Episode Show Notes

In this deeply personal and joy‑filled conversation, Rich sits down with his youngest son, Ryan Brown—now a student pastor at Waymaker.Church—to explore the long, winding, grace‑saturated journey of a student who once resisted God but is now leading others toward Him. The episode opens with a reminder that “spiritually healthy students come from spiritually healthy ministry systems… and these systems only come from and through healthy ministry leaders” From there, Rich and Ryan trace Ryan’s story from his adolescence filled with misplaced worship and identity struggles to the slow, steady pursuit of God through prayer, caring parents and leaders, and God’s providence.

This episode is a deeply personal conversation as together they explore Ryan’s journey from being that resisting student to answering God’s call into salvation and then ministry, offering hope and perspective for leaders and parents loving students whose stories are still being written.

Resources Mentioned

• Episode (student gathering hosted by Thomas Road Baptist Church)
• The Bible (Scripture references in order: Titus 2:11–12)

Links

Email for Rich Brown (NGM): [email protected]
Subscribe for NGM Thursday Tools email
Watch this episode on YouTube

Timestamps

• 00:00–02:00 – The mission of Next Gen Matters and introducing Ryan Brown
• 02:00–06:30 – The power of city-wide unity through the Episode gathering
• 06:30–12:00 – Growing up in church while resisting God
• 12:00–18:30 – Misplaced worship, loss, and God getting Ryan’s attention
• 18:30–27:45 – Godly friendships, surrender, and authentic joy in Christ
• 27:45–35:45 – Calling into ministry and learning leadership through humility
• 35:45–41:45 – Grace that saves and grace that trains
• 41:45–48:00 – Encouragement for leaders loving resistant students