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That's PRCUA.org. Welcome to If Not For God, stories of hopelessness that turn to hope. Here is your host, Mike Zwick. If not for God today, man, do we have a tree. We've got Pastor Marty Feltz and he is from First Christian Church in Boone and we actually, my wife and I, we had spent some time up in Boone this past month just enjoying the beauty and the day that we left it was snowing. You talk about timing, but while I was up there, I actually met a guy named Pastor Marty and boy, does he have a story. Pastor Marty and I, we met one day. It was actually, I've accidentally came to the church an hour early and Pastor Marty, you were having some, was it a health problem that you were having or? Yes, the doctors had told me I had an aneurysm and I was having severe headaches constantly and then you and I met and talked a little bit about it and I guess the Lord compelled you to pray for me. And we prayed and after that the Lord just took those headaches away and I haven't had a single headache since the day we met and it was just a miracle. I know that was all God's doing, not yours or mine, but God will heal when he sees fit to do that. Yeah, and there was a greater purpose behind that and you know, I know Robbie, you and I have talked about this a lot where it seems like you pray for people, you pray for people, you pray for people and I pray for people all the time. And the funny thing is, is I never really see them again, a lot of them, and I'll pray for they have a sickness or something. So I don't know if they actually get healed, but I know Stu Epperson, the owner of the Truth Network had actually said, he said, Mikey said, when you're on the radio, and I'm sure Robbie, you've seen this on the radio as well, where you're working, you're working, you're working, you're telling people about Jesus, you're telling stories. And I would say probably 90 some percent of the time, we never get to see the fruit of that because people just hear us on the radio.
They don't have a way to get in touch with us. But every once in a while you get a glimpse. Do you get that, Robbie? Of course. Yeah, it's wonderful. In fact, just yesterday, somebody sent me a joke book in the mail. I guess they like my jokes.
They wanted me to have some fresh material. But you're right. You feel like you're talking into thin air to some extent. And it's that way with prayer. But for me, just yesterday, my brother had been out of work since COVID in March in Tennessee, and I've been praying, praying, praying.
And it was funny. He told me how he was kind of distraught over the thing yesterday, and I really went to praying yesterday. And about an hour later, he called me and he said, have you been praying again, brother?
Because I just got a call from the Chevy dealer and they've got a job. I mean, it was just like that. And I was like, oh, my goodness.
Because, yeah, it's really cool when you get a chance to see it happen. And, you know, it's like sometimes now I'm sure it's like when we get to heaven there. And I know Stu had said this to me, but he said, Mike, he said, we're going to see people who we never even knew existed.
Amen. People who heard us, you know, and stuff like that. But one of the things that we were talking about, Pastor Marty, was you actually lived in New Jersey. Yes, I did. And you said that you did a weekly street evangelism in Camden, New Jersey. And I said, I said, no, no, no, you must be talking about another town or another city because you don't just go out to Camden, New Jersey.
Nobody wants to go out to Camden and hang out. Yes, I was with some volunteer work with New Covenant Ministries in Camden, New Jersey. And it's a street ministry where they would go out and random lots and different parts of the city, usually the worst of the worst part. This you would not want to go there alone.
Put it that way. And there would be as soon as we drive up with the Jesus trucks, you can see all the drug dealers and the prostitutes and all just disappear from the area. And the homeless would come over and people would come out of their homes and we would feed them, give them clothing, even furniture and pots and pans if we had that, whatever they wanted for free. And we would minister.
And it wasn't just myself. There's a lot of pastors from different churches that would go and help. And it was just a miracle to watch the change that you would see in some people.
They would accept it and then they would follow us around. And every time we went into a lot, we always left it cleaner than we ever got that when we got there. And it was just an incredible experience, although I didn't understand why God wanted me there at first and I hated it at first.
But I got to see God's work firsthand. So, you know, one of the things that we talk about and I know I've seen a lot of this is, Marty, and one of the things that I was thinking about is that the people, somebody said that the people that you least want to talk to are the people that you most need to talk to. And it's a lot of times it's the successful businessman or the successful businesswoman or the athlete or some people are going after them. But when I read in Scripture, Jesus talks about talking to the drunks or the prostitutes and stuff like that. And I heard Dr. Tony Evans say one time that sometimes it's easier for a drug addict to come to Christ than it is a successful businessman because they don't really have a lot else going on and they realize their need for redemption. Did you see that while you were out there?
Absolutely. You know, the Bible says that the healthy don't go to the hospital to get healed, the sick do. And that's exactly what ended up happening is to see those people that truly needed something changed in their life. And that change was Jesus Christ. Most of them didn't even know about Jesus, or if they did, they didn't remember it because they felt like they were abandoned by God. And God says, I've never left you nor forsaken you.
And that's exactly what they would finally discovered. That's awesome, man. And you have a story yourself, Marty, right? Yeah, a lot of stories. But I mean, growing up, you became a Christian, what, at the age of 16? Yes, I was 16 years old. I went to a church, a friend of mine, and I remember it was a home church. There was about 20 people there, maybe more, and I listened to the message and I heard the truth for the first time. And I remember talking to the pastor and he says, do you really accept Jesus Christ?
I said, absolutely. We went into a pantry that they had in the kitchen so we could be a little of privacy. And that was when I turned my life over to God. And of course, you know, when you're not following God, the enemy doesn't really mess with you too much. But the moment I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I became under attack because my father was an atheist.
He did not like this. In fact, when I went home and talked about it, I got a severe beating for even talking about it or going to a church. You mean there can be persecution for following Jesus?
Absolutely. And it happened time and time again. But I realized at first I kept going to church because it upset my father. That was my motivation. But I learned that Jesus saved me. That's right.
He carried me through all those and it was worth every beating to get that for Jesus, because if he can go through what he did and die on the cross for me, I can take a few lickings from my dad. Yeah. So you so you followed. So you began following Jesus and then your 20s came. Yeah, my 20s. I hit 21.
I was legal to go out and have fun. So I thought and between the ages of 20 to 21 to about 32, I was part of the world. The world had gotten a hold of me and God disappeared out of my life. So I thought he never really left. But in my mind, I didn't come to him.
I did not follow him anymore. And one day I met a woman and she was a very strong Christian. And we became friends and she started teaching me again about Jesus Christ. And so you decided to follow Jesus again. And then was it after that you said there was an experience in jail.
Is that right? Oh, that happened much later. But when I was this this woman that I was talking about, her name was Gay. She sat down and we I had a dream one night.
And my dream was that I was sitting on a hill in the mountains and there's all kinds of sheep and animals running around. And my friend from high school, Peter James, he was standing there with me. And he said, Marty, you know, God created all of this.
Isn't it a miracle that only God could create this beauty? And I said, oh, it's amazing. And he said, do you love the Lord? And I said, of course I do. And this hand touched me on my shoulder.
I never saw who it was. And he says, then go feed my sheep. So I got up, I grabbed the bucket and I started going down the hill and woke up.
So instantly I had to get a hold of Gay. And I said, Gay, I had a dream. I told her about it. I said, I know what God wants me to do for my life.
She goes, what's that? And I said, he wants me to buy a farm and raise sheep. She laughed and said, I don't think you understood that message. But you were willing to be obedient. Yes, I was.
I was going to buy that farm. So what did you find out that the message meant? The message was I was supposed to go out and feed the sheep, meaning the people, to feed them the word of God and what Jesus did, the gospel, which the most important thing about the gospel is salvation. I didn't realize where my life was going to go at the time. After I moved on and there was a period of time where I just walked away from God again.
I was just so frustrated because people were just pounding and pounding it into me. And I went to a church that just said, they told me I had a demon in me because I was having these dreams, which I guess they didn't understand that even the Bible says that men will have dreams. And God talks to me through these dreams. And a lot of people will say, oh, God doesn't talk to us anymore. After the apostles died, everything we need to know is right here in the Bible. But God still teaches us.
It may not be a fiery bush or a voice coming from the sky, but he works through other people, maybe dreams. But every day something happens. As I said, I ran from God again and I was working as a job as a dance teacher at the time. And my boss told me if I was late again for work, I was going to be fired. So I said, okay, the next day I got up early, I ironed my suit, I'm getting ready to go to work to catch the bus, and I look at my watch and I'm late. I missed the bus.
I knew I was going to be fired that day. And I sat and prayed. I said, God, why? Why is this happening?
What happened? I thought you were always going to be there, but you're allowing this to happen to me. The wind blew and this piece of paper rolled across the road and landed between my feet. And I looked down and on that piece of paper said, I've never left you nor forsaken you. I broke down in tears and cried and prayed and prayed for it seemed like a long time. Soon as I got done praying and repenting for all the things I had done, the bus drove up.
I got on the bus and ended up at work five minutes early. So again, God was there taking care of me when I didn't even realize he was always there. He was always there and he speaks to you. We just have to listen. Absolutely. Now the jail story.
Okay. Now the jail story. So I'm in New Jersey and some bad things happened because obviously you don't just go to jail because good things were happening. So I go to jail and I really thought I was just going to be out after the weekend, but it didn't happen. And I'm sitting in jail. They put me in a cell without going into great detail with a person who wanted to molest me. And I was just ready to give up.
I found a little piece of metal that was on the bottom of the rack that was real sharp. And I had planned on that night. I was going to cut my wrist and die because I couldn't live like this anymore. Suddenly this gentleman walks over and says, my bunk roommate just left and I can't be in a cell by myself.
Would you like to join me? And I was like, thank you, God. You know, I'm getting out of this situation, hopefully not going to a new. But when I walked in, there was a sign on the floor that somebody put there and it said, this is welcome to the house of the Lord. And instead of having pictures of women or whatever, he had Bible scriptures all over the wall. I spent the rest of my time there praying and reading. I even fasted. So I said, Lord, I'm going to fast. I'm going to read the Bible for the first time. I read the Bible from cover to cover and I said, I'm not going to eat until I read this whole Bible.
Now it took me seven days. Now the food in jail wasn't very good. Oh, it's horrible. It's just disgusting.
I mean, it's enough to make you survive. But that week I gave my trays to my cellmate. They had the best sausages. They had all the best food. I'd never seen food that good. They even had lasagna one night. And I'm thinking, Lord, is this a test?
You know, are you testing me to see if I'm really going to follow through with this? And I read by the time I finished the very last word in Revelation, I closed it and I was so hungry. But I ate. Of course, all the food was garbage again after that. But I discovered that God was there again with me.
I was there 61 days. I kept trying to get out, but they wouldn't for I get lost. I got lost in the system somehow. Then I got out. But while you were there, you said there's only been a few times in your life where God has actually spoken to you and where you had Bible verses. Yes, yes, yes.
I forgot about that. Yeah, God would give me Bible verses and just random verses. And I'd write them down and not really know what they were because I didn't know the Bible. And I started writing each verse down and I noticed that sometimes there would be a comma at the end of that verse.
And the next verse, which would be in another book or chapter somewhere in the Bible, it would start from the next comma. But when I read it, I realized it wasn't anything a message for people. It was like a letter from God. It was very specific.
It followed a topic and it kind of kept going and going. And it changed my life, knowing that God still was talking to me when I was in jail. And it brings me back to the thought of Paul going to prison. And God is always with us, no matter what you're going through in life, no matter how detrimental you think things are or what you've done.
God is there and His love is always there for you. If He didn't, He wouldn't have said in John 3 16 about God so loved the earth that He sent His one and only Son. So we could all be saved. But He didn't do it to condemn the world, but to save us.
To save us. And you were talking about while you were in jail. And not only that, you said afterwards, you were going to preach your first sermon and you had everything kind of prepared and planned. And then something happened.
But before I do that, I'm going to pull up. It's John chapter 14. And it says, verse 25, all this I have spoken while still with you, but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.
I do not give give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and afraid. But you said you had your first sermon, you were nervous, you were prepared and planned, and then something happened.
Yes. I was standing in front of the church and I was looking at everybody and I had this whole thing written out and I'm looking at it and I'm trying and trying to start. But I just, something was stopping me. And I felt God telling me, no, we're not doing this today.
We're going to do something else. And I looked at the church and I looked at my paper and I looked at the church and I took the papers, I threw them up in the air and said, God's telling me to do something else. And I just opened the Bible, let it open where it was, and I said, let's start here. And the scripture started coming again. And I was writing down and talking about it and they all kept following a suit.
It wasn't me doing this. It was God, the Holy Spirit guiding me through. And afterwards, the pastor Jim, who is my mentor, he says to me, you know, that was the best sermon I've heard. And even afterwards, he always said, the best sermons you ever did is when you just threw the papers away and let the Holy Spirit work through you and speak. And it was a miracle, you know, even becoming a pastor, I wasn't even wanting to do that.
I was in the hospital. And I called a pastor that church I was going to. He didn't show up.
He wouldn't come. I called Jim and we met before this. And I always just thought he was just this crazy guy. But he's the one who got me into the street ministry. It was the Jesus truck that made me stop and talk to him. Well, he comes up and visited me and he said, you know, you need to be a pastor.
Yeah. And I said, no, not me. I'm not worthy.
You don't know what I've done. He says we all have a past and none of us are worthy of this calling. And that's when he told me the story of the two boats and a helicopter.
So what's the story? The story is there was a man who is in a flood and he was sitting on his porch and the boat came up and the guy in the boat says, hey, get in the boat. We'll take you to higher ground. We'll be safe. And the guy says, no, I have faith the Lord is going to save me.
Water got higher. He's sitting on his second story of his house and another boat comes up and the guy says, get in the boat. We'll take it higher ground. We'll be safe. He says, no, I have faith the Lord is going to save me. Finally, he's sitting on the roof because the water is just there and his helicopter comes over, drops a ladder down and says, climb up the ladder. We'll take you to higher ground.
We'd be safe. He goes, no, I have faith God is going to save me. And then he died.
When he gets to heaven, he goes before God. He says, God, I had faith. I believed in you, but you didn't save me. And God looked at him and said, I sent you two boats and a helicopter. What more do you need? So Jim says the story to me and I laughed and he said, so you've had two boats. Here's your helicopter.
What are you going to do? And I said, I'm climbing on board and climbing on board. And I started learning. And then shortly after that, I was the pastor of the Church of Grace in New Jersey.
Wow. And my life has never been the same. You know, they say when you accept Jesus into your life, things are going to change. And they don't mean some things.
Everything changes. That's when I found the enemy would try to really come at me. I would at first, they didn't bother me too much. I guess the devil wasn't sure if I was serious about this. But then I started preaching and I started ministering to people through music, through the message. And that's when the attack came and it weren't getting anywhere with me. So what did he do next? He attacked everybody around me, turned them against me.
I lost my friends. Yeah. I mean, if you look at the book of Job at first, when the devil comes and attacks Job, he actually attacks his family.
Yeah. He attacks everybody but Job. And then finally, the Lord gives him permission to actually attack Job. And Robbie, I'm sure you've actually seen this yourself, but what I hear Marty saying is that if you're not really doing a lot for the Lord, then the devil kind of leaves you alone. But you've seen times in your life, Robbie, where you've really started to get on fire for the Lord and then all of a sudden you've had the attacks, right?
Oh yeah. But again, God allows those because when you look at the book of Job, that was how he actually grew into a relationship with God was through all the stuff that Satan tried to throw at him. So what has been thrown at me, whether it was a jeep or whatever, hospital, job losses and all those things, if you keep diving in to the Lord and keep, like you said, keep working on that relationship, listening and open up your ears, the joy of the deal is that, wow, you grow closer to God and the more he turns up the heat, the more you're refined.
You know, I almost sometimes now, I almost see it as almost a blessing when the enemy is attacking because I say, oh, I must be doing something for the Lord. And as a matter of fact, when we were going to have our meeting, Marty, you had come over to the place and all of a sudden my son had locked the door behind him. I remember that. And I said, because the easy thing would have been just to say, well, the door is locked, let's do this another time. But something told me, it said, no, it's that there's something that Marty and I are supposed to talk about tonight. And we prayed about it and we prayed about it and we prayed about it.
And you said you actually found your passport in the car with paperclip in it and you said you don't even bring your passport with you. Is that right? That's correct.
Yeah, it was there. And it was God always has a plan, even though we may not see it. Certain things will happen and it's always his will. Sometimes, you know, he doesn't answer what we want, but I believe that that is for our own protection. You know, because sometimes we don't really know what we want or we may know what we want. We don't know what we need. And God is always going to provide, just like having that paperclip.
He already knew that the enemy was going to try to stop us. Well, I'll tell you one thing that we need, and that's Jesus Christ. Amen. And it says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. We pray right now that you give your life to Jesus. You surrender your life to Jesus.
You read scripture, get into a good Bible-based church. And Pastor Marty Feltz, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you so much. God bless. God bless you. God bless you, if not for God.
