Participants: C.A. Murray (Host), Lemuel Vega (Host), Jackie Welsh, Samuel Lee Jackson
Series Code: FIN
Program Code: FIN000019
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00:06 Barbed wire and razor wire
00:09 and chain link fences are all constant reminders 00:13 that you can't go where you want to go. 00:16 You cannot do what you want to do. 00:18 I often wonder what the inmates feel 00:21 when they see the birds flying freely, 00:24 going to and fro when they want, where they want. 00:28 And the men in these facilities can't do that. 00:32 And yet, we are here to let them know 00:34 that they can be free, that they can go far 00:37 beyond the bounds of their cells or these fences, 00:41 that they can go all the way to the gates of heaven, 00:45 to the throne room of God and be with Jesus. 01:02 I am free indeed. 01:05 I was working for a sanitation department. 01:07 And I was working my route, picking up garbage that day. 01:10 And my pastor was on that route. 01:13 He came out and asked me why I hadn't been to church 01:17 and how he would like to see me back 01:19 and had a spot in the choir for me and everything. 01:22 And I looked my pastor and I told him, 01:25 on Sunday knowing that I was lying to him. 01:29 That particular Sunday was Father's day. 2000. 01:34 And instead of going to church and doing the Lord's will, 01:38 I chose to do Sam's will and the results of it 01:42 is I'm serving 95 years for a murder. 01:46 This murder was the result of the one-time thing. 01:49 I'm not a career criminal nor will I ever be 01:54 nor I have ever been, but living wrong 01:58 instead of being at home, being a family man, 02:01 being a father that I should have been, 02:03 I was out doing what I shouldn't have been 02:06 and this is the result of it. 02:08 Sam, you are in a maximum security prison, but yet, 02:11 you seem like you've got a demeanor about you 02:13 that sheds some light and it brings encouragement. 02:16 You always have a smile when I walk up through here. 02:18 What-- how can that be possible, dude, 02:20 for-- you've been here how many years? 02:22 Twelve. In prison? 02:23 In prison. 02:24 Would you share with us a little bit about 02:26 who Sammy is before we get into 02:28 how you are able to smile in prison? 02:30 Well, I'm just a plain old country boy 02:34 born and raised in southern Alabama, 02:37 grew up in a religious home, grandmamma praying mamma. 02:41 It was me that walked away from the Lord. 02:44 Walked away from the Lord, but like Jonah... 02:48 God spared me. He didn't take me out. 02:51 He put me in a great fish. 02:53 I look at this institution as a great fish 02:55 and in due time He is going to spew me out-- 02:58 On dry land. On dry land. 03:00 On dry land. Praise God. 03:01 And I'm going to do like he did. 03:04 And, you know, God has a calling upon all of our lives 03:06 to carry the gospel message around the world. 03:08 Amen. 03:09 And with 3ABN and "Free Indeed" 03:10 you have the opportunity through the talents God's 03:13 blessed you with in the choir in prison 03:15 to share your talents around the world 03:16 that there is hope in Christ. Amen. 03:18 What would you-- What would you share 03:20 with our people in the world 03:21 that are free by society standards? 03:24 To walk by faith and not by sight. 03:29 I'm locked up, but I'm not locked out. 03:32 I'm in prison, but I'm not imprisoned. 03:36 And there's many people out there 03:38 that are locked up and imprisoned 03:40 in their hearts and in their minds. 03:43 They've let the way of the world lead them to believe 03:46 that they can find love in various things. 03:49 But I'm here to tell you that 03:52 if you walk by faith and not by sight, 03:55 love is not what you need. 03:58 In love is what you long for. 04:00 Jesus doesn't long to love you. 04:03 He longs to be in love with you. 04:05 He wants a relationship with you. 04:07 And if you put those other things 04:09 to the side that so easily besets you 04:12 and lean not to your understanding, 04:14 but in all ways acknowledge Him, 04:17 He will direct your path. 04:19 And what you think is impossible, 04:22 He will make possible. 04:24 What would you share with the young bucks 04:27 coming up through here, because I know, 04:28 Sam, that you can't stand here in a maximum security prison 04:31 and be talking the talk if you ain't got 04:33 some walk to go with it, because it ain't that way. 04:35 I mean, you're straight. Amen. True that. 04:37 True that. 04:38 And as the young brothers will say 04:39 I dare to keep it one hundred, to keep it real. 04:44 They got a place for you in here 04:46 if you don't straighten up. 04:48 You're going to either go to the cemetery 04:51 or you come in here. 04:53 Just like you're going to either go to heaven 04:55 or you're going to hell. 04:57 You're not going to miss both of them. 04:58 Pastor C, I call him pastor C, 05:00 Pastor Murray once said that, 05:03 "Any decision made out of desperation 05:06 is normally a bad choice." 05:08 So I'd like to tell you today to stop and think 05:12 before you act because that action 05:16 that you carry out you're going to have to live with. 05:19 So I recommend that you put God first. 05:21 Seek ye first the kingdom of God 05:23 and everything else that you desire will fall into place. 05:27 Amen. It's just as simple. 05:28 Stop, pray about it, think about it. 05:30 Pray and ask God will help us with that. 05:32 In closing, what would share with the world, Sammy? 05:34 I know you got a passion on your heart 05:36 that many souls would be added to the kingdom of heaven. 05:38 What would you share and maybe have a Bible verse in closing? 05:41 Well, my Bible verse is, like I said earlier, is Psalms 121. 05:46 Wherever you're at, whatever you are going through today, 05:50 look to the hills which come your help. 05:53 When all seems lost, when all seems forsaken, 05:56 seems like everything you touch just turns dull, 05:59 look to the hills which come your help. 06:02 And if could paraphrase, I would tell you that the Lord 06:04 will be your protection. He will be your guide. 06:08 He will be your shelter in the time of storm. 06:10 He will bless you in your coming and in your going. 06:13 He will be with you to the very end. 06:18 I love you dude. Thank you. 06:21 To have Jesus in my life today is everything. 06:24 He is my everything. 06:26 I have very little family left here on this earth. 06:30 So I don't have many letters coming in. 06:34 I don't have anyone to contact on a constant basis, 06:38 but knowing how much He loves me 06:42 and knowing that there's nobody on this earth 06:46 that's ever died that they might get 06:49 closer to me, but Jesus Christ. 06:52 So knowing that, it just-- it lifts my heart 06:56 to want to be closer to Him, to want to be more like Him 06:59 and it has just changed my life. 07:01 It has changed my walk altogether. 07:06 The song says, "All I need is You." 07:11 We've come to that point what many have forsaken, 07:15 but He never will. 07:20 All I need is Jesus All I need 07:29 All I need is the Lord 07:35 I just want to tell you this morning that 07:38 All that I need is a Savior 07:44 Just to guide me Show me, yes 07:52 Show me the way 07:58 All I need, Lord, is You 08:08 All I need is Jesus 08:14 Y'all don't hear me this morning but 08:17 All that I need is the Lord My Lord 08:23 I just want to testify All that I need is my Savior. 08:33 Just to guide me Show me, show me, yes 08:40 Show me the way 08:47 All I need, Lord, is You 08:56 When I turn to my right Evil is on every hand 09:03 Nothing but trouble No joy, no peace, y'all to be found 09:10 Oh, Lord My Lord is 09:14 And when I turn to my left 09:16 My, my, my Confusion on every hand 09:22 Nothing but trouble 09:25 and ruins all over the world 09:28 have taken over our land 09:33 When trouble Calms this generation 09:37 And my friends are very few 09:41 All that I need All that I need, Lord, is You 09:50 I found out that the God I serve is a way maker 09:53 Yeah, I want to tell you I found out, y'all, 10:00 that all I need All I need is You 10:07 All I need is You Lord Oh, Lord 10:12 All I need is You 10:14 You see, You said in Your word 10:18 You'll be bridge Over troubled water 10:20 Oh, Lord That's why I love You 10:24 All I need is You Lord 10:26 You said in Your word 10:27 You'll be food in a starving land Yes, you will 10:31 All I need is You 10:33 You said in Your word You will be shelter 10:38 in the time of storm, Lord 10:41 That's what I don't mind calling on you this evening 10:44 There's power in the name of Jesus 10:46 There's healing in the name of Jesus 10:48 Salvation in the name of Jesus All I need 10:52 Whatever, whatever you're going through this morning 10:55 Whatever you are going through today 10:57 I want to tell you Oh, Lord, all I need 11:00 He will be a mother when you are motherless 11:02 He will be a father when you are fatherless 11:04 You can't get a letter from home --walk away The Lord is saying 11:09 you ain't got no marriage 11:11 Call on the name of Jesus Call Him in the morning 11:14 Call Him in the midnight hours Yeah, Lord 11:17 Oh, Lord, all I need 11:19 Trouble all around you You can't see your way 11:22 Call on Mary's baby boy 11:24 He'll be right there by your side Yes, He will 11:27 All I need 11:28 All I need is You Oh, Lord Oh, Lord 11:34 I love to call on the name Jesus Hallelujah 11:38 No comparison. 11:39 Sam Jackson of old no longer exists, never will exist. 11:43 The Sam Jackson of old was a womanizer, 11:49 a poor father, drug addict, cigarettes, 11:53 drinker, all of those things, 11:56 everything that was leading down those wrong roads. 11:59 That Sam Jackson has passed away. 12:04 And behold, and I thank the Lord 12:06 that the new Sam Jackson sees a whole different life. 12:11 I don't have to go to places I used to go. 12:14 I don't partake in the things that I used to partake in. 12:17 I don't care about a cigarette. 12:19 Haven't smoked a cigarette since 2003, 12:22 haven't did any drugs since 2000. 12:24 I walk a whole new walk. 12:26 I eat from a whole different plate. 12:28 The word of Jesus Christ is sufficient enough. 12:31 He said He would be food when I need it 12:34 and He would be water in dry places. 12:36 And that's all that I long for these days. 12:39 And I just thank the Lord to have the opportunity 12:43 to tell the world that if you just surrender to God, 12:47 if you just let go and let God heal, 12:51 a lot of you will be an overcomer of things 12:53 that you thought you could never do, you know. 12:57 It doesn't change your situation. 12:58 It may not change your location. 13:00 He don't have to change where you are, 13:02 but He will change you right where you are. 13:13 I want to talk about success. What is success? 13:16 When you leave here, people will tell you 13:19 I hope you have success. 13:21 And people say it all the time, hope you have success. 13:25 I want to have success. 13:26 Everybody wants to be successful. 13:29 So let's talk about success. 13:31 Father God, we ask You now to speak to us. 13:35 And we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. 13:39 I heard a little story about success 13:42 that I want to just bring to you. 13:47 Somebody said at age 2, 13:49 success is not wetting your pants Amen. 13:57 At age 12, success is learning to ride your bike. 14:01 At age 22, success is graduating from college. 14:06 At age 32, success is making love to your spouse. 14:10 At age 42, success is money. 14:13 At age 52, success is money. 14:18 At age 62, success is money for retirement. 14:24 At age 72, success is making love to your spouse. 14:31 At age 82, success is riding a bike. 14:35 At age 92, success is not wetting your pants. 14:44 So what really is success? What is it? 14:50 If you don't know what it is, 14:52 how will you know when you get it? 14:56 How do you know that you don't already have it? 15:00 And if you don't know you have it, 15:03 how will you know if somebody takes it away from you? 15:09 Is success prosperity? Is prosperity success? 15:13 Are they the same? Are they different? 15:15 Do they go hand in hand? 15:17 I want to read a text to you, 3 John 2. 15:19 It's in the New Testament. 15:21 3rd John, you got 1st, 2nd and 3rd John 15:23 back there tucked in the back of the New Testament 15:26 and I want to read 3rd John. 15:28 1st John, 2nd John, 3rd John, they are so short. 15:31 You can almost slip by them. 15:32 3 John 2, John says "Beloved, I pray 15:39 that you may prosper in all things and be in health, 15:44 just as your soul prospers." 15:48 Now what is that text saying 15:50 because a lot of people say that that text is saying 15:53 God wants us to be prosperous. 15:55 That is not what that text is saying. 15:59 Let's examine it for just a second. 16:01 He is saying "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper 16:05 in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers." 16:11 So he is saying if your soul is prospering, 16:18 I want the rest of you to prosper 16:21 like your soul is prospering. 16:22 You follow me? 16:25 If your soul isn't prospering, that text is actually a curse, 16:31 because he is saying I want you to prosper 16:33 like your soul is prospering. 16:36 So he is assuming that your soul is prospering. 16:42 Say-- you say I'd like to get a new car just like you. 16:47 And I don't have a new car. 16:49 That falls apart. I want a car just like you. 16:53 Well, my car is old and falling apart. 16:55 So if you want a car just like me, guess what? 16:57 You ain't getting a new car. You follow me? 17:00 So he is saying I want your physical life 17:04 to prosper as your soul is prospering. 17:08 Well, if your soul is in shambles, 17:10 then your physical life is going to be in shambles. 17:12 You follow me? 17:14 He is assuming that you already got 17:17 a good solid working relationship with Jesus Christ. 17:22 He is saying I want your physical life 17:24 to be as good as your spiritual life. 17:27 Now why is he saying that? 17:29 Because John knows that no matter 17:31 how much money you have, 17:33 no matter what you are doing in life, 17:36 your only real success is in Jesus Christ. 17:40 Amen. 17:44 You can have a million dollars 17:46 and get a diagnosis like Miss Cooper got. 17:51 You got cancer. 17:55 It kind of stops things in its track, doesn't it? 17:59 Three years ago the doctor told me 18:00 you have prostate cancer. 18:05 Yeah. Doing well, trust in the Lord. 18:07 What am I doing, prostate cancer? 18:10 You know, serving the Lord doesn't free you from trial. 18:15 Rain falls on the just and the unjust. 18:20 Christians get cancer too. Mm-hmm. 18:25 But you know what I had with my cancer? 18:27 Jesus. 18:30 So I changed my diet. 18:33 Stopped eating meat, mm-hmm. 18:39 Stopped eating a whole lot of cheese, mm-hmm. 18:44 Cut down on the potato chips and the sugar. 18:52 And I went to a natural remedy place 18:56 for 18 days in Denver, Colorado. 19:01 I took a test going in. I took a test coming out. 19:06 The test going in said you got cancer. 19:10 The test coming out said it's gone. 19:19 I'll tell you something else. 19:20 About a year ago I went back to the doctor 19:22 and he said your cancer is back. 19:25 But I didn't get all crazy because I got Jesus. 19:30 He said, but you know, you got funny cancer. 19:34 He said we took the test 19:35 and your cancer is not doing anything. 19:37 It's just kind of sitting there and looking at me. 19:40 I said, see, that's Jesus cancer. 19:45 So next week this time I go back to the doctor. 19:48 I'm not afraid. 19:51 I'm not worried because I got Jesus. 19:54 See, success is having Jesus. 19:57 And I don't have a million dollar, 19:58 don't have half a million dollar, 19:59 don't have a quarter of a million dollar, 20:00 don't have a tenth of a million dollar. 20:01 I got a couple of bucks. I got about $30 in my pocket. 20:04 And right now I don't have my wallet 20:06 because they don't let you bring your wallet in here. 20:08 So I'm broke. 20:14 But I got Jesus. Amen. 20:21 So success is having Jesus. 20:26 In the book, Joshua one of the first text 20:30 I learn from memory was Joshua 1:9. 20:35 Joshua 1:9 says "Have not I commanded thee? 20:37 Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, 20:40 neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God 20:42 is with thee whithersoever thou goest." 20:44 That a promise. 20:45 But I was so busy learning Joshua 1:9, 20:48 I should have learned Joshua 1:8 20:50 because Joshua 1:8 says 20:52 "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; 20:55 but you shall meditate in it day and night, 20:58 that you may observe to do 21:00 according to all that is written in it, 21:02 for then you will make your way," 21:05 here's those two words again, 21:06 "prosperous and then you will have good success." 21:09 God told Joshua, you want to be prosperous and have success? 21:13 Here is the manual, right here. 21:17 Read it and don't just read it, do it. 21:23 Because it's the reading and the doing 21:26 that makes you prosperous and successful. 21:30 There's a text in James-- I think it's James. 21:34 I can't remember. I'm having a senior moment. 21:37 I'm really too young for that. 21:41 But James says this, a person who reads the law 21:44 and does not do it is like a person 21:47 who just looked themselves in the mirror 21:49 and saw that the makeup was all crooked 21:50 and lipstick was going this way. 21:52 And then left the mirror and forgot all about 21:54 what the mirror told them they look like. 21:56 That's what James says. 21:58 He says so is everybody that's just a hearer 22:00 of the Word and not a doer thereof. 22:04 When I was in college, I had a professor. 22:06 He used to tell us as bad as 22:09 it is to breathe second-hand smoke, 22:11 it's worse to blow smoke up your own nose. 22:15 And for years I couldn't understand 22:16 what in the world is he talking about. 22:19 But as I got older it occurred to me, 22:22 as bad as it is to listen at people 22:26 who are lying to you, it's worse to lie to yourself. 22:30 It's bad breathing second-hand smoke, 22:31 but why would you blow smoke up your own nose? 22:36 Don't lie to yourself. 22:38 Don't be just a hearer of the Word 22:40 and then walk away and just let it fall on the ground. 22:42 You got to do the Word, 22:44 because it's in the doing that you get the power. 22:46 Amen. 22:48 When I got my cancer, my wife-- 22:50 I said we can do de venti, 22:52 we can do radiation, we can do proton. 22:55 There's all kinds of things we can do. 22:58 And my wife said we are not doing any of that. 23:00 And I said, we? 23:05 Do we have prostate cancer? 23:08 But sometimes you got to listen to your wife. 23:12 She said let's take the natural-- 23:13 let's change our diet and try some stuff. 23:16 And I listened to it. And again she was right. 23:19 She is always right. 23:22 Even when she is wrong, she is right. 23:27 Think about that. 23:33 And we've done and we got cured. 23:35 Ladies and gentlemen, all of us want to be successful, 23:40 but in your getting, get Jesus first 23:45 because He is the foundation of all success. 23:49 The Bible says if you get Jesus, 23:51 then you will make your way prosperous 23:54 and then you will have good success. 23:59 God bless you. 24:04 You know in closing, Jackie, 24:07 Jackie wanted to-- she wrote something out. 24:09 She said can I share this in closing 24:11 and I said absolutely. 24:13 So what she wrote out I'd like her to share that just now. 24:17 It says when God looks at us, He doesn't see us, 24:20 He sees the one that surrounds us. 24:23 This means that failure is not a concern to us. 24:26 Our victory is secure. 24:28 So how can we not be courageous? 24:30 Thank you. 24:35 We are going to close with prayer right now, 24:37 but before we close with prayer, 24:40 I want to make an appeal to each and everyone of you. 24:45 The altar is not big enough tonight 24:48 for each and everyone of you to come forward, 24:51 but the altar is big enough in the throne room of heaven 24:55 that we can bring our hearts 24:57 and that the sweet smelling incense 25:00 of our commitment tonight, to recommit 25:04 or for the first time surrender 25:07 as Tangela was in the valley of decision 25:10 and someone told her that the God that they serve 25:14 can forgive, no matter what the circumstance. 25:19 So tonight we are going to pass the offering plate. 25:22 And it's not for money orders off of your account. 25:25 Tonight we are going to pass the offering plate 25:28 and each and every one of you 25:30 when you walked in here tonight, 25:32 you walked in here with a heart that was beating, 25:36 beating, pumping blood throughout your veins. 25:41 Tonight you walked in here with a heart, 25:44 some of you was heavy, some of you was burdened 25:47 with shame or with guilt. 25:50 Tonight some of you walked in here with a joyful heart. 25:53 You've got purpose and meaning 25:55 because you've been free indeed in prison. 25:58 And tonight I'm going to ask 26:00 if there would be one that would like to surrender, 26:04 perhaps for the first time, their heart to Jesus 26:09 who gave you the opportunity to be alive tonight. 26:13 I'm going to give you the opportunity that perhaps 26:15 you want to recommit or surrender your life to Jesus. 26:20 Tonight is there one that would like to do either 26:25 as you've heard the message and the call go forward? 26:29 Is there one who would like to hold your hand up 26:33 and say that I would like to surrender 26:35 or recommit my life to Jesus tonight? 26:47 Sisters in the valley of decision, 26:51 there ain't enough stores in this institution 26:54 to make you satisfied where the devil has taken you. 26:59 And tonight I'm asking how many of you 27:03 want something different than where you are tonight? 27:08 God bless you. 27:10 Hold your hands up. Let us pray. 27:13 Our dear heavenly Father, Almighty God, King of Kings, 27:16 Lord of Lords, you see that the devil 27:18 has duped us, he's tricked us. 27:20 We've been wandering down the highway to hell. 27:23 And tonight, Father, 27:25 we want to climb that stairway to heaven, 27:28 day by day, moment by moment. 27:30 And we just ask that You would embrace every hand, 27:34 we ask every heart, we ask that You would comfort, 27:37 that You would uphold, that You would guide. 27:39 For we know that You keepth Your hand upon the sparrow. 27:42 You care for the sparrow. 27:44 We know tonight that You care for each commitment here. 27:47 We love You. 27:49 We ask for Your presence in our lives. 27:51 And we ask these things in the holy 27:53 and magnificent name of Jesus. 27:57 Bless their children, bless their husbands, 28:00 bless their family, bless their court cases. 28:02 Whatever sin has stolen from them, Father, 28:05 may You replace, may You give them the gold, 28:08 tried in the fire, pure gold. 28:10 And we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17