Sharing the Gospel with Celebrities: A Conversation with Dylan Novak

Brad: Hey everyone, on this episode of Go Mad, we have got a very special guest with us. His name is Dylan Novak, celebrity evangelist, and you're gonna want to meet this guy, hear his story. He's doing some things that probably are gonna blow your mind. but also be an encouragement for you as an ambassador because he's living it out in his life. He's going to encourage us today, and you're going to be amazed at what God is doing through this one man and his family. So let's get ready, go mad. Doug: Hey, welcome to Go Mad with Doug and Brad and Dylan today Uh man, we're excited. You know what mad means. Go make a difference. We're gonna talk to a guy today who's doing a whole lot of that. Brad and I have been following the ministry of this this uh gentleman for a while now, only twenty-four years old. And you can already tell he's cool. Let me tell you how. I've seen him in striper shirts in some of his pictures. That's it. That's it. I'm 30 years older. Than Dylan. And he's he's got the striper shirts going as a twenty four year old. He's doing something we've rar never really seen done like this in in thirty-five years of ministry. I haven't seen anything like this exactly. You've got to meet him Dylan goes to what he calls a forgotten mission field, which are celebrities. Um you know, these celebrities can be can be uh uh it really intimidating. All kinds of celebrities, man, uh the from voice actors to to movie stars to to music stars. And this really resonates with us. I mean, we're all about forgotten mission fields here. In our case, it's bringing the hope of Christ to Native America. But Dylan is all about the gospel, all about sharing the gospel with celebrities as well as with young people that he he disciples. When he meets a celebrity, he and we'll we'll get we'll have him explain this in a minute, but he actually brings these Christian materials to give to them. Especially uh uh a Bible that he's had embossed with their name on the front. Listen to what Victoria Jackson, she used to be on Saturday Night Live, you'd recognize her. She says I'm Dylan's biggest fan. He witnesses Jesus Christ to celebrities. Celebrities are scary. They're powerful, and he's bold enough to tell them the gospel that Jesus died for their sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, so we can spend eternity. with God who is holy. You name it. Bill Murray, John Bon Jovi, Ozzie Osborne, Weird Owl, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, John Cena, Donnie Osman. There's a lot. You gotta go to his social media page. Go go to Celebrity Evangelist See how you can support him. Uh in some situations it's a super fast connect. Other times it's a full-on conversation. It continues even beyond that initial conversation. So with no with no more ado, did I say that right? Is it with further ado? It's close enough. No more further ado. Brad: As long as we get to start talking with Dylan, we're good. Doug: Let's do away with the ado and start talking with Dylan. Dylan, thanks for joining us today, brother. Dylan: Hey, thank you so much for having me, and I'm gonna make you feel a little bit better. I'm actually closer to your age. I think I'm you might have to pulled from my website that I've not updated. I'll be thirty two in a couple of weeks. Wow I'm g I'm I'm closer. I'm closer. I don't feel quite as I don't feel quite as bad now. Brad: Oh my goodness. I was gonna say, man, you look good for twenty four. We would fire our research team, but that would be us. So that would be we'd be that's right. Dylan: That's right. Man, Dylan no just tell us man. I'll tell you. Yeah, I had a faux pas with research this past weekend. There's um this one Yeah, I I always try to make small talk with people and uh that I go to witness to. And I I told this guy, I said, I he I hear you're a huge Beatles fan. Because I'm a huge Beatles fan. And I I ha actually had Greg Laurie's book, Lennon, um, Lennon, Dylan, Cooper, and Jesus. And I was going to use that as uh kind of a talking point. And the guy goes Uh, you saw where somebody hacked my social media. I hate them. And I was like, oh. All right, I feel like. He's like, yeah, they're not that good. I'm like Doug: Well you need a lot more prayer than the striper and the beetles, baby. So Dylan man, just tell us how did you get started with this? Brad: It's so unique. Uh what do you do like we we explained a little, but Tell me what you do and yeah, how you got started. Dylan: So yeah, I I'm a huge superhero pop culture nerd. Um have been since I was a kid. There was a Comic Con coming to my area when I was 13, and this is back when Comic Cons were like little mom pa shows. Like it was not it's not the billion-dollar industry, it is now. Um Margot Kidder who played Lois Lane was going to be at one. And I was just I was so excited because I'm a super f Superman fan. That's Lois Lane. She said in an interview that I happened to see that she was an atheist. And that's when the reality hit me that these people are souls. They're just like you. They're just like me. They're on their way to heaven or hell. And I knew without a shadow of a doubt she was on her way to hell because she didn't know Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. And I prayed God please send somebody to tell her about your son before it's eternally too late. He convicted my heart. What about you? You're gonna be right in front of her. And after being Jonah for a couple of days, um I got some gospel tracts from my church little invite cards and took them to the event, gave them out to everybody, and I did that for seven years. If I went to a Comic Con, I would um I'd give somebody a tract and I would loosely research what they believed. Um then when I started going to concerts and different things, I would wait at backstage doors, that kind of thing. Um just to give everybody a little insight to my personality, all the Facebook posts come around and say you can really tell someone's character by who their first concert was. My first concert was Weird Owl, so there makes sense. It adds up. But um which if nobody's ever seen Weird Owl live, it's a great show. I love that he has always done clean comedy. He's just And he's a sweet guy, very sweet guy. Yes. Um and it's so funny. That's actually how I was introduced to Victoria Jackson. Just Through watching the UHF movie with the thing. Brad: I was going to go to UHF. I mean, come on now. Dylan: Oh it is. Yeah. It is so funny and um it was ahead of its time. Um and Kramer is from Seinfeld. Yes. What you want to know what's funny about that? I so I met Michael Richards in February of this year Victoria had been following my ministry page for about a year, but we'd not connected, like personally. She'd liked and commented on some things. Um I met um Michael Richards on Tuesday. Thursday I'm in Nashville and there I see Victoria at this event And sh I was like, did I just meet the rest of the cast of UHF within forty eight hours of each other? It's so funny. But and it was so funny when I met her, she goes D I'm too old for you to know who I am. I'm like, no, you're not. I'm a huge SNL person, but this is primarily how I know you. And my wife's like, I grew up with her doing Christian music for kids. I was like, yeah, no, I was a little more jaded. But um but yeah, so for seven years that's kind of what I would do. Um and then in twenty fifteen I saw an interview with James Taylor where he said he was raised by atheist parents. He was agnostic, but he would be open to listen if somebody were to take the time to explain spirituality to him. And I had an opportunity to meet him. Um after talking with him, he said, I remember that interview. It was 24 years ago. You're the first person to have that conversation with me since then. Doug: Whoa. Dylan: Um, intentionally Um and again I emphasize he said intentionally. Doug: That's great and that that's what really just Dylan: Turn the tide. Yes, it is so sad because if that was our next door neighbor, I surely hope that we'd be busting down their door. Hey, you're open. I'm here to talk, but too many We invite these people into our home. We invite them to entertain us. But we don't care about them. They are just um s uh uh they're objects in a sense to many of us and You know, you see that when um they say something we disagree with and it's like, oh, I don't want to even enjoy their work anymore. It's like, well, you don't even know them personally. If you cared about them personally, you'd be praying for them and thinking of them that way. We can't You we can't expect those who don't know the Lord to act like the Lord, but we also we have to do something about it. Doug: I love that you said, man, uh that Uh i it these f it's it's hard to see past the celebrity facade there. Um but at the end of the day, you're you're not God doesn't see celebrity. Doug: He sees souls. Doug: And and what you said about, you know, go to uh, you know, we we've got neighbors and I think sometimes that even with our neighbors we're waiting for some um professional evangelist or a pastor to share the gospel with them when a lot of times we're in the best position to do that. You hear a call from God and this is this is your mission field. You jump into it. Can you walk us through the process a little bit? So you're you're at a Comic Con the say and and you got I've I've been to these. I I I saw that you met Kiefer Sutherland recently. Uh I I did the same thing and and and I met the Fonds, my my like ultimate This was back in um boy where were we? Was it was it? Maybe Kansas City or something. And um I saw the fonts. I was at I think we were at the same one because he was wearing the same I think we were And uh and but but so you've got a short period of time with these guys. Yeah. So you must have kind of narrowed this down a little bit. So lead us through the process here. What do you bring with you? What do you how do you how do you engage this conversation? Dylan: Well, I start the conversation by Turner Byrne. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. You learned t-shirts this weekend. I'm sure they're intentional. Yeah, they are very intentional. And um I was wearing the Devil is a Liar shirt this past weekend and that I'm telling you, that just started conversations. This one actress, she's like I love your shirt. He is a liar. And I said he is. So what what are your thoughts on him? And you know, just kind of ch chumming the water, so to speak, that way. But uh every approach is different. No, no evangelism with anybody, any people group is cookie cutter. It's specifically designed for different people and that's how it should be with anybody. We can't just do this huge mass thing. So um I'm trying to think just to how to explain it like in a nutshell. I'll I'll give you an example. Norman Reed is from The Walking Dead Um, I saw him Saturday. Uh walked up to him and his the guy who was sitting with him, he knows who I am and these He's not a believer, but he's a nice gentleman. And Norman, how you doing man? I said, I'm doing all right. How are you? And he's like, I'm getting through it. You got any song recommendations? Who do I need to turn on? And I was like, ah the Beatles. That's just always my go-to And uh it went from heavy metal at 10 a. m. to Here Comes the Sun. And I was like, I mean, that was a big jump, but okay. Could have gone helter skelter to kind of slowly gone. And uh he's I mean, it's like you said, it some people, it's lightning bolt. And we gotta go. We gotta go. And I just said, hey man, love and care about you and your soul. I got you this every man study bible, got your name embossed on the cover. And he goes, You Are you serious, man? This is crazy. And he shows the guy and he goes, yeah, yeah, I'll tell you about him later. This is what he does. He he cares about you, which makes me happy. That's one thing that we need to do as believers. We need the world to see we do love and care about them. And he goes Well dude, that's that's un that's incredible. Thank you for caring about me in that way. And and that was that was it with Norman. That was that was it with him. But then um Later, um, I was talking with John Berntall, who's also in The Walking Dead, The Punisher, you know, bunch bunches of things. Yes Such a sweet guy. Such a sweet guy. And um I started the conversation with, you know, just man, how you doing? He's like, man, I'm doing good. Yeah, he is total. He's total New York, man. How you doing? Hey. Oh my goodness. He is Like if you went definition of the dictionary, there's John. And uh I just told him, I said, Man, I I said, I've been trying to give you this gift for 10 conventions. And he's like, What? And I said, you keep canceling. He's like, yeah, because they don't pay me enough. Um which I know I knew some behind the scenes stuff. I'm like, yeah, you're getting paid a lot of money this weekend. I said, um, and he goes, Well, what is it? And I show him it's a Bible. He's like, oh my goodness. And he's showing his girl, and he's like, Jonathan Burns. I'm all professional now. And uh he said uh he said, yeah, you know, I I'm trying to get more serious with God. I said, Yeah, I saw your interview, and that's one thing I love to do. I love if there's an interview I can reference. Yeah. Something they've said to just kind of be like, hey, let's follow up on this. And I don't always get that. Like Norman Redis. That guy is like a ghost. You don't know anything what that guy believes. Um in that w in that sense. And that's a lot of people. Um both super famous and not famous. Um but John I said I saw your interview with Hot Ones where you were talking about where you almost killed a guy and how you were saying And he's like, Oh man, we're gonna bring that up. I was like, well, I mean, yeah. You brought it up recently. And I said, You you mentioned that you that was when you called out to God and we're like, man, if You get me out of this, I'm gonna get my life together, I'm gonna start doing something. How how's that been going for you? And he's like, Man, why you gotta call me out like that? And I said, I I said, I'm just and he said, you know, I I I know I need to get more serious. That it that is that is something I even thought when I said it, I was like, I've not really held up my end of the bargain there And I said, Yeah, I said it's it's a two-way street. We have to we have to know God. We it's not religion, it's not doing good. If it's just doing good, our good works are nothing but filthy racks compared to God's righteousness, compared to God's perfection. That's why we need Jesus. And uh he was like, Man, I I needed that wake up call today. Thank you. Moved on. Um, and I'll give you one other example, you know, just There it's so funny, like, um, and I'm using examples from this weekend because they're very fresh in my mind. Wyatt Olaf from It from Guardians of the Galaxy. He was like, How did you know I needed this? Again, the Bible is the icebreaker of the conversation. You'll see people on my social media page be like, so you just give them a Bible dip and run? I'm like So a couple things. One, would that be so bad? Second of all, that's what we do. Doug: Their name is on the bottom. Yes. Right. Dylan: Yes, and so he's like, how did you know I needed this? And I said, everybody needs Jesus Everybody needs the word of God. Where where do you stand spiritually? And he's like, I've been I've been trying to have some deep conversations about God with some of my friends. And he's like, one of my friends sitting right here. And it was another actor that I was about to give the Bible to. Doug: Wow Dylan: So he got um and it's a young man, his name's Jack Dylan Grazer. I've met him many times. Uh he lives not that far from me. They came over and he was like, yeah, we've been trying to talk about God and this and this and this. And uh they mentioned a co-star of theirs who I knew was a believer, and they said, Yeah, we've kind of been talking to him. I said, Well, we're kind of in this, we're the same belief. And they said, Well, we're kind of picking up on that. You know, I just I'm just trying to find God. And it's moments like that. It's like people are searching, but it reminds me of what the Bible says in Acts chapter 8. Where Philip comes up to the man reading Isaiah out loud and he goes, Do you understand what you're reading? And he said, How can I unless somebody shows me? And I think that's a lot of people in the world. We we just expect people to figure it out on their own. And like you said, we We get lazy, we get slothful in the way of uh a professional evangelist, which I don't know any of those, uh is gonna come share the gospel. Uh you know, a preacher or somebody We're we're all called. Every single one of us. It's our responsibility to go into all the world to preach the gospel if we are a disciple, if we are a follower of Christ. And we have to use our platform that God has given us. Brad: Dude, yeah. And you landed our hearts right there. We are we're all about that. That it is we've got to get the gospel out to all who will listen. Now the the challenge I I'm sure you face is that We live in a world that uh is not um seen as increasingly friendly towards the truth, towards God's word. Um And you're going into a culture where I as was established as we started there is it can be challenging because some people just see them as celebrities. They see them on a screen and we turn on them really quickly Uh when they do something bad, when they when they enter into public sin or whatever, I mean there is a quick turn on people And you're bringing them uh the word of God to these folks. Now, there's some out there who may be saying, well, that's probably pretty easy. I mean, you've been doing this for several years now Is that true? Is this a is it is it do you go in there all confident? You go, hey, I I have there's there's no fear because I know, but I mean what what is it, how is that like for you? Dylan: No, it it it can be very nerve-wracking, especially it's like anything else when you're not in practice, which It's just an encouragement that this is a daily thing. Like you again, you w any ministry you get the comments of, oh, what about the person at the grocery store? Yeah, I'm not gonna go take a s random selfie with Bob and the milk aisle and be like, hey, pray for Bob, you know. But you know, we we need to be doing this daily because it's it's like a muscle. The more you do it, the more you're you the stronger you get at it, the better you get at it But at the end of the day, there is you cannot walk in with confidence. And the reason I say that is if you walk in with confidence, nine times out of ten, your dependability is lying on yourself. Doug: Mm. Dylan: Because when I go into a situation, rather that's a youth event we're doing here at the church, whether that's an outreach we're doing If I am counting on anybody else besides myself, I'm nervous. I'm on edge. It doesn't matter if it's my best friend Matt that I tr I trust with pretty much every area of my ministry, I still have that in the back of my mind of is this gonna be okay? Is this gonna go well? But when I go into something and I'm fully relying on myself, I tend to be more confident and a lot of times I'll crash and burn that way. And there needs to be a sense of humbleness. So if I'm walking into evangelism and I'm not fully leaning on the Holy Spirit, if I'm not fully leaning on God, I'm setting myself up for failure. So there's always going to be that uneasiness of God, are you gonna give me the right words to say? God, are you going to soften this person's heart? God is uh is everything gonna work out the way it needs to work out? And then at the end, when it does work out, all glory goes to him, it doesn't go to me, and it never should go to me. Um, and again, a lot of times people, I preached about this yesterday morning, the obstacles of evangelism, one of the biggest ones is fear. The fear of rejection. We're all people. We all want to be loved. We all want to be accepted. We don't want there to be social awkwardness, even though I was homeschooled, so I already got that out of the way. But in all seriousness though, it reminds me the only sport I'm even close to good at is skiing. And that's not even a sport, that's just an activity. And when I've gone skiing with my dad Um, before you fall down, you're always kind of on edge. It's like, oh, I I can't fall. If I fall, I'm gonna get hurt. If I fall, this is and then eventually you fall. And you're like, oh, that wasn't so bad. And then you start to just push the boundaries a little bit more because it's like, oh well, the worst thing that could have happened has already happened. And that's ca sometimes what happens. You know, you will go to a show and that this happened to me just last month. Um, one of uh like the third person of the day that I talked to was one of the nastiest people, in not just celebrity i in general, one of the nastiest people I've ever tried to share the gospel with. Yelling, cussing, just awful. Made a scene. And um this one voice actor who is a believer came over, encouraged me, was just really a sweet guy. And he's like, Are you okay? I'm like, Yeah, I'm good. I gotta keep going. And he was familiar with the ministry. He'd heard of it. And um Throughout the rest of the day, I was like, oh, the worst thing that could happen has already happened. Let's keep going. Let's go. And uh I I think we need that sometimes. I I think we we we cannot walk in confident. We have to fully lean on God. And then when the quote unquote worst thing that could happen is somebody reject, we have to remember, but the best thing they could do is accept. Doug: You know, man, the uh what's so cool is I we keep hearing you come back to that sometimes you're at a place and you've been so faithful with this. that sometimes there are folks there, other celebrities that are that are like, hey, listen to this guy. There there's this um there's this kind of the the ball gets rolling and and the more you say I love that that quote, uh I think it was like Douglas MacArthur or who said that that uh courage isn't the absence of fear, it's the disregard of it. And and you go, I I care more, yeah, I'm I'm I'm a little fearful here, but I'm more fearful about what happens to this soul. to this person if they have to meet the Lord and and they haven't heard the gospel, then one of the coolest stories, I you gotta share with us this story. Because if there's anybody if you ask someone to make a top ten list of people who th would say, There's no way this guy is gonna listen. to the gospel. Ozzy Osbourne's gotta be on that list. And you got to Ozzy uh before he met the Lord uh before he had to answer for the i uh well before he died And uh because if you're n if you're not familiar with Ozzie Osborne, just a um a very famous rock star who had kind of dark imagery. And that was kind of his thing for years. So it's a little shocking to hear not only what you shared with him, but his response, his son's response. Can you share that with us? Dylan: Absolutely, yeah. Ozzy, Ozzy's one of my favorite stories because again, uh and I have seen this through the years that the sometimes the people you think would be the most receptive or the least and vice versa, those who you think would be the least receptive or the most. Ozzy had said in an interview that you know he was raised Church of England and he said, I identify more with Christianity than anything else. I wish I could read the Bible. But it's written in a language I can't understand. And people will ask me what what do you think he meant by that? I think he meant three things. One talking about old English, talking about the King James Version. Number two, he was dyslexic, so he already had some trouble in that way. Thirdly, Ozzy was Ozzy. That's just the easiest way to put it. He was a little fried. I loved that man, but he was a little out there. Yeah. And um So I had an opportunity in 2023 to meet Ozzy, and it was a convention style setting. He did two of those appearances before he passed away. This was the first one. And again, I can look back now and just see how God was working so many things out for that. I literally the day before he got announced, I'd booked a church in Missouri. That day. And I was like, oh no. And uh it was uh it was like a missions conference, and I called the pastor and I was like, Can I change the dates? And uh He was like, I can make some calls and to this day I tell him I'm like you were instrumental in that if you you know because you know as well as I do there are many pastors who are not easy to work with who are not Kind in that way. And this guy went above and beyond to be like, well, if the Osborne's have an opportunity to hear about Jesus, I want to help that happen. And he's like, that's literally why we're bringing you in to tell to help you do more of that. Well So I I got to stand in front of Ozzy, have a small conversation with him. He was one of the first people we got an embossed Bible to. Um there have been a few scattered throughout the years, but that was one of the very first ones. And you know, my wife was the one who was really pushing for that to begin recently in the past few years. Oh it's wonderful. It's really been a game changer. Yeah, I I should listen to my wife more. But um You gave Ozzy a Bible, right? So she must have some good ideas. Yes, yep. Gave him the Bible with his name embossed He looked at it. Um, he immediately turns to the gospels, and we had I'd referenced where he said he couldn't understand. He said, I can r understand what this says. He was very excited. Talked with the whole family. They were the whole family was very sweet, especially Jack. Jack and I had a really long conversation. Well then mm-hmm and so then um a couple years pass by here's Ozzy doing his final concert. I make a video sitting right here, uh, because and the reason I made that video is my entire feed was Ozzie Osbourne. So I was like Let's try to infiltrate the algorithm to have people praying for Ozzy instead of just concert footage. Not nothing against the concert footage, but I was like, let's get let's add this in the mix and also share the gospel to this fan base. Because that's one other prayer we've always had. We want to reach the fan bases. Well, two weeks later Ozzie passes away. And that video went viral. And um so many people started reaching out. Fans, can I have the same material Ozzy was open to? Hey, I'm a backsliding Christian. Hey, I'm former agnostic, this and this and that. Uh thousands, thousands of messages. People calling the church, riding in. It was really Everything we'd prayed for was happening. Well, then fast forward a few months, and I and I had met Jack in between then, and he had told me how much his dad loved the Bible and how important it was to him. Well So then um Jack's going on podcast and the the the conversation of God was being brought up because Jack's very openly uh um in inquisitive curious about Christianity. And it was with Jamie Kennedy and Jamie said, Was your dad did did you see a lot of occultic stuff? And he was like, No, that's certainly there in rock and roll and they were talking about different bands and things and he said, but not with dad. I never saw anything evil like that in our home with my dad. He said, my dad was a believer in Christ. And Again, we can get really specific here and go, well, even Satan and his demons believe in Tremble, which I 100% agree with. Just because you believe in someone doesn't mean you know someone. And so, but I was like, that's that's an interesting statement to make as his son who is not a believer. Interesting. So again, I start kind of digging more and um Jack's gone on several other shows talking about that. I mean Ozzy and Jack when they did their world tour in an R V went by the arc in Ohio. Ohio, Kentucky, I forget which side of the border it's on. And so there was there was a lot of questioning with Ozzy. Well then I started running into different people in the industry who knew Ozzy, who are also believers. And I would have conversations with them and they were talking about their conversations with Ozzy, how the Bible Ozzy showed that Bible to many people. And one person who was very close to him said, one of our last conversations, I was like, so who is Jesus to you? And he said, He's the son of God. Died on the cross for our sins. And I'm um and he said, and Jack, I saw him a few weeks ago. We had a really in-depth conversation, and he said, Dad was on your team We gave him a platform to talk more about it when he went sold out to Jesus and he said, I don't want to do that because I'm just gonna mess up. I'm I'm I'm gonna get I've been picked apart my whole life. Uh, because like you said, the dark imagery and stuff, um, a little darker than Alice Cooper, but it's m largely theatrics. I don't you know, I You know, there's certain album covers that I'm like I wouldn't hang that up because again, you ts people who don't know the Lord at a certain time, they don't know what's right or wrong. It's just like, oh, we're going for the shock value. But Jack said he said that Dad was very much a believer, and he said, I'm I'm getting there. I'm on the fence. Doug: And it sounds like he brought that Bible along with them uh all over the place. Dylan: Yes. Well, and Sharon commented on our video. So I I did a video on the anniversary of Ozzy's passing, um, just giving an update and encouragement. Um And Sharon commented on it and said, you know, I I I don't have the message memorized, but she let us know that the Bible was on her bedside table. Oh man. Much it meant to her how much it meant to Yeah, and if you go to our reels on Instagram, it's the pinned comment of course, but she um how much it meant to her, how much it meant to Ozzy, and how much they loved that. Just one. And again, that that that right there goes to show if there's if I had not been able to cross paths, we wouldn't see this side of heaven the behind And that's with a lot of ministries. You ha you we plant we're in charge, we plant the seed, and we pray that others will go and water the seed and that there will be harvest. And sometimes we get to be the ones to continue to water the seed, but at the end of the day. We just have to do what Jesus said. Go into all the world, preach the gospel. Amen. Brad: Now, Dylan, um uh I I wanna uh we've got just a few minutes left here, but uh and and I wanna encourage people to check out your page because there's so many stories and And the the things we want to make clear in this is this isn't about ooh this celebrity and you make that clear in some of your posts. This isn't about ooh this celebrity. It's about the gospel getting out to this forgotten mission field. And that that's really uh an important thing for people to know. Um, we also are stressing the fact, as you did, that There is a boldness that this takes, that it's overcoming fear, because the enemy wants to throw that at us. Um and I think it's also about making the most of every opportunity because Uh one I wanted to ask you about real quick, because it it meant something to uh even my family, my my wife and our kids. Um they Uh uh Tim Curry is one of those guys that uh you know, we've seen in Muppet Treasure Island, we've seen in uh Home Alone Two, we've seen in all these different things and picture showing. Yeah, we have not seen him in that. But uh but uh the as a family. But uh but Dylan: I was like, all right. Brad: No, but then imagine pregnant murder in here. But that's where people know him from so many things. And then um you could see on social media There was an outpouring. Uh my feed was filled with people who were just because he had been in so many lives in so many ways. Doug: He passed away. Brad: Um yeah, he passed away recently, and it had a big impact on people Um, your story with him wasn't as cut and dry as, hey, uh I'm gonna go to talk to him at a table. You wanted to Uh but when when that didn't happen, uh the step of faith you had to take, getting out of your comfort zone, can you just briefly tell us about that? Because it sounded like it was a po wound up being a powerful conversation Dylan: You know, I I live by the mindset it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Because if you if you you know uh one of my favorite things if someone goes, well what gives you the right to do this? Oh my father owns the place. No no no the world. This was 2018. He had had his stroke and the way Tim would appear at events was he would go into like the photo op area. He'd be sitting there in his wheelchair. And people would come in, get a photo with him, talk to him for a few moments, move on. He could not sign autographs in person. If you wanted something signed, you had to drop it off, come, and it would get mailed back to you. Well So I had a ticket to see Tim and I was like, hell you know, and I went to meet him and they were like, oh, he's gone, you know, to the bathroom. He'll be back here in a little bit. Okay, well, I was still pretty new to the how the cons work and stuff at that time. So I went and Yeah I said how late will he be here? Well the cons open till ten just because it's open to ten does not mean that they're staying till ten Right. Um it's you're you're playing beat the clock. I mean I've I've been at shows where somebody was there for an hour and left because they were like, Yeah, this isn't worth my time. So I I run around I come back at like nine nine thirty and they're like, Oh, he's gone and I was just devastated 'cause I was like, Yeah I feel like I felt Tim. I feel like I felt God. And I'm with my friend and he's just like and again he he was the the friend I was with, he is who really was teaching me how to get get to people. He was a big autographer and he's like, this is why I tell you you have to go in level of importance. And I'm like, I know, I know, I know. Well then I'm thinking, do I leave his gift bag at the table, you know, and hope that they get it to him? You know, 'cause we had to leave. We had to go. Um I was preaching somewhere that weekend and As I was praying, what do I do? There's a restaurant in the hotel where the show is being held. And in the very and it had a big sign up, you know, closed for a private party. And I just look in there and there at the back of the restaurant, there's Tim. And I was like All right, here we go. And my mindset was, all right, what's the worst they're gonna do? They're gonna kick me out? I'm leaving anyway. Yeah. Doug: Exactly. Dylan: Um So, you know, I again easier to ask for forgiveness and permission. So I just walked by the the host and he uh sir sir you you you can't do this, sir, sir. I just keep la la la la la la la la la. I'm just That's right. Be line to Tim and I can I can eat tell the waiter's like right on my butt, ready to yank me out of there. And so I get to Tim and I just I'm I'm word vomiting super quick. Mr. Curry, uh just wanted to say I I didn't get to come over here and meet you. I'm so sorry. Da-da-da. Here's my ticket. I'm not trying to get something for free. You can have my ticket. I'm not asking for a refund, anything of that. Just wanted to give you this gift. I'll leave you alone. Thank you for all the great memories. I love you. What's your name? My name's Dylan. I'm Tim. Have a seat. Okay. And uh the host is like, and to me. He's fine. He's fine. Yeah. What's in the gift? And so I start showing him the stuff. And again, this is before the embossed Bibles and stuff, but it was a large yeah, or a giant print Bible and different things. And he goes Fascinating. So why did you feel led to give me this? I and so I start just sharing the gospel with him. And he and he told me, he said, you can stay until my food comes. And it was only maybe maybe four minutes from there. You know, again, I was like, hey, hey, hey, waiter, here's here's twenty bucks, make it take longer. Um but Um, so just flat out sharing the gospel. Here's why I do what I do. I love and care about you. You're you guys are an unreached people group. You know, just explaining the ministry alongside. And he said I'm very private about my beliefs. I'm very private about my personal life in general. So I'm not gonna add much, but out whatever you want to tell me, I'm all ears. And that He heard a very clear gospel presentation moment, um, had an opportunity to respond, and he said, I I appreciate your kindness, your boldness for caring about me. Um and his food was there at that point. He said, But let's let's take that photo and you can be on your way and I thank you for the very sweet and lovely gift. And that was that. And that was and the gi sometimes People go to shows and then they hit the whole circuit and you see them multiple times. Like Nicolas Cage. I went way out of my way to make sure to see him because I'm like he could be a one and done, and I've seen him already again, and it's like that is what it is You you seize those moments. I never saw Tim again. There was never another opportunity. Brad: You want to make the most of every opportunity. And so you seek the thing. Absolutely. And think of it this way. Dylan: It's a follow-up the next time. Brad: Exactly. And and I I do appreciate uh uh uh just even check out more of his page because you look at the um I won't go into it due for for time, but the Bryce Dallas Howard story, you've had multiple interactions with her and and there's been a last baby praying. Yeah, absolutely. So it's just there there's you're having a ministry because you're being bold about getting the gospel to people who need the gospel. That's no matter who they are. That's the story. Doug: Brother, I wish we could spend i uh so much more uh time with you. Well you've got my number now. We can do this again. part two but I I hope that that if you're listening you're you're just hearing what boldness can do, what a step of obedience can do. We don't change the heart of somebody. It says in Romans, man, how are people gonna come to know Jesus if no one tells them? And I love your example in that, brother. We are gonna be praying for you and And I I would ask just everyone listening to pray for Dylan, pray for his ministry. And uh d we love you, brother. Thank you for being on with us today. Dylan: Thank you for having me. Thank you so much. Doug: We've gotta have a part two. Dylan Dylan, so so at the count of Doug: three we're gonna do say go mad together okay right so all right sounds until until we see you next time one two three go mad