Obedience In Action w/ Riley & Tyler Armenta

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Ryan Ries Show

Episode: "Obedience In Action w/ Riley & Tyler Armenta"

Date: June 5, 2025
Host: Ryan Ries
Guests: Riley & Tyler Armenta (Promise Me)
Co-host: Sean McKeehan

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Overview

This episode of The Ryan Ries Show centers on living out obedience to God through life's twists and turns, as seen in the journey of Riley and Tyler Armenta. As co-leaders of the worship project Promise Me, and close friends of Ryan, the married couple discuss their years of involvement in music ministry, navigating career pivots, spiritual warfare, and the miracles and challenges of saying "yes" to God—even when the path isn’t clear. The conversation is deeply candid, refreshing, and full of behind-the-scenes stories of obedience, faith, and what it truly means to serve in worship.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Origin Stories: Friendship, Music, and Divine Appointments

[00:48] – [06:32]

• How They Met: Tyler recalls meeting Ryan at an Ontario concert in 2012 through a mutual friend—"At the end of the day, it was a God appointment." – Tyler [01:40]
• Early Ministry Involvement: Riley and her sister were involved in worship at a young age at Harvest (Greg Laurie’s church).
• How Riley and Tyler Connected: Through events like Shine at Calvary Costa Mesa, orchestrated by Ryan – “I wasn’t gonna go, and you sent me a text. Like ‘Hey, this band, come see this band...’” – Riley [03:49]
• Long-standing Community: The group reminisces about years of growing up together, helping each other through family changes, and forming lifelong friendships.

Music Journeys and Career Pivots

[06:32] – [13:01]

• Touring & Bands: Tyler played drums for various bands, including Dose of Adolescence and Chris “Manifest,” later connecting with Islander.
• Worship Ministry: Both Riley and Tyler served as guest artists, filling in for churches in need, under different band names, ultimately forming Promise Me.
• COVID Pivot: When concerts shut down, they ran a firearms training business (OD2A), which became their main focus for three years – “God provided another way.” – Riley [11:50]
• Provision and Perspective: Reflecting on God’s faithfulness in unexpected transitions, like remodeling a motorhome and buying a house—“God sets things up. And it may not be what we thought we were going to be doing, but God knew. And now it’s like a total blessing.” – Riley [12:56]

Marriage, Calling, and the Hand of God

[13:13] – [16:42]

• God-Orchestrated Relationships: “Just like God brought Eve to Adam, He will bring your wife to you.” – Ryan [13:22]
• Strength in Similar Values: Both emphasize compatibility in values and faith over shared hobbies – “Our principles and our values were pretty very similar...When those align and God is in the center, everything kind of falls into place.” – Riley [14:01]
• Obedience Over Ambition: “I just want to be obedient to God...when I’ve tried to do other things, He’s always taking those things away and pushed me back into music.” – Riley [21:17]

Ministry Under the Promise Me Banner

[17:12] – [20:55]

• Promise Me Genesis: Initially a rock project, it evolved into a worship project anchored on God’s promises – “We just always want to be reminded of God’s promises to us.” – Tyler [19:49]
• Biblical Inspiration: “Your promises have been thoroughly tested; that is why I love them so much.” – Psalm 119:140 (cited by Riley [20:29])
• Name’s Meaning: A continual reminder of scriptural faithfulness.

The Heart (and Reality) of Worship Ministry

[21:13] – [23:44]

• No Stage-Seeking: Riley identifies as a “social introvert” who prefers to stay behind the scenes, but continues in worship out of obedience—“I don’t even talk…If I don’t say it, then I’m being disobedient, but it’s rare.”
• Motivation: They serve not for recognition but to witness and facilitate transformation in others’ lives.

Spiritual Warfare and the Reality Behind the Scenes

[24:54] – [31:32], [53:00] – [54:51]

• Obedience Amidst Suffering: Riley shares about leading worship in Hawaii while battling a serious infection—“How important is this thing you have to do tonight?” the nurse asked. Riley’s reply: “Lives change, and I’m here because, like, God brought us here.” [26:30]
• Visible and Invisible Battles: The couple and Ryan reflect on the frequent spiritual pushback before and during events: “Sometimes, it’s really hard. And we’ve had weeks where, leading up to an event, it’s like, really hard. And that spiritual warfare...getting hurt or whatever…” – Riley [52:20]
• Warfare in Marriage: Even rare arguments, discouragement, and distraction spike before ministry events – "[Sometimes] the most spiritual warfare...like why is this funk or fog happening?" – Tyler [53:18]

Stories of Radical Obedience and God’s Provision

[38:42] – [44:05]

• Refusing Lucrative Opportunities: Riley turned down a major record-label pop band opportunity, and Tyler left a high-paying New Age event job, both out of conviction – “God told me I shouldn’t be doing this anymore...If God says no, then no. And then he provides.” – Riley [39:57, 41:49]
• God’s Faithfulness: Despite uncertainty and tight finances, they never missed a bill or fell into debt—crediting obedience and faith.

The Dallas Travel Odyssey: Radical Commitment

[44:08] – [51:14]

• Travel Ordeal: The group shares a marathon journey across multiple airports to make it to a Revival Night in Dallas—changing flights constantly, driving through the night, navigating delays, and nearly missing connections: “I think I have a handful [of stories] that will be in a book. That one’s one of the best ones.” – Tyler [50:39]
• Impact Over Inconvenience: The payoff was seeing lives changed—even a single youth’s transformation was worth every challenge.

The Real Fruit: Why They Keep Saying Yes

[51:14] – [52:03]

• Lives Changed: “We had two kids identified as furries come up in Houston and share their story and give their life to Jesus...That story alone is enough to go through all that hell.” – Ryan [51:31]
• Even One Life: God gives occasional glimpses of the difference made—“It’s by God’s grace, too, that we’re able to see some of the stories.” – Tyler [51:59]
• Obedience is Enough: Whether or not they see results, they put obedience and God’s glory first.

Advice for Aspiring Worship Leaders

[54:58] – [58:58]

• Check Your Calling: “There is a difference between wanting to do something and being called to do something...Ministry is hard. Leading worship...is very hard...” – Riley [55:13]
• Self-Examination: Pray about your calling and your motives—“We’re responsible for who and what we’re leading.” – Riley [56:55]
• Keep Eyes on Jesus: Don’t rely on people or pastors for affirmation, or you'll be disappointed – “Always keep your eyes on Jesus...People will fail you every time.” – Tyler [57:12]
• Heart Check: “Why are you even doing it?” – Ryan [58:19]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “God provided another way.” – Riley [11:50], on the switch from live music to firearms training during COVID.
• “God sets things up...It may not be what we thought we were going to be doing, but God knew.” – Riley [12:56], on unexpected blessings.
• “I wasn’t looking for anything and he wasn’t looking for anything. …Our values…those aligned. And then obviously I believe when those align and, you know, God is in the center…everything kind of falls into place.” – Riley [14:01]
• “I just want to be obedient to God...He’s always taking those things away and pushed me back into music.” – Riley [21:17]
• “All we do is show up, and he provides. Right. And ultimately, if he would have shut all the doors...we would have been okay with that.” – Tyler [50:10]
• “We show up and God moves regardless.” – Riley [51:14]
• “There is a difference between wanting to do something and being called to do something.” – Riley [55:13]
• “Always keep your eyes on Jesus. Don’t look at man or people, because they will fail you every time.” – Tyler [57:12]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:48] – [06:32]: Foundational stories—how everyone met, early ministry.
• [06:41] – [13:01]: Band history, career shifts, God’s provision during COVID.
• [13:22] – [16:42]: Marriage, God’s role in relationships, values.
• [17:12] – [20:55]: Formation & meaning of Promise Me.
• [21:13] – [23:44]: Motives and challenges for worship ministry.
• [24:54] – [31:32]: Obedience in crisis, Hawaii hospital story.
• [38:42] – [44:05]: Saying “no” to lucrative, off-calling opportunities.
• [44:08] – [51:14]: Epic Dallas travel ordeal; faith through adversity.
• [51:14] – [52:03]: The real “fruit”—changed lives.
• [54:58] – [58:58]: Advice to aspiring worship leaders; self-examination, heart, and intention.

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Final Thoughts

The episode is a moving exploration of what happens when you let God direct your path—even when it leads into the unfamiliar, the inconvenient, or the sacrificial. Riley and Tyler’s testimony is a vibrant example of obedience in action: rejecting tempting alternatives, trusting provision over certainty, and pursuing ministry for the sake of others’ transformation, not their own platform.

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Find Promise Me:

• Instagram: @promisemeofficial [59:35]
• Music & Collaborations: On their page and Ryan’s

Find The Ryan Ries Show:

• YouTube: Ryan Reese Official
• The Whosoevers: Ministry & tour info

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“We show up and God moves regardless.”
— Riley Armenta [51:14]

Transcript

[Announcer]

You can be part of sharing the love of Jesus with children in need around the world. Operation Christmas Child is collecting gift filled shoeboxes during National Collection Week November 17th through the 24th.

[Riley Armenta]

Make your shoebox gift fun, full and personalized by filling it with toys, school.

[Announcer]

Supplies and personal care items.

[Riley Armenta]

Then bring your packed shoebox to a drop off location.

[Announcer]

Children will hear the gospel alongside your gift and be invited to join a discipleship program. Visit samaritansfirst.org occ to learn more. Life Audio.

[Show Announcer]

The Ryan Reese Show From.

[Ryan Reese]

Southern California, this is the Ryan Reese Show. Post your questions using at Ryan Reese on his Instagram or Facebook.

[Show Announcer]

Are you ready?

[Ryan Reese]

All right.

[Tyler Armenta]

All right.

[Ryan Reese]

We got a good show tonight. I got some of my really good friends. I look at them like family friends. I've known them many, many years. I have Tyler and Riley Armenta. They are. They are in the band. Promise me that. I'm touring around the globe with one of the bands. We have the other brand Barouche, but in house. Tyler and Riley I met. Let's see. I'll let you tell the story, but I met you guys years ago. At least. How many years ago was it that I met you?

[Tyler Armenta]

Tyler, we met. Hi, by the way.

[Ryan Reese]

Hi, Tyler. How are you?

[Tyler Armenta]

We met about 20, actually December 2012 at. At the concert in Ontario at the arena.

[Ryan Reese]

You were touring and playing with the Dose of Adolescence. Yeah, and it was a big show though. What about that lineup? What was that?

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah, so we had won a contest to open up the Merry Meltdown. So it's their X 103.9 Christmas concert and you were hanging out with Po and. Yeah, we. We linked up way on the other side of the arena than the stage and it was like a. At the end of the day, it was a God appointment. Right. There's a lot of details of that story that I think.

[Riley Armenta]

Because you were looking for coffee.

[Ryan Reese]

I was on a mission for coffee. And we met in the part we. I was going up the elevator and then you and your band came over and like, hey, what's up? We introduced ourselves. We got the. The demo CD or your actual CD actually at that time. And then one thing led to the next. Your lead singer found God in that process. Jimmy, he was suicidal. He was gonna commit suicide. I think that night or the next night or something.

[Tyler Armenta]

He has. Has a pretty cool testimony of. Of that and linking up with you guys at your dad's church and hanging out that night after.

[Ryan Reese]

I had him on the show before. It's an older show but, yeah, and then. But you were a Christian at that time in the band. And then we just started kind of hanging. You guys were popping up at the church, hanging out, and then naturally, because of music and friends, we just all became friends.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

During that same time. So that was in la. Then what was happening in Orange County. I met you, Riley, which is now.

[Riley Armenta]

Like 16 years ago.

[Ryan Reese]

16 years ago.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

I met you before that. But I met you before that.

[Announcer]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

Your sister, your mom, your dad, they were all doing work. You guys, you and your sister were doing worship at Harvest. Greg, Laurie, church at Harvest at that time, you guys were babies. You guys like 15.

[Tyler Armenta]

16.

[Riley Armenta]

I mean, I was 14. 15.

[Ryan Reese]

You were that young?

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

Your sister was one year older or something, right? Yeah, you guys were super young. And we started hanging out. All of us going to church together, became friends. And then between friends and friends, you guys connected somewhere. Where did you guys connect?

[Tyler Armenta]

Shine, because of you.

[Ryan Reese]

Were you music at that time or you.

[Riley Armenta]

That night that we met, you had actually text me like, hey, come to this, I wasn't gonna go. Was it when Shine was on Saturday nights and I was dropping off my brother to play bass first?

[Ryan Reese]

Shines.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah, like in the OG beginning and I wasn't gonna go and you sent me a text. You're like, hey, I'm having this band. Come in, come see this band. And so I ended up coming back and we were hanging out and that's when you introduced me to what band do. So you had Dose play.

[Ryan Reese]

They play that Shine?

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

Calvary Chapel Costa makes a Saturday night.

[Riley Armenta]

This is like.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah, it was.

[Riley Armenta]

It was one of the first 13 years.

[Tyler Armenta]

It was like one of the handful, like first one of them once a month. I think the one that we, Riley and I had met was head spoke. Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

So that was the second one.

[Tyler Armenta]

That was the second one. Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

So you met there?

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

So you were like, hey.

[Riley Armenta]

She's like, he didn't talk to me.

[Ryan Reese]

She's like, get away.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah. To be honest, like, to be honest, I don't even remember the. The initial meet. I mean, I kind of remember seeing her, like. But yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

So you don't remember, do you remember him?

[Riley Armenta]

I mean, you introduced us and then remember him? Yeah, he had like his Pete Wins emo hair and he didn't talk to me. And then I think they played the week, the following week.

[Ryan Reese]

So you guys are on the third one. Dude, isn't that amazing? When we look back at history, that just the connection and we're going to talk about all the cool stories at revival nights and everything that's happening. But it's just cool to see the connection of all of us meeting over time. And then Shine went to a weekly. You guys were playing weekly. And then it extended over to my dad's church, which is a Sunday night. So we had Thursday nights at Calvary, Costa Mesa, Sunday nights at my dad's church. And then I had triplets, and that knocked us out of commission. Shine ended three years. Exactly three years from when it started, believe it or not, because God always works for threes with me. And I didn't even plan to end it, but Irma told me it's been three years. And then at that time, we had the kids, and my wife and I thought we were dying, and you guys came to our rescue. Thank you, Jesus. You guys were dating at that time? You weren't married right now?

[Tyler Armenta]

We just got married. We were married the year after.

[Riley Armenta]

You were.

[Ryan Reese]

Okay. Okay. So you guys got married. Yeah. Yeah. I hope you were married because you guys were sleeping at our house.

[Riley Armenta]

We were sleeping on the floor.

[Ryan Reese]

You guys are sleeping in our house. So you guys. Yeah, we thought we were gonna die because no one told us to hire help. And then you guys came to our saving grace and helped us in that time.

[Tyler Armenta]

It was a team of people.

[Ryan Reese]

We had a lot. But you guys were. You guys were there, though. You guys were there. You guys. There was a team, but my mom and them. But you guys were there. Even when we, like, moved from one. From the condo to the house in that process as well. So you guys were there.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

So we've been. We've been together for a long time. And all that to say is. But from there, there's a lot of things that happened in that time. You started going on tours.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

Band. Because you were a drummer in Dose. And then. Then you changed direction and started working with other bands, I believe.

[Tyler Armenta]

2015, 16. It was when I started playing with.

[Ryan Reese]

Chris Manifest, and he's been on the show several times. So you were touring him all over. And then what other bands were you playing with?

[Tyler Armenta]

I played with him pretty much exclusively, and they were touring a lot and us doing worship, but probably for about three and a half years, because who.

[Ryan Reese]

Were you guys doing worship with Beck around that after Shine?

[Riley Armenta]

Well, so we were guest artists at a lot of churches. Like we were playing. I think one year we counted. We did, like, over 200 events.

[Ryan Reese]

But you guys were under another band called Shiny.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah. And we were playing. So we would tour churches or help churches that needed Help that didn't have like a set like worship band or have us guests and come in or do events and we would do a ton of them. So yeah, we were playing a lot.

[Ryan Reese]

Yes. Yeah, that's right.

[Riley Armenta]

So he was doing both.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah, that's right. Because you were playing in. In Shiny and at that time. Right. So you were going on tours with. With Manifest, playing with Shiny Head. And then. Then you started going on. Then you met up with Islander. Right. And you start. Did you start touring with them or Lace?

[Tyler Armenta]

No. So that. That was a crazy.

[Ryan Reese]

Well yeah, that was actually contact with you guys for a bit.

[Tyler Armenta]

So you connected me with Islander at the movie premiere premiere when they play. We all went to dinner afterwards and that's how we got linked up. I kind of stayed connected with them and went to dinner. Yeah. Mikey and I just kind of over the years became friends.

[Ryan Reese]

Yep.

[Tyler Armenta]

And I believe it was 2019. They needed some help filling in a drummer.

[Ryan Reese]

Yep.

[Tyler Armenta]

And we were supposed to do some tours and then the world shut down.

[Ryan Reese]

That was during that time.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah. And then I did some music videos with them during COVID and 2021 was when I started doing tours with Islander. When music kind of opened back up and tours and stuff.

[Ryan Reese]

That was it. That's where I lost contact with like a lot of friends in this sense of like being with each other.

[Tyler Armenta]

Because yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

What would happen is we would all see each other at concerts or at church and we'd always be back and forth. But then when Covet hit. That's the gap. Cuz I. I felt like I lost contact with a lot of people during the. The COVID gap. All the concerts shut down. So these normal yearly tours and everything that we'd all connect with our events or even just other friends concerts when no one was seeing each other.

[Riley Armenta]

Because I think it's different too. Like it. That time like the kids were still young. And then you were speaking a lot too. Cuz we lived actually really close to each other. But we were always gone too. Yeah. So it's.

[Ryan Reese]

But I was touring like I also was touring a lot too with. With the Whosoevers during co. We were going to a lot of red states during that time that was open.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

Dude, that's so crazy. So I. It's just so mind blowing years.

[Tyler Armenta]

The. The. The COVID years. I don't think we existed. Right. It's just kind of like skip time. So I'm technically two years younger.

[Ryan Reese]

I'll take that.

[Tyler Armenta]

When it comes to time.

[Ryan Reese]

You look great. I'll take It. And then. And then from there, you guys. So then you started touring with Islander during that time, and then that all led you up to where for. Even for a time period, you got into, like, concealed carry. You guys are working at.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah, we ran a range in Huntington beach for a while, and then we did a lot of private. We had a company called od2a and we would do framework on firearms and teach pistol and rifle fundamentals. And we would help people in California specifically go through the CCW process. We didn't license them, but we would prep them for that process a lot. Because in California, you need to have a license to carry firearm. And we. That. We did that full time for, like, three years.

[Ryan Reese]

You guys are still doing it though, right?

[Riley Armenta]

We're still doing it, but now we're playing so much that it's kind of like. But I feel like during that time got, you know, we. We just. We weren't playing a lot. Things were different. Even production. Tyler does. He's an audio engineer and he's a LD lighting designer and all that work, like, left for a long time in Hollywood and in Orange county, and it was just kind of dead for a while. So we went full force into gun training. And that, like, literally took up our life for about three years straight. And then it got. I think it feels like God kind of reversed it back to now being more in ministry and. And traveling.

[Ryan Reese]

What he did is he. He set up provision for you guys when. When Covet and everything hit. Yeah, right. He's the provider so that all your business shuts down on that side of things. And then God provided another way.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

And then now those doors have opened again. And now God's, like, opened these doors with.

[Riley Armenta]

When you look back now, years go by, and sometimes we don't. We don't get to see, like, the fruit or the result, but. And sometimes we do. And I feel like now looking back, God definitely provided for everything because we had bought a motorhome. We were like, we're gonna buy a motorhome. We're gonna travel. We bought the motorhome. We didn't travel because then we started teaching full time during that timeframe. But that motorhome was super sick, by the way we remodeled it. It was super cool. Allowed us to be a little more free and do a lot more things and be a lot more financially independent, which we needed during those times. And you don't really notice that until you're kind of after the fact and you look back, like, God knew and totally blessed us. With that. And then, you know, years go by, and then now it's like that allowed us to buy a home. So it's just God sets things up. And it may not be what we thought we were going to be doing, but God knew. And now it's like a total blessing.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah, you kind of live life with kind of these, like, shield shields on.

[Ryan Reese]

Right.

[Tyler Armenta]

You don't see the full picture. And over time, you kind of step back and like the Lord orchestrated literally us meeting and like, we got introduced and just my whole life, it's. Or our whole lives, obviously, together now. But yeah, it's pretty wild.

[Ryan Reese]

People always ask me, you know, because they're praying about their husband, their wife. And my mom used to always tell me this. You know, they'd ask, how do I meet? You know, how'd you meet your girl? Or. And my mom would always tell me, ryan, just like God brought Eve to Adam, he will bring your wife to you in the same way you were there at an event for. With all of our friends, and then she's a friend. And God brought you too. He brought. Dropped right in front of you, you know.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

That's what he does. You don't have to look. He'll do it.

[Tyler Armenta]

I think that's the thing too, is.

[Ryan Reese]

But you weren't looking.

[Tyler Armenta]

I was. No looking. I would. No, no, really, like, at the end of the day, I wasn't seeking. Yeah, that in my life at that time.

[Riley Armenta]

And I don't think either of us were. I. I love talking about marriage because I feel like now we've been married a healthy amount of time. Like, you've been married a year longer than us. So What? So almost 10 years and then 11 years. Ish. Ballpark. And it does sound cliche, like don't look and whatever, but it's true because I wasn't looking for anything and he wasn't looking for anything. And we just kind of became friends and obviously that became romantic. But our principles and our values were pretty very similar in our personalities and what we like, what we don't like and how we are. So it was very much upfront. Like, this is what I believe. This is. These are my values, these are my morals, and those aligned. And then obviously I believe when those align and, you know, God is in the center of these things, then everything kind of falls into place. We didn't force anything. And yeah, like, years go by.

[Announcer]

Married.

[Riley Armenta]

I feel like 10 years almost being married is quite a while. And it goes by so fast. But we look back and we're like, dang. Like, this has been really cool because, like, we like each other, we love each other, but we also like each other. And we're friends too. And we get to. I know it doesn't work for everybody, but, like, work together and it's really fun. Like, it's really cool. And I believe God knows, like, what our needs are. And they're not all the same with every relationship and every couple. But he knew what my needs were. Like a partner in life and also a friend. And the same for him. It's like God aligns those things. We don't. I don't think we force anything. We don't go looking for it. Or it's like, oh, I met this guy.

[Ryan Reese]

You're in the same stuff.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

You guys both got into the gun slinging for sure. Training your guitarist.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah. Music.

[Ryan Reese]

He's a drummer. What are their.

[Tyler Armenta]

I mean, I'm trying to get her into supercross. It's a little hard.

[Riley Armenta]

I like, I watch the mains.

[Tyler Armenta]

I'm just kidding. No, no, it's true, though. Like, general main interest and values and all those things.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah.

[Tyler Armenta]

You know, those are the most important at the end of the day. I think hobbies and interests sometimes vary, you know, but. But a lot of the times they do actually align or, you know, she's interested in it because, like, I'm super stoked on something or. Or she'll just roll her eyes and she'll be like, yeah, you go do that. Yeah, you go do that.

[Ryan Reese]

No, you go do that.

[Riley Armenta]

But it's like.

[Tyler Armenta]

But I'm happy.

[Riley Armenta]

Like, you're having fun or whatever. You're into it. Like, that's cool. I want to go shopping and, like, buy makeup. And he'll be like, cool, how'd your skin?

[Ryan Reese]

He doesn't. He just wears the same clothes every day like me.

[Riley Armenta]

That's true.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yep. Have like 500 black shirts, five pairs.

[Riley Armenta]

Of black pants, and then like three pairs of jeans.

[Ryan Reese]

I have like two. And I just wear them every day.

[Tyler Armenta]

Like, people are like, do you change or wash your clothes? I'm like, I used to not do.

[Ryan Reese]

That, but I do now.

[Tyler Armenta]

But I do now. I just have the same.

[Ryan Reese]

I'm like, I got a stack of blacks T shirts and a stack of whites.

[Tyler Armenta]

The whites.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah, the whites. I'm on a white program right now. I just been peeling them up, you know, wearing black. It's kind of rare, but just normally I wear black.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

Simple, simple way to. We got other money. We gotta spend money on other things. You know, like ice cream and, you know, stuff like that.

[Tyler Armenta]

Tailing it back to Promise Me. So that started in 2019, or actually 2018.

[Riley Armenta]

Ish. Yeah.

[Tyler Armenta]

We started working on music.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah.

[Tyler Armenta]

Promise Me was initially, like a rock band, rock music, kind of pop, punk, alternative kind of music. We actually worked on some music, never actually put it out, but we did do, like, a single. We're kind of trying to do that. The world shut down right after 2018 that time.

[Ryan Reese]

Yep.

[Tyler Armenta]

And a lot of it just didn't get finished.

[Riley Armenta]

It just kind of fizzled, it seems.

[Tyler Armenta]

Well. But interesting. Interestingly enough, we put one of Riley's original worship songs we recorded and out in 2018. Yeah. So. But we just. We never put it out, but we. When we would lead at worship at churches and things like that, we would. We would play it and, like, really great response. Like, people love the song and all that stuff and that basically, I think what sparked obviously doing Revival Night, maintaining that same name and. Yeah, just doing. Doing music.

[Ryan Reese]

Because the way it worked out with. With Revival Night is I contacted you guys because obviously you did worship before, remember? And I'm like, hey, I need another band. There's. There's too many events, and we need to have multiple bands. And then you're like, yeah, we'll do it. I'm like, well, you guys need a name. Like, I gotta have. I can't. Can't just have, like, Tyler Riley on the flyer. Like, we gotta have. Do you guys have a name? And you're like, well, yeah, we have this old project that we're working on. So it worked out perfect. I didn't know you put out a worship song out of it. So that was 2018. Now here we are. Revival Night only started a year ago.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

So the years later. Years later, put that worship song out.

[Tyler Armenta]

18. Well, we never actually released it, believe it or not, on any platforms or anything, but a lot of churches just knew. A lot of churches knew it. We did perform the song at churches and things. And the song Fear, actually. Yeah, yeah, I've heard it.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Tyler Armenta]

So.

[Ryan Reese]

So then. So now you're. Now you're actively touring under the name where you're with. You're doing Revival Night stuff, but you are playing now under promising, right? At churches and different things.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because we still obviously, like, we'll do stuff with you and then we.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah, but yeah, like Garrett's Church and other peoples. You're still. So that's the name you're flying under.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

Moving forward now.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah, yeah. And the Idea behind Promise me is. Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

What is the idea behind it?

[Tyler Armenta]

Well, us. We just always want to be reminded of God's promises to us, which is throughout the Bible and Scriptures. And that's where the name stems from.

[Riley Armenta]

So from Psalm. I think it's 119. Yeah, it's like 15 minutes long. It's. It's super long. I will have, like, the Bible app read it to me.

[Tyler Armenta]

She's gonna read it to us right now.

[Riley Armenta]

I'll read it to you.

[Ryan Reese]

No, we're gonna take a break. We'll finish up the last. No, I'm not gonna.

[Riley Armenta]

There's a verse in it that. Oh, yeah, Psalm 119. So the whole Psalm of 119 is, like 15 minutes long. It's super long when the Bible app reads it. And I read slow, so it would take me, like, 20 minutes to read it. But Psalm 119, which we're not gonna get. 140.

[Ryan Reese]

140.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah. That's, like, not even halfway through. Says your promises have been thoroughly tested. That is why I love them so much. And I read that, and I was.

[Ryan Reese]

Like, yes, that's amazing.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah.

[Riley Armenta]

And that's.

[Tyler Armenta]

That's speaking to God's promises and actually being tested in them.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah, that's an amazing verse. That's a cool verse.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah. Anyways, that's. That's where it. Where it stemmed from, and so.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah, that's amazing. Okay, so what is.

[Tyler Armenta]

Plus, it's a cool name.

[Ryan Reese]

What? Yeah, no, I like it. And the merch sells. I've seen everyone raid the merch. So what are. Why did you even. Guys. Why do you guys even want to get involved with, like, worship from the beginning? Like, what's.

[Tyler Armenta]

I mean, you know, I'll let Riley speak to this. She's.

[Riley Armenta]

I just. I'm not.

[Ryan Reese]

What led you to get into worship?

[Riley Armenta]

I guess, believe it or not, I'm like a. What they call social introvert. I'm not. I don't like to be the center of things. I don't, like, even, like, this, like, to me, is awkward. My sister is a lot more like, like, extrovert. Extroverted. And. But I just. I. I just want to be obedient to God. And I. I know that when I've tried to do other things, he's always taking those things away. Like, I surfed when I was young, and I was like, I want to do this. And, like, no. And then I, like, I skated when I was younger than that, and it was like, no, I want to do all these Things and I want to do sports because, like, when your parents, like, make you play music, then you.

[Tyler Armenta]

Don'T want to do it.

[Riley Armenta]

And everything that I tried to do outside of that, God always took that away and pushed me back into music. And I just. When I've tried to do also things outside of worship, I personally believe that God is like, yeah, you might have talents for these things, but for me, it's like, in my heart, I know that God has me here. And I also know that by the fruits of what we're seeing. And I don't. I mean, it might sound, like, rude, but I don't like to do it. I don't like to go out on stage and, like, I don't even talk. You, like, rarely see me talk on stage. And when I do, it's. I. It's because God, like, God put something on my heart. And if I don't say it, then I'm being disobedient. But it's rare. I'm not. Like, I'm going to give you a sermon while I'm leading worship, right? That's not my job. But God moves, and we're just being used like, it's nothing like we're doing. We're not special. I'm not the best singer. I'm not the best guitar player. Like, we're not the best anything. But for now, as long as he keeps having his hand upon us. And who knows how long that'll be while he has us here? But right now he does. And we're seeing a lot of fruit come from that. And I just. I know that through other things in my life, like, we have to be obedient in that. Because I have tried even in recent years to do other things. And it's like, God has really humbled me. And it's like, no, you do this. And I'm like, okay, it's not me. Maybe not forever. Like, who knows? Maybe it is. But for now, we just. I'm obedient, and I walk in that obedience. And if God. If I want to do all these cool things and think that I can go play, like, punk rock or whatever, maybe. But that's not where God has me. And so, yeah, that's.

[Ryan Reese]

I understand that. Because doing it for, like, when you're doing stuff for God and you're seeing the outcome, this is why you do it.

[Riley Armenta]

Like, it's life changing.

[Ryan Reese]

Like, yeah, Mike Crystals told me you're gonna fly all the way to Germany and do an event and fly all the way back. I'm like, yeah, it might be there 24 hours, boots on the ground, maybe 48 hours. But when you're in God's will and you're doing and you see, like, when you see God move, you're like, dad.

[Riley Armenta]

Because it's eternal, it's not amazing. It's not promotional. It's not like we're ministry, contrary to what other, you know, things have shown in recent years, which is really sad. But, like, actual ministry is not promotional. It's not like, I don't even like calling it event, but it's. It should be life changing and a constant, like, growth within all of us. Because I'm like, revival night. Like, as an example, what we're doing now is, like, not just for them. Like, it's for us too, because we are going through so much before the event even happens.

[Tyler Armenta]

Oh, yeah.

[Riley Armenta]

And we're all like, on these threads, like, my life is ending.

[Ryan Reese]

Like, this is a crazy week.

[Tyler Armenta]

But exist.

[Riley Armenta]

Yes.

[Tyler Armenta]

Especially when you know that you're in God's will. It's almost amplified.

[Ryan Reese]

We're gonna come back to that, man. That's gonna be your.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

That's very.

[Riley Armenta]

But people don't see it sometimes. People don't. Like, on the outside, don't. They're like, why are you gonna do this? Or like, okay. When I was in the hospital in Hawaii, when we. Two months ago.

[Ryan Reese]

Oh, my gosh.

[Riley Armenta]

They were taking my blood. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The nurse that was. That was taking my blood to check on, like, the infection that I had, she was.

[Ryan Reese]

So we're. This is the. You guys fly in Hawaii.

[Riley Armenta]

Okay.

[Ryan Reese]

The night before the event, I had this. I hear you're going to the doctors, to the emergency.

[Riley Armenta]

I had this, like, problem, and it decided to exacerbate. Once we got to Hawaii and I was scheduled to have. It was basically a cyst, but it got. It got really infected and swollen and it. I was supposed to get it removed the following week after getting back from Hawaii, but it decided to make me really sick in Hawaii. And the day of the event, I told Daniel I was like, I feel, like, really sick. I'm gonna go to the hospital and just make sure, like, everything's okay. And so while they were prepping everything, Daniel dropped me off. I'm like, I'll be back. Like, don't worry about it. Anyways, they took me back, and long story short, the lady taking my blood was like, you can't leave, but it'll be like a couple hours. I'm like, I gotta go because I have an event to do. And she was like, you don't understand. If this ruptures, she tells me.

[Tyler Armenta]

She's like, I'm going.

[Riley Armenta]

She was super concerned. And she said to me, she was like, how important is this thing you got to do tonight? Like, if this thing ruptures and you have to stay here now for a couple weeks because you're. You'd have to fight this infection. Like, how important is this thing that I. I looked at her and I was like, you don't understand. Like, lives change. And I'm here because, like, God brought us here. And it's not cheap to go to Hawaii, but, like, to. To be a part of whatever God's gonna do, like, that's the only reason we're here. I'm not here on vacation.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah.

[Riley Armenta]

And I was like, so I need to go do this thing. And I'm like, and, you know, I'll come right back. Because it was only, like, a half a mile from the. From the church thing, too.

[Ryan Reese]

You're riding on faith right here. You're going.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah.

[Riley Armenta]

I got yelled at by a bunch of Hawaiian ladies. And they were kind of scary. They were, like, super. They were like. They were mad. And I was like, I gotta go. And they're like, we're gonna check you out. Anyways. So I laughed, played really mellow, and then went back. And then it was. It was crazy. But that stuck with me. It's like, how important is this thing? Like, you're. You're such an idiot for leaving. I'm like. But you don't understand. Like, I feel like saying. Just attacking me, but. And maybe. Maybe I'm like, God, maybe I'm stupid. I don't know. But please, just sustain.

[Tyler Armenta]

So, mind you, with this thing, she's had it bothering her for years.

[Riley Armenta]

Many, many years.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah, years. I know. And then it's a night up, just.

[Tyler Armenta]

And it's just.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tyler Armenta]

It's very interesting. And what are the odds?

[Ryan Reese]

Exactly.

[Tyler Armenta]

You know?

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah, exactly.

[Riley Armenta]

But how much did God move that night? And we didn't even play very hard. We didn't have big band. It was very mellow, and I was in a ton of pain, so I was, like, playing really mellow. But literally, I opened my eyes at one point because I had my eyes closed because I was kind of in pain and I was trying to get through it. And I opened my eyes and I told you this. There was these two kids. One was, like, maybe 10 and 12, and they were on their knees and they were just praying and Worshiping. And I was like, okay, God, like, this is why we're here. Because, yeah, a ton of people came up and it was amazing. But I saw these kids and I was like, like, this is like eternal stuff. And hopefully, Lord willing, like life lasting stuff, especially for these young people. And those are pivotal moments. Like, I suck, like, take me out of it. Like, my needs don't matter right now. Their needs matter. And whatever you're doing, like, we're just here to hopefully make the space for that and everything else. Like, I could worry about it later. And God moved. And then the next night in Hawaii, God moved there too. And it was just, it was amazing. It's amazing. And that's literally just all God. So I believe as long as we're obedient, regardless of our personal woes, it's like we get to see the fruit.

[Ryan Reese]

And you have to take chances too with the obedience. Because that was a, that was a, a total chance. Because if that thing would have exploded, whatever happens during that time, you would.

[Riley Armenta]

Have been super sick.

[Ryan Reese]

Super, super sick. Yeah, but you felt like, yeah, God brought you all the way to that moment. I would have done the same thing.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah. Literally. It's like, God, maybe I'm a chance. I told him. Like, maybe I'm stupid, but you'll, you could say same. You could do it.

[Ryan Reese]

I am a little stupid. So I'll take my chances. Yeah, but you know, what are the chances of after all these years? Oh, shoot, we're going to a break. All right, we got a couple minutes here, you guys. I have promised me in studio, Tyler and Riley, husband and wife, friends forever. Go to thewhoseoevers.com check out the website. We go to 100 schools a year. Book us. Also go to my YouTube channel, Ryan Reese official and get all the past radio shows for the last nine years. Amazing conversations, that one with Jimmy from Dose, the lead singer, and so many, so many more. But we'll be back in two minutes after the break. And don't forget to keep us in prayer for revival nights and for the school tours, because the battle is real in the supernatural realm. We love you guys. Talk to you soon. More of the Ryan Reese show coming up.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Post your questions at Ryan Reese on his Instagram, Twitter.

[Announcer]

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[Sponsor Announcer]

Rates are surging in America, leaving millions without affordable options. If you're sick of having paychecks eaten up by health care costs or dealing with mega corporations, then listen to this. Christians don't need to waste money on a broken system. That's why I want to tell you about Christian Healthcare Ministries. It's an alternative to traditional health insurance at half the cost. With chm, fellow believers contribute monthly to help pay each other's medical bills. There's no enrollment period, so you can join anytime. And you aren't restricted to provider networks, so you choose the doctors and hospitals you want. It's that simple. CHM is not insurance. It's a ministry that puts faith into action. Feel the difference of financial support and biblical care from fellow believers. Join CHM today by visiting chministries.orgwellness that's chministries.orgwellness Facebook.

[Tyler Armenta]

Now back.

[Announcer]

Did you know Gen Z and Millennials are leading the resurgence in church attend. Research from Glue and Barna shows that they're now attending church more often than older generations. That's a historic shift. And behind this discovery is gloo. Spelled G L O O. Gloo has a mission to serve those who serve pastors, leaders, publishers, and more. And they do it by connecting the faith ecosystem with the latest research, technology and values aligned AI. That's high tech for a higher purpose. See the research yourself. Just text the word join to 46816. Again, that's join to 46816.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Health insurance rates are surging in America, leaving millions without affordable options. If you're sick of having paychecks eaten up by health care costs or dealing with mega corporations, then listen to this. Christians don't need to waste money on a broken system. That's why I want to tell you about Christian Healthcare Ministries. It's an alternative to traditional health insurance at half the cost. With chm, fellow believers contribute monthly to help pay each other's medical bills. There's no enrollment period, so you can join anytime. And you aren't restricted to provider networks, so you choose the doctors and hospitals you want. It's that simple. CHM is not insurance. It's a ministry that puts faith into action. Feel the difference of financial support and biblical care from fellow believers. Join CHM today by visiting ChMinistries.orgWellness. that's ChMinistries.orgWellnessness.

[Tyler Armenta]

Back to the Ryan Reese Show.

[Ryan Reese]

All right, we are back at Promise Me in studio. Promise Me are not only my friends and family, not. Not legit family, but, like, basically super tight. I've known these guys for way too long. They're not blood, but they're legit family. We've been through a lot together. Knowing Riley since she was like, 15 or 16 when she played worship at Harvest at Greg Laurie's church. Tyler was in a punk rock band. How old were you? You're a little bit older. 19, 18 or something?

[Tyler Armenta]

No, I was 20s.

[Ryan Reese]

20S? Yeah, 20s, yeah. 26, I think so still. But, yeah, that was many, many, many years ago. We've almost been married the same amount of years. I've been married. Married 11. You guys, 10.

[Tyler Armenta]

It's over 10 years, so we've been through a lot. Guess my age now.

[Ryan Reese]

No old fart married to a young girl. All right, so with all that said, just before the break, we were talking about how spiritual warfare. We were talking about just being in God's call. They also. They tour with me with the revival nights. A lot of you guys seen that on our social media. We've been doing dates all over the states and different parts of the world. But they're the. There's. Them and Barouche are the two bands that are traveling with me, split dates because there's. There's. There's a need for that. A lot of dates are coming in, but you were just talking about being in God's will. And, you know, you had other opportunities to go playing, playing pop music or rock music or just other things that God always pulled you away if you were surfing. Different things. God always pulled you back to worship. And the conversation was.

[Riley Armenta]

You said, yeah. And I wasn't a surfer by any means, but I tried. And I was like, you're Orange county girl. Yeah. But actually, remind me of story when we were actually working and doing gun training, I got approached by this guy who basically, long story short, offered like, a ton of money to do this, like, girl pop band that he was cultivating and pouring a ton of money into. I forgot what label, but it was.

[Tyler Armenta]

A major record label.

[Riley Armenta]

It was a major label. And he, like, was calling me a lot to. To do it. And I just. I again, like, I'm super shy, whatever, But I knew, like, I just. I don't Know, I knew that that wasn't what God wanted me to do. Like, it's just not my. My vibe, naturally. But also, I knew it's like, that's not what I. I believe that that's not what God wants me to do.

[Tyler Armenta]

Right.

[Riley Armenta]

But anyways. And then, obviously, now we're thrown back into.

[Ryan Reese]

So that looked good on paper.

[Riley Armenta]

Oh, yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

Because you're, like, financial.

[Riley Armenta]

Oh, yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

The money's coming in to produce it, to make it happen.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

That looks good.

[Riley Armenta]

They're gonna start writing checks.

[Tyler Armenta]

Like, it was interesting. Yeah. It was all talks, and it was like. It was your typical story of, hey, we have all this money. We're putting this band together, like, to make this particular music, and we need this person, this position, this personality, and they're basically making this thing. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, if you look at American Idol and, like, you know, all these things is, like, that's what they do.

[Ryan Reese]

Yep.

[Tyler Armenta]

And isn't that amazing how they do that? Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

All these bands that you guys see. Most of them, but.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah. And then Riley. Yeah. Directly got approached about something like that, and she was like.

[Ryan Reese]

And the Enemy's like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna pull you away from your call, and I want to give you this.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

And a lot of people do that.

[Riley Armenta]

And that was before we knew we were gonna go back into, like, to worship stuff.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah. Yeah. And I. I was just supportive either way. Like, you know, I kind of, like, looked at her. I'm like, yo, is this something that you actually want to do? Or whatever? She was kind of like, I don't know. I know. And so I tried to give her encouragement, like, hey, like, you. You can do this, right? You're capable. All these things. Because I didn't want her to make a decision based off of her feeling inadequate or something like that. And. But I'm like, ultimately, you know what God is calling you to do? And. Yeah. And she. She was kind of tired. She was like, man, no, that's good.

[Ryan Reese]

No, that's good, though, because we could all. I think most of the things that I've done is, you know, you're like, am I. Can I do this? Like, you know, you don't. There's always that doubt. You always have doubt until you, like, have someone come alongside you, be like, do it.

[Riley Armenta]

There's so many stories over the years of literally just obedience. Because when we first got married and we had zero money, we were broke, like, nothing. And that's a whole nother story to talk about. Another time when we got married, but Tyler was working for a big production company, and they were working exclusively with this, like, super new agey, witchy type of. What are they called?

[Tyler Armenta]

Like, it was, like, motivational.

[Riley Armenta]

Like, they do classes or whatever they.

[Tyler Armenta]

People pay money to for them to basically tell them what they should do.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah. And he was making, like, two grand a weekend just doing all of her events and stuff. And he came to me one day, and he was like, I can't do that. I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to associate. He's like, I feel like God is telling me to stop doing her events. I don't want to associate with them. She's pulling God into, like, Hinduism and Buddhism and all this stuff.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Yeah.

[Tyler Armenta]

They would do, like, the spiritual melting pot of everything. They're like, we'll take a little bit of Jesus, a little bit of Buddha. Buddha. A little bit of this. Yeah. And they'd quote, like, misquote, scripture. I mean, just everything.

[Ryan Reese]

It was that Buddha. Oh, wait, was that.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah. It's just weird, in my opinion.

[Ryan Reese]

I remember you telling me about that.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah. And he. He said, I'm making a lot of.

[Ryan Reese]

Money, but it's kind of weird.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah. He said, specifically, God told me, like, I shouldn't be doing this anymore. And God. Tyler doesn't say that a ton. He'll. He'll just pretty, like, mellow, whatever. But he told me direct, and I was like, listen, whatever you feel like God is telling you to do, then you need to do it. I'll support you no matter what.

[Tyler Armenta]

Well, and let's.

[Riley Armenta]

And that's hard. That's all kind of hard to say.

[Tyler Armenta]

Like, let's rewind on the time you're.

[Riley Armenta]

Making that much money.

[Tyler Armenta]

Timing was Riley and I were about to get married. Yeah. I had spent all my money on our first apartment, first, last security, all the things, and pretty much zero dollars. And I'm like, hey, I need to do this. We're gonna get married. What do you think? And, like, on paper, you know, people would be like, you're crazy. Like, you're about to be married. You need to, like, suck it up. Let's go.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah.

[Riley Armenta]

And honestly, I. Like, we. Then how years go by, and then you get to look back and literally, we. I mean, we do a bit better, obviously, now, but back then, I mean, the first couple years of our marriage, like, we were really, really tight. And then, like, our best friends, Karen and Lucas, we would always have dinners together and hang out, and we would always try to just do the. Do things on a budget or, like, pretend we're going to restaurant, but going to each other's house. Like, you know, in the beginning of our marriages, and it was super fun, but we were tight. But I could say, looking back at those early years of our marriage, we never once, never paid a bill late, paid our rent late. We're in debt. And I believe that is because he was basically of obedience. And we don't always get to see, like, okay, well, God saw me to do this, but how's it gonna turn out? Like, we don't know. But that's faith. And it's hard. And he's way. He. He always reminds me, like, God's got it. We just need to be faithful through a whole marriage. He is the one. Like, because I tend to stress out more, I'm a little more organized. I'm more like, okay. I like to plan out my month sometimes. Like, we can't. We can't do that, though.

[Show Announcer]

Yeah.

[Riley Armenta]

But sometimes life isn't that simple. And looking back, it's like God is always carried us through. I don't even know how, but the whole time, because of obedience, you gave up this thing. The money looked good. But what. It's not about money. If God says no, then no. And then he provides. And we don't know how he provides because he's God and he could do miraculous things. But that was like our whole marriage.

[Tyler Armenta]

And I believe, you know, you would know this, but I believe the Lord wires us all differently. We all have, you know, plus we live our lives. We all have different personalities and all these things. Riley and I, in this sense, are polar opposite. I would have to say we're very similar in a lot of things. And I am probably too much on the God's got it faith. Like, it's all good. And it sounds silly, but, I mean, that's really how I feel. Like I am that passionate about the things that we do. And I do have faith that the Lord, if. Obviously, if you're doing. Laying it out on paper, you're doing the things that you should be doing. The Lord will provide. We know this says all through scripture, he's done it for everybody. Right? And Riley's like, okay, you're saying that, yes, but we don't have any money. How right can we budget this? Yeah. And, you know, that's. I think in moments, has been a struggle in our marriage. But ultimately, I mean, the only thing I can say is, hey, like, look back and what has God done? And obviously we've shifted. We've had to do other things. Right. And we're not lazy people sitting and being like, hey, Lord, you're supposed to provide. Like, you shift and you do the things that you need to do. But when you do have a calling on your life, and you know that we kind of talked about it earlier, but it's like, oh, you're gonna go to Germany and whatever, it's like, well, yeah, but like, God has his calling and you just do it. And you know that he's gonna provide. Even when it comes to some of the revival nights and things, it's like, are we able to provide this? And. Or you guys going through the schools and it's like, hey, we're booked out 100 schools. How is this gonna happen, Lord? And he's just gonna. He provides. So you just gotta be faithful and. Yeah.

[Riley Armenta]

Or is going to Texas even worth it?

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. That was a story. We were flying from Boise to Dallas.

[Riley Armenta]

Dallas, yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

And we were at. We flew out. I think our flight was. We were originally about three.

[Tyler Armenta]

This is for revival night.

[Ryan Reese]

For revival night for three.

[Tyler Armenta]

I believe we did.

[Riley Armenta]

It was 11am Then it got to.

[Ryan Reese]

3Pm and then it started at three, and then we moved it to 11 because we all were able to leave earlier. And then that flight got canceled.

[Riley Armenta]

All of them.

[Ryan Reese]

And then went back to 3 o'. Clock. And then that flight got canceled because the other plane couldn't. The plane that we needed to take was coming from San Francisco. And we are watching on the digital.

[Riley Armenta]

Like, how long were we all that.

[Ryan Reese]

To say we were stuck in Boise Airport till 12.

[Riley Armenta]

So we're there almost 12 hours.

[Tyler Armenta]

So the flight attendants, they were closing the gates and they're like, hey, they.

[Riley Armenta]

Turn up all the lights on the airport.

[Tyler Armenta]

Airport shutting down.

[Riley Armenta]

And this was the day before. This was the day before our revival. So this was a day early from us when we needed to be in Dallas, right?

[Ryan Reese]

A day.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah. So I believe Lucas found that. Idaho.

[Ryan Reese]

Well, so I thought to myself, because I flew into Idaho Falls before, which is about five hours east. So from one side of Idaho to the other.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

I flew into the airport before for an event. I've been in the airport. So I go, we couldn't get any planes out of Boise in time to get to Dallas. And I go, salt Lake. What about Idaho? I go, yeah, we were looking at Salt Lake City. We could be there in six hours, or we can be in five hours over to Idaho Falls.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

And I said, lucas, look up some flights. And See who can get us to Dallas in the soonest. And he goes, there's a 6am flight out of Idaho Falls that will get us into Dallas at like 4pm or 3pm or something. I forget what it was with a.

[Tyler Armenta]

With a layover.

[Ryan Reese]

Because there was a big layover in Denver. Because in Idaho there's always layover. There's always layovers somewhere. So we drove. I remember getting the car and passing out the front seat. Lucas gets in the car. Thank God we just bought that van. Yeah, so. So we wouldn't have had a van. We would have been like, okay, a car. We can't put all this equipment in there. Yeah, we had the van. We loaded up a 15 passenger van, we drove it across, got there like 4 something.

[Riley Armenta]

4Am Ish.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah, whatever. Something like that. Enough time for us to check in, get a break on that plane. Yeah, that flight was late, it was delayed.

[Riley Armenta]

So then, then we had. Then we're on the plane and all of a sudden there's a scratch on the wing and the pilot says we need to wait for maintenance. And our. Our connection at Denver was only like. Like 4:40 minutes. But if you know Denver Airport, it's so massive and it's hard to get.

[Ryan Reese]

It was two hours. But that flight was late. So by the time we got there.

[Riley Armenta]

In Denver, we had 20 minutes.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah. Yeah. We had to run and hold on.

[Tyler Armenta]

When we were sitting on the plane and we got the notification that we're going to be delayed again, I. We all looked at each other like.

[Riley Armenta]

We were already looking for. We were looking for new flights.

[Tyler Armenta]

We're like, yeah, is is Lord you open the doors Revival night happening? I don't know. Like, let's just.

[Riley Armenta]

So, yeah, so we got to Denver and Ryan got off the plane first and ran ahead of us. But we had. I have. So I travel my guitar on the plane. We have Tyler Snare. We have stuff that we carry out. All the other stuff goes under the plane. But we have a lot of gear that we carry physically. And our. Again, if you know like Denver, how massive it is. It was like almost a half a mile difference between the terminal. We were into our connecting flight. So how did you.

[Ryan Reese]

So my thing was like. They're like boarding was ending in five minutes.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

So I texted Lucas, I said I'm. I'm running to the gate. I'm gonna be at the gate. I'm gonna hold that gate open, tell them where we just were coming. So I ran, I booked it. I get down to the gate and I Walk up and I go. She's like, we're closing the gate in a couple minutes. I go, you cannot close the gate. I said, my friends are all coming. We were just delayed. I'm telling the whole story and like, they're coming down here right now with their equipment. We have to hold the gate. We cannot close this gate. And they're like, sir, you better get on board. I go, no, you have to keep it open. And then finally the lady looks at me, goes, what's your name? And I go, ryan Reese.

[Riley Armenta]

She goes, do you know who I am?

[Ryan Reese]

She types it in. No, she types it in, she looks it up. She goes, where are you flying? I go, dallas. She goes, this is going to Seattle or something somewhere. Wait, what? And she goes, what gate is. She goes, what gate are you looking for? I go, it's 23 or something. She goes, this is 26, 23's over there. And I look over and you guys are walking. You guys got to the game.

[Riley Armenta]

Having an asthma.

[Ryan Reese]

You got to get. They got to the gate by the time I got there, like trying to stop the whole game, you guys.

[Tyler Armenta]

Well, so what was funny about that.

[Riley Armenta]

Is we're out of breath.

[Tyler Armenta]

They somehow were a little bit late too with boarding that flight.

[Ryan Reese]

So it just worked out that flight.

[Tyler Armenta]

And I believe we were the last. We were the last couple to walk onto the plane. And we get on that plane and we find out that that one was.

[Ryan Reese]

A little bit delayed.

[Riley Armenta]

But we got. So like when we finally got to Dallas, we had enough time to go straight to the church and set up and play. And then from Dallas, we had to drive to Houston.

[Tyler Armenta]

We drove.

[Riley Armenta]

So we drove that night. So we were up, I think. I can't calculate. It was like 41 hours straight, but it was cool. Hey, whatever.

[Ryan Reese]

Did he in and up earlier that night?

[Riley Armenta]

But. Yeah, but like, it was wild but like every hurdle that could have happened. But what did God do in Dallas? Like, he did a lot.

[Announcer]

We.

[Ryan Reese]

We could have just called it a day and just been like, our flight got cancelled, we're going to skip Dallas. But we did everything in our. Our will and way we could driving through the night, be hit one. I mean we hit, I guess all together. We hit at least six delays because that flight kept getting delayed over and over and over and over and fight. Oh, no. This is what happened in. In Boise. All those delays led to the very end. There was something wrong with the plane after the delays.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

And then they go, we fixed it, but the time's up for all the flight attendants, after they fixed it, we couldn't go because of that.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah. Crazy.

[Ryan Reese]

Anyway, you can't make this stuff up.

[Riley Armenta]

Who needs to sleep?

[Ryan Reese]

But all that to say God showed up in. In Texas, and it was amazing.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah. And all we do is show up and. And he provides. Right. And ultimately, if he would have shut all the doors that we attempted, and we're like, all right, well, I guess we're not supposed to play Dallas. We would have been okay with that. Yeah.

[Riley Armenta]

We still do it. What? We can, regardless of, like, if we want to. If we want to sleep. That doesn't matter.

[Ryan Reese]

That's right. When we got out of the books.

[Riley Armenta]

It's hardcore. Yeah.

[Tyler Armenta]

I'm glad we just recorded the crazy airport story. That's a good one, dude. I think I have a handful that.

[Ryan Reese]

Will be in a book.

[Riley Armenta]

That one's one of the best ones.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

No, I mean, I can't remember any other trips trying that hard to get somewhere, changing airports and stuff. So, yeah, the spiritual warfare is where. The spiritual warfare is real. But God will do it. He doesn't. He'll show up at the 11th hour, but he'll. He's never late.

[Riley Armenta]

He's never late. And, like, I know people say it, whatever, but it's true. Like, even, like, the one person, their. Their life gets changed or transformed or their marriage gets transformed or their kids. We had two kids identified as furries come up in Houston and share their story and give their life to Jesus.

[Ryan Reese]

And it's like, we baptize. That's.

[Riley Armenta]

Who cares? The number. Who cares? Like, how we feel? It's. We show up and God moves regardless.

[Ryan Reese]

And I want to just identify. That's someone that's, like. Identifies as an animal. Like a transgender animal. These two girls, they both. One gave their life to Christ that night. One gave their life to Christ the weekend before, and they both got baptized.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

So just think about just that story.

[Riley Armenta]

That story alone.

[Ryan Reese]

Alone is enough to go through all that hell and we wouldn't see.

[Riley Armenta]

And sometimes we even get to know what happened. Sometimes we do get, like, crazy dms and stuff. That. And that's amazing. And sometimes we don't. But it's like, okay, God, you told us to do this. We're doing it. Maybe we don't get to see all the fruit. We get to see some fruit. Maybe. I don't know. But obedience is just obedience, no matter what. And we have faith that God moves.

[Tyler Armenta]

I think it's by God's grace, too, that we're able to See some of the stories. Right?

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Tyler Armenta]

But ultimately we do it to do it and know that he's faithful.

[Riley Armenta]

Y.

[Tyler Armenta]

And, yeah, you only.

[Ryan Reese]

You only hear. He only. You only hear a couple stories.

[Tyler Armenta]

Like, if he gives us high, he gave. He gives us highlights. And we're like, all right, cool.

[Ryan Reese]

Like that just those little.

[Tyler Armenta]

Like, you did move. Even though we know you did exact.

[Ryan Reese]

Exactly.

[Riley Armenta]

It's like. It's a ton of. Like, we have. We're. We've friends for 16 years. So, like, we have a ton of fun, but, like, it's not. I want to clarify. Like, it's not. We don't go to have fun. It's a ton of work. We rarely sleep. And. But. But. But again, like, if God is like, you do this and we do it, like, that's all that matters. We get to have fun. Those are. Those are, like, our fun times and whatever. And, like, it's cool, but sometimes it's really hard. And we've had weeks where, like, leading up to an event, it's, like, really hard. And that spiritual warfare. And spiritual warfare stuff going on, like, getting hurt or whatever, and it's just like, okay.

[Tyler Armenta]

Like, Riley and I, we. We rarely fight. I mean, we have. We bicker. Right.

[Riley Armenta]

We're together all the time.

[Tyler Armenta]

And I think more recently, we've had some of the most, like, spiritual warfare when it comes to things.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah. We're like, what's happening?

[Ryan Reese]

Like, why are we fighting?

[Riley Armenta]

What the heck is happening?

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah, this is like, why is this funk or fog happening? And we kind of. Thankfully, we. We are. Do as well as we can to communicate. And I feel like we're pretty good at it, and we're kind of like, what's wrong with you? Like, you. You gotta fit. I don't know.

[Riley Armenta]

There's a revival night coming up. Blame it, Blame it.

[Tyler Armenta]

I agree.

[Ryan Reese]

I fight my wife, too. Leading up to revival nights.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

I'm like, it's just.

[Tyler Armenta]

No way.

[Ryan Reese]

Why is this happening? It's revival night.

[Riley Armenta]

Because everything to shift our focus from the Lord and from what God's gonna do that night. And it. That gets hard because then I'm like, crap, like, I got off BPM or I'm not feeling this, but whatever. And I start thinking all these things as, like, I'm playing. Or I'm like, okay, like, maybe I gotta switch this up because the lyrics aren't on and whatever. Maybe the what? And I go through all that in my head, and it's so stupid because it's like, they don't even just Shut up. Like, they're dealing with whatever they got to deal with with the Lord, and just. Just shut up. And. But, like, Satan does that to me. It gets in my head. I know he does it to you.

[Show Announcer]

When.

[Riley Armenta]

Before you speak or before we go out. And it's like, well, even up there.

[Ryan Reese]

No, even up there. Yeah, up there. I could be in the middle of teaching the message and thoughts.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

You're not connecting this and that, you know, or whatever they are. It's just all these derails to be like. And then I'm just. I just keep talking.

[Riley Armenta]

Anything to shift our focus from the moment and what God's doing.

[Ryan Reese]

Exactly.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

I always like that. So spiritual warfare is. Is real. Well, let's.

[Tyler Armenta]

Let's.

[Ryan Reese]

Before we close, we have, like, four minutes left. What people that maybe you want to encourage some people that want to get into doing worship. What are some things? What are some starting points for them?

[Tyler Armenta]

Don't. No, no, no, no.

[Ryan Reese]

One word.

[Tyler Armenta]

No. That was a joke. That was a joke.

[Riley Armenta]

I. I say this with the most, like, genuine heart. I am a huge supporter of walking in your calling. And there is a difference between wanting to do something and being called to do something. So you need to be in prayer. And really. Because it. Ministry is hard, leading worship and having that responsibility is very hard. It's not. Again, like, I know how it looks to maybe the culture nowadays with, like, Christianity and music and whatever, and it's super. Could be super, like, you know, crazy and whatever. I'm not trying to badmouth anybody, but, like, the lifestyle doesn't match. Like. Like the lyrics are singing or whatever, and we got to be careful with that because we are singing and leading people. We got to make sure what we're singing is theologically sound and about Jesus, not, you know, and a lot of, I believe worship has become better selves, but it's a serious thing, and, you know, teaching from the pulpit, that's a serious thing. We're responsible for who, what and who we're leading. And so we need to make sure, like, we take that seriously, because I always did it, you know, I was just like, okay, I like the song. I never read the lyrics. I never really cared as much. I'm like, what do people respond to? It's not about that. It's what is legit. What am I saying to God? What am I saying about him right now? That's super important. The other thing is, like, music's great. It's fun, but for worship, like, make sure that that is your calling and because there's a difference between playing music and being a worship leader or trying to be a part of something like that. And so I'm all about it. But make sure it is in your calling because you're going to get eaten up if it's not. And.

[Ryan Reese]

Yep.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah, I want to. I wish I could draw. I am not an artist. I suck. But, like, there's things I want to do, but I'm not great. So it's like, yeah, self awareness, but also like, what is your calling? And walk in that calling.

[Tyler Armenta]

Yep.

[Ryan Reese]

What about you? Don't get into it.

[Tyler Armenta]

Don't. No. I don't know. In ministry, there's no prerequisites or there's no one tells you ministry's dirty, you know, dark, gritty. You're gonna have expectations. You're not. It's. They're not gonna get met. Like, all these things. It's gonna almost gonna be worse than working in the world, like, at times, because people, you almost have this sense of they should be holding themselves higher in accountability because you're serving God or you're serving the Lord in this. But unfortunately, it's not like that. Yeah. And I would say, always keep your eyes on Jesus. Don't look at man or people, because they will fail you every time, whether it's your past and we will fail our leader. Yeah, Yeah. I mean, you. I mean, definitely you.

[Ryan Reese]

Definitely.

[Tyler Armenta]

No, and no. Also search your heart, knowing that it's for the right reasons, not that you're seeking those right reasons, but that. That God's filtering that out.

[Ryan Reese]

Why are you even doing it?

[Tyler Armenta]

Exactly. And yeah, I think intentions are always good, but doesn't mean that you should be serving the Lord in that capacity or ultimately leading worship. Right.

[Riley Armenta]

That's why I love that you always say, like, kill the flesh or kill the noise and come up with those things. Because it's true. It's like I. We always pray, like, before we do anything resembling, like, worship or going to a church. And it's like, God, make sure my motives are right, that I'm here for. For you and I suck. Like, take me away from myself. And we just want to be filled with you and be used by you. And that's it.

[Ryan Reese]

Well, I'm going to end it there because we have a couple seconds left. And. And, you know, you've heard me say this before. I get on stage and I say, I don't want this to be no study.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

Like, oh, my God, I'm here because I want to see you move And I want to see you touch people's lives. That's why we're here.

[Riley Armenta]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reese]

So it's just always just trying to check your heart. All right, guys. What an amazing show. Promise me head to my website, the YouTube Ryan Reese official. All past shows are up there. The whosoevers. We go to 100 schools a year. Get with us if you want to donate to the cause. Fund the high school tours because the harvest is ripe, the workers are few. We love you guys.

[Tyler Armenta]

Can I plug Promise me Official on Instagram?

[Ryan Reese]

Yes.

[Tyler Armenta]

Is the most current way to follow us.

[Ryan Reese]

Yes.

[Tyler Armenta]

And to know what's going on.

[Ryan Reese]

Collaborations and music on my page, too.

[Tyler Armenta]

Music coming soon.

[Ryan Reese]

Yeah. Check out the album. This has been the Ryan Reese Show.

[Show Announcer]

To connect and find out more about ryan, click on ryan-reese.com check us out.

[Ryan Reese]

Next Saturday at 9 00pm for the Ryan Reese Show.

[Show Announcer]

Have you ever attempted to read the entire Bible? Did you do it or did you only make it part way? I'm John Stonge and I host a podcast that will make it possible for you to make it through the entire Bible one chapter at a time. I've been hosting the Chapter a Day Audio Bible podcast since 2015, and every single day of the week, I read one chapter of scripture. Then follow that up with a time of prayer. And if you're looking for daily insights and inspiration directly from God's word, I hope you'll give the Chapter a Day Audio Bible a listen. You can find [e-mail] or on your favorite podcasting app.