitting, helping others, fixing things at their houses over and over again. When people serve other people, I'm telling you, heaven takes notice.
I'm telling you, God takes notice. And you know, I've learned this and it's so true, and this is the legacy again, that, you know, when you do things for others, it's more of a blessing than when you do things for yourself. The Bible says it's more blessed to give. Than to receive. And so our church wants to be known in the city that we're a church that caress.
We're a church that loves, we're a church that moves forward helping our community. Every month we're helping hundreds and hundreds of people with our free market, giving away free groceries and clothing and shoes, and being a blessing to our community. Every month we are making a difference. In the lives of elementary school students and helping with the schools and bringing a blessing to the schools.
And so I want the legacy of my life to be one where I help people, encourage people, loved on people. And if people remember me or not, uh, hopefully they will, but they're gonna remember what I did and what we did. And this has caused me as I've crossed the 50 barrier to really look at people differently, to really realize people are people and people are gonna make mistakes.
And not to be so hard on people, I think to hold people accountable, but to realize that, you know, sometimes we just need to keep helping them up over and over again. I would definitely make sure that I put people in the right place. If somebody is not in the right place, you know, then I need to change their position to make sure that they have the best, best chance at succeeding at whatever they're doing in the organization.
And so, you know, I, I, I just wanna do that and, and hopefully help other people. So for those of you that are listening, don't be so hard on yourself. Don't, don't keep telling yourself all this negative self-talk. Realize that your work in progress realize that you know what, you're gonna look back in your life and you just see, wow, I did a lot of great things and there's some things that you wish you wouldn't have done, but that's not your legacy.
Keep moving forward. Keep being a person that is getting better, that is wanting to make a difference in somebody else's life. And, and what happens is as, as you keep going, one step at a time moving forward, keep helping people. Keep a positive attitude. Keep, you know, Jesus, the forefront of your life. And, and what begins to happen is, is that you are changed, you become a change agent, and now your legacy is gonna be, wow, man, look what Benny Perez did with the church lv, uh, look what this group of people are doing in the community.
And uh, and I just think that that's the biggest. The biggest thing that we could do, so get ready to close. You know, I've been asked over and over again, if you had the power to solve one and only one problem in the world, what would it be and why? That's a big question. Here's what I would say. The problem that I think the world has is that it is self-centered.
It revolves around us, revolves around me. If we could get people focused off of themselves, And onto, first of all, God, first of all Jesus, and get their perspective to change. And now it's not just about me, but it's about God and others. A God first life produces a different kind of a life. I remember Will Smith just recently, I was reading a quote, will Smith said this, That he had all the sex that he ever desired and he ever wanted, and he realized it didn't make him any happier.
In other words, will Smith recently came to conclusion that life when it's just all about him, it didn't bring real fulfillment. So what brings real fulfillment when you look back in your life is what did you do for others? What impact did you make in somebody else's life? So if I could change. You know one thing, it's like, let's quit looking at ourselves and look at our creator and realize that he has a bigger plan for our lives.
He has a greater plan for our lives, and it's just not about me. Is not just about me. So when we live outside of our life, we begin to realize that Now guess what? My life could be different. My life could make a difference. When I look back, I could live life with less regrets and more rejoicing. And when my kids and my grandkids look back, I want them to say, you know what?
My dad, my grandfather did his very best. He lived his life for the glory of God. He fulfilled his mission, and whatever his ceiling was, became our floor. And so that's what I want to encourage you with today. I hope this helped you and hope this encouraged you. I. And really, I, I just wanna say thank you to Pray.com and I pray that you'd be a part of this community of faith.
I pray that you would take time to pray and that you would be a part of what Pray.com is about, and God bless you. Bye-bye.
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