We are racing towards the
global crisis at the close.
00:00:04.43\00:00:09.57
God is going to set
up His kingdom on earth.
00:00:09.60\00:00:13.94
Preparation for the
tribulation and the translation
00:00:13.98\00:00:18.01
is to develop a
character like Jesus Christ
00:00:18.05\00:00:21.12
to reach every hamlet,
every village, every man,
00:00:21.15\00:00:24.75
every child,
every person in India,
00:00:24.79\00:00:27.19
every person in South America
00:00:27.22\00:00:28.72
must hear these
three angles' messages.
00:00:28.76\00:00:34.56
These are
stories that illustrate
00:00:34.60\00:00:36.87
the kind of fabric of
character and perseverance
00:00:36.90\00:00:39.63
that we need to go
through the tribulation
00:00:39.67\00:00:42.34
just as certainly as they did.
00:00:42.37\00:00:44.14
The Bible makes it very clear
00:00:44.17\00:00:45.67
we are living
in an unusual hour.
00:00:45.71\00:00:48.08
The last grains of sand
00:00:48.11\00:00:49.64
are trickling
through the hourglass of time
00:00:49.68\00:00:52.21
and the door probation
is about the swing shut.
00:00:52.25\00:00:55.35
The message this
morning is entitled
00:01:00.39\00:01:02.06
"You Can Have A Comeback."
00:01:02.09\00:01:04.03
You can have a comeback.
00:01:04.06\00:01:06.36
Psalms 102:13 is
our theme scripture.
00:01:06.39\00:01:10.30
"You will arise
and have mercy on Zion.
00:01:10.33\00:01:13.54
For the time to favor her,
yes, the set time, has come."
00:01:13.57\00:01:19.57
"God has a time for
everything" Ecclesiastes 3:1.
00:01:19.61\00:01:26.28
God has a plan for everyone.
00:01:26.31\00:01:29.22
"I know the plans I
have for you" Jeremiah 29:11.
00:01:29.25\00:01:33.46
God has His
time, God has His plan,
00:01:33.49\00:01:36.89
and I believe this is your time.
00:01:36.93\00:01:38.76
And so I believe you
can say categorically,
00:01:38.79\00:01:41.23
unequivocally
without any hesitation,
00:01:41.26\00:01:44.13
tell your
neighbor this is your time.
00:01:44.17\00:01:47.34
"Now it happened
on a certain day,
00:01:47.37\00:01:50.54
as He was teaching,
that there were Pharisees
00:01:50.57\00:01:53.04
and teachers of
the law sitting by,
00:01:53.07\00:01:55.74
who had come out of
every town of Galilee, Judea,
00:01:55.78\00:01:58.71
and Jerusalem."
00:01:58.75\00:02:00.75
And read this part with me.
00:02:00.78\00:02:02.68
"And the power of the
Lord was present to heal."
00:02:02.72\00:02:07.62
The power of the
Lord was present to heal.
00:02:07.66\00:02:11.53
The Pharisees
didn't get the miracles.
00:02:11.56\00:02:15.06
The Pharisees
missed their opportunity
00:02:15.10\00:02:18.23
but there were
some in that house
00:02:18.27\00:02:20.57
that received a breakthrough,
received a comeback.
00:02:20.60\00:02:24.71
How many want to be in
this house with the Lord
00:02:24.74\00:02:27.91
and not miss your miracle?
00:02:27.94\00:02:29.28
Can you say, amen?
00:02:29.31\00:02:30.65
And so there is
healing in this house.
00:02:30.68\00:02:33.78
So let's put the
two points together.
00:02:33.82\00:02:36.08
This is your time and
there is healing in this house.
00:02:36.12\00:02:38.95
Do you believe
it? Do you receive it?
00:02:38.99\00:02:40.96
The Bible makes it very clear
00:02:40.99\00:02:42.32
we receive according to
our faith, Matthew 9:29.
00:02:42.36\00:02:46.49
Jesus made it very clear
00:02:46.53\00:02:48.70
we receive
according to our faith.
00:02:48.73\00:02:52.03
Some of you I believe we
are gonna be filled overflowing
00:02:52.07\00:02:55.80
and you will go
with a well of water
00:02:55.84\00:02:58.01
springing up
onto everlasting life.
00:02:58.04\00:03:00.38
Some I pray will not go
having missed their opportunity.
00:03:00.41\00:03:05.68
And so "Jacob went from running
in exile for over 20 years
00:03:05.71\00:03:12.29
to a miraculous reconciliation
with his brother Esau."
00:03:12.32\00:03:16.99
You can have a comeback.
00:03:17.03\00:03:18.76
"Elijah went from
the cave of despair,
00:03:18.79\00:03:21.53
not wanting to
live to ultimately
00:03:21.56\00:03:23.37
being taken to heaven."
00:03:23.40\00:03:25.53
You can have a comeback.
00:03:25.57\00:03:27.20
"The prodigal son
went from the pig pent
00:03:27.24\00:03:29.40
to a homecoming
celebration with his father."
00:03:29.44\00:03:32.91
You can have a comeback.
00:03:32.94\00:03:34.48
"Two demon possessed men
went from cutting themselves
00:03:34.51\00:03:37.21
and being a terror to everyone
00:03:37.25\00:03:38.58
to being a mighty
witness for Jesus!"
00:03:38.61\00:03:41.35
You can have a comeback.
00:03:41.38\00:03:43.18
The Apostle Paul was a
man of dramatic comebacks!
00:03:43.22\00:03:47.26
Talk about he got
nine lives, is it.
00:03:47.29\00:03:51.26
He was stoned and left for dead.
00:03:51.29\00:03:53.50
He was shipwrecked,
whipped and beaten, imprisoned,
00:03:53.53\00:03:56.70
maligned, ridicule, persecuted
00:03:56.73\00:03:59.27
but the man just
kept on coming back.
00:03:59.30\00:04:02.34
You can have a comeback.
00:04:02.37\00:04:04.47
"Jesus went from
death to being resurrected
00:04:04.51\00:04:07.31
and ascending to the
right hand of the Father!"
00:04:07.34\00:04:09.98
You have Your comeback.
00:04:10.01\00:04:13.05
"The 144,000 go
from the tribulation
00:04:13.08\00:04:16.52
to the throne of God!"
00:04:16.55\00:04:18.19
Are you convinced?
You can have a comeback.
00:04:18.22\00:04:21.09
In Revelation 2:4-5, I
invite you to turn that with me.
00:04:21.12\00:04:25.06
The Book of Revelation,
everybody say Revelation.
00:04:25.09\00:04:27.63
Revelation.
00:04:27.66\00:04:29.00
Revelation we have
been sharpening the focus
00:04:29.03\00:04:32.17
night by night upon
this prophetic symbolic
00:04:32.20\00:04:35.47
colorful book of Revelation
and its twin companion volume
00:04:35.50\00:04:39.57
as it were the prophetic book
of Daniel in the Old Testament.
00:04:39.61\00:04:43.68
These special books
have relevance for us
00:04:43.71\00:04:47.02
living in the edge of eternity.
00:04:47.05\00:04:49.15
And so Revelation Chapter 2,
00:04:49.18\00:04:52.35
Revelation 2:4,
00:04:52.39\00:04:56.32
"Nevertheless I
have this against you,
00:04:56.36\00:04:58.76
that you have left your" what?
00:04:58.79\00:05:00.90
"First love."
00:05:00.93\00:05:02.26
If you have ever loved the
Lord more than you do right now
00:05:02.30\00:05:07.57
you have left your first love.
00:05:07.60\00:05:11.71
What do you do about that?
00:05:11.74\00:05:14.18
"Remember therefore
from where you have fallen,
00:05:14.21\00:05:18.21
repent and do the first works,
00:05:18.25\00:05:20.85
or else I will
come to you quickly
00:05:20.88\00:05:23.59
and remove your
lampstand from its place
00:05:23.62\00:05:25.85
unless you repent."
00:05:25.89\00:05:27.22
Repent of what?
00:05:27.26\00:05:28.59
Repent that you
lost that first glow.
00:05:28.62\00:05:32.49
You lost your
honeymoon with Jesus.
00:05:32.53\00:05:34.66
You lost that
fervency, that vibrancy,
00:05:34.70\00:05:39.07
you lost that radiance,
you lost that joy of the Lord,
00:05:39.10\00:05:42.94
that peace that
passive understanding,
00:05:42.97\00:05:44.87
you lost it.
00:05:44.91\00:05:46.27
But I'm here to tell
you, you can get it back.
00:05:46.31\00:05:48.94
You can have a comeback,
00:05:48.98\00:05:50.31
you can get
your first love back.
00:05:50.35\00:05:52.18
Is that
resounding good news or what?
00:05:52.21\00:05:54.38
And so remember
how do you get it back?
00:05:54.42\00:05:57.69
You got to remember what
the Lord has done for you
00:05:57.72\00:06:01.39
and you got to remember
your experience with Him
00:06:01.42\00:06:04.46
that that first love experience
and as you reflect upon that
00:06:04.49\00:06:08.60
you can get it back through
the help of the Holy Spirit.
00:06:08.63\00:06:11.13
"Remember from
where you have fallen"
00:06:11.17\00:06:12.60
you got to acknowledge.
00:06:12.63\00:06:15.10
Are you lukewarm now
and used to be on fire?
00:06:15.14\00:06:18.24
The Bible says repent, repent.
00:06:18.27\00:06:21.51
You say I had been in the church
00:06:21.54\00:06:23.35
but maybe lost that first love.
00:06:23.38\00:06:25.75
You know, you can
be lost in the church.
00:06:25.78\00:06:28.08
"Remember therefore
from where you have fallen,
00:06:28.12\00:06:30.09
repent and do the first works,
00:06:30.12\00:06:31.95
or else I will
come to you quickly"
00:06:31.99\00:06:33.36
this is judgment.
00:06:33.39\00:06:34.72
How many believe "Judgment
begins at the house of God,"
00:06:34.76\00:06:37.59
1 John or rather 1 Peter
4:17 makes it very clear.
00:06:37.63\00:06:42.20
And so "Or else I
will come to you quickly
00:06:42.23\00:06:44.67
and remove your lampstand
from its place unless you"
00:06:44.70\00:06:47.20
what everyone?
00:06:47.24\00:06:48.57
"You repent."
00:06:48.60\00:06:49.94
How many are willing if
you lost that first love
00:06:49.97\00:06:51.51
to repent and say,
Lord, I want to get that back
00:06:51.54\00:06:54.81
more than anything in my life.
00:06:54.84\00:06:56.64
Can you say amen to Jesus?
00:06:56.68\00:07:00.08
Hosea 14:4 is a precious promise
00:07:00.12\00:07:04.75
for those who have backslid.
00:07:04.79\00:07:07.06
Hosea 14:4, let's read it
together balcony included.
00:07:07.09\00:07:10.56
Here we go, "I will
heal their backsliding,
00:07:10.59\00:07:13.90
I will love them
freely," I will what?
00:07:13.93\00:07:17.20
"I will love them freely
00:07:17.23\00:07:19.40
for My anger has
turned away from him."
00:07:19.43\00:07:21.87
Your backsliding can be healed,
00:07:21.90\00:07:24.87
yeah there is
restoration in this house today.
00:07:24.91\00:07:28.84
And so do not "Do not
rejoice over me, my enemy,"
00:07:28.88\00:07:31.95
do we have an enemy?
00:07:31.98\00:07:34.35
Are you under attack?
00:07:34.38\00:07:36.65
Are you on the
frontal assault of the enemy?
00:07:36.69\00:07:39.95
Let me tell you something
the Lord impress a scripture
00:07:39.99\00:07:42.26
indelibly upon my
mind that we fight
00:07:42.29\00:07:47.43
not against flesh and blood,
we fight against principalities
00:07:47.46\00:07:51.10
and powers of darkness.
00:07:51.13\00:07:52.93
We are in and all out war
against the host of darkness
00:07:52.97\00:07:57.81
and you and I cannot prevail
without the blood of Jesus
00:07:57.84\00:08:02.08
and the help of Jesus
00:08:02.11\00:08:03.45
and the help of the Holy Spirit.
00:08:03.48\00:08:05.01
And so the Bible
makes it very clear
00:08:05.05\00:08:07.68
if you call upon
Jesus you shall be saved.
00:08:07.72\00:08:11.15
And the Bible says,
"Do not rejoice over me,
00:08:11.19\00:08:13.69
my enemy," we do have an enemy.
00:08:13.72\00:08:15.92
"But when I
fall," everybody together
00:08:15.96\00:08:18.73
"I will arise."
00:08:18.76\00:08:20.20
You can have a comeback.
00:08:20.23\00:08:21.56
I love these
comeback scriptures.
00:08:21.60\00:08:23.47
I will arise, when
I sit in darkness,"
00:08:23.50\00:08:26.57
you can't see the future.
00:08:26.60\00:08:28.54
Things look bleak,
00:08:28.57\00:08:30.34
don't
understand what's going on.
00:08:30.37\00:08:32.67
"When I sit in darkness,
the Lord" is right there
00:08:32.71\00:08:36.14
"and the Lord will be
a light to me" Micah 7:8.
00:08:36.18\00:08:39.91
And so once again in
the Book of Revelation,
00:08:39.95\00:08:42.18
we read this together.
00:08:42.22\00:08:45.49
"And they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
00:08:45.52\00:08:48.62
and by the word
of their testimony,
00:08:48.66\00:08:50.69
and they did not love
their lives to the death."
00:08:50.73\00:08:52.76
Why?
00:08:52.79\00:08:54.13
Because they fell in love
with Jesus who died for them.
00:08:54.16\00:08:57.13
So should we have a testimony?
00:08:57.17\00:08:59.77
Whatever your
testimony is it is a special way
00:08:59.80\00:09:05.11
to witness and
win souls to Christ.
00:09:05.14\00:09:07.61
"He that winneth souls
is wise" Proverbs 11:30.
00:09:07.64\00:09:12.15
The testimony that I
want to share with you
00:09:12.18\00:09:15.15
is how the part one
of how God has helped me
00:09:15.18\00:09:18.55
to have a comeback.
00:09:18.59\00:09:19.92
All glory goes to Jesus.
00:09:19.95\00:09:21.29
The Bible says,
00:09:21.32\00:09:22.66
"If you are gonna boast
you boast about the Lord."
00:09:22.69\00:09:24.93
And that's all I can boast about
00:09:24.96\00:09:26.63
but I'm here to
tell you my testimony
00:09:26.66\00:09:29.00
is all about this scripture.
00:09:29.03\00:09:31.20
Jeremiah 31:3, "The Lord has
appeared of old to me, saying,
00:09:31.23\00:09:34.94
'Yes, I have loved
you" I have loved you
00:09:34.97\00:09:39.67
"with an everlasting love,
therefore with loving-kindness
00:09:39.71\00:09:44.81
I have drawn you."
00:09:44.85\00:09:47.55
In 1975 I was 17-years-old
00:09:47.58\00:09:51.35
and my buddy Bob
and I were aboard
00:09:51.39\00:09:53.46
his 1963
Harley-Davidson Sportster.
00:09:53.49\00:09:57.33
It was loud, it was fast,
it got the girls attention.
00:09:57.36\00:10:01.13
So this high school
dropout turned hippie
00:10:01.16\00:10:04.07
and I drop out
after ninth grade.
00:10:04.10\00:10:05.87
My father a
pastor so I was the PPK,
00:10:05.90\00:10:09.50
the pastor's prodigal kid
00:10:09.54\00:10:10.87
and I wanted nothing
to do with boring sermons
00:10:10.91\00:10:13.91
and hypocritical church members.
00:10:13.94\00:10:15.64
I had a very negative attitude
and so all I cared about
00:10:15.68\00:10:19.01
is when I got
out of my workplace
00:10:19.05\00:10:21.92
I would take my meager
paycheck and squander it
00:10:21.95\00:10:25.69
like the prodigal son
did unrighteous living.
00:10:25.72\00:10:28.39
And so I would get
together with my friend Paul
00:10:28.42\00:10:31.96
and I was
riding on the backseat.
00:10:31.99\00:10:33.90
We were helmet protestors
led in our long hippie hair
00:10:33.93\00:10:37.03
blowing the
cool November breeze.
00:10:37.07\00:10:39.10
November 17 I will
never forget that evening.
00:10:39.13\00:10:42.14
We were coming
from Manchester bar
00:10:42.17\00:10:44.04
there on a way to anther bar.
00:10:44.07\00:10:46.07
Can I insert
00:10:46.11\00:10:48.11
that this is kind of
the water down version
00:10:48.14\00:10:51.88
and you say well, oh, boy,
00:10:51.91\00:10:53.42
here we go with
another testimony
00:10:53.45\00:10:55.45
this is about somebody who has
been out there and done that.
00:10:55.48\00:10:58.79
Let me tell you something,
Jesus gave enough details
00:10:58.82\00:11:04.03
about the before
of the prodigal son
00:11:04.06\00:11:07.66
so that you could
appreciate the homecoming.
00:11:07.70\00:11:10.27
And so as all I'm gonna do
00:11:10.30\00:11:11.70
is do what Jesus tells me to do,
00:11:11.73\00:11:13.84
just share enough details
so that people can appreciate
00:11:13.87\00:11:17.21
the homecoming and
the Father gets the glory.
00:11:17.24\00:11:20.78
And so I will tell
you that we had no care
00:11:20.81\00:11:24.71
and thought on the
world, we are on our way
00:11:24.75\00:11:26.31
to another bar and
as we begin to approach
00:11:26.35\00:11:29.78
a curve up on the
road there in East Hartford
00:11:29.82\00:11:33.59
all of a sudden a
sudden uneasy premonition
00:11:33.62\00:11:37.16
swept over me about
danger lurking ahead.
00:11:37.19\00:11:40.26
We were going 45
00:11:40.30\00:11:41.63
an opposed 35 mile an
hour posted speed zone
00:11:41.66\00:11:44.63
and sure enough as we
begin to ease out of that curve
00:11:44.67\00:11:47.37
all of a sudden a VW
dotter cross our pathway
00:11:47.40\00:11:51.24
no lights on, no blinker on,
cross the double yellow line.
00:11:51.27\00:11:54.81
My buddy Bob barely had
time to even touch the breaks.
00:11:54.84\00:11:58.01
We slam head on into that VW.
00:11:58.05\00:12:00.72
When you are driving
motorcycle you are the bumper
00:12:00.75\00:12:03.89
if you get on the road.
00:12:03.92\00:12:05.39
And so we were
thrown like refuse
00:12:05.42\00:12:07.36
to the side of the road.
00:12:07.39\00:12:08.72
My buddy Bob landed
around the welcome sign,
00:12:08.76\00:12:11.03
I landed around
the thank you sign.
00:12:11.06\00:12:12.79
Terrible PR for
that grocery store
00:12:12.83\00:12:14.83
but there were on
the side of the road
00:12:14.86\00:12:17.13
and I couldn't breathe
and I was scared to death.
00:12:17.17\00:12:22.60
And looked up at the starlet sky
00:12:22.64\00:12:25.04
and who do you
think I thought about?
00:12:25.07\00:12:27.78
I thought about God.
00:12:27.81\00:12:29.34
I said in my
mind, don't let me die.
00:12:29.38\00:12:32.08
I knew if I was to die
00:12:32.11\00:12:34.58
I will do down to
a Christless grave.
00:12:34.62\00:12:37.32
And so God heard,
God heard my feeble,
00:12:37.35\00:12:42.62
unworthy, broken prayer.
00:12:42.66\00:12:46.33
The Bible says, "He will regard
the prayer of the destitute"
00:12:46.36\00:12:49.43
in Psalms 102,
rather Psalms 103.
00:12:49.46\00:12:53.84
And so the Bible
makes it very clear
00:12:53.87\00:12:56.47
"That Christ is longsuffering,
00:12:56.50\00:12:59.67
not willing that
any should perish
00:12:59.71\00:13:01.41
but that all
should come to repentance"
00:13:01.44\00:13:02.91
2 Peter 3:9.
00:13:02.94\00:13:05.31
And so I started
breathing and with that came
00:13:05.35\00:13:08.38
an overwhelming
sensation of excruciating pain
00:13:08.42\00:13:12.95
and I panicked and I tried
to get up I couldn't get up
00:13:12.99\00:13:15.62
I panicked more.
00:13:15.66\00:13:16.99
I tried to get up.
00:13:17.03\00:13:18.36
A crowd quickly
gathered and hovered over us
00:13:18.39\00:13:20.63
there at the
scene of the accident
00:13:20.66\00:13:22.40
and they are
asking me, "are you okay"
00:13:22.43\00:13:24.43
and I could just grunt and groan
00:13:24.47\00:13:26.70
and I'm looking over to my right
00:13:26.74\00:13:29.27
and there is my buddy Bob
00:13:29.30\00:13:31.31
he sprawled out on
the pavement as well.
00:13:31.34\00:13:33.64
The side of the
curve and he is asking
00:13:33.68\00:13:35.81
about his bike and everything
00:13:35.84\00:13:37.41
I'm like
careless about your bike.
00:13:37.45\00:13:40.65
A real
Harley-Davidson enthusiast.
00:13:40.68\00:13:44.49
And then he is asking
me how am I doing as well.
00:13:44.52\00:13:48.19
His nose is
bleeding, he blooded up
00:13:48.22\00:13:51.09
and bike is
mangled and there we are.
00:13:51.13\00:13:55.06
The ambulance arrived
and rushed us to the hospital
00:13:55.10\00:13:59.10
with the enquiry Mark,
can you wiggle your toes?
00:13:59.13\00:14:02.90
Bob, can you wiggle your toes?
00:14:02.94\00:14:05.24
Well, I could wiggle my toes
00:14:05.27\00:14:06.61
so I thought okay,
that's a good sign.
00:14:06.64\00:14:08.28
I guess I'm
gonna, gonna survive this
00:14:08.31\00:14:10.55
and they rushed
us to the hospital
00:14:10.58\00:14:12.85
and while I was
behind white drawn curtains
00:14:12.88\00:14:18.29
there in the emergency room
on that hard emergency board
00:14:18.32\00:14:24.89
crying out in agony
for the doctors and nurses
00:14:24.93\00:14:28.26
to help me it
seemed like an eternity
00:14:28.30\00:14:30.97
that I was there laying
helpless without any attention.
00:14:31.00\00:14:35.50
And then my parents
emerged and my mother,
00:14:35.54\00:14:40.88
my mother and I were
left alone because my dad went
00:14:40.91\00:14:43.91
to go and check up on
the medical status of Bob.
00:14:43.95\00:14:47.22
And so my mother and I were
left alone there and I said,
00:14:47.25\00:14:51.85
mom, mom, am I okay.
00:14:51.89\00:14:54.39
Mom, take a look at me
and she lifted up the sheet
00:14:54.42\00:14:57.19
and with a trembling
hand and a crackling voice
00:14:57.23\00:14:59.86
she said, you are gonna be okay.
00:14:59.89\00:15:03.67
Thanks for that assurance, mom.
00:15:03.70\00:15:05.03
The next morning I woke up
00:15:08.50\00:15:10.74
and there bottles
hanging over my head
00:15:10.77\00:15:12.17
and I looked
directly across the room
00:15:12.21\00:15:13.81
and there is Bob
all bandaged up nose
00:15:13.84\00:15:16.08
and he's got bottles
hanging over his head as well.
00:15:16.11\00:15:18.81
I got tube up
inserted in my nose
00:15:18.85\00:15:20.98
and I got tubes in
my arms and so forth
00:15:21.02\00:15:23.32
and we kind of
breathe a sigh of relief.
00:15:23.35\00:15:25.69
I wasn't going anywhere fast,
00:15:25.72\00:15:27.42
I had a three
quarter fractured pelvis,
00:15:27.46\00:15:29.12
severely sprained back,
cut up bruised and humbled.
00:15:29.16\00:15:34.00
The second night I
was in the hospital
00:15:34.03\00:15:36.67
the doctors and nurses
00:15:36.70\00:15:38.43
literally came
in around midnight
00:15:38.47\00:15:40.40
and literally were
pounding on my chest.
00:15:40.44\00:15:44.87
I was groggy kind
of heavily sedated,
00:15:44.91\00:15:47.74
kind of out of
it but I do recall
00:15:47.78\00:15:49.71
that this was very intense.
00:15:49.74\00:15:52.41
They were trying to help me.
00:15:52.45\00:15:54.42
The next morning when
my parents arrived to visit
00:15:54.45\00:15:57.62
their wayward son
one of the church members
00:15:57.65\00:16:01.96
from the Hartford Connecticut
Church confronted my parents
00:16:01.99\00:16:06.09
and said, she broke
the news and say, she said,
00:16:06.13\00:16:09.80
we almost lost
your son last night
00:16:09.83\00:16:13.10
because of blood clots.
00:16:13.13\00:16:16.27
And so my parents
quickly hastened to my room
00:16:16.30\00:16:22.31
and they said, Mark,
we are praying for you.
00:16:22.34\00:16:25.05
Mark, we have the
church members praying for you.
00:16:25.08\00:16:27.75
Mark, we want you to
give your heart to God.
00:16:27.78\00:16:31.49
Well, then my
buddies and my friends,
00:16:31.52\00:16:33.32
the guys and the girls
wanted to come in and visit me
00:16:33.36\00:16:36.16
and then they would
offer me the drugs and drinking
00:16:36.19\00:16:39.79
and everything and so I
started to resume that lifestyle
00:16:39.83\00:16:43.06
even before I got out.
00:16:43.10\00:16:45.23
And so then there was,
what ensued was a conflict,
00:16:45.27\00:16:48.67
furious conflict between
my friends and my parents
00:16:48.70\00:16:52.54
and, you know, of
course my parents' estimation,
00:16:52.57\00:16:54.74
with friends like
this who needs enemies
00:16:54.78\00:16:56.64
and so to the
chagrin of my parents,
00:16:56.68\00:16:59.11
I said, "Mom, Dad,
00:16:59.15\00:17:00.48
could you just stop
visiting me for a while?"
00:17:00.52\00:17:02.28
Because, you know, there
was too much tension there
00:17:02.32\00:17:05.55
so I chose my
friends above my parents.
00:17:05.59\00:17:08.49
My parents were devastated.
My parents were broken hearted.
00:17:08.52\00:17:12.89
Can I fast forward,
we are very close now?
00:17:12.93\00:17:14.93
Okay, rewind.
00:17:14.96\00:17:18.80
My parents were very
patient, around this time
00:17:18.83\00:17:24.71
my father one night
00:17:24.74\00:17:29.54
around this time they
were crying in the bedroom.
00:17:29.58\00:17:35.42
My dad was shaking
and as they were praying
00:17:35.45\00:17:39.92
it just came to them
00:17:39.95\00:17:42.62
"Father, He is your son too
00:17:42.66\00:17:47.66
take care of him"
and he was able to sleep.
00:17:47.70\00:17:52.50
So there I was
in the hospital room
00:17:52.53\00:17:58.87
for ten days and then I
was released with crutches
00:17:58.91\00:18:03.85
after a little bit
of physical therapy
00:18:03.88\00:18:06.61
and a friend of
mine took me home
00:18:06.65\00:18:09.02
and I planned to resume going
up to my friend Paul's house
00:18:09.05\00:18:13.46
who was no better than Bob.
00:18:13.49\00:18:15.66
Paul was my best
friend, he lived up the block
00:18:15.69\00:18:18.39
just a couple
houses down the block
00:18:18.43\00:18:20.63
there in the East
Hartford, Connecticut
00:18:20.66\00:18:22.66
and I was just ready to
go, ready to have a party
00:18:22.70\00:18:26.13
and my mother said,
Mark, wait a minute, sit down.
00:18:26.17\00:18:30.97
I thought, oh, boy,
here comes a lecture.
00:18:31.01\00:18:33.54
She--
00:18:33.58\00:18:34.91
I sat down, put
my crutches aside
00:18:34.94\00:18:36.58
there in the living
room and she said, Mark,
00:18:36.61\00:18:39.21
please do not go back
to this lifestyle of yours.
00:18:39.25\00:18:44.65
Don't go back to this, Mark.
00:18:44.69\00:18:46.99
Then can't you see
that God saved your life.
00:18:47.02\00:18:49.76
Give your heart to God,
Mark. Give your heart to Jesus.
00:18:49.79\00:18:54.36
And all I could be thinking
to myself is has she done yet?
00:18:54.40\00:18:59.20
I had a very hardened
heart, very hardened heart.
00:18:59.23\00:19:02.70
I'm so glad the Bible says
00:19:02.74\00:19:04.31
that "He can take
the heart of stone out
00:19:04.34\00:19:07.44
and give us a heart of
flesh" Ezekiel 36:26, 27.
00:19:07.48\00:19:11.78
How many believe
Jesus does do heart surgery?
00:19:11.81\00:19:16.25
And so I said, okay,
mom, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:19:16.28\00:19:18.55
So I resume, I hobbled my way
00:19:18.59\00:19:20.46
down the
sidewalk to Paul's house.
00:19:20.49\00:19:23.16
But, you know, the Bible
makes it very, very clear
00:19:23.19\00:19:26.90
that God is a God of
amazing breakthroughs!
00:19:26.93\00:19:30.47
Motorcycle
accident God saved my life.
00:19:30.50\00:19:35.00
The devil tried to take my
life but God won the battle.
00:19:35.04\00:19:40.61
"For You have
delivered my soul from death."
00:19:40.64\00:19:44.15
Hasn't the Lord
really delivered us off
00:19:44.18\00:19:46.31
from eternal
death? Psalms 56:13.
00:19:46.35\00:19:52.82
And so on another
occasion my friend Paul said,
00:19:52.85\00:19:58.83
Mark, let's take
some LSD together.
00:19:58.86\00:20:03.43
I said, there is no
way I'm gonna take LSD.
00:20:03.47\00:20:08.87
I would do
marijuana, et cetera, et cetera
00:20:08.90\00:20:11.31
but I knew LSD
that's the big leagues,
00:20:11.34\00:20:14.64
that's more potent
that I ever want to swallow.
00:20:14.68\00:20:18.08
No, I'm not gonna do
that. Can I just say something?
00:20:18.11\00:20:23.42
There are millions and
millions of young people
00:20:23.45\00:20:27.12
experimenting with
drugs this weekend.
00:20:27.16\00:20:31.59
My heart, I have a
burden for young people.
00:20:31.63\00:20:34.50
I have spoken with God's help
to thousands of young people
00:20:34.53\00:20:37.63
and I have a burden that
young people will realize
00:20:37.67\00:20:42.10
that drugs will not
give them that peace,
00:20:42.14\00:20:45.17
that joy, that
happiness but Jesus will.
00:20:45.21\00:20:48.44
And so I said, no
way but he persisted.
00:20:48.48\00:20:53.85
He wouldn't let it
go and there was a party
00:20:53.88\00:20:56.25
and the guys and girls
were mingling and dancing.
00:20:56.28\00:20:59.85
The smoke was filling the
room and the music was blasting,
00:20:59.89\00:21:03.86
everything was in the context
of rock and roll, everything.
00:21:03.89\00:21:08.63
And so I said, all
right, give me some other stuff.
00:21:08.66\00:21:12.17
He gave me what is known
as four way blotter acid.
00:21:12.20\00:21:15.94
I know you, please, I
hope you never remember that.
00:21:15.97\00:21:19.01
But anyway four
way blotter acid,
00:21:19.04\00:21:21.28
you are supposed to
take it in four intervals
00:21:21.31\00:21:25.15
and spread it out
over like a weekend
00:21:25.18\00:21:27.42
never take it and at one time
you never mix it with alcohol.
00:21:27.45\00:21:31.19
Give the devil an inch
and he will take your mind.
00:21:31.22\00:21:35.56
I ended up taking
the four way blotter acid
00:21:35.59\00:21:38.26
mixing it,
mingling it with alcohol
00:21:38.29\00:21:42.13
and at first I thought wow,
00:21:42.16\00:21:43.77
this is so real,
this is different.
00:21:43.80\00:21:45.87
I was hallucinating.
00:21:45.90\00:21:47.44
I was having out of
the body experiences
00:21:47.47\00:21:49.70
and all sorts of
strange sensations
00:21:49.74\00:21:52.67
and feelings and observations
about what was going on
00:21:52.71\00:21:56.51
that was very distorted.
00:21:56.54\00:21:59.11
And then after a long
time what seem like an eternity
00:21:59.15\00:22:03.49
finally the party was over
and it came time to go home.
00:22:03.52\00:22:09.02
Well, I was in no
shape and no mental framework
00:22:09.06\00:22:11.99
to go home so I
said to buddy Paul,
00:22:12.03\00:22:14.66
Paul, I can't go home like this.
00:22:14.70\00:22:16.23
Can I stay overnight
here? Sure, no problem.
00:22:16.26\00:22:18.93
So he went to his
bedroom and I got in bed
00:22:18.97\00:22:22.60
and I laid down and I
close my eyes to go to sleep.
00:22:22.64\00:22:29.18
No exaggeration,
all of a sudden satanic,
00:22:29.21\00:22:32.71
horrific nightmarish
images, graphic, colorful,
00:22:32.75\00:22:38.19
impressive, devastating
images swirled in my days mind.
00:22:38.22\00:22:44.39
I leap from the bed
and I said Paul, Paul,
00:22:44.43\00:22:47.56
when am I gonna come down?
00:22:47.60\00:22:49.00
When am I gonna come down?
00:22:49.03\00:22:50.87
He thought I was
really hyping things up
00:22:50.90\00:22:53.03
and he said, don't worry
about it, you will come down.
00:22:53.07\00:22:55.00
Turned out he
didn't take it with me,
00:22:55.04\00:22:56.97
I was alone
00:22:57.01\00:23:00.01
that's why he could go to sleep.
00:23:00.04\00:23:05.35
I was not going
to revisit that bed.
00:23:05.38\00:23:08.08
I did not want to go back
and see those images again.
00:23:08.12\00:23:13.36
So what did I do?
00:23:13.39\00:23:14.72
All night, this 17-year-old
hippie, proud hippie, man,
00:23:14.76\00:23:20.86
I was the DJ get my LPs out,
laugh and joke around and party
00:23:20.90\00:23:25.60
but now I was scared to
death and I paste the floor
00:23:25.63\00:23:32.14
watching my buddy,
my best friend Paul
00:23:32.17\00:23:34.94
taught me into taking
this stuff watching him snore
00:23:34.98\00:23:39.35
and I paste the
floor back and forth
00:23:39.38\00:23:42.68
wondering if I
would ever come down,
00:23:42.72\00:23:46.55
wondering if my mind
would ever be normal again.
00:23:46.59\00:23:51.39
Wondering if I
would get my sanity back
00:23:51.43\00:23:54.56
I knew I was losing it fast.
00:23:54.60\00:23:59.07
At the crack of dawn I
was looking in the mirror
00:23:59.10\00:24:03.87
something teenagers
like to do occasionally
00:24:03.91\00:24:05.94
and I was looking in the mirror
00:24:05.97\00:24:07.98
and I look like
death warmed over
00:24:08.01\00:24:11.51
and I vigorously shook my buddy
Paul, Paul, get up, get up.
00:24:11.55\00:24:15.32
Now there is something
about this sort of lifestyle
00:24:15.35\00:24:17.32
you like to sleep in but
I was rudely interrupting
00:24:17.35\00:24:20.82
his sleep and I said,
come on, man, get up, get up.
00:24:20.86\00:24:24.13
I was scared.
00:24:24.16\00:24:25.86
I didn't want to
be alone anymore.
00:24:25.89\00:24:28.13
And all that day I hallucinated.
00:24:28.16\00:24:30.50
All that day I had incredible
paranoia sweep over me.
00:24:30.53\00:24:35.74
And then that evening
00:24:35.77\00:24:37.34
after what seemed to
be an eternity in hell
00:24:37.37\00:24:41.11
that evening they
threw another party.
00:24:41.14\00:24:45.85
Guys and girls
mingling and the music blasting,
00:24:45.88\00:24:48.78
the smoke filling the
room, laughter, joking
00:24:48.82\00:24:53.09
and then all of a sudden
the attention shifted to me.
00:24:53.12\00:24:57.39
Hey, Fox, you still high
man, you still hallucinating?
00:24:57.43\00:25:02.06
Hey, do you feel box them.
00:25:02.10\00:25:04.30
And I became the
bud of the jokes.
00:25:04.33\00:25:06.94
They laughed at me.
They thought it was funny.
00:25:06.97\00:25:11.04
I was thinking to
myself if they don't be quiet
00:25:11.07\00:25:14.11
I'm gonna absolutely go crazy.
00:25:14.14\00:25:17.15
And so I talked to myself
00:25:17.18\00:25:18.51
they are not
getting up, giving up.
00:25:18.55\00:25:19.88
How many agree
sometimes friends can be
00:25:19.91\00:25:21.25
a little
relentless in their cruelty.
00:25:21.28\00:25:25.39
And so I talked to
myself I got to get out of here.
00:25:25.42\00:25:27.52
So I started
thinking I'm gonna go home.
00:25:27.56\00:25:30.83
Sudden changes are about to
catch the world by surprise.
00:25:32.53\00:25:36.36
Amazing Bible
Prophecies are fast fulfilling.
00:25:36.40\00:25:39.83
Do ancient prophecies predict
the sudden economic collapse?
00:25:39.87\00:25:43.34
Will the Middle East
crisis erupt into World War III?
00:25:43.37\00:25:47.01
Are we living on
the eve of Armageddon?
00:25:47.04\00:25:49.51
How will the final moves
of the antichrist affect you?
00:25:49.54\00:25:52.95
What is the future of
the United States of America?
00:25:52.98\00:25:56.08
How will natural disasters
usher in the mark of the beast?
00:25:56.12\00:26:00.19
Now you can watch the
entire Amazing Prophecy series
00:26:00.22\00:26:04.33
of 32 hopeful messages on DVD.
00:26:04.36\00:26:07.90
Don't guess about the
future, know the future.
00:26:07.93\00:26:11.33
The complete set of DVDs
00:26:11.37\00:26:13.13
is available for a
gift of $60 or more.
00:26:13.17\00:26:16.30
Call us at 1-855-336-FREE
00:26:16.34\00:26:20.54
or you can send a
check or money order
00:26:20.58\00:26:22.44
to Forever Free
Ministries, 2001 Munro Park,
00:26:22.48\00:26:26.31
Corinth, Texas, 76208.
00:26:26.35\00:26:29.42
You can also visit us online
at foreverfreeministries.org.
00:26:29.45\00:26:33.52
Don't know what I'm
gonna say, I got to think
00:26:36.29\00:26:37.63
about what I'm
gonna say to my parents
00:26:37.66\00:26:38.99
and so I made a
beeline for the door.
00:26:39.03\00:26:40.90
Hey, Fox, where do you
think you are going, man?
00:26:40.93\00:26:43.20
Come on, man, you
are not gonna go home.
00:26:43.23\00:26:46.17
I opened the door,
00:26:46.20\00:26:47.54
close the door behind
me with them laughing.
00:26:47.57\00:26:50.27
I stumbled my way down the
murky shadows of that night
00:26:50.31\00:26:53.71
and sidewalk and
rehearsing my alibi.
00:26:53.74\00:26:57.15
Okay, what am I gonna say?
All right, what am I gonna say?
00:26:57.18\00:26:59.71
I rang the doorbell.
00:26:59.75\00:27:01.08
Remember, this is just
couple houses down the block.
00:27:01.12\00:27:03.12
Rang the doorbell,
00:27:03.15\00:27:04.49
I'm one of four
boys, I'm number two
00:27:04.52\00:27:06.45
and my older brother
Kevin answered the door.
00:27:06.49\00:27:10.63
What is going on with you?
00:27:10.66\00:27:12.39
Mom and dad are
worried about you where--
00:27:12.43\00:27:14.70
oh, don't worry about it.
00:27:14.73\00:27:16.06
Don't worry about it.
00:27:16.10\00:27:17.43
Didn't want be bothered by him
00:27:17.47\00:27:19.03
and so I made a
beeline for my bedroom
00:27:19.07\00:27:21.70
and I thought all right,
get your composure together.
00:27:21.74\00:27:25.07
Then my mother, I
hear approaching footsteps
00:27:25.11\00:27:28.51
and I thought the enquiry,
00:27:28.54\00:27:30.25
the great inquest
is about the comments.
00:27:30.28\00:27:34.38
Mark, where have
been? Just up Paul's house.
00:27:34.42\00:27:37.49
Why didn't you call us?
00:27:37.52\00:27:39.19
I should have called
you, I'm really sorry, mom.
00:27:39.22\00:27:41.82
What have you been
doing? Oh, not much.
00:27:41.86\00:27:45.09
And then I started shaking,
00:27:45.13\00:27:46.46
she knew something was going on.
00:27:46.49\00:27:48.43
I started shaking
and she said calmly,
00:27:48.46\00:27:52.33
sweet heart, tell
me what's the matter.
00:27:52.37\00:27:54.47
What's the
matter, what happened?
00:27:54.50\00:27:56.40
And I'm shaking
and I started to cry
00:27:56.44\00:28:00.08
and my mother
very calmly we sat down
00:28:00.11\00:28:04.15
at the edge of
one of the twin beds
00:28:04.18\00:28:08.32
and my mother
wrapped her arm around me
00:28:08.35\00:28:11.52
and she said, Honey,
tell me what happened.
00:28:11.55\00:28:14.79
Mom, I've taken some LSD
and I can't come down, mom.
00:28:14.82\00:28:20.43
And I held on to her
tightly. Mom, please help me.
00:28:20.46\00:28:23.63
I can't come down,
mom, please help me.
00:28:23.67\00:28:27.24
My dad emerged
there in the doorway,
00:28:27.27\00:28:31.31
what's going on in here?
00:28:31.34\00:28:34.51
And my mother informed him.
00:28:34.54\00:28:37.05
My dad, my loving dad
responded by calling the doctor.
00:28:37.08\00:28:43.18
Doc, you know, we
don't know what to do.
00:28:43.22\00:28:45.25
Our son is
hallucinating on LSD and,
00:28:45.29\00:28:49.02
you know, we don't
what to do for him.
00:28:49.06\00:28:51.09
What do you suggest?
00:28:51.13\00:28:52.46
Well, if he becomes
violent, you know, we can--
00:28:52.49\00:28:56.36
you can bring him
here and we'll put him
00:28:56.40\00:28:57.73
in a completely
enclosed padded room
00:28:57.77\00:29:00.40
until he comes down.
00:29:00.44\00:29:03.37
My father pictured
his claustrophobic son
00:29:03.41\00:29:07.58
in the
claustrophobic padded room
00:29:07.61\00:29:10.35
and my dad responded thank God
00:29:10.38\00:29:12.98
under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
00:29:13.01\00:29:16.58
Doc, no our son
has not become violent
00:29:16.62\00:29:20.09
but, doc, we do
believe in the power of prayer.
00:29:20.12\00:29:24.06
And my parents, my
parents were praying for me
00:29:24.09\00:29:29.16
and my mother's
intuition was in full gear.
00:29:29.20\00:29:32.23
By the way, I do
believe that mother's intuition
00:29:32.27\00:29:35.04
is a gift from God
and all the mothers had.
00:29:35.07\00:29:38.01
I believe that
with all my heart.
00:29:38.04\00:29:41.01
And so my mother said,
have you eaten anything?
00:29:41.04\00:29:44.31
No.
00:29:44.35\00:29:45.68
I could barely
even smoke a cigarette
00:29:45.71\00:29:47.45
and said no, no, I haven't.
00:29:47.48\00:29:49.15
You need to eat
something. I said, all right.
00:29:49.18\00:29:52.29
So she fed me a little
bit and I believe that helped
00:29:52.32\00:29:56.32
to absorb some of this
acid but that combined with
00:29:56.36\00:30:01.93
put my PJs on and I
said, you got to go to bed now.
00:30:01.96\00:30:08.37
And I remember asking my mom,
00:30:08.40\00:30:13.48
mom, just think you can sleep
00:30:13.51\00:30:16.04
in the bedroom
here with me tonight.
00:30:16.08\00:30:18.81
Now you got to keep in mind
that this turbulent teenager
00:30:18.85\00:30:22.58
was known to
shut his parents out,
00:30:22.62\00:30:25.05
lock the bedroom
door and blast my,
00:30:25.09\00:30:28.46
so if you hear me say, huh,
00:30:28.49\00:30:29.89
you know, that was Led
Zeppelin being pumped in there.
00:30:29.92\00:30:35.23
And so my mother said,
yeah, I will sleep here
00:30:35.26\00:30:37.03
in the bedroom with you tonight.
00:30:37.07\00:30:38.47
I did not want to be alone
to confront satanic images.
00:30:38.50\00:30:44.17
And so my parents
knelt down by my bedside
00:30:44.21\00:30:47.68
clutched my hands
and they prayed for me.
00:30:47.71\00:30:51.58
And while they were praying
00:30:51.61\00:30:53.82
here's what I
calculated in my mind,
00:30:53.85\00:30:57.52
I know God is not
gonna hear my prayer
00:30:57.55\00:31:00.96
but my only hope is if
God hears their prayers.
00:31:00.99\00:31:07.93
Thank God,
00:31:07.96\00:31:09.40
for example that Job
prayed for his friends,
00:31:09.43\00:31:15.47
I say this
beloved, do you know someone
00:31:15.50\00:31:18.67
that needs Jesus pray for them.
00:31:18.71\00:31:21.84
Our God hears the
effectual fervent prayer
00:31:21.88\00:31:26.05
of a righteous man
avails much, James 5:16.
00:31:26.08\00:31:30.55
There is power in prayer.
00:31:30.59\00:31:32.19
I believe it with all my
heart, there is power in prayer.
00:31:32.22\00:31:35.16
Say it with me,
there is power in prayer.
00:31:35.19\00:31:37.86
Come on now, there
is power in prayer.
00:31:37.89\00:31:40.13
So my parents prayed for me.
00:31:40.16\00:31:43.70
Later on they told me,
00:31:43.73\00:31:45.07
Mark, you had like
a green complexion.
00:31:45.10\00:31:47.44
Don't know where that came from
00:31:47.47\00:31:48.80
but anyway I looked
like death warmed over.
00:31:48.84\00:31:51.84
Then my dad went dejectedly
00:31:51.87\00:31:56.61
to his bedroom alone,
00:31:56.64\00:31:59.61
my mother got in
the other twin bed,
00:31:59.65\00:32:02.58
the lights went out
00:32:02.62\00:32:05.22
and I thought
okay, I'm gonna try.
00:32:05.25\00:32:07.12
And I close my eyes and those
satanic images emerged again.
00:32:07.16\00:32:11.69
Mom, you there?
00:32:11.73\00:32:14.60
Honey, calm down, I'm here.
00:32:14.63\00:32:18.33
Mom, mom. Honey, I'm here.
00:32:18.37\00:32:25.07
You can go to sleep.
00:32:25.11\00:32:27.51
The Bible says in Isaiah,
00:32:27.54\00:32:29.61
take your Bible
and turn with me.
00:32:29.64\00:32:33.35
Isaiah Chapter 66...
00:32:33.38\00:32:35.58
by the way I don't
know if you realize
00:32:42.82\00:32:44.39
but Mother's Day is every day.
00:32:44.43\00:32:45.93
Okay, anyway,
00:32:45.96\00:32:48.70
Isaiah 66, so
also with Father's Day.
00:32:48.73\00:32:54.34
Isaiah 66...
00:32:54.37\00:32:58.41
give you a
moment to locate that.
00:32:58.44\00:33:01.64
Isaiah 66,
beautiful, powerful, scripture
00:33:01.68\00:33:07.48
about how God will
comfort those who need comfort
00:33:07.52\00:33:12.52
as a mother
comforts her only children.
00:33:12.55\00:33:15.29
I want you to notice
here for example in verse 2,
00:33:15.32\00:33:21.83
"'For all those
things My hand has made,
00:33:21.86\00:33:24.57
and all those things
exist,' says the Lord.
00:33:24.60\00:33:30.81
'But on this one will I
look, on him who is poor
00:33:30.84\00:33:35.11
and of a contrite spirit,
and who trembles at My word.'"
00:33:35.14\00:33:41.05
Let me tell you
something, I was trembling
00:33:41.08\00:33:43.79
and I was feeling very,
very humbled and contrite
00:33:43.82\00:33:47.26
and my mother was
praying for me and I wondered,
00:33:47.29\00:33:50.39
I wondered is
there any hope for me.
00:33:50.43\00:33:54.36
The Bible says that
God will comfort you
00:33:54.40\00:33:56.87
as a mother comforts
her child, her children.
00:33:56.90\00:34:00.47
And number one thoughts
00:34:00.50\00:34:01.84
swirling around
in my crazed mind,
00:34:01.87\00:34:04.51
what I ever comedown
because I knew, friends,
00:34:04.54\00:34:07.41
I knew, friends,
that let's put it this way
00:34:07.44\00:34:10.35
their mind was
permanently altered.
00:34:10.38\00:34:13.25
These mind altering
drugs were so potent
00:34:13.28\00:34:16.38
that some would
never be the same.
00:34:16.42\00:34:18.69
Some would be
reduced to mere vegetable
00:34:18.72\00:34:22.16
or vegetating state of mind.
00:34:22.19\00:34:24.69
And so I lapsed
into a much needed sleep
00:34:24.73\00:34:28.70
and the first
thought in the morning
00:34:28.73\00:34:30.97
did God hear their prayer.
00:34:31.00\00:34:34.77
I was afraid to wake up.
00:34:34.80\00:34:36.67
I remembered the
sun was shining brightly
00:34:36.71\00:34:38.47
through the window and I
was underneath the pillow
00:34:38.51\00:34:41.84
and I just
wanted to not wake up.
00:34:41.88\00:34:44.11
I just wanted to stay
there because I was afraid
00:34:44.15\00:34:47.78
of what reality would bring.
00:34:47.82\00:34:50.82
I gradually
moved the pillow aside,
00:34:50.85\00:34:54.39
I got out of the
bed and of course
00:34:54.42\00:34:57.49
I made a beeline
for the, for the mirror
00:34:57.53\00:34:59.93
and I'm thinking, am I okay.
00:34:59.96\00:35:03.26
All right, I think I'm okay.
My mind was clear as a bell.
00:35:03.30\00:35:08.17
My mind was crystal
clear. My mind no flashbacks.
00:35:08.20\00:35:13.78
Many people who
take these kind of drugs
00:35:13.81\00:35:16.54
will have flashbacks for years.
00:35:16.58\00:35:19.61
No flashbacks, no withdrawal
symptoms, I was delivered.
00:35:19.65\00:35:25.22
I race down the hallway and
I declared to my mom and dad,
00:35:25.25\00:35:29.59
mom, dad, I'm okay.
00:35:29.62\00:35:31.69
I'm okay. What
you think they said?
00:35:31.73\00:35:35.76
Mark, give your heart to
Jesus. Give your heart to God.
00:35:35.80\00:35:40.67
Can't you see
that God delivered you?
00:35:40.70\00:35:43.17
You know, the Bible
says in Isaiah 61:1-3
00:35:43.20\00:35:46.54
and it's also
quoted in Luke Chapter 4.
00:35:46.57\00:35:48.58
Go with me to Luke Chapter
4. Go with me to Luke Chapter 4.
00:35:48.61\00:35:53.52
Luke Chapter 4...
00:35:57.92\00:35:59.25
looking there at verse 18.
00:36:02.69\00:36:06.70
"The Spirit of
the Lord is upon Me,
00:36:06.73\00:36:08.23
because He has
anointed Me to preach the gospel
00:36:08.26\00:36:10.63
to the poor, he has sent
Me to heal the brokenhearted,
00:36:10.67\00:36:15.10
to proclaim" what everyone?
00:36:15.14\00:36:17.04
"Liberty to the captives and
recovery of sight to the blind,
00:36:17.07\00:36:20.98
to set at liberty
those who are oppressed."
00:36:21.01\00:36:23.65
Let me tell you some,
00:36:23.68\00:36:25.01
I was oppressed by
these demonic drugs.
00:36:25.05\00:36:27.62
How many agree that
these drugs are from the devil?
00:36:27.65\00:36:30.69
Now you say,
Mark, I would never take
00:36:30.72\00:36:33.05
these kind of
potent drugs in my life.
00:36:33.09\00:36:36.19
Did you know that sin
is the most powerful drug?
00:36:36.22\00:36:39.39
Sin alters your mind.
00:36:39.43\00:36:41.50
Sin alters your
perspective, your motivation,
00:36:41.53\00:36:45.07
your decrement, your
reasoning, your judgment.
00:36:45.10\00:36:47.94
Would you agree we--
00:36:47.97\00:36:49.30
our Bible says that
a whole head is sick.
00:36:49.34\00:36:52.31
The Bible says,
the heart is deceitful.
00:36:52.34\00:36:54.44
It will lie to you.
00:36:54.48\00:36:55.81
Let me tell you something, sin,
00:36:55.84\00:36:58.31
sin makes us
unreasonable at time.
00:36:58.35\00:37:02.18
The Bible says
that the prodigal son
00:37:02.22\00:37:04.75
when he came to his
senses decided to go back home.
00:37:04.79\00:37:09.32
Another word sin
will make you senseless.
00:37:09.36\00:37:12.46
Aren't you glad that Christ
has delivered us from that drug?
00:37:12.49\00:37:15.70
Can you say amen?
00:37:15.73\00:37:17.07
And there is
healing in this house
00:37:17.10\00:37:19.27
for these mind altering sins.
00:37:19.30\00:37:22.70
Thank God, you can be delivered.
00:37:22.74\00:37:24.07
I don't know what
addiction you hold on to,
00:37:24.11\00:37:26.47
I don't what
addicted thoughts you have,
00:37:26.51\00:37:29.31
what's your trainer thoughts
but I'm here to tell you
00:37:29.34\00:37:31.45
Jesus delivers you
and he delivers you now.
00:37:31.48\00:37:34.58
Do you believe
it? Do you receive it?
00:37:34.62\00:37:36.25
And so I will tell
you another episode.
00:37:36.28\00:37:38.05
My buddy's, we were six of us
00:37:38.09\00:37:41.26
in my 1966 Satellite Convertible
00:37:41.29\00:37:44.06
and I was driving.
00:37:44.09\00:37:45.43
We were passing around
the jugs and somebody came up
00:37:45.46\00:37:47.33
with a crazy idea of
breaking into somebody's home.
00:37:47.36\00:37:51.33
I was raised better.
00:37:51.37\00:37:53.44
I went to some
Christian Adventist schools
00:37:53.47\00:37:56.17
until I dropped
out and I knew better
00:37:56.20\00:38:00.34
but I had discovered
it's not enough to know.
00:38:00.38\00:38:05.11
It's not enough.
00:38:05.15\00:38:06.48
Sometimes parents will tell
me well, they know, they know.
00:38:06.51\00:38:09.45
It's not enough to know.
00:38:09.48\00:38:11.15
You need power
of the Holy Spirit
00:38:11.19\00:38:13.96
to do what you know is right.
00:38:13.99\00:38:15.52
Would you agree we are powerless
00:38:15.56\00:38:17.26
apart from Christ?
00:38:17.29\00:38:18.63
Christ said, "Without Me
you can do nothing," John 15:5.
00:38:18.66\00:38:22.56
But Paul said, "I can do
all things through Christ
00:38:22.60\00:38:26.07
who strengthens
me" Philippians 4:13.
00:38:26.10\00:38:28.30
And so I caved
into the pressure.
00:38:28.34\00:38:32.74
How many have ever heard of
a thing called peer pressure.
00:38:32.77\00:38:34.51
It's very strong
among our young people.
00:38:34.54\00:38:37.98
Our young people are
not going to make it through
00:38:38.01\00:38:41.52
without a lot of
fasting and prayer
00:38:41.55\00:38:43.99
on the part of their parents.
00:38:44.02\00:38:46.35
Show me your prayer
life and I will show you
00:38:46.39\00:38:48.02
whether you love your
children or not because dad,
00:38:48.06\00:38:51.36
if you are not
praying for your children
00:38:51.39\00:38:53.76
I have to ask you the
question do you really love them
00:38:53.80\00:38:56.77
in the fullest
sense of the word love.
00:38:56.80\00:38:58.90
Love comes from
God and would you agree
00:38:58.93\00:39:01.27
the most important bond
you can have with your children
00:39:01.30\00:39:03.71
is a spiritual connection.
00:39:03.74\00:39:05.31
Can you say amen to that?
00:39:05.34\00:39:07.21
And so I will tell you.
00:39:07.24\00:39:09.44
They went at a
high, drove at a house,
00:39:09.48\00:39:11.48
they took these five guys,
00:39:11.51\00:39:13.05
I mean,
idealness is the devils--
00:39:13.08\00:39:15.62
you know, that here in
Missouri, the devils worship.
00:39:15.65\00:39:18.05
And so then I find
myself in this house
00:39:18.09\00:39:21.66
and my heart is
outside of my chest
00:39:21.69\00:39:23.76
and I'm perspiring
and my heart is pounding
00:39:23.79\00:39:26.49
and racing and they
are gone after the jewelry
00:39:26.53\00:39:28.93
and going after the
stereo, going after the TV,
00:39:28.96\00:39:32.43
and I felt like
a fish out of water
00:39:32.47\00:39:34.47
and I'm thinking
let's get out of here.
00:39:34.50\00:39:36.14
I'm having a panic attack
and then we started evacuating.
00:39:36.17\00:39:41.18
We started leaving and
they started heading out
00:39:41.21\00:39:43.88
with the jewelry and
started heading out with the TV
00:39:43.91\00:39:46.58
and the stereo
and I'm here like,
00:39:46.61\00:39:48.85
I don't want to
look a damn or anything
00:39:48.88\00:39:50.45
and so I saw a
nice little pillow
00:39:50.49\00:39:52.62
and saw a nice little
rug so I took the pillow
00:39:52.65\00:39:54.79
and took the rug and out I
went and I'm thinking to myself
00:39:54.82\00:39:57.69
I can't believe I did this.
00:39:57.73\00:40:00.40
I'm just telling you the truth.
00:40:00.43\00:40:01.76
And so I went to the
trunk, opened the trunk,
00:40:01.80\00:40:04.27
they turn the--
00:40:04.30\00:40:05.63
put in the stereo and
the TV and the jewelry
00:40:05.67\00:40:08.14
and I threw in my rug and pillow
00:40:08.17\00:40:09.74
and I'm thinking
this was not worth it.
00:40:09.77\00:40:13.84
Be sure your sin
will find you out.
00:40:13.88\00:40:18.55
Thank God for forgiveness
though. Can I add that?
00:40:18.58\00:40:21.85
And so two months
later sure enough they came
00:40:21.88\00:40:26.12
to my workplace and they
said, Mark Fox, that's me.
00:40:26.15\00:40:30.99
You come with us,
you are under arrest
00:40:31.03\00:40:32.96
and they threw me in
jail and at that time
00:40:32.99\00:40:36.00
my parents were in Austria
at the General Conference
00:40:36.03\00:40:40.04
of Seventh-day
Adventist Christians.
00:40:40.07\00:40:43.07
And so here I was
the wayward son in jail.
00:40:43.10\00:40:47.38
Now just so
happened that the person
00:40:47.41\00:40:49.61
who got me the job as
a shipper and receiver
00:40:49.64\00:40:52.41
in a printing envelop
company there in Hartford
00:40:52.45\00:40:55.05
her name Linda Martin
00:40:55.08\00:40:56.42
was a Seventh-day
Adventist Christian
00:40:56.45\00:40:59.15
and she took pity
upon the pastor's son.
00:40:59.19\00:41:01.42
She got me the
job and many times
00:41:01.46\00:41:03.93
the boss should have
fired me for coming in late
00:41:03.96\00:41:06.26
because of
hangovers or missing work
00:41:06.29\00:41:08.50
but she helped me
to hang on this job
00:41:08.53\00:41:11.77
about the only semblance
of normalcy in my life.
00:41:11.80\00:41:14.70
And so she made a phone call
00:41:14.74\00:41:18.37
and got one of
the church members.
00:41:18.41\00:41:20.24
I had no need for
those church members.
00:41:20.28\00:41:22.88
I had negative attitude.
All bunch of hypocrites.
00:41:22.91\00:41:25.88
Well, guess what,
one of the hypocrites
00:41:25.91\00:41:27.25
came to bail me out.
00:41:27.28\00:41:30.89
I'll never
forget, Brother Sam White
00:41:30.92\00:41:33.05
and he had a white beard
and hair and short stocky man
00:41:33.09\00:41:37.39
resembled he
had his white goatee
00:41:37.43\00:41:39.19
resembled Colonel Sanders
of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame
00:41:39.23\00:41:41.60
but and anyway all I
know is when he showed up
00:41:41.63\00:41:44.97
he never looked so good.
00:41:45.00\00:41:50.07
He bailed me out.
00:41:50.11\00:41:52.34
I was in jail for
seven hours he bailed me out.
00:41:52.37\00:41:56.88
My parents came home
and my mother escorted me
00:41:56.91\00:41:59.18
to my lawyers, executive
suite in that skyscraper
00:41:59.21\00:42:04.72
of a building
towering over Hartford
00:42:04.75\00:42:07.56
and we went up to
his executive suite,
00:42:07.59\00:42:11.69
sat across that
executive table from him.
00:42:11.73\00:42:15.16
He took off his
glasses, he looked at me
00:42:15.20\00:42:17.43
with a
penetrating gaze and he said,
00:42:17.47\00:42:19.93
Mark, I think you may
have gone too far this time.
00:42:19.97\00:42:23.81
I felt a pity in my stomach.
00:42:23.84\00:42:26.31
He said, Mark, I
think you could get
00:42:26.34\00:42:27.98
three to five years in jail.
00:42:28.01\00:42:32.58
When I boarded the
elevator with my mother
00:42:32.61\00:42:35.08
I felt like I
was gonna collapse.
00:42:35.12\00:42:37.95
As we came out
00:42:37.99\00:42:39.49
of that skyscraper
overshadowing Hartford I--
00:42:39.52\00:42:43.02
the yellow taxi cabs are
going this way and that way.
00:42:43.06\00:42:46.13
The people are running
this way and walking that way
00:42:46.16\00:42:48.93
and the buses and I'm thinking
to myself I may go to jail.
00:42:48.96\00:42:55.00
Jail? Prison? Behind bars, me?
00:42:55.04\00:43:00.91
The court date arrived,
my parents had mobilized
00:43:00.94\00:43:06.38
and encouraged church
members to pray for me.
00:43:06.41\00:43:09.48
I was in desperate straits.
00:43:09.52\00:43:12.05
And so the church
members banded together
00:43:12.09\00:43:14.09
and prayed for me.
00:43:14.12\00:43:17.03
And the court date arrived
00:43:17.06\00:43:18.39
and my mother
escorted me to the court--
00:43:18.43\00:43:21.66
my mother and father
escorted to the court house
00:43:21.70\00:43:25.40
and I with a trembling
hand stuff my cigarette
00:43:25.43\00:43:28.54
into the sand filled ashtray
and entered the court room
00:43:28.57\00:43:31.67
with my parents.
00:43:31.71\00:43:33.21
We sat towards the back
00:43:33.24\00:43:35.81
and then the black
robed judge emerged.
00:43:35.84\00:43:40.08
Everybody stood at
attention and I'm sizing him up.
00:43:40.12\00:43:44.32
I'm looking him
over and I'm thinking
00:43:44.35\00:43:46.65
that red face judge looks
pretty mean to me, oh, boy.
00:43:46.69\00:43:53.66
And so when he sat
we all sat in unison.
00:43:53.70\00:43:57.67
And it seemed like eternity.
00:43:57.70\00:44:00.67
Mark Fox echoed the court room
and with my heart in my hand
00:44:00.70\00:44:06.57
I walked up before that
red faced mean looking judge.
00:44:06.61\00:44:10.71
Cleared his
throat and said, yeah.
00:44:16.05\00:44:21.39
I don't like
what I'm about to do
00:44:21.42\00:44:24.83
but I see no other alternative
00:44:24.86\00:44:27.66
because the people have not come
00:44:27.70\00:44:29.03
to press charges against you,
00:44:29.06\00:44:30.47
you may leave
this case is dismissed.
00:44:30.50\00:44:34.30
I turned around and
floated out of the court room.
00:44:34.34\00:44:39.47
When I boarded the
car with my parents
00:44:39.51\00:44:41.38
what do you
think my parents said,
00:44:41.41\00:44:44.65
Mark, church members
were praying for you.
00:44:44.68\00:44:50.89
They were praying for you, Mark,
00:44:50.92\00:44:52.55
the reason why you got off today
00:44:52.59\00:44:55.82
is because God has
had mercy upon you.
00:44:55.86\00:44:58.13
Give your heart to
Jesus, Mark. I heard my heart.
00:44:58.16\00:45:04.60
So the devil, the
devil tried to take my life
00:45:04.63\00:45:10.71
in that motorcycle accident.
00:45:10.74\00:45:12.71
The devil tried to
take my mind on that LSD.
00:45:12.74\00:45:16.85
The devil tried
to take my freedom.
00:45:16.88\00:45:19.68
God saved me from going to
jail for three to five years.
00:45:19.71\00:45:23.62
"He has not dealt with
us according to our sins,
00:45:23.65\00:45:26.96
nor punished us
according to our iniquities"
00:45:26.99\00:45:29.49
Psalms103:10.
00:45:29.52\00:45:31.29
That is sheer grace.
00:45:31.33\00:45:35.20
"I will contend with
him who contends with you."
00:45:35.23\00:45:38.40
Jesus fights for you
00:45:38.43\00:45:40.34
and He fights for your children.
00:45:40.37\00:45:42.47
There is powered prayer.
00:45:42.50\00:45:43.84
When you pray for your children
Jesus goes to fight for them.
00:45:43.87\00:45:47.04
Can you say amen tonight?
00:45:47.08\00:45:48.64
Those grandchildren
you are praying for,
00:45:48.68\00:45:50.81
keep praying because
there is a fight going on.
00:45:50.85\00:45:53.42
It's a fight to the
finish, Isaiah 49:25.
00:45:53.45\00:45:57.59
God save my mind from drugs.
00:45:57.62\00:46:00.59
"To preach deliverance
to the captives" Luke 4:18.
00:46:00.62\00:46:05.79
In 1975 that was
the real infamous year,
00:46:05.83\00:46:10.53
a lot of these experiences.
00:46:10.57\00:46:12.60
And in 1975 while
I was chain smoking
00:46:12.63\00:46:16.57
about two packs of cigarette
smoke coming out of everywhere
00:46:16.60\00:46:20.98
and on drugs
frequently, high school dropout,
00:46:21.01\00:46:26.51
almost went to jail,
I almost lost my life,
00:46:26.55\00:46:28.98
hanging around the wrong people,
00:46:29.02\00:46:31.12
borderline
alcoholic and at that time
00:46:31.15\00:46:34.06
when I was at my wore
Mark Finley comes in town.
00:46:34.09\00:46:39.19
A colleague of my father's
00:46:39.23\00:46:41.96
and they hold an
evangelistic series,
00:46:42.00\00:46:44.37
a Bible seminar like this one.
00:46:44.40\00:46:47.20
A Bible seminar entitled
00:46:47.24\00:46:49.84
or dubbed
Radiant Living Seminars"
00:46:49.87\00:46:54.61
And Mark Finley and my
parents sent Teenie Finley
00:46:54.64\00:46:59.38
they became very close.
00:46:59.41\00:47:00.85
They worked
together for weeks and weeks.
00:47:00.88\00:47:03.85
Mark Finley's meetings would go
00:47:03.89\00:47:05.89
for longer than we are
doing our seminar here.
00:47:05.92\00:47:09.12
And so they
would confide in him.
00:47:09.16\00:47:14.76
Mark, pray for our son.
00:47:14.80\00:47:18.07
Teenie, pray for our
son and they would give him
00:47:18.10\00:47:22.34
the update of what going
on in my checkered lifestyle.
00:47:22.37\00:47:27.28
And what was going
on in my experience.
00:47:27.31\00:47:30.91
And so, there they prayed.
00:47:30.95\00:47:33.95
They were
continually be praying for me.
00:47:33.98\00:47:35.98
The radiant
living evangelistic team
00:47:36.02\00:47:38.55
they would get
their team together
00:47:38.59\00:47:40.89
and they would
pray for me at my worst.
00:47:40.92\00:47:45.99
Well, then, I met
surely on the dance floor
00:47:46.03\00:47:50.50
of a discotheque and I--
00:47:50.53\00:47:53.70
we moved in
together and we decided,
00:47:53.74\00:47:56.64
or I was the one
who really decided
00:47:56.67\00:47:58.77
we are gonna get married.
00:47:58.81\00:48:00.44
She didn't feel the same
way that I felt but I thought,
00:48:00.48\00:48:04.45
you know, with my
good looks and my charms
00:48:04.48\00:48:08.28
I thought I'm gonna get
her and it wasn't working
00:48:08.32\00:48:13.22
and I was humbled.
00:48:13.25\00:48:15.76
You see, I was a
very proud teenager
00:48:15.79\00:48:19.16
but God knew how to humble me
and she was breaking my heart.
00:48:19.19\00:48:25.23
She was breaking my heart
and I tried the best I could,
00:48:25.27\00:48:30.34
try to dress just
right, try to impress her
00:48:30.37\00:48:34.48
and she still had an old flame
but we were living together
00:48:34.51\00:48:37.48
and my mother and my
father and an associate pastor
00:48:37.51\00:48:41.42
that my dad had Dave
Holden would keep bugging me.
00:48:41.45\00:48:44.29
Mark, you are living in sin.
00:48:44.32\00:48:45.79
If you want God to
bless this relationship
00:48:45.82\00:48:48.06
you got to move back
home and do things right.
00:48:48.09\00:48:50.96
I didn't want to hear about that
00:48:50.99\00:48:53.29
and so I thought okay,
00:48:53.33\00:48:54.66
I know what I'm
gonna do, I'm gonna quit--
00:48:54.70\00:48:56.03
her name was Shirley
and Shirley was a mistake
00:48:56.06\00:48:58.23
but I did right.
00:48:58.27\00:49:00.74
As you would feel the same way.
00:49:00.77\00:49:02.10
But anyway all he
knows is I thought okay,
00:49:02.14\00:49:05.41
what can I do to
salvage this relationship?
00:49:05.44\00:49:08.64
I want to go to the
altar, I want to tie the knot,
00:49:08.68\00:49:10.71
what can I do.
00:49:10.75\00:49:12.08
And so I thought,
okay, I'm gonna quit smoking.
00:49:12.11\00:49:14.65
I quit smoking, she
didn't ask me to. She smoke.
00:49:14.68\00:49:17.52
I quit drinking,
she didn't ask me too.
00:49:17.55\00:49:19.29
She drank. And I quit drugs.
00:49:19.32\00:49:21.92
Now that's one thing
she didn't do too much off
00:49:21.96\00:49:23.79
but I equip all of those
things for the relationship.
00:49:23.83\00:49:28.40
I quite cold turkey.
00:49:28.43\00:49:29.76
Don't tell me you
can't quit with cold turkey.
00:49:29.80\00:49:32.73
I'm here to tell you, you
can. And so I quit everything.
00:49:32.77\00:49:37.21
But as I look back
00:49:37.24\00:49:38.57
I know that although I
didn't give my heart to Jesus
00:49:38.61\00:49:41.61
any good thing comes from Jesus.
00:49:41.64\00:49:44.25
I believe that He
was working with me
00:49:44.28\00:49:47.02
before I had my home coming.
00:49:47.05\00:49:48.52
How many agree, Jesus
has to go and chase you down.
00:49:48.55\00:49:52.25
Nobody comes to
Jesus except the father
00:49:52.29\00:49:55.66
and Jesus and the
Holy Spirit drawn them.
00:49:55.69\00:49:57.56
Can you say amen?
00:49:57.59\00:49:58.93
"And him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out"
00:49:58.96\00:50:01.06
John 6:37.
00:50:01.10\00:50:02.43
So you know what happened?
00:50:02.46\00:50:03.80
What happened was yeah...
00:50:03.83\00:50:05.17
one week I was free and clear.
00:50:08.84\00:50:12.81
No talking, no
smoking, no drinking,
00:50:12.84\00:50:16.08
no drug, no nothing.
00:50:16.11\00:50:18.28
Only I got shakes, I had
to withdrawals and so forth
00:50:18.31\00:50:21.45
but I thought
for the relationship
00:50:21.48\00:50:23.49
I will do it.
00:50:23.52\00:50:26.86
How many believe
that when you start
00:50:26.89\00:50:29.56
to make a little progress
the devil is calculating
00:50:29.59\00:50:32.23
and stargazing how
to ensnare you again
00:50:32.26\00:50:34.90
and make you worse
than you were before.
00:50:34.93\00:50:38.27
And so the devil
has a plot in hell
00:50:38.30\00:50:42.60
and it worked.
00:50:42.64\00:50:45.74
She went for a weekend
she said, I need time to think
00:50:45.77\00:50:52.01
and she went
with her old boyfriend
00:50:52.05\00:50:54.15
for a weekend.
00:50:54.18\00:50:56.69
Can you say humble
pie, I was divested.
00:50:56.72\00:51:02.12
I wanted to marry this woman
00:51:02.16\00:51:03.53
and she is now
with her old flame
00:51:03.56\00:51:05.63
for a weekend and so I--
00:51:05.66\00:51:08.23
what do you think I did?
00:51:08.26\00:51:09.60
I call my buddies
went out in parties,
00:51:09.63\00:51:11.87
smoking, drinking,
drugs and so forth.
00:51:11.90\00:51:14.24
Then I came back home
she was still not there.
00:51:14.27\00:51:16.97
I had a broken heart
00:51:17.01\00:51:18.37
and now I was really
not feeling too good.
00:51:18.41\00:51:21.04
Woke up in the morning--
00:51:21.08\00:51:22.41
practically passed out.
00:51:22.44\00:51:23.78
Woke up in the morning
and I had two problems now.
00:51:23.81\00:51:27.98
She was not there,
I had a broken heart,
00:51:28.02\00:51:30.72
now I had a hangover
00:51:30.75\00:51:32.09
and I was not feeling
good at all, understatement.
00:51:32.12\00:51:35.19
Making trips to the rest room
and while I was feeling sick,
00:51:35.22\00:51:40.30
while I was at my
worse and my mind literally,
00:51:40.33\00:51:44.17
the ceiling was
literally spinning around.
00:51:44.20\00:51:47.37
I said to myself
I'm sick and tired
00:51:47.40\00:51:51.31
of being sick and tired
00:51:51.34\00:51:53.91
and I have never
touched those things ever since.
00:51:53.94\00:51:59.85
But now I had to
focus on Shirley.
00:51:59.88\00:52:03.85
And so she came back
home, back to the apartment.
00:52:03.89\00:52:08.16
I remember me seeing her car
and keep looking out the window
00:52:08.19\00:52:10.99
and sure enough pulled up
with her Pinto, her blue Pinto.
00:52:11.03\00:52:15.33
Remember Pintos?
00:52:15.36\00:52:18.03
And she pulled up and I went out
00:52:18.07\00:52:21.54
and she is crying and she saying
00:52:21.57\00:52:24.14
I'm sorry, made a mistake.
00:52:24.17\00:52:26.14
Yeah, tell me about it.
00:52:26.17\00:52:29.71
And I'm thinking to myself
I'll never trust her again.
00:52:29.74\00:52:33.92
But I just had to make
this relationship work.
00:52:33.95\00:52:37.75
Have you ever
been in a relationship
00:52:37.79\00:52:39.12
which was self-destructive
but you are staying anyway?
00:52:39.15\00:52:43.99
So I, I said okay.
00:52:44.03\00:52:49.93
What do I do now?
00:52:49.96\00:52:51.87
So we tried to patch things up,
00:52:51.90\00:52:53.23
try to put a band aid on things.
00:52:53.27\00:52:55.40
My heart was torn up.
00:52:55.44\00:52:57.14
Emotions all and
then I started thinking,
00:52:57.17\00:53:03.81
maybe God can straighten her
00:53:03.85\00:53:06.21
and help her to
be faithful to me
00:53:06.25\00:53:07.58
and we can get married
and live happily ever after.
00:53:07.62\00:53:12.75
And so that was my
quest, my new quest.
00:53:12.79\00:53:15.59
Now, I have given
my heart to the Lord
00:53:15.62\00:53:18.43
but let me just
have, just a few moments.
00:53:18.46\00:53:20.16
Listen carefully what happened.
00:53:20.20\00:53:23.80
Around this time my
parents were telling me,
00:53:23.83\00:53:28.80
Dave Holden there
my father's assistant
00:53:28.84\00:53:31.37
come on move back home
00:53:31.41\00:53:32.94
and I said, come on
I'll move back home.
00:53:32.97\00:53:35.24
So he was ready and
eager and Dave Holden,
00:53:35.28\00:53:37.71
Pastor Dave Holden,
associate pastor he backed up
00:53:37.75\00:53:41.92
in his pickup
there by my apartment
00:53:41.95\00:53:45.35
and I and he loaded
up my meager belongings
00:53:45.39\00:53:49.32
and I remember
Shirley came home,
00:53:49.36\00:53:51.69
what's going on at there.
00:53:51.73\00:53:53.33
I'm moving out
and she is crying.
00:53:53.36\00:53:55.60
Don't move out,
why you are moving out.
00:53:55.63\00:53:57.60
And I looked at her she
got cigarette in one hand,
00:53:57.63\00:53:59.63
a beer can on
the other and I said
00:53:59.67\00:54:01.00
we've got to have
God in our relationship.
00:54:01.04\00:54:04.37
She really felt
like he is really crazy.
00:54:04.41\00:54:09.11
But I thought
well, it feels good.
00:54:09.14\00:54:10.48
Maybe have an
upper hand in this.
00:54:10.51\00:54:13.25
And so around that time
00:54:13.28\00:54:15.38
moving back on
was very different.
00:54:15.42\00:54:16.79
We started
attending church together
00:54:16.82\00:54:18.15
and I'm thinking oh, I
hope she gets converted.
00:54:18.19\00:54:19.95
I hadn't given my heart, Lord,
00:54:19.99\00:54:21.52
I have no prayer
life, no study life
00:54:21.56\00:54:23.53
I was just focusing on
God getting her converted.
00:54:23.56\00:54:30.37
Around this time
we got a brochure,
00:54:30.40\00:54:32.00
my father got a brochure.
00:54:32.03\00:54:34.40
His friend Mark
Finley, this was 1977,
00:54:34.44\00:54:39.07
his friend Mark
Finely was holding
00:54:39.11\00:54:42.08
an evangelistic series of
Radiant Living Prophecy Seminar
00:54:42.11\00:54:45.81
was holding it in
Springfield, Massachusetts.
00:54:45.85\00:54:52.45
And that was a 45
minute drive from Hartford
00:54:52.49\00:54:56.69
and I told Shirley,
Shirley, we are going, let's go.
00:54:56.73\00:55:01.20
And she agreed. We
will go to these meetings.
00:55:01.23\00:55:04.07
And so faithfully night by night
00:55:04.10\00:55:07.30
we would travel in
her Pinto and we would go
00:55:07.34\00:55:12.47
to these evangelistic meeting
dubbed Radiant Living Seminars
00:55:12.51\00:55:16.78
by evangelist Mark
Finley and his team
00:55:16.81\00:55:19.41
and his singing evangelist
Mills, O.J. Mills and his wife.
00:55:19.45\00:55:23.82
And so night by night
my heart was being touched
00:55:23.85\00:55:27.26
but I thought wait,
let's first focus on her.
00:55:27.29\00:55:30.76
And so one night Mark
Finley made an altar call.
00:55:30.79\00:55:34.73
If you would like to
give your heart to Jesus
00:55:34.76\00:55:37.37
and you believe the
truth you been listening to
00:55:37.40\00:55:39.60
in the seminar come forward.
00:55:39.63\00:55:41.87
And, man, I'm
feeling the Holy Spirit
00:55:41.90\00:55:43.30
talk to my heart
and so I said to her,
00:55:43.34\00:55:46.07
I said, let's go forward.
00:55:46.11\00:55:48.38
And she said I'm not
going forward, you go forward.
00:55:48.41\00:55:52.15
I'm not going forward if
you are not going forward,
00:55:52.18\00:55:55.75
didn't want to go ahead of her.
00:55:55.78\00:55:57.45
Around this time
shaking hands at the door
00:55:57.49\00:56:00.49
Mark Finley, Mark Finley said,
00:56:00.52\00:56:03.12
Mark, can I talk
to you afterwards?
00:56:03.16\00:56:06.16
Little old me, all right
00:56:06.19\00:56:07.80
evangelist has
little time for me.
00:56:07.83\00:56:09.20
Sure, I'll talk to you, sure.
00:56:09.23\00:56:12.03
So after the people
disburse we sat down
00:56:12.07\00:56:14.17
of the edge of the
stage there in the auditorium
00:56:14.20\00:56:18.14
and he said, Mark, I
know you've gone through a lot
00:56:18.17\00:56:22.24
and I have a
Bible promise for you.
00:56:22.28\00:56:24.75
And the scripture
he shared is Joel 2:25,
00:56:24.78\00:56:30.39
"So I will restore to you
the years that the swarming
00:56:30.42\00:56:33.76
locust has eaten,
the crawling locust,
00:56:33.79\00:56:35.52
the consuming locust,
and the chewing locust,
00:56:35.56\00:56:37.96
my great army
which I sent among you."
00:56:37.99\00:56:39.93
Chewing locust and he
said, Mark, let me explain.
00:56:39.96\00:56:42.63
He said, Mark, all those
years you gave in the drugs
00:56:42.66\00:56:45.57
and drinking and partying.
00:56:45.60\00:56:47.20
If you give your heart to Jesus
00:56:47.24\00:56:49.44
He will restore you.
00:56:49.47\00:56:54.28
I was a dropout.
I was going nowhere.
00:56:54.31\00:57:00.92
But He gave me that promise.
00:57:00.95\00:57:03.35
Sometime after that crusade
00:57:03.39\00:57:06.62
God in a series of
incredible miracles
00:57:06.65\00:57:09.62
that I will share
next Saturday morning,
00:57:09.66\00:57:12.93
God brought me to
the foot of the cross
00:57:12.96\00:57:16.30
and I gave my heart for Jesus.
00:57:16.33\00:57:19.63
As we close you
can have a comeback.
00:57:19.67\00:57:25.24
You can get
your first love back.
00:57:25.27\00:57:28.38
You can find Jesus.
He is your everything.
00:57:28.41\00:57:33.82
Your best friend.
Your personal Savior.
00:57:33.85\00:57:38.15
Although sudden
and alarming changes
00:57:39.55\00:57:41.72
are sweeping across the
globe you and your family
00:57:41.76\00:57:44.79
can be prepared to face
the future with confidence.
00:57:44.83\00:57:48.40
The complete set
of Amazing Prophecies
00:57:48.43\00:57:50.80
on DVD are available
for a gift of $60 or more.
00:57:50.83\00:57:55.00
Call us at 1-855-336-FREE
00:57:55.04\00:57:59.77
or send your
check or money order
00:57:59.81\00:58:01.34
to Forever Free
Ministries, 2001 Munro Park,
00:58:01.38\00:58:06.28
Corinth, Texas, 76208.
00:58:06.31\00:58:10.35
If you would
like to have Mark Fox
00:58:10.39\00:58:11.85
hold an Amazing Prophecy seminar
00:58:11.89\00:58:14.12
or a marriage seminar
weekend in your church
00:58:14.16\00:58:16.76
contact us today,
00:58:16.79\00:58:18.19
markfox
@foreverfreeministries.org
00:58:18.23\00:58:22.16