“Unbreakable 💪 The Coffee Family’s Raw Story of Resilience”

0:00 Hey, welcome to the podcast today. We are living up in a down world. And usually I've got my way better half sit on the other side of the table from me, Annette. She's not going to be with us today because I have a special guest. And it's actually a whole family today. The coffee family and Luke coffee is kind of the center of this. show today and his story as one who is a young, he was a child actor. He's in a lot of shows, a lot of movies, written screenplays. He's writing a book right now. A lot of interesting things about Luke, but he also has a very powerful story of pain, suffering, and what it means to follow Christ when things are hard. And one of the hardest things in his life was losing his fiance. just before they were going to get married and heartbreaking tragedy. But on the other hand, there was another event that that led to later on where he was at the White House and the Capitol on January 6th in 2021. And you've heard about Jay Sixers and what happened in this supposed insurrection. Well, he was a part of that. He was an unwilling participant. He didn't go there to do that or be involved in any way. But this is a young man who loves God, who's worked with his father doing prison ministry, and now finds himself on the other side of the bars as a Jay Sixer. His story is powerful. It's compelling.

1:23 And as you listen to his family talk about the dynamics of what they've been through, just keep that in mind. So thanks for joining us today for Living Up in a Down World, Conversations with the Coffey Family. All right. Well, we always want to start our conversations with a word of prayer and giving all this to Jesus. I mean, our heart is to consecrate everything we do to him and that people who watch or listen, there's an audio and video version of this, that they'll be drawn to Christ. That's the whole point of this. So I want to welcome you and we'll do introductions in just a minute. So let's go ahead and pray together. Father, what a privilege it is to be here together with this amazing family. Lord, what a story they have. twists and turns and ups and downs, and yet your life in the middle of it all. You, Jesus, ordering their steps and delighting in every detail of their lives. So I thank you for this family. Thank you for the privilege of having a conversation today about you and for your glory and your honor. And we give everything to you. And for those that are watching or listening today, I pray, Lord, that you'll touch their heart and that you'll help them get on the journey of faith. And get on the great adventure with us. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Everybody said, Amen. I want

3:13 to welcome you to Living Up in a Down World Conversations. As you know, if you're a regular listener or now a watcher or viewer, that we've made some adjustments in our programming. And before it was audio and with Annette, affectionately known as Dame Annette around here. And she's actually here. She's just sitting over at another seat. But we'll do another podcast with us together. But I have some very special guests today that I'm really excited about. And this is a family. Not just an individual, but a family who has walked out their journey of faith, walked out their life of faith, lived it out. Not just talking about it, not just saying it, but doing it and living it. And so I'm going to divert, first of all, to Luke, because I know Luke. Luke has become a member of our church and involved and connected. He also is an executive producer for another podcast, and I'll let you introduce that as well. And we'll let us know how others can get to see that great podcast. And I want you to introduce your family. Thanks for having me, Jimmy. So, yeah, I'm privileged that my parents are visiting me in town. I just moved to Fredericksburg about five or six weeks ago. And I have the privilege of helping produce Going Rogue with Laura Logan, who I met through my story. And that's, you know, that's why I think you've asked me to come. And, you know, the amazing thing is, you know, God is the author of story. He created it. You know, I mean, he is the master creator. And our testimonies are, you know, the biggest way we can impact

4:43 the kingdom. And, you know, my parents will testify. But ever since I was a little. Boy, I was making movies on my ranch and wanted to be involved in media. I was a child actor and did all these things. And but I just I know and have seen it in my own life through living a adventurous story, as you said yesterday in church that living, you know, having walking with the Holy Spirit and when you fully commit, especially it is an adventure. But that means. storms and valleys and peaks and all the rest. And, you know, and I think in my own story, it's, you know, I have trusted because God got me to my knees several times where then that's a beautiful thing when you when you finally end up where, you know, there's no one else that can save you from, you know, the pitfalls of this world other than the Lord. And so you can only look up. So there's there's a beautiful thing when you're. broken to that level yeah and uh and so my two heroes in my life are my parents and being the oldest you know I've I never thought I all my siblings have uh have their own children and I you know I think thinking back I would have been maybe the first to get married but you know I'll also love the quote if you want to make God laugh tell him your plans so uh I've said that you know I continue to echo that but uh but God has you know if you trust in a sovereign hand as providential planned then he does you know he does want to give you the desires of your heart

6:15 and he wants to especially if we're at a place where lord just used me if you're there he will use you if you cry out and you say it you know do i think the big thing is asking um for his will if it's your will you know instead of these wants and desires that may not be you know that may be of the flesh or outside of his will through the holy spirit it's like asking Lord, give me your will. But if it's your will, I would like to have a family and a wife for these, these things. So in your timing, you know, so that being said, yeah. So this is my father, Rusty and Mary Beth, my mother, Mary Beth coffee were spelled like the spelled like the drink. Yeah.

7:00 And so I want to. read an introduction to a book I'm writing about my story. And then I want to, you know, start the conversation. They've been through a journey with me through two different big tragedies. And we've seen God's hand and his redemptive glory in it. And so life has a way of challenging our faith, testing our strength in ways we never anticipated. In the darkest of times, we find ourselves questioning everything. especially when the pain feels unbearable. But I've learned through the chaos, through the heartache, through the storms, God is present, not just in the good, but in the struggles too. He is the God of miracles, both natural and supernatural, and he works in ways that can defy explanation.

7:48 I never imagined I would survive a hit and run accident that nearly took my life, nor did I imagine I'd be forced to navigate the excruciating pain of losing Elizabeth, who's been the love of my life. But even in those moments, as my world crumbled, I came to see that God's hand was at work. He was shaping my story, even in the midst of suffering, leading me toward a greater purpose. The journey didn't stop there. Just when I thought I had weathered the greatest storm in my life, the events of January 6, 2021 brought me into yet another battle, a battle not just for truth, but for my very reputation, for my faith, and for relationships I thought were unshakable. People I loved, people I trusted began to turn away. In the face of adversity, I found myself not only physically and emotionally isolated, but spiritually tested in a new way. I thought I'd been through the worst, and in many ways I had, but this way was a new kind of suffering, one that cut deeper than any I had experienced before. It forced me to confront something I never fully acknowledged, my need for approval of others. And I think that fear of man keeps a lot of good men from stepping up. In the midst of public judgment, condemnation, and abandonment by people I once held dear, I realized that God was calling me to abandon the approval of man.

9:03 No longer could I live for the validation of others or seek their approval to determine my worth. In the silence of those moments, I understood that God's approval was all I needed. It was His truth I had to cling to, His voice I had to follow, and His love that would sustain me. As Romans 8, 28 reminds us, and we know that God, that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose. Even in the face of rejection, isolation, and suffering, I began to see that God was still at work. I had to trust that he was using every piece of my story, the good and the painful, for a purpose beyond what I could see. Sometimes God allows what he hates to accomplish what he loves. Through my journey of loss, hardship, and healing, I saw how God's love can shine through even the most difficult circumstances. His miracles are often hidden in the mess of our lives, in the trials that seem impossible to bear. I'm almost done here.

9:55 When a heart is broken, it's gifted with compassion, the kind of compassion that only can come from having experienced deep suffering. Through the heartache and grief, we are transformed. We begin to understand the depths of pain others carry, and we are called to love more like our Savior Jesus. He comforts us in our suffering, and now it becomes our calling to comfort others in theirs, as it says in 2 Corinthians 1, 3 -4. Praise be to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion, the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can go and comfort others in their troubles with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. Forgiveness has been a cornerstone of my healing journey. It's not merely an act of releasing others from their wrongs, but a profound release of the burden of resentment and anger that heavily weighs us on our soul. Choosing to forgive has allowed me to let go of the past, to heal, and to move forward with a lighter heart and an ultimate miracle of grace. This book is a testament of these miracles. This story is a testament of those miracles to the invisible thread of hope and grace that have been woven together in my life. It's a story of a man who, through great suffering, came to understand that God is with us, not just in the mountaintops, but also in the valleys. From surviving an accident that should have killed me to standing in the storm of public scrutiny, God has a present. God has been present working through the pain, through the loneliness, and through the miracles, both big and small. It's a story of resilience, of trusting in the unseen, embracing the hope that comes from knowing we are not alone no matter what we face. And it's a reminder that in the end, it's God's approval that matters most. Come

11:28 on, brother. Have you all heard this before? Okay, so this is the first time. I heard part of that. Okay. Listen, thank you for sharing that. It raises questions for me. Good. In a good way. And one of them is this. This has been credited to Will Rogers, this quote, but it's iffy if he actually said it. But it sounds like something he'd say, and it is, I never trust a man who doesn't walk with a limp. And I'll go back right back to Jacob. I go back to the river Jabbok where. He wrestled with, the Bible gives a capital M, the man. He wrestled with a man. And it was in that wrestling, if you'll remember what he said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. And he held on, apparently, through the night. I mean, and he must have got.

12:19 the tar beat out of him. I mean, in Texas terms, I mean, he must've just took a whooping, you know what I'm saying? Because it literally, you know, it dislocated his hip and he walked with a permanent limp. And, and I, I echo the sentiment of Will Rogers that I, I too do not trust a man or a woman who doesn't walk with a limp. And so when, partly because of my own journey, my own experience, and I'll save that for another day, maybe another conversation, but. Having walked through the valley of the shadow of death, you talked about three different really distinct and intense times in your life. The first accident, the second accident, and your loss, and then, of course, the J6 experience. As parents, okay, so I have a son your age, so I could be your dad. So as parents, we know that when our kids...

13:11 Our sons, our daughters go through painful times. It's a dagger in our hearts. Why don't we start with you and just share, even as you hear him read that and you know and you've walked through this, what's been part of your story in terms of how it impacted your life? Well, first of all, I want to say I wasn't prepared to do this today, and I haven't prayed for them as they speak, but I don't. But the Lord will show me what to say. I guess as a mother, the hurt you carry, you hurt for your child. And without the Lord, you tend to carry the burden on your own shoulders. So for me, it has been... years of giving over my child and my children to the Lord and putting them at the foot of the cross and knowing that he, he is capable. He is, he is capable to carry my burden and I'm not supposed to carry it. And as As far as Luke, I look at

14:42 him and see how God has, throughout his life, prepared him for today and prepared him for each thing that he has been through. God took him, prepared every bit of the way. Luke has had a burden to glorify the Lord since he was a child. And I didn't have any clue that it would take all the suffering. But God, by his grace, has held him up through this. And I see. the perfecting and the just building up and the refining. And I do see now how God is going to greatly use him. I, to be serious, am still limping and limping with two legs probably. I'm one of four. And all of my siblings have brought, you know, they've had their storms. And my parents have worn, you

16:13 know, their pain, too. I think one of the hardest things with our family has been the division. You talked about it in church yesterday. We have been a very close family when God brings these. Opportunities. Opportunities, yeah. That's a silver lining moment there. Unknown, unplanned for events into your life. And also when you have a big, we have four to me, that's kind of a big family. And all the different personalities, how each one of them handled, you know, and also each one of them being in a different place with the Lord. That was something that has been tremendous as far as impact on our family. So there are family members that didn't speak to Luke for a while. And then they're like, Mom and Dad, why are you handling it this way? And anyway, then I see with time the healing that has taken place. And we're still praying for a couple of.

17:30 that they will seek the Lord through this and that God will use. And we do know that he will use it. Our kids definitely up our prayer game, don't they? You know, they bring us things that happen to them, to you, bring us to our knees. And they actually do bring us closer to the Lord. There are things that we had to walk through with our own family and our own kids. It's not been a straight path. If there's anything I've learned as I've gotten older, everyone has a story. Everyone. They may not all be telling it. There's going to be nuances of differences, but at the end of the day, there's something that pain, suffering, loss breeds in us something that looks a lot more like Jesus. Philippians 3 .10, in fact, Pastor Brian quoted this yesterday in his little section there, and he said, Philippians 3 .10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. I always thought it'd be nice if there was a period there. There's not. It's just a comma. And he says, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his image in death, but also the rhetorical is, and also in the resurrection, right, to life. And that pain that we go through, it either makes or breaks us, doesn't it? But for we who have Christ and have that hope, we're not like those in the world that are without hope, the scripture says. It actually drives us to God, not away from God. I made God a promise

19:00 years ago. I said, I'm going to make a lot of mistakes. I read about David as a new Christian. I said, I'm that guy. I relate to him. But I am a man after God's own heart, so I promise God. I'm going to run, but I'm not going to run away from you. And when I blow it, like David, I'll be quick to repent, and I will chase you down. And like Jacob at the river Jabbok, I will grab you by the legs and not let go. That's been my story in my life. And I'm thankful in retrospect for those difficult seasons because they did train me for the next thing coming. It was never looking back, because we can't always see it going. forward but looking back you realize this prepared me for this the interconnectivity of it all and uh i i can see that and even hear it just in the the linear version of your story this this this and now what next you know that's here too as well yeah but thank you for sharing that i know that's tender yeah and i will say that i'm When you're in the depths of the, I've been a believer all my life. And when it has gotten very, very dark, we had to wait. There was a period of time that I wasn't coming out of the darkness. But I knew that he was going

20:32 to bring me out. But it lasted. It can last a long time. It can last a long time. So you're telling me that as a Christian, you're not perfect. Okay, good. We can hang out. And when I would be at my weakest rest, you know, God would have supplied him with the strength to bring me up and vice versa. And we, to be quite blunt, have had a difficult marriage when we were younger. I see that God, I mean, it's amazing after what we've been through as parents that, I mean, we're each other's best friends now. God healed them.

21:17 Yeah. So God, and he is healing our family. It just takes time and you have to hang in there. And by the grace of God, our faith has sustained us. Sustained Luke. And it's God. God. Sometimes you have to wait a long time. You know, there's that scripture. It says those who endure to the end will be saved. I never liked that verse, to be honest. I'm like, that sounds like there's going to be a lot to endure. If we have to endure to the end, that means we will be exactly what it says. We will have to endure things in this life. And there's been some real shifts in my own mindset where I used to disdain that. I had this fantasy, I think we all did when we were younger, thinking there's going to come a point in my life where I'll hit a plateau and I won't have to suffer anymore. I won't have to feel pain or I won't have to experience disappointment or loss. But I've learned that's just not the way it is. And I've resolved to be okay with that. So now when things happen, I don't get surprised anymore. I just say, okay, I have to trust that everything that's happened up to this point has trained me for this. Right? This is where we trust. This is a big deal, isn't it?

22:44 Trust. When you can't see. That's what faith is. That is. You trust and hold on when you cannot see. You cannot see. And you don't know how long. Pastor, brother, prison minister. A little bit of your version of how this has impacted you and just your version of that. My whole life or just right here? Oh, really, yeah. Just your family. Family. Since I married Mary Beth. So important. Yeah, we've been married by the grace of God May 21st, 48 years. As she said, it's not been always a walk through the park. type relationship. We've had ups and downs, particularly when we were younger and more immature in our persons. But God took us through that period of time. What can I say? Luke, before Luke was conceived, we would pray daily for our, when we found out he was, Going to be a boy. Prayed Luke 2 .52. You know that scripture? Not off the top of my head. Okay, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature in favor with God and man.

24:05 And like you said, that he would be a man after God's own heart like David. That was the prayer for Luke before he was even created in his mother's womb. Beautiful. And that has come true. That is reality now. But I have to say, I want to caveat, you didn't know that meant you were setting him up for some pain. Because when we ask God, we sing these songs in our worship services. Have you ever just stopped to look at the words we're singing? We're basically challenging God to send us out into deeper water, into deeper places. And then when it happens, we're shocked and surprised. But we don't realize we've repeated that every Sunday for six months. And yet God...

24:48 Because he loves us so much, he cares more about our character than he does our comfort. And he's creating and crafting something. So when y 'all were praying those prayers for Luke, sorry that your parents prayed that for you, it was in a way a setup, but a good setup. Because the outcome is gold that's been refined by fire. And I'm seeing that. And that's clear in the scriptures that we're going to go through the fire. Beautiful. You can't escape that. Just a little of my testimony. I came to faith when I was 20 years old by reading the Gospel of John in a non -Christian class at SMU. My whole world was around football. My father was a football coach. He coached with Royal at Texas. Nice. Later, he became my head football coach. a school in Dallas. And so my whole life was centered around football or sports.

25:57 So you've been in some of those halftime pep talks. Yeah, I can relate exactly what you're talking about. That got kind of ugly sometimes. Actually, he would come in and be the guy that would chew us out. There he is. I was being nice yesterday. Church. Yes, but I could certainly relate. Can't repeat most of what was said. Right. So having been raised by a football coach, as he is and was, and he's in heaven now because in the last six months before he passed, he came to faith. Beautiful. After 40 years of praying for him. And mocking my father for being a missionary and a prison minister. Wow. He mocked it. Story there, right? Oh, yeah. Beautiful. I believe her. He wanted to turn me. He said, this is not going to last. So just, you know, cause, cause I told him I wouldn't give up my football scholarship.

26:46 That made him very angry. But, uh, wow. Uh, I did. My dad said, don't become one of the, that's good son. Just don't become one of those fanatics. I said, it's too late. I'm already there. That's right. But he's been gracious. I was one of those fanatics and still am. But, uh, I, Quickly after graduating from college, I prayed for a godly wife. And God brought the godly wife, my wife. And it didn't take long to know she was going to be my wife. And nine months later, we were married. This coming May 21st will be our 48th year. Beautiful. I think about a year later, we had Luke. After those prayers, I decided.

27:38 And we've had him now for 45 years and been with him every step of the way through ups and downs of his life. And he's been with ours, ups and downs of our life. He's witnessed that. But after about 25 years of a business, real estate business in Dallas, God put it in my heart to... make my focus not building a kingdom on earth, a material kingdom, a financial kingdom, which was where I was. He brought that all to a collapse, literally, because we had the Great Recession of 1986, 87, and everybody was in Dallas and around. Texas was going broke, and banks were going broke, and oil and gas dropped down the bottom. And so all this that I had built up collapsed. And I see how God took it away. So my focus would be on his kingdom, building his kingdom that is coming. And so that was 1995 or so, 95, 99.

28:57 I began to go to overseas on mission trips, Russia. And then Cuba, I really began to focus on Cuba and have now been probably 50 trips to Cuba where God is using me to help plant house churches. They don't build buildings over there. The government will not build them in a communist country. So the model of the early church is how. The best way to multiply and make disciples in Cuba, and I think it's a good model for a lot of places. Did you know the church in Corinth was never larger than 150 people in seven locations? Oh, in seven different locations. Seven locations.

29:45 They were house churches. Seven different houses. No one thinks that way. No one thinks that way. I know. Because we're American. We're Western. We don't think that way. We want everything bigger and grander, but, you know, God. Supersized. God likes these intimate, small house churches, and it really works in multiplying in the country of Cuba. So that's kind of my focus. I'm helping a couple do that by supporting them and going over there two or three times a year to encourage them and walk beside them. And I've been working with them for 30 -something years. Beautiful.

30:25 That doesn't relate to Luke, but Luke has actually gone with me to – I also was going to Cuba for a while, I mean Haiti. And Luke went with me on one trip to Haiti and then to Cuba, Dominican Republic, just that area down there. And prisons. Yeah. That's really what my primary focus is weekly is to go to Texas state prisons. And talking about a broken community, that's inside a Texas prison. So these people have been broken. They've been stripped of everything, like Luke is talking.

31:07 Literally, they've been stripped of their freedom, their families, their finances, their jobs, all of that. Their identity. Their identity. I mean, this is one of the most broken communities of people groups. You'd say in the world is those are inside prisons. Thank you for going there. I say I was raised in a first responder home. He was a firefighter. This is first responder. This is frontline stuff going into the middle of brokenness and bringing life. It definitely is. And it's funny. I've never been arrested, but I can somehow relate to these men who. are serving time in a prison, although I've never been in their place. Probably before 20, you just didn't get caught. Well, that's true. That's kind of my testimony. Well, that's really true, I think. Yeah, you affirm that. That's certainly true. But I have a passion for it that God has given me. I can't shake it. It's not like, oh, I've got to get up and go to prison tomorrow.

32:16 It's not a drudgery, probably as yourself. You look forward to getting up and presenting. Can't wait. It's game day. Share the word on Sundays or whenever. Feels like football day. Feels like game day. Game day. It's supposed to work out on Tuesday. This is game day. Game night. Friday night lights. That's right. And Luke has actually gone with me into prison before he. That's the first time I had been in prison. First and only time before January 6th. I was going to segue that because it really does feed into you were on one side. Right. Is it a different perspective going in the other way? Well, that's where, you know, dad was like trying to prep me for it. I was like, pops, you get to leave at the end of the day, you know. So it's definitely. And that's the irony of, you know, the first time I ever. shared so i've written a screenplay about like my previous uh story about losing elizabeth and really you know i it was the worst and best thing that happened to me in my life which is that's hard to even say those words because she was my best friend and loved my life and and just to see the family you know that was the hardest thing to being a survivor and i can get a little more into that but The irony is the first time I told that story, I was very, you know, God, I wanted I'm mission oriented. I'm a mix between these two. I have the compassion, compassionate heart, not on the same level as my mother. But for a man, I have pretty compassionate, you know, heart and especially after being heartbroken.

33:44 And then I have the drive and, you know, passion of my father, you know, and his. So I'm a mix of these two. And I think I was when they had a marriage growing up when it was. you know, not the best thing. Like I was kind of in between it. And I, I, I kind of saw why one was not what, why the one was frustrated. The other is like, just tell her she's pretty and you appreciate her, you know, mom, just support them, you know, just, you know, come on, let's just get this to work this out. Yeah. And, uh, so, and that's what's irony of that is like, I've been in, you know, I'm still 45 yet to be married. I've been engaged on, you know, almost twice. And, uh, But I've been in between some marriages of some of my best friends. You know, they kind of bring me in as a mediator. It's very it's been a weird deal. And I wrote a marriage program during my Christian marriage boot camp, not from my own knowledge, but from research. The last four years I wrote with a guy hired me to write one. So a Christian boot camp for couples that were struggling.

34:48 So that being said, yeah, the first time I had gone to prison was to share my story. And, yeah, I was a little different when I was checked in as a domestic terrorist and belly chained. And, you know, I mean, it was and I've played, ironically, Jimmy, I've played a domestic terrorist twice in TV shows and a prisoner. So it was just very strange. Wow. You know. Wow. Very serendipitous. It was. So Annette and I, we had someone had recommended one of the documentaries, J6 documentary. OK. And we were just learning about this. OK. All we knew was what the news was saying. So we had the news narrative going, oh, yeah, that was a bad deal. I can't believe they did that.

35:29 And we saw the guy with the horns, the other guy kicking his feet up on the desk. And so that was the narrative we knew. And then some friends of ours, as I really began to speak into culture, said, have you seen this documentary on J6? It's not what you think. And that was right after all the footage came out. I think Tucker released a lot of footage that no one had seen. and all of a sudden it's a different story. So we saw the documentary that was made out of that. Okay. And you were a large part of that. Epic Times one? Yes, yes, that is that. And I remember when you came on and I heard you talking about Jesus, I get goosebumps thinking about it because I was like, there's something on that guy. This is not normal. And it was really interesting that the Lord had directed. Them to tell your story. Yeah. And, of course, the tragic side of that as well. But also, I'll never forget the picture of you, not just the picture, the video of you holding a crutch up, telling people to pray, telling them to stop, trying to get them to stand down, and yet someone behind you with a billy club or baton trying to beat you.

36:39 I mean, it was a shocking scene. Yeah. But look at the... wisdom of god to get that caught on video because it is a testimony and it is now you didn't you didn't sign up for this club but you're in it and you're kind of the chairman of it well and that to take take take you back three months before january 6th i was so we were raising equity around the story called we were calling it texas angel true story faith hope and love uh around my my backstory losing elizabeth and Maybe in a different episode we can go into, cause there's, you know, Steve went into the supernatural and that's very much part of my, my story. And there are some miracles that happened around January 6th as well. But yeah, there was, you know, so I, I felt God's sovereign hand through that. That's my, that's, and he enlisted me like seven days after my accident, I heard the voice of the Lord say, Luke, your story is not over, but I want you to start telling it. And I was going to share it. I couldn't go back to Elizabeth's funeral. We were going to share it. He wanted me to share it that day. We were going to watch the funeral, and Dad kind of did. For all the L .A. people, this accident happened in Hollywood.

37:57 Elizabeth and I were from Dallas, and her funerals were going to be back in Texas. And I got up there, and, I mean, it was an audible voice from the Lord. I had prayed all week, Lord, I was ready to take my life, Jimmy. I was like, this is, her family didn't want her to move to LA. I had her over my shoulder when we were hit by the hit and run driver crossing the street. And I've seen the video of us getting hit. There's, I shouldn't be alive. The car was going upwards of 90 miles per hour. And I totaled it. My body totaled it. And Elizabeth died instantly. And I walked out of the hospital seven days later. And there's, there's so many, you know, Looking back, God had this, you know, I wanted to tell great stories and Elizabeth and I wanted to tell kingdom minded stories, not necessarily Christian.

38:41 You don't need a label. The Christian label. God is the creator of story. And Hollywood is a soulless place. So therefore they tell soulless stories and demonic ones. So so anyway, but that's the irony is God has. Through my life, wanted me to tell my own story, which, you know, as writers, you are writers and creators, you know, your story the best, you know, so that's or you people write about what you know, that's what they say. And I know my story very well. And I also intimately know that God wants to use all our stories to glorify his son and through the Holy Spirit. And and if you think about I always think about this is the greatest story ever told was Jesus. It was like this rock that was thrown in this pond, okay? And then there was just these ripples, you know? But guess what caused those ripples? It's the rock of Christ, you know? And I prayed before Elizabeth died, and I believe that's not why God took her, but it's why he took her in my story. I prayed for brokenness for a calendar year because she brought me back to Jesus. After five years in Hollywood where I was, you know, questioning things and not living for the Lord. And, you know, because of these people who were my rock growing up, I mean, the first verses that came through my mind was what, you know, trust in the Lord with all your heart. That I memorized with my daddy when I was, you know, six years old. Don't lean

40:12 on your own understandings. All your ways acknowledge them and it'll make your path straight. And as I was going through this nightmare. of losing her though these verses that i memorized that's why it's you know he guys tells us to raise your children right you know right raise them up right and you know and uh with the lord and i'm saying i mean i those were was what came through my mind but i prayed every single day for a year because i wanted to she had this childlike faith and i remember the first night i met her i was like um uh i said you know our ranch is shared a fence line in texas and she didn't believe anything was a coincidence that we met on, you know, a boat in Dallas. I mean, a boat in LA and our ranch is shared a fence line back in Texas. And, you know, and I said, I was going to marry her that first night. And, and I remember early on questioning about like, you know, Because I felt I loved all these people that weren't raised like us in the Bible Belt in L .A. It was my first time. I went to Bethlehem on the Brazos, Baylor University. That's where I got my film degree. And I moved to Hollywood. And, you know, it was very it was, you know, never been to L .A. And there was a lot of darkness.

41:21 And that can be a whole nother episode, too. But Elizabeth just had this childlike faith. She's like, you don't need to worry about let the Holy Spirit do its job and just love people and love our Lord. And so just simplify it and bring it back to that childlike faith. And so I prayed every day, Lord, break me. I was looking at the heroes in Scripture. They'd all go through suffering. That's a dangerous prayer. It is a dangerous prayer. He answers those. He does. He does. And I remember these beautiful moments in our relationship. She was like my best friend. She called me out and stuff, but we were just equals, like my teammate, co -partner. And she really brought me back to the Lord. God chose to take her and leave me. And again, they have a charity foundation. They've raised $9 million in her name for children in need. It's a Christian one in North Texas. But that prepared me for the January 6th thing. And I saw God's supernatural hand multiple times in that story. And my dad can attest, we may have to tell this one before we go. That was the worst nightmare of my life, losing somebody and seeing the people that she loved worse. You know, her father has dealt with some addiction and, you know, alcoholism. And I've seen them be healed, but it was I hated to see, you know, and to know that I survived.

42:46 Like, why, Lord? Why did you not take me instead of her? She wanted to be a mother more than anything. And so that's. But he carried me through that, and he gave me in seven days, I went from wanting to take my life to having a mission and knowing he wanted to use my story for his glory. And the story wasn't over, but I was supposed to start telling it. And the irony of that is, like, God opened up doors through me telling the story, and he said he was. And he said, in my timing, Luke, I want you to make a film about this. I didn't say when that was. So going to setting up January 6th, we were raising equity. kind of going in and then covet interrupted it and this has been a a couple times we had to put this project on hold and it's it's a notebook type love story or or love story from the 70s that old story that but it's god's there's supernatural miracles and and there's too many coincidences and it's providence you know these to to if you line them up to be to be a made -up story and i'm not that creative a guy but you know what our god is and and it so it shows All these God stepping in at these moments when I was playing out like, Lord, I need encouragement. If it's your will, you know, and God would show up like in supernatural ways. And and my parents can attest to all this. But so we got to a place at the end of covid. My dad was like, couldn't go into prisons because of the lockdowns. And he's like, son, I used to raise equity for film

44:17 deals. Yeah. I'm sorry for real estate deals. And I want to help you with this equity raise. Cause I wanted somebody to be the financial. So I could just be the creative aspect of it. And I was like, dad, this is what I've been praying for. And he's like, you sure? I was like, yeah. So I went back that night after meeting with him at our lake house, but drove back to Dallas and I laid down on my bed and I just heard this is the second time where, you know, the first time was right. Seven days after Elizabeth, I heard the Lord say, Luke, it's not time. Your story is not over. I'm going to take you through a dark storm. You're going to lose your business, your reputation. Family is going to turn on you. Friends are going to think you're crazy and and you're going to be more attacked by the enemy than you ever have before. And he said, I want you to start. I've put you in media. And this is what he said after Elizabeth. I've made you a storyteller, you know, and I put you in media to expose. the darkness and I want you to be one of my watchmen. I'm pulling back a curtain on nothing's new in the sun by pulling back a curtain to expose in the season, you know, revelations coming, right? And he said, it won't last long, but it'll be very painful. But in my timing, I will redeem you, my son, and give you an opportunity to share my truth. and continue to expose the darkness. And so that was three months before January 6th. He didn't say I was going to go

45:48 to prison, but it was a gift. It's a good thing he doesn't tell us everything. It is. We'd run to Nineveh. He told us that experience. The next day. Yeah, the next day. And there was immediate demonic attacks and just, you know. I had people that had worked for me, you know, on my cruise. I had a commercial production company, but I had been in advertising. And I knew, you know, that all this was fear -based propaganda around COVID. And, you know, that God wanted, needed his people to stand up and expose it, be vocal. And this was early on when people were, you know, you're going to kill my grandmother, you know.

46:28 And I had, it was amazing, you know, Jimmy, to see that. how many men that I thought were like alpha males that just bent the knee, you know, and, or, or even said, what are you doing coffee? You know? And I had fear for my parents that, well, you're going to lose your business, Luke, you're being out. So I was like, well, so be it. I mean, the Lord said he's, he's gonna, you know, but I'd also had been praying that God. I'm tired of the advertising business. I want to do something more kingdom -minded, and I want to use my skills to impact the kingdom in a greater way. You didn't know this was your exit strategy. No, I didn't know this was my exit strategy. But that's what he does sometimes. He brings in a storm and washes it all away so he can start afresh, you know, and set you up to, you know.

47:10 I mean, I met Laura Logan because she, you know, going back to documentary, she was making a documentary around my story and the death of Roseanne Boylan. So it was, I mean, it was a gift that the Lord, gave me that because it was, I, I'm a recovering people pleaser. I'm still like every day there's, there's, you know, I want to be, you know, I justify it sometimes. Well, I want to be a good guy for the Lord. And, you know, but sometimes it's, it's there. That's also, you know, pleasing man, you know, and I had all these friends, quote unquote, you know, I had 300, 400 people at my 40th birthday and Gary P. Nunn played. And no, those people all disappeared when all this January 6th came, you know, But there's a, you know, it really revealed, you know, I prayed for brokenness again. And that was like the big last thing that God needed to strip me of was, you know, the fear of man. And I'm telling you, when you've gone through fire like this and your whole reputation of firestorm in the media of, you know, Texas Monthly did this huge hit piece on me and said I was hiding out from the FBI, told a blatant lie while I was talking to the FBI. So how can I be hiding out? But it was, I know all my parents, you know, it was our family name. It was hard for them to endure because it's their son, but it's also like everybody's calling them and there's an embarrassment and shame aspect of it for all of us. And my siblings, especially, you know, I remember my brother saying, of course this

48:42 happened to Luke Coffey, you know, it's like, so anyway, so it's been just. But again, God prepared me for this. And I, you know, and I, through what he told me, I said, this is, you know, the Lord told me that I was going to go through a storm and he's going to use it. He's going to use it, but we have to lean into the storm and cause he's going to, it's, it's coming either way in our lives, you know, at some point, you know, that not every person will experience, uh, unconditional love. But I think every person can relate to something that they've suffered through if they've lived long enough. And that's a common thread. We see in David's life, he ran towards the giant. He didn't run away. He ran towards him. It was totally insane in the natural, but he wasn't operating in the natural. We also see that an eagle doesn't fly away from the storm.

49:34 They fly over the storm, but they've got to fly into it to get over it. And there's this principle that God has set up where, Those who you see Joshua and the Lord saying everywhere you go, your feet tread. I'm going to give you that land. And he did. He stepped into it. And it was insane the things they did. They marched around a fortress for seven days and blew a trumpet. Like what? But God will bring us into these things that make no sense to anyone and even ourselves. Again, if he gives you the whole story, you'd probably bolt and run. Just like, you know. It's happened before, right? Jonah. Exactly. We go the other way. And yet I'm glad he doesn't tell us the whole story. Right. I'm glad that because what he does, he creates dependence on him. If you don't know the whole picture, you're just getting pieces of it. All you know to do is cling to him. And that's what you were doing. You're just hanging on, almost like hanging on for the ride.

50:30 Oh, yeah. You know, and not knowing what's coming next. Yeah. Well, and I just think, too, just if we if we look at. Our life, our life story and the Holy Spirit is in us. Like Steve talked about that there's that light of the Holy Spirit that exists in us, that every day, you know, somebody, God could put somebody in your path that you could impact, you know, because of where you are. That is a Holy Spirit moment. Absolutely. But you have to have the eyes to see and the ears to hear, you know, and be bold. to make use of that moment. But if you're timid or if you're just unaware or if you're completely consumed with yourself and your desires and all those, then you don't have the eyes to see or the ears to hear. But I experienced that within my story through it was, and again, well, these are just previews for maybe another episode, but I had a homeless man that intertwined. I'll share this one very quickly. Because this is just an example of how the Lord works. He sent me a homeless man early on after Elizabeth died. Homeless man, a black guy that had just gotten out of prison.

51:45 But it wasn't a businessman in a suit. It wasn't this CEO. I mean, it was just the nature of Jesus. So I know we're jumping around a little bit, but this is just, I think the Holy Spirit guided me here. I had prayed for God. I was, my friends were trying to get me to come out. I'd moved back to Texas after my accident. And I thought I was that the Lord was going to use me to help her family and grieve. And they just didn't want to see me. And a lot of the pain and hurt went towards me and her dad forgave the driver and, and kind of the bitterness went towards me because they didn't want her to move away. And I took her away. So, and that's another big thing with forgiveness and where, you know, unforgiveness.

52:33 And it's very much, again, it's when you're holding onto that, that unforgiveness, that's not good for you. And, you know, obviously we have been shown complete grace from our Savior. And the more you hold on to it and let bitterness, you know, it's not good for us. But during that period, I became bitter at the driver because he was forgiven and I wasn't. And they didn't want to see me for a long time, her family. But through this homeless man, God brought her dad and I together. Just ironically, it's just a beautiful story. But and you're a music guy. Jimmy was in a band and has been involved in the music scene. But we had the song Chris Christopherson originally wrote it, me and Bobby McGee. And but it was Elizabeth's song and it would come up at all these major moments. And this is just.

53:25 the this is how beautiful god has like these god winks i think especially after suffering or grief and that he gives these little uh little you know moments where it's it's so personal that you know it's from the lord you know so um you know elizabeth called me you know her bobby and it would just like we were leaving when i was driving to la her her parents were bawling crying it's the last time her father saw her and i drove her with all her packed car and And she was bawling. She was like, I just wish you knew my daddy better. And I was like, babe, we can have you stay for another six months while they get used to this idea. And she's like, no, this is our life, Luke Coffey. I want to go. She's like, let's turn on the radio. And so we turn it on, me and Bobby McGee. She's like, see, we're walking in God's will, Luke. And so that's what she connected this song to. So I was going fast forward a couple months after our accident. I moved back to Texas and Dallas.

54:21 And my buddies were like, come out, coffee. You know, everybody wants to see you. And I was like, all right. And I remember I was crying in the shower. I was like, Lord, if it's your will, I need some encouragement tonight. I want to sign that Elizabeth still attached to this world. And I think about what Steve said. And even during my trial, I just remember there was a big. It was a big room. It's a dark, you know, the federal building, the federal courthouse is a dark place. It is, yeah. And there were these Antifa people that were just giving, just, you know, looking at me the whole time. And I used, Jimmy, I used the whole, it was a five -day trial, but I told my whole story, and I was like, I'm going to testify of God's goodness, and this will be my testimony. You know, so. Be recorded. Yeah, exactly.

55:04 But I remember looking up, and there's just, it's a big room, and there's. I just remember thinking about all the saints, you know, they're sitting in there and watching the heavenly host cloud of cloud of witnesses. But I prayed that night. I was like, Lord, I want to, well, Elizabeth was my biggest cheerleader on earth. I just want to know that she's somehow still attached. If it's her will give me a sign. So my, my buddy picks me up and I'd shared this at Dallas real estate ministries. I, I mean, I, right after I got home, God, God started opening these doors for me to share my story. And it's like there was a article written about my story. It said when a young girl dies, an editorial piece, human impulses to reach for an explanation. And they use her funeral saying that God must have wanted her home. It's like, that's not right. God doesn't.

55:54 Doesn't allow that. He's up there crying. He's not. I'm basically saying he's not sovereign. And he lists all these, you know, the Ugandan or Rwandan genocide. And God, he's he doesn't want children to die, doesn't. So the other editor of the paper was in my dad's cabin at Kanaka Camp in Missouri when he in the 70s. And he reached out to my father and he said, would everyone's angry about this article? And it's like, would Luke want to respond? um, to this article. Cause he's, you know, talked about in this article and I'd already said, I'm supposed to share this story. My dad says, Luke, would you, here's your opportunity. And I had written a letter to the park cities, Holland park community and Dallas or whatever, uh, three weeks before. And I said, I've already written the response. It's complete opposite of what this guy's saying. And I just tamed the title when I, when a beautiful young girl dies, a faithful response should be to trust in Jesus. Wow. And that article was just, I got probably 3 ,000 emails from people that had forwarded it to, that reminded them in their suffering what they had gone through, that Jesus is there in the storm, you know? And so through Dallas Real Estate Ministries asked me to speak from that and had some opposition from the enemy, like through our close family friend that's like, it's too early, Luke, to share your story. And I was like, well, it's going to hurt the Toon family, Elizabeth's family. I was like, well.

57:17 They don't want to talk to me right now, so I've got to walk this journey on my own. I know God said to walk through these doors and share the story. And so I shared the Bobby McGee because it came up in the hospital. So my buddy that picked me up knew of the significance of this song. He picks me up. We go and park. And on the way, he's like, how are you doing, coffee? And I was like, man, I'm really struggling. I actually just asked the Lord. for a miracle or some sign that you know because i want to know elizabeth's attached and i believe that she knows what's going on and i just needed some encouragement and so we literally are parking as i finish that statement we get out and this homeless man is crossing the street and he's a pudgy guy with a big beard and he's singing freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose and my buddy goes coffee isn't that the song and he turns to me and he goes son, that song means something to you, doesn't it? And I go, actually, yes, sir, it does. And he goes, well, the good Lord told me to start singing. So I guess I picked the right one. Wow. And so I go, sir, what's your name? And he goes, Gary. And I go, Gary, Luke coffee. Can I take you get some barbecue tomorrow?

58:21 And he's like, Luke, I'd love that. So I was like, I'll pick you up right here. So I'll pick you up at noon and took, picked him up, took him to Sonny Brian's barbecue on, on a lover's lane. And this guy, but he said before Luke, I want to hear the significance of that song, but I want to first tell you, God connects me with people that have gone through or in the midst of a storm and suffering. And he said, having your heart broken will be the greatest gift of your life because it makes you more compassionate like Jesus. And and he said, and just so you know, I did hear the Lord's told me that right when I started crossing that street, he said, sing, Gary. And the song I picked that song was I had a band at Texas Tech University for five years. And I opened up every every set with Chris Christopherson's me and Bob McGee. So and so then I go in to tell him. the significance of that song. And, and, and for, we sat there for four hours, Jimmy. And at the end of it, he said, Luke, now I just want to encourage you. And what did I pray for? I prayed for a sign and encouragement.

59:24 He's God sent this. So he grabbed my hand and broke up this ratty Bible and was just, he didn't even look hardly look at it. It was just for just our, our eyes were connecting like two souls, you know, just connecting. And he was just looking at my eye and just. reciting scripture, Job, you know, all Paul's letters. And just, you know, for two or three hours, we were there. And I was like, bro, this is going to be a good scene in the movie. And if I can find you, I'll let you play yourself. And so what was amazing is I drop them off, fast forward seven weeks, the week before Easter. And Larry and Patty, too, and Elizabeth's parents are walking into this Louie's, this Italian place around the same area I met Gary. And he's walking in with them, and this is one of the favorite restaurants to go to. And he sees these two homeless men, and he goes, Patty, I'll meet you inside. And he goes up to these two guys and goes, gentlemen, I don't know what it feels like to be homeless, but I now know what brokenness is. I lost my little girl in a hit -and -run accident in Hollywood nine months ago. And if this can help you out, this will bring me a lot of joy. Takes $80 and hands it to this guy and he goes, you know, Mr.

1:00:41 Toon, I heard a similar story. And there's another man that loves your daughter, too, that's suffering. And guess what? Easter's on the horizon. It's time for new beginnings. And it was Gary. Oh, my God. So that weekend, they call me at the end of that week and he says. Luke, I met a we have a mutual friend I met this week and he's like, can you? I was like, I didn't know what he meant. He's like, can you come down to the ranch? And so that weekend was when they said, Luke, thank you for loving us unconditionally, because I'd send them letters and text them. And I was just like, Lord, give me the grace. Just love them unconditionally during this period. And and yeah, so they came down and we. uh they just said thank you for loving us when we couldn't love you luke every time we see you we see her future that she will never have and and uh we just thank you for loving us unconditionally and you know so that began our healing phase which got us to Which led me to be able to let go of the anger and bitterness I had for the driver. So when we got to our trial, and by the way, I've done more time than the hit and run driver in prison. But I was able to fully, I wanted him to know about Elizabeth and the life he took. So I printed out pictures of her and her family and her and I and her alone. And I said, I wanted to know why I forgive him. It's because of the grace of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

1:02:06 And I said, I hope I get to introduce you one day to Elizabeth in heaven. And the judge was crying. And he said, I've never seen so much. And her dad said a beautiful thing, too. And it was hard because when he got his sentence was. 120 days and he did i think he did uh 40 days of 120 days but the judge said i've never seen so much grace given to someone that didn't deserve it um because he was still denying that he knew he hit us and he's like he held up a big photo of our like mr coffee's blood is all over your car and he totaled it i don't even know how you made it to hide it a block and a half away it was a hit and run you know But that just shows you that God is in the details. He is in the details. He cares about the details.

1:02:53 Because I remember when I was trying to decide if I moved to Austin or Hollywood right out of college, it was like, does he care where I am? And he does. He cares about the details. He will guide us when we ask. He will direct our steps. That's Psalm 37, 23. It says he'll order our steps and he delights in the details of our lives. That's in the New Living Translation. The other one says he delights in our way. But I love the NLT on that. He delights in every detail of our lives. You know, the fact that he had Gary, all the interconnectedness of things that have to happen, the complexity of all that, of getting him in that intersection with you at just the right time. There's so many miracles connected to just getting in there. And everything about it. I want Dad to share this because this will set up for another episode if we do it. Yeah, we'll do it to be continued. Yeah, but will you share the Big Ben thing? Because the supernatural is undermined. We have a supernatural God. Absolutely.

1:03:53 He'll work in natural ways, but he still is a living book. Our testimonies are still happening of his goodness and amazing. The book of Acts is still happening. It's us. We're writing it now. Exactly. Go ahead and share that. Luke came back from L .A., and he was very depressed. And we loved, and we still do, love going out to Big Bend, the national park out on the Rio Grande River, Mexico. So we went up the river and had our tents in there. camping equipment on canoes and set up camp that night. His younger brother was with us and we were all in a tent. And that night, this is in probably March of 2007 or six, seven, seven. Luke was just, just back, but still grieving and depressed at night. The moon. It was a full moon, and it came over the Rio Grande River right above this Santa Elena Canyon, which is a famous canyon there. I don't know if you've ever been there, but it's really beautiful. It's gorgeous. So that was probably about 3 in the morning when this event happened. I mean, for the timing, it had to be right there. Right there, you know, spotlight. Spotlight on our campground.

1:05:18 So Luke, prior to this happening, Luke couldn't sleep. He has trouble still at times sleeping and probably I was snoring too. That was the man. It's like a grizzly bear. He was snoring. So he said, I'm going to get up and I'm going to go down to the, I can't sleep. I'm going to go down to the river. Well, I didn't say anything to you. I just got up and went. Yeah. Oh, you did. Okay. Anyway, when he went down several minutes later, I began to hear a acapella. Female voice, beautiful. You know, the canyons, you know, the walls made it very beautiful, even more beautiful. Wow. We had not seen anybody on the river, you know, so I knew it was not somebody singing at 3 o 'clock in the morning.

1:06:15 We hadn't seen anybody for three days. Some female. Yeah. I knew that's impossible. It didn't sound like any kind of animal either. It was a human voice, female voice. Human sounding. Yes. But it's very beautiful. And I wish to this day. In a tongues that you'd never heard of, right? In a language I'd never heard of. I speak Spanish and English. And Creole. This was neither one. And I knew it wasn't Luke because Luke doesn't have a very good singing voice. So I didn't know what it was. I mean, I really didn't. It was unimaginary. So the next morning, you know, I finally went to sleep. It stopped. I went to sleep. Luke stayed down on the river in one of the canoes, and he came back up to the campfire.

1:07:09 And I asked him, Luke, did you happen to hear anything last night after you went down to the river? His eyes got really big. He said, yeah, I heard that. And I thought I was just imagining that. And I said, no, you weren't imagining it. I heard it too. We both heard it. And we both didn't know to this day. When I had prayed the two days before at the outfitter where we got in the kayaks, it was like, Lord, if it's your will. I would love a miracle out here, you know, to happen. I need some encouragement, you know?

1:07:49 And, and then my brother goes, Luke, didn't you ask for something to happen? And cause Nate was slept through it. But the fact that God gave me, yeah, I went down there from my perspective and yeah, dad was snoring so loud. I went and got down there with these inflatable ducky kayaks, canoes, whatever. And just sleep in there. As soon as I got adjusted. It was like somebody was 10 feet away from me, but the acoustics of the canyon, it was just the most beautiful thing. I was like bawling, crying for 20 minutes. It was going on and on multiple harmonies, but one voice and just in this language, you know, this tongues I'd never heard. And, you know, I was just like looking around and no one was around. But the spotlight was the moon was right on us.

1:08:32 And I was like, thank you, Lord, if that's in my imagination. But then I get up there and dad's cooking breakfast. He's like, son, that wasn't you. And I was like, but he gave me a witness of that. And that's what every time, every miracle that God, that's one of five or six just around Elizabeth, you know, and losing her. But God always gave me a witness, you know. I'll share this last one and I know we need to probably wrap it up. I was given an overdose in the hospital four days after that should have killed me. Four days after getting hit by a hit -and -run driver, they said I should be a quadriplegic or be brain dead. A nurse made a mistake. Made a human error. Getting him 24 hours worth of Dilaudid in one dose. And it was enough to kill a cow. And so they said after I survived, they said, you know, you were. you're a miracle that you're here and i was like well that's the second time your hospital said that in four days wow so if you know to think you know two different freak accidents that should have taken my life happening in four days but to set that up i My, you know, when Job was going through his suffering, he had his friends that sat with him for a while. So my three best friends found out I couldn't go to Elizabeth's funeral. And I was just like angry.

1:09:49 I was like, God, you're not even giving me this. You know, I need this closure. And it's like this feels because the whole time it felt like a movie. I was living in this nightmare, my living nightmare. And it was. They said I had more people come see me than any other celebrity. I was a no one that week at Cedars -Sinai Hospital, and it was the love of God. So that was the difference of the January 6th. I did feel like God's people surrounded me and loved me, but the January 6th was me and the Lord and my parents, but my parents being my closest confidants. But it was a very different experience where strangers, when I moved back to Texas, said, I've been praying for you. And then I'm this, I call us January Sixers or modern day lepers because it was hard to find legal representation. And, you know, everybody's talking, gossiping about you. Right, right. You go from a hero to a zero. I mean, literally in a nanosecond. Yes, exactly. Just witnessing all that from the outside in, but also hearing your story. I so see the hand of God in all this because of our own family story.

1:10:51 And that's another episode. But he orders our steps. He delights. That literally means he takes pleasure in the details. I've never believed it. Even before I was a Christian, I'd hear somebody say, oh, the devil's in the details. I'd be like, I'm not really a churchy guy or Christian, but I don't believe that. That doesn't sound right. And sure enough, as a follower of Jesus and learning the word and getting to know him and his character, his nature, it's God that's in the details. He's ordering our steps. He brought Gary along right at the right time. He brought that voice to you in the middle of the canyon that sounded ethereal and the reverb and all that off the canyon walls.

1:11:32 Well, let me finish with this last little miracle. And it's, again, God wants to glorify himself, you know, through the Holy Spirit, through our lives. I mean, we want to be a living testimony of his goodness. And that's where we look at. If we change our perspective, it's not what we're going to get out of this life. It's what he's going to do through our lives. I mean, that's just, you know, every day, Lord, use me as a vessel of your spirit, of maybe a great lover. of people and, and, uh, showing an unconditional love and, and give me opportunities to share your truth in that love, you know, and, and cause you, you can go vomit on somebody, but you, you know, they're, they're not going to respond well.

1:12:19 So you got to do it first in love and be able to, to breathe that truth on them. Um, so, but what was, what was incredible was, uh, this, okay, this particular. night before my overdose, I was praying like, or all night I was just vocalizing, Lord, take me away. I don't want to live. I don't want to see your family again. I'm ashamed, you know, and, uh, my three best buddies there, they were allowed to stay in my room and they just kind of listened. And, uh, and I, cause I found out I couldn't go to her funeral because my lungs, I had, so I had a broken leg. Um, almost most of my ribs were broken, collapsed lungs, you know, I have two scars right here. They put bilateral chest tubes through my ribs, um, without any pain that saved my life. No, in the, cause I, my lungs were collapsed in the street. Yeah.

1:13:07 They put, that's what saved my life, Jimmy. So, um, through, and it was painful cause you didn't have any pain medicine. And that's what I remember just laying in the street. I called out Elizabeth and the collapse. And I was like, I could not breathe. Yeah. And, uh, so. And my buddies were with me all night. And then around four in the morning, one of my buddies says, you know, Luke, I was taking my Southwest flight up here and I opened the window and this light, I had just opened the Bible and this light hit this first Job 42 .5. And it says, I've heard about you before, but now I've seen you in my own eyes. And it's after Job had gone through suffering.

1:13:50 that he actually understood the nature of god and christ really to come and it was through it was after suffering i've heard about you but now i've seen you And that's the difference is like when you go through the fire, you see him because you need him and you're on your knees. So I said, you know, he said, Luke, I think we can be bitter and angry the rest of your life. And this is for everybody. You can be bitter and angry the rest of your life for what you've been through, or you can trust that God has a plan and believe Romans 8, 28, that he works all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. If you, you know, we are called as believers, there's a purpose behind our existence. Outside of our fleshly desires and wants in this world. And it's to be used for the glory of the Lord. And to our lives, story is the greatest way to impact and break through hardened hearts. Because it makes, I'm telling you, just opening up and sharing and just being transparent with people. People are hungry for truth. And they don't want preachy, you know. These celebrity pastors, they want real people, you know, and real stories and raw, you know, not polished, you know. And so he's my buddy was like, I think, bitter and angry at trust that God has a plan in this. And I was like, Elizabeth, that's what she showed me, that God is sovereign. And she didn't believe in any coincidence. And then there's a providential plan. And I was like, I don't want to be angry in her. with her being gone. Um, she was the

1:15:23 most joyful person I ever knew. And I want to, I want to, uh, be a reflection of what she showed me, but I wish God would give me a mission and let me see her have a dream or talk to her. And I'm telling you, you know, set up for future because God gave me all three. But right after that, uh, he said, well, my buddy said, well, let's pray for that. God can do anything as well. Luke. So my three best friends pray around my, my, um, hospital bed. And her birthday was going to be the following day. Her funeral was on her birthday. And they made it like a wedding. So we prayed that prayer. And I'm telling you, Jimmy, at the end of it, it felt like a supernatural, like I felt like a shower of just that peace that surpasses all understanding. Just tingling, but like literally rain like over me. And as I opened up my eyes, this woman was rolling in a full harp. Okay. A full six, whatever, large, the big, and she said, you know, sir, could I play for you? And we're all like amazed because it's four 30 in the morning and I'm in a regular room and she starts playing this heavenly music and, and for 20 minutes and we're all, you know, puddles, you know, we're all bawling, crying.

1:16:39 And she, she wheels it. She said, God bless you and wheels it out. And then right after my favorite nurse who was a believer, and made the human error and gave me the overdose came in and said, Iris, did you see the harpist jaw of harpist coming around in the middle of the night? She said, what harpist? And yeah. And she said, Luke, we made exception to have your friends here. It was like, we don't have, you know, sometimes during Christmas we have, yeah, we have, we have musicians coming around singing Christmas carols, but we don't have the floors closed. Wow. And my three best friends were there and witnessed it. So right after that, Iris gave me, you know, and all week I was also, for two days, didn't have medical insurance. I was going to owe $279 ,000 for my time at Cedars -Sinai. So I was like, on top of this, Lord, I'm going to be in medical debt and all this. I was like feeling sorry.

1:17:32 And so Iris, I was, my buddies left soon after that and mom was about to arrive, but she changed out my bag of Dilaudid. And I was like, guys, let's go sleep. And so I went into this deep sleep. And 45 minutes in the overdose, she came in to give me Vicodin. And my breathing rate had dropped 24 breaths a minute. I was at three breaths a minute. Wow. And I'll tell you this part. So they were shaking me for 10 minutes. And I came to and I was in this white space. And I see Elizabeth right in front of me. And it's this beautiful version of her. And she says, wake up, Luca, wake up. And then she's like, wake up. And that jolted me up. And there was for chaos. There was mom was right there. And I started vomiting and, and I couldn't use the restroom. And I said, something's not right, but I'm still carrying this IV five more minutes.

1:18:29 And then it starts beeping. I'm vomiting. Like there's just, I was like, there's something wrong with me. And I just wanted to go back to sleep. And then that's when we realized they'd given me an accidental overdose. And they were going to fire Iris the next day. I said, can I see Iris? And, you know, she was so ashamed that she had made this error. And I was like, Iris, I'm so glad you made that mistake because I prayed for God to give me a miracle and let me see Elizabeth. And I now know she's alive and she's not in this, she's not in this, you know, in this physical existence, but she, God gave me a glimpse and she was the most beautiful version I've ever seen over, you know, and it was just. You know, we can talk about this because Steve, you know, went to heaven. Yeah. I mean, this was a near death. This is my near death experience. And she, you know, that woke me up. But God in that with that also answered my prayer and let me see her that she was alive. And also they forgave all my medical debt and paid 80 grand for not suing their butt. Wow. But also Iris got fired.

1:19:32 I believe that Luke was able to. Tell her about Jesus and say, I forgive you. I love you. I mean, I'm glad you made this mistake. And I hugged her, yeah. I don't say how anymore. I gave that up. I just got over it. And now it's just wow. It's just wow. I mean, really, literally, you'll hear Annette and I and probably half our church will say, wow. We quit. We don't need to know how God's doing what he's doing. I just want to always live in awe, live in wonder. And mystery. I mean, he is mysterious. And be okay with it. I don't need to have everything answered. And the people I know that need an answer for everything, they live a miserable life. Right. Because they're never satisfied. And thank you for sharing part of your story. And I mean, thank you for you two being here. I'm so glad it worked out timing wise that you happen to be in town. Happen to be. I think God orders our steps and delights in the details. That's right. And the detail was you're supposed to be on here today. Thank you. Share a piece of your story. But thank you.

1:20:34 And I have to just say this just. one parent to another and Annette sitting over here as well, but, but job well done. Well done. I mean, you raised. You raised a powerhouse in Jesus, and you stayed with him through those hard, difficult times. And now the product of it is gold that's been refined by fire. And I think he's just starting to tell a story. I'm grateful for, you know, it has been hard being 45, and I desire to have a wife, a helpmate. And I also tell all my married friends. On the days you love her but don't like her, the greatest gift is a helpmate and a wife.

1:21:21 I know it. But I've gotten to have my parents be a part of two major incidents in my life that was very dark. And I do value them as they will always be my parents, but they're also my best friends. And I'm grateful that God gave me two powerhouses for the Lord. to raise me in this way. And, and also that as we become adult, as I became an adult, that they could come alongside me as a friend, as a friend, that's a beautiful gift. It's a gift, a gift, a massive gift. It is. So I want to just thank our friends for joining us today. And thank you for staying with us. This story is. complicated and highs and lows.

1:22:04 I mean, it's got everything. It's got the classic storyline and then some. And I see that in Luke. He's a storyteller. And I look forward to reading your book someday. I definitely, maybe I'll get bits and pieces along the journey. But again, thank you for being with us today. We love you. Our heart is for you to learn what it means to live up in a down world. And I'll tell you the secret to it. The only way you can do it is through Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. not a way not a truth and not a life the way the truth the life and no one comes to the Father but through him and that's our heart for you we want you to join us on this journey we want you to be a part of that and we we're here for you we're cheering you on thanks again for being with us today we so appreciate you telling your story I know it's not always easy