Participants: Cheri Peters (Host), Michael and Latisha Fa'asoa
Series Code: CLR
Program Code: CLR000011
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00:10 Welcome to Celebrating Life In Recovery, my name is Cheri,
00:13 your host and today we are going to be talking about 00:15 the privilege of prayer. 00:17 It is such an incredible topic, so come 00:19 join us in the café. 00:48 I love the topic today, the privilege of prayer. 00:51 Does God want us to talk to Him? Does He talk to us? 00:54 I'm thinking if we get this, it would help us tremendously. 00:58 God not only wants us to talk to Him, He says asks Me. 01:01 Ask Me, I want to pour into you, I want to give you gifts. 01:04 I want to fill you up to where your life is just a blast. 01:08 I learned that in different ways. 01:10 There was a time that I had left the church, somebody 01:13 said something and it offended me and I left the church. 01:17 I met this guy, it was amazing, and it is so funny because 01:20 he's from a background that is just normal, 01:24 even more than normal. 01:25 His dad did an Ambassadorship for the United Nations. 01:28 His mom is a violinist. He was a Boy Scout until he was 01:31 18 years old, and I am a heroin addict and homeless 01:33 for 10 years and a literate at 23. 01:35 We start to actually like each other which cracked me up. 01:39 We ended up getting married and because I had left the 01:43 church when I met him, I ended up meeting and marrying 01:47 a non-Christian. 01:48 I don't know if I would have done that in the church, 01:49 hopefully I wouldn't have, but anyhow I met him. 01:51 He was a non-Christian for the first 14 years of our 01:54 marriage, and so not just for a few days. 01:56 14 years I'm praying God, please make Yourself real to 02:01 this guy, and I'm doing ministry and I love God. 02:05 I love the church, I came back full force. 02:07 I'm doing evangelism all over the world and he is not 02:10 even a Christian, it was hilarious, it was hilarious. 02:13 I would come home, like I went to Thailand and watched God 02:16 do miracles, sent an angel to rescue us when the Mafia 02:19 was threatening to gut us. 02:20 Hang our intestines in the back of the club, sends us 02:23 angels and I come home saying, Brad guessed what happened? 02:26 He was like giving me about 10 or 15 minutes to talk about 02:29 spiritual things, and the whole time I'm thinking this is 02:32 crazy and I'm praying and praying. 02:33 I've got to tell you a little bit about our private life. 02:36 Because this guy absolutely adores me. 02:39 It's amazing, I don't know if any woman is loved as much, 02:42 except for you Latisha. 02:44 But anyhow he adores me and he knows I have this whole 02:48 dysfunctional background. 02:49 He is like you know what Cheri? I want to show you 02:52 everything I got to see as a child. 02:54 Every national Park, I want to take you canoeing, and 02:58 rafting, and skiing, I mean the guy is just amazing. 03:02 So he surprises me with trips. 03:05 Like we will be doing something, going over to his 03:08 parents for Christmas, and this was one year we drove 03:11 from California to Madison, Wisconsin. 03:13 We are driving and he has got a surprise he wants to show 03:16 me but never wants to tell me what the surprise is until 03:20 we walk onto the place, I don't even know. 03:23 So he says, it's going to be exciting. 03:26 The more we drive its like this blizzard happens and we 03:29 are driving across a couple of states and you can't see 03:32 the front of the car. 03:33 In Wyoming they shut the freeway down, literally closed 03:36 it down, I didn't even know they did that with freeways. 03:39 We are sleeping on the side of the road and there was an 03:41 18 wheeler that had jackknifed and they were trying to 03:44 clear that up, I mean it was just this crazy weather. 03:47 So once they opened the road again and we start driving, 03:51 I have my little daughter in her car seat in the back seat 03:54 and we are driving again. 03:55 He gets off this little tiny road and he says, I said, 03:59 what are you doing? He says, I want to show you something 04:02 and I'm like are you nuts? It is like a blizzard. 04:05 You can't see the front of the car. This road is tiny. 04:08 We are going to be snowed in, we're going to die. 04:10 I'm serious, get back on the freeway, even the freeway 04:13 wasn't that safe because they were closing that off. 04:16 And this tiny road didn't looks safe to me at all. 04:19 He's like no, I want to show you something. 04:20 I'm thinking, I'm like thinking I've got this mother bear 04:26 instinct to protect my young. 04:28 You have to get back on the freeway or were going to die. 04:32 This is crazy. He was like no, no you will love this. 04:35 I saw this when I was a kid and I was so blessed and 04:38 I want to show you and I want to show Jackie. 04:39 I'm like get back on the freeway, and now I'm getting mad 04:43 I'm trying to figure out beside threatening his life, 04:46 or to leave him for ever, I was trying to figure out how 04:49 I'm going to get him back on the freeway. 04:50 He says, Cheri. I said, what? He said, will you pray? 04:57 I said pray about what? I'm so mad at him, 05:00 he's not even Christian what does he mean will I pray? 05:03 I look at him and he says would you pray that God 05:05 just clear up the weather? 05:07 I'm like oh shut up. But what I'm thinking that I look at 05:11 him and he's got a tear in his eye. 05:12 I'm thinking he really believes that I can pray and God 05:16 can clear up the weather. 05:17 I'm all of a sudden thinking God please, and I seriously 05:21 started praying, and it was quiet. 05:23 I say God I know everything You have done in my life. 05:26 I know that you healed me from all kinds of stuff. 05:28 Hepatitis A, B, and C. And I have damaged my body and to 05:31 my mind and was so twisted when I met him. 05:33 My teeth were all a wreck, my face was rotted from all my 05:37 drugs and homelessness and they had to literally go in and 05:40 scrape out my face and jawbone. 05:42 And all that stuff, and I know God did all that. 05:45 He made sure all that happened and He blessed me with taking 05:48 me back to school, I learned to read and all that stuff. 05:51 I thought God, I know you did miracles in my life that 05:53 nobody will ever know on this side of heaven. 05:56 I'm begging You please clear up the weather for Brad, 06:00 not for the weather sake, but to just let him know You 06:04 love him and it matters to You what he does and that he 06:08 knows that You a real and that kind of stuff. 06:10 So I'm praying like crazy and what was really interesting 06:13 is I start praying I look at the weather and it's 06:16 starting to clear up, I'm like oh man. 06:18 This is so good, I'm like Brad the weather is clearing up. 06:21 How cool is this? We start paying attention and Jackie 06:25 is little, she's five or so, four or five I don't know. 06:28 She is paying attention, but she doesn't know. 06:30 We start to go into this national Park, it's a park 06:34 called Devils Tower in Wyoming, North Dakota or something. 06:38 So we start to pull in and there was a snow plow truck 06:42 that pulls right in front of us. 06:43 So not only is there this blizzard, snow on the ground, 06:46 there is a snow plow truck right in front of us. 06:49 I'm thinking God that was so good, I love You. 06:52 God is a blast sometimes. 06:54 Anyhow we are following this truck in, we stop and this 06:57 guy gets out and Brad gets out. 06:59 He does this man thing, I don't know if you guys realize 07:02 that you do this. But he's like, I'm bringing my kids 07:04 to show them the tower. 07:06 He says I was here the last time in 1963. 07:09 The guy says that's the first year I started working here. 07:13 I got my job in 1963 so these men started to bond about 07:16 that, and it was really cool to watch them. 07:19 Just saying ya I was here, and of course they didn't remember 07:21 each other, but now he's saying I'm bringing my family and 07:24 it is way cool. 07:25 And the guy says what you have to do? You have to hike around 07:28 the tower, it's a mile hike and you'll have a blast. 07:32 Then he says when you are done I'm going to clear out this 07:35 one road, and drive this one road when you leave and 07:38 I will plow it out for you and give you the best 07:40 view of the tower. 07:42 So he leaves to go to that. We hiked around the tower and 07:45 Jackie is little and in her Sabbath school class they are 07:47 looking at animals prints and all that stuff so she starts 07:50 looking at animal footprints. 07:51 We are doing all that stuff and we have so much fun and 07:54 I look up and all of a sudden there is blue and the sky. 07:57 So not only has the blizzard stopped, but there is blue in 08:00 the sky and I'm thinking how amazing is God? 08:03 I'm taking pictures of the whole thing because I can't 08:05 believe the changes in the weather just since that prayer. 08:08 We march all the way around the tower and we come to the 08:11 front and there is a photo op right in front of the tower. 08:13 It's like this built up platform. On that photo op 08:16 it says, tower of fire. So Brad and I look 08:20 at each other and say, I wonder why they call it 08:22 the tower of fire? 08:24 As we said that, the clouds opened up, and I promise you, 08:29 I have pictures of this, I should of brought them. 08:31 The clouds opened up and the sun comes through full blast 08:34 and hits this tower, this Devils Tower. 08:36 The way the rock is, it just lit up as if it was 08:43 fire for five minutes. 08:45 Both of us stood there and were like oh man, thank you, 08:49 thank you, thank you. 08:51 It was so fun because at that moment I saw Brad's life 08:55 change, I saw him believe for the first time that God 08:59 heard him, God cared about him, God intervened for his 09:03 family just to be blessed and it wasn't about anybody else. 09:06 We stood there for five minutes like I said and we were 09:10 overwhelmed, I mean hair standing up overwhelmed. 09:13 Taking pictures like crazy, asking each other do you 09:16 think this was God, do you think God did this? 09:18 I'm thinking, oh man I think God did this because we 09:21 prayed, and all of a sudden the entire storm comes back. 09:24 Poof, it was done, I think how fun is that. 09:28 That God wants to bless us, God wants to hear us. 09:31 I'm not saying that everybody that prays the weather 09:34 clears up, He's not going to do that. 09:35 But I know that He says ask, ask Me because I want to 09:39 speak to you, I want to show you how incredible I Am. 09:42 I want you to know it is that personal. 09:45 So we are going to talk about the privilege of prayer. 09:47 We are going to talk about how God intervenes in people's 09:49 lives and you will be so blessed. 09:51 So I want you to stay tuned and I want to introduce you to 09:56 the guest today Latisha and Fa'asoa. 10:00 Both of their testimonies are amazing so you've got to 10:04 stay with us, we will be right back. 10:10 We want to introduce you to a beautiful book 10:12 called 'Steps To Christ'. 10:14 Each program in this series is based on a different 10:17 chapter showing you how to become a Christian and 10:19 gain victory over your addictions. 10:21 'Steps To Christ' is our gift to you free of charge. 10:24 Just call us at: 10:51 Welcome back, you know this is my most favorite part of 10:55 the show where we get to interview the guests. 10:57 I want to say you know what Latisha, thank you for coming, 11:00 Fa'asoa thank you for coming. 11:02 So Fa'asoa you are going to be a Pastor. - yes. 11:05 You are in seminary now. - yes. - that is way cool. 11:08 You know what? You look real sweet when you say yes like 11:11 that - I'm really not. - but you are wild. 11:16 So I met you years ago at a teen retreat, 11:18 right? - Umhumm! - First time we met. 11:21 I Want to tell a little story about the teen retreat so jump 11:23 in any time, but it is really for Carolyn. 11:25 I've got to tell you this, I go to this teen retreat and 11:29 there were four kids from Union College that were doing 11:32 music, and it was pretty serious because the four kids 11:35 from Union College, one person had just lost their father. 11:38 And some of the else was dealing with some heavy issues. 11:41 We had a Pastor there, Pastor Jim, and I don't even want 11:44 to tell what his problem is because he would kill me. 11:47 But he was dealing with some stuff and then we had people 11:50 I knew and Carolyn, you and I had met when 11:52 you were like seven, right? 11:54 So Caroline and some other friends that I knew were there 11:57 and I'm telling my testimony and were talking and all that 12:01 stuff and I was coming to the very end of the day. 12:03 Very end of the day and I knew that I didn't have a lot of 12:07 time and you can't, teens get a little anxious if you're late. 12:10 So I'm like trying to tell the stories and I had three 12:13 stories I wanted to tell and all made the same point. 12:16 I wanted to tell them badly, so I told them really fast 12:20 as if they all happened at the same time. 12:22 Well God has been really trying to work with me with about being 12:25 honest and not exaggerating, and I'm kind of sanguine. 12:28 You know, you relate to that. - I'm so sanguine. 12:33 Right, does he ever exaggerate? 12:35 - yeah - yeah I do occasionally. - Guilty. 12:38 What Do you mean? - When he is telling stories sometimes they 12:43 a little bigger than it was in actuality. 12:47 I know and God has really been working on me to not do 12:52 that, so God says, Cheri I want you, He doesn't even call 12:56 it exaggerating, He calls it lying. 12:58 I'm saying I don't lie, and He says, well you do. 13:02 I said no, I just exaggerate. 13:04 He says, well that's a lie actually. 13:05 So He's working on me and I'm trying to work on that. 13:08 I'm really praying, God I want to be an incredible woman 13:11 of God and all those kind of things. 13:13 So He is working on all that stuff. 13:15 So I'm at the teen retreat and say all three stories as if 13:18 they happened at one time. 13:19 I go back to my hotel and God says, that was a lie. 13:23 Oh, no way, it was not a lie I just exaggerated a little 13:28 bit, and not even exaggerated, not all three stories 13:31 happened but I just said it as if they happened at one 13:35 time because I didn't have any more time. 13:37 I'm telling God Na-na-na-na, Na-na-na-na. 13:39 And God lets me do this whole rational stuff, 13:42 rationalizing and all that and He said, it's a lie and you 13:44 need to tell the kids you lied to them and you are sorry. 13:46 Oh man, that is so inappropriate. 13:49 My God that's inappropriate. 13:51 I'm arguing with Him, and God, I love the fact that He has 13:55 so much mercy, He lets us argue with Him when He is trying 13:59 to teach us stuff. So I'm arguing. 14:01 I'm turning up the worship music louder so I don't have to hear 14:04 the Holy Spirit and the next day we go back to the meeting 14:07 and everybody is there, you guys for there. 14:09 The kids from the Union are singing and Carolyn you're 14:12 there and the first thing I say, the first thing I say, 14:15 and I'm telling God I'm not going to apologize for lying 14:17 because it is inappropriate and the first thing that comes 14:19 out of my mouth is that I'm so sorry for lying. 14:22 How do you do that, I didn't want to say that. 14:25 That's not what I wanted to say. 14:26 Then I wanted to clean it up so I said to the kids, you 14:29 know what you guys probably don't any problems with lying. 14:32 Every little head went down, it was amazing. 14:35 In the front row, I don't know if you guys remember, but 14:38 in the front row was this little homeschooled kid. 14:41 She was so sweet, it was not you but you are sweet 14:43 Caroline, but this little homeschooled kid and her head 14:45 went down and she says she lies all the time. 14:48 I'm like stop, so we talked about lying and integrity and 14:52 all that kind of stuff, it was an incredible meeting. 14:55 Then Carolyn I'm going to tell this part because 14:57 it is my favorite part. 14:58 Carolyn and I leave after the meeting and we are going to 15:01 go to the adult tent, we've walked down to the adult tent 15:04 and we get down there and the meetings are over and I was 15:07 hoping to see the singers there. 15:09 There was a quartet, a barber shop quartet kind of thing. 15:13 I wanted to see them and they were four young guys. 15:15 They had just got done and were walking out. 15:18 And I said oh man, Carolyn and I were holding hands and 15:21 she was much younger and we were holding hands and these 15:24 guys walk out and I said I heard you were fabulous. 15:27 I'm sorry I didn't get to hear you sing. 15:29 They were like, are you Cheri Peters? I'm like yeah. 15:33 They said, would you like us to sing for you? 15:36 I'm like, am I like on candid camera or something? 15:39 Does this happen, you're going to sing for me? 15:43 Of course I say I'm so grandiose okay. Alright! 15:48 So they line up side-by-side and they do the Humm thing 15:51 to get all on the same key and they sing this song. 15:55 You better mind, you're going to face it all in the 15:59 judgment, you'd better mind, mind and they are doing this 16:03 harmony and I'm like alright! 16:05 I don't know if you remember this Carolyn, what you said? 16:09 You said, does God never leave you alone about something? 16:12 That was the whole thing about telling the truth. 16:13 Do remember that? - yeah I remember like I had no clue 16:19 about your problem with lying and stuff. 16:21 But later you tell about, I helped you, wow I can't 16:26 believe it. - wasn't that fun? - yeah. 16:28 I love you, I've got to say I'm so glad you're here but 16:31 we have known each other since you were seven. 16:34 And you have dealt with some things too. - yeah. 16:36 And God has been faithful. - yes He's always been 16:39 faithful to me. 16:41 I'm going to go ahead and interview you Fa'asoa after 16:44 that, but have you ever prayed where you know that 16:48 God answer a prayer? - Yes I have, I can't think of any 16:52 experiences right now but there has been many times when 16:56 God has answered prayer for me in just a little ways like 16:59 finding shoes, couldn't find the other shoe and He would 17:02 help me find it. 17:04 You knew it was Him? - yeah, - Amen how cool is that? 17:06 Yeah and I would find it in places I would have never 17:09 thought I would have looked for anything. 17:12 You know what I love, because sometimes we don't pray 17:13 unless it is a big thing and God says ask me about 17:15 everything, talk to me about everything. 17:17 Pray without ceasing the Bible says, because I want to 17:20 answer every single thing. 17:21 So Fa'asoa what is amazing to me is meeting you at 17:26 that camp meeting is there was a point where you told me 17:29 a little bit about your testimony and I asked you if 17:33 you would tell the group. Can you talk about that? 17:36 And also about the Conference President? 17:38 Absolutely, we were driving back and forth to where the 17:44 pastors were staying down below the conference camping 17:50 site and you had asked me to share about myself. 17:54 I'm like no way, you do not want to hear my story. 17:57 You say go ahead and so I said alright. 18:00 I shared hesitantly, because somehow I figured inside that 18:04 you would ask me to share it with the world. 18:08 - I'm not telling, don't ask me. 18:12 But I did, and you asked me to share it with the young 18:18 people, and as I shared it I was praying within myself 18:22 thinking and hoping that the President of the Rocky 18:25 Mountains conference wouldn't be there. 18:27 - This was a new gig for you. - this was a new gig for 18:29 me, I had just gotten hired on at my wife and I, I moved 18:32 my family to Wyoming. I didn't want to go to Wyoming 18:35 before anyways but I didn't feel like I could relate 18:38 with all these issues. 18:39 So here we are, and I'm going to be talking and there is 18:43 a chance that the conference might hear it, the President 18:46 might hear my story and what is he going to think of me? 18:49 - he might fire me. - yes, exactly that is what I was 18:52 thinking. - so let me set this up. 18:54 As he gets ready to speak, the Conference President walks 18:59 in and sits down. 19:01 I didn't know that, I didn't see him come in and sit down 19:04 I'm like trying to get myself mentally prepared to share 19:08 my story, and so I get into my story and pass the middle 19:12 part of my story I walked toward the back of the audience 19:15 and there he is sitting there. 19:18 I'm like, (gulp) well it's out in the open now. 19:25 So I might as well share. - and for people that are 19:30 curious, he actually loves you now. 19:33 It really, he didn't make a judgment he actually, 19:36 you didn't get fired. - no! 19:39 And that was one of the biggest things that I have learned 19:43 for those of us who are in the Ministry, who have been in 19:46 Pastoring for a long time there is a lot of fear. 19:49 What are people going to think, what are our 19:51 President's going to think of us. 19:52 Who cares if we actually share our story. 19:56 What I'm trying to say is, if God is in this thing, 19:59 somebody's life is going to be blessed. 20:02 If you're willing to sacrifice a little bit of yourself 20:06 and step out of your comfort zone and take that risk. 20:09 Someone is watching you where ever they are at and they 20:12 are going to feel free and they are going to actually feel 20:15 like they're a part of this real world that we are living 20:18 in, we are all sinners saved by grace. 20:21 And that is exciting. - Amen. 20:23 What is really interesting to me, and I want to go back 20:26 Carolyn, is the first time that Carolyn and I met she 20:28 was seven years old and I'm talking about my history, 20:31 and even at seven she could relate to some of it and was 20:34 blessed by that and that is where our friendship developed 20:36 So what you are saying is that you don't even know who is 20:39 going to hear you and find courage and strength. 20:42 Absolutely, absolutely because it is a scary thing. 20:44 So now, what is your testimony, who are you? 20:47 Well right now I am currently, my wife and my family, and I 20:52 are currently at the Andrews University attending the 20:55 seminary after having ministered in Wyoming. 20:59 Hello Wyoming! For two years and we love those people. 21:04 We love these places and so we are getting more education. 21:08 That is where we are at currently. - Amen. 21:11 And you are at nursing right Latisha? - I'm a nurse, yes. 21:14 How did you meet this guy? 21:17 When I gave my heart back to God decided I wanted to 21:22 learn, growing up as a Christian, I knew everything 21:26 was in the Bible I believed, I didn't know where it was or how 21:29 to share it and so I had gone to Amazing Facts and taken 21:32 their program there and being in California after that 21:36 I went to Weimer to work in their health program. 21:38 Fa'asoa it was the summer before his senior year of college 21:45 taking the pastoral ministry degree in California and so 21:49 we were there together for that school year. 21:52 Neither one of us were really looking for a relationship. 21:55 We both kind of been burnt and were waiting for God to 21:58 lead, but God brought us together, put us together. 22:02 We can see that we had common values and interests. 22:06 You know I have only a couple brain cells, but I want to 22:09 ask you if this is true or if I'm imagining. 22:12 Didn't you walk around pretty much naked at Weimer? 22:15 With your little Samoa outfit on? - I did and it freaked 22:20 my friends out at Weimer. 22:22 I'm sure it would. - and Weimer is incredible but they 22:24 are a little conservative. - yes. 22:26 So imagine him in a little Samoa thing and walking around 22:29 campus at Weimer, is that what attracted you? 22:32 Come on be honest? Come on. - okay my friends were out 22:38 in the college lawn area and they were just hanging out, 22:42 chilling and singing or whatever and I wanted to go talk 22:46 to one of the ladies in the girls dorm. 22:48 So I had my little sarong, or lava, lava and just white shirt 22:52 and I had my sarong on with nothing so to everybody it is 22:56 like a skirt. 22:57 I'm walking across campus and they are looking at me, 22:59 and their mouths dropped, and one of them said, 23:02 what are you doing? I said what does it look like 23:05 I'm doing? I'm going to the girls dorm thank you. 23:08 In my little skirt thing. - I love that. 23:12 It freaked them out. - I know I love that. 23:15 As soon as you told me that story I thought I love this 23:18 guy, I was wondering because you are pretty conservative, 23:21 right? - yes. - So you are not? - no. Barely dressed. 23:28 Opposites attract. So how did you get attracted to him? 23:33 Or was that just something that happened with the 23:35 friendship? - just seeing how he interacted with people, 23:38 how he loved people, how considerate and compassionate 23:42 he was, attracted me to him. 23:46 But until I knew God was leading, and when he asked me to 23:51 date him I said we have to pray about it, and if it's 23:54 going to be towards marriage, and I know that God is 23:57 leading toward marriage, then I will date you. 23:59 You know what's really funny about Christians or Adventists 24:01 every time I hear this, because my background is different? 24:04 It's like somebody says would like to date me, 24:06 they say well if God's going to bring marriage into this, 24:08 we need to pray. 24:09 Doesn't that scare a guy on the first date? I mean it 24:12 sounds like, because you said that right away right? 24:15 Well I already felt like God was leading in the 24:19 relationship, He put us together a couple of times where 24:22 we had a chance, in a work setting to relate with each 24:25 other, talk together, get to know each other on a casual 24:29 setting and so I felt that God was potentially leading 24:32 in that area, but I wanted to be sure. 24:36 I didn't want my heartbroken I didn't want his heart broke. 24:38 I didn't want to play that game. - Amen. 24:41 So you guys fell in love? - yes. 24:43 Okay, so now before we get into that, I want to hear your 24:46 testimony because I think you have the coolest testimony. 24:48 The reason I said as soon as you told me one time, 24:51 when we were in the car, you told me you know my dad is 24:53 growing pot, he's growing weed in the house and 24:56 I am like what? And he's a Pastor. So tell them. 24:59 I have to say right at this point that I have been 25:03 praying to know just exactly what to share because there 25:07 is some sensitive areas, and I am like okay God, what do 25:10 You want me to share that our audience and everyone can 25:14 hopefully relate to and find a blessing in it? 25:17 I was thinking, you know I'll just share what He's done, 25:22 what Jesus has done in my life. 25:24 At two years old, my memory of two years old was waking up 25:28 in the middle of the night some time, with a bright light 25:33 on, and my dad is arguing with my mother and he comes over 25:36 and grabs one of these rocks, you have to understand the 25:40 setting real quick. 25:41 In the islands in our home it is open and there is no 25:45 windows, so we slept in those mosquito nets that are 25:49 triangular and so you have to have something to hold them 25:52 from flying all over the place. 25:54 So I see my dad coming over and grabbing one of these 25:57 things as he is screaming at my mother and she is sleeping 26:00 because she is tired, it is way late in the night. 26:02 And he is smashing her face with this rock. 26:04 That is my two year old memory, it was so traumatic that 26:09 I still remember it as if it was yesterday. 26:11 Then growing up, a lot of times, the majority of the time, 26:15 when I would see my mother would be at the hospital 26:17 because my father had just gotten drunk the night before 26:19 or was high on dope and would beat her. 26:23 So I see my mother with scars and bruises and broken 26:27 things, and what have you. 26:28 So that is the life I grew up in and that is the 26:31 environment I grew up in. 26:33 My dad was heavy into drugs, cocaine, like I said to you 26:38 one time, we grew marijuana in our house. 26:40 In the corner of a house we had these 5 gallon buckets, 26:45 white buckets with these marijuana plants. 26:48 My mom would tell us children, don't touch daddies plants. 26:51 And in our heads were thinking, those must be sacred plants. 26:55 And my mother would tell us some times, you can take the weeds 26:58 out of them, you know weeds but we got the pun. 27:04 But here are these plants, and then my dad and my uncles 27:08 had this huge marijuana plantation, and next to them 27:12 were tomatoes, cucumbers and I cleaned up the tomatoes and 27:16 cucumbers and couldn't touch these weeds. 27:18 Anyways, this was the life and and the family that I grew up in 27:22 Very dysfunctional, but nevertheless I want to tell you 27:26 the miracle that Jesus did for me even as a child. 27:29 It was that I chose, I saw the affects of what drugs and 27:34 alcohol did to my Father, I chose never, ever to do that. 27:38 You know I have never touched drugs. - that's amazing. 27:41 You know I forgot that about you. - at two years old. 27:44 Wow, you said I am not doing this. 27:45 I'm not doing it, and I told her, and my wife can vouch 27:49 for this, I told myself never will I lay 27:52 a hand on my wife. 27:53 We have been married for years, not once have I laid my 27:55 hands on my wife, four years, to me that's huge. 27:59 For those who have been married for 50 some odd years. 28:01 - I'm going on 19, that's amazing. 28:04 It is, but to me that is huge considering my back ground. 28:08 - right because I don't want to be like my dad. 28:10 - no, I don't. And there are other times where I see 28:14 my self disciplining my child, and I love her to pieces, 28:17 for those of you know me know she's my girl, but I see 28:20 myself almost coming close to being abusive and it freaks 28:24 me out and I have to, - because you were abused as a child. 28:27 - physically, sexually, emotionally, 3 and 1/2 to 4 28:33 years old was the first time that my uncle had raped me. 28:37 And from then on to about 18 years old at those different 28:41 times, three different uncles or relatives raped me 28:45 consistently, on a consistent basis. 28:47 My whole concept of sexual purity was not even there. 28:51 It was totally messed up. - even when you told me that, 28:56 you were so angry sometimes that when I get bigger? 28:59 I made a vow, I don't remember exactly when, so for those 29:05 of you who make these vowels, don't, please don't because 29:11 Satan will use that and one day it will come true. 29:16 For me it did, it almost did. 29:17 I made a vow that when I grew up I would join the 29:20 military go in there and get training on how to kill 29:23 and how to murder, fly back to the islands and kill 29:26 three of my uncles. 29:27 March 22 of 1997, I took that step, I actually had sworn 29:32 in once, thank God I was in the delay entry program, 29:37 but I had sworn in once in the Army. 29:40 I'm seeing myself fulfilling this vow that I took. 29:44 I was serious, I was going to take their life, 29:48 it didn't matter what. 29:50 My whole concept of men and women relationship was totally 29:56 messed up, totally messed up. 29:58 - you stolen things from me, you changed my life, 30:01 you injured me, I am going to kill you. 30:03 And that in turn I hated God, I hated God and some of 30:09 you who are watching now can relate to this. 30:12 I asked myself, I asked God why did you allow this to 30:16 happen to a 4 and 1/2, 3 and 1/2 four and 1/2 year old 30:20 who couldn't protect himself? Why God? 30:23 So you see some of these questions I really believe I had 30:25 come to the point in my relationship with God where I 30:28 can honestly say, without exaggeration, I can honestly say 30:33 - because we're going to check with Latisha. 30:36 You can check with her, but I can honestly say, God you 30:40 know what, I may not understand everything, and no 30:43 psychologist may be able to explain every little detail 30:46 to me, but I'm learning to trust in You. 30:49 One day, You will answer my questions, He will answer 30:55 those questions. - Amen. 30:58 So coming with that background, and then coming into 31:01 Adventism, Christian Adventism. 31:04 - that didn't happen when you were in the military? 31:06 - no, on that day, thank you for bringing it back to me - okay. 31:09 On that day, actually it was two weeks prior to that 31:13 experience, I was hanging out with some gang members, 31:17 friends of mine, and relatives. 31:19 I had left the gang. - I could see you in a gang. 31:25 - I had left that and what I was looking for, 31:29 even in the gangs, was somewhere that I could 31:34 relate, somewhere where I was accepted, where I was loved. 31:38 - plus you could deal with all this anger. - you bet. 31:40 - I could honestly just be angry and it was okay. 31:44 - yeah, and so I ended up in the wrong crowd. 31:47 But in the midst of that, something happened where I was 31:52 playing video games, scoring in video games with this gang 31:56 member friend of mine, little did I know that their whole 32:00 family were Adventists, and they had backslidden and left 32:04 the church except the mother. 32:06 She was still faithful, still going to church, 32:09 still praying, a powerful praying mother, Amen. 32:12 Whoever you are mothers. 32:14 So I was hanging out with this guy and he said to me, 32:18 do you know about the Sabbath? About the what? 32:23 I had never heard the term in my life. 32:24 About the Sabbath, I said the what? He said, 32:26 the seventh day of the week, let me see Monday, Tuesday, 32:30 Wednesday, you mean Sunday? 32:33 He was like no, Saturday the seventh day of the week. 32:35 Anyway it went from that to his Father coming home drunk 32:39 and saying, and he will say this to you today, that the 32:42 Holy Spirit even in his drunken stupor said to him, 32:45 this young man you need to share the Gospel with. 32:48 - as he's drunk. - he's drunk Cheri. - I love that. 32:51 Drunk, okay? So don't tell me that God can't do anything 32:55 because He surely can. 32:56 This gentleman came inside of the room and brought me 33:00 a little pamphlet, and that was the beginning of my 33:03 studying into scripture and becoming an Adventist, 33:06 choosing to become an Adventist Christian. 33:07 I want to know because I want to know did the drunk 33:10 come back around? - did the drugs come back around? 33:12 No the drunk, the guy that gave you the pamphlet? 33:16 I want to say to you that the year 2000, Kenneth Cox, 33:19 he and his team and my home church, my mother's church where 33:23 I was baptized, were preparing these meetings. 33:25 And during part of that whole time, the whole family, 33:32 the family of the man that shared with me. 33:35 - the mother that was praying? - the mother that was 33:38 praying, plus my then girlfriend and her parents they 33:41 were all baptized and became Adventist. 33:43 Oh I love that. - God, like you said before, God doesn't 33:47 do something just to affect one person, when He does 33:51 something, it is huge. Our God is huge. 33:55 So He brought these families back to Himself 33:57 and it's exciting. 33:58 So your studies ended up getting baptized 34:01 and coming back into the church, seriously coming 34:04 into the church. - seriously coming into the church. 34:07 What was amazing to me Cheri is during the part of that 34:10 transition for me, coming into the church and being 34:13 excited about the Three Angels Messages and so forth, 34:16 I had experiences with the Lord wherefore example one time 34:20 I was late to school, and was parked up on this hill. 34:23 I didn't have the keys, I had two keys 34:26 three keys on this keychain. 34:28 A key to the passenger seat broke the past winter, 34:33 so I only had the key to the ignition, and a key to the 34:36 mailbox, and a key to our home. 34:37 So I stepped out, I was late and running to school and 34:40 slammed the door and everything was locked inside this 34:43 station wagon, so I'm looking up to the heavens. 34:46 It was a beautiful starry night, I'm like ah, 34:49 I'm freaking out. I'm really freaking out! - I'm locked out. 34:53 I'm going oh God what my going to do? 34:55 My books are in the car, it's locked and I can't get it in. 34:58 I know, I will bust a window thinking my will dad bust me. 35:01 No, he's not going to do that. 35:02 So I decided to run around and hopefully try to find 35:07 some corner of some area where a door was 35:09 hopefully open. Nothing it was all locked. 35:12 I walked behind the tailgate and to this deep breath and 35:15 a huge sigh and looked up and shot up a short prayer, 35:19 God help me! I turned around, and I'm not kidding you. 35:22 I don't know how God does it, but He does. 35:26 I stuck the key to our house into the lock. 35:29 - let's just try this key. - popped it and it opened. 35:35 The tailgate, I'm not kidding. 35:38 I open that thing and my eyeballs got bigger and bigger, 35:41 I'm like no way, oh well so I crawled right in and got 35:45 my books and made sure one the doors open. 35:47 Got back out and slammed it and turned my back and was 35:49 on my way back to school and stopped in my tracks. 35:52 I was like, that did not really happen did it? 35:54 So I turned around and went back to the tailgate of the car 35:57 and stuck the key back in and guess what? 36:00 It won't work, I'm like I'm going to class. 36:05 It freaked me out, and that is how the Lord worked with me 36:09 as I was transitioning into the church. - Amen. 36:12 So it is so exciting. - how did you get from that place 36:16 to actually deciding you were going to be a Pastor? 36:19 Are you going to trust God enough that I want to give 36:22 You my whole life? 36:23 You know Cheri, - and did you ever kill your uncle? 36:26 No! Thank the Lord. March 22 of 97 like I said, it was that day 36:33 I was scheduled to swear in one more time and then 36:36 they were going to send me to boot camp. 36:39 But that was the day I was baptized as an Adventist. 36:42 I was baptized March 22 of 1997. 36:45 So I called up my recruiter and said, you know what 36:49 I'm changing my mind, I am so sorry I can't join the 36:52 military because I'm joining a different army. 36:54 He was like, what are you talking about? 36:56 I said I'm sorry I'm getting baptized on this day. 36:59 - I'm in the Lord's army. - that's right! 37:02 It happens to be on Sabbath so I cannot go. 37:04 He tried to convince me, you could be a chaplain, 37:06 and you can do this and that and the other thing. 37:07 I'm like, I think God has different plans for me. Click. 37:11 That was the end of that. That was the end of that! 37:15 No I did not end up killing my uncles and as I am going 37:19 into this transition, into this recovery I am looking back at 37:22 what God was doing in my life then, and what God is doing in 37:25 my life now and it is exciting. I have come a long ways. 37:29 I really have. - you have an incredible family. 37:33 I mean your little girl, Latisha and all that, when I'm around 37:37 you guys I can feel the love in your family. 37:39 And speaking of that Cheri, I want to say for those of you 37:43 who may not belong to a family such as I have, and I know 37:46 that some of you are probably jealous and that is okay. 37:49 You know because - I'm jealous of it myself. 37:53 I look at my wife, and every time I have made a mistake, 37:57 every time I have done, I've gone on pornography, 37:59 or struggles with those issues, because of all this junk. 38:02 I have so much junk. 38:04 I came home one day, I'm in the Ministry, in the Ministry. 38:07 I come home and I just had given a Bible study or some 38:10 thing but the night before I was on porn and it was 38:12 on the computer still. 38:14 My wife, she checks things out. 38:15 So she is checking this site out and she is crying, right? 38:19 It totally hurts her. So I come home and instead of her 38:23 pointing her finger at me and saying, all the mean things 38:27 she could rightly say, really from a human standpoint 38:30 absolutely she had every right to condemn me and what 38:34 have you, and I deserved it. 38:35 But when I walked in my office, on my computer was this 38:39 note, and said these words Cheri. I love you. 38:43 - oh, Amen. - and it's been a transition, and it has 38:48 been awesome to have someone love you in spite of all 38:52 the junk you struggle with. 38:55 It is an amazing, amazing experience. 38:59 I know Pastors who are my friends are struggling with 39:02 these issues, but let me tell you if you have a wife who 39:05 is supportive, and is a godly woman who loves Jesus. 39:09 There is nothing like it, there is nothing, that is why 39:12 I can sit here and tell you that Jesus loves you because 39:15 my wife is able to love me in spite of me. 39:19 That is exciting, so thrilling for me. 39:23 How hard was that Latisha? It has been extremely hard at 39:28 times, growing up I never had to deal with it personally, 39:34 really abuse issues, and so when I knew that God was 39:38 leading me into a relationship with Fa'asoa, um, 39:42 I read as many books as I could. 39:45 I read 'Belonging' by the Rockies and we read together 39:51 relationships, books about relationships, 39:54 books about abuse. 'Every man's Battle.' 39:57 Books so we could understand, so understanding mentally why, 40:03 how the abuse affects his mind, why he goes looking for 40:09 perpetrators, looking for that abuse relationship, sometimes 40:15 helps because I know there is a reason, but yet it is very 40:21 painful and has been very painful at times. 40:24 But I have seen God give him victory. - Amen. 40:27 Even as your talking it's amazing that you love him enough 40:35 to educate myself to look at these issues. 40:37 Even with both of you talking, I don't think a lot of 40:41 people understand, when you are tweaked at an early age, 40:44 all that stuff comes into your life and even though 40:47 you hate it, you hate yourself for being led in that way 40:50 is that you get trapped into some stuff and God says, 40:54 I want you, and we were talking today about the privilege 40:57 of prayer, I want you to pray for Me to intervene. 41:00 I want you to know that I am right there. 41:02 I want you to beg the Holy Spirit to step with you right 41:04 here, so you are talking about how incredible it is to 41:07 have a wife, but we have a God that the Bible says prays 41:10 every day in the Holy of Holies, in the presence of 41:13 His Father about what you watch on the Internet. 41:15 Because He loves you. 41:16 That little boy that was injured, He loves you 41:21 and is just praying for us to be brave enough to come 41:24 into our relationship enough that I can surrender 41:27 these issues to You. 41:28 It's been so hard for me, and it has been a huge struggle 41:32 to even accept the fact that God loves me. 41:34 For God to love me! And that I got from my childhood. 41:39 You know both sides of my family are very musical, very 41:45 musical and like I shared with you earlier. 41:47 The training that we get, that I had gotten if I had 41:51 sounded a note in the wrong way my uncles would have that 41:54 belt, a leather belt 2 inches wide wrap around my back. 41:57 For a long time I hated singing because it was painful. 42:01 It was a very painful experience so to sing meant pain. 42:06 Singing equaled pain until I met Jesus and that changed 42:09 everything, so now for those of you who have seen me sing 42:14 I sing from the depths of my soul because I know you don't 42:18 know, but I know what Jesus has done. 42:21 I know what He is doing now and it is real. 42:24 It is so real. - you know what I think, even about what 42:28 you guys just said, Latisha what you said, is that 42:30 I really do I believe that God does that for me with my 42:32 junk, the darker junk, it is almost like He puts that 42:35 little love how stickum, I love you. 42:37 It's like He doesn't say, you know what I can't believe 42:40 you're doing this again, I can't believe you went there, 42:42 but He just says I love you. 42:44 And being able to say, that as we celebrate recovery, 42:49 as we walk into a relationship that has been blessed and 42:53 God is changing us, is that we have to know there is no 42:56 condemnation, He is just saying, I want you to get beyond 43:00 the injury that you have been a part of. 43:02 He wants us to have this joy, He wants us to have freedom 43:07 and not to be afraid. 43:09 Because if God is with us, who, what President, 43:13 Vice President, is going to be against us? - Amen! 43:17 Yes somebody told me earlier God is forgiving but 43:21 people are not, and that may be true but let me tell you. 43:24 Let me encourage you, but if you will step out and let 43:28 people know that you too are struggling, that God has a 43:32 bigger, God is bigger than you or I. 43:34 He wants to change you and He wants to free you from 43:39 this fear, you will have an experience that 43:42 is beyond your imagination. 43:43 We are going to open it up, I want to see if 43:45 anybody has any questions. 43:46 I know that Janette you were wanting to ask a question. 43:50 Actually I wanted to point out, or make a comment that 43:54 I think it is just wonderful that Latisha actually 43:58 decided to read about your situation. 44:01 I think that is very important in today's couples, 44:03 especially the young couples when they get into 44:06 situations that they don't understand, they should be 44:09 able to really know a little more about it before 44:12 they make an impulsive decision. 44:14 You know divorce running a very prevalent in our society 44:17 and it is always the first immediate way out. 44:21 Latisha I commend you for taking the time to actually 44:24 read about some things that you did not know because it 44:28 wasn't part like you said, you recognize it is not part of 44:31 what I am used to, but at the same time I love my 44:34 husband so much that I want to know more about what 44:37 is happening in his head. 44:39 I wish that more Christian women would do that. 44:41 I think we have a natural tendency of saying that if it's 44:44 not what we are accustomed to it is wrong, it is bad, and 44:48 we push it away, we push the whole person away. 44:50 I think what he is sharing here is not being pushed away 44:55 by you, not feeling rejected has definitely made a big 44:58 difference in his life because he has been rejected so 45:02 many times before, so this has really been a blessing for 45:05 anyone who is listening to understand that we don't know 45:08 everything and it is really okay for us to go out there 45:11 and read a little bit more about. 45:12 If your child has an illness what do you do? 45:15 You read every piece of literature on it, well if your 45:19 husband has a porn addiction, or sexual abuse or what 45:22 ever read about it, find out everything you can so that 45:26 you will know how to deal with that pain. 45:28 So you don't push away, don't throw away the baby with 45:30 the bathwater, it is really important to know that. 45:32 I'm telling you from what counseling perspective, 45:35 I just wish more people would do that and that 45:37 you would have the natural instinct and it is 45:40 commendable and a blessing from God too. 45:42 I think becoming more educated helps because then 45:47 you understand that it is going to be painful to go 45:52 through recovery with the person and to go through the 45:57 experiences but to understand how it affects the mind, 46:01 why they are doing what they are doing, helps me to be 46:07 able to understand him, even though I don't know exactly 46:12 how he feels, I wasn't abused like he was. 46:15 You said you liked the book 'Every Man's Battle', we had 46:18 Fred Stoecker, Brenda Stoecker on the show and 46:21 Brenda wrote a book 'Every Heart Restored'. 46:23 What she said was as she got to know what he was going 46:27 through, she learned one thing that it was not me, it is 46:30 not that I was so lacking that pushed him into that. 46:33 She said I really needed to know that because my first 46:36 reaction, was am I not good enough? 46:38 She said she had to learn that. 46:40 Yeah that, I mean I had those thoughts as well and had to 46:46 work through that and also just to, I guess to remember the 46:51 process, the struggle, or the journey that Fa'asoa is 46:58 going through and I'm his wife, there may be times that 47:04 he is frustrated at me, but the other times when 47:09 he has been on pornography, it's not because 47:13 I'm insufficient as a wife. 47:16 - you have to learn that. - that is a very hard thing 47:19 to try to understand and to remember when you are in that 47:24 situation, but being educated helps you to be able to 47:28 separate out of that. 47:29 I can assure you that even as a counselor for 16 years, 47:33 I still read books on so many different topics because it 47:36 helps me understand people around me. 47:38 I think it makes life just a little easier to manage when 47:42 you know why people are the way they are. 47:45 Your understanding, like I said even if your child had 47:48 a problem, at least you would know what to do. - right. 47:51 That just knowing what to do takes away some of the 47:54 uncertainty and that helps you to cope and that is the most 47:57 important thing every person in recovery needs support. 48:01 You can't be supportive if you don't understand. 48:03 So in order for you to under- stand you have to know as much 48:07 as you can, it doesn't matter who it is in your family. 48:09 It could be your child tomorrow, it doesn't matter, 48:12 the point is if you're not sure of something than the 48:15 most important thing is to get as much information as 48:17 you can to help you cope. 48:19 Um, Larry I know you had a question. 48:22 Well I don't know so much as a question, I want to relate 48:25 something here that I had never related in public before. 48:29 That is that I went through molestation when I was a child. 48:33 I never thought about it as affecting my life to the 48:40 extent that some people says it has. 48:43 I have talked to Cheri and with a few people and I got through 48:48 drugs, I've got through alcohol, I've got through these 48:50 other things and didn't mind talking about those things. 48:53 But hearing what you said about helping somebody, if this 48:56 can help somebody, I went through it and I didn't want to 48:59 face it, I don't know if I still don't want to look at it. 49:01 I wanna let it go. 49:03 I just don't want to deal with it at all, but it is there. 49:07 It made me feel, I got into a lot of sexual relationships 49:11 that had no meaning to them because I guess I wanted to 49:15 prove that I am a man and not in a problem situation 49:19 because of these things. 49:20 It made me doubt that I was a man. 49:23 So when you got through it, I feel like I trust 49:30 God with a lot of things, and this is 49:32 my biggest problem is trusting. 49:34 I just get to a point where you can just turn it over 49:38 and even speak about it, but for me it's like this is 49:41 probably the hardest thing I've ever said in my life. 49:45 I mean my family, and nobody knows about this, you know. 49:49 It's really, I feel like people are going to look at me 49:53 differently, and there is a lot of guilt and stuff 49:57 that goes with it. 49:58 You know Fa'asoa I want you to answer him but I think a lot of 50:01 men are asking the same thing, is how do I let this go? 50:04 For me, I can only speak from my own experience. 50:08 It is very difficult for me to even consider coming 50:12 to the program to share my baggage, to share this junk 50:17 that I have gone through. 50:18 But I have made a conscious decision that if I would just 50:24 for once step away from myself, and from the fear that 50:29 I experienced from wanting to share this publicly, 50:34 and think about a child, a 12-year-old boy, 50:38 or a 10-year-old boy that may have, or may be 50:41 being molested right now. 50:43 It is a big problem in our church, and it is not even 50:46 being addressed as it should be. 50:48 If I could share my story, and if that young man or 50:53 young woman would see what Jesus can do with me 50:57 - as far as healing - as far as healing - and loving you. 51:01 - that's right and loving me in spite of every 51:04 thing else, then it is worth it. 51:06 It is worth my taking a risk. 51:08 My wife and I are involved in this holistic small group 51:12 thing at Andrews University, The Church Called a Passage. 51:16 And in there we have a lot of young people. 51:18 Part of our group one time I was driving with this young man. 51:21 He has struggled similar issues and he asked me, in the 51:25 midst of our group I shared my testimony, just little bit. 51:29 He asked me, he said, how are you able to do it? 51:32 The same question you're asking me now Larry. 51:34 How is it that you are able to freely share without fear? 51:38 And this is what I said to him, every time that I share 51:42 I take a risk, I take a risk of people judging me. 51:46 I take the risk of people looking down on me. 51:49 I take a risk of people mistreating me, but for me, 51:55 it's a worthwhile risk because I want them to see Jesus. 52:00 I want them to know that my Savior lives. 52:03 I want them to know that He is bigger than my issues. 52:06 That He can bring freedom and joy, not only in 52:10 my marriage, but in my life and that is worth it. 52:14 That is worth the risk, so I by faith depending on, 52:18 I don't care how you explain faith, but for me it's fear 52:23 but stepping out anyways, anyways, in spite of the fear 52:27 and saying, look what Jesus can do. 52:30 It's only, we have such a short time, but it's really 52:35 vindicating God, saying God is bigger than all my stuff 52:39 and wants me well. 52:41 He sees all this junk and wants me well and wants healing 52:43 in my life and that is for all of us. 52:45 He wants to even use me and stand me in the midst of all 52:49 this stuff, how cool is that? 52:51 The privilege of us to be able to pray to a God like that, 52:54 that sees all our stuff and says I want to heal you anyway. 52:57 Isaiah 57:18. 52:59 I just want to say, we are running out of time and 53:02 you have always blessed me, your testimony has blessed me. 53:05 The fact that I am watching you stand up, and watching 53:08 you hold on to God, and I know that He is going to 53:11 bless you as a mighty man of God standing up in 53:14 integrity and I think that is amazing. 53:17 Wow, is he lucky to have you. 53:19 I feel pretty blessed. - yeah exactly, exactly. 53:24 I would say thank you so much for joining us and will 53:28 you guys come back? - yes, absolutely we will be back. 53:31 That is incredible and I am hoping that everybody heard 53:35 what was said here, prayer is amazing, testimonies are 53:39 amazing, and for us to be real with each other is 53:42 absolutely healing and God is saying you know what? 53:44 Be real with Me too, speak to Me, listen to Me and be real 53:48 with each other, speak to each other, talk to each other 53:51 about who you are and what you testimonies are 53:54 because it vindicates God and allows us to heal, 53:57 it's absolutely amazing. 53:59 Stay tuned, we will be right back. 54:04 Amazing stories, real people in real situations discussing 54:08 issues that really matter. 54:10 A complete first season of Celebrating Life In Recover is 54:13 now available on DVD and can be ordered by calling 3ABN 54:17 or online at 3ABN.org hosted by Cheri Peters. 54:20 This season follows principles of the book 54:23 'Steps to Christ'. 54:25 See for yourself how God changed the lives of the 54:26 convicted and the accused and victims of terrible crimes. 54:30 You won't want to miss a moment of these powerful interviews. 54:36 Don't you love God? I think He is so amazing because we are 54:39 such a mess we have all kinds of stuff. 54:41 Not only abuses done by someone else towards us, but stuff then 54:45 we go out and do and just pile stuff on each other. 54:48 You know one thing on another. God is faithful. 54:50 He says, you know what? I want to heal you, I want to bless you 54:53 I want to take this junk and help you to enjoy life. 54:56 We heard that, we heard that Fa'asosa in your story. 54:59 I want to say that people haven't, we just brought your 55:02 daughter in, can you introduce your daughter to us? 55:05 This is Chrisa Jean and we have been blessed to have her in our 55:09 lives and she will be two in two days. 55:11 Chrisa Jean, how are you doing? Mommy,- you get to be with your 55:16 mommy, you've been away from mom for this whole show. 55:20 Is this mommy,- Daddy, -Oh I know and I love that. 55:24 And you look a lot like your daddy. How cool is that? 55:29 How is that she's cuter, I love that. - What's that? 55:34 That's a TV set. So you know what? 55:39 I have to say we have one more child that joined us. 55:42 So what is your name? Christiana.- Christiana. 55:46 I want to say thank you for joining us, but I want to talk 55:49 to you about, don't forget to ask God, pray with Him. 55:52 Ask Him, sometimes people say how do I start a prayer life? 55:56 Write Him a letter. Sit down with Him and just say God, 56:00 I just want to know who You are, walk outside and ask Him 56:03 to show you something in nature. God says I promise you I want 56:08 to speak to you. I want to give you a life. 56:10 I want to communicate with you. I'm crazy about you. 56:13 We talk about all this stuff we talked about today about 56:17 different things we struggle with, and different things that 56:20 mostly, most of the time pushes us away from God. 56:23 God says don't step away from Me steps towards Me. 56:27 Steps towards Me and we have the privilege of stepping into the 56:30 Holy of Holies on a spiritual sense and the presence of God 56:33 with Christ, and we have the privilege of saying, 56:36 Heh Dad I need some help. What I thought was amazing too 56:40 is the Bible says that Christ Himself prays for us. 56:46 He sits there in the Holy of Holies in the presence of His 56:49 Father surrounded by all the angels and intercedes for us 56:53 every single day. I absolutely think that is cool. 56:58 Christ Himself is praying for me. 57:00 The privilege of prayer is the most amazing thing and we try 57:03 to get through life, we try to get through our recovery 57:05 without it, don't do it. Pray for everything. 57:08 And remember that God prays for every single thing you do 57:12 because His goal is for you to get well. 57:14 Our theme text for this whole series has been Isaiah 57:18 57:17 where it says, God knows our mess, He knows everything 57:20 about us, He knows when we are stuck in anger. 57:23 When we are stuck in workaholism when we are stuck in porn, 57:26 When we are stuck in all that kind of stuff. 57:28 He says, I intercede for you everyday, I pray for you every 57:31 day because I want you to feel what it feels like to be 57:34 released from all that because I'm God and crazy about you. 57:37 Absolutely crazy about you so always remember that God is 57:40 crazy about you, and always remember that I am too. 57:43 See ya next time! |
Revised 2014-12-17