[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the Wealth Builders podcast. I'm Billy Epahard, and on this show you're going to hear from industry leaders in business, real estate and investing. Our wealth builder coaches and myself are excited to teach you how to make sense of making money for making a difference. Okay, let's get started.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: Hello and welcome to this week's Wealth Builders podcast. We are so grateful that you chose to take time to join us today, and I know so many of you are tuning in every week and we are so appreciative of that. You know, we are gearing up and getting ready for the upcoming wealth Builders conference. And can I just tell you, I just know this is going to be the best yet. And so much of that has to do with our speakers. And today I am super excited to have Brant epperhart on. Of course, he's Billy and Becky's son. You're going to learn so much more about him. But, Brant, you want to say hi to everybody.
[00:01:06] Speaker C: Hello, everyone. Thank you, Karen, for having me on today.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: We are super blessed to have you. And Brandt is one of the speakers. He'll have a main session at the wealth Builders conference. And I know I told him earlier, he's a fan favorite. Right? Everybody loves to hear from.
There's so much about Brandt that you may not know, and we're going to try to pull some of that information out. But I just want you to really get ready to receive from Brandt today.
He has got so much going on in his life. He's got so much fruit in his family, marriage, business, you name it. So there's so much that we can glean from Brandt. And just a quick reminder, if you have not yet registered for the wealth Builders conference, I encourage you to do so. You can go to forward slash events. This is one of those events you do not want to miss. All right, so, Brent, you and Abby are just such an inspiration to me. And just, we love you so much and we just admire you so much. And a lot of people know you as Billy and Becky's son, but there is so much that you.
[00:02:18] Speaker C: Yes, that does run me down.
[00:02:23] Speaker B: And so just share with our audience, if you would, just a little bit about you and really all the things that you and Abby are involved with.
[00:02:33] Speaker C: Sure. Yeah. So I guess my proudest thing is Abby and I will be married 19 years here just in a little bit. And I've got four amazing boys, from 17 down to ten, all champions for the Lord I love. One of the joys of my life is raising those boys. So we have that we have the ministry legacy chapel, the church that we planted 13 years ago.
And the Lord's just doing tremendous things through that. I'm the CFO at Denver Christian School. My boys get to go with me. I tell people I'm the school bus every day now. I've got a driver in the house. We'll have a second driver pretty soon. So the school bus, there's a couple of them leaving my house every day, and it's just the joy of my life. My life is full. I used to say my life is busy, but that just doesn't characterize it well enough. And I think from a scriptural standpoint, I would say that I am full in the management of what we're doing, the stewardship of what we're doing, truthfully, the assignment of what we're doing, the call of God on our life that we're doing. And I've told the church this for a long, said, you know, it's my yes to Jesus that got me into this. And that's exactly where I'm at right now. It's my yes.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: Wow. That is so awesome. And I just want to encourage everybody, if you are anywhere near Denver officially, are you, like, officially in Lone tree?
[00:04:00] Speaker C: Just on the edge. So we're in Centennial, the city of centennial proper, which is just on the other side of the road of Highlands Ranch. It's on the other side of the road of Lone Tree. I mean, we're in that south Denver. That's the easiest way to say it. South Denver area off of 470. Yeah.
[00:04:16] Speaker B: Wow. And Dave and I had the chance to visit your church, and I know that was even before you moved into your brand new sanctuary. And so if you are anywhere near this church, I would encourage you to check it out. It's Legacy Chapel. And just real quick, Brant, how can they find that? Is it legacychapel.com?
[00:04:36] Speaker C: Org? Yeah, Legacychapel.org. We're on several of the social media outlets as well. You can get directions to the church, but, yeah, Lord is doing some tremendous things. We just opened the new worship center just a few months ago. We moved into the building more than a year ago. And, yeah, I would say explosive. And an exciting, exciting weekend every weekend with our church family. So we welcome anybody and everybody to come. I know they'll be blessed by the people, be blessed by the worship and the word. It's really good.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: Yeah. Amen. It's really good. So check that out. Legacychapel.org.
One of the things that you guys also do is Abby runs a preschool.
[00:05:21] Speaker C: Yes. Thank you for saying that. Yes. She's an amazing businesswoman.
We knew way back when we started the church that we wanted families to be the central part of what we do. And so with that, Abby has 20 years in early childhood. And so we started the preschool. She started the preschool. It's the second one she's actually started. And now it's took a capacity. She's got well over 100 students in the new building. We built these big, beautiful rooms, playground, first class, state of the art classrooms for kids. And she's built something pretty dynamic. And it's a christian preschool. We don't shy away from that whatsoever. I mean, the kids are praying to Jesus, singing to Jesus, learning their abcs in their kindergarten, first grade, ready when they leave. And she's built a waiting list, so it's tough to get in now. And she's an amazing. She's got an awesome team of ladies. They're. They're awesome.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: Wow. That is, you know, anytime that I feel like, oh, my gosh, I'm so busy, I think of you.
Perspective.
[00:06:31] Speaker C: We. I don't know. It's our yes that got us into this, Karen.
The Lord said, do it. And we said, yeah, let's do is sustaining it.
[00:06:40] Speaker B: Right?
[00:06:41] Speaker C: He is. It's his grace, it's his energy, his strength, his power. So we're just stewarding what he's asked us to do.
Yeah. Thanks for bringing that up. She's an amazing businesswoman.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: She really is. So that gives everybody a little foundation or perspective on your life brand outside, of course, Billy and Becky's son, which is.
[00:07:05] Speaker C: I know. That's my biggest tour. Karen is Billy and Becky. They're my biggest assignment.
Oh, I love them so much. Yes, I am. Because of them and the awesome.
[00:07:21] Speaker B: Well, you know, I asked Brandt, just so you guys know today, like, what is on your heart?
I wanted him to share what he is know, as a pastor, I really know God is speaking to leaders, like, and it helps us all hear from him to see what is the focus. And when I asked you about that, you said families and marriage purpose and how to not get distracted. So I would love you to just start to share a bit on that as what's on your heart. And what do you think here, entering 2024 that we need to hear from you on that's going to help to be strong in these areas?
[00:08:04] Speaker C: Well, I think the family piece for Abby and I is huge. It's central to who we are, of course, our marriage. But from a ministry context, it really is we want Jesus to be famous in our homes first. Before we feel some assignment, before we export what's going on in our homes, let's make sure that it's going well and the Lord's being represented. So we're seeing right now maybe some of the troubles that are going on in the homes. And we've got friends across the country in different places where things aren't going well in their marriage, they aren't going well in the home.
For us, recognizing the busyness that's going on in people's lives that is becoming such a distraction. I've heard it termed years gone by. Getting back to the basics, and I would say that getting back to a level of simplicity, getting back to the basics, getting back to the heart of the matter, getting back to the meat, your purpose in life and what God has you doing, because there's so many things that he's called you to. There's so many things that we could be spending our time on, but if we're not spending it on things that have eternal impact, that's really where we should be. So my heart's burning right now because I continue to hear stories about homes being broken apart, marriages being broken apart, people deciding to shut down their business and those types of things. And I actually had a word on Sunday for our church, and I know it was for some business guys and gals that were there, that things are rough and rocky right now, but in the same way that a jet that's flying about to break the sound barrier starts to rattle and it feels like that thing's about to pull apart, right, and just break into 1000 pieces. But I heard the Lord say, don't take your foot off the gas. Keep the gas down. Now, that might be wild because when you break through, let me finish that. When you break through, right then there's this slipstream, and you're cruising at that point and you're doing things that you never thought you'd ever do, and it smooths out. So I really feel like the Lord saying that to people right now as they're holding on to what God has them doing. I don't know if it's family or business or what those things might be, but stay true to the call to the assignment.
Keep your face forward, keep it locked into the word, keep it locked into the spirit, and the Lord's going to get the victory as you push through, meaning with his strength and power.
I really feel like the Lord's going to do something special in 24 with major kingdom impact wow.
[00:10:47] Speaker B: And so what you're describing to me is like, people are going to be. If you feel pressure, basically, you're just hearing that, like, oh, my gosh, this isn't working. I need to quit.
[00:10:59] Speaker C: Right.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: That's an encouragement. And so from that brand, I know that you have pressed through a lot of things, you have done things where it's like, it seemed impossible in a great position to share with us. If we're feeling that, if we're feeling the pressure, we're just wondering, oh, my gosh, is this worth it? Should I just shut it all down? What are some really practical things that we should look at to help get that perspective that you're describing?
[00:11:26] Speaker C: Yeah, I appreciate you asking it. The thing for me, and I mentioned this last year at wealth builders, is the routine that God puts you in. The rhythm that he puts you in, it becomes that safeguard to the distraction. So when you're building routine, when you're building habits, there's tremendous teaching out there on this. But here's my take. When you build routine and you rebuild habits in your life, whether it's financial habits or it's healthy eating habits or it's just your morning routine of waking up, those habits actually build the safeguards, the rails on the right and the left so you don't go off into the ditch to where you're building a routine. And really it becomes stewardship. Like, I'm going to steward the first hour of the day, or I'm going to steward my lunch hour, I'm going to steward the workday, and I'm going to do that in such a way that I build habits and build routines. So for me, I'm a checklist guy.
If I'm coming into the office or whatever, I'm checking my lists, I'm checking previous conversations that I've had. I don't get lost. I do my very best to not get lost in my inbox and my email, I know that is something that just sucks people in. So for me, it's routine. It's habits.
For me, I'm remembering what I do on Mondays. Who do I talk to on Tuesdays? How do I check in with people on Wednesdays? So these are some practical things. That's what you asked. So I've got routine meetings, I've got routine ways that I do things that essentially become the guardrails to keep me from distractions.
Turning my phone off and putting it away and getting work done, having conversations, being with my kids, it's really centered around building routines and those become the safeguards to keep me from distractions.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: That's so good because a lot of times we feel inspired. We're like, hey, yes, I want to do this, but we don't know how to actually practically apply it.
I really love what you said because that is, we don't need more meetings necessarily, but when you do schedule something and you're purposeful with it, it does create a discipline around that.
[00:13:38] Speaker C: That's right.
[00:13:39] Speaker B: Not only affects us, but it affects the people around, so it keeps things moving.
Know, I know family is a priority for you in Abbey and I can't imagine how busy you guys are. I just see a little bit about even just the sports things that you guys are following up with.
[00:13:57] Speaker C: Yeah. Thanks.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: Can I ask you, how do you and Abby, you're probably the busiest young couple that I know. How do you discipline that time together so that that marriage relationship stays at the well, for.
[00:14:14] Speaker C: For Abby and I, it's the morning and the evening. So we always pray together before we leave and we connect on the day. And then at the end of the day, we usually connect in some way. It's usually with prayer or just the practical of what's going on in the boys lives and trying to have a moment to share before we give out for the evening and go to bed. But it's those things. And then checking in throughout the day with one another.
And then I think over 19 years, you build a little bit of some assumed things. Right. And some habits in there.
My mindset for her in our marriage is I'm going to serve her. She likes to tell this story that me and the boys, we make her coffee every morning. So it's either me or it's one of the boys. And she's got a favorite coffee that she has. And so somebody's going to make. Usually she likes the cup as opposed to the whole pot. So we make the nespresso coffees and we get that for her. And so that's back to maybe some of those routines, maybe some of those special moments that we just build into the day because we are. I mean, I've got a ten year old now in fifth grade, and then I've got a 17 year old that's about to graduate from high school and then a sophomore and a 7th grader. So we're on another level of crazy and schedule right now. But it's just those moments. I think it's the tender moments. It's prayer. I teach that in marriage, if you're not spiritually intimate, you'll never be physically intimate, understanding how you connect spiritually.
I should be praying for Abby. I expect in our marriage that she's praying for me. Like, I don't check in on that. But when there's spiritual intimacy, there would be other types of tender and even physical intimacy. When there's spiritual intimacy, when I'm caring for her spiritually, then I know that there's peace in the home. I know there's peace in our relationship. I know there's joy in those things. And so it's putting God first.
It's those things that I just described that we focus on.
[00:16:20] Speaker B: Wow. That is so awesome. Brandt, thank you so much for sharing that.
[00:16:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:25] Speaker B: The second thing that we talked about briefly is I'm really passionate about that, too.
[00:16:32] Speaker C: Right.
[00:16:32] Speaker B: Just explain from your perspective how important is purpose, and maybe for that person that says, I don't know what my purpose is, what advice would you have?
[00:16:45] Speaker C: Yeah. My take on that is it gets back, I'm a pastor, so I'm going to take everything spiritual.
Having a proper identity and who you are in Christ, knowing that you're loved, knowing that Christ gave his life for you. If there was nobody else, he still would have given his life for you. And understanding who you are in Christ, that is central to the godly purpose that he's called you to. And what I mean by that is most of the time when people think about purpose, they first think about what makes them feel good as opposed to right in their emotions. What makes me feel good? Well, I would like to have all the money in the world, and I'd like to have my feet propped up in people serving me. Whoo. That's my purpose. Well, okay, that might be at the end of the road, but as we think about where you are in the moment, knowing who I am in Christ, what I'm called to do, how can I bring the kingdom into my everyday life? Whether I'm an hourly employee working myself to a salary, or wherever you are on the spectrum, understanding who you are in Christ is going to lead you to the proper purpose in the season that you're in. Most people, again, will look at down the road. I want these things as opposed to finding the purpose in the moment, finding God's purpose in the season that they're in. So it really does come back to having time with the Lord, having time in the word understanding you're a child of God. And then from there, your purpose is going to become very clear, especially as you steward where you are right now and you do it well. Right. You don't work to men, but you work unto the Lord, so do it with excellence. And I teach people that. It's like, well, if you're going to get out of this and start your own business, then you better be excellent right now as an employee.
[00:18:32] Speaker B: That's so good. And just in the season that we're in, just doing the best that we can. And I think sometimes, too, people get like they want it now instead of being patient or going through the process. So if we've got people listening, which I know we do, that are saying, look, I need to see a change now, what would be best advice to them?
[00:18:59] Speaker C: Yeah, they're looking for a change immediately.
I think checking the motive around the immediate need to have the answer. Like, what is the actual motive? Is the motive relief? Or is the motive purpose? And if the motive is relief, I think that we get back to the point of saying, okay, lord, where do you have me? Is this really about me getting relief, or am I pursuing you? And am I doing all that I can? So I would take it there and I would probably ask a few more questions around, why is it so immediate? And I think if I could get them talking enough, I think they would realize, okay, maybe I don't need it as immediate as I thought. Right. Maybe I've got some things in me that I need to kind of work on and I need to give to the Lord, or I need to kind of release. I know a lot of people hold on to grudges. They hold on to past hurts and releasing those things and saying, okay, lord, I trust you. I trust where you have me. I trust the fact that you haven't left me or forsaken me, that you are ordering my steps.
I think there's a moment of exhale, right?
Breathing out and saying, okay, lord, you've got this and you've got me. And you care about me, I think would help alleviate a bit of that, or maybe all of that. I've got to have it now.
[00:20:21] Speaker B: Wow, that is so good. Your dad is full. I call him truth bombs. He has so many truth bombs. It's just like, what did he just say?
[00:20:30] Speaker C: Yeah, I've been growing up in the truth bomb for a long time. He's been something. He and my mom are amazing.
[00:20:36] Speaker B: It's amazing. But one of the things that just has really stayed with me.
I know you've heard this many times growing up is you have to let go. What do you need to let go of to be able to grab hold of a God thing? Right where God wants you to go. And so I really love how you talked about sometimes we've all had issues in life, right? So sometimes we do. Are you going to let go of that trauma or that disappointment to be able to grab hold of what God has for you?
That's what I was hearing with you. Like, hey, sometimes we've got to look and say, what am I hanging on to? That's actually stopping me from fulfilling the purpose that God has for my life? And we always know that's a good thing. So that's awesome. And that really leads us into this third point.
And that is distractions the cares of this world. And that's something that you had just mentioned. Like, you're really looking at this and you're ministering to your church about this. So what is God showing you in this area, Brent?
[00:21:46] Speaker C: Well, often it's right from the scripture. I mean, it chokes out the word, right? So the cares of this world, they end up choking out the truth of God's word. When you haven't nurtured that and you haven't taken time to really tend the garden of your life, which is the example that's right there in scripture, that the cares of this world would choke out the word and the truth that he's put in your life. And so knowing that, again, back to those feelings piece, like, am I just pursuing these things to have relief, or to have my feelings and my emotions be stirred, or am I really moving with purpose? And so that in my life, honestly, that's where a lot of addiction comes from, is people trying to get a little bit of relief, and then they find themselves in a whole lot of trouble, whether there's a number of things that we could probably point to, but there are those distractions that lead them down roads that they shouldn't be in. And that's where I think the purpose of God's word becomes the solid foundation, something that you can always come back to.
When I talk to guys, even young guys pursuing ladies or their first time married, I talk to them about being in the word. Because there are going to be times in your life when you're just pursuing things that speak to your manhood, when you are now called to serve that lady or to serve the purpose of God in your marriage, knowing that you're going to lay some stuff down, right, letting go of the things of the past. And I talk about even the good things, right? I mean, there's times where you have to say no to even good things because you've picked up the new thing that God's asked you to steward. I don't do the things that I used to do when I was not married. And even they were good things. But I had to let those things go because I said yes to a young lady. And then I had kids.
Well, as soon as I had kids, I didn't say, oh, Abby, well, I don't have any time for you anymore. Of course not. But I had to say, okay, I'm letting those things go and I'm taking on these other things. So I've had to let go of Saturday college football because I finished my sermons on Saturdays as I head into Sundays. So there's just some things in life when you tend to the garden. I guess that's what I'm trying to get back to. When you tend to the garden of your life where the Lord's put you in, and when you do that, then the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, those things cannot creep into the garden of your life because you're tending it. You're nurturing the word of the Lord that's in your life.
[00:24:21] Speaker B: Wow. That is awesome. Just like those priorities. And I love that perspective. And sometimes that pruning that you're talking about for the.
[00:24:30] Speaker C: That's it.
[00:24:32] Speaker B: And when we're in line with God, as much as we might enjoy some of those things, it just doesn't compare to the joy of the Lord.
[00:24:39] Speaker C: Amen.
[00:24:40] Speaker B: We're in his presence. And I think sometimes it's kind of hard for people, too. Like, wow, if I give this up, what will my life look like, right?
[00:24:49] Speaker C: Especially when they found an identity in that, whether it's hanging out with the fellas or hanging out with the girlfriends. And now you've got the kids or you've got the job or whatever it is. Yeah. You say no to even good things, and that's that pruning that truly does take you to higher levels and the joy that you get. It's kind of like when we had the first kid, second kid, third kid, fourth.
Can I. How can my heart expand beyond just loving Abby? To love this child. To love this second child, to love this third child?
To watch the multiplication of God's goodness in your life through tending that garden, it's something that is just indescribable. It's something that the things of this world will never, ever touch. And so that's something in me. I've grew up in a great home, obviously probably one of the best ever. And cultivating relationships, cultivating marriage cultivating, being a dad. Right.
Being a husband are some of the things that I cherish the most even before being pastor, which I think a lot of church people are surprised by that. And I say that I will never let my marriage or my kids suffer. I'm not going to have an adulterous relationship with the church. Right. I'm going to take care of my kids, take care of my family. And I believe it's the Lord that builds the church. Not know, savvy personality.
So, anyway, that's just a little bit more of me and kind of my perspective on some of that wow brand.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: That is awesome. I just love that we've been able to get a little insight today into.
I mean, I know Brandon Abbey, not super, I don't spend a ton of time, but I know you. And let me tell you, there's amazing fruit.
[00:26:36] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:26:37] Speaker B: With this couple and their children. And you will have the privilege of hearing Brent and seeing him, meeting him at the upcoming wealth builders conference. Again, just a reminder, that's February absolutely through the 18th. And then also you and Dave are working on, you have an event with pastors, which is so amazing. Yeah.
[00:26:58] Speaker C: Looking forward to.
[00:26:59] Speaker B: Really excited about that as well. So to learn more about that, go to forward slash events. And so, Brandt, this has been such, really a blessing to have you on. If you're to leave our audience with some nuggets of wisdom. Come on now, share some of those to close us out.
[00:27:20] Speaker C: Nuggets of wisdom. I would just encourage all of you again, as a pastor, that you're looking to the times of your day. Lord, speak into the in between times. I know there's things that people have to do, the things you just have to get done.
But what are the margins in your day that you can give the Lord? Extra places of worship, extra time of just being with him. It's not even doing things. It's maybe having a moment of just solitude in prayer and exhale and breathe and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. To me, that's the secret of the day. Even I know we've got chores to do and we've got tasks to do and we got meetings to get to, and we've got kids to pick up and meals to make. But what are the margins in between there and taking a moment to glorify God, maybe sending an encouraging text to your spouse or to someone else.
If you're wanting friends, right, the word says you got to show yourself friendly. So in the same way, if you want encouragement, you've got to sow encouragement and allow the peace of God just to float over your heart in the middle of the things that you're doing. And I'm excited for the community of wealth builders. I know that the Lord's doing something very special. There's a sound that's very unique that's coming out of wealth builders and people are attaching to it. I think there's a genuineness in it. And so for me, I'm excited to be a part of it. And hopefully today has blessed a few of you.
[00:28:54] Speaker B: Oh, I know it has. Brand, thank you so much. And I want to thank all of you, our wealth builders family, for just tuning in. And Billy and Becky pray for you every day. And we are so excited to see you in person or via livestream February 16 through the 18th. Again, Brent, thank you so much. Thank you wealth Builders family and make it a great rest of the day.
[00:29:20] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to the Wealth Builders podcast. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please rate and review the show. You want to learn more about who we are, visit our
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