Participants: Danny Shelton (Host), Yvonne Lewis (Host), Bobby Davis
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY017093A
|
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 word 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 01:08 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Today. 01:10 Thank you for joining us as you do each and every day. 01:13 And as always thank you for your love, 01:14 and your prayers, and financial support of 3ABN. 01:18 I'm co-hosted today with dear sweet Yvonne, 01:22 and this is a wonderful woman who loves Jesus. 01:25 Oh! Praise the Lord. 01:26 And always has something to say when it comes time to testify 01:30 and I love that about you. 01:32 Praise the Lord. Thank you. 01:33 You give God honor, and glory, and praise. 01:35 Oh, He is worthy to be praised. 01:36 He's done great things in your life. 01:38 He has, He has for everyone. Yeah. 01:41 He's such a great God, 01:42 He does great things for everyone. 01:44 Well, our guest today, 01:46 and I hesitate to use the word guest 01:48 because we've been friends and coworkers 01:50 for 20 some odd years. 01:52 Wow! 01:53 But usually folks don't see him because he's behind the camera. 01:57 But we have convinced... 01:59 No, the Holy Spirit's convinced him 02:01 to come in front of the camera 02:03 'cause I couldn't do it all these years. 02:05 So I know it's the Lord. 02:06 And so I'd like to introduce for those who may not know, 02:10 many of you will, Bobby Davis. 02:12 Bob, it's good to have you here today. 02:13 Thank you, Danny. 02:14 And cowboy hat and all, I really, really like that. 02:17 It's kind of a new thing that he's been doing. 02:20 I think I'm partially responsible for that. 02:22 And he's got boots they may get a pretty soon... 02:25 Okay, there you go, 02:26 got some cowboy boots up there too. 02:28 All right. All right. 02:29 And so, you know, he coming from the East Coast 02:33 to Southern Illinois we're kind of 02:35 a little bit of cowboy country here, 02:37 we have horses so... 02:38 I think he looks good in it, don't you? 02:40 I like it. 02:41 And you feel comfortable, right? 02:43 Thank you. I do. Yeah, good. 02:44 It took a little getting used to in the beginning, 02:46 but I love it now. 02:47 Well, Bobby, we tell the folk at home that 02:50 the blessing of God is on the go. 02:51 Amen. 02:52 And I found out a long time ago. 02:55 And I feel blessed for this that my goal was to say 03:00 I wanna be a blessing, 03:02 Yvonne, to those I come in contact with. 03:04 So when I get a chance, I wanna give my testimony 03:07 of what God has done for me. 03:09 And maybe in my childlike faith in growing up, 03:13 I somehow thought that my testimony would help 03:17 be the salvation of someone else. 03:19 Well, in a sense that is, but I really found out 03:23 that we can't do anything. 03:25 It's the Holy Spirit that really does it. 03:27 But the reason... 03:28 So then I said, "Well, why does God tell us 03:31 to go ye into all the world?" 03:32 Well, that's for my own salvation 03:34 and your salvation because if we only think about me, 03:38 myself, and I 03:39 then how we're gonna love people around us. 03:41 So Jesus knows when He says, "Go share your testimony," 03:44 that you get to know people, and when you get to know people 03:47 you begin to love people like Jesus did, 03:50 then you become a conduit where the Lord actually 03:53 can work through us to be a blessing to someone else. 03:56 So indeed, we can help, but it's the Holy Spirit 03:59 that really does the work of salvation. 04:02 You agree with that? Absolutely. Absolutely. 04:04 Well, today we have Bobby Davis. 04:06 And, Bobby, you grew up, you're born in the States, 04:10 but your folks are missionaries where? 04:12 In Brazil. 04:13 For how many years? 04:14 The northeastern part of Brazil, 04:16 we were there for about 15.5 years. 04:19 Okay, 15.5 years then you came back to the States. 04:22 We did. 04:23 My dad studied briefly at Andrews University 04:26 getting his doctorate in theology. 04:28 And then moved out to Massachusetts. 04:31 And a few years later I followed and lived there, 04:35 finished up college there, and started working there 04:39 for quite a few years. 04:41 Oh, sorry. 04:42 We're gonna have a song in just a minute. 04:44 And go ahead with your thought. Okay. 04:46 I was just gonna ask 04:48 as the son of a missionary or missionaries, 04:52 what was your relationship with Jesus like? 04:55 Well, in the beginning it was very good. 04:59 I was baptized when I believe I was nine and a half. 05:03 And unfortunately along the way I started getting headstrong 05:08 and wanting to do my own thing. 05:10 And during my teenage years and later in my 20s, you know, 05:13 I definitely rebelled, left the church, left the Lord. 05:18 And yet, you know, I asked my father many years later 05:22 when I was re-baptized. 05:23 I said, "Dad, why did you baptize me 05:26 when I was nine and a half? 05:28 Was I too young?" And he said, "No, son." 05:30 He says, "I knew you love the Lord, 05:32 and you love Jesus, and I wanted to honor 05:34 that request to be baptized to follow Jesus." 05:38 So my story is kind of the story of the prodigal son. 05:41 And yet, you know, it's a story of redemption. 05:45 Amen. 05:46 And I'm so grateful, not only for the Lord 05:49 being patient with me, but the Holy Spirit 05:51 that never gave up. 05:53 And still pursues me to this day. 05:55 It's a great story and maybe if there were words 05:58 that could explain it, might be in a song 06:02 called "The love of God". 06:04 Amen. 06:05 Touches me here, the Brady's, you'll love this song. 06:07 Oh, yes. The love of God. 06:23 The love of God is greater far 06:30 Than tongue or pen could ever tell 06:35 It goes beyond the highest star 06:41 And reaches to the lowest hell 06:47 The guilty pair, bowed down with care 06:53 God gave His Son to win 06:59 His erring child He reconciled 07:06 And pardoned from his sin 07:27 Could we with ink the ocean fill 07:34 And were the skies of parchment made 07:42 And every stalk on earth a quill 07:49 And every man 07:51 A scribe by trade 07:58 To write the love 08:04 Of God above 08:06 Would drain the ocean dry 08:13 Nor could the scroll contain the whole 08:19 Though stretched from sky 08:22 To sky 08:28 O love of God 08:34 How rich and pure! 08:37 How measureless and strong! 08:44 It shall forevermore endure 08:50 The saints' and angels' 08:54 Song 08:58 It shall forevermore endure 09:06 The saints' and angels' 09:11 Song 09:15 How wonderful, how marvelous 09:21 This precious love 09:27 Oh God! 09:28 The precious love 09:32 Of God 09:45 Whoo! 09:47 It makes me wanna shout, 09:48 I'm trying to contain myself right now. 09:50 Wasn't that something? Oh! It's so beautiful. 09:53 What a great job by the Brady's too. 09:55 Absolutely beautiful song, Larry Gross' arrangement. 09:58 Our precious Larry. 10:00 That's the story of all of us. 10:01 We have to know that we serve a God of love 10:04 that's an endless love that He's gonna love us regardless. 10:07 Bobby, you told a little bit of your story 10:09 that when you got... 10:11 You're raised as missionaries in a missionary field 10:14 which came back to the States, ended up on the East Coast. 10:17 But as you got near late teens 10:18 and your 20s you began to rebel. 10:20 That's right. 10:22 And so God still loved you 10:24 through all your rebellion, didn't He? 10:25 Amen. But you say that you really... 10:28 I don't know if you quit loving God 10:29 or you just chose not loved yourself more, 10:32 or you just loved the world more 10:34 or if you just took a break. 10:35 I don't know how to explain that, you know, 10:37 in your own mind, and in your own life. 10:40 But what caused that? 10:42 You're raised and you're baptized 10:43 at the young age, and you have wonderful parents, 10:47 and you just wanna go out. 10:48 So you didn't just like say, 10:50 "I think I won't go to church today." 10:52 You started doing substance abuse, right? 10:54 That's right. Tell us about it? 10:56 Actually, I didn't until I was 18. 10:59 One of the things I can tell you about myself 11:02 and later on in life through my teen years 11:05 as I always felt like I didn't quite fit in. 11:08 I felt like I was on the outside 11:11 looking in most of the time. 11:12 I had lots of friends, but I could be in a room 11:15 full of my friends and feel completely alone. 11:18 Like I didn't really fit in and, of course, 11:21 being raised in mission field that was easy to not fit in 11:24 because I didn't. 11:26 I mean, I didn't look like the Brazilians, 11:28 I wasn't Brazilian, 11:30 but it wasn't so bad in the mission field. 11:32 But when I came back I was almost 16, 11:35 I didn't know a single sport that Americans play. 11:38 I didn't know a Chevy from a Ford back in the day 11:40 when you could tell the difference. 11:41 Yeah, yeah. 11:42 I didn't know anybody on TV, nobody on the radio. 11:44 I didn't know any of the popular culture. 11:47 And I felt completely out of place. 11:49 Okay. 11:50 And that just fed all of this. 11:52 And by then I had started drifting away from the Lord. 11:55 And what happened was, 11:58 I went into the dorms in a Christian university, 12:03 you know, in the dorms. 12:04 And, you know, wherever you go you will find people 12:08 that wanna do the same things you do. 12:10 And these people that seem to be having fun, 12:13 the people that seem to have it all 12:16 were the people that were partying. 12:18 And unfortunately that was the crowd that I fell in with. 12:23 Later on, I did go to a public university 12:28 actually a college in Massachusetts. 12:31 I moved back to my parents' house 12:33 and finished up a degree in television production there. 12:36 Okay. 12:38 But along the way again, I found the friends 12:41 I was looking for, they were easy to find. 12:43 And the devil makes it attractive and easy. 12:46 You know, I was having fun. I felt like I fit in. 12:49 In my particular case 12:51 I basically got into drinking so much 12:54 that I became alcoholic. 12:56 And for me alcohol doesn't make me feel better 12:59 than everybody else, it just makes me feel 13:01 equal to everybody else. 13:03 So that was all I was trying to do 13:04 was fit in and be part of what was going on. 13:08 And unfortunately there go my morals, 13:12 there goes my relationship with God. 13:15 It caused problems in my own family, 13:18 and it just made me miserable. 13:20 And the only answer I seemed to have 13:22 that would make me feel better temporarily 13:24 was to continue to drink. 13:26 And although there was some drug usage in my story 13:29 that wasn't a major part of it. 13:31 And I thank God for that because there are some 13:34 wicked drugs out there that is so much harder 13:36 to get off of it and my heart still goes out to people, 13:40 especially in today's day and age 13:41 when so much in the world is so messed up. 13:45 People look for answers, you know, 13:49 in drugs and alcohol and other things 13:52 that supposedly will calm them down 13:54 and keep them just stable when they don't realize 13:57 that it's a trap that it just draws a person 14:00 in more and more and more. 14:01 And that was my case. 14:05 Let's see it took me a while 14:07 to get through college unfortunately. 14:10 Most of it was not because I transferred 14:12 from one university to the other, most of it was 14:15 because I was too busy having fun, so to speak. 14:18 And my grades weren't that good. 14:20 And it took me five and a half years 14:22 to get a four year degree 14:23 so that should tell you something. 14:25 Partying was getting in the way of your education. 14:28 And I'm not quite sure how I graduated but I did. 14:31 And I couldn't find a job in television for a while, 14:34 for a couple of years. 14:36 So while you were doing all this partying, 14:38 that's when the alcoholism was kind of taking route? 14:42 But you were still functioning, 14:44 you were going to classes and doing your work? 14:47 Yes, I was working in the restaurant business 14:51 at the time closing down restaurants. 14:52 And anybody who's ever done that 14:54 knows that most of the crew likes to go drink after hours, 14:57 you know, and that's basically what I was doing. 14:59 Going home trying to sleep real fast and wake up smart 15:03 and, of course, try to go to school and by the end, 15:05 middle of the afternoon I was done with that 15:08 and I was on to other things. 15:10 So sadly, I'm sure I was a disappointment to my parents. 15:13 And they knew I'm sure what was going on in my life. 15:16 Did they talk to you about it? 15:18 No, I'm not quite sure why but, probably 15:23 because they sense that they were powerless 15:25 to do anything about it, you know. 15:27 What happens with alcoholism... 15:29 What I've understood of alcoholism is that 15:33 trying to reason with an alcoholic is very difficult 15:37 and really doesn't work because it's not a logical thing. 15:41 For me it was the solution to all my problems. 15:45 And if it was the answer to my problems 15:47 and you're gonna take the answer to my problems away, 15:49 I'm not even gonna go there, I'm not even gonna consider it. 15:52 And what I've understood of alcoholism is that 15:56 once I become alcoholic or cross that line 16:00 because some people seem to be able to drink for a while 16:02 and don't have a problem. 16:04 Well, for me it was an instant relief 16:07 from everything, from the fears, 16:09 from the frustration, 16:11 from the disillusionment with life that I felt. 16:15 When I took alcohol the very first time, 16:17 it was magic, it was magic. 16:19 And that's the danger of taking that first drink. 16:22 If you've never had a drink, I beg you not to start 16:25 because there's no guarantee that one drink 16:28 is gonna ruin your life. 16:29 And isn't it the same with drugs? 16:31 I've heard the same thing with people who use drugs, 16:34 that first hit that first time, 16:36 it's like it seems to be magical. 16:40 But that's just the illusion of Satan. 16:43 Really is magical, there is nothing physical 16:45 or spiritual, it's demonic. 16:47 It's demonic, right, a supernatural thing. 16:48 So magic is more considered to supernatural thing. 16:51 Now did you start smoking too? 16:53 Did like cigarettes, was that one of 16:54 the first things you did? 16:56 Well, I had my first cigarette and my first drink 17:00 on the same night so. 17:01 Okay, same night. 17:02 Yeah, I did all that for quite a while. 17:04 So you went through this, you graduated, 17:06 you are in trouble spiritually. 17:09 Yes. 17:10 But you chose this was what you wanted. 17:13 But you did get a job in television. 17:15 I did eventually. 17:16 First I moved out because I was causing 17:18 so much chaos at home. 17:20 And that's probably one of the biggest regrets 17:22 that I have in my life 17:25 is how badly I treated the people 17:28 that loved me the most. 17:30 And finally, when I did move out, 17:31 I just moved into the party scene 17:33 and that was that. 17:36 Eventually I did get a job in the television. 17:38 In fact, Moses Primo who's the chief engineer here 17:42 got me my first job in TV. 17:43 Oh! 17:44 He was working at a small television station 17:46 in the Boston market. 17:47 And he called me one day and said, 17:50 "You know, there's an opening here." 17:51 And how did he know you 'cause your parents were... 17:53 Moses is from Brazil. 17:55 From Brazil he had come to the States to study English. 17:58 And he happened to come to the college 18:00 where they were teaching. 18:02 And so, of course, Brazilians and missionaries from Brazil 18:05 are instant friends. 18:06 And Moses is really family to us. 18:09 So he did invite me to apply and I did. 18:13 And what happened was I got into the field 18:17 that I love the most, you know, I had a career counselor 18:20 in college that said, "Do what your heart wants to do 18:24 because if you do something else, 18:26 some other career, 18:28 and you really want to do this over here 18:29 you might be 40, 50 years old and trying to switch careers, 18:32 it's not going to work. 18:33 Do it now, pay your dues, 18:36 you know, just hang around whatever you can do 18:39 to get your foot in the door." 18:40 And that's what happened. 18:42 I became a video editor and eventually 18:45 a program director for that station. 18:47 But they had budget cuts back in the 1991, 18:52 I guess it was. 18:54 And for a whole 13 months, I was unemployed 18:58 and that was a difficult thing. 18:59 Now before that I have to back up a little bit, 19:02 before that I did get sober. 19:04 And part of that was connecting to God, 19:07 in fact, the biggest part of that. 19:09 The only part that matters 19:11 was I had to have a connection with God. 19:13 What led you to get sober? 19:15 Well, despair, absolute despair. 19:18 I just couldn't live one more day that way. 19:21 And I cried out to God for help. 19:22 I said, "God, help me. 19:23 Don't let me die like this." 19:25 And when I did, you know, the answer was there. 19:28 And I found that by connecting in a very simple way to God 19:33 and learning to trust Him. 19:35 And that 13-month period of no job, 19:37 really led me to trust Him in ways 19:39 that I had never trusted before. 19:41 I was about two years sober when I lost my job. 19:46 And for that whole 13 months before I came here, 19:49 it was a struggle, it was a struggle. 19:51 Financially I couldn't figure out 19:54 how in the world am I making it, 19:55 how can I even pay my rent. 19:58 And yet, the Lord kept supplying, kept supplying. 20:01 And I had good friends and mentors 20:03 that would say things like, 20:05 "Well, is that odd, or is that God?" 20:07 Is it odd, or is it God? I like it. 20:09 And I had to admit that was what it was. 20:12 Now see, I had the perfect parents 20:15 to show me the love of God and to show me 20:18 what it's all about to the altruism, 20:20 the service to others, the love of others. 20:23 But I couldn't seem to connect through their faith. 20:27 I had wonderful friends along the way, 20:30 Christian friends, 20:31 but they couldn't make that connection for me. 20:33 I had to hit bottom literally, I had to say, 20:36 "I can't figure this out, I can't figure life out, 20:39 I can't figure my way out of this drinking problem, 20:42 I've got to ask somebody for help." 20:44 And out of desperation which I think is 20:47 what all of us end up having to do in one way or another 20:49 is to cry out to God for help. 20:51 Right. And I said, "God, help me." 20:54 And He did. 20:55 How long had you lived like that, 20:58 like away from God? 21:00 Well, away from God, I'm not sure, 21:02 but I had been drinking for 11 years. 21:04 Wow. 21:05 And that's not a long time 21:08 for alcoholics, but believe me... 21:10 That's a long time. 21:11 It was long enough for me, 21:12 I just couldn't take anymore further. 21:14 And so, anyway as I've gotten sober 21:16 and I had this baby relationship with God. 21:20 And for 13 months that sustained me enough 21:23 to keep me going through that unemployment period. 21:27 And believe me I looked for a job everywhere. 21:29 And then Moses shows up again in the scene 21:32 and apparently he had a conversation with you one day 21:34 and you said, we need some more people here 21:37 3ABN was growing and that was 1992, I believe. 21:41 And he called me up and asked me to send the resume 21:45 and then he called me and said, "Don't bother." 21:47 He says, "I need you out here for an interview." 21:50 Danny says, "I don't need to see his resume. 21:52 If he's any good, get him out here for an interview." 21:54 So I flew out here for an interview 21:56 and honestly I didn't wanna come. 21:59 The Christian television, I had a bad taste in my mouth. 22:02 I had worked in commercial television 22:04 for 10 years or so. 22:06 And I had seen what Christian television was all about, 22:10 what I thought Christian television was all about. 22:12 And without naming names there had been a lot of people 22:15 who had fallen from grace in a very public way 22:18 in Christian television. 22:20 And I just had no use for that. 22:24 And, in fact, I asked Moses, I said, 22:26 "Moses, please tell me that this is different 22:29 from all these other ministries." 22:31 And he says, "Oh, yes, it's different." 22:33 And he went on to say, "You know, 22:34 we've never done a telephone, we've never begged for money, 22:37 the Lord has always supplied our needs here at 3ABN." 22:40 And I remember raising an eyebrow saying, 22:42 "Yeah, well, I don't know how that works." 22:43 Yeah. But I came out here. 22:45 And the very first day when I toured the campus 22:48 and all that, I couldn't believe 22:50 that you actually had a television station out here. 22:52 In fact, you guys had better equipment 22:54 than I was used to back in a commercial station. 22:57 And I saw God's blessing, and I saw the passion, 23:01 and the excitement that the entire team had. 23:04 You know, the fact that they... 23:07 Well, there were teenagers here directing programs 23:10 and I'm like, "How did they learn, how to do that?" 23:12 You know, I went to school 23:14 and I'm not even a good director, 23:15 but these guys were awesome. 23:17 And you had a real studio and a real transmission 23:21 setup for satellite and it just amazed me. 23:24 And I don't know I prayed and I said, 23:27 "God, if this is where you want me to be, 23:29 then you've got to let me know in a big way." 23:31 And He did. 23:32 Actually before I ever got a tour 23:34 I came here on a Friday evening 23:37 and on Sabbath morning I woke up 23:39 and I sat behind Moses' house in a swing. 23:42 And I looked out at everything and I thought 23:44 this is so beautiful. 23:46 And see, I'm used to talking to God. 23:47 Part of my recovery is having a prayer life 23:51 and meditating on God's word. 23:53 And so what I said to Him several times was 23:57 "God, this is really beautiful out here, it's so peaceful." 24:00 And suddenly I had my son 24:02 and I remember crying that morning 24:04 and just shaking my head and I thought, 24:06 "God, you are so funny. 24:07 I can't believe you do this." 24:09 You know, I got a dose of serenity 24:11 what we call serenity that peace with God 24:14 and peace with everyone around me. 24:16 It was so strong that morning, I am sure that 24:19 that was the strongest feeling of serenity 24:21 I've ever felt in my life. 24:23 And that was my unmistakable sign. 24:26 I had to quit all the other things, you know, 24:29 I've gotten sober from alcohol but I still smoked, 24:31 there were a lot of other things wrong in my life. 24:34 And that day everything changed 24:36 because I knew I was supposed to be here. 24:38 And it was a struggle for me. 24:40 At first, I was editing as you remember at night, 24:43 we had another editor in the daytime 24:45 so I got the night shift. 24:47 And it was my job to listen to sermons and cut them down. 24:51 I remember there was one, it was on the nature of Christ, 24:55 and how He was tempted in every way, 24:57 and how He had suffered all the same temptations 24:59 that we have. 25:00 And it was a good sermon, but it was 90 minutes long 25:04 and it had to be cut down to less than an hour. 25:06 And I thought, "How do you do that, 25:08 how do you cut that much out of a sermon and make sense?" 25:11 So I remember editing all of that and then covering 25:14 each one of those, you know, where the cuts were 25:16 with an audience shot. 25:18 And then I thought this thing is not gonna hold together. 25:22 So at the end of the night I rewound that tape. 25:25 And I started playing it watching for those edits, 25:27 making sure they were all right and listening for continuity. 25:32 And that's what changed my life again 25:34 because the Lord spoke to my heart. 25:37 And I ended the thing, I realized at the end 25:41 I hadn't even paid attention to edits anymore, 25:43 I was listening to the message. 25:45 And I said, "God, I can't believe 25:48 you'd be bring me all the way out here. 25:50 To make it my job and back me into a corner like this, 25:55 just to reach my heart." 25:57 And I said, out loud I said, "If you want me that bad, 25:59 you can have me." 26:01 You know. Wonderful. 26:02 And I was re-baptized and in over the years 26:05 my relationship with God has grown, 26:07 it's been a struggle sometimes, another times it's not at all. 26:09 Yeah, we've seen it, we've seen it. 26:11 Especially as far as you've been 26:13 willing to talk about it... 26:14 Sure. 26:16 You know in a more private, 26:17 even private, you're kind of a private. 26:19 I'd look at him more of a private person 26:21 until the right situation. 26:23 Bobby does not want to just insert himself 26:26 in a conversation if you were with a bunch of people. 26:29 If you ask him something, he'll say, 26:30 but a lot of times he sits and listens. 26:33 But I've noticed in the last few years 26:36 a change in you. 26:37 And you found out something very important. 26:40 And I wanna get into that a little bit. 26:41 Sure. 26:42 That help for you was helping others. 26:46 Tell me a little bit? 26:48 First of all, you found out you needed to surround yourself 26:52 around people who had, you know, 26:55 gain victory over some of the things alcohol. 26:58 So you found groups of people to help you 27:01 and then you in turn 27:03 begin to minister disciple others? 27:05 Tell us how that works? Absolutely. 27:07 Well, it's an interesting thing 27:10 that others have observed and put into words. 27:12 I'm not original about this. 27:14 But I believe that our past 27:17 especially the things we struggle with, 27:19 in fact, I'll just say our dark past, 27:21 the darkest moments of our past turn out to be... 27:25 In God's hands they turn out to be 27:26 the most precious things we have. 27:29 The experiences, the struggles, and the trials, 27:32 and the heartache that we have in life, 27:34 if we allow God to change all of that, 27:37 He will change it and make it into the biggest asset we have. 27:40 And I say that because for me the worst thing 27:43 I thought I could ever have is to have alcoholism. 27:48 And the truth is it turns out to be the best thing. 27:51 The people I always struggle to fit in with 27:53 and become friends with now 27:55 are the people that I minister to. 27:56 Okay. 27:58 And I can gain their trust very quickly 28:00 where most people cannot. 28:01 Normal people, so called normal people, 28:04 I mean, we're all normal, 28:05 but people that don't have a drinking problem 28:08 cannot even begin to help somebody 28:11 who has a drinking problem. 28:12 And it's the strangest thing, you know. 28:15 If I had a brain tumor, 28:18 I wouldn't go to a brain surgeon 28:20 that had a brain tumor, 28:22 I would go to one who doesn't have one, right? 28:24 I want one with all his brains to operate on my brain. 28:27 But the sad part is that 28:29 with alcoholism and with other addictions, 28:32 we won't listen to somebody 28:33 unless we know they've been where we are. 28:36 And God in His mercy has given me that mission 28:38 to help other alcoholics, especially other alcoholics. 28:41 That's true. 28:43 In my case, I've never drank, 28:45 I never, to just say I've never drink a beer, 28:47 I never tasted alcohol 28:49 it's just one of those things I never did. 28:51 But I've had a lot of things in my life 28:53 that I've needed help with and had to go to others 28:56 and listen to others to help me. 28:58 But in 1982 when Melody's mother Kay 29:01 was in an automobile accident, 29:03 she was killed in that accident. 29:05 I've been amazed over the years 29:07 how many people have lost a spouse 29:09 that I'm able to talk to. 29:11 And they listen to me 29:13 because they know I've been through it. 29:15 I've actually had people call me and say, 29:17 "Can you talk to me, it's been three months. 29:20 I thought it'd get better, six months better, 29:22 I feel like its worse." 29:23 And I know what they're going through that pain 29:26 so I've been able to help certain things like that. 29:30 You have been through the pain where people are today, 29:34 but it took you getting other people 29:36 to encourage you to be there to support you. 29:39 And there are groups 29:40 and we're not naming the groups necessarily, 29:43 but there are groups 29:44 and especially we encourage people to go to those 29:46 that that know there's a God 29:48 and say this is really your answer out. 29:51 But what it did for you? 29:53 Tell us about the changes in your own life 29:56 when your mission really wasn't for your own life, 29:59 but it was to help others. 30:01 Well, I can give you a good example, 30:03 a recent example. 30:04 And that's part of the reason 30:05 I guess I agreed to do this program. 30:08 Recently, I found out, actually a few months ago 30:11 I found out that I had skin cancer, 30:14 I had melanoma. 30:15 It was a spot on my back 30:16 that had been growing there for quite a few years. 30:19 And I had been concerned about it, 30:21 I had mentioned it to my doctor 30:23 he had removed the small mole there before in the scar tissue 30:26 actually is what began to change and become bigger. 30:31 And he kept checking it 30:32 and didn't think it was a big deal. 30:34 Well, the day finally came when I said, 30:35 "I'm worried about this. 30:37 I need you to do either biopsy this 30:39 or send me off to a dermatologist 30:40 or somebody." 30:42 And so they did and it took a better part of a month 30:46 to even get the results back. 30:47 In fact, sadly the pathologist couldn't figure it out 30:51 and sent it off "To Boston" somewhere. 30:54 And I had another second opinion 30:57 and sure enough it was melanoma. 30:59 Now at first they thought it was in early stages, 31:03 but there had been another spot 31:04 that had developed close to that spot. 31:07 And everybody was concerned 31:09 that it was already metastasizing 31:11 or spreading from one spot to the other on my skin. 31:14 And that usually indicates that it could be system wide. 31:17 So I could have been anywhere 31:19 all the way up through stage four cancer. 31:21 And that concerned me a lot. 31:24 Oh, yeah. 31:25 For years, I've, part of what I do for my recovery 31:30 is to take an inventory of myself from time to time 31:33 to see where I am. 31:35 One of the lists of things 31:36 that I do is inventory my fears. 31:39 Because I know that if I'm afraid 31:42 then my go to answer is the drink. 31:45 So I keep track of my fears, I keep track of my resentments, 31:48 I keep track of anything that I feel guilty or ashamed about. 31:52 And I look at those things 31:53 as part of a routine part of my life 31:55 so that I don't let those things creep up 31:58 and build up inside of me 31:59 because I know those will lead me back to a drink. 32:02 So on my fear list, many, many times 32:05 I have had that list the fear of dying 32:09 and the fear of cancer. 32:11 And now I had both, 32:12 I was facing at least cancer and maybe dying. 32:15 And I'll tell you that really threw me for a loop, 32:18 it tested my faith. 32:19 And sadly I don't know how well I'd stood up to it 32:22 because I remember finding out on a Friday, 32:26 on Sabbath I went to church and by Sabbath afternoon 32:28 I was laying in bed with the covers over my head, 32:31 trying to sleep, trying to forget. 32:34 And I couldn't and I tossed and turned and finally, 32:37 the despair just built up in me and once again, 32:40 I said those three words 32:42 that changed my life when it came to drinking. 32:45 And now I said it again, I said, "God, help me. 32:48 God, help me." 32:50 And I'll tell you, God knows me by name, 32:53 He knows all of us by name. 32:54 Amen. 32:55 And I heard His voice, 32:57 it was undeniable and so distinct, 33:00 I know I would recognize it anywhere. 33:02 I think all of us, most of us, 33:05 hopefully all of us have heard that voice 33:07 but, man, it was so loud in my head. 33:10 It might as well been in that room 33:11 because He said, "Bobby Davis, get up." 33:14 And I just sat bolt upright in bed and I thought, "Wow! 33:19 What was that?" 33:20 And the next words were, 33:22 "It's time to stop dying and time to start living." 33:26 Okay. 33:27 And I was like, "Okay, Lord." 33:30 And I remember sitting on the edge of my bed 33:33 and thinking "What do I do? 33:35 What do I do?" 33:36 And some words came to me of a man 33:40 that wrote about his experience. 33:42 And he said that 33:43 in the beginning of his sobriety 33:44 he felt like depression and fear and self pity 33:49 were just getting the best of him, 33:51 and he felt like he was going to drink. 33:53 And every time he felt that way, 33:55 he would get up and go to a hospital 33:56 and find somebody in the alcoholic ward 33:59 and try to help that person. 34:01 And when he did, he says, 34:02 "I was amazingly lifted up and placed back on my feet." 34:06 He says, "It's designed for living that really works." 34:08 Okay. 34:10 And as soon as that thought went through my mind I thought, 34:12 I need to find somebody to help. 34:14 There are two treatment centers here in Illinois close by, 34:17 neither one of them will allow somebody 34:19 to just walk in off the street to talk to their patients. 34:22 But I knew there was a place down in Paducah, Kentucky 34:26 about an hour away. 34:28 And they had meetings there 34:30 and they allow visitors to come in. 34:32 And so I thought I'll go down there and see 34:33 if I can find somebody to visit with. 34:35 And I don't know anybody in that place, 34:36 but I just walked in. 34:38 And afterwards I'm looking around to see 34:41 if I can find somebody after their meeting ended. 34:43 And they all ran for the door 34:45 and I thought forgot they all want to go out and smoke. 34:49 So I don't smoke and I'm sitting inside going, 34:52 well, I wonder how I can find somebody in here. 34:55 And they had a drinking fountain there 34:59 and I got a drink of water. 35:00 And all of the sudden, 35:01 this young man comes back through the door 35:04 and walks right over to me introduces himself to me 35:07 and asked me if this was my first time there. 35:10 And I said, "No," meaning I had visited there before. 35:13 And he says, "I said this is actually my second time." 35:16 He goes, "Oh, yeah, me too." 35:18 I really messed up the first time. 35:20 And I realized he thinks I'm a patient, but that's okay. 35:23 I didn't correct him, I just let him talk 35:25 and suddenly he's pouring his heart out to me 35:28 about everything that went wrong 35:31 so quickly in his life. 35:32 Once he had gotten the period of sobriety, 35:34 but gone back to drinking. 35:36 And I asked him a few questions, 35:39 you know, and I let him know that I understood 35:42 and finally he realize, "Oh, you're not a patient?" 35:45 I said, "No." 35:46 And that man asked me for help. 35:50 Not that first night, but the next week, 35:52 you know, I have to say, you know, after I talked to him 35:55 for about an hour I was driving home 35:58 and about halfway home I realized, 35:59 you know, I hadn't thought about cancer one single time, 36:03 whole time I was there. 36:05 In helping him or trying to help him, 36:08 I really was helping myself. 36:09 Okay. 36:11 And I remembered that, 36:12 the whole next week went by next Sabbath 36:14 guess what, I was in bed again, 36:16 struggling to get past the depression and the fear. 36:19 And suddenly it was time to go back 36:21 to the treatment center and I did. 36:23 And sure enough he was there and he was so happy to see me. 36:26 And that night he asked me to be his mentor. 36:30 Now he lives in our way 36:31 and normally I don't travel an hour every direction, 36:34 he was in there 36:35 so it's not like he could come up to see me. 36:37 And I started talking to him and I said, "Well, you know, 36:40 you're kind of a long ways away and this that and the other." 36:44 And I saw his face fall 36:46 and all of a sudden I hear that voice, 36:48 that voice, the voice of God, "Bobby Davis, really? 36:53 You asked me for help and I sent you this young man 36:56 and now you're going to tell him no?" 36:58 And I went, "You know what, I'll be happy to help you." 37:02 Amen. 37:03 And we started meeting on Saturday evenings, 37:06 and a little bit later 37:08 I decided to fly out to Massachusetts 37:11 for a second opinion on this cancer. 37:13 The doctors here wanted to do surgery on this. 37:16 And yet they weren't sure of how they wanted to proceed. 37:19 And I ended up at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 37:22 which is one of the premier cancer institutes 37:24 in the country. 37:25 And at first their diagnosis was the same, 37:28 "We're afraid this is stage four." 37:30 And they ordered PET scans and MRIs 37:33 and all kinds of things, scheduled surgery. 37:36 But here's where I saw God leading me in that direction. 37:39 My parents live there so I could stay with them 37:41 for any kind of treatment. 37:42 But I really didn't know if I had stage four, 37:45 if I was gonna be really going through chemo 37:49 or all those kinds of things. 37:51 So the next day I had an appointment 37:53 with a dermatologist there. 37:55 As I'm sitting with this dermatologist, 37:57 he's asking questions 37:59 and I realize he knows a lot about my case. 38:01 And since I hadn't seen a dermatologist anywhere else 38:04 I said, "How do you know so much about my case?" 38:06 And he says, "Well, I'm the one they sent the biopsies to, 38:10 to find out when they couldn't figure out what it was, 38:13 in southern Illinois they sent up to me." 38:15 And I thought, what are the odds 38:18 that I would have him as my dermatologist, 38:20 he's also a pathologist. 38:22 And he was unbelievable, 38:25 he gave me his personal cell phone number 38:28 and begged me to put him on my team 38:31 so that he could follow through with this whole process. 38:35 I did see a surgeon, 38:37 the PET scan came back with no cancer 38:41 anywhere else in my body. 38:43 Praise the Lord. 38:44 But that fear did not go away for those eight days 38:47 that I had to wait for that PET scan, 38:48 until finally somebody sent me a little meditation by text. 38:53 And it said basically, our life is like a ladder 38:59 that stretches from this world into eternity 39:02 and all we're supposed to do is keep climbing that ladder. 39:05 But sometimes we get afraid 39:08 because we don't see where that ladder is placed. 39:12 And then the question to me to meditate on was, 39:14 "Would God put you on a ladder that was not secure?" 39:17 Okay. 39:19 And if He puts you on that, 39:20 you can climb each step with confidence. 39:22 Okay. 39:24 And know that he'll take care of you. 39:25 And at that point, I broke through that fear, 39:28 and I was so amazed. 39:31 You know, the treatment went well, I had a surgery, 39:34 they checked my lymph nodes, it was not spread. 39:38 It's considered stage two 39:39 because it had already started to go deeper into my skin, 39:43 but it had not gone through my body. 39:44 And I cannot tell you how grateful I am 39:48 for the team that worked with me there. 39:50 For the experience that at first seemed 39:54 so disruptive and threatened in my life, 39:58 turns out now to be one of the biggest blessings 40:01 because what I got out of that experience 40:04 were so many things. 40:05 First of all my father was diagnosed, 40:08 at the same time when I was there. 40:11 And I was able to be there for my mother 40:12 when she found out. 40:14 And to be there with her and my dad 40:16 when she told him what was going on. 40:19 Praise the God, halfway in through his chemotherapy, 40:21 he's doing well, in fact, he's, 40:23 I believe God's hand is over him 40:25 because he is yet to feel one single effect 40:29 from all that chemotherapy. 40:30 He's never been nauseous, never lost his energy, 40:33 he's a professor, he still teaches. 40:35 He's 83.5 years old 40:36 he's still teaching theology to his theology students. 40:40 And that's his passion and life is to tell 40:42 and teach other people about the Lord. 40:44 And so I was there when that happened. 40:47 You know, what kind of timing is that? 40:50 God's perfect timing. 40:52 And honestly, Danny, 40:53 the biggest thing that I've gotten 40:55 from this is an amazing... 41:00 A renewal of my faith, 41:02 but even more than that 41:03 the Lord has just lit a fire inside of me. 41:05 All right. 41:07 And I realized, you know, if I have... 41:09 I mean, before I found out 41:10 that there was no other cancer in my body. 41:13 I finally broke through that fear and I realized, 41:15 you know what? 41:17 I need to get about my father's business. 41:20 I need to do more for the Lord. 41:22 I need to do more for the people 41:24 that suffer with alcoholism. 41:25 I need to do more at work. I need to do more at church. 41:29 I need to do more everywhere in my life. 41:32 And I can't say that I'm too busy, 41:34 you know, we were talking about that earlier 41:35 about being too busy. 41:37 We all have the same 168 hours a week. 41:40 You know, what we spend it on 41:42 and what we focus on is what it's all about. 41:45 And for me that renewal inside of me 41:47 has just lit a fire inside of me. 41:49 And the only reason, I'm sitting here in this chair 41:52 is because I can't keep quiet about it. 41:54 You know, the Lord has given me a mission, you know. 41:58 And now the mission is even widened into other people 42:02 who are dealing with cancer. 42:04 Never in my life did I think I would be able to minister 42:07 and to help them through that. 42:08 But I know because of this hard experience 42:12 on the other side of it. 42:13 And it really didn't matter to me, 42:14 I don't care if I have two weeks, 42:16 two months, two years to live. 42:18 You know, I want to do all I can, 42:20 I wanna pack as much as I can into that, 42:23 I want to do everything I can. 42:25 You know, whatever talent we have and... 42:27 I think of Erma Bombeck's famous quote, 42:30 you know, the comedian from years ago. 42:32 She said, "When I stand before my creator I want to say, 42:35 be able to say to Him, 42:37 I've used every bit of talent you gave me." 42:40 You know, and it's not about me, 42:42 it's about Him. 42:43 And so I don't know, I came back just... 42:47 I don't even had energized I guess 42:49 is what I'm saying and I'm on fire. 42:50 Yeah. 42:52 He was in my office and it was just, I mean, 42:55 passionate we were talking. 42:58 And Bobby is a great writer, he does have a lots... 43:00 He doesn't only do the producing and the editing 43:03 and now his voice is on the 3ABN radio. 43:06 I'm telling you, he wears as many hats 43:08 as anybody in the ministry. 43:10 And he's good at it, he's very good. 43:12 His writing has helped me tremendously over the years. 43:15 Yes, yes. 43:16 I got ideas, but I don't know 43:18 how to put them on paper as well as he does. 43:20 So he's helped me so many times in our newsletters 43:24 and our magazines and all of that, 43:25 that's Bobby really making that polished. 43:28 We can do it, she can do it to polish, 43:30 but I'm not that polished, but Bobby does that for me 43:34 but his writing is great. 43:35 But we were talking about some things 43:38 we were doing here. 43:39 But his passion came out and I said, 43:41 "Bobby, we got to get you on TV." 43:43 But there was almost like an abrupt. 43:45 "Well, wait a minute." 43:46 So far I've been willing to do all this 43:48 and I help people that's, you know, alcoholics 43:51 and now people with cancer. 43:53 But I'm not and he says, 43:54 "I'm not in front of the camera, boss." 43:56 He says, "That's not me." 43:58 And I said, "No, that's where God." 44:00 Now he's opened up more doors with you. 44:03 Yes. 44:04 But what's a testimony without a platform 44:08 and what better platform in our life here than 3ABN? 44:13 Because, Bobby, what you're saying today 44:15 is I can promise you from doing thousands of interviews 44:18 is reaching multitudes of people 44:21 who have fears in their life. 44:23 Maybe it's not just from an alcohol or drugs, 44:27 maybe it's not from having cancer, 44:29 but other fears 44:30 because we all have these fears that come, 44:33 but you're saying that God gave you peace 44:37 in the midst of the storm. 44:38 He didn't take you out of the storm, 44:41 but He's given you peace through not a storm, 44:44 but a series of storm, a number of storms. 44:47 And with that assurance that you have, 44:51 whatever time you have left 44:52 whether it's one year or 10 years or 20 44:55 before the Lord comes, 44:56 you're gonna pack it with all you can 44:59 as well you say Erma Bombeck said 45:01 and you wanna use it in service for the Lord. 45:05 It's a great testimony, isn't it? 45:06 It really is. It really is. 45:08 You know, as I was listening, I was thinking about the plan, 45:13 God always has a plan for us. 45:16 And even in your being in Brazil, 45:19 meeting Moses Primo... 45:21 You know, after you came here. There you go. 45:23 Is that God or is that odd? 45:25 Exactly. 45:26 Is it coincidence or divine provident 45:28 so as you say. 45:29 And so, you know, again God is such an awesome God 45:34 because He knew that you were gonna spiral downward, 45:38 but He took that situation 45:41 and when you gave your heart to Him, 45:43 took that situation 45:45 and made something positive come from you. 45:47 You can help others now 45:49 who are in dire need of that kind of mentorship. 45:53 So it's just to me God is just awesome. 45:56 I wanna go back to his parents for a moment. 46:00 It might sound strange. 46:01 Some of us says, you know, when you ask him the question, 46:04 "Well, how do your parents see?" 46:06 Said, well, they didn't really say too much about it. 46:08 I think one of the things we're most guilty 46:10 about when we're disappointed in our kids is our own pride. 46:15 If you think about it, say your dad is a pastor, 46:19 he teaches theology, 46:21 and then for his son to be everything, 46:24 but what he's teaching and helping young people be. 46:28 Sometimes people is like, 46:30 "Man, that's embarrassing, that's my son." 46:32 So you come home and you're, beating you over the head 46:35 because look what this is doing. 46:37 And but your folks just loved you through it. 46:38 That's right. 46:40 And they said, 46:41 "You know what we're just gonna love him through it. 46:42 We can't beat it out of him, we can't force him to do it." 46:45 So I'm not gonna every night say, 46:47 "Bobby, you gotta stop drinking, 46:49 you shouldn't be doing this, you shouldn't be that." 46:51 But I will guarantee you, I'll almost can guarantee you, 46:54 they're about wore out the carpet off the floors. 46:56 That's what I was gonna say. 46:58 My parents, they knew there was a problem, 47:02 and they prayed for me every day. 47:04 My father and mother 47:05 are some of the most humble people I know. 47:07 In fact, I can honestly tell you I don't know anybody 47:08 that's so humble than my father. 47:09 They let me stay in their home one time, you remember? 47:12 There's, I don't remember that. They do. 47:13 But they're the sweetest people. 47:15 And mom and dad got to the point 47:18 where they realized that I was in so deep 47:21 that it would take everything that God could do for me. 47:24 And they realized that they needed to pray 47:26 for whatever it takes, Lord. 47:28 Do whatever it takes to him, but please spare his life. 47:31 And they told me that one time and I said, 47:33 "When did you start praying that?" 47:35 And when they told me, I realized that point 47:37 was where my life literally fell apart, 47:40 that is one of the bravest prayers 47:42 I think any parent can never pray. 47:45 Before I knew him actually, 47:48 I was speaking out on the East Coast 47:50 and Moses Primo told me, 47:52 we're going there, he said, "I know some folk, 47:54 and they were gone for the weekend, 47:56 but they're gonna leave the key, 47:58 and you just live in their home. 47:59 It's a real nice home." 48:01 Wow! And I'm like, "What?" 48:02 And he says, "Oh, no, you can," I said, 48:04 "I don't feel comfortable." 48:05 He said, "No, trust me. 48:07 These folk are wonderful people." 48:08 And I actually did, I rarely would do something like that, 48:11 but I thought well, how nice are these folks, 48:13 you know, to open up their house to me. 48:14 I didn't hear about it. 48:16 Yeah, and they weren't there so thank you, 48:18 you know, mom and dad, that's wonderful. 48:20 You know, what I believe is 48:21 that God doesn't waste anything. 48:23 Right. 48:24 He won't even waste our tears, our pain, our suffering, 48:27 nothing is wasted. 48:28 He has a way of turning all those things, 48:31 those disappointments, those fears, the sadness, 48:35 the agony that we go through in life, 48:37 whether it's a heartbreak or an illness or whatever 48:40 and He will turn that around. 48:42 That's who He is. 48:44 And nobody else, no other God can do that, 48:47 only the God that we know and that we worship. 48:49 And that gives me great hope 48:52 that even in the midst of all of this 48:54 I know, I know and this was one more confirmation, 48:58 I know that He will turn this around 48:59 and make good out of it. 49:01 And not only has He done that for me, He's done it for well, 49:05 anybody who surrendered their life, you know? 49:08 We all reached that point. 49:10 The next thing that I can see him doing 49:12 and he's gonna reject it at first, 49:15 I can see him up in the pulpit. 49:17 Oh, boy. 49:18 Going to churches, 49:19 giving his testimony what God has done. 49:21 Because I know that's not easy for him 49:24 or at least his comfort spot. 49:26 Now here you can see he's well prepared to do it 49:28 and can do it, 49:29 but it's just fun watching 49:31 where God's taken you in places when you always... 49:34 Bobby prefers to be in the back. 49:36 All of a sudden he's out here. 49:38 But hey, God's open up the doors 49:40 and I have a feeling that you'll be willing to do 49:43 whatever God asked you to do. 49:45 If I'm asked, I'm willing, of course. 49:47 Because I believe that, you know, 49:49 if we don't it will just shrivel up 49:51 and die inside of us. 49:53 It's like good news can't stay inside. 49:55 Right. 49:56 I sometimes say this and, I mean, 49:58 this I don't encourage anybody to play the lottery 50:02 and win billions of dollars. 50:04 But if you ever did, could you keep quiet about it? 50:07 There's no way. Absolutely. 50:09 This is way better news than any of that. 50:11 In fact, winning the lottery is bad news for most people 50:14 because they end up losing it all. 50:16 But the truth is when you are lit up 50:18 from the inside with something to share, 50:20 then there is no way to keep it inside. 50:22 Years ago, I used to ask all my guests 50:24 almost every program, 50:26 Bobby, if you had two minutes to live, 50:28 you could look into this camera 50:30 and talk to a lost and dying world, 50:32 what would you say? 50:34 Well, I would say, don't give up. 50:36 God knows where you are, 50:37 that He knows how you got there, 50:39 and He knows how to get you back on your feet, 50:41 He knows how to save us each and every one us. 50:44 There's no sin too big, there's no past too bad. 50:49 In fact, it shows His power, 50:52 the fact that we're willing to allow Him to do something. 50:56 The farther we have fallen, 50:57 the more marvelous it is in His eyes. 51:01 Now I don't believe anybody has fallen in His eyes 51:04 more than anyone else, 51:06 but certainly in the world's eyes. 51:07 And there are different stages of despair. 51:13 But the worst stage of despair is God's greatest opportunity 51:17 to show His power, 51:19 and His love, and His way of life. 51:20 And that's what I wanna show to people. 51:22 I want to be an example, 51:23 I've made myself available 51:25 to be an example to Him of His power, 51:28 and His love, and His way of life. 51:30 And never give up. Yeah. 51:32 No matter what. 51:34 Bobby is telling us no matter 51:35 where you are in your life today, 51:37 never give up 51:38 because God has a plan for your life. 51:40 And He says that in Jeremiah that you prosper 51:42 that you do well, that we be in health 51:44 all of these things... 51:46 Mostly the plan is 51:48 that we by putting on the armor of God studying, 51:52 praying, asking God to come into our lives 51:55 that it will protect us from the devil 51:58 so that we are able 52:00 when Jesus comes back we'll be able to look up 52:03 and say, "Lo, this is our God, my God, He's come to save us." 52:06 That's right. 52:08 And today that's our prayer for each and every one of you. 52:10 So, Yvonne, thank you for being here. 52:13 Oh, thank you for having me. 52:15 And being co-host with me today. 52:16 And, Bobby, thank you so much for your willingness 52:19 to give a testimony that is helping 52:24 so many people around the world. 52:26 God has done great things. 52:28 We're gonna take a break in just a moment. 52:30 We're gonna take a newsbreak, 52:32 but we'll come back for a closing thought. |
Revised 2017-11-20