Participants: C.A. Murray (Host), Jim Gilley (Host), John Bradshaw
Series Code: NLLA
Program Code: NLLA011502
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00:22 Well, good evening and 3ABN Nightlight
00:25 is really pleased to be coming to you tonight 00:28 from the Avon Park Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:31 You saw some scenes of the church here 00:33 just as we came on the air and I want to tell you that 00:38 this is a beautiful part of the world. 00:40 Isn't that right, C. A.? It is very, very beautiful. 00:42 That lake that we see out back, 00:44 I'm told that there is at least one alligator in that lake. 00:48 Eye have not seen, hear have not heard--No. 00:50 Neither do I want to see or hear, 00:52 but I'm told that an alligator is there 00:54 and we just pray that he stays where he is 00:55 and we'll stay where we are. That's right. 00:57 And I understand there were some people out there 00:59 swimming the other day and someone came by 01:02 and told them to-- they maybe shouldn't be there 01:05 and they gave him a little guff and so he said, 01:09 "Well, look, I didn't come to tell you not to swim here, 01:11 I just came down to feed the alligator." 01:14 And, uh, so that got them out pretty quickly 01:18 and, I think it would get me out. 01:21 Sure it can really work for me. Yeah. 01:23 Well, listen, it's--it's just really thrilling to be here. 01:28 Now, I will have to be truthful with you. 01:30 Those things they took were earlier today or yesterday, 01:34 maybe, I'm not sure. It's raining outside right now. 01:37 If that makes you feel better, 01:38 if you're up north and-- then I hope it does. 01:41 But it is kind of wet out there at the moment. 01:46 Yeah, we've talked to some people from our crew 01:48 who had two feet of snow back home in Illinois, 01:52 we have, I think, several inches of snow today. 01:55 So this couple of inches of rain that we have 01:57 is not really that bad. That's right. 01:59 And yeah, we have some folks from Gravette, Arkansas 02:03 and it was 17 below there last night. 02:07 And so they are happy to be here 02:09 and we're happy that they are here as well. Very true. 02:12 Well, we've got a lot of things 02:14 that we want to talk about tonight, 02:17 want to get acquainted with John 02:19 and we'll tell you a little bit more about him in a moment. 02:22 You know, the real purpose for this ministry 02:25 is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. 02:27 And tonight I was looking at 1 John, 02:32 one of my favorite texts. 02:35 It says in verse 11, "And this is the testimony, 02:38 that God has given us eternal life 02:41 and this life is in His son. 02:45 He who has the Son has life. 02:48 He who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 02:52 And so if you have Jesus, you have life. 02:56 And tonight you can make sure that you have Him. 02:59 You can accept Him, receive Him, 03:01 allow Him to come into your life, 03:03 allow Him to take full control of your life 03:06 and you can become "in Christ" and you can have life eternal. 03:13 And so that is a promise that comes from the word of God. 03:16 And we're so happy that we can talk 03:19 about that promise tonight, 03:21 that that's the very purpose of our ministry. 03:23 We can talk about prophesying, 03:25 talk about all the things that we want to talk about, 03:27 but it's all focused upon Jesus. 03:30 He's our Lord, He's our God, He's our savior, 03:33 He's the one that went to the cross to die for us. 03:37 And that it the theme that must always be the very center-- 03:41 as our great Bible student, prophet Ellen White has said, 03:48 "The 3 Angels message is the righteousness 03:51 of Christ in verity." And it is. 03:55 And we want to keep preaching Jesus day after day after day. 03:59 Well, C.A., tonight before we have our interview, 04:02 I would like to ask you to lead us in a word of prayer. 04:06 Be glad to do so. 04:08 Gracious Father, again, we thank you 04:09 for the privilege of service. 04:13 We thank you for the call that brought us 04:16 out of darkness to light, and error to truth. 04:20 We thank you for an opportunity to join hands with Jesus 04:24 in calling men and women to the sweetness of salvation. 04:28 We thank you for this ministry, we thank you for this station, 04:32 we thank you for those ministries that work 04:35 to let men and women know that Christ is coming soon. 04:39 And so tonight, Father, as we talk about change 04:41 and how you always pick the right person 04:44 at the right time for the right task, 04:47 we ask that those who need to hear a word from the Lord, 04:52 will indeed hear that word this night 04:54 and receive encouragement as together we walk 04:56 the road that leads to glory. 04:57 We love you, we praise you and we thank you for Jesus 05:00 and for blessings, both great and small. 05:02 In His precious name, amen. Amen. 05:06 We have some music tonight, I think, as we begin. 05:10 We are privileged to present to you 05:14 someone who has become a favorite 05:16 and a friend here at 3ABN in just the last little bit. 05:18 Wonderful singer, one who has a great pedigree of singing, 05:23 used her talents for many, many years 05:25 to sing in the world and then when she came to Christ, 05:28 turned those same talents over to the hand of Jesus. 05:32 Yvonne Lewis is here and just a little bit ago, 05:35 we asked her to come and do some music for us 05:38 and she is going to be singing "With all my heart." 05:58 In this quiet place with you 06:02 I bow before your throne 06:06 I bare the deepest part of me 06:10 To you and you alone 06:14 I keep no secrets 06:16 For there is no thought 06:20 You haven't known 06:23 I bring my best and all the rest 06:26 To you and lay them down 06:32 Oh 06:37 With all my heart 06:42 I want to love you Lord 06:46 And live my life 06:50 Each day to know you more 06:54 All that is in me 06:58 It's yours completely 07:02 I'll serve you only 07:07 With all my heart 07:24 You faithfully supply my needs 07:28 According to your plan 07:32 So help me Lord to seek your face 07:36 Before I seek your hand 07:40 I trust you do what's best for me 07:44 When I don't understand 07:48 Lord, I just don't understand 07:53 But I'll follow in obedience 07:59 In every circumstance 08:07 Oh with all my heart 08:14 I want to love you Lord 08:18 And live my life 08:21 Each day to know you more 08:25 All that is in me 08:28 Said it's yours it's yours completely 08:33 I'll serve you Only 08:43 With all my heart 09:08 Amen, and well done. 09:09 That's right. Wasn't that great? 09:11 Well, done, very well done. 09:12 Well, listen, we're happy to have 09:15 John Bradshaw with us tonight. 09:17 I'm gonna tell you a little bit about John 09:19 and then we'll go back into his story, 09:21 but I want to tell you a little bit about my experience 09:25 with John and I met him first in Dyersburg, Tennessee. 09:30 You were holding an evangelistic meeting there. 09:33 I think we were down to the last weekend 09:35 when Camille and I came there. That's right. 09:37 And I was president at Arkansas, Louisiana 09:40 at the time and I know my father-in-law was anxious 09:45 for me to meet you because he really enjoyed that series. 09:50 Yeah, we did too. That was a great--that was a great time. 09:53 And in all sincerity, and you'll know 09:58 that I mean this in all sincerity, 09:59 working with your father-in-law continues 10:02 to be one of the highlights of my ministry 10:05 and the ministry my wife and I've 10:07 have had in the evangelism. 10:08 Getting to know your in-laws, what a blessing. 10:11 And Elder Thurman turned out 10:13 to be an important mentor in my experience. 10:16 I've been thankful many times for his wisdom and guidance. 10:20 And we just--and we had a great meeting there as, well. 10:22 Yeah. We had a good time. 10:24 Yeah, well, he really thinks a lot of you. 10:27 And then when we heard you preach, 10:29 we invited you to come to Shreveport 10:32 and you held an evangelistic meeting there 10:34 with Gary and Juanita Grimes. Yeah. 10:37 And they said that for me 10:39 to be sure to tell you hello tonight. 10:41 Well, you can't--you can't imagine how thankful I am. 10:45 Okay, we'll see how many people you mention 10:47 and then I mention as the greatest ever. 10:51 Gary was probably the greatest-- 10:52 that one of the greatest guys you could know 10:55 and work with. That's right. 10:57 And people want to ask evangelists, 10:59 what's the best meeting you ever held and really, 11:02 what they mean is, what's the biggest 11:04 amount of baptisms you've ever got? 11:05 But the two aren't exactly the same thing. 11:08 But when people say me the greatest meeting 11:10 or the best meeting you ever held, 11:13 you know, that's tough but we didn't-- 11:14 we never had a better experience 11:16 than we had in Shreveport working with Gary and Juanita 11:19 for a variety of reasons. 11:21 Probably, a number of great stories we can tell 11:23 but that was just a great time. 11:27 And I--no names here now, no names, that wouldn't be fair. 11:32 But I got there, I stopped by the conference office 11:35 and well I'll tell the C.A., the story. 11:37 I was, talking to one of the Conference Administrator's, 11:40 who said to me, "Now John we didn't really bring you 11:42 here to get a lot of baptisms." 11:45 And I--I was thinking I thought that was the reason, 11:49 you know, bapt--you know, and he said, 11:53 "We just haven't had a lot of evangelism here in this place." 11:55 You'll be interested in the story too Jim. Yes. 11:57 "We haven't had a lot of evangelism in this place 11:59 and we really feel like we need to turn the church around 12:01 and I believe the best way to turn a church around 12:04 is to get those people involved in soul winning," 12:07 and I said to Melissa, what have God wrought 12:10 here we are in this place. 12:12 One of the--I mean I am not naming that man 12:15 but one of the Conference Administrator's its-- 12:17 It was not this guy. Yeah. 12:18 I can tell you that. 12:20 And he said, you know, that we want to get souls 12:22 but really the primary. 12:24 Any how, we managed to kill 12:26 two birds with one stone by the grace of God. 12:28 There was a tremendous baptism but, the church came together 12:32 and before the meeting was over they said 12:34 when we can do this again. 12:35 And in the next five years, 12:37 I held about seven evangelistic meetings. 12:38 It was fantastic. 12:40 So, that was a real highlight for us. Praise the Lord. 12:43 It was and then so that's where we got acquainted with John. 12:48 True, evangelism as you both don't know is outreach 12:50 but it's also in reach. Surely. 12:52 It does bring a church together. Yeah. 12:53 We got to go back. 12:55 First of all I must admit to a certain amount of jealousy. 12:58 You've got my voice. 13:01 I used to pray for voice like that when I was a kid. 13:03 When I--you know as a teen I wanted 13:05 a low rumbling baritone voice. Oh, yeah. 13:07 And my voice was very high for a longtime. 13:09 And it began to drop and I used to pray 13:11 Lord down Lord, down Lord. 13:13 Stopped somewhere about second tenor. Ah, sure. 13:16 But you've got that deep booming baritone voice 13:17 that I used to pray for. 13:19 I used to stay up nights praying for a voice like that. 13:20 So I'm gonna be a little bit jealous of you 13:22 this night as we talk 13:23 because I want that voice-- Well, it came in handy. 13:24 It came in handy for awhile there. 13:26 I--I was fortunate enough too. 13:29 Fortunate, unfortunate I don't know. 13:31 I wasn't a Christian at the time 13:32 but I got my background is in radio broadcasting 13:36 and I'm-- I'm thankful. 13:38 You know, commercial, secular 13:41 radio broadcasting is a dead-end. 13:44 I mean, if you're doing what I was doing 13:46 the breakfast show, the talk show. 13:48 Essentially you're a paid fool, you know, call now win $10000. 13:54 Let me tell you another dumb joke. 13:55 Let me do something to get publicity. 13:58 It's really very empty. 14:00 There's a certain brand of secular radio 14:02 that could be somewhat meaningful 14:04 but this was very empty. 14:05 But God gave me something new to talk about. 14:08 And I was thrilled. 14:10 I got to know Jesus and I honestly had no idea, 14:13 what I'd do with my life? 14:14 Then radio was gone and the Lord just took 14:18 what He had been developing in me 14:20 turned it a few degrees to the right or the left 14:23 or someplace and we were able to use a voice for the Lord-- 14:29 You were kind of being pre groomed 14:31 for what you're doing now. 14:32 Yeah, without even knowing it. Yeah, praise God. 14:34 We want to go back before that. Sure. 14:36 As we-- the note say 14:37 you're a native of New Zealand. Yes, sir. 14:39 I don't want to brag your anything but that's true. Yeah. 14:43 It is an exceedingly beautiful country. 14:45 Yes, it is. Yeah, it's great. 14:46 Yeah, give us a little flavor of growing up 14:48 in your household-- Christian household, 14:50 secular household because you're from 14:51 a very secular part of the world. 14:53 That's true. I don't think 14:55 it was quite as secular then as it is now. 14:58 And what I mean by that is when I was a kid 15:02 all my friends knew what they were. 15:05 Oh, I am a Presbyterian. I am a Baptist. 15:08 I am a Methodist. I was a Roman Catholic. 15:11 Whereas, now-a-days, the generation probably 15:14 wouldn't so much have a clue. 15:15 Well, we're not really anything. 15:16 But when I was a kid, 15:18 at least you were something in the generation 15:19 before you probably at least practiced it part way. 15:23 New Zealand was a great place 15:24 and I grew up in a wonderful family, 15:26 the youngest of seven children. 15:30 My dad-- my mother was--was not, 15:33 still not practicing anything. 15:34 My dad was a very, very, devout and devoted Roman Catholic 15:40 and so of to church I went as a baby bundled up in his arms. 15:45 Probably, only days old and I don't think missed 15:49 a Sunday ever until-- you know, later on 15:53 and I took a different turn in my spiritual experience. 15:58 But it was--it's a tremendous country to grow up 16:00 and now very, very secular. 16:03 But then not so much, very safe place, 16:06 very friendly place, a real sort of a small town place. 16:10 No matter where you were you're close to the beach 16:13 because you can't get more than 70 miles 16:15 from the ocean in New Zealand. 16:17 So really it was a-- it's a special place to grow up. 16:19 Brothers and sisters? Four brothers, two sisters. 16:22 Now where you in that line? Lucky last. 16:25 If you ask them they'll say, I was the spoiled one. Yeah. 16:28 But, you know, they don't know what they are talking about. 16:31 That's not true. Yeah. 16:33 So then you accepted Christ. Yeah. 16:35 How did you actually hear about this message? 16:41 One of my brothers, the second oldest, 16:44 he had done a pretty good job of ruining his life. 16:49 And what I mean is, he is a tremendously, 16:51 is a tremendously talented, very bright guy. 16:54 Who could have done anything he wanted. 16:57 He was great sportsman of tremendous academic-- 17:01 but got went down some wrong roads. 17:04 Came to a crisis in his life, 17:07 realized the only way out was God. 17:10 And so he went pursuing the God he knew. 17:13 Of course, raised in our church 17:14 if you want to get things right, you go to confession. 17:17 So, he--he couldn't wait to confession. 17:20 He went to the priest house and knocked on his door 17:23 and said you've got to hear my confession. 17:26 I'm having some crisis or whatever he said. 17:30 Then the kind man said to him. Don't bother me with that now. 17:36 You come to confession at the appropriate time 17:38 this is no time to be bothering me with that. Wow. 17:41 So he went away thinking, 17:43 you know this is probably not the right place for me 17:46 to be looking and he started searching. 17:47 I'll tell you what happened. 17:49 He and his. what do we say in church? 17:55 He and his live-in girlfriend both had a desire 17:59 to find spiritual meaning in their life. 18:04 And he got a job, they figured they were gonna 18:07 have a future together and she said 18:09 you got to do something part way responsible. 18:11 Drug dealing will only get us so far 18:14 and so he got job working for the hospital, 18:19 going into peoples homes and bathing people. 18:23 People who were old frail, 18:26 people who were paralyzed and so forth. 18:28 He would go and bath these people. 18:31 He is in a home one day giving an elderly man a bath 18:34 and while he's doing that. 18:36 This elderly man's wife starts asking my brother some questions 18:40 about what he believed about God. 18:43 And she started to scratch a very real spiritual itch 18:47 and when he went home that night. 18:49 He said to his girlfriend, who now thank the Lord-- 18:52 his wife of many years. 18:55 I think we've found what we are looking for. Wow. 18:58 And what happened-- interesting. 19:01 The older man who he was bathing was himself 19:03 going through something of a crisis in his faith 19:06 and my brother Wayne and his now wife Medea. 19:09 Their spiritual growth and acceptance of Jesus 19:12 lit a fire inside this man's heart. 19:15 He rededicated his life to Jesus before he died. Wow. 19:18 Yeah. Praise God. 19:19 So he came to know Christ in the Three Angels messages 19:22 and gave me one day a copy of the book called 19:25 The Great Controversy and I started to read 19:29 the introduction put it down and never went back. 19:32 And 4 years, later he gave me a second copy. 19:35 He had started to ask me some questions-- 19:36 it's a long story. I'll just-- 19:38 That's right. I'll truncate it. 19:40 He asked me some questions what do you believe about this? 19:44 And I would tell him what I believed about this 19:47 and he said that's fascinating. 19:49 That's what I believe which came to me 19:51 as a bit of a shock and a fright. 19:53 I mean, I believe the same as this-- 19:56 I mean didn't know what to make of my brother 19:57 he had left out church. Yes. 19:59 He went to church on Saturday. What was wrong with them? 20:04 But I believe--he would say, what you believe about hell? 20:06 Do you believe people are burning forever? 20:08 I said no, that can't be right man. 20:09 God is love and justice I agree with but cruelty can't. 20:13 What about death? What happens to people when they die? 20:17 You know, as an altar boy, I've been to 10,000 funerals 20:22 and in the church the priest would say something like 20:27 we can comfort ourselves with the knowledge 20:29 that granddad is in heaven watching down us. 20:34 Something like that and then we'd go the cemetery 20:37 and there was always a burial, always. 20:40 And we'd go from the church to the cemetery 20:42 and then he'd say and as we lower Mr. Foots body, 20:48 I remember that funeral for some reason, into the grave. 20:52 We can be thankful that he'll rest here until Jesus returns 20:56 and the resurrection takes place. 20:59 And you got a10 year old altar boy saying hang on a minute. 21:02 How can a dead man be in two places at once? 21:05 You know, that's not possible. 21:06 So, John, really though you were a practicing catholic 21:08 you weren't buying everything that the church was selling. 21:10 I got to a place where I described myself 21:12 as a non-catholic, catholic. 21:14 Yeah, which what you do I mean where do you go 21:17 we are the true church man. What do you do? 21:19 I sampled other churches and shopped around actually looking. 21:25 That was part of my approach but, yeah, what do you do? 21:27 I--this dear old Irish battle-axe, 21:35 who said to me one day, 21:37 well, if you're not going to confession 21:39 then you're not going to heaven. All right. 21:41 And I said, well, I don't believe that. 21:44 I believe I go to confession when I talked to God 21:46 and tell him about my sins. 21:48 I just don't think its right that I should sit down 21:51 and tell a priest all these things that I've done. 21:54 How old where you when these thoughts 21:55 were kind of going through your mind? 21:57 Started as strange as it may seem, 21:58 started about the age of nine or ten. Wow. 22:00 By the time I'm 11-12-13, 22:03 there's--there's crisis going on. 22:05 So you're thinking you're way through stuff 22:06 even at a very early age. Sure. Yeah. 22:08 You don't ever underestimate children 22:10 and their ability to process. 22:11 They are processing and I was processing. 22:14 But, you know, in our church above the altar, 22:17 there was a big crucifix. Yes. 22:19 You know, I am not a fan of crucifixes 22:21 or is it crucify I don't know. 22:23 I'm not suggesting we should put one up in here. 22:26 But I'll tell you when I went into my church 22:28 and looked up and saw Jesus hanging on the cross 22:33 that got through to me. 22:34 I could not escape the fact that God was real. 22:39 Jesus was real and that Jesus died for me. 22:42 I knew that and I knew that he claimed my life for his own. 22:47 And I liked the fact that He had died for me 22:49 and that mattered to me. 22:51 So, I couldn't get away from that, they--again, 22:54 you know, I don't want anyone to misinterpret me 22:56 and think I'm saying. 22:58 I am a fan of hanging crucifixes in churches. 23:00 But in spite of the fact that not all was, 23:04 well, where I was going to church 23:06 I learned a lot of things there. 23:08 Came to realize a lot of things there. 23:10 God certainly used that experience 23:14 to cultivate in my life a love and a desire for him, 23:20 for Jesus, and for truth. 23:23 I'd like to say to our viewers 3ABN that tonight 23:26 you're getting acquainted with John Bradshaw. 23:29 And John Bradshaw is the new 23:32 speaker-director of It is Written. 23:36 Back in the 1950s, George Vandeman, 23:38 began It Is Written. 23:41 When he was retired 23:44 then Mark Finley became the speaker for It is Written. 23:48 At when Mark stepped aside Shawn Boonstra stepped in. 23:52 I think Shawn was there 12 years? 23:54 Seven, seven years. Seven that's right. 23:55 Seven great years. Yeah. 23:57 Yes, and then for health reasons 23:59 Shawn has retired so to speak. 24:03 And I was thrilled, John, when I heard that 24:07 they had called you to be the speaker-director 24:10 of It is Written and that you had accepted. 24:12 I'd watched you preaching from your church at Walla Walla. 24:17 And so this gives you little background. 24:19 So while you're getting acquainted with John, 24:22 starting right back there in New Zealand 24:25 and seeing his growth and the way the Lord has led him. 24:30 And so, John, with all these questions 24:32 then there had to come a time 24:34 when you finally made a decision. 24:37 Tell us about that. 24:38 I was sitting in a bathtub, reading a book. 24:43 Yeah, I was in London, England 24:46 in a place called Stoke, Newington. 24:48 It's known for little these days 24:51 other than many very,very, good Indian restaurants. 24:54 Very good and I was living in a crowded house, 24:59 now funny how God leads you. 25:01 I was living in a house full of vegetarians. 25:04 Funny there. Yeah. 25:07 So anyhow I'm in this house, my brother had given me 25:12 The Great Controversy a second time 25:14 instead of starting in the introduction 25:15 I started Page 1. 25:18 and I don't know for whatever reason 25:20 I didn't I just didn't get I don't think 25:22 I got past the middle of Page 2. 25:24 But now that I am in London, England. 25:26 Can I tell you what happened? Oh, please do. 25:29 I was-- it's a phenomen, 25:33 you know, a lot of young New Zealander's, 25:36 relocate to London live, work, eat, drink, be merry. 25:39 See the world get that out of your system 25:41 and go home and get on with your lives. 25:43 So I was in the throws of doing that. 25:45 But I was also searching spiritually, 25:48 whenever I would go somewhere else 25:49 I would say may be here I will find meaning in my faith. 25:54 May be here I will go to a church that really has it. 25:57 You know, as a teenager I got involved in a youth group 26:02 and so we got involved in a Protestant youth group 26:04 and I went to the Protestant, the Protestant church 26:07 and it was--I refer to it as the rock and roll church. 26:10 Because it kind of was. And great people. Yeah. 26:15 And my buddy and I were invited to go 26:17 and there was no way we weren't gonna go 26:19 because they had loads of pretty girls. 26:24 And I mean you don't have to convince a 16 year old. 26:28 So there we were and you know all I realized two things. 26:33 Somehow that wasn't where it was at. 26:34 And the girls didn't even know I was alive. 26:37 So, it was a waste of time. 26:39 And then as I got a little older 26:41 I got involved in my own churches 26:43 charismatic renewal, revival 26:48 and as part of that we became very ecumenically minded 26:52 and we would go to the praise time 26:55 down at the Anglican Church, which we'd call Episcopal here. 26:58 And we go to I don't know what those guys 27:02 but they really and so I tried a number of things 27:06 it wasn't there either. 27:07 And maybe the fault was with me but for whatever reason. 27:10 I wasn't finding truth I wasn't really meeting Jesus. 27:15 Now that I'm in England, I am searching, searching, searching 27:18 I went to Midnight Mass. 27:20 It was-- it was just awful. 27:22 It was just awful. 27:23 Again, you know, maybe I was awful 27:25 but I didn't find anything but my background, 27:30 my ancestral background is in Ireland. 27:34 And so I made a pilgrimage to Ireland 27:36 to trace the family tree. 27:39 And while I was in Limerick, Ireland 27:41 I said to the man who ran the establishment 27:47 where I was staying. 27:48 I said where I could go to the church tomorrow morning 27:50 and he sent to me to the St. Xavier's Church. 27:53 And I said this is it. I'm in Ireland. 27:57 I will find meaning in my faith here, I will. 28:01 And I, you know, stumbled off to church that Sunday morning, 28:05 confident that I was gonna meet God 28:09 and my faith would be central in my life again. 28:14 And didn't workout that way. 28:16 It was just the same old stuff. 28:18 And I walked home that morning like January 28:23 or something not terribly cold but a grey overcast Irish sky. 28:28 I was kicking stones, 28:30 watching them go on down the road. 28:31 I stopped in the street in the street 28:34 I looked up and I said out loud to God. 28:38 I'm never going back to church again 28:40 until you show me the truth. That was it. 28:44 And I felt like that I got the monkey out my back. 28:47 This was God's problem now I just go on with my life. 28:50 And it's up to him. I'm done. 28:52 Not done with God but I had searched. 28:56 I got back to Ireland, out to London 28:59 there was a letter from my brother 29:00 the one I told you about before. 29:02 And in that letter he had written and said, 29:05 did you ever read that book I gave you? 29:08 And I wrote back and I said no but I have been looking for it. 29:12 I want to read that book, two weeks later, 29:16 it was in my mailbox. Oh, bless his heart. 29:18 And I didn't start at the introduction 29:20 and I didn't start at Page one, 29:22 he had told me that it was history and prophecy 29:24 and the prophecy started about in the middle. 29:26 Then I tried The Late, Great Planet Earth 29:29 and decided it was just too neat. 29:31 You know, and a neat little explanation for anything 29:33 I wasn't swallowing that. 29:35 And I read this book in about the middle 29:38 and would read at night in the bath. 29:41 And I wasn't working at that time 29:43 and it was a mad scrum for the bathroom doing. 29:47 I want to say the bathroom I mean the room we have a bath. 29:51 And so I would sit up late at night and read my book. 29:56 And as I read the book I knew that 29:58 God was calling me to a decision. 30:00 The information contained in the book 30:02 was one thing, very important. 30:05 But more than that I knew that now God was showing me 30:09 what it meant be a Christian. 30:10 That it meant to take the Bible as it reads. 30:15 And to allow God's word to be the frame work for your life. 30:20 The surrender to Jesus part that wasn't new to me, 30:23 I-- I, prayer wasn't new to me my dad taught me to pray. 30:26 I had a very real prayer experience with God. 30:30 But being a Christian and knowing how this thing 30:33 worked and knowing what to do. 30:36 So I was, I'm in the bathtub and I'm--I remember thinking 30:40 I am either going to have to throw this book across the room, 30:44 or make a decision right now, that I'll do things God's way. 30:49 And I thought why would I throw the book across the room. 30:50 Will if you don't, John, 30:52 your radio career goes out of the window. 30:55 You know, what I remember what the nuns taught me. 30:59 In my little provincial school. 31:01 They drilled a verse in to us at one stage, a Bible verse, 31:04 "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, 31:07 but loses his own soul." 31:09 And I realized, I was--I mean honestly 31:12 I was doing quite well on radio 31:13 and I was on an upward trajectory. 31:16 But if I had it all and was hugely successful 31:20 and didn't have God I knew I would not be saved. 31:24 And I, that was not what I wanted. 31:27 So I'm thinking my life is gonna change. 31:29 Your not gonna be able to play rugby anymore because 31:31 that's a game you play on Saturday. 31:32 Well, you know, I had some injuries 31:34 may be that wasn't so bad 31:36 and rugby was really my religion. 31:38 What would your family say? 31:41 My dad was a man who practiced his faith 31:44 and didn't care what people thought. 31:46 So, okay, that's the example I will follow. 31:49 What will your friends say? 31:51 Well, right now my friends are going to hell. 31:54 And I don't want to go there with them 31:57 so what they say, really is immaterial. 31:59 And if they are true friends they will remain my friends 32:03 and they are to this day, some of my 32:04 best friends in the world. 32:06 And I worked this through wondering, throw the book. 32:10 I bowed my head in that bath and I say Lord something 32:14 like this Lord I don't know all that this means. 32:17 But I want to go your way and be a real Christian 32:21 and I need your help please guide me. 32:23 And that was it the next morning I got-- 32:25 shall I tell the story? I got on the phone 32:27 the next morning. Oh, yes. 32:28 And what do I now. Where do I go to church? 32:32 If I was going to be a Bible Christian, 32:35 I had to go to church once, I had to keep the Sabbath. 32:37 I had to. That was in you now? 32:39 Oh, yeah. That was part of your--your reality? 32:41 Yeah, I knew-- I knew that. 32:42 Well, I knew it was the truth. 32:44 Yeah, and if I was gonna be a real I--I if you're gonna be 32:47 a Christian be a real one. Yeah. 32:49 You know, and I knew the difference 32:51 between Sabbath and otherwise. 32:54 So--so I said, well, 32:56 I don't know who--I don't know who keeps the Sabbath 32:59 but I'll start with my brother's church 33:02 and so I picked up the telephone the next day 33:04 and called the operator. 33:06 And I said can you give me the phone number please 33:08 for the Seventh-day Adventist Cathedral. 33:11 That's what I want 33:14 because I wasn't going to start with some lowly parish priest. 33:17 I was going to the top, I wanted a cardinal. Yeah. 33:20 You know, or an Archbishop. 33:21 Absolutely. At the least a Bishop. 33:23 And this, I remember the lady on the phone and she said, 33:28 "Well, I can't find a cathedral listed." 33:31 I said, it'll be there and it will be 33:32 downtown, Central London. 33:34 St. Paul's cathedral down there, Westminster Abbey is down there. 33:38 I had an idea the Baptists had a big place down, 33:40 I said, it'll be downtown. 33:42 So just give me the downtown church, providential. 33:45 She said, I cannot find a cathedral. 33:48 I say give me the downtown cathedral. 33:50 Can't find a cathedral, 33:51 but there is a church in central London. 33:54 I said, that's it, that's the cathedral. 33:57 And she gave me the phone number of what was 34:00 the New Gallery Church in central London. 34:03 Was on Heddon Street just off Regent Street, 34:05 I said, that's it. 34:07 So I got this phone number and I called up 34:09 and I was excited I'm gonna-- I am gonna meet 34:13 with the hierarchy of this church and find out 34:16 what I need to find out. 34:18 Someone answers the phone and says Bueno like this 34:22 Bueno and there's a lot of people watching 34:26 who haven't got a clue, but, you know, 34:27 I mean in Florida everybody would probably understand. 34:29 When someone, well, it's very common 34:32 for someone who Mexican to answer the phone and Bueno, 34:35 well, I didn't know Bueno from anything else and. 34:39 And I start having this conversation with a man 34:41 speaking very bad English, 34:43 obviously much more comfortable speaking Spanish. 34:47 And I'd like to think, I am slightly more 34:49 tolerate now than I was then. 34:50 And I thought come on, God, here I am, 34:53 I am trying my best, I call this place, 34:55 I got some guy who doesn't even know to speak English. 34:58 I left my number confident, 34:59 I'd never hear from these people again. 35:02 And about two days later, 35:04 a man called me with the lovely English accent 35:06 Pastor David Cox just the right man 35:12 at the right time to help this wayward young New Zealander. 35:16 And he said to me, I'll come to you 35:18 and I couldn't imagine bringing a man all the way 35:20 across London to see me that no way. 35:22 I said no, pastor, I'll come to you. 35:25 No I probably called him, no David, I'll come to you. 35:28 So he said come Wednesday night. I said perfect. 35:32 And now I'm thinking, I'm coming 35:34 to downtown London this far from Piccadilly Circus. 35:37 They'll be thousands of people packing the cathedral out. 35:41 He said, they having a revelation seminar. 35:44 I didn't know what that was but I knew it would be good. 35:47 And I turned up at this revelation seminar. 35:49 But first I'm looking for a cathedral, 35:51 I--I come up Regent Street and he told me Heddon, 35:55 I think Heddon is the first or second street 35:57 on the left up Regent Street. 35:58 And it's a little dead end street. 36:01 And he said, you go along then there 36:02 is a health food restaurant and there's flight of stairs. 36:06 And so I find this, the staircase. 36:10 I thought it might be the stairway to heaven. 36:13 I find this staircase. 36:14 And I go upstairs and there is a room 36:17 with seven people in it, eight counting the pastor. 36:21 I think I'm in the wrong place. I'm in the wrong place. 36:25 Five old ladies and two men who were both eccentric. 36:31 And--and I said, no this can't be right. 36:38 I mean, I'm going to the people who keep the right day. 36:42 This where my brother goes. 36:45 I'm sure there will be christians 36:47 who want to know the truth, 36:48 packing this place to overflowing. 36:50 It can't just be seven people in the church. 36:52 What I didn't realize the great Adventist tradition 36:54 of prayer meeting two hundred people in church 36:56 and six people at prayer meeting. 37:02 Just, amen. Say ouch. 37:04 And so I sat there and I sat in the back 37:07 and I didn't have a clue what they were talking about. 37:10 I don't know what book of Revelation they were in. 37:11 I had no idea. 37:13 And I'm, in there with my long hair, 37:15 my beard and my various other things and my jeans. 37:20 I think they had holes in them and this is before having holes 37:22 in the jeans was fashionable. Yeah. 37:24 And I had. Earrings. 37:27 I had my--my kids are watching. 37:29 I had my-- I had my old tennis shoes on, 37:37 an overcoat, I bought at the second hand store. 37:40 I believe he looked at me and he thought aww. 37:43 And I watched and I listened 37:46 and I said to myself this can't be right. 37:48 And then, you know, what I said, 37:50 I said now hang on a minute. Hang on? 37:52 It doesn't matter to me if there are seven or seven thousand. 37:54 Right. That's right. 37:56 I told God, I wanted to know the truth. Amen. 37:58 And so Lord, I'll-- 38:02 I'll stood on a rock under a tree with lunatics, 38:07 if that's what it takes to know the truth. 38:09 So I let's just see this out and then I met the pastor. 38:11 What a-- what a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful man. 38:14 And then we started to study the Bible together 38:17 and that's kind of how it went. 38:19 So you received the Lord, you were baptized. Yeah. 38:22 Baptized in the London and then I left the country the next day. 38:25 Where did you go when you left? 38:26 Went back to New Zealand to attend a wedding 38:29 for one of my brothers and from there 38:32 I was going back to England. Yeah. 38:35 But I went to Australia took a detour to Australia, 38:38 this Adventist brother of mine was living there, 38:41 working at the Sydney Adventist Hospital. 38:44 And I figured it'd be lovely to visit this brother 38:47 in the truth and my sister-in-law is a very bright, 38:54 very astute, Spirit filled Christian woman. 38:58 She was anxious to see how much 38:59 your brother-in-law actually knew. 39:03 And by the time we were half way back from the airport. 39:05 I had it figured out that I don't really not much at all. 39:08 And I imagined myself traveling the world 39:12 sharing my faith and saying, I don't really know much. 39:16 And I didn't want that. 39:18 So I decided I would pause in Australia for a while 39:21 and really learn what I believed. 39:24 And it was while I was in the process of doing that 39:26 with some tremendous people around me that 39:29 the Lord started knocking on the door of my heart and saying, 39:33 what about ministry? What about ministry? 39:35 And of course for me that was a bridge too far. 39:37 I mean that's for the priests, that's for the Holy ones and I, 39:41 man I wasn't Holy so I knew that couldn't be for me. Wow! 39:44 You know, in listening to your story, 39:46 first of all, the Lord rewards those who are seekers. 39:50 That's true. And from your earliest years 39:51 and listening to your-- your saga. 39:53 You were seeking very early. 39:55 And that's why the experience even 39:57 in the Catholic Church didn't hurt you because 39:59 it was a platform that you used for seeking for truth. Yeah. 40:03 And when you heard something that didn't hit your ear right, 40:06 you kind of filed it, this can't be right 40:08 there something else out there. 40:09 I don't know what it is? That's right. 40:11 But there's something else there and I will seek till 40:13 I find it and that-- that kind of lifestyle, 40:16 kind of almost twist arm-- God's arm behind his back. 40:19 You know, if you are a seeker and you really want truth, 40:23 God's on the line to get that truth to you. 40:26 Well, you know, it's his responsibility 40:28 to do that. Precisely. 40:29 And I prayed that prayer, 40:30 I'm never gonna go to church again 40:32 until you show me the truth. 40:33 You know, you don't want to pray that prayer 40:36 unless you're serious because God will. 40:38 I remember canvassing in Pennsylvania once 40:41 and I met a lady who said to me, 40:43 I-- she--she bought a copy of the great controversy for me. 40:46 She said, I want to know the truth even if it hurts. 40:52 She said I even want to know the parts of the truth 40:54 that I don't want to know. All right. 40:57 You know, I'm looking forward to seeing 41:00 that lady in heaven one day. 41:01 Amen. Amen. I just am. 41:03 John, I want to do something real quick because 41:04 you are talking about the truth and it occurred to me 41:07 I am re-reading great controversy actually 41:11 for the third time in the last three years. 41:12 Wonderful. That's like giving a steak to a baby. 41:15 That's a heavy piece of work. Yeah. 41:17 Oh, that's right. That's right. It is. 41:19 It's a strong book, it was the great controversy 41:23 and a book called Preparation for the final crisis that 41:24 actually scared my mother into the faith. 41:26 Is that, is that so? 41:27 Scared her to death, scared her into the church. 41:29 Praise the Lord for little Godly fear. 41:30 Praise the Lord. That's right. 41:32 We want to offer something a little bit softer. Yeah. 41:34 A little bit more inviting and maybe a little less 41:37 daunting as our free offer for the evening. 41:40 Our free offer this evening is the book "Steps to Christ." 41:43 We're offering with this book. 41:45 This is a wonderful 101 course in coming to Jesus. 41:49 It will walk you through the steps to Christ. 41:53 It will make it easy and inviting 41:55 and it is user friendly and this will, 41:58 if you are a Christian this will make your, 42:00 your relationship stronger. 42:02 If you don't know Christ, this will introduce Him to you. 42:05 If you have lost, hold of Christ. 42:07 This will re-introduce Him to you. 42:09 And we want to get this to you, 42:10 if you will email us freeoffer@3abn.org 42:15 that's freeoffer@3abn.org or call us 618-627-4651. 42:22 We will get this in the mail to you just contact us. 42:26 We would love for you to have this 42:27 and you can begin your walk, 42:29 or increase your walk, or increase your pace. 42:33 This will do all of those things for you, 42:35 take it read it, it will become 42:37 if not your favorite book certainly one of the most 42:39 loved books and cherished in your library. 42:42 Contact us this night and we will get this right to you. 42:45 Well, John, well, I am really, 42:47 I know that everybody at home is anxious to hear the story. 42:50 We all are and I know that somewhere down the line 42:55 you left Australia and you came to the United States 42:59 and eventually you ended up with amazing facts. 43:04 Can you tell us about that? Yeah 43:06 In Australia I--I, it was quite an education 43:13 my brotherhad tons of cassette types. 43:16 You might need to explain to your children 43:18 what cassette types are. 43:19 But tons of cassette types of--of guests speakers 43:23 that had come down and spoken at various places. 43:27 And I listen to these things. 43:28 I listen to number of speaker and I grabbed 43:32 hold of some sermons done by man named, 43:35 Bill May--Bill May You know him well. 43:38 Yeah. I didn't --I didn't have clue who he was? 43:41 When I was in the United--when I came to the United States, 43:44 see these sermons had impressed me profoundly 43:49 and I couldn't get them out of my mind. 43:52 He was preaching on righteousness by faith. 43:54 And, uh, I asked several people 43:57 have you ever heard of a preacher named Bill May. 44:01 And I expected, I could ask a man in the street 44:04 and he would have said yes. 44:05 But nobody I, they-- they all just said no. 44:08 And which is--which is odd really because Bill had been 44:10 the President of the Texas Conference 44:12 and the Chesapeake conference. 44:13 So he was a known fellow. 44:17 And one day I asked 44:19 a fellow who's become a good friend of mine. 44:20 A man named Ron Gauss. 44:22 I said, Ron do you know a fellow name Bill May. 44:26 I've been listening to these sermons, 44:28 they--they've powerfully impacted me. 44:31 And Ron said, yeah, sure I do as a matter 44:33 of fact he's the evangelism coordinator with amazing facts. 44:38 And they are looking for young fellows 44:40 like you to do evangelistic meetings. 44:41 He said, are you interested? 44:43 I said, no not at all. 44:46 That's not for me. No I couldn't do that. 44:48 Well, I think it was Ron, 44:50 who told me about a lay training program that they had. 44:56 And he said it won't hurt you to go. 44:58 I said, you know, you're right 44:59 sounds like that makes a lot of sense. 45:01 I'll go and see what I could learn. 45:03 Well, funny how it turned out 45:04 this was being run by Louie Torres. 45:07 And everyone in the-- two things were interesting 45:12 for once in my life, I made a decision 45:14 I would go and say nothing. 45:16 I need to learn, observe, soak it in, 45:21 do the work, don't make a scene, say nothing. 45:25 And--and so everybody had to preach a little sermon 45:28 five minutes or seven minutes or something. 45:30 And I was to go last and we were quitting 45:32 at 6 o'clock and the fellow before me ended it about 6:04. 45:36 And after the--the dissection of that sermon by the class, 45:42 Louie announced all right we are done. 45:44 And I'm thinking, well, 45:45 I haven't preached but it doesn't matter. 45:47 I've preached many times and I don't need 45:49 to preach here, that's okay. 45:51 So we were getting ready to quit and another fellow 45:53 who ended up becoming a pastor. 45:56 He said, now wait a minute that guy down the back 45:58 hasn't preach his sermon yet. 46:00 And Louie said, oh, really? 46:02 Have you not preached? And I said that's okay. 46:07 I don't need to, it's fine. It's late. 46:08 Let's do it some other time 46:10 and some of the few people said no--anyhow. 46:14 I got up to speak and after that, 46:18 they gave us a little evaluation form and at the bottom said, 46:22 if you were asked to preach a series 46:26 of meeting for us would you do it. 46:28 And my inclination was to say no. 46:30 I thought who am I? 46:32 That I would preach a series of meetings for these guys. 46:35 I'm not like that. 46:36 And then I thought that, well, that would seem rude. 46:39 Do I want to seem rude? 46:41 Or do I want to seem a little presumptuous. 46:43 Well, better to seem presumptuous 46:45 than rude so I thought. Rude. 46:46 If they want my help, it's not likely 46:48 but I'll put a tick there and check mark they sure. 46:51 And anyhow thankfully they had heard me preach 46:54 and Louie said later, you know, 46:56 I appreciated the fact that you just kept in the background. 46:59 They were times when you step up and showed 47:01 leadership ability but for the most part. 47:03 So...I decided to keep myself to myself. 47:07 And anyway they asked me to train 47:08 and become an evangelist. Praise God. 47:11 And first meeting, I held, 47:15 I did a training meeting with the effect 47:17 of evangelist Kim Karen in Owensboro, Kentucky 47:21 and then a fellow who had a profound influence 47:26 on my ministry a guy name Jim Thurman. Yeah. 47:30 He called me and said, we, you know, 47:32 we'd like to you come to Columbia, 47:34 Kentucky and that's been a place that's very dear to my heart. 47:39 And some of the greatest people 47:40 in the world living Columbia, Kentucky. 47:42 And by the grace of God, we just had fantastic meetings. 47:45 Praise God. John, put a pin 47:47 right there at Columbia, Kentucky. 47:49 Because I want to take you back when you before you 47:50 came to the States because did you fight the call 47:56 to ministry or was that something you settled into 47:59 because obviously the God said, 48:00 you can't be a pew warmer, you discovered the truth, 48:02 I want you as a frontline soldier. 48:04 Did you fight that call, 48:05 did you ease into it and do you remember your first sermon. 48:09 Yes, I do. I did fight it and I didn't fight it. 48:12 I'll take it back. 48:13 I was sitting in my radio studio during my breakfast show. 48:16 Across the table was my co-host Jenny. 48:19 And Jenny and I were talking about what 48:20 we might be doing years from now and I say, Jenny, 48:22 where do you think you'll be10 years from now? 48:26 You know, how high up the food chain will you have progressed. 48:29 And she said, what--what I'd like to be doing is this. 48:31 She said, where do you think, you'll be 10 years from now. 48:36 And I said, you know, what I think 10 years from now, 48:38 I'll be working for God. 48:41 I don't even know why I said it. 48:43 As a--as a little kid growing up in a Catholic Church, of course, 48:46 it's put to you will you be a priest 48:48 or a nun if your a female. 48:50 And I thought that would be worthy and noble, 48:52 but there were certain aspects of the priestly lifestyle, 48:55 I couldn't imagine myself embracing. 48:58 So--so that disappeared and honestly the priests 49:02 I knew didn't seem like they had a lot of fun. 49:04 They just didn't. They weren't bad guys. 49:06 We only ever had good priests, 49:07 I know some of the priest of gotten 49:09 in strife and so forth. 49:10 We only had a good priests, men of God, I believe. 49:12 But I--I didn't want that. 49:15 But I figured somehow I'd work for God, I did know how. 49:20 So when the, and then when I-- when I gave my life to Jesus, 49:24 I just figured that, that ministry 49:27 was for the Holiest of the Holy 49:29 and not for sinful wretches like me. 49:32 So on the one hand, I felt like what I wanted to do, 49:35 and needed to do was work for the Lord somehow 49:39 but in real you know professional ministry, 49:44 let me put it that way, the way I thought then. 49:46 I just thought that was way too much. 49:49 So I'm--I'm living in Australia now, 49:53 you know, and growing as a Christian, 49:56 I took a vacation back to New Zealand 50:00 and I don't know how it came to be 50:01 but someone arranged for me to preach 50:04 at a little church in the town called Thames. 50:07 And that the man Mr. Laurie. 50:10 I remember him still was the Head Elder 50:12 of the church and so, sort of ran it because 50:14 it was one of multi-church district 50:16 and he agreed to have me preach 50:20 and it was the first seminar I'd ever preached. 50:23 And I don't know exactly what it was about, 50:26 but it was about righteousness by faith on some level. 50:29 And what I remember was after which, 50:31 you know, what, I got some nice pants on 50:33 and a shirt and a tie, put on a tie. 50:35 But what you do then, I never owned a suit 50:38 and I got a tightish, sort of a jacket, 50:40 you know, to preach in. 50:42 And lovely Head Elder afterward he came to me and he said, 50:46 he must have wondered how he was gonna say it. 50:48 He said, I was a little surprised that you didn't 50:52 choose to preach in a suit jacket. 50:56 And I--you know, I didn't get it. 50:57 Like water of a duck's back, 50:58 Oh I didn't have one if I had one I would. 51:00 You know, about a year later, I figured out what he meant? 51:03 He meant, hey, you meant to wear a suit jacket when you preach. 51:07 But he was so nice, you know, 51:09 the way he mentioned it to me. Yes. 51:10 I think there was very nice of him really. Yeah. 51:12 So that was--that was the sermon 51:14 I remember my friend from Australia, Paul. 51:16 He is still a very close friend of mine. 51:18 Now he was there and a couple came down 51:20 from Oakland for the-- for the grand occasion. 51:22 We had a lovely time and it was gracious church family. 51:25 And I thought to myself, 51:27 I could do this again if I was asked. 51:29 I could probably do that again. 51:31 And so somewhere along the line I was asked 51:34 and people just kept asking so I kept preaching. 51:38 Now Melissa, came into your life. 51:40 Oh, yeah. After you'd gone to America. 51:42 Yeah, Yeah, yes thank God. 51:45 God brought me to the United States to get me 51:48 into ministry and to fix it so that I could marry up. 51:53 All right. Like you. Oh my God. 51:54 Like you, Jim, I married up. 51:57 I married a woman far too good for me. 51:59 Someone I--I Likewise. 52:01 Yeah. I know. 52:02 Someone I didn't deserve and don't deserve 52:04 but God was merciful to me, 52:08 you know, and she is just such a wonderful person 52:12 Yes, she is. 52:13 And a wonderful-- wonderful mother. 52:17 My children are perfect, you know, 52:18 but If I were to--if you ever isolated any faults 52:22 in them you could trace them directly back to me. 52:24 I'm not kidding, I'm not if affecting 52:27 some false humility, it's true. 52:29 But if you look at their good qualities 52:32 all comes from they mother. 52:33 She is just a wonderful mother and a great wife. 52:36 And my best friend in the world, she is wonderful. 52:39 And, you know, we got married and she knew, 52:43 we would get married and go straight on the road. 52:46 Then when we went on road in evangelism, 52:48 it was on a trial basis. Yeah. 52:50 And there was no guarantee that they'd keep me on. 52:53 We gonna have to see how we did. 52:54 So you were an evangelist before you got married. 52:56 She know, what she was. Just before and she did. 52:58 She knew what she was getting into. Yeah. 53:00 So we got married we went on the honeymoon. 53:01 We came back packed up and left. 53:04 Then we went on the road with the-- 53:05 with a--did we have a car? Yeah. 53:09 We had a, we bought a vehicle 53:11 and so we went on the road with a debt, 53:13 a small debt and no guaranteed income this was 53:17 a venture in either faith or presumption or both. 53:20 And Melissa said, now God has joined us together 53:24 and if this is where the Lord is leading us good 53:27 and if it's not He'll lead us somewhere else. 53:29 She really has faith, you know, 53:31 a dear friend of mine, who was in our wedding, 53:33 in fact Bill May, did the wedding. 53:34 Oh, he's there? Yeah. I thank the Lord for that. 53:37 And a dear friend, who was in our wedding 53:39 when I asked him I went to him for advice, you know. 53:42 Here I am a I am grown man but I went to this other 53:45 grown man friend of mine and said, what you think Fred. 53:48 You think I should. Think this is the girl. 53:51 I tell you--I tell you what, I tell you what? 53:53 Found out Fred came to me, Fred came to me. 53:56 He said, I've got this brother 53:58 and I'm trying to fix him up with someone. 54:00 And he said, Melissa, would be good for him. 54:10 And he said, but I'm coming to you 54:12 because I think Melissa and you, 54:14 Melissa and you would go perfect together. 54:16 And--and I don't want to cut across you above, 54:19 if you've got any idea about Melissa, 54:23 then I'll keep my distance, 54:25 but if you don't then I'm going to see 54:26 if I can fix her up with my brother. 54:28 See that is the highest of recommendation. 54:29 That's right. And it's a great friend. 54:31 Yeah, thank the Lord. 54:33 And that's first time, I've ever the told 54:35 that story actually, And I said to him. 54:40 You know, even If I didn't, I probably would now. 54:43 But I do and I've been think that and I'd never 54:45 discussed this with anyone. 54:47 I said, I can't get this woman out of my mind 54:48 everywhere I turn up she is there. 54:50 And it's as though, you know, 54:51 my and so we talked together and he said, 54:56 I believe and this on our wedding day. 54:58 He said, I believe that the two of you getting married 55:03 is gonna result in more people in the kingdom of heaven. 55:06 Amen. Amen. 55:07 And that's the kind of woman Melissa 55:09 is and she is just wonderful. 55:10 Way too good for me. Well. 55:12 I tell you this is a beautiful story isn't it? 55:14 This really is. It really is and you getting 55:16 acquainted tonight with the new speaker-director 55:20 of It is Written and we're taking you 55:24 right back from the womb to the ministry. 55:28 Not to the tomb, but we are giving you 55:31 the full discussion here with John about his life. 55:35 How he came to know Jesus Christ about his family. 55:39 And how he Melissa were married went into ministry 55:42 together in evangelism later on pastoral ministry. 55:45 Yes, sir. But you've held about 80 evangelistic meetings. 55:49 Yep. Right about 80. Yeah. 55:50 In lots of little wee towns in the back 55:52 of nowhere and lots of big cities that you'd recognize well 55:56 and all places in between and honestly, you know, 56:01 I don't mind recounting the story 56:03 because here is-- here is why? 56:08 I believe that my experience could be 56:10 a real encouragement to others. 56:12 I was wandering and looking for God, 56:13 I said please whatever it takes. 56:16 And God introduced himself to me. 56:18 My life turned up side down. I have-- I had no future now. 56:22 No future except I said Lord I'll go 56:24 where you want me to go. 56:26 Ministry not me surely, but God can use even people like me. 56:31 You know, that's, that is so true. 56:33 And that's been the experience of so many of us. 56:36 You're going to hear more about John, 56:38 we're going to take a break here in just a moment 56:40 and you gonna hear more about not only his experience 56:44 in ministry but his call to It is Written and also about 56:49 some of the plans that It is written has for evangelism. 56:53 Yeah, they're excited. And we are, yeah, 56:55 they're very exciting we also have some music for you. 56:58 We're going to hear Dr. Louis sing again in a moment 57:01 and so whatever you do don't go too far 57:05 because and call some friends tell him, 57:08 hey, you wanna see the new speaker for It is Written 57:12 turn on 3ABN right now because we getting 57:15 acquainted with him and I believe that you gonna 57:20 like what-- what you see. 57:21 I've known him for few years, 57:23 have appreciated his ministry and you're 57:28 appreciating his ministry as, well. 57:29 I surely, your reputation preceded you, John. 57:32 Some of your members at Southern University about a year ago 57:36 and looking for people to bring to 3ABN for and they said, 57:39 you got to get this guy, you got to get him. 57:41 So it's good. All right. 57:43 So we'll be right back. And we'll you see then. |
Revised 2014-12-17