Are you caught up and enslaved by sexual sin? 00:00:01.00\00:00:03.43 Stay tuned to hear about a program that offers 00:00:03.47\00:00:06.40 practical, biblical, life-changing information 00:00:06.43\00:00:09.50 that can set you free. My name is Yvonne Lewis, 00:00:09.54\00:00:12.57 and you are watching Urban Report. 00:00:12.61\00:00:26.09 Hello, and welcome to Urban Report. 00:00:36.50\00:00:39.33 My guests today are Pastor Joshua Nelson and his 00:00:39.37\00:00:42.97 panel from "Pure Choices." Pure Choices is a program 00:00:43.00\00:00:46.57 that has a new format, with a variety of hosts and 00:00:46.61\00:00:50.11 ministry teams. Recently, I talked to them 00:00:50.15\00:00:52.98 on the Pure Choices set, take a listen... 00:00:53.01\00:00:59.62 It's my privilege today to introduce the new 00:00:59.65\00:01:04.66 pure choices team. Our host is Pastor Joshua Nelson 00:01:04.69\00:01:09.16 Pastor Nelson, welcome to Urban Report. 00:01:09.20\00:01:12.17 Thank you... I know it's weird because we are 00:01:12.20\00:01:14.40 on the set of Pure Choices, doing Urban Report, but 00:01:14.44\00:01:17.21 you viewers are used to me doing that and you know 00:01:17.24\00:01:20.48 I love doing this. So, it's so good to have you here. 00:01:20.51\00:01:23.71 We were fortunate enough and blessed enough 00:01:23.75\00:01:26.58 to have had another team... Pastor Seth Yelorda and his team 00:01:26.61\00:01:31.25 that hosted Pure Choices previously, and now, 00:01:31.29\00:01:34.99 because they couldn't continue to do it, we have a new team, 00:01:35.02\00:01:38.39 and God is so faithful, He continually provides 00:01:38.43\00:01:41.70 for us on Dare to Dream. So, thank you so much, 00:01:41.73\00:01:45.00 and we are going to kind of go around, 00:01:45.03\00:01:47.47 and introduce yourselves to our viewers, 00:01:47.50\00:01:49.84 because you are going to be on Pure Choices and so, 00:01:49.87\00:01:53.11 we'll start with our new host, Pastor Joshua Nelson, 00:01:53.14\00:01:56.08 tell us about yourself Pastor. Where do you Pastor? 00:01:56.11\00:01:59.88 I pastor in South Carolina, in the great conference of 00:01:59.91\00:02:04.09 South Atlantic Conference, and I am in the Lake City 00:02:04.12\00:02:08.19 in Marion District and so I have two churches there, 00:02:08.22\00:02:11.79 and I started out in ministry about five years ago, 00:02:11.83\00:02:15.63 and I went to Oakwood, well, I pastored a little bit 00:02:15.66\00:02:19.47 for a couple of years, I went to Andrews, 00:02:19.50\00:02:22.37 and graduated with my M.Div. and now I am back in the field 00:02:22.40\00:02:26.54 pastoring... before that, well, I am from California, 00:02:26.57\00:02:29.51 it's a big part of who I am... California boy... 00:02:29.54\00:02:31.98 Yeah... I can hear the California accent 00:02:32.01\00:02:35.28 yeah... Yeah, exactly... 00:02:35.32\00:02:36.79 and so I am very proud of that, and I have a little sister, 00:02:36.82\00:02:41.19 Shantula, she's two years younger than me... 00:02:41.22\00:02:43.66 and she's a nurse in D.C. and my mom and dad, 00:02:43.69\00:02:47.73 who are still in California, my dad and mom raised me very well, 00:02:47.76\00:02:52.07 I think, hopefully, I turned out OK, I think, 00:02:52.10\00:02:55.20 they home-schooled me which was a big part of my life, 00:02:55.24\00:02:58.71 and that was a blessing, I also went to academy when 00:02:58.74\00:03:02.18 I got into high school, so... Are you married? 00:03:02.21\00:03:05.98 No, but I am getting married, All right, give a shout-out 00:03:06.01\00:03:08.55 to your fiancé... I'm in love with my fiancé, 00:03:08.58\00:03:12.22 Kimberly Doss and we are getting married very soon, 00:03:12.25\00:03:15.39 so I am very excited, yes... That's awesome. 00:03:15.42\00:03:18.33 Marquis... Yes, my name is Marquis Jackson 00:03:18.36\00:03:21.13 and I pastor in Sumter and Manning, South Carolina, 00:03:21.16\00:03:24.57 also in the great South Atlantic Conference, amen. 00:03:24.60\00:03:27.97 Just like Josh... Pastor Joshua Nelson, well, I've also pastored 00:03:28.00\00:03:33.01 for the past five years as well, my life is similar, 00:03:33.04\00:03:36.51 I didn't go to academy, but when I graduated from High School 00:03:36.54\00:03:40.05 when I started at Southern Adventist University, 00:03:40.08\00:03:42.52 I was Biology major, changed to Accounting major, 00:03:42.55\00:03:46.19 the Lord called me in my Sophomore year to go into 00:03:46.22\00:03:49.79 Theology, I wrestled with it for two years, 00:03:49.82\00:03:52.26 but the Lord called me, kept on calling me, 00:03:52.29\00:03:54.30 and I finally accepted, and at that time, 00:03:54.36\00:03:56.30 I was not at Southern, I was at the University of Cincinnati, 00:03:56.33\00:03:59.03 I am from Cincinnati, Ohio, so all the Ohio people, 00:03:59.07\00:04:01.60 let's get a shout-out as well... 00:04:01.64\00:04:03.00 Then I transferred to Oakwood University, graduated, 00:04:03.04\00:04:07.14 I went straight to Seminary, after that, I was doing 00:04:07.18\00:04:11.28 literature evangelism. The Lord opened the door for me 00:04:11.31\00:04:14.88 to speak with my previous President, Elder Minninghall, 00:04:14.92\00:04:18.42 and the Lord just blessed me to be put at the 00:04:18.45\00:04:20.96 District of Marion, Lake City, and Laurens, South Carolina 00:04:20.99\00:04:24.49 so I pastored the district where Pastor Nelson pastors now... 00:04:24.53\00:04:27.96 This is my second district, the Lord has really been blessing, 00:04:28.00\00:04:32.83 I love ministry, its work, but it's truly a blessing. 00:04:32.87\00:04:36.04 Thank you... Pastor Kory... 00:04:36.07\00:04:39.44 Well, my name is Kory P. Douglas P. Douglas if you want to 00:04:39.47\00:04:43.98 call me that... K the initials and the name 00:04:44.01\00:04:47.08 I pastor in the Central States Conference, 00:04:47.12\00:04:49.82 I'm in Southeast Missouri, what they call the Bootheel, 00:04:49.85\00:04:52.92 I'm in Charleston, Missouri, and in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 00:04:52.95\00:04:55.89 in two weeks, it will make one full year of pastoring, 00:04:55.92\00:04:59.09 which in itself to me is a miracle, seeing as though 00:04:59.13\00:05:02.23 I had no intentions when I was growing up to be in Ministry 00:05:02.26\00:05:04.97 at all, so that's a testimony of how faithful God is, 00:05:05.00\00:05:07.87 I am originally from Brooklyn, New York, I don't know if I can 00:05:07.90\00:05:11.84 shout-out my favorite team, we are having a great year, 00:05:11.87\00:05:13.68 this year, a certain guy who got traded from a certain city... 00:05:13.71\00:05:16.98 and I love my city, you know, I love everything New York... 00:05:17.01\00:05:22.25 ok, so shout-out to the New York viewers, I am the eldest of 00:05:22.28\00:05:26.59 too many kids and you know, it's a great responsibility, 00:05:26.62\00:05:30.93 I pretty much raised some of my younger siblings, 00:05:30.96\00:05:32.99 you know, I can tell by that little out of my different 00:05:33.03\00:05:36.43 experiences in life, how God has grown me for Ministry, 00:05:36.46\00:05:39.27 even though, you know, I had no intentions to be in it, 00:05:39.30\00:05:42.37 I just wanted to say this, is that, God is faithful, 00:05:42.40\00:05:45.37 you know, the call to ministry, to do something that you don't 00:05:45.41\00:05:48.98 feel equipped to do, you don't feel worthy to do, 00:05:49.01\00:05:52.21 and yet everyday He shows you, I can use anybody... 00:05:52.25\00:05:55.38 I just love that about ministry, like Marquis said, it's work, 00:05:55.42\00:05:58.82 it's challenging sometimes, you are going to get frustrated, 00:05:58.85\00:06:02.19 but just to see people give their lives to Christ, 00:06:02.22\00:06:04.53 man! there's nothing like it, so And that's such an important 00:06:04.56\00:06:06.86 point, you know, that God can use anybody, 00:06:06.90\00:06:09.13 our viewers need to hear that, because no matter what 00:06:09.16\00:06:12.27 your circumstances, no matter where you are, 00:06:12.30\00:06:14.60 God can take you from where you are and take you on another path 00:06:14.64\00:06:18.57 that you had no idea that you were going to go on... 00:06:18.61\00:06:20.74 So we praise the Lord for that. Kean, tell us about yourself, 00:06:20.78\00:06:24.71 Sure, I am a product of Christian education, 00:06:24.75\00:06:28.08 I thank God for the opportunity to attend Pine Forge Academy, 00:06:28.12\00:06:34.06 and at that point, I really started to develop a 00:06:34.09\00:06:39.16 relationship with God and from the time I graduated, 00:06:39.19\00:06:44.17 I wanted to do God's will for my life, so I ended up going 00:06:44.20\00:06:48.44 to Oakwood and studying Social Work, 00:06:48.47\00:06:51.37 and it was such a blessing just learning how to serve 00:06:51.41\00:06:58.98 the poor, those who are in need, because I understand that 00:06:59.01\00:07:04.45 this is what Jesus did when He was on this earth, 00:07:04.49\00:07:06.92 and so I went from there, I did missionary work for a year 00:07:06.96\00:07:10.93 and then, I did my Masters in Social Work, and I was a 00:07:10.96\00:07:14.83 Social Worker in D.C. for three years, first I did Child Welfare 00:07:14.86\00:07:19.77 and then I worked in an inner city school, 00:07:19.80\00:07:23.71 and learned a lot... how to deal with all sorts of different 00:07:23.74\00:07:29.58 people from different circumstances, 00:07:29.61\00:07:31.48 and it has really helped me to understand God better, 00:07:31.51\00:07:35.95 and as I was working, I started to hear His voice more clearly, 00:07:35.98\00:07:41.06 as He was leading me, how to serve Him on a different level, 00:07:41.09\00:07:46.16 so he called me from there, and although I was very 00:07:46.19\00:07:48.93 reluctant to go to the Seminary, I finally understood that this 00:07:48.96\00:07:53.54 is what He wanted me to do, so, as long as it was His will, 00:07:53.57\00:07:58.24 I am going to go for it, so I went and I realized that 00:07:58.27\00:08:02.91 I am a better person and that He may have just sent me there 00:08:02.94\00:08:07.08 just to mature me as a Christian I realized that, 00:08:07.12\00:08:09.75 I didn't really know Him before, like He wanted me to 00:08:09.78\00:08:14.39 and that I didn't know myself, so it was a great opportunity, 00:08:14.42\00:08:17.79 I just finished in December, and I am looking forward to 00:08:17.83\00:08:21.86 furthering my studies so that I can go into missionary work 00:08:21.90\00:08:25.90 full time... Praise the Lord, so you, 00:08:25.93\00:08:27.94 you are not looking to pastor, so you won't be necessarily 00:08:27.97\00:08:32.67 Pastor Kean Baxter, you'll be... do you want to 00:08:32.71\00:08:36.95 evangelize? Like what is your goal, do you know yet? 00:08:36.98\00:08:40.48 My focus is on... God does call some people to pastor, 00:08:40.52\00:08:47.69 and I may at some point... but, He has laid a burden on me 00:08:47.72\00:08:51.69 for missionary work, I've had a wonderful opportunity to 00:08:51.73\00:08:55.63 travel to Africa and Central America, El Salvador, 00:08:55.66\00:09:02.87 Honduras, Guatemala, and it made an indelible impression 00:09:02.90\00:09:09.14 on my mind to seeing people hungry for the Word of God, 00:09:09.18\00:09:15.38 many people are very poor and don't have the basic necessities 00:09:15.42\00:09:18.89 of life.. I've read a book about the Adventist history and 00:09:18.92\00:09:24.29 about Medical Missionary work, medical evangelism, 00:09:24.33\00:09:27.36 and this is something I strongly believe in... 00:09:27.40\00:09:30.47 the gospel and the health message are supposed to 00:09:30.50\00:09:33.00 go together and both of them together, have a synergistic 00:09:33.03\00:09:36.94 effect and it makes our evangelism more powerful, 00:09:36.97\00:09:41.61 because everybody needs to be healthy, and there are so many 00:09:41.64\00:09:45.35 people... overseas and even in the inner city, 00:09:45.38\00:09:48.78 who don't understand... basic understanding of health, 00:09:48.82\00:09:53.25 you know, a lot of people are dying from heart disease, 00:09:53.29\00:09:56.79 cancer, these things, a lot of them can be prevented, 00:09:56.83\00:10:00.30 so this is my burden... Well, good, and I want to come 00:10:00.33\00:10:03.60 back to your burdens because I think that's really 00:10:03.63\00:10:06.94 important, so thank you for sharing that... 00:10:06.97\00:10:09.70 Kim Petersen, tell us about yourself... 00:10:09.74\00:10:12.44 Well my name is Kimberly Pearson and I am from Maryland, 00:10:12.47\00:10:16.71 I was born and raised, so shout-out to all of those 00:10:16.75\00:10:19.48 from the DMV area which is the District, Maryland, 00:10:19.51\00:10:21.85 Virginia, but that's what we like to call it... 00:10:21.88\00:10:24.12 that's where I was born and raised and ever since 00:10:24.15\00:10:27.39 I was young, I just felt a calling on my life, 00:10:27.42\00:10:30.66 my mom used to write these speeches for me and I would 00:10:30.69\00:10:33.73 stand up and say them in Church, even from a little girl... 00:10:33.76\00:10:36.40 I preached my first sermon when I was eight or nine years old 00:10:36.43\00:10:39.07 and from there, they were like, you know, you are going 00:10:39.10\00:10:41.24 into Ministry but, you know, I loved Ministry, but I thought 00:10:41.27\00:10:44.17 that Ministry was just a hobby for me and so, you know, 00:10:44.21\00:10:47.11 I was involved in Church, I was in Pathfinders, you know, 00:10:47.14\00:10:50.08 shout-out to the Master Guides, and it was a wonderful 00:10:50.11\00:10:52.98 experience and I went to Pine Forge Academy, 00:10:53.01\00:10:55.58 where I graduated from with Kean, we've known 00:10:55.62\00:10:58.19 each other for a long time, All right... yeah... 00:10:58.22\00:11:00.76 ...and from there I went to Oakwood, strangely enough 00:11:00.79\00:11:06.29 my major initially was Theology, but I felt like well maybe, 00:11:06.33\00:11:10.50 I don't need a degree in Ministry to tell people 00:11:10.53\00:11:13.27 about Jesus, because whatever God calls you to... 00:11:13.30\00:11:16.00 we're called to be a light, you know, that was fine, 00:11:16.04\00:11:18.71 so I did Elementary Education, I taught first and second grades 00:11:18.74\00:11:22.21 in Florida Conference at Jacksonville Adventist Academy 00:11:22.24\00:11:25.31 for about five years, and during that time, I was working with 00:11:25.35\00:11:28.58 Central States Conference, doing youth leadership, 00:11:28.62\00:11:31.95 writing plays and productions for them, you know, just 00:11:31.99\00:11:35.29 doing a lot of speaking, but I thought Ministry was my 00:11:35.32\00:11:37.83 hobby and then finally God said, "No, no, honey, 00:11:37.86\00:11:41.26 Ministry is not your hobby, that's your calling... 00:11:41.30\00:11:44.23 Come on, come on... That's what I've gifted you with 00:11:44.27\00:11:47.24 and so, from there, I went to Andrews University, 00:11:47.27\00:11:50.17 Theological Seminary and God... the call from Oakwood University 00:11:50.21\00:11:56.44 where I am now the Associate Chaplain there, 00:11:56.48\00:12:03.32 with a team of Chaplains and I have the privilege of 00:12:03.35\00:12:06.52 ministering to all of the young ladies on campus 00:12:06.55\00:12:09.86 and it is such a beautiful, beautiful experience, 00:12:09.89\00:12:14.00 and I would not trade my job... this ministry or the 00:12:14.03\00:12:17.53 process of being called to Ministry for anything 00:12:17.57\00:12:21.04 in the world. Yes, the journey... 00:12:21.07\00:12:22.40 You wouldn't trade the journey, right, because each of us 00:12:22.44\00:12:26.41 has our own journey... Sister Jean, tell us about your 00:12:26.44\00:12:30.38 journey... My name is Jeanne Nikiararu 00:12:30.41\00:12:32.91 Mogusu.. I am the second of four children. I was born and raised 00:12:32.95\00:12:37.39 in Kenya, East Africa, and I came to the United States 00:12:37.42\00:12:42.26 when I was an adult... I came for Graduate School 00:12:42.29\00:12:47.03 and I must admit that Ministry was never in my cards, 00:12:47.10\00:12:50.90 as they say, it was never anything that I ever thought 00:12:50.93\00:12:54.84 about because growing up I never saw women in ministry, 00:12:54.87\00:12:58.71 you know, I never saw any women in the pulpit, 00:12:58.74\00:13:03.01 so it was never even an inkling in my life plan and so I went to 00:13:03.04\00:13:12.89 Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. 00:13:12.92\00:13:16.66 I did my Masters in Public Policy and Administration 00:13:16.69\00:13:21.50 I went and had a tremendous time God really blessed me, 00:13:21.53\00:13:26.17 I went to... had a couple of really great internships, 00:13:26.20\00:13:31.11 went and started my Ph. D. in Urban and Regional Planning 00:13:31.14\00:13:35.58 had finished my course work in record... in a year, 00:13:35.61\00:13:39.41 I finished all my Ph. D. coursework, was working on my 00:13:39.45\00:13:42.75 dissertation... You're a slouch aren't you... 00:13:42.78\00:13:46.65 well, I was ambitious... I was ready to get out of school 00:13:46.69\00:13:51.13 because I had always planned, I would go straight through my 00:13:51.16\00:13:54.20 Ph. D. so that nobody ever told me to go back to school... 00:13:54.23\00:13:57.27 so that was my life plan and then, just when I had finished 00:13:57.30\00:14:02.04 my course work, I was doing my research work, 00:14:02.07\00:14:04.74 my dissertation and then I started getting this inclination 00:14:04.77\00:14:09.01 of going into Ministry, and at first I was like, 00:14:09.04\00:14:11.25 "Lord, I am NOT going into ministry," 00:14:11.28\00:14:14.18 I've never, you know, seen... I've never met a female pastor, 00:14:14.22\00:14:18.99 mind you at this point, I am like, 27, 28 years old, 00:14:19.02\00:14:23.39 so I've never met a female pastor and never had any notion 00:14:23.43\00:14:26.96 that there were female pastors, so I was like, 00:14:27.00\00:14:29.26 I am not going to be the only person... you know, 00:14:29.30\00:14:31.57 being stared down in a classroom you know, 00:14:31.60\00:14:34.90 You didn't want to be pioneering I must admit-I am not that brave 00:14:34.94\00:14:39.44 I am not that person, so, it was a long journey, 00:14:39.47\00:14:44.91 let's just put it that way, until I buckled down, 00:14:44.95\00:14:47.22 I told the Lord, "You know, if that's where you want 00:14:47.25\00:14:50.55 me to be," because I was an international... 00:14:50.59\00:14:52.19 I am an international student, so if that's where you want 00:14:52.22\00:14:54.49 me to be, you're going to avail the funds for me 00:14:54.52\00:14:57.29 to go to the Seminary... The first time my pastor asked 00:14:57.33\00:15:03.40 me to preach a sermon, was on a Tuesday night, 00:15:03.43\00:15:06.47 the person had cancelled for Sabbath, and he had, 00:15:06.50\00:15:09.44 you know, multiple churches, so on that night, 00:15:09.47\00:15:13.44 I had a car accident.. I was supposed to preach on 00:15:13.48\00:15:17.31 Sabbath... luckily... I wasn't really badly injured, 00:15:17.35\00:15:21.18 I just had, you know, minor injuries, 00:15:21.22\00:15:24.95 but that money that I got from settling my accident 00:15:24.99\00:15:28.99 is actually what sent me for my first year, 00:15:29.02\00:15:30.99 at the Seminary, so at that time, I was really confused, 00:15:31.03\00:15:35.56 I was like, "What on earth is God doing?" 00:15:35.60\00:15:37.37 But it was quite an interesting take on events, 00:15:37.40\00:15:44.24 I got there and it was a real struggle because I was 00:15:44.27\00:15:49.28 coming from a place where it was a Fulbright Scholarship, 00:15:49.31\00:15:53.11 had lots of grants and various opportunities and literally 00:15:53.15\00:15:56.92 learning to trust God to do everything for me, 00:15:56.95\00:16:00.32 where I am a financial freak, I need to know, you know, 00:16:00.36\00:16:04.69 I need for my books to be balanced and this was the 00:16:04.73\00:16:08.93 first time in my life where it was like God had to balance 00:16:08.96\00:16:12.07 the books for me... This was like a walk of faith... 00:16:12.10\00:16:15.90 It was a tremendous walk of faith and it was an even 00:16:15.94\00:16:19.14 bigger walk of faith because my family did not quite 00:16:19.17\00:16:23.38 understand what I was doing, because you can't just go, 00:16:23.41\00:16:27.58 you can't say you're going from a doctoral program 00:16:27.62\00:16:31.65 and coming, you know, literally down into a Master's program 00:16:31.69\00:16:35.32 in the name of "doing what God wants you to do... " 00:16:35.36\00:16:39.13 because logistically, you know, you cannot... it's just not done 00:16:39.16\00:16:44.80 you know, I remember calling to the Seminary when I was 00:16:44.83\00:16:47.94 trying to figure out what to do, and the Program Director 00:16:47.97\00:16:50.97 at that time was just asking me, he's never had anyone 00:16:51.01\00:16:53.98 do their Post-Doctorate at the Seminary... 00:16:54.01\00:16:58.15 but God has been really consistently providing 00:16:58.18\00:17:03.45 and showing me that He has a plan for me and for my life. 00:17:03.49\00:17:07.86 And that's the important thing, from each of you, 00:17:07.89\00:17:11.19 I'm hearing that you might have been on one path, 00:17:11.23\00:17:14.46 but then, God opened your eyes, and brought you on another path. 00:17:14.46\00:17:19.57 Let's talk a bit... because I love your stories, 00:17:19.60\00:17:22.47 I love your stories and you fit right into the whole concept 00:17:22.50\00:17:26.98 of Dare to Dream, you know, the whole concept of letting 00:17:27.01\00:17:31.28 God lead you to His plan for you so tell me about Pure Choices... 00:17:31.31\00:17:38.59 what can we expect this season with Pure Choices... 00:17:38.62\00:17:42.56 I know that you are all in ministry so that gives you 00:17:42.59\00:17:47.40 a theological foundation, what gives you the "authority" 00:17:47.40\00:17:52.13 so to speak to be on Pure Choices? 00:17:52.17\00:17:54.97 What do you think Pastor? I was just starting to say 00:17:55.00\00:17:58.27 that I have no authority... to be on Pure Choices, 00:17:58.31\00:18:01.51 it's only Jesus and His grace, and His mercy that I can even 00:18:01.54\00:18:05.28 sit here, really, when I heard, that you had asked me to do this 00:18:05.31\00:18:08.88 I really did not want to do it, frankly because of the past, 00:18:08.92\00:18:11.75 you know in really seeing that, Oh, you didn't tell me that... 00:18:11.79\00:18:14.59 Oh yeah, oh yeah, I was really praying about this thing, 00:18:14.62\00:18:18.33 but I felt that God saying, "Look you are a real person 00:18:18.36\00:18:21.46 who has had real struggles and now you can give an authentic 00:18:21.50\00:18:25.47 expression of really what we should be doing... 00:18:25.50\00:18:28.00 and really help somebody else who is struggling... 00:18:28.04\00:18:30.21 and so that's really why I decided to do it, 00:18:30.24\00:18:32.41 and it was a struggle between me and God.. I didn't tell you 00:18:32.44\00:18:34.44 about that... but you know I worked it out 00:18:34.48\00:18:36.78 and I asked my friends really to come on with me who 00:18:36.81\00:18:40.18 may have had similar struggles as well, and really you can 00:18:40.22\00:18:43.45 expect real people who are pastors now, who have been saved 00:18:43.49\00:18:46.69 by Grace, just presenting their side and showing you 00:18:46.72\00:18:49.56 how God has really taken us from that place to... 00:18:49.59\00:18:52.36 and taking us still... to a better place... 00:18:52.39\00:18:55.26 Because it is a journey, because it is a process, 00:18:55.30\00:18:58.23 because none of us is perfect, no one's perfect... 00:18:58.27\00:19:01.14 no one's sitting here and that's why when I asked you about 00:19:01.17\00:19:03.87 the authority to do it, no one's sitting here saying, 00:19:03.91\00:19:06.31 "Oh, we've figured it all out... we're perfect," no, we are 00:19:06.34\00:19:10.28 in process... what about you, what about you? 00:19:10.31\00:19:13.95 Well, you know part of what God used to bring me to ministry 00:19:13.98\00:19:16.65 was my discontent with ministry, you know, growing up 00:19:16.69\00:19:20.09 and listening to pastors who essentially preach the same 00:19:20.12\00:19:23.49 sermons over and over again, they would tell you to be clean, 00:19:23.53\00:19:26.76 to be holy, to be pure, but the sermon never got to 00:19:26.80\00:19:30.00 the "How" part, you know, it would always be, 00:19:30.03\00:19:33.23 "No, you are not good, get better, come to the front 00:19:33.27\00:19:37.24 now for the appeal, and you are coming up for the appeal 00:19:37.27\00:19:40.11 because you know you are not clean, you know you are not pure 00:19:40.14\00:19:42.61 but you leave the appeal feeling like, "Well what am I supposed 00:19:42.64\00:19:45.08 to do now?" and as a kid, all you would do is try harder 00:19:45.11\00:19:48.22 and harder and harder... but you'd always feel like 00:19:48.25\00:19:50.22 nothing really changed, and you try to live up to the 00:19:50.25\00:19:52.92 standards and the pressures that Christianity, you felt, 00:19:52.95\00:19:55.56 placed on you, you know, that's part of the discontent 00:19:55.59\00:19:57.96 that God used to bring me to Ministry... 00:19:57.99\00:19:59.76 I felt like, you know, if I had to just call it, 00:19:59.79\00:20:02.36 we got to go deeper, you know, and I think one of the issues 00:20:02.40\00:20:05.43 that we struggle with, especially as young people and 00:20:05.47\00:20:07.64 what we struggle with growing up, and I mean, 00:20:07.67\00:20:09.07 I can testify for myself, is that nobody was really 00:20:09.10\00:20:12.37 real with me, you know, I didn't know what it was like 00:20:12.41\00:20:15.98 for the adults around me, to show the struggle of the 00:20:16.01\00:20:19.55 Christian walk. I saw the standard of the Christian walk 00:20:19.58\00:20:21.82 but I never got to experience the struggle of it 00:20:21.85\00:20:25.19 and so for me, if I didn't look like them, 00:20:25.22\00:20:27.72 something was wrong with me, while at the whole time 00:20:27.76\00:20:29.99 I didn't realize that something was wrong with them too... 00:20:30.03\00:20:31.86 you know and so on this show, I just want to be real, 00:20:31.89\00:20:35.56 I want young people to see that, man, we are all struggling 00:20:35.60\00:20:38.73 and it is only by the grace of God that anybody will be able 00:20:38.77\00:20:41.84 to make pure choices... And that's such a great point 00:20:41.87\00:20:44.91 because, you know, it's so important for people to 00:20:44.94\00:20:47.94 understand the steps, how does Christianity 00:20:47.98\00:20:51.45 translate into everyday life, you look like you were 00:20:51.48\00:20:53.72 going to say something... Yeah, I was going to say 00:20:53.75\00:20:55.95 growing up... my father passed away when I was 17 years old, 00:20:55.98\00:20:59.79 and I was a senior in, you know, in High School and you know, 00:20:59.82\00:21:03.79 not having my father around as I began my relationship process 00:21:03.83\00:21:07.76 was major for me... trying to figure out how to date, 00:21:07.83\00:21:11.23 how did that look like, what would my dad think of 00:21:11.27\00:21:14.64 this guy... what would he say to me, and trying to have 00:21:14.67\00:21:18.14 to resolve that and God played such a big role in being my 00:21:18.17\00:21:22.08 Father and my relationship counselor and being not God 00:21:22.11\00:21:25.98 but Daddy... and that was major for me and, you know, 00:21:26.01\00:21:29.45 I didn't start in ministry fresh out of Oakwood... 00:21:29.48\00:21:32.85 I lived life, you know, and I dated and I made some mistakes 00:21:32.89\00:21:38.43 and now that I am able to be in ministry, I am working with 00:21:38.46\00:21:41.83 college students who are where I was and I know what that 00:21:41.86\00:21:45.37 feels like... and so part of the reason that I really wanted 00:21:45.40\00:21:48.87 to do this... is to say, "Hey, you know, I am a woman 00:21:48.90\00:21:52.01 in ministry and I get it, I've been there, 00:21:52.04\00:21:54.41 I know what it's like, and I know that God... 00:21:54.44\00:21:56.78 he cares so much about us, that He's not just our father, 00:21:56.81\00:22:01.02 He's not just Elohim, He's not just Almighty and Powerful, 00:22:01.05\00:22:05.22 but He's God... Daddy... who cares about us 00:22:05.25\00:22:07.86 He cares about our heart, He cares about a heartbreak, 00:22:07.89\00:22:11.19 He cares when we cry, and that's something I want to convey 00:22:11.23\00:22:14.50 not just to my young ladies at Oakwood but to 00:22:14.56\00:22:16.36 young ladies across the world. That's great... Marquis... 00:22:16.40\00:22:20.50 Yeah, I am 33 years of age, my mom and dad divorced 00:22:20.54\00:22:25.47 when I was 5 years of age, but they re-married each other 00:22:25.51\00:22:28.34 during my freshman year in High School 00:22:28.38\00:22:30.28 my little sister, she's 17 years of age, with her being 17 years 00:22:30.31\00:22:34.05 of age, God really blessed me to have a sister, 00:22:34.08\00:22:37.49 when I grew up I always wanted to have a little brother, 00:22:37.52\00:22:39.99 but the thing is... the reason I wanted a little brother was 00:22:40.02\00:22:42.42 so that I could beat him up... God said, now hang on, 00:22:42.46\00:22:45.03 I am not going to give you a little brother but a 00:22:45.06\00:22:47.60 little sister but when I was in that formative years, 00:22:47.60\00:22:50.23 like about 13 or 14, I started listening to hip-hop and 00:22:50.27\00:22:52.87 rap music and my mind just really got caught up with some 00:22:52.90\00:22:55.84 crazy stuff, and so when my sister was born, 00:22:55.87\00:22:59.44 God then said to me-during this time I am listening to the bad 00:22:59.47\00:23:03.24 music and He said, "Do you want your little sister 00:23:03.28\00:23:05.61 to date someone who listens to that kind of music?" 00:23:05.65\00:23:07.92 With that, that changed my whole perspective and so, yes, 00:23:07.95\00:23:11.25 my dad is in the home, my mom is in the home, 00:23:11.29\00:23:13.79 but I am almost 16 years older than my sister, 00:23:13.82\00:23:16.22 So Mariah, my little sister, she's helped me to be 00:23:16.26\00:23:19.19 accountable, and as I got accountable with my little 00:23:19.23\00:23:21.80 sister, it has caused me to change my own lifestyle, 00:23:21.83\00:23:24.37 of course, because there's things that I want to do 00:23:24.40\00:23:26.74 and I was so focused on it, and tried to get as many girls 00:23:26.77\00:23:29.27 as I could, my mind was totally focused on all those things, 00:23:29.30\00:23:31.77 but God changed that perspective and as He has changed 00:23:31.81\00:23:35.28 my perspective to lead my little sister, He has also caused me 00:23:35.31\00:23:38.08 to be at my Church and to tell men and women, 00:23:38.11\00:23:40.62 young men, young women to be active for Jesus Christ, 00:23:40.65\00:23:43.32 because if not... the world will sure enough get them. 00:23:43.35\00:23:46.02 So, you know, help out as He has helped me get 00:23:46.05\00:23:48.06 pure choices, helped all of us, to develop people more so 00:23:48.09\00:23:50.93 to help share that to younger people, 00:23:50.96\00:23:52.46 and people our age as well. Absolutely, God gave you that 00:23:52.49\00:23:57.17 little sister to have and to interact with a female 00:23:57.20\00:24:01.20 on a certain caring level, I think, and so, that just changed 00:24:01.24\00:24:06.44 everything for you. Praise God for that. 00:24:06.47\00:24:08.84 What about you, Kean? When I got the call from 00:24:08.88\00:24:11.51 Josh, or was it an e-mail, I knew it was providential 00:24:11.55\00:24:16.62 because just a week before, I got into a huge discussion 00:24:16.65\00:24:21.69 slash debate with a few of my friends over Facebook 00:24:21.72\00:24:26.70 on the topic of sex and there just seemed to be so many 00:24:26.73\00:24:31.67 different views, and we all grew up... 00:24:31.70\00:24:34.70 born and raised in the Church, and we still had so many 00:24:34.74\00:24:39.41 different views on the topic, some of them of course were 00:24:39.44\00:24:44.08 subjective, and not all of them were Biblical, but I recognized 00:24:44.11\00:24:51.52 that there is just such a need to be more open and honest 00:24:51.55\00:24:56.12 on this topic like Kory was saying, unfortunately this has 00:24:56.16\00:25:01.26 been really taboo... and the older generations 00:25:01.30\00:25:05.37 aren't as open on this topic that's so important and 00:25:05.40\00:25:09.87 the tendency to be quiet or of a reserved nature on this topic 00:25:09.90\00:25:16.68 actually produces a lot of misconceptions... 00:25:16.71\00:25:19.18 and I think that this is exactly what the devil would like, 00:25:19.21\00:25:22.48 you know, don't talk about it, pretend like everything is fine, 00:25:22.52\00:25:25.72 meanwhile, we're all struggling, we're all confused, 00:25:25.75\00:25:29.79 and it breeds a lot of... just you know, poor choices... 00:25:29.82\00:25:33.83 Poor choices, that's good-I like that-as opposed to Pure Choices, 00:25:33.86\00:25:40.30 yeah, that's right... and we cannot have a situation 00:25:40.34\00:25:43.54 where it's taboo to talk about something that is as pervasive 00:25:43.57\00:25:49.61 as and as much of a blessing as sex is supposed to be 00:25:49.64\00:25:55.28 in the proper context. Does anybody have a 00:25:55.32\00:25:58.62 final thought before we go... just something that you want our 00:25:58.65\00:26:03.09 viewers to know about Pure Choices... 00:26:03.12\00:26:05.49 I'm going to go with you, Pastor and put you under the microscope 00:26:05.63\00:26:10.37 right now... Well, I just want to say that 00:26:10.40\00:26:12.40 Jesus... it's all about Jesus, you know, it's really, and in my 00:26:12.43\00:26:15.57 journey... through my journey in which... making pure choices 00:26:15.60\00:26:18.74 and trying to make pure choices, has all been about 00:26:18.77\00:26:21.04 my relationship with Christ... and I really want people to 00:26:21.08\00:26:25.38 realize that through this whole experience on pure choices that 00:26:25.41\00:26:28.28 that's what we are really trying to bring out... 00:26:28.32\00:26:29.52 you have to get to know Jesus, you have to get to know Him, 00:26:29.55\00:26:32.25 you have to learn Him, you have to experience Him, 00:26:32.29\00:26:34.26 because without Him, then basically you won't want to 00:26:34.29\00:26:36.26 make pure choices... you won't have a desire to do 00:26:36.29\00:26:38.36 anything of this nature... you'll be watching and 00:26:38.39\00:26:40.40 say, well I'll make excuses and I had to be real with myself 00:26:40.43\00:26:43.10 before I got on this show and say, or program and say, 00:26:43.13\00:26:45.80 I'm going to really do this, I'm going to make this a 00:26:45.83\00:26:47.94 part of my life... and really make pure choices... 00:26:47.97\00:26:50.47 so trust me, you do not want to miss these programs, 00:26:50.51\00:26:53.01 these series on Pure Choices... You don't want to miss it, 00:26:53.04\00:26:56.75 please tune in... Thank you... 00:26:56.78\00:27:01.82 Just wait until you see the programs that this team 00:27:05.52\00:27:09.26 has done... they really demonstrate the practicality 00:27:09.29\00:27:13.09 and relevance of the Bible, as they deal with sensitive topics. 00:27:13.13\00:27:16.36 You won't want to miss any of these programs... 00:27:16.40\00:27:19.47 They really had a profound effect on all of us 00:27:19.50\00:27:22.50 in the control room. We think that you'll be blessed 00:27:22.54\00:27:24.94 by it too... you know, some people think that 00:27:24.97\00:27:28.08 well, one sin is worse than another.. is worse than another, 00:27:28.11\00:27:32.45 but you know what? Sin is sin... and the things 00:27:32.48\00:27:35.52 that this team does, is they deal with these issues, 00:27:35.55\00:27:39.29 from a place of God's ideal... So it's not condemning, 00:27:39.32\00:27:42.99 but it's edifying... Well, thanks so much for 00:27:43.02\00:27:46.39 tuning in... join us next time. 00:27:46.43\00:27:48.46 It just wouldn't be the same without you. 00:27:48.50\00:27:52.77