EP 334 - Jeff Talks VR With Mr. Pete

All right. Hey, everybody. Episode 334 of the church digital podcast. I wanted to make

sure my audio is working, which it is. I am not the moron that I sometimes appear to

be on camera. And so, hey, it's great to be here with you today. Happy Holy Week. Doing

this recording on Tuesday of Holy Week. And so I want to thank those of you who are taking

a break from the hecticness that is Holy Week to join us here for the stream. The church

staffer in me always has nightmares, get triggered a little bit. Holy Week. Some really heavy work

weeks have happened traditionally in Holy Week over the years. And so thankful to not be

on church staff at the moment and to be able to take some time this day and do a stream,

have some, be an encouragement, have some fun, do a little laughing on the show. I am, I'm

really looking forward to today's stream. You know, we just did the Digital Missionary Conference

fresh off it. As a matter of fact, if you are one of many people, many, many people who have

been emailing me, hey, Jeff, I wasn't able to make all the keynotes and I want to see what

I missed. Like when, when are the on-demand recordings gonna, gonna be out? Right around

the corner, right? Literally around the corner. We, we are, are very close. We're, we're rolling

out the, what's called the base on the Digital Missionary website, missionary.digital, the base.

It's a, a password protected, members only section. Uh, you will get access to that. And, uh, we will

have, uh, resources from a lot of our sponsors in there as well as, uh, the on-demand videos. And so,

uh, trust me, it's worth the wait. Hang out in there. Uh, it's coming in, in due time, but, but really

excited about the, the conference, uh, overall. And even, even a couple of weeks off the conference,

still feeling, uh, the energy, uh, level coming high in, in, in right now. And by the way, we're,

um, uh, you know, speaking of, of high levels of energy, that was an awkward turn on a word there,

but, um, maybe, maybe one of the highlights for me, uh, in, in the conference, there were so many

highlights. There, there was seeing Pastor D and OJ sitting together in the auditorium. Pastor D

has been doing, doing digital ministry for over a decade, was looking for a world builder.

OJ is a world builder, uh, who lives in, I want to say Hawaii. And so getting the two of

them together, uh, was incredible. Does OJ live in Hawaii? OJ, I'm going to pretend you live

in Hawaii. I'm pretty sure you said Hawaii. And I think I've, I think in the past, I assumed

it was the Philippines or Malaysia, but it was Hawaii. Uh, and so it was cool to get the two of

them connected, uh, to, to see, uh, how, what, you know, ministry things can happen as a result of

that, that relationship. Um, listening to, um, you know, so many of, of the keynote talks, uh, David

from, um, uh, Timothy Initiative was, was huge on my list. If your disciple is not making a disciple,

did you not in fact make a disciple? Did you actually make a disciple? You know, so good. Uh,

one of my biggest regrets, actually, Elle Michelle's in the room. One of my greatest regrets,

good afternoon. No, Michelle was, was missing your talk. I really wanted to see yours. Uh,

but, uh, looking forward, actually, uh, Michelle's knowledge, you're in here. I wanted, I want you to

do a stream. I sent you an email, but you know, I know you and emails don't go over well. I want you

to do a stream where, where you go through your talk here, uh, sometime in, in May or June. So let's

touch base on that soon. And, uh, I want you to do your talk on active listening here, uh, towards for

the broadcast audience, not just in the VR crowd, but it was, it was so exciting for me just from top

to bottom, the entire conference. One of the main highlights, uh, I get this text message. I was

actually scrolling through my phone, trying to remember who sent it to me. I couldn't find it,

but somebody sent me in the middle of the conference. I get a text from someone saying,

are we doing anything in big screen? I, do you know the digital missionary conference is currently

happening in big screen to which my immediate response was no, but I love it. And so I was,

uh, was very excited to hear it. I'm using the term loosely, uh, to, to hear that our conference

was being bootlegged into, uh, into, uh, to big screen, which is a, a virtual reality platform,

uh, that, that many, uh, many of you know about. And so, uh, you know, immediately started putting

out, putting out feelers who did this. I mean, listen, I'm not, don't, don't shut it down. I

don't stop it. Like let it keep going. I love the fact that, that it's going. I just want to know who

did it one to thank them for it. And, and, and two to, to like encourage them, uh, to do it again

next time, because I love the idea that we lost control of this crazy conference. And so we ended up

talking about it on the stream last week and somebody said the word Mr. Pete, who's this guy

I never heard of. And, and Oh, by the way, maybe it was Mr. Pete. We're not sure, but Mr. Pete

is 80 years old. And I'm like, okay, so you're telling me there's a potentially 80 year old

metaverse missionary who bootlegged our conference in big screen. 80, 84. Is that what you're saying?

84 years old. Wow. I mean that that's like, that's like two of my lifetime, sir. I'm 47. So that

would be closer to 94, but, but dang, you've been around for a minute. It what's, what's, what's the

secret to the, to the youthful look that you have at this moment? One word, Jesus. Interesting.

Well, kick us off here. Tell us, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Well, I'm excited about being here. I've been on Facebook contact and all of my friends

sending a link. So I hope we have Elle Michelle. I know her and, uh, I just, I appreciate those

ministries in VR so much and that they allow me to be a part. I'm excited about being here. I'm, I'm,

I'm, uh, I love computers and I love photography. And my main thing is creating 3d photos and videos.

And I, that's something I've been doing for many, many years with a Polaroid camera, taking an old

black and white, take one photograph, take another photograph, scotch tape them together, see it in

3d. That's what VR is. It's 3d, but VR number one is people. That's why I love VR VR virtual reality is

people. And you get to, you get to talk to people, encourage people. And as a minister of the gospel,

anointed of God, I love praying with people and to be a blessing and to, and I have, I like to make

people laugh. I have a little friend of here. I'm going to introduce to you in a moment. He loves to

come in here and make people laugh and be a little goofy. And, but, uh, that's what, what virtual reality

is, is, uh, as people come in there and they want to learn, you can learn and see and meet people. I mean,

you can go anywhere in the world. My fun thing is I do Microsoft flight simulator. And so I fly

different airplanes. I like the ultra light and I love flying over Israel. I, you can see my Israeli

flag. I, I, I pray for Israel. I know people, some personal friends in Israel. Uh, and, uh,

my heart, you get me, you start talking about Israel, you'll get me crying. You know, the Bible commands

us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for the Jewish people. And so, uh, in VR, there's a group

of, uh, Jewish people that gather and I'll come in the room and, and some of them do speak English.

And I, I'm, I come right out and tell them that I'm an old guy in Northern Alabama, but I want to tell

you right now, I'm, I'm praying for you. I don't judge you. I don't ask you if you know Jesus. The Bible

commands me to pray for you. And that's, to me, it's a very serious thing. Yeah. So I love what you're

doing. Wow. I was in, uh, the conference. My goodness. I think I was there for five hours.

That sounds about right. How long did that, that go? How did you do that sitting there

in that chair? Well, to be honest, it was, yeah, it was supposed to be a four hour conference that

became a five hour conference that became a six hour conference that became a seven hour conference.

It just, it was like the Energizer bunny. It kept going and going, uh, but, uh, and enjoyed,

enjoyed every second of it. I was able to take some of the breakoffs off and, uh, some of the keynotes.

I kept my ears in to listen, but I had to like stretch and walk around because it's a, it's a long

day sitting in a chair, not moving. Uh, I've, I've, I've done that too in another time. So yeah.

Yeah. I was excited to see that anything that, anything that brings forth the gospel

and in an unusual way, you know? Yeah. Um, I have my, uh, my friend here, my puppet friend,

Gramps, you know, and I've used him in my ministry. We traveled for 13 years in full-time ministry. And I,

and I, you know, I really don't like using Gramps, but I've been forced by the Holy Spirit to bring him

in, in a proper time to make the children laugh and get their attention. And, and so, uh,

we need to use our talent and ability any way we can and give it to God and he will anoint it and,

and you'll be blessed in a, in a wonderful way. You may think you, you can't talk in front of a camera.

You may think you, you know, you're, you're singing voices, not that good, but God will anoint it. You

give it to the Lord. Let him receive all the glory and praise for what you do and hold on to your hat.

It's wonderful to be used by God, knowing that you are a blessing to people. And I'm telling you,

we're living in troubling times right now. Satan knows his time is short. And because of that,

he's working overtime with his demons raging across the country, just bringing havoc into marriages

and into the church. So folks, we need to band together, be praying and believing God. And I'm,

I personally believe the rapture's about to take place anytime. I'm telling you that we're that close.

Yeah. And I'm ready. Well, and it's, that's, I mean,

that's one of the reasons why we lean in so heavily doing, doing digital. Um, and it's not to downplay

what happens in, in physical ministry. It's, but what, what we find is, is that by doing something

different, we're able to engage in dialogue with different people. Uh, the people that you're

interacting with in, in virtual reality are not the types of people that off are often going to

physical church buildings. Uh, they're, they're not, they're afraid to, they don't fit in, in those

spaces. And so, I mean, there's just so many questions I want to get into. Plus I want to

meet Gramps at some point as well, but, uh, why don't we do that? Can we just meet? Let's get him

over with here. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Oh, Hey, you know, the, the funny thing is I call my,

my kids call my father Gramps and that looks a lot like Gramps. That's, that's really funny.

Thank you. Thank you. I really appreciate that. Yeah. Wow. This is cool. Look at a computer here

and a microphone. Hey, this is great. This is great. Wow. So wow. Okay. So virtual reality

and a puppet. What, how does all this come together? Like, who are you?

Well, for first of all, I have to get in front of Mr. Pete so you don't see his lips move when I talk.

Oh, so good. Anyway, we're in big screen and we're in 3d and my face comes right into the camera.

Hello folks. So you need to come into big screen and see Mr. Pete in 3d. 3d stands for dumb and really dumb.

And this is dumb or something like, I'm not quite sure. That is, that is 3ds. Yeah.

Nice meeting you. Bye. I didn't realize I was going to be the straight man for a puppet when

I woke up this morning. So thank you for completing that, that dream. So, uh, you, you do, you do

pop it like, no. Okay. Big screen, your avatar, but you also have the ability to be on video,

like, you know, on a big giant screen in a, in the big screen world. And so I believe I'm the only

person I'm the, I'm, I believe I'm the only person in big screen that they can see live in 3d

because I built my own cameras. I have the cameras. You have to have two cameras with OBS

and it works great. And, uh, the people actually can see the real me and, uh, I I've done some

crazy things. I put on my headset and walked outdoors. And while I'm walking, I'm broadcasting

in big screen and people see outdoors. And then if I create a circle, a boundary and step into that

boundary, I come into the room and I'm in the room with the people. I know it's complicated. Let's

uh, no, no, no. So why, why VR? Like what, what, what is it about big screen? Why not? I mean,

why not go be at a physical church somewhere? Why not do this like in, in Facebook or WhatsApp or,

I mean, shoot, even tick tock, you would be, would be interesting and old man with a puppet.

Like how, what, why did you pick virtual reality, big screen as, as the platform of choice here?

Well, first of all, like I said before, I'm fascinated with 3d and have been as a young

teenager with the view master reels. I still have four view masters and a whole bunch of reels.

And, um, so 3d is, uh, is I'm fascinated with. And so when I learned at the quest, when you put it on,

you see things in 3d, not knowing that it can turn into a amazing, wonderful way of ministry. And, uh,

so, um, uh, when I put on my headset, one of the first things I did, I met Elena and, and, uh,

DJ Soto and, uh, I attended a couple of their services. And one day DJ Soto asked me to open in

prayer. And I just about fell out of my chair because that's, that's what I love to do is, is,

is, is pray for people and open and close in prayer. And, uh, so, um, I don't own a car. I,

I have very little money. My headset was bought by another individual, uh, who knew that I was in VR.

He paid, paid for my headset. This laptop I'm talking on was bought for me by another

ministry in California that knows I'm involved. Uh, because I was in ministry for 13 years full time,

I paid no social security. So we sold our home and everything we own and, and came here to Northern

Alabama and help our daughter buy this home that we're, that we're in and which happened to have a

mother-in-law apartment. So we have our own little apartment and our own bedroom, bathroom and living

room. And it just worked out. The Lord just worked it out amazingly. So, um, I just, I've always been

fascinated with 3d and, and, and, and playing with a puppet because I had a howdy duty puppet when I was

you with a kid. And I still have that holiday, howdy duty puppet today, but anything we enjoy doing,

if you can incorporate it into ministry to bless other people, that's what you need to do. What hobby

are you interested in? There's other people that's, that's interested in the same hobby you're interested

in and you can utilize that to bring the gospel in there, to bring prayer in there, to be a blessing

to people who may not be Christian, who don't go to church. I'm a ham radio operator and I,

I talk, I know I don't want to sound like I know it all, but I, in big screen, I have a program

it's called echo link. And with this microphone, I talk to ham radio operators all over the world

and I bring it into big screen. Now you don't see the person I'm talking to, but you can hear him

and you follow all the rules and regulations by the FCC and people come in my room and, and they actually

see me live up in the screen in 2d. And then I have pictures of Microsoft flight simulator flashing on

the bottom of the screen. And then echo link is on the other side of the big screen. And it is, it's,

it's really cool. And when I, some of the ham operators, I explained to them what I'm doing,

they said, what, you know, because it's broadcasting, it's rebroadcasting. And that's what ham operators.

And one time I talked to a ham operator and he went out and bought a quest headset. And the next day

came into my room while I was broadcasting. Oh wow. And so that's happened before, but yeah,

I'm telling you, brother, I appreciate your ministry. You are a blessing. I know, I know that sometimes it

could be, Oh, here we go. I got to get on here, but you know, there's an anointing there. It's,

it is necessary. And I love it that you're promoting virtual reality because my, some of my friends

think I'm crazy and that's a kid's thing or that's of the devil. And yes, there is, there is bad stuff

in big screen. Absolutely. Big screen is the worst for garbage and stuff, believe you me, but you don't

have to click on it, you know? Yeah. You, you know, well, I mean, you, you are probably a little

crazy. I mean, let's, let's, let's, let's call it a state. Yeah, you have 1 Peter 2.9, 1 Peter 2.9,

a peculiar, very peculiar person. Yeah. I mean, you're, you're, you're, you're talking about Howdy

Doody and ham radios, uh, of, of the majority of people you're interacting with in virtual reality,

we're not alive and have no context of what a Howdy Doody is or a ham radio. I know my kids don't,

um, I don't even think I was alive for, for either one of those at a high capacity level.

Um, but you're, you're using it to, to engage and to build relationships with kids, you know, even,

even Microsoft flight simulator and using it. Um, I mean, just what a, what a,

a rich opportunity to, to engage with kids, um, you engage with people in unique spaces. So,

so like, do you know, can you tell me maybe some of the relationships or like what types of people

you're, you're engaging with through big screen? Well, I mean, it's both just people come into my room

and, um, um, they, they see what I'm doing and in flight simulator, um, that's in 2d on the big giant

screen. And I asked them where they live. And in most cases I fly an ultralight and I, I fly over

over where they live and, and most generally not always because seeing up in the air and besides

it's being maps too, it's not Google or just being maps and being maps is a 3d rendering of the whole

world. Yeah. And, uh, anyway, in most cases, I mean, when you fly over, uh, Mount, uh, over the, uh,

in New York city, you recognize the, the, where the twin towers stood, you can see the, the squares on

the ground and the freedom building. And so a lot of time you re you will recognize. And so for some

of the people to see them where they live in a very unusual way. And I just like, you can fly everywhere.

I love flying in Hawaii because there's a particular place in Hawaii where there's a whole bunch of

dinosaurs. I mean, all the different dinosaurs are roaming in this big park in, in, uh, Hawaii and

in my hook, a soft flight simulator, I bought a Jeep for it's like $12 addition to the game. And it's an

electric four wheel drive Jeep that I actually have been sitting in and I steer and control. And so I love

chasing dinosaurs. You have to come in the big screen and see it to believe it. Cause

I'm not actually sure if you're saying that, that Hawaii actually has a real live Jurassic Park

or if it's just in VR at this moment, like VR. Oh man, that's, that's so cool. The, uh, so

where did the idea come from? Like, did you find big screen technology first? Did you, uh,

big screen is just, I mean, I would say it's not one of the more popular worlds and it's,

you almost have to like stumble into big screen to experience it. So what, what was like the, uh,

what's the, uh, what's the prequel story? How did you end up in big screen?

Well, I found the app back years ago and it was very poor. People would, uh, play movies you on your

laptop. If you have a movie in your laptop, you can play it on the screen, but I'm telling you it would

pixelate it. It was, you know, sometimes it would look good, but big screens come a long way. They

have done some major things. And in fact, for years, you could only have 15 people in your room.

And that's one reason, uh, there are a couple of churches that I would like to be part of, but you

can only get 15 people. Now you can get 30 people in your room. Okay. And so, um, but a lot of the

ministries are staying away from big screen because yeah, there is a lot of garbage there, but you don't,

again, it's, it's another, you have to click on it, be on it. You know, where, where did Jesus go?

He went into the bars. He went to where the centers were, but I've had some Christian friends. Oh man,

I wouldn't go in there. Well, okay. But listen, I could tell you, I could tell you some horror

stories around Christians and their opinions of virtual reality. Um, you can just, you can just go on my

YouTube and look, look at some of the content, some of the comments, some of the, uh, the most, um,

bitter, angry people I've, I've ever interacted with online are, are purported Christians who are just, uh,

angry over virtual reality. Anything made of man cannot be of God. Um, God, the Holy Spirit cannot exist in

virtual reality. Stuff like that. It just makes me, makes me smile. The Holy Spirit cannot exist in

virtual reality. Okay.

It's a kid thing, a little toy.

Well, I mean, let's, let's just, let's just pause. If let's, let's just, let's just take it to an extreme.

And, you know, I say this all the time here on the stream, but if, for example, Mark Zuckerberg really

did create a box, if man has now created a box that God is not allowed in, holy crap. Like,

from a theological standpoint, we got major problems because man is now boxing in and out God. Like,

God is not, uh, omniscient. God is not omnipotent. God is, is, is not all powerful. He's not all-knowing.

Man controls God. So by, by definition, theologically, of course, God can go into virtual reality. He is

everywhere and knows everything. Not to mention the fact that he knows the people that are controlling

these devices. And so, you know, I always, I always smile from the theological standpoint when

people are like, yeah, God can't go into, into virtual reality. Um, but you know, and it is,

it is dark. Uh, I've, I've, one of the, one of the books that I wrote was on churches and virtual

reality. You know, I see you've, you've gotten a lot of love. Uh, you know, Dave D here is talking

about the, the old days back in all space VR. I miss the all VR days. And, uh, you know, all space

was, uh, was very powerful back in the day. And it was a, but it was like a, um, it was a safe space.

It was owned by Microsoft. Microsoft had parental controls ever. Yeah. And, um, you know, now that

Microsoft has, has, you know, Swan Song didn't shut that down. It's interesting. The, a lot of

the areas are not as safe as it was back in the Microsoft days, safe in, in quotes, but you know,

VR chat is, you know, D D, uh, DJ calls it, uh, the, uh, the wild, wild west of virtual reality. I've

called it the, the red light district. Um, you know, even in like rec room, you're, you're going

to get cussed out by some like 12 year old kid that, you know, needs to get slapped upside the

head. Uh, like things just even like I've been in big screen and just, you know, seeing ruckus

happen over there, uh, with some of, some of the strong personalities that, that exist in, in virtual

reality. Uh, it's interesting, Dave saying here, big screen has its place, but it's harder to interact

one-on-one in big screen. What's the, what's the typical person in your opinion, you know, like

what's the, the customer profile user profile of the person that hangs out in big screen?

Well, one thing big screen is that I want us, I'm, I want to mention DJ Soto, you know, when I first

come into, into, into VR and I come into VR church and he was the pastor. And again, when he asked me

to open in prayer that, that really encouraged me to really get more involved in VR, but, uh, and big screen

again, what they've recently have done is they allow you to put a lot of information in, in the tagline

of what your room is all about. See, before you could put four words, but now I got in there,

Microsoft flight simulator, ham radio, Christian chat, gospel prayer, you know, and that, that

tells what your room is, is all about. And so people look for that. And, but I still have ordinary

people, people of the world come in there, but, uh, most generally they're pretty respectful. When I'm

talking on the ham radio, they, they're, if they talk, I can hear them, but the person I'm talking to

doesn't, but they, they're both basically want to know what's going on and they'll ask some questions.

But, um, I, I tell you, I appreciate big screen so much. And there there's individuals that come

in there that are just don't have a friend to talk to. And, and if there's anything I can say or make

them laugh or show some of my 3d pictures, I mean, I have, I've gotten, I follow this ministry.

It's Amir Sadafadi. I highly recommend anyone on Facebook or, uh, on a telegram to type in Amir

Sadafadi. He lives in Israel. He's an evangelist. He travels the world and ministers everywhere. And he brings,

uh, pictures of the war going on over there. And I've got over 80 pictures of the, uh, what the IDF

soldiers are fighting and I've turned them all into 3d and it, and, uh, it is just amazing to see.

And the dogs, they use dogs in their battles. And I've collected a whole bunch of pictures of

these German separate dogs. It's very cool to see, especially when you can see it in 3d and that,

and I've recently discovered an app. See, 3d consists of one eye, left eye, right eye to create 3d.

And so there are different ways. Uh, I actually take my cell phone. Anybody can do this.

Hold your cell phone up, take a photograph and move it just a few inches. Take a second photograph.

Now you've got two photographs in your cell phone and there's a program called, uh, uh, um,

owl, owl, 3d, O W L it's free. And it'll take those two pictures, put them together, turn them into a

3d photograph that you can see in big screen. And if you're on your cell phone, you have these little

glasses, you clip onto the cell phone and look through the glasses. You can see the picture on

your cell phone in 3d. And so, um, it's, you know, we will use our talent and, and the things we do to,

it's like honey to draw the bees, to draw the people, to hear a word from the Lord, to hear

prayer, to be encouraged, to know that heaven is real and hell is real. And you must accept Jesus

Christ as Lord and Savior. If you want to make heaven your home and you have to do it. I mean, I,

I'm not a hellfire and damnation preacher, but I'm strong believer of the soon return of Jesus and,

and others aren't. And that's fine. Cause he'll, he'll surprise us all here. No one has the day and

hour. I hate that when someone throws that in my face, nobody does a day and hour. Well, I know you're

right, but you know what I'm saying. Sure. I don't know if I answered your question or not.

No, this, this is, this is, this is phenomenal. I love it. Do you, do you find the same? I mean,

listen, you've gotten so much love from, from people in chat already. Like I just kind of want to roll

through, uh, through, through some of these, um, you know, Dave D mentioned earlier, I've talked with

Mr. Pete. Great to see you, Mr. Pete. El Michelle is excited. Mr. Pete, uh, David Mackey. Uh, hi,

Pete, uh, Cheddar's coming in from the outside. Great. Uh, sharing, uh, Mr. Pete and so real blessing

Cheddar's and his dad. Absolutely. I wouldn't be here right now. If it wasn't for Cheddar's dad,

I'll tell you that. Wow. Yeah. Tell me the story. Uh, well, just let me say, he blessed me.

Awesome. Bless, bless me to be able to have this laptop. Very cool. I love that. Cheddar's,

Cheddar's you, the, the virtual reality conference would not have happened if not for Cheddar's.

Oh yeah. So I got to talk to him and he was so busy. He was like a chicken with running around there,

but he did stop. And he said, it was cool. I, I, oh man, you put him, you put him through his

bases, but, and Cheddar's had been, and Cheddar's is the one that helped me start my 3d photos in,

in, uh, and we are actually, you know, he helped me learn to put together the pictures and bring them

into 3d. Yeah. And Ben, his dad, Ben, his dad lives in California every Wednesday night for the past

five, six years, we've had Bible study and that has been very cool. And it's open to anybody that

would like to join us on, um, um, what is the app we use? See, that's the problem being over 80 years old.

Uh, zoom, zoom. You, you got big screen down. You struggled with zoom. That's funny. That's really funny. Okay.

Um, so do you see the same people in big screen? Is it new people each week? Like, like tell what,

how, how are you building relationships who, and like, talk to me a little bit about that in, in big screen?

Yeah. Every once in a while, someone new will come in. And, uh, I just had a gentleman come into my room

and he's one thing, if you get somebody come in your room and they're there in there for like a half an

hour, well, then, you know, they're interested in learning or wanting to know what I'm doing or how

I'm doing it and to hold their attention that long. And, uh, and so I try to explain how I create 3d photos.

And, uh, the one gentleman who was a ham operator wanted to know how, how am I, what am I using

to talk to people all over the world? And I said, I explained to him, it's called echo link. I had,

I've had echo link since its beginning. I've met the creators and what it is, it's a, it's a, uh, uh,

uh, internet based program that connects you to repeaters all over the world. So when I talk

through the computer, I'm actually talking over the air to anybody that has a walkie talkie or a

mobile or a bass radio, and you definitely have to be a licensed hammer anyway. Um, and so, uh, and then

of course they know that I'm a Christian. I, I tell them I'm a preacher and love the Lord and I,

and I want to share Jesus and I, you have to be careful doing it through ham radio, by the way,

the rules against that. But if you're talking to somebody one-to-one and it's not through a

repeater, of course you can, but it all boils down to what we're doing is one word people

encouragement of blessing, helping them, making them laugh, let them feel the presence and the

anointing of Jesus, letting them know they are loved by God. It's the devil that brings guilt and

condemnation. And, and the little things we do in VR for the kingdom, they count. That's the situation with

some people involved in church and VR. They just, they may feel that what am I doing? You know,

I only had two people in my room, but I'm going to tell you what in the eternities it is written down

and it will be accounted to you of what you've done for the ministry. Every little thing we do to bless

people, to honor and to worship God, uh, is, is accounted to in the eternities.

Wow. Well, I mean, that's, that's an interesting line that you just said right there. Everything

you do to bless people. I've got, uh, Ella Bella here. Uh, Mr. Pete is an amazing person. We met on VR.

He is a blessing in my life, known him for five years. Praise God. So you've, you met Ella Bella

in, in VR and I'm trying to think who it is. I, I, it's awesome too. Um, but it's, it's cool that this

person, even without that still credits you, uh, and, uh, an impact in their life. How many, how many

people would you say like you've had a relationship with, uh, Chuck said that is, is what I'm getting.

Um, I don't know if that helps as well, Chuck, but Ella Bella and Dita vids, uh, they're,

they're saying it's Chuck. Um, who is like, how, how many people, how long, first off,

how long have you been doing this? How many years, five years longer?

Uh, since 2018, the beginning of 2018. Okay. Pre COVID seven, seven years plus at this point.

I didn't even know Big Screen was around in 2018. Wow.

Let me, let me kind of back up. My, my, my first job was really working for the CNO railroad

aboard the steamships on Lake Michigan, well over a quarter million miles back and forth from Milwaukee,

Manawak, Kewanee, Wisconsin, over a period of six years. After that job, I worked at a local radio station

and it was there, uh, that I developed a speaking voice and I recorded a record about the steamship.

And that record run a 45 RPM was on every jukebox in the area and went over really big. And it was just

me and my guitar, no backup or anything. And, and because it related to the people that live in that

area. And that was the Lord getting me ready for ministry. Uh, and you know, I built my sound system with

special effects. I played a 12 string guitar and a harmonica and a Suzuki Omnicord, all three at,

at the same time, through this system that I built. And, and I do not have a singing voice. Let me encourage somebody, you, you know, you love to sing and, and you know that you don't really have it. But, you know,

you know, we're singing for the Lord and it's not necessarily the tonal quality, but it's what you're

singing about. And if you enunciate your words and it's clear, that's what people enjoyed. And, and I, I got away with it and had the honor and the privilege to be in dozens and dozens of small churches across the Eastern United States,

from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Charlotte, North Carolina, to Greenville, Rock Hill, uh, you know, and, and, and, and today, I, I'm still in contact with some of those churches. And, and we're talking many years ago throughout the 1990s. And it was the Lord developing me in ministry. And I want to say this,

I want to say this, or I don't know if I, I do not have a high school education. I had to quit because I was in a foster home, been in children's homes and foster homes my whole life.

I was in a foster home and the state quit paying my room and board. So they kicked me out. I had to get a job. And, uh, so for me to work at that radio station, to read the news over the air,

I got away with it. I know I mispronounced words, but it was a small market radio station, but it was the Lord training me for ministry.

And I'm able to read the Bible and not sound like I'm reading it. And, you know, that's a gift from God. And, and I just, I, we need, we, you and I, everyone need to use your talent and ability, your hobbies for the, for the kingdom.

All that can be used to bless people, encourage people. And, and some of you have it in you and don't know it.

So I'm challenging you right now in the name of Jesus, you've got a gift that is very, very important to the kingdom.

We're living in a day and hour. Time is short. God is doing a new thing. He's saying, behold, I will do a new thing. Shall ye not know it?

I am going to make a way in the wilderness and in the rivers and the deserts of your life to bring forth refreshing to his children, to the body of Christ.

And God is going to use you in a special way. I pronounce that on your life right now.

You, you haven't seen anything yet. Wow.

Oh my goodness. I'm excited for you right now. There's some of you right now receiving that in Jesus name.

Amen.

You've been doing ministry for quite a long time here.

Um, what are some lessons you've learned? What other knowledge can you pass on here?

Fight discouragement.

That's good.

Check your discouragement and put it in the Bible and trust God.

Override it. Don't let it stop you.

Don't let depression, discouragement and lack stop you.

You're quick to say, I don't have the finances.

I don't have the ability. I don't have the equipment.

Those things will all be in their place.

God wants you.

And if it's just a little thing you start out with in ministry by speaking to someone encouraging words.

And, uh, you know, I've, I have fought discouragement, terrible, terrible in my ministry, uh, because of lack of finances mainly and, and also a lack of opportunities to minister.

And you, when PTL did what they did, I, I was at PTL during that time.

I met jam, Tammy Baker.

I met Jim Baker and I was very, was, I was, I was programmed or I was invited to work for PTL.

Hmm.

And, uh, and I was at the campground, staying at PTL and, um, was all set for an interview.

And I met somebody from the four square denomination and they have a church camp in Hendersonville.

And they, they asked me to come to church camp and come in and minister my music.

And boy, the spirit of the Lord told me, that's what I want you to do.

Oh, wow.

And so I, I'm glad I never did go to work for PTL cause I would have been right in the middle of everything that happened.

And so in 1984, I become licensed with the four square, uh, international, uh, Southeast district.

And, uh, that was a real blessing.

And a lot of the different four square churches opened up for us and ministry.

But you have to, I, I still fight discouragement even today thinking I'm not doing anything.

And the devil, it's, it's, I don't, we say devil this, we say devil that it's demonic forces.

They're the ones that are, the devil's not omnipresent.

You know, it's demonic beings by the thousands that surround us that are constantly battling your mind and your thoughts in your body.

And so we just start worshiping Jesus, calling upon the name of Jesus, raise your hands, close your eyes, raise your chin.

Jesus, I love you.

I worship you regardless of circumstances, regardless of what's happening.

I give you honor and glory and praise.

And I sometimes spend hours doing that.

And, uh, you know, my main thing in my ministry really was worship.

My music, I would, my main thing in ministry, I would take my 12 string guitar that had a, uh, harmonizer effect, digital reverb.

And I would strum that guitar and keep it within one melody and a melody line, not changing chords.

And that's how you sing a new song.

And so it's, and I encourage people to make up words and they would catch that melody and they would sing it out.

Oh my goodness.

You get some people in the church doing that.

And it is absolutely wonderful.

And it's what the Bible says to sing a new song.

There's, there's, uh, spiritual songs, hymns and spiritual songs, hymns.

We sing from the hymn book, spiritual songs, a new song.

And there's, and there's singing in the, in our heavenly language too.

Yeah.

So have, have you thought about, or how does music tie into what you're doing in big screen?

Have, have you been able to integrate it in at all?

At all?

You know, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm a little sad to say that I have, I have given my guitars away.

Oh wow.

To my son.

And I give him one to my son-in-law.

I haven't played my guitar.

I, I, I tried playing in, in VR and it doesn't work because the frequency response, the audio is absolutely terrible.

You, you, it just does not sound good.

And I've, I've tried it.

I, I set up my, uh, in the other room where my guitar is and, and I, I played, I, but it just didn't, didn't sound.

I have my harmonica here and I do play that.

Uh, but I don't get on that to practice anymore like I used to.

And, uh, but I got about like 15 harmonicas.

It takes a lot of hot air to blow one of these.

He's a nice.

I'll bet.

Does, does Gramps play as well?

Uh, no, no.

The, my, you're, you're a man of many talents.

I, I just, uh, and, and I love the fact that you're finding ways to, you know, incorporate all this together in, in using, using technology.

You know, so often, you know, I meet people that are, um, you know, your age that, that feel like they're, they're retired, their ministry years are behind them.

And they're, they're ready to hang it up and they're, they're, they're, they're done.

But, but you're leaning into it and, and really re-embracing.

I still feel that way though.

I still feel that, that I'm, I'm done.

I really do.

I have to fight that all the time.

I'll make me speak a little bit to that.

Like the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the temptation to be down on yourself, fighting back.

Like walk, walk me through a little bit of that.

Well, now you're going to get me.

Sorry.

Yeah, I, well, I mean, it is, it is demonic.

It is Satan that makes you feel worthless.

He'll say you don't have money.

You don't have any talent.

No one's good to you.

You're not important.

They, and you just have to fight those things.

It's a desire of your heart.

If you have spoken with your mouth and that this has been the cry of your heart, which is simply this.

Father, here am I.

Use me.

Father, here am I.

Use me.

And I leave it at that.

And, and so, uh, I do what I can do.

And, and I've been rejected.

There's a church.

There's a church that I've been a part of for quite a few years in, in, um, VR chat.

And the, the pastor, some people in the congregation come against me.

The pastor never, never defended me, never said anything to stop their, uh, ridicule and, and what the things they were saying to me.

And so I've never been back.

I won't, I will not cast my pearl before swine and that they, they don't want to hear you.

You move on because there's somebody else that will hear you.

And, uh, but it's, it's demonic.

It's the devil will stop you for every little thing you're trying to do.

But I'm telling you, I don't care what anybody says.

The internet is important.

This is important.

Virtual reality is important.

God is using VR.

He's, he's saying, behold, I will do a new thing.

Shall ye not know it?

So what does that mean?

To me, that means using electronics and using our brother right here with a tremendous men.

He promotes other ministries.

And that is, that's just amazing.

Brother.

I just, you are, I mean, your dedication to be in front of that microphone and setting things up and encouraging people.

I'm telling you, people don't know what's involved in that.

And I just really honor you for that.

That's, they just think, oh, he's, it comes on there and he's got his microphone and talk.

But, you know, and he's got financial needs and he's got family needs and his car and vehicles and property.

Yeah, I, I appreciate that.

Thank you.

I, you know, talk talking about discouragement.

You know, you don't know me.

I, the first Bible study I taught, online Bible study, the first online Bible study I taught was in the year 2000.

I actually graduated from college 99 and thought surely somebody is going to hire me to be a digital pastor after Y2K.

Yeah.

I, I, I, I had a calling to be a digital pastor back in 1992 as a, as an eighth grader, 12 years old.

And, and so, yeah, discouragement's legit.

It's, it's, it's funny.

Um, that's actually why we created the church digital was I'd, I'd had, you know, in 2018, when we created the church digital, I'd had dozens of conversations with, with innovative people in the church.

And, and it's so funny, anytime you do anything, innovation, aim to help churches, like those two words do not go well together, innovation and church.

Uh, church does not like innovative things.

And so it's, it's, they're always, I just, I quickly saw this trend of, of people were alone and were isolated.

And, um, you know, when, when, uh, I actually left the church staff in 2018, cause God told me to leave.

And, uh, many people assumed, well, it's my time to plant a church.

And when I prayed, okay, is it my turn?

Is it my turn to plant?

Is it my turn to start one myself?

That wasn't the word.

The word was help.

And so, uh, we created the church digital to help those that are planting.

And, um, you know, the, the, the DJs, the Angela Craigs, the pastor Ds, people that are doing it in digital and metaverse spaces.

We've really tried to, uh, to be a light to help this generation because as this generation succeeds, so will the next one.

And so, man, I appreciate, um, just even your transparency, sharing a little bit here, uh, about the, um, the discouragement and how the enemy uses that, that in your own life, because that is, that's so telling for, you know, large or small digital and metaverse.

That is a, that's a consistent trend in the lives of people that are doing digital and virtual ministry today.

Yep.

Um, I, again, I've always enjoyed electronics and, um, and so to be able to utilize something you enjoy as a hobby or what, and then have it be involved with ministry.

Yeah.

Wow.

What a combination.

What a blessing.

Love it.

Um, let me ask this question before we pivot.

How did you like, how did the conference end up getting to into your, your big screen?

Like, was it just you, you, you grabbed the YouTube feed and pushed it over?

How, what did you and Cheddar's actually do to make that happen?

Um, listen, before I answer your question, I want you to meet my wife, Joyce.

Oh, Hey Joyce.

There's Joyce.

How are you?

How long we've been married?

62.

It'll be 63 years this July.

Wow.

Congratulations.

And, uh, she was 16.

I was 19.

We did not have to get married.

No, I was, we were, uh, I brought her home after a date.

We only knew each other 30 days and sitting there in the car late at night.

And the spirit of the Lord just almost audibly spoke to me and said, this is your wife.

Wow.

And that was it.

And when I told her mother that the Lord spoke to me, we had to go to the courthouse to sign some papers or something.

Cause she was 16 and we didn't have a child till a year later.

And, uh, our son is second in command of the sheriff's department.

He's over 160 sheriff deputies for the Morgan County Sheriff's department.

Wow.

And our daughter, we live with our daughter here in her home.

And she is worked for a bank and fraud.

Fraud.

Huh?

Fraud department.

Fraud department.

So amazing.

She's got computer skills and stuff.

So thank you, honey.

You're welcome.

Nice to meet.

Nice to meet.

Nice to meet you, Joyce.

Wow.

Very, very cool.

I, I'm sorry.

I didn't mean, uh, what was your, uh, yeah.

Yeah.

So how did the conference end up, end up in your room?

Oh, I love doing that.

And just, um, I'll bring a church service from another area into big screen.

Uh huh.

And, uh, yeah.

And they had people come in and I had to explain what was going on.

And, uh, it, it, it wasn't very, I didn't do the whole five hours or what.

Sure.

Sure.

Sure.

Sure.

Sure.

But, uh, uh, quite a bit of it there.

And, um, so it was, it was cool.

I took some pictures and I actually had, yeah, I had pictures of the conference, but then

I took pictures of you and Elena and I had those in 3d right now and can show them in

big screen.

So someday you've got to come into big screen, look for me and I'll show you what I'm talking

about.

That, that sounds like a plan.

Well, man, this has been a great conversation.

Uh, I am, uh, Mr. Pete, uh, Pete, uh, host, uh, man, it has been such an honor.

Uh, to have this, this conversation with you.

You may be the oldest, uh, digital metaverse missionary.

I I've had a conversation with to date.

So congratulations.

Uh, there are many, uh, that, that I work with that are glad you're around because they're

no longer the oldest.

There actually is someone that beats them by a decade or so.

I've met someone older than me in VR.

Interesting.

They have.

Yeah.

They took my crown.

Okay.

Well, uh, I'll have to have the connection, uh, there, but I do, I do appreciate the time,

uh, jumping on here.

And so as, as we're wrapping up, uh, here for this stream, any closing thoughts?

No, this is a really honor and privilege.

And, uh, I'm going to go to YouTube and capture this part of this, uh, video and turn these pictures into 3d.

And that's neat.

And I want to say hi to everyone that knows who I am.

Please come join me in, in big screen.

Let me fly over your house.

Very cool.

So check out big screen in, uh, I mean, you have to download the big screen app, uh, to get to it.

And so go to the quest store to download big screen and then search.

How do they find you?

Mr.

Pete.

Yeah.

Just Mr.

Pete, Microsoft flight simulator.

Mr.

Pete.

Mr.

Pete 3d.

Yeah.

Mr.

Pete 3d.

Awesome.

And so with that, we're, we're going to wrap.

And so for Mr.

Pete, uh, this is Jeff, uh, with the church digital.

Thanks for hanging out with us today on the stream and we'll see you next time on the show.

All right.

Y'all have a good one.

Thank you, sir.