Celebrating Life in Recovery

Racialism

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Cheri Peters (Host), Cheri Buckner-Webb

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Series Code: CLR

Program Code: CLR000028


00:10 Welcome to Celebrating Life In Recovery,
00:12 I'm Cheri your host and today we are going to talk about
00:14 differences in the church.
00:16 If you want to know what that means you have to come join us.
00:19 I'm not even going to give you a hint.
00:49 I remember when I first came into the church,
00:51 I was a mess, literally a mess.
00:53 I had been strung out on heroin and I was a literate.
00:56 I had been homeless and I came running in so happy.
00:59 I had met Christ, I met a Christian women that so
01:02 loved on me and was teaching me the Bible.
01:04 When I came in the church I just decided that I had to
01:08 look the best I could, but the best I could from being
01:12 homeless, working in clubs is that I had a skirt
01:16 that was too tight.
01:17 A top that was too tight and I had tons of jewelry on.
01:21 I had makeup on that was thick because I wanted to look my
01:24 best and I was smoking three packs of cigarettes a day,
01:27 so smoke was billowing in and after I came in.
01:29 I was absolutely a mess and I just looked like a little
01:33 hooker, but I was so, I had met God and God said I was
01:38 lovely and I felt love and safe for the first time in my
01:42 entire life and I looked on the people's faces.
01:45 I realized that I do not know how welcomed I am here.
01:49 Everything in me, I just wanted to weep and to say,
01:53 first of all you will hate this, but I wanted to throw
01:56 myself on the ground and say God this is not fair that
02:00 I have to do recovery here.
02:02 Please don't anyone get offended because I want to talk
02:06 about this, I want a church that no one ever has to feel
02:10 that again, I want a church that was somebody comes in,
02:12 I don't care who they are, they never feel it again.
02:15 The only reason I'm telling the story is that I just
02:17 want you to get it.
02:19 I want to get it myself, but I came in and I wanted to
02:21 throw myself on the ground because if I left the building
02:24 if I did not stay in the house of God I would not survive.
02:28 I would have died and I kept thinking I'll do anything if
02:31 you let me stay here, if you let me sit next to you I will
02:34 behave, I will dress like you, I will take all this stuff
02:37 off, I will try to stop smoking.
02:39 And man that was the hardest thing I think I ever quit.
02:43 Heroin was easier, but I will try to do all that stuff.
02:46 I remembered that for the next 10 years,
02:48 and please hear me, 10 years I tried to behave.
02:51 We are going to talk about some of that today,
02:55 it will be amazing, but first of all I want to introduce
02:57 you to some people at the café.
02:59 Lisa you have been with us here before, Cheri we are
03:02 going to interview you and I love you, from my hometown.
03:06 I like that. Sam, Flo and Larry you've been on the show
03:09 before and Vicki, we did an interview with you and I was
03:12 blessed, but thank you for joining us today at the café.
03:17 Our text for this season is Psalms 51, my favorite Psalms.
03:22 I'm telling you, in between weeks that we see each other,
03:26 or hang out together, read this Psalms because
03:28 you will be blessed every time you read it,
03:31 and you will hear something else.
03:32 Psalms 51:1, it says, "have mercy upon me oh God,
03:35 "according to your steadfast love, according to the
03:38 "multitude of your tender mercies and loving kindness,
03:42 "blot out my transgressions. "
03:43 Oh man, please forgive me, but if you go to Isaiah 58.
03:49 In Isaiah 58 we are talking about not the addicts
03:54 transgressions today, we are not talking about somebody
03:59 that is just strung out on something today.
04:01 We are not talking about porn addict, we are not talking
04:04 about the self mutilator, we are talking to the church.
04:06 In Isaiah 58 talks about the church.
04:08 It says, shout out loud and I'm not going to read it.
04:15 But I want to tell you my take on this.
04:16 It says shout out loud and tell my people their sins.
04:19 Right, I'm thinking, man all right what is it?
04:24 He says they seek me day after day, week after week.
04:28 They come in the building and they pray, they open up
04:31 the Bible and do all that, they do it as if they were
04:35 people doing right, oh shut up!
04:38 And I'm like what else did they do, they are praying
04:42 asking God why aren't you seeing this?
04:44 They are fasting and saying God why are you hearing this?
04:47 They were doing all that stuff as if He wasn't paying
04:50 attention to us, what is it?
04:52 He says, you know the fasting that you do is not the
04:55 fasting I'm asking for.
04:57 I'm asking for you to love on folks, for nobody to ever
05:00 feel like they don't fit in the house of God.
05:02 Love on each other, reach out, feed someone, if someone
05:06 is a widow make the rest of her days feel like
05:10 she's with family, right, God says that.
05:13 If you look at an addict that is trying to stand up,
05:15 there is a thing in Ministry of Healing, it's my favorite,
05:20 it's my favorite book besides the Bible and the
05:23 Desire of Ages, what else? Well is one of my favorites.
05:26 You get the point, but in Ministry Of Healing there is
05:29 a chapter called "Save to Serve", and I was reading that.
05:33 In the first part of my recovery, in this chapter,
05:35 Ellen White is the writer and she says that she wants to
05:40 give a scene of heaven.
05:41 She says there is an addict, imagine an addict, somebody
05:45 stumbling around, getting up for an hour a day and trying
05:49 to do right and they relapse and fall back down.
05:51 She says, now picture this, heaven, God Himself and an
05:56 Angel coming up and saying God,
05:58 can I please have that one?
06:00 Because they are going to need encouragement,
06:02 they are going to need more help and they will need
06:04 someone to lift them up each time they fall down.
06:06 They will get discouraged if they don't,
06:09 can I have that one?
06:11 I cried like a baby, I'm thinking that angel would want
06:15 Billy Graham, no, he wants me because he knows that
06:19 I am going to need some help.
06:20 So when I came in the church, it was difficult to come in
06:23 the church, and now years later,
06:26 I want you to stay with me.
06:27 Years later I step out to do Ministry.
06:29 I'm going to do Ministry with people that are so trashed.
06:33 It is what God does, you come out of the church and He
06:38 is going to come out of addiction, street life,
06:41 He's going to have you ministering in there.
06:44 It is because He knows us.
06:46 So I meet this girl, and how I met her is I went to
06:50 a rehab place, right?
06:52 She literally walked up to some guy and blew both of his
06:56 kneecaps out, I'm thinking man I hope she never gets
07:00 mad at me, and she's like 17.
07:02 She is hard-core she is facing 27 years in prison for
07:07 a drive-by shooting, right!
07:09 Not even, this girl has no sense of guilt.
07:14 Why did you shoot that person? Why did I shoot him?
07:18 She will tell you why, but there is no sense of
07:21 she shouldn't have done that.
07:23 When I first met her what was really funny to me, as,
07:25 she looked at me like, I don't care who you are.
07:29 Don't talk to me, and she didn't trust anybody.
07:33 I could tell she didn't trust the people around her.
07:34 She definitely didn't trust me, who was I, some evangelist
07:38 coming into the treatment center to speak, at one point I said
07:42 something to her and she literally laid into me.
07:45 Cussed me out, and I stood there and thought, I'm shocked
07:49 that you would talk to somebody like this.
07:51 I said to her, do you talk to everybody you meet, like this?
07:54 She's like, Nah, Nah, Nah cusses me out.
07:56 I can see why you would have a problem with communicating.
08:00 She was ready to, if she had a gun she would have shot me,
08:04 but we got into friendship while I was working at the
08:07 treatment center and I asked her in she will come to our
08:10 Ministry and hang out with us,
08:12 work on the cameras or whatever?
08:13 What I had at the time was a show called, 'The Journey Home'.
08:17 I had at risk youth come in and work on the cameras.
08:21 They were really at risk.
08:23 One time I had a Satanist kid that came in, sat on the
08:25 corner of the floor and said, as I walked up to him,
08:28 he said you know what? Don't come near me.
08:30 I will get up and hit you right in the face.
08:33 By this time I was right this close.
08:35 He said I'm serious, I'll bash your face in.
08:38 I said, is this better? He laughed at me.
08:40 As soon as he laughed I thought, I'd got him.
08:43 So I tell these kids to pick anything, pick the cameras,
08:47 pick the soundboard, you can floor direct.
08:50 Floor direct or help us to write out scripts, whatever.
08:52 I had people from the local television station, which is
08:55 Channel 7, come in and literally work with these kids.
08:59 They we come in and set up, because we live in Idaho,
09:02 they would set up tractors that will it be turned
09:04 over and people laying there and teach them how to do
09:07 an 'on scene' interview with someone,
09:10 reporting an accident or whatever.
09:13 They equip these kids, the show itself was just
09:16 doing testimonies so I had this one guy on the show
09:21 who had fallen 130 feet off of a tree, and broke
09:25 every bone in his body on the way down.
09:27 Totally paralyzed, in a wheel- chair, giving his testimony.
09:30 He was an arrogant guy before he fell, but after you fall
09:34 you're not as arrogant.
09:36 Water skier, firefighter and he had all this good stuff
09:41 he could do physically.
09:43 But when he broke his neck, he couldn't do any of that.
09:45 So it's walk with God was interesting.
09:47 When he was doing his testimony,
09:49 Anna was behind the camera.
09:51 She forgot to move the camera, somebody else talked
09:54 and Anna was just on this guy.
09:56 I kept thinking man we have her, we have her.
09:59 Afterward she went up to him and said you know, I feel
10:02 emotionally like you look physically.
10:05 They bonded, he taught her about God and I watched the
10:09 transformation in this kid's life happen.
10:11 I watched her give her life to God and literally,
10:14 literally start writing music for God.
10:17 Started singing for God, start coming in and ministering
10:20 to the outreach kids we brought from a place called
10:22 Hayes Shelter Home, which was downtown.
10:24 She loved on them, it was amazing to watch the transition.
10:28 I took her on retreats with me, I took her out to Teen
10:31 Retreats and it was not the easiest thing to do.
10:33 When I say I took her out to teen retreats, the first Teen
10:36 Retreat I took her to, Hanna likes to sing.
10:38 Cheri she's an incredible singer and Hanna likes to sing
10:41 and she had never been able to sing nice.
10:44 It was all rap stuff that was not really good lyrics.
10:47 She would show me some of the stuff she wrote prior to
10:50 being a Christian, it was intense.
10:52 I go to a Teen Retreat and they are these 4 young
10:55 girls singing special music.
10:57 They love me so I asked them if they would mind if
11:00 Hanna sang with you?
11:01 And Hanna is a Spanish Latino girl and they said yeah.
11:06 She can sing with us, and I told Anna, a gang member,
11:11 right! Gang members are hilarious, her eyes were
11:15 dancing, she was so thrilled to be asked.
11:18 She was like, yeah alright, but her eyes were dancing.
11:21 She wanted to do flips, she couldn't believe she could
11:24 do something so cool, her mom is in the audience.
11:27 The last time her mom was in a room full of people,
11:29 it was a courtroom and she was facing 27 years in prison.
11:32 Her mom was in the audience, tears are streaming down
11:34 her face and she was out there singing with this group
11:37 and holding her own and it is the most amazing thing.
11:40 I watched, I felt the Holy Spirit all over the room.
11:43 Hanna gets done and gets down and sits next to me right!
11:46 She is floating spiritually, God is loving on her.
11:50 I felt like Angels brought her back to the seat,
11:53 it was so amazing, so she sits down.
11:56 All of a sudden 4 little kids come up and sit behind her.
11:59 They are like 10 or 12, little boys.
12:02 They start kicking the chair, they are talking and Anna
12:06 is like, I could feel her tensing up.
12:10 Now she is angry, her face is angry.
12:13 She finally turns around and said you know you are dissing
12:16 in the singer's, they are like what?
12:18 You are a dissing and the singers, you need to shut up.
12:23 She turns back around, 4 little boys,
12:27 what do you think they did next?
12:28 They got louder, and they kicked her chair.
12:30 I said Anna, just let it go, and she finally couldn't
12:33 stand it, you either shut up or I will kill you.
12:37 I had to take her outside, when we go to Team Retreats,
12:40 you cannot kill anyone.
12:42 She was so serious, she was so incensed that this
12:46 disrespect that was being shown.
12:48 So we end up working together, it was amazing watching
12:51 her grow, it was absolutely amazing.
12:54 I could not get her to go to church with me though.
12:57 She would look at me and say, don't even ask me.
13:01 I told you that is off-limits, we can talk about
13:04 everything else but don't ask me.
13:06 Finally one day, when she was just in a really good place,
13:09 I said Anna, can you tell me why you don't want to go
13:13 church? She said, I was adopted when I was 3 years old
13:17 from Brazil, all of a sudden I thought oh, from Brazil.
13:21 She was in a Mexican gang, so I thought she was Spanish.
13:24 She was adopted from Brazil and all of a sudden,
13:26 when she said that, I could so see that.
13:28 I could see the whole culture on her.
13:30 She was adopted from Brazil to a family over here,
13:34 was molested by the Pastor in her church, from 3 to 10.
13:39 At 10 years old, she joined a gang and said absolutely never,
13:43 will I ever be hurt by anybody again.
13:45 Nobody will touch me, I will cut them, do you know what
13:49 I mean? She was serious, so for her when she felt like
13:52 she had to protect herself, she protected herself
13:55 and it was very serious.
13:57 So she is, no way I am not going back into the church.
14:00 I hate them, I hate them, they hurt me, right?
14:04 When somebody is damaged, sometimes it's every single
14:07 Christian on the planet is generalized into that damage.
14:10 I'm not saying everybody is a molester, but in a
14:13 damaged persons mind, that is what happens.
14:15 At one point Anna was changing and changing.
14:18 I even brought her here one time and she did Teen Pathways
14:21 with me, which was a show we had done prior.
14:23 But all that damage is there and at one point she said,
14:28 you know what Cheri? I want to go to church.
14:32 I was like, are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?
14:36 I'm thinking all of heaven, the Angels must have sang out
14:40 because this kid is coming back home.
14:42 I was thrilled, absolutely thrilled that I couldn't stand
14:46 it, I didn't even know, I wanted her to say, she said
14:50 how do I dress? I'd say you could come naked it's okay,
14:54 I don't care how you dress.
14:55 Hun you are back in the building and God is,
14:58 I know smiling.
14:59 So she dressed as been she can, Anna is so damaged that
15:04 she couldn't see herself to put a dress on.
15:07 It was for her to feel phony and fake,
15:10 if you know what I mean.
15:11 It wasn't out of disrespect, but she couldn't wear a dress,
15:14 it was not how she had been for the last few years.
15:17 I said I don't care what you wear, baggy pants,
15:20 jackets or whatever and she comes into the church with me
15:22 and I was thrilled.
15:24 I almost had tears on my face when I walked in the building
15:26 with her in my hand, she actually held my hand,
15:29 like a little girl, she wasn't a little girl but she scared.
15:33 We walked in and someone said something to her about her
15:39 black lipstick, I thought, God what just happened here?
15:45 I watched her withdrawal right back into herself,
15:48 right back into herself and she could have said out loud,
15:51 but was too embarrassed to say it, but if she could have
15:53 said out loud she would have said, see Cheri,
15:55 they do not want me in this building.
15:57 So this whole season we are talking about the Holy Spirit.
16:01 Right now I want to talk about that there is things we can
16:04 do to grieve God's Holy Spirit.
16:07 We can actually grieve all the blessings that God so
16:10 wants to pour into us.
16:11 We can grieve them away by our junk, sometimes our junk
16:17 is that we judge people.
16:19 God says, you know I want you baptized by the Holy Spirit
16:23 every day, fill yourself up every day so when you look at
16:26 people you actually look at them through the eyes of God.
16:29 Everyone of us is so damaged, we may not all look like
16:32 Anna with black fingernail polish and lipstick and
16:36 still cussing up a storm, as she was at that time.
16:39 She no longer is, she is a nurse living in Hawaii and
16:42 loving God with children of her own now.
16:45 It's amazing, but as a church we have got to get it.
16:50 We have a commission, and that commission is the same one
16:53 Christ gave us before He went, love one another,
16:56 love one another and in that they will know who you are.
17:00 In that, I get to heal.
17:02 We will be right back, stay tuned!
17:10 Think you've seen it all? Think again.
17:13 Cheri Peters is back for a second season of
17:16 Celebrating Life In Recovery with more lives
17:20 more stories and more miracles.
17:23 Watch the shocking, the inspiring, and the incredible.
17:27 Check your local listings to find out when
17:29 Celebrating Life In Recovery comes to you and get
17:33 ready for another dose of reality, Cheri style.
17:51 Welcome back, my favorite part of the show where you get
17:53 to meet some of my friends.
17:55 Today I have a friend that lives in the same town I'm in,
17:58 and the first time it was funny, the first time I met her
18:01 she was a vocalist, a gospel and jazz vocalist.
18:04 She started to sing and I just felt the Holy Spirit just
18:08 wash over me, I thought I had to find out
18:12 who this woman is.
18:13 How can someone have a message that comes across so
18:17 clearly, be so anointed, and where did you come from,
18:21 and who are you?
18:23 I'm going to share that with you and you will be surprised
18:25 because what she will say, is I don't like talking about
18:29 myself, I don't have a testimony and you will be blessed.
18:32 It's just amazing, so Cheri I love you.
18:35 I'm glad to be here.
18:36 I'm so glad, because we tried to do this before.
18:38 Yes we have, and our lives are chaotic and I am blessed
18:41 and blessed, and blessed. - Amen!
18:43 So I heard your testimony before and was blessed by it.
18:49 So I want you to share with people, who are you?
18:52 Where did you come from?
18:53 When you say, I have been blessed and I feel guilty,
18:57 when you say that what you mean by that?
18:59 I no longer feel guilty, I just feel blessed.
19:01 That is all that I can say.
19:03 There have been a lot of trials in everyone's life and
19:06 when I look at it reflectively, I have just been blessed.
19:08 And I don't mean just by diminishing it, I just want to
19:11 shout it, I want to talk about it, say it over and over again.
19:14 I was born in Boise Idaho, and yes there are more than 3
19:17 black people in Idaho, because I married one.
19:18 We added to the population.
19:21 When you say that I laugh, because I took Jackie,
19:24 you know I have a daughter, when we moved there she was 4.
19:28 I ended up taking her to Georgia during her homeschooling,
19:32 she was doing a civil war thing, so I took her to Georgia
19:35 and we went into this ethnic restaurant.
19:39 She walked in and she's little, 4, she was like, mom!
19:44 Those pictures have black people in them.
19:48 And I don't know how to respond to that because she is
19:52 just adorable, "and everybody in here is black and they
19:57 are so pretty, oh mom. "
20:00 She went on and on and the owners of the restaurant came
20:03 in and kissed her on the face, made a special meal for her,
20:06 and made over her and all of a sudden I realized that she
20:10 was culturally starved in Idaho.
20:13 I love Idaho, but we have little diversity.
20:18 A little diversity, a little apparent diversity, and it
20:21 is growing by leaps and bounds and I like that very much.
20:25 My family has been in Idaho since 1905, and know we were
20:28 not lost in the desert we made a purposeful choice to be there.
20:30 Both sides of the family, so I love being there and
20:32 I've lived elsewhere many times and came back to
20:34 Boise again and again and I love it.
20:36 I have a strong faith tradition, great-grandfather founded
20:40 one of the first black churches, if you can imagine,
20:42 yes there were enough people for church in Boise Idaho.
20:45 It also became the Idaho Black history Museum of which
20:48 I am one of the founding board members in 1995.
20:50 I got to go during your annual thing this year,
20:53 and I was so blessed.
20:55 There was a Doctor, a woman that got an award this year.
20:58 Who? Doctor Amy Oliver, she was a former professor at
21:01 Boise State University, and now at the Northwestern
21:03 Nazareth University and has been one of my friends and
21:05 mentors for a long, long time.
21:07 I called her husband, who passed away this last year,
21:10 my Pastor since 1970, even when they move to Rhode Island
21:13 and came back, he has been a blessing to me.
21:15 I know that word sounds like it's contrived,
21:18 but I have been blessed, and blessed.
21:19 I grew up in Boise, left Boise and got married and
21:22 came back, got divorced and lived close to my folks,
21:26 about nine blocks from them.
21:27 It wasn't a needy thing, it was a choice, raising kids,
21:29 you have to be close to relatives and
21:31 that was a great thing.
21:32 At one point, one of my sons announced to us he had chosen
21:38 to become, to follow the Nation of Islam.
21:40 Not the nation of Islam, Muslim.
21:43 So he follows Islam, and my husband whom I had been married
21:47 to for 27 years, is a Pastor, a Baptist Pastor.
21:51 Who said, Muslim, who said, Islam what happened to this
21:54 child, he's your child Cheri.
21:55 It was my child, it is his stepfather.
21:58 Still I was blessed, I call the same Pastor, Pastor Oliver,
22:02 who was in Providence Rhode Island at that time.
22:04 Can I ask you Cheri, that as you are talking about,
22:07 because that is a huge thing for any of us to have our kids
22:12 all of a sudden say, you know what I have looked at this.
22:16 You didn't raise ignorant children, you have children
22:20 that are making decisions and you are saying, man.
22:23 You understand that on both sides of my family,
22:26 on my mothers side and my father side, have a long
22:29 history of people in the church.
22:30 Pastors on both sides, deacons, mothers of the church,
22:34 Deaconesses, pianists, and it goes on and on.
22:38 You can walk down the street and somebody would know who's
22:40 kid, in which church you went to, and that kind thing.
22:42 Philip grew up under the tutelage age of my mother,
22:45 my mother didn't teach us fairy tales, but we read about
22:48 comparative religions at 7 or 8, 9 and 10.
22:51 I want you to tell the story that you told me about your
22:55 mom and fairy tales, especially like sleeping beauty.
22:58 Sleeping Beauty, mother said fairytales, we are not going
23:00 to do fairytales, and one of them was Sleeping Beauty.
23:03 She said listen to this story, there is a woman alone in
23:05 the forest, lying by herself in repose, and a stranger comes
23:09 up and laps his lips, uninvited, and unannounced, on this woman.
23:12 This is not a good thing.
23:14 - I love that, I never heard anyone say that.
23:17 You know what, Hansel and Gretel throwing kids in the oven
23:20 are not, - these were not pretty, not pretty stories.
23:23 Children wandering around without parents in a forest,
23:25 it goes on and on and on.
23:27 She wanted you to know that this was the truth, this is
23:29 what I want you to know about the world around you.
23:31 Yes she wanted us to know that the world was
23:33 not just Boise Idaho.
23:34 My mother had lived many other places and just had a view
23:37 of the world, she was really an acronyisms, a woman out of
23:39 her time and she instilled that with me and with my kids
23:42 living nine blocks away.
23:43 She had a very, very powerful influence and my dad was
23:46 more traditional, straight down the line.
23:49 Grandpa was Baptist, I'm Baptist, your Baptist.
23:51 That kind of thing, so it was a real surprise to everyone
23:53 but my mother and I, when Philip made that announcement.
23:56 Not that it wasn't of a concern initially.
23:58 So I call this Pastor, who was in Providence,
24:01 he came home every August and retired in Boise.
24:04 I said, you know this is what's happening, He's known
24:06 Philip since he was 2.
24:07 He said don't sweat it, I will be home, and he didn't
24:09 talk like that he's much more eloquent than that.
24:11 Don't sweat it, I'll be home in August and we'll talk to him.
24:13 Called Philip and he said, he's between 17 and 18,
24:16 he said bring your Koran, bring your Bible and come
24:19 ready to spend time.
24:21 Phillips spent maybe about four hours with him,
24:23 and as Philip was driving his car back home,
24:25 he was calling on the phone and saying this guy really
24:28 knows his Bible and I am proud of him.
24:29 This is an amazing young man, he knows his Bible and
24:32 he also knows his Koran.
24:34 And the reason he knows that is because he was a
24:36 theologian and studied all religions of the world.
24:38 He could give you the literal translation from every language.
24:45 He gave me faith and hope and understanding when he said,
24:47 God is in charge. - Amen!
24:50 I'm not questioning it, God is in charge.
24:52 He is now 30 and still Muslim.
24:53 What is interesting to me is that we do not know where
24:56 somebody is going to go.
24:57 I see people leave, they are doing this stuff,
25:00 and come back was such a clear understanding of who God is,
25:03 I'm not saying anything about your son or where he is at.
25:07 We judge Muslims in a way that would have no idea.
25:14 I went to Thailand, I was so going to go over and do some
25:20 incredible things with Buddhists over there.
25:23 They're so on fire and religious not on fire as for Christ,
25:28 but on fire to what they believe, in their prayers,
25:31 in their commitment to God and I was shamed by that.
25:34 I thought, you know!
25:36 It's been edifying for me, I didn't know what I didn't know
25:39 and I have learned so much about the Muslim faith.
25:42 I have learned stuff about me, I learned that I had some
25:44 judgments, when you talk about the gal walking in and
25:47 she was excited at church with black lipstick,
25:49 people were talking, so I have learned that
25:51 I had to do things with my own mouth.
25:53 There is a song, "right on my tongue let my words edify,
25:58 "let the words of my mouth be acceptable in thy sight. "
26:03 We need to do that every day, we need to hold the judgment.
26:08 Go on, come on, but it is hard, like you said, we judge
26:12 and don't even know we are judging. - that's right!
26:16 So can you share with me with what, if Jackie was going into
26:21 a Muslim faith, I don't even know what that is really.
26:25 I just know what I have been told.
26:27 I also know, by traveling around the world, sometimes what
26:30 I have been told ain't it.
26:32 Well it is no different than when you look in the Christian
26:35 faith, there's all kinds of generations of Christians.
26:37 Even our own churches is generations of what a
26:39 Christian looks like, walks like, talks like, dresses like.
26:42 What kind of lip stick they wear, wear it or not.
26:44 There are a lot of differences, so that is the first thing
26:49 that I've learned, to be open and understand that not
26:52 everything that I have wrapped up in my head,
26:55 is not the stereo typical thing.
26:56 I've never been in a more loving group, we have a very
27:01 small mosque in Boise Idaho who embraced me when I walked
27:04 in the door, things I didn't know, do I wear my shoes,
27:07 do I take them off, what do I have to do?
27:08 Do I cover my head? Let me help you, I'm so glad you are
27:13 interested, let me share, I never felt more embraced than
27:17 I did when I went there.
27:18 I explain, the first time I went, it was to visit my son.
27:22 - even just stopping that whole thing, they hate you.
27:26 Yes, it is not the case, it is not the case.
27:30 Very interested in human rights, very interested in
27:34 preserving all kinds of dignity for religions of all
27:36 different kinds, that is what I found in my community
27:39 in Boise Idaho.
27:41 I'm grateful for those relationships, and grateful for
27:43 what I have learned.
27:44 My son broke his neck. - literally broke his neck?
27:47 Severed C-1 vertebrae in two places. - how?
27:51 Playing football, never played football in high school.
27:53 Didn't like football, he went to play with his
27:56 brother doing fun stuff and broke his neck.
27:58 He was in a town about 300 miles away, and his girlfriend
28:00 called and said, hey, I think he really hurt himself.
28:03 Of course he's a macho kind of guy, no I'm cool, I'm cool.
28:06 - he got up? Yeah he got up and play 3 more plays.
28:09 She called me and I tried to do the mother thing.
28:11 It is hard to do a mother thing on the phone.
28:13 You can only has so much attitude, I was shaking my head,
28:15 people weren't getting what I was saying, you need to get
28:18 your behind, I was doing the best I can,
28:20 but he did go to the hospital.
28:21 The Doctor called me that was there, he said, I think he
28:24 probably got a concussion, he's okay, he's just got stars.
28:27 Before he left the hospital my son said, I really did see
28:29 stars, I think you need to take an x-ray.
28:31 Now there is something wrong when you need to tell the
28:32 Doctor to take an x-ray. - right!
28:34 They found he had severed his C-1 in 2 places.
28:36 The Doctor called... - that's a huge injury!
28:38 That's a huge injury, huge, huge, that's life threatening.
28:40 The Doctor called me and said, he will be fine we are
28:42 going to send him home.
28:43 Then he called me back and said, ah, Miss Buckner,
28:46 I don't know what to do, I don't know what to do.
28:49 - so you are like, don't tell me that, you are the Doctor.
28:52 You have my baby. They put him in a halo.
28:55 By the time I got to Pocatello, three hours away, they had
28:57 released him, now who is in charge? Who is in charge,
29:01 I'm just asking who is in charge.
29:03 He said that C-1 vertebrae, we also had called my Doctor
29:08 as we were going down, 10% of those who sever C-1 live.
29:12 10% live, in all cases, except this exception,
29:16 their quadriplegic, my son is not a quadriplegic.
29:20 He is a highly functioning, amazing guy,
29:22 who also broke his neck a second time.
29:24 - but how did he get up, nobody can answer that then?
29:29 How did he get up and walk?
29:31 I know, you know, who? - let's say it out loud.
29:34 It's a God thing, it's a God thing.
29:36 Yes he was really working out, he developed nice great
29:40 muscles in his neck, because they had trouble
29:43 even putting the screws in to get a halo in there
29:46 but it is a blessing, a blessing.
29:47 One of the things that my son taught me, we came to Boise
29:50 and we realize that Halo is outdated technology and I
29:55 looked for surgeon, surgeons are in those high levels
29:59 of specialties, you have to wait a long time.
30:02 I'm a pushy woman, ultimately after not a very
30:05 pretty story, that wasn't my best Christian self, I said,
30:08 you need to see my baby now and I was acting really bad.
30:11 He did, and he looked at the x-rays and said it was a
30:14 compelling break and we need to get him into surgery.
30:16 - I have seen you when you get intense.
30:19 I'm thinking, those doctors, man.
30:22 They didn't have a chance, they didn't have a chance.
30:25 He did have surgery and they did a lot of amazing things.
30:27 They wired, fused, bolted and all these things.
30:30 The boy, a man is powerful and his brother was with him
30:33 the whole time, it was great stuff.
30:34 We were blessed and blessed, but one of the first
30:37 follow-up appointments I took him to, there had been
30:40 another person from Boise State University who had suffered
30:43 the same kind of injury and was a quadriplegic.
30:46 I was saying to Philip, we are so blessed that your
30:50 going to be fine.
30:51 He said mom, he was blessed and I went, Philip you're
30:56 your fine, you're going to be great.
30:58 He said mom, he was blessed, and it really took me back.
31:00 He was right, when we talk about the glory of God and how
31:04 we can't wait to get to heaven and be with Him.
31:05 But when somebody dies, we go oh! Oh! Oh!
31:10 Philip said, he was no less blessed than I mom.
31:13 So that was a real opening, yeah this kid, but my journey,
31:17 my journey, and obviously this is part of my journey.
31:20 - tell him not to get mad at me for saying this.
31:23 But I hope he comes back to Christianity and just has a
31:27 Ministry with Muslims because he will understand them in
31:31 ways that are unbelievable.
31:33 If he doesn't, it's a God thing.
31:36 There is a job for him, and I think he is doing it.
31:39 He is an honorable loving person, he totally honors the
31:43 Ministry of his father, and the religion of his family,
31:47 his extended family, we are many all over.
31:52 It's been a learning opportunity for all of us.
31:55 I want to talk about that you are now in Ministry.
31:59 You're in a Ministry teaching, talk about what is your
32:02 Ministry, and you just started...
32:04 You left your working gig.
32:07 I've been a corporate person, if I tell you how long you'll be
32:11 counting and saying she must be an old grub.
32:13 I've been in corporate for like 30 years and I opened
32:17 a coaching firm, I believe it really is my Ministry.
32:21 I know that it is, it was over and over again things that
32:24 told me this and I listened.
32:25 My husband said, the burning Bush would be in the front
32:28 yard, and you would be looking for the root cause
32:30 of the Bush burning.
32:31 So, Stop, be still, and listen.
32:33 That is what my husband kept telling me.
32:34 What I am doing is working with people to help them
32:36 realize their dreams, and it is a holistic approach with
32:39 your mind, body and spirit.
32:40 The Spirit is so critical to you finding wholeness.
32:44 It is not just those that have suffered terrible losses
32:47 which everyone has experienced loss, but finding out who
32:50 you are, society has all kinds of dictates about who we
32:53 should be, how we walk in the world, but if we don't walk
32:56 in the world and wholeness, we are not going to find that
32:59 joy that can only come from knowing who we are and where
33:02 we come from and who is in charge.
33:04 Is that combination. - exactly!
33:06 To me I love the way you say that, because when I walked
33:10 into the church, I have to be in a place to where somebody
33:14 gives me that space and the affirmation to do that.
33:18 - That's right, that's right!
33:20 If I come in, what you are saying, you should be
33:22 looking this way, you should be acting this way,
33:25 than I am never going to really look at who I am,
33:28 or celebrate who God created me to be.
33:32 I love that word, celebrating, celebrating our differences,
33:35 our uniqueness, the opportunities we have
33:37 before us and celebrating it.
33:39 My grandma used to say, and I used to think it was all
33:41 hers until I got out the world and found out everybody's
33:43 grandmother said, God don't make junk.
33:46 - yeah, Amen! - He just don't make junk.
33:49 I believe that, our journey is to find out, there is
33:52 another song, that is from another friend of ours that
33:56 is here today, that has a song for everything, but it is,
33:59 'Order My Steps' you know.
34:01 You sang that at a concert and I got to be in the choir.
34:04 You where the choir singing, Singing, singing!
34:07 Sing so off key that I felt bad for every single person.
34:10 - It was a joyful noise. - it was a joyful noise.
34:12 That is all we cared about, we all came together, not all
34:15 of us are singers, but we made a joyful noise.
34:18 I'm grateful for that opportunity.
34:19 In all my steps is God in every single thing,
34:22 every single thing.
34:24 I can make a mess of it, I need some help.
34:27 But you also was it Michael that you are working at?
34:32 Oh Hewitt Packard.
34:33 - I'm sorry, but your call to diversity was?
34:38 I work in cultural diversity and gender work and it was
34:42 wonderful work, it was wonderful work and I am able to
34:46 continue doing that now.
34:47 I work in a corporate environment
34:49 and with individuals.
34:50 I have clients across the world that we do a lot of phone
34:52 coaching, so we work with groups.
34:55 What is interesting to me when I came into the church,
34:58 I realize that I wasn't okay, and now I am totally.
35:02 I can dress right, people want me to come over for dinner.
35:04 I can stay to potluck.
35:06 - I can stand at the grocery store with you now.
35:09 I know, and I love that.
35:10 I think we don't understand, when I started looking around
35:14 and realized that even within the church that there were
35:18 black-and-white issues.
35:19 This person is the Italian, this person is a biker,
35:24 this person is, we had all these separations.
35:27 All these kind of clicks, we even have this is a Korean
35:31 church, this is a Spanish church, this is a black church,
35:35 and this is the White church, and this is the church from
35:38 Russia, this is the bask church.
35:40 We have all will separations, when I came in and looked
35:44 around I'm thinking, aren't we supposed to be one?
35:48 What we find over and over again, if you look at it really
35:51 critically, I don't think there is a church that doesn't
35:55 have good intent, but there is intent and there is impact.
35:59 You say come in and let us be one, but I want you to walk
36:03 this way, you know what I mean?
36:04 I want to get dressed this way,
36:06 I want you to talk that way.
36:07 - You have to play music I like. - yes!
36:10 You are welcome as long as you fit into the box.
36:13 I think it is really a hard thing, but church is a
36:16 microcosm of society, we are diverse, we are different,
36:20 but we have to understand that difference is just that
36:23 we do things uniquely.
36:25 Our goal for me societally, as well as in the church
36:28 is to be inclusive. - Amen!
36:31 It's just not knowing you're different, but act like
36:34 me okay, and by the way I'll probably deride if you try
36:36 to act too much like me, because you know you are not me.
36:39 So the real contradiction of term and that is really true...
36:41 Exactly, so we have this line,
36:42 we need to work on including in what you use that word,
36:47 celebrating, celebrating our differences.
36:49 Sabbath is one of the most segregated times a day in the
36:54 world, it's very true. - I've heard that before.
36:58 I mean you asked the difference between Muslim and Christian,
37:00 think about the Christian faith, it's like you said,
37:02 we have a black church and then we got this church,
37:04 and that church or even a single church,
37:07 because we are so proud to tell you that we also
37:09 have a service in Spanish.
37:11 Of course they all meet by themselves at three o'clock
37:14 and we are out at 11:15. - right!
37:15 - now that it's negative, but it is not as inclusive
37:19 as it should be.
37:21 But what I think about all that, is that you give me
37:23 permission, as my friend, and I'm sure of this.
37:26 I could sit down and say Cheri I want you to teach me
37:29 some things I don't know about our cultural differences.
37:32 I know that you can do that, I can grow in that,
37:36 I can learn from you and do that with some folks,
37:39 as a church, can we do that with each other enough so
37:42 that when you sit next to me, those differences are really
37:46 not there, or are celebrated?
37:49 I think one of the things that we have to try to
37:52 understand is the differences are not going to go away.
37:55 It is a respect for them, I do not like the word tolerance.
37:58 Everybody preaches tolerance, let me tell you this.
38:01 If I said, Cheri I can tolerate you living in my neighborhood.
38:05 Ya hey, I can tolerate your child coming in my house,
38:09 that is not very loving or inclusive.
38:12 I don't like that language.
38:13 So when we get to a point where we can value, one of my
38:16 closest friends at home sings her heart out, sings 24/7.
38:20 We exercise at the gym, yes I do go occasionally,
38:23 it's Monday, it's part of my getting to wholeness,
38:26 I'm getting on a five week program, I'm going to die.
38:28 She just sings, and I mean this girl can't sing.
38:31 The girl cannot sing, but she makes such a joyful noise,
38:35 and we have such a great time.
38:36 So when it comes that I could sit next to this woman and
38:39 just love her and enjoy her, whether she sings on key or
38:42 not, but she makes me want to sing.
38:44 She just lifts me up, that's the thing we hope to happen.
38:47 Or at least it's a goal for me.
38:49 We are going to open up for questions.
38:51 I want to say that I believe when we get to heaven,
38:56 that we will all have incredible differences and we will
39:00 celebrate everyone of them, and just be blessed by the
39:04 people we sit next to.
39:05 But the world right now is looking at us today,
39:09 and they are really looking at a church hoping to find
39:11 a church that no matter where we come from,
39:13 no matter what our background is, they want us to be
39:16 celebrating our differences today.
39:18 I want to have that, I think to me, to the extent that
39:24 I cannot accept the person sitting next to me,
39:27 the person in front of me, the person coming in the room,
39:31 is to the extent that I grieve the Spirit and am unable
39:34 to be blessed the way God wants to bless me as His body.
39:38 I just wanted to say that out loud, I don't know
39:41 who's listening, but I want to say that.
39:43 As a church let's start loving on each other.
39:46 So I'm going to open it up for questions.
39:48 Does anybody have a question? Vicki.
39:50 There is so much that I could say, first thank you for
39:54 sharing because I go to a church that
39:56 I walked into and looked very different, and walked into
40:01 this 90% black church.
40:05 If you look at it, it looks like a quote, unquote black
40:08 church, really it was multicultural.
40:10 We had people from Nigeria, Jamaica, Peru, you name it,
40:13 different countries, so it wasn't black-and-white, it was
40:17 multicultural and I believe we are all meant to be
40:19 to embrace our differences.
40:21 So with that said, as a mother who seems overjoyed with
40:25 love for her son, what would you say to mothers,
40:28 or fathers, that have a son or daughter that is different.
40:32 Whether they are walking to a beat of a different drum so
40:36 to speak, or they showed an interest say, in Judaism or
40:40 perhaps something other than Christianity.
40:44 What would you say to them?
40:45 - if so cryptic, I would say love them.
40:47 Love them and pray for them, pray without ceasing.
40:49 Just like you do with the kids that are not using that
40:52 other path, that is all there is for me.
40:55 - I have to say to Cheri, is sometimes people,
40:59 even when their kids are acting out in any kind of way,
41:02 because I worked with addicts mostly,
41:04 so acting out in addictions.
41:06 So when I see a look in your eyes, I don't want them to
41:09 see fear or judgment, I want to them to see mamma,
41:12 and Mama loves you if you know what I mean.
41:15 It's a huge thing, that if they read in my eyes what
41:20 the truth is, I love you.
41:24 And to sense that it's not different.
41:26 I'm so sure that God is in charge,
41:28 they have to see that in your eyes.
41:30 Sam you had a question.
41:33 Yes, well I have a comment.
41:36 As I mentioned to you that I have no problem with racial
41:43 prejudiced because you see I am and I Italian but most
41:49 people think I'm a Japanese.
41:51 - when you said that I wanted to laugh,
41:53 I'm thinking you are an Italian? You promise?
41:56 That's what people think that I am Japanese.
42:00 That is where the problem is.
42:02 For obvious reasons I can't tell you where, but my wife
42:08 and I went to this church in Michigan.
42:11 We felt so awkward because it was a Caucasian church.
42:19 Practically everybody is Caucasian and they were tense.
42:27 They didn't want to see a Japanese man with
42:31 a Caucasian wife, right.
42:34 - that's hard, mixed marriages is hard for people,
42:37 I'm finding out, and didn't realize, it was such an issue.
42:40 We had a tough time and said we will never return to
42:44 this church, well of course you can't do that because
42:49 of relatives and that is why we went to that
42:53 church in the first place.
42:55 If you years later we went to that church and there was
43:01 100% change, people were warm.
43:05 I notice that there were ethnic diversity,
43:12 many different nationalities attending that church.
43:15 Well I just found out recently that the Minister came to
43:21 that church about seven years ago and the
43:25 whole atmosphere just turned around.
43:29 - so he came in with a teaching spirit?
43:33 Or he just came in and taught?
43:36 Or just through people from the community?
43:39 But the people's attitude had just completely changed and
43:43 I feel that, you know you can turn off people, visitors,
43:49 by not being loving, cordial.
43:54 - can I just take that Sam?
44:00 I know when you can turn off visitors and turn off each
44:04 other, you can hurt and injure each other.
44:06 I want to go a step above that,
44:09 you can grieve the Holy Spirit.
44:12 - what does that mean?
44:14 To me grieving the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit wants to
44:17 pour in to us, wants to use us.
44:18 We are the body of Christ, we are the light of the world,
44:22 we bring God's colors to the world and anytime I my junk
44:25 gets in the way of the Holy Spirit being able to love on,
44:29 edify and affirm, and lift somebody up in front of me,
44:32 when my junk gets in the way, it is like I grieve Him.
44:36 As friends if you and I are hanging together and I say some
44:39 thing that hurts you, you are grieved, you are a vexed.
44:43 Your spirit has to withdraw and figure out what just
44:47 happened, what did she say?
44:49 I think that God, the Holy Spirit is grieved
44:51 in the same way.
44:52 The Bible says don't grieve the Spirit, don't grieve the
44:55 Spirit so I know that all this stuff is very personal for
44:59 each of us, but I also know it's very personal for God.
45:02 As His representatives on the planet.
45:05 Do you hear that? - I hear you.
45:08 I also think that some significant happened here,
45:10 we don't know what happened in this congregation,
45:13 but someone went forward and spread the gospel of
45:17 Jesus Christ and it caught fire, and it caught fire.
45:20 Somebody stepped up.
45:25 That is too funny, I know there was another question.
45:28 Lisa, you had a question.
45:29 When you talk about grieving the Holy Spirit, I know that
45:34 I have done that and got very sensitive to that.
45:37 What I say to the Lord is that when I'm talking,
45:40 ministering, being a friend, a wife, a mother,
45:44 help me to have Your heart on that person.
45:47 Not to see how they are acting, how they look,
45:50 if they are in sin, if they are Muslim, if they are a Jew,
45:53 if it's my mother, if it's someone who I don't like,
45:56 not my type of person, help me to have Your heart.
45:59 Because He died for all of us and loves us all and wants
46:02 to fix us all and I need His help sometimes when
46:06 I am talking to somebody, because I might not have that
46:09 feeling for them and He helps me.
46:12 - We don't know how to love like that.
46:13 On the show we talked about the Holy Spirit and the gifts
46:17 of the Spirit's, or the fruits of the Spirit.
46:19 First fruit is agape love, so God pours that into us.
46:23 So I learn to love only with my dependents on the
46:27 Holy Spirit, because the love with the world has taught
46:29 me is not that good.
46:32 In our humanness, we are human and we try to be like Him.
46:35 That's incredible, when I went to God one time and said,
46:39 God, who do I work with?
46:41 Do I work with Buddhist, we have like 50 billion different
46:45 denominations, do I work with such and such and such and
46:49 such, do I work with an addict, God forbid the prostitute,
46:52 do I work with whatever?
46:53 I am vexed, I'm thinking God I don't know.
46:56 Some people say we should work with them,
46:59 but not this group, so I said in my prayer that
47:03 I want to know, I want to know.
47:06 I don't want to know kind of, I seriously want to know,
47:09 crying, wanting to know.
47:10 The Holy Spirit said, I'll give you something easy.
47:15 I'm thinking easy is good, put a little mirror under
47:19 their nose and if it steams up work with them.
47:22 That is what I'm saying, do I work with them, He said yes.
47:24 And yes, and yes, and yes.
47:26 If they are alive, they are my children, and judgment does
47:31 not come, there is a thing in the Bible that says,
47:34 when judgment comes is at the end of all this.
47:36 There will be a judgment day, but it is not now.
47:39 Jesus said at one time, even the angels don't judge.
47:42 You don't know the end of your life, you don't know the
47:46 end of my life, all you know is that I have breath in me.
47:50 If I have breath in me, as Christians we are to love,
47:53 affirm, edify, lift up, educate if we can.
47:57 If the person is able to be educated at that point,
47:59 but sometimes that is not even our gig. - that's right!
48:02 Our gig is to love on or pray for those things.
48:07 Maybe pray with. - oh, you've gone too far for me.
48:14 So we have a little bit of time and I would like to,
48:18 you have said at the beginning the show, you said to me
48:21 personally, you know I just don't have a testimony.
48:24 But I say that I see a woman that has gone through a
48:28 number of things in your life that has kept the foundation
48:32 in Christ, how do you do that?
48:33 Well you know it is like breathing.
48:36 He is there, and I know He is there.
48:40 There are times that I know that you heard me say this
48:42 before, I'm not sure He is keeping score
48:43 as well as I'd like him to, I'm right at the end,
48:46 this could be a deal breaker Lord.
48:48 He says, ah nah, you are okay, you're okay.
48:51 I believe that is true, I have the core sustaining root,
48:56 foundation and it goes on and on and on.
48:58 I know, I'm trying to fix things and take care of it,
49:01 sometimes it is not my job and I will get to the point
49:04 and say that I know Who is in charge, I've been reminded.
49:07 But you have gotten to the point where you said God this is hard.
49:08 This one is hard?
49:09 Oh yeah, my parents died 8 weeks apart from each other and
49:11 I did all the right things and gave all myself these kudos
49:14 and pats on the back and for handling, handling,
49:16 handling, and I thought I was going to lose my mind because
49:18 that was my linchpin, my core.
49:21 Who are you? When you are an orphan even though you are
49:24 as old as God yourself, it felt really funny to lose both my
49:27 parents and lose them so quickly and it was very hard.
49:30 And how do I stand back up.
49:32 - yes, then my kids god mother died right after that.
49:34 Then one of my closest friends was murdered a month after
49:38 that and I'm going, and I do pray like you do, Lord,
49:41 this is Cheri, remember this is me.
49:42 Have you got me confused with so many down the street
49:45 and I'm getting the overspill, it's a little too much,
49:48 too much for me.
49:49 - because you said you won't give us more than I can handle.
49:51 But now You're pushing it.
49:53 Yes Lord You are pushing it, this is the big one.
49:54 But truthfully that is what sustains me,
49:57 that's what sustains me.
49:58 As Christians is that, that foundation is that I know
50:02 whatever hits me, whether I understand it or not, I can
50:06 go to God, I can walk around and I can weep in His arms.
50:10 I can weep in prayer, I can say I'm confused.
50:14 My mother used to say this all the time, and her brother
50:17 was a minister, there is a Scripture that talks about now
50:19 we see through a glass darkly but later face-to-face.
50:22 Because I want to understand and I want to know what
50:24 I'm not going to know, that is hard for somebody that
50:26 is a little bit of a control freak.
50:28 I'm not supposed to know and the other thing that helps
50:30 the all the time is, faith is the substance of things
50:33 hoped for the evidence of things not seen.
50:35 I need that, and the other one is weeping may endure for
50:39 a night, weeping may endure and that is true.
50:43 I swear that the darkest times for me come at night when
50:47 you are alone and in the dark and truly the morning comes.
50:50 Truly it comes.
50:52 We talked about grieving the Holy Spirit on this.
50:56 I just want to get back to into churches.
51:02 What would you say to somebody in a church that says you
51:07 know what, as you guys talking I realize that
51:10 I have issues with racial differences?
51:13 I have issues with people that are different, a kid coming
51:16 in with piercings or black lipstick or whatever.
51:20 I have issues with that.
51:21 I know when I meet somebody that hear something that changes
51:26 their mindset, and says I don't want to be judgmental.
51:29 I don't want to be that, what would you say to them as
51:31 far as it is how to change that?
51:33 First thing I would say, congratulation, you are human.
51:36 You don't like everybody, I really get concerned when so
51:40 many says, ah, I have no prejudices, I like everybody
51:44 and I am so superior.
51:47 I want to go Hummm, speak with fork tongue.
51:48 What you don't know, you don't know so the top is to say,
51:52 I got this issue, and the next thing is to take the step.
51:55 I do not mean that you have to go throw your arms around
51:59 them because they know what your arms anymore than
52:00 you want to put them around there.
52:01 But the more you know, the more you find out about someone,
52:04 you develop a relationship.
52:06 Everybody doesn't want to be close and touchy-feely,
52:09 but you have to, it is hard to hate somebody when you
52:13 really know them, sometimes when you base it on a
52:16 stereotype you think you know, but when you begin to know
52:20 someone there is an opportunity
52:22 to break down those barriers.
52:23 Open up ask them, who are you?
52:24 Better than that, tell them who you are because you can
52:29 feel under scrutiny when so many comes up and bombards you,
52:33 who are you? Where are you coming from?
52:34 I can have the best intentions but it sounds like
52:37 I'm interrogating you, why don't I share me with you?
52:40 Why don't I share something with you and then give you
52:43 the opportunity to share?
52:45 To me all that, in understanding God not only has to
52:51 bring us from a place of whatever, a place of where we
52:57 were raised in loving families, or place of damage,
53:00 or a place of where ever it is.
53:03 Where every He finds us, that He has to bring us to be
53:06 able to see His face, accept the sacrifice that was made
53:10 for us, and then moves us into a body of all kinds of
53:13 folks all trying to figure out who they are,
53:15 or and what they are in Christ.
53:17 At the same time He is saying now I want you guys to
53:20 look at each other lovingly, and we are like I don't
53:23 know how to do that.
53:25 When I first came into the church what cracked me up is
53:27 I didn't know how to eat with someone.
53:29 I was homeless and didn't have a lot of modeling as
53:33 a child, so when somebody said, let's have potluck
53:38 together, my palms would sweat.
53:40 I didn't want someone to touch me because I knew they would
53:42 feel me sweaty and anxious.
53:44 Then somebody would say just talk about anything.
53:47 I didn't know, people start talking about the weather.
53:50 I thought these guys are so concerned about the weather.
53:54 They talk to somebody else and say nice weather we're
53:57 having, and I'm thinking what are they talking about?
54:01 I didn't even know the typical social things that people
54:04 do to feel each other out.
54:06 All that light talk. - or dance, the dance we do.
54:09 Another piece is humbling ourselves.
54:11 You know I don't know you, I don't want to offend you,
54:15 but Blah, blah, blah, blah, just to be humble.
54:18 Say I don't know everything and ask the question.
54:21 It is so important not to attack, not make someone feel
54:24 they are being put upon, that is my answer.
54:27 Share me, share me.
54:29 - and once we do that we do really fall
54:33 in love with people.
54:34 When somebody opens up to me, like Sam, I'm going to
54:39 tell a little bit about you.
54:40 Sam, I talk to you on another show, but as a kid in Japan
54:45 during bombs going off, Sam ran from those bombs.
54:50 You know what I mean? It is a life that is so different.
54:55 As you talked, you so became a part of my family of
54:59 Christ, I so fell in love with your history and what
55:03 you know about God and how God has brought you along.
55:06 I could talk about everybody on the set today,
55:09 the testimonies and the stories.
55:11 So we have talked about on this show of the fact that
55:15 there is all those judgments being made for each other,
55:19 but as Christians we have the privilege to ask God to fill
55:22 me up with the Holy Spirit and
55:23 teach me not to make those judgments.
55:26 Teach me what it means to accept and love someone, and the
55:29 first gift of the Spirit is love, the first fruit.
55:32 He says I will not only teach you, but I will love through
55:35 you until you get it.
55:37 For me, I think it is like the rest of my life and
55:40 I'm saying go ahead God, because I don't want to lean on
55:43 my own understanding anymore.
55:44 I don't want to figure this out anymore, I want You to do
55:47 it through me and stay tuned we will be right back.
55:55 Cheri Peters uses the book, 'Coming Of The Comforter'
55:58 as a guide for the second season of Celebrating Life In
56:02 Recovery, written by Lee Roy E. Froom is a 320 page book
56:05 that offers every sinner the knowledge that the
56:07 Holy Spirit is available to all.
56:09 3ABN now offers this book to you for a suggested donation
56:13 of only $13 postpaid within the US.
56:16 Call 3ABN at 618-627-4651 or go online to 3ABN.org.
56:39 The Bible talks about the gift of the Holy Spirit and
56:41 I think that is the only thing that gets us in to recovery.
56:44 It is the only thing that educates us on how to be
56:46 Christians, especially with cultural stuff at all the
56:49 different things we deal with.
56:50 God says, I want to give you the Holy Spirit more than a
56:54 good parent wants to give good gifts to their children.
56:57 It is just a huge thing, Christ, the last thing He said
57:00 when He left is that He wanted to give us the Holy Spirit.
57:03 Then I read Peter the disciple is filled with the Holy
57:07 Spirit and he walks by somebody and his shadow falls on
57:10 them and they are well, they are healed.
57:12 I'm thinking, oh, shut up, I want to do that.
57:14 I want to actually have my shadow fall on somebody and
57:17 have them be well and then I thought, wait a minute.
57:20 That Spirit that they are talking about in Peter that
57:22 causes that kind of reaction of one a shadow falls on
57:25 them is in you, to make you well first.
57:27 So the first person that gets the benefit of the
57:30 Holy Spirit is the person that asks for it.
57:33 So if you have any issues, if you even think that maybe
57:36 you need to learn something about cultural diversity,
57:39 about accepting of young people, old people, pierced
57:42 people, tattooed people, black people, White people,
57:45 Italian-Japanese people.
57:48 If you have any of that just ask God, fill me with the
57:52 Holy Spirit and so heal me that my desires and become
57:57 Your desires, my eyes become Your eyes, my mouth as
58:00 I speak to someone, I speak life into them because
58:03 I am speaking from the throne room of God.
58:06 I'm speaking in my healing not in my damage.
58:08 If we do that as a church, man, could you imagine that
58:13 we would just draw the world to us.
58:15 And right now the world is not coming because we are
58:17 not learning to love each other, but let's do it.
58:20 Love each other and until next week, I am crazy about
58:23 you, God is crazy about you, see a next time.


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Revised 2014-12-17