Latest / Witness the Wonder Christian Podcast: Supernatural Christian Testimonies, Miracles, and God Stories / From Gang Kidnapping to God Encounter: Macc Fenner's Wild God Story | #supernatural #miracles #faith

Transcript

From Gang Kidnapping to God Encounter: Macc Fenner's Wild God Story | #supernatural #miracles #faith · Witness the Wonder Christian Podcast: Supernatural Christian Testimonies, Miracles, and God Stories

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Got kidnapped and held hostage at gunpoint.
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He was going to kill me. The others in the gang got very
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nervous. Welcome to Witness the Wonder.
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I'm your host Christina Smith. Recently I was praying and I
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felt the Holy Spirit speak very clearly interview Mack Fenner.
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He has a wild God story. So when I shared that with Mack,
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Mack told me he does not like to share his testimony.
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After that, Mack said OK, I'll share my wild God story.
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So I'm stepping into this conversation just like you are,
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without knowing exactly what's coming, but fully trusting that
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God does. Mac welcome.
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Well, thank you for having me. I'm I'm a little nervous like
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you mentioned. I don't like telling my story
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because my past has nothing to do with who I am now.
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I was alone in this world until I gave my life to the Lord at
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the age of 33 years old. I was born into extreme poverty
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with a single mom who did what she had to do to keep us alive.
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Some of those things were unspeakable.
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So it wasn't uncommon for me to see multiple men coming through
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the apartment or the shack or the trailer or the camper or the
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bus that we were living in at the time every day and
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especially at night. And it felt wrong and dirty,
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especially when I would see the men and my mom naked.
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Sometimes she would leave me with family members and others
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for extended periods of time, and during one of these stints I
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ended up being molested in several ways and raped almost
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daily. For about two years of my
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childhood, I was being raped under threat of death, and I was
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assured many times that if I ever told anyone, I would be
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killed. When I struggled, I was beaten.
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So to say that I was living with anxiety or fear just doesn't cut
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it. I lived those two years in sheer
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terror 100% of the time. My mom ended up meeting a good
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man who took us off the streets when I was 9 or 10 years old.
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I was extremely grateful for my new stepdad.
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Although my mom would treat him like dirt quite a bit, he stood
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by her. Even when I defended him against
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my mom, I would get in trouble with him.
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Don't talk to your mom like that.
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He did his best to teach me how to be a man, how to work, how to
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take responsibility for my actions, and how to lead.
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But before my stepdad, my mom and I moved around a lot,
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sometimes as many as three times per week.
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And moving slowed down quite a bit when she got married.
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But it didn't stop. Between kindergarten and 12th
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grade, I only attended the same school for an entire year twice.
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Despite that, I always made straight A's in school.
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I think focusing on academics helped me feel as grounded as I
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could, being that I lived like a nomad for my entire life.
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Different school, different people, different environments,
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but math and science always stayed the same, so I enjoyed
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school work. Once I got into high school, I
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was surrounded by violence, including gang violence.
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The only way I could see to avoid the incessant bullying and
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living in fear again was to become a tough guy myself and
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push back hard. So push back hard.
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I did. I felt like I was going to die
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if I didn't fight back. I ended up joining up with a
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local gang and did some unspeakable things myself, the
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least of which was drugs and alcohol and needless useless
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violence. I had become absolutely enraged.
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It wasn't until later that I realized that I had actually
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invited in a spirit of rage into my my life which the Lord ended
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up delivering me from. Years later, as a young adult, I
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ended up getting into a situation where I got kidnapped
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and held hostage at gunpoint for a few hours.
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I got jumped by the perpetrators periodically throughout the
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ordeal, beaten up, punched a lot, etcetera.
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But when the leader of this gang made the decision that he was
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going to kill me, the others in the gang got very nervous.
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So when he walked out of the room for a moment, I saw my
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chance. I was able to physically fight
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my way out and I escaped. This event sort of woke me up.
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I still wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself,
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but I suddenly didn't feel the need to fit in or be accepted
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anymore. I got out of the gang and
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started focusing on school. I was in college at the time.
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I met a girl and got married. We weren't Christians, so we
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were leading somewhat of an alternative lifestyle, which
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included lots of sexual immorality.
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You name it, we did it. And drugs and alcohol.
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We ended up having a child in 1999.
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That's my oldest daughter. And when my daughter was born,
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my wife went into postpartum depression and became very
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distant and promiscuous with others while I was trying to
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straighten my life up and focus on my daughter and my education.
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I was also in a rock band at the time and they would have
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supported me no matter what I did, but I still felt very, very
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alone in my struggle. Little did I know that this was
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the beginning of the Lord calling me to my purpose, my
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destiny. I ended up catching my wife in
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bed with another man and we split for good.
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I was heartbroken and felt completely devastated.
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I divorced her and got full 100% custody of my daughter and life
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became even more difficult. My mom and stepdad wouldn't
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watch my daughter until she was out of diapers and I lost almost
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all of my friends because I had stopped doing drugs and alcohol
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and I didn't want it at my house anymore.
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So not long after the divorce I moved and I didn't have any help
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and with no babysitter and no help moving, I found myself
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carrying beds and washer and dryer, refrigerator, couches,
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everything by myself with a one year old running around my legs.
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Everything became more difficult, but I think the
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hardest part were those times when my daughter would bang on
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the door and slap on the windows asking where's mommy?
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On top of that, my daughter was diagnosed with Asperger's
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Syndrome and had special needs and needed extra special
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attention and patience. Raising her alone without all
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the rest would have been hard enough, but there I was, working
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50 to 60 hours per week, going to college and raising my
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daughter alone. It was tough, but with no other
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distractions like a wife, I was able to focus on my music and my
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education. After going to.
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After going to college part time for 12 years, making the Dean's
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list every single semester, making straight one hundreds or
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better on every assignment, every quiz, every test, I
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finally graduated valedictorian with A4 Point OGPAI felt very
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proud of myself. That was in 2004.
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In the same year my band was doing very well.
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We had the opportunity to open up for some big names like 3
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Doors Down, Breaking Benjamin, Corn, 5 Finger Death Punch,
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Shinedown, and Stained. So as tough as things were, my
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life was actually at its peak in the eyes of this world.
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That being said, I was feeling just as empty and as angry as I
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ever had. I knew that there was something
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more than all of this, but I just couldn't put my finger on
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what it was. What was missing.
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It felt like truth itself was missing.
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I felt an urgency in my spirit to find that missing truth.
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Now. I had always pondered deep
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things, studying quantum physics in my spare time, time travel,
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string theory, M theory, multiple universes, but I had
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never been interested in religion before.
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I began a journey in my life in an attempt to fill that void.
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I had no choice. I became absolutely determined
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to find the truth. I researched many different
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religions and I attended many different types of churches in
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the area. I felt more drawn toward
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Christianity, but I figured that was because my mom considered
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herself Catholic and she had brought me to church a couple of
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times as a child. By the middle of this mission I
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had read the Bible front to back and much of it was obviously
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truth to me. But I had questions.
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Questions that no one seemed to be able to answer.
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Even pastors and churches would become visibly upset with me
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when I asked certain questions. Once I was even accused of
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practicing witchcraft because of the questions I asked, but I
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thought they were valid questions for a non Christian
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trying to understand. I just wanted to understand the
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belief system. I knew that I could forgive
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someone no matter what they did, but you're saying Almighty God,
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the essence of love himself, can't forgive me unless there's
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a bloody horrible murder on a cross first?
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Is that right? If I can forgive, why can't God?
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I could not grasp it and asking these questions just seemed to
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upset people. Now I could see ample evidence
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all around me that the universe was obviously created on
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purpose, not on accident. With a scientific mind and an
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education, I knew that everything around me, down to
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the smallest subatomic particles, had a purpose.
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If everything has a purpose, then it was designed on purpose
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for a purpose. So I had accepted that there was
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a God, but I still wasn't too sure about this Jesus stuff.
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I had too many unanswered questions and unfortunately the
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enemy was obliged to fill in the blanks for me during my search
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for truth. I felt frustrated and I started
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rebelling. I started preaching out against
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Christianity and against Christ everywhere I went.
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Until one night when my band was practicing, I started preaching
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out against Christ and my drummer rebuked me.
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He opened up the Word of God to me that night in a way that had
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never been done before. God used him in that moment, and
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I submitted my life to Jesus Christ right then and there.
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And then I looked over and I saw Jesus Christ in the Spirit in my
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drummer's front yard. He had the most amazing look of
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love and grace on his face. It was as if he knew this day
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was coming and he had his arms open wide.
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Is it to say welcome to the truth that you've been seeking
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my child? Immediately I fell prostate on
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the ground, and I've been falling more and more in love
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with Jesus ever since. By the way, one of the songs I
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wrote in my heavy metal band had the lyrics.
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I'll never bow down before you're Jesus.
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Jesus said, Oh, that's the first thing you gonna do?
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Bam, I hit my face. That was in November of 2008,
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which is when my new journey began, a journey of forgiveness
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and deliverance, revelation and growth.
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Two months later, I met the love of my life in church.
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We ended up getting married just a few months after that, and we
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we've now been happily married for almost 17 years.
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All together. We got five children.
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And we make sure that they know Jesus and I'm careful to answer
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tough questions they may have along the way.
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What's my story? I ran from Jesus.
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I pushed back, I rebelled. Then I ran some more than I
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fought some more. The truth is, he chased me down.
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He never gave up, but I finally did.
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I broke. I gave up my fight to survive
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and I died. And now I truly live.
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I've been reborn. I live now as a chosen, redeemed
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child of God. I am free, healed, and
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delivered. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 14 says
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it. By His sacrifice I have been
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made perfect, affected, and completely cleansed.
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While I'm yet growing in my spiritual maturity, I am loved.
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And I am becoming love, the very thing that set me free.
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Now. I sing for Christ on stage.
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I preach out for Christ at karaoke bars, at house parties,
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at work, on the streets, at the store, everywhere I go.
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That's my story. Wow, I honestly am speechless
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right now. And you said I would be.
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And it's not in a bad way because I'm specious.
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Because it's amazing how one person can go through so much
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and still have joy, have hope, have peace, be loving.
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And it's simply, as you said, because you are becoming love,
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right? Because God is loved.
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I'm just overwhelmed right now at the goodness of God and how
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he takes our brokenness and he turns it into something
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beautiful. Because what you didn't say, you
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mentor young boy, you didn't go into a whole lot in your
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testimony. But you know, all the things
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that we go through in our life, we don't go through him in vain.
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He doesn't waste anything we walk through.
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He simply takes it. And then if we allow him to, he
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uses it to minister someone else.
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And so I love that you're taking all that stuff that you've gone
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through and you're pouring into young men.
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Yeah, because it's not about me, it's about them.
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And, you know, when I first started ministering, I focused
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on young men because it's who I felt comfortable with.
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But the truth is, now I can minister to anybody.
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I can minister to little old ladies, and it doesn't matter
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who. And, you know, sometimes you get
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to see the fruit and sometimes you don't.
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But I'll tell you a little story.
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Years ago, I saw a buddy of mine, his little brother,
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walking down the road and I stopped and said, hey, man, you
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need a ride. He said yeah.
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So I gave him a ride down the road.
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Where are you staying now? He showed me and I went in there
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with him and there was about 15 guys in there there smoking weed
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and drinking and playing Domino's and whatnot.
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I went in there. Hey, brother, you know, within
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10 minutes I'm preaching. I don't know how it happened,
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but I'm in there preaching. And it was great.
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But there was a guy in another room that I never met, didn't
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talk to, never made eye contact, but I saw him through this
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little foyer area and he was in a recliner watching ATV that I
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couldn't see in the in the living room.
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We were in the in the kitchen dining room area.
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And every now and then that guy would look over from his
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recliner and look back at the TV.
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OK, Fast forward year and a half later, I'm at the store, I'm
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walking out of the store and I had just gotten into an argument
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with someone and I was kind of in my flesh, you know?
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And here comes this little car rolling up and this guy hangs
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out the window, half of his body.
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They got bandanas on and backwards hats and all this, and
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this guy hangs half of his body out the window.
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Hey, Mac, look, I didn't know the guy.
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They pulled up kind of aggressively with this loud
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music and stop the car. They all get out.
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This one guy starts running at me and I start flicks and I'm
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like, I'm fixing to smash all of these guys, you know, And I'm
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making a play like that guy's first, you know, I told you I
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was in my flesh. You know, I'm like, these guys
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are £200 or less. That means I can throw them.
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OK. You know, I'm like, the guy runs
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up to me and he says, hey, man, I just want to let you know you
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changed my life. I said what he says, yeah, man.
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Year and a half ago, you were at my house preaching.
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And I just want to let you know that I quit doing drugs.
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I quit selling drugs. I, I started going to church.
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I gave my life to the Lord. And me and all my friends here
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are going to Mexico on a mission trip next week.
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I just melted. I just melted.
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I was like, Lord Jesus, thank you.
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Thank you for pulling me back out of my flesh.
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Thank you for showing me this fruit.
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I am a fruit bearer. That is proof, according to John
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15, that I am connected to the true vine.
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Thank you. Father Yeah.
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Even while if you hadn't gone through all that stuff that you
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went through, you probably wouldn't have even been in his
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house potentially. Do you know what I mean?
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Having walked where they walked through it equipped you to
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minister to that that group of young men in a way that I
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couldn't go do. I wouldn't be able to
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breakthrough their barriers because they're going to look at
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me and like you don't know anything about where I've been
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or what I'm going through, but you did.
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That's what God does with our stories, with our testimonies,
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is it opens doors that we can't get through any other way if we
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hadn't walked through it. And now that's four or five
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lives that were changed for eternity.
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And how far does God's power ripple out right?
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Because they're going to. Mischief, right?
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So there could be a child born in Africa 200 years from now
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that ends up changing the world because of one act of obedience,
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right? Your testimony is your
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testimony, but like you said at the start of this, that's who
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you were. It's it's what shoots you and
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mold you into who you are today. Now our life experiences do
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that, but at the same time, you're not that person anymore
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either. No, absolutely.
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Maybe talk to that because somehow, without going through
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those things, they shape us and mold us into who we are.
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But at the same time, we're not no longer that person.
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We're a new creation in Christ. Absolutely.
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But I will say that there was a time when the Lord would not
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allow me to go sing karaoke. First of all, I had to quit the
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metal band I was in because I was screaming out against Christ
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in that band. I tried to start a Christian
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metal band, but it wasn't time. There was too much me on stage.
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I had to get off stage and let God get on stage through me, and
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I wasn't ready for that. I couldn't do karaoke.
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I couldn't go back into the darkness as light until I
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understood, like Jesus says in Matthew five, I am light and
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salt. One of the best characteristics
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about salt is that it impregnates its surroundings.
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Once you put salt in your water or on your food, you can't get
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it out, you can't get it off. It impregnates its surroundings.
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I am salt, I am light. And so now, like you said,
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because of my past, I go into these house parties where
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they've got live music, they're jamming out heavy metal music.
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There's guitarist, drummer, everybody you know, set up.
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There's 3040 people in this house and everybody's partying
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and I go in there, they're passing the weed around right in
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front of me. I'm like, oh, excuse me, pardon
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me, You know? And they're FFFGD.
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They're just in the world. They're not noticing it, how
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they sound, what they look like, anything.
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Of course I see it and I'm not engaged in it, not being a part
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of it. I am there being light, showing
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them love. Hey, you are loved right now.
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You don't have to clean up before Jesus loves you.
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You don't have to be perfect before you come to church.
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So I'm just being loved. And then inevitably somebody's
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like, hey, man, will you blow up the microphone for us?
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I'm like, sure. And then I'll get on like,
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whatever I'm doing, I'll sing something.
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And they're like, yeah, you know, And then wait a minute, is
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he singing about Jesus? Yeah, you know, and they're
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like, and they'll put the weed out and then they start curbing
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their tongue around me and everything.
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And they start apologizing that hey, man, I'm sorry about my
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tongue. I have the way I've been
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talking. Dude, you don't owe me no
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apology, man. I'm not offended.
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It doesn't bother me. Dude, what's going on is that
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I'm light. See the light of the world
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resides within me and I've got overflow.
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His light is shining, illuminating out of me.
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So when I walk into the room, light walked into the room and
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then you start seeing stuff that you've been bumping around in
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the dark, but now the light comes on you starting to see.
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Oh, I better put that up. I better put this down.
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I better start curving my but I'm not judging you.
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I ain't got nothing but welcome. I want you to know that since
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you ain't going to church and preachers ain't coming here, I'm
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Jesus today. I'm the only Jesus you gonna see
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today. And I'm telling you, you are
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loved. And I start trying to tell these
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people about the love of Christ Jesus and the sacrifice that he
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made for them and the potential that lies on the other side of a
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single decision. The joy, the peace, the
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supernatural wisdom, and all kinds of life change that can
19:19
happen for the better. The truth that they can finally
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find and all the blessings that come with this one decision and
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that they don't have to go through it alone.
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I'm not just going to bring them up to the altar, say a prayer,
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and then leave them there. No, discipleship is where my
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heart is. I walk it with these guys.
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Then sometimes eyes are open, tears fall, lives change, and
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sometimes it doesn't. A lot of times, you know, people
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rebuke me. And what's amazing is how often
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I'm approached by atheists in these places.
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There's always at least one, if not two or three.
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Sometimes I'm surrounded with them and they come at me and I'm
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like, thank God for logic and reason.
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Because the most logical, reasonable, rational thing you
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can think of. If you follow logic, you will
20:06
end up at. There's a God we can get as
20:08
scientific as you want. OK, Quantum physics says that
20:12
matter, subatomic particles, which make up atomic particles,
20:16
which make up everything, they don't even exist until they're
20:19
observed. So if a consciousness is not
20:22
observing something, then it just doesn't physically exist.
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That's what quantum physics says.
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So if we exist, if this universe exists, then what?
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Consciousness on the outside of space-time could have observed
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it to make it come into existence.
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So quantum physics itself is proving the existence of God,
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and it doesn't matter what it is, we can talk through it.
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We're gonna find Jesus at the bottom of it.
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When I started my podcast, it wasn't a Christian podcast.
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It was just I had stuff to say Every time I got deep into a
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topic, I found Jesus at the bottom.
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Every single topic, no matter what it was, when I got to the
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bottom of it, there was Jesus. Hey, what's up?
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Been down here waiting on you. And I said, you know what,
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that's it. I'm not going to try to avoid
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you anymore. Jesus.
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This is now a Christian podcast. We might as well just start with
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Jesus. You know, we can start with deep
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things. We can start with truth, not
21:17
trying to get there. Let's just start there and then
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go deeper. So how do we navigate life?
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How do we navigate real life with real problems while serving
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a real God? That's what we talk about.
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That's awesome. If you're a Christian, you're a
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Christ bear, right? You're like, you are a little
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Christ. You represent him on the earth.
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Here's the deal. I don't care about labels.
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Labels mean nothing. Eternal life is to know Him.
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I want to know Him. And you can know him too,
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because I am indwelled with the Holy Spirit and I have living
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water overflowing out of me. And when you're around me,
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you're going to get to know Jesus Christ.
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We're going to talk about Jesus. We're going to live Jesus.
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We're going to be Jesus to everybody.
22:05
You're right. We represent Him on earth.
22:07
We are His body. We are his ambassadors.
22:10
And He, he needs your permission to do things on earth.
22:13
So you may not realize that it may sound a sacrilegious or
22:16
something, but His will stops at your will.
22:20
He's designed it out of a place of love that your will is above
22:24
His when it comes to things happening on this earth because
22:27
He wants what's best for you, right?
22:29
Because that's what love does, OK?
22:32
He loves you and he won't wants what's best for you.
22:34
Well, what is best for you to know him is to love him.
22:38
So to love him, if that's what's best for you, why doesn't he
22:41
just make you love him and take away your free will and make his
22:46
will more powerful than yours? No, because then it wouldn't be
22:49
love. So what's best for you is for
22:52
Him to stop His will at yours so that you can truly love Him,
22:57
which is the best possible thing for you.
22:59
And so He needs our permission for things to manifest here on
23:04
the earth. His power manifests through our
23:07
obedience. When He calls us to do something
23:10
or flat out tells us to do something when we do it, His
23:14
power manifests into our lives, into the lives of those around
23:17
us. And like we mentioned earlier,
23:19
maybe throughout generations, His power could ripple out
23:23
through one act of obedience. In fact, the Bible talks about
23:25
it, the one act of sin from Adam, Look at the effect it had.
23:29
All of mankind was born into sin after that, and the one act of
23:34
sacrifice by Jesus Christ saved the world forever.
23:39
You know, let me tell you a little story about obedience.
23:41
Once I became a Christian, the place I was working at the time,
23:45
I had some serious problems because everybody was in the
23:48
world. I was in the world.
23:49
And then I became a Christian, the only one in there.
23:51
And this one guy in particular, man, he hated me.
23:55
We used to be cool, but after I became a Christian, he couldn't
23:58
stand me at all. And he kept being a jerk to me,
24:01
you know, And it was tough. Every day I felt bullied.
24:04
I was fighting my flesh because I wanted to retaliate and
24:06
whatnot. And, you know, I felt hurt.
24:09
It hurt for this guy to be attacking me all the time,
24:12
verbally and whatnot. So one day he sneezed and I said
24:15
God bless you. And he says a few, except he
24:18
said the bad word. And then I had to fight my
24:20
flesh. Immediately I started speaking
24:22
the word. It was greater is he that is in
24:23
me than he that is in this world.
24:25
My battle is not with flesh. And I said, Father, you said to
24:29
pray for your enemies, and I don't consider him an enemy, but
24:33
apparently he considers me one. So Father, I just pray that you
24:35
bless his socks off. God said, why do you think I've
24:38
got you there? Go bless him right now.
24:41
God, you got me bent. I don't know what you're talking
24:43
about. I ain't fitting to go over there
24:44
and bless him. But I don't know how to bless
24:46
him. Maybe somebody else can bless.
24:48
Lord, can you just? But I was like, OK, that's it.
24:50
I couldn't handle the conviction.
24:52
I stood up and I he nervously took steps toward the guy's
24:55
desk. And I was like, I have no clue
24:57
what I'm going to say, what I'm going to do.
24:59
I don't know. I went over there and the guy
25:01
looks up. Yeah.
25:02
I said, hey, man, do I need to make amends with you for
25:05
anything? He says no.
25:07
I said, OK. I said, how can I bless you?
25:10
So what? Yeah.
25:11
I said, you know, I used to be an inspector.
25:13
I could. I know you've got a report due
25:14
out by noon. I could do that report for you,
25:16
if you don't mind. I'd like to do it.
25:17
No, no, no, no. That's OK.
25:19
I said OK, I felt released all the sudden through my act of
25:23
obedience. I was like, OK, so I started to
25:25
walk away. And he goes, hey, but thank you.
25:28
God changed his heart in an instant, softened his heart,
25:32
changed his perspective. I can't change a man's heart.
25:36
But I saw God do it in an instant through one act of
25:39
obedience. In fact, this guy was never mean
25:41
to me again. And somebody told me that when I
25:44
wasn't around, somebody else was talking smack about me.
25:47
And he had my back when I wasn't there.
25:50
If we'd have done things my way, we'd have both been fired.
25:53
But I obeyed God and I saw him change a man's heart in an
25:57
instant. And I've, I've got story after
25:59
story about obedience, bringing forth His power, just releasing
26:03
his power into our lives. Sometimes we get to see the
26:07
fruit and man, that's a blessing.
26:09
Sometimes we don't. But we got to trust that His
26:11
power is being released through our obedience.
26:14
Absolutely. I do have some questions
26:16
pertaining to your testimony. I'm curious what your band was
26:20
called. The name of that band was called
26:22
Dilemma. I got into a heavy metal band
26:24
called A Moment of Chaos, and that's where I really started
26:27
screaming out against Christ. And that was a little shocking
26:30
to me that you were singing and out against Christ.
26:36
But the drummer in that band is who led you to the Lord.
26:40
Explain that to a. Christian and he just put up
26:43
with my mouth for a long time. Everybody did.
26:47
I was more than abrasive. I was aggressive and scary.
26:51
And so many people prayed for me and would tell me things like,
26:56
hey man, if you don't choose Jesus, you're going to go to
26:59
hell. And I don't want that for you.
27:01
I love you, man. I want you to go to heaven.
27:05
And it felt like they hated me. They were showing love and
27:08
concern for me, but it felt like hate and I hated them back for
27:12
it. I wanted Christians to die.
27:15
Why were you so angry at Christians?
27:19
I felt so much pressure. I was rebelling.
27:22
Holy Spirit was tapping on my shoulder in this, in these years
27:25
in my life, and I was just get off.
27:28
I was running. I'm telling you, He chased me
27:30
over mountains and threw every nook and cranny over the most
27:33
horrible terrain on planet Earth.
27:36
He chased me down and I fought and I rebelled and I pushed
27:41
back. Angry at him because of the
27:43
things that you'd walked through and that he wasn't there, that
27:47
he allowed it to go on. I wasn't angry at him, I was
27:51
just angry. I had a spirit of rage so.
27:54
That it happened to you. Like where did that?
27:57
Where was the root of that from? I think it all started when I
28:01
started fighting back in high school.
28:03
I had been bullied and taken advantage of and beaten and
28:07
everything else my entire life. And then one day I snapped.
28:13
It was a survival instinct. I was going to die if I didn't
28:17
survive. What happened is I got jumped by
28:19
a bunch of people. Me and two other guys got jumped
28:23
by a crowd of people, and I snapped.
28:26
I found out that basically I can take what just about anybody has
28:30
as far as getting punched in the face, and most people cannot
28:35
take what I've got to dish out and praise God, because I had to
28:39
survive that situation. After that I was like never
28:43
again. And I started being the
28:45
aggressor, I started being the the bully and I wanted to be
28:49
accepted by the bad guys, to be safe.
28:52
It all came from a place of fear survival.
28:56
So I wanted to be accepted by those bad tough guys and I had
29:00
to become one and. Or so you thought.
29:03
Yeah, at the time. Except the reason I say that is
29:06
not to be, you know, flippant about it.
29:08
But now we're accepted by those people for a whole different
29:13
reason. I don't know, anger and rage
29:15
then now it's the love of Christ that they're accepting you.
29:20
Isn't that crazy? The clip.
29:23
It's crazy, but I'm so blessed. But these people who were loving
29:27
me, I'd just like to say I'm sorry for the way I responded to
29:30
you guys. Sometimes I I was in a bad place
29:33
in my life and you loved me and I, I looked at it as hate and I
29:38
was so twisted. Mac, this has been so good and I
29:42
appreciate you sharing your testimony and your story.
29:45
We know at the heart of who you are as a person.
29:48
It's all about getting as many people into heaven.
29:52
Absolutely. And I know that is in essence
29:55
the bottom line for you. You've gone through a lot in
29:58
your life and there are people that I'm sure are listening.
30:01
They're like, how did you, how did you make it through there?
30:03
I mean, you've, you've really shared how you made it through.
30:06
You initially was survived until you surrendered.
30:11
Yeah, I mean, the truth is I gave up my fight to survive and
30:17
I died and I was reborn a new creature in Christ.
30:22
Absolutely. Jesus says in three of the four
30:24
gospels, if you want to be my disciple, then you got to ask
30:27
yourself, is that me? Yeah.
30:29
Then you must deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow
30:33
me. And by the way, if you're
30:34
carrying a cross in those days, you're a dead man walking.
30:38
You've got to die to yourself. And sometimes that has to happen
30:41
daily. Sometimes it has to happen
30:43
multiple times per day. And be, you know, when you get
30:46
baptized, you know, I've heard again and again people say this
30:49
is a public profession of your faith.
30:51
Well, it's it's more than that. This is a public commitment to
30:56
die to yourself and be reborn a new creature in Christ.
31:00
Haley, give up the fight to survive, live for Christ.
31:05
The new life you get comes with an inheritance.
31:08
And I went through a list earlier with all of the amazing
31:11
things. Look, we can either believe what
31:14
our past says about us, what our circumstance says about us, what
31:18
our insecurities say about us, what others say about us, or we
31:22
can believe what God's Word says about us.
31:26
It's not arrogance to agree with God's Word about who you are.
31:31
In fact, why would you agree with what a human being says?
31:34
You can't even decide who you are.
31:37
You know, Chris, if you've met 1000 people in your life, 1000
31:40
people have seen 1000 different faces of Christina.
31:44
Is there a lady at a grocery store or a restaurant from three
31:48
years ago that if she sees you right now, is going to go?
31:52
There's that jerk. She thinks because, OK, they're
31:55
out there, right? She thinks that's who you are
31:58
and the other 999 think that's who you are and you think you
32:04
know who you are. No, we've got to go to God's
32:07
word. He gets to decide who we are,
32:10
not me. And it's on the other side of a
32:12
decision. Ask yourself this question, if
32:14
you're out there, if you died right now, would you go to
32:16
heaven or hell? If your answer isn't absolutely
32:20
heaven, I know I'm going to heaven, then you need to give
32:23
your life to Christ right now, today.
32:25
Give me an e-mail, Mac with 2C's mac@frontallobepodcast.com.
32:31
Hook up with me. We'll pray together.
32:33
We can walk this out together. If you've got questions, we can
32:37
get on the phone, we'll talk about it.
32:38
I love you guys. Absolutely.
32:40
This has been so good. Thank you so much, Mac, for
32:43
being willing to share your testimony.
32:47
Before I go, is there any last thing that you wanted to say?
32:51
Would you like me to pray us out?
32:52
Absolutely. That would be awesome if you
32:54
would do that. All right, let's pray.
32:56
Heavenly Father, thank you for this conversation and this
32:59
platform. Father, I pray that you help
33:02
Christina reach and encourage many hearts.
33:04
I lift up this podcast and Christina and every single
33:09
listener tuning in. Father, I ask that your presence
33:12
would fill this space. Let your love, your wisdom, and
33:15
your truth flow through every word spoken here today.
33:19
I pray that those out there who might be searching for hope, for
33:23
answers, or for a deeper connection with you would find
33:27
it not just in our voices, but in the gentle leading of Your
33:31
Holy Spirit. Thank you, Father, but for every
33:34
listener out there, I pray that you keep your hearts and your
33:37
minds open, Father, I pray that they that you meet them right
33:42
where they are. Bring healing where there's pain
33:45
and wounds, bring clarity where there's confusion, Father, and
33:49
faith where there's fear. Thank you, Lord Father, help
33:52
every single listener out there understand their worth,
33:55
understand their value, their purpose, their destiny.
33:58
And Father, I just pray that you overwhelm them with the
34:01
knowledge of your love. Help them to experience you in a
34:05
way that they never have before. Thank you Lord and Lord Jesus,
34:09
may your name be lifted high through this platform.
34:13
Continue to set those in bondage free and let your life shine
34:17
through US. Jesus name.
34:20
Amen. Amen.
34:21
So Mac, if anybody is listening today and they have a story
34:25
similar to yours and they want to reach out to you, how can
34:28
they do that? So you're welcome to send me an
34:31
e-mail at mac@frontallobepodcast.com.
34:34
That's Mac with 2C's and if you want to check out the show, you
34:38
can check it out on our website thatsfrontallobepodcast.com or
34:43
you can see it on YouTube or you can listen to it on that your
34:47
favorite platform. Mac, thank you so much for
34:50
sharing your story today. It it's truly blessed me and I
34:53
know it's going to bless our audience.
34:55
If you were listening today and this minister to you, reach out
34:59
to Mac, but I want to hear too. I want to hear your testimony at
35:02
christinasmithofficial.com. You can go there and send me a
35:05
message. You can find our other episodes
35:08
out there as well, but you really help us by sharing these
35:13
episodes. It helps spread the gospel and
35:15
helps bless other people that are that need to hear the
35:18
message. If you would help us by
35:20
subscribing and following us on social media at Witness the
35:23
Wonder, we appreciate your support.
35:26
Thank you. Remember, God is always at work
35:29
in your story.