Latest / Imagine Media Podcast Network / God’s Goodness | Christian Testimonies, Hearing ... - What If God Is Already Answering You? | Randall Franks | Ep. 163

Transcript

God’s Goodness | Christian Testimonies, Hearing ... - What If God Is Already Answering You? | Randall Franks | Ep. 163 · Imagine Media Podcast Network

0:00
He is one of, I guess you would call him one
0:02
of the biggest stars of the 1900s. Well, there
0:05
he stands in the middle of the set. And I walk
0:08
up to him, yes, sir, what can I do for you? And
0:10
he called me Randy, because that's my character's
0:12
name. He said, Randy, I'd like to use a scripture
0:15
in this scene. And I knew you would know which
0:17
one. That's pretty good that somebody could recognize
0:21
that you are the one that would know it. And
0:24
beyond that, he and I had never spoken about
0:27
faith, my religion. We had never had that conversation.
0:32
But to me, here's that prayer a few weeks earlier
0:37
to God, what is it I'm supposed to be doing for
0:40
you here? And then he sends Carol that day to
0:47
that prayer. healing and miracles that will strengthen
1:02
your faith. No matter what you're walking through,
1:04
we want to remind you that God is good and He's
1:07
still moving today. Let's dive in. God, I just
1:12
need you to show me what to do here. Maybe you've
1:15
prayed that and then kept waiting because you
1:17
still weren't sure what God was doing. We can
1:20
spend so much time looking for His direction
1:22
that we don't always recognize the significance
1:25
of who He places along the way. Our guest Randall
1:28
Franks is an actor, musician, and author who
1:31
can look back over decades of his life and see
1:34
people God used at very specific moments to help
1:37
guide his path. And his story might make you
1:40
pay a little closer attention to the conversations
1:43
and interactions you could otherwise easily overlook.
1:46
Randall, thank you so much for joining us today.
1:48
Would you mind opening us up in a prayer to invite
1:51
the Holy Spirit to this atmosphere? I certainly
1:54
will. Thank you. Josh and Shelly for having me
1:57
in definitely. Lord, we pray today that you are
2:02
coming into the space that we're in to share.
2:06
You have charged us to go out in the world and
2:10
share your story and bring people to you. And
2:13
we pray that each thing that we discuss today
2:16
affects that end, that we spread your gospel
2:21
through the experiences that we talk about. In
2:25
Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Randall,
2:30
we don't always recognize God's direction while
2:33
we're right in the middle of needing it. You've
2:35
said there have been people throughout your life
2:37
that God used to help guide your path. So when
2:40
you look back, who comes to mind first? And how
2:43
did God use that person in your life? Well, obviously,
2:47
God puts in our lives, most of our lives early
2:50
on, wonderful parents that are charged. We're
2:53
bringing us up in his story and his wife. But
2:58
for me, once I step away from looking at my mom
3:01
and dad, I look towards a gentleman when I was
3:04
in elementary school. His name was Dr. Donald
3:08
Griser. I was a sickly child. In fact, if you
3:12
go far enough back, there was a movie that John
3:14
Travolta starred in that was called The Bubble
3:16
Boy. And I was one of those kids where the doctors
3:21
wanted to isolate me because there was so much
3:24
in the world that could kill me that they wanted
3:27
to basically cut me off from what we would call
3:31
childhood to keep me alive. So my parents...
3:35
We're the type that no, he's going to have a
3:37
normal life. We're going to do everything that
3:39
we can to allow him to grow and develop in the
3:44
best way possible. But because of the, the ailments
3:47
I dealt with as a child, I couldn't do a lot
3:50
of things the other young boys could do. I really
3:52
couldn't run and play like I should have been
3:54
able to. I got to do some, but not a lot. God
3:59
put a different path in my life, and that came
4:02
through Dr. Donald Greiser when I was in third
4:05
grade. He played viola, but he brought his viola
4:07
in the elementary school classroom, and he played
4:11
a tune called the Orange Blossom Special on his
4:14
viola. Of course, his idea was to try to get
4:17
the kids to sign up and learn how to play the
4:19
stringed instruments to eventually feed into
4:22
an orchestra that would be in our future, you
4:25
know, when we got to high school. But for me,
4:29
he sparked the beginning of where my life's path
4:32
would be, and that would be largely in music
4:35
and playing the violin, but playing more so the
4:39
fiddle, because it was that Orange Blossom special
4:41
that excited me. It wasn't Mozart, Beethoven,
4:44
or Brahms, although I did play the... It was
4:48
the old -time Southern Appalachian fiddlers that
4:50
I wanted to emulate. So that would be the very
4:54
beginning time when I first saw... where God
4:57
put something in my hands through someone else
5:00
that then set up everything that was to come,
5:04
because nothing in my life, no doors that I've
5:07
been through would have opened without that instrument
5:11
being placed in my hand when I was in third grade.
5:15
That reminds me of back in high school, I was
5:18
voted most talkative in my high school class,
5:20
and here I am doing a podcast. God was like,
5:23
hey, why don't you... talk about me and share
5:25
it with others so like it wasn't a far reach
5:27
like there will be clues along your path to you
5:31
know kind of foretell where you'll end up so
5:35
that's really cool exactly well i think throughout
5:40
your life if you're mindful as you mentioned
5:43
in your opening if you pay attention to god sends
5:47
us someone i believe every day now most of the
5:50
time i believe he's sending us someone To help
5:54
or to encourage with us being the vehicle of
5:58
God's spirit upon their lives But occasionally
6:01
we're in those low spots We need direction ourselves
6:05
and he's sending us someone to give us the word
6:09
to listen to That little something I can remember
6:13
as a child. Of course, I grew being being sickly
6:16
like I was I spent a lot of time watching television
6:19
so For me, I watched constantly the old movies
6:23
of the golden era of Hollywood. So I looked up
6:26
to folks, you know, the old Westerns, but I looked
6:29
up to folks like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby and
6:32
those wonderful musicals that they did together
6:35
and so many others that came out of that era.
6:39
Well, as a young teenager, I had the pleasure
6:41
of getting to meet Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores
6:45
Hope. You know, that may not sound like a big
6:47
deal when Bob met millions of Americans, you
6:51
know, he was known as our ambassador, in a sense,
6:54
going out to our troops from the World War II
6:57
all the way through until the end of his life,
7:01
you know, entertaining the troops out and around
7:03
the world. But for me to get to meet him, shake
7:07
his hand and talk to him just for a few moments,
7:10
that was an outstanding moment in my memory.
7:13
But you know what the greatest moment was, was
7:16
when he went back and a couple of three weeks
7:21
later I received a letter from Bob and he was
7:26
writing me encouraging me as a fiddle player
7:32
giving me an opportunity to know that he knew
7:37
what I did more so than just shaking my hand
7:40
he wanted to encourage me in that path of entertaining
7:45
and sharing the gift that God gave. So that was
7:50
another one of those little bitty nudges along
7:53
the way in my path. And I think God sends those
7:57
kind of people. You know, sometimes it's someone
7:59
you look up to, sometimes someone you have never
8:02
met in your life or even dreamed running across.
8:05
And the word that he sends through them can change
8:09
your life. Yeah, 100 % agree with that. Think
8:14
it's a it's really cool that you had someone
8:16
that you looked up to some name that I recognize
8:19
from my youth someone that had captured America's
8:23
heart you could say and he regarded you and he
8:27
encouraged you and With what God has wanted you
8:31
to do and I think that's an amazing Testimony
8:34
of how God uses people without the people usually
8:36
knowing and you clearly paid attention Well and
8:40
to think for me to think that he didn't have
8:43
to acknowledge other than shaking hands with
8:46
me and saying, hello, he didn't have to follow
8:48
up, but he did. And I think God was in that because
8:52
then I kept pushing, you know, I kept pushing
8:54
forward in my desire to serve the Lord with the
8:58
gifts he'd given and that fiddle remained central
9:01
and allowed me to carry. You know, when I started
9:04
was about 13 years old, I started a little bluegrass
9:08
band. I was the oldest at 13, the youngest was
9:10
eight. And we started playing at churches and
9:13
clean markets and auction barns and then bluegrass
9:16
festivals and then big county fairs. And we sort
9:20
of worked our way up to the Grand Old Opry. And
9:23
so when we started appearing on the Grand Old
9:25
Opry, we made such a big splash, you know, that
9:29
is a little bluegrass group of teenage boys.
9:33
We got accepted into what was then country music,
9:37
even though we weren't doing what they played
9:39
on the radio as country music. We were on that
9:42
stage internationally because we were accepted
9:45
and, you know, our very first appearance at the
9:48
Grand Old Opry, we were featured in this huge
9:50
magazine pictorial with Leva McIntyre and Alabama
9:54
and Bobby Bayer and of course Roy Acuff and Minnie
9:57
Pearl and, you know, the big stars of that era.
10:01
And so. You know, we hit ball running, I guess
10:03
you would say, you know, making a home run on
10:06
that very first time. And so that began our process
10:10
of finding more people that then became. Encouragers,
10:15
you know, both to members of the group, but especially
10:18
to myself, you know, getting to be a part of
10:21
that family at the Grand Old Opry at an early
10:24
age. You know, I found other encouragers that
10:26
God put in my life. One of the biggest. or off
10:29
day three of the biggest. There was two Opry
10:30
stars. One was named Bill Monroe. Two others
10:33
were Jim and Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia
10:35
boys. They were bluegrass stars, but they had
10:38
been on the Opry. Of course, Monroe since 1939
10:41
and Jim and Jesse since 1964 at the time. And
10:46
all of them took an interest in us and in me.
10:50
You know, I was backstage at a concert that I
10:53
was cheering on the same concert Bill with him
10:56
and happened to walk into the dressing room and
10:59
he's back there with his mantle in and he's playing
11:02
a little tune. And I'm, you know, we, all the
11:04
musicians that had just came off stage stood
11:06
around and played a little bit with him. And
11:08
then we started to put our instruments up and
11:10
he walked over and Bill had a very unique sound
11:13
to his voice. He said, do you know how to play
11:15
the key to heel? to me and said, yes sir, I can
11:18
play Katie Hill. So I walked it off on my fiddle
11:21
there and he looked at me and he shook his head
11:23
and said, no, no, that's not how that tune goes.
11:27
Here, this is how that goes. And he started to
11:30
teach me how to play that tune. and then another
11:34
tune, and then another tune, and we wound up
11:36
spending three hours together. This is a man
11:38
who is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Country
11:41
Music Hall of Fame, Maliegrass Music Hall of
11:43
Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, and he's standing
11:46
there over a teenager who's just shaking in his
11:50
boots, teaching him, giving the one -on -one
11:53
lesson. That, to me, that was God. He put me
11:58
in that moment so that Bill Monroe could be a
12:00
part of my life. teach me. And then it was Bill
12:04
Monroe who brought me in my group to the Grand
12:07
Old Opry. So, Hovindance oftentimes through God's
12:13
placing us in a moment with someone else, he
12:17
is opening up those doors that you're going to
12:20
then hopefully run through before the slam shut
12:22
and have an opportunity to share God's gifts
12:26
with those that he wants to hear you. And that
12:30
was the beginning for me to move from that little
12:33
local southern stage to the international music
12:37
stage through that gentleman. And of course,
12:41
it's Jim and Jesse as well, who then, you know,
12:44
they had been part of my life, but became even
12:46
more part of influencing and guiding what God
12:49
had in store in country music and later on in
12:52
television. So because the fiddle is what opened
12:55
the doors for me to walk into television as well.
12:58
Wow. I think one of the important things though
13:00
is that you are willing to slow down and take
13:03
advice and a lot of people don't do that, you
13:06
know. Well, I think you're right. Sometimes we're
13:10
so busy in our own lives or we're so full of
13:12
ourselves. You know, sometimes you're not open
13:16
to have somebody else tell you you're doing something
13:20
wrong. You're going to be insulted by that rather
13:22
than to say, oh, it's not. Well, feel me how
13:25
I need to do that. And of course, Of course,
13:28
I would never said he never been. He was the
13:31
man who broke so much of what became the lexicon
13:34
of bleak grass music telling me that I needed
13:36
to play something a different way. Of course,
13:38
that was going to learn from that. Who else gets
13:41
an opportunity to learn from a master, whether
13:44
it's a master sculptor, a master painter, but
13:47
a master musician. So God sends those people
13:51
in the lives of us. And if we're, as you said,
13:54
if we pay attention, if we slow down, and realize
13:58
in the moment what God's gift he's giving us,
14:03
because he's trying to add to the gifts he gave
14:06
us, the gifts he gave other people. Yeah, and
14:09
they look like ordinary moments, and you don't
14:12
have the time, you don't know to expect them.
14:14
So that's cool. Yeah, and you never know what's
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Now, back to more of God's goodness. And especially,
15:12
you know, through my life, I've seen that time
15:14
and time again. You know, once I was on television,
15:19
I mean, once I was on the international, I guess
15:22
you would say national music circuit, Well, then
15:25
God gave me enough notoriety that I was able
15:27
to cross over into television. And of course,
15:31
super started with music. My first role was as
15:33
a, a singer and a teenage centered film with
15:37
the Christian Slater, Brian Bloom, Veronica Cartwright,
15:41
Cammie Lauren. It was a CBS movie of the week.
15:44
And everybody who was featured in the movie were
15:47
singers. It was called Desperate for Love, but
15:50
that was my first quote movie role. And back
15:53
in 1980, I think we filmed it 87 or 88. And that
15:58
crossover moment then began the chain reaction
16:02
of, well, here I can play this, I can sing this.
16:06
Then that started opening up other doors to allow
16:08
me to move from being someone who can sing and
16:11
play and play, do that on film to somebody who
16:14
actually got to act and I could do comedy and
16:17
I could do drama. And within about a year then
16:20
I was... cast on television from the heat of
16:23
the night, playing opposite Academy Award nominees,
16:26
Howard Rollins, Emmy winners, Carol O 'Connor,
16:29
and so many others who were legendary in their
16:33
crafts on what became a very popular television
16:37
series for the next, for me, I was on there for
16:41
five years, but for many others, you know, it
16:44
was this eighth season the series went on. So
16:47
I was very blessed with that. there's another
16:50
opportunity that God, you know, He opens the
16:53
doors. But then once you get there, there was
16:56
a specific point in time. And I relay this. I've
17:00
got a devotional, a 30 -day devotional that I
17:02
wrote called Seeing Faith that's out. And I share
17:05
in one of the devotionals about this story. In
17:09
the story, I've reached a point in that opening
17:12
question that you asked, Shelley, was when you
17:15
don't know exactly where you are in your life.
17:20
And here I was on a network television show.
17:23
Many people look up to people who are on television.
17:26
They want to get their autographs. You know,
17:27
we get to go around riding parades, smiling away.
17:30
You get a lot of accolades and a lot of people
17:34
want to be near you, get the pictures with you.
17:36
Well, I was experiencing all of that. So it was,
17:39
you know, it's the stardom thing. And I got to
17:43
a point that I literally just prayed, God, you've
17:47
put me here and I know there's something I'm
17:50
supposed to be doing for you. Other than just
17:54
this, you know, this is wonderful. I'm having
17:57
a wonderful time, but what is it I'm supposed
17:59
to be doing for the kingdom? And so a few weeks
18:02
later, I'm at the set, and I hear a call, you
18:08
know, through the studio for me to come to the
18:11
set. I wasn't scheduled to be in this particular
18:13
scene, but I was on the set. And so I go in and
18:17
I step up in the center of what we call the chief's
18:19
office on the show, and there stands Carol O
18:22
'Connor. For the listeners who don't know Carol
18:24
O 'Connor, Carol is a television icon who played
18:27
a character during the 70s and early 80s. as
18:31
Archie Bunker with an all in the family and Archie
18:34
Bunker's place. And he is one of, I guess you
18:36
would call him one of the biggest stars of the
18:38
1900s. Well, there he stands in the middle of
18:41
the set and I walk up to him. Yes, sir. What
18:43
can I do for you? And he called me Randy, because
18:46
that's my character's name. He said, Randy, I'd
18:48
like to use a scripture in this scene. And I
18:51
knew you would know which one. That's pretty
18:54
good that somebody could recognize that you are
18:56
the one that would know it. And beyond that.
19:00
He and I had never spoken about faith, my religion.
19:04
We had never had that conversation. But to me,
19:08
here's that prayer a couple, a few weeks earlier
19:12
to God, what is it I'm supposed to be doing for
19:15
you here? And then he sends Carol that day through
19:22
that prayer. That's what I'm supposed to be doing
19:24
for him. I'm there to plant this seed. If I do
19:29
nothing else, this was the answer to that prayer.
19:33
And of course, the scripture I gave him for the
19:37
particular scene that we were doing was 1 Corinthians
19:39
13, 13, and the greatest of these is charity.
19:42
And that became the very first scripture that
19:46
the character that Carol played in our series
19:48
of Chief Bill Gillespie uttering a scripture
19:52
on the show. But that was not the first time.
19:56
I mean, that was not the last time. That was
19:57
the first time that occurred, but it became a
20:00
regular occurrence throughout the remainder of
20:02
the series that the Bible and the story of God
20:07
was shared to 25 million Americans each and every
20:12
Tuesday night through the words of members of
20:15
our cast, but primarily through the character
20:19
of Chief Bill Gillespie and coming from the star.
20:23
There are people who never crossed the foyer
20:26
of a church door that heard the gospel in the
20:30
words that were shared through the scriptures.
20:34
And so he allowed me to be there to start and
20:37
plant that first seed and of course continue
20:39
to talk to Carol about that topic. It got to
20:42
the point Carol would come into the stead as
20:44
he was rewriting scripts. He'd walk in, he had
20:47
a little lectern just off the set and he'd come
20:51
in and have a King James version of the Bible
20:53
under one arm. He'd have a script book under
20:55
the other arm. He'd come and set that down and
20:57
I'd watch him take the pen and he'd mark out
21:00
some lines and he'd open up that Bible and go
21:03
over there and pull out a scripture and write
21:05
it in. So to me, if I never got to do anything
21:10
else for God in my entire life, that one thing
21:16
and all of those subsequent opportunities to
21:19
talk with Carol about faith and God and how we
21:22
were able, we even had a particular episode where
21:25
Carol led a prisoner to Christ in the show. So
21:29
all of those things built for me, at least, I
21:34
don't know that Carol realizes it, but for me,
21:36
it was from that one prayer, Lord, what am I
21:39
supposed to do for you here? What is it you want
21:42
me to do for the kingdom and that? You know,
21:47
like I said 25 million Americans then the show
21:50
went on to 150 countries around the world and
21:53
every imaginable language you could think of
21:55
Being translated and they also heard the gospel
21:59
Through a crime drama through a crime drama not
22:03
through a show that you would normally imagine
22:05
And of course, she also saw our characters go
22:07
to church and go, you know when we were down
22:09
or needed direction, we saw our characters pray,
22:13
you know, or try to encourage people with the
22:16
word of God. So that was amazing. Was that intentional?
22:19
Was that something the script writers wanted?
22:21
Or was that something that Carol brought to the
22:23
show? And he's like, you know, I want my character
22:25
to do this. And they just kind of let him run
22:27
with it. That was Carol. That was Carol because,
22:32
and I think it's Carol in the influence of several
22:34
of us who were on the show. who he recognized
22:38
as being Christians. And I think that had a positive
22:42
influence. And of course he realized we were
22:45
filming the show in a Southern town, a small
22:48
Southern town. So everybody, everything shut
22:50
down on Sunday. Everybody went to church. That
22:54
was the way it worked. And so you knew what the
22:57
culture of the South was. He knew that he saw
23:02
it and he knew that that needed to be part of
23:05
what are made up our stories and our characters.
23:09
We often had shows which played out in churches
23:13
or around churches, you know, and sometimes the
23:17
storylines that came from Hollywood would not
23:21
be the best in the world from a religious perspective
23:25
because oftentimes the attitudes were not what
23:29
we would want them to be coming out of the environment.
23:32
So, you know, sometimes we got some stories that,
23:35
you know, we didn't care for. like he said, you
23:38
know, but we tried to do the best with them that
23:40
we could and to make a positive spin on them.
23:45
But I think, yes, Carol was instrumental in doing
23:48
that. And, you know, he was the executive producer,
23:50
so he had taken creative control of the show
23:53
by then. So anything he said went. So it was
23:57
a blessing that God allowed me to be a part of
23:59
that. And like I said, that one of my devotionals
24:03
in that seeing faith book and just sharing that
24:06
story in a little more detail. I think it's one
24:09
of those times that God sent somebody into my
24:12
life and allowed me to do something that I could
24:14
have never imagined as a little boy going up
24:18
in Georgia to get to do or get to see even if
24:22
I'd never gotten to be that but just to be present
24:25
in that situation. But it's amazing that God
24:28
allowed me to be tool for him and fulfill an
24:33
opportunity to spread the gospel. First of all,
24:38
from watching shows like All in the Family, I
24:42
would never have guessed that Carol was a God
24:45
-fearing man. Oh, definitely. Yeah, he was. Just
24:48
because of the nature of the show, the nature
24:50
of the time, the culture that we had, at no point
24:53
would I have ever thought that he was for Christ.
24:57
Never really got into crime dramas. So I never
25:00
really watched a whole lot of the other shows
25:02
But I am aware of it and I have seen at least
25:05
parts of them because they'd be on you know the
25:07
TV I'm having a hard time reconciling that that
25:10
man right there was the man that introduced Christ
25:13
to that show and He asked you to assist him in
25:18
that so that he could have the scripture and
25:20
that he would correctly identify that you would
25:23
know which scripture he needed like he just he
25:26
sought you out he knew that you he knew that
25:27
he knew that you knew right i think that's so
25:31
wonderful and i don't know where his heart was
25:32
when he was in the other shows but i think that's
25:35
just a good description of god's transformative
25:38
power in our lives of who we once were we're
25:41
not staying as, as we progress through our lives.
25:45
You know, he could have had a fervent love for
25:47
Jesus, but it may not have shown. But by the
25:49
time he was in another show, it did show. That's
25:53
a good conclusion. You know, and once again,
25:55
I did not know him during the era of All in the
25:58
Family, but I knew Carroll O 'Connor of the late
26:01
1980s and 90s. And yes, he was a devout man,
26:05
but he saw and he shared the love of Christ.
26:08
I think God uses us where we are. And he puts
26:12
us where he wants us to be. Now, sometimes we
26:14
choose not to go where he would like us to. You
26:18
know, he opens the doors and we don't cross the
26:20
threshold. I think all of us have those moments
26:23
in life. It's such an amazing thing to me. I
26:26
got to see that and I got to be a part of it.
26:29
And it was such a blessing. And I knew it because
26:33
I was traveling the country at the same time
26:35
in my music career and the comedy and things
26:39
that I did as well. So I talked to people throughout
26:43
the country during the time we were on the air
26:46
and they could see it too. They saw the blessings
26:49
coming through and it touched people. Especially
26:52
as I was carrying my ministry into churches,
26:55
they would talk about that. And for us to be
26:58
a, we were the cutting edge racial drama of the
27:01
era. You know, just like NYPD Blue was the urban.
27:06
police drama. We were the rural police drama
27:09
and we were the show that was supposed to, I
27:12
guess you would say, change things related to
27:16
racial relationships between blacks and whites
27:19
or, you know, or whatever ethnic group you want
27:22
to talk about. But, you know, that was primarily
27:25
where our scripts were centered with the black
27:28
and white relationships. Sometimes some other
27:31
ethnic groups were chucked in there, but primarily,
27:34
I know we had, well, in fact, the episode that
27:36
that scripture was used in was about the racism
27:40
towards Vietnamese people because the whole story
27:44
drawn the line that that particular episode was
27:47
about difficulties that people who had fought
27:50
in Vietnam were having with the Vietnamese who
27:54
were settling in the rural areas. And so that
27:59
here are folks that they had fought against now
28:02
in their hometown. So, yeah, and that's what
28:05
precipitated that. And the greatest of these
28:08
is charity. Whatever happened to that? That was
28:11
how that was used by Chief Gillespie. So I think
28:14
we were able to make a big difference, not only
28:17
on the front of sharing the gospel, but also
28:21
in the motivating of change in the attitudes
28:25
and in the the way people relate to one another.
28:30
And I still have people come to me and talk to
28:32
me about that, about how, you know, that show
28:36
brought together an amazing audience of people
28:41
who, many different backgrounds, who just love
28:44
to watch the show. And it came away with some
28:46
kind of an uplifting lesson from the episodes.
28:52
That's so cool how the evolution of your career
28:55
so you went from the musician To the actor and
28:58
then the author and then you have other books
29:00
besides the devotional as well about encouraging
29:04
others, right? Yes. In fact, I have a three book
29:07
series called encouragers one encouragers two
29:10
and encourages three and of course There's idols
29:12
to each of those but in those three books I write
29:17
about the people that I saw that God put into
29:20
my life as encouragers, like there's this story
29:24
that I shared about Bob Hope is in my Encourage
29:27
of One book. There's stories about Bill Monroe
29:29
and Jim and Jesse, and there's stories, that
29:32
story to a certain extent, there's other stories
29:34
about Carol, not that specific one about the
29:36
scripture, because that's semi -devotional, but...
29:39
There are other stories about how Carol was an
29:41
encourager and how Alan Autry who played Bubba
29:44
on our show was encouraged and so many others.
29:46
Larry Hagman from Dallas, you know, who was J
29:49
.R. You know, he shot J .R. if you're old enough
29:51
to remember that. I do. Yeah, he was an amazing
29:56
man. I thought the world of him. And he was another
29:58
person that God put into my life because Carol
30:01
had become an encourager and someone that invested
30:05
in me. Well, he and Larry and Carol were best
30:08
friends. So I, by in turn, I picked up Larry
30:12
Hagman as another person who literally became
30:15
part of my life and separately from Carol, then
30:18
started investing and giving me advice and saying,
30:21
well, you should do this or you, you know, just
30:24
little nudges. Cause sometimes, you know, it
30:27
doesn't take a big deal to be an encourager in
30:30
someone's life. It may just be sitting down for
30:33
a few minutes in a coffee shop over two cups
30:36
of coffee and listening to what they have to
30:39
say and then say, well, you know, I would do
30:43
this. Or you may want to think about what you're
30:48
going to do just a little bit more. Give it a
30:51
little more time, just a little nudge in one
30:53
direction or another, because I think that's
30:55
what God put us here to do. is to encourage each
30:58
other in our day -to -day lives and to try to
31:02
bring us, of course, closer to God in the process,
31:06
but also to help us through those little bumps
31:10
in the road that we all hit because, you know,
31:14
every 365 days a year, not every day is rosy.
31:18
We'd love them all to be sunshine and rainbows,
31:22
but it's not. So those days when the butterflies
31:26
aren't flying around our head, we needed just
31:30
a little bit more encouragement from those that
31:34
God sends into our lives. And that's what my
31:37
entire book series was about, was trying to bring
31:40
people to the realization of He's given each
31:43
of us gifts. Now for me, I think the gifts have
31:47
been musical and acting and comedy, being able
31:51
to uplift people and make them laugh, to brighten
31:55
their day with a song. to maybe play a scene
31:58
on television or on stage that allows them to
32:02
step out of whatever is bothering them on a day
32:05
and for a few minutes be a little happier. But
32:09
each of us, it may be something as simple as
32:13
you're terrific at fixing a motor in a car. Or
32:17
it's maybe something nice enough as, you know,
32:20
you need a little help cleaning the carpets at
32:22
the house, or you need a painter to fix something,
32:25
you know, to paint your exterior of your home.
32:27
He's given gifts to all of us and those gifts
32:31
are way into someone's life. And he's giving
32:35
us the opportunity. Each person that we see each
32:39
and every day to share his story and how he's
32:44
impacted our life. through the gifts he's given
32:48
us. And if we utilize that, oh, what an amazing
32:53
reach that we have for the kingdom. If each and
32:58
every one of us, each and every day, takes every
33:01
opportunity that he sends, what a place we would
33:04
have an opportunity to live in. This world would
33:07
just be amazing. Not that it isn't now, but if
33:11
every voice... and every face that we saw were
33:14
hearing the gospel through the smile on our face
33:17
and the love in our hearts. What a wonderful
33:21
world it would be. Last spring, I came across
33:26
something I honestly didn't expect to pay this
33:28
much attention to. At first, I was just interested
33:31
in the idea of saving money on everyday wellness
33:33
products I was already buying anyway. But then
33:36
I started noticing people I personally know getting
33:39
paid weekly from a membership they were simply
33:41
sharing with others. That's what made me really
33:44
pay attention. Because it's not about stocking
33:47
inventory, pressuring friends, or chasing customers
33:49
around. It's a membership that gives people access
33:52
to high -quality products at lower prices. And
33:55
if you decide to share it, there's a compensation
33:57
side attached to it too. After seeing real people
34:00
get results from it consistently, I realized
34:03
this could genuinely become a long -term income
34:05
vehicle for the right person. If you've been
34:08
looking for something simple that actually makes
34:10
sense in today's economy, You should at least
34:12
take a look at why so many people are paying
34:14
attention to this right now. The info is in our
34:16
about section. So you have three books about
34:19
people that have encouraged you. You don't seem
34:24
the person or the kind of person that would not
34:27
encourage others or pay it forward. Do you have
34:29
any anything in your books about how you encouraged
34:31
others? Because I have a feeling that you have
34:33
encouraged a lot of people. Yes, there are, are
34:37
such stories. This particular series didn't have
34:39
that, but I think in some of my other kind of
34:41
book called, Frankly Speaking, Vox on This and
34:44
That, that I share a lot of daily life kind of
34:47
stories and of course, and then as well, well,
34:50
there may be a little in the Encouragers series
34:52
as well, but some of the key areas that I have
34:55
worked in, of course, I do take advantage of
34:58
those moments. You know, if somebody walks up
35:01
to me and they... I've often, even if standing
35:04
in a cash register line, I've had a, you know,
35:07
like the person running the cash register, I'll
35:09
ask them, well, how's your day going? What's
35:11
going on? And if they felt warm enough with me
35:16
to say what's really going on, you know, other
35:19
than, oh, I'm fine. Sometimes they'll say, well,
35:22
it's been a terrible week. And I said, well,
35:25
what happened? Well, my mother's in the hospital.
35:29
or my son's been sick, and we're having a little
35:32
trouble. We just can't seem to make ends meet.
35:35
Well, I always stop right there. You know, we
35:37
always hear people say, well, I'll pray for you.
35:41
Well, my thinking is, well, that's wonderful
35:43
to say that. Why don't you do it right then?
35:46
And so I'll stop right there in the line at the
35:49
store or whatever. You know, I'm sure the people
35:52
behind me, I hope they're tolerant of it, but...
35:55
I'll just say, may I pray with you? And I'll
35:58
pray with the person right there to try to at
36:02
least uplift them in that moment. So that's one
36:04
thing that I am constantly mindful of because
36:08
God sent you that person to tell you that story
36:10
because he wanted you to do something. Now there
36:13
are always opportunities too. If it's a financial
36:15
need and you can help that, then that's obviously
36:19
something I think that he's opening that door
36:21
for you or to try to connect them with someone
36:23
who can't. if you can't do that because there
36:26
are all kinds of missions and charities in a
36:28
community that you can connect some that they
36:30
may not know about that can help meet that need
36:33
to play that heating bill or that medical bill
36:37
or whatever it might be. But beyond that, for
36:40
me personally, I have focused my energies on
36:44
encouraging youth in Appalachian music. 20 years
36:47
ago, we started a scholarship foundation in my
36:50
late parents' names with Perl and Floyd Frank's
36:53
scholarship. We've given over 40 scholarships
36:55
and most of the money comes from concerts that
37:00
I've held. Some donors also are kind enough to
37:03
send in regular donations each year to our 501c3.
37:07
to the Share America Foundation, that's shareamericafoundation
37:10
.org, if anybody's interested in supporting what
37:13
we do. But we've put through college banjo players,
37:17
guitar players, singers, mandolin players, all
37:20
kinds of people who are continuing Appalachian
37:22
music, not always for the focus of their vocation
37:26
to do that. I mean, I've got an aeronautical
37:28
engineer who helped put through school. I've
37:30
got nurses and doctors and teachers over the
37:34
last 20 years who have been a part. what we did
37:37
and we've mentored many of them which have went
37:40
on to become notable musicians and out sharing
37:44
their gifts on stage as well. So that's one area
37:49
of what I focus on encouragement in the gifts
37:53
that he's given me. Trying to do the same thing,
37:56
things that Bill Monroe and Jim and Jesse and
37:59
so many others did for me. I also tried to do
38:03
the same thing in acting, where that opportunity
38:05
was trying to incur the natural young actors
38:08
or directors or producers who want to grow in
38:12
their crafts, sharing my knowledge and often
38:16
trying to connect them to the right folks, if
38:18
that's an opportunity that the Lord allows. And
38:22
same with the musicians. So that's where my encouragement
38:25
focus is. But I think, like I said, every day
38:28
God sent you someone. You just have to Be mindful,
38:32
listen, and be prepared to respond when you hear
38:35
what they have to say. That comes from remaining
38:38
yourself in the Bible and study and know what
38:44
needs to be said. Going back to why Carol asked,
38:47
well, I knew the scripture. I knew you would
38:50
know which one. Yeah, back in the day, I didn't
38:52
have a Google to look it up. Yeah. Yeah, right.
38:56
So how, you know, If I had not been prepared
38:59
with that answer, what would have happened? You
39:02
know, but that was from being prepared and knowing
39:06
and spending time in the Word and looking at
39:11
the situation in the script that he was trying
39:13
to deal with and having it ready. Now, I think
39:17
that was God's message to me during that time
39:20
was that you've got to be mindful. I've given
39:23
you the tools, use them for me. Mm -hmm. I think
39:26
a lot of us need to remind her that constantly
39:28
that the Bible is is full of Everything that
39:31
we have been given and then when we pray we always
39:34
ask for the things that we already have We pray
39:36
to God we say hey Lord, we really need help with
39:39
this and he's like I've already gave you the
39:40
wrench I already gave you the toolbox. I already
39:43
gave you that everything you need to give you
39:44
instructions everything Why are you asking me
39:47
for the things I've already given you? Yeah,
39:50
why are you asking for more of the site? Yeah.
39:52
Right. And I think it's up to us to believe as
39:55
part of our faith that he did equip us with exactly
39:58
what he said he equipped us with and to rely
40:00
on that. I agree. I think each of us has the
40:05
have what we need in most of the walks of our
40:08
lives. Now, granted, there are points in time
40:10
when, you know, we hit, you know, you lose a
40:14
job, you lose your wife, your son, your daughter.
40:17
They're always our parents. there is always kind
40:21
that we can't seem to put one step in front of
40:24
the other and we wonder where it is we're supposed
40:26
to pull the strength and the the next thing that
40:30
we don't see where we need to go because it's
40:33
so dark around us but those are the times that
40:36
once again we need to go back and open up that
40:38
Bible and go into God's Word and find the message
40:44
and I you know I don't know about y 'all but
40:46
I've always found when you're deeply sad or you
40:52
don't know what to do. If you just simply go
40:55
over and just at random, open up that Bible that
41:01
inevitably somewhere on those two pages is the
41:05
message that needs to be read and put into your
41:10
soul to get you out of that little spot. just
41:16
by opening the Bible and wherever it happens
41:20
to fall. Now granted, you know, I'm sure there's
41:23
a more better way to find, you know, you can
41:27
go into the concordance and you go here and there
41:29
and look, well, here's my problem. But I think
41:32
God will simply just a huge open the Bible and
41:35
somewhere on those two pages, there is a story,
41:37
there is a message that you need to hear that
41:39
will help you get that ability to put your next
41:43
step forward. and to find where God is wanting
41:47
to lead you in your life. This reminds me of
41:51
the Bible verse about writing the scripture on
41:54
your heart, because then the Holy Spirit can
41:57
remind you of that at the appropriate time so
41:59
he can speak through you in others' lives. I
42:02
can't remember which Bible verse it is, but it's
42:05
in there. And so also his word will never return
42:09
void, so it'll just do what he intends it to
42:12
do. So it's important. to put in the reps, so
42:15
to speak, in the Bible, like your personal time
42:19
with Jesus in the Word, because it's like sowing
42:22
the seeds in your own life, and then it can just
42:25
spread to others. Like mustard seed, mustard
42:28
seeds. Like it's not just small, but it's gonna
42:31
spread too. Exactly. And every opportunity that
42:35
he feeds you each day is another opportunity
42:38
to plant one of those mustard seeds and to give
42:41
the gifts that he's given you I've been blessed
42:44
in my life that he put that fiddle in my hand
42:47
at this young age to bring that sickly child
42:51
out of his shell and put me in front of millions
42:55
of people around the world to share God's gifts
43:00
in my life. And of course he's allowed me to
43:02
do that in music and on film and television and
43:07
written word, written word as well through my
43:10
books and my syndicated newspaper column. I could
43:13
have never envisioned that for my life, but God
43:17
knew it before I had even thought about what
43:21
in this world am I going to do here for you.
43:26
He already knew what He had planned for me. And
43:31
all I've had to do is just walk through the doors
43:37
that He's opened and with each door another one's
43:41
opened. Things happened. People came into my
43:44
life that I could have never put there. And so
43:48
people say, well, how did you become a TV star?
43:51
How did you get on television? And I say, I didn't.
43:55
God did. He put me there. He actually put me
43:59
in a place and he had them create a character
44:02
for me. And then I got to spend some of the best
44:04
years of my life working with some of the most
44:07
wonderful people who created such an amazing
44:10
art. and then allowed me to go from that to go
44:13
on and do movies and televisions and start doing
44:16
Christian films back in the 1990s when, you know,
44:19
it really wasn't a big thing. I mean, as far
44:22
as now we have a number of networks and things
44:24
that have Christian films, but back then it was
44:27
not necessarily as successful. You know, a lot
44:30
of people weren't going over looking for, well,
44:32
we need a good... Christian film to watch, but
44:35
I was blessed to start in that back then as well.
44:38
And since, and done a lot of great projects with
44:41
John Snyder, Natalie Grant, Billy Dean, and so
44:44
many others. So many talented actors, William
44:48
Hurt, Elizabeth McGovern from Doubt Mabby. I
44:51
loved working with her many years ago, but so
44:54
many wonderful actors and people that I've got
44:57
to spend time with and share. All of that's because
45:01
that in my third grade elementary school room
45:05
and played that violin or that viola he played
45:09
and put a violin in my hand. And then my parents
45:13
made every effort to create the opportunities
45:17
that opened the doors. And all those people on
45:20
the way were all encouragers, some small, some
45:24
great, but we're all able to be an encourager.
45:28
And we don't have to have a necessarily a special
45:31
talent. We just have to use the gifts that God
45:34
has put within us and be an encourager to those
45:37
that he sends to us each and every day. And I
45:40
think that's what he means all of us to do is
45:43
change the world through those around us. Let
45:49
this be everyone's reminder that if something
45:51
positive comes into your head that you're thinking
45:53
over somebody like, oh, cute purse or nice shoes
45:56
or nice smile or your hair looks great. Just
45:59
say it. It doesn't matter what they think, but
46:01
it could just brighten someone's day. And then
46:04
that could have the ripple effect on the rest
46:06
of their day and others. So don't hesitate with
46:11
that. Make the difference. And folks, if you
46:14
have any interest in learning more about what
46:16
I've done, you can find my books at randalfranks
46:20
.com. You can find my music there as well, but
46:24
most people get their music now from places like
46:27
Amazon and from iTunes or they listen on Spotify.
46:33
Put Randall Franks in your, you know, say, Alexa,
46:36
play Randall Franks. It'll do it. But we'd love
46:40
to have people find out more about what we're
46:42
doing. Watch some of my movies. You can put those
46:45
in your search engine on Google and you can be
46:47
bored for hours. So we'd love to have people
46:50
learn more about what we've done and hopefully
46:53
what we're going to do, because we've got more
46:55
books coming up, more movies coming out, and
46:58
more music that will hopefully make a difference
47:01
in people's lives through our scholarship foundation.
47:04
I'll share this. We've got a new project that
47:06
we're doing with our scholarship foundation where
47:09
we're having a lot of different music stars come
47:12
in and be on an album with us. And, uh, this
47:16
out, now it's not a gospel music album. It's
47:19
an American folk song album. And we've already
47:21
got the first song out. It's called down yonder
47:24
to T O O. And, uh, it's the thing, then you'll
47:28
single for a group called the skillet makers
47:31
who going for a hundred years from data, Georgia.
47:34
of the old -time fiddle bands. We've got Kip
47:37
C. Core from the Old Crow Medicine Show. We've
47:39
got Dom Plonies from Caroline Chocolate Drops.
47:42
We've got two -time Grammy winner Jim Lauderdale
47:44
on it. We've got Doodle in the Golden River grass
47:47
on it. And that song's out there. And if you
47:49
go to iTunes or you go to Amazon and you download
47:53
that for the dollar that it costs to download,
47:56
that money goes to our Scholarship Foundation
47:59
at Share America Foundation and that helps us
48:02
send young people to college and I sure appreciate
48:05
you doing that and watch out for the songs that
48:07
are coming. The album is going to be called the
48:10
Zippity Doodle Day American Folk Songs and we're
48:12
gonna have probably about 40 different stars
48:15
joining me on that album and it'll be coming
48:19
out over the next 12 to 18 months and then eventually
48:22
go via CD or whatever whatever form music is
48:26
bought in these days sometimes it's on a flash
48:28
drive sometimes it's a little card you buy so
48:31
it'll be out there but we appreciate people supporting
48:34
that because it helps us make a difference in
48:37
the lives of so many young people and uh thank
48:41
you so much for giving us the information on
48:43
the scholarship i think that's a wonderful way
48:45
to reach out to to younger people and to get
48:47
them interested in Folk music. I've always been
48:50
a fan of a fiddle. I've always been a fan of
48:52
a lot of folk music My wife it probably drives
48:54
her nuts because sometimes I listen to it. She's
48:56
very modern But I want to thank you so much for
48:59
your time today and opening up with us and being
49:01
vulnerable and letting us know How God has spoke
49:04
to you how God has encouraged you through others
49:06
So that others may understand that God encourages
49:09
them through other people through little things
49:12
Through music even we really appreciate all your
49:16
time that you have given us today. We just pray
49:18
that you have great, tremendous success with
49:21
your music in this album coming out in the next
49:23
12 to 18 months. Oh, thank you so much, Josh
49:26
Shelley. It's been a pleasure to spend time with
49:28
you. I thank you for letting me share a little
49:31
of my story. And I hope that your listeners pay
49:35
attention to what we've shared and themselves
49:39
in their town, in their neighborhood, in their
49:42
church, become the encourager that God wants
49:46
you to be. Amen. Well, I hope this has been a
49:50
blessing to you all. And if you wanted to partner
49:53
with us and help us get this show to more people,
49:57
we have a link in the About section with all
49:59
the links. So there's different options if you
50:02
wanted to do that. And we'll talk to you next
50:05
week. Before you go, if this episode encouraged
50:10
you or made you think of someone in your life,
50:12
share it with them. You never know how God might
50:15
use one story at the right moment. Thanks for
50:18
spending this time with us today. And don't forget,
50:21
God is always working, miracles still happen,
50:23
and your story matters too. We'll talk to you
50:25
next week.