Warrior Encounter with Blaine Whitt

Josh (00:00:01) - All right. I'm here with my brother Blaine. And Blaine has been behind bars for 18 years. And this is a guy who's gone there voluntarily to bring Jesus behind bars. Because there's kings behind bars that just need to be called out. And we're at a conference right now and we're talking about a book called King Me. So, Blaine, why don't you, you know, gave a little bit about who you are, right? Where did God call you to that? Why those guys, out of all the guys in the world, why did those guys have God's attention? And why you.

Blaine (00:00:40) - Yeah, that's pretty good, actually. They just covered that in the meeting we just walked out of because he was talking about your calling. And so the way I worded is whatever makes you laugh, whatever makes you cry, that's pretty much what you're calling is. And so just knowing what it's like to be abandoned, wounded, betrayed, lost, no hope. I knew that's where God wanted me, because that's exactly the men that God put on my heart to.

Blaine (00:01:11) - I can't use a word rescue, but can certainly throw him a lifeline. Yeah.

Josh (00:01:15) - So what makes you laugh? What makes you cry is what stirs your heart. And I really like that. So I could see why we could look at that story. If we're watching, like, a documentary. And we could see that, and it could tug at our heartstrings and we could. It can make us cry, and we could feel sorry for these boys. And it can make us, like, have this empathy. But where's the joy in that?

Blaine (00:01:37) - Well, let me give you a a little quick snapshot, too, on what makes you cry when you see family members that are just totally destroyed. You see the legacy of a man non existent when you see there's no hope for his children, his sons, his daughters, his wife. Empty chairs at Christmas and Easter holidays. That's what makes you cry. What makes you laugh is when you see that man walk out of prison. He has Jesus in his heart.

Blaine (00:02:10) - He's a brand new man. He knows his identity. He's on fire for God. He's done everything that he can possibly do to find the creativity and innovation he needs to be able to go home and jumpstart his family. And actually, the jumpstart starts before he walks out of prison. But the joy comes watching that man walk out, seeing his family meet him at the gate and they're hugging and they're kissing and they're crying and and then the testimonies that come in after that, you know, they find a church, his full time job, he's back home with his kids, raising his family like he's supposed to be. And now he's a success in the in the community that makes you smile.

Josh (00:02:54) - You've been doing this 18 years and I know you. I know your story and I know the sometimes there's a brutal beating being behind the razor wire, as we would say. Now we talk about joy as the guy who goes through the program. He came, you came in and he's rescued. Soul rescued, gets out.

Josh (00:03:14) - It's a hallmark series, right? But out of 18 years, that doesn't happen. That at the end of sentence the guy gets out. That's where your heart fills with joy. But that's that's not every story that happens. So how do you keep the joy of if that's not every story? Yeah.

Blaine (00:03:35) - That's a really great question. And the answer to that is the Holy Spirit really had to show me it's not my job to fix them. It's just my job to give them the tools, the resources, the love, introduce them to Christ the best that I can and then walk them along on their journey. But at the end of the day, me and my wife both tell them this we will work as hard as you, but we won't work harder than you. So that man ultimately knows it's his responsibility. To continue his journey, he has to walk his own journey out. We can't do it for him.

Blaine (00:04:11) - Yeah.

Josh (00:04:12) - And ministry. And I want to honor you and the other ministers we have here in this room.

Josh (00:04:18) - Being in ministry is an impossible job, as one guy said it today. It's tough. It's tough as hell, man. It is.

Blaine (00:04:26) - It is no period at the end of the sentence. It's never over.

Josh (00:04:29) - So the the the question I have for you is, is this I'm in jail. Prison because you've learned a lot of things through extreme solutions. And that's the name of your ministry. Prison seems to be the one that you focus on. And let's just say I'm in prison. You've got me captive for more than a year, and that's why it's prison or versus jail. But let's just say I'm one of those guys, man. I'm trying really hard. I'm going for it, and I'm. You're pouring into me, and you're like, man, Josh, this is the dude who's going to be that victory story. Yeah. But then for some reason, old bad habits get caught up and you get yanked out from under the rug. What's that do to your joy?

Blaine (00:05:16) - It'll knock you down for a little bit.

Blaine (00:05:18) - It's because, like anything, you're investing in a human being and you want the best for him. Just like a dad. You know, a lot of these guys look at me like a like a dad or a grandfather figure to them. And so it does hurt a little bit. But again, at the end of the day, Jesus loves me more than I do. And Jesus isn't going to let go of them. So just because they had a setback doesn't mean they're out of the game. Who of us who serve the Lord has not been knocked back, right? So stay focused on that. I fell back. Some of my closest friends that served with the Lord. They've fallen back at times. And so it's just like the prodigal son. When he's ready, he'll come back home.

Blaine (00:06:01) - Cool.

Josh (00:06:02) - So I want you to look at the camera, and I want you to say a prayer over the dude out there. Who's the Josh in the prison? Yeah, behind the wires. He needs to be called out as a king.

Josh (00:06:15) - He needs to find Jesus, say a prayer for him, and then we'll end with that. Okay.

Blaine (00:06:19) - Nice. So, Lord. Do you know who your kings are? Every man is born with the spirit of a king, because I believe that the DNA of God is in every man you said were created in your image.

Blaine (00:06:34) - Lord, and.

Blaine (00:06:35) - You knelt down and breathe into our lungs. So for those men that might be watching.

Blaine (00:06:39) - This.

Blaine (00:06:40) - Little miniature podcast, I pray for that brother. I pray for his family. I pray for his soul. I pray for his legacy. And I pray God that you would wrap your arms around this man, no matter where he's at, what he's doing, how he feels, how low he is, or how high he is. Wrap your arms around him, love, Lord. Hold him hugging. Love him and tell him how proud you are him. And thank you for it, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

Josh (00:07:08) - Yeah, two more questions I told, I lied, I said we were going to wrap it up, but I have two more questions.

Josh (00:07:14) - So the name of the organization is Extreme Solutions. Right? Right. So we'll put that contact information for people who want to connect with you. And then one one final question as you're going through this group thing that we're at this week and the heart of the warrior encounter, tell me one thing. That God's been pulling at your heart for this, because you're pouring into men all day long and for the first time in a long time. And it's probably awkward being a minister being ministered to. What's one thing that God's been blessing you with?

Blaine (00:07:52) - Showing me the victory line. Showing me that I was that, you know, wounded, scarred, beat up, trampled on, you know, abandoned, you name it. Everything that they said here today was that. And so what's been encouraging for me is walking out the journey over the whole weekend and seeing I'm finally on the other side of that mountain. And so now I can give back to the men that are the Blaine that are still on this side of the mountain.

Blaine (00:08:20) - That's what I got out of it. Thank God for it. Man oh man. Thank you, both of you.

Josh (00:08:25) - Love you guys.