The following program
discusses sensitive issues.
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Parents are
cautioned that some material
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may be too candid
for younger children.
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Today, we'll meet
a former drug user
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and alcohol abuser
but is now a pastor
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in the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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Join us on today's New Journey.
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Welcome back to The New Journey.
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On today's program, we
have Pastor Ricky Wade.
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Pastor Wade, we thank you
for being on the program today.
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Well, I appreciate being here.
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Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
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For the record, Pastor
Wade, where are you from?
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I'm from Portland, Tennessee.
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It's a small little town
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close to the border of Kentucky.
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Okay.
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I grew up there my
whole life. Okay, okay.
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Now let's jump into
your family background.
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What was it like
growing up in your household
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as a young man?
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We grew up
Seventh-day Adventist.
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We went to church
on a regular basis.
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I don't remember missing
church for practically anything.
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We just enjoyed going to church.
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Okay, now it's interesting,
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your background is
similar to mine growing up.
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I grew up in a
Seventh-day Adventist home,
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both mother and father,
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but it led me to various
things that aren't typical,
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I guess, for that
type of growing up.
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You stated when we talked before
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that you got kicked out of
school in the seventh grade.
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What was going on?
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Actually you were
going to Adventist school.
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Sure, I was going to the school
there in the Highland community
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and had a principal.
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He paddled me.
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It left some marks on me,
left some distinct bruising.
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It looked like we might
end up in court over it.
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My father ended up
meeting with the school board.
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The church board got involved,
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and they just
asked him not to pursue
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that route so we didn't.
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When it came close
to my eighth grade year
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and enrollment for that year,
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the school said
that I was not going
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to be allowed to enroll,
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and so I finished out
my school in public school.
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I went to Portland
High and graduated in 1987.
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Okay, so you went to
mixture of public school
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as well as
Seventh-day Adventist school.
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Correct. Okay, okay.
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Now you eventually did
get into the drugs and alcohol
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down the line.
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What was going on internally?
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Or what caused you to lean
toward that type of lifestyle?
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You know, having been rejected,
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so to speak, from eighth grade,
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I ended up with a
little bit of a chip
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on my shoulder toward Adventism,
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toward the
Christian walk in general
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and whether I had remained
at Highland or, in this case,
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whenever I went to Portland,
some of my circle of friends,
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they started experimenting
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with marijuana and with alcohol.
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And by about my 11th grade year,
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especially
probably at the beginning
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of my senior year, I
was experimenting with both.
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And in my senior year,
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I was just a little bit
more than experimenting.
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I would sell pot
on a regular basis
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to help finance my own.
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It wasn't a habit at that point
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but just trying to
be part of the in-group.
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Miami Vice was pushing
all this glamorous drug
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and so, I just
kind of got caught up
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in that scene as well.
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Now you said
something interesting,
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you said Miami Vice was
kind of glorifying some things.
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How much of an
impact do you think
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that entertainment had on
your lifestyle at that time?
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It had a decent impact.
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Miami Vice came on Friday night
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and although I was
engaged in some of the things,
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I didn't get to
watch Miami Vice.
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You know, we cut the TV off,
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we were not overly
conservative Christians,
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but when Friday night
came, we put on the music
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and all the other entertainments
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were eliminated...
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Okay. We began the Sabbath.
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Now growing up did
you ever have resentment
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towards Seventh-day Adventism?
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And I ask that
because, you know,
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I remember
growing up as a young man,
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and you know, you see
all your other friends
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on Friday night, Saturdays,
you know they are doing things,
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they're going to
school dances and all,
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and you cannot do that.
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So it's kind of
like a resentment
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towards the
Sabbath and the Church.
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Did you ever feel that? I did.
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But by the time my senior
year rolled around, I had...
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On Friday evenings I
would go to the football games,
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I went to the
dances, I had just, you know,
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my relationship with my parents,
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you know, I told them look,
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this is what my
friends are doing,
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and this is what I want to do,
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so up until about my
junior or my senior year,
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we did all of the Sabbath stuff,
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and I still
didn't watch TV at home,
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but I would go to
the football games,
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and I would go to the dances.
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So, at home my parents
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maintained
conservative Adventism,
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but on my own I went my
own direction unfortunately.
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Now you
eventually went to the Navy,
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and you started drinking,
rather heavily at Navy.
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At what age did you go in
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and what was
going on in your life
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that was causing
you to drink so much?
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Sure, my senior
year, I turned 18,
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graduated at the end of May.
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The first of June, I
had bought a motorcycle,
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I thought I was
going to be Tom Cruise,
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and that's what I had
envisioned the Navy to be.
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The second of
July, I was in boot camp,
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so I just graduated,
went directly into boot camp,
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and then by the
time I got on the ship,
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that's what
everyone on the ship did.
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If you did not have
duty that particular day,
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you went out and drank.
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And sometimes it was a little
but more often it was a lot.
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Okay.
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Now, you told me
before that you would drink
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and then later on
you would pray at night.
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Why would you do that?
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Would it be a guilty
feeling that was going on or...
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It was just like
a security blanket,
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you know, I would
be so drunk sometimes
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that I would lay down and
the room would be spinning
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and I actually enjoyed that,
just spin myself off to sleep,
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but before I would go
to sleep, I would pray,
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you know, my standard
prayer and ask for forgiveness
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knowing that tomorrow
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I am gonna be
engaged in the same activity.
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Doing the same thing.
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Yeah, I have
been there many times.
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You know you're doing wrong,
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you kind of give
this little prayer
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but, you know, the very next day
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you're gonna do
the same exact thing
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and I guess that's
a part of, you know,
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as growing up in the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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or growing up as a
Christian as a whole.
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Things are ingrained in you,
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and even though
you're doing wrong,
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you tend to, you know,
you still go to church,
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maybe still pray a little bit,
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but your heart
really isn't in it
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as it should be.
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Now, you said
that you were married,
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you got divorced,
and then remarried,
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what was going on
in this situation?
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Sure, I married Christie.
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She was a girl that
we had grown up together.
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I've known Christie
since we were just little kids.
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We've got a picture album,
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where we were
playing baby dolls,
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and the baby dolls was
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our younger
brothers and sisters...
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This was your
childhood sweetheart.
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So to speak, yeah.
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We fell in love so to
speak at a very young age
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and then finally
admitted that we were in love,
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but we both got
engaged in drugs and alcohol,
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and she developed an
addiction, and it really started
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interfering
with life in general.
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And for 12 years we
dealt with the addiction
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and finally I just
got to a breaking point
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and of all the
things that I truly regret,
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I regret that I used divorce
as a tool to try to heal us.
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Okay.
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But we have been
divorced actually two times.
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Yeah, okay, well. Went
through it a second time.
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We got remarried.
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She had gone through a program
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and I thought
that it was behind us.
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Okay.
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Her addiction resurfaced
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and I said, "Lord,
I just can't take it!
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I'm weak." Okay.
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And as a result, we
started the process again
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and this time I was
awarded full custody,
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and praise the Lord, I
can hardly contain myself,
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she has been clean and sober,
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it will be five years this fall.
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Praise the Lord.
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Now, what was some of the drug
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that you and your
wife were using together?
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Marijuana was the big drug.
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We kind of separated
because I've used LSD.
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I've been on a trip,
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you know, several times
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and at first on the West Coast,
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that's when crystal
methamphetamine was huge,
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and I tried crystal
but it didn't present
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what I was
looking for in a drug.
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Now the LSD and the meth
and some of the other drugs,
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what effects did you see
upon your mind, your body
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as you were using these drugs?
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Well, LSD, you know,
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you are going to
have hallucinations
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and, you know, I would have
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some pretty
major hallucinations.
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One of the very
first times that I did LSD,
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I took a number of hits,
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and it started
on a Friday evening,
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and it lasted all the way
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until in the am
of Monday morning.
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So you were pretty much be awake
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for that whole time?
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Oh, you are awake,
your heart is beating
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like 200 beats a minute.
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The room,
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when you're
standing still, it will look
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as if it's
breathing the ceiling,
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whenever there
is textured things,
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they look like they are
moving, just mind games.
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You know, I understand that
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being that I used to
be on cocaine and ecstasy,
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I used a little bit of heroin,
and all of these various drugs,
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and I would be up for days.
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I mean, the longest I've been up
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is four or five
days, just wide awake.
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You know, you're
tired, you try to go to sleep,
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you lie down, but as
soon as you lie down,
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your eyes get real big
and you can't go to sleep
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and, you know,
when I started school,
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I thought that,
because I had used drugs
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for years that, you know,
00:10:41.14\00:10:42.94
my mind will be kind
of all eaten away and,
00:10:42.97\00:10:45.41
but the Lord had blessed.
00:10:45.44\00:10:46.78
The Lord had very much blessed
00:10:46.81\00:10:48.21
to where even though I had
used drugs for a long time,
00:10:48.24\00:10:51.35
I was still able to
excel in school later on.
00:10:51.38\00:10:54.48
So have you seen that
even though you used the drugs
00:10:54.52\00:10:58.05
that you have been able
to excel in various things?
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I did.
00:11:01.02\00:11:02.36
In my undergraduate
degree, I've a Bs in Psychology.
00:11:02.39\00:11:05.39
And my undergraduate
degree, I graduated with a 389,
00:11:05.43\00:11:10.50
but I was still
drinking and after every exam
00:11:10.53\00:11:13.80
I'd get high of
being in celebration.
00:11:13.84\00:11:15.67
Okay the test is over.
00:11:15.70\00:11:17.51
That's download, get
ready for this information.
00:11:17.54\00:11:18.87
The reward itself, yeah. Yeah.
00:11:18.91\00:11:21.18
But now I'm
currently enrolled at Andrews,
00:11:21.21\00:11:24.05
I'm working on my Macman,
00:11:24.08\00:11:25.95
Master of Arts in
Pastoral Ministry,
00:11:25.98\00:11:28.38
and I'm
maintaining 4.0 currently.
00:11:28.42\00:11:30.49
Praise the
Lord. Praise the Lord.
00:11:30.52\00:11:31.85
Now let's back up a little bit.
00:11:31.89\00:11:34.09
Before you got to
pastoring, you know,
00:11:34.12\00:11:36.56
somebody introduced
you to the Amazing Facts,
00:11:36.59\00:11:38.66
the Amazing Facts
Bible study lesson.
00:11:38.69\00:11:40.86
Talk about what
happened with that?
00:11:40.90\00:11:43.23
It was the day that my
son Jake was actually born.
00:11:43.26\00:11:46.33
And Demetrius
was a friend of mine.
00:11:46.37\00:11:49.30
Demetrius came in.
00:11:49.34\00:11:50.91
He was working at
the hospital that day,
00:11:50.94\00:11:53.74
and he and I began to dialogue.
00:11:53.78\00:11:57.15
He asked me
where my relationship
00:11:57.18\00:11:58.61
was with the Lord
00:11:58.65\00:12:00.75
and we spoke for
just a little bit
00:12:00.78\00:12:03.02
and on his lunch
break he came back
00:12:03.05\00:12:05.05
and he gave me an
Amazing Facts track,
00:12:05.09\00:12:06.96
I can't remember
exactly which one it was,
00:12:06.99\00:12:09.56
but I began to study
with a little more depth,
00:12:09.59\00:12:12.73
and the Lord convicted my heart
00:12:12.76\00:12:15.33
that I really didn't
have a relationship with him.
00:12:15.36\00:12:18.10
And by July 5th
of that same year,
00:12:18.13\00:12:22.77
that was 1997.
00:12:22.80\00:12:24.54
Okay.
00:12:24.57\00:12:25.91
I was re-baptized
00:12:25.94\00:12:27.28
and began a new
journey with Christ.
00:12:27.31\00:12:29.68
Okay. Praise the Lord. Amen.
00:12:29.71\00:12:31.05
Now it's interesting,
okay, you were re-baptized
00:12:31.08\00:12:33.21
but then you eventually got
caught in an insurance fraud.
00:12:33.25\00:12:36.28
Yes, sir. Talk
about that experience?
00:12:36.32\00:12:40.09
This would have
been in the fall of 1998
00:12:40.12\00:12:43.22
so not too long of a period,
00:12:43.26\00:12:46.73
close to a year
and a half had gone by.
00:12:46.76\00:12:51.83
We had a
vacation plan to Florida
00:12:51.87\00:12:54.57
and just prior to
going on that vacation,
00:12:54.60\00:12:57.94
I had asked a guy
that I had grown up with,
00:12:57.97\00:13:03.38
but he still was involved
in a behavior and a lifestyle
00:13:03.41\00:13:08.78
that didn't
represent Christianity.
00:13:08.82\00:13:10.89
I asked him,
"Hey, while we are gone,
00:13:10.92\00:13:12.92
would you break into the house
and take whatever you want,
00:13:12.95\00:13:15.36
you know, it's yours
00:13:15.39\00:13:16.73
whatever you like to do with it.
00:13:16.76\00:13:18.09
Okay.
00:13:18.13\00:13:19.46
He got caught, he
turned state's evidence,
00:13:19.49\00:13:21.56
he wore a mike,
had some recordings
00:13:21.60\00:13:24.73
of he and I
discussing what had happened
00:13:24.77\00:13:27.10
and so I got
convicted for a Class C felony
00:13:27.14\00:13:32.74
for attempted insurance fraud.
00:13:32.77\00:13:34.34
Okay. Now how did...
00:13:34.38\00:13:36.28
Being that you were
just recently baptized,
00:13:36.31\00:13:38.88
how did the church respond?
00:13:38.91\00:13:41.28
Being that just came back
in, baptized, praise the Lord,
00:13:41.32\00:13:44.95
and then you set up
something for your house
00:13:44.99\00:13:47.46
to be broken into.
00:13:47.49\00:13:48.82
How did the church view it?
00:13:48.86\00:13:50.23
Well, they had a
church business meeting,
00:13:50.26\00:13:52.69
an emergency
church business meeting
00:13:52.73\00:13:55.40
and at that meeting
there were tons of people.
00:13:55.43\00:13:58.37
Okay.
00:13:58.40\00:13:59.73
And they decided
that they would...
00:13:59.77\00:14:02.27
I was a Sabbath school
teacher for the adult class
00:14:02.30\00:14:05.44
and was really trying to work
my way into becoming an elder
00:14:05.47\00:14:09.64
but I had one
foot on either side
00:14:09.68\00:14:11.15
of the fence obviously,
the felony proves that.
00:14:11.18\00:14:14.02
Yeah.
00:14:14.05\00:14:16.15
Can't serve two
masters, that's for sure.
00:14:16.18\00:14:17.52
No, you can't.
00:14:17.55\00:14:18.89
And they decided they would
put a sensor on me for one year.
00:14:18.92\00:14:21.99
Okay. Okay.
00:14:22.02\00:14:23.56
Now you eventually went to Arise
00:14:23.59\00:14:25.59
under the
leadership of David Asscherick,
00:14:25.63\00:14:28.00
how did that transpire?
00:14:28.03\00:14:29.40
David Asscherick came to
Kentucky-Ten camp meeting,
00:14:29.43\00:14:31.90
which is there in
the Highland community
00:14:31.93\00:14:33.54
that's where Kentucky-Ten holds
their camp meeting each year.
00:14:33.57\00:14:36.74
And while he was
there, he preached a sermon
00:14:36.77\00:14:40.38
and his appeal at
the end was, this,
00:14:40.41\00:14:43.58
what he had been preaching about
00:14:43.61\00:14:45.01
is what Jesus did for you.
00:14:45.05\00:14:47.38
What are you
doing for him? Yeah.
00:14:47.42\00:14:49.22
So I pull out my
checklist, you know,
00:14:49.25\00:14:50.99
I'm faithfully paying tithe,
00:14:51.02\00:14:53.29
my kids go to
Sabbath school every week,
00:14:53.32\00:14:56.69
but in the end it
just really didn't amount
00:14:56.73\00:14:59.29
to what I was
being convicted of.
00:14:59.33\00:15:02.10
So David and I spoke,
00:15:02.13\00:15:03.47
he told me that he had a school.
00:15:03.50\00:15:07.00
I didn't even know
who David Asscherick was.
00:15:07.04\00:15:09.67
He told me that
he had the school
00:15:09.70\00:15:11.37
of evangelism for lay people
00:15:11.41\00:15:14.08
that were interested in
getting involved in ministry
00:15:14.11\00:15:16.81
and I just felt
a strong conviction
00:15:16.85\00:15:18.68
to follow that.
00:15:18.71\00:15:20.05
Okay. So, how
did it go at Arise?
00:15:20.08\00:15:22.25
What did you learn at Arise?
00:15:22.28\00:15:23.62
And after that you
became a Bible worker.
00:15:23.65\00:15:25.22
Talk a little bit about that?
00:15:25.25\00:15:27.82
You chain your Bible,
00:15:27.86\00:15:30.03
you go through
practice scenarios.
00:15:30.06\00:15:32.36
You learn the importance
of an evangelistic cycle
00:15:32.39\00:15:36.06
and you are actively
involved the whole time.
00:15:36.10\00:15:38.43
You go to different communities,
00:15:38.47\00:15:40.37
you knock on doors,
00:15:40.40\00:15:41.74
you try to
generate Bible studies,
00:15:41.77\00:15:43.54
and then you try to
encourage those Bible studies
00:15:43.57\00:15:45.91
to attend the prophesy
seminar at the very end.
00:15:45.94\00:15:49.71
It was fantastic, a
very great experience.
00:15:49.74\00:15:51.61
Praise the
Lord. Praise the Lord.
00:15:51.65\00:15:52.98
And because of the Bible worker
00:15:53.01\00:15:54.35
that's why you are
actually a pastor right now.
00:15:54.38\00:15:57.22
Let's talk about
how it led to that
00:15:57.25\00:15:58.85
in the South Central Conference
and the only Caucasian
00:15:58.89\00:16:02.52
in the South Central Conference.
00:16:02.56\00:16:05.39
Yeah it was great, you know,
00:16:05.43\00:16:06.76
the sensor that I was
talking about earlier,
00:16:06.80\00:16:10.20
it ended up lasting
for almost 10 years and...
00:16:10.23\00:16:12.73
Wow, and originally it
was only a year, right?
00:16:12.77\00:16:14.94
Only supposed to be a year.
00:16:14.97\00:16:16.30
I get back from Arise, I
asked the current pastor,
00:16:16.34\00:16:19.64
"Hey, would you mind if I get
behind the pulpit and preach,
00:16:19.67\00:16:22.48
I'm excited, I'm on fire."
00:16:22.51\00:16:24.88
And he took it to the board
00:16:24.91\00:16:28.08
and the board even 10
years after the fax said,
00:16:28.12\00:16:31.42
"You know we don't
fill at this time."
00:16:31.45\00:16:33.56
So I continue to do Bible work.
00:16:33.59\00:16:35.92
I did Bible work in Kentucky-Ten
00:16:35.96\00:16:38.83
and eventually South
Central Church asked me
00:16:38.86\00:16:42.76
if I would be
interested in coming
00:16:42.80\00:16:44.73
and being a
Bible worker for them.
00:16:44.77\00:16:46.37
Okay. I started in September.
00:16:46.40\00:16:49.84
It'll be three
years this fall. Okay.
00:16:49.87\00:16:52.07
And from
September until December,
00:16:52.11\00:16:54.94
we were doing some
jail ministry work,
00:16:54.98\00:16:56.71
I had a number of baptisms
00:16:56.75\00:16:58.78
and I got to meet with
President Dana Edmonds,
00:16:58.81\00:17:01.58
the president of South Central,
00:17:01.62\00:17:03.28
and he asked me if
I would be interested
00:17:03.32\00:17:06.22
in being the lay
pastor for the Joelton,
00:17:06.25\00:17:11.26
North Cheatham
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:17:11.29\00:17:13.50
And I whole
heartedly embraced it.
00:17:13.53\00:17:16.30
so God had a sense of humor,
00:17:16.33\00:17:18.50
where I couldn't be used in
the Kentucky-Ten Conference,
00:17:18.53\00:17:22.50
I end up getting
picked up in South Central
00:17:22.54\00:17:25.07
and God
continues to open the door
00:17:25.11\00:17:26.68
because the North
American Division is actually...
00:17:26.71\00:17:30.01
They're paying for
me to get my master's.
00:17:30.05\00:17:32.58
So praise the Lord.
00:17:32.61\00:17:33.95
Now, how did it make you feel?
00:17:33.98\00:17:36.45
You just finished Arise,
00:17:36.48\00:17:38.12
you wanted to come to the church
00:17:38.15\00:17:39.49
and get behind the
pulpit but they didn't let you.
00:17:39.52\00:17:41.69
For some people, they
would have taken that,
00:17:41.72\00:17:44.19
you know, forget it, you know,
00:17:44.23\00:17:45.56
gone back to
their old lifestyle.
00:17:45.59\00:17:46.96
But you, you didn't do that.
00:17:47.00\00:17:48.76
How did that make you
feel internally though,
00:17:48.80\00:17:51.30
when they said,
"No, you couldn't
00:17:51.33\00:17:52.67
get behind the pulpit."
00:17:52.70\00:17:54.04
You know, if we are not careful,
00:17:54.07\00:17:55.40
we will let our human
emotions block and shut doors
00:17:55.44\00:17:57.47
that God is opening.
00:17:57.51\00:17:59.04
And so, when I
originally went to Arise,
00:17:59.07\00:18:03.18
I filled out the paperwork,
sent in the application,
00:18:03.21\00:18:06.38
and they called me and they said
00:18:06.41\00:18:07.82
it's all full for this year.
00:18:07.85\00:18:09.45
Christie and I had
just gotten remarried,
00:18:09.48\00:18:11.32
we're on our second
honeymoon in Florida
00:18:11.35\00:18:15.62
and that's when we get the call.
00:18:15.66\00:18:17.76
I'm a little disappointed
but I get back to Nashville,
00:18:17.79\00:18:20.63
I was driving a semi at the time
00:18:20.66\00:18:23.06
and I get a call
on a Friday afternoon
00:18:23.10\00:18:27.24
and it's someone
from Arise and they said,
00:18:27.27\00:18:30.21
"Hey, we have had someone
00:18:30.24\00:18:31.61
that's not
gonna able to make it,
00:18:31.64\00:18:33.41
would you still like to come?"
00:18:33.44\00:18:34.78
And I said, "If you
give me about an hour,
00:18:34.81\00:18:37.08
I will be able to
give you an answer."
00:18:37.11\00:18:38.95
I hang up the
phone, I called Christie,
00:18:38.98\00:18:40.62
she said, "Great!
00:18:40.65\00:18:41.98
This is the answer, prayer what
we have been praying about."
00:18:42.02\00:18:44.52
I hung up the
phone, I called the guy
00:18:44.55\00:18:46.62
that I was driving for,
00:18:46.65\00:18:47.99
I said, "Eddie,
today is my last day,
00:18:48.02\00:18:50.66
I'm headed to Arise."
00:18:50.69\00:18:52.36
We had discussed, he
knew what it was about,
00:18:52.39\00:18:55.33
and you know, my prayer
was, "Lord, if I take this step,
00:18:55.36\00:19:01.47
we were in enormous debt.
00:19:01.50\00:19:03.47
We've got
$70,000 to go to Arise,
00:19:03.51\00:19:06.17
it is going to cost
another $4,000 or $5, 000
00:19:06.21\00:19:09.71
by the time I
have all my expenses
00:19:09.74\00:19:12.01
included in that.
00:19:12.05\00:19:13.58
Lord, I don't know
how I am going to do it,
00:19:13.62\00:19:15.05
but if this is the
door you are opening,
00:19:15.08\00:19:17.42
I will stay in
full time ministry
00:19:17.45\00:19:19.55
for the rest of my life."
00:19:19.59\00:19:21.72
Praise the Lord,
that's where we are at today.
00:19:21.76\00:19:23.29
He keeps opening doors
00:19:23.32\00:19:24.66
and I keep walking through them.
00:19:24.69\00:19:26.03
Praise the
Lord. Praise the Lord.
00:19:26.06\00:19:27.40
Now, you are involved
with the discipleship program.
00:19:27.43\00:19:29.53
Yes, sir.
00:19:29.56\00:19:30.90
Talk about how the
discipleship program works?
00:19:30.93\00:19:32.67
The discipleship
program is simply...
00:19:32.70\00:19:35.74
It's a program
that helps any Christian
00:19:35.77\00:19:39.27
but especially
younger Christians
00:19:39.31\00:19:42.48
reach new heights of maturity.
00:19:42.51\00:19:44.98
You work with them.
00:19:45.01\00:19:46.35
You teach them
00:19:46.38\00:19:47.72
how to increase
their prayer life,
00:19:47.75\00:19:50.05
how to enrich their prayer life,
00:19:50.09\00:19:52.15
and as they continue to grow,
00:19:52.19\00:19:54.62
eventually they
will get to a point
00:19:54.66\00:19:56.56
where they can disciple others.
00:19:56.59\00:19:58.13
So you invest a
large amount of time
00:19:58.16\00:20:00.20
into just one or two people
00:20:00.23\00:20:02.36
and eventually it will grow
00:20:02.40\00:20:05.40
as they begin
to disciple others.
00:20:05.43\00:20:07.54
Praise the
Lord. Praise the Lord.
00:20:07.57\00:20:08.90
Now you
mentioned a few minutes ago
00:20:08.94\00:20:10.27
about the jail ministry,
00:20:10.31\00:20:13.58
talk to me about
how you got involved
00:20:13.61\00:20:15.24
in the jail ministry
00:20:15.28\00:20:16.91
and the results
of the jail ministry?
00:20:16.95\00:20:19.28
Danny Hanson
was a friend of mine
00:20:19.31\00:20:21.18
from the Highland Church,
and he asked me to come down
00:20:21.22\00:20:24.89
and be a part of
the jail ministry.
00:20:24.92\00:20:27.02
At first, I was
a little reluctant,
00:20:27.06\00:20:28.62
I really didn't want to work
with that group and that crowd,
00:20:28.66\00:20:32.69
but as I started
getting involved,
00:20:32.73\00:20:35.10
I found that they were
eager, they were always hungry
00:20:35.13\00:20:38.83
and you could always
find someone to talk to.
00:20:38.87\00:20:40.94
You would go down, you pull...
00:20:40.97\00:20:44.14
Well, you don't pull up a chair
because they are cement tables,
00:20:44.17\00:20:47.84
but you would sit
down at one of the tables.
00:20:47.88\00:20:50.41
And 3, 5, 15, and sometimes
00:20:50.45\00:20:52.98
I would have 30 guys
out of 60 people in a pod
00:20:53.01\00:20:56.92
that would come up.
00:20:56.95\00:20:58.29
They would listen,
they would ask questions
00:20:58.32\00:21:00.12
and it's challenging.
00:21:00.16\00:21:01.49
Because you have got all
these different denominations
00:21:01.52\00:21:03.76
and so they're coming at
you with their proof text
00:21:03.79\00:21:07.86
and then you have
to unpack the text
00:21:07.90\00:21:10.20
and actually
show them the truth.
00:21:10.23\00:21:12.33
As you're revealing the truth,
you can see it in their face,
00:21:12.37\00:21:15.90
in their eyes,
00:21:15.94\00:21:17.27
the conviction that's starting
to just be pouring over them
00:21:17.31\00:21:20.81
and then to watch them
embrace that conviction,
00:21:20.84\00:21:24.35
follow that conviction,
00:21:24.38\00:21:26.08
and then develop
an eternal, hopefully,
00:21:26.11\00:21:28.28
an eternal
relationship with the Lord.
00:21:28.32\00:21:30.12
It's just
fantastic. Praise the Lord.
00:21:30.15\00:21:31.49
Now let me ask this,
00:21:31.52\00:21:32.85
why were you a
little bit reluctant
00:21:32.89\00:21:34.22
at first to do the jail mission?
00:21:34.26\00:21:36.16
Oh, because I had a felony
00:21:36.19\00:21:37.86
and birds of a
feather flock together
00:21:37.89\00:21:40.26
and so you know I
might be associated in a way
00:21:40.30\00:21:44.07
that I didn't
want to be associated
00:21:44.10\00:21:46.53
with that particular group.
00:21:46.57\00:21:47.90
I just wanted to
break free from all of that,
00:21:47.94\00:21:50.81
but God blessed,
as a matter of fact,
00:21:50.84\00:21:53.71
this year I finally
got my rights restored
00:21:53.74\00:21:56.01
so I can vote again, I
can hold public office,
00:21:56.04\00:21:58.95
I can do all those things
00:21:58.98\00:22:00.32
that forever I
didn't have the right to do.
00:22:00.35\00:22:02.42
Okay.
00:22:02.45\00:22:03.79
What were some of the results
00:22:03.82\00:22:05.15
of when you
received that class C felony?
00:22:05.19\00:22:07.62
Were you placed on probation,
or what happened with that?
00:22:07.66\00:22:10.39
Sure, when I first got arrested,
00:22:10.43\00:22:13.16
I spent just a
few hours in jail,
00:22:13.19\00:22:14.93
I bonded out and then I ended up
00:22:14.96\00:22:17.77
on like a four-year probation.
00:22:17.80\00:22:19.87
I had to do a million hours
of community service where,
00:22:19.90\00:22:24.11
you know, in that range
00:22:24.14\00:22:25.61
because you'd work
for one place for a while
00:22:25.64\00:22:28.64
and then, they would,
00:22:28.68\00:22:30.01
you'd be
finished with everything,
00:22:30.05\00:22:31.38
they will have you to do
00:22:31.41\00:22:32.75
and then you are
transferred to somewhere else.
00:22:32.78\00:22:35.05
Had a few fines to pay. Okay.
00:22:35.08\00:22:36.99
And within a
short period though,
00:22:37.02\00:22:40.42
once a month you
would have to check in
00:22:40.46\00:22:41.79
with a probation officer
00:22:41.82\00:22:43.32
but once I got
all my fines paid,
00:22:43.36\00:22:45.56
and I finally got
all of the hours done,
00:22:45.59\00:22:48.60
within about a year and a half,
00:22:48.63\00:22:49.96
I was put on a
non supervised and...
00:22:50.00\00:22:52.20
Non supervised probation, okay.
00:22:52.23\00:22:54.97
Then you just finish it out
00:22:55.00\00:22:56.81
and then you just
have the permanent tattoo,
00:22:56.84\00:23:00.51
you're a convicted fellow.
00:23:00.54\00:23:01.88
Oh yes. It's there.
00:23:01.91\00:23:04.18
For those that, let's say,
00:23:04.21\00:23:05.55
they've never been incarcerated,
00:23:05.58\00:23:07.15
never been involved in
drugs, alcohol, or anything
00:23:07.18\00:23:09.95
but they have a burning
desire for people, for ministry,
00:23:09.98\00:23:13.62
would you encourage them
00:23:13.66\00:23:14.99
to get involved
in a prison ministry
00:23:15.02\00:23:16.62
or jail ministry
anything like that?
00:23:16.66\00:23:19.39
Find some
ministry, find a ministry,
00:23:19.43\00:23:21.33
even if you don't think
you are interested in it.
00:23:21.36\00:23:24.13
Let God lead, and as He
leads, He'll open up the doors.
00:23:24.17\00:23:28.30
He'll show you things
that you're interested in,
00:23:28.34\00:23:30.34
show you things
that you might not know
00:23:30.37\00:23:33.07
that you were
interested in that He can press
00:23:33.11\00:23:35.64
upon your heart
and help develop.
00:23:35.68\00:23:39.41
In looking back over
your life, the many things
00:23:39.45\00:23:42.28
that you have been
involved with the drugs,
00:23:42.32\00:23:44.32
the alcohol, the marriage,
00:23:44.35\00:23:45.99
remarriage, divorced, remarried,
00:23:46.02\00:23:49.02
what are some of the
regrets that you may have?
00:23:49.06\00:23:52.13
You know, today in
the Seventh-day Adventist
00:23:52.16\00:23:56.56
culture and world, we
tend to glorify stories
00:23:56.60\00:24:00.07
like the story that I have.
00:24:00.10\00:24:02.07
And really and truthfully I wish
00:24:02.10\00:24:03.94
that I could have been
00:24:03.97\00:24:05.51
someone that
never went through that
00:24:05.54\00:24:07.14
and we could be
talking about Praise the Lord
00:24:07.18\00:24:10.11
that I stayed on the
path of righteousness.
00:24:10.15\00:24:13.35
But Romans 2:4 says that,
00:24:13.38\00:24:15.75
God's goodness
brought me to true repentance.
00:24:15.78\00:24:18.62
Praise the Lord.
00:24:18.65\00:24:19.99
And because of that
I can share the story
00:24:20.02\00:24:22.72
and hopefully
encourage others, you know,
00:24:22.76\00:24:25.09
even if it looks like your
life has started down a path
00:24:25.13\00:24:29.60
that is going to
end in destruction,
00:24:29.63\00:24:32.10
God's calling and
if you'll just listen.
00:24:32.13\00:24:34.64
His arm is long
enough to reach you
00:24:34.67\00:24:37.07
in the worst situation
00:24:37.11\00:24:38.57
that life may
have thrown your way
00:24:38.61\00:24:40.78
or that you may have embraced,
00:24:40.81\00:24:42.54
and walked down that
path but He will lead you back
00:24:42.58\00:24:45.48
to the path of righteousness,
00:24:45.51\00:24:46.88
and He will give you
opportunities to witness
00:24:46.92\00:24:49.18
and bring others along with you.
00:24:49.22\00:24:50.85
That's the greatest
burden upon my heart today
00:24:50.89\00:24:54.26
is to seek and save the lost.
00:24:54.29\00:24:56.79
You know, we just aren't
doing that in North America.
00:24:56.83\00:24:59.46
The majority of our churches,
00:24:59.49\00:25:02.03
the pastors are
just maintenance pastors,
00:25:02.06\00:25:04.93
we're just
maintaining the church.
00:25:04.97\00:25:07.00
I wanna church
that desires to get out
00:25:07.04\00:25:09.60
and engage in evangelism,
get out and actually seek
00:25:09.64\00:25:13.41
and save the lost.
00:25:13.44\00:25:15.18
And put the excuses
on the shelf at home
00:25:15.21\00:25:17.88
and come to the
church ready to go to work.
00:25:17.91\00:25:19.75
Amen.
00:25:19.78\00:25:21.12
What have you
seen has helped you
00:25:21.15\00:25:23.05
remain in the church?
00:25:23.08\00:25:24.45
You know, some people
come in and they backslide
00:25:24.49\00:25:26.22
and they're right back up.
00:25:26.25\00:25:27.59
What has helped to
keep you in the church?
00:25:27.62\00:25:29.36
Working with others.
00:25:29.39\00:25:30.73
When you engage in
the salvation of others,
00:25:30.76\00:25:35.30
you fade out of the
focus and they become the focus
00:25:35.33\00:25:39.33
and when you are
working with Christ,
00:25:39.37\00:25:41.30
when you are yoked with
Him, it just keeps you focused.
00:25:41.34\00:25:45.64
This is the mission,
00:25:45.67\00:25:47.18
this is the burning
desire on your heart
00:25:47.21\00:25:49.51
and it really
keeps you motivated
00:25:49.54\00:25:51.41
and moving in a
forward and upward direction.
00:25:51.45\00:25:54.52
And I noticed being
active in the church,
00:25:54.55\00:25:56.42
it helped keep me
rooted and grounded
00:25:56.45\00:25:59.15
and as I
continued to study the word
00:25:59.19\00:26:01.99
and continue to do
literature evangelism,
00:26:02.02\00:26:04.73
and knocking on doors,
getting to know people,
00:26:04.76\00:26:06.86
praying with people,
being active in the church,
00:26:06.90\00:26:08.93
it has really kept
me planted in the church
00:26:08.96\00:26:11.50
so, you know, I
would basically encourage,
00:26:11.53\00:26:13.23
and I'm sure that
you would encourage
00:26:13.27\00:26:15.34
folk that are
coming into the church
00:26:15.37\00:26:17.41
to make sure that they
get involved in something,
00:26:17.44\00:26:19.47
some kind of
ministry in the church,
00:26:19.51\00:26:22.08
their own ministry,
00:26:22.11\00:26:23.45
whatever they have
to do to stay active
00:26:23.48\00:26:26.18
to keep from going
back into their lifestyle.
00:26:26.21\00:26:27.98
Amen.
00:26:28.02\00:26:29.35
Now what I want
you to do, Pastor Wade,
00:26:29.38\00:26:30.72
is take about a minute or so.
00:26:30.75\00:26:32.25
I want you to
look into the camera,
00:26:32.29\00:26:33.62
and I want you to
appeal to that young person,
00:26:33.66\00:26:35.69
to those parents who
are seeing their children
00:26:35.72\00:26:38.96
go out into the world.
00:26:38.99\00:26:40.46
What words do you have for them?
00:26:40.50\00:26:42.30
I just encourage you to remember
00:26:42.33\00:26:44.87
what the Bible promises.
00:26:44.90\00:26:46.23
The Bible gives
us distinct promises.
00:26:46.27\00:26:49.27
God is greater,
he that is in you
00:26:49.30\00:26:51.57
is greater than he
that is in the world.
00:26:51.61\00:26:53.91
And if you'll just embrace
these promises and go forward,
00:26:53.94\00:26:57.28
even if you have addictions,
God can break those addictions
00:26:57.31\00:27:01.78
but you have to be
willing to let him come in.
00:27:01.82\00:27:04.92
He will begin a work
and He will finish a work.
00:27:04.95\00:27:08.42
All you have to
do is be submissive
00:27:08.46\00:27:10.63
and allow Him to do that.
00:27:10.66\00:27:11.99
So I just encourage everyone
to actually do that, seek God,
00:27:12.03\00:27:16.00
seek a relationship with Him,
00:27:16.03\00:27:18.57
build on it on a daily
basis, and as you do that,
00:27:18.60\00:27:22.54
it will eventually
turn into a relationship
00:27:22.57\00:27:25.01
that will be eternal.
00:27:25.04\00:27:26.37
Praise the
Lord. Praise the Lord.
00:27:26.41\00:27:27.74
Great advice.
00:27:27.78\00:27:29.98
Pastor Wade, I
would like to thank you
00:27:30.01\00:27:31.38
for being on the program.
00:27:31.41\00:27:32.91
I know that many
souls will be blessed
00:27:32.95\00:27:34.62
mothers, fathers, children,
we just pray for all those
00:27:34.65\00:27:39.05
that want to come
back into the church,
00:27:39.09\00:27:41.02
and even stay in the church.
00:27:41.06\00:27:42.59
Amen.
00:27:42.62\00:27:43.96
We like to thank you viewers
00:27:43.99\00:27:45.33
for tuning into The New Journey.
00:27:45.36\00:27:46.70
Be sure to tune in next
time for an exciting story
00:27:46.73\00:27:50.00
on The New Journey.
00:27:50.03\00:27:51.37