Participants: Jason Bradley (Host), Richard Bland
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000242A
00:01 Stay tuned to meet a man who loves to go to prison
00:03 but he's never incarcerated. 00:05 My name is Jason Bradley 00:07 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:30 Hello, and welcome to Urban Report. 00:32 Today my guest is Brother Richard A. Bland. 00:34 And he is the founder of 00:36 the United Prison Ministries International. 00:38 Welcome to Urban Report, Brother Richard. 00:40 It's happy to be here with you, Jason. 00:42 Pleasure. Pleasure to have you. 00:44 So tell us about United Prison Ministries International. 00:47 How did it get started and what's its function? 00:51 Well, it got started in 1980. 00:53 My wife and I, we came from California. 00:56 And we really came to California to get involved 00:58 in opening a chain of health restaurants 01:01 but the Lord changed the story there 01:04 and we were invited to a prison. 01:06 And from that, I took with me about 01:08 200 Spirit of Prophecy Books that I've read so far. 01:11 And the next day, the Chaplain asked me 01:13 for a 1000 of them. 01:15 So I took them that and that's when it started. 01:17 So since that time, we've been going out, 01:19 I've been in to 71 countries of the world. 01:21 So my wife and I, like I said, we started out, 01:24 and now we've given away over 71 million books of Bible 01:27 and Bible lesson to men and women in prison, 01:30 not just in the United States, all over Russia, 01:32 all over Romania. 01:33 I've been to India six times, 01:35 China about five times, we just came back from Indonesia, 01:41 Philippines, you know. 01:42 Wow. Africa. 01:44 You are traveling the globe and spreading the gospel. 01:48 Now you've recently came out with a new Bible Study 01:53 or Bible Study guide. 01:56 Tell us about that and what's unique about it. 01:59 Well, what's unique about this, 02:01 after doing over 25 million Bible lessons 02:03 that we've graded in our office over the time, 02:07 I asked the Lord, I said, "Lord, 02:08 give us a set of Bible lessons 02:11 where all the answers are out of your Bible only." 02:14 So what we did, we took 25 of the most asked question 02:17 in the world that people want to know 02:19 and we put it together, 02:21 and the Lord gave us the Bible text to go with it. 02:24 And what's so unique about it, Jason, is that 02:26 anybody's got a Bible. 02:28 Don't care what church they go to, 02:30 they can get the answers out of their Bible. 02:33 Yes. Yes. 02:34 So they know when they're doing their research, 02:36 and they go to the scripture, 02:38 and they read it for themselves. 02:40 Because, you know, what happens a lot of times 02:42 is it's a generational thing 02:44 so people are whatever denomination they are 02:48 because their grandparents were that denomination 02:52 and they haven't done the research for themselves 02:55 to see what, which way to go? 02:58 But when they open the Word of God 02:59 and they study and they write down the answers 03:02 and learn for themselves, 03:04 then they can make an informed decision. 03:06 We've always, we started out, always now, 03:09 all of our Bible lessons is what the Bible says. 03:11 We always believe in going by the Book. 03:14 But we never design our own Bible lessons 03:17 until just recently. 03:18 And after about a year and a half 03:20 of prayer and fasting, we came up with this here, 03:23 that you see right here. 03:25 And on top of... 03:26 Let's turn to the subject. 03:27 The first one's stress, 03:29 Bible answers from their Bible, 03:31 "Don't stress, defeat loneliness, 03:33 healing the sorrow, living with hope, 03:36 health and nutrition, survival, addiction free." 03:39 All these are answers out of their Bible. 03:41 Or also gentle ways improve your marriage, 03:44 take control to quit smoking... 03:46 The people don't have to go through 03:47 these 773,692 words in the Bible. 03:50 They can go right here and get the answers quickly. 03:53 Wait a minute, how many words? 03:54 773,692 words in the Bible. Oh! you know? 03:58 Everybody know there are 66 books, 04:00 everybody knows there's 1,189 chapters, 04:03 everybody knows there's 31,173 verses. 04:06 But when you look at the 7,73,692 words 04:09 and 5 million letters 04:11 that's a whole lot to find your answer. 04:13 But we put it together so you can go right to it. 04:16 So if you have a money problem, 04:17 we give you nine texts how to solve that problem. 04:20 If you have hope in times of trouble... 04:21 It's designed for everybody 04:23 and I don't care what religion you belong to 04:25 if you own a Bible, you must get 04:28 what the Bible says. 04:30 Now what are some of the other topics 04:31 that are covered in there because as you flip 04:34 past page 2 and 3, 04:36 you get into like a question and answer type of format? 04:40 Yes, what we did here... 04:42 The first 15 subjects 04:44 are just the Bible text of how to find... 04:48 Like I said, to take control to smoke, 04:50 I want to quit smoking. 04:51 Well, we've just come up with nine Bible texts 04:53 that you can go to. 04:54 So you can look at it real quickly. 04:56 Then the next 10, you write out the answer, 04:58 for an example, about where sin came from. 05:02 Most people really miss that first question, 05:05 who committed the first sin. 05:07 Ninety nine percent of the people will say 05:10 alimony but the Bible says something else. 05:13 And we didn't let them know that 05:15 what they think they heard in Sunday School 05:18 or wherever Sabbath School, it's not true. 05:20 The devil committed the first sin, 05:22 'cause they go to the Bible for their answer. 05:24 Then the very next one happened, when people said, 05:26 what happens when a person dies? 05:28 The Bible gives them the answer, 05:30 you listen to me. 05:31 Then the next one, they got to write out the answer, 05:33 who wrote the Ten Commandments. 05:35 Most people think that somebody else wrote it, 05:37 but when they read, they're going to find out 05:38 in their Bible who wrote it. 05:40 Then they're going to find out in their Bible 05:42 what day is the Lord's Day out of their Bible. 05:45 And what day is the Lord's Day? 05:46 Well, the Bible will tell you. I don't give any secrets out. 05:49 That's why they need to get these lessons 05:51 so they can get the answer for themselves. 05:52 They need... Yes. 05:54 But according to the Bible the Lord's Day 05:56 is the Sabbath, right? 05:57 The Seventh Day Sabbath. 05:59 So now the fourth Commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day, 06:01 keep it holy," six days. 06:02 That's exactly right. 06:04 "You can do all the labor you want, but the Seventh day 06:05 is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." 06:07 Yes. You got it correctly. 06:09 And the reason, but see at the very top is, 06:11 everyone knows is, always pray and ask for guidance 06:15 when you do these lessons. 06:16 So it's the Holy Spirit that leads them. 06:18 Like I said, 06:19 there's no other comments in here at all. 06:21 It's all strictly out of their Bible. 06:23 I don't care what kind of Bible that they have, 06:25 whether it's a Muslim Bible, a Catholic Bible, 06:27 or a Jehovah's Witness Bible, 06:29 I don't care what kind of Bible it is. 06:30 It's going to give them the answer out 06:32 because we did research on this to make sure that 06:35 we got to 25 most asked questions 06:38 that people will know all over the world, 06:41 and now we got to get this translated now 06:44 into other countries. 06:45 So are these going into the prisons? 06:47 Are these studies making it into the prisons 06:50 and if so, how is it impacting the inmates and the officers? 06:54 Okay, you asked a good question here on that. 06:57 Just recently, as you know a particular prison 07:02 with the latest prison, she told me, she said, 07:07 "You know, my son said..." 07:08 And she's a minister by the way. 07:10 She said, "My son came to me and says, 'You know, Mom, 07:16 Sunday is the Sabbath.'" 07:17 She says, "Son, 07:19 you have to go back and look, it's wrong." 07:20 She said, "Because the Bible gives the right day 07:23 in the book there." 07:24 And so he says, "Well, that's not what I was taught." 07:27 She said, "But the Bible is correct. 07:29 Go by what the Bible says." 07:31 And one prison just recently 07:33 until we changed to this style of Bible Lesson, 07:35 400 guys have graduated in the last two months 07:39 and this Bible Court because they're now going 07:41 by what the Bible says. 07:42 Well, most people don't realize people in prison 07:45 don't take people's word anymore. 07:46 They don't care none about your church, 07:48 they didn't trick so law so they say, 07:51 I want to know the truth. 07:52 And the Bible is the only one that would give you the truth. 07:55 And that's the reason why we went to the Bible 07:57 to get the Bible to answer on every question. 08:00 And these are the 25 top questions 08:02 that you want to know. 08:04 Such as about your health. What should I eat? 08:07 The Bible tells you that. 08:08 Who should I marry? The Bible tells you that. 08:10 When should I worship? 08:11 The Bible tells you that. 08:13 Do you listen to me? All in the Bible. 08:14 And so this is why it's designed for that. 08:16 And we made in such a way that instead of it costing 08:20 what most people think, this 25 Bible Study, 08:23 most people say, "Well, 25 Bible study, 08:25 should at least cost four or five dollars." 08:26 No, we made it available. 08:28 And they get a box of a 100, a dollar a piece. 08:31 That's four cents a Bible Study, 08:33 they're getting their answers. 08:35 So that's why everybody needs to call this number. 08:39 And what number is that? 08:41 Area code 205-755-4744. 08:46 That's 205-755-4744. 08:50 Or they can go to the website upmi.org. 08:54 You know? Upmi.org. 08:57 That's United Prison Ministries International. 08:59 And if you know anybody in the prison 09:01 anywhere that's in prison, let them contact us. 09:05 Now we send the materials to the prisons free. 09:07 This is why we have people like yourself that, 09:09 then people that's going to hear, 09:11 this to donate to the ministry 09:12 because that's all what we do. 09:14 We give free material. 09:15 Every dime you send us is tax deductible. 09:17 Even if you get a box for yourself is tax deductible. 09:21 'cause we don't sell anything, you see? 09:23 So you're getting a tax deductible 09:24 to give to your neighbor, to your friend. 09:26 And we admonish whoever you are, get it 09:29 and give it to your pastors. 09:31 We admonish that to give it to all the pastors 09:34 because they need to know exactly 09:36 what the Bible is saying. 09:37 Now you talked to me earlier before we came on the program 09:44 and you were discussing like 09:45 how you can give it to your doctor, 09:47 you can give it to your dentist, 09:49 you can try and put it in different offices 09:53 so that people can study the Word for themselves 09:55 you might reach other people as a form of ministry. 09:58 Yeah, the reason why we did that because 10:00 see, every Christian has a responsibility. 10:04 If they would read this Ezekiel 3:17, 18, and 19, 10:10 where God, commands every Christian 10:13 that they are there 10:16 because He's put them there to work for Christ. 10:19 And it also says that we are watchmen. 10:21 And it says in the 18 verse, 10:24 if I don't share the Word of God with you 10:27 and you yourself are lost, I'm going to be lost too. 10:32 You know what I say? 10:34 So I am as every person that is here in this program, 10:36 be sure to read Ezekiel 3:17, 18, and 19 10:43 because that's what turned my life around. 10:44 That's why I don't pass up anybody anymore. 10:46 I used to pass up some people. 10:48 Some people I give the gospel to, some I didn't, 10:50 until I read that text because it said 10:52 if a person is... 10:54 Do not hear the Word of God because I didn't tell them 10:57 and they are going to hell, I will go too. 10:59 That is simply what it says. 11:01 Now what about... 11:04 You were talking about 11:05 how it impacts the inmates, right? 11:07 How does it impact the officers? 11:10 Oh, my! 11:11 Well, number one, once it impacts the inmates, 11:14 then the officers are impacted. 11:15 How? 11:17 Because the inmates are acting different, 11:18 the officers are seeing their lives change, 11:20 and then the officers' lives being changed too 11:22 because the Word in the prison now, 11:24 if you want the blessing, pass out 11:25 what the Bible Studies Lesson. 11:27 That's going to the whole prison system 11:29 in America now. 11:30 If you want the blessing, pass out 11:31 what the Bible Studies Lessons, you see what I mean? 11:34 And if you care, you will share. 11:36 And that's goes to everybody. 11:37 If you care about your neighbor, 11:39 if you care about the people in your community, 11:41 you will share the Word of God. 11:43 And it's simple, you don't have to sit down now 11:45 anymore with a Bible study. 11:47 In fact, we admonish you, 11:49 once your pass is out, keep your mouth shut, 11:51 and let the Word of God do the talking. 11:54 And the reason for that, Jason, you'd look at your thumb. 11:57 There are over seven billion people in the world 12:00 with a different thumbprint as yours on that small space. 12:04 Can you imagine how different, how special we are, 12:07 just that small space? 12:08 So therefore, since like we are different 12:11 in the way we are, 12:12 then we have to go to God for ourselves 12:14 and that's what this Bible Lesson does. 12:16 It'll send you to the Word of God yourself. 12:19 And Bible says, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good." 12:22 But I can't find out 12:23 through your relationship with Christ 12:25 that I have my own 12:26 personal relationship with Christ... 12:28 Exactly, you've got it. In order to find out. 12:30 Well, that's amazing. 12:32 So what differentiates your Bible Study 12:37 from some of the other ones that are circulating? 12:39 Well, like I said, this is the only one 12:41 we ever heard of in the world where all the scriptures 12:45 or when all the answers are from the Bible. 12:48 We don't give any comment in this at all. 12:51 In fact, at the end of the book, 12:53 the Bible Lesson here, 12:55 we even have all the well-known stories 12:57 of the Bible that you can find. 12:59 But, you know, we're not knocking any others. 13:03 But I'm just telling you if you want results 13:05 because I myself, I used to get Bible Study. 13:07 And I said, "Well, that's that person's opinion." 13:09 Because they have a little footnote. 13:11 This here has no footnotes, it's only God notes. 13:14 And the lives have been changed 13:16 because I didn't know that. 13:18 I didn't know that. 13:20 They call me and say, "I didn't know." 13:21 I said, "What did you didn't know?" 13:23 "I didn't know that I was born in sin and shaped... 13:26 I didn't know that I could not quit smoking." 13:28 I said, "No, you can't quit." 13:30 "This is what I thought I'd quit." 13:31 I said, "No, you can quit." 13:33 I said, "Just like no more that I can go 13:35 35,000 feet in the air. 13:37 Can I jump 35... They said "No." 13:39 But I can go 35,000 feet high. They said, "How?" 13:41 I said, "By getting into an airplane." 13:43 With Christ get in your life, you can do it. 13:45 Christ have to do, you can't do it. 13:47 You listening to me? So it's impossible. 13:49 That's why Christ does not fix up sinners, 13:52 He replaces sinners. You're listening to me. 13:55 See I used to think that I could do better. 13:57 I had a temper, I could do better. 13:58 I can't do better. God has to come in my life. 14:02 And that's what He told Nicodemus in the Bible. 14:04 Nicodemus was a great theologian, 14:07 you see what I mean? 14:08 He knew everything but he went to Christ. 14:11 And Jesus said, "You know what your problem is, 14:12 you must be born again." 14:14 He said, "How can I be born again." 14:15 And He says, this is what happens. 14:17 So if you look in the Bible, 14:19 about four Bible texts will help you. 14:22 I mean Psalm 51:5 will say, "You were born in sin." 14:25 Psalm 58:3 says, "From your birth, 14:28 you came out lying in your mother's womb." 14:30 And then you look at Galatians 5:17, 18, 19, 14:33 it tells you all those sinful attributes 14:35 that you were born with. 14:37 Then you look at the Galatians 5:22, 23, 14:40 it says that once you're born again 14:42 you'll have love, joy, peace, long suffering. 14:45 It's just lets you know the difference. 14:47 So you know who you are by your action. 14:49 Fruit of the Spirit. Fruit of the Spirit. 14:51 Exactly right. 14:53 I've known you for a couple of years now. 14:55 Yeah. 14:57 And I've seen how passionate you are 15:00 about spreading the gospel and about prison ministry. 15:04 Where does that come from? 15:07 And where does your passion for prison ministry come from? 15:12 And how long have you had that burning desire? 15:15 Well, if you've seen the lives changed 15:19 that we've seen changed, my wife and I, 15:21 you will be passionate about it too. 15:23 It's been amazing. It's amazing. 15:26 We didn't plan to do this. We had no dreams of doing this. 15:30 But let me tell you what happened. 15:31 We started out with about 200 prisoners 15:35 at the first meeting that we were invited to, Long story. 15:38 And then I told the chaplain 15:39 I want to talk to about 10 at first 15:42 because I want to study with them 15:44 and give them what we knew. 15:46 From those, we started out with 15 Bible students 15:49 and we gave them the Word of God. 15:51 And we said, "Now what could that mean? 15:53 Would you think that every prisoner's brave." 15:55 And so they said, "Well, steal it." 15:57 All of us steal. I said, "Okay." 15:59 I said, "Now, let me show you how you steal now. 16:02 If I should give you a dollar to give everybody in the studio 16:05 and you don't give that man over there 16:06 his dollar, you've stolen." 16:07 They said, "That's right." 16:09 I said, "Now if I gave you the Word of God, 16:10 everybody you come in contact with, 16:12 if you don't give it to them, you're stealing from them." 16:14 They said, "Yes." 16:16 So from those 15, in six months time, 16:18 we were grading 18,000 Bible Studies. 16:21 That's what made it explode. 16:23 Did you hear what I just said? Wow! 16:24 From those 15, 16:27 they told the guards, they told their family members, 16:29 they told other prisoners and it spread in 27 states 16:32 within six months time. 16:33 And that's what hooked us. Wow! 16:35 And I said, "Lord if this is what you want us to do, 16:37 this is what we'll be willing to do it." 16:38 Wow! 16:40 So have you ever been incarcerated yourself? 16:45 No. 16:46 But although I've been in many prisons, 16:48 I've been in Russian prison, I've been in Romanian prison, 16:51 Indian prison, African prison. 16:54 In fact, one year, that's why my wife told me 16:57 that I should slow down. 16:58 In 2012, I went to Africa nine times in one year, 17:04 flying back and forth. 17:05 And it's about wore me out. See? 17:07 Now how long was that flight? 17:09 Well, it's about a 12-hour flight. 17:11 You know, going there and doing it twice. 17:13 And now every month of the year I was back and forth. 17:15 That was 18 times, you know going around and forth. 17:17 And it's just too much. 17:19 And one time I should've slow down 17:20 but it was, the needs, it's so great. 17:22 Yes. 17:23 Because see I have gone on... 17:25 we service every prison in Russia. 17:26 We are the first people that ever put Bible Lesson 17:29 and a Bible in Russian prison in 1991, 17:33 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995. 17:36 We went over there, and Romania, 17:38 all over the country. 17:40 And we were invited by the leaders 17:41 of those countries too, by the way. 17:43 Wow! Which is unheard of. 17:45 Of which was unheard. Yes. 17:47 And in our Bible Lessons were printed 17:49 on the communist press too. 17:51 Oh, yeah. Wait a minute. Oh, yes. 17:53 Your Bible lessons were printed on the communist press. 17:56 That's right. 17:57 We got a film to show that, Persia and Romania is there. 18:00 I said, "Look we don't have our..." 18:02 He said, "Look, you provide the, 18:06 what it takes, you know, and we'll print them." 18:08 And they printed. All we did was provide the money. 18:10 Wow! So the Lord... 18:12 And see that goes to that, you know, 18:14 God can open doors that no man can shut, 18:16 and He can shut doors that no man can open. 18:19 Well, we got to remember this, Jason, 18:21 God is the one that said 18:22 the gospel has to go to the whole world. 18:23 And it's going to go. 18:25 See because He said so. 18:27 So the point is 18:29 do I want to go along or with Him. 18:30 Do I want to have the joy ride with Him 18:32 'cause He's going to go, see? 18:34 And that's why amongst the people that's listening, 18:37 be sure to read Ezekiel 3:17, 18, and 19. 18:42 And put your name there 'cause God is talking to you. 18:44 And that you won't pass up anybody, on the way here, 18:48 on the way if you've stopped at a rest stop. 18:51 A bus load of people who are singers 18:55 of a different nationality, they passed by, 18:57 and I gave them one of these. 18:58 Do you know, the young man about 19, 20 years old, 19:02 I gave him a box of a 100 19:04 because I was so impressed by their people. 19:06 He turned around to give me enough money 19:08 to buy 400 of them back, cash money. 19:11 Just kids, he is not more... 19:13 well, he was about 20 or 21 years old. 19:16 See because they had a family group 19:17 I think 11 of them, 19:19 and I got the tape they gave me. 19:20 And I said, "I was just impressed to get my book." 19:22 And he came back and gave me a roll of money. 19:24 Wow! So it's the lowest program. 19:27 And if you want some blessing, pass out these lessons. 19:31 You're listening to me? 19:32 Just remember that I was there. 19:33 And I would suggest this. 19:35 I tried it with my Dentist 19:37 who I didn't think was a Christian. 19:40 No, he never talked religion to me, 19:41 anything of this nature. 19:43 So one day I asked, well as soon as I go there, I said, 19:45 "Doc, what do you think of this?" 19:46 He said, "Let me look at it." 19:48 I said, "I like to put in your office. 19:50 So let me look at it." 19:51 Then he came back, he said, "You know, you can." 19:53 He said because it's not about a church, 19:56 it's about what the Word of God is. 19:58 So I put a rack in his office at my expense, 20:01 just a $100 worth. 20:03 And do you know just a week ago, 20:05 Thursday he gave me $1,250 20:09 because I got a letter, it's in your bag right now, 20:12 I'll show you at the end of the show where he said, 20:14 "It was such a blessing to his patients 20:17 that come in there." 20:19 And he loved the way that it was done. 20:21 Exactly right. 20:23 I have another dentist, that is not even my dentist, 20:27 who saw this, he was so impressed 20:28 he got $10, 000 worth of the stuff. 20:32 So I will suggest if you know any doctor's office, 20:36 make it your personal gift for the Lord, 20:40 to get a rack of this, and just put it in there, 20:43 and you'll see how they'll be blessed. 20:45 And what are some other ways that people can get involved 20:48 with UPMI ministries? 20:51 Well, it's according to what they want to do. 20:53 You know, number one, we want to put this 20:56 in two and a half million prisons 20:58 in the United States in the next few months now. 21:00 So therefore, we need two and a half million dollars 21:02 worth just to do that. 21:04 So there are three ways you can help prison ministry. 21:07 You can pray. 21:09 You can pay. 21:11 And you can go. 21:12 You're listening to me? Pray, pay, and go. 21:14 Pray, pay, and go. 21:15 Now very few people are really qualified 21:17 to go into prison ministry because prisoners have 21:20 the sharpest mind you have. 21:21 So we admonish you to go through certain training 21:25 to do that, you see what I mean? 21:27 But we need all the prayers we can get 21:29 and we need all the fun that you want to send 21:32 that you can be a blessing. 21:33 Remember the blessings come by giving not by receiving. 21:38 So if you want more money, give more. 21:41 You're listening to me? The more you give... 21:43 And we found out most of our donors over the years 21:45 have said the reason why we give to prison ministry 21:47 because we are giving to people 21:50 who God has send must get the gospel, 21:54 and we're not getting the personal benefit back, 21:56 you see, for it because 21:58 and other people got to realize this. 21:59 And as I think I've said this before on this show, 22:02 you got to remember out there, audience, 22:04 when a person get out of prison, 22:06 they do one of two things, 22:07 they either gonna look you up or stick you up. 22:09 And if they don't have the Word of God 22:11 they have no choice but to stick you up. 22:13 And I would suggest for your own benefit, 22:16 let's give them the Word of God, 22:18 so they can look you up instead of sticking you up. 22:20 Make sense? Yeah. 22:21 When they get out there, either they're going to have 22:22 crime or Christ. 22:24 It's got to be one of them. 22:25 And in prison they study crime or Christ. 22:27 See. 22:29 It is not three categories in prison. 22:31 Either you're talking with your buddy about more crime 22:33 or you're instead talking to him about Christ. 22:35 And that's why we provide them with spiritual material 22:37 so they can lead them to Christ. 22:39 Now we have a secret that the devil can't give them. 22:43 You know what it is? 22:44 Only the Word of God can give you peace. 22:46 That's what we get them. 22:48 So when they're frustrated, I go and say, 22:49 "Let me tell you something. If all the money you got, 22:51 all the drugs you've been selling, 22:52 and all the robberies have been stealing, 22:54 how you feeling?" 22:55 "Terrible." 22:56 I said, "You want peace of mind?" 22:58 I said, "Come and see my God 22:59 because only God can give you peace." 23:01 Devil can give you everything else 23:02 this world has got, but that, you know they don't. 23:04 Everything else. 23:06 Everything that he gives is a false. 23:08 That's right. It's a counterfeit. 23:09 But he can't give you peace. 23:11 It won't be true peace. 23:13 No he can't give you peace. 23:14 He'll give you a happy hour but not peace. 23:17 See peace is when you got to love, joy, peace, 23:21 long sufferings, the fruit of Spirit. 23:22 That's the only time you have peace. 23:24 And that's what's makes us so excited. 23:27 So what are some specific needs that you have as a ministry? 23:34 Well, specific needs now, it would help us 23:38 if everyone started passing out the lessons 23:41 so they won't be coming to prison. 23:43 See, and remember, this does not only changes 23:45 people life in prison, 23:47 it keeps those from coming from prison. 23:49 All the crime, all the things that's happened, 23:51 you can't do that when you've got 23:52 the love of God in your heart because you can't do that. 23:55 This shows you how that you can be an aid to society, 24:01 a blessing to society. 24:03 See all the crime that's going on 24:05 and all the things that's going on, 24:07 it's because people don't have Christ in their life. 24:10 And out of their Bible, 24:12 they can find how to stop crime. 24:15 And we want to stop it. 24:17 And so that's why we turn the prisoner now, 24:19 send this lesson back home. 24:20 That's why it is so economical, by the way, 24:22 because we have someone to give us 80 percent subsidy. 24:26 Otherwise we couldn't do this, 24:28 there's no way in the world it could be done. 24:29 But we had, people said, 24:31 "Look I want to put my money where my mouth fits. 24:33 I want to stop crime." 24:35 I said, "Well, listen, well, we have people have to have 24:37 a source very economical. 24:39 Otherwise we couldn't give it away." 24:41 And so that's why we need all the blessing 24:44 that they want to give to the ministry. 24:47 And that's why I would suggest that... 24:49 but first everyone is saying this. 24:51 I would suggest that first get a copy yourself, 24:55 get a copy. 24:57 I wouldn't have to say anything else. 24:59 In fact, the smallest amount we are selling down I think 25:02 because the post is so high. 25:04 If they get 20 of them, I think we've now got 25:06 the special of 20 of them for $25 because of the postage. 25:09 But if they get a box of a 100, you know, 25:10 they don't even have to pay the postage now. 25:12 Well, get it yourself, and then, you be the judge. 25:16 And again like one of the things that I like about it 25:20 because that's actually my copy right there. 25:21 Oh, is it? You want it back. 25:24 Do they have a picture they can show it on the screen? 25:27 Yes, in fact, we do have a graphic 25:29 that we can put up on the screen 25:30 of this Bible study here. 25:34 Within this one study alone, there's 25 different lessons 25:38 covering 25 different topics. 25:40 That's correct. 25:41 And the reason why those particular 25 copy... 25:44 I mean subjects is because we did a survey 25:47 of what do people want to know now. 25:50 Now there are many questions but we just took the top 25 25:54 and went to them for the Bible for the answer. 25:56 That's the reason why when we first got this printed, 25:59 the first group of people of a particular church, 26:02 I think it was the Church of Ghana. 26:04 They got these lessons 26:05 because it benefits anybody that has a Bible. 26:08 See that's what they're directed for. 26:10 It's not directed for any other group. 26:12 But if you have a Bible and that's what would changes 26:15 the lives of men is the Word of God. 26:18 And this is all about the Word of God. 26:20 We have over 500 Bible texts that's in that lesson. 26:23 Do you understand what I'm saying? 26:24 Over 500. 26:26 What it does? It points them directly. 26:28 These are about 500, it's not what about they, 26:31 let's not compare them when you look at 26:33 there are 31, 173 Bible texts 26:35 is quickly you're going right to what you want to know. 26:38 And that's what we have there. Yes, and directly to the Word. 26:42 That is not opinion-based, it's factual, 26:44 from the Word of God. 26:46 In fact, there's no comment in it at all. 26:48 The only thing that's not there that's in the Bible 26:50 is our address how to get more. 26:53 That's it. 26:55 Everything else is out of the Bible. 26:58 See UPMI is not in the Bible. 27:01 And the great thing about that is 27:03 because when you're giving a study 27:05 and they're going directly to their Bible, 27:08 they can't argue with their Bible 27:09 with what the Word of God says. 27:11 You know, by you saying that, Jason, 27:13 reminds me of a lady calling me, 27:14 she said, "I'm in tears. 27:17 I was taught this by my Bible is saying this. 27:19 What do I do?" 27:21 I said, "Well, what do you want to do. 27:22 Make a choice. 27:23 Do you want to go by what somebody told you 27:25 or what your Bible says?" 27:27 She said, "I have to go by what my Bible is saying." 27:29 And that's what we want people to do 27:31 because that's what salvation is, 27:33 is what God has said to you, not what He said to me 27:37 because all of us has different gifts 27:39 like all of us have different thumb prints, 27:40 like I mentioned earlier. 27:42 So may God bless you. 27:43 So whatever you can do, let people go by the book. 27:47 If you want blessing, pass out What the Bible Says Lessons. 27:49 Amen. Well, thank you so much for joining us. 27:52 Thank you for your passion and for spreading the gospel 27:55 of Jesus Christ around the world. 27:56 And thank you for joining us. 27:58 Well, we've reached the end of another program. 28:00 Join us next time. 28:02 And remember, it just wouldn't be the same 28:03 without you. |
Revised 2017-12-07