Welcome to Truth Talk Live. All right, let's talk. A daily program powered by the Truth Network. This is kind of a great thing and I'll tell you why. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak your mind. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host.
Go for you today. How did you come to know Jesus? And what did he save you out of? How did you come to know Jesus?
And what did he save you out of? We want your calls. 866-348-7884. 866-34-TRUTH. And I'm going to start off with this.
I've got Robbie Dilmore. We've got the Christian car guy in the house today helping out. But Revelation 12-11, and I've got the King James Version, and it says, And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they loved not their lives unto death.
They loved not their lives unto death. And I think about that and I tell you what, people can argue with your logic, Robbie. They can argue with the way that you look or your style or they may just not like Christianity, but it is hard. It is really hard for people to argue with your testimony because that is your own personal, your own personal experience. And it really is hard to argue with that. And Robbie, I know you've got a great testimony and I've got one as well and I think it's really powerful, but Robbie, you actually came out of another group or another movement and it wasn't necessarily Christian, but they happen to be very nice to you.
Is that right? Oh yeah, yeah. For those who know, I did come out of Scientology and so not exactly like went from Scientology, but my wife helped get me to where I needed to be. And we'll share that story later, but I'm really excited to hear your caller. But I was also thinking, based on your intro and that verse that you used out of Revelation, there's one in Psalm 119 that says, I'll give my testimonies before kings and not be ashamed. And there's the point that when people are telling their testimony and I get to hear it all the time on the radio, you know, kingdom pursuits, it's a normal thing that I'm going to hear somebody's testimony on how they did that. And it's amazing to see how nervous they may be about being on the radio and how tense and all that stuff. But when they actually start telling their story, it's amazing to see the shame goes away, whatever. And the Holy Spirit comes in and it's just as smooth as silk.
And you can actually even see it when you look at the recording later on the, you know, when you record things, it's a, it's a sound wave and you can see the wave of somebody when they go into telling their actual testimony and the Holy Spirit takes over their voice. How smooth, how beautiful. Right. Right.
That is. And so I'm excited to hear about a lot of those today. And you got one already. We do. We've got a Doug Coffin out of Greensboro, North Carolina. And Doug has actually been in the radio station with us. He sat here one day. You met him.
He goes to our church over at Just Like Jesus Ministries. But Doug, if you're there, I wanted to ask you, how did you come to know Jesus and what did he save you out of? Well, you know, I was, I was saved during the Jesus movement of the 70s. And like most people there, you know, we were into the drug culture, we were into the hippie culture, you know, sex, drug, rock and roll. But there was a, there was an element of truth in the movement, too. A lot of people were looking for, we really were looking for something that was real. You know, we've kind of gotten disgusted with what was going on in the world. You know, if you remember, there were civil rights going on, there was democratic, you know, politics going on, there was everything was happening in that time.
But, you know, it just opened, it opened the drug culture wide, you know, wide open. And so me being at that time, you know, 17, 18 years old, I just kind of came naturally into it. The ironic thing was I was dating a girl that knew Jesus and the reason I was dating her truthfully was because she was just really good looking. And, you know, she invited me to go to church.
And I said, I'm not going to church. She said, Well, why don't you come to my house, you know, we'll go to church. And I said, Sure, you know, so, you know, I go over there, she starts talking to Jesus, like she knows him. And I'm kind of looking around the room thinking what's going on.
Yeah. And so she began to tell me about Jesus. And, you know, it resonated with me, but I wasn't ready. And so people told me at that time, you know, ask Jesus to come into your heart, he'll come into your heart.
So I would say, you know, at night, I'd say Jesus come in my heart, and I'd give him, you know, two or three, four minutes. And, you know, I didn't know anything. I had no background in the gospel. So, you know, I said, Well, I guess he's busy. I don't know what's going on. But what happened was the Lord began to started to work in my life. My wife was at the time the girl I was telling you about was actually praying the Lord told her to fast for four days and the fourth day I was hit a brick wall to determine Jesus.
On the fourth day of her fast, I was busted by the entire bridge for a vice squad. And two weeks later, when I got out of jail, you know, I was wanting to get high again. So we took some acid. And all of a sudden, I was, you know, I was kind of kind of, you know, the guys I was with, I was going to kind of flip them out. So let's talk about God.
They should know. And so we started talking a little bit about Jesus. And I asked him to turn in my heart. And the drug just left me.
It was just just a miraculous thing. And I went, I just sold an amount of drugs for my dealer. I went and told him, you know, I'm out, you know, and so the ironic thing was, the same night that I met the Lord across town, Jesus had come in his life.
And so this was happening all over. Did you say the same night you met Jesus? Your drug dealer met Jesus around the same time as well?
Same exact night. And what happened was he was, you know, he was a big time dealer. I mean, he was moving stuff across the country. And, you know, Jesus had come in his life. And so this was going on all over the place.
I remember I was thumbing, you know, I used to thumb around all the way down the East Coast. And, you know, this guy picked me up and he said, he started almost cussing. He said, no, the last two people that picked me up, all they want to talk about is Jesus. I said, man, God's trying to tell you something.
You know, this was good. This is how life was during that time of the Jesus movement. And it was just a tremendous thing. The Lord, you know, eventually, you know, delivered me completely from the drug culture, from the drugs. And I've been walking with Jesus now for over 50 years. And I'm extremely thankful, you know, what he's done in my life. It's for anyone listening.
You know, there's nothing. So, Doug, just to clarify before you, and I don't want to forget what you want to add, but I was trying to understand that while you were high on the acid, you were talking with these guys and you thought, well, I'm going to talk about Jesus and flip them out a bit. But then you said you asked Jesus in your heart. And at that point in time, the drugs left, meaning you no longer were under the effects of the drugs anymore, that all of a sudden Jesus really did come into your heart, in spite of the fact that before you'd ask him and you were wondering what happened.
Is that my understanding? Yeah, and here's the crazy thing. When I asked him that, at the time I didn't understand it, but I asked him to commit my life, my nose started bleeding. And I thought, you know, I was, you know, other guys were tripping. I was washing blood off my hands, saying, you know, I'm no longer guilty for the blood of Jesus, which I didn't know what I was talking about. But I think what was going on then was that's how the Lord was taking the drug out of my body, because I just became sober.
It was probably two or three o'clock in the morning at that point. And I walked up to this church off of Cone Boulevard and just talked to the Lord, you know, that night. And it was, I mean, this was going on all over the place.
I later became an addiction counselor. One of the things that was frustrating for me as I grew older was in this day, I saw many people asking the Lord to come in their life to deliver them from the issue of drugs. And it wasn't as quick with so many people. And it made me just be extremely thankful and feel that I really owed something, you know, that God had given me that mercy.
It was a different time. Well, Doug, we are about to go to a break, brother. And we got a lot of callers on, so I want to thank you for the call, brother.
We've got a Angie coming up next out of Texas. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com I am back on Truth Talk Live and we want to hear your stories. How did you come to know Jesus? How did you come to get saved by Jesus?
And how did he change your life? And so when I think about it, that is absolutely amazing. And so I know we've got an Angie who is there and I don't know, can you hear us, Angie? Yes. Can you hear me?
Yeah. So how did you come to know Jesus? And give me one second. The number to call is 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884.
We want your calls. Angie, how did you come to know Jesus? Well, I don't have quite a colorful story as Doug had.
That was an awesome story to listen to. I was raised in a Christian home and came to know Jesus as a young child and was baptized and was raised in him. And I was a pretty good kid, but, you know, in the adult years I drifted away and, you know, came to church when it was convenient for me and easy for me, but started living in the world. And in April of 2020, I was living a life of sin, living with my fiance and our children and doing whatever I wanted to do.
And I finally said, God, I'm done with this. I will do whatever you want me to do if you'll get me out of this situation and fix this. I will, I'll give it all to you.
I'll do what you want. And my fiance came home that night from a party, drunk and high, and he hit me and God knew that would be the one thing that would make me finally leave. And I did. And from that time he has done nothing but take care of me and my children. I'm a single mom, have been for five years, and I've been completely devoted to him. So he saved me at that point five years ago out of a life I shouldn't have been living, a relationship that was no good for me, that didn't bring me any closer to him. And then he began to teach me all the things that I practice now.
I'm a completely different person than I was even five years ago. So he's just taught me the truth about the world and about things in it, kind of the great awakening that a lot of people are doing, just coming to the truth of things that have been lies all of our life. And I just continue to live for him and trust completely in him. And he continues to take care of me and take care of my children. And I am blessed beyond belief, but he saved me as a child and then saved my life again many, many years later.
And I'm now living how I should have been living my whole life for him. That is absolutely amazing. When you were talking about that, Angie, the verse that came to my mind was John chapter 10, and it says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
And Angie, that is absolutely amazing. And it sounds like you're on fire for Jesus Christ, and you're going to stay that way, right? That's right. Amen. All right.
Well, thank you for the call. It looks like we've got a Rick out of Canada. And is this the Rick Pearson that I know out of Canada?
Yes, it is. How are you doing, brother? We're doing good. It's about 98 degrees up here in Canada.
It's very warm for Canadian weather. But I've been listening to your talk show. You're doing a great job. I love listening to all these testimonies. It's fantastic how God works and speaks to all of us in a way that we understand. It's just amazing. He really does, Rick. And I love to watch your show as well each week.
It's Prophecy USA. I know you're on over 120 different television stations all across the country. But you have a phenomenal testimony and a very personal testimony yourself. Can you share that with us?
Yes. I was raised in a Baptist cessation theology church, and at seven years old I went forward to ask Christ in my heart. And the pastor said to me, he had a PhD, and he said to me, Why did you come forward? And I said, I want to ask Jesus in my heart because I don't want to go to hell, Mr. Backstone. And he laughed and he said, Well, that's a great reason. But by the time I was 18, I thought, you know, I saw this guy on TV called Oral Roberts. He said, The Day of Miracles is still today.
They haven't stopped. Well, I wasn't taught that. I was taught God didn't heal. He didn't do a deliverance anymore. The signs and wonders, the apostles and all that was done. It had ceased.
I don't know when they thought it ceased, but they said it ceased. And so I went to ORU and looked at the school as a prospective student, and I saw this sign. It said, Expect a miracle. And I thought, expect.
I wonder if this guy's for real. And I went to an apartment in Florida and I was with my cousin. And I said, You know, I don't know what direction I'm supposed to go in my life, but I want to make a vow to God. And we got on our knees and I prayed and I said, God, if you are real, if this man, Oral Roberts, is right and you do miracles and healings today, like the men in the Bible. If you do that in my life, I'll totally give you my life.
But you got to show me, just show me that this is real. And Mike, when I released that vow, the door of the apartment blew open and a wind came in the room, a whirlwind, and it encircled me and my cousin. And he looked at me and this was not a breeze. This was I mean, the curtains were blowing. This was a violent, rushing, mighty wind.
And that wind circled us and I hit the floor. I thought, what have I conjured up? And I said the name Jesus, Jesus over and over again.
It actually I was exciting, but it was also a little bit scary. And as I said Jesus over and over again, I started speaking in another language. And I thought, what am what is going on?
I'm speaking in this different language. And there's a wind around that went for about 10 minutes. And I said, Lord, I don't know what's going on, but I'm I'm here. I'm yours.
I'll do whatever you tell me to do. But please, Lord, please stop the wind because I cannot handle this anymore. The presence was so strong. I just couldn't handle it.
And the wind left the room and the door slam shut behind it. And my cessation theology friends, I was I said, you can't believe what happened. And they said, Rick, this is demonic. God doesn't work like that anymore. Well, you tell an 18 year old kid that doesn't know scripture much that something's demonic. And I thought, oh, my goodness. I asked God to show me he's real and he gives me demons.
Come on. I met another group of people and they started laughing and they opened up the second chapter of Acts and said, look at this wreck. When the day of Pentecost had come to get the one hundred and twenty disciples were gathered together in one accord. And suddenly there came a sound as of a rushing mighty wind and filled the room where they were at. And they began to speak in over 15 different dialects the word of God. And the people outside heard God heard them preaching in their own languages. And that was when the Holy Spirit entered the church and was a sign and a wonder.
Well, Mike, now that is my testimony on how God showed me he's real. And now I'm on one hundred and twenty stations and I'm preaching a prophetic ministry to the body of Christ. Our show is entitled Prophecy USA, a program specifically designed to unveil the hidden mystery of America's role in Bible prophecy. And if you're listening here today, I want to if you're in America, I want to tell you something. The hand of God is moving in America.
Now is the time. If you have any doubts, you call on the name of Jesus. And I promise you, if your heart is sincere, now is the season to ask him into your heart, because we don't know how much longer we have before the rapture comes. But God is moving and and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
He has never lost his power. He's closer to you than your breath. If you'll just whisper his name.
That's right. And, Rick, I want to thank you for the call. We will be right back.
And Rick Pearson from Prophecy USA, thank you for the call. We'll be right back. 866-348-7884. 866-344-TRUTH. We want your calls. How did you come to know Jesus and what did he save you out of?
We'll be right back. Truth Talk Live! You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com 866-344-TRUTH.
866-348-7884. We want your testimony. How did you come to know Jesus and what did he save you out of?
We've got a Joanne out of Miami, Florida. How did you come to know Jesus, Joanne? Well, I was brought up Jewish. And my father was an Orthodox when he was young.
And then a conservative. And then as a family we became reformed, which is actually considered liberal. We went to a temple in the holy days.
I always knew my father repented on Yom Kippur because he would come home with his yarmulke on and first encounter Jesus when I was in grade school. And I saw Jesus written on the bathroom door. I asked my father later and he said, I said, who is Jesus?
And he said, we don't discuss that word in our house. Of course that puzzled me for a long time. I had many encounters before I was saved. One that stood out when I was 18 after I graduated. I saw a young man that I haven't seen for years. I asked him how Larry was, his brother. And he said, now he committed suicide.
But that wasn't why I was upset. It's when he told me his brother was in hell. I said, how do you know?
I don't understand. He said, well, come to my Bible study. So I did. I didn't tell my parents. The first thing he gave me was a Bible. That was the first thing they gave me.
I listened attentively only with head knowledge, not from the heart. The Holy Spirit was wheeling me in for a catch. When I got home, I showed my parents the Bible.
And he said, where canes? And he left the room. And there was a feud. I started a feud in that household. But in 1978, I received Jesus as my Messiah through Isaiah 53.
I was selling jewelry in California. And a man came over to me, who was actually my husband's name, and just wearing a cross. And with his boldness speaking to me about Yeshua, I said, I'm Jewish. And when he brought up about sin, I was saying, oh my goodness, the Ten Commandments.
I failed them all. And then that brought me to attention. Me, Jesus Christ is my Messiah. But I didn't totally surrender at that time. And as I fell back into sin, Jesus gave me many chances because he loved me. In 1 John 1.19, his mercy and grace and forgiveness in those sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. And he was patient with me.
And now I serve him more than I ever have. And one by one, my family members have come to know the Yeshua through watching my life. And my mother, my father, one brother, and my husband are in heaven at this time. The rest of my siblings all know Jesus as I trust him and he can trust me.
That is amazing. And so we have a friend of ours named Leslie out of Texas and she comes in and she visits us and she said, when I became a Christian, I knew one thing. She said, I don't party alone. When I was out in the world, I didn't party alone. I wanted to party with everybody.
And she said, when I became a Christian and I got to know Jesus, I wanted everybody else to know Jesus as well. Amen. Amen. Well, Joanne, thank you so much for the call. And we hope you have a good time.
Stay cool down in sunny Florida. We've got a Terry coming up next, but Terry, are you there? Yes. Can you hear me?
I can. How did you come to know Jesus, Terry? Well, there's a lot of overlap with Doug's story, but it had to do with interacting at critical times with those that were already walking with Jesus. And one of those conversations or one of those observations took place in a car wash. I was working in a car wash in San Francisco on Divisadero in that district. And a group of us were sitting there, employees waiting for the next car. And the supervisor was with us and walking by was a young woman in a very, very tight, short skirt and there in spiky heels. And everybody was aghast and looking in. And I noticed that one of them said she's a prostitute.
She she must be a prostitute. And then and then I I looked at our supervisor and he he clapped his hand over his eyes and he said, I don't want to look. I don't want to see that.
I don't want to see that. I've made a covenant with my eyes, so to speak. And that made an impression on me in that same in that same car wash one day as a group of us were sitting in a circle again, waiting for business, a white butterfly. There were there were no that I remember, no trees or plants around flowers, but a white butterfly fluttered down upon my shoulder. And everybody turned and looked at me.
I believe that including that supervisor. But we were looking. I felt somehow I was being set apart. But we were looking we were looking for love. We were looking for joy. We were looking for peace. We were looking for the same kinds of things that that the Bible talks about as being the fruit of the Spirit.
But we were looking at all the wrong places. I mean, the what I was experiencing was not love, but more like lust. The joy was very short term pleasure. And the peace was more like a drug induced numbness than a real, true peace. These these were we were kind of we were experiencing the counterfeits of these things, love, joy and peace, and only only things that are that are valuable or ever counterfeited. So we saw I was still looking for the real the real love, the real joy, the real peace and come to discover that those were the fruit of holiness, not of the self-indulgent lifestyle that I was living with my friends. But with those things, love, joy and peace were the fruit of holiness.
What was holiness? I was learning a little bit about it just by interacting with that supervisor. And then another friend as I traveled in Europe, another friend who who is a missionary that I that I met over there on a bus, a public bus. He began to talk to me about grace. One night there was a group of us in a circle smoking marijuana, passing a pipe around, actually. And this friend was right there in the midst with us. But but as the as the pipe came around, I noticed he didn't take it. He didn't he didn't smoke from it. In fact, there was, as we did and as I did, there was just a look of of grief on his face.
There was a look of sadness. And I never forgot that. I never forgot that that look at another conversation. By that time, I, I thought I really was a Christian. And there was a British couple that I met in Spain. And this also took place in Spain with that missionary. But the British couple were always talking about the cross. I saw them over a period of days and they were always talking about the cross. And I said, you know, I and I and I said, oh, the cross, the cross. And I said something really blasphemous about the cross because I was tired of hearing about the cross. And they quietly turned to me and said, did you say you were a Christian?
Did you say you were Christian? And at near that time, a weight came upon me, the conviction of the Holy Spirit came upon me. The weight of my sin, the weight of my of my spiritual condition, the gravity of it, the dead, deadly seriousness of my condition just settled on me.
I remember when it when it when it did the room I was in, it wasn't even a room that I was living in or but I just remember the desk and the papers and books piled. And just that sense of of of the serious weight of my sin being weighed down by it. And that was when when I finally surrendered my life. I saw I finally did in private, just turned my life over to him because I'd always been able to laugh off the sin, always been able to shrug it off. But but I couldn't do that anymore through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And as I turned my life over to him, then I became involved with Youth of the Mission. And since then, I've traveled in so many countries and had so many opportunities to to share the Lord and to write the things that he's revealing to me. Well, Terry, Terry, I want to tell you something, man, that is that is an amazing testimony.
And when you were talking earlier about when people asked you, you're a Christian and like you don't want to talk about the cross. I was reminded that when I get in the pool in May, you know, there's this little kid who came in and I asked I asked his mother, I said, is this pool cold? And she says that Zach says the pool is refreshing. And so I would go in there and it was ice cold. And so this past week, it has been so hot. It was 98 degrees one day. The heat index was like 106. I mean, it was absolutely incredible.
It was so hot. But I got into the pool earlier this week. And when I got into the pool, it was almost like getting into a warm bath in the pool was no longer refreshing so that when people see us as Christians, they're supposed to see almost a reflection of Christ. There's but we're little Christian literally means little Christ that they're supposed to see a little Christ in us, a reflection of Christ.
And that when they don't see that, when they see us acting, thinking, looking, feeling just like the world, then Christianity is no longer refreshing. And Terry, I want to thank you for the call. We've got. Yeah, we've got a. All right.
And eight, six, six, three, four, eight, seven, eight, eight, four, eight, six, six, three, four, eight, seven, eight, eight, four. We've got a Kim out of North Carolina. When we come back, we want your calls.
How did you come to know Jesus and what did he save you out of? We'll be right back. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com.
All right. Eight, six, six, three, four, truth. We want your calls. We've got a Kim out of North Carolina. How did you meet Jesus, Kim? The better question would be, when did I ever not know who he was? I've known him all my life. I am a third generation minister. OK, so you've known him your whole life and. My whole life. OK, so the so your your testimony may be a little bit different.
I know I actually met a pastor out of Yackenville, North Carolina, and when I was talking to him, I asked him, you know, about how he became a Christian. And he said, you know, he said, Mike, he said, as far as I know, he said, I never when I was growing up, I never cursed. I didn't smoke. I didn't drink.
I didn't do any of the stuff that I thought was bad, he said. But at the same time, when I came to know Jesus at a certain age, he said, I was just as lost as the worst alcoholic, the worst murderer or anything like that. So what has it been like for you, Kim, to know Jesus your whole life?
I don't know that I have that same perception of the story that he did. I know that sin is sin is sin and that my own righteousness is a filthy rag. So even though I didn't know life without him, unless I made my own personal decision, you heard it said that God doesn't have grandchildren, you know, so we each are accountable for our own choice. And we each have to make that personal one on one connection or relationship with the Lord.
And it was just modeled in front of me very clearly. And then I was given the opportunity often and continually the scripture train up a child and the way they should go. And when they're older, they won't depart from it.
I knew that firsthand. However, we all have an enemy. The enemy of God will well, I call it like a whack a mole.
He keeps picking his head up to see just what he can get your attention or how he can how he can distract you or damage your testimony. My dad calls it baiting. You know what? Do you know what the purpose of the bait is when a man fishes?
What's that? To hide the hook. And the enemy, the enemy will use bait.
He's a very patient fisherman just to bait the hook to see if he can catch you off guard or lure you in, as it were. And even though I was faith in the Lord and the community or the communion with the Lord and walking with him and worshipping. And and the Bible said here the early morning intimacy with it was modeled before me. You know what the you're not the enemy baited me with. You're not that special. You don't have a testimony. You were never really saved from anything. And even when I knew this was the subject that old thread, I could feel that I really wasn't saved from anything. I don't have a great testimony. I've never done anything that was rescued. But that is such a lie because I learned early on, because I pressed in early on, I was saved from all of those things that leave scars and wounds and pain and ripple effect.
I just don't have them. I have walked with God and life is hard. I don't care who you are, where you started or where you're going. Life is tough and we all have to find our connection with the Lord so that when we fall into troubles and difficult times that we lean not on our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge him and watch him direct our path. Watch him bring us through. And then whether you're a first time Christian, a latter time Christian, an always believer, whatever your story, you can testify that he works all things together for your good. And that is his faithfulness. And he is the redeemer, the restorer, whether you have a story, whether you had a hard life and God pulled you out of it, or whether he saved you from a hard life. The whole purpose is he saved you. It's his story. It's his story woven in your life. And I remind the Lord now as a mother of men, hey, don't forget my son.
Come get what you paid for. Amen and amen. Kim, I want to thank you for the call. I thank you for your fire and I know that you will stay on fire. We'll talk to you soon, Kim.
Thank you. We have a Mike from Dayton, Ohio. Mike, how did Jesus save you?
Again, like Kim, a little bit. We're real young. When I was about 14 years old, my parents got saved and my dad had tracts everywhere from a friend of his and I read the tracts and my family went to church and I didn't go because I thought this was stupid. And I got saved by reading tracts on a toilet and I'm sitting there reading tracts on a toilet.
Bathroom evangelism. Yeah, and God saved me on the throne, you know what I mean? I'm telling you, it came over me and I knew I was saved. I knew I wanted Christ. I knew I wanted to go to heaven. I knew I was a sinner and I knew what I was doing at the time.
And it's so enlightening in my heart and in my mind that I knew without a doubt, you know that. And I like what you said the earlier of reflection. I was looking in the mirror today and I was getting ready for work and I said, God, am I a reflection of you? And God said to me, you know, you're just like your dad. I said, I know I look just like my dad, but am I a reflection of you, God? And he says, you're doing great, Mike.
You look just like your dad. And I'm like, oh my God, I cried and that's what we want, don't we? We want to be a reflection of him and go through life telling people about Christ. And thank you for telling me that.
That's why I called. Mike, thank you so much for the call, brother. And I tell you what, we do want to be a reflection of Christ, Mike. We do want to be a reflection of Christ. And so, Robbie, what do you think?
Oh, that's powerful stuff. And have we got somebody else? We do. We've got a— Okay. Are you there, Scott? Or Mike?
Scott? Yeah. Yeah, go ahead. How did you come to know Jesus? Oh, okay.
Well, I'll be real quick. I called because, you know, we overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony, so I wanted to share mine real quick. When I was a little kid, the church bus would come around to the neighborhood and they'd put me on it and I'd go to Sunday school and all that. And that was in the mid-70s. Fast forward to 1999, because I didn't live for God at all. I lived a pretty crazy life in a pretty rough neighborhood. But in 99, I would come home from work and I'd roll a couple joints and I'd get high and I'd watch preachers on TV and get all convicted. I don't know why I like to do that. Get all convicted while I was high. You were partying like it was 1999.
Go ahead. Yeah, exactly. And the one preacher, you know, I'd listen to him. A lot of them would do the sinner's prayer at the end and stuff, and I would pray it. I wanted to get free from my addiction that I'd had for 20 years and I was praying, but again, I wasn't. And then I heard this preacher say the word surrender, and I could not get away from that word.
Every day I'd wake up, I'd think about it all day long. So I started praying that. I started praying, Lord, I surrender.
And I just let go. And God delivered me from a 20-year addiction, and I've been serving the Lord for the last 25 years in the church, playing the drums, praying on the altar team. And it was just a life-changing experience.
It was a blast. Really, God just zapped me really hard and delivered me from all of that. And I'm just so grateful to the Lord.
Yeah, amen, brother. And you know, it reminds me of a story. There was a young man, and he found a guru who was going to help him to become a really successful businessman. And the guru said, OK, I want you to meet me out at the beach tomorrow morning at 5 a.m.
He said, OK, whatever. So he gets out there and takes him to the beach and they walk out. He's walking out, walking out, walking out into the ocean. And finally, they get to the point to where his neck is just above the water. And the guru takes his head and he holds it under the water.
I mean, he keeps holding it, holding it, holding it. And finally, he gets to the point where he's almost about to pass out, and the guru gets him up out of the water. And the guru looks to the young man who wants to be successful, and he said, when you want success as bad as you want to breathe, he said you'll be successful. And what I hear you saying, Scott, is that you were smoking joints, you were coming home at the end of the day, but it sounded like you wanted Jesus as bad as you wanted to breathe. You just didn't know how it was going to happen.
What do you think, Robbie? You know, you can't—the thing I found fascinating in several of the people's testimonies was that God met them where they were. God was chasing after them.
Maybe they were going after Jesus, but more than that, I think Jesus was coming after them. And whether they were working in a car wash or they were coming home like—is it Scott? Yeah, Scott was just disgusting. I know in my case, when I look back on it, it was not me necessarily coming after him all that much. It was him coming after me.
Would you agree, Scott? Amen. When I look back at all them years that I ran from God, he was always there with me. He was pursuing me.
And when I surrendered, that's when I met him. All right. Thank you, Scott, for the call. We'll see you guys on Monday. If not for God with Mike Zwick, I'll be on tomorrow at noon. Thank you, guys.
