Are you tough enough? 00:00:01.36\00:00:02.70 Stay tuned to meet a man 00:00:02.73\00:00:04.07 who can help you answer that question. 00:00:04.10\00:00:05.43 My name is Jason Bradley 00:00:05.47\00:00:06.80 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:00:06.84\00:00:08.64 Hello and welcome to Urban Report. 00:00:32.39\00:00:34.33 My guest today is Pastor Carl McRoy, 00:00:34.36\00:00:36.87 author and publishing director 00:00:36.90\00:00:38.50 of the South Atlantic Conference 00:00:38.53\00:00:39.97 of Seventh-day Adventist. 00:00:40.00\00:00:41.57 Welcome to Urban Report, Pastor Mc. 00:00:41.60\00:00:43.54 Thank you. 00:00:43.57\00:00:44.91 So tell us a little bit about your background? 00:00:44.94\00:00:47.48 Where are you from? 00:00:47.51\00:00:48.94 Were you always raised Adventist? 00:00:48.98\00:00:52.15 I'm originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. 00:00:52.18\00:00:55.08 I was raised Adventist and, you know, 00:00:55.12\00:00:57.95 we've moved around quite a bit 00:00:57.99\00:00:59.65 so lived in Minneapolis, Kansas city, 00:00:59.69\00:01:03.46 Akron, Ohio, Charlotte, North Carolina. 00:01:03.49\00:01:06.43 Wow! 00:01:06.46\00:01:07.80 We could go on a few other places. 00:01:07.83\00:01:09.60 It almost sounds like you're in a military family. 00:01:09.63\00:01:15.70 You just do what you got to do, 00:01:15.74\00:01:17.07 may be it was preparation for ministry. 00:01:17.11\00:01:18.97 Uh-huh, uh-huh, moving around a lot. 00:01:19.01\00:01:21.51 At what age did you realize 00:01:21.54\00:01:23.01 that you want to become a pastor? 00:01:23.04\00:01:27.28 It's kind of funny because I went to Oakwood in 1999. 00:01:27.32\00:01:32.59 It was about 10 years 00:01:32.62\00:01:33.96 after people have been telling me 00:01:33.99\00:01:35.32 that I should go into the ministry. 00:01:35.36\00:01:37.93 But even when I went to Oakwood, 00:01:37.96\00:01:39.29 I wasn't going there 00:01:39.33\00:01:40.66 with the idea of being a pastor. 00:01:40.70\00:01:42.03 I just simply wanted to improve the talents 00:01:42.06\00:01:44.00 that God had given me. 00:01:44.03\00:01:45.77 Okay, okay, wonderful. 00:01:45.80\00:01:47.47 I went to Oakwood too. 00:01:47.50\00:01:48.84 Okay. At what years? 00:01:48.87\00:01:50.21 So fellow Oakwood, I... 00:01:50.24\00:01:52.04 2005 I believe. 00:01:52.07\00:01:54.04 I went to semester starting in January. 00:01:54.08\00:01:57.48 All right. Yeah, I went then. 00:01:57.51\00:02:00.48 The snack bar 00:02:00.52\00:02:01.85 was one of my favorite places at Oakwood. 00:02:01.88\00:02:05.02 So you've written several books, all right. 00:02:05.05\00:02:10.19 One of them is "Yell at God and live." 00:02:10.23\00:02:13.60 I know that's a, 00:02:13.63\00:02:14.96 that title gets a lot of questions. 00:02:15.00\00:02:18.40 So tell us about that book? 00:02:18.43\00:02:19.83 What motivated you to write that 00:02:19.87\00:02:21.57 and what do you mean at yell at God and live? 00:02:21.60\00:02:25.01 All right. 00:02:25.04\00:02:26.84 I guess of all with the title, 00:02:26.88\00:02:30.88 you know, there's a story of Job 00:02:30.91\00:02:33.21 where he is afflicted by Satan. 00:02:33.25\00:02:35.08 He doesn't know what's going on though 00:02:35.12\00:02:37.22 as he's going through his affliction. 00:02:37.25\00:02:41.22 And extremely low time in his life his wife says, 00:02:41.26\00:02:45.76 "Why don't you just curse God and die." 00:02:45.79\00:02:49.20 So I just kind of turned that around and said, 00:02:49.23\00:02:51.60 "Yell at God and live." 00:02:51.63\00:02:53.97 The idea is that contrary to what Job's wife thought, 00:02:54.00\00:02:59.24 God is big enough that you can go to Him 00:02:59.27\00:03:03.35 with all of your problems, all of your feelings, 00:03:03.38\00:03:05.71 and, you know, even, 00:03:05.75\00:03:07.58 even if you think that He is your problem, 00:03:07.62\00:03:11.72 you can tell Him whatever needs to be said. 00:03:11.75\00:03:14.22 He is big enough to absorb it on. 00:03:14.26\00:03:16.83 And so you can yell at Him and live. 00:03:16.86\00:03:19.66 So let me get this straight. 00:03:19.69\00:03:21.86 You're not talking about 00:03:21.90\00:03:23.23 yelling at God in a disrespectful manner, 00:03:23.26\00:03:25.07 you're talking about taking your concerns to God. 00:03:25.10\00:03:28.77 Yes, what we're saying is stop trying to dress everything up. 00:03:28.80\00:03:32.77 Make it nice and pretty before you present it to God. 00:03:32.81\00:03:36.28 He knows... 00:03:36.31\00:03:37.65 Psalms says that He knows our thoughts from afar. 00:03:37.68\00:03:40.35 Whatever you're thinking about God, 00:03:40.38\00:03:43.08 He already knows what you're thinking. 00:03:43.12\00:03:44.72 So you're not fooling Him by using pretty language 00:03:44.75\00:03:48.49 or worst yet hiding from God, 00:03:48.52\00:03:51.23 afraid to have a conversation with God 00:03:51.26\00:03:54.26 until you're able to fix it up. 00:03:54.30\00:03:57.77 So basically, none of this superficial prayer, 00:03:57.80\00:04:00.84 just be real with God 00:04:00.87\00:04:02.20 because He knows the end from the beginning. 00:04:02.24\00:04:03.97 So I mean that makes a lot of sense. 00:04:04.01\00:04:05.94 I just know that, 00:04:05.97\00:04:07.44 that the title when I first read it, 00:04:07.48\00:04:09.61 I was trying to figure it out myself 00:04:09.64\00:04:12.65 but I know that if I got angry at my mom, 00:04:12.68\00:04:15.05 then I start to yelling at my mom, 00:04:15.08\00:04:18.15 there'd be some consequences. 00:04:18.19\00:04:19.65 Right, but see, God is bigger than your mom. 00:04:19.69\00:04:23.29 He's bigger than your dad. 00:04:23.32\00:04:26.36 And He knows what we're going through. 00:04:26.39\00:04:28.70 We have examples from scripture. 00:04:28.73\00:04:31.23 I often autograph my book 00:04:31.27\00:04:32.80 and I put Psalm 88 and I'll say to Jason. 00:04:32.83\00:04:37.14 Psalm 88 then I sign my name. 00:04:37.17\00:04:39.57 Psalm 88 is and it's, 00:04:39.61\00:04:42.04 it's the centerpiece of this book. 00:04:42.08\00:04:44.78 And as you read it, 00:04:44.81\00:04:46.75 the author is just accusing God 00:04:46.78\00:04:50.89 of one bad thing after another. 00:04:50.92\00:04:53.76 It doesn't seem very pious at all. 00:04:53.79\00:04:56.56 And so sometimes we have ideas about God 00:04:56.59\00:05:00.96 about how we need to present ourselves to God. 00:05:01.00\00:05:04.83 But the unfortunate thing is that many times 00:05:04.87\00:05:07.57 those ideas don't come from His word. 00:05:07.60\00:05:11.84 So where, what do you think those ideas are coming from 00:05:11.87\00:05:14.91 or who, like so you think, 00:05:14.94\00:05:17.15 basically it's coming from people 00:05:17.18\00:05:19.81 but it's not based on the word of God. 00:05:19.85\00:05:21.88 Okay. 00:05:21.92\00:05:23.72 Now in Psalm 88, 00:05:23.75\00:05:25.45 I remember reading in your book that basically there was like 00:05:25.49\00:05:30.23 one positive thing at the beginning 00:05:30.26\00:05:32.59 and then it went from worse to the worst. 00:05:32.63\00:05:36.70 Right, yeah, he blames God. 00:05:36.73\00:05:39.43 He blames God for being depressed. 00:05:39.47\00:05:41.67 He blames God for losing all of his friends. 00:05:41.70\00:05:45.51 He blames God for everything. 00:05:45.54\00:05:48.54 And most of the Psalms, 00:05:48.58\00:05:52.68 while they might compliant about situations in their life, 00:05:52.71\00:05:56.05 at the end, they give glory to God. 00:05:56.08\00:05:58.92 Psalm 88 doesn't do that at the end. 00:05:58.95\00:06:01.66 It leaves you in a dark tunnel. 00:06:01.69\00:06:04.43 Man, let's see, 00:06:04.46\00:06:06.36 it's like there's so many times where we go through tough times 00:06:06.39\00:06:10.07 and it's not God that's causing the tough times. 00:06:10.10\00:06:12.63 He may be allowing them to happen 00:06:12.67\00:06:16.14 but there's a blessing 00:06:16.17\00:06:17.51 at the end of the tunnel, there's... 00:06:17.54\00:06:19.54 He is helping to shape our character and refine us, 00:06:19.57\00:06:23.01 so I could see that. 00:06:23.04\00:06:26.31 And also one of the things is that, I mean, 00:06:26.35\00:06:29.08 I could have called it Comforters Incorporated. 00:06:29.12\00:06:32.22 Comforters Incorporated, 00:06:32.25\00:06:34.66 which is the final chapter of the book. 00:06:34.69\00:06:39.19 But I wasn't writing this to church people. 00:06:39.23\00:06:43.77 My primary audience is outside of the church. 00:06:43.80\00:06:48.57 And there are a lot of people 00:06:48.60\00:06:51.44 who are skeptics, atheists 00:06:51.47\00:06:53.51 because of some situation in their life. 00:06:53.54\00:06:56.71 It caused anger. It caused grief. 00:06:56.75\00:06:59.68 And they got superficial answers from the church. 00:06:59.71\00:07:03.12 And they're told things 00:07:03.15\00:07:04.72 of how they need to talk to God and how, you know, 00:07:04.75\00:07:09.52 they need to dress it up, make it pretty. 00:07:09.56\00:07:13.50 And so questions start arising, you know, 00:07:13.53\00:07:16.63 well, if God is so big, 00:07:16.67\00:07:18.07 if He's everything that you say He is, 00:07:18.10\00:07:20.84 why can't I ask Him a question? 00:07:20.87\00:07:22.90 You know, but often we're told not to question God. 00:07:22.94\00:07:26.68 But again the Bible is full of people 00:07:26.71\00:07:28.38 who questioned God. 00:07:28.41\00:07:31.08 And you also brought up a point in there about Jesus 00:07:31.11\00:07:33.75 questioning the Father, touch on that a little bit? 00:07:33.78\00:07:39.62 Well, in the chapter "Yell at God and live" 00:07:39.65\00:07:44.46 I say that Jesus yelled at God and He lives. 00:07:44.49\00:07:49.26 Jesus yelled at God while He was on the cross. 00:07:49.30\00:07:51.80 He said, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" 00:07:51.83\00:07:56.67 Now the Father hadn't really forsaken Him. 00:07:56.71\00:07:59.47 He's following through with Father's plan, 00:07:59.51\00:08:02.54 but in the moment of anguish, 00:08:02.58\00:08:04.71 these words come out of His mouth. 00:08:04.75\00:08:07.62 And the Bible says furthermore that it was with a loud voice, 00:08:07.65\00:08:11.62 He cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 00:08:11.65\00:08:15.82 He didn't whisper it. 00:08:15.86\00:08:17.26 It wasn't a whimper, He yelled. 00:08:17.29\00:08:19.59 Yeah, yeah. 00:08:19.63\00:08:22.13 When you think about that sacrifice, 00:08:22.16\00:08:23.83 when you think about being separated from the Father 00:08:23.87\00:08:27.40 like that and what Christ did for us 00:08:27.44\00:08:29.60 by coming down off the throne, 00:08:29.64\00:08:31.57 coming to earth to live as we did 00:08:31.61\00:08:34.28 and to take on the sins of the world and die for us, 00:08:34.31\00:08:37.75 a bunch of undeserving people. 00:08:37.78\00:08:40.48 I mean, it's amazing. 00:08:40.52\00:08:43.28 Now you did a book called "R U Tuff Enuff." 00:08:43.32\00:08:46.96 Yes, yes, that was my second one. 00:08:46.99\00:08:48.32 Now, what is that book about? 00:08:48.36\00:08:52.73 Basically this was designed for men's outreach. 00:08:52.76\00:08:57.40 Again my primary audience is not for the church people. 00:08:57.43\00:09:02.20 So I took a lot of flack 00:09:02.24\00:09:03.97 for the cover on that book as well. 00:09:04.01\00:09:06.37 You know, the gothic letters, 00:09:06.41\00:09:10.31 you know, it has a cross 00:09:10.35\00:09:11.81 but it's surrounded in barbwire or whatever, 00:09:11.85\00:09:15.02 you know, it's just a crazy looking cover. 00:09:15.05\00:09:17.95 And so a lot of church people have said, "Wow! 00:09:17.99\00:09:22.76 You know, I don't, I don't want to deal with that, that's, 00:09:22.79\00:09:26.09 it looks Satanic or something." 00:09:26.13\00:09:28.66 And, but my primary audience 00:09:28.70\00:09:31.90 is not people already in church, 00:09:31.93\00:09:34.87 it's the majority of men are here 00:09:34.90\00:09:37.61 who are not going to church. 00:09:37.64\00:09:40.88 Across denominational lines you go to from church to church 00:09:40.91\00:09:45.11 and you have 60, 70, 80 percent women feeling abuse. 00:09:45.15\00:09:50.85 When we talk about reaching the un-churched, 00:09:50.89\00:09:53.62 a large part of what we need to be talking about 00:09:53.66\00:09:56.09 is reaching men. 00:09:56.12\00:09:57.93 Why do you think that is? 00:09:57.96\00:09:59.29 Why do you think that it's mainly women 00:09:59.33\00:10:01.03 that are in the church and the men aren't? 00:10:01.06\00:10:02.66 What do you think that's about? 00:10:02.70\00:10:05.03 Well, I think part of it is... 00:10:05.07\00:10:08.50 I mean, I'm sure it's very complex 00:10:08.54\00:10:10.67 but part of it is emphasis of the gospel 00:10:10.71\00:10:14.64 with the parts that deal with love, 00:10:14.68\00:10:18.01 and mercy, and gentleness, meekness, humility 00:10:18.05\00:10:22.28 and what about the power of God? 00:10:22.32\00:10:25.15 What about His sense of justice? 00:10:25.19\00:10:27.99 You know, what about the toughness of Jesus? 00:10:28.02\00:10:31.53 Talk about the grace of Jesus, what about his toughness? 00:10:31.56\00:10:35.06 You have a fisherman whose hands are callused, 00:10:35.10\00:10:40.07 whose backs get beaten by the sun 00:10:40.10\00:10:42.70 as they're out on those boats, 00:10:42.74\00:10:45.31 and the carpenter walks by and says, 00:10:45.34\00:10:48.31 "Follow me" and they follow him. 00:10:48.34\00:10:51.51 You've some soldiers that were sent to arrest him, 00:10:51.55\00:10:55.28 and they go back empty-handed, 00:10:55.32\00:10:56.82 and the people they sent him said, 00:10:56.85\00:10:58.82 "Why didn't you bring him back? 00:10:58.85\00:11:00.19 What are you doing? What are you thinking?" 00:11:00.22\00:11:02.46 And they said, we can't help it, 00:11:02.49\00:11:06.16 we never heard any men speak like this man spoke. 00:11:06.19\00:11:09.86 Wow! He must have spoken with power. 00:11:09.90\00:11:12.37 His very being demanded respect from strong men. 00:11:12.40\00:11:17.41 Yes, yes. 00:11:17.44\00:11:18.77 And that's what we bring out in "R U Tuff Enuff?" 00:11:18.81\00:11:23.04 So what inspired you to write these books? 00:11:23.08\00:11:26.38 And how long did it take you to write each one? 00:11:26.41\00:11:30.99 People ask me that especially about "Yell at God and live." 00:11:31.02\00:11:36.22 "How long did it take you to write it?" 00:11:36.26\00:11:37.76 And I tell, 00:11:37.79\00:11:39.43 I simply have to say, over 40 years. 00:11:39.46\00:11:43.13 Really? 00:11:43.16\00:11:44.50 Because there's lot of experiences, 00:11:44.53\00:11:46.07 lot of heart-break 00:11:46.10\00:11:48.10 that is distilled into those 64 pages. 00:11:48.14\00:11:53.07 Now we want to, we want to touch 00:11:53.11\00:11:54.61 on some of the experiences that you feel comfortable 00:11:54.64\00:11:57.65 with sharing on the air 00:11:57.68\00:12:00.08 but we want to touch on some of those experiences 00:12:00.12\00:12:02.52 and what you've learned from them? 00:12:02.55\00:12:04.32 What you took away from them? All right. 00:12:04.35\00:12:06.05 Well, when I was young, 00:12:06.09\00:12:10.56 I remember of my grandmother dying, 00:12:10.59\00:12:14.13 I remember seeing her in the hospital 00:12:14.16\00:12:15.90 when she couldn't respond. 00:12:15.93\00:12:18.37 And there wasn't really a conversation 00:12:18.40\00:12:23.04 that could take place at that point and so, 00:12:23.07\00:12:26.78 and that was my last time seeing her before she died. 00:12:26.81\00:12:31.15 And I would spend summer time with her 00:12:31.18\00:12:35.88 and sometimes cause some trouble and there was this, 00:12:35.92\00:12:41.32 there was an amount of guilt after my grandmother died. 00:12:41.36\00:12:44.83 Yeah. Yeah. 00:12:44.86\00:12:46.56 That I wish I would have said sorry 00:12:46.59\00:12:48.53 for some things or what have you. 00:12:48.56\00:12:50.80 And then, you know, 00:12:50.83\00:12:52.87 different stages, different people dying, 00:12:52.90\00:12:54.74 and just the different grief experiences you go through. 00:12:54.77\00:12:59.14 And then as a pastor, 00:12:59.17\00:13:02.98 I started my ministry at Atlanta Berean church. 00:13:03.01\00:13:06.28 I was the assistant pastor there. 00:13:06.31\00:13:07.65 Really? 00:13:07.68\00:13:09.02 I was just there not too long ago. 00:13:09.05\00:13:10.39 Okay. Yeah. 00:13:10.42\00:13:11.75 So from 2002 to 2004, I was assistant pastor there. 00:13:11.79\00:13:14.92 We had weekly funerals there, weekly. 00:13:14.96\00:13:19.46 There were sometimes where Elder William Winston 00:13:19.49\00:13:22.06 who is now our conference president. 00:13:22.10\00:13:23.80 He was the senior pastor at that time. 00:13:23.83\00:13:26.43 He would officiate one funeral at the church 00:13:26.47\00:13:29.30 and I was at a funeral home with another family 00:13:29.34\00:13:32.64 taking care of that funeral. 00:13:32.67\00:13:34.81 So you come in contact with a lot of grief. 00:13:34.84\00:13:38.68 And I think of the word, Charles Spurgeon, 00:13:38.71\00:13:42.88 he wrote that, 00:13:42.92\00:13:45.85 "A sick person's point of contact 00:13:45.89\00:13:48.42 with the physician is illness. 00:13:48.46\00:13:51.86 A sinner's contact with Jesus is sin." 00:13:51.89\00:13:57.17 And I think to large degree 00:13:57.20\00:13:58.90 that the church's point of contact 00:13:58.93\00:14:01.47 with the un-churched is their pain. 00:14:01.50\00:14:05.61 And so that's, 00:14:05.64\00:14:07.04 I learn that people are open like no other time in life 00:14:07.08\00:14:10.78 when they're going through guilt, 00:14:10.81\00:14:12.15 they're open to the gospel. 00:14:12.18\00:14:14.28 But if you, if you approach them wrong, 00:14:14.32\00:14:16.72 you can close their hearts to the gospel. 00:14:16.75\00:14:18.85 Yes, so what do you... 00:14:18.89\00:14:21.36 Can you describe the approach 00:14:21.39\00:14:24.46 that people should take in order so that, 00:14:24.49\00:14:26.66 so that they're not approaching them in the wrong way 00:14:26.70\00:14:29.40 to make them closed off to the gospel? 00:14:29.43\00:14:33.27 Sure. 00:14:33.30\00:14:34.64 I think Job's friends for instance, 00:14:34.67\00:14:37.54 they started out well. 00:14:37.57\00:14:39.77 In the Book of Job, he went through these problems. 00:14:39.81\00:14:42.88 Job's friends hear about his problems 00:14:42.91\00:14:44.85 and they go to meet with him. 00:14:44.88\00:14:47.42 And for about a week long they just sat with him, 00:14:47.45\00:14:50.82 sat in silence. 00:14:50.85\00:14:52.69 It was after they open their mouths 00:14:52.72\00:14:54.22 and started trying to give him explanations 00:14:54.26\00:14:56.32 for his suffering that he ended up saying, 00:14:56.36\00:14:59.49 "What miserable comforters you are!" 00:14:59.53\00:15:02.03 So sometimes it's just the ministry of presence, 00:15:02.06\00:15:04.60 just letting people know that you're with them. 00:15:04.63\00:15:07.30 Okay, okay. 00:15:07.34\00:15:08.67 So just being supportive and not spewing negativity... 00:15:08.70\00:15:12.77 Right, listening... 00:15:12.81\00:15:14.14 And all that stuff. 00:15:14.18\00:15:15.51 And trying to enter in to their pain with them. 00:15:15.54\00:15:17.88 Absolutely. 00:15:17.91\00:15:19.25 Now you wrote another book "Impediments to Power." 00:15:19.28\00:15:23.39 Tell us about that? 00:15:23.42\00:15:25.55 Design again for outreach, for prayer outreach. 00:15:25.59\00:15:28.29 There's lot of churches that have discovered 00:15:28.32\00:15:33.63 an easy way of breaking the ice with people in the community 00:15:33.66\00:15:36.70 is just going and praying with people. 00:15:36.73\00:15:39.03 Oh, really? 00:15:39.07\00:15:40.40 So what we do is just make it little simpler 00:15:40.44\00:15:44.14 or just add little something to it rather. 00:15:44.17\00:15:47.88 So I can go through the neighborhood, 00:15:47.91\00:15:49.68 "Hello, my name is Carl 00:15:49.71\00:15:51.05 with Thompsonville Adventist Church, 00:15:51.08\00:15:54.45 and we're in the neighborhood praying with people. 00:15:54.48\00:15:56.45 Do you have any prayer request?" 00:15:56.48\00:15:58.75 And you say, "Yes, pray for my father, 00:15:58.79\00:16:03.22 you know, he just had an accident 00:16:03.26\00:16:04.89 and just need healing." 00:16:04.93\00:16:07.76 So I'm, "Dear Lord, please bless Jason's father. 00:16:07.80\00:16:11.23 You know how much he cares for him. 00:16:11.27\00:16:13.13 We need you to be the healer 00:16:13.17\00:16:14.87 that you've been to so many other people. 00:16:14.90\00:16:17.57 Be that healer in his life right now in Jesus name, amen!" 00:16:17.61\00:16:22.04 And then, you know, we would share the book, 00:16:22.08\00:16:26.55 Impediments to Power. 00:16:26.58\00:16:28.18 And, Jason, 00:16:28.22\00:16:29.55 I just want to keep you encouraged 00:16:29.58\00:16:31.02 in your own prayer life with this gift, 00:16:31.05\00:16:33.15 and I trust it's going to be a blessing to your life, 00:16:33.19\00:16:36.16 and I would like to check back and see how you enjoyed it, 00:16:36.19\00:16:38.29 would that be all right? 00:16:38.33\00:16:39.73 Yeah, and so they respond yes. 00:16:39.76\00:16:42.66 And then that establishes that relationship. 00:16:42.70\00:16:45.50 Exactly. 00:16:45.53\00:16:47.34 And then you invite them to the local church and... 00:16:47.37\00:16:50.51 You know, you ask them, 00:16:50.54\00:16:52.47 when is the good time to return? 00:16:52.51\00:16:54.88 Or you know, what's your number 00:16:54.91\00:16:59.28 and a good time to give you call? 00:16:59.31\00:17:02.38 And you know, just building bridges. 00:17:02.42\00:17:05.42 What are some amazing, like, kind of like, 00:17:05.45\00:17:08.76 miracle stories or stories 00:17:08.79\00:17:12.23 where you've reached out to someone like 00:17:12.26\00:17:15.53 I've been glowing before and it was, 00:17:15.56\00:17:19.17 I've never in, I enjoyed that so much 00:17:19.20\00:17:22.40 because you realize how hungry people are for the gospel. 00:17:22.44\00:17:28.28 And then some of them don't know 00:17:28.31\00:17:29.68 what they're missing until it's presented to them. 00:17:29.71\00:17:32.65 Right. 00:17:32.68\00:17:34.02 And what are some stories 00:17:34.05\00:17:35.42 where you've experienced that type of joy? 00:17:35.45\00:17:39.25 Sure. 00:17:39.29\00:17:40.66 Well, first of all 00:17:40.69\00:17:42.02 I started doing literature evangelism in 1999. 00:17:42.06\00:17:45.19 And I was so nervous 00:17:45.23\00:17:46.93 when I knocked on my first door. 00:17:46.96\00:17:49.33 The gentleman was very accommodating. 00:17:49.36\00:17:51.57 He was friendly 00:17:51.60\00:17:52.93 but his kids were running all over the house. 00:17:52.97\00:17:54.34 It was supper time and so he told me 00:17:54.37\00:17:56.37 I needed to come back at another time. 00:17:56.40\00:17:58.47 So I had my paper out and a pen, 00:17:58.51\00:18:03.68 and I asked him what his name was, 00:18:03.71\00:18:05.95 and I couldn't even get through his first name 00:18:05.98\00:18:08.28 because both of my hands were shaking so much. 00:18:08.32\00:18:11.42 So I handed him the pen, and paper, 00:18:11.45\00:18:13.66 and asked him if he could write his information down for me. 00:18:13.69\00:18:17.69 And he chuckled and he said, 00:18:17.73\00:18:19.43 "You haven't been doing this very long, have you?" 00:18:19.46\00:18:22.73 But later on, in that same summer I knocked on a door, 00:18:22.76\00:18:27.24 this is in Charlotte North Carolina, 00:18:27.27\00:18:29.67 and I knocked on this door, that a neighbor, 00:18:29.70\00:18:33.88 he told me not to knock on. 00:18:33.91\00:18:36.18 He said, "No" I wouldn't bother with him, you know, 00:18:36.21\00:18:39.71 he didn't explain why, he just said, 00:18:39.75\00:18:42.98 "You might want to skip over that door." 00:18:43.02\00:18:45.49 Well, that guy had bought anything for me, he just, 00:18:45.52\00:18:49.72 you know, made up a lot of excuses 00:18:49.76\00:18:51.69 of why he didn't want what I had to offer. 00:18:51.73\00:18:53.23 Okay. 00:18:53.26\00:18:54.60 So I was going to listen to his advice 00:18:54.63\00:18:56.10 about whose door I should knock on. 00:18:56.13\00:18:57.87 Yes, yes. So I knocked on the door. 00:18:57.90\00:19:00.84 And it was quiet, and I knocked again, 00:19:00.87\00:19:04.74 and then I heard a feet stomping. 00:19:04.77\00:19:08.84 And, "Who is it?" 00:19:08.88\00:19:11.45 And I said, "It's Carl" like he should know me. 00:19:11.48\00:19:14.42 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:19:14.45\00:19:16.15 He said, "Who?" 00:19:16.18\00:19:17.52 I said, "It's Carl." 00:19:17.55\00:19:19.69 And then I heard the feet stomping away from the door, 00:19:19.72\00:19:23.22 then the feet stomping back towards the door. 00:19:23.26\00:19:26.43 The inside door flew open. 00:19:26.46\00:19:28.86 And then the gentleman kicked the screen door open, 00:19:28.90\00:19:33.94 and leveled a shotgun at my chest. 00:19:33.97\00:19:36.14 Wow! 00:19:36.17\00:19:37.51 And he said, "What do you want?" 00:19:37.54\00:19:40.54 And I had a Desire of Ages in my hand 00:19:40.58\00:19:42.61 and I held it out to him. 00:19:42.64\00:19:44.38 And I said, "I just want to share 00:19:44.41\00:19:45.75 the love of Jesus with you." 00:19:45.78\00:19:48.08 He lowered his gun, and we ended up having prayer, 00:19:48.12\00:19:51.95 and he got a Steps to Christ from me. 00:19:51.99\00:19:54.39 Wow! 00:19:54.42\00:19:55.76 So... 00:19:55.79\00:19:57.13 I know your eyes got really big when you saw that shotgun. 00:19:57.16\00:19:59.89 Yeah, my heart got real big too, 00:19:59.93\00:20:02.36 right in the middle of my throat. 00:20:02.40\00:20:05.83 You know, it just dawned on me, 00:20:05.87\00:20:07.57 some of our viewers might not know what glowing is, 00:20:07.60\00:20:11.27 so I've been glowing, it's, you know, 00:20:11.31\00:20:14.21 it's those little glow tracts that you pass out, 00:20:14.24\00:20:16.24 that you share with people, 00:20:16.28\00:20:17.61 they have some of those tracts... 00:20:17.65\00:20:18.98 Some stands for it gives light to our world. 00:20:19.01\00:20:20.35 Yes. Yes. 00:20:20.38\00:20:21.72 And you have ones on health, 00:20:21.75\00:20:23.18 you have ones on like, there's a tract 00:20:23.22\00:20:27.12 and I don't think this is a glow tract 00:20:27.16\00:20:28.62 but it's similar, love letters from Jesus 00:20:28.66\00:20:32.26 or a lover letter from Jesus, absolutely amazing. 00:20:32.29\00:20:35.93 Like, when you read it, it's very conversational, 00:20:35.96\00:20:38.23 it's very practical, and it's very personal. 00:20:38.27\00:20:41.60 Right. 00:20:41.64\00:20:42.97 And so what our viewers need to know is that, 00:20:43.00\00:20:48.08 they can go out, they can witness, 00:20:48.11\00:20:49.91 anybody can go, be a witness. 00:20:49.94\00:20:51.28 Right. 00:20:51.31\00:20:52.65 You know, just share with others 00:20:52.68\00:20:54.02 what Christ has done for you, 00:20:54.05\00:20:56.15 give them a Glow tract or you go to a restaurant, 00:20:56.18\00:20:58.45 leave a glow tract in the check presenter. 00:20:58.49\00:21:01.32 Yes, and what we do in our conference 00:21:01.36\00:21:03.86 with our pollution department, 00:21:03.89\00:21:05.23 we emphasis something very similar to what Glow is doing. 00:21:05.26\00:21:08.93 But we've managed to get some of our magazines and books 00:21:08.96\00:21:14.20 almost down to the range of a Glow tract. 00:21:14.24\00:21:16.81 Really? 00:21:16.84\00:21:18.17 All right, Glow tracts are typically going to be about 00:21:18.21\00:21:21.08 five cents a piece. 00:21:21.11\00:21:22.64 You're going to buy a pack of 100 for five dollars. 00:21:22.68\00:21:25.75 Well, say for instance, Impediments to Power, 00:21:25.78\00:21:30.85 we've gotten this at such magnificent deal 00:21:30.89\00:21:35.82 for people that you can get these as low as 15 cents. 00:21:35.86\00:21:40.80 Wow! 00:21:40.83\00:21:42.16 So there's lot more substance for the price. 00:21:42.20\00:21:43.53 Yes. 00:21:43.57\00:21:44.90 And it covers a variety of subjects. 00:21:44.93\00:21:47.87 So it's talking about prayer, 00:21:47.90\00:21:50.77 how to build your relationship with God in different ways. 00:21:50.81\00:21:54.64 It introduces people to the health message. 00:21:54.68\00:21:57.61 It introduces people to the stewardship principles. 00:21:57.65\00:22:00.62 It introduces them to righteousness by faith, 00:22:00.65\00:22:03.65 and several other little things in there so, as low again... 00:22:03.69\00:22:09.12 As low as 15 cents a piece, 00:22:09.16\00:22:10.73 you go to the website ShareWaves.org 00:22:10.76\00:22:14.90 and you order them right there online, 00:22:14.93\00:22:17.47 deliver it to you a few days later. 00:22:17.50\00:22:19.67 And that's where they can purchase all of your... 00:22:19.70\00:22:21.87 Books, correct? Right. 00:22:21.90\00:22:23.24 That's where they can purchase them in bulk... 00:22:23.27\00:22:25.34 Okay. Okay. 00:22:25.37\00:22:26.71 We have another website that we can, you know, get one, 00:22:26.74\00:22:30.48 you just want to get one copy at a time, 00:22:30.51\00:22:32.31 go to familyhomechristianbooks.com. 00:22:32.35\00:22:34.72 Okay. 00:22:34.75\00:22:36.52 What are some other creative ways to do outreach? 00:22:36.55\00:22:41.46 Okay, one of things 00:22:41.49\00:22:44.33 we've done with "R U Tuff Enuff, 00:22:44.36\00:22:46.03 " we did a print run of about 00:22:46.06\00:22:47.40 50, 000 of them a couple of years ago 00:22:47.43\00:22:49.86 and they're just about all gone. 00:22:49.90\00:22:52.37 And one of the places that we dispersed them 00:22:52.40\00:22:54.80 at is football games and things like that. 00:22:54.84\00:22:59.37 So where you have sports minded people 00:22:59.41\00:23:01.38 because you've a sports theme that goes through the book. 00:23:01.41\00:23:05.11 And so we just, we go out to the ball games, 00:23:05.15\00:23:09.32 and advertise free souvenirs, 00:23:09.35\00:23:11.69 and people come and scoop them up. 00:23:11.72\00:23:13.59 And then sometimes we get people that come back 00:23:13.62\00:23:16.59 after they've read a couple of pages 00:23:16.62\00:23:18.76 and ask if they can get a couple more 00:23:18.79\00:23:20.46 for different people in their lives. 00:23:20.50\00:23:21.83 Nice. 00:23:21.86\00:23:23.90 "Yell at God and live," 00:23:23.93\00:23:28.17 couple of different ways that I've used this. 00:23:28.20\00:23:30.01 The first way that I had in mind 00:23:30.04\00:23:32.11 even as I wrote it was 00:23:32.14\00:23:34.04 when you have a funeral at your church, 00:23:34.08\00:23:36.54 you have a lot of people 00:23:36.58\00:23:38.75 that are not members of your church 00:23:38.78\00:23:40.72 within your church walls. 00:23:40.75\00:23:42.62 You don't, you didn't put out a flyer 00:23:42.65\00:23:44.35 to bring one of them in. 00:23:44.39\00:23:45.89 Yes. All right. 00:23:45.92\00:23:47.76 And they may never be back. 00:23:47.79\00:23:49.22 This may be your one main time to make an impression on them, 00:23:49.26\00:23:53.19 a lasting impression. 00:23:53.23\00:23:54.56 So at the end of the service for a dear friend of mine, 00:23:54.60\00:23:58.33 I told people what the book was about. 00:23:58.37\00:24:00.80 I went through the five chapters in that. 00:24:00.84\00:24:03.30 I showed how this correlates to the various stages of grief. 00:24:03.34\00:24:07.01 And that we have a free gift 00:24:07.04\00:24:09.64 for each person at the back door, the usher, 00:24:09.68\00:24:13.68 if they want one, the ushers have them, 00:24:13.72\00:24:15.72 so they can freely take them. 00:24:15.75\00:24:17.55 And I'm so, 00:24:17.59\00:24:19.09 there was about 300 people at the funeral 00:24:19.12\00:24:21.19 and everyone took a book on the way out. 00:24:21.22\00:24:25.49 I make contacts in the community 00:24:25.53\00:24:27.80 with funeral home directors 00:24:27.83\00:24:30.80 and set up displays in their establishments 00:24:30.83\00:24:33.70 'cause it's another way that they can add value 00:24:33.74\00:24:36.67 and minister to the people that come through their doors. 00:24:36.71\00:24:39.77 And funeral home directors eventually they get to know 00:24:39.81\00:24:43.08 everybody in town. 00:24:43.11\00:24:44.71 Yes, unfortunately... Yeah... 00:24:44.75\00:24:46.65 Unfortunately on death. 00:24:46.68\00:24:48.05 You know, we know that death is appointed on to man once 00:24:48.08\00:24:52.35 and then the judgment. 00:24:52.39\00:24:53.72 So that's our common denominator. 00:24:53.76\00:24:56.83 And so this is a way to reach a lot of people. 00:24:56.86\00:24:59.89 You get a nice display of these in the funeral home 00:24:59.93\00:25:02.90 as people are hurrying and passing 00:25:02.93\00:25:04.93 through those doors, they pick it up, 00:25:04.97\00:25:07.30 you can put your label inside of it. 00:25:07.34\00:25:09.87 And so they know who to thank after they've been blessed. 00:25:09.90\00:25:13.91 Now what advice would you have for someone 00:25:13.94\00:25:16.31 who wants to become a writer? 00:25:16.34\00:25:19.71 Advice for writers, I like to think about writing 00:25:19.75\00:25:24.25 as in one respect as doing pottery. 00:25:24.29\00:25:30.09 So when you're doing pottery, 00:25:30.13\00:25:32.23 you get a piece of clay and you put it on the wheel, 00:25:32.26\00:25:35.73 you just bring a big lump of clay 00:25:35.76\00:25:37.33 and put it on the wheel. 00:25:37.37\00:25:38.70 You know, you're going to have more 00:25:38.73\00:25:40.44 than what you need for the actual vessel. 00:25:40.47\00:25:43.17 But don't spend a lot of time trying to worry 00:25:43.20\00:25:45.47 about the details 00:25:45.51\00:25:46.84 of what you will cut off later on, 00:25:46.88\00:25:49.21 just get the lump on a wheel. 00:25:49.24\00:25:51.11 In other words, start writing, and just keep on writing. 00:25:51.15\00:25:54.68 Don't worry about fixing it up until later on. 00:25:54.72\00:25:57.95 And then after you've gotten it on the wheel, 00:25:57.99\00:26:00.89 after you've gotten your manuscript together, 00:26:00.92\00:26:03.29 then you start shaping it in, 00:26:03.32\00:26:04.89 you can start playing around 00:26:04.93\00:26:07.00 with the placement of the paragraphs, 00:26:07.03\00:26:08.63 and the chapters, and then find a good editor, 00:26:08.66\00:26:13.27 I know there's lot of ways to self publish today 00:26:13.30\00:26:16.20 but the editor is someone 00:26:16.24\00:26:17.74 that you don't want to bypass... 00:26:17.77\00:26:20.21 Yes. Yes. 00:26:20.24\00:26:21.58 Because they help you make, 00:26:21.61\00:26:24.75 they make you look better than you would've looked, 00:26:24.78\00:26:27.92 you know, it's like coming out on to the set, 00:26:27.95\00:26:29.82 I had to stop in make up room, you know, 00:26:29.85\00:26:33.39 she knows what she's doing, I just sat there, 00:26:33.42\00:26:35.76 and let her do her thing. 00:26:35.79\00:26:37.13 Yeah. Yeah, to take away the shine, yes, yes. 00:26:37.16\00:26:39.49 Well, take away the shine 00:26:39.53\00:26:40.86 and there's something's in your manuscript 00:26:40.90\00:26:43.03 that you don't want to shine, they're not shine worthy. 00:26:43.06\00:26:46.53 Yeah, like mistakes. Yes, definitely. 00:26:46.57\00:26:51.07 In the short, short time that we have left, 00:26:51.11\00:26:54.04 who were some of your mentors? 00:26:54.08\00:26:56.01 Some of my mentors... 00:26:56.04\00:26:57.48 Well, I stay in touch 00:26:57.51\00:26:59.05 with the lot of people at Pacific Press. 00:26:59.08\00:27:01.08 I had an internship back in 2001 at Pacific Press 00:27:01.12\00:27:05.25 working in the editorial department 00:27:05.29\00:27:06.96 so people like Randy Maxwell, Tim Lale, Jerry D. 00:27:06.99\00:27:11.13 Thomas as far as writing mentorship goes, 00:27:11.16\00:27:17.50 those are some of my top people. 00:27:17.53\00:27:20.10 One of my old professors at Oakwood, Keith Burton, 00:27:20.14\00:27:24.64 you know, somebody that really sharpened my mind 00:27:24.67\00:27:27.18 and pushed me to write. 00:27:27.21\00:27:30.01 So he kind of motivated you to start writing. 00:27:30.05\00:27:33.11 Yes, yes. Okay. 00:27:33.15\00:27:35.58 And well, I would be remiss if I didn't say my wife, 00:27:35.62\00:27:39.29 she's one of the first people that saw samples of my writing 00:27:39.32\00:27:42.86 and really encouraged me to do more with it. 00:27:42.89\00:27:45.66 So yeah, the support. 00:27:45.69\00:27:47.70 Yes. Yes. 00:27:47.73\00:27:49.06 Well, thank you so much for coming on. 00:27:49.10\00:27:52.03 Thanks for tuning in. 00:27:52.07\00:27:53.40 Join us next time and remember 00:27:53.44\00:27:55.37 it just wouldn't be the same without you. 00:27:55.40\00:27:58.04