Participants: Aaron Chancy (Host), Alvin Pugues, James G. Owen
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000004
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00:10 Welcome to The New Journey: the program where we meet
00:13 real life people with real life testimonies 00:15 with real-life working ministries for Jesus. 00:18 Today we meet a pastor out of Memphis, Tennessee, 00:20 that is pleased with his prison ministry team 00:22 because they're on fire for Jesus. 00:24 We'll also meet a man that lived a life of crime 00:26 but was led to Jesus through prison ministries. 00:29 I'm your host Aaron Chancy. 00:30 Come join us on The New Journey. 01:01 Welcome back to The New Journey. 01:02 Today we have with us in the studio Bro. Alvin 01:05 and we have Pastor Owens. Welcome to the show. 01:07 Good to be here. All right, we want to find out 01:10 some information from you all today. We want to start with 01:12 Pastor Owens. Pastor Owens, how long have you been 01:15 pastoring as well as how long have you been at the 01:18 Longview Seventh-day Adventist Church in Memphis? 01:20 All right. First of all, good to be here again. 01:22 I've been pastoring for about 14 years now. 01:26 OK. And I've been specifically pastoring the Longview Heights 01:29 Seventh-day Adventist Church in Memphis for about 5 years. 01:32 About five years. OK, so you've put a little bit of time 01:34 into pastoring, correct? Yes. OK, OK. 01:37 Now being involved in prison ministries, how much of an 01:40 impact have you seen that having an active church 01:43 in prison ministries has been on your congregation? 01:46 Well it's very good to see an active church. 01:49 It's been a great impact. When members are busy - 01:53 OK - then it's a blessing to the church. 01:55 I've noticed that the busy members - those who are 01:57 involved in some type of ministry - they tend to be 02:00 the happiest members. OK. 02:01 God did not ordain for the members to just sit in the pew 02:04 and listen to the preacher, say "Amen, " 02:06 critique the sermon, and go home. 02:08 That's correct. We are to go to church and listen to the sermon, 02:11 get equipped, and go out there into the world - 02:13 that's right - and minister to people - 02:15 at different levels, different needs - 02:17 and just reach out to the world. 02:19 OK. You know after all in the Great Commission it said 02:21 "Go ye therefore... " Yeah. 02:22 That means we have to get up, we have to go, 02:24 we have to go do something, correct? 02:26 Yeah go... that's an active word. 02:27 "Go... " That means we have to go. 02:29 That's exactly right. Come... and we go. That's exactly right. 02:31 Now how about church growth? Due to your prison ministries 02:34 team how about has the church grown since prison ministries 02:38 has been involved in your church? All right, as far as 02:40 church growth, the Lord has blessed tremendously. 02:44 We have had... for example last year we baptized 02:47 124 total. OK. 29 of those baptisms 02:52 came through Revelation seminar, Amazing Facts seminar, 02:55 Sabbath preaching, and just reaching out. 02:58 OK. The other 95 came through the prison ministry. OK. 03:02 So it's been a powerful team, and they're faithful to God 03:04 every week. Very powerful. 03:06 OK. So you've had 124 baptisms just recently. 03:10 124 baptisms... that's a lot of baptisms. 03:12 You know, we're going to talk more about the baptisms 03:15 at your church to encourage others to even get in this work. 03:18 But first I want to deal with what kind of impact have you 03:21 seen for those incarcerated... that this prison ministry work 03:25 has had on them. OK, those who come out of prison, 03:29 when they to come to church - OK - I've seen that they are 03:33 more on fire. Some of them have become elders. 03:35 OK. The folk love to hear them preach. 03:38 They become productive people. 03:40 And just seeing that excites you. 03:43 I mean, it's great! OK... Amen, Amen. 03:46 You know, many churches aren't as fortunate 03:48 to have a prison ministry team, an active prison ministry team. 03:52 You know, I know for myself with my church 03:54 we don't necessarily have an active prison ministry team 03:57 as yet. So that's a real blessing for your church, 03:59 isn't it? Yeah, they go into the... 04:02 they've been doing it for about 30+ years now. OK. 04:05 And they go into the prison; they give the Bible studies... 04:08 Amazing Facts or so forth; and they will let us baptize 04:12 right in the jail... right in the prison. Amen. 04:14 As a matter of fact, when I first got to Longview 04:16 Elder Tate, personal ministry leader - OK - he asked me to 04:20 lead out in a baptism. 04:22 OK. And they do it most of the time... 04:25 but it was just good to actually be in the prison - OK - 04:28 baptizing people. Amen, Amen. It's a good experience. 04:32 You know, what I want you to do right now, Pastor Owens, is 04:34 take out your Bible and I want you to turn to Matthew 25. 04:38 You know, Matthew 25, viewers, deals with God 04:41 where He sets on the right and on the left. 04:43 He takes the sheep on the right and the goats on the left 04:46 and He says something to them. 04:47 And we're going to have Pastor Owens read some very 04:50 key words and expound upon what's in those verses. 04:53 OK. First off, Matthew 25 verse 32. OK. 04:58 Says: "And before Him shall be gathered all nations 05:01 and He shall separate them one from another 05:04 as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. " 05:08 Notice you have two categories of people here. 05:10 You have sheep and you have goats. 05:13 And then the Lord begins to say certain things to them. 05:16 In verse 35 He says: "For I was a hungered and you gave Me meat. 05:19 I was thirsty and you gave Me drink. 05:21 I was a stranger and you took Me in. 05:23 Naked and you clothed me" in verse 36. 05:26 And then He says in verse 36: 05:28 "I was sick and you visited Me. 05:30 I was in prison and you came unto Me. " 05:34 Now that told to me right there He identifies Himself 05:38 with those who have been misfortunate. Oh yes. 05:41 Those who have made mistakes. Even those who may be 05:45 in prison unjustly. Yeah. 'Cause there's some folk 05:47 in prison and they don't deserve to be in prison. 05:49 They're in prison... it's like a Joseph situation. 05:53 Yeah, yeah. But the Lord says "I'm related to these folk. " 05:55 And that's why one time I even challenged my church... 05:58 I said: "I don't want the Lord to say to me - neither you - 06:02 that when I was in prison you visited Me not. 06:04 And we have a big prison ministries team. 06:07 So I'm challenging every church member 06:09 to at least go to the prison at least one time this year. " 06:12 Amen. I did that this year to all the members. 06:13 I said: "At least go one time so Jesus will not be able 06:16 to say to you "When I was in prison you didn't visit Me. " 06:19 Yeah, that's great... that's great! 06:20 How have you noticed so far that your members have been 06:22 taking that challenge? Some of them have gotten on board. 06:25 Some of them have gotten excited. 06:26 We have a big group that goes regularly. 06:28 Some have committed... we have one couple that committed to 06:31 go once a month. OK. Do what you can. 06:34 Everybody can't do every week but do what you can. 06:37 OK. But I don't see how you can not go at least one time 06:41 out of the year... and just get that experience. 06:42 Yeah, everybody needs to get that experience 06:44 because folk are going through and they need a visit. 06:46 Sometimes they don't have family folk - yes - to visit them. 06:49 You know, and that's an interesting point is that 06:52 many inmates incarcerated don't necessarily have family. 06:56 They don't have loved ones out there. 06:57 They don't have anybody to send them a letter, 06:59 to send them some money, to do anything for them. 07:03 And you know what? To have an active church that is involved 07:06 in prison ministries and you're ministering to people that 07:09 you don't even know. They have no clue who you are. 07:11 You have no clue who they are. 07:13 But you know what? It's a blessing to them 07:14 and I know it's a blessing to each of you. 07:17 They look forward... Some of your best audiences 07:19 as far as listening to sermons - OK - come through the prison. 07:23 They... As soon as you come in sometimes they're cheering 07:26 for you. Amen. Amen. What words do you have to say 07:28 to us today? I mean, I mean, and they're eating up the words. 07:32 They're not like sometimes in church you have some folk 07:34 hard to keep them up. They're dozing sometimes... 07:37 yeah, they're dozing in church... unless youre'jumping 07:38 up doing - you know - kicks or something... wake them up. 07:41 But man, these folk are thirsty for the Word of God. OK. OK. 07:45 I think it's... and I'm hearing some things about churches 07:47 here and they're getting excited about prison ministries - 07:49 and - OK - it's just a blessing for the church. OK. 07:51 You know what I want you to do right now, Pastor Owens? 07:53 I want you to look into the camera and I want you to give 07:56 a challenge to the viewers. Challenge them to... 07:59 It may not even be prison ministries work, but it may 08:01 be a challenge to just get up and do something. 08:03 You know after all, the Seventh-day Adventist Church 08:06 is a God-ordained church. We're a movement. 08:09 The very word movement starts out with move. 08:12 An action verb: get up, move, and do something. 08:14 Challenge the viewers right now 08:16 to get involved in ministry work. 08:17 Those who are listening right now: 08:19 I want to challenge you to do something for God. 08:22 We're told that no sooner than when one is converted 08:26 he wants to reach out and he wants to be a witness for God. 08:30 He wants to go. It's almost like Jeremiah 08:33 when he heard God say: "Whom shall I send? 08:36 And who will go for us? " 08:37 Jeremiah said: "Here am I, Lord, send me. " 08:40 And we need Jeremiahs today who will be willing 08:43 to respond to the challenge of God to go out. 08:47 And you know, we often pray for the Holy Spirit. 08:50 We are doing it moreso now. 08:52 But the Holy Spirit likes to be used in a sense. 08:56 Uh, don't pray for the Holy Spirit if you don't plan to 08:58 go out and do something for God. 09:01 God says: "I will give you My Spirit, but My Spirit 09:04 wants to witness through you, talk through you, 09:07 uh, work a ministry through you. " 09:10 So if you want the Holy Spirit you have to be willing 09:13 to go out into God's vineyard. 09:16 The laborers are few 09:18 and we must pray for the laborers to become great 09:21 so that we can see the coming of Christ very soon. Amen, Amen. 09:26 Now viewers, you've heard the challenge. 09:27 You've heard the challenge: "Here am I... send me. " 09:30 You may be one that has not gotten actively involved 09:33 in any type of ministry. 09:34 Well, you need to say just as the Bible says: 09:36 "Here am I... send me. " 09:38 Now I want to talk a little bit more, Pastor Owens, about 09:41 those baptisms. Baptism is an amazing thing 09:43 when a person decides to give their life to Jesus; 09:46 they decide to go down in that watery grave. 09:49 Talk a little bit about the feeling of baptism 09:51 because many that are watching do not know what it even 09:55 feels like to give their heart to Jesus. 09:57 Know what it feels like to go down in that watery grave 09:59 and to rise up into newness of life. 10:01 Talk a little bit about that. Baptism is a very special thing. 10:03 Matter of fact, when you brought it up it made me remember 10:06 when I was baptized - OK - at the age of 16. 10:08 I was in the Pentecostal Church. 10:10 And from the Pentecostal Church I got convicted on certain 10:14 truths of the Bible - OK - in regards to God's Sabbath, 10:17 the Ten Commandments, other things in the Bible 10:19 that this church teaches. OK. Literally got convicted. Amen. 10:23 A while... I fought it for a little bit. 10:25 OK. But after a while I accepted it and I got baptized at 16. 10:30 And man, it was a blessing to go down with the anticipation 10:35 of coming up being a new creature. Yeah. 10:38 I know... we know this is symbolic, baptism is symbolic. 10:40 But I do believe that when you go down you come up 10:44 I believe God does put a special anointing on you 10:47 that you normally wouldn't have if you were not baptized. 10:50 A special anointing. Oh yes. Like when Jesus was baptized 10:53 the Bible says that the dove came upon Him 10:56 and then a voice came down from heaven saying: 10:58 "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. " 11:01 So it's a blessing. And it is symbolic because 11:03 once you're baptized you're telling the world 11:06 "I'm burying my old way; I am a new creature. 11:10 When I come up out of this water I'm coming up new. " 11:14 And you're starting a new journey. 11:15 I'm starting a new journey. I went down one way, 11:18 I'm coming up by faith another way. Amen. 11:21 And if you're nervous while you're going down 11:23 that you may not be converted, while you're down there 11:26 you'd better say: "Lord, before I come up 11:28 please convert me because when I come up 11:30 I don't want to come up the same old person 11:34 with the same old situation, the same old habits. 11:37 I want to come up brand new. " 11:39 The Bible did say: "If any man is in Christ, he is a new 11:42 creature. Old things have passed away. 11:45 All things have become new. " 11:47 He is new... he or she is new. 11:49 Not perfect but new. The thoughts are different. 11:52 Things are different; it's real exciting. It is. 11:54 One of the best, the most exciting thing in my life 11:56 was when I was baptized. OK. It was exciting. 11:59 It's a terrible thing to fight against God. 12:01 Yeah. But when you're baptized you're telling God: 12:03 "Lord, I finally stopped fighting against You. 12:06 I surrender all. I'm dropping down my sword. 12:08 I surrender all. You are my Lord and You are my Savior. " 12:11 Amen. "I'm getting baptized because I love You 12:13 and I want to follow You. " Amen. 12:15 Viewers, you've heard that good news 12:16 of the feeling of being baptized. 12:18 Maybe you haven't had a chance to go down into that watery 12:20 grave. Well I tell you, all you have to do: 12:23 find your local church, find a Seventh-day Adventist church 12:26 and ask the pastor. "Look, I'm ready to change my life. 12:29 I'm ready to take that new journey. 12:30 Can I be baptized? 12:31 Can I come up that new man in this newness of life? " 12:34 Well what I want to do right now is transition over to 12:36 Bro. Alvin. And we want to get a little information about 12:39 Bro. Alvin. Thank you for being on the show Bro. Alvin. 12:41 Could we get a little bit of information dealing with 12:44 your early upbringing? How old you are right now. 12:47 You are a direct result of prison ministry. 12:50 The product of... Been in prison yourself. 12:53 Prison ministry team came and visited you. 12:56 As a direct result you're in the church now. 12:59 Talk about your early childhood experience. 13:01 Well, I wasn't raised in the church. 13:07 OK. My parents didn't go to church. 13:12 OK. So I wasn't affiliated... didn't know anything as far as 13:15 about church. I... - OK - you know, I just grew up 13:18 like every other kid that didn't know anything about church. 13:21 And I came to know the Lord years later. 13:26 OK. As I got grown... as I got older 13:30 I got into a little bit of trouble. OK. 13:33 And you know, as most young teenagers do, 13:38 they get in trouble they get afraid. Yeah, that's true. 13:40 Especially when you know they've got time on their hands 13:43 or expecting to do some time. Oh yeah. 13:44 Oh yeah. They say "do the crime, do the time. " 13:47 Well you know, my mom... she was a praying lady. 13:53 I mean, she wasn't a church- going lady but she prayed like 13:55 most mothers do. She prayed for me, 13:58 and of course my crime that I committed 14:03 which was strong arm robbery... OK, OK. 14:07 Now 1978 you were charged actually with strong arm 14:10 robbery. You were sentenced to 5 or 10 years in prison. 14:13 Right. I want you to spend a little time talking about 14:15 what were some of the underlying factors in your life at that 14:18 point that led you to committing that armed robbery, 14:21 led you to a life of crime. 14:22 Well, at the time I was... At that time I had been working 14:26 at Dewpoint. I was working as a custodian. 14:31 OK. In other words, a janitor. OK, OK. 14:34 Um, I worked... and the company went out of business. 14:39 And as a young man, you know, 14:42 not making any money - uh-huh - kind of got discouraged. 14:46 OK. That kind of put me on a corner which, at that time 14:52 I had an automobile, had a condo payment. OK. 14:55 I was... The bills were piling up. Right! 14:59 I was kind of confused - OK - and you know how it is 15:03 when you don't have any money - yeah - you kind of 15:06 begin to wonder - OK - your mind kind of drifts. 15:09 But I committed that crime and that's what led me 15:13 to be locked up. OK, now you did 5 years in prison 15:17 on that 5-10 year sentence. You were released in 1983. 15:21 Correct. Now at that point, what was going through your mind? 15:24 When you were about to get out what was... what were the 15:26 thoughts? What were the feelings at that point? 15:28 Had you found Jesus while you were incarcerated? 15:31 Was it a while before you found Jesus when you got out? 15:33 Talk a little bit about that. 15:35 Well, no, I got saved while I was doing time. OK. 15:38 Um, the Lord saved me. Praise the Lord! 15:41 Uh - praise the Lord; Amen - I didn't know at the time 15:46 that God would put me in this position - 15:50 uh-huh - to bring me to this point. OK. 15:53 But I knew that I wanted to make a difference in my life. 15:56 OK. So all the things that I did prior to getting to where I was 16:01 I started giving up. You know: drinking, 16:04 smoking cigarettes. All those things. 16:07 Now was it easy to give those things up? 16:09 Was it kind of like immediately? I know for myself 16:12 when I began to change my life it was to get off the cocaine, 16:16 the ecstasy, the marijuana, the alcohol, 16:18 prescription pills... the many different drugs that I was on. 16:21 I hear stories of people that say: "Immediately I was able 16:24 to give it up. " For me it took a good 2 or 3 months or so. 16:27 But as I was coming to the cross, as I was coming to Jesus, 16:30 I noticed that this had to stop, this had to stop, 16:33 this had to stop as I was coming to Jesus. 16:35 And He was changing me; I wasn't trying to change myself. 16:38 That's right. How was it for you? Was it easy to give it up? 16:41 Or? Talk about that a little bit. Well, at the time, 16:43 you know, of course I was at the... I was in the correctional 16:48 facility in Memphis - OK - at the Shelby Co. Correctional 16:53 Center. OK. Um, at that time you know we were still getting 16:58 marijuana - yes - gettin' things in jail. OK. 17:02 Of course we would buy cigarettes. 17:05 OK. I had access to these things which at that time I did have. 17:11 But at that same token, God was working on me. 17:15 I was reading my Bible. OK. 17:17 And the Lord was showing me that these changes 17:21 that I was going to have to make to become that new creature - 17:25 OK - I was... Now, did you have that feeling 17:27 of "I need to get myself together first before I come 17:31 to the Lord? Or... you were still doing things 17:34 but you were reading and studying the Word of God 17:36 and noticing that God was changing you? 17:39 Well, in reality yes. At that time God was changing me. 17:43 OK. I mean, I was giving those things up - 17:46 OK - at that time - OK. 17:48 I'm not going to say that they all just fell off all at once. 17:51 No... I'd be telling a lie. 17:53 OK. Cigarettes... it took me a little while. 17:56 You know what's interesting about cigarettes? 17:58 For me that was the hardest thing to get off. 18:01 You know, the heroin, the cocaine, 18:03 the alcohol, and even statistics show that nicotine by far 18:07 is the hardest thing to get off. 18:09 And what's interesting is... it's legal! 18:11 It's the hardest thing to get off but it's legal. 18:14 Just like alcohol they are hard to get off. 18:16 They cause so much damage: 18:17 lung cancer, so many accidents, things like that. 18:20 But it's legal. Right. You know, it's strange. 18:23 So it was a battle for you getting off of these. Correct. 18:26 OK. I uh... After getting the victory over cigarettes 18:30 which means that I stopped smoking after one night. 18:33 God blessed me where I laid on my bunk one night 18:36 after I made my mind up I wasn't going to smoke any more. 18:39 OK. And, you know, after dinner... normally that's when 18:44 you crave the cigarettes the most. Yeah, oh yeah. 18:45 And when I came back to my dormitory 18:48 I laid there and I prayed. I said: "Lord, if You could just 18:52 help me conquer these cigarettes... " OK. 18:55 And believe it or not I dozed off and went to sleep. 18:57 Uh-huh. And I thought about it after I woke up about 19:00 12 or 1 o'clock the next day. I said: 'I didn't smoke! " 19:04 Amen. And so with that one victory over that one night 19:08 that's what gave me the victory and from that point on 19:11 I have never smoked another cigarette. 19:13 So you started to challenge yourself basically? 19:15 Oh, most definitely. OK. You know, I remember for myself 19:18 even so where I said to myself... 19:21 I said: "You know what, I'm going to try going one day 19:22 without a cigarette. Let me try one day. " 19:24 I've been smoking for 10 years now. Let me see if I can go 19:26 one day without a cigarette. " I began to challenge myself. 19:28 And I said: "OK, I made one day. " You know... 19:30 let me try two days. " 19:31 You know, the thing about it is even for a mountain climber 19:34 like if they want to climb Mt. Everest. 19:36 You don't climb a mountain in a day. Right. 19:37 It's a process... it's... steps to it. 19:39 So I took steps. And I said: "Well you know what? 19:41 One day; two days. " Next thing you know it 19:43 turned into a week. I said: "OK, a week, I had no nicotine. " 19:46 Then two weeks, three weeks. Then I noticed 19:49 months and months went past. Now it's been over 3 years. 19:51 You know, the goodness of God; the goodness of God. 19:53 So you were searching for Jesus while you were incarcerated. 19:57 You were searching for Jesus. Definitely. 19:59 As you were searching for Him fasting and praying, 20:01 trying to learn about this Jesus, 20:04 this good God that we serve, 20:05 unbeknownst to you there was actually a prison ministry team 20:08 coming into your prison, kind of like the prison ministry team 20:11 that Pastor Owens has at his church. 20:13 Was coming into... Talk about that process how you got 20:16 involved with that. Well actually it's some of the 20:19 members that were at Longview - 20:21 OK - that were coming in. 20:23 Amen, Amen. Ron Taylor and Glen Parham. 20:28 OK. These were the men that were coming out on weekdays. 20:33 OK. That came in and did Bible studies. 20:36 All right. Of course, we had Granny and Jerry Wilson. 20:42 And Granny which is Huley... Sr. Huley. 20:45 OK. She's the mother - Amen, Amen - the mother 20:48 of the church. I mean... Amen to that. 20:51 She's the one that... She's the mother. 20:55 OK. She's the one that was always there. 20:58 You know, if I needed any questions, you know, she just 21:01 encouraged me to keep going you know. 21:03 Amen. But Ron Taylor and Glen Parham 21:08 were the two that - OK - really 21:11 kind of set the ground for me because the lesson studies... 21:15 I went to all denominational churches, you know, doing the 21:19 studies while I was locked up. And the Lord revealed to me, 21:23 uh-huh, after about a week and a half of fasting and praying 21:28 I was searching for... "Lord, where should I go? " 21:31 Amen. And the Lord revealed to me through Ron coming out, 21:36 you know, studying with me that the answer was 21:39 through what they were teaching. OK. 21:41 OK, OK. And so I gave... that's where I gave my heart 21:46 to - AMEN - where the Lord had led me to. Amen. 21:49 And I knew then that this was the truth. Amen. 21:52 Uh, I was confronted by various churches. 21:57 A lot of people wanted me to join. 22:00 But I made a choice that I was going to do God's will... 22:05 which was the right thing. Yes. I wasn't going to join people's 22:08 churches just to be a front. 22:10 Yes. 'Cause people wanted me to come to be a pastor 22:13 to their churches - OK - and it wasn't about that. 22:16 It was about being sincere and honest. 22:18 And the truth of the matter was that I told the Lord 22:21 when I got saved that I want to make it to heaven. 22:25 OK, OK... you want to make it to heaven. I want to be... 22:26 I want to be serious about this. OK. 22:29 This is not about, you know, money or about fame 22:33 or anything of that nature. OK. 22:36 OK. It's about, you know, getting all the way through. 22:38 Not part of the way but all the way. All the way through. 22:42 You know, Pastor Owens, let me talk to you one thing. 22:44 You know, it must be exciting to work with individuals 22:48 to see testimonies like Bro. Alvin... 22:51 to be involved in this work and hear stories like that. 22:54 It must be very exciting. Yeah, you can't argue with... 22:56 you can't argue with the proof, the fact. You can't argue with 22:58 that. Amen. It brings a smile to your face to know... 23:02 and this is proof that prison ministry can work. Yeah. 23:05 It may not work for everybody. 23:07 Some folk who get out may go back in. Yeah. 23:10 That's true. But some will get out and will become productive. 23:14 Yeah. According to how much, you know, they're worked with 23:16 and so forth. A whole lot of factors to consider 23:19 which you will probably talk about later. 23:20 But this man right here is proof 23:24 that prison ministry does work. Amen. 23:27 And the fact that Jesus mentioned it - yeah - 23:29 means that He was letting us know right there 23:32 2,000 years ago that prison ministry is going to be 23:36 a great thing. Amen. And that some folk will 23:39 go to jail, either because they purposely made a mistake 23:43 or because of a situation where they were framed 23:47 or something. Yeah. Yeah sure. But we all will get close. 23:49 I've never been in jail but I came pretty close. 23:52 I understand you. It was not a good feeling. 23:53 I remember I was visiting somebody in jail that 23:56 was accused of something that he did not do. 23:59 OK. I was visiting and they gave me problems 24:01 just for visiting. Yeah. One time, man, 24:03 nine security guards jumped me. Jumped you? 24:07 Right there... surrounded me. 24:09 And I said: "Man, I don't know what it's like to go to jail 24:12 but I felt so scared at the time. " 24:15 That was while I was in the ministry, just beginning. 24:17 Wow! One almost called for backup. Can you imagine? 24:22 But sometimes folk fall into situations like that. 24:25 Yeah, yeah. Thank God He delivered me from that. 24:27 But some folk don't get delivered. 24:29 They have to be like a Joseph. Yeah. 24:31 But if folk who are in prison right now that are listening 24:35 to this, if they just hold on like Joseph and just keep 24:38 praying and believing, God can set them free. 24:41 Those who purposely made a mistake 24:43 they can't continue to just live in that - 24:46 yeah - because God says: "That's the past. 24:48 I want to build you up here on out. " 24:50 And so don't feel guilty about it. 24:52 If you've actually given this the Lord washed away your sins 24:54 and it's the past as far as He's concerned - Amen - 24:58 then we ought to forget it and go forward. 25:00 I mean, before... while we were getting ready for this 25:02 yesterday we went out to dinner. And we bumped into a lady 25:05 that said she was in jail for ten years. 25:08 Wow! And she said: "I made a mistake. " 25:11 She said: "I'm not ashamed of. I made a mistake. " 25:13 But she has the determination where do I go from here? 25:17 Yeah. It was good to see that she was productive 25:19 and going on from here. OK, OK. 25:21 I don't want to talk it all... Amen; Amen. 25:23 Bro. Alvin: I want to come back to you. 25:26 You know in the book Ministry of Healing there's a chapter 25:28 entitled "Saved to Serve. " 25:31 "Saved to Serve. " God often saves us 25:33 and then turns around and puts us into service. OK. 25:36 Now you're involved in prison ministries. 25:38 You learned the truth while you were in prison. 25:40 Um-hmm. You were baptized while you were in prison. 25:42 Now you're involved in prison ministries. 25:45 Talk about your experience of going back into the prisons now. 25:47 Well, the Lord has impressed on my heart 25:50 to go back and give to the men - OK - what He has given to me. 25:54 Amen. He has blessed me in my profession. OK. 26:01 Over the years I have learned to do home remodeling. 26:04 OK. And it has taken time to get to this point, 26:07 but God has blessed me to be a provider for my family. 26:11 Amen to that. I've been married now 26 years. 26:13 Amen. My... I have four kids. 26:18 Of course I have three boys and one girl. 26:20 My youngest baby is 16. 26:23 OK. I have one that just came out of high school. 26:26 One is in the Navy; and then I've got one 26:29 going to the Marines. OK. I'm proud of my kids. 26:33 I thank God that He blessed me to get to this point 26:39 so that I can continue to do what He's called me to do. 26:42 OK. I've been working in the prison. 26:45 I think when I go in and most of all when I 26:50 testify to my own - OK - personal experience 26:55 the guys, you know, they kind of get kind of excited because they 27:00 see there's somebody that's been where they are now. 27:02 Somebody can identify. 27:04 That's true. And I tell them all the time that, you know, 27:09 being a Christian is not just... it's not a bed of roses. 27:13 Yeah. That is true; that's very true. 27:15 It's a challenge. Yeah. You have your good days; 27:18 you have your bad days. It's like that in the 27:20 Christian walk. You're going to have to... 27:22 you're going to have to be first honest with yourself. 27:25 OK. And... You know what? You know what I want you to do 27:28 right now, Bro. Alvin? 27:29 You're saying some real good things. 27:31 You seem sincere about the work. 27:32 I want you to take some time and look into the camera 27:35 to the viewer. To the mother, the father, 27:37 the individual that is incarcerated. 27:39 I want you to talk to them. 27:41 Give them some words of encouragement, 27:43 some words of hope. Speak into the camera and let them know. 27:46 John 16:33. 27:48 Jesus said: "In me you should have peace 27:51 but in the world there shall be tribulation. 27:53 So be of good cheer for I have overcome the world. " 27:57 Amen. Amen. Amen. 27:59 Viewers: you've heard these words of encouragement. 28:02 You've heard the stories of the baptisms. 28:04 You yourself may not have been baptized before. 28:06 You may not have even chosen Jesus. 28:08 I encourage you to choose Jesus Christ. 28:11 You will not go wrong. You may have bad days 28:14 but Jesus is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life. " 28:17 You've been watching The New Journey. 28:19 Join us next time. God bless. |
Revised 2014-12-17