Participants:
Series Code: CW
Program Code: CW000018S
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00:00 (serene music)
00:05 - Oh yes! Stay right there. 00:08 (serene music) 00:13 - Hey welcome everybody 00:14 to A Talking Donkey International 00:16 in our new television series, Country Wisdom. 00:19 - Let's set the tone for this new series of ours. 00:22 It's found in Proverbs 4; 00:24 Let your eyes look directly forward, 00:27 and your gaze be straight before you, 00:30 ponder the path of your feet, 00:33 and then all your ways will be sure. 00:37 - Join us now for Country Wisdom. 00:38 (serene music) 00:46 You were a successful contractor for a lot of years 00:50 but life didn't start out very successful, did it? 00:53 - That's right. 00:54 I was raised in a Christian home, 00:57 but that doesn't mean 00:58 that it was a perfect Christian home. 01:01 That I have brothers and sisters and lived with my grandma 01:07 and my mom was a very devout Christian. 01:09 My father was raised a Christian, 01:12 but he had some issues and he was abusive to us kids. 01:17 We were really whipped regularly 01:20 and it wasn't just a spanking. 01:22 It was a whipping with a skinny belt. 01:25 I still have scars on my legs, 01:28 you know, from the intense beatings. 01:30 And in a home like that, 01:32 I mean, it's called the no-talk rule, you know, 01:35 we never did really talk about it. 01:37 And at school, you know, my mom wrote a note 01:41 that I had burned myself on the radiator, you know, 01:45 for the scars. 01:46 And I didn't go to school for a week. 01:48 I probably should have had stitches or whatever, but... 01:52 - So your mother was an enabler for all this too. 01:54 - Well, yeah. 01:57 I mean, that's the way it was 01:59 and the way it is in a lot of abusive homes and 02:03 - Homes that you would never imagine 02:05 what's happening behind closed doors. 02:08 - Yeah, and I was going to a Christian school 02:12 and we went to church 02:14 and we had a worship at home, 02:20 but my father he was out doing things that, 02:26 and he eventually hung himself 02:30 in the Sacramento County jail, you know, when I was 13. 02:36 And the kids at school knew what happened 02:38 and I didn't wanna go a Christian school anymore 02:41 because all the kids and the pressure. 02:44 And so they asked me to leave because I was a bad influence 02:50 on the other kids. 02:51 I had started smoking 02:52 and hanging out with the kids on the street 02:54 that I grew up on. 02:56 And most of them were broken homes 02:58 and from divorced, 03:00 and so it wasn't long before I started drinking 03:06 and smoking marijuana and taking different pills, you know, 03:11 like downers and uppers. 03:13 And by the time I was 16, 03:16 I was a full blown drug addict and alcoholic. 03:20 And I remember standing up at the neighborhood liquor store 03:25 with my friends, we would ask people to buy us liquor, 03:28 you know, and potentially we'd have to wait hours 03:32 but we'd get our liquor. 03:33 - Before you found someone willing to go in. 03:36 - That's right. 03:37 - But did you pay them a little bit? 03:39 - Well, sometimes, sometimes they just did it 03:42 but the liquor store owner, his name was Leo. 03:46 He knew us kids 03:48 and he told us that we were his best customers. 03:51 - Oh my! 03:54 - That's quite an achievement when you're 16 03:57 - But it was, so I started getting into construction 04:01 and my dad was in construction. 04:03 My mom pleaded with me, you know, don't get in construction. 04:06 You know, it's a tough business and you know, it's, 04:10 so I went for a period of two years 04:13 and lived with my uncle 04:14 and worked on his farm 04:15 and I quit smoking and doing drugs 04:17 but there was really, 04:21 it was minimum wage, no future unless you're landowner. 04:24 So after two years, I came back 04:26 and quickly got back into drugs and alcohol 04:29 and gotten (murmurs) 04:31 - You were back with your original friends then? 04:33 - That's right. 04:34 - Back in that environment. 04:35 - How old were you at this time now? 04:36 - Well, about 20, about 20 years old 04:41 - You've lived a whole lifetime already 04:42 on the wrong side of that track. 04:44 - That's right. 04:46 Yeah, so but I was talented in construction. 04:51 And so the employers overlooked, you know, 04:57 a lot of the drug addiction and alcohol use 04:59 and because, you know, productive getting things done. 05:03 I had the privilege of working 05:04 with some of the top construction firms in California. 05:09 And one of them was a company that worked 05:12 for the federal government army bases. 05:16 And one of them was in Sacramento at an air force base. 05:20 And after work, we had stopped by 05:22 this little strip club on the way home. 05:25 And there I seen this girl, she was just beautiful. 05:31 And I told myself if I ever got married 05:33 I would want a girl just like that, you know? 05:36 - That's why I need to find a girl in a strip club. 05:38 (laughing) 05:39 - So I started going there regularly 05:42 and started to know this girl, her name was Claire. 05:46 And one night she needed a ride home. 05:50 - And you did not miss that opportunity? 05:52 - So her friend said, I know who you are. 05:56 I got your license plate number, you know? 05:58 So, you know, so if something happened to her 06:01 and she came up missing. 06:02 But on the way home we stopped 06:04 in like at the Denny's and had her dinner and we hit it off 06:10 and we started dating and we had a lot of the same hobbies, 06:16 you know, drugs and alcohol and marijuana. 06:19 And so we got along great. 06:20 And we soon became inseparable. 06:23 - Can I ask you Luther, before you go on, 06:26 I mean if that's your hobbies 06:28 how much money are you spending on the hobbies at that time? 06:31 - Oh, just all of it 06:33 - Because you were undoubtedly earning good money 06:35 doing the construction you were, 06:37 but none of it was going to planning for a future, 06:40 or retirement or savings 06:43 - Was doing cocaine, but cocaine was quite expensive. 06:46 And so started doing methamphetamines. 06:49 And that was a lot more tense, last longer 06:53 and it's a lot more cheaper, economical. 06:55 And so methamphetamines is one of the most addictive drugs 07:00 there is. 07:01 - And most of you still functioned at a real job? 07:04 - Right, you were still working? 07:05 - More or less, yeah. 07:07 And well, so yeah, I was doing methamphetamines 07:13 for over five years 07:15 and Claire was also doing methamphetamines 07:18 but once you get involved in that 07:21 it's hard to get out, you know, it's get yeah. 07:25 But there was a place that I knew of, 07:28 way up in the mountains called Mono's Hot Springs, 07:31 it's hot springs way up in the mountains. 07:32 It was by the long drive 07:34 but we went up there 07:36 and it was sort of like our honeymoon, you know, it was, 07:39 we were not married, but we sort of 07:40 inseparable, living together. 07:43 And so we was up there for about four days 07:46 and we consumed all the drugs and alcohol we had 07:49 and on the way back we're driving 07:51 and she's telling me 07:54 how she had gotten to the Bahai faith, 07:56 how she, you know, 07:58 they believe that Jesus was a good man and a prophet. 08:01 And I said, well, no, you know, I knew, cause I was raised 08:05 up at church school and going to church 08:08 that Jesus was the son of God, you know, 08:11 and told her about the father, son and the Holy spirit. 08:16 And then she was telling me what they believed 08:18 about reincarnation, you know? 08:21 And how, you know, like if you're a good cow, 08:25 you know, you can advance on up. 08:27 And so I told her, you know, no, 08:30 I told her, you know, that's, you know, 08:32 I told her about the state of the dead. 08:35 - As a young man, you would have all 08:38 of these things kind of shoved in there somewhere. 08:40 - That's correct, yeah. 08:42 And then she just told me 08:44 what they believed about evolution, you know? 08:47 And I said, well, no, it's quite clear in the Bible. 08:50 You know, God created the heaven and earth in six days. 08:52 And so it was, you know, I was giving her a Bible. 08:55 - Did she have any Christian background. 08:57 Had she heard any of this before? 08:59 - No. So, you know, we both wanted 09:04 to get out of our lifestyle, drugs and alcohol. 09:06 And I told her there was a church I used to go to 09:10 when I was a kid, we could go there. 09:12 And so that very weekend 09:16 we went to church 09:18 and she had to work that afternoon. 09:20 So she had her miniskirt on with her makeup. 09:23 I was, I had my beard and I had long hair 09:26 and we walked in that back door of the church, 09:29 my mom almost fell off the pew. 09:31 - That's right your mom went to church? 09:32 - That's right, she still does.. 09:35 And so the amazing, everybody just loved us and accepted us. 09:39 And nobody said we couldn't be smoking out 09:42 in the parking lot. 09:43 And it was just a whole series of miracles, you know, 09:47 that nobody, you know, they just loved us 09:50 and they just let the Holy spirit do its job. 09:53 And they just did their job 09:54 just by loving and accepting us just the way we were. 09:57 - So you started coming on a regular basis? 10:00 - Yeah, there was a evangelistic series going on there. 10:04 And so we started going. 10:05 - So Claire must have liked the experience 10:07 of going to church with you. 10:09 She must have liked the people that she met there. 10:12 - That's right. 10:13 And one thing that really got her is her lifestyle. 10:17 She had multiple abortions 10:19 and she was just racked with guilt with these abortions. 10:22 And she medicated to help, you know, all that pain. 10:26 And when she heard that God forgives 10:29 all manner of sin and even that of abortion 10:33 you just, you know, it was just such a relief to her, 10:37 you know, and just the. 10:38 - She didn't have to carry that guilt anymore. 10:40 - The beauty of the Christian message, you know, 10:43 that there's a loving God that loves us. 10:45 And then he's surrounded by people that loved us 10:47 and expressed that love. 10:49 It was wonderful 10:51 so we told the pastor that we wanted to get baptized 10:55 and get married. 10:56 And that was before we knew that she was pregnant. 10:59 So the pastor ended up baptizing us anyways. 11:05 And then we had our son, his name was Forest. 11:08 And then we got married. 11:10 So it sort of backwards, but it was, you know. 11:17 - Now, that isn't the normal way it necessarily happens. 11:18 How come it happened that way? 11:20 - Well, Claire had been married before 11:24 and her previous husband, 11:28 they never gotten a divorce 11:30 and he married two other ladies without ever divorcing. 11:33 So it was rather complicated getting the divorce through 11:36 so we could get married. 11:37 And so... 11:39 - It took a little longer than you might've wanted? 11:41 (laughing) 11:42 - So it was unconventional, but the pastor just thought 11:47 that he was supposed to go ahead and baptize us, you know. 11:50 - Tell me at that moment when you were being baptized 11:53 the two of you, what kind of feelings 11:56 were going through you at that time? 11:59 - Well, it was just being 12:05 free from the drugs, 12:07 and, you know, smoking. 12:09 It was just when we was baptized, 12:12 it was just one week before we was baptized, 12:15 we quit smoking. 12:16 And so it was just. 12:17 - Do you know, I was just about to ask you how big a problem 12:20 were things like alcohol and drugs and the smoking. 12:22 Were they still issues for you, still a struggle? 12:26 - Well, yeah, first we got off the methamphetamines 12:29 and that was one of the most difficult things, 12:31 you know, ever did. 12:32 But we started talking about Jesus to the people 12:36 the other drug addicts and dealers and they, you know, 12:39 pretty much, you know, 12:40 and then we pretty much hit bottom. 12:43 Didn't have any resources. 12:45 And so my mom took us in 12:46 and so we were away from all the people that we knew. 12:50 And so that helped us get off the methamphetamines. 12:54 And then we quit smoking marijuana because it was, you know, 13:00 the pastor was coming over to do Bible studies with us 13:02 and we'd go, well, we've got to wait till he leaves 13:03 before we'd get high and all. 13:05 And so that didn't last long, 13:08 but the cigarettes was tough too, 13:10 but nobody said you're gonna have to quit smoking 13:12 before you get baptized. 13:15 They just let the Holy spirit convict us and so. 13:20 - Luther after you're baptized, 13:22 and you've got this new walk. 13:24 You talked about these old friends 13:26 who were all the drug dealers and everybody else. 13:28 Did you find that all of a sudden you happen to have a lot 13:31 of people offering you free drugs, free things? 13:33 - They tried to get you back in? 13:35 - The reason I ask is because that's what happened to me 13:37 is all of a sudden 13:39 for the first time everybody wanted to give me stuff 13:41 never happened before I had to pay for it. 13:44 - Not in my case, we were having a new baby. 13:48 And so we were going to church and got involved in church 13:52 and we pretty much were through from that whole lifestyle. 13:56 And so we had new focus 13:59 and so Claire, she was a smart girl 14:03 and she started going to school 14:06 and she became a licensed vocational nurse. 14:10 And I started working, you know, with my brothers 14:15 and we started a construction company 14:16 and it became quite successful. 14:19 And so we were doing jobs all up 14:22 and down the state and you know, was working. 14:24 So, you know, six days a week, 14:28 started working 12 hours a day 14:29 and Claire was working night shift, you know, 14:32 because there's a new nurse. 14:34 And so we, you know, start, you know, 14:37 I would take over at night, you know, with the kid, 14:39 and then she would be there during the day. 14:41 And so we sort of became two ships in the night, you know, 14:45 and we started growing apart from each other 14:48 and from God, 14:50 and Claire was watching a TV evangelist, 14:56 and he was talking about how he prayed 14:59 if it took him getting cancer 15:00 to make it to the kingdom for God to bring it on. 15:03 And she prayed that same prayer in her heart and. 15:09 - Meaning she was willing to sacrifice anything. 15:11 It's just whatever it takes to get me back 15:14 on the right path. 15:15 - And February of 2007, 15:19 she was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS. 15:23 And she said she didn't get cancer, 15:27 but she got her own special disease, 15:29 but she had early onset, you know, 15:32 the disease back in 2005. 15:35 And as a nurse, you couldn't open up the pill bottles 15:38 and she almost dropped patients and stuff. 15:40 So at Christmas of 2005, she quit working 15:43 and they tried everything, you know, 15:45 but nothing, at all their nerve transposition 15:49 and carpal tunnel. 15:50 And, you know, they thought that would cure it 15:52 but she just kept getting weaker and weaker, her arms. 15:55 And she got the diagnosis. 15:58 You know, it was really tough. 16:00 The doctor looked at us and said, sorry, you know, 16:04 no known cure, you know, no known cause. 16:09 And so I quit working so we wouldn't have any resources 16:15 so we can qualify for all the programs. 16:20 And so I could be her primary caregiver 16:22 you know, because her arms quit working. 16:24 I had to do everything for her. 16:26 I had to feed her, comb her hair, dress her, 16:29 and help her go to the bathroom, 16:31 you know, with everything you, you just [Indistinct] 16:33 - How did you deal with that? 16:36 - Well... 16:38 - Did you feel resentful? 16:39 Were you angry at God? 16:41 - Well, what we did was she prayed for that. 16:46 And so we counted it as a blessing, you know, 16:49 and Bible says in all things, praise and thank the Lord. 16:52 And so that's what we started doing. 16:53 We started concentrating on what she could do 16:55 and what she couldn't. 16:57 And we had tremendous support from the church family. 17:02 They helped us. 17:03 And so, you know, 17:06 we had a house that we had bought, 17:09 and, but couldn't make payments anymore. 17:13 And that was like 2008. 17:15 And that was really hard. 17:18 - So you went from having a very successful business 17:21 both of you working, and good at your jobs 17:24 and everything down to nothing, less than nothing. 17:27 - Yeah, we had to spend all our savings and our retirement. 17:33 And so that was all completely spent. 17:34 And so we went to sign up. 17:37 - How old were your children at this time 17:40 when she was diagnosed? - Well, Forest 17:42 he was in high school. 17:44 So it was really a God thing because got me back, you know, 17:50 when he really needed more intense parenting. 17:54 - You were working six days a week 17:55 and not there for him. 17:56 - Yeah, I was there, and so. 17:58 - You mentioned parenting, 18:00 I know jumping around just a little bit, 18:01 but you mentioned parenting 18:03 and I'm thinking back to your beatings in your family life. 18:06 As you were raising this family as a real Christian 18:11 what kind of thoughts are going through your mind 18:12 about this? 18:13 I'm sure you had thoughts of the old life 18:15 and now you've got a family. 18:18 - Yeah, well, sometimes the pendulum swings the other way 18:21 you know, where you're, you know, 18:23 spare the rod and spoil the child. 18:26 I did, swhack them a couple of times on the bottom 18:28 but I never was abusive, you know. 18:34 - But you taught them about the Lord? 18:36 - That's right, yeah. 18:37 We went to church and yeah. 18:40 (serene music) 18:45 - Scientists tell us that humans have four basic needs 18:49 for survival; food, water, air, and shelter, 18:55 but beyond mere survival, 18:56 we also need to know that someone cares about us. 18:59 And there is someone who cares, someone who is always there. 19:05 This little track, Someone Cares About You 19:08 is full of Bible verses that will help you know, 19:11 just how much God cares for you. 19:14 It's absolutely free. 19:16 Just go to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org 19:19 and request offer number 123. 19:22 Someone cares about you. 19:26 - [Narrator] Introducing Talking Donkey International, 19:29 God once used a donkey to spread his word 19:32 but he'd rather use all of us. 19:34 It's time to prepare quality programming 19:37 created to attract and reach viewers of the world, 19:40 not just those of our denomination. 19:42 Together, we can carry the final advent message 19:45 to the individuals of planet earth 19:48 and hasten the return of our Lord. 19:50 Please pray for and support the successful mission 19:53 of Talking Donkey International. 19:59 (soft music) 20:09 - You said you prayed to God. 20:11 I mean, things are falling apart. 20:12 You prayed to God, did God answer? 20:15 - He did. 20:16 It was just one miracle after another, 20:20 we called the bank 20:21 and they said the paperwork wasn't correct. 20:23 And so they put a stop to the sell on the courthouse steps. 20:27 And then, you know, after a matter of months, you know, 20:29 they was going to sell it again on the courthouse steps. 20:32 And then they put the moratorium on the foreclosures. 20:35 And so it was a period of about nine months or a year 20:37 where has sort of settled down. 20:39 They got things settled in. 20:40 So they started it again 20:44 and it was just terrible, you know, 20:46 every time they'd do it, you know 20:47 they'd come and put the papers on the door, you know, 20:50 and it was just, you know, 20:54 but we just kept hanging on to God. 20:56 And they finally did sell the house on the courthouse steps 21:02 and it was, 21:05 - what did you do? 21:07 - Well, we cried out to God, again, 21:10 didn't know what to do. 21:11 And it was in 2011 that the sheriff 21:18 it was in June, the sheriff showed up. 21:20 And so the sheriff knocked on the door, 21:23 and said we had six days to get out. 21:26 And I just didn't... 21:27 - I can't even imagine your stress level 21:29 because just your wife, those issues, 21:32 or just your finances and losing the house. 21:37 Either of those would be enough, I think, 21:40 to put me over the edge 21:41 and you're having them all at the same time. 21:45 - Yeah, so I told the sheriff 21:47 we was trying to get a bankruptcy going 21:51 and he grabbed hold of that. 21:52 He didn't want to throw us out. 21:53 You know, he said, you get that going. 21:56 And that will put a hold on the eviction. 21:59 So we was able to get a bankruptcy going. 22:01 And so that put a hold on the eviction. 22:04 And so bankruptcy takes about six months. 22:10 And so that was just right at the end of November, 22:13 the beginning of December when the bankruptcy was done. 22:16 And so the bank called and said, 22:20 well, seems how it's the holidays and everything, 22:23 but you can stay in the house past- 22:24 - Someone got a heart at the bank. 22:27 - Christmas, you know, before you have to get out. 22:30 But our church family, 22:33 some of the members worked at the Sacramento Bee, 22:37 the major newspaper in Sacramento. 22:40 And so they sent some reporters out 22:42 and they was doing a story about, you know, 22:45 the crisis of having, you know, 22:48 health issues without insurance, 22:50 and, you know, a foreclosure. 22:52 And so they called the bank and they said 22:56 we're doing this story. 22:57 We're the media, we're doing the story. 22:58 What do you guys gonna do about it? 23:00 And they said, well, you know, they would get back to us. 23:03 And so our church was doing a day of fasting and prayer. 23:08 It was Tuesday after when 23:14 the newspaper called them. 23:16 And so got, usually I didn't answer the phone 23:20 but the caller ID said, CEO bank, you know, of America. 23:25 And so I picked up and they said, well, 23:29 in light of all your circumstances, you know, 23:31 we'll let you stay in the house till your wife dies. 23:36 And then we'll let you stay in for a period of mourning. 23:40 And so it was, so they ended up doing a newspaper story. 23:46 Claire always wanted to be an evangelist, 23:48 or, you know, tell others about Christ. 23:50 She didn't know how she could do it 23:52 but the newspaper did. 23:54 A front page, Sunday newspaper on us. 23:57 And you know what, the full page in the back 23:59 about our whole story, 24:00 about how we got out of drugs 24:02 and how, we, you know, got our lives together. 24:06 And then through this disease was losing everything. 24:10 - That reached quite a wide audience. 24:11 - It did. 24:12 They had calls. 24:14 The church got calls from 26 States and three countries. 24:17 And then one of the major television stations 24:21 sent a crew out, 24:23 and they interviewed me, 24:25 and I was able to tell them 24:27 even though we're losing our home 24:28 we're losing everything, 24:30 as a Christian, our home is in heaven. 24:33 - Amen. 24:34 I know Luther there, your story is so wonderful 24:37 and you've got so much more to go. 24:38 We've only got just a few minutes left. 24:42 I know the last moments of your life together 24:45 with your sweetheart was kinda tough. 24:47 And then God brought you in another new life. 24:50 - Well, yeah, Claire had... 24:55 she started to... 24:58 quality of life was going downhill. 25:00 And so just a little bit before she died, you know, 25:03 she looked up in my eyes and said, 25:05 well, I'll see you in heaven, you know? 25:07 And so, you know, it was the hardest thing 25:11 I've ever done. 25:13 holding when, you know, took the last breaths, you know, 25:17 but it was, so but it really brought into sharp focus 25:23 what's really important. 25:24 You know, that's our relationship with God 25:27 and our relationship with our families 25:30 and everything else is so transient, 25:32 you know, could be gone in an instant. 25:34 - What has your life been like since then? 25:37 - So I decided I would dedicate my life time 25:41 and talents to service to God. 25:44 And so I've been able to volunteer 25:48 and help use my talents, construction talents, you know, 25:51 in Africa, India, South America, Central America 25:56 and God has led me to a new relationship 25:59 with a woman that just recently lost her husband. 26:03 And so together, 26:04 we're serving in our local community and around the world. 26:08 - So it's been the second life really 26:10 has been a major blessing in a different way. 26:13 - Amen. 26:14 Yeah, I tremendously miss my wife, Claire, 26:17 but, you know, this is a whole new life 26:20 and it'll be interesting in heaven, 26:23 you know, that grand reunion . 26:26 - Amen. Amen. 26:27 Luther, you've been on an amazing journey 26:30 lots of tears and sorrows, but happiness also. 26:33 What would you share with our audience today 26:34 of maybe why they should follow God? 26:37 - Well, it's so easy to get discouraged and downcast 26:41 when things don't go your way, but you know, 26:46 Psalms 34 says, you know, 26:48 We called out to God 26:50 and he answered us and deliver us from all our fears. 26:53 So God can be trusted. 26:54 And he always, you know, He is a firm rock to hang on to. 27:01 - I'm gonna have to remember that verse every day, myself. 27:03 - Amen. Luther, thank you for sharing today. 27:05 Sure. Appreciate it. 27:06 - You're welcome. 27:10 - Scientists tell us that humans have four basic needs 27:13 for survival; food, water, air, and shelter. 27:19 But beyond mere survival 27:20 we also need to know that someone cares about us. 27:23 And there is someone who cares, someone who is always there. 27:28 This little track, Someone Cares About You 27:32 is full of Bible verses that will help you know 27:35 just how much God cares for you. 27:38 It's absolutely free. 27:40 Just go to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org 27:43 and request offer number 123. 27:46 Someone cares about you. 27:51 (upbeat music) 27:54 - Hey, thanks for joining us for Country Wisdom. 27:57 - See you next time. 27:58 (serene music) |
Revised 2021-05-04