Participants: Pr. John Carter
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001516A
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00:14 The Carter Report presents
00:16 The Living Word around the world. 00:23 Hello, friend. I'm John Carter. 00:26 Welcome today to The Carter Report. 00:29 What a program we've got for you today. 00:31 My special guest is the man 00:33 who ministers to the gangs of Los Angeles. 00:38 There are more than a 100,000 young people in these gangs. 00:43 His name is Pastor Willie Garcia, 00:46 formerly the lead singer of The Midniters. 00:51 Stay with us, you're gonna be blessed. 00:56 Hi, I'm John Carter. 00:58 My wife Beverley and I were watching television 01:00 the other night, watching the news, 01:02 American news. 01:03 They told us that the Church 01:05 in North America is actually shrinking. 01:07 They said that 01:09 atheism is the fastest growing religious movement today 01:11 in North America. 01:13 And people are saying, 01:14 "What on earth can we do to save the Church?" 01:17 Well, of course, Christ died for the Church, 01:19 he saved the Church. 01:20 But what they mean is how can we keep the Church 01:23 as a vibrant force in the world today, 01:25 in Australia, in America, and in Europe, 01:27 and in the rest of the world? 01:29 Let me tell you a little story. 01:31 John Wesley was one of the greatest preachers 01:33 that the English-speaking world has ever heard. 01:36 John Wesley came upon the scene of the Church in England 01:40 a few hundred years ago when the Church was dying. 01:43 Like the Church today, it was a shrinking Church. 01:46 But the people in the Church were in a state of denial. 01:49 They refused to accept the reality 01:51 that the Church was dying. 01:53 John Wesley did something 01:55 that other people said couldn't be done. 01:57 He revived the Church through public evangelism. 02:01 Did you hear that? 02:02 He started to preach Christ. He preached the Bible. 02:05 And he preached out of doors and indoors. 02:08 And the Church was saved. 02:10 Not only did he save a lot of souls, 02:12 the souls of sinners, 02:14 he saved the souls of the saints. 02:18 Please join me, my friend, in evangelism. 02:23 It's what Jesus did. 02:26 Write to me, John Carter, 02:27 post office box 1900, Thousand Oaks, California. 02:31 In Australia, write to me at the address 02:34 on the screen at Terrigal, in New South Wales. 02:38 Join me, my friend, in preaching Christ. 02:42 Join me in public evangelism around the world. 02:47 Thank you, in Jesus' name. 02:57 Welcome today to The Carter Report. 02:59 Pastor Garcia, welcome today. 03:02 Thank you, Dr. Carter. 03:03 We're absolutely honored 03:05 to have you with us on our program. 03:07 You've been with us to Africa, and more recently, 03:10 to Papua New Guinea. 03:11 Yes, yes. 03:13 That's where you saw the beautiful white dove 03:15 that came into the meeting as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. 03:18 Yes. 03:19 Now you were telling me just a little while back 03:21 as we were interviewing you a little earlier on today, 03:25 you were telling us about your involvement with the Midniters, 03:29 Thee Midniters. 03:33 The money, the glamour, the alcohol, the heroin, 03:38 the cocaine, 03:40 you were telling me about the day that came 03:42 when you wanted to end it all 03:44 because life was just miserable. 03:46 Unbearable. Unbearable. 03:48 And you were going to take some heroin. 03:50 Yes. 03:51 You're gonna take it and you were going to die 03:54 because you were finished with it. 03:56 And then the telephone rang. 03:57 Yes. Tell us what happened. 03:59 I answered the phone reluctantly. 04:01 But on the other end of the line 04:02 was a young man that I knew very well. 04:05 And he just began to speak 04:09 to me about coming to hear him, his band play. 04:13 He told they were recording television shows. 04:16 When he said television, my antenna went up, 04:18 'cause I was an opportunist all my life. 04:20 You know, the world says 04:22 opportunity never knocks twice. 04:24 But since I've become a Christian, 04:25 I know that God is always knocking-- 04:27 Yeah, knocking all the time. 04:28 At the door of your heart, always. 04:30 And this was God knocking. 04:31 I didn't know it yet, but this was God knocking. 04:34 So Tony, I agreed to go with him 04:37 out to Tucson, California. 04:40 And I ended up at Channel 40, KTBN. 04:44 Didn't mean much to me when I turned the corner 04:46 and I saw the call letters because before, 04:49 uh, the couple that bought 04:51 that television station, owned it, 04:53 I knew the guy that owned Channel 40, Huggy Boy. 04:56 He was the local DJ. 04:58 Huggy Boy? Yes. 04:59 And, uh, it was a dance show 05:01 and he'd play records and interview people. 05:03 So I said, "Well, this is great, man. 05:06 Huggy Boy's here. 05:07 You know, I'd book some gigs 05:09 and may be I can crank another year out of my life." 05:12 But when I arrived there, it was so much different. 05:14 Uh, the band was great. 05:16 It was the best music I had ever heard. 05:18 I didn't know anything about-- Why was it good? 05:20 Because it was anointed by the Holy Spirit. 05:22 So this was Christian music? 05:24 Yes, it was. 05:25 But it was, it was salsa, 05:27 it was, it was very contemporary. 05:30 Uh-huh. 05:31 You know, and these were guys that I knew, these were-- 05:33 Now you've got a Latino background, haven't you? 05:34 Yes, yes. 05:36 That's sort of in your soul, isn't it? 05:37 It's in our DNA. Yes, sir. 05:38 Yeah, so... Yeah. 05:40 See, I'm just a poor old Anglo. 05:41 But it moves you too. Yeah, it does. 05:44 And so the music was just, 05:46 it was the best sounding music I'd ever heard. 05:49 And so I started thinking right away, 05:52 "There must be some way, 05:53 man, if I can sing with this band 05:55 and get on these television shows. 05:57 You know, that would really be something." 06:01 And so over the course of two weeks 06:03 of going with him every day and trying to weasel my way 06:06 into being a part of this show or part of this band, 06:09 I got exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 06:12 because it was a television, a Christian television program. 06:16 Uh, an evangelist from Argentina, 06:18 Elmer Bueno, 06:20 and he was the host of this program 06:22 that was called Buenos Amigos. 06:26 But that didn't sound like anything like Church to me. 06:28 It just sounded like good friends, 06:30 you know, getting together. 06:31 That's what that means, good friends. 06:33 Yes, Buenos Amigos. His name was Elmer Bueno. 06:35 And what Elmer Bueno was doing 06:37 was introducing us to his friends, 06:40 and his best friend Jesus Christ. 06:43 Over the course of two weeks, besides hearing great music, 06:47 I heard these stories, not just from ex-convicts 06:51 or prostitutes or ex drug-addicts. 06:55 But I heard stories of people involved in corporate America, 07:01 doctors, lawyers, who had abused their privilege 07:05 and their position in life. 07:07 And every story that I heard, Doctor, 07:09 for over the course of two weeks was different. 07:13 But the ending of every story was the same. 07:15 So they were talking about the transforming grace of God. 07:18 Yes, they were. And I'm just right there. 07:21 And this got into you? 07:22 It got into me but also, 07:24 my self-righteousness was always preventing me. 07:27 "I don't need this stuff." Yeah. 07:29 You know, I'd hear these stories and I'd say, 07:31 "As bad as you were, you needed Jesus. 07:34 But not me, I never palmed a silverware. 07:36 I never hung out in the shadows with a baseball bat 07:40 to take somebody's jewelry, you know. 07:42 As bad as you were, you needed Jesus. 07:44 But not me, I could afford my habits." 07:47 That was my thinking. 07:48 But the Holy Spirit was working on me. 07:52 Tell me about the moment when you came to Christ, 07:55 when you became born-again Christian. 07:57 I went with the band to a prison camp 08:01 in the San Dimas Mountains called Camp Afflerbaugh. 08:05 They invited me to go with them. 08:07 And I went on the condition that if they'd let me sing, 08:10 I would go with them. 08:11 I said, "Now is my opportunity." 08:13 And so they looked at each other and said, 08:14 "Sure, bring your charts." 08:16 And so I did. 08:17 I went with them up to Camp Afflerbaugh. 08:20 And when I got there, they prayed, and I said, 08:23 "Oh, this is gonna be like that TV show. 08:25 They're gonna start talking, they're gonna do..." 08:27 So I went and I sat 08:29 way in the back of the auditorium 08:31 as they brought in 77 prisoners. 08:34 I know because I heard the count 08:36 when they brought them in. 08:37 And I sat way in back where nothing they did 08:39 or said would have any effect on me. 08:41 And after hearing about 20 minutes of this great music, 08:45 my friends, guys that I grew up with, 08:48 that I knew, guys that I used to get high with, 08:51 began to tell their story in 25 words or less. 08:55 And I went "Wow!" 08:58 You know, man, Bobby needed Jesus. 09:04 He was called "el terror del barrio." 09:07 of the neighborhood. 09:08 Goodness. 09:09 Because Bobby was the type of guy 09:11 that would stand in the shadows. 09:12 He was a heroin addict. 09:14 And he would take whatever you had. 09:16 He'd bash your brains out. He'd bash your brains out. 09:18 And so when I heard his story, I said "Wow, that's good." 09:20 And he was redeemed. And he was redeemed. 09:23 Then I heard another young man, who, 09:25 his father is a judge and his mom is a doctor. 09:30 Grew up in a very upscale, we call it the 09:32 "Beverly Hills of East L.A.," Montebello, California. 09:35 Yeah. 09:36 And he grew up, and when he got up to speak, 09:39 I said "Man, I've heard some heavy stories over the two... 09:42 What's Bobb-- What's Chuck Bayo gonna say? 09:44 What's he gonna say?" 09:46 This kid, he's had it all, all his life. 09:48 And he simply said, 09:49 "You know, I grew up pretty well-to-do. 09:52 Both parents doing well." 09:55 He says, "But it doesn't matter 09:56 what spectrum of life you come from. 09:59 If Christ is not the center of it, 10:01 you're not living at all. 10:03 Every day is another step closer to death." 10:05 What were you thinking? 10:06 I didn't... 10:08 I really wasn't thinking, Doctor. 10:09 I was being bombarded by these real life stories, 10:13 living proof that my friends, guys that I knew, 10:17 were not like they used to be. 10:19 Eventually, this crazy preacher from National City, California, 10:25 who was just doing a little prison ministry there 10:28 with a couple of his boys. 10:29 They drove down. 10:31 They heard the band playing, 10:32 so they came over to the auditorium. 10:34 And one of the guys recognized him, 10:35 his name was Kalki Duenas. 10:38 And they said, 10:39 "Kalki, you want to make the altar call?" 10:42 And he agreed. 10:44 So he came out and he just called all of the... 10:45 he called the sinners, that we were experiencing. 10:49 And I'm including myself now, in this group, right? 10:51 Yes, yes. 10:52 And that we're experiencing the consequence 10:55 of our disobedience and our rebellion. 10:58 You know, and we deserve what we're getting. 11:02 And if it wasn't for the grace of almighty God 11:05 and his unconditional love, I wouldn't be here tonight 11:08 to tell you that there is a way out. 11:10 So you went forward? 11:13 March 16, 1980. I could not resist... 11:16 March 16, 1980? 11:18 1980. 11:19 Sunday night, about 8 o'clock. 11:21 You actually walked down? I walked down. 11:23 I tried to get out of that auditorium. 11:25 Yeah, go out the back. 11:26 But to no avail, even though I got out the door. 11:29 Now somebody was pulling you down. 11:30 I couldn't leave. I could not leave. 11:32 That was the spirit of God. It was the spirit of God. 11:34 We've seen that many times, haven't we? 11:36 We have. He set me up. 11:38 It was a set up. 11:40 I believe that God had March 16th, 1980, 11:43 circled on his heavenly calendar. 11:44 Yeah, written down from all eternity. 11:46 "At an appointed time," says the Lord. 11:48 So you went down the front? 11:50 I went down front. I came-- 11:51 What was going through your mind? 11:53 I don't know because when-- 11:57 I didn't know this happened. 11:58 Tony says that when he looked around, 12:00 he saw me walking towards 12:02 the prisoners and Kalki like this, 12:05 walking through the audience with my hands up. 12:07 And I reached a point 12:09 where I just felt like I couldn't walk anymore. 12:10 And I felt like I was being 12:15 punched in the stomach. 12:17 That's the way I felt. 12:18 I felt like somebody was just punching me, you know. 12:21 And I could hear myself inside, yelling, "God! 12:26 If you're real, 12:27 if what they're saying about you, 12:29 Jesus, is true, do it for me. 12:32 But don't jump me off. 12:33 I need to know that you're real." 12:35 And God did it for you. 12:37 I didn't even know I was praying. 12:38 But God understood the cry of my heart. 12:40 Was that the change that night? 12:42 That's when it occurred, it occurred. 12:44 I went there, Dr. Carter, with $250 a day heroin habit, 12:49 over $500 a day in cocaine and alcohol abuse. 12:52 I was an abuser of every thing. A lot of money for those times. 12:55 A lot of money, the high times, I had it all. 12:58 And now you have become a tremendous pastor 13:02 for the gangs of Los Angeles. 13:04 You go into places I'd be scared to go. 13:09 And you go there 13:10 and you minister to these young people 13:14 who are without hope and without God in the world. 13:17 But God, in 1980, 13:20 reached down His hand and He touched you. 13:23 Yes. Yes, he did. 13:25 And by His grace, I've been able 13:28 to take the same message that converted me, 13:31 that opened the eyes of my understanding 13:35 to the grace of God. 13:36 We'll be back after this break. 13:38 We're gonna talk about the gangs of Los Angeles. 13:43 God has his time and his place for everything. 13:49 And the time and the place now 13:52 is Latin America, including Cuba. 13:56 Time magazine talks about 13:58 the second Protestant Reformation 14:01 and describes how hundreds of thousands, 14:05 even millions of Latinos 14:07 are coming to the Gospel of Christ. 14:11 I'm not an armchair theologian. 14:14 I'm speaking according to experience. 14:16 I have seen it with my own eyes. 14:20 Recently, we went down to El Salvador. 14:24 There I spoke in the largest football stadium 14:29 in Central America 14:31 with the biggest crowd that that football stadium 14:32 had ever, ever seen. 14:34 They came not to see a football match 14:37 but to hear about the blood of Christ. 14:41 Millions are coming to a knowledge of God 14:44 in Latin America. 14:46 Doors are opening in Cuba. 14:50 Who knows, we may be going to Cuba soon. 14:54 As the doors open, by the grace of God 14:57 we are going to step through those doors. 15:00 And we want you to step through those doors with us 15:04 and be part of our team for such a time as this. 15:09 Please write to me, friend. Don't put it off. 15:11 Write to me, 15:12 John Carter, post office box 1900, 15:16 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 15:20 In Australia, write to me at Terrigal, 15:23 New South Wales. 15:25 Be part of the second Reformation. 15:29 Join us and see the miracles of God. 15:34 Amen. 15:45 Welcome back to The Carter Report. 15:47 My guest today is a man of God 15:49 who works on the streets of Los Angeles with the gangs. 15:54 He goes to places you wouldn't go, 15:57 and I wouldn't go. 15:59 But he goes there because God takes him there. 16:02 God protects him. 16:03 Pastor Garcia, 16:05 you were telling us how in 1980, 16:08 you went down the front, 16:10 there were a bunch of prisoners there. 16:12 You weren't one of those prisoners, 16:13 but it was being held on one of those places. 16:15 Yes. 16:17 And there was an old-fashioned preacher, 16:19 and he made an altar call. 16:21 And you felt as though your heart 16:23 was gonna be pulled out of your chest. 16:25 Yes. You went down the front. 16:27 You want to tell us something about that. 16:29 Doctor, I realized that night that I was more locked up. 16:34 I was more incarcerated than the men 16:37 that were doing time in that prison. 16:38 Yeah, the men in the jackets. Yeah. 16:40 I looked around at their faces 16:42 and they seemed to have a sense of hope. 16:44 Yes. 16:46 And they had a good sense of hope 16:47 because one day they will be paroled. 16:48 Yes. 16:50 One day they'll receive probation. 16:51 They'll get a green slip. 16:53 Their name will be called 16:54 and they'll step out of the gate of that penitentiary 16:56 and they'll sense freedom. 16:58 Did you know, somebody said, 17:00 "The death of hope always leads to the hope for death"? 17:03 That's right. 17:05 And if you don't have hope in your soul, 17:06 a lot of people out there 17:07 haven't got any hope in their souls. 17:09 But if you don't have hope in your soul, 17:11 you're gonna come to the place where you're gonna want to die. 17:14 Well, you know, my hope was in this band 17:16 and being able to sing with this band. 17:18 Yeah. 17:19 But that night, I heard a message of hope. 17:21 That "God so loved the world 17:23 that He gave His only begotten Son. 17:25 That whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, 17:29 but have everlasting life." 17:30 And God better, 'cause He said, 17:32 "For God did not send His Son 17:34 into the world to condemn the world, 17:36 but that through His Son, the world might be saved." 17:40 Those words penetrated my heart. 17:42 I lived under condemnation all my life. 17:44 I was guilty. 17:46 You can remember that night, can't you? 17:47 I can remember that night. 17:49 I remember those two scriptures 17:50 as if they were recited to me on a daily basis. 17:52 John, chapter three. Yes. 17:54 John 3:16-17, 17:57 those two scriptures stayed with me from that day forward. 18:00 The Word of God is with power, is it not? 18:02 Yes, it is. 18:04 The Word of God is alive. And it's powerful. 18:06 It's sharper than any two-edged sword. 18:08 It penetrates to the division of the soul, the spirit, 18:11 and the joints and the marrow. 18:13 And it's a discerner of the thoughts 18:14 and the intents of the heart. 18:16 You can see why God uses this man, 18:18 because he's filled with the Word of God 18:20 and filled with the Holy Spirit. 18:22 Where did your path take you after this? 18:25 Well, it led me to church. Where do I go after this? 18:29 What do I do after this? I had no idea. 18:32 And my whole concept of church, being brought up traditionally, 18:37 was not the type of church I wanted to return to. 18:41 No. 18:42 You know, and so God used my musician friends. 18:45 They called me. 18:47 They hounded me, uh, for a whole week. 18:49 Come to church. I got saved on a Sunday night. 18:52 Yes. And so what do you Monday? 18:55 Monday morning, I woke up. 18:57 There's the challenge. 18:58 And my routine was to kick my legs out of bed, 19:04 open my drawer, get my wake up, 19:07 just enough to kind of get you-- 19:09 What would wake you up? What was it? 19:10 Just a quarter gram of heroin. 19:12 Of heroin? Yeah. 19:13 You'd start the day with heroin? 19:15 I would start the day with that. 19:16 And that would get you going? 19:18 And that would get me going. 19:19 A little cocaine. 19:20 Oh, goodness. 19:22 You know, a double cognac. 19:23 That was my routine. 19:25 Roll about 20 joints, stick them in my pocket. 19:28 You know, the Gospel saved you. 19:29 Because you look so good. 19:32 I'm telling you, you look so good. 19:33 I'll tell you. 19:35 You know, if this hadn't happened to you, 19:37 you would have been dead years ago. 19:39 I'd be dead. 19:40 I'd be in prison or in an insane asylum. 19:44 That's where I would be. But not three at the same time? 19:46 Not all three. 19:49 Now tell me about some of the areas in L.A. 19:55 where you can go, where I can't go. 19:58 Well, I go right into 19:59 the barrios of East LA, Moravia. 20:02 Into what? 20:04 The neighborhoods. 20:05 And what did you just call it? 20:06 Barrios. Oh, barrios. 20:08 Yes, into the barrios. 20:09 I'm getting good on my Spanish. 20:11 Yes, you are. And-- So you go into the barrios. 20:13 I go into the barrios where they hang out, 20:15 where they play handball, you know, where we-- 20:18 Is that rough? 20:19 Yeah, it's rough. 20:21 It's rough. It's a rough life. 20:23 It's-- you see groups of people 20:28 confined to a four-block area. 20:30 That's their neighborhood. 20:32 Why do you say they're confined to a four-block area? 20:33 Because they're afraid to go out of their own territory. 20:37 They have enemies. 20:39 They can't go out of four blocks? 20:41 They can, but it's dangerous for them. 20:43 Yeah, they may not come back. 20:45 They may not come back. 20:46 And nowadays, it doesn't matter. 20:47 They'll come into your neighborhood 20:49 if they want you bad enough. 20:51 Your enemies will come looking for you. 20:53 And they carry guns? 20:54 They carry guns, knives, you name it. 20:56 And I'm told there's more than a 100,000 gang members. 20:59 Those stats, the ones that-- 21:01 And I looked them up last night. 21:04 The stats that we have, 21:05 the most recent stats are from 2005. 21:08 I think it's escalated to the point 21:10 where even the statisticians can't keep up with the rate 21:14 of the numbers of individuals that are joining gangs. 21:18 When you go into these neighborhoods 21:21 where it's tough, and rough, and dangerous, 21:25 why do they let you in? 21:26 My reputation with the Midniters precedes me. 21:30 I made friends with a lot of people over the years, 21:33 you know, at weddings, at backyard parties. 21:37 So lot of the guys, they know me. 21:39 The gang members know you? They know me. 21:41 They've inherited their parent's record collections. 21:46 And so-- And they respect you? 21:48 They do. They do. 21:50 And I respect them. 21:51 You respect them? Yes. 21:52 And that's the key, isn't it, one of the keys? 21:54 Yes, it is. 21:55 Because they're made in the image of God. 21:57 You know, that's interesting, Doctor, 22:00 because, you know, there are no sides. 22:02 There are no enemies where we come from. 22:04 No. 22:05 Because we've been called to embrace everyone. 22:07 Yes, we've been redeemed. 22:09 God embraces everyone, and that's the message. 22:11 And we're all sinners. We're all sinners. 22:13 All in need of grace. Yes, yes. 22:15 We've all fallen short. 22:16 So you go into an area where it's rough and tough. 22:20 Yes. 22:21 They've got guns and they got knives. 22:25 What do you do? 22:27 Well, first I'll get permission. 22:30 I'll call someone that I know... 22:32 That's a good move. 22:33 And I tell them, 22:34 "Eh, is it okay if I come down?" 22:36 You know, and they'll say "Well, yeah, come on." 22:39 You know, and then I always take 22:40 a little boom box with me, you know. 22:42 And I take my tracks-- 22:44 So you're gonna do some singing? 22:46 Oh, I'll go, I'll go 22:47 right where there are at and I'll sing. 22:50 That's how I get them to come-- What? 22:51 On the street or in the house? 22:53 I'll borrow if I need to. 22:55 I'll take an extension cord and borrow electricity 22:57 from one of the neighbors. 22:59 And we'll set up right there. 23:01 When you borrow it, do you ever give it back? 23:03 You're not exactly borrowing. 23:06 Okay, you borrow the electricity. 23:08 Yes. 23:09 You set up a boom box, and you start to sing. 23:11 And I start to sing. 23:13 And I sing songs that they remember me by. 23:15 That's the hook. 23:17 And so they come to the meeting. 23:18 Yes. 23:20 I can't change my testimony, 23:21 so I use the songs that helped shape 23:23 who I've become to draw them-- 23:25 Do you quote scripture? 23:26 Yes, I do. Yes, I do. 23:28 Do you talk about Christ? 23:29 I certainly do. 23:30 And what do they do when they hear this? 23:32 You know, out of reverence, they listen. 23:35 They listen out of reverence. Out of respect. 23:38 They all have this, 23:41 I really do believe, a fear of God. 23:42 Yes, they do. 23:44 Because, you know, I'll see some of them. 23:46 You know, as soon as I mention God 23:47 or I mention Jesus-- 23:49 In their souls. 23:50 The interesting thing is they do things 23:53 that I never ask them to do. 23:55 Like when I asked them, "Can I pray for you?" 23:58 They'll kneel down. They'll kneel down. 24:00 I've never asked any of them. 24:02 There are some Anglo churches 24:03 where people don't kneel down anymore. 24:05 Exactly. 24:06 You know, they're too righteous to kneel down. 24:07 And they kneel down. They kneel down. 24:09 And out of respect for who I am, 24:12 who they know me to be, 24:14 and now they're getting acquainted 24:16 with this new creation. 24:19 And so I share with them, from the bottom of my heart, 24:22 the two scriptures. 24:23 You put your arm around them? 24:24 Oh, I embrace them. 24:26 I mean, I love them. 24:28 I want them to feel the love of God. 24:30 We're talking here about men and women? 24:31 Men and women. And their little kids? 24:33 Men, grown men, 24:34 with big moustaches, and tattoos, 24:37 and muscular men, who-- 24:39 They've got inside, they've got a soul, haven't they? 24:41 You know-- It's crying out for God. 24:43 We're all amazed 24:44 that when we see an individual like that 24:46 begin to weep. 24:48 And you see this? And I see it. 24:49 And God has used me in a tremendous way. 24:51 I don't take it lightly. 24:53 I go into the prisons and I do the same. 24:55 You go into prisons in L.A.? 24:56 I go into the prisons in Los Ang-- 24:58 all over, all over, wherever I can. 25:00 'Cause that's tough, isn't it? The prisons of America. 25:02 It is. It is. 25:03 God did something very interesting for me. 25:05 When I got saved, uh, a young man in our church, 25:09 he invited me to go with him 25:10 to the California Youth Authority, 25:13 Fred Stein Allison, Whittier, California. 25:15 And I went with him. 25:17 He was doing Bible studies on the cottages. 25:20 And he'd go there early in the morning. 25:22 He would stay there all day. 25:24 And I started going with him. 25:25 And I did that for four years. 25:27 One day, the superintendent and the volunteer coordinator 25:31 invited us into their office and they asked us 25:36 if we would like to get paid for what we're doing. 25:39 And I told them "Well, I don't know. 25:41 What do you mean by that?" 25:42 And they said that 25:43 they had noticed a change in the boys 25:46 that we had been meeting with. 25:48 The Bible talks about it. 25:50 It says the Gospel is the power of God into salvation, 25:53 'cause everyone who believes, 25:55 to the Jew first and also to the Gentiles. 25:58 To the Gentiles, yes. 26:00 For in the Gospel of righteousness, 26:02 from God is revealed that it's from faith to faith. 26:05 Yes, it is. God has used you. 26:07 God has led you. God has blessed you. 26:10 God brought you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 26:14 And in your body is a warm heart, 26:20 and people can sense it. 26:23 They know that you are in the presence of God. 26:27 And that is why these gang members turn to you. 26:33 And we need to pray that we're going to see 26:35 a mighty movement of God 26:37 among these gang members in Los Angeles 26:41 as we have already started to see in El Salvador, 26:44 'cause we were down there baptizing them. 26:46 Yes. Glory be to God. 26:48 And when we preached with all those gang members there, 26:51 we weren't afraid. 26:53 Because we were in the hands of God, 26:56 just as you are today, my friend, 26:57 if you believe in the Gospel of Jesus. 27:00 My guest today has been a very, very special person. 27:04 Pastor Willie Garcia, 27:06 once called Little Willie of Thee Midniters, 27:12 famous musical group in the United States here 27:16 that touched the lives of millions of people. 27:19 But since those days, 27:21 Pastor Garcia has been touching lives 27:24 through the Gospel of Christ. 27:26 I want to just thank you today. 27:27 You've blessed me today. Thank you, Doctor. 27:29 You've blessed me today. 27:31 And you've blessed our television crew. 27:32 You blessed The Carter Report. 27:34 Please write to me today. 27:36 John Carter, post office box 1900, 27:38 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 27:42 Write to me at Terrigal in Australia. 27:45 And if you want a copy of this DVD, 27:48 just stand with us in evangelism 27:51 and in the preaching of the Gospel. 27:53 Thank you for joining us today. And God bless you. 27:58 Yeah, your hope and your future 28:03 'Cause these are the plans 28:05 These are the plans 28:10 These are the plans 28:14 That's God's Word 28:17 Every promise is He And Amen 28:21 These are the plans 28:26 That I have For you 28:36 Thank you, Lord 28:40 Thank you, that you're restorer of your people 28:45 These are the plans |
Revised 2015-12-10