Participants:
Series Code: CW
Program Code: CW000033S
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00:00 (peaceful country music)
00:03 - Welcome everyone, 00:05 we're excited to share some country wisdom with you. 00:07 - King Solomon had a thing or two to say 00:09 about the path to wisdom. 00:11 In Proverbs 4, he wrote, 00:13 "Let your eyes look directly forward, 00:16 "and your gaze be straight before you. 00:19 "Keep straight the path of your feet, 00:21 "and all your ways will be sure." 00:23 - Join us now for "Country Wisdom". 00:26 (peaceful country music) 00:35 (indistinct crowd chatter) 00:36 - [Speaker] Just inside. 00:37 - [Speaker 2] All right, Rocky! 00:38 Give it back, baby, give it back! 00:39 - [Speaker 3] Come on, Rocky. 00:40 - [Speaker] (indistinct) One strike. 00:41 - [Speaker 4] No, no, no. 00:42 (indistinct crowd chatter) 00:43 - Hey, look at that, not quite over the fence. 00:46 Hey Chad, good seeing you, man. 00:47 - [Chad] Good to see you too. 00:50 - Thanks. 00:50 - Thanks for meeting us today. 00:52 And you said you really wanted to meet us at the ball field 00:53 because that's where some of your story is. 00:56 And I don't know how much Janice has heard, 00:57 but why don't you just go ahead and start talking? 01:00 - Yeah, absolutely, anybody that knows me knows 01:03 that baseball was a big part of my life. 01:05 It was something that helped me through 01:06 a lot of difficult times in my life. 01:08 It's something that I was very passionate about, 01:09 to say that I was consumed by it would be an understatement. 01:12 I identify with baseball. 01:15 You see, I started up in a very loving family. 01:18 Started out in life with a Christian family 01:20 that showed me a lot of good values, 01:21 and they began to show me the ways of life. 01:23 And I never thought that there was anything 01:24 really wrong with me, with the way that they raised me. 01:28 You see, I was born 01:29 with something called claeidocranial dysplasia dysostosis. 01:31 - [Janice] Which I've never heard of. 01:32 - Yeah, and there's a lot about it. 01:34 And I'll just say it's CCD from now on, 01:38 so that you know what I'm talking about. 01:40 But basically, I didn't have any collarbones. 01:43 I had a hole in my head here and here in my sagittal suture, 01:47 which is an open fontanelle directly to my brain. 01:49 I've had 45 teeth pulled out of my mouth. 01:51 - 45, how many do we have in our head? 01:53 - I didn't think we had that many. 01:56 - A lot, a lot, and I have hip dysplasia, 01:59 just to say a few things that are wrong with me. 02:01 Medical doctor said there's about 02:02 a hundred things that are wrong with me. 02:04 - Seriously? 02:06 - And I'm one in a million in the case 02:07 of the syndrome that I have. 02:10 But I didn't really realize that I had an issue with me. 02:13 It was until I got to school, 02:16 and I began to show kids what I was made of 02:18 and what was wrong with me. 02:20 And I'd show them things like putting my shoulders together. 02:22 I'm gonna show you what I do so you can see what it's like, 02:26 but I can do this. 02:29 I know, and in that moment you had a feeling, 02:32 you had something that you just saw. 02:34 And the kids, they would identify me as weird, 02:37 gross, strange. 02:39 And I'd be getting all these labels 02:41 that I began to identify as. 02:43 - So in your family, you never felt different. 02:46 You go to school, 02:47 and now you feel like you're the odd man out. 02:49 - That's right, that's right. 02:51 But my dad, with the love of sports, showed me baseball. 02:55 And baseball is what I began to hide behind, 02:58 and it was like a warm cloak. 03:00 And I changed my identification from gross, not wanted, 03:06 into someone that could play baseball. 03:08 And I began to play baseball 03:10 all the way through high school, 03:11 and it was something that I excelled at. 03:14 - I noticed, you've actually, on that Louisville Slugger, 03:16 you've got your name on the bat. 03:17 - Yeah. 03:18 - Not everybody has that. 03:19 - No, yeah, I had a friend that made it for me. 03:21 Went to Kentucky to make it for me, 03:24 and that was very nice of him. 03:26 But yeah, it's something that I excelled at 03:29 and played all the way through high school. 03:31 And it opened up a new opportunity for me to go to college. 03:34 I don't know if you've ever heard of it, 03:35 but a school called Columbia Union College, CUC, 03:38 offered me a scholarship to play 03:40 at the NCAA Division II level. 03:43 Where some elite athletes get to play 03:45 at their perspective sports. 03:47 - So you were good? 03:48 - I was pretty good. 03:49 I don't like to brag about myself, 03:52 but yeah, I played at a pretty high level. 03:55 Well, while I was at that school, 03:57 I was exposed to something that changed my life forever. 04:00 And that was at this school, it was a Christian school, 04:05 and they made you do some worships. 04:08 And at these worships, you got credit for 'em. 04:10 Well, I didn't know what was going on. 04:12 So I walked into the church, 04:13 sat in the back where I normally sat. 04:15 And I look up on the screen, 04:16 and this thing called "Net '98". 04:18 And I thought, what in the world is that? 04:21 And this guy, Dwight Nelson, 04:23 he was up there and he began to tell a story. 04:25 And I thought he was talking directly to me. 04:29 I don't know if you've ever had that experience, 04:30 where you've been in a crowd of people 04:32 and somebody begins to speak, and it could be to anybody, 04:35 but they're talking to you at your heart. 04:37 That's the experience that I just felt. 04:38 - That was God. 04:39 - And it was, I believe it was. 04:41 - What was he saying that made you feel like, 04:43 "This is for me?" 04:45 - I couldn't tell you everything that Dwight Nelson said, 04:46 but what I locked on to was he said that, 04:48 "You're beautifully and wonderfully made." 04:52 And that, "God has a purpose and a plan for your life." 04:54 And it began to change my perspective 04:57 on who I am, and what I was born with. 05:00 I began to see all this grossness that I began to hide. 05:03 I didn't tell my family and my parents 05:05 the things that people said to me. 05:07 I kept that all in my heart. 05:09 And I felt safe at home, 05:11 but I always held onto that baggage, 05:13 those labels, those things that people would say 05:15 that were mean and hurtful towards me. 05:17 And I began to see that Christ had a plan for me 05:20 with this message that Dwight Nelson was saying. 05:23 Well, at the end of this talk, I walked up front. 05:27 Well, there was an altar call, 05:29 and I immediately get out of my seat. 05:32 And I get up and I walked straight to the front. 05:34 And these two pastors come right towards me. 05:36 I think I was the only one at the front of this church. 05:39 And when I get up there, they asked me, 05:41 "Do you wanna pray, and do you wanna get baptized?" 05:44 I said, "Absolutely, let's do this." 05:47 So I get the opportunity to sign a little card. 05:50 I walked out of the church, up Flower Avenue, 05:53 if you're familiar with Tacoma Park's campus. 05:55 Towards Morrison Hall, 05:57 and I don't wanna go into the boys' dorm yet 05:59 'cause I'm still chewing on everything 06:00 that he's saying to me. 06:01 I walk across the street into the commons area, 06:04 by Weis's Library, and there's this little flower patch. 06:08 And then it hit me, 06:11 and I realized the plan that God has for me. 06:14 That I am beautifully and wonderfully made, 06:16 and that I'm perfect for his ministry. 06:19 And I just fall to my knees and I began to cry 06:22 and bear my heart to the Lord, 06:23 and asked Him to take all that baggage, 06:25 all that pain, all that stuff that I was holding onto, 06:28 and I gave it to Him. 06:30 And I pray that you get to have that same opportunity, 06:32 where you get to be real and raw with the Lord. 06:35 - But now, I've gotta tell you, 06:38 Janice is getting slightly older, I'm not saying, 06:40 but maybe we ought to go sit down in the bleachers 06:43 and hear the rest of your story. 06:44 - Okay, let's do that. 06:45 - That'd be appropriate for me. 06:46 I spent most of my softball career on the bench anyway, 06:49 so I feel right at home. 06:52 - Sounds good. 06:52 - [Chad] All right. 06:54 - Sounds good, appreciate you sharing, man. 06:55 - [Chad] Yeah, absolutely. 06:59 - The great Catholic monk, Martin Luther, 07:01 was so concerned with his salvation, 07:03 that when in Rome, 07:05 he climbed the holy stairs on his knees to earn salvation. 07:10 But when he reached the top, 07:12 God flashed a Bible verse before his mind. 07:15 "The just shall live by faith." 07:18 That brings me to the title of a free pamphlet 07:20 that I'd like to give you. 07:22 It's called, "Am I Good Enough?" 07:25 It's easy to get your copy. 07:27 Go to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org, 07:30 and order offer 107, "Am I Good Enough?" 07:35 It will be a comfort for you. 07:40 - I have to admit, 07:41 I will never get used to Tennessee humidity, 07:44 but it's a little easier to take sitting down. 07:48 - That's true, this is very true. 07:49 - I don't know how you live here. 07:51 - Well, my parents moved here, 07:52 and we decided to come and live with my in-laws 07:57 and we could be closer together. 08:00 - Chad, we kind of left you in the garden. 08:02 I wanna hear the rest of that story. 08:04 - Yeah, I had just dedicated my life to the Lord 08:08 and knew that I had a purpose for Him. 08:10 But your identity is what you allow people to see. 08:14 And I wasn't prepared for everybody to see 08:16 what I was so raw and real with with myself. 08:19 And I continued to be dedicated to my game of baseball. 08:22 And I played there at CUC for the rest of my time, 08:25 until I graduated, and I was quite successful. 08:28 I was the USCAA player of the week, 08:30 which is the league that we played in. 08:33 I was an All-American nominee. 08:34 I wasn't the All-American, but I was nominated. 08:37 So I was part of the top crowd in there. 08:39 I was an MVP of my team multiple times, 08:41 and I was the captain as well. 08:43 So I had a lot of success with baseball, 08:46 but when I graduated, 08:47 I didn't have a plan B, it was baseball all the way. 08:51 And so when I continue to play some baseball, 08:54 I had to try out with a couple of teams, 08:55 and it wasn't really going anywhere. 08:57 And finally, the Chicago Cubs gave me one last opportunity. 09:00 And I was there trying out for their minor league team. 09:03 I was there for five days, 09:04 and they came up to me and they said, 09:05 "Look, you're not what we need. 09:07 "Thank you for coming, we'll see you later." 09:10 And that was devastating to me. 09:12 - I was gonna say, what does that do to you, 09:13 when your whole focus is baseball 09:16 and baseball doesn't come through. 09:17 - Yeah, with no plan B. 09:19 - I gotta tell ya, he did come up with another plan. 09:23 He wrote a book about those experiences. 09:25 And why don't you tell us a little bit about that. 09:28 - [Janice] It was a little bit of a shift of focus. 09:29 - A real shift, yeah. 09:31 - Yeah, that book was something that came about 09:35 about my life and some of my experiences 09:37 that I go into throughout my life in the military. 09:40 And it was an inspiration 09:42 that was brought on by some of my students 09:43 that I used to teach back in Milo, in Oregon. 09:47 - Chad, help me out, military, 09:49 with all of the things you listed tested wrong with you? 09:53 - Yeah, so I don't make it into the baseball realm. 09:57 I go into depression, I bounce around from job to job, 09:59 not really sure where I'm going with my life. 10:01 And I find myself homeless, living in a garage, 10:05 outside of a worm factory. 10:06 Literally printed on the side, "Worm Factory". 10:10 And my brother calls me out of the blue. 10:14 And he says, "Chad, what are you doing with your life?" 10:16 And I said, "Well, I'm thinking about investing 10:19 "in some worm poop, what do you think of that idea?" 10:22 My brother, he laughed, and he's like, 10:24 "Yeah, you might be able to do that. 10:26 "But you ought to think about going into the military. 10:28 "You're still young, you got a lot of energy. 10:30 "You've got a lot to offer. 10:32 "You ought to explore that opportunity. 10:34 "The special forces has some opportunities for bonuses, 10:38 "and they could pay you quite a bit of money." 10:40 And I thought about that, thought about that. 10:42 And I get off the phone with him, telling him, 10:44 "Well, I'm still thinking about the worm poop idea", 10:47 but I let him go, and I said, 10:50 "You know what, this is not the end game for me. 10:52 "I'm not gonna stay here. 10:54 "I'm gonna get off the bench, and I'm gonna go somewhere." 10:56 And with that said, 10:58 we need people in our lives that I consider swim buddies. 11:00 That are willing to call us out of the funk that we're in. 11:03 And they recognize the potential that we have. 11:06 Christ Himself did the same thing to the woman at the well. 11:11 When He called that woman, who was a Samaritan, 11:13 He said, "You have more to offer. 11:15 "And if you're looking for the water of life, 11:18 "I'm right here, I have that potential for you." 11:20 And she becomes the first gospel messenger, 11:23 telling people about Jesus Christ as she goes into Samaria. 11:27 Well, my brother did the same thing for me. 11:29 He said, "Chad, go do something with your life. 11:30 "Get off the bench, get out of the factory, 11:33 "the worm factory, and go do something." 11:36 So I go and enlist in the United States Navy. 11:39 And I took four months off. 11:40 I quit my job and began to train, and invest my time, 11:44 and my effort into something 11:45 that I was about to get myself into. 11:47 I changed my diet, I changed my workout regiment. 11:50 I began to consume my knowledge 11:52 with the people that I'm gonna be around, 11:54 and the things that I'm going to be doing. 11:57 To the point where I knew that I was ready to go in. 12:00 Now, there's another lesson there, 12:01 that we can't just jump into things that we just wanna do. 12:05 You have to have a preparation time. 12:07 You gotta pour your heart and soul into things, 12:10 and understand what you're getting yourself into 12:13 before you jump in, 12:14 because you might fail not knowing what's ahead of you. 12:18 So I go through a medical examination, which is called MEPS. 12:22 And they just check you over to make sure that you're alive. 12:25 - And you passed? 12:26 - Yeah, so they just basically asked me, 12:28 "Do you have anything that would keep you 12:30 "from doing your job?" 12:31 And I said, "No, there's nothing wrong with me 12:34 "that's gonna keep me from doing my job." 12:35 - I love that response. 12:37 - Yeah. 12:38 - And so they passed me through 12:39 the initial medical examination. 12:42 Well, since I had a special warfare contract, 12:44 I had to go through a deeper medical examination 12:47 when I got to Chicago, it's called the dive physical. 12:50 And they do an x-ray of your body, and they look inside you. 12:53 I pray that no one ever gets to look inside of you 12:55 and see what's wrong with you, but they did that to me. 12:58 And I got pulled out of the line of the guys 13:00 that were going through to get their medical examination. 13:04 And the Lieutenant put me at the end of the line 13:06 and he said, "Just sit here, Lambie." 13:08 And so I get through all the people, 13:11 they all go back to the barracks. 13:15 Then the doctor went to the instructors and said, 13:18 "Hey, we're going to keep Lambie here. 13:20 "We need to talk with him." 13:21 I knew something was up right then and there. 13:24 And so he pulls me into the office and he says, 13:27 "Lambie, are you sure you wanna go into the special forces? 13:30 "Is this something that you think 13:32 "you're going to be able to do?" 13:33 "Absolutely, I've been working out, 13:35 "I've been dedicating my life. 13:36 "I've been put forth a ton of effort 13:38 "so that I can go do this opportunity 13:40 "in the special warfare community." 13:43 He said, "Are you aware that you don't have collarbones?" 13:45 (Janice and Jim laugh) 13:47 Yeah. 13:48 - Did you sit there and go, "What?" 13:51 - "I'm aware I don't have collarbones. 13:55 "But it hasn't done anything to keep me from my goals." 13:58 He said, "Well, wait here, I can't make this decision. 14:00 "I gotta go get the commander." 14:01 So he leaves the room, goes and gets the commander 14:04 that's in charge of the medical facility. 14:06 And he comes walking in with my medical record in his hands, 14:09 he looks at me and he said, 14:10 "Chad, I see that you wanna be a special warfare operator. 14:14 "Are you sure you're gonna be able to do this?" 14:17 I said, "Sir, I've been training my body. 14:19 "I've met every standard that's been required of me so far. 14:22 "And I would just love the opportunity 14:24 "to get the chance to try out. 14:26 "And I know that you have that capability." 14:29 And he opens up my medical record, 14:31 and he goes to my physical readiness test scores. 14:34 And he sees my pushups, my sit-ups, 14:36 my pull-ups, my swim, and my run. 14:39 He says, "Wow, you've got some outstanding numbers here. 14:41 "You've got elevated numbers." 14:43 And I was in the top four percentile 14:45 of the guys that I was going through with. 14:47 And I just didn't leave anything to question. 14:50 I had poured a ton of effort 14:51 and a ton of time into preparation for this. 14:55 And he said, "I don't know if you're aware of this, 14:56 "but the military has a rule 14:58 "that they don't allow people in if they're missing a bone." 15:01 "But I'm gonna sign a waiver for you 15:02 "that allows you to go for your dream, your goals. 15:05 "That you wanna be in the military." 15:08 I said, "Thank you, I really appreciate that." 15:11 And he signs it, 15:12 and they take some pictures of me putting 15:13 my shoulders together for their medical records. 15:16 - Wow. 15:17 - So that they knew what they were allowing 15:19 to go through the doors. 15:22 And I walked away and I understood, 15:24 wow, if I didn't go through the preparation process, 15:26 if I didn't pour my heart into this, 15:28 then I could have left so much on the table. 15:31 We have another story of that in the Bible with Moses. 15:33 Moses had an opportunity to be a leader 15:37 for the Israelite nation. 15:40 He was called to save the Israelites 15:43 And when he put the plan for God in his own hands, 15:48 he ends up killing an Egyptian. 15:51 He then has to go out into the wilderness for 40 years, 15:55 and it takes 40 years of preparation 15:57 before he's ready to do what God intended him to do. 16:00 I pray no one has to go through 40 years of preparation, 16:03 but there I was, four months preparation, 16:06 and I'm meeting what I wanted to do. 16:09 Well, that led to an opportunity 16:11 to go to Special Warfare Combatant Craft School 16:14 in Cornado California, San Diego. 16:17 This is the special warfare community 16:19 that I was trying out for. 16:22 Well, when I got there, I was put on a slab. 16:24 A concrete slab, 16:25 on hold because there was another class going through. 16:30 There wasn't enough room for us to get into there, 16:31 so we were sitting there, 16:32 and we would work out and prepare 16:34 for the opportunities to try out. 16:37 Well, every Friday, they had approved yourself Friday. 16:40 And basically we do pushups, pull ups. 16:42 But on this particular day, 16:44 we were going to do flutter kicks. 16:46 Flutter kicks, you lay down in a horizontal position, 16:48 and your feet are six inches off the ground, 16:51 and they go up 18 inches. 16:52 And they go in intervals 16:55 until your stomach is totally exhausted. 16:58 For me, two, don't you think? 17:00 - Yeah. 17:01 - I challenge anybody to do 100 of 'em, 17:03 and it would be quite an achievement 17:06 to be able to do 100 four count flutter kicks. 17:08 And four count basically means, 17:10 1, 2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 2, until you're exhausted. 17:17 Well, this particular day we had 30 guys lined up, 17:19 and we were starting this competition. 17:22 30 guys get to a hundred, and we're down to five. 17:26 And five guys, we get to about 200, 17:29 and it's just me and Mike Corvelli, 17:31 we're just dropping off like flies. 17:33 And Mike Corvelli and I are pushing each other along, 17:36 encouraging each other, and he gets 250. 17:39 Now, let me remind you that 250 is the maximum 17:41 that anybody had ever done while on hold, waiting. 17:45 So it's quite an achievement just to get to 250. 17:48 And he quits, he says, "Lambie, get to 300, you got this." 17:52 And I thought to myself, all right, no problem. 17:54 Let's keep going. 17:55 And all of a sudden, all these guys heard what was going on. 17:57 And they began to gather around 17:59 and see me go through this pain and agony 18:01 I was just putting myself through for no reason 18:04 'cause I'd already won the competition. 18:06 And they kept encouraging me and encouraging me. 18:08 And one of them said, when I almost got to 300, 18:10 he's like, "Oh, he's gonna get 300 no problem. 18:12 "Lambie, you gotta get 400." 18:15 And I'm not even focused on a number, 18:16 I'm just going through the pain, 18:18 and just going through the focus. 18:19 And then just being lifted up by the encouragement 18:22 and comradery that's going on with my buddies around me. 18:26 And they're pushing me and pushing me, 18:27 and I'm getting closer to 400. 18:28 And finally, one of them said, 18:29 "Lambie, you need to get 500." 18:31 And that's when it hit me, I got laser focused on 500. 18:35 - And that's twice what anybody had ever done before. 18:38 - Yeah, it was something that was insurmountable. 18:41 It was something that wasn't even discussed. 18:44 Why would anybody go 500 four count flutter kicks, 18:46 it's just crazy. 18:48 But I got focused on this number. 18:50 I'm in the fight, I'm not gonna quit. 18:52 I'm gonna go for this number. 18:54 So I push myself, and push myself, and push myself, 18:57 till I get to 499, 500, and my body just quit. 19:02 And the guys picked me up, 19:04 and I go through this great congratulations from these guys, 19:08 and they really made me feel good. 19:09 But the real thing that I pulled away 19:11 from that whole experience, was when I was sitting by myself 19:14 and I was thinking about it. 19:16 And I said, "Wow, what if I didn't put a limit on myself? 19:19 "Could I have achieved more, could I have kept going." 19:22 - If you weren't focused on 500? 19:24 - Yeah, I put a wall on myself, a limit on myself. 19:27 And so once I hit that number, I just totally collapsed. 19:30 I quit, it was like my body just gave up. 19:34 And we definitely do that in our own walks in life. 19:36 We give up, 19:38 we have these limitations that we give ourselves. 19:40 And when we focus on what God has in our lives, 19:42 He can see so much more potential than we have to offer. 19:45 We always hold ourselves back 19:47 from what we're totally able to achieve. 19:49 - Now, Chad, we can't just leave you there. 19:51 We've gotta hear the rest of the story, 19:52 and you got about three minutes. 19:53 - Okay, so we move on, 19:57 we get through that perseverance and the comradery. 20:00 And I get an opportunity to class up. 20:03 Now, I got a paddle over here that I wanna grab, 20:05 if that's all right. 20:07 - We're gonna see that in a minute, 20:08 but I kind of wanna hear, how did you end up? 20:10 I mean, did you find God through all of this, 20:12 or what happened? 20:14 - Once you found Him there in college, 20:18 did you hold onto Him the whole time? 20:20 - God was in my life all the way through. 20:23 And I began to see glimmers of Him 20:25 as I'm going through the special forces. 20:27 And I knew that I needed to put God in my life. 20:30 And I began to go to church again. 20:32 I had actually walked away from God 20:34 when I hit my lowest point, 20:36 and I wasn't going to church for a long time. 20:37 And then little by little life, as I came back, 20:40 being in the military, and I said, 20:42 "You know what, I need the Lord back in my life." 20:43 And so I did go to church, 20:44 and I started to be around the people that I needed 20:48 The encouragement, the comradery, the swim buddies, 20:51 keeping me accountable for what I'm doing. 20:53 - How many years did you spend in the military? 20:55 - I was in there for six years 20:56 - [Jim] Six years. 20:57 - Six years, and I spent a lot of it 21:00 in the Special Warfare Combat-Craft Crewman team 21:05 at Special Boat Team 22 in Mississippi. 21:07 - What does that mean for all of us really? 21:09 I mean, what does that really mean? 21:11 - Special Warfare Combat-Craft Crewman 21:13 is a brother in line with Navy Seals. 21:18 Everybody has heard of the Navy Seal community, 21:19 but most people haven't heard 21:21 of Special Warfare Combat-Craft Crewmen. 21:23 We are the boat insert extract platform, 21:27 per Seals and other ranger battalions. 21:29 And we give them safe passage in and out of harm's way. 21:33 And so there's two special warfare communities, 21:37 Seals and SWIC, and everything else is special operations. 21:41 So it's an elite fighting force, 21:43 there's about 700 hundred of them in the United States Navy. 21:46 - Now, six years, 21:47 did you have any urge to go on any further, do any more? 21:50 - I did, but I met my wife. 21:52 - That'll do it. 21:53 - And she changed my life. 21:55 She changed my life, 21:56 and we decided that we didn't wanna stay in the service. 21:59 See, the problem was I got married 22:00 when I was in the military, 22:01 and I was away from my wife more than I was with her. 22:05 And she was my now new swim buddy, 22:07 helping me keep accountable and closer to the Lord. 22:10 And we knew that I needed to get out 22:12 in order to begin to be an influence 22:14 for people in their lives. 22:16 - [Jim] Okay. 22:17 - And so then after six years, 22:19 I turned in my time slip, 22:22 and I was able to get my DD 214, 22:24 which is my exit paperwork. 22:26 It allowed me to get out of the United States military. 22:28 - And since then, say, we've just got very few 22:31 because we want to hear about your paddle too. 22:33 - [Chad] Yes, sir. 22:34 - But quickly, you started a ministry? 22:36 - Yeah, it's No Excuses, and I wrote my book. 22:39 And it's helping people overcome adversity in their lives. 22:42 And I'm willing to give them the formulas 22:45 that I learned while I was in the special forces and life, 22:48 going through the adversity that I went through. 22:50 Helping people realize that there is no limit, 22:53 that there's so much more potential 22:55 that we're leaving out there, 22:56 and we're not allowing God to work through us. 22:58 - It's so amazing, I mean, 23:00 I look at you like almost a Superman. 23:02 With the way your body is, and what you did in life. 23:05 It's gotta be all God, right? 23:07 - To God be the glory. 23:08 I looked at what I was born with as a curse. 23:11 And then it wasn't until God made me realize 23:14 that there is potential for me, 23:15 and there is a purpose for me in my life. 23:18 That it transformed that curse into a ministry, 23:22 into a positive experience for young people 23:25 and all people alike. 23:27 - Well, we've gotta hear about this paddle. 23:28 - I know, the baseball bat, 23:30 when he got out and he has a bat, that I can understand, 23:33 because one thing I knew about him was 23:35 he used to be a ballplayer. 23:36 Or still is, I shouldn't use the past tense, 23:38 but you know what I mean. 23:40 And then he had a paddle, I'm going, is that a paddle? 23:43 I'm trying to figure out, is he carrying a paddle? 23:45 - He is, let's go check out the paddle. 23:47 - [Chad] All right. 23:50 - The great Catholic monk, Martin Luther, 23:52 was so concerned with his salvation, 23:55 that when in Rome, 23:56 he climbed the holy stairs on his knees to earn salvation. 24:01 But when he reached the top, 24:03 God flashed a Bible verse before his mind. 24:06 "The just shall live by faith." 24:09 That brings me to the title of a free pamphlet 24:12 that I'd like to give you. 24:13 It's called, "Am I Good Enough?" 24:16 It's easy to get your copy. 24:18 Go to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org, 24:21 and order offer 107. 24:24 "Am I Good Enough", it will be a comfort for you. 24:31 - Hey everyone, Jim Ayer here 24:32 for Talking Donkey International. 24:34 You can rest assured that when you follow Talking Donkey, 24:37 we're gonna take you someplace in the world. 24:39 Not in stuffy old studio. 24:41 But if you missed one of our programs, 24:43 although we broadcast all over the world, 24:45 you can go right to our website, 24:47 TalkingDonkeyInternational.org, 24:49 and check out some of our programs right there. 24:50 And thank you so much for your support. 24:56 Janice, look at that paddle. 24:57 - [Janice] I saw it when he got out of the van. 24:59 - [Jim] Beautiful. 25:00 - Yeah, the paddle is very significant 25:02 for us when we go through training. 25:04 Because it's something that we have 25:06 to carry with us everywhere we go. 25:08 It's what directs us and propels us when we're in our boats. 25:12 But we have our names inscribed on it, 25:15 and then it's all uniform black. 25:17 And whenever we would sit it down, 25:18 we'd set it down on our equipment. 25:22 And the instructor staff, 25:23 if they didn't like what we were doing, 25:25 they would come up, 25:26 and they couldn't reprimand us physically, 25:27 they couldn't hit us. 25:28 So they'd grab your paddle, 25:30 and they'd begin to beat it against a rock or a tree. 25:33 And it would begin to chip and gouge, 25:35 and create pot marks all over it. 25:36 - I can see that. 25:37 - Yeah, it would be not in the shape 25:40 that it was intended for. 25:42 And it was your job to pick up all the pieces, 25:44 go home, and get some wood putty, 25:47 and begin to put wood putty back into all the holes, 25:50 the cracks, and the imperfections. 25:53 Then you had to sand down the paddle 25:55 till it was nice and smooth. 25:57 Then you had to take paint and recover that whole paddle 26:00 so that it was back to its original purpose, 26:02 not just a hunk of wood. 26:04 And this is hugely impactful in my walk in life, 26:07 because we all have cracks, we all have holes, 26:11 we have divots all over us. 26:13 Well, what are we filling those divots in with? 26:15 What are we filling those cracks in with? 26:17 People sometimes go to drugs, they go to pornography, 26:20 they go to a lot of different things. 26:21 But really, what is most important is the Holy Spirit. 26:24 To put the Holy Spirit in our lives, and it begins to bond, 26:26 and it's not right away, it takes time. 26:29 And once it adheres, you're not done, 26:33 because you have pieces that are sticking up. 26:35 You gotta sand it down. 26:36 We have to go through a purification process, 26:39 a walking with Jesus process, 26:42 and begin to get it nice and smooth. 26:44 And then finally, you get to have that final coat. 26:47 So that it's back, and you can't see the scars, 26:50 and that's the character of Christ. 26:52 - Amen. 26:54 - And once you, you have the character of Christ on you, 26:55 they no longer see your name on here, but it's Christian. 26:59 And so when they see the intended purpose, 27:00 they don't see Chad Lambie, they see Christian. 27:03 Exuding the character of Christ, 27:05 that has been covered over with the character of God 27:09 by the Holy Spirit. - Amen. 27:10 Chad, I wanna thank you today, 27:12 it's incredible, your story. 27:16 - I'm getting the book. 27:18 - Yeah. 27:19 - Or borrowing yours, I don't know. 27:20 - Folks, look at this incredible young man, 27:23 what God did in his life. 27:26 You and I, I mean, I have no excuses. 27:28 I mean, there just can't be any excuses 27:31 for not being in the kingdom. 27:33 Because God will do whatever it takes to get you there. 27:36 He did amazing things in this young man, 27:38 and I wish you tremendous success in your ministry too. 27:41 - Thank you. - Thank you so much, brother. 27:43 - Praise God, thank you very much. 27:46 (peaceful country music) 27:51 - Thank you for watching. 27:52 Join us again for another exciting "Country Wisdom". 27:54 - See you next time. 27:56 (peaceful country music) |
Revised 2022-01-28