Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY200035A
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00:01 As you're well aware,
00:02 we're living in unprecedented times. 00:05 Join us now for today's special program. 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Mending broken people 00:23 I want to spend my life 00:29 Removing pain 00:34 Lord, let my words 00:39 Heal a heart that hurts 00:44 I want to spend my life 00:50 Mending broken people 00:55 I want to spend my life 01:00 Mending broken people 01:15 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Today. 01:18 We want to thank each and every one of you 01:19 for joining us. 01:21 This is indeed 01:22 the Three Angels Broadcasting Network 01:24 where the three angels' messages 01:25 are going all around the world. 01:26 We believe in that everlasting gospel, 01:29 that plan of salvation and with each 01:31 and every program, it's our aim. 01:33 it's our goal to share 01:35 the good news of Jesus Christ 01:37 in every which way that we can 01:38 with each and every one of you, 01:40 wherever you are around the world. 01:41 So thank you for joining us today. 01:43 Thank you for your continual love, 01:45 prayers and support of 3ABN. 01:47 Because without you, we wouldn't be here today 01:49 to be able to share the good news of Jesus. 01:51 So praise the Lord. 01:53 Today we have a very, very special program 01:57 and it's, I'm excited about it 01:59 because we're going to be talking today about 02:01 a story of redemption. 02:04 We're going to be talking about 02:05 a story of transformation, a story of restoration. 02:09 And I have my good friend here, Brother Steve Sosa. 02:12 How are you, Brother? I'm good. 02:14 Thank you. Honor being here. 02:16 Amen. Praise the Lord. 02:18 Brother, we're thrilled to have you 02:19 and I know that Steve has a powerful, powerful story 02:23 that he's going to be sharing with us today 02:25 in the time that we have. 02:27 But before we get into his story, 02:30 we're going to have a very special song 02:31 from my good friend, Miss ET Everett, 02:34 and she's going to be playing a song entitled, 02:37 "Open the Eyes of My Heart." 02:39 Here she is. 07:54 Praise the Lord. 07:55 Thank you so much, ET, for that beautiful song, 07:57 such a blessing, 07:59 Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord. 08:01 And that's essentially what we're going to be 08:02 talking about today of how God opened the eyes 08:06 of my guest's heart, Steve Sosa. 08:09 It's a blessing to have you, Brother. 08:10 How are you? Good. Thank you. 08:12 It's an honor to be here again. Praise the Lord. 08:13 Praise the Lord. 08:14 So, Steve, tell us a little bit about yourself? 08:16 We're gonna get into your story in just a moment, 08:18 powerful story. 08:19 I had an opportunity to read about it. 08:21 But tell us a little bit about who you are, 08:23 where you're from, what you do today. 08:26 I'm from Salinas, California. 08:29 I was born in, I was raised in Castroville, 08:32 but I serve in the Salinas SDA church 08:38 as a head deacon, 08:40 and I also do the prayer ministry. 08:43 Right. 08:45 And you, they just recently made me 08:47 the youth director too. 08:48 Oh, nice. Yes. 08:50 So... Praise the Lord. 08:51 They're just coming out. Praise the Lord. 08:53 Yeah. Amen. 08:54 So it sounds like you're very church grounded. 08:56 I am. I'm there. 08:57 But you haven't always been that way which is kind of... 08:59 I was not. I was not. That's right. 09:02 I was the one walking away like, 09:04 oh, there's those church people, 09:05 you know, 09:07 that's where I was before, you know. 09:08 Praise the Lord. 09:09 But we're gonna get into the details of your story 09:11 because I just know that 09:12 this story is going to bless someone. 09:13 In fact, there may be 09:15 someone out watching this right now 09:16 wherever you are, and I believe this story 09:18 is going to speak to your heart or you know someone 09:20 who can relate to this man story. 09:23 Steve, tell us a little bit 09:24 about your background growing up as a kid, 09:28 as a youth, as a young man. 09:30 Were you a religious person? 09:32 Because there was a major turning point in your life 09:36 which we're going to talk about, 09:37 about an alcohol addiction, 09:39 a drug addiction that the Lord delivered you from. 09:42 But it hasn't always been like that. 09:43 What kind of, tell us a little bit about 09:44 who the Steve was before your kind of 09:48 downward slope into addiction. 09:51 Well, growing up in Castroville, 09:54 my mom is always working. 09:57 So, as I started getting older, 10:00 well, let's start off with this. 10:02 So I did go to church and stuff like that. 10:04 As a young kid, I went for about a year. 10:06 And that's how, if I can share that dream. 10:10 Sure. Yeah, go ahead. 10:11 The dream where I had that first dream 10:13 about Jesus coming down on a stairway 10:16 when I was five on a cloud, and He comes down 10:22 and we see Jesus coming down, 10:24 and there were just kids in the yard and we're, 10:27 I grabbed His hand, He comes down, 10:29 we're all jumping up and down. 10:30 Jesus is here. Jesus is here. 10:33 And I remember that like it was yesterday. 10:35 Right. 10:37 And that was when you were, what? 10:38 Five years old, right? At five years old. 10:39 Very vivid memory. Okay. Yeah. 10:41 And so anyways, growing up, my mother always worked. 10:44 There were eight of us. 10:47 Four of them were out on their own. 10:49 Then I have the four blood brothers, 10:51 twin brother, another brother and sister, 10:55 Joe, Ramona and Ted. 10:57 But we grew up together in that house. 11:00 But with some my sister's kids and stuff, 11:02 but like I said she always work. 11:05 My dad left me when we were two. 11:09 And so, as I grew up, I got older. 11:14 Looking for friends, you know, 11:16 looking for a dad figure, you know? 11:17 That's right. 11:19 So finding out that my friends are out on the street there, 11:22 you know what I mean? 11:24 And that's how the addiction got started, you know. 11:26 So that was a major influence. 11:27 So what age were you probably when this, 11:30 this negative influence came into your life 11:32 and begin to spark that addictive trait within you? 11:37 It was probably around 14. Okay. 11:38 So young, that's a young age. 11:40 I was smoking cigarettes. Okay. 11:42 People, you know, let's go smoke some weed. 11:45 All right, sure. And that's where it started. 11:48 And then the drinking started. 11:51 And then but I was working at a young age too. 11:54 I also quit school. 11:56 I know that Ellen G. White was, 11:59 she was at a young age and didn't go to school. 12:01 So I didn't get, I didn't get no education. 12:02 I'm not an educated man. 12:04 I quit to go to work because we were very poor. 12:07 You know, so and another dream I had, 12:11 another dream 12:12 but something else happened to me, 12:14 this part of testimony, so wanted to share with it. 12:16 Absolutely. 12:18 So when I was like 12, right, in this, I could look back 12:21 at how God was always there 12:23 when I thought God wasn't there. 12:24 You know, like I was invincible. 12:26 I'm invincible. 12:28 I can go through anything, 12:29 knowing that that's not the truth at all 12:31 when it was God, He was always there. 12:33 But anyway, so my sister was, I was at her house, 12:36 I'm riding down the bike, 12:37 the road there in the back fields 12:40 where they grow all the food and stuff, 12:43 you know, the plants and stuff. 12:45 But uh, so I'm riding along like this, 12:49 and I went to turn like this, 12:50 and car's coming around the corner 12:53 and it came at 55 miles an hour. 12:55 I looked at the car, 12:56 there was nothing I couldn't do. 12:58 And I'm telling you, 12:59 all I felt was something lift me up off the ground. 13:01 Wow. 13:03 And it, I hit, the bike got hit, 13:05 and I was back down to the ground. 13:08 And I remember getting up, 13:11 the guy got out of the car, the people in the field, 13:13 they witnessed this, and not a scratch on me. 13:18 And the guy just didn't know what to think. 13:22 The bike was bent in half. 13:24 And I got up and shook his hand and said, 13:28 thank you for slowing down. 13:31 And I just walked away. 13:33 And I carried my bike back. 13:34 But it's funny because my pants 13:36 were ripped up and stuff but not a scratch. 13:38 Wow. 13:39 So that's a clear indicator 13:41 that even before you can see the work of God in your life, 13:44 you could see that there was, there was a divine hand, 13:46 a divine presence there... 13:48 Yes, yes. 13:49 That was protecting you 13:50 and trying to somewhat get your attention. 13:52 Right. 13:53 Yes, He was always trying to get my attention 13:55 because I used to see little pamphlets here. 13:57 And wherever I went, like, why am I always seeing this. 14:01 And not knowing that 14:02 God was trying to get my attention the whole time. 14:04 And then I have another, 14:06 share another testimony about my mother. 14:09 When my mother was six months pregnant with me 14:12 and my twin brother, 14:13 my father was a very mean man, very awful. 14:18 He used to get drunk at night, go fight in the bars. 14:21 He was 6'5". 14:23 Anyway, so he literally, 14:26 I heard the story later on down the road about 14:30 what my father did to my mother. 14:32 So Satan was after us 14:34 using my dad trying to kill her at that time, 14:37 so he took her to the beach. 14:39 He made her dig her own grave 14:41 and was going to throw her in it 14:43 and bury her alive, 14:45 when we were six months pregnant 14:46 with my mother by a crazy thing, 14:51 these five other crazier guys 14:54 than my dad came to save my mother, 14:56 and how ironic is that is, you know. 14:59 And just by the grace of God those guys were there. 15:02 Praise the Lord. Yeah. 15:03 And so here you are today to tell the story. 15:05 I am. 15:06 So that's another indicator 15:08 that the Lord was working at that time. 15:09 Even in the beginning. 15:10 You know, I'm firm believer that God has a plan. 15:13 God works in mysterious and mighty ways. 15:16 And even in sometimes in our, in our sin, 15:19 even in our sinful life or in our past life 15:22 when we're not even engaged 15:24 in a relationship with the Lord, 15:25 we can see where the Lord is there. 15:27 And in certain events 15:30 and certain occurrences in our life, 15:31 where we can look back in hindsight and go, 15:33 you know what? 15:34 That was God, God was there to make sure that 15:37 because God has a plan, he has a plan 15:39 and he can see far beyond what we can see. 15:41 And that's evidently that's the story 15:44 that even though you had, 15:45 you come to a point in your life 15:46 where it seems like things kind of get out of control. 15:50 So lead us through that, lead us up to that 15:51 as to how you came about to this alcohol, 15:55 drug addiction, and basically the consequences 15:58 that occurred in your life because of that? 16:00 So, again, I was a... 16:03 We're going into where after that when I was 14, 16:05 I started hanging out with the kids on the street, 16:08 because I was looking for a father figure, 16:09 you know, where's my friend, you know? 16:12 So Satan will use that to his advantage, too. 16:15 That's right. You know. 16:16 So I thought, oh, 16:18 this is the way of life right here. 16:19 And that's what led to it. 16:21 Okay, I'm gonna follow this because I had no guidance. 16:24 My mother always worked. 16:25 And my brothers and sisters, there was a, you know, 16:29 growing up, it was, you know, 16:31 there was alcohol and addiction growing up in my house. 16:35 And so that's what I found is the street gangs out there, 16:39 the Norteños and stuff like that, 16:41 I'm on the street gangs. 16:42 And so that was it. 16:44 So when I started working, I was a hard worker. 16:47 My mom taught me, she said, son, 16:49 these are the things you need to listen to. 16:51 Don't depend on nobody. 16:54 Work hard and trust in God, she said. 16:57 Okay, that was a good advice because that's what I did. 16:59 I always kept the job though. All right. 17:02 So, back to where I was, 17:06 uh, on the streets, you know, 17:09 that was it, you know, 17:11 they come to my house, you know, hey, Steve, 17:13 what's up, you know? 17:14 Let's go party, you know? 17:16 And okay, I thought this was a norm. 17:18 So every week... Just kind of a part of life. 17:20 These are my friends. This is what we do. 17:23 Let's go get some weed. Right. Yeah. 17:25 And then it wasn't till probably 17:28 I was like 21 17:30 when I first started some cocaine, 17:33 and that's where it really started 17:34 getting bad for my life. 17:36 You know, just a rollercoaster ride up 17:39 and down, up and down. 17:41 And, but during that time of the drinking 17:44 from that time there, I used to get so drunk. 17:47 Oh, my goodness, I get so drunk 17:49 and I'd be passed out somewhere. 17:52 The cops would pick me up, you know what I mean, 17:55 and, but the empty feeling I had after I drank. 17:58 Right. 17:59 You know what I mean, it was just like, 18:01 it was fun when I started, 18:03 but every night like, you know why, 18:05 why did I want to do this. 18:07 Again, but it's just an addiction, you know. 18:09 Addiction. 18:10 And so, going on back to where I was 21, 18:16 when I did that my nose started bleeding, 18:18 you know the first time I did it. 18:19 All right. 18:21 And the person is like looking at you're like what's wrong, 18:22 you know, and I guess 18:26 I should have took notice of it but I didn't. 18:28 Again, I had no education, I had no father figure. 18:32 My mom was always working. 18:34 And that's my brothers ended up in prison. 18:37 You know, some of my, couple of my brothers, 18:39 my sisters were doing their own thing, you know. 18:42 And again, we had a drug addiction family, 18:45 you know. 18:47 So, after that, after I turned 21, 18:53 I slowed down, you know, 18:55 I'd be working here 18:58 and then work, I'll be working. 19:02 And, but the roller coaster is up and down, 19:05 spending my money in bars. 19:07 When I turned 21, I had a time where, 19:10 when I first turned 21 to 19:12 and that's another time I went into the bar. 19:15 I wasn't looking for trouble, my sister took me there. 19:18 And I'm telling you, 19:19 God's been with me the whole time, 19:21 I should be, I should be dead. 19:24 I shouldn't be here, again, I'm invincible, 19:27 that's what I thought, but I'm not. 19:30 I went into the bar. 19:32 And three of those, no, 19:34 it's five Hells Angels started picking on me 19:37 and they just took me outside 19:39 and they whipped me all over the place. 19:42 But I only ended up with a bloody nose. 19:44 Wow. 19:46 And then those were some big guys. 19:47 Of course, of course. You know. 19:48 So, just to look at that back, 19:54 you know, why am I still here, you know. 19:56 But you know, 19:57 I had an empty feeling in me always, 19:58 you know, looking to find a wife, 20:01 you know what I mean, 20:03 and, because and to settle down 20:05 but I couldn't, it just didn't happen for me, 20:07 you know, until, 20:09 so I just kept going in life in the wrong direction, 20:14 spending my money on booze, 20:16 alcohol, drugs and then it got to the point 20:20 where that's what I was working for. 20:23 Wow. Literally... 20:25 That became your life, became what you were about. 20:27 Yes. 20:28 You were looking for the next fix, 20:30 you were looking for the next. 20:31 So tell us a little bit about that for a moment. 20:33 I know, we're gonna get into 20:34 other details of your story here but just tell us 20:36 a little bit about what that, what is that like. 20:38 There may be someone at home right now that, 20:40 that is watching this 20:42 that may be struggling from this 20:43 or someone who knows someone who struggles from this. 20:46 When you were in that, that mode, 20:48 that particular lifestyle, 20:50 what did it feel like from day to day? 20:53 You said that that became what it was about, 20:55 that's what you were working for. 20:56 What was that addiction like? 20:58 What did it feel like? 20:59 Well, how what was your experience with it? 21:00 Well, the feeling was empty. You know what I mean. 21:04 But it was like the rush of it, 21:07 you know what I mean, you get the rush of it. 21:08 It could have been crack cocaine. 21:10 It could have been methamphetamines, 21:12 but you just feel empowered, you know. 21:15 Or you know, but the feeling you got it, 21:19 it felt good at first. 21:21 But afterwards, you just felt empty. 21:24 It just like and but again, you feel empty. 21:29 Like why did I do this, you know, the hangovers. 21:32 Right. 21:34 But even through the negativity like to the hangovers, 21:37 the bad feelings, the emptiness. 21:39 You were so addicted to it 21:41 that somehow within I don't know, 21:43 hours, days, moments, you would... 21:45 The next day. The next day, right? 21:47 So you're right back at it again. 21:48 Okay. 21:50 And I tell myself sometimes, 21:51 I'm not going to do that, I'm not going to do that. 21:54 But I go right back 21:55 and do it because Satan had a trap on me. 21:57 He had me, I was in bondage with it. 22:00 I mean, and he'll bond anybody with it. 22:01 That's right. 22:02 Only thing was missing was Christ. 22:05 You know, but if I had to, you know, keep saying it, 22:08 but my life of doing it, it just like, 22:13 it was a struggle. 22:15 And then every time I, again every time I did it. 22:18 Why? Right. 22:19 And... 22:21 So there was, would you say that it felt, 22:22 maybe you felt like the Holy Spirit. 22:25 When you were asking that question, 22:26 why do you think the Holy Spirit 22:28 was working on you then? 22:29 Yes. But, yeah. 22:30 I'm trying to get you to question like, 22:32 is this what I want to do? 22:33 Right, right. 22:35 And again, you know, when I lost my mother 22:37 at an early age that just really set it out 22:39 because I was, I think I was 22 22:41 when she passed away, 22:43 and that just put me into a deeper state 22:46 because I was really close to my mother. 22:50 I remember I stayed at the graveyard out there 22:53 with the 12 pack of beer at her grave. 22:56 Wow. Yeah. 22:58 And so, I tried to overcome that but, 23:01 but the one thing I did do is 23:03 I was a working alcoholic, drug addict addicted. 23:07 I could always keep a job. 23:09 I mean, always, but it just tore me up, 23:11 tore me up even more and more. 23:13 Sure. 23:14 You know, and then getting, I got some DUIs. 23:17 I think I hit it, the first time 23:20 I got the DUI was the year after I got my license. 23:24 And I got a second one. 23:26 I lost my license for 13 years. 23:29 You know, I mean, I could have gotten back, 23:30 but I didn't want to go through the process and all that. 23:33 So it just got deeper... 23:35 Deeper and deeper. And deeper. 23:37 And that's just what the devil does. 23:38 He wants to sink us so deep 23:40 where we feel like we're at the bottom 23:41 of this Mount Everest, 23:42 and it's impossible to climb, right? 23:44 Yes. 23:45 And I'm sure that's how you felt from time to time. 23:47 I did. This is impossible. 23:48 This is the end. This is the story of my life. 23:49 If I'm going to just keep going down, down, down, down 23:52 until eventually I'm dead, right? 23:53 Yes. Okay. 23:55 So, then what from here, from this point on now, 23:56 I understand you eventually got a family or had a family, 24:00 kind of lead us into that. 24:01 You're 22, you've lost your mother, 24:04 you slid deeper into this oppressive lifestyle. 24:09 What happens next? 24:10 Well, it's going on with my family, 24:13 but uh, as I got to be 30, in my 30s, right? 24:16 Right. 24:18 And because I didn't meet my wife till I was 36, 24:20 but during the 30s, I was living in San Francisco. 24:23 Again, I was living a wildlife. 24:27 It was just about getting high, 24:29 and how drunk I can get 24:30 and again just depression into that part. 24:35 And then I, 24:37 eventually I did meet my wife in Castroville. 24:43 At that time, we were still, we were using, I was using, 24:48 and she was using, you know what I mean, 24:51 but anyways, at one point 24:54 how it all started changing as we went, 24:57 ended up moving to, me and her moved to Idaho. 25:01 Okay. 25:02 And I should have stayed there but that didn't happen. 25:04 But we were there for year and a half. 25:07 We had our first son, 25:09 when we came back to California. 25:12 Yeah, we were there for about a year and a half. 25:14 Came to California to start another job here 25:16 because work was a little slow in Idaho. 25:19 Got married to my wife there, at the time we got, 25:24 actually was a Mormon that married us. 25:26 Okay. 25:27 I learned a little bit about the Mormons at the time. 25:29 Yeah. So, you had a... 25:30 So would you say you had maybe a connection 25:34 with religion somehow through that, 25:36 through all of this? 25:37 You know what, let me go back to where, 25:39 I did, my uncle, I had another time 25:42 when I was 16, car fell on my head. 25:45 On your head? On my head. 25:47 And I was, I was saved from that too. 25:50 Wow, Brother. You know what I mean. 25:52 That's amazing. Yeah, they pulled me out. 25:54 And they took me to the hospital. 25:55 Nothing wasn't broken. 25:57 Just a minor concussion and that was it. 26:00 But my uncle started... 26:01 Not many people can say, 26:03 you know, a car fell on my head. 26:04 And, you know, God got me through it. 26:05 That's amazing. Yeah, I know. 26:07 That's amazing. 26:08 I've got many testimonies like that, so. 26:11 So he took me to church, you know, 26:14 for about six months, I went church with them. 26:16 I just didn't. 26:18 And I didn't understand it at the time. 26:19 You know, he was because he'd be singing 26:21 and praising God there and I was, I was into it. 26:24 But then the world would draw me right back out. 26:27 So the church he took you to, was it a... 26:29 Was it a... I think it was the Pentecostal. 26:30 Pentecostal Church. Okay. 26:32 I know I can relate to that. Yes. 26:33 But I did, I go, I went to this church, 26:34 that church during my life. 26:36 Right, okay. 26:37 Trying to find something, you know, to fill that void, 26:40 the emptiness inside me, but I can never find it, 26:44 you know, and thinking I could get it through people, 26:47 or this person or this drug 26:50 or but nothing could fill that void. 26:51 And that's powerful. That's a powerful point. 26:53 I don't mean to interrupt you. 26:54 You said getting, going to church 26:56 and getting it through people. 26:58 Many people have that experience. 27:00 I know that, I did for a long time 27:02 going to church and you, 27:04 you, desire the relationships and somehow someway, 27:06 you think that by creating relationships with people, 27:09 which is a great thing we should, 27:10 but our hope is not found in people, 27:13 our hope is found in Jesus, 27:14 which is what you eventually would learn, 27:16 but continue on your story. 27:17 I want to hear the rest of it. 27:19 Okay, so he, 27:20 anyway so he took me there to church 27:23 and I fell back out, 27:24 right back out to the world again. 27:26 And then that was it. 27:28 The climb of the ladder, you know, 27:31 or down the ladder, back deep down in the hole, 27:34 when I'm trying to climb like Jacob's Ladder and I also, 27:38 but anyway, so I mean, going back to my wife and kids, 27:40 so we got married, I was happy. 27:42 I was like, wow, I got it. I got a son, you know. 27:44 I was working hard. Working hard. 27:49 We rented a place right there in Monterey 27:51 and things were going great for a while there. 27:54 And then, and then all of a sudden, 27:57 after my second, no, 27:59 my first son in the drugstores seeped in again. 28:03 They, here they came, Satan came in. 28:06 And I don't want to say nothing about my wife 28:08 or anything but it was engaged through people 28:12 so I'll just say that. 28:13 Yeah, influences. 28:15 Yeah, influences that came back into our life. 28:17 And then, then things just started getting bad again. 28:21 We hung on for a while there, my, I think my son was five. 28:25 At the time, we moved into a different place, 28:28 but the drugs get worse and worse and worse. 28:31 And then I got to the point where I couldn't, 28:33 I wasn't paying my rent. 28:34 I was just using it for drugs. 28:37 And... Wow. 28:39 You know, and not thinking because 28:40 Satan is real, he will blind you 28:44 to what you're doing and thinking and thinking 28:46 that I was trying to do it myself. 28:49 I couldn't do it. 28:51 Just here we go again, down again. 28:53 And then, so eventually, I lost that place. 28:58 My wife ended up going to her dad's house. 29:02 And, so I said, 29:04 I got to put this back together. 29:07 I said, I've tried to work with her, 29:09 but she was, she's already fallen, 29:11 fallen away from me, you know what I mean. 29:13 I can't trust you no more and things like that. 29:16 And then, again, not to say nothing bad, 29:18 but there was a dispute between me and her. 29:20 She was, you know, there was another man involved. 29:24 And I found out about it. 29:27 But, and I had, when I found out about it, 29:31 I got angry and I slapped her. 29:34 And that's and I don't usually hit, 29:36 you know, woman, you know what I mean, 29:38 it was just out of anger in me. 29:40 And, but I did ask her to forgive me so. 29:44 After that, I ended up in jail. 29:46 The cops came to pick me up 29:48 and there was a fight with the cops. 29:49 I mean, I said, you ain't taking me nowhere. 29:51 I said, this is on. I was eating a bowl of cereal. 29:55 When I found out that next day 29:56 we were in the house talking this over, 29:59 her boyfriend or the guy called the police on me. 30:02 Oh, I see. And they came. 30:04 And we went fist fighting all the way out to the car. 30:09 And they finally got me in the car, they fought. 30:12 I ended up in jail. 30:15 They had and I ended up fighting 30:18 two more cops in the jail. 30:19 I slapped the drugs out of their hand they found on me. 30:22 And they were just furious at me 30:25 with just the anger in me, 30:26 because I had so much anger in me. 30:29 You did not want to be my friend. 30:31 I mean, I wasn't the guy to have a beer friend with. 30:33 Right. Because you weren't in control. 30:34 I was not. Different spirit. 30:36 That's right. It was a different spirit. 30:39 So they came in there and said, 30:41 well, you're going to be here a long time. 30:43 We've got eight felony charges on you. 30:46 You're going away for a long time, 30:48 you know, for fighting the cops and all that. 30:50 And I just looked at him. 30:52 And I said, I just said I don't care 30:54 what you say, like that. 30:56 I'm just like, I had no, 30:59 this is the other testimony that comes into this. 31:01 So for three months I was there praying. 31:04 I said, Lord, I don't know what happened. 31:07 I go, what's happening? 31:08 I'm praying for the three months. 31:11 So here comes the third month, right? 31:14 And I got the worst, the guys in the jail said 31:16 you got the worst public defender 31:18 as you're going away. 31:20 You might as well just say goodbye. 31:23 So I'm praying and praying and praying. 31:26 And then we go to court the last day, 31:29 the public defender come up to me, 31:31 he goes, you're out of here. 31:33 He goes, he goes, tell the people in the jail, 31:36 you are out of here. 31:39 And I said, "What?" 31:41 He goes, "Yeah, by a technicality 31:43 that something went wrong, 31:45 and all the charges have to be dropped." 31:48 Wow. And I know that was God. 31:52 Wait a second. This can't be happening. 31:55 And again, I'm looking at myself like, 31:58 you know, maybe I'm invincible. 31:59 You know, it's not God, it's me, you know. 32:01 Yeah. 32:03 So, you, so what I hear you saying is that that instill 32:06 within you even more this idea that I can't be touched? 32:09 Right. Right? 32:10 Yeah, that was me, you know. 32:12 But yet you didn't see that 32:13 it was actually the hand of God that was trying to get you. 32:15 Yeah, I was praying to Him 32:17 and asking Him but then the ego came back. 32:19 You know, the self. 32:21 Look at me. 32:22 You can't touch me and I was proud, 32:23 you know being so proud. 32:25 Right, right. So, going on, I got out. 32:29 I'm trying to work it out with her again. 32:32 Then she just wouldn't have it 32:34 because of the fear in her and with the, 32:38 her boyfriend had 32:39 and I tried everything for six years down that road, 32:42 I tried everything to put it back together. 32:44 I was praying to God. 32:45 I even started going to church at the Presbyterian Church. 32:49 Yeah. Just taking my kids there. 32:52 And one thing 32:53 I did tell my kids, I did tell them, 32:55 I used to tell my children growing up after that, 32:57 I used to say, "Who do you put first?" 33:00 They go, "You dad." 33:01 And I go, "No, you put God first." 33:03 I started recognizing who God was, 33:05 but telling my kids and teaching them 33:06 about God comes first, 33:08 you never put nobody else before them. 33:10 During that time 33:11 and then the struggle kept going off and on 33:13 about the drugs, 33:15 going through that time, still using. 33:19 I think after the six years, I got to the point 33:22 where I was living in Gilroy in a little, 33:27 little shed up my sister's, 33:30 and I think at that point, is where I picked up the Bible. 33:34 I was using, I was doing drugs. 33:37 Something told me to read the Bible 33:38 from Matthew to Revelations. 33:40 I didn't understand it. 33:42 But I was reading it every day, 33:43 all the way to Matthew to Revelations. 33:47 And then it just started going off 33:50 like that and then, okay, 33:52 you know, now what, you know? 33:54 Right. So, and then again, I think... 34:00 So, again, it just kept going on, 34:03 I ended up, you know, 34:05 working, I was working with the guys, 34:07 still using drugs, still using alcohol. 34:11 So you were using drugs, 34:12 using alcohol and then studying your Bible on the side? 34:15 Exactly. You know what I mean? 34:18 But the Lord was still reaching you 34:21 in the state that you were in which is, 34:22 that shows the grace of God there. 34:24 And I kept, I kept seeing these things, 34:25 you know what I mean. 34:27 Like, again, I'd be going places, 34:28 I'll see a scripture here, 34:30 something will come on TV about the Word of God or, 34:34 you know, and it was always hitting me 34:36 like why am I seeing this? 34:38 It reminds me of Pastor Ivor Myers' story, 34:39 he tells a story about how he and his friends, 34:41 they were learning the truth, 34:43 and they were all smoking weed and having Bible studies. 34:46 So that's similar to what was happening with you. 34:48 You didn't know any better, 34:50 but at least the Lord was trying to get your heart. 34:52 Yeah, and you know, and a lot of times 34:55 I would sit there and cry, you know about the drugs 34:58 and that's when it started hitting me. 34:59 I want to quit this stuff. 35:01 You know, Lord, 35:02 I don't want to do this no more, 35:04 you know, and it just kept going and going. 35:08 You know, the people I was hanging out with 35:10 and Satan will use again, 35:13 he uses people to encourage you to keep doing it. 35:16 And that's where I got to the point. 35:17 I know you couldn't see 35:19 the picture of me during that time. 35:21 My face, okay, Satan will blind you. 35:24 My face was all sucked up like this, 35:26 you know, like this, 35:27 I looked like I was 75 years old. 35:30 When I looked in the mirror, I looked fine, you know. 35:33 Because you were blinded of condition. 35:35 I was blinded. 35:36 And so, Satan will blind you like that. 35:38 I thought, man, 35:39 I'm the best looking guy out here, 35:41 you know, and that's what the drug does to you, you know. 35:44 And for anybody out there, you know, 35:46 wanting to know if Satan will blind you, 35:49 you know, you know. 35:51 So there, but there came a turning point. 35:53 So you, you're in, you're reading your Bible, 35:57 but yet you're still addicted to the alcohol, the drugs. 36:00 What was the turning point, there came a point in 36:02 which it seemed like the Lord 36:05 had that moment with you 36:07 and things begin to look upward. 36:09 So, let's transition in talking about 36:12 how God was able to grip your heart 36:14 and finally get your attention? 36:17 So, if we're going to go into the part 36:19 where Jesus delivered me, 36:22 but we'll start off like this. 36:27 Actually, it was on the testimony. 36:29 Sure. Yeah. 36:31 You know, again, 36:32 I was using with my, and, but... 36:36 There may be something 36:38 you want to tell leading up to this 36:39 or is something that happened prior 36:41 to this leading up to your turning point 36:43 that you want to share? 36:44 Oh, well, yeah, 'cause I kept praying 36:46 and again I kept praying 36:47 and one was the thing was, is I was being convicted 36:50 by the Holy Spirit, wanting to quit. 36:53 You know, I didn't know it at the time, 36:54 but I wanted to quit. 36:56 And people were telling me Steve, 36:59 the guys at work were telling me, 37:00 "Why don't you quit this, you know? 37:02 Quit doing what you're doing?" 37:04 Matter of fact, 37:05 it was a Monterey Peninsula Drywall 37:07 who I worked for. 37:09 Okay. 37:10 For 18 years, they seen 37:11 the whole transition of everything. 37:14 And they who, they are who they are today. 37:17 But they seen the whole transformation in me. 37:19 But they were always leading me and helping me along the way. 37:23 I don't know why they didn't fire me. 37:25 So that was another testimony by God. 37:27 Wow. 37:28 You know, so but they were really loving towards me. 37:31 Again, they are of the world but God uses. 37:35 Yeah, absolutely. 37:36 And, so anyways, again, they seen the transition in me. 37:43 And again, praying, so they were giving me advice, 37:48 I've had other people wanting to, 37:50 you know, go get your teeth fixed, you know. 37:53 You know, get off that stuff, you know. 37:55 And again, there was, you know, the Holy Spirit convicting me. 37:59 I wanted to get off, wanted to get off. 38:01 Then I got to the point 38:02 where I was calling the dealer, right? 38:05 And I was fighting with it. 38:08 Don't call her, don't call her, you know what I mean. 38:09 Oh, wow. 38:11 And I was praying and stuff 38:12 and asking God to give me the courage to overcome it. 38:15 You know, one day, 38:17 so I'll go to the one day where, 38:22 where I was calling the dealer, right? 38:24 Right. 38:25 So this is going to lead up into it. 38:28 So, I called for eight hours 38:31 just trying to get this girl to come over. 38:36 Oh, no, wait, wait, let me see. 38:37 Let's go back a little bit. Sure. 38:39 Okay, so when I found out about the, 38:43 when I was watching 3ABN on the TV, 38:45 because I was searching, 38:46 again I was searching for, I was watching. 38:49 So you're flipping through the channels 38:51 one day and find 3ABN. 38:52 Yeah. 38:54 And it was clicking because I've seen Joel Osteen, 38:55 all these other evangelists, but nothing clicked with me. 38:58 Right. Nothing was making sense. 38:59 Come on, I need something here. 39:02 You know but David Asscherick got on there. 39:04 Okay, 3ABN. 3ABN. 39:05 Pastor David Asscherick was preaching. 39:07 Yes. All right. Then what happened? 39:09 And so, he was talking about the Sabbath, 39:12 and I said, "What?" 39:13 He goes, "Yeah, the seventh day Sabbath's on Saturday." 39:16 I mean, wait, wait, I just, I said, "Wait a second. 39:19 What?" It clicked in me. 39:22 So I listened to it, you know, 39:23 I listened to the rest of the sermon 39:25 and he goes, but he said, 39:26 don't believe me, don't believe me, 39:29 read the Bible for yourself. 39:31 Again, and so I go, I go, 39:33 I gotta check this seventh day Sabbath out, you know. 39:37 So, I googled, I googled the Seventh-day, 39:41 Seventh-day Adventist Church in Salinas. 39:43 The one I'm at right now. Okay. 39:46 I started going there. 39:48 And I told my brother Ted and his wife, 39:51 I said, hey, "We got to go check this out. 39:53 Something about the Sabbath." Right. 39:55 Key word right there 39:57 because remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. 39:58 He says remember, 40:00 and it just blew my mind, it blew my mind. 40:03 Why wasn't I told this before. 40:05 So we started going for eight weeks, every week, 40:07 you know, every week for eight weeks. 40:10 And then and I was just like, 40:11 I couldn't believe what the sermons I was hearing, 40:14 like, wow, this is, 40:15 this is good stuff here, you know. 40:18 And again, the Holy Spirit was convicting me. 40:22 And at the eighth week, here comes Satan. 40:25 He came in to destroy us. Of course, of course. 40:27 So, me and my brother was sitting in the house. 40:31 His girlfriend and his mother were high on methamphetamines. 40:36 Me and my brother were clean at the time. 40:38 His daughter was there, 40:40 the mother comes in there and grabs the daughter, 40:42 my brother was on a felony probation, right? 40:44 So they came in there, there was a big scuffle. 40:48 Now the people that weren't high, 40:50 me and my brother at the time, 40:52 and the other ones that were all high, 40:54 they arrested me and him. 40:55 Oh, okay. 40:57 Said, well, you tried to attack them. 40:59 It was the other way around, 41:00 because there were more witnesses. 41:02 Satan knows how to... Of course. 41:04 Oh, so, they took him to jail, they took me, 41:07 but they had let me go 41:08 because I had no felony charges or nothing. 41:10 I wasn't on probation. And I made a statement. 41:13 He said, "Do you want to press charges against her?" 41:14 I said, "Yes, I want to fight this." 41:17 So, after that, I got that all taken care of. 41:22 And three months back into depression. 41:26 I went to my sister's house doing drugs. 41:29 I still had the job, right? 41:31 But I was just riding a bike because I lost everything. 41:35 You know, I had no license, 41:37 I had no car, few clothes in my bag. 41:40 But just right back 41:42 where I started from, and like, Lord, 41:44 what am I going to do? 41:46 You know, I don't want to do this no more. 41:47 And I kept crying out to the Lord, 41:49 crying out to the Lord. 41:50 And again, the conviction again was that 41:56 after the third, 41:57 the third month, that's the time 42:00 I was calling that dealer 42:01 and I used the methamphetamines for the last time. 42:07 I got her there finally after eight hours, 42:09 I used it, and I did it. 42:12 My head was spinning 100 miles an hour. 42:15 All this stuff was going, 42:17 you know, going through my head, 42:18 everything. 42:19 My life was depressed. 42:22 What am I going to do? 42:25 So, that morning I got up in the morning, 42:29 I got up on my hands and knees. 42:31 And I said, "Lord, I've got nothing left, Lord. 42:35 I go, You, please deliver me from this. 42:39 Deliver me, Lord, I have nothing." 42:42 You had to hit rock bottom at your knees. 42:46 Lord, this is it. I got nothing, Lord. 42:49 And then what happened? 42:51 A week later, I came in from work, 42:56 went to bed and I was laying down. 42:59 You know, I fell asleep, 43:01 hard to sleep and I was dreaming. 43:04 And in the dream, I opened my eyes. 43:07 I was in the middle of like a road. 43:10 And I have my hands over my knees like this, 43:13 depressed thinking about everything 43:14 that's going on in my life. 43:16 And I looked up, 43:17 and there was Jesus Christ in His glory. 43:21 And He comes up to me. 43:24 And He didn't say nothing at the time. 43:26 He just said, He puts his finger 43:27 and it goes like this. 43:29 And it opens up, and blood starts pouring out. 43:32 Your neck? 43:34 And then He looks at me again, 43:35 and He touches it again and it seals up. 43:37 And He looks at me and He goes, it's finished, you're clean. 43:41 Wow. 43:42 And I woke up, I was soaking wet 43:46 from head to toe, like what just happened. 43:50 And I know that He had, 43:52 at that time I was like, what happened, 43:55 with all the confusion and stuff. 43:57 That week, I got, I went back to the church. 44:02 And I know that was, He cleansed me up. 44:04 Absolutely. I had no urge for cigarettes. 44:06 Wow. 44:08 And I was a pack and a half a day 44:09 cigarette smoker. 44:10 I tried everything to quit on my own. 44:12 Wow. 44:13 He delivered me from the alcohol, 44:15 cigarettes and drugs. 44:16 No more cigarettes, no more drugs, 44:17 all in a moment? 44:19 All and out. So you woke up from that dream. 44:20 And you know for a fact that was from God, God was, 44:22 it was almost this like symbol 44:24 that God was telling you, this is it. 44:26 Yeah. I'm gonna deliver you. Right. 44:28 As long as you'll follow Me from this point forward, right? 44:29 Okay. Yes. 44:31 So now, so you've you went back to the church, you're clean? 44:35 Yeah. 44:36 And the first person 44:37 that came up to me was Liz Chacoan. 44:39 I met her, she said she had been praying to go 44:42 speak to people that were coming in the church. 44:44 And it just flourished after that. 44:47 They were doing youth Bible studies. 44:48 So she invited me to that. 44:50 I started going out GLOW tracking. 44:52 I was on fire for God. 44:55 I just started going out door-to-door 44:57 with the GLOW tracts, getting into the prayer group. 45:01 And then the Tucson family there 45:04 that do the worship service, 45:06 Edith, Tucson and Lennon Feldman, 45:09 they do the worship service, they got, 45:11 I got involved with the singing, 45:13 just everything. 45:14 And just flourished after that. It's amazing. 45:17 So you go from a life of drugs, alcohol addiction, smoking. 45:23 You lose your family, you end up homeless. 45:27 I understand you were homeless for a time, weren't you? 45:29 Yes. 45:30 So you lost your home, lost everything. 45:34 But God has a way of bringing us back. 45:37 He still find, we could still find grace 45:39 in those moments even when you hit rock bottom, 45:42 and there may be someone watching right now 45:43 that can relate to the story 45:45 that we've been telling or that Steve has been telling. 45:48 You may be at home right now and maybe thinking, oh, well, 45:50 that's Steve's story, but that's not my story. 45:52 Your story may not be the same, but you know what? 45:54 It's still the same God. 45:55 And somehow, some way the Lord knows, 45:59 He knows what you need, 46:01 He knows just the perfect timing, 46:02 He knows just what you need in order to bring you 46:05 out of that darkness 46:07 and into His marvelous light as the scripture says. 46:09 And so, you're now involved with the church. 46:12 And you become so involved with the church 46:14 that I understand 46:15 there's that the Salinas, is it Salinas? 46:17 Am I saying that right? Salinas. 46:19 Salinas Seventh-day Adventist Church, you now have, 46:22 is it like a homeless ministry to help people 46:25 who were in kind of a similar situation 46:27 that you were in before? 46:28 Yeah. 46:30 So I reached out to the homeless down, 46:31 I shared my testimony with them out there 46:32 and go pray with them. 46:34 And we do the ministry of passing out sandwiches 46:37 and lunches for the homeless to reach out to them 46:39 because that's what God impressed me to do. 46:42 Just to share that story. 46:43 I think we have some pictures here. 46:45 Yes. So check these out. So walk us through this. 46:47 What are we seeing here in these pictures? 46:49 This is the lunches right here we're making. 46:51 Awesome. Just getting them altogether. 46:54 Praise the Lord. 46:56 Okay, let's see the next picture there. 46:57 Okay. 46:59 This is part of the youth, 47:00 with youth group we get together 47:02 and part of the church family, we get come all together. 47:05 And there's even kids from the school too 47:07 that will come and help. 47:09 Praise the Lord. Yeah. 47:10 And we just, they just comes all together. 47:12 And we do all this in like 30 minutes. 47:15 Thirty minutes to put all this together 47:16 to feed the homeless? 47:18 We would probably do it in about 30 minutes 47:19 in about 350 sandwiches. 47:22 And we put GLOW tracts in the bags. 47:25 Glow tracts in the bags. 47:26 And so how, about how many people 47:28 do you serve 47:29 when you do this, about how many people do you, 47:32 do you minister to through this a week? 47:34 Is it a weekly or is it? 47:36 We do it about four times a year. 47:38 Four times a year? Okay. 47:39 Okay, so you have these events four times a year. 47:42 And so, what is this? What is this we're seeing? 47:44 This was the last one last year, 47:46 this was all the people that got involved. 47:48 There's some of the youth right there. 47:51 Because there's lot of the youth, 47:53 we don't want to take pictures of the homeless 47:54 because a lot of them don't want pictures of them. 47:55 I understand, I understand. And that's okay. 47:57 But these are the youth. 47:59 Just the youth from the church or? 48:00 Yeah. Okay. Youth from the church. 48:02 I did mentioned I'm the youth director. 48:03 That's right. That's right. Absolutely. 48:05 I'm getting it altogether. Praise the Lord. 48:07 And also, so when I, when I got offered these, 48:09 when everything just started coming to me, 48:11 they asked me. 48:13 I don't have an education, 48:14 I have a fifth grade less than a fifth grade education. 48:18 When they told me to do this, 48:20 I said, that still small voice said, 48:23 step forward, have faith. 48:25 I will lead you, 48:27 you're not leading this, I'm leading this. 48:28 That's powerful. 48:30 So it's amazing to see how God brings things around 48:33 because your journey started when you were a teenager. 48:36 You said you were 14 when you started? 48:38 Yeah. 48:39 And so now you have an opportunity to make 48:41 a positive impact in these young people's lives. 48:44 And I know they know your story and being able to lead them 48:48 and mentor them and guide them, 48:49 to do something as powerful as this is just amazing, 48:52 because now you can go out and impact people's lives. 48:54 You know, we're talking about the homeless, 48:56 and I think I was looking at 48:57 some statistics not too long ago 48:59 that many of these homeless people, you know, 49:01 you would think, you know, they're homeless, 49:02 they don't have anything but somehow someway, 49:04 they get into addictions. 49:05 Exactly. 49:07 And there, they, you know, they find the alcohol, 49:08 they find the drugs and because they have no hope, 49:11 they feel like there's no hope for them. 49:13 But you've been there, you've done that. 49:14 And now through this ministry, 49:16 through the Salinas Seventh-day Adventist Church and the youth, 49:18 you're able to make a positive impact 49:21 in people's lives? 49:22 Yes. That's powerful, Brother. 49:24 Yes, I can relate to them. That's right. 49:26 God always puts us in a place where we all need to be. 49:29 Absolutely. Absolutely. 49:31 Yeah, you know, I just, I feel, I just feel led, you know, 49:35 there, there may be someone watching right now 49:37 that can relate to Brother Steve's story. 49:40 And, you know, I personally just want to make an appeal. 49:42 And I'm going to give some time, 49:43 before we go to our role. 49:45 We're going to go to a role in just a moment 49:47 where you'll be able to help in some way to donate 49:51 or to give toward the effort that Brother Sosa 49:54 and the Salinas Church are doing to help the homeless 49:56 but you know, there may be someone watching 49:58 right now that says, you know what, 49:59 I've hit rock bottom and I have nowhere else to go, 50:02 I'm addicted to alcohol, I'm addicted to cigarettes, 50:05 I'm addicted to, you know, whatever drug it is 50:07 or whatever addiction you're dealing with. 50:09 This is the living proof. 50:11 You know, the, you know, 50:12 there's nothing more powerful than a personal testimony. 50:15 He is living proof that God can deliver 50:19 even the lowest of the lowest, if you've hit rock bottom, 50:21 and you've hit your lowest 50:23 and you think, I'm the greatest, 50:24 the greatest sinner 50:25 that has ever walked this earth. 50:27 Jesus still loves you. He's still there. 50:28 He's still working to reach your heart. 50:31 He has a plan for you. 50:32 And then, Brother Steve, 50:33 I praise God for what it is that 50:35 the God has done through you 50:36 and what He's doing through you, 50:38 through the church of Salinas there in California. 50:41 In fact, you know, we have about a minute 50:43 before we're going to go to the information 50:45 we're going to put up here 50:46 for those who might want to donate. 50:48 So tell us a little bit about that. 50:49 If they want to donate to the cause, what can they do? 50:53 You can send it to the Salinas Seventh-day Adventist Church. 50:55 Salinas Seventh-day Adventist Church. 50:57 And again, if they're donating to this cause, 51:00 and they're sending this donation 51:02 to the Salinas Seventh-day Adventist Church. 51:04 For those who may have had 51:06 just turned to this channel at this very moment, 51:08 what is it that they're going to donate to? 51:09 What are they, what is, 51:10 what is their money or their donation? 51:12 They donate towards the homeless 51:14 for the passing out the sandwiches 51:16 and other people that may need stuff, you know. 51:19 Amen. 51:20 Ministering to and helping those 51:22 that once were like you that are, you know, 51:24 you were once in this situation. 51:26 Powerful. 51:27 Well, my friends, hey, we're not quite through yet. 51:29 We're gonna have a little bit of a break, a news break. 51:31 But right now in 10 seconds 51:34 you're going to see a screen come up 51:36 and it's going to have the information 51:37 for Steve's ministry as well as 51:40 the Salinas Seventh-day Adventist Church. 51:43 Here is how you can donate. 51:47 For more information about 51:48 the Salinas Seventh-day Adventist Church 51:50 or to support their mission, please contact them at 51:53 831-424-7786. 51:57 That's 831-424-7786. 52:02 Their website is SalinasSDA.org. 52:06 That's SalinasSDA.org. 52:10 Their mailing address is 46 Villa Street, 52:13 Salinas, California 93901. 52:16 That's 46 Villa Street, Salinas, California 93901. |
Revised 2020-09-11