I want to spend my life
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Mending broken people
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I want to spend my life
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Removing pain
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Lord, let my words
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Heal a heart that hurts
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I want to spend my life
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Mending broken people
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I want to spend my life
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Mending broken people
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Hello and welcome to
another 3ABN Today program.
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I'm Jason Bradley,
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and I am so excited
to talk to the guests
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that we have here today
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because they have such a
powerful, powerful testimony,
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and they are on
fire for the Lord.
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So without further ado,
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why don't I just go
ahead and introduce you guys?
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We have Pastor Garhett Morgan
of the Michigan Conference
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of Seventh-day Adventists,
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and we have his
lovely wife Dakota Morgan.
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And you are at
Strong Tower Radio
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and you are a
social media consultant.
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Yeah.
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Nice. Yes, sir.
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Nice. Blessing to be here.
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It's a blessing
to have you here.
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Yeah. Amen.
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So, you know, I had
a chance to talk to you
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a little bit before,
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you know, even
it came on the set.
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And I was just
impressed with your journey.
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Okay.
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And so I want to bring that...
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But I want to start
with how you were raised.
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Sure.
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Where were you born?
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Were you raised Adventists?
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Yeah.
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It's funny, you
know, my wife and I,
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we grew up probably, what,
15 minutes from each other?
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Yeah, just about.
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And so I was raised
very, I guess you could say,
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orthodox Seventh-day Adventist,
if you want to say that.
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I was actually homeschooled
from a very early age.
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My mom did a
wonderful job of doing that.
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I've got five siblings
who are younger than I am.
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Wow.
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And so they're
still in that process.
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But a big part of
our curriculum was,
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you know, the 28
Fundamental Beliefs
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that
Seventh-day Adventists have.
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Oh, really?
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Yeah. Okay.
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And, you know, I
always loved going to Church,
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my favorite day was Sabbath,
you know, Sabbath school was...
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The Church was an all-day event.
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And evangelism
was exciting to me.
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And so by the
time I was like 15,
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I could probably break
down the 2,300-day prophecy,
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and things like this
like it just excited me.
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At 15?
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Oh, yeah.
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How old are you now?
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I'm 23. Twenty-three, okay.
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We'll get back
to that in a moment.
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Okay. All right.
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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Amen. Amen.
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So by the time you were 15,
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you could break down the
whole 2,300 day prophecy.
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Yeah.
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What was it like
being homeschooled?
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You know, it was good.
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You know, a lot of people say
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that
homeschooling is a disadvantage
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because you're
not around other kids,
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socializing and all that stuff.
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But that wasn't the case,
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we had other
homeschoolers in the area,
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her cousins and
some other people
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that we were able
to socialize with.
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But it really helps
you talk like an adult
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because obviously you
only talk to is adults.
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So that was nice.
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Wow.
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But anyway, it was
great being raised like that.
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But I was
definitely missing something,
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and this wasn't any
fault of my parents.
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This is on me, but,
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you know, I knew
all this head knowledge,
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but when it came down to
a relationship with Christ,
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it really wasn't there.
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Mm-hm. Yeah.
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I want to unpack
that in a minute.
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Okay.
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You just said that you
knew her cousins and stuff
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when you were younger, so.
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Yeah.
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Dakota, when did you guys meet?
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So we met at
our homeschool group
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when we were probably...
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I was probably 9, he
was probably about 10.
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Okay.
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He was the loudest
boy I had ever met.
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She didn't like me.
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I was just...
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I was like, "Who is
this kid? Like he is wild."
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So we kind of got off
to a rocky start initially.
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He was best
friends with my cousins,
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and they all ran
around like wild kids.
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But yeah, that's
kind of how we met
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was in our homeschool group,
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and then kind of grew
up around each other, so...
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So were you raised Adventist?
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Yeah, I was...
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We grew up going
to church and stuff,
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but our church life
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and our home life was
a little bit different.
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As an older kid, my
dad made some choices
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that led to some
physis and bad habits
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that kind of affected
our home life a little bit.
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And so growing up,
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I knew I was right,
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but I did see a
little bit of a difference
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between my home
life and church life.
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And so that was
kind of something
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that I had to
reconcile for myself.
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Okay.
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And I love my parents,
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and my parents
are both pursuing,
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you know, amazing relationships
with God right now.
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But that was
definitely something that
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had a part in my growing up.
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Got you. Yeah.
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So it's like a
lack of consistency.
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Yeah, a little bit.
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Okay.
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But, you know, through that,
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I had a pretty great childhood.
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I never had a lot
that I had to go through,
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and because of that,
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I don't think I had to
rely upon Jesus as much.
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She had some more struggles.
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Yeah.
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And so when we met,
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she couldn't necessarily
break down Daniel's Sabbath.
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No, not at all.
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But her relationship with
Jesus was out of this world.
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Yeah.
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So anyway, different strengths.
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Yeah.
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And we still have that today.
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And you guys are complementing
each other very well.
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Well, praise the Lord
for that, but 80% her and...
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And on top of that, the
fact that she didn't like you
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when you were
like nine years old
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and now you're married,
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that means there's hope.
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Amen. Amen.
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There's hope
for those out there.
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That's right. Absolutely.
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Well, before we get
further into your testimony,
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we have a song by
Pastor John Lomacang
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called "I will go."
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Amen. Let's take
a look at that now.
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Give me ears to hear Your spirit
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Give me feet to follow through
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Give me hands to
touch the hurting
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And the faith to follow You
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Give me grace to be a servant
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Give me mercy for the lost
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Give me passion for your glory
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Give me passion for the cross
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And I will go where
there are no easy roads
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Leave the comforts that I know
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I will go and let
this journey be my home
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I will go
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I'll let go of my ambition
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Cut the roots that run so deep
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I will learn to give away
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What I cannot really keep
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Help me see
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With eyes of faith
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Give me strength
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To run this race
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And I will go where
there are no easy roads
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Leave the comfort that I know
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I will go and let
this journey be my home
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I will go
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I will go where,
Lord, Your glory is unknown
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I will live for You alone
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I will go because
my life is not my own
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I will go
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I will go
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Wow, what a beautiful
song and a beautiful message.
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Amen.
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You know, we talked
about your growing up.
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I want a transition now
into when you left the church.
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Yeah, that's an
interesting phrase
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'cause I never missed a Sabbath.
00:10:37.10\00:10:41.47
But I was out of the church.
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Unpack that. You
know what I mean?
00:10:43.34\00:10:44.67
Like so when we both
turned 16 in Washington state
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where we grew up,
00:10:48.94\00:10:50.28
there's a
program where you can do
00:10:50.35\00:10:51.68
dual enrollment
00:10:51.71\00:10:53.05
so you could actually
skip junior and senior
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of high school
and go to college.
00:10:54.45\00:10:55.78
Right. Wow.
00:10:55.82\00:10:57.15
And so we both did that.
00:10:57.19\00:10:58.52
And so going from,
00:10:58.55\00:10:59.89
you could say, where
sheltered environment
00:10:59.92\00:11:02.29
to a public university
campus is a big difference.
00:11:02.32\00:11:06.26
Yeah.
00:11:06.29\00:11:07.63
And, you know, at 16, I
was a pretty arrogant...
00:11:07.66\00:11:10.97
Okay.
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Type of a guy
because of my knowledge
00:11:12.37\00:11:13.70
and no relationship with Jesus.
00:11:13.74\00:11:15.64
And so I went into
that school thinking,
00:11:15.67\00:11:17.44
"I'm going to
convert this place.
00:11:17.51\00:11:18.84
I'm a modern day Daniel,"
type of a thing, you know?
00:11:18.87\00:11:22.51
But it had the opposite effect.
00:11:22.54\00:11:25.15
You know, I love people,
00:11:25.18\00:11:26.51
I love to talk and
communicate with people.
00:11:26.55\00:11:28.22
And in doing so,
00:11:28.25\00:11:30.09
I started to allow
little compromises in my life,
00:11:30.12\00:11:35.19
and ever so slowly,
00:11:35.22\00:11:36.56
those little compromises
blew up into bigger things.
00:11:36.59\00:11:40.70
And yeah,
00:11:40.73\00:11:43.03
but praise the Lord for Jesus.
00:11:43.06\00:11:44.43
But, you know,
some of those things
00:11:44.47\00:11:46.27
that I fell into
weren't necessarily,
00:11:46.30\00:11:49.50
you know, what
people would think like
00:11:49.54\00:11:50.91
are big, terrible sins,
00:11:50.94\00:11:52.27
but the music that I
started listening to changed
00:11:52.31\00:11:55.21
slowly over time,
00:11:55.24\00:11:57.68
the things I started watching
slowly started to change.
00:11:57.71\00:12:00.72
And then at the same time,
00:12:00.75\00:12:02.08
I was working construction
too as an electrician.
00:12:02.12\00:12:04.49
And that can often be a
pretty rough and rowdy crowd.
00:12:04.52\00:12:06.96
Yes.
00:12:06.99\00:12:08.32
And so language
started to change a little bit,
00:12:08.36\00:12:11.86
but, you know,
when Friday night came,
00:12:11.89\00:12:15.36
I went home and
everything was good.
00:12:15.40\00:12:17.00
On Sabbath morning,
00:12:17.07\00:12:18.40
I tied my tie
and put on my suit,
00:12:18.43\00:12:20.84
you know, shook hands and
even preached now and then,
00:12:20.87\00:12:23.54
but that was a double life.
00:12:23.61\00:12:24.94
Yeah.
00:12:24.97\00:12:26.31
And that's not fun to live.
00:12:26.34\00:12:28.94
The Bible says,
00:12:28.98\00:12:30.35
you know, "by
beholding, we become changed
00:12:30.38\00:12:31.75
and double-minded man is
unstable in all his ways."
00:12:31.78\00:12:35.28
Right.
00:12:35.32\00:12:36.89
So you left and you
went through this...
00:12:36.92\00:12:40.49
You were in church, but
you weren't really there
00:12:40.56\00:12:44.13
and you weren't
connected spiritually,
00:12:44.16\00:12:46.36
so that double life.
00:12:46.39\00:12:49.16
And when you
were like hanging out
00:12:49.20\00:12:52.80
with your co-workers...
00:12:52.83\00:12:54.34
Yeah.
00:12:54.37\00:12:55.84
It's interesting because it goes
00:12:55.87\00:12:58.81
or it points to the fact that,
00:12:58.84\00:13:00.21
you know, we all
exert and influence...
00:13:00.28\00:13:01.94
Absolutely.
00:13:01.98\00:13:03.35
Over somebody,
whether we realize it or not.
00:13:03.38\00:13:04.75
Yeah. Absolutely.
00:13:04.78\00:13:06.11
And so they had
00:13:06.15\00:13:07.72
a little influence on your life,
00:13:07.75\00:13:10.89
but it was in a
negative direction.
00:13:10.92\00:13:13.46
Absolutely.
00:13:13.49\00:13:14.82
And, you know, sometimes I see,
00:13:14.86\00:13:16.19
you know, young
people like we are
00:13:16.22\00:13:18.46
that want to find a
spouse outside of the church
00:13:18.49\00:13:21.53
and they think that
they can influence them,
00:13:21.56\00:13:23.13
and that happens sometimes.
00:13:23.16\00:13:24.73
But that's very rare.
00:13:24.77\00:13:26.10
You know, most of the time,
00:13:26.13\00:13:27.70
the influence goes
the opposite direction
00:13:27.74\00:13:29.37
of where you want it to.
00:13:29.40\00:13:31.37
But I remember one
day, I went to work,
00:13:31.41\00:13:33.58
and there was someone there
I was really struggling with
00:13:33.61\00:13:37.25
because he had done something
to one of my family members
00:13:37.28\00:13:39.38
in the past.
00:13:39.41\00:13:41.35
And he said something
that went over the line,
00:13:41.38\00:13:44.09
and it got
physical pretty quickly.
00:13:44.12\00:13:48.89
And I remember,
00:13:48.92\00:13:50.53
you know, we don't need
to go into details with that.
00:13:50.56\00:13:54.23
But remember I
quit for that day,
00:13:54.30\00:13:56.87
and I went home,
00:13:56.90\00:13:58.23
and I turned on my
radio in my truck there,
00:13:58.27\00:14:02.27
and the words to
the song literally said,
00:14:02.30\00:14:05.24
"You are on the
wrong side of heaven
00:14:05.27\00:14:06.61
and the righteous
side of the hell."
00:14:06.68\00:14:08.51
Wow.
00:14:08.54\00:14:09.88
And when I heard
those lyrics, I thought...
00:14:09.91\00:14:11.41
And I heard that
song lots of times before
00:14:11.45\00:14:12.98
and I thought,
00:14:13.01\00:14:14.42
"No, Garhett,
what have you become?"
00:14:14.45\00:14:15.78
And I went home
and I opened my Bible,
00:14:15.82\00:14:18.15
and I went to a
verse, Ecclesiastes 12,
00:14:18.19\00:14:21.46
it said, "Fear God,
and keep His commandments
00:14:21.49\00:14:23.43
for this is the
whole duty of man."
00:14:23.46\00:14:25.99
And I realized that
00:14:26.03\00:14:30.57
what a man looks
like in the world
00:14:30.60\00:14:32.33
and what a man of God looks like
00:14:32.37\00:14:33.84
are vastly different.
00:14:33.87\00:14:35.20
Amen.
00:14:35.24\00:14:36.57
Yeah. Amen.
00:14:36.60\00:14:37.94
It's interesting
because God spoke directly
00:14:37.97\00:14:40.21
to you through that
song and through His Word.
00:14:40.28\00:14:43.88
Right.
00:14:43.95\00:14:45.28
You know, because the
situation that you were in
00:14:45.31\00:14:48.02
like that message was for you.
00:14:48.05\00:14:50.89
It was. Yes.
00:14:50.92\00:14:52.25
That's amazing.
00:14:52.29\00:14:53.62
Dakota, what about you?
00:14:53.66\00:14:54.99
Have you ever...
00:14:55.02\00:14:56.36
Did you leave the Church?
00:14:56.39\00:14:58.16
It's kind of
little similar to you.
00:14:58.19\00:14:59.59
I didn't
necessarily leave the church.
00:14:59.63\00:15:01.83
I was still going
to church regularly.
00:15:01.86\00:15:04.00
But later in my, you know,
mid-teen years, I started to...
00:15:04.07\00:15:09.84
You know, I was frustrated
with the inconsistency that,
00:15:09.87\00:15:12.17
you know, I felt
like I was seeing at home
00:15:12.21\00:15:14.28
and in my own life.
00:15:14.31\00:15:16.44
And so I started to,
you know, make choices,
00:15:16.48\00:15:20.12
you know, those compromises,
00:15:20.15\00:15:21.48
those creeping compromises down,
00:15:21.52\00:15:23.69
a path that I knew I
shouldn't have been on
00:15:23.72\00:15:26.12
and I was dating guys
that weren't of our same faith
00:15:26.15\00:15:29.76
and that kind of,
00:15:29.79\00:15:31.26
you know, pulls you in
a different direction too.
00:15:31.29\00:15:33.50
And so we were both
00:15:33.53\00:15:34.86
kind of being
pulled away from God
00:15:34.90\00:15:36.23
at the same time,
00:15:36.26\00:15:37.60
and, you know, our
friendship kind of struggled
00:15:37.63\00:15:40.34
in those times
because we know that,
00:15:40.37\00:15:42.54
you know, when we're both...
00:15:42.57\00:15:44.51
And we didn't talk anymore.
00:15:44.54\00:15:45.87
No, we didn't talk
hardly at all for those years
00:15:45.91\00:15:48.04
just because we both
knew that we were doing things
00:15:48.08\00:15:50.65
that were wrong
00:15:50.68\00:15:52.55
and, you know,
that accountability
00:15:52.58\00:15:54.45
wasn't there then,
00:15:54.48\00:15:55.85
and so it definitely was,
00:15:55.88\00:15:59.72
you know, a hard time
for both of us in our lives.
00:15:59.75\00:16:01.62
But the Lord
brought us back miraculously
00:16:01.66\00:16:06.26
because, you know,
later in our teen years,
00:16:06.29\00:16:09.53
probably 18, 19...
00:16:09.56\00:16:12.00
Well, you can
go with that story.
00:16:12.03\00:16:14.57
Yeah.
00:16:14.60\00:16:15.94
It just really goes to show that
00:16:15.97\00:16:17.31
you might have young
people in your church,
00:16:17.34\00:16:18.67
but you don't
know what's going on
00:16:18.71\00:16:20.08
in their lives, really.
00:16:20.11\00:16:21.44
That's true.
00:16:21.48\00:16:22.81
And, you know,
I had good friends
00:16:22.84\00:16:24.18
that were older at church,
00:16:24.21\00:16:25.55
and I got a lot of pats
on the back for my knowledge.
00:16:25.58\00:16:29.85
But I remember a gentleman
on one Sabbath asked me
00:16:29.88\00:16:31.95
how my devotional life was.
00:16:31.99\00:16:33.79
Whoa.
00:16:33.86\00:16:35.19
And I couldn't answer. Yeah.
00:16:35.22\00:16:36.56
Yeah. So I made something up.
00:16:36.59\00:16:38.13
But, you know, ask
your young people that,
00:16:38.16\00:16:41.40
and if they don't
know, please help them along
00:16:41.43\00:16:44.37
because the best testimony ever
00:16:44.40\00:16:46.17
is someone that
never left the church.
00:16:46.20\00:16:48.10
Yes. But the testimony is there.
00:16:48.14\00:16:49.47
Yes.
00:16:49.50\00:16:50.84
That's powerful.
00:16:50.91\00:16:52.24
It's interesting too
00:16:52.27\00:16:53.61
how sin has a
gradual progression.
00:16:53.64\00:16:54.98
Like he didn't just go from,
00:16:55.01\00:16:56.51
"Okay, now the
2,300 day prophecy to...
00:16:56.54\00:16:59.85
Okay, now I'm
just out, you know..."
00:16:59.88\00:17:01.85
Completely.
00:17:01.88\00:17:03.22
But it was a
gradual progression,
00:17:03.25\00:17:04.99
and I love Dakota
00:17:05.02\00:17:06.76
how you used
creeping compromise.
00:17:06.79\00:17:08.26
Yeah.
00:17:08.29\00:17:09.62
Like it was...
00:17:09.66\00:17:10.99
It just kind of slid in there,
00:17:11.03\00:17:12.36
and that's how
the devil operates.
00:17:12.39\00:17:13.73
Yeah.
00:17:13.80\00:17:15.13
So you didn't leave,
but you had the double life.
00:17:15.16\00:17:18.50
And then when did you...
00:17:18.53\00:17:20.04
What was it that
helped you to realize
00:17:20.07\00:17:22.50
that you needed to come
back 100% besides the...
00:17:22.54\00:17:26.57
So it was the
music in the truck?
00:17:26.61\00:17:28.94
Yeah, you know, and
that song that I mentioned
00:17:28.98\00:17:30.85
was definitely not Christian.
00:17:30.88\00:17:32.21
No. Okay. Okay.
00:17:32.25\00:17:33.92
I've gone into some
pretty heavy like metal
00:17:33.95\00:17:36.79
and heavy rock type things
00:17:36.82\00:17:39.69
and because of that
and some of the things
00:17:39.72\00:17:41.06
I was doing in my life,
00:17:41.09\00:17:42.42
you know, I was
training to do some other things
00:17:42.46\00:17:44.03
and I started to
form of very quick temper.
00:17:44.06\00:17:46.73
Okay.
00:17:46.80\00:17:48.13
And that's something...
00:17:48.16\00:17:49.50
And I never had a temper before.
00:17:49.53\00:17:51.10
I was drinking
00:17:51.13\00:17:52.57
probably four, five
Monster energy drinks a day,
00:17:52.60\00:17:55.27
just living a very angry life,
00:17:55.30\00:17:57.97
and she still
helps me with that today.
00:17:58.01\00:18:01.41
But yeah,
00:18:01.44\00:18:03.21
so once I got into
that incident at work
00:18:03.24\00:18:05.45
and I read that Bible scripture,
00:18:05.48\00:18:08.08
it was like someone
pulled the wall over my eyes
00:18:08.12\00:18:09.92
and said, "Look,
this is where you were.
00:18:09.95\00:18:11.49
This is where you are now."
00:18:11.52\00:18:13.29
And so a few weeks
later, I quit my job.
00:18:13.36\00:18:16.12
I graduated
00:18:16.16\00:18:17.53
and I flew to
Australia of all places.
00:18:17.56\00:18:19.46
Wow.
00:18:19.49\00:18:20.83
You went to Australia?
00:18:20.90\00:18:22.23
I went to Australia.
00:18:22.26\00:18:23.60
I didn't just got to
hang out on the beach.
00:18:23.63\00:18:24.97
Okay.
00:18:25.00\00:18:26.33
Although the beaches in
Australia are wonderful.
00:18:26.37\00:18:27.70
I believe it.
00:18:27.74\00:18:29.07
But down in
Australia, they have ARISE
00:18:29.10\00:18:30.91
with David
Asscherick and James Rafferty
00:18:30.94\00:18:32.87
and Ty and all of them.
00:18:32.91\00:18:34.41
And so I decided,
00:18:34.44\00:18:36.75
"Hey, I need to get
back to where I was."
00:18:36.78\00:18:40.12
And I loved evangelism,
so this was a perfect fit.
00:18:40.15\00:18:42.98
Now explain...
00:18:43.02\00:18:44.35
So talk about
ARISE a little bit.
00:18:44.39\00:18:45.72
Yeah.
00:18:45.75\00:18:47.09
I mean, what types
of things did you learn?
00:18:47.16\00:18:48.82
What is ARISE for
people that don't know?
00:18:48.86\00:18:51.19
ARISE is...
00:18:51.23\00:18:52.56
When I went into ARISE,
00:18:52.59\00:18:53.93
I thought it was a
Bible working school,
00:18:54.00\00:18:55.60
basically teaches you
how to give Bible studies
00:18:55.63\00:18:57.70
and work in your local church,
00:18:57.73\00:18:59.40
possibly be hired
later on by a church to do,
00:18:59.43\00:19:01.87
you know, evangelism
and things of that nature.
00:19:01.90\00:19:04.51
You know, when they take you
00:19:04.54\00:19:05.87
through the 28
Fundamental Beliefs,
00:19:05.91\00:19:07.28
and most of that
was familiar to me.
00:19:07.31\00:19:09.41
I learnt some things,
you know, book of Romans,
00:19:09.44\00:19:11.28
we went through
that, that was a blessing.
00:19:11.31\00:19:13.75
But with ARISE,
they go through a story.
00:19:13.82\00:19:16.35
They start with Genesis,
and they work through the Bible
00:19:16.38\00:19:18.95
in a relational type of the way.
00:19:18.99\00:19:20.96
And that's something that I had
never really focused on before.
00:19:20.99\00:19:25.29
And, you know, I got really...
00:19:25.33\00:19:28.96
I don't have favorites,
00:19:29.00\00:19:30.37
but my favorite
was James Rafferty.
00:19:30.40\00:19:32.80
I love Pastor Rafferty.
00:19:32.83\00:19:35.54
And we had some
really good talks
00:19:35.57\00:19:37.94
about relationship there.
00:19:37.97\00:19:40.38
And that's...
00:19:40.41\00:19:41.74
I can honestly say
00:19:41.78\00:19:43.11
the first time I
fell in love with Jesus
00:19:43.14\00:19:45.21
was at ARISE.
00:19:45.25\00:19:47.42
I learned how to keep
that relationship going.
00:19:47.45\00:19:51.32
So yeah, the
Fundamental Beliefs,
00:19:51.35\00:19:52.85
learning those
things were wonderful.
00:19:52.89\00:19:54.76
But the thing that I was lacking
00:19:54.79\00:19:56.83
is what I was
provided, that relationship.
00:19:56.86\00:19:58.39
Yeah.
00:19:58.43\00:19:59.76
It might be
different for some people,
00:19:59.79\00:20:01.13
maybe over the relationship,
00:20:01.16\00:20:02.50
but you don't know the doctrine.
00:20:02.53\00:20:03.87
Yeah.
00:20:03.90\00:20:05.23
I don't know. Yeah.
00:20:05.27\00:20:06.60
And why do you say
00:20:06.63\00:20:07.97
that the
relationship is so crucial,
00:20:08.00\00:20:10.24
like such an important thing?
00:20:10.31\00:20:11.74
Yeah.
00:20:11.77\00:20:13.11
You know, Billy...
00:20:13.14\00:20:14.48
I think it was Billy Sunday,
00:20:14.51\00:20:15.94
he said, and I'm paraphrasing.
00:20:15.98\00:20:18.28
But he said
something along the lines of,
00:20:18.31\00:20:20.52
if you have...
00:20:20.55\00:20:21.88
If you're religious,
but you have not Christ,
00:20:21.92\00:20:24.29
you have a leaky gospel.
00:20:24.32\00:20:27.66
And that's a miserable gospel.
00:20:27.69\00:20:29.39
So knowing all
these things doctrinally
00:20:29.42\00:20:33.06
without a relationship
with Jesus is just a shell.
00:20:33.09\00:20:36.56
In reality,
00:20:36.60\00:20:37.93
that's a perfect setup
for being, I'm legalistic.
00:20:37.97\00:20:40.84
You're doing something
00:20:40.87\00:20:42.20
because that's just
what you've always done
00:20:42.24\00:20:43.61
and you're
working your way there.
00:20:43.64\00:20:44.97
Yes. You have no reason why.
00:20:45.01\00:20:47.48
You know, I knew,
00:20:47.51\00:20:48.84
"If you love Me,
keep My commandments."
00:20:48.88\00:20:50.21
Like that's a
key text. I knew it.
00:20:50.25\00:20:52.61
But I never understood
what that really meant.
00:20:52.65\00:20:54.35
Yeah.
00:20:54.38\00:20:55.72
I never felt the need to.
00:20:55.75\00:20:57.09
Yeah.
00:20:57.12\00:20:58.45
Well, I mean, now you're married
00:20:58.49\00:20:59.82
so now that you
guys have wedding vows
00:20:59.85\00:21:01.19
and all of that stuff.
00:21:01.22\00:21:02.69
I tend to look
at the commandments
00:21:02.72\00:21:04.06
like wedding vows.
00:21:04.13\00:21:05.46
Exactly.
00:21:05.49\00:21:06.83
I love the Lord, I
don't want to hurt Him.
00:21:06.86\00:21:08.36
Just like you love Dakota,
you don't wanna hurt her.
00:21:08.40\00:21:10.77
Exactly.
00:21:10.80\00:21:12.13
And you keep those
wedding vows out of love.
00:21:12.17\00:21:14.84
Amen. Yeah.
00:21:14.87\00:21:16.20
But when I was in Australia,
00:21:16.24\00:21:17.61
I started
talking with her again,
00:21:17.64\00:21:19.71
you know, just sending
her a text every now and then.
00:21:19.74\00:21:22.21
I was waiting for the reconnect.
00:21:22.24\00:21:25.15
And I wasn't really interested
00:21:25.18\00:21:27.82
in other than a
friendship at that point.
00:21:27.85\00:21:29.75
He was more encouraging, yeah.
00:21:29.78\00:21:31.62
Yeah. Nice.
00:21:31.65\00:21:32.99
Because I knew where she was at.
00:21:33.02\00:21:34.36
Yeah.
00:21:34.39\00:21:35.72
And yet at the same time,
00:21:35.76\00:21:37.13
if I did want a relationship
00:21:37.16\00:21:38.49
but I don't want to
risk that friendship
00:21:38.53\00:21:40.50
by taking it to that next level.
00:21:40.53\00:21:42.63
So I kind of waited on that.
00:21:42.66\00:21:44.33
But yeah, I was at
ARISE in Australia,
00:21:44.37\00:21:46.03
for about four months.
00:21:46.07\00:21:47.44
Okay.
00:21:47.47\00:21:48.80
It changed my life.
00:21:48.84\00:21:50.17
Wow, that is awesome.
00:21:50.21\00:21:51.54
Now, Dakota, where
did you transition like,
00:21:51.57\00:21:54.51
when did you come back?
00:21:54.54\00:21:55.88
Right. Yeah, yeah.
00:21:55.91\00:21:57.25
A lot of people
like Garhett will say
00:21:57.28\00:21:59.25
that there's a specific
moment where you were like,
00:21:59.28\00:22:02.08
oh, I need to
get back to the Lord.
00:22:02.12\00:22:03.49
And, you know,
that veil is pulled back
00:22:03.52\00:22:05.19
over your eyes or whatever.
00:22:05.22\00:22:06.55
I didn't necessarily have that.
00:22:06.59\00:22:08.42
It was just as
much of a progression
00:22:08.46\00:22:11.93
back into the Lord,
00:22:11.96\00:22:13.90
as it was to fall
out, if that makes sense.
00:22:13.93\00:22:17.17
And so there were
different instances in my life,
00:22:17.20\00:22:19.50
different hard times that I had,
00:22:19.53\00:22:21.37
a lot of them my own doing.
00:22:21.40\00:22:23.71
That kind of brought
me back to in need of Him,
00:22:23.74\00:22:26.31
and a need of
relying on Him because I knew
00:22:26.34\00:22:28.64
that trying to control
my own life wasn't working.
00:22:28.68\00:22:32.11
And so that's where,
00:22:32.15\00:22:33.52
you know, when
Garhett was in ARISE,
00:22:33.55\00:22:34.88
I was starting to come
back to that realization
00:22:34.92\00:22:37.22
and starting to come
back to the fact that,
00:22:37.29\00:22:39.72
you know, I was
trying to do life my way
00:22:39.75\00:22:41.16
and it wasn't working out.
00:22:41.19\00:22:42.79
And so starting to get
back into that relationship
00:22:42.82\00:22:46.73
kind of happened over
the time you were at ARISE,
00:22:46.80\00:22:49.26
and a little bit after
that I would say, so yeah.
00:22:49.30\00:22:52.23
I love that you brought that up,
00:22:52.27\00:22:53.64
you're trying to
do things your way,
00:22:53.67\00:22:55.74
you know, you thought you
had control over your life.
00:22:55.77\00:22:57.94
Right.
00:22:57.97\00:22:59.31
You know a lot of
times, you see people
00:22:59.34\00:23:01.24
that are
self-reliant or they rely,
00:23:01.28\00:23:04.55
you know, they just think that,
00:23:04.58\00:23:05.95
that it's very self-oriented.
00:23:05.98\00:23:09.65
But really, we got to
recognize that we're powerless.
00:23:09.68\00:23:12.25
That's right. Exactly.
00:23:12.29\00:23:13.66
You know, we can do
nothing without Christ.
00:23:13.69\00:23:15.72
That's right. So that's awesome.
00:23:15.76\00:23:18.43
And so you
mentor, you kind of like,
00:23:18.46\00:23:21.63
started sharing
what you were learning?
00:23:21.66\00:23:23.77
Yeah, I mean,
even when I wasn't.
00:23:23.80\00:23:26.27
When I wasn't even
technically really in the church
00:23:26.30\00:23:28.54
and I was falling away,
00:23:28.57\00:23:29.90
I would still share
with people what we believed.
00:23:29.94\00:23:33.38
So I always love to
share these things with people.
00:23:33.41\00:23:36.85
And so ARISE gave me
the tools to do that better.
00:23:36.88\00:23:40.02
So when I left
ARISE, I thought, "Man,
00:23:40.05\00:23:42.88
I've got to do this for
a while just to make sure
00:23:42.92\00:23:45.85
that I'm grounded
and all these things."
00:23:45.89\00:23:47.72
So I got that job
actually in Michigan,
00:23:47.76\00:23:49.79
where I am now at Grand Rapids.
00:23:49.82\00:23:51.26
I work with Youth for
Jesus and ASI for a while.
00:23:51.29\00:23:54.50
You're familiar with that?
00:23:54.53\00:23:55.86
Yeah, I met my
girlfriend at the Grand Rapids.
00:23:55.90\00:23:58.07
So that's an
important year for you.
00:23:58.10\00:23:59.57
Absolutely.
00:23:59.60\00:24:02.30
Amen. Yeah.
00:24:02.34\00:24:03.71
And so that was only
for a few months though.
00:24:03.74\00:24:05.84
And then I got a
call to a Bible work
00:24:05.87\00:24:08.11
for a year in Alabama.
00:24:08.14\00:24:09.48
Okay, nice.
00:24:09.51\00:24:10.95
Tell me about Alabama
00:24:10.98\00:24:12.31
because I think
there's some amazing stories
00:24:12.35\00:24:15.02
that came out of there.
00:24:15.05\00:24:16.38
Yeah, I love to
talk about Alabama.
00:24:16.42\00:24:18.69
It's a...
00:24:18.72\00:24:20.06
First of all, the
people in Alabama were just,
00:24:20.09\00:24:21.49
you know, just
salt of the earth.
00:24:21.52\00:24:23.63
I loved it there.
00:24:23.66\00:24:25.29
I worked at a church there
00:24:25.33\00:24:26.70
called the Skyland Seventh-day
Adventist Church in Tuscaloosa.
00:24:26.73\00:24:29.60
Okay.
00:24:29.63\00:24:30.97
And small
church, about 20 people.
00:24:31.00\00:24:33.94
And there was really no
young people to mention,
00:24:33.97\00:24:37.11
except for a few.
00:24:37.14\00:24:39.67
But, man,
00:24:39.71\00:24:41.51
so many stories
especially that year,
00:24:41.54\00:24:43.95
for instance,
this is my favorite.
00:24:43.98\00:24:46.31
We got a card in the mail,
00:24:46.35\00:24:48.75
Bible study Request Card,
00:24:48.78\00:24:50.29
from It Is Written
or something like that
00:24:50.32\00:24:51.82
or Amazing Facts.
00:24:51.85\00:24:53.19
And I love it when
people mailing those cards
00:24:53.22\00:24:54.99
because they took the effort
00:24:55.02\00:24:57.53
to reach out to learn about God.
00:24:57.56\00:25:00.50
And so, you know
that's a good lead.
00:25:00.53\00:25:01.86
Yes.
00:25:01.90\00:25:03.23
Don't just let
those sit on your desk.
00:25:03.26\00:25:04.60
Go and follow up quick,
strike while the iron is hot.
00:25:04.63\00:25:08.14
And so I looked it up in my GPS,
00:25:08.17\00:25:10.61
and it was like 45
minutes out of town.
00:25:10.64\00:25:12.21
And I was like, "Man, I really
don't want to go that far."
00:25:12.24\00:25:16.01
Yeah. But I did.
00:25:16.04\00:25:18.28
So I got my car and drove out.
00:25:18.31\00:25:22.02
The highway turned into,
like, you know, county road.
00:25:22.05\00:25:26.39
And the county road
turned into like a dirt road.
00:25:26.42\00:25:28.99
Then the dirt road turned
into like a red clay like...
00:25:29.02\00:25:32.43
Wow.
00:25:32.46\00:25:33.80
Alabama's known
for that red clay.
00:25:33.83\00:25:35.16
Yeah.
00:25:35.20\00:25:36.53
And then it turned
like to a deer trail.
00:25:36.56\00:25:37.90
I was like,
"Lord, I have no idea
00:25:37.93\00:25:39.27
where I'm going."
00:25:39.30\00:25:40.64
Finally I found the place,
00:25:40.67\00:25:42.30
and it looked like
just an abandoned trailer.
00:25:42.34\00:25:46.04
So I went and I
knocked on it, no answer.
00:25:46.07\00:25:48.61
And I was a little mad at God.
00:25:48.64\00:25:50.08
I was like, "Lord,
00:25:50.15\00:25:51.75
you bring me out
here 50 minutes now,
00:25:51.78\00:25:55.02
and I've got to
drive 50 minutes back.
00:25:55.05\00:25:57.19
What a waste of
time and gas?" Yeah.
00:25:57.22\00:25:59.69
You know, and so...
00:25:59.72\00:26:02.49
But the Lord knew
00:26:02.52\00:26:03.93
and so, I started
going back to my car,
00:26:03.96\00:26:06.16
and you could hear
hound dogs in the distance.
00:26:06.19\00:26:09.33
And I thought,
"That's interesting."
00:26:09.36\00:26:11.13
And then they came,
and they surrounded my car,
00:26:11.17\00:26:13.34
like there were
hound dogs everywhere,
00:26:13.37\00:26:14.70
and I thought, "Okay."
00:26:14.74\00:26:16.24
And then, I tell you,
00:26:16.27\00:26:18.81
out of the woods
there in Alabama came this,
00:26:18.84\00:26:22.24
like, 6'4" giant of a man.
00:26:22.28\00:26:25.15
Wow.
00:26:25.18\00:26:26.51
And I'm good friends with him.
00:26:26.55\00:26:28.75
Did he have a
shotgun in his hand?
00:26:28.78\00:26:30.59
He did. I figured that.
00:26:30.62\00:26:31.95
He did. How did you know?
00:26:31.99\00:26:35.42
No, he had a
shotgun, a cowboy hat on,
00:26:35.46\00:26:37.43
and cowboy boots.
00:26:37.46\00:26:38.79
And I thought, "Okay.
00:26:38.83\00:26:41.26
It's going down."
00:26:41.30\00:26:43.00
And he was pretty upset.
00:26:43.03\00:26:45.13
What do you stranger
doing on my property?
00:26:45.17\00:26:46.67
He said, "What are you doing?"
00:26:46.74\00:26:48.07
And I said, "You know,
well, sir, my name is Garhett.
00:26:48.10\00:26:52.11
There was a lady here
that asked for Bible studies."
00:26:52.14\00:26:54.61
And turns out he said,
00:26:54.64\00:26:55.98
"Well, this is
my rental property.
00:26:56.01\00:26:57.65
That lady just moved out,
she no longer lives here."
00:26:57.68\00:27:00.92
And I thought, well,
okay, my fault, I'll leave.
00:27:00.95\00:27:05.12
And then he said
something interesting,
00:27:05.15\00:27:06.49
he goes, "You
give Bible studies?"
00:27:06.52\00:27:08.66
And I said, "Yeah."
00:27:08.69\00:27:10.96
And he said, "Get in
my pickup truck with me."
00:27:10.99\00:27:14.20
Now, I'm
thinking, okay, let's do it.
00:27:14.23\00:27:20.24
So I did.
00:27:20.27\00:27:21.60
I got in his truck
00:27:21.64\00:27:22.97
and he drove me
deeper into the woods,
00:27:23.00\00:27:24.67
I have no idea where I am now.
00:27:24.71\00:27:26.41
Wow. And I was praying.
00:27:26.44\00:27:27.78
I'm like, "Lord, this
could be a very bad situation."
00:27:27.81\00:27:30.15
It could be. It could be.
00:27:30.18\00:27:31.95
I'm glad both of you
came out of the woods.
00:27:31.98\00:27:34.42
Brother, praise
the Lord for that.
00:27:34.45\00:27:35.98
But the Lord
protects you, right?
00:27:36.02\00:27:37.39
Absolutely.
00:27:37.42\00:27:39.79
And we drive, and we
just hit this clearing.
00:27:39.82\00:27:43.32
And in the
middle of this clearing
00:27:43.36\00:27:44.69
is this
beautiful brand new church.
00:27:44.73\00:27:49.10
Probably could seat about
150 people in the sanctuary.
00:27:49.13\00:27:53.07
And the name of it
00:27:53.10\00:27:54.44
was Piney Woods
Gospel Tabernacle.
00:27:54.47\00:27:56.44
Wow.
00:27:56.47\00:27:57.81
And he opened the front
door and motioned me in.
00:27:57.84\00:28:00.18
So I looked
around, man of few words.
00:28:00.21\00:28:02.31
And I asked him, I'm like,
00:28:02.34\00:28:03.68
"Yeah, this is
beautiful brother,
00:28:03.75\00:28:05.08
is this your church?
00:28:05.11\00:28:06.45
And he said, "Yeah."
00:28:06.48\00:28:07.82
He told me that their old church
00:28:07.85\00:28:09.18
had burned down,
00:28:09.22\00:28:10.55
and the insurance money
paid to build it back up.
00:28:10.59\00:28:12.69
And he said about
20 people attended,
00:28:12.72\00:28:14.92
and all these
things, and then he said,
00:28:14.96\00:28:18.46
"But we don't have a preacher.
00:28:18.49\00:28:20.80
Would you come
preach for us every Sunday?"
00:28:20.83\00:28:24.17
To which I said, "Of course."
00:28:24.20\00:28:27.24
So yeah, every Sunday.
00:28:27.27\00:28:29.40
So how did that work though
because you were Adventist?
00:28:29.44\00:28:32.61
Yeah.
00:28:32.64\00:28:33.98
But then you
preached to them on Sunday,
00:28:34.01\00:28:36.38
so what message were
you sharing with them?
00:28:36.41\00:28:40.22
Well, first Sunday
was Daniel Chapter 2.
00:28:40.25\00:28:43.02
Okay.
00:28:43.05\00:28:44.39
I literally took them
through an evangelistic series,
00:28:44.42\00:28:47.56
week by week.
00:28:47.59\00:28:48.92
So Great
Controversy was week two,
00:28:48.96\00:28:51.56
week three was salvation,
00:28:51.59\00:28:52.93
just the
traditional order and, yeah,
00:28:52.96\00:28:55.10
I went and worship
with them on Sunday.
00:28:55.13\00:28:57.57
Being, our pioneers
used to do that too.
00:28:57.60\00:28:59.23
They would go to
first day churches
00:28:59.27\00:29:00.64
and preach until they
knew the Sabbath truth.
00:29:00.67\00:29:03.10
And then they would change
00:29:03.14\00:29:04.47
if that was how
they were convicted.
00:29:04.51\00:29:06.44
And turns out 28 weeks later,
00:29:06.47\00:29:11.78
they call themselves
00:29:11.81\00:29:13.15
the Seventh-day Adventist
Piney Woods Gospel Tabernacle.
00:29:13.18\00:29:15.98
Wow.
00:29:16.02\00:29:17.39
So that whole church
00:29:17.42\00:29:20.19
ended up
converting to Adventism.
00:29:20.26\00:29:22.62
They did, brother.
00:29:22.66\00:29:24.03
And, you know, it
was just so practical.
00:29:24.06\00:29:25.43
I mean, you know, and
that's what ARISE taught me
00:29:25.46\00:29:28.93
is you can share
with them this knowledge,
00:29:28.96\00:29:31.43
but people just
need to be loved.
00:29:31.47\00:29:34.14
And so after church,
one Sunday I was in my suit,
00:29:34.17\00:29:37.41
and they said that their
cows needed to delivered,
00:29:37.44\00:29:41.21
and that they wanted my
help to deliver their cows.
00:29:41.24\00:29:44.25
So after church, on
Sunday, there I am with my hand,
00:29:44.28\00:29:46.92
helping a baby
cow come out of a mom.
00:29:46.95\00:29:50.19
And they loved it.
00:29:50.22\00:29:51.75
And that meant to
them as much as it did
00:29:51.79\00:29:53.76
to talk about the
2300 day prophecy.
00:29:53.79\00:29:56.02
Wow. It was just powerful.
00:29:56.06\00:29:57.56
So then how did they convert?
00:29:57.63\00:29:59.56
Like, how did that work?
00:29:59.59\00:30:01.56
Like, how did they become
00:30:01.60\00:30:03.23
the Seventh-day
Adventist Church?
00:30:03.26\00:30:04.60
They went from
going to church on Sunday
00:30:04.63\00:30:06.23
to the whole church...
00:30:06.27\00:30:07.64
They switched.
Becoming the... Wow.
00:30:07.67\00:30:09.77
Yeah, and so after
church, every Sunday,
00:30:09.80\00:30:12.37
like with Daniel
chapter 2, they would be,
00:30:12.41\00:30:14.51
"This is something
we've never heard before."
00:30:14.54\00:30:17.35
And so they said that
they called themselves
00:30:17.38\00:30:19.61
the Seventh-day Adventist
Piney Woods Gospel Tabernacle
00:30:19.65\00:30:22.32
before they got
that name officially.
00:30:22.35\00:30:24.29
But they said,
00:30:24.32\00:30:25.65
"Yeah, we're
Seventh-day Adventist now."
00:30:25.69\00:30:27.19
Wow, that's amazing. Yeah.
00:30:27.26\00:30:29.79
What else took place in Alabama?
00:30:29.82\00:30:32.29
You know, a lot of good stuff.
00:30:32.33\00:30:35.36
One of my fondest, but...
00:30:35.40\00:30:38.57
It's a memory that still,
00:30:38.60\00:30:40.64
kind of, almost haunts me today
00:30:40.67\00:30:43.07
You know, I'm 18 at the time
00:30:43.10\00:30:44.44
when I'm Bible
working in Alabama, barely.
00:30:44.47\00:30:48.74
And I remember one
week I gave about...
00:30:48.78\00:30:51.78
You know, I gave about
30 Bible studies a week.
00:30:51.81\00:30:55.15
And at church, one
Sabbath, a gentleman came,
00:30:55.18\00:31:00.29
and he walked into
the back of the church.
00:31:00.36\00:31:02.09
And you could tell he's drunk.
00:31:02.12\00:31:06.26
You could smell
it. He was buzzed.
00:31:06.29\00:31:09.40
And after the sermon,
the pastor wasn't there.
00:31:09.43\00:31:11.00
I was preaching that day.
00:31:11.03\00:31:12.87
And he came forward to
the front, and he said,
00:31:12.90\00:31:18.07
"Pastor, I need to know Jesus."
00:31:18.11\00:31:20.88
And I said, "Well, first of all,
00:31:20.91\00:31:22.24
I'm not a pastor,
00:31:22.28\00:31:23.65
but I can
introduce you to Jesus.
00:31:23.68\00:31:25.05
But I've got a Bible study
in an hour with somebody else.
00:31:25.08\00:31:29.38
So if you'll meet me here
tomorrow, we can do this."
00:31:29.42\00:31:33.49
And he pleaded with me.
00:31:33.56\00:31:34.89
He said, "No, I
need to know Jesus now."
00:31:34.92\00:31:37.33
Wow.
00:31:37.36\00:31:38.69
And this went on
for like 20 minutes,
00:31:38.73\00:31:40.10
but I had that
Bible study to get to.
00:31:40.13\00:31:42.36
So I prayed the
sinner's prayer with him,
00:31:42.40\00:31:44.40
shared a couple verses.
00:31:44.43\00:31:46.27
And then I just told him,
00:31:46.30\00:31:48.67
I would go to his house the
next day and confirmed this.
00:31:48.70\00:31:52.97
And he said, "Well..."
00:31:53.01\00:31:54.34
He didn't want to do that.
00:31:54.38\00:31:55.71
But he said, "If
that's the best you can do,
00:31:55.74\00:31:57.88
I'm hard of hearing,
so knock on my door loud.
00:31:57.91\00:32:00.15
And if I don't answer, come in."
00:32:00.22\00:32:01.95
So I had my
Bible study next day.
00:32:01.98\00:32:04.75
I drove out to this man's house,
00:32:04.79\00:32:06.25
knocked, walked in.
00:32:06.29\00:32:09.29
And he was faced
down on the floor.
00:32:09.32\00:32:11.29
He didn't make it
through the night.
00:32:11.33\00:32:13.13
He had a heart attack. Ah, no!
00:32:13.16\00:32:16.67
And an 18-year-old boy...
00:32:16.70\00:32:20.44
you know, that's
still haunts me today
00:32:20.47\00:32:22.10
because the Lord had
given me an opportunity
00:32:22.14\00:32:26.88
to share Him with somebody.
00:32:26.91\00:32:28.98
Yeah.
00:32:29.01\00:32:30.48
And to this day,
00:32:30.55\00:32:32.81
I don't know if
that man was ready.
00:32:32.85\00:32:35.25
Yeah.
00:32:35.28\00:32:37.29
Did he pray that
prayer with you though?
00:32:37.32\00:32:39.32
He did. He did.
00:32:39.35\00:32:41.29
He did.
00:32:41.32\00:32:42.66
But, you know, that same day,
00:32:42.69\00:32:46.33
I went to another
Bible study's house.
00:32:46.36\00:32:48.26
Knocked, opened the door,
00:32:48.30\00:32:50.57
and not to be
graphic but he was...
00:32:50.60\00:32:53.94
He committed suicide,
00:32:53.97\00:32:55.30
and he was there in
his living room still.
00:32:55.34\00:32:56.81
You could still see
with, how he had done it.
00:32:56.84\00:32:59.41
Man, that same day? Same day.
00:32:59.44\00:33:03.35
And I start...
00:33:03.38\00:33:06.82
Then later the next week,
00:33:06.85\00:33:08.58
someone else died
of a drug overdose
00:33:08.62\00:33:10.09
that I gave Bible studies to.
00:33:10.12\00:33:12.39
And I thought,
00:33:12.42\00:33:14.59
"This is a Great
Controversy we're in."
00:33:14.62\00:33:16.49
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:33:16.52\00:33:18.23
This is no joke.
00:33:18.26\00:33:19.59
Like, you know, as a
pastor, you go to board meetings
00:33:19.63\00:33:23.00
and you talk about
Numbers and baptismal goals,
00:33:23.03\00:33:27.27
and tithe goals,
and all those things,
00:33:27.34\00:33:28.77
which are well and good.
00:33:28.80\00:33:30.64
But we don't give Bible studies,
00:33:30.71\00:33:33.27
we don't preach
evangelistic series,
00:33:33.31\00:33:35.18
we don't share
00:33:35.21\00:33:37.75
just because we think
it's a game where we shouldn't,
00:33:37.78\00:33:42.52
because this is a battle
00:33:42.55\00:33:45.15
for people's souls for eternity.
00:33:45.19\00:33:48.96
And people are dying every day
00:33:48.99\00:33:51.59
without hearing
that name of Jesus.
00:33:51.63\00:33:54.63
Yeah.
00:33:54.66\00:33:58.20
I can't imagine
having that type of day
00:33:58.23\00:34:02.10
that you had, where
you saw two people...
00:34:02.14\00:34:05.81
not one but two
people that you had talked to
00:34:05.84\00:34:11.11
and you had prayed with one guy,
00:34:11.15\00:34:14.68
and then they were dead.
00:34:14.72\00:34:19.72
Especially at 18, I struggled.
00:34:19.75\00:34:25.86
But in that year
that I was there,
00:34:25.89\00:34:27.60
and in those struggles,
00:34:27.63\00:34:29.76
that arrogance that I
had started to melt away.
00:34:29.80\00:34:35.37
And I started
talking with her again,
00:34:35.40\00:34:37.31
and she helps me with that.
00:34:37.34\00:34:40.58
But you begin to
realize how little you know.
00:34:40.61\00:34:46.92
And you learn to
relate with people,
00:34:46.95\00:34:48.75
and I'm still working on
this, but people need the Lord.
00:34:48.78\00:34:52.65
That's what it boils
down to. Oh, absolutely.
00:34:52.69\00:34:54.32
Yeah. Absolutely.
00:34:54.36\00:34:56.93
So, Dakota, where
were you at this time
00:34:56.96\00:35:02.43
when all of this was going on?
00:35:02.46\00:35:04.70
So before he had ever
gone to Alabama or anything,
00:35:04.73\00:35:09.57
I remember saying to
my friends on whatever,
00:35:09.60\00:35:12.41
"I would never date
Garhett, like, absolutely not.
00:35:12.44\00:35:15.28
He thinks too
highly of himself,"
00:35:15.31\00:35:18.51
and blah, blah, blah.
00:35:18.55\00:35:19.88
And after that year,
00:35:19.91\00:35:23.12
you know, we started talking
towards the end of that year.
00:35:23.15\00:35:25.89
And he came home,
00:35:25.92\00:35:27.26
and the growth that
I saw over that year
00:35:27.29\00:35:29.56
in the maturity that he had,
00:35:29.59\00:35:31.36
he was much more gentle
and much more understanding,
00:35:31.39\00:35:34.96
and that kind of
started to melt my heart
00:35:35.00\00:35:38.80
towards him a little bit.
00:35:38.83\00:35:40.17
And he had...
00:35:40.24\00:35:41.57
At the end of
that year, we start...
00:35:41.60\00:35:43.41
We were just
talking over like texting,
00:35:43.44\00:35:45.07
and FaceTime, and stuff.
00:35:45.11\00:35:46.44
And he texted me
one day out of the blue,
00:35:46.47\00:35:49.88
and said, "You know,
00:35:49.91\00:35:51.78
I'm going to marry
you someday, right?"
00:35:51.81\00:35:54.35
Like, and that's all he said.
00:35:54.38\00:35:56.05
Bold move, man. I like that.
00:35:56.08\00:35:57.75
That's how it's done. Good job.
00:35:57.79\00:35:59.99
And then didn't answer
me for the next three days.
00:36:00.06\00:36:02.46
Ignored her.
00:36:02.49\00:36:03.83
Like completely
'cause I was mad.
00:36:03.86\00:36:05.19
I was like, "You
can't just say that,
00:36:05.23\00:36:07.20
like absolutely not."
00:36:07.23\00:36:10.47
So then after that,
three days were over.
00:36:10.50\00:36:14.07
He claims he was
scared. I wasn't sacred.
00:36:14.14\00:36:17.54
I know what I was doing.
00:36:17.61\00:36:20.01
You planted the
seed. Oh, yeah, man.
00:36:20.08\00:36:22.58
I mean, that's discipleship,
00:36:22.61\00:36:23.95
you plant the seed,
let it germinate, right?
00:36:23.98\00:36:26.75
I was so mad, but after that,
00:36:26.82\00:36:28.25
we kind of started
to talk about, you know,
00:36:28.28\00:36:30.49
potentially seeing
where this could go,
00:36:30.52\00:36:33.89
you know, we didn't
want to ruin the friendship
00:36:33.96\00:36:35.42
that we had built,
but at the same time,
00:36:35.46\00:36:37.93
he was like, you know,
00:36:37.96\00:36:39.29
"Do you want to consider
pursuing a relationship,
00:36:39.33\00:36:41.26
I think that
we'd be a good team."
00:36:41.30\00:36:43.50
And coming from my past,
I was like, "No way, man."
00:36:43.57\00:36:46.40
Like 'cause he
wanted to be a pastor.
00:36:46.43\00:36:48.44
And I said, "I
can't be a pastor's wife."
00:36:48.47\00:36:50.84
Like, absolutely,
like, "Do you know my past?
00:36:50.91\00:36:53.81
Do you know, you know,
00:36:53.88\00:36:55.28
the stuff I've been through
and the stuff I've done?"
00:36:55.31\00:36:57.15
And he's like, "That's
why you'd be good at it
00:36:57.18\00:36:59.61
because of these
experiences that you've had."
00:36:59.65\00:37:01.55
He said, "I disagree with you.
00:37:01.58\00:37:02.92
I think you need
to talk to the Lord."
00:37:02.95\00:37:04.45
And just like let it go again.
00:37:04.49\00:37:06.22
He was like,
didn't talk about it.
00:37:06.25\00:37:08.42
And so I wrestled with God
for a while 'cause I was like,
00:37:08.46\00:37:11.16
"Lord, I'm not worthy of this,"
00:37:11.19\00:37:12.86
like this is a
very specific calling,
00:37:12.89\00:37:15.16
you know?
00:37:15.20\00:37:16.53
And through a
variety of circumstances,
00:37:16.56\00:37:20.34
the Lord kind of led
me to an understanding
00:37:20.37\00:37:22.87
that, you know, just
because you have a past
00:37:22.90\00:37:24.51
doesn't mean that you
can't minister to people,
00:37:24.54\00:37:28.34
you know, and relate to people
00:37:28.38\00:37:30.68
because of the stuff
that you've been through.
00:37:30.75\00:37:34.12
So we've started
to talk about dating
00:37:34.15\00:37:37.22
and pursue a relationship,
00:37:37.29\00:37:39.65
and then I went to
Peru for six months.
00:37:39.69\00:37:42.06
Oh, wow.
00:37:42.09\00:37:43.43
Kind of a student
missionary kind of deal.
00:37:43.46\00:37:45.26
Yeah.
00:37:45.29\00:37:46.63
With People of Peru Project,
and that solidified for me
00:37:46.70\00:37:49.36
even more that I
wanted to be in ministry,
00:37:49.40\00:37:51.70
that I wanted to, you know,
00:37:51.73\00:37:53.34
give my life
completely over to God
00:37:53.37\00:37:54.70
and make this my life's work.
00:37:54.74\00:37:57.51
And so that...
00:37:57.54\00:37:59.81
Yeah, he proposed to me
shortly before I went to Peru,
00:37:59.84\00:38:02.91
and so I was
planning a wedding from Peru.
00:38:02.94\00:38:07.32
It was an interesting
experience, long distance...
00:38:07.35\00:38:08.95
I showed up to the
wedding two days beforehand,
00:38:08.98\00:38:11.25
not even having anything
to wear yet 'cause I was...
00:38:11.29\00:38:13.46
At that time, I was
working in Lansing, Michigan.
00:38:13.49\00:38:15.92
Okay.
00:38:15.96\00:38:17.33
And so we just
finished up evangelistic series,
00:38:17.36\00:38:19.13
and then I pulled
in, and got married,
00:38:19.16\00:38:20.80
and then went back out to work.
00:38:20.83\00:38:22.20
Yeah. Wow.
00:38:22.23\00:38:23.57
That was a quick...
00:38:23.60\00:38:24.93
He wanted to make sure
00:38:24.97\00:38:26.30
you came back
from Peru and he said,
00:38:26.33\00:38:27.67
"I'm going to
propose to you now.
00:38:27.70\00:38:29.04
And I want you to comeback."
00:38:29.07\00:38:30.41
Exactly that. Yes.
00:38:30.44\00:38:32.04
That's awesome.
00:38:32.07\00:38:33.41
That is awesome. Yeah.
00:38:33.48\00:38:34.81
And it's a really
great sign, Dakota,
00:38:34.84\00:38:36.18
that you were
praying that, you know,
00:38:36.21\00:38:37.98
you told him
that you should pray
00:38:38.01\00:38:40.52
and ask the Lord,
00:38:40.55\00:38:41.88
and you were praying
yourself too, you know,
00:38:41.92\00:38:45.02
that's a sign
that the Holy Spirit
00:38:45.05\00:38:46.62
was working on your heart, too.
00:38:46.65\00:38:47.99
Yeah, absolutely.
00:38:48.02\00:38:49.36
The fact that you realized
00:38:49.39\00:38:50.73
your need for
prayer at that moment.
00:38:50.76\00:38:53.40
And, you know,
00:38:53.43\00:38:54.76
there's a lot of
people who may feel like,
00:38:54.80\00:38:57.67
you know, "My past is too much.
00:38:57.70\00:39:00.14
How can God still...
00:39:00.17\00:39:02.27
Why would God
want to use me?" Right.
00:39:02.30\00:39:04.57
You guys are speaking
to that. Yeah, absolutely.
00:39:04.61\00:39:07.28
And you know, she
can relate to people
00:39:07.31\00:39:08.78
in ways that I
can't because, you know,
00:39:08.81\00:39:12.28
I love my father-in-law so much,
00:39:12.31\00:39:14.02
but you worked with him
through some of those things.
00:39:14.05\00:39:18.25
And now she can relate to people
00:39:18.29\00:39:19.62
that are struggling
with the same things
00:39:19.65\00:39:20.99
in a way that I
can't say that I ever have.
00:39:21.02\00:39:22.92
Right. She dealt with that.
00:39:22.96\00:39:24.53
And so it's just a
blessing to have that.
00:39:24.56\00:39:27.53
Paul was right when he says
man shouldn't be alone, right?
00:39:27.60\00:39:30.47
That's right. That's right.
00:39:30.50\00:39:33.37
Yeah, now let me ask
you guys this question.
00:39:33.44\00:39:36.47
When you guys solidified
your relationship with Christ
00:39:36.50\00:39:40.18
and, you know, you
were solid Christians again,
00:39:40.21\00:39:44.68
did everything
just become perfect?
00:39:44.71\00:39:47.22
Do you not struggle?
Do you not have struggles?
00:39:47.25\00:39:49.55
You know,
sometimes people think,
00:39:49.58\00:39:51.02
"Well, you know, all right,
00:39:51.05\00:39:52.39
they're Christians,
they have no problems."
00:39:52.42\00:39:54.56
No.
00:39:54.59\00:39:56.42
You know, I had
some really great support
00:39:56.46\00:39:58.26
from her family and my family
00:39:58.29\00:39:59.63
when we started to
talk about marriage
00:39:59.66\00:40:01.73
and stuff like that.
00:40:01.76\00:40:03.80
Her Uncle John, John
Tosh, shout-out to him
00:40:03.87\00:40:05.83
if he's watching.
00:40:05.87\00:40:07.24
But he told her a few
years before we got married
00:40:07.27\00:40:11.67
that we would
be married someday.
00:40:11.71\00:40:14.08
He always had my back,
and I really appreciate that.
00:40:14.11\00:40:16.68
But when people found out
00:40:16.75\00:40:18.35
that we were
going to be married,
00:40:18.38\00:40:19.85
we got a lot of backlash.
00:40:19.88\00:40:21.65
Really? I still
don't know really why.
00:40:21.68\00:40:23.99
Okay, that was going
to be my next question.
00:40:24.02\00:40:25.45
Yeah, I don't know.
00:40:25.49\00:40:28.26
But... Well, we're young.
00:40:28.29\00:40:29.96
We were young.
Yeah, we were young.
00:40:30.03\00:40:31.36
Like I was 21, she was 20.
00:40:31.39\00:40:33.53
I wasn't a pastor yet.
00:40:33.60\00:40:35.23
I was still Bible working.
00:40:35.26\00:40:37.90
And so there was
a lot of unknowns,
00:40:37.93\00:40:40.04
but when you
have faith in the Lord
00:40:40.07\00:40:41.40
and you work hard,
the Lord always provides.
00:40:41.44\00:40:45.61
Yeah, you know,
00:40:45.64\00:40:47.41
when you when you
said we were young
00:40:47.48\00:40:49.24
and all that stuff, like
I forgot that you are 23.
00:40:49.28\00:40:52.58
I'm still young. I
forgot for a second.
00:40:52.61\00:40:55.88
You're very mature for
your age and everything.
00:40:55.92\00:40:57.72
Oh, no, God is good.
00:40:57.75\00:41:00.06
What's it like
being a pastor's wife?
00:41:00.09\00:41:01.96
Now that you're in it
and now that you're...
00:41:01.99\00:41:04.56
Absolutely.
00:41:04.59\00:41:05.93
A part of it, what's it
like being a pastor's wife?
00:41:05.96\00:41:07.66
Yeah, there's
definitely challenges,
00:41:07.70\00:41:10.37
and there's
definitely stuff that,
00:41:10.40\00:41:12.10
especially as a
young pastor's wife
00:41:12.13\00:41:13.64
gets thrown at me and
I'm like, "I don't know,
00:41:13.67\00:41:16.57
like, How am I
supposed to handle this."
00:41:16.60\00:41:18.64
But it's so rewarding,
00:41:18.67\00:41:20.58
and I love supporting him
and working alongside him.
00:41:20.61\00:41:24.85
And the Lord has led me
to people who I am, you know,
00:41:24.88\00:41:29.18
having Bible studies
with, and working with,
00:41:29.22\00:41:32.39
and mentoring in ways
00:41:32.42\00:41:35.06
that I never
thought would be possible.
00:41:35.09\00:41:36.86
And so I mean, every
calling, every, you know,
00:41:36.93\00:41:41.30
work has its
challenges, but I love it.
00:41:41.33\00:41:44.20
I do.
00:41:44.27\00:41:45.60
Being at the
center of God's will
00:41:45.63\00:41:46.97
is the ultimate peace,
00:41:47.00\00:41:49.80
yeah, regardless
of whatever hits you,
00:41:49.84\00:41:52.24
you have peace.
00:41:52.27\00:41:53.78
And that's such a
beautiful blessing.
00:41:53.81\00:41:57.15
Amen. Amen.
00:41:57.18\00:41:58.68
And what's it like for
you being a senior pastor?
00:41:58.71\00:42:01.55
You know, a lot of credit
goes to some of my mentors,
00:42:01.58\00:42:06.29
you know, James
Rafferty married the both of us
00:42:06.32\00:42:08.49
and he spent some time
00:42:08.52\00:42:09.86
counseling us
through those things.
00:42:09.89\00:42:12.36
Having people to
bounce ideas off of
00:42:12.39\00:42:15.13
and having people
that don't struggle,
00:42:15.16\00:42:17.27
we're rebuking
you is a big deal.
00:42:17.30\00:42:21.44
And Wes Peppers,
00:42:21.47\00:42:23.71
I worked with
him as a Bible worker
00:42:23.74\00:42:25.34
for about two years.
00:42:25.37\00:42:26.91
And with Nancy
Larson, she's a pastor's wife
00:42:26.98\00:42:29.71
and was in Michigan too,
00:42:29.74\00:42:31.08
they just her and her husband
just retired a while ago.
00:42:31.11\00:42:33.15
Okay.
00:42:33.18\00:42:34.52
But when I
messed up, they told me.
00:42:34.55\00:42:37.19
Yeah.
00:42:37.22\00:42:38.55
And they would make
sure I made it right.
00:42:38.59\00:42:39.92
Everything from, you
know, how to tie a tie.
00:42:39.95\00:42:42.26
All the way down to
making sure that, you know,
00:42:42.29\00:42:45.43
when I was in a
Bible study with the woman
00:42:45.46\00:42:47.50
that I brought my wife
along to make sure that there...
00:42:47.53\00:42:49.80
You know, just to be
safe. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
00:42:49.83\00:42:52.10
All of those things,
00:42:52.13\00:42:53.47
so definitely
having the right mentorship
00:42:53.54\00:42:56.57
is extremely important.
00:42:56.60\00:42:58.84
And I've been blessed
with excellent mentors
00:42:58.87\00:43:01.21
and those people,
but also realizing...
00:43:01.24\00:43:03.75
And I was reading in
the Spirit of Prophecy
00:43:03.78\00:43:05.11
just the other day
00:43:05.15\00:43:06.48
that when people are
working in God's ministry,
00:43:06.51\00:43:12.19
we often think that
the work can't go on
00:43:12.22\00:43:13.96
without us.
00:43:13.99\00:43:16.39
But realizing that
the Lord will make sure
00:43:16.42\00:43:18.29
that His three angels'
messages will continue to go on
00:43:18.33\00:43:20.40
with or without you.
00:43:20.43\00:43:21.76
Oh, yeah.
00:43:21.80\00:43:23.13
You're
replaceable. That's right.
00:43:23.16\00:43:25.37
And so realizing that
00:43:25.40\00:43:27.04
there's nothing
special about me.
00:43:27.07\00:43:29.37
Lord may have
blessed me with some things,
00:43:29.40\00:43:31.71
but the Lord
gives, Lord can take away.
00:43:31.74\00:43:33.71
That's right.
That's absolutely right.
00:43:33.78\00:43:36.68
So how do you deal with like
00:43:36.75\00:43:40.22
let's say an
older member comes to...
00:43:40.25\00:43:42.18
This is like the situation
you were speaking about.
00:43:42.22\00:43:44.35
Like, how do you
deal with that, like,
00:43:44.39\00:43:47.19
if they present an
issue, what's your process?
00:43:47.26\00:43:50.86
Yeah.
00:43:50.93\00:43:52.26
So I have three
churches in the Michigan area.
00:43:52.29\00:43:54.56
Wait a moment, you
got three churches?
00:43:54.60\00:43:56.33
Yeah.
00:43:56.36\00:43:57.70
Just north of Grand
Rapids, Big Rapids, Reed City,
00:43:57.73\00:43:59.60
and Bristol churches.
00:43:59.63\00:44:01.00
Wow.
00:44:01.04\00:44:02.47
Salt of the earth
people, I love them dearly.
00:44:02.50\00:44:04.84
I haven't really had
much of an issue with my age.
00:44:04.87\00:44:08.71
But it can be awkward
if you let it be awkward.
00:44:08.74\00:44:13.28
But I always let people know
00:44:13.31\00:44:15.02
when they come
to me with an issue.
00:44:15.05\00:44:17.39
I'll say, "You
know, I may be young
00:44:17.42\00:44:18.75
and not have much
experience in that,
00:44:18.79\00:44:21.06
but I know someone
that has lived a lot longer
00:44:21.09\00:44:23.53
than I have.
00:44:23.56\00:44:24.93
In fact, He has no beginning.
00:44:24.96\00:44:26.29
He has no end." Come on now.
00:44:26.33\00:44:27.76
"And together, you
and I both learning,
00:44:27.80\00:44:30.27
we can find
answers through His Word
00:44:30.30\00:44:32.47
and through prayer."
00:44:32.50\00:44:33.97
And so if there's a
situation that comes up
00:44:34.04\00:44:36.27
that I don't necessarily
know, I know someone that does.
00:44:36.30\00:44:38.67
Amen.
00:44:38.71\00:44:40.08
And so just
leading them through that
00:44:40.11\00:44:42.34
is just so important.
00:44:42.38\00:44:43.75
And I tell you, it's just,
you know, there's hard days,
00:44:43.78\00:44:47.45
but it's a blast.
00:44:47.52\00:44:49.08
I love this work. Amen.
00:44:49.12\00:44:51.52
Yeah. Amen.
00:44:51.55\00:44:52.89
Okay, so I'm going to ask
you a question that I asked
00:44:52.92\00:44:56.19
just about every
pastor that I meet,
00:44:56.22\00:44:58.59
usually not on camera,
but usually I ask them off.
00:44:58.63\00:45:03.50
How do you prepare your sermons?
00:45:03.57\00:45:05.37
Oh, great question.
00:45:05.40\00:45:07.34
So I have three
churches and every other week,
00:45:07.37\00:45:10.71
I preach it all three
churches, every Sabbath,
00:45:10.74\00:45:13.04
our times are scheduled
00:45:13.07\00:45:14.41
so I can do three every Sabbath.
00:45:14.44\00:45:15.78
Wow.
00:45:15.81\00:45:17.15
And so sometimes I
preach the same one.
00:45:17.18\00:45:18.51
Sometimes I preach
three different sermons.
00:45:18.55\00:45:21.45
And my wife is so patient.
00:45:21.48\00:45:24.62
Sometimes she
listens to the same sermon
00:45:24.65\00:45:26.62
three times in a day.
00:45:26.65\00:45:28.56
So thank you.
00:45:28.59\00:45:30.16
But I have a few
people I love to read.
00:45:30.23\00:45:36.06
I read like...
00:45:36.10\00:45:37.57
My goal is 10 books a month.
00:45:37.60\00:45:39.37
That's my goal.
00:45:39.40\00:45:41.07
So four spiritual
Spirit of Prophecy,
00:45:41.10\00:45:46.81
a few modern
spiritual like, you know,
00:45:46.88\00:45:49.94
Ty Gibson and stuff like that.
00:45:49.98\00:45:52.41
And then the rest historical
00:45:52.45\00:45:54.05
like American
history, World History.
00:45:54.12\00:45:56.02
And when you read
those types of books,
00:45:56.05\00:45:57.92
it gives you ideas.
00:45:57.95\00:46:00.56
And so like I
have... I'm a bit...
00:46:00.59\00:46:03.09
Kind of my hero is HMS Richards.
00:46:03.12\00:46:05.03
Old one. Okay.
00:46:05.06\00:46:06.43
You know, this is
the Voice of Prophecy.
00:46:06.46\00:46:09.23
And so, you know,
00:46:09.26\00:46:10.60
I have a bunch of
his sermon transcripts
00:46:10.67\00:46:12.70
that I read through.
00:46:12.73\00:46:14.47
WD Frizzy, for instance, I
read through all his stuff.
00:46:14.50\00:46:18.57
And then just getting
ideas in your devotional life,
00:46:18.61\00:46:21.44
and then
sometimes they'll just...
00:46:21.48\00:46:22.98
Sometimes the sermon
will just bam, it's there.
00:46:23.01\00:46:25.88
And you can write
it out in 40 minutes,
00:46:25.91\00:46:28.42
and you're like this
is going to be powerful.
00:46:28.45\00:46:30.59
And then there are
some that I struggle.
00:46:30.62\00:46:32.25
Yeah, yeah.
00:46:32.29\00:46:33.66
Lord, I've been in
here for four hours
00:46:33.69\00:46:36.36
and I've got a paragraph.
00:46:36.39\00:46:38.99
But you know, the
Lord always provides
00:46:39.03\00:46:40.93
and as long as you're humble
00:46:40.96\00:46:43.97
and you're on
your knees in prayer...
00:46:44.00\00:46:45.97
Scott Moore,
another one of my mentors.
00:46:46.00\00:46:48.07
He told me that
for every five minutes,
00:46:48.10\00:46:50.11
you spend in sermon prep,
spend 10 minutes in prayer.
00:46:50.14\00:46:53.91
And that's what
I've done and it works.
00:46:53.98\00:46:55.54
Nice.
00:46:55.58\00:46:56.95
So in other words,
what I'm getting from you
00:46:56.98\00:46:58.98
is there's
multiple different ways
00:46:59.01\00:47:01.25
on how you go
about preparing it.
00:47:01.28\00:47:03.89
Your devotional
life... It's huge.
00:47:03.92\00:47:05.75
Very important.
00:47:05.79\00:47:07.16
I've heard that
that's like a common thread
00:47:07.19\00:47:09.02
to a lot of times it will...
00:47:09.06\00:47:10.53
And making sure
your devotional life
00:47:10.56\00:47:12.33
isn't so that you
can have a sermon.
00:47:12.36\00:47:14.86
Separate your devotional
life from sermon prep.
00:47:14.90\00:47:17.60
Sometimes it comes
out of your devotions,
00:47:17.63\00:47:19.63
but that
shouldn't be the reason.
00:47:19.67\00:47:21.57
Yeah, yeah.
00:47:21.60\00:47:22.94
The main reason is cultivating
that relationship and spending
00:47:22.97\00:47:25.34
that time with God.
00:47:25.37\00:47:26.88
How do you get
to know God better?
00:47:26.91\00:47:28.78
By spending time
with Him. Exactly.
00:47:28.81\00:47:30.18
But, you know,
we've been blessed
00:47:30.25\00:47:31.58
not only do we have
churches but we get to help out
00:47:31.61\00:47:33.62
with Strong Tower Radio.
00:47:33.65\00:47:35.52
It covers probably
what two-thirds of Michigan?
00:47:35.55\00:47:38.29
Maybe a little bit
more. Probably more.
00:47:38.32\00:47:40.66
And so I have a
radio program on there,
00:47:40.69\00:47:42.89
called History Retold.
00:47:42.92\00:47:45.16
And she does recording for them.
00:47:45.19\00:47:47.90
And they use a lot of
3ABN radio as you know.
00:47:47.93\00:47:49.93
Yes, yes, yes.
00:47:49.96\00:47:51.33
They've got 3ABN Radio,
they've got Dare to Dream,
00:47:51.37\00:47:55.34
they use programs from
the 3ABN the parent network,
00:47:55.37\00:48:00.28
I think, even 3ABN Latino.
00:48:00.31\00:48:02.04
Yep. Yeah. They use that too.
00:48:02.08\00:48:03.55
We love Strong Tower Radio.
00:48:03.58\00:48:06.05
Yes, it's a huge resource too.
00:48:06.08\00:48:08.22
We have people
walking into our churches
00:48:08.25\00:48:10.39
that we have had
no previous contact
00:48:10.42\00:48:12.89
with except for
from Strong Tower Radio,
00:48:12.92\00:48:14.86
they've heard it in their
cars, heard it in their homes,
00:48:14.89\00:48:17.63
and they're just
coming in saying,
00:48:17.66\00:48:19.66
"We want to join this
church, this is our church now."
00:48:19.69\00:48:22.06
And they already
have the background
00:48:22.10\00:48:23.67
of believing in the
Sabbath and all this stuff
00:48:23.70\00:48:25.50
because they've heard the radio.
00:48:25.53\00:48:27.77
So it's a beautiful
thing and a beautiful resource
00:48:27.80\00:48:31.74
for us to have.
00:48:31.77\00:48:33.11
Absolutely. Yeah.
00:48:33.14\00:48:34.48
You know, I can
only preach for so long,
00:48:34.51\00:48:35.84
but Strong Tower Radio
is 24 hours like 3ABN is.
00:48:35.88\00:48:38.31
There you go.
00:48:38.35\00:48:39.68
So it's a constant
evangelistic series,
00:48:39.71\00:48:41.52
it's well-rounded,
and praise the Lord.
00:48:41.55\00:48:43.28
Yeah.
00:48:43.32\00:48:44.65
And see that's
the beautiful thing
00:48:44.69\00:48:46.02
is like, you know,
these gospels to go
00:48:46.05\00:48:47.39
into all of the world.
00:48:47.46\00:48:48.79
Amen. But what
better way than media?
00:48:48.82\00:48:50.16
Oh, yeah.
00:48:50.19\00:48:51.53
you know, that's
someone can turn on their TV,
00:48:51.56\00:48:53.23
someone can turn on their radio,
00:48:53.26\00:48:54.73
someone can go to the website.
00:48:54.76\00:48:56.26
That's right.
00:48:56.30\00:48:57.63
You know, and they can hear
00:48:57.67\00:48:59.00
these precious truths
being presented and shared.
00:48:59.03\00:49:01.77
For all the evil
that media is used for,
00:49:01.80\00:49:04.01
the Lord can use it
for a whole lot of good.
00:49:04.04\00:49:05.61
That's right, absolutely right.
00:49:05.64\00:49:07.88
So what does a
typical day look like for you
00:49:07.91\00:49:10.78
at Strong Tower, if
there is a typical day?
00:49:10.85\00:49:14.05
No, really. It really depends.
00:49:14.12\00:49:16.32
We're up there at
least once a week usually,
00:49:16.35\00:49:19.75
and we'll meet...
00:49:19.79\00:49:21.12
I will usually meet with
their marketing director,
00:49:21.16\00:49:23.83
and we go over weekly
goals for the email newsletter
00:49:23.86\00:49:28.50
and different
marketing strategies
00:49:28.53\00:49:30.17
with Facebook and
that kind of stuff.
00:49:30.20\00:49:32.10
And then you and
I will usually go
00:49:32.13\00:49:34.67
into the recording studio,
00:49:34.70\00:49:36.47
and I'll record him
00:49:36.50\00:49:37.84
for probably an hour
and a half, two hours.
00:49:37.87\00:49:40.48
And just kind of buzz
00:49:40.51\00:49:43.18
through a bunch
of the recordings
00:49:43.21\00:49:44.61
that he wants to do
that he has pre-prepared
00:49:44.65\00:49:46.65
and then...
00:49:46.72\00:49:48.05
Yeah, so it's a
little bit of a process.
00:49:48.08\00:49:51.42
It's quite a bit,
00:49:51.45\00:49:52.79
and you're
wearing multiple hats.
00:49:52.82\00:49:54.16
Yeah. She does.
00:49:54.19\00:49:55.72
Piano player,
Sabbath School teacher,
00:49:55.76\00:49:57.79
I mean, I'm blessed.
00:49:57.83\00:49:59.43
That's right.
00:49:59.46\00:50:00.80
Now if people want to
invite you to their church,
00:50:00.83\00:50:03.26
if they want to have you
come share your testimony,
00:50:03.30\00:50:06.60
how can they get
in touch with you?
00:50:06.63\00:50:07.97
What's your email address?
00:50:08.00\00:50:09.70
Yeah, the best way to
get ahold of me is my email.
00:50:09.74\00:50:12.14
It's simple.
00:50:12.17\00:50:13.51
It's on the screen I
think, but gmorgan@misda.org.
00:50:13.58\00:50:16.75
and misda.org
Michigan Conference.
00:50:16.78\00:50:18.98
Yeah, send me an
email and I can see
00:50:19.01\00:50:20.95
if I can get
something worked in my schedule,
00:50:20.98\00:50:23.15
and I'm allowed to do
that every once in a while.
00:50:23.18\00:50:24.52
Okay.
00:50:24.55\00:50:25.89
And so yeah,
00:50:25.92\00:50:27.89
if you have any
questions or anything,
00:50:27.92\00:50:29.26
I don't have all the answers
but, again, the Lord does.
00:50:29.29\00:50:31.49
Amen. Amen.
00:50:31.53\00:50:32.96
And what advice would you
have for that young person
00:50:32.99\00:50:37.37
that just feels like the
Lord can't use him or her?
00:50:37.40\00:50:44.31
Let no one despise your youth.
00:50:44.34\00:50:47.28
But also, you know, we
have a lot of people today
00:50:47.31\00:50:51.35
say that our church
00:50:51.38\00:50:52.71
isn't inclusive of young people,
00:50:52.75\00:50:55.22
that there's no
young people in leadership
00:50:55.25\00:50:56.89
and all these things,
00:50:56.92\00:50:58.25
but just because you're young
00:50:58.29\00:50:59.62
doesn't entitle
you to leadership,
00:50:59.65\00:51:01.06
just because you're young.
00:51:01.09\00:51:02.92
So if you want to
be involved, do it.
00:51:02.96\00:51:06.93
You might not be a board member,
00:51:07.00\00:51:08.33
but show up to your
local board meeting.
00:51:08.36\00:51:09.76
Yeah.
00:51:09.80\00:51:11.13
And if you don't feel equipped,
if you don't feel good enough,
00:51:11.17\00:51:13.84
that is good enough.
00:51:13.87\00:51:15.27
That's what God wants.
00:51:15.30\00:51:17.41
And He can take
that humble spirit
00:51:17.44\00:51:18.87
that you have and use it
00:51:18.91\00:51:20.48
to be somebody powerful for Him.
00:51:20.51\00:51:23.38
And I guarantee you if a
church sees a young person
00:51:23.45\00:51:25.98
on fire for God,
00:51:26.01\00:51:28.28
they would be crazy
not to use that person.
00:51:28.32\00:51:30.49
Yes, yes.
00:51:30.52\00:51:31.92
And I'm sure they
would. Absolutely.
00:51:31.95\00:51:33.56
I would say too don't limit God.
00:51:33.59\00:51:35.69
Don't put God in a box
00:51:35.72\00:51:37.69
just because you don't feel like
00:51:37.73\00:51:39.49
you're good at something
or good at one specific thing,
00:51:39.53\00:51:43.37
don't push that out of the way
00:51:43.40\00:51:45.17
if you feel that God
is leading you to that
00:51:45.20\00:51:46.94
because He will equip you
00:51:46.97\00:51:48.67
and He will give
you the understanding
00:51:48.70\00:51:51.67
and the means
necessary to do that,
00:51:51.71\00:51:54.34
whether it be Bible
study, or, you know,
00:51:54.38\00:51:56.28
being on the local board,
or teaching at Sabbath school,
00:51:56.31\00:51:59.01
or whatever that may be,
00:51:59.05\00:52:01.72
He'll use you and
He'll give you the words.
00:52:01.75\00:52:04.42
Absolutely. Amen.
00:52:04.45\00:52:05.79
Like He doesn't
call... How does it go?
00:52:05.82\00:52:09.52
He doesn't call the qualified,
but he qualifies the called.
00:52:09.56\00:52:13.90
Yeah, there we go.
That's how it goes.
00:52:13.93\00:52:15.66
I can't believe
our time is almost up.
00:52:15.70\00:52:18.30
Went fast. It did.
00:52:18.33\00:52:19.67
It went very fast.
00:52:19.70\00:52:21.70
We are gonna take a
look at a short news break
00:52:21.74\00:52:25.24
and then right after that,
00:52:25.27\00:52:27.41
we'll have a
little bit more time
00:52:27.48\00:52:29.31
to continue this conversation.
00:52:29.34\00:52:30.85
Amen.
00:52:30.88\00:52:32.21