#65 Special Forces Hero Becomes A Christian – Larry Broughton

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1. God is a firm, but loving parent says special forces hero Larry Broughton.  This is a guiding principle for Larry as he leads his very successful Real Estate business.  Things were not always so clear for Larry.  In this episode, he talks about how he overcame sexual trauma and molestation as a teenager to become the man of Christ he is today.“Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.Nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matthew 17:20
   1. Child of God – Larry often times feels broken, but is on a journey to be a better person than he was before.
   2. Larry used to think God was punitive and angry and therefore would not love him because of his sins.
   3. Don’t hide your talents and expect God to solve your problems if you’re not using the gifts you were given.
   4. Biggest Weakness – Larry doesn’t always trust that God loves him, but has realised that it’s really that he doesn’t love himself.  God doesn’t expect perfection from us, only progress.
   5. Biggest Strength – Compassion and Courage.  Larry has moments of fearlessness.
   6. Dark Time – Larry suffered sexual trauma and molestation when he was 15 at camp.  He was very frightened to tell his father about the trauma because he was drinking at the time.  That is a cloud that hung over him for years.
   7. The economic downturns hit Larry hard and he began to act out looking for comfort in things like prescription drugs.  During the last downturn, Larry faced divorce.
   8. After his divorce, he lost many of his friends and dedicated himself to 40 hours a week for 6 months of spiritual growth.
   9. Larry missed the camaraderie of the military and was stealing prescription drugs to numb the pain.
   10. Special Forces – Need a high IQ and lots of training to be a self reliant and innovative member of a team. There are typically 12 guys on each team and they are deployed before an official conflict begins.  Many times, their job is to work with foreign forces to advise and train them.
   11. When talking about being a Christian in the military, Larry said “Life is precious, but you have to prioritize.”
   12. God created us to be in community which drives Larry to go to veteran’s conferences to speak and be in community.  A bond among men is powerful because you hold each other accountable.  Do the hard right over the easy wrong.  Integrity is the key.
   13. Looking back at his life Larry feels like God was pursuing him.
   14. “As leaders” Larry says, “We must count the people we impact too put things into perspective.  The way you treat your sphere of influence will be the way they treat others.”
   15. Recommended Book – “The Shack” by Paul Young

    

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