Chris Grainger
Host
00:03
Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be. I’m your host, chris Granger, let’s jump in. All right, guys, it is your meat episode of the week. I’m excited to have you here. Before we go too far, let’s dig into our scripture of the week. Okay, and we’re in the book of 2 Corinthians.
00:20
Okay, 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, only looking at 1 verse, verse 18. This is so. We fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. So, guys, if you missed a spiritual kickoff, go check that out. I unpack that verse in depth. I think there’s a lot of ways that we can simplify and apply that to our walk to be the leaders that God intends us to be. All right now, today, this is going to be. This is an exciting one, guys, because I just my prayer for myself is when I’ll reach to this stage of life, prayerfully, where my guest is to have his energy, to have his drive and to have his joy.
01:04
So I’m excited to have with us Barry McGuire. He’s a third generation president of McGuire’s Incorporated. A lot of you guys are probably familiar with that, particularly you car guys out there who like to keep your maybe your car or your motorcycle shined up looking good. So, barry, he is the McGuire’s, the top selling car reaction America right, and he has done some amazing things in his career. So he found it in the president of Ignite America as well, which is a ministry focused on igniting Christians to ignite America with revival, one person at a time. So, guys, he has been on a bunch of different type of TV shows car crazy, he did ignite your life. He done ignite with Barry McGuire radio show. So I’m telling you he’s all over the place. He’s full of just full of energy.
01:49
You actually want to Billy Graham, a religious broadcaster, billy Graham Award for excellence in Christian communication back in several years ago. So, fellas, he’s just you’re going to just really enjoy this one, barry. Once he gets going, you just kind of get us away and let him show up, but he’s going to really talk to us about how you, your personal story, how you can take that and advance the kingdom. You know, you don’t have to be a theologian, you don’t have to be an apologetic. You could just use your life experiences and what Christ has done, you know with with you directly and make a such a huge impact, and how we just need to actually put it into action and do the work. So then, you’re going to enjoy this one and get ready to ignite your life with Barry McGuire. Well, barry McGuire, welcome to the lion within us. How are you doing today, sir?
Barry Meguiar
Guest
02:45
Now that I’m with you, I know I’m doing great. I’ve been looking forward to this, so thank me. Thank you for having me on your show.
Chris Grainger
Host
02:52
Oh, this is great. This has been looking forward to it. I really thoroughly loved your book Ignite your Life. My guys, you know spoiler alert. This is going to be our book of the week, fellas, so go ahead and get your copy of it. Check out the show notes. We’ll have it there for you. So before we get into the book, though, I always like to start off a little bit fun, so tell us something fun about yourself that maybe not people know about.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
03:14
Oh my goodness, I’m a public figure. People know a lot about me. I had a TV show for 18 years that went all over the world. I’m doing podcasts and whatever and got into thousands of car shows. I’m a car guy. I’m born and raised a car guy and nobody uses car wax anymore. People don’t even know there is a product called car wax, basically except for car guys. There’s about 30 million car guys and car guys use car wax about once a day. So that’s my audience.
03:46
I live in the world of car guys. I drive primarily old cars not exclusively, but mostly Right and I do a car show. So that is my life and it’s an incredible community. I would dare say even to the point to saying that men for men do. I dare say this. So the Christian Talman show that the people in the car hobby are amazing. They live scriptured. They may not be Christians, but they’re living it and I tell them this often they’re the most caring, giving, generous people and I’ve covered them all over the world and wherever I go I find this to be true. They’re just amazing, amazing people. The problem is that a whole bunch of them feel like they’re better than most Christians and they know they’re good people and they’re convinced God loves them and they’re going to go to heaven because they’re good people. So I find it’s easier to reach a scoundrel than it is. Some of these good people in my life who were such great people, loving people and dear, dear friends, but they just can’t imagine brainless, those little Lordship of Jesus Christ. You know they like being their old God and so that’s an interesting factor.
05:01
But my life’s kind of an open book and married. I’m working on 60 years. In December we’ll be married. I’ve been married, karen. I had 60 years, got a great wife, wow.
05:13
And all these years, this is our testimony, what we share. We’ve done it together from being nothing. We’re a tiny little business and nobody knowing who we are, at least in the car world, the car we call it the car crazy world, where we have a little bit higher profile now. And I have recognized since all the way back in the 70s that my business was my pulpit and is my pulpit to this day. It was never my God and whatever God was going to do with my business where I was going to use my pulpit to proclaim his name, to tell people what it is to be in the family of God. So that’s kind of my life and we have grown and done a lot of crazy things in our lives and had a lot of terrible experiences.
06:03
And we thank God for all the pain because literally in the pain I think we grow more in our pain than we do in the good times. In the good times we don’t need God Right, but in the bad times we need him big time. And when he comes through for us and we trust him to come through, that’s the key. You got to trust him and you trust the Lord. When you trust him with your whole heart, you know good director steps. The key is, of course, how do you trust him with your whole heart? And that’s hard and you can’t really do it. Your own strength can you? You just can’t. You do it. Or you trust, you start worrying at the same time. How do you get the place where you just trust him with your whole heart? And of course, the sub theme in our book after saying it ignites your life. It is defeat fear with effortless faith, and that’s a place that I think we all want to be. Amen to that.
Chris Grainger
Host
06:56
Amen. Well, thank you for sharing a lot of that information there. I want to unpack one thing in particular where you said your business was your pulpit, because I talked to a lot of guys, and within our line of within this community as well, with the things that we’re doing. So many men out there think that you know, check that church box on Sunday and then you’re done and I’m like, bro, you have, you have money through Saturday. I mean, that is your opportunity to evangelize. We’re supposed to go out and this is your. There should be no difference in the guy that Sunday morning 11 versus Wednesday morning 11, right, there should be no difference there. So how did you actually make that business your pulpit? Give us what that looks like, because I know a lot of guys are struggling with how to, how to walk that faith out, particularly in our careers.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
07:39
Yeah, I get that question a lot. How do you reconcile your faith with your business? There is no difference, there’s no separation. My whole life is ministry. There’s nothing secular in my life, to the most basic conversation with with nothingness I mean just with with anybody had to walk and buy it is spiritual. It is a moment to touch somebody and move them closer to Jesus.
08:07
It really started for me, karen and I, in our earliest of years. I was born Sunday morning, sunday night, wednesday night church. I was raised. I have multi generations of Christians both sides of my family, so I have no excuse. I mean I’ve been taught well, great, great men in my life who taught me well.
08:30
But in the earliest I’m talking about, back in our early twenties, right after we were first married, we had our couple, couple of kids. We were doing everything we could in the church, we were volunteering for everything. I mean we’re always like, yeah, send me. You know I was kind of like looking back, kind of like a Jewish mindset of trying to be religious and trying to earn God’s favor. Of course we can’t earn God’s favor. He loves us, right? We can’t. There’s nothing you can do, folks, that make God love you any more than he loves you. Right now. I don’t care where you live, but if, how well you live, god loves you. But we didn’t have joy and we started praying for joy. We said we have happiest times, but we didn’t have joy. There just wasn’t an inner joy where we just knew where we should be.
09:24
So we started praying for joy and it was about a month later that we ended up at a luncheon and I sat right next to the speaker for that day. And today was Herb Ellingwood. He was the legal this is telling my age. He was the legal affairs secretary for Governor Reagan and for that hour, for the time, I sat down with him. The time he got up and spoke, he talked to me nonstop about faith, sharing experiences, and I mean he was laughing and crying and laughing and crying. And last night you’ll never guess what happened last night I just like I would just totally mesmerize and I walked away with that conversation in tears and I said God, I want what he has. That’s what I want, that’s what I’ve been praying for. I want that. I never and perhaps you have never thought of the fact that sharing your faith impacts your joy. So we started doing it, and doing it poorly and doing all the programs and all that kind of stuff. And one day we were laughing and I said, karen, we have joy.
10:51
It actually happened to us and it was not too long after that that we discovered this verse. I think it’s a powerful verse. It is really that last pair of what Jesus gave her the fig tree in the garden, and you know he talks about the dry leaves and dry branches but if you’re bearing fruit, oh, if you’re bearing fruit now, that’s when you’re my disciple. And then it goes on to say and my joy will remain with you and your joy will remain full. Wow, I tell you, it’s great when you read a scripture and you’ve already experienced it, and then you see it in scripture that there’s the promise. But you’re living the promise before you see the promise. And that’s what it did for me.
11:40
For that point on, I saw that everything was ministry and that was a part of our joy, to the point that, if I can continue on for a moment, three years later I’ve decided that I’m supposed to go into full-time ministry. I’m supposed to lead my little business and go into full-time ministry. I mean, I really thought that was what I was supposed to do. So I mean at the time we were doing, I don’t know, maybe now. My grandfather started business in 1901. This is now 1969. But we’re still doing less than a million dollars in business and I just decided to go into the retail marketplace with our products. Nobody knew who we were. We just buffed cars and garages. That’s how we sold our product to God. It’s probably go retail.
12:29
So right at the time that we were launching into retail, I got this message and then, three years later, I decided I should go into full-time ministry. I closed the door to my office and I prayed the most perfect prayer of my life. I said, god, if you want me to go into full-time ministry, I’ll do it. I’ll do it, but you’re always got to speak to me in an audible voice for me to know for sure, because it’s a big deal. I’m the third generation leader of my business. If I leave it, it will fail. I know that. You know that I have two little girls to feed, but I want to know where we want me to go. You owe me.
13:06
So about 20 minutes after that, a guy locked him in the office by the name of David Knutt, who I knew from my. I didn’t know him but I knew who he was. He took him to Potforb a couple of times, a missionary kid my age but he grew up on the mission field in Africa and he walks over the big small and he’s like hi, barry, how you doing? I was in the area, thought it’s not mine, so I’m like how’s it going? And so I made a snap decision that, being a missionary kid, he probably wasn’t into cool cars and shiny paint finishes. So I started talking about face sharing experiences that I had. And he looks at me and it didn’t take long. And I would like to know about the third story he straightened up.
13:53
He says God’s given you a wonderful ministry here, hadn’t he? Whoa, I mean, that was like Twilight Zone. I mean, wait a minute, wait a minute. Why would you say this? He says the people you’re reaching a pastor couldn’t reach, but as a businessman you can. And he gave me this word. He said it’s obvious that your business is your pope.
14:14
This guy walked into my office not 20 minutes after I just prayed should I go to full time ministry? And God takes him into my office. I said, whoa, wait a minute. I got to tell you something. I just prayed this prayer 20 minutes ago. He said well, that explains it. I said explains what he said. Well, I just dropped some missionaries off at Orange County Airport. I was driving up Red Hill, which is the closest main street to my office at the time, and he said and God spoke to me and said go see Barry McGuire. He said I’d seen your name on the building. I recognized it was from church. But I told God I don’t know this guy, I don’t know what kind of business. He said I don’t know anything about Barry McGuire. He said, but God would not let me go and brought me into your office just now. So that was 1973. So for 1973, it’s 50 years.
15:04
Okay, that’s 50 years ago now God gave me the message. My business, my pope, but and it still is. It still is. It’s crazy. I’ve Barry McGuire the car guy, mcguire’s car wax telling people about Jesus.
Chris Grainger
Host
15:20
Man, it’s such a powerful story and it’s so relatable too because, I mean, so many guys out there they think that you have to be in the ministry to share the good news and I’m like, no, you’re missing the point. You guys, every day there’s an opportunity to get out there, whether you’re on a factory floor or whether you’re selling car wax. Right, I mean, you have an opportunity. But the engagements that you have to really be on mission for God.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
15:44
Yeah, it’s sure. You know, Christians think pastors are sharing their faith. Right, and the pastors think that people are sharing the faith and nobody even talks about it. You know when’s the last time your pastor said my job Ephesians 11, my job is to equip you for ministry and send you. I mean, you’re done hearing that. You’re not hearing salvation on only about 10% of our sermons a day even mentioned salvation, leave alone sending you out to get people saying so.
16:12
This is, this is a critical message at a time when over 80% of our population are lost. They don’t know the Lord. They’re blinded. They say evil is good. They totally see evil as good. That’s why they’re passing all these incredible laws and champion the cause for all these demonic activities. They’re lost. We get mad at them, but they’re lost. They’re not bad. Most of them they’re something that are bad and giving over Satan. But for the most part of a year we’re not about people who are just lost. They’re found around trying to find truth and trying to find God and trying to do their searching and they’re lost. So they’re not going to church. How are they going to know, as the scripture says, unless somebody tells them?
Chris Grainger
Host
16:57
Yeah.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
16:58
And who’s going to tell them unless somebody sends them? Nobody’s sending us, right? Right, we need to send ourselves, and the purpose of this book is for each one of us to take responsibility for our own lives and our own world. Right, yeah, and I don’t care where you are in your life, you have a world around you, right? And you responsibility for the world around you, direct responsibility for the world around you. You’re surrounded by people who are lost and how are you going to know unless you tell them? And the point being in the book is when you tell them. Not only is that, of course, fulfilling the great commission. It must be pretty important. It’s the great commission, right? He said this is what you need to do, so it’s pretty important. But, but secondary, really primarily is what it does for you, because it changes your life. It will ignite your life when you get off the bed and get into the game and start doing it.
Chris Grainger
Host
17:51
Amen, amen. Hey guys, we’ll take a quick break. We’ll be right back. Are you enjoying the weekly spiritual kickoff? If so, we are now offering a way to participate in our live daily spiritual kickoffs that happen Monday through Friday in our community. This is your chance to chat with me directly and other members of our community, to dive into scripture and to leave with practical ways to simplify and apply God’s word to your daily walk. And here’s the best part you get all of this for just $5 a month. So, for what most people pay for breakfast meal, you can join us on this journey of spiritual growth and leadership, which will always lead you full.
18:33
Our community is dedicated to supporting each other and pushing forward in our faith. Come join me in the lion’s den and become the leader God intends you to be. Sign up now at the lionwithinus and let’s start this journey together. Remember, it’s only $5 a month for this amazing opportunity. So visit the lionwithinus so you don’t miss out. So, barry, so I’m sure there are a lot of guys listening who want to use their story to make an impact, but they also they don’t think their story can have an impact at all because they’re just regular guys or maybe they’ve done so much bad in their life that they feel like there’s never any good in them. What do you tell guys like that, when it comes to sharing your faith, that, hey, you have a purpose, your story matters, why don’t you get just just just put worried about you know perception and just get out there and share that faith? And how beautiful things that can happen.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
19:28
You know it’s crazy, the church has, in all my life and long before my life, has really poorly educated us on sharing our faith, as to what an ebony is. We tell you okay, you should be sharing your faith. Okay, I’m going to go share my faith. I don’t know how, what do I say? And nobody’s telling us. And the ones that are telling us are saying get out this and here’s a ban you’ll and go through our class and go teach you all this stuff. Most of you are not going to go through that, they’re not going to do that, and so that’s. You know, well, that’s for people who do that and that’s not for me. But the Great Commission didn’t say go into the world and tell people, by Jesus, all you who are trained, or all you who have a big story or have a big career or made lots of money or, you know, have a big personality. He didn’t say. They just said go.
20:27
I struggled a lot in sharing my faith for some of those same reasons and one day I was reading and there it was, it just bounced off the page at me. They will know, you’re my disciple by your love. Anybody can love me. If you’re a Christian, you’re loving our people, so that’s just natural. The thing is, if faith sharing takes you out of your comfort zone, you’re in problems because people are going to know you’re out of your comfort zone and you’ll take them out of their comfort zone. They’re not going to be happy. So it’s a sales pitch, right. So just stop it. There’s nothing in the scripture that says go into the world.
21:10
After you read all this, or after you memorize this, you know who the most prolific faith shares are New Christians. Oh yeah, they’re on fire, man, they’re on fire. They haven’t read scripture. They don’t know for nothing. They just don’t miss Jesus. Christ is their Lord. They just give it their life. They just got saved from hell. They’re on their way to heaven. They just got way to tell them. And what are we excited? We’re excited about we tell people about. So let me first say to those who are making those kind of statements if you’re not telling people about Jesus, you’re not excited about Jesus. It doesn’t mean you’re not on your way to heaven, but you’re not having fun, and so you want to get off the bench into the game and start having fun. And that’s what this is all about, and the scriptures are very clear on how to do it.
22:02
For instance, in Mark 1311 it says don’t prepare what. I can’t tell you. How many times in the early days, when I was wrestling, I was praying, I was studying, I was trying to think of every question that could be asked so I could have an answer for it. And then this conversation goes somewhere completely different. You can’t prepare for these conversations. You have no idea where that conversation is going to go. So don’t prepare, just don’t. And Luke 1212 says they’ll be even more amazing. It says the Holy Spirit, give me the words to say when you need them, what? So now you’re going in blind. You don’t have a road map and you’re just loving that. People. You just learned how to share your faith, just love.
22:54
On asking questions, how you doing? You see somebody in line at Starbucks or something going on in your life. You know, is there anything I can do for you? You look like you’re struggling over something. Anything I can do for you? People open up. It’s amazing.
23:13
You think that several questions won’t open up. Now. Most of the time they will open up. In fact, a lot of the time, I would say more than half the time, they will start. Within five minutes they’ll start telling you problems. They won’t tell their best friends, but you’re in the person and the Holy Spirit confirms to them that. The Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit confirmed to them that your love is real, right At your desk. You know over 80% of the lost know the world’s out of control. We’d like to believe there’s a God that can solve all the problems, or actually looking for somebody, or actually looking for somebody to tell them about God. So right now you have a world all around you that’s anxious to know about God, anxious to know about problems and how to solve them, are anxious to know there’s a God who loves it. They’re anxious for that and we just walk right by the honor of the great Bible study and they’re around us everywhere and when you just reach out and love them, then you experience the Holy Spirit speaking through you to them. It’s the craziest thing and you’ve experienced it yourself. I mean, we’re talking here but for our listeners, and when the Lord speaks through you, it all said you see a life, of life changing and God’s bring it to you. Remember. It’s things that you’ve heard before, that you’ve forgotten about, scriptures you haven’t thought about for years and all of a sudden you’re quoting them, yeah, yeah, and you see his life change. You realize God just used me I cite pedal car wax and God just used me to change that life in front of me. What does that do for me? What does that do for me?
24:55
The other day I brought out a parking with a friend that he was driving. We were late to lunch about a 130 late lunch appointment to the parking that was empty, lots of places to park, but he pulls right in front of a car facing us with a hood open. So I got out. As I got out, a young guy, a black guy, tattooed dreadlocks, walks around in the front of the car with a sparkling bottle of water, a big bottle of water, okay, and he’s pouring water into his radiator. And so I immediately went to him.
25:32
Every opportunity and any opportunity I just run to people to try to find some way to just make a connection. There could be a beautiful family having dinner in a restaurant and I walk over. Can I just say you are one beautiful family. God has really blessed you guys. God bless you. I. Just what did I do? I just moved in closer to Jesus. It took me 20 seconds, yeah.
25:56
So I walked over to this guy. I said why? Is there anything I can do to help you? He said no, I’m okay. He says I have a linky radiator. I just drove here from Alabama and I needed water. So I just got this big bottle of water and it’s lasting me all the way here and I just got to put more water in my radiator.
26:14
I said why did you come out from Alabama? Have you ever been here before? Never been here? Well, why are you here? Well, I couldn’t find a job in Alabama and I have a wife and daughter back home and I got a sport. So I have a friend out here who has a trucking job. He invited me to come out and I had to get a trucking job. I said have you ever driven a truck before? He says never. I said and you just got here. You just got here. I said you’re a little nervous. He says you think. I said you know I got a story for you right quick. Back a lot of years ago, 50 years ago, I had this low-money business.
26:54
So I’m car waxing and I found this scripture that says trust the Lord with your whole heart and don’t depend on your own understanding. So stop worrying and all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your path. You know God wants to direct your path. He said I had no idea. Are you serious? I said yeah, all you have to do is trust him. God wants a partnership with you. You trust him and he’ll do the work for you. It’s crazy. So we talked for three or four more minutes and I said can I pray for you? He says yes, please. So I held him and I prayed for him. When we finished, he looked at me with tears in his eyes and he grabbed me and he hugged me and he said thank you.
27:44
We have cards that say seeking God on that. You get off our website igniteamericacom. They’re wonderful. They’re free. Everything’s in our website is free, no passwords. You just get into our website igniteamericacom and I’ll tell you how to share your faith and have fun doing it, and you can order these cards and just say seeking God. I said I’ll tell you what I’ll give you this website. If you go to this website, it’ll tell you how much God loves you and how he’ll direct your life. He looked at that card. I couldn’t believe he’s on this website. Get on that website. Yeah, thank you. I walked away.
28:20
Who was most served by that conversation? I’m not quite sure. Yeah, I’m not sure. I’m going to tell you this. Isaiah 4310 says I appoint you as my witness, not toward the loss, that’s secondary. This may come as a shock to you. Isaiah 4310, I appoint you as my witness so that you will believe. You will believe he didn’t say so. Should you believe more? He said so. Should you believe this is the ultimate Christian experience? Sharing your faith? Get off the bench and in the gates, start loving other people and see where that goes. No preparation needed. Don’t worry about your story. I don’t care about your story. I don’t care what you’ve been through. I don’t care how bad a life you’ve had.
29:09
Love on people.
29:12
God loves them through you.
29:14
He’s salvationing them through you.
29:16
When he loves you, he’s salvationing you.
29:20
All of his love is about bringing you to heaven. He’s salvationing you. Every time you speak to somebody else, he is salvationing them through you. That’s why there is no nominal conversation. I don’t care if they’re Christian or non-Christian Everybody. You’re talking to everything you say and do everything For the time you get up, the time you retire. Everything you say and do is moving everybody closer or further away from God. You’re in full time minister with you, like it or not.
29:55
All of us are witnesses. Some of us are witnesses for the prosecution. Yeah, absolutely. If they’re Christians, we do crazy things. We stiff the waiter. If they heard you for the last 45 minutes talking about God, then you stiff them. What are you just doing to that waiter? I mean, people are watching us. We don’t even realize that they’re watching us. So take advantage of it With everything you say and do everything you do everything about you. Make it so that it’s honoring God and bringing people to you. When you do that, you step into all of the 10 commandments. He says you’ll fulfill all the 10 commandments. If you do, too, love me and love your neighbor as yourself. If you love your neighbor as yourself, you’re concerned for their salvation as you are your own. So for everybody running, you’re concerned with everybody’s salvation. That changes your life. That will ignite your life.
Chris Grainger
Host
30:54
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32:13
So, Barry, I’m curious from your standpoint. You’ve been doing this and sharing the good news of the gospel for at least the last 60 years. What’s been the biggest change for when you’ve 60 years ago to the people that you’re trying to connect with now, Because we’re our society. We are more connected than ever, but we are more disconnected than ever at the same time. The smartphones, the ways it’s changed everybody. Social media we have all these friends but we never actually have any true relationships. So what’s changed the most? For when you first started sharing the gospel with others and like your approach, Because I know our guys would probably love to learn your wisdom on what it used to be like, versus how you do it now.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
32:53
Yeah, well again, let me direct you by doing nightamericacom. You don’t have to give us your name, there’s no passwords, you just write in the ministry. So I mean that’s a given.
Chris Grainger
Host
33:08
And we’ll have that in the show notes for you listeners out there. So go check the show notes out. We’ll have a direct link for you.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
33:13
Good and, of course, the book that I’ve just brought out. It’s 50 years of stories. I’ve answered the question you’re just asking here of how this first started and, moving on through to the point that you know, it’s become like breathing. I would say the biggest change has been that people, it’s never been easier to share your faith. 50 years ago, life was good, people weren’t worried. You know, 80% of Americans today are living in fear, including Christians. 80%. We’re living in fear in America, in the United States of America, we’re living in fear.
33:58
Well, if you’re living in fear, you’re living without faith, and without faith you can’t please God. Think about it. This takes it back to this thing of trust them over your whole heart. Well, if you’re in fear, you’re not trusting with your whole heart, right? And in James 1 says you could pray and ask and I’ll give it to you, unless you’re worrying, unless you’re in fear. Most of you are praying about stuff and worrying at the same time. You’re praying and you’re hoping, not believing, that God will solve your problem, that you’re worrying. And in James 1, he says but if you waver, don’t expect to receive anything from me, like a double-minded man and unstable all your ways. I mean in James 1, very strong and stable.
34:47
So how can you get to the point where you could pray, knowing God is answering your prayers and that you can trust the Lord with your whole heart? Knowing that he actually is going to direct your steps is going to give you joy every day. I mean, think of all the promises of the Bible. All comes down to this whole thing of having a whole heart of faith. How do you have a whole heart of faith? Let me tell you. Isaiah 4-310 tells you when you share your faith, everything works. All of a sudden, you just know. Then you will believe because you feel, you know nobody can take it away from you. You feel God moving through you and changing lives around you.
35:28
People say, barry, why are you so happy all the time? You’re 80 years old, you’re so happy. You ever have a bad day? No, I don’t. You ever have bad things happen. Yeah, I do a lot, but I know God’s going to make it. We’re good.
35:44
You see, there’s this wonderful scripture in Romans 8, 28, which I think may be the second most important scripture in the entire Bible, after John 3-16. He says from now until you get to heaven, I promise you, I promise you I’ll make everything in your life work for good. Now we’ve heard that scripture and say, yeah, yeah, yeah, but it didn’t work good for me, that must be for somebody else. I don’t really understand that. We never scripted forth the whole scripture. Even the heathen know that part of it. All things work together for good? Well, they don’t Most of the times. They don’t folks, but they will. If you do two things. If you read that whole scripture, he says when you love me and love your neighbor as yourself, it basically says when you love me and you live your life for my purpose, okay, for his purpose. What’s his purpose? His purpose is to seek and save the lost. Right when we live our lives to seek and save the lost, we call it to move everybody every day closer to Jesus we step into his promise that he’ll make everything in our lives work together for good. That means everything.
36:57
We lost a 49-year-old daughter so sorry. I was dying in the hospital. The doctors gave up on me. I was losing my business. I had a joint venture partner who I found out the next morning was going to throw me out of my business. I was 65 years old. I couldn’t start over. My income was gone. My reputation was gone. I lost my grandfather’s 100-year-old business. Here was my response Defeat fear with effortless faith. I prayed a very short prayer. I said, god, I ask you for nothing. I’m good, I mean, as he’s hearing my voice right now. All right, this was the year 2008. I said God, I ask you for nothing because of two things. Number one you know I live for your purpose and I do every day. Number two I know you under your word and you promised me that when I live for your purpose, you make everything good.
38:08
Yeah, you make your own work for good. So I went to sleep that night, or after praying that prayer went right to sleep. I did not toss and turn. I got the next morning refreshed. After a good night’s sleep, I went to my attorney’s office and within eight minutes it just changed everything, because it’s something he’d done five years earlier. It was the most amazing. I broke out laughing like God. I could have prayed all night long. I could have placed the floor and gone. Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? God’s not impressed with the tone of your voice or the loudness of your voice, or even the words in your lips. He wants to know what’s going on in your heart. The fact of the matter is, when you live in faith, when you live for God’s purpose, when you live to share your faith, god honors that by making everything in your life work together for good. That will ignite your life. Man.
Chris Grainger
Host
39:13
That is powerful. One thing you said earlier that we got on fact a little bit more. Barry, you talked about joy. You found this joy in your life and so many people chase happy. Happy is directly tied to your circumstances. The circumstances change. Like you said, business could be up, it’s easy to be happy when things are going good, but that joy is a difference. I’d love for you to unpack the difference between those two.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
39:39
We all have happiness every day. Most of us have happiness every day and unhappiness every day. I liked that meal.
Chris Grainger
Host
39:46
That was a great meal.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
39:47
That was a terrible meal. I made the sale. I didn’t make the sale. I wanted to talk to that person but they turned me on. Whatever, there’s all kinds of things. Those are all circumstance show. They happen to us every day and we can’t stop that. If you’re placing your life in the path of happiness, you’re going to have all kinds of projects. You can be all over the place there. They sought joy. We would have known where joy is. We found joy is a whole different thing. That has nothing to do with circumstances at all. When we lost our daughters I probably cried half the tears of my life in a maybe a six-week period around my daughter’s death. We were very close. She emulated me and the good and the bad and she was a soul. With her. Probably hundreds of people came to the Lord because of Nicole. Our happiness was not there. We were talking about our happiness but we were unhappy. But we didn’t lose our joy.
40:51
We didn’t lose our joy. In fact, I got up and spoke at the ceremony celebrating our life and had an altar call and people got saved. In fact it’s on YouTube. You can go right now to YouTube and Google Nicole McGuire’s Celebration of Life. You would join over 11,000 people who have watched that service. Over 11,000 people watched a video of a funeral service. Nobody does that. I hear it all the time. I watched it a second time. I’ve told my friends to watch it. It’s been a viral video because it’s talking about at the point of unhappiness you could have joy.
Chris Grainger
Host
41:46
Yeah, so counterculture to what we think of. We’re going to try to find that video. We’ll get that into show notes for you guys as well. I definitely want to share that with the listeners out there. I’m so sorry to hear about your loss too, because there’s no pain like kids pain, even though they’re 49. It’s still that pain is real we talk about that a lot.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
42:08
I’m not sensitive at all On my phone. I have a picture of Nicole on my phone.
Chris Grainger
Host
42:16
Okay.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
42:16
Okay, I look at her and she’s in a hot rod. She’s a car guy like me. She’s so happy there and I like and you’re happier now than you were then yeah, and if you’re happy, why should I be unhappy? Right, I still shed tears on occasion.
42:34
I don’t want to do with it, but I’m going to be with her for eternity. I got all of me turned to be with her. I’ve separated for a little while, but my gracious and her legacy goes on. We just had a car show in her honor and people were touched. Four years after her passing, she’s still changing life. So, yeah, life is interesting. We’re here for a moment, folks. Yeah, we’re gone, and with the rapture coming, it could be at any moment.
43:00
Yeah, the only thing that’s going to matter is let me end with this the only thing that’s going to matter I’ll tell you what Christian stuff you’re a Christian, let’s say. Most of our listeners are. The only thing that’s going to matter when you get to heaven is this how many people are in heaven because of your influence? It’s not going to matter how many little ladies you helped across the street and how many people you gave extra to this. It all counts. We’re supposed to do that. Give it to the poor. I’d rather take it that away, but at the end of the day, we can do all kinds of good things and not have anything to do with redemption. In fact, the statistics tell us now that most evangelicals think that sharing their faith is being a good person, but being a good person doesn’t get you into heaven or anybody else into heaven. Yeah, christians are doing great things, but they’re not giving God credit and so they’re respected in their community. Look at that. They’re doing all these great things and boy, it’s really nice to be honored about.
43:59
I did this and they think I’m a great person. It has nothing to do with redemption. You’re getting the glory. God doesn’t like that.
44:09
When you do something for somebody, make sure God gets the glory. Why do you do that? Well, I don’t know. God loves being. He loves to love people. Through me, I just do God’s word there’s a million ways to say it and you bring glory to God. And when you bring glory to God, that makes God happy. And now you see the whole cycle where you’re connecting with God and now he’s blessed. He’s given you more opportunity and you use that opportunity.
44:33
And if you’re faithful to a few things, you’ll make you in charge of larger things. You’ll give you bigger things than you like. Yeah, and that’s the essence of life. It’s not gonna matter how many bottles of car wax I sold. I’ve sold a lot of car wax, but everyone’s selling car wax. It doesn’t matter when I get to heaven. I like to walk around heaven. I like a lot of car wax I sold. Nobody’s gonna care. Somebody walk up to me in heaven and say to me because of your influence, I accepted Jesus Christ and I’m in heaven.
45:11
Today, how many people are going to say that’s you and you’re in heaven Right. That’s the goal, and when you do that, it puts a bounce to your step and you’re going to have joy. It will ignite your life. Now you have to tell your life and the rest of your life by just doing what God’s called you to do. That’s love on everybody. Love on everybody. Let the Holy Spirit do the rest. No responsibility. No getting out of your comfort zone. No trying to conjure up thoughts about well, I don’t have a story, I don’t have this. That’s nonsense. You got love. That’s all you need. You have got more important. You have God’s love flowing through you, right, and just allowing God to love people through you changes everything. Amen.
Chris Grainger
Host
45:59
Amen. Well, let’s take our last break and I’ll do a fun little thing with you, barry. When we get back, we have a resource that allows you to test how strong of a Christian leader you are. We designed a short quiz so you can see for yourself how prepared you are for the battle. Don’t worry, it’s multiple choice and it’s a lot of fun. So, to access this free resource, visit the lion within dot us slash quiz that’s the lion within dot us slash quiz and see if you are ready to unleash the lion within.
46:40
All right, barry, so we’re learned so much from you today. And, by the way, guys, again ignite your life. Make sure you check out the show notes I wrote all over my copy, so it’s a highly, highly recommended. But, barry, before we let you go, love to have a lightning round with you. We call it feeding time on the lion within us, where we just have a bunch of fun questions to ask you and just get you to have some insight for our listeners about you. You know outside of your of the work that you’re doing, so you, you will, in a jump in and play with us.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
47:09
Sure.
Chris Grainger
Host
47:10
All right, all right. So what’s? You are a car guy, so I got to know what’s your all time favorite car.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
47:18
Oh, that’s easy, I have. I have a few cars. I’m not a car collector, but I have a few cars. But my favorite car is my first car, a 1957 Chevy Bella hardtop black, primo. I dated my wife in it. When I get in that car I’m 16 years old. All over again. I have other cars that are more expensive, faster or whatever, but my 57 Chevy is my first love. Yeah.
Chris Grainger
Host
47:47
So that’s like, that’s like your time machine huh, oh yeah, absolutely right, exactly right. I love it. So do you have any hobbies very outside of car shows and hanging out with car guys? Any other hobbies?
Barry Meguiar
Guest
48:01
Well, I’m a beach bum, I. I’ve grown up in the beach and so I, I love the beach, I love the San Vietri and Matos. I love the sun, I run it. When, if there’s four, four places at a table and there’s one place in the in the sun, everybody runs to the shade. I take this, the city’s spot, and then I turn the chair to make sure I get full advantage of the sun. So I, I love the outdoors and I love salt water particularly, but I love water or boats, all that. That I, if you want to be just on a total relaxing, although I have so much fun doing what I do that I don’t take much time to do anymore. I just have so much fun If I, if I stop, you’ll find me at the beach, yeah, sitting in an umbrella and reading something, or just sitting there and just enjoying the glory of God’s world, yeah, Amen, amen and what’s so?
Chris Grainger
Host
48:59
what is your all time favorite food, barry? What’s your go to?
Barry Meguiar
Guest
49:03
Oh gee, I’m a foodie, I, you know I. He was saying you know that I’m off centered, perhaps, and that I’m overbearing. I’m not overbearing. I’ve never offended anybody. I’ve never had anybody run from me. By the way, I never, I never argue with anybody, ever, ever. I don’t use apologetics, I use love, and so I was arguing me. I don’t cast my pearls before it’s white. I can’t argue people into heaven, right, that’s not for me. So if you do, I don’t, and I don’t think you have to just just relax. But I, I’m a barbecue. I am a separate, separate from barbecue. I just think barbecue is a separate food group, all to itself. Right, I love to argue, but I love Texas barbecue. My favorite barbecue barbecue of all is in Dallas, downtown Dallas, called the pecan lodge, and they serve you brisket and it just melts in your mouth. It’s like a steak, it just falls apart. No sauce, you don’t need sauce If the good barbecue doesn’t even get barbecue sauce. So barbecue would be my. Yeah, it’s okay.
50:20
I have my favorite food group.
Chris Grainger
Host
50:22
Love it, love it. So a little bit more serious question here. So what’s your favorite thing about God?
Barry Meguiar
Guest
50:29
That he loves me in spite of me.
Chris Grainger
Host
50:31
Amen.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
50:34
He loves me unconditionally, that he loved me what I would. I don’t love deserve to be loved now.
Chris Grainger
Host
50:44
Yeah.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
50:45
He loves all of us the same. You know he loves you.
50:51
As much as I loved anybody. I got in a car, a taxi, in Detroit. It was seven degrees outside. I jumped in, just a short ride. I’ll give you a big tip, but I just don’t want to walk in the cold. He says I don’t want a tip. I say, excuse me, I don’t want a tip. I said, sir, why don’t you want a tip? I’m a bad person, I don’t deserve a tip.
51:20
Did you know God loves you? No, he loves you. No, I’m a Christian and out of the Bible. Really well, I can tell you a matter of fact For sure he loves you. No response. I said do you know that he loves you as much as he’s ever loved anybody? No response. I said do you know he loves you as much as he loves his own son, Jesus Christ? That’s how much he loves you. No response Well, I was quickly by destination.
51:57
I got out, he rolled his window down. He looked at me. He, just he, just his stone face. He didn’t know, he couldn’t comprehend that God loves him. I said, sir, god put me in your taxi just now because he wants you to know that he loves you and he wants you to spend the journey with him. He don’t say so then I give a big tip. I say God bless you, have a good day. Yes, did I get him saved? No, I didn’t get him saved. Do I move in closer to Jesus? You better believe I moved in closer to Jesus. I may have saved his life. He may be a preacher, I don’t know. It’s a team sport. Stop trying to get people saved today. Just love to move everybody just as closer to Jesus, and God brings a team of people around people, and so we, just we have our moment. When you have your moment, make sure you move everybody every day closer to Jesus, and that like makes your life. What can I say?
Chris Grainger
Host
52:58
Amen, amen. So now let’s flip that one to what’s your least favorite thing about Satan.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
53:06
Well, he just says so, Satan, he’s just so demonic. I mean what he’s doing to people the mutilating of children right now, you want. I mean the murdering of babies in the womb. I mean he’s a killer.
53:17
He hates us. He hates you. He wants to destroy you. He wants you to spend eternity in hell with him. That’s what he wants. And every time you go his way, he laughs at you. Don’t let him laugh at you. Rebuke you, satan. Get away from me, satan, you have nothing to do with me. In the name of Jesus, I brew. Rebuke you, satan. Get away from me. Live for God. Satan is just so, satan. He’s so demonic. He’s evil. He’s the epitome of evil. He hates me. He wants to destroy me. He hates me, he wants to destroy me.
Chris Grainger
Host
53:48
Yeah.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
53:50
I’m not about to let him do that.
Chris Grainger
Host
53:52
Amen, bro. Let’s last two here real quick. So what’s a new habit, Barry, that you have started or recently started or plan to start? Anything that’s out there that you maybe got going recently?
Barry Meguiar
Guest
54:04
that you’d like to share. You know I can’t. When you’re 80 years old, you kind of work through all the things you know and I’ve gotten to where it’s seven days a week for me. I don’t look at Saturdays or Sundays being different than the rest of the week and I love being fed every day of the week. I have great pastors in my life.
Chris Grainger
Host
54:29
Yeah.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
54:30
But then the moment I’m up the door, I’m using. I want to use everything that I got today, immediately. I want to put it to use it. I’ve been giving so much, I just can’t wait to use it and put it out there. And so I’m looking for always, for the next opportunity. I say, well again, why are you so happy? Because I’m always coming off of one of these experiences and I know I’m about to enter into another one.
54:54
Yeah, and so it’s perpetual joy, and so it’s really come down to praying without ceasing. It’s just recently occurred to me that I’m at that point in my life I’m praying to God all the time. That’s foolish, but wherever I go, I’m looking for where God wants to send me.
Chris Grainger
Host
55:16
Yeah.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
55:18
I’m looking to room full of people. Who is it you want? I can’t talk to everybody. Who do you want me to talk to God? And every conversation comes up. He was sometimes when I interrupted. It’s because it’s probably because God wants me to talk to that person. So it changes everything and so even the bad stuff is good stuff. You just look at it and it’s like you know you had a flat tire. You’re on your way. You’re on your way to an important meeting. You get a flat tire. Where are you, God? Thanks a lot, God. I thought I could depend on you. But then you find out the trip away guy there and he’s got a scoundrel’s faith. He’s all out of sorts. And you start talking to him. You find out his son just committed suicide the night before, Right. And if you hadn’t had that flat tire you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to minister to the love of God, to him. And then you find out the meeting was canceled anyway, Right. This is the more you want to live your life.
Chris Grainger
Host
56:09
Amen. Our last question for you, Barry, is what’s one thing you hope to get the listeners out there to remember from our conversation today?
Barry Meguiar
Guest
56:17
Do it, just do it. I heard that somewhere before. Just do it. I mean, stop thinking about it and just do it. You need no preparation, zero. You don’t need any preparation at all. New Christians don’t need any preparation. You just love on people. Start looking at, move, resolve right now. From this moment forward, you’re going to move. After you decide to buy my book igniteyourlifecom right now. Right now. Resolve right now. Move, start right now. Start moving. Everybody every day, post to Jesus, everybody every day, post to Jesus. When you start doing that, you immediately not down the road, you immediately step into the promise of the promise of the Roman 828. I caught the thought. I caught the favor of God. You step into the promise of Romans 828. It says when you live for my purpose to seek and save the lost, I promise you I will make everything in your life work together for good.
Chris Grainger
Host
57:19
Wow, that’s powerful. That is powerful, that’s powerful. So, barry, where do you want to point people igniteyourlifecom, so where else would you?
Barry Meguiar
Guest
57:27
want to point them. I’m going to do a lot of podcasts and you can find them all over the place Google fast, whatever. But you can just go to our website. Everything’s on the website. You just go there and it’s all fresh information, not learning anywhere else. I don’t know why that the great commission is not being taught today. If you could find the word church that says you should share your faith, they’re not telling you how and it’s so easy. You don’t need to know how, Just do it, Just do it. I gotta tell you. So, yeah, I think the podcast.
58:06
We have a separate website called seekinggodorg. This is for those who listen to us right now that don’t know the word, and you go there seekinggodorg Again. No, you don’t sign up. We don’t need to know your name, we don’t need it. There’s no passwords. Forget all that stuff. You’re just merely in the world and it will take you. If you have zero knowledge about God, this site will take you from zero knowledge about God to praying to God and receiving him as your Lord and Savior.
58:38
And I might add that on our website, wwwigniteamericacom, you can buy these cards, or there’s like 25 of them in a packet. You can buy as many as you want. They’re free. They’re sent to you free, but when you do that, you have these, you carry them around your pocket and every time you have it, you can share it with somebody before you leave them, or it might be when you leave the tip. You leave a big tip and you live. Or you might be in a hotel room and you leave it for your maid. You can use these things all over the place and you’ll never know, until you get to eternity, how many lives you’ve changed by simply leaving a simple card.
Chris Grainger
Host
59:09
So it’s all fun.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
59:11
We just do everything we can to make it really easy for you to share your faith.
Chris Grainger
Host
59:15
I love it. Well, Barry, it’s been an absolute honor. Sir, Anything else you’d like to share today?
Barry Meguiar
Guest
59:20
No, I just say do it. It’s so much fun. If you don’t do it, you’re cheating yourself. What could be more important than knowing that God’s making every year life work together for good? Romans 8, 28.
59:34
What could be more important than knowing that if from John 15, 11 that he’s going to give you joy, that my joy will remain with you and your joy will remain full? What could be more important than knowing that he’s going to answer your prayers? John 1 says I’ll answer your prayers, but don’t waver, okay. And what could be more important than knowing that God’s directing your steps? And he says in Proverbs 3, 5, I’ll direct your steps if you trust me with your whole heart. Right, all that boils down to one thing Isaiah 43-10,. When you share your faith, I point you as my witness so that you will believe. It’s so simple. And when you join in, as soon as you know it, ignite your lifecom and let us know how much fun you have with us. It’ll change your life. I’ve got to tell you, you’ll have the time of your life for the rest of your life if you just move everybody every day close to Jesus.
Chris Grainger
Host
01:00:33
Amen. Well, Barry, this has been an absolute honor. Sir, Thank you so much for joining us on the Lion with Dennis.
Barry Meguiar
Guest
01:00:38
Right on. Okay, blessings on you and thank you for your ministry.
Chris Grainger
Host
01:00:42
Every man needs to have a bunch of it is written in their life. When the attacks come, you better be ready to help you get started. I want to give you a free guide to get 10 scriptures that will have you ready to fight like a lion. Along with the guide, there are a series of messages designed to come alongside you during your mission of committing these verses to memory. So get started by visiting TheLionWithInus that’s TheLionWithInus and unlock your free guide to fight like a lion. Alright, fellas, how many of you guys are jacked up? Now? I’ll tell you what they would.
01:01:26
Barry, he’s pretty awesome. He’s pretty intense. He’s definitely a high energy guy. Love him to death.
01:01:32
Hey, to be in your 80s and have that type of energy and fire and drive for life that’s what it’s all about. I just want you to just think through the things that Barry talked about so far just having the joy in our life and how we need to really take that sharing the faith and move it forward. I want you to think about one thing what holds eternal significance versus just mere passing moments? Think about the eternal. It’s not just about the day. There’s so much more that waits for us guys to actually lean into the work and do what he’s called us to do. Like Barry said, just do it right, just do it. So you need to have that eternal significance at the front of mind and that should be driving your actions. If you do that, you’re going to find the stuff that Barry talked about, the joy that you’re just going to have. Look, he’s lost a child. He almost lost his business. He’s gone through his own personal trials himself. He’s not like everything’s going on cupcakes and rainbows for Barry McGuire. That’s not the case. He’s choosing to find joy, no matter what his circumstances, and that is so hard. But, as a Christian, that is available to us. We can tap into it.
01:02:46
So, fellas, hopefully you enjoyed this one. If you did, I’d encourage you to share it with others. That’s the biggest way you can help the podcast. Just share it with others. Let them know about the line with them. Just talk about it in your church group or things like that, your men’s group, maybe. Just talk about it at work, wherever you want to play. Maybe you have this podcast playing or things that others can hear it. They can open up a conversation for you to share about your testimony. So that’s the greatest way you can help us. You can also give us a rating and review. I’d encourage you to hop over to the lionwithanus. That’s the lionwithanus. All our resources are there. We completely redesigned everything there. There are tons of free resources to help you get going, particularly the 30 days to unleash the lionwithan. I’m telling you guys, this thing is incredible. The feedback has been phenomenal on this series.
01:03:31
Once you get out there, maybe you want to join our daily spiritual kickoff, maybe you want to join our community. Or if you’re a business leader and you want some help actually taking your faith and incorporating that into your day to day business life, hey, we have a program for that too. It’s called the Leadership Coalition Program. We’re taking God’s principles and we’re teaching them to business leaders so they can walk this stuff out. So it’s not just a Sunday sitting-in-a-pew thing.
01:03:54
How can we walk our faith and incorporate it into our daily life? And walk our faith and incorporate that into our career each and every day? So check that out. If you’re interested in that, we’ve got an application there. Submit your application today and we’ll make sure it’s a good fit and we’ll move it forward and help you guys. Just keep taking God’s word and applying it to our life. All right, fellas, we’ll come back on Friday. We’ll have some good dad jokes for you. A couple tips. Hopefully we’ll get you charged up and ready for the weekend. Thank you again for taking the time to listen to Spamleshi the Lion with them.