How Leaders Think with Kenny Lange

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:00:00]:
One of my favorite passages to whom much is given, much is required. And God has given me a lot. There comes a lot of responsibility, and I'm okay with that because if I don't do it, he can find somebody else. I'm replaceable. He's not.

Kenny Lange [00:00:20]:
Welcome to the how leaders think podcast, the show that transforms you by renewing your mind and giving you new ways to think. I am your host, Kenny Lang, and with me today is the Kilton O. McCracken Sr. I think you win the award for longest name, so that's cool. Gold star for you. He is the founding and lead pastor of one Nation church. He really does have an amazing story of God's faithfulness and likes to say that when God calls us into the unknown, it can be scary, especially when you're leading a family amenity, who is depending on you for the very essential things of life. But God is faithful and can be depended on when he calls you to himself.

Kenny Lange [00:01:00]:
Not only has he ventured out into being a founding and lead pastor, but he also started his own real estate business or practice. He's also built an amazing community at his last job with the mentoring alliance. So he's just a talented guy who loves God and loves people. People. Welcome to the show, kilt.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:01:20]:
Thank you, Kenny. I'm super excited to be on. Never thought I would be doing a podcast with you, but I'm super excited about it and looking forward to the conversation and looking forward to growing, growing with you and growing on this podcast.

Kenny Lange [00:01:36]:
Absolutely. Yeah. I never would have thought that this was going to happen. Back when we met, I was trying to migrate y'all's crazy data.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:01:45]:
Yeah, Mandy.

Kenny Lange [00:01:46]:
And because all your people chose to type in things every different way that was humanly imaginable.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:01:53]:
Yeah. Yep. I remember that. It was. Our CRM was a mess at mentoring alliance, so you came to our rescue.

Kenny Lange [00:02:00]:
So it's all organized now.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:02:03]:
Yeah.

Kenny Lange [00:02:03]:
So. But I got a few. Few of these gray hairs over here, I think came from that. From that project.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:02:09]:
Yeah.

Kenny Lange [00:02:09]:
Well, I'm excited to have you, and I am interested in knowing what is on your mind.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:02:17]:
So currently, what's on my mind right now is I'm ready to take vacation with my family, to just get away and not have a lot of responsibility. Real estate is on my mind, you know, with the way the marketing is right now, and something that's always on my mind is just the people that I get an opportunity to shepherd.

Kenny Lange [00:02:36]:
I'm curious then when you talk with whether it's other real estate agents or even other pastors, lead pastors in particular. Those are two professions, which are, one, they're heavily people focused. And two require a lot of hands on attention, especially when you're growing your own business. You can't pass things off to a lot of people. When you're building a church, when you're growing an organization, whether it is a church or it's a nonprofit or something like that, it requires a lot of the founders attention. But I hear you talking about vacation, which is something that most people in your position or in just one of those, they wouldn't really be thinking about. They would think it would be nice if we could. But if I step away, this whole thing crumbles.

Kenny Lange [00:03:30]:
I'm curious, do you hear that sort of narrative with your fellow real estate agents and pastors?

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:03:37]:
Most definitely. As a leader, it's. Sometimes it's our fault, because we build everything around ourselves. And I know that from being a former pastor in Kilgore, it just, everything was essentially on me. And the beautiful thing about one nation church is I have a ton of help. But, you know, that church is not built on me. I know I'm the lead pastor, but one day I'm gonna be dead and gone, and that church is still gonna still go on. It's still gonna thrive because it's not centered around one personality.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:04:15]:
That's dangerous, especially for a church, but it's certainly dangerous for any organization if it's built on just one personality. I'm not, you know, pushing my responsibility off as the lead pastor, but I also know that there is one true shepherd of the church, and that's Jesus Christ. So we built it like that to where there's other responsible people there, and it's working.

Kenny Lange [00:04:45]:
I want to go back to something you just said when. When you talked about you've intentionally built the church, which is growing and thriving, not to be based on your personality. Now, I think there probably have been some pastors who have built their church that way. We are not going to name names, but there's also some that it, unintentionally, it became that most dead. I think there's a lot of well meaning pastors who started a church because God called them out to it. And you and I both know from just the business, the organizational development side, that, you know, people may join organizations, but they. They stay for the people, and they also leave because of the people. Right.

Kenny Lange [00:05:32]:
So how did you go about thinking through, as you were planting the church? I remember, you know, sitting down with you, you had your prospectus you were. You were getting ready to really, like, launch out and make a go of it, and it was exciting. But in those initial phases, what were some of maybe the wisdom you got from other pastors? Because I know you went and met with some established churches and pastors to maybe avoid some of these potholes. What were some of the things that you took into consideration from the beginning so you didn't have to experience that pain of, well, if it's going to be, it's up to me sort of syndrome that so many of your peers might be going through?

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:06:13]:
Yeah. So it originally just started from my experience as a lead pastor in Kilgore. I just. I was tired. I was tired of the way it was set up. And that's not blaming the people. It's not blaming anybody, but it's just how traditionally it was set up. And a lot of it rested on my shoulders.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:06:37]:
All of it rested on my shoulders. And eventually, after five years, it just got tired. So that experience led into planting one nation church. I knew that I didn't want to plant it and build it the way that it was when I was in Kilgore. And then my good friend Jason Smith, who at the time was one of the mission pastors at Green Acres. And we started meeting every Friday, starting in 2021, around the springtime, all the way up until we launched in 2022 in March. So we met every Friday, and he gave me some real good advice, just wisdom about the dangers of church planting, but the positives of church planting. And a lot of the conversation was just surrounding, you know, who else is going to be helping.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:07:29]:
And so one of the things I would tell potential people that were considering joining our church is this thing is not mapped out. I'm not inviting people into a fully baked idea, and I want you to come behind me and we push this thing forward. I was literally inviting people into the unknown, literally the unknown, because God had not revealed all of the plan. And, you know, if you focus just on the church, you're going to miss the call that he had for my family initially, a deeper, you know, faith in him. But anybody who joined, especially during that time of planting, they were exercising faith in God because he hadn't fully revealed to us what exactly the church was going to be. We saw nuggets and pieces of it, but it was never fully revealed. And that time, even though it was stressful, it was hard, but it was a great time.

Kenny Lange [00:08:33]:
Yeah. Which. It's all. It's all. Everything looks much better in hindsight, right? I look back on my first company and like, oh, yeah, I did. I felt like I was doing the same thing I was in. I was hiring employees into somewhat of the unknown. Like, yeah, I don't have this all figured out.

Kenny Lange [00:08:51]:
I have a. Have a vague sense of direction, but which I think is interesting when you do that, is, is other people get to help shape it. Do you feel that doing that God not revealing maybe the full picture and still needing to invite people in to participate in the church without having all the details? That part of it was allowing other people to come in and bring what, maybe what the gifts and callings and things that God placed in them to help shape it. That even shaping the whole church wasn't a uniquely Kilton. Like, it was just Kilton, just him. He went up on the mountain, he came back down. He has the idea of one nation church, but there was an exercise in allowing other people to contribute to the larger picture and story and idea of one nation church. Do you feel like that happened with you, or.

Kenny Lange [00:09:54]:
And do you feel like you set out to do that, or do you think that was just a function of not having the picture?

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:10:01]:
Like you said, I think it's a combination of both. I knew going into it that the people that were going to be invited into it, whether I knew them or God, was going to provide them in the future, I knew that they were going to be intricate pieces to shaping it. But I'm going to tell you this, it required a lot of faith, obedience, and humility on my part, because the first members of one nation church was myself, my wife, and my two kids. I remember sitting down in the family room, and we were telling my two kids that we were going to not be going back to the church on Kilgore. And it's a scary thought, because as you're bringing people in, you're having to still trust God. And we went to a church planning cohort, and me and my wife did. And I remember one of the things that I took away from that conference was, you don't need passengers, you don't need pirates or stowaways. You need crew members.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:11:16]:
And I remember with that mindset of, we need crew members that are. That are going to come in, that are going to help. But I'm also, I have to remain as the lead pastor while also allowing other people to, you know, utilize their gifts. And I'm going to tell you that was a shift and a transition for me because church is not a, it's not like a traditional business. It's different. It is different. And I had to make sure that I allowed other people to leave while also making sure that we maintain the vision that God had showed me initially. You know, he showed that vision to me initially, and my job was to portray it to people while also letting other people join it, even though it was me who he gave it to first.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:12:13]:
So there was a certain balance that had to happen.

Kenny Lange [00:12:18]:
Right. Which. That can be scary. Right. The vision can excite you whether you're planting a church or starting a business or even starting a new project inside of a business. You're sort of an entrepreneur or starting a new ministry is you get all excited about it, and then people get involved and it gets messy.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:12:42]:
Right.

Kenny Lange [00:12:42]:
And striking that what I hear you saying is trying to strike that balance between staying true to what you felt called to do while not having a chokehold on it. Right. Of saying, no, no, no. Like, you can't do any. Just do what I say. You don't actually get to. Don't be a crew member. Like, basically, how can you allow people to become crew members instead of just telling them, just be quiet, passengers.

Kenny Lange [00:13:13]:
Right. And bask in the brilliance of the vision that God gave me. Right. Or the excellent, amazing business that's going to transform the world, just kind of watch me do it. But I might need your help periodically. Being that one, you felt like you had a strong vision. What was helpful to you in allowing other people who maybe they caught a glimpse of it and maybe they saw their role in the story and they want to contribute, but maybe it wasn't exactly the way that you thought they would contribute. What helped you stay humble and open to how things were going to get done while adhering to the.

Kenny Lange [00:14:02]:
What you felt needed to be accomplished?

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:14:06]:
Yeah. So that's pretty simple. I believed in what God said, like it was his name on the line, not mine. You know, I know a lot of people, and I knew I was going to have to answer the question, why are you leaving Kilgore? I knew I was going to have to answer this other question. You know, why are you planning a church? And I was having a conversation with my boss from internal alliance, Ann Ferguson, on the way to talk to the deacons at the church in Kilgore to tell them I was leaving. And I remember she said, how do you feel? And my words were, I'm actually okay, because it's not my name that's on the line. Everybody that asks me what's going on, I'm going to tell them. God said to do this.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:14:50]:
And it's his name, it's his reputation, and he's not going to allow his reputation, his name to fail. And so I've trusted in what God has showed me. That's what allowed me to navigate through these tough times, you know, leaving, mentoring alliance prematurely. I wanted to stay, you know, until we launched, but it just didn't work out. And that helped me get through those tough times. Working at a car wash, you know, it helped me get through those times because I knew that I didn't just come up with this on my own. Like, this was God's heart, you know, being revealed. And I believe.

Kenny Lange [00:15:36]:
I love that because it sounds like it really helped you mentally and emotionally take yourself out of the spotlight.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:15:46]:
Yeah.

Kenny Lange [00:15:47]:
Right. Like, you could hold the title of lead or founding pastor, but like you said, it wasn't. It wasn't on Kilton to make it happen. You were a participant, certainly you. I mean, you're laying out all the things you did.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:16:01]:
You.

Kenny Lange [00:16:01]:
You work hard, you've got energy, you've got passion, you know, just like in your bio, like when your family's depending on you for the essential things of life. Right. And I think there. I would imagine there's. There are a lot of people, men and women, listening.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:16:16]:
Yeah.

Kenny Lange [00:16:16]:
That feel that burden to be there. And, you know, I don't know exactly how to address those people who don't have a faith in Jesus other than to say, like, it's. I don't know how you're making it through life without it.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:16:31]:
Right.

Kenny Lange [00:16:32]:
Especially the difficult sections. But if you do have faith in Christ, realizing, and I'm saying this out loud, processing as someone who's in the midst of what you were talking about, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to have you on, because our conversation at field day.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:16:48]:
Yeah.

Kenny Lange [00:16:48]:
Just struck me as, oh, okay, so here's somebody is a few steps ahead of it. Does feel. It's easy to feel. It is all on you.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:16:58]:
Yeah.

Kenny Lange [00:16:59]:
Even if. Even if you're like, well, this is a good thing. I'm not doing a bad thing. I'm doing a good thing. Like, every good thing should happen if I'm doing a good thing, but it doesn't mean it won't be hard. Right. And taking yourself out of the spotlight has allowed you to connect deeply with others who could contribute to the vision, but keeps you in a place to where you're not that worn out, tired. That picture of like you said you were feeling at your previous church or so many other entrepreneurs, leaders, founders, feel that.

Kenny Lange [00:17:37]:
That burnout. It really sounds like this has created a layer of protection for you from that so that you can continue to perform at a high level and do the good work you're meaning to do. Because if you're in a church, if you're in a nonprofit, I mean, if you boil it all down, your job is to radically and positively impact people for the better.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:18:01]:
That's it, man. And you talked about.

Kenny Lange [00:18:03]:
And that drains you. You can't pour from an empty cup.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:18:07]:
Yeah, you talked about this earlier. The two jobs I have, you know, God is a God of humor, because I, between real estate and pastoring, it is the contact with people. I mean, it's high. I didn't realize how much real estate is similar to pastoring because I'm having a shepherd deals like, it's. It blows my mind how similar they are, and it requires a lot. And, you know, it's one of my favorite passages to whom much is given, much is required, and God has given me a lot. And there. There comes a lot of responsibility with what he's given me to, and I'm okay with that because, you know, if.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:18:58]:
If I don't do it, he can find somebody else. Like, it's. I'm replaceable. He's not. So when I. When I live to my last breath, I want people to be able to say, man, he ran hard for the Lord. And his reward now is. Is being with him completely full time.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:19:18]:
So.

Kenny Lange [00:19:19]:
Hmm.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:19:20]:
Mm hmm.

Kenny Lange [00:19:22]:
Right. And I know being that you said you have two kids, and obviously one of them is moving up same, same grade as my younger two, and you got a younger one, how much does, what you're doing now? How much do you think about what are my kids seeing in me? Because obviously, I mean, you and your wife, I mean, great marriage, ups and downs, you know, you're in the thick of it, right. It's like a buddy movie, right? You're back to back. You're fighting the world, doing things like that together, which is great. How much, how much does, what you're doing, even if it doesn't directly involve them. Do you think about, what are my kids seeing me, do you know? Cause more, as one of my pastors says, frequently more is caught than taught.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:20:14]:
Right.

Kenny Lange [00:20:15]:
So do you think about what your kids are catching from you in this over the last couple of years, this season, where it's been a series of big, bold moves?

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:20:24]:
Yeah, I definitely think about that because I don't say it like Morris caught up whatever you just mentioned, but I do know, they watch, and what we do is just as valuable as our words. And I think what they've seen over the last few years is how they are a priority even in the midst of all the changes. My son, I go to all my son's practices. I go to all his games. My daughter, she just got done with soccer. I go to all her soccer games, and I don't miss those things. As busy as I am with church and real estate, I am a very active parent. And so they see that they are growing up totally different than I did, and they see the commitment that I have to my family through all of these transitions.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:21:19]:
They see someone who is, you know, don't give up when things are tough, and they'll understand that a little bit more as they get older. But right now, they see consistency. And that is key when it comes to, you know, being successful in life. Even as a believer, we have, we have to be consistent. So me and you are always at the field day.

Kenny Lange [00:21:48]:
I think through that a lot.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:21:50]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kenny Lange [00:21:52]:
Crawling through culvert pipes, parents and pe.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:21:55]:
Yeah, yeah.

Kenny Lange [00:21:56]:
So, yeah, I mean, you are. I can testify. I'll be a witness. Kilton is at absolutely everything because I'm the same way. I try to show up at every event, even if my kids forget to tell me until the day before. Yeah, they are not great at the information passing, but every time I show up, I usually look up and I was like, oh, there's Kilton over there. So I have seen that in you, and I have always admired that even, because sometimes that can be easier when you're somebody else's employee. And I'm not saying that in a derogatory way, but sometimes like, oh, yeah, I have some PTo, I have some time, or I work in a very family friendly business that encourages that sort of thing.

Kenny Lange [00:22:47]:
So they're the ones who are creating the air cover for you to do it. It hits different as, I don't know if the kids are saying that I'm saying it, but it hits different when you're at the top of the ladder or the pyramid or whatever structure you prefer, and you realize that no one else is covering for you in those moments, so to speak, because there are some things that only you can do.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:23:14]:
Right.

Kenny Lange [00:23:14]:
But I think what I hear you saying is when you think about that, yes, selling the house, no one else can go and be Kilton McCracken, the real estate agent. Like, can represent your client at a deal. No one else can really do that, but also, no one else could be dad. Right, right. No one else can show up in that role. In those moments, like, if you truly start thinking about what are the things that only I can do? There are only a few things, but there's, I think, even more rare things when we start thinking about the position we hold within our family and as parents, the way that we show up in leadership to lead our spouse, and that goes bi directionally. Don't send me emails, but, you know, we. My wife and I feel like we show up and have to lead each other and take turns on that, given the situation.

Kenny Lange [00:24:07]:
We take turns, like leading the kids and how we show up. So I love that you. That you say that. That you hold space for that, even if you feel like somebody at the church may really needed some pastoral counseling one evening. But you've got. You've got a game to get to.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:24:23]:
Yeah.

Kenny Lange [00:24:24]:
And it's hard to house a deal that could really financially benefit your family. You're like, well, that helps all of us. But if I'm not there, like, what does that communicate? Right. And it sounds like you found a way to weigh those situations in your mind, because neither are bad.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:24:43]:
Right.

Kenny Lange [00:24:44]:
Pastoring somebody and giving counsel isn't a negative thing. Helping close a deal for your client to get them into maybe their first home and bringing some money home to put food on the table for your kids or afford those activities that they're going into, that's not bad. And neither is showing up. Is there something in you or something you feel God has shown you that helps you divide between good options? Because when I talk to leaders, that's the more difficult situation they find themselves in. My joke is, nothing I do is cocaine. And it's like, well, do I stop going to church? Do I stop making money and providing for my family? Or do I stop showing up and being dad? Or do I stop doing cocaine?

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:25:30]:
Right.

Kenny Lange [00:25:31]:
Well, it's pretty easy, given those choices, but I don't have that. How have you arrived at such a place to make those decisions confidently?

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:25:41]:
Well, my wife helps me with that because she is going to definitely remind me, you know, if I'm. If I'm real busy over the course of, you know, days or weeks, she's gonna. She's gonna remind me. And those are. Those are great reminders. And, you know, I haven't arrived there yet. It is still a process, and I'm working on that. And, you know, the good thing is I do have a cut off.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:26:12]:
Like, I know. I know when it's time for me to. To take a step back or to get a break. And, you know, especially with the, you know, kids activities and things like that. Like this summer, my son has played basketball every weekend. Every Saturday he's played around east Texas. And then last week, we were up in Dallas. And I'm not showing houses on Saturdays.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:26:38]:
Like, I'm not doing open houses. I'm not showing houses. I may take a phone call or something, but I'm nothing that day is blocked off of me. And my clients know that because my son is only going to be this age one time, and my daughter is only going to be this age one time. And I have a marriage, and so we're spending those days together, and so I know when to cut it off. And my wife really helps me. Helps me with that.

Kenny Lange [00:27:09]:
Mm hmm. That with scripture, he who finds a wife found, finds a good thing. Let's upgrade that great thing. I'm not trying to rewrite scripture. Lord, don't strike me down. But I love that because making those boundaries sounds like it's also kept you healthy, right? Like, not less busy or less productive, but it's kept you healthier in that, you know, there's a book by Todd Henry called the Accidental creative, and it's not just for people who like to do art and whatnot, but he had three, probably make a Venn diagram, because who doesn't love a good Venn diagram? But three things he said, you got to be prolific, brilliant, and healthy is, you know, you got to do a lot of work at a high level over a sustained period of time. And what I hear you saying is you're making sure that you're staying healthy and, and how you're drawing boundaries and how you're designing teams to help you, you know, in particular at the, at the church. And that has allowed you not only to, you know, you're doing quite well with real estate.

Kenny Lange [00:28:20]:
One nation churches has been taken off pretty much since the beginning, and then that's been fun to watch all the photos on Facebook and Instagram and stuff. So for the leaders who are wired like they're that high drive. And I also want to be clear to everybody, like, Gilton's not, not low gearing any of this stuff. He seems like, he seems chill and relaxed, and you see the beautiful lighting in the background that just seems like warm beams of sunlight. He's not sitting up in a hammock somewhere, just letting things come to him. Even when you hear him talk about God leading him into stuff. I've seen him work, and he work your butt off, man, to stay in a. What's that?

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:29:08]:
I'm a gas pedal. My wife is the brake pedal. Matter of fact, my wife is the emergency brake and the brake pedal. I'm the gas pedal. Like, can I do something? I'm gonna give 110%. You know, we need to talk about. I'm on some boards.

Kenny Lange [00:29:25]:
Cause why else do it?

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:29:26]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny Lange [00:29:28]:
Oh, yeah, you are. I say all that to tee up the fact that if someone is listening and thinking, oh, well, he's just not. He doesn't run in this high gear. Like, no, man, he's as high a gear as anybody I talked to. But in. And you've said it a couple times. You didn't. You didn't get this way overnight.

Kenny Lange [00:29:49]:
You didn't find, like, the boundaries and the brake pedals and the. Or appreciate that, because I imagine, much like my wife and I, we have a similar dynamic. She's more brake pedal than. Than I am. I'm like all gas, and I'm hitting the nos button like I'm on fast and furious. I've not always appreciated the brake pedal and. And how good and how helpful that can be. And there's, you know, different brake pedals in my life.

Kenny Lange [00:30:16]:
What would you say to that high drive leader, that person, that maybe they do feel God's called them out into something, or they just. They have a big vision and they're chasing after it with everything that they have, but it feels like it's just taken the life out of them. Right. And they feel like it wasn't supposed to be this way. How can I stay in a healthy place and what's something maybe in the next 24 hours with little to no money that they can do to start to implement those healthy boundaries and breaks?

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:30:47]:
I would initially say if God called that person to it, they're not the ones maintaining or sustaining it. Anyway, I think we forget about our role eternally. I think we completely forget that we're a small part of God's story. And I don't want to be the person that walks around with this heavy burden, knowing or believing that if I don't do it, it's going to fail. And that's what Jesus, he took care of that on the cross. So whatever God calls us to, he is the master behind it. He is the one that is maintaining it. He's the one that's sustaining it.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:31:34]:
He's going to give you the people. And we live in a society where we are geared toward, we believe that success is only by numbers, and we put all of our emphasis on that. And when it's not growing based on our standards, we go faster and we go harder. And that's not how God is. That's not what his ultimate plan is. And so even with one nation church, we're at about 55 people, and we're not going to have no massive, you know, influx of people where next year we're at 600. I don't think that's going to happen. But we don't grade our success off of just the numerical growth, even though that's a part of it.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:32:25]:
I think God wants us to rest in him, and we can still go fast. We can still be the people that he's wired us to be, but we have to trust that he called us to it. And if you just take the next 24 hours and think about that, that he called me to this and trust in him, trust in his whole plan. Christ didn't call us into it. Give us the. Throw us a backpack and say, all right, you finished the job. He finished it. It's done.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:33:00]:
And so that, to me, that is freedom. And now when I run hard and I run fast, I'm doing it as unto the Lord. Colossians three, I'm not doing it to make something happen. I'm doing it because I know he is the one that has it all in his hands. So my running heart is different from a lot of people. My running heart is I'm running hard, I'm running fast because I'm doing it as unto him and not to seek somebody's approval or to. Or to grow something numerically. You don't make me preach on.

Kenny Lange [00:33:43]:
You may have ventured into episode two. Go ahead. All right. I almost said amen about three or four times. There's actually a book, I want to.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:33:52]:
Grab it real quick.

Kenny Lange [00:33:56]:
That you made me think of. A new friend of mine that I just connected with wrote this and sent it to me. And it is, from a faith perspective called it is not your business to succeed, and talks about taking your eyes off of the numbers. Like you were saying, the numerical success, the outcomes being so outcome focused is, well, did I put in. Was I obedient? Did I put in the effort I was supposed to and was able to? And then I trust God with. With the outcomes. But, yeah, man, we may have a whole second episode just on that. We'll have you back.

Kenny Lange [00:34:34]:
Kilton, this has been fantastic. Always enjoy talking with you. If someone wanted to know more about you, one nation church, or if they're local and they're like, hey, I want to buy several million dollar homes, where, where would you send them? How can they connect with you?

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:34:50]:
So the easiest way is my cell phone. There are other platforms, but the easiest way is my cell phone. 903-948-7182 I told you at the beginning of this podcast, I am a verbal processor. I love sitting down with people and talking to people. And also our website for the church, onenationchurchtyler.org. that's our website, one nationchurchtler.org. we also have social media. I'm on social media.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:35:24]:
Kilton McCracken, Oval McCracken Senior we're our face. Our church is on Facebook and Instagram as well, so it's pretty easy to connect with us. But I love sharing God's story of his faithfulness and how he has done exactly what he said he was going to do. And I love telling that story to make sure people don't try to pat me on the back, but they really focus on what God has done through this process.

Kenny Lange [00:35:50]:
I appreciate you sharing. It's always an encouragement to me to hear you talk about what God's done in and through you and your family. We'll link up all of those places on social media and websites and whatnot. And then if we mention any books or resources, you can find those in the show. Notes Kilton, thank you so much for being a guest. I hope that you will be a guest again in the the future. Well, for our listeners, thank you so much for spending your time with us. This was great.

Kenny Lange [00:36:18]:
I hope you got a lot out of this. But if you got value from the conversation, maybe just a gold nugget or two or any of the other episodes, I would greatly appreciate a like a subscribe a rate, a review, and it's also a free way to help your fellow leaders. We're all just trying to take our, our next steps in leadership and be better leaders for the people that are looking to us for direction. So if I, if you got value, please share it, pay it forward. Until next time. Change the way you think. Change the way you leave.

Kilton O. McCracken Sr. [00:36:50]:
We'll see.