The following program
discusses sensitive issues
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related to addictive behavior.
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Parents are
cautioned that some material
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may be too candid
for younger children.
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I cannot believe it is 10 years,
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Celebrating Life in Recovery,
and we are still standing.
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We're still here.
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Do you have any
idea how many lives,
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how many stories we've
highlighted in these 10 years
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that we've been
doing this program.
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No, but those very
people are changing lives,
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it's amazing.
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Come and join us in the café,
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I can't wait to
share this season with you,
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it's so fun.
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Hello, and welcome to
Celebrating Life in Recovery.
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My name is C.A. Murray
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and I'm in the
presence of the lovely
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and talented Cheri Peters,
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and I like to tease her,
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because she's most
lovely and talented.
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And this show always
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bespeaks a new
season that is beginning,
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and, Cheri, I'm told this is our
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tenth sitting together,
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we're in season number 10,
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can you believe that
we've done this 10 times
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that you've been there
for 10 years of programs.
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Ten years of
programs and every single time
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we start to put it together.
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I realize that
this group that we have
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the people that who we're gonna,
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that we're gonna
interview are so rich
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and they are dealing
with such intense issues
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and I forget
it's a program again,
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I'm thinking this is ministry,
heck with the program...
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I tell them don't pay attention
to any of these cameras,
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let God take you this next step.
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And so it's really exciting
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that I still don't look at
it as just another program.
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Yeah and it is not
just a little program,
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it is by default
we're producing content,
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we're producing television
programs for this network,
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but it is
active ongoing ministry
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and you know, I
have a thing called
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objective camera,
subjective camera.
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Subjective camera is a
camera just kind of sits there
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and like it's peeking in on
something that's going on...
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And that's what
this program is kind of,
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something is happening
and we get to look in and see
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what is happening and
enjoy what is happening
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and be enriched and
encouraged by what is happening.
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And I love that. Yeah.
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You know, and when
you talk about content,
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this is first year we're doing
some changes and they are huge.
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There you changes in
that there in between
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seasons people call so
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or sometimes even come
and stay at a week at a ranch,
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do some pretty heavy
issues that we go to churches
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and camp meetings and prisons
and all that kind of stuff,
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and work with, you know,
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anger and addiction
and eating disorders
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and workaholism,
and religious addiction,
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we work with all of that stuff,
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but I thought you know what,
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how can we do that for
somebody that is looking on
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and says I just need more.
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I heard what the guest said
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I get what you're
saying but I need more,
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so we're starting our own studio
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so that we're not having
to fly here every single time,
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but our own studio at the ranch,
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smaller studio that we
could drop content online,
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so if you go to our website,
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you could actually find
things that will help you
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through the week
or through your month
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just to get your
own legs underneath you.
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Yeah. Yeah.
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Because I believe for all of us,
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all of us are so uniquely gifted
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and when we get that
and we get some tools,
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we'll change the world.
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And so we're just
gonna drop content
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and we're gonna start to mentor
people in a different way,
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and if there is anything
that you want us to cover
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just send us an email.
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You know, I do love that
idea and as I said you before,
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it is the natural
evolution of what you do here.
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For two reasons,
one you can't cover
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everything in one hour
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and you have several guests,
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so sometimes it's in
30 minutes or even less,
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so questions may
arise and people are saying,
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okay, I see that,
but I got some questions
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I need some more
stuff, then I got place to go,
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and two,
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you may be called
or you may know someone
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who's in a similar situation
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and you need some
help knowing what to say
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and how to approach it
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because a lot of
people we talked about this,
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a lot of people
really want to mentor,
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want to help, want
to do what they can,
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they don't know what to say...
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Absolutely.
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They don't know what to do,
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they don't know how to deal
with that particular experience
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and rather than going
and say the wrong thing,
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they say nothing,
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so now I got some
place to go to get
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some stuff that will help me,
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in case I want to help
somebody with his problem.
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And what I love
'cause I've thought about
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how can we do that the best,
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so not only are we gonna
drop the content and saying,
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you know, here's 15, 20 minutes,
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30 minutes on this,
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and we'd try to keep it short
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'cause, you know, people don't
want to stay online all day
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but here are some short things
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and then right underneath that,
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we'll say, if
you have a question
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you want us to go further,
let me know what you need.
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Yeah. Yeah.
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And then we'll,
I'll grab somebody like,
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you know, C.A, I don't want to,
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you know, that I love you
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and you have some
brilliant teachings
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and you have
some brilliant stuff,
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so if somebody needed, you know,
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some insight from a man's
point of view on this issue,
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instead of me
trying to figure out
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what do I think about that,
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I'll grab someone
that I know and love.
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So you know,
here's some content,
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ask questions, what do you need
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and we'll drop it on.
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This season I want to tell you
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what we're covering this season,
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every season we
go through a book.
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A friend of mine,
he passed not long ago
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which I'm really sad about,
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but he wrote a book
called Victory in Jesus.
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And what I love about
this book is Bill ended up
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putting some things in this book
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I was just talking
about what is grace,
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what is about
salvation, what did God do,
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what sought of response to
that and he's so brilliant,
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so the whole season
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we're gonna go
through a teaching on this,
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so at the end of
the season you say,
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you know what, I
want the book, get it,
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it's a brilliant
teaching, but I also have
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because I wanted to for
people that don't really
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learn in the same
way is I brought a book
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about just different aspects
of who God is in stories.
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Same kind of
teaching but it's in stories.
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So this season
we got, God is Crazy
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about You available,
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Victory in Jesus available,
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and anything that you send us
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helps us to do
this content things,
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so if you don't want
the book just send us cash.
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So I'm just saying,
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but any so we're
looking at Victory in Jesus,
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we're looking at Grace,
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and we even before I
want to start showing
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some of the Romans that
we did is Victory in Jesus,
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what is Grace, as we
start out with Romans
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to forward says, you know,
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God is so
amazingly patient with us
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and gracious with us.
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From the child
molester to the drug addict,
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to the preacher that is angry
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or husband
there're just addictions,
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I mean He's so
gracious with all of us,
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and in Romans it says
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are you angry
that He is so gracious.
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He is gracious 'cause
that leads us to healing,
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leads us to Himself,
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so we're gonna start this
whole season with that concept,
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is God will lead us home
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if we just say
every day I surrender.
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Praise the Lord.
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I'm impressed
that several years ago
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you began to peg each
series to particular book,
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which became like the
muse for that particular season
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and of course
these are two good ones,
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but it also gives the person
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who is watching who
wants to get some foundation,
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some place to go and
some place to start from
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and it does give a
context for the whole series,
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so these are two great books.
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I have not had the
privilege of reading this,
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I have to get this and read it.
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I think this is
the really cool cover,
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I just, I like the cover, yeah.
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The God is Crazy about You.
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Yeah, God is Crazy about You.
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And I buy books
because of titles,
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just see and I'll see a book,
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oh, I like that title,
I'm gonna buy and read it.
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I will buy this and
read God is Crazy about You.
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Yeah, I'll read that.
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Oh, he's willing to meet
even in the writing of this book
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is when I was saved.
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I really got the fact
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that God was crazy
about me, I got it.
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I mean, I felt
like he was kissing me
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on the face everyday,
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couldn't wait till I got
up, to show me something new.
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I felt like for the
first time I have a family
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that absolutely
delights in me and adores me
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and in the midst of my craziness
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there's hope and
there's a direction...
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And but what was really
crazy as every time I went out,
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I would watch God do something
brilliant for someone else
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and everything would be set up
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and I'm thinking is he
doing this for everybody.
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How far is that?
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You know, one
little girl left at Alaska,
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she's in the
middle of nowhere...
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Read Miracle from the
Street which was our first book
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and all she did, she
was, had been molested,
00:09:14.28\00:09:16.69
her family are drug addict,
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she has had
people die of alcoholism
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and she just said someday
I'd like to meet her, right.
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And all of a sudden I
get a call 16 gigs in Alaska
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and all I end up on this island
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in front of
this kid and I think,
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it was the
whole event about her.
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And so the aspect
of God saying that,
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you know, what I
promise you don't look around
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at all of the big
things that are happening,
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I care about
you, I'm in your life,
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I'll move things for you
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and devil will
scream that's not true
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and we have to really
stop listening to the enemy
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and start saying God,
are you here right now?
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Do you see me right
now and when he says, yes,
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it is so sweet,
00:09:58.93\00:10:00.50
so...
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You use an expression,
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I think no one
else on planet earth
00:10:03.26\00:10:04.93
could use this
and get away with it.
00:10:04.97\00:10:07.30
But it has become such
a part of who you are...
00:10:07.34\00:10:12.67
I feel like
kissing God on the face,
00:10:12.71\00:10:14.61
it is such a,
00:10:14.64\00:10:16.04
when you get the mental picture
of where that is coming from,
00:10:16.08\00:10:19.28
it is so sweet and so genuine
00:10:19.31\00:10:21.35
and so, Cheri, I just,
I really love that, yeah.
00:10:21.38\00:10:24.22
I think that even growing
up in abuse home that I...
00:10:24.25\00:10:28.26
at times even as a
little girl I thought,
00:10:28.29\00:10:31.13
I wish somebody
would even touch my face,
00:10:31.16\00:10:34.06
would even, you know,
00:10:34.10\00:10:36.00
you see that kind of
a mother kissing a child
00:10:36.03\00:10:39.47
or a child kissing a
mother, I never got that.
00:10:39.50\00:10:42.07
And so to me
when all of a sudden
00:10:42.10\00:10:43.81
I just felt God
saying that you know,
00:10:43.84\00:10:45.97
there's gonna be a day
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that I will kiss
you all of your face.
00:10:47.48\00:10:49.78
That I love you, and
I think it's so sweet
00:10:49.81\00:10:53.88
that God knows our injuries
and speaks right to them.
00:10:53.92\00:10:56.89
He speaks indeed. Yeah.
00:10:56.92\00:10:58.25
Indeed, yeah.
00:10:58.29\00:10:59.62
So that's what, that
is the genesis of that
00:10:59.65\00:11:01.76
and it's a beautiful story,
00:11:01.79\00:11:03.12
and it's a nice
way to relate to God
00:11:03.16\00:11:05.69
and to see God
relating to you, He really is.
00:11:05.73\00:11:08.03
Yeah, He truly is my
father, He truly is my friend.
00:11:08.06\00:11:11.27
And you know,
when the first time
00:11:11.30\00:11:14.50
I don't know why
but the first time
00:11:14.54\00:11:16.30
He told me a joke, I
could not stop laughing
00:11:16.34\00:11:19.11
and I thought did
you just tell me a joke,
00:11:19.14\00:11:21.54
and everybody is like
God doesn't tell you a joke,
00:11:21.58\00:11:23.98
that's not true, if you ask Him,
00:11:24.01\00:11:26.08
by the end of the day
He will tell you a joke
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and I want you to
email what it was.
00:11:28.58\00:11:30.69
It's just crazy
00:11:30.72\00:11:32.05
that we have a
feeling that God is only this.
00:11:32.09\00:11:34.96
Yes.
00:11:34.99\00:11:36.32
And God says if I was only that,
00:11:36.36\00:11:37.69
I couldn't get you home.
00:11:37.73\00:11:39.06
Precisely. I'm
everything to you.
00:11:39.09\00:11:40.43
Ultra-relational.
00:11:40.46\00:11:41.80
Yeah, very much so.
00:11:41.83\00:11:43.16
And he gives it to you in the,
00:11:43.20\00:11:45.67
the way that you can
digest it and accept it
00:11:45.70\00:11:48.64
and let become part of you,
00:11:48.67\00:11:50.01
so we've got some good
stuff that you do, do we not?
00:11:50.04\00:11:51.94
It's so amazing. Yeah.
00:11:51.97\00:11:53.31
Let show the first time
roll in I want to show you
00:11:53.34\00:11:56.61
who's coming
on, a friend of mine
00:11:56.64\00:11:59.51
was a mess and she was little.
00:11:59.55\00:12:01.48
I've known her for
probably 12, 13 years
00:12:01.52\00:12:04.15
and her husband was convicted
of being a perpetrator,
00:12:04.19\00:12:11.09
child molester when
he was 18 in high school.
00:12:11.13\00:12:16.03
He turned 18, he
still has a same girlfriend
00:12:16.06\00:12:19.63
the day after his 18th birthday
00:12:19.67\00:12:21.50
they actually say
you need to register
00:12:21.54\00:12:23.57
for the rest of your life,
00:12:23.61\00:12:24.94
and he's been registered
as a convicted sex offender
00:12:24.97\00:12:28.71
since that time and
wanting to scream at somebody,
00:12:28.74\00:12:31.71
you know, what I didn't
do it and the story is so sad
00:12:31.75\00:12:35.28
but so incredible
watching this family healed.
00:12:35.32\00:12:40.46
The other couple on this roll in
00:12:40.49\00:12:44.79
is some friends
of mine that I love,
00:12:44.83\00:12:47.60
Stacy and Erin and
they when I met them,
00:12:47.63\00:12:51.03
they own five strip clubs,
00:12:51.07\00:12:52.53
they were very, very well to do
00:12:52.57\00:12:55.10
as far as moneys that
come in this industry.
00:12:55.14\00:12:58.27
But you know,
00:12:58.31\00:12:59.64
something happened
and God stepped in...
00:12:59.67\00:13:01.74
And it's like how you know,
00:13:01.78\00:13:03.11
even when somebody says
what do you do for a living,
00:13:03.14\00:13:05.68
and you're trying to figure
out who you are spiritually
00:13:05.71\00:13:08.58
and you have to answer I
own the strip clubs in town.
00:13:08.62\00:13:11.25
Yeah.
00:13:11.29\00:13:12.62
And it really waxed him
00:13:12.65\00:13:13.99
like how do I
do this transition,
00:13:14.02\00:13:16.32
and how do I walk
away from everything
00:13:16.36\00:13:18.19
I know his family
00:13:18.23\00:13:19.59
generationally
has own these clubs.
00:13:19.63\00:13:21.93
His brothers, he
was raised there,
00:13:21.96\00:13:23.63
all of that stuff.
00:13:23.67\00:13:25.03
And Stacy, his
wife was a stripper
00:13:25.07\00:13:28.10
and that's what she knew
00:13:28.14\00:13:29.60
and so now this
family allows God
00:13:29.64\00:13:34.34
to show them actually
who they are in Christ
00:13:34.38\00:13:36.58
and most of us want to
throw people like that away.
00:13:36.61\00:13:39.61
And that's what that
was coming to my mind,
00:13:39.65\00:13:41.42
yeah, yeah, we just...
00:13:41.45\00:13:42.92
first all we think
they're beyond hope,
00:13:42.95\00:13:44.29
they'll never, there
is nothing we can say,
00:13:44.32\00:13:46.09
nothing we can do to reach them
00:13:46.12\00:13:47.72
so we just back away from them.
00:13:47.76\00:13:49.96
And even if I could
reach them, they should pay.
00:13:49.99\00:13:52.99
Yeah. Yeah.
00:13:53.03\00:13:54.36
They should pay. Yes, yes, yes.
00:13:54.40\00:13:55.73
They erect this
whole town. Right.
00:13:55.76\00:13:57.10
Right, yeah. And
God said I pay it.
00:13:57.13\00:13:58.97
Jesus said I pay it. Amen.
00:13:59.00\00:14:00.84
And it's such a cool
thing that we have to get over,
00:14:00.87\00:14:03.30
that none of us could pay.
00:14:03.34\00:14:05.61
My dad when I came
to God was too big.
00:14:05.64\00:14:08.04
So I'm gonna have
you watch this roll in
00:14:08.08\00:14:09.88
and know that we can't pay.
00:14:09.91\00:14:11.51
Right.
00:14:11.55\00:14:12.88
We don't have enough.
00:14:12.91\00:14:14.25
So to study even...
00:14:17.19\00:14:20.59
I was on parole
after I got out of prison.
00:14:20.62\00:14:22.46
I was on parole
for three years which,
00:14:22.49\00:14:24.66
it was a very hard
parole years for sex offender...
00:14:24.69\00:14:28.26
It's impossible.
00:14:28.30\00:14:29.63
Yeah, they want you to fail.
00:14:29.66\00:14:31.40
I can't go to
parks, I can't do anything.
00:14:31.43\00:14:34.04
But anyway Rayne gets
pregnant in a term of parole
00:14:34.07\00:14:37.07
I said about this and she says
you can't be around your kid
00:14:37.11\00:14:40.34
until if you take this
class for sex offenders.
00:14:40.38\00:14:43.41
Now I was in prison and
I have to take this class,
00:14:43.45\00:14:45.58
but I'm on
parole I got to take it,
00:14:45.61\00:14:48.05
so for me even be
around my own son,
00:14:48.08\00:14:51.09
I got to take
this sex offender class
00:14:51.12\00:14:53.52
and so I do it.
00:14:53.56\00:14:55.82
Do whatever I got
to be around my son.
00:14:55.86\00:14:58.26
About that time my grandmother
00:14:58.29\00:14:59.96
was getting out
of the penitentiary
00:15:00.00\00:15:01.63
she had served her time,
00:15:01.66\00:15:03.53
she got out early actually
00:15:03.57\00:15:04.97
so I guess she didn't
served all of her time.
00:15:05.00\00:15:08.57
And she heard about
the living conditions
00:15:08.60\00:15:12.07
being so poor and
send my uncle for me
00:15:12.11\00:15:17.48
because she was
gonna be released and she,
00:15:17.51\00:15:20.08
we're gonna...
00:15:20.12\00:15:21.45
So your bags are packed again.
00:15:21.48\00:15:22.82
Well, if I had any bags
00:15:22.85\00:15:24.85
I would have packed
and may have put what
00:15:24.89\00:15:26.65
few things I had
into a garbage bag
00:15:26.69\00:15:28.82
and put in my locker at school.
00:15:28.86\00:15:31.23
And my uncle was
late picking me up,
00:15:31.26\00:15:33.86
he got stuck in traffic,
00:15:33.90\00:15:35.66
the plan was for
him to come and get me
00:15:35.70\00:15:38.83
and then they
were gonna rescue me
00:15:38.87\00:15:40.34
and take me back
to my grandmother
00:15:40.37\00:15:42.70
and he was late coming in
00:15:42.74\00:15:46.07
and so I just had to walk home,
00:15:46.11\00:15:49.94
and I got beat
so severely that day
00:15:49.98\00:15:54.12
and not by my mother,
00:15:54.15\00:15:55.95
but by her boyfriend at the time
00:15:55.98\00:15:58.65
with an extension
cord and it was just awful.
00:15:58.69\00:16:02.66
I had woke up one
morning and I had just had it.
00:16:02.69\00:16:06.90
And I went and sat
down in the shower,
00:16:06.93\00:16:10.07
I turn the lights
off and everything
00:16:10.10\00:16:11.73
and I was
literally just breaking down
00:16:11.77\00:16:15.20
and I was really
letting God have it
00:16:15.24\00:16:18.51
and just that I
upheld my end of the deal,
00:16:18.54\00:16:20.74
where are you and
very, very colorfully
00:16:20.78\00:16:23.45
letting him know
that I wasn't impressed.
00:16:23.48\00:16:25.58
Right.
00:16:25.61\00:16:26.95
And but as it continued
00:16:26.98\00:16:30.62
I remember literally
just throwing my hands out
00:16:30.65\00:16:32.79
and tell him you do it.
00:16:32.82\00:16:34.46
Little more colorfully than that
00:16:34.49\00:16:35.82
but literally
those words you do it.
00:16:35.86\00:16:38.29
So I got myself together
and I got under the shower
00:16:38.33\00:16:41.43
and I just went on with my
morning like I normally would
00:16:41.46\00:16:43.77
and went down and
turn the computer on
00:16:43.80\00:16:45.83
and there were three mails,
00:16:45.87\00:16:48.44
I don't remember
what the other two were,
00:16:48.47\00:16:50.91
but part of the
conversation with God
00:16:50.94\00:16:55.04
was that I wanted him to make it
00:16:55.08\00:16:56.44
very obvious I mean like...
00:16:56.48\00:16:58.01
The direction. Right.
00:16:58.05\00:16:59.48
Like what do
you want me to do...
00:16:59.51\00:17:01.25
A big white board
with bright letters
00:17:01.28\00:17:03.69
so I don't get this wrong
00:17:03.72\00:17:05.05
'cause apparently
I'm not doing this right.
00:17:05.09\00:17:06.92
And I found
that was the problem,
00:17:06.96\00:17:10.09
I'm not doing this right.
00:17:10.13\00:17:12.56
Well, you know,
one of the things that
00:17:12.59\00:17:16.30
we did years ago
sitting and writing this,
00:17:16.33\00:17:18.47
I remember you and I made a pact
00:17:18.50\00:17:20.54
that we would not be shocked
00:17:20.57\00:17:22.07
anymore by
anything that happened,
00:17:22.10\00:17:23.51
you know, this kind of stories
00:17:23.54\00:17:27.34
says a number of things, Cherri.
00:17:27.38\00:17:28.71
One, no one is
too far gone. Amen.
00:17:28.74\00:17:31.48
No one is too hardcore,
00:17:31.51\00:17:33.78
no one is so resistant
00:17:33.82\00:17:37.49
that a spirit of God cannot
break down and change lives.
00:17:37.52\00:17:40.29
Two, there is nothing that
we can do that shocks the Lord,
00:17:40.32\00:17:44.33
you know, or that
makes him recoil from us.
00:17:44.36\00:17:48.80
This industry has
destroyed a lot of lives
00:17:48.83\00:17:53.90
and done a lot of stuff,
00:17:53.94\00:17:56.04
but God can
reach in that industry
00:17:56.07\00:17:58.41
and pull brands from the fire
just like He can by himself.
00:17:58.44\00:18:01.31
And that's what so
exciting about what you do
00:18:01.34\00:18:04.45
and this kind of story
00:18:04.48\00:18:06.35
because if God can get
in here and change this,
00:18:06.38\00:18:08.95
then there is nobody
too far gone for the Lord.
00:18:08.98\00:18:10.95
What's really interesting
to me about all three of these
00:18:10.99\00:18:13.56
'cause, you know, Adam comes,
00:18:13.59\00:18:16.19
he comes drunk
and still in his mess
00:18:16.22\00:18:20.06
and on a program I remember
looking at him and saying
00:18:20.10\00:18:24.60
how does it feel
convicted sex offender
00:18:24.63\00:18:27.17
and you have to
do that for 25 years,
00:18:27.20\00:18:28.97
and you were just with
your girlfriend in high school.
00:18:29.00\00:18:32.31
And he said, you know,
I just think, you know,
00:18:32.34\00:18:35.81
I get by one day at a time
00:18:35.84\00:18:37.48
and I'm thinking how about
if you stop doing that with me,
00:18:37.51\00:18:40.32
how does it really feel,
00:18:40.35\00:18:41.68
I don't want to hear that stuff,
00:18:41.72\00:18:43.05
I don't want to hear what
you tell your parole officer
00:18:43.08\00:18:45.59
and finally he
said it feels horrible,
00:18:45.62\00:18:47.69
I'm so angry, I hate everybody
00:18:47.72\00:18:50.36
and I have to drink to survive.
00:18:50.39\00:18:52.13
And when he said
that, I finally got it,
00:18:52.16\00:18:54.10
God has to get
through somebody that says
00:18:54.13\00:18:56.67
I'm at my at the
end of everything
00:18:56.70\00:18:59.63
and even when you
get into some places
00:18:59.67\00:19:01.84
for the God himself to reach in
00:19:01.87\00:19:05.37
and pull one of his kids out
in the midst of this darkness,
00:19:05.41\00:19:09.01
it is a
miracle. It is a miracle.
00:19:09.04\00:19:10.95
It is a miracle indeed.
00:19:10.98\00:19:12.31
And so to me I love that,
00:19:12.35\00:19:14.52
it's truly tough when we
start judging one another
00:19:14.55\00:19:16.99
'cause God says don't not
even the angels are judging.
00:19:17.02\00:19:19.99
No one's judging right now,
we're just trying to redeem,
00:19:20.02\00:19:22.46
we're just
trying to get them home.
00:19:22.49\00:19:24.03
Yeah, and
that's what so powerful
00:19:24.06\00:19:25.56
about this whole deal,
00:19:25.59\00:19:26.93
because you get a guy, you know,
00:19:26.96\00:19:28.30
he's not checking passports
or checking driver's license
00:19:28.33\00:19:30.83
or carding anybody,
00:19:30.87\00:19:32.20
he was with his girlfriend
00:19:32.23\00:19:33.57
and now for the rest of
your life because of an act,
00:19:33.60\00:19:38.31
a series of acts
you get this label,
00:19:38.34\00:19:40.41
you get this,
00:19:40.44\00:19:41.78
you're put in this
category that you know,
00:19:41.81\00:19:45.91
it defines a lot of who you are
00:19:45.95\00:19:48.62
and it certainly defines
00:19:48.65\00:19:49.98
how a lot of
people think about you,
00:19:50.02\00:19:51.62
so now it's gonna be the Lord
00:19:51.65\00:19:53.69
and people like you will help me
00:19:53.72\00:19:55.19
think differently about myself,
00:19:55.22\00:19:56.62
'cause the world has kind
of toss me away, you know.
00:19:56.66\00:19:58.29
Exactly.
00:19:58.33\00:19:59.66
Yeah, and I'm not that,
00:19:59.69\00:20:01.03
I'm much more than that.
00:20:01.06\00:20:02.56
So to me I think that
00:20:02.60\00:20:04.17
it's really interesting to me is
00:20:04.20\00:20:07.10
what is God
doing to redeem people.
00:20:07.14\00:20:10.31
And so I was really glad to show
00:20:10.34\00:20:12.54
that I'm hoping that
I didn't offend anyone,
00:20:12.57\00:20:15.31
because I love these guys
00:20:15.34\00:20:17.11
and I feel like there's
nobody out of the reach of God.
00:20:17.15\00:20:20.62
There's nobody
that grace can't change.
00:20:20.65\00:20:23.12
There's nobody that God can say,
00:20:23.15\00:20:24.95
let me change out
your filthy garments
00:20:24.99\00:20:26.82
and nobody is innocent.
00:20:26.86\00:20:28.86
You know, and I
would love to say,
00:20:28.89\00:20:31.06
no, no, no, I'm
innocent, I was framed.
00:20:31.09\00:20:32.96
You know all of that stuff,
00:20:32.99\00:20:34.86
and God said there
is nobody innocent,
00:20:34.90\00:20:36.60
that's why Jesus
died, and he did it all.
00:20:36.63\00:20:39.97
He did it all.
00:20:40.00\00:20:41.34
We got to get
that, surrender that
00:20:41.37\00:20:42.97
and let it change us.
00:20:43.00\00:20:45.14
So the next roll in
I'd like to introduce is
00:20:45.17\00:20:48.48
Verism Barker is a writer
00:20:48.51\00:20:50.61
and she loves to work
with many at risk women.
00:20:50.65\00:20:54.45
She puts them to
work, blesses their lives,
00:20:54.48\00:20:57.12
steps into their lives
all of that kind of stuff
00:20:57.15\00:20:59.79
but she had her own
struggles and won my heart,
00:20:59.82\00:21:02.89
she's trying to call me to see
00:21:02.92\00:21:04.56
if I would interview an
at risk girl named Connie,
00:21:04.59\00:21:07.50
but her story changed me.
00:21:07.53\00:21:10.63
Well, the fact
that for a lot of us,
00:21:10.67\00:21:13.00
we don't slow down to mentor
00:21:13.03\00:21:15.20
and to reaching
to each other's lives
00:21:15.24\00:21:17.57
and when we do, it changes us
00:21:17.61\00:21:19.14
and it definitely changes them.
00:21:19.17\00:21:20.74
And so you got Verism, you know,
00:21:20.78\00:21:23.91
I think on this rolling
you're gonna see Connie.
00:21:23.95\00:21:26.31
Connie is, you know, a
mess, her family was a mess.
00:21:26.35\00:21:29.88
She's been abused her whole life
00:21:29.92\00:21:31.45
and then jumped
into her addiction.
00:21:31.49\00:21:33.52
And then a friend of
mine, I love this guy,
00:21:33.56\00:21:36.99
and Nico, if you're watching
00:21:37.03\00:21:38.56
I just have to say I love him,
00:21:38.59\00:21:40.00
number one cage
fighter in the world in 1999,
00:21:40.03\00:21:44.40
got so twisted, and
he said at one point,
00:21:44.43\00:21:47.44
I would not tap out.
00:21:47.47\00:21:49.80
I'm in it for the
long run, you know.
00:21:49.84\00:21:51.47
We're gonna...
00:21:51.51\00:21:52.84
one of us is gonna be
dead at the end of this fight.
00:21:52.87\00:21:54.71
And that was his life,
so enjoy this next segment
00:21:54.74\00:21:58.85
because each of these
stories are really different,
00:21:58.88\00:22:03.18
but you'll see grace.
00:22:03.22\00:22:05.65
I remember one day,
00:22:05.69\00:22:08.09
my father wanted some
money to buy more jewels,
00:22:08.12\00:22:13.26
you know, so he
kept after my mother,
00:22:13.29\00:22:15.53
you know, for money, money
00:22:15.56\00:22:16.90
and finally said you know
what she has no more money,
00:22:16.93\00:22:19.33
why don't you leave her alone.
00:22:19.37\00:22:21.90
And of course, we
got into this big fight,
00:22:21.94\00:22:24.01
but I stood up to him,
00:22:24.04\00:22:25.57
and I remember her
having a nervous break down
00:22:25.61\00:22:29.84
and she went to the bedroom,
00:22:29.88\00:22:31.38
and I know we had
a gun in the house,
00:22:31.41\00:22:33.28
and I went behind my mother.
00:22:33.31\00:22:35.22
She said, I
can't take this anymore
00:22:35.25\00:22:37.42
and I'm gonna kill myself,
00:22:37.45\00:22:38.89
so she grab the gun
and she took it to her head
00:22:38.92\00:22:42.92
and I grabbed her
00:22:42.96\00:22:44.43
and I took it, the gun from her.
00:22:44.46\00:22:46.23
And I remember hiding
the gun and then stopping
00:22:46.26\00:22:50.60
and I looked in the mirror
and I was shaking like this,
00:22:50.63\00:22:54.27
and I said God, I can't do this,
00:22:54.30\00:22:56.67
this is just too much for me,
00:22:56.71\00:22:58.21
so I was still living
with all those anxiety,
00:22:58.24\00:23:01.51
so I would have anxiety text,
00:23:01.54\00:23:03.31
and I would try to
go to job interviews
00:23:03.35\00:23:05.11
so to fill out the
application you know,
00:23:05.15\00:23:07.42
I was just totally shot.
00:23:07.45\00:23:09.35
So at that point in time
00:23:09.38\00:23:11.22
is when God started to
reach me through a poetry.
00:23:11.25\00:23:16.19
And if you ever see a puzzle,
00:23:16.22\00:23:18.06
you need to see the picture
00:23:18.09\00:23:20.43
in order to put
that puzzle together.
00:23:20.46\00:23:22.23
It's absolutely.
00:23:22.26\00:23:23.60
Right. Yeah.
00:23:23.63\00:23:24.97
But can you imagine
putting that picture together
00:23:25.00\00:23:27.24
or that puzzle together
when you had no picture.
00:23:27.27\00:23:29.07
No.
00:23:29.10\00:23:30.44
So here I am in this world
with nefarious dark characters,
00:23:30.47\00:23:34.24
I like to see clowns
from out of town upside down
00:23:34.28\00:23:37.61
and God, the Holy Spirit,
00:23:37.65\00:23:40.58
Jesus Christ our creative Father
00:23:40.62\00:23:43.89
thought enough of
his child who was broken,
00:23:43.92\00:23:46.09
who was lost, who was addicted.
00:23:46.12\00:23:48.46
To start to give him
words of compassion and empathy.
00:23:48.49\00:23:52.53
You talk not to be judgmental,
I mean you receive that,
00:23:52.56\00:23:55.66
you were told in the home,
00:23:55.70\00:23:57.40
and then as you grow older
00:23:57.43\00:23:58.93
and you get into societies so...
00:23:58.97\00:24:01.37
You get it.
00:24:01.40\00:24:02.74
Then you get the
lessons you were being taught,
00:24:02.77\00:24:04.37
so it taught me then that, okay,
00:24:04.41\00:24:06.57
there must be a
reason why year after year
00:24:06.61\00:24:09.28
people will be here
they're not moving forward.
00:24:09.31\00:24:12.15
It has to be more than that,
00:24:12.18\00:24:13.68
so I need to sit back
and get away from myself,
00:24:13.72\00:24:18.72
and stop thinking
that I am the example.
00:24:18.75\00:24:21.42
And let me start
looking at how I can give back.
00:24:21.46\00:24:25.33
What I love about
00:24:25.36\00:24:27.40
those three
interviews was Verism Barker.
00:24:27.43\00:24:30.93
When I first
started talking to her,
00:24:30.97\00:24:32.87
I thought she wasn't the one
00:24:32.90\00:24:35.00
that we were
even thinking about,
00:24:35.04\00:24:36.50
but man, when she talked about
00:24:36.54\00:24:38.77
how she had to confront the
way she looked at at-risk folks,
00:24:38.81\00:24:43.31
they way she
looked at situations,
00:24:43.35\00:24:45.31
the way she talked to
people when somebody said,
00:24:45.35\00:24:48.05
hey, do you have a dollar.
00:24:48.08\00:24:49.58
She said I worked my whole life,
00:24:49.62\00:24:50.99
I had two or
three jobs my whole life
00:24:51.02\00:24:53.05
and gone to
school and worked hard,
00:24:53.09\00:24:55.46
what do you mean,
do I have a dollar,
00:24:55.49\00:24:57.06
I have a dollar 'cause I work.
00:24:57.09\00:24:58.43
And she said when she realized
00:24:58.46\00:25:00.03
the deficits that some
people have with their abuses,
00:25:00.06\00:25:03.47
she said I repented
00:25:03.50\00:25:05.27
and I thought that as a mentor
00:25:05.30\00:25:07.07
she just was
life changing for me
00:25:07.10\00:25:09.24
and you met a
couple of these folks say.
00:25:09.27\00:25:11.04
Yeah. Yeah.
00:25:11.07\00:25:13.31
Nico you know, Nico
is hard to quantify.
00:25:13.34\00:25:19.11
First of all, he
is a unusual character
00:25:19.15\00:25:21.42
and he's been through so much,
00:25:21.45\00:25:23.59
and he again, his
testament to the power of God
00:25:23.62\00:25:26.45
to change a life
and give a person
00:25:26.49\00:25:30.86
who was abused and who abused
00:25:30.89\00:25:33.43
a ministry of
reconciliation and healing.
00:25:33.46\00:25:36.97
What a neat guy.
00:25:37.00\00:25:38.50
Somebody who
used to beat people up
00:25:38.53\00:25:39.90
and objectify fight people
00:25:39.93\00:25:41.27
and going and
just try to murder them
00:25:41.30\00:25:43.00
basically is now
trying to give them new life
00:25:43.04\00:25:46.17
and because his life is new.
00:25:46.21\00:25:48.24
And when he won
his title that says
00:25:48.28\00:25:50.08
he was Nico, the dragon.
00:25:50.11\00:25:51.45
He says now I'm
Nico, the dragon slayer.
00:25:51.48\00:25:55.68
And I love it is
that a little motto
00:25:55.72\00:25:58.35
and all that kind of
stuff and it's really fun
00:25:58.39\00:26:01.02
because somebody he
found his way back partially
00:26:01.06\00:26:05.76
by watching this very program.
00:26:05.79\00:26:08.20
And how crazy is
this when he calls
00:26:08.23\00:26:10.33
and he's like you know, what,
00:26:10.37\00:26:11.93
I watched you guys
and it gave me hope
00:26:11.97\00:26:14.60
and I stood up,
00:26:14.64\00:26:15.97
and so we're
talking about this season
00:26:16.00\00:26:17.41
going into that mentoring world.
00:26:17.44\00:26:19.41
As I get older, I realize that
00:26:19.44\00:26:21.04
I can help someone else stand up
00:26:21.08\00:26:24.35
with all other gifting,
00:26:24.38\00:26:25.75
with all other fears
with that the enemy screaming
00:26:25.78\00:26:28.62
and they are not good enough.
00:26:28.65\00:26:29.98
I can say don't listen to them
00:26:30.02\00:26:31.45
because God wants to
kiss you all over the face.
00:26:31.49\00:26:34.26
You know, so even somebody
like that is just saying that
00:26:34.29\00:26:38.13
as they stand up it is
so rich and so beautiful.
00:26:38.16\00:26:42.00
And you see what God has brought
00:26:42.03\00:26:43.60
and that's why...
00:26:43.63\00:26:45.47
If you just sort
of watch this show
00:26:45.50\00:26:47.74
and then turn off the
TV and go by your life,
00:26:47.77\00:26:50.41
you haven't done
everything at the show
00:26:50.44\00:26:52.54
it's designed to do.
00:26:52.57\00:26:53.91
It's designed to
motivate you, to encourage you,
00:26:53.94\00:26:56.34
to equip you.
00:26:56.38\00:26:58.01
And now we're moving
into that in a great way
00:26:58.05\00:27:00.45
because somebody like
Nico who saw this and said,
00:27:00.48\00:27:04.02
you know, he was
dissatisfied with his life,
00:27:04.05\00:27:06.35
he just, but he's making
money, he's doing movies,
00:27:06.39\00:27:09.96
so from outside
looking in, hey, he's got it.
00:27:09.99\00:27:12.99
He's at the top of his game,
00:27:13.03\00:27:14.36
he's the number
one in the world,
00:27:14.40\00:27:16.26
you know, there is a planet,
00:27:16.30\00:27:17.63
you're number one on the planet.
00:27:17.67\00:27:19.07
Then you're making movies,
you're making a lot of movies,
00:27:19.10\00:27:20.90
you got lot of money.
00:27:20.94\00:27:22.27
Has his own series.
00:27:22.30\00:27:23.64
Yes, your own series,
you're doing a lot do stuff
00:27:23.67\00:27:25.01
and yet there is
this God size hole in you
00:27:25.04\00:27:27.94
and you know, it's not right,
00:27:27.98\00:27:29.44
but you don't how to,
00:27:29.48\00:27:30.81
where do I go, what do I do.
00:27:30.85\00:27:32.18
And one day you sit
down and you watch a show,
00:27:32.21\00:27:33.55
and then light comes on,
00:27:33.58\00:27:35.65
now I know and
then a few years later
00:27:35.68\00:27:38.35
you're on that
show doing for others
00:27:38.39\00:27:41.76
what that show has done for you,
00:27:41.79\00:27:44.03
that sort of
completes the circle,
00:27:44.06\00:27:45.39
man, it's really, really great.
00:27:45.43\00:27:46.76
Absolutely incredible.
00:27:46.80\00:27:48.46
We're gonna go ahead in
break. We'll be right back
00:27:48.50\00:27:50.57
'cause you're not gonna
want to miss the rest of it,
00:27:50.60\00:27:52.13
it is so amazing,
00:27:52.17\00:27:53.50
this has been an amazing season.
00:27:53.54\00:27:55.44