Participants: Danny Shelton (Host), Yvonne Lewis (Host), Hal & Millie Steenson
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY015095A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people. 01:07 Hello and welcome to another 3ABN today program. 01:09 Thank you for joining us as always. 01:11 And it's good to have Dr. Yvonne Lewis, co-host. 01:14 It's good to be here. 01:16 And we just want to thank you for your love and your prayers 01:18 and your financial support of 3ABN 01:21 as we endeavored to take this great gospel of the kingdom 01:24 into all the world. 01:25 Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world." 01:28 We believe in it. We always have. 01:30 And I am so thankful that especially in last few months 01:33 that are viewers have joined with us 01:35 on the "GO!" Evangelistic Team. 01:37 Oh, yes. 01:38 Members and every day I am signing more. 01:40 There were 17 today and about, I think, 20 yesterday 01:43 and every day more and more comes in. 01:45 So we are looking for thousands of people to join with us. 01:48 And we send them their certificate 01:50 when they do as a "GO!" ye member 01:52 and for any monthly donation of any amount, 01:56 and then every month 01:57 we send them an evangelistic tool. 01:59 That is such a great idea. 02:01 And every time I come into your office, 02:02 I see a nice little pile of-- 02:04 Oh, yeah. Of certificates. 02:06 So it's incredible. Absolutely. 02:08 And the idea is not only to support 3ABN 02:11 but it helps people. 02:12 It's for revive and reformation. 02:14 When you get, whether it's a sermon, 02:17 whether it's music you listen to it, 02:19 it inspires you, then guess what happens. 02:22 You want to go out and tell the world, right. 02:23 That's right. 02:24 So that's what it's all about speaking to tell the world. 02:26 We have a couple of folk 02:28 who have been doing this for a long time. 02:30 My privilege to interview 02:32 and we start with the ladies first, 02:34 Mollie and Hal Steenson. 02:35 It's great to be here. Great to have you guys here. 02:38 Now somebody may be saying, 02:40 "Why are you interviewing Hal and Mollie? 02:41 They have been with you since old shepherd was a pup." 02:44 Right? 02:46 1995. Or longer? 02:47 Yeah, yeah, yeah 02:48 and we have been known each other 02:50 since late '70s, right. 02:51 That's true. Yes. 02:53 You all just moved up from Alabama was working here. 02:55 Can you imagine coming from Decatur, Alabama 02:58 to Southern Illinois, West Frankfort, Illinois. 03:01 Moved up here but before we get in to all of that, 03:03 today what we really wanted to do, 03:05 we're gonna take a number of our folk here 03:06 that you used to sing. 03:08 We want to go back, find out information 03:10 that maybe you don't already know about these folk. 03:13 Not too long ago I interviewed 03:15 presidential candidate, Ben Carson 03:18 and I went to DC, Wintley Phipps 03:20 and I to do little interview with him. 03:22 And so I was asking, I said, what should I ask him 03:25 and I think it was Yvonne. 03:26 So why don't you ask him something about himself 03:29 that we didn't already know. 03:31 And he gave us a really good answer. 03:32 He got tickled at himself. 03:34 He said, "Something that you didn't already know, 03:36 I loved to play pool 03:38 and I taught my wife how to do so, 03:40 so she can be competitive with me. 03:42 So that's what he does. 03:43 You know guy like him, when he lets his hair down 03:45 and he is able to relax. 03:47 So we're gonna find out some things today 03:48 from Mollie and Hal that we didn't already know. 03:52 So I think this is gonna be a fine interview. 03:53 What about you? Oh, I do to. 03:55 I did to. And they are such great people. 03:57 Oh, absolutely incredible. 03:59 We're gonna do some music first. 04:01 I am so thankful and so thrilled 04:03 with our young people we have here 04:04 and few that came from different areas. 04:07 We put together a new CD, the Lord gave us some songs 04:10 and it's called, "It's a Beautiful World." 04:12 But one of the song says, I am a-- 04:15 just simply, I am a Christian. 04:17 And it encourages young people to give your heart to the Lord. 04:19 Don't be ashamed of it. 04:21 Tell the world what Jesus has done for you. 04:23 So right after this song and we're gonna go back 04:26 and find out a whole lot of things 04:28 about Hal and Mollie we don't already know. 04:31 So let's go to our song right now. 04:32 Hope you enjoy, "I Am A Christian." 04:46 I am a Christian 04:48 And I am not ashamed 04:51 I am a Christian 04:52 I call on Jesus name 04:55 I tell the world 04:56 That Jesus died to save us from our sins 05:00 I am a Christian 05:01 Someone say Amen 05:03 Amen. 05:06 Let's tell everyone we meet about our Lord 05:08 and Savior, Jesus Christ. 05:10 Romans 1:16 says, 05:13 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, 05:16 for it is the power of God to salvation 05:19 for everyone who believes." 05:23 If you are a Christian 05:25 You are not ashamed 05:27 If you are a Christian 05:29 You call on Jesus name 05:31 Go tell the world 05:33 That Jesus died to save us from our sins 05:36 If you are a Christian 05:38 You can born again. 05:41 Jesus says in John Chapter 3, "That we must be born again." 05:46 All we have to do to be born again 05:48 is to love Jesus with all our heart. 05:50 Confess our sins to Him and go tell others 05:54 what Jesus has done for us. 06:00 I am a Christian 06:01 And I am not ashamed 06:04 I am a Christian 06:06 I call on Jesus name 06:08 I tell the world 06:09 that Jesus died to save us from our sins 06:13 I am a Christian 06:15 someone say Amen 06:17 Amen. 06:19 Boys and girls, let's never be ashamed to tell others 06:22 about Jesus and His great love for every one of us. 06:26 Remember, the Bible says in John 3:16, 06:30 "For God so loved the world, 06:32 that He gave His only begotten Son, 06:34 that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, 06:38 but have everlasting life." 06:41 I am a Christian 06:43 And I am not ashamed 06:45 I am a Christian 06:47 I call on Jesus name 06:49 I tell the world 06:51 That Jesus died to save us from our sins 06:54 I am a Christian 06:56 Someone say Amen 06:58 Amen 06:59 I am a Christian 07:00 I'll be born again 07:08 Amen. 07:16 That's a great song. 07:17 Yeah, it is beautiful. It is really good. 07:19 And the whole project is really so good 07:21 and our children need to hear this. 07:23 They need to hear it. Well, they do such a great job. 07:26 All of them volunteered 07:28 and we've done a program recently, you will see it 07:30 where we give the names to each one 07:31 and we talked a little bit about them 07:33 and hear most of all the songs. 07:35 But today, that's our hope and prayer 07:37 that you can say, "I am a Christian." 07:38 Yes. That's what I want to do. 07:40 Now I have to go to my knees quite often fail God 07:44 but the beauty of it is when you fail, 07:46 you'll come back to Him on your knees 07:48 and ask forgiveness and, you know, 07:50 not literally always on your knees 07:52 but in submission. 07:53 Lord, I have failed. 07:54 I am a sinner and please take me as I am. 07:58 I wrote a song years ago says, "Take the breath you game me, 08:01 take this body of clay and mold me all over again." 08:05 When you do that, God is faithful and just. 08:07 He'll forgive us from our sins 08:09 and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 08:12 Once again we are here with Pastor Hal 08:14 and Mollie Steenson. 08:16 Now I've known you guys-- we're thinking now 08:18 all the songs going around 1980, 81. 08:20 Anyway it's been 30 some odd years, right, 08:23 35 going on 36 years whatever. 08:25 So we were all young back then. Thirties. 08:28 We knew you before there was a 3ABN. 08:30 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. 08:32 Absolutely. 08:33 But I want to go back now farther, 08:34 some of the folk have heard our story about how we met 08:37 and we all work together now but-- 08:40 let's start with you, Mollie. 08:43 I've know-- ever since I've known you 08:44 all these years that you and Hal 08:45 but there was a time before Hal in your life 08:47 and, Hal, there was a time before Mollie. 08:49 Oh, yeah. I can't remember. 08:50 Believe it or not-- 08:52 I can't believe it. I think I've been married all my life. 08:53 I know. Yeah. 08:55 I know you have been knowing each other all your lives. 08:57 I want to go back. 08:58 Tell us little bit about where you were born and raised 09:00 and what kind of family you raised in. 09:02 Well, I was raised on a farm in Alabama. 09:05 Just, and, we were poor but we didn't know we were poor 09:09 because everybody around us was poor. 09:11 And I know that you've heard that before. 09:13 But it was a big farm and my dad was a big farmer. 09:15 He, you know, we ran cattle and then he farmed TVA land 09:19 and he was just always out working. 09:24 And he kept having girls and he needed boys. 09:28 We had some people that lived on our place that helped him-- 09:31 they had boys in their family. 09:33 But we girls had to go to the fields and work. 09:35 Just like the boys did 09:36 because daddy had to have help, you know, he-- 09:38 How many girls? 09:40 There were four girls, finally he had a boy 09:42 about the time he was really back 09:44 and out of doing all the big, the big farm 09:47 that comes the boy. 09:49 And but we girls, we, you know, at the time 09:51 and my sisters and I have discussed it, 09:55 hard work, I mean, we worked in the fields 09:57 and we drove the tractors and I know how to turn ground 10:00 and I know how to plow ground 10:02 and, you know, you know, you just learn. 10:04 I can even drive the hay baler if I had to. 10:06 I used to drive the truck-- 10:07 That's good to know. 10:09 All these years now we got Tammy Larson here, 10:11 she will go out and do that. 10:12 You know Charlie is daughter of course, 10:14 but well, I didn't know Mollie could do, 10:16 now it's good to know. 10:17 I can remember, I would drive the truck 10:20 and it's a big truck that they load the hay on. 10:23 And my little legs were too little to sit down 10:27 and do the clutch and the break. 10:28 You know, how you would have to go from bail to bail. 10:31 I would yank those boys off the back off the tractor. 10:33 Throw them off the back. 10:35 That hay when I have to drive but I had to drive. 10:38 But that's I raised on a farm. 10:40 And my sisters now discussing all the hard work we did. 10:43 And, at the time all we-- it just embarrass us 10:47 when people would see us out working, 10:48 you know, and like what the boys were doing. 10:51 But we wouldn't give anything 10:52 for the work ethic that it put in us 10:54 because today hard work doesn't scare us a bit. 10:57 And I was gonna say that because it seems to me 11:00 that when that is developed as a child, you know, 11:02 we talk about training your children, 11:05 when that's developed as a child, 11:06 it just carries on into adulthood 11:09 and you work hard to get results. 11:11 Yeah, you don't stop and think, 11:12 "Am I gonna go to the field today?" 11:14 Yeah. You get up and go. 11:17 Absolutely. 11:18 Just like in, in our family we didn't think, 11:20 "Are we gonna go to church today?" 11:22 We just got up and went. That's all. 11:24 Nor, "Am I going to school today?" 11:25 Yeah. Yeah. It was an option. 11:27 If I didn't go to school, I had to work. 11:29 So I got up went to school. School is easy. 11:31 Well, one or the other for sure. 11:33 So you are working hard into fields, 11:35 what about the spiritual atmosphere 11:38 of your home? 11:39 We were church of Christ. 11:40 My mother had us in church every time the doors were open. 11:44 A good godly woman. 11:45 My dad didn't go to church but he made sure mother had 11:48 a vehicle to take us to church. 11:50 It was very important to him. 11:51 He was a veteran of World War II 11:53 and he felt like a part of what he fought 11:55 for was our freedom 11:57 and our liberty to go to church. 11:59 So he saw to it that we have the ability. 12:02 Now later in life I am happy to say, 12:04 he did start attending church and our heart's cry 12:08 is that my dad made Jesus the Lord of his life 12:10 before he went to sleep. 12:12 But growing up he was hard working, 12:15 hard drinking, gambling, you know, that was part of part 12:19 and parcel of what was in my background. 12:23 And, but, the end result of that was you see things 12:28 that you are never going to-- that affect you 12:30 so that you will never go in that direction too. 12:32 So there is positive with the negative. 12:36 Absolutely. Now, so how old were you? 12:39 Did you like to meet brother Hal 12:41 here in kindergarten 12:42 or was it high school or was it after all of that. 12:45 When did you guys... 12:46 Well, I started working right out of high school, 12:49 I went to work. 12:50 I would dream when I was in those cotton patches, 12:52 I wanted to be a secretary. 12:54 That was my goal. 12:55 I mean, I want to be a secretary. 12:57 So in school learnt how to take shorthand, 12:59 learnt how to type. 13:01 Everything clear like a tape because I knew that 13:03 was my ticket out the cotton field. 13:05 And so I learnt to do those skills. 13:09 And so I started, started working, 13:11 had a secretarial job. 13:13 Let me tell you this. 13:15 I had never typed on an electric typewriter 13:17 now tell people of my age, 13:19 never typed. 13:21 And so I had to go for an interview 13:24 and part of what I had to do 13:25 was type on an electric typewriter. 13:28 So the gentleman that was going 13:30 to interview me asked me the day before, 13:32 "Now, you do know how to type on electric typewriter?" 13:36 And I did lied to him. I told him, "Yes, I do." 13:38 Because I figured I did. 13:40 Yeah. 13:42 Think that there was any difference. 13:43 No. I haven't. If you can type, you can type. 13:46 What I did do was ask one of the girls, 13:49 "How do you turn this baby on?" 13:50 And so she showed me 13:52 what button and I passed that test. 13:53 All right. 13:57 Now think how things changed 13:59 because I am sitting here and I remember those days. 14:03 I remember I took typing and there were 29 typewriters 14:07 or 31 in a room and two were electric. 14:09 This was about 68 or 9 and the rest were, 14:13 you know, the ribbons. 14:14 We had to take turns. 14:16 Everybody wants to try that electric one. 14:18 So you learned to type, you got out of high school. 14:20 Yeah. Okay. 14:21 So I got the job and where I got the job was 14:25 Prestolite in Decatur, Alabama. 14:27 Well, Hal's older brother William 14:31 worked at, at this place and it was a huge office. 14:34 And he would walk by my desk every once a while 14:37 and he would say, "I've got a little brother 14:38 you need to meet." 14:40 Well, I didn't want to meet his little brother. 14:41 William was just wild as the March hare, 14:44 he had girlfriends, and he wasn't somebody... 14:47 Well, he kept telling me, 14:49 "I have got a little brother you've got to meet." 14:51 So I was living with a friend there 14:54 in Decatur and so when-- 14:56 I am gonna say it was a Friday night. 14:57 I don't remember for sure. 14:59 But probably it was a Friday night. 15:01 William comes to my door because he wanted to go out 15:03 with the girl that was my roommate. 15:05 And he had Hal with him. And I happened to have thought, 15:09 he was cute if I ever did say. 15:13 So that's how we met. 15:14 Now we went riding that night, 15:16 the four of us were riding and Hal could tell jokes. 15:19 He impressed me with his intelligence 15:21 'cause anybody that knew that many jokes 15:24 and could talk nonstop had to be really smart. 15:27 And I can remember we had our popcorn and potato chips 15:30 and that sort of thing. 15:32 I kept feeding him 15:33 because I was afraid he was gonna try to kiss me. 15:37 I don't think she had ever been kissed. 15:40 I had too been kissed but not by him. 15:42 Not by him. Not by him. Okay. 15:44 So that's how we met. Okay. 15:46 So now, was it kind of love at first sight as you say 15:50 or was is just kind of, I think he is cute. 15:53 What did you think about her, Hal? 15:54 I'll skip-- Well, we will get to you back 15:56 to your story a bit. 15:57 But when you saw her at that night 15:59 what were you thinking? 16:00 William knocked on the door and Mollie came to the door 16:02 then we were going to-- 16:04 I don't remember what she had on. 16:05 She had on little Mary Poppins outfit, 16:08 white frilly blouse with strap. 16:11 What? 16:12 I remember only that thing. I like it. 16:13 She opened the door and they were going 16:16 to a fashion show. 16:18 And William said, 16:19 "Would y'all like to go riding around?" 16:21 And he told me suddenly this is the girl 16:24 I work with name Mollie. 16:25 She is tall, slim and very pretty. 16:28 And so I never met the other lady, 16:30 the other woman that Mollie little girl-- 16:33 that Mollie was lived where she just 16:35 moved in shortly before. 16:37 And so when she came to door, 16:38 I didn't know this was Mollie, this was Rosy. 16:41 So he said-- and she said, "I don't know. 16:43 I'll go and ask. Hang on." She shut the door. 16:46 So I standing and thinking she shut the door. 16:48 I told William, I punched my brother and I said, 16:50 "I want that one, right. That one right there. 16:54 I want that one." 16:55 And so love at first sight, I don't guess so. 16:58 Fifty one days later, we got married. 17:01 Oh, have mercy. Fifty one days. 17:02 Fifty one days. Fifty one days later. 17:04 I tell him-- She's crazy about me. 17:08 You couldn't help-- you just got to liked her. 17:09 I am telling you. 17:11 I tell people let a little 19 year old girl, 17:14 fresh off the farm, make a decision for me 17:17 that affected the rest of my life. 17:20 Well, Mollie just recently had her birthday 17:23 and November the 15th 17:26 was our 46th wedding anniversary. 17:30 And so people said when we got married, 17:32 "51 days, it'll never last." 17:35 Last year, 46 years so... It's almost been 51 years. 17:37 Yeah. 17:38 Mollie, really working you know. 17:40 You married in last 51 days, you know, 51 years, right. 17:42 Awesome. 17:43 And we both feel that the Lord put us together 17:46 even back then and we weren't Christians 17:49 but we still feel like 17:51 that there was some divine guidance 17:54 even back then. 17:55 Let's go back and catch up with Hal now. 17:57 So you were raised where? 17:58 I was raised in Decatur, Alabama. We lived at... 18:01 That's close to where Mollie lived? 18:02 About 40 miles apart. 18:04 She lived near Huntsville, Alabama. 18:06 And well, not quite 40 miles but pretty, pretty close 18:09 and I was raised there. 18:11 And my dad was a farmer too 18:14 but he was also a safety design engineer 18:17 for the State Highway Department. 18:18 He was over North Alabama, 13 counties signing 18:22 and center lining the highways and putting up all the signs 18:24 and everything and... 18:26 I worked for him every summer 18:28 and when I got little bit older but when I was 12-years-old, 18:33 I didn't have anything to do and so I called my brother 18:37 who ran a automotive shop, 18:39 transmission shop and said, "Can I come out and help 18:42 and maybe make some money?" 18:43 He said, "Yeah, come out." 18:45 And so I got out there, I got a broom and started 18:48 sweeping off the floor. 18:50 And he said, "What are you doing?" 18:51 I said, "Well, I am cleaning." 18:52 He said, "No, now pull the engine out 18:54 of that car over there." 18:56 So I wondered what took me three days to get it out 18:58 but I got it out. 19:00 And I worked for years 19:01 and that was a way God blessed us too 19:03 because when I was in seminary, 19:07 I worked as mechanic in Lakeland, Florida. 19:09 Walked in and just laid down my certifications 19:12 and he said, "When do you want to go to work?" 19:14 And I said, "Well, I am going to school, 19:16 21 hours a semester, don't have a lot of time." 19:19 And God blessed truly, remember him back on it, 19:22 I was working 13, 15 hours a week 19:25 and making $600 to $800 a week. 19:28 Working, you know, certified in certain specifications 19:32 around things and everything. 19:33 So God really blessed. 19:34 But my dad was a cotton farmer. 19:36 We farmed all over North Alabama every flat land, 19:40 hill and hollow. 19:41 And I remember, when I was little my mother 19:45 used to pull me around on her cotton sack. 19:47 She picked cotton and would pull me around 19:49 on a cotton sack till I got big enough to get off 19:52 that cotton sack and daddy didn't make 19:54 any bones about it. 19:55 It's time for you to pick-- 19:57 Now, you've been picking one row, 19:59 now start picking two. 20:02 He said, "Now you've been picking two, 20:03 start picking three." 20:04 Well, how do you pick the row? 20:06 You startle the one in the middle 20:07 and you pick that picked ones on both sides. 20:11 And so we picked cotton. 20:12 So Mollie and I have really, really, 20:15 come up to social ladder. 20:17 We have moved from the cotton fields of Alabama 20:20 to the corn fields of Illinois. 20:24 We love it though. We had the same story. 20:27 My family, only it was tomatoes that we picked. 20:30 Now what did you-- I am sure you must've had the same story. 20:33 What did you pick? You know-- I know. 20:35 She was Leave It to Beaver. 20:36 She, her family is more likely Leave It to Beaver 20:38 but anyway we will-- 20:40 I picked what TV show I was gonna watch. 20:41 Oh, my, my. 20:43 No, I didn't come from a royal environment. 20:47 You know, from New York. So... 20:49 We had five kids in a two bedroom house. 20:52 She had two kids in a five bedroom house. 20:54 Now, how does that work, I don't know. 20:56 But anyway let's get back. 20:57 So you guys, now you get through high school 21:00 and after high school what do you want to do? 21:01 You just going into-- you're working in mechanics? 21:04 Working as mechanic 21:06 and then I got into the line of clothing, 21:09 retail clothing and was a buyer 21:12 for some major clothing stores in Alabama 21:16 and everything. 21:19 My family, several people in my family worked for 21:22 clothing store corporations that was in the south-east, 21:25 very big in the south. 21:26 And by the way, I have had four brothers and five sisters. 21:30 There were ten of us. Oh, okay. 21:32 It was Johnny, Jean, Becky, Betty, Billy, James, 21:34 William, Wayne, me and Judy. 21:36 Don't ask me to do that again. 21:38 Yeah, yeah. And but... 21:39 You know, had middle names that you say. 21:41 Oh, everybody. Yeah. Oh, yeah. 21:42 Betty, Wayne or whatever, you know. 21:44 Billy George, Betty Fay, Alice Jean, 21:47 Rebecca Anne and Thomas. 21:49 Yeah, you do. 21:50 You knew, if I give second name in the south 21:52 so you know when your mother is mad at you. 21:54 Yes, that's true. That's true. Probably that. 21:57 But I started in retail clothing, 21:59 worked there for a while, matter of fact 22:00 I was working there when Mollie and I first met. 22:03 And, she after, about-- 22:07 well, after the first date her shoving those-- 22:10 well, not really a date, we are going out together, 22:12 her shoving those potato chips and popcorn 22:14 in my mouth and everything. 22:16 I told to my brother, 22:17 "I am not going back out with her." 22:18 And he said, "Yes, you will. 22:20 You told her you're taking her out Sunday night. 22:21 This was on Thursday." 22:22 "I have to work with that girl." 22:24 I got to work with that girl. 22:25 So she came in where I was working, 22:27 and a lady that worked there, we stood there, 22:29 Mollie and I stood there and talked for a minute. 22:31 She came in there and after she left, 22:34 this lady came over to me and said, 22:36 "Hal, you better marry that girl. 22:38 She's got dancing eyes." 22:41 I'll never forget that. 22:43 And she just-- her eyes were just dancing, 22:46 it's because she was seeing me. 22:48 That's right. Well, of course. Of course. 22:52 Did you grow up in a spiritual environment? 22:54 No, I was worked with, 22:55 I refer to as a slip away Baptist 22:58 and what it was because mother would give me 22:59 my offering to put in the offering plate 23:03 and I would go to church 23:04 and when I would bow their head 23:05 for the opening prayer, I would slip away. 23:10 And I would go down to Sam's Superette 23:12 and take my offering like a good little Christian boy 23:15 and I would buy me a soda 23:18 and some candy and stuff with it 23:19 and everything. 23:20 And the only time I were really seriously 23:23 went to church was for vacation Bible school 23:27 and it was for the cookies and the Kool-Aid. 23:29 But mother always made sure that we went. 23:32 And then later on in life, 23:34 mother I went with mother not living at home. 23:38 I went with mother almost all the time really, 23:41 but I had never really had a-- here's what to say 23:45 and maybe somebody needs to hear this. 23:48 I had a friend of mine. 23:49 I was about 12-years-old, he 13 or 14 23:53 and we were in a church service. 23:55 And he was sitting there, 23:57 doing the invitation or standing there, 24:00 broke and crying and they were singing-- 24:04 "Just as I'm" and he is really having 24:06 an experience with the Lord. 24:09 And so the pastor says, "Okay, we're gonna open up the altars 24:13 and mother leaned over to me and said, 24:16 "Why don't you go down and rededicate your life 24:18 and take Ron with you?" 24:20 So I reached over and told Ron come on, 24:22 you want to go with me? 24:23 And he cried and, yes, yes. 24:25 And so we went down to the altar 24:26 and front and the pastor came over, 24:30 pat us on the back and said, "You boys are here, 24:33 we will get your names in a minute." 24:34 Never did talked to him, 24:36 never explained the plan of salvation, 24:39 never prayed with him anything at all. 24:41 And said, well, these are boys here, 24:43 this is wonderful they're gonna be Baptized tonight. 24:46 But that was not, not the right thing to do. 24:49 Let people know what you're doing 24:51 when something like that happens. 24:54 Absolutely. Yeah. 24:55 So now, you guys get together, 24:58 you start dating obviously and more frequently 25:01 'cause we know this thing travels fast 51 days. 25:03 Fifty one days. Fifty one days. 25:05 But, now, did you decide before you got married, 25:08 you know, well, we need a Christian home, 25:10 let's go to church, 25:11 let's give our hearts to the Lord 25:12 or what happened? 25:14 Explain that. 25:18 We did. We did. 25:21 We knew, we knew that the answer was in church 25:25 but we found out that church 25:28 wasn't the answer that Jesus was the answer. 25:31 Now we got married, everything was fine. 25:34 But it wasn't, it was never 25:36 what we knew that a marriage should be. 25:38 And so let's go like a couple of years 25:40 into the marriage 25:42 when and thing weren't too good. 25:44 And he was drinking and I can say that. 25:47 Oh, sure. 25:48 And, you know, I may be, I didn't do all the don'ts 25:53 and did most of the dos and I was like this. 25:56 But that doesn't get you in. 25:57 You know, my testimony is, when I made Jesus Christ 26:00 the Lord of my life, I didn't drink, 26:01 I didn't smoke, I didn't go with wild men. 26:04 I was a second grade 26:05 Sunday school teacher in a church. 26:08 But I never made Jesus Christ the Lord of my life. 26:11 I've never asked Him to be my Savior. 26:13 And so I would have been just as lost as the person 26:17 on the street doing whatever. 26:19 And so Hal and I had bad times. We had hard times. 26:23 The things weren't going well for us. 26:25 And we were going to church. We would go to church. 26:28 And we knew the answer was in church 26:32 but the church wasn't the answer 26:34 the Lord Jesus Christ was the answer. 26:36 And that's what we finally, almost accidentally 26:41 stumbled upon was relationship with Jesus. 26:45 Then things came together. 26:47 Mollie actually made Jesus Christ Lord of her life 26:52 one day at work-- several-- seven months before I did. 26:56 I believe so. So... 26:58 I was-- I worked with a lady, her name was Diane. 27:02 And she was just wild as a March hare. 27:05 I keep saying that. Don't know what I mean by that. 27:07 I never heard that. Yeah, we do. No, I am. 27:09 She ran the bars on the weekend, 27:11 she know and she just dated 27:13 and just she was just into everything. 27:17 And I worked with her. 27:18 And she and I were good friends. 27:19 I weren't any better than her. I didn't do all those things. 27:23 Remember, I didn't do the do's, 27:25 you know, I didn't do the don'ts. 27:26 I was just good person. 27:29 But she and I work here. 27:30 So she came by my office one Monday morning 27:33 and she said, "Mollie, I got born again yesterday." 27:37 And I said, "Oh, Diane, you get saved every summer." 27:39 Because every summer, they have these big revivals 27:43 and everybody goes down and get saved again. 27:45 Well, she said, "No, you don't understand. 27:48 I made Jesus Christ the Lord of my life." 27:51 And for some reason, 27:53 tell me it's not the convicting power 27:54 of almighty God. 27:57 I almost start crying and she starts talking to me 28:01 about the difference in "saved" 28:03 and "making Jesus Christ your Lord." 28:06 And so we get up at Wolverine Tube in Decatur, 28:09 Alabama in 1980, I am gonna say 6 28:13 and I might be off a year or two but-- 28:15 Seventy six. Seventy six. Seventy six. 28:17 That's right, 1976. 28:20 We get up and we are going to the ladies lounge 28:22 and I get down on my knees and with Diane there with me, 28:26 I asked Jesus Christ to be the Lord of my life. 28:28 And I want you to know, my life changed. 28:29 It's never been the same. 28:31 I got gloriously born again in a ladies bathroom 28:38 in Decatur, Alabama. 28:39 Isn't that interesting how you can be, 28:42 you can think that you're saved but you're not. 28:45 You can think that because you're not doing 28:48 certain things or because you are going through emotions 28:51 doing certain things you think you're saved. 28:54 But it's all about the relationship with Jesus. 28:56 It's all about Jesus. You can't get good enough. 28:58 That's right. It's not how it works. 29:01 I was thinking about doing a sermon, 29:04 Shelley says I can't use this title. 29:07 It's called salvation by works program but she says, 29:12 she says I can't use that title. 29:15 But she says what I can use is, our God, 29:19 "God won't take you like you are 29:21 but He will sure accept you like you are." 29:24 God loves us. 29:25 And once He accepts us there's gonna be some changes. 29:29 So you go home and you face Hal then 29:32 and you tell him what happened? 29:33 Yeah. I got to. Gloriously... 29:35 I knew something would happen. 29:36 And again I was going to church 29:40 and it was nominal here and there. 29:42 But it seems like the closer 29:44 I would go to the Lord, of course, the more, 29:51 it seem like the worst he would become. 29:54 Yeah. You know John 1:3 says that the light couldn't-- 29:59 "The darkness couldn't overcome the light" 30:00 and I liked the amplified translation. 30:03 Couldn't comprehend or understand. 30:05 I couldn't understand. 30:07 And so it just seemed like 30:08 it was driving as further and further apart. 30:11 I tell people, oh, it was so good 30:13 for husband and wife to get born again 30:16 at the same time 30:17 making Jesus Christ Lord of their lives 30:20 because you progress 30:21 at the same rate and everything. 30:23 But I came in one night and she was, 30:25 I could hear in the bedroom, 30:27 back in the back bedroom praying. 30:28 She was praying for me and I thought, oh, no this... 30:32 I went in there and she got up out of the bed and said, 30:35 "I've been praying for you." 30:36 And I said, "I want you to stop that. 30:39 I don't want you to pray for me." 30:41 And I started torturing. 30:42 I don't really know what exactly 30:47 what I was saying or doing or whatever. 30:50 But my thoughts and intense was to put out that light, 30:54 just is to shut her up or whatever. 30:57 And I started torture 30:58 and I remember the first part of this 31:00 because she stuck her finger out at me and said, 31:04 "Stop in the name of Jesus." 31:07 And I hit the floor. 31:10 I don't mean I just kind of did this charismatic... 31:15 I went crumbled to the floor and I thought honestly, 31:20 I thought she had shot me. 31:23 That's what it was like. I thought she had a gun. 31:25 You felt some kind of energy. 31:26 I mean, it just knocked me completely off my feet, 31:30 knocked me in the floor. 31:32 Mollie said that I laid there, she began to pray for me. 31:36 And a crystal like stuff, green stuff 31:39 came running out of my mouth about that big around. 31:42 It took the color, 31:44 literally took the color out of the carpet. 31:47 And I did, I thought she had shot me up. 31:50 She spoken to me and prayed over me 31:52 and prayed for deliverance. 31:53 I told people for a year after that she could say, 31:56 "Would you pass me the salt?" And I ducked. 32:01 Go pointing that to you. 32:02 Yeah, pointing that me for a fact. 32:03 Wow. 32:05 That's deep. 32:06 And I was a very young Christian, 32:07 very uneducated and anything shouldn't know 32:11 anything about demonology or, you know, 32:14 but I realized now and see I had this sensing 32:18 when this was going on that 32:19 Jesus was standing right there beside me. 32:21 I just had that sensing and again I had no teaching, 32:25 my teaching was, you know, not anything to do with, 32:30 anything with the power of God. 32:33 And Hal even knew to, to tell him to stop 32:36 in the name of Jesus. 32:37 That wasn't-- that was kind of not something 32:40 I've ever said before my life. 32:42 But I want you to know, he stopped. 32:43 It worked. 32:45 You got up and what did-- 32:46 after you discovered you weren't shot and after, 32:49 what did you think? 32:50 I mean... I stayed away from her. 32:52 Okay. 32:54 I didn't get close to her for a while. 32:56 But then, I began to put the things together 32:58 and place things together and trying to get my life 33:01 straight, trying to get it worked out. 33:03 And it's in-- a lot of it is in God's timing, 33:10 God's purpose, God's place. 33:12 On November the 8th 1976, 33:15 I did make Jesus Christ Lord of my life. 33:17 Okay. 33:19 Had a miraculous manifestation of Jesus in my life 33:24 and just never been the same. 33:28 Let me backup just a little if I can about that. 33:31 I was working with a lady and her name was Adna Taylor 33:34 and she had a husband named Bill Taylor. 33:36 And Bill Taylor decided-- 33:39 he loves Hal Steenson with all his heart. 33:41 And he started praying for Hal, loving on Hal, 33:44 showing Hal the right way 33:47 and about that time we got eight-track. 33:53 I guess it was an eight-track. I t might have been in album. 33:56 It was way back when we had this big stereo system. 33:59 And it was called "Praise Gathering for Believers." 34:03 It was Bill Gaither very first thing he ever did. 34:06 And we put that on in our living room. 34:08 Now remember-- 34:09 And I wasn't born again that day. 34:11 Just he wasn't-- Hal wasn't born again. 34:14 We did not know what was going on. 34:16 We would start listening to that, 34:18 both of us sitting in the living room for. 34:20 We would just cry. 34:22 There were songs on there like 34:24 "I have returned to the God of my father," 34:26 all these songs. 34:28 And we realize now it was God by the power 34:32 of His Holy Spirit drawing us 34:35 and softening us and touching our heart. 34:37 God wants people to be born again to come into-- 34:40 out the darkness and into light more than people want to. 34:44 You know, we just need to pray 34:46 and trust God for our lost loved ones. 34:48 God's right there for us. Amen. 34:50 What would you say, Mollie, to that wife right now, 34:53 who is the believer, 34:54 who's husband is not a believer. 34:57 What would you say to her to encourage her, 35:00 to make her know that God is with her? 35:03 She got to have a firm grasp 35:08 on the hand of Almighty God and trusting Him. 35:11 And, and you have to walk in the light, 35:14 you have to walk in. 35:15 You know, like today I would do things different 35:17 from the way I did back then. 35:19 But I still know, and all I knew 35:20 how to do back then. 35:21 So all you have to do is what you know to do. 35:23 God doesn't expect you to do what you don't know. 35:26 You just to the degree that you know, you trust God. 35:30 Read His word. Spend time in His word. 35:33 That's vitally important. 35:35 And I should spend time in His word, pray, 35:39 and you don't have to do all of these big fancy prayers. 35:44 Prayers talking to God. 35:46 Prayers are letting your heart touch God's heart. 35:49 And then listening, that's a hard part. 35:53 Listening for God to just kind of impression 35:55 on what to do next. 35:57 But that's, that's what I would encourage you 35:59 just trust God. 36:01 This lady, I have to meet. Think what you know to do. 36:03 After meeting one night, I heard her ask Mollie, 36:07 we're pastoring then, I have been pastoring for 36:09 couple of years. 36:10 Ask Mollie after service she said, 36:12 "My husband comes home a lot drinking, 36:14 slaps me around, treats me like trash and everything. 36:18 What would you do?" 36:19 And Mollie said, "Do you have any kids?" 36:22 And she said, "Yeah, I got a couple of boys." 36:24 And she said, "Do they have one of those 36:26 aluminum baseball bats?" 36:27 And the lady said, "Yeah." 36:29 Mollie said-- tell her, Mollie said-- 36:31 Well, he didn't have to tell everything like that. 36:33 We want to hear now. I want to hear now. 36:35 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. 36:36 Get your aluminum baseball bat and stand behind the door 36:39 and when he walks through the door, 36:41 pop him right in the forehead and turn his lights out. 36:45 The lady said, "I mean, would you do?" 36:48 Mollie said, "You asked me what I would do. 36:52 Now do you want to know what Jesus..." 36:56 That's a good one. That's a good one. 36:57 I got her to and she wouldn't listen. 37:01 She did get her retention and it's a blessing to her. 37:02 Yeah, of course. 37:04 Absolutely. 37:06 So you guys are growing in the Lord now. 37:09 You have given your heart to the Lord 37:10 and then you are not only just going to the church 37:12 but at some point, you decided 37:14 you want to become a preacher. 37:16 That was 1 Corinthians 9:16. 37:22 Paul says, "Woe unto me if I do not preach the gospel!" 37:26 This was the scripture that I stood on for years. 37:29 So we surrendered to the ministry, 37:31 we gave up our jobs, our homes, 37:33 everything that we had there 37:34 and went and did what God wanted us to. 37:36 Mollie worked, put me through seminar, 37:39 I worked, I worked too but then we moved up here. 37:44 What kind of seminary, what kind of church? 37:45 It was Assembly of God, it was Pentecostal 37:48 where people come-- 37:49 You went from church of Christ to like Assembly of God? 37:51 Here is my walk. 37:54 I went from the church of Christ to-- 37:56 when Hal and I were looking for God. 38:00 It was in the Baptist Church and from the Baptist Church 38:03 we went to an Assembly of God's Church. 38:05 That's where we went then from there to the college. 38:09 And, while we were in college 38:11 we went to a charismatic church. 38:14 And from the charismatic church I was in the Church of God 38:17 for just a short time, you know, 38:19 when I first came to 3ABN, and from the church God 38:24 I became an Adventist. 38:26 And so six different denominations, 38:29 I can tell fairly intelligent I am. 38:31 Amen. 38:32 And you've been here lot of years from then. 38:34 But in each one I had always 38:37 and this was Hal's heart's cry too. 38:39 Father, we know we're in error, 38:41 and you are and everybody got some error in their life, 38:44 that doesn't mean you are bad. 38:46 But if you are open to it, you're teachable 38:48 and God draw us, show us, shows us the truth. 38:52 And we really felt like 38:54 when we came to the Adventist church, 38:56 the Adventist church has more truth 38:59 than any other denomination 39:00 that we've been associated with. 39:02 Now, how in a world that you go from Decatur, Alabama area, 39:06 you pastored and co-pastor and whatever, 39:09 associated pastor of 3,000 members 39:11 of two or three big church any anyway. 39:14 In Lakeland was that a big church? 39:16 No, it was maybe a couple of 200 or 300 in Decatur. 39:20 And then a smaller church in Lakeland. 39:23 Okay. But you're pastoring here in Florida-- 39:25 Co-pastoring. 39:27 Wasn't it beautiful, you are around all the city 39:28 and, you know, everything you want. 39:29 Yeah. I still wonder about that sometime. 39:31 Then how in the world 39:33 that you come to West Frankfort, Illinois? 39:36 I mean that's a... A Point to put you, huh? 39:41 What got you up here to Illinois? 39:42 We met a man in Florida that invited us to come up 39:46 and pray about starting 39:49 a Charismatic Church in the city. 39:50 His name is Mike Adkins. Mike Adkins. 39:52 Yeah. I know him all my life. 39:53 I still know him. I've grown up with him. 39:55 I haven't seen Mike in a while. 39:57 But anyway we came up and we came to town 40:00 and met with the people 40:01 and did a little meeting and the people-- 40:03 It was winter time when you came? 40:04 April, 1981. Oh, April that's not bad. 40:07 Okay. Yeah. 40:08 And so it was cool thought 40:11 but had just come up from Florida. 40:13 We stopped in Decatur at our parents homes 40:16 and our daughter stayed there, came on up. 40:19 And we met with the people 40:20 and people were just really weren't, just really nice. 40:23 They didn't like us too good. 40:25 They did. God knows. 40:26 May be the way we talked, I don't know. 40:28 But anyway we left in the coal mines 40:32 with the really running down the wells that pumped, 40:35 not the mines the wells 40:37 and that smell and everything 40:39 and so when we left, what did we do? 40:42 Well, we thought well, well, this is something 40:45 we aren't gonna do. 40:47 We are not going there. We had so much of that. 40:49 You're gonna ran back to Florida. 40:51 Yeah. 40:52 We are on our way back to Florida. 40:54 Yeah. So we were going over the bridge into Kentucky. 40:57 Going into Paducah. Yeah, sure Paducah. 40:59 Yeah. And God spoke to Mollie. 41:00 I just started crying saying Hal, 41:03 "I hate that a moment ago but God's still in me. 41:05 We're gonna have to go." 41:07 Then I said in very, I believe very emphatically, 41:11 very boldly that God had us here 41:14 for our next step in what He wanted us to do. 41:18 And that was to be in the Adventist Church. 41:20 Where we met you. 41:22 The second week. 41:23 Yeah. How did we meet? 41:25 You were doing some work for Mike on a building. 41:29 Carpenter. My brother is carpenter. 41:30 Carpentry work. 41:32 We were building a building for him right downtown. 41:34 And then you continued to do some work for us 41:39 in the church and we had you in singing, 41:42 ministering a few times. 41:44 And it just grew from there. 41:46 And so our church was doing good. 41:50 We had a Christian school and we're not-- 41:52 They started-- excuse me. 41:53 They started on Main Street in West Frankfort 41:55 in little building. 41:56 I think first time I went there they had 10, 12 people. 41:59 Probably. Literally started. 42:01 Ended up buying this huge place. 42:03 It used to be Grandpa John's where you shopped. 42:05 And it would hold, I don't know, 42:07 it could seat 1,200 people maybe. 42:08 Not 1,200. 42:10 But the Church began to grow and to grow faster. 42:11 I never seen anything like that from this area a church. 42:15 These too, both of them considered pastors 42:17 had a tremendous growth in a church. 42:21 So, and he was always building something 42:24 so he needed to, you know, he would ask me, 42:26 we became friends and so we go out 42:28 and help a little bit and nothing else, 42:30 lay out floors but he always had his workers, members. 42:34 They would come and work, volunteer all the time. 42:36 But he had, here the carpenter come 42:38 and helped us layout this and do this 42:40 and so I would go out and it's... 42:42 See this was the Grandpa John Borgsmiller Complex. 42:46 It was on, I think about 20 acres, 42:48 had the big parking lot between. 42:50 It was in Federal Bankruptcy and it's impossible. 42:53 You couldn't buy. 42:55 You can't buy property that's in Federal Bankruptcy. 42:57 It was in a lot with five other properties. 42:59 Yeah. 43:01 But we didn't know that so we did it. 43:03 But it's impossible. We were told it's impossible. 43:05 A man told Hal, can I say this. 43:09 It will be a cold day in-- And you know where. 43:12 And you know where 43:14 before you get the keys to this property 43:16 that very man had to take the keys to Hal. 43:18 He had to bring the keys to me. 43:21 He walked down and said, I told him, 43:23 "You don't know a lot about that place. 43:24 You don't know anything about my God." 43:26 And he brought it back and he said, 43:28 "Well, I have learned a lot about your God," 43:29 and dropped the keys. 43:31 But see, that was putting faith, 43:33 putting faith in this to trust God 43:35 because if God, if God says go, your might well go 43:39 because He's, because, Danny, when God guides... 43:41 He provides. 43:43 He provides. 43:44 And so that, you know, part of the walk that we had 43:49 before we became Adventists that's what fitted us 43:52 to be able to fit in here at 3ABN 43:54 and not to be swayed 43:56 when the winds of adversity ever blow against 3ABN. 44:01 You know, we have seen some gale force winds. 44:03 Yeah, we have. But you know what we do? 44:05 We stand. All right. 44:07 We know we're standing with Him we know who stands with, 44:10 who is still standing by us. 44:12 Yeah. 44:13 You know, I can mention. 44:15 I just-- I'll do this right now. 44:17 We're supposed to give glory and love to the Lord. 44:19 But I can mention because we watched through the years 44:22 everything that can be thrown at you, 44:25 thrown at you, and Mollie and I, 44:27 I'd like to think that we're not stupid, 44:30 you know, we're pretty smart and pretty spiritual too. 44:34 And we've seen the whole nine yards, every bit of it. 44:37 And we're still here and others that are here 44:40 that our tremendous Christian men and women of God 44:45 that have ridden out through the years, 44:47 everything that the enemies tried to through at you, 44:49 brother, and they're still-- they didn't say, 44:51 "Oh, well, Danny." 44:52 No. 44:54 They said, this is God's vision and God's put Danny here 44:57 to allow this to come to pass. 45:01 And so I just command you, brother, 45:03 that you stood in faith. 45:04 And see, that's where Mollie and all the moves we made, 45:08 the charismatic moments, everything we did, 45:10 it takes same faith coming out of there 45:12 and coming into here. 45:14 It's the same faith. 45:16 And I thank God for the stand that you've taken 45:19 and God just shown 45:21 Himself to be real and Himself to be true. 45:23 Anything that the devil said, 45:25 I'll tell you how you can tell when he is lying. 45:27 Anytime his mouth moves. 45:29 Okay. All right. 45:30 So anyway, we just got people all over the world 45:34 that are with you and know 45:36 that you are truly a man of God. 45:39 Well, you know, nobody is perfect. 45:41 I made a lot of mistakes just like you have at home 45:43 and all of us here. 45:45 But our vision has began 45:46 we know what the Lord called us to do, 45:48 to build a television station that would reach the world. 45:50 But then undiluted Three Angels' Messages, 45:52 one would counteract to counterfeit. 45:55 And I didn't know where that went. 45:56 We didn't have the money, property, equipment, 45:58 anything to do it. 45:59 But the first people that encouraged me the most 46:02 was Hal and Mollie. 46:03 Literally, they were the first ones 46:05 when I would to talk to people in my home, 46:08 we call denomination, there were pastors, 46:10 there were church leaders who thought 46:12 this was impossible. 46:14 Hal and Mollie, they were supported from the word go. 46:17 What for Lord said, go the world do it. 46:19 You know, I am like, is this for real? 46:21 I would never forget, Yvonne, we were building this, 46:24 out in there, literally bean filed at that time 46:27 just first the uplink station we call it about 46:29 1,6000 square foot building. 46:31 I had one of the presidents of a conference, 46:34 very good guy, wonderful guy came down 46:37 and he saw the shell of this huge building 46:40 and a black board we put on the outside of it, 46:42 installation board said temple on it, of all things 46:46 but we were up on a ladders, my brother Kenny and I 46:49 and he pulls in comes out from Chicago pulls in 46:52 and he stands, gets out of the car and he goes, 46:55 "What are building a building so big for? 46:59 This thing is too big. 47:02 Why are you building something so huge?" 47:05 So we had tried to explain him. We didn't know ourselves. 47:08 We just knew, hey we want to have our room for growth. 47:11 The very next day, charismatic Pastor Hal, 47:15 right, drives out to visit us. 47:18 Gets out of the car, 'cause the cover spreads 47:21 and he didn't just said, I said, 47:23 "What do you think, brother? 47:24 You know, what do you think?" 47:26 "Oh, it's too big. It's just way too big. 47:28 And he so... 47:29 brother Hal, very next day gets out, 47:32 Kenny and I were still up on the ladder 47:33 we are driving these-- 47:34 we didn't have the nail guns and stuff back then, 47:36 you know, so we're driving all these 47:38 with the roofing nails used to put that 47:40 temple board in, black board in. 47:42 And so Brother Hal pulls in, back he gets out, 47:45 and I said, "What do you think, Brother Hal?" 47:47 He said, "Too little, too small. 47:49 Why are you building such a small building?" 47:52 And I said, "Well, look at the contrast 47:54 because where there is no vision, 47:56 you know, he had the vision and told us, 47:58 "You're gonna outgrow all of this." 48:00 But we could imagine we were working out of 48:02 12 foot by 20 foot shack, 48:04 that's really all we had built to put the uplink system in 48:08 and little handmade switcher. 48:10 Those who watch the anniversary special, 48:12 now you saw that. 48:13 Yeah. That's what we were. 48:15 Now there's this building it's 150 feet long, 48:17 60, 70 feet wide, two stories high, 48:20 office's one end, studio's in the other 48:23 and he's saying it's too small, 48:25 and you know what, you were right. 48:28 How many building's have we built since then? 48:30 I've always told you every time 48:32 and last one he did some plans and he brought to me 48:34 and the first thing he said was "Don't say it's too small." 48:37 You are not saying it's too small 48:39 when you building and moving in the vision of God 48:42 you cannot build big enough. 48:44 As long as you don't try to build six flags over Jesus 48:47 everything is fine. 48:49 Go back to the original thing which is the vision of God. 48:52 Right now, do we need more space here at 3ABN? 48:55 Oh, yeah. 48:56 We don't have storage space, for our sales, 48:59 there are some people in offices 49:01 just all came together, 49:02 but Danny, we still have it built big enough. 49:04 I know, I know it. 49:06 But we are trying to work with what we got 49:08 and we've had to expand 49:09 and build a huge for the call center, 49:12 to store all the things that's coming, 49:14 moving and going through the ministry. 49:16 We have the uplink facility, we have the church 49:18 it's also a worship center for camp meetings. 49:21 We have the schools two of them actually, 49:23 the upper grades and the lower grades. 49:25 We have the sound center back here, 49:27 the call center, we built what we call 49:29 to Boss Auditorium. 49:31 Our main facility here's probably 35,000 feet, 49:34 the worship centers may be 40,000 49:36 the other 16,000 then we built 49:38 the sound center recording studio 49:41 and over the years somehow God has blessed 49:43 and thank you for your love and prayers 49:45 and financial support. 49:47 Now, do we love doing all of this? 49:48 No, every time we do it it's more work, 49:50 it's more money, it's more expense, 49:52 but as we grow and commission 49:54 to go into all around the world we just say, okay, Lord, 49:56 and you open up the doors we'll go forward. 49:58 But we're working right now. 50:00 We have what four large studios here 50:02 then we have 3ABN radio of course, 50:04 it's back over at the uplink. 50:06 You do at the original building 50:07 some of your Dare to Dream programs over there, 50:10 we do Latino program over there, 50:12 we have a Kid's Time studio, I mean, it's just something. 50:15 So if you haven't seen the anniversary special 50:18 we'd love for you to get it. 50:19 Maybe you could even call we'll just send you one-- 50:21 can we send them one free? 50:22 Absolutely. 50:25 Mollie is vice president and general manager 50:27 but I'll tell everybody this, she's the boss. 50:30 Because I mean, we're here 50:31 but Mollie knows more about this ministry 50:33 I'm telling the truth about this. 50:35 Yes, she does. 50:36 Than anybody including myself, including you or you 50:39 because she works everyday with everybody. 50:41 She started out as a secretary 50:43 and here she is general manager and vice president and yeah, 50:47 you know, up until just last few months ago, 50:49 if I need a phone number I'm still, she was my-- 50:52 she to work at 3ABN as my secretary, right. 50:55 So I'm still "Hey, Mollie, can you..." 50:56 and here she's busy in all this meetings, 50:59 working with everybody, but finally, you know, 51:01 Jill Morikone in the last few months 51:03 isn't that been relate Mollie because Jill 51:05 whatever you want she can find it, 51:07 she does it, she's incredible. 51:09 And Jill is amazing 51:11 and thank God for her and for Greg. 51:13 But, you know, I want to thank you for letting me. 51:15 I played on-- I'm a team player, 51:17 I love being part of the team 51:19 and I was playing on a team and you know, 51:21 I got kicked out from my team actually. 51:24 Maybe I had to, I had to leave that team 51:26 and you let me come be a part of your team. 51:28 You made me play on the team of 3ABN 51:32 and it has been some and Hal too. 51:34 If this has been the most rewarding time of my life 51:39 has been here at 3ABN helping you. 51:42 I hold your arms up that's what I do 51:47 and trying to hold the world back 51:50 so you can take your-- 51:51 the vision God has placed within you 51:54 and watch that vision unfold before the whole world. 51:57 And I just thank you so much for let be a part of it. 52:00 They are people out there, 52:01 Danny, that will be here and the reason why 52:05 is because it's like this. 52:07 We have the same spiritual DNA. We got that DNA. 52:11 And I believe there's people out there that have that, 52:14 well, they are going to give to 3ABN. 52:16 Oh, I had a dream it's just here 52:18 recently that somebody before the end of the year 52:20 was gonna give a tremendous amount of money, 52:22 so whoever you are send it in. 52:25 And we are hoping he's a true dreamer. 52:28 Old men dream great. Dream great. Perfect. 52:29 That's right. That's right. 52:31 We do have the same spiritual DNA. 52:33 You know, as I sit and listen to you 52:35 all it's so amazing to me 52:37 how God has used you in each other's life 52:41 to build this ministry, 52:42 to support each other, to be there. 52:45 It's just-- God is amazing. 52:46 Huge support because honestly the way 52:49 I grew up in church I grew up the way small church 52:52 and grew up for-- they showed me vision 52:56 because I saw what they did. 52:58 And that really said, you know what, they can do it 53:02 and surely I can do it too, but it was them saying, 53:04 whatever you need we'll help you, 53:05 whatever you want to do. 53:07 There was no this is mine, this is yours it's like 53:09 that's your vision then here we'll help you. 53:11 But Hal said in the beginning, 53:13 I saw, I had a dream saw Southern Illinois 53:15 a hub of wagon wheel with spokes 53:17 reached into all the world 53:18 and that's your vision go for it. 53:19 Go for it. Amen. Amazing. 53:22 So now we've learned some things about him 53:24 we didn't already know, didn't we? 53:26 That's right, I love it. 53:27 But our time has just about all gone. 53:28 We're gonna have to go to the news break 53:30 and then we're gonna come back 53:31 for a closing thought in just a moment. |
Revised 2016-01-01