Participants: Cheri Peters (Host), Mark Thornton
Series Code: CLR
Program Code: CLR00033A
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00:10 Welcome to Celebrating Life In Recovery,
00:12 I am Cheri your host. 00:13 It's not often that I get to introduce you to people 00:15 that have blessed and changed my life, 00:17 but today with joy. 00:18 I want to introduce you to a friend and join us 00:20 because my prayer is that he will bless and change 00:23 your life too. 00:51 Welcome back, you know, last season we were 00:53 talking about healing and the baptism of the 00:55 Holy Spirit. 00:56 Trying to do recovery without the Holy Spirit is 00:59 just, I can't even say impossible, 01:01 because I tried for fifteen years, 01:03 twenty years. 01:04 But as soon as I got the Holy Spirit, 01:06 as soon as I realized that Christ died, 01:09 and sent this gift for me to heal with. 01:11 And I ask the Holy Spirit into my life. 01:14 My recovery became easy, God yoked up with me. 01:17 The Holy Spirit gave me wisdom to know where to 01:20 start as far as my healing. 01:21 I no longer looked at the drugs, or the lying, 01:26 or the manipulation as a symptom. 01:27 He took me back to the core issue, 01:29 which is I never learn to love, 01:30 or trust as a little kid. 01:32 And the healing has been amazing, 01:34 but the friend that I'm going to introduce you to, 01:37 I told you about last season. 01:38 So after I show you who's at the Café, 01:40 I'm going to remind you of that story, 01:42 and then I will introduce you to him. 01:43 So at the café, we have Joni, a friend of mine, 01:45 actually one of my best friends from California. 01:48 And I'm thrilled to have you here. 01:49 And Curly's back. 01:51 Hoo Hoo, How can we recognize you, 01:53 you have nothing on your face. 01:55 It's amazing, and you know what, 01:57 we're going to bring you back for an interview 01:58 because I've to find out what happened, 02:00 and how you are doing with all this kind of stuff. 02:02 We have Nyse Collins, our resident health nut. 02:06 And I just want to say, I am learning about health 02:08 through this guy. 02:10 I'm having fun. 02:11 Robby D, and Robby D, I want to just say that you 02:14 are a friend to me, and also one of the artists 02:17 that help put this set together, 02:19 which is amazing. 02:20 Irma, I'm going to Haiti with you this month. 02:24 How fun doing ministry. 02:25 And Mark Thornton, I love you, 02:28 I just got to say that I love your wife, 02:30 your family, and you have blessed me. 02:32 And so now we are going back to the story right. 02:34 Last season, I told you that I realized, 02:39 during my recovery, that I was just fighting so hard. 02:42 I was white-knuckling it so much, 02:44 trying to figure it out. 02:46 God shouldn't it get easy? 02:48 Should I be less of a manipulating, lying, 02:52 struggling addict and recovery, 02:55 shouldn't it get easy? 02:56 And I remember thinking, should I go to another 02:58 twelve-step group? 02:59 Should I get another book? 03:00 Should I, what should I do, because I'm tired, 03:03 And I'm tired and I don't want to fight so hard. 03:06 And I hear God constantly saying, 03:08 this battle is not even yours. 03:10 It's not even yours, and I tried to figure out what 03:13 does that mean? What does that mean? 03:14 So little by little, God starts directing me to 03:19 looking at the gift of the Holy Spirit. 03:22 And I don't know why I read all the text, 03:24 I know what it says. 03:25 I know we are supposed to pray for 03:26 that, and all that kind of stuff. 03:28 But you know what I didn't know, every day, 03:30 every day ask Him, baptize me today with your Holy 03:35 Spirit, fill me up today. 03:36 Abide in me today, that I start looking at the 03:39 fruit of the Spirit, and I know that He pours into 03:43 us to love and peace, long-suffering, 03:45 self-control, kindness, patience, 03:48 I don't have any of that. 03:50 I just want to say that out loud, 03:51 Not that I don't have any of it. 03:53 I have some of it, some time, 03:54 especially if I want something from you, 03:56 you know what I mean? 03:57 But I don't know if I have any of it all the time 04:00 and so God says I want to pour into you so it 04:02 becomes a part of who you are. 04:03 But since you don't know what it is, 04:06 the first thing, Love, agape love. 04:08 I'm not even capable of loving that way, 04:10 and God says let Me love through you until you 04:12 figure it out. 04:13 And I'm thinking how cool, so then I had decided I 04:16 wanted to be anointed with the baptism 04:18 of the Holy Spirit. 04:19 But I couldn't find, and I know I've told the story 04:21 before, but I got to say it again, 04:22 because there are people watching for the first time. 04:24 But I couldn't find anyone to anoint me. 04:26 I'm like a heroine addict in recovery, 04:28 so I know they thought I was a nut. 04:30 I was like, can you anoint me for the baptism of 04:33 Holy Spirit?, and then I would ask anybody walking by, 04:35 I don't care if it's the janitor, excuse me, 04:36 Would you anoint me because. 04:39 And so it now, I'm in a Christian bookstore. 04:41 I look and I'm in Christian bookstore, 04:43 family Christian bookstore by my house, 04:45 and I looked up from looking at some CDs, 04:48 and there's anointing oil right on the shelf. 04:50 OH my goodness, I had to have that, 04:54 and so I bought it for $4.95. 04:57 I had it with me in case I found somebody that would 04:59 anoint me, I'd say poof, I have some oil. 05:01 And so I couldn't find anyone, 05:04 and I'm telling you months. 05:05 I finally went into the bathroom, 05:07 before trip to Thailand to work with kids 05:09 sold into the sex industry. 05:10 I went into the bathroom and I said God, 05:14 if I could find anyone else, 05:15 I would have them anoint me, 05:17 but I can't so I'm going to anoint myself. 05:19 And I just start crying and put the oil on my 05:22 head, and on my hands. 05:24 I asked God to honor that, and I know He did. 05:26 But for a sanguine personality like me, 05:29 you know, I'm kind of, I want someone else to do it. 05:31 So, I remembered my friend, Mark, 05:35 and I know that he has this incredible worship 05:38 band, and he's a singer. 05:39 He's an incredible man of God, 05:41 and so I went into his church, 05:43 and I said Mark after the service, 05:45 would you pray for me, for the Holy Spirit. 05:47 He teared up and he said yeah, 05:49 and he got other people. 05:51 And they prayed, and I prayed for a long time. 05:54 Marks a singer, and I am going to have him 05:57 sing something, because he's just amazing. 05:58 And he is just sort of quietly singing. 06:01 I started weeping because I felt like this was God 06:04 just kissing me on the face, 06:06 and it was so incredible. 06:08 But my life has changed drastically since then, 06:12 with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 06:14 with the realization that God never meant 06:16 for us to work so hard. 06:17 God never meant for us to battle through our 06:19 addictions and fight through this kind of stuff. 06:21 God says, let me pour into you, 06:23 I don't want you to fight, its my fight, 06:25 I'll do it for you. 06:26 I want you to live a life full of joy, 06:28 a joy, in grace, figuring out who you are in Christ 06:31 standing up in what ever ministry I call you to and 06:35 what ever thing I call you to I want so pour 06:38 health into you, not that you fight your addictions 06:40 for ever, so life has changed. 06:42 And I got to say the other day, 06:44 I know Mark is coming. 06:45 And I'm planning on him coming and doing his 06:48 testimony, because his testimony is amazing, 06:52 where God lead him from. 06:53 And so I'm going to the store, 06:55 because I want to get one little book at the store 06:57 before I on my trip here. 06:59 And I go to the store and they don't have the book. 07:01 I driving right past Marks Church. 07:04 I'm thinking Mark is like this Pastor, 07:06 incredible guy, you know, 07:08 If I want a special prayer, 07:09 I can get it from him. 07:10 So I call on the phone, to the church. 07:13 I'm right front in the building, 07:14 But there's cars there, and I'm thinking, if there's cars there, 07:17 he's probably there. 07:18 So I call the cell phone, get his wife, 07:20 and his wife is like, you know we are starting the 07:23 service in like five minutes, Marks busy, in oh five minutes. 07:27 I'm right in front of the church. 07:29 How cool is that, so I go to the service right. 07:33 And I was blessed. 07:35 I'm telling you, the service was amazing, 07:38 worship was Amazing, and I'm going have him sing 07:41 the song that I weep through the entire time. 07:44 But then I get done with that, get home pack, 07:48 get in the plane. 07:49 I mean get to the airport the next morning. 07:52 And I've told you the story about my laptop. 07:55 If you haven't heard it. 07:56 You have to get the CD. 07:57 But anyhow, I have this laptop, 08:00 and I go to the airport. 08:02 And I get my stuff on the conveyor belt. 08:04 I do all the right things. 08:06 Take my shoes off and going through all that 08:08 kind of Stuff, and I'm almost missing my flight. 08:10 I'm in a hurry, so it goes on the conveyor belt, 08:12 goes through the x- ray machine. 08:14 I go through the x-ray machine, and I beep. 08:17 Security has to come, I'm going to get checked now, 08:20 patted down right, because I have a new hip, 08:22 that's whole other story. 08:23 They're patting me down, the person is patting me 08:26 down, is a trainee. 08:27 So she has somebody with her, patting me down, 08:30 so she's does it right, so it takes longer. 08:34 I'm missing my flight. 08:35 I'm trying to be polite. 08:37 She's going through everything. 08:39 She did it wrong so she has to do it again. 08:40 And I'm like okay, and I'm not watching my stuff 08:43 right, because, you know, she's new. 08:46 She's taking time, and I'm trying to be Christian. 08:50 Not strangle her, you know like, so I get my stuff. 08:53 And I go to the gate, then I go to put my computer 08:57 bag on my shoulder, and I'm thinking poof. 09:01 Pretty light, I open it up, no computer. 09:04 Hummmm! I left it right? 09:07 So I run back, and I'm saying to the TSA guys, 09:10 I left my computer, but my plane is leaving. 09:13 So they even said, let my suitcase and stuff 09:15 lay right by the door, because I don't want to 09:17 miss my flight. 09:18 just run back, come back and so we do this quick kind 09:21 of report and it wasn't there. 09:23 Something is wrong. 09:24 So I'm thinking, OH you're kidding me. 09:27 Does anybody have a laptop? 09:29 Does anybody have empathy for me right now? 09:30 Do you have everything you own on this laptop? 09:32 I do, pictures, notes, all the 15 shows that we are 09:38 doing right now, all the outlines, 09:39 all that kind of stuff. 09:40 I was so bummed, and I'm like Oh, 09:41 man it's stolen and the flight is leaving, 09:43 and I can't even sit there and whine, 09:46 because my flight is leaving. 09:47 You know, so I get on the plane and I get to Denver 09:50 and I call TSA again, and they still haven't gone 09:53 through the tapes, because 09:54 everything is video taped at the airports, 09:56 so they can check out what happened to the computer. 09:58 And so they haven't done it yet. 10:00 I get to St. Louis and they have done it. 10:02 A cop gets on the phone and says, 10:04 we watched the guy steal your computer, 10:07 and I'm thinking you did. 10:08 How funny is that. 10:09 The guy literally came up, saw the computer, 10:12 in the bin, looked around, and had to kind of case 10:15 it out a little bit. 10:16 Looked around, made sure nobody was looking, 10:18 looked at the TSA, A guys, 10:20 waited for everybody to be distracted a little bit, 10:23 picks up the computer and leaves. 10:24 He said, we saw him. 10:25 Who knows where, he could be anywhere. 10:28 I'm thinking, really. 10:30 He said you will never get this computer again. 10:33 I'm thinking Okay, and then I gotta tell you, 10:35 this part is amazing to me. 10:37 So I get here, and I'm bummed, right? 10:41 But you know God is God and I'm to the point in 10:44 my walk with God, that I know God is God. 10:46 Something is going to happen. 10:48 I just have to pay attention. 10:49 I get here and I get housed in a room that the 10:52 heater breaks, so the room is 55 degrees. 10:56 I'm cold, it's night. 10:59 I don't have my computer and I'm bummed. 11:01 So now I'm cold and I'm bummed and it's you know! 11:04 So I look around this room, 11:06 it's beautiful apartment. 11:08 Kitchen, bedroom, living room, no TV, no computer, 11:11 no TV, my video I-pod needs to be plugged into 11:15 my computer to get batteries. 11:16 I have no sound at all. 11:18 I have nothing. 11:19 I am like looking around saying you know what, 11:22 there's no noise, just me. 11:23 I'm thinking this is just, I have noise all the time. 11:26 I don't know if you can tell I like to talk, 11:28 and I like noise. 11:30 I listen to my video I- pod for the last 11:35 second of it's life. 11:36 Then all of a sudden it's gone. 11:38 I'm like quiet. 11:39 And then I got cold, 55 degrees. 11:42 I put my gloves on, I realize it's too cold. 11:44 I'm planning to get into bed with a blanket on, 11:46 and my head is cold. 11:48 Cause it's cold. 11:49 So I put the blanket over my head, 11:51 and I have it over my head so my breathing 11:54 can keep me warm. 11:55 God said, finally I have you by Myself, 11:57 You're quiet, without anything plugged in. 12:00 We had the best time all night with the Holy 12:04 Spirit, I was blest, blest, blest. 12:05 But the good part of this story, 12:07 which I want to kiss God on the face. 12:09 I want, I wish that I know He is so present in our 12:12 lives, and I feel Him so loving me, 12:14 but I just want to grab Him and kiss Him on the 12:16 face sometimes, because I get a call the next 12:18 day from the police. 12:20 They said, the guy called us, 12:23 and I'm like, oh shut up. 12:25 The guy that stole my computer, and they said, 12:27 we don't know if it's yours. 12:29 It's a Mac that he stole from the airport yesterday. 12:32 I said, this kid called you, 12:34 and when they saw it on the film. 12:35 It's this young white kid, tall. 12:36 So they know exactly who it is. 12:38 It's, so they said he called, and said that, 12:40 he accidentally picked up somebody Mac, 12:43 somebody's laptop, and they said accidentally 12:45 they saw the film. 12:46 They saw him, like so looking around and making 12:49 sure that nobody was looking, and stuff, 12:50 but he calls and wants to return it. 12:52 So he wants to return it, wants to get back to whoever 12:57 he's stole from and who knows why. 12:59 His friends probably said, you stole a 13:01 laptop from the airport. 13:02 Are you an idiot, do you know they filmed that whole thing? 13:05 you know, it could be that some friend 13:07 told him that or 13:09 He opened it up and saw about the Holy Spirit and 13:12 recovery and God and he said, like man 13:14 I just like stole, a Pastor's computer. 13:17 You know, maybe he got convicted, you know, 13:19 you can steal something from everybody, 13:21 not from God, so who knows why, 13:22 and he wants to give it back. 13:24 Then he's must call back, gets nervous, hangs up on them. 13:27 They're going to call him back to tell to say we have 13:30 your number, because even though you didn't give us 13:32 your number, we have caller ID, 13:33 now we have your cell number. 13:34 So have his cell number, 13:35 they know that he's in New Mexico. 13:37 If you're out there Hi, they know he's in New Mexico. 13:41 They know he's stole my computer. 13:42 They know that for some reason 13:43 he wants to give it back. 13:44 So, police are going to go and arrest him right. 13:45 And so I said, do you have to arrested him? 13:49 This is a grand theft, is a federal offense because 13:54 he stole it from the airport, right, 13:56 so it's a huge deal. 13:57 Well, you don't have to press charges. 13:59 I said, tell him if I can do an intervention with 14:03 him, I won't press charges. 14:04 I want the computer back and I want to speak to him. 14:06 I just stopped and laughed, 14:10 the cop laughed and said, really, 14:11 are you kidding me, who are you. 14:13 I said, I think if God did all this to get this guy to 14:18 turn it over to Him. 14:19 How cool is that. 14:21 So pray for us, that we are going to do this 14:24 intervention, and that I might get my 14:25 computer back, and right now. 14:26 because of how cool God has been with us. 14:29 I don't even really care about the computer, 14:31 this guy needs to find God and 14:33 stop ripping people off. 14:34 So we are going to come back, 14:36 I want to introduce you to my friend, 14:37 who kind of brought this Holy Spirit thing into my 14:42 life in a cooler way. 14:43 Like I said, you will be blessed by him, 14:46 and definitely, definitely I hope this 14:48 changes your life. 14:49 I so hope it changes your life. 14:51 We'll be right back. 14:52 Stay with us. |
Revised 2014-12-17