1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,840 Welcome to the God's Goodness podcast where our mission is to encourage as well as highlight 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,220 God's goodness and modern-day miracles. 3 00:00:14,220 --> 00:00:17,120 We are your hosts, Josh and Shelly Hankins. 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,400 Today we have with us a special guest, Tiffany Dawson. 5 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:25,280 She and I met a couple years ago volunteering for a church thing and we've known each other 6 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:26,280 ever since. 7 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,440 She has just an amazing story that is no surprise. 8 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:32,960 She's going to mention Pastor Rick. 9 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:37,480 So one of these days we're going to get him to come on, despite him not listening to podcasts, 10 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:42,280 but it'll be a great tale and you are just going to be blown away by the way that God 11 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:44,720 showed up in Tiffany's life. 12 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:45,720 And welcome, Tiffany. 13 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:46,720 Hello. 14 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:48,800 She's going to open us with a little prayer. 15 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:54,520 Father God, I just invite you into our midst where you said two or three are gathered in 16 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:55,520 your name. 17 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:56,520 You shall be in the midst. 18 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:03,040 And you did ask that I come back and spread the good news and to let people know that 19 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,280 there is a heaven and I'm here to do your work. 20 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:11,160 And I just want to say thank you and I love you and I praise you and I worship you and 21 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:17,120 I'm thankful to be here and alive today to be in your presence with friends. 22 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:18,120 Thank you Jesus. 23 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:19,120 Amen. 24 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:20,120 Amen. 25 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:21,520 So where do you want to start? 26 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,400 I'll start off by letting you know a little background. 27 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:30,600 What actually happened with me is I had a massive brain aneurysm. 28 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:34,800 What happened was I woke up with like the headache of a lifetime. 29 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:36,280 You know, you think you have a migraine. 30 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,800 It's just a simple migraine and you kind of like, oh, I'll take some Tylenol, but this 31 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:41,640 is a little bit different. 32 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:46,960 But I workaholic, so I was like, oh, I'll just, you know, take some Tylenol and keep 33 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:50,320 going and just go in to work a little bit late. 34 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,840 So I called my assistant manager and I said, I need you to, you know, hold down the fort 35 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:57,280 for me for a couple of hours and then I'll be in soon. 36 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:01,640 So I just got myself together, got in the car, which was really dangerous driving to 37 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:03,960 work after, you know, you have a headache like that. 38 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,760 I ended up getting to work and sat down at my desk. 39 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:12,040 And for whatever reason, when I looked at the computer screen, it looked like a really 40 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:16,120 weird like binary code and I thought, what the heck's going on? 41 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:20,640 So I said, let me go ahead and walk to the bathroom and splash some water on my face, 42 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:22,760 you know, maybe that will help. 43 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:27,680 So I got up from my desk and got around the corner going towards the bathroom and that's 44 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:29,840 like the last thing I remember. 45 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:36,280 And apparently some of my employees told me that I passed out on the floor and I passed 46 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,480 out on the floor and they rushed me, I guess called the ambulance from what I heard because 47 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:43,720 at this point I was lights out. 48 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:49,800 So they rushed me to the hospital at this time in Ohio and in Ohio, they didn't have 49 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:55,800 the equipment that they needed to handle the type of brain aneurysm that I apparently 50 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:56,800 had. 51 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:57,800 Was it like just deep in the brain? 52 00:02:57,800 --> 00:02:59,000 Then it wasn't surface. 53 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,200 I know it's a TBI, but it was a sub-rachnoid. 54 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:03,200 Sub-rachnoid? 55 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:05,560 Yeah, sub-rachnoid hemorrhage. 56 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,680 So they didn't have the equipment in Ohio to handle it. 57 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:15,200 So the hospital in Ohio had a good relationship with Presby, UPMC Presby here in Pittsburgh. 58 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:21,720 So they life-lighted me or rushed me, somehow got me to UPMC Presby and it just so happened 59 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:27,160 that my cousin worked for me and so she was able to contact my family and let them know 60 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:32,160 what was going on because my dad actually lives here in Pittsburgh. 61 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:37,080 So he was able to get over to the hospital or contact people at the hospital that he 62 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,600 knew to let them know that I was on my way. 63 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:47,120 So I ended up getting there and they had some complications because of the hemorrhage that 64 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:51,000 I had was so complicated they needed like special equipment. 65 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,600 So they didn't have the special equipment that was needed for that. 66 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,680 So what they did is they just waited a little while and the doctor was really good. 67 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:01,000 His name was Dr. Gardner. 68 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:02,000 He's awesome. 69 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,920 Phenomenal brain surgeon, top of the line. 70 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,520 He said, okay, I'm going to wait and make sure that I have everything correct because 71 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:14,040 I want your daughter to have told my dad, I want your daughter to have a long and fruitful 72 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:21,160 life after this, be able to function and things like that at 100% or at least what 73 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:25,520 she can because the hemorrhage I had was so severe. 74 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:29,680 It's just I had a 50-50% chance of living or dying. 75 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:30,680 Wow. 76 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:31,680 That's incredible. 77 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,880 I had a 50-50% chance so I deal with a lot of things and left untreated, it's a 100% 78 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:37,040 chance of dying. 79 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,640 You know, you're not making it out of that one. 80 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:44,480 And the complications that can arise from brain surgery are many. 81 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,320 It is, they'll say routine for some things. 82 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,200 There's no routine when someone's sticking something inside of your body. 83 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,040 It's a foreign object with infections, with misses. 84 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:58,160 Like, you know, they call it a practice still because no one's perfect at it. 85 00:04:58,160 --> 00:04:59,160 Well, God is. 86 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:00,160 Right? 87 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:01,160 But God's not doing the surgery at that time. 88 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:07,480 And so Dr. Gardner obviously was very skilled to be able to do this and like I said, when 89 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:13,720 you walked in this door, I had no idea your story because you seem perfect in every way. 90 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:14,720 That's pretty cool. 91 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:15,720 Thank you so much. 92 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:17,160 He actually went through my eyebrows. 93 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:18,160 Wow. 94 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:19,160 Yeah, right? 95 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:24,000 Because normally like, you know, you have to have like a full craniotomy where they like, 96 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:25,480 you know, do all the stuff. 97 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,080 But yeah, he actually went through my eyebrows. 98 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:29,720 So I was thankful for that. 99 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:30,720 Wow. 100 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,320 Even though it was hard to get my eyebrows done after that for a while, you know. 101 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:35,320 Oh man. 102 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:36,720 It'd be worth it. 103 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,400 Yeah, it's worth being alive, right? 104 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:40,400 Wow. 105 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:47,200 So basically what happened is they put me after my surgery, I started having like massive 106 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:53,720 seizures and so the doctor put me in a medically induced coma for about 45 days to try to let 107 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,880 my brain heal and to try to stop the seizures. 108 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:01,080 So I basically wouldn't die after, you know, I went through all of that. 109 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:06,160 And while I was in the coma, I had a really great experience. 110 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,360 God basically took me to heaven. 111 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,680 So I'm really grateful for that. 112 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:14,720 And I can tell you a little bit about that. 113 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:15,720 Oh, please do. 114 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:16,880 Yes, please do. 115 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:20,120 You can't lead with, you know, he took me there and then move on. 116 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:21,120 Right? 117 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:22,120 I know because. 118 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:23,120 You're in the city. 119 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:24,120 Yes. 120 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:29,400 Sometimes people think that you reflect on all the past things in your life, but because 121 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:36,400 of Jesus dying for us, that, you know, we are forgiven and that God, he loves you and 122 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:41,480 you can never forget the love that he has for you because he will give you multiple 123 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:45,800 chances second and third, you know, fourth chances. 124 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:51,480 And so I did write a book and not a write a book, but I wrote a story which I put in 125 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:56,080 a Pastor Rick Cardell's book, it's called My Father's House Has Many Rooms. 126 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,840 Which of Pastor Rick's books because he has a few? 127 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:00,280 Yeah, he does have a lot of them. 128 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:01,280 Do you know what it's called? 129 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:02,280 Then they would. 130 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:03,600 I know that it's green. 131 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:06,040 I forget the actual name of it, but. 132 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:07,040 Oh, it's the green one. 133 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:09,040 Yeah, it's a bit stark. 134 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:10,040 Yeah. 135 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:11,040 Right? 136 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:12,040 You didn't know there was going to be a test. 137 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:13,040 Right? 138 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:14,040 I know, right? 139 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:17,960 Well, and then one of the side effects that I've had to fight through with in a brain 140 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:24,000 injury is being at the top of your game, being in management and running companies and running 141 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:29,160 multinational companies, you know, and then not being able to remember where you set your 142 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:33,640 keys, what your middle name is, what your birthday is, what your social security number 143 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:37,960 is, how to drive, how to walk, how to cook, how to clean, how to wash clothes. 144 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:39,920 I had to learn how to do all that stuff again. 145 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:42,640 So that's why I'm like, it's the green book. 146 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:45,280 So please forgive me. 147 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:47,280 There is no condemnation. 148 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:48,280 Where are your accusers? 149 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,280 We don't accuse you either. 150 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:57,960 I've dealt with people with TBIs and such, and I've had very mean people after they've 151 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,760 had traumatic head injuries, and I take zero offense because I understand that they are 152 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:02,760 not themselves. 153 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:05,280 My bonus stat, he had that. 154 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:06,280 It just happens. 155 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:07,280 Yeah. 156 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,560 And so, yeah, we may joke with you, but we will never make fun of you or joke at your 157 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,200 expense and try to make you feel small. 158 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:15,200 That's not cool. 159 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,200 So yeah, we'll laugh with you, but it's cool. 160 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:18,200 Okay. 161 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:25,240 Well, basically, I did put in my story, John 14 verse two. 162 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,240 I quoted this out of the NIV. 163 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:30,760 Basically my father's house has many rooms. 164 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:36,880 If that were not so, would I have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for 165 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:37,880 you? 166 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:40,480 So, basically, it's pretty cool. 167 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:41,480 I hope so. 168 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:42,480 Yeah. 169 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:50,520 I mean, it's this untangible place, but it's a place where you're not sick anymore. 170 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:57,080 For instance, my mother passed away in 2012, and she had diabetes. 171 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:58,080 She was a physician. 172 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:03,760 She was a doctor for many, many, many years before she passed away, but she did have diabetes. 173 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:08,480 But when I got to heaven, one of the cool things was that she was able to eat a bunch 174 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:09,480 of cupcakes. 175 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:10,760 That was the first thing she was doing. 176 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:12,640 She was like, wolfing down cupcakes. 177 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,160 I was like, yes, I like it here. 178 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:19,960 But when you get there, I'll just go through exactly what happened. 179 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,480 So I got there, and the planes were different. 180 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,880 It's like a space, like an astro plane. 181 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:29,120 It's kind of flat. 182 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:34,200 And the first person I saw, which was kind of strange, was my old boss from 20 years 183 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:35,680 ago, and he's Russian. 184 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:38,840 He was very religious, a great man. 185 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:42,280 He was rushing, I was kind of like, wait, wait, hey, trying to say hi. 186 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:44,880 And he was like, look at me like, oh, no, I got to go. 187 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:47,520 I'm trying to get into the gates. 188 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:52,960 So you get to the plane, and he's like rushing in, and I'm trying to call him like, hey, 189 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:54,360 it's me. 190 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,280 And there's these big, huge gates. 191 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:57,840 There are really pearly gates. 192 00:09:57,840 --> 00:09:58,840 There are gates there. 193 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,640 Because when people say that kind of stuff, you're like, ah, OK, really? 194 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,200 You've got to get in some way. 195 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:06,200 Yeah. 196 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,240 When you told me this, I'd be like, yeah, you know, like, you kind of think people are 197 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:11,160 crazy if they tell you something like that. 198 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:15,240 What was Peter standing outside the pearly gates with a checklist saying, nope? 199 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:16,240 Yep. 200 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:21,320 No, there was just the gates, and you kind of go in. 201 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:27,280 And when you get there, when I got there, there was like a really long line of, like, 202 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:28,960 my family members. 203 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:29,960 They were all there. 204 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:33,080 I mean, like, people I could never even tell you who they were, but I knew they were my 205 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:34,280 family. 206 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:35,840 And they were all there to tell me hi. 207 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:36,840 Hmm. 208 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:38,960 They basically are telling them hi. 209 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:40,760 And they know everything. 210 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:43,200 There's like, everybody has like homes in heaven. 211 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:44,520 Like they have their own house. 212 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,480 Like, I guess maybe it's their own reality or their own house. 213 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:51,560 Or like, I guess they say, but in my father's house, there are many mansions. 214 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:54,360 Well, everybody does have their own kind of mansion. 215 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:58,160 Like whatever their comfortable places or their reality. 216 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:02,840 Like the first place I went to was my grandmother, my great-grandmother. 217 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:04,240 Her name is Rebecca. 218 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:08,600 So I went to my grandmother, Rebecca's house, and you kind of see things in the past. 219 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:14,600 Like, I saw my father riding his tricycle in her house, which my father's like 65 now. 220 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,640 But you know, I did see him as a child. 221 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:20,440 She was trying to show me or God was showing me. 222 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,520 He was like riding around a bike in her house. 223 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:27,440 And then there was like these huge plates of food, because apparently she used to cook 224 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:29,880 for all the grandkids. 225 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:33,800 On lunch, they would all leave school and they would come to her house to eat, which I didn't 226 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:35,200 know about all this. 227 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:39,320 But there was like a big bowl of mashed potatoes and fried chicken and some other stuff, you 228 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:41,640 know, on the table when I got there. 229 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:46,320 And then she also showed me there was like a cellar, what the old folks call it, like 230 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,440 a root cellar per se. 231 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:50,400 And she took me down the root cellar. 232 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:52,800 And inside that cellar, there was a man in there. 233 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,520 And he kind of scared me because it was dark in there. 234 00:11:55,520 --> 00:12:00,800 I didn't know this, but the man, she used to let a guy who was like homeless back then, 235 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,680 she used to let him live in her root cellar. 236 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:05,400 And so the man, he was down there. 237 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:06,760 Must have been some root cellar. 238 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:07,760 Yeah, right. 239 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:12,800 And she had all these like preserves on the shelf, you know, and she was like grab whatever 240 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:13,800 you want. 241 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:15,840 You know, so that was pretty cool. 242 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:20,760 So if heaven, you can describe your ideal home as is where you're living in, right? 243 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,240 So like whatever you're thinking like, Oh God, this would be wonderful. 244 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:24,600 I was like, there it is. 245 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:25,600 Right. 246 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:27,760 This man wanted to be in the root cellar. 247 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:32,720 Well, I think that was his comfort place that he thought the most love. 248 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:37,720 It could have been because I think that really with heaven, it's your comfortable place. 249 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:39,800 You know, like what is in your heart like this? 250 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:41,480 God sees your heart. 251 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:43,120 Maybe that was his comfortable place. 252 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:47,880 It's probably the first time he felt loved, you know, because, you know, all that, all 253 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,640 those mashed potatoes and good fried chicken she had, you know, he probably was like, I 254 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:52,640 like it here. 255 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:54,240 I want to stay even if I have to be in the root cellar. 256 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:55,720 She clearly didn't mind. 257 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:56,720 Yeah. 258 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:01,200 So, you know, I went there because I never knew her, but apparently everyone says I looked 259 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:05,680 like her, so it was nice to see because I kind of, I looked at her and I went, and it's, 260 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:10,320 it's funny because in heaven you are your younger self, your favorite self. 261 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:15,080 So I looked at her and I was like, Oh wow, that lady looks like me because I was looking 262 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:16,080 at her and I was like, wait a minute. 263 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,920 It's kind of weird here, but she looked just like me. 264 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:24,320 So when I always, I know I was heard that I looked just like her in her younger years. 265 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:25,320 So and she did. 266 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:27,520 I was, we looked alike. 267 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:33,880 So, you know, I got to spend a little time with her and then I moved on to another place, 268 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:36,320 which I did not know at the time. 269 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:42,080 I ended up like in this, within like a twinkling of an eye they say, I ended up on this bus, 270 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:43,800 but you're like, okay, bus. 271 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:45,200 Like a tour bus? 272 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:46,200 Yeah. 273 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:47,520 Like a bus with a bunch of people on it. 274 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:51,000 Now, let me be whole what I did not like a great hunt from Philly to Pittsburgh. 275 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:52,000 Yes. 276 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:53,000 Exactly. 277 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:54,480 The bunch of people on it too. 278 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:55,480 Yep. 279 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:56,480 Right? 280 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:00,440 And I was like, why am I on a bus? 281 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:01,440 Okay. 282 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:02,440 Like really? 283 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:08,280 So then I was on the bus and my grandmother who had passed away, who was my best friend, 284 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:12,920 my dad's mother, we're on the bus together and we pull up and I look out the window and 285 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:18,280 I see this like Detroit pistons logo and I'm like, why do I see a Detroit pistons logo? 286 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:19,280 That's kind of weird. 287 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:20,280 Yeah. 288 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:23,200 So, and then I had an aunt who lived in Detroit. 289 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:25,320 Her name was Minerva. 290 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:30,320 So we went to visit my aunt Minerva, but that's why we were in Detroit visiting my aunt Minerva, 291 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:32,480 but all these things I did not know. 292 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:37,360 These are things like after the fact when I asked my family about them, they told me 293 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:43,840 what was really going on, you know, but the thing about the prayer bus was my stepmom, 294 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:48,040 who my dad just got married to right before I had the surgery or right after I had the 295 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:53,280 surgery, they had a big church down in Houston and all the people on the prayer bus were 296 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:58,320 praying for me to pull through because like I said, I had a 50-50% chance of living or 297 00:14:58,320 --> 00:14:59,320 dying. 298 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,520 So all these people on this prayer bus are praying for me. 299 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:04,280 That's why I ended up on the bus. 300 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:06,040 I'm like, why not a bus? 301 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:10,840 But after the fact, you know, like a year later, I find out that all these people were praying 302 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:14,040 for me to pull through because they thought I was going to die. 303 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:19,760 So that's why I was on this bus, you know, and going to Detroit to visit my aunt or something. 304 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:23,000 He showed you the power in Intercessory Prayer. 305 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:24,000 That's all. 306 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:25,000 That was it, you know what I mean? 307 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:30,520 And, you know, God was showing me, you know, that prayer is real, you know, and he operates 308 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:34,080 not only in the spirit realm but in the physical as well. 309 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:35,080 You know what I mean? 310 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:41,440 Because his prayers do come down and they do actually work and they're working constantly. 311 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:46,160 That was like the realization of the tangible of the prayer, you know what I mean? 312 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:51,600 Like showing me, okay, yes, people are praying for you, but here is where I'm manifesting 313 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:58,040 it right here and now and letting you see it, you know, so you understand the power of prayer 314 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,000 and what it means and who you're really talking to. 315 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:02,000 You're pumping me up. 316 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:03,000 Yeah. 317 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:07,880 Like my spiritual adrenaline is just like, yes, please go on. 318 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:08,880 Yes. 319 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,960 So after that, and it's kind of like you kind of, it's like twinkling out of an eye kind 320 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:13,960 of thing. 321 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:16,400 Then you like snap to another place. 322 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:22,080 So then my mother who passed away, then I'm with my mother and then we're like riding 323 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,280 or and heaven has roads. 324 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:25,280 And I heard their gold. 325 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:26,840 It could be kind of yellow. 326 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:28,800 The important part was you were with your mom. 327 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:29,800 Yeah, they could be. 328 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:30,800 Now I think about it. 329 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,600 I was like, yeah, it could be kind of yellow, you know? 330 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:37,040 Yeah, we're like, she always wanted like a drop top. 331 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:41,240 Like that was her dream vehicle that she never got here on earth. 332 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,620 But in heaven, she did have that drop top. 333 00:16:43,620 --> 00:16:48,480 So we got on the drop top and we're like riding around like all over heaven in the drop top. 334 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:49,480 It was pretty cool. 335 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,520 And like if somebody told me this, I'd be like, yeah, right. 336 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,760 But you know, when it actually happens to you, I was like, I have to, you know, write 337 00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:59,160 this down because that's what God asked me to do. 338 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:01,600 So we rode around heaven, kind of hung out. 339 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,800 And then we ended up by this water in heaven. 340 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,480 All the colors are very vibrant. 341 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:09,400 They're beautiful. 342 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:14,280 And like everything has its own motion, like your hair kind of like moves. 343 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,920 Like if your hair is curly, it's like the curls kind of move on their own. 344 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:20,560 Like everything has its own motion, its own time. 345 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,760 Like it's, it's really beautiful. 346 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:27,320 And the colors are really vibrant and bright. 347 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:31,440 When you look in the water, you can see all the way to the bottom, you know? 348 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:35,040 So we kind of like pulled over and we, there's this like big body of water. 349 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:40,800 Like water is a big thing in heaven and God makes it clear that he, that water is a big 350 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:42,400 part of things. 351 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:45,880 And when you look in the water, you can see like whales and fish. 352 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:47,520 You can see like all the way to the bottom. 353 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:48,520 It's beautiful. 354 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:51,960 Like the ocean, you could just look right in and see everything in there moving. 355 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:52,960 Awesome. 356 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,520 And so we kind of stopped off and looked at that. 357 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:58,600 It was just so beautiful. 358 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:00,320 Like you kind of don't want to leave. 359 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:01,320 No doubt. 360 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:02,480 No doubt. 361 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:04,800 When that is the goal, you know, the end goal. 362 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:09,040 Why would you want to, you know, we're sitting in this room and it's not a bad room, but 363 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:14,080 compared to the vibrancy of heaven, compared to the intensity of heaven, compared to the 364 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:18,160 joy of heaven, this place seems pretty bad. 365 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:19,160 Right? 366 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:21,840 This place seems dull, dreary. 367 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:25,160 You know, I'm going to step my toe on a bed probably sometime in the near future and 368 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:26,160 it's going to hurt. 369 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:28,280 And that would never happen in heaven. 370 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:29,280 Right? 371 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:30,280 I know it's going to happen eventually. 372 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:31,280 I do it all the time. 373 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:32,280 Yeah. 374 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:33,280 I'm never going to run out of gas. 375 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,280 Right? 376 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:36,280 Right? 377 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:37,280 I don't even need a car. 378 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:38,560 I just want to fly myself. 379 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:40,200 It's got Superman in this Jesus. 380 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:41,200 I'm ready. 381 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:42,200 Yeah, right? 382 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:45,640 And then I saw a lot of my family members, like my grandfather. 383 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:48,400 I got to see him, got to talk to him. 384 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:53,760 But what he told me was that basically he yielded his time with me so I could spend time with 385 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:58,280 the females in the family because I had been through such a traumatic experience. 386 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,800 I think I needed like a mother's, grandmother's like love to kind of pull me through the other 387 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:04,120 side, you know? 388 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:06,400 So he was like, okay, well, I yield my time. 389 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:11,400 So I know it's like great-grandmothers, aunts, grandmas, moms, you know, all kind of surrounding 390 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:13,040 me pulling me through. 391 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:18,200 And then I did go to my grandmother, my mother's mother's house. 392 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:22,240 And what we used to like to do on the holidays, we would, you know, do our own dough and our 393 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:27,220 homemade rolls and make our own cookies and caramel cakes and things like that. 394 00:19:27,220 --> 00:19:32,400 So I, we did, I did go to her house and we ended up cooking, you know, for one last time. 395 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:33,920 It was nice. 396 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:37,680 And you know, making our food and got to, you know, because she passed away while I 397 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,840 was in college down living in Nashville in Tennessee. 398 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:45,160 So I didn't get to really see her very much before she died. 399 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:46,680 Or get that closure you need. 400 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:47,680 Right. 401 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,080 And God allows you, when you're in heaven, you're able to heal, you know, that part of 402 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:54,080 that experience was healing because I did get that closure. 403 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:58,800 Like you said, yeah, we were able to do, you know, the caramel cake and kind of have that 404 00:19:58,800 --> 00:19:59,800 closure. 405 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:05,800 So he kind of takes you through all the places, the broken pieces in your life. 406 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,240 God takes you to different places that allow you to heal. 407 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:11,320 That's why I guess he's the ultimate healer. 408 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,160 I mean, that was a big part of my experience in heaven. 409 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:18,280 It turned a lot of things around in my life that were broken. 410 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:22,000 So I got to spend some time with her as well. 411 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:28,480 And then after that, God kind of brought me back and I did see South Hills. 412 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:33,200 I was wondering what church I kept seeing, but I was in the balcony. 413 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:38,320 I was really high up and I kept seeing the drum stand, you know, with the glass around 414 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:39,600 it. 415 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:44,520 But I didn't know I had no idea that I would be, you know, really coming to this church. 416 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:48,320 But all I could see was like the drum where people played the drums with the glass around 417 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:49,320 it. 418 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:51,760 And I was up in the balcony and looking down at it. 419 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:56,280 I guess hindsight is 20-20 because now I know why God was showing me this church and 420 00:20:56,280 --> 00:21:01,160 what he wanted me to do because what I do here now, I work at the food bank, you know, 421 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:05,920 I help feed people, I help do the baskets and things like, you know, we've done and 422 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:06,920 different things like that. 423 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:11,760 So he also wanted me to serve and have a place to serve and a place to continue to be close 424 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:14,240 to him and not stray. 425 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:16,600 So this wasn't your church when you had? 426 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:17,720 It was not. 427 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:19,720 And so when did you come here? 428 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:25,040 I came here when I got out of the hospital in 2016. 429 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:28,680 And when did you realize that this was a church that God had showed you? 430 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:35,120 When I saw the glass drum cage like from up high, like I just knew. 431 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:38,760 When I saw the sanctuary, I knew this was it from one. 432 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:40,480 Did you have like a jaw dropping moment? 433 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:42,160 Like, this is it. 434 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:43,160 I did. 435 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:44,160 I did. 436 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:48,600 So you know, you were in heaven for 45 days. 437 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,560 Now did it feel like 45 days or did it feel longer? 438 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:52,800 Did it feel shorter? 439 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:57,280 Like, because I know time isn't the same because God is above time, space and matter. 440 00:21:57,280 --> 00:21:59,160 So he does things as how he does things. 441 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,000 I felt like maybe two days, max three. 442 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:03,000 Really? 443 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:04,000 Wow. 444 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,600 Well, attorney's going to feel like a really long time then. 445 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,400 And in all this time, you know, you talked about, you saw your family, they lined up, 446 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,440 they queued up, your grandfather yielded his time because he's like, Hey man, I'm going 447 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:15,440 to play the long game. 448 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:17,760 I'm going to see her eventually. 449 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:18,960 Nobody comes off Earth alive. 450 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:20,360 So I'm going to, I'm going to get to see her again. 451 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:21,600 I'm going to have my time. 452 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:22,800 But where did God show up? 453 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:23,800 Did you see him? 454 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:24,800 Did you see like this? 455 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:25,800 I'm curious now. 456 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:26,800 Like this is. 457 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:27,800 Yes. 458 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,400 Um, but God didn't show up until he told me I had to come back. 459 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:37,440 He basically wanted me to really see heaven and really get a feel for it and to see it 460 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:38,800 for what it really was. 461 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,840 Because you know, like I said, people won't believe it. 462 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:47,280 If somebody told me this, I wouldn't believe it, but he really wanted me to have that time 463 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:51,560 to experience it and to know what it was and what it looked like. 464 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:55,720 And there were roads and there were cars and there was food and there were, there were 465 00:22:55,720 --> 00:23:02,200 houses and people and how beautiful the colors were and the people were really alive and 466 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,000 vibrant and it was super cool. 467 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:10,280 But I think he wanted me to get the full effect of heaven so I can come back because what 468 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,040 he wanted me to do is tell people about it. 469 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:19,440 If you don't know Jesus, if you don't know the Lord that you make it a point to do that 470 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,520 because you don't want to miss out on heaven, you know, and I'm so grateful that Jesus died 471 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:24,520 for me. 472 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:28,920 So I didn't miss out on heaven because you don't have to be a perfect person to get there 473 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:30,760 because I definitely wasn't. 474 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:31,960 I mean, I always love the Lord. 475 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:37,640 I always went to church, but you know, everybody has their flaws, but just try to try to work 476 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:39,320 those out and get right with God. 477 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,040 Why you still can't. 478 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:45,120 And if he gives you a second chance, try to make it right with him. 479 00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:47,280 So what was your experience with God like? 480 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:48,280 He was really kind. 481 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,040 You should also fear God. 482 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:51,040 Yes. 483 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:54,680 Because he's God, but he was really kind. 484 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:55,880 He was really kind. 485 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:57,760 He wasn't like scary or anything. 486 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,480 He was, he was, you couldn't see his face. 487 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,040 His face was covered with like, what it looked like to me. 488 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,640 It was like, it was a wooden box. 489 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:11,280 I can only see like from the box down, but you really couldn't see anything and I know 490 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,040 that sounds weird, but I could not see his face. 491 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:15,040 It doesn't sound weird. 492 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,920 It sounds like something that God would do because you weren't dead. 493 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:24,680 You were in a coma and therefore you, maybe you weren't allowed to see the fullness of 494 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:29,840 God because you weren't, you didn't cross over that threshold to stay in heaven permanently. 495 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:34,280 You were just there on the visitor's pass or a three day pass, the weekend pass. 496 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:35,280 Right. 497 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:40,960 And so that makes sense to me that, you know, because how many times has Isaiah is like, 498 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:41,960 Oh, I can't be here. 499 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:42,960 I'm such a sinner, right? 500 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:46,080 Like I can't be in front of the Lord and they want to shield themselves because they know 501 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,360 that just by being in his presence, his holiness alone would destroy you. 502 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:50,360 Right. 503 00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:51,760 Maybe that's why you can't see his face. 504 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:52,760 Okay. 505 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:53,760 That makes sense. 506 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:54,760 That's just a guess. 507 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:55,760 You know, I don't know. 508 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:59,880 Me too, because I was kind of like, I wonder why he covers his face, but that's why. 509 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:03,040 You know, it tells you that in scripture, you know, about that stuff. 510 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,200 But you know, his voice was really kind. 511 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:09,640 He spoke to me like a father would, you know, he's really kind and he was like, it's not 512 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:10,640 your time yet. 513 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:15,520 You have to go back because if you die, your father will die, which is my earthly father 514 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:19,040 here, you know, because he needed me to take care of him through everything he's been through 515 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,200 heart surgeries and cancer and everything like that. 516 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:28,240 After I got well, and he said to get to know Jesus better because I could see Jesus in 517 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:33,600 heaven, but he was not interacting with me and I think God was making a point that I 518 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:35,760 needed to get to know him better. 519 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:39,400 And he said, it's not your time that you have to go back, but the main thing is get to know 520 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:43,240 Jesus better and to tell people about this. 521 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,440 So that's why I was really glad about doing this podcast. 522 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:50,720 And that's why I also wrote the story in Pastor Rick's book because if God tells you to do 523 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:52,320 something, you better do it. 524 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:53,320 So I have a question. 525 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:55,160 He wants you to get to know Jesus better. 526 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:59,280 How was your relationship with Jesus prior to the event? 527 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:04,640 The word for me, honestly, that's coming up in my spirit was detached because I didn't 528 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,760 really have a full relationship with Jesus. 529 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:14,520 You know, you have kind of a relationship with God, you think, per se, but not Jesus 530 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:19,880 as Jesus and who he was and what he did and why he did what he did and the reason why 531 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,720 and what it actually did for us. 532 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:24,840 That it really saved us. 533 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:25,840 From God's wrath. 534 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:26,840 Right. 535 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:28,640 That's, you know, you're talking about you should fear God. 536 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:29,640 That's a scary thing. 537 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:30,640 Yes. 538 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:31,640 Right. 539 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,360 Most people are like, oh, the worst thing I could worry about is the devil. 540 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:34,360 Like wrong. 541 00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:35,360 Right. 542 00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:37,080 The worst thing you've got to worry about is God. 543 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:39,480 You do not want to be on his bad side. 544 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,280 Like have you read Revelation? 545 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:42,640 What happens at the end? 546 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:44,720 Like when he blows to the trumpet, Jesus comes back, right? 547 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:45,720 What happens at that? 548 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,360 He pours the bowls of wrath on the earth. 549 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:49,360 No, thank you. 550 00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:50,440 I don't want his wrath. 551 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:51,440 Like he's creative. 552 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:52,440 He made all of this. 553 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,440 I don't want to be in creativity with his wrath either. 554 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:59,960 And again, I can't do simplest tasks without screwing it up. 555 00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:05,840 So thank God that, and I mean it, thank God that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. 556 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:11,320 Thank God that, that I have an intercessor that stands before the judge and said, this 557 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:12,320 one's covered. 558 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:13,320 This one is paid for. 559 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:14,400 This one is mine. 560 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:15,920 And God says, next. 561 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:18,040 Yes, he is the gate. 562 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,400 And it's so profound that, and I love that you're on the podcast with us. 563 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,360 I love that you get to reach people with this story as God asked. 564 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:29,440 And I want to pray for it, that it reaches the most amount of people that we can possibly 565 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:30,440 reach. 566 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:32,000 That God would supernaturally reach us. 567 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:36,040 That your story that he asked you to tell can reach as many years as humanly possible 568 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:37,560 for his glory. 569 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:38,720 Because I think it is very important. 570 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,640 That's why I asked you what your relationship was like with Jesus. 571 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,720 Because we all think we have a relationship with Jesus. 572 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:46,400 If you go to church, right? 573 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:48,960 If you think you're saved, you think you have a relationship with Jesus. 574 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,760 So I want to know where your baseline was, where God is telling you, hey, get to know 575 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:53,920 him a little bit better. 576 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:54,920 Right? 577 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:56,000 Like, so you're in heaven. 578 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,120 You made the cut, but you could be a better relationship. 579 00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:03,320 So I wanted to help the listeners to understand what it takes to have a relationship with 580 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,000 Jesus, what it means and where they are. 581 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:09,680 And maybe they should take a look at themselves and examine themselves. 582 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:10,680 Right? 583 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,960 And even if you think you've got a great relationship with Jesus, I would encourage you to get to 584 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:16,320 know him a little better. 585 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:18,440 Because what's it going to hurt? 586 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:19,440 Right? 587 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:23,880 Well, for me, it was really delving into scripture, you know, because you're like, you've got 588 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:27,000 this life and you're busy, you're working, you're cooking, you're cleaning, you're running 589 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,560 the grocery store, you're doing this, you're doing that. 590 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:35,640 And you know, you don't take the time to really, you come to church, you go through the motions, 591 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,200 and then that's it in a way. 592 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:44,080 But what it took for me personally, what I suggest is scripture. 593 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:51,440 And in particular, I like what worked best for me was John, reading the gospel of John 594 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:57,560 and listening, reading and even watching even some movies, you know, things like that. 595 00:28:57,560 --> 00:28:59,920 But John really hit home with me. 596 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:05,240 That really helped me understand the goodness of God and the goodness of Jesus and what 597 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:11,800 he actually did for us and how he really saved a lot of us from so many things. 598 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:17,840 And I think it's our personal responsibility to really get to understand what Jesus did. 599 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:25,960 And if you can't do it on your own, what I did as I asked God to make a way for that 600 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:31,240 to happen, to show me and to send me, you know, ways and Bible studies and different 601 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:36,440 things like that, so I could get to know Jesus better because that's what he wanted me to 602 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:37,440 do. 603 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,360 But I wanted him to actually give me an avenue to do so because I was having a hard time 604 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:44,960 doing it on my own, you know, you're looking through the Bible and you're trying to pinpoint 605 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,880 the scriptures and how to do it and how to go about it. 606 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:52,120 And what I did is I said, okay, God, I'm a little jumbled here on this. 607 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:57,840 So please send me or point me in the right direction, show me how to get to know Jesus 608 00:29:57,840 --> 00:29:58,840 better. 609 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,440 I want to do what you were asking me to do. 610 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:03,240 And he did, you know, it took a little while. 611 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:08,480 It wasn't exactly like snap of a finger and human time and my time, it was all at his 612 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:09,480 time. 613 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:15,960 Right, and so I ended up taking a class here at South Hills Assembly and signed up for 614 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:18,600 a Pastor Luke and Breeze class. 615 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,200 That really has helped me a lot. 616 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:25,440 And so I was able to do what God was asking me because you get a little scared when God 617 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:30,000 tells you to do something and you're like, it's been a couple of years and you're like, 618 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:34,480 you know, you still haven't nailed down what he asked you to do to get to know Jesus better. 619 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,480 And then when the class came up, I was like, yes, this is perfect. 620 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:43,000 Because I really didn't know that it was about, you know, Jesus, the John classes. 621 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,800 I didn't think they were going to really teach me more about Jesus. 622 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:51,000 But when I got there and they started talking, I was like, aha, okay, God, this is what you 623 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:52,000 wanted me to do. 624 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:56,200 And you put me in the right place at the right time to do what you asked of me. 625 00:30:56,200 --> 00:31:00,120 And I really appreciated that from him because it shows how much he loves us. 626 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:01,720 He doesn't want us to die. 627 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:03,680 He wants us to live forever. 628 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:06,160 And he wants to make a way for us to do so. 629 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:11,760 I can't imagine a God that would sacrifice his son so that we would have that way that 630 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:13,080 wanted us to perish. 631 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,600 Like, I want you guys to die, but I'm going to give my son just in case. 632 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:17,600 Like not at all. 633 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:22,440 You know, and scripture says that, you know, for God so loved the world that he gave his 634 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:26,520 only begotten son so that whoever believed would have eternal life wouldn't perish. 635 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:28,520 Because he doesn't want us to perish. 636 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:29,520 Amen. 637 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:30,520 Yes. 638 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:33,960 Yeah, because I was trying to figure out, okay, how am I not going to perish here? 639 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:35,460 But okay. 640 00:31:35,460 --> 00:31:39,280 So he put me in the right place at the right time and he was walking with me every step 641 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:40,280 of the way. 642 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:44,640 And I will say like a lot of this time, you know, learning how to drive again because 643 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:46,280 I couldn't drive. 644 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:51,160 Learning how to cook, clean, you know, walk, learn, work, everything. 645 00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:56,280 He basically carried me, you know, when I couldn't carry myself, you know, when I, at 646 00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:59,520 certain times, you know, I hate to say this, but you know, I was like suicidal because, 647 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:02,560 you know, you can't, you can't think, you can't remember anything. 648 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:03,560 You can't drive. 649 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:05,280 You're stuck in the house. 650 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:10,840 You're just like, you know, and during those times, he carried me when I couldn't carry 651 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:11,840 myself. 652 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:15,000 You know, you were the third or fourth person that we've had on the podcast that had thoughts 653 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:16,280 like that. 654 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,080 So you're not alone in that. 655 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:20,880 This is a common theme with people. 656 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:23,480 It's a common way the enemy attacks us. 657 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:28,040 And so I want you to know that there's nothing wrong with you, that you're perfect, you're 658 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:29,040 whole, you're wonderful. 659 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:31,480 And there's nothing to be ashamed of. 660 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:32,480 Thanks. 661 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:35,480 I'm not God without Jesus carrying me. 662 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:36,480 I don't know where I'd be today. 663 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:37,480 You know, it's funny. 664 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:39,520 I'm thinking here you are in heaven. 665 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:40,520 You're getting the three day pass. 666 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,800 You're getting the weekend pass, the holiday pass, you know, you're going to the holiday 667 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,320 express in heaven where all of a sudden you know everything. 668 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:47,800 It's holiday express commercials. 669 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:48,800 Eat cupcakes. 670 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,960 Eat cupcakes, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, the guy, with the guy in the root salad, you 671 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:52,960 know. 672 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:56,480 And then God tells you, he needs you to get closer to Jesus. 673 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:58,080 You need to know who he is better. 674 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:00,040 But clearly you made the cut. 675 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:02,760 Clearly you were good enough to heaven, right? 676 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:08,120 And so my only thought is, is the reasons why he wanted you to get to know Jesus better. 677 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:12,400 You know, I think, you know, maybe it's because if you knew you went to heaven, you'll get 678 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:13,400 cocky. 679 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:14,400 You'll get confident. 680 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:15,640 You'll get comfortable. 681 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,200 And you won't do the things he needs you to do. 682 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:22,760 So he needs to get it poured into you like, hey, maybe he needs you to tell other people 683 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:27,120 about Jesus and the road that you take to get to know him better is going to get other 684 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:28,120 people to know him better. 685 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:29,120 Right? 686 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:32,560 And I think there's so many ways that I feel that he could reach out to you just by that 687 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:33,560 one thing. 688 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:38,400 And I feel that Jesus was distant from you in that, so that it could hit God's message 689 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:39,400 home. 690 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:43,600 And I think that's what really hit home was when he was not interacting with me. 691 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:44,920 It kind of made me sad. 692 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:45,920 Yeah. 693 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:48,600 You know, I was like, okay, does he not like me? 694 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:51,120 You know, like, I think that's a problem. 695 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:54,520 And when God was like, get to know Jesus better, Jesus was not interacting with me. 696 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:55,600 I went, oh boy. 697 00:33:55,600 --> 00:34:00,720 I think even though I'm like singing, I'm doing this and I'm per se studying, it's like 698 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,600 I wasn't where I needed to be. 699 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:05,680 You know, because you think like you said, you get kind of cocky. 700 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:07,600 You think, okay, I go to church. 701 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:08,600 I do this. 702 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:14,080 I do that, you know, but it's really to me getting in the word and listening to the word 703 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:20,000 and digesting it and making the necessary changes in your life to become more like what 704 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,200 the word is telling you to be, be transformed. 705 00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:25,880 You know, he wants you to be transformed. 706 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:29,400 And so that's the main thing is being transformed. 707 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:31,880 That's the second time I've heard that today. 708 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:36,000 We had men's breakfast this morning, John Colb, former Pittsburgh Stealer, and part 709 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:40,400 of his message was be transformed through the renewing of your mind. 710 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:42,440 So second time I've heard that today. 711 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:44,840 And when you brought up, you know, you wanted to seek him. 712 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,040 You didn't want to sit comfortably where you were. 713 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:52,920 The last episode that we did, we talked about Christians getting complacent in their comfortability 714 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:56,840 and that's not a place God wants his children is complacent. 715 00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:00,280 You know, we're asked to be spiritual warriors for him and his kingdom. 716 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:04,440 We're asked to be doers of the word, right? 717 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:06,640 And that's hard to do when we get comfortable. 718 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:08,080 It's hard to do when we get complacent. 719 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,120 It's hard to do when we're cocky, confident and arrogant in our seat. 720 00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:14,760 Like, I know Jesus, I worship him in spirit and truth. 721 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:18,100 And we walk out that door without looking at people. 722 00:35:18,100 --> 00:35:20,040 We had a pastor before, a pastor, John Kent. 723 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:22,360 We've had him on one of our podcasts. 724 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:26,760 And he has a phrase he likes to say is that you never lock eyes with someone who doesn't 725 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:33,440 matter to God, meaning every single person whose eyes you look into matters to God profoundly. 726 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:37,000 No matter what you think of them, whether you like them, you don't like them, you're indifferent. 727 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:41,360 This person matters profoundly to the creator of the universe. 728 00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:43,840 And I feel that you should treat him accordingly. 729 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:48,280 If this person matters to God, I better be nice to him, right? 730 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:49,400 That should be something I do. 731 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:50,720 I don't always do that. 732 00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:54,760 I'm not perfect, but as often as I remember that, I am. 733 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:55,760 Right. 734 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:56,760 Exactly. 735 00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:57,760 You know, we all fall short. 736 00:35:57,760 --> 00:35:58,760 Oh my goodness. 737 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:03,640 But, you know, you just have to pick your cross back up and keep walking and change your 738 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:05,920 mindset and remind yourself. 739 00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:07,040 And that's why it's good to... 740 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:13,840 Which I love, part of my new life is making sure I stay grounded in the word a lot. 741 00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:18,520 That keeps your mind on track of, you know, where you don't get cocky and where you don't... 742 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:22,200 It keeps renewing your spirit, you know, every day and it keeps transforming you from the 743 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:24,800 inside out every day, every day, every day. 744 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:26,440 That's an awesome story that you have. 745 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:29,000 There's a phrase called, rock-a-zock. 746 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:34,200 You know, it's the old Israeli, you know, it's kind of like tightening your spiritual knuckles, 747 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:36,040 preparing for the battle with the enemy. 748 00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:39,600 And, you know, I really feel something deep down every time you speak of this. 749 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:40,600 I feel conviction. 750 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:44,800 I feel like this message, I know it's for others, but I feel it was for me too. 751 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:47,480 And I really appreciate you being on today and sharing this. 752 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:49,320 This is tremendous, tremendous. 753 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:54,440 Now, when we were talking the other day in our small group, you had mentioned that Pastor 754 00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:55,960 Rick had prayed for you. 755 00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:57,720 Oh, yes, for sure. 756 00:36:57,720 --> 00:37:04,040 Okay, so when I got out of the hospital, you know, again, part of that back to being suicidal, 757 00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:05,920 I couldn't remember how to do anything. 758 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:11,400 I was just like, you know, if you set something down, like three seconds, I will lose it. 759 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:12,560 And I would just have... 760 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:13,560 I was... 761 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:14,560 My mind was so... 762 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:15,560 It was messed up. 763 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:16,560 Foggy. 764 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:20,000 I mean, I couldn't remember anything, like nothing. 765 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:25,200 And so I was in a church service and it was like a healing service. 766 00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:30,160 And I said, anybody who wants to be healed, you know, get up and come to the front. 767 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:32,680 And the Holy Spirit said, you know, get up and go. 768 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:36,000 So I got up and ran to the front. 769 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:40,680 And Pastor Rick, you know, anointed my head with oil and, you know, prayed from there 770 00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:41,840 on out. 771 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:43,120 That was the beginning of my recovery. 772 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:45,720 I'm going to be totally honest because I couldn't remember anything. 773 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:48,600 I was a hot mess, so they say. 774 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:53,800 But that right there, just having the faith to get up and walk and go and listen to what 775 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:55,480 the Holy Spirit told me to do. 776 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:59,240 Because, you know, you're like, you know, I'm hearing stuff, you know what I mean? 777 00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:01,520 He says go and you're like, yeah, okay. 778 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:02,800 But he said, get up and go. 779 00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:03,800 And I said, you know what? 780 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:04,800 I'm going to get up and go. 781 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:07,880 And I went to the front, anointed my head and prayed for me. 782 00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:12,680 And I'm able to talk to you today with like a smidgen of clarity because before it was... 783 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:14,240 I was all over the place. 784 00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:15,240 It was so bad. 785 00:38:15,240 --> 00:38:18,480 So Pastor Rick was a big part. 786 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,840 God working through him was a major step in my recovery. 787 00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:29,800 It propelled me forward to where I'm able to drive, to work, to live, to be human, basically. 788 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:30,800 Awesome. 789 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:31,800 I love it. 790 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:32,960 I can't wait to have him on here. 791 00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:33,960 Everybody. 792 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:35,600 There's so many people that mention him. 793 00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:36,600 He's going to be here two hour. 794 00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:38,360 Besides, he's going to be a two-parter. 795 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:39,360 Oh, man. 796 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:43,280 So do you have anything else you wanted to share? 797 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:44,600 Everything just flowed so well. 798 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:46,640 You wouldn't know that you had brain surgery? 799 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:47,640 Yes, still don't know. 800 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:48,640 I still don't believe you. 801 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:51,800 I believe you about heaven, but I don't believe you had brain surgery. 802 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:52,800 It's been a long road. 803 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:58,520 Like I said, it's taken a good five plus years to actually get a lot of physical therapy, 804 00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:04,840 a lot of cognitive therapy, a lot of, you know, just constant trying and not giving in 805 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:07,200 and prayer, staying in the Word. 806 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:13,920 And ladies from Central Assembly of God and of course, South Hills Assembly Bible Studies. 807 00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:18,440 That has been a big part of my recovery too because, you know, the only place I could 808 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:21,160 really even drive was just to make it here to Bible study. 809 00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:24,560 That's all I asked God to just, you know, just let me be able just to get the Bible study 810 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:25,560 in home. 811 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:28,640 So I was able to do that at least at first to drive here and back. 812 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:32,520 And so you just got to keep fighting, never give in, stay in the Word. 813 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:33,520 Don't get discouraged. 814 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:37,080 Don't listen to the thoughts that the enemy plants in your head because when you're at 815 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:42,440 your weakest point, kind of like, you know, Machiavelli used to say, attack your enemy 816 00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:47,600 at their weakest point per se, the enemy will attack you when you're weak. 817 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:52,960 So the best thing to do is surround yourself with people that love the Lord, that know 818 00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:56,720 the Lord, stay in the scripture, stay in the Word. 819 00:39:56,720 --> 00:39:57,720 Don't ever give up. 820 00:39:57,720 --> 00:40:00,760 Don't ever listen to, don't ever doubt. 821 00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:03,000 When you're walking on the water, don't doubt. 822 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:05,080 Just keep staying in the Word. 823 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:08,480 Just keep praying to God and being honest with Him. 824 00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:13,520 If you have doubt and you feel doubt inside of you, just talk to Jesus about it. 825 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:15,160 That's why Jesus died. 826 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:17,400 You know, talk to them about it. 827 00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:19,160 Let them know your feelings. 828 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:23,600 Ask them to strengthen you, empower you, show you the way and, you know, just never give 829 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:27,520 up and just believe there is a heaven and you will see your loved ones again, even your 830 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:28,520 pets. 831 00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:29,960 I love it. 832 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:31,720 And you can eat cupcakes in heaven. 833 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:32,720 Yum. 834 00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:33,720 It sounds delicious. 835 00:40:33,720 --> 00:40:34,720 Glazed donuts. 836 00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:40,000 So they say that prayer is when we can talk to God, but the scripture is how God can talk 837 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:41,000 to us. 838 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:42,000 Yes. 839 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,000 So that is great. 840 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:44,000 I love this. 841 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:46,680 I felt the Holy Spirit really thick in this room. 842 00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:47,880 It was so good. 843 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:52,800 And like some parts I had tears in my eyes because like when the Holy Spirit just fills 844 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:56,760 me, but you'll know because I'll have tears. 845 00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:57,760 She overflows. 846 00:40:57,760 --> 00:40:59,000 Her cup runneth over. 847 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:00,000 It does. 848 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:01,000 It does. 849 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:02,000 It was so good. 850 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:03,440 Thank you so much for being here and sharing that with us. 851 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:05,240 I'm so glad you got to do that. 852 00:41:05,240 --> 00:41:09,560 Thank you for asking, you know, God made a way for his story to be heard. 853 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:14,240 Which he, obviously we have the Bible and other things like that, but I think he wants, 854 00:41:14,240 --> 00:41:18,680 especially in these times, he wants to keep pushing that he loves us. 855 00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:19,680 He's here. 856 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:20,680 He's him. 857 00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:22,680 And he wants more people to come to him because he loves us. 858 00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:24,440 He calls us to give our testimonies. 859 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:26,480 This is how we win people over. 860 00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:29,080 You know, I could tell you all day long, it's in the Bible and then someone's going to say, 861 00:41:29,080 --> 00:41:32,320 well, Scott, daddy, this and well, listen, man, this is what he did for me. 862 00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:33,320 Right. 863 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:34,760 You can try to refute that. 864 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:36,120 You can't take away what I saw. 865 00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:37,280 You can't take away what I felt. 866 00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:39,160 You can't take away what I experienced. 867 00:41:39,160 --> 00:41:40,160 So refute that. 868 00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:41,160 Right. 869 00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:42,160 Right. 870 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:43,160 So our testimony is very important. 871 00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:44,160 Right. 872 00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:48,840 Our eye witness account, our experience is very important when we speak to nonbelievers 873 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:50,200 about the goodness of God. 874 00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:54,000 When we speak to nonbelievers that, you know, Jesus isn't mad at you. 875 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:57,520 And if you don't like God, it's not because anything he did, it's because the people 876 00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:00,720 that represent him, you know, we're called to be ambassadors for him. 877 00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:01,960 Some of us screwed it up. 878 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:02,960 Right. 879 00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:06,080 And we have two things say things that make people feel distant from God. 880 00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:07,080 Like, I don't want that. 881 00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:08,080 Right. 882 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:10,880 And we feel distant because we listen to the lies of the enemy. 883 00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:11,880 Oh, yeah. 884 00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:15,640 We have to put on the full armor of God and we have to put on, what is it, the helmet 885 00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:16,640 of salvation. 886 00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:21,280 The helmet of salvation allows us to block those thoughts that the enemy is trying to 887 00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:26,160 put in our head, you know, and we have to, you know, get our shield up and block those 888 00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:31,160 fiery darts because we have to block out those thoughts because you can't let those 889 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:34,520 consume you because we have to remember that God loves us. 890 00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:38,920 And that's the most important thing that I learned because me personally never would 891 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:40,920 have thought that I could have gone to heaven. 892 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:42,840 No, not allowed there. 893 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:44,960 You know, don't ever doubt. 894 00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:48,560 Just don't let the enemy get in your head and try the best you can do everything you 895 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:51,000 can while you're here and you're still alive. 896 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:56,680 That you have the chance to get to know Jesus better because heaven is real. 897 00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:58,840 It's real and you can eat cupcakes. 898 00:42:58,840 --> 00:42:59,840 We can eat cupcakes. 899 00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:07,040 You know, a couple of guests ago, we had someone on that had an experience with God or with 900 00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:11,440 Jesus and Jesus actually showed him hell and heaven, but he said he felt like he was in 901 00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:13,440 hell longer to experience it. 902 00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:18,080 And I think it's so profound the differences and how he's teaching and reaching certain 903 00:43:18,080 --> 00:43:19,200 people. 904 00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:23,200 It really does speak to how he ministers to us because he knows our hearts. 905 00:43:23,200 --> 00:43:24,600 He knows what works best. 906 00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:30,040 He knows how to motivate you and he knew how to motivate him. 907 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:33,600 Even though sometimes it doesn't feel like he knows how to motivate me and everybody 908 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:35,280 else. 909 00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:37,680 And we just have to learn to lean into that. 910 00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:42,440 And that can be hard because if you're like me, you're very bullheaded and I'm going to 911 00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:43,440 do this. 912 00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:44,440 And God's like, no, no, shut it. 913 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:46,720 I can't hear you. 914 00:43:46,720 --> 00:43:49,040 I do children's ministry here and I didn't want to. 915 00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:51,920 I was like, God, I put it on my heart to ask you. 916 00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:52,920 I'm like, why? 917 00:43:52,920 --> 00:43:55,120 Like I did it in the last two churches. 918 00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:56,600 Like, can I just sit in a pew? 919 00:43:56,600 --> 00:43:59,720 And I was like, all right, I'll pray about it. 920 00:43:59,720 --> 00:44:00,720 And then I prayed about it. 921 00:44:00,720 --> 00:44:01,720 I didn't like the answer. 922 00:44:01,720 --> 00:44:05,320 And so I prayed about it some more and I was like, well, you're not changing your mind. 923 00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:06,600 And so I agreed to do it. 924 00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:11,480 And you know, I don't find joy or anything by serving in children's, but I know that 925 00:44:11,480 --> 00:44:12,480 I'm doing his work. 926 00:44:12,480 --> 00:44:15,000 I'm knowing that I'm doing something that he wants me to do. 927 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:16,560 I don't know why he wants me to do it. 928 00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:17,560 I feel so underprepared. 929 00:44:17,560 --> 00:44:22,600 I feel so overwhelmed by the task, but there's some reason he says, like, this is what you 930 00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:23,600 need to do. 931 00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:27,120 And so I'm going to try to do the best I can at it when I'm there. 932 00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:28,120 Yes, both of you guys. 933 00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:31,360 I mean, he put you in the right place at the right time. 934 00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:37,400 He made it so, you know, even though whatever was going on in the other room made a way. 935 00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:43,640 He's always going to make a way for us to do his work and to let people know he's good 936 00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:47,360 and he loves us and he wants us to be with him forever. 937 00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:50,640 Well, thank you for coming on. 938 00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:55,840 Because this episode has been a blessing to you, we ask that you send it along to somebody 939 00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:57,680 because it might help encourage them. 940 00:44:57,680 --> 00:45:00,800 I know I felt encouragement just by hearing the story. 941 00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:05,520 And then also we have a fundraising campaign to help pay for our expenses. 942 00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:10,600 And if you look up GivesAndGo.com and God's Goodness podcast in there, you'll be able to 943 00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:11,600 help us. 944 00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:15,800 You can do financial donations and that'll help us a lot. 945 00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:23,080 And we hope you enjoyed this and we'll talk to you next time.