Participants: Shelley Quinn (Host), Paul Coneff
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY016014A
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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, I'm Shelley Quinn. 01:08 And we welcome you once again to 3ABN Today. 01:11 We are so excited to be sharing this time with you. 01:15 This is the mending broken people network, 01:17 and we want to thank you for your love 01:20 and your prayers and your financial support. 01:23 I just want to encourage you to call anyone you know, 01:28 who has suffered and when I think about this, 01:32 it's going to be everybody you know. 01:34 So anyone who has suffered any kind of pain from the past 01:38 and maybe still holding on to it. 01:40 Please call them and tell them, tune in 01:43 because today we're going to be talking about something 01:47 rather unique. 01:48 It is "The Hidden Half of the Gospel." 01:51 And our special guest today is Pastor Paul Coneff. 01:55 And, Paul, we're so thankful that you're here 01:58 and that you're here to share a message 02:01 that God has given you. 02:02 Thank you very much. 02:04 Now you are from-- 02:07 I'm living in Texas right now with my wife and daughter. 02:10 And how long have you been here? 02:11 Five years. And from where originally? 02:14 We grew up in California most of my life 02:17 and then spent six years 02:18 in the great Northwest in Texas. 02:20 And so now you are in Cleburne, Texas. 02:23 And you are the founder 02:25 of Straight 2 the Heart Ministries, is that correct? 02:27 Yes. Okay. 02:29 Well, we're very excited to hear your story 02:31 and to hear a unique teaching. 02:35 It's unique in that we don't talk about it enough. 02:40 And you'll see as we get into this 02:42 but it's something that as soon you hear it you'll go, 02:45 "Yes, yes, I see this everywhere in the Bible." 02:49 The Hidden Half of the Gospel, 02:51 something that His own apostles, 02:55 His closest disciples they missed this about Christ. 03:00 It took them, it was after Pentecost, 03:03 I think that they began to recognize it. 03:05 But it's something that we need to recognize. 03:08 First however, we know how you love music 03:11 and so we have Victor Moreno, 03:13 who is going to play on the piano, 03:15 one of my favorite songs, "Just as I am." 05:57 That was beautiful, Victor Moreno on the piano 06:00 playing for the glory of God. 06:02 Well, if you're just joining us, 06:03 our special guest today is Paul Coneff 06:05 and we are going to be talking about 06:07 the Hidden Half of the Gospel. 06:09 I want to share a scripture with you 06:12 and I'm going to share this from a paraphrase of the Bible 06:16 that is called The Message. 06:17 Now you never want to try 06:20 to develop your doctrine from a paraphrase 06:24 because that is a man's own interpretation 06:27 or spin on something. 06:28 But occasionally you will find just a nugget, 06:32 a jewel that will speak to you in a paraphrase. 06:35 And this comes from the Message, 06:37 it's Romans 7 and we're drawing from Romans 7:17-24 06:42 and here's what he says. 06:45 "I need something more! 06:47 For if I know the law but still can't keep it, 06:51 and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging 06:55 my best intentions, I obviously need help! 07:00 I realize that I don't have what it takes. 07:03 I can will it, but I can't do it. 07:06 I can decide to do good, but I don't really do it, 07:10 I can decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. 07:15 Something has gone wrong deep within me 07:18 and gets the better of me every time. 07:21 I'm at the end of my rope. 07:23 Is there no one who can help me?" 07:27 How often have we felt like this? 07:29 Of course, as Romans 8 goes on. 07:32 He says, "Aha, there is, therefore, 07:38 no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." 07:40 It is God, Who is going to work in you to will and to do it 07:44 and He recognizes that. 07:46 But Paul, the angus that Paul felt is the angst 07:51 that I think so many people in the church feel today. 07:55 We know, we've been saved by grace 07:58 but sometimes those old memories, 08:03 and hurts, and wounds of the past still haunt us 08:07 and they hold us back 08:09 until we get to know the hidden half of the gospel. 08:14 And, Paul, we want to welcome you once again to the program 08:18 and I'm excited 08:19 that you're going to be sharing this teaching today, 08:21 we're going to just touch on it. 08:23 Naturally, we can't go into it deeply. 08:25 But before we get into what God taught you. 08:29 Let's talk a little bit about you growing up. 08:32 Did you grow up in a Christian home? 08:34 I grew up Catholic. 08:35 Okay, how did you work your way from a Catholic home 08:42 into becoming a Seventh-day Adventist pastor? 08:46 My dad had people working for him, 08:47 he's a painting contractor and we had one of the guy 08:49 who's a Christian and witnessed to me 08:51 and led me into a prayer of salvation. 08:55 Wonderful. 08:56 And then was your home a solid home, 08:59 was this a happy childhood? 09:01 We grew up with a lot of anger, a lot of tension in the family, 09:03 I have great relationship with my dad right now. 09:06 God's done a lot of healing there 09:07 and I'm really thankful for that 09:09 but we grew up with lot of anger and tension, 09:12 so I grew up pretty angry. 09:14 All right. Did you act out on that? 09:17 You know, as I left home, I went to college 09:19 and then I started drinking and doing drugs, 09:21 made a lot of the wrong choices. 09:23 Didn't understand why I was doing 09:25 what I was doing. 09:26 But just made a lot of wrong choices 09:28 alcohol, drugs, pornography all that stuff 09:31 and so I was and I realized later, 09:34 I was trying to bury a lot of the pain 09:36 that I didn't know how to get rid of. 09:37 So you were self medicating. 09:39 Yes. Okay. 09:40 Now how did you get from that point 09:44 to truly developing that personal relationship 09:47 with Christ, choosing to go into ministry? 09:51 I had a friend of mine had led me into Bible studies 09:55 and then I got baptized. 09:56 And then I went to a boarding academy, 10:00 Montverde Academy. 10:01 And I was really good and ended with a college scholarship 10:04 but I, they said I was major in rebellion 10:05 and they didn't have that major. 10:07 So I said, well, then I got to go finish my major somewhere 10:10 and I left that. 10:11 And so, as about six or seven years later 10:14 as I kept getting in trouble with alcohol drinking 10:17 and going to jail for things like that. 10:19 God finally got a hold of me and then I went back to school, 10:24 went back to church, went back to school 10:26 and became a pastor. 10:27 All right, you began at what 25 years ago 10:31 as a youth pastor, is that correct? 10:32 Yes. What was your experience? 10:35 Did you just expect this to be, 10:38 "Ah, I'm going to be dealing with a youth, 10:39 we're going to be doing a lot of, you know, fun activities. 10:44 What was your experience 10:45 when you started dealing with the youth of the church? 10:48 I thought we would be doing a lot of fun outreaches, 10:50 activities and we did a lot of those, 10:52 we did a lot of witnessing, Big Brother, 10:53 Big Sister programs, daycare kids there, 10:56 taking them to beach, we did prison ministry, 10:58 we would clean different houses and backyards 11:01 on Sunday mornings with them, they get up early. 11:03 So we did a lot of good things and that was good 11:06 but and I thought we're doing Bible studies 11:07 but what I didn't realize was, 11:09 how much brokenness there was in the church. 11:13 I had kids with alcoholic parents, 11:15 rageaholic parents, kids that have been sexually abused, 11:17 physically abused, single parent kids. 11:20 And I didn't really know how to minister to them. 11:23 I knew how to move them into ministry into outreach. 11:26 I didn't know how to help them get healing and freedom. 11:28 So, but with these kids 11:30 who might have considered themselves saved by grace, 11:34 they were Christian children? 11:35 Yes. 11:37 So, you know, this is the point I want to make 11:40 that I think you're going to just, 11:43 this will blow your socks off today. 11:45 I mean, I was blown away as I was reading it 11:47 because it's something that, you know, 11:51 you and I only had five minutes to talk before the program 11:53 and I believe what I told you was, 11:56 I recognize what you are saying, 11:59 kind of like, "Ah, well, we know this." 12:03 But I did, it was like, it was there 12:06 but I'd never really taken it all the way. 12:09 So how did God, first explain, 12:11 what is the Hidden Half of the Gospel? 12:16 I would say that it's Jesus fulfilled prophecy 12:19 to suffer, die and rise again, not die and rise again. 12:22 So His suffering was prophesied in Isaiah, 12:24 in the Psalms and so, over and over again in Luke 9:22, 12:29 He's saying I'm going to suffer and die and rise again. 12:32 He keeps repeating it throughout His ministry. 12:36 He goes up to the mountain top, 12:38 the transfiguration and He says, 12:40 and His Father is telling His disciples 12:42 listen to what He's saying and He just told them, 12:44 I'm going to suffer die and rise again. 12:46 At the last supper He says, 12:48 I'm going to eat this meal with you before I suffer 12:50 and the disciples are following Him, 12:51 they're sincere. 12:53 But they say great pass to butter and the bread 12:55 who gets to be first place in the kingdom. 12:57 It's just going right over their head. 12:59 And, in fact at one time, Peter rebukes Him 13:01 for going to the cross, they didn't see a-- 13:04 They had in their minds a militant Messiah, 13:06 who was going to overthrow Rome, 13:08 set up the kingdom. 13:09 They weren't looking for a suffering Messiah 13:10 who would die for them and the Romans. 13:12 So they didn't see this suffering Messiah 13:15 of Isaiah 53. 13:16 And, you know, on the road to Emmaus, 13:18 He's saying, "Oh fools and slow to believe, 13:20 didn't you know the Messiah must suffer 13:22 and enter in the glory." 13:24 So after His resurrection, 13:25 His message is about His suffering. 13:26 He appears to them in the upper room and He says, 13:29 "Didn't you know I had to fulfill 13:30 all the Old Testament prophecies 13:32 and the law of Moses, the Psalms and the prophets, 13:35 that I would, the Messiah would suffer, 13:37 die and rise again. 13:40 All right, so somebody who is watching is saying, 13:42 "Well, we know He suffered on the cross? 13:44 We know He suffered, so what?" And I don't mean, so what? 13:47 It's a fair question. 13:48 It, it, I mean, it's something that, okay, 13:52 why put the emphasis on the suffering? 13:54 I don't mean so what in that. 13:56 I don't want to sound sacrilegious 13:58 but someone is saying, "Of course, 14:00 we know He suffered, it was a brutal death, 14:03 but why are we calling this the Hidden Half of the Gospel? 14:07 We talk about Jesus dying and rising again. 14:10 That is generally our focus. 14:13 Why put or why is it important 14:16 that we recognize the component of His suffering 14:22 as far as our healing?" 14:25 First, I would say because Jesus 14:27 and all the Old Testament prophets 14:28 and all the New Testament disciples and writers did. 14:31 So there's a Biblical foundation. 14:32 But at the practical level, what difference would it make, 14:35 is a very fair question. 14:36 And that is He, and I tend to emphasize 14:40 usually when I'm teaching for short enough time 14:42 get somebody to Calvary. 14:44 But He was born to an unwed mother. 14:47 So now He can identify with anybody born 14:49 to an unwed mother, He had a stepfather 14:51 but not a biological earthly father, 14:53 so anybody who doesn't know who their father is, 14:55 he can identify, 14:57 so suffering allows Him according to Hebrews, 14:59 He suffered being tempted 15:00 to be made like you and me in every way. 15:03 So He could be tempted in all points 15:05 so that He could help us. 15:06 So if I'm dealing with someone, 15:07 let's say they're alone and abandoned. 15:09 Because I'm a pastor, I'm also marriage family therapist 15:11 and they say I've been abandoned. 15:12 Jesus fulfilled prophecy being alone 15:15 and abandoned by those closest to Him 15:17 in His time of need in the garden. 15:20 If I'm dealing with somebody 15:21 who's been betrayed by an affair 15:22 and we see that all the time, 15:24 we don't like it but it's part of the world. 15:26 I have Jesus betrayed by a kiss for the price of a slave, 15:31 human trafficking is huge right now. 15:34 He was betrayed by a kiss for the price of a slave. 15:38 So if we're working with one of those victims. 15:40 We have a Jesus betrayed by a kiss 15:43 for the price of a slave, stripped naked. 15:45 Matthew uses the word, they stripped His clothes off, 15:48 physically violated, verbally and mentally abused 15:51 by groups of men in power over Him. 15:53 So now we have a Jesus 15:54 with the power of personal identification 15:56 who can say, "I've been where you've been, 15:59 I've trusted My Father, I've suffered like you suffered, 16:02 therefore I'm inviting you to trust Me 16:04 because I chose to go through what you went through. 16:07 If you're asking why? 16:08 Jesus on the cross crying out, "My God, My God, 16:12 why have You forsaken Me?" 16:13 For those who are addicted, 16:15 He was tempted in enormous pain on the cross 16:17 with an alcoholic, a wine vinegar mix. 16:19 That's behind every to, 16:20 you know, we started talking about, 16:22 I was self medicating my anger, my pain. 16:25 Guess what, Jesus was tempted to do, 16:27 so He could be tempted like me in all ways. 16:29 Amen, amen. 16:31 So what we're saying then is that, 16:33 the first half of the gospel is recognizing 16:37 that Christ died for our sins that He rose again, 16:41 that we may be saved by grace, 16:44 if we receive this gift of salvation 16:48 that then He works in us 16:50 to willing to do His good pleasure. 16:52 We know these things 16:53 and you are dealing with children 16:55 who know these and your ministry 16:57 with Straight 2 the Heart Ministry, 16:58 you have been dealing with a lot of people 17:01 who accept the salvation of Christ. 17:05 Yet, what we're saying is like the as the disciples 17:12 did not recognized that he was supposed to suffer, 17:15 although it had been prophesied 17:17 throughout the Bible. 17:18 Though Christ told them repeatedly, I will suffer. 17:21 You're saying that there was a reason for His suffering. 17:25 And that reason was so that He could identify, 17:27 He could be tempted in every way 17:30 in which we are tempted. 17:32 And knowing that if we accept 17:36 that the second half of the gospel is recognizing, 17:41 He suffered not just part for our salvation 17:46 but for our healing, is this what you're saying? 17:48 Exactly. Okay. 17:50 Because if we have somebody and I use my example, 17:53 I'm in the world, I grew up, I accepted Christ, 17:56 I was very sincere and then I leave, 18:00 it's often because I haven't gotten healing and freedom. 18:03 I was very interested in spiritual things 18:05 and I see it in kids, I see it in adults. 18:07 So I need forgiveness. 18:08 I would say that a lot of Christians are getting 18:10 a lot of forgiveness but not a lot of freedom. 18:13 And so I have found that the two main pillars 18:16 that I emphasize is two things, one, Jesus suffered 18:18 because of power of personal identification 18:20 really hits home with people when I work with them. 18:24 And imagine you had a group of women 18:26 that had been sexually abused when they're in the group. 18:28 Different, they've been molested by different ages, 18:30 different times, different people 18:32 but they all had one thing in common, 18:33 they've been physically violated. 18:35 Yes. 18:36 They can understand each other because they all know 18:38 the pain and shame that goes with it, right? 18:41 Now, have a man go in their group, 18:42 what happens to the level of safety? 18:44 Yeah. It's going to go down. 18:45 Not unless say the man is safe. But why? 18:48 Because if he can't identify with them, 18:51 the trust isn't going to be there. 18:52 So Jesus is suffering so we can say I trust You. 18:55 And Hebrews says, "He was made like us in every way, 18:58 which leaves no exceptions, tempted like us at all points." 19:01 Again the writer of Hebrews is using word language 19:04 that allows no exceptions. 19:06 So He could say to me, Paul, 19:08 I know what it's like to go through anger, 19:10 to go through violence. 19:11 I know what it's like to be tempted to numb my pain, 19:14 so I can not only forgive you, 19:16 which is critically important that He died for my sins, 19:19 my bitterness, my anger, my medicating. 19:21 But He could heal me and set me free 19:23 which just happen to be His gospel. 19:25 Amen, amen. 19:26 So you have over the last 25 years 19:30 in response to a young group of Christians 19:36 who believe they were saved but they weren't healed. 19:41 You know, Jesus said that, 19:43 "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy." 19:46 John 10:10, "But I have come that they may have life 19:49 and have it more abundantly." 19:52 And sometimes we can feel saved 19:54 but we don't feel that we are experiencing that abundant life 20:01 because there is still a root of a problem somewhere. 20:04 I mentioned to you just and I just have to tell you, 20:09 Paul has written a book 20:10 and I did not have the time to get all the way through it, 20:13 but I spent about an hour in your book yesterday evening. 20:17 And I was blown away 20:20 because the book is called The Hidden Half of the Gospel. 20:24 How His suffering can heal yours. 20:29 The first thought I had was of my sister. 20:31 My sister, God delivered her from cocaine and heroine. 20:36 I mean just overnight, 20:37 she went from what they call hard ball 20:40 where they mix them together and inject this. 20:43 He delivered her from those drugs overnight. 20:46 She accepted Him as her savior. 20:48 And as long as she was really focused in 20:55 on staying close to the Lord, she was okay. 20:58 But if she ever released the pressure 21:01 that she put on herself. 21:02 And I didn't recognize this till she died actually, 21:04 I'm just telling you. 21:06 I did not realize she had been delivered from her drugs 21:10 but she never been healed of the root of the problem. 21:13 My sister was gang raped by 13 Hell's Angels 21:19 when she was in her middle teen years. 21:23 And it took her so many years to even tell me about that. 21:28 This was the underlying cause for her self medicating. 21:33 She liked to feel subdued 21:34 so she wouldn't think about that. 21:37 And here after nearly well, 30 years of healing, 21:41 I saw her one day take Benadryl. 21:44 But she took too much to the point where it did 21:47 and I said, "Why do you do this? 21:49 God's healed you, you're not, you're not an addict anymore." 21:53 She said, "You know your sister likes to feel subdued, 21:56 I don't want to think about this." 21:58 And I didn't know, I mean when I was reading your method, 22:02 your T, putting the cross, 22:03 what you put on one side and one on the other. 22:06 I thought this could have saved-- 22:08 This could have brought my sister the freedom 22:10 that she needed. 22:12 So take us through an example or just tell us about the T. 22:15 How over 25 years you started, God was showing you, 22:20 He healed you, He's given you this incredible ministry. 22:24 You're no longer a pastor, 22:26 you're working in full time ministry 22:28 training other pastors. 22:30 Just give us a little more, we've got about 25 minutes. 22:34 Tell us a little more how this works? 22:37 Well, when I started with youth group I said, 22:39 "God, how do I-- 22:40 I know that they are Christians, 22:41 I know I'm a Christian, how do I get healing?" 22:43 And He said, "I just want-- 22:44 I want, how do I help these kids with their brokenness?" 22:46 And some of the adults I was working with. 22:48 And God said, "Let me deal with you first." 22:49 And I said, "No, God, 22:50 I got four years of pastoral ministry major. 22:52 I'm here to pastor, I just want to help." 22:54 He goes, "Now let's deal with something." 22:55 I said, "No, that's all in the past, 22:57 I put it on the past." 22:58 God said, "No, it's not." 23:00 So we argued for a few months and finally God won. 23:02 But now here all the time 23:03 people tell me it's in the past. 23:05 And so, God started dealing with some of the things 23:06 in my life because I've forgiven people in my life 23:09 that had hurt me for their behaviors. 23:11 What I hadn't realized is the two pillars 23:13 like I mentioned early, 23:14 one of them is His suffering, that's critical, 23:15 that's the foundation of everything we do 23:17 is to connect his story with your sister's story. 23:21 For example, and you've got Jesus stripped naked, 23:24 physically violated, 23:26 chained and humiliated by groups of men over Him. 23:29 And then He's tempted to numb His pain. 23:31 This is your sister's story. 23:32 So we're gonna start praying Jesus' story into her story, 23:35 so we move from the information to the application, 23:38 so it moves from here. 23:39 It's a process that takes place overtime. 23:41 But that power of personal identification really helps. 23:44 But the other part, the other pillar we have is, 23:47 Satan is called the father of lies, 23:48 Jesus didn't call him the father of bad behavior. 23:50 He's a grandfather of bad behavior, 23:52 that's what I would say. 23:54 He's responsible, he's a father of lies 23:56 and we know the Bible says 23:57 as a man thinks in his heart so is he. 24:00 So if your sister goes through that experience, 24:03 the devil sets her up to get hurt. 24:04 And then he puts lies in her heart, 24:06 I'm bad, I'm no good, I'm worthless. 24:08 Every time she thinks about that gang rape, 24:12 it's a negative experience 24:13 because of the negative thoughts. 24:15 So what kind of feelings is she gonna have? 24:16 Negative. 24:18 Is she gonna want to be present 24:19 with those feelings of being powerless, 24:21 helpless, ashamed and humiliated? 24:22 No. 24:24 So we're gonna go medicate, it's not just her story, 24:26 it's my story and my experience and many peoples. 24:29 So we want to deal with what are the negative thoughts? 24:31 Because first Satan attacks us, 24:33 sets us up to be hurt and puts lies in it. 24:35 And he doesn't speak like you and I 24:36 are talking back and forth a new language. 24:38 He uses first person language, so I get a thought, 24:40 I'm bad, I'm rejected. 24:43 I begin to believe, now that's a root system. 24:45 It grows up in a negative feelings 24:47 and then I turned it, 24:48 I start leaving Jesus and I start turning to alcohol 24:51 and drugs and porn and stuff and not even knowing why. 24:53 So then I confessed my behavior what I've done 24:56 or what others have done, I forgive for their behavior. 24:58 I never deal with the belief system 25:00 behind the behavior, the root. 25:02 And ironically, Jesus is called the root of David 25:05 and the root of Jesse. 25:06 So He's the root of our healing. 25:08 So we want to say like your sister, 25:10 what are the negative thoughts that you have? 25:13 I'm bad, I'm rejected, I'm powerless. 25:16 Let's say those were her thoughts. 25:18 Then we want to go, Jesus was alone, 25:20 abandoned, betrayed, 25:22 abused, stripped naked, physically violated, 25:24 all those experiences we've talked about. 25:26 Where was Jesus tempted with her same thoughts? 25:30 Then we take that information 25:32 and she'd probably go to betrayed, 25:33 abuse, stripped naked, tempted to numb His pain. 25:36 Then we would start praying, "Dear Heavenly Father, 25:40 thank You that Jesus fulfilled prophecy 25:42 according to Your word, to suffer like me, 25:47 when He was stripped naked, 25:48 when He was physically violated, 25:50 betrayed, verbally and mentally abused 25:52 by men in power over Him and tempted to numb His pain, 25:55 so He could take into His suffering 25:56 and death on the cross all the ways I was gang raped, 26:00 physically violated by men in power over me. 26:02 All the negative thoughts that I'm bad 26:04 and I'm powerless. 26:06 And all the ways He was tempted to numb His pain, 26:09 so He could take into His death all the ways 26:11 I am now numbing my pain. 26:13 Thank You for raising Him from the dead. 26:16 To heal me, set me free, break all sexual bonding, 26:20 all trauma bonding with that negative experience 26:23 and replacing it with my truest, 26:25 deepest identity. 26:27 As Your daughter receiving Your purity and Your peace. 26:32 So we want her to receive the purity of Jesus. 26:34 And I pray with women that have been sexually abused 26:36 and men 'cause there are a lot of men that have been. 26:39 We want to take them into their truest, 26:40 deepest identity 26:42 so they are receiving the end goal which is purity. 26:45 So that they don't forget what happened, 26:47 but Jesus not only removes 26:49 the negative power of the experience, 26:51 the negative thoughts and feelings 26:52 but He replaces it 26:53 with the power of His purity in peace. 26:55 And that's when we start seeing transformation. 26:57 And that's when they start moving into ministry 26:59 with a testimony. 27:00 And now those terrible things that happened to them, 27:03 God uses to share a testimony and to minister to others." 27:06 So tell us about some of the success stories 27:08 that you've seen because the book and as I said, 27:12 I've only got maybe a fourth of the way through the book 27:15 but in the book you're using the stories of several people. 27:19 I mean, this book is very practical. 27:21 And I love the way in which it's written 27:23 because the teaching is interwoven 27:26 with stories and the stories actually help bring out 27:31 the truth of the teaching. 27:33 So you can see this immediately. 27:35 Because sometimes 27:36 we can sound rather clinically without that, I think. 27:39 Yeah, or theological. Or theological. 27:41 And the information is good. Yeah. 27:43 So tell us why did you write the book? 27:47 I mean, you've been doing this now for how many years? 27:50 When did you began straighten? 27:52 About 25 years ago 27:53 is when I started writing a cross in the book, 27:55 you had mention the T. 27:56 I start, I put a cross in the border 27:58 and I put their story in a left hand column, 28:00 whether it's sins, brokenness, abuse, 28:02 what they've done or what others have done to them. 28:04 On the right hand side of the cross, 28:06 I start writing Jesus' story from Gethsemane to Calvary 28:09 so we can connect. 28:10 So every story in the book has three chapters. 28:13 First is their story, their struggles, their abuse, 28:15 their addiction, abandonment, betrayal. 28:18 The second chapter in their story 28:19 is the prophecies Jesus fulfilled 28:21 to identify with them. 28:23 And at the end of that chapter, 28:24 we have that T or that cross 28:26 where their story is in the left hand side 28:28 and Jesus' story is in the left hand. 28:29 If it was your sister, 28:31 there would be what we talked about. 28:32 How she was gang raped, how she learned to believe 28:35 she's bad and powerless and learn to medicate her pain. 28:38 On the right hand would be Jesus was stripped naked, 28:40 physically violated. 28:42 He was tempted to medicate His pain into believing 28:44 He was powerless and that He was bad. 28:46 So He needed to medicate, 28:48 instead He trusted in His father. 28:49 Okay, so, Paul, let me see if I'm catching this 28:51 because are you saying essentially 28:55 that we can all believe that Christ nailed our sins, 29:01 I mean that He was, He carried our sins 29:04 and He was nailed to the cross. 29:05 So that is something 29:07 that we can accept His salvation if you will. 29:11 But are you saying, 29:12 He also was bearing all of our suffering 29:17 which was nailed to the cross 29:18 and if we accept that we're accepting freedom? 29:21 Yes. Yes. Is that what you're saying? 29:24 It is a process 'cause we want to pray Jesus' story 29:26 in another person story. 29:28 But you and I know many Christians 29:30 like your sister or like myself, 29:31 we sincerely accept Christ. 29:33 There's no question about our sincerity. 29:36 But then we get baptized, we see some things going on 29:38 and then stuff comes, starts coming back later 29:40 and we go, "Why is this coming back? 29:42 I accepted Jesus for six months, it's been good. 29:44 It's that root system. 29:46 If those belief systems are there, 29:48 they're gonna create negative feelings, 29:50 I mean the apostle, not Paul-- 29:53 David in Psalms 51 29:54 after his sexual sin with Bathsheba, 29:55 he writes this beautiful psalm and he says, 29:58 "Put truth in my innermost parts." 29:59 Yeah. Beautiful, right? 30:00 That's what we want 'cause we have truth in our heart. 30:02 That's what will live, right? 30:04 But then he says, "Wash me and cleanse me, purge me." 30:07 So they have to get truth in our heart, 30:09 we have to have a purging and a cleansing. 30:11 And I believe it's those negative thoughts 30:14 from the father of lies that keeps us in the living, 30:16 what I call the cycle of sin and forgiveness. 30:18 I get forgiveness, I take my bad apples and I said, 30:21 "God, I'm struggling with anger, porn, 30:22 food, whatever it is. 30:24 Please forgive me, I'm sincere." 30:26 So what does God do? He forgives me. 30:28 But the root system's there, so if the root system is alive, 30:30 what's the tree gonna reproduce? 30:32 More apples. 30:34 So I say, "God, here's my anger, 30:35 my food, my porn again." 30:37 After we do this like 50 or 100 times, 30:39 what happens to my faith 30:40 when I'm getting a lot of forgiveness 30:42 and I'm very sincere in confessing my behaviors. 30:44 But I don't know that Satan is the father of lies. 30:47 I don't know I have to deal with the belief systems 30:49 and I keep repeating the pattern, 30:51 what happens to my faith? 30:52 Yeah. It starts going down. 30:54 And this is not a lack of sincerity. 30:56 But I believe we have to take all of Jesus' words about sin 30:59 and suffering that Satan is the father of lies. 31:02 And that He suffered and as we connect our story 31:04 with Jesus' story and begin praying. 31:07 And women praying with women and men praying with men 31:10 and walking with them through this journey. 31:12 We see them start to get that freedom 31:13 where it moves from here to here 31:16 and then they move into minister their testimony. 31:18 Share a little bit about Lindsay? 31:20 Lindsey was my co-writer. 31:22 I did a training in her church and she came to get prayer. 31:26 She'd grown up abandoned by her mother 31:28 when she was in her teen years. 31:29 She tells her story 31:30 and she now actually has her own book 31:32 that just came out telling her whole story. 31:35 But she came and she had in her teenage years 31:37 straight A student, top student 31:39 but her mom had an affair with somebody, 31:41 got pregnant, it blew up the marriage, 31:42 a lot of tension in the family. 31:44 She went off to college depressed, 31:47 feeling abandoned, 31:48 her belief system is I'm abandoned, 31:49 I'm powerless, I can't trust anybody. 31:52 She goes to college, her grades plummet 31:54 because of her depression. 31:55 Somebody takes her to some Christian weekend 31:57 and she says, "All I got was Christian cliches, 32:00 lots of models and slogans. 32:01 But nothing to help my deep pain." 32:04 And she goes, "If that's it, I'm done." 32:06 And she went and overdosed on pills, 32:08 told an ex-boyfriend, he told the police, 32:10 they went and found her and that saved her life. 32:13 So she thought she dealt with it was in her past, 32:15 she went through my training and she comes up 32:17 and she says, "Hey, as we're praying, 32:19 is there anything keeping me from receiving more freedom." 32:21 It was your day timer and she was using her day timer 32:25 like I used alcohol to self medicate in drugs 32:28 or your sister did. 32:29 She was usually a day timer, she could fill that up 32:31 and be busy and be in control, she would feel safe. 32:34 So we started dealing with those belief systems 32:37 and connecting her story to Jesus. 32:38 And you know what? 32:40 Jesus was abandoned 32:42 in His greatest time of need in the garden 32:44 when He says, "I need you," 32:45 by those closest to Him so He can identify. 32:47 Was He tempted to believe, He couldn't trust anybody. 32:50 Hebrew says, He was tempted in all points like Lindsay. 32:54 And so we connected her story to Jesus' story. 32:57 We kept praying with her, 32:59 she got a lot of healing and freedom. 33:00 She started disciplining other women, 33:02 some of them they got baptized. 33:03 She ended up helping me on the book which is great 33:06 'cause I don't like writing and she loves writing. 33:08 So she wanted her book in print, 33:11 her name in print by 28 and I said, "You're-- 33:14 The content is mine 33:16 but you're doing a lot of the great writing. 33:18 So I want your name to be on the front." 33:20 The month she turned 28 33:22 was the month that the book came out. 33:23 Praise the Lord. 33:25 And now she was afraid to have family, 33:26 she was married 33:28 but afraid to have a family because she's thinking, 33:29 "I don't want to do to my family 33:31 what happened to me." 33:32 So guess what? 33:34 God, as we were praying one of the things 33:35 that she realized was I don't want a PhD, 33:38 I want a family and her husband was pretty happy. 33:40 Before the book was printed, 33:41 she was pregnant with her first son 33:43 and she just had her second sunset. 33:45 So God real, it's not that a PhD is bad 33:48 but God was letting her realize the desires of her heart 33:51 to be a mother. 33:53 But first, she had to deal with those negative thoughts, 33:55 "If I have a child 33:57 maybe I'll blow my family up like it happened to me." 33:59 Okay. 34:01 So you are training, 34:03 we're gonna go into a few more stories, 34:04 but I want to emphasize this. 34:05 You are now doing seminars, I know, doctor, 34:09 you just came from Neil Nedley's 34:10 or you recently did something with Dr. Neil Nedley. 34:14 Tell us about that? 34:15 Yeah, he has emotional intelligence summit every year. 34:18 He's doing a great job with depression the way out 34:20 and different programs, he has different speakers. 34:22 I had the opportunity to present five times there 34:24 on manipulation, on trauma, PTSD, abuse, suffering, 34:29 the why question, going through Job. 34:31 And, but I like to do trainings for pastors and members 34:34 because pastors are in the frontline. 34:36 And they often tell me, 34:38 "I didn't know how to deal with brokenness." 34:39 And I go, "That's my story." 34:40 I walk into adults and kids 34:43 that are dealing with brokenness 34:44 and I didn't know how to help them. 34:46 So we want to train people how to connect Jesus' story 34:50 with the person's story 34:51 and start praying Jesus' story into them 34:53 and disciplining them. 34:54 So Straight 2 the Heart 34:56 and that's with a straight in the number, 34:59 numeral 2 Straight to the Heart. 35:02 This ministry you have-- 35:04 There's a wonderful website called straighttotheheart.com 35:08 where you can go and find resources. 35:10 But what you are doing, 35:12 when you say you're working with pastors, 35:14 do you just go for conference meetings 35:16 to work with the pastors 35:17 or how do you work with pastors? 35:18 Sometimes I'll talk to a group of pastors in an area 35:20 under that conference of that area. 35:22 And then those who are interested, 35:23 I'll start training them, 35:25 I have a five day training where we teach them 35:26 so that if they're abandoned, 35:28 betrayed, abused that we can begin working with them 35:30 and they feel confident that they can lead people 35:32 into deeper healing and freedom. 35:34 You know, I think that's so exciting 35:35 because one thing that most people know, 35:39 pastor may have all kinds of theological knowledge, 35:43 he may have real heart knowledge of Jesus. 35:45 But quite often, there is not been the emphasis 35:48 on counseling if you will. 35:52 They don't know how to reach out 35:54 and touch that and it's always, 35:56 we have a prayer line here and people are saying, 35:58 "Well, my pastor doesn't know how to counsel. 36:01 He doesn't really counsel." 36:02 So I think it's wonderful that you're doing that. 36:05 But the other part of that is 36:08 you are also teaching people 36:13 who've kind of gone through the process themselves 36:16 how to minister to others, is that correct? 36:19 Is that what the website's all about? 36:21 Yeah, what I tell people is that when I do a training, 36:24 if I need my marriage family therapy license 36:26 at any time during the training I failed. 36:28 Oh, that's good. 36:30 Because people don't have time to go get a graduate degree 36:32 and 3,000 hours of supervised counseling 36:34 and then come back 5 or 6 years later. 36:36 I tell them if what I do is biblical. 36:38 And it's got to be biblical and scriptural. 36:40 If it's biblical, if it's simple 36:42 and it's reproducible then I'm successful. 36:45 So in other words, if they can do what I do 36:47 because I want to multiply disciples. 36:48 My passion is that we would have small groups of men 36:51 praying with men, 36:52 small groups of women walking with women 36:54 like your sister or like Lindsay 36:56 through a one month, two month, three months, 36:58 whatever it takes where we're walking with them 37:00 like Jesus walked with His disciples. 37:02 And they come out ready to share their story 37:05 and move into ministry. 37:07 How important is the prayer component in this process? 37:10 It's very important 37:11 because we really don't do counseling. 37:13 It's really prayer ministry and discipleship. 37:15 So we want Christ to be the wonderful counselor. 37:18 We have a list of negative thoughts they can choose from 37:20 to help him get started but then we pray and we start. 37:22 But you're not really counseling people, 37:23 you are leading them to their Savior. 37:27 You're just showing them how He suffered in a like way 37:31 and they get that emotional identification with that. 37:34 But then you're allowing Jesus to do the healing. 37:37 Yes. 37:38 And so they know it, I have never, I tell people 37:39 I have never healed anybody. 37:41 But I've been able to watch God do a lot of healing. 37:42 So we want them when they're not around, they go, 37:44 "Oh, no, where is Paul? 37:46 Or where is Shelley?" 37:47 We want them to go, "Oh, wait a minute, 37:49 I can pray to God and I can ask God, 37:50 what are the negative thoughts what Christ identifies?" 37:52 So we want them to have a relationship with God. 37:55 So we're interdependent with them, 37:57 not codependent in the sense of them 37:58 becoming dependent on us. 38:00 We want them to move two men, 38:02 Jesus taught the disciples to go two by two. 38:04 We want two women ministering together 38:06 and two men. 38:07 So we want prayer teams developing 38:09 that can multiply disciples 38:10 and we're seeing baptisms from it too as well, 38:12 so their spiritual fruit. 38:14 Right, tell us about the-- 38:16 Tell us a little bit about the book. 38:17 You wrote the book I assume so that you can duplicate this 38:21 that you can have people out there 38:24 who are growing in these prayer teams. 38:26 Tell us how the book is organized and what... 38:29 Tell us about the book? There are nine main stories. 38:31 We do an introductory story with someone 38:33 who had anxiety attacks, panic attacks, 38:36 had been abused as a child. 38:38 She had agoraphobia, claustrophobia, 38:40 she got baptized, she was sincere. 38:42 Guess what came up out of the baptistery? 38:43 All of her claustrophobia, agoraphobia, 38:46 scared of open spaces. 38:47 No lack of sincerity, I know her, 38:49 I know the pastor that studied with her. 38:51 As we dealt with the lies and negative thoughts 38:53 and forgiveness for those who hurt her 38:55 and getting healing, she moved into freedom. 38:58 And then we follow Jesus' journey 38:59 from Gethsemane to Calvary, 39:01 alone, abandoned, betrayed, abused. 39:02 So we have stories of men and women. 39:05 And we share their story then Jesus' story. 39:08 Of course, like we mentioned earlier 39:09 where He can identify the prophecy, 39:11 so they have the scriptures there. 39:12 The third chapters how we pray Jesus' story 39:14 into their story overtime not a 30 second quick fix. 39:18 And then it moves them into ministry 39:20 with a testimony. 39:21 So the main focus would be how Jesus brings healing 39:23 and freedom through the suffering, 39:25 death and resurrection. 39:26 The secondary their theme is 39:28 moving them into ministry with a testimony. 39:31 Amen. 39:32 So for instance, 39:33 one of my favorite stories in the book is Sandy. 39:35 She was not a Christian. 39:36 A man took my training through Amazing Facts 39:39 when I was doing some teaching there, 39:41 College of Evangelism. 39:42 He went back to England 39:43 and he talked to a friend of his 39:45 who wasn't a Christian. 39:46 And she had 17 years of domestic violence. 39:48 Counseling helped her to get out of the marriage 39:50 but she was carrying all the shame and the pain. 39:52 Much like people we've talked about. 39:54 And he said, "I'd like to pray with you and show you 39:57 how Jesus connects with your story." 39:58 And of course, Jesus went through lots of physical abuse. 40:01 And she said, "Well, I'm not a Christian, 40:02 I don't believe in the trinity. 40:04 I don't believe in Jesus as my Lord and Savior, 40:06 how can you pray with me?" 40:07 And he said, "Well, I learned in the training 40:09 that Jesus would heal people before they knew He was. 40:11 The blind man didn't know who He was. 40:12 The man in John 5 didn't know who He was." 40:14 So he said, "All you have to do is know 40:16 that I'm a Christian, we're praying to Christ 40:18 and you just a little bit of time to lose." 40:22 She went home and thought about it and thought, 40:23 "What do I have to lose?" 40:25 So he prays with her like two or three times. 40:27 He doesn't see her for a couple of weeks. 40:29 And she calls up one day and says, "I got it, George." 40:33 It's my friend George Hamilton, he goes, 40:34 "Well, get what?" 40:36 She was, "Jesus is my Lord and Savior. 40:38 And the trinity makes sense." 40:40 So the Holy Spirit started healing 40:42 or connecting Jesus' story to her story. 40:45 And he led her to salvation, she wanted more prayer 40:48 so my brother George got busy. 40:50 My brother discipled her over Skype through-- 40:52 We have a discipleship process 40:53 when we go deep in one area of the person's life. 40:55 And she had a deaf group she was ministering to. 40:58 So guess what she did with the deaf group. 41:00 She shared her story 41:02 and she brought them to the church. 41:05 And when I was training in England a few years ago, 41:07 her pastor came up and said, "I'm the pastor of her church." 41:11 When she came in, she brought a strong relational dynamic, 41:13 she filled up her apartment with non Christians. 41:15 She started connecting her story with their story. 41:18 So she could connect Jesus' story with theirs. 41:21 And she ended up getting baptized, 41:22 she's been in the church for years. 41:23 When I went to England to do a training, 41:25 she helped me, I never prayed with her once. 41:28 My friend George Hamilton prayed with her. 41:30 My brother prayed with her but I've never prayed with her. 41:32 But she was praying with women and I was praying with men. 41:34 So she was joining me in ministry, 41:35 so it can't be about me 41:37 because I never prayed with her. 41:38 It's about the power of personal identification 41:41 through Jesus' suffering. 41:42 Amen. Amen. 41:44 So you can-- 41:45 This is a great way to witness to non Christians. 41:47 And if they're not open, they're not open 41:49 but if they are, we just simply say, 41:52 "Thank you for sharing your struggle, 41:53 you just found out your husband's having an affair. 41:56 I have a spiritual resource 41:58 that has helped me through hard times, 41:59 could I share that with you?" 42:01 We're not telling them, we're asking. 42:02 And if they say no, we honor that but if they say yes, 42:05 can we connect them with Jesus betrayed by a kiss, 42:08 who can identify with them 42:09 and begin praying Jesus' story into their story. 42:11 So there's a very strong healing component. 42:14 And there's also a very strong evangelistic component. 42:16 What people are going to say, "Why does this heal? 42:20 Why is this just recognizing that Christ suffered 42:24 in the same way we suffered? 42:26 Why is that the healing balm of Gilead assured? 42:30 First of all I would say 42:31 it's a supernatural story fulfilled in prophecy, 42:33 so there's something bigger than us. 42:35 Okay. 42:36 I didn't know what was happening 42:38 when that man led me to a prayer of salvation 42:40 but God honored that. 42:42 So I can't say I fully understand 100 percent 42:44 but what I can say is 42:46 it's the power of personal identification 42:48 when someone knows and they come to you 42:50 and they say, "Shelley, my husband's having an affair 42:53 and I'm devastated and I feel like I'm not good enough." 42:55 That's what women feel, they go to, I'm not good enough 42:57 when their husbands are into pornography. 42:59 And the statistically they say 43:01 50 to 70 percent of guys in church 43:03 are struggling with this. 43:04 They don't want it in their life most of them 43:06 but they don't know how to get free. 43:08 Was Jesus ever tempted to believe 43:10 He wasn't good enough? 43:11 And was He betrayed? 43:13 So that power of personal identification does something 43:15 that I can't do with human wisdom. 43:17 Yeah. 43:18 I'm not saying there's not a place for counseling, 43:20 I'm saying there's something about connecting their story 43:22 to Jesus' story and then praying Jesus' story 43:25 into their mind and heart that brings transformation 43:29 that I cannot do with my own human wisdom. 43:31 The Holy Spirit activates that healing in the heart. 43:34 And then how do you change, I mean, 43:36 so that He begins there, what do you do? 43:38 Do you have a component where there's a Bible study 43:41 or we're learning the promises of God or? 43:43 I'm glad you asked that. 43:45 We have daily discipleship prayer, 43:46 so we want to pray with them. 43:48 And then we have them unpack Jesus' story 43:50 in different areas. 43:51 And we have a discipleship process 43:52 where each phase has scriptures 43:55 dealing with their losses, Christ losses. 43:59 For instance, I was angry and I was hurt, 44:03 so I turned to anger, bitterness and drugs. 44:04 I also have to own that 44:06 and what are the negative beliefs I got 44:07 from growing up in a home with anger. 44:09 What are the beliefs I got about myself 44:10 from what I've done to myself or how I've hurt others 44:14 'cause we want to receive forgiveness for what others, 44:17 for what we've done ourselves. 44:19 Otherwise we live with guilt and shame. 44:21 And then we deal with generational patterns 44:23 'cause we see it in David, we see it in Abraham. 44:25 Generational patterns of lying, lying, lying. 44:28 Abraham lied, then what did Isaac do? 44:30 He lied. Then what did his sons do? 44:32 Lied and they ended up murdering a whole town. 44:34 So we want to deal with those generational patterns. 44:36 We want to receive forgiveness for we've done. 44:38 We want to receive Jesus' forgiveness 44:40 for what others have done. 44:41 And Jesus on the cross said, 44:42 "Forgive for they know not what they do." 44:44 So we want to encompass all of His words. 44:46 Have you ever seen anybody, I'm gonna ask you 44:48 something that-- 44:49 We just have a few minutes, 44:51 I have to try and make this quick it's here. 44:53 I'm gonna use myself as an example. 44:55 The Lord brought me out of so much pain. 44:58 And the power of His word and confessing His word 45:01 over my life changed me. 45:04 But it is interesting that occasionally 45:06 and I experience this after my sister's death. 45:09 You know, you're just going through the grieving process 45:12 that something happened. 45:13 I had to deal with a strong fear of abandonment. 45:18 My parents were divorced when I was four. 45:20 My father got custody of me, took me out to California 45:23 from New Mexico. 45:25 And then he ended up leaving me with my grandparents 45:28 because he got a job in Phoenix. 45:30 So I had this fear of abandonment 45:33 and always feeling like I had to be perfect to be loved. 45:36 After my sister's death 45:38 somehow that kind of reared its ugly head again. 45:43 And I thought I've dealt with it. 45:45 So are you saying that as people go through this, 45:49 do they ever maybe-- 45:51 Does this anything ever, 45:53 did I just not deal with the root or I mean, 45:57 I'm excited to read the rest of your book. 45:59 Or is it possible it can come back 46:04 and you just know the process then to go 46:06 and get that deliverance again. 46:08 I would say both and I would say 46:10 that praying God's promises can be powerful for healing. 46:13 And this isn't a cure all. 46:15 This is one way that God heals people. 46:17 What I would say is when it comes up, 46:19 we deal with it. 46:20 So like if you're on vacation or driving down the road 46:23 and the gas gauge is fine, your oil, light's fine. 46:26 Don't look at it. 46:27 But if there's a flat tire or it says your oil's low, 46:29 pull over and fix it. 46:31 So when that abandonment comes up, 46:32 we take it to God. 46:33 And in our book we show how after we pray, 46:35 a number of them start dealing with more layers later. 46:38 Because we're not, we're not wanting to show a fix all. 46:41 Yeah. 46:43 I'm just excited, I want to read the rest of this book. 46:46 And once again the name of the book is 46:49 'The Hidden Half of the Gospel'. 46:52 How His suffering can heal yours. 46:55 And you can get this book, we want to 46:58 and I'm assuming Paul 47:00 that you are available since you're going out 47:03 and teaching other conferences, 47:05 do you ever teach churches as well? 47:07 Yes, that's where I do most of my-- 47:08 I spend most of my time training in churches. 47:10 Okay. 47:11 So if you maybe, your church would like to have Paul 47:14 come to your church and teach 'The Hidden Half of the Gospel' 47:18 or you'd like to get this book for yourself. 47:21 And from what I've read, I can highly recommend it. 47:23 I've just been as I said, I hate to use that expression, 47:27 it sounds like I don't have a very good vocabulary 47:30 but blown away was the word I want to use 47:32 when I was reading this. 47:34 So if you'd like to see 47:35 how you can get in touch with Paul 47:37 or to order his book. 47:38 Here's an address roll that will provide that information. 47:44 If you would like to know how you can get the book, 47:46 The Hidden Half of the Gospel 47:48 or if you'd like to contact Paul, 47:49 you can do so by writing 47:51 to Straight 2 the Heart Incorporated, 47:53 PMB 185, 10 North Caddo Street, Cleburne, Texas, 76301. 48:00 That's Straight 2 the Heart Incorporated, 48:02 PMB 185, 10 North Caddo Street, Cleburne, Texas, 76301. 48:09 You can call 360-630-0097. 48:14 That's 360-630-0097. 48:18 You can also visit them online, it's Straight2TheHeart.com. 48:22 That's Straight2TheHeart.com. 48:28 You know Paul was just telling me 48:30 as we were giving you that information that he's offering, 48:33 if you go to his website which is Straight2TheHeart 48:38 with the number 2, Straight2TheHeart.com. 48:41 He's offering 15% discount on the book 48:43 for all 3ABN viewers, right? 48:46 Yeah, and actually they would go 48:48 to www.HiddenHalf.org for that book. 48:49 I'm sorry. 48:51 I'm sorry they have a separate website for the book. 48:52 www.HiddenHalf.org. 48:57 And if you put a coupon slot put 3ABN, you'll get 15% off. 49:02 All right. 49:03 There's gonna be a lot of people 49:04 ordering this book I hope. 49:06 Let's talk about Rick, because so far we've talked 49:09 about some women's stories, 49:10 let's just get a man's point of view in this. 49:13 So when Rick came to me, 49:15 he had struggled with a 20 year addiction to pornography 49:17 and his wife was about ready to walk out. 49:19 I don't blame her. 49:21 And he didn't want to be stuck, he didn't know how to get free. 49:24 So he wanted freedom, he didn't know how. 49:26 So we started saying, 49:27 "What are your negative thoughts 49:29 based on how you grew up?" 49:30 He grew up with an angry, abusive father. 49:32 He learned he was powerless, he was rejected 49:35 and he couldn't trust others. 49:37 So then we go into Jesus' story like we talked about, 49:39 was Jesus ever tempted? 49:40 Did He ever have angry, abusive men around him? 49:43 Yes, especially during His last hours. 49:45 So we connect Jesus' story with Rick's story 49:48 where Jesus was tempted to be rejected, 49:50 where He was tempted to believe 49:52 that His identity was on powerless 49:53 because I have abusive men over me. 49:55 And then Jesus was tempted again to numb His pain. 49:57 Well, how is Rick medicating? Through pornography. 50:00 And he feels good while he's looking at it 50:01 but how does he feel afterwards as a Christian man, 50:03 hurting his wife? 50:05 He doesn't feel good. 50:06 So now he's got shame and guilt on top of the addiction 50:08 which then drives him more. 50:09 So we connected his negative thoughts, 50:11 I'm powerless, I'm rejected. 50:15 You know, his negative thoughts with Jesus' story 50:16 and begin praying, asking God to break the sexual bonds 50:20 because Jesus, Genesis and Paul all say 50:22 that when their sexual activity, 50:24 their sexual bonding. 50:26 And neuroscience now confirms that. 50:27 So we're asking God to deal with the behavior 50:30 and the belief systems and to break the sexual bonds. 50:33 And then through Jesus' resurrection power 50:35 that He's receiving is truest, 50:37 deepest masculine identity as God's son. 50:39 Receiving forgiveness for what he didn't know 50:41 about what he was doing 50:42 and all that what he didn't know the damage 50:44 and receiving the purity of Jesus. 50:46 And as he got freedom through the same process, 50:49 he went back to his church, 50:50 he started sharing his story with other men, 50:52 I didn't ask him to. 50:53 And he started a small group for men. 50:55 So what we want to-- 50:56 This is a kind of fruit we want to see 50:57 'cause in the New Testament 50:59 when they accepted Jesus and got freedom, 51:00 what did they do? 51:01 They went started 51:03 telling their circle of influence and then-- 51:05 Like the woman at the well, 51:06 you know, who is so ashamed of her past. 51:08 And as soon as Christ sets her free if you will, 51:12 then she goes right back 51:13 and to tell she uses her pain as her testimony. 51:17 That's the foundational story 51:19 we used it at the beginning of the book 51:20 to say this is what we want to see. 51:22 So Rick started sharing, 51:23 he rebuild his marriage with his wife, 51:24 he asked her how he has hurt her. 51:26 He asked her for forgiveness in specific ways. 51:29 And then he gets a group of men 51:30 to keep growing to minister to and to keep growing. 51:32 So we're excited what God is doing 51:34 and I believe the greatest need of the church 51:36 as I travel around different countries in the US. 51:39 People want community. 51:40 In other words, a safe place to say I've had an abortion, 51:44 I don't know how to get rid of the shame and guilt, 51:45 I've confessed to behavior. 51:47 I'm struggling with pornography or food. 51:48 I don't know how to get free. 51:50 Where am I gonna go 51:51 where someone is not gonna judge me 51:52 but lead me to the throne of grace 51:54 in a way that makes a difference. 51:55 Amen. 51:57 And so this is what we want to see happen in our churches. 51:59 I just praise the Lord for this ministry 52:01 Straight 2 The Heart 52:03 and he's got an incredible website 52:04 with a lot of resources. 52:06 Straight2TheHeart.com. 52:09 Well, we're gonna take just a quick break, 52:11 we're going to a newsbreak 52:12 and we'll come back for a final thought. |
Revised 2016-05-12