In this episode of the L3 Leadership Podcast, Doug Smith interview Denny Pattyn, Founder and President of Silver Ring Thing. Denny has been fighting an incurable cancer diagnosis for the last 5 years. Sixteen operations later, and a loss of 90 pounds, Denny is still continuing to lead strong. In this moving and incredibly inspiring episode, Denny shares what will truly matter at the end of your leadership journey.
About Denny Pattyn
Denny Pattyn, husband, father, visionary and an evangelist at heart was raised by two atheist parents which has fueled his passion for reaching under-churched people with the Gospel. Over the course of his ministry, he is most well-known for founding Silver Ring Thing (SRT) in 1995, in response to concerns for the escalating teen pregnancy rates in Yuma, Arizona. In 2000, he and his family returned home to Pittsburgh bringing the SRT vision with them.
Since that time, SRT has hosted nearly 1,500 peer-led events in 9 countries impacting 725,000 attendees, with 265,000 students choosing to wear silver rings as a commitment to purity and nearly 133,000 students receiving Christ as Lord and Savior. From its inception, SRT recognized that true change in a person’s life only comes about with heart change. SRT events provided a unique platform to talk with teens about God’s plan for sex, love, and dating. Addressing their pain and acknowledging the guilt associated with sexual sin proved to be a powerful avenue to share God’s grace and the power of the Gospel.
Hearing countless parents express their concern for their children and families at SRT events, coupled with the fact that a strong family is universally valued, supplied the motivation for Denny to step into a new role. This compelled him to pursue his latest project – The Family Wins (TFW). TFW’s vision is to see families strengthened and lives changed by embracing God’s wisdom and by spending time daily in his Word.
Denny has been fighting an incurable cancer diagnosis for the last 5 years. Sixteen operations later, and loss of 90 pounds, Denny is still continuing to lead strong. In this moving and incredibly inspiring episode, Denny shares what will truly matter at the end of your leadership journey. Though he may only have weeks or months to live, He’s only gotten spiritually stronger through the process.
6 Key Take-Aways From Episode 271.
1. Talks about how his time with the Lord is richer knowing that he’s going to be meeting the Lord in a matter of months, or possibly even weeks.
2. Denny talks about the new vision that God gave him for The Family Wins.
The family is the number one group of people who evangelizes. Parently are the world’s largest evangelists.
“The way a family wins is when the mother and father spend personal time with the Lord every day”… Because God’s word does not return void.
3. Denny Talks about how to discern God-given vision from what might be your own vision.
I’m always very very careful to say that something is God’s until he demonstrates His power and provision through it.
Vision is like throwing spaghetti against the wall.
What stays and what falls away? What stays is God. What slides down and falls away, I forget about. What sticks, I stick with.
4. “Everyone who comes across my path is in danger of being evangelized.”
Denny talks about taking a job as an Uber driver, just to have an opportunity to share the Gospel with young people.
I want to be remembered as someone who couldn’t help but to share the Gospel.
Every second of my life, it was the joy to share Jesus with people.
5. I’m most proud of my family.
I want to be remembered first of all as a good husband, then a good father.
6. My last advice to leaders is to try and stay as singularly focused as possible.
Don’t lose sight of the one thing you’ve been called to you. Stay singularly focused on it.
LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE 271:
The Family Wins Devotional Bible
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/l3leadership)
QUOTES FROM EPISODE 271:
READ OR DOWNLOAD THE TRANSCRIPT FOR EPISODE 271.
Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?
Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.
ABOUT DOUG SMITH:
Doug is the Director of Development at Light of Life Rescue Mission and Founder and CEO of L3 Leadership. He is the author of his eBook, “Making the Most of Mentoring”, a step by step guide to help you build and cultivate relationships with mentors. He blogs at dougsmithlive.com, he is the host of the L3 Leadership podcast, and he is sought after public speaker. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Laura, who currently works as an Account Executive at Ivalua. Together, they love family, personal growth, travel, working out, and serving others.
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