Guys people on today show I am joined by Crystal Harris the founder and owner of Bible over everything You know if you listen to this podcast We love the Bible and the Bible is always the most important thing in the root and source of everything We talk about here, and so we're gonna discuss this brand owner how she grew up how she felt like an outside I can talk I can talk I can talk yo, and you go listen. We talk to Crystal her college experience and how she grew up That was a wack freestyle. I'll sit back relax and enjoy this inspiration My wife thinks I'm crazy. How do we get here?
I can't believe y'all let me have a show I see you let me admire you he gave you vision and purpose but you struggle to dream because it's easy to It was so much but it's this thing your genes but was in them was denim I guess within them there's a different perspective that I'm trying to present them It ain't always peace when you see the piece, huh? It'll make you a Levi cuz you right Levi's what's up people? I am your host J Will And I would like to welcome you to inspire guys people where we balance faith and business to guide you to your purpose I y'all feeling up there in podcast and land today. I appreciate you joining me We have an excellent episode and conversation that's gonna be taking place with myself and crystal Harris and guess what?
We pretty much gonna jump right into it. I only got a couple things to say before here first of all Thanks for all the love on the last episode 143 welcome to the metaverse Way more of y'all was feeling that then I expected I thought that was just gonna be something where I nerd out and talk my talk and you know Have people hit me up like why did you even go there? But To my surprise I got a whole bunch of feedback and most of y'all were actually responding to the exact same thing everyone liked the approach of Contributors versus consumers so we gonna continue to build contributors that is part of the goal of this show as we are You know walking in our purpose. We have to be a contributor not just a consumer Um, what else did I get from that episode?
Um some people wanted to hear a little more about nft's non fungible tokens So maybe I will do a follow up quick take or something It won't be as long as that one but y'all let me know what y'all what more y'all want to hear about the metaverse again I'm pretty well versed in it now I don't call myself an expert because there's just so much more to learn And um, it ain't like I've been in it for years and you know the the metaverse itself is really just the surface like you really have endove into Um, what actually is coming in what's happening in the world and I'm just a believer that Education is stronger than fear. It's more powerful than fear. We can't always be you know reacting to everything I'm trying my best to be proactive and that's what I'm encouraging the listeners to this podcast to be Um to be able to make your own judgment like we live in the world now man Where we want people to make all of our decisions for us We want the government to tell us when we can go outside what we can wear, you know What we got to put in our bodies and you know, we look for politicians and tellers, okay What's the words we can use what can't we use? I am very much a person that believes no I don't want to manipulate you.
I don't want to control you I want to provide education and resources from a biblical standpoint so that you can make decisions for yourself Look at that guy. I blessed you with the ability to make decisions Yo, if you are a new listener to this show, thank you and welcome I do want you to do me a favor shoot me a text. Here's the number 839462518 just text that number But here's what I want you to put in the message be inspired It's all together one word no spaces be I in sp i-r-e-d be inspired Text that to this number 833 9462518 you are going to be a part of inspire guys people text community and um, I'm gonna be real with y'all those of y'all who've been rocking with me for a minute No, this is something that I'm building from the ground up Um, I'm not good yet at like staying in touch through the text I just hope y'all appreciate that you don't get spammed by joining what we do But I am working on ways to provide value Um, just be patient with me, you know, I pay for this service every month by the way So I got to do something with it because right now it's just um, a liability All right enough about me in this podcast and you know all the other stuff Let's get into um our interview for the day, which I'm excited again to jump into Rock with me people rock with me email me jamae what's the music I gmail.com let me know what you think about this show What topics do you want to hear what you're tired of hearing what you love about it? What you like about it?
Oh that good stuff and share it with a friend Let me interview you this what we gon do You gon talk to me and I'm gon talk to you maybe on the phone or possibly in person Either way it goes. Can we talk your purpose? I am excited today Man, I hit up somebody that I've been kind of following online for a long time And it's always cool when you've been following people online and you get to have a conversation with them So today we have crystal heres founder and owner of bible over everything crystal. What's up?
How you doing? Hello hello so excited to be here excited to be part of this interview I'm excited to talk about bible over everything. Thank you so much for the invite I've been following you for quite some time. I'm just um even that much more inspired as you have reached out to me So yeah, let's go with it.
Thanks sweet. Yeah, yeah, no doubt man. It's always cool, right? I think you know, I guess just as a quick starting point right there people don't always understand the power of social media and like what it was originally intended to do Um, it really is for you know when you think about social networking now again for some people that could be personal but you know for me I've always valued um Social media and the people I follow because I look at it like man You don't know who you're following and you're at whatever starting point and you get to watch this person grow Into whatever they're gonna do.
So um you've been one of those people like I said We've been following each other for a long time bible over everything always crosses my feet. I've seen some cool things So yeah, this is this is gonna be dope. Um, so I guess like let's start with Um, maybe a little bit of your upbringing, you know, tell us a little bit about crystal Give us the background and like, you know, what your reputation was growing up What type of household did you come from and whatever you want the listeners and audience to know about, you know, just who you are at your core And we'll help shape you. Let's kind of start there and see where this goes Absolutely.
Well, as far as my household is concerned, I've always come from the household that well, I come from the household that my parents are Heavy in the church mind, tired family and in the ministry, my mom and evangelist and my father Deacon in the church and they always had They've always had expectation in the house as far as you know, like the students says in Joshua I'm in my house. We shall we will serve the Lord and so that's exactly how we were raised. I've always had is I've always loved God now I've not always Had a relationship with them, but I've always had a love for church and I was raised to love God And when I started off, you know, I started off really having that love for God But you know, you always had that point where you make a decision for yourself that I am going to serve the Lord And so that is you know, I got to that point where I decided for my own self I'm going to start the Lord and I'm just at the difference between just doing church stuff and actually having relationships So that's that's where my love for God became That's where I started actually have a relationship with God is when I understood the difference that there's truly a difference You can be brought up in church and actually not have a relationship. You can do things in church and actually not have a relationship and So I'm just excited that you know that I was able to get to that point where I understood that the Lord Extended the opportunity to me to to have a relationship with him and having that understanding But yeah, that's how that was my lifestyle my lifestyle was always in the church doing things and I'm always in the type of person Even as a child growing up and trying to tell everybody about Jesus Even as people will tell you that who were connected to me even in the church even my school friends I was always quick to tell someone about Jesus always quick to tell them to introduce them to God I was always quick to um somebody was sick.
I remember a classmate was sick and I was always you know trying to um, you know, lay hands Not good, you know Right, right. It's not good. Yeah, no, that's cool. That's that's cool.
Um, you was in school laying hands on people That's always dope like when people really you know because even growing up in church growing up in church is different levels to that like Some people grow up in church and you wouldn't know it unless you were in church with them. Um, you talked about like This like coming to know God for yourself, you know or and making that decision Like how old was that like, you know, so obviously you were young and you were like you said always had a love for God Um, but i'm curious like around what age was it that it got serious for you and then like what drove that? Like was there something that happened that made you um want to get serious or was it just organic? so In his heart to explain but I always felt that I was serious about God because I was always raised or in that environment So I always had that feeling that mindset that I was serious about him.
I was uh that I had relationship And and you know and I carried that through school Um, but then at the same time, you know, there were there were things that that drew me away Um, like they say curiosity kills the cat. So there were things that drew me away I always had that growing up especially when I hit high school. I always had this curiosity about what some of my peers were doing in high school Why can't I go here? Why can't I go there?
Why can't and that's where that attitude came in really in high school? And there was always so so that was and I didn't like feeling like the outsider Um, sometimes I felt like an outsider because you know, a lot of people weren't calling me to do certain They were sometimes in the church a lot of people weren't calling me because I just had a different lifestyle and I was taught to live differently Um from a biblical standpoint. So a lot of people didn't call my you know call my phone Um, and I you know, I felt left out a lot and uh, so I just had like this curiosity, you know, there was sometimes even just like a ball game Now I didn't have there was not an issue as far as like going to a ball game or anything like that like a football game But it was the company but see the I didn't have many friends and so that was that was a kicker for me So, you know, I was drawn to um drawn away Um, I want to say I always still operated in the church But at the same time I was drawn away when it came down to um, my heart's desires Um, and so it wasn't until I went to say I went to um, and it's called I was in the reason ministries, um in my particular denomination in the church Uh, there was a there was a convention and it was I think it was around 21 years old that um, I was dating somebody I had absolutely no business date None what so ever um our our our lifestyle were completely different Totally opposite as far as what I believed and what he believed but that was that curiosity in me That wanted to see I want to what this is I used to um, like some unusual Generally, I just tell you like that And so and I had really drifted away from that my heart my attitude my spirit I had really drifted away from that, but I knew I need a guy in my life I knew I drew it away. I knew I had I needed to make that decision So I remember that there was a preacher, you know, he just got through preaching and I got to the altar And I said, Lord, whatever you do don't pass me by remember me.
Don't don't pass me by inviting right in there Um, I was a little bit of my sins and I was delivered right then and there and um, the the holy spirit came in broke all the chains And when I tell you from that moment, I had I was not the same. I mean I just did not even have the same appetite This desires immediately. I was delivered from that and so I um, I even when I got back to my hotel room I called that individual and cut it off just that simple So, so then um from there. No, no, I'm sorry.
Go ahead. No, I was saying cold turkey like yeah, that's yeah, that's dope. Um, You know what's interesting like you cover you said a couple of things that I resonate with personally And I don't know that I've ever heard anyone actually talk about so I do want to ask you a couple questions just around like That idea of like feeling left out, right? I think this is something that a lot of people don't think about because typically right When a person is younger trying to do the right thing.
There's a negative connotation around it. So Teachers pet goody two shoes like if you really think about it A lot of times we probably force people into being bad people because we make them feel so bad for wanting to do good And I think it's because and I'm just curious of your thoughts on what I'm about to say I think that's because people don't truly understand those who have a made-up mind and what I mean by that is People think that when you have a made-up mind to try to do the right thing That is because you think you're perfect and they're turned off by this idea that you're trying so hard to do something That they've pretty much accepted that they can't do and I know that's not the case. Um, so I'm just curious like how How serious was like the the feeling left out for you like because you you touched on it and again? I'm asking this because From a personal standpoint, um, this is something that I definitely struggle with when I was younger because people would could make you feel so bad About trying to do the right thing that you would just almost be like, all right, but I'm gonna be like your audience Like I'm just I'm gonna just do what you know and that never feels right.
Um, so I'm just curious Do you do you think I'm like maybe I'm tripping or do you think there is something really there? What we need to think about like and I'm thinking about young people now like how we treat people who are trying to do right? Like do we do we do a good enough job of encouraging them or are we so offended by them trying to do right that we leave them to do it wrong? Um, I think that's a that's a wonderful question.
I know for me I felt like coming up to sometimes I was serious and you know just different churches or just a different church scene, um, different church scenery. Um, one thing when it comes down to Living right young people living right one thing business times there were different programs or activities that were geared towards young people Who may not have made that decision? Right and then that was one way that I felt like an outsider because like I said even growing up now I really made the decision when I was in my early 20s, but even when growing up when I thought I was you know, um, You know, I thought I was I thought I was living okay. I hadn't but I hadn't made that commitment I still felt like the outsider because there was so much that was catered to people who had not yet made a decision and so and then when it came down to Myself like if I really wanted to talk about the bible if I really wanted to talk about, um, you know, if I really wanted to have a relationship I made a different decision It was I was acting too old.
Um, I was I was you know, there was nothing really that that was there necessarily for me for young people that had made that decision to kind of, um, you know Do anything that would enhance their growth that would that would motivate them to grow more And so that was the struggle and I see that even today I see that even um, I see some young ladies and some young men that have really made their decision That they want to go all out for died and you know, you shove them over to like the seniors To the elderly and that happens a lot and I know and I know for me that that really bothered me That was part of the reason why I had a lot of curiosity even when it came down to dating Um, when it came down to dating there were sometimes you found young men, you know, just speaking because I'm a young lady Um, young men that actually they preferred a certain type of person. I mean, I maybe the my relationship with God Kind of it was intimidating to them. Um, and so that that you know that it was always a factor But yeah, all of that when it came down especially in high school and I say high school because that was really when that shift came when I really was just Curious about what was what everybody else was doing and um, but that was really a factor in that because you know, nobody really A lot of people didn't want to hang around me. There were some people they were really trying to encourage their, you know, Encourage us to like come together and be friends or whatnot, but my views were different and a lot of people just did not understand it and um, they didn't really want to be around me not a lot of people Yeah, no, look like that's what you said it's so important, right?
And that's why I brought that up is like, you know, and again being on the church scene, you know, for years and you know, whether it be speaking and doing music Obviously, I've been at a lot of programs and I've always had an issue with this Like the fact that we're trying so hard to reach the loss that we're not edifying the ones who are there and You know, when you have kids, I'll give you an example, you know, you have all these youth programs that are really A lot of youth programs and I'm not saying all of them, but a lot of youth programs are really geared towards The worst type of conditions. So meaning, you know, you get you get some people and you know, you want to teach them about sex Some young adults and people take the leaders almost take the assumption that all kids are just in the worst state And so what you end up doing about teaching it from that perspective teaching them the worst way to be Or or a souvenir all in the worst state you can push kids towards that curiosity of like, oh, well Is that how because what it comes down to is you're asking yourself. Is that how I'm supposed to be like? Oh, so it must be something wrong with me.
So oh, I like oh, I'm you know, y'all calling me old or I'm I don't fit in And when you so it must be something wrong with me that that I need to try to Change to be more like y'all so I can be young because no one actually teaches you how to be young and saved It's all like Assuming that you are just wilding out and so if you are a young person In the last thing I'll say about that like if you are a young person I've taken this approach with Honestly, I take that approach with this podcast. That's why I don't do a lot of gossip and like, you know Just a bunch of little trendy weird topics because it's like no, I'm assuming there are some Credible intelligent believers out there that want to develop themselves and learn but then ultimately like even with my music like I made a conscious decision I'm sorry. I cannot create music Like I'm not gonna go listen to secular music try to like just copy what they're doing and say I want to reach those people I can't do it. Absolutely.
Yeah. Yeah, no, that's good. Um All right, so I think we got a lot in common as it relates to that just hearing you talk like I think we got a lot in common Just um, maybe about and I'm not saying necessarily the ages might not add up Maybe you know different levels of what people got into but I think overall the point is like, you know, man I think you know, I'm just saying it's the leaders out there think about when you were creating art or ministry like There are some young people there are people out there who are trying to stay doing the right thing But they're struggling with the same sinful nature So let's make let's think about them sometimes. I think is the point.
Um, all right, cool. So you talk about your family or background Um, let's let's talk about your business. Right. So at 21 you get serious about the lord Um, with bible over everything is it's really interesting to me.
Um, I love the fact that like, you know, you kind of say, you know, inspiring you to obey god Rather than rather than man, me and you have x 529 is kind of the founding scripture. I'm curious just about like What like what brought this brand? Um, to life like what was it about bible over everything in particular? Um, when you got the vision back in 2015 so take us back to 2015 and tell us about the start of this ministry so As I said, it's new before I was always you know, the young person even growing up wanting to tell somebody about Jesus now that that had always been uh been true now When I in 2015, um, I just started noticing really paying attention.
I believe it was around about that time when, um, the law passed regarding same-sex marriages. Oh, yeah, um, I think around about that time and what I paid attention to was a lot of people who profess to be saved and um, they just really their language changed so that They would not offend other people and when I mean by that I'm not talking about as far as you know, what the bible says It's just yeah as far as what the bible says I am talking about that So their language changed with how they would communicate Um, the word of god because they did not want to offend and of course now, you know, we always have to be careful be mindful of Of how we communicate certain things and because I used to be it took me a while it took me a lot I will just totally admit it took me a while to um, understand that not everybody was raised the exact same way that I was raised Yeah, and then not everybody, you know, maybe they don't have the same understanding and maybe I need some understanding myself So it took me a good good while to understand that because I used to know this is a thing to go, you know, all So that's how I used to really communicate it But now around that time when I when I saw that in 2015 I just noticed a lot of people would take two social media platforms and they would The way they would communicate the word about was really really watered down. Um, they went just outright communicate and live Um, they're live out live out loud for god and be bold with your profession with the profession of your face Just and just be bold with it and just talk about what the word of god said and make that stand And so that's where bible over everything came about It bible over everything because I was really disturbed I was really disturbed because of people that said that they believe in god no longer to the stand They no longer communicate the word of god. It was all about different quotes It was all about different saying there was all about what the world was saying is they were kind of bearing off into what So what uh, the society i was doing and what the laws that were being passed because of that fear That they would be, um, that they themselves would be looked down upon or accused of judging what actually you're just communicating What the word of god says and so that's where the bible of bible over everything came about in x five and 29 Um, the vampiria the other apostles answered and said we also obey god rather than men as a matter of fact if you go into x five and twenty eight it says, um That's five and twenty eight No, five and twenty seven and when they had brought them they set them before the council and the high priest asked them saying Did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name and behold you have failed to rules on with your doctrine and intends to bring this man's blood upon us Jesus, um blood upon us then peter the other apostles answered and said we ought to obey god rather than men So regardless of what the government is saying we got, you know, the laws that are being passed regardless of what society and what other people are doing what the norm is We as people of god are supposed to obey god rather than men We're supposed it's that's where bible over everything came about.
It's about the bible It's about the word of god that is our that is our life that is our pathway that is our instruction manual for life That is our guy and so we actually obey the word of god and so that's what i have that came about I love it. You know, like like you said, right? It's so crazy that You know, I pay a lot of attention to how the world changes You know because I for me I try to understand the moment in history that i'm living in I think sometimes life is going so fast. Right?
We we can look back at the civil rights area era and we you know Have opinions about their, you know, their history We can look back at slavery and we all have opinions and what we would have done and all those things and sometimes we're blinded Um, so the fact that we are also living in a moment like, um, yes Which is interesting to me because when I read the word of god and I see um stories like, you know What you're calling out an ax or I think about daniel in the fact that um, he was disobeying the kree of the king because he did not want to bow Um, and he was willing to um, you know stand on the word of god and with his relationship with god Um versus bowing um to an idol and you know, we can romanticize these stories like, you know They'll end the lion's den and we can create all these messages around them and you said it You're like it became about quotes and things and just up to feels good But i'm like i agree with you. We need to step back and like really think like wait, why was he thrown into the lion's den? It was because he was not willing at the decree of the king To bow because you could send people nowadays and be like, I mean, it's just bowing I'm just gonna hit and do it because I mean just bowing down go ahead and do it Don't make no scene and so I agree with you like, you know, the world has really shifted where believers are no longer preaching the word of god And we are um really in a similar way that we say it right about altering things for the world And I don't want people to misunderstand what i'm saying because we should be trying to reach the loss That's not the point i'm making but in trying to reach the loss You should not change the message of god in order to reach them You should be trying to reach them with the gospel with the truth and let him draw them not trying to do it ourselves So Bible love everything so all right. I love where it was birthed now Tell us a little bit about um what bible over everything is so you know You were disturbed then you wanted to start this and and so kind of tell us a little bit about this journey between 2015 And now like what was bible over everything when you started versus what is it today?
Because I know y'all getting to some campus ministries and other things that looks like it's grown and evolved So tell us a little bit about that evolution Yeah, so um with bible over everything what it first started out was a message on a t-shirt So there were I was intentional with the scriptures that were used on t-shirts for instance. Um, there was um the Message there was the t-shirt that said oh my god rather than man. Um, and then we just kind of ran through a little bit We did we have another t-shirt out that says exact same thing. Um, however, just you know a different appearance Then there was a t-shirt that said bible over everything there was a t-shirt that said preach the word instantly There's a t-shirt that says plea fornication.
There's a t-shirt that says Jesus the way the truth and the life so there we have on those different t-shirts and there was in those t-shirts were designed Um, there were in an intently were intentional messages just remind the people of god that um that especially when it comes down to plea fornication um, plea fornication, you know a lot of times I'm noticing that a lot of times people feel that when it comes down to premarital set Um, sexy for marriage that you know the rules kind of change the older you get So it's your 30s or whatnot You get your 30s or whatnot and it becomes a topic of responsibility when you know you just got to make sure that you're being responsible No, it doesn't matter if you're in your 30s if you're in your 40s, whatever it is Regardless of what your mind bible's as plea fornication. It did not change because of your age your age. So I mean, um, so, um, it was the messages were intentional And it was just to grab Um, and it was never about the money when I started bible over everything when I started selling t-shirts It was never about the money. It was always about the, um, the message making sure people understood the message So that's how it kicked off and then um later on what ended up happening was, um, you know, started getting into I started saying that there were a lot of um events around uh singles surrounding singles and me being single myself, you know, I got we started doing little events, um certain things like uh, Uh, the singles movement the raw real and relevant.
Um, you asked and so we are going, you know, we're gonna tell you exactly what it is You've been wanting to know this information so we're gonna talk about it What it was to be single and to be safe. So we had an event, um doing that myself in I asked a few panelists at home. We had pastor, darling brooks. We had, um, uh, Ryan rutley We had uh, Tiffany tarantine.
We had also Jessica hooker who all had different ministries. Um, and still have those different ministries that um, involving singles And so, um, and then we had another event and that was single and it and that free and this is all taken from a biblical standpoint So sing on that that free using biblical principles to become deputy. I can't remember the actual phrase that I use But it was sing on that free so we had different people to come in and was starting to one person came in and talked about planning for college and universities and setting aside finances how to look for scholarships and grants. Um, we had somebody else talk about the um, um, um, just This topic is how she became deputy at the age of 50 and different areas about being single and every so we did different events like that and then Eventually, you know, I was really praying and I said, Lord, I really want to take I really want Bible over everything to have a presence on eastern Michigan University's campus.
Um, And so I pray and ask and ask that about that and uh, and so I reached out to someone I know who does prayer walks and what that is is just um, literally what it sounds like You just you're outside you gather with people and you walk around what he would do is he'd walk around the campus Not the campus. I'm sorry around his neighborhood around his church and they would actually just pray out loud for the community Pray out loud for the for the neighborhood and he would have his bull horn And so I asked the Lord about that and I reached out to that individual and he connected to he connected me to someone Um, who was a part of my denomination? Um, who actually started who was the found who was a chairman of the college campus ministry within that denomination And so he connected me to him and then that's how we started a Bible over everything campus ministry except for this is more so regarding surrounding prayer Um, and so we started we kicked off with a prayer ministry and then we um, and now it's virtual meaning more people have access to it now Um, and then we do biblical affirmation immediately after the prayer We call it a 45 minute zoom power call and we do that every second and fourth sunday So, um, and then you know, there's other things that we've been doing, you know, just on the just trying to get three to four minute messages Out on social media from different people who have different experiences different testimonials All of that just to get the word out to people about about it. I love it I mean, you got your hands and quite a few things.
Um, which is always good, right? Like that's one of the cool things when you start a brand You don't really know where it's gonna end, you know, and that's why I've always been a person that thinks it's important to start And it sounds like that's exactly what you did you started and they were messages on a t-shirt And then those messages led to you know, wanting to you know, actually create events that were based around the messages on the t-shirt Like a flea fornication and then for that to go into prayer and campus Um, why am you in particular? I'm curious. I actually started my college career at EMU before transferring.
Oh, you know that? Okay. Yeah, I'll start there Well, so at eastern the reason the focus of the east of first of all It's kind of close to where I live. Okay, and not only that though my niece at the time She was a student at eastern mission university.
So it was kind of easy to kind of to get in there Because I had to go through a student in order to become established on the campus now The full establishment didn't take place because they wanted us to change our constitution around that was not able to So we didn't get fully established. So we still kind of have a presence and so now we're just virtual So we are virtual and they're we invite any college campus student to to participate doesn't matter what college or university You would say we invite anyone but for the most part it's been The EMU students and as matter as I go so I graduated they still come chime in every second of course on the night They say what time in yeah, yeah, you know, what that's one of those things that people don't see, you know, colleges are really one of the most Evil places from an institution standpoint on the place on the planet earth And the way that they want to do things and it's because they're trying to cater to obviously a large um group of individuals and I think colleges that time frame where Um, where people get really vocal about whatever lifestyle that they have Um, one of the things that I see as a somewhat of a challenge for christian businesses right now And I think we even see this at a major level with like chick-fil-a and hobby lobby and things like that Is that as the world is empowering people to be bold and speak out, right? It's as long as you're not speaking about something biblical is what it feels like It's like like you said like hey, we don't want you to live out loud for god We want you to live out loud as long as what you're living out loud in is something maybe Simple or something really radical, but not the word of god It's like and that's why I really Think what you're doing is important and these type of movements that are focused on really highlighting the where to god and encouraging and empowering people To keep a biblical language like you talked about language earlier Um, some of us trying to butter it up too much and it's like you know what too much butter on the bread make you sick Like I don't want that like it's like a little bit of butter is nice Let's be mindful about how we're communicating we're not purposely trying to offend people and things But at some point is like look, you know, we got it. We got to keep it holy so I love that But I guess I'm curious what you think like do you feel like as a christian entrepreneur?
There are challenges, you know, having to make a decision like that like oh, we're not changing our constitution Like we're not going away from the word of god. You feel like you missed opportunities How do you stay encouraged and i'm asking is because i'm pretty sure there are people out there listening to this show That find themselves caught in that paradigm of like what do I do? I want to be a christian entrepreneur and focus on on ministry of my business, but then they're going to be limitation So i'm just curious. How do you balance that out to keep moving forward?
I'm just going to be honest and I'm just going to tell you exactly like this. Um, I pray a lot and one thing that That is in my mind in my heart that god helped me to understand and that is to do whatever god told you to do We um the way he told you to do it Do what god told you to do the way he told you to do it Don't be so mindful don't be so focused on what the person across the street is doing because that's not people for your purpose Um, so god is intentional for when it comes out to each and every one of us So we we have a vision we have a That that that has to be fulfilled but you have to make sure that you do whatever god told you to do the way he told you to do And the one thing i said about that is even with the campus ministry, you know, when you think of campus ministries You think a lot of times people have different events people have different, um, you know bible studies things things that nature They they partner up with different organizations so they can do certain things But that was and I tried to step out and do the exact same thing However, I was not being fulfilled because it wasn't the way god told me to do it God specifically told me prayer And that's the bane that I that was the lane I needed to stay in was prayer don't step out of anything god in that so you to do And also another thing is the money issue. How do I do this and make some Yeah, how do I do this and make some money? And so and one thing that can be a distraction is that all you know and I get this to this very day All first, you know, you can really break it in if you put this on if you put this on on a mug or if you put this on an ink pen or You know, there's certain things I might still do, you know when it comes down to you know, keychains or whatnot But my whole mission was not about making the money my whole mission was mainly ministry And just making sure that you do whatever it is that that god leads you to do this pray and ask for direction And be intentional about that.
Um, and also don't be afraid to network ask other people for ideas People who are doing some of the similar some of the same things that you're doing Don't be afraid to network and reach out and just and kind of get some guys don't copy the other person But you can actually take some ideas from that and say hey, you know what? Maybe I can implement a little bit of this um what they're saying or um that can spark ideas for to how to navigate But yet it's a lot of pressure to just when you see somebody else that is flourishing in an area But it's like the purpose is impact for me the purpose is impact And so it's not so much more about the dollar as it is about the impact into the dollars will come Now noticing that more opportunities are opening for me because I didn't make the Um, it's my purpose not about money now and of course mine might be a little different because you know, um, There are question entrepreneurs of course that you know from a business standpoint that is what you want to do is make the money So That's maybe I'm just a little different when it comes out to that and I understand understandably so But I would just say just stay in the lane that was given to you. Don't be confused You know sway to what somebody else is doing. Yeah, you know, and So you said the purpose is in the impact and I think that's that's really important You know on this show we talk a lot about purpose and I'm always trying to you know That's really the the whole point of the show is balancing faith and business to guide you to your purpose And what you're talking about is the specific reason why purpose is important to me And you know when you think about the body of christ one body many members I mean you go in open up your cabinet and wherever you keep the utensils you got Mays spoons different size spoons for different type of knives And what ends up happening is like, you know, god created you to be a steak knife, but you are Looking and seeing that wow these are so many shiny butter knives in there Um, and you think about it like people typically have way more butter knives at their home than they do steak knives But a steak knife is much sharper and I think what ends up happening is it goes back to what we talked about earlier in like When you're younger and you're struggling with fitting in Um, because you see a bunch of butter knives and that is because you don't yet understand the value of a steak knife And I think what happens through maturity and for mature believers as you grow in christ as you go from milk to meat What ends up happening is you start actually understanding you know what?
I'm I have no problem with butter knives. I'm not here to judge a butter knife, but I know I'm a steak knife So again, I think purpose being a root of it is so important because like what you're talking about is Understanding your purpose so that you be rooted in that versus every time you log into instagram and see somebody seemingly successful Um, you want to go in and look like them. So I'm curious with that like if you could just talk a little bit about Um, the social media impacts all it is because I think in the world we live in today the access to everyone else's lifestyle can be a distraction I'm just curious for you as a um christian entrepreneur as someone who's you know focused on impact Um, and it's something like hey, we're all human right like social media can impact us in different ways I'm wondering how do you manage that or control that for yourself? Like how do you use social media in the most positive way?
But try to protect yourself from like any way that it can impact you negatively So that um, there were some decisions that I made because of what I saw on social media Um, so there were some things that I that I did do Um, and then but I had to pay attention to was I being fulfilled whether what the lord wanted me to do So I think one thing that I noticed that can have a major impact on how people use social media how they Do like for instance, you've got a lot of people now talking about that 95 versus entrepreneurship. Um, you know, you need to have you know You know, you're going to be on 95 to do I need some help in my business. So you're gonna actually I'm gonna need somebody to work the 95 That I've been to me. I'll have to get so you know, if you already know, you have that that attitude And then so there's a lot of people who are being persuaded by what social media people on social media Their views are you know, as far as you know, build a business how that side is I think that's that's a good thing.
But um, and I know another thing is you look up at so many other people's content is being shared and it's being liked or You know, there's some sort of react Um, and you find that somebody can break out with a t-shirt and an overnight It almost seems like hundreds of them are sold and there's there's that support back there right there It says, okay, well, maybe I'm doing something wrong because That person they don't like what I'm saying, you know, we got some of the same friends We got some of the same connections and they're really encouraging you and they're not encouraging me that much And so you can really get lost into that and I think The main thing with me is identity knowing my own identity knowing who I am in Christ and knowing guys purpose for me Um, and the way I find my identity is by praying and by staying in guys will Um, by studying the word of that knowing his plan for my life Um knowing his plan or the direction I should say for my for um, what he's given me to do And and not and just being secure in that. Um, I think this is identity is a major thing Um because and it's like why are you starting this knowing your why also why did you start this to begin with? I had to come back to that so many times. What is my why why before I did offensive this, uh, new idea that I have Make sure that I'm not leaving my why out of this is my why included in that because my why When I started bible over everything was just to remind the others other christian believers that we ought to obey god rather than men So when I do this event is my why included in that or am I just caught up in a fact?
So it's always you have to be mindful of your identity and that's something that I had to do Is this a mindful of my identity? Know who I am in Christ know what god gave me and stay in that particular lane because this is a burning passion for me That bible over everything is that why is a burning passion for me? So I have to just make sure that I know myself and when I log on to social media and it's it's been proven that it's this it's about the impact for me Um, it's it's been proven that that um that once I do Once I stay in guys lane, that's when so many different opportunities come up And not only that but other people are been so blessed when I say my name Yeah, this is when I step out of it that everything falls apart. I love that And knowing yourself when you when you think about it like knowing yourself is also like a protective measure because I think you know When you don't know who you are then you'll be all over the place and we do have to make decisions You know what I'm saying?
Like as a podcast I had to make a decision At like you know, you said it I can look and see like oh the stuff that goes viral Let me use going viral because you use going viral for a t-shirt or something The clips that I see go viral not all of them, but you know a lot of the clips that I see from like let's say like millennial christians, right I see millennial christians is like, okay, we embrace a bunch of comedians who Conda are christian comedians, but they really dabble into like a whole bunch of like the world's culture And then they make fun of church and it's like look, you know, I love joking, you know And I don't have a problem with churchy jokes overall But it gets to a certain extent where I'm like man if I'm following a certain thing and I'm like wow This is what as believers. This is what we're sharing. This is what we're laughing at when christian influencers start having to tackle the world's news in order to get views my point is I had to make a decision at some point like oh, I'm gonna let them have that like I have to find success for me So if that's success, I'm gonna have to pass on it because I'm not gonna make my show about like hey Let's talk for an hour about what celebrity what somebody did at they concert that was funny like I can't do it So um, I just love the fact that you're saying like focusing on your purpose know who you are Um, and then let that be the guy for what success looks like for you So all right, this has been great before before we get out of here I want to say a couple things number one for anybody listening and wants to find christal's brand And learn more about her looking to the description of the show there's gonna be links to the website as well as the instagram The instagram is at bible over everything the numbers five two nine that's all together No spaces and underscores or nothing bible over everything five two nine and the website is simply bible over everything dot com Make sure you check out what she's doing follow her support her ministry. Um, look at the pictures You got pictures on the website.
Um, I just I really appreciate Um, and of course, of course it flipped out at 47 minutes I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. Uh, it was it's all good. It was probably me.
Don't worry about it. Um, my listeners are used to it Sometimes I did for anybody, you know, because you know who know I leave these little moments in there sometimes I probably leave some level this in here I did upgrade my internet back people to what I had before so this is my first interview actually back in my studio because um I had some nest I'm not gonna say the company it's supposed to be a great downgraded the internet But we back and hey, we didn't have I think the car has went so good. We at the end Um, so yeah, a little a little drop call at the end is not the end of the world Um I was just talking about the website telling everybody where to find you I do want to give you the last word before I let you get out of here Just anything you want to share, um, you know kind of leave people with Um, and how else can they find you other than the instagram or the website or let me know if that's the best ones But just whatever you want to touch on leaving out of here I definitely appreciate um, with the wisdom you shared on today's show and I know that you've inspired someone Um, but but take us out. All right.
Well, I mean, I do appreciate this opportunity. Um, I've been, you know, you're already not after following you for quite some time You've inspired me greatly. Um, and and I just really appreciate this opportunity I just want to encourage everyone to please just don't be don't be afraid to live out loud for God Don't be afraid to live out loud and to communicate the word of God to other believers because that in the end is what's going to last That's what's really going to matter And so just always communicate the word of God and just remember whenever whatever decision that you have to make Just remember to always obey God rather than men. What does God say about this and what and just be bold about it?
You know, some people you could draw some people some people could be turned off and the people that are turned off And that people that you'll probably uh need to associate with in the first place So just be bold about your lifestyle and and cries and you will be rewarded for it Crystal hair is ladies and gentlemen crystal. Thank you so much for joining the show today Uh, stay in touch and I definitely support um and salute what you're doing and want to continue to see you move further Um, I can talk reach out anytime you might need me and uh much love god bless Everything in between bible over everything people. Thanks again crystal have an amazing day Give your lunch to jesus and let him do his work Give your lunch to jesus and let him feed his church Give it all to jesus and let him leave away, but he can't leave the way If we get in the way, yeah Then I can have a seat so i'm trusting you with my legacy Jesus look at you listen it all the way to the end. I'll rock with people like you.
You know what i'm saying y'all don't fast forward to cut stuff off Look, do me a favor and make sure you check the description of every show That's how you get the links to everyone's instagram and you can listen to my music and email me and all those type of things Yo, I appreciate you. Hopefully you enjoyed today's show. Hit me up your main with some music at gmail.com. Let me know what you think