About This Episode - 

Russ De Vos has experienced what it's like to appear as though everything in your life is fantastic, only to have it all come crashing down. He has also come to learn that even at the very bottom, there is a way up. Listen in as Warren Mainard and Russ talk about Russ' story, his mission to inspire men, and the heart behind his video series - 60 Seconds of Spiritual Food.

Russ De Vos is a certified life and leadership coach with the John Maxwell Team and the founder of Catalyst Coaching where he equips parents with the tools they need to navigate teen drug abuse. You can find '60 Seconds of Spiritual Food' on his YouTube channel 'The Wrestling Room' and on our IMPACT Players Community. If you would like to connect with Russ, email him at [email protected].

To find out more about IMPACT Players, visit www.impactplayers.org.

Listen: Apple | Spotify | Google

Show Notes -

• Every Man's Battle: Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker

Transcript -

Warren Mainard: Hey guys and welcome to the Linking Shields podcast, a part of the IMPACT Players Podcast Network. My name's Warren Mainard. I am the Executive Director of IMPACT Players and with me today, I've got a good friend, Russ De Voss. We're gonna be talking about the power of one minute, and asking Russ to share a little bit about his story, and in particular, a unique set of videos that he has begun creating for men that we absolutely love and we're gonna continue to share and promote through IMPACT Players. But for those of you who are joining the IMPACT Players podcast for the first time, the Linking Shields Podcast is a podcast that we've created to help us just bring connection to other men and women who are doing great things to help serve the community, to serve men, to help men grow as husbands, fathers, and leaders. And the vision of IMPACT Players is to inspire men to be great husbands, fathers, and leaders by equipping them to thrive in the relationships that matter most. And boy, that is right in Russ's sweet spot. So, Russ, welcome. Thank you for joining us on the podcast, and thanks for doing what you do.

Russ De Vos: It's a pleasure. Looking forward to it. This will be fun.

Warren Mainard: So, you know, we've already begun promoting these videos that we're gonna talk about a little bit in a few minutes, but a lot of guys may be asking the question, okay, who is this Russ guy? What's his story? What does he do? Where are these videos coming from? So, let's talk a little bit about you and your story. I know that you have had some ups and some downs along the journey of life. So give us a little bit of a overview of where you've been, where you are, and where you're going.

Russ De Vos: Sounds good. From the very beginning, just kind of give you a background on my own upbringing, I was a pastor's kid. My dad and mother met at a very conservative Bible college in Canada. So I'm a dual citizen. I was born in Canada, but we've lived in, we lived in Oregon most of my life, but I grew up in a very conservative church. I grew up hating church to be very honest with you. I couldn't stand church. And my dad was an assistant pastor when we first moved down to Oregon. And, so have grown up in church my whole life. And was one of those typical pastor's kids. I was a very two-faced young man. I could put on the shine when I was at church, but boy outside of church, it was ugly. So God got ahold of me in a pretty radical way at age 14 at a Bible camp. And it was, I mean, it was a come to Jesus moment in a huge way. And so that really changed my life going into high school. But growing up I had some character issues, you know, like most men when it came to sexual issues, just battling through stuff. In our household, we never talked about sex. And you might as well have thought in our house that, if you had sex before marriage, it was a ticket straight to hell. And so sex was very, taboo. We just didn't talk about it. We didn't ever talk about it. And, so I grew up with a lot of mystery and, kind of, not knowing a lot in that area, but very curious. And so that kind of became a character flaw all the way through where I was just religious enough and love Jesus just enough to tiptoe up to the flame, but not get in the fire, you know. And so you can only do that so many times before you trip and you fall into the fire. And so that kind of, that pattern growing up of just seeing how far I could go without actually actually sinning, you know, was something that took me right through college, through two years on the mission field, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Israel, and then home and into ministry as a single guy, and then got married and went into ministry as a married couple. And, I mean, this is a real flyover, but my wife and I planted a church in 2004, and God blessed it. I don't understand all the ins and outs of it because, you know, I loved Jesus. I was teaching the scripture I loved people, but simultaneously, these character issues. And so in 2007, I got involved with a woman who was not my wife. By God's grace, He shut it down very quickly. But I was disqualified from ministry. And the church had grown from just a handful of people to a very, you know, three services. And there was a lot happening. So when everything imploded and when my sin was exposed, it was a dark night, I can tell you. And so our family went into crisis mode. We moved up here to Seattle to rebuild everything. Got involved with another church that was up here, doesn't exist anymore. We were part of what is called the Acts 29 Network. And, that couple years up here, trying to go through a restoration process was even more of a nightmare than what had happened down in Oregon.

Warren Mainard: Wow.

Russ De Vos: We were at Bend, Oregon, and, so, you know, years. We had about eight years for me of just darkness and depression and literally middle fingers up at God. And just, you know, why would you call me into ministry when it has so many pitfalls? And you knew my character, you know, blaming God, blaming God, blaming my wife, blaming the elders of our church, and blaming my mom. You know, just blaming and blaming. And finally in 2015, I had another come to Jesus, and I just realized I gotta stop blaming everybody else. I've gotta take responsibility for my own sin, my own bad character. Having moved up here, the issue of unfaithfulness, the sledgehammer between the eyes, God knew how to get my attention. So I, I've been by God's grace, very faithful to my wife for 17 years since that failure. But anger began to manifest in a way that was just, you know, anger at God, anger at my kids, anger at my wife, anger at myself, a lot of shame. And it was in 2015 that I just realized I have got to do something. I'm a bloody mess. I looked across the horizon of my life, and literally every area of my life was a mess. I was overweight. I couldn't sleep at night. I was, I barely hanging onto my marriage. My kids couldn't stand me. I just was miserable in my own skin. And, so the Lord, November 2015, I can remember it distinctly as I was there, it was a turning point, and it got worse before it got better. But the Lord has begun to redeem all of the garbage, all of the ugly, and take that failure and make something out of it. And so, he's doing that. He's a Redeemer. He, you know, I, one thing that, there's a book that I'm going to write. I'm going on public record, it's called, "Don't Waste Your Failure."

Warren Mainard: Oh, I love that.

Russ De Vos: "Don't Waste Your Failure."

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Voss: Yeah. I've got notes, I've got a file, and someday I'm gonna put it all together. But it, it's a message that I just, I feel like the Holy Spirit spoke to me and then has asked me to speak to other men. That is: don't waste your failure. Our failure is so often, God's backdoor way of getting to us and to getting our attention. And, some, so often, you know, Psalm, I think it's 103? 107? It's one of the Psalms. It says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he is redeemed out of the hand of the enemy." And what I see so often is men who have struggled and have failed, and maybe more than once, I mean I've failed so many times, it's ridiculous. And they're ashamed of their failure.

Warren Mainard: Right.

Russ De Vos: Then they go into hiding.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And they don't want to talk about their life. They don't want to expose themselves 'cause they've got so much shame. And, you know, David wrote Psalm, I think it's 107, and he said, you know, the shame that he lived through was incredible. And so I just realized God can take those things that we consider shameful. And if we'll repent, I mean, that's the key is repentance. Get before the Lord and just say, "Search me oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there'll be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." We don't have to stay in the wickedness and the anxiety and all those things. God can bring us out of that. And then our mess becomes our message. Our test becomes our testimony. And the fact that we've bled and made a mess of it on the battlefield can be our ability to bless other guys. And God can redeem so powerfully. So don't waste your failure. That's just such a huge, huge message.

Warren Mainard: Wow. Russ, thank you so much for sharing that, you know, beautiful and painful story. And I think a lot of men who are listening to this are going to really resonate with different aspects of that. Because let's face it, you know, when the book "Every Man's Battle" came out, it was titled "Every Man's Battle" for a reason.

Russ De Voss: Yes.

Warren Mainard: You know, because every guy you talk to is struggling on some level with issues of sexual temptation, regret, shame, some sort of area where they know that they're not walking with full integrity. And I'm absolutely convinced that what you're saying is absolutely true. That there are men all around that are hiding right now. They're in shame. They know that there's something that's not right about their life, and it's easier to keep it hidden than it is to bring it out of the darkness and into the light. But it's impossible to heal, it's impossible to overcome, it's impossible to experience victory until you take that courageous step. And so, you know, there's a saying that, "Hurt people hurt people." But I think there's a much less popular, idea that needs to be spoken more frequently, which is "Healed people, heal people."

Russ De Vos: Oh, I love that. I love that!

Warren Mainard: And I love the idea of being a wounded healer.

Russ De Vos: Yes.

Warren Mainard: That even in your own infliction and affliction, that God can still use a man who has been broken to help other men who have been broken become whole.

Russ De Vos: Yes.

Warren Mainard: And that certainly seems like the kind of ministry that God has given you in these past eight years as you've taken that challenge to say, "I need to be responsible." There is no, there is no way forward for me if I blame others.

Russ De Vos: Yep.

Warren Mainard: There's no way forward for me if I keep this in the dark. There's no way forward for me if my eyes are focused on the past. I have to move forward in faith, in integrity, in honesty. And when you did that and took responsibility for your life, that's when the breakthrough took really took place.

Russ De Vos: One hundred percent. One hundred percent. Yeah.

Warren Mainard: There's a voice that all men hear, and it's the voice of accusation. It's the voice of shame.

Russ De Vos: Yeah.

Warren Mainard: And we know where that voice comes from. The Bible says that Satan is the enemy of God's people. And he is the accuser of the brother. He literally is in heaven pointing his finger at you and me. And he's saying, you know, awful evil, hurtful things, some true, some untrue about us, so that we will be immobilized to do the work that God has given us to do. So there may be someone that's listening to this, and they're saying, "Okay, all right. You were unfaithful to your wife. So who are you to coach other men..."

Russ De Vos: Yes.

Warren Mainard: "... about being a man of integrity when you have this black mark on your resume?" And yet in many ways, because of what you've been through, you are extremely qualified to walk with men. So talk a little bit about what you're doing now. You lead an organization called Catalyst Coaching. And, you know, on the website it says that your passion is igniting spiritual passion and inspiring significant growth in men. So tell me a little bit about what you do and how you are striving to make an impact in the lives of men.

Russ De Vos: Yeah. Let me backtrack just a little bit and kind of work my way into that. When we moved up here, I don't know... The Lord is so gracious to... let me give you just a background. I taught on grace as a pastor.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: I could teach on grace. I mean, I could teach really good. I mean, I get fired it up on grace.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: I didn't have a clue what grace was. When I came up here for two years, I got a job in sales. And for two, the first two years of those years of that sales career, I was driving all over greater Seattle, up all the way up to the border and down into Pierce County, et cetera. And I was having it out with God. I mean, I was raging against the Lord. I've told men over and over and over, I don't, I do not know why lightning did not blow my car off the road multiple and many times, I mean, those conversations with God were brutal.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And he was able to take, I mean, he just stuck in there with me and let me just rage at him and just vent so much anger and instead of striking me with lightning, he allowed me to become the number one sales guy in our company.

Warren Mainard: Wow.

Russ De Vos: And after two years, I look back and I saw nothing but this trail on my side of the road of garbage and spew and sewer and foulness and blasphemy and profanity and middle fingers and fists in God's face. That was on my side of the road.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And on his side of the road was blessing and kindness and every kind of good thing you can possibly imagine. And I sat at some point, I stood there and I looked at what I had brought to the table, what he brought to the table.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And it struck me, this is what grace looks like. Grace is undeserved. It's so undeserved. And I didn't deserve anything that he brought to the table in those two years. He just blessed me. I cursed him. He blessed me. I cursed him. He blessed me. And I just looked back and it was at that point, I just thought, "Oh my goodness. Now I understand. It's the kindness of God that brings us to repentance." And I think that's probably where a lot of my repentance began to move forward at that point. Where I began to, the beginning process of taking responsibility started probably after about two years. I didn't touch my Bible for two years, and I had been in it 20 to 30 to 40 hours a week when I was a pastor. And my Bible just went straight up on the shelf. I didn't even trust my Bible. I felt like my Bible had betrayed me, just as I felt God had betrayed me.

Warren Mainard: Wow.

Russ De Vos: But I learned about grace. I learned about grace, and I just thought, "Oh my goodness, our God is so gracious and so kind to us." And, it really began to soften my heart. So, you know, there's a phrase that I heard, I don't know who said it. They said, "Never trust anybody without a limp."

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: "Never trust anybody without a limp." And it, and I just think that is so good. You know, when Jacob wrestled with the Lord, he went into that wrestling match in Genesis chapter 32. He had no limp. He was a manipulator. He had learned how to, he was a great businessman. He had made money. He had been, you know, God had really allowed him to be blessed, but he didn't know the Lord.

Warren Mainard: That's right.

Russ De Vos: And that night, in the midst of a crisis for his life with his older brother coming with 150, I think it was soldiers, to wipe him out. He wrestled with God, and he lost, but he won. And God changed his name to Israel, which means "one who wrestles with God and prevails." And, he came out limping after that. And that story is one of the great stories of my life. I think it's one of the great stories in all of the Bible. And here, here's what I take from that, number one, we heard a message on Sunday on Ephesians chapter six that says, "We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but the principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness." And so it's interesting 'cause in the New Testament, that is the predominant picture of wrestling. We wrestle with spiritual darkness. But here's what I realized. The first wrestling match isn't with Satan. The first wrestling match is with God.

Warren Mainard: Okay.

Russ De Vos: And if a man doesn't know how to wrestle with God and will not get to a dark night of the soul where he wrestles with God and says, "I won't let you go until you bless me. I will not let you go until you bless me." He has no business ever wrestling with the devil. He'll get wiped out every time.

Warren Mainard: Wow, wow.

Russ De Vos: Until God has taken control of our hearts, until we have engaged him. And wrestling isn't pretty. It's messy.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: I wrestled all through high school and in college and have coached for six years. You get in a wrestling room, it stinks. It is, I mean, there's sweat, there's ringworm, there's all sorts of garbage that goes on in a wrestling room when you've got people that are so closely engaged with one another. And that's what God calls us to. And I think he allowed this mess to instigate this: what I had done physically he wanted to do with me spiritually. He wanted me to grab hold of him and say, "Lord, I cannot do this." I've tried in my own strength, I've tried, you know in religious, I've done religion, I've done all of it, and I've fallen flat on my face, and I grabbed hold of the Lord. And in desperation, I just said, "God, you've gotta help me 'cause I've made a mess of everything." And so I came, I've come out of it with a with a distinct limp.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And, but I do know the Lord like I've never known him. And I do love him like I've never loved him.

Warren Mainard: Wow.

Russ De Vos: And, I will say to any man, if your failure serves to push you into that place of desperate wrestling with God, then bring it on. Because when we wrestle with him, when we grab hold of him, when we learn how to get so real with him, and it isn't pretty. I mean, a lot of the wrestling with God, I would never want anybody to hear that wrestling.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: But it's real. And the Lord comes and he can handle it. And he just ministers to our souls so deeply. And we walk out of there, we're limping and we're sweaty and stinky, but boy, we have a new, new life.

Warren Mainard: I love that picture of, you know, "Don't trust a man who doesn't walk with a limp."

Russ De Vos: Yes.

Warren Mainard: And it reminds me of that quote that says, "Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."

Russ De Vos: Yeah, right.

Warren Mainard: And I think sometimes as men, we're so comfortable with our lives that we don't have a limp. Everything's kind of going smoothly. And we need somebody to step into our lives and shake us up a little bit and to say, "Hey, this is not it. This is not what it's all about. This is not what you were designed for. This is not good enough for the life that God has for you."

Russ De Vos: Yep.

Warren Mainard: Sometimes, men need to be afflicted in that way. And then other times there are seasons where we go, "I'm completely done." Like stick a fork in me. God could never use me again and my life is over. My life is in shambles. I don't have a limp, I am paralyzed from the waist down.

Russ De Vos: Right.

Warren Mainard: I can't even move. But a reminder that, hey, there is a day that's coming where you will be able to walk again.

Russ De Vos: Yeah.

Warren Mainard: And you're gonna have that limp with you the rest of your life. But that is gonna be a battle scar that's going to give a testimony to what you went through...

Russ De Vos: Yes.

Warren Mainard: ...in that journey. And so, you've been able to, to navigate that through the seasons of wrestling through the seasons of hitting rock bottom and then realizing that your faith is the solid ground on what you could stand. So as we kind of think a a little bit about where that brings you to... what you're doing now and the heart that you have for men. And especially with these videos that you've been putting out, talk a little bit about why men need this kind of regular encouragement and what your hope and your goal is for all that.

Russ De Vos: Yes. My life mission statement is making Jesus, declaring Jesus fame and revealing his glory: making Jesus famous. I believe that's the mission statement of every man who breathes air, who calls themselves a following follower of Jesus, is to make Jesus famous.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: Not make ourselves famous. Don't look at my mess, look at Jesus.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And so, again I'm gonna backtrack and work my way into this, and I will get into this. I got to a place about two and a half years ago... and I think somehow, guys, as I speak to the men, God is pursuing us.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: Praise the Lord! Because I stumble into stuff and I realized God just ambushed me in a wonderful way. So here's what happened. Again, in the wrestling with the Lord, I just, and my marriage was struggling and I just needed to get away and be with the Lord. One day I got in my car, and we live in Shoreline, and I have a, my favorite coffee stand is in Marysville.

Warren Mainard: Okay.

Russ De Vos: And I put, on my phone I have a Bible app, I put the book of Mark on and I ran it through the sound system in my car, and I literally listened to the whole book of Mark driving up to that coffee stand and driving back.

Warren Mainard: Wow.

Russ De Vos: It took over an hour. What I discovered was absolutely shocking to me. And that was this, I did not know Jesus.

Warren Mainard: Wow.

Russ De Vos: I mean, it was a radical realization for me. I mean, here I'm thinking, I, I've preached the Word of God. I've studied the Word of God, I memorized the Word of God. But I came to realize, in listening to the full book of Mark, the whole thing from start to finish in one sitting, I didn't know the Jesus of the Bible. I knew little snippets of him, little bits here, little bits there. And it was essentially a dotted line, but I didn't know Jesus. And all of a sudden things just, I started going, whoa, who is this guy?

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And then I read, listened to John and Matthew and Luke, and started listening to the Gospels from start to finish. One sitting. And something happened. It was literally like walking into a theater and sitting there and watching on the big screen the life of Jesus. And I started realizing this guy is savage. Jesus is a, he is a warrior.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And all the pictures that our culture has painted of him are so inadequate. And no wonder men aren't smitten by Jesus. Here's why I'm convinced when men start talking about Jesus, they have to go religious, they have to put on their face...

Warren Mainard: Right.

Russ De Vos: ...to try to pretend that they really are excited about Jesus. Because if they don't, if they're really honest and just say, you know what, not really that excited about Jesus.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: That wouldn't fly in religious circles. That just would not fly.

Warren Mainard: Right.

Russ De Vos: But if men are truly honest, most of 'em will have to say, I know what I'm supposed to say. I know what I'm supposed to think about Jesus, but it's just not there for me. When men really see Jesus as he is, I mean, 'Braveheart' is many of our favorite movie. I don't know about you.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: 'Braveheart' is by far my favorite movie. That movie is about people looking for a leader who has courage, and a leader who is sacrificial and a leader who will challenge every enemy that there is. And I mean, that movie, I walked outta that movie, and I was in Portland, Oregon, walked outta that movie. I put my head up and there was a full moon, and I howled like a werewolf. I was so overcome with emotion after watching that movie. Somewhat of the same thing was beginning to take place. And listening to the Gospels from start to finish, I was like, who is this man?

Warren Mainard: Right. Wow.

Russ De Vos: And my heart started turning. And for the first time, I'm like, I love this guy.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And so then 'The Chosen' came out, and I know there's all sorts of ideas about 'The Chosen.'

Warren Mainard: Sure, yeah.

Russ De Vos: But I'm gonna tell you, seeing Jesus on the screen, through that actor combined with listening to the Gospels, something began to turn in my heart. And I just, I've, I have had this renewed passion that I've never had. It's not renewed. It's new. It's a new passion for Jesus that he is so real and he's become larger than life.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And I just think for men to know Jesus, to really know Jesus, you get fired up. He's a leader that's worthy of being, of following. He's a leader who's worthy giving our life for, and not just giving our life in death or martyrdom, but giving it on a daily basis at our work and everywhere, wherever we're at in our family life, he's worth it. And so, back to the three videos per week.

Warren Mainard: Well, and before you share about that, I mean, man, I love that story. And I just have to share that I think that's a message that we all need to hear. It's a message that people who have been in church or grown up in church their whole lives need to hear. And it reminds me of a moment that I had with my family a few years ago. We were sitting around the dinner table, and at that time, my kids were both in their early and mid-teen, teen years. And somehow the conversation about God, the Bible, Jesus, and the church got really negative.

Russ De Vos: Yes.

Warren Mainard: And both of my kids were kind of saying at that time, yeah, we don't really want to go to church after we get outta the house. We have to now, but we're not gonna do it later. And you know, there were questions about whether or not the Bible was true, and whether or not God really created the world and all these different things. And I just, I was taken aback. And in that moment, I said, "Guys," I said, "You need to know something that my heart, my prayer, mom and I, our heart, our prayer for you is not that you would grow up to be moral churchgoers."

Russ De Vos: Yes.

Warren Mainard: "My prayer, my heart for you, is that you would have a life changing encounter with Jesus Christ."

Russ De Vos: Yes.

Warren Mainard: And I thought they already knew that. I thought they already understood all of that, but they didn't. And I had to say it. And they were like, we don't even know what that means.

Russ De Vos: Yes.

Warren Mainard: And I said, "Guys, when I was 16 years old, I had an experience with Jesus where it changed me so dramatically that I was not even the same person."

Russ De Vos: Yep.

Warren Mainard: "And every single day of my life since then, I've been trying to pursue that relationship with Jesus." And I said, "That's all that matters to me as your dad." And I would just stop to say, for any men that are listening, that you need to hear this for yourself as well. That God wants for you to be so much more than just a moral churchgoer.

Russ De Vos: Yes.

Warren Mainard: He wants you to have a life changing personal encounter with Jesus Christ. And until you do, nothing else that we talk about will ever matter. And it will never materialize because you've got to have Jesus front and center in your life for that change to really take place. So man, I just, I had to just jump in there...

Russ De Vos: Yes.

Warren Mainard: ...to share that, because that fires me up to hear you share about after all those years of being in the church, talking about Jesus, preaching about Jesus, to have that encounter with Jesus is, it's it. That is it.

Russ De Vos: Yes.

Warren Mainard: That is what this whole thing is about. So with that, share a little bit about these videos now and what you're doing with those.

Russ De Vos: When, I've been coaching men about 2016/17, I was still in sales, still out on the road, but I began to get this desire to minister again and didn't feel maritally, family that I was able, I wasn't in a place where I was ready to pastor again.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And, but I thought, I can coach, I can work with men because my first day on the job in 2007, when we moved up here to Seattle, we had, we sat with a group of trainees and we had to go around and tell it, tell everybody kind of our little testimony. And I thought, all right, I can hide my story, or I can just get it out on the table and just, you know, just blah.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And so my first day on the job, I told 'em, yeah, we're up here because I cheated. I was a pastor, I cheated on my wife, and our life has gone to hell. And so here I am doing sales and I have no idea what I'm doing, and my life is in a total wreck. And I just threw that all out on the table. I just thought, what the heck I'm just gonna get it out. I can't even tell you what happened in the days after that. I had guys sitting in my car saying, I'm planning on going home right now and cheating on another woman with my wife, or with, cheating on my wife with another woman while I'm, while my wife is at work and I know I shouldn't do it. What would you advise? And I'm praying with guys in my car.

Warren Mainard: Wow.

Russ De Vos: It was just radical. So I realized, okay, this, I, that was the first wake up to this story, connects with a lot of guys who are struggling in the same way I have. And so I, fast forward down the road, I started thinking maybe I can coach and help men out of my own story. And so I've been working with men, coaching them, just building foundations under their lives 'cause that's where I went. That was my problem, I didn't have strong foundations of character and habits of building relationship with Jesus. And so, that I began to have a website where some men came and an email list and different things. But I began to think, "How do I really minister these guys? How do I really reach them?" And I was on a prayer walk one day, and this seems to be where the Lord speaks to me. And I was wrestling with the Lord, "How do I reach these guys?" And I felt literally like the Lord prompted me, "Pray for them." And then I said, "Well, how do I do that?" And the Lord, I feel, gave me this little vision of what's now become '60 Seconds of Spiritual Food.' I'm realizing that most men aren't gonna watch a video more than 60 seconds.

Warren Mainard: Right.

Russ De Vos: But then, there's another part of the story. As I've talked to men and shared with them kind of what God was doing in my own life, I heard this statement over and over and over: "I don't even think about God all day long."

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: There are guys that just came out in the moment of honesty and just said, "I'll be honest with you. I don't think about Jesus at all during the day. There's some days I don't think about him at all. He doesn't even enter my mind." And I'm thinking, "How do we have great marriages and great families and great children who love Jesus and men on mission for Jesus when he's nowhere in the periphery of their mind?" And I just realized, okay, how can I be just a little catalyst? Which is the name of the coaching company that I run is 'Catalyst.' It's just that little spark that ignites something. And so these videos only Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, are just a way to say, "Guys, lift your eyes to the King."

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: Start your day with some fire in your heart for Jesus. Get your mind set right so that you don't get to the end of the day and say, "I didn't even think about him today."

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And I thought, most things happen in small increments. And maybe if guys see three minutes worth of somebody telling them, "Hey, Jesus is a great king. Jesus is worthy of your worship, Jesus is worthy of your thoughts. Point your mind, point your heart to him, even if it's one minute, three times a week."

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And by God's grace, there have been many who have texted me and called me and whatever, and just said, "Russ," and I just give God the glory for this, "But these are my lifeline. These are the things, this is what is keeping me going." And I wanna see 'em take those next steps to really building a daily relationship with Jesus.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: But if this can be a catalyst and a start, I love doing it because I just, I envision the men as I create these. I really, truly see myself speaking to them personally. And, I just feel like it's somehow injecting life, spiritual life into their hearts and minds.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: And, so that's kind of the story behind '60 Seconds of Spiritual Food.'

Warren Mainard: Well, guys, I gotta just tell you that, Russ started sending these out to me a few months ago, and I just started watching them every chance I got. And these are phenomenal. Like he said, they're 60 seconds, so you can play it literally while you're walking to the mailbox and back.

Russ De Vos: Yeah.

Warren Mainard: I mean, they're just, they're that short. But they are so packed with wisdom and insight, encouragement, and inspiration. I just highly recommend guys subscribe to the YouTube channel. And because I believe in them so much, we've started putting them onto our IMPACT Players membership community page. And the hope is that guys will watch the video and if it sparks something and they want to talk about it, they want to just share what it meant to them, that they can comment on those videos in our community; which is a private place for men to just share what they're learning, how they're growing, and what they're struggling with. And Russ has been so gracious enough to join that community and to post those videos for us. So you have an opportunity to comment on those videos and perhaps even get a response from Russ based on what you're asking. So really just wanna encourage guys to look to Russ as someone that you can say, "Hey, he's got a limp, but he's still walking. He's still going and he's doing great things. And I wanna be like that as well." Russ, as we wrap this up, 'cause we're running out of time. How can guys connect with you and how can you, serve men who are connected to IMPACT Players?

Russ De Vos: I would just... simply my email is a simple way to get connected. It's simply [email protected]. Maybe we can post that. It's kind of a long one. De Vos, D-E-V-O-S-R-U-S-S at Catalyst Coaching HQ, for headquarters, hq.com. And that's the simplest way. One, just quick shout out, I've, my coaching has kind of taken a turn to working with parents of drug addicted teens. That's a whole 'nother conversation.

Warren Mainard: Yeah.

Russ De Vos: But I've just recently created a quick start guide for a coaching program for that. That's another avenue of connection for parents who are struggling in that area. There's so many parents struggling with kids who are abusing drugs and out of control teens. They don't know what to do with them. And so we've created a program for that. But, Warren, what would you recommend? That's my email address. My website is simply catalystcoachinghq.com and that has my contact information as well.

Warren Mainard: How do they find your videos on YouTube?

Russ De Vos: That's great. Yeah, 'The Wrestling Room.' That's good. Thank you. 'The Wrestling Room,' just simply put in 'The Wrestling Room.'

Warren Mainard: Okay.

Russ De Vos: And it will take you right there. And again, it's all about wrestling with God. That's the whole point. And, so we can then wrestle with the enemy out of the strength that the Lord gives us. So, 'The Wrestling Room.' Yeah, that's the YouTube.

Warren Mainard: Love it. I love it. Well, Russ, thank you for joining us on this podcast. And guys, this is not gonna be the last that you hear from Russ as it relates to IMPACT Players. We've got him coming to speak at our IMPACT Everett group in April of 2024. We're also gonna be getting him on the schedule to come to our Seattle/Eastside group that meets at SAMBICA sometime in the near future. And, like I said, he's gonna be in our IMPACT membership community and you can connect with him that way as well. But, Russ, thank you so much for being willing to open up to share your story, to share hope and inspiration with men who need it. And, thank you for the opportunity for us to link Shields with you.

Russ De Vos: Yes, it's a pleasure. It's an honor. Warren, thank you for having me.

Warren Mainard: Well, Russ, thank you again. Guys, be blessed. Thanks for joining us on the IMPACT Players Linking Shields podcast. Stay tuned for more. We've got lots of exciting things coming up. But, for all of our regular listeners out there, thank you for being a part of this IMPACT Players community. We value and appreciate each and every one of you and, look forward to hearing from you again soon. Thank you, Russ.

Russ De Vos: You're welcome.