Latest / The Becket Cook Show / Lesbian for 27 years...until Christ intervened! Monica Samuell's Testimony

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Lesbian for 27 years...until Christ intervened! Monica Samuell's Testimony · The Becket Cook Show

0:02
Speaker 1: Life Audio.
0:09
Speaker 2: You are listening to The Beckett Cook Show with your host,
0:13
Speaker 2: Beckett Cook. For more information about Beckett and his ministry,
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Speaker 2: visit his website at beckettcook.com. To help support the podcast,
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Speaker 2: and leaving a five-star rating.
0:39
Speaker 3: Hey guys, welcome to the show. Today, my guest is
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Speaker 3: Monica Samuel. She has an amazing story of how God
0:44
Speaker 3: rescued her out of a life of 27 years of
0:48
Speaker 3: being a lesbian. She was married to a woman for
0:51
Speaker 3: five of those years. She went to a gay farming
0:54
Speaker 3: church with her wife. She had a Queen James Bible.
0:59
Speaker 3: And then she had an unexpected, powerful encounter with Jesus.
1:06
Speaker 3: And of course, her entire life changed. And I got
1:09
Speaker 3: to say, when I read her story, I was like,
1:12
Speaker 3: this is one of the most amazing, powerful stories I've
1:16
Speaker 3: heard in a long time. But first, a word from
1:18
Speaker 3: our sponsor. So please watch till the end and welcome
1:22
Speaker 3: Monica Samuel.
1:23
Speaker 4: Thank you.
1:26
Speaker 3: It's good to have you on the show. And as
1:31
Speaker 3: I said in the intro, when I read your notes
1:35
Speaker 3: and your story, I was just blown away. This is
1:40
Speaker 3: one of the most amazing stories I've heard in a while.
1:42
Speaker 3: And so I'm excited to get into the details. Let's
1:45
Speaker 3: start with your childhood. You say you had a typical childhood,
1:51
Speaker 3: but you moved around a lot because I think your
1:53
Speaker 3: dad was in the military. How did that affect you?
1:58
Speaker 1: Well, because we were moving around so much, you never
2:01
Speaker 1: had a chance to make friends very long. So it's
2:04
Speaker 1: just like you would be somewhere for a while and
2:06
Speaker 1: then you'd move and then you had to make friends
2:08
Speaker 1: again and you'd move again. So I just always felt
2:11
Speaker 1: like I was kind of lonely a lot.
2:14
Speaker 3: And you considered yourself kind of a tomboy?
2:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, I was a tomboy.
2:20
Speaker 1: I always remember running around with the boys. I'd ride
2:22
Speaker 1: the dirt bike. My dirt bike, I'd play in the mud.
2:24
Speaker 1: You know, I liked playing with lizards and snakes and yeah.
2:31
Speaker 3: And then everything began to shift in high school. Talk
2:34
Speaker 3: about that in terms of your sexuality. What happened in
2:37
Speaker 3: high school?
2:39
Speaker 1: Well, I played a lot of sports. And so I
2:41
Speaker 1: was always mainly around women all the time. And I
2:44
Speaker 1: remember there was this one girl and I remember being
2:49
Speaker 1: at her house and she was just like, do you
2:52
Speaker 1: need a back massage? Give me a back rub. And
2:54
Speaker 1: so I remember her doing that. And I remember I
2:57
Speaker 1: had these feelings in my stomach. And I thought, why
2:59
Speaker 1: am I having these feelings? This is for a woman.
3:02
Speaker 1: Why am I having that?
3:03
Speaker 4: But I did.
3:04
Speaker 1: And that's where it started. But I tried to push
3:07
Speaker 1: it aside. I just tried to ignore it.
3:08
Speaker 3: And did your parents have any idea this was going on?
3:14
Speaker 3: That you were having these feelings?
3:16
Speaker 4: No, my mom and dad had no clue.
3:18
Speaker 3: Yeah. And then in college.
3:25
Speaker 3: When did you actually kind of embrace this and come out?
3:29
Speaker 1: Um, well, when I went to college, um, I, I
3:32
Speaker 1: had a basketball scholarship. So everybody on my team, basically
3:35
Speaker 1: almost everybody was lesbians on my team. And so at first,
3:39
Speaker 1: you know, I was honestly terrified of them at first.
3:41
Speaker 4: Cause I was just like, I don't.
3:42
Speaker 1: Want to be around these people. Like, you know, what
3:44
Speaker 1: if I catch the gay or something? I was only saying, but, um,
3:49
Speaker 1: I don't know. You got used to the people on
3:51
Speaker 1: your team, but like, um, I just remember like I
3:53
Speaker 1: was in my dorm room one day and I was
3:55
Speaker 1: in the lobby and I was on the computer doing
3:58
Speaker 1: some homework and a girl came up to me and
4:00
Speaker 1: she just started talking to me. And then she just
4:02
Speaker 1: kept coming and talking to me and kept coming and
4:05
Speaker 1: talking to me. And then she would walk with me
4:06
Speaker 1: to class. And so that's how it started was she
4:11
Speaker 1: just started talking to me. And, you know, I think
4:13
Speaker 1: also like I was kind of lonely, you know, and
4:17
Speaker 1: I didn't really know a lot of people except for
4:20
Speaker 1: the people on my team. And I think that her
4:22
Speaker 1: giving me attention was something that I needed because I
4:24
Speaker 1: didn't have a lot of that. Even as a child,
4:26
Speaker 1: I didn't feel like I had affection and love for
4:29
Speaker 1: my mom and dad. So just having somebody being affectionate
4:33
Speaker 1: to me, I was just like, okay, I like this.
4:36
Speaker 4: So, yeah.
4:37
Speaker 3: And so what did you think of boys at the time?
4:40
Speaker 3: I mean, were you just not interested at all?
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Speaker 1: I actually remember in high school for a while, I
4:45
Speaker 1: did date a boy, but it was.
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Speaker 4: More of just.
4:49
Speaker 4: I don't know.
4:50
Speaker 3: Yeah.
4:51
Speaker 1: It wasn't like really anything I cared about really, but
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Speaker 1: it was just like, okay, I'll do this because I
4:55
Speaker 1: don't know.
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Speaker 4: I'm having these mixed emotions in my head.
4:57
Speaker 1: And then it was, and I did date a guy
5:00
Speaker 1: for a while, but it just never, I was like, no,
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Speaker 1: it's not for me.
5:03
Speaker 4: So.
5:05
Speaker 3: And, um, you say that you, you hid this whole
5:08
Speaker 3: thing from, uh, I think for seven years you had your,
5:13
Speaker 3: your same sex relationships from your parents and, When you eventually,
5:18
Speaker 3: when did they find out and what was their reaction?
5:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, after about seven years, a lot of my friends,
5:25
Speaker 1: they kept telling me, well, they'll find out and then
5:27
Speaker 1: it won't be a big deal. Like, you know, our
5:30
Speaker 1: family gave in in six months. And I just said,
5:32
Speaker 1: I don't think they will do that because my mom
5:34
Speaker 1: and dad didn't go to church, but my dad did
5:36
Speaker 1: read the Bible a lot. And I think that he
5:40
Speaker 1: was really strict about the Bible, like very religious about it.
5:44
Speaker 1: And so, um, that was one reason why I was afraid.
5:47
Speaker 1: And I actually remember it was at Christmas. I was
5:50
Speaker 1: going to tell my.
5:51
Speaker 4: Mom and dad.
5:51
Speaker 1: And then my dad was just like, um, he was
5:55
Speaker 1: complaining about gays being in the military. He said, I
5:58
Speaker 1: can't stand those gays. And why are they in the military?
6:01
Speaker 1: And then he complained about a neighbor that moved in
6:03
Speaker 1: that was gay.
6:04
Speaker 4: And so then I was like, okay, I'm not going
6:05
Speaker 4: to say anything.
6:06
Speaker 1: But, um, the girl that I was dating at the time, um, her,
6:13
Speaker 1: a family member had been ill. So then I had
6:15
Speaker 1: to leave. I was at my mom and dad's for
6:16
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving and I had to leave right away. So my
6:18
Speaker 1: mom called me and she just said, okay, I know
6:21
Speaker 1: something's going on. I'm suspicious that you're, um, probably dating
6:25
Speaker 1: a woman. So then I finally, I did, I told them.
6:27
Speaker 1: And then my mom was, she said, well, you have
6:30
Speaker 1: a choice. You can either choose the person you're with
6:32
Speaker 1: or choose us. And I just said, I don't want
6:34
Speaker 1: to have to choose anybody. Um, so then my mom
6:37
Speaker 1: just said that they didn't want to talk to me.
6:39
Speaker 1: And so it went on for 20 years where they
6:41
Speaker 1: didn't talk to me.
6:42
Speaker 2: Yeah.
6:43
Speaker 3: Wow.
6:44
Speaker 4: Yeah.
6:44
Speaker 3: Are they talking to you now?
6:46
Speaker 1: Uh, yeah, it's slow, but it's, I mean, it's just
6:49
Speaker 1: different because you go 20 years not knowing them. And
6:53
Speaker 1: then it's almost like I had to relearn them all
6:55
Speaker 1: over again, like all of my family basically. Cause even
6:58
Speaker 1: some of my nieces and nephews were really little and
7:01
Speaker 1: then now it's like they're older. So it was just
7:03
Speaker 1: so weird for me.
7:04
Speaker 4: Yeah.
7:06
Speaker 1: Yeah.
7:06
Speaker 3: And then you, um, you said, you say that you had,
7:11
Speaker 3: really bad experiences with Christians like Westboro Baptist. Talk about that,
7:16
Speaker 3: how that affected you.
7:18
Speaker 1: Well, I remember going to the pride events and they
7:22
Speaker 1: would be standing out there and they had the pride
7:25
Speaker 1: flag and then they had like all these signs and
7:28
Speaker 1: like the signs they were holding up just said like
7:29
Speaker 1: fags will burn and rot in hell. And like, I
7:32
Speaker 1: remember like they had this noose and And, like, they had, like,
7:35
Speaker 1: a doll hanging from the noose. And then it just
7:37
Speaker 1: had the pride flag on it. And it said, like,
7:39
Speaker 1: I mean, they said all kinds of horrible things. And
7:42
Speaker 1: I just thought, is this what Christians are? Like, if
7:44
Speaker 1: this is really what Christians are, I don't want to
7:46
Speaker 1: have anything to do with them at all. And so
7:49
Speaker 1: that was, like, my first experience with them. But I remember, like,
7:52
Speaker 1: the girl I was dating, I was like, I'm tired
7:55
Speaker 1: of these people. So I remember taking her over. And
7:57
Speaker 1: we stood right in front of them. And I remember, like,
7:59
Speaker 1: pulling her toward me. And I started kissing her.
8:02
Speaker 4: In front of them.
8:03
Speaker 1: And then like this news crew comes over and I
8:05
Speaker 1: remember I may have said some not great words, you know?
8:10
Speaker 1: And then, um, I just remember walking away, but I
8:12
Speaker 1: was really angry cause I was just like, how can
8:14
Speaker 1: people be like that?
8:15
Speaker 4: How can they, they treat you like that?
8:17
Speaker 3: And, but you also had a complicated relationship with, with
8:23
Speaker 3: pride events. Talk about that.
8:25
Speaker 1: Um, well, when I was going to the pride events, I, um,
8:31
Speaker 1: At first, it was okay because I felt like I
8:33
Speaker 1: could be myself. But then it's like I started to
8:36
Speaker 1: see the floats going by. And I remember one of
8:38
Speaker 1: them had these men on them in their thongs. And
8:41
Speaker 1: then I saw these little boys. And there was little
8:43
Speaker 1: boys with them in thongs. And they were all dancing
8:46
Speaker 1: together on the poles. And I just thought, oh, my gosh,
8:48
Speaker 1: I feel really disgusting being here, like seeing these little
8:51
Speaker 1: kids and these men dancing on the poles. And that's
8:55
Speaker 1: when I started to question, like, what pride was all
8:58
Speaker 1: about and everything. I just, I didn't ever want to
9:01
Speaker 1: go back again. It just, I don't know, it just
9:03
Speaker 1: very much disturbed me, I guess.
9:05
Speaker 4: I felt disgusted being there.
9:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I talked about this before on the show,
9:11
Speaker 3: but I had kind of the same ambivalence with Pride.
9:15
Speaker 3: When I was living that life, I would go to
9:17
Speaker 3: Pride events and part of me kind of liked the
9:21
Speaker 3: camaraderie a little bit, but then most of me was
9:23
Speaker 3: just sort of like, these guys on floats just gyrating
9:30
Speaker 3: in their speedos and like, it's just so gross. It's
9:34
Speaker 3: so over the top. And yeah, I just, I was
9:40
Speaker 3: kind of like turned off by that a lot. In fact,
9:42
Speaker 3: I didn't actually go to pride very, I went very little.
9:45
Speaker 3: I only went to, I don't know, a handful of
9:49
Speaker 3: pride events in my life. But I get that. I mean,
9:53
Speaker 3: it is, it is, I mean, the.
9:55
Speaker 5: Gay guys could really, Can really uh do you know
10:00
Speaker 5: make make a mess out of things we'll be right
10:02
Speaker 5: back after this short break okay so.
10:05
Speaker 3: Uh then things started to change who is brianna and
10:13
Speaker 3: why what was going on with.
10:14
Speaker 1: That so um when Uh, I was, we had bought,
10:19
Speaker 1: I had a house with my, um, we weren't married
10:22
Speaker 1: at the time when she, well, we actually were, we
10:24
Speaker 1: were married at the time when she moved in. Um,
10:26
Speaker 1: so we would rent our basement to traveling nurses. And
10:29
Speaker 1: so she was, uh, moved into my basement and I
10:32
Speaker 1: remember like she was so happy and full of joy.
10:34
Speaker 1: And I'm just like, how could one person be so happy?
10:37
Speaker 1: Like it was like extremely happy.
10:39
Speaker 4: And so she.
10:40
Speaker 1: Started talking to me about God and she said, God
10:42
Speaker 1: is the reason why she was happy. And like, I
10:44
Speaker 1: didn't really know a whole lot about God. So then
10:46
Speaker 1: she just kind of started talking to me here and
10:48
Speaker 1: there about him.
10:50
Speaker 4: And I liked it.
10:52
Speaker 1: I liked talking to her about it. But my wife
10:55
Speaker 1: did not like it at all. Like she just did
10:57
Speaker 1: not like her talking to me about it. Like she
10:59
Speaker 1: would come upstairs and hang out for a while and
11:03
Speaker 1: she would.
11:03
Speaker 4: Talk about it.
11:04
Speaker 1: But yeah, she she's the first person that came into
11:07
Speaker 1: my life. Yeah, that started talking to me about God.
11:10
Speaker 1: And she said that when she took her assignment and
11:12
Speaker 1: found out that I was married at first, she wasn't
11:14
Speaker 1: sure because she's like, do I really want to go
11:15
Speaker 1: to this? And she said she prayed about it and
11:17
Speaker 1: felt like the Lord really wanted her to come.
11:19
Speaker 4: So that's what she did.
11:20
Speaker 3: Yeah. Divine appointment for sure. And so you and your wife,
11:25
Speaker 3: so you were married for five years, correct? Yeah.
11:28
Speaker 1: I was with her 16 years and then we were
11:30
Speaker 1: married for five of those years.
11:32
Speaker 4: So, yeah.
11:33
Speaker 3: And then you guys started, you were going to a
11:39
Speaker 3: gay affirming church, right?
11:42
Speaker 4: Yeah.
11:43
Speaker 3: Um, and then what, what happened, what, what started to
11:47
Speaker 3: change in you as you were going to this gay
11:49
Speaker 3: affirming church?
11:51
Speaker 1: Um, well, after we got married, um, we went there
11:55
Speaker 1: and the pastor, she actually sat us down and she was, um,
12:00
Speaker 1: telling us, I was asking her about scripture and I
12:03
Speaker 1: was just like, well, what about what the Bible says?
12:05
Speaker 1: I don't know why I just started asking her. and
12:07
Speaker 1: because we'd never really gone to church and she said
12:09
Speaker 1: well this is really what these scriptures mean and it's
12:12
Speaker 1: okay so she was twisting around the scriptures about homosexuality
12:17
Speaker 1: and um and i actually had a queen james bible
12:20
Speaker 1: and so that was the bible that i used um
12:23
Speaker 1: i picked it up because you know i said it
12:25
Speaker 1: was for people who are in in homosexual lifestyle and
12:28
Speaker 1: so when i picked it up yeah i was reading
12:31
Speaker 1: those scriptures in there and to me i was like
12:33
Speaker 1: i'm good i'm fine you know but um Yeah, when
12:37
Speaker 1: I was in there at that church, I just remember
12:41
Speaker 1: one day I was sitting there and I was looking
12:45
Speaker 1: around at everybody because they would sing weird songs there
12:47
Speaker 1: about Scooby-Doo and.
12:49
Speaker 4: It was weird stuff.
12:50
Speaker 1: And then the pastor opened up a can of beer
12:55
Speaker 1: at the altar. And so she had a table over
12:58
Speaker 1: here and she's just like, this is how I am
13:00
Speaker 1: when I hang out with my friends. And she starts
13:01
Speaker 1: drinking this beer and then she goes over to the
13:04
Speaker 1: podium and And she's like, this is how I am
13:06
Speaker 1: when I'm the pastor of the church. Then she'd go
13:07
Speaker 1: back over, drink some more, go back over and explain.
13:10
Speaker 1: Then she'd come back over and unbutton her shirt. And
13:12
Speaker 1: it said, like, SHIT happens. And I'm like, what is
13:15
Speaker 1: going on here? Like, what kind of church is this? Like,
13:17
Speaker 1: I was starting to question all that kind of stuff,
13:20
Speaker 1: you know. And then, yeah, it was crazy. But then
13:24
Speaker 1: one day I was actually sitting there in the church.
13:27
Speaker 1: And I saw, like, the whole entire floor just split open.
13:32
Speaker 4: I mean, it split open.
13:34
Speaker 1: And then like the pews and the altar and the podium,
13:40
Speaker 1: it like all fell into the ground. And then every
13:42
Speaker 1: person in there fell in. And I could hear like
13:45
Speaker 1: the worst screams I ever heard in my life. Like
13:47
Speaker 1: I've never in my life heard screams like that.
13:51
Speaker 3: This was like a vision.
13:53
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was a vision.
13:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a vision that I had seen while
13:56
Speaker 1: I was sitting there. And it, I mean, it terrified me.
14:00
Speaker 1: And then it was real fast. And the next thing
14:02
Speaker 1: I know, I look around the whole church and they're
14:06
Speaker 1: all just singing and they're listening to the pastor. And
14:09
Speaker 1: I look over at my wife and I'm covered in sweat.
14:12
Speaker 1: And she's just like, what is wrong with you?
14:14
Speaker 4: And I'm like, nothing.
14:15
Speaker 1: Cause I was thinking I was nuts. I didn't know
14:17
Speaker 1: what was going on. I just thought, man, I think
14:18
Speaker 1: I'm crazy or something. And so we left and, uh,
14:24
Speaker 1: Even before that, I would used to sit in my
14:26
Speaker 1: backyard and say, hey, God, if you're real.
14:28
Speaker 4: Can you tell me or can you show me if
14:30
Speaker 4: you're really real? I'd look up at the.
14:31
Speaker 1: Stars and say it and stuff. But then we went back.
14:38
Speaker 4: Have you heard of the Asbury Revival?
14:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
14:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, so this all took place near the time of
14:44
Speaker 1: the Asbury Revival. And so I would get up at
14:47
Speaker 1: night and watch it, and I'd be like, what is
14:48
Speaker 1: this thing? And I would say, what's the big deal
14:50
Speaker 1: about this God? I'd always say, what's the big deal
14:52
Speaker 1: about this God? And so I would watch it and
14:55
Speaker 1: I was like obsessed with it. Like I'd sneak out
14:57
Speaker 1: in the middle of the night.
14:58
Speaker 4: And watch it.
14:58
Speaker 1: And then during the day, and I was just like,
15:00
Speaker 1: why are all these people coming here?
15:02
Speaker 4: Like, this is so neat.
15:03
Speaker 1: And so when I went back to that church two
15:05
Speaker 1: weeks later to my church, they said, we're going to
15:08
Speaker 1: do an altar call. And I was just like, what
15:10
Speaker 1: is an altar call? Like I had no idea what
15:11
Speaker 1: it was. And so after she explained it, she was
15:14
Speaker 1: just like, that's where you go up and you pray
15:16
Speaker 1: for money and new houses and cars.
15:18
Speaker 4: And I was just like, really? That's what you do?
15:21
Speaker 4: I was like, that's okay.
15:23
Speaker 1: And so, so like people were going up there and
15:25
Speaker 1: they were praying for that. But like when I went
15:27
Speaker 1: up there, I just remember like looking around like this
15:30
Speaker 1: and I was making sure nobody was near me. And
15:32
Speaker 1: I just said, God, if you really are real and
15:36
Speaker 1: you show me that, I was like, you're going to
15:37
Speaker 1: have to help me. You're going to have to do
15:38
Speaker 1: something like you need to show me something. And I
15:41
Speaker 1: remember I started crying and then I went back to
15:43
Speaker 1: my seat and then my wife was like, why are
15:45
Speaker 1: you crying? What are you crying about?
15:46
Speaker 4: And I was like, nothing.
15:48
Speaker 1: And so, We get up and we go to leave
15:51
Speaker 1: the church. And as we're walking out, I hear this
15:53
Speaker 1: whisper and I'm looking around and I'm just like looking
15:57
Speaker 1: and I can't figure out what it is. And then
15:59
Speaker 1: all of a sudden I hear this voice and I
16:00
Speaker 1: turn around and I look at that church and the
16:02
Speaker 1: voice said, if you ever look back again, you'll turn into.
16:05
Speaker 4: A pillar of salt.
16:06
Speaker 1: And then I saw the whole church just crumble down
16:09
Speaker 1: into salt. And then I was standing there and I
16:12
Speaker 1: saw myself blow away and I was thinking, where did
16:14
Speaker 1: I go?
16:14
Speaker 4: What happened? And that really, really scared me. I mean,
16:18
Speaker 4: it freaked me out so bad.
16:19
Speaker 1: And that was the moment where I was like, okay,
16:21
Speaker 1: I got to change my life. Like I have to
16:22
Speaker 1: do something here.
16:24
Speaker 2: Wow.
16:25
Speaker 3: Yeah. Did your relationship with your wife go downhill after
16:29
Speaker 3: that experience?
16:31
Speaker 4: Uh, yeah.
16:32
Speaker 1: When I went back to the house, um, well, like
16:35
Speaker 1: my relationship, um, it kind of started to get a
16:38
Speaker 1: little abusive at one point.
16:41
Speaker 4: And so she was very controlling a lot over me.
16:45
Speaker 1: And so, uh, when I told her that I was
16:47
Speaker 1: thinking about leaving, I was wanting to follow the Lord.
16:51
Speaker 1: She just kind of told me that I was crazy
16:53
Speaker 1: and that I was leaving for a cult. And so
16:56
Speaker 1: that's where I'm thankful that Brianna came into my life
16:59
Speaker 1: because after she stayed in my house for a while,
17:01
Speaker 1: she moved and got her own house. And so then
17:04
Speaker 1: I just said, you know what, I'm going to go
17:05
Speaker 1: to Brianna's house. So I packed a bag and I
17:07
Speaker 1: went over there for a while. I think I was
17:09
Speaker 1: there for like, uh, probably like I started out there
17:12
Speaker 1: about six weeks.
17:14
Speaker 4: Um, When I was there.
17:15
Speaker 1: And that's when she brought me to the church that
17:20
Speaker 1: I go to now.
17:21
Speaker 4: So we went in there.
17:22
Speaker 3: So when you left and moved to Brianna's, was your
17:27
Speaker 3: wife devastated?
17:29
Speaker 4: She was more mad than anything. She just said, well,
17:34
Speaker 4: we've tried this before. You'll come back. You'll be fine.
17:37
Speaker 1: But it was never anything with God. It was always
17:39
Speaker 1: just like, we split up because.
17:42
Speaker 4: we were just kind of.
17:43
Speaker 1: Toxic for each other. Like we would get together, split up,
17:46
Speaker 1: get back together. That's how it was with her. But yeah,
17:49
Speaker 1: she tried to convince me a lot. She would call me,
17:51
Speaker 1: wanted me to come back home and stuff like that.
17:54
Speaker 4: So yeah.
17:56
Speaker 3: And then what happened when you, I think you attended
17:59
Speaker 3: Brianna's church. Is that correct?
18:01
Speaker 5: Yeah.
18:01
Speaker 1: She had actually only been there like a week. Somebody
18:03
Speaker 1: invited her. So then she invited me. So like I
18:06
Speaker 1: went to the morning service and, And I remember walking
18:10
Speaker 1: in there, and, like, the people that were singing, I
18:12
Speaker 1: had never heard music like that before. I just thought
18:14
Speaker 1: it was so beautiful. And so we were, like, up
18:18
Speaker 1: kind of toward the front of the church. But then
18:21
Speaker 1: they were, like, praying, and this is, like, a Pentecostal church. So,
18:24
Speaker 1: you know, I hear them speaking in tongues, and I
18:26
Speaker 1: immediately freak out. Like, I must really be at a cult. Like,
18:29
Speaker 1: I just remember thinking, I got to get out of here.
18:31
Speaker 1: So I was, like, trying to shove people out of
18:33
Speaker 1: the way to leave. And then I was like, no,
18:35
Speaker 1: I think maybe I'll stay.
18:36
Speaker 4: I don't know.
18:37
Speaker 1: But as they kept praying, like I just started to
18:39
Speaker 1: feel like, I don't know, it was like something inside
18:42
Speaker 1: of me just felt like I was I was supposed
18:43
Speaker 1: to be there. Like it was like I could feel
18:45
Speaker 1: God or something for the first time. Like I felt
18:47
Speaker 1: his presence or something, you know, so.
18:50
Speaker 3: And then did someone did someone pray for you and pray?
18:56
Speaker 3: They started to tell you things about your life. What
18:59
Speaker 3: happened with that?
19:00
Speaker 5: Yeah.
19:00
Speaker 1: So we ended up going back to the night service
19:02
Speaker 1: because I just felt like I needed to do something else.
19:04
Speaker 1: So we went back to the night service and they
19:08
Speaker 1: were asking for people if they wanted to come to
19:09
Speaker 1: the front for prayer. And so I was getting ready
19:13
Speaker 1: to go up and I saw the whole row was filled.
19:15
Speaker 1: So I didn't go and I was like, well, it's
19:16
Speaker 1: not for me. And then the guy was like, but
19:18
Speaker 1: you can come right here. So then I went up
19:20
Speaker 1: there and then that's when she came over and started
19:23
Speaker 1: praying for me. and she said, like, the Lord highlighted
19:27
Speaker 1: me to her, so as she was praying, she really was,
19:30
Speaker 1: she was praying stuff that I was just asking God about,
19:32
Speaker 1: you know, and I remember, like, looking like this out
19:34
Speaker 1: of my eye, like, how's this lady know anything, like,
19:36
Speaker 1: who are you, and I was thinking, like, did my
19:40
Speaker 1: friend tell her something, but my friend didn't know who
19:42
Speaker 1: she was either, But yeah, when she was praying, she
19:45
Speaker 1: basically was just telling me that I could change my life.
19:49
Speaker 4: And I was like, what do you mean I could
19:51
Speaker 4: change my life?
19:52
Speaker 1: And she said I could go get baptized, be cleansed,
19:56
Speaker 1: and just start my whole life over again.
19:57
Speaker 4: And so I wanted to.
20:02
Speaker 3: And so what happened at baptism?
20:04
Speaker 1: Well, when I went to go, I went over there
20:06
Speaker 1: to go get baptized. She walked over there with me.
20:09
Speaker 1: And I remember it was my turn, and I had
20:12
Speaker 1: all my clothes on.
20:12
Speaker 4: I didn't care. I was like, I'm doing this. So
20:14
Speaker 4: I got in.
20:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, I sat down in that water. But then immediately
20:18
Speaker 1: when I saw the microphone, and they said, you have
20:20
Speaker 1: to renounce. And I was like, renounce what? What do
20:22
Speaker 1: you mean?
20:22
Speaker 4: And they were like, you.
20:24
Speaker 1: Have to renounce what you want, why you changed your life,
20:27
Speaker 1: why you want to be baptized. And at first, I
20:29
Speaker 1: was so scared because I immediately thought about Westboro Baptist
20:32
Speaker 1: Church and the way that they treated people.
20:35
Speaker 4: I was so scared. And so.
20:38
Speaker 1: I remember they put the like mic up to me
20:39
Speaker 1: and I was like, and they were like, what did
20:42
Speaker 1: you say?
20:42
Speaker 4: And I was like, I don't know. And then the
20:45
Speaker 4: third time I shouted it out really loud.
20:47
Speaker 2: Yeah.
20:47
Speaker 4: I was like, I renounced 20 of us years.
20:50
Speaker 3: So you renounced homosexuality is what?
20:52
Speaker 1: Yeah.
20:53
Speaker 4: I renounced homosexuality.
20:54
Speaker 1: And then, um, I went down into the water and
20:57
Speaker 1: I remember when I came up out of the water,
20:59
Speaker 1: I had like this, um, it was like a bitter
21:02
Speaker 1: taste in my mouth to remind me that, you know,
21:04
Speaker 1: my past is not who I am now, but it
21:06
Speaker 1: was sweet in my mouth too, to remind me like
21:08
Speaker 1: my future is bright. And that's like something I'll never forget.
21:11
Speaker 1: And if I ever think about anything in homosexuality, I
21:14
Speaker 1: have that taste come right to my mouth.
21:17
Speaker 3: Wow.
21:18
Speaker 4: That's wild.
21:19
Speaker 3: Would you say that's the day that you were born again?
21:22
Speaker 3: Like that day?
21:24
Speaker 1: Yeah.
21:24
Speaker 3: Wow. And then, so talk about the costs that, uh,
21:30
Speaker 3: you felt after the cost of following Christ, like what
21:33
Speaker 3: happened in that?
21:36
Speaker 4: Um, well, I mean, I had to, I.
21:41
Speaker 1: Had to, basically I was giving up everything, you know,
21:45
Speaker 1: I was giving up everything from that life. And, um,
21:48
Speaker 1: I remember like the heart, one of the hardest things
21:51
Speaker 1: I ever did have to do is go back into
21:53
Speaker 1: the house again that I was living at, you know,
21:56
Speaker 1: where my wife was at. And saying that, you know,
21:59
Speaker 1: I want to get a divorce. And so when I
22:02
Speaker 1: told her I wanted a divorce, you know, she was
22:06
Speaker 1: really angry. Like she was cussing me out and mad.
22:08
Speaker 1: And she's like, she kept saying again that you're joining
22:11
Speaker 1: this cult. But I was so set on, no, I
22:14
Speaker 1: want to do this. And so I remember renting a
22:19
Speaker 1: dumpster and saying, throwing basically everything that I owned in
22:24
Speaker 1: that dumpster. I gave my car away to a girl
22:27
Speaker 1: that was from the church, gave my wedding band away
22:30
Speaker 1: to a couple that was getting married. I gave away
22:33
Speaker 1: like my guitars, camera equipment. I gave everything away because
22:36
Speaker 1: I was just like, no, I'm going to follow Jesus.
22:38
Speaker 1: This is what I really want to do. My neighbors
22:40
Speaker 1: really thought I was nuts, but I just said, you
22:42
Speaker 1: can have whatever you want.
22:42
Speaker 4: Take it. I mean, I did.
22:44
Speaker 1: I gave everything away because I just didn't want to
22:46
Speaker 1: have anything that was linked to her ever again. And
22:49
Speaker 1: then we had to go through the process of selling
22:52
Speaker 1: our home, which we prayed it sold in 24 hours.
22:55
Speaker 1: And then the divorce ended up being six months later,
22:58
Speaker 1: which was on Halloween of all days. So that was
23:00
Speaker 1: the day we ended up getting divorced. And then, you know,
23:03
Speaker 1: I had to let go of everybody from that walk
23:06
Speaker 1: of life.
23:07
Speaker 4: Like, I let go of everybody. I had to because
23:09
Speaker 4: I knew that if I stayed friends.
23:11
Speaker 1: With people in the LGBTQ that I was afraid I
23:14
Speaker 1: would get sucked back in. So I had to let
23:16
Speaker 1: everything go. and just completely walk away. And I loved
23:20
Speaker 1: that people there, you know, but I just, I had to.
23:22
Speaker 4: Yeah.
23:23
Speaker 3: And it reminds me of the book in the book
23:25
Speaker 3: of Acts chapter 19, it says, and then a number
23:28
Speaker 3: of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books
23:31
Speaker 3: together and burned them in the sight of all. And
23:33
Speaker 3: they counted the value of them and found it to, to,
23:38
Speaker 3: it came to 50,000 pieces of silver, which is in
23:42
Speaker 3: today's terms is millions of dollars. So Those people counted
23:46
Speaker 3: the costs. They burned their stuff.
23:48
Speaker 1: You did it.
23:50
Speaker 3: Praise God.
23:50
Speaker 4: I even burned that Bible. That Queen James Bible. I
23:55
Speaker 4: even burned it.
23:57
Speaker 3: When did that Bible even get produced? I don't even know.
24:00
Speaker 1: I think it was in like 2012. I'm pretty sure
24:03
Speaker 1: like 2012 or something like that.
24:05
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness.
24:07
Speaker 4: Yeah.
24:07
Speaker 3: I don't even want to know what's in the Bible.
24:09
Speaker 3: And then talk about Um, the man by the river.
24:17
Speaker 1: Oh, so I went down and I started, um, journaling.
24:23
Speaker 1: People told me to start journaling and like, just bring
24:26
Speaker 1: the Bible and try to read it. So I remember
24:28
Speaker 1: going down there and I had brought a chair. I
24:30
Speaker 1: had to go all the way down this hill and
24:32
Speaker 1: I was sitting on this chair and, um, I.
24:36
Speaker 4: Was just, I was like, okay, Lord, what do you
24:38
Speaker 4: want me to do? Like, I don't know what to do.
24:39
Speaker 4: What should we do?
24:40
Speaker 1: And so, this guy comes over and he's dressed in
24:43
Speaker 1: like really raggedy clothes. And I was like, he has
24:45
Speaker 1: to be a homeless guy. And so he told me
24:47
Speaker 1: his name was James. And, um, he asked me if
24:50
Speaker 1: I'd ever, um, read the book of James. And I
24:53
Speaker 1: was just like, I didn't even know there was a
24:55
Speaker 1: book of James. And he said, yeah, he said, James four, seven.
24:58
Speaker 1: He said, I'm telling you, James four, seven is really good.
25:00
Speaker 1: You need to read the whole book of James. And
25:02
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, I'll read it.
25:03
Speaker 4: I promise. And then he said, you have a journal.
25:05
Speaker 4: And I was like, yeah, I have a journal.
25:07
Speaker 1: And so I started, um, writing down everything that he
25:11
Speaker 1: told me to write and I kept thinking this guy
25:13
Speaker 1: knows a lot about the Bible and there was an
25:16
Speaker 1: incident that took place in my house as I was
25:21
Speaker 1: moving and nobody really knew about it except for a
25:24
Speaker 1: couple people and he had told me that the Lord
25:28
Speaker 1: heard my cries and he sent angels to hold back
25:31
Speaker 1: the enemy so I could get out and I remembered
25:34
Speaker 1: that when I was in that house I was crying
25:37
Speaker 1: out to God, if you can get me out of
25:39
Speaker 1: this situation.
25:40
Speaker 4: I was like, I'll change my life forever.
25:43
Speaker 1: I'm sorry I might cry because this is sensitive. But yeah,
25:48
Speaker 1: I could have died there that day. And so he
25:52
Speaker 1: made a way for me to get out. And that
25:54
Speaker 1: guy that was by the river told me it twice.
25:56
Speaker 1: He said, the Lord heard your cries so the angels
26:00
Speaker 1: could hold back the enemy so you could get out.
26:02
Speaker 4: And so I remember like circling it and crying. I
26:06
Speaker 4: just looked at him and I was like, what did
26:07
Speaker 4: you just say? And he said it again.
26:11
Speaker 1: And I was just like, I was amazed because I
26:16
Speaker 1: knew what he was talking about. And then he had
26:19
Speaker 1: told me that, um, he, he had told me that, um, well,
26:24
Speaker 1: I have to go now.
26:25
Speaker 4: And I was just like, okay. And then he got
26:27
Speaker 4: up to leave.
26:28
Speaker 1: And I I remember getting up to give him the money,
26:33
Speaker 1: and I turned around, and he wasn't there.
26:35
Speaker 4: Like, he was gone.
26:36
Speaker 1: And you had to go up this... I'm talking about
26:39
Speaker 1: a huge hill. You had to go up this very
26:41
Speaker 1: huge hill, and he had to have been a cheetah
26:44
Speaker 1: that could run extremely fast to even get up that hill,
26:47
Speaker 1: you know? And so I was like, is this an angel? Like,
26:51
Speaker 1: I wasn't, you know, sure, because I just didn't know...
26:53
Speaker 1: I didn't know where he went.
26:55
Speaker 2: Wow.
26:57
Speaker 4: And, yeah, it was.
26:59
Speaker 1: It was crazy.
27:00
Speaker 4: But I ended up seeing him again. So I.
27:04
Speaker 1: Went through deliverance at my church because they said it
27:09
Speaker 1: was a process because I had so much stuff, so
27:12
Speaker 1: many things, layers of torment and torture and things that
27:16
Speaker 1: I went through in my relationship. And I was sitting
27:20
Speaker 1: in the church and this lady started praying over me
27:23
Speaker 1: and she said, the Lord.
27:25
Speaker 4: Is telling me to tell you.
27:28
Speaker 1: About James 4-7 and like right when she said it
27:31
Speaker 1: that guy appeared beside her again and sorry and I
27:39
Speaker 1: saw him and I was like James and I was
27:41
Speaker 1: like so excited to see him and I was like
27:43
Speaker 1: where did you go like and I'm talking and the
27:46
Speaker 1: lady was like who are you talking to and I'm
27:47
Speaker 1: like it's James he's right here and like she didn't
27:50
Speaker 1: see him but like I saw him and it was
27:53
Speaker 1: the same guy that I saw by the river and
27:56
Speaker 1: And I'll never forget it.
27:57
Speaker 4: It's just something that has really impacted my life.
28:01
Speaker 3: So he was an angel. James was an angel.
28:03
Speaker 4: Yeah.
28:05
Speaker 3: Unbelievable. By the way, James 4-7 is submit yourselves, therefore,
28:13
Speaker 3: to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Yeah.
28:19
Speaker 3: That's amazing. Oh, my gosh. So praise God for that. Um,
28:28
Speaker 3: and then where does God have you now? What's, what's
28:32
Speaker 3: going on in your life now?
28:34
Speaker 1: Um, well, right now you will always find me in
28:37
Speaker 1: the front of the church with my hands raised up
28:39
Speaker 1: worshiping because I, oh, you know, he did everything for me.
28:43
Speaker 1: So I want to, I want to worship him and
28:45
Speaker 1: praise him. And, um, I try to share my testimony
28:49
Speaker 1: as much as I can. Um, and you know, God's
28:52
Speaker 1: funny because even though I went through the ordeal with
28:55
Speaker 1: my parents not talking to me, like he has me
28:58
Speaker 1: sharing with parents a lot.
28:59
Speaker 4: So like I get.
29:01
Speaker 1: On a lot of Zoom calls and I share and
29:04
Speaker 1: encourage parents a lot. And I just want to go
29:07
Speaker 1: out and share what God has done for me because
29:09
Speaker 1: I know that what he did for me, he's going
29:11
Speaker 1: to do for so many people, you know, because I mean,
29:15
Speaker 1: when I think about the LGBTQ, I just think about
29:18
Speaker 1: the brokenness that's there.
29:21
Speaker 4: It's so broken.
29:22
Speaker 1: And you have people that are like jumping from relationship
29:25
Speaker 1: to relationship trying to find love but they're not going
29:28
Speaker 1: to find that love there because only love they're going
29:30
Speaker 1: to find is in Jesus and you know that's what
29:33
Speaker 1: I needed I mean I was in a horrible relationship
29:36
Speaker 1: for a long time and I didn't you know I
29:39
Speaker 1: just thought that was all that I had for my life.
29:42
Speaker 1: But then when I met Jesus and He changed me,
29:45
Speaker 1: you know, like, that's all I want to do is
29:47
Speaker 1: just share what He's done for me because He's so incredible.
29:51
Speaker 4: I mean, I go to, like, this thing called Jesus
29:54
Speaker 4: Nights with.
29:54
Speaker 1: All these women and, you know, they pray over me
29:57
Speaker 1: and you know, we, we share a lot together and
30:00
Speaker 1: I never thought that God would bring me so many
30:03
Speaker 1: wonderful people in my life. Even like the day I
30:05
Speaker 1: was baptized, it's like, God, he already had those people there.
30:08
Speaker 1: It's like, he went ahead of me and he already
30:10
Speaker 1: prepared a table for me. You know, it's like, he
30:13
Speaker 1: took me from this broken table that looked like it
30:16
Speaker 1: had splinters on it and the legs were wobbly and
30:19
Speaker 1: it had these people that would put me down and
30:21
Speaker 1: stuff like that. And he, and then he brings me
30:23
Speaker 1: to this beautiful table with other people that, you know,
30:26
Speaker 1: love me or teaching me and guiding me.
30:30
Speaker 3: And how did your parents react to you becoming a Christian?
30:36
Speaker 3: And how did your ex-wife react? I mean, how does
30:39
Speaker 3: she feel about this whole thing now?
30:42
Speaker 4: Well, my ex-wife, I actually don't talk to her. We
30:44
Speaker 4: have no contact at all.
30:46
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people will talk to me
30:48
Speaker 1: and they feel bad for her, but there was just
30:51
Speaker 1: a lot of things that went on to where We
30:53
Speaker 1: can't talk. And at first, actually, when I left, I
30:55
Speaker 1: thought that I could go in and save her and
30:58
Speaker 1: be like, oh, I want you to know Jesus, too.
31:00
Speaker 1: And then I realized I can't be the one to
31:02
Speaker 1: do that. Like, I can only pray that that, you know,
31:05
Speaker 1: the Lord will bring people into her life just like
31:08
Speaker 1: he did with me. As far as my parents, I
31:12
Speaker 1: talk to them on the phone now and we do
31:14
Speaker 1: text some and I've.
31:15
Speaker 4: Gone to visit them, I think, three times. But it's
31:18
Speaker 4: just it's still just a process.
31:19
Speaker 3: So, yeah.
31:21
Speaker 1: And I know like Jesus forgave me and I have
31:23
Speaker 1: to forgive them. And I also think that the Lord
31:28
Speaker 1: put parents in my life to talk to, to show
31:31
Speaker 1: them my side, but they're showing me their side too
31:34
Speaker 1: as a parent. So it makes me understand a little
31:36
Speaker 1: more about like maybe what my mom and dad went through. Yeah.
31:40
Speaker 3: And you also say, you know, what you want people
31:44
Speaker 3: to hear is don't count anyone out, you know, You
31:48
Speaker 3: were in that lifestyle for 27 years. I was in
31:52
Speaker 3: it for 20 years and we might see people and think, Oh,
31:57
Speaker 3: they're just, there's, they're a lost cause. There's no way,
32:00
Speaker 3: like there's no way that person's gonna come. I'm trying
32:03
Speaker 3: to think of the most radical gay guy I know,
32:05
Speaker 3: like who, who, who people would know. Like, you know, whatever,
32:09
Speaker 3: there's no way Anderson Cooper come to Christ or whoever. Yeah. But, but,
32:17
Speaker 3: You never know. So talk about, you know, just the
32:20
Speaker 3: importance of speaking the truth in love and how we
32:23
Speaker 3: shouldn't count people out.
32:25
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, one day I was praying and the Lord
32:27
Speaker 1: told me that truth without love wounds people, but love
32:31
Speaker 1: without truth keeps people bound. So we always have to
32:34
Speaker 1: speak that truth no matter what. And like, for me,
32:38
Speaker 1: I see so many affirming churches and like during pride month,
32:45
Speaker 1: you see them and, They're all of a sudden just
32:48
Speaker 1: changing their ways, and now they're accepting people just to
32:50
Speaker 1: come in. And they're not speaking that truth. They're not
32:54
Speaker 1: even going by what the Bible says. They're just saying, yeah,
32:57
Speaker 1: come into our church. And then they're letting them be
32:59
Speaker 1: the way they are, but they're not telling the truth
33:01
Speaker 1: of the Bible. And so I just think it's so
33:04
Speaker 1: important that we're always trying to speak that truth to people.
33:07
Speaker 1: And I don't care if a person's been in it
33:10
Speaker 1: 50 years or 40 years or 30 years.
33:12
Speaker 4: There's still hope for everybody. And I truly believe that
33:15
Speaker 4: no matter what.
33:15
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't care what anybody's been through because God,
33:18
Speaker 1: he's the one that's going to go in and change
33:20
Speaker 1: us because, you know, we can't do it ourselves. He's
33:23
Speaker 1: the one that comes in and says, hey, you know,
33:25
Speaker 1: and like, so when I speak to parents, they're the
33:27
Speaker 1: ones that always want to change their kid.
33:28
Speaker 4: And I'm always like, look.
33:30
Speaker 1: You can intercede and you can pray for your kids,
33:32
Speaker 1: but God is the one that changes your kids. because
33:35
Speaker 1: the devil, he tries to, he tries to kill two
33:37
Speaker 1: birds with one stone. He's like, I'm taking your kid
33:39
Speaker 1: and I'm going to take your joy and your happiness
33:42
Speaker 1: that you have. And so I try to tell them
33:43
Speaker 1: all the time, like, don't let the enemy take your joy,
33:46
Speaker 1: like intercede.
33:48
Speaker 4: Pray for your child, but give your child to the Lord.
33:51
Speaker 1: And you still have to try to enjoy your life too,
33:53
Speaker 1: because if not, the enemy is just, he's going to
33:55
Speaker 1: win all around.
33:56
Speaker 4: So why let him do that?
33:58
Speaker 3: Yeah. Amen to that. Um, I, I, I try to
34:02
Speaker 3: urge parents to, to do the same thing. Like, cause
34:05
Speaker 3: it's a supernatural, you need to battle in the supernatural
34:09
Speaker 3: realm with prayer, with the sword of the spirit, which
34:12
Speaker 3: is the word of God. Like my mother did for
34:15
Speaker 3: 20 years. And, um, you can't because you can't control
34:19
Speaker 3: your child. You can't try to manipulate and convince your
34:22
Speaker 3: child not to be gay or not to be a lesbian.
34:24
Speaker 3: Like it has to go through prayer. Um, And you
34:28
Speaker 3: can't like bang your child over the head with a
34:30
Speaker 3: Bible or like text them Bible verses all the time.
34:34
Speaker 3: Like that never, like, I'm not going to say that
34:36
Speaker 3: never helps, but it.
34:38
Speaker 4: Kind of pushes them away. It pushes people away. Yeah.
34:41
Speaker 4: But I always tell like, Oh, sorry.
34:44
Speaker 3: Go ahead. You always tell.
34:45
Speaker 1: I was going to say like, um, moms though I
34:48
Speaker 1: think moms are amazing prayer warriors like I always say
34:51
Speaker 1: like the devil can't touch a praying mom because when
34:54
Speaker 1: they're in their prayer closets and they're praying like some
34:56
Speaker 1: of the moms I talk to I'm just like I'm
34:58
Speaker 1: so amazed by by by their prayer and like they
35:02
Speaker 1: have I have this one mom had a stack of
35:04
Speaker 1: like cards and she carries them with her everywhere and
35:07
Speaker 1: she's like I read these in my car I read
35:08
Speaker 1: them when I'm at work and I'm just I'm praying
35:10
Speaker 1: I'm over my kid all the time so I think
35:12
Speaker 1: they know a lot of times that they can't always
35:14
Speaker 1: say stuff because it will push the kid away But
35:17
Speaker 1: I also think like the generation right now of kids
35:20
Speaker 1: have a lot of control over the parents. And it's
35:24
Speaker 1: either you accept my life or you can't be a
35:27
Speaker 1: part of my life at all. And so that scares
35:30
Speaker 1: a lot of the parents. And that's where they start
35:33
Speaker 1: to let their partners come into the home. And then
35:35
Speaker 1: they change their mindset and their values because their kid
35:39
Speaker 1: is threatening them.
35:40
Speaker 4: And they're afraid they're never going to see the kid again. So,
35:42
Speaker 4: I mean, a lot of them do that.
35:46
Speaker 3: It's emotional blackmail. And I've seen this happen over and
35:50
Speaker 3: over again to families who are, the parents are solid Christians.
35:54
Speaker 3: The child comes out and the parents are so distraught
35:57
Speaker 3: that they end up becoming gay affirming, which is the
36:00
Speaker 3: most unloving thing you could do to a child. Like it's,
36:04
Speaker 3: you're literally aiding and abetting your child down a path
36:07
Speaker 3: of destruction. And it's so dangerous. And so, um, the, uh,
36:15
Speaker 3: I always say, you know, parents need to hold fast
36:17
Speaker 3: to their convictions and go to their prayer closets and
36:23
Speaker 3: just keep praying. And by the way, I mean, I,
36:25
Speaker 3: I haven't really announced, I mean, you brought, you brought
36:28
Speaker 3: the mother's prayer up. I haven't announced this officially yet, but, um,
36:33
Speaker 3: for people who are listening, uh, I, uh, I wrote
36:36
Speaker 3: a book called a mother's prayer for her gay son.
36:40
Speaker 3: And the subtitle is a guide for parents, family, and friends.
36:45
Speaker 3: And it releases February of 2027. So just keep that
36:50
Speaker 3: in mind. I'll give you more information when it gets
36:52
Speaker 3: closer to that. But there is nothing better than a
36:55
Speaker 3: praying mom. And not just my mom, but my siblings
36:59
Speaker 3: were praying. My dad was praying. But my mother, most
37:03
Speaker 3: of all. I mean, she's the one who typed this
37:06
Speaker 3: 24-point prayer and typed it up to God and passed
37:10
Speaker 3: it out to my entire family so they could be
37:13
Speaker 3: praying too. So- That's vitally important. Monica, I am so
37:21
Speaker 3: happy for you. You're in the kingdom of God. You
37:24
Speaker 3: have eternal life. You're completely free because Christ set you free.
37:28
Speaker 3: So thank you for coming on and sharing that with us.
37:31
Speaker 1: Yeah.
37:32
Speaker 4: Thank you for having me on.
37:33
Speaker 3: Wait, don't touch that dial. Please like and subscribe. And
37:36
Speaker 3: also please consider becoming a patron on Patreon for as
37:40
Speaker 3: little as $ 5 a month. You can really help us
37:42
Speaker 3: out on the show. The link is below, and we so,
37:46
Speaker 3: so appreciate it. Thank you.
37:51
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to this episode of The Beckett
37:53
Speaker 2: Cook Show. Your support makes this content possible. All episodes
37:58
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38:02
Speaker 2: For more information about Beckett and his ministry, visit his
38:06
Speaker 2: website at beckettcook.com.