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The Tudor Dixon Podcast: Faith, Addiction & Redemption—A Pastor’s Powerful Story
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- [00:00]
Tudor Dixon
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:02]
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- [03:49]
Tudor Dixon
Welcome to the Tudor Dixon Podcast on this Good Friday. We have such a special guest here with us today on this Holy Week. And I say that because we get to travel through a tragedy, really a life tragedy, that one of the pastors at my church went through. And one of the great things I think about my church is that every so often we have a video about one of the families at church and something that they've lived through, something that God has taken them through and brought them out stronger and kept them strong throughout, something really difficult. And I think that's a wonderful thing to experience in church because really that's what church is all about. It's not a place for the healthy people. It's not a place for people who are perfect on their own, because we're not. It's a place for people to come together and realize that we need God above all other things, that God is there for us and will take us through the most difficult times. And I think this story my guest today, his name is Brad Grossman. He's one of the campus pastors at my church. His story is so powerful in this Holy Week because for me, I always feel like as we go through this week, there's this heaviness. We understand the seriousness of our sin, of our pain, of all the hard things that we do. And then at the End. We have the celebration that we have a savior, that Jesus rises and he rises again and he saves our lives. And we have eternity because of him and because of our belief in him. But this week at church, our pastor was talking about Holy Week, and he was talking about that day that. That Jesus was betrayed and that he says to. To the disciples when he returns, I have to leave you because I have to be able to send the Spirit to be with you. The spirit can go with you all, and you have to all go around and share my message. And I can't be with all of you as I need to send the spirit to travel with you. And boy, that is Brad Grossman's story, who I have with me today. That is his story because he has done such great things with a really hard family situation that he dealt with. And it's a situation that many of us go through. In fact, people in my family have dealt with this as well, and that is addiction. And for Brad, it was his son who, like so many stories we hear, he went through all kinds of medical issues, had to have surgeries, and ultimately, after many surgeries, his son Grant ended up addicted to pain medication. And that's where I want to bring Brad in. Brad, thank you so much for sharing your story today. It means so much to so many of us.
- [06:42]
Brad Grossman
Well, thank you, tutor. It's great to be here and to be able to share what God has shown me in that with others. Thank you.
- [06:49]
Tudor Dixon
I would encourage people, we'll try to connect a link to your story, because listening to you and Beth, your wife, tell the story on the video was so powerful. And for me, it was so powerful because you have to understand, Brad is someone that I see every week. And you come out and you're so. You are just. You can see the joy. You are a joyful person, and that is clearly the Lord that is shining through. And I had no idea. I had no idea that this was your story. And then you share this story about Grant. So if you can tell us a little bit about what happened with your son.
- [07:27]
Brad Grossman
Sure. It was. It was 2008. My son was a senior in high school playing basketball. And it was. It was just. Everything was going great. His senior year, he was finally getting to play on the team. And it was about six weeks after my father passed, actually, and we started experiencing. Grant started experiencing some health issues where we took him to the hospital, and that turned into weeks. And then all of a sudden, we learned that he had ulcerative colitis, which is an autoimmune deficiency. So that led to weeks and months in the hospital with surgery. I remember that December of 08, which then led to more surgeries. And I would say it was probably up to about seven surgeries in that. In that first. First five or six years just to try to get it right. So. But one of the things we tried to focus on Tutor, was as a family, we committed to, lord, please help us to honor your in this. As we were going through each step of the way, we just said, lord, help us to keep our eyes on you. And as a family, everyone agreed. We knew this isn't about us. This is about trying to communicate what it looks like to go through a trial with God at our side. But I've got to be honest, it was easier at first because we thought this was going to have an end to it. We knew, we felt like this health issue, that they were going to get it right. There were so many medications. We had the best doctors in Chicago looking at our son. And then I would say it was probably in 2012 when we thought we had really turned a corner. We were so grateful he was healthy. He was engaged to a wonderful Christian girl. They were going to do missions together. It was. It was a great time in our lives. And he gotten. Got married in 2013 and really couldn't have been any better. He was serving as a pastor, which I'd always told him, son, you could be an engineer, a doctor, but nothing makes me more proud than you being a pastor and serving the Lord. So it was. It was beautiful. I. I think it was a time my wife and I looked back on that and it was just a glorious time, celebrating his marriage, his new job, new career. And then after he had moved out and got married, it was not many months after that that we started seeing patterns of behavior that really concerned me. And as a retired police officer, it concerned me all the more to where that was something. I had to make some hard decisions with my son and confront him on things. And that's when, unfortunately, things really started unraveling. I can't. It would take hours and hours to share all the various stories, but anyone that's been involved in addiction understands painkiller. Addiction is so strong physiologically, mentally. There's that mental obsession I knew of drugs and investigating drug dealers and so forth from a law enforcement standpoint, but I had no idea up front. And I think anybody that truly understands the addictive lifestyle, you really don't truly understand it unless you know somebody or have experienced that firsthand. And that's what we were starting to experience some of the behavioral patterns, and that was probably the hardest thing, having to make some tough decisions. Where Grant then ended up losing his position at the church, which was devastating because I had to bring him forward on some of that, which was hard. It was almost. I felt like it was almost Abraham and Isaac story, where Abraham was offering up his son. I knew it was the right thing to do, to let the church know he then lost his marriage in that time. And then that started several more years of rehab centers, trying to get him the best that we could, all the way from Laguna Hills, California, which we were ignorant at the time, not knowing, well, what does rehab look like on this? So we just. We knew we wanted the best for our son. And I remember that very. After that very first program, it was just a month, and that was in 2014. And remember, we did the prodigal son story. We had his best man over to our house. I went and picked up Grant from the airport. We were going to celebrate that our son had turned the corner. It was a. It was a great day. We thought, now this is. This is going to be it. He's passed the health issues. We sent him to rehab, and that'll be it. And unfortunately, that was just the start of over 20 different rehab stints over the next several years. And. But during that time, I can tell
- [12:06]
Tudor Dixon
you, too, why did you say you were kind of naive to the rehab?
- [12:10]
Brad Grossman
Yeah, I would. I would say when you're a police officer, you, you know, people go to rehab and you hear about AA and NA and so forth, but I had no idea the depth of what this addiction involved. I didn't understand the total physiological response, the mental obsession you have when they were literally in his surgeries, would pump him with narcotics. And looking back on it, they being the doctors, were striving to keep him comfortable. That's what they would say. And I remember there were times where I saw certain behaviors that really concerned me. And I would mention something, they'd say, Mr. Grossman, you just have to trust us. Just trust us that we know how to take care of your son. We need to make him comfortable. But looking back, seeing him do the pump to get more and more opioids really makes me kind of sick to my stomach now thinking about it. But that was just the ignorance at the time, not truly understanding what that was doing to my son at the time. We just wanted him to get better. And thinking that after the surgeries and after the narcotics wore off, he'd be okay. And that was far from the truth.
- [13:18]
Tudor Dixon
It's interesting because when I had. I had surgery in 2015, and when I left the hospital, they sent me home with massive amounts of narcotics. It was shocking. I mean, I couldn't use them up to this day, you know, and that was in 2015. And I was. You know, I didn't think anything of it, but I didn't use them. I had a terrible reaction where if I took one pill, I couldn't wake up. I just couldn't function at all. And I know that that has a different effect on different people. But then I had another surgery in 2019, and they sent me home with Advil, and I thought, that's so interesting. And I spoke to some people who had been in government at the time between that 2015 and 2019 surgery, and they said that they've changed this quite a bit, that hospitals aren't allowed to prescribe that kind of narcotic. Now, I don't know if that would be the case with the pump and during surgery, but it seems. I mean, you're not alone. This happened to a lot of people.
- [14:24]
Brad Grossman
Yeah, and we saw that quite a bit, because what Grant learned really quickly is he could go to doctors and just say he had still had pain because he still had his disease that was causing some severe physical pain. So he had an easy out for the doctor to write a script for him to give him more pain meds. We learned later on would. Grant would become sober and come out of a rehab. And by God's grace, we continued to have a very close relationship, even with. With this dark side that was going on. And he would share very honestly with me, because I would ask him, I'd say, son, can you. Can you fill me on. On what's going on so that I can not only help you, but help others? And, yeah, he would. He would be very frank about how easy it was to get pain meds from the doctors and so forth just by simply saying he had pain. So that was more than frustrating. And again, going back to. The only way we could deal with that at the time was continuing to offer our son up in prayer, because when we couldn't see him when he was gone and homeless or in a rehab center, that's what God definitely showed us in those times, because there were so many things we wanted to do. We had the best rehab programs. We had the best counseling. We had the best psychiatrist at times, just trying everything. And I'm convinced the Lord just wanted to show us that I'm the one that's in control. I'm the one that can only help and deliver your son overall. And that's what gave us the strength in each of these relapses or overdoses over those 10 years.
- [16:03]
Tudor Dixon
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on the Tudor Dixon Podcast.
- [16:09]
Public Investing Ad Host
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc, SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosure is available@public.com Disclosures if you're feeling uneasy about AI, you're not alone. But what comes next could define your future.
- [17:14]
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- [19:19]
Tudor Dixon
What is that hope in God like through a tragedy like this? Because I mean, I obviously experienced that when I had cancer and I was going through that. I remember this overwhelming feeling of no matter what happens, it's kind of a selfish feeling. For me. This is a win win. I either go to be with the Lord or I stay here with my kids. But you have this tremendous guilt. Like I'm sick and I'm letting them down. And I imagine probably from your son's perspective there was a lot of guilt there as well. And he probably couldn't even tell you how much guilt there was. But for you going through this, there is this. Like I just, I can't. You can put it into words better than I can. The way that faith gets you through, the way that God carries you in these moments is so it's shocking because you think I can't do this. And yet he's there.
- [20:20]
Brad Grossman
Yeah, I would say it's. I usually explain it to people. It's like working out. I enjoy physical fitness and so spiritual fitness. You need to exercise your faith muscles is the best way I can explain it. And I believe if you don't your muscles become atrophied. And so during those times, and looking back on those 15 years of going through this, from the illness through all the surgeries, to Grant death, it was so obvious. Tutor. That God just wanted to continue to give us little tests, not to be mean to us, but because of his love, love for my wife and I and my daughter going through this, that he wanted us to test our faith. And the. One of the first ones that pops into my mind was in 2016, it was after his seventh surgery. And I remember he was at home with us, and I had gone to a fundraiser for a prison ministry. Beth was home with him. All of a sudden, I was in the middle of that, and my wife calls me and says, brad, you gotta come home right away. I said, what's going on? She goes, grant's gone. He had just gotten out of surgery, his seventh one, maybe two days prior to that, in his bed. And that draw for the painkillers was so great because we were always encouraging him to not use them just because we could see things. And anyway, he ended up walking several miles to an ER just to get the pain meds. I felt like I knew where he was going. So I went there and got there just in time to pull back the curtain in the ER to see the doctor about ready to give him a shot of his pain meds, Dilaudid. At the time, he wasn't very happy about that. But I went to take him home, walking out to the car, and he ended up, keep walking. It was so strong in him that he just kept walking. I said, son, please get in the car. Please, son, get in the car. And he starts walking down the road. And I felt like it was at. That was one of the most critical times that the Lord was just saying, brad, this is time. You got to let your son go. I will take care of him. I will watch over him. And I'm sitting there thinking, he's barely. He's walking like an old man. He had lost so much weight. He just got done with surgery, had all the bandages and so forth. And I just felt like that's what I needed to do. So I went home, leaving my son at 11pm on a road, not knowing where he was going, and went home. And my wife was like, where's Grant? I said, sweetheart, he just kept on walking. He wouldn't come with me. And we just need to pray. So we got down on our knees next to our bed and just asked the Lord to please watch over our son, committing him to the Lord. And by God's grace, we were able to go to sleep. Because I remember church was the next morning. We were both serving. Obviously, it was on our mind the whole time as I'm sitting in service. But it was later that afternoon that we get a call from Grant. He's like, dad, it's Grant. I said, son, where are you? He's like, I walked to such and such hospital, which was easily about 7 miles away. And he goes, I can't do this anymore, dad. Daddy, will you come and get me? And I remember driving over there to get him. And that was just one of several opportunities that I believe God by His grace alone, not because I was strong, but gave me the grace to want to always focus in on letting my son see Jesus Christ through his earthly father. Which is exactly what we want during Easter, right? We want people to be able to truly understand that mourning comes before rejoicing, but also that we want people to be able to see Jesus. And the way he sees us best is through love, loving one another. So. And there were some of the greatest times, as hard as there were men, as many as there were hard times. There were also those precious moments where I felt like the Lord gave me chances, where my son would say, dad, thank you for helping me to see God through you. Thank you for forgiving me like God does. Because it made me feel. It strengthened me so much to know that that was my main mission. I just wanted to honor the Lord when I focused on the circumstances or myself and what was maybe happening to my son. How could God. How could you take a young man who was serving you as a pastor, who was married to a godly woman, where things were going so well? How could you allow this, which I think is such a common one? How. How can God allow suffering in situations like this with good people? And I feel like he really showed my wife and I both that. That it wasn't about us. It was about, this is a broken world. It's a broken world where there's going to be a lot of suffering and when we can keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Just like Hebrews 12:2 says so beautifully, it says, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat at the right hand of the throne of God. So Jesus Christ, before he was crucified, was able to experience joy and strength and power from his heavenly father by keeping his eyes fixed on his heavenly Father. So by God's grace. I had such a wonderful wife who Beth was strong and believed the same way. And together we would just encourage each other in that back and forth through multiple relapses, just. And it's such an up and down roller coaster. You said you've experienced that a little bit. Anybody that's dealt with addiction knows it's a cruel roller coaster. It's actually very cruel because there were times I would say, God, I don't understand why this is going on, but I'm going to trust you because I believe in who you are. I believe in your word. And that gave me so much strength, is reminding myself and then reminding my bride. And she would remind me, who is God? He's sovereign overall. He's all powerful. He's infinite in love. The hardest obstacle or the hardest hurdle tutor was, he's good all the time. God's good all the time. He's good. When my son was just graduated for another rehab program, he just got another job. He was working on restoring his marriage. And then a relapse or an overdose. That's good. And yet it comes back to like King David did all throughout the Psalms. God wants us to cry out to him, but he also wants us to come back to the truth. And the truth is that we must trust him in the end. And I would say Psalm 34, 17 and 18 comes back to me right now, which is some of my favorites. It says, the righteous cry out and the Lord hears them and delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. I can remember a time kneeling next to my bed with my wife in my arms as she's weeping after another overdose. And we're just crying that out and praying that to God. And the peace of God that really does transcend all understanding was incredible in those moments. You can't make that up. It wasn't because I was strong. It was definitely because of God's strength in that moment.
- [27:31]
Tudor Dixon
And look at how many lives have been saved because of your story. Look at Grant's experience. And Grant's life has led you to minister to twenties, to minister to young people and bring them to the Lord and save their lives. And I think that you have to look at these stories and say, how is God using this? And how is God using you? And really, when I heard your story the first time, and my kids were sitting next to me, one of my daughters says to me, Is there a time when you could get so mad at me that you would not love me anymore? And I always tell her, it's just like God. That doesn't happen. It's not possible. It's not possible for me to stop loving you. And your story was that depiction so colorful to see how no matter what you were like, when he calls, I'll be there. But there was also that story that we hear in the Bible of, but I have to let him make his mistakes, too. I can't save him. You had to let him walk away that day. And that, to me, was incredibly, incredibly powerful. Because God allows us to make mistakes. But no matter what, God is always there. God will always, when we come back, he is always waiting. He's always looking for us. He's always searching for us. And that was your story. That was what hit me about your story. I'm like, your story is really all of our stories. It's how powerful the love of a father is. And the ultimate father is. His love is so much greater than that, that.
- [29:06]
Brad Grossman
Amen. Yeah. And I remember one time picking up Grant from. It was one of the rehab centers that he had to leave. And so I was taking him to another one. And as we were driving there, I took his hand and just told him how much I love him. And I made it a point each time after each relapse, after. Unfortunately, my wife and daughter and I, all three of us, had an opportunity where he overdosed near us. And I can still remember after that just telling him, son, I want you to know that no matter what you ever do, my love for you will never change. That's from Romans 8. God's love will. We will never be separated from God's love. So I just wanted my son to know that. And especially the time that he went missing, that was probably the scariest moment. He was gone for 18 days. He had left a rehab center. I had called just to check up, and they said, yeah, we haven't seen him. I said, what do you mean you haven't seen him? It was in Chicago, where there's. In this rehab center, God bless them. But it was right in the middle of where there was heroin, drug use rampant. He left without his phone, without his luggage. And I knew that wasn't good. And that was a moment where I ended up contacting the morgue. I contacted the hospitals. I went down there with a friend of mine just to look for him. Went visiting different homeless shelters, had a picture of him showing them to him, and probably spent several Hours, Hours. Because I'd gotten a message from somebody through Facebook. They thought they saw Grant. So that was what I did for several hours. I came back home and it was so clear that the Lord was saying, you need to just trust me in this again. So I got down on my knees and prayed, and Beth and I prayed together and just said, God, we know you're the ultimate protector. We don't know where he's at. And the reason I know I went down there is because I didn't want to have somebody else find him. I didn't want him to die in some alley or some other place. It was just such a strong pull. And Beth was supportive. But when I got home, I know the Lord was saying, you now need to trust me. You did your part, but let me watch over your son. And it wasn't more than 20 minutes that Beth comes downstairs, said, Brad, I just got a call from Grant from some hotel that he had walked from the city to a town that was only about. About seven miles from us. And so we immediately jumped in the car, drove there to see him all weathered, his hands were swollen because he had had to beat off some attackers when he was living in this homeless camp underneath a bridge. It was. And in that moment, too, just giving him a hug. I think back now, Tutor, your opinion of homelessness, your opinion of those dealing with addiction. God was preparing us for ministry opportunities. Even though seeing our son in desolate places, in such low positions gives me and has given me such a much more compassionate heart, not because of my own strength, because of my own selfishness and maybe self righteousness at times. Being able to look at people through God's eyes, I believe is one of the reasons why he took us through so many of those. Because I didn't understand homelessness before. I didn't understand the life of addiction. I didn't know what it was like to experience an overdose or have to forgive someone time and time and time again, to feel betrayed numerous times. Yet it was only through the power of God's love that I could forgive my son, Grant that I could continue to look at him with eyes of love. Because it wasn't. I didn't have the capacity to do that in my own strength. And my wife did the same thing. And we look back on that, we're thinking, how good of God to allow us to still have an intimate relationship with our son for all those years, even through all the incredibly hard and tragic times. Only God could do that.
- [33:04]
Tudor Dixon
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on the Tudor Dixon Podcast.
- [33:11]
Public Investing Ad Host
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI it all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S P500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member finra NSIP Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available@public.com Disclosures if you're feeling uneasy about AI, you're not alone. But what comes next could define your future.
- [34:16]
Dean Graziosi
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- [36:52]
Tudor Dixon
Your story is so powerful for families going through this because I think so many people feel shame about this. And your story is very clear, that this is not a certain group, that there is no discrimination when it comes to addiction. It can attack anyone. It can come after anyone. And there is a there is one way to power through that, and that is with God.
- [37:16]
Brad Grossman
Amen. Amen. Yeah, and I had gone into all the rehab centers when I would drop grant off, and one I remember had about 180 men in this rehab center. It was down in Missouri. And I remember going in there and you're exactly right. There were men, older, younger, different races, different social backgrounds. So it touches everybody, which I think is healthy for us as believers to understand. When we see a homeless person, I guarantee if you ride with me, if anybody was to ride with me in a car and people have before, I can't drive by a homeless person because I see my son, I see my son in those moments Just a couple weeks ago in Arizona, I saw a young man. He reminded me of my son. Excuse me.
- [38:00]
Tudor Dixon
You're good.
- [38:00]
Brad Grossman
And I turned around because I wanted this young man. He was holding up a sign. Like, I heard somebody say they saw my son. And so I just wanted to go over him, tell him that God loves him and give him some money. And people say, why would you give him money? He's probably going to use it for drugs. Well, that's where you trust the Lord. God is sovereign. I don't know. But I just wanted this person more than anything to know in that moment that God loved that young man and allowed me to pray with him. And that's just something that God has done. And I couldn't be more grateful. Looking back on what the Lord has taught my wife and I through all this, to be able to bring us to a place where we now have such incredible ministry opportunities on a daily basis, I can say. And each night when I get home from church and Beth and I get together and have dinner, one of our favorite times is debriefing. Just talking about the day like we've done in almost 42 years of marriage. But then just going on a walk. Walk and just praying. Debriefing, but then just praying and praying for others and praying for our 20s, as you mentioned, which they have just been an incredible gift from God, because I can tell you there are so many times when we are missing our son, which is on a daily basis, where God doesn't bring one of these young men or one of these young twenties into our lives to give me a hug or to just be part of our day and remind me just to fill that void. It's so clear that God is doing that just out of his grace and his love for my wife and I. It's such a blessing from the Lord.
- [39:42]
Tudor Dixon
And he's never missing, he's never gone, he's never not beside you. That's the thing that I think is most beautiful. Even the story that you tell of Grant's funeral, when you went to memorialize him to celebrate his life and. And you didn't expect. I don't think you expected all of the 20s to carpool out there and for the pastors from harvest to go out to be with you and just that love that God brings together. But you told a story about someone who had met him, a story you didn't know, and I want you to share that now.
- [40:19]
Brad Grossman
Yeah, well, I would love to just start with that. Just touch on that point with the 20s. Because we were at the waist. And I definitely didn't have any and any idea that people would be coming from the church because we'd only been there for about a year. I'd only been on staff at the church for a few months. And at the wake, looking over and seeing about seven or eight of the pastors, seeing several of our small group members, adult small group members, and then to see about a dozen of our 20s at the memorial service was something I will never forget. That was one of the most powerful moments to see God's love from the church family. That's exactly what God calls us to, especially around Easter, when he says, go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. He's saying, all of us to go out there, love one another is his greatest commandment. And for them to do that, that definitely sent a message that Beth and I were in the right place, because that was so powerful. But the story you're talking about is one I won't forget either. And it was after the memorial service, it was probably a day or so after that when I got a message, my daughter, through Facebook saying, daddy, this guy wanted to share a message with you. And here's what it was. He said that he was. Became an alcoholic. He was in his 20s, he was alcoholic and through rehab, and he was about ready to go to another rehab center. His parents had kicked him out of the house, had packed his stuff up, put it in a trash bag, give it to him, dropped him off at this rehab center. He said he went in there, he was going through withdrawals. He was scared, he was alone. His parents, he felt like, had disowned him. He watched into the rehab center to get checked in. And he looks up, and the first guy he sees is a young man. And he said, he walked over to me and gave me a handshake and a smile and said, hi, I'm Grant Grossman. Let me show you around. And he said for the next six weeks, he said he saw my son do that with each and every person that would come in there. Which makes me think of another guy at the memorial service that came up to me. He was a man in his 50s. Said he was a custodian at the last rehab center that my son was at. Said, I just wanted to tell you I met your son there. Nobody ever talks to me there. I just do the cleaning. But each time your son would come up to me and. And talk with me and showed me that he really cared about me. And that just impacted me so much. But this young man, going back to that, he said he. He saw my son greet people there each week, that he was there every day, greeting people as they came in. And he said, Mr. Gross, there's no doubt in my mind that your son now is in heaven. And he's the one that's at the pearly gates greeting people as they walk in to heaven, saying, hi, I'm Grant Grossman. Welcome to heaven. And, oh, boy, that was a beautiful message to get. My wife and I and my daughter Whitney, really embrace that. That memory, because we can really picture that. As a matter of fact, we've got chimes in our condo here that we go over and. And just like to hit him a little bit and say, hello, Grant. Hope you're having a great day, son. So that was powerful.
- [43:37]
Tudor Dixon
I think that story, to me, is so powerful because even going through that, even when he was struggling so much, he was being Jesus. I mean, that's the beauty of a foundation in faith, is that even though he was struggling with demons, there was so. Jesus was so much stronger, so much stronger in his life that that still played out no matter where he was. And you must be so impressed with how God worked through him. Even in those in dark places, God was working through him.
- [44:14]
Brad Grossman
Amen, tutor. And you just made me think of another. It was a. I'll say it. It's another spiritual epiphany where the Lord taught me, because I'm always wanting to learn. Lord, show me. Show me what you want me to learn. This life isn't about me. I want to learn more from you so that love others like you do. And it came to me at a point in time where I was. My goal or my hopes for my son was to be a pastor. I mean, I thought that was awesome for my son to be a pastor in a church that I was now getting to experience. And it was so clear that God said, brad, I needed to be there. I needed your son to be in all these rehab centers, all these 20 different rehab centers across the Midwest and in California to be able to. To invite others to accept Jesus Christ. And when I think about it, I heard so many stories when I would visit the rehab centers of my son leading other men to Christ. And it made me think, what we think is our plans for our children or for our loved ones, God has a much better plan. What Satan meant for evil, God meant for good. And he'd used it for good. So in that moment, again, just. My advice to anybody that's going through this with a loved one is to keep going back to Romans 8:28, it says, and we know that in all things, all things, 100% word, all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who've been called according to his purpose. It's the good. It's God's good. May not feel good to us, but it's God's good. And carrying into what I get to do now, tutor. I wouldn't trade that for anything. And I don't mean that to sound extra religious. I'm thinking of. It was Saturday when we buried our sons. So it would have been. Yeah, it was a Saturday. He died on a Tuesday. We buried him on a Saturday. And it was three days later that I was to be back at church. And Pastor Cal and the church staff was so great, said, you take as much time off as you need to. And I talked with Beth. We prayed about it. And I said, sweetheart. She goes, honey, I know what you're thinking. You go what you feel like you need to do. I just felt like I needed to be at the church because my responsibilities were calling and meeting with people to pray with. And so that next Tuesday, I went back. And that week I'll never forget, because I had three different families. Two on the phone and one that came and met me in my office that week, that were all dealing with sons that were addicted to drugs. And it was at one point when I got off the phone with one family, praying with them and just sharing what God had taught me, not that I was anything better. It was always pointing them back to the hope that you can have in God, because His strength, his power, he gives you strength in your weakness, will give you hope when you're hopeless. He will comfort you when you're troubled. But I was sitting there, and after I got off the phone, praying with them, the Lord brought Back to mind 2nd Corinthians 13:4. It says, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. And I just broke down crying. I was in my office all by myself, and I was crying because God allowed me to be able to experience His Word in such a real way that all those moments that God was comforting me through all those years with my son, he was now allowing me to help comfort other people who are going through similar circumstances. I'm never going to say they're the same, but What a beautiful picture of God's Word coming to life. And I get to experience that on a daily basis. That's why I appreciate you saying you see that joy. It's definitely not human joy. It's the joy of the Lord, which Cal and our church teaches. It's supernatural delight. I don't have to make it up. God has given me his joy, his strength that you can't manufacture yourself. I don't have the capacity to love like he does. But the more I see Jesus for who he is, the more I grow in my love for him, the more clearly I see others through his eyes. The more I see my wife like a husband should. The more I see homeless people through God's eyes, the more I see. I've met with so many people that are addicted to drugs or addicted to other things, and it's so easy to sit across from them, whether I'm mentoring them at a restaurant, whether I've been in the jails at Ottawa County Jail and sit across from men and be able to tell them them with sincerity, God loves you. God loves you, and so do I. I can say that with sincerity, that it's because of God first loving me that I can say I love these people and reminding them that God hasn't forgotten them. They are not alone. His love hasn't changed for them. And to see these men, whether they've been in a rehab center or in a jail or a prison where I've been, it's so beautiful to see what that statement says to people who feel hopeless, because in a jail or in a hospital or in a rehab center, many of these men always felt hopeless. But to be able to come in there and share the one God of hope, like Easter, right? There's only one person that is the living hope, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a privilege to be able to share that with other people. People and have some credibility because he has brought us through things. But I always remind him, this isn't me and my own strength. You can have that same strength. You can have that same hope by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ and who he is, his character. He will never, ever fail you.
- [50:03]
Tudor Dixon
It's so beautiful because as I listen to you, I hear you talk about, you know, my son was meant to be a pastor and he got to do that and he got to go out there and be that. But that wasn't what you were anticipating for yourself. And I just think it's beautiful to see God's handwriting in your story because not only was God saying, there's a pastor in your family, he was saying, there's actually two pastors. You're going to be ready for this, too. I am preparing you for something wonderful, and I am so impressed with what you do every week, and I'm so impressed with both you and your wife, everything you've been through. But your dedication to God and your dedication to bringing the gospel, gospel to people is so incredible. Before we go, just. Is there an Easter message over and above what we've already talked about that you want people to be left with today?
- [50:54]
Brad Grossman
The Easter message that I would want to give would be directed to two different groups of people. First, it would be those that are struggling with addiction. I would want to say to them and remind them that Jesus loves them, that Jesus is alive, that no matter what they've done, no matter where they are, no matter what they're even doing right now, that Jesus's love for them will never change. So that's what I would want to tell that individual, and that he came to not only die for their sins and wash them away, but also he was raised from the dead so that with his power, you can overcome the sin and the struggles that you're facing right now. That's the message for those individuals. And then secondly would be for the family members or parents of an addicted loved one. I would say to them, you're not alone. Jesus sees you very clearly, what you're dealing with, what you're struggling with. And that by trusting him, trusting in who he is, that he is sovereign, that he is all powerful, that he loves your child, your family member, far more than you ever will. And that by trusting him, you will have that kind of peace. From Isaiah 26, 3, 4. It's one of my favorites, and it says, you will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you, trust in the Lord forever. For the Lord, the Lord Himself, is the rock eternal. And then finally, pray trusting God, you know, you can go to his throne of grace with confidence and find grace and help in those times of need. And so I would encourage you when you're feeling like you can't go on anymore, pray when you're fearful, pray when you're feeling anxious about where your child is or what they're doing or if they're okay, okay, pray. And the peace of God really will surpass all understanding. And guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. So for each group of people, I would just encourage you keep your eyes on Jesus. You can trust him. He's already covered your sin. He's already been risen from the grave and for the purpose of restoring your relationship with him and caring for you during this time, that's what I would share with him.
- [53:10]
Tudor Dixon
Amen. Thank you Pastor Brad Grossman. You are amazing. Thank you for sharing the story. I appreciate it. Thanks for being on the podcast.
- [53:18]
Brad Grossman
Thank you so much. Tutor.
- [53:19]
Tudor Dixon
God bless you, God bless you and God bless all of you. Thank you for listening today. Go out and have a wonderful Easter. Go to church, get with your family and just celebrate our risen Lord. Thank you for listening.
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