Grit to Grace: Pastor Buddy Osborn's Life Story

From the rough-and-tumble streets of Philadelphia to a symbol of unwavering hope, Pastor Buddy Osborn's journey is nothing short of a miracle. Beginning with a childhood marred by hardship and illness, he discovered his love for boxing at the age of 13 —a discipline that catapulted him to local fame and even a brush with Hollywood. His compelling testimony is a gritty narrative that doesn't pull punches when revealing the profound influence of his early years and the redemptive power of finding one's true calling.

Our conversation with Pastor Osborn takes a deeper turn as he recounts his days within the influential roofing union, Local 30, and the harrowing brush with the law that followed—an FBI investigation and a federal racketeering indictment that threatened his freedom. Yet, this man of faith stood at a crossroads and chose the path less traveled, turning down the glittering allure of a big-screen biopic to stay true to his convictions. 

Pastor Buddy's narrative crescendos with the heartwarming story of his romance with Lucille and his mission to found Rock Ministries, a unique blend of boxing and Bible study aimed at guiding at-risk youth away from crime. Join us as Pastor Buddy unveils his vision for the future and recounts the stories of the lives touched by The Rock ministry. 

Episode Transcript

Tiffany (00:02):
You're tuned in to Friends and Family, a God's Way
radio exclusive where weintroduce you to some amazing
people.
In John 15, verse 15, jesussays I have called you friends
for all things that I heard frommy Father I have made known to
you.
That's our aim that God wouldbe made known to you.
Stay with us until the end ofour conversation for more

(00:22):
information on this program andother unique offerings from
God's Way radio.

Buddy (00:27):
So if you were at the Men's Conference at Calvary
Chapel, miami or at Sundayservice on March 17th, you know
a little bit about my guest heretoday, pastor Buddy Osborne.
Thanks for coming, buddy.
My pleasure.
Awesome and I'm just so excitedto get to sit down with you
because you've been alluding toit over the last few days your

(00:50):
testimony, the work that God hasdone at the Rock and the Rock A
couple times at the Men'sConference, you know, I saw you
would make a comment.
Or, you know, I came from hereI did this.
Or Lake Plastid in New York andguys like really what you know,
kind of trying to piece thisstory together.
So I thought let's get thewhole story, you know, let's see
what God has done, thetestimony you know, and I'm just

(01:14):
looking forward to hear whatGod's done in your life, how he
saved you.
Wow, Well, okay, Well, it's anhonor to be here.
My brother yes, sir, I meanit's.
I'm here because of Christ,obviously, and it all starts
many, many years ago, born andraised in the city of

(01:35):
Philadelphia and single parentnine siblings, and so I was
heading down the wrong track,the wrong road, so to speak.
I didn't know about the broadroad or the narrow road.
I was on the broad road and Ididn't know about that narrow
road for sure, and so I livedout, you know, as a young kid in

(02:00):
the inner city of PhiladelphiaI was.
I did things prior to 13 thatmost people wouldn't do in a
lifetime, and that's, you know,that's, that's just the way it
was.
You know, I became a gluesniffer glue, I don't know
whether you ever heard of gluesnippers, but it was very.
It became very prominent backin in, in, where I grew up, in
Kensington, in a day, and.

(02:21):
But at some point I, I wasinvited and my father at the
time took me to a boxing match,and when I was 13, and it was at
that point in time that mywhole life changed, literally.
I mean, I, I, I used to playdifferent other sports, like

(02:42):
basketball you know it's gottentoo short football.
You know, I wasn't feeling thatbecause I had it.
I actually had a at a young ageof eight, seven or eight.
I I come down with this, thisbone disease called
osteomomolitis.
Wow, and it was very painful.
I had five major operations.
I was in the hospital for 18months, one, one solid year, and

(03:06):
then, and then you know,another eight months, and this
is only seven or eight years old.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, in six, six months ofthat time I was in isolation.
You know you, you had to comein with a mask.
It wasn't COVID, it was.
I mean, you had to just put amask on and you had to, you had
to a gown and everything and so.

(03:28):
So that's, that's kind of whathappened.
So I would always kind of limpwhen I walked.
I had like a little limp and ittook me a long time to learn
how to walk again.
But then when I did, you know,you know, I remember one one
time a guy I'm walking and hecalled me a limpy lion and I got
they used to make fun of me andI got so mad at him and I went

(03:48):
over there and I I just hit himwith like about 10 shots.
I was only maybe I was about 11years old at the time and so
forward, fast forward it.
I was.
My father took me to to boxingleft or to a boxing match,

(04:09):
because my, you know, I neededan outlet.
My mom, my mom, needed me to dosomething.
Like I said, my mom raised me.
My mom and dad were separatedat a young age.
So I go to this boxing matchand turns out to be that I like
it.
And from that pulling on, Ibecame trained.
I started to train.
I was 126 pounds at the timeand I really, really, really

(04:33):
developed and I really, itreally really was a fast.
I was very fascinated by it.
You, you got good I did.
You know I got pretty good at itand I liked it.
So now you know I had my firstfight.
I won.
I believe I won my first 10bouts and won.
I won the I went to.
I got a bronze medal in thejunior Olympics and just Junior

(04:56):
Olympics just means an age group.
Yeah, it was an age group.
Yeah, yeah.
So it was like, I was like maybe14 at the time.
So and then what happened was Iwas just developing as a boxer
and I would get trophies.
And then it was a localnewspaper like they had the
Kendrick Tinkins that it wascalled, and I would be in that a

(05:16):
lot you know.
Up and coming, I was only a kid, a young teenager, and sure
enough I, at 16, I, I'm numberone in the city of Philadelphia,
which, if you know anythingabout Philadelphia, it's, it's
the, it's the fight capital ofthe world.
Well, I mean the Rocky movies,right?
Yes, yeah, that's right, theRocky movies Yep Funny story the

(05:39):
Rocky movies.
Oh wow, the first one.
That's so cool.
Yes, like in the background, Imean, were you one of the main
guys?
No, I had a.
Yeah, I had a small part with.
It's interesting.
So here I am, I.
It was a 30, it was a Wednesdaynight, I had a fight and I had
got a black eye.
So I am.

(06:01):
Then they knock on.
I'm friends of mine come to myhouse and say they were making
this movie.
What about a box?
If I have a box, I'm number onein the city when it what's up.
So I walked down the street withwith my, with my friends, and
we're going down like we're,like we are, we are we're boxers
, yeah, making a littledocumentary about some boxer.
Who is it?
So they had it all roped offand it was interesting.

(06:21):
They had like the, the, whatwas it like trailers there and
they just they had the cameracrew and so I saw this guy, this
guy on the, on the, in the backthere I jump over the rope.
They had the streets lookinglike it was wet.
It must have been, it wasn'training, but they made it look
like it.
I say, and I started the shadowbox.

(06:42):
Hey, the guy said hey, comehere, kate.
So it was Burgess Meredithwhich was Rocky's trainer, you
know.
So what happened was I?
I?
They gave me a small part.
I got my friend in it in themovie who happens to be a
assistant pastor of CalvaryChapel, philly.
So we grew up together, sowe're in the Timmy Patrick, so
we're, we're there, and and andStallone was walking up the

(07:05):
street and he said to us he saidyou know, where are you going?
It wasn't a talking party.
He said where are you going?
He says well, should we'regoing to go in and get
cigarettes?
We said that for our mom,that's, that's what we said.
And he's I go.
And he turned around.
We wanted they cut it and wedid it again.
Girl, I think I was looking atthe camera and then we did it
again.
So come like when we, when weyou know, the opening day.

(07:27):
They had right, so we all go.
It was just like, yeah, this isit, Cause it was a silver
bridge.
Every year they cut us out.
Oh no.
So I got a chance to talk toStallone about this 38 years
later, wow.
And the reason why I had achance to talk to them about it
because I was in the movie, Iwas cast it and I made for Creed

(07:48):
and I played myself as a cutman for the champion is we were
fighting Apollo Creed, son.
So, I was.
I was the, I was the championfor the, for the, I was the cut
man for the champion and I spentthree weeks on the set with
Stallone, you know, and I wasone of.
In fact, if you look at themovie, the credits on there, you

(08:10):
see Buddy Osborn.
It's pretty, pretty funny, youknow, like as an actor.
So if you go, if you put myname on here, they'll say I'm an
actor and the great part aboutthat story and I thank God for
this is because my daughter atthe time she was 18, she was
getting ready to go to collegeand it's a house, it it paid for
my daughter's college.
What a blessing.
Yeah, I had a small role inthere in that as a cut man, and

(08:35):
so I told Sly about whathappened.
He was.
He was so sorry oh, I'm sorryabout being cut out.
But, yeah, interesting story,yeah, so that was so 16.
You were up and coming.
Yeah, 16 as a, as a boxer.
And then by the time I was 19,I I was a state Golden Gloves

(08:57):
champion, a city champion andalso the regional champion.
And so I went down to thenationals and I finished in the
quarterfinals.
I thought I I was, I thought Iwas robbed, I thought I should
have won that fight butnevertheless.
So I made top 10 in the countryand in 1980, I was slated for

(09:17):
the 1980 Olympic team, but atthe time it was it was being, it
was boycott it because it wasin Russia.

Tiffany (09:26):
Okay.

Buddy (09:28):
So we, they boycotted us with they, they boycotted it and
so they wouldn't.
I was sponsored by a union, sothey didn't want.
They didn't want me to go tothe, to the trials at all, so I
didn't.
And I want to go on touring allthe Scandinavian countries.
They made the USA Boxing team,finland, norway, denmark,
holland, and it was a greatexperience.
I fought the, the, the, theIrish team, puerto Rican team, I

(09:52):
fought the Italy, you know,italian team.
So but the age of 22, I, Ipretty much retired.
I had 90 fights and so what?
I, I, I started to pursue acareer as a roofing, as a roofer
.
So I want to to anapprenticeship program and Now

(10:13):
this whole time, this whole timecause you mentioned as a kid
you had done things that peoplehad never done.
As a boxer you were prettyclean, healthy, oh yeah.
Well, let me just say this toyou that's a great question,
good question.
Well, when I became a fighterboxer, I started to learn that I
didn't know what I didn't haveto, you know, get in trouble.

(10:34):
I didn't have to do any of thatand and I started to take care
of myself, health wise, and I'mtraining and winning trophies my
name's in the paper.
I'm like, wow, this is amazing.
Everybody knew who I was andand and I was.
I was recognized in thecommunity as like wow, he's
doing something good with hislife.
So, yeah, that's a goodquestion.
So so fast forward it.

(10:54):
You know, I had a.
I had a really good career.
I had 90, 90 fights as a, as ain competition, and so what I
did was I was roofing at thetime and which was part of the
roof reunion and if you look itup, local 30 roof reunion was
probably one of, if not thestrongest local union in the

(11:15):
country at the time, and it wasalso known for its violence and
it's.
You know, the whole idea was tosign contractors up and I often
said we would sign up one wayor the other.
It's just the way it was, youknow.
So so then Now, why is that?

(11:36):
I'm not familiar with unionsper se.
I mean, why, the why do youneed a beat guys up to be in the
union?
What's the big deal?
Well, it wasn't, it wasn'tnecessary.
Forgive me for phrasing that noit wasn't necessarily.
Well, that's what would happen.
You know people would get beatup.
Yeah, well, the whole ideabehind it was in my mind.
You know when you're, whenyou're raised up as a worker,

(12:00):
you know a worker, you knowneeds to have representation,
and so the representation is,you know.
So it has to be like.
If you know, if you're workingfor somebody, you know you want
to make sure you're being takencare of.
You know so in my mind, youknow you think about a
hospitalization annuity, thepension.
You know all the things thatthat, as workers, we want to

(12:23):
have.
You know, and and so Is it likea strength in numbers kind of
thing.
Yeah, it is, it is and it alsois a voting block.
I mean, when you got people thatare coming together, you know,
when you have a union of 50,000people and they're working, you
know, and they they sometimescan control a voting block, they
become a voting block.
You know, gotcha Okay and soright, wrong or indifferent,

(12:47):
that's just the way it is.
Gotcha and you know it was a lotof pressure.
They wanted that.
Those numbers, yeah yeah, and Ithink that and I believed in
what I was doing.
You know, I felt, I felt likethat.
I I believed in the workingperson.
You know I need it, I know andeven a contractor contractors is
, you know they have toobviously make a living and
they're entitled to, as acompany owner, to, to, to, to,

(13:09):
you know, receive the fruit oftheir benefit.
You know what I mean.
Yeah, yeah, but obviously in mymindset back then I didn't have
the mindset like that, you know, but obviously it's changed
over time.
But so, yeah, I mean I was, Iwas part of this, this
organization.
That was.
That was really, really strongand I shared on at the men's

(13:33):
conference.
So when I left Miami, I wenthome, it was like this was like
I don't know 38 years ago.
Yeah, so I was, and I went homeand I had a.
I was a target.
I had a target letter from theFBI, from the federal government
, that I was, that I was atarget of an investigation, and
it turned out to be one of thebiggest, biggest indictments in

(13:59):
the history of Philadelphia.
Wow.
And it was connected with theunion stuff.
Yeah, it was connected with theRoovers Union because there was
judges involved with it, lawyersand the mob Philadelphia.
The mob was involved and thenthe union was involved, so it
was pretty pretty.
It was a huge case at the time.
So so I go back and ultimatelyI was indicted on federal

(14:22):
racketeering charges and so thetime if I was convicted I would
spend life in prison, and I was.
If I was convicted on allcounts then I would spend, and
each count was 20 years.
It came out to be 168 years.
I would be convicted.

(14:43):
I would be sentenced to if Iwas convicted.
So, anyway, I go down, I'm arain, you know I've indicted,
and then I'm in rain which yougo in front of the judges.
It's just interesting.
It was a Friday night, fridayafternoon, which we turned
ourselves in because the fedshad come to our houses, knocked
some of our doors down.

(15:04):
We nobody was there, we got, wegot, we got when somebody had
mentioned that there was goingto be raids on our homes.
So so everybody was up themountains.
I didn't go to the mountains,I'm the only one that stayed
back because I had a weddingthat I wanted to be in and I
didn't want to.
So I thought I'll go, I'll getindicted, I'll make bail.

(15:25):
You know is you know I'll getbail.
And then I'll go to the weddingwhich I had, my socks, I had
everything for the next day.
And so I go, and so I standbefore the judge and he denies
my bail Because I was a threatto the community and a menace of
society.
They thought if I was releasedthat I would more likely harm

(15:46):
somebody because of my.
The tapes that they had on mewere very violent and so it was
out of 18 people.
They kept three peoplepre-trial detention the boss of
the union, another guy under himand then myself.
Well, that, there you go.
So now, now there goes thewedding and interesting, like so
.
So I was held in and back in acell.

(16:08):
You know when they, when theythey, we turn ourselves in.
All of us was in it and back inthe in the Fed building and all
we were all in cells, like fouror five of us at the time, and
so they would take a couple outat a time.
So when I go out, right, Iwould go out.
But when I came back in, theytook, when everybody went out,
they went in front of the judge.

(16:28):
They left.
So I said, okay, it's my turnto go out.
So then they brought me back inand the guy that I went to
school with, he was a marshal,fedger Marshal.
He had a handcuff me, yep.
So he said to me I said, steve,he says, but I don't have to do
it.
I said, steve, do your job,just do your job, man.
So he became the marshal, sohere he handcuffs me, and then

(16:51):
finally they took all the newsmedia.
He was found that the, the, themarshal's vans that were taking
us out.
And then he was, he was, he wasguarding.
You know, that was his job.

Tiffany (17:00):
Yeah.

Buddy (17:00):
So so that's pretty much it.
And then and then, ultimately Idid get bail with the
stipulation that I remain underhouse arrest, which I did for 15
months up until myincarceration.
So ultimately I was convicted,sentenced to eight years and did
five years in the feds, and andthat's cause the eight years

(17:23):
was all other stuff they didn'tgo through or whatever the
hundred plus years you said.
Oh yeah, oh okay, that's a great, great job.
That's great You're you're,you're listening.
I didn't think you're a smartguy.
I try.
So what happened was greatquestion.
I was indicted prior to 1991,which which is the old law.
It's kind of like the old law,so that's Old Testament the old

(17:48):
law.
But the new law was if I wasconvicted after 1991, you and I
wouldn't be having thisconversation, cause I would have
to do two thirds of my, of allof my, of my sentence would have
been, you know, could have been40, 50 years, 60 years, you
know Wow.
What happened.
So the judge can deviate fromthe sentence and guidelines he

(18:09):
can, he can give you.
Three 1991.
Prior to 1991.
Gotcha, but so I go in, I checkin the prison.
It's interesting right now, Iam, I am, I am.
When I talked about Lake Placid, you know, I turned myself in
the Lake Placid, new YorkInteresting.
This is interesting.
I didn't, I didn't talk to youguys about this.

(18:30):
Okay, see, this is what this iswhat we did the interview for.
So just think, just think withme here.
Okay, I'm a boxer and I'm I'mdesiring it Like I want to be
the best at it.
Like I want, I want to go tothe Olympics, I would love to be
able to compete in the Olympics.
Well, that didn't happen.
I was 1980.
Okay, well, seven years later,I would end up sleeping in

(18:57):
prison and I would turn myselfin the prison.
Lake Placid, new York, whichwas this prison, was built to
house the Olympic athletes.
That is great.
Well, well it's the winterOlympic athletes, but I would
have been in the summer, butit's still like that is crazy.
So they made it so when theybuilt this, you know, cause they

(19:19):
needed all that security at thetime for the prison.
So when they built this, theybuilt it for in the hindsight,
well, we're going to build asecure facility, cause at the
time there was a lot ofterrorists going on.
So so they, they, they made itwith the stipulation that it's
going to be a FCI, a federalcorrectional institute.
When it's done, you know, wow,yeah, man, so that's something.

(19:41):
So you know, I turn it, I turnin there, and then, ultimately,
I wound up in five differentprisons around the country.
I went during those eight years,yeah, five years.
So I went.
I went from from from LakePlacid, and then I went to
McKeen FCI, which is in Bradford, pennsylvania, and then I went

(20:03):
to Lewisburg Penitentiary, whichwas a that's like that's the
prison, that's where everybody Imean it's a bad place to go.
And I was in a hole there forthree months and because I was
traveling and nobody could be ano, you couldn't, you couldn't
do time together.
On my case it was.
It was because there was aseparation.
They didn't want us together.

Tiffany (20:23):
And.

Buddy (20:23):
I think they feared organizing food strikes and and
violence, that's what they theysaid they want us all separated.
So I went from Lewisburg andthen I went from I, I, I went to
Otisville, new York, back toLewisburg, and then they put me
on a plane, hancock and Shackle,that was called Con Air.

(20:45):
They called it you know.
So here I am, like the othermovie.
Yeah, Right, right right.
So then I flew into El Reno,oklahoma, and I got on a bus
2.30 more and I pull up and theguards we call them hacks they
were waiting.
They had two by fours, likestanding like on the fence.
There was really I'm gettingoff like man.
Man was this?
This was a prison, I mean wherethere was gates, you know all

(21:09):
steel.
And so I say this to youbecause for five years I wrote
every, just about every day, andnow and now, now, over the last
several months, I've beentaking everything that I wrote
by hand and putting it on acomputer.
I'm up to like almost 300,000words, you know, I mean it is.

Tiffany (21:30):
I don't have a-.
You plan to publish it.

Buddy (21:32):
No, I don't at this point , I don't.
Well, I had an offer to have mystory done by and I didn't ask
for this.
This was a guy by the name ofUrban Winkler and he was a
producer of all the Rocky movies, creed.
He did a lot.
He was an Academy Award winner,I mean just a very powerful

(21:54):
director, producer, but thosemovies alone, yeah, yeah so he
heard and he did some history.
He got wind of what happened.
So what he did was he tried.
He contacted the Rock.
He wanted to speak with me.
I talked with him.
I'm thinking, oh man.
Now, this is not the Rock theactor.
There's a ministry called theRock.
We're gonna get to the Rock theactor.

(22:16):
So he says to me, he talks to me, he says hey, we would like to
buy the rights to your movie todo your story.
You know, I said, well, geewhiz, I'm thinking I was sharing
this with Zach, you know, withZach and his father.
I'm like man, I can just seehim making all this money have
to move and all this fame.

(22:36):
I'm thinking man, I was like aheaviness for me, like what is
this?
I'm nobody.
First of all, I'm zero, I'mnobody.
But for some reason theyprobably at the time they looked
at all the mob stuff, the unionstuff, and it could have been a
pretty good story.
So I had to get, finally I getto Laura.

(22:57):
So pass her, joe Foster andPhilly.
He recommended me getting Laura, which I did, from California.
He represented me through thewhole negotiation and it
basically all boiled down tothree points, 13 bait pages of a
contract, three points.
I was getting ready to sign.
It would have been substantialmoney.
They would have gave me upfront and then residuals on the
back end of how well the moviedid, and so they were in budget

(23:21):
on this one part which was myfaith.
And so my Laura said talk tohim.
So I said Mr Winkler, I'mhonored to be, to be even
considered for a movie.
He says yeah, we know we canmake you a superhero.
I said oh, mr Winkler, I'm nosuperhero man, I'm a sinner
saved by grace and Jewish fellow.
I believe he was, you know, Idon't know if you know.

(23:41):
So he says to me well, I saidit's about Jesus, my man.
I said listen, you canembellish anything you want from
.
You can tell them that you knowthat I was involved in and I
killed Jimmy Hoffer, I buriedhim, I know where he lives.
I mean, you can say anythingyou want, but the truth of the

(24:03):
matter is, when it comes toeveryone has a story, but at
some point there has to be aperiod and becomes a testimony.
The testimony is my life is inChrist, it's not in what this
world has to offer.
I says so you can embellish mystory as much as you want, it's
a matter of public record anyway, what I did.
I said but at some pointthere's gotta be a conversion

(24:25):
there.
Whether I'm kneeling at thecross, you know, or forgot some
of the world that he gave me.
They wanna put it on the screen,yeah, yeah, so as long as
there's redemption.
And he said, well, unfortunately, he said it's gonna cost about
$40 million, $45 million, to dosomething like this.
I said, mr Winkler, I can't doit.
And it's interesting, when Ihung the phone up, me and my
wife and my daughter, they wereall there, I had them on

(24:46):
speakerphone, I cried and weprayed, man, and it was.
I felt the weight off myshoulders and we wanted to buy
the building.
There's another building forour church and it was a
substantial amount of money, youknow, and because we were
renting it at the time and so Iwas gonna use because I told him
I didn't wanna make one centfrom this all that funds can go

(25:09):
to the rock rock ministries.
I don't want anything, you know.
I didn't want people to thinkthat I'm benefiting by this.
I don't want that.
So he said, well, that's yourchoice.
He said, you know?
He thought that was weird but,anyway.
But so when I turned that down,well, two weeks later we got an
anonymous check in the mail andwe were able to purchase our
building.

(25:30):
And then, and then, amazing,yeah, but then ultimately, I
would be in the Creed moviewhich paid for my daughter's
college.
I'm gonna look that up later.
I wanna look.
I love the Creed movie.
Oh, now it's in the first one.
Yeah, the first one.
I loved it too.
It was really good.
I don't know if I've seen theother two.
Yeah, I didn't see it.
Yeah.
But it was good.
Yeah, it was good.
I liked it.

(25:50):
We went out and saw it.
I believe was it Christmas Eveor New Year's Eve.
It wasn't one of either.
Christmas when it first cameout.
And we're sitting in the movieand all of a sudden, ah, there
it is that's cool?
Yeah, I have not that God has todo this, but has there been any
God moments, even with themovie, where I don't know
somebody recognizes you from themovie or you talk about the

(26:10):
movie and you're able to sharethe love with them?
Well, here's the thing.
It's so funny, joe.
I said what happened was Joe,it was my.
I didn't wanna be in this movie.
Yeah.
They took.
Like I remember when somebodythey were taking, they were
looking for extras.
I didn't know what an extra was.
So I'm leaving one night, aboutseven o'clock at night, they're
rockin' and he's like come here, I gotta take your picture, bro

(26:31):
, right?
So I took the picture, so theyturned that picture and it's an
extra.
So they called me.
So anyway, I go in the movie.
I said, oh yeah, they pay it.
So I went and I had to wait likeeight hours Wow, be hot, like
at this scene until they used me.
Now this was a Tuesday, I hadto work.
I was a cut man at the time, soI had to work a real fight in

(26:53):
Connecticut on a Wednesday.
And I'm like, hey, are youkidding me?
Let me get this over with.
So I go for it.
It was like two seconds, wow.
And then I said I gotta get outof this place, man.
Luckily it was a Tuesday night,so I'm studying for a Sunday
service and all.
But I finally got out of there.
But here's my point.
I said I went home.
I said I'll never do that aslong as I live, spend eight, 10

(27:15):
hours of my life for one second.
Well, a month later I gotanother call and they said and
I'm like, here we go again.
And they said, listen, we wantyou to consider you for this
part.
It's a substantial part andit's a pain part.
I said, wow, principle of arole was, they said.
So I wound up going into thisroom kind of a room like this so

(27:37):
they said can you tell me howyou would close a cut on a guy?
So I had a Jeff hat on right.
I'm thinking how do I get itclosed, a cut?
So I said, all right.
So she's standing there, Iguess.
And they had a little camera.
I stand up and I take my hatoff and I throw the hat down and
I pretend.

(27:57):
So I said come here, kid, I gotyou, let's watch this boom.
And I said, okay, thank you somuch.
I went home, I said to mydaughter, because she's a
theater person, and she does itas a hobby.
I said what is that all about?
She said, dad, they're castingyou.
I said, what does that mean?
They're?

(28:18):
I'm a competitive guy.
So once I figured out it waslike they're casting me, like
they're gonna pick.
I said, lord, if you get that,if I get that part, I'm gonna
honor you and I've always, everychance I can, I'll use it to
fish somebody.
Praise the Lord.
You know what I mean.
Now jumping to no.
No no, it's amazing.
We're gonna jump around a littlebit, but you don't just play

(28:41):
the part.
You are currently trainingyoung men to compete in boxing.
Yes, well, okay.
So here's what happened, howthat happened, because that's
the story, that's the meat ofthe story right there.
You hold on, bro.
Yeah, so I get out of prison.

(29:04):
I'm out for a couple of yearsand now a lady wrote me a letter
in prison.
She says to me buddy, jesus hasyou in the palm of His hand and
she would write me verses.
And she would write me justamazing, encouraging words based

(29:25):
on God's word.
Are you?
You're still single at thispoint?
I'm still single, but I'm man,bro.
Let me shake your hand, goodman.
Well, I've seen the ring allweekend.
You would be like aninvestigator.
It's like I work in radio.
Yeah right, yeah, yeah.
No, but this girl, this isamazing.
So her name was Linda and Idated this girl.

(29:46):
Okay, and I'll be honest withyou, brother, I had, I loved her
, but I didn't understand what agodly love was.
I loved her in a worldly way.
So I met her neighbor, who wasnamed Lucille.
The whole of the net, Herneighbor was Lucille.
She was a charismatic Catholicat the time, you know, and she

(30:10):
had a love for the Lord and Ididn't know that until I was in
prison and I was desperatebecause Linda would leave me
while I was in prison and it wasdevastating for me and I wrote
about her just about every daywhen I was in there.
And but it's all good, becauseGod gave me the desires of my
heart and he and it was throughLucille, who would write me.

(30:33):
The letters constantly say,mark, god's gonna use you.
And I remember in my memoirs Iwrote that I wanna work with the
underprivileged, I wanna workwith the addicted, I wanna work
with the homeless, I wanna helpanybody that I can in the
streets.
I didn't know where the streetswere and then and then I maybe
trained kids at that time.
So so this, this lady, lucille,was so instrumental in me and

(30:57):
then and really helping me,because I can look at my
writings and I can see, you know, in the beginning I'm like a, I
got that little gangstermentality.
And then when I get this lettershe writes and then I'm reading,
I'm reading her, her, herletters, and then I'm going to
church as a Catholic there andI'm and I'm, and I went to a bot

(31:18):
, like Bible study, like theProtestants, would come in, and
I never thought that I wouldever like sit at a Bible study
at Protestant.
That just wasn't who we.
I wasn't raised that way.
I didn't have Protestantfriends.
You know what I mean.
So, so, so we.
So what happens is my faith.
I could see it in my writings.
It's developing, it's growingand when I got out I didn't have

(31:41):
that foundation, I didn't havethat, that disciple, what that I
needed.
And then, ultimately, I wasinvited to a men's breakfast and
I think you know, and and I wasa Baptist church, I was the
only white guy in the place.
And I say that for a reason,because the guy who led me
through the Lord ultimately, hesaid he always wanted to lead a
white, white, white boy to theLord.

(32:02):
That's awesome man that he did.
God gives us the desires of ourheart, yeah yeah.
So.
So I could say December 31st1995 at 830 at night on the
telephone and six months laterDecember 31st, yeah, 1995 at 830
.
And this was before the men'sbreakfast or after.
No, this was after.
So September, so you're good,joey.
So September was the breakfastDecember.

(32:23):
He was a pit bulldog, he wasrelentless, he was calm.
Now I want to ask you this,because we heard part of the
story at the men's conference,but for those that didn't hear
it, at the men's breakfast, thisis your first kind of gathering
like this ever and he asked you.
He asked right, that's when heasked you the question.
Yeah, he asked me where would Igo when I died.
I'm like, oh dude, that's heavyman.

(32:45):
I just was like Now, the reasonI wanted to pause on that is
because I want to encourageanyone that's listening.
I mean don't be nervous, don'tbe scared to if the Lord's
leading you right.
I mean, pastor Buddy, could youelaborate on that?
I mean, if not for thatquestion that day, who knows?
Yeah, I mean, I think that Ithink, as we're soul winners for

(33:07):
Christ, I think there'sopportunities that will always
present yourself and we have tobe bold in that and ask in that,
because we're going to have toanswer to the Lord at some point
.
So anytime you get anopportunity, I mean, listen, you
can only talk about fishing forso long, you can only talk
about boxing for so long, youcan only talk about this world
for so long until you figure outthat if Jesus isn't a part of

(33:30):
that, it's just a story, it's notestimony.
So, yes, I would encourageanybody that's solid, that
understands the redent of powerof Christ, to be ready in season
and out of season to give ananswer to the hope that's within
you.
Amen awesome.
Yeah, so he was doing that.
A soldier for the Lord, andit's interesting.
Every time he comes to church Ialways point him out and

(33:51):
there's often times I bring himup and I pray.
He's like almost 80 now, youknow, yeah.
So what happened was Joey we?
yeah, so now you got saved overthe phone.
It was with him on the phone,or?
someone else.
Yes, it was him.
He led me in his prayer.
So the girl was I was dating.
I met another girl.
She was beeping horn.
I said I'm a born and gangChristian.

(34:13):
She said you're nuts.
So we were going to church andat that point in time it was
midnight mass.
You know, on Christmas Evemaybe it was 10 o'clock midnight
or Christmas Eve.
So you know, like there's athing with Catholicism, when
you're in church and you're in ayou know where, they say it's a
beautiful thing.
You know you stand up and yousay this prayer to your father.

(34:35):
Well, I had my hands up, bothhands up in the air, like it was
, almost like I was.
I won the championship of theworld, thinking back, and I was
saying our father, who art inheaven, hallowed be thy name,
with my, and I didn't care whowas looking, and it was at that
point in time.
Six months later, this guy cameto Calvary Chapel, philly, and

(34:56):
he was looking for people to goover to Siberia and into the
Russian gulangs for kids thatwere locked in prison.
I said, man, that's my guy.
I was in the top of the spritzof this country.
So in the meantime, pastor JoeFoch had he knew about the case
through the paper and all.
So one day he would bring.
He brought me in, I met withhim and he spent a couple of

(35:18):
hours with me this one day,years ago, you know, and he said
to me you know, it's funny.
He said hey, he said maybe oneday you'll be in Kensington
preaching the gospel.
I couldn't believe heprophesied that.
And I said I said, and myself Ididn't tell him.
Then I said this guy's crazy,but sure enough.
Like about five months afterthat meeting he took me over to

(35:41):
this guy who was leading themission team to say over into
the Far East and parts of Russia, and he left.
I talked to the guy.
Anyway, I want to go on amission trip and it was on that
mission trip that I was able to-.
How'd you connect with Calvary?
Philly?
Joe sought you out, oh so oh, no, no, I needed to get a Bible
church.
Apparently that's what my theguy who led me to the Lord.

(36:03):
And something somebody told meabout Calvary Philly and I heard
about this guy, joe Fochan, andI like when I went in there I
liked him.
You know what I mean as aperson.
I just you know he's real andthat's a whole nother, that's a
whole to talk about.
That.
There's another show foranother time.

(36:24):
But he's been.
It's been a very interestingthing.
So what happened was I am, I'min Russia and they finally they
say, listen, you need to meet aChristian girl.
I'm like, yeah, I'm trying to.
You know, I really am.
I mean I went out on, I wastelling the guys at Raza.
I said I was going out on awith the singles at Calvary
Philly at the time I don't knowanybody, they're on a bus, I'm

(36:47):
on a bus.
The last time I was on a busI'm shackled by feet, I got a
black box on me.
I'm like I'm a prisoner andeverybody now is on this bus
singing kubayam, my Lord,kumbaya.
I'm like this is weird man.
So then we're, then I go onthis, this, this, this Rafton
trip, right, and they bang intosomebody, somebody, oh.

(37:07):
And then, all of a sudden, thewhole people in their laying
hands are praying.
I'm like what is going on here?
They were praying for thepeople who were that they
crashed in.
I'm like this is different forme, you know so.
But lo and behold, they weretelling me about this girl, this
girl who's Italian, which youknow, that was fine with me, and
she was a good cook.

(37:27):
That was another bonus and,lord willing, you know,
eventually I would finally meether and her name was Lucille and
, like the lady who led me, kindof, really, I think, I really
think that I was, I had aconversion in prison.
I really do think that.
Especially as you read back onit.
Yeah, oh yeah.
Now that I read I can see thechange.

(37:48):
Man and the Lord, you know, andyou know I went from.
I went from always talkingabout the creator, higher power,
God, because I made a commentin there that I don't want to
talk about like Jesus, becausenot everybody will I remember.
But then the Nще辛 carrcado, Imust.
Somehow I changed that, becausethat rhetoric changed.

(38:08):
Then I started to say Jesus,holy Spirit, you know, father of
God, you know, yeah.
So, so I met.
I was introduced to this girl,loose Lucille.
She had a dinner at her housefor ten single people.
I was one, she was one and andI knew right then, and there
that that was.
You know, I Don't know, man, Ijust said I like her.
The next day we went to.
The next weekend we gottogether, went to a church.

(38:30):
Within three months I asked herto marry me.
Within nine months we weremarried and it was Joe married,
joe married me.
You know it was a marriage whereyou at the time I was.
When I got married, I was 38.
Wow, yeah, you know, I love thatand you know that.
When you know, you know, youknow and, and especially, as you

(38:54):
know, I was thinking about thisthis weekend just some, some of
the older guys you know, andthey're 30, not older, I'm 32,
but not kids anymore, right, andhow I think a woman appreciates
it, a Single woman in her 30s.
You know when a man is serious,you know direct, does that that

(39:16):
kind of connect with you?
You think that's something thatthat men need to know.
That man, you know be, beprayerful, be serious.
You know kind of like notleading people on.
I Don't know anything thatcomes to your mind on that.
Yeah, I think that one of thethings, joey, is that you have
to be real With your life andyou got to be real with your

(39:37):
faith.
You know I often say you can'thave no pepperoni in your life
as a believer, I mean, andpepperoni is a kind where for
saying you can't have no, youcan't have a lying tongue, you
can't, you can't.
You know you can't be a faggazi, you know.
I mean you got to be straightup, you got to be real, your yes
, sbs and as a man, you knowit's important that you display

(39:59):
that in your actions and and and, and I think that I think too
often, I think now, even now, Imean with the social media
that's out there, I mean, andhow people meet, now you got to
be really, really carefulbecause people portray someone
who they're not.
You know, and that's why it'sit's nice to have that
fellowship, that you have a pat,you're under a pastor or you're

(40:23):
under protection of the church.
You, you have that body, youknow.
I mean it's there's somethingabout that, joey, you know yeah
yeah, so yeah, I mean we, I.
Finally I get married, and andit was at that point in time
that I was I was actually had a,I was managing an auto body

(40:43):
shop and then, ultimately, Ibecame an insurance appraiser.
Where I would?
I would, because I was barredfor life in the in the
construction.
I was never, I wasn't allowed,I was never allowed to go back
into that because of my crimes.
But isn't it interesting,though, thirty-some years later,
I Would start the chaplaincyfor all the unions in the city

(41:06):
of Philadelphia, so 60,000people.
The Lord placed it on my heartto develop a chaplaincy program,
which I'm the chat, the Leechaplain of that, all the union.
So they, they.
I took me out in shackles andnow I'm the chaplain.
It's only the grace of God,right, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, so we.
So what happened was when I,when I, I met my wife, I get

(41:29):
married and then I became aninsurance appraiser and and they
found out.
Well, I found out, they, theyand I was doing great, making an
honest living.
I had a company name, I was a,I was a Subcontract, I worked
for a lot of the major companies, so if you got in the car, I
would come out and I would writethe estimate, turn it in and

(41:50):
get paid by the cars.
I was doing well, and then theysaid they were going to take my
license away Because of my pastconviction.
I fought it, but what happenedwas it made me open up a
collision shop, so I became anowner of of Osborn collision and
but God allowed that to happento fund the rock ministries.

(42:11):
Okay, because at that point intime I'm training kids to be
champions of the world, and thisone kid that I was training
named Henry.
He went to the nationals of theof the junior Olympics and he
lost a controversial decision.
I Didn't see him in two weeks,I think.
I mentioned to it at theretreat and then, sure enough, I

(42:32):
see him.
I'm on a prison block teachinga Bible study for young kids
between the ages of 14 and 17,70% of women, for homicide.
He walks in with a prisonstudent.
When he killed somebody you did, I don't think you mentioned.

Tiffany (42:44):
No.

Buddy (42:45):
I didn't.
Okay, yeah, he killed somebody.
I was devastated, devastated,and I grabbed him and I hugged
him and I cried and all the guysare looking at me like what is
going on here?
You know, like all the kids,and I didn't care.
But I felt so bad because Inever shared my faith with any
of these kids and and and I justnever did.

(43:08):
I never openly share my faith,but I stopped training kids.
But two years later it's likethe Lord hit me with his
thunderbolt, says you know, Idon't.
I didn't hear an audible voice,but I knew that.
I said how can I do somethingthat's more effective on the
city block than the prison block?
And that that's the wholeconcept of the rock, and I
believe it was got, certainlygot ordained and sitting under

(43:30):
Joe Foes and just Knowing that.
But I can't just be a hero ofthe word that, I have to be a
doer of the word for me, and andone of them was to Use the
gifts that God's given methrough boxing.
And now he set me up with acollision shop, making tons of
money that I would at the timeand I would use that to funnel

(43:51):
in legally into making, you know, purchase in a building, and
you know, because property wasso cheap down there.
You know at the time, andthat's the whole, that's how
rock ministry started, so wewould bring the kids in.
Yeah, with this stipulation,we'll teach you how to box and
we'll teach you good.
Yeah, you gotta come to a Biblestudy.
So I want to pause right therebecause I Want to.

(44:14):
I want to emphasize on thisyear.
You're married.
You're serving the Lord.
It's not like you're Just goingout on vacations and buying
expensive things with yourcollision shop money.
You're serving the Lord.
You just said you were doing aBible study in a prison right
Yep yeah, well, you know,obviously this question is a
little bit sarcastic, but butit's to try to emphasize this

(44:34):
point.
I don't want anybody to miss it.
I mean, what would you go?
Have to go and do more for you?
You're doing enough, aren't you?
You're serving your teaching,what, why?
Why'd you go and start thiswhole new ministry?
What?
Why didn't you just settlewhere you were at you?

Tiffany (44:47):
know you got the money.

Buddy (44:48):
You teaching, your serving, you're going to a great
church.

Tiffany (44:51):
Why'd you leave CC Philly?

Buddy (44:53):
Right Nobody leaves CC Philly.
What are you doing?
Wow, yeah, yeah, man, you know,I think about that more now than
you know, then I like this manthat is a great question.
Well, listen, you know, one ofthe things I think that for me,
from what I'm told, is that I'ma kind of a visionary guy, you
know, and, and I kind of thinkthat you know, but everything

(45:16):
that I did To put myself inprison, I Love what I did.
I love organizing, I lovesigning you up one way or the
other, you know, and, and itdidn't matter, we want it, I, we
got you eventually.
I Loved what I did.
I love my boss.
In fact, you know he was, he wasa man's man.

(45:37):
I watched how he walked, how hetalked, the way he combed his
hair, the glasses he wore, theway he spoke, the way he was a
field field general.
I never had a father that Icould emulate.
He was the closest thing to afather and he was my and he
became my boxing trainer.
So he had, he had a.
You know, we had a connection.

(45:58):
In fact.
He said on four occasions thatI was the pick and he had all
the sons, that I was the pick torun the union.
One day, you know, I said, wow,that's pretty, that's pretty,
that's pretty impressive.
Because he had, he hadtremendous respect for me and
but yeah, I mean.

(46:18):
Yeah, I know what thought therefor a minute to.
I was just wanting to emphasizewhy a person would leave and
shake up.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So here's my, my point.
So the tenacity that the Lordlet that I had for the world, he
, he, he, he brought that backin me as a Christian, you know.

(46:41):
So, everything that I would, Isaw that I learned from my, my
boss, and all the way, thinkdays in the world, god turned
that around and use it for good.
Mm-hmm, that's same boldnessthat take a shot, put your house
up.
I mean and, and and, reallynever turned back, and, and, you

(47:02):
know, and today, I mean we've,we've, we've, we've ministered
to thousands and thousands ofkids over the years that heard,
heard the gospel.
I mean, it's not myresponsibility to see somebody
saved.
My responsibility is to givethe gospel.
That that is is Understandable.
Yeah, and so is everyone else.
Who, who's?
Who's on the rock team?

(47:22):
Yeah, you know, we're a soupkitchen, for Jesus is what it is
.
But no, we opened that place up, man, and it was like wow, I
mean what, what year did rockstart?
Well, technically, it started ata place named Johans Jim in
2003 so you were doing ministryout of that gym.
We started there in May of 2003and then a Year later, 2004,

(47:50):
december 31st, we purchased thebuilding that we're in now.
The first building we purchasedwas was the.
That's kind of like ourheadquarters down you know if
you will yeah and yeah, I meanit's been, it's been just Wow,
and so we weren't it sure wewere 20 plus years.
Yeah, we weren't a cow, weweren't a Calvary Chapel Like we

(48:12):
were, we were.
We called it the rock.
It was a ministry and you werestill attending your rock
mission, philadelphia.
So I was attending Philly, foryou know for well, let me see,
about nine years, eight, nine,eight, nine years, mm-hmm.
And then all of a sudden, I getthis, this, I don't know, it
was such a strong Urge and to dosomething for the glory of God.

(48:35):
And I told Joe, and he, he, hesaid yeah, man, yeah.
I said, listen, that soundslike a plan.
So I, I got about ten peopletogether and I said, and I got
Pete's and I said, listen, talkme out of this, talk me out of
this.
Is there anything that don'tmake sense here?
I love that.
Yeah, and then what happened wasno one can talk me out of it

(48:56):
and then we had nothing.
And then the Lord, just he would, he would develop it over the
years you know again, andsomething else I want to pause
on, because I look at Men,ladies I mean anybody listening
that we make decisions, and I'veseen this a lot.
Maybe you've seen this inministry or in life.
People go to people to hearwhat they want to hear.

(49:19):
You know, I'm gonna make adecision, I'm gonna buy that car
, I'm gonna leave this church,I'm gonna start this thing, I'm
gonna do this and and and.
You know, ask someone well,brother, you know, I think I
don't know, pray about, let mego.
And finally, three or fourpeople down the line yeah, oh,
yeah, yeah, I told him.
Yeah, he prayed with me.
You know I'm accountable andhow important is it to to have

(49:41):
that.
You know, people challenge you,people keep you accountable.
Wisdom, right, the Bible says amultitude of counselors.
There's wisdom.
How important is that in aperson's life?
Well, one of the things you wantto be very, very careful in
ministry is that you don'tbecome a lone ranger.
A lone ranger Christian, youhave to be accountable and it

(50:05):
could never be about you.
You know, I know that there's aquote where you know there's
there's a man, there's aMovement, there's a machine, and
then there's a monument,there's a mausoleum, I think a
Chuck Smith would say, butthat's the truth.
When it's of man, but what it'snot of man, it's organic, it
happens and it's building blocks, you know, and and then when

(50:30):
you, when it develops, people,people will grab ahold of it.
And same thing you have goinghere.
I can see, it's the sameprinciple here.
When I look at, when I see your, this fellowship here, I I see,
especially like with it, with aConference of persons, are the
men's retreat.

Tiffany (50:49):
Oh man, I mean yeah it's incredible.

Buddy (50:51):
I mean, you got a bunch of men here who love the Lord
and man.
It's, it's you, it's powerful,like you know, and I can only
see it.
And it's not looking.
It's not about the building,it's not about the program, it's
about Jesus, amen.
You know, if Jesus says is itthe forefront of your church,
well then you're not.

(51:12):
You're not going to fail, andif you have trials, be joyful.
Yeah.
Let me ask you this, pastorBuddy.
Would you say that any?
This is an honest question.
Maybe you say yes, maybe yousay no that anything you're
going to do for the Lord isgoing to involve some level

(51:33):
sacrifice or dying to yourself?
And if a yes, how have you seenthat in your own life or in the
Rock Ministries?
Well, that's a good question,and I think everything you do
for the Lord, you're going to,you're going to have pushback

(51:53):
and but, like the Apostle Paul,what a great example to follow.
John is even a I mean, agreater example.
My man was was called the sonsof thunder to the apostle of
love.
He weathered every storm and atthe end of his life he's
incarcerated on on pathmos.

(52:14):
And what does he do?
He sees, you know, christ inhis glorified body.
When you think about his, his,his eyes were like like fire and
his, his, his, his hair waswhite.
And I get this.
I see like a man, like a solid,strong, you know man, saying to

(52:39):
John you know, john, you did it,man, in a sense, in paraphrase
you did it, john, and John'scrippled up, he's on this island
, surrounded by water.
You know what I mean?
No amenities, no, nothing.
And yet he comes at the end ofhis life and he sees his friend,
his God, his savior and andChrist.
What does he?
What does he?

(52:59):
What does he say?
He, he, you know he, he.
He says John, get a pen and apencil.
He says man blesses the personwho reads and listens and does
what I tell you when I tell themand he talks about the seven
churches, and you know, and it'sinteresting, we're in
Revelation now and to me, likewe need to be very, very careful

(53:20):
as a ministry, I'll say for therock that we, we don't become
the church of Ephesus where we,we, we left our first love.
We're all about because,because Christ, what did he say?
He says, man, your works, yourpatience, everything you did was
spot on, like, and you look,when you look at that, that it

(53:42):
looks like a good church, likeit's like, yeah, I want, like,
this is what I want to be.
You know what I mean.
And then all of a sudden hesays but he says, unfortunately,
this is what I don't like.
You've, you've left me, youknow, and, man, in ministry, we
have to be real careful aboutthat, because, man, we have to
be careful about that and for me, like that's my biggest prayer

(54:04):
for the rock, you know, we do somuch like you guys, I mean we,
we, we, we were in outreach tothe prostitutes for the addicts.
We have chaplain squad, we havea sports ministry, we have a,
you know, an intern program, aschool, a verbal ministry.
We got, you know, we there'sand homeless coffee house.
We have a.
We have a pregnancy.
Homeless coffee house.

(54:25):
That's interesting.
So it's just free coffee forwhoever yeah.
Yeah, they come in on the street, yeah, and we have a.
We have a women's um umpregnancy center where they were
like we're, we're the fourth inthe city of a million people
where you know.
I mean, think about, in thestate of Pennsylvania there was
30, over 33,000 abortions lastyear, 16,000 in the city, and

(54:47):
there's only three centers inthe city that that that are
Christian.
We're going to be the fourth.
Awesome.
And so there were 16,000, over16,000 abortions last year and
so anyway.
So all this to be said, it'sgreat, right, I mean, and it
goes on, there's more.
We have near my house.
We have kids 18 to 30 years oldthat can reside there, get the

(55:08):
cycled great stuff.
But let me tell you we need tobe careful because we have never
forget why we're there and forwhat reason.
Amen, we got to stay humble,and that goes here too.
You guys have to stay humblebecause you got a good thing
here, man.

Tiffany (55:27):
Amen.

Buddy (55:28):
And I think, listen, you guys are.
I feel, I feel good about you.
You guys are, you guys are good.
We're blessed.
Yeah, you are blessed, you havean incredible foundation and
heritage yeah you do, you do,man.
Yeah, and I'm really really Ihear this word super a lot here
Super, yeah, yeah super.
I'm going to take that back.

(55:48):
I'm super blessed, super.
Yeah, you're going to startsounding, my amy, I want to
sound like I want to.
Not only I don't want to sound,I want to sound Cuban.
All right, Super blessed,that's good.
That's everybody.
We've heard about what the Lordsaved you from.
We've heard about how man hetakes you know, things that that
you wouldn't, you couldn't evenplan.

(56:08):
Man, this, this movie thingprovided for for your child's
college.
Then saying no to fame andmoney for the sake of the Lord.
About how the Lord led you toto your spouse, how the Lord you
got kids.
One child, one child, yeah.
How?
about how old are they.
She's 24.
Awesome, and but I have tons ofkids.

(56:31):
I was going to say, yeah, Ihave a lot of, I have a lot of
yeah, but yes, so one childawesome and and so many kids
that you've poured into over theyears and about the rock
ministries, right?
So in case anybody is kind ofhaving trouble putting the
pieces together, the rockministries is a church in
Kensington.
Yes, okay.
So it started out rockministers of Philadelphia and it

(56:54):
was primary.
It was a sports ministry Okay,boxing grapple, and there was
this boxing.
We had weights and then weadded grapple into it and then
we have, you know, we addedhomework club.
That's the ministry.
Then, in 2009, I went to JoePastor, joe Foch, and I said
listen, we're, we're, we'repraying about starting one day.

(57:14):
I got this thought man, we needto get a church and we're
reaching the kids.
What about the parents?
So he said something sointeresting.
He says I've been waiting forthis.
Wow, like what, man?
So so it was official, 2009,.
We started Calvary Chapel,kensington.

Tiffany (57:33):
Oh, okay.

Buddy (57:34):
So we are at Calvary Chapel, kensington Awesome.
But we are so used to call therock the rock, calvary Chapel,
kensington, everything that'skind of our name the rock.
Because when you think of therock, what do you think of Rocky
Jesus?
Yeah, okay, okay, I'm like wait.
Is this a trick question?
No, yeah, Well, you think of therock you think of Christ Jesus?
Because?
Because?
because to me, like I failed thetest, question no, you didn't.

(57:55):
No, you, you, you, you.
So so I think that, like whenpeople think of of the rock,
like I never, I know, I knowwhat he's allowed me to do, but
you know, I want them to thinkabout Jesus.
Yeah, like I like when theythink of rock ministry, I know
my, my, my, what, I, what I can,but you know what it's I want

(58:16):
to.
I want them to think aboutJesus.

Tiffany (58:18):
Amen.

Buddy (58:19):
To me.
That's more important to to methan anything.
So so we are.
Right now we are.
We purchased another building.
Miracle Story.
We didn't have the money to buyit because we have so many kids
.
Yeah.
Most of our kids in thatneighborhood are living under,

(58:41):
you know, post stress disorder.
I mean like, like, like theyare definitely definitely post
dramatic stress disorder becauseof everything that goes on the
gun violence, the drugs,everything.
Now that the city is doing thisinitiative now coming down from
the new mayor, the rockministries, is in partnership.

(59:02):
In a sense, we're doing exactlywhat we do, but we're doing it
every day.
On steroids, which we're theoutreach, helping the people
that find the homeless get thema house.
The addicted get them long termcare, whatever it's necessary
wound care, we do that now.

(59:24):
It would be safe to say thatyou're doing what you've always
been doing, but now you have thesupport of the government,
they're helping Well, no, no.
I think they're asking for usbecause we've been doing it for
years now and it's working, andit's working and now, in the
name of Christ, we're able tocontinue to do this with the

(59:46):
government and whatever they.
We're not going to change whatwe're doing, but they're going
to add.
So it's really, reallyfascinating.
So, that being said, we needmore room because we believe
that this is going to be cleanedup.
I think it's going to be amodel for the country.
That's my thought, I believe,because you can see Kensington

(01:00:06):
on the news all the time theworld news and national news.
I was going to ask you, in casepeople are listening, they're
not familiar with Kensingtonwhat's the deal, what's so bad,
what you mentioned, a couple ofthings, well, Kensington,
kensington.
if you go on and you look atKensington, you know Kensington
what it stands for.
I mean, it's an open air drugmarket right now and it's

(01:00:27):
allowed.
But they're all over thecountry now and it's tragic.
But we believe that this.
Rather than talk about theproblem, let's come up with a
solution.
We know what the solution is.
The solution is Christ, and sowe have our chaplain squad that
goes out.
We have a chaplain corps thatmeets every single week.

(01:00:49):
Now, it's just about every day,are these?
folks from the church or otherchurches.
We put it out there.
It's from all over theTri-County area.
So we had our first chaplainoutreach.
We had 102 come and they were.
They were assistant to ourchaplain squad.
So we sent out teams of 15 withone solid or Dane chaplain, and

(01:01:15):
then you know, they all havetheir vests, their credentials,
and then they're out there and,man, it is amazing, it says rock
ministries.
When you think about rockministries, who do you think
about?
Jesus, amen.
So that's my point.
So he's going to get all theglory and I believe we're going
to be successful.
So to say that is that webelieve that there's going to be

(01:01:37):
such an opportunity to reachinto the community more now than
ever before.
So we're going to need a space.
So we purchased one of the.
It was the oldest boxing venuein America, from 1917 to 1963.
Every single week there was box, professional boxing.
It was called the blood pit andit was the Cambria.

(01:01:58):
In fact, the movie Rocky,that's the move that's they used
.
They were going to use thebuilding but they used the, the
name of it in the in the movie.
So it's kind of interesting.
But it was called the Cambria,aka the blood pit.
We own it now and we're goingto turn it into the to the rock
youth factory, you know, andit's going to rock climbing wall

(01:02:22):
, basketball, all offices, no,you know, classrooms for school
for, and we're just praying thatGod would provide everything
that's needed for this amazingopportunity to reach these kids,
through no fault of their own,have been subjected to this type
of lifestyle in Kensington, youknow so.

(01:02:43):
Man, I'm excited.
I'm so excited for you guys andI pray that anyone listening to
our conversations going to bejust praying and praying, caring
you guys in prayer.
I want to ask one thing beforewe start to kind of close and
land the plane Is there a?
I mean, I'm sure you have somany stories, god stories and
testimonies, but is there onethat comes to mind now because,

(01:03:05):
right, all this, all this, allthese big initiatives, right,
it's about that one person,right?
Is there a testimony, a storythat comes to your mind that you
want to share with, with ourlisteners?
OK, so what we do is every five,six weeks, we like, we teach
the Bible expository, we goverse by verse, chapter by
chapter, book by book, we gothrough the Bible, you know.

(01:03:26):
So about a year ago I said, allright, let's bring three
couples up there.
So we brought the three couplesup there, married couples.
I had the women sit down andthe men they stand behind them,
and each one of them it's justcrazy I had married them within
the last eight years, you know.
But the three women in thefront were all former

(01:03:49):
prostitutes.
They were all former, you know.
They were hooked up with drugs.
The one, the one girl, waspicked up by her John and and
health captive for a year, ok.
The other one, multiple,multiple times.
Just, you know, it's justthings that were heart wrenching

(01:04:10):
.
You know their husbands, all ofthem, were former drug dealers,
drug users.
One of the guys who is waslocked up 49 times.
He oversees our men's ministry.
But I say this for this reason,those three couples today love
Jesus.
Each one of them had their own,they have their own testimony,

(01:04:32):
but now the Lord has has blessedthem immensely and and that's
and we see that throughout therock, with not only couples, but
young kids coming to knowChrist and and, and you know,
people becoming Christians,becoming over, overcomers, you

(01:04:54):
know, and so we're very happy,we're very, very blessed by that
, joey.
Man, that's.
That's exactly what I washoping for.
Just you know, because, again,we don't want to glorify or
waste time with with the BC andall the details.
But, man, the the after Christ,right though, what God has done

(01:05:14):
, so, so awesome.
I just wanted to look wherepeople could get more
information.
It looks like the Rockfillyorgyes, that right.
So if you guys want moreinformation, the Rockfillyorg,
you can read up and look upeverything that they're doing
there, contact them talkingabout different ministries.

(01:05:34):
But, Pastor Buddy, anythingthat you know, we've been
together for about an hour now.
Again, thank you so much foryour time.
Anything that we didn't coverthat you want to mention?
Anything that we did cover thatyou want to go back to before
we conclude?
Well, I'm going to say this toyou.
I don't want you to take thispersonal.
Yes, sir, I'm not going to talkabout anything else.

(01:05:57):
The reason why is because, ifyou want to know more, you got
to bring me back.
Yes, sir.
I like it.
I like it.
So you have to tell your pastorthat.
I will take that deal.
I will take that deal this way.
But no, let me just say this itis, you know, I feel like I had

(01:06:17):
an opportunity to speak atseveral churches around the
country, you know, and thisfellowship here, this group, is
really neat because it's real.
I sense the, the realness in itand that's what we're looked at
.
I remember I asked Pastor DaveGuzik, you know.
I said, dave, you know, if youhad to say one word about the

(01:06:41):
rock and the fellowship, becausehe's been there several times,
I said he's, I said what wouldit be?
He was, and he said one wordreal.
And I think, and that's what Isee here, I see real.
So keep on doing what you'redoing, my brother, awesome.
And then, if you want to knowsomething more, tell your pastor
to hook it up, got it, guys, ifyou're listening to this, start

(01:07:03):
sending emails to CalvaryChapel, miami.
We want Pastor.
Buddy back.
We want to hear from him again.
Oh man, guys, thank you so muchagain.
The website if you want tolearn more about the church, the
ministry, you want to read prayI'm going to get in trouble
with Pastor Buddy.
If you want to give somehow,god put something on your heart
therockfillyorg Grace and peaceto you.

(01:07:27):
It's been an awesome time.
God bless you.

Tiffany (01:07:50):
Our hope is that through their stories God will
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But you can only find them hereon God's Way Radio.
Just check godswayradiocom forour full program schedule.