Rodney McClure, Founder & Lead Care Pastor of One Need, and Lance Osborne, the organization’s CEO join The Redeemed Man Podcast. Community churches are always getting requests for help from people in difficult financial situations, but they don’t always have the time, manpower, or resources to give those requests the attention they deserve. One Need partners with churches to review requests for assistance, determine what the actual need is, and broadcast the need to e-mail subscribers who can donate to help. “What the partnership with One Need allows that church to do is have a full-time benevolence team. It’s all we do,” Osborne says. “And because it’s all we do, we’re able to spend the right amount of time that it takes to go through that discernment process, because it’s in that conversation that we’re able to trust these people.”
Visit The Redeemed's website for downloadable discussion question sets, show notes, inspirational articles, more resources, or to share your testimony.
Join our Exclusive Newsletter: Signup today and be the first to get notified on upcoming podcasts and new resources!
The Redeemed is an organization giving men from all backgrounds a supportive, judgment-free environment, grounded in Christian love without demanding participation in any faith tradition, where they can open up about their challenges, worries, and failures—and celebrate their triumphs over those struggles.
Follow The Redeemed on Social Media:
Rodney McClure, Founder & Lead Care Pastor of One Need, and Lance Osborne, the organization’s CEO join The Redeemed Man Podcast. Community churches are always getting requests for help from people in difficult financial situations, but they don’t always have the time, manpower, or resources to give those requests the attention they deserve. One Need partners with churches to review requests for assistance, determine what the actual need is, and broadcast the need to e-mail subscribers who can donate to help. “What the partnership with One Need allows that church to do is have a full-time benevolence team. It’s all we do,” Osborne says. “And because it’s all we do, we’re able to spend the right amount of time that it takes to go through that discernment process, because it’s in that conversation that we’re able to trust these people.”
Visit The Redeemed's website for downloadable discussion question sets, show notes, inspirational articles, more resources, or to share your testimony.
Join our Exclusive Newsletter: Signup today and be the first to get notified on upcoming podcasts and new resources!
The Redeemed is an organization giving men from all backgrounds a supportive, judgment-free environment, grounded in Christian love without demanding participation in any faith tradition, where they can open up about their challenges, worries, and failures—and celebrate their triumphs over those struggles.
Follow The Redeemed on Social Media:
Show Notes
Mentions:
Welcome and Guest Introduction
Paul: I'm Paul Amos, founder of The Redeemed, and I'm here today with a very special set of guests in a very unique environment for us. The Redeemed is an organization that's created a community of men who come together to help men through their most difficult times in life and their triumphs over those difficulties. Today we're going to talk about a significant topic in benevolence and talk about exactly what it means to overcome and some of the things that are difficult in people's lives. Today my partner in crime is Nate Dewberry, who's joined us as the director of The Redeemed, and we're here with two special guests in Rodney McClure and Lance Osborne, who I've known for most of my adult life in a very different capacity. But we're here today to talk about One Need, the organization and what it brings to the community. And so gentlemen, welcome.
Nate: Guys, glad to have you. Exciting to hear your story about One Need, but also your personal story. We are so thrilled to have you on the show today.
What does redemption mean to you?
Timestamp: 01:04
Paul: So we're going to start where we start with all of our guests and y'all can one of you take it or both of you can take it. But what does redemption mean to you?
Rodney: I'll take it or we can both take it. I definitely want to take some of it because I got something to say on the matter. Watching your podcasts and the videos you guys do, I've seen this question asked a lot. And so you give an answer and you start thinking, is that the right answer? Is it like I even know what redeemed means? Have I really thought about this? And you know, I have I became a Christian late, like I was 33 years old. And so there was some background there. And I remember early in my walk, talking to a group of men at a very small church. It wasn't because I was qualified to talk. They just were like, people get saved at 33. Like this is great. I'll grow up as a Christian. But I went to one passage of Scripture that I continue to go back to that encourages me but also gives me a lot of peace at times.
It's when Paul, the Apostle Paul is talking to the Church of Ephesus, and it's in Ephesians 2. And it starts at verse one and goes to about 10. And I'm not going to read it exactly, but y'all can go read it. But it talks about how we were all dead in our trespasses. All of us were in sin. And we were so far from God. And then it talks about being living in the lusts of our flesh. It talks about all of our nature and how we were, it calls us sons of the dark one or sons of the enemy or sons of Satan kind of thing. And it's like all of us, not just some of us, all of us, not the ones who did all the right things growing up and went to the youth groups, but all of us were completely lost.
But what really gets me, and this is to me what it means to be redeemed. The next word is, in my opinion, the two most beautiful words of my life. And it says, but God. But God, not but me, but God. So here I am, but God, and then I'm redeemed.
And then it goes on to talk in then next three or four verses about what is the purpose of a redemption and all of that. But for me, man, if anybody hasn't read Ephesians 2, it's all good, but it gets into another topic after that. But like one to 10. And then in the middle there, it says, but God. So for me, redemption means but God, being rich in mercy, lavishness of love upon me and all of us through his son, Jesus, to make us whole and redeem us to him.
Paul: Love that man, great scripture, great passage, but such a simple - but God. Right.
Lance: Yeah, not a lot to add to that. I mean, I think I feel the same way about it. And it's for me, I think it but God, but the God of the universe loved me enough to find a way through his son to reconcile me to him. That love. It's sonship. Right. Adopted fully heir to God the Father. So I think about redemption. I think about this big, huge God that created it all. And then I think about God the Father.
Timestamp: 04:26
Nate: One of my favorite things about asking that question every time is it is personal. You know, we have our different answers, but it is the same theme that it's God that did something, and we get to share that story and hear other people share what God's done. And one of the things that's always special to me is watch how everybody shares it differently, but it's always related to their personal journey. And that's the cool thing about that He is a father, that it's that intimate relationship. It's not just something that's inanimate and lifeless and no emotion. It involves every part of our being and transforming and changing us. And when we're adopted into that family, that understanding of redemption becomes real and personal for each of us, which is so cool.
Paul: Well Nate, you mentioned personal story. And so let's jump there if we can. Would just love to hear a little bit about your journey. I know a lot. And so don't try to cut any corners here, gentlemen. But at the same time, give us the abridged version of a little bit of your story if you don't mind sharing.
Rodney: Yeah, I'm happy to do it. I was raised by a single mom, a couple brothers and sisters. She was a Godly woman loved the Lord with all her heart. She had to deal with me and my brother and sister. And you know, went through high school like everybody else went to college, dropped out of some really good schools that I probably shouldn't have been in any of them. Found myself early in my career with kind of one option, really, jump into some kind of sales career. Because I didn't have a ton of education. I didn't have a ton of talent in other areas. I wasn't artistic. I wasn't anything else. And so, you know, I was working in a warehouse for an Atlanta Binding and Graphics off of Powers Ferry Road and 25 outside of Atlanta. And didn't know where I was going to turn and was getting hot in that warehouse, man. And I walked up front and I asked the boss man, I said, ‘Listen, man, you got anything else for me to do?’ He's like, ‘Can you make cold calls?’ And I was like, ‘Does that sit in the warehouse and do it or I get to sit in this air conditioner?’ And he said, ‘No, you're going to do it right up here.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I'll do it.’
He walked me over to this cubicle and fired the guy in front of me and said, ‘This is your desk. I need you to make 100 calls a day, 100 calls a day or you're fired.’ And I was like, fine, I'm not going back there. Not going back there. So that's where it launched for me, my sales kind of career. I ended up with a company selling automated procurement software that was going public. We went public. And then we were bought and then everybody had to go home. But you had some options from there because we had a little bit of an exit. Very little I was 25 years old, newly married to my high school sweetheart who I'm still married to today.
I ran into an opportunity to work as an independent contractor to be a salesman and sell benefits for a company called American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus, which had just had the duck campaign come out and Aflac was for me something that I thought was a great opportunity. And it turned out to be that I spent the next 13 years or so kind of building my organization there.
During that, came to Christ in 2007 during that kind of time in my life of basically just being a sales guy trying to grow a team. So that's kind of my background work wise. And I'm sure we'll get into other things about redemption as we talk. But just basically just a sales guy that if you'd have given me shoes or rebar, I'd have sold both. It's just a bunch of activity there for me. So that's what I do.
This Is Not Acceptable Anymore
Timestamp: 08:16
Nate: Well, Rodney, I have to know you said you came to know Christ in 2007. What spurred that, that in your life? Was there a season of conflict? Or was it just all of a sudden you came to the realization that Christ was who He said he was?
Rodney: There was some conflict. I think we all know that. But no, nothing happened. For about a year, I started having overwhelming bouts with depression, shame, and guilt that weren't there before for me. I never want to ever use any testimony to say, Oh, you're so bad. And then God and kind of grandieses you know, and the person in that way. I don't feel that way at all. Pretty normal.
I woke up in the morning, you know, slam the alarm clock, put a suit on, slug my coffee, went to work, did my best, came home, did my thing and then just repeat. And then it wasn't cool anymore. I wasn't good anymore. I did not like who I saw in the mirror.
I remember distinctly one morning, just looking in the mirror and being like, this is it. God, like, is this what it is? Like in my mind, I was like, there's got to be more. I'm not missing something. I started to pray and I'm so thankful for the people who sowed into my life with the gospel that never got to see the harvest.
They didn't see any result. They probably said things to me like that kid's never going to listen. He's never going to get it. And so I take that with me now in our ministry for that reason, because how many times have I heard the gospel growing up with my mom or, you know, being around other people that I knew that were believers. And then one day, my “But God” moment, just started working on my heart.
I remember, it was a four day ordeal. I tried everything to get it off my mind. I tried to drink it away, tried to run it away, tried to work it away. I couldn't get this feeling, this pursuit feeling off my mind. Like I got to change my life. This is not acceptable anymore. And so the way I describe it is I laid down on the end of my bed at four in the morning and I gave up. I counted the cost for about four or five days intently. I thought it had been brewing, but I counted the cost for, I mean, what I remember three, four, five, six days, something like that, where I was just kind of not very comfortable in my skin.
And when I laid down, I was saved. And I was saved because I laid down and I gave up my life to follow Jesus. And I did not know where that would take me. I certainly didn't think I'd be sitting here with Paul and Lance doing a podcast, but I'm very thankful that I am.
Timestamp: 0:11:24
Nate: Awesome. Well, thanks for sharing your story and answering my question a little bit more about how you came to know Christ because everybody's story is different and it's fun to hear yours.
Lance, you want to jump on with a little bit about yourself.
Lance: I grew up, with a family where mom was a Christian. Went to church all the time. I walked that aisle, that means something to those that grew up in rural churches. At 14, I had to go back and look up the date recently because I was curious about that. So something happened, right? I wouldn't have done that without some movement of the spirit. From probably 16, till decades later, I didn't get the rest of it. This idea of repent and sanctification and relationship, I just didn't get that.
I was in and out of church for decades after that, never far away from it, but never far into it. And really spent those decades as God. I had a lot of idols, work, things, a lot of unwanted sin and behaviors destroyed a lot. And after 30 years in business and some success, that didn't work anymore. I took a sabbatical, was going to find me. And in that process, I found a relationship with Jesus.
I lost a lot in that journey. And I was pretty close to the end of the rope. And at the end of the rope is where Jesus was. And so I reengaged at that point to try to find out, not who my mother said He was, not who all those preachers said He was, not who my good friend said He was, but I wanted to know for myself who He was. And things begin to change.
Time to Flip the Script
Timestamp: 14:00
Nate: Wow, it's cool to hear how different journeys, same story of laying down surrender. It's amazing how when we give up, God does so much more than what we could ever think about. We think surrender sounds bad, especially for men, the last thing I want to do is surrender. But when we surrender, God does an amazing work that changing us.
Paul: You know, as men, we hear so many messages throughout our lives that are so counter to what God wants us to do. You know, we think about pride, we think about giving in, we think about all the things that we hear man up. I mean, all the things that we're supposed to do that are really counter to what God's looking for in a relationship. I don't know how it is for women, but for men, I feel like we've really got to change the message and flip the script a little bit about what's going on and teach our kids from the beginning how to grow up in a relationship with Christ as opposed to growing up in a relationship that the world tells them they're supposed to have.
Lance: Yeah, man, I think that that's something that I have enjoyed on this journey the most is early during that process, I was able to engage in group work. And I've spent a lot of time in the last three years in group, both therapy and in Christian men groups. And when you go in and you begin to build relationships based on your weaknesses, not your strengths, that's the relationship that we're looking for.
But you're right, we try to go about it the wrong way. We think we can find commonality and camaraderie in our strengths. And I'm not saying that that's not possible, but it's really hard and it doesn't last long.
Paul: I think you're right. I think it's possible, but not meaningful. You just don't have that depth of character. Women do a much better job than men of showing their vulnerability and then being empathetic with each other about that. I just had the opportunity to come back from a group that I was doing with seven other guys where we got vulnerable real quick and stayed that way for the weekend. And it's amazing, after three days, you feel like you've known somebody your whole life as opposed to 20 years of a male friendship where all we did was watch sports and never got a moment of depth in that relationship.
Lance: Oh, I mean, a lot of us probably have been involved in other organizations other than the church that we were very vulnerable to those men in those groups. And we have lifelong relationships and friendships as a result. I mean, think of teams, societies, clubs, whatever it is. And I remember, thinking early on in Christianity that, the church should be this way. We shouldn't wash our car and put our mask on to show up at church. We should probably show up, lay it out there if we can. And if it is a safe space to do that, then we should we should be doing that.
And so, it's it to me having a ministry like the Redeemed that's focusing on that and more and if that becomes a part of the culture, it'll have an impact that's so great on the kingdom, I feel like. Because you're right, it's we're not told to do that. We're not we're told to man up, slam the alarm clock, drink your coffee, make your sales call or whatever that is. Go run the marathon, whatever it is. It's always work, work, work. And in our culture, it's praised. It's celebrated.
Timestamp: 17:39
Paul: You know, I had the opportunity to live in Japan for two years. And while Shintoism and Buddhism are considered the religions of Japan, I really believe that work is the religion of Japan. And I think that as men, we're taught that work is the priority in whatever form. And yet relationship is what God wants from us. And it's not the work or doing the works that He really desires for us to do. It's to build that one-on-one love, sonship, as Lance said earlier, you know, that really and truly develops us into a long term son of God.
Nate: So true. I think when we're looking at that and thinking about groups, we've just started an online group and an in person group with The Redeemed. And our heartbeat is to connect men to other men. And like you said, Lance, it's about connecting our vulnerability or weaknesses, because oftentimes when men do that, it doesn't matter their background, doesn't matter their level in society, it doesn't matter where they come from. They connect over there's those weaknesses. There's a bond that's there that's stronger than any of that. And there's, there's a willingness to fight for each other. And I think men need to know that somebody standing with them not just in, in life, but it spiritually that it's a bigger and more important relationship that I'm going to be willing to stand with somebody and beside somebody and know that somebody's got my back.
Oftentimes, I think we know that in certain areas of our life. But then other times you really feel like you're on your own. You know, everybody's out to get you. And it depends on who gets the top. And I've got to watch my back all the time. But when you share your weaknesses, people go, Oh, I understand that. I'm beside you in it.
The Gift of Going First
Timestamp 19:23
Lance: I think that happens in group. And I think, what you guys are doing with your online and in-person group, man, I really applaud that. And I think as that continues to grow, The Redeemed will continue to grow. It's almost organically grown. But here's what happens in groups that’s really important that we really don't see out in the world. And that is what I call this gift of going first.
Somebody has to go first with their story and with their weakness. And you you've recognized this in groups, right? When that happens, when some, and it always happens. Somebody is ready to go and get it off their chest and say, I can't carry this anymore. And when they go first and, and it's safe and they're not judged, they're loved.
You know, one of your podcast guests, Trey Etheridge, he had a line that said, when you surround yourself with men that are going to love you more because of your weaknesses, not love you less, you recognize you're in a good place.
Lance: Yeah, I feel like just personally that the enemy, we forget that it's a spiritual war that's happening. It's not just flesh and blood. It's principalities of darkness. It's the good versus evil struggle. And the power of being vulnerable and sharing something that you're dealing with, the sin in your life, we'll use that as an example. The enemy does not want us to do that.
Nate: No, he definitely doesn’t!
Rodney: You know, there's, once you shine light on something like the light, it's just not as scary. It's like, I can't tell anybody about this. And you're like, well, but I did.
I've been discipled by a couple of people, but I'm currently in front of the person who was with me very early on in my walk. And it was eight years before I shared something with him that meant anything because I was so scared. I was just scared because that's where the enemy wanted me. He's scared. So I said it and he was like, oh yeah, me too. I was like, wait a second. What do you mean, what do you mean you too? You've been a Christian like pretty much your whole life and you speak of these unbelievable places and you just said me too! I don't even know what to do with that.
He's like, yeah, if you shine light on it, it's just not that big a deal. And I'm like, you should have told me this earlier. He's like, I've been telling you that for eight years. You're just listening now, you know?
And so I echo Lance on that. Like once you put the light in these corners of our lives and you see that other people have those same edges and you can love them on their edges and they are understanding of yours, that's powerful, man.
Lance: But this is the way of Jesus. This is surrender. I heard a quote the other day that Jesus didn't come here to die. He came here to live and to show us how to. But the way He died even was surrender. And it's just such a powerful lesson and it is so counterculture today, more than ever. And those of us who are willing to do that and give this gift of going first, we get from that.
Timestamp 22:45
Nate: Like you said, it's very countercultural today. I think it is all about my rights and what I deserve. And when you surrender to Christ, you realize that the God of the universe is protecting you and with you. So no matter what you sacrifice, no matter what you give up, you win. And that is so freeing because you don't worry about when somebody offends you, you can let go of that. Because what good is it going to do me to hold an offense against somebody else? Or if there's a situation that somebody completely wrongs you, you can let go of it. It's freeing.
Lance: Listen, man, all hearts are open to God. He knows all. Right? No secrets can hide. Right? And He chooses love.
Paul: It's truly amazing. I mean, you know, I got a pretty tough story. And to think about the fact that He chooses love with me, it just blows me away. I can imagine if you're the Christian who's made all the right choices your whole life, you're thankful for God, but you don't really understand the same way that I do what forgiveness means and what redemption means. And that's not a knock to anybody else. It's just an appreciation for the plethora of things that happened culminating in a very different life for the future.
Lance: And I think I share that from your story. I share that from my own story. But I don't think we bask in it enough. I think we need to take this time to slow down and just meditate in that forgiveness and in that love. You become so overwhelmed with that love that you have to go out that day and love. It's easier to lead with love.
Redemption Is An Amazing Story
Timestamp: 25:07
Rodney: There's a lot of examples in scripture where, you read them and you either think, are you the woman at the well? Or are you the one who did everything right watching like the disciples being like, why did you even go through that town? I’m not supposed to do that, Jesus. And then why are you going to the well in the middle of the day? Because no one does that. And then why are you talking to her? And that's Jesus talking. That's us.
And I'm thankful that God and the Holy Spirit continues to make me remember that I'm the woman at the well. I'm, you know, the sinner that needed saving. I'm so thankful for that, that for some reason God has granted me the ability to not think, oh, you're the same. You're the one who did everything right. I'm not the prodigal son's brother who's just like, wait a second, I didn't do anything wrong. You know, like, that's a hard spot to be in, too. You know what I mean? I have friends who have grown up in the church and they played music and then their dad was the preacher and their dad's dad was the preacher. And now and these churches are enormous and everything's great and they've done everything right. And they sometimes have a hard time seeing themselves as, in my opinion, seeing themselves as the one because they'll share that with me and be like, what do you mean? Like, I don't feel like I've ever done anything “that wrong.” And that's hard to get your head around, I think, sometimes. If you haven't done anything you think is that wrong.
But the scripture in Ephesians 2 says we all are sons of darkness. All of us. Yeah. Not the ones who took longer, not the ones who had to go down and get, you know, wallow in the mud a little bit. All of us. And then “But God”, not but us, you know, but God. And so sometimes I think it's two sides of the coin where you can be like, man, I haven't done I don't really have a testimony. Yes, you do. Any redemption is an amazing story, regardless of where you come from. If you came from, you know, hardship or not.
Lance: Yeah, it's really not where you came from. It's where you are now. We are where you are now.
Nate: It's all about the glory of God. It's not about, you know, my story. Yes, our story is part of the testimony. But that story is meant to magnify Jesus. It's meant to tell of how good He's been to us. And no matter whether it's growing up in church and having a great family life or coming out of difficulty and sowing wild oats, it's, you know, you get to magnify Jesus versus your own story, your own life. A truly transformational story really shines the light on Christ and magnifies the fact that a good God could love me and choose me and desire to have a relationship with me and could change me, transform me.
Paul: The prodigal son tells both those stories within one.
Lance: I met this cowboy out in Texas, and he called himself a redeemed outlaw. He was a cowboy most of the week, and he was preaching on Sunday at this local small church. And he called it the Redeemed Outlaw Baptist Church. But to your point, Rodney, so when you hear that, we hear outlaw and we think this, you know, super bad. No, we're all outlaws. Until we're redeemed. Right.
How One Need Began
Timestamp: 28:40
Paul: Well, let's talk for a few minutes about One Need. Let's shift into the story of how you came to the idea, what One Need means and honestly a little bit about what it means to you.
Rodney: One Need is the outgrowth of my worship. I became a Christian as an adult, had a decent little business going and had some resources and also had some time. I was in a role that I didn't take all day to do the job. You had to get guys going and then you were good to go. And so, you know, as a believe I started reading the Bible and it started coming pretty clear to me that if you have resources, you should look to help people in need. And I would think, well, I'm not rich. I mean, that's for rich people, right? But it's like, well, no, you are rich. Like you're not as rich as other people, you know, but you're compared to everybody else in the world. That's not on your block. You’ve got resources.
I was very nervous and very unsure of how to do it, but I knew I had to do it because I just, it was, it was an act of worship for me. Knowing who God is and what He did for me, I then had to go out and look for people to talk to about it. And I wasn't comfortable talking to anybody that was on my sales team. Not one. I was scared of them. I was like, what am I going to say? They're going to ask me some questions. I don't know. Half those guys have been reading the Bible longer than I have. And there's no way.
I couldn't pick the day, but what I did was I started, it seemed to be on Tuesdays. We do like a Monday morning sales meeting and then Tuesdays we weren't as busy and I would drive around. I had these cards made up with my name and phone number on them and I would drive around the area that my office was. And at the time there were these other offices that reported to me. So I would end up in different parts of town all the time. And I would drive around looking for people in need.
I know that sounds crazy. Hands trembling, mouth shuddering, scared, looking for people in need. I would go into areas that I normally wouldn't go looking for people at warehouses on their smoke breaks, just anything I could do. And I would play music. Sometimes it was Christian music. Sometimes it's just music to calm me down. And then I would just try to be brave and I would walk out and hand them a card and say, hey, my name is Rodney. I don't know if you have a need or not, but I feel like God led me here to talk to you. And they would look at me like I was crazy. And I was fine being crazy. Because I was, to be honest, I was kind of crazy. And there's a level of craziness in there. Like you believe this? I'm like, yeah, I believe this. And so when I would do that, God would give me opportunities.
One of the opportunities that's my favorite was a guy was on a smoke break. I gave him the card. He looked at me like I was crazy. And he's a nice guy, though. And then he called me later. And he said, hey, man, you came up and talked to me. I said, yeah, he said, I've been a horrible father. I mean, a horrible father. I'm just going to be up, shoot straight with you. I don't work enough. I don't save enough. I spend my money other places. And my daughter's got prom. I haven't really been in her life. And she hates me. We were able to put a need together on that. And she had like, people rallied around her and got like a dress, a car, nails, hair. And it all came from her father. I don't know.
I didn't see any harvest there, right? That was just a sow. God you told me to go out. And so I went out. I have no idea what happened to him, or his daughter, couldn’t tell you his name. But that story of being able to have some kind of impact got exciting for me.
And so I just started building. Really quickly early on I grabbed Brian Watkins and Jesse Horn, both very good friends of mine that had the same passion to help people in need and wanted to encourage others to do the same. So we all joined forces and named it OneNeed. We just came up with a name and stood a website up and by July 2010, we were pushing needs to the system instead of that card me driving around like a crazy man. We had an actual system to use.
Nate: How did you come up with the name One Need? Was it was it truly random? Or was there something that spurred that?
Rodney: At that time, I was still trying to wrestle with salvation versus works. I still wrestle with it, if I'm honest. For me, it's faith alone. Faith even before Jesus was accredited as a righteousness. Now faith in Jesus is how you're redeemed. So I've had balance with the works, but there is a works that has to be there's something they have a role to play. Why God chose us, I have no idea. We're very imperfect vessels. But for some reason, God chooses us to do that. And so I wanted everybody to know that, in reality, they have one real need.
The Bible says, don't worry about this stuff, worry about the stuff that can that can put you in hell forever. Worry about that stuff. This stuff is going to seem so big to you right now. But this stuff is what's really important. Scriptures over and over and over telling us that, hey, the world wants you to look over here, I want you to look over here. You're looking over here, get your eyes back over here.
And so the reason we named it One Need is that we all have one need, and that is saving faith in Jesus Christ. And there's no other need that's greater than that, paying mortgages, car payments, tuitions, whatever, not saving any souls. Faith in Christ is what saves us. And that's our one true need. That's why we call it One Need.
The mistake that we run into, and some marketing agency probably would have hated us for our name. They think you can only do it once. I already used One Need one time, I can't use them again. That's not how it works. So that's where the name came from.
Nate: Love it. Thanks for sharing that about the name. And gosh, what a great reminder. Every time you see any branding or anything about your organization to remind you of what's most important.
Paul: From 100 calls a day with no fear, as long as you got air conditioning, right to a complete fear of doing it for God. I can speak to that. I got to tell you, man, going from the job that I had to the ministry that I have now, there is no doubt the enemy is speaking fear to me all the time about the fact that I'm not worthy and I'm not my faith journey is not long enough and I don't have the skills that it takes to go out and speak to people.
And so I can feel you on what that was like and what that the differentiation between those two. And yet you overcame it. That's amazing.
Rodney: Yeah, well, overcame the starting part. I tell people all the time when I'm in these situations that the only thing that I know that I've done right is not quit. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I have no idea how all this works out. I have no idea how it's going to go. I can't see around any corners. I bet Paul, in your life and business, there were times where you in such a flow state of business that you felt like you could see around some corners like that's what's going to happen. This is what's going to happen. And you could make moves to make you get to where you got to get to. I've never felt that way in ministry. I know most people that they're after God's heart and their ministry, they're not going to see around those corners because that's not what God wants us to do. And so you're not going to see around them. And in that is the freedom to just not quit, to persevere, to just keep plugging along through the fear because it's not going anywhere.
Timestamp: 37:10
Lance: You don't see around the corners and at some point you stop trying to see around the corners, because God's been so good. In hindsight, you can start to see these milestones. These things that happen in the life of One Need. And one big change was really focusing all the needs that come to One Need through the local church.
Rodney was doing a great job in finding needs and meeting needs. But once the need was met, there wasn't another way to stay connected to that person or to create community or to have some more influence to get them to that true one need, the saving grace of Christ. And so they made the decision that they would only work through the local church because we believe that that is God's plan for the local church. And so today, all the needs that we meet come through a local church partner. And we partner with that local church, someone goes to ask that local church for help, mainly financial help. If they're a church partner of ours, that comes to one need. And then our ministry takes over because the ministry is to make sure that that person that calls on the church is fully heard, fully felt, fully loved.
We may or may not meet their need, but we want them to be fully heard. And that's where Rodney spends all of his time or most of his time, I'll let him answer that, is making sure that those people are fully felt.
Rodney: To Paul's point on when you're starting something out and how scared you can feel, that's the tool of the enemy. And so for me, like I said in the beginning, I don't have a lot of talent in that don't ask me to balance your checkbook. Don't ask me to figure out technology. Put a phone in front of me and tell me to dial it 100 times and ask people to buy something, I'll probably do that. That's all I've really done. And then you learn a little bit along the way about how to recruit and train and do certain things. It's all transferable, but almost none of it in the way that you think it will be transferable in your ministry. You'll take it with you and you'll think, oh, I'm going to use it this way and God will be like, no, no, you don't get it. That was for this and that was... And these pieces start coming together that if someone asks you to write a book on, you can't, because you didn't do any of it. You just didn't quit. You just kept doing the next thing in that fear. And hopefully, what's happened for me over the years is that fear has been overcome by faith.
Faith that God, just all the examples, all the things that you see, not saying I still don't get up at four in the morning on the dot almost every day, worried about something that I have to then put back to bed and say, God, you're going to have to do this because I can't and I wish this would go away for me. I'm not sure that He doesn't want that four o'clock wake up call to remind me, no matter what's happening, you got to rely on me. But having those fears, like Paul said, you can have one so much confidence in one area and then one area be like, man, why is this so powerful? Because it's real and the enemy does have power, just not ultimate power.
Building Relationships with the Local Church
Timestamp: 40:37
Nate: Lance, I love that you talked about partnering with the local church and how important that is to connect that person to a community. And that's so healthy because one of the things we want to do and I hope every peer church ministry wants to do is connect people to the local church. Because we believe it is the Christ bride and it's important. And so for us, we just want to be that stepping stone. We want to be that partner in the process as you guys are and so thankful for that desire and that heartbeat that you have to partner with a local church.
How do you build that relationship with pastors, with the community and help them feel like you're supporting them and not competing with them?
Lance: I have not spent time with any local church who didn't have a big heart for benevolence. And sometimes they say, we don't think we should be outsourcing this to One Need and we quickly remind them that you're not. Were are coming in as a partner, we're coming alongside you in this benevolence part and process. And we may have some responsibilities, but we all have the responsibility to care.
So this is not crowdfunding, this is crowd carrying.
Nate: That's so good. It's the big C - Church and reminder that we're all part of the kingdom. And I think that's something that I love with parachurch ministries is helping people see that it's not just that local body. Yes, super important, but it is the global church and caring and meeting needs. And I think in some ways the global church together is probably, and I think in some ways healthier than it's ever been because I think people are willing to partner. In the past I've seen a lot more, hey, I'm going to draw my line here. Don't get around my flock. I'm going to put a guard up, but I think there is a willingness to work. And sometimes that's out of difficulty that some churches have faced, but I do think there's that willingness now to partner, which is so powerful for the kingdom.
Rodney: I agree. And I think a really good way to measure the work that God is doing in a local church, name the church, is how many ministries are pouring out of that church that aren't that church's, so to speak, ministry.
So I'll use One Need as an example. I have no other example. Come to Christ, get discipled, walk into a church, First Canton Baptist Church, walk into George Anderson's office and say, I got saved, what do I do now?
Lance: Come back Sunday.
Rodney: That's what he said. He said, I've got to go, but I do want to talk to you. And like, you know, Veda, I think was his assistant's name, wonderful people. And so first works happened, right? My wife and I ended up getting baptized on the same day in the same water by the same pastor. And you know, these things happened. And then as my sanctification was happening and being discipled was happening, a ministry was born that I can't tell how it was born. I don't know. It was just a desire, like a worship response to the reality of who God is in our lives. That is from the church. That's not, that's not something I came up with without the church.
I don't know where to go unless I had the church. Where do I turn to? And so, you know, now today I go to a church called Oakleaf Church and our pastor, my pastor's name is Tony Nolan and One Need, is it birthed out of Oakleaf? I don't know. It's birthed out of the church.
And so when someone comes and asks, what's a local church here in the Columbus area?
Paul: Church of the Highlands.
Rodney: Ok, Church of the Highlands. When someone goes and asks Church of the Highlands to pay their mortgage, who do you think they think they're asking?
Paul: Individuals.
Rodney: They're asking God. Why didn't they go to Chili's and ask them? I know this seems silly. Why didn't they walk into Walmart? Walmart's got a lot of money, right? Like they're calling on The Church to help them in their time of need. And so it's impossible for The Redeemed or One Need or any other ministry to be, I would argue that none of them are parachurch. They're all part of the church. They came out of the church. And so just because organizationally you're not set up with like, you know, some kind of joint account or some branding that goes along, it's The Church.
We all have home churches. SoThe Redeemed is born out of what? A church. The One Need is born out of a church. And so I think sometimes we feel like they're not related and it's become part of the culture. And like you were saying, Nate, it's become more acceptable and more acceptable now. But I think that was something we've done in our past as local churches and we've missed it a little bit. By thinking that this isn't something that spawned, or, you know, not this, but all the ministries aren't something that spawned out of a church originally.
Paul: You know, though, there is a big portion of our audience that whether it's shame, whether it's church hurt, whether it's fear, that they are nervous about the church. And that I ultimately believe that part of the reason that we formed The Redeemed was a bridge to the church, was helping people understand that they need to get there, but they may not be ready for that. You know, I know for several people that I've talked to, the church is something that they grew up in, but they somehow were really hurt and harmed by their faith walk and what happened to them.
And I think to myself, we’ve got to bridge that back because those are people, not God. Most often that you see that happen in the church itself, it is the flawed human beings that we all are, that we ultimately need to get them back focused on Jesus and on God to ultimately drive them to a place of their salvation and their understanding of what the church really is.
Timestamp: 47:03
Lance: I think we have this idea of when we say church, we think about a church, a building, maybe even it's the people that go to that building, but we think about it. In fact, we have to clarify when we're talking about the big C church. We have a way to describe it. It's either that or it's an event. It's the big C church. And that's what I love about One Need is that it is the big C church.
When we find a need that needs to be met, we send out what we call a need alert. It's a short story, fact-based, anonymous to a network of people that's grown to over 7,000 people now who have registered to get our email to get this story. We send it to them and we ask them to pray about it, to share it with others, and if they feel led to give.
That's the church.
And we love, I love interrupting these people in the middle of their busy, sometimes self-absorbed day.
Rodney: I love getting interrupted in my self-absorbed busy day.
Lance: With this opportunity to love their neighbor. And they do. Our needs are met within hours.
How to Connect With One Need
Timestamp: 48:35
Nate: You mentioned kind of how the need comes to you. Can you tell us a little bit more about that process and how you find out about those and how a church partners with you and how individuals can sign up to even be involved in giving?
Lance: A church that becomes a partner of ours finds out about One Need through either our efforts or word of mouth. And we do an exploratory discovery meeting with that to find out where and if and when they should really partner with One Need. Once that happens, we walk through a process that basically puts a, correct me if my language is wrong here, Rodney, but we put a quick webpage usually on their site. And whether somebody goes to their site looking for financial help or goes in the door, somebody's going to guide them there. We ask them two questions. Tell us about yourself. Tell us about your need. And then that goes to Rodney and his team.
Rodney: When a need is submitted through the local church, someone asks the local church for help. They submit their need. If it's between the hours of 9am and 4pm during the week, they get an immediate phone call back from us, from our care pastor team. And that care pastor that's talking to them has absolutely nothing else to do but talk to them. There's no meetings. There's no other responsibilities. Nothing. They were probably reading and studying, waiting for them to put a need in.
We have a culture of the care pastors that we devote at least 25% of our working or ministry time to study. We reserve the right, as Lance has said, to get better. And if we're not prepared when that need comes in or if we have another meeting, then we're not going to be able to, like Lance talks a lot about, fully hear them but also make sure they feel fully heard. And I know you guys have all done this before and had this done to you. Someone might hear you but you don't feel heard. I know what you want now and they just move on and you're like, oh, Lord, okay.
I'll text them now. And so let's text them. And then you text to clarify. And then they sent back a little quick response. You're like, they're still not hearing me.
I think, so we want them to feel fully heard because when they come and ask the church for help, they submit that need because we're ready for them. We're prepared for you. We've prepared a way for you. We've put an environment together that is a place for you to submit your need 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
I don't know if you guys have ever been in a spot where just making one right move can make you feel great. I mean, I made my bed today or whatever it is. I've been there where it's like, man, just one move right. And so putting that need in is the first step.
And then getting a really quick response in the way of a phone call is so encouraging. You're like, wait, I just put that need in. Yeah, we're waiting on you. You were waiting on me to ask you to pay my mortgage? Yes, we were. And so that's the power of partnering, is that in today's church, not today's, but every church from all generations, there's a lot to do. There's sermons to prepare. There's funerals and weddings and counseling and name it. Just keep naming all the things.
Lance: Sunday's coming. Sunday's coming. Right.
Rodney: And so to dedicate to have someone sit in an office at a local church and say, I'm waiting for someone to ask for a need so that we can be ready for them. That's kind of hard to do.
Lance: And that's the ministry of One Need
Now, this conversation happens. It's long. It's maybe a couple of days sometimes. Go find out this. Come back. But its uninterrupted and we take as long as it takes.
Now, not every need that is submitted gets alerted. We say no. A lot. No to money. And no to the financial ask. So because money may not be the right way to love that neighbor at that point. And so they go through that process. If we say no and when we say no, we say no with hope. And some resources.
And when we say yes, again, we complete that need alert. And then that goes to that group of 7000+. We call them Deeders. And you'll have to explain that term. Nobody listening knows what that one is.
Rodney: We made that one up. Yeah. We're just marketing geniuses. So a Deeder, in 1 John 3:16- 18, John challenges us to love not just in word and in tongue but in truth and in deed. And he uses very pastor driven languages there.
Like he’s with little children. Like, hey, listen to me. And we were reading that one day. We like to read the Bible at One Need a lot. And so we're reading that and it was like, let's call them Deeders. Stupidest thing in the world. It stuck, you know, we've even gone years back and forth. Like should we even just drop it and then someone will say, no, keep it. It's funny.
So we call people who get our need alerts, which is an email, formatted. We don't send you anything else. And it's just a story where you can click. And we ask the Deeders to do three things. When you get a need alert that's come into a local church that will be sent back to a local church that's been fully heard and understood by qualified care pastors that frankly don't want to do anything else and don't have anything else to do. We ask you to pray. Stop what you're doing. So if you're whatever that job is, be interruptible and stop and pray for something else and someone else. Pray for the person that's dealing with the need. Please pray for us in the local church dealing with the person that has the need.
Please pray for every person that's getting this need alert that they'll do the same. Encourage others to do the same. And then share, meaning advocate for that person. If you can tell someone about this need, forward it. Share it on your social media.
You know, I always joke. It should be, you know, my social media feed should be filled with, you know, movies I like, stuff with my kids, the fact that I'm glad Matt Ryan's at the cult. And then, and then, no, I'm just kidding, Matt. I'm just kidding. Hope he's okay. He got hurt this weekend.
And then maybe advocate for somebody that needs something. And so it should be a mix of what our lives normally look like. And it shouldn't be some campaign. It can be a daily thing we do between Sundays. And then click, one click to give. And when you give, it's 100% tax deductible. And all of that money, less the PayPal fees and stuff, goes straight to the person in need. We don't run it through our operation. We have no motivation to send out a need alert or not. It either goes out and that money is aggregated and then sent to the local church so that they can go meet the need and then pull them back into that community.
Lance: Because it creates a tremendous amount of receptivity when you've taken that sense of urgency away from that person. And so now there's this open opportunity for invitation. And that may not be an invitation into the gospel. It may be an invitation to Wednesday night.
Rodney: More likely will be an invitation to Wednesday night. And that will lead to the gospel.
Lance: So, this deeder network, our needs are met, really, I think I said this before, but very quickly. I mean, it surprises me sometimes how quick the need would be met. And I think that's because believers and non-believers, we're generous. We're all built in the image of God. We want to be generous. Unfortunately, there's another thing that happens really quickly after wanting to be generous. There's this other, I don't know if it's an emotion or not, but it's skepticism.
Will they use the money the right way? Should I give it? Is their story real? And what happens with the One Need is you don't have to be skeptical. You know it came from a local church. You know we've spent time with them. We know we fully heard it. And you know that the money's going to go, 100% of the money's going to go back to them. So our needs are met really, really quickly.
When I first got involved, I thought, we're helping these people in need. That's the best part of One Need. And then I said, no, it's what we're doing for the local church. We're really allowing the local church to be the local church. They can pick that megaphone back up and say, hey, come ye. Because they have us full time behind them, waiting to be interrupted.
Today the most fun part is interrupting these people with the opportunity to love their neighbor because at our heart we want to be generous.
There's recent studies that show some of the same dopamine hit that you get when you see a big, good, nice piece of chocolate cake is the same one as when you help somebody. There's a dopamine release that happens. I believe that's in the image of God.
Paul: So I'm curious, Rodney, after doing this for over a decade, how have you seen the needs evolve if they have? The types of requests that may be different in the world today when the world is ever changing, than they might have been 10 plus years ago, or do you find that it's pretty much consistent?
Rodney: Well, the coronavirus pandemic changed a lot of the needs. But let's take that out for this discussion because that was something unique. Running a benevolent system through a pandemic is something else. And so let's leave that out for now.
I think what has changed more than the needs is me and my heart. Because you see it enough and it's going to go one of two ways, right? It's going to get hard on you and you're going to be like, oh, I already know what's going to happen. And not think that it's a new coin flip. That same conversation, that need that comes in that looks the same is not the same. You think it's the same, it's not. But then it is the same 10 straight times and you think the 11th time there's no way and then it's not the same.
One of the things that I think we've gotten better at over the years is taking all of our hunches and experiences and not leading them to assumptions. We just have to listen to this one. They've run the ball six straight times, but the next one could be a play action. So you have to be ready for that. And so that's one of the biggest areas I think we've grown in.
But the needs have remained the same. They haven't changed a lot. The economy doesn't seem to have a big factor in it. The ones we see most, and this is not a stance on society, I don't care to make that. But when women, when single moms are dealing with employment is colliding with childcare, there's a lot of needs.
I was raised by a single mom. She was a hairdresser. And if I got sick before the age that I could stay home alone, I would sleep in the breakroom at the hair salon because mom was going to work or we wouldn't have a house. And she was like, we're going, Rod. There's no way around that.
So you can go to school. I don't want you to be sick. And that was back when we used to send kids to school sick. Or you can go stay in the breakroom. And I remember it distinctly. It was an old Fanta machine that I could like reach my hand in there and steal drinks from and a little couch. And I was going to work, but that was an instance of employment colliding with childcare. What's more important?
And so we see that a lot. I would say that that's not changed a bit. We also see a lot of and it hasn't changed, is all people not putting going to work on a high enough priority level. Like I didn't go to work for a month because…. And I'm like, you didn't go to work for a month because and you have to like coach them in and say, hey, man, you have like things are going to start falling on you pretty quickly if you can't find a way to get to work. Like I had car trouble. So I didn't go to work for three weeks. I was like, man, you got an Uber. Well, I know it's been on my paycheck. I know, but you got to keep your job. Right.
So like those commonalities where the need could have been fixed with a different decision six weeks ago, six months ago, whatever it could have been. That's the commonality with all the needs. I have seen no trends either way. Take out the pandemic. I've seen no trends.
They all seem to be the same over the last 12 years or so. But the biggest thing is that every need, almost every need was because of a decision that was made either repeatedly or a one time. Very few there are they do exist are victim situations. So the most common victim situation is abuse, like domestic violence. If we deal with those all day, every day, it seems like.
The other ones are no fault accident where like someone just hit you so hard from you know, you didn't do anything. You're just sitting there and you got hit. And now you're like, how am I going to get to work all those things? Those are those are there. But the common ones are sometimes we've done something, we've made a decision that put us in this spot. And so over the years, we've learned that if we're going to make an error on helping someone or not, we're going to err on mercy. We're not going to err on accountability, because there's tons of reasons like Lance was saying skepticism can pop up and you're like, well, you got here because you made that decision. Well, thank God that he didn't leave me in the ditch when I made that decision. Right? Like, I just because we had a different starting spot or good guidance, or maybe I made a different decision doesn't mean that I wouldn't deserve the help.
And so when we talk to the deeders, we don't try to say, hey, here's how they got here. We say, all right, they're here now. We think this this help will help them. And we're going to continue to plug them into the local church so we can help change those behaviors, if it is indeed something like that. But I would say, 90%, we've kind of come up with a number, it's round, for sure it's a roundabout number, but 90% of the needs that come in, they're fully heard and we decide that we should not apply money to them. There's some other thing that needs to happen, meaning resources, here's what you need to do, that kind of thing.
Of those 10%, I would say 90%, 80 to 90% are some decision that was made that we don't want them to make again, but we're going to help them. And then 10% is total victim. Like I walked in the house, my husband punched me between the nose, and now I've got to leave or I'm scared and the kids are coming with me. Everything's in the trunk, we're out of here. Those are less often.
So we've got to err on the side of, over the years we've learned, err on the side of mercy, man, just err on the side of mercy. Scripture tells us that. You're not going to miss one err on the side of mercy, but man, you can miss them err on the side of accountability in a hurry.
Lance: Yeah. I think the other thing that we're good at is through these conversations and if it is a need that needs to be met, a lot of times they're asking for the basic, right? I just need to get out of this situation, but Rodney and his group are so good at probing and ask these questions, but what about this? And what about this? And maybe even give them some homework, go find out exactly what it's going to be. And then we're able to not just get them out of the situation, we're able to bless them. Because as Rodney reminds me often, God's not short on cash.
Nate: I love that because I remember a missionary I've worked with that he said, God doesn't need your stinking money. You know, he has everything he needs and think kind of that same principle that it's limitless.
Timestamp: 1:05:44
Rodney: What I mean by that is when I hear people say things all the time, my friends that aren't Christians, my friends that, really just the general media would say that Christians and Christian men and Christian women are a bunch of things and they're not always very positive. They'll say things about the church that aren't positive. My instinct is don't tell me that because now we're going to have to talk about it. Because you don't insult the church without me defending the church. You don't insult a Christian brother or sister of mine whether I know them or not. And I don't defend them because we're going to talk about it. And you explain to me exactly what you mean because the Christians I see, I send out a need alert for someone in need and they meet the need inside of a couple hours. Those are the Christians I see.
The churches I work with are pastors that have dedicated their entire lives and they could do a hundred other things really well. They're not like me that aren't talented. These guys and gals are crazy talented and they choose to do this to help people in need and to meet spiritual needs and to provide a community for believers.
That's the church I see. And so when I say God's not short on cash, I mean the church is willing to, the people of the church will give it up. They don't try to hold onto it. They'll just give it up. They're like, Hey, this is all, I mean, read Acts. I mean, it's just like, Hey, we're just going to, let's go. Like it's all ours. Let's roll. And that, I see that all the time.
So when I see someone, a scandal break out or something at a church or someone says something, okay, let's talk about all the good. Let's talk about all the good and then let's weigh it. Let's weigh it against that major screw up. Let's talk about that. And so when I think God's not short on cash, I mean that holistically. God's not short on any resource because the church is so generous and so giving and so caring and I'm blessed to get to see that every day.
Getting To Know Rodney and Lance
Timestamp: 1:07:00
Paul: think our audience loves the fact that we get to know the people on our show. So maybe we can do a couple of rapid fire questions.
Q: What are you reading right now?
Q: Favorite vacation spot?
Q: Favorite food?
Q: Cats or dogs?
Q: When you get away, what is vacation to you?
Q: Favorite pastime?
Paul: So generous of your time to sit here with us today to have this in-depth conversation. If it's okay with you guys, before we completely shut it off, I'm going to ask Nate to pray for us and to pray for our audience and to kind of close us out and then we'll come back and end the show.
Closing Prayer
Timestamp: 1:10:23
Nate: Let's pray. Father God, we are so in awe of your love for us. I thank you for what Lance has taught me about being still, listening, pausing, and reflecting on all that you've done for us. I thank you for Rodney and Lance and their entire team and how you're using them to be your hands and feet. I thank you for the message that they're part of the church, not a separate entity from the church. And I thank you for just how you're helping people with great needs. Pray you continue to expand their influence and their ability to serve the kingdom. We pray for all those needs that they're going to meet, Lord, that you would continue to help the church to be open, generous, and help each of us as we look and reflect on what you've done in our life to make it about the most important need. I pray that we would be quick to share, quick to share what you've done in our life and how you changed us and how you transformed us. You're giving us a hope and a future. I thank you for these men and their stories and I pray your protection over them and their families.
We love you, Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen.
Thank You and Sign Off
Paul: To our audience, thank you so much for your dedication. Thank you for the time you've spent with us today. We encourage all of you to sign up on our website to continue to get our emails. Look for us on social media. But most of all, during this special season of Christmas, we ask you to think about those around you and continue to love your neighbor and love those people with you. God bless, Godspeed and good night.