1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,320 Welcome to the God's Goodness podcast, where our mission is to encourage as well as highlight 2 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,760 God's goodness and modern-day miracles. 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,840 We are your hosts, Josh and Shelly Hankins. 4 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:21,040 Today we have with us the famous pastor, Rick. 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:25,440 He was mentioned in four of the first 17 episodes. 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:31,480 He's been making an impact for the kingdom for decades, people in our previous episodes. 7 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:36,760 Some knew him before he was a pastor, and he's just so meaningful in so many people's 8 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:37,760 lives. 9 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:40,280 We are blessed to have him here with us today. 10 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:45,520 He's taking a break out of his super busy schedule to be with us, and we would like to 11 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:49,080 have him open us with an opening prayer. 12 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:54,200 Holy Spirit, without you none of this is possible. 13 00:00:54,200 --> 00:01:00,080 We know that you know every heart, and that you will cause those who need to hear this 14 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:01,080 to listen. 15 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:07,520 And we believe that the words that go forth, which are your words, scriptures that will 16 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:16,360 be used, will hit the mark, and that a fire would ignite in every heart that people's 17 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:23,600 lives would be changed all over the world for your honor and for your glory, and that 18 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:28,640 we would hear feedback of it, God, to encourage us in Jesus' name. 19 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:29,640 Amen. 20 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:30,640 Amen. 21 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:31,640 Thank you. 22 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:32,640 Thank you for being with us. 23 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:33,640 We appreciate it. 24 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:35,040 So where would you like to start? 25 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:42,840 Well, I'd like to start with, this morning when I woke up, a word came to me. 26 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,120 God meant it for good. 27 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:51,040 Of course, that's from Joseph's account with his brothers, remember that? 28 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:57,320 And so I made a devotion out of it for a new book, and I'm calling it the tapestries of 29 00:01:57,320 --> 00:01:59,040 our lives. 30 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:06,720 The scripture, Genesis 50, verse 20 says, but as for you, this is Joseph speaking to 31 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:15,920 his brothers, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring it 32 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:22,280 about as it is this day to save many people alive. 33 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:28,380 So I awakened this morning with these words in my thoughts, God meant it for good. 34 00:02:28,380 --> 00:02:37,960 One of the meanings of the Hebrew word for meant, M-E-N-T, is to weave, to plait, or 35 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:45,720 interpenetrate, and because God is greater than anything bad that comes against us, he 36 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:54,560 is able to creatively weave it together to make an even stronger, better, more unified, 37 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:56,760 positive outcome. 38 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:04,840 Even when we fail, God is gracious, and as we look to him, he can make good out of it. 39 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:09,440 John 1-9, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to 40 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,040 cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 41 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:22,640 Ropes are made of many individual strands of fibers, yet all weaved were braided together. 42 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:30,560 They create a bond that is strong and able to withstand great pressure. 43 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:39,440 Jeremiah 29, 11-14 says, I know the thoughts and plans I have for you, says the Lord. 44 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,720 Their plans for good, not for evil. 45 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:44,960 Always to bring you to an expected end. 46 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:51,360 When you seek me and search for me with all your heart, I will be found of you, and I 47 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:56,240 will turn away your captivity. 48 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:06,760 So when something adverse happens in life, let's say, God, I look to you to make this 49 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,400 all come out for good. 50 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,240 Be glorified quickly. 51 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:21,160 Now why don't you take a moment and think about how God has gifted you with testimonies 52 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:25,600 of victory through all you've experienced in life. 53 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:34,800 Remember, whatever others do to oppose us or God in us, God himself will make it come 54 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:39,920 out good for us if we pray and believe. 55 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,120 And I close with this prophetic word that God gave me. 56 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:49,120 As a matter of fact, when I was writing this, I thought, oh, I remember a word God gave 57 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:53,640 me in a red light years ago. 58 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,760 And I thought, now, where is that copy of that that I can read it? 59 00:04:57,760 --> 00:04:59,760 That would be good for here. 60 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:06,360 And I opened this book here and I'm reading and there it is. 61 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:08,200 I love how God works. 62 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:21,680 So this is what it says, the Lord's plans and purposes and details are intricately woven 63 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:26,440 in every fiber of our being and lives. 64 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:31,360 Look at the threads of evidence in your life. 65 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:37,880 He is powerfully weaving a story of glory. 66 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:47,920 Each thread closely intertwined to provide strength and moral fiber all to unveil him 67 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:49,760 and his love and compassion. 68 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,000 Isn't that neat? 69 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:53,000 It is. 70 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,120 You can see that if you look back in your life. 71 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:56,120 For sure. 72 00:05:56,120 --> 00:06:02,320 It reminds me of Johnny Miller's episode when you don't look at one chapter. 73 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:04,920 You look at your story isn't over yet. 74 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,320 If you're not dead, God's not done with you yet. 75 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:08,320 Right. 76 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,600 And he doesn't get you so far, only to have gotten you so far. 77 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:13,480 There's always more that he has for you. 78 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:17,920 There's always more he wants from you to accomplish for the kingdom of his glory. 79 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:20,440 There isn't a finite end, Resist. 80 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:21,560 Well done, good and faithful servant. 81 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:22,560 You're 20 years old. 82 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:23,560 That's all I got for you. 83 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:25,120 And then he just leaves you on your own. 84 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:26,120 Right. 85 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,840 There's never a finish or a completion to the work that he has laid out for us. 86 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:38,600 I really appreciate the looking back because you can get so close to Jesus, but he'll keep 87 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:42,400 always being out of reach because we wouldn't need him if we could meet him. 88 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:43,400 Right. 89 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,880 And the only way to really measure our walk at a certain point, especially the older we 90 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:47,880 get in our walk. 91 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:49,960 We get wiser, we get more aware of our sin. 92 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,640 We get more aware of the things that aren't okay with God. 93 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:54,640 Right. 94 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:59,360 And the only way to measure where we are is by looking about how far we've come. 95 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,200 And I'm always amazed at how far I've come. 96 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:08,120 I mean, the person I was and the person I am are not recognizable to each other. 97 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:12,840 And in any way, not at all, not even in looks, I don't think I would be able to recognize 98 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,880 myself if I saw me 20 years ago. 99 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:20,880 And it's an incredible transformation that God has performed through obedience, through 100 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:22,760 a faithful walking with him. 101 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:26,400 And I, for one, am very, very glad that I chose him. 102 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:31,080 I'm very glad he chose me first so that I could lean in and choose him. 103 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:37,760 And I'm curious, Pastor Rick, did you have Jesus in your heart like your entire life 104 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:41,360 or you raised in a church or did you pick him up through adversity? 105 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,640 Did you like have something happen to you? 106 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,960 Like, man, I got to, I got to, I need a better way. 107 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:52,600 It was through adversity, but I was raised. 108 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:53,600 My mother was Catholic. 109 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,480 My father was Lutheran. 110 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,760 They never went to church, but they sent us to church. 111 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:09,600 And we walked well over a mile to church as little kids in the East Liberty portion of 112 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:11,440 Pittsburgh. 113 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:16,400 And for some reason, I know God's hand was always on me. 114 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:17,920 I was real religious. 115 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:22,120 I always wore a little crucifix on my belt loop. 116 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,640 I was ultra-Catholic. 117 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:32,120 The more I learned, the more I did in all of the Catholic traditions. 118 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:40,840 And from the time I was in fifth grade till the time I was 21, when I gave my life to 119 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:45,120 the Lord, I actually prayed three entire rosaries. 120 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,280 I don't know if you know what that is. 121 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:51,840 It's 60 some 63 or 64 prayers, repetitious prayers. 122 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:52,840 Okay. 123 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:53,840 Three of those every day. 124 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,760 I went through my little black prayer book cover to cover every day. 125 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:06,840 I had a pile like this of prayers to saints and angels, prayed them, always never passed 126 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:12,440 to church without stopping to make a visit, went to Catholic school, went to mass and 127 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:16,320 communion daily as much as I could. 128 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:25,640 So there was all that interest in God, but we can be real religious and not really know 129 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:26,640 God. 130 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:34,840 And then what comes to me is how when I was about, oh, maybe four or five years old, it 131 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:42,880 was New Year's Eve and my father wasn't home, but my mother let us stay up. 132 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:50,360 So back in that day, we would open the windows and we would bang pots to make noise when the 133 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:51,880 year turned over. 134 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:52,880 Okay. 135 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,400 I thought you were going to say on a normal day, I'm like, wait. 136 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:58,080 No, no, no, no, no. 137 00:09:58,080 --> 00:09:59,080 Just just dance. 138 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:00,080 Okay. 139 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,720 On a normal New Year's Eve. 140 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:05,120 Okay. 141 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:15,920 So although we did play with pots when we were kids, but anyways, so my mom opened this window 142 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:23,800 and we were about to bang our pots and a big cross appeared in the sky. 143 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:28,040 It was red and we never did bang the pots. 144 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:35,320 I mean, we got this feeling of overwhelming presence of God. 145 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:40,880 So when things like that happen, then you kind of check on your behavior. 146 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:45,560 I mean, I was just a little kid, but I was conscious of right and wrong. 147 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:50,080 And so you try to be better, but you know, you keep failing. 148 00:10:50,080 --> 00:11:00,720 So as my story goes on, when I was 19, I was drafted in the army. 149 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:02,960 That would be Vietnam era? 150 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:03,960 Yeah. 151 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:04,960 Vietnam era. 152 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:05,960 Yeah. 153 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:06,960 1969. 154 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:13,720 And I went through my basic training and I was told that was the toughest part. 155 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:19,440 And so, oh, there's just so many things that happen, but I'm going to leave out details 156 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:20,960 that aren't really important. 157 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:25,120 But even though you can see it had to be God's hand and at all. 158 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:33,600 So to make a real long story short, I spent a year, my first year in the service and then 159 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:40,000 I was working in the mail room and an officer came in and said, oh, Cardell, that's a good 160 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:41,000 assignment. 161 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:46,560 I said, what is, and he said, oh, didn't anybody tell you? 162 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:51,840 You're on a one man, levy or list to go to Vietnam. 163 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:58,600 Well, I felt that like the blood rushed from my feet all the way up to my head and it felt 164 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:00,720 like my head was going to pop off. 165 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:08,480 It was a spirit of fear that came into me and I walked around like a zombie. 166 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,320 I couldn't think right or anything. 167 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:19,560 And one day a co-soldier, a friend said, you know, something's wrong. 168 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:22,920 You need to talk to Captain. 169 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:29,560 And I said, even though I worked for him, I couldn't, how do you do it? 170 00:12:29,560 --> 00:12:36,440 So when the captain was away for lunch, this guy took me into Captain's office and sat 171 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:41,640 behind his desk and said, no, just pretend I'm the captain and tell me what's going 172 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:43,160 on. 173 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:45,360 And so I did and it really helped. 174 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:51,520 So when the guy came back from lunch, I did the procedure, you know, went in and talked 175 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:58,840 to him and they said, we were going to call you in here today. 176 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:00,880 What's wrong with you? 177 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:06,400 And so I told him when I got the word about going to Vietnam, I said, I can't think 178 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:07,400 or anything. 179 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:11,640 He said, well, do you think you would go AWOL? 180 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,040 And I said, I'd never think of doing that. 181 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:19,600 And he said, well, would you consider going to mental hygiene? 182 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:21,600 And I said, yeah. 183 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:24,960 And so I went and talked to a man for about an hour. 184 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:31,600 And then he said, okay, I'll make you an appointment with a doctor for this week. 185 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,800 And I thought, a week. 186 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:40,160 You know, I only get so many days leave before going to Vietnam. 187 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,240 And so I go back to my barracks. 188 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:51,600 I had my orders to go and I pulled out my Bible, which a non-believer gave me before 189 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,280 going into the service. 190 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:55,880 Actually God again, you know, weaving. 191 00:13:55,880 --> 00:14:04,440 And I did read it and I said, God, you know, I'm so upset that I can't find the words 192 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:06,560 to talk to you. 193 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:11,440 If you're for real, I'm just going to hold this Bible between my hands. 194 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:14,800 I don't recommend people do this, you know, but God knows where we are. 195 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:20,200 I was a non-believer and I'm going to let it fall open wherever it falls open of you 196 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:21,200 for real. 197 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:23,240 Please speak to me through that. 198 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:25,560 And it opened to the book of Job. 199 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:28,640 And I think we all know Job's story. 200 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,480 And I read the whole thing. 201 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,400 And I said, God, what do you say to me? 202 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,200 Just have patience. 203 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:39,440 And this is all going to work out. 204 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,440 I said, I'm down here. 205 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:44,320 Here's my orders in black and white. 206 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:48,120 You're way out there somewhere and there's nothing you can do about it. 207 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,200 I don't believe in you anymore. 208 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:51,800 I wasn't really a believer anyways. 209 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,440 I mean, I believe with my head, but not with my heart. 210 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:56,320 You knew him, but you didn't know him. 211 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:57,320 Right. 212 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:03,280 I knew him in the mental ascent kind of way, but not in the pure faith, personal relationship 213 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:07,840 with Jesus Christ, which is necessary. 214 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:14,480 And so with that, the next day I cleared the post and I went home on my leave, visited 215 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:20,400 people and, oh, I don't think I told you I was an alcoholic. 216 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:21,400 Did I? 217 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:22,400 No, you did not mention that. 218 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:23,400 Okay. 219 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:24,400 Yeah. 220 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:29,360 When I was 19 years old, as religious as I was, I tell people I was a good Roman Catholic 221 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:36,560 alcoholic because I did all of the religious things, but I drank hard liquor every day. 222 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:40,200 And all right, now back to where I was. 223 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:49,360 I visited people and then it was the day before I was supposed to go to California to go to 224 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:50,360 Vietnam. 225 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:55,200 Let me back up a little sentence or two. 226 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:56,700 So I had this leave. 227 00:15:56,700 --> 00:15:58,200 It was about a month. 228 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:04,720 I was a Christian, but all that time I isolated myself from family and everybody. 229 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:06,280 I hated life. 230 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:11,280 I hated everybody and everything because I felt so helpless. 231 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:13,240 That's where the devil wants us to go. 232 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:14,240 Exactly. 233 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:15,240 I isolated. 234 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:16,840 And so I shut myself up in my room. 235 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:23,840 I lived with my family, siblings and so on, you know, and didn't eat with them or anything. 236 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:30,440 But I just remember terrible things I wrote all over my bedroom walls and stuff like 237 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:35,520 that, you know, about how life isn't fair and so on. 238 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:45,400 But then it was that night that day was graduation from my one brother from high school. 239 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:49,200 And so there were parties, you know. 240 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:56,960 And I found myself in front of the bathroom mirror and I saw myself divided into two. 241 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:04,800 And one side was saying, hey, there's nothing left of this life after life. 242 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,160 You don't have to go through this Vietnam thing and stuff like that. 243 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:09,960 This is what you do. 244 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:17,600 You go down to the drugstore by a big bottle of Aspirin, 50 bear aspirin. 245 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:25,160 And so then you come home and you go to sleep. 246 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:26,160 It's painless. 247 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:27,520 So I did that. 248 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:28,520 I went down. 249 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:34,200 The other side was saying to me, no, very gently, don't do that. 250 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:35,200 That's wrong. 251 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:36,200 So I gave in. 252 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:41,200 I went down, got the aspirin, stood before that mirror, took them all. 253 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:45,360 Then nothing seemed to be happening, the grace of God. 254 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:48,880 And I went out drinking with my brother. 255 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,000 I remember this is funny. 256 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,680 One lady at the party says, oh, such a headache. 257 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:55,680 Do you have an aspirin? 258 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,720 I said, no, I just took a whole bottle. 259 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:00,680 Everybody just laughed about it. 260 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:01,680 She didn't. 261 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:07,520 It's funny because, you know, aspirin thins the blood and alcohol thins the blood. 262 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,880 You know, you're making gestures, looking up and holding your hand. 263 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:16,520 I don't think people really understand the magnitude of how dead you should be that 264 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:21,520 with the drinking and the aspirin, a whole bottle that we should not be having this conversation. 265 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:22,520 Right? 266 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:23,920 You shouldn't be here for this conversation. 267 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:29,000 So I don't think our listeners really understand the gravity of that situation, that that's 268 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:30,960 not a good place to be that. 269 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:31,960 And you were functioning. 270 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:32,960 I was. 271 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:35,280 You were able to have a conversation and make jokes. 272 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:36,280 Uh-huh. 273 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:37,840 That should not have been either. 274 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:38,840 Uh-huh. 275 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:41,600 So after that, I went home. 276 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:43,080 Everybody else had retired. 277 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:45,080 There was a girl in the town. 278 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:49,320 She's a couple, two, three years older than me. 279 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:50,480 She hung around with us. 280 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,440 She was like family. 281 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:54,640 So she was like always at our house, you know? 282 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,240 She didn't live there, but she was always there. 283 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:58,240 And we would talk. 284 00:18:58,240 --> 00:18:59,480 We were good friends. 285 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,200 And so we were sitting in the dining room. 286 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:09,720 And all of a sudden I saw total blackness and fire. 287 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,600 And I said, God, God, please don't let me die. 288 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,400 I knew I was going to hell. 289 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:19,400 And then all of a sudden I was back in the dining room. 290 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,440 She said, what are you talking about? 291 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:23,800 And I told her what I'd done. 292 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,720 She said, well, go stick your finger down your throat. 293 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:28,920 Try to get as much of this up as you can. 294 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,040 Go take a cold bath. 295 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:32,640 And then we'll go walking. 296 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:35,560 This girl, she was a little thing. 297 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:37,600 She kept me up all night. 298 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:38,600 We walked. 299 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:45,400 We went down to the river and waded and went to the reservoir, walked around the reservoir. 300 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,600 And I just said, I can't do it anymore. 301 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:50,120 You know, I just start to fall down. 302 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:52,320 She said, no, no, come on. 303 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:56,760 And so then we went to her house. 304 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:04,040 She gave me some toast and tea and then took me home while I'm laying on the couch. 305 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:06,760 And my father comes down. 306 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:08,600 He's got up late for work. 307 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:10,720 He's rushing around. 308 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:14,320 And he says, aren't you supposed to report to California? 309 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:16,560 I said, yeah. 310 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:20,880 He said, well, you better get going because you don't want to be marked a wall. 311 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,360 I just ignored him. 312 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:24,360 I was sick. 313 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:25,360 Okay. 314 00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:30,000 And then my mother came down and you know how mothers sense things. 315 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:34,440 They know they're kids and a 19-year-old kid. 316 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:37,880 But she said, oh my God, what's wrong with you? 317 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:39,960 So I told them what I did. 318 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,080 And she said to my dad, come on. 319 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:46,080 We got to take him to the hospital and get his stomach pumped. 320 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:51,840 And my dad, who, he was the town drunk. 321 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:53,960 Okay. 322 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:55,040 You know, you're a dad. 323 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:57,000 You know, but you came to know Jesus. 324 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:58,000 That's good. 325 00:20:58,000 --> 00:20:59,880 And he got delivered. 326 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:05,320 So there was no respect in everything for him like I should have had. 327 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:09,440 And he says, I've had it with these kids. 328 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:14,560 They take everything into their own hands, you know, let them die. 329 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:16,600 And he knew I wasn't going to die. 330 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:18,720 If I hadn't died yet, I wasn't going to die. 331 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:23,000 You know, he had some wisdom, worldly wisdom. 332 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:29,160 So my mom calls the Red Cross and all this and they say, well, take him to a veterans 333 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:31,480 hospital. 334 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:38,720 So he went and I was interviewed by three different doctors and each one said, oh, well, 335 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:39,840 you don't want to talk to me. 336 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,280 You want to talk to Dr. So-and-so. 337 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:47,480 And then the last doctor that I wanted to talk to wasn't there. 338 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,560 So now I'm really frustrated. 339 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:52,560 And I said, let's get out of here. 340 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:54,760 I'm feeling better. 341 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:55,760 So we go home. 342 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,640 What's that the next day after you took the pills? 343 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:00,640 Yeah. 344 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:01,640 Yeah. 345 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,920 It was the next day because I had walked all night, you know, and stuff like that. 346 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,280 You know, the girl kept me up all night. 347 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:08,840 Did you know that girl before? 348 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:09,840 Oh, yeah. 349 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:10,840 Oh, yeah. 350 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:11,840 Oh, yeah. 351 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:13,960 She was a part of our family. 352 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,240 She was always at our house. 353 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:17,240 Always. 354 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:19,760 We're all pound around together, you know. 355 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:32,440 So then my mother, she took me down to a local doctor and my body was so swelled up that 356 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,960 I couldn't put shoes on. 357 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:41,080 So here I was walking down the street without any shoes, you know, but to the doctor and 358 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:45,880 I don't know all the, you know, medical things and stuff like that. 359 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:52,000 But I do remember the doctor said, well, your body seems to take in the complete opposite 360 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,240 reaction to this than it should have. 361 00:22:55,240 --> 00:23:01,280 I'm going to give you a saltwater injection and you should be okay to catch a later plane. 362 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:05,080 So I go home from there and I thought, I'm not doing this. 363 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:07,840 I can't go and kill people. 364 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:09,560 I can't. 365 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:17,360 And so I threw some stuff in a paper bag and went out the door and my mother says, if you're 366 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:22,600 going a wall, don't ever bother coming back to this house. 367 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:32,080 And so I left, hitched a ride to Keystone State Park, stayed up there, lived in the woods, 368 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,760 raccoon ate all my food. 369 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:38,080 And but I, it was summertime. 370 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:39,200 Praise God. 371 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:44,800 So I just bummed around and you know, people shared, they're doing cookouts and stuff. 372 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:46,040 Hey, you want something to eat? 373 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:48,480 You just befriend people and so on. 374 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:55,840 But I was always looking over my shoulder because, you know, there's, I thought they're 375 00:23:55,840 --> 00:24:01,200 seeking me, you know, they're, they're going to find me and put me in jail and so on. 376 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:07,080 Well, then I was using the shower facilities for the campers up there and the man in charge 377 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,240 says, Hey, look, you're not paying the camp here. 378 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:15,600 If I see you up here using these facilities again, I'm going to call the police. 379 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:25,400 So I made arrangements with some friends from my area that were going to Canada and they 380 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:27,480 agreed to take me to Canada. 381 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:30,240 So I was going to defect to Canada. 382 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:36,520 When I got to my hometown, they had car problems and they had to cancel the trip. 383 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:39,160 So what was I going to do? 384 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:46,200 There was a lady in our town who she had a daughter that was several years younger than 385 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:55,400 me and, uh, but they were good friends and this lady always had time to listen. 386 00:24:55,400 --> 00:25:03,080 Her name was Joanne Patterson and I called her and explained my situation. 387 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:07,040 She said, well, you can come here and sleep. 388 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:08,200 Okay. 389 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:17,240 So I went and one night after dinner, she said, I have to go out and she told me before she 390 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:24,400 left that she being a parent knew that my parents would be concerned. 391 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:32,160 So to put their mind at ease, she said that, uh, I called them and let them know you're 392 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:34,200 here and you're safe. 393 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:38,080 And I really think you should contact them, talk to them. 394 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:42,600 And I thought I can't do that. 395 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,040 So then she goes out that evening. 396 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:46,120 She comes back. 397 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:55,040 She had talked to my priest and her, my priest, my parents, they tried to work something out 398 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:57,440 for me to help me. 399 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:01,400 But I still couldn't face them. 400 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:08,560 One day when nobody was home, Oh, I gotta tell you this, because this is real important. 401 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:13,040 This lady, she had had two daughters. 402 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,200 One had cystic fibrosis. 403 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:24,360 And when she was, I don't know, maybe 13 or something, she died right after she died. 404 00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:33,840 The husband left the scene and left the mother and the other daughter and he ended up becoming 405 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:34,840 a Christian. 406 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:37,960 He ended up becoming a good Christian, by the way. 407 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:42,800 I mean, God's weaving it all together and everybody's lies, right? 408 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:51,320 And so she said, she was just in the state of mind that she couldn't think and she wandered 409 00:26:51,320 --> 00:27:00,200 into a clergyman's office and he told her, Joe, and you're not meant to handle all this. 410 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:04,960 He said, take, take your hands like this, saying, this is your hand. 411 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:06,520 This is God's hand. 412 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,600 Take all your troubles. 413 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,840 Imagine them, put them in God's hands and lift them to him. 414 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,600 And she said that helped to snap her out of it. 415 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:21,080 So I went through these motions and I felt lighter. 416 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:27,960 So then one day my dad came knocking at the door when nobody was home and told me that 417 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:34,240 he and the priest, I had talked to some people and they agreed that if I would go with them 418 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:40,920 and turn myself in, they would call the Red Cross, the Red Cross would verify that I had 419 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:48,240 attempted suicide and they would require that I would be put into a hospital. 420 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:52,720 So that's the way it was, I was supposed to be taken to a hospital. 421 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:59,080 But as soon as my dad and the priest left the MP station, they handcuffed me, took me 422 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:06,480 down the basement garage and took me to the old Allegheny County jail, which was nothing 423 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:09,800 like the new jail. 424 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:11,320 It was like a dungeon. 425 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:13,360 It was bad. 426 00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:15,360 So I went there. 427 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:20,600 The first night I was there, I felt so despicable. 428 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:29,240 I crawled up in a corner like a little kid and I had my face in my hands and I just cried. 429 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:32,720 I said, God, I don't know how you can forgive me. 430 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:34,280 I've hurt you. 431 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:36,560 I've hurt so many people. 432 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:41,760 If only I could start over again, I'd live my life different. 433 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:49,960 And as God is my witness, the walls disappeared and God took me out into eternity. 434 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:51,480 And I saw Jesus. 435 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:54,840 You gotta remember, Jesus is eternal. 436 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:56,440 God's in eternity. 437 00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:58,480 He could take us somewhere in the past. 438 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:00,640 He could take us somewhere in the future. 439 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:02,880 Could take us somewhere in the present. 440 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:09,480 And so I saw Jesus like I see you, but I saw him when he was in agony on the cross. 441 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:18,840 And I heard the voice of God, the Father, say, this is my son who died for you. 442 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:24,200 And I felt a wonderful love and peace and forgiveness like I'd never experienced before 443 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:28,200 in my life as religious as I was. 444 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:36,280 Then as this is happening, I remembered how God calls things to your mind. 445 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:43,280 Finally I remembered in first grade, one of our very first catechism questions, why did 446 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:45,560 God make you? 447 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:51,400 God made me to know him, to love him, to serve him in this world and to be happy with him 448 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:52,400 in the next. 449 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:57,360 And I said, God, I don't know you, do I? 450 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:00,320 I want to know you. 451 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:08,000 And then I remembered that in seventh grade, an old Roman Catholic nun was trying to help 452 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:12,680 us to understand how short life is compared to eternity. 453 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:19,040 And she says, children, just imagine that the earth is a big iron planet suspended in 454 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:20,840 the universe. 455 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:25,120 Every 10,000 years, a little dove flies past. 456 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:28,440 His wing just brushes that earth. 457 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:32,800 She said, you know, eternity is longer than it would take for that earth to disappear from 458 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,520 the brush of that dove's wing. 459 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:42,760 And in this situation, I said, God, I want to be with you for eternity. 460 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:51,360 And all I said was, Jesus, please, fill me with yourself and never let me lose this peace. 461 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:57,080 I'll live for you all the days of my life and I'll tell everybody I meet that if they're 462 00:30:57,080 --> 00:30:59,880 not living for you, they're not living. 463 00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:06,040 Well, instantly, I knew my slate was clean. 464 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:11,120 Instantly I knew I was alive to God like I'd never been before. 465 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:16,400 And instantly I knew that when I die, I'm going to heaven. 466 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:18,000 Nobody explained that to me or anything. 467 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:19,720 It was the knowing. 468 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:24,040 And I had said to the Lord, Lord, I know the drinking's wrong, but I can't stop. 469 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:25,720 Please help me. 470 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:32,400 And He instantly delivered me from the alcohol to, thank God. 471 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:41,520 So after a week in the old Allegheny County Jail, I was taken, handcuffed with another 472 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:43,320 prisoner or two. 473 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:51,240 I hadn't met them until we were leaving and taken by MPs up to Fort Meade, Maryland, to 474 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:57,320 be put into a special processing battalion where people are just waiting to get out of 475 00:31:57,320 --> 00:31:58,320 the service. 476 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,280 They didn't care what kind of a discharge they got. 477 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:07,600 And can you imagine, and God is mindful of everything that we experience, but can you 478 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:15,520 imagine being handcuffed, making a road trip, having to stop at different rest stops and 479 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,920 that and being handcuffed. 480 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:20,720 And Jesus is Lord. 481 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:23,960 I'll tell you, He gets us through everything. 482 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:30,120 So here I am in this special processing battalion. 483 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:35,200 It was these guys, they just wanted to get out of the service. 484 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:39,360 And if they could do something to help them get out quicker, they would. 485 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:44,280 We pulled details, I called garbage and stuff while we were there. 486 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:49,520 I remember this one night, there was a knife fight at the bottom of my bed. 487 00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:51,000 But here I am. 488 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,560 I'm in a bubble of peace. 489 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:59,440 It's like this peace of God that passes on understanding since I met Jesus. 490 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:00,440 It's unexplainable. 491 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:01,440 Yeah. 492 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:05,480 It's only when you know it that you understand it. 493 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:06,840 When you know, you know. 494 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:08,880 When you know, you know. 495 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:09,880 Yeah. 496 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:10,880 Okay. 497 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:17,000 So my turn finally came to appear before the commanding officer to read off what they 498 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:20,320 call an article 15. 499 00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:21,320 And you know about that? 500 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:22,320 Oh, I do. 501 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:23,320 Yes. 502 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:25,320 I spent some time in the Navy in the Army. 503 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:26,320 Okay. 504 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:29,880 But for those of us who don't know, it's a legal document that has your punishment on 505 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:30,880 it. 506 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:31,880 So your crime and your punishment. 507 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:35,600 I know the DD 214 is very important, but I don't know about this article 15. 508 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:40,080 There's a few different articles and article 15 is probably one of the worst ones. 509 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:43,840 Well here I was standing in the Class A uniform. 510 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:46,560 He's about to read off my punishment. 511 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:50,720 But all of a sudden his telephone rang and he answered it. 512 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:51,720 He says, yes sir. 513 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:53,320 He's standing right here. 514 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:59,040 So I remember I literally swallowed hard, you know, and thought, I know I've done wrong. 515 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:03,840 I know there's consequences, but I don't want to get a bad discharge. 516 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:07,840 Please give me the grace to get through whatever I have to get through here. 517 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:14,080 And so the man hangs up the phone and says, do you know Colonel Monsieur? 518 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:15,800 I said, no sir. 519 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:18,240 And he says, well he wants to see you. 520 00:34:18,240 --> 00:34:21,960 And he ripped up this legal document and threw it away. 521 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:26,320 So he sends me up to another building. 522 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:33,360 I got in to see the Colonel and he'd looked me in the eye and said, you know, I don't 523 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:40,120 know you, but something inside me tells me I'm to hear your story and not give you any 524 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,560 punishment. 525 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:44,640 And that's the way it happened. 526 00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:49,000 And so he said, have you gone to mental hygiene since you've been here? 527 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:50,360 And I said, yeah. 528 00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:55,240 So he called up there and they never made a report. 529 00:34:55,240 --> 00:34:59,080 So he had a friend that worked there and he made me an appointment. 530 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:02,120 I went and talked to this man. 531 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:03,680 So the report comes back. 532 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:10,000 Well the doctor explained to me, he said, well, by talking to you all through your life, 533 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:13,480 you never let anything upset you. 534 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:15,040 He would stuff it. 535 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:16,040 Okay. 536 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:18,120 He just put it down in there. 537 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:19,600 A lot of people do that. 538 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:20,600 Yeah. 539 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:21,600 It's not healthy. 540 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:23,400 You got to talk about it. 541 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:31,960 And when this whole Vietnam thing happened, it was a mass release of mental tension. 542 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,880 That's all. 543 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,440 So don't let things build up, people. 544 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:39,960 Don't let things build up. 545 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:41,440 You know, nobody listening knows. 546 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:47,000 But when you first arrived, I compared you to the apostle Paul, to the guest that was 547 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,800 just before you and saying, you know, most people will say, hey, I wish I could live 548 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:51,800 a life like Paul. 549 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:57,840 And I said, well, this is the guy that is living his life like Paul in this day and age. 550 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:01,880 And now you're telling me that you were in prison and the prison walls came down and 551 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:03,280 the guard just let you out. 552 00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:06,720 And I'm thinking, man, you really are like Paul. 553 00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:07,720 Oh. 554 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:12,680 I know not everybody has an experience with Jesus like you had. 555 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:19,640 And it is clearly something he needed you to have to break you out of whatever mental 556 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:22,520 prison you were in as well as the physical prison. 557 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:28,520 But it has led you down a path of such devotion to him that the Holy Spirit is evident when 558 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:29,920 you speak to you. 559 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:32,640 The Holy Spirit is evident when you look at you. 560 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:34,840 The Holy Spirit is evident in the things that you do. 561 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:35,840 The books. 562 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:37,920 The books have you written now? 563 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:38,920 Six. 564 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:43,240 Six books, literally glorifying God and testimonies thereof. 565 00:36:43,240 --> 00:36:48,600 You are clearly someone that God has chosen at an early age because he is eternal and 566 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:52,760 he is past, present and future so that when he first formed the world, he knew that he 567 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:54,880 was going to have you in it, right? 568 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:58,640 And he knew at that moment that you would be having this podcast with us. 569 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:04,160 And I am so very happy that you experienced the horrible things in your life that caused 570 00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:11,160 you to have your heart leap out to him for anything to hold on to and that he responded 571 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:12,160 with love. 572 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:13,800 I am so grateful that you are here today. 573 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:15,240 I am so grateful for your story. 574 00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:18,440 I am so grateful that you are who you are. 575 00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:23,360 You are truly, a lot of people, they will say that like, you know, Jesus lived this life 576 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:24,360 as a moral, right? 577 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:27,280 He is God in the flesh to prove that we could do it. 578 00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:31,160 But nobody can do it like Jesus did it, right? 579 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:32,160 Right. 580 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:35,760 And so I think that is always a bad example to people because it turns them off. 581 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:37,600 I mean, I cannot do that, right? 582 00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:41,120 Jesus did it but he was God but he was a person but he was God. 583 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:46,600 And then we have you who had the life that you had, who believed that they were sanctimonious 584 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:51,600 and glorified because you knew what those words meant and you would pray. 585 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:53,640 But you didn't know what you were doing, right? 586 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:57,680 And then you had an experience with Jesus that transformed your life in such a way that 587 00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:03,320 you have never gone back from what I've heard of people that knew you from that era till 588 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:09,120 now, no one has ever said a single word, this contradictory to who you are now, not one. 589 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:10,120 Praise God. 590 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:12,080 And I have never met you before I started coming to this church. 591 00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:14,160 I didn't know your story, you know your history. 592 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:17,960 And the more I know, the more I'm like, aha, right? 593 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:18,960 And it's, that's evident. 594 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:23,880 There's a few people here that I've met that the Holy Spirit is just evident in them, just 595 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:24,880 evident. 596 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:28,960 There's a few people that aren't as obvious as you, that when you get to talk to them, 597 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:31,000 you're like, yep, there it is, right? 598 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:36,440 But with you, it's literally shining, kind of like Moses' face when he came off the 599 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:37,440 mountain, right? 600 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:41,640 That he had to wear a veil because his presence near God, the holiness of God wore off in 601 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:45,680 him so much that he was reflecting at still days later. 602 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:48,360 And so I am very grateful for your story. 603 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:55,600 I hope that it encourages people that it is possible to live a life for Christ in this 604 00:38:55,600 --> 00:39:00,240 era, that you don't have to reflect on Paul, you don't have to try to live your life to 605 00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:01,880 an unattainable standard. 606 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:07,880 But there is a way through obedience, through giving your heart solely and holy to Jesus 607 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:13,160 that a lot of us, I think, fail with because we don't want to get rid of something. 608 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:16,360 You know, it's a hard part for us to say, oh, God, I'll give you my life. 609 00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:17,360 And he says, how about this? 610 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:19,440 Well, well, hold on a minute. 611 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:22,160 You know, that's not really hurting anybody. 612 00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:23,360 And that's not the point. 613 00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:27,080 The point is, if God calls you to give it up, you should give it up. 614 00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:33,840 And you're living a life of proof that living in his glory, living in his grace, living in 615 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:38,880 his mercy produces such fruit that people see it, that are blessed by it, that your books 616 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:43,560 are full of testimonies from people that have experienced Christ. 617 00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:46,040 And I just really thank you for your obedience to the Father. 618 00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:48,840 I thank you so much for your walk with Jesus. 619 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:53,360 I thank you so much that you are an ambassador for Christ in such a way that you understand 620 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:57,880 the awesome magnitude of being a representation of God Almighty. 621 00:39:57,880 --> 00:39:59,640 And you are that guy, right? 622 00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:02,880 You hear Pastor Luke talk about, hey, that's him. 623 00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:03,880 That's him. 624 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:04,880 That's the guy, right? 625 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:05,880 That's what that means. 626 00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:06,880 That's you. 627 00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:07,880 You're him. 628 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:10,800 You're the guy that is proof that you can walk a holy life. 629 00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:14,640 You're the guy that proof that you can walk a godly life, that you can be an obedience 630 00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:20,160 to him, that when people say, hey, you know, I try for the self control, it's just so hard, 631 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:21,480 but there is a way, right? 632 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:23,920 How often did you struggle with self control? 633 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:28,240 You know, before you were in a relationship, before you were profoundly in a relationship 634 00:40:28,240 --> 00:40:30,920 with him, there was no self control. 635 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:35,640 You did what Rick wanted to do, and they weren't the smartest decisions. 636 00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:39,680 And none of us make the smartest decisions, no matter how smart we are. 637 00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:43,440 And I really love the life that you live for him, and I love the encouragement that your 638 00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:47,680 life brings without you saying anything, just that your life is bringing, is encouraging 639 00:40:47,680 --> 00:40:49,680 daughters. 640 00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:55,280 This is true for all of us, whether we know it or not, you know, we all have an impact. 641 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:59,480 So I end up working for the colonel. 642 00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:08,360 And he told me that I could finish my time out in the service, and he talked to people 643 00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:13,480 in the Department of the Army, and I would never again be put on order still combat zone. 644 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:20,160 So then after working a while under him, I was asked if I wanted to go TDY, which is 645 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:29,000 temporary duty, and you don't have to live on base, and you get extra pay. 646 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:32,040 And I said, oh yeah. 647 00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:39,680 So where to, to the Pentagon to work for the deputy chief of staff of personnel. 648 00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:47,120 So I was all excited about that, and came home that weekend to Oakmont from Maryland 649 00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:55,200 and told everybody, well, I had been such a liar during that whole episode. 650 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:57,880 They didn't know that they could believe me. 651 00:41:57,880 --> 00:42:03,560 So here I go, I go back to, well, it was the following Monday. 652 00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:06,920 I was waiting in the outer office of the colonel. 653 00:42:06,920 --> 00:42:09,160 I had my duffel backpack. 654 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:16,920 I had my orders in my hand, and the phone in the outer office rang. 655 00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:20,200 And it was the Pentagon. 656 00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:26,000 And they said, hey, tell that guy we have to cancel the orders because there's not the 657 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:32,240 money and the budget to pay the extra TDY pay, temporary duty pay. 658 00:42:32,240 --> 00:42:37,160 And I said in my heart, God, how could you do this to me? 659 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:39,960 How could you build this all up? 660 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:45,240 And then like how the rug pulled out from under me at the last minute. 661 00:42:45,240 --> 00:42:53,040 And God spoke to me and said, see, if you would have let me have my way with those orders 662 00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:57,320 to Vietnam, I could have changed them in the very last minute. 663 00:42:57,320 --> 00:42:59,520 Isn't that amazing? 664 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:03,200 And then we must trust God. 665 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:08,800 I ended up getting a promotion, getting an ARCOM medal, Arm Accommodation Medal, you 666 00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:12,000 know, for being a good soldier, stuff like that. 667 00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:20,960 So when I went to clear, well, they asked me also during this time, is there any place 668 00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:21,960 you want to go? 669 00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:25,400 I said, I'd like to go back to Fort Knox, Kentucky. 670 00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:35,720 So I went and they sent me on job interviews and nobody wanted me because I had been AWOL. 671 00:43:35,720 --> 00:43:41,120 So I end up and a black whack is in charge of this office. 672 00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:44,840 And I had my orders and she said, would you like to work here? 673 00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:47,640 And I said, yes, ma'am. 674 00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:52,440 She said, well, report Thursday or whatever. 675 00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:56,800 And I said, well, I mean, you didn't even look at my records. 676 00:43:56,800 --> 00:43:59,000 You don't know my past. 677 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:02,400 She said, well, it doesn't matter what your past is. 678 00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:06,560 She said, today's a new day, a new beginning. 679 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:07,720 She was the nicest lady. 680 00:44:07,720 --> 00:44:10,440 She was a Jehovah Witness lady. 681 00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:13,080 And there was a Christian lady. 682 00:44:13,080 --> 00:44:19,280 And we're still in touch today, the Christian family, and it was Veda Fryer. 683 00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:27,080 They were farm people and they would invite me to church and stuff like that. 684 00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:30,440 Well, they lived about an hour away. 685 00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:32,960 But that's where I learned all the old hymns. 686 00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:40,120 They had an old farmhouse, piano in there, the kids all played instruments and I learned 687 00:44:40,120 --> 00:44:41,120 the hymns. 688 00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:45,000 They'd keep me under their wing, Southern Baptist. 689 00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:48,160 And that really, really helped me along. 690 00:44:48,160 --> 00:44:49,160 And that's another thing. 691 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:54,640 When we give our lives to Jesus, we need to get into a good church. 692 00:44:54,640 --> 00:45:04,320 We need to seek out people who are like-minded as us and get all of God that you can. 693 00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:07,960 Go to prayer meetings, different services. 694 00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:10,000 So after the army, then what? 695 00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:12,680 Oh, that's good. 696 00:45:12,680 --> 00:45:13,680 After the army. 697 00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:16,240 Because you didn't just become Pastor Rick overnight. 698 00:45:16,240 --> 00:45:17,240 Oh, no. 699 00:45:17,240 --> 00:45:20,920 No, this is interesting. 700 00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:30,480 After the army, I came home and I collected a nice sum of unemployment for a year. 701 00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:38,920 But I began meeting people right away who knew Jesus like I knew Jesus. 702 00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:40,760 And there were prayer meetings. 703 00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:49,200 I believe I went to a prayer meeting or a Bible study every day or night for that year. 704 00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:51,360 There was such revival in the area. 705 00:45:51,360 --> 00:45:55,160 This was during the charismatic renewal, if you know what that is. 706 00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:58,880 Okay, started at Duquesne University. 707 00:45:58,880 --> 00:46:01,480 And it was wonderful. 708 00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:12,720 So then I got a job as a short order cook at a nice restaurant bar that was up by a golf 709 00:46:12,720 --> 00:46:16,960 course up where the rich people lived in our town. 710 00:46:16,960 --> 00:46:20,120 But I would witness and witness and witness. 711 00:46:20,120 --> 00:46:27,480 There were these two waitresses there, Maryam and Josie. 712 00:46:27,480 --> 00:46:33,800 And I was bold in my witness and they would smoke and they blow the smoke in. 713 00:46:33,800 --> 00:46:36,600 They joked and stuff like that. 714 00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:39,800 They didn't want to hear it. 715 00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:49,120 Four years after I had left there, now I lived out in this area in the phone rank. 716 00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:50,920 And I didn't have caller ID or anything. 717 00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:53,440 I don't even think they had it then. 718 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:56,800 The Lord says, that's Maryam Cicela. 719 00:46:56,800 --> 00:47:03,320 So I answered the phone and this voice says, Rick Cardell, you'll never guess who this 720 00:47:03,320 --> 00:47:04,320 is. 721 00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:05,320 I said, Maryam Cicela. 722 00:47:05,320 --> 00:47:06,320 She said, how'd you know? 723 00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:08,480 I said, well, God told me. 724 00:47:08,480 --> 00:47:10,800 And she said, I want to thank you. 725 00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:17,040 And Josie wants to thank you for witnessing to us because we've accepted the Lord and 726 00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:19,280 we're spirit filled. 727 00:47:19,280 --> 00:47:25,320 And they were, she was actually in a friend of mine's church, Pastor Ray Patterson. 728 00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:29,640 And they spring Christian center, Tirendum. 729 00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:31,840 So she invited me. 730 00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:33,600 She lived in a place called Verona. 731 00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:37,560 And it was about an hour away from where I live here. 732 00:47:37,560 --> 00:47:45,360 She was a Greek lady and she loved to cook and she would cook up a bunch of food. 733 00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:50,040 I think was maybe once a month or a couple of times a month. 734 00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:53,640 And you know, I talked to her pastor and got his approval and everything. 735 00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:55,800 She had me over to do a Obama study. 736 00:47:55,800 --> 00:48:00,200 So she'd feed all these people and then we share the things of God. 737 00:48:00,200 --> 00:48:02,240 Pray, oh, they were good meetings. 738 00:48:02,240 --> 00:48:04,120 I'd take a bunch of people with me. 739 00:48:04,120 --> 00:48:05,120 No, too. 740 00:48:05,120 --> 00:48:08,320 And all God like-minded people. 741 00:48:08,320 --> 00:48:10,120 Great memories. 742 00:48:10,120 --> 00:48:18,120 And so one day they won a prayer for her brother and her sister-in-law who were buying in a 743 00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:22,320 process of buying an old church in Claesville, PA. 744 00:48:22,320 --> 00:48:30,240 And they said, yeah, the main reason is we want to get these guys saved. 745 00:48:30,240 --> 00:48:34,320 And we'll have you out and you can do services out there. 746 00:48:34,320 --> 00:48:35,320 Okay. 747 00:48:35,320 --> 00:48:37,120 So we did. 748 00:48:37,120 --> 00:48:38,120 We prayed. 749 00:48:38,120 --> 00:48:39,960 They did get the place. 750 00:48:39,960 --> 00:48:43,040 And then just different seasons in life. 751 00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:48,880 I wasn't doing the meetings at Mariams anymore and, you know, out of touch. 752 00:48:48,880 --> 00:48:51,960 And 12 years past. 753 00:48:51,960 --> 00:48:55,800 No contact with them about it. 754 00:48:55,800 --> 00:48:58,560 And we had a young girl in the church. 755 00:48:58,560 --> 00:49:04,480 She sang in a choir and she came from a real dysfunctional family. 756 00:49:04,480 --> 00:49:11,280 And one day we heard that she was put into a home. 757 00:49:11,280 --> 00:49:15,920 The home was called Freedis. 758 00:49:15,920 --> 00:49:24,800 It was a little wooden place out in like the deep woods of Claesville. 759 00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:28,160 And so I went out to visit her. 760 00:49:28,160 --> 00:49:31,800 It was so dark and dingy in there. 761 00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:34,080 And the people were so drugged up. 762 00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:39,760 There was only maybe a dozen people, but they were like zombies. 763 00:49:39,760 --> 00:49:46,560 And I said, Hey, when's the last time you had church here and the lady who worked there 764 00:49:46,560 --> 00:49:50,640 says we can't get a pastor to come way out here. 765 00:49:50,640 --> 00:49:52,880 I said, well, let's have church now. 766 00:49:52,880 --> 00:49:57,760 So that started having church services there once a month. 767 00:49:57,760 --> 00:50:02,720 And oh boy, when I think of the things I did, the chances I took, I used to take a van from 768 00:50:02,720 --> 00:50:05,880 here and bring them to all the way to the place. 769 00:50:05,880 --> 00:50:09,920 And bring them to special things that we had here. 770 00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:10,920 Oh my goodness. 771 00:50:10,920 --> 00:50:13,640 You never knew what these people were going to do. 772 00:50:13,640 --> 00:50:17,560 So anyways, they were happy times. 773 00:50:17,560 --> 00:50:19,000 But people got saved. 774 00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:20,320 People got delivered. 775 00:50:20,320 --> 00:50:21,960 People got filled with holy ghost. 776 00:50:21,960 --> 00:50:23,600 People got healed. 777 00:50:23,600 --> 00:50:31,760 And then one day I would take a guitarist and his wife and she played the violin and they 778 00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:34,120 did nursing homes with me. 779 00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:36,160 So we did that for two years. 780 00:50:36,160 --> 00:50:41,720 One day we went there and the place was all boarded up and closed down. 781 00:50:41,720 --> 00:50:48,200 So I said to my helpers, we're not wasting this trip out to Clay'sville. 782 00:50:48,200 --> 00:50:50,480 We're going to find that veterans home. 783 00:50:50,480 --> 00:50:51,480 And so we found it. 784 00:50:51,480 --> 00:50:57,080 I said, as we go in the door, just start playing the guitar, you know, and we'll sing. 785 00:50:57,080 --> 00:51:00,720 So we went in and we're singing. 786 00:51:00,720 --> 00:51:06,800 And who was there working but Maryam, she said, praise God, you couldn't have come at 787 00:51:06,800 --> 00:51:08,320 a better day. 788 00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:14,520 She said, these guys are also, there was such a spirit of heaviness and depression. 789 00:51:14,520 --> 00:51:19,760 She says, I told them, don't even talk to me today unless I talk to you. 790 00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:26,200 Well, a lot of them were, you know, they were schizophrenic and stuff like that, you know, 791 00:51:26,200 --> 00:51:27,200 all on medication. 792 00:51:27,200 --> 00:51:34,040 But we went there and we did meetings there for many, many, many years. 793 00:51:34,040 --> 00:51:38,200 People got saved, workers got saved, people got through with the Holy Ghost, people got 794 00:51:38,200 --> 00:51:45,000 healed, a lady from the church here, older lady, Laura Denellen's mother, she would come 795 00:51:45,000 --> 00:51:51,000 out and she'd bring a little keyboard and she'd play and lead us in songs. 796 00:51:51,000 --> 00:51:56,640 And then one day somebody put a piano outside and Fran saw it. 797 00:51:56,640 --> 00:51:58,320 She checked it out. 798 00:51:58,320 --> 00:52:05,560 Somehow we got the church man, we went and we got that piano up in that van, took it 799 00:52:05,560 --> 00:52:07,720 out the glazed house. 800 00:52:07,720 --> 00:52:10,520 But all these different things, it's so amazing. 801 00:52:10,520 --> 00:52:14,360 Maryam's one grandson got filled with the Holy Ghost out there. 802 00:52:14,360 --> 00:52:16,080 It's tremendous outreach. 803 00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:22,840 And then one, maybe last thing, one day we went out and we just started the service 804 00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:29,160 and the guy says, I'm going to go outside and I said, he wanted to smoke. 805 00:52:29,160 --> 00:52:31,360 I said, I know it's a nice day. 806 00:52:31,360 --> 00:52:36,520 Why don't we all go outside and we'll have the service outside. 807 00:52:36,520 --> 00:52:41,720 So we did and the Lord prompted me to tell the people sing as loud as you can. 808 00:52:41,720 --> 00:52:42,720 So we did. 809 00:52:42,720 --> 00:52:50,040 Little did I know that the old dilapidated house next to this place, you know, on the 810 00:52:50,040 --> 00:52:56,080 other side, the property was also a nursing home. 811 00:52:56,080 --> 00:53:03,520 So the next month when we went and one of the ladies at the veterans home says, last 812 00:53:03,520 --> 00:53:07,480 month when you were here and you went outside, the lady heard you singing. 813 00:53:07,480 --> 00:53:13,880 She brought the people to the window and she said, do you think they would come here? 814 00:53:13,880 --> 00:53:21,160 So we did both those meetings on that day for many, many, many years until God closed 815 00:53:21,160 --> 00:53:22,160 the door. 816 00:53:22,160 --> 00:53:27,880 Well, the veterans house eventually burned down, you know, but different seasons for 817 00:53:27,880 --> 00:53:29,880 different things. 818 00:53:29,880 --> 00:53:32,520 But isn't life exciting with Jesus? 819 00:53:32,520 --> 00:53:36,360 It's quite the adventure when you follow his prompting. 820 00:53:36,360 --> 00:53:42,360 I can also say I don't have any stories of adolescents that come to mind that are so 821 00:53:42,360 --> 00:53:47,000 profound or awesome or things that I share, but every single story that I have that's 822 00:53:47,000 --> 00:53:49,440 worth sharing has Jesus involved. 823 00:53:49,440 --> 00:53:50,440 Exactly. 824 00:53:50,440 --> 00:53:51,440 Every single one. 825 00:53:51,440 --> 00:53:52,440 Every single one. 826 00:53:52,440 --> 00:53:55,480 I can't say, oh, when I was a kid, I did this, how great this was and how great that 827 00:53:55,480 --> 00:53:56,480 was. 828 00:53:56,480 --> 00:53:57,480 Nothing comes to mind. 829 00:53:57,480 --> 00:54:00,880 But I could tell you the stories of healing that I've seen, the stories of miracles or 830 00:54:00,880 --> 00:54:04,680 stories of encouragement, the stories of him moving in profound ways. 831 00:54:04,680 --> 00:54:06,320 Like this, you got to listen to this. 832 00:54:06,320 --> 00:54:07,320 This is really cool. 833 00:54:07,320 --> 00:54:08,320 Modern day miracles. 834 00:54:08,320 --> 00:54:09,320 Yeah. 835 00:54:09,320 --> 00:54:13,160 God's wanting them to happen all the time. 836 00:54:13,160 --> 00:54:18,120 And if we're where we should be with God, we'll recognize him. 837 00:54:18,120 --> 00:54:21,200 You see them everywhere. 838 00:54:21,200 --> 00:54:27,480 Even when something bad happens, we can look to God, okay, how are you going to turn this 839 00:54:27,480 --> 00:54:28,480 for good? 840 00:54:28,480 --> 00:54:29,480 Because I'm praising you. 841 00:54:29,480 --> 00:54:31,200 I'm thanking you. 842 00:54:31,200 --> 00:54:34,520 And this couldn't have got by you, Lord God. 843 00:54:34,520 --> 00:54:39,920 You're going to weave it and make something good out of it for your glory. 844 00:54:39,920 --> 00:54:46,000 And then we get these glory stories that we tell and we encourage other people with them. 845 00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:47,800 Those are my favorite. 846 00:54:47,800 --> 00:54:49,920 It's one of the reasons why I started this. 847 00:54:49,920 --> 00:54:53,640 I had heard so many stories of encouragement. 848 00:54:53,640 --> 00:54:58,600 I'm like, people need to hear these because they're amazing and we're just here to bring 849 00:54:58,600 --> 00:55:02,280 them to the light, you know, be an encouragement. 850 00:55:02,280 --> 00:55:06,920 I'm so glad we got to know you today and you were able to share all of that. 851 00:55:06,920 --> 00:55:12,720 And wow, it's just amazing how God's working all of it together for a good. 852 00:55:12,720 --> 00:55:19,360 So do we have time to lead the people in a prayer to give the holidays to Jesus and get 853 00:55:19,360 --> 00:55:21,560 baptized in the Holy Ghost too? 854 00:55:21,560 --> 00:55:22,560 Absolutely. 855 00:55:22,560 --> 00:55:23,560 Amen. 856 00:55:23,560 --> 00:55:29,600 Now, if you're here in this broadcast and you really want an exciting life, you're set 857 00:55:29,600 --> 00:55:32,840 up with the bad things in your life. 858 00:55:32,840 --> 00:55:37,440 Why don't you look to Jesus and hook up with him? 859 00:55:37,440 --> 00:55:38,440 He loves you so much. 860 00:55:38,440 --> 00:55:47,320 He gave every single thing, every drop of his blood to show his love for you. 861 00:55:47,320 --> 00:55:54,880 And if you would just believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that he is the 862 00:55:54,880 --> 00:55:58,800 Savior, he's your Savior. 863 00:55:58,800 --> 00:56:05,480 He will come in and it will change you just like you did me and everyone else who's asked 864 00:56:05,480 --> 00:56:07,400 them to come in. 865 00:56:07,400 --> 00:56:12,200 And then you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 866 00:56:12,200 --> 00:56:16,400 And that's as easy as asking Jesus into your heart. 867 00:56:16,400 --> 00:56:21,560 When you ask Jesus into your heart, you actually get the Holy Spirit in you. 868 00:56:21,560 --> 00:56:30,040 We all need to yield to him and ask him to come upon us and then just like on the day 869 00:56:30,040 --> 00:56:37,840 of Pentecost, you allow the Holy Spirit to fill you. 870 00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:43,920 And then there's something that you must do and that is you must use your mouth and your 871 00:56:43,920 --> 00:56:50,560 voice and release sounds, utterances. 872 00:56:50,560 --> 00:56:56,080 The Bible says that they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they began to speak in 873 00:56:56,080 --> 00:57:00,240 other tongues as the Spirit gave the motherance. 874 00:57:00,240 --> 00:57:03,560 So I encourage you to do that today. 875 00:57:03,560 --> 00:57:04,560 Hallelujah. 876 00:57:04,560 --> 00:57:06,560 In Jesus' name. 877 00:57:06,560 --> 00:57:07,560 Amen. 878 00:57:07,560 --> 00:57:08,560 Amen. 879 00:57:08,560 --> 00:57:09,560 Thank you. 880 00:57:09,560 --> 00:57:14,920 If this episode has been a blessing to you, we ask that you pass it along so it can be 881 00:57:14,920 --> 00:57:16,920 an encouragement to others. 882 00:57:16,920 --> 00:57:20,920 And if you'd like to come alongside us, we have a fundraising campaign that helps us 883 00:57:20,920 --> 00:57:23,480 pay you for the audio expenses. 884 00:57:23,480 --> 00:57:28,320 And if you look up goodgiftsandgo.com and then look up God's goodness podcast, you 885 00:57:28,320 --> 00:57:31,840 can give there and we would greatly appreciate the help. 886 00:57:31,840 --> 00:57:48,720 And with that, we'll talk to you next time.