Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY190095A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:08 Hello, and welcome to another 3ABN Today program. 01:12 I'm Jason Bradley, 01:13 and I'm so excited that you could join us. 01:15 I'm here with Pastor David Machado, 01:18 and he is the speaker and director 01:20 of Revelation of Love Ministries, 01:23 and he has a powerful, powerful testimony 01:27 that he's going to share with us. 01:29 Welcome. 01:30 Thank you so much. 01:31 It's great to have you here. 01:33 You know, I had the opportunity 01:34 to sit down with you for a little bit 01:35 and just talk a little bit about your testimony, 01:39 and I'm excited to hear more about that. 01:44 But before we dive in, 01:45 because we're going to dive in deep. 01:47 Before we dive into your testimony, 01:49 we're going to be blessed in song 01:50 by Pastor Wintley Phipps, 01:52 and he's singing, "No Need To Fear." 02:23 No need to fear 02:27 When times of trouble come 02:32 Oppression's storm 02:37 Beats at your door 02:41 No need to fear 02:50 No need to fear 02:54 Though evil seems so strong 02:59 Their pride and power 03:04 Is not for long 03:08 Be still my soul 03:13 And trust in God 03:18 And place your life 03:22 Into His hands 03:26 For He will never 03:32 Never fail you 03:36 And in the morning 03:41 You'll see His face 03:45 No need to fear 03:50 Don't fear 04:03 No need to fear 04:07 The envy and the scorn 04:12 Of those who boast 04:17 In what they own 04:22 No need to fear 04:28 For what remains 04:31 When life's brief day is done 04:37 Their glories are 04:42 A setting sun 04:47 But as for me, 04:51 Of this I'm sure 04:55 God will redeem 05:00 My soul from death 05:04 And He will never 05:10 Never fail me 05:14 And in the morning 05:19 I'll see His face 05:45 And He will never 05:52 Fail you 05:55 No-one can tear you 06:00 From His love 06:04 And He will never 06:10 Forsake you 06:13 And in the morning 06:19 You'll see His face 06:26 No need to fear 06:33 Don't fear 06:53 Wow, thank God that we have no need to fear. 06:56 What a beautiful song by Pastor Wintley Phipps. 07:00 I'm so glad that you are here, Pastor David, 07:04 that we can jump into your testimony now 07:06 and your journey. 07:07 And I want to know a little bit about your background 07:10 and your upbringing. 07:11 Were you raised in a Christian home? 07:14 Yeah, actually my parents met at church. 07:15 Okay. 07:17 So, Christian church, raised in a Christian family. 07:20 But my god, growing up was not Jesus Christ, 07:24 early on my god was basketball. 07:26 Gotcha. 07:27 My dad is a diehard Los Angeles Lakers fan. 07:29 And so when I was a little kid, 07:30 he would watch it on a 12 inch screen TV, 07:32 and that's what I wanted to be when I grew up, 07:35 a basketball player. 07:37 But when I was about five or six years old, 07:40 you know, my parents separated and eventually got a divorce. 07:42 And that's where, 07:43 kind of that nice Christian home, 07:46 kind of just took a pause for a little bit. 07:49 Immediately after the separation, divorce, 07:52 my sister and I moved in with my mother. 07:54 My mother was trying to raise us 07:56 as best as she could. 07:58 And she was struggling, 07:59 so she moved in with a family member. 08:01 Okay. 08:02 Unbeknownst to her, 08:04 this family member was into drugs and abusing it. 08:08 And she had her own room and, 08:10 I was getting ready to go to bed 08:12 with my mother, and my sister on one bed. 08:15 And I remember my dad taught us that whenever we, 08:17 before we go to bed, make sure to pray. 08:20 And so there I was, kneeling down to pray. 08:22 And I remember hearing the distinct voice. 08:24 It wasn't like an audible voice. 08:25 But it was a deep impression. 08:27 It just said, "Get out." 08:29 And it was a man's voice. It was deep. 08:31 And so I opened up my eyes and I looked at my mom 08:34 and I looked around, there was no one there. 08:35 And I said, "Mom, I think we need to get out of here." 08:37 Yeah. 08:38 And she was like, "What's going on?" 08:40 I said, while I was praying I... 08:41 She was like, it's gonna be fine. 08:43 Don't worry, just go to bed. 08:44 So, fell asleep. 08:45 And I immediately remember dreaming. 08:48 And in this dream, 08:49 I remember there was just a bunch of angels 08:51 flying around saying 08:52 get up, get out, get up, get out. 08:55 Wow. 08:56 And I woke up, and I saw my sister crying, 08:58 my mother was crying. 09:00 And I could smell the air 09:02 was just polluted and perfumed with drugs, 09:05 I could smell it coming into our room. 09:08 And I could hear of my one of my family members, 09:11 yelling and screaming 09:12 and talking in different voices. 09:13 And I... 09:15 This is the first time 09:16 I was ever exposed to any of this. 09:17 Wow. 09:19 And so I began to tremble. I was afraid. 09:20 And I looked at my mom saying, "What do we do?" 09:22 And she says, "Go lock the bedroom door." 09:23 So I ran over, locked the bedroom door. 09:24 And by God's grace, 09:26 we weren't on a second story apartment. 09:27 We were on the first floor. Yeah. 09:29 And so we opened up the window, my mom went out, 09:31 she, I helped my sister, my younger sister get out. 09:33 And then I came out. 09:35 We ran over to a neighbor 09:37 that was in the same apartment complex. 09:39 And while we were there, 09:41 I could still hear my family member 09:43 screaming and yelling. 09:44 Yeah. 09:46 And all of a sudden, I heard this big bang, 09:47 he broke the bedroom door open that we were staying in. 09:50 And he said, "Where are you? I'm going to kill you." 09:53 And so, when I was about five or six years old, 09:56 I was introduced to this kind of lifestyle. 09:58 Yes. 10:00 I have been physically hit because of drug abuse 10:02 by different family members I've seen. 10:04 Some, two of my uncle's go at it and my, 10:07 one of my aunt's tried to stop them 10:08 and they ganged up on her. 10:10 And so as a little boy, I was hit, 10:13 I saw the effects of drug abuse all over. 10:17 And it really did a number on my mind. 10:19 I felt like I couldn't trust anyone. 10:21 I was always afraid of what's going to happen next. 10:24 Yeah, yeah. 10:25 I could just give you stories upon stories 10:27 about all the times we've escaped with our life. 10:29 You have trouble sleeping and all of that after. 10:30 Absolutely, I would, after that experience, 10:33 I've always thought I would see things, 10:34 especially at night time. 10:36 Things running at me, hear voices, 10:38 it really was a traumatizing experience 10:40 and it kept developing, and developing. 10:43 Finally, my mother, 10:45 who was doing her best to raise us, 10:47 finally got her own apartment. 10:49 And I remember I was there with her. 10:52 And my mother said, "Okay, David, it's time to go." 10:54 And so, she, you know, I was, 10:56 I didn't really listen really well. 10:58 But she gave me a cookie, and so whenever, you know, 11:00 you give a kid anything sweet, they do what you want. 11:02 Yeah, yeah. Gave me a cookie. 11:03 I was the first one out the door. 11:05 And there I am running out the door. 11:07 When all of a sudden, 11:08 as I'm taking my first steps off 11:10 out of our front door. 11:12 A man jumps out of the bushes, 11:15 right in front of the front door. 11:17 He has one hand behind his back. 11:19 And he says, come here. 11:20 Oh, boy. 11:22 I've never seen this man. Don't know who he is. 11:23 He says, come here. 11:24 And I'm not moving towards him. 11:26 No. 11:27 Not really interested. 11:29 And he said, "I have something for you." 11:31 Well, I'm not moving. Yeah. 11:32 He jumped out of the bushes, I wouldn't move it. 11:34 Well, I'd probably move in the opposite direction. 11:36 Right, I guess I just froze. 11:38 I was shocked. Yeah. 11:40 What was going on? 11:41 So, because I wasn't moving, he wasn't moving. 11:43 He just had one hand behind his back 11:44 saying, come here. 11:47 I extended my hand with the cookie. 11:48 So would you like some? 11:49 And he said, "No, I don't want that, 11:51 I have something for you." 11:52 So he began to walk towards me. 11:54 And just about when he was arm's length away, 11:56 he removed his other hand from behind his back 11:58 and he had a knife, and he said, I said, come here. 12:02 At that exact moment, when he was about to grab me, 12:03 my Puerto Rican mother walks out the front door. 12:06 Now, I don't know 12:07 if you've ever met a Puerto Rican. 12:09 But if you ever seen a mother 12:11 that's really angry or defensive, 12:13 it's one of the most scariest things 12:14 on planet earth. 12:15 And that man saw my mother who's much smaller than him. 12:19 Look at him. 12:20 He turns around, starts off running. 12:22 My mother runs after him. Yeah. 12:24 And he's very lucky that my mother didn't catch him. 12:26 But I'll tell you this. That did something to me. 12:30 Ever after that, 12:32 I didn't want to go outside to play. 12:33 Yeah. 12:34 I didn't want to go outside to play with my friends 12:36 in the apartment complex, my cousins. 12:38 I wanted to stay inside, just, near my mother's presence. 12:41 I felt that if my mother was not near, 12:43 then I have a lot to fear. 12:45 Yes. 12:46 And I always felt like this man was just waiting 12:49 for my mother to leave, 12:50 or for me to leave her presence, 12:51 for him to finish off what he started. 12:53 Yeah. 12:54 So from a very young age, I was afraid of my family. 12:58 I was afraid of the world. 13:00 And I didn't want to live anymore. 13:01 Wow. 13:03 And I oftentimes thought, 13:05 why am I going through all this? 13:06 What's the point of life? 13:08 If there is a God, why am I going through 13:10 all these traumatic experiences? 13:13 It was getting really bad. 13:14 Finally I got into high school and the only thing 13:18 that allowed this nightmare of a life 13:20 to kind of seem pleasant, 13:22 was when I had a basketball in my hand. 13:24 Every time I played basketball was like, 13:26 as if I entered a different world. 13:27 Yeah. And a better world. 13:29 It was your way of escape. 13:30 Exactly. 13:32 And so that's what I wanted to be. 13:34 So, in high school, I was really practicing 13:36 getting really involved in playing and, 13:39 it was my senior year in high school. 13:40 I'll never forget it. 13:42 We were playing 13:44 the number one team in the league, 13:45 we were ranked four, they were number one, 13:47 and we needed to win this game 13:49 in order to make it to the playoffs. 13:51 And here I am a senior. 13:54 The coach has our last huddle at the score, 60 to 60, 13:57 with 30 seconds left on the clock. 14:00 And he looks at us, we're huddled up and he says, 14:02 "Listen, someone's life is about to change right now." 14:06 And so I'm starting to listen. 14:07 He says, "Whoever makes this next shot, 14:10 lead brings us into the champion playoffs. 14:14 You may have opportunity of being recruited. 14:17 There's recruiters here. 14:18 There's newspapers, news reporters here. 14:20 This is a big game. 14:21 If one, someone makes it, your life is about to change." 14:25 No pressure though. 14:26 I mean, it's not as if, 60 to 60, 14:29 with 30 seconds on the clock. 14:30 That's right. Wasn't pressure enough. 14:32 Yeah, that's right. 14:34 But he caught my attention because I wanted a new life. 14:36 Gotcha. 14:37 I wanted something different. 14:39 And so I said, "Give me the ball." 14:41 And I was a shooting guard, and at that particular game, 14:43 I had made like seven three pointers. 14:45 So I was like, I want the ball, so they came up, 14:48 the point guard took it in 14:49 from all the way from the other end, 14:51 brought to half court, 14:52 shot it to me or pass it over to me 14:54 at top of the key, 14:56 heard the audience saying five, four, 14:59 I fake it like I'm going to shoot it. 15:00 Put the guy in the popcorn machine, 15:02 run down the center. 15:03 And then I hear three, two and I shot the ball. 15:07 And immediately when I shot it, then I heard the buzzer go off. 15:10 It was as if the world just stood still. 15:13 And the ball went in. 15:15 And the whole stadium came crashing down, 15:17 they were lifting me up, saying I was a hero. 15:19 News reporters were there, telling me I was on news, 15:22 you know, front cover of sports newspapers there. 15:25 And I remember, 15:27 recruiters started talking to me 15:28 about different schools and things of this nature. 15:31 And I thought this is it. 15:32 This is my ticket out of this miserable life. 15:34 Yeah. Awesome. 15:36 Yeah. 15:37 But the next day, 15:39 I was wearing my letterman jacket. 15:41 My last name Machado on the back. 15:43 Wearing it proud. 15:45 Yeah, that's right with all my badges here. 15:47 Thinking everyone's just gonna celebrate 15:49 as soon as I walk on campus. 15:50 Yeah. I recognize something. 15:53 As I'm walking around, no one says anything. 15:56 No one says, hey, good game, man, 15:58 that was the best shot I've ever seen. 16:00 It was as if that game didn't even happen. 16:03 Like that shot never took place. 16:05 And I started to think, if this is what life is about, 16:09 I can make it, let's say to the NBA 16:10 and I hit the top of my game, I'm well known everything. 16:14 Yeah. 16:15 But people forget. 16:17 Yeah. 16:18 If this was what life is about, then what is? 16:21 It's not worth it. 16:22 And so immediately, 16:23 I started getting into more trouble. 16:25 I've been on foot races with cops. 16:26 I've had police helicopters look for me. 16:28 And I was just leading a path of sin. 16:30 Yeah. 16:32 Just trying to find a purpose, satisfaction. 16:35 And I hit rock bottom. 16:36 By my senior year in high school, 16:38 instead of graduating with my graduating class, 16:40 I was going to be going to jail with a felony on my record, 16:42 just because of mischief I was doing 16:45 and, you know, by God's grace, 16:47 I didn't go to jail, didn't end up doing that, 16:49 I had to do community service. 16:52 But I was at the lowest point of my life. 16:53 Yeah. 16:55 Living for myself, I felt like, empty still. 16:58 You had a bunch of pain and... 16:59 Bunch of pain. 17:01 Like kind of a self inflicted heartache. 17:02 Yes. Yeah. 17:04 And it was a life that I didn't choose for myself. 17:06 I felt like this is what I grew up in. 17:07 Yeah. 17:09 And so, by this time I was living with my father, 17:11 and he's a very good Christian. 17:13 He's done prison ministry for over 30 years, 17:15 loves the Lord. 17:17 And I was doing all these things 17:19 behind his back, because at home, 17:21 we would pray, we would do this, 17:22 but I just lived a totally different lifestyle outside, 17:25 finally hit rock bottom. 17:27 He finds out what's going on with my life. 17:30 And something happens, 17:31 I begin to go to community college, 17:33 or you know, you know, public school, 17:36 and someone gives me a flyer. 17:39 And they say, "Hey, David, you need to come to this." 17:42 And I used to play basketball with him. 17:43 I said, "Oh, really? What is it?" 17:45 He says, "This is a rapper. 17:47 He's going to be at this church. 17:48 You need to go and hear him." 17:50 Unbeknownst to me, I heard rapper, 17:54 but he said ex-rapper. 17:56 And so I'm thinking, 17:57 I'm going to go to church to hear a rapper rap. 17:59 I said, "Wow, that sounds really awesome." 18:01 Yeah and different. 18:02 Yeah, for sure. 18:04 I mean, I'll go to church to hear that. 18:05 I'd never heard of that before. 18:06 I never thought that was even allowed in church. 18:08 Yeah. 18:09 So here I am, you know, lowest in my life. 18:12 Here I have this flyer. 18:13 It's called, "Escape from the Black Hole." 18:15 I thought, "Wow, that sounds 18:17 like an awesome concert, you know." 18:18 That sounds very familiar. 18:19 Yeah. 18:21 And so, I remember, it's March 5, 2007. 18:25 I go to this huge brand new church, 18:26 it seemed like remodeled and everything. 18:29 And before I walk in, 18:30 I say, "God, if you're real, I need you to speak to me. 18:35 I need you to speak to me because I feel so empty." 18:38 And I remember I walked in, 18:40 and immediately when I walked in, 18:41 I sat in the back. 18:42 I saw this tall African American guy, 18:44 bald head, huge goatee, 18:45 came to the front in a suit, 18:47 and I said, I've never seen a rapper rap in a suit. 18:49 This sounds really weird. 18:52 And sure enough, he didn't rap. 18:55 Brother Pastor Ivor Meyer shared his testimony. 18:57 Oh, yeah. 18:58 And it impacted me so much. 19:00 At first, I was very angry. 19:01 I felt like I was tricked and betrayed 19:03 by this basketball player that I used to play with. 19:04 But I began to listen because, he began to share how, 19:07 he was, in the early 90s he was in a rap group, 19:10 he was on MTV Rap City, BET, 19:12 he was on these major television stations. 19:14 And he was given a contract over $800,000 in the early 90s. 19:18 And he turned it down 19:19 because he found God in his life. 19:21 And to me that spoke, 19:23 because I thought money was my ticket 19:25 out of this miserable nightmare of a life. 19:27 But here he is, has everything. 19:29 And he turns it down for God. 19:31 And so he makes an appeal, at the very end, 19:33 he says, whoever wants to give their life to Jesus 19:36 come to the front. 19:37 And I immediately, 19:39 the devil begins to whisper in my ear, 19:40 David, you've gone too far. 19:42 You've done too much. 19:43 There's no way God will accept you. 19:46 And these, these terrible thoughts 19:47 started coming in and the pastor said 19:50 something immediately, he says, 19:52 "It doesn't matter what your reputation is, 19:54 doesn't matter what you've done, 19:56 or what your background is. 19:58 God wants you and He loves you, come." 20:00 Wow. 20:01 I want to touch on that for a second, 20:02 because that's very powerful. 20:04 In fact, on this hand, 20:05 you have the devil sitting there, 20:07 trying to get you to doubt the fact 20:08 that God is really just trying to get a hold of your life. 20:11 He loves you so much that he wants you to repent 20:14 and turn towards him. 20:16 So he's trying to get you to doubt. 20:18 And then, on the other hand, 20:20 God is speaking through Pastor Myers, 20:23 to get a hold of your life and let you know, 20:25 look, David, you have not gone too far. 20:28 I still want you. 20:30 I love you and I want to spend eternal life with you, 20:34 like eternity, rather with you. 20:36 That is amazing. 20:38 That's powerful, that's powerful. 20:40 And I praise the Lord that I listened to that, 20:42 to the voice of God, because I began to cry. 20:45 For the first time in a long time, 20:47 tears started streaming down my face like, 20:48 wow, God, You really do love me. 20:51 I can't believe this. 20:52 Why would You love someone like me? 20:54 And I remember on March 5, 2007, 20:55 instead of walking solemnly to the front of the altar pew, 20:59 I ran, I had this feeling that I never had it, 21:01 I don't want it to leave. 21:03 So I ran to the front. 21:04 And immediately I started getting Bible studies. 21:07 And this is halfway 21:08 through my first year in college. 21:11 The semester is almost done. 21:12 It's about midway through, 21:14 and I'm taking a public speaking class. 21:17 The reason why I'm doing is, because I'm... 21:19 Public speaking was my number one fear. 21:21 I hated it. 21:22 And I felt like, 21:23 if I'm going to be a basketball player. 21:25 Yeah. 21:26 You never see any basketball player 21:27 stuttering or being shy of the cameras. 21:29 They know what they're saying. Yeah, yeah. 21:31 And so, I thought I need to overcome this fear. 21:32 Yeah. 21:33 That's a lot of people's number one fear, 21:35 by the way too, yeah. 21:36 So here I am taking this class, halfway through, 21:40 the most important speech is coming up. 21:41 It's a persuasive speech. 21:44 And so, everyone in class 21:46 has been thinking about it for weeks, 21:48 what they're wanting to present, 21:49 it's the most important speech. 21:51 And people begin, the teachers there says, 21:53 "Okay, you've had several weeks 21:55 to decide what you want to speak about." 21:56 And he asked different people in class, 21:58 what you're wanting to do. 22:00 People are saying, 22:01 "I want to persuade you all to recycle, 22:02 or to be vegetarian, or do this, 22:04 save the world and all this stuff," 22:06 which is pretty good. 22:07 But they got to me, 22:08 and I was sitting in the back of this classroom. 22:10 And the teacher said, "Okay, David, 22:13 what are you going to do your persuasive speech on?" 22:15 And I said, "I'm going to persuade you all, 22:18 that the love of God is real." 22:21 And... 22:22 And this is at a public...? 22:24 This is public school, public college. 22:25 Public college. 22:27 Yes. Okay. 22:28 It's not a Christian or anything. 22:29 And you just said, I want to persuade you 22:31 that God's love is real. 22:32 Exactly. 22:33 I can only imagine the response that you received 22:35 because it goes against the grain, 22:37 which is, I mean, 22:38 it shouldn't go against the grain. 22:40 But go ahead. 22:41 Yeah, it was terrible, 22:42 because, as soon as those words 22:44 came out of my mouth, 22:45 the whole class, everyone was talking, 22:47 excited about what they were going to speak about. 22:48 The whole class, stopped talking. 22:51 I was in the back. 22:52 Everyone turned around and were like, looking at me. 22:56 And the teacher stopped and he says, "What? 22:58 Wait a minute, what are you doing it on?" 23:00 I said, and I began to get a little bit nervous. 23:02 I said, "I want to persuade you all, 23:04 that the love of God is real." 23:05 Yeah. 23:07 And he was like, okay, 23:08 and he wrote it down like, okay. 23:11 And I remember, 23:13 I walk out of that class shaking, 23:14 my hands were shaking. 23:15 I was so nervous. I said, "What am I doing?" 23:18 This is March 5, I just gave my heart to God. 23:20 Several weeks later, 23:21 I've said that I'm going to speak about, 23:23 I'm going to persuade people, the love of God is real, 23:25 haven't cracked open a Bible. 23:27 I don't know much of the Bible. 23:29 What am I going to talk about? 23:31 And so I remember that day, I just went outside 23:33 and I began to pray and plead with God, 23:35 say, Lord, I don't know much about You. 23:38 But I know enough to know that You've changed my life, 23:40 and You're changing it and Your love is incredible. 23:43 Give me something to say. 23:45 And so I began to read the Bible. 23:46 I read the small book called Steps to Christ, 23:49 and it was just beautiful. 23:50 I got some beautiful gems, finally the speech day came. 23:54 Eight minutes speech, felt like it was gonna... 23:56 It was an hour, 23:57 or two hour long speech, so nervous. 23:59 I remember going up to the front, 24:00 I was shaking, sweating, just so nervous 24:03 and I began to speak. 24:04 And the Holy Spirit just took control. 24:07 At the end of the speech, people were crying, 24:09 public university just weeping. 24:12 And there's young man, 24:13 who's sitting in the front on my left hand side, 24:15 I could just picture him now. 24:16 He was a Buddhist. 24:18 And he was shaking his head as I was speaking, 24:20 like, wow, this is beautiful. 24:21 At the end, he comes up to me and says, 24:22 "Listen, I'm Buddhist, 24:24 but this Christ of yours has changed your life. 24:27 Can you share with me about this God of yours? 24:30 I would like to meet Him too." 24:32 And immediately after that, I was so... 24:36 This is what I want to do. 24:37 I want to share Jesus with people. 24:39 Look at the impact, 24:40 making a difference in people's lives. 24:41 So at that public university, I began a Christian club, 24:45 where we would give Bible studies, 24:46 weekly Bible studies, 24:47 and it just kind of took off from there. 24:49 Yeah. 24:51 Immediately, I went on mission trips 24:53 to the Philippines, 24:54 and I did my first, kind of, 24:55 I guess you could say seminar, 24:57 to a thousand young people, in a major college. 25:00 And while I was there, 25:01 I felt God impressing me, 25:02 David, this is what I want you to do 25:04 for the rest of your life. 25:06 I want you to preach the gospel. 25:07 Yes. 25:09 And it's been an amazing journey 25:10 since that time. 25:12 How does it feel to be walking in your purpose? 25:14 Oh, it's, you know, before March of 2007, 25:19 I didn't have that, I woke up every, 25:21 didn't want to go to bed, 25:22 didn't want to wake up to the miserable life I had. 25:25 I was doing everything that I wanted, 25:27 but yet I was so empty. 25:29 Yeah. 25:30 And every day, spending time with God 25:32 and reading the Bible and praying, 25:33 I feel so fulfilled, I feel so, I feel like I have a purpose. 25:36 I have a mission. 25:38 And there's nothing greater than having that. 25:40 Yes, yes. 25:41 And unfortunately, there's so, there are a lot of people 25:43 that can't say that they have that. 25:45 People have to go to work. 25:48 Yes. 25:49 Instead of I get to go to work. Yes 25:50 I get to go and do what I love to do 25:53 and all of that stuff, with purpose. 25:55 Yes. 25:56 How did you recognize your calling? 25:59 Because God can speak to us, 26:00 and He can place things right in front of us. 26:03 But how did you recognize that the fact, 26:07 that, that was your calling? 26:08 That's an excellent question. 26:10 I mean, I think God, what He does, 26:12 is He makes our greatest weakness, 26:14 our greatest strength. 26:15 And public speaking was definitely 26:17 not a strength of mine. 26:18 I didn't like being in front of people, 26:19 cameras, nothing. 26:21 I hated it. 26:22 And here's God saying, 26:23 then you could lean on me on this. 26:25 Yes. You could trust Me. 26:26 And so, as I began to speak, give Bible studies, 26:29 I felt like God, 26:30 through other people were saying, 26:32 David, this is what you need to be doing 26:33 for the rest of your life, and God was convicting me, 26:36 but it really became crystal clear. 26:38 Since 2012, 26:39 I've been doing public seminars, 26:41 Bible prophecy seminars, 26:43 and I had the opportunity of meeting 26:46 probably one of the most, 26:48 one of the most impacting evangelists 26:51 that we've known in the 21st century 26:52 in my opinion. 26:54 I was in a seminar 26:55 in California, Southern California, 26:58 and I found out that Kenneth Cox 27:02 was a member of this church. 27:04 And so, I remember, I asked him, 27:07 "Pastor Cox, do you mind critiquing my messages 27:10 every single night? 27:12 I've never been formally trained on this stuff." 27:13 And so he said, "Absolutely." 27:15 So, every night after every message, 27:16 he would wait in the front. 27:18 And we would talk with each other 27:19 and he would tell me, okay, with this, 27:21 this appeal could be this way this, 27:23 and I learned so much from him. 27:25 It was one of the greatest blessings 27:26 of my life to be able to glean, 27:28 just powerful truths from a seasoned evangelist. 27:32 Yes. 27:33 And at the end of the series, 27:35 Pastor Kenneth Cox invited my wife and I 27:37 to come to his house. 27:39 And he said, "You know, David, 27:42 we have been looking for someone 27:43 for a very long time to carry on this torch 27:47 that God has blessed me with, 27:48 to carry on the ministry and everything. 27:52 And we've been looking for many years 27:53 for someone like this, 27:55 and we feel like God has brought you to us." 27:57 Wow. 27:58 And so, he invited us to basically join his ministry 28:01 with the purpose of carrying it on. 28:03 Yes. 28:04 And it took about a year for me to answer that call, 28:06 because it was a very serious one. 28:08 I didn't want to take it lightly 28:10 and up to this time I was already doing. 28:13 I already had a bunch of seminars 28:14 lined up with the conference that I was working with. 28:16 And so, about a year later, in 2018 of June, 28:20 I began to work with him and for over a year, 28:23 met with him almost every, 28:25 you know, every week, talk with him daily. 28:28 And it was definitely one of the greatest blessings 28:30 of my life to learn from him, 28:31 and I think we actually have a picture. 28:33 One of the last pictures that I've took 28:35 with Pastor Kenneth Cox, who died in July of 2019. 28:39 But it was, I couldn't have asked 28:42 for anything better than 28:43 to learn from one of the greatest. 28:44 Yeah, yeah. 28:46 And it's been a tremendous blessing. 28:47 He's definitely well-loved here at 3ABN. 28:50 Yes. 28:51 And he actually was the one that basically started telling, 28:55 showing me how to do stuff on production 28:58 and things of this nature. 28:59 How to do keys to Bible prophecy, 29:01 something that we have going on right now 29:03 and he was the mastermind in helping me, 29:06 develop that skill of doing more media stuff. 29:08 Yes, yes. 29:09 And so, one of the seminars 29:10 that we've developed under his tutelage, 29:13 is the one up here that's going to go 29:14 on the screen next. 29:16 It's our main one. 29:17 It's a Bible prophecy seminar that we do year round. 29:19 Okay. 29:20 This is something that I'm super excited about. 29:22 Our ministry is called Revelation of Love Ministries. 29:24 Okay. 29:25 But we do, or specialized in Bible prophecy seminars, 29:27 and the stories that come out of there 29:30 are just amazing of people giving their lives up to God, 29:32 and I'll share some later, 29:33 but we have a little video describing, 29:36 what someone can expect coming to a seminar. 29:38 Okay, let's take a look. 29:41 Why do bad things happen to good people? 29:44 With all the political unrest in our world today. 29:46 With all the natural disasters plaguing our planet. 29:51 With all the threats of terrorism 29:53 taking place all around us, 29:55 is there anything left we could trust in? 29:57 Is there anything left we could hope in? 29:59 Does the world need now an understanding 30:01 of how to stop global warming? 30:03 The answer for cancer, the right president 30:06 who's going to solve all the world's problems? 30:08 The final message of mercy that mankind needs today, 30:12 is a revelation of God's character of love. 30:15 Join us in this Bible prophecy seminar, 30:17 where you and I will find the love in God's heart. 30:29 Wow. 30:31 What are some of the things that you think about, 30:33 when putting together a seminar? 30:36 The number one thing is to lift up Jesus, 30:38 I mean, the message that we have 30:40 is Christ centered and beautiful. 30:41 And as long as we keep Him in the center, 30:44 people are going to be drawn to Him. 30:45 Yes. 30:46 And so that's the number one thing 30:48 and whatever, End Times, 2300 Day Prophecy, 30:50 whatever it is, Jesus is the center. 30:52 Yes. And it's beautiful. 30:54 And so year round we do these Bible prophecy seminars 30:58 for the public and, of course, churches 31:00 and whoever's hosting it are obviously blessed by it. 31:03 But there's also another seminar 31:05 that's more engaging for church members... 31:08 Or Christians for that matter. 31:10 You know, the Bible says that, 31:12 there's an image we can put on the screen. 31:13 But the Bible says in Matthew 28, 31:16 Jesus has told us, 31:17 that we are to basically go out 31:20 and be revived in sharing the gospel. 31:22 What if I feel spiritually dead? 31:26 What if I don't feel alive? 31:28 This is a series, it's a 10 part series called, 31:30 Ignite... Okay. 31:32 And it's all about drawing people to Jesus, the Savior, 31:35 how to have a relationship with Him, 31:37 how to spend time with Him. 31:39 How to experience God on a daily basis, 31:41 and this series, this 10 part series 31:43 is for church members, or for anybody 31:45 who wants or interested in having a revival, 31:47 spiritual revival in their life. 31:49 And so not only do we do a public seminar 31:51 that reaches the populace outside, 31:53 but inside, 31:54 those who may be struggling in their walk, 31:56 doesn't know how to spend time with God. 31:57 That Ignite spiritual revival seminar 32:00 is actually one that we just got filmed 32:01 and we're editing, 32:03 but it's a seminar that we also do 32:04 throughout the year. 32:05 I want to see it when you get it done. 32:07 All right. 32:08 Yeah, I definitely want to see that, 32:09 how to become on fire for God. 32:12 Yes, yes, I think it's important. 32:14 I mean, I think it's very easy to just get 32:16 into the routine of things. 32:18 Go to church, sing a hymn. Yeah. 32:19 Do your quarterly lesson, whatever it is. 32:22 That's it. Yeah. 32:23 But this one, this seminar is all about how to have 32:25 a real personal relation with God. 32:27 So it's one of our favorites. 32:28 How important do you think it is 32:30 because you're in ministry? 32:31 Yes. 32:33 How important do you think it is 32:34 to stay plugged in, 32:35 because you're constantly giving and feeding? 32:39 But you need to eat too? Yes, absolutely. 32:41 I cannot share anything 32:43 if I was not receiving anything from the Lord. 32:45 I would be as dry as the Hills of Gilboa. 32:48 There'll be nothing I can say, and you could see it, 32:50 it'll be lifeless kind of a sermon, dry sermon. 32:53 But every day, every day I spend time with God 32:55 for the last 12 years of me 32:57 being in my relationship with the Lord Jesus. 33:00 That has been priority in my life. 33:02 Yes. 33:03 And how do you study the Bible? 33:05 Well, in that seminar, 33:06 I'll go through it a little bit more. 33:07 But basically, what I personally do is, 33:10 I spend first moments of the day praying to God. 33:14 I evaluate my life, I surrender my life. 33:18 And then there's something that I teach, 33:19 you know, manna was the bread 33:21 that Jesus rained down from heaven 33:24 for the Israelites to eat. 33:25 Manna means what is it. 33:27 And so I teach some people, if they don't know what to do, 33:31 how to study the Bible, I share with them. 33:33 Whenever you open the Bible, I want you have to say manna. 33:36 What is it, God, that You want me to eat today? 33:38 Nice. 33:40 But I usually do topical things. 33:41 I'm getting ready 33:42 to do put together a Revelation seminar, 33:44 just on the Book of Revelation. 33:45 So I say those things out, 33:47 but the most practical and personal thing is, 33:49 study, or look for in the Bible things 33:51 that maybe you're struggling with, 33:52 or you have questions about. 33:54 And not only will you find the answers, 33:55 but you'll find substance 33:57 that will literally bring life to your life. 34:00 Wow. That's good, that's good. 34:01 And so, not only do we do public prophecy seminar 34:05 for the populous, 34:06 not only do we do a personal Revival seminar 34:09 for those in the church, 34:11 but then we have another seminar, 34:12 we'll share it on the screen. 34:13 It's called the Go Series. Okay. 34:15 This seminar, Jesus said in Matthew 28, 34:18 "Go ye therefore and teach all nations." 34:20 That gospel commissioned 34:22 is not just for evangelists or pastors, 34:25 it's for every single person 34:27 who's accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. 34:30 That's why I call it the Go Series. 34:32 Go, God's gospel, Go mission. 34:35 And so this seminar 34:36 is all about equipping church members 34:39 and inspiring them to share what they know, 34:42 in whatever way they find comfortable with, 34:45 and we have a little video that kind of expresses, 34:46 what that seminar is about. 34:48 Nice. Let's check that out. 34:50 The way we get out of darkness into His marvelous light, 34:53 is to gain a knowledge of Jesus' character. 34:56 We are to reach every ethnic group, 34:59 we are to reach as many people as God 35:01 has given us the blessing to reach. 35:04 Every single church member 35:05 is called to do something for the Lord. 35:07 If you want to save anyone, you got to serve them. 35:11 One of the signs of true conversion, 35:13 is you have a deep desire to share Jesus with others, 35:16 so that one soul could find 35:18 the savior of the universe. 35:19 Go to those who cannot repay you. 35:21 The secret, the power of winning souls 35:24 comes from looking at the cross 35:26 and being inspired by what He has done for us. 35:28 The church has many excuses 35:30 for not doing what God has commanded us to do. 35:33 God has given us the chance of a lifetime, friends. 35:36 Heaven is looking to see, what you and I are going to do. 35:44 Wow, that looks like a powerful series. 35:48 You know, it's a really exciting one to get, 35:50 because, to give, because seeing church members 35:53 all of a sudden have this interest. 35:55 Like, David I pray every day, 35:57 I study the Bible every day, 35:58 but something is missing in my Life. 36:00 I don't, I'm not having this revival experience. 36:02 I don't feel like I'm growing, well, this is the reason. 36:05 You gotta share what you know, 36:06 if you're not sharing about Jesus with anybody, 36:08 you're going to soon lose Him. 36:09 Yeah. 36:10 And so that series is really, it's really powerful, 36:12 to see the lights come on, 36:14 and people get excited to share Jesus Christ with. 36:16 Yeah, absolutely. 36:17 Now one thing that's powerful is, 36:19 we obviously cannot go everywhere, 36:20 and we're excited to go wherever the Lord leads. 36:23 But we have our whole Bible prophecy seminar, 36:25 as well as the Go series and the Ignite series 36:27 has just being edited right now on DVDs. 36:30 And right now there's a video that expresses 36:32 or that shows our DVD series. 36:34 Okay. 36:35 Getting on our knees before God, 36:38 prepares us to stand before kings. 36:40 The greatest revelation of love ever revealed 36:44 was the death of an innocent God 36:46 for a guilty creation. 36:47 The author of love died, 36:50 that the miserable, wretched man might find life. 36:54 The cause paved the way for righteousness 36:56 to blossom in the hearts 36:57 that were enshrouded in darkness and sin. 37:00 Jesus died on the cross, 37:03 to exemplify how much He loves you tonight. 37:05 Some of you may be thinking 37:06 using the Bible as the foundation 37:09 of where you gather your source of truth, 37:10 but I don't even believe in the Bible. 37:13 I don't believe in your Jesus. I don't believe in your Bible. 37:15 But I want to tell you, 37:16 I want to submit to you something. 37:18 Bible prophecy has the ability 37:20 to reveal the living God to a skeptic. 37:23 The Jews didn't kill Jesus. 37:25 The Romans didn't kill Jesus, but you know who killed Him? 37:29 All of our sins killed Jesus. 37:32 Every single person in this room, we got issues. 37:35 Literally, the Bible says we are in a war. 37:37 Ladies and gentlemen, in this comfort, 37:38 you have to take a stand. 37:40 You have to choose what side you want 37:41 to be on tonight. 37:43 Jesus can help you today. 37:44 He can help clean up your life. 37:46 Jesus looked down from the cross. 37:48 He didn't see Jews and Romans alone, 37:50 but He saw us. 37:52 Saw us lost, hopeless and helpless. 37:55 But Jesus didn't come down to this planet to save Himself. 37:59 Jesus came down to save us. 38:01 What this world needs today 38:03 is not a message of peace and safety. 38:06 In a world filled with diseases, 38:08 famines and pains, 38:10 the final message of mercy that mankind needs tonight 38:14 is a revelation of God's character of love. 38:25 Wow, that's very engaging too... 38:27 Yeah. That is very engaging. 38:29 So we have this whole Bible prophecy seminar. 38:31 On the next slide you'll see, on our last slide, 38:33 I think, you'll see the, 38:35 our DVD series that we make available. 38:37 We have a 21 DVD series, 21 part series. 38:41 And so it's been a blessing 38:42 to be able to share that message everywhere, 38:45 and it's been a tremendous blessing 38:47 to see the impact it's making on people's lives. 38:49 Yes. 38:50 Now, you also did literally literature, 38:54 if I can say it, right? 38:55 Literature evangelism work. I did. 38:58 Yes. 38:59 Tell me some stories from that, 39:01 'cause I'm sure you have plenty. 39:02 You know, yes, 39:04 I did about literature ministry work, 39:06 literature evangelism for over, about 10 years. 39:08 And there are so many stories, 39:10 angel experiences, incredible stories. 39:13 But I actually want to share a couple of them 39:15 that happened during that time and during the seminar. 39:18 Okay. 39:20 One of the first experiences 39:21 I had preaching my first sermon 39:24 was really impactful. 39:27 There was, it was a small little church, 39:29 preaching one of my first sermons, 39:31 and I see this young girl, 39:33 kind of come into the back 39:34 and sit in the back that I never saw before. 39:36 This was my church that I was getting 39:38 to know and love and never seen her before. 39:39 At the end, I make an appeal. 39:41 She is crying, she's standing up crying. 39:43 I said, Okay, well, definitely Lord 39:45 is touching her, I wondered, what's the deal? 39:46 What's going on? 39:47 As I'm greeting everyone out, after the sermon's over, 39:50 she grabs my hand and says, 39:51 "I need to talk with you. 39:53 I said, "Okay, what's going on?" 39:55 She's like, "I just really need to talk with you." 39:57 I said, "Okay, no problem. Let me just finish." 39:59 So we went to the, 40:00 about the front of the church there. 40:03 And she begins to introduce herself. 40:04 She says her name and then she says, I'm a witch. 40:07 Now, what do you say to that like, 40:10 nice to meet you, 40:12 you know, so I'm like, "Okay, well, my name is David." 40:16 I obviously said, "Why are you a witch?" 40:17 Yeah, yeah. What's the meaning of this? 40:19 And she says, 40:20 "Because I have so much power at my disposal, 40:22 I could do all kinds of stuff. 40:24 I could do this and that 40:26 and I just had this incredible amount of supernatural power." 40:28 I said, "Okay." 40:30 She says, but there's one problem. 40:32 That power that possesses me during the day 40:34 beats me at night. 40:36 She begins to roll up her sleeves, 40:38 and she has welts all over her body, 40:40 bruises, everything, and I'm like, oh, my. 40:42 Wow. 40:43 But she says, "Today, I have experienced 40:47 a greater power being in this place. 40:49 And for the first time in my life, 40:52 I'm experiencing the power that doesn't hurt." 40:54 Yeah. 40:55 "I'm experiencing the power that brings, 40:56 is bringing healing to me." 40:58 Yes. 40:59 And it was just like, wow, this is one of my first sermons 41:02 and this lady is sharing this testimony. 41:03 And then she says, I said, 41:05 "Well, how did you find about this place? 41:07 How did you come here?" 41:08 She says, "Well, I live about two hours away." 41:10 Wait a minute, wait a minute. 41:13 She lived two hours away? 41:14 Yes, from the church. Wow. 41:16 And so I'm like, "Well, how did you get here? 41:17 What happened?" 41:19 She said, "Well, last night, I had a dream. 41:21 And in my dream, 41:23 the head witch, that mentors me, 41:26 told me that I need to go to this church, 41:29 two hours away, to hear God speak to me. 41:33 And so she drove. 41:35 After that dream, 41:36 she woke up that day, she had a vivid, 41:37 she knew the address in her mind, everything. 41:39 She drove two hours to come to this little church, 41:42 while I'm preaching one of my first messages... 41:45 Yeah. 41:47 And she gives her life to God. 41:48 This weak witch 41:50 meets the all powerful Prince of Peace, 41:52 and she surrenders her life to the Lord Jesus Christ. 41:55 And it was one of the most enriching experiences 41:57 of my life in that same place 41:58 that I'm talking about literature evangelism. 42:01 I'm going to doors, knocking on doors sharing, 42:03 you know, literature. 42:04 I get to this drug dealer's house. 42:06 Now you could tell a drug dealer's house, 42:08 if you've been around the block. 42:09 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 42:10 And so immediately I knew where we were at, 42:12 what's going on. 42:14 And he says, "Hey, what are you doing?" 42:16 I said, "Well, we're giving, 42:17 you know, we have books out, also inviting people 42:19 if they want personal Bible studies." 42:21 He says, "Listen, I don't need your God, 42:22 I am God." 42:23 I said, "Excuse me." 42:25 He says, "Yes, I am God. Look at my house." 42:26 And granted, we're in the ghetto. 42:28 Yeah. He's like, look at my house. 42:29 Why would I want anything more than this? 42:31 I'm like, "Whoa, this is bad." 42:32 He's like, look in my car. 42:34 It was just a beat up car. 42:35 Look at all these people in my house. 42:37 I got everything I want. I don't need your God. 42:39 I am God. Wow. 42:41 And so this is about 12 years ago, 42:43 naturally during that time, 42:44 I would just speak my mind without thinking sometimes. 42:47 And I was very enthusiastic about God. 42:50 So I didn't take that really one. 42:52 I said, "Well, listen, 42:53 when your money runs out, 42:55 and you lose your fancy house, 42:57 and all your fancy cars, 42:58 and all your friends leave you as a result." 43:00 And mind you, this is the ghetto. 43:02 This is a drug dealer. 43:03 I said, I just want to let you know, 43:05 that there's a church around the corner 43:06 that will accept you just as you are. 43:09 That brother got very angry, as you can imagine, 43:12 and so he was coming at me. 43:13 And so I said, "God bless you," 43:14 and I ran out to the next house. 43:16 I said, "We'll pray for you, Brother." 43:17 So I'm running to the next house 43:19 to continue spreading the gospel. 43:21 Two weeks later, two weeks later, 43:24 that man, it's prayer meeting, Wednesday night, 43:27 I'm there at prayer meeting. 43:28 And in the church, there's a little breezeway, 43:30 as soon as you open the church doors, 43:32 there's a breezeway. 43:34 At the end of the hall is the bathrooms 43:35 and right in the middle is the sanctuary. 43:37 I'm coming from the bathrooms, 43:39 the doors open up, and guess who it is? 43:42 That drug dealer. Yeah. 43:43 He looks at me and he points at me 43:45 says you, you have what I want. 43:50 Now, immediately, 43:51 I remember who this guy is, 43:52 and I'm thinking brother, I don't do drugs, 43:55 I don't do that stuff like... 43:57 Yeah, yeah. 43:58 Then he, his fingers still extended to me. 44:00 And I'm thinking, is there anyone here, 44:01 is there anyone who can hear this. 44:03 And he starts walking towards me, says, 44:04 "You have what I want." 44:06 And tears started streaming down his face and he says, 44:09 "You have Jesus. 44:11 I see it, and I need it." 44:13 Amen. 44:15 And he gives me a hug. 44:16 And I begin to cry, he begins to cry. 44:18 And I direct him 44:19 to the head elder of the church, 44:21 he gives Bible studies to him, 44:22 and he gives his heart over to the Lord Jesus. 44:24 But you know, God will use anything. 44:28 Even our lack of training, 44:29 here I am telling this drug dealer, 44:31 rebuking him and telling him all this stuff, 44:34 you know, getting him angry, 44:35 and God still used my, my little experience, 44:38 my lack of knowledge of understanding 44:40 of how to reach people, used it to reach someone. 44:43 And God could do the same for everybody. 44:46 And so for 10 years, 44:47 I've done literature ministries, 44:48 and I've had so... 44:50 I mean, we could spend just all day long 44:53 talking about those stories. 44:54 But I want to share, 44:55 probably one of my personal favorites. 44:57 Okay. 44:58 I was getting ready to do a youth convocation. 45:01 It was a seminar for young people. 45:04 And it was going to be happening at nighttime, 45:05 and I got a call in the early afternoon. 45:08 And it was from someone in the hospital saying, 45:10 "There's a patient here 45:11 that really wants to speak to a pastor. 45:12 Can you come?" 45:14 I said, "Absolutely." 45:15 So I got my things ready, went over, 45:17 not knowing who I was going to see. 45:19 Walk into the IC unit. 45:21 The nurse directs me to his room, 45:23 walk into this man's room 45:24 and he has teardrop tattoos coming down his face. 45:27 So immediately, 45:28 if you understand what that means. 45:29 Yes. He's killed people. 45:31 Yeah. That's what it symbolizes. 45:32 And he said, he looked at me says, 45:34 "Are you a pastor?" 45:35 I said, "Yes, sir." 45:36 And he says, "Do you have time for me?" 45:38 I said, "Absolutely. My time is yours." 45:40 He's like, "I need to tell you about my life." 45:43 I said, "My time is yours." 45:44 So for the next two hours, 45:47 this man begins to open up his whole life to me. 45:52 He says, I'm the leader 45:53 of the Mexican Mafia in Los Angeles. 45:56 And as he begins to share the stories, 45:58 I know for a fact, this brother's not lying. 46:00 Yeah. 46:01 He begins to share the people that, 46:03 what he's done, 46:04 how at the age of 12 his father was the leader, 46:06 he kicked him out, by the age of 12 46:07 his dad kicked him out of the house, 46:09 gave him a gun, 46:10 says you have to fend for yourself. 46:12 If you want to be the leader, 46:13 you gotta learn this for on your own, 46:14 so kicked him out of the home. 46:16 By the age of 12, he was killing people, 46:17 stealing, doing all this stuff. 46:19 He is now, I'm looking at him at this time, 38 years old. 46:23 He's been shot over 14 different times, 46:25 pronounced dead four different times 46:27 and the longest he was in a coma 46:28 was for six months. 46:29 Wow. 46:31 And he's looking at me. 46:32 And he's a quadriplegic, 46:34 cannot move from the neck down 46:35 because of obviously all the shots he's taken. 46:37 Yeah, yeah. 46:38 And after sharing me over two hours' worth of, 46:41 just a horror of a life. 46:43 He looks at me and he says, 46:46 "Pastor David, can God forgive me?" 46:51 And immediately, I knew why I was there? 46:53 Yes. 46:55 I said, "My Brother, have you heard of Jesus? 46:57 Have you heard about what He's done for you?" 46:59 And he said, "I don't know Jesus, 47:01 I've never heard of that name. 47:03 Who is He? Where can I read about Him?" 47:04 I said, "It's in the Bible. Have you ever read the Bible?" 47:06 He says, "I don't know how to read." 47:08 So here's this 38 years old man. 47:10 Yeah. 47:11 Doesn't know how to read. 47:12 Never heard of Jesus Christ, never met Him, doesn't... 47:15 And he says, I don't know who He is. 47:17 I said, "Do you mind if I spend five minutes 47:19 talking to you about who He is?" 47:21 In fact, there's a story in the Bible 47:23 that kind of relates with your story, 47:25 and began to open up to Luke, 47:27 where the thief on the cross is out. 47:28 I said, "This man lived a similar life like you. 47:31 But he met the Prince of Peace, 47:33 the King of kings, the Lord of lords." 47:35 And that day, he experienced a peace 47:37 that he never experienced in his life. 47:38 He experienced this peace that passes understanding. 47:41 Yes. 47:42 And all of a sudden, as I'm sharing with him 47:44 about what Jesus did for him, 47:45 how he turned to Christ 47:47 and gave his life over to the Lord. 47:48 He begins to cry. 47:50 Tears are coming down his face and he says, 47:52 "Pastor, can you wipe the tears off of my face, 47:54 gangsters don't cry. 47:56 And because he can't move, 47:57 so I begin to wipe the tears off of His face. 48:01 And then I said, "My Brother, 48:04 that thief died knowing 48:09 and having assurance of salvation." 48:10 Yes. 48:11 He died having a peace 48:13 that he never experienced in his life. 48:14 And today, that same Savior that was nailed on the cross, 48:16 was nailed for you, too. 48:17 Yes. 48:19 And He wants to give you the same. 48:20 Wow. 48:21 He says, "Well, how do I have it?" 48:23 I said, "My Brother, you accept Jesus Christ 48:25 as your personal Savior. 48:26 You deserve to die an eternal death, 48:30 with no hope of a better life. 48:32 Jesus died so you could have that today." 48:35 And he says, "I want it." 48:36 I said, "Brother, would you like 48:38 to accept Jesus Christ with me today?" 48:40 He says, "Yes." 48:42 Immediately he begins to ball again, cry again. 48:44 I leaned over to him, I said, my brother. 48:47 You're no longer a gangster anymore. 48:49 You are a child of the heavenly King. 48:51 Yes. 48:52 And all of a sudden at that announcement, 48:55 he said, "Pastor David, all I want to do 48:58 is share this Jesus that I just met with people. 49:02 I want to tell over the world what the Savior's done for me, 49:05 and what He's done for them." 49:07 Wow. 49:08 He says, "I don't have much time to live. 49:10 I live 38 years for myself 49:11 and now I'm beginning to feel like I have life. 49:13 Now I'm feeling like I have a purpose. 49:16 I want to tell others about that. 49:17 But I am dying, Pastor David, can you do me a favor? 49:20 Can you tell people, 49:21 young and old wherever you go and preach, 49:24 to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, 49:26 now while they have time, 49:28 now while they have breath to accept Him, 49:31 so they can live for Him, and experience true life. 49:33 Yes. 49:34 Little did that man know that, 49:36 that night I was doing a youth convocation. 49:39 And so I prayed with him and encouraged him, 49:41 while I was so blessed. 49:42 I mean, I was highlight. Yeah, yeah. 49:44 That night I went over, 49:46 spoke to a bunch of young people about Jesus, 49:48 shared that man's testimony. 49:51 The very young people came up to the front, 49:53 gave their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. 49:55 Praise the Lord. 49:56 The very next day, I go over to the same hospital, 50:00 to that same room to see the changed man. 50:05 And I tell him the testimony, 50:06 that your decision of accepting Christ 50:09 has not just impacted you yesterday, 50:11 but it's making a difference, today and forevermore. 50:15 Yes. 50:16 I've done seminars. 50:18 People tell, share a story. 50:19 I've had gangsters from LA come to the front, 50:22 to give their life to God. 50:24 Gangsters from all over, coming up, 50:25 giving their life over to God. 50:27 Yes, yes. 50:28 And it's been incredible. 50:29 I'm looking forward to seeing him one day in heaven 50:31 with a crown of glory, with stars on it, 50:34 with people that he has reached, 50:36 but not even preaching one sermon. 50:38 But just accepting Christ into his life. 50:40 Amen. That's powerful. 50:42 That is powerful. 50:43 What are some of the needs of your ministry? 50:47 You know, just like any ministry, 50:48 prayer is the biggest thing. 50:50 Donations, 50:51 we are a self-supporting nonprofit 501(c) (3) ministry, 50:55 and so donations will be very helpful 50:58 to come in and keep us going, 50:59 because we want to get on television 51:01 and do all these things. 51:02 So the donations and prayers, 51:04 most importantly, would be helpful. 51:06 And people can book you to speak 51:07 and all of that as well, 51:09 because it sounds like you have some powerful sermons. 51:12 And I'm looking forward to hearing some more as well. 51:15 Yes, yeah. 51:16 At RevelationOfLove.com, all of our information's there. 51:19 Okay, okay. 51:20 Yeah, I mean, it's amazing to me that, 51:24 he was so excited. 51:27 I mean, in that instant, 51:28 he had just given his heart to the Lord, 51:31 and he was just ready to tell everybody 51:33 and he wanted that message to go through, through you. 51:37 Yes. 51:39 God's timing is amazing. 51:40 We're going to go to an address role, 51:43 so people know how to contact you, 51:44 and then a news break. 51:45 We'll be right back. 51:48 If you are excited about Revelation Of Love Ministries, 51:50 and would like to find out more 51:52 about their upcoming evangelistic events. 51:54 Or if the Holy Spirit is impressing you 51:56 to financially support them, 51:57 please visit their website 51:59 RevelationOfLove.com. 52:01 That's RevelationOfLove.com. 52:04 You may also call them at 52:05 (432) 279-1888. 52:09 That's (432) 279-1888. 52:14 Or write to them at Revelation Of Love Ministries, 52:17 PO Box 1027, Loma Linda, California 92354 |
Revised 2020-02-12