The Entertainment Industry is a maze of seduction and illusion. 00:00:01.06\00:00:04.11 Stay tuned to see how one man found his way out and is paving 00:00:04.14\00:00:08.17 the way for others to find Christ. 00:00:08.20\00:00:10.14 My name is Yvonne Lewis and you're watching 00:00:10.18\00:00:12.85 Urban Report... 00:00:12.89\00:00:15.54 Hello and welcome to Urban Report. 00:00:35.85\00:00:38.84 My guest today is Pastor Ivor Myers, 00:00:38.87\00:00:41.84 President and Founder of Power of the Lamb Ministries 00:00:41.88\00:00:44.77 and Bible ARME Camp and co-host of 3abn's Battles of Faith 00:00:44.80\00:00:49.54 with his wife Atonte Myers. Welcome to Urban Report 00:00:49.57\00:00:53.29 Pastor Myers... Thank you for having me Yvonne. 00:00:53.32\00:00:56.01 It's so great to have you here, I am excited because I know you 00:00:56.04\00:01:00.09 have some great information for us today. 00:01:00.12\00:01:03.04 Praise the Lord, praise God. So, a lot of our viewers are 00:01:03.07\00:01:07.25 familiar with Battles of Faith, but we have some who aren't. 00:01:07.29\00:01:12.53 Tell us about your story... tell us how you just evolved 00:01:12.57\00:01:17.78 by the grace of God into who you are... who were you before? 00:01:17.82\00:01:22.90 Well, I was born in Jamaica in 00:01:22.94\00:01:27.89 1972 and my family came to the United States when I was about 00:01:27.92\00:01:33.45 5... I think maybe 6 years old, and we didn't have any religious 00:01:33.49\00:01:38.98 background, we just kind of went to Church on certain days 00:01:39.02\00:01:43.73 of the... maybe once or twice a year... you know, 00:01:43.77\00:01:48.42 Christmas and if family members had invited us but nothing... 00:01:48.46\00:01:52.45 we just didn't grow up in a religious setting and when I 00:01:52.49\00:01:56.96 came to the United States, I had a very strong Jamaican 00:01:56.99\00:02:01.43 accent and so the kids would make fun of me and I 00:02:01.46\00:02:06.07 discovered that one of the best ways to make friends was 00:02:06.11\00:02:09.74 to get into that culture, that was actually getting popular 00:02:09.77\00:02:13.80 at that time which was hip-hop, break-dancing and my younger 00:02:13.84\00:02:17.84 brother and I started getting into the whole, you know, 00:02:17.87\00:02:20.88 the whole scene... the dressing, the style, the language 00:02:20.92\00:02:24.42 everything... so that's what got us into the hip-hop culture 00:02:24.46\00:02:32.10 and we just began to flourish in it... you know, 00:02:32.14\00:02:36.69 getting involved in Rap music and it eventually led 00:02:36.72\00:02:41.55 to an eight-album contract with EMI Records... 00:02:41.59\00:02:46.23 now I just kind of jumped a whole lot there but we were 00:02:46.27\00:02:50.65 signed to a contract with EMI Records in 1993 00:02:50.69\00:02:55.04 as part of a four-man hip-hop group 00:02:55.08\00:02:58.74 and during this time again, we really had no strong 00:02:58.77\00:03:02.38 religious encounter... and we thought that we were 00:03:02.42\00:03:05.96 on our way to fame which we were we ended up on Soul Train, BET, 00:03:05.99\00:03:09.87 Rap City, MTV, I mean we were the up-and-coming group... 00:03:09.91\00:03:15.60 Let me ask you something Pastor, when you were kind of immersed 00:03:15.63\00:03:25.05 in the hip-hop culture, did you feel that anything was 00:03:25.08\00:03:28.55 wrong with it or did you really just embrace it as being 00:03:28.59\00:03:32.73 what you wanted to do? Yeah, I just embraced it, I mean 00:03:32.77\00:03:37.19 I didn't have any real compass to determine what was right 00:03:37.22\00:03:41.61 and what was wrong and, in fact, in the Hip-Hop culture, 00:03:41.64\00:03:46.41 it was very antagonistic to the Bible, so, you know, 00:03:46.44\00:03:52.03 the Bible was considered a tampered book, 00:03:52.06\00:03:53.96 and, you know, the racial issues it was just like... 00:03:53.99\00:03:59.48 the Bible is not our book, the black man being from Africa, 00:03:59.52\00:04:04.22 there was a whole lot of talk of other religions like 00:04:04.25\00:04:08.45 the Nation of 5 percenters, the Nation of Islam and all 00:04:08.48\00:04:12.64 these other kinds of quote unquote "Black Religions" 00:04:12.68\00:04:16.69 so, as far as the Bible was concerned, it wasn't really, 00:04:16.72\00:04:20.17 you know, I had no compass and the Bible just wasn't 00:04:20.20\00:04:23.98 a part of our lives in the way that would have helped me 00:04:24.01\00:04:27.81 to determine, "Oh yeah, this is right... 00:04:27.85\00:04:29.18 this is wrong," you know, nothing like that... 00:04:29.21\00:04:32.32 Right, it's so interesting to me how Satan does that, I mean, 00:04:32.36\00:04:37.11 if you have nothing else to compare it with... 00:04:37.15\00:04:40.02 nothing else to counteract the counterfeit so to speak, then, 00:04:40.05\00:04:45.54 of course, you tend to kind of embrace what "feels" good or 00:04:45.57\00:04:50.35 what sounds good and so you just kind of flow over into that 00:04:50.39\00:04:54.78 because there is nothing to balance that out or to actually 00:04:54.82\00:04:59.43 get rid of the wrong and put you on the right course... so... 00:04:59.46\00:05:04.04 Absolutely... so you were in this group 00:05:04.07\00:05:05.59 and you guys were starting to hit the big time, 00:05:05.63\00:05:09.80 singing in all these TV programs and doing all that... 00:05:09.83\00:05:13.88 where was your head, were you, again, was this something that 00:05:13.91\00:05:17.80 you were ready to go for? Was your head totally just 00:05:17.83\00:05:21.69 into this? Or did you feel afraid of the success? 00:05:21.72\00:05:24.89 Where were you? No, not at all, we were totally 00:05:24.92\00:05:28.02 into it, we had always dreamed of, you know, being like those 00:05:28.05\00:05:32.42 of them that we had seen on TV before us 00:05:32.46\00:05:34.11 and so we looked up to these Rap Stars and now we were like, 00:05:34.14\00:05:37.87 "Okay, it's our turn... " and totally moving forward 00:05:37.91\00:05:41.99 totally gung ho and it's just interesting that 00:05:42.03\00:05:48.38 it was there in the midst of what I felt was our dream 00:05:48.42\00:05:53.82 being realized that we were introduced to Christianity 00:05:53.86\00:05:58.45 and specifically the Adventist message... 00:05:58.48\00:06:00.32 So, just as you were crossing over, 00:06:00.35\00:06:05.26 you got introduced into the Adventist message... 00:06:05.29\00:06:08.68 How did that happen? 00:06:08.72\00:06:09.75 Well, I went to college in Virginia State University 00:06:09.78\00:06:14.52 and when we got our record deal, my younger brother, 00:06:14.55\00:06:19.45 myself and two of our good friends... we were part of this 00:06:19.49\00:06:23.37 four-man group... but we had a large entourage, 00:06:23.41\00:06:26.24 who were also made up of groups, it was about 3 or 4 groups 00:06:26.28\00:06:30.00 of us and when we got our record deal, it was like the 00:06:30.04\00:06:33.64 opening wedge for the others to follow in our steps 00:06:33.67\00:06:36.43 and we were going to, like kind of, provide a platform 00:06:36.47\00:06:39.84 you know, for them to secure record deals... 00:06:39.87\00:06:43.17 so we kind of all left school together and went up to 00:06:43.20\00:06:47.58 New York City and it was there that we were introduced 00:06:47.61\00:06:51.96 through a mutual friend, and at this time, we didn't even 00:06:51.99\00:06:56.51 I had never even heard of the term Adventist... 00:06:56.55\00:06:59.45 so one night we were all, sitting around talking about 00:06:59.49\00:07:03.26 The New World Order and The Mark of the Beast 00:07:03.30\00:07:06.05 and we had no clue what we were talking about 00:07:06.09\00:07:08.81 we were just... we had gotten to this place where it was like 00:07:08.84\00:07:11.26 the end thing, if you will, to, you know, to talk about 00:07:11.29\00:07:15.65 conspiracy theories and the Mark of the Beast, 00:07:15.69\00:07:18.85 and the New World Order and how they are after 00:07:18.88\00:07:22.01 the black man and... Say again... 00:07:22.05\00:07:24.48 You guys were sitting around and philosophizing 00:07:24.52\00:07:27.06 without having any foundation... Yeah... we had no clue 00:07:27.09\00:07:30.84 we had no clue what we were talking about so, this young man 00:07:30.88\00:07:34.59 as we were speaking, he just asked us 00:07:34.62\00:07:38.40 "So, hey, what day do you think the Sabbath is?" 00:07:38.44\00:07:42.51 and, you know, I remember thinking, "What an off-the-wall 00:07:42.55\00:07:45.51 question...," like, you know, we are here talking about 00:07:45.54\00:07:48.55 the Mark of the Beast and about New World Order stuff 00:07:48.58\00:07:51.59 and here this guy is... and we had just met him, 00:07:51.63\00:07:54.73 he was like 19 at that time and we were like 20, 21... 00:07:54.76\00:07:57.83 we were all young adults. Right... 00:07:57.87\00:08:00.45 And we're like, you know, "Sunday... everybody knows that 00:08:00.48\00:08:03.29 the Sabbath is on Sunday, what kind of question is that?" 00:08:03.33\00:08:06.10 And then he asked us... He said, "What day is the 00:08:06.14\00:08:11.11 Sabbath on?" and we were like... "The seventh Day... you know 00:08:11.15\00:08:13.64 that's obvious... " and he was like, he said, 00:08:13.67\00:08:17.91 "What day is Saturday? What day is Sunday?" 00:08:17.95\00:08:20.97 and we were like... "The seventh day... " 00:08:21.01\00:08:24.00 and then, he was like... "What day is Saturday?" 00:08:24.03\00:08:27.63 and we were like, "The seventh day" 00:08:27.67\00:08:31.47 We had just never thought about it before... I mean, 00:08:31.50\00:08:34.62 the math... When he asked us those questions 00:08:34.66\00:08:36.98 we were like "Wait a minute something is not adding up here" 00:08:37.02\00:08:40.05 And from that point on, I mean, it was just like 00:08:40.09\00:08:43.91 something clicked and I was like "Now, wait a minute... 00:08:43.94\00:08:46.57 how did that happen?" And then, "Sunday is actually 00:08:46.61\00:08:49.02 the first day of the week, Saturday is the end of the week, 00:08:49.05\00:08:52.01 so how does that happen?" and it turned into... 00:08:52.05\00:08:56.48 like a four-hour Bible Study that night... 00:08:56.52\00:08:59.65 with like 30 of us... Ah... I love it... 00:08:59.69\00:09:01.86 Now was this young man, was he... a part of the... 00:09:01.90\00:09:05.67 one of the groups that wanted to get a record deal? 00:09:05.70\00:09:08.91 No, no, no, we had just met him, he was living in New York 00:09:08.94\00:09:12.78 we had all come up from Virginia I was, like I said, 00:09:12.81\00:09:15.61 born in Jamaica and raised up in New York but then 00:09:15.65\00:09:18.37 ended up going to college in Virginia so I was coming back 00:09:18.41\00:09:21.47 to New York and most of the guys were from New York as well, 00:09:21.51\00:09:24.53 but this young man was living in New York 00:09:24.57\00:09:28.81 and was a friend of one of our friends so we were 00:09:28.85\00:09:31.62 all really just meeting him... I see... and so you guys were 00:09:31.66\00:09:36.14 just kind of hanging out and shooting the breeze and 00:09:36.18\00:09:38.59 philosophizing about Mark of the Beast and all that 00:09:38.62\00:09:41.86 and here this guy, just tumbles your world... 00:09:41.89\00:09:45.06 rocks your world by asking you about which day is the Sabbath. 00:09:45.09\00:09:50.00 Yeah, yeah... And really that question 00:09:50.04\00:09:52.78 shouldn't have even mattered to us because we weren't going to 00:09:52.82\00:09:56.23 church and we knew very little about the Bible... 00:09:56.26\00:09:58.54 but for some reason, it was like stumbling upon something 00:09:58.57\00:10:03.53 that was like... "Wait a minute... 00:10:03.56\00:10:06.64 everyone we know goes to church on Sunday... 00:10:06.68\00:10:09.46 what do you mean... the Sabbath is on Saturday?" 00:10:09.49\00:10:11.49 and that question led to another question, 00:10:11.53\00:10:13.73 led to another question... four-hour Bible study 00:10:13.77\00:10:16.85 and from that night on, everyday we would study the Bible 00:10:16.89\00:10:22.45 every day... and he had shared with us in particular 00:10:22.48\00:10:27.10 the prophecy of Daniel Chapter 7 which, you know, talks about 00:10:27.13\00:10:33.12 these beasts coming up out of the sea and how these 00:10:33.16\00:10:36.51 nations would overthrow one another... 00:10:36.54\00:10:38.11 coming down to our very day and so that just totally 00:10:38.15\00:10:43.43 intrigued me and learning that prophecy really changed 00:10:43.47\00:10:48.71 a whole lot for me... to the point where I started 00:10:48.75\00:10:51.78 giving Bible studies before I knew anything else... 00:10:51.82\00:10:54.79 Like I would just give people Bible studies on Daniel 7 00:10:54.82\00:10:57.74 I knew nothing else about the Bible but it so hit me 00:10:57.77\00:11:00.74 I memorized that chapter and when people would say 00:11:00.77\00:11:03.57 "Hey, can I get a Bible study?" 00:11:03.61\00:11:04.83 and I'd, you know, because I was in the music industry... 00:11:04.87\00:11:06.78 it was very easy for me to give Bible studies... 00:11:06.81\00:11:10.22 and so, I'd give these Bible studies and they'd say, 00:11:10.26\00:11:12.38 "When can we have another one?" and I wouldn't have another one, 00:11:12.41\00:11:15.09 I'd be like, "Give me another six weeks and I'll get stuff 00:11:15.13\00:11:20.93 that I can share. " and so... 00:11:20.97\00:11:22.39 That's awesome... so... isn't it... 00:11:22.43\00:11:23.96 God is just so off-the-chain, the way He does things... 00:11:24.00\00:11:28.92 He accomplishes so much with one move... 00:11:28.96\00:11:32.20 Look at what He did... He brought in 00:11:32.24\00:11:34.67 a peer... to talk to you... because you would probably 00:11:34.70\00:11:38.87 have received it better from the peer, 00:11:38.90\00:11:41.57 brought in a peer to talk to you and then quickened your spirit 00:11:41.60\00:11:46.20 and gave you this passion, for the Word 00:11:46.23\00:11:49.64 and gave you... you had already some credibility 00:11:49.68\00:11:53.59 because you were in the music business, so you had a little 00:11:53.63\00:11:56.37 credibility there and so people were going to listen 00:11:56.40\00:11:59.27 to what you had to say, and He gave you that passion 00:11:59.31\00:12:02.14 for prophecy... Yeah, yeah, yeah... 00:12:02.17\00:12:04.15 Okay, so what happened then? Well, you know, actually it was 00:12:04.18\00:12:10.17 we ended up becoming baptized into the church 00:12:10.20\00:12:13.66 and when I say "we"... I mean there were at least... 00:12:13.70\00:12:17.63 I would say, maybe somewhere between 15 and 20 of us 00:12:17.67\00:12:21.57 that as a result of that conversation 00:12:21.61\00:12:25.24 and what happened afterward... were eventually baptized 00:12:25.27\00:12:28.52 into the church... including my younger brother 00:12:28.56\00:12:30.64 who is now a minister as well. So, it's amazing, Yvonne, when I 00:12:30.68\00:12:36.42 think back, it was, you know... when we learned that he was an 00:12:36.45\00:12:42.16 Adventist, we were like, we're coming to church with you 00:12:42.19\00:12:44.41 this Sabbath... so like 20 of us, dread-locked, 00:12:44.44\00:12:49.22 gum-chewing and sagging, you know, just rolled up 00:12:49.25\00:12:53.58 in the church and the looks on the people's faces! 00:12:53.61\00:12:56.78 it was a small church too and the people were like... 00:12:56.82\00:13:01.13 we were just so excited to be there we didn't, you know, 00:13:01.16\00:13:04.70 we didn't even notice that people were looking at us 00:13:04.74\00:13:08.38 like that... Yeah, yeah... 00:13:08.42\00:13:09.45 And anything the Pastor said, we were like literally 00:13:09.48\00:13:14.14 losing our minds... we were like "What! he just talked about 00:13:14.17\00:13:18.34 tithe... what! we've got to warn the world, 00:13:18.38\00:13:21.66 "Pay your tithe!" you know, I mean anything... 00:13:21.69\00:13:23.66 literally anything that came out of his mouth, 00:13:23.69\00:13:26.85 we were just blown away! I love it... because, 00:13:26.88\00:13:30.51 it's like giving water to a thirsty soul... 00:13:30.55\00:13:34.14 Yeah, yes... You know, it's... 00:13:34.18\00:13:35.51 your souls were being watered, this is what you were looking 00:13:35.54\00:13:38.51 for and hadn't been able to find Yeah... 00:13:38.54\00:13:41.15 Now, let me ask you something because a lot of young people 00:13:41.18\00:13:45.77 need to know this... as you were embracing 00:13:45.81\00:13:51.40 Biblical concepts, what was going on with you 00:13:51.44\00:13:55.19 as you were trying to perform... I would imagine that 00:13:55.23\00:13:59.13 at some point, you had like a little, what they call... 00:13:59.16\00:14:03.02 cognitive dissonance, where, you know, 00:14:03.06\00:14:06.86 you knew what was right but then you were performing 00:14:06.90\00:14:10.74 so... you had a clash, tell us a little bit about that 00:14:10.77\00:14:13.69 because I am sure you had something like that happen. 00:14:13.72\00:14:16.61 Yeah... well initially we were so excited... we decided 00:14:16.64\00:14:19.73 that we were going to put the three angels' messages 00:14:19.76\00:14:22.65 into our hip-hop music. Oh... Okay 00:14:22.69\00:14:26.66 So, we would be in the clubs and, you know, we would 00:14:26.70\00:14:31.30 have backpacks when we performed and like military backpacks... 00:14:31.34\00:14:37.80 so we'd be performing, we'd have these backpacks on 00:14:37.84\00:14:40.02 and then we would stop and we would say 00:14:40.05\00:14:42.21 something like... you know... "Who wants to know who the man 00:14:42.24\00:14:45.23 of sin is? throw your hands in the air... 00:14:45.26\00:14:48.11 and everybody would like... throw their hands in the air... 00:14:48.14\00:14:50.15 and then, we would take, out of our backpacks, 00:14:50.19\00:14:52.86 the book, The Great Controversy and start throwing it out 00:14:52.89\00:14:55.97 in the audience... and the people were diving for 00:14:56.00\00:14:59.05 the books... they had no clue what they were diving for... 00:14:59.09\00:15:00.98 but it's just because it was coming from us, 00:15:01.02\00:15:03.29 and, you know, I mean, that's what's... 00:15:03.33\00:15:06.79 And I'd like to say is that God... in times of ignorance 00:15:06.82\00:15:10.61 He winks... Yes... 00:15:10.64\00:15:11.72 So He was doing a lot of winking... you know like, 00:15:11.76\00:15:14.70 "Angels, just go bless them, just go... " Ohhhhh... 00:15:14.73\00:15:19.94 You know, we were honest, we were sincere, 00:15:19.97\00:15:23.62 Yes... and I say that, you know, 00:15:23.65\00:15:27.29 because we... I know better now... 00:15:27.32\00:15:30.92 than I did then and I believe that God blessed us then 00:15:30.96\00:15:33.79 in our ignorance... Of course, because God meets us 00:15:33.83\00:15:36.63 where we are... Exactly... 00:15:36.66\00:15:38.34 ...and He knows where you are going to be... 00:15:38.38\00:15:40.48 Exactly... But where you are at that point, 00:15:40.51\00:15:42.54 you wanted to witness, even through the hip-hop realm, 00:15:42.58\00:15:47.25 you wanted to witness... so you guys were tossing out 00:15:47.29\00:15:51.92 the Great Controversies at the Club... 00:15:51.96\00:15:54.03 Yeah, Yvonne, it's funny because we would even 00:15:54.06\00:15:58.99 warn people to get out of the Clubs and we would say things 00:15:59.02\00:16:03.62 like "What are you doing in the Clubs.. this is the Babylon... " 00:16:03.65\00:16:06.15 and we are in the Clubs warning people to get out of the Clubs 00:16:06.18\00:16:09.74 and, you know, I think a pivotal 00:16:09.77\00:16:12.87 point came for me because I remember one night 00:16:12.90\00:16:15.38 I was just wondering "Lord, you know, we're warning 00:16:15.42\00:16:18.32 these people, you know, about their lifestyle and 00:16:18.36\00:16:21.19 what they are doing and, you know, all this stuff" and 00:16:21.22\00:16:23.93 what if God came back on a Friday night, you know 00:16:23.96\00:16:26.48 on a Sabbath when they were in the Clubs... and I don't know 00:16:26.52\00:16:30.40 what we were thinking... but it's like God said to me, 00:16:30.43\00:16:32.46 "You cannot call people out of Babylon, 00:16:32.50\00:16:35.08 if you are a part of Babylon yourself. " 00:16:35.12\00:16:37.63 Come on, come on... ... And that realization 00:16:37.67\00:16:40.99 I mean that was the beginning of actually both my brother and I 00:16:41.02\00:16:46.04 making a final decision to come out of the Industry... 00:16:46.08\00:16:49.31 That is what actually kicked it off... 00:16:49.34\00:16:52.14 Isn't that... that's that's amazing... 00:16:52.18\00:16:55.66 God knows exactly when to do that, 00:16:55.69\00:16:59.10 He is just so incredible... and I praise the Lord 00:16:59.14\00:17:02.87 that you obeyed and responded so you came out at that point 00:17:02.90\00:17:08.39 you and your brothers came out at that point 00:17:08.43\00:17:10.64 and what did your friends think? When you left, when you left 00:17:10.67\00:17:15.75 the music industry, what did they think? 00:17:15.78\00:17:17.35 Well, it was a process that led us to come out... I mean... 00:17:17.38\00:17:21.88 after I heard that, you know, I was still like, 00:17:21.92\00:17:24.83 yeah, but maybe He could use me in the Industry 00:17:24.87\00:17:27.71 and maybe I can be a blessing to others 00:17:27.75\00:17:29.81 by doing this... you know, I can reach people in here 00:17:29.85\00:17:34.35 that I couldn't reach out there, you know all the reasoning's 00:17:34.38\00:17:38.20 that would be typical of, you know, self-justification of 00:17:38.24\00:17:42.02 why I should stay in this Industry and make money... 00:17:42.06\00:17:44.18 Yes... ... and, you know, ultimately 00:17:44.21\00:17:48.76 through studying the Bible and especially studying the 00:17:48.80\00:17:52.03 Spirit of Prophecy and just 00:17:52.06\00:17:54.75 really praying... asking God, God what would you have me to do 00:17:54.79\00:17:57.56 you know, He showed me that light and darkness 00:17:57.60\00:18:01.39 cannot dwell together... and that if I am going to call 00:18:01.43\00:18:06.09 people out of something, out of error, out of darkness, 00:18:06.12\00:18:09.35 I had to come out of it myself, and He also showed me, 00:18:09.39\00:18:13.11 you know, Babylon will not and does not respect 00:18:13.15\00:18:17.37 and when I say Babylon, I use that term, you know, 00:18:17.40\00:18:21.59 in a world-wide sense... it does not respect 00:18:21.63\00:18:26.38 the kind of Christianity that compromises... 00:18:26.42\00:18:31.14 and so, you know, I am in the Industry and we are here 00:18:31.18\00:18:36.82 trying to talk about Jesus, but people are like, 00:18:36.85\00:18:38.76 "Yeah, but, you know, I know you're talking about Jesus, 00:18:38.80\00:18:41.16 but it's not really REAL because you're still here... 00:18:41.20\00:18:43.53 That is so true, and that's a point that we really need to 00:18:43.57\00:18:47.25 look at for a minute too because the fact that the world doesn't 00:18:47.28\00:18:52.74 really respect your still being in it... 00:18:52.77\00:18:56.99 Yeah... ... even if you are trying to 00:18:57.02\00:18:59.88 shine a light... shine THE light, 00:18:59.92\00:19:02.70 if you're still a part of it, you haven't made any sacrifices, 00:19:02.74\00:19:07.23 Yeah, yeah... ... you know, so you still want 00:19:07.26\00:19:09.19 what Babylon offers but you cloak it with spirituality, 00:19:09.22\00:19:13.90 Absolutely, absolutely... ... and people see through that 00:19:13.93\00:19:15.49 they see through that... Absolutely, yeah... 00:19:15.52\00:19:16.99 So once you came to that realization and accepted that 00:19:17.02\00:19:21.43 and then internalized it, what did you do? 00:19:21.46\00:19:23.47 Well, you know, I realized that I had to make some 00:19:23.51\00:19:26.96 serious changes... like the Lord said, 00:19:26.99\00:19:28.54 "You're going to follow me, you need to follow me... " 00:19:28.57\00:19:31.19 and, you know, that meant that I had to change 00:19:31.22\00:19:34.40 the way that I walked, because I walked with that limp, 00:19:34.44\00:19:37.11 you know, that street limp, I had to change the way that 00:19:37.14\00:19:39.77 I talked... you know, the slang that I used, 00:19:39.81\00:19:42.20 I mean, everything had to change about me so that people 00:19:42.24\00:19:46.04 could see that there was actual change going on within me... 00:19:46.07\00:19:49.84 and that I wasn't just talking but there were corresponding 00:19:49.87\00:19:53.91 fruits... and I'll tell you... it's easy to talk Christianity 00:19:53.95\00:19:57.95 because people in the Industry do it all the time... 00:19:57.98\00:20:01.49 it's another thing to actually pick up your cross 00:20:01.53\00:20:05.01 and follow Christ... and God... Absolutely... 00:20:05.04\00:20:07.94 When I made the decision to walk away from an almost 00:20:07.97\00:20:10.98 million dollar contract, which, you know, today it's nothing 00:20:11.02\00:20:14.29 but back then it was something.. especially for me... 00:20:14.32\00:20:16.71 a college kid that, you know, dropped out of college 00:20:16.75\00:20:19.55 to do this... when I made that decision to walk away... 00:20:19.58\00:20:23.04 that's when people were like... "OK, this guy is serious. " 00:20:23.08\00:20:26.51 Before then... people were like "Oh, yeah, you know, 00:20:26.54\00:20:28.92 we had an idea you were Christian," but they didn't 00:20:28.95\00:20:31.71 take me seriously... they didn't take me seriously... 00:20:31.74\00:20:34.46 they didn't take what I was saying too seriously... 00:20:34.49\00:20:36.92 When I did that.. people started listening... 00:20:36.95\00:20:40.66 and I remember God... I asked God... I was like... 00:20:40.70\00:20:44.34 "God, you know, if you take me from behind this microphone, 00:20:44.37\00:20:47.76 please put me behind another where I will be able to 00:20:47.79\00:20:50.81 reach people... " Because I just felt like, 00:20:50.85\00:20:53.25 you know, this is where the stage is at... 00:20:53.29\00:20:55.66 if I get rid of this stage, "What's going to happen? 00:20:55.69\00:20:57.93 How am I going to reach people?" and I made a decision to walk 00:20:57.96\00:21:01.34 away from the Industry... not thinking I am going to 00:21:01.37\00:21:04.35 be a pastor... like that wasn't on my radar at all, 00:21:04.38\00:21:07.92 because, I just wasn't thinking that, you know, 00:21:07.96\00:21:10.55 What does it take to be a pastor? you probably have to go 00:21:10.59\00:21:13.23 to school, I had no clue on what on it took to be a pastor, 00:21:13.27\00:21:16.77 so I dropped out of the Music, my brother and I actually went 00:21:16.80\00:21:20.27 to work at Target making... I think like $5.50 or $6 an hour 00:21:20.30\00:21:28.74 and my thought was just, "Well, maybe I'll work my way up 00:21:28.77\00:21:33.07 the Target ladder and, you know, eventually move from, you know, 00:21:33.11\00:21:37.20 unloading boxes to maybe being a Manager, like, you know, 00:21:37.23\00:21:40.84 that was just what I was thinking like, 00:21:40.87\00:21:42.34 I don't know what I'm going to do now, 00:21:42.38\00:21:43.94 but I am definitely not doing that... 00:21:43.98\00:21:45.48 and there were series of events, the Lord opened up the doors 00:21:45.51\00:21:49.72 and has given me an audience that, 00:21:49.75\00:21:54.42 you know, rivals and, I think, surpasses what I was doing 00:21:54.46\00:21:59.92 in the Music Industry... Look at God... and how He... 00:21:59.96\00:22:05.39 and I say this on Urban Report all the time, that God has a 00:22:05.43\00:22:09.84 divine plan for us and that if we seek Him and find out 00:22:09.87\00:22:14.25 "What is that plan, what is it that you want me to do... " 00:22:14.28\00:22:18.39 He will bless us beyond measure, and when you are walking in 00:22:18.43\00:22:22.50 that plan... there is nothing more fulfilling than that, 00:22:22.54\00:22:26.10 Absolutely... So you get a twofer... 00:22:26.13\00:22:27.83 you're being obedient, but you are also being blessed 00:22:27.86\00:22:31.20 because through being obedient, there are blessings beyond 00:22:31.24\00:22:35.73 measure... Yeah, yeah... 00:22:35.77\00:22:37.49 I remember, you know, that I had people... friends, family 00:22:37.52\00:22:43.16 saying, "What are you doing?" you know, you can have 00:22:43.19\00:22:45.85 such an influence if you just stayed in the Industry 00:22:45.88\00:22:48.82 and ministered that way... and, I was like, you know what? 00:22:48.85\00:22:53.60 you guys don't understand, like, you know, for me to do this, 00:22:53.64\00:22:58.35 is to lose my soul... you know, the preaching of the 00:22:58.39\00:23:03.30 three angels' message is so diametrically opposed to the 00:23:03.34\00:23:08.22 world that... the world will not give you an 00:23:08.26\00:23:12.46 avenue to really preach that message... 00:23:12.50\00:23:14.42 That's right... So if you are comfortable 00:23:14.45\00:23:16.33 in Hollywood, if you are comfortable 00:23:16.68\00:23:18.90 in the Industry and, you know, "Hey, I'm preaching the message" 00:23:18.94\00:23:23.17 but you're in the Industry, something's not right, 00:23:23.20\00:23:26.49 like, you can't be in a dark room... and the room be lit up 00:23:26.53\00:23:30.57 at the same time... Come on, come on now... 00:23:30.61\00:23:33.07 That doesn't happen, where there is light, 00:23:33.10\00:23:35.80 darkness is opposed to it, it hates it, 00:23:35.83\00:23:38.49 and, you know, I know, because, as I was in the Industry 00:23:38.53\00:23:43.68 and as I began to put in my lyrics... you know, 00:23:43.72\00:23:48.03 in my rhyming... things that were becoming too 00:23:48.07\00:23:52.31 spiritual... the Industry started saying something... 00:23:52.34\00:23:54.99 "Hey, calm down, now, you are getting a little bit too 00:23:55.03\00:23:57.64 spiritual... " and that's when I realized, 00:23:57.67\00:23:59.04 "You know what... Babylon will only allow you to 00:23:59.08\00:24:01.35 say so much and to do so much... " 00:24:01.39\00:24:03.87 That is so true... and I see it all the time, 00:24:03.91\00:24:07.56 you see it on the Grammy Awards, for example, 00:24:07.59\00:24:10.58 where if an artist says, "I want to thank God... " 00:24:10.61\00:24:13.65 everybody is cool... it's OK, you know, 00:24:13.68\00:24:15.87 you can call a tree God... and everybody goes... 00:24:15.90\00:24:19.20 "Oh, it's OK... " But if you say, "Jesus Christ" 00:24:19.24\00:24:22.50 Bam! there is... Jesus Christ is that... 00:24:22.54\00:24:25.88 that offence... to the world, Yeah, yeah... 00:24:25.92\00:24:29.23 and so... it's an amazing thing they don't... 00:24:29.27\00:24:33.31 be a little spiritual... but don't be too spiritual, 00:24:33.34\00:24:37.05 and certainly, don't profess to be Christian and to live by 00:24:37.09\00:24:40.90 the Bible... then you're really looked at as "Strange" 00:24:40.93\00:24:44.29 Absolutely... and as Adventists, you know, 00:24:44.32\00:24:47.27 we have a very specific message, Yes... 00:24:47.30\00:24:50.18 and you cannot preach that message... share that message, 00:24:50.21\00:24:54.90 you know... some people talk about Daniel, 00:24:54.93\00:24:56.25 how Daniel was in Babylon but he was still a witness, 00:24:56.28\00:24:59.16 you know, a couple of things Daniel was there by force... 00:24:59.20\00:25:01.95 not by choice... he was taken captive... 00:25:01.99\00:25:05.58 and Daniel's... you can see how the Babylonians 00:25:05.61\00:25:09.21 treated Daniel... just look... they threw him 00:25:09.25\00:25:12.17 in the Lion's Den... they tried to get him to stop 00:25:12.20\00:25:15.19 doing... in other words, 00:25:15.23\00:25:16.26 they did not like... they didn't praise Daniel 00:25:16.29\00:25:19.15 in any way, shape or form, because of what he stood for... 00:25:19.18\00:25:22.69 they hated him, they wanted to get rid of him... 00:25:22.73\00:25:25.21 That's right... They did not embrace him... 00:25:25.24\00:25:27.65 and Daniel was such a powerful witness in Babylon, 00:25:27.68\00:25:31.48 against his will of being captive there... 00:25:31.52\00:25:34.14 he actually converted the King of Babylon... 00:25:34.17\00:25:39.17 Isn't that awesome? So, I mean, if, if, yeah, 00:25:39.21\00:25:44.17 if we are actually doing what God's wanting us to do, 00:25:44.21\00:25:47.55 then, there's going to be conversions taking place, 00:25:47.58\00:25:50.89 and you're not going to be liked you're going to be persecuted, 00:25:50.93\00:25:56.02 and not embraced and so... I realized that, you know, 00:25:56.06\00:26:00.33 the Lord did not want me to voluntarily put myself 00:26:00.37\00:26:03.85 in Babylon... in that Industry and He called me out 00:26:03.88\00:26:07.33 and has, I believe, blessed my ministry, 00:26:07.37\00:26:13.12 which I didn't even know I was going to have, 00:26:13.15\00:26:15.28 but He blessed that ministry, above and beyond what I could 00:26:15.31\00:26:20.31 have possibly imagined... He would have done for me. 00:26:20.35\00:26:23.22 Praise the Lord... Praise the Lord... 00:26:23.26\00:26:25.97 Tell us briefly, because we only have about a minute... 00:26:26.00\00:26:28.36 Wow! 00:26:28.40\00:26:29.45 Tell us... I know... the time has just flown by... 00:26:29.48\00:26:31.54 there's so much more I could ask you, 00:26:31.57\00:26:33.03 but, tell us about... I keep getting it confused, 00:26:33.07\00:26:35.72 Bible Arme Camp or Arme Bible Camp? 00:26:35.76\00:26:38.07 Arme Bible Camp... What is that? 00:26:38.11\00:26:40.35 Arme Bible Camp is one of the ministries that God has 00:26:40.38\00:26:43.72 blessed me with... and has given me a team 00:26:43.76\00:26:49.54 of people that have pulled this together, essentially, that 00:26:49.57\00:26:53.64 that the ministry is about teaching people how to get 00:26:53.68\00:26:57.03 into the Word of God for themselves... 00:26:57.07\00:26:59.40 how to get into the deeper things of the Bible... 00:26:59.44\00:27:01.87 and how to equip themselves and arm themselves... 00:27:01.90\00:27:04.30 hence the name: Arm Me... Oh... Arm Me... 00:27:04.33\00:27:08.75 Absolutely... Oh, thank you... 00:27:08.78\00:27:11.73 And we've traveled around the world and we put on camps 00:27:11.77\00:27:13.91 around the world so... that's what we are... 00:27:13.94\00:27:16.08 we are a traveling school... teaching people how to be 00:27:16.11\00:27:18.65 armed with the Word of God... That's incredible... 00:27:18.68\00:27:21.24 that's incredible... Thank you so much for being with 00:27:21.28\00:27:23.80 us today... You are such a blessing... 00:27:23.84\00:27:26.26 Thank you Yvonne, thank you for having me and 00:27:26.29\00:27:28.57 I wish we could have had more time to talk but praise God... 00:27:28.60\00:27:33.05 Praise God... and so when you come to 3abn 00:27:33.08\00:27:36.32 to do some more taping, you have to let me interview you 00:27:36.35\00:27:39.56 in person again... Absolutely... 00:27:39.59\00:27:41.47 Praise the Lord... Thank you... 00:27:41.51\00:27:43.32 Thank you... Well, once again, our time has 00:27:43.36\00:27:46.33 slipped away from us... where does it go? 00:27:46.36\00:27:48.97 Thanks so much for tuning in... Join us next time... 00:27:49.00\00:27:52.23 You know, we really, really, really want to bring you 00:27:52.26\00:27:55.80 programs that will bless you... so join us next time... 00:27:55.84\00:27:59.37 because... it just wouldn't be the same without you... 00:27:59.41\00:28:02.91