Participants: Cheri Peters (Host), The Otto Family
Series Code: CLR
Program Code: CLR00039A
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00:10 Welcome to Celebrating Life in Recovery
00:11 I'm Cheri your host. 00:12 And I love when God just surprises you with something. 00:16 Today is one of those times. 00:18 I am surprised by this show, and you will be too. 00:20 Come join us at the café. 00:49 Sometimes God just surprises me so much. 00:52 I want to grab His face if He was physically, 00:54 if I could physically grabbed His face, 00:56 I would grab Him and kiss Him. 00:57 Everything about the show is going to be different 01:00 and the reason that is, is that we had a show 01:02 kind of fall apart earlier. 01:03 The cameras weren't working, we were trying to get 01:07 this and that together and it was just, we finally 01:09 just called it a day. 01:10 And I'm starting to walk out of the studio 01:14 and this family walks in. 01:15 And I'm telling you, have you ever met someone where 01:19 they kind of light up the room? 01:20 The Holy Spirit is so on them that they light up the room. 01:23 I'm like, where are you guys, who are you guys? 01:26 And then they speak in they are Australian. 01:29 They had the coolest sound, I mean their accent is adorable. 01:32 Then their testimony starts coming out, and I am blessed. 01:37 The only thing I could think of is that I so wanted 01:40 you to hear what they had to say. 01:41 So I just said, I wonder if we could do a show. 01:46 So I am asking producers, I'm asking different people, 01:49 and the only time we had to do it was right now. 01:52 So, it's like can you do a show right now? 01:54 And they looked at me and said well yeah. 01:56 So I'm going to introduce you to a group that it's 02:01 going to be different and I'm so going to so step away 02:03 and let them tell you what, they just told me. 02:04 So Jonathan, I want you to come up first. 02:06 And Jonathan when you came in today, what were you thinking? 02:12 I was just thinking we were going to come in and say 02:15 hello and then go back home again. 02:16 So the little bit that you shared with me, for one 02:21 where you're from, and all those kind of things 02:22 I want to share with them. 02:24 But first of all, I would like you to kind of let us 02:25 know who is in the studio today. 02:27 Sure thing, I will start from the oldest in the family. 02:29 We've got Melissa - because you're all in one family? 02:32 Yeah, basically, there's a ring in. 02:35 There's a ring in of different events. 02:37 Melissa and myself, Jonathan, Billy my little brother, 02:41 and then Sarah. 02:42 Then we've also got Gaea Chapman, she singing with us. 02:47 And our big, big brother Michael, he's our manager. 02:51 So, you are primarily a vocal group singing ministry. 02:58 So we do original music, we play guitars, piano, 03:03 different things. 03:04 We really get into spiritual, scriptural songs. 03:08 But you know, what impressed me today, was your heart 03:12 on a message that you shared with me. 03:14 I'm literally going to back off and let you share that 03:17 message with us, is that all right? 03:18 Yeah that would be great. 03:20 First of all what I wanted to say, is that 03:23 I am 22 years old. 03:24 I've just finished college, and have been 03:27 out of school for 5 years. 03:28 Over the last few years God has really been impressing 03:32 on my heart to be able to share a message 03:34 that relates to old people. 03:36 And explain some of the deepest issues that actually 03:39 go on and in society. 03:40 So, I have spent a lot of time just praying, asking God 03:44 what is it that we deeply crave. 03:47 What is it that our heart really longs for. 03:50 Kept asking deep questions and talk to people, always 03:53 felt that all my heart since I was a little child that 03:55 seemed like I was to minister people. 03:57 It's a strange thing I guess for a little 5 year old to 04:00 think of, but I was constantly thinking about people's 04:04 deepest needs, and I feel that God is bringing me to a 04:08 point where I need to understand people's issues. 04:11 I need to understand and see how that relates to God 04:13 and who He is and how He can be a solution to our 04:16 deepest hearts longing. 04:17 I would like to start sharing with some statistics, 04:22 which may shed some light on the depression epidemic 04:25 that is going on in the world today. 04:27 There are 450 million people 04:30 living depressed today according to the 04:34 World Health Organization. 04:35 In fact, every single year, there is a million suicides, 04:39 ten to twenty million attempts. 04:42 That means it's an attempt every 38 seconds in 04:45 the US, from males between the ages of 35 to 49 suicides is 04:50 the number three cause of death. 04:52 Australia has the highest youth suicide rate. 04:55 We have 3 thousand people commit suicide every year. 04:59 We have thirty attempts for every successful suicide, 05:04 that's 60 thousand attempts every year. 05:05 So my question is, what drives people to this 05:11 loneliness, the sense of worthlessness, where you prefer 05:13 to step out of reality than to face another day. 05:16 And I believe it's related to value. 05:19 We have an increasing craving to feel value, to feel 05:22 like we're worth something. 05:23 When that is taken away, then we lose our sense of 05:28 identity, as if we no longer exist. 05:32 So what is the point in facing another day? 05:34 I see that we are often we are led to think that if we can do 05:40 certain things than we would feel valuable. 05:42 If we do look a certain way if we could achieve something 05:45 great, than we would feel like were we're worth something. 05:48 And then people would admire us and we would fill 05:51 that sense of loneliness. 05:53 So often we try to avoid those times we are 05:55 sitting alone, because in those moments we get reminded 05:58 of feelings of worthlessness. So, we hope to kill those 06:02 feelings by just escaping into another reality. 06:05 Maybe it is even escaping into the media, where you can 06:09 start to become the person that you want be. 06:11 And for a moment you've tuned out from reality and 06:15 stepped into somebody else's reality. 06:16 And there you are the person you want to be, you look 06:19 the way you want to look. 06:20 Maybe a young girl is looking at the beautiful images 06:24 of the girls in their glamour, and say wow that's who 06:26 I want to be. 06:27 For a moment, they have escaped their reality, and they 06:30 are hoping that the movie won't end. 06:32 Often, they just cater to this basic craving for significance, 06:38 because they take somebody that's an underdog, may be 06:41 the geek or the nerd and they change them into the jock 06:45 is so well accomplished. 06:47 Then the whole school falls in love with them. 06:49 That's so appeals to us because we feel like the underdog. 06:53 And we so want to be out of reach, some great height, 06:57 that we can feel good about ourselves. 06:58 You see it in some of the songs, I'm going to bring up 07:05 an example from a group called Destiny's Child. 07:09 It's just an example that sheds light on this. 07:12 They got a song called Bottylicious, 07:14 it's kind of like ghetto. 07:15 My body is too bottylicious for you babe. 07:19 And on this clip, they are wearing short 07:22 skirts and low-cut tops. 07:23 I'm not judging them for that, because they want to 07:24 feel valuable and that is their outlet for it. 07:26 And you can see that they feel value from it because 07:29 they are singing about it. 07:31 And whatever rules their heart creates the eye. 07:34 You have an expression of societies ideas 07:36 through the media. 07:37 These girls want to feel valuable, and so they project 07:41 this image, but the sad reality is that same group have 07:43 another song called Nasty Girls. 07:46 And it goes something like this. 07:47 "Nasty girls put some clothes on, I told you. " 07:50 Don't go leaving the house looking like that. 07:52 And these girls have short skirts and low cut tops 07:56 in this film clip. 07:58 They are actually overweight, and you see 08:04 the message is reinforced. 08:05 You don't have what it takes, 08:06 you don't have what it takes. 08:09 And this is why, you can never go to the world to find 08:13 out your value and how much are worth. 08:15 You can never go to the world to find your value, 08:20 because the world doesn't know, the world doesn't know. 08:24 So why should you expect to be told, 08:27 you are valuable by the world? 08:28 And so many people look to these icons and feel that 08:34 they just can't measure up. 08:36 It seems like nobody can measure up, because if you 08:39 could possibly find value in what you do, and then 08:42 accomplished some great thing and having success and 08:45 people admire you, then who should be the 08:47 happiest people in this world? 08:49 Celebrities right? 08:51 Celebrities should be the happiest people in this world 08:53 because they have what it takes in the world and they 08:56 have people admiring them. 08:57 But they don't seem to have that sense of fulfillment. 09:01 It makes me ask the question is there a greater craving 09:06 of the heart that nothing in this world can satisfy? 09:09 There must be, there must be something deeper because 09:13 the fact that you had that craving is kind of a 09:17 hint that there is something greater that is a 09:20 fulfillment to that craving. 09:25 Because the reality we live every day is often 09:28 really disappointing, we are low and we are so 09:32 determined to achieve something. 09:33 So that we can feel like we are valuable. 09:35 Or maybe we've got something great, but we're actually 09:39 afraid somebody's going to take it from us. 09:41 I'm here with this singing gospel ministry group, 09:46 what if the girls were to get like a lung infection 09:49 and when they go to step up on the stage and sing to 09:51 the crowd they choke up? 09:53 Their voices are gone, what if my little brother and 09:57 I were trying to play guitar and, we can play well and 10:00 then we go and try to do some woodwork or something and 10:04 cut our fingers off? 10:05 Then you go back to play the guitar again and 10:08 you've got no ability. 10:10 The question is, who are you now? 10:13 Once what you had was taken away then who are you? 10:17 You see the suicide rate of retired people in some 10:21 countries is twice as high as the youth suicide rate. 10:25 You define yourself by what you do, and when that's 10:30 taken away, then who are you? 10:32 And you find yourself in a position where you are 10:37 constantly wanting to achieve higher to be able 10:39 to feel satisfied. 10:42 Then when somebody steps onto your turf like, 10:45 they are similar to you, and are slightly better 10:48 at what they do, then you are. 10:49 The first feelings that come are jealousy. 10:53 You wonder, in your own mind, 10:55 why you start hating your own friends. 10:56 It is this internal struggle for significance, 11:01 and it is so not secure that people are always coming 11:04 to threaten that identity that you have, because it's 11:07 based on what to do. 11:08 And you find that the thing you find value in is often 11:14 the thing that you are often thinking about constantly. 11:17 So what is the solution? 11:21 This is the biggest point that I've been hoping to 11:25 understand, the solution to this craving, 11:28 this longing to be fulfilled, a longing to feel secure 11:32 and have an identity. 11:33 I believe you can see by looking at children. 11:37 He look at the way God has designed these children 11:39 and you see that the child when they look up to 11:42 somebody they feel value. 11:44 You see a little girl even will put on a little dress. 11:47 She takes it through the corridor and wants 11:49 to show it to somebody. 11:51 Who does she want to show it to? Daddy! 11:53 She feels valuable when she is around him. 11:56 I read a competition called Messages to My Dad. 12:01 A little girl named Emma said this, she said, every 12:04 time my dad leaves, she lives separate from her father. 12:08 She said every time my dad leaves tears come straight 12:12 out of my eyes. 12:13 My heart breaks, and I feel like I've lost everything. 12:16 Does it sound like she feels value from that relationship? 12:20 Now what about this little boy Daniel, he is 6. 12:25 He says dear father, I don't say dear dad because you 12:29 haven't been a dad to me have you? 12:30 I'm Daniel, I'm Rebecca's son, you might not remember 12:35 my mother, but I think about you all the time. 12:38 So a little child finds them self constantly thinking 12:43 about their father, is because somehow they feel that 12:46 who they are is attached to who their father is. 12:49 If they lose that relationship then they 12:52 lose a part of themselves. 12:54 They lose their identity, and they feel a loss of value. 12:57 What if this whole depression epidemic is stemming 13:04 from the central truth that we have separated ourselves 13:10 from our Heavenly Father? 13:11 That our Father in heaven who has created us is actually 13:16 a sorts of value to every child on this planet. 13:19 Because we have been separated from Him, we have this 13:22 internal struggle and we feel so desperate to reclaim 13:26 that value that it's driven us to do crazy things. 13:29 You realize that 85 percent of all youths sitting in 13:34 prison grew up in fatherless homes. 13:36 Children that live away from fathers, absent fathers, 13:40 they are twice as likely to drop out of school. 13:43 63 percent more likely to commit suicide. 13:46 It affects the child in so many ways, it's 13:50 psychologically affects the child and leaves them in a 13:53 position that they are so desperate to feel valuable 13:55 that they will try to find that wherever they can. 13:57 You know a girl will be driven into a strip club just 14:00 because she wants to feel that value, 14:03 she'll do anything to regain it. 14:04 You see your need for value, and that craving will 14:08 sometimes even outweigh your morality. 14:11 It will outweigh your morality, because that craving 14:15 is so deep within you that you find that your kids are 14:18 again into gangs, because they feel that security when 14:21 they are with friends. 14:22 And it kind of substitutes for something they 14:24 have missed out on. 14:26 This is something that is talked about in the Bible 14:31 in Proverbs Chapter 17 verse 6. 14:33 It says that the glory of children is their father. 14:39 And that word glory you find in the Oxford dictionary 14:43 means to find value. 14:46 The source of value for their children is their father. 14:48 So it makes sense now why God sent His Son into this 14:54 world, He is actually trying to call us back to Him. 14:57 Jesus said Himself, He said. "You will know the truth, 15:01 the truth will make you free. " 15:03 The truth will make you free, you need to be free 15:08 from this false value system, false identity, 15:10 which leaves you depressed. 15:12 He says I want you to be free. 15:13 Now the question is the truth about what? 15:16 Watch what he says in John 14:6. 15:18 He says, "I am the way, the truth and the life: 15:21 no man cometh to the father, but through me. " 15:24 Jesus Christ is the truth about the Father. 15:27 He says, you'll know the truth, you will know who 15:30 the Father is and how much He cares about you. 15:32 You will see that the world can not compare, 15:36 He loves you more. 15:37 That love and a knowledge of who He is, 15:40 will set you free. 15:41 It will set you free. 15:43 You know, I have stayed down I just want to tell 15:46 you that when you were telling me that earlier 15:48 when you came in. 15:49 You started telling me that I saw you had such a 15:52 passion that we have to reconnect with the Father. 15:56 We have to reconnect with God because 15:57 He delights in us. 15:59 He wants to say, for me I was a heroine addict, 16:02 strung out on heroine, ten years on the street, 16:05 teeth missing out the front of my mouth, trying to 16:07 kill myself and God said Cheri you are lovely to Me. 16:11 I just wept, I wept because I thought I'm not 16:14 lovely to anyone, and He said, that is a lie. 16:16 You are lovely to Me. 16:18 I even remember that in that instance, when I was 16:21 sitting there, let Me give you a vision, or a view, 16:24 of who I see when I look at you. 16:26 And He showed me this child that was beautiful, and I 16:29 cried because I thought I've never been beautiful 16:31 I've never been wanted, I've never had a value. 16:33 He said, that is where somebody has lied to you, 16:36 and so clouded your vision that you don't even see 16:38 you have a Father that absolutely adores you. 16:41 How incredible and I have to say that today when I met 16:46 and you were saying all that kind of stuff, I saw 16:49 passion in you with this message that was unbelievable. 16:51 Is your passion just that you just in your heart know 16:55 that people aren't getting it? 16:56 Sure, I just see so many people just so disappointed. 17:01 People that have achieved great things like I can 17:04 from the rock 'n roll industry. 17:06 It just seems like a certain high, but it's still a 17:11 sense of loneliness. 17:12 Because you are getting girls screaming at you, 17:15 and people saying, you know what you're just amazing. 17:17 You are saying, that still didn't feed me. 17:20 It didn't feed at all and you wonder why 17:22 you still feel worthless. 17:23 It seems like those cravings that you have demands 17:27 something greater, you just have that constant 17:30 knowledge that there has to be something more. 17:32 It seems to even drive you to do crazier things, because 17:36 want it so badly, but you're not finding it. 17:39 People all over just feeling this and so hoping that 17:43 somebody will tell them what the truth is. 17:45 You know, what is really weird to me what you said that, 17:47 as soon as I sat with God, and knew that He loved me and 17:51 knew that it was real. 17:52 It was like that feeling was settled. 17:54 It was settled for me. 17:55 It was like, oh You do love me and I am safe, and I am okay. 17:58 And so when God says the peace that passes all 18:01 understanding, and the world doesn't even know about 18:03 this, can't even achieve this. 18:05 When you sit with Me, you'll experience it. 18:08 Wow - that's right! 18:10 You see I met a little boy in Mozambique last year. 18:14 Every time I stepped out of the house to do like 18:18 missionary work, this little boy would just drop everything 18:20 he was doing and fasten his eyes on me. 18:22 He spoke Portuguese, so I could respond to him. 18:25 All I could do was stare back into the 18:27 eyes of this little boy. 18:28 And time will pass and he would just keep looking with 18:31 this big smile on his face. 18:32 I was wondering, what was going on, and later I found 18:35 out that this boy didn't have a father. 18:37 He just had a mom that looked after him 18:39 and a big brother. 18:40 This is what he said to the other children in the 18:43 village, he said, I don't have a dad, but if I did 18:46 have a dad, I want him to be Jonas, 18:49 that's what he called me. 18:50 Jonas like Portuguese, I'd want him to be Jonas. 18:53 That little boy, I realize as I look back at those 18:57 scenes of him just staring and I realize that he was finding 19:00 value, he was feeling like he was worth something. 19:03 So, he said, I don't want you to just be my friend, 19:06 I want you to be my big brother. 19:08 It want you to be my father, because who you are 19:11 just shows me who I am. 19:13 And I feel secure when I'm around you. 19:15 You know, to me, I just want to say. 19:18 I want to go out on break and come back on meet 19:21 the rest of the family. 19:22 But man, I want to say, I'd like to pray for you and 19:28 ask God to continue to lead you into further 19:31 understanding of that very message so that 19:33 you should never shut up. 19:34 You never stop telling people, that you can look 19:36 everywhere you want to look until you see your value 19:39 in the eyes of God. 19:41 You always kind of fall short, and you'll know. 19:44 We know when we've been played. 19:46 We know when it's not real. 19:48 We know when somebody is kind of flattering us 19:50 and the world wants to flatter us, 19:52 and our soul want something real. 19:53 We won't find that reality until we see it in the eyes of God. 19:56 So I would just like to pray for you. Okay. 20:01 Dear father, in Jesus name, I just want to pray. 20:04 I want to thank you for this family. 20:05 I want to thank you for just the way You respond to us 20:09 that you love is that when we come to You that we so are 20:12 settled with who You are, and know who we are, 20:14 and find peace in that. 20:16 All the folks that are watching that are fatherless, 20:19 all the folks at watching that have run to every 20:22 single thing they can run to try to find that 20:24 fulfillment, that value. 20:26 They haven't found it. I pray that they hear this 20:29 message right now that Jonathan has said, as that they 20:31 will find it in God and that they will find it so strong 20:34 in you that You will want to show them, You will want to 20:37 heal them, You will want to be their Father and that You 20:39 do love them and think they are lovely and that You so are 20:43 waiting for them just to turn even a little bit and ask. 20:45 And I pray for that. 20:46 I pray, a special blessing on this young man and his 20:50 message in Jesus name, Amen. Amen. 20:53 Where to take a break and come back and meet 20:54 the rest of the family. 20:55 Remember that you are so valuable to God, 20:58 and find your value there. 21:00 We'll be right back. Stay with us! |
Revised 2014-12-17