1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,780 Welcome to the God's Goodness podcast where our mission is to encourage and highlight God's 2 00:00:11,780 --> 00:00:17,400 Goodness and modern-day miracles. We are your hosts, Josh and Shelley Hankins. Today we have 3 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:22,720 with us a special guest. We have Pastor Rick Cardell back with us. This is his third appearance on 4 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:28,000 the God's Goodness podcast and he just has some amazing insights from the Lord. The Lord speaks 5 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:35,080 to this man. He listens, he acts, and miracles happen. So when you know Pastor Rick, you will be 6 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:40,200 blessed. I'm just grateful that we got to meet Pastor Rick because he introduced us to Wendy 7 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:45,920 Lawson, God's Madcap Missionary. We have a whole playlist in YouTube of all his referrals. And then 8 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:54,560 Wendy introduced us to Delice and Justin Buckles. And then they also know, all of those people, 9 00:00:54,560 --> 00:01:01,240 know Mary Gordon and Mary Gordon. We just released her podcast episode previously to this one. So 10 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:06,280 they all know Pastor Rick and just, it's just so amazing the connections and how all these people 11 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:11,520 know one another. And I'm just so blessed. And I just look forward to hearing what the Holy Spirit 12 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:16,800 has to say through Pastor Rick today because I'm sure that God has something to say to everybody 13 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:22,360 in every episode. And the guests always have something to share directly from the Holy Spirit. 14 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:28,520 And I pray this is a blessing to everybody. And we're going to have Pastor Rick open us with an 15 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:32,840 opening prayer. Before I get into that, I just want to say, if you could do us a solid and rate 16 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:38,880 this podcast in Spotify or Apple Podcast, that would be awesome because it would help the algorithm 17 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:44,400 know that people are enjoying this. And then it can get the word out to more people. So now I'll 18 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,680 let us get into it. And if you could lead us with an opening prayer, Pastor Rick, that would be 19 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:56,880 amazing. Thank you. Holy Spirit, we so depend upon you. You're the author and the finisher of our 20 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:04,720 faith as part of eternity. And we believe for you to lead and guide our thoughts and our 21 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:10,200 conversations, make them pleasing to you and edifying to us and minister your grace to the 22 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:18,680 ears in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you. So you said you had a word before we get into some stories. 23 00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:27,080 Yeah, just about a week ago, I've always done this, but there was like an urgency to rev it up. 24 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:36,640 Okay. And that is to get as many people filled with the Holy Spirit as you possibly can. I was 25 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:44,800 thinking, even in Pentecostal churches, when was the last time you heard a message encouraging 26 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:52,360 people to be filled with the Holy Ghost and to bring comfort in their tongues? Yeah. And so, 27 00:02:52,680 --> 00:03:01,160 forgive us, Lord, for not being as astute in that, but a little bit of instruction for those who 28 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:10,600 want more of God and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It's very, very simple. All you do is ask, 29 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:17,480 just like you ask Jesus to come into your heart. It's something you do by faith. And just like you 30 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:24,920 had to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus was your Lord and Savior. So it 31 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:33,080 is with the Holy Spirit, baptism. Your mouth is always involved in faith. And faith, there's always 32 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:42,200 action to faith. Now, no one can speak in their own language without using their mouth and their 33 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:53,920 voice. And so, very simply, when we ask God to fill us with the Holy Spirit, we by faith begin to 34 00:03:53,920 --> 00:04:02,720 speak sounds, moanings, cronings, Bible calls it utterances. But you are the one who initiates, 35 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:09,760 you're the one just like Peter had to step out on the word of God to walk on the water. So that's 36 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:18,640 the way we have to do. So I want to take a minute and encourage people, even now or after this 37 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:25,680 broadcast, if you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and God doesn't pressure you, although 38 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:31,760 he wants this so much for you, just like he doesn't pressure people to be saved or to be healed. 39 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:37,680 But that's his will for us. And matter of fact, he commands us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 40 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:45,360 Right? Fill with the Spirit. Okay. Speaking to yourselves and songs, him speak spiritual songs. 41 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:59,040 So here, just get along with God, ask him to fill you with this Holy Spirit, and then begin. You 42 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:08,600 begin to don't just sit there and try to allow things to come out of your mouth. You put some 43 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:18,360 initiative behind it and begin to breathe forth, speak forth utterances. And in seconds, you find 44 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:30,680 yourself speaking in an unknown tongue for the glory of God. Amen. Amen. All right. So shall we 45 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:35,880 pick up where we left off last time? Yeah. Yeah. We're going over these 20th century adventures 46 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:42,520 of God. Pastor Rick had written down his adventures, so they could be remembered for all time, because 47 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:47,640 that's what God gives us these experiences for. So we can share them and encourage others and 48 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:52,760 build one another's faith. And so that's what we're hoping to do with these stories. And I just 49 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:58,280 hope they're a blessing to you and you guys can share them. So go ahead. Okay. So last time we left 50 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:05,800 off, I was sharing a wonderful experience of speaking at a full gospel businessmen's 51 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:14,280 fellowship international meeting in Ohio. And at that meeting, right before the meeting, 52 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:20,440 the brothers prayed over me and with me. And there was a pastor there who had this word for me. 53 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:28,760 He said, the Lord shows me a burning bush before you, much like Moses saw. And I see you reaching 54 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:37,240 in and taking a branch from that bush and carrying it with you where you go, much like a marathon 55 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:44,440 runner passing the torch on to others. I see you spreading the fire and the power of God to others. 56 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:52,200 Praise God. That has been so significant in meaning to me because of the following word that the Lord 57 00:06:52,200 --> 00:07:01,160 gave me some time ago. This was an interpretation of tongues on October 13, 1984. They even marked 58 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:10,680 the time 9.48 p.m. And this is what the Lord said. The bush, the bush, the burning bush was what I 59 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:19,160 used to get Moses' attention on me. That was a wonder. For it is recorded in my word that Moses 60 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:27,720 wondered why it burned and was not consumed. So shall I use signs and wonders in these days, 61 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:36,680 my son, to prove herewith to these people that my presence is in a certain place. And yes, 62 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:44,680 you will see and others will see fire burning in different places, yet things will not be consumed. 63 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:50,360 There will be the glory of God on you and at times people will be transformed by the glory 64 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:57,240 and lifted right out of their seats or off their knees or up from the place where they were standing. 65 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:04,680 Be prepared for the oncoming of turmoil because of these things for many will scoff and say, 66 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:12,680 hey, that's not from God and will show forth their narrow-mindedness and their own inconsistencies 67 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:20,680 with the word of my power. This is the hour, my son, when the flaming sword of my spirit 68 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:28,600 will divide the true and mighty sons of authority and deliverance from those who only have a head 69 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:36,120 knowledge of spiritual things. To be alive in this hour and at this stage is one of the greatest 70 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:44,120 wonders and blessings I could bestow upon a man on earth. For this is the hour when my power 71 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:50,920 shall come forth in the church and through the church to get the attention of those 72 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:56,760 whosoever will come aside to see this sight and to hear the voice of the Spirit of God 73 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:04,040 in the earth today. For it is true that the eyes of the Lord do go to and fro throughout the whole 74 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:13,480 earth looking for those through whom I may show myself mighty in power. Yes, my spirit knows 75 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:21,720 where to find those few who will allow me to do as I please, irregardless of what men may think. 76 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:30,280 Powerful. Isn't that? That's a different kind of a word, you know, but there's times in churches 77 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:39,960 when people do see the glory of God and sometimes it appears like fire, you know, glory. How did 78 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:46,760 you feel hearing that for the first time? I feel good. Right? Like that seems like a lot, 79 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:51,640 especially for a younger, right, in the faith. For someone to say, I'm going to lay all this on you 80 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:58,440 in the name of the Lord. This is what shall be. I would be blown away. Yeah, well, 81 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:07,960 it clearly shaped you. Yeah, sure. I think it's important to note too that if it's during a specific 82 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:13,160 time and Holy Spirit notates that time, did you ever look that up to see if the time went along 83 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:20,440 with the Bible verse? Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's one of the ways that we were learning in Kingdom 84 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:25,880 Seekers about learning to be more prophetic. Like, oh, if you see the numbers one, two, three on the 85 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:31,160 scale, that might mean like, oh, all things are falling in line for you. You know, things like 86 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:40,040 that. Okay. So it's just training us to be more mindful of, be open to what the Holy Spirit's 87 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:45,720 saying through those things. Praise God. How about that? You know, you mentioned Ron Gordon, 88 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:52,920 Mary and Ron Gordon, and they're so sensitive to the Holy Spirit. It's amazing. They move, 89 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:58,200 they step up, and they just do what God tells them to do. I loved it. I was sharing with Pastor Rick 90 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:03,800 that Mary and I got to hang out at lunch for lunch on last Saturday. And when Ron came home 91 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:10,920 from a workout, he offered to sing me a prophetic word. And so he did. I recorded it. And then he 92 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:18,120 sang one for Josh too, which has a totally different tone. And he said, you know, did it line up? 93 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:23,000 Did it, did it match each of you? And I said, Oh yeah, that was so cool. So if you guys haven't 94 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:29,400 seen it, the prophetic songs there on social media shared in November. So it was just awesome. I'd 95 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:34,680 like to listen to it over and over because that was specific to me. And it's like, Oh, 96 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:40,280 what does that mean? You know, for me specifically, you know, it's just so great to hear from God. 97 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:44,840 I never got through someone else. I didn't get to meet Ron, but I got to hear this song. And when 98 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:50,360 Mary was here, I couldn't help but think that she was like a spiritual butterfly, right? Just 99 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:57,400 sensitive at the sky. So sensitive to every temperature change, every wind change, every 100 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:01,400 difference in the environment that she would be sensitive to for being such a delicate 101 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:06,200 butterfly, right? And that when you were saying she was so sensitive in the spirit 102 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,560 that immediately came to my mind that she was like a spiritual butterfly. 103 00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:18,840 Yeah, flying in the resurrection power of God. Well, back to the full gospel business 104 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:26,600 men's meeting in San Bosco, Ohio. The meeting was blessed with the presence of God. And as 105 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:33,160 brother David Owen had prayed with me a week before when he was at our church, that the presence of 106 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:39,800 God would go with me. It really, really did. We do carry the presence of God everywhere we go. 107 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:47,320 If we're just cognizant of that. Well, Jerry, I don't know if you guys remember, but 108 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:53,000 Harleen's brother-in-law, the man with the back problem, had to get up and go out in the hall 109 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:59,640 during the meeting because he had been sitting so long. And I was led to pray this unbeknownst to him, 110 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:07,320 Father, we know that you are out in that hall and we ask that you would touch Jerry and heal Jerry 111 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:13,960 now and give him a good night's rest tonight and every other night of his life. Well, there was a 112 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:19,960 drought in Sandusky also at this time. And although they had had some rain a week before, 113 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:28,040 they needed more. And I shared with them how on Monday we had interceded for rain 114 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:36,200 at Pittsburgh and that it had rained all night in my house. And also that on Thursday, when I was 115 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:42,920 driving home from Altoona, I was asking the Lord for rain. It was compelled to roll down the car 116 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:51,960 window and yell at the top of my lungs, rain, rain in Jesus' name, a heavy rain. Then I praised God 117 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:58,680 for it. By the time I got to Monroeville, it was storming and raining very hard. Once again, 118 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:05,240 it rained all night in my house. So we used the scripture, dude around me, 11-13 through 15, 119 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:14,520 James 5, to pray for that, for rain that night in Sandusky, Ohio. As we were leaving, a woman was 120 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:22,280 going out the door and yelled, hey, Rick, it's raining. And rain it did. Some of us went out in it 121 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:28,280 and praised God in it. One lady went all around the parking lot dancing in the rain and praising God. 122 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:35,800 I tell you, it's fun serving Almighty God. His goodness endures forever. Reminds me of Ronda 123 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:41,480 Wiley when she was on. She shared about how she had been praying for rain and then she went out. 124 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,960 She told the Lord, if you may get rain, I will go out and celebrate you. And she was on the phone 125 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:52,840 with Marcy, another guest, and she was dancing in the rain, praising him because they needed rain. 126 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:59,720 Thank you, Jesus. Well, the vice president of this chapter came and got us the next day, 127 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:06,600 because if you remember, our car was in the shop. He took us two hours away to the assembly of God 128 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:13,000 church where we got blessed all over again. The pastor and his wife, who couldn't have any children 129 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:20,840 for 20 years, had a beautiful girl child who was six years old at this time. Arlene's sister and 130 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:29,320 brother-in-law came and got us and then took us to the garage to get the car. Jerry, who didn't know 131 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:36,200 about the prayer we had prayed for him, said, I slept till nine o'clock this morning. I usually 132 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:41,960 get up at five because I can't sleep. Then his wife was witness to the prayer that we had prayed. 133 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:49,800 I know Jerry was touched by God. He even said the night before that if anyone ever told him, 134 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:55,160 he would be at a meeting like this. He would have said they were crazy. He said he liked it. 135 00:15:55,960 --> 00:16:02,600 We were all hugging him and he was blessed. He wasn't a hugger when he came in, but sure was 136 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:09,800 when he left. The warmth of the saints truly ministered to him and they knew that we were 137 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:18,760 Christians by our love. One thing I noticed in these podcast episodes with you, there's a pattern 138 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:26,760 to what you say. You praised God, praised him first. You said your prayer and then you thanked 139 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:32,520 him in faith that he was going to do it and he shows up every single time. You're right. 140 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:40,920 If we look back, it literally is the Lord's Prayer. It's modeled out. Everyone that doesn't 141 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:45,640 understand they think that Lord's Prayer, you have to say exactly that. It's the template for how 142 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:52,360 you form your prayer, your situation, your things. How exactly praise God. What do you say to him 143 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:57,160 in adoration? What do you say to him to exalt him? What do you say? This is coming from your heart. 144 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:03,720 Right away, we can't say, you know, how would be thy name unless that's coming from your heart. 145 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:10,200 Tell him what you feel about him. Tell him how great he is to you. That's very important. I think 146 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:16,040 if you model your prayers as Jesus modeled the model prayer, but plug everything around so it fits you 147 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:20,680 and how you feel about God and how you feel about your situation, how you feel about forgiveness, 148 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:27,320 and it's all going to click for you for sure, for sure. Yeah. It rolls. It's actually the 149 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:34,280 Holy Spirit leading us how to pray in those moments. Right. Because it's like it doesn't go 150 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:39,960 through our mind. It just comes up from our heart. Mm hmm. Well, do you want to hear another story? Oh, 151 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:48,280 yes, please. Okay. This I call Mercy at the Hospital and Hardy Babu School. Now Jesus said, 152 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:54,840 I was sick and you visited me. I was hired for a job at Mercy Hospital years ago, 153 00:17:55,720 --> 00:18:03,160 charting lab reports, and I loved it. What I had to do was twice a day when we received patients' 154 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:09,880 lab reports. I went through the entire hospital and added the reports to their hospital charts. 155 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:19,320 So I literally got to pray for every person as I handled their charts. What a great ministry. 156 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:28,120 I love my work and I wore a dress shirt, a tie, a white lab jacket, and a nice size cross made 157 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:37,880 out of three nails on a red cord. And I shared my faith daily. One day while charting in the ICU, 158 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:46,680 I saw a large man whose eyes were so shut. I prayed for him in my heart and in the hallway, 159 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:53,560 his family members called after me, doctor, doctor, please, you have to help us. Our father shot 160 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:58,600 himself in the head and they had to sew his eyes shut to help them heal. They are going to 161 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:05,160 transfer him to the psych ward where they also have prisoners from the jail. People yell and 162 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:13,080 scream down there and if our father hears that, it won't help him. I said, well, I'm not a doctor, 163 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:20,840 but I know who can help you. I took them into a nice room where the sisters of Mercy went to pray 164 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:27,880 and I told them God could and would help and I prayed with them. They were relieved and grateful. 165 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:38,360 The next day I got reprimanded by my boss. Seems the priest heard about it and was disgruntled. 166 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:46,200 A co-worker who also was a Christian said, maybe the Lord would promote you to a better job. 167 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:54,920 Within a short time, God opened another door. I left Mercy Hospital and was hired as a temporary 168 00:19:54,920 --> 00:20:03,000 with US Postal Service. This was more money and I even ended up working some shifts for another 169 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:13,800 man who I had witnessed to and prayed for in the ICU at Mercy. Another circle. He had healed up and 170 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:20,440 had gone back to work. Thanks God, I always say, for letting me see the answer to our prayers. 171 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:28,120 I had a hunger to learn the word of God and there is a Hardy Bible School in the Hill District of 172 00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:35,720 Pittsburgh. It's a very rough and dangerous area, predominantly black and two brothers in the Lord 173 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:41,960 were to meet me at what used to be the Civic Arena and we would go together to check out this Bible 174 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:48,760 School. Well, I waited and waited and they never showed. So the next week I searched for the place 175 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:58,440 myself. The adversary tried to discourage me. No one I asked directions from would even talk to me. 176 00:21:00,120 --> 00:21:05,960 One person ran from me. I guess they thought I was a drug person or something, you know. 177 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:09,720 Here was a white guy in a black area and... 178 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:11,560 A narcotics officer. 179 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:15,400 Yeah, oh yeah. That's probably what it was this morning. 180 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:25,640 So I found the school which operated out of a small church called Kodesh Church of Emmanuel. 181 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:35,640 The yearly course, which was one night a week, only cost $5 a year. That was the cost of 182 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:43,400 mimeographing the notes. I went for the four-year course and really learned how to study the Bible. 183 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:51,880 Our teachers were old saints who really lived for Jesus. The president of school was Dr. Ken Barber. 184 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:59,320 Ken was a well-said after highly respected school principal. Many years later, he became the 185 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:06,680 principal of our Christian school, the Eucharist Christian Academy in Bethel Park. Dr. Barber is a 186 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:14,520 great man of God. One time at the altar at South Hills Assembly, I asked him if he was spirit-filled 187 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:20,680 and prayed in tongues. He said no, but he wanted to be. So we prayed and he received. 188 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:29,080 He has led our school well and even year by year, had it another grade until we have a high school. 189 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:40,040 So in 2014, we graduated our first high school class and Brianna Sutton was in that class. 190 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:47,160 Oh, wow. Walden, okay. Brianna, Bri, Walden, and Luke Walden were on one of our earlier episodes, 191 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:52,360 so you can go back and hear their amazing story. Yeah, and they're pastors at our church today. 192 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:57,160 Luke's going to be the executive pastor starting in January 2025. 193 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:03,240 God bless you, Dr. Barber. Wow. For the many lies that you've touched and nurtured with the word of 194 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:09,960 God. That's amazing. Now, isn't it amazing how God crisscrosses our lives with others? For sure. 195 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:15,560 Like we were talking about before this, you know? Yeah. And I just love it. When I graduated from 196 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:22,360 Hardy Bible School, I had a desire to take a Bible correspondence course, but I didn't know of any. 197 00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:28,520 By this time, I was working on Bell Telephone in downtown Pittsburgh, and one day I walked into the 198 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:35,640 office and one of the big bosses, secretaries, who was also a Christian, handed me a word of 199 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:42,440 Faith magazine from Kenneth E. Hagan. I looked on the cover and there it was, 200 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:49,720 Ramah Bible Correspondence Course. I literally shook under the power of the Holy Spirit, 201 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:55,880 and I took it. I devoured the lessons for three years and did very well, got my diploma, 202 00:23:55,880 --> 00:24:03,080 and then I said, well, now what, Lord? Because they don't actually ordain you, okay? They tell you, 203 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:11,080 go through your church and get your credentials. So there was a young and wise Pastor David Kirkwood 204 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:18,600 that had me preach a few times when he was away and had also graduated from Ramah Bible Training Center 205 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:25,480 He had actually went there and did it. I took my correspondence. He said he knew my life 206 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:34,280 and ministry and he would ordain me if I wanted. But as I prayed, the Lord said, no, seek credentials 207 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:41,320 with the assemblies of God. So I took many courses, correspondence again, and was interviewed by 208 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:49,080 Presbyterians and soon got my license. Boy, am I glad that I obeyed the Holy Spirit in October 209 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:59,800 on the 19th of October, 1979. You see, I had awakened that Sunday morning, still belonging to 210 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:06,760 the Catholic Church, St. Albert the Great in Baldwin, PA. The Holy Spirit said, go to South 211 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:13,480 Hill's Assembly of God. I'd never heard of such a place that I knew of, nor was I familiar with 212 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:21,960 Bethel Park. But I looked in the phone book, found it, called, got directions, and I went, got time 213 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:32,360 of the services. I went and I knew in a moment that's where God was planting me now. So by the 214 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:39,800 time I'd finished all my courses, I was well established in the church. In 1982, I believe, 215 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:48,200 the personal retreat at the Holy Spirit Animation Center, God spoke to me about ministry using 216 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:58,360 Isaiah 6, 1 through 8. And when I came home, I knelt at the foot of my bed to pray. The word of 217 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:05,960 the Lord came to me saying, you will go to all nations. I said, Lord, it's not that I don't 218 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:15,720 believe you, but how? It's hard for me to get to church Wednesday nights. And he said, just be a 219 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:25,560 Christian where you are. I will open the doors and you will walk through. Shortly after that, 220 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:31,560 kneeling at the altar in church, God said, I've called you into full-time ministry. I answered, 221 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:39,320 what should I do, Lord? Should I quit my job? He said, no, the transition will be smooth. You will 222 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:47,160 phase out of one and into the other. Well, I excitedly told workers, coworkers at the phone 223 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:52,120 company, I don't know how much longer I'll be here. God has called me into full-time ministry. 224 00:26:52,120 --> 00:27:02,040 One day, I worked at the phone company. The Lord said to me, go to soul mitsis. That was a men's 225 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:10,440 clothing, a clothier, and buy a suit. A Christian woman who worked at the phone company also, Helen 226 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:17,880 Vasco, who had grown children and great taste and quality clothes, came along with me. As the 227 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:24,520 salesman showed me two nice suits out of my mouth, and I didn't plan on saying this, out of my 228 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:32,600 mouth came these words. That's my 700 Club suit. So I began saying that I was going to be on the 229 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:40,360 700 Club. Another Christian woman at the phone company said, the Lord told her to write the 700 230 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:47,000 Club, send them a copy of my testimony, and it all came to pass. They even did footage at our 231 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:54,600 full gospel businessmen's meeting downtown. Well, in the beginning of the seventh year 232 00:27:55,400 --> 00:28:03,880 of my waiting to go into full-time ministry, I knew the time was at hand. I spoke to my 233 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:10,440 dear pastor, Robert Cio, and at the time, one of the greatest mentors I've ever had, he said, 234 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:17,640 oh, be patient. God will make it happen. That year, I was led to read and believe 235 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:26,600 and confess Job 22 verse 28, which says, thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be 236 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:34,680 established unto thee, and the light shall shine upon thy ways. And it surely came to pass, unbeknown 237 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:42,280 to me, pastor-owned approached our board to bring me on as a pastor. It was unanimous, and as I had 238 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:49,080 decreed for a full year, that before the year was up, I'd be in full-time ministry, not knowing how 239 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:56,920 that would come about. I was brought on staff on New Year's Eve of 1989, the very last day of the year. 240 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:05,800 God's word works, and so I encourage everybody with Psalm 92 verses 12 through 15, 241 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:14,440 the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that 242 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:21,480 be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall bring forth 243 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:29,800 fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing to show that the Lord is upright. He is my rock, 244 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:35,800 and there is no unrighteousness in him. Powerful. You know, I'm thinking back to when you were in 245 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:41,560 the hospital, and they thought you were a doctor, and they got your attention, and you turned around, 246 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:47,080 and I can almost see your countenance changed to that of Peter, right? Gold and silver I do not have, 247 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:53,160 but what I do have, I freely give, right? That's immediately what popped in my head, and I feel 248 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:59,240 that if I could have seen the look on your face when you realized what you could do versus who 249 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:06,440 you really were, that I can't imagine that passage not even coming to mind, right, for you in that 250 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:13,160 moment. And saying, thank you Jesus for giving me a moment like that. Yeah, amen. I think that's 251 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:17,560 just so cool. And you know, obviously God's timing. Let's wait till the very last day of my promise. 252 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:24,600 The last few hours left. Why does he do that? Why does he do that? I don't know. It's for us. 253 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:29,560 It's for us so that we can see how good he is, so that we can build our faith, so we, he can see 254 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:36,680 where we measure while we wait, right? Do we, do we faithfully wait, or do we wait like 255 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:42,120 Peter sinking in the waves? Do we forget so quickly? And I feel that he does that not for 256 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,960 his adivication, but for ours, right? So that we know what to pray for tomorrow. 257 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:54,040 We certainly have to hold fast to our confession of faith. I find it important that it didn't 258 00:30:54,040 --> 00:31:00,360 matter how it was going to happen, but you knew who was going to make it happen. Amen. He's going 259 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:04,760 to work it all out because there's so many details that he's working out that we don't even know. 260 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:09,240 And then it's not, and when we find out later all the details, you're like, what? 261 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:16,680 That is just so cool how he works all together. Creativity so much surpasses our own that I think 262 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:22,040 we often find disappointment sometimes when God shows up because we don't recognize him because 263 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:27,240 he didn't show up the way we imagined it to happen. And I think we lose out in great blessings and 264 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:32,600 great praises when we have a mind that says, this is how I want it to happen. Expectations. 265 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:37,560 Right. And we're trying to direct God's will as if that's somehow humanly possible. 266 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:43,960 And it's a word learning. We're just children. In the Bible it never says we're adults of God. 267 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:49,240 We're children of God. And so he treats us that way as a loving father. And that's wonderful. 268 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:53,480 And I'm very grateful that he does because it could very easily not be that relationship. 269 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:58,680 And that's the way he chose to be. He knows all and he's very patient with us. 270 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:00,120 Thank God. 271 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:06,360 Well, hey, do you want to hear some strange and unusual things? 272 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:08,840 Well, usually do when you tell a story. 273 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:12,040 Okay. I don't know. This is any different. 274 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:13,960 Do you guys know Billy Burke? 275 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:15,560 Oh, no. 276 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:23,320 Oh my goodness. He's a tremendous evangelist that God uses for miracles. He comes to Pittsburgh 277 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:28,840 every so often. Anyways, this happened years ago when he was just getting started. 278 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:35,000 Two of the most dedicated believers in these people you have to have one here, one of these days. 279 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:43,480 Wow. That I knew were Richard and Maria Taylor. Maria worked at the Bell Telephone also and 280 00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:47,320 they lived in a big house in Bellevue in the northern part of Pittsburgh. 281 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:53,000 They had a prayer breakfast on a Saturday morning where Maria's mother cooked a huge 282 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:58,920 All You Can Eat spread. But the best part of the breakfast was the spiritual food prepared 283 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:06,920 and served by a young evangelist named Billy Burke. I brought five cars of people 284 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:13,080 to the meeting and he called me Rick the Roof Ripper, like the four friends that brought 285 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:19,720 their, the guide to Jesus and tore up the roof to get them to him. Well, Billy gave me a two-part 286 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:28,200 message from the Lord and I will only share the part that pertains here to this testimony. 287 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:35,000 And this was the word, strange and unusual things are going to begin to happen in your life and 288 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:44,040 ministry. Well, he had that right. Yeah. Keep in mind that at this time I was not even a pastor. 289 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:53,000 I was just a person in the church. So I tucked that word away in my spirit. A short time later, 290 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:58,840 a couple from the church at South Hills Assembly, Vince and Margo Labalardi invited me over for 291 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:05,320 dinner after church because they said a man and his wife and his daughter were coming. And Vince 292 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:11,240 says, I know that if you come, you'll be able to lead them to the Lord because they're not saved. 293 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:22,120 And so I did go and that Sunday that they invited me and all three of them accepted the Lord. 294 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:28,440 That man, his wife and his daughter, hallelujah. So that night at church, I was basking in the, 295 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:35,160 just the glorious pleasure of that experience, you know, heaven rejoiced and so did we. In the very 296 00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:41,960 beginning of our service though, I had a vision and I saw myself going up the steps to the pulpit 297 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:51,320 area, throwing my hands behind me, turning and facing the people. And I said, I have broken you 298 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:57,800 the bread of life and I have fed you with the bread from heaven. I really don't know what the 299 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:04,600 preacher preached on that night because all I could do was ponder this vision. Well, at the end 300 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:13,000 of the service, something strange and unusual happened. A lady who I did not know came from 301 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:19,720 the back of the church. I was sitting in the front row. She had a 31 and a half inch loaf of bread. 302 00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:26,360 When I took it home, I measured it. This is a big loaf of bread. She came to me face to face, 303 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:33,000 eye to eye and said, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, brother, the Lord would say unto you, 304 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:43,640 ask big, ask big. It's as simple and as easy as taking this loaf of bread. You have the bread 305 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:51,240 of life in you to give to others. I said, I received that. Thank you for being obedient to the Lord. 306 00:35:51,880 --> 00:36:00,360 Now that happened on January 27, 1988. I saw the lady two other times over the next few years 307 00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:09,000 in various places. She's a woman who loves and obeys God and moves by the Spirit. 19 years later, 308 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:14,840 I was sitting in the lobby of Sinclair Hospital to meet with a Jewish man who had recently given his 309 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:21,960 life to the Lord. He heard of me, called me and wanted me to talk to him about the baptism in the 310 00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:29,720 Holy Spirit. As I was telling him about the baptism, that woman walked by through the lobby. 311 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:37,640 I excused myself from man. I jumped up, went over to her and she said, did you enjoy the bread? 312 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:47,160 She said, she too was a minister now. Then she began prophesying to me. She said, I have been 313 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:55,720 faithful. She also said, you are like a cedar of Lebanon whose roots go deep. And she encouraged me 314 00:36:55,720 --> 00:37:00,760 to look up facts about cedars and I would receive a better understanding. 315 00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:09,880 Well, some years later, we finished a tremendous city outreach with Franklin Graham here in Pittsburgh 316 00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:15,720 where thousands gave their lives to Jesus. One night on the way home, a godly lady from our church, 317 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:22,360 who was a very anointed singer, Rosalie Martin, told us that she had been paired up with another 318 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:28,760 counselor. When the woman found out she was from our church, she shared with Rosalie the story 319 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:38,120 about the bread. Rosalie said that I know the story about the bread. Pastor Rick has shared it many 320 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:48,680 times. She gave me another encouraging word. It's just amazing. The Bible says, give honor to whom 321 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:56,920 honors do. I'd just like to thank God for the strange and unusual things that these caused 322 00:37:56,920 --> 00:38:02,200 to happen in my life. And I want to give honor to Patty McIntyre, the bread lady. 323 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:11,480 How cool is that? How cool is that that you have a vision with bread involved? 324 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:18,200 Yes. At the front of the church, right, before you were anything, just a church goer, right? Which 325 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:23,320 is more significant than not being great. It's like before you go anywhere, being a church goer is 326 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:29,320 pretty significant that you've given yourself to God in the least way possible. At least it's a step 327 00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:35,080 in the right direction. But how incredible that she gives you this loaf of bread that's huge, 328 00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:40,680 right? 31 and a half inches long is a long piece of bread. Yeah, I don't think that fit in our oven. 329 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:46,040 I ate it all. I cut them up pieces and froze it. And I thought, look, I gave it to me. I must be 330 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:51,560 supposed to eat it. Why not? I'm sure you didn't want you to waste it. No. That doesn't seem like 331 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:56,520 a God thing to do. Like, I want you to just put that there and let it just rot. Yeah, that's not him. 332 00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:05,000 Enjoy it. He's the bread of life. And God is the word. And so we're taking, you're supposed to 333 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:12,680 take in the word every day. Yeah, what a reminder. What a reminder. Yum. I love these stories. 334 00:39:13,720 --> 00:39:19,640 It's just God showing up. And then he just brings a full circle. Another thing he reminded me of 335 00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:25,320 was someone else who used to work with you at the telephone. Telephone? Telephone. Is it 336 00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:31,000 Nett Nugils? Before she did? No, she didn't work with me there. Didn't she? No. Was it at 337 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:36,920 Sama? I met her at an outreach that we did up in Arlington Heights. Maybe it was during while you 338 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:46,280 worked there. Maybe, yeah. But yeah. And Nett Nugils also has an episode at the early stages. So check 339 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:53,000 her episode out from 2023 in November-ish, October-November. So she has a cool testimony too. 340 00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:59,400 So I just love your stories and how God brings things full circle. It is really incredible. And 341 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:06,440 it is a testament proof that God works in those who are obedient to him. It is absolute proof. 342 00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:10,360 If you don't believe in Jesus, obviously it's not absolute proof to you. But if you have any 343 00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:15,800 anointing of the Spirit within you whatsoever, it should ring true. It should ring as absolute proof 344 00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:22,280 that God absolutely stands and blesses those and favors those that are obedient to him. 345 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:26,520 You know, we've all heard the love languages like touch and things like that. Well, 346 00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:31,800 God's love language is none of those. It's obedience. God shows his love by being faithful 347 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:37,000 in his covenant. And we have to be faithful and obedience to him. Right? This is his love for 348 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:41,880 us. This is our love for him. He doesn't just love us because we did something amazing today. 349 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:45,480 He doesn't just love us because they laid hands on someone and they were healed. He says, 350 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:49,960 there's nothing to do with it. Right? He loves us because we're his children. Right? And we should 351 00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:55,000 love him not because he healed somebody, not because he's going to bless me today, but because 352 00:40:55,000 --> 00:41:00,760 he is my father. And when we come at it with that attitude, with obedience in our heart, 353 00:41:01,720 --> 00:41:05,960 Pastor Rick is like your next calling card. That's who you are. You're the next level, Pastor Rick. 354 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:10,840 You're the generation, millennial, whatever you are listening that is obedient to God. You need 355 00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:16,360 to follow in these footsteps. Eat a light of the world. We are to be salt and light and salt 356 00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:23,240 flavors things. So, flavor it up. And one thing that the Lord reminded me of, some people are 357 00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:28,280 never, ever, ever, no matter what you do, no matter how nice you are, they're not going to like you. 358 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:35,400 And it's because, not because you suck, because it's what really is, and this just turned on a 359 00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:42,600 light bulb for me. The light in you irritates the demons in their spirit. And so, it's nothing you 360 00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:49,400 did, but just keep on being the light of the world and encouraging others and letting the Lord use 361 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:55,480 you to speak to others and encourage them. And with that, we ask that you share this podcast 362 00:41:55,480 --> 00:42:03,000 episode with others so we can encourage others with the word of the Lord. And I just appreciate all 363 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:08,360 the listeners. And when you give feedback and rate the show, it just means a lot to me. And I 364 00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:14,440 greatly appreciate that. And if you are so led to give, we have four different links in our About 365 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:19,720 section that you can give. There's Benmo, PayPal, Cash App, there's a GiveSend, Go, 366 00:42:19,720 --> 00:42:26,200 Donation link in there as well. And we also accept other ways of payment. And that helps us keep the 367 00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:35,800 podcast going. And with that, we will talk to you next time.